Meeting

The First Awakened.

In other words, those who had been transmigrated into the world of Ventair had one major characteristic.

They almost never used weapons like spears or swords, weapons that required them to move their bodies directly in close combat.

The reason was simple.

Because it was dangerous.

And because they didn’t have the talent to support it.

No matter how much their skills and traits helped them, when in their entire lives would they ever have swung around a sword or a spear?

Skills and traits were not almighty.

On top of that, even those started out at random, and they needed fame in order to develop them.

It was only natural that most of the First Awakened were made up of ability users who pushed their own skills to the absolute limit.

Of course, that did not mean there were none who used them at all.

There were also transmigrators who, intoxicated by the romance of knighthood, or because the traits and skills randomly granted to them suited close-range weapons, picked up swords or spears…

And by now, most of them were dead or crippled.

Those who had barely survived had no choice but to realize the impossibility of it and, with tears in their eyes, turn in another direction.

It was a starkly different sight from the Awakened of the outside world.

Here, gates did not exist in stages as they did outside, and the methods of becoming stronger were also far too different.

The monsters’ strength was also far more tremendous, so even if one gained a skill, what happened after using it?

One had to swing a sword purely with one’s own ability and personally stab the enemy to death.

That was why the decline of close-range weapons among the transmigrators had occurred naturally.

And that was why he stood out all the more.

Rank 2, Antiphus Praman.

The last swordsman, the only one among the First Awakened who used a sword.

Though the influence of the second-place privilege had been great, the fact that he had risen all the way to the position of commander of the Imperial Second Knight Order was purely thanks to his efforts and outstanding ability.

“…And that Antiphus suddenly stepped down as commander and left the Imperial Palace.”

Antiphus had left the knight order.

Well, it was not an entirely unexpected situation.

What reason did he, a transmigrator, have to be loyal to the Empire and remain bound to the Imperial Family?

I had guessed he had a purpose, and assumed that once it was over, he would leave without lingering attachment.

That was why I had advised Sylvia to simply watch him for the time being.

Though he had left after showing off more power than necessary to Royal Knight Damon, Antiphus had, in his own way, left quietly.

He would not want to become a criminal of the Empire and be pursued either.

“Looks like Antiphus is going to start攻略ing in earnest now too.”

Because he had been tied to the Imperial Family, the攻略 had been carried out under Daphne’s lead until now.

I did not know the exact order or rules between them, but with Antiphus joining, quite a lot would change.

“We should get ready now too.”

“Yeah. We should.”

When I set down my teacup and raised my head, I saw Sylvia sitting there demurely.

“But Hio, you look a little tired today.”

“A little… Something happened.”

That something was leaving behind the whining Airaitz.

Hio could use the Magic Tower’s portal to go straight to Imenia, but Airaitz could not.

So I had told her to wait at home, yet she simply would not listen…

Well, one way or another, she would probably be waiting obediently at home in the end.

“Anyway, how are the preparations going?”

“Since it’s our side’s first time entering, I’m trying to prepare even more thoroughly. Thanks to you, Hio, I’ve obtained a lot of information, but I’m still uneasy.”

“You don’t intend to cooperate with the transmigrators, right?”

“For now, yes. In the end, we’ll have to join forces with them, but for the moment, I want to keep my distance and observe.”

“That’s understandable. I get it.”

From the moment Sylvia had first heard of the transmigrators from Hio, she had not trusted them.

Why would powerful people who had crossed over from another world risk their lives to protect a place that was not even their own world?

And just as she had expected, the mass logout incident had occurred on the previous 51st floor, which meant Sylvia’s thoughts had been correct.

“They’ll know the Empire is going to move as well. Yet the fact that they haven’t taken any particular action means they’re probably thinking something similar.”

First, on this 52nd floor, they would move separately and confirm their need for each other.

The Empire would need the transmigrators, a group of powerful ability users.

And the transmigrators, too, would eventually need the Empire’s vast and immense military cooperation.

So this 52nd floor would be a place to feel each other out and verify trust.

As long as the new empress, Sylvia Verden, possessed eyes that could see souls, they could not hide the fact that they were transmigrators as they had before.

In the end, it meant they had to reveal everything and cooperate with each other.

It was clear that the future difficulty of the攻略 would change depending on what each side showed on this floor.

“The floor will open in a week. First, we’ll use an advance party to determine the type…”

One week remained.

And there was still much to do in that time.

* * *

The headquarters of the Adventurer’s Guild led by Daphne.

Here, too, the center of the Abyss攻略, a meeting was in full swing.

However, if there was one thing different from before, it was that the number of participants in the meeting had drastically decreased.

And, in exchange for that, perhaps.

The quality of the participants had risen sharply.

“It’s been a while since we’ve met face to face like this. About two years, has it?”

Everyone within the top five rankings, excluding Hio and Airaitz, was in attendance.

“We gathered far faster than expected. According to the plan, the broad framework was that Daphne, you would handle the early low-floor sections, while I built my political position and Antiphus built his strength, wasn’t it?”

Sirbert van Ernhem had come out of the Academy for the first time in a while.

The high ranker ranked 5th, known in Korea as the Savior Nam Taemin.

At his words, Daphne gave a faint nod.

“No one knew the攻略 difficulty would rise this sharply. The previous 51st floor was decisive. Since they hadn’t personally experienced the anomaly on the 50th floor, their mentality completely broke on the 51st.”

That was the reason the meeting hall had emptied out.

