Conquering the Tower Even Regressors Couldn't-Chapter 338: Eighty-First Floor, Monstrous Might and Malevolent Spirits (6)

Chapter 338: Eighty-First Floor, Monstrous Might and Malevolent Spirits (6)

Although the gates to the capital stood wide open, not a single soul was passing through. Only a handful of guards remained stationed at their posts.

Their eyes were half-glazed, unfocused. They were dull and devoid of light as if their spirits had been drained, much like Ha-Seon earlier.

Only fifty meters away.

I turned to glance back at Ha-Seon and Doppy.

“From here on out, hand signals only,” I murmured, and both nodded subtly in response.

Their tenseness was etched into their expressions. Doppy was already familiar with my signals, and I had taught Ha-Seon a few simple gestures on our approach.

I signaled our advance. Thankfully, we passed the soldiers without incident and stepped into the city. The density of yokai energy in the air grew slightly thicker.

This isn’t quite as overwhelming as I had anticipated.

Of course, the place was filled with signs of their magic, but the energy’s nature was strangely uniform.

Each yokai possessed a distinct aura, as Ha-Seon had confirmed. Though the spell enveloping the capital was undeniably potent, there was likely no more than one yokai.

If the three hundred had gathered here, the clashing of the energy in the air would have been unmistakable.

Starfish and the other yokai aren’t here.

Chances were, they were pursuing the king, only further confirming my suspicions that he hadn’t been captured yet. Still, it was a reasonable assumption, but it wasn’t a certainty.

Additionally, Ha-Seon had mentioned that he didn’t know why the yokai would want to steal the Celestial Bell.

Who can say for sure, though?

The trials always struck when least expected. The king could have already been caught and was being dragged somewhere as we spoke.

Still, the lack of yokai is a good sign.

Dealing with two was better than having to deal with an elaborate trap.

I met Ha-Seon’s gaze. Our eyes locked briefly before he gave a firm nod. We seemed to be on the same wavelength. His expression was noticeably lighter than it had been before we entered. The contrast brought a faint smile to my lips.

Even if the king wasn’t here, I had no intention of heading straight for the Fourth Division just yet.

Since I am here, I may as well deal with whoever is inside before I leave.

Two reasons had convinced me to.

The first was information. Considering that this was one of the Great Yokai’s minions, there was a chance I could learn something.

As for the second, it wasn’t something I could easily put into words. I simply wanted to. Watching a yokai steal people’s souls and manipulate them at a whim was something that deeply unsettled me.

As we moved forward, I began spotting monks mingling among the common folk. Not many, but enough to notice.

What should I do?

I glanced at Ha-Seon, who shook his head firmly. We should leave them be.

I nodded in quiet agreement. I didn’t need to ask why. Either Ha-Seon couldn’t awaken them with his power, or disturbing them would compromise our infiltration. Unlike Ha-Seon’s semi-charmed earlier, these people had been entirely hollowed out.

I didn’t belong to this world, so it was better to trust Ha-Seon’s judgment. Once we defeated the yokai, the people would be free.

Saving some of them wouldn’t make a meaningful difference to our strength anyway.

We passed the gates and approached the distant marketplace. Despite the recent attack on the capital, the number of people there was higher than expected.

Were they just left alone?

Perhaps the yokai had been so focused on chasing the king that the citizens were left unattended.

Of course, every single one of them wore the same vacant gaze. Still, they moved about as if nothing had changed, and their daily routines remained largely intact on the surface.

Then again, trying to control thousands, maybe tens of thousands of people individually doesn’t make sense.

Maybe the yokai had simply suppressed their minds to avoid chaos.

However, that thought unraveled within twenty seconds. A foul stench began to leak through the haze of eerie energy.

The people of the capital weren’t maintaining their daily lives. They were merely pretending to.

Food was being prepared, meals shared, goods exchanged—but something was unmistakably wrong with every one of them.

Something is deeply, grotesquely wrong. What the hell?

Vendors stood around casually, selling the rotting remains of animals, spoiled vegetables, grains, and fruit. Right beside them, the same ingredients were thrown together and cooked into a bubbling mass of black-red sludge. On small tables, dazed citizens feasted on the filth with delighted expressions.

