“Crash!”
The final barrier of the 72nd floor shattered into pieces.
A bluish light split the earth like lightning, and the army of abominations that had blanketed the sky was engulfed in the Immortal Flame, turning to ash and vanishing.
“Huu!”
He drew in a breath.
The sword clenched in my hand rang heavily.
There are no more threats left on this floor.
Even the oppressive aura that had covered the space now lost its power, leaving only traces.
[72nd Floor Clear Complete.]
System messages appear one after another.
Victory.
An overwhelming, flawless victory.
After purifying the Undying Set, my existence is no longer incomplete.
The pinnacle of the sword has been perfected, and my power has become sharp enough to defy even fear.
“It’s over.”
I sheathed my sword and slowly moved toward the exit of the floor.
And then, at that moment.
Tzzzt!
Space was torn apart.
My vision warped.
A crack that should not exist spread through the air.
Black energy crawling out from that gap.
Familiar.
That familiarity struck my mind.
‘Nepas!’
Crack.
The ground beneath my feet collapsed, and the exit was sealed.
A space where I had no choice but to remain was forcibly formed.
[Warning!]
[72nd Floor Emergency Restriction Activated.]
[Space Fixation: External movement temporarily impossible.]
[Cause: Unclear external interference detected.]
[At least 24 hours of waiting time required.]
The system message rang coldly.
But I already knew.
This is not an unclear intervention.
It’s clear.
This is… Nepas.
That bastard, who has made contact with a part of the Source of Fear, has reached out directly with even greater authority.
“… As expected.”
I bit my lip and stared into the air.
Beyond the Tower.
That black form writhing toward the 100th floor.
The remnant of Nepas, a part of the Source of Fear, had penetrated even this floor.
What he wants is not simple.
To bind me here?
That’s just the beginning.
Nepas is buying time.
Those short 24 hours.
In that time, what he’s truly aiming for.
“Leon.”
“And… Seo-jun.”
I muttered quietly.
A cold aura ran down my spine.
While I was climbing,
the illusion that they were relatively safe.
That was because my existence acted as a shield for them.
But now, I am bound.
In this moment when I cannot move, Nepas will exploit that gap.
‘He’s changed.’
The Nepas I know would not use such tactics.
His pride should have targeted me to the end.
But now it’s different.
He is Nepas, yet not Nepas.
The Source of Fear—it seems he will stop at nothing to achieve his goal.
I clicked my tongue at that tenacity.
A being that has become one with the Source of Fear.
Now he doesn’t care about time.
The plan is already underway, and the procedure is to eliminate anything that interferes.
His goal is clear.
Leon.
The one who holds the Immortal Flame.
Seo-jun.
The only human who has handled the energy of the already destroyed floor.
Targeting those two was inevitable.
Clench.
I clenched my fist.
I glared beyond the suppressed exit.
An impassable wall blocks my path.
But.
‘If he sealed the exit, then destroying it is also possible.’
Impossible?
At least, not for me.
In the end, even this wall can be broken.
“I’ll open it by force.”
As long as I don’t give up, no one can touch those around me.
Whether it’s Nepas or the Source of Fear.
Red flames slowly bloomed from my fingertips.
Suddenly.
Pitch-black darkness surrounded the area.
In an instant, the boundary of reality collapsed.
There was no presence, no warning.
Only an alien coldness seeping into the air.
It wrapped around Seo-jun from behind.
“… Seo-jun.”
That voice was not Leon’s.
But oddly, its resonance was disguising itself as Leon’s voice.
Seo-jun’s breath stopped.
He slowly turned his head.
There, a form crawling out of the shadows.
It was neither human nor monster.
Just formless darkness.
But Seo-jun instinctively knew.
Who that being was.
“Nepas…”
His lips pressed tightly shut.
Nepas, wrapped in darkness, laughed.
He did not fully reveal himself.
At most, a hazy silhouette and horribly twisted eyes.
But his whisper alone was clear.
“Poor child.”
That voice was a whisper.
But within it lay sweet poison.
