Chapter 59: The Sixteenth Floor
Lee Shin had somewhat expected to discover the replica, because the energy of death felt odd here. In fact, Dantalion’s head was sealed here. Since Dantalion succeeded in invading this spot again in the original world, rather than the created world, Lee Shin had expected the replica to be here. However, Lee Shin did not expect that it was simply sitting here without losing its power until someone came.
If someone else other than Lee Shin had arrived, that person would have fallen victim to the power of memory manipulation, forced to repeat the horrors of the past. Dantalion stared at Lee Shin with big, blue eyes. Lee Shin was not sure if he had seen it correctly, but Lee Shin sensed embarrassment in Dantalion’s eyes. After he had shown his power first, there had been no response from Dantalion.
"I was lucky," Lee Shin muttered.
If it was a power other than memory manipulation, it would have been quite difficult for Lee Shin to deal with. Perhaps, the Immortal Sphere had protected Lee Shin from the power of memory manipulation. From this incident, Lee Shin could be sure that the power of the Immortal Sphere is at least above the level of a demon monarch.
The Immortal Sphere was a speck of a forgotten God. As soon as the God was forgotten, most of the God’s power was lost. However, it was less likely for that to happen to those who had worked their way up to the class of transcendence and became gods.
Under Dantalion’s constant stare, Lee Shin frowned and activated his mana. He directed his mana toward Dantalion’s head. The sight of it made Lee Shin feel very uncomfortable. The stones that were around Dantalion protruded with thorns and crushed his ninth head as easily as tofu. At the same time, with a loud noise, the demon power inside the head scattered and disappeared.
[You have resolved the 『Hidden Stage - The Remnants of Dantalion』]
[You will be given an additional reward.]
[You have acquired the Fragment of Divine Status.]
[You have acquired the 『Title - The Man Who Destroyed the Head of the Demon Monarch』]
[The antagonism between you and Dantalion has gone up to the maximum.]
[You are more likely to encounter Dantalion’s corps if you go to the Demon World.]
"Well, I didn't know I could get the Fragment of Divine Status here,” Lee Shin muttered.
Lee Shin had acquired the Fragment of Divine Status earlier when he defeated Geren on the third floor.
[Fragment of Divine Status]
This is a fragment of the divine status that had been broken into many pieces. If you collect all the fragments, you will be able to acquire one proper divine status.
Lee Shin was full of questions. How many pieces of fragments did he have to collect? After collecting them, did he have to combine them on his own, or did they combine on their own? Besides, did the divine status mean they would increase his divine status stat by 1 or actually give Lee Shin a true divine status? Lee Shin put in the Fragment of Divine Status and sighed when he saw the message that did not tell him anything important.
‘Hmm… antagonism between me and Dantalion…’
To be honest, considering the penalty, this reward was not all that good. Dantalion was the monarch of the Demon World and he was considered the king in the world of this tower. Moreover, his influence was formidable, and it was clear that Lee Shin would have to go to the Demon World at least once as he climbed the tower. In that case, Lee Shin might have to confront the entirety of Dantalion’s corps.
‘Titles’
[The Man Who Destroyed the Head of the Demon Monarch]
Wow, how did you manage to destroy the head of the demon monarch? I really want to praise you for your courage!
# There is a certain probability that the demons will be afraid of you.
# You will decrease the ability of the low-rank demons by 15%.
# You will decrease the ability of the mid-rank demons by 10%.
# You will decrease the ability of the high-rank demons by 5%.
[The Successor of the Seven Elements]
You are a successor recognized by the spirits of the seven elements.
# You will easily be liked by the spirits of the seven elements.
# Your proficiency in the seven elements increases rapidly.
# When you encounter the spirits of the seven elements, the probability of encountering the high-rank spirits increases.
These two titles that Lee Shin had acquired from this stage would be of great help when Lee Shin went to the Demon World or the Underworld.
‘I guess it’s not too bad.’
The title ‘The Successor of the Seven Elements’ was an especially great bonus for Lee Shin, because even if he were to rise to the position of the Great Wizard, it was difficult for him to master all the different spells of all elements. His main focus was on thunderbolt and darkness. Lee Shin could also use the flame and ice spells, but the quality of those spells was not comparable to his main magic.
Lee Shin could use other elemental spells at a higher level than most wizards; however, it would take a lot of time and effort to reach the level of the best wizards. Besides, Lee Shin knew that reaching such a level would require innate talent.
