The Unyielding King's Throne

The technique that had dropped even Ping Lei’s clones and Brother Youngsu—who had formed a perfect defensive line—in a single strike.

The breath attack, hailed as the ultimate technique of the dragon race.

It couldn’t even put up a fight against that white flash of light.

“I’ve still got one shot left.”

What are you so flustered about? The only reason I can even respond like this is because I stacked it with a mountain of debuffs first.

After dumping every ounce of the dragon essence I’d manifested through Dragon Form into the breath, I snapped my jaws shut. The black ray that had been pouring from my mouth cut off sharply, but the Holy Comet only faltered for a split second before surging forward with even greater fury.

This transformation was on another level from mere Dragon Form. The 5-star skill that let me select and project any essence I had devoured so far activated instantly.

The result looked similar to Lexy, but with the High Orc essence mixed in I became a hulking hybrid Tyrannosaurus with massive, muscular arms.

A 4-star skill born from fusing the Demon’s Wrath and Uraz Berserk. The moment God’s Wrath activated, fighting spirit surged through me and my chest burned hot.

Ah. This heat is very much physical.

Void Mirror lets me manifest power beyond my current limits. God’s Wrath multiplied my specs several times over, so even though it only lasted a few minutes, my overall strength had grown close to ten times its normal level.

No matter how high my base specs were, sustaining this kind of explosive overgrowth would be strange if my body stayed intact. The vessel holding power that had surpassed its limits could not ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠remain unscathed.

Crack. Molten-lava blood seeped from the fissures splitting my skin. The backlash of containing such overwhelming force had set my blood boiling.

“Ugh.”

I’m fine. I don’t have the leisure to speak right now, so please understand.

I barely managed to control the explosive power. Without the experience from my previous life, I would have swelled up like a balloon and burst.

This was a last resort I avoided using whenever possible.

The Tower trial meant that even if I died the penalty wouldn’t be severe, and I saw no other path to victory against this opponent. I had no choice.

One more time.

I spread my massive arms wide, then swung them inward as if hugging a hammer. I poured inner energy into the tail that had grown beneath my hips.

It felt like my brain was burning. Circulating mana and inner energy at the same time was something I had done until my mouth went dry, but controlling the excessive surge of power so my body wouldn’t explode while simultaneously executing Reverse Scale and Hundred Beasts Emperor Martial Arts was incredibly difficult.

Krr. Brother Sun Wukong’s insight is so perfect it feels like tears of gratitude are pouring from my eyes. Loyalty, loyalty.

The sacred white comet finally entered my embrace.

Ah. It’s hot!

So insanely hot it feels like my body is being cooked ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠well-done. Still, I have to endure it. Since it’s both a primordial species and an ancient dragon race, the dragon-race bonus from Reverse Scale applied an additional 100% damage.

Much stronger than when I used Dragon Form.

I caught Ariel in a hold similar to a princess carry. From behind, Kirin Kill—executed with the modified form—stabbed repeatedly into her armor.

The power was enough to reshape the terrain, but against Ariel the only fitting description was ‘poke poke.’

Even so, I had to squeeze out every last drop of strength to hold on. Unlike before, the white flash had clearly diminished. It was proof that the stats I had raised with Void Mirror and God’s Wrath were far stronger than the dozens of blows I had traded earlier.

Well, everything up to this point had gone according to plan.

Crack!

Reverse Scale momentarily weakened the holy light, and the concentrated energy struck Ariel’s chest without ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠missing the opening. When Finger of Death had pierced her, she had been protected by holy light, but this time the suppressed radiance couldn’t shield her body.

Her armor caved in visibly. Bright red blood gushed from Ariel’s mouth.

Whew.

Finally landed a proper hit.

I feel like I’m going to die.

Even the body transformed into a primordial species had struggled to endure the Holy Comet. More than half the duration remained, yet it was difficult to even twitch a finger.

However, the halo floating above Ariel’s head emitted an even more intense light.

“She really is something else.”

Nyx let out a small sigh.

The ‘revelation’ that guaranteed a hit on the enemy no matter the situation. Even after taking an unexpected blow and spitting blood, she had deployed an attack that had previously required several times my stats just to deflect.

At least she had stopped calling me a weakling or trash. It seemed Metatron’s secret education for his precious golden child had been somewhat effective.

Hah. Still, I couldn’t be satisfied. The request was for ‘victory,’ after all.

A white comet flying at a speed that made reaction nearly impossible. Dodging was out of the question, and moving even a single hand was difficult. There was no way to counter it directly.

No. I said there was no way to counter it. I never said there was no way to win, did I?

