An eerie silence settled over the stairs. Their comrade had been left behind among the enemies. Still, Lumen and Garuel had no idea how many floors this tower had, or even where to go to kill Elvie. They simply followed the exit they could see, vaguely.

Cadel could answer their anxious questions, but he didn’t speak up, as he was just as shocked as the rest of the group.

He knew that in this tower, he had no choice but to move forward, leaving his comrades behind floor by floor. But he didn’t know exactly how he was supposed to handle the wait. In the game, he could only assign a knight with favorable stats to each floor and hope to survive while he dealt with the boss on the top floor.

There was no way he could have imagined Van surrounded by hundreds of monsters, or Lydon being chased by ice puppets with murderous intent.

‘……What should I do from the next floor?’

There were only three of them left. That meant there were two floors to go before the top of the tower.

Deciding who to assign to the first and second floors was relatively easy. Cadel usually put a multi-positioner on the first floor to both deal and tank, and a magician or fairy on the second floor to shoot. Since he planned to handle the top floor himself, the question was what to do with the third and fourth floors.

‘The third and fourth floors can be handled by those two somehow.’

Garuel’s resilience and Lumen’s high movement speed would allow them to shine on any floor. They would be able to hold their own no matter who was left behind, so he didn’t have to worry too much about placement. But as Cadel ascended the Tower of the Demon Realm himself, a new problem arose.

Who would be the least painful to leave behind on each floor?

‘Part of me wants to do it all myself, but…….’

He couldn’t. He had to deal with Elvie’s heart himself on the top floor. He couldn’t leave it to his subordinates.

If only he could remember the types of enemies on each floor, it would save him some trouble, but unfortunately, he couldn’t.

What remained in his mind were the records he’d analyzed while trying out the stages. He was obsessively analyzing which knights with the highest stats were needed to clear each level.

He didn’t care how many health points the remaining knights had left because no player would feel sad seeing their game character’s blood drained.

‘I should have dug deeper, if only I could have found a way to break through the tower with minimal damage…….’

There was no point in regretting the past, and with that unfinished thought in mind, Cadel and his party reached the entrance to the third floor.

* * *

“What is that luminous thing?”

“I’m afraid it’s going to explode if I touch it.”

The interior of the third floor was dazzling. Fingernail-sized golden luminescents dotted the air, and their light glide emitted a sweet, tickling sound like a harp.

It was truly a beautiful sight, but Cadel’s eyes were cold.

‘If these luminaries are some sort of attack device, I understand why movement speed is required.’

The luminaries were as beautiful as a collection of stars in the night sky, but at the same time, there were so many of them that it was difficult to take in a single glance. If they were to set off a chain of explosions like [Fire Butterfly Dream], it would be difficult to dodge them unless you had the speed of Lumen.

‘But how resilient are they?’

Was it possible that after the luminaries hit them, they would recover themselves? If all of that exploded, they would die before they could recover. A tanker with high defense or a magician with a barrier would be better.

There was an odd discomfort. Cadel slipped through the gap between the two men standing in front of him.

“If we’re going to get to the other door, we’re going to have to come into contact with the luminaries. I’ll put a barrier around us, and we’ll try to get through it as fast as we can.”

“……Do you think you can run that fast? You might as well be carried, Leader..”

Cadel frowned at Lumen’s genuine concern.

“You want to tease me to this point?”

“I’m not teasing you.”

“…….”

“I’m genuinely concerned.”

What on earth did he look like in the eyes of his subordinates? Even if he had the lowest level of physical fitness, he could still run in a hurry.

Cadel elbowed Garuel in the side as he laughed under his breath, creating a wind barrier.

It would be important to uncover the identity of the luminaries, but it was a waste of time to think about it. While they paused, their comrades below would continue to fight fiercely.

But before the group with the barrier activated could make it to the center.

Wooooong—

The luminescent objects that had been moving gently stopped at once and began to emit intense light.

“Hmm, that’s ominous.”

The light was intensifying, and his vision was rapidly narrowing. Cadel continued to move his feet as he poured more mana into the barrier.

