Chapter 25 - Countdown
‘You were a child born to hear the voice of the world.’
It was a faded mory where even the scene was unclear, but the voice within it was still clearly engraved in her mind.
The voice of her father, whom she had always trusted and followed.
‘So... if the world ever needs you. Please, lend it your ear.’
From the mont she heard those words.
Her ‘curse’ had always been with her.
Darien Anfeld’s world was always filled with noise.
Being able to read others’ minds just by closing the distance ant that quiet rest had little connection with her.
So had called her ability proof of sainthood or so such thing.
‘…My ass.’
She didn’t particularly want to tear apart the doctrines of the church she was a part of.
But her honest feeling was that she wanted to tell other people to try living with this ability for just one day.
It was certainly a great ability, if you could call it that.
But the feeling of having information she didn't want to know forcibly shoved into her day in and day out was a hardship sufficient to wear down the spirit of an ordinary girl.
In the first place, she was in a situation where she was strongly beginning to doubt whether the church she was a part of was really doing the right thing.
Recently, she had even occasionally had the blasphemous thought that she was just a scapegoat being used for propaganda.
Until she t a certain man who said he truly believed in the ‘prophecy’ her father had spoken of.
“…”
While her hands were fiddling with the mana crystal and diligently bypassing the mana, Darien’s mind was filled only with thoughts of the man she had just t.
It was the first ti.
She had t a person whose ‘mind she couldn’t read’ despite being so close.
How was such a thing possible?
“Oh, ooh! Th-the vibration is stopping!”
“The prophecy was right after all! The gospels were all true!”
As the surroundings quieted down at the sa ti as the manipulation of the mana crystal was finished, the followers shouted in unison.
So even ca up to her and grabbed her by the shoulders, shaking her.
“Saintess! Saintess! We were not wrong! It is all as the prophecy foretold!”
“Yes… Yes. That’s right.”
In a way, it was the mont of proof she had longed for her whole life, that her father was not a swindler, but Darien could only give a lukewarm response.
Her head was still wandering far away.
To be honest, If it weren’t for a certain man who had pushed her to act according to the prophecy just now, she doubted if she would have really done such a thing.
‘…Strange.’
The fact that he had co looking for her out of the blue was one thing.
The fact that he had pushed her back without a shred of doubt, saying that her father’s prophecy, which even she had been unsure of, was definitely right, was another.
At the very least, his appearance at this timing was too exquisitely tid.
It was as if he had appeared just when her faith was wavering.
‘More than anything…’
The fact that she couldn't read his mind at all bothered her the most.
She had never once in her life t a person who was an ‘exception’ to her ability.
That man, what on earth was he?
Surely.
She surely had a mory of hearing sothing related to this situation before.
“Let us raise a toast! Saintess, today is a very joyous-”
Even as the follower who had grabbed her shoulder was passionately speaking, Darien’s consciousness was diligently searching through her mind.
She rummaged through the things that were covered in white dust in the back of her mory's warehouse.
It was hard to concentrate at all because one of the followers kept shaking her shoulder.
“The Savior is surely watching over us! Soon, according to the gospel, His incarnation will also descend in person-”
“Wait a minute. What did you say?”
“...Pardon?”
The follower stopped speaking, flustered by Darien’s sudden response.
The fact that her eyes were suddenly burning fiercely probably contributed to that emotion.
“What did you just say?”
“That... the Savior is watching over us...”
“Not that.”
“The part about the Savior’s incarnation descending, you an...”
“That’s it.”
The follower who was holding Darien’s shoulder shut his mouth.
The eyes of the woman he was facing, well.
They were slightly creepy.
“...Saintess?”
“Yes. If it’s that, then surely... there was definitely sothing like that in the gospel..”
As Darien muttered that, the follower took a step back.
It was because he felt a heat that seed insane.
Of course, Darien was thinking about the man just now, so she didn’t notice such things at all.
Yes.
If that man was the ‘incarnation of the Savior’ spoken of in the gospel, then everything fit perfectly.
His sudden appearance before her when her faith was wavering.
His immunity to her ability.
‘…’
Well.
Darien rolled the word around in her mouth once more.
The incarnation of the Savior.
The ssiah she was ant to believe in and follow, as told in the gospel.
“…”
It was strange.
Captivating turn of phrase.
***
“Why are you looking at your watch again?”
“Because there are two things to check.”
“Two things?”
“One is that.”
