After Blake went down, Se-un immediately finished the trial on the 89th floor and moved to the guild residence.
There were countless hidden dungeons on the 89th floor, but…
‘Let’s rest for a bit.’
Se-un had climbed from the 81st floor to the 89th floor without a single break.
Something that would have been impossible for other players.
Physical fatigue was a given, but there was a bigger problem.
‘The pressure from the Seven Demon Gods… it was no joke.’
The Grand Assembly in the Hall of All Demons.
Facing the Seven Demon Gods and fully enduring their pressure required an enormous amount of mental strength.
Se-un pretended to be fine in front of the Demon Gods, but he was at his limit by the time he left the Hall of All Demons.
“Master?”
“We haven’t heard from you, and we haven’t seen you, so everyone was so worried… Oh, oh?”
“Catch him!”
Fortunately, there were a few Diablo guild members in the residence who had just finished the trial and were resting.
Thanks to them, Se-un, who was collapsing, didn’t have to fall onto the cold floor.
“What should we do? Ha-neul isn’t here either!”
“We learned first aid last time. We should move him inside first.”
“Ah, right. I think there’s a first aid kit somewhere.”
“There was something prepared as Master’s exclusive potion. It seems like this kind of thing happened occasionally.”
“Really? He’s showing a bit of humanity at times like this.”
“Humanity, my foot. He’s overdoing it. Hurry up and lift him.”
“Okay.”
Honestly, Se-un didn’t need any grand treatment. He was physically unharmed, but more than anything, his mental strength was severely depleted.
The best treatment was rest.
Still.
“We just need to feed him this, right?”
“Yes, I’ll feed it to him.”
“It’s a relief we’re here, or what would have happened.”
“It doesn’t look like he has any major injuries… It just seems like he’s exhausted from overdoing it, so even if we weren’t here, there wouldn’t have been a big problem, right? Seo-ah would have been horrified to see Master collapsed, though.”
“That’s true.”
The potion that Lee Ha-neul had made was helpful enough.
A kind of tranquilizer.
It was a potion that allowed him to sleep more deeply even when resting, reducing fatigue more quickly.
How long had he been lying down like that?
“You’ve been lying down for two days?”
“Yes, we finished the first aid as Ha-neul told us to.”
“Good job. Recently, he’s been waking up after about two days even if he overdoes it… I’ll take it from here. Get some rest.”
“If there’s anything I can help with, let me know anytime!”
“Okay.”
Even in his hazy mind, he could hear the voices of several people.
People who had finished the trial and returned.
People who were reluctant to leave Se-un but left for the trial to keep pace with others.
People who were clearing the trial, heard about Se-un’s condition, and returned to find materials that could help, then left again.
Wooong-
Meanwhile, Se-un wasn’t just unconscious.
‘I need to stabilize it.’
The realm of the 9th Circle, which he had suddenly reached in an unexpected situation.
The rapidly increased level of his soul due to that.
In addition, he had been invited to the Hall of All Demons, enduring the immense pressure of the Seven Demon Gods, which had also consumed a lot of mental strength.
All of those things combined, Se-un’s internal state was a mess.
With his body asleep and his mind awake, Se-un was constantly adjusting his body’s condition.
He was busy calming the ninth circle, which was violently fluctuating as if to prove it was the mana of a demonic dragon, and adapting to the level of his soul.
‘It’s not enough.’
Focusing on his body, he felt that his energy was lacking.
It was powerful enough as it was, but he felt like he hadn’t filled the enlarged vessel.
Se-un’s power alone couldn’t fill the enlarged vessel.
Then, two items came to mind.
‘The Aggregate of Curse and the Aggregate of Demon God’s Blood.’
Items he had obtained in Plaka, the ninth shelter. With these, he could replenish the lacking energy.
As soon as Se-un had that thought, he used the two aggregates.
Without having to swallow them, the two aggregates melted into Se-un’s body just by holding them in his hand and circulating his energy.
‘That’s it.’
The Aggregate of Demon God’s Blood, heating up Se-un’s body and moving actively.
The Aggregate of Curse, firmly taking its place and filling the level of his soul.
