Chapter 127…
I tried to press Lina even harder.
Using Blue Wolf’s Step, I attempted to cut off her retreat, but she was one step faster.
“…!”
Lina hurriedly stepped backward, widening the distance between us.
At the same time, she swept her hand through the air, creating a spatial barrier.
Krrrrrk—
Layer upon layer of distorted curtains spread out between my field of vision and her.
Multiple layers of distortion—something that couldn’t be pierced in one go even with the power of the Abyss.
Is she trying to run?
But Lina didn’t run.
Instead, she made an even bolder choice.
“Block him! All of you!”
At her shout, the surviving followers moved in unison.
They stepped in between me and Lina.
“Ghk…!”
“Protect Lady Rin!”
Rin? Was that Lina’s real name?
Name aside, her subordinates were battered and demoralized, yet they desperately began forming a human wall.
Their eyes were those of people prepared to die.
Looks like she’s planning to use them as disposable pieces.
I bit my lip.
Even if Seo Gyeo-ul helped, while we dealt with them, she would focus again on opening the side gate.
It was obviously a stalling tactic.
If only I could summon Seongsik…
With Kakan’s arm fully synchronized with him, I could have torn them all apart in one blow.
But Seongsik was still recovering after overexerting himself at the Red Gate.
Then I had no choice but to settle for the next best option.
I summoned Gary and Freki in their weaponized forms.
One blue and one red— a pair of karambits appeared in my hands.
“Ms. Gyeo-ul!”
“Got it!”
As the enemies gathered in one place, Seo Gyeo-ul, now free-handed, joined in.
She immediately used her signature skill to freeze the ground.
But since it was her second use, the effect wasn’t as great.
It merely slowed their movements.
“Bleed! Pain is hope!”
In the midst of that, the first follower charged in.
I evaded using Blue Wolf’s Step and slit his throat.
Slash—
“Ghk!”
Blood sprayed like a fountain.
But the second and third followers immediately rushed in, using the corpse as a shield.
“Die!”
“For the future of the Order!”
It was the stubbornness unique to fanatics.
They attacked relentlessly, not caring if their comrades fell.
Slash— slash—
I swung the karambits in succession.
Precise, rapid strikes aimed at vital points.
But they countered it by sheer numbers alone.
“Ghk…!”
In the end, a blind dagger wielded by someone who had cast aside death grazed my shoulder.
It was a shallow wound, but blood seeped out.
At this rate…!
Time was slipping away.
Meanwhile, Lina Angelova—
No, “Rin” was concentrating all her strength on the side gate even now.
Creeeeak—
The entrance that had been shrinking began to widen again.
Damn it!
I moved even more violently.
Drawing up the power of Chaos to its limit, I crushed the heads of five men blocking my path into pulp in a single instant.
Perhaps I’d pushed myself too far—hot blood surged up my throat.
“You damn demon!”
In that opening, another follower attacked.
Boooom!
An explosive attached to a fired arrow detonated, flames bursting forth.
I covered my face with my arm and endured the shock.
Smoke billowed up, and through it, more followers leapt out and charged.
There’s no end to them…
Grinding my teeth, I swung the karambits.
One, two, three… four—
Backed by the overwhelming power of the Abyss, I cut down everyone who stood in my way.
Yet there were still dozens of followers holding their ground.
Those who had received orders clung on more obsessively than before, without fleeing or hesitating.
And behind them, Rin continued her work.
This won’t work.
If the entrance grew any larger, it would cause a massive disaster where everyone would be sucked in.
Of course, I had nothing to worry about.
But if the students without pieces were dragged into the tower, they would be cursed by it.
They would die, turn into monsters, or meet an even more horrific fate.
I have to choose.
I couldn’t keep wasting time in this meaningless war of attrition.
One strike—
I had to aim for one decisive blow.
Even now, the side gate was steadily growing larger.
It had already surpassed the size needed for one person to pass through.
At that moment—
Swooooo—
A powerful suction began emanating from the side gate.
Most players here, including the followers, could still endure it—
“Aaaah!”
“What is that?!”
—but the low-level students had to cling to nearby objects to hold on.
If not for the female professor sweating coldly as she showered the students with buffs, they would have been sucked in long ago.
Yeah… it’s only a matter of time anyway.
At this rate, the conclusion was already decided.
If we just stalled, everyone here would be dragged through that door and enter the tower.
Then I’ll go alone.
I was planning to enter the tower anyway.
It was just a matter of sooner or later—
whether I went with allies or with enemies.
That much, I could handle.
And once inside the tower, dealing with that crafty bastard would actually be easier.
“Hoo—”
I drew up the power of Chaos and activated the first ability engraved into both my arms.
“Pull enemies into the endless Abyss.”
I applied that ability to the side gate.
“…!?”
“Huh…?”
Swooooooo—
An even stronger suction erupted from it than before.
Naturally, only toward my enemies.
“M-my body’s being pulled in!”
“Ugh, just hold on a little— Aaaah!”
The followers who had been charging at me moments ago were dragged toward the gate one by one.
Soon, every last follower was sucked inside.
All that remained was Rin, desperately struggling to resist.
With nothing left blocking me, I slowly walked toward her.
“W-what is this?!”
“Go.”
“…!?”
Thud—!
I kicked Rin, who was staring at me in shock, with my foreleg.
She tumbled end over end and was sucked into the gap she herself had created.
I threw myself in after her.
Swooooo—
The world twisted.
Everything spun violently, enough to make me nauseous.
