Chapter 136
Chapter 136
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 136
Chapter Title: Chapter 136
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 136
Chapter Title: The First to Enter the 8th Hierarchy
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While Havel climbed the Tower once more and stepped away,
Massive changes swept through Banpellyon.
The one driving those changes was the family head, Arthur.
The war between Banpellyon and Glasis—a conflict personally observed by the heads of the Five Great Families.
This was a war they absolutely could not afford to lose, one that put their very families on the line.
With Banpellyon emerging victorious,
The ripple effects were monumental.
Arthur made full use of that momentum.
Not only did he boldly promote Banpellyon's surging reputation,
he also spread tales among the common folk of the hardships Glasis had inflicted on Banpellyon in the past, amplifying the family's name even further.
Banpellyon's tale of vengeance captivated not just ordinary citizens, but even the nobles.
The Five Great Families had held power for ages, gradually building resentment among the people.
Those harboring grudges erupted in fervor at the news of a fallen house avenging itself against one of those great families.
As a result, Banpellyon's prestige skyrocketed.
Prestige meant power for a family.
Without a moment's hesitation, Arthur began squeezing Glasis dry.
Of course, Glasis tried to thrash about in resistance.
But the tide had already turned against them.
With their own family head publicly admitting defeat,
Glasis had no choice but to accept the outcome.
In the end, they were forced to surrender much of what they had.
Among those losses was the heritage they had stolen from Banpellyon.
Arthur aggressively reclaimed every last piece of Banpellyon's legacy from them.
He scoured their ledgers meticulously, leaving nothing behind.
Having lost both their prestige and their wealth,
Glasis fell into utter despondency.
Arthur immediately funneled the recovered assets into investments.
Particularly, he focused on expanding the knight order.
The knights, who had grown somewhat through a month of hellish training with Havel,
now received support in the form of knight academies and various systems and facilities.
Then, an old man appeared out of nowhere and began instructing the knights.
"I knew that Sword Saint fellow a bit."
He said this casually, a mana leaf clenched between his teeth, dragging a wooden sword behind him.
He also carried a single note scribbled by Havel.
It stated that the man was skilled and could be entrusted with the task.
'If it's Havel's wish.'
The subtle affection the old man held for Havel fueled the guess that he was the former Sword Saint.
Though Arthur kept that suspicion buried deep and never voiced it,
in his heart, Havel had already grown larger than even the Sword Saint.
To Arthur now, it didn't matter who the man was.
He was Banpellyon's eternal benefactor, regardless.
Thus, Arthur welcomed Ron Arfold with open arms.
The knight order began growing at an unbelievable pace.
"A-Argh!"
"I'm dying. I'm gonna die. Today, I'm done for."
"Tch, tch, you lot. Compared to that kid back then, you're still miles away. Miles."
Screams and wails echoed from the training grounds every day,
but their skills improved beyond recognition, day by day.
Ron Arfold's teachings were the real deal.
A few from the Dawn Knights even tried to flee midway,
but Ron dragged every last one back for more training.
"Gotta do something in my old age. My one good disciple finally returns, and I got nothin' to show for it."
He always puffed on his mana leaf as if it might be his last,
yet never missed a single day of training them.
Under his guidance, the Dawn Knights gradually reclaimed their former glory.
Arthur felt a surge of deep emotion.
And he knew exactly who to thank for all of it.
'Havel.'
The one climbing the Tower right now.
Arthur gazed toward the Tower and clenched his fist.
'I'll restore Banpellyon to its former peak, no matter what.'
That was his way of repaying the debt.
Banpellyon, once fallen into ruin,
was now shedding its disgrace and transforming into a true lion.
As the letters appeared, Havel slowly raised his head.
In that moment, his eyes beheld a sky embroidered with stars.
Perhaps because the dark heavens were filled with them,
the horizon's edge below glowed with an emerald light.
It was a sky truly deserving of the word "beautiful."
Havel slowly lowered his head.
Beneath it stretched an endless plain, swaying in the wind.
The plain's colors were as peculiar as the sky's—
an array of hues close to pastel tones.
Yet they blended together with stunning naturalness.
At the same time, Havel touched his neck.
He exhaled softly.
Despite the biting cold, no breath mist escaped his lips.
'No atmosphere.'
Realizing too late there was no oxygen, Havel turned around.
"Elashiya."
Even as he spoke, the vacuum swallowed his voice.
Fortunately, the other three had noticed as well.
Elashiya was the first to act successfully.
It took her just over ten seconds.
She barely managed to stop the oxygen in her blood from draining out through her vacuum-exposed lungs.
