Chapter 65: Fifteenth Floor, The Path to the Fortress (4)

[Follow the arrow toward Fort Pogoren. Time remaining: 3 hours 47 minutes.]

I powerfully swung my axe in a sweeping motion, sending four lizardmen crumpling to the floor. Blue blood spurted from their bodies, staining my face and neck.

Approximately two hours had passed since I claimed the dagger.

Things are starting to get intense.

At first, everything had seemed manageable. We had encountered no trace of lizardmen the first thirty minutes after leaving the lake. However, they suddenly emerged from every direction in overwhelming numbers, coming at us in waves.

They were no match for our speed, which was only natural since we were the first and third-ranked climbers. Yet, as more and more appeared, they gradually encircled us, closing in by the second.

They really can track the dagger's location.

Defeating the Shadow Wraith wasn’t easy, and adding the lizardmen’s pursuit seemed almost excessive. No matter how valuable this unique-grade dagger was, this hidden mission seemed unnecessarily hard for the average climber.

To be honest, it wasn’t particularly difficult for me. I had faced tens of thousands of the same enemies on the fourteenth floor at once, so the current swarm of lizardmen was still well within what I could handle. That wasn’t my issue, however. Watching them relentlessly track my location despite my best efforts began irritating me.

Damn it, and I can’t even keep the dagger forever.

Grumbling internally, I swung my axe again. The only silver lining was that Alexei and I had distracted these lizardmen long enough for most climbers to reach the fortress, meaning no one else would be caught up in this pursuit.

There’s no way this mission was designed to be brute-forced.

While I could manage, even the third-ranked climber Alexei showed signs of exhaustion as time wore on. Anyone else in her position would have already been dead.

Suddenly, the dagger’s description popped into my mind.

Master of Shadows.

Though it was the middle of the night and the surroundings were bathed in darkness, the moon was casting long clear shadows across the landscape. I wasn’t exactly sure how the Master of Shadows skill worked, but it felt like it could be a potential solution. Maybe it would allow me to hide within the shadows and evade the lizardmen’s sight, much like Shadow Veil.

Yes, this has to be the answer. It wouldn’t make sense otherwise.

I recalled the tower’s earlier message.

[Challenger Kwon Su-Hyeok has obtained Lung Shark’s Dagger, dispelling the veil. From now on, invaders will be able to track the dagger’s location. The enemy’s pursuit will intensify as time progresses.]

So, that was it. The veil obscuring my position had been lifted, allowing the lizardmen to track me. I cursed silently, realizing I had understood this too late.

My excitement about obtaining the original version of the dagger, and my rush to flee the pursuing enemies, had caused me to stop using my brain.

Since none of these enemies posed much of a threat, I had just assumed that breaking through them by force was the obvious answer.

So, being strong can be a double-edged sword.

I smirked at the irony. Perhaps this is what people talked about when they said “brains versus brawn.”

Suppressing a laugh, I activated Master of Shadows. Blanketing the entire battlefield with Shadow Veil seemed impractical, so manipulating the shadows to conceal Alexei and myself made far more sense. Even though the skill included “master” in the title and not “veil,” I was confident it would hide us just as effectively.

If this doesn’t work, I can always resort to Shadow Veil.

I felt mana drain from me as the shadows at our feet deepened, enveloping us in darkness. Instantly, Alexei and I vanished as the shadows swallowed us whole. My vision turned black and white, and I noticed the lizardmen nearby becoming increasingly frantic.

“The humans have disappeared! Find them!”

“Search every corner!”

Just as I had suspected, Master of Shadows blocked them from locating us. I wasn’t exactly sure how this worked. Unlike Shadow Veil, it didn’t seem to simply obscure their sight.

Alexei and I could still see each other clearly, yet the enemies couldn’t detect our presence even though we stood right in front of them. Our altered vision was likely responsible for that.

On top of that, the skill didn’t cost much mana either. I could maintain this stealth until we reached the fortress if it continued consuming mana at this rate.

“You idiots! Search the area where they were last seen!”

A sudden shout from one of the lizardmen snapped me out of my thoughts. I saw them preparing to stab their spears into the spot we had just vacated.

Without hesitation, I grabbed Alexei by the waist and pulled her close before leaping into the air. Using the ability from Kashatum’s sky shoes, I quickly leaped again, moving us far from the spot the lizardmen were now blindly attacking.

“This... this is the shadow ability you used on the fourteenth floor, right?” Alexei asked, her eyes wide with surprise.

