Chapter 123 – 17th Floor. Descent

Even without touching it, I could feel the intense pain through the thick barrier.

I couldn’t imagine what each second would feel like inside there.

‘Can I really do this?’

Standing before the soul crystal with spider web-like thin cracks, such a weak thought suddenly occurred to me.

The plan to use myself as a vessel to accept these souls and guide them to the spirit realm was an improvised one that burst instinctively from my throat upon seeing those who could neither ascend nor perish, waiting to be consumed as the Necromancer’s spare lives.

‘Can I maintain my… self after accepting all these souls?’

To be honest, I wasn’t confident.

I had already been a wraith, moving only with hatred and anger after losing my self.

If not for the Master’s lewd yet strangely powerful strength, I would have been the same.

I am not special.

Being called a hero doesn’t prove that I’m especially stronger as a vessel, and even that wouldn’t have made me the unique being the Necromancer speaks of if not for the Master.

What would happen if I accepted this many souls was obvious.

‘…How cowardly.’

Though I’d said I would do it, now that it was right in front of me, my hesitation felt cowardly, making my insides boil.

I think I could understand why renowned sages sometimes go mad.

Self-contradiction.

Despair that I thought I had already abandoned settled in my chest as I pondered between saving the suffering ones and preserving my existence, facing what seemed like an insurmountable wall.

I swallowed saliva that wouldn’t come out, feeling the weight of hundreds and thousands of pairs of eyes looking at me from beyond the crystal.

‘What would Maria have done?’

What suddenly came to mind was my only friend, who’s now somewhat awkward.

The saint with golden hair flowing so long it dragged on the floor, who always smiled when she saw me for whatever reason.

Though I was the expedition leader, Maria was the one who never turned away from injustice during our journey.

She never turned back even when it was clear she would be gnawing away at herself.

When asked why, she would simply answer that she wanted to.

In those immature days, I thought her straightforwardness was foolish, but now I realized it had been the pillar that allowed us to endure that journey filled with strange things.

In fact, I might have been pretending not to know.

I must have been pretending not to know, as I acted insane, became a wraith, took away all life within reach, and comforted myself with the hypocrisy of giving peace before eternal suffering came with the pulverization of even the soul.

“…Ha.”

After admitting it, a ridiculous sigh escaped on its own.

Even while demanding the Master to be a hero or whatever, I still hadn’t escaped being a hypocrite myself.

“How embarrassing…!”

My red eyes flashed.

Those sharply honed eyes, which had once held hope when alive and despair when dead, now directly faced the tens of thousands of pairs of eyes looking down at me.

The thought of accepting all of them was overwhelming. I couldn’t even imagine how much weight it would be.

Yet, despite realizing that weight, my halted hand somehow began to move again.

If I had to find a reason…

‘Because I want to.’

With that simple answer, my hand, which had lost the warmth of life, touched the crystal wall, colder still.

Woooooooong———

As soon as Severa and the Life Vessel made contact, a wave of force shook the entire 17th floor, causing me, Albert, Blue Tongue, and even Levand, who had returned yet again, to wear expressions of astonishment and struggle to maintain balance.

The soul-shaking undulation that seemed endless continued for a long time, and Levand’s face contorted beautifully by the second.

“You… YOU!!! HOW DARE YOU DAMAGE MY MIRACULOUS SOUL FORM!!!”

At his despair-mixed howl, I raised the corner of my mouth spitefully to mock him.

“Hey, bastard! Speak correctly. It’s not yours, it’s mine!”

I would have missed Severa, who would have screamed “It’s not anyone’s!” if she had heard directly, then fallen into thought for about three seconds before making a “Really?” expression, but what could I do?

As I regained my posture, becoming accustomed to the waves emanating from the Life Vessel, Levand, riding the massive corpse, waved his arms widely as if dancing.

A flow of immense magical power circulated through the 17th floor, and like a toy with connected strings, the walls and floor separated and reassembled following his flailing dance moves.

Thus, another massive floor was created.

No, having the map, I could recognize exactly what this was.

‘So this is the original 17th floor!’

There was a reason the strangely winding corridors or maze-like endless bends had felt alien.

“Even if the source of life has been stolen, the dominion over this layer still belongs to me! Don’t think you’ll die easily…!”

“You? Nah… I don’t think so.”

Grind- Gritting-!

Gradually heating up, the sound of grinding teeth was so loud it seemed to come from right beside me despite the distance.

While wondering if his teeth would become sensitive later from grinding like that, I felt the fragments of the 17th floor undulating beneath my feet.

“From now on, I won’t waste even a second.”

The giant god made from an entire kingdom’s worth of people that he was riding had grown with its waist buried in the floor, unable to be contained within just the 17th floor.

Perhaps its lower body was embedded in the ceiling of the 18th floor?

