I’m Here to End This Fight

Chapter 252: Yuri vs. Black Sword Corps (3)

Difficulty Level: First Floor.

Three people appeared in the passage leading to the second floor.

“We’re here!”

“I’m hungry!”

The blue-haired girl and the giant.

Arin and Poppy finally reached the end of the maze, raising their hands high in celebration.

Standing beside them, Gunther also felt relieved, though he didn’t show it outwardly. He was glad to have finally escaped the maze filled with traps.

Meanwhile, Arin looked around.

“Are we first?”

“Hungry?”

As Arin and Poppy tilted their heads in confusion, Gunther glanced around briefly and nodded.

“We entered first, so… it’s likely.”

Of course, it wasn’t just about entering first; finding the way through the maze quickly was more important.

But even more crucial than finding the way was navigating through the traps scattered throughout the maze.

The traps were not to be underestimated, but what troubled the three even more was the purpose behind them.

The traps were designed to test those who entered the maze.

For example, there were doors that would only respond to a certain level of magic power, blocking the way, or clues to the next passage hidden in a way that only someone with excellent eyesight could find.

The first-floor maze on the difficult level was a space designed to test entrants from all angles.

Even Gunther, Arin, and Poppy, the best among the 50th cohort aside from Yuri, had wandered in the maze for nearly 20 hours.

What more can be said about those who were not as good?

Thus, Gunther was confident that they were the first to pass through this first difficult level.

“Twenty hours to pass the first floor… not bad.”

No, considering that this quest was set for 100 days, it wasn’t just not bad; it was impressively fast.

But Gunther made sure not to fall into complacency and kept his mind sharp.

Then he turned his head, looking in a certain direction.

“I wonder… how far that guy has gotten by now.”

Noticing that Gunther was looking toward the direction of the hell difficulty level, Arin smiled and responded.

“Well, since it’s Yuri… wouldn’t he have reached at least the fourth floor?”

Gunther seemed a bit skeptical.

“If the difficult level is like this, then no matter how strong Yuri is… the fourth floor might be a bit much.”

“Really? Then maybe the third floor?”

“Who knows?”

“Huh? What’s with that reaction? Do you think Yuri’s on the second floor?”

“Yeah, I think so.”

“No way! It’s Yuri we’re talking about!”

As Arin waved her hand dismissively, Gunther replied with a serious expression.

“I’m not sure exactly how hard the hell difficulty is, but I’m sure they adjusted it considering Yuri’s capabilities.”

Arin nodded in agreement.

“Of course, right? Knowing Yuri, he’d definitely choose the place with the highest rewards, and if the difficulty was too easy, he’d clear it all in less than a day, right?”

“So if you were the Black Sword Corps, how would you set the difficulty?”

“Well, obviously… make it super hard? So that even Yuri wouldn’t have an easy time?”

“Exactly. So the hell difficulty is really… going to be like hell.”

“Ugh.”

Arin shuddered, imagining the dangers of the hell difficulty level.

Seeing her reaction, Gunther spoke with conviction.

“Anyway, considering all that, I think Yuri is probably on the second floor right now.”

Arin looked a bit puzzled.

“Hmm…”

But soon she smiled, shaking her head.

“No way, if it’s Yuri, he’d have definitely made it past the fourth floor by now!”

Despite Gunther’s logical explanation, Arin offered an absurd answer, and Gunther furrowed his brows slightly.

However, this expression quickly eased at Arin’s next comment.

“Hell is Yuri’s home, right? So he’s probably having a blast causing chaos.”

All reasoning was instantly overturned.

Gunther nodded deeply in agreement.

“That’s true.”

For a brief moment, he had forgotten.

Yuri was, after all, a demon brat from hell.

Rustle.

“I’m hungry!”

Poppy, who was tearing open a ration pouch they had picked up in the maze, also nodded energetically, seemingly in agreement with Arin.

* * *

The moment the gray holy sword and the golden holy sword crossed in mid-air—

Boom!

A tremendous explosion erupted, and the figure dressed as a Black Sword Corps member was slammed to the ground.

Thud!

The impact was so strong that the ground cracked.

If the solid ground suffered so, how much more would the person who was slammed down?

“Gah!”

The Black Sword Corps member spewed blood like a fountain.

But his real crisis was just beginning.

Swish!

A golden meteor shower descended upon the Black Sword Corps member.

Barely maintaining his consciousness, the Black Sword Corps member, horrified at the sight before him, infused his sword with all the mana he had.

