A reconnaissance battle was necessary for now.
I calmly watched the fight from behind.
‘I need information.’
I knew the Apostle would summon the Dragon Spirit Form, but beyond that, I knew nothing.
What exactly was the Dragon Spirit Form?
How was it summoned?
And so on.
There was a glaring lack of information about the Apostle.
‘The war with the Apostles is just beginning.’
Even if I killed the Thunder Dragon God’s Apostle right now, there were still six others targeting me.
Those guys could also use the Dragon Spirit Form to catch me.
I had to gather as much information as possible in this battle to gain the upper hand against the Apostles who would appear later.
“Well then, shall I poke them lightly first?”
I consumed mana from the Dragon Heart to create a Wind Spear.
Dragon Spirit Spiral Spear.
I sent the reduced-power Wind Spear flying toward the Thunder Dragon God’s Apostle.
Whoooosh!
The Dragon Spirit Spiral Spear flew with the wind but was sliced in half by the axe Antonio swung.
It exploded in midair and disappeared.
The Thunder Dragon God’s Apostle hiding behind raised the corners of his mouth and smiled.
“You’d barely reach me even if you gave it your all.”
“An underling Apostle with way too much confidence.”
“Hahahahaha. The Apostles you’ve caught are just Apostles. I’m the real deal, so I’m a bit different. I was directly chosen by the Thunder Dragon God.”
“That still makes you a lower Apostle.”
“Sure. To your ignorant eyes, maybe. That’s why you’ll die.”
The Apostle of the Thunder Dragon God lowered his voice and gave an order.
“Take them down quickly.”
With that, the crime organization leader and Antonio moved.
Seeing that, the Guardians charged out.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Bullets from Lina, the Guns and Shot leader, flew rapidly while Fryra rapidly grew plants.
A gigantic flower shaped like a shield.
Boom!
The shield-shaped flower barely blocked Lina’s attack, causing a massive explosion.
Boom!
Boom! Boom!
The successive explosions withered the flower shield.
[My Flower Shield!]
“You guys aren’t even toys to me, kid. Time to die now.”
Just as Lina raised her gun to aim at Fryra, a Goblin appeared and spread poison with both hands.
Purple smoke spread everywhere.
The poison cloud obscured vision, but Lina smirked and pulled the trigger anyway.
Dozens of bullets burst forth.
Boom!
Krrrsh! Krrrsh!
Explosions erupted repeatedly, engulfing the area covered by the purple smoke.
The power of an S-rank Hunter buffed by the Labyrinth was undoubtedly strong.
But.
There was still no message indicating that those two had been resummoned.
The flower bud opened, revealing a perfectly fine Goblin and Fryra.
“You’re holding up? What are you really?”
【Kid, this is how you do it in times like these. Me-ron.】
[Me-ron!]
“You bastards!”
While Lina furiously sprayed bullets, Fryra grew plants rapidly again to block them.
‘It’s a reconnaissance battle.’
From Lina’s perspective, she had no information about our side and was fighting to gain intel.
Until she gained certainty that she was winning.
That offensive was likely to continue.
Turning my gaze elsewhere, the situation was similar.
An Orc was fighting Antonio.
They exchanged attacks using their axes in a reconnaissance battle.
The only place with a different atmosphere was near Lophenheim.
“So that’s all you had to try killing us?”
“What a feeble old bastard.”
Clark, the leader of Dark City, extended a mana-filled fist. A fast, powerful punch. The sound of air breaking rang out constantly.
Not a single hit connected.
Lophenheim dodged all of Clark’s punches with minimal movement and filled his sword with mana.
A blue light flashed as the sword took form.
With a downward slash, Clark’s body was split in half.
Swoosh!
Having finished the battle, Lophenheim sheathed his sword and returned to where I was.
“I guess I’m done here. I’ve used up all my mana.”
“Good work.”
I turned my gaze to the Thunder Dragon God’s Apostle directly ahead.
Even though Clark had died, he was still smiling faintly.
It seemed the situation was still unfolding as the Apostle wanted.
He was watching the battle without making any moves.
‘Looks like he’s the one offering the sacrifice.’
Since nothing was certain yet, I needed to play along with him a little longer.
“Anne, ready?”
【All set. I’ll start right away.】
Anne clasped her hands together and closed her eyes.
A shining ring on her left hand.
The Cursed Ring obtained from killing Redoc, which Anne said was originally hers, was passed on to her.
