Chapter 100: Twenty-Fifth Floor, Papal Defense (1)

As Ha Hee-Jeong had explained, the twenty-fifth floor’s trial was straightforward. All I had to do was find the pope and ensure he survived. Unfortunately, failing to locate or protect him would render the twenty-sixth floor’s trial even more difficult.

Although the pope lacked any real divine power and couldn’t directly help the climbers defeat the heretics, his position was symbolic. Losing him would shatter morale, weakening our forces.

Realizing this, the other climbers were desperately scouring the fortress, but I didn’t feel the need to rush.

Didn’t Alexei say she would handle the search?

Since his location was a mystery, I figured my time would be better spent handling the heretics rather than blindly searching. There was no need to take Alexei’s glory, either. As the most powerful climber, my role was to reduce the heretics’ numbers and carve an escape route for when reinforcements arrived.

Ha Hee-Jeong was likely rallying other climbers somewhere close by.

Looking around, I noticed a group of climbers hovering near me—they weren’t the only ones either. Mixed amongst the crowd of climbers sprinting off to search for the pope, a surprising number were headed straight in my direction.

What? Are they thinking the same thing I am?

With over two hundred thousand climbers, it wouldn’t have been strange if someone had landed on the same idea. However, far too many were closing in on me for that to be the case.

A nearby party reached me first. I recognized their faces from the rest area, though their names escaped me. They were strong climbers, likely ranked within the top thousand.

“Mr. Kwon Su-Hyeok, what’s your plan? We’re ready for your orders.”

Ah, so that is why.

The moment he spoke, everything became clear. They were here to follow my lead, not because they had realized what I had. I recalled seeing Community posts discussing this strategy, and they had always garnered positive responses.

- Honestly, with how strong Kwon Su-Hyeok’s combat skills and tactical sense are, following his lead on the floors that require every climber’s participation would be best.

It seemed these climbers had shown up to act on that suggestion.

Wow. My influence has grown this much?

Although the realization only added to the pressure I was feeling, I quickly pushed it aside. The fortress had already turned into a battlefield; it was no place for reflection.

Instead, I raised my voice so everyone nearby could hear, “We’ve got over two hundred thousand climbers on this floor. Not all of us need to be out there searching for the Pope.”

“Absolutely, you’re right.”

“If someone does locate him, the heretics will likely swarm to that spot. Rather than scrambling about like a bunch of headless chickens, it would be smarter if we established a defensive line to protect him and secured an escape route for the reinforcements.”

The climbers around me nodded in agreement.

I quickly took in our surroundings, noting that our current location had many advantages. We had been summoned to a vast plaza about five hundred meters away from a crumbling fortress gate. This would be a nice rallying point for climbers if they wanted to regroup mid-search.

“Until someone finds the pope, let’s hold this plaza. Once we know where he is and reinforcements are about to arrive, we’ll charge through the gate.”

“A wide-open plaza is the perfect gathering place for everyone. That’s a solid idea.”

“If anyone is swift-footed, please gather any others nearby and bring them here.”

“Understood. Latrine, get out here!”

Archers were generally the swiftest of all the climbers, so each nearby party leader relayed my instructions to the archers in their groups. Having received their orders, the climbers darted out of the plaza before another word could even be said.

Now, we just had to hold the plaza until Alexei found the pope.

As Ha Hee-Jeong said, it shouldn’t be too hard.

The real crusade awaited us on the twenty-sixth floor. Here on the twenty-fifth, our only task was to find and protect the pope. I had no idea how difficult finding him would be, but I knew I didn’t have to worry because Alexei would handle it one way or another.

“Find the Pope!”

“Slay the heretics!”

Enemies poured in through the shattered gate, flooding the avenue between the plaza and the gate. It wouldn’t take long before they reached us.

Climbers turned their eyes toward me and waited for my command.

Raising my axe, I cheered loudly, “Warriors, advance!”

***

[Locate the pope and survive until reinforcements arrive. Time remaining: 1 hour 27 minutes.]

The battle had only started thirty minutes ago, yet the heretics were already surging into the plaza from the main avenue and the various alleyways. Fortunately, many climbers had rejoined us, allowing us to mount an acceptable defense.

The real issue was that, despite our force of twenty thousand climbers eliminating hordes of heretics, the enemies’ numbers showed no sign of thinning.

There are way too many for them to all be heretics. Are subjects of the three traitorous kings among them?

Most of the enemies resembled the Deornian Imperial soldiers whom we had encountered on the fifteenth floor.

An explanation popped into my mind. Comet had mentioned that the heretics had spread their religion quietly. However, the kings’ decision to renounce their faith couldn’t have instantly shifted the beliefs of ordinary citizens.

Probably not. I felt like observing the enemy more closely could provide answers. Focusing on the noises drifting through the air, I caught the voice of a distant commander who quickly confirmed my suspicion.

“Find the pope who betrayed the goddess! Anyone defending him is a traitor, too!”

Just as I suspected, the soldiers were merely following orders. The kings had likely told them that the pope was a traitor.

This planet doesn’t have sophisticated technology, so I suppose it can’t be helped.

With slower diffusion of information and few ways to verify the truth, such propaganda was frighteningly effective. Followers of the Stagnant Terror likely hid their allegiance to him, and if both sides were accusing each other of heresy with the general assumption there was only a single religion, there was little the Order of the Dawn Breeze could do to stop the misinformation.

Fuck.

Watching soldiers collapse beneath the climbers’ weapons left a bitter taste in my mouth. Because of the gods and kings who treated others as pawns for their games, too many innocent people were being senselessly slaughtered.

And the most painful part? I wasn’t powerful enough to stop it.

Trying to stop the battle to explain the truth was a naive thought, nothing more.