His scaled armor and barrier were a double layer of protection. Whatever attack came his way, he’d be able to avoid a fatal wound.

“Don’t stop, keep running! Just a little further―”

At that moment, a thin thread of light streaked through the luminaries that had been pushed to their limits. The thread of countless luminescents woven together filled in the gaps like one giant spider web. No one could escape its reach.

A cold sweat ran down Cadel’s spine as he recognized the dozens of strands of light that crisscrossed his and his men’s bodies. An ominous pressure stole his breath.

And the next moment.

Shwoosh!

The luminaries began to sprint furiously along the thread of light, and only then did Cadel realize what they were.

This wasn’t an explosive or anything. An uncountable number of luminaries were racing down the threads of light like rails, slicing through everything in their path.

Small, razor-sharp blades slashed across space. Cadel reinforced his barrier to protect the group at the center of the trajectory, but it was no use. It wasn’t a matter of power. The luminescence siphoned off the barrier’s mana like Ashvka’s energy-sucking insects. The rapidly disintegrating barrier finally crumbled, unable to withstand the power of the luminaries.

“What the……!”

The barrier was useless. Better to trust his scale armor and sprint for the exit than to wait here for the attack to end.

Determined, Cadel set his jaw, bracing for the next blow.

“I guess this is my turn, huh?”

The luminaries did not cut them down. Or, more accurately, they didn’t reach Cadel and Lumen.

“Garuel, you……!”

Cadel looked up at the demonic energy that instantly enveloped him and Lumen. It took the shape of giant wings. The ominously curved feathers of the demonic energy gave off a sinister aura, like the wings of a demon, but the halves of the wings were clearly protecting their companion.

Cadel’s gaze shifted to Garuel beyond the wings, who deployed his demonic energy to protect Cadel and Lumen, but apparently failed to defend himself.

In the blink of an eye, cracks spread across Garuel’s armor. Garuel’s right cheek was deeply scarred from the luminaries’ attack, but it quickly healed as purple demonic energy pulsed over the wound.

Garuel looked up at the luminaries, which had made all their rounds in an instant and were back in place, and slowly turned his head, meeting Cadel’s stunned gaze.

“It’s not about abandoning us, it’s about entrusting us, isn’t it, Knight Commander?”

The wings extending from his left halberd slowly retracted. Cadel wordlessly clenched his fists.

‘Is this how you use your recovery power?’

The luminescent objects’ movements were impossible to dodge unless you had the speed of Lumen, and even then it was impossible to dodge perfectly. Having taken the brunt of the attack himself, Cadel could see that the magic barrier was ineffective.

The luminaries were small enough that a few hits wouldn’t kill you, but if you didn’t have access to healing, you’d bleed out. Unless Garuel boasted high healing power, it was impossible to last long here.

Demonic energy could repair his wounds instantly. But that wouldn’t take away Garuel’s pain. He’d have to stay here and endure the terrible agony again and again.

“……I’ll be right back.”

It was painful, but it was all he had to say to Garuel. Cadel stiffened at the not-so-pleasant reality.

Garuel faked a cheerier-than-usual voice for Cadel. He shrugged cheerfully and pointed to the door.

“I was hoping we could all go together, but I can see the number on the door so clearly.”

The number ‘2’ was emblazoned proudly above the new exit. Garuel’s gaze shifted to Lumen, his mouth watering in disappointment.

“Please take care of Knight Commander, Sir Lumen.”

“……Please survive properly.”

“Haha! Support from a comrade? That’s good. I can’t wait to settle into my new Knight Order properly……. Let’s see if I can live up to your expectations.”

The glow from the luminaries that had stopped attacking for a moment was growing stronger again, and seeing it, Garuel pushed Cadel’s back.

“Go.”

He knew there was no time to waste. Biting his lip, Cadel turned on his heel and headed for the exit.

Cadel and Lumen. The door slowly rose before the two men. They turned to face the next floor, leaving behind the spreading flash of light.