Buzz!

A strong resonance occurred, producing the gray holy sword.

But just as he finished, the golden meteor shower fell upon the Black Sword Corps member.

Boom boom boom!

Each of the powerful golden stars struck the gray holy sword, causing the Black Sword Corps member’s body to jolt violently.

“Ugh… aaaargh!”

The more he gritted his teeth and blocked the golden meteor shower, the more the Black Sword Corps member’s body was driven into the ground.

Rumble.

The surrounding ground continued to crumble.

It was a desperate defense against the torrential golden trajectories raining down upon him.

“Aaaaaaah!”

Even the moment that seemed like it would last forever was approaching its end.

And at the end of that path lay only despair and defeat.

Crack!

‘W-what is this?!’

The gray holy sword started to crack gradually.

Unable to withstand the impact from the golden trajectories, the gray holy sword was breaking apart.

The Black Sword Corps member desperately tried to maintain the holy sword, but his efforts were unfortunately in vain.

Crack!

Finally, the gray holy sword shattered into pieces, dispersing into small particles of mana.

Although slightly weakened, the still-potent golden trajectory delivered the final blow to the Black Sword Corps member.

Crush!

“Guh?!”

The golden light exploded upon the Black Sword Corps member.

Boom!

With an enormous sound, a cloud of ochre dust erupted like mist, engulfing the surroundings.

And then—

Footsteps.

A dark silhouette emerged, staggering from the still-settling dust.

“Ugh…”

The figure groaned, stumbling forward.

It was none other than Yuri, drenched in sweat, blood, and dirt.

With a haggard expression—

“Damn it… I’m so tired I could die.”

Staggering and swaying, Yuri walked a few steps before finally collapsing forward.

Thud.

Yuri lay sprawled out for a moment, then grunted as he flipped over to face the ceiling.

Huff, huff.

His chest heaved rapidly with each ragged breath.

As the dust settled, the scene within became clear.

The floor, cracked as if suffering from a severe drought.

And buried nearly a meter into the ground, a woman with her eyes rolled back, unconscious.

This woman, who was critically injured and fainted, was the commander-level Black Sword Corps member of official 6th rank who had just been fighting Yuri.

After catching his breath for a while, Yuri groaned and propped himself up.

He glanced at the unconscious Black Sword Corps commander, then scanned his surroundings.

The carnage Yuri had caused came into full view.

The floor, walls, and ceiling were all cracked and damaged.

Marks of slashing and cutting were everywhere, and bloodstains were common.

But what made the scene look even more dire were the four other Black Sword Corps members sprawled around.

One had limbs bent at odd angles.

Another was bleeding so profusely it seemed they might die from blood loss.

They were gravely injured, barely clinging to life.

Yuri glanced over them and muttered a curse under his breath.

“…Damn, they really came at me like they wanted to die.”

The first time he thought, ‘This is a bit much,’ was when he encountered the 6th-floor opponents.

One commander-level Black Sword Corps member of official 6th rank, with two Black Sword Corps members of official 3rd rank.

The sudden difficulty spike compared to the 5th floor left Yuri dumbfounded, laughing incredulously.

Especially when he faced the Black Sword Formation led by the commander-level Black Sword Corps member, he couldn’t help but curse.

‘The power’s completely different with just one change in the main force.’

Even handling a commander of official 6th rank, who was at the same level as him, was no easy task, let alone dealing with additional support forces.

Even Yuri had to break a sweat.

Still, thanks to his research on the Black Sword Formation up to the 5th floor, he managed to clear the 6th floor.

After replenishing some mana, he reached the 7th floor and had to sigh deeply.

Waiting for him were one commander of official 6th rank and three regular Black Sword Corps members.

Thus began the battle.

Faced with the full power of the Black Sword Formation at the 7th floor, Yuri couldn’t afford to hold back.

Using his holy sword and magic flow with all his might, he barely made it past the 7th floor and finally reached the 8th.

And as expected, the 8th floor had the same forces as the previous floor, plus one more regular Black Sword Corps member.

‘That part I anticipated…’

But what Yuri didn’t expect was the power of the Black Sword Formation.

‘It’s just

one more than the 7th floor… but the strength has multiplied several times.’

The 7th floor had one commander-level and three regular members.

The 8th floor had one commander-level and four regular members.

While it was just one more official 3rd rank, the change in the formation’s power made it feel like he was facing two of the 6th rank commanders.

