‘······ Should I go?’
I completely discarded even the thought of my existence and calmly walked forward.
“······??”
The first asymbiotic species tilted its head as I brushed past.
But that was all.
───
“······?”
The second asymbiotic species also passed by, and as I continued walking, more than a dozen of them glided by without recognizing me.
‘This works… So, my stealth can even baffle S-ranks?’
That means even the spirit controlling them, ‘Crystalride,’ couldn’t detect my presence.
Perhaps the first encounter with the ‘ascended asymbiotic species’ was indeed special.
‘··· Is this it?’
Surprisingly, I dashed for quite a while in a state of non-existence and eventually arrived at the location marked by the flashing point on the map.
– The fragment of the Seeker tainted by chaos, ‘Crystal Road,’ recognizes you.
‘Huh… I didn’t really expect it when the message popped up. So it’s really a fragment of the Seeker. I thought it only led to worlds with those tall people, but it doesn’t seem to be just that after all.’
It seems like the fish that became the Seeker really scattered across dimensions.
‘Well, at least it recognized me as a leader. How grandiose of a title is that?’
The spirit controlling the ascended asymbiotic species.
More than a spirit, it seemed like a being that should have been called a monster was beckoning me to come up.
Of course, whether it wanted me to come or not, I had to go.
The beings that passed by were all rushing towards where I was.
The place I reached was an endless tower made of ice. It wasn’t particularly beautiful, but the aura emanating from the entire tower was anything but ordinary.
‘This is the Ice Tower that Hyeon Joong-seob mentioned… How high have I climbed?’
At least it wasn’t structured in multiple layers.
‘If I had to defeat enemies floor by floor at this height, it could have taken not just days, but weeks. What a relief.’
The tower was entirely packed with ice, and spiraling along its outer wall were stairs shaped like fish scales.
‘There are several beings with the energy of spirits inside the tower. They seem to be the main body. How should I deal with them?’
It wasn’t easy to make a judgment, but I didn’t have time to think, so I immediately began to ascend the tower.
‘I guess I don’t need to take the stairs.’
Swoosh───
With my high-speed flight ability, I shot straight up into the sky, realizing once again that this world was much more vast than I had thought.
‘I didn’t notice before because the forest was so thick, but this is no joke. I’ve never seen such tall mountains before.’
The majesty of nature here was incomparable to that of our Earth.
I hadn’t seen Everest, but dozens of mountains that were massively larger than it were visible.
‘As I explore the dungeon, I can’t help but bow my head. There must be strong beings in such a wide world, right?’
Heaven above heaven.
If the fish that became the Seeker had realized this quickly, perhaps it wouldn’t have scattered into fragments across dimensions?
Upon reaching the top of the tower, I wanted to ask the Crystal Road a question.
Do you know your true essence?
Tap-
‘··· Huh? Hahaha··· Of course. What was I expecting?’
But upon reaching the peak, I realized immediately upon seeing the being reflected in my eyes.
‘That’s not a higher being. It’s merely a parasite living according to instinct.’
Shockingly, the lizardman I first encountered seemed the most human, while the creature before me had rotten, dead fish-like eyes staring at me.
[You’ve come… host…]
‘Shut up.’
Did you think I came up here without any preparations?
[Flame Shot]
Boom──!!
A Flame Shot packed with 1,000 magic power flew straight toward its head.
And at the same time.
[Teleport]
‘I don’t know, just crash into it!’
An unknown being.
Giving it time to gauge an opponent that is far stronger than me is meaningless.
[Quack?]
The asymbiotic species known as Crystal Road casually tossed the incoming Flame Shot into the air.
‘Just like that other guy earlier, it clearly sees my skill as a joke!’
[空斩-style Flame Cut]
Swish──!
As I launched the flame, I teleported behind it and cleanly severed the head of Crystal Road.
What allowed me to instantly behead the ultra-powerful being that had previously thwarted Hyeon Joong-seob and Park Jin-gon was my incredible movement skill and unreal swordsmanship that could cut through space.
The head of the asymbiotic species floated in mid-air like a spinning top, scattering blood everywhere.
The top of the ice tower soon turned crimson, and anyone watching this duel would have already deemed the outcome decided at this moment.
‘Hmph!’
However, I didn’t feel the rush of having defeated a powerful enemy. Instead, I immediately dodged and unleashed [Thunderhorn] and [Fireball].
Crackle──!
Boom boom boom!!
[Kyahhh!!]
Despite being hit consecutively by magic while separated from its head and body, the monster merely broke into a playful laughter.
Even though its head and body exploded into pieces from my magic, they quickly reformed, connecting into one mass.
‘This damned monster for real.’
Both Escalon and this guy were just as awful.
The regenerative abilities of monsters made me sick to my stomach.
On top of that, the look of disdain and the mocking expression it wore while looking down on weaker foes was so infuriating that I wanted to kill it.
Did the fragment of the Seeker genuinely want to be like this parasitic creature, scattered across dimensions? Someone had to make them realize they were walking down the wrong path.
‘No, I mean, the main body has to be somewhere.’
Unless I defeat its main body, the processes I just went through will endlessly repeat.
‘I can sense an enormous energy from the starting point of the tower all the way to here.’
It wasn’t easy to pinpoint the exact spot.
‘That guy isn’t the main body, so it can’t self-destruct together with me.’
Lost in thought for a moment, I tested the ground beneath my feet.
Bang-! Bang-!
The solidly built tower.
‘Hmm… could this be…’
One thought sprang to mind, but it didn’t seem like the creature was in a mood to wait while I executed it.
