Chapter 59
Chapter 59
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 59
Chapter Title: Memento Mori
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Amidst the swarm of massive crows pouring down from above.
Havel's feet shifted.
His agility had now reached light speed.
No matter how fast the crows were, they couldn't keep up with him.
Thanks to that, Havel effortlessly dodged the relentless barrage of crows.
'Guess I should check out the other floating islands.'
With a light leap, Havel soared into the air.
The crows immediately zeroed in on him now that he had no cover.
"Caw!"
Even as they shot toward him like arrows with their beaks and talons, Havel remained utterly relaxed.
He even used their heads and bodies as stepping stones to move even more easily.
And just like that, he reached the other floating islands.
"Man, what a racket."
As soon as Havel landed on a floating island, the crows wheeled overhead in circles.
To them, these islands were like nests.
They clearly didn't like him messing with their homes.
'The real issue is how to climb to the next stratum.'
Havel pondered deeply as he toured the islands.
No one had ever climbed the 7th Stratum.
Which meant he had virtually no information to work with.
He'd have to discover everything from the ground up.
Strategies for each stratum. Maps to the next one.
Havel would have to blaze the trail himself.
"Hmm."
He stopped walking and crossed his arms.
Just as the 6th Stratum had been absurdly vast—a thousand islands, after all—this 7th Stratum seemed enormous too.
'And there might even be solid ground beneath these floating islands.'
Going down would be easy, but climbing back up? A hassle.
'Back in the Demonic Palace, there was no way out, and I was alone, so I pioneered it all myself.'
But thinking it over, did he really need to push so hard into the 7th Stratum?
"The most important thing in the Tower is being the first to reach the next stratum."
Climbing one floor at a time offered no real edge.
That realization hit him—he'd been thinking about it wrong.
'Kinda embarrassing.'
Of course he'd take down the Tower's Calamity lord himself.
But there was no need for him to personally scout or search.
Havel scratched the back of his head.
Come to think of it, with no one around to see, how was he supposed to spread the Banpellyon name?
The world didn't even know he'd cleared the Demonic Palace.
"Short-sighted of me."
Havel turned around.
He came up with a way to climb the Tower more easily—and make his presence known for sure.
It was simple.
Just wait until others had roughly climbed and conquered the Tower.
Then snatch their conquest info and blitz upward.
A wicked smile curled on Havel's lips.
"No need to suffer alone anymore. Why was I even planning to grind it out myself?"
The spark to climb the Tower was already lit.
Now it was time to use it.
A huge number of people would surely head up.
He could just wait leisurely, like a lion stalking prey.
That's exactly how he'd climbed so far.
As expected of a former family head.
His brain spun fast when there were gains to be had.
"Alright then."
Without hesitation, Havel descended the Tower.
"Time to wait it out."
While everyone chased after Havel and climbed the Tower.
The man himself had come back down to wait.
It was a bizarre situation—one the leading climbers would never dream of.
Something only Havel could conceive.
He was glad there was no stiff-necked fool like Dante around this time.
Having dashed outside, Havel headed down to Babel.
The sunset sky was growing dim.
He could see shops bustling as they prepared dinner.
They looked incredibly peaceful.
Of course they did.
The top climbers were all racing into the 7th Stratum.
Word of the 6th Stratum conquest hadn't spread below yet.
By tomorrow, the news would explode everywhere, causing total chaos.
The very source of that chaos, Havel, leisurely made his way to an inn room.
He really intended to wait until the climbers gathered intel on the 7th Stratum.
'First, sell what needs selling and hand some over to Arthur.'
If word reached Arthur's side, plenty of people would come seeking the Banpellyon family.
So before that, Arthur needed to show he wasn't outmatched in wealth.
'Plus, the Beltella Merchant Group seems to be growing nicely.'
Havel nodded in satisfaction at how the group had expanded lately.
His eye for talent hadn't failed him.
Creeeak—
That was when he pushed open the inn door.
"Fucking idiots forcing me to climb the damn Tower."
The moment he opened the door, curses and commotion erupted from inside.
Havel turned to look.
There sat a man.
Spiky jet-black hair down to his waist. Venomous eyes.
A tiger tattoo and swarthy skin.
He looked every bit the savage barbarian.
He was shoveling fried rice with voracious abandon.
And from the look of the pile of empty plates beside him, it wasn't his first dish.
"Innkeep! Next food—when?!"
"Y-yes, coming right up!"
The innkeep scurried over with a flustered expression.
Havel watched for a moment, then took a seat.
A young server approached.
"Sir, ready to order?"
"Room first. Need one for over a month."
"Room 203 is free. We'll settle monthly—1 gold."
Havel handed over the gold.
While the server fetched the key, he picked some food.
Vegetable soup and roasted chicken.
'Might as well gather info on the Calamity lord while I'm at it.'
It'd take climbers at least three months to conquer the 7th Stratum.
