I Entered an Academy in a Ruined Game

Chapter 318 : Climbing the Tower (6)

A day had passed since Su-hyeon left alone.

"...It's quiet."

Lee Yu-jin, who was replenishing her strength by eating the food and water Su-hyeon had left behind after clearing out the remnants, muttered while hugging her knees.

The current situation of people left on the lower floors.

The current situation of people left outside.

The current situation of the person who went up to the higher floor.

It was an isolated space where none of these could be known.

"It would have been better if we could at least go down to the lower floors."

Once we had climbed up.

The stairs leading down no longer opened.

Only the demons belonging to this Celestial Tower, Eligoss, and Belphegor could move freely through those places.

"There's nothing we can do but trust and wait."

Hwang Ji-su said, tapping the ground with her finger.

"Ji-su seems the most anxious."

"No, I'm not? You're worse."

Hwang Ji-su snorted.

"...But sitting here like this makes everything feel like a lie. The end of the world and all."

A silent space with no presence or noise.

Within it, the two were spending time in an indefinite wait.

'I hope Grandfather is safe.'

Lee Yu-jin thought.

Sword God Lee Un-hak.

Her grandfather who had to wield a sword risking his life at an age when he should have long retired and lived a comfortable life, a bereaved father who had lost his youngest son.

For her grandfather's sake, and for all the surviving people, she could only pray that Su-hyeon would win the battle and return.

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The battle outside the Celestial Tower was turning unfavorable for the Suicide Squad left behind.

"Kuaaak!"

"Damn it! Maintain formation! If we retreat, we all die!"

Belphegor's forces were too powerful.

Even amidst this, Belred, befitting his status as the second-ranked Great Overlord, alone held back Murmur, Levenna, and powerful demonic beasts.

Especially on the fourth day of fighting, he displayed his might by ripping off Murmur's arm.

Nevertheless, the situation was not good for the human side, which had lost many captain-level fighters.

Go Seongjin, the 12th Unit Captain who had been fighting desperately, had lost one eye and ear.

5th Unit Captain Baek Seungyun had lost three fingers but was somehow still fighting after receiving Jang Jin-won's healing.

"...Damn it!"

Demons rushed toward Baek Seungyun, who was surrounded and outnumbered.

"Haaah!"

Amir covered Baek Seungyun's back, protecting him.

"Friend! Don't die!"

"Oh, thank you!"

Baek Seungyun barely caught his breath and smiled.

"If we get out of here alive..."

Baek Seungyun stammered in broken English.

"What is it?"

Amir, who was a bit more proficient in English, asked.

"Let's have a hearty drink together."

"Huhu."

Amir, worn out from fatigue, showed his white teeth.

"That sounds good!"

But not everyone was burning with such hope.

It had been nearly two weeks since the Suicide Squad had not returned.

During the time they had spread out formations and fought day and night, the Suicide Squad that had started with 300 members had dwindled to fewer than a hundred.

"...How long can we hold out?"

"It's taking too long."

"If you have time to say ominous things, kill one more enemy!"

'Sword God' Lee Un-hak's flying strike cut through space, dropping the heads of five demons in an instant.

"Th-thank you!"

"I don't misunderstand your feelings. But besides trusting those who entered the tower and holding out, what else can we do?"

"As you say. I'm sorry, elder."

"No need to be sorry."

With neither Su-hyeon nor Ju Taeyang present now.

Lee Un-hak was temporarily commanding the Suicide Squad along with Heo Sung-gyeom.

'But it's quite burdensome. If it weren't for that Great Overlord Belred, we would all be cold corpses by now.'

And if humanity's final military power disappeared.

There would be no more strength left for the remaining humans to resist.

'Yu-jin, Su-hyeon. Are you all safe?'

Lee Un-hak raised his head.

From the Celestial Tower, which rose endlessly toward the sky, no presence or sound was heard.

"...Survive, win, and return."

Until then.

Even in death, they could not die.

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The authority of 'Sensory Blockade' was powerful.

An absolute ability to take away the opponent's senses, regardless of power level.

It was truly a power most worthy of the name authority.

"Wretched."

Eligoss said.

Su-hyeon's body, bound by magical chains created by Eligoss.

Was dying, bleeding from swords stabbed into his limbs.

"..."

But.

Without even cutting Su-hyeon's neck or piercing his heart.

Eligoss was just quietly looking at his miserable state.

"...As expected."

Eligoss muttered.

"I cannot kill you."

Such was the nature of an immortal.

But...

"At least, I can delude you and imprison your self."

It was similar to a flea that had been constantly hitting its head on the ceiling, not daring to jump higher even after the ceiling was removed.

"However."

Eligoss's expression was not very bright.

"If you realize the truth."

Then there would be nothing more he could do.

But if you never realize it?

"Then you'll just wander endlessly in an eternal prison without bars or guards."

What that outcome would be was impossible to know even with Eligoss's future sight...

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Su-hyeon's body had become an empty shell that could not send any sensation to his mind.

And a self without senses or information was merely a thought entity trapped in infinite darkness, neither observed nor observing.

It was like.

When he had been wandering in waves of unconsciousness, repeatedly dying and reviving after being caught in the massive explosion triggered to kill Malek.

'A familiar sensation.'

Su-hyeon's self thought.

He was in darkness.

But it was not a space of nothingness where nothing existed.

