Chapter 40: The Fallen (3)

I watched Section Chief Shin Su-jin slip out through the exit.

Of all places, I never expected to run into the Section Chief of the Tower Monitoring Division here.

Given her condition, it was probably best for her to get out and receive treatment.

I turned my attention back to the monster on the stage.

The scene before me was a bloodbath too horrific for words.

The monster crouched amid the corpses, wailing as though mourning the dead. The sight was as grotesque as it was chilling, like something torn straight from a horror movie.

Why is it crying like that... after killing them all itself?

Until only moments ago, that monster had been human.

Climbers who died from the Tower’s Curse had transformed into monsters.

The Fallen, as the Tower called them.

And it appeared that not a trace of human reason remained within them.

In that case, there was no other choice.

They had to be killed.

Plli had already bitten one of them to death moments earlier.

However, the one Plli had killed possessed three horns, while the creature now crouching on the stage had five.

The Tower had clearly stated that The Fallen were generated in stages ranging from one to five.

If that was the case, the number of horns likely corresponded to the creature’s stage.

A Stage 5 Fallen, generated with a probability of only 0.01%.

0.01% of forty thousand people... That should be around four, right? And one of them just happened to appear in Korea?

Whatever the odds, I could feel it.

This thing was strong.

Sixth Sense quietly confirmed my suspicion.

It was considerably dangerous.

I had no desire to throw myself into a dangerous fight either... but leaving something like this alone was not an option.

It might not be doing anything at the moment, but if it was allowed to roam free, there was no telling how much destruction it would cause.

But could it survive my new finishing move?

No.

Not a chance.

I extended one hand.

I was about to cast Destruction Ray at the Fallen, which remained crouched and motionless as it wept, when...

‘...Hmm.’

I lowered my hand.

The angle was awkward.

Inside the Tower, it would not have mattered, but this was the real world.

The problem was that Destruction Ray was simply too powerful.

If I fired it, I had no way of knowing how far the beam would penetrate before finally stopping.

If it tore through the walls, burst out of the building, and struck innocent bystanders beyond it, the consequences would be disastrous.

And if I aimed it at the floor... wasn’t there an underground area beneath the building?

What if someone was down there?

I looked upward.

A dome-shaped ceiling stretched above the stage.

Upward should be safe enough.

All I had to do was launch the Fallen into the air toward the ceiling, then hit it with Destruction Ray.

‘Knock it upward.’

The moment I gave the command, Plli charged straight at the Fallen.

Only then did the motionless creature react.

SKREEEEEE-!

The Fallen let out a piercing shriek, like the deafening feedback from a badly handled karaoke microphone, and flew into a frenzy.

“...!”

Fast.

The Fallen evaded Plli’s lunging bite with lightning speed, then drove a kick directly into Plli’s torso.

Despite being easily ten times the creature’s size, Plli was sent hurtling through the air and crashed into the wall.

The wall crumbled beneath the impact, and sparks erupted from the damaged lighting fixtures.

GRAAAAAAH-!

Apparently unharmed, Plli immediately charged back into the fight.

It slammed its entire body into the Fallen, and this time, the Fallen was the one sent flying.

The two monsters began tearing into each other in earnest, yet the Fallen showed no sign of being overwhelmed.

That said, Plli did not appear to be losing either.

They were evenly matched.

I observed the battle from beneath Concealment.

‘Around Level 50, perhaps.’

Was it even stronger than me with Exaltation at its maximum?

However, aside from its overwhelming physical abilities, it did not seem to possess any special powers.

One clean hit would be enough.

I was certain of it.

The two monsters rampaged across the spacious theater, destroying everything in their path.

The Fallen’s counterattacks were so ferocious that Plli could not manage to launch it toward the ceiling as I had ordered.

If this dragged on for too long, more people might enter the building.

And Concealment did not have much time remaining...

I would have to wait for an opening.

GRRRAAAAGH...!

They continued exchanging blows, and before long, the opportunity I had been waiting for finally appeared.

