Conquering the Tower Even Regressors Couldn't-Chapter 398: Eighty-Eighth Floor, the Factory of Decay (1)

Chapter 398: Eighty-Eighth Floor, the Factory of Decay (1)

[Destroy the factory. Time remaining: 23 hours 49 minutes.]

When I had arrived here, the smog belched out from the factories—and the fading power of the world itself—had dyed the sky a dark-violet hue.

Things had changed, however. Brilliant streaks of blue-gold lightning lit up the land in rapid succession, accompanied by rolling thunder that boomed without end.

Boom!

A thick bolt of lightning crashed down onto the earth. The resulting shockwave sent sand and dust billowing into the air alongside the decayed corpse of a monstrous beast.

Ha Hee-Jeong’s flames swept across the scene.

What the hell.

Turen picked up his pace.

Kosharks, a quadrupedal race resembling horses, were known for their mobility. Under normal circumstances, Turen should have been leading the charge from the front. However, he couldn’t manage it.

That old advantage was no longer his to claim.

Even though he should have overtaken Kwon Su-Hyeok by now, all Turen could manage was to keep pace beside Alexei, who swung her axe with golden hair flowing wildly in the wind.

Gritting his teeth, Turen thrust his crescent blade forward and cast his gaze ahead.

Unbelievable.

Kwon Su-Hyeok was tearing through the battlefield on his own, acting as the wedge that split apart the enemy ranks. Even as the attention of countless monsters turned toward him, Kwon Su-Hyeok didn’t so much as falter. He simply carved his way forward.

The other climbers charged in his wake.

The replicas of the apostle, who had been their biggest concern from the start, hadn’t even gotten close to the climbers. Four of them together couldn’t hold back one Kwon Su-Hyeok.

Even though they were simply replicas and therefore didn’t die, they were being driven back without reprieve.

Turen lunged with his crescent blade at a rotting beast charging in from the right.

“Kraaagh!” the creature shrieked sharply before collapsing.

A Koshark right behind him crushed the monster’s head underfoot. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

Crunch—

Turen swung his weapon once more and turned his gaze forward. The streaks of brilliant blue-gold light that illuminated the path ahead drew his eyes, even when he deliberately tried to look away.

“Haaa,” Turen sighed quietly, unnoticed by anyone.

Kwon Su-Hyeok had always been more powerful than him, but the last time they had fought, the distance had appeared closable.

He no longer felt within reach. The fifty-first floor had only widened the gulf between them, and now, Kwon Su-Hyeok stood at a level Turen couldn’t even begin to imagine.

Strangely, he didn’t feel jealousy or a sense of loss. It wasn’t just because Kosharks were battle-hardened. They had emotions too.

There is something unusual about him.

Turen believed Kwon Su-Hyeok possessed a kind of power that naturally made others trust him, rely on him. Even if millions more monsters appeared right now, Turen felt certain he wouldn’t be afraid.

A Heaven beyond Heaven.

Kwon Su-Hyeok had become someone whose presence alone made even the notion of reaching him seem like a transgression.

Yet, he hadn’t changed. Turen felt just as close to him as always. Kwon Su-Hyeok was still the man he had known before.

He had changed in some ways, yes, but at his core, he remained someone who cared about others and wanted to move forward together. Turen could still sense that about him.

He has to be struggling, too.

To the Kosharks, Turen was a figure like Su-Hyeok. He had always borne the weight of his people.

Knowing that his death would doom his people, he constantly felt the burden pressing down on his shoulders. Whether it was entering trials or enduring relentless training, it had always been the same.

Turen had never stopped pushing himself.

He had been the most capable of his kind, so there was no one he could turn to for guidance. He was Koshark’s pioneer.

In that sense, Kwon Su-Hyeok had accomplished something incomprehensible.

Turen figured the first-place climbers from the Subren and Turina races were likely feeling the same way he was.

His thoughts began to tangle, spiraling inward.

Or maybe not? I feel oddly at peace.

Chasing after someone so far ahead wasn’t something he would typically welcome, but it wasn’t all that bad.

He could finally set down the burden on his shoulders and simply follow. Moreover, since Kwon Su-Hyeok was leading the way, he wasn’t afraid.

Turen did feel a twinge of guilt, as if he were offloading his burden onto a close friend. When he saw Kwon Su-Hyeok up ahead, however, proudly and fearlessly swinging his axe, he realized his worry was unfounded.

Turen tossed all of his idle thoughts from his mind. Whatever the case, none of it really mattered because Kwon Su-Hyeok was at the front. He simply had to follow his friend.

A grin tugged at his lips. “Let’s go, climbers!”

The sudden shout caused a few climbers to glance at him in confusion, but they quickly picked up their pace.

***

[Destroy the factory. Time remaining: 23 hours 42 minutes.]

Dozens of dark violet smoke columns billowed relentlessly from the enormous factories. The air was denser now than when I had first arrived.

I swung my axe, sending a blast of condensed Aura slicing through the line ahead.

The strike severed a replica apostle’s arm, granting me an opening. Taking it, I lunged forward without hesitation.

It realized that retreat wasn’t an option, so it lashed out with its grotesque, twisted arm.

No need to dodge.

I brought my axe upward in a clean arc.

Shhk—

The attack landed perfectly. The replica’s extended arm, along with its torso, split clean down the middle. Thick, bubbling green blood sprayed into the air.

Three replicas remained, and no more had appeared.

They are clever.

