Chapter 292: The Abandoned Believers (3)

The secret passage was dark.

“Shiny. What are you waiting for? Shine.”

[Shiny is delighted to hear the command after a long time.]

[Shiny is strongly loathing herself for being happy about this...]

Since merging with all the sister swords and becoming complete, Shiny had become much more expressive.

It’s like a cheese pizza with camembert, cheddar, and gouda on top...

[Shiny points out that you forgot Parmesan cheese!]

Shiny shone brightly, as if she craved quattro formaggi pizza.

Even though the passage had been abandoned for over a hundred and fifty years, it was still in pretty good condition. The rock walls had collapsed in various places, blocking the path a bit, but I just cut down the debris with my aura.

From time to time, the Guardian gave me indications.

—Don't even look to the northeast. Even if you happen to do that, be sure to look away before twenty-three seconds. Their security system works even underground. Oh, and don’t stop enhancing your vision using aura. You see those stone floorings with a slightly different color, right? Don't step on them.

I pretended to talk to myself. “Okay. Maybe I should go this way.”

The Guardian knew exactly where I shouldn’t look or go. It felt like traps were set every twelve seconds, but I didn't fall for any of them.

—At the first forked path, go left.

“

Hmm.

My intuition is telling me I should go this way...”

The headquarters of the strongest force on the fiftieth floor was like a quattro formaggi pizza to me.

—Right. There's a monster trap ahead. Just run across the wall.

I continued to pretend to talk to myself. “Wow, I’m right again. I’m definitely lucky. For some reason, going right felt wrong.”

Of course, I’m not doing this because I'm crazy.

—You sure?

Come on, who do you think I am?

—You.

Contrary to the Guardian's ominous suggestion, I was doing this to confuse the Constellations who were watching me, acting as if I had Skills that make me lucky or detect traps. I didn’t stop talking.

[The Lonely Seeker is speechless at the speed of your advance.]

[The Impatient Lady wants to slap your mouth.]

[The Incarnation of Love and Lust wants to spank your butt too!]

[The Labyrinth-Dwelling Eye is very suspicious of your Skills.]

Okay. Even though some of the Constellations were total weirdos, they took the bait. I quickly made my way through the secret passage, sensing that I was getting closer to the heart of the Magic Tower. As I walked, something similar to aura, but much more persistent and similar to a poisonous fog, became stronger.

—Stop.

I froze at the Guardian's instruction.

—You have to be careful from now on.

I could see nothing from the floor that Shiny illuminated. However, the Guardian spoke seriously, as if a red starting line was drawn in front of me.

—The mages of the Magic Tower have biological imprints on them. These imprints serve as a kind of identification to the alarm’s detection magic, allowing the mages to enter and exit freely. Here, anyone who doesn’t have the imprint of a Spider will be recognized as an outsider, therefore triggering the alarm.

“

Hmm.

Somehow, I feel like I’m going to get in big trouble if I act recklessly from here on out...”

—But it takes a while for the alarm and magic to activate.

“At first glance, it doesn’t seem like a trap that triggers immediately...”

The Guardian chuckled as he watched me act so naturally. He raised his left hand and pointed forward.

—Six seconds. You just have to pass this section within six seconds. Actually, I’m not sure if it's six or seven seconds. Anyway, when I tried it in the past, the alarm didn't sound because I ran across this section in under six seconds.

I turned my head. The passage was dark and distant. It seemed that a deep abyss stretched ahead, too dark for Shiny’s light to penetrate. I picked up a rock to test out the distance, throwing it with all my might, like a baseball player. The stone flew straight out, but nothing was heard except the sound of the projectile piercing the air. After a long time, a small thump finally echoed as it collided with something. The end of the tunnel definitely did not seem close.

The Guardian stifled his laughter.

—It’s a bit far, right? Man, do you get how great I was back in the day? I was basically a comet streaking across the sky. My hair happened to be red, too. It fluttered behind me like a comet's tail.

I looked around the passage.

So you made it to the other side in six seconds, right?

The Guardian shrugged.

—

Yup.

Okay, that sounded fun.

