I got into school for nothing - 284
I got into school for nothing (284)
Lesson 55. Center of the Tower - 4
The giant snake turned into a colossal bird, then a barrier, and then back into a wave, continuously chasing or trying to block the party.
However, as long as Lilyth, the self-proclaimed fastest spaceship, was racing at full throttle, nothing dared to catch up to her.
The problem, however, was its sheer scale.
“Kyaaaaak! The ground is tearing off in chunks and turning black!”
“Light, since when did you start shrieking like a girl? And I saw you secretly grabbing Master's collar, you know?”
“Huh? No, I didn't? I didn't grab anything?”
“Hey, this isn't the time to bicker over such trivialities, so just look straight ahead.”
The Observer of All Things' Authority—a curse—was spread throughout the world to such an extent that it made one doubt how the NPCs had managed to hide and survive until now. Perfectly normal land would instantly become part of a black wave, rising like a tsunami, making it utterly impossible to lower the spaceship's altitude.
The world was turning black.
As if agitated by the sight of Ban Yuwon, the Constellation's Stigma—the crystallization of its power—was applied in real-time, causing even more and larger wave currents to rise up and relentlessly pursue him.
“This is insane. How did anyone manage to survive in this environment without being utterly wiped out until now?”
What do you call a tsunami that reaches several kilometers in height?
Ban Yuwon decided to call what he saw on the spaceship monitor a disaster.
The tsunami, growing steadily in size by assimilating everything in its path, seemed to have gained a consciousness under the Constellation's influence. It gaped its tar-like, viscous maw wide and even indiscriminately fired magic bullets, loaded with both mass and curse, like a machine gun.
[It's going to be a little chaotic!]
However, Lilyth, the peerless genius pilot, acted as if they were playing some kind of shooting game, increasing her speed and leisurely weaving through the countless magic bullets raining down. She even shot psychedelic lights inside the spaceship, clearly enjoying herself.
“They weren't wiped out. Yuwon said earlier that this place was a goldmine, didn't he?”
“Yes, that's right.”
In a world where a being like the Observer of All Things was directly exerting its power, there was no way there would be nothing of value.
Of course, in reality, all of this must have happened in the past, in a dimension other than the Tower...
‘If so, did the Observer of All Things in the past get what she wanted from this dimension? Or is the fact that a part of that dimension is now recreated here evidence that the Tower intervened and stopped her before she could get what she wanted?’
Or perhaps the Observer of All Things and the Tower had been working hand-in-hand from the very beginning.
In any case, what mattered now was this room.
Beyond the concepts of Collapse or fusion, there was clearly something to be gained from this place; Ban Yuwon's intuition—no, his Authority—was telling him so.
However, as I've said before, the scale of this room was incredibly vast.
Scanning and searching with Tikke would have been the best method, but the Observer of All Things had noticed Tikke and was now thrashing about like this, so sending Tikke out defenselessly again wasn't a good idea either.
“Hmph. Looks like I'll have to rack my brain again.”
Even by his own estimation, the Light Sealing Sword he had just unleashed against the black waves—no, the deployment of a minor Requiem copy—had been quite effective.
The Codeword, which he could now properly wield thanks to Grandfather Ban, combined with his potential to temporarily create and manipulate even rare concepts, meant he had a chance, no matter how colossal the enemy.
...No, but is this really Room 201?
“Tsk.”
As Ban Yuwon mentally sorted through the list of concepts he could create and wield, it was then that he took out a Talisman and held it in his hand, intending to replenish his depleted Won-gi.
Dokgo Yeon, who always offered a sense of stability to the party with her composed demeanor, no matter the situation—though recently, when it came to Ban Yuwon, her expression often softened, making her seem a bit clueless at times—nevertheless had her complexion change dramatically.
“Wait a moment, this feeling...”
“Huh? Did another incarnate appear, besides that tsunami?”
“No, not the Constellation's aura.”
Dokgo Yeon's voice trailed off.
