CHAPTER 61

061- A Good Fight is Irresistible

At a single glance, it was clear the city had undergone a major change. First, the population had exploded. People who were once a rare sight were now as common as pebbles on the ground.
Second, all hell was breaking loose on the Sky Island above the city.
KRA-KABOOOOM!
Th-th-th-thud!
Several streaks of lightning struck the island. And that wasn't all. Shards of ice scattered like hail, raining down below, and flames would rip across the sky before sizzling out.
Sometimes the entire island would shake, sending down a shower of rock dust. Occasionally, even large boulders would fall, and the people below had to dodge them on their own.
In a normal city, that alone would be a disaster, but this was Pandemonium, the 3rd Floor. There were plenty of skilled individuals here who could reflexively dodge or block a falling rock.
"Woooooooooah!"
"Waaaaaaaaaah!"
It was too far to hear clearly, but he could make out something like cheers. The fact that he could hear them, even faintly, from this distance made it impossible to imagine how loud it must be on-site.
"Master! You were still on the 3rd Floor?"
Just then, he ran into Ipril, who was entering the Moonlight Forest. She spotted Jinwoo and ran over happily.
"You've been gone for a while, so I thought you had returned to your world."
"I had to deal with a rather tricky trial."
"For it to take someone of your caliber two weeks, it must have been a very difficult trial indeed."
"It was difficult, and it was far."
He had gone all the way up to the 6th Floor, so it was incredibly far.
But more importantly, the change in the city was astonishing.
"What happened? I was only gone for about two weeks, but everything has changed so much."
"The city, you mean? Suddenly, a huge number of people from your world flooded in. It seems word of your achievements has spread far and wide."
Ipril pointed toward a spot where a large crowd had gathered. He could see them glancing his way.
No, it was more than glancing; they were staring intently at him.
"Kang Jinwoo… #@@#$@..."
"@#%@... Kang Jinwoo! #%#%"
It was a foreign language he didn't understand, but he could clearly make out his own name.
There were more than a few Hunters murmuring his name while stealing glances. Most of them were looking at him with curiosity, awe, or a competitive spirit.
Even for Jinwoo, being hit by such a wave of attention was a bit overwhelming.
"Should we head back into the forest for a bit?"
"As you wish."
Jinwoo led Ipril back into the forest. He wanted to catch up properly in a quieter place.
Fortunately, the Moonlight Forest was still a place few non-elves dared to enter.
It wasn't that the forest was exclusionary, but it had a strong reputation as the Elves' main territory. Since Elves themselves weren't a race that mixed well with others, few besides Elves visited their home base.
"My story spread to Earth?"
"I don't know the details either. But isn't being the first to bring down a temple and expel a god's authority from the 3rd Floor an achievement worthy of widespread rumors?"
"I suppose so."
Especially on Earth, with its well-developed internet, it wouldn't be strange for a rumor to spread completely in a single day.
So, did all those people come here to confirm the rumors, or were they motivated by them to visit the 3rd Floor…?
‘Well, at least it’s not something bad or a disaster.’
He had been worried that something ominous might have happened, but that didn't seem to be the case.
KABOOOOOM!
"Then what's going on up there? Why is the Sky Island like that?"
Hearing the massive explosion that echoed all the way to the Moonlight Forest, Jinwoo asked about the Sky Island, which was currently blowing up. Of course, the island itself wasn't being destroyed, but things on top of it were.
"It's because of the God of the Battlefield."
"The God of the Battlefield?"
"It seems a great number of powerful individuals from your world have gathered. I've heard there are more than ten who are comparable to Lin Shenlin."
"S-class Hunters?"
Warriors comparable to Lin Shenlin meant S-class. Had that many S-class Hunters gathered here without a city-level disaster like the one in Ireland?
"And it's not just them. There are easily dozens of warriors on my level, from the 4th Floor. With so many powerful people gathered in the city, the God of the Battlefield got excited. He started handing out Contribution Points like crazy and opened a colosseum."
That certainly sounded like something a being named the God of the Battlefield would do.

