Climbing the Tower with Multidimensional Avatars - Chapter 158

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Episode 158. Galaxy Martial God Hall – School Trip (12)

“Good. The one inside isn’t Beyond Peak.”
Thanks to these fools who know how to think of their friend, I’d resigned myself to death more than once—but it looked like I’d make it out of this alive after all.
At my words, Cheon Bu-hyeon stared at me as if to ask how I could possibly know that.
“The impact force I’m sensing is exactly Peak Stage caliber.”
Then again, whoever’s inside must be both a specialist in electronic warfare and a formation master, but achieving Beyond Peak while splitting focus between martial arts and another discipline isn’t a trivial undertaking.
Cheon Ha-sung asked worriedly.
“How long are you going to keep them trapped? You said we need to retake the central control system.”
“We do need to retake it.”
Pinning them down here and letting the smoke suffocate them would’ve been perfect, but I had no idea when enemies might swarm in, so I needed to wrap this up fast.
I pulled out Zhen Swords from my inventory for the kids, tossing one to each of them, and signaled them to stand ready.
“Where did you get these from?”
“It’s a secret.”
I folded my fingers to signal the timing for opening the door, and all three of them stood prepared with blades drawn.
“Three, two, one!”
I disengaged the barrier on the door, and it exploded inward as a woman came flying out from inside.
Cheon Gong-hu, Cheon Bu-hyeon, and Cheon Ha-sung generated Blade Auras the moment the enemy emerged and attacked.
But the enemy’s reaction was just a touch slow; she managed to channel Internal Energy into her combat suit to minimize the damage.
So that’s how it is—a difference in realm means even an ambush like this gets defended against.
I concentrated the smoke from the central control room, kneading it into a thick mass and slamming it into the enemy’s head.
“Ack!”
Roach poison is fierce, but even concentrated, it didn’t carry enough toxicity to kill a Peak Stage martial artist outright.
But it was more than enough to disrupt the breathing and obscure the vision of even a Peak Stage master.
The enemy tried desperately to scatter the smoke gathering around her head like an aquarium, but the smoke I’d bound with my magic refused to disperse.
Without knowing the countermeasures, even the strongest martial artist couldn’t easily adapt to this.
As her breathing grew labored and her sight was blocked, Cheon Ha-sung thrust his blade at her heart.
But the experienced enemy sensed Cheon Ha-sung’s presence alone and parried the strike.
Cheon Bu-hyeon and Cheon Gong-hu pressed the attack as if executing a Wheel Formation.
The enemy desperately blocked their attacks and counterattacked in turn.
No matter how refined one’s Aura Sense, if your vision is shut out, unless you’re exceptionally developed, you’ll miss your mark.
But even a glancing blow from a Peak Stage master carried enough power to threaten the lives of mere First-class martial artists.
While the three of them kept the enemy pinned down in combat, I connected my mobile phone to the central control computer and began hacking directly.
“With this much done, I should be able to reclaim central control authority, right? Blue Eyes.”

-Of course.

