Chapter 217: What?

I raised my guard up but I was still sent flying to the ground. The tree of them ganged up on me and I couldn't do anything so I just raised my guard up.

It was like their hammers were slamming down a nail down to the ground as they take fast alternate turns.

"Come, Shield of Greed!" A molten dark shield, etched in the linings of the flames that I was using. A weapon forged from the sword but both exist at the same time. I took on the hits these three were dealing at me and absorbed it with the shield.

It capped up to the maximum limit and all I had to do was parry. And so I did. I raised my shield and the three enemies were blasted away. This is a function of the Shield of Greed, it can absorb and reflect.

I waved the shield and it cleared out the dust that was in the air so that I can take a good look on who just attacked me. And it was... "The valkyries?" I remember blowing their heads off. "Its... not there. Their heads?" I took a closer look and I was right. I did blow their heads off. But how can they move?"

"Zieglind!" Precia called out to me. "There must be a core somewhere!"

"Core..?" I dispelled the shield and coated my gauntlets again, "Hell's Retribution!" I rushed in at the valkyries.

"Their chest! Try there!"

A single punch to their chest and I managed to crack open their bodies. It was hollow but it was tough. But I managed to get through somehow.

I then found a single floating orb inside of them. A yellow one and it was releasing mana acting as joints in their body. I went deeper in their bodies and punched this yellow orb.

It was tougher than their body but I managed to destroy it with a punch of these gauntlets.

Their whole body was then destroyed and torn apart the moment that I destroyed that orb.

The remaining two valkyries didn't mind it and just rushed at me as if nothing happened. With their hammers and shields, they were protecting their chest while they were attacking me.

I easily dodged as they swung those heavy slow weapons. The coating on my weapons disappeared and returned into the Demon Sword. Its been a while since I used his sword style but... "Fleeting Silence." The valkyries stopped their movements. "I guess that's done." Then their bodies fell apart with their cores being broken. Not a single sound was heard during that moment. I'm getting better, using the sword art and the skills of those two people.

I went back to them and dispelled everything I have activated. "Good job." Herold exclaimed.

"Thanks. Precia, how'd you know that there's a core?"

"Well, we found the same enemies but they were just stone giants." Precia replied.

"Stone... giants?"

"I don't know what they're called but they're giants. They have an incredibly tough armor. We have some right now in Izgoy, tamed by us."

"You caught some..? Alright, let's go. Let me see these monsters. Rift Open!"

[Place does not exist.]

"Hmm?" I was genuinely confused by that message. Izgoy right? Rift Open works by imagining a place and then opening up a portal so that you can traverse from here to there. "Has something happened to Izgoy? My portal doesn't work there."

"Ah, I guess you're unfamiliar with it now. There's some small changes." Precia explained. "Let's just fly to there."

"Hmm... alright. After I check those monsters, let's go back here. I want to see where their trail leads. Waypoint!" A beacon of light appeared from the sky and down in the ground below. It was like a waypoint that you see in games where you'll see how far you are at the waypoint and it'll stay there until you remove it. Just a marker if we ever need to go back here.

We flew back to Izgoy and I couldn't help but cover my mouth. "Uh... you sure this is ours?"

There was a giant wall surrounding Izgoy. And another section of Izgoy on the far right. I couldn't help but question how fast our place was growing. I didn't know that this was Izgoy in the first place.

There were ballistas and cannons on top and several monsters guarding the place. As soon as we got near the place, the monsters raised their weapons. Are they enemies or are guarding?

"Don't worry about them. They're with me. Continue your work." Precia commanded and the monsters obeyed for some reason. I guess all these monster that she has is really under her command.

As I looked over the place, I could see legendary creatures everywhere. Fire Monarchs, a phoenix? Cyclops and... is that a dragon!? I mean... it is a baby one but to think that they caught a dragon is impressive in itself.

We went on and opened the gates which for some reason is guarded by five gates coated in Xend material. It seems that the people here are worried over the monsters so they asked for this to be made. Or maybe this is a decision made by Precia and Yefa.

We went in and holy crap it is a den of monsters. I couldn't believe how much variety of monsters are here. And they aren't attacking each other or anything. Just... leaving peacefully like normal people. It was a sight to behold. "How many are here..?"

"In the hundred thousands... we don't exactly know how many there are. But uh, here it is. The district of the elites. Here's where the strongest monster we caught are. And that's the giant that I found." Precia pointed.

"This is soul bound to you right?"

"Yes."

"Then don't mind me." I jumped on its chest and equipped, "Gauntlets of Instability!" I pierced through its chest and ripped its core out.

"Zieglind what are you-"

"Don't worry. As long as the core is still alive, it'll be fine." I took a good look at the orb. "Mana Search." It was brimming with compressed mana. There should be around 10,000 worth of mana in a single orb.

"The orb doesn't do anything by itself. Once its core has been taken, its body will either teleport to get the core inside the body."

"I see... then what if... Inventory." I put the core inside my inventory and the body instantly disappeared.

"Where did it... go?" Everyone was confused.

Same as me. I then took off the core inside my inventory and the golem instantly spawned in again. "Oh... this is... interesting. Precia, Yefa, monsters that have a core will be able to put in the inventory and can be brought out like an item. Anyway, I'm done checking. Let's go back and look at where they came from. Rift Open!"

We teleported back to the place I put a checkpoint on. I removed it and went on our way to find out where they came from. The holes they left were deep and easily noticeable so our journey to where they went were pretty easy.

Halfway there, we saw multiple tracks. So this means that most of them are still there doing something. It seems that they moved in packs and then dispersed at a certain distance away from where they were.

We didn't let their numbers discourage us so we went.

And journeyed on to find it.

Only to discover something horrifying. A scene that I didn't know would happen. "Herold... explain... what the hell is this..?"

"I... I don't know. I have explored this world... not everything. But for a structure this large and incredibly important for this world... I would've known it." Herold replied.

"A giant white tower releasing monsters on the world... what the hell is this... isn't this the same... ISN'T THIS THE SAME AS TARTARUS!?"

"What the hell is going on... are they seriously creating more chaos in this world... just for their enjoyment!?"

"Those gods... damn it... What the hell are they trying to do now... First they added Tartarus for no reason... They don't know who Ouroboros is... What the hell even is happening right now..? I have so many questions that I need to answer."

"We first need to analyze this structure. The monsters they released are strong, but not as strong as Tartarus monsters. But the downside is that they can regenerate infinitely as long as their core is intact."

"True... This is weaker but more trouble some to kill... But that's not the answer I was looking for but what is this tower..."

"Its so similar to Tartarus."

"Similar..?" I then had an idea... "If Tartarus is a place for demons and this tower for the angels and other things... then that must mean they're the opposite. Like heaven and hell. So if this is Tartarus... for hell... Then that means that this tower right here is... The Tower of Babel."