While the Trial on the 70th floor was unfolding.
“I think I can carry this one.”
At the Shadow King’s confident attitude, I nodded.
It seemed like there was no point in just defeating the Undead in this Trial.
The important thing was the ten Liches and one Arch Lich floating in the sky far away.
We had to take those guys down.
It would be great if Cheon Seung-heon could snipe them, but even though he was an archer, his position was that of a rapid-fire archer rather than a sniper.
It would be difficult to shoot and kill the Liches, who were protecting themselves with magic, from this distance.
Furthermore, a Lich’s weak point is not their heart, but a ‘Life Vessel,’ so someone had to get close to find it.
It seemed like the best strategy was for the Shadow King to step forward.
“Then, we will hold out here and draw the Liches’ attention.”
“Yes.”
“Stalling for time is simple enough.”
And so, the ‘Shadow King All-In’ strategy was born.
As soon as the operation began, the Shadow King hid himself within the shadows.
The Rankers, dozens of soldiers, and I fought the Undead while drawing as much of the Liches’ attention as possible.
Of course, we didn’t overdo it.
Since defeating more Undead didn’t have much meaning anyway, we blocked the Undead moderately while saving as much stamina as possible.
Perhaps the Arch Lich visible over there was saying something like, ‘You are so weak, mortals,’ right about now?
While we were holding off the Liches like that.
“Thwack!”
“Keugh!”
One of the Liches let out a scream and was seen falling from the air.
“It’s starting.”
The Shadow King had begun her performance.
Along with that, the momentum of the Undead was seen faltering.
As the Shadow King defeated more Liches, the power of the Undead weakened further; the fallen Undead could no longer rise, and even the ones that were fine suddenly collapsed where they stood.
The magic of the Liches that had been maintaining the Undead Monsters had been shaken.
‘This is better than I thought.’
While I was moving through the Undead army toward the area beneath the Liches to support the Shadow King.
I looked up and observed the Shadow King’s battle.
For the Shadow King, who lacked the ability to fly, dealing with Liches floating in the air must have been a very tricky task.
However, the Shadow King was utilizing her skills to the fullest to engage in aerial combat as if she had wings.
“Step!”
She leaped up by stepping on the body of a falling Lich.
“Clang!
She parried the magic fired by a Lich and used the recoil to float upward.
The power of attraction and repulsion dwelling within the Dokkaebi Gamtu.
Her skill in appropriately utilizing that power to fly toward the enemy and swing her dagger, and then using repulsion at the right moment to evade incoming attacks, was top-tier.
The Dokkaebi Gamtu.
Even though its abilities were outstanding, it usually took quite some time to adapt to them.
The Shadow King was already utilizing the Dokkaebi Gamtu perfectly.
“We will support you as well!”
“Yes!”
While the Shadow King confronted the Liches.
We also broke through the weakened Undead army and arrived directly beneath the Liches.
The one who started the attack first was.
“Thwip-thwip-thwip!”
“Agh!”
It was Cheon Seung-heon.
He attacked the Liches by firing arrows at an incredible speed.
Even without knowing where the Life Vessels were, he turned the Liches’ entire bodies into pincushions and eventually burst the Life Vessels.
Following that.
“I am ready.”
“Thank you!”
– Whoosh!
The Sword Saint’s body soared into the air through the wind magic prepared by Cheongryong.
Then, maintaining that flying momentum, he cut down the Liches with a drawing sword technique.
My soldiers blocked the Undead Monsters below, Cheongryong supported everyone, and the other Rankers attacked the Liches.
The Liches.
Especially the Arch Lich’s resistance was fierce, but.
– Flash!
“Aaaaagh!”
Under the concentrated attacks of the Rankers, it eventually suffered a critical hit.
To begin with, that guy was a ‘Necromancer’ type Monster that exerted powerful strength only when it had time to handle Undead Monsters and prepare powerful magic from the rear.
However, following the Shadow King’s sudden surprise attack, the other Rankers joined in to engage in close combat.
It had been defeated without being able to properly exhibit its power.
“I am an immortal! No matter how much you mortals struggle, you cannot kill me…!”
However, no matter what anyone said, it was the Boss Monster of the 70th floor.
Even while falling with its body tattered, it did not lose consciousness and prepared a final counterattack.
All the death energy accumulated throughout the 70th floor gathered into Arch Lich’s body.
The moment all that death energy gathered, an incredibly powerful magic would be unleashed.
And then.
“Is it this?”
The Shadow King appeared right in front of the Arch Lich.
The Shadow King, smiling behind the Dokkaebi mask that was distorted like a sinister deity, aimed for the Life Vessel that had manifested as a weak point because the Arch Lich’s power had weakened so much that it lost its strength as an immortal.
– Stab!
He pierced it sharply, “Kuaaaaaaaagh!”
The death energy the Arch Lich had gathered until now burst out in vain.
The death energy that was gathering toward the Arch Lich was the same.
As all that energy dispersed, the Undead remaining in the 70th floor Trial collapsed onto the ground all at once.
Without taking any damage, we had conquered the 70th floor Trial in such a short time.
[Your level has increased.]
[You have overcome the 70th floor Trial, ‘Lord of Death.’]
[Clear Evaluation Grade: SSS]
[As a reward, you are given the ‘Essence of Death Magic.’]
[The 70th floor Trial has been conquered, weakening the Tower.]
The reward for the Trial arrived.
However, for some reason, there was only one reward.
On the 65th floor, two SS-grade rewards were given, so I checked with curiosity as to why there was only one reward for the 70th floor.
“……!”
I couldn’t help but be startled.
[Essence of Death Magic]
Type: Material
Grade: SSS
Description: The essence of true magic accumulated over an eternity by an Arch Lich who transcended death.