Ugh… going through the front gate isn’t this rough…
It was probably because this entrance had been created through a shortcut.
Then—
Bam—!
With a heavy impact, I was slammed onto solid ground.
“Ghk…!”
I pushed myself up.
My whole body ached, but it didn’t hinder my movement.
I looked around.
“……”
A gray sky.
Barren land.
Shouts, roars, and the clash of metal echoing from all directions.
Looks like I arrived properly.
Ding!
[Confirmed: the user possesses a ‘Piece’.]
[The user is placed on the ‘Board of the Tower’.]
[Skill acquired: ‘Language of the Tower’.]
[Relic acquired: ‘Dice of the Tower’.]
[Item acquired: ‘Golden Key of the Tower’ ×10.]
System messages appeared one after another.
But that wasn’t the end.
Ding!
[Checking the grade of the Piece…]
[High-grade Piece confirmed. Several benefits will be granted to the user.]
Even as I checked the messages, I stayed alert.
Unwelcome guests were scattered all around.
This was the 101st floor of the tower.
The floor right above Earth.
At that moment, a sound slicing through the air rang out, and I instantly leapt aside.
Whooo— Bam!
A massive axe slammed into the spot where I’d been standing.
Dust exploded upward.
“Graaaargh!”
With an ear-splitting roar, a hulking, muscular giant with ashen skin appeared.
An orc.
Judging by his gear, a warrior-class one.
“Red ones. Minions. Kill!”
The gray orc raised the axe in his remaining hand.
Watching his movement, I let out a light smile.
A memory surfaced.
How hard it used to be just to parry their attacks at that level.
Unlike back then, I lightly twisted my body and dodged the axe.
At the same time, I moved into the orc’s blind spot.
“Huh…?!”
While the orc hesitated, I swung the karambit.
Thud—
His left arm fell to the ground.
Blood—red like a human’s—sprayed everywhere.
“Graaagh!”
Thump!
When I slit his throat, the orc collapsed with a heavy sound.
Ding!
[Gray Orc Warrior x1 has been defeated.]
A system message appeared.
Then, an even more important message followed.
Ding!
[Considering the tendencies of the entrants, they are placed into opposing factions.]
[Main quest has been assigned.]
At the same time, a quest window—something unavoidable in the tower—appeared.
[101F Main Quest: Mercenary of the Orc Battlefield]
Description
The war between the Red Orc tribe and the Gray Orc tribe shows no sign of ending.
You must become a mercenary for one faction and bring this war to a close.
Clear Conditions
Stage 1
· Win once in your faction’s combat evaluation
Stage 2
· Defeat 3 enemy Orc Vanguard Captains
· Defeat 2 enemy Orc Riders
· Defeat 1 enemy Orc Shaman
· Destroy 1 enemy War Drum
Stage 3
· Defeat 1 enemy Orc High Chieftain
· Destroy 1 enemy War Banner (Main Totem)
Rewards
· Tiered rewards based on cleared stages
“……”
I looked around once more.
Only now did I fully grasp the situation.
Nothing had changed from before my regression.
Thousands of orcs fighting, split into two factions.
One side with red skin, the other with gray.
And I had landed on the very front line of the red orc faction.
“Gruk!”
“Kuk, a human!”
“A human mercenary?!”
The red orcs noticed me and seemed wary, but soon turned their gaze away.
It seemed the system recognized me as their ally.
Then that bastard is…
I looked across the battlefield.
Far away, beneath the gray orcs’ banner, something was moving.
Rin—and several followers who had been dragged in with her.
She seemed to have noticed me too, glaring this way.
At that moment—
Ding!
[Considering the user’s title, ‘Rule Breaker’, and the grade of the Piece.]
[A Hidden Quest is revealed.]
[Hidden Quest: Two Mercenaries on the Battlefield]
Description
The Red Orc mercenary ‘Kang Si-woo’ and the Gray Orc mercenary ‘Rin-00’.
Enemies bound by fate meet in the heart of the battlefield.
The victor of this duel will determine the course of the war.
Clear Condition
· Defeat the opposing mercenary
Rewards
· Title: ‘War Ender’
· Jump 10 floors
“Judging by the system message, it looks like this is that bastard’s first time on the 101st floor too.”
If she’d already cleared it, the system—and the orcs—would have completely ignored her.
“And Rin-00, huh… figures someone from the Reverse Ascension Cult.”
Her true name followed the same format as the name Julie Pearson had before escaping.
Which meant she too was a being created through research and experiments.
I curled the corner of my mouth.
She’s someone I have to kill anyway.
Wasn’t that why I voluntarily came here in the first place?
Leaving her alive would only lead to another disaster.
And the reward—a ten-floor jump—was tempting as well.
That’s why hidden quests are essential if you want to climb the tower quickly.
The tower is like a board game, with hidden “ladders” on each floor.
Of course, there are also hidden “slides” that drop you down.
“…?”
Pwooooo—
Suddenly, the sound of a horn echoed across the battlefield.
At the same time, every orc—regardless of color—froze in place.
A ceasefire time, huh.
That horn signaled a truce before the next battle.
They would fight like this for their entire lives on the 101st floor.
It was a space not unlike Valhalla from myth.
Since I can’t leave until I clear the quest anyway, why not properly clear the 101st floor while I’m at it.
The red orcs began retreating, and the gray orcs also pulled back haphazardly.
“……”
Silence returned to the battlefield in an instant.
Dust and smoke slowly settled.
Then, the once-blurry silhouette of Rin came into sharp focus.
She too stood still, staring straight at me.
