174 - The Tower of Causality (14)

174 - The Tower of Causality (14)

TL/Editor: raei

Status: ongoing

Illustrations: none

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Episode 174, Chapter 45: The Tower of Causality (14)

The moment the Remnant of the Frost Queen realized it was being pushed back, it shrank and poured all its strength into defense.

This wasn't a great situation for Zion, who needed to end the battle quickly.

To break through this, Zion did something simple.

He pretended to be losing strength even though he wasn't, baiting the Frost Queen into switching from defense to offense. At the same time, he secretly gave instructions to the other participants.

Although the final trial's boss had changed because of Zion, there was no rule stating he had to face it alone.

The remnant quickly fell for it, and so, crack!

The current situation unfolded.

Zion's fist, wrapped in dark red flames, instantly pierced through the heart of the remnant, which had been pinned down by the silver-haired woman and Turzan.

Even for a semi-spirit, having its heart shattered was a critical blow.

Crack!

Dozens of cracks spread from the shattered heart throughout the remnant's body, which began to crumble along those lines.

Screech!

The remnant let out a monstrous cry and thrashed about, releasing a tremendous shockwave.

The silver-haired woman and Turzan were thrown back, unable to withstand the recoil.

But, whoosh!

In that brief moment, Zion nullified the shockwave by igniting Muspelheim's flames, maintaining close distance as he extended his other fist.

Black flames exploded around Zion's fist, as if howling.

Knowing that clashing directly with that fist would be suicidal, the remnant immediately tried to leap backwards.

Or rather, it tried to.

Before it could, slash!

The silver-haired woman and Turzan, who had quickly closed the distance again, launched attacks to block the remnant's retreat.

Unable to move properly, the remnant's solar plexus was left exposed, and boom!

Zion's fist struck precisely.

The remnant's abdomen was pierced through, unable to withstand the force, and the impact completely shattered the frozen lake's surface.

Urgh!

With a groan that sounded like its last breath, the remnant barely pulled itself off Zion and waved one hand.

Crackle!

Perhaps deciding to deal with the annoyances first, thousands of ice spears formed around the silver-haired woman.

Just as all those spears were about to rain down on her,

"I can't let that happen."

Boom!

Turzan, holding a massive shield in one hand, rammed into the remnant from the side like a bull.

Despite defending with an ice wall, the remnant's form staggered.

In the momentary gap this created, the woman's form vanished, and the ice spears belatedly struck where she had been.

At that moment, rattle!

As if not giving even a moment to breathe, Rain, who had suddenly joined the battle, stepped on the tips of the ice spears stuck in the ground and rushed towards the remnant.

Lightning imbued Rain's spear as she instantly closed the distance, and,

"This time, I'll pierce through."

With those quiet words, she struck the remnant's freezing barrier head-on.

Crackle!

The spear penetrated inward with a crisp sound as cracks spread through the barrier.

Not stopping there, Rain spun once in the air to gain momentum and stomped on the end of her embedded spear once more with her instep.

Boom!

The barrier shattered completely.

This was partly due to the remnant being weaker than before, but also because Rain had precisely struck the barrier's weak point.

As Rain landed after breaking the barrier, the silver-haired woman, who had disappeared earlier, appeared behind her with her incandescently white sword drawn back to its maximum.

A sword that destroys six heavens.

Crack!

With an indescribably loud noise, the woman's sword shot forward, shattering one of the remnant's exposed arms.

Before the Remnant of the Frost Queen could let out a pain-filled howl, whoosh!

Zion appeared from above with dark red flames, as if intending to finish it off, and struck the remnant's head with a blow imbued with Muspelheim's authority.

The remnant's form burrowed through the lake's surface from the impact, followed by the hero's party's continuous combination attacks.

Boom!

Unable to properly resist, the remnant's entire body began to crumble even faster as it was hit.

This could no longer even be called a battle.

It was merely an execution.

Perhaps thinking that only a meaningless death awaited at the end of this,

Screech!

The remnant let out an eerie scream, completely different from before, and its form scattered into ice shards.

When the remnant reappeared, it was at the farthest end of the cavern from the battlefield.

From there, the remnant stretched out its only remaining arm towards Zion and all the other participants in its sight.

At that moment, whoosh!

-The settlement begins.

With the Trial Helper's final voice, the darkness she had seen when first entering the tower enveloped her.

* * *

Around the Tower of Causality.

"Why aren't they coming out?"

Countless people were still gathered there, looking at the tower.

But the nature of these people was vastly different from before.

They had gathered not to enter the tower, but to wait for those who had gone inside.

Anxiety colored the eyes of these people.

The reason was that among the many who had entered the tower so far, not a single person had come out.

"It's already been two weeks since the first expedition entered..."

It was truly becoming a tower of death.

Because of this, fewer and fewer people were entering, and rumors were spreading that the empire would soon restrict entry to the tower.

"What if this tower isn't a dungeon but a trap?"

"Hey, don't say things like that! It won't do any good."

"But isn't it too strange? How can not even one person..."

Among the people expressing their anxiety,

"Sigh..."

Aileen, one of the highest-ranking officials of the Eye of the Moon and the branch head of Hubris, let out a small sigh.

There were several reasons why she was here now, but the biggest one was because of Prince Zion.

There was information that needed to be conveyed as quickly as possible, and that's why she, one of the few people who knew Prince Zion had entered the tower, had come here directly.

"Why isn't he coming out?"

A quiet voice flowed from Aileen's lips.

In truth, being well aware of Prince Zion's power and cunning, she wasn't particularly worried.

She just found it puzzling that it was taking so long even though he had entered.

'It seems I can't waste any more time here.'

Just as Aileen slightly furrowed her brow with this thought,

"Th-There!"

One of the gathered people pointed towards the entrance of the Tower of Causality with a loud cry.

There, whoosh!

A bright light, completely different from when they entered, was bursting forth.

And people slowly began to reveal themselves from within that light.

"The fourth... It's the people who entered on the fourth day!"

Though their numbers were greatly reduced compared to when they entered, there was no doubt.

Some familiar faces from when they had entered were among those coming out of the light.

"People are coming out of the tower!"

People simultaneously shouted and began to rush towards the participants.

'Where's Zion Harness? Didn't he come out with them?'

The silver-haired woman, one of the participants who had come out, scanned her surroundings as she noticed the approaching people.

But Zion was nowhere to be seen.

She needed to continue the conversation that had been interrupted by the sudden settlement earlier, but she had no idea where he had gone.

As the woman's eyes filled with regret and disappointment,

'Did Prince Zion not come out?'

Aileen's eyes mirrored the woman's.

'He definitely entered on the fourth day...'

Had something gone wrong, or was there something else?

Tap tap.

Just then, someone lightly tapped her shoulder from behind.

"...!"

Aileen's eyes widened as she turned her head to see who it was.

There stood Zion with his usual languid eyes, as if nothing had happened.

"...How long have you been here?"

Aileen, quickly regaining her composure, asked Zion.

Normally, she would have greeted him, but since Zion was currently hiding his identity, she deliberately omitted it.

"Just now. More importantly, why did you come all the way here looking for me?"

Zion briefly answered and immediately asked back, looking into Aileen's eyes.

Her coming here directly meant there was something she needed to convey to him urgently.

To Zion's question,

"...Something happened in the capital."

A heavy voice flowed from Aileen's mouth as her expression hardened.

---

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