I said, pointing with my chin at the subjugation team trudging down from above.
“You guys seem to have had a hard ti. Was it rough up there?”
“…”
From the side, Seo Ah-in looked at with a ‘you’re one to talk’ gaze, but the people who heard didn’t seem to have the leisure to talk back.
There wasn't a single person who wasn't a complete ss.
And even in that situation, seeing the look of emptiness on their faces before the pain, it seed these people had also realized that this floor’s Conquest Token had been taken by soone else first.
“…We’re withdrawing. There’s nothing more to gain here.”
That was clear just from Im Jae-hwan’s weary voice.
I tilted my head and asked with an innocent face.
“Nothing more to gain?”
“Do I have to explain that for you to know? It ans soone already finished the subjugation, you idiot. Pack your things.”
“Who would do such a thing?”
“…”
As I said that with a startled look, the way Seo Ah-in next to was looking at evolved into a look of soone seeing trash.
In contrast, Im Jae-hwan just seed to glance this way with an annoyed look and leave it at that.
Well, no matter what, no one could imagine that two F-grade Climber porters had taken down the Area Guardian.
And that ‘perception’ would be helpful in various ways.
I sighed and checked my watch.
Until the world event manifestation… there was still so ti left.
After this ‘situation’ passed, the ti would be just right.
-!
Space wavered abruptly in front of the subjugation team mbers.
A spatial transfer gate, and the harbinger of a large portal capable of transporting a large number of people.
And the eyes of everyone who saw it widened.
“Group spatial transfer? Inside the Tower?”
“Who the hell are they…?”
Murmurs flowed from all over.
Well, inside the Tower, no space-related skills, be it a return scroll or whatever, worked, so it was a natural reaction.
For example, Unless it was a place like the ‘Climber Association’, which possessed all sorts of ridiculous items.
The subjugation team mbers’ expressions also hardened as they saw the black-clad personnel walking out from inside the opened portal.
“The Association…? Why on earth are they here…?”
“Is sothing big happening?”
“There was a huge vibration a little while ago. Isn’t it because of that?”
As they muttered amongst themselves, the leader at the head of the Association personnel spoke in a stiff voice.
“Inspector from the Climber Association. We ask for your cooperation in our investigation. Are you the subjugation team that occupied this floor?”
At the voice that was clearly not friendly, the subjugation team mbers looked at each other in great confusion.
Well, no matter how much these guys belonged to the prestigious Hunting Alliance guild.
Their opponent was the Association, which acted as a ‘manager’ for all the guilds in the world.
If things went south, there was no way they could handle it either.
“W-we think there’s been so mistake. We were also in the middle of occupying this place when another subjugation team dealt with the Area Guardian first, so it was a complete bust for us.”
At the answer Im Jae-hwan gave with an awkward smile, the inspector smirked and replied.
“Is that so?”
“Yes. So I don’t know who you’re looking for, but…”
“Restrain them all.”
“No, what?! What the…!”
And before Im Jae-hwan could protest, the Association personnel had already subdued the entire subjugation team in the blink of an eye.
Seo Ah-in and I were also forced to our knees, but I sent a signal to the panicking girl with my eyes.
-Stay still.
-…
Seeing her obediently kneel, the inspector looked down at Im Jae-hwan, who was struggling with his limbs bound, and opened his mouth with a stern expression.
“An enormous mana reaction just occurred in this vicinity. If it had been left alone, an explosion that could have blown away the entire 1st floor of the Tower would have occurred. And the Association’s observation departnt is speculating that the main cause was ‘sothing committed’ by the humans who entered that Area Guardian region.”
Well, he was right.
However, it was sothing that would have happened naturally according to the progression, but the nuance of the Association’s words seed to define it as a kind of terrorist activity.
In other words.
Mr. Im Jae-hwan and his subordinates were now on the verge of ruin. They were about to be frad for sothing outrageous.
The reason Mr. Im Jae-hwan was desperately making excuses was probably because he realized that.
“But we didn’t do anything…!”
“We’ll hear about that slowly during the investigation. Besides, it seems you just lied. Didn’t you?”
The inspector sneered and kicked Im Jae-hwan.
“The only Climbers who entered this floor today were you guys. And soone definitely got the Conquest Token first. If not you, then who the hell was it? Judging by your state, it looks like you just ca from a battle.”
“Th-that’s…!”
It was the two porters here.
As I thought that to myself and let out a smirk, the inspector gestured with his chin to the nearby Association personnel.
