Chapter 141 (1/2)

The One That Guards The 77th Floor

Allowing the devil’s sword to control the golden armor was an excellent choice, considering the outcome, one of which was that our Clear speed increased. Our pace, which had been slowing down until we reached the 50th floor, was noticeably faster the moment the devil’s sword gained his body. In the second half of the Tower, despite its difficulty increasing, the speed had rather increased.

‘If any of the other species heard of this, they’d say it’s bullshit.’

However, almost every part of our climb was out of the ordinary. In such a short time, we had finally…

– Welcome to the 76th floor.

… broken through the three-fourths of the Tower!

‘There are only a few floors left!’

*

The system’s message was as follows.

– 76th Floor Clear Conditions: Join forces with allies to protect the castle from enemy attacks.

The theme of that floor was ‘Tower Defense.’ If the goal on the 10th floor was to attack and take down the castle, that time, it was the opposite. Our team was on the outer wall of the citadel in the middle of the plain. Under Clear conditions, the term ‘enemy’ referred to the Ogre troops that were flocking beyond that horizon.

Du-du-du-du-du!

“They’re coming!”

An overwhelming number of enemy troops flocked toward the castle as if they wanted to surround it. The wailing of the fierce monsters and heavy rumbling from running as they kicked the ground was audible all the way to where we were.

“T-the enemy is coming! User, would it really be okay to do as you have said?”

I turned my head toward the person who spoke to me. There was a furry dwarf. They were the ones the system referred to as the ‘allies’ by the system. Since they didn’t attack the climbers, they were not classified as dungeon monsters but should be considered dungeon creatures with intellectual abilities. Therefore, they were some kind of an NPC. The dwarf asked again in a voice eroded by fear and anxiety.

“Is it really okay if we don’t help you at all?”

Supposedly, the Clear condition was to collaborate with them to endure a certain amount of time in the castle. In my previous life, we protected that castle, joining our forces with the dwarves under Angelica’s command. However…

‘That method takes too much time.’

So I decided to change the approach. As soon as they came out of the portal, the dwarves, who welcomed us like saviors, showed signs of doubt and anxiety when I told them of my plan. It was the same as in my past life that the dwarves would lock the doors and hold out in the castle. However, our party would move more actively instead of focusing on passive defense.

-We just have to kill them all, right?

The devil in the golden armor, Genograche, had placed his leg on the castle wall as if he was about to charge soon.

“Yeah, it’s not that complicated.”

The screaming Ogre troops became more vividly visible. Staring in their direction, I spread my wings made of light particles and flew up.

“Initiate the attack!”

As soon as those words fell, Genograche crossed the balustrade. He then kicked the outer wall close to a vertical angle and headed down. He ran away from the bondage of gravity. The speed was faster than the fall in the natural state.

-Mwahaha! Great! This feeling, it’s exhilarating!

I shouted in the air.

“Nate!” “Got it.”

Swish!

The undead subordinates were summoned to the place where the monster troops flocked. Genograche, who came down to the ground as if to lead the zombie army, ran ahead toward the enemy army. And the two waves that were heading for each other collided!

“Squeal!” “Kwaaaaa!

All hell broke loose. The rest of the group also initiated an attack. Above, the undead dragon fired its Breath, and I scattered sword energy like an air raid. At the back, Hibiki delivered multiple wide-ranged magic spells. And in the front line…

-Yes, this is it! This is what I’m talking about!

There was a straight river of blood rushing through the battlefield like a tank. The performance of one Genograche was more prominent than that of zombies, which were far superior in numbers. Perhaps he was excited. He released telepathy that was so intense that we could hear him loud and clear from afar.

-Die! Die! K-haha! Mwahaha!

“Squeal!”

There was no hesitation in his progress. Genograche raced through the enemy lines like a wild horse bitten by a mad dog. In each sector of the battlefield that he passed, monsters would fall, crushed.

“K-aargh!”

The monsters stepped out to defend themselves, but they were simply not good enough against his might. The Ogre soldiers, who were charging with battle cries, were broken through one after another. The army was pushed back without a hitch, and the ragged corpses were scattered across the plains. The bloodbath, made by the golden armor scraping the ground, showed no signs of pause. It wa a satisfying charge. But I clicked my tongue as I watched him from above.

