Raided The God’S Warehouse [EN]: Chapter 162

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“Wow, look who it is! A guest after all this time?”

The one who greeted Se-un upon reaching the top floor wasn’t the solemn City Lord he had imagined.

He was younger than expected, with a playful face, and his height and build were similar to Se-un’s.

Among other things, one thing stood out…

‘That sword… it looks familiar.’

The sword the City Lord was holding felt strangely familiar.

It was translucent, like it was made of ice, so it was hard to make out its exact shape.

Clang.

As the City Lord approached, Se-un drew the sword he had picked up from the lower floor.

Until now, the enemies had only felt like training partners, but this enemy felt like the boss monster of the 19th floor.

He wasn’t told to fight, but he needed to be cautious.

As Se-un drew his sword, the City Lord waved his hand with a playful smile.

“Whoa, hold on a second. What if the purpose of this trial isn’t to defeat me? Like, what if it’s to grant me a favor?”

Se-un frowned slightly.

To mention the trial so confidently.

Usually, those encountered during the lower-level trials were mostly similar to NPCs [Non-Player Characters] in games.

They were just there to guide the player to complete the trial.

Of course, they didn’t know that their lives were a ‘trial.’

This phenomenon decreased as the trials became larger in the mid-levels, but at least in the trials up to the 20th floor, this was even more evident.

But now, the City Lord mentioned the trial before Se-un even asked.

This was only the second time this had happened, excluding the spirit beast he encountered in the 14th floor trial.

When Se-un was taken aback by the word, the City Lord grinned as if he was amused.

“By the way, I heard the administrators locked the door. How did you get in?”

“You know the administrators?”

“Wouldn’t it be weird if I didn’t? Ah, do players these days not know about this stuff?”

He knew not only about the trial but also about the administrators.

Indeed, was it even possible for a being within a trial to mention such things?

Soon, Se-un was able to guess his identity.

‘This trial, maybe…’

He had felt a strange sense of incongruity while climbing up to the top floor where the City Lord was.

There was no consistency at all among the opponents waiting on each floor.

Rather than consistency, each one had a distinct personality. It was as if they came from different places and different times.

In other words, all the enemies here were…

“…Players?”

“Oh, correct! You’re more quick-witted than I thought. Well, that’s probably how you got up here, right?”

Players who had challenged the trial of the ‘Ice Castle of Trials.’

Of course, he didn’t know if they were real players or just remnants left behind by players.

But Se-un thought the latter was more likely.

City Lord.

He didn’t realize it at first, but there was a subtle resemblance to one of the Tower’s rankers that Se-un remembered.

Their age and personality were different, but the sword the City Lord was holding allowed him to guess his identity.

And before Se-un could think any further…

“Well, shall we start communicating with our bodies now?”

Taat!

The City Lord flung the sword he had casually slung over his shoulder forward and charged at Se-un.

It was surprisingly fast, incomparable to the enemies on the lower floors.

If he hadn’t been vigilant despite his relaxed attitude, he might have missed his movements.

Making the most of the mysteries of the Tai Chi Sword, he barely managed to block the attack without any room to deflect it.

“Oh? You….”

Kang, Kagaang!

The City Lord felt even more interested in Se-un and swung his sword repeatedly.

Horizontal slashes, vertical slashes, diagonal slashes coming down.

They were textbook-like, straightforward attacks, but each one was filled with a unique weight and sharpness, making it difficult to block.

Although he was busy blocking, Se-un didn’t budge an inch.

He stood his ground and blocked the City Lord’s sword head-on.

With a defense as straightforward as the attacks he faced.

If it had been a different attack, he wouldn’t have been able to block it perfectly with just that, but for some reason, the City Lord’s attacks were blocked perfectly by Se-un.

When even the final thrust, filled with weight, was blocked, the City Lord widened the distance and smiled broadly.

“As expected, it’s our family’s longsword technique!”

Our family.

With those words, Se-un was able to confirm the City Lord’s identity.

“Francis Hamel.”

“Huh? How do you know my name? Time is of the essence, and this is the 19th floor, you know?”

The Sword Emperor, Francis Hamel.

As a ranker who reigned at the top of the Tower, he was also known as the best player in the Tower when it came to pure swordsmanship.

He had started climbing the Tower from the early days, so it was speculated that he had reached a state of immortality.

Not much was known about him, but the sword he wielded was quite famous.

That was why Se-un felt familiar when he first saw the City Lord’s sword.

Moreover, the swordsmanship Se-un was currently using was the ‘Hamel Family Longsword Technique.’

This swordsmanship, which he had learned first by using the Authority of Greed after starting the tutorial, was acquired by Se-un while recalling the Sword Emperor’s techniques.

This was the answer.

He was a remnant of Francis Hamel, who had climbed the ‘Ice Castle of Trials’ in the early days of the Tower.

Although it was his past self, Se-un was now facing a player called the Sword Emperor.

It was the most perfect target to test his current strength, which he had built up through regression and the Authority of the Demon God.

– Through inner energy, the third form of the Blood Wolf Sword Technique, Blood Wolf Strike, is enhanced.

– According to the mysteries of the Extreme Piercing Heart Technique, the power of martial arts is enhanced.

This time, Se-un charged first.

Leaving behind the Hamel Family Longsword Technique, which he had used to gauge the City Lord’s strength, he drew upon all the power he had.

Of course, that included…

– The Eye of Envy begins to gaze at ‘Francis Hamel.’

The Authority of Jealousy was also included.

Why use Authority to check his current strength?