I said, “Constellations. I may not be an expert at magic, but I’m good at sensing it. It seems like the Spiders have played a bit of a trick up ahead.”

I put Shiny back in the scabbard and stretched my legs to loosen up my muscles.

“I’ve just arrived on the fiftieth floor, but you guys have shown interest in me. So I would like to give you a chance to see what kind of person I am.”

[The Lonely Seeker is interested in what you have to say.]

[The Labyrinth-Dwelling Eye knows what lies ahead but remains silent.]

After I sheathed Shiny, darkness enveloped everything around me. There was supposed to be nothing but cold air, but strange and ominous mana hung around like fog. Darkness seemed to sway like an actual tentacle. After finishing my warm-up, I took a deep breath.

The Lightness Art I used was created by Teacher herself. She had refined and improved the Kunlun Sect’s art.

Here I come!

The secret wasn’t to simply wrap aura around my legs. I also formed small aura beads, or sponges, under my feet, so that I wouldn’t step on the ground directly. Instead, I stepped on the aura masses that had been created under my feet, applying enough pressure to burst them.

I repeated this constantly. Of course, one mistake would instantly leave me disabled for the rest of my life. It was already hard to strengthen my legs using aura without damaging my bones and muscles, but I was also using aura mass explosions to propel myself forward.

You said it took you six seconds, right?

I compressed aura under my feet harder than ever before. Like a child squeezing a ball of clay, layer after layer of aura converged into small masses. Like this, I created springs that were capable of exploding at any moment.

I’ll make it in five.

And I charged forward. I was so fast that I could compete with a missile.

After a second, I heard the Guardian's whistling in the distant darkness. I smiled and focused solely on creating aura spring bombs and stepping on them. The Constellations reacted more fervently.

[The Lonely Seeker is amazed at your aura mastery!]

[The Labyrinth-Dwelling Eye is sure you are not a beginner!]

After two seconds, I could feel the sharp wind that brushed past my cheeks, so I wrapped aura around my entire body. A sticky curtain of mana formed like a spider web, blocking my charge. Of course, I tore through it.

Three seconds had passed, but I still couldn’t see the end of the passage. However, the intensity of the mana spider web curtain was becoming stronger and stronger. I could feel that I was approaching the Magic Tower’s heart very fast.

After four seconds, I ran even faster. I compressed the aura spring bombs harder and fiercer. If I overexerted myself, there would be dire consequences, but I didn't care.

Five seconds! Finally, my senses picked up a rock wall in front of me. The end of this secret passage, the entrance to the Magic Tower’s heart, was right in front of me. If I slowed down, I could barely make it to six seconds and stop in front of the entrance peacefully, but I kept running.

Five seconds aren’t up yet!

Thuuuuud!

I crashed into the dark wall. Well, I broke through it. Though I covered myself in aura, I couldn't negate the impact completely, so I rolled around on the ground.

“

Ouch, ugh, ouch, ouch, ouch...

”

Rumble.

The wall I had broken through collapsed, and bricks came crashing down. I slowly stood up, rubbing my thighs as a cloud of dust rose around me. No intruder alarm was triggered.

“

Ugh.

Constellations, I think I passed through the secret passage safely. Though my thighs,

urgh

, suffered a little.”

Needless to say, the Constellations were dumbstruck.

[The Labyrinth-Dwelling Eye is speechless.]

[The Lonely Seeker begins to feel sorry for the Magic Tower!]

[The Incarnation of Love and Lust is delighted to realize that you are a psycho!]

[The Incarnation of Love and Lust strongly recommends that you take not only the single quests but also long campaigns!]

[The Incarnation of Love and Lust is ready to promise you a huge quest reward!]

That Constellation had been like that for a while, so I just ignored the messages.

Now, Mr. Sword Emperor, what do you think? Don't you think that there is an insurmountable wall between six seconds and five seconds, as in, there is an absolute line that separates the above average from the genius? In other words, I am a meteor that surpasses comets. A meteor may seem weaker than a comet, but, in most RPGs, Meteor is a very powerful spell. This reflects the general perception of the world—

When I turned my head to tease the Guardian, I locked eyes with someone I didn’t know. It seemed that the person in front of me had been cleaning the basement. After looking around carefully, I realized that I ended up in a sewer.

