Chapter 140 : Chapter 140
Chapter 140. A Flashing Idea (1)
Swish!
Iris threw her body forward with a sharp sound that tore through the air.
Just a moment before, the claws of a black figure had scratched the spot where she had been standing.
It wasn't just the sound of cutting through the air.
A chilling cold that felt like it was squeezing her soul, even from a mere graze, pierced her spine.
The Floor Master of the 90th floor, the Soul Eater.
Its attacks transcended physical form, directly affecting the mind and soul.
"Grrr......."
Towards Iris, who had dodged the attack, the faceless specter once again let out an unpleasant groan and spewed black mist.
The mist wriggled as if it were alive, trying to coil around Iris' ankles.
‘Annoying!’
Iris frowned and swung the blood-red dagger in her hand.
A red flash cut through the black mist, and the mist scattered with a scream-like sound.
The blood dagger.
Its ominous power was dealing a definite blow to the incorporeal enemy.
But every time she gripped the dagger, the eerie killing intent and fighting desire that crept up from her fingertips made her nerves sharp.
‘I need to focus. That thing's attack pattern is unpredictable.’
Instead of a standardized attack, the Soul Eater used cunning attacks that seemed to directly interfere with the opponent's soul.
Sometimes it showed desperate illusions, and sometimes it poured out the whispers of the dead that would wear down one's spirit just by hearing them.
Iris focused her mind as much as possible, dodging its attacks and inflicting wounds with the dagger when she found an opening.
Every time the dagger cut through the Soul Eater's body, it let out a painful scream, but at the same time, the scattered fragments of darkness seemed to be absorbed back into it, healing its wounds.
‘Even regeneration? No, this isn't simple regeneration. Is it absorbing the surrounding grudges or evil energy and making it its own power?’
It was a tricky opponent.
It seemed like there would be no end to it if she just pushed through with force.
She briefly created some distance and caught her breath.
At that moment, the Soul Eater, as if it had been waiting, reached out its black hand once again.
This time, it was a much faster and more powerful movement than before.
"Kuk!"
The black claws grazed Iris' shoulder, which she hadn't managed to dodge.
There was no pain of torn skin, but an extreme hunger and dizziness, as if a part of her soul had been torn away, engulfed her.
Towards her, who had lost her balance and was staggering, the Soul Eater rushed in as if it had seized victory.
‘I can't let it get me like this!’
In the moment of crisis, Iris' eyes burned red.
The blood dagger began to pulsate violently, as if responding to her will.
The dagger tried to suck her life force and mental power as if craving even stronger power, but Iris used that power to her advantage.
‘The darkness within me. And all of your power too!’
She fused the killing intent embedded in the dagger with her own fighting spirit.
The extreme concentration and assassination techniques she had learned from the Unseen Ones.
And even the destructive instinct of the dagger that was now trying to dominate her.
She gathered everything into one and created a blood-red aura.
“Disappear!”
Iris unleashed her final blow, containing everything she had, towards the black凝聚体 in the center of the Soul Eater's chest, which seemed to be its core.
Her movements were as fast and elegant as a blood-red butterfly, and the trajectory of her dagger seemed to foretell death itself.
Kwa-deuk!
A blow incomparably more powerful than before.
The blood dagger, which had pierced through the center of the Soul Eater's body, tore its spiritual form to shreds.
"Kieeeeeek!!"
With a desperate death cry, the Soul Eater's form finally lost its light and scattered into black dust.
The gloomy energy that had filled the room also disappeared with it.
“Huu. Huu.”
Iris gasped for breath and collapsed to the floor.
She was so drained of energy that she could barely lift a finger, but a faint smile hung on her lips.
90th floor cleared.
She had once again surpassed her own limits.
Iris caught her breath for a moment, then gripped the dagger, which was still emitting an ominous red light, and slowly got up.
Her gaze was already on the stairs leading to the next floor.
10 floors to go, until the 100th floor.
***
The temporary shipyard set up in the easternmost coastal village was taking on a decent shape thanks to the addition of the dwarf artisans.
The sound of hammering and wood trimming echoed incessantly, but my expression was not so bright.
Because the most crucial problem had not been solved.
‘Moonlight-infused steelwood. How on earth am I supposed to transport this.’
That special timber was essential for building the ships to Reubungwo.
The dwarf artisan explained that ordinary wood would not be enough to withstand the magic storms and attacks of sea monsters in the cursed strait.
The problem was that the place where that tree grew was deep in the rugged mountains at the western end of this continent.
As you know, this is the eastern end.
Transporting it here by land?
Even with hundreds of wagons, it was a distance that would take at least half a year.
We didn't have that kind of time.
Primus and Nox were probably destroying the towers of Reubungwo at this very moment.
‘If I use Noemi's transition magic…….’
But that was also impossible.
No matter how outstanding a spatial magician Noemi was, moving huge logs, not living creatures.
And enough to build dozens of ships to the other side of the continent, was the epitome of inefficiency in terms of mana consumption.
It was a level that couldn't even be attempted.
“Is there no good way.”
I grabbed my head and paced around the shipyard.
The dwarves boasted that they would build the best ships if they only had good timber, but there was no way to bring that timber.
Then, Anonymous, who was circling me with a bored yawn, caught my eye.
An idea suddenly flashed through my mind.
When I first met her, Anonymous had trapped me in her subspace.
As far as I knew in the game, she could only trap one person, but what if she could contain a space.
