Conquering the Tower Even Regressors Couldn't-Chapter 104: Twenty-Sixth Floor, The Holy War (2)

[Eliminate all enemies and drive out the heretics. Time remaining: 7 hours 59 minutes.]

“Charge!"

I dashed across the blood-red plains. Even though the oppressive air pressed in on me, I refused to slow down.

Our strategy was simple. I would hold back the warlord while the climbers faced the heretics. From what I had glimpsed during the illusions that trapped me in this realm, I was confident the warlord grew stronger with each death.

We had to end this swiftly.

The ground beneath me suddenly shuddered, a tremor surging from deep below. The vibration felt disturbingly familiar, much like the shaking that accompanied a greatworm from the Dumie Desert.

Have they been lurking here all along?

In that instant, the monstrous beasts burst forth from the ground without restraint. Among the horde were greatworms, scorpions, crimson creatures, and even more beasts I hadn’t seen in the desert.

This is bad.

Though these monsters weren’t overwhelmingly strong, the climbers had never faced them before. That didn’t even factor in their grotesque forms, which were unsettling, to say the least. I grew worried that the enemy’s unexpected reinforcements would sap the climbers’ morale.

I need to show them these creatures are no big deal.

There was still some distance between the climbers and me, more than enough for me to handle a greatworm on my own. Moving before I even formulated a plan, I pivoted toward the beasts and then leaped.

“GRAAAAH—!”

Using my momentum, I sprinted up the side of the greatworm’s torso as it roared. Funnily enough, its own bellow unbalanced it.

It took me three seconds to reach its head. Raising my axe, I cleaved down with all my strength. The lightning coursing along my axe charred it from the inside out, and it convulsed violently as its body slowly collapsed. Job done, I yanked out my axe and jumped down.

“They’re nothing! Don’t slow down. Charge! Charge!”

I led by example, immediately lunging toward the heretics.

Reacting in her own way to the sudden appearance of the beast, Ha Hee-Jeong barked out one command after another, “Scatter around the monsters! Aim for their heads! Mages, target the greatworms!”

“Scatter!”

“Heads! Aim for their heads!”

Hearing the climbers echo her orders steadied my nerves.

My target, the warlord, lay beyond the horde of monsters and heretics. Although he was charging toward me, it would take him a while to clear the obstacles between us. I knew the fight against him would be brutal, so I decided it would be better to engage him within enemy lines.

I broke into the horde of enemies and swung my axe lightly to dispatch any creatures in my path. There was no need to finish each one off precisely as the climbers following would handle them.

Surrounded by enemies, I continued my charge. To the monsters around me, I probably looked like easy prey. They lunged with jaws wide and claws poised.

I switched to a one-handed hold on my axe so that I could draw my dagger to better manage the onslaught.

“Kaaargh!”

A giant scorpion lunged at me, spearing its stinger at an angle to catch me off-guard. Finishing off a red beast near me with a slash to the neck, I then swung my axe backward, severing the incoming stinger. With no time to waste, I continued my spin, using my momentum to launch another attack.

The inertia pulled at my arm, but I still managed to redirect the axe toward my next target, lodging it deep into another creature’s neck. Pivoting to the right, I twisted, dislodging my axe as I plunged my dagger into the scorpion’s head.

“Krieee...”

With one last dying screech, the scorpion collapsed. Springboarding off its corpse, I leaped six meters into the air. Crowding the ground under me, monsters stretched out their grotesque claws, coiled their tails, and widened their jaws in anticipation.

I had to handle them before I landed.

Chain after chain of lightning emanated from me. Though I had controlled how much mana Lightning Essence used, the skill was still powerful enough to reduce the creatures to ash.

Amid the rising ash, I landed on the head of a beast that hadn’t yet fallen, then used a giant scorpion’s tail as a springboard, jumping into the air once more. Continuing onward, I covered roughly sixty meters in under five seconds before hurtling into an open area between the monsters and the heretics.

I had accumulated quite a bit of momentum on my rush forward, so I had no choice but to roll along the ground to break my fall.

Speed was the name of the game right now. In an effort to maintain some speed from the roll, I bounced back up, springing forward with my legs and hips.

“Kill the non-believer!”

“He’s alone! Don’t be afraid. Surround him!”

As soon as I was back on my feet, I swung my axe in a wide arc.

Whoosh—

A heavy gust cut through the air and crackling streaks of lightning sparked along the blade’s edge. One strike later and five heretics’ bodies now littered the floor.

“Enough!"

From beyond their ranks, the Great Warlord of Terror’s chilling voice rang out, sharp and commanding.

***

[Eliminate all enemies and drive out the heretics. Time remaining: 7 hours 50 minutes.]

“I will deal with him myself. The rest of you, go and show the other non-believers the path to death.”

Following his command, no enemy dared to approach me. Even the monstrous creatures in the distance turned their attention elsewhere. Like a parting wave, the heretics opened a path directly toward the Warlord.

“Slaughter every non-believer and offer them to the great Stagnant Terror! Charge!”

“Charge!”

The heretics surged forward as I met the Warlord’s gaze. His eyes burned with the same sinister glow, and his entire form radiated a foul, oppressive energy. All that separated us was fifty meters and the tension of the upcoming fight.

First, I had one question. Though I knew what his answer would be, my teeth clenched in anticipation. “What did you do to Comet?”

