[Entering the 6th floor, the conquest target.]
[You may select the difficulty. Please choose your desired difficulty.]
He tore the ticket and arrived at a space.
It was a waiting room of sorts, a place one encountered before plunging into the trials of the 6th floor.
The task to be done there was simple.
Choosing the difficulty.
Normally, it would be divided into four stages: Easy, Normal, Hard, and Very Hard however, Leon was different.
Very Hard
Nightmare
Penance
Blood Sea
The difficulty levels were open all the way down to Blood Sea, which was just below the Incomprehensible and Eerie ranks.
The Tower had judged that Leon could not be contained within the conventional difficulty of Very Hard.
Thus, it had been set so that he could select Blood Sea as his starting difficulty from the beginning and naturally, his choice was…
“Blood Sea.”
It was the Blood Sea.
Only by choosing Blood Sea could he eventually reach the Incomprehensible or Eerie difficulties above it.
‘This time, I must…’
He hardened his resolve.
His master had said he wouldn’t be able to defeat Altain for the time being, but no.
‘Master is far superior to Salmora. No, even Nepas.’
His teachings, his character, and his very presence.
His master, Kim Si-won, overwhelmed Nepas.
So, what was the problem?
It was him.
Leon blamed himself for that more than anything else.
His master, Kim Si-won, had crushed all of Nepas’s schemes.
Yet, due to his own inadequacies, he was repeatedly handing over the dominance of the floors to Altain.
He was the only weakness, the only flaw.
That was why Leon grit his teeth.
To properly absorb his master’s teachings, he worked so hard that he even forgot about the erosion.
Although that period hadn’t been very long, through Kim Si-won’s guidance, he could clearly see the path he needed to take.
‘The Heart Sword. And wielding it at will. Just like a part of my body.’
Heart Sword.
He had become able to handle the sword of the mind.
However, he was not yet accustomed to it.
Therefore, he had to train so that he could handle that sword familiarly and freely, like another limb.
With that resolve…
[You have selected Blood Sea difficulty.]
[Starting the 6th-floor trial of Blood Sea difficulty.]
-Zzzzzzt!
The surrounding environment began to change rapidly.
Along with it.
[You are an adventurer searching for hidden treasure. You were exploring the dungeon after obtaining information.]
[But oh no! You have fallen into a hidden trap and arrived at a hidden location (Difficulty Change)!]
[This place is the unknown hidden within the dungeon. The source of darkness where all sorts of nightmares exist.]
[May the Blessing of Survival be with the adventurer who has fallen into this hell.]
An adventurer exploring a labyrinth.
That was…
‘My master’s past.’
He had heard about it.
That the trials of this Tower were the past that his master, Kim Si-won, had experienced on the Gritia Continent.
Trial Conquest Objectives
★☆☆: Escape from the labyrinth and survive.
★★☆: Defeat 100 or more monsters appearing in the labyrinth.
★★★: Defeat all monsters appearing in the labyrinth.
★★★★: Reach the secret of the labyrinth.
★★★★★: ???
Trial conquest objectives.
Originally, there were only three stars, but two had been added, meaning he had to achieve up to five stars.
Of course, the fact that he could reach five stars was a secret.
However.
‘I must reach five stars to attain the next difficulties, Incomprehensible and Eerie.’
Specific conditions had to be met to reach the limits beyond the currently set difficulty.
And then.
-Slide.
The labyrinth.
Leon, looking at the complex path swallowed by darkness, closed his eyes.
It was no different from the previous floors.
He intended to expand his spirit sense to find the monsters and then massacre them all.
But.
[In the Labyrinth of Darkness, you cannot use any skills or authorities.]
Surprisingly, this labyrinth was projecting a special barrier that blocked all abilities.
That was an absolute law that even Leon’s absolute authority and power could not pierce.
‘So that’s how you want to play?’
Just as he evolved, the Tower was also evolving.
