Conquering the Tower Even Regressors Couldn't-Chapter 430: Ninety-First Floor, The Maze of Saboden (6)

[Exterminate all enemies. Time remaining: 51 minutes 12 seconds.]

“Fuck.” 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

I rolled hard across the ground, steadied myself, and then swept my eyes across my surroundings. There wasn’t a follow-up attack, but the space before me remained fragmented and overlapping, leaving my vision a jumbled and chaotic blur.

After taking the hit and tumbling, the burning pain in my shoulder felt vivid, sharp, and piercing.

Saboden let out a rasping chuckle and taunted, “Didn’t you claim you could win? It has been so long since I’ve had any amusement. Put forth a little more effort.”

I clenched my teeth. Even though Flash Strike was active and I had reacted as fast as possible, I had still been half a beat late. Without having experienced it before, and with no signs or forewarning, I didn’t know what I could have done better.

My left arm hung loosely at my side, still connected, but useless. I brought my other hand, still gripping the axe, to the wound. Divinity spilled out from the axe, and a blue-gold radiance enshrouded my shoulder.

That will serve as rough first aid.

It wasn’t an instant cure-all, though—I wouldn’t be able to use my left arm for a while. Over time, I had come to realize that healing magic was my weakest aspect. Whether or not it would work, I would need to refrain from moving excessively until I naturally healed.

Instead, I cast strengthening spells—buffs—upon myself. That much would suffice. Saboden still observed me silently, his fragmented eyes fixed upon me.

First, my domain.

I drew about thirty percent of my divinity and conjured a blue-gold domain. I wondered if he could still repeat that attack now that I had it up. Not a moment later, a chill swept through me. Recognizing this exact feeling, I reacted more quickly this time.

It was aimed at my head, so I hastily ducked and rolled forward. The space behind me burst open with a chilling crack.

What should I do?

Avoiding direct combat was necessary for the moment, but the next step still eluded me. I still saw no method of striking back.

I lashed lightning forward randomly. It wasn’t aimed at anything I could see since I still hadn’t been able to pinpoint where he was. My sight couldn’t be trusted, and my other senses also failed to reach him.

The lightning flew toward Saboden’s earlier position. I expected nothing of it. I only wanted to see how an attack behaved here.

Hmm.

The lightning scattered into shards the moment it left my domain. It didn’t vanish and just appeared fragmented like Saboden’s body.

I strained my eyes to track the scattering lightning. That was the only method I had devised to locate him through this distorted realm.

Ugh.

Unfortunately, mapping the warped space with that alone was impossible. Perhaps if I had Cole’s flawless memory and his sharp spatial awareness, it would be different. Even now, the space continued to fracture, splitting and shifting position.

Was it a mistake to capture every monster before this? No, my instincts clearly weren’t against the idea.

On second thought, he possessed the Primordial God’s power. It wasn’t strange that Sixth Sense alone couldn’t calculate his strength.

Another attack cut my musings short, forcing me to roll across the ground again. The lightning had already dissipated. It was certain it had not struck him. If Saboden weren’t a fool, he would’t remain in one place. Also, in truth, I doubted my lightning could even harm him.

Just keep evading and gauge the situation.

There had to be some solution. I firmly believed that the Tower of Ordeal created trials that were meant to be overcome.

Another chill swept through me, sharp and clear. Warnings poured in from all directions. Explosions tore across the space, followed by the same attacks I had faced within the maze. Front, back, left, right, above, and below, lines of force rained down from all around me. Saboden wasn’t leaving me any room to dodge.

Opening a portal, I shifted into another space within my domain before the shockwave could reach me.

I avoided using this in the maze.

My reasoning had been to leave it as a last resort in the event I felt like I needed to pursue a hidden mission. I had been confident in my ability to clear the maze without it under normal circumstances.

To be honest, I didn’t like using Two-Way Portal in battle since it took so long to open compared to my top speed. In this case, however, the attacks left me with no other option. Dodging another chain of attacks, I scanned the fractured realm.

The same grating, eerie laugh echoed from the darkness. “If you don’t want to die, then try harder. If this ends too soon, I won’t even be entertained.”

He acted as if I were nothing more than a toy, continuously talking about his long-awaited entertainment. Now that he had regained his strength, Saboden treated me like a plaything.

I clenched my jaw until my gums ached.

Keep calm.

Beings as arrogant as him always grated on me, although I had crushed the skulls of anyone foolish enough to prattle on like that in front of me. Regardless, charging in blinded by rage would be nothing but a plea for death.

Slowly. A gentleman’s revenge is not late, even if it takes ten years.

I had about fifty minutes to kill him, which was plenty of time.

Another attack came, though I recognized this one. Several black holes formed in the void, sucking in everything around them just as the monsters’ corpses had.

At least my domain isn’t completely useless.

Even if he twisted space as he pleased within my domain, it slowed his strikes by the slightest fraction. That fraction created an opening wide enough for me to slip through.

I launched myself to the right. The black hole behind me vanished, and another bloomed into existence nearby. Dodging that one, I cut across the warped space, planning. My domain and Saboden’s fractured one were colliding, but even when his realm entered mine, the space didn’t return to normal.

I think I am beginning to understand more.

Perhaps it was because Deruope—who had led me to perfect my domain—had also wielded the Primordial God’s power. Anyway, I was learning that the “real” space continued to exist right where it was; it only appeared fragmented and overlapping.

Saboden had merely divided it, interlacing and rearranging it with other spaces. Simply put, if I entered his domain, I would also appear shattered.

But in reality, I would be completely normal.

It wasn’t anything extraordinary, and I wasn’t surprised that I had inferred it. The reason I had first unleashed lightning was precisely to understand the mechanics of his abilities. All I had done was sharpen my grasp of the flow.

