Chapter 36 – Ciel... on a Throne?
The 3 meter-tall ant slowly walked up to the throne which was standing high.
There was a total of 20 steps before reaching it, and just as he stepped on the first step, his body was instantly knocked back.
Alarmed, he dug his foot into the floor and managed to make himself stable.
"My liege..."
"Don't worry about it. Something like this would definitely not be easy." He narrowed his eyes and looked at the woman still with her eyes closed on the throne.
Meanwhile, Ciel was thinking about how to make this more interesting.
Click.
Before they could react, a semi-transparent wall rose into the sky, blocking off their way forward, and on the side appeared a game-like interface.
Time: 2:59:58
Kills: 0/100000
Reward: Pass
Failure: Death
It was simple enough, and everyone understood the hidden meanings behind it.
100000 kills in 3 hours! Are you joking me?
At this point, some people began to break down, but Sun Jinwoo looked calm whilst his shadow enlarged.
Then, the floor shook and 5 pillars were created.
Inside was a picture of a monster which didn't look intimidating at all, and as they began to underestimate it, thousands began to rush out.
Their prominent features were their small size. They looked just like goblins out of a game.
Preparing themselves, they fought and fought. Blood was splattered everywhere and Sung Jinwoo's shadows were actually a very good counter to this.
As beings that could not die and tire, they held an absolute advantage in this battle of attrition. The humans there didn't really do too much, only cutting down an odd creature here and there.
The shadows formed a circle around the group, so they were quite safe.
Until the number hit 25000.
Stopping at that exact number, all creatures vanished. Then, the image on the pillars changed.
Now, it looked way stronger and more intimidating. They had the appearance of an overly buffed orc, which was quite a big step up from mere goblins.
Once again, thousands started to swarm them and this time, they couldn't just rely on the shadows.
The protective circle strategy was very effective however, and although more got through it was still not too much of a challenge. More shadows fell but new ones swiftly replaced them whilst they rested back up in Sung Jinwoo's shadow.
But their sheer numbers were very impressive. Surprisingly, more and more got through and their defence began to break.
It was then that the one named Beru made a move.
He flashed and almost instantly, the counter went up by 800, evident by the amount of limbs and blood flying in the air.
Hoh?
With the aid of Beru, the counter then reached 50000 within the next hour.
Currently, they had 1:50:40 left on the timer and were half way done.
Now was when the bigshots arrived.
Once again disappearing, the creatures stopped and the image in the 5 pillars soon changed into something more ominous.
Insects. Just like the ant-shaped shadows, but these insects were just insects. There was nothing impressive about them apart from their huge size and the vast range of species of insects.
Even just by seeing this, multiple people fainted. They were then quickly taken care of by the insects who they couldn't fend off in time.
Seeing comrades being torn to pieces, this triggered someone in the team and he ran into the crowd.
"HEY! WHAT ARE YOU DOING." A muted-yellow haired woman shouted, but the person didn't listen and just rushed in there.
She was about to give chase, which was a stupid decision, but Sung Jinwoo stopped her.
Then she looked up and saw a massive explosion erupt in the middle and blast thousands of the creatures into the air.
Thousands of body parts then piled on each other.
"Did he just?"
"Yes. Somehow he had a self-destruct item on him. Even I didn't know he was going to go to such drastic measures."
It did help them though, as it contributed to their overall total.
"My liege. We are being overwhelmed."
"I noticed." His hands were also quite busy as he was slashing away.
Ever since joining the battle he hadn't stopped killing them. But he was very conscious that his mana was definitely not going to last.
Even with his abundance in it, the shadows were suffering too much damage. This couldn't go on any longer otherwise he would really fall here.
I wanted to save this for the last round but...
Betting everything he had on this item, he shouted at the others.
"EVERYONE GET BEHIND ME!"
He backed off into a corner and so did everyone else. He then recalled his shadows to make a wall around him.
Then he ordered one to take the item off him, and the shadow then rushed into the crowd.
It then returned, and an instant later a similar looking explosion from the one who self-destructed was seen, but on a much larger scale.
It's sheer power was immense, and even Sung Jinwoo wouldn't have survived if he took it at point-blank range.
They all survived because he used up all his mana to keep on healing the wall around them.
In other words, he made a wall with his mana, but not quite a 'wall'.
Then, the light cleared to reveal a completely destroyed floor.
Although it didn't have an exaggerated crater in the middle, it was damaged enough to see.
But most importantly was that it even affected the pillars. They flashed before losing light, and the figures inside soon disappeared, leaving only a lamp shaped structure with nothing inside.
"Since when did you have that?"
"I got it by accident in the last gate I went into." He casually lied. It was actually from the demon-lord's castle's treasury that he went into.
Although he only had one, so if somehow the round resumes then they were pretty much as good as dead.
And to their absolute delight, it didn't continue.
Instead, the wall shrunk into the ground, until the familiar face of a woman sitting on the throne was seen again.
She still had her eyes closed however, and remained motionless.
Beru tried to step forward again but was stopped.