“He’s been spilling Mana all over the road.”

Climbing one floor after the other up to the 76th floor, I corrected preconceptions and judgments about the devil’s sword’s ego. The lord of the massacre killed countless devils to create a sea of blood and build a tower of corpses. However, my experience with Genograche’s personality before climbing the Tower was shady and insidious, and there was no such thing as charisma or dignity at all. No matter how cruel and vicious of a being he was, I guessed that his words and actions might have been twisted when his actual body was lost, and his soul was sealed inside the sword. That perhaps, the mind followed the shape of the material. But I didn’t think so anymore.

-K-kya-kya-kya! Hmm?

He panicked as if his Mana was running out. I clicked my tongue, stopped the monster massacre, and went to the rear for a while. Sitting down on the wall, I talked to Euclid.

“Hey! Please charge him up again.” “Already?!”

The dragon, standing on the wall, grumbled and invoked [Mana Legacy]. I could see that Genograche’s Mana reserves were rising again.

– The Core has charged up again. That’s amazing!

In the distance, Genograche exclaimed with his mental waves and swept through the battlefield again.

“…”

Yes, I repeated: I corrected my assessment of him. It was not because he was trapped in a narrow sword material that he felt undignified for a demon king. It’s just that his personality was always like that. The dragon grumbled.

“I’m going to say something when the battle is over. He should be frugal with Mana while fighting!”

It was natural know-how as an Awakened to act accordingly to one’s Mana capacity, but the devil’s sword had missed his timing several times so far. I thought he was still in the process of adjusting. The same events kept repeating because he was moving according to the Mana capacity from his previous life. Presumably, the artificial Mana Core prepared for Kirke, the King of Gold’s head knight, was not enough to be at the same level as the Core that Genograche originally had.

“But surely, the hunting has accelerated.”

Hibiki, who was firing off magic spells next to the dragon, muttered. I followed her gaze instead of flying back right away. It wasn’t difficult to find where Genograche was. I just had to focus on where the most colorful flashes were taking place. Every time he swung his sword energy, it changed color and quality. I had already stopped counting how many kinds of sword movements he had been performing. That’s the second reason why I thought it was a good idea to give him a body.

‘Well, aren’t there a lot of sword techniques that I’ve never heard of before?’

Of course, the task to remember everything was continuously progressing due to my unique skill, even if I didn’t mind it. The Tower Defense continued in that manner until…

– The 76th floor has been Cleared!

It ended with a welcoming message. Unlike in my previous life, we finished it in the form of annihilating the enemy monsters.

*

After taking a day off in the castle to reorganize, we headed to the portal while being greeted by dwarves who repeatedly expressed their gratitude.

‘We’re heading straight to the 77th floor.’

We never used a Returning Stone from the first floor to there. I asked the group’s opinion about returning with the interval of 25 floors, but the answer they gave me remained the same.

“Hmm? I’m fine, though? Let’s not drop the pace and finish it all the way to the 100th floor in this manner.” “Honestly… I also think that’s better. I was nervous before I came in because we were told that we had to Clear 100 dungeons in a row, but I think it’s doable.”

Nate and Hibiki, who said those words, were very different from their previous lives. I remembered vividly how the party looked like when we were climbing the Tower in the past. Everyone had bloodshot eyes due to lack of sleep, and their nerves were on edge to the point that it was about to be worn out. Nate and Hibiki, who were on bad terms in the first place, fought each other on a daily basis. There was no room to leave and come back using the Returning Stone, and even if we went out, it was meaningless. That was because we had collected all the useful items and supplies left for humankind and climbed with them. It was the heavy sense of duty and a sense of crisis that led us until the end. That was what drove the Last Five onwards.

‘Of course, Angelica had a completely different plan in mind.’

I checked my companions. Aside from the two colleagues from my past life who remained energetic, the dragon had a slightly bored look, but there seemed to be no problem thanks to the species’ remarkable mental and physical endurance. And the devil’s sword? I didn’t even have to mention that guy. He must’ve been itching to fight in the next battle.