Then they gagged the ashen-faced Mr. Im Jae-hwan and the subjugation team mbers and prepared to throw them into the portal imdiately.
Well.
The other side of that portal was probably the Association’s interrogation room.
A place famous for leaving a deep impression on the friends who went inside.
-…Mr. Kim Gyu-sik? Aren’t we in big trouble?!
-I told you to stay still.
As I was calming the panicking Seo Ah-in, I noticed the Association mber who was about to throw into the portal hesitate.
“…F-grade?”
His gaze was fixed on the Climber licenses that Seo Ah-in and I were wearing.
Well, certainly.
As you could tell from Seo Ah-in’s reaction when I first said I would participate here, it was almost unheard of for an F-grade Climber to participate in a subjugation team.
It was natural for this person to suddenly have a question.
“Inspector. These n are F-grade Climbers.”
“…What? Why is an F-grade in a place like this?”
As the inspector said that, I imdiately opened my mouth at the right ti.
“So, we are also porters of the sa group. We wanted to quit but were forced to co. Please understand.”
“What? What kind of bullshit are you…!”
Leaving Mr. Im Jae-hwan, who was trying to refute in horror.
I took out the recorder from my pocket.
It was an item I had been carrying since I joined this party.
As I quietly played it, the verbal abuse Mr. Im Jae-hwan had poured on us ca out just as it was.
[Useless freeloaders are only useful when used as at shields like this.]
[These fucking bastards! You worms!]
[You guys stay outside and guard the luggage. You useless pieces of shit.]
As the faces of Mr. Im Jae-hwan and the subjugation team mbers who were listening to it turned increasingly ashen, the faces of the Association personnel grew more and more grim.
“…Co to think of it, I’ve heard of it. That there’s a piece of trash in the Hunting Alliance who repeatedly forces cadets or F-grade Climbers into deadly situations. His na was… Im Jae-hwan, was it?”
“N-no! A misunderstanding! It’s a misunderstanding!”
“Right. We’ll listen to your excuses at the Association building.”
With those words, Mr. Im Jae-hwan and his subordinates, except for and Seo Ah-in, were all thrown into the portal.
Seo Ah-in and I imdiately received the inspector’s sympathetic praise.
“You really went through a lot. I’m sorry for trying to arrest you along with them without knowing that.”
“We should be the ones thanking you, since we were saved thanks to you. Otherwise, we really would have died.”
“…”
Seo Ah-in’s gaze at was now becoming sothing indescribable, but I ignored it again.
“W-wait! Inspector! Inspector!”
While Seo Ah-in and I were enveloped in such a heartwarming atmosphere, soone shouted in a desperate voice.
“What is it? You look like you’ve seen the end of the world.”
Well, Inspector.
That joke, it seems to have so bite to it.
I let out an inward smirk and checked my watch.
Yes.
It starts right about now.
The world event.
“The sky! Look at the sky!”
“The sky?”
The inspector shouted and looked up at the sky.
There, ‘letters’ were floating in the air.
With an interface similar to the status window I used to see.
[ Confirming conquest progress. ]
[ Confirming that the floor’s conquest level has progressed beyond a certain value. ]
[ Updating… ]
This probably wasn't sothing only visible to the people here.
It was likely being updated in a state where it was plastered on a massive scale in the sky near the Tower for the whole world to see.
“Hey.”
While everyone around was in confusion at the situation they were seeing for the first ti, I quietly spoke to Seo Ah-in, who was also blankly looking up at the sky.
“You asked before. Why I was trying to get so strong.”
[ Conquest progress calculation complete. Judging overall combat power level capable of proceeding to the next stage. ]
[ Phase 2 begins. Opening the 11th floor. The main quest begins. From this ti forth, a ‘trial’ will be applied. ]
While the letters appeared in succession, Seo Ah-in responded in a bewildered voice.
“Yes… Yes? What are you talking about right now?”
“That thing.”
I sighed and also looked up at the sky.
“It’s because of that.”
It was a phrase I had seen an disgustingly large number of tis in the ga.
But seeing it this ti didn't make feel any less bad.
[ All conquerors, please promptly conquer the next floor. ]
[ In case of failure… ]
[…‘Punishnt’ will be carried out.]
[ The estimated number of deaths for the 1st stage punishnt is 10,000,000. ]
With that phrase.
A giant tir was set in the empty air.
[ Good luck, Conqueror. ]
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