Chapter 80
Chapter 80
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 80
Chapter Title: Crushing Ronir
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Ronir tribe chief Aaron Ronir.
He was waiting with his warriors at a spot a little ways from Bardcomen.
Victory reports from the warriors who had raided Bardcomen would arrive any moment now.
'And the instant that victory report comes in!'
He planned to launch a finishing assault.
But what returned to him instead was unexpected news.
'Ronir's warriors are retreating.'
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?!"
Aaron bellowed in fury at the absurd report.
Bardcomen's strongest warrior, Tua Bardcomen, had fallen.
The moment Aaron heard that, he judged this to be his chance.
So he had launched a surprise attack.
But now all his warriors were suddenly retreating?
It sounded utterly ridiculous.
He couldn't just let his warriors squander such a golden opportunity.
"A-Aaron, sir! The Night Lion appeared and blocked all our warriors single-handedly!"
"What?"
Just then, word came from the retreating warriors, who were fleeing like cowards.
There was only one reason they had run.
The Night Lion.
Aaron's face twisted in disbelief.
He had heard the rumors about the Night Lion.
He'd even heard that Tua had fallen to him.
That's why he had pushed forward with the ambush.
But reports said the Night Lion had fought Tua fiercely.
Could a body worn down from that battle really take on all of Ronir's great warriors?
It made no sense.
"So our mighty second-in-command's warriors were scared off by some wounded fake Night Lion?!"
"Y-Yeah, they turned tail and ran like hell."
Someone answered his roar at that moment.
Aaron whipped his head around in surprise, and there stood a man.
A tiny fairy perched on his shoulder, a sword hanging from his waist.
The moment their eyes met, Aaron's expression shifted.
That pitch-black sword, like it held the Milky Way embedded within.
No doubt about it.
This bastard was the Night Lion.
"You're the second-in-command Ronir chief, Aaron, right?"
"Lord Havel, it's Aaron. Aaron."
"Ah, right, Aaron. With so many piling up, memorizing names is getting annoying."
He wished he could just lump them together as Crow 1, Crow 2, or something.
"You remember our names just fine."
"Even remembering your names is a chore."
Havel clicked his tongue.
At this rate, with more showing up, keeping track of names would get tricky.
The human brain didn't have infinite capacity, after all.
Meanwhile, Aaron's face grew darker by the second.
This guy was standing right in front of him, acting all casual. It pissed him off.
"This bastard's mocking me!"
Aaron instantly drew a single-edged blade from his back.
Without a hint of hesitation, he kicked off the ground.
At the same time, armor-like protrusions began sprouting over his body.
It was Aaron's Black Armament manifestation.
The Black Armament amplified his physical abilities dozens of times over.
Enveloped in Black Armament, Aaron accelerated once more.
He intended to cleave Havel in two right then and there.
That was the moment.
Something flashed before his eyes as he closed in on Havel's face.
A glimpse of the future: charging ahead like this would shatter him.
It was the future vision that sometimes appeared when he activated Black Armament.
"What."
He tried to adjust his stance mid-air and pull back.
All his future visions were flashing red, signaling danger.
But that decision was wrong too.
Havel's fist was already swinging toward his head.
Clang!
A resounding impact echoed, and stars exploded in his vision.
"Tougher than I expected."
Havel's voice filtered through the haze.
"W-Wait a sec!"
Dazed, Aaron stammered out a cry.
But it was too late.
Havel's hand had already clamped down on his helmet.
"Talk."
In an instant, Aaron's view flipped toward the ground.
"After you get up."
Kaboom!
A massive explosion erupted as Aaron slammed deep into the cracked earth.
Thanks to the Black Armament, he didn't pass out from that alone.
But the next blow wiped his mind clean.
Havel drove his fist straight into Aaron's gut.
Aaron's body jerked rigidly, then went still.
Havel turned to the others, who had been about to follow up after Aaron's ambush.
But they had frozen solid upon seeing their far stronger chief get crushed.
No one had imagined Aaron falling that easily.
"You lot want to talk after getting up too?"
They all shook their heads frantically at Havel's question.
With their chief down, they had no chance.
And in that moment, they realized it.
The Night Lion was a monster beyond their reckoning.
Meanwhile, Havel yanked Aaron out like pulling a radish.
The battered chief didn't twitch an inch.
His mind had been completely blown away.
"Two down now."
Like with Tua, Havel dragged Aaron along.
"You there."
He called out to Aaron's flustered aides.
"Take me to Ronir."
Time for the unification declaration and grabbing that key.
* * *
In just one day, he had smashed two tribes.
Havel made sure to secure the key fragment from Ronir too.
With Aaron dragged in broken, Ronir's leaders handed over the key without protest.
Just two more, and he could clear this floor.
