Suho had locked himself in his subspace warehouse workshop for several days to make a large necklace.
It was because Winky’s nest was too close to where the Tower Break would occur, so his worries refused to fade.
What if Winky got caught in the crossfire? Even while thinking that such a thing couldn’t happen, he couldn’t shake the ominous feeling that kept making him look up.
So what he designed was the [Necklace-Type Large Barrier Generator].
He made a barrier generator that, when activated, could sufficiently envelop Winky.
It was an item in the form of a large necklace that created a spherical barrier around the target, but its unique feature was that the barrier wasn’t manifested according to the wearer’s will—instead, it was controlled remotely from the outside.
This was something he had taken into consideration because he wasn’t confident that Winky could use it at the appropriate time even while wearing the necklace.
He also wrapped several layers of Maglite around it so that Winky wouldn’t eat the Etherium embedded in the barrier generator.
The design felt exactly like a pet dog or cat’s collar enlarged in size.
The necklace, made with the massive girth of Winky’s neck in mind, was several meters long just in length, and the chain part of the necklace was made of Maglite as well—in fact, the chain was no different from a steel chain thicker than a finger.
“Winky, sit.”
The creature lay flat at Suho’s words.
It was astounding that the creature had grown even more in the few days since they’d last seen each other, yet still wasn’t an adult.
Suho climbed onto the back of Winky’s neck and equipped the barrier generator.
Clank—clack—
“Ugh, it’s heavy…”
Since it was made of metal and quite large, it was incredibly heavy. The necklace seemed to weigh at least thirty kilograms.
But Suho wasn’t worried because that amount of weight wouldn’t be much of a burden for Winky.
Kirururuk—Kirururu—
Something tightening around its neck made the creature scrunch up its face in discomfort.
But soon, after smelling the sweet scent of the SS-grade Etherium embedded there, it whined as it tried to put the necklace’s pendant in its mouth.
Fortunately, because it was fitted right under the jaw, it was in an exquisite position where neither the creature’s beak nor claws could easily reach.
His worries about where to position it had paid off.
It didn’t take long for the creature, which had struggled for a while trying to pull off the [Necklace-Type Large Barrier Generator], to finally give up.
Instead, it rubbed its head against Suho and begged him to hand over the Etherium.
“Okay, okay. I’ll give you something to eat, so don’t eat what’s inside the necklace, alright?”
Suho manifested SS-grade Etherium and placed it in Winky’s mouth.
Winky, who had been disappointed eating only A-grade Etherium for several days, finally brightened up after taking the highly concentrated SS-grade Etherium into its mouth.
Beeeep—Beeeep—Beeeee—
[Today, a Tower Break is scheduled to occur at Gildong, Gangdong-gu, Seoul.
All roads in the area are closed, and vehicles are under complete control due to safety concerns, so please detour to nearby roads.] - Tower Administration Bureau
[If any residents are still remaining within the area radius, evacuate immediately, and travelers please detour around the area. Please be mindful of safety accidents during evacuation in accordance with military and police controls.] - Ministry of the Interior and Safety
Emergency disaster alerts went off not only in Gangdong-gu where the Tower Break would occur, but throughout all of Seoul.
Weeeeeoooooo────
Sirens blared everywhere, and deployed soldiers and police controlled the roads and diverted vehicles.
Following intensive guidance issued since several days ago, nearby residents had all evacuated already.
The area where the Tower Break was announced was no different from a wartime situation.
“Wow… tanks. Winky, those are tanks, tanks.”
Suho, who had equipped [Tempestbane Wings] and flown up to look outside through a small window at the top of Winky’s nest building, exclaimed as he saw the armored unit.
Besides the military unit, he could see dozens of Admite gathered as a Tower Break response team.
Even at a glance, they were clearly not low-level. They appeared to be at least B-grade or higher.
The fully armed Admite who had gathered were from the Administration Bureau and various other clans, having assembled from different places.
The soldiers of the military unit also stared blankly at the high-grade Admite, perhaps finding them fascinating.
From a certain perspective, they looked like forces excessive for responding to a break in a 42nd-floor tower. But this was standard.
A 42nd-floor tower was enough for eight people when raiding it,
but a Tower Break was a different story. Since all the remaining magic beasts inside the tower poured out at once, a response team with overwhelmingly greater numbers and grades had to be formed.