“Shut down the defense system completely first.”
I left my mobile phone linked to the computer and rushed out of the control room, joining the fight and swinging my blade.
Clang!
I blocked what would’ve been a fatal strike straight through Cheon Ha-sung’s vital point and barked out.
“Get your head in the game!”
Blood dripped from the corner of my mouth.
Channeling Internal Energy to block the attack, my fragile body couldn’t withstand the pressure and took internal injuries.
Well, these kids were in real combat for the first time anyway, so it couldn’t be helped.
Was it easy to shift from always attacking with each other’s safety guaranteed to attacking with genuine death bearing down, aiming to end an opponent’s life?
“I—I’m sorry…!”
I drew on the power of Regeneration, using Internal Energy to mend the internal injuries as I shouted.
“Attack all at once!”
At my cry, all three of them rushed in simultaneously.
I dampened my presence as much as possible, hid my body among the three of them, let her Aura Sense slip past, and found my opening at her back.
“Guh!”
“Ugh!”
“Ow!”
The enemy hurled back the three of them with all her might, but with her vision blocked, she couldn’t pin me down.
I wrapped my blade in Blade Aura and pierced straight through her abdomen.
“Argh!”
The blade wreathed in Blade Aura sliced cleanly through her Dantian in half.
His Dantian shattered, and the meager internal energy within churned violently. Whether from the violent impact or the sword’s feeding, he coughed blood and lost consciousness.
The growth sword I’d purchased from the Golden Market drank greedily from his Dantian, gorging itself on his Internal Energy and making it its own.
Wait—is this a Demonic Blade?
Though it’s not draining his life force, so maybe it hasn’t crossed into Demonic Blade territory yet?
Ah, but the longer it stays buried in him, the more it pulls from his vitality too.
At this point, there’s no denying it—this is a Demonic Blade.
I withdrew the sword, shook the blood from it, and slid it back into its sheath before tucking it into my inventory.
Then I used cable ties to bind his arms and legs, bending them at angles he couldn’t escape.
“Pay attention. This is the orthodox method for restraining a prisoner.”
A Peak Stage martial artist could snap a thin cable tie if they had Internal Energy to burn, but without it they were stuck.
I bent his arms at an angle that made it difficult to apply force, drawing his elbows together behind his back before securing them.
If I’d had proper binding rope, I would have woven it in a figure-eight, but cable ties were all I had on hand, so this would do.
Not that I didn’t carry rope—but cable ties were tougher.
“You always carry those around?” Cheon Bu-hyeon asked.
I grinned at him.
“Grabbed them from the Control Room.”
A lie. I actually do carry them.
There’s nothing quite like cable ties for organization.
Anyone like me with a hobby involving computers or machinery keeps them in bulk—it’s just what you do.
Crunch!
“Wait—did you break his arm?” Cheon Gong-hu asked.
I checked and realized his shoulder had dislocated instead.
“No, just a dislocation. Good, actually—makes the restraints harder to slip. I’ll dislocate the other shoulder too.”
Crunch!
With both shoulders dislocated, binding him became much easier.
After meticulously securing his arms and legs and using acupuncture needles infused with Internal Energy to seal his pressure points so he couldn’t use his strength, I entered the Control Room to assess the situation.
Blue Eyes had already reclaimed most of his administrative permissions.
“Discard the existing security system. Use this security tool as a temporary replacement.”
I installed the security tool that Riven and I had created together in class.
I never thought I’d find a use for it like this.
-The tool is not authorized and shows poor compatibility with the Resort system.
“Doesn’t matter. It’s better than maintaining a security system that’s already been breached. We just need to keep from losing administrative control until the rescue team arrives.”
-Understood. Installing the tool now.
So long as no one accessed the central control computer directly, this should hold.
“All right, let’s get out of here.”
I had Cheon Ha-sung hoist the unconscious woman onto his back, and we passed through the formation.
Once everyone had escaped, I scrambled the Illusion Deception Array so no one else could enter the Control Room.
Since the formation was already compromised, it would take days to break through again.
Cheon Ha-sung, pleased with his own contributions, asked me what came next.
“So what’s the plan from here?”
Was he planning to keep following me?
“You three take her to the Spaceship Landing Site.”
“What about you?”
“I have something to deliver to Teacher Kim Do-hwa. Once I do that, I’ll meet you there.”
I spoke quickly, wanting to head off any argument about them sticking with me.
“Getting her to safety is a real priority. We need her alive if we’re going to track down who’s behind this attack. I’m trusting you three with this, so you can handle it, right?”
At my words, Cheon Ha-sung thumped his chest and nodded firmly.
“Of course!”
Cheon Bu-hyeon also assured me he wouldn’t let me down.
Then Cheon Gong-hu spoke up with a worried expression.
“Do you know where Ga-ryeong is?”
“Wasn’t she with everyone else?”
“No, she wasn’t.”
Without a word, I called up Blue Eyes on my mobile phone.
“Blue Eyes. Can you find the girl in this photo for me?”
I pulled up a club group photo saved on my phone and pointed to Cheon Ga-ryeong.
-Understood.
With his permissions restored, Blue Eyes quickly located Cheon Ga-ryeong’s position and sent me a map with her coordinates.
Cheon Ga-ryeong was hiding alone on some secluded terrace.
At least she wasn’t in any immediate danger.
“Found her. Good—you come with me.”
“Got it!”
Cheon Gong-hu and I headed up toward the resort while Cheon Bu-hyeon and Cheon Ha-sung carried off the subdued enemies and made their way out.
As we moved toward where Cheon Ga-ryeong was, Blue Eyes, the resort’s AI, spoke up.

