Chapter 109 - Chapter 109

Chapter 109

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Translated by Jinmu

Read more at hivetoons.org

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The ceiling of the underground prison opened.

Then it instantly transformed into a Colosseum.

The spectator seats were also packed tightly with people.

'A prison... into a Colosseum?'

Does this make sense?

How did they know we came here.

Even if it's a fabricated background and fabricated souls.

I don't know who designed the floors of the tower, but I'd like to tell them to take care of plausibility a little.

Actually, at this point, I'm getting curious.

The missions that players from each country have to face starting from the 71st floor.

Will they really be the exact same as the mission I am performing right now?

"It will not be different."

"Is that so? I wish it were different, though."

"For what reason."

"Because it's a mission related to our Gobang's past history..."

It's inevitable to feel uncomfortable.

Since players all over the world can indirectly experience Gobang's past.

"There is no need to worry about that."

"Why?"

Gyeon Dal-rae explaining in a calm tone.

"To those who do not know Sir Gobang's present or past, it is a simple and ordinary mission. It's merely a job to stop the tyranny of the mercenary group and eliminate the Necromancer and King behind them."

Indeed.

In the mission details, not even the 'G' in Gobang appears.

In the background description of the Super Demonic Beast Hydra, it was only briefly mentioned that he was a barbarian warrior.

And would ordinary players be able to check the background description?

[Royal Knight Commander Yornte]

- Grade : SSR (Special Super Rare)

- Type : Knight (Human)

- Knight Yornte is a former mercenary who wandered the continent with Hero Arius and completed numerous request missions. When Arius became the King of the Norton Kingdom, he became the Royal Knight Commander and enjoyed both honor and wealth. Then, falling for the King's coaxing, his body was modified and he degenerated into a chimera state.

Things like this.

'By the way, King Arius, that bastard appears everywhere.'

I thought he only deceived Gobang, but he even coaxed his own Royal Knight Commander and modified him into a chimera?

He was even a son of a bitch who ordered the collection of children's souls for the purpose of restoring the Super Demonic Beast Hydra to make it a strategic weapon.

'Let's look at the information.'

[Norton King Arius]

- Grade : R++ (High-Grade Rare)

- Type : King (Human)

'R?'

Even if it's High-Grade, it's just an R?

He's pathetic and shoddy.

With that level, wasn't he a bastard who would croak, ugh! even if hit by Rajix's golden pickaxe.

- Arius was an illegitimate child of the Norton Royal Family. To avoid the eyes of his half-brothers who kept him in check, he left the royal palace and wandered the continent. If Arius, who lacked martial prowess, wealth, and power, had any weapons, it was his status as a member of the royal family and his glib tongue. He packaged himself as a hero and built his power by scamming naive people.

- The incident where Arius made a name for himself throughout the whole kingdom was the subjugation of the Super Demonic Beast Hydra. As a result, his popularity skyrocketed in the kingdom, and using that as a stepping stone, he returned to the royal family, won over the nobles, purged his half-brothers, and ascended to the throne.

He was a worthless scammer bastard.

But why is a bastard like that a super high-difficulty mission?

Step, step, step, step.

Hundreds of soldiers and knights pouring into the Colosseum, and combat mage troops positioned around where the guy was sitting.

That was it.

Arius's strength was precisely the army.

If a player were to break through those troops alone and eliminate Arius, it would naturally be difficult.

'Hmm.'

That goes for Joo-hyuk as well.

Even though he's together with the summoned entities, how could they reach the place where that numerous crowd of spectators was gathered?

If he hides his body, he'll be hard to find too.

'There's no method other than Master Sergeant Be's sniping.'

For example, a large-caliber bullet or something.

But what about the mages standing by the King's side?

What if they use defensive magic?

If they fail, there is no next opportunity.

They might have to fight an all-out war with the Kingdom's army.

Since it's a condition clear, giving up the clear isn't allowed, and the time limit doesn't apply either... they might be tied down in the tower forever, unable to exit.

Mission Impossible.

A mission that cannot be succeeded in the first place.

Joo-hyuk might be able to find even a thread of hope thanks to the summoned entities, but...

Ordinary players should be considered dead the moment they accept the condition clear.

I should tell them in advance and strictly prevent them from doing it.

"Strike!!!"

The all-out attack began.

The spectators roared.

"Let's go!"

"Kill them!"

