Dreyer, along with other players, woke up in the middle of the beach with a large ship destroyed in half, behind him. While trying to regain his footing, he observed that there were over a hundred ships that were crashed on the same beach.
[Royal Knights Quest Updated]
[Reach the Miranda Kingdom]
'Damn, what a hassle. They wouldn't let us easily go to the Kingdom.'
Suddenly, he heard something chirping. Dreyer thought it was supposed to be a chick, but what kind of chick has a shadow that was even bigger than the crashed ship.
Dreyer's eyes widened upon seeing the grotesque appearance of a gigantic three-headed chicken right in front of him. Not only that, human-sized worms were coming from the holes in the chicken's body like the chicken was already dead and decaying, yet, it was moving right in front of them.
Bizzare arrival of other infested monsters prompted the players, including Dreyer, to run toward the jungle. What the players didn't know was that there were far more dangerous threats in the woods than dealing with a bunch of infected monsters.
***
After a few days of collaborating with Kane, the GM15 guild finally reached the final obstacle to reach the 50th floor. At WALLACE TOWER 49th floor, Xvin, Ryore, their Guild Members, and Kane were all standing in front of a giant statue of a long-haired elderly man wearing magical robes. Xvin muttered.
"This is it."
Xvin already completed this tower before. Therefore, he knew what kind of battle will they be facing. However, he knew that it will still be as hard as his first try.
"Once we stepped on that pedestal in the center, that guy will start moving. Since only one person needs to step on that plate, which is Kane, then the rest of us will have to position ourselves around the room."
The attack pattern of the Boss of the 49th Floor was categorized into three parts.
The first part will initiate as soon as someone stepped on the pedestal. For the first 5 seconds, the Boss would summon his magical staff. During those 5 seconds, everyone could unleash their skills without repercussions.
However, as soon as the 5 seconds ended, the Boss will immediately slam its staff on the ground and will teleport and will slash the person that stepped on the plate.
The attack could deal so much damage that it could one-hit low leveled players like Kane. However, Kane could easily dodge that with his high movement speed.
After that attack, the Boss would move on to other players and attack with his staff. All the attacks on the first part were dodgeable if people just observed the movement of the rod.
The second part would commence as soon as the HP of the Boss dropped to half. This time, in addition to the attack pattern of the first part, the Boss would unleash lasers and meteors from the ceiling. This part required the players to look at both the staff and the ceiling to dodge all the attacks.
When his HP dropped down to 25%, the last part would start, and the Boss would enter his Enraged Status. All of the damage dealt by the Boss would increase up to 300%, and its attacks would be a lot faster.
In addition to that, it will summon some soldiers made of mud. They were only level 20 and could be defeated in one hit. Despite dealing very little damage to the players, these mud soldiers were still dangerous because of their ability to push players toward the Boss' attacks. However, for Kane's case, even if it was just pushing, he could die.
Unlike the Fallen Monkey of the Fruit Eye Cave, this Boss was already encountered by millions of players for over a decade. Almost everyone knew its attack pattern, and you could obtain this information everywhere. Despite knowing its attack pattern, players found it hard to defeat this Boss because of the sheer number of stuff they have to watch out.
After explaining everything to Kane, Xvin started walking toward the edge while everyone followed.
"Let's get moving."
Despite doubtful of their true intentions, Kane already spent 5 days working and living in the Chickenfighter to train with Jae Hwan. Things got easier and harder for him as he needed to work in the morning, train on breaks, and play Arcadia at night in exchange for them letting him sleep in the shop and feed him every day. Since the food was still shit, Kane doesn't feel that indebted.
Although he still doesn't have a chance against Ryore, Xvin noticed that his skills already improved compared to the first time they met him.
Kane slowly moved forward and stepped on the pedestal.
CRACK!
A cracking sound was heard, and the floor started shaking. Little stones began falling from the roof as the massive statue finally started moving.
Epicus, The Guardian Of The Wallace Tower Lvl 100
HP: [?/?]
Sticking to the plan, the squad members swarmed at Epicus and unleashed all of their skills simultaneously. While being bombarded with damage, Epicus didn't budge and continued moving the way he was programmed for five seconds. He raised his hand and summoned his staff in the air. Xvin shifted his gaze back at Kane.
"Kane! Watch it!"
Xvin and his group ran away back to the edge. Epicus slammed his staff to the ground.
BAM!
Epicus dashed forward and slashed Kane, which he easily managed to dodge. Upon dodging, the squad swarmed at Epicus again and attacked him. Epicus raised his staff in the air to slam it. The squad retreated back to the edges of the room before Epicus could drop his staff.
