Red flashes erupted in succession across the front.

Kiiiiiiiiing—!

They were all beams of magical light spewed from the maws of the Worst.

Each blast was powerful enough to gouge out the earth entirely.

Han Yuseong and Ban Iner.

The two exchanged plans with only their eyes.

The one standing still in the center behind the strange, opaque barrier was excluded for now.

They would each take on two of the four that could be dealt with immediately.

Tung!

Their forms vanished at the same time.

Four beams of magic tore through the air and pierced the empty ground.

Kwaaaang!

Explosions erupted, smoke billowing thickly.

From within that smoke, the battle began.

Kagagak!

Han Yuseong blocked the dual scythe-like arms of two Worst with a tilted sword.

A flurry of attacks followed.

Sparks flashed and vanished over and over amidst the clashing steel from all directions.

Kagagagagang!

The exchanges surpassed fifty moves, and were now approaching a hundred.

Han Yuseong altered his footwork with subtle variation.

To the Worst, Han Yuseong’s movement appeared ghostlike, illusory.

Chwaaak!

His blade slashed horizontally across the neck of one Worst, tearing off its right arm.

He immediately turned and lunged at the other.

The Dragonblood Serum, the Breath of Extremity.

Those two things pushed Han Yuseong beyond his limits.

Whatever kind of Domain these things possessed, he would kill them before they could activate it.

His actions followed his thoughts.

Dragonslayer Swordsmanship, Fifth Rank: Dragon’s Erosion.

A whirlwind of swordlight surged forth.

The bodies of the two Worst split clean in half.

The cleaved corpses hit the ground with pristine cross-sections.

Ban Iner was moving just as swiftly as Han Yuseong.

Ban Iner, too, had taken the Breath of Extremity.

The very same one given by Han Yuseong.

Han had also offered to give her the Dragonblood Serum, or something similar, but she refused.

Her body required meticulous internal tuning for such things.

Ban Iner raised her index finger, now brimming with magical power, and pressed it to her temple.

Bloodstream acceleration.

CardioFury.

Stage 2 of 3, activated.

It was the secret ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) technique of her family, the very one that had allowed her to reach the 13th floor of Pandemonium.

Blood surged like a torrent, and her combat decisions and reflexes gradually surpassed the human norm in sync with that flow.

Chaaak!

A blue sword fell like a lightning strike.

The thunderous blade cleaved the enemies.

Two Worst were scorched black, their bodies consumed by the blow.

Ban severed their necks cleanly to confirm the kills.

The two of them simultaneously rushed at the final Worst — the massive one in the center.

They had the same idea.

‘Push it to the brink of death.’

‘Then pierce the divine stone into the root behind it to end this.’

Han Yuseong gave a sharp nod, and Ban returned it with a slight tilt of her head.

Their sword paths drew twin full moons from either side.

Jjeoooong!

But the blades didn’t land.

As if blocked by an invisible wall, the attack was stopped cold.

“......!”

Both of their eyes widened.

Ban spoke tersely.

“Behind us.”

Han Yuseong realized the intense murderous intent closing in on him.

One had clearly had its head blown off.

Another, its heart pierced.

Yet they had recovered completely.

Han Yuseong’s thoughts spun.

At the feet of the resurrected ones, a crimson light shimmered.

And from the body of the central Worst, a red current surged.

A Domain.

‘That thing’s Domain seems to restore the bodies of the other Worst.’

But there was another problem.

The wall.

Whether it was created by the central Worst or something else entirely, he couldn’t be sure.

But it had blocked an attack imbued with the full force of both him and Ban with ease.

Han Yuseong understood.

Where they were now.

It was the perfect setup to die.

Even if they pushed an enemy to the brink, it would recover within thirty seconds.

And a perfect defensive barrier kept them from approaching the source of the resurrection.

A setup that forced them to fight until death inside a cage.

“Han Yuseong.”

“Yeah.”

The fact that Ban Iner was beside him kept his mind sharp.

Han Yuseong was sure that if she weren’t there, he would’ve panicked by now.

Kagagak!

The roar of explosions tore through the air, and the two warriors moved in unison to drive back the resurrected Worst.

Kwajijik!

Ban Iner’s blade line descended like lightning.

Kereeaaagh!

The Worst whose skull was crushed beneath her heel let out a scream.

Even then, Ban spoke calmly.

“I can use my Domain to pull the one in the center out.”

“Your Domain—what exactly is it?”

Chwaaaak!

“It forcibly creates a one-on-one scenario. If I bind that thing, its regeneration will stop. Maintaining that level of recovery must take immense concentration.”

“Do you have any certainty you’ll make it out?”

“Certainty? That’s a luxury in this situation.”

Ban spoke without hesitation.

“I’ll buy you time. When I do, take the divine stone and end that root. This plan is only possible because it’s the two of us. If I were alone... I’d already be dead.”

