Ch-97
—
**Crrrack!**
**Thud!**
《You have destroyed ‘Cursed Celestial Stone (20)’.》
《Your Sword Mastery Level has reached 27.》
《All Constellations of People’s Hall are shocked for… several reasons.》
《Every newly ascended Constellation in People’s Hall proposes Apostle Contracts with increased terms.》
《You reject ‘Hidden Quest Reward (3)’.》
《You challenge an even higher mastery level!》
《Destroy ‘Cursed Celestial Stone (21)’.》
After destroying twenty Celestial Stones, my Sword Mastery Level had reached 27 before I even realized it.
Mastery levels skyrocketed in required experience at certain thresholds—so the higher you went, the slower it climbed.
“Twenty-seven…!”
I let out a short cheer.
Considering my first goal had originally been just Level 23, the number 27 was already absurd.
I’d long surpassed the level one was normally expected to reach on the Mountain of the Trainee.
But there were still plenty of cursed Celestial Stones left.
*Why do they keep trying to make contracts with me?*
At some point, the newly risen Constellations had begun offering Apostle Contracts.
The terms were laughably minor—just a few “Fragments of Golden Scale” and one “usable skill”—so I ignored them.
But they kept raising the terms, insisting I sign.
Not that anything they offered was particularly tempting.
*One mythical skill plus around 100 hours’ worth of Golden Scale Fragments… in exchange for 10% of my future income?*
A normal player would’ve had their eyes pop out.
But not me.
The fragments I had earned so far already surpassed a thousand hours by a ridiculous margin.
If I added my expected future income, the deal would be a pure loss.
There was no reason to accept a losing contract.
*These new Constellations are using a completely different method. They’re probably proposing this to other players too.*
They were basically investing.
If this kind of contract spread, factions based on Constellations might even emerge.
Still, I wasn’t interested.
If it were the Constellation of Adventure or the Constellation of Fortune offering, I might’ve given it a minute’s respectful consideration…
But in the end?
*To me, they’re just walking reward-upgrade shuttles.*
Either way, their attention benefited me.
From experience, I had come to understand—at least vaguely—how Constellation reward mechanisms worked.
Once they started watching you, they were obligated to upgrade their rewards whenever you surpassed certain thresholds.
And now, every last Constellation of People’s Hall had their eyes on me.
Which meant that no matter how much they disliked it, they would be compelled to upgrade rewards according to my achievements.
“Break them all, caw! Leave not a single one, caw!”
*
*
*Thud—.*
Raktusha climbed to the summit and threw down the unconscious spearman at his feet.
Around him, over a hundred Trainees stood in tense silence.
“That spearman was quite something. Even if I adjusted my ability to match his, I didn’t expect him to leave a mark on my cheek.”
Raktusha touched the small wound on his cheek.
The spearman’s *Rampage* had been impressive.
If his level had been just a bit higher, he would’ve been even more entertaining.
So he had spared him.
After all, he had given him “fun.”
“Swordmaster Raktusha! You cannot go any higher!”
The eldest Trainee stepped forward and pointed his weapon at him.
Raktusha laughed.
“And if I still intend to go up? Will you stop me?”
“Of course!”
“Then try.”
“Form the 108 Celestial Spirit Formation!”
The 108 Celestial Spirit Formation.
The most advanced combined formation the Trainees of the Mountain learned.
To become the master of this mountain, one first had to endure the 108 Celestial Spirit Formation for at least thirty seconds.
Standing within its core meant enduring pressure beyond anything of this world; even standing still became nearly impossible.
Even Transcendents could not handle all of them at once inside the formation.
But Raktusha merely shrugged while standing at its very center.
“I hope you’re more entertaining than that spearman.”
*
*
All 108 Trainees lay sprawled across the ground.
“A… monster…”
The Trainees looked at Raktusha in horror.
Not only had he endured the center of the 108 Celestial Spirit Formation alone, he had defeated every Trainee.
None could withstand his overwhelming sword aura.
Even the formation that Transcendents dreaded had crumbled before him.
Did that mean Raktusha was a Transcendent beyond Transcendents?
