Chapter 31

031. Layer Invasion (4)

Just as I was about to take another step, the Black Knight spoke.

"…I underestimated you as a barbarian. I didn’t expect the master of the trial to be one of the top contenders."

Though his words seemed to acknowledge my strength, I didn’t pay much attention.

"Admit it. You’re a different kind of barbarian, quite skilled compared to the others."

My mind was solely focused on finding a way to kill my enemy.

I decided to completely ignore anything else.

「Remaining duration – 00:00:21」

The buff from the Assassin’s Cloak would soon disappear, so I had to act now.

I pushed off the ground and swiftly thrust my sword.

However, instead of blocking my attack, the Black Knight swung his long sword with his right hand.

Seeing this, I bent my waist to dodge the swinging long sword.

Whoosh! Clang!

Though it was a one-sided attack, the result was devastating.

The blade was blocked by the black armor, and the enemy suffered no damage.

"Did you really think you could pierce my armor with such a mediocre sword!"

At the same time, I quickly moved my body to avoid the sweeping long sword.

With my agility, dodging the attack was easy.

However, there was one problem…

‘Even if I hit, I can’t deal any damage because of the armor.’

That was the biggest issue.

The enemy had shattered my shield with a single skill, but I had no such ability.

"…"

I didn’t have time to show weakness.

「Remaining duration – 00:00:16」

The time to match him was running out.

There was still a way to pierce the armor.

‘I didn’t waste points on my weapon for nothing.’

With a solution in sight, there was no need to worry further.

Just as I was about to use my mana to accelerate again,

"Arrogant brat."

The Black Knight said, then infused his long sword with a red aura.

Whoosh!

The aura was more brilliant and threatening than before.

"I’ll split you in two."

Despite the chills running down my spine, I moved again.

‘This is insane.’

If I were to touch that sword, my body would be cut in half instantly.

While one move could kill me, my attacks on the Black Knight were only putting pressure on him.

The Black Knight seemed to realize this, showing no hesitation.

‘He acknowledged me earlier, but that was just talk.’

His confident demeanor suggested he still believed I couldn’t pierce his armor.

This made the current moment even more crucial.

Whoosh! Boom! Crack! Roar!

With each movement, the Black Knight’s sword split the walls and shook the floor.

The aura on his sword cut through the walls like tofu.

‘The Aura I saw with the Eye of Truth… was this skill.’

The cutting power was incredible, slicing through the mana-infused walls like butter.

I could probably do something similar, but I couldn’t create such a clean cut.

"Hahaha, run all you want! It won’t last long!"

He was a monster among monsters.

Sensing my growing anxiety, he became more aggressive.

His movements suggested he was confident in his endurance, whether it was mana or something else.

At this moment, I was at a disadvantage, while the Black Knight had the upper hand.

Screech! Clang! Boom!

No matter how hard I swung my sword, it couldn’t pierce the armor, and the Black Knight seemed more excited with each block.

After a while, he started using larger techniques, seeing that my attacks weren’t a threat.

And that was the only way I thought I could win.

Once, twice, three times, four times…

The number of times I struck his chest plate increased, and when it reached double digits,

Whoosh!

A brilliant light gathered on the blade and spread out.

It wasn’t just a flash; it was a violent, electric glow.

"What is this…!"

The Black Knight seemed to sense the danger and tried to step back, but…

「Thunder Sword」

「When hitting an enemy with this weapon, there is a 10% chance to apply the ‘Electric Shock’ effect.」

It was too late for him to step back.

Though the effect didn’t activate as often as I’d hoped, I was confident when I saw the thunder spreading through the black armor.

Boom!

I was certain I would win this fight.

***

"Kk, kkheee…!"

I clicked my tongue, looking at the Black Knight, who was convulsing intermittently.

The electric shock worked well, suggesting he wasn’t from a different race.

‘If he had resistance to electric shock, it would have been a problem, but fortunately, he didn’t.’

It was a risky gamble, and if it had failed, it would have been a headache.

"Tsk, I almost died for real."

Even with a 10% chance, the ‘Electric Shock’ effect only activated at the last moment.

‘I’ve never been particularly lucky, but this is a bit much.’

Or maybe 10% wasn’t a significant probability to begin with.

Considering it didn’t activate easily when I used it on Crazy Wolf, that seemed like a plausible explanation.

