I got into school for nothing - Chapter 283
I got into school for nothing (283)
Lesson 55. Core of the Tower - 3
That, which had taken the form of a flock of birds, eventually revealed its true colors.
The boundaries of what had been a fairly distinct form collapsed, and then it indiscriminately drew in and fused with everything around it, eventually transforming into a black wave large enough to swallow the party's current hiding spot in an instant.
It would be a lie to say they weren't overwhelmed by the sight.
—ROOOAAARRR!
“It’s really a Constellation.”
“I’d expected it from the moment I saw the room’s scale, but I never imagined it would ambush us so immediately after we arrived.”
By its very nature, it wasn’t something that could be stopped by conventional physical or magical means.
But who was Ban Yuwon? He was one of the extremely rare ability users who could manipulate barriers as complete concepts, and he was also a curse-user who directly handled curses of depth 500 or higher.
The curse that suddenly descended—which resembled a viscous wave of tar—crashed violently against Ban Yuwon’s curse-resistant barrier, but ultimately failed to break through and was thwarted.
—Ah, you’ve grown stronger!
The Constellation, [Observer of All Things], which seemed deeply connected to this curse no matter how one looked at it, showed a psychopathic reaction, gleefully celebrating when Ban Yuwon splendidly blocked its attack, despite having initiated the assault itself.
Ignoring the Constellation’s voice that persistently clung to his ears, he thought.
‘It’s good that I blocked it, but what do I do now?’
If it were a simple curse or phenomenon, he could conceptualize and absorb it, but it seemed this curse was acting with a direct will, so he couldn't do that.
“That voice just now, I remember hearing it last time. That unpleasant voice... Well, shall I handle it?”
“No, Yeon. I’ve thought of a suitable method.”
Actually, there was an easy way to resolve it.
He just needed to pull out Requiem, which lay dormant within Ban Yuwon, from his palm and stab it.
The core concept forming the sword was an astounding ‘Exorcism’ (破魔) of depth 2000.
Furthermore, as it possessed both the concept of ‘Soul Annihilation’ and ‘God-Slaying,’ it was perfectly suited to quell a disaster directly caused by a Constellation.
However—
‘It’s not something I want to reveal so easily, and more importantly, I really don’t want to show it to that creepy guy.’
In that case, there was no other choice. If he projected the concepts held within Requiem and overlaid them onto the Stormrain Sword, he should be able to achieve a roughly similar effect.
Originally, high-tier concepts like God-Slaying, Soul Annihilation, and Exorcism were not something he could easily create, but now that he directly contained Requiem, their origin, within his body, he could temporarily generate minor copies using the Stormrain Sword without much difficulty.
But before that.
“Curse, Halt (停止)!”
—My fragment of Authority, so easily...!
He uttered a Codeword, famous for activating unconditionally regardless of the situation once spoken, stopping the wave of curse and releasing his defensive barrier.
Because creating even a minor copy of Requiem demanded a level of concentration that made multitasking impossible, even for Ban Yuwon.
“And then—!”
—STAB, STABSTABSTABSTABSTABSTABSTABSTAB!
Next, he launched all twenty-five Stormrain Swords towards the curse wave, which had solidified in mid-air as if instantly frozen, embedding them all at regular intervals.
It was a sight reminiscent of talismans being thrown to seal an enemy’s movements.
Indeed, those Stormrain Swords would act as terminals for wielding Ban Yuwon’s Authority, so calling them talismans wasn’t entirely incorrect.
‘Exorcism, Soul Annihilation. A mere touch of God-Slaying.’
Each of these concepts was something he could barely create only by expending large chunks of his Won-gi, but Requiem, shining within his body, assisted in their creation.
Even so, it wasn’t enough to divide among 25 artifacts, but Ban Yuwon possessed the Executioner’s Longsword, an artifact that resonated with the Stormrain Swords in real-time.
He simply needed to imbue all the concepts he had just created into the Executioner’s Longsword.
[Exorcism (破魔)]
[Soul Annihilation (滅魂)]
[God-Slaying (神殺)]
[Severance (斷絶)]
Breaking demons, annihilating souls, slaying gods.