With no room to spare, Yuri activated not only the holy sword and magic flow but also unleashed Frenzy.

With no time for holding back, he swung his sword to kill.

Of course, the opponents on the 8th floor also showed killing intent toward Yuri.

After a long and grueling battle, Yuri barely managed to overcome the 8th-floor forces, but he truly had no more strength left to fight.

The wounds covering his body were not light.

Still, compared to the severely injured Black Sword Corps members lying around, Yuri was in much better shape.

Some time passed.

“Ugh.”

Regaining some energy, Yuri shakily stood up.

Then, he slowly began walking toward the entrance to the 9th floor.

A sense of achievement was unmistakable on his face.

‘Still… it’s not even a day yet, right?’

Yuri knew that with his current condition, he wouldn’t be able to clear the 9th floor no matter what awaited him.

But still, the reason he stubbornly headed to the 9th floor was for a small personal goal.

‘Let’s reach the top on the first day, even if I can’t clear it!’

Of course, that wasn’t his initial purpose.

After clearing the 7th floor and realizing it was possible, a small ambition arose.

While the quest wouldn’t necessarily give more rewards for a quick clear—

“Well, saying I reached the 9th floor in a day and the 9th floor in two days just sounds different, doesn’t it?”

With that thought, Yuri had continued relentlessly to the 8th floor after the 7th.

At the time, he still had some stamina to spare.

Of course, now even walking was a struggle.

‘Let’s rest when I get to the 9th floor!’

Resting there and assessing whether the 9th-floor opponents seemed manageable wouldn’t be a bad idea.

Yuri casually walked through the horrific scene he had created and entered the 9th-floor entrance.

Step by step.

Slowly ascending upward, Yuri finally reached just one step away from the 9th-floor entrance.

Yuri leaped up, landing with both feet on the 9th-floor ground.

Thud!

“I’m here!”

Having reached his goal, he rubbed his chin and chuckled.

“Should I write a book later? Call it ‘Reached the Summit on the First Day of Climbing the Tower’?”

As Yuri reached his goal and was making idle chatter—

“It doesn’t sound like a title I’d want to read.”

Even though Yuri had sensed no presence, he was startled by the sudden voice and looked toward where the sound came from.

And then, he was even more shocked.

“…?!”

Right above his head.

Coco was firmly attached upside down to the high ceiling, befitting the top floor of the tower.

Yuri looked up at her in disbelief.

“…What are you doing up there?”

“What do you think? I was waiting for you.”

Coco, who was hanging upside down, suddenly dropped.

She lightly spun in mid-air, landing gently in front of Yuri.

Thud.

Even though she had fallen from a height of about 15 meters, the sound of Coco landing was incredibly light.

Yuri stared at her silently.

‘As expected, this woman… is strong.’

Yuri had developed a sense for gauging the strength of opponents.

More precisely, he could now judge whether he could beat them.

This opponent seems easy enough.

This opponent looks like a bit of trouble?

Oh, that guy’s impossible.

After undergoing two enlightenments and with his mana core now enlarged, Yuri could gauge the level of most opponents instantly.

Even when facing Black Sword Corps members.

But Coco was different.

‘I can’t read her at all.’

He couldn’t get a read on her.

The more he tried, the deeper it felt like he was falling into an abyss.

‘I knew she was strong, but…’

As Yuri stared at her intently, Coco lit a cigarette and spoke.

“What are you looking at?”

“I’m seriously asking…”

Yuri responded, as if waiting for this very question.

“You’re not the opponent I’m supposed to face on the 9th floor, are you?”

Coco, seemingly expecting this question, grinned and answered.

“You catch on quickly.”

As soon as he heard her response, Yuri’s face scrunched up in frustration.

“This is too much, isn’t it?”

“What is?”

“What is?! I mean, from those damn bombs on the third floor to the Black Sword Formation, and then putting a commander of official 6th rank from the 6th floor on—those were already over the line! And now, of all things, you’re stepping in?! Does that make any sense?”

“Does it?”

“Come on, just admit it—this wasn’t the original difficulty, was it? You suddenly changed it, didn’t you?”

Despite Yuri’s suspicious gaze, Coco casually picked her ear.

After flicking away the earwax she had dug out, she answered nonchalantly.

“We didn’t make this for you to clear it anyway.”

“…”

“Who told you to keep clearing it when you weren’t supposed to?”

Coco’s shamelessness prompted Yuri to mutter a resigned comment.

“…Damn it.”