Conquering the Tower Even Regressors Couldn't-Chapter 352: Eighty-Third Floor, The Void (2)

[Stop the monsters from the Void. Time remaining: 46 hours 35 minutes.]

The battle had been raging for the past hour and a half. While some would consider that a short span of time, it hadn’t felt like that to the soldiers.

Everyone’s awe had only lasted a moment, and as soon as they started pulling on their respective trigger, the passing time felt endless.

No matter how many monsters they killed, the incoming wave never appeared to decrease. Regardless, even if the hundreds of guns and cannons couldn’t match the force of a single bolt of lightning, they couldn’t simply stand idle. They kept active, doing what they could.

Their only stroke of luck was that the arrival of that unknown being had allowed them some reprieve.

Given the chaos at the start of the battle and driven by panic, they had burned through their ammunition almost instantly. Thankfully, the mysterious figure had filled the gap in firepower as they scrambled to reload their weapons.

Pozen shook his head at the thought.

He isn’t just buying us time.

Pozen felt convinced that even if they hadn’t fired a single shot, that figure would have protected them.

The lightning had continued for nearly ninety minutes. The world flashed without pause, and the thunder that followed seemed ready to rupture their eardrums.

Even so, the man showed no sign of weariness.

He swung his axe again, and another bolt fell as a crescent of lightning carved across the battlefield, sweeping forth in a wide arc. The shining agglomeration tore through the horde, cleaving them down to the horizon.

He is a god.

Pozen had believed that from the very beginning. If that wasn’t a god, then what was?

No answer came to mind. That man had to be divine.

Pozen exhaled and steadied himself again. It defied reason and science, but he chose to accept it.

Once he did, he felt strangely reassured.

Tudududu—

He tightened his grip on the shaking machine gun and stared at the approaching monsters.

He couldn’t help but sigh. Any other time, the dread would have left him breathless.

It was already hard enough to believe that a god had appeared, but the number of monsters was no less absurd.

The lightning had been falling for over an hour and a half. At a minimum, it had killed hundreds of thousands of monsters. The pile of corpses in front of the base’s shield alone was uncountable.

However, more kept advancing from beyond the horizon. The spatial gates continued to multiply. Tens of thousands of oval-shaped portals now covered the land.

The sight alone was enough to trigger a primal kind of fear—it was that grotesque and overwhelming.

Strangely, the soldiers seemed unaffected, no longer frozen in fear; all because of the axe-wielding god.

Ah, I have no idea what is going on.

Pozen shook his head again. A bead of sweat slid from his brow and gradually evaporated into the air.

Still, he had the unshakable sense that everything would be alright. Even when faced with an enemy that they couldn’t even fathom, a strange conviction had taken hold inside the forward base.

He knew why, though: the god was protecting them.

A single glance around confirmed it. The others were firing with grim expressions, but reverence flickered in their eyes whenever they looked toward the sky.

No one doubted that he would remain. No one feared that he would suddenly vanish.

Come to think of it, where did the commanders go?

He didn’t see most of the officers who had been overseeing the forward base. A few were scattered here and there, but far too few for a battle like this.

Even if the supreme commander was giving orders from the spire, the others should have been on the front lines.

It felt odd, but Pozen quickly dismissed it.

They are probably stationed on the other fronts.

The chain of command was still functioning, as the junior commanders were still giving orders. Perhaps the other areas weren’t struggling as much, and that was why the god had stayed here.

Pozen had no time to worry about what was happening elsewhere.

Just die, you assholes!

He pushed aside the thought and pulled the trigger once more, hoping that the monsters would finally stop coming.

***

As that was happening, Kwon Su-Hyeok continued cutting through the mass of enemies while considering how to handle the battle from here.

His arrival had been perfectly timed, which was just another reason to believe that the tower was doing it deliberately. He had appeared right when the defender’s desperation had grown to a breaking point.

Unfortunately, time wasn’t on his side. Two full days wouldn’t have the same impact.

Hmph.

He thought back to how dramatic his entrance had been.

