The 31st Piece Turns the Tables
chapter-174

Snap…

Crack…

As Snorer and Teeth Grinder sank their teeth deeper into Bornuil, Frannan, for some reason, found himself recalling his past.

His master, Veil, looked down at him, seeing someone who had yet to fully bloom.

- What a terrible problem.

- Huh?

- Frannan, why do you not give it your all in combat?

- Well…

- Want me to guess the reason? You… can’t trust others, can you?

Veil was right.

Ever since Frannan was young, he had always seen himself as someone destined for another path.

Though his birth was ordinary, he intended to end it grandly, no matter what.

In the end, Frannan realized his greatness… but it came at the cost of his ability to trust others.

- Because if I fail after I give it my everything… then it really is the end…

- Why would that be the end? What about your peers?

- …They’re different from me. They fail easily.

- Haha... You’re quite out of place in Libra, where we prioritize balance above all else, aren’t you? To think you would choose to increase your burdens...

- Why should I trust others?

- Because you are a magician. People think magicians are incredible, but... in truth, we’re all just conceited idiots.

- Magic is incredible.

- Magic is incredible, but not magicians. Magicians are a bunch who can’t do anything on their own.

Snap!

As Frannan was deep in his thoughts, Seol received another message.

[You have defeated Ur:Bornuil.]

“I-Is it finally over?” asked a member of the Artifact Association.

Frannan dryly responded to them.

"How many people died?"

"We've only spotted two so far."

“Haah… Where are they?”

“Here, we… huh?”

After Frannan dismissed his demonic spirits, he and the expedition party attempted to identify the corpses of those who died in the battle.

However…

“I-It’s gone.”

“What are you talking about?”

“One of the corpses… it’s gone…”

The expedition party all looked at each other and quickly tried to assess the situation.

“Wh-what are you saying?”

“How could a corpse disappear?”

“I was sure it was here…”

Suddenly, a voice emerged from the darkness.

“Looking for me?”

“God damn it… No wonder it felt so easy.”

A figure exited the darkness with a sly grin. It was unmistakably the corpse that had disappeared.

After all, blood was still flowing from their crushed head.

The expedition party couldn’t believe that someone with such a severe injury could be walking around as if nothing had happened.

“...Ur?”

“It seems like you’re capable of remembering my name, at least. I was quite shocked. You guys were much better than I thought.”

Multiple expedition party members turned pale.

“N-No way!”

“How did he… We saw the demonic spirit eat his body…”

“This can’t be real!”

One of the mercenaries quickly charged at Ur with a sword in his hand.

“You fucking bastard! Just stay dead!”

Grab!

“Krgh…”

Ur grabbed the mercenary by his neck and choked him.

“I can kill you whenever I want. In fact, I could even steal your bodies as well. I'm sure you'll believe me now that I’ve shown you. My mind will never die."

Frannan laughed in disbelief.

“Haha, this is complete… I thought you died for sure…”

"It was an impressive attack. I could have even died from it, but, well... that’s just too unlikely."

"Your skill... it must have quite a lot of conditions to use it on a living target, huh?"

“......”

“Why else would you enter a corpse’s body to threaten us, don’t you agree? Couldn’t you have just taken my body if you could?”

“A keen observation. Still… it is unfortunate.”

“What is?”

"I was trying to select an appropriate body to enter the new world, but... I'm starting to feel a bit annoyed at the pain I've experienced after so long."

Thud…

The corpse that Ur took over collapsed to the floor. A few seconds later, another figure emerged from the darkness.

Thud…

Thuud…

The pressure emitted by the new figure was on a completely different level than before.

Each time the figure took a step closer to the expedition party, the air trembled.

“I… will kill you all.”

The new target Ur took over was a monster with 6 arms, ferocious fangs, and horns.

Not only was their body large, but it was also covered in hardened muscles.

Seol, after seeing their appearance, thought of his conversation with Ner.

- So facing him head-on is probably out of the picture... One more question. Are Koko and Stompy the only predators on this floor?

- There were a bunch of them, but Stompy killed them each time they got out of line. I’m pretty sure there was one more, but I don’t see them around anymore. They were quite an interesting friend with six arms, but... I’m pretty sure Stompy probably killed them as well.

‘Those arms… he must be that predator Ner mentioned!’

Seol got the feeling that this wasn’t going to be easy.

Frannan then began to murmur in a low tone.

“This is why… It never ends well when you use everything at the start…”

Frannan rummaged through his inventory, then sighed.

He had only one demonic spirit left now.

