Cold sweat trickled down his side.
He had thrown the seed with a casual flick, acting cool while flipping off the enraged Radiana.
'Maybe I threw it too carelessly.'
With a plop, the seed vanished into the pitch-black sap.
That place was the very essence of Nemesis's curses and corruption. It felt like he had messed up badly.
'Sorry, little seed.'
No matter how powerful the being that created it, a seed was still just a seed.
He should have started with something mild and gradually worked up to the intense stuff, but instead, he had tossed it straight into nuclear-level fire from the get-go.
He scratched the back of his head awkwardly and quietly turned to leave.
It wasn't like anything major had gone wrong.
It just meant the shortcut was gone.
He would just have to follow the original plan, find his way slowly, and beat them down.
'Time to bail.'
He needed to find somewhere quiet, have a cup of tea, and tear into some jerky.
Until either the auto-hunt succeeded or Nemesis killed everyone off.
Thump!
He stopped in his tracks.
A tremor rose through the soles of his feet, something stirring beneath.
He slowly turned his head.
The sap where the seed had sunk was bubbling violently.
Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump.
The pulse of the ground began to quicken.
Then, a change swept across the battlefield.
The World Tree's army, which had been endlessly reviving and pushing Lument back, suddenly stopped as if someone had pressed a pause button.
Soon after, they began sinking back into the ground, just as they had when they first appeared.
'My Ancient Dragon eyes!'
If it weren't for the corruption, he would have summoned Mohwang right then and there.
But doing so would immediately lead to a reverse-summon ending, so there was nothing he could do.
Pushing aside his regret, he turned his gaze toward Lument and Radiana.
He could chalk up Nemesis's change to the seed's influence, but why had they stopped?
'Huh.'
It wasn't just that they had stopped.
As if sensing something, they were even backing away hesitantly.
These were the fanatics who had charged at the corrupted dragon without flinching, all in the name of carrying out their god's word.
It seemed even they couldn't escape a fear etched into their very instincts.
Shriek!!
He stopped mid-motion, about to draw his sword.
A massive spear of light came crashing down toward his face.
It was Radiana, the only one still holding onto her sanity.
"Listen, my followers!!!"
Drawing in a breath, Radiana raised her voice, radiating brilliance.
"Kill that trash right now! Before the seed blooms! That's all it takes!!"
As expected of an apostle.
Excellent situational awareness.
A floor of the Tower of Despair was bound to the player who entered it.
If the player was taken out, the floor would cease to exist, and the World Tree Nemesis having harbored the seed would become null and void.
Whoosh…!
A massive scythe materialized in Radiana's hands.
It was different from the light-attribute weapons she had been throwing earlier.
Though obscured by the glow, something dark was embedded within it.
The remaining followers and legions followed Radiana's lead, drawing new weapons.
Since holy light wasn't working, they seemed to have decided to mix in darkness with physical force, unaffected by attribute resistance.
"Kill them!"
He pulled out the Soul Reaper.
How dare an auto-hunt bot attack its master?
There was no need to wade into the mud, so he would just slip away into the distance… Thwack!!
Blood spurted from the head of the leading fanatic.
A circular spear had shot up from the ground, piercing straight through him.
Sensing a presence seeping out, he turned his head.
'Wow.'
The World Tree Nemesis now had a completely different appearance than before.
At its center, the seed had bloomed.
A blue liquid leaking from the seed flowed through Nemesis's body, using it as a conduit, and wherever the liquid touched, fruit formed.
And from those fruits, figures were stepping out one by one.
A knight order, clad in full blue plate armor from head to toe.
The knights said nothing, made no preparatory movements.
They simply shot forward at incredible speed and began skewering Lument's forces.
Despite the immense weight of their armor, their speed was terrifying.
Clank. Clank. Clank.
They weren't hiding or suppressing their presence.
Yet the knights passed right by him, as if he was none of their concern, as if their only business was with the enemies ahead.
Thwack! Crunch! Slish!
Sounds of piercing and tearing came from all directions.
'So my fear wasn't unfounded.'
Lument was putting up a decent fight, considering how terrified they were.
But the battle was still one-sided.
The knights' armor boasted insane defense, deflecting both light and dark attacks.
Their weapons pierced through Lument's flesh without regard for the apostle's blessings.
Clang!!
Of course, they weren't completely invincible.
Knights were crushed or shredded by Radiana's or her followers' attacks.
But the exchange rate was abysmal.
Hundreds of Lument's legion had already fallen, while only a dozen or so knights had lost function.
He casually moved, dragging a fallen knight over.
Then he tapped on its armor.
'Hmm, not bad.'
He nodded.
Reyna and Seira, both possessing immense physical strength, would be more than capable of breaking through.
Since he never knew when he might have to face them, it was best to scope them out while he had the chance.
Boom!!!
He sat down on the knight and rested his chin on his hand.
Thanks to the seed, most of the corruption and status effects had vanished.
But the World Tree's burial ground was becoming more and more chaotic as the two forces clashed.
He thought he had gotten pretty far in the Tower of Despair, but at this rate, he was starting to lose track.
How was this floor going to turn out?
---
At a port on the coast of Sokcho.
Karen Whittaker, the head of the U.S. Transition Investigation Bureau, boarded a ship.
"Reynolds."
