With the decisive battle against Kreutzwald ahead, he thought only of studying magic and exploring Authorities.
How could he head into the abyss even a little stronger than before?
As he lived with nothing but such thoughts in mind, the days in the Magic Tower passed terribly quickly.
It had already been nearly two months since he cleared the 71st floor and entered the Magic Tower, which meant it was time to challenge the next floor.
“It was a productive time.”
It had been the most densely packed two months of his life.
There had been many times before when he had devoted himself solely to training, but never had he grown so much in such a short period.
He had learned a great number of 6th Circle and 7th Circle spells, which were difficult to master even one of in a month, gained a new Authority, and had not neglected other matters in the meantime.
Of course, it had only been possible because he had expanded his vessel as much as he could beforehand.
And whether it was the Authority, or the fact that he had been able to learn its true name immediately in the process of obtaining it, all of it had been possible thanks to the help of many people.
“Let’s go. Everyone should be gathering by now.”
The news that the 72nd floor had appeared would have reached Regarda and Vitalianus, who were scattered in different places.
Naturally, they would have heard the news before Hio, who was in the Magic Tower, and would already have finished preparing.
And so Hio and Airaitz left the Magic Tower for a short while to clear the 72nd floor.
Using the Magic Tower’s portal, Hio and Airaitz moved directly to the imperial palace in Imenia, the capital of the Empire.
Even amid the war that had engulfed the entire continent in the aftermath of the gates that had burst open, the imperial palace had not lost its grandeur.
Passing through the castle gate under the salutes of the knights and entering the palace grounds along the wide, paved road, one could see all manner of splendid statues and well-tended gardens.
Only after passing even those and going deeper could one finally arrive.
“Welcome.”
The deepest place in the imperial palace, where Sylvia greeted him.
The center of the continent.
“It’s been a while, Hio.”
As if Airaitz, standing right beside him, were not even visible, Sylvia greeted only Hio.
“Excuse me, can you not see me?”
“Hio must be busy too, so I’ll get straight to the point. The situation is the same.”
In other words, the policy of keeping control over the gates to a minimum and entrusting everything to the new expedition party remained unchanged.
“There were some who said it was an irresponsible method for an emperor, but if we succeed perfectly in clearing this floor, that kind of talk will disappear.”
“I suppose so. Things are stabilizing quickly.”
“Yes. People are starting to realize thanks to whom we’re escaping this crisis.”
Sylvia continued speaking quickly with a serious expression, but.
“Wouldn’t it be thanks to the emperor who governed well?”
At Hio’s single remark, her expression immediately went soft.
“……Hehe…… No. It’s thanks to you and the expedition party working so hard, Hio.”
Sylvia cupped both her cheeks and shook her head from side to side.
And perhaps displeased by that Sylvia, Airaitz pushed her face between the two of them.
“I asked if you can’t see me.”
“Ah…… I didn’t notice.”
“You didn’t notice? Looks like your eyesight’s already going. How pitiful.”
“Rather than that, should I say you have no presence?”
“……No presence? Me? None?”
It was an amusing sight, rare to see Sylvia react this sharply.
And also rare to see Airaitz unexpectedly lose ground to Sylvia.
But with anything, moderation was best.
“Enough, both of you. Let’s get ready for the clear. Where are Vitalianus and Regarda?”
“……They’re in front of the gate. There won’t be anything you need to prepare, Hio.”
“You haven’t seen Antiphus since then?”
“No. At least, he hasn’t appeared within the Empire.”
“Then should I contact him?”
After pondering for a moment, he soon shook his head.
“No. Things must be hectic over there too, so I’ll just leave this clear be.”
Things on Earth would be chaotic with the aftermath as well.
The situation there had been several times more serious than here, so a month or two would be nowhere near enough to settle everything.
“He’ll come on his own if he wants to.”
If he had the leeway, he would come find them himself.
Without Antiphus, the clear time would be somewhat delayed, but it was certainly not to the point where they would be unable to clear it.
“And about what you asked me for before, Hio……”
“Ah, that? How did it go?”
“I prepared that too. You can try it before you depart.”
“Thanks.”
There was something he had asked Sylvia for previously, and she was saying that she had prepared it as well.
If one were to ask what kind of preparation it was, it was an experiment.
An experiment related to dimensional transfer.
Hio, Regarda, and Freyja alike.
What was the reason they were searching for a passage to the abyss?
Was it not so they could cross over into the abyss?
And it was not merely one or two people who had to cross. They had to cross on the scale of an army.
If they considered Airaitz’s golems as well, they might even have to think in the tens of thousands.
“Let’s go outside. I’ve had the remaining personnel prepared.”
It was an experiment for that purpose.
How many people could be moved through dimensional transfer?
If they could move a meaningful number of people, there would be no need to go through the trouble of finding a passage.
The problem, if it could be called a problem, was that a meaningful number meant at least moving ten thousand people……
Well, since it was a transcendence skill, perhaps it might be possible.
「Transcendence Skill—‘Dimensional Transfer’ is activating.」
He was able to conduct the experiment on the soldiers gathered by Sylvia’s command.
Saying he would experiment on soldiers made it sound a bit strange, but it was truly only an experiment to see whether they could be moved.
「Designating ‘Continent Verden,’ ‘Nation Verden,’ ‘Nearest Abyss Gate.’」
「Designating targets ‘Hio Pavlenko and 3,021 others.’」
And the result of that experiment was.