Snorer and Teeth Grinder had finished their meal and fallen back asleep. Frannan wasn’t sure if he could defeat Ur after he changed into this new body.

He had failed.

Frannan hoped that by seizing the opportunity while Ur's guard was down and delivering a powerful blow with everything he had, they could easily resolve the situation.

But now, his hopes were shattered. A greater trial lay ahead of him.

This was Frannan's first true battle since his hiatus.

The memories he had repressed with alcohol slowly returned to him.

He first recalled Yurin losing her memories due to her useless disciple.

- Yurin! Why… Why are you doing this…

- It’s because I’m a magician.

He then recalled the time his master, Veil, reprimanded him.

- Why should I trust others?

- Because you are a magician. Magicians are insignificant.

“I see. So this is how powerless magicians are on their own.”

Crumble…

Ur then spoke up.

"This one's body is quite tough, but it can only cast one type of spell. I didn't use it before because I didn’t like that fact, but... oh well."

Frannan let out a sigh upon seeing the monster before stepping forth.

He wondered if this was what soldiers felt when dragged into impossible wars.

But then…

Step…

“How about catching your breath?”

“...What?”

Seol stepped forward in Frannan’s place.

After uttering a few more words to Frannan, Seol slowly began to turn black.

“I will try to buy time.”

[Hidden Adventure ‘Solitary Confinement’ is now active.]

[Adventure 22-5. ‘Solitary Confinement’

‘Ur’, the reason for the creation of Alcatron and the prisoner who took over Libra, has appeared. After many years of imprisonment, his restraints have loosened, and now that he is finally awake, he intends to enter the new world.

You must stop him.

You don’t know what might happen if you fail.

Objective: Defeat or seal Ur.

Caution. This Adventure is very dangerous.

Caution. This Adventure can change at a moment’s notice.

Caution. This Adventure is expected to be an extensive journey. As such, there is a high possibility that you will not be able to rest properly.

Remaining Time [N/A]]

Seol read through information about the new quest and glanced at the details about Ur's new body.

‘This one’s a Transcendent-rank too… Damn it, why are there so many Transcendent-rank monsters?’

Seol cracked his neck, preparing himself.

Crack…

Ur smiled upon seeing Seol.

"That's right, you were here too! I needed a younger body than his, so I might need to consider yours!"

“And what about my opinion?”

“...Do we really need it?”

“Then I’ll give everything that I’ve got as well.”

“You’ll need to…” laughed Ur. “No one will be able to help you now, after all.”

Fwoooosh…

A mystical energy gathered around Ur’s body.

“What the…” shouted Frannan in shock.

Crackle…

An invisible, sturdy wall surrounded Ur and Seol, pushing everyone else away.

[Ur:Gaugoku used An Unavoidable Situation.]

[No one outside the barrier can intervene with those inside.]

It was quite a simple skill.

However, when combined with the horrifying body that Ur had taken over, it was truly remarkable.

After all, the body belonged to Gaugoku, a predator of Floor B4.

Despite all that, Seol laughed.

“Why are you laughing?” asked Ur.

“It just happened to be right on time. Let’s start.”

* * *

Translator - goguma

Proofreader - Karane

* * *

Like Jamad had previously done, Seol summoned forth an energy from within him.

Rumble rumble…

The energy surging through his entire body like a wave was the Primal Power of the earth. It was as if the newly acquired energy within him was yearning to be released.

‘I didn’t want to use this unless I had to, but…’

Unlike other skills, Primal Powers had a particularly irrational aspect to them.

This irrational aspect pertained to how the power was consumed.

‘Primal Power… disappears after being used once.’

It meant that they were comparable to the ‘volatile skills’ that Seol used before.

The best-case scenario, always, would be to defeat his opponents without resorting to it.

- He’s strong. We need to use everything. We’ll just end up dead trying to save this here.

As Jamad consoled Seol, he helped release the Earth Primal Power within them.

Rumble rumble!

A large, black stake grew from his arms.

Cruuuuush!

Seol stuck it directly into the ground.

Craaaackle!

[You use Mountain Primal Power Shamanic Spell: Land of Abundance.]

[The area is filled with abundant energy.]

[Earth Armor applies to everyone within the area.]

[Abundance breeds opportunity.]

[All stats temporarily increase by 30%. These bonus stats gradually diminish over time.]

[The odds of a skill temporarily improving are greatly increased within this area.]

[The odds of awakening a new skill are greatly increased within this area.]

This was the result of Seol using all of the Earth Primal Energy he acquired from the rock giant’s core.

Fwirl.

