Chapter 203 [Armory Of Eridu]

"[Enchantment: Earth]"

Thuck-

Thuck-

Thuck- Thuck- Thuck- (x6)

Twenty swords flew out of the air and dug into the ground, creating a wall in front of the cadets. The barricade of swords stopped the strange ability of Abomination from spreading further.

"[Enchantment: Fire]"

Fwosh- Fwosh- (x5)

A barrage of swords rained down at the Abomination, halting it in its steps.

"Nathan!"

Cadmus and everyone else saw Nathan walking out of the forest. He had a calm gaze and poised gait. Leon and Susan also watched him with a myriad of emotions. Cadmus gave Nathan commands as he entered the battlefield.

"I don't know where you were, but this is a perfect time. Together we should be able to han-"

"Retreat" Nathan ordered in a flat tone as he ignored everyone and walked towards Leon. "Give me the map for the bonus prize location."

Phzzzt- (x30)

Swords materialized in the air above Nathan and attacked the Abomination. He appeared no different from a walking fortress, the likes of which sent shivers down those present there.

Leon watched in a daze as the swords only fell around the area of the Abomination, confining the monster without attacking it.

"Leon, we don't have much time. Give me the map." Nathan's tone did not let out his emotions.

Taking the map from Leon, Nathan looked at the Abomination.

======

@#%$

-Enchantment [Rupture]

-Only works on those below the same level as the #%#$!$

======

The strange result from [Appraisal] was what Nathan was getting as he looked at the air surrounding the Abomination. The monster was shooting these [Rupture] seeds out of its skin and causing the cadets to explode. His swords had blocked the initial barrage, but there was only so much time he could buy.

'Only Cadmus, Susan, and I are immune to those seeds. And that is until it grows again.'

But this wasn't the real problem.

A cold sweat ran down Nathan's spine as he looked at the Abomination.

======

!$##@%#%#@

($: ##%#

&@nk: Iota(Lvl.16)

#%#@35

#@%@#%@#%

Ti$%^%$

->$tet34

->Traits: [Inv#@!e], [ D!evourer], [Undy#$], [!ife @n], [!ndestructib!*], [Extend], [#@%#], [#@$234] #%#%^$^#$^%$^&%&$%^&#$%#$%#4]

@#%

======

[Error! Error! The target has too many traits to display]

[Error! Error! The target cannot be appraised]

Clang-! Clang-!

A solemn expression adorned Nathan's face. The Abomination had begun counterattacking.

"W-what do you mean by retreat...?" Leon's voice shook. The dream where the injured Nathan came while saving everyone came to his mind.

The answer that came out of Nathan's mouth was what Leon feared.

"Run away. I'll stop the monster here."

***

-(Past || Nathan's POV after his meeting with X; Location: Floor 13, edge of the blue dome)-

The winds blew from the direction of the fight between Leon and Susan. It did not take a genius to realize that they were duking it out without any restraints.

I gazed at the clear sky. After the Abomination arrives, a large spatial turbulence will appear in the sky. It is something that will be caused by the attempts of Administrator to form a portal to enter this Floor.

As the Lawkeeper like its original conscience, Administrator cannot break rules, thus it would take her a bit of time and a great amount of energy to descend.

"The competition was fun!"

Whistling to myself, I was returning with slow steps. At the same time, I secretly channeled ether, ready to execute my art at any moment.

(What are you doing?)

'The Abomination will descend any second'

Along with it the support system of the Tower will be shut down. I had planned to hunt the Shadow during this time, but X's answer affected my plans greatly.

'The Shadow is a clone. There is no guarantee it will not attack me or mess something up if push comes to shove'

Without the fear of death, the shadow would kill itself before I can interrogate it for any useful information. In that case, leaving an uncontrollable variable was only dangerous and without merits.

"Haaaa... I hope I get to see these types of battles daily~"

I acted casually as I strolled.

'If it was a real body, it would try to act cautiously when the support system goes offline. But there is no such guarantee anymore.'

I was aware of this possibility, so I asked X about the Shadow's real nature.

'The problem is... will the shadow's memories return to the original body if I kill it?'

My preparations were done and I was ready to use my art at a moment's notice.

'In any case, I can act dumb by saying I thought someone suspicious was tailing me and thus retaliated.'

Katrina could also sense through the Shadow's camouflage, so it wasn't a very powerful disguise. I could claim that I was able to sense it.

Shortly, the moment I'd been waiting for arrived.

[Warning! Warning!]

[@##$#@# has slipped past System defenses]

'[Appraisal] !'

[??? Lvl.???]

I swiftly located the Shadow and attacked without a moment's delay.