Upon dropping his rod, Epicus chose Pixie as his next target. He dashed forward and sliced Pixie, which she easily evaded. After dodging, the squad swarmed Epicus again and attacked him. If the team continued this process properly, they could easily survive Part 1.
Epicus would only attack the targets that he chose and would always shift to another target upon finishing his set of moves. Because of that, Kane wasn't really doing anything at all except for sitting in the middle, sipping a cup of tea that he bought from Miranda Market like he was having a vacation.
'I don't really feel good about this.'
He was hoping that Epicus would attack him while sipping his tea, but it didn't. After a few minutes of waiting, Kane finally got bored. He took out his sword and attacked Epicus.
TING! TING! TING!
[You Dealt 1 Damage]
[You Dealt 1 Damage]
Ryore was astounded at the sight of an idiot who was desperately bashing his sword at Epicus' feet.
"Hey! Just keep running, this guy can one-shot you. You wouldn't want to die on the last floor of this room. You're not dealing damage, anyway."
Kane sheathed his sword, which calmed Ryore.
"Now, go back to the center."
"Nope! I'm just not good with swords."
Since Kane was bad with swords, according to him, he did what he does best. Fighting with his fists. With his legendary punches that knocked a lot of opponents in real life and in Arcadia, Epicus won't stand a chance!
[You Dealt 1 Damage]
[You Dealt 1 Damage]
"Nevermind, I'll go back and continue running."
At the same time, as Kane jumped back, the ground started shaking.
"GGGGGGGGGGGGRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!"
The statue screamed, which incited Xvin and the squad to take a step back.
"Okay, we're on phase 2!"
"What? That was fast."
Kane was confused as it looked hard when Xvin explained it, but he never thought they would reach Part 2 this fast.
"The first part was easy. From this point on, it will get harder."
Glowing circles appeared from the ceiling. One of them was right above Kane. Seeing that, Kane immediately jumped away, which saved him from a laser from the circles.
"Ahahahaha! Catch me if you ca—Eh?!"
Kane's eyes suddenly widened upon seeing Epicus dashing toward him.
"Shit! Why now?!"
Kane quickly stood up and ran away. But he missed the timing that he would get slashed. \
CLANG!
Luckily, Ryore pushed him away and blocked the attack with his axe. Kane was hurled away along with Ryore, who obstructed the attack with his axe. Ryore immediately kicked Kane away to push him away from a falling meteor.
"Hey, dumbass! Stop playing around. Told you, just keep on running!"
"Right! Bye!"
Kane ran away while simultaneously looking at the ceiling and at Epicus. But he was flustered upon seeing that his HP was down to half.
'What's this? I was never hit before?'
He tried to hard to think, but Kane believed he dodged everything so far, completely forgetting that Ryore kicked him away.
BAM!
"Ow!"
Because he was daydreaming, Kane bumped into Pixie. Both of them fell on the ground. Pixie was still dizzy and scratching her head because of the collision, but Kane managed to see a charging laser above them. As he couldn't push Pixie away, Kane just jumped above Pixie to at least lessen the attack.
WHISH!
Kane smiled like a hero while Pixie was looking at him from below.
'Uhhh? Why am I not dying?'
But the laser was still being charged that Kane already went over to Pixie without getting hit. As soon as he landed on the other side, the laser was unleashed.
BOOM!
Luckily, Xvin propelled himself toward the duo and grabbed them.
"Stop fooling around. You can't save anyone if you're not even level 10. You'll just die along with Pixie if you did that. Just focus on running."
Feeling completely useless, Kane just decided to shut up and continued running away.
Xvin dropped them on the ground and observed the situation. It was not good. Everyone was just running around aimlessly while simultaneously dodging the lasers, meteor attack, and Epicus.
'What's going on? I didn't think it would be this hard.'
The problem that Xvin failed to see was the number of people in the room. With The Tower's difficulty getting harder as they climb the floors, people barely reached the top. Their starting numbers were significantly reduced upon reaching the end.
Most of the time, strangers ended up banding together because their party members already died. The usual number of people in completing the top floor was only 5 people. But this time, thanks to Xvin's tactic of exploiting Kane's incredible movement speed, 18 people managed to reach the top.
Because of their numbers, the place became a pandemonium. More players, more numbers of meteors, and lasers falling from the ceiling. Not only that, but they also have to watch out for their friends to prevent bumping at each other.