「Unable to transfer.」
「The transferable number has been exceeded by ‘2,921.’」
「Skill canceled.」
Failure.
Hio narrowed his brows and showed his disappointment.
It seemed that the maximum number of people who could be moved by dimensional transfer was one hundred.
With that, he could not move people on the scale of ten thousand.
“……Then we’ll have to find the passage after all.”
Feeling disappointment inevitably well up within him, Hio and Airaitz headed to the gate of the 72nd floor.
* * *
A small expedition party consisting of Vitalianus, Regarda, Hio, Airaitz, and Freyja once again set out to clear the 72nd floor.
In effect, everyone from the previous expedition except Antiphus had gathered, and even without Antiphus, a top-rank player, his absence was not greatly felt.
Looking at the members of the expedition party, one would understand.
Compared to them, Antiphus, who merely possessed a highest-grade skill, truly did feel a little behind.
“Let’s begin at once.”
Even though they entered blindly without any prior information, not a single person was tense or worried.
That was how overwhelmingly powerful their force was.
“This time, too, the goal is to finish the clear as quickly as possible.”
“That is not such a difficult goal.”
“As long as there are no variables.”
The greatest variable was always Kreutzwald.
Just as on the 58th floor, they never knew when or how he might appear, so they always had to be prepared for him.
As for other variables, there was the possibility of a completely new form appearing, like the Door of Memories from the previous floor, about which they had no information at all.
But no such variable existed on the 72nd floor.
All that appeared were aberrations.
Aberrations that seemed at least somewhat stronger than the lower-grade aberrations from last time poured out.
Of course, nothing changed.
At a level of being merely a little stronger, they could not withstand even a single attack from Regarda or Vitalianus.
They offered no particular resistance to Freyja’s or Hio’s magic.
And they were easily rendered powerless by Airaitz’s Authority.
Thus, they reached the swamp aberration, the boss to clear the 72nd floor.
It was, in its own way, a useful aberration that twisted laws and altered the environment.
Yet one sword strike from Vitalianus, who rushed out first.
One thrust from Regarda, who followed after.
With those, it died and vanished.
「Abyss—Cleared the 72nd floor.」
The clearing of the 72nd floor ended with that.
With no variables, even the abyss of the deep 72nd floor was cleared in the shortest time.
「Abyss—The 72nd floor sinks into an immeasurably deep abyss.」
「Returning to original space.」
After finishing the clear and coming outside, Hio asked Regarda about the progress of the work, but all he could tell him was that there had not been much progress.
“We found the temple, but it wasn’t easy. Still, Freyja is trying this and that, so there should be results soon.”
The work Freyja and Regarda were doing was finding a passage.
A passage outside the Magic Tower.
For instance, a place like Ariel’s residence, which had once been the dragon’s temple.
According to his memory, had she not said that a passage had been prepared near that place?
However, even if they had found the location, they had no idea how to open or use that passage, so they were researching it one by one from the beginning.
“All right. If you get hold of even the smallest clue, tell me through Freyja. I’ll come running right away.”
“I will.”
With those words as the last, the expedition party once again scattered down their respective paths.
Vitalianus to the Empire.
Regarda and Freyja to the dragon’s temple.
And Hio and Airaitz back to the Tower of Mages.
And so they returned to their daily lives.
* * *
The Tower of Mages, to which they returned after quickly clearing the 72nd floor.
They had finished so quickly that it felt as if they had merely stepped out for a breath of fresh air and come back.
“Now I should do what I have to do again.”
Since he had come back refreshed, it was time to go mad over magic once more.
The number of spells he had learned in the Magic Tower up to today was four in total.
The chronomancy spell “Manipulation” and “Temporal Rift,” which isolated time.
The earth-attribute sealing magic “Earthbound Shackle.”
The flame-attribute area recovery magic “Immortal Flame.”
The sky defense magic “Celestial Shield.”
Each and every one was a spell with tremendous utility, but they were all classified as 6th Circle spells.
Although the boundaries of circles were ambiguous when it came to chronomancy, among other attribute spells, the hierarchy between circles was clear, was it not?
So now he had to learn the next stage, 7th Circle magic.
“7th Circle magic, huh……”
There were many kinds.
Among the spells described in existing grimoires, there were 7th Circle spells, and among the grimoires Purnell had newly acquired, there were also 7th Circle grimoires.
For example, there was the Resurrection of Ashes in the 〔True Word Tome of Flame〕.
The Downpour and Storm in the 〔Apostolic Book of Nature〕 were also 7th Circle spells.
Among them, the one that was overwhelmingly supreme was the Judgment of the Stars written in the 〔Book of the Firmament〕.
It was a 7th Circle spell of merciless power, described as infamous even among 7th Circle magic as both an area spell and an attack spell.
—Oh, that one is good too. It’s tricky to learn, but in terms of offensive power alone, it is called the very best among 7th Circle spells.
While learning 6th Circle spells, he had also engraved quite a few 7th Circle patterns alongside them, so all that remained was to choose one and learn it.
“Judgment of the Stars…… What should I learn first……”
As he pondered while looking through the grimoires with Purnell.
“Hio.”
Airaitz, who had been quietly staring into empty air for a little while now, called Hio.
When Hio turned to look, she took her gaze away from the empty air and looked straight at him.
“It’s full.”
“Full? What is?”
“Divine points.”
The divine points had all been gathered.
Which meant he could obtain the Authority he had aimed for.
“I’m going to obtain Venus’s Authority.”
It was time for another forgotten new Authority to be revealed to the world.