The divine technique that folded space to change position. It was almost disappointing when compared to ordinary teleportation skills. Yet it was powerful enough to shake off even an attack marked by ‘revelation.’

I shifted my position with Shrink. The comet that flew toward where I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠had just been lost its target and bounced away beyond the hill.

“Yeah.”

I told you. If we had met outside the Tower, I would have run away instead of fighting. Only inside the ‘rules’ of a trial did I have any chance of winning.

No matter the method, I had won. That was what mattered.

“I won’t be able to pull this off twice.”

A genuine monster I wouldn’t even dare face without God’s Wrath and Void Projection. If I hadn’t exploited the flaw that Holy Revelation would definitely connect, it would have been my defeat.

“Yeah.”

Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated. The influence of information imbalance on a fight really is this enormous.

Ha. I really don’t want to meet her again.

The moment I confirmed Ariel’s elimination, I released both Void Projection and God’s Wrath.

“Graaaaagh!”

The backlash from linking two essences and forcibly drawing out power slammed into my body. My limbs twisted like pretzels. I have no desire to undergo a species change from human to bread. I’ve heard stories about people turning into rice cakes, but bread is a new one.

I held my collapsing body together with essence, sat in a lotus position, and began circulating my energy using both qigong and the Seon Magic ‘Wind Flower Snow Moon.’

Five minutes remained. I needed to recover enough to be able to fight again.

When I glanced around, everyone else seemed fairly average. I hoped there wasn’t another monster hiding their strength like Ariel.

Wait. Isn’t that a flag?

Fortunately, the dreaded “Did I get them?” development did not occur.

“Phew.”

Good thing I only thought it and didn’t say it out loud. If I had actually uttered those words, some bastard might have awakened and chopped me into tiny pieces.

Nyx, who had returned to spirit form, looked at me with pity in her eyes.

“It’s a well-documented fact in ancient Greek mythology that if you say ‘Did I get them?’ after defeating an enemy, they’ll revive.”

Please don’t take it so seriously.

Wham!

“Next.”

Whaaam!

“Next.”

Defeating the challengers climbing the hill one by one was easy. Five minutes was plenty of time to steady my body. Completely resolving the shock left in my bones and muscles would require longer rest, but recovering enough to handle the trial only took a few minutes.

Praise Super Regeneration!

Most impacts were covered by True Dragon Armor anyway. If I ignored the enemy’s attacks and controlled the fight at my own pace, I could win even if my condition wasn’t at one hundred percent.

“Is he a monster?”

“Who said Earthlings are weak?”

“What about that angel earlier? One hit from that hammer and I would’ve been crushed.”

The first players to challenge me had come up gambling that I must have weakened. As time passed, the faces of those still waiting grew noticeably darker.

“Ugh. I’m just going to give up.”

“The penalty’s lighter than dying and leaving.”

“Why did I get matched against a monster like this?”

Less than two hours after I had climbed the hill, every remaining player forfeited. The area below became completely empty.

“Uwaaaaaah.”

The moment I heard the system message, I flopped onto my back on the hill and stretched my arms and legs out fully.

Ugh. It still feels like phantom pain is lingering.

It’s not as if I’ve only experienced brutal fights like this once or twice, but perhaps because I had regenerated and shattered more times than during the Rene Davis fight, it hurt worse.

Whoa. So the Throne of the Indomitable King appears on the 63rd floor.

“Earth players have never received the highest reward on the 60th-floor range before.”

The reward calculation standard is RP. From Earth’s perspective, without racial bonuses, it was difficult to receive high rewards on a first clear of the 60th-floor range. Even if you faced strong enemies during promotion matches, you’d only reach around 1,500 RP. No matter how you won, stacking 2,000 RP was nearly impossible.

The Throne of the Indomitable King was an Epic-grade artifact that any command-type player would drool over. I had seen players using it inside the Tower, but on Earth no one had ever obtained it and the information wasn’t even known, so I hadn’t considered it.

Lucky me.

I’ll usually lend it to Ark, and depending on the situation let Brother Youngsu borrow it.

Right. Now that I’ve finished the appetizer, shall we move on to the main dish?

Metatron and Baal had been rivals for a very long time. It would be stranger if the leaders of angels and demons got along.

“He’s mocking the fact that Metatron has to pay up.”

Just like with Odin or Baal, there had been more than a few constellations who tried to get something from me, only to have the tables turned and get ripped off instead. It was obvious Metatron had been planning to take advantage of the situation.

Epic-grade holy relic or below. Ever since Metatron had set the condition, I had already thought of one particular relic.

“Please give me this one.”