Not to mention that in phase 3, it would even get faster, and Epicus would summon some soldiers.
"Everyone! Fall back. Ryore and I will do the job. Just keep on running and try to avoid each other."
With no other choice, Xvin decided to defeat the Boss alone. Xvin dashed forward and went straight toward Epicus' face.
[Inferno!]
KABOOM!
Epicus received severe damage, but it wasn't enough. Epicus turned around and dashed toward a different target. Xvin and Ryore followed. While Epicus was attacking someone, Ryore dashed toward his foot and unleashed a whirlwind attack. Xvin jumped to his face once again and unleashed his INFERNO once more.
BOOM!
Xvin and Ryore came out of the smoke. They were both disappointed that Epicus' shadow was still standing under the smoke. Ryore looked at Xvin and noticed that he was already tired.
"Hey, Xvin, did you just used all your mana?"
"Yeah, I just used Inferno twice in a row. I thought he'll drop down to 25% now."
"Here. Take my potions. Be careful. I know you're both level 100, but that guy is still a Boss."
"Yeah, my bad. I used all my poti—"
An idea suddenly entered Xvin's head, and immediately used their guild communication skill.
"Everyone! Send us all your potions, buffs, and scrolls! The guild will reimburse them!"
Having many people climbing the Tower was a big problem. However, having many people also provided a lot of source of potions and scrolls. Xvin and Ryore didn't have the chance to borrow potions in the Red Gate because other people also needed it. But not on this 49th Floor as everyone was just running. You don't need potions in dodging attacks.
[You received mana potion.]
[You received mana potion.]
[You received mana potion.]
'This is more than enough.'
Xvin drank some of them and jumped again straight at Epicus' face.
[Inferno!]
"GAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!"
The phase had just begun. The wizard raised his staff in the air and slammed into the floor. Suddenly, it opened a one-way portal from the ground that summoned mud soldiers. Kane saw them, and a notification appeared on his screen.
Mud Soldiers LVL 20
HP: [2000/2000]
'I missed these numbers. It's been so long since I've seen these numbered HPs since I left Herald City.'
Delighted upon seeing the numbers, Kane dashed forward the soldier with confidence. The soldier tried to grab him, but Kane easily dodged it. It was far slower than Ryore. Kane took out his sword and pierced the soldier's eye.
[Critical Hit!]
[You dealt 5 damage.]
HP: [1995/2000]
"What?!?! What a bummer?! I'm terrible at swords. Now, try this!"
The soldier tried to grab him again, but Kane dodged its grapple and punched him 3 times in the face before stepping back.
[You dealt 6 damage.]
Ryore noticed Kane fooling around once again.
"HEY, JUST GET BACK, YOU IDIOT!"
After getting scolded one more time, Kane took a step back and ran away.
'Damn it, I can't even kill a single level 20 monst—Huh? Is that?'
He looked behind and saw that the soldier was running, trying to chase him.
'The fuck?! This guy runs?!'
Aside from running away from the soldier, Kane had to dodge all of the lasers, meteors, and Epicus. Other people could take down the mud soldiers in one hit, lessening the obstacles, but that's not the case for Kane.
Xvin continued flying up in the air while unleashing heavy attacks on Epicus. At the same time, Ryore helped their friends subdue the mud soldiers.
Kane was starting to get confused at the combination of flashy effects from different attacks surrounding the room. Not to mention that there was also a mud soldier chasing him from behind.
'This dirt A-hole is tiring me out!'
Annoyed, Kane stopped running and faced the soldier. He pounced toward the soldier and punched him consecutively. But his damage really doesn't hurt that much. The soldier tried to grab him many times, but Kane could easily dodge all of them. But Kane knew it would take him hundreds of attacks to take down the soldier.
'What if I do this?'
Instead, Kane dashed forward and carried the mud soldier.
"EAT THIS, BITCH!"
Kane ran toward and threw the mud soldier to the laser in front of him.
BOOM!
"Now, that should've leveled me up."
But as the laser died out, the mud soldier came out unscathed. This time, it was now covered in blue flames, and it looked somehow angry.
"What the hell? It's even in flames now? I thought this game was realistic. You're a fucking clay, why didn't you melt?!"
Kane might've forgotten that he was facing a gigantic stone wizard with some kind of black magic. This would make you wonder what kind of world Kane was living in that he thought everything was normal except for a fucking clay that was not melting.
The flaming soldier tried to grab him, in which Kane dodged again. He counterattacked by punching the soldier.
[Status: Burning.]
