172. Tower of Trials 60th Floor (2)
Had about another day passed?
At last, the vast majority of the monsters had been dealt with.
Whoosh, fwoosh.
The battlefield, once drenched in blood, was already engulfed in flames, leaving nothing but ash.
Explosive Dragon Sorcerer was, in the truest sense, the very incarnation of fire itself.
Now, even a mere brush with the flames she produced was enough to melt demons away.
It was truly overwhelming firepower, overwhelming damage.
—Jinwoo.
To the demons, she had been terror itself, yet the moment she approached Baek Jinwoo again, she changed so completely she seemed downright docile.
—I cleaned everything up nicely.
“Yeah, good work.”
59th floor cleared.
HunGyo and Aso were the reason he could feel that.
—Lamba.
—Ha, hahaha. Uuugh.
—The stacks got reset.
—Goddamn iiiiiit.
Lamba groaned.
Sorry.
Looks like you’re destined to do nothing but wave a staff around for the rest of your life.
Instead.
‘If we happen to get out of here, I’ll find you a professional cream bread chef.’
If I say the annual salary is around 500 million won, people will probably line up for it, right?
“Are you ready now?”
Step.
Aila approached with a grim expression.
She had undergone special training under HunGyo for an entire day.
Nothing else mattered.
She focused solely on the spear technique she would drive into Asmodeus.
And.
—Don’t forget.
Why was it?
HunGyo kept emphasizing emotions to Aila.
—Don’t turn away from your heart. Your emotions are your strength, and your sacred will.
“......”
—Pour your will into your divine power. That is never blasphemy. If your god truly cherishes you, then your happiness would matter more to them than their own glory.
Aila was shocked.
Because it was a way of thinking she had never once approached before.
She had never communicated with a god.
For a Paladin, communication with a god existed only through divine power.
The more one believed in the god and cultivated oneself accordingly, the stronger that divine power became.
But then?
‘Value my emotions more than the god?’
And that is what the god actually wants?
She could not understand it.
“All right, everyone, get ready.”
Swoosh.
Baek Jinwoo stepped forward.
The atmosphere of the battlefield was already changing.
“He’s coming soon.”
Rumbleee.....
The surrounding air suddenly grew heavy.
At the moment when the ground trembled faintly and even the wind over the battlefield came to a halt.
A sinister aura mixed with the stench of blood came rolling in from afar.
“Wow, that’s ......”
Even Rachel swallowed nervously.
She had seen it countless times in the game, but this was her first time in reality.
— Who dares throw the demon realm into chaos?
60th floor boss Asmodeus (S-rank).
The darkness began to thicken, and black smoke slowly rose from the ground.
Within that smoke.
A figure like something torn straight out of a nightmare slowly revealed itself. A being covered from head to toe in grotesque black armor.
In one hand, it held an enormous axe.
“That’s a great demon......”
“Asmodeus....?”
“Hngh!”
The Paladins and soldiers were terrified.
A crushing presence that made even the blessing of light seem meaningless!
“Huff.”
Aila was no different, her breath catching in her throat.
Old memories came back to her.
That moment of despair.
That horrifying moment.
“......”
That despair and terror which had destroyed everything she had. The self who could do nothing in that darkness pressing down on her.
But.
“Let’s begin.”
Baek Jinwoo was different.
He did not look even slightly tense.
He had faced Asmodeus quite a few times in the past.
He had already tried clearing him this way and that way, until the patterns were engraved into his body.
‘In the end, I cleared it with Aso, though.’
Back then and now were different.
Because the world was far more evenly powered up now.
To kill that thing?
Aila needed to come to her senses.
She had to drive the sacred spear into its heart so the demon’s shield would be completely released.
Tap, taat!
Unlike the soldiers trembling in fear, as she watched the heroes bravely rush forward.
“Get it together.”
Smack.
Aila slapped her own cheek. A stinging pain washed over her.
“Pull yourself together.....!”
