Chapter 75

There were no signs of anyone having opened it.

The first challenger.

Although he was the eighth to reach the underground labyrinth, Gracia's challenge to the Sword Saint Ralil was the fastest.

His heart began to beat a little faster.

‘I couldn’t obtain the Dragon’s Soul from the Labyrinth Merchant, but I will definitely conquer Ralil.’

Rumors are indeed unreliable.

He searched the Labyrinth Merchant in the underground labyrinth thoroughly, but there was no Dragon’s Soul.

However, he was determined to conquer Ralil.

Gracia touched the door.

Instantly.

《Entering the room of ‘Sword Saint Ralil’.》

《Please enter the name of the challenger.》

《The name of the challenger will be announced to all entrants.》

Name. A name.

Without hesitation, Gracia decided on the name to enter.

*

The player chat became noisy again.

It was due to the message that appeared before those who had entered.

- Sword Saint vs. Sword Saint? What is this?

- Isn’t Gracia already challenging?

- My heart swells with pride.

- Who will win?

- Sword Saint Ralil is an old hero, and Gracia is the current hero.

- Gracia will win.

People predicted Gracia's victory.

Because Gracia had never failed a challenge.

He was a perfectionist. He wouldn’t challenge unless he was sure of victory.

But the fact that he challenged meant he was confident he would win.

- Ah, in the end, will the labyrinth fall into the hands of the Seven Heroes?

- At least it’s fortunate if it’s Gracia.

- Hahaha, don’t you know the saying that a crayfish favors the crab? You’re seeing the world too easily.

- Even if Gracia has the cleanest image, he still has his own biases.

- From the silence so far, it seems Randolph isn’t challenging this time.

- If he had challenged, someone would have discovered and posted about it.

- How many cities does Gracia own if the labyrinth falls?

- Officially, four? If you combine all the Seven Heroes, they could found a kingdom, right? Haha.

- Is this really about building a nation?

- Ha, sure. You guys can have it all!

In Pangea, there was still no kingdom composed solely of players.

Each had controlled a few cities, but to found a kingdom, ten cities were needed, and only one king could exist.

If this abyssal labyrinth fell to Gricia, officially, he would control four cities.

Combined with the other heroes, it would be enough to found a kingdom.

Even if not, Gracia was steadily preparing to become a king.

- Oh? Already Phase 2?

- Amazing...

- Gracia is amazing.

- At this pace, there won’t be any surprises, right?

- Wow.

*

<2,000,000>

Greed placed his hand on his waist and laughed loudly.

2 million!

Greed's value was displayed as 2 million.

It was more than eight times the 230,000 he had accumulated through gambling so far.

- Hahaha! Don’t be too disheartened. Who knows?

Who knows.

There was no surprise.

There was no way a surprise could surpass the value of 2 million.

Many had challenged, putting their own value on the line. Greed had never put himself on the line, but the opposite was abundant.

And none of them had surpassed 100,000.

But 2 million?

His victory was already certain.

With a confident air, Greed looked at the human.

It was his turn to judge the human's value.

‘100,000? No, maybe 200,000?’

Still, with this much pressure, the result might be different from previous challengers.

But probably around 200,000.

<1,000,000>

One million!

Honestly, it was surprising. A human with a value of one million!

But it couldn’t reach his own value of 2 million.

- What a pity. If you had just tried a little harder, you could have won...

At that moment.

The leading digit suddenly changed.

<2,000,000>

...the same as me?

No, this is still under evaluation.

There are too many factors to consider.

His power couldn’t evaluate everything at once.

This happens sometimes.

The number could still go down.

So it’s not final.

Final.

<4,000,000>

Why is it still going up?

<8,000,000>

...?

<16,000,000>

...Is it broken?

Why is it doubling continuously?

<32,000,000>

What is this?

It’s time to end this.

But it doesn’t end.

<64,000,000>

...Could it go higher?

*

Greed prostrated himself.

His body trembled.

He was terrified, feeling fear.

At the ‘value’ he had never seen or experienced before.

At the overwhelming presence before him!

“How do I challenge Sword Saint Ralil?”

- T, T, Tickets. You need to collect a thousand tickets.

“Tickets? The tickets that drop from event monsters?”

- Yes. But, I don’t recommend that method. You’ll end up facing the worst ‘Sword Saint Ralil,’ with all kinds of ‘intimidation.’

“Then what method do you recommend?”

- Put this ticket into the Labyrinth Merchant!

Zing!

Greed shattered his crown.

A golden ticket appeared inside.

He was supposed to put this golden ticket into the Labyrinth Merchant... in other words, the vending machine.

Greed, trembling, barely handed the ticket to the human.

He couldn’t meet his eyes.

‘How could such a value...’

It’s not wrong.

His power worked normally.

The value of the human.

It was astronomically high.

Numbers that even a god might not reach.

Just thinking about it made Greed shudder with fear.

Golden Ticket

Sword Saint Ralil.