-You don’t seem to have acquired any objects, so if it’s just information you need to pass along, wouldn’t a simple phone call work now that communications are restored?

Blue Eyes remembered what I’d told the others—that I had something to convey to Teacher Kim Do-hwa—and asked out of that recollection.
Since the CCTV served as her eyes, she’d been watching me all along.
If I hadn’t used that excuse, those idiots would’ve kept trying to follow me.
Truthfully, I’d wanted to send Cheon Gong-hu back too, but since I couldn’t stay with Cheon Ga-ryeong once I found her—I had things to do—I needed at least him there for my own peace of mind.
Cheon Ga-ryeong was only Second-class, but Cheon Gong-hu was a seasoned First-class martial artist.
“This way.”
I consulted the resort’s internal map that Blue Eyes pulled up and sprinted along the fastest route.
Looking at the CCTV feed, I could pinpoint the positions of both allies and enemies at a glance.
The moment I entered the terrace where Cheon Ga-ryeong was hiding, an Internal Energy-infused flowerpot came flying at me.
“Ugh! Wait—it’s us—!”
The one who’d hurled the flowerpot was Cheon Ga-ryeong, trembling violently as she tried to mask her presence.
The instant she saw Cheon Gong-hu and me, relief washed over her, and suddenly tears—fat, glistening tears—began to stream down her face.
“Nn… ah…”
I quickly covered Cheon Ga-ryeong’s mouth to stifle her sobs.
“Don’t cry. There are still enemies inside the resort.”
Right above us.
At my words, Cheon Ga-ryeong nodded. When I released her mouth, she began whimpering.
“I… I was so scared. The Vice Principal… the teacher…!”
It seemed she’d witnessed firsthand the enemies killing a teacher to keep the students in line.
The Vice Principal had been the first to stand up and protect the children—the first teacher to fall.
“I’m glad you’re safe.”
Cheon Gong-hu embraced Cheon Ga-ryeong and soothed her gently.
Watching her continued trembling, I physically connected Cheon Gong-hu’s mobile phone and mine to link them with Blue Eyes.
“You take Ga-ryeong and head straight to the Spaceship Landing Site. Blue Eyes will guide you—just follow her directions.”
“Ji-woo, what about you?”
“I need to help Teacher Kim Do-hwa. And it looks like So-yeon’s made herself bait, pinning down the most dangerous one. She’s in real trouble.”
The Energy Wave I sensed from above wasn’t at a level that even Beyond Peak practitioners could produce.
This had to be their commander.
So-yeon had volunteered as bait, but the enemy commander was driving her toward the rooftop—where she’d have nowhere left to run.
As I turned to leave, Cheon Ga-ryeong grabbed my arm.
“It’s… it’s dangerous.”
“I know. But I have to go. She’s my friend.”
I smiled at Cheon Gong-hu, and he flushed with embarrassment—caught in the echo of his own words.
“Then… then…!”
“Both of you—straight to the landing site.”
When I glanced at Cheon Ga-ryeong, Cheon Gong-hu hesitated before nodding.
Many of them probably would abandon the martial path after this.
Cheon Ga-ryeong might very well be among them.
The shock had been traumatic enough to warrant it.
I hoped they’d endure it, but even if they didn’t, that would be fine.
At least they wouldn’t be helplessly driven to die on a battlefield again.
I sent Cheon Gong-hu and Cheon Ga-ryeong off, then drew my full magical power to bear.
In this world, I’d wanted to remain a pure martial artist, but the Galactic Martial Arts World wouldn’t allow it.
I’d make them feel the terror of a sorcerer treading the Heterodox Path—the dread that magic users inspire in this realm.

(To be continued in the next episode)

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————