Chapter 148
Callias was quite flustered.
'Why is this bastard here.'
He had charged recklessly and thrust his spear, so his hand moved out without him even realizing.
Since he had mostly just watched with arms folded as the knights pummeled the puppets while climbing up here, he didn't even have a weapon in hand.
There was no need to draw his sword.
"Ugh..."
Despite being the one who launched the surprise attack first, the bastard had his face planted in the wall and was groaning.
"Be grateful for the rest of your life that this is a Holy Land. If it weren't, what you'd have taken to the face wouldn't be a slap, but a blade."
Honestly, he was a bit startled and ended up putting intent into his slapping hand.
It would hurt enormously.
'Serves him right.'
It was sudden, but not bad.
He understood well from just this one encounter.
Luteon was not his match.
Becoming a Master means having broken through the wall that looms over everyone.
The world they see is entirely different.
The way they use muscles.
The very way they breathe and control the position of power is completely different.
The difference between one who has stepped into the realm of transcendence and one who has not was simply too vast.
Not only physical abilities, but the magnitude of qi and the purity of intent were as different as heaven and earth.
In other words, Callias could no longer find anything more from Luteon.
In the first place, he couldn't kill him because this was a Holy Land.
If he committed murder, the Floor Masters and the Tower Master would pop out and become hostile to him.
There was no need to incur their enmity. There would always be another opportunity.
"May I pass?"
"Of course."
The Floor Master also showed him courtesy.
"The Tower Master will be waiting for you."
"For me?"
"Yes."
Had he already known?
Well, he'd have to be at least that capable to be the Tower Master.
Worthy of being called a Saint.
Callias immediately headed to the next floor.
He stopped briefly to look at the bastard whose face was planted in the wall with a shocked expression, but felt no great emotion.
Niol snorted at him, and Garcia jerked his chin toward the bastard.
Then the General-rank knights following behind each trampled over Luteon as they passed.
"Let's go."
[Yes, my lord.]
[We shall escort you.]
High Generals Niol and Garcia took the lead, the remaining Generals guarded Callias, and the knights followed behind.
As Floor Masters who must provide enlightenment to seekers climbing the tower and sometimes suppress their anguish and corruption, Callias's appearance was unacceptable.
But those knights too.
'Are his power.'
To be precise, the power of the sword.
But the one wielding that sword was Callias.
There would be no Floor Master who could stop him up to the 60th floor.
However, that power.
"From the 60th floor onward, I will not tolerate it. If I may be so bold as to suggest..."
The words of the Floor Master of the forties could not continue.
Because he had already disappeared.
"That power will not work."
* * *
61st Floor.
Only those who have shattered the wall of limits can surpass the 60th floor.
From here to the 66th floor, each floor has a single Floor Master.
And their trials consist solely of sparring.
A fledgling Master who had just broken his limits was rolling on the floor.
The master of the 61st floor.
A Floor Master wielding a slender iron staff.
It was because he had been struck by Obarna.
"I... lost."
Whirl.
A faint smile formed on the lips of Floor Master Obarna as she spun the staff and rested it on her back.
"You were better than before."
She pointed out his bad habits and practices, teaching him how he could improve.
The challenger treasured that teaching and corrected his bad habits and practices.
It was already their fourth match, and though he hadn't managed to land a single proper attack on her, the challenger felt relieved.
For through this, he could now more clearly understand what he was lacking.
'The Seeker's Tower is truly magnificent.'
Even though their gods differ and their paths forward differ, they do not withhold their advice.
Seekers grow stronger and feel gratitude.
'So this is why the Empire spares no support for Agathod.'
He was the Empire's Spear.
The one positioned at the very end.
The Spear of the Empire that would bear the number 13.
"It will be quite a long time until next we meet."
"Yes. When we next meet, it will likely be after the war has ended."
"I see."
The Floor Master smiled bitterly.
But that was a matter of the secular world.
She soon erased it from her mind.
They were seekers.
They had no interest in the affairs of the secular world.
All they had was their own power and their god.
That was all.
"Then."
"Take care. It has been a pleasure spending time with you."
The staff and the spear—originally, for generations, the two nations had poor relations.
They were similar, but the very concept of using weapons was completely different.
The spear was a tool for killing people.
But not the staff.
Because it was a tool for subjugation.
The staff condemned the spear as cruel, and the spear criticized the staff as amateurish hypocrisy.
Thus, the Empire and Rah'ul, the nation of the staff, had fought for a long time.
But right now.
In Agathod, such secular concepts were thoroughly shaken off.
He felt affection toward Obarna, the master of the 61st floor.
"Please, until I return next time. Do not fall to anyone."
"Yes. I shall endeavor to do so."
The seeker who would become the Empire's Spear opened the door. To descend the tower.
But through that door, some man appeared and looked down at him.
"Uh..."
Black hair and ash-gray eyes.
An uncommon combination of colors, and the face glimpsed was strikingly handsome.
'A Master like that...'
The world truly is vast.
Not only handsome but a Master as well.
Feeling an unnecessary inferiority complex, he soon scoffed as he watched the back of the man passing him.
For that arrogant man too would surely be beaten like a mere child and scream before Obarna's staff.
Thinking he might stay and watch for a bit, he remained still.
[Move aside.]
[Please step aside.]
A bunch of people armed in black armor swarmed in.
"???"
About fourteen or so?
The two at the front had an aura almost no different from a Master's, and the rest were powerhouses who still had about two steps left.
'What in the world?'
Wondering if some country had invaded Agathod, he watched and saw that their weapons were all different kinds.
Swords and spears were a given, but there were also those carrying axes or bows.
"It's you."
The Floor Master seemed to know him.
He who had brought a large force of black knights looked at the Floor Master and spoke.
"Trample them."
At those single words.
