Climbing the Tower with Multidimensional Avatars - Chapter 63

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 63. The Tower – Defense (4)

“What is that thing? A red Goblin?”
I’d thought it was nothing special compared to the mana it contained, but it actually has a second phase.
Nothing ever goes smoothly.
The crimson Goblin Monster leaped high into the air, then descended toward me with its blade slashing down as if to land directly on my position.
I sensed the ominous mana and threw my body aside using lightness of step to evade.
Boom—!
The ground where I’d stood erupted with a deafening roar as if a bomb had detonated, leaving a crater in its wake.
The Goblins nearby were reduced to chunks of flesh, scattered to pieces by the explosion.
“Hmm, this one’s no pushover.”
The red Goblin’s crude blade had become chipped and cracked from that last strike.
The red Goblin irritably discarded its sword and picked up another blade rolling across the ground.
The red Goblin instinctively began channeling mana into the new blade, but the weapon trembled slightly as if it couldn’t withstand the red Goblin’s mana output.
If I’d poured that much mana into a blade, I could have easily generated a sword aura.
Through my reincarnation clones, I’d observed Siu and Cheon So-yeon wielding sword auras frequently, and the mana contained in that blade was less than what they typically used.
“Kieeeek!”
The red Goblin charged at me, slashing its blade, while I dodged as much as possible and searched for openings in its movements.
The mana infused in the red Goblin’s blade emanated a savage, sharp energy that stirred the air, transforming into a cutting wind that followed the blade’s trajectory.
The Goblins touched by this blade wind had their entire bodies lacerated as if they’d been slashed from head to toe, their skin splitting open as they bled and collapsed.
Because of the red Goblin’s blade technique, the surrounding Goblins couldn’t approach, making it actually easier to face the red Goblin than before.
“Tsk, this blade wind is annoying.”
The blade wind the red Goblin was using wasn’t a proper blade wind technique.
True blade wind could only be properly wielded by those of the first rank or higher, and it was far more restrained and controllable.
But the red Goblin’s blade wind was completely uncontrolled.
If it had been controllable, I wouldn’t have stood a chance against it.
I made every effort to avoid directly clashing with the red Goblin’s blade.
But even when I dodged the blade itself, my combat suit kept getting scraped by the blade wind generated around it.
I could block it by channeling inner energy into my combat suit, but wasting inner energy that way would leave me insufficient strength to continue fighting.
Accepting that my combat suit would become tattered again, I slipped inside the red Goblin’s guard and thrust my blade forward.
My blade’s tip sliced across the red Goblin’s shoulder.
Its skin had become far more solid and muscular than before it turned red.
“Kieeeek!”
The red Goblin expended mana to regenerate the wound, then swung its blade at me.
I blocked the red Goblin’s blade and deflected it, but the blade wind that followed lacerated my entire body.
The wounds created by the blade wind weren’t that severe.
At most, it only cut through the outer layer of skin.
But as the blade wind tore my combat suit to shreds and my skin was relentlessly slashed, my entire body burned with pain and bled profusely.
I ignored my injuries and continued targeting the Red Goblin’s neck.
Even after being slashed multiple times, the Red Goblin’s neck regenerated continuously.
I’d clearly severed its carotid artery, yet it healed instantly.
Could this bastard actually be a Troll instead of a Goblin?
It seemed I’d need to sever its entire head in one stroke to prevent regeneration, but as its magical power increased, the Red Goblin’s body grew harder toward its core, making it impossible to cleave through in a single blow.
Lost in the frenzy of dodging and swinging my blade repeatedly, I suddenly realized I felt no pain at all.
“Holy power?”
Ah! Diana had been continuously healing me with her holy power.
Trusting in Diana’s support, I moved with even greater boldness.
My entire body was slashed to ribbons by the relentless storm of blades, but the Red Goblin’s neck and body were equally torn apart by my sword.
In the midst of this brutal exchange, the Red Goblin’s magical power began to feel manageable.
It had exhausted all its vast reserves regenerating the wounds I’d inflicted.
The problem was that my own inner force was rapidly depleting as well.
Diana had opportunities between attacks to drink mana recovery potions, but I couldn’t afford a moment’s carelessness or I’d be finished, so I had no chance to drink any.
Now was the time to make my decisive move.
As I gripped my sword and swung with that thought, the Red Goblin made its own decisive move simultaneously.
The Red Goblin’s sword strike remained simple and monotonous, but the force contained within it was extraordinary.
If things continued this way, even if I blocked the blade and dodged the strike, the shockwave alone would kill me.
I could create a new body if I died, but Diana being so close troubled me.
What if it attacked Diana while I was a corpse?
Diana chose to follow me, but if I’d simply run off without a word, she wouldn’t be here.
Then I absolutely could not die.
Even if I die, I’ll take this creature down with me!
I poured all my strength into my blade.
I was willing to spend every ounce of my power in this single strike, even if it meant my death.
As long as I could strike down the Red Goblin, I would be satisfied.
I focused intently to prevent my inner force from dissipating as I swung.
A bluish magical aura visibly coalesced on my blade as it clashed with the Red Goblin’s sword.
Kwaaaang—!
The sound of air tearing apart erupted with a tremendous explosion, a noise that defied belief for mere metal striking metal.
My sword and the Red Goblin’s blade shattered into fragments that scattered like a cremation.
Metal shards embedded themselves across my body, and I felt the impact.
It hurt. It ached. I felt like I was dying.
