Ch-268. **I Alone Level Up**
—
Thirty minutes remained.
I needed to allocate my stats and prepare for what was coming next.
I quickly checked my **Status Window**.
“`
<Stats>
Class: None
Strength: 40 (10 + 30)
Agility: 10
Stamina: 10
Intelligence: 10
Mana: 10
Remaining Stat Points: 300
“`
The window that had been floating before my eyes ever since I entered the 11th floor.
The contents themselves were extremely simple.
At level 1, I could freely invest the remaining 300 points however I wished.
*The effects of the Primordial Armor and the Celestial Whale Talisman remain intact.*
In other words, everything except **pure stats** was unchanged.
Equipment, tools, talismans—even classes and skills.
However, I was currently in a state with **no class**.
The reason was simple.
“`
《‘Great Legacy’ has synthesized the hidden class ‘Destroyer’.》
《Would you like to inherit the hidden class ‘Destroyer’?》
《‘Great Legacy’ has synthesized the hidden class ‘Warlock’.》
《Would you like to inherit the hidden class ‘Warlock’?》
《‘Great Legacy’ has synthesized the hidden class ‘Heavenly Demon’.》
《Would you like to inherit the hidden class ‘Heavenly Demon’?》
“`
Hidden-class synthesis through **Great Legacy**!
One of the gifts the Angel of Blessing, Gabriel, had given me after my overwhelming victory on the Island of the Gods.
It synthesized hidden classes related to *me*.
When I first left the Island of the Gods, it had created *Destroyer* and *Warlock*.
This time, after mastering the Absorbing Essence Art and completing the Heavenly Demon Divine Art, it had even synthesized *Heavenly Demon* as a class.
This was nothing short of absurd—a true **miracle**.
It meant that depending on what I did and what I gained, I could obtain *every* related hidden class.
*To obtain the Heavenly Demon hidden class normally, I would have to go to the Heavenly Demon Divine Sect, defeat the Heavenly Demon, receive recognition from ten thousand followers, and ascend the throne.*
Only then would I be able to inherit the *Heavenly Demon* class.
But **Great Legacy** ignored even those predetermined processes.
An ability that simply *creates* a legacy itself.
Calling it a miracle—or outright cheating—wouldn’t be strange.
If I wished, I could choose any one of those three classes at any time.
“…Heavenly Demon.”
The name that caught my eye the most was, unsurprisingly, *Heavenly Demon*.
It wasn’t bad.
Becoming a Heavenly Demon while wielding the Heavenly Demon Divine Art would grant overwhelming martial might.
Hadn’t I already seen with my own eyes just how terrifying a half-finished Heavenly Demon—one who hadn’t even learned the Absorbing Essence Art—could be?
I could become the **Primordial Heavenly Demon**, the Evil God itself.
However—
*It doesn’t sit well with me.*
Perhaps it was because I’d seen the Evil God’s desperate cries, telling me to abandon humanity.
The name *Heavenly Demon* didn’t quite appeal to me.
More than anything—
*Even a complete Evil God ended up sealed in the Heavenly Demon Blade.*
And even that perfected Evil God was sealed.
By nothing more than a single sword.
*Heavenly Demon* is the name of a **loser**.
I intended to move forward, victorious at every step.
What I wanted was a legacy so absolute that no one could even dare seal it.
An overwhelming story that would shake the world and leave it trembling!
*I desire it—the inheritance of a legacy that surpasses everything.*
My true wish toward **Great Legacy** was a single thing.
A succession that surpassed Randolph’s *Star Successor* and *Supreme Sword Saint*.
Honestly, I couldn’t say with confidence that *Heavenly Demon* surpassed those two.
…Assuming such a thing even existed.
So for now, I left the Heavenly Demon hidden class as a last resort.
Right now, stat allocation came first.
*The maximum pure stat I can allocate is… 100.*
To fully utilize the Celestial Whale Talisman, **Strength** had to take priority.
“`
《‘Strength’ has reached the maximum pure stat value of 100.
No more points can be allocated.》
《Please increase another stat.》
“`
I kept investing in Strength until it stopped—exactly 90 points spent.
*Pure Strength 100. Remaining points: 210.*
I rubbed my chin.
Distributing the remaining points evenly was the wisest choice.
There was no such thing as an unimportant stat.
Even *Intelligence*, which everyone dismissed as trivial, played a crucial role.
Skill proficiency, mental resistance, skill accuracy, success rate, duration—
And even hidden options like affinity.
All of these were tied to **Intelligence**.
*Mental resistance from Intelligence is covered by the Iron-Blooded Monarch’s Heart, so I don’t need it for now.*
I wasn’t planning any proficiency grinding.
There was no need to raise affinity.
None of my skills were projectile-based.
So Intelligence could be excluded from combat—*for now*.
That left Agility, Stamina, and Mana.
How much to invest in those three—
*Done.*
I finished distributing everything and smiled.
“`
<Stats>
Class: None
Strength: 130 (100 + 30)
Agility: 100
Stamina: 10
Intelligence: 40
Mana: 100
Remaining Stat Points: 0
“`
…This was more than enough.
Some might question it.
Why raise Intelligence instead of Stamina?
*The duration of ‘Heavenly Demon Descent’ is linked to Intelligence.*
The higher the Intelligence, the longer a skill lasts.
With low Intelligence, skills could fail—or fail to activate entirely.
Because this isn’t explicitly stated in skill descriptions, many people never realize it.
*Randolph had all stats increase by 12 evenly, so there was no need to invest further.*
When leveling up, it’s rare for all stats to rise evenly.
That’s why many overlook the need to raise Intelligence.
Even equipment that boosts Intelligence is rare—people usually seek Strength, Stamina, or Mana instead.