Lee Shin already saw the ability of ‘The Successor of the Seven Elements’ using his title as He Who Knows Death.
Successors were typically people who possessed natural talent and stood out among ordinary people. The fact that the defeat of Dantalion gave rise to this title was evidence for how remarkable the abilities of successors were.
As the demon power vanished, Dantalion's head was so crushed that Lee Shin could not recognize the shape. After looking at his head, Lee Shin climbed up the pit. He had lost quite a lot of his undead in this battle, but the number of undead that he could take with him was limited anyway. Lee Shin had to put the rest of them either in the World of Death or abandon them here. Besides, even if Lee Shin put them in the World of Death, it was unclear whether the undead would be able to survive there.
‘At least I’ve got something.’
Lee Shin looked at Shun Grammys. Shun Grammys had survived this battle and he was considered an undead with enormous potential. Lee Shin had to use 30 dominance stat to utilize this guy. Considering that the matured May required 35 dominance stat, the system proved Shun's potential.
'I guess I should send Terian to the World of Death.’
To be honest, each of the dead bodies of the wizards here were worth a lot, but Lee Shin could not take all of them with his current ability. If Abel had been there, he would have taken Abel instead of Shun. However, Lee Shin could not make Abel into an undead because he was completely destroyed by the Dark Thunder. Also, Astor was a brilliant wizard, but in terms of potential, he was no match for Shun. Moreover, there was no need for Lee Shin to take Astor with him, because Lee Shin himself was already a thundermancer.
"Harpness," Lee Shin called out.
- Did you call me…
"Make them all into undead and put them in the World of Death,” Lee Shin ordered.
Lee Shin pointed to some of the valuable wizards and commanded. He was hoping they would survive in the World of Death and develop their capabilities like Kalen.
"Take me to the sixteenth floor," said Lee Shin.
Lee Shin, who finished all his work on the fifteenth floor, moved to the sixteenth floor surrounded by light. As soon as Lee Shin arrived, the first thing he did was to check the messages and the community. Lee Shin checked it often in case the block on Isocia's messages and community was lifted, but there were still no messages from them.
* I'm on the twentieth floor, and again, a team of Undermost challengers went up. I’m still stuck here because I’m too scared to go up.
└ I hope they are okay…
└ When will the 29th floor be cleared?
└ Since a lot of Undermost challengers went up, wouldn't it be soon?
└ What do you mean, there’s a rumor that all countries have banded together.
└ But Korean rankers are capable of defeating them all. Look at the difference in their achievements. How can you compare like this?
└ Don't you know what Isocia is like? It's a place where the challenger on the 29th floor can meet another challenger from the 21st floor. Don't you know what that means?
└ But you don't know yet, do you? To be honest, Isocia had been closed off and no one has come out since then. So we won’t know the truth.
└ Didn't you see the audio file and the video? Did you not see how the Koreans and their allies were betrayed and robbed on the 29th floor?
└ But the Undermost challengers keep climbing up. Since 8 people went up this time, I believe there are already more than 100 people from Undermost?
└ According to the official, we have more than 1000 enemies though… Is that possible?
└ Don't worry, we have Mr. Lee Shin. Things will be all sorted out when Lee Shin goes up.
└ True that, I agree with you.
└ Yeah you’re right, everyone is nothing compared to Lee Shin.
└ Well, we never know. Mr. Lee Shin is not Korean, so he could just abandon everyone and go up, right?
└ No way… Stop saying such things!
└ Mr. Lee Shin is an honorary Korean. What are you saying?!
└ Are you a spy? How dare you insult Mr. Lee Shin?
└ Look up who this guy is! We gotta start the investigation.
The community was still burning with interest over the stories about Isocia, especially because of the video and voice files that were suddenly released. In the video, there were scenes of people from other countries betraying Koreans and attacking the alliance just before they cleared the stage in the Demon Castle.
In the voice files, several individuals from all over the world were talking about the closure of Isosia, saying they need to capture Korea. And that was indeed what happened. Since then, the messages and community had been cut off, and there had been no challengers coming up to the 30th floor from Isocia. People could not understand what was going on. Lee Shin looked back at the posts that were posted on the community and checked if there was anything useful.
‘So far, there's nothing.’
There were about two days left until the start of the next stage on the 16th floor. Lee Shin had been busy preparing for the next stage. Two days later, the stage on the 16th floor began.
[You have entered the 16th floor.]