Although he had to put in quite a bit of effort to purify the Aggregate of Curse, its energy alone was by no means insufficient.
– The constellation, ‘Serpent Surrounding Envy,’ is worried about you.
– The constellation, ‘Crow with Lowered Head,’ nods, saying it was a hardship you had to go through anyway.
– The constellation, ‘Owl of the Dark Night,’ shows interest in your level, which is stabilizing day by day.
In the meantime, the time outside flowed faster than Se-un had expected.
Most of the guild members had passed the Tower of Babel and gone up to the 87th floor, above the river. Sometimes breaking through trials on their own, and sometimes joining forces.
Even without Se-un’s help, the Diablo Guild was a powerful player.
Without even knowing how much time had passed, Se-un opened his eyes…
“…Park Jung-pil?”
“Mmm… Uh, uh? Uh! Hyung-nim! Hyung-niiim!”
Park Jung-pil, who had been dozing off next to him, was there.
It seemed he had been nursing Se-un, and Park Jung-pil was also much different than before.
His personality was the same as before, but his skills as a player had greatly improved as he climbed up to this point.
“Hyung-nim, I was surprised you weren’t waking up! Ha-neul was so worried and nursed you until just yesterday before leaving for the trial, you know?”
“How much time has passed?”
“I heard it’s been over fifteen days until today? Wow, I guess I’m the only one for you, right? You woke up right away because I was next to you, Hyung-nim!”
“I heard? How long have you been here?”
“…I was here just a while ago, about two hours ago? Hehet.”
Fifteen days.
More time had passed than he had thought.
It had taken quite a while to calm the ninth circle and adapt to the level of his soul, among other grand things.
“How is the guild’s trial progress going?”
“Everyone’s wandering around in the clouds, should I ask? Seo-ah will know.”
“No. What about you?”
“Ahem, I finished clearing the Middle Heaven too! Only the Upper Heaven is left for me!”
“Not bad?”
“Isn’t it all thanks to you, Hyung-nim? Those guys in the clouds, if you break their fins or wings first, they’re manageable.”
“Even if their wings are broken, it’ll be quite difficult to deal with them. They’re basically high in defense.”
“I’m finally getting some help from my constellation, so it’s okay.”
– The constellation, ‘Mugger with a Donkey’s Head,’ chuckles.
“Ah, and this. Nuna [older sister figure] told me to feed it to you when you wake up, Hyung-nim.”
“Lee Ha-neul?”
“Yep.”
A potion he had never seen before.
When he drank it, he felt heat circulating through his body, which had been stiff from being asleep for a long time, and his muscles relaxing.
Conversely, his head became clear, so he wanted to ask what it was made of and how.
“Are you getting up already? Stay a little longer. Ah, I’ve prepared food too, should I set it up for you? I think she prepared something that just needs to be heated up.”
“I’ll go get it.”
“If it’s hard, tell me anytime! Aren’t I Hyung-nim’s right-hand man!”
He seemed to be trying to support him, but he didn’t need the support.
In the first place, the reason Se-un had been lying down for so long wasn’t physical fatigue, but something else.
Seeing him walking normally, Park Jung-pil shouted, ‘As expected of Hyung-nim!’ and followed him.
‘Porridge, huh.’
A meal prepared with consideration for Se-un, who was eating food after a long time.
When he lightly infused mana into the stone next to him, heat quickly rose and the food was warmed up.
“Isn’t it delicious? In the old days, there were limited ingredients and no seasonings, but these days, they make things like this with things they find in the tower. It’s as good as hotel food now, you know?”
“Did Kim Mi-jung prepare this?”
“Yep. Every time you eat it, you even get a buff, so I eat it heartily every time I go out for a trial. When I come back from a trial, she even prepares food with recovery-related buffs.”
It wasn’t just this.
The twin sisters had built convenience facilities such as bathhouses, and potions were even placed in the clinic.
In terms of facilities and welfare alone, it was already at a level that no other guild could match.
“What are you going to do now? Ah, how far have you cleared, Hyung-nim?”
“89th floor.”
