Chapter 70: Mountain Walker (4)
A new window expanded across her vision.
「 〔FLOOR QUEST COMPLETE〕
The Siege of Genesis
Objective:
Eliminate the invading forces.
—
Participants: 9,804
—
Invasion Progress:
Common Goblins: 8,483 / 12,000
Goblin Chieftain: 151/300
Hobgoblins: 102/150
Hobgoblin Commanders: 11/25
Goblin King: 1/1
—
Enemy command has been destroyed.
The remaining invading forces have abandoned the siege and retreated beyond the boundaries of Genesis.
Quest conditions fulfilled.」
Misha stared at the number.
At first, she did not understand. Thousands of goblins were still alive, the counters had not been completed, yet the System had already declared the conditions were fulfilled.
Then she looked back at the objective.
Eliminate the invading forces.
It was not eliminate every monster.
The moment the surviving goblins broke formation, abandoned the attack, and fled beyond Genesis’ boundary, they had ceased to be an invading force. They were no longer an army laying siege to the city at the command of the Goblin King. They were scattered monsters running for their lives after seeing the strength of the Mountain Walker.
Once Tobias broke it, the rest collapsed.
The quest had never required them to hunt down every fleeing goblin. It only required them to end the siege.
He had done that. Grandpa Tobias had saved Genesis.
Misha’s eyes drifted back toward the participant count.
More than nineteen hundred participants were gone.
It should not have looked so small on a window. Those people had screamed, bled, had reached for swords they never touched, and called names no one answered.
The system reduced them to subtraction.
A cheer broke out near the portal.
At first it came from only one person, a weak and breathless sound of disbelief. Then another joined it. Relief swept through the crowd in a wave. Rankers embraced, someone dropped to the ground and began laughing, and a mother pressed her face into her child’s hair and sobbed.
Misha heard none of it properly. Her eyes remained fixed on the wall.
"The Mountain Walker..." someone whispered nearby.
The name spread quickly.
"The Mountain Walker defeated the Goblin King."
"He’s alive?"
"We’re saved..."
Saved.
Misha’s jaw tightened.
She glanced towards those who said it. Some of them carried injuries, some had clearly fought. Others had blood on their clothes that might not have belonged to them, and perhaps they had spent the battle protecting civilians instead of standing at the breach.
But many looked untouched.
Their armor remained clean and their weapons had never left their sheaths. They had run straight to the inner district, crowded around the portal, and waited while Tobias, Kylo, the academy students, and countless defenders bled to keep Genesis standing.
Now they spoke of being saved as though salvation had simply appeared because they waited long enough.
Heat climbed into Misha’s throat.
She wanted to turn on them. She wanted to ask whether they knew what their safety had cost.
Had they heard Kylo shouting for his father?
Had they seen the blood running through the cracks in Tobias’ stone armor?
Did they understand that the wall had risen because one injured old man had decided his broken body was worth less than every person standing behind it?
If they had helped, if even half of them had been brave enough to turn around–
Then perhaps Tobias would not have needed to carry an entire city on shoulders that had already been ruined years ago. Perhaps he would not have been left alone with the Goblin King. And perhaps Kylo would not be kneeling against a wall, begging his father not to die.
Her mouth opened.
Ding!
Another window interrupted her.
「 〔CONTRIBUTION RANKING: TOP 5〕
1. Mountain Walker
2. Caius Solmere
3. Astrid Hale
4. Misha Apocalypse
5. Kylo Stormcrow 」
Misha stared at the first name.
Mountain Walker.
Seeing it written there made the truth of his identity settle more heavily than before.
The old merchant who had sold her a cloak, teased her over prices, and looked at her with the weary irritation of a grandfather forced to tolerate an especially troublesome child had been one of the First Generation legends all along.
He had reached the upper floors. He had helped build Genesis. He had survived battles that had destroyed his body long before age ever reached him.
And when the city needed him again, he had picked up his cane and stood.
Even though his body could no longer carry what it once had. Even though he must have known what using that much power would do to him.
The ranking shifted aside as her rewards appeared.
「 〔 FLOOR CLEAR REWARDS〕
EXP +3,120
Tower Coins +947
<Items Obtained>
Cracked Enhancement Stone x10
Mana Shard ×25
Advanced Healing Potion ×8
Advanced Stamina Potion ×10
<Contribution Bonus>
EXP Bonus: +1, 068
Tower Coins: +528
<Special Rewards>
Title Acquired:
Siegebreaker
Effect:
Damage dealt to monsters participating in large-scale invasions increased by 5%
Defense penetration increases slightly while protecting a settlement. 」
Misha barely looked at it.
