Chapter 58
Chapter 58
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 58
Chapter Title: The Crow Era
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[Achievement: 'Slayer of the Mutated Sea God, Master of the 6th Hierarchy' has been registered.] ⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [The Sea God's Calamity seeps into your body.] [Water Qi settles into your body.] [The Tower will monitor your actions daily.] — Strength has increased by 120.
— Agility has increased by 123.
— Endurance has increased by 125.
— Talent has increased by 109.
— Technique has increased by 110.
— Calamity has increased by 101.
Havel gazed at the lines of text arrayed before his eyes.
The rises were an average of three digits each.
Indeed, around the 6th hierarchy, the amount of Calamity absorbed was no joke. ⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [Your existence becomes more solidified.] [The Serpent of Wisdom has reached the second tree root.] At the same time, the familiar text from before appeared once more.
'Maybe I should casually ask Moebius or Edler about it.'
The Whisperer or that God of Poison might cough up some decent info.
There was still plenty he wanted to ask them.
He'd squeeze them for all they were worth while he could.
And finally, the thing he'd been waiting for had wrapped up. ⚔ STATUS ⚔ 💨 Agility has completed transcendence. 💨 Agility transcends to a new stage. 💨 Lightspeed transcendence completed. Havel lightly stepped forward on the sea's surface.
In that instant, his figure vanished along with the extension of his leg.
Not even a whisper of wind remained; when the vanished Havel came to a stop.
He was already at the foot of the stairs descending from the sky.
Fast.
Impossibly faster than before—beyond any comparison.
"So that's why they call it lightspeed."
With this, he'd completed every transcendence possible right now.
The remaining ones were Technique and Calamity.
Calamity was still a long way from hitting four digits. ⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [Technique has surpassed 1000.] [One acquired attribute will be consumed for Technique's transcendence.] Target: Water Qi [Technique transcendence begins.] [99 hours, 59 minutes, 59 seconds until Technique transcendence.] Right on cue, Technique had broken through a thousand and started its transcendence.
Technique, one of the trickier stats alongside Talent.
He was curious what its transcendence would bring.
'Now it's really just Calamity left.'
If he even transcended Calamity, just how strong would he become?
The end of this unknowable, infinite value... where could it possibly be?
Havel had no idea.
But he knew exactly what he had to do.
Climb the Tower and rebuild Banpellyon.
That singular resolve.
So Havel set foot on the stairs.
And with each step, the horizon widened.
In the distance, ships were starting to swarm toward them.
The conquerors on the island had realized the hierarchy was cleared.
After a hierarchy clears, the stairs linger for quite a while.
That's why this was happening.
They were rushing to catch up before the stairs vanished.
Moebius, Baria, and Penbola were probably among them.
Havel ascended the stairs reaching the heavens, leaving them all far below.
And the moment he reached the top.
A voice rang in Havel's ears. ⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [Please name the first climber to pass the 7th hierarchy.] It was similar to what he'd experienced in the Demonic Palace.
In response, Havel opened his mouth.
"Banpellyon affiliate, Havel."
And the instant he declared himself Banpellyon.
Bam-bam-pa-ram!
Fanfare blared from somewhere, and fireworks erupted across the entire Tower.
The fireworks filled the skies over the whole Tower.
Countless people within the Tower stared in stunned silence.
The fireworks painting the heavens were dazzling beyond words.
And this was a result not seen in years.
"Who... who cleared the 6th hierarchy?"
"A new era! A new era has dawned in the Tower!"
"Crazy, let's climb now! From here on, the first to ascend reshapes the era!"
Climbers across the Tower boiled over with excitement.
Until now, the Tower had been at a standstill for various reasons.
But today, it finally began operating in earnest for the first time.
That fact reignited the flames in the climbers' hearts.
The adventurous spirit to one day conquer the Tower and claim all its honor and wealth.
And that fire spread to others.
"He actually... climbed the Tower."
Daslan August, third son of the August family, who had sailed over, stared blankly up at it.
From the moment chaos erupted in the 6th hierarchy.
He'd suspected it was Havel's doing.
And the moment the sea calmed, he'd rushed toward the commotion.
Sure enough, Havel had cleared the 6th hierarchy.
Daslan listened to the signal flares blaring urgently.
His family was contacting him, demanding to know what was happening.
The other families inside the Tower were probably the same.
Daslan slowly swept back his ash-gray hair.
"Penbola."
Penbola August was on the ship beside him.
"The Tower's situation has completely changed now. Word of that guy has reached not just the Five Great Families, but every family. Now the real heavyweights will climb."
The covert operations of the families, including the Five Great Families.
The unspoken rule: hierarchy masters wouldn't climb to keep difficulties in check.
That code had held for ages.
But Havel's appearance had shattered it completely.
His entry had thrown the Tower's balance into chaos.
And though Daslan didn't know it.
Even the shadowy group Memento Mori that the Five Great Families dealt with.
The Tower had entered an age of upheaval.
"Can you handle it?"
The Tower would be engulfed in a full storm.
Could a ship withstand sinking in that gale? he asked.
Hearing the question, Penbola looked up at the stairs.
Already, countless people were competing to climb them below.
"One who fears shipwreck never launches into the sea and thus never sees the wide world."
Penbola said as much and unfurled the sails.
"Sailing through storms is a captain's skill. The Golden Generation heads to the 7th hierarchy."
