Seira gazed at the sky.
A jet-black line drawn from the ground to the heights of the heavens.
It had been a while.
Since she had last found a line drawn by someone else beautiful.
She slowly followed the line with her eyes.
Teharam, who had appeared with tremendous force, was now split in two.
Along that line. Cleanly.
*Whoooosh...!*
The owner of the sword that had swung at the end of the line, Eugene Hyeok, sheathed it.
Was it because of the moonlight pouring down from the sky and the Reaper's form positioned behind his back?
The Teharam that had appeared moments ago was already forgotten, overshadowed by his imposing presence.
The corner of Seira's mouth twitched faintly.
She found herself unconsciously measuring the length of the line that had been drawn once more.
Because she couldn't be certain at a glance.
Whether she herself could draw a line of that magnitude right now.
A memory surfaced of something she had heard long ago.
*"I am a successful teacher."*
An abrupt and baseless self-praise.
At the time, young Seira had tilted her head with a face full of question marks.
*"My disciple's speed of growth is so frightening that even now I swing my sword with all my might. And who raised such a disciple? That's right, this body! KHAHAHA!!"*
Her teacher had said this and trained even harder than Seira, his disciple.
Back then, she was too young and thought her already strange teacher had finally lost his mind.
But now, she felt she could understand the meaning of those words, even if just a little.
*'...I need to work harder.'*
She clenched her fist, making a vow.
To increase the intensity of her training and accelerate her growth.
---
And at this very moment, in the air of the 85th floor of the Tower of Despair.
*Shiver!*
Jin Hyeok, who had been leisurely sheathing his sword, shuddered.
What was this? This tremendous chill?!
Could it be that Teharam had revived? He turned to look behind him.
'No.'
Teharam was split in half, plummeting toward the glacier.
I did that, but damn, it was a clean and pretty cut.
I swung the Perennial Cold Steel at the ground at the right timing to create repulsion.
At the same time, I had the Shoes of Hermes equipped.
I completed a safe and soft landing and stood up.
'Perfect. Absolutely perfect.'
Of course, the excellence ended there.
*KUUUUUUNG!!*
While focusing on my landing, I briefly overlooked the massive Teharam's crash.
It slammed into the glacier, creating a huge backdraft.
I stabbed my sword into the glacier and lowered my stance.
With a body that big, the backdraft was no joke.
"To—"
*Whoosh!*
I drew a question mark.
Something just brushed past my side... *KANCHOOOOOOK!!!*
I stared blankly for a moment.
From under my clothes, Kancho poked his face out.
"I almost became an ice yodel."
Even Kancho, with his fluffy fur resistant to cold, seemed to find this glacier harsh.
Icicles hung from various tips of his fur.
I brushed them off with a *pat pat* and quickly entered Camelà's barrier.
"Momom, what are you doing?! Hurry up and light a campfire! Do you think you can just sit around cutting scales all day?!"
"Got it!!"
The Yodel Ranger Deputy Commander's thunderous shout.
Momo jumped up and pulled out a magical engineering torch.
Dark swiftly snatched that chubby one away.
Thank goodness.
The sailboat almost got burned at the stake.
"Te, Teharam is...!"
"Ohhh...! Our Apostle!"
"Teharam has fallen!"
The believers clasped their hands, knelt, and began chanting prayers.
Judging by how much louder their voices were than usual, they seemed deeply moved.
"Well then, let's melt the ice and— wait."
I squinted as I was about to set off.
I wasn't sure if it was true, but Teharam was called the first ocean lifeform or the remnant of judgment.
Meaning it was a spiritually significant creature.
Plus, considering its category, it resembled a giant eel. So, could we eat it?
"Teacher Momo."
I hooked my arm around her chubby shoulder.
"What, what! What are you trying to say!"
"Should we try eating that?"
Momo made a face. *Ew.*
"It looks like a worm! It's probably totally gross!"
Come to think of it, I'd never fed my friends grilled eel before.
I whispered to her about how oily and savory eel is, and how good it is for the body.
"Hmm! Momo totally gets it!"
Momo nodded solemnly and took her short, stubby steps.
"Just wait a little! Tonight's dinner is grilled eel!"
As she tried to dash off, Momo slipped and fell flat on her bottom.
"Kyaaaah! My feet are frozen!!"
Ah, right. The Millennial Glacier.
I quickly got a talisman from Camelà and put it into Momo's clothes.
A barrier that wrapped around her body size.
"Hmm! Totally awesome!"
About three minutes after the Momo Emperor ran off again.
Teharam, shrinking like a deflating balloon, completely vanished.
Beria and the believers watched the scene in stunned silence.
Not only had they captured Teharam, but they were going to eat it.
For them, it was a flow of thought they could never follow.
"Return complete!"
I gave Momo a thumbs up and then looked at Dark.
He took a deep breath and began to withdraw the Millennial Glacier.
The sailboat, which had been stopped, began to drift again, and the Undying started getting seasick once more.
And not long after, the awaited alarm sounded.
*Ding!*
[You have defeated the Remnant of Judgment, Teharam, and crossed the Sea of Lamentation!]
[You have cleared the Enhanced 85th Floor of the Tower of Despair!]
[No remaining tickets! Settlement begins!]
[The Enhanced 81st Floor of the Tower of Despair is cleared!]
[The Enhanced 82nd Floor of the Tower of Despair is cleared!]