"Complete annihilation of the intruders!"

"Glory to His Majesty King Arius!"

Chimera Hounds and knight troops pouncing.

"My Lord, your subject Bardin is by your side."

Bardin stepped out of his role as the Holy Sword and came to Joo-hyuk's side.

"VIP protection mode. Commander, do not worry."

The hundred-percent-accurate Veronica.

"This girl shall play around for a bout."

Gyeon Dal-rae showing dance moves as if flying while scattering talismans.

And Sir Gwangma is...

'Huh? Where did he go? He was right next to me until just now.'

Anyway, the battle starts.

Jiiing!

Joo-hyuk already activated the energy shield.

Holding the Thunder Storm Club in one hand.

The Blood Jade Astral Aura was also activated.

And the Blink Ring limited to 10 uses too.

He was ready.

Now he takes action.

The rite of passage.

'Why wouldn't I be able to kill a person?'

He can do it.

Be it humans or hounds, he'll just eliminate whatever is in sight...

At that moment,

Joo-hyuk, who took one step forward and stopped short,

'Hold on!'

Simultaneously, a thought flashing through his mind.

'Why am I so anxious to fight like this?'

Because I'm a coward without courage?

Because I want to live as an alpha male, not a beta male?

I can't deny it.

That might be the case.

But the biggest reason above that.

It was because he felt sorry.

To the summoned entities who only sacrificed themselves for him.

He didn't want to cause them trouble anymore.

He also wanted to do his part and carry the burden they were bearing together.

But a thought occurring to him right now.

Does this action really lighten the summoned entities' burden?

Did their shoulders get lighter?

Joo-hyuk stepped forward.

The sight of Gobang facing Yornte came into his eyes.

Glance, glance,

Gobang, staring at him and very tense lest something happen.

It's not just Gobang.

Bardin too,

"Light!!!"

Raising his flail and only hovering entirely by his side.

Perhaps as if trying to fill Cossack's empty spot.

Then, if enemies approach even a little,

Swaaaaek! Pow!

He immediately charges, takes care of them, and returns to his spot.

What about Veronica?

She is the same.

A class that is at a disadvantage if aggro is drawn.

Nevertheless, without even caring about the rushing enemies, she was silently pulling the trigger purely for Joo-hyuk.

Furthermore, Gyeon Dal-rae's talismans.

The area where they fell was very limited.

The talismans fluttered only around Joo-hyuk like petals.

'At this rate...'

Can it be a proper clear?

'Everyone is only looking at me.'

Joo-hyuk smirked.

This wasn't right.

And he slowly stepped backward.

Only then did the expressions of the summoned entities look relieved.

Joo-hyuk's action of stepping forward.

It wasn't lightening the summoned entities' burden, it was actually making it heavier.

'Good grief...'

He thought he had become sufficiently strong.

He judged it was at a level where he could take care of his own body.

It's probably similar to this case.

The heart of an 80-year-old elderly mother worrying anxiously every time her nearly 60-year-old son goes out.

It can't be helped.

He has to become stronger.

At least enough to be able to beat the summoned entities.

Gobang was facing Yornte.

The knight in an iron helmet tilting his head.

"You are... a familiar face."

Then as if he remembered.

Clank! Taking off his helmet.

"Right, you were the barbarian warrior. The foolish and stupid meat shield."

A single red eye as large as the Royal Knights.

Yornte was also a modified chimera knight.

Even though being able to speak freely was the difference from the other knights.

"...But you died. How?"

"That's right. I died. But I was called by my Summoner."

"Summoner? Hmm, words I absolutely cannot comprehend."

"You don't need to know."

Step, step.

Gobang walked forward.

"Because you will die in this place."

"...Me?"

Shwing.

A deep blue greatsword was drawn from Yornte's waist.

"Glad to hear that. By all means, kill me."

"How should I kill you?"

"Kuhahaha, you even speak well. You've gotten quite smart. You should have been like that 50 years ago. If it were back then, you wouldn't have been deceived by Arius."

Whoosh!

Flames erupted from Yornte's sword.

Crackle!

Gobang's physical body becoming hard like diamond.

Gobang had a calm expression, but actually, he was very anxious inside.

Because that guy is strong?

Nonsense.

He could toy with the likes of Yornte, torment him slowly, and then kill him.

Breaking his ankles, snapping his waist, pulling out his arms one by one...

