I Conquered the Tower with the EX-Class Character That I Raised - Chapter 76

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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 76
—I remember the gaze of the Apostle as he looked upon me.
Eyes devoid of emotion, dull and lifeless, assessing me as one might appraise an object—’Is this all?’
No disappointment in those eyes.
No joy either.
Like a pediatrician measuring how much a child has grown.
He merely evaluated and judged.
For Han Seol-ah, the Guardian who had grown up seeing only the fervent, desperate gazes of others, it was a gaze I had never experienced before.
At first, it was simply unfamiliar.
So this is what it feels like to be regarded with such indifference.
Then, suddenly, my thoughts spiraled.
‘To the Apostle’s eyes, I must appear just like… those people.’
Those people?
On a grand scale, South Korea’s salvation.
On a smaller scale, people seeking a savior to rescue their own lives.
Until now, I had reigned as South Korea’s sole beacon of hope.
Being someone’s savior had become second nature to me.
I had come to see it as inevitable, as my rightful burden.
—If I fall, South Korea ends.
To endure that suffocating weight, I had long pushed away the desperate gazes of those who looked up to me, forcing myself to meet them with cold indifference.
That mask shattered the moment the Apostle appeared.
The Apostle’s callous gaze, looking down upon me as though I were mere cargo.
It was chillingly identical to the gaze with which the Guardian Han Seol-ah had regarded others.
Just as others had clung to me.
I too had grasped at the Apostle as a new lifeline, irresponsibly casting my burden upon him with pleas of ‘save me’, ‘do something’.
‘This cannot be. This must not continue.’
Who better than I, the Guardian myself, knew how cruelly the blind faith of others could suffocate the one bearing it?
I could not repeat the cruelty of placing such a yoke upon another.
That painful realization took root in Han Seol-ah’s heart as a fierce, stubborn resolve.
A determination not to pass the responsibility of saving South Korea to another.
A compassion born from understanding how heavy that burden truly is, unwilling to impose it on others.
And if my strength proved insufficient, I would carve away at my very bones to claw my way to equal standing and share that weight myself—
Ambition!
From the moment before I launched into the campaign against Resonar.
Through my return after vanquishing Resonar, and into the brief respite before the next boss break.
Han Seol-ah did not rest for a single moment.
A body that had reached EX-rank required no rest.
Mana flowed through me, breathing life into my flesh, maintaining it in perpetual peak condition.
Sleep? Unnecessary.
Food? Unnecessary.
Only the mind grows weary.
But even that, when honed as hard as ice…
Can surely be endured.
[…wouldn’t it be better to rest a little?]
“I don’t want to.”
Frozen’s concerned plea went unheard.
“Seol-ah, are you really alright?”
“I’m fine, so please don’t come in anymore. The temperature inside the Training Chamber is fluctuating.”
Even amid the precarious instability that would concern any observer, the sharp, piercing spirit unique to one standing at the cliff’s edge shone with crystalline clarity.
“….”
Yet her adoptive parents, confronted with the unbreakable resolve firmly rooted beyond that facade, realized further persuasion was futile and could only withdraw with a heavy sigh.
Han Seol-ah didn’t rest for even a single minute.
I want to grow stronger!
Since my awakening, I had never felt such an intense hunger for advancement.
And finally.
The day of proof had arrived.
* * *
‘…I’ve been waiting for this moment.’
How long had it been since I last slept?
At some point, I stopped counting, as I seemed to be fixating on the number.
Only one thing was certain—it hadn’t been a short time.
Yet my mind was clearer and more lucid than ever before.
A winter sky.
Like a day swept clean by a harsh cold wave.
Across my vastly expanded, crystalline sensory network, alien and unpleasant ‘warm things’ began to register.
Thump-thump, a piercing cry—sounds echoed from far away like distant reverberations.
To me, descended deep into my own consciousness, the world was divided into cold and warm.
Three heat sources nearby.
