Chapter 70
Chapter 70
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 70
Chapter Title: Master of the 72nd Floor: Crow Origin
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A few seconds after the light of dawn faded.
Gradually, everyone's vision began to return.
Under the dawn sky of early morning.
The first one illuminated was the unconscious Artein.
There wasn't a single wound on his body.
However, his mind had been cleanly severed thanks to Havel's transcendent technique.
It would take at least a few days for him to regain his senses.
Leaving him like that, Havel sheathed his sword at his waist.
Even though the Meteor Sword had clearly pierced right through him moments ago.
Havel appeared utterly unharmed.
"Ah, Lord Artein!"
Morris, who had belatedly snapped out of it, rushed toward Artein.
Watching him, Havel shot Pyod a displeased glance.
"Even after I gave you all that time, you still couldn't take him down?"
"Wh-what do you mean 'gave me time'! After stirring up all that chaos!"
It had been a massive battle on a scale that could easily sweep up the nearby fighters.
Naturally, Pyod hadn't had a moment to tangle with the Meteor Knights' 2nd Division.
"You should've handled it yourself."
But Havel's response was utterly nonchalant.
Pyod was burning with rage at the sight, yet he couldn't muster a word.
The battle they'd just witnessed was on a whole other level, even for him.
And that sparked something in him.
A burning resolve to become a powerhouse like that himself.
The innate warrior spirit of the Freyan tribe had been ignited.
Havel glanced at him and turned away.
Then he planted himself in front of Morris, who was approaching Artein.
"You're the vice-captain, right."
Morris swallowed hard as he stared at Havel.
If he decided to sweep away the Meteor Knights' 2nd Division, there was no stopping him.
"Hand over every last piece you've collected."
As Morris tensed up completely.
The demand was to surrender the pieces.
Morris wore a blank expression for a moment.
Havel had pulled some outrageous nonsense on Glasis before.
So he half-expected the same this time.
But Havel didn't seem particularly interested in that anymore.
Havel still harbored resentment toward Glasis for betraying Banpellyon in the past.
But grilling the direct descendants wouldn't resolve it anyway.
That was a matter for the family head to handle.
'So I'll just drag that family head out into the open.'
The current Sword Saint and head of Glasis.
The Five Great Families wanted to monopolize the Tower.
If Havel kept climbing, the family heads wouldn't be able to sit idle any longer.
Nothing was better for shaking those lazy asses than the Tower.
So Havel planned to keep ascending.
"What, you wanna go another round?"
Morris flinched at Havel's offer to oblige if he wanted.
This was a man even Artein couldn't handle.
Here, he had to make the call as vice-captain.
"......No, sir. We'll hand them over."
In the end, he backed down first.
He summoned the Meteor Knights and handed the pieces to Havel.
"That's all of them, right?"
"Yes, everything."
Havel had Valop hold the pieces.
"Oh, one thing I wanted to ask."
Havel glanced toward Artein.
The man whose mind he'd severed.
He wouldn't be waking up anytime soon.
He'd meant to ask about Memento Mori.
His mistake.
Havel felt a twinge of regret and turned away.
"Never mind. Pyod, Valop—let's go."
He'd figure it out when he met them in person.
Havel decided not to dwell on it.
As Havel departed, Morris was left alone with the knights.
All he could do was lead them out of the Tower.
Artein still hadn't regained consciousness by then.
"Vice-captain."
Just then, one of the knights called out to him.
He held a magic orb for communicating with their superiors.
Morris took the orb and stepped off to a quiet spot.
Soon, standing in a back alley of Babel, he answered the call.
"Grand Captain, I've received your message."
The supreme commander of the Meteor Knights.
Cheon Guseong.
[So, how'd it go?]
"Yes, Lord Artein has been defeated."
As if he'd known from the start.
Cheon Guseong didn't react much.
He fell silent for a while before finally speaking again.
[That man will be a major threat to Glasis going forward.]
"Yes, without a doubt."
This incident was to gauge just how dangerous he was.
And the assessment hit the mark.
Havel would definitely become Glasis's enemy.
He'd demanded an apology from Glasis.
He was with Banpellyon.
And Banpellyon held a grudge against Glasis.
Destined to be foes, no question.
Which meant they had to nip it in the bud.
[The family head will move soon. He's taken an interest in him after all.]
Lebltein Glasis, the Sword Saint and head of Glasis.
Morris's face hardened at the news of his direct involvement.
[So we handle it on our end before then.]
"He was truly formidable. Can we manage with just us?"
Morris had felt Havel's strength firsthand through Artein.
Honestly, he saw no path to victory.
