Druid Len Hank.
Len Hank himself could not escape the limits of the 5th Circle until the day he died, but he did not mind.
For he had a disciple.
In the history of Tetradia, he was the mentor who first taught magic to the great Archmage who rose to the position of Lord of the Magic Tower at the youngest age, Abellar Pavlenko.
While he rejoiced in this, he always advised Abellar to be wary of himself.
It was like that from the beginning.
That was the kind of person he was.
The magician known as Len Hank.
A mentor who always taught humanity before teaching magic.
A magician who did not turn away from the destined deaths of tens of thousands.
One who willingly threw away his own life, hoping they would die thinking of hope and the future rather than despair and pain.
He shouts with all his might.
-Kieeeeeeeeeek!
His soul sank into the Abyssal Depths.
His entire body was stained black.
He was twisted and deformed, with no trace left of his appearance while alive.
Nevertheless, there were things that did not change.
Even though a thousand years had passed, even though his soul was stained and his body twisted, things that did not change still existed.
-Kkieeeeek!
It was a shout.
The cry of an old magician who shouted for hope until his throat burst.
Even if that hope was painted with lies.
Even if what would eventually arrive was a terrible and desperate end.
Even if it was just a fake hope that would sparkle for only a few minutes.
-Kieeeeeek! Kkieeeek!
A shout of hope uttered with every ounce of strength.
‘What if it was a false hope?’
‘What if it was an inflated, fake hope that would burst and disappear in an instant?’
Interest.
He was human.
Tens, hundreds of thousands of lives floundering in despair before dying.
Even knowing it would be so, he was a very ordinary human who did not look away with simple words like “it can’t be helped” or stupid words like “the probability is low.”
Before being a magician of the 5th Circle, it meant he was human.
A human.
‘How could a human ignore the pain of another human?’
‘How could one leave them be, knowing that tens, hundreds of thousands would die in pain and despair?’
…A human.
-Kiek! Kieeeeeek!
So he stepped forward.
He lacked ability and strength, so he might not be able to save them, but didn’t he have what he had built his whole life?
‘Didn’t he have his status and his 5th Circle magic?’
By using those, he could at least ensure they did not die in despair and pain.
Of course, there were certainly those who said it was meaningless.
His disciple Abellar said so, and the Druids of the same school did as well.
‘Aren’t they going to die anyway?’
‘Isn’t it the same that they cannot be saved?’
‘What meaning is there whether such people die in hope or in despair?’
Then Len Hank would ask back.
-Kkieeeeeeeeek!
Then how great is the meaning you all hold while living?
Even if you continue your life for another day, a month, or a year, is there really a meaning greater than this?
‘Is it truly valuable enough to ignore their despair?’
‘Is that the kind of life it is?’
Then everyone becomes unable to answer.
They cast their gazes down and remain as still as a Stone Statue.
Thus, Len Hank stood before the refugees.
Thus, Len Hank was shouting as if his throat would burst.
-Kieeeeek! Kieek!
Until now, a thousand years later.
“……Stop.”
So Hio takes a step.
With that appearance of him walking, with those words quietly saying to stop, all attacks remained halted.
“Stop it.”
Nevertheless, Hio tells him to stop.
「Congratulations! You have reached the target for the Hidden Trait ‘Violence is Not Allowed!’. A hidden reward for the Hidden Trait will be given.」
However, those words did not reach him, who had become a monster of the Abyssal Depths.
-Kkieeeeek! Kiek!
The shouts continue to be heard.
「Please select one of the skills you possess.」
「You have selected the skill – ‘Space Creation’.」
「Analyzing the effects of the skill linked to the trait – ‘Space Creation’.」
Even though a thousand years had passed.
Even though his soul was cursed and his flesh became a monster, his unchanging conviction seeped through the high-pitched shout.
It is heavy.
What was contained in that shout was so heavy and noble that it was painful to listen to.
「Analysis complete.」
「The reward of the Hidden Trait – ‘Patience is Bitter, But Its Fruit is Sweet!’ is applied to the skill – ‘Space Creation’.」
「The rank of the skill – ‘Space Creation’ is upgraded to the highest level.」
「The skill name of ‘Space Creation’ is changed to the skill – ‘Domain of Void’.」
A shield of black-stained flowers.
A hemispherical veil that was merely blocking without any attack or counterattack.
He stands before it.
When he places his hand on it and quietly closes his eyes, the shouts continue to be heard.
The fake hope he perhaps continued to shout even when the Abyss lunged at him, even while being encroached by the Abyss.
‘Is being a hero anything special?’
He was already a hero.
He was so right before he died, and he is still so now that he has become a monster.
“Now…… you can stop.”
‘So now, can’t he really stop?’
‘Can’t he stop the desperate shouting and enter his rest now?’
「The skill – ‘Domain of Void’ is activated.」
Thrum—a noise that sounded like hundreds, thousands of vibrations compressed.
A momentary wave that spreads along with it.
The moment the skill was activated, this place became a void, a domain that could do so.
「Would you like to remove it?」
He clenches the hand he placed on it into a fist and opens his closed eyes.
「Removing.」
Then, what is seen.
Since there was nothing.
A space that was not just torn and crumpled like a piece of tissue paper but had disappeared entirely.
The black plants and the Boss Monster that created them.