A large number of transmigrators who had directly faced the true terror of the Abyss had left.

Their instinctive desire not to die had overwhelmed their sense of duty to protect the world.

“They were people who should have been filtered out someday anyway. Thanks to that, our numbers have decreased, but we’ve become more solid.”

Who would like a coward who ran away in a life-or-death situation?

If they ran away, those who remained would have an even harder time.

In that sense, those gathered here were the ones who had struggled to the very end on the 51st floor.

Even excluding Sirbert and Antiphus, who had not participated in the攻略 and had been preparing for emergencies, it was still a strong force.

The rankers within the top 100 who had decided to participate in the攻略 until the end.

They were people who had proven that they had not climbed to this position through luck alone.

There were roughly thirty of them.

Antiphus, who had slowly looked them over, opened his heavy mouth.

“So.”

With his thick arms crossed.

“Where is the Supreme Heavenly Demon?”

The name he sought, with a greatsword larger than his own body strapped to his back, was the Supreme Heavenly Demon.

At the indifferent, low murmur in his deep voice, the air settled heavily.

For an instant, all noise ceased, and silence fell.

The absence of even the faintest sound meant that everyone had stopped moving at the same time and grown tense.

The reason was simple.

Antiphus’s mad obsession with the Supreme Heavenly Demon had been famous since the days when this was still a game.

It was a kind of obsession different in content and texture from Airaitz’s.

Quiet, yet heavier than anything else—a madness.

The one who broke that brief tension and heavy silence was Sirbert van Ernhem, Nam Taemin.

“Well, we knew he wouldn’t show up at this meeting. From the looks of it, he seems to be moving with the Empire’s side.”

Though he spoke calmly, Sirbert also found himself unconsciously tense.

He was different.

Antiphus Praman was different from when they had met before.

It felt like facing a true high-ranking knight. A firm pressure transmitted from him.

In the span of two years, Antiphus had become no different from a real knight.

And if one considered his privilege and skills on top of that… it was only natural for strength to enter one’s hands.

“The Empire is now completely out of our hands. With the princess’s… no, the emperor’s ability, the Empire is moving almost as one body, so there’s no opening for us to squeeze into at all. So we have no choice but to leave that side to the Supreme Heavenly Demon.”

Even while maintaining his tension, Sirbert continued speaking.

The Empire’s political sphere, where there was no longer any gap to force their way in.

In one sense, it could be a good thing; in another, it could be an uneasy thing.

It was good that the supermassive group known as the Empire had united as one before destruction, but the fact that it was not under their control meant they could not know what variable it might become.

Whatever magic had been used, they could no longer interfere with the Empire’s political world, and that was why Antiphus and Sirbert had begun participating in the攻略 in earnest.

“If the Supreme Heavenly Demon moves with the Empire, there is a high possibility that we will have to move on our own. There’s no need to think too deeply about it. We’ll simply do what we’ve been doing, and it’s easier to think that we’ve gained a great helper called the Empire.”

Those were Daphne’s words, and that was the heart of the matter.

“We must have lost his trust.”

The failure of the 51st-floor攻略.

It was only the 51st floor.

They did not even know how many floors remained ahead, yet at the very beginning of the middle section, they had already failed and revealed their pitiful lack of unity.

Hadn’t the enraged Supreme Heavenly Demon spoken directly into the camera?

Fools who had gained fame excessive for their ability. He said he would personally watch them.

He was not a man who made empty boasts, so he would certainly participate in this攻略.

“We must prove ourselves.”

Thus, in one sense, this was a floor of proof.

A floor where they had to show the power of true top rankers.

A floor where they had to show their ability and unity.

Of course.

“Proof, is it.”

Only one person took those words differently.

“You say amusing things.”

One week remained.

A deep earthen hue flickered in Antiphus’s eyes.

* * *

One week.

That was the amount of time it had taken Hio, after completing his preparations to reach the 4th Circle and while doing other work in parallel, to ascend to the 4th Circle.

Then, now that he was prepared to reach the 5th Circle, how much time would it take if he put aside all other matters and focused solely on the 5th Circle?

—Well… yours is such a peculiar case that I can’t predict it. To think there would come a day in my life when I would worry over whether or not someone could create their fifth circle within a week.

After finishing his long conversation with Sylvia, Hio had immediately returned to the Tetradia Magic Tower.

Since he had learned two kinds of divine magic, it was now time to ascend to the 5th Circle.

“If possible, it would be nice to reach the 5th Circle before entering the 52nd-floor攻略…”

—Don’t think too hastily. Even if you can ascend, you won’t have time to learn magic.

He might be able to create the fifth circle one way or another, but a week was far too short a time to learn magic corresponding to the 5th Circle.

Of course, creating one more circle meant that the stability, casting speed, and power of his magic would increase accordingly, so it was certainly meaningful…

“What a shame. There are a ridiculous number of things I want to learn.”

Why had he only decided on the magic he needed up to the 4th Circle and learned the bare minimum?

It had been so that he could learn as much magic as possible from now on.

The realm of the 5th Circle was a realm where one was called not a magician, but an archmage.

Chronomancy, which dealt with time, blood magic, shadow magic—things he had been unable to learn until now.

And the power of elemental magic, too, would become great enough to change the flow of a battlefield.

“For now, let’s learn as quickly as possible.”

Reaching the 5th Circle within a week.

And, if possible, learning at least one 5th-Circle spell before entering the 52nd floor.

With that as his goal, his week of closed-door training began.