“How dull.”
Raktusha walked out slowly and soon reached the summit.
A massive wall stood there.
And across its surface—countless sword marks.
“Aria, they say whoever leaves a sword mark on this wall becomes the challenger who passes the second trial, don’t they?”
“……”
Beside him, Aria silently glared.
The wall only reacted to weapon mastery level.
Only those with sufficiently high mastery could leave a sword mark.
Raktusha’s eyes gleamed with interest.
“The deepest sword mark is this one? The Sword Sage? Looks ancient.”
At the center of the wall was a deep cut.
Left by the first person who became master of this mountain—the one known as the “Sword Sage.”
A legendary figure said to have been the strongest to ever exist here.
Raktusha slowly traced the mark.
“Aria, daughter of the White King. Want to know something amusing?”
“……”
“The White King has no intention of saving you. I waited down there for quite some time, and nobody came. Not even a single agent of Cramdel.”
Raktusha had purposely climbed the mountain late.
Partly due to preparation, but mostly to capture the White King’s agents.
Yet no matter how long he waited, not a single agent appeared—not even an ant.
A pity.
He wanted to personally tear apart the famous agents.
“They must have been scared. The White King must have seen his own death.”
Raktusha laughed.
The White King had honed his danger sense to the point of practically reading the future.
So how could one catch him?
Kidnapping Aria was merely one method among countless possibilities.
Despite openly signaling that he would kidnap his daughter, he hadn’t sent a single agent.
Meaning he intended to secure his own safety even if it meant abandoning his daughter.
“The moment the White King abandoned you, your life lost all meaning.”
Whether he killed Aria or not no longer mattered.
Raktusha pondered for a moment before lifting his greatsword.
“So if my sword leaves a mark shallower than the Sword Sage’s… I’ll let you live.”
*ZIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING—!!*
Fierce sword aura erupted from his blade.
Without hesitation, Raktusha swung.
**CRAAANG!**
The wall shook violently, and beside the Sword Sage’s mark, Raktusha’s own sword mark carved itself into the stone.
Raktusha let out a satisfied laugh.
“I’m slightly deeper.”
His mark was deeper than the Sword Sage’s.
There was no mark deeper than his.
Meaning no one on this mountain was stronger.
Aria’s eyes trembled faintly.
Deeper than the Sword Sage’s…
That meant Swordmaster Raktusha’s strength was real.
Not luck, not external power—he had surpassed the Sword Sage through pure mastery.
“Daughter of the White King… prodigy among prodigies… amuse me.”
*
*
She never stood a chance from the beginning.
Raktusha stood above the sky beyond the sky.
His swordsmanship was genuine, and even when she matched their “weight class,” Aria was completely overwhelmed.
In short, she was crushed.
Raktusha toyed with Aria like a plaything.
Aria had chosen a path different from her father—not the path of a beast, but of the sword.
And she had been drunk on her own overflowing talent.
“You certainly have talent… but insufficient. You do not satisfy me.”
But none of it mattered before Raktusha.
Raktusha raised his greatsword.
Time to kill her, as promised.
“Hm?”
Just as he was about to sever Aria’s life thread—
Raktusha tilted his head.
**Ruuumble!**
**Rrrrrrrumble!**
The mountain began shaking violently.
The tremors intensified rapidly.
**KWA-RRRRR!!**
**BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!**
A full-blown earthquake erupted, splitting the mountain apart.
And from the widening fissure, something massive began to emerge.
Huge. Overwhelming.
Raktusha frowned.
“…What is that.”
*
*
《You have destroyed ‘Cursed Celestial Stone (100)’.》
《The ‘Temple Seal’ is beginning to break.》
《‘One of the Four Calamities is awakening!》
“……?”
The Four Calamities?
…What?
This message appeared after I destroyed the 100th cursed Celestial Stone.
The temple’s seal was breaking, and one of the Four Calamities was awakening.
*These Celestial Stones were seal-stones?*
Not a preparation for me—but a prison for the Four Calamities?
But weren’t the Four Calamities exterminated ages ago?
*This temple isn’t a prison… but a place created for resurrection.*
All those statues of Baal.
