Zeus Hornet on the 33rd Floor

I failed the preliminaries.

Because I killed my opponent.

Apparently, I wasn’t supposed to kill them.

The reason was that if I stayed by the princess’s side, those who sought to harm her might appear, and to find out their motives and backers, I had to capture them alive.

Even if they asked for that from the preliminaries…

Well, whatever the reason, I regretted losing my temper and using Slash.

Anyway, I failed.

It’s a bit of a blow to my pride.

I made a mistake, but I still failed the first preliminary round.

I had no choice but to go to the Tower as planned.

[Floor 32]

The floor where I caught the [Elder Treant].

[Chief Ogre] was a bonus.

Coming this far, I thought again.

No, I thought it every time.

‘It’s a pain.’

Every time I climbed the Tower, it was a hassle to climb these long stairs.

I wondered why there wasn’t a warp or elevator, even though they could make one.

Is there a reason?

It didn’t seem like they would be causing the inconvenience of climbing stairs for no reason.

I took a break and searched the [Community] for the reason. People with the same complaints as me had posted, and there was a comment like this:

[You can make a warp zone on the floor where you caught the Witch.]

“….”

I should try it later.

Then a sigh.

I recalled the time I faced [Chief Ogre] and [Elder Treant].

It was manageable.

I climbed the stairs.

[Floor 33]

I drew my sword, preparing for a surprise attack.

As soon as I reached [Floor 33], whoosh.

A gust of wind blew.

My robe flipped over.

I pressed it down with my hand.

Something passed over my head.

I took off my robe and put it in my Inventory, wary of the sky, but the ceiling was high.

The ceiling stretched so high that it looked like an ordinary sky, and on the high mountain below, birds circled around it.

They were swirling around in clumps, and one in particular caught my eye.

‘It’s huge.’

That bird was very big.

It wasn’t even a bird in the first place.

Whoosh.

Wind.

A flying object passed over my head with a whooshing sound.

It was very big.

It was a bee.

Huh?

It was really a bee.

I didn’t see it wrong.

I didn’t miss the moment it brushed over my head, and I captured the information window along with the insect’s unique exoskeleton.

The starting point was the middle of the plains.

I could see the flying object right away just by turning my head.

Above the bee’s head,

[Zeus Wasp]

Orange letters.

That information window popped up.

Zeus.

“That’s a grand name.”

The [Zeus Wasp] flapped its wings at an invisible speed, whooshing and tilting its body.

It turned quickly.

It turned its body in the air as if it was strange to say it was turning. It showed that it could hover in place and increased its speed.

It raised its sharp stinger.

The stinger passed her by.

The insect’s heavy body rolled on the floor.

I slashed.

The guy gets up, but

“Slow.”

A sigh mixed with evaluation.

Americano raised her sword high.

As she slashed down,

[Form 4 Moonlight Sword]

A translucent Slash covered the [Zeus Wasp].

But an insect is an insect. It didn’t die right away even after losing its lower body.

It raises its chin.

‘What is it trying to do?’

I watched quietly.

Two antennae vibrated rapidly. They vibrated faster than the flapping of wings, and a faint beeping sound was heard.

Soon, thump.

It died from excessive bleeding.

“….”

Did it call its comrades?

I looked around the mountain.

A change occurred.

The birds that had been swirling around like a cloud cap on the mountain began to seethe actively.

The cloud of birds grew darker and darker, and even the birds hidden in the mountain joined the group, forming a huge swarm.

Like a single entity, many individuals rushed towards this side all at once.

Those are all [Zeus Wasps].

There are more than 100 of them at a glance.

Each one was an orange-lettered monster, but the controlled group was like one huge individual in itself.

Americano gripped her sword again.

Gathering Magical Power, [Leap].

She jumps into the [Zeus Wasps].

She digs into a gap, one.

She cut off its head and climbed on.

Using it as a stepping stone, [Leap].

At the end of the [Leap], she cut down a [Zeus Wasp] and used it as a stepping stone again.

She gathered her energy.

About 1 second.

[Form Two Meteor Sword]

She charged and slashed.

This Skill could be used continuously.

But,

“Tch.”

‘It’s still awkward.’

The rhythm is broken.

You might wonder if there’s a rhythm in battle, but a Skill that feels awkward disrupts the motion until the next attack.

I decided to Seal [Form Two Meteor Sword].

Americano, who had slashed through the [Zeus Wasp] with [Meteor Sword], fell to the ground following gravity and landed.

She immediately turned around and faced the [Zeus Wasp].

One flew in.

She cut it in half with [Slash].

Another flew in.

She split it with [Slash].

[Slash]

[Slash]

[Slash]

The [Zeus Wasps] flew towards her one by one.

This is boring.

No matter how fast the [Zeus Wasps] flew, they were slow.

Americano’s dynamic visual acuity had not yet forgotten that of the [Death Knight]. It almost seemed to have stopped. She made them the food of her sword.

Swish.

It splits.

[Slash]

[Slash]

[Slash]

[Slash]

[Slash]

The wasps’ corpses piled up.