"Contribution Points are only useful on the 3rd Floor. Are they really fighting for that?"
"They're all full of vigor, aren't they? If you give them a pretext and set the stage, they're the type to jump at the chance. How could they have become masters without that kind of spirit?"
Hearing that, he had to agree. If they disliked fighting in the first place, they wouldn't have even reached A-class, let alone S-class. They would have retired long ago and started a second life with the money they'd saved.
"The God of the Battlefield is personally using his power to ensure no one dies. Well, arms and legs are flying off left and right, but there are skilled healers, so everything gets treated somehow."
"...The scale of S-class sparring matches is something else."
"This is perfect timing. Instead of just hearing about it, why don't you go see it with your own eyes, Master?"
He had just returned and had nothing to do anyway. The only thing on his to-do list was maybe visiting Kalesian.
That wasn't particularly urgent either.
‘I spent a lot of time wondering if I should tell him about the 6th Floor.’
The God of Moonlight Forest had used two Sacred Objects to open a path to the 6th Floor, and he had used it to go there and back. He had debated whether to tell Kalesian about this fact.
To get straight to the point, he had decided to hold off for now.
‘If I tell him carelessly, he might storm the Moonlight Forest's temple and throw a tantrum, or try to persuade me to go raid another temple.’
Once Kalesian learned that at least two Sacred Objects were needed, it was obvious he would target others.
The only reason Jinwoo had been able to obtain the Sacred Object from the Sky God's temple was luck. The guardian protecting it used magic based purely on the power of Erosion, which was easily dismantled by Jinwoo.
But there was no guarantee other temples would be the same. Just looking at the giant, overgrown tree that was the Sacred Object of the Moonlight Forest, he couldn't feel any power of Erosion at all.
‘Besides, if the other gods have any sense, they would have strengthened their temple defenses.’
It was unlikely that the gods who watched the fall of the Sky God's temple while munching on popcorn would just leave their own temples unattended. They must have reinforced their security to be much stronger than before.
Using stronger guardians, laying more dangerous traps in layers—there were many ways.
"Shall we go take a look?"
Anyway, there was no need to find Kalesian right away. He had plenty of time, so he could talk to him later.
When Jinwoo agreed, Ipril gestured for him to follow her and led him to a certain spot. It seemed she was looking for a way up to the Sky Island.
"Are we going to find Poldre?"
"No. There's an elevator that goes up."
An elevator?
With a puzzled look, he followed Ipril and arrived at a place with long, dangling vines.
At the bottom of the vines, which stretched all the way to the island, a giant leaf was spread out like a carpet.
"Hop on."
"Uh, okay."
Slightly bewildered by the unexpected appearance of the "elevator," Jinwoo watched as Ipril stepped onto the leaf first. When he followed, the leaf began to ascend along the vine toward the island.
"Here we are."
The Sky Island they arrived at looked very different from before.
Gone was the previous landscape of the Sky God's ruined temple and the tree roots that had seemed to swallow the debris.
Now, the site of the collapsed temple had become a stage for fighting, and the surrounding tree roots had been shaped into seats for spectators, creating a convenient place to watch the battles.
"Waaaaaaaaaah!"
"Kill him! Kill him!"
"You can't kill him because of the God of the Battlefield's blessing, you idiot!"
"Who doesn't know that? I mean fight like you're trying to kill him!"
Cheers mixed with voices from unknown sources rang out. There were foreign languages Jinwoo didn't know, and even the ones he did know were often drowned out by the massive roar of the crowd.
Jinwoo looked at them, then turned his eyes back to the seats they were sitting on. And to the vine and leaf he had just ridden.
‘There's no way this is the work of the God of the Battlefield.’
While the God of the Battlefield may have been the one to open the colosseum, shaping the island like this wasn't something he could do with his power alone.
From the moment Jinwoo brought down the Sky God's temple, it was the God of Moonlight Forest who had swallowed the out-of-control island.
In other words, this island was now the territory of the Moonlight Forest.
‘What is this? Did you help decorate this place?’
[The God of Moonlight Forest nods cautiously.]
‘You threw me into the 6th Floor, and you were doing this here?’
[I-I'm sorry. It just looked so fun…]
A voice as thin as a thread reached him. It was a voice that clearly conveyed a sense of shame.

Jinwoo sighed softly and shook his head.
‘Right. A good fight is irresistible.’
As the saying goes, watching a fire and watching a fight are the two most entertaining things in the world.
Here, you could see both. Even now, flames were erupting on the colosseum stage built from the temple ruins.

