[Entering Black Tower (Germany), Floor 88.]

This was the Black Tower of Earth No. 675.

The summoner had arrived to hunt the Sand Dragon.

First, he took the Gigant out of Rajix’s subspace backpack.

GRRRRRRRRRK!

At El’s command, Gigant Unit No. 2 rose to its feet.

A sword in one hand, a shield in the other.

At the same time, a vast desert stretched out in front of the Gigant.

Behind it stood Juhyeok and the summoned entities.

“...Wow.”

They already had a perfect shot.

A colossal Gigant, sword and shield in hand, standing atop the desert sands.

It looked like the opening scene of a giant robot movie.

“So this shot actually works.”

Just wait, Sand Dragon!

Of course, they were not relying on the Gigant alone.

No matter how strong it was, it was still an 85th-floor monster.

The Sand Dragon, meanwhile, was an 88th-floor monster.

A gap of three floors.

If the two were pitted against each other head-on, the result was obvious.

But the Gigant was not unarmed.

A demonic dragon’s heart mounted in the magic sword.

A darkness-corrupted dragon heart mounted in the shield.

It was equipped with weapons made from two dragon hearts with similar attributes.

No—making weapons out of dragon hearts?

Was that even possible?

It was unprecedented across all dimensions.

Mackenzie, El, and the Mad Demon had confirmed as much.

“In Nobu’s world, a dragon heart is basically a wish-granting jewel. Making a weapon out of one? That only happens in legends, like the Monkey King’s Ruyi Jingu Bang.”

“In my world as well, there has never been a case of forging a weapon from a dragon heart. It is not only that they are precious. No one even knows how.”

“Because proper research is impossible. Who has ever even handled a dragon heart? It is not some ordinary Magic Stone.”

Among materials that contain mana, the most representative were Magic Stones.

Depending on the grade, the density, quality, and quantity of mana differed drastically.

Dragon hearts also contained mana.

You might imagine them as flesh-and-blood organs, but that was not the case.

They looked more like enormous uncut gemstones.

In that sense, dragon hearts were similar to Magic Stones.

Except the amount of mana they contained was incomparably greater than even top-grade Magic Stones.

Dragon hearts did, however, have one drawback.

As El had said, they were extremely difficult to process.

To properly draw out the mana within a dragon heart, it had to undergo multiple stages of refinement and processing—

and there were almost no people capable of doing that.

Naturally.

In any world, how many people would encounter a dragon in their lifetime?

A dragon heart, much less.

Most people would never even see one.

But among the summoned entities, there was someone who had handled a dragon heart.

The reclusive, socially anxious alchemist Aliamari.

Her background description said as much.

It stated that the elven alchemist Aliamari had been offered as a sacrifice to the ancient black dragon Cassiurus by her own people when she was young.

The ancient dragon Cassiurus died before Mari did,

and after the dragon’s death, she remained alone in the lair and continued her alchemical research.

One of the items left behind when Cassiurus died was a dragon heart.

And not just any dragon heart—

that of an ancient dragon.

How dense and powerful must its mana have been?

That was why processing dragon hearts was not especially difficult for her.

The result was the Gigant’s sword and shield.

They drew out the full latent potential of those dragon hearts.

Of course, it was not only Mari’s work.

A 9-circle archmage, Mackenzie, and the magitech engineer, Dr. El.

Mackenzie reinforced the sword and shield with enchantment magic that had already reached a high level,

and El pushed the performance of both weapons to the limit through mana circuit design.

A magitech trinity.

When those three came together, nothing was impossible.

Still do not get why this was such a big deal?

Then here was a simple comparison.

It was like installing a compact nuclear reactor—

the kind used in nuclear submarines—into a sword and a shield.

Just as a nuclear power plant generated electricity,

they could now freely and continuously draw on the immense mana of the dragon hearts.

Moreover, like radiation, demonic energy and dark aura constantly leaked from the sword and shield.

They radiated such a terrifying presence that no ordinary being could approach them.

Cursed demonic weapons that could neither be touched nor worn.

Of course, that only applied to living beings.

Because the Gigant was not a living creature, it could wield them.

Anyway—

“Let’s go! Go, go!”

THUD! THUD! THUD! THUD!

