WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: DereKimchi
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ The Abandoned Tank is a Disaster-class Awakener ◈
Chapter 41
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The cold stone floor touched my feet.
“...”
I raised my head.
There was no forest or wasteland in sight.
Before me stood only one enormous temple.
A gate rose at the end of black stairs.
The pillars on either side had been made by melting down countless weapons and pieces of armor.
Sword blades clung to shields, while crushed helmets and armor filled the gaps between them.
Rumble.
A deep roar suddenly rolled down the stairs from within the temple.
Most Awakeners would have been overwhelmed by the temple’s immense grandeur.
But I had experienced this place before.
I walked straight toward the gate.
A massive door.
Its surface depicted people offering crowns and weapons.
Grrrrrnk!
The doors opened before I even touched them.
Whoooosh.
Hot wind and the scent of metal rushed out.
To my surprise, enormous furnaces lined both sides.
Beneath them, white-glowing molten metal flowed through channels.
It flowed upward.
It climbed the stairs, ran along the pillars, and rose to the ceiling.
Every stream poured onto a single being at the center.
A gigantic statue.
It knelt with one hand braced against the floor.
The gaps between its fingers were wide enough for people to pass through.
Only after tilting my head far back could I see its face.
A smooth surface without eyes or a mouth.
Below it was a hole piercing straight through its chest.
Trickle.
As the pouring metal touched its shoulders, it hardened into armor.
Thin bundles of metal twisted together along its exposed ribs, forming muscles.
The entire temple was like a forge forging its body.
Booom!
Behind it, a gigantic hammer moving on its own struck a red-hot ring.
Sparks rained down.
As the ring rotated, the flow of molten metal changed.
This time, it flowed into a mold beneath the statue.
Inside it, a heart-shaped mass of metal glowed red-hot.
The final component that would fill the empty space in its chest.
The moment I confirmed it, a message appeared.
[30th-Floor Trial: The God Forging Temple]
[The body of the ancient species, ‘Arkelon, the False God,’ is being forged.]
[Rescue the Seal Guardians and stop the completion of the false god.]
At that moment,
Fwoosh!
Four passages around the statue, east, west, south, and north, lit up.
Doors bearing images of a crown, chains, a hammer, and a heart held in two hands appeared.
Then,
Clang! Clang!
The sounds of weapons clashing came from beneath each of the different symbols.
[The Seal Guardians are under attack from Arkelon’s subordinates.]
[A Seal Guardian not rescued within the time limit will die, and a powerful penalty will be imposed.]
[Time remaining until the Seal Guardians die: 01:00:00]
The number began to decrease.
[Time remaining until the Seal Guardians die: 00:59:59]
In the past, I had run with my companions the moment I read that message.
We took down the enemies attacking the Seal Guardians, passed through traps, and removed the restraints binding them.
The process had been fairly difficult.
If we took the wrong path, the floor would collapse.
There had even been times when we hung onto a single foothold while molten metal filled the passage.
‘Even at the fastest, five minutes each.’
Even if the time spent defeating enemies was reduced, removing the devices and bringing back the Seal Guardian still took time.
And we had to repeat that four times.
“...”
That was why I looked away from the four passages.
I walked straight to the statue.
Normally, I had to rescue the Seal Guardians and leave its body incomplete.
The crown offered by the king suppressed its power to control metal.
The giant’s spine bound its waist.
The blacksmith’s soul stiffened both arms whenever it changed weapons, while the Saintess’s heart left a weakness in its chest.
The standard strategy was to defeat the statue by attacking the openings created through their sacrifices.
But.
‘...That would take too long.’
I had not come here simply to clear the trial.
I needed to defeat the Hidden Guardian and claim the Floor’s throne.
And the most basic condition for making the Guardian appear was the clear time.
Four passages and four Seal Guardians.
Even if everything went as quickly as possible, rescuing them all would obviously take more than five minutes.
Then there was no need to go through the passages to save the Seal Guardians.
If I defeated the being being forged before me, its subordinates, traps, and the restraints holding the Guardians would all stop.
I halted before the mold.
Then I pushed both hands beneath the heart made of white metal.
Fwoooosh.
Heat that had not yet cooled spread across Shell.
Ignoring it, I lifted the heart.
Creeeak!
The restraints bent, and the connected pipes tore free.
I rose to my feet, leaving the pouring molten metal behind.
[Seal Guardian interference has not been applied.]
[If the heart is fused in the current state, the Complete Form will awaken.]
A warning sounded.
I ignored it.
Then, the next moment,
Sliiide. Sliiide.
Strands of metal began extending from the empty chest.
They wriggled toward the heart in my hands.
“Don’t worry.”
I’d deliver it safely.
“Hyup!”
I put strength into both arms and hurled the heart with all my might.
Thoom!
The flying heart landed precisely in the empty chest.
Bang!
The interlocking framework seized the heart.
Metal strands rushed in and filled the gaps.
[The heart has been fused.]
[The final stage of forging the Complete Form begins.]
Thud.
