Chapter 103
Chapter 103
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 103
Chapter Title: The Forged Legend of Baloorn
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While the entire Tendarr tribe centered around Baloorn clashed fiercely with the magic giant.
Havel watched the scene from a safe distance away.
"......Is this really okay?"
Then, from beside him.
Elasia, slumped on the ground with an exhausted expression, muttered blankly.
Including Havel, they were all watching a play unfold before them.
A self-scripted drama that Havel himself had orchestrated.
Cast: Havel, Baloorn.
And Merimoli, a member of Memento Mori.
The magic giant down there was none other than Merimoli's creation.
Havel had infused a massive amount of his Calamity into her puppet.
Then, through her puppetry arts, she had brought the magic giant to life.
Thanks to that, Merimoli was still desperately maintaining the puppetry even now.
All to stage Baloorn's bloody battle.
"It's preparation for the next floor."
"I get that, but still......"
Even at Havel's words, Elasia wore a slightly uneasy expression.
During her investigation, she had glimpsed Baloorn's achievements.
He had been utterly desperate to rally the rebel forces.
A man who had poured his entire life into rising for his kingdom.
That was Baloorn Tendarr.
Yet all that effort ended in a staged play.
It felt strangely hard to accept.
"......Hmph."
And Phaiod felt the same way.
In the past, on the 73rd floor, he had grown quite close to Baloorn, the young chief of the Tendarr tribe.
They had sparred against each other to test their skills.
They had even fought together to aid the Tendarr tribesfolk.
The two had witnessed the entire history of the Tendarr's transformation with their own eyes.
Perhaps that's why he had grown deeply attached to the Tendarr tribe.
So he must have hated seeing their lives turned into a fake play.
"Elasia, Phaiod."
Havel called out to the two of them.
The pair turned to look at him.
Seeing their individual convictions, Havel spoke firmly.
"You two are in a very dangerous state right now."
Both showed puzzlement at the same time.
But Owen, standing nearby, nodded in agreement with Havel.
"Don't you get it? Both of you are getting too attached to the Tower."
"......!"
In the previous hierarchies, the Tower was just a perilous place that spawned Calamity beasts.
Climbers fought the Calamity beasts.
Then they battled and defeated the hierarchy's lord to ascend to the next one.
It was a simple loop.
But from the 7th hierarchy onward, things were blatantly different.
Floors 71 and 72 were straightforward—simply meet the conditions and proceed.
However, starting from the 73rd floor, the Calamity beasts gained true intelligence.
They spoke language and had their own lives.
And naturally, climbers got drawn into those lives.
The crows' footsteps always appeared on the next floor without fail.
Climbers watched the crows' growth and failures right beside them.
So they ended up pouring their emotions into it—anger, sorrow, everything.
Elasia and Phaiod both wore stiff expressions.
Just as Havel said, they had become overly immersed in the Tower's inhabitants.
"If you keep letting the Tower steal your heart like that, it'll eat you alive someday."
The moment they cleared a floor, it meant eternal farewell to these people.
A situation where they couldn't accept that could arise eventually.
Havel didn't care.
His human heart had been crushed and shattered long ago.
So he could shake it off easily.
But Elasia and Phaiod were different.
They were people with real hearts.
"If you want to remain human, leave the Tower."
Havel planned to clear the Tower.
"If you want to remain climbers, follow me."
Havel laid out the ultimatum to the two.
They bowed their heads in silence.
At that moment, Havel spotted figures approaching them.
It was none other than Baria, Möbius, and Ridark.
Behind Möbius trailed the monk, the old hag, and the spearman, who had barely regained their senses.
All three looked utterly deathly pale.
"Owen, it's Baria."
"Ah."
When Havel called out to Owen, Owen's eyes widened behind the mask.
Ever since Havel returned, Owen had been fidgeting awkwardly.
He must have been dying to know if Baria was okay.
Once Havel confirmed it, Owen was already dashing off.
Before they knew it, Owen had tossed the mask aside.
Havel was startled watching Owen's retreating figure.
The face inside the mask was completely unexpected.
'Owen's a woman?'
Beneath the mask was a woman of striking beauty.
The moment she leaped down into the forest below, Baria spotted Owen too.
"Lord Baria!"
With a cry, Owen rushed toward Baria.
Baria instinctively reached out and caught her.
Having caught Owen, Baria looked flustered and embarrassed.
He had planned to chew her out the instant he saw her.
But upon actually seeing her, all those words vanished.
"Owen, sorry. You went through hell because of me."
"No, it's fine. I'm just glad you're safe."
At Owen's tearful voice, Baria patted her head.
Havel descended before the pair.
Havel nodded toward Owen at Baria.
Havel knew Owen had been particularly desperate to save Baria.
He had assumed there was some deep bond between them.
But from the current scene, it seemed more than that.
At Havel's gesture, Baria cleared his throat awkwardly.
"......She's my fiancée."
Only then did everything click for Havel.
He fully understood why Owen had gone to such lengths for Baria.
"......Thank you, Lord Havel. Thanks to you, Lord Baria returned safely."
Meanwhile, Owen finally pulled away from Baria and bowed her head.
"I'm sorry for not mentioning it sooner. I thought you'd refuse to bring me along since it was personal feelings."
"I had a vague idea something was up, so it's fine."
Havel said that and looked at Owen.
"You've had it rough."
