The Return of the Iron-blood Sword Hound
chapter-331

Chapter 331: Draw (1)

Highbro, Middlebro, and Lowbro were sneering at the fairy.

“Hey, Fairy, always showing up at the most inconvenient times, huh?”

“Look at it crying. Seems like everything it built until now is coming undone.”

“Idiot.”

Just as the triplets said, The fairy was currently wailing miserably.

[What the hell are you? Why are you doing this to me? Where do you get off messing with me like this? Are you trying to screw with my integrity?]

Vikir rubbed his chin for a moment.

According to what he had read in the memoirs of the great heroes, the relationship between Amdusias and the Fairies of the Abyss tree was as follows.

The relationship between a department store and the brand shops inside.

Amdusias expands the interior space and draws countless individuals into the Abyss tree.

And The fairy manages the sections inside the tower, engaging in various businesses with challengers.

…However, having experienced it firsthand within the tower, Vikir came up with a slightly different interpretation.

The relationship between a casino and the gamblers working inside.

In other words, Amdusias’s Abyss tree is a huge casino, and the Fairies are professional gamblers gambling inside.

Like gamblers, fairies have to make bets every moment.

Just as no casino in this world is ultimately designed for customers to make money, the stages and missions inside the Abyss tree are no different.

Fairies generally bet on the side where challengers fail to achieve their missions and die miserably.

That’s how they take away the candies they’ve had since birth.

They carefully plan traps that do not appear unreasonable in steadily growing and killing challengers without upsetting the game’s balance, even skimming off some of the rewards or openly embezzling them.

However, Vikir’s suspicions and judgments mostly exposed the traps set by fairies.

This was partly influenced by the various pieces of information he had heard in his past life, but mostly it was due to his seasoned instincts and intuition as a seasoned player.

Therefore, the fairy was now screaming frantically like a gambler bankrupted by continuous gambling losses.

[Oh no, I’ll go bankrupt like this!]

If just one more challenger like Vikir appeared, the fairy would probably go bankrupt and disappear.

Rumble-

Anyone could have easily thought so by looking at the number of candies pouring out of the fairy’s mouth.

-[Strange Candy] / Level / Golden

A candy that raises the level by 1.

It tastes sweet.

-Level +1

Golden candies that increase your level by 1. It’s worth as much as 300 regular candies. Vikir collected all the candies that fell, more than twenty of them.

‘Before heading to a specific floor, you need to collect 100 golden candies.’

Vikir’s goal is to instantly reach level 100. Until then, it’s important to maximize the scale of rewards while staying at level 1.

Since all six stats have been unlocked, there was no need to spin the candy gacha anymore.

‘Now, besides collecting golden candies, I must continue to enhance the three basic stats steadily.’

Vikir would be able to make up for his ‘lack of battle experience’ once and for all, which could only be obtained by crossing countless lines.

[Only those who have entered the realm of the master and continue to struggle with the same spirit as when they first grasped the sword, will gain anything.] – Cane Corso

A stage supported by desperate survival instincts, yearning for life, and extreme practical experience.

Vikir had mastered the seventh style before entering the Tower of Abyss, and was able to somewhat create the eighth form.

‘…Strictly speaking, maybe it’s the 7.5th form.’

In reality, having a midpoint between 7 and 8 seems a bit odd.

So, there should be 7.25 or 7.75 if we consider it that way.

However, it’s regrettable that there is no way to express this subtle deficiency merely through numbers.

‘After maxing out stats and level and leaving the tower… perhaps I could reach the complete eighth form even without Dolores’ buff.’

It’s about seizing that faint clue obtained after the bold confrontation with Cane Corso.

If so, it might be possible to eventually reach the realm beyond humanity and beyond death’s door, the ninth form.

…And then, right at that moment.

-Ding!

The now familiar notification sound tapped into everyone’s ears.

[Mission Complete] – Survivors: 76

※ As soon as the latecomers clears the mission, the firstcomers will be reverse summoned out of the tower.

※ Only Insect kings who have completed the mission are eligible for a reverse summons.

There were subtle additional explanations, different from before.

Simultaneously, a window announcing the mission clear appeared before everyone.

[Mission Complete] – Seize the Sap!

※ Survive by snatching the sap fountain from terrifying Insect king people!

[Mission Complete] – Build a boat and cross the Black sea!

※ Avoid the ‘Shadowless king of the black sea’’!

[Mission Failed] – Kill everything that’s alive!

-Survivors (0/77)

※What’s the point of being a Majin if you don’t go on a rampage? Let’s prove how strong you’ve become! Oh, and the rewards are pretty good, right?

The mission window above clearly appeared to the students of the Colosseo Academy, but the other ones were slightly different.

It seemed the mission for the Insect king people and Dogma (Who turned into a Majin)

Eventually, Insect-kings shed tears of gratitude and bowed to Vikir.

“Thank you! Thank you! Now we can return to where we originally lived!”

They had been dragged here for a very long time. During that time, their suffering had been so severe that over fifty Insect-kings flattened themselves on the ground, kissing Vikir’s hands and feet.

[Insect king’s teleportation is underway]

[Do you agree to the teleportation?]

Soon, a message appeared before Insect-kings.

“At last! Finally, we leave this dreadful tower!”

“Wow! All thanks to our savior!”

“We will repay this grace for sure! Thank you!”