It was, in a way…
In order to stop players who used a kind of cheat — because the power of people like Leon and Altain was too immense — it was developing into a form that gave even more difficult trials.
Of course, up until Very Hard, the difficulty remained the same.
But for Blood Sea and above, it was a special method to limit the power of those attempting to challenge the Incomprehensible or Eerie levels.
‘Or perhaps it’s a change caused by the Master’s conquest as a Conqueror.’
Alongside the Tower’s natural development, it might also be evolving because of Kim Si-won’s conquest as a Conqueror.
Whatever the reason, his abilities were sealed.
He could not identify the enemies’ locations with spirit sense and massacre them all at once with his Heart Sword as he had before.
There was only one method he could use with his abilities sealed.
Combat using his physical body.
In the past, he might have been a bit reluctant.
However.
‘I am different now.’
By obtaining a complete Rank of Creation, his body had become perfect.
On top of that, through Kim Si-won’s teachings and that training, his blade had been honed even more sharply.
Even if his abilities and authorities were blocked, it wouldn’t be a problem for him.
Therefore, he stepped toward the unknown that had encroached upon everything like a black mist.
“Keeruk!”
“Shiiii — “
He couldn’t distinguish even an inch ahead.
The darkness completely blocked his vision.
This labyrinth, as a place embracing darkness, implemented a state of extreme confusion as if vision, senses, and even sounds were echoing from all directions.
A perfect labyrinth that confused all senses.
Knowing that he closed his eyes.
It wasn’t just his vision.
He closed his ears and all his senses.
There was only one thing he kept open.
His heart.
He would simply draw out the sword of the mind that he had forged and forged until now.
‘The sword is me, and I am the sword.’
Oneness of Sword and Body.
His master, Kim Si-won, had said it.
That there is a realm a swordsman who handles a sword must advance toward.
The first is to become familiar with the sword by handling it tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, or millions of times.
The next is to make the sword and oneself one, reaching a level where it feels like a part of one’s own body.
And once that realm is surpassed, one reaches the Oneness of Sword and Body, where the sword becomes the self and the self becomes the sword.
Currently, Leon had reached the state of Oneness of Sword and Body.
Therefore, with his eyes closed, he drew out the single sword he had forged.
He could cut even without seeing.
He could cut even without feeling.
And then.
“Kyara!”
A monster over 2 meters tall, shaped like a mantis, swung its sharp forelegs.
He couldn’t see it.
But.
-Slash!
A sword cutting through an exoskeleton.
Following Kim Si-won’s advice, he did not use the Pangu Axe or any other famous swords.
A plain iron sword.
The iron sword, which should have normally broken without being able to cut the monster’s exoskeleton, precisely bisected the mantis monster’s body.
Leon’s will imbued in the iron sword was sharper than any famous sword.
It wasn’t just that.
“Keeruk.”
The mantis was just the beginning.
Around him, numerous insect monsters lunged at him, targeting Leon.
This labyrinth was no ordinary labyrinth.
A distorted dimension created by the fusion of the flip side.
It was an unknown territory connected to a completely different dimension and planet, not the Gritia Continent.
And the insects appearing here were the Chunggwijong, which lived in a harsh environment completely different from Earth or Gritia.
A hard outer shell that could not be cut by any metal, and a physical strength that could break weak flesh and bones.
Although they had no great authorities, they were monsters that had reached a transcendent realm in everything: attack, defense, and speed.
But to Leon, such attack, defense, and speed were useless.
The plain iron sword split the outer shell in an instant.
“Step.”
And he moved forward.
Forward, and forward again.
Of course, to stop him, the Chunggwijong lunged from all directions but Leon’s sword…
“Slash, slash, slash!”
It did not know how to stop.
Each trajectory was a death.
There was no second strike.
Only a single strike.
Along with the death blooming in each of those trajectories.
“Thud, thud!”
The bisected corpses of the Chunggwijong decorated the ground.
