Conquering the Tower Even Regressors Couldn't-Chapter 323: Seventy-Eighth Floor, Tribal War (3)

[Navigate the conflict between both factions and survive. Time remaining: 227 hours 45 minutes.]

Intending to impress, I let the torrent of lightning flash for longer than was natural. The searing bolts surging from my fingertips continued to grow in size, crackling with raw energy.

The climbers watching from the rear, and even those standing right behind me, would have only glimpsed a dark silhouette within the radiant light.

Well, I wasn’t nervous.

A faint smile crept onto my lips. Unlike in recent battles, I was fully equipped.

The moment I confirmed the enemy had brought forty ancient war machines, I knew I would need to fight at full strength.

Mana-Accumulating Gauntlet of the Underworld, Footsteps of the Abyss, a magic-resistant cloak, both of the dragon scale tokens, a necklace, and armor.

I was glad that I didn’t normally equip my gear.

Occasionally, I would wear the gauntlets or a few key items depending on the situation, but it had been a long time since I had worn every piece of equipment.

Now that I was fully armed for the first time in ages, I felt a flicker of surprise at the sensation. It was as if power was surging through me, causing every fiber of my being to boil.

Although I hadn’t bothered to check my status window, I wouldn’t be surprised if every stat had jumped by at least twenty-five points. After all, most of the items granted stat bonuses.

Feels good.

The saying “a master is not bound by their tools” was nonsense. Using better gear made a clear difference.

My condition was excellent, better than ever.

It felt like I could take on anyone and anything. The strength flowing into my hand that was gripping my axe was beyond description. Every movement felt light, and mana coursed through me with relentless momentum.

Controlling the smile tugging at my lips, I cleared the empty thoughts from my mind.

Time to move again.

Though the blazing lightning bathed the world in golden light, my vision remained sharp and unobstructed.

Everyone—climbers and tribesmen, allies and enemies alike—narrowed their eyes and stared into the radiance I emanated.

As the seconds passed, the initial shock began to slowly wane.

“The... the Guardian of the Flower Forest...”

“A divine punishment. It’s divine judgment!”

“It wasn’t a lie!”

“Run! Run now!”

“It’s Kwon Su-Hyeok!”

“Bright Su-Hyeok! King Su-Hyeok!”

Some cried out in disbelief, some trembled in fear, and others looked on reverently, their eyes trembling. There were even those who began to praise me.

Even now, they’re calling me “Bright Su-Hyeok”?

No doubt it was the Shadow Su-Hyeok fan club. I didn’t even have to look to know.

Amused, I let the smile return to my lips. Then I raised the lightning gathered in my hand and cast it toward the heavens.

***

Light. It was light.

The world was covered in radiance. Ha Hee-Jeong still couldn’t say for certain whether it was blue or gold, but she knew that the lightning was gleaming with its purest, most dazzling hue.

It lingered for a moment, hanging in the air for a few seconds that felt eternal.

She couldn’t tell exactly how long. Not even she, the seasoned climber, had the presence of mind to count as the sight was too overwhelming and divine.

Shock, awe, fear, longing, dread. Countless emotions rippled through the battlefield, carried in the eyes of everyone present.

Just as people began to grow accustomed to the light, and as it started to settle over the silent field, the lightning suddenly shot skyward.

Hundreds of thousands of eyes followed the bolt that pierced the sky. It never dimmed even as it soared. Until the moment it touched the sky, the world remained drenched in that golden-blue brilliance.

Then, absolute darkness.

Euros’s Flower Forest still glowed faintly. Climbers and tribespeople were carrying lit torches, but none could follow the brilliance that had come before.

Rumble—

Above the bleak land cloaked in shadow, the sky growled. No, it was more accurate to say that it had fiercely roared. Then, the roar gave way to a cry.

Boom!

The first bolt came crashing down from the heavens. It struck the one who had been the source of that light.

The world exploded with light once again. For a split second, everything flashed and then returned to black.

Within that darkness, however, a lone figure shone brilliantly—Kwon Su-Hyeok.

Against the pitch-black sky, blazing lightning coiled and surged around him.

Neither the glow of the forest nor the flickering torches held by those around him could compare. They merely bowed their heads toward him, surrendering to the darkness.

“Wow... Su-Hyeok...” Ha Hee-Jeong was truly stunned.

Not once since her regression had anything surprised her to this degree. She had watched his journey, seen his feats unfold beside her. However, she had never witnessed something like this.

She had heard from him just how brutal his individual challenge floors were, but she hadn’t realized just how much he had grown.

“You’ve really grown up...”

It felt strange to use the word “grown,” but unconsciously, her mind drifted back to her previous life.

He had been different back then, charging into battle with a staff in one hand and all manner of weapons in the other. He had used meager spells to buff himself while flinging around low-ranked incantations.

Of course, Kwon Su-Hyeok had been overwhelming, even back then. As a mage, he was unmatched in combat.

Still, it hadn’t been anything like this.

A sense of pride swelled in her chest, feeling as if she had raised him herself.

Of course, she didn’t believe that literally. Though she had helped him, Kwon Su-Hyeok had climbed the tower and conquered its trials through his own strength. She had no intention of diminishing his efforts.

Still, she couldn’t deny she felt a lingering sense of guilt. He would have had a much easier time if she had been able to clear the tutorial without a status window.

Yet guilt aside, she didn’t regret it. Living and being able to watch over Kwon Su-Hyeok grow so much was worth a thousand times more than dying.

Therefore, this moment stirred something deep within her.

Yes, Kwon Su-Hyeok had grown through his own merit, but maybe five percent, or even just one percent, is thanks to me.

