[Ascension Battle Request]
I was about to press that button in the menu when I stopped dead.
"If I go up to floor 61… the lockdown on floor 60 won't lift, right?"
The thought flashed through my mind for a moment.
Starting an ascension battle might count as returning from leave.
[Guardian Duty suspended for 12:58:47!]
So the most rational choice seemed to be sleeping through this safety window.
It would save me some Fatigue Recovery Potions.
My body felt heavy, too.
Way too much had happened today.
Even after dealing with the invaders, I'd spent four straight hours learning necromancy without a single proper rest.
[Title: Going to sleep first, will head out when I wake up]
I left that post on the Gallery.
And to prevent the catastrophe of last time—sleeping three days straight—I decided to set an alarm.
The method was simple.
"Can you walk one lap around this cavern?"
I had the Blood Knight walk a slow circuit and timed it.
*
About five minutes and twenty seconds.
"Let's try sleeping for around seven hours…"
I spread out everything the invaders had been carrying along with my own belongings on the floor.
"Move these items one at a time to the other side. When you've moved them all, wake me up."
I gave him instructions for what to do each lap.
Eighty items. Eighty laps would work out to roughly the right amount of time.
Next came laundry.
"Blood Command."
I swept the blood soaked into my clothes and tent clean using blood manipulation magic.
The extracted blood went into my inventory.
After that I crawled into the tent, used a snack bag as a pillow, and lay down.
Blink. Blink.
Out like a light.
*
Zzz…
Zzz…
Shake, shake.
"Huh—!"
My eyes flew open and I sat bolt upright.
The Blood Knight's gauntlet was shaking my arm.
Once I got my bearings, the first thing I checked was the time.
[Guardian Duty suspended for 12:56:47!]
"Good work…"
Impressively, he seemed to have carried out every order with zero error.
"Mmph…"
I stretched.
My body felt completely refreshed.
"Alright."
Rip—
I tore open a snack bag for breakfast and pulled up the Gallery at the same time.
Crunch, crunch—
I posted a report that I was awake.
Anon (60F) (OP): Fatigue feels like it's back to 0 so gonna try the ascension battle.
└Anon (298F): Safety window's still running, what happens when it ends?
Anon (60F) (OP): I'm a little worried too, but. "Entry to this floor will be completely restricted for 24 hours." ⟨ Going by that first message, should be fine?
└Anon (458F): Still, wouldn't it be better to just meditate and build your 2nd circle right now?
└Anon (651F): How are you gonna build a 2nd circle in 13 hours lmaooooooo
└Anon (702F): If it's her she might actually pull it off;;;
└Anon (60F) (OP): Isn't circle acquisition faster if you put more points into INT first?
└Anon (458F): That's fair.
└Anon (60F) (OP): And even if the lockdown lifts, I'm getting data either way so it's fine. I've got a guard now so I won't die meditating.
After that I closed the Gallery and pressed the [Ascension Battle Request] menu.
Rumble—
The staircase descended.
I turned to look at the Blood Knight gripping his greatsword.
It was time to test what he could actually do in a real fight.
"Follow me."
Thud. Thud. Thud.
"You don't have to march like that…"
Trudge. Trudge.
"Yeah, that's fine…"
I climbed the stairs and shoved open the door to floor 61.
At the same moment I checked the hologram panel—
[Guardian Duty suspended for 12:54:31!]
The lockdown hadn't lifted. Confirmed.
"Thank goodness."
Creeeeak—
The door swung open, revealing the cavern of floor 61.
The moment I came face to face with what filled it—
I flinched and stopped in my tracks.
[Defender: Titan Mantis (61F)]
A mantis. Obscenely, absurdly enormous. Its head nearly scraped the ceiling.
Since entering the Demon King's tower, I'd never seen anything this stupidly huge.
Kreeee—!
With a skin-crawling screech, it wheeled its body around.
The massive scythe-claws of its forelegs—ten times the size of its torso—reared up.
"Blade against blade, huh…"
A perfect test subject.
"Cut it down."
The order had barely left my mouth—
CRASH—!
The crimson knight launched off the floor.
The marble cracked beneath his feet, fracturing outward like a spiderweb.
Kreeeeek!
The Titan Mantis brought its scythe crashing down toward the charging knight.
But the Blood Knight had no intention of dodging.
The red blood-mist venting from the cross-section of his neck coiled around the greatsword's blade like a coating.
He raised the greatsword vertically with both arms—
And that enormous mantis scythe—
Shhhk—!
He split it clean in one stroke.