Aside from being childish and cringe-inducing, their meanings seemed entirely different, but they were all ultimately the same in that they were transcendent powers that helped to erase what couldn't be easily erased by mere physical or magical force.
If he added the power of severance that the Executioner’s Longsword inherently possessed, he could fundamentally crush the curse’s intention to fuse everything together!
[Resonance (共鳴)]
And the moment he willed it.
All these destructive concepts were simultaneously transmitted to the twenty-five Stormrain Swords through the resonance residing in the Executioner’s Longsword, creating a sacred ripple across the entire area.
“Oh, ohhhhhh—!”
“The erosion, the erosion is disappearing!”
As dozens of identical longswords simultaneously vibrated, unleashing their Authority, the black wave visibly began to evaporate.
Golden mana, resembling Ban Yuwon’s Won-gi, spread out in the form of ripples, radiating in all directions as if twenty-five stones had been simultaneously dropped onto a water’s surface.
The God-Slaying power contained within the ripples emitted by the Stormrain Sword was faint, but it clearly affected the Constellation.
—Ah, ahhh.
The Observer of All Things, who had been momentarily speechless at Ban Yuwon’s proactive and astonishing response, nevertheless still spoke in a pleasant voice.
—My child’s growth is truly beyond imagination.
“Well, I never had a mother like you.”
—What a rare opportunity it is for you to willingly come into my embrace, now that you’ve come after so long, let’s see each other for a good while.
“We’re not even flirting, what’s with that tone...”
Ban Yuwon, dumbfounded by the strangely sweet voice, retorted, but the Observer of All Things’ presence vanished, leaving only those words behind.
Simultaneously, the rate at which the black wave was vanishing dramatically increased, suggesting it had either retreated, unable to withstand the God-Slaying power, or willingly withdrawn, preparing for a long-term battle.
[You have gained Constellation’s Stigma 17, Fusion 120, Collapse 130, Curse 150.]
Finally, even the substantial concepts recovered from the remnants after everything vanished.
Perhaps because he countered with the opposite attribute of the curse this time, he gained not only the concept of Fusion but also Collapse, and furthermore, a significant amount of Constellation’s Stigma, as proof that the Observer of All Things had directly imbued power into the black wave.
‘The depth of curse I can currently wield... is 700? It looks like I’ll reach a curse depth of 1000 here before I leave. I was already planning to delve deep into curses at some point, so this works out perfectly.’
After Ban Yuwon absorbed all the concepts of Stigma and Curse himself, he separately collected Fusion and Collapse in his Code Core.
Whether he gave them to Shatie later, or used them to create other artifacts, they would undoubtedly become a great power for him.
“As expected, it’s our Savior...!”
“But Paul, Paul...”
It seemed the man who had gone out earlier, claiming he would call the locals, was named Paul.
The NPCs wore complex expressions, half joy at having survived the disaster that had struck their hiding spot, and half sorrow at having lost one of their already few comrades.
After looking outside and confirming once more that everything had been swept away, Ban Yuwon sighed and turned back to them.
Whether by the Tower’s intention or mere coincidence, it seemed he would have to drag these NPCs along in this room as well.
* * *
Since there was no longer a need to find other NPCs to gather information, all that remained was to establish a safe camp.
Ban Yuwon didn’t put much effort into this.
It was a task easily solved by simply transforming Lilyth into a moderately sized spaceship, one equipped with living quarters and a training ground.
“This is ridiculous.”
Asha, who still hadn’t gotten used to Lilyth’s transformation ability even after experiencing it multiple times, shook her head and muttered.
Rucell was also chuckling.
“No one would think of using a spaceship as a camp in an environment like this. First, one would have to confirm if they even possess a spaceship, and if they have an inventory large enough to bring it into the Tower...”
“Just any spaceship wouldn’t work. The Tower’s resistance would repel it. This is only possible because it’s Lilyth.”
Ban Yuwon thought he should add subtitles to the video later, to prevent any malicious commenters who might try to bring a spaceship into the Tower after him, only to break it and then try to claim damages from him.