They weren’t built to *contain* something evil, but to *revere* it.
Meaning a cult that worshiped the Four Calamities had built this temple to resurrect them.
Or maybe Baal himself had built it.
Either way, this was completely unexpected.
《Seal release is incomplete.》
《Seal release is incomplete.》
《Seal release is incomplete.》
The messages kept appearing.
I had destroyed 100 stones, but around 20 still remained inside the temple.
*If I destroy the remaining stones… will it resurrect completely?*
A normal person would stop here.
The resurrection of a Four Calamity?
Even if half the old legends were true, it would be a catastrophe.
And I wouldn’t be able to control it. Bringing it back in an incomplete state was probably the lesser disaster.
*But I need mastery levels…*
My Sword Mastery level was the problem.
Destroying the remaining 20 stones would likely push me another tier higher.
And there was no guarantee that breaking the remaining stones would complete the resurrection.
*Destroying the remaining stones might actually be better.*
Each Celestial Stone contained a colossal amount of mastery experience—far too much to be just a “bait.”
Such an absurd amount suggested it was meant for the resurrected Calamity to use.
*Besides me, no one in this world could possibly absorb all of that mastery experience.*
Even if someone managed to shatter the stones, they’d hit a ceiling eventually.
How many classes even had a mastery cap of 30?
I thought further.
If the extra experience was transferred to the resurrecting Calamity…
If the Celestial Stones were both bait *and* resurrection fuel—
*The remaining cursed Celestial Stones are cracking. The experience is flowing toward the Calamity.*
Just as I suspected, the remaining twenty stones were beginning to change.
Their surfaces peeled away, cracked, and the mastery experience trapped inside began streaming toward the awakening Fiend.
**Rumble! Rrrrumble!**
The temple shook.
It was collapsing.
Time was running out.
I had to decide.
Destroy them… or leave them.
My mind spun rapidly.
*
*
The nine-tailed fox Blackflame had sent over a hundred people into the Mountain of the Trainee.
Among them, she was directly controlling seven.
Her nine fox tails gave her the ability to directly manipulate up to nine individuals.
But no matter what she tried, she simply could not ascend the mountain.
*Damn that Rakutsha! He climbed up alone?*
It was because Swordmaster Rakutsha had begun conquering the mountain by himself.
The monster battalion following him was only blocking others from climbing or escaping the mountain.
So Blackflame was stuck—unable to do this or that.
*At this rate, I won’t be able to find the White King’s daughter or the Phantom!*
Her plan had been: when Rakutsha launched a full assault on the mountain with his monster battalion, she would exploit the chaos, kidnap the White King’s daughter, and test the one suspected of being the Phantom.
But like this, even climbing the mountain was impossible.
She had bragged boldly to master—if she failed now, she would have no face left to show.
Blackflame bit her nails in frustration.
**Kuuung!**
**Kuu-ruu-rurung!**
It was then.
The mountain began to shake violently—so violently it felt like the mountain itself was splitting apart.
“W-what is this?!”
“Why is the mountain—?!”
Those who had entered the Mountain of the Trainee panicked, looking around.
It was far too powerful to be dismissed as a simple earthquake.
“That… that’s…!”
“Ghk! Wh-what *is* that?!”
Soon, people pointed toward the summit of the mountain, their faces pale with shock.
Blackflame turned the eyes of the bodies she was controlling toward the peak as well.
“…What… is that…?”
And Blackflame herself could only utter the same words, unable to believe what she saw.
It was only natural.
A monstrously enormous ancient beast—viciously grotesque.
Even after encountering countless monsters, Blackflame had never seen a species like this.
Much less had she ever seen a creature exuding such a dreadful, ominous aura.
A colossal monster with the face of a black goat, the torso of a beast, and three tails tore open the mountain and emerged!
《Somewhere, the Fourth Fiend ‘Baal’ is being resurrected.》
《The Fourth Fiend ‘Baal’ has begun corroding the surrounding space.》
《Stop the Fourth Fiend ‘Baal’. If left unchecked, every nearby city will be invaded and devastated.》
—