To that, Han Yuseong gave no verbal reply.

He simply met her gaze and nodded slightly.

Kwaang! Kwaaaang!

They each downed the two Worst before them again.

Then Ban Iner instantly reached the front of the central Worst.

A blue current surged from beneath her feet.

A Domain.

—Final Battle.

The swirl of blue magical energy exploded from beneath her.

Ssssss!

A large dome of blue light forcibly enveloped the massive Worst.

Anyone trapped within the Domain initiated by Ban Iner was forced into one-on-one combat with her.

It was designed to ensure that at least one enemy could be definitively eliminated in uncertain situations.

There was one condition Ban Iner had not shared with Han Yuseong.

Even as the caster, she could not release the Domain for two minutes.

That was a restriction set during the original design of the Domain, to enforce the absolute one-on-one scenario.

Ban Iner believed in Han Yuseong.

And with that belief, she staked her life.

‘Two minutes.’

She would hold out.

She believed Han Yuseong would pierce the divine stone into the root within that time.

Karraaaagh!

A shrill, jagged scream rang out from the mouth of the Worst.

This one was clearly a higher class of monster—close to the Sixth Rank threshold in raw power, far above the others.

Ban felt it immediately with her sharpened senses.

Blue swordlight surged along her blade.

***

Han Yuseong stared at the dome-like barrier with its opaque surface.

The fact that the four disabled Worst weren’t regenerating was proof Ban was doing her job.

‘The wall is still there.’

Indeed, the wall remained.

If he couldn’t get through it, he couldn’t even reach the root.

Gripping his sword, Han Yuseong poured his radiant swordlight fully into Mundum Exstinguit and slammed it into the wall.

Jjeooooong!

A single strike.

The wall didn’t crack.

His brow furrowed deeply.

A way.

He needed to come up with a way—fast.

Right now, Ban Iner was essentially the bait.

‘Ban is trusting me.’

They’d repeatedly saved each other’s lives.

In the end, they’d both survived long enough to paralyze five roots.

Han Yuseong had no intention of breaking that streak now.

His thoughts accelerated.

‘The divine stone.’

Han Yuseong pulled out the divine stone, Sikerlapis, from his holder.

He tossed it lightly at the wall.

Tick!

A small spark flared.

A barely visible crack formed in the wall.

‘It works.’

Proof that the divine stone, the one capable of paralyzing the root, could also destroy this wall.

‘Come to think of it, it makes perfect sense.’

The root was essentially the origin of Dranas.

A stone that neutralizes that core should certainly affect this kind of barrier.

But this wasn’t a wall that would fall with just a few taps.

He needed one clean strike.

A throw filled with everything he had.

He wrapped himself in body-hardening aura.

Then layered white mana over his right arm and shoulder once more.

Han Yuseong spread his legs slightly, like a pitcher on the mound, gripping the divine stone in his right hand.

His shoulder dipped, waist tensed.

He inhaled.

He had to succeed.

Even if his body shattered.

He slowly raised his left leg.

‘Strike zone.’

Dead center.

Right in the core of the root.

That was the strike zone.

He had to pierce a needle-thin opening.

Then he stepped forward with his left leg and threw his body forward.

To deliver explosive rotational power.

His heart thundered.

—!

The stone flew.

A faintly curving arc in the air.

Kwaaaang!

The wall shattered.

Shards of light poured down.

The divine stone embedded in the core of the root spun in place.

Then, the pulsing of the root stopped completely.

The shallow-breathing Worst still lying on the ground went fully still.

Jjeooooong!

The dome-shaped Domain—Final Battle—shattered, scattering shards of blue crystal.

Kuuuuuuung!

The massive Worst inside, staggering, crashed headfirst into the ground.

[Your level has increased!]

[Lv.50 → 52]

Level up or not.

Han Yuseong felt exhausted.

His physical fatigue had been healed, but the mental wear remained.

He collapsed to the ground.

“Yo, I knew you’d come through.”

A soft voice.

It was Ban’s.

She tossed her blood-soaked sword aside and sat next to Han Yuseong, leaning into him.

Her hand rested on his shoulder.

“Thought I was really gonna die there. That bastard was about to swing wide, and then just froze. So I drove it into his heart right then.”

Han Yuseong chuckled at her words.

Ban Iner sat beside him and laughed for a long while too.

***

Half a day had passed since they successfully took down the sixth root and returned to the assembly hall.

The sun was setting.

“......”

Ban Iner stared into the empty air where something had appeared and vanished.

‘I always wondered why my memories felt fragmented.’

Her brow furrowed.

‘Why did another Pandemonium climber suddenly show up—when I never even considered the possibility that anyone else existed here?’

She ran her fingers across the arrowhead she held.

‘I thought I’d finally found someone I truly liked.’

Ban Iner’s blue eyes turned cold.