Before such thoughts could fully form, I forced my recoiling body to the ground with my inner force and drew the jungle blade I’d obtained on the 9th Floor from my inventory, swinging it wildly.
It was a half-conscious action.
Only my obsession to kill the Red Goblin moved my tattered body.
Fear flickered in the Red Goblin’s eyes as it was pushed back by my relentless killing intent.
The Red Goblin’s body was already beginning to regenerate.
Meanwhile, I wasn’t recovering at all, and I’d exhausted all my inner force—not even a shred remained.
Clearly, the Red Goblin held the advantage in this situation.
However, the Red Goblin turned its back to me and attempted to flee.
I completely severed the Red Goblin’s neck.
The magical energy that had sustained the Red Goblin’s body was nearly depleted, leaving it indistinguishable from an ordinary goblin’s corpse.
I watched the Red Goblin’s head soar into the sky and reflected.
I had been arrogant, and even if I possessed the confidence to escape, charging in like this was foolish.
No matter how certain I was that I truly couldn’t die, I shouldn’t have acted this way.
Yet despite my recklessness, I had killed the Red Goblin.
The reason I could defeat a Red Goblin clearly stronger than myself was simple—in moments of life and death, victory belonged to those with unwavering resolve.
“Ugh!”
I drove my jungle knife into the ground and collapsed to my knees as every muscle in my body screamed in agony.
No—not screaming. They were genuinely torn.
It was remarkable that I could still move at the end in this condition.
The moment I became immobilized, the Goblins surrounding me rushed forward with stone axes.
Before I could respond, a mace whistled through the air behind me, crushing the Goblins’ skulls.
“I told you. Protection is my role.”
Diana swung her mace to keep the Goblins at bay.
“Ha, you’re right.”
Without Diana, I couldn’t even fathom how many times I would have died.
When the Hop Goblins swarmed and attacked me, I would have died once if she hadn’t reduced their numbers.
When the Goblin Shamans stacked curses upon me, I would have died again if she hadn’t shielded my body with holy power and eliminated the shamans.
When the Red Goblin’s blade storm left my entire body lacerated, I would have died once more from blood loss if she hadn’t continuously healed me.
And just now, I would have died again if Diana hadn’t protected me.
Beyond all that, Diana had blocked countless other variables, allowing me to survive and kill the Red Goblin.
I laughed hollowly and asked something entirely inappropriate for the moment.
“Would you like to join our party once we reach the 20th Floor?”
Diana smiled as she crushed a Hop Goblin’s skull with her mace.
“I’d love to. I was wondering when you’d ask.”
At her acceptance, I grinned.
“Now that we’re a party, let me show you one of my abilities. It’s one I don’t use often because it has a rather long cooldown.”
I absorbed my clone and created a new one.
From Diana’s perspective, it must have looked like metal fragments were being expelled from my body as it regenerated.
“Is it something like super regeneration?”
“Something like that.”
I opened the Red Goblin’s chest with my jungle knife and extracted the magic stone.
But there was something else in the Red Goblin’s heart besides the magic stone.
“Oh! This must be an ability stone, but what is this?”
In the Red Goblin’s chest, besides the magic stone and ability stone, there was a small bead and a metal fragment.
I’d seen ability stones drop a few times before, but this was the first time something like this had appeared.
I placed them in my inventory and headed back toward the City.
Along the way, I collected the staffs left behind by the Goblin Shamans.
I’m not sure what it is, but given the magical energy coursing through it, it must be some kind of magical artifact.
By the time I’d finished dealing with the goblins and returned to the City Wall, several climbers had descended below it and were slaughtering goblins.
Whether they were frustrated that only those capable of ranged attacks could sweep up the points, or whether they thought it was a good idea after seeing Diana and me leap down from the wall, I couldn’t say—but they were hunting enthusiastically.
“Oh, you’re back? You looked like you were having quite the battle over there. Did you manage to rake in some decent loot?”
The Wolf Man Bogard Dellington asked with a cheerful expression.
So it was possible to wear a cheerful expression even with a wolf’s face.
“Haha, not too shabby, I’d say.”
“That’s enviable. I saw you dash off and it looked so fun that I wanted to follow, but you were too fast. I couldn’t possibly catch up on my own, so I asked the Druid friend and the armor friend over there to come with me, but they looked at me like I was insane.”
Jonathan and Camilla seemed like the reasonable ones here.
With that gentle, farmer-like appearance, was he actually a combat enthusiast?
“I’m exhausted, so I’ll just tinker with arrows for the remaining time and head back. The 18th Floor is nearly cleared anyway.”
If what the guard said was true, reinforcements would arrive in just a couple more hours.
The climbers who had been thinking of abandoning the Quest and fleeing to the 10th Floor before the monster wave started were now lamenting the end of the Quest, having grown accustomed to hunting safely with the City Wall’s support.
Certainly, hunting grounds this safe and lucrative were rare indeed.
Of course, if the crimson goblin I’d faced had reached the City Wall, things might have been quite different.
“Ahahaha! After playing around that hard, you deserve to be exhausted. Go rest. I’ll hunt a bit more for points before heading up!”
I hoisted Diana onto my back and bounded up the City Wall.
Using Lightfoot, I could expel inner energy to accelerate, but conversely, I could also adhere my feet to the wall and climb it just as effectively.
As I reached the top of the City Wall, Lee Su-young’s expression grew dejected.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. It’s just… I feel like I’m not being helpful.”
Ah, was it because I’d left Lee Su-young behind?

(To be continued in the next chapter)

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