Survive the labyrinth with EX-grade traits

The staircase with the demon image, indicating a group of monsters.

From below, it looked like a short staircase, but as we climbed it, the black fog inside the staircase obscured our vision and tried to lower our morale.

“Ugh. It’s creepy.”

“Don’t worry. It’s just an illusion.”

The fog was like a ghost, but Veronica, who had been here before, said it was just a trick to scare weak adventurers.

Tsk. The tower’s exterior was already dark and creepy.

Even the staircase, which was just a passage to the next floor, had some kind of obstacle to hinder our progress.

It was a typical dungeon-like feature.

Whoosh!

As I thought about it, I climbed the staircase, and the black fog grew thicker and thicker until we reached the 2nd floor.

As I had heard, the 1st and 2nd floors had the same size, and the interior of the tower was also similar, with colorful torches and a grayish-black space.

Yes. Except for one difference.

‘Crystal?’

A large, almost 3-meter tall, diamond-shaped crystal pillar with a black surface.

It was deeply rooted in the ground and glowed black in front of us as we climbed the stairs.

“Look. Something’s moving.”

Whoosh!

I followed Lumia’s finger, which was pointing straight up, and saw that the top of the pillar was glowing with mana and depicting various scenes.

The adventurers, armed with swords, staves, and bows, stood with their backs to the crystal pillar.

Portals opened in three directions, and from inside the portals, demon-like monsters attacked the adventurers.

The adventurers began to defeat the monsters one by one, and the dead bodies turned into dust and were absorbed into the black crystal.

‘The bottom is… turning white?’

As the monsters were absorbed into the crystal, the black surface slowly turned white.

Eventually, the crystal turned completely white and transparent, and it emitted a brilliant light in all directions.

The portals disappeared, and the exhausted adventurers raised their arms in triumph as the mana that had been moving around quickly disappeared.

‘This is definitely a defense game, isn’t it? It’s a no-brainer.’

The scene I had just witnessed reminded me of a tower defense game I had played on Earth, where you move heroes or buildings to defend the path to your base.

Veronica, who had been silent, spoke up.

“This seems to be a defense game where we have to protect the crystal pillar from being destroyed while hunting monsters until we reach a certain goal.”

“I agree, but when you challenged the tower, you only had to hunt about twenty monsters, right?”

“That’s right. It’s not a random layer, but the theme is so different… I’m afraid most of my experiences may not be useful. I’m sorry.”

I waved my hand to tell her not to feel bad, as her voice was unusually gloomy.

“The tower can change the theme of each floor as it pleases, and we’re just adventurers. We can’t do anything about it. Let’s just finish this quickly and move on to the next floor.”

After comforting her, I tried to come up with the best strategy for the defense game.

Whoosh!

One by one, the portals appeared at the front of each staircase, just like before.

Damn. It seemed like they weren’t going to give us any time to prepare.

In the midst of the rapidly changing situation, I gave everyone their instructions.

“Yeriel, stand in front of the crystal pillar and protect it with your ranged attacks. Unless one of us is in serious danger, you must stay behind and protect us. Start buffing us.”

“Yes! His sword will be filled with light, and his body will be filled with wind.”

[The effect of Divine Weapon increases Strength by one level for one hour.]

[The effect of Haste increases Agility by one level for one hour.]

Crunch.

I clenched my fist as my strength surged.

The buffs increased my Strength and Agility by one level each, and I could feel the difference in my body and mind.

I was relieved that my stats weren’t so high that a priest’s buffs wouldn’t work on me.

“I’ll stand in front and block the monsters, and if I have some free time, I’ll come to help you. The rest of you, take care of the monsters coming from the sides. Fight however you want. I trust you.”

“I’ll take care of it.”

“I understand. I’ll try out the method I’ve been thinking about.”

Crackle. Crackle.

Whoosh!

The black portals at the three staircases started to make noise, and then monsters began to emerge from inside.

Let’s see, there were variant hobgoblins, skeletons, and imps.

‘This is a lot of monsters. I like it.’

The first two were well-known, and I had read in a book that imps could shoot fireballs and cast curses from behind.

