Chapter 173: 60th Floor Administrator (2)

Human?

No, I couldn’t call it human. 

A jet-black silhouette, like a shadow. 

The form itself resembled a human, but my Insight Eye told me otherwise. 

He, the 60th Floor Administrator, was a being divorced from humanity. 

A being who had approached the realm of the unknown.

“I warned you. Why do you insist on committing taboo?”

A voice of reproach for me, who had broken the taboo and touched what should not be touched.

“…I’m not the only one.”

No matter who I was, I couldn’t speak casually to someone who had reached the unknown. I put a measure of politeness into it, but the content itself was not respectful.

“The first floor has already been destroyed by Nep as.”

[…]

He remained silent. But my Insight Eye told me. He was shaken by the destruction of the first floor.

+ Interest

“He seeks the realm of the unknown. He wishes for the end of Earth. To stop him, I had no choice but to commit taboo myself. Please understand.”

“No.”

But even at my words, he showed a firm attitude.

“No one may break the taboo. Not the one who destroyed the first floor, and not you either.”

Even at that, there was no wavering. 

I had already expected it. 

These beings are called administrators.

‘Those who guard the Tower, who guard its floors.’ 

That was their sole purpose and mission. 

I didn’t know why or under whose orders, but once a mission was given, even if exceptions or variables arose, it was the fate of the administrator to uphold it. 

No matter how urgent the circumstances, they could not allow it.

“I understand your difficult situation. But that being, Nepas, cannot conquer the Tower. So rest assured and return. I will specially grant you leniency and forgive your rudeness.”

Originally, he would have slaughtered all intruders without a word. 

But considering the existence of Nepas and the urgent situation, he had shown me leniency.

“I can’t… do that.”

“What?!”

“You say Nepas cannot conquer the Tower, but I think differently.”

I knew Nepas better than anyone. 

He had done everything that seemed impossible. 

There was no such thing as impossible for him.

Yes. ‘Just like me.’

Just as I, a mere human and ordinary man of the modern age, became the pinnacle of the Gritia Continent, he too would reach the realm of the unknown. 

And he would surely bring the Tower, which held the clues, under his control. 

The 60th Floor Administrator said it was impossible, but no. 

Nepas would definitely conquer the Tower. 

And finally, he would reach the unknown and destroy me, and Earth. 

I had to stop that and the only way to stop it was to reach the unknown faster than him. 

That was the only path.

“Do you intend to ignore my leniency and warning?”

At that moment.

“BOOM!”

An overwhelming presence dominated the area. 

A heavy karma, as if a massive boulder had been placed upon me, flowed not from the 60th Floor Administrator but from something else.

“KWAANG!”

A thunderous roar echoed through the entire cave. 

With it, something revealed itself.

That was—

“A Dragon…?!”

Unmistakably the form of a dragon. 

A dragon of black silhouette, just like the 60th Floor Administrator, appeared.

But.

‘…Incredible.’

I couldn’t help but be surprised. 

The Silhouette Dragon—its aura, the weight of its existence, the heavy karma pressed down on me. 

A threat I hadn’t felt from the 60th Floor Administrator. 

It was surely an entity protecting the 60th Floor Administrator.

“I will warn you once more. Leave this place immediately. Otherwise, you will face death.”

I understood clearly. 

He seemed only willing to punish those who broke the taboo, not to do more than that. 

Even though I had been rude (from the administrator’s perspective), he kept showing leniency.

“I cannot.”

I had no intention of backing down.

“I am merely doing what I must.”

For what I must do.

-Shhhhh

I raised my sword. 

An ordinary iron sword. 

The moment I held it, the world fell silent. 

There was no light, no special power at the blade’s edge. 

But that very ordinariness was my true weapon—the weapon of one who had lived a thousand years.

“This is the final warning.”

The 60th Floor Administrator’s voice echoed from the deep abyss.

-Flaap!

The black dragon spread its wings. 

The shadow-like silhouette devoured the surroundings, creating endless darkness.

“BOOM!”

The ground shook from the dragon’s wingbeat alone, and a massive shockwave rippled through space. 

Just one wingbeat. 

But it was threatening. 

It pressed down on my body more than any attack or movement in the world.

However, my heart was unshaken. 

I raised my sword before my chest and spoke quietly.

“I am not a great being. I am merely one who paves the way so humanity can survive.”

I had sworn.

I would protect humanity and Earth, which had been broken because of me. 

So I would not yield to any threat and would fulfill that mission.

That resolve.

-Tzzzt!

That will took form.

“Thud”

I took a step forward.

-Tzzzzzzt!

Naturally, my spirit spread.

“KRRRRACK!”

Space split.

“KWA-KWA-KWA-KWAH!”

An overwhelming power unfolded, as if the boundary between reality and unreality was collapsing. 

It directly confronted the aura of the Silhouette Dragon guarding the 60th Floor Administrator.

But that was only for a moment.

All that energy—

-Shoooosh

Vanished. 

As if it had been an illusion.

But.

“Kyaaak…”

The Silhouette Dragon let out a lamenting cry. 

It had realized. 

That I had transcended the limits of my body and become the sword itself.