[Escape from the labyrinth of Payne.]
It was a huge space that was blocked on all sides including the top and bottom, except one side. The only way to move was to go forward. When Lee Shin looked around, he could tell that there were three other people who had been summoned to the same place. There was a lightly dressed man with a sword, a woman in a tight dress with purple hair, and a blond-haired woman in white clothes with a spear. However, the blond-haired woman was not human.
‘Elyos?’
There was a pair of white wings on the woman’s back, which was definitely the wings of the Elyos. The other two also looked a little surprised and puzzled when they saw her. The man did not seem to know the identity of that angel, but the woman seemed to have noticed it.
"An angel…?" the woman asked.
When the angel heard the woman ask, she answered with a bright smile.
"Oh, I guess you know? You’re right, I'm a low-rank angel, Mariel." Mariel introduced herself.
"An angel? For real? Are you an angel? Wow... It's my first time seeing an angel! You are so beautiful!" the man exclaimed and looked at Mariel top to toe, as if he was looking at a strange animal.
Anyone would have been offended, but Mariel still smiled brightly as if that did not bother her.
"I'm Alice.”
"I'm Fletta."
The purple-haired woman with an enchanting aura introduced her name and the man who was holding a sword next to her also introduced himself. Then after, they all turned to Lee Shin and stared.
"Lee Shin," Lee Shin said his name.
The three did not react much after hearing the name, other than just nodding lightly.
Based on their reactions so far, it seemed like they did not know about the name Lee Shin.
"But both of you are quite beautiful. Since we met like this, let's do our best to escape from this place! I, Fletta, will be your knight to protect these beautiful women," Fletta said confidently.
"Ah... okay," Alice replied with a reluctant look.
Fletta did not mind Alice’s reaction. He tried to appeal to the women with a big laugh.
"As Mr. Fletta said, everyone should cooperate and work together! This labyrinth is not an easy place to escape from," said Merial.
"You’re right. Plus, if everyone has come this far, they can probably do their job,” Alice muttered.
"You women are right, but don't worry because I'm here! Hahaha!" Fletta shouted and laughed.
After all four of them reached an agreement, they began to move along the only path. Lee Shin, who was following behind Fletta, was lost in thought as he looked at Merial’s flapping wings.
‘I can't believe I met Elyos here…’
Lee Shin thought he would have to go over to the 30th floor to meet Elyos, but it was a great luck to meet one on the 10th-floor section. His original plan had to be completely revised, because the Elyos had to be taken to the target point for him to get the divinity stat. Since Lee Shin had encountered the Elyos, he had a chance to acquire this stat for free. This would be very helpful, especially if they were trapped inside a labyrinth.
"Well... there's a crossroad in front of us. My gut tells me—" Fletta was interrupted.
"We have to go to the left,” said Lee Shin.
Fletta looked confused when he saw Lee Shin decide the direction without any hesitation.
"What do you know about this place?" Fletta asked.
"I know the way here,” Lee Shin replied.
All three seemed surprised by Lee Shin’s words, but Alice's response was slightly different.
‘What was that?’
The subtle difference on Alice’s face was a tactic in expression management that would have been hard to notice if it had not been Lee Shin, who had met numerous human figures.
"Wow! That would make things easier. We will be able to easily clear this stage if we just listen to Lee Shin.”
"The price we will need to pay for this stage will be lower, thanks to Mr. Lee Shin.”
"Do you believe him? We only met this guy a few minutes ago.” Unlike the two, Alice was doubtful of Lee Shin’s words.
However, Alice also had a point.
"How can we believe that you know the way? And it's more suspicious that you are showing your cards so easily," Alice asked with suspicion.
At Alice's argument, Fletta and Meriel started to reconsider.
"I don’t think I can trust you. I'm going to the right,” said Alice.
Fletta and Meriel looked troubled by her opposition.
"I, Fletta, cannot leave a woman alone. I will also follow Ms. Alice," said Fletta.
Meriel seemed more worried when she saw Fletta follow Alice.
"Hmm... Can't we all go together?" Merial asked.
"If that guy comes this way, I won't stop him. But I’m not going that way,” Alice said with determination.
When Meriel saw Lee Shin, who was now left alone, she tried to head toward him.
"It’s fine, I’ll go with you. Well, there's no need to split up already," Lee Shin said.
Lee Shin gave in without any hesitation.
"Good! It would be nice if we all went together! I'll protect you with all my might!" Merial shouted in joy.
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