The Fallen had seized Plli’s jaws with both hands, locking the two of them in a contest of raw strength.

‘Hold still.’

After giving Plli the command, I approached while remaining concealed.

Then I used Teleport and appeared directly beside the Fallen.

Before it could react, I activated Swing and drove a full-force upward kick into its abdomen.

KIAAA-!

The Fallen shot into the air, soaring until it nearly struck the ceiling.

The perfect angle.

I extended my hand toward the Fallen and stopped time.

Three hundred seconds of Mental Concentration.

Then a fully charged beam of pitch-black light erupted toward the sky.

Fssshhh...

When the darkness faded, only a vast hole in the ceiling remained.

Dust drifted down through the air as sunlight poured into the theater.

I had been prepared to follow up immediately with Flame Strike, just in case, but there was no need.

The Fallen, struck directly by Destruction Ray, had vanished without leaving so much as a trace.

So it really couldn’t survive it.

The fight ended just like that.

Simple and clean.

‘Good work.’

After all its effort, I Reverse Summoned Plli.

I surveyed the ruined theater, then glanced at the corpse of the Stage 3 Fallen that had been killed earlier.

If all forty thousand of those people had transformed into monsters like these, the world was about to descend into complete chaos all over again.

‘What the hell is this madness now...?’

My head throbbed beneath the sheer weight of the situation.

Still under Concealment, I quietly slipped out of the building.

***

“Oh, h-hey...! Are you all right?!”

“I’m fine.”

By the time Shin Su-jin emerged from the building, police tactical units had already established a tight perimeter around the entrance.

“You’re Section Chief Shin Su-jin, correct?!”

“Yes. What happened to the people who escaped?”

“Don’t worry, ma’am. Everyone has been evacuated to a secure location, and the injured have been transported by ambulance!”

Shin Su-jin nodded before speaking.

“Do not enter the building yet. There’s a monster inside.”

“Yes, ma’am! We’ll breach the building and neutralize—”

“No! You’ll all die! Ugh...”

Without even taking the time to tend to her wounds, Shin Su-jin stopped the officers from entering.

“Rifles won’t even leave a scratch on it... If you engage that thing, every last one of you will die. Hold your position for now.”

She was a Level 30 climber, and she had emerged from the building heavily wounded while issuing such a warning.

The police had no choice but to obey.

Shin Su-jin reached for her radio.

“This is Section Chief Shin Su-jin. A monster has been confirmed inside the Seoul Arts Center. One entity—”

BOOM!

A tremendous impact shook the building from within.

The officers flinched and immediately swung their weapons back toward the entrance.

“I-Is the monster going berserk?”

The police had no way of knowing what was happening inside.

The entire building trembled as explosions of varying intensity thundered one after another.

The roar of some enormous beast could also be heard from within.

Shin Su-jin stared at the building with trembling eyes, then continued her radio transmission.

“...An extremely powerful monster is inside the Seoul Arts Center. I believe it to be the Stage 5 Fallen mentioned in the message. Its combat capability should be estimated at... no lower than Level 50.”

Shin Su-jin believed in Person123.

Even when he had only cleared the second floor of Nightmare difficulty, he had already been an extraordinarily powerful climber.

Now that he had cleared the third floor, he had undoubtedly become far stronger.

On top of that, he possessed the ability to command a monster like Plli.

But what if, despite all of that, he was killed by the Fallen?

What if the only person capable of climbing Nightmare difficulty died here?

It would be an irreversible catastrophe.

‘...No.’

A chill ran through her at the thought.

Had the pain from her injuries clouded her judgment?

Shin Su-jin regretted simply leaving the building because he had told her to.

She should never have left him to fight alone.

She should have warned him not to engage the Fallen at all.

A monster like that was not something a single person should confront head-on.

It was the kind of creature that needed to be destroyed beneath an overwhelming barrage of missiles.

Just as Shin Su-jin resolved to return inside and check the situation...

“...!”

