The Monarch's Dilemma on Karan Mountain

The 67th floor of the Tower of Babel was a gathering mission.

A space where I could reliably secure Kaedin crystals.

Karan Mountain is a famous site for gem trees that bear mineral fruit.

The closer the gem trees are to the sky, the higher their quality and the greater their yield.

However, proceed with caution.

Karan Mountain is the habitat of Lesser Drakes.

If you get too greedy, you may find yourself drenched in a rain of flames pouring down from above.

“Kaedin crystals?”

“The ones I received as a reward for clearing the third floor.”

Unique-grade minerals known as Kaedin crystals had the effect of strengthening mental power. They were used as catalysts in crafting staves and orbs. I remembered selling them for quite a high price and using the money to buy fossils.

–Ah, that did happen. I can still clearly picture your disappointed face back then.

“Don’t remember the useless stuff.”

There were things that were common sense before my regression but weren’t in this era. The value of Kaedin minerals was one of them.

“Even a regressor isn’t omnipotent.”

–That much is obvious just by looking at you.

“Why don’t you just swear at me properly instead?”

The mission format was similar to the 62nd floor. As long as I didn’t die, I could stay for days. But the moment someone cleared the trial, the system would compare the results and the gem fruit each person possessed, then steal Rating Points from the losers.

–So interference like before is impossible?

“Oh, that part’s still allowed.”

On the 62nd floor, players couldn’t interfere with each other, and fishing itself wasn’t dangerous. This trial was different. I had to harvest gems while keeping an eye on both the Lesser Drakes and the other players trying to sabotage me.

“The key to this mission is to be moderately greedy.”

–That doesn’t sound like something you should be saying.

“What? Why not?”

–Aren’t you the one who monopolizes everything while muttering about the privileges of a regressor?

“If they’re so upset about fairness, they should all go regress too.”

Did they even know how much I suffered, crying and bleeding, just to regress? In the era of destruction, the entire infrastructure had collapsed. I had to run around on my own two feet, devouring every time-related essence I could find. I gathered the necessary artifacts using the CP I’d accumulated while climbing the Tower. And while ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the final suicide squad drew the attention of the Old Gods, I raced all the way to the 100th floor.

I never had the luxury of taking the standard route. I smashed through the 90th-floor stages without any information, relying purely on brute force. Then, with my body in tatters, I barely reached the Treasure Vault and devoured the holy relics of the time-related Constellations.

To be honest, if someone told me to do it again, I’d rather bite my tongue and die.

–I’ve heard that complaint quite a few times now.

“Then stop nagging me every time I enjoy the sweet rewards.”

–I’ll keep it in mind.

Tsk.

She was definitely going to nag me again later.

“Kwaaaaak!”

Several Lesser Drakes let out monstrous roars. They didn’t attack the players at the base of the mountain, but the threat was more than enough. Many of the matched players turned deathly pale as they stared up at the sky.

“Dragonkin get extra stat corrections, don’t they?”

“Lesser Drakes are a large species, so they get another bonus on top of that.”

“We’re the ones getting one-sidedly beaten up, and yet the place is crawling with named-level monsters.”

It was understandable that they felt despair. Still, there was no need to worry too much. Even if you just wandered around the lower slopes, you could still obtain Kaedin crystals. If you got caught by a Lesser Drake, you could only blame your own bad luck.

–What will you do?

“I have to reach the summit, don’t I?”

–Hehe. As expected of Yeo’s contractor.

She had just been complaining about me monopolizing everything, yet her attitude flipped in an instant. What a tsundere.

“I’m going to pick up the pace, so hold on tight.”

–Very well.

Her small, fern-like hand gripped my shoulder firmly. Even though she was a spiritual body and couldn’t possibly fall, the way she put strength into her grip was rather cute.

I kicked off the ground with all my strength and raced up the bare, rocky slope at high speed. Flying would have been faster, but I was saving it for now. I had already faced Lesser Drakes during the Paris reclamation battle. With my current specs, I could handle dozens of them at once.

However.

The number of Lesser Drakes on Karan Mountain was easily in the hundreds. If I drew too much aggro, the other players would snatch all the gem fruit while I was busy fighting. I couldn’t just do favors for others.

–Let us race straight to the summit, then.

At Nyx’s carefree words, I let out a small chuckle and poured more strength into my legs.

The scenery whipped past in a blur.

After climbing about a hundred meters, gem trees began to appear one by one. Hanging from their branches were purple minerals—the exact same Kaedin crystals I had received as a reward on the third floor.

–They are smaller than the ones you took before.

“The higher we climb, the better the quality of the minerals.”

The 67th floor forced players into a dilemma: settle for moderate greed and clear the mission safely, or risk climbing higher while avoiding the watchful eyes of the Lesser Drakes.

There were already quite a few competitors at the lower levels. Far more players were aiming for the gem trees at the base rather than risking the ascent.

“Kraraaara!”

As I increased my speed, one of the Lesser Drakes spotted me and began descending rapidly. If it was coming down to me, that saved me the trouble of going up.

I kicked off the ground and leaped. The moment I rose about thirty meters into the air, I collided with the Lesser Drake.

A full 100 points of Polar Night drained away in an instant. The Lesser Drake slammed its head straight into the shield that had materialized in front of me.

“Kwaaek!”

