Chapter 87
Chapter 87
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 87
Chapter Title: Ambush at the Boundary
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The boundary line between the Stryke Tribe and Havel City.
A black-haired, burly man sat amid the underbrush.
His tanned skin and the single staff gripped in his hand suited the word "barbarian" perfectly. He dug into his nose without a care.
He belonged to Memento Mori.
His name was Barutuga.
"Ugh, this is boring as hell. Hey, Merimolly, how long do we gotta keep sitting around like this?"
He whipped his head to the side.
There sat a girl in gothic attire.
Clad in a red dress adorned with black lace, she clutched a doll in her hands.
The doll was grotesque at first glance.
It had no hair, and its mouth was sewn shut with thread.
She too belonged to Memento Mori.
The girl named Merimolly.
She stared silently at Barutuga.
Then, instead of replying, the doll moved. [Don't know.] Barutuga eyed the placard the doll had raised, then snorted derisively.
"Feels like I'm being totally blown off." [We're the standby squad, here in case the floor changes.] "Who doesn't know that?"
Barutuga recalled the Memento Mori member who had left them behind and ascended a few weeks prior.
"Barutuga, stick around down here with Merimolly to make sure the lower floor doesn't shift, alright?"
The expedition leader of this Memento Mori team.
It had been Lidak's orders.
Memento Mori knew full well that the 7th hierarchy shifted constantly.
That's why they'd deliberately stationed people on the lower floor.
"Puhuhu, it'd be too rowdy with a barbarian tagging along. Good thing you're staying."
He remembered the snide remark from the witch who'd come up with them.
Barutuga scowled deeply.
Next time they met, he'd break that stuck-up nose of hers.
"So, when's this Havel guy supposed to show up?"
Havel of the Banpellyon family.
The man who'd cleared the 6th hierarchy, long held by the Five Great Families.
Because of him, the Five Great Families had started climbing the Tower again.
And Memento Mori had no choice but to follow suit.
They didn't want the Five Great Families monopolizing the Tower.
The world had its balance of power.
The moment that balance tipped too far one way...
War was inevitable.
Both Memento Mori and the Five Great Families knew this reality all too well.
They knew a clash between them would end the world.
That delicate balance had held until now.
Then this Havel guy had ruined everything.
"From what I see, those Five Great Families bastards have been eyeing it all along, the sneaky shits."
You could tell just from how quickly they'd rushed the Tower the moment a new era dawned.
The Five Great Families had been preparing for ages.
Waiting for that one spark to climb the Tower. [Memento Mori's the same.] "We're just preparing for the Five Great Families."
Barutuga snorted at Merimolly's words.
He had a habit of twisting things to suit himself.
It made sense, though.
His world had always been the back alleys.
In the back alleys, you couldn't survive without self-serving interpretations.
So he hated anyone who called him out even more.
Merimolly knew this, so she said nothing further.
"Haa, smack, this is dull."
In the end, he flopped onto the ground and smacked his lips.
That's when a single sword caught his eye.
The Star Sword, stolen from the Raven City Lord's mansion a week ago.
The reason he'd stolen the Star Sword was simple.
According to orders from above, it was the key to triggering floor changes.
Not welcome news for the Memento Mori team tackling the upper floors.
If the floor shifted, their conquest methods would change again.
So he'd stolen the sword alongside Merimolly.
"Hey, Merimolly, think I could wield this thing?"
Naturally, his interest was piqued.
Memento Mori wielded special armaments called Armed Calamities.
Humans had a innate limit to their calamity capacity.
Once reached, they couldn't hold more.
But Memento Mori's leader, the Armed King, was different.
He could infuse weapons with the enemy's calamity.
In other words, as long as the specially forged weapon held out...
There were no limits to calamity.
That's how Memento Mori had seized the underworld.
And formed a standoff with the Five Great Families.
Their group might be smaller, but each member's calamity reserves were immense.
Of course, they had a clear drawback.
Without the Armed King's permission, they couldn't use calamity.
The key to power rested solely with the Armed King.
Quite a few harbored quiet resentment over this.
It was frustrating not to wield your own power freely.
Barutuga felt the same.
Gaining strength was great, but not being able to use it at will was another matter.
And now, the Star Sword had caught his eye.
A sword that could hold calamity.
One forged by the Tower itself, no less.
How could he not be curious?
"If I wield this, I wouldn't need to be tied to the Armed King, right?"
Barutuga smoothly lifted the Star Sword.
As he grinned greedily, Merimolly shook her head. [Not a good idea. The other Memento Mori would hunt you down.] Barutuga shrugged off her words indifferently.
"What if I just take 'em all out?"
Merimolly's eyes flickered with warning.
Barutuga read it and chuckled wickedly.
"Relax. You think I'd actually do it?"
He waved it off and glanced at the Star Sword before stowing it.
He had no desire to clash with Memento Mori.