When she opened her eyes, they were dyed black.
[Wither and collapse.]
Along with the eerie voice, black smoke moved toward Lina and Antonio.
Both reacted instantly, trying to dodge.
But the smoke did not stop.
Even as they swung their weapons to dispel it, the smoke nullified all attacks and flowed into Lina and Antonio’s bodies.
They faltered and stood still.
“This feels disgusting.”
“Feels like a buff’s been removed. Damn.”
“I think I can handle it. How about you?”
“Me too.”
Then, simultaneously, they sprang toward their respective opponents.
Orc and Antonio.
Goblin, Fryra, and Lina.
Now the Guardians and Hunters fought at near-equal skill levels. But fundamentally, the experience gap was huge.
Boom!
Antonio’s axe strike killed the Orc.
[The Orc has reverted to Rare.]
Nearby, the Goblin and Fryra, fighting, successfully subdued Lina.
Lina succumbed to the Goblin’s poison and collapsed, and as the plants Fryra rapidly grew tried to engulf Lina—
Bang.
Antonio appeared and cut down the plants.
“That won’t happen.”
Seeing Antonio rush fiercely toward the Goblin and Fryra, the Guardians were resummoned.
Shuaak!
A flash of white light, and the Goblin and Fryra disappeared, as did Anne and Lophenheim who had been beside me.
If they died like the Orc, they couldn’t be summoned immediately.
But if resummoned and summoned again, they could be brought back in a short time.
Antonio slung his heavy axe over his shoulder and glared at me.
“Only you’re left now.”
“Can I ask why you sided with him?”
“To get stronger.”
The Twelve Constellations.
The twelve strongest in the world.
Antonio was proud to be bound to that group.
‘Italy’s pride.’
He was pleased everyone called his name, proud to be the owner of the 21st-Floor Labyrinth and to help his homeland.
So he wanted to achieve more.
Most of all, he craved great power.
Strength that no one could defeat.
Not all Twelve Constellations were equal in skill. Among them, the difference was stark.
Stronger ones above the strong.
Those truly gifted by the gods.
The gap between top and bottom was as wide as heaven and earth.
Antonio felt that painfully at the Hall of Glory.
—At the Hall of Glory, Antonio is defeated by Cheonma.
The skill gap was like a thick wall.
Antonio felt an immense distance from Cheonma, like looking up at an unreachable sky.
“That’s your limit. Twelve Constellations, my foot. Just live within your means.”
In front of everyone, Cheonma delivered the sentence to Antonio.
‘…Damn.’
It was so humiliating and embarrassing.
But he couldn’t even think of revenge.
Just recalling him made his legs tremble.
Cheonma’s overwhelming aura and skill extinguished any desire for vengeance.
Then an Apostle appeared to Antonio.
“Don’t you want power?”
“…Heh heh. I have no talent.”
“If you don’t have talent, you create it. Join me, and I’ll show you how to break the wall. How about it?”
“Break the wall?”
“If you’ve reached S-rank, it’s definitely possible.”
The Thunder Dragon God’s Apostle reached out and placed his hand on Antonio’s head.
Antonio glimpsed another world.
A world of infinite talent beyond limits. If he could enter there, crushing Cheonma would be laughably easy.
“How do I get in?”
“Just kill one person with me. Then you’ll gain the true qualification like me.”
“I’ll join you. Take me too.”
Antonio faked his death as the Apostle instructed, cleared the Labyrinth, and joined the Messiah organization to prepare for the hunt.
“Kill these guys and bring the items listed.”
He killed those on the Apostle’s list.
To reach another world.
Then he saw the Successor of the Lord’s activity on TV.
Fearing failure would cost him the chance, he urged the Apostle.
“That guy can’t be stopped.”
“How are you so sure?”
“What I’ve prepared isn’t something anyone can block. Those who reach the 21st floor can never be stopped. You just kill whoever you run into.”
The Apostle spoke with conviction.
Antonio bet everything on that certainty.
And finally, the time came.
The Successor of the Lord appeared before him.
He knocked everything down as the Apostle instructed, leaving only the Successor of the Lord.
“Only you’re left now.”
“Can I ask why you sided with him?”
“To get stronger.”
Antonio filled his axe with mana and stomped the ground.
At that moment, something burst from the floor.
Dozens of huge stone walls rose, blocking the surroundings.
Using Earth Dragon Step, Antonio shattered all the stone walls.