"......Yes, Lord Havel."
At Havel's words, Owen broke into a bright smile.
Having a fiancée willing to climb the Tower to the end for him.
Baria, you lucky bastard.
Leaving the two behind, Havel turned to Ridark and Möbius.
Möbius was carrying Priest Edler in his hand.
"Feel like talking now?"
Havel had posed questions to each of their masters in advance.
Möbius was the first to lift his head.
"Yes, the Whisperer has agreed to speak with you."
Approval from the Whisperer side.
Soon after, Möbius hoisted Edler up.
Clack!
Edler, teeth chattering, opened his mouth with Möbius's permission.
"God's Venom has also requested a conversation."
God's Venom stepped forward too.
Evidently, the gods' duplicity knew no bounds.
It seemed he could finally sit down with the Calamities' masters.
"Go wait below first. We'll talk after finishing the 7th hierarchy."
Möbius and Edler's roles ended here.
They bowed to Havel.
Havel finally turned to Ridark.
Ridark let out a light sigh before speaking.
"Do you remember what I told you beforehand about the wraith Foldron?"
The wraith sent by the Corroder to block Havel.
Havel nodded.
"If you break even the wraith, then we'll talk."
The last one proposed a wager.
That much confidence, huh.
"Fine, whatever."
He had accounted for one throwing a tantrum.
"But pass this on to the Corroder."
Havel decided to issue one warning.
"Even if they beg for a talk next time, there won't be a chance."
Ridark simply bowed his head.
Memento Mori could go no further.
Clashing with the monster named Havel would mean annihilation.
"May I say one thing?"
When Ridark asked, Havel nodded.
"If you go higher up, you'll face the Five Great Families."
Ridark emphasized that they remember this.
"And if Lord Havel defeats them."
Ridark recalled the family heads, monstrous like wraiths.
"The heads of the Five Great Families will climb the Tower."
To the Five Great Families, the family heads were the final bastion.
If they climbed, the Tower would become a total mess.
Ridark was deliberately withdrawing with that in mind.
"Exactly what I want."
With that, Havel turned away.
Baria followed behind him.
"Owen."
"I have no intention of dragging my fiancée up here and making a fool of myself."
He planned to convince Owen to go down.
Shifting his gaze, Owen was still bowing her head in the distance.
Expressing her gratitude to Havel.
Kuung!
Right on cue, Baloorn struck down the magic giant with his Star Sword.
In front of the crumbling giant, Baloorn let out a triumphant roar.
The other crows joined in chanting his name.
Even if it was a fabricated play, all the crows were focused on Baloorn.
He would become the king of the kingdom to be built ahead.
And that would carry straight over to the 76th floor.
"I'm heading to the 76th floor."
Two people quickly caught up behind him.
Phaiod and Elasia.
"You said you'd climb the 7th hierarchy with us, right?"
Phaiod snorted and stood behind Havel.
"Me? I've always had a soft heart; I was never really charmed by the Tower or anything."
Elasia puffed out her chest as if she'd never wavered.
Both had decided to live on as climbers.
Havel looked up.
Above the cloak draped over his back.
The lion emblem symbolizing Banpellyon fluttered.
As always, Havel gazed only upward.
The 76th floor.
Time to climb more than halfway through the 7th hierarchy.
With the rising message, Havel looked up.
Ever since first hearing that the Five Great Families were tackling the 76th floor.
He had finally entered the 76th floor.
As Havel raised his head, a clear blue sky came into view.
Along with it, vast expanses of plains stretched out.
'Doesn't feel any different.'
On the unchanged plains.
Havel surveyed the utterly ordinary surroundings.
"Baria."
Then Havel called out to Baria.
"Yes, I'll look into it right away."
The Five Great Families were currently stationed on the 76th floor.
Naturally, that included Graiza.
Baria was the youngest of the Graiza family.
That's why they hadn't stepped up aggressively when he was kidnapped by Memento Mori.
Their true forces were already inside the 76th floor.
But that wasn't entirely bad.
Because he could learn Graiza's information through Baria.
Baria opened the Graiza family ledger.
As a direct descendant, he had access to all the intel.
As he quickly scanned the information, he paused and looked up.
"......Lord Havel, the floors have merged."
Hearing that, Havel turned to Baria.
"Floors merged?"
"Originally, the 76th floor was separate from the 77th and 78th. But it seems they've all combined into one."
And then an absurd report came.
'Floor merger.'
Recalling the 6th hierarchy, it wasn't entirely unprecedented.
The entire 6th hierarchy had been one merged floor.
But the implication was simple.
'The Tower's upping the difficulty.'
And Havel knew best whose fault that was.
'The 76th floor has a civilization more advanced than the outside world.'
Havel gazed at the spread-out plains.
No matter how he looked, the plains showed no sign of such advanced civilization.
At that instant, an unexpected sight unfolded before Havel's eyes.
Where the plains had been moments ago, a single crow stood atop it.
The problem was the crow's bizarre form.
It was coated in something like steel, grotesque in shape.
"Armor?"
The moment Havel tilted his head at the crow resembling armor.
"Ah, Lord Havel, this place is a birdcage made to trap climbers!"
As Baria shouted urgently, the steel crow's eyes lit up.
And from those glowing eyes, a straight line of red light shot out.
Kwagagagagagagang!
The entire plain was obliterated.