Chapter 256: Sixty-Fifth Floor, Dragons’ Grave (4)

[Complete the Beastfolk Alliance’s request. Time remaining: 151 hours 27 minutes.]

Having climbed the tower and gained considerable strength, I thought I had reached a point where I could block nearly any attack.

However, that violet beam was beyond my capabilities to defend against.

If I had reacted and activated Flash Strike the moment I felt the chilling sensation at my neck, it would have only allowed me to perceive it better, not even dodge it.

Even if I hadn’t been in a dragon carriage, the attack’s sheer speed made evasion impossible, much less blocking.

The beam pierced straight through the dragon’s torso before continuing onward and tearing through the sky. I wasn’t even sure Aura would have been enough to halt the strike.

Boom—

A powerful tremor surged up from the soles of my feet.

The dragon let out one final, piercing cry, and Langley frantically screamed a heartbeat later.

“Kuaaaargh...!”

“Aaaah!”

By the time she reacted, the beam had already vanished into the sky, leaving behind only destruction. The impact had torn the carriage in half, and the driver, who had been guiding the dragon, was nowhere to be seen. It was a fleeting, meaningless death.

A faint sense of guilt pricked at me, but I couldn’t dwell on it now—time was of the essence.

Fierce winds lashed at us, whipping through the shattered carriage. My hair was thrown in every direction.

Langley clung desperately to the seat in front of her while the lifeless dragon plummeted toward the ground.

Who the hell did this?

The question crossed my mind, but it hardly mattered.

I tensed prematurely, every one of my muscles bracing for action.

If we crash like this, Langley won’t survive.

With the carriage half-destroyed, the winds howling violently around us made it harder to move.

We just had to time our exit properly.

Unfortunately, I didn’t have my shoes that allowed me to step on air equipped. Even though they were in my mimic, switching boots right now would take too long. I would need to jump at just the right moment.

For some reason, there were no follow-up attacks. The chilling sensation on my nape had long since faded.

I turned to Langley. “Langley!”

Still gripping the seat tightly, she immediately responded, “Yes?!”

Her face was pale, but true to her training as an agent, she hadn't succumbed to panic.

“We have to get out!” I jerked my chin toward the gaping hole in the carriage, signalling we would have to jump.

She nodded and reached toward me. “Here!”

I hadn’t meant for her to offer me her hand. If I pulled her by just her arm, her shoulder could dislocate. There wasn’t much time, however, so I decided to risk it and grasped her hand firmly, yanking her toward me.

“

Huh?!

”

With the dragon in freefall, balance was nearly impossible to maintain.

Langley lost her footing and stumbled forward, falling straight into my arms. Unhesitatingly, I let go of her hand and wrapped my arm around her waist.

With one arm supporting her, I sprinted forward. A quick glance out the broken wall confirmed that the ground was quickly approaching.

Before the dragon could crash, I leaped into the sky.

Into free fall.

For a fleeting moment, it felt as though gravity had vanished. A moment later, it took hold once more, a sudden pressure bearing down on every inch of me.

“Kyahhh!”

Langley, still held tightly against me, clung even harder, locking her arms around my torso. A faint ache spread through my side from the sheer force of her grip.

“Heeeeek!”

A distorted shriek had slipped from her lips as the rushing wind battered against us, but I didn’t have the focus to respond.

Landing safely was all I could think about. I wasn’t exactly a physics expert, but I knew that jumping at the right moment didn’t magically negate the force of a fall. I would be more concerned if this were my first time jumping from a dangerous height, however.

Estimating the distance to the ground, I leaned toward Langley’s ear and murmured, “Surround yourself with mana.”

She gasped sharply. Still clinging to me, she nodded through ragged breaths.

Just before impact, I unleashed a burst of mana beneath me, trying to counteract as much of the falling force as possible. At the same time, I coated my legs in mana to absorb the impact.

Thud.

I landed cleanly, far smoother than I had anticipated. The addition of Langley’s mana had made a difference.

Rumbleee—

The lifeless dragon struck the ground with a deafening crash, sending up a cloud of dust. It skidded across the ground for dozens of meters, tearing up the dirt in its wake.

“Huff! Huff!”

Langley, still winded, collapsed against me. If I let go, she would probably crumple to the ground. I pulled her upright and steadied her. She gazed at me with dazed, unfocused eyes.

Of course. She had just plummeted from hundreds of meters in the air—she probably hadn’t ever experienced something like this.

“I-I thought I was going to die.”

“Can you stand? We need to move. Now.”

Even though she was still catching her breath, I couldn’t give a the chance to rest.

I had felt multiple gazes on us before the attack. They knew where we had crashed, so people would undoubtedly start swarming the area.

“Y-yes.” Still looking disoriented, Langley nodded and forced herself to stand.

I had no idea what had just happened. One thing stuck out to me, though. Regardless of how strong I was, we had to prioritize escaping and assess the situation.

The mysterious violet beam.

If it fired again and hit me directly, even I couldn’t walk away unscathed. Gathering information came first.

I expanded my sense as far as I could.

𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

No immediate threats, and nothing closing in. Yet.

Still, we didn’t have time to waste.

I practically carried Langley as I sprinted away from the crash site.

***

[Complete the Beastfolk Alliance’s request. Time remaining: 151 hours 16 minutes.]

We hid ourselves a bit away from the crash site, still within view of it as we monitored it.

Draped in a tawny-colored cloth that matched the terrain, we blended in well enough that unless someone came dangerously close, we wouldn’t be noticed—all thanks to Langley’s meticulous preparation.