It let out a scream that sounded more appropriate for a chicken than a dragonkin, and its head drooped limply. Hurt, didn’t it? That shield had even blocked Nidhogg’s charge once.

Not ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠missing the opening as its eyes lost focus, I immediately followed up.

After retrieving the shield, I unleashed the next attack without pause. A black spear shot out from my palm and pierced the exposed nape of the Lesser Drake’s neck.

Even though it was a monster belonging to the stronger side of dragon subspecies, and its scales were harder than refined steel, it couldn’t withstand even a second against the black spear I had twisted and sharpened thousands of times. With a wet shluk, it punched straight through.

“Kwauk……”

A deflating sound leaked out. The incapacitated Lesser Drake plummeted downward.

Time to finish it.

While falling alongside it, I retrieved the spear and manifested a Shadow Axe, driving it precisely into the hole the spear had created. The monster’s neck—thicker than a log—was severed without much resistance. Its bisected body slammed into the ground with a heavy thud.

–You’re using it quite skillfully now.

“It’s annoying that I have to retrieve them after releasing the energy.”

–It can’t be helped when your maximum output is only 100.

The sub-skills of Shadow Dominion—sword, axe, spear, and shield—each required a minimum of 100 Polar Night to manifest. It was a number that perfectly matched my maximum output. Unless all the released Polar Night was completely consumed, any leftover energy had to be retrieved before I could use the next technique.

“It’s also a shame that it doesn’t mix with reinforced qi, aura blades, or explosive demonic energy.”

–The night energy is so dense that it cannot tolerate any other force within it.

I wondered what it would be like if I could use the Dark Shadow Soul-Chasing Sword with the shadow blade. If I infused the refined Polar Night with internal energy and unfolded reinforced qi on top of it, the power would probably reach the level of Shining Hand.

Unfortunately, combining the two was impossible.

The goddess had pointed out that the cause was my insufficient understanding of ‘Night.’

“It’ll change once my proficiency increases, right?”

–Hehe. That would be the case.

“Then I’ll just have to work harder.”

–I look forward to seeing a sight worthy of Yeo’s contractor.

Using Fusion Qigong to merge them was also an option. Since they were registered as sub-skills, I could probably assign similar attributes to strengthen them. But for now, I had too many abilities I wanted to test with Fusion Qigong, so I’d hold off.

Alright.

Time to taste the corpse of a dragonkin.

–Didn’t you already take the essence of a Lesser Drake?

“I absorbed it during the Great Collapse of France. What I need now is something else.”

Giant Dragon Body.

A transcendent physique that contained the power of dragons, giants, and gods. Since the final character was ‘Dragon,’ the vessel that held all those factors would likely be of the dragonkin lineage.

Although this Lesser Drake couldn’t compare to the dragonkin I had met during the promotion match, it ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠still possessed enough dignity to fill in the missing dragon factors.

Hehehehe.

As expected, it worked.

Devour was my unique ability granted by the system. However, I had already half-broken free from the system’s restraints using the Rainbow Flashing Stone. Directing the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠path of Devour was easy enough.

“I can pick up the pace even more now.”

Just using the sub-skills of Shadow Dominion was enough to deal with one or two Lesser Drakes without much trouble. I had refrained from flying to avoid drawing their attention, but after testing my new power in real combat, I was confident I could move more boldly.

Crack!

Wings burst from my back and spread wide. With a powerful gust of wind, my body shot upward. My field of vision expanded dramatically, and at the same time, the gazes of the nearby Lesser Drakes all locked onto me.

“Kraraara!”

“Come at me.”

–Wasn’t the core of this mission supposed to be staying moderately inconspicuous?

That only applied to normal players. With so many delicious spiritual medicines flying around, how could I possibly stay still?

The closest Lesser Drake was struck by the lightning fragment and convulsed as it plummeted downward. Against the rest, I unfolded Thunder Wings as well. Lightning erupted from the dragon wings and struck the Lesser Drakes.

Because there were so many of them, the firepower was split and couldn’t inflict fatal damage. Even so, the Lesser Drakes that couldn’t shake off the lightning could barely maintain flight. Dealing with them was as easy as eating cold porridge.

Shukak!

I pierced through the completely defenseless head of a Lesser Drake. At the same time, I thrust my left hand sideways and activated Hundred Hand. Countless white arms slammed into the Lesser Drake that had opened its maw.

“Kwa……”

The pale hands swallowed even its scream as they tore the Lesser Drake apart. It was probably a sight a bit too inappropriate to show good children.

I yanked the body of a circling Lesser Drake toward me, then touched its chest with Shining Hand. With a deafening kuwaaaang, an explosion rang out as blood and flesh scattered in every direction.

Oops. Can’t let that go to waste.

Wasn’t every piece a precious dragonkin factor?

I didn’t forget to spread the power of Polar Night and devour all the scattered flesh as well.

A black palm strike flew through the air, crushing scales. Yellow lightning painted the sky.

The air grew scorching hot from the occasional flames the Lesser Drakes spewed, but their firepower wasn’t enough to penetrate True Dragon Armor.

A completely one-sided damage trade.

I loved this kind of thing.

“Kwawoooo!”

Several Lesser Drakes completely turned their bodies away. They had given up all will to fight.

That wouldn’t do.

Dual attributes of fire and lightning. Crimson lightning painted the empty air. The clear sky was instantly dyed in the color of sunset.