In every film and comic he had seen on Earth, when the hero appeared at the height of the crisis, they were supposed to end the fight swiftly. That was what made those moments satisfying.

However, forty-five hours still remained.

Will that sense of salvation begin to fade?

Even miracles lost their luster with time. The unfamiliar would become familiar, and gratitude became an expectation.

Still, that didn’t mean he had any intention of letting the base fall.

He wondered if these thoughts even mattered.

Maybe this is what the tower wanted all along.

Countless myths featured gods or heroes who battled for three days and nights. It wouldn’t be the first time the tower’s floors matched—and created—legends.

Nothing was certain yet.

There was still a potential hidden mission, and it could be the key to ending the trial early.

If that were true, then trusting Doppy to find it was the best decision he could make.

Even if it may be too late by now.

Regardless of whether the monsters had attacked because of an egg or a child, hundreds of thousands of them had already died. Though the monsters had attacked first, the root cause still lay with the humans at the base.

Returning what had been taken wouldn’t necessarily stop the assault. He couldn’t know if the hidden mission was related or not, and perhaps simply surviving for two days would happen whether he liked it or not.

Either way, something has to turn up.

There was no point in dwelling on it. All he could do was wait and trust that Doppy would find something.

With that, Kwon Su-Hyeok turned his focus back to the fight. If he was going to keep fighting for two days straight, he couldn’t use the same attacks over and over.

Bombarding the monsters with lightning was still the most effective method, but he had already decided it was best not to become predictable.

I have got more than enough mana.

He had killed hundreds of thousands of monsters, and none of them had been particularly weak. The mana stored in his gauntlet was more plentiful than ever.

Because of that, he considered briefly vanishing from the battlefield. He would still be able to easily hold the line even if he did that.

None of the monsters have displayed any unique traits, anyway.

As Kwon Su-Hyeok raised his hand to the sky, the heavens fell silent. The lightning that had been flashing nonstop disappeared in an instant.

In that heavy stillness, the soldiers instinctively turned to look at him. The constant bursts of light had dulled their vision, but even so, it wasn’t hard to locate the glowing figure.

Kieeeeek!

The shriek shattered the silence. 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

Kwon Su-Hyeok clenched his fist, and above the forward base, light began to gather.

A massive sphere of lightning formed. It shimmered with terrifying intensity, as if it would explode at any moment. Its power was unmistakable.

The instant he opened his palm, the sphere detonated. Tens of thousands of lightning bolts split the air, but not a single strand touched the forward base.

They surged outward, tearing through the monstrous horde in a storm of golden destruction.

“Kreeegh!”

“Kiik!”

Monsters shrieked briefly before crumpling where they stood.

That one strike alone had likely claimed over two hundred thousand lives. Their corpses now extended across the battlefield, all the way to the edge of the horizon.

From the blood-soaked ground, shadows began to stir.

First lightning, now shadows?

Pozen looked up in horror, but Kwon Su-Hyeok had already vanished from sight.

In his place, lightning rained down from the heavens once more. It was fiercer now, more violent and destructive than before.

***

“It looks like this is the way.”

“But... it seems... we’ll have to... circle back a little.”

“Right. Let’s look for an alternate route.”

Doppy nodded at Ryun and Yoonie’s words. “Sounds good!”

A door lay just ahead of them, but a guard stood posted in front of it. Although he was alone, his very presence caused the air around him to seem tense.

Regardless of who he was, he was no ordinary sentry. If they drew any closer, they would be spotted for sure.

With every step, Doppy found the situation increasingly strange.

I am certain I didn’t sense anyone this strong above.

At first, everything had gone as planned. Near the entrance, there was a door that required a small rectangular panel to enter. He had simply followed someone through. Later, he managed to lift a panel himself.

None of that had posed much difficulty. The deeper they ventured into the spire, however, the more things changed.

Some of the people here far outclassed those outside. Most of them seemed manageable to beat, but the further down they went, the more overwhelming the pressure became. Even Doppy found himself outmatched.