“All the way to the Upper Heaven? Wow, you came in more than fifteen days ago and you’ve already done that? You’re amazing as always.”
“Since we’ve decided to clear the 90th floor with Valhalla anyway, I’ll have to wait for now.”
“Ah, you said it perfectly. I heard they came in yesterday.”
“Came in? Who?”
“I announced that you woke up, Hyung-nim, so they should be coming soon…”
Thump!
No sooner had Park Jung-pil finished speaking than the door to the dining room opened.
A giant hammer in his hand.
He should be in comfortable clothes since he had entered the residence, but a man was standing tall with his shoulders spread wide, armed with heavy armor.
“Brinjar?”
“You’ve woken up! I’m so glad!”
It was Brinjar, the leader of the Valhalla Guild.
His whole body was drenched in sweat, as if he had been training somewhere.
“I have also finished clearing the Upper Heaven! I wanted to talk about clearing the 90th floor, so I’m really glad!”
“Well, I guess we should start planning soon.”
Diablo and Cheonghae, along with the Valhalla Guild, would be joining forces to clear the 90th floor trial this time.
Therefore, they had to make detailed plans on how to divide the personnel and what strategies to use.
Brinjar had knowledge of the 90th floor, although he had failed at the end.
Honestly, that knowledge couldn’t keep up with Se-un, but there was no need to reveal his knowledge of the 90th floor to him and arouse unnecessary suspicion.
“First, I’ll explain about the 90th floor! I haven’t experienced the entire 90th floor, but I’ll explain what I know…”
“Wait a moment.”
“Hmm? Why is that?”
“Before that, I’d like to assess each other’s strength.”
“Assess strength… That’s a good idea! First, we need to know each other’s strength to determine our course of action.”
Brinjar nodded.
However, what Se-un wanted was not that.
Thanks to the incident on the 89th floor, the worry about clearing the 90th floor had already disappeared. The clearing would be 100% successful.
So.
“In that sense, would you mind being my opponent?”
“Haha, of course!”
Rather than the clearing itself, he wanted to check the new power he had obtained this time.
* * *
The sparring between Brinjar and Se-un.
Originally, the purpose was to check each other’s strength to determine what strategy to use on the 90th floor.
Yes, that was originally the purpose.
Kwaaaang-!!
“…Hehe.”
However, looking at Brinjar’s current state, it was impossible to call it sparring.
He couldn’t even take out the giant hammer he used to wield like his symbol.
He was currently hiding inside a tower shield that he used to block big attacks when attacks were occasionally difficult, barely receiving Se-un’s attacks.
“Was your skill originally this good? No, if it was, there would have been no need to form an alliance with me.”
The equipment was blackened, and the tower shield was cracked as if it would break at any moment.
One of the four corners was completely torn off, and his arms and legs, which were receiving Se-un’s attacks with the shield, were trembling.
“You’ve grown to this level in just fifteen days? Really…”
However, Se-un’s attack was not over yet.
It wasn’t easy to find such a great sparring partner who would accept his attacks to his heart’s content, so he was planning to check all the newly realized powers as much as possible.
– The Vault of Greed has been opened.
[ Meteor Strike ]
– The ultimate destruction magic that pulls a giant meteorite from space and drops it.
“I can’t believe it even though I’m seeing it with my own two eyes.”
Red light flowed out from the sky of the residence, where there were many clouds and not much sunlight.
A meteorite began to appear, piercing through the black clouds.
The ultimate magic that a dragon used to destroy a castle in anger long ago.
Although Se-un had just entered the 9th Circle, so its power was embarrassingly weak compared to what was described in the legends, it was still a Meteor Strike.
Brinjar looked up at the unbelievable sight and gripped the tower shield even tighter.
And he borrowed divinity from his constellation and turned all his power to defense.
Had he ever risked his life so thoroughly on defense while climbing the tower? Now, even reverence was rising.
“Now that it’s come to this, I’ll receive it with all my might!”
Brinjar tightened his gaze and looked up at the falling meteorite.
Before long, a hot gust of wind swept through the entire Diablo Guild residence.
Chapter 617