I got into school for nothing - Chapter 219
I got into school for nothing (219)
Lesson 43. Too Popular - 4
At the heart of the desert stood a pillar where a god resided.
Guardians, acting as proxies for the god, called it a sacred ground and protected it.
In a world teetering on the brink of ruin, humanity flocked to the sacred ground, seeking their last hope.
Clinging to the slender hope that a path to escape their demise might be found within the god's pillar.......
“That's roughly the gist of it.”
Even after the shift occurred, Ban Yuwon, who had gathered information about the current Chain Room's background from the people still lingering around their party, returned to relay it to them.
This was information they would have naturally acquired had they cleared the room while adhering to the Trick Room's conditions, but since they'd outright killed the golem – that is, the ‘Guardian’ – adherence was out of the question, and Ban Yuwon had to find out for himself.
“You've been studying hard, Rucell.”
“Hehe.”
Whether they worshipped the pillar as a god or a god resided within the pillar, the outcome was largely the same when considering just the result.
As he stroked Rucell, who wasted no time in clinging to him, Dokgo Yeon cast a disdainful glance at them. She then turned her gaze to As Light, who stood proudly as if completely innocent, and the people inexplicably flocking around him, before speaking.
“There shouldn't be any relation between a dying world and a Constellation's contract.”
“It would be possible to extract a contractor from a dying world, wouldn't it? So, if this were a real world, that's what would have happened.”
Ban Yuwon had two hypotheses regarding the rooms that appeared inside the Tower.
One, of course, was that the Tower created them entirely anew each time.
The other was that it copied specific places and individuals from countless dimensions, then inserted them perfectly...... or in an altered form...... into the Tower's interior.
When he first entered the Tower, Ban Yuwon had thought it was completely random, but now his inclination leaned towards the latter.
‘The foundation of the Union Net is clearly within the Tower. Considering my ancestor's intention when he tried to build the Tower, it's only natural.’
The Union Net, originating from the Tower and connecting to all dimensions.
If one were to use it, wouldn't it be simple to perfectly reproduce events from countless dimensions inside the Tower?
However, the Academy side didn't elaborate on the relationship between the Tower and the Union Net, and regarding the rooms, they merely stated it was ‘the Tower's way of testing our existence,’ without specifically discussing their creation method.
Thus, nothing could be definitively confirmed, but...... he hoped that if he resumed his Solo Exploration, he might discover something.
“If it were a real world, you say......”
Hearing his words, as if something struck a chord with her, Dokgo Yeon suddenly gave a bitter laugh and murmured.
Ban Yuwon looked at her, but Dokgo Yeon merely shook her head, denying it.
Denying it, my foot. By this point, it was clear she knew something about the Tower.
He vowed to make her spill all the information she knew later and turned his head, only to find As Light already approaching him.
“I've reached a conclusion.”
While Ban Yuwon was conversing with Dokgo Yeon, As Light had been talking with the NPCs the entire time, and surprisingly, as if his efforts had paid off, the NPCs were now lined up neatly behind him.
Surely he hadn't brought them over to their side?
To even think of something Ban Yuwon would do, and then actually execute it – indeed, the current As Light was extremely strange!
“I will destroy the sacred ground.”
“Didn't I tell you to prove your strength? You're going with the same pattern too much since earlier, aren't you?”
Why not just destroy the room, destroy the Tower, destroy the world, destroy everything while you're at it?
However, whether Ban Yuwon glared at him or not, As Light did not back down from his assertion.
“Inferring from the conditions presented for this space, the original goal here was likely to follow that golem's words, enter the sacred ground, and be chosen by those foolish beings who call themselves gods.”
“Well, probably. As a test, they likely descended in some strange place or summoned monsters, right?”
“It is not us who should be tested. It is those arrogant beings who call themselves gods.”
In truth, Ban Yuwon also personally held a similar stance to what As Light was saying.
That said, As Light's way of speaking was so annoying that Ban Yuwon couldn't properly focus on his words.
Such awkwardness that even his Authority, which allowed him to hear everything, couldn't penetrate! Ban Yuwon firmly resolved himself and decided to regard the person before him not as As Light, but as an anonymous quest NPC.
“Moreover, I've heard that the sacred ground was only discovered when the world was on the verge of ruin due to various calamities of unknown origin. If that's the case, shouldn't we suspect the sacred ground first and foremost?”
Ban Yuwon doubted his own ears.
The words this NPC was speaking.......
They were...... persuasive!
“Yet, pitifully, humans never thought to ascertain the cause. Instead, they flocked here, hoping that they alone might be chosen by a god and escape annihilation. This is strange. It couldn't have happened unless those damned bastards had castrated humanity's will to fight and resist!”
Ban Yuwon asked Tikke to continue recording ‘As Light's Book of Sayings’ as he listened to As Light's continued speech.
“This is decisive evidence that the gods had been manipulating humans even before the world's demise! And it's also evidence that they fear the destruction of the sacred ground.”
“Right, right.”
“Even if I hadn't killed the Guardian, the probability of these humans being chosen by a god would have been exceedingly low. In that case, wouldn't it be a better ‘struggle’ to combine our strength and destroy the sacred ground and pillar where the god's power is said to reside?!”
As As Light emphasized the word ‘struggle’ and raised his sword, the humans, who had been aligned in perfect military formation, raised their weapons to follow him.
“Wooooooah!”
“Let us follow Lord As Light! He will defeat the gods and restore the age of humanity!”
“The Guardian died without even putting up a fight against Lord As Light's sword! We have a chance to win!”
“Let's reclaim the light from these false gods!”
No, this wasn't just them being allies; it seemed like they were completely enchanted by As Light.
Ban Yuwon narrowed his eyes, looking at the holy sword emitting an unusual light.