He recalled the chaos still unfolding beyond the walls.

With all hell breaking loose out there, why are these people down here?

Just as Kwon Su-Hyeok had guessed, something was definitely hidden within this place.

Once again, Doppy was struck by the sharpness of Kwon Su-Hyeok’s instincts. Determined to see his mission through, he forced his way deeper into the spire’s depths.

Something beyond that door felt wrong. It was a presence he hadn’t been able to detect until he was practically on top of it.

Something is waiting behind that door.

It didn’t feel like a monster’s egg or child, but it was unmistakably the hidden mission Kwon Su-Hyeok had spoken of.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t think of a way to break through without a head-on confrontation.

Su-Yeok said to move carefully.

Doppy scanned his surroundings while keeping to the shadows, but the corridor that led to the door offered no alternative route.

His only option was to take down the guard who had been standing there earlier.

As he debated whether or not to send Kwon Su-Hyeok a signal, the deafening thunder rolling outside gave him pause.

The ground trembled beneath them. The battle above was clearly raging intensely.

There isn’t a better option. I will have to push through.

He couldn’t allow Kwon Su-Hyeok to keep treating him like a child.

With his mind resolved, Doppy made his way toward the door, but the guard was nowhere to be seen. A glance around confirmed that no one was nearby.

It felt oddly anticlimactic, but this was his chance. He pulled out the rectangular panel he had stolen earlier.

The moment he held it to the scanner, the lights throughout the spire turned crimson.

“Intruder detected! Intruder detected!”

Beep, beep!

A high-pitched alarm blared, releasing a painfully sharp noise. At the same time, shutters slammed down across the adjacent corridors.

Doppy couldn’t hide his shock. “Wh-what?!”

“That panel! I think it was the wrong one!” Yoonie nailed it instantly.

None of the three had any experience with card keys, and now the consequences had arrived.

Doppy pressed the signal device as he had no choice. Eyes squeezed shut, he waited.

Barely ten seconds passed before the sealed door slid open, and three figures stepped through. Each of them wielded unfamiliar weapons. They were swords and spears fused with odd mechanical devices.

Doppy instinctively brought his hand to his sword.

Their presence was unmistakable. At the very least, they were masters.

Ryun would have to reveal his true form.

While Doppy’s mind raced ahead, the three men began casually sweeping their eyes along the corridor, their expressions calm.

“Huh? Nobody’s here.”

“Use your senses, idiot. Can’t you feel it? Something’s here.”

“Oh! Right. Wait, do invisible monsters exist?”

The one who seemed to be the leader struck the back of the other’s head. “Are you brain-dead? How would a monster know how to use a card key?”

“Why not? Didn’t something from another dimension show up earlier? Could be related.”

“Maybe. Either way, that freak’s keeping the monsters busy. Let’s clean this up and get out of here.”

“Quickly, please. That thing’s terrifying.”

“Just hang on. This’ll be over soon.”

“How can you be so calm? That guy’s literally using lightning like it’s nothing. Are all species from other worlds like that?”

“No clue. I’ve heard of their kind, but I’ve never seen one like him.”

Doppy reached behind his back with his off-hand and gripped the blade he had prepared for Ryun.

They knew he was here, but they hadn’t pinpointed his exact location. He needed to move quickly.

“Still, whoever’s lurking in here is nothing compared to that monster outside. Let’s take care of this one before the sparks start flying.”

The man in charge turned his gaze directly toward where Doppy was hiding. Doppy had the distinct feeling that their eyes had met.

In that moment, he gasped, and a vivid image of his own neck being sliced clean surged through his mind.

Killing intent.

He had felt it during training his spars with Kwon Su-Hyeok.

This time was different, though. This time, his body wouldn’t respond.

The man reached for his sword.

Clang!

A thunderous crash erupted from behind them. Doppy and the other intruders turned sharply.

The shutter that had sealed off the corridor had been split clean down the middle.

And there stood Kwon Su-Hyeok with his axe in hand.