Two engaged me directly while the other two remained at a distance, carefully observing the climbers’ formation. They were clearly waiting for an opening to strike from behind.

I could have used Flash Strike, but one of them posed a problem. The strongest of the four was remarkably fast, seemingly built for speed.

Targeting that one first would cause the climbers to hesitate, disrupting their current momentum. Therefore, I was prioritizing it last.

It is nearly as powerful as a normal apostle. Are they preparing it for ascension?

The tower had called them replicas, but each one appeared distinct. Perhaps some had simply decayed more than the other.

Alternatively, they could be separate entities on their way to becoming real apostles. Or they could even be failed clones.

Either way, it didn’t matter.

One down.

Even if it was the weakest, there were only three left now. Their formation shifted accordingly. Two of them stood in my path while the strongest one kept its distance, eyeing the climbers.

If I found another opening, I could take another out.

At the start, I hadn’t focused on the replicas because I wanted to clear the path for the climbers. This factory was far too massive compared to the last one.

Six or seven times larger, maybe?

The plain in front of it was equally vast, and was where the portal and Forces of Decay stood—well, I had obliterated most of the enemies on the plain.

Given that more were bound to pour out from the factory, stationing ourselves on the open plain would be a grave mistake.

We needed to move toward a position inside the factory with more cover. Even without knowing its interior layout, just standing with our backs to a wall would allow us to block one entire direction.

As long as I dealt with the apostles, the forces couldn’t breach the wall.

The climbers had already made it to the factory’s front wall when I realized something.

Everything was going a little too smoothly.

Why hasn’t the true apostle shown up yet? Odds are that it is the overseer, so why has it remained silent? Is it waiting for something?

It had to be the one who had shifted the factory into high gear. I didn’t doubt it would launch an attack after producing an even greater army. Even if Glorious Decay had noticed my presence, five minutes wasn’t enough time to prepare for what was coming.

I cast a quick glance over my shoulder.

They are keeping up well.

Given how many floors and trials they had conquered, even the priests and mages had extremely strong and chiseled physiques.

The Earthling warriors, including Alexei, led the charge alongside the Kosharks and Turinas, with the main force following right behind. Not a single climber had died.

At this rate, we can probably break through the gate.

The massive wall surrounding the factory featured an equally imposing steel gate. It was thick, but it wasn’t anything I couldn’t handle. One swing of my axe would do the trick.

As I ran, I made a cleaving motion with my axe, sending a bolt of lightning forward. It raced across the ground, appearing like a sharp gleam of gold. The two replicas in its path scrambled to dodge, but the monsters who failed to evade it were cleaved in half and crumbled to the ground.

A split second later, my lighting-infused Aura slammed into the gate and exploded.

Chunng!

The ringing noise sounded oddly off for something made of steel. Regardless, the lower section of the gate crumpled in on itself.

The top half, having lost its support, gave in to gravity and fell backward with a deafening crash.

Boom.

Right before the gate had landed, a shrill cry had echoed from behind it—it had apparently crushed a whole swath of monsters.

Then it happened.

A powerful shockwave erupted from within the factory.

Fwoosh—!

A second, even stronger wave of pressure followed immediately after.

Dozens of smoke plumes that had been rising into the sky vanished in an instant, and even the Forces of Decay staggered and fell over.

So that was the plan all along.

I could piece together a rough picture of what had just taken place.

The force I felt surging from inside the factory was enormous. The overseer hadn’t even attempted to conceal it.

The overseer, the one they called the true apostle, had consumed some of Glorious Decay’s divinity.

Of course, Glorious Decay couldn’t directly interfere—this was one of the tower’s trials. Not once had that rule failed me.

Feels like it devoured something inside the factory. Probably whatever is responsible for producing the Forces of Decay.

Considering that the factory hadn’t received any reinforcements yet, I realized the Forces of Decay had been buying time. Even the fact that the replica apostles had been keeping their distance from me made more sense now.

They weren’t gathering more troops, just waiting until it had grown strong enough.

That didn’t mean the number of monsters had diminished.

The overwhelming presence inside the factory’s walls remained just as potent.

As soon as I realized that, I switched priorities.

Originally, I had planned to support the climbers while fending off the apostles, but judging by the sheer presence radiating from that thing, I couldn’t guarantee proper support.

First, I needed to clear the surroundings so the climbers could push into the interior of the factory.

I summoned my mana in a single, rough surge. After killing hundreds of thousands of mobs, my gauntlet was brimming with mana.

Blue-gold light flared in midair. I deliberately made it brighter than before—blinding, even. Lightning extended forward and illuminated everything like a flashbang.

At the same time, I transformed into lightning and shot forward.

This blinding light gave me a brief window of opportunity to target the most powerful replica.

Even while fighting them, I hadn’t shown my full power, just in case the true apostle showed up before I defeated them.

In a heartbeat, I crossed a hundred meters.

Slashing downward, I aimed to end it in one blow. It raised its broad violet sword in defense, but it was a meaningless act. It had reacted too late.

Clang!

After just a single clash, its sword rebounded uselessly, unable to withstand the force.

My axe didn’t lose an ounce of momentum and entered its rotting body.

Crack—!

A sickening sound echoed as the axe carved cleanly from its right shoulder to its left hip. Just before it collapsed, I twisted my wrist and brought the axe up and across its neck.

The apostle’s head soared into the air. Green blood gushed upward, spraying like a small fountain.

At that moment, something violet surged into the sky from deep within the factory.

The Apostle of Decay had arrived.