The statue’s fingers dug into the floor.
Craaaack!
At the same time, the entire temple began to move.
Metal floor plates tore free and attached themselves to its legs.
Clatter!
The pillars split apart, spilling the weapons within.
They were drawn into its body and hardened into thick armor.
Even the ceiling tilted.
The falling roof folded in midair before settling onto both shoulders.
Rumble!
Dust swept toward me.
I covered my face with my shield and looked up.
Where the ceiling had vanished, it straightened its back.
I had cleared this trial many times, but I had never seen it like this.
There were no chains restraining its back, nor a giant’s spine resisting from inside its body.
Even its lower legs were as large as buildings.
The temple roof rested on its shoulders like armor, while a gigantic ring rotated behind its back.
A weapon fell from that ring.
Whooom!
The metal that touched its palm stretched into a sword.
It soon clumped into a hammer, then spread out again into a long blade.
There was not a moment when its movements stopped.
‘Because there’s no blacksmith.’
Its empty left hand moved as well.
When it spread its fingers, metal fragments around it rose into the air.
Bam! Bam! Bam!
The fragments embedded themselves behind me.
The door I had entered through was blocked.
Unrestrained by the crown, Arkelon controlled the entire battlefield as though it were its own hand.
Click.
Its smooth face split open from side to side.
Fwoosh!
White flames burned within.
The same light spread from its chest.
The place where I had inserted the heart was now completely covered by a thick breastplate.
There was no red crack left by the Saintess.
Finally, metal fragments rose above its head.
Six pieces interlocked to form a crown.
A crown it had made from its own body.
[The Complete Form, ‘Arkelon, the False God,’ awakens.]
[Forging Rate: 100%]
[Seal Guardian interference: None]
It took a step forward.
Booom!
The impact traveled up my legs.
A massive sword rose over its head.
The temple’s remains gathered at its feet.
“I am the one who taught iron how to kneel and gave birth to countless weapons at my fingertips.”
The weapons hanging from the ring all bristled in unison.
“The master of the stolen thirtieth throne.”
The flames within its face fixed on me.
“I am Arkelon.”
At that moment, I saw an unexpected message.
[The encounter conditions for the Hidden Guardian have been met.]
[The 30th Floor’s Hidden Guardian, ‘Arkelon, the Exiled Throne-Bearer,’ appears.]
I smiled at the message.
‘So it wasn’t the time.’
I had thought the Guardian would appear if I completed the trial quickly.
But on the thirtieth floor, the method of clearing itself was the condition.
Awaken it imperfectly by saving the Seal Guardians, and it became an ordinary boss.
Awaken it in a body untouched by any interference, and it became the Guardian of the throne.
That saved me the trouble of searching for it.
Still.
‘Exiled from the throne?’
Unlike the Guardians I had faced until now, this one had supposedly been exiled from its throne.
The thought raised questions, but its circumstances were not important right now.
Whooom!
Arkelon brought down its sword.
Metal flowing from the ring covered the blade.
The sword continued widening as it fell, filling the space above my head.
『Giantification』
My body and the Black-Iron Armament expanded in an instant.
I stepped forward with my left foot and raised my shield overhead.
Booooom!
The ground beneath me sank deeply.
The dust blown away brushed past my ankles and scattered.
But that was all.
Neither the shield nor the arm supporting it sank any farther.
I straightened my knees while bearing the weight.
Scraaaape!
The blade lifted off my shield.
Its arm holding the sword was pushed upward as well, exposing its abdomen.
I planted my front foot deeply.
Then I swung the Black-Iron Greatsword horizontally at waist level.
Arkelon hurriedly lowered its left hand.
Clank.
Metal spread from its palm and covered its side.
Craaaash!
The greatsword cut through the shield and severed its wrist.
As the severed hand fell, it tried to retrieve its sword.
I closed the distance by another step.
The long, massive sword was already behind my back.
Before it could swing again, I lowered my greatsword and cut its knee.
Crunch!
The joint shattered.
Arkelon’s body tilted, and one knee crashed into the floor.
Thud!
The chest I had been looking up at descended before me.
I turned the tip of my greatsword toward its chest.
At that moment, the ring behind its back flashed.
Whoooosh!
A violent gale exploded outward from its body.
I covered my face with the shield.
Following the force pushing me away, I leaped backward to widen the distance.
My landing foot scraped briefly across the stone tiles.
When I raised my head, Arkelon was driving its sword into the floor.
“In my temple...”
The sword melted.
Metal ran down its arm and spread across the floor.
Thick pipes also descended from its waist and knee, connecting to pillars in every direction.
“Do you think you can leave alive?”
Its shoulders stiffened.
Instead, the pillars began moving.
Crack, craaack!
Sword blades embedded in their surfaces pulled free.
The spears and axes layered beneath them were pulled out in turn and hung in the air.
The pillars that had given up their weapons collapsed from within.
Countless weapons rose above the pouring stone dust.
Blades rising from both sides of the temple densely filled the space between Arkelon and me.
Arkelon was beyond them.