The smell of cheese way past its prime wafted from everywhere. It was clear that the people who had to clean this place were probably not of high rank, nor were they the children or friends of high-ranking people. In short, they would be the lowest of the low in the Magic Tower.

A boy mage, who probably had the lowest rank around, was holding a broom and looking at me with terrified eyes. He wiggled his toes, something I could see because he was barefoot, to try to run. Unfortunately, he was petrified in absolute fear.

“I-intruder... Intruder... Intruder...!”

I grabbed the boy’s shoulder and smiled like a gentleman. Gently, I said, “Hello. It’s nice to meet you.”

The boy shut his mouth.

What I realized later was that, from the boy's perspective, I was a human who had passed through a huge wall. Even though I was a little sore and covered in dust from head to toe, I was completely unscathed. Such an inhumane human’s gentle smile wouldn’t be too effective in forming a favorable first impression.

Regardless, I tried to be kind to everyone, so I kept my bright smile as I spoke to the boy in the kindest voice possible. I said, “It seems that I lost my way. I don’t know where I am. Could you please give me directions?”

“D-directions? This place is the Magic Tower! The second branch of the Magic Tower—”

“Surely this isn’t the Magic Tower, right? I’m simply lost and somehow ended up in this place, but entering the Magic Tower will automatically make me an intruder and get me killed. I don’t want to die, so I’ll have to kill any witnesses I encounter if that’s the case. This place isn’t

the

Magic Tower, right?”

“

Eek!

” The boy dropped the broom. “

Ah

, no! T-this p-place isn’t the Magic Tower! No! Magic Tower? I don’t know where that is! Please, I didn’t see anything...

Ah

, I didn’t see anything!”

I nodded, genuinely satisfied. “

Ah.

That’s great.”

I also wanted the boy to know that I was satisfied with his answer, so I smiled again. It seemed the boy finally felt relieved as he swallowed hard. This was enough to let him know that I was harmless.

“I’m looking for Hamustra’s followers because I have something to discuss with them. I’m terribly sorry, but could you help me with some directions in this place, which is definitely not the Magic Tower but still a very difficult to navigate location?”

“

Eh

.

Um

, Hamustra’s believers are under strict surveillance. I, I... I...”

"Come on. People should help each other out when there are obstacles, right?” I gave the boy a refreshing massage on his shoulder. “You can at least give me directions, can’t you?”

The boy trembled. “Yes,

uh...

”

His eyes were watery. Surprisingly, most of the human body was made up of water. Sometimes, that water was discharged through the eyes.

“I’ll help you... guide you... So, please don’t kill me... Spare me, please...”

I patted the boy on the back. “Wow. I knew there was still some good left in the world! Thank you, Unknown Spider. I’ll make sure to repay you later.

Oh

, of course, only after we escape safely from this place that isn’t the Magic Tower. Let’s do our best so that we can make it out of here alive!”

“

Ugh

... Okay...”

“I am Kim Gong-Ja, Mr. Mage. What is your name?”

“M-my name is Charumu...

Waaaah...

.”

For some reason, the boy started sobbing. Still, I was satisfied that things had gone better than I expected. I was just about to go on my merry way before I realized that I hadn’t finished bragging to the Guardian.

Oh, right. Anyway, Mr. Sword Emperor, I was one second faster than you. When you think about it, one second can become ten seconds, one year, even one hundred years. It’s safe to say that I’m actually one hundred years ahead of you. In other words, the Heavenly Demon Cult’s Lightness Art is the best. Do you admit it, Mr. Six Seconds? Will you humbly admit that you are one hundred years behind me because I made it through that passage in five seconds?

For some reason, the Guardian looked at me with a swirl of mixed emotions in his eyes.

— Yeah... There is a reason the Viper is your rival...

What?

—Nothing. You’re the best.

Okay. Now that everything was perfect, it was time to go save some people!