[You received 10 Damage.]
[You received 10 Damage.]
Kane was flustered that he leaped away from the soldier.
'Damn it, was it because this guy is on flames? Now, I can't attack him. I just made it freaking harder.'
Kane tried another ruse. He took his tongue out and taunted the soldier. The soldier chased down Kane while leaving a trail of fire. Xvin noticed that Kane was going toward Epicus.
"Kane! Dodge away!"
What made it worse was that he was chosen as a target by Epicus. Epicus dashed toward him to slash him, but Kane sidestepped so that it would hit the mud soldier first.
And It did.
Kane hoped that the mud soldiers would get smashed, but it was just pushed away. Seeing that it was still fine, Kane immediately ran toward it and started punching it. Suddenly, Kane noticed a large shadow around him. He looked above and saw a meteor falling nearby.
Kane jumped away, and it crashed on the mud soldier instead. But Kane wasn't delighted as he still hasn't leveled up.
BOOM!
The boulder exploded. The flaming mud soldier was now covered in blue and red flames. It crouched down and took a large shard of the meteor on his hand. Suddenly, the shard started flaming.
"Are you damn serious? Come on, man! Shoo! Shoo! Go away!"
Now Kane is facing a legit blazing soldier wielding a flaming sword. The mud soldier suddenly made a slashed attack, which produced a flaming shockwave. Kane barely managed to dodge because he thought it doesn't attack.
"The fuck?? Piss off! I already upgraded you. You should thank me!"
Suddenly, Kane could feel heat on his hands. He looked at it, and it started flaming red. Kane tried to shake it off, but he remembered that skill. It was Xvin's buff. Xvin nodded at Kane upon looking eyes at each other.
Kane took out his sword and clashed with the soldier. The soldier tried to slice him, which he dodged by sidestepping, and then smack its neck with his blade.
[You dealt 520 damage.]
Kane quickly took a step back and dodged the soldier's attack. This time, Kane swept its legs, and it fell to the ground.
[You received 10 damage.]
[You dealt 200 damage.]
Just as Kane expected, he could only win this battle by using his sword to prevent himself from getting burned. Kane raised his sword and bashed it onto the soldier's head.
[Critical hit.]
[You dealt 900 damage.]
The soldier stood up and attacked Kane. However, Kane was fast enough to decapitate it. But it wasn't enough. The blade didn't go through.
SLASH!
[You received 200 damage.]
Kane wasn't able to dodge the soldier's attack. His opponent tried to slash him again. Kane became cautious that he was now trying to avoid clashing with the soldier. He waited for the soldier to swung its sword before he attacked.
Kane took his time taking a step back again and again to dodge the attacks. Kane was nearly winning, but a single 100 damage from the soldier will bring him down.
'Shit. This guy is still learning his newfound abilities. This is bad for me if I prolonged this battle.'
Kane stopped jumping and faced the soldier.
"Hey! Clay bastard! Sorry, but the pottery shop is now closed! Prepare to get trashed!"
Kane and the soldiers dashed at each other. But Kane suddenly made his best move. Throwing his sword to his opponent's sword.
PAK! CRACK!
The soldier was flustered as it went through its skull. Kane unleashed an uppercut at the soldier, but it still not dead. Because he was using his fists once again, he was getting burned.
[You received 10 damage.]
[You received 10 damage.]
The soldier tried to slice him, but Kane kicked its hand away. Unexpectedly, its clay arm broke off because of Kane's kick. The soldier was disarmed.
Kane immediately grabbed the flaming meteor shard and smashed it at the soldier's head. With another sword slamming on its head, its skull cracked open and its whole body crumbled down.
[You killed a mud soldier.]
[Level Up.]
Kane's character got drenched in sweat, and his hair got disheveled that he looked like a madman who just won a life and death battle. He found himself too cool that he didn't even notice that Xvin also managed to defeat Epicus.
The ground started shaking as the giant Epicus crumbled down.
"YAAAAAAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!"
"Yeaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh!!"
Cheerings could be heard from everyone as most of them still haven't cleared the WALLACE TOWER, and this was the first time. Kane fell down to the ground because of exhaustion. But he saw someone walking up to him and tried to help him get up. It was Ryore.
"Hey, newbie. You fucking did it. You reached the top!"
Kane grabbed his hand and stood up.
[You cleared Wallace Tower Floor 49.]
[You entered a new area – Wallace Tower Floor 50.]
[You have reached the top.]
[New title achieved: Conqueror of Wallace Tower.]