It was then.

Tingle.

Tingling.

I sensed the flow of Electrical Signal.

The [Zeus Wasps] kept a certain distance from her and produced electricity by randomly moving among themselves.

Small sparks flew from stinger to stinger, from wing to wing.

“….”

Actually, I knew from the beginning.

Americano is an Electrical Ability user.

She can grasp the electrical activity around her even with her eyes closed.

She knew from the moment the [Zeus Wasps] intentionally created electricity that they would develop electricity and launch a lightning attack.

It’s like knowing the plan at a surprise party.

It feels like having a movie you’re looking forward to spoiled, so she can only sigh.

The most basic ability of an Awakened Ability user is absolute resistance to their Awakened Ability. Cooling Ability users don’t freeze, and Ignition Ability users don’t burn to death.

Buzz.

Buzz!

Buzz!!

Boom!!!

The charged electricity gathers and turns the [Zeus Wasps] into lightning clouds.

The cloud of insects floating in the air flashed with lightning.

It’s spectacular.

“Haa~aam.”

‘It’s taking too long.’

While the [Zeus Wasps] were producing electricity by rubbing against each other in an orderly manner, there was one [Zeus Wasp] that was stopped.

I found that guy and watched him,

[Zeus Soldier Wasp]

Red letters.

It was the commander.

The [Zeus Soldier Wasp] twitched its antennae.

The [Zeus Wasps], which had become lightning clouds, gradually shone, and the electricity they had accumulated was instantly connected to her.

Bang.

Index finger.

Buzz.

Buzzing.

Electricity sparked.

A large amount of electricity was stored in my index finger.

I used my index finger as a lightning rod to minimize damage to my clothes, and I used my Awakened Ability to prevent the electricity from escaping.

It felt a bit strange but also boring, and I knew why it was strange.

‘Is this the first time I’ve been struck by lightning made by someone else?’

Because I entered the game right after awakening my Awakened Ability.

I experienced the unfamiliar feeling of what it’s like for an Electrical Ability user like myself to be struck by lightning.

The electricity that the [Zeus Wasps] worked so hard to create.

But it was as welcome as if it had always been mine.

And,

‘It’s boring.’

It was boring.

It’s like using an invincible cheat.

The [Zeus Wasps] create electricity again.

Lightning strikes again, bang.

One more time, bang.

Bang.

Bang.

I was hoping they would show me something else, but the relationship between the [Zeus Wasps] and Americano was truly that of natural enemies.

I felt bored, but I objectively evaluated the [Zeus Wasps].

‘Other people wouldn’t have been able to avoid it.’

Like Zeus, they would have shot lightning at the climbers running away from the [Zeus Wasps] and chased them.

‘Like when I faced the Demonic Cultists in Gospel.’

The Demonic Cultists couldn’t avoid Americano’s Electrical Ability at all.

They were hit every time I shot electricity, and they died without being able to prepare.

Even though they could easily block it with a lightning rod. It’s impossible to avoid lightning without taking countermeasures.

I imagined the [Zeus Wasps] flying in the sky and chasing the climbers like a lightning cloud with a will.

It paints a pretty tempting picture.

It was just a pie in the sky.

Haa…

From the moment the [Zeus Wasp] was called Zeus, the dynamics between them and me were completely fixed.

Whoosh.

Whoosh.

The [Zeus Wasps] didn’t give up and accumulated lightning, bang. My hair floated up against gravity.

“….”

I was honestly expecting something.

‘Let’s look forward to Floor 34.’

I took a stance.

I rotated my body.

As I turned one revolution, a heavy wind clung to my sword. As I turned another revolution, an even heavier wind clung to it.

As if tearing at the air,

[Form 3 Storm Sword]

I threw the wind.

A hurricane arose.

When I threw in [Phantom Sword] as well, the [Zeus Wasps] couldn’t overcome the suction of the storm and were caught up in it.

When I mixed in [Phantom Sword], the [Zeus Wasps] were torn apart in the storm.

The life signs disappeared.

Americano, who was sensing the Electrical Signal.

I cut off the power that was maintaining the storm.

As the storm disappeared, the things that had been [Zeus Wasps] fell.

“Haa…”

I wonder if this is right.

It’s too easy.

“….”

I looked up at the sky.

I looked at that high mountain.

I looked at it for a long time, but

“It’s not activating.”

I smiled.

I haven’t cleared it yet.

“Well, it would have been too boring to end it with this.”

The top of the mountain.

The sky was high.

The mountain was also high.

From here, I feel like I could [Leap] and touch the ceiling.

Americano, who had been looking up at the sky, saw the wide scenery of the ground.

That was all a stage prepared for just [Floor 33].

I saw small, sandy-colored mountains here and there, and I saw holes in the tops of them.

It was the same here.

I turned around.

The top of the highest mountain on [Floor 33], where I was standing, also had a vertical cave, like the holes in those mountains, piercing through the mountain.

I thought this stage was the sky.

But it wasn’t.

The real thing was underground.

I jumped into the vertical cave.

I fall.