Incidentally, as for the survivors who had inadvertently followed him into the spaceship, they were currently being guided through the facilities by Lilyth, who had brazenly lied and introduced herself as a dazzlingly beautiful artificial spaceship system AI in the form of a young girl.
Thanks to that, the Rebellion members were able to gather alone and discuss their thoughts.
“Normally, you wouldn’t have chosen such an easy path. You didn’t even like exposing the spaceship.”
Dokgo Yeon faced Ban Yuwon with a cautious expression, as if trying to guess his intentions.
“Is it because of that Constellation?”
“Yeah. I have a bad feeling about it.”
Ban Yuwon licked his lips as he replied, then sat in the spaceship’s captain’s seat and leaned his neck back.
The Observer of All Things, the first Constellation he had met in the Tower, and one that was particularly fixated on him.
It acted as if it knew his secrets, and despite being ostracized even by other Constellations, it was the master of a formidable Authority that looked down on all of them.
If this weren’t Ban Yuwon’s actual situation but a game or comic book, he would undoubtedly be casually proclaiming that the guy was either the final boss or a hidden boss.
“If that Constellation makes you uneasy, let’s achieve this room’s conditions as quickly as possible and move on.”
Asha’s words were perfectly sensible.
Ban Yuwon didn’t possess the means to kill the Observer of All Things, and for now, it was better to avoid him, if only out of sheer disgust.
However, Ban Yuwon still couldn’t be sure how far this Chain Room would extend.
In the worst-case scenario, it might even form a chain of over 10 rooms, just like before—
‘Now that you’ve come after so long, let’s see each other for a good while.’
Recalling the words of the Observer of All Things, a now even more uneasy Ban Yuwon nodded.
“Yes, Asha’s right. We have no choice but to quickly grasp the core of this Chain Room and break through. Those NPCs should be safe if we keep them inside the spaceship.”
“How were they able to cross the room’s boundaries and come all the way here?”
“Originally, perhaps they were meant as a bonus concept to make the Chain Room’s capture easier for those who had built good relationships with us?”
The problem was that the room’s difficulty was too high to begin with, making it impossible for those NPCs to be of any help.
He’d wondered if they were meant to be a link to the locals, but those locals had been cleanly swept away by a single black wave.
Seriously, how is it that every time he entered the Tower to explore, nations collapsed and dimensions crumbled?
“Whatever it is, we’ll just have to search everything. Tikke, is the scan finished?”
—WHIRRR
Tikke, which had already settled into orbit and comprehensively mapped the vast room, transmitted its completion report and data.
Lilyth, receiving the data through resonance, displayed a holographic map of the room in the captain’s quarters, at which point Asha felt her mind go blank.
“We’re still exploring the Tower, right?”
“Highly advanced familiars are indistinguishable from magic, after all.”
However, just as Ban Yuwon, speaking with an air of superiority, was about to command Tikke for another in-depth analysis, a colossal, truly immense black thorn, seemingly capable of piercing the sky, shot up from the distant ground.
It was aimed precisely at Tikke, which was in the air.
It seemed the entity had detected Tikke scouting the ground and was attempting to counter it—But just how far would it extend?!
—WHIRRRRR, CLACK-CLACK!
Fortunately, Ban Yuwon spotted it from the ground in time, and Tikke, sensing the danger, returned to his side via spatial teleportation, allowing them to evade it, but...
The black thorn, having missed its target, quickly collapsed and writhed, then transformed into a gigantic serpent and began moving towards their location.
A colossal shadow that warped all sense of perspective.
It was easily several kilometers in size.
“Imagine if we’d tried to camp outside and set up tents in a situation like this.”
“This isn’t Tower exploration.”
“This video is sure to get views. Phew, what a relief.”
Well, that *is* important.
Ban Yuwon sighed and gave his orders.
“Lilyth, launch. Let’s avoid that snake and smash into the most suspicious place first.”
[Lilyth, here I go!]
It was the moment exploration began in a land covered in curses, a terrible land of fusion where everything in the world became an enemy and attacked.
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