My spirit had become the sword’s intent. 

I was a well-tempered blade. 

All that will converge into the sword, ready to strike the enemy at any moment.

“I warned you! Truly foolish!”

The 60th Floor Administrator bellowed, having read my determination.

At that.

-Fwoooosh!

The Silhouette Dragon spewed black flames. 

The blazing shadow fire was absolute destruction that melted and annihilated everything.

But.

“Thud.”

Its flames could not stop my steps.

I simply swung my sword.

-Swish!

-Slaaash!

At first faint, but soon it became light, cleaving the world.

The first cut. 

The dark flames split to both sides.

-Snap!

The second cut tore space.

With the third cut—

-Tzzzt!

The Silhouette Dragon’s form wavered.

“How…?!”

The 60th Floor Administrator murmured in disbelief.

It was only a cutting motion. 

Yet with that simple action, the judge of the 60th floor was shaken.

But ignoring his surprise, I kept walking.

“I know the rules the Tower created, and the reason for the taboo.”

I had clashed swords with him. 

Therefore, no more respect was shown. 

Since he had expressed hostility and tried to kill me, he was no longer a being to be respected but merely an enemy to kill.

“But Nepas has already broken those rules. Now is not the time to obey them, but to transcend them.”

The final step.

The massive body of the Silhouette Dragon appeared before him. 

The dragon’s eyes looked down on me heavily.

“You have chosen death, human.”

People often misunderstand. 

They think a dragon’s strongest attack is magic or breath. 

That’s not true. 

A dragon’s greatest advantage lies in its superior physical body. 

The hardest, most destructive body at the pinnacle of all things—an attack utilizing that flesh. 

Not breath, not magic—that was the dragon’s greatest weapon.

And the Silhouette Dragon knew its own advantage all too well.

“KWA-KWA-KWAH!”

The dragon’s claw came crashing down. Space shattered, and black cracks swallowed me.

But.

-Pop!

I was no longer there. 

The moment my will reached, my body reacted. 

The next instant, I appeared above the dragon’s head and brought my sword down like a beam of light.

[Spirit—Cutting the Infinite]

A sword’s arc traced in the air. 

One? 

No.

-Sssswishshsh!

Countless, innumerable sword arcs dominated the area. 

Gaps? 

None.

Yet it wasn’t random slashing. 

Each arc carried my spirit, my true intent.

“CLANG!”

But even my spirit-forged sword couldn’t penetrate the Silhouette Dragon’s hard scales.

‘It must have a reverse scale too.’

The only way to breach a dragon’s scales is to target the reverse scale. 

This reverse scale is a weakness every dragon-type possesses. 

Among the scales protecting its massive body, only one grows in the opposite direction—that spot is the sole weakness.

Normally, one would find and target that spot. 

Using Insight Eye or perception, one could detect that weakness. 

But that method was impossible now. 

Because my Insight Eye could not reach the Silhouette Dragon. 

My Insight Eye could not tell me its weakness. 

It was a being that had touched the realm of the unknown. 

So, with my Insight Eye—a mere mortal’s—I couldn’t grasp that realm.

But that was fine. 

Even without finding the reverse scale, I could overcome it. 

The method is—

[Spirit—A Dripping Water Pierces a Stone]

Just as a small droplet falling endlessly can pierce a rock, persistent effort can accomplish great things. 

My sword now carried that will.

“CLANG, CLANG-CLANG!”

Even if it took dozens, hundreds, thousands, ten thousand strikes—even if all those sword blows were deflected by the scales—I honed my blade with the single resolve that I would cut it. 

As long as that will did not die, my sword would never dull. 

My sharply honed spirit was armed with the determination to cut through the Silhouette Dragon’s scales.

“CLANG… SWISH!”

At last, I succeeded in cutting the scale.

“What?!”

“What?!”

The Silhouette Dragon and the 60th Floor Administrator could not hide their shock. 

Naturally. 

They had reached the realm of the unknown; they could never have imagined allowing a mere human to land an attack.

But it wasn’t just cutting the scale.

‘Cut.’

My will went beyond the scale, targeting the Silhouette Dragon’s body protected by those scales.

And so.

-Sssshssshshsh!

The sword that pierced—the will armed with effort and resolve—finally began to slash the Silhouette Dragon’s massive body.

And then, shortly.

—Pssshhh

At last, the Silhouette Dragon’s body began to scatter into ash. 

The judge born as the strongest creature perished without putting up much resistance, without displaying the majesty of the unknown.

And then.

“…”

The 60th Floor Administrator, watching that scene of annihilation, finally spoke, “…So you have reached it.”

There was no anger in the administrator’s voice, only calm acknowledgment.

“To stop Nepas, I must transcend even this taboo. Now, tell me the truth.”

My voice, filled with will, rang through the space.

I had not come here merely to defeat the 60th Floor Administrator. 

I was facing him to obtain information about the unknown—the realm only Nepas had reached.

And then.

“Very well. I will entrust this fragment of truth to you. But remember. This path brings only solitude and pain.”

Surprisingly, the 60th Floor Administrator accepted my words and began to speak the hidden truth.