Ha Hee-Jeong found herself caught in a strange wave of emotion. Feelings she had once deemed unnecessary in her previous life no longer seemed so unwelcome.

Perhaps it was only natural, after all, such thoughts were hard to avoid when reflecting on the past. Perhaps it was also because of the boy she had met recently.

Aoshi.

Though they hadn’t known each other long, he was a kind and endearing boy with a talent for connecting with others. During their time together, he had chatted endlessly about a girl named Ferel.

That boy reminded her of Su-Hyeok from her previous life. Back then, he trailed after her everywhere. They were always together.

Of course, she followed him around just as much, but those memories had long since faded from her mind.

Now, they came rushing back. They were precious memories. Their current relationship was close, too, but it wasn’t quite the same as it had been.

That was deliberate on her part. She didn’t want to burden Kwon Su-Hyeok with even more emotional weight, not when harsher trials were just around the corner.

That didn’t mean her feelings had changed.

The Su-Hyeok from the previous life, and the Su-Hyeok of this life-

Some would say they were two different people, but not her. To Ha Hee-Jeong, they were one and the same, and she liked both versions of him.

She had only put her feelings on pause. There would come a time—after the tower, after the trials, after all of this—when she could share them again.

Yes, there had been others who had stood in their way, and moments when she couldn’t help but feel overwhelmed, but she held back all the same.

Judging from what he has shared about his individual challenge floors, it sounds like he is still going around charming people left and right.

In that sense, she was oddly grateful for Kwon Su-Hyeok’s enduring obliviousness. From Earth to now, he had never changed.

Her musings ended, leaving a growing certainty that the hope she had kept buried in her heart was starting to sprout.

Rumble!

The tremor that shook the darkened sky felt less like thunder and more like the onset of a skyquake.

Boom! Boom!

Bolts of lightning rained down upon the barren earth. However, not a single soul, ally or enemy, was harmed.

The clusters struck just along the front lines of each side. The world flickered and illuminated in irregular intervals, swallowed again and again by darkness.

Amid that erratic storm of light and shadow, only one figure shone with constant brilliance.

That single source of radiance began to move.

The tribespeople on the far side of the plains could do little but gape, frozen in place, unable to even think of moving.

Sharply contrasting their stillness, the ancient war machines reacted immediately, and all forty of them rose into the sky.

Snapped out of her brief reverie, Ha Hee-Jeong returned to her normal mentality. She wiped the smile from her face and began chanting.

Buffs.

Doppy heard her voice and mouthed his own incantation. A beat later, Seo Ha-Rin followed.

The other mages and priests remained still. The climbers had been issued only one command.

Stand by.

Some had grumbled because they wanted more experience. Now, not a single soul uttered a word of complaint. The sight before them was too overwhelming to resist.

Even after she finished casting, Ha Hee-Jeong’s eyes did not leave Kwon Su-Hyeok. It was up to her to prevent collateral damage.

The very moment she completed her defensive magic, Kwon Su-Hyeok and the ancient war machines collided midair.

***

As soon as I moved, the mech suits launched upward.

I had expected them to respond, but I had never imagined they could fly. During Ha Hee-Jeong’s previous life, I had lost to them in a one-on-one duel on the ground, and could only reference her retelling of the battle.

I sharpened my focus. I would have to adapt, respond on the fly. After all, the enemy knew nothing about me either.

What kind of mechanisms are they?

Despite their massive, four-meter, and steel-clad frames, the machines spiraled and soared through the sky with startling agility.

Well, it wasn’t as if they were rigid like Gunjams. Their limbs resembled thick hoses made of metal. They were flexible, but by no means fragile.

“The Avatars of Flame have taken flight to crush the Guardian of the Flower Forest!” someone shouted, and a roar of cheers followed.

“Waaaah!”

Do they have some kind of hype man?

It wasn’t surprising. The enemy's morale had faltered under the weight of my presence, and only the ancient machines’ appearance had reignited it.

I turned my gaze toward the machines.

Avatars of Flame, huh.

If I wanted them to believe I was a god, then I had no choice but to bring down their own.

I narrowed my eyes. The closer the distance, the more I could observe.

Weird.

We had assumed that the ancient machines had to be piloted by humans. There were forty in total, but I didn’t sense signs of life coming from half of them. Those simply had a heightened concentration of divinity.

Do they simply work by proximity?

From this range, I could clearly sense that there was something peculiar about their divine energy.

It wasn’t the same as what I had encountered before. Though lacking distinct characteristics, it was neither pure nor sustained. It wasn’t linked to any known source, nor was it corrupted.

Instead, it felt like a discarded and disconnected divinity. To put it simply, it felt like remnants of divinity cast off by a god, left behind and abandoned.

However, the remnant divine energy couldn’t be underestimated, especially in the twenty mechs without a driver. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

This isn’t a coincidence.

It felt deliberate.

Whether it was the will of some godlike entity or the tower, these machines had clearly been crafted with purpose, although I didn’t yet know their purpose.

More importantly, every time they moved, their divine energy gradually depleted.

I let the thought go.

Twenty on the left. Twenty on the right.

Some had pilots while some didn’t. With little clue as to what abilities they possessed, I had to remain vigilant, prepared to respond to every possible scenario.

Rumble, boom!

Lightning continued to fall from the sky, but the ancient machines avoided it effortlessly, weaving between strikes.

Meanwhile, their formation remained perfectly intact, as if determined not to give me even a sliver of space.

So be it. If they aren’t giving me space, I will make it myself.

I accelerated the mana coursing through me and detonated the condensed energy like a bursting star.

At the same moment, the massive eyes on the heads of the machines began to glow red.