The windows continued popping anyway.
「 〔LEVEL UP〕
Lv. 11 —> Lv. 13
—
Current EXP: 146/2675 」
Warmth passed through her body as the System restored some of the strength the battle had torn out of it. The bruises along her arms eased, the ache in her limbs dulled, and even the pounding at the side of her head weakened.
It did nothing for the heaviness in her chest.
「 〔ATTRIBUTE GROWTH〕
Strength +3
Agility +4
Vitality +2
Endurance +4
Perception +3
—
Current Attribute:
Strength ....... 21 (D)
Agility .... 27 (D)
Vitality ... 17 (E)
Endurance .... 15 (E)
Perception ..... 24 (D) 」
「 〔TRAIT PROGRESS〕
Analytical Thinking (Lv. 6)
10% —> 32%
Calm Under Pressure (Lv. 6)
7% —> 28%
Sleep Deprivation (Lv. 4)
5% —> 22%
Steady Hands (Lv. 4)
28% —> 36% 」
She dismissed nothing. She accepted nothing either.
The windows simply floated there, bright and cheerful and completely incapable of understanding that she did not care about numbers and rewards right now.
Mountain Walker had defeated the Goblin King.
That meant Tobias might still be alive.
The wall had not opened yet, but perhaps he was exhausted. Perhaps he had collapsed after the battle and only needed time to recover. Or perhaps, Kylo would find him once the stone came down and insult him for being dramatic.
Tobias would probably cough, complain about his back and demand compensation for the damage to his shop.
Misha clung to each possibility the instant it appeared, gathering them desperately before reality could tear them apart.
Beside her, Elyes watched quietly. He did not tell her that a victory notice did not promise survival. He did not need to.
King shifted on her shoulder. His claws pressed faintly through the fabric of her cloak before withdrawing. Misha turned her head toward him, but the small black cat continued staring at the wall.
"See?" She whispered, forcing the words through her tight throat. "He defeated it."
King said nothing.
"He’ll be fine, right?"
Still nothing came from the cat.
Misha’s fingers curled against her palm. "You heard the System."
The cat’s golden eyes lowered.
Then another sound reached them from behind. It was not an explosion. A crack.
Misha turned and saw a thin fracture appear across the surface of the wall. It began near the upper edge and crept downward toward the rooftops, splitting the stone in a slow, uneven line.
Her heart climbed into her throat.
The Rankers around her mistook it for the wall finally lowering.
A few cheered again.
Then–
Ding!
「 〔SYSTEM NOTICE〕
Dormant Constellation Soul Signature Detected. 」
Her fingers went cold. The noise of the crowd receded until it sounded as though the crowd had been pushed to the other end of a long tunnel.
Then her gaze traveled at the second line that formed beneath it.
「Constellation Soul has been detected within Cancer Chamber. 」
No...
Misha stopped breathing. She stared at the window, unable to blink.
It could be anyone. Thousands had died. Students, defenders, Rankers, or one of the civilians caught too close to the walls.
She did not know what kind of soul belonged inside the Cancer Chamber.
It could be anyone. But the timing–
Caleb would not place just anyone inside her Soul Inventory.
Every soul so far had been someone exceptional, someone strong enough to help her survive the floors ahead.
Her gaze slowly returned to the contribution ranking still hovering near the edge of her vision.
"No..." The word left her before she noticed herself speaking.
Elyes looked up at her. "What is it?"
Misha did not answer. Instead, she turned fully toward the wall.
The crowd around her kept celebrating. Rankers spoke of survival, rewards, and the legendary man who had saved Genesis. Someone began calling for others to prepare for the Mountain Walker’s return.
She heard none of that, only a hollow ringing filled her ears. Her heart hammered harder with every breath, trying to outrun the meaning her mind had already begun assembling.
"No," she whispered again, more desperately this time. "It could be someone else."
King remained still on her shoulder.
Misha looked at him. "King..."
The black cat-like monster had always had something to say but this time, he only lowered his head.
Something inside Misha began to crack.
"King..."
His tail curled tighter against her back.
Then another line started forming beneath the chamber notification.
「 Soul Identity Verification in Progress... 」
Misha’s hand shot forward as though she could cover the window.
Stop it. Tear it down before it finished showing her something she could never unknow.
"Please..." Her voice broke. "Please, not him."
She wanted him alive. The Mountain Walker should live long enough and see Genesis rise once again.
The letters continued appearing beneath her trembling fingers.