Ultimately, that information wasn’t enough. I hadn’t fully comprehended his domain, nor could I overcome him so easily. Something more was needed.

Still, the important thing was that I had found a thread to follow.

Hmm?

While evading his attacks, my normally silent wind spirit suddenly sent me a signal. Since entering Saboden’s Chamber, it had done nothing but assist my movements.

Its idea reached me.

What?

A moment later, I understood why it had signaled. The key was space. If “real” space remained as it was, then air would continue to pass normally through it.

Well, Saboden’s power may suppress my mana and divinity, but...

Regardless, what the wind spirit sensed was an entirely different matter altogether. It was a manifestation of a force of nature—unchangeable and undeniable. It had brought forth a brilliant thought. I had always considered it merely an auxiliary aid. Never had I expected it to be useful in this way.

The wind spirit conveyed its will, guiding me.

This may be my last chance.

If Saboden realized I could pierce through his domain, his entire approach would change. I couldn’t afford to give him time to adapt. It was no different from when I had faced Endless Furnace. A hidden trump card had to be used as a single decisive strike. No other path had revealed itself, so I had to put forth everything at my disposal.

Failure wasn’t an option.

It was time to unleash the strength I had held back until now—although I still needed to find an opening. While dodging Saboden’s relentless strikes, I observed the void around me carefully. Minutes passed, but I hadn’t come up with any other solutions, and I was ready.

I made my decision.

During my frantic escape, I had edged closer and closer bit by bit, crafting the illusion of a person on their last legs. Occasionally, I attacked futilely as part of the ruse.

And now.

Within my domain, I unfurled another domain. Then again, I layered another atop the previous two.

A triple-domain.

It was a technique I had devised while sparring against Thunder Axe, meant to land a single telling blow on him. Over that, I overlaid Flash Strike. Within my triple-domain, Flash Strike became even faster. Time seemed to thicken, and the world around me slowed. The weight of the air pressed down on me even harder.

I kicked off into the void and vaulted through space at a speed faster than light.

Saboden wasn’t ready and couldn’t adapt in time. His strikes burst around me, but each was two beats behind.

A chance.

I shut my eyes; they couldn’t help me now. Instead, I synchronized with the wind spirit. Every nerve in my body focused on the signals it conveyed. With Saboden unable to track my movements in time, I no longer needed to dodge his strikes.

I forced my way through the rift in space, toward his true self. Almost within reach, I gathered lightning-infused Aura and divinity before pouring every last drop into my axe. This had to be it, my one and only chance.

If I failed, I would die anyway.

I couldn’t see it, but the lightning had been cleanly condensed and tightly ordered.

My eyes still closed, I unleashed my strike.

Crack.

The blade connected with his torso, and I heard the sickening sound of flesh torn asunder.

It didn’t last.

What the—?

I had only cut his skin. Beyond that immediate tearing sensation, I felt no resistance. In its place, a black hole appeared, pulling the axe inward. The triple-domain collapsed and Flash Strike deactivated. Having consumed all of my divinity and mana, I was powerless.

“Was that the extent of your power? Well, not bad as amusements go. It has been a long time since I bled.” That grotesque laughter echoed faintly in my ears.

The black hole swallowed me whole.

No, this can’t be!

Regardless of my thoughts, I was dragged helplessly into the void. Darkness closed in. I was falling somewhere deeper, into a bottomless abyss. Along the way, I glimpsed a vast entrance, and beyond it lay twisted spaces.

The entrance receded. Saboden’s red-and-blue eyes flickered at me as I passed. He was smiling.

Please... move!

My divinity showed no signs of recovery, and I suffered from mana sickness; my muscles refused to respond. Darkness engulfed me, and the entrance behind shrank and narrowed. Saboden was already gone.

Watching the retreating aperture, despair welled up within me.

Shit, is this the end?

I could have done better.

When I carved through space with the spirit’s guidance and struck at him, I realized it. Entering his domain to search for him was meaningless—he himself was made of space. What I should have cut was not his flesh, but the unseen, interwoven space.

I should have done that, but I hadn’t.

If only I realized sooner.

Yet in truth, it was a pointless regret. If I had conserved my strength, I wouldn’t have reached him at all. Dying like this was equally pointless.

I couldn’t surrender.

Faint divinity began to seep into me—those I had saved while climbing the tower were now saving me. I twisted with what little divinity I could muster.

This isn’t over.

A familiar surge of life force welled up from deep within my chest. It was the power of life from Seorden’s Forest. At the same moment, a pale-blue silver light flickered in the darkness.

What?

When I opened my eyes again, Poong-Wol was before me. Wordlessly, he moved beneath me.

As he caught my falling body, the wind wrapped around me, holding me aloft. The life force swelling in my chest restored my flesh, while mana coalesced in me at a frightening rate.

My divinity had yet to recover, however.

Is it because it looked like I died?

Poong-Wol soared upward like a gale. The entrance above was nearly shut. A slender diagonal line split open before us. Passing through it, the wind enclosed me completely.

Woosh—!

Poong-Wol leapt across space. The narrowing entrance came into view, and he didn’t slow. We burst through together, soaring into the high skies beyond the gate. Poong-Wol twisted gently in the air.

Beneath us, I saw Saboden’s face. He had lost his composure for the first time during our battle. “Wh-what? How... How do you wield the power of Seorden?”

His wide, bloodshot eyes fixed on me.

I still lacked divine energy, but my mana was more than sufficient. On top of that, the power of life from Seorden’s Forest was flooding me with strength.

“Where do you think you’re going, asshole? This isn’t over.”

Seemingly sparked by my words, a tidal wave of divinity surged in from somewhere, crashing down upon me.