Chapter 85

Today, Chapter 3. Up to the end of "The Knight of Projection."

Using stealth, I sprinted at full speed to get away from the enemy.

I reached the edge of the floor in just a few seconds.

I managed to put over 100 meters between myself and the Knight of Projection, but it was only temporary.

"Ah, this is—"

A strange sensation, as if something formless was crawling over my body.

This was the feeling of coming into contact with someone else's magic.

No one else was here except for the Knight of Projection.

It was easy to guess what he had done.

"Searching, huh?"

Among the skills I possessed, the only one that dispersed magic power around me was the search skill.

The Knight of Projection must have used it to search for me across the entire floor.

As evidence, the Knight of Projection was already facing me accurately without looking around.

"He's already noticed me."

While watching the enemy running towards me at high speed, I readied the unnamed sword and the quick sword.

Stealth had only worked for less than 10 seconds.

"AAAAAA!"

"Take this!"

I narrowly avoided the enemy's sword strikes, which were likely using both Adamantine Force and Gale.

And when an opening appeared—

"Here it is!"

"!?"

—I activated the explosive smoke gem again.

Once the smoke obscured our vision,

"Stealth."

I disappeared from the enemy's sight and sprinted to the opposite corner of the floor.

"AAAAAA!"

A few seconds later, the Knight of Projection, who had used the search skill, came charging with a roar.

He seemed to be dominated by anger.

"This is going well."

Seeing this, I smiled slightly.

For a while, I repeatedly used stealth, and the Knight of Projection would discover me using the search skill.

Incidentally, I had gathered a considerable amount of explosive smoke gems while grinding in the Kenzaki Dungeon, so I could use them freely one after another.

For about an hour, we engaged in what seemed like a game of cat and mouse.

Suddenly, the moment arrived.

"AAAAAA—?"

The movements of the Knight of Projection, who had been chasing me, suddenly slowed down.

The Knight of Projection himself stopped, looking confused.

"Finally, here it comes!"

Seeing this, I kicked off the ground forcefully and approached the enemy with a cry of joy.

I put the quick sword back into the item box and attacked with only the unnamed sword!

"HHAAAAAA!"

"!"

The Knight of Projection tried to respond to my attack, but the situation had completely changed from before, and I was clearly pressing the enemy.

The powerful unnamed sword deflected the enemy's projected sword and attacked his armor.

Why did the tide suddenly turn in my favor?

The answer was simple: the Knight of Projection's MP had run out, and he could no longer use Adamantine Force and Gale.

Of course, I was still using those two skills.

Why did I still have MP left while the Knight of Projection had run out?

There were two reasons for this.

The first was the performance of the projected sword.

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【Projected Sword】

- A sword created by reflecting the sword of an unnamed knight.

- Recommended equipment level: 6000

- Attack power +6000

- If the enemy's level (recommended level for defeat) is higher than your own, all stats except HP and MP are increased by +56%.

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As can be seen from the last line, the projected sword—indeed, the unnamed sword—boosted all stats except HP and MP. In other words, HP and MP did not increase at all.

On the other hand, I had already raised my magic power increase skill from level 2 to level 5 at the first floor.

This was the second reason.

The enemy was basing his stats on my pre-challenge levels, and had not reflected the changes after the challenge.

Judging that the only area where I surpassed the Knight of Projection was MP, I decided to use this as a weapon.

If I could make the enemy run out of MP and prevent him from using Adamantine Force and Gale, I could fight on equal or better terms.

That's why I forced the enemy to use the wide-area search skill, which consumed a lot of MP.

Naturally, the wider the search area, the more MP it consumed.

That's why I deliberately kept running to the edge of the floor.

Repeating this finally led to the situation where the Knight of Projection ran out of MP.

I couldn't afford to miss this golden opportunity!

"Take this!"

"---!?"

The Knight of Projection desperately tried to defend himself with his sword, but I easily deflected it.

In fact, while using stealth to escape, I had raised Adamantine Force from level 6 to level 7.

This increased my attack power.

There was no way the enemy, who couldn't use skills, could defend against it!

"OOOOOO!"

Judging that this was the final phase, I unleashed a barrage of attacks without giving the enemy a chance to counter.

I deflected his sword, shattered his armor, and severed his joints.

Finally, the last moment arrived.

With one arm lost and his sword dropped on the ground, I delivered the final blow to the Knight of Projection.

"This is the end!"

"AAAAAA---"

One slash.

My blade cut the Knight of Projection's body diagonally in two.

The Knight of Projection, now split in half, collapsed on the spot.

Then, the system sound rang out.

"Experience gained. Level up by 26."

"Second floor quest [Knight of Projection] completed."

"Second floor reward. Level up by 100."

While listening to the system sound, I sighed in relief as I watched the Knight of Projection disappear.

"...Somehow, I won."

And thus, I cleared the second floor.

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Tensound Rin, 19 years old, male, Level: 7026

Titles: Dungeon Conqueror (10/10), Unnamed Swordmaster, Harbinger of the End (ERROR)

SP: 1010

HP: 51330/55420 MP: 4260/14840

Attack: 12820

Defense: 10160

Speed: 13120

Intelligence: 12450

Spirit: 10080

Luck: 11620

Skills: Dungeon Teleportation LV18, Body Enhancement LV10, Great Strength LV10, Adamantine Force LV7, High-Speed Movement LV10, Gale LV6, Basic Magic LV3, Magic Recovery LV2, Magic Power Increase LV5, Search LV4, Stealth LV4, Status Resistance LV4, Appraisal LV1, Item Box LV4, Concealment LV1

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Total level-ups in the [Isolated Tower]: 422 levels (as of the end of the second floor)