He was a muscular old man with white hair.

Dragging a half-broken iron sword on the ground, he appeared, bound by four chains on his wrists and ankles.

As soon as he appeared, countless messages appeared before his eyes.

《All abilities are reduced by 5 due to the ‘Sword Saint’s Intimidation’ effect.》

《Vision is narrowed due to the ‘Sword Saint’s Intimidation (2)’ effect.》

《Healing is impossible due to the ‘Sword Saint’s Intimidation (3)’ effect.》

《High fever due to the ‘Sword Saint’s Intimidation (4)’ effect...》

A continuous barrage of debuffs.

Gracia smiled.

“Sword Saint Ralil. The ‘Great Sword’ of the fallen kingdom.”

The Great Sword. A term used to describe Ralil in the history of the fallen kingdom.

But the Great Sword fell. Buried alive in this abyss, along with the many knights who followed him.

“As one who carries on the lineage of the ‘Sword Saint,’ I wanted to have a conversation with you. With your sword.”

Whoosh!

A sword emitting a brilliant light appeared in the air.

A blue glow, giving the impression of something not of this world.

The Unique-grade weapon, the ‘Blue Radiance,’ the sword of Sword Saint Ralil.

As one who carries on the lineage of the Sword Saint. One of the reasons Gracia inherited the title of Sword Saint was for this Blue Radiance.

What would be his reaction?

Seeing his old sword, seeing it used by another.

Sword Saint Ralil stopped abruptly upon seeing the sword.

Did he recognize his own sword?

- You... No.

Ralil spoke.

But what is not?

His reaction was strange. Ralil’s entire body was trembling as if from a chill.

- You... No!

Pwoah!

Black flames erupted from Ralil’s body.

Like wings.

His pupils turned red.

Clearly not normal. A madman.

“Seems you’re not in a state to have a conversation.”

Tsk. Gracia clicked his tongue and opened the space of all swords.

A thousand swords appeared in the air.

Kaboom!!

They shot out like a machine gun.

Each sword, upon impact, exploded with a loud noise.

Attacks that no one could withstand.

When about 300 swords reached Ralil, Gracia raised one hand.

Snap!

The rain of swords ended.

The fog cleared, and Ralil’s body was intact.

Clank!

Instead, the chain on his left foot was broken.

‘Phase 2.’

So, there are phases up to 5?

It seems that absorbing damage to the point of breaking the chain moves to the next phase.

No matter how much damage is dealt, it progresses in stages.

This pattern is more common than expected.

“Interesting.”

Then, how far can he endure?

The thousand swords get stronger as they go.

Whether Ralil can endure his attacks until all the chains are broken.

Gracia extended his hand again.

*

- A, Are you planning to challenge Sword Saint Ralil?

Just as he was about to leave after collecting all the treasures.

Greed asked.

“I’m considering it.”

Honestly, a 1-on-1 with Sword Saint Ralil in the current situation is impossible.

Even if he could fight in a better situation by removing debuffs with the golden ticket, it would be difficult to predict victory in a normal duel.

Of course, it would be a bit easier with Greed’s help.

Being level 12 and a ruler of the abyss.

If he tried to conquer with other party members...

‘The chance of winning would be about 10%.’

That’s why he was hesitating.

Because what he obtained from Greed was not inferior to what he could obtain by conquering Ralil.

He was busy dealing with the treasures he had obtained.

It might be better to step back rather than bet on a low probability.

Then, Greed said with a serious expression.

- I have delved into this abyss and observed Sword Saint Ralil for a long time. He is so powerful that he sealed himself with four seals.

“Sealed himself? After sinking into the abyss?”

- Do you know the structure of the abyss?

“I don’t know much.”

The abyss is unknown.

The opportunities to enter the abyss were limited, and the rulers were always aggressive, so there was not enough time to explore properly.

- There are four types of rulers in the abyss. Those who have lived in the abyss from the beginning, those who have sunk into the abyss, those who have delved into the abyss, and those who are the abyss itself.

Greed was the third type.

A ruler of the Overlapping Abyss, the Lower Abyss!

- Sword Saint Ralil is ‘one who has sunk into the abyss.’ The problem is that occasionally, among those who have sunk, ‘those who become the abyss itself’ appear.

“What’s the difference?”

- If one becomes the abyss itself, they forcibly corrode one of the floating cities at that moment.

“...Terrifying.”

I have seen ‘forced corrosion’ happen only once.

A city that was fine suddenly sank into the abyss.

At first, it was thought to be a problem with the warp.

Later, it was revealed that the corrosion occurred even though the warp was still active, causing a big commotion.

It seems to be related to the birth of ‘one who is the abyss itself.’

- If all the seals are broken, Ralil will become ‘one who is the abyss itself.’ He knows this, so he sealed himself. Is it really okay?

It was impossible for Greed to worry about a human.

But the human had an ‘astronomical value.’

A being of a different level, to the point of doubting if it was even human.

If he starts