CHAPTER 286: ANTAGONIST OF EARTH (31)

For a while, the 39th Floor’s cavern was quiet.

Out of the three remaining human lives present within, just two were visible.

That is because the third, namely Anders, had already made himself invisible a long time ago. Rather, he was like that for the majority, and only revealed himself when interacting with others, such as when he blocked the otherwise fatal strike towards Sophie.

Speaking of which, she...

"..."

Was still sitting on the ground, absentmindedly staring into space, her dry lips just barely stuck apart.

In the background, the convulsive death throes of the Infected Yeti continued.

And, before long.

[Floor Cleared]

[Obtained Token of Proven Worth (x1)]

It simply ceased.

Following, a distorted voice slowly resounded in the chamber.

Before him was surely the limp, headless corpse of John Pierce.

"Go home and don’t return."

The meaning was simple.

Leaving just that single message behind, the masked villain internally muttered something, his figure promptly vanishing from the Floor entirely.

Never to return.

❖─────☆☆☆☆☆─────❖

The next day, a global uproar occurred.

Across countless news media outlets, both small and large, independent and corporate, they all shared one headline in particular this day.

[Breaking News--!!]

[Breaking News--]

[Breaking News--!]

[Breaking News--!?]

―――That is, of course, to shake the world, news of John Pierce’s death.

Naturally, it wasn’t just the television media discussing this dreadful event, but all kinds of online forums and social media platforms, too.

[What the fu*k is going on.. | 2.1m views]

[I cried ten hours today... | 76k likes]

[Petition for government to find and publicly execute the demon | 3.3m / 100k signs]

[John Pierce’s Death: Hoax or Truth? | 308k views]

To call it being treated as an international catastrophe would be putting it lightly.

Within less than twenty-four hours, all of this chaos ensued.

"All due to one sick fuck..."

In one particular household, a gathering had taken place, all to do something as unproductive as watching this breaking news together.

"Mia, don’t say that."

"What? Luke, am I wrong? Some bastard like this, coming out of nowhere and speaking so arrogantly... Who the hell does he think he is? Just a sick murderer!"

...Or perhaps, rather, to be inflamed.

In any case, because the news was just so widespread and blown up, it was impossible to surf any sort of media site without being reminded of the tragedy, for one, and secondly, to avoid a certain clip taken from a live broadcast.

The contents of said clip were quite simple.

[John Pierce is dead. I have killed him.]

――The self-proclaimed murderer of John Pierce, an eerily-dressed, masked man, spoke directly to the camera, having intruded on no particular news outlet’s live broadcast being streamed at the base of the Tower.

With no introduction, that individual, unidentifiable whether through voice or physicality, was quite curt with his message.

[All Challengers. Cease your climb of the Tower immediately.]

[Ignore me and match his fate.]

Those exceedingly short sentences were all he left behind before abruptly disappearing on the spot, seemingly having teleported away as if using the same magic the Tower itself used.

Naturally, the uproar came primarily from this message, as well as the disturbing reality that the masked individual’s words were verified.

To be precise, at some point after the sudden interruption of the broadcast, John Pierce’s severed head was discovered in the middle of the Tower’s Entrance, abandoned cruelly on what was effectively its front doorstep.

From an ordinary person’s perspective, it could be described as no less than horrific.

"Seriously, what is that guy thinking?! Is he seriously insane? What kind of human being...! Gah!! It frustrates me to no end, these types of people!"

"Mia... You’re not necessarily wrong, but let’s try and calm down a bit."

Again, a young woman and her partner conversed.

"Tch. What does everyone else think, then? You can’t tell me I’m the only one seeing how crazy this is, right?"

Perhaps unable to restrain herself, the former then turned to the rest of the gathered friends sitting in their respective places around the room, for validation, for affirmation, or otherwise.

"O-oh, no, I agree... It’s really awful..."

"See?! Harriet agrees! Sami, Ella, what about you guys?"