She marveled at our black-and-white surroundings, clearly fascinated by the sensation of being invisible.

“Yeah, that’s right. Now we just need to move quietly.”

“Why didn’t you use this earlier?”

“I thought we could fight our way through while racking up some achievement points, but you looked like you were starting to struggle.”

I wasn’t about to admit the strategy hadn’t occurred to me until now. Still, I hadn’t completely lied. If Alexei hadn’t been traveling with me, I probably wouldn’t have thought twice about fighting my way through the lizardmen.

“W-what? Struggling? I’m fine! I could’ve kept going!” Alexei protested, her pride clearly wounded.

Under normal circumstances, I would have teased her with something like, "Should we go back and fight then?" but knowing Alexei, she would have taken it seriously, so I refrained.

“We’ve already activated the skill, so let’s just keep moving.”

“I’m telling you, I could’ve kept going!”

“Sure, I believe you. Let’s go.”

Despite her words, Alexei followed without further complaint.

Ah, that stubborn girl.

We had quietly moved through the shadows for about a minute when a loud, guttural roar suddenly erupted nearby.

“Find! It!”

“Hik!”

Alexei let out a small gasp, startled by the sudden noise.

Her eyes quickly darted around, clearly trying to pretend she hadn’t been startled. Unfortunately for her, my enhanced hearing had already caught her surprised reaction. I decided not to poke fun at her and let it slide. Turning toward the roar’s source, I spotted a massive lizardman shouting orders to his soldiers.

“The dagger is here! Find it!”

The booming voice belonged to a towering figure, easily over two meters tall. This was clearly no ordinary soldier since it was clad in black plate armor, wielded a long halberd, and had a banner draped over its shoulder.

[Commander of the Lizardmen Army]

I dismissed the notification as soon as it appeared. As expected, it was no common foe but a commander. Under normal circumstances, I would have ignored it and continued, but seeing a commander piqued my interest.

It doesn’t look stronger than a lizardman guardian.

Taking it down would probably earn me some valuable achievement points. Without a second thought, I charged toward the commander, blitzing forward while activating Flash Strike. My perception of time slowed and I found myself right in front of it.

I pulled my axe as far back as I could manage before swinging it down with tremendous force. The impact was brutal. My axe instantly cleaved through its plate armor and buried deep into its chest.

“Guh—”

Even with my slowed perception of time, the commander’s scream was abruptly silenced. I kicked its chest, using the recoil to yank my axe free. Sparks of blue lightning danced on the corpse's exposed veins. Spinning swiftly, I prepared to retreat.

Ending Flash Strike, I reappeared beside Alexei as the commander fell lifelessly to the ground.

Alexei’s eyes widened in disbelief as she stared at me.

“W-what? What did you just do?”

“I killed the commander. Why?”

“...”

Her gaze darted between the fallen lizardman and me, full of bewilderment and seemingly slightly frustrated.

Is it really that shocking? It doesn’t seem like such a big deal.

“Let’s move.”

“Hah, you’re... no, never mind. Yeah, let’s go.”

***

[Follow the arrow toward Fort Pogoren. Time remaining: 2 hours 52 minutes.]

It had been approximately an hour since I activated Master of Shadows, concealing both our and the dagger’s presence. Thankfully, the lizardmen’s relentless pursuit had completely ceased since then.

Once I felt like we had evaded their pursuit for long enough, I deactivated the ability. We had just entered Horen Forest, so according to the shortcut’s description, there would be no lizardmen here. I didn’t need to waste mana unnecessarily.

Of course, I still cloaked Lung Shark's Dagger in its own protective Shadow Veil.

I should have hidden it like this from the start.

Silently regretting my earlier oversight, I heard a familiar voice suddenly call out from up ahead.

“Hyung! Su-Hyeok hyung! Over here!”

A figure leaped down from the towering trees to land before me. It was the dark-skinned boy I had encountered earlier. I couldn’t quite recall his name, although I was fairly sure it was something like Hakin.

𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

Why is he here, all alone?

“What are you doing here? Why didn’t you stick with the others?”

“I split off to save more people, just like you! But then all the lizardmen rushed past me, so—”

“So you ended up staying here?”

“Yeah! Since you hadn’t shown up yet and I noticed a ton of lizardmen were suddenly flooding in as a group I thought it had something to do with you. I stayed to help, just in case you were in trouble!”

I was rendered speechless. This kid—Hakin, or whatever his name was—clearly wasn’t thinking straight. His intent to save others was admirable, and he seemed to have decently powerful abilities, but that was where he should have stopped. Hakin wasn’t capable of operating alone like Alexei or me.