"Yes, Director."
"Are you sure this is the jackpot?"
Reynolds gave a confident thumbs-up.
"Don't worry. I've already figured out the principle."
Reynolds was one of the top trackers in the U.S. Hunter Administration.
He could see the memories and traces embedded in specific places and objects.
His tracking abilities through that were also exceptional.
"A religion that accelerates transitions and the holy relics they use. We'll be taking home some unexpected information."
Karen muttered to herself, a smile forming on her lips.
At least she could take this back, she thought.
The small Asian country of South Korea.
She had used the pretext of investigating an ally's transition, but her true goal was to search for Runner, a global hot topic.
'To think I couldn't find a single person in this small land.'
She clicked her tongue lightly.
As soon as she arrived in Korea, she had scoured Seopangyo to find Runner.
But she hadn't even caught a glimpse of Runner's face, let alone a trace.
Just how thoroughly had they hidden him?
'The more desperately something is hidden, the more people want to find it. That's human nature.'
She could always create a pretext whenever needed.
Besides, she hadn't come away empty-handed, so she decided to leave it at that for now.
"How far have we shared information with Korea?"
"We told them we found a suspicious point but weren't certain yet, so we'd share more later. They probably haven't figured out that the holy relics caused the transition."
Karen nodded.
Whoever had provided the information, the Korean side had also started digging into the connection between the Cheonil Church and the transitions.
They had plenty of talented people, so they would soon realize the role of the holy relics.
But it didn't matter.
By then, the Americans would have already taken all the valuable pieces.
Leaning on the railing, Karen raised her telescope.
A small dot was visible in the distance.
An uninhabited island not even marked on South Korean maps.
It was also where the Cheonil Church had recently moved a massive amount of holy relics.
Ring, ring.
"Director. This is Smith, accompanying the British investigation team. We've just found four holy relics and a woman who appears to be a sacrifice. The Cheonil Church members on site have all been subdued."
"Tell them to stall the interrogation as long as possible. The other locations were bluffs. This is the real one."
She didn't know who the head of the Cheonil Church was.
But he was undoubtedly an extremely cautious person.
The fact that he had thrown out multiple baits at once to scatter attention was proof of that.
Well, thanks to that, Karen and the U.S. were about to hit the jackpot alone.
Staring at the approaching island, Karen smirked.
Everyone on the ship was relaxed.
The ship gliding across the sea was also unhurried.
There was no rush.
The reason they were heading to the island wasn't to stop the Cheonil Church, but to find out what they were trying to summon.
If Karen's hypothesis was correct, and they could summon something from the Tower of Despair into reality at will, this would be the discovery of the century.
It would become a weapon of immense power that no other country in the world possessed.
"Director. What should we do with the Cheonil Church members on the island?"
"Let's meet them first. In principle, we eliminate them, but depending on the situation, we might end up on the same boat."
The head of the Cheonil Church.
What kind of secret was he hiding?
---
Radiana, the apostle of Lument, gasped for breath.
Crack! Crunch!
A horrific massacre unfolding before her eyes.
It was so similar to that day that she wondered if it was déjà vu.
"Apostle… my lady…"
"To… eternal rest…"
The fallen followers began to scatter one by one.
The blue knight order born from the seed.
What in the world were those damned things made of to be so tough?
While thousands of Lument's forces were swept away, only about a hundred knights had fallen.
The remaining followers and legions were barely holding on, but it was only a matter of time before they collapsed.
It was infuriating, but she had to admit it.
She had lost again.
"My lady apostle!"
Valid Ropo, a high-ranking follower, flew to her side.
His body was covered in wounds, as if he had barely escaped death.
"We can't defeat those things born from the seed! We must retreat to the sanctuary now!!"
Radiana quietly stared at Valid.
When she didn't respond, he opened his mouth again.
"Gurk!"
He looked down at his chest, feeling a strange sensation.
Radiana's hand had pierced straight through his heart.
"W-why…?"
"Is your head just for decoration? Or are you trying to abandon our god?"
Radiana asked lightly, then glared at the approaching knights.
"These are the ones who followed us here. Do you think they'll leave us alone just because we retreat to the sanctuary?"
The situation was different from back then.
This place and the sanctuary were on the same plane.
The moment a path opened, they would pour in.
A disaster far more terrible than before, having been fertilized by the World Tree.
"We all die here. Fight to the end, so that the name of our god is not shamed."
Steeling herself, Radiana summoned the power of radiance.
At that moment.
Boom!!
A dark red aura burst into her视野, covering the sky.
Even from a considerable distance, the ominous energy sent a chill down her spine.
Why was that trash shooting such an enormous amount of aura into the empty sky…?
Radiana's eyes widened as she formed a question mark.
It wasn't a random shot.
That was the spot where the path had opened when they were summoned from the sanctuary to this place.
Crack!!
That piece of trash was trying to forcibly twist it.
The faint remaining gap to the sanctuary.
"This trash, to the very end!!!"
Letting out a scream that was almost a shriek, she stomped the ground.
She had to stop him.
If the gap opened even a little, they would notice.
The beings that would turn the sanctuary into a wasteland in an instant.
----------
T/N:
Just for being a free member, you'll get 5 advanced chapters every week!
Access 35 chapters in advance on my Patreon:[email protected]//towerup