The Gigant strode deeper into the desert.

Ding!

The moment the mission appeared—

BOOM!

Gigant Unit No. 2 versus the sub-dragon Sand Dragon.

At El’s command, the curtain rose on the battle.

—Combat preparation command. Mana circuits activated. ... Switch on!

FWOOSH!

The blade of the magic sword was coated in a pitch-black aura.

At the same time—

ZIIING!

A dark crimson aura formed around the shield as well.

Demonic energy and darkness shared the same essence.

Only the way they manifested was different.

The attributes of the demonic dragon’s heart:

Destruction, violence, cruelty, mercilessness, oppression.

The attributes of the darkness-corrupted dragon heart:

Decay, corruption, pollution, weakening, confusion.

FWOOSH!

Juhyeok’s second Gigant—

the sword-and-shield warrior—charged at the Sand Dragon.

The administrators of Earth No. 675’s Black Tower watched.

[... Why the hell is that bastard here again?]

He had entered the 88th floor once before, faced the Sand Dragon,

then deleted his entry record and left.

At the time, they had felt relieved.

Ah! So this is where he finally stops.

Right. No matter how extraordinary he was, the Sand Dragon was on another level.

Among Black Tower monsters, its physical capabilities alone ranked near the very top.

Unless someone brought a nuke.

But the system had already been patched so that explosives would not trigger.

No matter how they thought about it, there did not seem to be any way to win.

And yet, the fact that he had shown up meant—

[Does he have a way to clear the Sand Dragon?]

[If he came, then he must.] 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

[What way?]

[How would I know...?]

Had he come just to test the waters?

Or had he already cleared the 88th floor on another Earth?

[What’s his level?]

[Still 88.]

Then that meant he had not cleared the 88th floor over there either.

[Looks like he’s trying to climb the upper floors here.]

[He should clear his own Earth’s Black Tower.]

[Exactly!]

[Let’s at least see how he plans to do it.]

A hologram display appeared.

After whispering among themselves—

a massive object emerged from a subspace inventory.

[... A Gigant?]

So that was what he was relying on?

[How many?]

[One.]

[... Just one?]

Was he seriously planning to clear it with a single Gigant?

If he had brought a hundred, there might at least have been a chance.

[Look. The Gigant is holding a sword and shield.]

So what?

[Do you think weapons alone will make any diff—]

Right then—

[Huh?!]

[What?]

[Is that—are you kidding me?]

The Gigant’s sword was wrapped in a black aura.

The shield as well.

A dense, oppressive dark aura.

[Don’t tell me...]

[Dragon hearts. He mounted hearts into the weapon. Into the shield too.]

[The sword’s heart is from a demonic dragon. The shield’s is from an undead bone dragon.]

[How did they do that? Was that even possible?]

[It’s almost impossible.]

[But they did it.]

[For that to work, the pinnacle techniques of multiple fields would have to be mobilized.]

[Which ones?]

[Alchemy to process the heart, enchantment magic to reinforce the weapon so it can endure the heart’s mana, and mana circuit design to distribute that power through the weapon and shield— huh?]

Looking closer—

[They have all of that.]

[They had everything.]

[So they did.]

A mage, an alchemist, and a magitech engineer—all summoned entities.

Each one a master of their field.

That was what he had been relying on.

BOOM! RUMBLE-RUMBLE-RUMBLE! THUD! THUD!

The part El had devoted the most effort to when modifying Gigant Unit No. 2 was combat mobility.

Its original combat mana circuits had been designed for unarmed fighting.

Now that it carried weapons, those circuits had to be modified.

If it was going to wield a sword, it should at least imitate swordsmanship.

And to implant swordsmanship mana circuits, advice from a swordsman familiar with actual sword forms was necessary.

Among the summoned entities, who used swords or knew sword forms?

“I never dreamed my first disciple would become a Gigant.”

“A disciple, my ass. I only input one basic form.”

“A disciple is still a disciple.”

“Then it is my disciple too. The shield-technique circuits were based on mine.”

Cossack helped input the Hartmann sword forms into the Gigant,

while Bardin handled the shield techniques.

SPOT!

The battle began.

A massive Sand Dragon burst out of the desert sands.

