Chapter 98

Second floor.

Allen snapped to attention.

“Haap!”

In the second floor, dominated by wild dog monsters, Allen executed a Lightning Thrust towards the boss.

Normally, this technique involved a high leap, using the momentum of the fall to drive the spear downwards with great force.

However, Allen ‘s jumping ability was only average, so the technique wasn’t usually very powerful.

But this time was different.

Riviera had lifted him high into the air.

It was like setting the table for him perfectly.

The power of the Lightning Thrust was immensely amplified.

Whoosh!

Crack!

“Yelp!”

The boss dog let out a death cry like a beaten mutt.

Its body was impaled by the spear.

I finished it off.

Thud!

I cleanly decapitated it.

Thud!

As the boss dog fell, the lesser monsters vanished like an illusion.

Mission accomplished.

“12 seconds.”

Two seconds faster than the first floor.

“Oh?”

Allen ‘s eyes widened at my words.

Even though he had contributed, he couldn’t believe it.

“You did well this time. Keep it up.”

It’s important to praise when it’s due.

That’s how you boost your party members’ morale.

“I can’t believe I have this kind of power…”

“It’s thanks to me.”

Riviera said as she floated over.

Soon, we were all floating again.

“Yeah, you’re right. I didn’t expect you to pull off such an amazing levitation spell. Truly, my rival… huh?”

“Down.”

Thud!

“…”

I shook my head at the absurd scene.

“Please, lift me up again. Whatever I did wrong, I’m sorry.”

“Hmph.”

Riviera turned her head but lifted him up again.

Is she actually a nice person…?

Anyway.

“…Let’s stop wasting time and go.”

At my words, we zoomed towards the stairs.

* * *

From the third to the tenth floor.

It was a breeze.

We cleared them effortlessly using the same method.

The bosses weren’t that strong yet, so it was very smooth.

“Average of 19 seconds.”

We had planned to clear up to the tenth floor in an average of 30 seconds, but we had shaved off an average of 11 seconds.

But starting from the eleventh floor, things would change.

The original height of the tower was ten floors.

Clearing those ten floors would open up a new ten-floor section.

That’s why it’s called the Infinite Tower.

And it wasn’t just a numerical change.

With the appearance of a new section, the monsters’ strength would suddenly increase sharply.

For the challengers, that was the true meaning.

‘That’s why we aimed for one minute.’

An average of one minute per floor up to the twentieth floor.

But if we kept going like this, we could shorten that time even further.

With Riviera being 10% more serious than usual, and Allen … well, he was helpful too.

“If we keep this up, we’ll be fine, Leader!”

Allen ‘s morale was at its peak.

It was his first time experiencing such smooth sailing, so he was excited.

…Please, keep that feeling.

“Alright, let’s go.”

We flew to the newly opened eleventh floor.

* * *

“Oh no.”

“Ugh.”

“Damn, this isn’t right.”

Students who had gone in ahead of us started getting ejected.

Some were forcibly ejected after the 100-minute time limit, while others escaped using the teleportation magic circle.

The commonality was that they all looked terrible.

Exhausted from continuous battles and covered in injuries, big and small.

Fortunately, the waiting doctors and priests immediately attended to them.

They sorted the students based on the severity of their injuries and began treatment right away.

They didn’t hesitate to use expensive healing potions.

It was a level of care only possible at the continent’s top academy, which received numerous donations from various sources.

‘No wonder they become so strong.’

Lapit, who was watching from the side, thought.

In this era of peace, there was no other place where one could gain such intense combat experience.

With such rigorous training, it was no wonder the academy produced outstanding talents.

‘The primary target is Lepheria Academy.’

The boss, Tian Zhu, had said that, and it might not have been a joke.

“My star students haven’t come out yet, have they?”

Professor Karen approached and spoke.

Please stop drawing attention to them.

Lapit grumbled internally.

Of course, he only did so inwardly.

“Ah, yes. It seems so.”

“You’re rooting for them, right?”

Professor Karen smiled with her eyes.

“Haha… Of course. They’re my students, after all.”

Lapit smiled back.

His expression was practiced from experience.

Even so, dealing with this woman wasn’t easy.

She seemed to be quite skilled herself.

“No one has cleared the 50th floor yet?”

Professor Karen said, looking at the numbers on the whiteboard.

“Well, the Royal students haven’t come out yet.”

The Royal class students, who had entered later, would soon start emerging with scores above the 50th floor.

Even though the second year was considered a weak generation, the Royal class was still the Royal class.

However.

‘There won’t be many above the 60th floor.’

Given the lower level of talent, it was inevitable.

“Oh, I think it’s possible even outside the Royal class. My star students, I mean.”

Professor Karen smiled slyly.

“Above the 50th floor?”

“Yes. I think they could even go beyond the 60th floor.”

She took it a step further.

‘What kind of nonsense is that?’

With his own eyes, he had seen Max’s skills.

Even adding the fool from the Benesse family wouldn’t get them past the 60th floor.

50 floors was generous.

Of course, there was one variable.

Riviera.

But she was an extreme slacker who would never go into serious mode…

‘Wait.’

Lapit’s certainty wavered.