But the number of enemies inside the Colosseum is quite large.

When the assassin disappeared too.

Then who will protect the Summoner?

He has to finish it quickly and protect his side.

Personal revenge?

Such a thing is nothing.

To Gobang, the most important value is solely the Summoner's safety.

Tseu-pit!

Yornte's hot flaming greatsword thrust toward his heart.

The guy is also an SSR.

The fight could drag on.

He has to end it before Yornte grasps his skills.

'Yield one to gain one.'

Gobang didn't step back but advanced forward.

Slightly twisting his upper body to avoid the heart area, he received the flaming greatsword in his chest just like that.

Stab!

The greatsword penetrating his right chest.

"Muhahaha! Was it merely this much? You foolish barbarian bastard!"

Without reacting to the sarcasm, he grabbed Yornte's shoulder, thud! and pulled him in.

"Th-this bastard..."

Grab!

After grabbing the guy's head with both hands,

"Gasp!"

Along with a shout of provocation,

"Uwaaaaaaah!!!"

Crunch!

Bending it just like that

Crack!

He pulled it out.

Thud!

Yornte falling down, losing his head.

[You have completed the high-difficulty selective mission.]

[Reward : High-Grade Mana Stone 73kg / Rune Necklace of Liberation (2)]

Next is?

'Where is the King?'

However, Gobang's eyes were solely directed at Joo-hyuk.

How could he compare trivial revenge with the Summoner's safety?

The Summoner was safe.

Now he is relieved.

Gobang pulling out the greatsword stuck in his chest smoothly.

Spurt!

Crimson blood sprayed like a fountain.

However, the regeneration was quick.

Gobang grinned.

Since now he could properly protect the Summoner.

Colosseum spectator seats.

Norton Kingdom King Arius watching the match from the highest place.

There are no long-term inmates in the Norton Kingdom underground prison.

The prison was always empty.

Because they extracted the souls of fresh and useful prisoners, and for the shoddy and garbage-like guys, they gathered them all at once, held a gladiatorial match, and killed them off completely.

A gladiatorial match where prisoners kill each other.

Sometimes catching monsters alive and throwing them in made the matches even more exciting.

When a match was held, the kingdom turned into a melting pot of festival.

The kingdom's nobles and wealthy merchants paid huge sums of money and flocked to the Colosseum to enjoy the entertainment where blood and flesh flew about.

However, supplying prisoners continuously is impossible.

Maybe if they started a war and captured prisoners?

If there are no fighters, a match cannot be held.

It meant one source of income was disappearing.

Even so, the national treasury was on the verge of running dry due to the money going to Necromancer Noma for the Super Demonic Beast Hydra restoration project.

Well, there is a method.

Forcibly creating fighters.

So what he prepared was chimeras.

Untrained, feral Chimera Hounds.

Furthermore, Chimera Knights created for matches.

Originally, a showdown between Hounds and Knights was scheduled.

Because it was something he saw all the time, he opened the lid with a bored expression... but what is this?

Both the Chimera Hounds and Chimera Knights were all dead by the hands of suspicious intruders.

Where did these guys come from?

6 people in total.

All of them extraordinary individuals.

King Arius's judgment was fast.

Those guys could just fight the match instead.

The opponents would be his loyal slave, Knight Commander Yornte and the knights, and the trained Chimera Hounds.

No matter how strong those 6 intruders are, how could they compare to Yornte?

He's a guy who reached the realm of a Sword Expert after being reinforced with chimera magic.

But as time passed, he became anxious.

They were no pushovers.

The hounds died off.

The Chimera Knights synthesized with a massive budget were struck by a flail, and their heads were blown off by a suspicious ranged weapon.

Especially that giant.

Just how massive was he.

To the point where Yornte, who attached a Minotaur's body with chimera enhancement magic, looked small.

But he looked very familiar.

Who was it again?

He felt like it reminded him of that incredibly stupid, barbarian from 50 years ago.

Eventually, Yornte died.

The giant pulled Yornte in and pulled his head off even after being stabbed by the sword of flames.

The spectators starting to get excited.

They were thoroughly intoxicated by the cruel spectacle they hadn't seen in a long time.

But Arius became anxious.

It's dangerous.

If those guys come outside the Colosseum, he didn't know what might happen.

'...This won't do.'

Arius gave an order to a vassal.

"Have the soldiers pour oil into the Colosseum."