Moreover, since the Tower Break was happening outside the tower, it was even more so.
Because outside the tower, Admite could only output a maximum of 15% of their original power.
That was why a high-floor tower causing a break was inevitably a disaster.
Kiyuuuuu──Kiyuuuuu──
To take care of Winky, who grew increasingly restless as the Tower Break approached, Suho had cleared his entire schedule to stay by the creature’s side.
Whether anxious or excited about something, Winky didn’t even eat the Etherium Suho offered, instead gliding around inside the large gymnasium cage, wandering restlessly.
“Winky, it’s okay. It’s going to be okay. Damn it. Why did a tower have to appear near here…”
The bigger problem was that it was causing a break, though.
The expected time for the Tower Break to occur had passed, and another couple of hours went by in a state of unbearable tension when—
“They’re coming out!!”
“Combat readiness!”
Shhhhk—Shhhk──
The tower, possessing only a visible form without physical substance like a hologram, seemed to serve as a gate, and lizard-like creatures began pouring out through the shimmering membrane. They weren’t ordinary lizards; they were bipedal lizards wielding weapons—magic beasts.
It seemed the ones closer to the entrance came out first. Basically, low-grade magic beasts from the 1st floor came out first, gradually followed by higher-grade ones, but as the break progressed toward the end, high-grade magic beasts with fast movement speed would appear ahead of those from the lower floors.
The first line of defense consisted of tanks and melee dealers made up of Admite,
the second line of defense was Admite ranged dealers and healers,
and what the armored unit took charge of was the third line of defense. Their main mission was to concentrate firepower on those that broke through the first and second lines. In truth, they were reserve firepower rather than the main force.
Through a battle that lasted nearly half a day,
the response team composed mostly of A-grade and B-grade members fended off the lower-floor magic beasts without difficulty.
From the 20th floors onward, large insect-type magic beasts came out.
Things like spiders and scorpions appeared, and because they possessed lethal venom, exterminating them required extraordinary caution.
Around that time, the second response team for relief arrived and took over the combat situation from the first team.
By the time the first and second response teams took turns catching all the magic beasts pouring out from the 20th floor, it had been nearly a day and a half since the Tower Break occurred.
When magic beasts from the 30th floors began to appear, the first and second response teams had to join forces to fight. It was because while their numbers were fewer, powerful magic beasts began emerging.
The 30th-floor magic beasts were mainly ones with very high defense. Things like iron-armored rhinos and rock bears.
Penetrating their thick hides and accumulating damage was no easy feat.
Another day passed, and as they neared the 40th floor, the break response team began to grow extremely exhausted. Already, about a hundred Admite from the response team had been deployed here.
There was no third team to relieve them.
As the Admite noticeably tired, magic beasts began slipping through to the sides, and the waiting armored unit’s cannons and machine guns began spewing fire.
Of course, since these were magic beasts wrapped in sturdy hides and powerful aether barriers, killing them with modern weaponry wasn’t easy.
They could only kill a few after pouring out tremendous firepower, and as such, the damage to surrounding buildings was immense.
Perhaps because the battle outside had dragged on, Winky had now calmed down considerably and was resting quietly on its rock. Suho spoke while stroking the creature.
“Winky, I’ll be right back. The people handling the break over there seem too exhausted, so I need to go help them out. Stay here quietly. Got it?”
Grrrr—
Listening to Winky’s incomprehensible response, Suho stroked the creature. Then he equipped his powered armor and wings and stepped through the dimensional gate to the outside.
Since his entire body from head to toe was covered by the suit, no one recognized Suho, so he turned up the speaker volume on his powered armor helmet and announced to the fighting Admite.
{Everyone! I am S-grade Item Collector Jeong Suho!}
“That Admite Jeong Suho?”
“OMG… Why is he, a production-class, here?”
“Did he come trusting his exosuit…? It’ll be too dangerous…”
As expected, the Admite from the Administration Bureau crossed both arms in an X and signaled Suho. It meant it was dangerous and he should withdraw quickly.
But Suho raised his hand to stop them, indicating it was fine.