[The Enhanced 83rd Floor of the Tower of Despair is cleared!]
[The Enhanced 84th Floor of the Tower of Despair is cleared!]
[The Enhanced 85th Floor of the Tower of Despair is cleared!]
[Unique Trait 'Level Matching' activated! Seira Kincaiton, the highest level, is selected as the standard.]
[Player Eugene Hyeok levels up!]
[Player Eugene Hyeok levels up!]
[Player Eugene Hyeok has reached Level 139!]
[The maximum slot count for Weapon Collecting expands to 12!]
[Black Knight Commander Seira Kincaiton's level increases! Current Level: 203 / Current EXP: 10%]
[Yodel Ranger Deputy Commander Kancho's level increases! Current Level: 138]
[Undying Dark Castro's level increases! Current Level: 144]
[Greedy Collector Momo's level increases! Current Level: 142]
[Star Alchemist Elia Posen's level increases! Current Level: 142]
[Heaven Reader Camelà Sirin's accumulated EXP increases! Will be applied upon awakening to Epic!]
[The Steel Goblin Tempered in Darkness, Renya's level increases! Current Level: 139]
[Clear grades for Floors 81 through 85 have achieved SSS+!]
[Achievement gauge is full! A special privilege is granted!]
*Ding!*
[You have acquired the 'Ticket Vault Reinforcement Blueprint'!]
[If entrusted to a technician capable of analyzing the blueprint, the Ticket Vault can be reinforced!]
[You acquire byproducts from the defeated divine monsters!]
[712 High-Grade Divine Armor Fragments acquired!]
[1,112 Radiant Light Shards acquired!]
A satisfied smile spread across my face.
Yoo Su-yeon had been complaining about a shortage of attribute materials.
I think she'll be happy if I bring these to her.
As for the reinforcement blueprint, I'll give it to Grandpa Toto or... Grandpa Rudolph... no, Grandpa Ruwolf.
"Kuuuuh."
As I stretched refreshingly, I felt a burning gaze.
The Undying, Dark, who clearly hadn't died but had at least come close to it.
He swallowed dryly and quickly pressed the exit button.
Let's get Dark out of this hell.
[Exiting the Enhanced 85th Floor of the Tower of Despair!]
---
* * *
A single note lay on the table.
*Rest well. Goodbye.*
A short line was left behind.
"He's gone."
Elia, sipping her tea, shrugged.
"The chimera in the barrier told me, but he seemed to want to leave quietly, so I pretended not to know."
"Good. I wonder if he's fully recovered his energy."
"Hmph! My special potions made him super energetic, you know? And even though he left suddenly, he packed well."
Apparently, he took all the spare potion packs I'd told him to bring, along with the Korean food Baela had prepared.
Looks like Roche won't have to worry about good food and recovery for a while.
"Anyway!"
Elia spread open a thick ancient tome.
"You finished the translation?"
"Ohhh!!"
The Jin-Kan-Mo trio leaned eagerly over the table.
Among them, the Kan-Mo duo dropped out in under ten seconds.
The squiggly letters looked completely uninteresting.
"Race to the swimming pool, Momo!"
"Okay!"
Kancho and Momo burst through the door and ran toward the pool.
Taking advantage of the sudden quiet, I quickly examined the ancient tome.
"The Darkness Entity."
Elia nodded and began to speak.
"This entire book is about that entity. Or more precisely, it's about various attempts and efforts to awaken it."
I slowly flipped through the pages of the tome as I listened to Elia's explanation.
As expected of the Star Alchemist!
She had translated every single line in detail, so reading it was no trouble at all.
There was an entity that countless people, led by the century's Necromancer, Mortarion, had tried to awaken.
An entity of darkness called the Devourer of Light or the Adversary of Light.
At first, I naturally thought it would be a necromancer, but it seemed I needed to broaden my scope.
"That entity subdued the infinite divine light, but unable to withstand the full-scale assault of light that poured in when its power waned, it vanished into an inescapable abyss. Those who worship light called this entity the Apostate."
Subdued infinite divine light... The divine being of the Light faction, Azriel, who had spoken to me through the system.
For some reason, that passage made me think of him.
"It seems like this Darkness Entity is our next friend."
"Looks that way, huh?"
As if to prove this was correct, as soon as I finished reading the tome.
*Ding!*
[You have completely read the mysterious ancient tome related to the Darkness Entity!]
[The 23rd Floor of the Tower of Myth is changed to 'The Seven Deadly Sins, Altar of Sloth and Gluttony'!]
[Entry conditions have been updated! The 'Key of the Order' is required to enter the 23rd Floor!]
*Gulp!*
The Seven Deadly Sins, all of a sudden? That's some serious stuff.
Our eyes met, and Elia shrugged.
"Our next friend seems pretty serious, huh?"
"The demon of Sloth and Gluttony?!"
"We've got a goblin and a satan as friends, so it's not like a demon can't show up, right?"
"He's a yodel, not a satan."
"He's a satan to me."
From a relative perspective, I could see that.
"Anyway, Master, where do we find this Key of the Order? The book doesn't have any clues either."
"It's fine. We have a specialist in searching."
I stood up immediately and headed to the garden.
Then I took out the pouch of dandelion seeds and the Yodel Compass from my inventory.
Let's find it.
Where the key that will lead us to the altar is hidden.
----------
T/N:
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