A pillar of black light suddenly erupted from the center of the building, tearing through the roof and shooting high into the sky.

Everyone who witnessed it froze in place, staring at the incomprehensible phenomenon.

What in the world is that...?

The black pillar vanished moments later.

At the same time, the tremors that had shaken the building as though it were on the verge of collapse abruptly ceased.

Shin Su-jin stood there in a daze for several seconds before opening the Communication Channel.

She was about to send a Whisper to Person123 when a message from him arrived first.

[Person123: It’s done.]

The instant she read those words, all the tension drained from her body.

He had {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} won.

Thankfully, Person123 was an even greater monster than the terrifying creature he had just defeated.

‘That black pillar just now...’

What had it been?

Some ability belonging to the Fallen?

Or perhaps it was one of Person123’s skills.

He did possess a great many mysterious abilities.

[Person123: All the monsters have been taken care of. It’s safe to enter now.]

[Person123: I’d appreciate it if you kept my involvement a secret again this time.]

Shin Su-jin immediately replied.

[Lotus: I will.]

[Lotus: Were you injured?]

[Person123: No. Not a scratch.]

[Lotus: I’m glad to hear that.]

[Lotus: Thank you. I’m always the one receiving your help.]

Mere gratitude could never begin to express what she felt.

Once again, she owed him her life.

Had he not stepped forward to fight the Fallen, the number of casualties could have been far greater.

After closing the Communication Channel and steadying her breathing, Shin Su-jin turned toward the officers.

“...I’ll go back inside and assess the situation.”

***

Shanghai, China.

CRASH! BANG!

In the heart of downtown Shanghai, a man was locked in battle with a five-horned Fallen.

The two clashed ferociously, neither giving an inch, until the man seized the Fallen by its horns and hurled it far into the distance.

WHOOOOSH-!

Fighter jets circling overhead unleashed a barrage of missiles at the Fallen.

Massive explosions erupted one after another.

The Fallen released an agonized scream as it staggered out from the flames and debris.

At that exact moment, the man activated Leap and launched himself toward the creature once more.

– Hold fire! Stand down!

The pilots, who had been preparing to bombard the Fallen until nothing remained, immediately broke away.

The man resumed his battle with the Fallen, his entire body now wrapped in crimson energy.

Even in its battered condition, the Fallen continued to resist for a long time.

The man first tore off one of its mangled arms.

Then he crushed its entire chest.

Finally, he planted one foot on the back of the collapsed Fallen and pinned it firmly against the ground.

WHAM! WHAM! WHAM! WHAM! WHAM!

He drove his fists into its head again and again.

Cracks spread across the ground as the Fallen’s body was hammered deeper and deeper into the earth.

Only when its head finally burst apart did the creature stop moving.

The effects of Frenzy faded, and the crimson glow in the man’s eyes returned to normal.

He turned his head and spat out a mouthful of blood.

Moments later, a convoy of vehicles pulled up beside him.

Aides poured out of a black sedan among the military vehicles and rushed toward him.

“Excellent work, Wang Kai ssi!”

The man tore away the remains of his shredded shirt, accepted a fresh set of clothes, and draped them over his shoulders.

Wang Kai.

A Level 52 climber who had reached Floor 14 on Hard difficulty.

The climber with the highest progression record on Hard difficulty.

The highest-level climber in the world.

That was who he was.

“Are you injured any—”

“Do I look injured? I’m fine.”

In truth, Wang Kai did not exactly look fine.

However, no one dared to contradict him.

Wang Kai glanced up at the fighter jets circling overhead and clicked his tongue.

“I could’ve killed it by myself without those gnats getting in the way. Why did you even bother scrambling them? You should’ve saved the fuel.”

“Yes, sir! You truly are remarkable!”

“Still, I’ll admit it was pretty tough. So that thing was a Stage 5 Fallen? No other climber could’ve handled it.”

Wang Kai looked down at the Fallen’s corpse and grinned.

“Man~ This world just keeps getting more interesting.”