Chapter 277 - Tutorial 56th Floor (5)

[What if something goes wrong?]

Of course, attacking the monster didn’t guarantee an increase in my degree of faith. The possibility that the monster would explode and people would get caught in the blast wasn’t nonexistent. If that happened, I’d have to retry the stage.

If I couldn’t obtain the necessary degree of faith, I’d automatically fail the stage and be moved to the waiting room to reattempt the stage; nothing was lost by attempting the stage again.

When I had first entered the stage, I’d inwardly cursed the dragon. However, thanks to the stage it had selected for me, I was able to learn more about the degree of faith and the divine power. If I was able to expand my knowledge of the relationship between the two, there would be nothing wrong in reattempting the stage. In fact, it might be beneficial to reattempt.

However, I was worried about if I failed this stage, that damned dragon wouldn’t let me retry the stage. That cheap dragon would likely send me to a completely different stage.

“Whatever. Let’s just go and fight this monster.”

[Are you going to leave right away?]

“Yea, we’re going to have to leave soon.”

[Then please wait a little longer. Let me reassure these people. We need to maintain their faith in us.]

Ahbooboo called for the attention of the people who were distracted by the image of the monster displayed on the wall. Purposefully, he headed toward the opposite side of the wall, making people turn their back to the monster’s unsettling image. He began his speech with a story that narrated the events of the last few days and affirmed the sect’s doctrines and the greatness of the god.

In the later half of his speech, Ahbooboo detailed the existence of the monster. How dangerous and heinous that monster was. The information was nothing new to me, so I remained relatively unfazed, but there were people who kept looking back at the wall behind them with a concerned expression.

Ahbooboo heroically proclaimed, “As an apostle, he will destroy that monster!”

[Degree of Faith: 393]

[Degree of Faith: 395]

[Degree of Faith: 396]

Wow, I was impressed. Ahbooboo was surprisingly eloquent, and my degree of faith soared.

I motioned for Ahbooboo to finish up his speech. It would be better to leave sooner, so we could reach the monster as fast as we could.

“Frog, you’d better stay here,” I whispered quietly so others wouldn’t be distracted.

“Kea-ek.”

The frog stubbornly refused to be left behind, and I knew it was no use trying to change its mind. If I left it behind, it would only sneak out to follow me.

“Haah fine. Let’s go together.”

Since the beginning, what the frog wanted from me had always been the same.

Let’s go together.

I didn’t want to refuse its request, but the task at hand was a dangerous one. Nevertheless, the frog stubbornly refused to be left behind. It would have been nice if the ring used from before could be used in a reverse manner.

When Ahbooboo finished his speech, we immediately set off to go looking for the monster. Before our departure, I warned people to not venture outside the tower and keep a close eye on the wall.

[Degree of Faith: 411]

Perhaps, because of my usual silence, people took my warnings seriously.

My degree of faith had risen by almost 10. It was a large increase, considering that, one the first day, I’d only gain 7 degrees even when I busted my ass with greetings.

* * * * * *

Walking on the green plains was a euphoric experience. Of course, there was a devastating monster somewhere ahead, but it wasn’t visible yet.

As the cool breeze caressed my face, and the sound of swaying grass hypnotized me, my mind relaxed.

Somehow, I was reminded of Kirikiri’s field. The first time I had gone there, I felt my narrow perception of the word expand; it was if I had become one with the world. As I walked through the peaceful plains, a similar sensation surfaced.

I frowned as the wind died down and the swaying grass came to a halt. I attempted to make the soft, sweet-smelling grass sway, and slowly called upon the power I had strengthened through accumulating faith. But, moving the grass manually through mana just wasn’t as satisfactory as seeing it naturally sway in the wind.

The limits of this power were still unclear, but as I progressed through the tutorial, I was confident that I’d be able to sharpen my skills.

“Kea-ek!”

The frog croaked at Ahbooboo, who was trying to shove the handkerchief up the frog’s nostrils. At this, Ahbooboo smiled mischievously and flew in circles around the frog. Annoyed, the frog shot out its tongue, trying to catch Ahbooboo, but all of its attempts were to no avail.

[Ha! It’s still 500 years too soon for you to catch me! You son of a bitch!]

“Kea-ek!”

The two of them harassed each other just as little kids would. Their relationship hadn’t been this playful back in the tower. It seemed that the two of them were also under some stress from constantly pretending to be stoic and emotionless. After all, he too, had been doing the same, until he left the tower.

* * * * * *

Before I knew it, I had walked so far that I could see the monster vividly. Along with the horrendous visual came a noticeable stench leaking out from its body.

I warned the frog to stay put and silently watch from his position. The frog no longer put up any resistance, and proceeded to camouflage itself behind the long blades of grass.

[Degree of Faith: 463]

My degree of faith rose once more. Maybe the people could now see me, along with the monster, on the wall of the tower. It was likely that the other towers had a view of this monster on their walls as well.

Before approaching the monster, apostles from other towers came to greet me. Claiming that it was impossible to kill this monster, they proposed a coalition to find a way to achieve the 500 faith count together.

I refused. To me, it was a proposal that had little merit. I wanted to be seen heroically confronting the monster in order to gain faith, but it seemed that no other apostles were interested in doing so.

I turned around and saw the apostles in the distance, watching me from the wall. I stared back at them, unmoving. They definitely thought that I was plotting an elaborate scheme to raise my degree of faith. Well, they weren’t wrong.