The black knights charged in unison.
"W-what! A group beatdown! N-no, a joint attack!"
This went against the purpose of the tower.
Had he ever seen such ill-mannered people!
The Empire's Spear grew furious.
However, he dared not intervene.
Because he respected the Floor Master, Obarna.
The Floor Master was strong.
From the 61st floor's Floor Master onward, the trajectory of that strength was on another dimension.
To give advice to fellow Masters and subjugate them without killing—what they must possess is only strength.
Power alone.
That was why Obarna did not easily panic even against the combined attack of over ten people.
Crack!!
Obarna's staff struck the ground.
"I declare this place as my Sanctuary."
Whoooosh!!
Obarna's intent that he, who would receive the number 13, had never seen even once!
It was a Sanctuary.
'Construction of intent, manifestation of the world.'
That was precisely a Master's Sanctuary.
It was by no means a realm that all Masters could achieve.
Only when the manifestation of intent is firmly established within oneself can it be unleashed—a divine authority of humans who have transcended their limits!
That was the Sanctuary.
"To face a Sanctuary."
The opponent must also construct a Sanctuary.
As the Sanctuary unfolded, the black legion that had been advancing without hesitation faltered.
The two at the vanguard had the aura of Masters, but amusingly, they didn't seem capable of using a Sanctuary.
'As expected of a Floor Master.'
Even among Masters, the presence or absence of a Sanctuary was a matter of a different dimension. With the Sanctuary manifested one-sidedly, Obarna's victory was certain.
However, when the one standing in the back with arms folded stepped forward, the air changed.
"I shall dye this land in ash."
Two Sanctuaries clashed.
As the wills of intent clashed in midair, sparks flew and storms raged.
"Awaken. Ashen Legion."
Thud.
As he pierced the ground with the Lord of Iron, black ripples like the tears of Titeo undulated.
And then, above that, ash-gray knights wearing black armor appeared.
Their numbers approached one thousand.
"A-A Dragon!?"
The constraints of space had vanished, making the surroundings no different from another world.
A dragon clad in iron armor that had suddenly appeared.
The 13th Spear of the Empire gaped wide at the nameless seeker standing atop that dragon's head.
What in the world.
"One-Man Army."
Gulp.
He stepped back without even realizing.
The man's force was more than enough to conquer the tower.
"To this extent...!"
Obarna, whom he acknowledged and respected, also withstood the army of a thousand with a majesty worthy of the name of Floor Master.
The staff she wielded split into dozens of strands, repeatedly growing larger and smaller as it struck them down, but...
"Ugh!"
She ultimately fell before the power of numbers.
Even she could not withstand the power of the army wreathed in ash-gray energy.
Ashen Legion.
Despite their master not lifting a single finger.
Swish.
The glance of the man, who had mounted the dragon and was observing the situation, swept past the Empire's Spear.
Flinch.
Having stepped back without realizing, he froze stiff.
But the man did not swing his sword at him.
After looking at Obarna, who had suffered a group beatdown, he merely released his Sanctuary and advanced to the next floor.
"L-Lady Obarna!"
Curled up tightly, Obarna was sniffling tears. To think that she, who was so strong, would be trampled and shed tears.......
The man supported Obarna and bit his lip.
'That was... a sword.'
What the man was holding was definitely a sword.
If it was a sword, then Carpe.
Only then did the man recall the black hair and ash-gray eyes he possessed, and remembered the most famous house of Carpe.
'Zervan...!'
A Master from Zervan.
What that symbolized was simple.
'The Sword of Carpe.'
That sword he would one day have to fight.
He grew afraid of the Sword of Carpe.
* * *
【Ashen Legion Roster】
Grand General ―
Commander ―
High General: 2
General: 14
Elite Knights: 312
Regular Knights: 861
There was no change in the number of High Generals and Generals. But there was a definite change in the number of Regular Knights and Elite Knights.
"The Regular Knights certainly have steep growth."
From the 1st floor to the 61st floor.
He had actively utilized his army.
Honestly, there was nothing for him to gain here, and the thought of promoting their growth had roughly panned out.
Thanks to that, 71 Regular Knights had evolved into Elite Knights.
Seeing that they were certainly growing, he naturally felt proud and pleased.
Callias, having reviewed the battle with the 61st floor's Floor Master, dismissed most of his army and took a brief rest.
Even without using Re-Yuhwa, maintaining the Sanctuary using remnant energy was quite exhausting.
Not only the consumption of holy power but also mental stamina was rapidly depleted, making it quite demanding.
'Still, this much is manageable.'
The manifestation of intent was closely tied to the sword one possessed, so it was fine.
Furthermore, when deploying the Sanctuary with the Lord of Iron, the knights' power increased and they became even stronger through the remnant energy.
High Generals became no different from Masters, and the overall stats of everyone from Generals to Knights increased from double to quadruple.
The reason this kind of breakthrough was possible was also because Callias knew the circumstances of the Floor Masters thoroughly.
'61st floor is the staff.'
62nd floor is the shield. 63rd floor is the armor. 64th floor is the thread. 65th floor is the spear. 66th floor is the sword.
"Shall I quickly clear up to the 63rd floor?"
Shield and armor.
They were second to none in toughness, so it would also help the knights' growth.
Moreover, the tower endlessly gave quest rewards every time a floor was cleared.
He had already collected eighteen Goblin Gold Coins, and received many miscellaneous armaments and weapons as rewards. Most of them were handed over to the knights of the Ashen Legion.
Not only High Generals and Generals, but also some Elite Knights were armed with weapons obtained from the tower.
The more he cleared the tower.
The stronger Callias became.
Agathod was not the Giving Tree... but a giving tower.
Callias opened the next door.
"Why are you here?"
The Floor Master of the 62nd floor was not there.
Instead, Serena was there.