Chapter 101
Chapter 101
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 101
Chapter Title: A World Swallowed by Dawn's Light
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In a world where dawn's light engulfed and erased everything.
Havel slowly raised his head.
The Night Raven's calamity flowed entirely into his body.
This sensation hits every time, but I never get used to it.
And soon, text began to array before Havel's eyes.
The 7th Hierarchy Trial was over.
That was the definitive message.
On top of that, the amount of absorbed calamity was quite substantial.
It must have scaled with the floor climbed.
But above all, what made Havel's eyes flash was something else.
Of course it was.
One of the messages he'd been waiting for had finally appeared.
He had acquired the Night attribute.
The moment he saw it, Havel recalled the calamity preparing for transcendence.
He'd finally obtained the attribute he'd been waiting for.
Sure enough, the calamity's transcendence kicked off alongside it.
The calamity that devoured Night immediately started its countdown.
The calamity transcendence he'd been eagerly awaiting had finally begun.
'With this, all my stats will complete their transcendence.'
Is it because I've been chasing my goal so relentlessly?
There was excitement, but also a twinge of regret.
Each time his stats rose, Havel undoubtedly grew stronger.
Yet that power was utterly insignificant compared to transcendence.
Transcendence was, quite literally, the sensation of his body being remade anew.
Havel let out a hollow chuckle.
To crave even greater strength after becoming this powerful.
'Guess I never change.'
Havel dismissed the Dawn Birdcage and took a step forward.
As the Night Raven vanished, so did the night.
The sky now belatedly revealed the setting sun.
After defeating night, night was returning once more.
Beneath that sky, Havel gripped the Star Sword left abandoned there.
I've seen more than enough of this thing on this floor.
Havel carefully stowed the Star Sword away and leisurely moved on.
Before long, he encountered the group who'd been anxiously awaiting the outcome.
It was Lidark, Baria Graiza, Moebius, and their crew.
Barutuga was there too, passed out cold.
The price of getting caught in the crossfire of Havel and Lidark's battle from too close.
"Lord Havel!"
Baria's voice, laced with relief, reached him first.
He hadn't fled during Havel's fight, even watching from a perilous vantage.
Perhaps that's why his joy at Havel's victory was all the greater.
In contrast, Lidark was half relieved, half worried.
He was thrilled that Havel had taken down the Night Raven.
But separately, he fretted over what was to come.
Memento Mori's secret weapon, the 'Wraith,' had ascended the Tower.
Without a doubt, the Wraith and Havel would clash soon enough.
Predicting the fallout from that was beyond him.
'Now's not the time to dwell on that.'
Lidark bowed politely to Havel.
"Thank you for honoring our request."
Lidark adopted a fully subservient posture.
Better to clash with the Five Great Families if it had to happen.
Clashing with Havel would mean total annihilation for Memento Mori.
So until the Wraith arrived, he resolved to show proper respect.
"I'm heading to the Raven Kingdom now."
He'd fully gauged Memento Mori's level.
Time to climb the Tower again right away.
The real forces of the Five Great Families lurked above.
Havel's focus had already shifted from Memento Mori to the Five Great Families.
As Lidark watched Havel, he spoke up.
"Memento Mori has one individual called the Wraith."
Havel turned to Lidark upon hearing that.
Havel had heard the name Wraith before too.
It came from none other than Barutuga himself.
Havel glanced at the still-unconscious man and asked.
"That guy's climbing the Tower?"
"...Yes."
The reason Lidark shared this was simple.
Memento Mori's main force planned to retreat anyway.
It was a plea not to harm them.
Their true power would arrive soon enough.
Understanding the implication, Havel nodded curtly.
"Let him come."
He answered with effortless nonchalance.
A being of such overwhelming strength feared nothing.
If he were some middling powerhouse, Memento Mori would be in real danger.
He'd have uprooted them entirely to eliminate any lingering threat.
"Lidark, you can contact that Armed King fellow, right?"
As Lidark sighed in relief, the Armed King was mentioned.
Tensing once more, Lidark watched as Havel smiled faintly with his eyes.
"The Infester."
The moment Havel uttered it.
Beyond Lidark's glowing red eyes, Havel sensed another gaze.
And sure enough, the Infester emerged.
The Armed King.
This was indeed the Infester he'd glimpsed before.
"Relay this to him."
Aware of the Infester's gaze, Havel still addressed Lidark.
"After I take down that Wraith, I'll come calling personally."
"...Understood."
Lidark replied quietly, face stiff.
He too sensed the Infester's presence.
It was at that moment.
Suddenly, brilliant light poured from the sky above.
Everyone looked up in startled confusion.
Lidark was the most flustered among them.
Descending from the heavens were stairs.
And they were heading toward the kingdom.
That meant someone had cleared the floor.
Lidark's black skull face drained of color.
"Wh-who...?"
His reaction was visibly panicked, far from his usual composure.
Judging by that, it wasn't part of Lidark's plan.