“Kiiiiyaaa!”

“Kihihi!”

I drew my sword as the monsters ran towards us with red eyes.

.

.

.

Whoosh!

“Kyaaaak!”

The sword roared, and lightning crackled.

In the midst of the flying flesh and screams, I felt a sense of freedom.

After the battle with Christopher, my mental strength had increased, and my mana limit had also increased due to the intense battles I had fought.

If I encountered a powerful enemy that required caution, I might not have been able to use all my power.

But in this situation, I could use as much power as I wanted.

Sizzle!

The fine lightning bolts burned the monsters’ flesh and dislocated their bones.

The wide-open space, the clear path, and the endless stream of monsters.

It seemed impossible to cover all the monsters at once.

…Unless I used the Frost of the North.

The countless monster corpses I had killed, and the powerful enemies I had defeated with blood and sweat.

My growth was not limited to my body, mind, traits, and swordsmanship.

To reach the mid-layers and beyond, I needed a solid foundation, and the most important thing was my mana.

It was my strongest asset.

Whoosh!

The invisible cold air spread throughout my body.

The fragment of power I had received from the Lord of the Frost covered the hobgoblins running past me, freezing their feet and turning them into statues.

“Kii, kiyaaa.”

The artificial frost that started from their feet froze their joints and turned their bodies into ice.

Crunch!

The touch of death, the hand of the Grim Reaper, took their lives and made them pay for their foolishness.

I kicked the statue-like corpses and sneered.

Crunch!

“Look at this! I’ll turn you all into statues too, so line up and come at me!”

“Kiiyaaaak! Kiiyaaaak!”

The monsters were focused on attacking the crystal, but when they saw their comrades being slaughtered, their eyes turned red with rage.

The variant hobgoblins’ eyes, like glass, were fixed on me.

The skeletons, without any will of their own, only followed their programmed orders.

I cast lightning bolts to keep them at bay, as they were immune to taunts, and I fought against the enraged variants.

I could see the red traces in front of me, drawing countless straight and curved lines as they aimed for me.

In the past, I would have dodged the falling axes and evaded the stabbing spears.

But not anymore.

‘Attacks that aren’t worth dodging.’

I took a step forward and stomped on the ground.

[Blade Storm]

“Huff.”

I unleashed my mana, and the sword slashes cut through the air from left to right.

Ssssssssss!

The wind, the flesh, and even the poorly attached bones were all sliced by my sword.

“Kiiyaaaak!!!”

Ssssssssss!

Whether it was a monster or something else, I cut down everything that tried to get past me.

“Kihihi!”

The imp’s evil laughter pierced my ears, and a fireball the size of my head was shot at me like a cannonball.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

“Kii, kihih?”

“Why, did you think I would scream?”

The scorch marks on my armor were automatically restored when I infused it with mana.

The imp was surprised to see me so unaffected.

I seized the opportunity and dashed towards it.

“Kiiyaaa!”

[Chaos invalidates weakness.]

“Fuck off, you bastard.”

Ssssssssss!

The imp turned into dust and was absorbed into the crystal pillar behind me.

We had killed at least fifty monsters, but how many were left?

I glanced behind me while still fighting the hobgoblins and skeletons coming out of the portals.

‘60%? No, maybe 65%… The others are doing well too.’

As the battle continued, my body loosened up, and my mind became more alert.

I was so focused that I could almost fight automatically.

Boom! Crack!

I didn’t have to worry about the monsters behind me, as the others were handling them well.

The crystal pillar’s light was steadily increasing, and I was ready to cover them if necessary, but it didn’t seem like it would be needed.

A series of system messages appeared in my peripheral vision.

[Strength increased by three levels due to the pressure of the impact.]

With Yeriel’s buff, Veronica’s Strength was now at B-, the same as mine.

“Huff, haaa!”

[Veronica casts ‘Radiant Wings’.]

Veronica used her mana wings, which provided speed, flight, and various other bonuses, to cover her mobility.

She raised her unique barrier and charged forward, blocking the front.

[Veronica casts ‘Charge’.]