Wearing a momentarily complex expression, she stopped speaking and seemed to stare silently into the empty air. Then, she let out a sigh and placed her hand on the dashboard.
“I think I know how this dimension ended up being destroyed. Scrap metal, go where I instruct you.”
[Scrap metal?!]
Whether Lilyth, who had just received the most humiliating nickname, was shaking the spaceship with her "headbangs" or not, Dokgo Yeon calmly gave directions.
Ban Yuwon's vassals also couldn't defy Dokgo Yeon, so they docilely changed direction and proceeded as she commanded.
[Oh?]
“Ah.”
Both Lilyth and Ban Yuwon, who resonated with her, naturally realized its existence.
After about ten minutes of increasing speed and engaging in a tense chase with the black tsunamis rising up from all directions, threatening to engulf them.
“There's a barrier. But this isn't a magical barrier...”
[If I had to say, it's akin to the cursed aura filling this world, isn't it?]
“It's sorcery.”
Dokgo Yeon stated firmly.
The aura she emitted—surprisingly, not an aura of death, but a unique internal energy Ban Yuwon had never seen before—flowed out from her and enveloped the entire spaceship, helping it to enter without colliding with the barrier.
The tsunami tried to follow and break in, but it couldn't pierce the barrier and was blocked.
―――――――――!
“Oh—.”
Leaving behind the indistinct screams, he turned his gaze back.
Beyond it was, surprisingly, a completely different world.
Mountain ranges and river systems seemed to be preserved as they were thousands of years ago, utterly untouched by destruction.
A strong vitality, and an eerily pure energy, could be felt.
Lilyth urgently slowed down, and thanks to that, the party could slowly appreciate the small world inside the barrier.
In this space, Ban Yuwon felt a shiver, a sensation somehow similar to what he had experienced in the ruins of planet Galahad.
“In the Shin-gyo, there's a tendency to solve everything with brute force, so we don't delve very deeply into sorcery, but...”
It was a remark that seemed aimed at the past As Light, who had once asked if it wasn't natural for higher-ranking dimensions to have barriers to prevent intruders.
“From ancient times, to easily handle those who wield sorcery, we have repeatedly researched methods to suppress their arts. The internal energy I just wielded is also solely for the purpose of destroying sorcery.”
“No wonder it breached so quickly.”
“It's an ability of Hyunsingong. If you learn a bit, you could do it too.”
Dokgo Yeon, who briefly responded to his exclamation, returned to the main point and spoke.
“Sorcery, an art performed by twisting the principles of nature with characters imbued with strong human will, artifacts, and the like. It's similar to your abilities. So, I was going to beat up some sects that deal with sorcery during vacation... *ahem*.”
Dokgo Yeon, who had been smiling faintly at the thought of a gift for Ban Yuwon, realized the current situation, cleared her throat, and regained her composed expression.
Ban Yuwon also decided to temporarily forget the cute yet terrifying story he had just heard.
“It's a barrier created with sorcery. And it seems to be sorcery that shares its roots with my home dimension.”
“If so.”
“Of course, this isn't my home dimension. It's just that the sorcery here... well.”
“It must have been stolen from my home dimension,” Dokgo Yeon finished calmly.
To be honest, it wasn't very surprising.
The Demon King of the A-4 Dimension, who knew about and coveted Murim's martial arts.
Figures from other dimensions, including Lyu Cheolmyeong, who, despite having learned martial arts that weren't even that advanced, swaggered around ignorantly. R.AnoBEs
Dokgo Yeon, who was extremely sensitive about protecting martial arts, held strong pride that only her dimension's martial arts were unique and complete, and yet tried to hide her home dimension...
If, in the past, there had already been an outflow of martial arts or sorcery from her dimension—Murim—and a great commotion had occurred in the process, leading them to belatedly lock Murim's gates, then it made sense.
“Then was the Observer of All Things also coveting that...?”
