Chapter 56
Chapter 56
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 56
Chapter Title: Awakening the Sea God
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After gathering all the keys,
Havel arrived on Cloud Cliff Island and immediately handed them over to Granny.
Granny was taken aback upon receiving the massive bundle of keys.
She hadn't expected him to collect this many in such a short time.
But Granny had witnessed Havel's prowess firsthand.
Convinced that if anyone could do it, it was him, she got straight to modifying the keys.
In the meantime, Havel received a message from Penbola.
Penbola said with a slightly aggrieved expression.
Havel did feel a twinge of guilt.
But when it came to obtaining the keys, this reckless approach had been the most effective.
"Penbola, the 6th Hierarchy will be cleared soon."
With that in mind, Havel offered some reassurance.
"I'll bring you along too, so head to Cloud Cliff Island as soon as you're done."
"There's now another way to clear the 6th Hierarchy quickly."
Penbola was puzzled but agreed for now.
Havel wasn't the type to say such things lightly.
Once the call ended, Havel turned his head.
Text was arrayed before his eyes.
Talent had finally completed its transcendence.
And what emerged was Heavenly Mandate.
Havel raised his hand and looked at it.
His aura gradually took on the form of light.
He felt a vivid energy within that light.
His aura was undoubtedly different from before.
Havel glanced at the fruit Ellasia had prepared.
He swung his hand in the shape of a blade toward the fruit.
An apple that should have been sliced the moment it was touched.
Yet the apple didn't crumble in the slightest from its original form.
It retained its shape perfectly.
Havel picked up the apple with his hand.
Even to his eyes, the intact apple seemed uncanny.
'It's like the apple couldn't even perceive that it was being cut.'
Havel set the apple down again.
Then, with a flick of his finger, the apple split cleanly in half with a crisp crack.
It was different.
The very essence of his aura had changed.
Havel shook off his hand, dispelling the aura.
He once again felt just how absurd transcendence was.
And on top of that, he sensed it would continue to grow stronger.
After all, the values kept rising even after transcendence.
'If transcendence reaches four digits, does that mean it gets even stronger from here?'
Havel let out a dry chuckle.
No wonder others treated him like a monster.
The remaining transcendences were Agility and Calamity.
Havel had already transcended Agility.
The sacrifice offered up was Darkness.
This meant every trait he'd gained from the Tower had now been sacrificed.
In other words, to transcend Calamity, he'd need to clear this floor and obtain a new trait.
Havel looked outside.
A sunset sky streaked with drifting clouds came into view.
It was finally time to end the 6th Hierarchy and ascend.
Three days passed, and Agility's transcendence was now imminent.
"It's all done now."
Granny had finally finished modifying the keys.
She had received nearly a hundred keys originally.
But now, she held just one.
A key shrouded in a dark, black sheen.
It exuded an ominous aura just by looking at it.
Havel took the key from Granny.
This special key could turn the island's lord into a mutated variant.
With it, he could fill his Calamity in one go and surpass the 6th Hierarchy.
"If you use this to awaken the island's lord, something utterly ridiculous will happen."
Even though she'd made it herself, Granny eyed the key with dread.
Her expression was like she'd beheld a walking disaster incarnate.
"Think you can handle it? I can't gauge just how strong you are."
To Granny, Havel was a calamity.
No human sense could measure the scale of such a calamity.
Thus, she couldn't tell if he could handle the mutated variant born from merging a hundred keys.
"Nothing I can't handle. I've faced worse."
Havel could clearly sense the Calamity aura from the key.
It was indeed an immense amount, enough to make Granny speak like that.
But he'd encountered even greater threats in the Demonic Palace.
Like the lord of the 7th layer, for instance.
"If you say so, then it must be true. If even you can't manage it, no one left in the Tower can conquer it."
Granny said no more and left to rest.
In the interim, Havel turned to Baria and Moebius.
They had returned to follow him immediately after finishing up on Wind Valley Island.
And beside them stood the former priest, Edler.
Or more accurately, what was once Edler.
Moebius, apostle of the God's Poison, had extracted his soul.
And sealed it within a skull larger than its body.
Clatter―.
The creature could only express itself if Moebius permitted it.
So Edler could do nothing but rattle.
"Where's Penbola?"
"He'll arrive shortly."
Baria answered promptly.
"Come once he gets here. I'll be heading to the Island of Roars."
The mutated variant from a hundred keys was beyond what they could handle.
Havel planned to fight it alone, hence his words.
"I wanna go too!"
Azaris shot his hand up, but his plea was ignored.
It was obvious he'd just die in vain.
"From the 7th Hierarchy on, golden generation or not, I'm planning to charge straight through."
Thanks to this incident, Havel and Banpellyon's name had spread even in the 6th Hierarchy.
By now, countless people outside the Tower were likely talking about them.
But it still wasn't enough.
To return Banpellyon to its peak, he needed to spread the name even further.
And conquering the 6th Hierarchy would do just that.
