“We’ve arrived.”
Pablo, who used the secret passageway on the 39th floor of the tower, arrived at the 49th floor.
“They’re following well, aren’t they?”
Pablo looked at the entrance of Lindgen from which he had emerged; ensuring the Black wolves could follow, he deliberately moved slowly.
Then,
“Huh?!”
He noticed that some of the petals of the Lindgen were cut off. It was the mark of Sejun cutting it with his dagger, wanting to taste it.
“What? Could it be?!”
The thought crossed Pablo’s mind that perhaps they had already discovered the secret base on the 49th floor. However, he wasn’t too worried since the secret base on the 49th floor couldn’t be destroyed as easily as the one on the 33rd floor.
“Let’s go and see.”
So Pablo headed towards the secret base managed by Akhiro.
Then,
“Huh?! Akhiro?”
Pablo felt the aura of Akhiro approaching him.
However,
“Meow meow meow.”
Krueng!
(Pip-pip)
In front of Pablo appeared a cat, a bear, a bat, and a single hunter. And from the hunter, he felt Akhiro’s energy. To be precise, it was the bronze coin containing the energy of the 7th head of Hydra.
‘Akhiro is dead?!’
Pablo quickly concluded. Naturally, anyone who killed Akhiro would be an enemy.
“Die!”
Without any hesitation, Pablo attacked Sejun, but
Krueng! Krueng!
Bam!
The bear beside the hunter countered with a punch, knocking Pablo down.
Then,
– How dare you! Do you know who I am?
Left with no choice, the third head of Hydra, hiding inside Pablo, revealed itself.
***
[You have encountered the Apostle of Destruction.]
[<Title: Hunter of Destruction> is activated.]
[Weakens the abilities of the Apostle of Destruction within 100m by 20%.]
With the message, the flame and heat wrapped around by the red snake noticeably reduced.
“Another Apostle of Destruction?”
Sejun, looking at the red snake, spoke in an annoyed manner. He showed no fear. He had already seen how the golden snake was killed by Cuengi. The red snake would be no different.
“Create Thundercloud. Rainfall.”
Just in case, to prevent burns from the fire, he summoned rain to reduce the fire’s intensity.
“Throw thunder!”
Boom!
Boom!
Boom, boom!
He launched a surprise attack using triple consecutive thunder throws, but
Whiz.
The thunder was absorbed by the flames as if being devoured. As expected, Sejun’s attack was ineffective.
-You bastard, how dare you insult me with such a pathetic attack?!
The red snake was furious at Sejun’s attack. Insulted by a weak attack? Sejun was annoyed by the red snake’s words. If it wanted a stronger attack, so be it!
“Cuengi! Use Rising Dragon Fist!”
In the time it took for the red snake to divert its attention, Cuengi had moved right below the red snake and Sejun shouted at it.
Krueng!
[Understood!]
Bam!
At Sejun’s command, Cuengi bent his knees and then jumped with great force, creating a massive hole in the ground.
And then,
Krueng!
[Cuengi won’t let you bully Daddy!]
Bam!
Cuengi landed a powerful blow on the jaw of the red snake that had ignored Sejun.
-Urk!
And that was the end.
Thud.
The red snake turned to dust and disappeared,
Bam!
Cuengi landed in a superhero stance, concluding the battle.
[Guard Cuengi has defeated the 3rd head of Hydra, the snake with nine heads, 10th Apostle of Destruction, that infiltrated the Black Tower.]
[You’ve gained 10 million experience points, 50% of the experience points earned by Guard Cuengi.]
Regrettably, due to the job quest, he couldn’t gain experience points.
“Good job, Cuengi.”
Sejun praised Cuengi and patted his head.
Krueng!
[If anyone bullies Daddy, Cuengi will punish them!]
Cuengi rubbed his head against Sejun’s hand as it spoke.
“That’s right. Yes.”
Truly a filial child. Sejun proudly stroked Cuengi’s head as the remains of the red snake turned completely to dust.
Then,
Clink.