Of course, the Authority of the three Demon Gods was also Se-un’s ‘strength.’

He had no intention of restricting himself when facing the remnants of a player called the Sword Emperor, even if their timelines were different.

“Yeah, talking with our bodies is the way to go!”

Kkaang!!

The City Lord began to swing his sword in earnest.

He showed off a much stronger force, as if he had been holding back at first.

Even though Se-un possessed stats that were incomparable to players on the same floor due to the Authority of Gluttony, he couldn’t exert overwhelming power.

Indeed, a player called the Sword Emperor.

Even though it was his past self, it was a force that could be said to have reached the pinnacle of swordsmanship.

However, there was one problem here.

“But I really don’t understand. There’s no way I would have spread our family’s swordsmanship, so how do you know our family’s swordsmanship?”

It was the fact that Se-un knew the ‘Hamel Family Longsword Technique’ that he was using.

Although he hadn’t been using it as his main focus, his body was imbued with its movements and habits, thanks to building his foundation with the Hamel Family Longsword Technique.

Because of that, it was much easier to predict the City Lord’s attacks.

Conversely, the City Lord had difficulty adapting to the diverse swordsmanship that Se-un was using.

Usually, swordsmen would obsessively delve into one type of swordsmanship.

It wasn’t easy to find a player who could handle several completely different swordsmanship styles at once like Se-un.

– Through inner energy, the Tai Chi Sword is enhanced.

– Through inner energy, the third form of the Blood Wolf Sword Technique, Blood Wolf Strike, is enhanced.

– Through inner energy, the fifth form of the Mount Tai Eighteen Style Sword, Mount Tai Press, is enhanced.

Kagagang!

Se-un seamlessly connected different swordsmanship styles as if they were flowing water.

He flowed endlessly slowly and softly, then bared his fangs and pounced on the enemy, and slammed his sword down with the weight of Mount Tai [a mountain in China, often used metaphorically for immense weight].

He lowered his center of gravity extremely to cut across the City Lord’s lower body, and used footwork to jump high, kick off the ceiling, and fall like an eagle.

A series of completely unpredictable attacks.

This was Se-un’s real fighting style, which he had built up using the Authority of Greed.

It was a fighting method that he had only imagined in his head, which he had never used properly because he had only been dealing with monsters until now.

Smirk.

A smile appeared on Se-un’s face.

The feeling of pouring out all the skills he had learned and mastered was pure ecstasy.

It felt like power was bursting from his entire body.

“Crazy, what the hell are you? You look so young, is it even possible to reach this level?”

The amazing thing was that even though Se-un was showing off all his strength, the City Lord wasn’t collapsing.

He was blocking Se-un’s attacks one by one with the Hamel Family Longsword Technique’s unique, simple yet sturdy defense.

Surprisingly, it was as if he had adapted to Se-un’s swordsmanship in this short time, and his defense was gradually getting faster.

Even when the two swords collided about twenty times…

Stab!

“Ah~ That’s too bad. What the hell is that footwork? It feels like I’m stabbing a slime with a stick.”

The City Lord’s sword pushed past Se-un’s sword and stabbed towards his heart.

Thanks to strengthening his legs momentarily and twisting his body, he barely managed to avoid the sword.

Even then, he couldn’t avoid it completely, and a red line appeared on his left arm.

The attack wasn’t over.

The City Lord tenaciously clung to him as if he didn’t want to miss this opportunity.

Kang, Kagaang!

The swords collided more than ten times in a short time of less than a second.

Sensing a horizontal slash coming through the blind spot with his skin, Se-un avoided the attack by leaping high into the air.

Then, as if he had been waiting for it, the City Lord switched his grip on the sword and stepped forward with his right foot.

“This is the difference in experience, kid.”

The City Lord’s sword approached quickly.

It’s not easy for even the most skilled swordsman to avoid an enemy’s attack while floating in the air.

Moreover, the opponent was the remnant of someone called the Sword Emperor.

It didn’t seem like there would be any space to avoid by twisting his body. It was an attack that seemed impossible to avoid without hitting a vital point.

And at that moment.

“This is the difference in power.”

– The Treasury of Greed has been opened.

[ Ice Needle ]

– An ice-type magic from the Blue Tower that pierces the enemy by creating countless ice spikes.

A blue light flickered from Se-un’s hand.

The City Lord’s attack was fast and fierce, but Se-un’s magic, which had mastered the mysteries of the Azure Tower, boasted an even faster casting speed.

Kwaddeuk!

The first ice spike deflected the City Lord’s sword.

The second spike pierced the City Lord’s sleeve.

Just as the third spike was about to reach him, the City Lord hurriedly retrieved his sword, and as the fourth spike soared, the City Lord instinctively leaped into the air.

A situation similar to what Se-un had experienced.

However, it seemed difficult to land a blow in the air like the City Lord had done because of the distance.

‘With a sword,’ that is.

– According to the mysteries of the Black Tower, the power of ‘Ice Needle’ is enhanced.

– According to the mysteries of the Green Tower, the speed of ‘Ice Needle’ is increased.

– According to the mysteries of the Azure Tower, the stability of ‘Ice Needle’ is enhanced.

– According to the mysteries of the Yellow Tower, ‘Ice Needle’ becomes more solid.

– According to the mysteries of the Violet Tower, the casting speed of ‘Ice Needle’ is increased.

Kwaddeudeudeuk!!

“Haha, crazy… Are you a dragon or something?”

Dozens of ice spikes rose beneath the City Lord, exuding a chilling cold.