124. Those Who Fall Have No Wings

The pigeon monster shifted into its second phase, morphing into an even more grotesque form. One of its heads, skewered by my sword, dangled limply, while dozens more wings sprouted from its body. With over twenty pairs now, it didn't even look like a pigeon anymore—just a writhing mass of wings.

They said the second phase of the 15th floor boss, a kin to this thing, looked about the same. A creature that parasitized faith, strong enough to levitate this entire land into the sky—what the hell kind of existence was it?

But the most ridiculous part was the absurd amount of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠mana it wielded.

Thud! I boosted my physical abilities with Mana Reinforcement, stomped down with True Step, and charged at it. Strike first, win—the familiar sword in my hand was more than enough. I coated the blade in mana and thrust forward.

The pigeon flapped its dozens of wings, forming a glowing green barrier. But even with its stats halved, my strike—bolstered by multiple skills and Mana Reinforcement—wasn't something it could block easily. The pitch-black sword Erwen had forged pierced and shattered the barrier.

Crack! It broke through the shield, but stopped halfway through the layered wings. Had its physical defense gone up in phase two? Or maybe the barrier's cushioning was stronger than I thought.

But my attack wasn't over. I channeled mana into the sword and activated Lightning Charge. Then I layered on Grand Electricity, unleashing a fierce bolt from the tip.

Crackle! The lightning mana electrocuted it and detonated on impact.

Boom! The pigeon tumbled backward from the direct electrical explosion. Easier than expected. But it got right back up, unfazed, spreading its wings wide once more. The ambient mana trembled. It was clearly prepping some annoying attack.

But I was faster. Closing this distance and landing another hit would take a split second. Haste—I amplified my agility stat in an instant and crossed the cavern in a flash, thrusting once more.

Boom! The strike packed power beyond "lethal," but this time it was blocked by the pigeon's barrier. The shield's structure was more intricate now. They said it had beast-level intelligence, but this learning speed was unbelievable.

Fine. If one hit wouldn't pierce, switch to a barrage. "Inventory."

I dumped out longswords and spears, axes and hammers, maces and daggers—unleashing a relentless storm of different weapons. It countered with endless barriers and layers of wings filling the gaps. No matter how hard I hammered, landing a solid hit was tough. Hell, the barriers felt like they were getting thicker.

"Hoo... shit, why the fuck is this..."

Just a few dozen clashes with the barriers, and my breath was ragged at the limit. No way. The barriers were getting stronger, but... wait a minute. There's no reason I should be this winded from something like this.

The weapons in my hands felt heavier than usual. Separate from fatigue, my attack speed was slowing. I'd thought the barriers were toughening up, but now that I considered it, that wasn't it.

"Status Window!"

My stats were lower than when I'd first entered the 15th floor. Down to around level 40. Right—the restriction blanketing the Heaven Realm was the pigeon's power. It had amplified it.

I spread my mana as far as possible while assessing the situation. The dense mana saturating the area made detection tricky. Some kind of weakening barrier? And the density was thickening by the second.

I got the gist. "You've narrowed the range."

It had shrunk the restriction's area from the entire Heaven Realm, intensifying the effect. So if I got outside that range, the debuff would weaken. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Fighting head-on with these stats was too disadvantageous. I spun and bolted for the cavern exit.

Flap! The pigeon, flapping what I'd thought were decorative wings, rocketed to block my path.

"You little shit."

Planning to trap me inside and crush me? Fine. Let's see you try to kill me. I pulled a sword ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠from my inventory, filled it with mana, and slammed it deep into the ground. The pigeon spread its wings and unleashed beams of light-like magic. Smart for a birdbrain—it sensed meaning in me stabbing the ground and attacked.

But still a birdbrain. It wasn't meaningless, but blind aggression wouldn't cut it.