“That must be it. I should have known from the moment I first saw the flock of birds. It seems clear that ancient sorcery originating from Murim is at the center of the commotion that happened in this dimension in the past. And in the end, no one would have obtained it. The curses they carry are merely fragments of it.”
Listening to her words, Ban Yuwon was convinced that the breakthrough for this room lay within this space.
What was troublesome, however, was that a room demanding such a difficult answer—one that even Ban Yuwon would have struggled to find without Dokgo Yeon, taking a long time—had coincidentally been prepared with a "ta-da!" moment exactly when Team Rebellion entered the Tower.
Wasn't this situation too unfavorable for them?
Or was it—a good situation for the Tower?
“—My child is indeed smart!”
The moment he flinched and looked back.
KWAANG――!
One of the spaceship's inner doors burst open, and dozens of black tentacles writhed out.
The mass of tentacles flicked its tongue as if to devour one of the party members, but Lilyth, who quickly created a barrier from the broken fragments, blocked it.
As Ban Yuwon's vassal, capable of wielding the power of Requiem itself, not merely a replica, the tentacles couldn't easily break through it either.
“—That's right, the Tower intended for you to achieve what it desired. This is my first time entering here too. The unknown, the joy of conquering it! My kind child has led me here.”
Ban Yuwon sighed, seeing that the NPCs, who had been in the safe cabin, had all merged into one, transforming into a black, colossal slime.
Asha, realizing that the NPCs had vanished without a trace, shouted in anger.
“You—!”
“Calm down, Asha. It seems they had no hope from the beginning.”
From the beginning? Asha understood his words instantly and frowned.
The True Dragon Sword in her hand—which had transformed into a sharp spear—was refining all her emotions and magical power into a destructive aura.
“Surely not from the moment we entered the room?”
“We said it ourselves. It was strange how they had endured without being wiped out until now. But in reality... it was already over.”
Even with Ban Yuwon's Authority, which could read concepts within the body, he hadn't realized that the NPCs had already been swallowed by the curse.
But when land, buildings, mountains, and rivers that had been perfectly normal until just a moment ago changed their bodies into waves of curse and rose up, he had suspected that people wouldn't be any different.
That's why he had Lilyth monitor the NPCs, confining them all to one room, hadn't he?
“I thought there was some meaning to the NPCs following us all the way here, but they were actually already gone long ago...”
“That's right. Except for this space, which was protected by sorcery... that is.”
Dokgo Yeon, who answered the dazed Asha in a cold voice, daringly swung her small sword.
Since there weren't many of them to begin with, the cursed masses originating from the NPCs' bodies couldn't avoid her sword strike and were all cleanly annihilated.
Of course, that didn't mean everything was over.
Now that the Observer of All Things had realized the existence of the barrier and the location of the space beyond it, she would soon break the barrier and chase after them.
Asha bit her lip and muttered.
“When we first saw them, should we have killed the NPCs right away?”
“Well, making us agonize and feel disgusted like that might have been the Tower's or the Constellation's intention.”
Instead of the monster that had vanished without a trace, Ban Yuwon stared straight ahead and spoke calmly.
“The truth is, the moment we found this barrier, the Constellation would have been able to pinpoint its location. So there's no need to worry about it at all.”
“That's right. The Constellation leaving them in human form was merely to observe us up close and agitate us.”
When Ban Yuwon first reunited with the NPCs, he had thought that perhaps a theme running through the Tower might be embedded in this reunion—but it was utter nonsense.
The Tower and the Constellation, after all, simply enjoyed playing with the climbers.
They might have done so, understanding Asha's empathy for the NPCs.
“The barrier will soon collapse. Before that, let's get everything we can.”
Rucell, on the other hand, remained positive.
The place she pointed with her finger.
Ban Yuwon, who discovered the magnificent temple appearing between the canyons of the colossal mountain, nodded and said.
“It really was a goldmine after all.”
Now, then.
The time had come to confirm what on earth was contained within these ruins, coveted by a Constellation like the Observer of All Things, and even by the Tower itself.
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