He remembered Riviera’s strangely different attitude.

‘No way, but…’

She wasn’t that kind of person.

Lapit tried to dismiss the odd thought.

“Don’t you think it’s possible if those two students cooperate?”

Professor Karen clapped her hands and smiled.

Two students?

Cooperate?

Lapit’s expression almost faltered at the completely mismatched picture.

‘By the way.’

How much does this woman know about Riviera’s abilities?

If she’s confidently saying that Max and Riviera can clear above the 60th floor by cooperating, she must know at least 30% of Riviera’s capabilities.

‘Ah, I told her to live quietly.’

Lapit clicked his tongue inwardly.

Well, this much is still okay.

After all, her identity is a cover, and the skills she has shown so far aren’t extraordinary.

“Haha, I don’t know, but we’ll see. I’ll cheer them on while waiting.”

“Yes, please do.”

Professor Karen continued.

“Then I’ll come back later. They’ll take the full 100 minutes, so I’ll time it accordingly.”

“Ah, yes.”

With that, Professor Karen walked away.

Lapit adjusted his glasses.

He muttered to himself.

‘She doesn’t know. That guy doesn’t even know the ‘co’ in cooperation.’

* * *

“Achoo!”

Riviera’s sudden sneeze caused us to plummet downward.

The problem was that below us was a horde of lesser monsters.

“Hey, hey, hey!”

I shouted urgently.

“Ahhh… What did I do wrong this time?!”

Allen screamed, wanting to know his mistake.

Fortunately, our fall stopped just in time.

We began to rise again.

“Hey, what happened?”

I asked urgently.

“I suddenly felt bad.”

“Because of us?”

“No, someone was talking bad about me.”

“…”

How does she even know that?

Anyway, that’s not important right now.

“Hey, Allen .”

“Yes, Leader.”

“Don’t go for a single strike anymore. Always go for continuous attacks, got it?”

We were already on the 31st floor.

From this floor’s boss onwards, they were on a different level.

They couldn’t be taken down with just one or two hits.

We needed to press on with continuous attacks to cut off their breath.

And we had to do it as quickly as possible.

If we failed to take down the boss and the lesser monsters swarmed us, the difficulty would spike.

“…Got it, Leader.”

Allen swallowed nervously and answered.

“Alright, now.”

We descended towards the giant bear-shaped boss and attacked with all our might.

* * *

“Damn, this is bad.”

I cursed on the 36th floor.

We hadn’t taken down the boss and were surrounded by lesser monsters.

Black wolf monsters growled, baring their sharp teeth, waiting for a chance to tear us apart.

Individually, they weren’t stronger than the bear monster we faced earlier.

But there were many more of them, and they were more agile.

They also knew how to hunt in an organized manner.

They were tricky to deal with.

Especially since we were outnumbered.

“Uh… What do we do, Leader?”

Allen was understandably panicked.

“Hey, this situation was bound to happen eventually. Right?”

“But you said this is bad…”

“I meant the quick resolution plan failed. Why do you think we’ve been saving time? We anticipated losing time later. Like now.”

“Oh, right.”

“It’s fine. As long as we finish within two minutes, it’s not a loss. I’ll handle the boss; you take care of the lesser monsters.”

“What?”

“Benesse spear techniques are specialized for fighting multiple enemies, right?”

“How do you know…?”

Even in this situation, Allen was surprised.

It was only natural, as an outsider had pinpointed a core aspect of the Benesse spear techniques.

“You can tell by watching. Enough talk. On the count of three, we go. One, two…”

Just before I counted to three.

Swoosh!

A red barrier suddenly rose around us.

The barrier blocked off a significant portion of the wolf monsters surrounding us.

More than half of them.

‘This is…’

My eyes widened.

I recognized this magic.

It’s not a commonly known spell.

In the game, only one person could use it.

It was the forbidden blood magic.

The Blood Witch Riviera had shown a glimpse of her true power for the first time.

‘Is it because we’re in the Infinite Tower?’

The environment of the Infinite Tower, isolated from the outside world.

That must have made her decide to use blood magic.

Of course, that wasn’t the only reason.

“Oh, whoa?! What is this?”

Allen exclaimed, bewildered.

It was natural for him not to understand.

Anyway, the important thing I needed to say now was.

“Don’t touch it. You’ll die.”

“Huh…? What? I’ll die?”

Allen was bewildered by my words.

And I didn’t need to explain further.

“Kiieek!”

“Kiaaak!”

The wolf monsters that approached the red barrier, or rather the blood barrier, without knowing what it was, screamed and exploded gruesomely.

Bang!

Bang! Bang!

The thick bodies of the wolf monsters burst like balloons.

“Hoo… Hoo…”

Allen , in shock, collapsed to the ground.

Fortunately, the wolf monsters were also frozen in fear.

At that moment.

“I’ve done my part.”

Riviera’s voice came.

As if to say she had done her job.

I couldn’t help but laugh in disbelief.

So… she really used blood magic to fulfill the role I assigned her?

Why is she suddenly like this?

Is her 10% serious face at that level…?

‘Anyway, let’s clear the floor first.’

I seized the opportunity and moved.

And I finished off the 36th-floor boss.