Chapter 211
'If the S-rank skill Dragon Slayer Art evolves, could it become an even higher-rank skill?'
Moreover, it meant that not only the Dragon Slayer Art but also the other special skills he possessed could evolve into even stronger skills.
As he pondered how to evolve the Dragon Slayer Art into a higher-rank skill, the space Zeke was in began to move.
Kugugugu!
The circular space moved, and the floor descended.
Kugugugugugu!
Thump!
The circular floor descended, and soon a scenery completely different from the 99th floor appeared.
'Where is this?'
It looked like a castle made of solid black bricks.
Surprisingly, decorations made by taxidermizing minotaur heads hung all over the castle walls.
While he was looking at them, a message appeared before Zeke's eyes.
[You have reached the 100th floor, the final floor of the Inverted Tower.]
[You are the first to reach the end of the Inverted Tower.]
[Rewards will be granted for achieving the accomplishment.]
[You have acquired 500 Karma Points.]
[Welcome to the Cretan Castle on the 100th floor.]
'Cretan Castle?'
Zeke remembered the Storyteller telling him that the hero Tyr was the king of the Cretan Kingdom.
Looking around the castle, he realized his guess was correct.
'Is the final one the hero Tyr himself appearing?'
The possibility of Tyr's shield being here had increased.
Zeke passed through the corridor decorated with minotaur heads and entered the castle.
Opening the door, a huge hall appeared.
And at the end of the hall was a high platform, and on it was a throne that seemed to be made of monster bones.
A figure wearing a horned helmet was sitting on the throne.
"To have reached this place, I am impressed by your unbelievable capabilities."
The figure wearing northern-style armor and holding a huge hammer slowly rose from the seat.
Zeke noticed the identity of the figure who had risen from the throne.
'Hero Tyr.'
Watching him, Zeke noticed something strange.
'It looks like Tyr... but she's a warrior woman?'
In the legends, Tyr was depicted as a male hero with a huge physique.
However, the Tyr he actually saw was a woman, and her weapon was a hammer, not a sword or shield.
Tyr stepped forward with the hammer and said as if shouting,
"Warrior! Welcome to the Cretan Royal Palace! That amazing capability that has overcome adversity with indomitable will! I will test it myself!"
Kugung!
Tyr, holding the hammer, leaped forward towards Zeke.
Kwakwakwaka!
Tyr, who had jumped into the air, swung the hammer down towards Zeke.
Kwakwang!
The hammer, imbued with tremendous power, fell towards Zeke's crown.
Zeke immediately raised Bahamut and blocked Tyr's hammer.
Pakwang!
As Tyr's hammer and Bahamut collided, a shockwave spread around them.
Then, Tyr shouted,
"A good sword! It's the first sword that's tough enough to block my 'Giant Hunter'!"
Tyr then held the hammer sideways and swung it towards Zeke.
Kwakwang!
Tyr's hammer carried a heavy force, as if a giant was wielding it.
Zeke calmly blocked Tyr's hammer and tried to deflect it to the side.
Then, Tyr grinned.
"Interesting! You use your sword just like that fellow Saturn!"
Tyr readjusted her grip on the hammer and began to press harder than before.
Looking at Tyr, Zeke felt she was similar to his past self.
Their relentless and powerful attack style was alike.
"More! More! Fight me with more fire!"
Tyr, as a descendant of the Turunn clan, showed a fiery personality.
Zeke calmly blocked Tyr's hammer, looking for an opening.
In that instant, Tyr powerfully swung her hammer down and charged forward.
Zeke deflected Tyr's hammer as it was and used a counterattack with the Infinite Chain Binding.
Pakang!
Zeke's sword aimed for Tyr's flank.
It was then.
Whoong!
Surprisingly, Zeke's sword passed through empty air.
There was no sign of Tyr, nor any presence to be felt anywhere.
Then, Tyr appeared behind Zeke.
Whoong!
She swung her hammer towards Zeke.
"Kuh-uk!"
Zeke barely evaded Tyr's attack with the Phantom Step and rolled across the floor.
Kwakwang!
The hammer, imbued with tremendous force, pulverized the spot where Zeke had been.