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

Veronica was like a tank, crushing and destroying everything in her path.

“Wow! That’s refreshing!”

Veronica’s new combat style was simple and brutal, but it was effective against the endless stream of monsters coming out of the portals.

“Kihihi!”

The imps shot fireballs at Veronica.

Even without fire resistance or magic absorption like me, it didn’t matter.

Veronica’s barrier had an option that allowed her to gain anger when hit, and she could use that anger to heal herself.

Her barrier regenerated automatically when it was hit by the monsters’ weapons or fireballs, so it was almost like she had infinite power.

I didn’t need to look at the left portal anymore. What about the other side?

While Veronica was dynamic and bold, Lumia was the opposite.

She was calm and still, but also cruel.

The colorful torches installed on the ceiling and walls of the tower lit up the shadows of the monster horde, and Lumia’s amorphous servant moved like a fish in water, weaving in and out of the shadows.

“Kiyaaaak!”

“Kerruk…”

“Kii, kiiii.”

They bit, scratched, and tore at the monsters.

Whoosh!

In the midst of the blood fountain, Lumia, who had mastered the process of summoning darkness, stretched out her hand.

The wave of darkness that had erased Embryo swept through the portal.

Whoosh!

Any monster that came into contact with it died instantly.

“Kii, kiyaaa?”

“Kerruk.”

The imps that managed to dodge the wave of darkness and preserve their pathetic lives retreated, unable to overcome the implanted suggestion to destroy the crystal pillar.

The emotionless skeletons continued to advance, and the portals seemed to be releasing more monsters.

Lumia didn’t miss the opportunity to strike while the monsters were distracted.

“Darkness, desire and devour.”

[Desire of Darkness]

Lumia waved her hand and cast a spell, and a huge mouth opened at the feet of the monster horde.

Another massacre was inevitable.

With her unique item, Lumia’s mana had increased by two levels, so she didn’t have to worry about running out of mana during combat.

The right side was also manageable.

The crystal pillar was 90% complete!

“Everyone, a little more effort!”

Damn. If I had known this, I would have chosen the question mark!

I was busy moving around, but the others were struggling.

I felt the overwhelming number of enemies was annoying, even though they weren’t as strong as me.

Right side.

Yeriel was also busy.

The imps not only used fireballs and curses but also had sharp claws that they used to scratch and tear at their enemies.

I blocked the front, and Yeriel protected the crystal pillar with her divine shield.

Boom!

Yeriel, who had been training one-on-one with her sister since becoming an adventurer, had become a combat priest with an average C-rank abilities.

With her self-buffs and the Holy Arrow, she was a formidable opponent for any melee fighter.

“Yah!”

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Yeriel threw her yellow staff with pinpoint accuracy, piercing an imp’s head.

Boom!

“Where do you think you’re going?”

Holy Arrow!

The imp, seeing its comrade’s head pierced, shot another fireball at Yeriel.

She responded with a Holy Arrow, aiming her staff at the imp.

[Chaos congratulates you on passing the floor.]

As soon as the system message appeared, the crystal pillar’s light reached its peak and began to flash.

Crystal Pillar 100%.

Paaaat!

“Kiiyaaaak!!!”

“Kerruk!!!”

“Kihihi, kii!!!”

As we celebrated our victory, the portals and monsters disappeared without a trace.

Crackle, crackle!

The crystal pillar’s light dimmed, and the portals and monsters disappeared without a trace.

“Krrrr, it’s over… Ugh. I had it too easy.”

“It’s refreshing. Sometimes, you need to let loose and have some fun.”

“Ahren, you did well. I’m proud of you.”

I took a deep breath and sighed in relief.

Just then, I sensed mana fluctuations coming from the three staircases.

The first image on the 3rd floor was a demon.

Of course, monsters are common in dungeons, so it’s likely that this is the most common choice.

The second image was also a demon.

???

Could the same image appear twice?

No, no, no!

I was determined to avoid the bingo, so I kept my eyes wide open and focused on the last remaining staircase.

The third image… a treasure chest.

I cheered silently.

Without even taking a break, we climbed the staircase to the next floor.