Amid the flying stone dust, something flew.
A spear with fierce wind.
Antonio used the wide surface of his axe to block the Wind Spear.
A violent gust pushed his axe away.
The axe in his hand was knocked aside.
He faced the Wind Spear defenseless.
Krrrsh! Krrrsh!
Pain as if his whole body was being torn apart poured down.
He gritted his teeth and endured, but the magic was far stronger than imagined.
On a completely different level from before.
“Ugh!”
He collapsed to the ground, coughing up blood.
Antonio’s fading eyes saw two men.
The Successor of the Lord and the Apostle.
Between the two facing each other, a powerful wave of mana surged.
Vwoooom!
The Successor of the Lord formed a white Wind Spear in his hand and sent it flying at the Apostle.
The Apostle smiled broadly.
He opened his arms wide and accepted the Wind Spear.
As the massive gust arose, a lightning bolt fell from the sky.
Flash!
Krrrsh! Krrrsh! Krrrsh!
Antonio saw the flash and closed his eyes.
Death crept in slowly.
Even now, he recalled the Apostle’s confident smile.
And in response to that faith, a message appeared.
[Awakening as the Dragon Spirit Form of the Thunder Dragon God.]
[You cannot be killed by ordinary magic or skills.]
[You gain the power of mighty lightning.]
A fierce power surged through his body.
Antonio opened his eyes wide and stood up.
He had grasped the principle behind the Dragon Spirit Form activation.
Sacrifice the intended Dragon Spirit Form vessel, and with the Apostle’s death, use the item.
‘Four Dragon Spirit Forms.’
Clark, Lina, and Antonio revived as Dragon Spirit Forms, and the Apostle was grinning foolishly in front of me.
It was as if his entire body was flowing with electricity.
“How do you like the gift I prepared?”
“So this is the Dragon Spirit Form.”
“You know? Who told you? A betrayer? Those bastards will die painfully. Why give away useless info?”
If he knew the information came from a betrayer,
He probably also knew that researching Dragon Spirit Form instant-kill magic was possible in the Golden Tower, and it was likely he had been researching the magic.
Why was he so confident?
The Dragon Spirit Form couldn’t be invincible. What if I had brought instant-kill magic?
“Hahahahahaha.”
The Thunder Dragon God’s Apostle laughed loudly, clutching his belly.
Then he curled his lips into a long smirk.
“Researching that takes at least a month. You say you researched it? Impossible.”
“Wait. This guy’s completely insane. If he knew that, he should have finished researching it first. Just crawling in here? Guess he was drunk on his own power and thought he could do anything.”
The answer was already decided in his head.
If he had a shred of common sense, he’d have realized something was off.
He was a friend lacking in adaptability.
“That’s why you’re going to die.”
“What?”
Reaching out, Yoo Seolha unleashed the Thunder Dragon God’s Dragon Spirit Form instant-kill magic she had researched.
Pzzzzzz!
Strong lightning, like the flow in the Dragon Spirit Form, coursed through my hand.
Seeing this, the Apostle’s eyes widened.
“…How… How do you have instant-kill magic…?”
“A crazy talented friend joined. Finished the research in just a week.”
“…Ah… No! Kill him right nowwwww!”
The Dragon Spirit Forms rushing from all directions.
I moved behind the struggling Apostle and thrust my hand into his heart, inserting a teleportation talisman.
Thump.
Thump.
I exploded the Apostle’s heart filled with lightning power.
“Gyaaaaah!”
The Apostle screamed as the lightning power consumed him.
The uncontrolled current burned the Apostle’s body.
His charred corpse turned to black dust.
Using Teleport again, I swiftly finished off the remaining three Dragon Spirit Forms.
‘Let’s go back.’
I moved and stood on the tower descending underground where they had been defending.
[Entrance occupied.]
[Victory in the stairway battle.]
[Acquired all loot from those defeated in the stairway battle.]
[Ownership of the stairway changes.]
[Hunters with Korean Nationality receive special buffs on the 21st floor of the Labyrinth.]
[Acquired dungeon ownership of the 21st-floor Labyrinth.]
Along with that, the Main Quest was completed.
[Main Quest 20 completed.]
[Acquired SSS Skill Selection Ticket.]
[Alliance Center unlocked.]
[New Main Quest received.]
[Main Quest 21]
- Construct the Alliance Center and dispatch missions.
- Reward: Codex unlocked
For now, let’s go back and check everything one by one.