<h4>Chapter 42: My Time (3)</h4>


    When the seemingly endless battles were finally over, the ck Witch, the Sword Star, and I finally arrived at the thirteenth floor.


    <i>Even the number is ominous. Thirteen.</i>


    Ominous or not, the ce had an extraordinary presence.


    As soon as we were teleported to the stage, twopletely different voices greeted us. One was happy, and one was dreadfully miserable.


    <strong>[Wee, Death King.]</strong>


    The happy voice spoke first. The Tower no longer called me “Hunter Kim Gong-Ja”. I was now officially recognized and weed as a legitimate resident of the Tower. Was I too simple if a small thing like this made me happy?


    <i>—Arghhhhhh! I won’t forgive you!</i>


    The voice that followed was a piercing scream.


    <i>—How dare you! My children! I took those children under my wings, and you took them from me! You mock me. You deceived me! Are you going to take away my flesh, my blood, and my soul now?</i>


    The person the voice belonged to was riddled with holes and leaked wastewater everywhere—it was the Demon King, the master of red nightmares.


    <i>—I curse you!</i> the Demon King screeched, her head thrown back. The roiling wastewater—the Demon King’s ck blood—showed her pain. She looked worse than when she had fled from the twelfth floor.


    <i>—I curse you! I curse this world! I curse everything that is not me! If the world wishes to get rid of me, I’ll devour the world instead! Your oceans will be my bile, and your ground will be my flesh! Your flesh! Your bones! Your hearts! Your intestines! I’ll swallow them all!</i>


    “<i>Urgh...</i>” The ck Witch groaned. That was how powerful the Demon King’s murderous scream was.


    Even the Sword Star took a step back and gripped his sword more tightly.


    “What an awful noise,” he mumbled. “I’ve never heard a voice like that. It’s like they have thousands of mouths.”


    “You can say that again. Why is the Demon King screaming like that...?”


    The Sword Star and ck Witch drew up their aura and covered themselves. The screaming was so powerful that it managed to overwhelm them even if it had been just for a split second. Only one person, my Guardian, was unfazed—as usual.


    <i>—Huh? What? She’s weaker than before. </i>The Guardian tilted his head.


    <i>What? </i>I asked.


    <i>—That guy is a lot weaker than when you fought her on thest floor.</i>


    A lot weaker? I carefully reexamined the Demon King.


    <i>...The Demon King is weakened?</i>


    <i>—Yup. </i>The Guardian frowned. <i>That Witch woman gave her a good beating with her aura, so of course she’s injured. But she isn’t just injured... Her ss is lower.</i>


    <i>ss?</i>


    <i>—Hmm. How should I say this? For example... </i>The Guardian carefully picked his next words. <i>...Okay. I’llpare that guy to a Goblin King. On the twelfth floor, that guy was a ss SSS Goblin King. You could say that that guy was a mix of Alexander, Arthur, and a goblin.</i>


    <i>Your analogies are getting more unique every day. When did you learn about Alexander the Great and King Arthur?</i>


    <i>—An emperor never stops learning. That’s how you be an emperor and stay one.</i>


    <i>Yeah, yeah. Mr. Sword Emperor.</i> <i>So the Demon King was a ss SSS Goblin King on the twelfth floor...</i>


    <i>—Yeah, and now she’s just a Goblin King. I’m not talking about the Goblin King who led the Demon King’s army on the eleventh floor—do you remember the weakened Goblin King you only managed to kill by Et-tu-Brute-ing?</i>


    In the Tower’s time, it had happened not too long ago, but it was a nostalgic memory for me now.


    <i>—Huh! Real weird! The higher you go, the stronger the boss monster is, normally, so what happened to that guy? Does the Witch woman’s aura grillinge with a level-down effect? </i>The Guardian kept tilting his head in confusion.


    I looked around the devastated temple we found ourselves in. In the center, the Demon King was still screaming at the sky like a lion who had been ambushed. It made me think.


    <i>...Did the stage change and the Demon King didn’t see iting?</i>


    <strong>[Calcting the reward for clearing the twelfth floor...] </strong>


    <strong>[Unable toplete the calction!]</strong>


    <strong>[The Hidden Quest <i>The Hero of the Paused World </i>is currently active.]</strong>


    <strong>[The calction will bepleted after clearing the neenth floor.]</strong>


    <strong>[Only an unofficial reward is given.]</strong>


    <strong>[The God of War’s blessing has been enhanced!]</strong>


    <strong>[You now have the entire map of the Tower from the eleventh to the twentieth floors.]</strong>


    A translucent mapy in front of me. It waspletely different from the map I had seen until now—all that had been was a mini-map that showed me one floor at a time. Now I had a full view of this world.