All Insect-kings chose to leave the tower.

Then, suddenly…

*Crack!*

A beam of light fell from the sky, enveloping over fifty Insect-kings.

In an instant, they vanished.

Witnessing the spectacle, the Highbro, Middlebro, and Lowbro licked their lips.

“Damn, I don’t know if I’m envious towards them or not..”

“True. Whatever happened, this tower is a land of opportunity.”

“But still, those fellows are lucky. Seems like they were trapped here for a long time.”

At that moment, Vikir stepped forward.

“…”

Vikir began to silently examine the ground where Insect-kings had disappeared.

Soon, Vikir picked up something from the sand dunes.

It was a strand of long, white fur.

Likely, it had fallen from the bodies of the Insect king elders.

At the end of the strand, there was a blackened tip.

“…Did they really leave the tower?” Vikir’s quiet muttering sent shivers down everyone’s spine.

The beam of light and the noise from earlier were clearly distant from the sounds of spatial displacement.

Of course, it could be another unknown form of teleportation magic…

“Temptation is everywhere, and unless it’s earned with your own blood, it’s best to be suspicious.” Vikir added, with a sense of unease.

Highbro, Middlebro, and Lowbro standing behind him nodded solemnly.

Then, from behind…

“Um, excuse me…”

A voice, almost like it was creeping in from behind, reached Vikir’s ears.

Turning his head, Vikir saw about twenty commoner students standing nervously.

“I, I want to apologize for what happened earlier…”

“We were just following Dogma’s orders…”

“There was no malice, truly, I’m sorry…”

Everyone looked at Vikir.

After all, he had single-handedly defeated over fifty Insect-kings, Killed the Majin, and even defeated the Shadowless king of the black sea.

It was almost unthinkable to oppose Vikir;

In such a situation, there was no way to challenge Vikir’s mindset.

So, the commoner students lowered themselves, almost like insects, seeking forgiveness.

However, Vikir’s response to this was brief and dry.

“Why apologize to me?”

“…Huh?”

“Y’all got the wrong address.”

Vikir turned his head dismissively.

Behind him stood the Highbro, Middlebro, and Lowbro, the triplets.

“…Eek.”

The commoner students’ faces turned pale.

Of course, forgiveness should be sought from the victim.

Criminals typically show remorse and apologize only to those who have the authority to punish them, such as guards or judges.

Ironically, they often fail to apologize to the actual victims. It’s contradictory.

The students, who had never understood why criminals groveled and repeated apologies only in front of judges, now understood the reason as they found themselves in such a situation.

“Since it’s come to this, we have no choice but to beg for our lives from Vikir.”

“Highbro, Middlebro, and Lowbro won’t forgive us.”

“They’ll kill us. Even if we beg a thousand times for mercy, they’ll surely find a fault.”

“…Let’s go to Vikir and plead as much as we can.”

It was because they were solely concerned about their own disadvantages without genuine remorse.

The faces of all the students who had come to realize this fact were filled with self-loathing and remorse.

In a creeping voice, they spoke to the Highbro, Middlebro, and Lowbro.

“S-Sorry, guys…”

“I’ll accept any retaliation. I’m sorry.”

“I’m begging you. Please. Just end it with me. Spare my family outside the tower…”

The commoner students kneeled, bowing their heads.

Eventually, Highbro stepped forward.

Each time he took a step, everyone flinched.

Then, surprisingly, Highbro approaching the commoner students did something entirely unexpected.

Thud –

Highbro knelt down on one knee, aligning himself with the commoner students’ eye level.

“I understand well the injustices you’ve faced from the nobles and elites.”

“…?”

“Us brothers, too, must have made you feel unfairly treated before being trapped inside the tower.”

At Highbro’s words, the expressions of the commoner students softened.

Beside him, Middlebro and Lowbro also approached and knelt down.

“But within the tower, we must unite our strength.”

“The distinction between noble, elite, and commoner is meaningless now. Only ‘humans’ remain.”

The words of Middlebro and Lowbro left the commoner students in a daze.

And finally, Highbro came to a conclusion.

“We forgive all that you’ve done to us. Just as you forgive what we did before being trapped in the tower.”

Upon hearing this, some students burst into tears.

Others, unable to shed tears, simply hung their heads in silence.

‘This is it. This is what Dogma couldn’t achieve until the end.’

It seemed like everyone felt it. What it was exactly couldn’t be defined.

Meanwhile, Vikir, quietly listening to the triplets’ words, nodded his head.

‘…Their mindset has properly taken shape.’

Words like “forgiving the perpetrator and showing compassion” were not noble sentiments.

In the era of destruction, distinctions between nobles, elites, commoners, and peasants were meaningless.

Only demons and humans remained. Only the stark black-and-white logic remained.

Thorough solidarity and cooperation among humans were the only way to survive against the demons.

The triplets were already beginning to understand this vaguely.

Vikir was different from before he regressed.

At that moment.

[Challenger?]

The fairy, thought to have disappeared, had subtly approached Vikir’s side.

It began to make a strange proposition.

[Are you still busy accumulating insignificant achievements? Wouldn’t it be more enjoyable to engage in ordinary missions since you’re so incompetent? ]

Vikir decided to listen to what nonsense was coming.

Sure enough, the fairy began to propose an unheard-of deal.

[ So, what do you say? Shall we make all the next few floors completely meaningless? ]