Chapter 187: Part of the Horror

Whoosh.

The place I arrived at after crossing space.

It was the Association’s emergency ward.

And the one welcoming me.

“Master!”

It was Seo Jun.

Except for the time spent clearing the floor that Nepas had destroyed, this kid was always guarding this ward.

Leon’s injury, which was like a brother to me.

Because he believed that incident, which nearly led to death, was his fault, he always stayed by his side.

“As expected of Master! You succeeded.”

Seo Jun said, sensing my changed energy.

It wasn’t just Seo Jun—anyone could feel it.

“Yeah.”

I nodded lightly.

*Fwoosh!

I ignited a red flame, a flame of life.

The five-piece set.

All of it was no longer stained by the remnants of corruption.

Pure immortal power, free from suppression, curses, and bonds.

I slowly exhaled and looked ahead.

There lay Leon, still unconscious.

His heart had stopped.

His body was cooling.

But it hadn’t been fully consumed by death.

The reason he hadn’t lost his life was due to the remnants left behind by this Undying Set.

But that was all it was.

A state where death was barely halted—like a vegetable, in a way.

This was a state where you couldn’t say he was alive even if he was breathing.

“Let’s begin.”

But now things would change.

Thump.

I knelt beside Leon.

*Fwoosh.

A red flame bloomed at my fingertips.

It was no longer a simple extension of life force.

The purified flame of immortality—

It was a power that rejected death, a authority that excluded corruption and the abyss, and restored pure existence.

But corruption?

Wasn’t Leon unrelated to such purification or corruption?

‘No.’

No.

This was something I realized only now.

That was—

Shooo.

A faint energy settled over Leon’s body.

It was a remnant of the abyss, a trace of corruption.

Something I had been missing.

And an obvious fact.

That was the fact that the being called Nepas was originally a life form born from corruption.

He was one of the parts that the Source of Horror had prepared to use as a vessel.

Therefore, Leon, who was born because of him, had no choice but to be affected by that corruption as well.

So Leon’s current death was part of that process of corruption.

Nepas—that wretched bastard—had planted a seed of corruption deep within Leon.

It was gnawing at Leon.

It was rapidly absorbing Leon’s life and growing in size.

To save Leon, I had to remove that seed of corruption.

Swoosh.

I immediately reached out.

The pauldrons, gauntlets, armor, greaves, and crown—

The Undying Set glowed red and resonated.

[Undying Set – Purification Effect Activated.]

[Life Force Restoration: Target Leon]

[Remaining Corruption: 87%]

[Warning! Due to critical damage to the target’s core life force, full recovery is impossible.]

I had gathered the five pieces, but it seemed I couldn’t completely remove that corruption yet.

But…

“…It’s okay.”

I muttered lowly.

I couldn’t fully revive Leon right now.

But time was what I needed.

Until I faced the Source of Horror and the truth of the Tower.

And until I gathered all of Cain’s Immortal Set.

Until then, at least, so he could fight together in this battle.

*Kwaang!

A red flame exploded over Leon’s chest.

That flame devoured death, burned away corruption, and little by little, very slowly, revived his halted heart.

Thump.

A faint pulse.

That small tremor reached my fingertips.

Once more.

Thump-thump.

A slightly stronger heartbeat.

Red life force began to flow through the blackened blood vessels.

A hint of vitality returned to Leon’s pale skin.

“Hold on.”

I concentrated.

I pushed the set’s authority to its limit.

The purified pauldrons emitted red waves, the gauntlets, the armor, the greaves, the crown—all merged into a single flame.

It wasn’t just armor covering the exterior.

It was the power to restore existence, reject death, and elevate life itself.

That was the true value of the purified Cain’s Immortal Set.

“Just…a little longer.”

Thump, thump!

Leon’s heart beat clearly.

His skin color returned, and his cold body temperature gradually warmed.

His eyelids trembled faintly.

His chest rose and fell very slightly.

At last…

“…Hah… hah…”

Leon breathed.

It was a small and fragile breath, but unmistakably a living one.

“…Leon.”

I gripped his shoulder.

But he had not fully awakened yet.

His consciousness hadn’t returned.

But he had certainly come back from the brink of death.

[Undying Set Purification Effect Stage 1 Complete.]

[Target Life Force Recovered: 32%]

[Remaining Corruption Removal Rate: 25%]

I had removed some of the corruption inside him.

But…

‘In the end…I have to go up.’

The way to save Leon.

It was only the path that approached the Source of Horror, the path that reached the top of the Tower.

I quietly stood up.

Then I placed my hand on Leon’s forehead.

Feeling his faint breath, I whispered firmly:

“Hold on a little longer. I’ll definitely…take you to the end.”

And so, I took another step toward the next floor of the Tower.

Toward the top of the Tower.

Toward that road leading to the peak of truth.

Kiiiiik—

The door to the 71st floor opened.

The pattern on the massive stone door cracked as if breaking, and a new space unfolded with red flames.

I slowly moved my steps.

At that moment, the familiar oppression of the Tower vanished.

“…As expected.”

The 71st floor.

From here on, the real path to reach the top of the Tower no longer existed.

The visible floors, the ordinary route that anyone tread, were traps.

That was the path meant for expendables, as intended by the Architects.