White blood sprayed in every direction.
KREEEEEEEEK!!!!!!
The Blood Knight then deflected the opposite scythe as the creature swung again, used the rebound to launch himself into the air—
Whoosh!
—and drove the greatsword straight down, shearing through the hard neck.
Shhhhhhrrk—!
The giant mantis's head slammed into the floor.
THUD—! RUMBLE—!
The size difference meant nothing.
[Floor 61 Titan Mantis defeated]
[Victory against the floor's guardian. You are now the owner of this floor.]
[Promotion reward: 6,000G acquired!]
[Experience gained.]
My earring glimmered.
"Rewards actually come in… even without me lifting a finger…"
The reason I hadn't leveled up was probably because my level had already risen after dealing with the invaders.
"This is genuinely incredible."
I felt like I could burst.
This was exactly the kind of satisfying, explosive combat I'd been craving.
It was like vicarious fulfillment for all the regret I had about not putting points into Strength and Agility.
"This is epic…"
Given my nature, maybe something like that suited me better than being a mage.
But my tech tree was already decided.
I shelved those thoughts and pulled up the hologram panel again.
I was about to go back to my earlier post and report the live combat test results—
"Huh…"
A devastatingly familiar username cut into my field of vision.
Death Note Grand Canon: BEGONE!!!!!!!
It was like a thunderbolt struck out loud.
Death Note Grand Canon: How dare a noble Death God of lofty standing turn her eyes toward the vulgar, lowly parlor tricks of bone-fondling!!!
└Anon (418F): lmaooo finally crawled out after 11 hours lmao
└Anon (351F): Ugh, shut up.
└Anon (439F): Guess she got caught learning necromancy lmao
└Anon (593F): Should've come sooner if you're salty lol
Death Note Grand Canon: You did very well defeating your first invaders! But before I could even properly read your posts, I saw strange messages saying you were learning necromancy!! What kind of disgraceful behavior is this!
└One Who Savors a Cup of Black Tea: Oh dear…
Death Note Grand Canon: What did you have her learn while I was away! You shameless hussy!!!
My absent teacher, Death Note Grand Canon, had crashed the thread.
He was furious.
└Death Note Grand Canon: A Death God using necromancy! There is no greater absurdity!
└Death Note Grand Canon: That vulgar strumpet knows full well what relationship exists between Death Gods and necromancy, and taught her anyway!
Is there actually a problem with a Death God learning necromancy?
I focused on what he was saying.
Death Note Grand Canon: The duty of a Death God is to separate the soul from the flesh—to guide the bones to the Death God Realm, and the spirit to the underworld!
Death Note Grand Canon: And what is necromancy? The act of making peace with souls and binding them to the flesh. In other words, it is nothing short of a forbidden act for a Death God!
"Was that how it worked?"
But what specifically is the problem?
I was hoping it was just a philosophical, feelings-based objection.
I'm not a natural Death God purist like my teacher.
I was thinking that when Floor-574 Anon's question followed.
└Anon (574F): She already made one, is that okay?
└Death Note Grand Canon: There is no harm, but it is a waste of time. It is best not to start at all.
└Death Note Grand Canon: A heretical Death God who practices necromancy may be ostracized by the Death God Realm.
└Anon (431F): Wait, you're telling her not to do it because she might get socially excluded? Sounds fine to do it then lmaooooo
└Anon (651F): Social exclusion is a serious matter though…
└Anon (359F): Wait, Death Gods can go to the Death God Realm and socialize? That's wild… so jealous.
At that point, Floor-702 Necromancer stepped in to sort things out.
└Anon (702F): Master Death Note… but the newbie absolutely had to go the necromancy route. She pulled off the necromancy ultimate technique on the first try and…
└Anon (702F): And the newbie's situation is that monsters below her floor aren't respawning, so she had to learn necromancy to set up her own guards…
└One Who Savors a Cup of Black Tea: That's right. It couldn't be helped… though I admit I had my own desires in the matter…
For some reason, a reply didn't come back immediately.
When the comment finally appeared, the tone had shifted in a subtle but distinct way.
Death Note Grand Canon: …You said the soldiers from the lower floors are no longer appearing?
└Anon (702F): Yes. Not sure why, but that's what's happening.
Death Note Grand Canon: …
Death Note Grand Canon: I know the reason.
"Huh?"
Question marks started popping up alongside my own reaction.
└Anon (381F): ?
└Anon (461F): What is it??
└Anon (381F): Oh, almost became a cold case lol
└Anon (277F): Wasn't the conclusion that the Demon King was annoyed and stopped the respawns?