It was slightly larger than the Gigant.

In the past, it would have charged in recklessly, knocked the Gigant over, and mauled it at will.

ZIIING!

But the ominous aura radiating from the sword and shield made the Sand Dragon hesitate.

It realized it too.

The presence of dragon hearts.

After wavering for a moment—

“ROOOAR!”

WHIRL!

The Sand Dragon twisted its massive body like an arrow and launched a body slam.

Gigant Unit No. 2 twisted its left foot aside, narrowly avoided the charge,

then immediately smashed the Sand Dragon’s head with its shield.

BOOOOM!

“Whoa? Look at that footwork! Is that the Mad Demon’s movement technique?”

“That is correct. This venerable one contributed as well.”

“Wait, how many masters does that thing even have?”

“There was nothing for a warrior to teach.”

“Of course not. Meatshield, your role overlaps with the Gigant’s.”

“Which is why this warrior is depressed.”

Poor Meatshield.

“Don’t worry. Its fuel efficiency is terrible, so we can’t use it often.”

“That’s right. If we run the Gigant recklessly, we’ll bankrupt the household. Meatshield only needs a few slices of beef, right?”

Even the Mad Demon chimed in.

“The Gigant itself is not that strong. The truly terrifying part is the pair of weapons made from twin dragon hearts—weapons that even we cannot wield.”

A demonic sword wrapped in black aura.

A shield shrouded in dark power.

All kinds of ominous, impure forces.

Would even monsters not be affected by them?

Just getting close was enough.

Any living being, without exception.

Perhaps because of that, every time the shield came up, the Sand Dragon flinched and hesitated.

Seeing this, the summoned entities nodded.

The outcome was already clear from the first clash.

“It’ll be an overwhelming victory.”

“We can rest easy.”

“That sand lizard bastard is finished.”

“Let’s finish this quickly.”

As the battle continued, the gap in power became increasingly obvious.

The Sand Dragon sensed it too and tried to burrow back into the sand.

But Gigant Unit No. 2 did not allow that.

GRAB!

It seized the dragon’s tail and dragged it back out.

“...K-KRAAAH!”

BANG! THUD! THUD! THUD! THUD!

Blocking the Sand Dragon’s desperate attacks with its shield while counterattacking at the same time.

With each exchange, the dragon’s movements grew slower.

The curse contained in the dark aura was steadily eating away at its body.

If there had been no shield,

they probably would not have been able to push it this far.

“The shield’s effect is more than sufficient.”

And the magic sword?

“When the opening appears, we finish it.”

El issued the command.

Gigant Unit No. 2 firmly gripped the 60-meter-long greatsword in one hand.

After forcefully shoving aside the Sand Dragon’s snapping jaws with the shield—

ZIIING!

A chilling black aura gathered around the greatsword.

SHWAAAAK!

Hartmann Sword Art, First Form—unleashed from the Gigant’s hand.

“Father!!! Are you watching?! Hartmann Sword Art—Gigant-style!”

SHWAAAAK!

THUD!

The Sand Dragon’s head fell.

The terrifying base size and mass of the greatsword, the demonic energy of the dragon heart, and the attack power and cutting force amplified by enchantments and mana circuits—

[Sub-dragon Sand Dragon defeated 1/1.]

[You have successfully completed the 88th-floor mission.]

[Your level has increased.]

It was more anticlimactic than expected.

As for the reward—

[Reward: Hardened Sand Dragon Heart / 2 kg of top-grade Magic Stones.]

“Did the reward drop? Is it good?”

Hard to say whether it was good.

“Another dragon heart.”

“Another dragon heart?”

“Yes. Another dragon heart.”

It was nice that items were dropping so well.

But hardened?

When was a proper dragon heart going to drop?

And what was he supposed to do with a hardened one?

When Juhyeok glanced at Mari, who was crouched off to the side—

SCRATCH, SCRATCH, SCRATCH.

—I heard Sand Dragon hearts are normally like that. Their mana is sealed. They’re extremely difficult to process.

A Sand Dragon Heart with sealed mana.

That was probably why it could not use magic.

[World Announcement: You have achieved clear grade S+++ on Black Tower (Germany), Floor 88.]

[S+++ Clear Reward: 2 Platinum Badges have been granted.]