A moment longer, and the deoxygenated blood would have reached her brain,
knocking her out and leading to suffocation.
Phayod and Baria, meanwhile, wrapped their bodies in aura.
This protected their flesh from the vacuum's effects.
But it wouldn't hold forever.
Soon, their remaining bodily oxygen would run out, and they'd suffocate.
Havel tapped Elashiya on the shoulder.
She had already conjured oxygen and air, so she could breathe freely.
Pointing to the other two, she immediately cast the same spell on them.
Without a high-ranking mage like her, they would have died.
But even so, proper conversation was impossible.
With no choice, Elashiya cast one more spell.
This one created an atmospheric field around her immediate vicinity.
"Phew, thought I was a goner."
After Elashiya generated the air,
Phayod finally spoke, relief washing over him.
He shuddered at the horror of nearly dying the instant they entered the Tower.
"Was Lord Havel alright?"
"No issues."
Unlike him, Havel was completely fine.
His body was far removed from anything human to begin with.
He wouldn't die from a shredded heart,
so a lack of air now wouldn't kill him either.
That said, Havel sensed something off regardless.
His energy sense could extend beyond the horizon.
Yet within that spread,
'Nothing.'
There was simply nothing to feel.
The 8th Hierarchy.
A halted world.
This was a realm frozen forever in stasis.
Thud—thud—.
Footsteps that shouldn't echo in this place resounded through the 8th Hierarchy.
Their owner was none other than Havel's group.
"Ain't it way too empty?"
Phayod grumbled boredly, glancing around.
As he said, there was truly nothing nearby.
Just the endless plain and sky.
Havel's group wandered aimlessly through it.
"We gonna find answers just by walkin' like this?"
"Then what, sit still and hope for enlightenment?"
Elashiya shot back sharply at Phayod's complaint.
He flinched and averted his eyes.
He was just venting frustration at the emptiness.
There was no better option, as Elashiya implied.
"It's strangely barren of any useful info.
Even knowing the clear conditions would help."
Baria scanned the surroundings with a puzzled frown.
They'd been trudging across the empty plain for an hour now.
Even he was starting to feel frustrated.
"Lord Havel."
Baria called out.
Havel, who had been walking silently, came to an abrupt stop.
"Yeah."
They'd walked enough.
Time to try something else.
"We run."
"Pardon?"
The moment Baria questioned it, Havel tapped the ground with his front paw.
All three realized he meant it.
They quietly stepped aside.
They knew what happened when Havel ran for real.
"Going ahead."
Havel warned them, then thrust his front paw forward.
Boom!
The instant his paw hit the ground, his figure blurred and scattered.
The plain shattered in his wake as he rocketed forward.
Thanks to lightspeed, his pace was absurdly fast.
Even so, his energy sense diligently swept the area.
Searching for anything at all in this hierarchy.
The moment it fanned out in all directions—
Boom!
Havel slammed his paw down and halted abruptly.
He immediately spun around, staring in one direction.
There stood a row of massive buildings.
A city, utterly unlike the plain.
Its scale looked immense even at a glance.
'Seems bigger than Babel.'
Havel headed straight for the city.
Near the entrance, he spotted a sign reading "Zone 13."
'Divided into zones, then.'
Countless buildings filled a highly developed urban sprawl.
The civilization appeared far more advanced than the outside world.
Streetlights lined the avenues, packed with roads and transport systems.
Rows of street trees led to a distant park,
but no signs of life emanated from anywhere.
It was an empty ghost town.
'Eerie.'
Havel also noticed a transparent barrier enveloping the city.
A thin membrane invisible without aura.
He tested it with a light touch.
It rippled like water.
'Maintaining atmosphere inside, then.'
Judging so, Havel pushed harder this time.
His hand slipped right through into the interior.
"Hm?"
He examined his intruding hand briefly.
It seemed perfectly fine.
No reason not to enter, then.
Havel shoved his remaining body through the barrier.
Splash—.
Like emerging from water, the moment he passed through,
Havel felt sunlight pouring from above.
He squinted up at the sky.
Just moments ago, it had been a star-studded night.
Now, the sun blazed overhead.
Raising a hand to shield his eyes, Havel paused.
His hand was bizarrely small.
"Huh?"
He clenched and unclenched his tiny fist.
Undeniably a child's hand.
With a stiffened expression, Havel turned his head.
His reflection gleamed in nearby glass.
There stood a very young boy.
His own childhood self, a face he'd long forgotten.
Havel blinked.
"Heh..."
He'd entered the Tower, and somehow ended up rejuvenated.
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