It knelt on one knee, its body fixed in place by metal pipes.
It appeared unable to move while controlling those weapons.
I drew my shield in and covered my upper body.
“Kneel!”
The weapons poured down.
Whoooosh!
I deflected the first spear with my shield.
Its bent tip embedded itself in the floor to my left.
The swords that followed struck my shield.
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
Impacts struck my left arm in rapid succession.
I held the shield at an angle and walked forward.
Blades scraped across its surface and bounced away to either side.
I struck aside the weapons slipping in from the shield’s right with my greatsword.
Bam!
A split axe and bent spear tangled together and rolled across the floor.
Another step.
I struck upward at the hammer falling over my head and flipped it aside.
The rebounding lump of metal collided with the weapons that followed.
Fragments bursting in midair rained down past my shoulders.
I did not stop.
I destroyed the weapons and advanced faster than it could send them at me.
I pushed my shield forward and swung the greatsword.
Every time, the way ahead opened.
At first, Arkelon’s face had barely been visible between the blades.
Gradually, it became clearer.
Clang!
When I knocked the final sword aside, a path leading to it opened.
Behind me, broken weapons were piled along both sides of the path.
“How dare you...!”
Flames surged from Arkelon’s face.
The next moment, the wreckage at my feet trembled.
I stopped walking.
Rumble!
The broken weapons flew past both sides of me toward it.
Metal fragments gathered before Arkelon’s chest.
Dozens of layers of metal piled together, stretched long, and formed a blade.
The sword tip continued moving closer, aimed at me.
At last, the completed sword stretched between Arkelon and me.
Its blade was wider than my enlarged body.
A deep shadow fell beneath it.
As white light filled the gaps between its fragments, the rattling blade solidified into one.
Thud.
I lowered my shield at my feet.
Instead, I gripped the greatsword with both hands.
The metal pipes restraining Arkelon’s body pulled taut.
“I will crush you!”
The enormous sword tip pushed toward me.
Whoooosh!
Stone slabs beneath the sword rose and poured to either side.
I planted my rear foot firmly.
I drew the greatsword down to my right and watched the approaching sword tip to the end.
Then I twisted my waist and slashed upward.
Booooom!
The Black-Iron Greatsword met the enormous blade head-on.
Light burst from where they collided.
A shockwave spread outward in a circle, sweeping away the debris on the floor.
The walls on both sides of the temple shook at once before collapsing outward.
My feet did not move.
Instead, its sword rose.
Craaaack!
Cracks spread from the sword tip where the Black-Iron Greatsword had bitten in.
They raced along the blade, branching into dozens of fractures.
I continued swinging the sword upward to the end.
Crash!
The giant sword burst upward.
The mass of metal that had blocked my view scattered, revealing Arkelon crouched behind it.
It still knelt on one knee.
It had neither a sword to cover its chest nor a left hand to protect its body.
Thump.
I kicked off the ground.
I reached it before the fragments that had flown above my head could fall.
Arkelon raised its remaining arm.
The metal pipes connected to its body pulled tight and crumpled.
Before that arm could block my path, I thrust my greatsword.
Bam!
The breastplate bent inward.
The sword tip pierced its ribs and embedded itself in its heart.
The place where I had inserted it myself.
A single beat traveled through the sword hilt.
I stepped forward once more and extended both arms.
Crunch!
The heart shattered.
Arkelon’s body convulsed violently.
Light poured from the gaps in its breastplate.
White light burst from its split face, the patterns on its shoulders, and the metal pipes embedded in the floor before going out all at once.
“I will... again...”
The ring stopped.
Its hand rose almost to my shoulder.
But it could not reach me.
Crumble.
Its fingertips broke apart.
Its arm collapsed.
Then the crown slid from its head.
Bang!
The crown that fell at my feet split in two.
I put strength into both hands and pulled out the greatsword.
Heart fragments poured from the empty chest.
No more heartbeat could be heard.
[You have defeated the 30th Floor Guardian, ‘Arkelon, the Exiled Throne-Bearer.’]
[You have completed the 30th Floor’s Hidden Trial.]
[The throne guarded by the Guardian has lost its owner.]
[Challenger Kang Seong-un inherits the 30th Floor’s throne.]
[You have acquired authority over the Throne Toll.]
[You have acquired authority over Throne Approval.]
[Calculating Guardian clear rewards.]
[The results of your solo clear and Hidden Trial completion will be reflected in the rewards.]
The familiar messages for acquiring a throne.
But then,
[Arkelon’s dominion has vanished.]
[The restraints on the four Seal Guardians are released.]
Until now, the Guardians had sacrificed themselves to weaken Arkelon.
But because I had defeated it without their sacrifices or help, all the Seal Guardians had survived.
And that achievement led to an astonishing result.
[The 30th Floor Administrator intervenes after confirming your achievement.]
The messages calculating my rewards stopped.
A new sentence appeared above them.
[The Administrator asks.]
[Challenger, are you prepared to peer into the Tower’s deeper abyss?]
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