Before long, a group of about twenty vagrants swiftly approached the crash site. They wore similarly dusty-hued robes, although theirs bore a strange emblem on the back.

I furrowed my brow.

I thought this place was supposed to be inhabited by vagrants and criminals.

These people seemed too organized to be rabble, moving in an orderly fashion rather than as scattered individuals. Some of them scoured the surrounding area while the rest gathered around the dragon’s corpse.

Did they see us jump off the dragon before it crashed?

I couldn’t be sure. During the fall, I hadn’t been paying attention to any potential witnesses.

Still, it seemed unlikely. We had leaped off just before impact, barely giving anyone a chance to register our presence.

They weren’t targeting us but were after the dragon. Most likely, they were just searching for any survivors, a routine sweep rather than a deliberate pursuit.

Even if they had seen us leap from the dragon carriage, I wasn’t particularly concerned. Although we had moved urgently during our escape, I had made an effort to leave no traces behind. They wouldn’t be able to track us down.

Langley, however, wore a grave expression. Her eyes wavered uneasily.

I turned to her and asked, “What is it? Were vagrants or outcasts always this organized?”

She shook her head firmly. “No.”

Her decisive response caught me off guard. I had expected some uncertainty, but it seemed like she already knew who they were.

Without taking her gaze off them, Langley added, “They’re not criminals or outcasts. They’re demon-worshipping scum. Cultists.”

“Cultists?”

She nodded slightly.

“Well, I suppose some criminals or vagrants could have become cultists, but...”

In that instant, I recalled something from my arrival on the sixty-fifth floor. I had stopped a middle-aged man to ask for directions.

“There’ve been a lot of demon-worshipping cultists lurking around lately, asking questions just like that.”

So it hadn’t just been an offhanded comment. The attempted birth of a demon in the ant nest had signaled the arrival of a dark shadow settling over the continent.

However, that didn’t mean the cultists were confined solely to the ant nest. To demon worshippers, this lawless land would have been the perfect breeding ground.

If there was a fiend of a similar strength to the one I had faced on the forty-second floor, it could have seized control of the Dragons’ Grave with little resistance.

Langley’s voice wavered slightly. “Th-they didn’t tell us anything about this.”

“Are you talking about Black Butterfly?”

She nodded. “Yes.”

“Looks like the cultists may have emerged into the public eye only recently.”

The pieces were finally falling into place. It explained why Parein had been in Quinan. Black Butterfly had likely uncovered this too late and sent him to confirm it.

Unlike us, he hadn’t drawn attention by arriving on a dragon carriage, but he was probably making his way here as fast as possible. Or even worse, Black Butterfly could already be working with the cultists.

Though judging from his demeanor, that seemed unlikely.

He was probably here to grasp the situation, and Langley seemed to be thinking the same thing as I.

“Yes. That would explain why Parein is here. I’m sorry. I should have realized sooner. I’ll make sure you’re compensated—”

“Forget it.”

“But still—”

“I said forget it.”

I cut her off before she could continue talking about rewards. It wasn’t something I cared about. I hadn’t accepted compensation from the Black Butterfly on the previous floor either.

Langley looked slightly moved, but I ignored her and turned my attention back to the cultists. The twenty men struggled to fasten thick ropes around the dragon’s corpse, heaving as they tried to drag it away.

I asked Langley, “That beam earlier. Do you have any idea what it was?”

She shook her head. “No. I’ve never seen anything like it before.”

Right. It had been pure magic, not some kind of technological weapon like a laser. However, there had been something unsettling about it.

That ominous violet glow.

I recalled the residual demonic energy extracted from the demon’s corpse. It had been the same unnatural shade of purple.

Blaming it entirely on demonic magic didn’t sit right with me, though. It was too powerful, too overwhelming. I hadn’t seen the full extent of Ha Hee-Jeong’s abilities, but I was certain I had never witnessed her use anything like that.

Given the circumstances, it seemed like the dragon’s legacy was involved somehow—tainted by a demonic energy, of course, which would explain the color.

“I think it is what we are looking for,” I remarked.

Langley’s face darkened, and she paused to consider something. “I don’t want to believe it, but I can’t deny it either. That attack was beyond anything I could have imagined.”

She was clearly worried.

On the other hand, I felt that things were working out rather well. My biggest concern had been whether or not I would be able to find the legacy at all. If definitely existed—and was in someone else’s hands—then the situation had shifted in my favor.

Moreover, if I get the chance to eliminate some cultists? Even better. That just means all I have to do is wipe them out and take it.

I wasn’t sure how to feel about the fact that every single one of my “secret missions” seemed to boil down to brute force. In the end, strength ruled above all in the tower. There was no need to overthink it.

I turned my gaze toward the distance. Even in its devastated condition, the dragon was still massive. The cultists’ sluggish movements as they struggled to haul the massive corpse were almost comedic.

“Let’s follow them quietly for now.”

Langley nodded. “Okay.”

Their pace was even slower than a casual stroll, so we had no trouble keeping up while maintaining our makeshift camouflage.

As we continued our pursuit, another group of about twenty cultists joined them, speeding up the process slightly. However, it was still not enough to be an issue.

We followed them for about an hour before they came to a stop in the middle of the canyon.

My Illusion Resistance skill activated, and I realized that one of the canyon walls was an illusion.

One of the cultists waved a hand, and the wall shimmered before vanishing entirely, revealing a massive cavern. The others took a moment to scan their surroundings before dragging the dragon corpse inside.

Langley turned to me. “What do we do now?”

What kind of question is that?

I smirked. “We go in, tear everything apart, and take the legacy for ourselves.”