Through gritted teeth, I shouted at the nearby climbers, “Mages, clear out the bodies!”

After thirty minutes of intense combat, corpses had piled up along the main avenue leading into the plaza. While they temporarily blocked the enemy’s path, they also obstructed our line of sight.

Chaos reigned supreme as I tried to maintain order on the battlefield. Spears jabbed through the gaps between the bodies, arrows rained down from above, and stray attacks slipped through the chaos.

I gave the order to eliminate the corpses blocking our path, and a blazing fireball soon arced over me before explosively crashing down in the middle of the pile. Bloodied chunks flew through the air, splattering onto the front-line climbers and causing some to throw up.

The explosion also temporarily halted the enemy’s advance, giving the climbers time to regain their focus.

Twenty minutes left.

In Ha Hee-Jeong’s previous life, Alexei had located the pope within fifty minutes. It wouldn’t be much longer now.

As I cleared my mind and surveyed the battlefield, a massive explosion echoed from an alley at the plaza’s edge.

Bang!

Thick, black smoke billowed into the sky, and I assumed another party of climbers was joining us. Judging by the explosive spells, they must have encountered a sizable force.

Just when I was about to issue support orders, a group of climbers burst through the smoke and sprinted toward us.

“What—?”

My surprise was almost palpable as I let loose a dumbfounded exclamation. Familiar figures stuck out from the newest batch of climbers—Alexei and Hendrick.

Wait, why is she here? She should be looking for the pope!

I quickly made my way over to her, eliminating the heretic soldiers closing in from behind her with a bolt of lightning.

Alexei glanced back and smirked. “Damn, thanks. These pests were starting to get on my nerves.”

“Hold on. What are you doing here?”

“

Huh?

Is there a problem? Am I not supposed to be here?”

To my surprise, I replied without thinking, “I thought you were searching for the pope.”

Alexei’s brows furrowed and I realized instantly that I had slipped up.

“How did you know I was looking for the pope? Were you following me or something?”

“Oh… a climber who just joined us mentioned you were searching for him.”

A brief silence passed, and for a second I feared she had caught on. Thankfully, she just nodded, accepting the explanation.

“That was the idea, but then I heard you were rallying climbers at the plaza to secure an escape route.”

“So?”

“So, I figured you had a point. With how many climbers there are, someone else can handle finding him. I thought I might as well help out here.”

I was rendered speechless.

Due to my lack of response, Alexei regarded me with an amused, slightly suspicious look. She seemed slightly displeased.

“What? Are you annoyed that I’m here?”

“No, it’s not that…”

“Then why the long face? You’re making me feel a bit unwelcome.”

Damn it. What am I supposed to say?

It wasn’t like I could tell her that she was the one meant to find the pope.

Not wanting to create any tension, I quickly improvised an excuse. “No, it’s just… whoever finds the pope will probably be rewarded significantly. It would be better if one of the top climbers got that, and I can’t think of a more dependable climber than you.”

“Well, I don’t see Ha Hee-Jeong anywhere, so why can’t she be the one to find him and earn the reward? Or are you saying you’d rather I find him instead?”

Alexei grinned playfully, clearly amused by my reaction.

Realizing I was fighting a losing battle, I sighed helplessly.

“Well, since Ha Hee-Jeong may not find him, I thought…” I trailed off, giving up mid-sentence. “Never mind.”

“Oh? If you want, I can head back out and look for him again.”

“Would you?”

Her face turned serious for a moment.

She then scoffed and shook her head. “No, that would be a pain. I’ve been searching for ages and have seen no sign of him. Someone else will surely find him. So, where do you need us?”

I pointed toward a zone where enemy forces were amassing. “Over there. Lend a hand on that front.”

Alexei nodded before giving a verbal confirmation, “All right. I’ll talk to you later then.”

She turned toward her team and led them in the indicated direction.

“Let’s go, guys.”

A feeling of unease gnawed at my insides as I watched her go. Much like how ripples could affect the water’s flow, my knowledge about the future seemed to be triggering unintended changes. Alexei, who was meant to find the pope, was now here instead.

What do I do now?

It was too late for Alexei to return to searching for the pope. Since my interference had disrupted her expected impact, forcing her to go now wouldn’t guarantee anything. I was left with two choices: take up the search myself or wait and hope that another climber would find him.

Shit. Waiting isn’t an option.

Failing to find the pope would raise the difficulty of the following two floors. With Alexei here, it made more sense for me—with Doppy and my Sixth Sense—to take on the search. Given the same scenario, I was confident that Ha Hee-Jeong would make the same call.

Decision finalized, I dashed off in pursuit of Alexei’s party.

“Hendrick!”

Although Alexei was the official party leader, I had no intention of leaving her in charge. Hendrick was sharp, and any command passed to Alexei would inevitably be handed to Hendrick anyway, so I decided to cut the process short.

“Yes? Is something wrong?”

“No. I just need you to take charge for a bit.”

With a surprised look, Alexei butted in. “Why the sudden change?”

Unfortunately, I couldn’t tell her that I was going to search for the pope since she had given up on it. That would reveal too much.

“Other climbers are probably gathering elsewhere. When the pope’s found, we’ll need to coordinate with them.”

“Ah, you’re going to make the rounds?”

“Yeah. I’ll be quicker than most out there.”

“Fine. Get back soon.”

***

[Locate the pope and survive until reinforcements arrive. Time remaining: 1 hour 17 minutes.]

Hendrick took over at the central plaza while I climbed to the rooftop of a nearby building. Since I had chosen one of the tallest buildings, I could survey much of the fortress.

Everything was in chaos. Flames leaped from buildings, and columns of black smoke twisted into the sky. Shouts and the clash of metals filled the air.

Now, where could the pope be hiding?