It was then.
Havel immediately lifted his head toward the sky.
Veins bulged on his neck.
Kwajik!
A black lightning bolt struck down from the heavens.
"Kuhk!"
"Guhk!"
Baria and Moebius clutched their noses as blood gushed, collapsing to the ground.
Baria rolled back his eyes and fainted.
Moebius trembled in his fallen pose.
Priest Edler, apostle of God's Poison, tumbled from Moebius's pocket.
The wretch rolled on the ground in agony.
"Prhk!?"
Even Lidark, the least affected, was far from fine.
As he dropped to one knee, shadows surged wildly from beneath his feet.
An incomprehensible energy bore down on him.
Under it, Lidark couldn't even breathe at will.
But one person alone.
Havel stared up at the sky, eyes merely widened a bit.
The displayed text was one he'd seen before.
Divine Duality.
The entity that had revealed itself in the past 5th Hierarchy.
It had appeared once more.
In that instant, a calamity aura bound Havel's body.
A strangely faint existence—pale white yet pitch black.
But Havel's senses didn't miss that calamity aura.
Pajijijik!
Havel's surging calamity clashed head-on with Divine Duality's.
And the collision yielded beyond-imagination results.
"Huh?"
Divine Duality's calamity matched Havel's in power.
And this was just the probe it sent to scout.
As Havel's eyes widened in a shiver of thrill.
Black lightning flared, and in an instant, Divine Duality's calamity vanished.
The Demonic Palace had shielded Havel once again, just like before.
Havel silently gazed up at the sky.
He'd collected calamities from both inside the Tower and out.
Yet here it was.
Even if his own calamity hadn't completed transcendence yet.
Divine Duality's calamity surpassed his own.
'Just how many calamities has it devoured?'
And undoubtedly greater than even the Primordial Three Calamities.
Doubt clouded Havel's eyes.
By all accounts, no one but him had cleared the Primordial Three Calamities.
So where had it gathered such might?
"Tch."
He almost laughed at himself for rejoicing over finally transcending calamity.
At the same time, sharpness returned to Havel's gaze.
With a new goal in sight, his resolve hardened.
'No room for complacency.'
It had shown up at just the right time—a perfect opportunity.
'Did Divine Duality meddle to clear this floor on its own?'
No guarantee it wasn't gunning for the Tower too.
"Whisperer, God's Poison, Infester."
Havel turned to their apostles, all conveniently gathered.
They'd all collapsed the moment Divine Duality appeared.
But those three were surely listening through their pawns.
"I don't know what relation you have with that thing."
Havel pointed at Divine Duality, quietly emanating killing intent.
"But if you know something, the first to speak will find me amenable."
Luckily, all three were present.
Some might desire cooperation.
They'd always lurked in the shadows, vague and elusive.
Time to drag them into the light.
"Lidark, wake those guys when they come to and send them off."
Havel addressed Lidark, the only one still compos mentis.
No intent to restart the hostage drama now.
'I'll investigate what happened myself.'
The moment Havel kicked off the ground, light-speed aura cloaked his form.
Once he started running in earnest, he covered the distance in a flash.
The path behind lay in ruins.
But thanks to that, he reached the kingdom in moments.
The kingdom came into Havel's view.
Atop one of its buildings.
Someone stood holding a flag.
Beneath his feet lay the shredded flag of Phileo Kingdom.
In its place fluttered the Tendal Family flag from old Havel City.
"Waaaaah!"
"Long live King Baloorn!"
Beneath him, countless ravenfolk bellowed in charcoal-black, bandaged forms.
They cheered in ecstasy.
Havel eyed the figure hoisting the flag high.
'That's him.'
The true heir of Baldoran Tendal.
Baloorn Tendal.
He'd seized the chance while Havel was away and pulled off the coup.
Havel clicked his tongue.
As Memento Mori intended, he hadn't influenced the floor.
'If the floor's influence wanes, clearing the next one gets trickier.'
Not a welcome development.
Then.
'Hold on.'
Havel's eyes fell on the Star Sword in his grip.
The one dropped after slaying the Night Raven.
This time, he spotted the lingering stairs in the sky.
'Clearing any area, including the 7th Hierarchy, resets the floor to initial state.'
If you hadn't climbed the Tower by then, you'd have to clear it anew.
Especially the 7th Hierarchy—everything done below reflects above.
'In a way, it's a race against time.'
Clear the floor before climbers from below arrive.
That's the baseline.
Fail, and the floor shifts entirely.
Then you clear it fresh.
'But right now?'
The floor was cleared, but stairs remained.
Actions now might still echo upward.
Havel's senses sprang into action.
And one person entered his perception.
Crouched in a building corner.
A woman who flinched and looked up upon sensing Havel.
"Eek! H-heek!"
Puppet Master Merimolly.
She trembled, clutching her puppet.
But Havel paid it no mind, smiling chillingly.
"If there's no crisis, just make one yourself."
Time to tamper with history a bit.