Chapter 24
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 24
Chapter Title: Lesson 6: The Master's Grace is as Vast as the Heavens - 3
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―Clack clack clack.
"Good lord."
I swear, it was the first time Ban Yu-won had ever heard Dokgo Yeon sound so fed up.
Then again, even an iron lady like her couldn't help but tire out after unleashing palm strikes over and over against the endless waves of spiders pouring forth without respite.
"There's really no end to them."
"Dokgo Yeon, don't let up!"
Light, who stood on the opposite side swinging his sword of light at the swarm of spiders, heard her weary voice and shouted anxiously.
Dokgo Yeon snorted in response.
"You focus on yourself. You've been wasting energy on those inefficient light bursts... And you, beastie, holding up okay?"
"Grrr..."
Lucelle, who was covering the rear alongside Light, replied with a voice more beast than human.
More than seventy percent of her hair had already turned pitch black.
What would happen if it all turned black? It was clear it wouldn't be anything pleasant.
"She's losing it."
"Pfft."
Ban Yu-won let out a sigh in agreement with Dokgo Yeon's complaint.
He had long since given up on facing the flooding spider horde head-on. Instead, he focused on supporting her with Eve to ease her burden as much as possible.
"Damn it, there's a limit to losing it."
"Grk?!"
"No, not you, Lucelle—the spiders."
Lucelle could no longer speak human words, but she still seemed to understand them.
That much was clear from the way she glared at Ban Yu-won with a pitiful expression, as if she'd unintentionally chimed in with Dokgo Yeon's remark about her losing it.
She was awfully cute, but watching her smash spiders to bits with her palms out of frustration made her a bit scary too.
Ban Yu-won frowned as he examined the chaotic mix of negative, intense emotions filling her Heart Furnace code.
'No way I can touch that right now. Thanks to the insights from Room 3, I can poke at external concepts, but even that won't reach inside her.'
Even amid the frenzy of blocking the spider horde, he tried a few times out of worry for Lucelle's worsening transformation.
But his authority couldn't touch her Heart Furnace, and each attempt only startled her, stirring her feral instincts further.
'Damn it, there has to be a way.'
Of course, he had no leisure now to leisurely probe for it.
Dokgo Yeon was already stepping back with an irritated expression.
"Ban Yu-won, we need a breather."
"Got it—fall back!"
The moment Dokgo Yeon declared it unilaterally, Ban Yu-won pulled a small grenade from his inventory.
With practiced motions that belied any notion of inexperience, he yanked the pin and hurled it forward!
―Ting, thump, thump...
It was one of the secret consumables he'd brought from Earth: packed tight with the pure concept of grenade, infused with magic.
A true magic explosive bomb right up to the brink of detonation.
And Ban Yu-won's special twist to make it usable even in the Tower: a dash of ghost essence.
This neutralized the Tower's mana interference and let him detonate it precisely when he wanted!
"Eve, shield us!"
"Shrrrk!"
Eve morphed into a massive iron shield, forming a temporary barrier to protect Ban Yu-won and Dokgo Yeon.
Beyond it, the grenade vanished into the black wave of oncoming spiders.
'That's three now. Still plenty left, but please, just end here.'
The custom grenade's cost was infuriating to even think about—not to mention the magic and ghost concepts that oxidized away after one use. Relying on these long-term wasn't viable.
But for now, it was his lifeline.
―Boom!
―Kieeeek!
The grenade erupted, instantly obliterating dozens of spiders.
A satisfying sight, but the gaps filled instantly with fresh spiders, wiping the smile from his face.
Steals Life 5.4, Body 7.6, Demon 4, Carapace 7 from numerous Tower Spiders. Carapace is a concept humans cannot possess.
Golden strings rose simultaneously from the Tower Spiders Ban Yu-won had just slain.
Not bad numbers by any means, but bitter when considering it came from dozens of kills.
What did it mean? He'd stolen so much from Tower Spiders already that the depth of new concepts he could plunder had started to diminish.
Life had even halved here.
The 'experience halving' from goblin hunting was back.
He pulled up just the four core elements of his body code and sighed inwardly.
'I've grown tremendously since this damn ambush started. But still not enough to brute-force this horde head-on.'
Could there be anything more frustrating?
He'd rocketed past the Academy average after entering the Tower, yet here he was, sidelined!
And now even the concepts he could steal from Tower Spiders were diminishing—how could he not grow anxious?
"Nice one, Ban Yu-won. I got a little rest thanks to you."
Dokgo Yeon, oblivious or not to his anxiety, stepped forward with a much-relieved expression after recovering some stamina.
But Ban Yu-won blocked her, pulling a sports drink from his pocket and handing it over.
"Rest a bit more and drink this. Your full recovery is key."
"But that... you can't make it easily, right? Even in the martial world, thunderclap bombs are rare..."
"Rest."
"Oh my."