Another bronze coin dropped, just like before.
Clack.
Sejun picked up the fallen coin. On the front, like the coin he obtained before, was a Hydra with nine heads, and on the back, the number 3 was engraved instead of 7.
[Hydra’s 3rd Bronze Coin]
???
“Let’s go.”
After checking the bronze coin, Sejun moved with the animals towards the waypoint.
“Stay inside for a moment.”
After letting the animals into the void storage, Sejun stood in front of the red crystal.
Snap.
As he touched the red crystal,
[Loading other floor’s saved waypoint.]
A message appeared, and the accessible waypoints were displayed.
[Saved Waypoints]
– 99th floor of the Tower
– 83rd floor of the Tower
– 77th floor of the Tower
Sejun chose to move to the 99th floor.
***
33rd floor of the Tower.
Hegel noticed that Pablo, who had escaped through a secret passage, was moving as if blatantly inviting pursuit.
“Stop the chase here.”
Suspecting a trap, Hegel stopped the pursuit and thoroughly searched the enemy’s hideout. Although most of it was destroyed when the cliff crumbled, some parts remained intact.
During the search,
“Lord Hegel! It seems like we’ve found something.”
The wolves called out to Hegel.
“Where?”
“Follow us, please.”
Led by the wolves, Hegel arrived at a spot where the Black Orcs were busily clearing away rocks. On these rocks, remnants of snakes that had been crushed and killed when the cliff collapsed were smeared everywhere.
As they cleared a few more stones,
“What’s this?”
Bodies of crushed snakes were revealed, and there were an enormous number of them. Easily around a million.
‘What were they doing with these snakes?’
Hegel was lost in thought.
Then,
“Lord Hegel, may we eat these snakes? Sssslurp.”
A Black Orc, wiping his drool, cautiously asked Hegel. Behind the orc, Black Wolves and other Black Orcs were watching Hegel with eager eyes.
“Phew. Check if they have poison and then you may eat.”
“Yay!”
At Hegel’s permission, the Black Wolves and Black Orcs cheered. Thanks to the Three Head Society, they were able to continue the search happily while having a snake meat party.
However, since Pablo had already destroyed all the important facilities of the 33rd floor before the cliff collapsed, the only things they obtained from days of searching were snake meat and a few items with a strange smell.
“Let’s go back!”
“Yes!”
The Black Wolves and Black Orcs, who had eaten their fill of snake meat, energetically responded to Hegel’s words.
Hegel then moved up the tower with his subordinates to join Ulrich.
***
“Thanks.”
Emooo!
Sejun gave green onion leaves as a token of gratitude to the Black Minotaurs that had carried him from the waypoint to the farm.
Upon arriving at the farm,
Krueng!
[Mommy Cuengi is here!]
Cuengi ran towards Pink-fur and threw himself at her.
Kueong!
Pink-fur also spread her arms and welcomed Cuengi. It was a touching reunion between mother and child.
Bang!
Although a quite loud explosive sound was heard, Pink-fur easily absorbed Cuengi’s charge and embraced him. Indeed, mothers are strong.
Then,
-Hahaha! Our Sejun is back!
Kaiser, who heartily welcomed Sejun, was grateful because Sejun had defeated the 7th head of Hydra, the Apostle of Destruction. Of course, the fact that the makgeolli was almost out also played a part.
“Yes, Kaiser, can you also appraise this too?”
Thinking that even if he left it to Aileen, it would eventually go to Kaiser, Sejun immediately showed Kaiser the new bronze coin he had acquired to avoid troubling Aileen.
-What?! Another Apostle of Destruction appeared?
When Sejun took out the new bronze coin that had not been appraised, Kaiser’s expression stiffened. It was now clear that the Apostle of Destruction knew how to enter the tower.
“Yes, I encountered another one on my way here.”
-Got it. Rest for now. I’ll appraise it shortly.
Kaiser swallowed the bronze coin to begin the appraisal.
Then,
“Flamie, have you been well?”
Sejun went down to the cave to greet Flamie.