That is, a specific ‘area’ itself in the subspace?
‘There's a possibility. Originally, a subspace is a kind of inventory in a game, isn't it?’
Would it be impossible to put the forest where the timber grows, the space itself, into the subspace and bring it here?
It was an absurd idea, but right now I was in a state of grasping at straws.
I immediately approached Anonymous and asked.
“Anonymous. About your subspace.”
“Yes? Why are you suddenly asking about my subspace, Master?”
She asked, tilting her head.
“Is it possible to put not just people, but a certain range of space, for example, a ‘region’ like a forest, into the subspace?”
At my question, Anonymous' eyes widened for a moment, then she started laughing, holding her stomach.
“Puhahaha! Oh, Master. No matter how much I am the queen of dragons, how can I put in space itself? I've never even thought of such a thing, and it's not possible.”
Is it really impossible?
Just as I was about to give up, thinking it was too absurd an idea.
I found a glimmer of hope in her words.
The phrase ‘I've never even thought of it.’
That might mean not that it's impossible, but that she's just never tried it.
“What's there to lose. Let's just try it for fun.”
I started to persuade her.
“See that empty land near the beach where there's nothing? Just focus on thinking about putting that land and the space above it into the subspace. Just as an experiment.”
At my earnest persuasion, Anonymous still looked incredulous, but she reluctantly stretched out her hands towards the empty land I pointed at.
Powerful magic power swirled around her.
Beads of sweat formed on her forehead as she closed her eyes and concentrated on something.
“Ugh.”
It was the moment she let out a low groan and stretched out her hands.
Paaat-!
An unbelievable sight unfolded.
Not just Anonymous, but the space in the direction she had stretched her hands seemed to slightly distort, and then the land, sky, and even the air that had been there all disappeared.
As if a part of a picture had been erased with an eraser, a perfect space of nothingness was created.
“……!!”
I stared at the overwhelming sight with wide eyes.
And then I cheered inwardly.
‘With this! With this, it's possible!’
I immediately checked the exact location and range of the western mountains where the moonlight-infused steelwood grew with the dwarf artisan.
And I asked Noemi.
“Noemi. Have you been to the place he mentioned before?”
“Yes. I've been near there. When I was inviting the nobles to the Continental Alliance.”
“That's great!”
Before long, Anonymous reappeared.
I immediately shouted to Noemi and Anonymous.
“Noemi! I need a transition magic circle to the place I mentioned! Anonymous! As soon as you arrive, contain the entire forest area in your subspace! Bring it all here!”
The two hesitated for a moment, but they soon understood my intention and nodded with grim faces.
I added a few more words to the two of them.
Because if Anonymous used her subspace, she would become invisible and there would be no way to communicate.
A little while later.
We moved to a deserted beach.
If this succeeded, the surrounding scenery would suddenly change.
‘I should make sure no one gets swept up in this.’
Soon, Noemi skillfully began to draw a huge transition magic circle, and Anonymous took a deep breath again, preparing to expand her subspace as much as possible.
A method that was unimaginable.
But now, it was about to become a reality.
***
While Frank was busy trying to get the special timber.
In a corner of the training ground, Douglas Junior was left alone, sweating profusely.
It had been a long time since dusk had fallen, but his sword showed no signs of stopping.
As always, he was swinging his sword frantically, as if testing his limits.
The trajectory of his sword cutting through the air was much sharper and faster than before, but there was no satisfaction on his face.
‘Still not enough. This isn't enough.’
The desperate fight with the Hydra.
And the overwhelming sword energy of a hero that his master had shown him.
Those memories were an unforgettable shock to Douglas and at the same time a powerful motivation.He swung his sword countless times, recalling the feeling of that moment, the state of all his nerves and magic power at the tip of his sword to produce explosive power.
But he failed every time.
He understood it in his head, but his body wouldn't follow.No, it felt like he was missing some ‘sensation’.
“Oops!”
The moment his tired feet got tangled and he almost fell to the ground.
He instinctively put all his strength into his sword and supported himself on the ground.
It was at that moment.
‘…Huh?’
He felt his magic power flowing through the sword in a different way than usual.
It was a more fundamental and powerful flow of energy, different from the strengthening magic that simply hardened the sword.
It was similar to the dazzling light he had seen at the tip of his master's sword a few days ago.
‘Could this feeling be?’
His heart began to pound like crazy.
Douglas gripped his sword again with a trembling hand.
He focused, recalling the feeling of a moment ago, that flow.
The image of connecting his will, magic power, and sword into one.
The longing for the ultimate state his master had shown him.
As if responding to his earnestness, a faint blue energy began to shimmer on the surface of the ordinary steel sword in his hand.
“……!!”
Douglas held his breath.
It wasn't perfect yet, but it was clear.
A faint film of light burning around the blade.
This was a fragment of the Aura Sword, the state that all knights dreamed of!
“Could this be it?”
He stared blankly at his sword for a moment, unable to tell if it was a dream or reality.
Then, an unbearable joy enveloped his whole body.
“Haha! Hahaha! I… I can finally use the Aura Sword too!”
His shout echoed in the empty training ground.
It was still faint and unstable, but it was clear progress.
He had proven that he too had infinite possibilities.
‘With this power.’
Douglas Junior's eyes burned with an intensity incomparable to before.
His master's acknowledgment, his parents' revenge.
And the path to becoming a true hero.
His steps towards all of that were just entering a new stage.