"Uh... Yeah, I guess it’s pretty crazy. I don’t really know what to say..."

"..."

Moving her attention to the last person to speak up on the matter, a girl who was undoubtedly beautiful with her hair and eyes an otherworldly white, Mia tilted her head.

"Ella? Hello~, you there?"

"...Hm?"

Such a belated response.

"Are you okay? You’ve just been staring at the screen the whole time. Do you want a drink?"

"Oh, no. I’m fine. Thank you."

"...You sure?"

"Yes. I was just thinking... That person..."

Whether consciously or subconsciously, her gaze returned to the wide television screen as she muttered.

"Huh? What about him? He’s super creepy, right? Dressing up like a villain from a kid’s show or something. Just weird. Ugh..."

Shaking her whole body as if inflicted with a sudden bout of chills, Mia then took a swig of her drink, following it up.

"I swear, if I was a Challenger, I’d beat him up and turn him in. In fact, I might just become one just to spite him--"

"Alright, let’s stop right there. You’re not doing that. You’re not even Awakened."

Cut off by the stern words of her partner, she could only pretend to pout.

From there, it was practically already forgotten that Ella was about to say something strange. Of course, she wouldn’t remind them.

"..."

In the first place, her focus was already nonexistent, her eyes mysteriously glued to the screen before her, staring nigh-endlessly at that paused picture of the infamous stranger’s mask.

It was flat, black, and dull. Excessively simple, with only two holes for eyes, each filled with a chilling red glow.

And she wasn’t the only one.

Studying that explicitly villainous visage far too closely, in a highly-luxurious presidential suite, two seemingly young women bore expressions of significant displeasure.

Shatter~!

"...It’s him. I know it."

One of them, a taller, frankly breathtaking girl, donning an exquisite dress of deep purple, crushed the overly-expensive wine glass held in her hand at her quiet fury, accidentally spilling whatever liquid was contained inside all down the front of herself alongside countless shards of glass.

Unperturbed by the incident, her long, same-coloured hair began to rise up as if magnetised, but only due to the sheer intensity of the magic energy emanating from her.

Combined with that face of pure wrath, the spiralling, ridged horns protruding from her head gave the impression of a devil.

Although, maybe her true identity was even scarier than that.

"We go right away?"

Beside her, a girl with crude language skills followed up. With long, perfectly golden and slightly curly hair, as well as two floppy dog ears sticking out of her head, she appeared more like a golden retriever.

Her expression too was uncharacteristically severe.

"...We can’t. That person is too far away now."

"Mmph...! I want to... avenge Master!"

Letting out a brief whimper, her fluffy golden tail thumping against the back of the long seat the two sat on, Cassia turned to her companion with pleading eyes, earning only a regretful sigh.

"Don’t forget, we have lots of support here. Even if I cannot sense it directly, I can see the way that person’s magic energy flows around their body. It is corrupt. That evil man uses the same power as the Demon King and hid it from us to kill Master...!"

"Ryoko, what do we do! I want to go now! Let’s go!"

"..."

Gritting her teeth and contemplating for a few moments, the dragon girl abruptly stood up, raising her voice to call out to the men in black suits standing by the entrance of the suite.

"Call that man, the one who brought us here! Tell him I shall accept his deal... and that the one he wants to capture is also our target."

In such a manner, various people around the world began to move, all due to the actions of one person.

Someone who was a friend.

Someone who was a helpful stranger.

Someone who was a mysterious murderer.

Someone who was to be hunted, to satisfy a vengeance.

The man, who was many things to many people, instantly became the spotlight of all the world.

Possessing the same, corrupt magic energy of another world’s most despised villain, the tale was swiftly passed on through its transdimensional inhabitants, and accordingly, that person inherited his fabled title.

A name fitting the newfound enemy of the world.

The Demon King.

From this point on, Earth’s official Antagonist.

---

Vol 2 END - [Tower]