Tyr didn't stop there and charged towards Zeke again.
It was like a mad bull lowering its horns and charging.
Zeke raised an aura blade on his sword and unleashed a sword strike towards Tyr.
Pakang!
Tyr raised her hammer and easily negated Zeke's Crescent Slash.
'It looks crude, but it's strong and the attack points are clear.'
Rex Turunn, the head of the Turunn clan, was a warrior who had pushed the power of the Turunn clan's blessed physique to its limit while possessing refined aura techniques.
On the other hand, the hero Tyr didn't have Rex Turunn's refinement, but she possessed a strong wildness that more than made up for the difference.
Tyr instinctively followed Zeke's movements and relentlessly swung her hammer.
Kwakwang!
Watching Tyr unleash heavy attacks without tiring, Zeke momentarily suspected that she also possessed the Infinite Stamina skill.
If it were his past self, he would have clashed with Tyr in a blaze, unleashing sword strikes equally, but having gained enlightenment, his perspective on combat had changed.
'Imbue the sword with will.'
Zeke blocked Tyr's hammer and established the will of his sword.
Whoooooom!
Zeke naturally used the power of spirit energy, transforming himself into a divine vessel.
Thwack!
Tyr felt Zeke's sword, which had collided with her hammer, become even harder than before.
She grinned and readjusted her grip on the hammer.
"Interesting! Show me more of your capabilities!"
The Giant Hunter that Tyr held roared loudly, following its master.
White light poured out from the Giant Hunter.
'That is?'
Zeke realized that the light emanating from the hammer contained an aura similar to the light magic of Ruben.
Tyr raised the shining hammer and charged towards Zeke.
"Haaaaat!"
With a powerful shout, Tyr's hammer fell like lightning upon Zeke.
Zeke took the initial stance of the Dragon Slayer Art and likewise charged towards Tyr.
Dragon Slayer Art Ultimate Art
First Form
Sun and Moon Cleaving Strike
The ultimate art of the Dragon Slayer Art unfolded from Zeke's sword.
The Spirit energy and the Dragon Slayer Art Form, which had been impossible to use together, were unleashed simultaneously.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
Zeke's body, strengthened by the divine vessel, unleashed the Sun and Moon Cleaving Strike even more powerfully.
Tyr's hammer and the Sun and Moon Cleaving Strike collided, creating a tremendous shockwave.
Whoooooom!
The shockwave surged like a tidal wave, shaking the entire hall.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
The walls hit by the shockwave cracked, and the ceiling crumbled down.
Zeke and Tyr were both thrown back by each other's attacks, slamming into the walls.
Thump!
As Zeke and Tyr collided with the walls, the floor and walls, already damaged by the impact, crumbled even faster.
Tyr stood up from the broken wall, put down her hammer, and took off the helmet she was wearing.
"For a young warrior like you to push me this far... truly amazing."
Zeke also stood up.
He was reminded of Reina by Tyr's face after she took off her helmet.
Tyr said to Zeke,
"Young warrior, come this way. There are many things I wish to ask you."
Tyr gestured to Zeke and led him through a door behind the hall.
The space inside seemed to be a banquet hall.
A fire was burning in the fireplace, and a huge table stood in the center.
Various foods, including a whole roasted calf and a whole roasted pig, as well as barrels full of beer, were piled high on the table.
Tyr tossed her helmet aside, put down the Giant Hunter, picked up a whole barrel of beer, and began to gulp it down.
"Hoo! My throat's dry after moving around for the first time in ages. Come to think of it, I haven't even asked your name. What is your name?"
"My name is Zeke Draker."
"Draker? I had a feeling after seeing your sword... so you are a descendant of Saturn."
She offered Zeke a seat and said,
"Zeke Draker, a great warrior I have encountered across the vastness of time. Sit down and partake in food and drink. In Creta, we consider it a great honor to treat excellent warriors with good wine and food."
Zeke sat down in the seat Tyr offered.
Then, he received a leg of the whole roasted pig that Tyr casually cut off with a knife and handed to him.
Tyr, meanwhile, had cut off another pig leg and was chewing on it whole.
'Hero Tyr. Her actions are similar to the lunatics of Himonas.'