{I’ve come out briefly to support you all. From now on, I’ll be distributing regeneration potions to you, so please receive two bottles per person! I’ll bill the Administration Bureau for the cost later, so don’t worry and drink them down quickly, then fight well!}
“Ooooooh!”
“Waaaah! Jeong Suho! Jeong Suho!”
“Aah… as expected…!”
“Regeneration potions…! The best!!”
Vitality returned to their eyes that had gone slack with exhaustion, and color returned to the faces of the Admite in battle.
As expected, people needed hope to find strength.
Suho quickly flew around, approaching each person directly and distributing two bottles of [Superior Regeneration Potion].
He had said he would bill the Administration Bureau for the cost in case the Admite couldn’t drink them due to the price being burdensome, but in fact, there was no way the Administration Bureau had that kind of money.
They would probably show some token of sincerity.
Well, that was enough. After all, he wasn’t doing this to earn money right now.
The Admite stashed one regeneration potion in their armor’s slot and chugged the other bottle, fully recovering their condition.
To them, now in perfect condition, the swarming magic beasts were no longer a great threat.
The Admite’s firepower quickly suppressed the surging magic beasts.
Suho’s body itched with the desire to join the battle, but he held back firmly.
‘Tch, it’s a good opportunity to test the capabilities of the [Extreme Powered Armor]…’
But he had to endure. He had nothing to gain by showing off all its functions in such a shabby place.
While enduring with desperate patience and simply watching the battle quietly,
the final boss of the Tower Break appeared.
Kuhhuhuhuhung───
A massive gorilla-type magic beast.
It resembled the giant gorilla from the movie King Amond commonly seen in films, yet was far more hideous.
With longer, thicker arms, a head sprouting horns, sharp fangs, and so on, its appearance was like a combination of a gorilla and an alligator.
It was considerably large, easily over ten meters tall.
Above all, its strength was tremendous. With attacks where it grabbed and pulled out utility poles to swing them, the tanks who were drawing aggro and blocking attacks were steadily pushed back.
“We’re being pushed back!”
“Damn it! If we were inside the tower, something like this…!”
Being able to exert only 15% of their power outside the tower was a tremendous penalty. And that was the maximum; in some cases, many Admite could only use 10% of their strength.
In the end, tanks unable to withstand the boss gorilla’s strength were sent flying in all directions, causing the aggro to scatter, and when the boss’s gaze reached the ranged dealers, the military tanks also opened fire on the gorilla magic beast.
Kwaaang—Kwaa-kwang──
Tatatatatata──Drrrrrrrr Drrrrrrrr──
Dududududu──Kyoooooot──Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwang!!
Attack helicopters also joined the fray. They poured firepower unsparingly toward the boss magic beast’s massive body, but its aether barrier was as thick and sturdy as its size, so it wasn’t easily breached.
The sounds of the attack helicopters’ propellers and explosions, the roar of tank fire tearing through the sky, the machine guns of armored vehicles, the impact sounds of all sorts of skills the Admite fired wildly, and the bizarre screams the boss gorilla let out—
It truly felt like eardrums would go numb.
At that deafening noise that seemed like it would tear the whole city apart, Suho turned his helmet’s volume to the minimum.
That was why he didn’t hear it.
The sound of a large building being torn away and collapsing.
“Wha—?! It’s retreating. The thing is retreating! Don’t let it get away! Concentrate fire!”
Something strange happened.
The massive gorilla magic beast had suddenly turned its back and started to flee.
“Is it going back into the tower? There’s no way!”
“Tie its legs! Pour everything onto its legs!”
There were no cases of magic beasts that had poured out during a Tower Break returning to the tower. A collapsed tower could no longer serve as their habitat.
Yet at the bizarre sight of it turning its back as if fleeing in terror at something, everyone felt a sense of dissonance.
That was when.
Someone who discovered the shadow cast over the sky let out a shriek.
“Fuck! Griffin! It’s a griffin!”
“Aaaaack! Behind us! Behind us! It’s a griffin!!”
The faces of the Admite who had been fighting the boss gorilla turned deathly pale.
Because griffins were boss magic beasts that appeared in towers of at least the 60th floor or higher.
“Crazy! Wasn’t this the boss?! Why the hell is a griffin here…!”
At the unimaginable sight, Suho’s brain seemed to freeze as well.
Winky broke the cage and flew to Suho.