My face immediately twisted into a scowl.

Motherfuckers.

Rage bubbled up inside me. Every living being should be owed a basic level of dignity, but these creatures had trampled on that without remorse.

It wasn’t a side effect of losing their souls—no, this was deliberate. The yokai entrenched in the capital had wanted this. A six-year-old child was cheerfully gnawing on the rotting corpse of a rat. There was no way to rationalize that.

Ha-Seon wore a similar expression to mine. Except, his fury was mixed with sorrow. He was a prince, and these were his people. His bloodshot eyes shimmered as tears coalesced around them.

I clenched my teeth and quickened my pace. Ha-Seon followed close behind.

He said that this was likely the work of Sorcerer Ichon, right?

This was beyond maddening. To be honest, the irritation had begun the moment I set foot on the eighty-first floor.

Even though I knew yokai were fundamentally different from humans, I couldn’t accept this. Only lunatics would slaughter entire villages for amusement, tamper with minds, and orchestrate these twisted horrors.

I was pissed. All I wanted was to wipe this madness from existence.

Come to think of it, I had always been like this.

There have always been crazy bastards.

I had tolerated ideological conflicts more than a few times. However, when it came to violating the sanctity of life itself, I wouldn’t ever stand idly by—not because of some noble trait, but simply because it grated on me at an instinctual level.

Most people would feel the same.

I tempered my seething rage, not by softening it but by sharpening it.

Ha-Seon led the way.

Wherever the damn yokai is, it will be in the royal palace.

Beings like the yokai were always predictable, and my guess proved to be dead-on.

A grand feast was underway within the humongous palace. The gates were flung open, yet no one went in or out. From afar, I could hear music drifting through the air.

We kept walking with Shadow Veil active.

Honestly, I wanted to tear the veil away and stride in openly, but too many people were inside. Lunatics like these were adept at using hostages. I wouldn’t fall for it, but that didn’t mean I wanted to see innocent lives added to the toll.

Disgusting.

Only women remained inside the palace. Half-naked court maids hurried to and fro, serving food with painted faces that looked tragically hollow.

I passed through several doors and brushed past the throne room where the king would typically reside. The yokai was in the banquet hall beyond.

A pavilion stood atop an artificial pond. Nude dancers played instruments and poured wine.

At the center sat a bizarre-looking man.

He looks exactly like one of those foppish pretty boys.

His face was handsome, but it was oozing sleaziness—he resembled a rat. A red jewel had been embedded in the center of his forehead, and it pulsed with energy, practically overflowing. Sorcerer Ichon laughed gleefully as he groped one of the dancers.

I raised a hand and signaled Ha-Seon to halt. After all, he was the yokai who had seized the capital.

Better to handle this one alone.

I moved my axe into a position ready for battle and ascended the stairs, angling to the left to slip past a descending dancer.

Just moments ago, she had been smiling faintly. Now, her expression had hardened into something cold and lifeless, like a statue carved from stone. She wasn’t thinking for herself. Her mind had been bound, and her smile was reserved solely for Sorcerer Ichon’s presence.

A bitter feeling settled in my chest.

Whether from the drink or his own arrogance, he hadn’t noticed my approach.

Maybe he is only good at illusion magic.

Unlike the grotesque illusions of the marketplace, the food spread before him sparkled in vibrant and elaborate colors.

The contrast provoked my anger all over again.

However, my thoughts remained cold and sharp. I muted my presence further, moving with the silence of a ghost.

This ends in a single strike.

As I walked, I formed a plan. Above all else, the lives of the people in this hall had to be protected. I couldn’t let a creature like him harm them any further.

The music swelled. Circling the musicians and dancers, I moved into position behind Sorcerer Ichon.

Fully prepared, there was no need to count down. I summoned my mana and activated Divine Power in unison as I dispelled Shadow Veil.

Divine energy streaked with lightning shimmered over my left hand. I reached forward and seized Ichon by the neck. Simultaneously, shadows burst from the floor and wrapped around the maids and dancers. The constructs hurled them safely out of the pavilion.