Whoosh! Ignoring the charging pigeon, I hurled the sword toward the blocked exit. Not just any sword—a flashy demonic sword... yeah, one. I chucked Kaleon, embedded with one of my rare high-grade magic stones, toward the exit and activated Sword Spirit Awakening.

"Don't ask questions—just run that way! Fight back and I'll kill you again!"

"Wh-what...? Ugh, my body feels like a thousand pounds!"

"Get out of range and your power returns—just run far without fighting!"

After killing it so many times, the sword spirit obeyed without argument and bolted. Not like I was granting it freedom now. I'd marked Kaleon's sword body with mana. Its reaction would reveal the barrier's range. Assuming the blowfish didn't croak before escaping—with a high-grade stone, it should manage.

The problem was my already pathetic stats kept dropping. Pure base stats were back to my Floor 1 clear level—though actual combat power was incomparable now. My breath came in gasps. Still, not unmanageable. Time to gamble.

Razor-sharp feathers rained down like mad. At first, I could swat them aside easily, but now each one felt lethally heavy. This conscienceless pigeon-headed fucker—wasn't this overkill?

Kaboom! I rolled desperately, barely dodging, and checked my previously injured leg. The spot hit by its beak was mangled. Without Mana Reinforcement, it would've been severed. Without Super Regeneration, I couldn't even walk.

Phase two hadn't changed the pigeon's attacks much from phase one. The issue was my stats being nerfed to bug level—each hit now bordered on instant death. Without Steel Heart and other defense amps, I'd be dust from the magic blasts.

I glanced at the feathers embedded in the ground. I could handle the spells somehow, but those feathers? Unblockable. One hit and I'd die for sure.

Still, I was holding my own under these shitty conditions. Facing an absurd foe spamming one-shots, my focus—long absent in crises—skyrocketed. Dodging by razor-thin margins, countering with clutch skills. I thrived in crises. These few minutes outpaced a week's training. Even Mana Reinforcement—maintaining it this long with tanked intelligence? I hadn't known I could. Insane, but exhilarating. The rush of rapid growth—how long since I'd felt it?

I didn't know how much longer I could last, but I'd mapped the barrier via the sword spirit. The fight would end soon.

As I took a deep breath, a voice echoed in my mind.

—You... lost... I win. You my food.

"What the fuck."

Was that the birdbrain talking? They said beast-level intelligence—no speech. But here it was yapping. What bird calls me food? Stick to pecking corn, pigeon-head.

—Me... stronger than you, so you my food. Everything in sky mine. I Heavenly God.

"Oh yeah? Pigeon thinks it's a god."

—Me god for real... said I could become god... we traded...

"Traded?"

The pigeon kept babbling, but its clumsy speech and childish tone made it gibberish. No point talking to a birdbrain anyway. Prep was done.

—Gonna eat you... you weak now, you die soon...

It declared victory, having shrunk the barrier to its limit. But I had won. I blasted mana toward the deep-embedded sword—Blood Drinking Spiral Sword—via the pre-linked path, firing Grand Electricity to infuse lightning mana. The spiral sword, which had drilled to the Heaven Realm's underside alone, erupted its stored mana on signal.

Kaboom!! The overcharged mana exploded, collapsing the ground.

Rumble! The pit yawned into a massive sinkhole, swallowing me and the pigeon. It pierced straight to the Heaven Realm's floor—falling meant hitting the surface below.

Flap! The pigeon flapped desperately, but like a chicken-pigeon, it was slow. The max-shrunk barrier was bypassed by plummeting under the clouds. My stats restored—

And slicing a pigeon's wings midair was child's play.

Slash! Using Sword Charge, I latched on and ripped every wing off.

"Forget already, birdbrain? Told you I'd drop you to the ground."

How high was the Heaven Realm? Thousands of meters, at least above the clouds. I stacked every buff—Iron Wall, All-In, Unyielding, Mana Reinforcement—and tore regrowing wings while free-falling straight down.

I won't die from any height. You?

BOOM!