She had made a promise.
Illusion or mirage, it didn’t matter.
If she could only kill that Asmodeus, she would gladly sell even her soul.
‘Put emotion into my spear?’
Then.
That emotion was anger. Anger toward everything she had lost.
And desperation. The desperate need to overcome this no matter what.
And...
Another emotion rising from somewhere even deeper.
‘I want... to be happy too.’
Her gaze turned toward Aso.
There was not a trace of fear in the eyes of the little girl running forward with a sword in hand.
Then it turned to Explosive Dragon Sorcerer as well.
Fwoosh!
As she slowly built up Explosive Dragon Wave stacks, there was a restrained strength in her figure.
Explosive Dragon Sorcerer was the same.
She felt no fear.
Even while looking at that dreadful demon.
‘It must be because of trust.’
That man, Baek Jinwoo.
They believed that he would never drive them into certain death.
Aila wanted to understand the trust they felt, the strength they possessed.
She wanted to feel happiness too.
‘If that’s the case.’
Then first, she had to follow.
She had to do as he said, rush forward, and drive her spear into that damned demon’s heart.
Did someone like her, who could not even save the Holy Kingdom, have the right to become happy?
Taat!
Gripping her spear, she advanced.
Emotion surged through her whole body as if it were burning.
Saaaaaa......!
And in response, an enormous divine power, utterly unlike usual, burst forth from her spear.
* * *
‘Oh.’
Baek Jinwoo was surprised.
‘So that’s the power of awakened Aila?’
It was his first time seeing it.
Wasn’t this different even from when they trained for the whole day?
—Hmm?
Even Asmodeus’ flustered voice was a first.
This.
Might go even more easily than expected?
—Aila!
When HunGyo shouted with a wave of his hand, Aila moved toward him.
—Where do you think you’re going!
Asmodeus’ true offensive began.
Normally, summons moved on their own.
But this time. Everyone followed Baek Jinwoo’s control.
Because he knew every pattern.
“Rachel.”
Baek Jinwoo murmured in concentration.
“Hm?”
“You said you know all ten patterns for sure, right?”
“Probably. I can make mistakes sometimes, though.....”
“Stay sharp. You can’t make mistakes.”
Sorry, but.
This isn’t Battle of Summoners.
This is reality.
One mistake could mean everyone loses their lives.
And at that moment.
Flash!
Asmodeus’ eyes flared with a red gleam.
—Everyone, lower your stance!
HunGyo shouted.
Skreeeeeng!
A laser fired from Asmodeus’ shoulder and swept once past the heads of those nearby.
Thankfully, no one was hit.
That was how it was.
Whenever he used a kind of instant-kill move, there was always some route to avoid it somehow.
—Run again!
The patterns continued.
—Downward smash!
Kwaaaaaaang!
When he slammed the axe into the center, they had to dodge left or right.
Wiiiiing! Kwaaaaaaang!
When he twisted the axe and overturned the ground in one sweep, they had to soar upward into the sky.
—You vermin!
Asmodeus, enraged, unleashed all kinds of attacks, but they slipped through them like piranhas, darting here and there.
‘Really.’
Even Aila’s eyes shone as she ran.
‘Everything is really happening just like they said.’
All day long.
Along with training, she had been drilled on Asmodeus’ patterns.
—Come forth! My true legion!
Kuwaaaaaaang!
Hundreds of holes tore open in the sky like pierced gates.
And new demons began to appear once more.
“Now it’s our turn!”
The Commander of the Paladins, Arno Billian, raised his sword high.
“For the heroes fighting Asmodeus directly before our eyes, let us aid them as well!”
“Waaaaaaah!”
“Hraaaaaaah!”
“In the name of God!”
“In the name of God!”
The Paladins began advancing with swords and shields in hand.
The true battle had begun!
Aila kept running forward.
* * *
Asmodeus was wrapped in a massive shield of darkness.