“Because of you, Leon is dying.”
“You were supposed to protect him.”
“But… you can’t do anything, can you?”
Seo-jun’s vision wavered.
He knows it’s a lie.
Nevertheless, that whisper precisely struck his weakness.
Leon, collapsed.
His heart was beating faintly, but his life force was almost extinguished.
That sight was enough to churn Seo-jun’s guilt.
“Don’t you want to save that child?”
Nepas approached.
Even though that being had no form, the darkness flooded the room like water.
The ground beneath Seo-jun’s feet turned black.
A suppressed whisper echoed from there.
“It’s very simple.”
“Hand your body over to me.”
“In return, I will save Leon.”
Seo-jun’s breath stopped.
His heart raced.
His mind knows it can’t be true.
But his heart… wavered.
The fear that Leon might stop breathing at any moment.
The cunning of this being exploiting that fear.
Nepas pressed on tenaciously.
“You are weak.”
“Since when, you have relied on that child.”
“You’ve already admitted that you can’t change anything with your power.”
“So leave it to me.”
“In return, you can be saved.”
Darkness constricted his throat.
His consciousness wavered.
The moment Seo-jun’s vision blurred,
the Soul Sword clutched in his hand trembled faintly.
Quiver.
That sword was resisting.
That small tremor awakened Seo-jun’s consciousness.
“… Salvation?”
Seo-jun let out a low laugh.
Nepas’s whisper stopped.
“You wouldn’t know.”
Seo-jun raised his head.
His eyes, clearly shining even in the darkness.
It was not hesitation.
Conviction.
Determination.
And… the will of a human.
“I am weak.”
“Without Brother and Master… I wouldn’t have survived until now.”
“But!”
Seo-jun gripped the Soul Sword.
The sword blazed red.
That flame was by no means the Immortal Flame.
It was pure power imbued with Seo-jun’s own life and his own will.
“I… will not give up again.”
“For that sake,”
“I can stake everything I have.”
The tip of his sword aimed at Nepas.
The darkness retreated.
Space resonated.
“I don’t need the false salvation you offer.”
“My body in your hands? Never.”
“Saving Leon is not by the power of a trash like you…”
Seo-jun’s voice rang low and firm.
“… but by our will.”
Kwaang!
At that moment, the red will exploded.
The Soul Sword emitted a wave as if howling.
Nepas’s darkness flinched for an instant.
“… I see.”
“So you refuse to fall until the very end.”
Nepas twisted his lips and retreated.
In his voice were both cold anger and a shallow interest.
“Good. This is getting interesting.”
“You will soon learn how powerless the will you trust so much is.”
“Before the Source of Fear, everything eventually collapses.”
At that moment.
Wham!
Seo-jun’s body flew through the air.
Thud!
His body, thrown to the ground, crumpled weakly.
“… Kugh…!”
Hot blood gathered in his mouth.
His vision blurred and wavered.
He felt dizzy as if his consciousness would cut off.
The Nepas standing before him was no longer the same as before.
His body was twisted.
Black patterns flowed across his skin, and behind him, tentacles and grotesque flesh—the shadow of a part of the Source of Fear—writhed.
The Abyss, corruption, and a part of Fear were fused with him.
“What can you possibly do?”
That whisper pierced to the bone.
“Human will? Pathetic.”
“It will only crumble before fear.”
Crack!
A black tentacle shot out once more.
Seo-jun barely rolled his body.
But he couldn’t completely avoid it.
The tentacle grazed him, tearing his skin, and a black mark was carved as if burning.
His heart pounds.
No, it’s already trying to stop irregularly.
His body has reached its limit.
Both his will and the Soul Sword.
They were splitting, cracking, and breaking.
‘At this rate… I’ll die.’
Seo-jun instinctively knew.
Nevertheless, he couldn’t give up.
What came to mind was Leon’s face.
Somewhere in this twisted space, Leon is still breathing.
He couldn’t lose him, his brother, again.
“Brother…”
In the midst of overwhelming despair, he called his name with a faint breath.
