Chapter 277: Blood Tax.
Chapter 277: Blood Tax.
Chapter 277: Blood Tax.
Just then, a notification screen appeared before Kael.
---
[FLOOR 21: HELL DIFFICULTY]
[Rule: Everything that dies here leaves behind a Blood Tax that the killer collects.]
[Mission: Endurance]
[Objective: Survive as many beast waves as possible.]
[Pass Condition: Clear a minimum of 50 waves.]
[Note: After each beast wave, the Blood Store will open for a short period of time. During this period, the challenger may use the collected Blood Tax, in the form of Blood Crystals, to purchase items from the Blood Store.]
---
Kael stared at the trial details for a moment before dismissing the screen.
"Well, this works."
He had come here specifically to test the new effect of Void Absorption. It would have been quite a bummer if the Tower had decided to give him a trial with no beasts or opponents to fight. Fortunately, that didn’t seem to be a problem this time.
An endurance trial against endless waves of monsters was practically perfect.
His gaze shifted slightly as he thought about the rules.
"The Blood Tax..."
Kael wondered whether his Infinite Reward Multiplier would affect it. If it did, then this trial might turn out to be far more profitable than he expected.
Then there was the Blood Store.
He had no idea what kind of items could be purchased from it, but considering this was the Tower’s Hell Difficulty, there was a good chance that the rewards wouldn’t be ordinary.
Before he could think any further, the ground in the distance suddenly began to tremble.
Kael’s eyes shifted toward the source of the disturbance.
The first wave had begun.
Figures started materializing across the crimson landscape. One after another, monsters appeared until the distant field was filled with a chaotic collection of beasts. There were roughly fifty of them, but they weren’t a single species. Wolf-like creatures, massive four-legged beasts, reptilian monsters, insectoid creatures, and several other unfamiliar species formed a disorganized horde.
The moment the final monster materialized, they all charged.
The ground shook beneath the combined weight of their bodies as the horde rushed toward Kael.
Kael clenched his fist.
A smile slowly appeared on his face.
"Let’s do this."
His foot slammed against the ground.
Kael shot forward.
The distance between him and the approaching horde disappeared in an instant. By the time the first beast had opened its jaws to attack, Kael was already among them.
His fist crashed into its head.
BOOM!
The monster’s body exploded backward, taking several others with it.
Kael didn’t stop there. He continued unleashing destruction on the beasts, his fists moving again and again. Every punch created another violent explosion as monstrous bodies were sent flying through the air. Claws missed him by mere inches, teeth snapped at empty space, but Kael tore through the horde with overwhelming speed and precision.
There was no need for elaborate techniques.
His physical strength alone was more than enough.
One punch shattered a skull.
Another tore through a torso.
A sweeping kick sent several beasts crashing into one another before Kael appeared in the middle of them and continued his assault.
The entire exchange lasted only a few seconds.
Then silence returned.
Fifty monsters had been reduced to a field of dismembered corpses.
Kael stood in the middle of the carnage, barely breathing harder than before.
He looked around at the remains scattered across the red earth.
"Well, that was something."
A notification appeared.
[First Wave Cleared.]
[You’ve gained x250 Blood Crystals]
[Infinite Reward Multiplier — Activated!]
[Multiplier: x80]
[Reward Adjusted:]
[Blood Crystals: 20,000]
[Time Until Next Wave: 00:30]
[The Blood Store is now open.]
Kael stared at the timer.
"Thirty seconds?"
He couldn’t help but sigh.
Thirty seconds of rest after fighting fifty monsters.
Granted, the first wave had consisted mostly of weaker creatures, so the short interval wasn’t much of a problem right now. However, Kael had fought enough Tower trials to know how these things worked.
The waves would become stronger.
Fifty monsters would eventually become fifty monsters that were significantly stronger than the previous wave. Then the number might increase as well.
At that point, what good would thirty seconds of rest actually be?
"Just as unreasonable as always."
Kael shook his head before another notification caught his attention.
---
[Monster Essence Integrated ×50]
[+50 Corpse Fragments Obtained.]
---
Kael stared at the notification.
Then a smile slowly spread across his face.
"This is awesome."
He had been waiting for this. Kael immediately raised one hand, and fifty Corpse Fragments appeared above his palm.
They were small, shadowy fragments that seemed almost alive as they floated through the air, slowly rotating around one another. Each fragment carried a strange feeling that Kael could sense even without touching them.
He stared at them for a moment.
"So, what should I do with these?"
The answer was obvious. After all, he’d already decided to try the weapon creation route.
Kael remembered the description of Void Absorption. It said he could use the fragments as material to craft an item shaped by the user’s imagination and will.
He looked at the fragments, wondering how to actually do that. There was no instruction beyond that.
Did he simply need to imagine what he wanted?
Kael decided to find out. He closed his eyes for a moment and pictured a spear, not trying to imagine every individual component or describe its construction in his mind, just the weapon itself, whole and complete.
The change happened immediately.
The fifty Corpse Fragments suddenly dissolved into darkness.
The shadows twisted around one another, flowing together as though they had become liquid. They compressed, expanded, and then compressed again while the mass of shadow continued changing shape according to Kael’s thoughts.
The process lasted only a few moments.
Then the darkness disappeared, and a spear remained floating above his hand.
Kael’s eyes widened slightly. He reached out and grabbed it.
It was nothing like what he had expected.
The Corpse Fragments had looked like condensed pieces of shadow, so Kael had naturally assumed the resulting weapon would have a similar appearance.
Instead, the spear was silver.
Its polished surface reflected the crimson light of the surrounding world, giving the weapon an almost unnatural brilliance against the blood-red landscape. The spearhead itself was a fiery red, while intricate red and blue patterns had been etched along the shaft and around the base of the blade.
Kael slowly turned it in his hand.
The weapon was beautiful.
Possibly the most beautiful spear he had ever seen.
Then again, Kael suspected he might have been slightly biased.
It was his own creation, after all.
Still, beauty wasn’t what mattered.
A weapon could look magnificent and still be completely useless in actual combat.
Kael tightened his grip around the shaft.
His smile faded slightly as his attention shifted toward the spearhead.
"Let’s see what you can do."