[Master!]
Flamie fluttered its leaves and enthusiastically welcomed Sejun.
“Huh? You have an additional leaf?”
Sejun commented on the fourth leaf that had sprouted on Flamie’s stem.
[Yes! Look at this! Ta-da!]
Flamie proudly shook its fourth leaf to show off.
“I want to grab it, meow!”
“Vice Chairman Theo, no.”
When Theo tried to grab Flamie’s leaf, Sejun hurriedly grabbed Theo.
“But what’s the ability of the fourth leaf?”
[It’s quicker to show than to explain. Yap!]
With Flamie’s shout, the fourth leaf turned red and the red flames seeped into Sejun’s body.
[The Flame of Growth seeps in for 3 hours.]
[The Flame of Growth boosts the potential that’s reached its limit while it is active.]
“Huh?! Boosting potential?!”
[Hehe. What do you think?]
Flamie seemed to lean towards Sejun, possibly seeking praise.
“It’s awesome.”
While the effects remained to be seen, it was precisely the ability Sejun, who had hit a wall, needed.
Pat. Pat.
Sejun gently stroked Flamie’s leaf that had done such a remarkable thing. And with the activation of the farmer’s warm touch skill, the recovery speed of Flamie’s leaves slightly increased.
[Hehe. It feels good!]
As Sejun pampered Flamie,
“Chairman Park, do it for me too, meow!”
Theo, not wanting to be outdone by Flamie, confidently lay on Sejun’s lap, presenting his belly. ‘There are too many competitors these days, meow!’ Theo thought to himself as he contemplated his tiring life.
“Alright.”
Sejun stroked Theo with his left hand and Flamie with his right hand, giving everyone a moment of healing time.
About three hours later,
[The Flame of Growth is disappearing.]
[The Flame of Growth increases the potential of the magic stat by 6.]
[Magic stat potential rises to 105.]
“Wow!”
The Flame of Growth had an effect.
As Sejun was celebrating,
Flap. Flap.
-The appraisal is done.
Kaiser flew in and handed over a bronze coin.
“Thank you.”
When Sejun, who received the appraised bronze coin, was about to closely examine the coin,
-There’s no significant difference from the previous one.
Kaiser said.
“Is that so?”
-Yes. More importantly, the situation isn’t good. Just in case, carry this with you.
Kaiser handed over a bracelet. It had a luxurious black gloss with gold characters engraved on it. Clearly, it was no ordinary item.
“Thank you.”
Sejun promptly put on the bracelet given by Kaiser and checked its options.
[Bracelet of the Dragon’s Return]
→ The great black dragon, Kaiser Pritani, has personally enchanted and crafted this from a piece of his own horn.
→ By infusing it with magic, the return magic spell can be activated, transporting up to 10 people to a designated place in the tower, regardless of any interference.
→ Can be used once a month.
→ Usage Limit: Park Sejun, recognized by Kaiser Pritani
→ Creator: Kaiser Pritani
→ Grade: Unmeasurable
“Return?!”
Sejun looked at Kaiser with a puzzled expression. An item made using a horn and only having a return spell? He had hoped for a more practical magic spell and was slightly disappointed.
Of course, having a survival tool is good, but with Theo and Cuengi, he had no need to flee.
-Don’t be complacent! The Apostle of Destruction you’ve defeated is just a small fragment of its main body.
Perhaps reading Sejun’s expression, Kaiser sternly warned.
“What?! A fragment of the main body?”
-Yes. It was ambiguous at first, but after another appraisal, I’m sure. The Apostles of Destruction are infiltrating the tower by separating their energy.
While they can’t deceive the tower with just that, if mixed with other energies, some camouflage would be possible.
-That means you might encounter a more powerful Apostle of Destruction.
Gulp.
A stronger enemy? Sejun swallowed hard at Kaiser’s words.
And then,
[Hmm-hm! The Apostle of Destruction…]
From below, Flamie perked up its ears, listening to their conversation with interest.
*****
*****
5/5
*****
