Monsters appearing from Beyond's 41st floor looked similar to demons.
They were shaped like humans, but had black skin and violent nature, using their body parts as weapons. Similar to demons, they carried an explosive amount of mana, but they were different in that they could regenerate even if their limbs were cut off, relying more on their physical abilities than their magical abilities.
These monsters called Elang had never appeared in the First Dungeon.
[They are one of the oldest monsters in the dungeon. They existed even before the dungeon's founding. They're ancient monsters that should have disappeared in the flow of nature.]
"And you dragged them into the dungeon?"
[Yes.]
Elang. In front of these monsters, neither magic nor skills worked. It wasn't that they nullified the dungeon's power. It was just that the types of attacks made by refining a power into other forms didn't work. Only pure aura and power of elements could injure them. It seemed it had something to do with their League.
[He is coming.]
[His growth seemed to have no end, but it seems it has come to an end.]
They also had a strange way of talking. While they tried to pierce my stomach with their hands covered in white auras, they talked politely as though to annoy me.
[He is tough.]
[His armor has a very special ability. If we lose our focus, we will be killed in an instant.]
[Let us ambush him to test him.]
"Shut it, you bastards!"
With a shout, my spear covered in a transparent aura shot out and crushed an Elang baring his teeth at me.
Nearby Elangs flinched and took a few steps back, but I charged towards them at full force. Swinging my spear like a baseball bat, I swept through all the nearby monsters.
"You aren't my match!"
[You are right, but when our numbers multiply by 158 times, we will have a chance.]
[We cannot understand how he has exceeded the standard.]
[There must have been an outside intervention. To lower the error rate…]
"Disappear!"
Even though they admitted to having no chance unless their numbers multiplied 158 times, they still attacked me relentlessly.
As I took care of them one by one, I couldn't help but become curious about their boss waiting for me on the 45th floor. I was especially curious what he had to say about me.
[It is impossible to kill him.]
[It is impossible for anyone.]
"Like I said, you guys are noisy!"
Though I made it look easy, these Elangs were incredibly powerful. To pierce through their tough bodies, I needed to compress more than 200,000 mana, and I to destroy even their ashes to prevent them from regenerating.
The fact that not even a hundred of such monsters could injure me showed just how much of a monster I became.
After I took care of another group of Elangs, I reached a dead end. I had already used mana detection to check out other areas.
I was certain this had to be the place where the gate was, so I looked around in confusion. Soon, as if to show that I wasn't wrong, a gate leading to the First Dungeon appeared out of thin air.
"Huu, it's almost the end. Thank god Beyond is small."
Beyond was no longer bigger than the First Dungeon. Unlike the First Dungeon floors which came to be the size of a planet, Beyond's floors never surpassed the size of a country. Furthermore, as the 45th floor was the final floor, I really was close to finishing Beyond.
I came out to the Floor Shop expecting to see Loretta flapping her ears happily, but she wasn't there. I tilted my head and sent her a whisper.
"Loretta, where are you?"
[Uuu, two worlds went extinct at the same time so I'm busy taking care of some things. For some reason, lots of worlds are becoming extinct recently. It's like they're trying to take Shin-nim away from me!]
"I don't think that's it… But I'll see you later then."
[Sob, see you later, Shin-nim.]
Loretta's words worried me. Was it wrong to think climbing higher accelerated the change in other worlds? Was someone coordinating these changes? Just when I thought I knew more about the world, but it seemed I was wrong. I sighed.
"Alright, I might as well go straight to… No."
Although I was a bit tired from fighting all those Elangs on the 44th floor, I thought I would have no problem fighting the 95th Floor Master if I drank some potions and took some rest. However, my conversation with Loretta made me feel too uneasy.
Even while I told myself everything was fine, I returned to Earth to regain my calm.
When I went to the guild house in Jongno, I saw several succubi moving around busily.
"What's everyone doing?"
"Oh, Dear Husband!"
When one of the succubi shouted, the rest instantly froze and turned their sights towards me. This wasn't the first time this happened, but it was still a bit scary.
"We're investigating the next mass outbreak."
"Ciarnim is very anxious. We're looking into past data to predict as much as we can."
"She's especially anxious today."
"Where is she?"