"Elasiya, do you know the civilization level of the crows on the next floor?"
"They've moved past primitive society into a proper societal structure. Not tribes or villages, but cities."
Sure enough, the crows were advancing rapidly with each floor.
The 74th floor had crow city-states.
"So the 75th is..."
"Similar to our world. Crows spread across the entire land, forming nations instead of just cities."
Their civilization was booming incredibly.
From primitive tribes to cities, now nations.
"Similar to our world means the 76th is beyond us, next-gen level."
"Yes, the 76th is still being conquered, but it's definitely more advanced than our era."
A fusion of magic and science.
That's what the climbers called the 76th floor.
"Kinda scary."
Elasiya made a slightly uneasy face.
The higher you went in the Tower, the weirder it got.
The lower and middle sections had been tough, sure.
But compared to other calamities, they were manageable.
You could clear them by hunting calamity beasts and meeting conditions.
But entering the upper sections, the 7th hierarchy, changed everything.
Climbers who once mocked the dumb crows...
Found the crows gaining intelligence and civilization the higher they went.
And that civilization started surpassing humans.
"When we reach the 79th floor at the end..."
Elasiya trailed off, eyes filled with dread.
"What kind of civilization awaits us?"
And maybe that civilization would mirror humanity's future.
The crows' development was eerily similar to humans'.
Her thoughts reached that point, and Elasiya rubbed her arms as chills ran through her.
Havel looked up at the sky.
No one had reached there yet, so no one knew.
But Havel knew one thing.
"The Tower's built to be climbed."
Just like the Demonic Palace.
Keep climbing, and eventually...
There's an end.
"No matter what world it is, climb it, and it's done."
Elasiya fell silent at Havel's words.
Then she let out a soft laugh.
"That's so like you, Lord Havel. True, we shouldn't overthink the floors we have to climb anyway."
"The 8th hierarchy might have even crazier stuff."
"Something crazier than a highly advanced civilization? That'd be terrifying."
Elasiya shuddered, unable to imagine it.
"Though nothing's scarier than you, Lord Havel."
Honestly, to her, Havel was more terrifying than any advanced society.
If he wanted, he could probably just smash the Tower itself.
So sticking by him made everything else less scary.
Surely everyone else felt the same.
"Anyway, time to head back to Tendr."
Havel said as he released his gigantification.
The key fragment shrank like the Star Sword.
Seemed the key fragments were tied to the Night God, just like the Star Sword.
That reminded him of what the Bardcomen priest had said.
About the Night God descending soon.
Havel pondered it as he hoisted Elasiya onto his back.
Then he shot off, returning as swiftly as he'd come.
But midway, Havel's steps began to slow.
Black smoke was rising from Tendr.
"L-Lord Havel!"
Elasiya cried out in delayed panic.
Havel frowned.
He knew another tribe might hit Tendr.
That's why he'd warned chief Baldoran.
He'd even left Pyod behind on purpose.
Figured it'd help some.
'Did the other tribes move that fast already?'
Even with precautions, this happened.
Looks like they overwhelmed them with force.
Havel ramped up his speed again.
The moment he set foot in Tendr's village...
A sharp tingle hit his nose.
"Lord Havel!"
As Elasiya shouted, a spear flew at him.
Havel casually stomped it underfoot.
He looked up to see Tendr tribesfolk.
But they were different.
Drool dripping from their beaks, eyes pitch black.
They looked puppeted, eyes vacant.
Havel narrowed his eyes.
"Elasiya, seal your senses."
Seeing the village state, Elasiya hurriedly cast a spell to protect herself.
Havel leaped to a rooftop in the meantime.
Sharpening his senses, he scanned the whole village.
Maddened tribesfolk were attacking each other.
The victims turned the same way.
'Infection type.'
Spreading it among themselves, turning everyone into the same monsters.
Leave it like this, and it'd spread elsewhere too.
Off in the distance, he sensed warriors evacuating women and children, with Baldoran.
They'd given up saving the village for now.
Smart choice.
With infection, staying together just dooms them all.
Better to escape with who you can save.
Aura flickered in Havel's eyes.
Now he could perceive the black mist-like fog.
Definite.
Inhale a ton of that mist, or get hit by an infected and let it spread inside...
That's how they turned.
Then his senses caught something else amid the villagers.
A crow darting across rooftops.
This was it.
"Elasiya, use magic to keep the crow tribesfolk from leaving."
If these got out, it'd be a headache.
The infection could turn all crows the same.
Having ordered Elasiya, Havel rose.
His eyes gleamed coldly.
Like it or not, Tendr was his designated tribe.
Whoever trashed it like this...
He'd make them pay in full.
"Five of 'em means I can wipe out a tribe as an example."
Time to make a show of it.