[I’m surprised. I thought you’d be fighting with them again.]

“Whenever I see an apostle, you think I’ll fight them. Isn’t that so, Ahbooboo?” I countered.

The apostles I’d met on this stage differed from the apostles I’d previously met. They differed in the sense that they weren’t official apostles, chosen by god; they were only apostles in name. As of now, the title of ‘Apostle’ was given to me to carry out my duties, but there was a huge difference between me and the official apostles such as the Spirit King. I didn’t want these little fakes to get involved in the fight.

[Yes, that’s true.]

The closer I got to the monster, the worse the smell got, and as a result, my ears began to water as well. Perhaps the greatest danger of this monster was its repugnant appearance. It was shocking that I, who had seen more blood and corpses than anyone else, was saying so.

Its pulsating heart showed violet blood vessels on the outside, glowing dimly. Sebum and pus were formed in clusters, and dark, red, parasite-filled blood poured out of the organ in streams. Tiny human-shaped parasites were scattered around, chewing and swallowing everything in sight.

And… I’d better stop thinking about it. My stomach felt queasy. It’s horrendous appearance was why I didn’t touch it the last time we met.

[What if it really explodes?] Ahbooboo questioned worriedly.

“We’ll run away before the fire touches the body.”

I approached the monster, and formed a firearm out of a piece of armor in my hand. The armor was engulfed in flames and the surrounding air became distorted from the high heat.

I got rid of the firearm and casted magic. “Fireball.”

It was the most basic fire magic in my arsenal. In comparison to advanced fire magic techniques, it wasn’t nearly as hot.

But, it also had its advantages. The spell consumed very little mana, and it was something that was hard to mess up. In addition, the wielder’s physical condition and concentration did little to affect the quality of the spell. The purpose was to shoot a fireball, so the fire was maintained until it reached its designated location; after which, it got extinguished as the mana depleted.

[What are you doing?]

“Comparing.”

Some of the gods used divine power in the form of spells. Some priests who followed God did the same. So did Ahbooboo.

But I couldn’t use my divine power that way. It moved around and lit up a fire, instead of getting utilised in the form of spells.

It wasn’t long before I’d gotten dangerously close to the monster. I couldn’t afford to get any closer.

I halted, and spoke in a soft voice. “Fire.”

Once I uttered the word, everything around me was swept away in the fire. The fire impaired vision, so I found it hard to see.

As I focused more mana, the flames grew exponentially. It spread around me in a circle, with no specific sense of direction. The higher it rose, the farther it went.

The fire began to lick at the monster’s body. Its skin sizzled, and the water inside its body instantly boiled and evaporated, leaving trails of steam. If left alone, the fire would probably kill the monster.

Suddenly, tentacles started protruding from all over its body. They glistened with unidentifiable bodily fluids and frantically slapped its own body, desperately trying to put out the flames.

But the monster’s efforts were futile. The flame spread across the skin of the monster and burned at the flesh, pink muscles, and violet nerves. More blood started to boil and its organs began to swell.

The flames frantically sought out another portion of the monster it could burn. Before the monster could get a chance to explode, it had to be completely slayed. In order to do that, rather than destroyed everything in it, it was critical to burn major anatomical structures like the nerves, brain, and heart.

I was unsure when I would run out of mana or when the monster would explode, but I continued to focus on burning the monster.

I felt as though I was a surgeon desperately operating on a dying patient. Or an engineer who’s defusing a time bomb. I didn’t know when it would burst, but it made me more nervous, and my concentration increased.

I had been focused on killing the monster when a message suddenly appeared.

[Degree of Faith: 500]

[You have cleared the 56th floor of Hell’s Difficulty level.]

[All anomalies and injuries have been recovered]

Alright. We had hit the goal. Now, we could rest easy and burn the monster.

[You’ll be automatically moved to the waiting room.]

“What?”

* * * * * *

I stared blankly at the waterfall gushing downwards. I was at the lake where I had met the dragon.

“Kea-ek!”

“Yes, I’m okay.”

I was relieved the frog was worried about me, but I was frustrated at the same time. There were so many things I had yet to accomplish in that stage. I wanted to explore my powers more, attack monsters, and measure the amount of divine power consumed by the Infringement of Control. Moreover, I wanted to research the possibility of using the power for other things besides burning.

I wanted to check the maximum level of faith that could be obtained from one person, what differences each person had, and whether there were any other conditions.

All those opportunities were gone. When the faith level reached 500 and the stage was cleared, all the faith instantly vanished.

[Don’t be too upset. Warrior, wouldn’t there another chance?]

Ahbooboo was right.

My lips parted, releasing a sigh. I slowly walked into the cave behind the waterfall.

The cave looked completely different from before. The stone walls had turned to smooth marble, and the rocky floor was covered with soft carpet. Colorful lights hung from the ceiling.

The bat feces and overgrown vines were nowhere to be found, and a subtle scent of perfume lingered in the air. The once damp, cool cave was now warm with a fire lit in the middle.

That fucking dragon bastard. It said this wasn’t its house, yet look at how it remodeled the cave. How dare the dragon lie to him?

“It’s irritating. Let’s get rid of this by burning it up.”

I cast a magic spell. “Fireball.”

[Stop! No, you devil!] the dragon roared. But I ignored its cries.

Tutorial 56th floor (6) > End