Rather, it was a dark space where the 'Secrets of the Stars,' visible only to Transcendents, melted stickily into the darkness.

'I see.'

Despite having transcended, he had not fully accepted the flood-like truth and the 'Secrets of the Stars' that were as wide as the sky and as deep as the sea.

'...A newborn Transcendent.'

Isn't that a truly appropriate expression?

Su-hyeon's self laughed silently.

'Yes. Transcendence literally means an absolute realm with no limitations or constraints.'

Yet he had been flustered by the loss of senses and failed to respond, which Su-hyeon thought was actually embarrassing.

How much had his body been destroyed?

That didn't matter.

Even if he was annihilated by an explosion or burned away by fire, it wasn't a problem.

There was no need to worry about physical loss from the beginning.

'As long as my own self, the consciousness that recognizes me as me, exists. The body can be reborn any number of times.'

Wasn't that exactly what happened to his body, which kept regenerating even as it was being destroyed by explosion and radiation?

Therefore.

Su-hyeon realized the secret hidden by Eligoss's authority.

'He cannot kill me.'

Only.

'He can only make my self despair.'

Yes.

Everything was actually a deception.

A deception, once seen through, becomes nothing.

'This sea of truth is quite comfortable, but.'

One cannot lie in a cradle forever.

Moreover, Su-hyeon now realized that he could return to this space whenever he wanted.

'Then let's go back now.'

Su-hyeon's consciousness, having shed all delusions, was now beginning to inhabit the vessel of a newly created body.

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"You've returned."

Su-hyeon's eyes, having broken all the chains binding him with brilliant light, were staring straight at Eligoss.

"Yes. I've been resurrected."

"You."

Eligoss said.

"Have been reborn, Jeong Su-hyeon."

Like a young lion realizing the sharpness of its claws and teeth.

Like a young gazelle realizing the firmness of its legs and heart.

The young Transcendent once again realized the infinity latent within himself and created a new body to replace the one whose senses had been invaded.

It was truly the realm of a god.

"And you couldn't kill me in the end. That's natural. A Transcendent is an immortal and divine being. Literally a being that does not perish."

"Haha!"

Eligoss suddenly burst into laughter.

"What's so funny?"

"Ah, no..."

Eligoss answered without erasing his smile.

"The immature Transcendent has now finally reached maturity."

"Is that a pleasant thing for you?"

"Of course."

Eligoss affirmed.

"With this, the 'mission' is accomplished. There's no reason not to be delighted."

Tsuzuzuzu.

The destructive magical energy wrapping around Eligoss's body returned into its master.

"Do you still intend to fight me?"

Su-hyeon asked.

"If a fight between us still stands."

Eligoss said.

"I have no regrets now. So at least let me die by your sword."

Although Su-hyeon, who now truly had no need to cling to form, nevertheless deliberately raised his Sain Sword.

"What magnificent sword energy."

Eligoss smiled as he looked at the brilliant, gleaming, serene, and incomparably sharp sword energy.

Swoosh!

The essence of martial arts, containing more than a thousand years, was displayed in Eligoss's single strike.

Slash!

Su-hyeon's movement drew a single stroke of sword attack in the air, like a willow swaying in the wind.

Thud.

Eligoss's head fell to the floor.

It was too quiet a death for a great demon who had made two worlds tremble with his might, a being who had come closest to transcendence.

"...Are you satisfied now?"

Su-hyeon, who had closed the eyes of Eligoss's severed head, muttered.

"He neither angers nor mourns for you. Even knowing your death, he sent you to me."

And Eligoss had willingly died for such a Belphegor.

"For someone who lived as a chess piece and died as a chess piece."

Su-hyeon pondered.

"Quite a peaceful smile."

Gugugugugu.

Su-hyeon raised his head.

The ceiling of the Celestial Tower was opening by itself.

Beyond the thick black clouds, there was the gaze of some being watching Su-hyeon.

[Finally.]

Belphegor's voice echoed.

[After a long wait, this moment has finally come.]

"Yes."

Su-hyeon said.

"It was truly a long time. This is the first time we're meeting directly, right?"

[That's right. Immortal one.]

Float.

Su-hyeon's body slowly rose into the sky.

[Come up quickly. I don't want to wait any longer.]

"Don't order me."

Su-hyeon replied in a cold voice.

"That's for me to decide."

Very slowly, like riding an old elevator up a high-rise building.

Su-hyeon's body was rising into the sky.

"Because of your one existence, countless humans had to die."

Su-hyeon's voice was infinitely cold.

He too had to lose two teachers and comrades.

[Do you hate me?]

Not even a fragment of emotion could be glimpsed in Belphegor's voice.

[That's such a human emotion.]

"It's not for you to decide that."

Anger and hatred.

Those were the biggest driving forces that had brought Su-hyeon this far.

[An interesting response. Despite having transcended, you still haven't abandoned human emotions.]

Seeing Belphegor's reaction, who showed no emotion or even interest in the death of the being who had claimed to be his apostle.

Su-hyeon felt he could now vaguely understand what Belphegor's essence and intention were.

"Belphegor."

Looking at Belphegor's eyes, larger than the full moon, gazing down at him from beyond the curtain of clouds.

"King of ten thousand demons, ruler of the hidden world, the one who lurks in the abyss."

Su-hyeon said.

"You have lied to me."