A swordsman charged through a flower of flame that bloomed to engulf the stage. The intense heat tried to penetrate and burn his skin, but it was blocked by the mana protecting his body.
A mage stood no chance against a swordsman who could charge straight through a spell head-on.
Shhhk—
The sword flashed once, and the mage's arm fell. It was the arm holding the staff. The now one-armed mage screamed and was thrown back.
"Aaaaaaargh!"
[The God of the Battlefield declares. This battle is now over.]
In other words, don't lay another hand on him.
The swordsman obediently stepped back and raised his fist, and the cheers of a victor rained down upon him.
While the swordsman basked in everyone's attention and cheers, no one paid any mind to the mage, who had lost an arm and was crawling on the ground.
"Get the injured over here, quickly."
Except for those who were there to treat the wounded.
At someone's command, two Orcs swiftly brought over a stretcher. They loaded the mage and his severed arm onto it.
The sight of Orcs performing an organized task was strange in itself, but no one here found it odd. It was a sight they had been seeing for days.
The one giving orders to the Orcs was also an Orc.
His lower tusks grew out like those of a ferocious wild boar. But contrary to that, he wore round-rimmed glasses, and in one hand, he held a thick theological book.
His attire was a priest's robe made of black cloth, though it didn't belong to any actual religious order. It was a priest-like outfit he had imagined and sewn himself.
[The God of the Battlefield commands. Heal him.]
"Leave it to me."
Vertus.
The Orc who held the #1 rank in Contribution Points for the God of the Battlefield's temple and #2 in all of Pandemonium.
- Vertus: God of the Battlefield's Contribution Points: 83,147,341
His contribution, once at 55 million, had already surpassed 80 million, as he had been healing almost every injured person in this colosseum.
Indeed, as he made the sign of the cross and chanted an incantation, the groaning mage's arm reattached, and his breathing returned to normal.
After successfully reattaching the arm, he took a potion from a sub-space pouch and forced it into the dazed mage's mouth.
"Cough, cough! Are you trying to drown me?!"
The effect was immediate; the mage coughed and woke up instantly. Of course, he was speaking a language from Earth, so Vertus didn't understand him. He probably assumed it was an expression of joy at being alive.
"You have recovered safely. You may go now."
"Huh? My arm! You fixed it? Wow, I've heard stories, but you're really skilled. This is on par with an S-class healer. An Orc with this kind of healing power?"
The mage marveled at his perfectly reattached arm, then took out payment from his inventory.
He had heard that Orcs didn't care for things like jewels but preferred food or weapons.
'He reattached my arm, so I should probably give him this much.'
He took out some high-quality food ingredients that were quite expensive even on Earth and a well-sharpened axe. Vertus accepted them gratefully without even checking them properly.
Vertus had no intention of receiving payment in the first place, but he didn't refuse what was offered.
"Thanks. The world is full of all sorts of people… no, Orcs."
The mage walked away, swinging his fully healed arm.
[A decent contribution has been made to the God of the Battlefield's Temple.]
- Vertus - God of the Battlefield's Contribution Points: 83,159,962 (↑ 12,621)
For healing him, Vertus received Contribution Points from the God of the Battlefield. Since it was just reattaching a freshly severed arm, the amount was moderate. For more severe injuries, the points would increase exponentially.
However, Vertus wasn't particularly interested in the Contribution Points either. He wasn't healing the injured here for payment or points.
Was he then volunteering out of a pure desire to care for the wounded? That wasn't it either.
‘There are certainly many strong ones here.’
As an Orc, he possessed a fighting instinct. A nature that was instinctively drawn to battle, war, and the strong.
Just watching was enjoyable. There were many powerful warriors, and among them were even stronger ones. With a feeling like gazing at a sparkling night sky, Vertus scanned the colosseum.

And then.
"It's Kang Jinwoo!"
"What? Kang Jinwoo?"
"It's really him!?"
His gaze turned toward the source of the commotion. Beyond the crowd, he saw Ipril, whom he had met a few times. With her un-elf-like muscular, Orc-like build, she was easy to recognize.
And next to her stood a single human.
He was the brightest star in this place.

"That's Vertus. He's an Orc shaman, famous for his high-level healing arts. The only reason the God of the Battlefield could open a colosseum like this is because of him, an outstanding healer."
Ipril whispered information about him into Jinwoo's ear.
Vertus. The name was familiar, though he'd only glanced at it. He was definitely the one ranked 2nd in Pandemonium's Contribution rankings.
Jinwoo's eyes were incredibly sharp as he looked at him. Even sharper than when he had looked at Lin Shenlin.
Inside that Orc named Vertus, a black flame, not a blue one, was blazing fiercely. A flame just like the Black Knight's, or the one from Ireland.