"...Pardon?"

"Tell the Royal Mages to prepare flame magic. Set fire to it and burn it all away. Make sure not a single one can crawl out."

"However, the knights are still..."

"So?"

Arius retorted back as if asking what the problem was.

"Even seeing that sight, you can say such things? Failing to take care of a mere six intruders and..."

"There are five, Your Majesty."

"Huh? What?"

"The intruders inside that Colosseum are five people."

Arius blinked his eyes and checked again.

There were definitely six when it first started.

'Did one die?'

Right at that moment!

"Were you looking for this seat?"

A voice heard from thin air.

Arius raised his head.

"Gasp!"

One old man floating in mid-air with his hands clasped behind his back, looking down below as if looking down on the world.

"You're going to set fire to the Colosseum?"

Gwangma raised his hand.

Wooooooooo...

A swirling storm of energy.

"To my Summoner, you dare?"

And the blade of massive astral aura rising above his hand.

King Arius's trembling pupils.

'...A Swordmaster?'

No.

He's stronger than that.

A Grandmaster who only appears in legends.

Chill!

Goosebumps rose on Arius's forearms.

Has he ever felt this much of a threat until now?

"K-k-kill that old man!!!"

Flashy magic rushed toward Gwangma.

Knights also threw their spears.

Swaaek! Kwakwakwang! Hwiririt!

However, no attack could pierce Gwangma's Body Protection Astral Aura.

Still with his hands clasped behind his back, he said with a leisurely voice.

"Have you ever heard of doing the wave?"

What in the...

"Since it happens to be a Colosseum, let's do the wave. From the left to the right."

And a crescent moon of massive astral aura descended upon the Colosseum.

"Gasp!"

"D-dodge!"

"Block it!"

"Protect His Majesty the King!"

Tseu-pa-pa-pat!

The fiercely rotating crescent moon of astral aura.

Cleanly slicing everything it touched.

Tseu-pi-ri-ri-ri-rit!

It went around the spectator seats once.

And a massacre occurred.

Crescent moon boomerang wave.

Two laps, three laps...

A mountain of corpses and a sea of blood.

There were no words to express it other than that.

Joo-hyuk also witnessed the tragedy in the spectator seats.

'...My goodness!'

At first he wondered where Gwangma was.

Then hearing a commotion in the spectator seats, he raised his head and looked up.

No, Sir Gwangma, a wave, really.

Isn't that something you do to cheer at a baseball or soccer stadium?

The spectator seats were devastated.

Corpses with heads cut off, corpses with waists cut off, corpses with legs cut off.

Gwangma's mass murder.

Indeed, he was originally that kind of person.

Did the phrase 'the most ominous in the martial arts world' come out for nothing?

He felt ridiculous about himself having agonized whether to kill people or not in front of such a person.

It wasn't just Joo-hyuk.

Everyone was speechless.

Gobang too, Bardin too, Gyeon Dal-rae too, Veronica too.

They just gulped down their saliva while looking at the scene Gwangma had committed.

And.

Cossack, who reappeared at some point and,

Pat-pat-pat-pat!

Was running over beaming with a smile,

"Summoner Bong, well, our Rajix worker... gasp! W-what is that?"

He froze upon seeing the gruesome state of the spectator seats,

"Ho-e-e-ek!"

Rajix, who was rolling over de-gul-de-gul with an overflowing confident expression, did too.

"...Hu-e?"

He trembled his round body.

But Gwangma was calm.

Descending slowly from thin air,

"Hmm? What is everyone so surprised about? Making a fuss."

Excuse me, it would be abnormal not to be surprised.

And. Tti-ring!

[You have completed all missions on the 72nd floor.]

[Reward : High-Grade Mana Stone 73kg / Summoned Entity Grade Breakthrough Rune (Condition).]

[Calculating clear grade.]

[Global Announcement : You have achieved the S+++ clear grade on the 73rd floor of the Black Tower (South Korea).]

[S+++ Clear Reward : 2 Platinum Badges are awarded.]

Messages announcing clear success.

But the message that stuck clearly in his ears even in this situation.

'Summoned Entity Grade Breakthrough Rune?'

It was a breakthrough, not an increase.

And the word condition was specified.

'Could the meaning of breakthrough be...'

[You may challenge the 74th floor.]

[Exiting from the South Korea Black Tower.]

Spot!