"No don't. We all need to recover first. Don't do anything rash."
"I am so sorry my liege." He looked like he just did some unforgivable criminal offense.
Nevertheless, they waited and recovered there for another half and hour, and it was only after his mana bars were full that he told Beru to approach the throne again.
The shadow walked carefully. It noticed that no corpses were left. Although it was unsure how they disappeared, either due to the explosion, or because of the mysterious force behind the incident.
Anyway, it made its way up the stairs.
To Beru's surprise, there was no expelling force and he could freely make his way up.
The woman then appeared in his sights, still peacefully sitting on the throne.
He reached out, but stopped himself and looked at his liege. He nodded back which was enough for him, and his hand once again reached out for her.
At this moment, Ciel's eyes gradually opened and looked at Beru's black and blue hands.
...
Hmm, if I make it like a level from a game, then surely that would be fun enough right?
Yes Ciel, it would be the best idea ever!
Thank you other Ciel, now let's get back to designing.
...
First wave should be... uh... goblins!
Yes goblins, since they are the weakest mobs in terms of strength, although I can't the same thing for the goblins in Tempest.
Well, these don't have a soul anyway, just an instinct to kill so it's fine.
...
Well, that was underwhelming. I thought it would at least be more of a challenge. Eh, oh well. Next wave I'll make some orcs.
Hehe, those green overgrown pigs will surely at least challenge you!
Excluding Geld of course, he's a safe guy. He and his subordinates are exempt from such thoughts.
...
Oh come on man... that ant is such a cheat. Shouldn't there be a rule that says no stronger beings participate in the fights of weaklings. He just broke the number one rule of powerhouses, but I can't really say much can I?
Uh, fine. Next I'll make it extra hard and kill you all, then go back to Rimuru. I hate this weird place already.
...
Someone self-destructed? What an idiot. Unable to bear with the pain of being weak so he chose to end his life instead of fighting to the bitter end, then ending his life.
Where am I supposed to get my entertainment?
Sure it's funny for a moment, but it's only short term.
I need long term entertainment!
...
Since when did he have an anti-matter bomb! If I hadn't reinforced the place it would've blown it to smithereens.
And what a cheat. They survived by channelling mana into his shadows and using them as a wall?
His plot armour is ridiculous.
I'm so tempted to activate analysis and see who they are but I'm not gonna. I'm just going to ignore the temptation.
Fight against it Ciel...
But what creature should I do next?
Urgghh, forget it. I'll just count this as their win.
Let me see what they're going to do now.
...
They seriously just made me wait half an hour?!?! I get the caution part and he had to recharge his mana, whilst the rest recovered, but come on! Half an hour! I could be snuggled up in Rimuru's arms by now, but no I'm here.
Wait, isn't my real body in his arms right now? It's just my mind that is here.
How stupid I am to forget this... it seems I rely too much on skills *sigh.
Why am I here in the first place then?
That confirms it. I'm not going to activate my all-knowing skills and just get myself through this. Then I will turn back time and then see what happened.
I swear, if it is some arrogant god of another multiverse messing with this multiverse's timeline, I swear I will make them never forget it.
It seems they're going to come to me now...
...
Ay ay, no touching please.
*sigh. It seems I can't help it.
At this moment, she opened her eyes and saw hands trying to touch her.
No one but Rimuru is allowed to touch me. How dare he?!!
Already earning Ciel's irk, before he even knew what was going on, his body was flown backwards and engraved a hole onto the wall.
The wall, which could withstand an antimatter explosion just half an hour ago, was actually damaged by someone being launched by a mere stare.
Sung Jinwoo was surprised for different reasons however, as he felt half of his mana disappear.
That took half of my mana! The damage he suffered must've been ridiculous to take half my mana!
He looked back up at the woman, and she also looked down at the crowd.
"My liege..."
"No need to apologise or anything. Be on guard." He whispered.
"Yes!"
No one else spoke, and they just looked at the now awake person sitting in the throne.
Unexpectedly, it was Sung Jinwoo who said something first.
"If I may ask, who are you and what can we do to leave safely?"
There was no pride behind it. He acknowledged that he was definitely weaker than her, not to mention his friends being here as well. The biggest task is to leave here safely and report this to the authorities, although he doubted they could do much.
It would be a nightmare if she didn't let them, or was uncooperative. But he also knew that those who stood at the top tend to be unbothered by anyone. It was like him. As he was strong in Korea, and even all over the world, he didn't really care about those beneath him unless they had some kind of relationship.
His bet was on the figure and his own intuition though, since his statement could be taken two ways.
Either she was unbothered by anyone, and killed them without batting an eye. That could be likely since those at the top, as Sung Jinwoo thought, didn't care.
Or she, even though unbothered, took interest in their previous performance and was willing to talk it out.
The latter was what he hoped for, and his mind span quickly and formed many different scenarios in his head, but if it was the former than there was practically no point.
Soon, he saw her mouth open and move, but still her head leaned on her hand, which was attached to her arm calmly resting on the throne.
"Heh"