NOVEL ONLINE FREE Chapter 298.1
Chapter 298.1. Intruder
Tia’s face turned pale as she ran with the speed of a gust of wind. With her status, she could reach the base of Mount Fuji in no time.
She dashed through a wasteland lined with crumbling houses and half-destroyed buildings, using abandoned, rusted vehicles as stepping stones. As she entered the forest, she leaped with a light “tap”.
Placing her toes on the tips of towering trees, she didn’t slow down—instead, she increased her speed, running through the air as if flying. The young buds and green leaves remained unharmed, neither crushed nor scattered by her steps.
The monsters roaming the forest didn’t even notice Tia running above them. And so, she raced through the dark world, arriving at the base of Mount Fuji. Tear Drop was a master of terrifying physical techniques.
“It’s true! A dungeon has appeared!”
Tia muttered with a pale face as her worst fears came true. At the base of Mount Fuji stood a massive tower. A tower-shaped dungeon capable of withstanding even divine-level magical attacks. It was a Babel Tower, piercing the sky and reaching unimaginable heights.
The tower’s base spanned 10 kilometers in every direction, and its peak was so high it couldn’t be seen. To prevent aerial intrusion, a barrier had been set up, allowing entry only from the ground. This dungeon was Tia’s creation, designed with meticulous care.
It resembled the ancient Tower of Babel, with earthen-colored stone walls. But such a massive structure couldn’t possibly be made of ordinary materials. This was a dungeon imbued with mystical power.
The dungeon’s rank was Legend. Every monster within it surpassed S-rank, boasting monstrous stats. In fact, the monsters in this tower all had maxed-out stats—50,000 in total—and possessed a variety of troublesome skills.
The traps were lethally dangerous, and the dungeon was designed to be impregnable, with no intention of allowing conquest. It was a testament to humanity’s inevitable defeat, a dungeon filled with malice created by a cowardly game master who only thought of themselves.
Tia believed that if this dungeon appeared, victory was assured. Even if defeat seemed certain, she would fight. She would pretend to fight reluctantly, showing no real commitment, while secretly enjoying herself.
But Tia was a copy of Shizuku. A copy with exceptional talent in tactics and strategy, one that never gave up. She felt bad for Shizuku-chan, but she was fully intent on claiming victory.
Despite her confidence, which had been as solid as sand, it was now crumbling away.
With light steps, she moved across the sandy ground without stirring dust, reaching the dungeon’s entrance as gracefully as a bird with wings.
There, she grimaced at the sight before her, biting her lip in frustration.
“Cerberus has been defeated… Even the Wriggling Sand, the healer, has been killed.”
At the tower’s massive entrance lay the giant body of a dog, easily 10 meters tall. It had three heads, each with a gaze that could petrify, cause instant death, or paralyze. Its breath was a mix of flames, blizzards, and lightning—each powerful and unique.
The hellhound, known for its toughness, and the slime, whose scattered body had turned to sand, had been defeated. The slime was an advanced version of the ‘Wriggling Snow.’ Its sand, when scattered, acted like nanomachines, providing powerful healing to allies and destruction to enemies.
These two were the first major obstacles of the dungeon, ones that even the guardians would struggle to defeat. Even if they managed to win, their forces would be severely depleted, leaving them vulnerable to the other powerful monsters inside. If they decided to retreat, Tia would intervene and annihilate them. This wasn’t a game. If victory seemed possible, the boss would lead the monsters to kill the heroes with full force.
It was a solid plan, a carefully thought-out dungeon. But Cerberus and the slime had been easily defeated. It was unbelievable, but it was the truth.
A bead of sweat ran down Tia’s forehead, but she had no time to dwell on it. She rushed into the dungeon.
“Ah! They’ve been defeated!”
Inside was a vast hall where many monsters were supposed to lie in wait. And indeed, they had been lying in wait. But now, their corpses were piled high.
The monsters in the tower had been carefully selected to show that this dungeon was different from any before. They were grotesque, designed to instill fear and dread.
There were monsters that looked cool, but Tia had gone out of her way to make the tower’s monsters unique. There were Cursed Zombies, made of human entrails shaped into human forms; Death Masks, demons with human faces writhing in agony covering their skin; and Hundred-Eyed Spirits, monsters formed from clusters of eyeballs.
These eerie, terrifying monsters were not only horrifying to look at but also possessed incredibly powerful skills. They had abilities like absorption, regeneration, and cloning, designed to wear down their enemies.
Yet, all of them had been defeated. And it seemed they had been killed in a single blow. Their bodies were torn apart, with large holes and deep gashes, leaving nothing recognizable.
“This is bad… Really bad!”
Near the chunks of flesh, shadow cats were playing, rolling the pieces around like balls. But when they saw Tia, their golden eyes gleamed, and they bared their fangs, lunging at her.
“Out of my way! [Durandal Summon]!”
Tia summoned Durandal into her hand and swung it at the shadow cats. Just yesterday, she could have easily defeated them in one strike. Even with S-rank strength, she could have crushed them like a baby’s hand.
But the shadow cat kicked off the air, changing its trajectory to dodge her attack.
“What?!”