He thought he would be able to proceed that easily.
But there was no way this trial, created with such intent, would be that easy.
[You have defeated all the Chunggwijong.]
It didn’t take very long.
But during that time, Leon had slaughtered every single Chunggwijong in the labyrinth.
It had to be so.
He had cut down the Chunggwijong with only a single strike, without needing a second.
Usually, it takes time to conquer the Chunggwijong because one must identify their weaknesses and then target them, but no such time had been required at all.
He had fulfilled the 3-star condition through the massacre of the Chunggwijong.
And now, only the 4-star condition remained.
“Kuooooooo!”
A rough breath, as if a typhoon were blowing, could be felt.
“Thump, thump!”
What he saw around him was the Chunggwijong.
No, that was…
[Due to the annihilation of the Chunggwijong, the Chungwangjong appears.]
The secret of the labyrinth.
That was precisely the trial that activated if one slaughtered all the Chunggwijong within a limited time.
It was the appearance of the ruler who governed the Chunggwijong, known as the Chungwangjong.
The Chunggwijong alone boasted massive sizes, but the Chungwangjong was beyond comparison.
A massive body exceeding 10 meters.
The mantis-type Chunggwijong he had first seen appeared in the form of a Chungwangjong.
“No one can approach the secret of the labyrinth…”
Surprisingly, the Chungwangjong possessed a will.
Through that will, it warned Leon.
That no one could approach the secret of the labyrinth.
Which meant…
‘The Chungwangjong. It means that he himself is not the secret of the labyrinth.’
That secret was likely the condition to reach five stars.
However.
“Thump!”
He had to strike down that massive mantis, the Chungwangjong.
“…Die!”
The Chungwangjong manifested its will of death.
And then.
-Whoooooosh!
A massive foreleg approached, cutting through the air.
No, it was a kind of weapon that was harder and sharper than any metal.
-Craaaaaash!
Even though it hadn’t touched yet, scars were carved into the earth.
It wasn’t something that could be called mere force or power.
It was an attack that created death.
“Haaaap!”
At that unusual strike, Leon let out a battle cry and swung his sword.
But.
“Clang, clang, clang!”
Sparks flew from the sword that hadn’t needed a second strike until now.
And then.
“Urgh!”
He thought he would be able to cut it but its hardness was not comparable to that of the Chunggwijong.
He couldn’t cut it.
Therefore, the impact was transmitted directly to Leon’s body.
-Creeeeak!
Muscles tore, and bones broke.
In fact, even that was a fortunate thing.
A normal human, no matter how trained an Awakener they were, would have exploded from that impact.
But Leon was a being whose body had been granted the Rank of Creation.
He barely managed to survive the Chungwangjong’s attack.
‘Is this…?’
In an instant, the look in his eyes changed.
He thought it was just a Chunggwijong that had grown larger.
But it wasn’t.
Hardness, power, even the weight of its existence.
The Chungwangjong boasted a power that threatened Leon, who had absorbed the Rank of Creation.
Although his body had endured the impact, the sword could not.
The sword, which was nothing more than a plain iron sword, shattered and scattered.
What remained in his hand was only the hilt.
“Face death!”
Seeing that the weapon was broken, the Chungwangjong launched another attack.
An attack even more powerful than before.
But at that moment.
-Flash!
A golden energy swirled in Leon’s eyes.
Forming his hand into a shape as sharp as a sword, he countered the Chungwangjong’s attack exactly as it was.
In that moment.
-Slash!
An arm made of flesh and the attack of the Chungwangjong, which was incredibly hard and could cut through anything.
The result was…
“Thud!”
The victory of a human.
The massive foreleg of the Chungwangjong fell to the ground with a thunderous roar.
“…My master’s teachings won’t fall to the likes of you.”
The path a swordsman must advance toward.
In that moment, Leon surpassed the realm of Oneness of Sword and Body and reached a new domain.