Whoosh──!
‘So fast!’
The Crystal Road, wielding a massive staff from who-knows-where, pressured me.
[Bran]
I was managing to evade with the absolute evasion move, Bran, but this wasn’t perfect evasion either, so I began to take hits.
Crash─!
Boom bang!!
‘Ugggh… That’s super fast. The strikes are heavy. It’s definitely not a foe I can handle directly.’
For several minutes, despite pouring all my abilities into the fight, aside from initial attacks, I barely managed to chip away at its defenses.
However, I had so many available abilities that I was still able to hold my ground despite the overwhelming difference in power.
If it hadn’t been for the ‘mystical mucus’ that Yeon-hee put on me every morning and the high success rate of the evasion skill, [Bran], my armor would have already shattered, and I’d have been sent into the Dark Space.
‘But there’s still a chance left.’
It had evaded my attacks, but it was affected by [Curse of the Statue], causing parts of its body to petrify, and it was exposed to the range of the [Dreadful Land of Chaos], noticeably slowing its movements.
‘With the little magic I have left, I’ll stake everything on this one shot!’
[Chain of Flame]
[Distorted Green’s Binding]
Slap──!
[Kruuuu?!]
If I bind it while it’s in a weakened state, I should be able to hold it for a moment.
After the binding, I summoned ‘Gori’ and ‘Jim.’
“Beeeeeeep!!”
[Kiiddeduuuu!!]
‘If Ainz and Zweihander die… it’s the end. What a waste.’
I decided to save Ainz and Zweihander for future use.
According to my calculations, I could bind it for no longer than 5 seconds.
[Groundbreaker]
Boom boom boom boom boom boom—
Without hesitation, I burrowed down through the tower.
As expected, [Groundbreaker] was applied, and I charged toward the center of the tower at full power.
While I was digging into the tower, someone’s screams echoed loudly in my head.
‘I’m almost there—’
Crack-!
But there was something blocking my way.
‘What is this…?’
Small crystals emanating a faint blue light.
‘Crystalride… It seems the outside world is in chaos while you’re comfortably snoozing here?’
I was busy, but I couldn’t just leave this be.
[空斩-style Flame Cut]
Shhh—!
– You have successfully defeated the spirit ‘Crystalride’ for the first time!
– Achieved the accomplishment [Spirit Slayer]!
‘These little guys don’t trigger [Thievery]? Spirits don’t get counted as monsters?’
[Spirit Slayer]
– Magic +50 when defeating a spirit
– Spirit soul fragment +1 when defeating a spirit
‘Oooh… This accomplishment is actually pretty handy.’
I contemplated what to use the spirit soul fragments for while heading toward the center, barely shaking off the pursuit of the Crystal Road, and finally reached the middle of the tower.
[Kwaaaahhh!!]
‘Too late. I know your main body is the tower itself. The reaction confirms it.’
A massive Crystal Road that housed over twenty Crystalrides within it. That was its true identity.
When I reached the first floor, there was a reason it called for me urgently.
[Blast of Madness]
– ‘One life’ cannot resolve the current situation.
‘Damn! These days, using multiple lives is the default, huh?’
– Would you like to add extra lives?
– Currently, there are fifteen additional lives available. How many lives do you want to—
‘Ugh… Five should suffice, right?’
Kiiiiiing──
‘Done!’
In the moment of skill activation, I saw the blue eyes of the Crystal Road rushing toward me.
At this point, it made me wonder if the blue-eyed creatures were the real problem.
Did it realize it was too late?
Fear, despair, sadness, and other complex emotions swirled within the depths of its eyes.
[This way… I don’t want to die… I…]
‘······.’
Was that the scream of Crystal Road, or of the asymbiotic species…?
Zing───
As the skill activated, a pillar of light rose from my body, beginning to crack the towering ice that seemed to reach the sky.
And along with the massive energy penetrating the center, the vast amounts of ice forming the Crystal Road and the twenty-plus spirits vanished without a trace.
‘Of course, I’m the same.’
For some time now, I had been feeling less resistance to self-destruction.
If it were anyone else, they probably would have avoided it; or they would have needed sheer luck to overcome the formidable foe—but I was using my lives to push through.
Still, no matter the process, to achieve the result, I would use every means necessary moving forward. Especially if this was an opportunity to seize that couldn’t be missed.
Sahara…
Everything turned to shards of light, painting the sky.
– The achievement [Start of the Immortal] has been activated!
And I lay on the ground, quietly gazing at it.
‘Ah, there are perks to being immortal. The explosion of the spirit is quite beautiful.’
– You have retrieved the fragment of the ‘Seeker’ tainted by chaos. (3/3)
– You recover two lives!
Having spent five lives, I regained two.
With my status window reflecting [78 lives], I slowly read through the late messages that appeared.
– You have defeated ‘Crystalride’!
– The achievement [Spirit Slayer] has been activated.
– Magic +50, spirit soul fragment +1
– You have defeated ‘Crystalride’!
– The achievement [Spirit Slayer] upgraded to [Spirit Exterminator].
‘Oooh… It’s my first time seeing an upgrade like this.’
Having defeated three spirits, I had now become a Spirit Exterminator.
– Magic +100, spirit soul fragment +2
‘Looks like the rewards doubled.’
Having defeated more than twenty spirits, my magic shot up by nearly 2,000.
‘That’s insane…’
My magic was currently at 3,000, and to increase by 2,000 was unreal. I wondered what the rewards from the Road would be.
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