At that moment, a resonance spread through the empty space.
Kwaaaang!
Nepas unleashed another attack.
A black wave rushed in like a storm.
Seo-jun mustered his remaining strength and swung the Soul Sword.
Crack!
He cut through part of the wave.
It was faint.
But definitely, he cut.
“… Holding on, are you.”
Nepas tilted his head as if intrigued.
His black pupils slowly narrowed and flashed coldly.
“But that’s all.”
Kwaaaang!
Nepas’s body charged through the air.
The pressure of existence denial emanating from that body tore through space.
Wham!
Seo-jun’s body was sent flying once again.
Blood scattered in the air.
Both the Soul Sword and his will were splitting.
“Weak human.”
“You cannot hold out.”
Nepas approached slowly.
Even just his presence distorted the ground.
A being fused with a part of the Source of Fear.
It was already a calamity beyond the scope of humanity.
But Seo-jun gritted his teeth and stood up.
Even his legs were staggering, but he gripped the Soul Sword.
His blood-stained fingertips trembled faintly.
“I can’t let it end here.”
His voice cracked, but his will alone remained unbroken.
Even amidst the pain and despair enveloping his entire body, Seo-jun’s eyes burned clearly.
“It’s meaningless.”
Nepas’s tentacles slowly rose.
Black light flashed at the tips of those tentacles.
Crack!
Just the energy emitted from them shattered the surrounding space.
The pressure that fell upon Seo-jun crushed his lungs.
‘I know it all.’
Seo-jun gasped and thought.
I can’t win like this.
No, this is a fight I cannot win.
The opponent is no longer human.
A being that has become one with a part of the Source of Fear.
His power transcends common sense.
But.
‘Even so.’
He couldn’t give up.
At that moment.
His heart resonated deeply.
A faint light arose from the tip of the cracked Soul Sword.
“… So this is it.”
That realization was very small and faint.
But with that single realization, a path opened.
The power he had was not innate.
Nor was it given.
It was a small crystal built up within his limits and despair without ever giving up.
The Soul Sword emitted a very faint light.
His will coalesced into one.
Seo-jun’s vision cleared in an instant.
“It’s over.”
Nepas swung his tentacles.
A black wave slashed through the air and surged toward him.
But this time was different.
Seo-jun stepped forward.
He swung the Soul Sword very thinly, very carefully.
Chwaaaaak!!
A faint thread of light spreading from the sword tip.
It cut through the black wave, albeit only a small amount.
Kwaaang!
The shock spread.
Seo-jun’s body was pushed back.
But he did not fall.
Clearly… he had resisted.
Nepas frowned.
This was unexpected.
A mere human resisted against himself, fused with a part of Fear.
Crack!
Rage exploded.
His tentacles and waves spread explosively.
This time, at an unavoidable speed.
Seo-jun also sensed it.
‘Is this the end…’
Just as his consciousness was about to fade,
a resonance spread from across the space.
Rumble…
Space split open.
The suppressed laws of the Tower were torn apart.
In Seo-jun’s blurring vision,
a man slowly descending with red flames came into view.
“Master…”
Hope leaked from Seo-jun’s lips.
Kwaaaaaaang!!
Kim Si-won.
He descended, tearing through space.
The Undying Set blazed red,
and the pinnacle of the sword overwhelmed the space.
“Nepas.”
A low, heavy voice.
It resonated through the space.
Nepas’s twisted face contorted.
Even he, who had become one with a part of the Source of Fear,
flinched for a moment before that aura.
Crack!
Si-won’s foot stomped the ground.
Cracks spread and red flames exploded.
An overwhelming authority that tears space.
“It’s over.”
Si-won said.
At that moment, a sword appeared in his hand.
A sword of pure white and red flames mixed—the true sword of the pinnacle.
Beyond Seo-jun’s wavering vision, that sword aimed at Nepas.
An overwhelming aura that seemed to drive even fear away.
Seo-jun knew.
That the gap between him and his master was still vast and distant.