I left the rest to Ha-Seon.

“Wh-what the— kgh!”

Ichon couldn’t even form a single sentence. I applied just enough force to avoid killing him outright.

Choking violently, he flailed in my grip. I poured divine energy into him, cutting off his ability to summon his powers.

I hadn’t thought of anything to say because I had been too focused on the ambush, so I uttered the first thing that came to mind, “Hello.”

“I’m not doing great, you know. Watching what you’ve done here makes me sick.” Still wielding my axe in my right hand, I slammed that fist into his face.

Thwack.

A solid crunch rang out as his teeth scattered through the air.

The gem embedded in his forehead flared to life, radiating a yokai’s strange energy. It surged violently, repelling my divine energy. The backlash was intense.

Lightning collided with the murky energy and sent sparks flying. However, this power wasn’t his.

Did the Great Yokai plant this inside him?

That seemed likely. In the momentary gap that opened, his body began to shrink and dissolve. Within seconds, the man disintegrated into hundreds of rats that scattered across the pavilion floor.

I thought he only looked like a rat, but I guess he truly is one.

Doing my best to track them, I fired off lightning bolts in quick succession, but the rats moved alarmingly fast.

Additionally, there were far too many. While I managed to incinerate the nearby ones, some that had slipped past began morphing into human form beyond the pavilion.

Hundreds of Sorcerer Ichons surged toward Ha-Seon and the dancers.

Gosh, no surprises.

Their actions fell neatly within expectations. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

Lightning surged through me as I activated Flash Strike. After absorbing the Lightning Spirit King, the technique had grown more devastating than ever.

The world stilled.

I couldn’t distinguish which, if any, were the real Ichon. Perhaps they were all real. There didn’t seem to be any difference, which only supported that conclusion.

What was certain, though, was that if I didn’t eliminate them in a single blow, things would quickly spiral.

I kicked off the ground. Ichon’s physical form was too small, too pitiful to warrant a full swing of my axe. It was like using a butcher’s cleaver to slay a chicken.

Instead, I reached forward. From my fingertips, lightning shot forth like radiant blades. Dozens of streaks pierced through the Ichon swarm.

Ssshhhk—!

Rats and doppelgangers alike burned black as they disintegrated. It took less than three seconds to clean up the scene.

I had intentionally spared one, however. With a flash, I leapt forward and seized him by the collar before grabbing his throat..

His near-escape had taught me a lesson. Though he lacked physical prowess, the gem embedded in his brow was the real threat. It contained a fragment of a Great Yokai’s power.

Channeling overwhelming divine energy into him, I sent it directly toward the gem. Lightning sparked violently over the surface of the jewel, but I forced it down. Divine energy wrapped around the yokai’s power, crushing it.

I released Flash Strike.

“Guh... grrk... kghhh...!”

Electricity surged through Sorcerer Ichon’s body as he twisted mid-air, writhing in pain. The handsome mask from earlier had fallen away, revealing a wretched, miserable face. Whiskers sprouted beside his nose like a rat’s, and a limp tail dropped from his waist.

Simultaneously, clarity returned to the eyes of the dancers and court maids. Ichon’s dissolution had broken the hold on them.

“S-somebody help!”

“Kyaaaak!”

Some screamed in panic while others clutched their stomachs and vomited. A few burst into tears. They seemed to have pieced together enough of what had happened.

I turned to Ha-Seon.

He nodded crisply and raised his fan. “Everyone, get out of here!”

Dozens of small wind spirits appeared, curling around the maids and escorting them to safety.

Most likely, the rest of the capital’s people were also coming to their senses. Judging by their reactions, it seemed like they unfortunately remembered all that had happened to them. They were no doubt traumatized.

Deeply.

I clenched my jaw and fixed my gaze on the rat in my grasp. “Looks like it’s just the two of us now.”

Narrowing my eyes, I coldly remarked, “Why don’t we have a little chat?”

Of course, the conversation would begin with my fist. I drove it straight into the bridge of his nose as lightning crackled around my knuckles.