There's nothing more foolish than questioning the origin of power, but if he had to make a distinction, wasn't that more like a heretic's path than a righteous one?
However, considering only the current situation, it was by no means bad.
These humans were originally enemies that they would have had to overcome during the examination, so their average level was high.
Since they had openly violated the Trick Room's conditions and entered the next room, there was no way they could proceed normally now. Thus, to prepare for an emergency...... no, the more allies, the better.
“Master, this...... I think it's Room 149.”
“Woah.”
After hearing Rucell's words and checking, it really was Room 149.
From Room 141 to Room 145, and then again to Room 149.
Considering that Eden awaited them next, this room was likely the last in the Chain Room sequence. Since two consecutive multi-shifts, each skipping four rooms, had occurred, it was obvious how horrific the difficulty of this room would be.
“So the problem now is how to proceed.”
Immediately after the shift, the world turned pitch black.
Without a single ray of sunlight, the temperature in the desert plummeted instantly below zero, and storms filled with sand and frost raged from all directions.
Dozens of swirling vortexes, connecting the sandy desert to the pitch-black sky, appeared, rotating and narrowing their encirclement as if to trap the party.
Perhaps it was to be expected, but the power of a Constellation could be felt from each and every vortex.
“I will cleave them all with my power.”
As Light, who had wielded the holy sword's power so much yet seemed unfatigued, raised his sword with a composed expression, but Dokgo Yeon shook her head.
“You might be able to cleave them, but have you considered the recoil? To my eyes, those don't look like they'll simply fade away obediently. Don't underestimate a typhoon imbued with a Constellation's power.”
“Then what do you propose we do?”
“That’s......”
Dokgo Yeon merely touched the sword sheath at her waist and didn't answer.
She intended to nullify the Constellation's power within the typhoon using her martial arts, which manipulated the aura of death.
However, to do that, As Light would first need to eliminate the typhoon, but she was hesitant because she didn't want to cooperate with the currently insufferable and annoying As Light.
[Ta-da! Lilyth, having grown robustly from Master's love, makes a dazzling re-entrance!]
It was then.
A dazzlingly beautiful girl popped out of Ban Yuwon's inventory, stepped onto the air, and declared.
The slender girl, who looked perhaps like a high school student, was characterized by her unnaturally shimmering blue hair and silver eyes with a mechanical luster, and she glowed faintly as if adorned with LEDs across her entire body.......
Her features were subtly arranged to strangely resemble Ban Yuwon...... Well, as she herself had overtly stated, it was the humanized Lilyth.
It had been suspicious ever since she appeared in doll form last time; in the end, this rascal had done it!
“How do you become human by absorbing a shooting star?”
[Because my existence has been elevated, of course. As the saying goes, ‘All rivers flow to the sea’...... and since I'm sharing in Master's Yugi, it was simple!]
Unable to withstand Ban Yuwon's gaze, Lilyth finally confessed obediently.
Of course, it would be more accurate to say that Lilyth, having gained a higher status as a mechanical lifeform rather than a pure human, was temporarily able to take on human form. But it was clear that her abilities had grown stronger to match.
[To be flustered by mere sandstorms of this level. If you board me, there'll be no problem!]
“I pretty much expected that from the moment you showed up at this timing.”
[Alright, everyone, hop on!]
Surprisingly, even with the humanized Lilyth standing before Ban Yuwon, a separate, massive tank-shaped vehicle materialized.
What's more, several of them appeared at once, enough for everyone present, including the NPCs, to fit inside.
Ban Yuwon was convinced that this was Lilyth's new Authority, obtained from a Relic.
He felt like offering a deep bow to the Prominence Family.
“What, what is this?!”
“Another absurd...... It makes me feel like a fool for having worried.”
“Let's board immediately before the encirclement narrows further!”
“Hoo.”
Dokgo Yeon and Rucell were the first to board the tank.
As Light initially showed reluctance to rely on Ban Yuwon's abilities, but after cleaving one of the typhoons with his holy sword and witnessing the other storms intensify and the sandy desert churn in its aftermath, he hastily ushered the people into the tanks.
Lilyth boarded with Ban Yuwon, and she alone could control all the tanks, just as Ban Yuwon controlled the Stormrain Sword.
[Then, we're off! The destination is where the Constellation's Stigma feels strongest, correct?]
“That's right. Go.”
The tanks launched simultaneously.
The sandstorms swelled even more violently and surged forward, but the tanks, protected by Lilyth's Authority, remained unfazed and endured them.
Not only that, but with each collision, they even absorbed the Constellation's Stigma from the typhoons that were gradually disintegrating!
[When you climb higher in the Tower, rewards just keep dropping by simply progressing through the map! Nom nom.......]
“Lilyth, good girl. Stigma is dirty, so don't swallow it, spit it out immediately.”
[Tch.......]
Even as dozens of swirling vortexes intersected and roared, the tanks controlled by Lilyth effortlessly withstood them and pressed forward, ultimately breaking through the storm zone and reaching the sacred ground!
“Oh...... this.”
The view ahead was projected onto the monitor inside the tank.
Ban Yuwon, seeing with his own eyes what he had somewhat expected ever since he heard the word 'pillar,' made a truly peculiar expression.
Rucell voiced the words that perfectly captured his feelings.
“It looks like the Tower......”
“As expected, it was an attempt to imitate the Tower, wasn't it? In that case, the reason for the world's demise is also obvious.”
Dokgo Yeon snorted, an expression of utter disbelief on her face.
A thoroughly enraged As Light opened the hatch, stepped out, and shouted.
“Everyone, come out and destroy that thing! The evidence that false gods sought to annihilate humanity is right before our eyes!”
At the center of the sacred ground stood a Tower, soaring endlessly upwards.
Its appearance resembled the Tower of Babel.
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