‘SSS-Grade!’
An SSS-grade material.
I didn’t expect an SSS-grade material to appear here.
No, thinking about it, it made sense.
As we went up, the Tower’s rewards also increased, so for the 70th floor, it wasn’t strange for an SSS-grade material to appear as a reward.
Especially since we passed the Trial with an SSS evaluation and naturally, the Rankers who conquered the Trial with me also recognized its identity.
“An SSS-grade material.”
“That’s amazing.”
“This is the second one, right?”
“Come to think of it, you said that Dokkaebi Gamtu was made with the SSS-grade material obtained from defeating the Dokkaebi King…….”
“If it’s an essence of magic, then the next item is…….”
The Rankers’ gazes turned toward Cheongryong.
***
After conquering the 70th floor.
My party did not stop and entered the next floor.
The theme starting from the 71st floor that we discovered was.
[The 71st floor Trial begins.]
[71st Floor: Steel Pack]
“Machines……?”
It was machines.
Wolves made of iron and gears appeared, exuding a chilly coldness.
Mechanical Monsters were a type of monster that rarely appeared on Earth, so I couldn’t help but be puzzled.
Because there was so little information on them, they were even harder to
hunt.
Their movements were swift, their iron bodies were incredibly hard, and their fangs made of blades were far too sharp.
Whether their strategies were programmed or not, the Cyber Wolves moved as precisely as a single body, making them very difficult to deal with.
Still, since we weren’t lacking in terms of power, fortunately, we were able to defeat all the Cyber Wolves before long.
“I never imagined such monsters would appear.”
“That’s true.”
They were too difficult to deal with.
We went on to conquer the 72nd floor Trial as well, but because the monsters made of machinery were so difficult to handle, the conquest time became even longer.
For that reason, for today, we had to be satisfied with conquering three Trials from the 70th floor to the 72nd floor.
And I could realize for certain.
In order to properly conquer the 70th-floor Trials which were made of machines, the presence of an outstanding mage was necessary.
There was no need to search for an outstanding mage separately.
The best mage in Korea was at our party.
Because Cheongryong was with us.
However, the problem was that Cheongryong was a mage focused on support magic, making it difficult for her to use magic powerful enough to defeat mechanical monsters.
‘Well, I just have to raise her power level.’
I already had a solution in mind.
***
After today’s Tower conquest ended.
Having finished my personal preparations, I immediately picked up the material.
The SSS-grade material, Essence of Death Magic, obtained through the 70th floor Trial.
Being an SSS-grade material, it seemed like the perfect material to use ‘Myth Creation’ on.
It was also a necessary material since the theme of the 70th-floor range was ‘machines.’
‘If I make Cheongryong’s weapon with this, the Trials of Ordeals in the 70th-floor range will become much easier.’
It was certain.
I could be confident.
The monsters in the 70th-floor range were enemies that seemed like magic attacks would work better than physical attacks.
Although Cheongryong was a mage specializing in support magic, he would be able to exert enough power if he had a stronger weapon.
So, I was going to make Cheongryong’s weapon with this.
There was one problem.
“Why did it have to have ‘Death’ attached to it? Ugh.”
SSS-grade material, Essence of Death Magic.
It would have been better if it was just an essence of magic, but because of the title attached to the front, it felt like whatever item I made would develop abilities related to death.
And even though I searched for various things I could make with this.
“Munich Handbook, Book of the Dead, Grand Grimoire…… I don’t need these kinds of black magic books.”
Naturally, I could only find things like magic books that dealt with the magic of death.
Therefore, I decided to try a different method.
“Let’s perform a Purification.”
Was there a rule that said materials could only be used to make finished products?
Combining materials to make a stronger material was a method frequently used in reality as well, such as mixing copper and tin to make bronze, or mixing copper and zinc to make brass.
Mixing materials to make a stronger material was something I had done once before.
The important thing was that I had to purify the power of ‘death’ so that the power of the SSS-grade material wouldn’t be diminished.
“Oh, wouldn’t this work?”
While looking through the materials I possessed, I was able to discover one material that looked decent.
[Sap of the World Tree]
Type: Material
Grade: SS
Description: The sap of the World Tree, which contains a concentrated power of life so strong that it is also called the Water of Life.
The item obtained as a reward from the 40th floor Trial, Sap of the World Tree.
I was only looking for the holy attribute since it was the opposite of death, but come to think of it, isn’t the opposite of death ‘life’?
It seemed that if I applied this appropriately, I could remove the aura of death from the SSS-grade material.
No, perhaps not just that, but I might be able to strengthen the material’s power even further.
With that thought.
[Using Crafting Skill.]
“Clang!”
I immediately began the production.
Just like mixing metals to make an alloy, I appropriately mixed the ‘Essence of Death Magic’ and the ‘Sap of the World Tree’ to remove the impurity called death and bring the magical power to life.
I am a Blacksmith who has already exceeded level 300 and awakened the SSS-grade ability, ‘Descendant of the Blacksmith.’
I could certainly do it.
“Clang!
As the Sap of the World Tree melted into the Essence of Death Magic, the unique death energy began to disperse.
At the same time, the magical energy dwelling within the essence embraced the power of life and was amplified further.
The power of life possessed by the Sap of the World Tree didn’t simply
mean life.
It was the power of nature itself.
As such, it would also go well with the water and wind magic used by Cheongryong.
While I was swinging the hammer with those imaginations.
“Swoosh—”
Before I knew it, the Sap of the World Tree was completely absorbed into the Essence of Death Magic.
its unique death energy completely disappeared, and the color changed to become clearer and more beautiful.
[Production complete.]
[You have acquired ‘Essence of Nature Magic.’]
I succeeded in creating a material that seemed perfect for making Cheongryong’s Staff.