Phhzzzt-

[Life support System of Tower will be shut down. All resources will be redirected to suppress ###%]

'[Enchantment: Ice]'

A thin layer of frost covered the twenty swords that appeared in the air.

Fwosh- (x20)

Distracted by the abrupt system notifications, the Shadow was a second late to notice my attacks.

[@$!$#!#@!%$#$^& has entered Worl#@@$!#%!$#!431431]

The Shadow glided over the forest surface. Dodging the swords with swift motions.

The ground froze as the number of swords increased and the ice enchantment stacking over each other did its job.

[ $!#g]

The shadow couldn't maintain its speed and became a bit slower. And that was enough for me.

A spear materialized in my hand and, holding it in my right arm, I arched my back. Stretching my muscles to the limit, I applied another enchantment on the spear.

[Enchantment: Light]

A subtle glow covered the spear.

Fwosh-

It flew at a terrifying speed and arrived at its mark in a split second.

Bam-!

With a small explosion, the Shadow was killed, and it dissipated into wisps of smoke.

"Well, that was underwhelming."

Honestly, it felt weird that I took out a Goliath with such ease when I was struggling against Iota-rankers only one month ago, but I couldn't deny the reality presented to me.

During the month I spent in [Singularity], I had also grown a lot.

With 40 swords, 5 daggers, 4 spears, and one hammer constellation, the total number had reached 50 constellations. Consequently, I could now [Construct] 50 weapons at once.

'The Spatial Ruptures also grew to 25 in number.'

At this point, I was no different from a moving armory.

'[Raikou] and [Armory of Eridu], the legacies of ancient heroes are on another level. Both of them are already this strong, but they'll grow stronger in the future.'

The earth suddenly shook.

'Abomination…'

"Should I go where the Abomination is? Or should I take the bonus reward later?" Leon would have the map, but now that the Shadow was dead, I was wondering if it was necessary to go near that monstrosity.

(Let's not because as far as I recall 90% of cadets will die today)

(With your luck, it wouldn't be a surprise if you are done in by a stray attack)

'Okay...'

My thoughts trailed off and I climbed the trees. Coming out of the thick canopy, my gaze swept toward the sky.

"Where is the spatial turbulence…?"

The sky was clear without any clouds or storms forming.

"Shit!"

I bolted to the location of Abomination.

'Why isn't the Administrator creating a portal yet?! This is bad… this is bad…'

Administrator will definitely come, I didn't doubt this. But if she came late, the Abomination will grow strong enough to destroy Floor 13 itself. It will tear the very fabric of space.

In the novel, the Abomination, after facing the top 25 cadets, was able to make use of its [Space Devourer] trait. Thankfully, moments before the Floor was destroyed Administrator had descended and saved everyone.

But now that horrendous possible future might come true.

"Leaderboard"

======

Name – Nathan Hunt

Age 16 years (???)

Rank – Iota(Lvl.16) (Suppressed)

Stigma – Iridescence

Extra Stat – 36

Number of lives – 3 (Sealed)

>>> Stats:

Strength - 5

Agility – 11

Stamina - 10

Constitution - 15

Ether - 26

Intelligence - 7

Luck – (-13)

>>> Techniques (Click to expand)

>>> Skills (Click to expand)

>>> Quest (Click to expand)

======

My stats were unbalanced, but they were the most suited to support a mage build for my art.

[Ether – 26 --> Ether – 48]

[Agility – 11 --> Agility – 16]

[Intelligence – 7 --> Intelligence – 11]

[Stamina – 10 --> Stamina – 11]

[Extra Stats – 4]

With my ether core reaching its limit, the ether coursing through my body began rampaging. The thin streams uncontrollably overflowed and leaked out from all sorts of places in my body. No matter how high control I had, this wasn't something I could stop.

The overflowing energy finally calmed down when the effects of increased Intelligence kicked in. Even so, my body was at its limit as it struggled to contain energy beyond itself, but at this moment, this would have to do.

'Please, don't let me be late'

With increased vigor, I rushed ahead.

***

-(Present || Back to the battlefield with Abomination)-

"Run away. I'll stop the monster here."

Nathan spoke in a solemn tone. As much as it was dangerous to fight with the Abomination head-on, letting others fight against it would only increase its growth rate.

'It hasn't learned to use [Space Devourer] yet, and it has grown differently than in the novel. I don't know if I should be thankful or not.'

Nathan could've tried to run away and hide until Administrator arrived. But he didn't.

If it was him when he entered this world, he would've run away the moment things went downhill, but the struggles he had passed through had helped him grow and mature.

He wasn't going to leave his fate in the hands of others while hoping that the Abomination doesn't grow stronger too fast.

No, he would fight the monstrosity by himself and make sure it doesn't grow.