[We have to. The moment the family head steps in and falters, it's over.]
Cheon Guseong knew Lebltein's temperament well.
Lebltein went wild for the strong.
Battling them elevated his own realm.
Having climbed so high, Lebltein stood at the precipice of his limits.
Naturally, he thirsted desperately to ascend further.
Even dwelling in the hellish depths of the demonic realm, riddled with countless calamities—that thirst was why.
So he'd want to cross blades with Havel.
Even if it risked the family's fate.
That was the man known as the current Sword Saint.
"You think the family head will lose?"
[No, I don't.]
Defeat for Lebltein was unimaginable in Cheon Guseong's eyes.
But Havel was an absurd monster too.
He'd seen it through the magic orb held by one of his knights.
Mid-battle, Havel had looked right at them.
As if he knew they were spying via the orb.
That sent an unprecedented chill down Cheon Guseong's spine.
He was a monster beyond even what he'd shown.
[Battles between the truly strong can go either way.]
They dwelled in realms beyond his grasp.
How could someone lesser judge their clash?
That's why he wanted to prevent Havel and Lebltein from ever meeting.
No "what ifs" could be allowed.
[So we'll use Memento Mori.]
At minimum, let them wear Havel down.
[I'll lure the monstrous spirits secluded in Memento Mori into the Tower.]
"Is that safe? Won't we be summoning something even worse than Havel......?"
[Calamities must clash with calamities. I'll handle the prep. Have all Glasis forces withdraw from the Tower.]
With that, the magic orb cut off abruptly.
Staring at the dead orb, Morris sank into thought.
Was it really okay to leave the Tower like this?
He couldn't begin to fathom it.
After wresting the pieces from Glasis.
Havel continued gathering more.
Before long, he'd collected every last one.
Large groups had hoarded most of them, after all.
"Ughhh, just kill me already."
Pyod groaned from where he lay sprawled beside Havel.
For someone groaning like that, he'd stayed dutifully silent while collecting the pieces.
Fighting foes on his level as Havel directed.
Desperately fixing the flaws Havel pointed out.
'He's properly motivated now.'
The clash with Lebltein hadn't been for nothing.
It had snapped his old benefactor's descendant awake.
With this drive, he'd grow fast.
'Won't be dragging him along for long, though.'
Havel only meant to teach Pyod up to the 7th hierarchy.
The Tower's difficulty scaled with who entered.
So Havel knew.
Even as Pyod kept getting stronger, the 7th hierarchy and beyond would be too much.
Eventually, he'd hit his limit following along.
'Probably around Dante's level by then.'
That thought made him wonder what Dante was up to now.
The guy better not have croaked on that labyrinth island.
If so, he'd have to storm the underworld and drag him back to life.
As Havel mused, Valop diligently assembled the pieces.
He was piecing together the crow statue.
"Oh, done!"
And soon enough, he'd completed the crow statue.
It had looked tricky, but it came together perfectly.
"Ahem, I've always had a knack for this sort of thing."
"Good work."
Leaving the bashful Valop, Havel picked up the statue.
Then he approached the door.
A door carved with crows tangled together, soaring into the sky.
Far too massive for human strength to budge.
A small crow-shaped slot adorned its front.
Havel slotted the statue into the groove.
Immediately, a deep rumble echoed out.
"Here it comes."
"Pardon?"
Just as Valop rejoiced at reaching the 73rd floor.
He froze at Havel's warning.
At the same time, Pyod bolted upright from where he'd been lying.
The hairs on his head stood on end from the colossal presence.
"Wh-what the hell is this."
As Pyod panicked, Havel looked up.
Aloft the door, tall as the heavens.
A statue with a human body, crow wings, and crow head.
Shouldering a long spear.
Its face was a crow skull.
In that instant, stone fragments began crumbling away, one by one.
"You know the Tower's difficulty changes based on who enters, right."
Valop and Pyod's faces stiffened at Havel's question.
Because they knew exactly who was here now.
"This guy's scaled to my level."
Havel had already drawn his sword.
Dawn light gleamed along its edge.
Pyod scrambled to his feet.
"We can sit this one out, right!?"
"Yeah, I won't let you die pointlessly."
The Tower pitted you against foes you could handle.
It never threw impossible ones at you.
Boom!
Thunder crashed from the heavens.
A falling bolt struck the statue, shattering stone in all directions.
Flap!
The massive beat of wings echoed through the air.
Before the sound even faded.
A crow-man, head and shoulders taller than Havel, landed before him.
"Caw."
A crow's cry erupted from its beak.
The master of the 72nd floor.
Crow Origin.
The foe that had to be felled before reaching the 73rd.
had appeared.