Lee Ah-woon, Kim Chul-soo, and Yereche, respectively.
The number of heat sources felt from far away…
348.
394. 433. 642…
Swelling in an instant.
And drawing closer rapidly.
I slowly raised the Eternal Winter in my hand.
Moving mana to cast a spell?
Such ‘inefficient’ actions were no longer necessary.
I visualized a spell in my mind.
The magical duel with the transcendent Nebula I experienced in that other world.
The most impressive death she had dealt me there was the ‘white mist’ that froze me to death.
The spell that claimed the most lives was a different one.
Its name was Glacial Flash.
A magic that fires mana infused with extreme cold at the speed of light, freezing and shattering whatever it touches.
The moment it activates, there’s no way to evade or block it—unless you cancel the casting itself, death is inevitable. A lethal spell.
I struggled endlessly trying to replicate it, but the conclusion remained unchanged.
It wasn’t magic a human could use.
It required computational ability that transcended human cognition by several orders of magnitude.
But the lethality of Glacial Flash appealed to me.
The Apostle was an enigmatic superhuman who appeared without warning.
I couldn’t rule out the possibility that he might vanish without a trace at any moment.
If that happened, it would fall to me once again to eliminate the boss threatening South Korea.
To prepare for that eventuality, I had to develop lethal magic.
After countless hours of research with Frozen, both of us racking our brains to replicate Glacial Flash’s destructive power, I reached a conclusion.
I had arrived at a single answer.
South Korea had stalwart tanks who could hold the line until my magic activated.
Tanks who had grown formidable enough to be called the world’s strongest, thanks to the Apostle’s aid.
Therefore, I didn’t need to cast magic as rapidly as the original.
I abandoned speed.
Instead, I would refine the source of Glacial Flash’s lethality to its absolute limit.
Freezing vital points to kill—that advantage refined to extremity.
A new problem emerged here.
How to attack the vital points.
Surprisingly, the answer was simple.
Thump—thump—
Whether human or monster.
Everything that exists in this reality
—possesses a heart.
Blood circulates.
…And there is warmth.
Freezing is an extreme force directed below zero.
More sensitive to temperature change than anything else.
But to pinpoint the heart pumping hottest within that cold and strike it precisely…
The surroundings needed to become extremely cold.
So first.
I create a world of cold white.
The Tower monsters detected on my radar.
944 of them.
On the white expanse, I calculate the shortest distance to reach every single heart.
Frozen handled this computation for me.
[Lock-on complete.]
“Glacial Flash—”
The preparations are complete.
All that remains is for the Apostle to pull the trigger.
Just as I felt when I unleashed the grand spell…
“Frozen Hell.”
I simply activate the magic.
Crack!
From the earth itself, thin and razor-sharp ice spikes erupted.
Each spike, calculated with meticulous precision, burst forth faster than the blink of an eye…
piercing directly through the hearts of every living creature, freezing them…
shattering them.
Han Seol-ah closed her eyes once more.
The deafening roars of hundreds of beasts that had shaken the very earth, the nine hundred and forty-four heat signatures that had crept closer with sinister intent.
All of it evaporated in an instant without even a final cry.
An eerie, surreal silence where every trace of energy and sound had been completely erased.
The world Han Seol-ah gazed upon grew cold once more.
Watching that silence, Han Seol-ah clenched her fist tightly.
Yes, I am the ‘Frost Queen’ Han Seol-ah.
—South Korea’s Guardian.
* * *
Before the fortress gates.
Hundreds of monsters that had been charging forward with savage ferocity, as if ready to shatter the ice and break through at any moment.
Collapsed!
Thud! Crash…!
Just meters before the defensive barrier, they crumbled all at once like puppets with severed strings.
Whoosh—!
The massive corpses of monsters whose hearts had been pierced through, turning to light and scattering into dust before even touching the ground.
…
A breathless silence descended in an instant.
“…Huh?”