Hearing his firm resolve, Daslan let his swept-back hair fall.
"The youngest dreams big."
At the same time, the August vanguard ship's sails billowed.
The wind from behind pushed the two ships forward.
"I don't see this as a time for rivalry. Even among my brothers, some could come, or maybe Father himself."
He said, looking at Penbola.
"What do you say? Team up with one of the Five Great Families?"
Daslan stopped treating Penbola lightly.
Now was the time to chase Havel, the Tower's top rival.
To lead among the Five Great Families, time was of the essence.
Just then, commotion erupted below their ships.
"Baria?"
Looking down, Penbola saw Baria Graiza and Moebius's group.
"We're going together!"
At that moment, Azaris Ignor leaped aboard Moebius's ghost ship.
"Take me too!"
And unexpectedly, another figure appeared.
It was none other than Elasia Selentia, Havel's guide.
She had broken from the Selentia ship and boarded the Golden Generation's lead vessel.
Then followed Baria's group.
"That lady might be in danger?"
When a crewman warned her, she straightened her back.
"I endured being carried by Lord Havel. What's dangerous about this? Besides, I've formally allied with Banpellyon."
Hearing that, everyone turned to her in shock.
No one expected she'd already negotiated directly with Banpellyon.
"Elasia Selentia, daughter of Selentia, the first family to ally with Banpellyon. Naturally, I must follow Lord Havel."
She was openly staking her claim.
For once, Baria envied that her family wasn't one of the Five Greats.
Even direct lineage in a Five Great Family meant too much bulk.
Mobilizing was inevitably sluggish, no matter what.
That must be why even Penbola had broken away from his.
Baria looked up at Penbola on the Golden Generation ship and gave a wry smile.
"Sorry, Penbola. We're going separately. A group the size of the Golden Generation can't keep up with Lord Havel."
It was as good as declaring he'd left the Golden Generation.
"We might be enemies next time we meet."
Penbola let out a hearty laugh at Baria's parting words.
Who'd have thought Baria would move so aggressively?
Well, given the situation.
He wouldn't want to let Havel slip away either.
Anyone sticking by him seemed destined for the history books.
For his family's sake, Baria would chase him.
"Watch yourself."
The Tower was now utterly uncharted.
As Penbola advised, Baria nodded.
Clack-clack.
The skull infused with Edler's soul on the ghost ship chattered its teeth.
At that signal, the ghost ship surged forward in an instant.
At the same time, across the entire Tower, up in the skies.
Golden letters began to engrave themselves. ⚡ TOWER ANNOUNCEMENT ⚡ [Year 101, Month 6, Day 21, 18:43:21] [The 6th hierarchy has been cleared.] [Banpellyon affiliate, Havel] A name no one would ever forget.
And outside the Tower, to monsters transcending time itself.
A name they could never forget for life.
Echoed across the world once more. ◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ ⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [Achievement: 'First to Enter the 7th Hierarchy' has been registered.] With the emerging text, Havel slowly opened his eyes.
Passing straight through the 70th floor safe zone into the 7th hierarchy.
The 7th hierarchy was completely uncharted territory.
No one—not him, not anyone in the world—had ever set foot here.
So Havel carefully surveyed his surroundings.
Just like when he'd cleared a floor in the Demonic Palace and moved to the next.
He cautiously took stock.
Caw—caw—.
In that moment, crow caws echoed.
Havel looked up to see a flock of pitch-black crows passing overhead.
An immense number, enough to blanket the sky.
They flew diligently toward the sunset horizon.
Looking around, black trees dotted the landscape here and there.
Curiously, the trees were etched with crow motifs in rows.
Like some kind of symbols.
Havel began walking slowly between the trees.
'Terrain's just standard mountains.'
Mountainous terrain with dense black trees and growing grass.
Oddly, the grass resembled ancient ferns found only in fossils.
It felt like the era itself had reverted to a distant primordial age.
'Oxygen saturation feels high too.'
As he sensed the starkly different atmosphere from the 6th hierarchy.
Havel's foot came to an abrupt halt.
More precisely, it had to.
There was nothing to step on ahead of his foot.
Roooaaar!
Waterfall waters poured from somewhere, roaring.
The moment Havel's gaze followed the sound.
An utterly unexpected sight unfolded.
Countless clouds spread beneath Havel's feet.
Peering through them were landmasses.
Vast lands pieced together from all sorts of things.
Those lands floated in the sky.
Caw!
Another crow cry resounded.
Havel whipped his head around.
There sat a crow of absurd size.
Perched like a nest atop a floating island the size of a small isle.
Looking closer, its features differed markedly from a regular crow.
The cry was the same, but it exuded a more grotesque, primal aura.
Especially the teeth sprouting from its beak.
"Don't tell me each island is a nest."
Havel realized belatedly.
Including the land he stood on, these were all that crow's nests.
The crows flying high had seemed small from afar, size unguessable.
But they were surely the same scale as this one.
Havel let out a hollow chuckle.
Who'd have thought a hierarchy past the mid-layers would pull out all the stops.
A realm on a whole other level had appeared.
Flutter-flap!
At the same time, pitch-black crows began gathering above Havel's head.
Monsters casting shadows over islands had spotted him.
Caw!
They cried out in unison, as if communicating.
Black feathers scattered as the crows poured down.
"Oh, come on."
7th Hierarchy
Crow Era
Time for one hell of an initiation ceremony.