"Damn… Just a barbarian…"

The Black Knight’s voice reached my ears as he lay on the ground, trying to move his stiff body.

‘If I had a skill like ‘Combat Continuation,’ I wouldn’t have been so incapacitated.’

The only truly threatening skill was the one I saw with the Eye of Truth.

Otherwise, he wasn’t as strong as I thought.

‘If his ability to mumble about stat limits is true, his skills might have been limited too.’

Whatever the case, it was meaningless to speculate now.

I had defeated the Black Knight, and he had lost, not me.

"Just a 5th floor challenger… How can you have so many skills…!"

He seemed to be pointing out that my status window was reset on the 1st floor.

That was up to me, and it wasn’t an absolute standard.

"Originally, I should have won…! Why you, a barbarian…!"

"Who knows. Maybe you were just weak. Relying only on Aura was foolish."

"Unbelievable… How can a mere 5th floor challenger…!"

"Enough. Let’s end this now."

My body was tingling from the close-range Thunder Sword attack, but I could still move.

‘No need to prolong this.’

I decided to end it as quickly as possible.

I didn’t want to give him a chance to use other skills or for the electric shock to wear off.

‘Better to finish him off cleanly than risk anything else.’

I no longer felt any hesitation about killing.

I held my sword in reverse and prepared to stab it into the knight’s face.

"Wait, I can answer your questions…"

"I don’t need to, and I don’t want to know."

I thrust my sword into the gap in his helmet without hesitation.

It was a swift and clean finish.

Thud.

After a single shake, his movements stopped.

I was becoming desensitized to killing, but it wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.

「Congratulations, you have cleared the 5th floor of the Trial Tower.」

The system message confirmed his death.

Additionally,

Swoosh.

The Black Knight’s body turned to dust and scattered, confirming his death and that he could no longer threaten me.

Feeling a sense of relief, I realized the Necromancy Mark didn’t remain, but I wasn’t disappointed.

I was satisfied just to have survived the fight.

"Phew, that was close."

If I hadn’t had the Thunder Sword…

I wouldn’t have been able to take his life so easily.

I would have used all my tricks, rolled on the ground, and wasted more time.

I might have suffered some injuries in the process.

It was fortunate that I had high stats and many skills.

"…"

However, the unease didn’t completely disappear.

Concepts like other dimensions and layer invasions floated in my mind.

These were issues I hadn’t considered, making the situation feel strange.

But I chuckled and shook my head.

"Well, if the Trial Tower were ordinary, that would be strange."

Perhaps it was arrogant to judge the tower by my subjective standards.

‘Maybe I was too complacent.’

It was risky, but I learned something.

Anything could happen in the tower, and my life was always in danger.

‘I thought I wasn’t being complacent, but I need to be more careful.’

That was the lesson, and I had a new task.

‘…When I reach the 8th floor, I’ll have questions to ask.’

I needed to understand what other dimensions and layer invasions were.

I couldn’t leave these concepts unknown, so I had to investigate.

However, the tower was a world of unknowns, and the only way to resolve doubts was through ‘Question Points.’

It wasn’t the right time to resolve my curiosity.

I could wait and observe the situation before making a decision.

‘I’ll save my questions until I reach the 8th floor and ask only the most important ones.’

As I made this decision, I noticed something odd.

"…?"

The messages about rewards, which should have appeared, were missing.

"What is this?"

This had never happened before, and my expression twisted.

「The difficulty and reward levels do not match.」

「The reward content will be modified.」

"What is this…?"

After all the effort, they were now modifying the reward.

It was natural for dissatisfaction to rise.

If the modified reward was worse than before, it would be the worst possible outcome.

「The reward modification is complete.」

「Rewards will be distributed sequentially.」

I wished they would just give me what they promised…

「As a breakthrough reward, the skill ‘Triple Cut 三絶 (A-)’ has been created.」

「As a breakthrough reward, you have obtained ‘7,500 points.’」

「As an additional breakthrough reward, you have obtained ‘3,500 points.’」

「Please move to the waiting room.」

Before I could think further, I froze at the messages.

"Uh…"

The reward changed from a C- item to an A- skill.

The latter was clearly better.

"…"

Seeing the A- skill and over 10,000 points, my dissatisfaction melted away.

"…Yeah, this is what the Trial Tower should be."

I smiled wryly, feeling satisfied instead of dissatisfied.