Yereche let out a dumbfounded sound.
“They’re… dead?”
Including the Ogre Big Boss…
Every boss-class monster from the 70th to 80th floors had been instantly killed.
It was a sight so surreal it felt like a dream.
But it was reality.
…They were all dead!
Yereche turned around, her eyes trembling.
As if this massacre stirred no particular emotion in her, Han Seol-ah remained motionless with her eyes closed, her posture serene.
‘…Was it really only this much?’
Like an inefficient cannon that takes a long time to gather mana before firing one or two ice blasts and retreating.
Wasn’t that Han Seol-ah?
When did she become this strong?
‘No, how did she become this strong?’
“Get a hold of yourself, Holy Maiden.”
Then a voice suddenly interjected.
“…You’re not surprised?”
As Yereche asked with a dazed expression, Kim Chul-soo answered with his characteristic emotionless face.
“I was surprised.”
His voice was so calm and devoid of any shock that Yereche found herself at a loss for words.
‘…Ever since entering here, it’s been nothing but surprises.’
It’s suffocating, this feeling in my chest.
No matter how hard I try to stay composed…
Kim Chul-soo’s eyes, which had been gazing beyond the dark horizon, grew noticeably darker.
“The second wave is coming.”
“….”
At that chilling statement, Yereche shook off the meaningless thoughts swirling in her mind and regained her focus.
Chul-soo was right.
The first wave had been cleared smoothly by Han Seol-ah’s grand magic.
But the ferocious roars of monsters echoing from that distant place still hadn’t ceased.
They continued to cry out in succession, like echoes.
Chul-soo closed his eyes for a moment, listening intently to the subtle vibrations carried through the air.
“Based on the echoes, the waves will continue up to the fourth. It was the third before, but it’s already increased… Ah, now it’s the fifth.”
“…You can even make that kind of judgment?”
“It’s something I ended up becoming capable of.”
What exactly is this person…
Yereche tapped her cheek with a sharp sound.
“Han Seol-ah, what about the next spell?”
“Rapid-fire is difficult. It’s magic that requires intense concentration.”
“But you can use it, right? If we hold out, can you keep instantly killing them like you just did?”
“Yes.”
Han Seol-ah answered without hesitation.
“As long as there are no enemies with freeze immunity.”
“….”
Yereche exhaled a heavy sigh with a darkened expression.
But Scathaha, who already possessed ‘freeze immunity’, had already been summoned.
The moment Han Seol-ah’s magic swept away the first wave, it began to move as if it wouldn’t wait any longer.
Han Seol-ah lifted her head to gaze into the distance.
“It’s already approaching. A terribly unpleasant cold that collides with my mana is drawing ever closer.”
“Sigh…”
That’s when things really begin.
Moreover, if elite beasts possessed troublesome mechanics, merely pouring heals from behind wouldn’t be enough to endure.
Yereche, grasping the situation instinctively, raised her staff with a sharp motion and without hesitation descended before Lee Ah-woon.
“You’re the type who tanks based on summoned creatures, aren’t you? Your personal tanking capacity must be rather pathetic.”
“Huff, huff. Yes.”
“Strong against multiples but weak against elites, then. In that case, allow me to lend you a hand.”
[Do not forget that I am here.]
Then, a voice suddenly interjected from below.
“Huh?”
Something pale burst from Lee Ah-woon’s pocket and landed on the ground.
It was Rat-dol, a Death Knight.
“…A skeleton?”
[How disrespectful! I am the ‘Elite Death Knight’, Rat-dol, created and named by the great one himself.]
Yereche’s gaze swept slowly over the tiny skeleton, barely reaching an adult’s ankle, and deep suspicion bloomed across her face.
“…So, Rat-dol, how much combat power do you possess?”
[Under my master’s command, I could kill someone like you within three seconds. However, alongside this insect…]
‘…Three seconds?’
Yereche blinked as if dumbfounded.