Unlike that comical appearance, the massive corpse could now use both arms, no longer needing to hold onto the outskirts of the Infinite Gallery of Knowledge to avoid falling into the dimension beyond.

And what followed was overwhelming, as if his vow not to waste even a second was no joke.

If, as Levand said, the number of humans used to make that thing reached 1 million, taking an average of 60kg per person with half a million in the upper body, that thing’s weight could be calculated at roughly 30,000 tons.

Though it’s not a perfect calculation, the result of such weight swinging its arms with all its might and striking down with both arms is something no mere human could endure.

“Haha! Then I’ll go all-out here too!”

I shoved my hand into the mimic’s mouth, filled with moist tactile sensations, and roughly pulled out all the scrolls I could grab.

A total of four scrolls wedged between my fingers.

I bit one of the scrolls and tore it roughly.

【Scroll of Superior Protection】

As the scroll containing a superior spell that blocks a massive amount of damage was destroyed, the magic curled up and crouched inside burst forth and stood in front of the black wave of enormous fragments.

An enormous tsunami of debris filling the entire field of vision.

Protecting myself from it was just a single thin, transparent golden membrane, but I wasn’t worried.

“Both of you, behind me!”

Pop!

Their actions were swift at just my shout, having judged the situation.

And Blue Tongue didn’t stop at just avoiding; she threw her spear to make a large hole in that wave.

Kwagwagwagwang———!!!

But following the obvious principle that a point cannot block a plane, the catastrophe created by pure weight and power clashed with the thin, disposable magic.

Though it was only about 10 seconds, this time felt impossibly long, and what remained was not a huge, overwhelming wave but me and the two who had made a short voyage using the shield as a boat.

Yet this was just a prelude.

For the next attack, I moved first.

‘I absolutely can’t defeat that corpse mass.’

Though the specs existed to suggest it could be killed, in reality, it was closer to a dummy, and when actually hitting it, damage reduction kicked in for various reasons, making it impossible for a single player to defeat.

Looking at the data, a hidden passive like “ultra-large size” reduced incoming damage by 90%, effectively giving it over 10,000 health.

Given that no build could push in 10,000 damage before all resources were consumed, it wasn’t meant to be defeated, as one would have been ejected to the 1st floor by those unbeatable area attacks long before.

“Originally, the plan was to break the Life Vessel and kill that idiot once, but… that method can’t be used now.”

“What are you muttering about! Even if you pretend to have lost your mind now, there will be no mercy!”

“But there’s always a way at times like this.”

What does it matter if I can’t kill it? These goddamn veterans have a disease where they can’t sleep at night unless they find loopholes in the system.

‘The corpse mass is immune to excavation.’

It’s natural, if you think about it. With its head reaching the ceiling of the 17th floor and legs touching the floor of the 18th, would it fall from just drilling a hole?

Then what if I used superior excavation that drops to the end of the area?

Even then, the corpse mass wouldn’t fall because its area is wider than the hole made by superior excavation.

Truly worthy of being called ultra-large size.

“If the problem is that it’s too big to fit in the hole, then reducing its size solves the problem…!”

“What are you mumb—”

【Scroll of Superior Excavation】

Another high-grade scroll burned away from my hand.

It could be considered a painful expenditure, but now it doesn’t feel that regrettable.

Kwagagagagagagagagagagak!!!

With the sound of excavating the ground at tremendous speed, a thud! huge sound occurred, and the corpse mass sank slightly.

Levand, standing on top, looked a bit confused, but soon realized it was futile and gave a sinister smile.

“Don’t smile. You’ll get attached.”

【Scroll of Superior Shrinking】

Shrinking. True to its intuitive name, its effect is unparalleled in simplicity.

It lowers the target’s class classification by one level. And the corpse mass’s ultra-large size is both a hidden passive and belongs to the class classification.

The corpse mass’s ultra-large size changes to large size, and its volume instantly reduces by almost half!

“What?!”

Bang—!

Yet it didn’t fall. The corpse mass’s two arms quickly grabbed the edge of the hole and held on.

“You hold on well.”

“Shrinking? Haha! For a commoner, you’ve used your brain quite well…”

“Only half right.”

Superior Shrinking.

Its effect is to lower the target’s class classification by two levels.

The corpse mass, which had already been reduced to large size, became medium size, shrinking to barely knee height compared to its original form, and with such shortened arms, it couldn’t handle the hole’s size and finally fell helplessly below.

“Y-You!!!”

Yet I still had one scroll left in my hand.

I fiddled with the trembling and moist scroll in my grip, then turned around to look at the two who seemed dumbfounded, and grinned.

“I’ll go ahead.”

And I jumped into the large hole I had drilled.

【Scroll of Superior Flight】

Only you take fall damage.