It was merely an exposed path to summon the strong and use their power for unlocking seals.

I lifted my head.

I saw it.

Beyond the walls of the Tower, another faintly wavering track.

That was the irregular structure hidden by the Architects, the hidden track that directly connected to the top of the Tower.

I immediately moved toward it.

Thanks to the purified Undying Set fully merging with my body, most of the Tower’s oppression was now nullified.

The immortal authority that rejected the Tower’s order.

Thanks to that, I could recognize and access this hidden track.

*Krachak!

Space split.

An invisible gap.

I pressed it lightly with my fingertips.

Shooo.

The space opened.

A forbidden passage that wouldn’t permit entry—but now it was different.

I passed through that gap without wavering.

At that moment, the original space of the 71st floor disappeared, and a grotesquely twisted structure unfolded before my eyes.

Massive arches of black bone.

Corpses of giants erected on a twisted land.

And in the sky, a hollow like a punched hole floated.

“So this is the inside of the hidden track.”

The Tower’s irregular structure, which had only been rumor.

This was a space that the Architects had thoroughly concealed, and only a few who knew the true path to the Source of Horror could ascend.

—

There were no simple trials or tests.

Instead, beings that knew the identity and essence of the Tower lurked here.

*Wooooong!

A rumbling sound came from afar.

A pressure that pierced the skin.

Definitely, it was a non-human existence.

I gripped my sword.

From beyond the space…beings that even the Tower Administrator didn’t recognize were approaching.

「You who reject the Tower…」

「You are not qualified to approach this place.」

Heterogeneous beings guarding the hidden track.

They were neither the watchers of the Tower nor Nepas’s abyss—they were the Architects’ minions.

Unofficial guardians created to hide the truth.

*Kwaaaaaa!

Black figures revealed themselves.

Twisted arms, faces made of tentacles,

And bodies grotesquely fused with metal and flesh.

“

”

No time for words!

I slowly raised my sword.

A silver sword imbued with the Extreme of the Sword.

In a space where will stood still, only a single blade shone clearly.

“Then I’ll prove that qualification…with power.”

*Kwang!

The moment I stepped forward, the ground shook.

The beings guarding the hidden track charged all at once.

But this time, I would fight with my true power, no longer relying on the Undying Set.

With my sword, my will, and my path.

Digging into the Tower’s hidden structure, I began my true journey toward the 100th floor.

*Kurrrung!

Space collapses.

The Tower’s suppression fades.

An alien pulse burrows deep into the space, vibrating inside my brain.

‘This is it.’

Nepas slowly reached out.

The blood-soaked ground.

Toward the top of the Tower, its very heart.

There…he is.

*Kwaaaa!

Conscience twists.

His body boils.

His existence is torn to shreds.

But he cannot stop.

This is the end he wished for.

The Tower’s true purpose.

To strip away the shell of humanity and tear apart the mask of this reality.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

That heart beats at the center of this Tower.

Cold, black, endless something…calling Nepas.

「Nepas…」

He heard it.

A distant, twisted, wretched voice.

Piercing deep into his consciousness from beyond reality, ignoring the boundaries of space.

「You…are us.」

Even breathing feels irritating.

A black pulse spreading under his skin.

The Source of Horror.

Its substance encroaches upon Nepas’s nerves, his bones, his will.

“Yes…I am yours.”

He did not resist.

There was no reason to.

Nepas was just a shell.

A vessel used for this Tower, chosen to destroy this world.

From the start, even the form of a mere human held no meaning before this existence.

Krachik.

His skin splits.

Blood vessels turn black.

Bones scream and deform.

Does it hurt?

No, it’s ecstasy.

Nepas’s vision flips.

Light stains black, sounds mix.

Every sense collapses, and a new consciousness fills the empty space.

No, a new being…

「Nepas…no, us.」

It was Nepas’s voice.

But it was no longer his voice.

Something writhed within him.

The endless abyss.

The Source of Horror.

A part of that being, which the Tower itself couldn’t bear and had sealed on the 100th floor…was overlapping.

*Kwaang!

Space collapses.

The Tower’s suppression screams.

The Tower tries to reject Nepas.

But it’s too late.

He was already becoming one with it.

His fingertips melt away.

His arms, chest, face twist.

What resides deep in his bones is not human flesh.

It is the filthy, grotesque, perfectly pure…Source of Horror.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

His heart beats.

No.

It is no longer Nepas’s heart.

It is his heart.

This entire being, this Tower’s heart, and my existence…all intertwine and become one.

「Completion…」

At that moment, my vision opened.

The truth unfolding above the 100th floor.

The true nature of the Architects.

The fate of humanity.

And…beyond this world, a hidden existence.

All of it will be realized the moment this Source of Horror awakens.

Nepas is no longer a Slime or an Administrator.

He is the heart of horror and the true master of this Tower.

And…soon, he will tear apart that bastard, Kim Si-won, who reaches the top of the Tower.

Faintly, it echoed in his ears.

His name.

His resistance.

His Extreme of the Sword.

As if mocking it all, Nepas slowly laughed.

“Wait, Kim Si-won…the end of this Tower is not the conclusion you desire.”

And so Nepas disappeared.

What took his place was a being imbued with the Source of Horror itself, rejecting both the Tower’s suppression and the order of the abyss.