That adorable little bone fragment could kill her in three seconds? Was he serious?
[You would be about equal or slightly superior.]
“Ah… I see?”
Yereche’s gaze was filled with disbelief.
Moreover, watching Rat-dol waddle forward on his short legs toward the center of the open field, his utterly insignificant back view only solidified her suspicion.
It looked like it would shatter if kicked right now.
But Yereche couldn’t bring herself to openly dismiss him.
Because the bloodied Lee Ah-woon was gazing at the tiny skeleton with eyes of absolute faith, as if he were a savior.
‘…Can I really trust this?’
Rat-dol raised his toothpick-like sword and swung it.
Whoosh!
In an instant, black energy surged from the blade and sliced through the solid earth as easily as cutting tofu.
‘!’
Yereche was startled by the extraordinary swordplay.
[I will kill anything that crosses this line. You handle the rest.]
“Understood.”
As it turned out, he was an incredibly reliable party member.
Boom…! Boom…! Boom…!
The second wave was approaching.
Most were creatures witnessed in the first wave.
However, scattered among them… the forms of familiar ‘beasts’ appeared.
A break boss that had once frustrated Han Seol-ah, a beast with the ‘Frost Resistance’ trait.
There were multiple Frost Dragons.
Behind them loomed a shadow of such colossal proportions that it made the Frost Dragons seem insignificant by comparison.
Scathaha.
Two of them.
Han Seol-ah’s brow furrowed deeply.
* * *
[Notification: ‘Unlimited Monster Wave’ now commences]
The sky darkened to pitch black, accompanied by that ominous message.
It was as though South Korea itself had transformed into hell.
Under normal circumstances, this would be the hour when the entire nation descended into despair and screams.
Yet the atmosphere within Hanam Fortress was entirely different.
“Wow…”
Kim Tae-wan, the tank squad leader, stood with his mouth agape, unable to contain his amazement at the spectacle unfolding before his eyes.
An oddly fervent hope permeated the entire fortress.
Each time the foreign woman called ‘Happy’ swept her hand through the air, small buildings materialized one after another.
‘An S-rank Geomancer, was it?’
He’d heard that B-rank Geomancers could barely construct walls, but this S-rank was operating on an entirely different level.
Hanam Fortress, which had been nothing but a name—a shabby campground—was transforming into a genuine fortress before his very eyes.
That wasn’t all.
“Here, take one.”
“Thank you.”
In one corner of the open field, the legendary merchant Golden Mine Lee Hyung-je distributed supplies with a warm smile.
These were consumables whose effectiveness had been thoroughly proven during the recent Resonar subjugation campaign.
Remarkable sights continued at every turn of the head.
Groups of formally dressed individuals with their faces concealed behind masks moved with military precision, cataloging each hunter’s information.
“Name and position.”
“Jeong-ui. B-rank healer.”
“Confirmed. Team A, issue this man an S-rank Holy Power Amplification Ring.”
‘Why are Black Market employees here?’
It was a bizarre sight—those renowned for absolute neutrality mechanically distributing high-value artifacts tailored to each hunter’s position.
“What in the world is happening here?”
And most of all, what captured Kim Tae-wan’s attention was
the encampment where countless tanks had gathered.
“What is our objective?”
As Jin Cheon-jin’s voice rang out, numerous hunters answered in unison, their morale burning white-hot.
“We endure!”
The endless Unlimited Monster Wave had only just begun.
Yet beneath that hellish sky, not a single face bore the mark of fear.
“We endure! For how long!”
Jin Cheon-jin’s weighty roar erupted like blood from a wound.
Swept up in that overwhelming charisma, Kim Tae-wan and hundreds of tanks roared with voices straining to their limits.
“Until the Apostle returns-!!”
We can do this.
No—we absolutely must endure.
Trembling with fervor, tank squad leader Kim Tae-wan gripped his burning heart and held that conviction with unwavering certainty.

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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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