“Comet? Ah, you mean the cultist warrior.” He paused, his mouth twisting into a sinister smile.

Barely containing myself, I gripped my axe until my knuckles turned white.

“The cultist warrior remains where you were trapped. Likely buried somewhere in that mountain of corpses."

Motherfucker.

My lips curled into a defiant smile. “This time, it won’t go that way.”

“Pitiful, non-believer. All is as the great Stagnant Terror has willed it. The heavens have already tipped in our favor. And I, too, will not fall as easily as before.”

With those words, we sprang at each other as if by an unspoken agreement. I activated Flash Strike but quickly disengaged it since he could effortlessly match my speed with his god’s protection.

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To be honest, his power felt daunting, even with his divine strength partially held back.

No. I can do this.

Steeling myself with a steady breath, I focused on the warlord. He extended his right arm and pointed his spear downward. Based on his current stance, I anticipated he would choose one of two potential attacks: a powerful thrust or a slash.

Watching his arm carefully, I braced myself.

Upward slash.

His spear sliced upward from the lower left, aiming toward my right shoulder. I rotated my shoulder and brought my axe down to counter his strike. Except, just before our weapons met, he twisted his wrist and rotated the spear blade to catch the underside of my axe.

Clang!

Our weapons caught, locking together, and he moved as if to overpower me.

Instead of resisting, I relaxed my stance and let the spear’s upward force lift me like a beetle flipping onto its back.

He had acted exactly as I had hoped, giving me the chance to complete my hidden goal.

My top priority was recovering Comet’s sword and necklace. Even if Comet was gone, the goddess’s relics could reveal a clue.

Maybe, even without direct access to the goddess’s divine power, I could use them to purify this crimson world. I needed to create a better situation for the climbers, and that wouldn’t be possible with the overwhelming dread and malice.

During this whole process, the warlord watched me with a puzzled expression.

Yeah, it doesn’t make sense why I let myself fly like that, does it?

Even if he realized my plan, it was too late. I landed stably before turning and sprinting toward Comet’s sword.

Behind me, I heard the warlord shouting urgently, “You! What are you doing?!”

I had no intention of answering. He started to sprint, trying to close the distance, but I was already too far ahead. A group of heretics protected the sword, so I unleashed a streak of lightning to scatter them.

Finally, the sword was within reach. The sword that had once emanated a radiant divine light now glowed with an unsettling crimson hue.

“No, stop!”

The warlord’s frantic voice echoed, but he was still far off. Seeing his panic only strengthened my resolve. If he was this desperate to keep me from the sword, drawing it had to be important.

Quickly sheathing my dagger, I reached for the sword and... paused.

Wait. Would he really leave something so crucial exposed like this?

Even if he couldn’t wield or be near it, he couldn’t have thought I would ignore it.

Too confident. Too careless.

Ignoring my doubt, I grabbed both the necklace and the sword’s hilt, pulling hard. The blade slid free without resistance, but the crimson world didn’t dissipate.

Is it because the sacrifices have already been made?

I couldn’t be sure. A dark, unsettling energy radiated from the sword and necklace, and I recoiled by instinct.

That didn’t matter, however. I couldn’t let go.

Just then, the Ring of the Dawn Breeze reacted, briefly emitting a faint, blue glow. Instantly, my vision shifted.

***

The world was still bathed in red, but the plains were gone. I now stood in a vast, familiar landscape, corpses stacked high around me.

Once again, I was trapped in the Stagnant Terror’s realm. It seemed that once the tide of battle turned, he sought to imprison me here. Thankfully, I had anticipated this, so I didn’t panic.

Last time, I was here for ten minutes. How long will it be this time?

I could only hope Ha Hee-Jeong would hold her ground until I returned. A strange pulse of energy coming from my left hand interrupted my thoughts, and I turned to look at it.

Right. The Ring of the Dawn Breeze had reacted to the sword and necklace, emitting that flash of blue light.

The crimson world encompassing the plains didn’t disappear, so I missed something or haven’t discovered the solution yet.

The warlord wouldn’t have been so desperate to keep me from drawing the sword if it wasn’t vital to destroying the crimson world. I had no means of returning to the plains on my own, so my only option was to search for clues here.

Where to start, though?

As I considered my options, I thought of my sponsor.

Where are they when I need them?

They rarely intervened, and outside of the antidote of Seo Ho-Su and rolling the Dice of Fate on the sixteenth floor, they had been absent. I grumbled, thinking that if they had supported me more frequently, I could have grown stronger—even with the drawbacks that came with utilizing my shares.

No. If my sponsor is quiet, it means I am capable of handling this alone. What can I do? I don’t have any expertise with divine power or dispelling curses. Hmm, purification usually involves light or fire of some kind, but would that work here?

Wait. Fire...

The thought sparked another idea.

Lightning. Could lightning purify this?

It seemed unlikely, but there was no harm in trying. I channeled lightning into the sword, watching as brilliant bolts surged over the crimson blade. Unfortunately, nothing changed.

This isn’t it. Do I really need to ignite it with fire?

I reached toward my mimic pouch, where I had a flint, but suddenly froze as a memory popped out of nowhere with sudden clarity.

Comet told me something in the Dumie Desert.

He had relayed something the goddess had said, and now that sentence echoed in my mind, clearer than ever.

“Let there be dawn, and I shall come.”