└Anon (207F): What is it, I'm dying of curiosity
└Anon (574F): Hmm… seems like it's related to the Death God race.
└Anon (645F): "I know the reason" ⟨ instead of typing that, why not just say it.
└Anon (432F): fr lmao the dramatic atmosphere is so cringe.
The mysterious phenomenon—unique to my tower, unlike the experiments of the Gallery's necromancers and summoners—where monster respawns had stopped entirely.
The reason my killed monsters weren't respawning, which even Floor-574 had called a mystery.
Did my teacher, who was the same race as me, actually know?
He first said this:
Death Note Grand Canon: Do you know what the weakness of an instant-kill skill is?
└Anon (641F): Entering the Gallery of Zen Koans lmao
The weakness of an instant-kill skill.
"Getting hit first?"
That's what I thought, but it was wrong.
Death Note Grand Canon: The one and only weakness and counter to an instant-kill skill is: 'resurrection.'
Death Note Grand Canon: If the target simply comes back to life, using an instant-kill skill is meaningless.
└Anon (148F): Wait, resurrection? That's actually a thing?
└Death Note Grand Canon: There are several beings in this tower who possess the power of resurrection.
└Anon (312F): Then how do you kill those guys?
└Anon (461F): We can't, basically.
My teacher continued.
Death Note Grand Canon: However, not all Death Gods are helpless before resurrection.
└Death Note Grand Canon: There are two ways for a Death God to nullify resurrection. The first is to evolve an instant-kill skill to its ultimate form.
└Death Note Grand Canon: And the second is—
└Death Note Grand Canon: To obtain the scythe you are currently holding. The Void Scythe.
└Anon (710F): Huh?…What?
└Anon (546F): ?
└Anon (431F): Void Scythe?
└Anon (431F): Wait, she's been carrying a broken OP weapon this whole time? lmaooo
└Death Note Grand Canon: A Death Scythe imbued with the power to annihilate souls is called the Void Scythe. I do not know how you came to hold it, but there is no doubt that it is the cause.
└Anon (648F): Resurrection-nullifying scythe holy shit
└Anon (288F): Wait lmao, does the Demon King tower's monster respawn count as resurrection?
└Anon (643F): Guess the Demon King was the one resurrecting them…
"……"
The pieces snapped together all at once.
The reason necromancy hadn't worked on the two women's corpses.
The reason the monsters hadn't been respawning.
"It was because of this scythe…?"
My weapon was the counter to the counter of instant-kill skills.
It possessed 'resurrection nullification.'
Apparently, raising a corpse again through necromancy also counted as resurrection.
"This Blood Knight… I killed him with an instant-kill skill, not the scythe…"
That was why it had been the one exception that worked.
"…"
My head hurt.
I couldn't tell whether to think of this as a good thing.
└Anon (432F): But isn't this completely useless for the newbie right now lmaooo
└Anon (284F): fr, resurrection mobs only seem to show up past floor 800 lmaooo
└Anon (618F): If she wants to build a defensive line from here on, she can't kill with the scythe
That was exactly right.
For me right now, it's a double-edged sword.
The monsters need to respawn to serve as my defensive wall.
But then why was a level-1 monster carrying a late-game weapon like this…?
└Anon (574F): Ah. So the instant-kill skill wasn't a technique that cuts with the scythe? That explains everything then.
└Anon (61F) (OP): But why would someone who was level 1 be holding a scythe like this?
The reply that came back was this:
└Anon (574F): I think… you're the only one who was level 1?
└Anon (61F) (OP): ?
└Anon (574F): You started out as a named character called Gate Keeper, right? Named characters are all level 800 or above, so…
└Anon (702F): So the floor-1 mobs in our towers aren't level 1?
└Anon (574F): Seems like it?
└Anon (702F): What;;;;;;
A new hypothesis from Floor-574.
But honestly, I didn't feel much of anything about it.
Sure, it wasn't exactly pleasant to hear that I might be the only level-1 clone out of all the towers.
But I'd already grown from that state and climbed all the way to floor 61, and I wasn't the type to complain about the hand I was dealt, so I just figured that's how it was.
But.
For the Gallery users, it seemed to land as something enormous.
Reactions that were anything but ordinary followed.
Fenrir: Wait, if the level of floor 1 is different across towers, doesn't that shatter the fundamental premise that we're all parallel universes;;;
└Anon (267F): Strategy guides are toilet paper now lmaooooooo
└Anon (738F): What the hell?
"Huh?"