The very space where they were became empty.
The Domain of Void.
Within it.
「You have successfully conquered the Abyss.」
The shout of the old magician was heard no more.
Boom—!
An onslaught of attacks from long-range skill users.
As a result, dust clouds rose, black flowers flew through the air, and the ground of the hollow rang.
Booooom—!
However, the shield made of plants was so sturdy that it would not break even under continuous skill attacks.
Was that all?
-Kieeeeek!
-Kkieeeeeeeeek!
The Boss Monster hidden inside was so noisy.
“Tsk, how annoying.”
Antipus frowns as much as he can.
“Does even a cursed piece of trash like that feel fear?”
How afraid must it be to hide so tightly and just scream its head off?
It doesn’t even seem to intend to attack, and the screaming doesn’t even tire out, causing annoyance to soar to the point of irritation.
A fellow calling himself a Boss Monster only has defensive capabilities and doesn’t even attack.
He just lets out annoying screams.
If so, there was nothing more to see.
He would step forward, cleave through the shield of black flowers, and personally cut off that large head.
Just as Antipus was about to step forward.
“
“……Stop.”
Someone began to walk forward a step ahead.
It was a small voice, but the people here were not ordinary humans but those approaching the level of superhumans.
After hearing that voice and identifying who it was, all attacks immediately stopped.
“Stop it.”
That person was, naturally, Jijoncheonma Hio Pavlenko.
“You can stop now.”
At his single word, all attacks had already ceased.
The gazes of everyone gathered naturally turned only toward Hio Pavlenko.
…It shouldn’t be like this.
‘Wasn’t it the very moment Antipus had just grasped that the Boss Monster only had exceptional defensive abilities and did not attack?’
Hio Pavlenko must have surely moved after being certain of that as well.
In order to receive everyone’s attention and increase his fame.
“That won’t do.”
He couldn’t just watch it happen.
Last time on the Infinite Floor, he couldn’t step forward due to the aftereffects of the ordeal of pain that lasted terribly long, but he couldn’t leave the most important finishing blow to him even on this floor.
The Boss Monster’s pattern hadn’t been clearly identified yet.
However, he should be able to suppress that much with his own martial power.
So Antipus took a step forward to intervene, placing his hand on the hilt of his sword.
But.
“……Please don’t go.”
One person abruptly cuts in front of him.
“
It is a woman he’s seeing for the first time.
Flashy red hair and red eyes like jewels.
She was someone who did not exist in his memory.
The light armor she wore was of the high-quality material unique to the arms of the Imperial Household, and what was engraved on her left breast was the Imperial Golden Lion symbolizing the Royal Knights.
Wait.
‘The Royal Knights?’
Even when he was in the Imperial Household, he had never seen such a young woman.
Especially with such eye-catching red hair and flashy beauty.
However, what flustered Antipus more than the fact that she was a new Royal Knight he didn’t know was.
“Just…… please stay as you are.”
A water droplet hanging precariously in those pretty eyes.
The Red-haired Woman was crying.
She had blocked his path while crying.
He confirmed that even a bit of resentment was mixed in the way she looked at him with such wet eyes.
“What……?”
Antipus became rarely flustered.
“And please also take back what you said about being a cursed piece of trash.”
“What are—”
In the meantime, Hio Pavlenko had already reached the front of the black flower shield deployed by the Boss Monster.
“……Move aside.”
Because he confirmed this, Antipus ignores the woman in front of him and passes by.
‘Just what was she crying about?’
‘Why did she block him and why did she glare at him like that?’
‘Leaving that aside, who was she anyway?’
There were many things he was curious about, but it was more important to not let things go as Jijoncheonma intended.
Because he shouldn’t let Hio Pavlenko’s existence be imprinted in everyone’s minds any longer.
Because the path of a ruler was to engrave himself, not him.
He tried to step forward quickly, but.
Thrum—
‘Was it because he was already too late due to the moment of hesitation?’
What spread along with the sound of air being crushed was an ecstatic scenery.
What rapidly spread from where Hio Pavlenko stood was a feast of mysterious purple light.
Space is swapped.
Not a black-stained flower field, but a universe where purple light is prevalent.
Not a hollow where darkness has settled, but the middle of a universe where stars are spread faintly.
….That can’t be.
This can’t happen.
As far as he knew, such a skill that swapped space itself did not even exist and was impossible.
So this is an illusion.
It was clearly an illusion deceiving everyone’s eyes.
No, it must be so.
Because he was Antipus, who harbored such thoughts, he could see it.
The space that crumpled in an instant as Hio Pavlenko tightly clenched the hand he had placed on the veil of black flowers.
Along with it, the appearance of the Boss Monster perishing without a trace.
That futile power that simply vanished without any omen, as if it hadn’t been there from the start.
Having seen that, he had no choice but to realize.
” The master of this space is Hio Pavlenko. The moment he defies him, that will soon become his own future.
“Ha…… hahaha…….”
While everyone except for a very few strong individuals was looking around at the ecstatic scenery, entranced by the magic-like phenomenon.
「You have successfully conquered the Abyss.」
「-The 54th Floor sinks into the infinitely deep Abyssal Depths.」
「The floor is collapsing.」
Thus, the conquest of the Abyss 54th Floor, the Floor of Breakthrough, came to an end.