It was a broken skill that reduced all damage by 90%, and if they could not break it, things would become significantly harder.
In this world.
The only being who could break it was Aila Lunares.
—Kraaaargh!
Dark Roar!
When Asmodeus tore his arms wide and let out a roar, they had been told to close their eyes.
“.....!”
Aila memorized the surrounding terrain as much as possible, then squeezed her eyes shut.
Running with your eyes closed. That was truly terrifying.
But.
If you kept your eyes open when that roar sounded, your vision would be impaired for one minute.
A moment later.
When the roar ended. Her sight was normal.
—The way you scurry around makes you look like rats!
Kwaaaaaaah!
Asmodeus slammed his massive axe into the ground again, triggering an earthquake.
The earth split apart, and thousands of rocks shot up into the air.
Naturally, below them was a bottomless abyss. The moment you fell, it was instant death.
‘Now.’
Aila recalled Baek Jinwoo’s advice.
When she got close enough, she had to use that demon’s axe.
‘Can I do it?’
There was no time to think. She had to make it happen no matter what.
Taat!
Aila shot into the air.
Tap, tadadat! Tap!
Stepping one by one on the rocks flying upward, she climbed into the sky.
Then, she barely managed to land on top of the axe.
Rumble…..!
The axe rose into the sky once more. And in an instant, it lifted her all the way above Asmodeus’ head.
And then.
‘Now!’
Whirl!
Aila spun backward once in the air and dropped from the axe as though throwing herself down.
‘Focus.’
Then she pulled back the arm holding the spear with all her strength and chose her target.
‘Asmodeus’ heart.’
That place surging with darkness!
At that moment, time began to flow slowly.
The noisy world around her fell silent, and in her eyes, only the demon’s heart remained.
A state of extreme concentration!
‘I am the Champion.’
A being who serves God and protects the safety of the people of the Holy Kingdom. But now she knew.
The present Holy Kingdom was false, a fabricated world. The past had already happened, and it could not be undone.
‘But.’
Someone had given her a chance.
A god.
No, perhaps a being of a rank even higher than a god. That being had sent Baek Jinwoo and Rachel.
To set the past right.
Fear?
Terror?
Such things no longer existed inside her.
She had already died once before. What would change if she died again?
If anything, she felt excited.
She was glad that she could wound with her own hands the being that had once been so dreadful and terrifying.
Aila opened her mouth.
Then she shouted.
“Asmodeuuuuuuus!”
The veins in her neck bulged, and her eyes were bloodshot.
“Hraaaaaah!”
The moment Aila drew her spear arm far back, tremendous divine power wrapped around the spear.
‘Ah.’
Aila felt the thrill overflowing through her whole body.
And then.
Without a single moment of hesitation.
Swaaaaaaak!
She hurled the spear.
The spear flew forward, cutting through the air!
And then.
—Hngh?
Kwaaaaaaang!
The spear struck Asmodeus’ heart.
—Khaaaak?!
Crack!
The armor of darkness tore apart, and black blood burst out like an explosion.
—KRAAAAAAAARGH!
The great demon let out a roar of agony!
As his massive body trembled, the world itself began to shake with it.
—Good!
Down below, HunGyo gave a thumbs-up.
—Kirurururururu!
Falling Aila was caught by the Celestial Wyvern.
And then.
“Now, Explosive Dragon Sorcerer.”
At last, that damned armor had been shattered. Now 100% of all damage would go through in full!
—Yes, Jinwoo.
Explosive Dragon Sorcerer smiled faintly and swung her dragon-head staff.
Whoosh.
Flames began to blaze.
And soon, a red dragon began to form.
Explosive Dragon Sorcery, Secret art - Ruination.
The final breath the Ancient Explosive Dragon had used when it destroyed the continent!
That ultimate technique descended upon Asmodeus like a death sentence.
Kuwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!
It was on a completely different level from everything up until now. An utterly ridiculous, insanely overpowered burst of damage.
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