While I appreciated his concern, his actions were nothing but reckless. One wrong move and this boy could have easily met his end.

“

Haaa...

Well, thanks for thinking of me. Come on, let’s go together.”

I couldn’t reprimand him for trying to help. I would just have to talk to him about it later.

As the boy started running toward me, I felt a familiar surge of mana up ahead. Before I could fully process it, Ha Hee-Jeong appeared before us, likely having used teleportation magic.

“Whoa! What the—?!”

Startled, Hakin nearly toppled over, and I instinctively reached out to steady him.

Ha Hee-Jeong’s eyes swept over the scene, and she spoke in a tone laced with exasperation, “What’s this? Hidden mi—

cough,

I mean... What are you two doing here? And who’s this kid?”

After I quickly explained the hidden mission and how we ended up in this situation, Ha Hee-Jeong nodded, seeming to grasp the situation. We exchanged introductions and she turned to face Hakin.

“Azad Hakin, right?”

“Yes! Why do you ask?”

“You haven’t joined a party yet, right? You seem to have a lot of magical talent. How about joining our party? I could teach you a thing or two.”

Wait, Ha Hee-Jeong is offering to recruit him?

It seemed my initial judgment had been correct: Azad Hakin did have a gift for magic.

His eyes widened in shock.

“Me? Really? I just picked up a few things from the posts you made on the Community!”

“Nice. Well, someone like me can pick up on an individual’s talent just from the mana flow around their body. You’ve got real potential.”

His eyes momentarily sparkled with excitement before he quickly composed himself, shaking his head.

“Ah, thank you for the offer, but I’m already in a party.”

“I see. Well, if you ever change your mind or need a new party, feel free to reach out.”

“Yes! I will!”

Ha Hee-Jeong casually brushed off his refusal, but I saw a glimmer of disappointment in her eyes. Hakin had clearly left a strong impression on her. His refusal and loyalty to his party likely only reinforced her desire to have him as a part of our team.

Hakin smiled sheepishly, barely containing his excitement. Well, he was still a young boy, after all. Getting an offer from one of the top-ranking climbers had to be exhilarating.

Ha Hee-Jeong gave a knowing smile and nodded.

“Alright then, let’s get moving.”

***

[Follow the arrow toward Fort Pogoren. Time remaining: 1 hour 49 minutes.]

The fortress loomed ahead, its sheer size defying all common sense. Even though we were still several kilometers from it, it was simply so massive that we could see it from where we stood.

Nestled between two towering mountains that seemed to scrape the sky, the grand gray fortress spanned a canyon over four kilometers wide. I had heard that the Grand Canyon wasn’t even two kilometers at its widest.

Hmm, can you even call this a canyon at this point?

If we were going off the dictionary, this gorge technically still qualified.

The fortress’s walls appeared to have been carved into the mountain peaks themselves, with towering fortifications stretching along their ridges. I spotted a set of colossal gates in the center where scattered figures moved—a mix of refugees, remnants of defeated forces, and climbers from other species. Surprisingly, I didn’t see any Earthlings.

Hakin was clearly shocked by the sight of non-humans, and he asked in a flustered voice, “What—what are those?”

“They’re from other planets. Remember? Four species from our sector were chosen to climb the Tower of Ordeal.”

“They’re not enemies, right?”

“No. They wouldn’t be heading into the fortress with us if they were. Let’s go. The climbers who’ve already entered have moved to the waiting room, so there’s no need to worry.”

Heeding Ha Hee-Jeong’s urging, we resumed our approach toward the fortress.

[Congratulations. Challenger Kwon Su-Hyeok has conquered the fifteenth floor of the Tower of Ordeal: Path to the Fortress. Achievement points will be calculated.]

[The highest-scoring party on the fifteenth floor was Kwon Su-Hyeok’s Party. Achievement points will be calculated.]

[Kwon Su-Hyeok’s party has accomplished the following achievements: first to reach the fortress, refugee rescue, saving the imperial remnants, completing the hidden missions ‘Rescue the Princess’ and ‘Lung Shark's Dagger.’]

[Challenger Kwon Su-Hyeok has been awarded 6,729 achievement points. Total achievement points: 45,154. He will now enter the waiting room.]

***

「Invisible message: One of Lung Shark’s four sacred relics has been discovered. Challenger Kwon Su-Hyeok will be granted the rank of commander for the reinforcements on the sixteenth floor.」