But the raid was not over yet.

This had only been the first run.

After exiting the tower, Juhyeok immediately decided to repeat the 88th-floor raid.

The first clear had been for the S+++ rating.

The second clear?

“Master of aerial cinematography, human drone camera roaming earth and sky, even rough footage turned into masterpieces, a staunch realist who rejects CG, an artistic soul blooming inside the Black Tower—Director of Photography Mackenzie, deploying.”

“......”

Instead of a smartphone, Mackenzie held an expensive camera mounted on an ultra-high-definition stabilized gimbal.

His face was full of pride.

As a cinematographer, not a mage.

Had he quit being a wizard?

WHOOOOSH!

Mackenzie rose into the sky to film.

Then came Rajix.

After choosing a suitable spot—

CLACK! CLACK!

“WAAH!”

With lightning-fast hands, he pulled out a makeshift tiered viewing stand assembled from parts stored in the subspace backpack.

It had all been prepared in advance.

So they could sit comfortably and watch.

A large monitor had been installed on one side as well.

Juhyeok sat down in the viewing stand.

The other summoned entities followed and took their seats.

“Dimensional farmhand, caramel popcorn and cola, please.”

“This maiden would like butter-grilled squid.”

“This warrior will grill meat over there.”

“You brought chicken too, right?”

“No soju or beer?”

“The cooler should be packed full.”

“WAAH!”

“This old man shall enjoy a refreshing drink.”

All preparations were complete.

Ready to watch, eat, and enjoy.

The second repeat raid began.

The Gigant advanced with sword and shield.

The battle began.

BANG! THUD! THUD! THUD!

With the shield alone, the reliable Unit No. 2 was already driving the Sand Dragon into a corner.

“Good job!!!”

“Hmmm, as expected of a Gigant—the transitions between movements aren’t smooth.”

“That’s still respectable. Pour me another somaek.”

“Don’t you have hands? Or feet?”

“I’m a lightweight, so I don’t drink. Boss Summoner’s glass is empty.”

“Oh dear, that won’t do.”

“Master, have some side dishes too. I’ll feed you. Ah! /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ Say ah—”

“You wench! How many times have I told you not to use skills!”

“...To you, everything is a skill.”

“The shield techniques are fairly satisfactory.”

“Of course. They are the Lesseal Holy Knight shield techniques.”

“Dr. El, please don’t finish it too quickly.”

“I’ll try to drag it out as much as possible.”

They needed the footage to be as long as possible.

There had to be enough material to release it publicly.

But they could not drag it out too much either.

Damn summoners.

What in the world were they doing?

This was humiliation.

They were being toyed with.

[This is absurd.]

[These bastards...]

Was this a picnic?

At some point, the summoner had even set up a viewing stand, sitting there drinking and eating while chatting.

[How arrogant!]

[Just how lightly do they take us?!]

To top it off, that mage bastard was filming the Gigant-versus-Sand Dragon fight with a camera.

Rage welled up.

Was tower climbing a joke?

It could not be.

It must not be.

And yet, to that man, it seemed to be nothing more than a game.

After laughing and chatting for a long while, and clearing the Sand Dragon once again,

only then did he pack up and leave.

[... It seems we need to prepare countermeasures.]

[What about the 89th floor? Did you sign a contract?]

[We did. It’s adapting right now.]

Originally, the demonic dragon Karatos had overseen the 89th floor.

Now its heart was embedded in that Gigant’s sword.

But they had managed to contract a new dragon in time.

As the new supervisor of the 89th floor.

[A demonic dragon?]

[Not fully. It’s in the process of becoming one.]

[Original attribute?]

[Green.]

Then they needed to summon the 89th floor’s free-contract dragon to the control room and explain the summoner in detail.

They had mentioned him during the contract, but still.

Right then—

[Huh?]

[What?]

[He climbed to the 89th floor immediately.]

[What?!]

Right after exiting?

[... You told the new 89th-floor free-contract dragon about the demonic sword and dark shield, right?]

[There was no time. We only just learned about it ourselves.]

Once someone entered the tower, intervention was against the rules.

[Damn it!]

Suspiciously diligent bastard.

Doesn’t he know what a break is?