Havel mulled over ways to collect information in the meantime.
Then a good idea struck.
There were Calamities besides the Tower.
What if he toured those for the next three months?
'Not bad.'
Havel had only ever entered the Primordial Three Calamities.
Hitting the regular ones might yield something useful.
Decision made, he looked up.
The innkeep was just then bringing the vegetable soup and roasted chicken.
Time to eat.
"Hey, where you taking that."
"S-sir?"
It happened in that instant.
The barbarian suddenly shot out a hand, blocking the innkeep—and snatched the vegetable soup and roasted chicken.
"Bring more of what I ordered."
"Sir, that's another customer's..."
"Shut it. Got a problem, tell 'em to come complain."
"I'm here."
The barbarian was yelling at the innkeep.
He whipped his head around at the voice from behind.
Havel stood there, his face darkening.
Boom!
His face twisted in agony as the chair exploded into splinters. The barbarian slammed headfirst into the floor, embedding so deep his head punched through to the ground below. He stood there vertically.
Havel brushed off his hands.
"Eat your own shit—why swipe someone else's?"
He snatched the barbarian's overturned coin pouch.
Then tossed it to the dazed innkeep.
"Innkeep, this covers his bill and the floor repair."
"Y-yes, sir."
The innkeep mumbled blankly, and Havel grabbed the eye-rolled barbarian by the ankle, dragged him out, and chucked him outside.
Pedestrians blinked at the barbarian tumbling across the ground but soon shrugged it off.
Just another bar brawl.
Havel glanced at the now-quiet inn first floor and fetched his food.
He pulled out chopsticks and sat down.
Meal time. ◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ The barbarian who'd been embedded in the floor got tossed out front of the inn.
He came to five hours later.
"Argh!"
With a scream, he bolted upright, eyes snapping wide.
Then his body shuddered from the searing pain in his head.
"F-fuck... what the hell."
"Awake?"
As he clutched his head with a groan, a familiar voice made him jerk his head up.
There stood a tall woman in a wide-brimmed hat and form-fitting clothes.
She lounged midair on her staff, her blue hair gleaming.
"Typical barbarian—crashing on the dirt like that. What gives?"
"...I was sleeping?"
Barutuga muttered blankly at her words.
A quick look around: this seemed to be some inn room.
The window showed night had fallen, stars in the sky.
"Yeah, flat on your back like a starfish on the ground."
She twirled a lock of her blue side hair as she spoke.
Barutuga felt his head throb.
Something was off.
His memory cut off at some point.
He remembered eating at the inn.
Blank after that.
'Pretty sure I saw something pure white.'
Seen a ghost in his sleep or what?
"You delayed our departure. Slept so deep I couldn't wake you."
"Tch, people need sleep sometimes. Quit bitching."
Barutuga grumbled, scowling.
At least he remembered why he'd come to Babel.
Damn fools breaking rules and climbing the Tower.
"Here."
She tossed him a black rod.
The moment Barutuga caught it, his demeanor shifted.
Calamity began to emanate from his body.
"Phew. Now you look human."
His eyes sharpened like a seal had broken.
"Human? You monkey-faced freak."
"Watch it or I'll rip that mouth off."
She giggled as the barbarian shrank the rod to palm-sized.
"So, dug up anything on this Havel guy?"
Barutuga asked, and she raised her hand.
A sheet of paper appeared in her grip.
"Not much. Banpellyon mercenary. Suddenly shot to fame climbing the Tower. Pathetically little info."
"Sudden risers are always like that."
"Got a theory. What if the Five Great Families cooked him up on purpose?"
She showed him the paper.
"Way too many ties to their direct heirs."
"Hah. So the rotten bastards are finally eyeing the Tower."
He scowled in disgust.
"Let's go."
"You slept it off—now we go?"
"You don't even need sleep. How long since last time?"
"Three months."
She shrugged, accustomed to sleeplessness.
She erased the paper and added,
"Oh, Polantia's Foldron muttered something odd."
"The ghost geezer?"
Barutuga turned to her with a stiff expression.
"Heard the name Havel and mumbled 'Sword Saint' or whatever."
"Sword Saint? You mean Glasis's head? Probably senile again. Guy's loopy."
"True."
"So the ghost geezer's really coming?"
"Dunno. If we can't handle it, the Armed King'll send someone."
She floated up on her staff and opened the window.
Barutuga stepped onto the sill and spoke.
"Goal: kill this Havel punk, renegotiate with the Five Great Families, and..."
"Make damn sure they never climb the Tower again. Let 'em know who we are."
Reconfirming, a voracious grin spread on the barbarian's face.
"Memento Mori's time."
The underworld's reapers began their ascent of the Tower.
But they had no idea.
Havel was next door, sleeping soundly in bed.
Oblivious to the bump on his forehead's origin, the barbarian headed for the Tower.