When Ban Yu-won spoke firmly and tucked the bottle into her arms before turning away, Dokgo Yeon couldn't help but chuckle.
As Dokgo Yeon obediently rested and drank, Ban Yu-won tossed another magic bomb beyond Eve's sturdy barrier and summoned Lilith to mount up.
"We'll slice as many as possible caught in the blast, then bail. Got it?"
Vroom—Lilith responded reliably.
Immediately after, a grand explosion rocked beyond, and golden strings surged into Ban Yu-won, strengthening him once more.
"Going in!"
Eve, reading his intent, shrank the shield in an instant, opening a path for Lilith and Ban Yu-won.
Gripping the Executioner's Longsword reverse-style, Ban Yu-won charged Lilith toward the spiders scattered by the blast.
"Hup!"
Couldn't blame Light for yelling at a critical moment—it just slipped out.
The spiders' disorientation from the explosion lasted only a fleeting instant.
To maximize kills and escape in that window left no room for theatrics.
'Slash! As many as possible in one go...!'
Leaning low on Lilith's explosive speed, he stretched the sword as far as it would go and swung.
He prayed fervently that the cleaving power in the blade would sever everything in its path!
―Shiiiing.
The moment his fierce will dominated the sword, the Executioner's Longsword emitted a chilling red glow.
Ban Yu-won felt something drain from his body into the blade—and seeing the aura coiling on it, he realized it was his own blood.
'This...?!'
―Kweeeek!
―Kiheeek!
In that instant, the red sword arc stretched long, cleaving all ensnared monsters at once.
As Ban Yu-won stared in awe, Lilith nimbly U-turned and carried him back behind Eve's shield wall.
The Executioner's Longsword's Blood Poison depth rises to 15.
Faintly comprehends and acquires the Sever concept. Sever depth becomes 2.
Blood Poison—not poisoning foes with blood, but consuming his own blood to generate poison?
No, not quite.
Perhaps the "poison" in Blood Poison didn't mean venom, but "harming and slaying" enemies.
That elongated red strike was hardly poison-like, so this interpretation fit better.
'I'm still so far off.'
Thinking back, Blood Poison hadn't shone since the goblin warrior kill.
Maybe due to his misunderstanding of the linguistic concept.
Perhaps even then, it had drawn his blood for the attack.
And he'd wasted this treasure without grasping that truth!
At least now, belatedly comprehending it, he truly felt what cleaving foes meant—and acquired the Sever concept. Lucky.
'Though it drained my vital blood, leaving me wiped.'
Always felt like this after donating blood—and no choco pie here to recover.
As Ban Yu-won panted in frustration, Dokgo Yeon passed his slumped form, tossing him the empty bottle.
"Saw something nice, and it went down well."
"You drank it all?!"
"Unique taste, but not bad. No, what wasn't bad was that strike you just..."
Dokgo Yeon's gaze lingered on the longsword in his hand, then she shrugged and looked ahead without finishing.
Only then did Ban Yu-won notice something ominous brewing up front.
Two grenades in a row, plus his charge.
The spiders should be frenzied—but they were pulling back slightly.
Something was coming.
Something strong.
"So don't think what I show you now is a debt. Just settling up."
"You...?"
Ban Yu-won gaped at the black shortsword in her hand.
When had she even drawn it?
She could face anything barehanded.
If she'd drawn it just to show him... it was touching.
"Didn't want to dirty my hands. Don't misunderstand."
"Ah, yeah."
Her curt tone snapped him back to calm.
But his eyes stayed wide, tracking her movements intently.
He'd acquired Sever, but knew it was far from true mastery.
Anything gleaned from her would hugely aid his swordplay ahead.
―Thud, thoom.
Not the spiders' creepy clacking—heavy footsteps thudded.
Ban Yu-won sensed part of the room expanding in real time.
As it crawled in, the room was changing.
"Elite Stage."
Ban Yu-won muttered, recalling the manual.
"Room that shifts in real time to pressure climbers based on the elite monster's traits. Supposed to appear after at least... Room 50."
"Heard that one all day—my ears are callused."
"But beating it gets you a Tower reward."
"News to me."
Of course, with the irregularity, who knew—but Ban Yu-won figured rewards could only get better, not worse.
'Plus, an elite means this endless fight's finally ending...!'
But as he inwardly relaxed, an urgent voice called from behind.
"Ban!"
"What, Light?"
"Elite Stages—don't they spawn multiple elites?!"
"Damn, first I've heard."
Light's words let Ban Yu-won grasp it all; he glanced back and sighed despairingly.
―Thoom.
―Thud, boom!
Soon, the entire room was blanketed in white dust.
No—spiderwebs.
The moment the elite monsters—three giant spiders—appeared, the room was fully theirs.
"Ban Yu-won, eyes on me."
"Yeah, watching..."
―Slash.
...And now two remained.