    As soon as Iid eyes on the world map, I understood.


    “I get it now!”


    “Huh?”


    The ck Witch and Sword Star looked back at me. The witch was confused while the Sword Star’s expression was brusque.


    “You get... what?” she asked.


    “I get why the Demon King is acting like that. Remember the previous stage, ck Dragon Master. The history of the Demon King’s invasion of the capital is gone. The city ispletely different, and there isn’t even a refugee camp.”


    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    “So...?”


    “Think about it! Where would the refugees havee from? They were from all over the empire—no, the entire continent. But all the refugee camps are gone.”


    The ck Witch seemed to finally realize something.


    “...Ah, I see.” Her eyes narrowed. “It isn’t just about the empire. The refugees from the rest of the world are gone... “


    I nodded. “Yes, the entire continent has changed. At this point, the Demon King hasn’t invaded yet! Right now, we’re at the point where this temple is under attack!”


    Yes, that was it. It became clear after seeing the world map. This continent was divided into east and west by a mountain range so vast and tall that even a bird had to risk its life to cross it.


    However, in the middle of the mountain range, there was a region where the mountains became thin and low. It acted as a sort of gate controlling travel between the east and west sides of the continent. The temple we found ourselves in sat in that pass. It had a long history replete with legends. I wouldn’t even be able to guess the depth of the story behind this temple’s heavily fortified walls.


    Those fortifications were what made it a temple. This temple was the goddess’s shield. Behind it, to the east, were the ins where the smaller countries were located. Beyond them was the empire. Past the empire there was only the ocean, so the empire’s borders started from one horizon and ended at the other. Thend of humans was very lively.


    In contrast, the west, outside of the goddess’s shield, was red. This was the Demon King’s dominion. She had destroyed the shield and forced her way into the east. That was how she had devoured the empire and the other countries until the humans had been pushed all the way to the ocean.


    That was what would have happened if history had gone as it was supposed to be.


    <i>This is what History Reformation is!</i>


    I understood that this world’s time had been rewinded. Perhaps the correct name for History Reformation was History Rewind.


    <i>—Arghhhhhhhh!</i>


    Yes, I perfectly understood the emotions behind Demon King’s desperate cry and what the Sword Emperor meant about her ss.


    <i>Her level went down,</i> I muttered.


    <i>—Huh? </i>The Guardian furrowed his brows. <i>Her level?</i>


    <i>Mr. Sword Emperor, do you remember the messages Hunters hear when they level up?</i>


    Hunters heard messages of fixed formats every time they became stronger.


    <strong><i>[Your presence has be stronger.]</i></strong>


    <strong><i>[Your level has increased.]</i></strong>


    It looked like the Guardian also remembered receiving the same messages.


    <i>—Are you talking about the message about your presence or something?</i>


    <i>Yes, that one!</i>


    I understood the part about my level going up, but I had no idea what “Your presence has be stronger” meant and just thought the Tower was being pretentious... Looking at the Demon King made me realize.


    “The boss monster probably became stronger by killing countless people from both the empire and refugees. Every action, hunt, and massacre the Demon King’s done until now... was erased, and so was her growth.”


    That was why her presence was growing faint. I had changed the entire history of the twelfth floor and endured countless battles to weave my seconds together. That was how a weave of the Demon King’s second was undone.


    <i>—Arghhhhhhhh!</i>


    <strong>[The Demon King of Autumn Rain is furious.]</strong>


    <strong>[The Demon King of Autumn Rain’s presence has weakened.]</strong>


    The voice affirmed my conclusion.


    <i>—You...! </i>the Demon King growled. The bloodlust in her voice was no less intense than it had been before. However, no Hunter was overwhelmed by it any longer; the ck Witch, the Sword Star, and I red right at the Demon King.


    “Let’s go. It’s time tounch a counterattack,” I said.


    ***


    <i>—Monsters! My children!</i>


    The Demon King’s body popped and spat.


    Monsters appeared from the devastated ruins of the temple in response to the Demon King’s cry. They hadn’t been summoned, so I assumed that these monsters had been on the thirteenth floor from the beginning.


    There were thousands of growling zombies shambling toward us with their eyes lolling in their sockets. Many of them seemed to be from this temple; although several zombies wore the clothing of merchants, some zombies were wearing priestly garments. I also saw multiple zombies in pdin uniforms.


    <i>—Kill them! </i>the Demon King yelled.


    The horde of zombies closed in on me and the others.


    The ck Witch let out a sigh. “I’ve never been a fan of zombie movies...”


    “I’m not a fan either.”


    “Do you think you can do this, Death King?”


    “It’s not the matter of whether or not I can do it.” I hefted my sword. “I will win.”