The succubi all pointed to the second floor. I nodded in reply and went up to Ciara's room on the second floor.
"You're here, Hero-nim."
"You knew I'd come?"
"Yes."
Ciara pulled out her face buried in papers to look at me. Her cross shaped pupils were shining radiantly.
"If it's about Hero-nim, there isn't a single thing I don't know."
"Yeah, yeah."
I retorted half-heartedly and approached her. Her pretentious side was annoying, but her hard-working side was admirable.
Ciara then went back to focusing on the documents near her, a first for when I was around, and murmured audibly.
"As I thought."
"What's up?"
"I finally figured it out."
She put down the document in her hand, which I picked up after. It contained pictures of the dungeon gates from America taken from multiple angles. It even had data on the Event Raid that broke out afterwards. I had to give props to the cameramen who risked their lives.
"Remember what I told Hero-nim last…"
She raised her head and seemed to say something, but stopped in the middle and flinched.
"What?"
"Y-You're too close."
Because I was looking at the documents, I had naturally went right in front of her. Ciara blushed and fidgeted away. Her breathing was rough.
"Ciara, you changed."
"I-If you come closer, I don't know what I might do to you…"
That was scary in and of itself, but the fact that she realizes it was undoubtedly a rapid advancement.
"Ciara, you grew."
"Hwaynim said she'd kill me."
"Oh…"
It seemed she even learned to care about her life. After a sigh, I carefully sat down on the chair next to her.
"So? What did you find out?"
"Yes, as I told you before, I've been trying to see the future with Hwaynim's help."
"Yeah, I remember."
Hwaya and Ciara wanted to know two things. The first was when the next Event Dungeon outbreak will be, and the second was where. Knowing these two factors was crucial in properly responding to them.
"You said you couldn't see any gates and only us fighting monsters in a place that didn't resemble Earth."
"Yes, Hero-nim. I thought it was because of my lack of ability. To become more skilled, I concentrated on learning Peruta Circuit and ways to control mana which Hwaynim taught me. I researched my ability in various ways too… Of course, my ability did grow as a result."
"So? Did you find out something new?"
"Let me change the topic slightly…"
Ciara's cross shaped pupils flashed.
"Hero-nim, do you remember Greenland?"
"Of course I do. A lot happened there and it wasn't even that long ago."
"Originally, Greenland is a wasteland that's mostly ice. But somehow, the demons managed to switch Greenland to a different land mass. Hero-nim said it belonged to a world called Luka."
Ciara skillfully manipulated a device on the table and turned on a hologram video. It contained footages of the changed Greenland.
"To be honest, how they did it wasn't important to us. Instead, I focused on just how perfectly the lands swapped. With the succubi's help, we investigated the land mass, and our result was the same as what Hero-nim told us."
For some reason, she looked really proud as she said that. Did she just like saying my name?
"The current Greenland is no longer a part of Earth. It is a part of the Luka continent."
I immediately understood what she was trying to say. That was the reason for my silence.
Ciara also understood that and stayed silent. If she was like this when we first met, I would never have hated her.
"So…"
After some time, I opened my mouth.
"You're telling me the Luka continent will move over to Earth?"
"Yes."
Ciara replied with confidence.
"And in place of the outbreak of Event Dungeons."
"You mean they can completely escape the dungeon's influence."
"Yes. I believe this was why I was able to foresee the future to this extent when I wasn't good at foreseeing things related to the dungeon. Of course, in exchange, there was another power hindering me."
"That must be the Demon Lord's power."
I answered. Then, I stood up.
"I should get ready. Ciara, when is it happening?"
"Less than two months from now. No, since we aren't sure whether it will happen at once, it might be even earlier."
"Got it."
I nodded silently. Ciara looked up at me and sparkled her eyes.
"But I believe in Hero-nim! Hero-nim is someone who will be a conqueror of all things!"
"You should really stop them."
"I don't even need to foresee it! I'm sure of it!"
Really, what do I do about this kid? I made a light sigh. Then, I bended down slightly and gave the dazed Ciara a kiss on her forehead. It was the blessing she so wanted.
"Kyak!"
"If you want me to give you another blessing, don't say that again. Got it?"
I thought using a carrot was a better tactic than using a stick, but unfortunately, it wasn't effective.
Ciara had fainted before hearing what I said.