Zeke thought that the traditions of Creta, a kingdom located in the Northern Continent, seemed to have connected to Himonas, ruled by the Northern Grand Duke.
Tyr, who quickly devoured a whole pig leg, looked at Zeke and said,
"By the way, which dragon are you contracted with?"
Zeke, who was cutting and eating the pig leg with a knife, opened his mouth at Tyr's question.
"I am not contracted with any dragon."
Then, Tyr twitched her eyebrows.
"Not contracted with a dragon? That can't be. Ordinary warriors can enter the tower, but to meet me on the 100th floor, they must meet several conditions. One of them is to enter the trial as a dragon contractor with the powerful dragon's power restricted."
"Does that mean that Hell Mode must be activated in order to meet Lord Tyr?"
At Zeke's question, Tyr instead asked back,
"What is Hell Mode?"
Zeke was rather taken aback by Tyr's confident counter-question.
"No, well, you see... aren't you the one who created this place, Lord Tyr?"
Then, Tyr shook her head.
"No, I was only tasked with providing the space to create this place and selecting those who are not qualified."
"Then who created this place?"
At those words, Tyr drained the beer in her mug in one go.
Then, she slammed the mug down on the table with a refreshing sound and wiped the foam from her mouth with the back of her hand.
"Kuh!"
Tyr even let out a refreshing burp.
She looked at Zeke and said,
"There's only one being who could create a place like this."
Tyr's eyes shone.
"An Elder Dragon."
At those words, Zeke's eyes widened, and he asked back,
"Are you saying an Elder Dragon created the Inverted Tower?"
"Yes, at Chronos's request, it joined forces with other Dragon Lords to create it."
Zeke, hearing Tyr's unexpected words, pondered the tower's system.
'The Inverted Tower's system had many similarities to the administrator system. Could the systems of other ruins also have been created by Elder Dragons?'
Then, Tyr looked at Zeke and asked,
"If you are not a dragon contractor, how were you able to come here?"
Zeke explained his situation to Tyr.
"Lord Tyr, I am not a dragon contractor, but through a relic left by an Elder Dragon, its spirit was engraved in my soul, and I gained abilities similar to it."
At those words, Tyr's eyes widened.
"The spirit of an Elder Dragon engraved in your soul? Is that even possible?"
"I believe it's because I discovered a relic of an Elder Dragon hidden in the Ice Mountain Range."
Zeke took out the dragon statue he had kept in his inventory.
"Have you ever seen this before?"
Tyr received the dragon statue Zeke had taken out and examined it from all angles.
"Hmm, this is..."
"Have you seen it before?"
Tyr, who had been examining it thoughtfully, shook her head.
"No, I've never seen anything like this."
Zeke was taken aback by Tyr's words.
'A relic that even the hero Tyr, who knows Elder Dragons, doesn't recognize.'
Then, Tyr said, looking at the dragon statue,
"I don't know what this relic is, but I think I know what it's made of."
Tyr tapped the relic with her finger and said,
"This is made of Adamantium."
Zeke frowned at Tyr's words.
"Adamantium? I've never heard of such a metal."
The most precious metal in the world was known as Orichalcum, the metal of the gods.
The Adamantium that Tyr mentioned was an unfamiliar name he had never even heard of.
Tyr nodded and said,
"Perhaps. It's the first time I've seen it directly either."
"Even you haven't seen it before, Lord Tyr... what kind of material is it?"
Tyr slowly opened her mouth.
"Adamantium is called 'God-Slaying Stone'."
"...Are you saying it's a stone that kills gods?"
"Yes. I know it as the only material that can neutralize the power of the constellations."
"Neutralize the power of the constellations? Is that even possible?"
"According to legend, in the past, when the constellations could intervene in the mortal realm, there was a warrior who went around slaying constellations with spears and swords made of God-Slaying Stone when the constellations interfered too much in human destiny and the world became chaotic."
"Slew constellations... A God Slayer, then?"
"Yes. Legend says that warrior slew so many constellations that in the end, he too became a being beyond the mortal realm."
"A being beyond the mortal realm...?"
Tyr slowly opened her mouth.
"He ended up becoming the king of the fallen constellations."