New power had just piqued his curiosity, that's all.
Twitch!
It happened then.
His body reacted on reflex.
"Merimolly."
As Barutuga called her name, she reacted the same way. [Intruders.] Her dolls were scattered countless throughout the forest.
They were all her eyes.
"How many?"
Merimolly was superior at detection.
Barutuga slung his staff over his shoulder with interest. [Three.] Three in total. [Two carry calamity.] Two of them were threats.
Barutuga's mouth split into a wide grin.
"Nice. So, how strong are they?" [Pretty strong.] "Guess it's time to loosen up, then."
His hand went to his waist.
With a metallic clank, a staff sprang forth.
Calamity poured from the staff, coiling into his body.
Merimolly did the same.
Calamity flowed from her doll.
"Five Great Families' lackeys? Or some unknown foes?"
His staff spun in a whirl.
"Hope they're worth my interest."
His pitch-black eyes gleamed sharply. ◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ The boundary forest between the Stryke Tribe and Havel City.
Two figures dashed through trees of black and white.
One was a blonde mage with hair whipping in the wind.
The other had tattoos that stood out starkly.
Celestia Magic Division Leader, Elasia Celestia.
Freya's child, Pyod Freya.
It was them.
"Hey, mage girl, you sense Havel's presence yet?"
"Mage girl? I have a name: Elasia."
The two bickered nonstop as they crossed the forest.
They hadn't gotten along since day one, snapping at each other over everything.
The reason they'd entered the forest together was simple.
"You two, pair up."
Havel's command.
Thanks to him, both had awakened their calamity.
Naturally, Havel was curious about their power.
Just how much combat potential did the two he'd awakened hold?
"Tch, still feels weird. Even the trees give off this creepy vibe."
Pyod grimaced, unaccustomed to it still.
The Tower was made of calamity through and through.
Pyod just couldn't adapt to the sensation.
"I actually feel more at ease."
Elasia, on the other hand, felt liberated.
Sensing calamity brought her peace.
It was like a fog over her senses had finally lifted.
"Figures. Your insides were already rotten to the core."
"Ha, you'd only feel creeped out because you're just a nasty person."
"Rotten? You done talking shit?"
Pyod scowled fiercely, and Elasia snorted.
"You act all meek around Lord Havel, but your true colors are showing now, huh?"
"I've never hidden my true self."
"What? You wag your tail like a mutt in front of Lord Havel!"
"Says the one kissing ass in a hundred ways! Even a leech wouldn't cling that hard!"
"Of course I cling! Staying by Lord Havel's side is how I keep up with the changing world!"
They yelled at each other and turned away sharply.
They were polar opposites.
That was when it happened.
Their arms shot out to the sides in unison.
Thwack!
They grabbed each other's heads and yanked downward.
Whoosh! Swoosh!
A pitch-black staff and scythe whistled over their heads.
If their reactions had been a split second slower, their heads would've been gone.
They rolled across the ground and sprang up together.
Turning, they saw a man with a staff slung over his shoulder.
Ape-like features and an ominous black staff dripping menace.
His grin was sleazy as he eyed them.
"Whoa, you two have great synergy?"
It was Barutuga.
"Why'd you grab my head like that?!"
"Fuck, that's my line!"
But they had no time for him.
They were too busy arguing over who'd yanked whose head.
Barutuga blinked at them, then let out a hollow laugh.
"What a weird pair. If you're gonna do that in front of me..."
He raised his staff toward the sky.
The black staff began swelling massively.
Elasia and Pyod, who'd been clawing at each other's heads, froze.
The staff kept growing without end.
"You're dead?"
The colossal pillar, reaching the heavens, smashed down toward them.
KABOOOOOM!
The explosive roar echoed through the forest, smoke billowing thickly.
Barutuga, staring at the smoke, twitched an eyebrow.
Right beneath the pillar.
Pyod stood gripping it with both hands.
His muscles bulged savagely.
And unlike before, pitch-black smoke seeped from cracks in his skin.
"Caught it?"
"Think I'd just catch it?"
Pyod's arms moved.
BOOM!
The black pillar rocketed upward with the resounding crash.
As Barutuga's eyes widened, Pyod leaped at him.
Daggers and a curved sword in both hands struck simultaneously.
Claaaang!
But a scythe flew in first, blocking his path.
Pyod turned to see a doll far smaller than the scythe.
The scythe extended endlessly from it.
It shattered against Pyod and tried to swallow him whole.
Ping!
A beam of light pierced the doll.
The scythe crumbled powerlessly, and Pyod escaped.
"Don't charge in blindly."
Elasia stood behind him.
Halos of light shimmered dangerously at her back.
"You know we'll get chewed out by Lord Havel if we lose."
"Yeah."
Pyod gritted his teeth and gripped his blades tight.
"If I don't wanna die for real, I gotta win."
"Agreed."
For the first time, the two declared they'd sync up.