Unaware that a single **skill failure** can lead straight to death.
Investing at least some points into it is wise.
That left Stamina.
A mere 10—level 1 territory.
Stamina is defense.
One hit would be a critical blow.
*Then I just won’t get hit.*
Simple.
They knew far less about stats than I did.
I didn’t know why the Tower of the War God had preserved the Player system intact—but thanks to that, I had the advantage from the start.
Still, I wasn’t done yet.
*I’ll secure absolute superiority.*
I hadn’t even used everything I had yet.
Even excluding hidden classes, I still had the **privileges** tied to Randolph.
“`
《Welcome to the ‘Golden Scale Shop’.》
《Remaining Golden Scale usage time: 13,440h 17m》
《You possess 10 ‘Complete Golden Scales’.》
《Using a ‘Complete Golden Scale’ allows you to purchase one shop item regardless of time cost.》
《Refreshing the shop list consumes 10h.》
《As Hall of Fame Rank 1, you may view 10 shop lists.》
“`
It was ridiculous.
…Was there really a more perfect way to secure dominance than this?
I had over **13,000 hours’ worth** of Broken Golden Scale fragments left.
And with Complete Golden Scales alone, I could buy *everything* on the list.
Not only that—
“`
《Refreshing shop list.》
《Refreshing shop list.》
《Refreshing shop list.》
《Refreshing shop list.》
“`
…I refreshed until something useful appeared.
Like rolling for a five-star in a mobile gacha game.
It didn’t matter.
Each refresh cost only 10 hours.
I had enough to spare.
By simple calculation, I could refresh **1,344 times**.
While others clutched ten thousand won and rolled with their lives on the line, I lounged with a hundred million, tapping the screen lazily.
I don’t envy a millionaire.
Maybe a millionaire would envy me now.
Broken Golden Scale fragments were treasures beyond monetary value.
And the Golden Scale Shop sold all kinds of rare items.
It didn’t sell Unique-grade items outright—
But it sold **materials** that could become Unique-grade.
I suspected this shop was how the Empire had obtained Wilhelm’s holy swords, *Path of Light* and *Sacred Path*.
Most materials that appeared were relics of *dead characters*.
Characters who had died and vanished.
Their countless pieces of equipment—
At the center of it all stood **Wilhelm**.
*Wilhelm possessed eight Unique-grade items.*
When he died, all those materials were transferred to the Golden Scale Shop.
Only two had appeared in the world so far.
Even if the rest were scattered—
*I can make it.*
…One, maybe two.
If I kept refreshing, I could gather everything.
And even if luck failed me, it didn’t matter.
I planned to buy usable equipment and talismans along the way anyway.
I was honestly excited to see how far I could go.
—
“`
《Time remaining until ‘Equal Struggle’ begins: 4 minutes 29 seconds.》
“`
The countdown ticked away second by second.
Less than five minutes remained.
But my preparations were complete.
I had completely cleared out the Golden Scale Shop.
And finally—
I finished everything.
*This feels a little unfair.*
I shrugged.
In the end, nothing about this was equal.
I alone had a different standard.
A different level.
But using everything available to you isn’t cheating, is it?
I slowly looked around.
Things had changed drastically from the beginning.
*Everyone’s grouped up.*
The alliances were complete.
Groups ranged from a minimum of five to a maximum of a hundred.
Almost no one was alone.
Those who were could only be called *stragglers*.
People clustered around the powerful and influential.
With one exception.
*A survivor of Imperial Darkan, huh.*
Darkan territory—where the Empire’s special auction had once been held.
Darkan had fallen.
They’d all died after failing to hunt the Calamity God Baal.
And yet, there was a survivor.
A blindfolded boy bearing Darkan’s crest.
Level 12—one of the strongest.
He was nothing like the other stragglers.
Yet no one approached him.
“Shouldn’t all Imperial citizens gather under the shadow of Dersian?”
“Darkan has fallen—nothing more to see. Hahaha!”
The birthplace of Isabella.
Imperial participants flocked to the Dersian noble.
Darkan had once been a promising knightly house—but it had fallen.
Naturally, they gravitated toward Dersian.
“Hey.”
That was when—
A group approached *me*, whom no one else would.
“…Who was it again?”
“Don’t you want to live?”
“Who are you?”
“Pretending not to know me? Impossible. You’re from the Holy City Adrium and don’t recognize me?”
“Everyone from Adrium has to know you? Are you the Pope, by any chance?”
“…I am Aaron. Son of Cardinal Johansson.”
Ah.
I’d heard that the Cardinal’s son was participating.
So this was him.
A man accompanied by thirty-odd devotees from Adrium.
“If you stay like this, you’ll be the first to die. Guaranteed.”
“Perhaps.”
“If you want to live, hand over your interpretation of the *Life-and-Death Scripture*. Then I’ll take you into my group.”
I was mildly surprised.
He was sharper than I expected.
Trying to take the interpretation from me after seeing Raiga’s reaction—
He was confident, even willing to take the risk.
*There’s a reason for that confidence.*
Aaron was level 10.
And his group, overall, had high levels.
Their equipment was dazzling beyond belief.
At minimum, Myth-grade treasures.
True *gear advantage*.
*Most of them are holy knights sent by the Cardinal.*
It spoke volumes about how much the man loved his son.
With a lineup like this, even with fewer numbers, they wouldn’t be eliminated on the 11th floor.
Then—
Aaron spread his legs wide.
“Hand over the interpretation and crawl beneath me. That’s the only way you’ll live.”
“……”
“If you refuse, I’ll kill you first. More brutally, more cruelly than you can imagine. I’ll make you beg for death.”