He then summoned Karen and Karuna to protect his side.

Ur laughed.

"That power... It seems you are also a branch of mine. Shadows... is it? No, there's also something different about you. I like it!"

“What do you mean?”

"I like your body. It would have been quite annoying to keep using this one. I don’t enjoy using my body too much, after all."

Step… step…

As an invisible barrier blocked Seol and Ur from the rest, the two collided.

Baaaaam!

Ur was the first to land a hit on Seol.

However, all it did was slightly damage Earth Armor.

Seol smirked.

“Yeah, I can tell.”

“What?”

“You’ve never trained your body, have you?”

BAAAAAAAM!

“Urgh…”

Ur was lifted into the air for a moment after Seol's uppercut. It was a powerful enough blow to shellshock anyone.

Ur quickly began swinging his six arms.

“Arahhhhhh!”

Fwoosh! Fwoosh! Fwoosh!

Bam! Bam!

Seol dodged most of Ur’s attacks, deflected a few, and then countered with his own strike.

Though the expedition party saw it as an extremely dangerous situation, Seol continued to smile faintly.

What does it truly mean to give it one’s all?

While Seol had been weak in the beginning, he had grown strong extremely quickly. And yet, he had been unable to use it all effectively.

Even now, he didn’t know how much he was capable of if he used everything in his arsenal.

‘Why don’t I… test it out?’

“Arghhhh!” yelled Seol.

Fwip fwip fwip!

Bam bam bam bam bam bam bam!

Seol battered Ur’s body as if he were the one with six arms, not Ur.

“Krgh…”

Bam!

As he pleased.

BAAAAAAM!

“Grgh…”

Really, as much as he pleased.

Bam baaaam!

Craaaaackle!

“Krgh… You bastard…”

He finally met an opponent he could beat down as much as he pleased.

Though his hands began to sting as if he had been punching metal sheets, Seol laughed.

The expedition party was in shock from watching their fight.

“How in the…”

“How is he so strong…”

“He’s overwhelming him!”

“H-He’s winning?”

The expedition party couldn’t tell who the monster was in this scenario.

In fact, Seol laughing maniacally while fighting seemed much more like a monster to them than the six-armed monster.

Frannan tightened his fist while watching the scene.

“We really are… insignificant.”

Frannan realized that right now… he had placed his faith in Seol.

Though Frannan had always been told that a moment would come when he would be forced to trust someone, he had never realized it until now.

Frannan thought that Yurin and Veil must have looked forward to this moment for a long time.

- Frannan, I’ll do my best to buy time, but defeating him won’t be the end of it. The fight won’t end unless we can put him back to sleep. I’m sure you understand what I’m trying to say.

Those were Seol’s words to Frannan before he began his fight. And Frannan quickly understood what he meant.

“We need to look for the magic word to seal him while he’s focused on combat! We will never win unless we can find it! It has to be here!” commanded Frannan.

“Yes, sir!”

As the expedition party was about to split up, Mael appeared from the darkness.

“There’s no need.”

“Mael?”

“I’ve already found where it is.”

“R-Really?!”

Mael pointed a finger upward, toward the ceiling. Countless small fireflies floated around.

“...What are those?”

“Some of the insects I control. They’re called starseekers.”

“But… Why are they…”

"They follow traces of mana and illuminate once they spot it. There are plenty around all of you as well."

As Mael said, there definitely were firefly-like insects over their bodies.

Frannan twisted his mouth.

“Alright, so it’s on the ceiling… then we’d need to light up our surroundings.”

“I’ll leave it to you, Sir Frannan.”

“Me? I don’t know any spells to illuminate a room.”

“What?”

“Urm…” interrupted Chameli. She stepped forth as she was much more well-versed in light magic. “All I need to do is light up our surroundings, right?”

“Yes. We need to decipher it as fast as we can.”

“Alright. Pilgrims, please assist me!”

Craaaaackle…

[Chameli used Sanctification: Daybreak.]

[Create a light source while Daybreak is maintained and fill the affected targets with warm energy.]

“There! It’s up there!”

“But… isn’t that too long?”

Mael's assumption was correct.

The magic words were indeed written on the ceiling. However, they were much longer than anyone could have expected.

Though it could also be considered obvious. After all, it was used to seal a monster like Ur for such a long time.

‘In the end, it’s still just a couple of sentences… please…’

Mael lifted the junkie he had prepared onto his shoulders.

“I leave it to you, Kiki!”

Ooh ooh…

“Interpret it!”

Ah ah…

Kiki's eyes scanned through the letters on the ceiling.