The whole world would hear Banpellyon's name and be shocked.
"So only those who can keep up should follow."
That had been the deal with Moebius from the start.
They'd follow as best they could.
Separate from that, the golden generation alliance was only up to the 6th Hierarchy.
'The golden generation was quite useful for spreading the name.'
The golden generation was centered around direct heirs from the Five Great Families.
As such, their names naturally rose and fell among the nobility.
In a way, they were the next generation to carry the world forward.
It was common knowledge that direct heirs of the Five Great Families possessed exceptional talent.
But Havel had displayed overwhelming power beyond even them.
Of course, the impact was on another level entirely.
Countless from families including August and Selentia had witnessed Havel.
And they knew he belonged to Banpellyon.
So what direction would they take?
Would they antagonize Banpellyon, where Havel belonged?
Or pursue alliance?
'Those eyeing the top seat will want to join Banpellyon.'
Deep-rooted trees would block the sunlight, preventing new sprouts from growing.
Havel left Cloud Cliff Island.
Then leisurely walked across the milky sea.
"Time to prune some branches."
If Havel cleared the 6th Hierarchy this time, even common citizens would learn of it.
That a new wind was raging fiercely within the Tower.
In other words, the situation the Five Great Families—who craved the status quo—feared most would arrive.
'And that means.'
The Five Great Families would fully intervene in the Tower.
They'd been dragging their feet, worried the Tower's difficulty would rise.
Now that someone had disrupted the Tower's balance,
they no longer needed to send sidelined direct heirs.
'It means the families' true elites will climb the Tower.'
The world was changing.
Because of him alone.
And unknown entities were revealing themselves.
The world needed to shake with revolution.
"Feels like it was like this during the Unification War era too."
Havel muttered to himself, scratching the back of his neck.
When the Unified Empire Arhan was founded, the world had changed dramatically.
But the hard-won peace hadn't lasted long.
New problems arose as the world shifted.
The prime example being the Calamities.
'If we wipe out all the Calamities, will peace return once more?'
Regrettably, Havel didn't think so.
Before long, he set foot on the island he'd reached.
The island where countless Calamity spawn fought and killed each other to determine the strongest.
Island of Solitude.
But as the true beast descended upon it, the island fell silent.
No Calamity spawn appeared before Havel as he passed.
They knew their squabbles were pathetic in his presence.
'Because of Heavenly Mandate?'
To think even Calamity spawn would shun him.
He felt himself drifting further from humanity.
Thanks to that, though, Havel entered the island's interior unhindered.
Soon enough, he found the keyhole.
Now that he looked, the island seemed like a Calamity spawn egg.
The keys provided nutrients to hatch it.
'By that logic, the entire floor could be seen as an egg.'
The sea was the amniotic fluid enveloping the fetus.
The islands were nutrients seeping into the fluid.
And the Tower would birth the fetus, opening the 7th Hierarchy.
With that impression, Havel inserted the key into the keyhole.
"Whatever it is, heading up will reveal the answer."
It was the same simple solution from his Demonic Palace days.
The answer lies above.
Click!
The fitted key locked into place inside.
At that moment, the surroundings rumbled with a deep boom.
The earthquake was even more intense than when Yongjeon had appeared recently.
Havel's gaze slowly shifted beyond the island.
Something that shouldn't emerge was appearing at the horizon's edge.
"Can't handle whatever comes from this island. So this is it."
Havel kicked off the ground and leaped into the air.
Upon reaching the sky, he kicked off the heavens themselves this time.
Amid the rushing wind, a pitch-black sea appeared far below.
The sea, milky just moments ago, now looked utterly foreboding.
Kaboom! Roooaaar!
Thunder and rain roared simultaneously.
Waves surged amid the downpour, crashing fiercely.
Within those waves, a vortex began to form slowly.
A whirlpool with currents that could swallow even a massive warship whole.
The sight alone made one's legs go weak.
Through the pouring rain, Havel's eyes fixed on the vortex's center.
Roooaaar!
At that instant, something pushed through the waters and began rising.
First came three heads, each grotesquely distinct.
One evoked a shark.
Another, an orca.
The last, an octopus.
Beneath those disparate heads,
a body that reached from the seafloor gleamed.
Webbed feet and protruding turquoise scales.
A massive whale tail rising from its hips.
And finally, the enormous trident in its grasp.
A Calamity spawn with the form of a god from myth.
The moment it appeared, the sea's aura shifted in an instant.
Waves grew to the size of houses,
and the Calamity spawn visible beneath thrashed madly.
This undeniable presence.
Havel sensed it.
This one would surely suffice.
At that moment, the Calamity spawn's three heads turned toward Havel.
"―――――――!"
It seemed to be a sound beyond human hearing.
Havel felt the air tremble.
A smile crept across his lips.
"You'll be more than enough to test Heavenly Mandate."
Sea God
6th Hierarchy
The battle for the 6th Hierarchy had begun.