Chapter 195: Summoning Circle of Greed (2)

Once again, a message rang out for all of humanity to hear.

Person123 was telling everyone to claim the two-level reward.

Everyone was bewildered.

He had always warned them in no uncertain terms against giving in to the Tower's temptations, yet now he was telling them to do the exact opposite.

[Dragon Tamer: What the hell is going on? I didn't hear that wrong, did I?]

[Hell: Why's he telling us to claim the reward...? Is he going to let everyone take it first, then use his Nullification Right?]

[Ice: Doesn't seem like it. He said he'd deal with the boss himself]

[Starting Point: Is that even possible? If everyone takes the reward, the boss will be level 1,000...]

[Matthew: Did you already forget what you saw during the Great Invasion?]

[Hihahihaho: Whatever's going on, he's telling us to claim it because it'll be fine. You really think Person123 would make a choice that could hurt humanity even a little?]

[Jin: All we have to do is listen to Person123, so why is everyone making such a fuss? Two free levels, hell yeah lol]

The two-level reward had already been hard enough for the Climbers to resist.

With his go-ahead, they began claiming it in droves, sending the acceptance rate soaring.

Of course, a few people remained cautious.

[Bari: But are we absolutely sure that was really Person123?]

[Earth: I can't see Person123 risking the world even a little just to get everyone two levels... This is the complete opposite of everything he's done so far. Is he planning to use his Nullification Right if anything goes wrong?]

[Boomerang: Any chance this is the Tower impersonating Person123 and pulling some shady shit? That'd be creepy as hell;]

Some even suspected that the voice was part of a scheme by the Tower to impersonate Person123.

After all, this was nothing like the Person123 they knew.

But those suspicions were soon put to rest.

[Person123: Everyone, please claim the reward.]

Person123 had followed up with a post in the Communication Channel.

That confirmed beyond doubt that the voice really had been his.

And if the Tower could tamper with the Communication Channel too, there was no point debating any of this to begin with.

[Tower999F: It's official! No doubt about it! A revelation from Him!]

[Music: It's really okay to take it, right? I'm claiming mine, okay?]

[Fwoosh: Hell yeah! I just gained two levels!]

[Tony: Thank you, God of Humanity T_T Our glorious god, the GOAT, the light of our lives]

In the end, the rest began claiming the reward too.

Climbers who had reached the 2nd floor or higher were celebrating their windfall.

The wider public, however, remained anxious and concerned.

Of course they trusted him. This was Person123 telling them to do it, after all... but would everything really be all right?

Governments around the world watched the situation unfold with their nerves on edge.

Naturally, the Australian government was the most anxious of all. It was their country on the line.

Australia's prime minister and senior government and military officials watched the live feed in the situation room.

The tension was plain on their faces.

They knew the Savior of Humanity must have a plan, but the thought of facing an unknown level 1,000 threat still weighed heavily on them...

[Time remaining to choose: 59 seconds]

Their expressions grew grimmer as the seconds ticked away.

With almost no time left, Person123 still hadn't appeared at the site of the summoning circle.

Then, at last, time ran out.

[Current percentage: 99%]

The percentage of people who claimed the reward stopped at 99%, just short of 100%.

Of course, the difference between 99 and 100 hardly mattered.

[Selection has ended.]

[A level 990 boss will be summoned from the Summoning Circle of Greed.]

The Great Victoria Desert.

Whoooooosh-!

As the message appeared, the summoning circle in the middle of the desert began to blaze with light.

It glowed an ominous blood-red, as though a demon were being summoned from hell itself.

That wasn't the only thing that changed.

“...!”

The summoning circle, originally only a few dozen meters across, began to expand.

It kept growing, seemingly without end, as though it would cover the entire desert.

The military helicopters and fighter jets overhead raced to get clear of the expanding circle.

Only when it had reached the staggering diameter of several dozen kilometers did it stop growing.

And then...

A hand burst out of the summoning circle.

It was a black hand the size of a mountain.

“...What the.”

That was no exaggeration. The hand truly was as big as a mountain.

One of the fighter pilots muttered in a trembling voice at the sight. It was so surreal that it seemed to defy reality itself.

A second hand soon emerged.

Boooooom...!

The two hands emerging from the circle planted themselves against the desert floor, as though something were climbing out of a hole. The ground heaved, and a raging sandstorm swept outward.

The rest of the creature slowly came into view.

It was a giant.

No, it was something so vast that calling it a giant barely began to describe it.

When it had fully emerged from the summoning circle and stood upright, its head reached past the clouds into the stratosphere.

- ...Th-the boss... has just... emerged from the summoning circle...

The scene was being broadcast live.

The ashen-faced news anchor could barely get the words out.

Everyone watching the broadcast was equally dumbstruck.

Some Australians could even see the monstrous creature from cities an enormous distance away.

Even the Communication Channel fell silent for a moment.

What... the hell was that?

It was so immense that the mind simply refused to take it in.

It was hundreds, even thousands of times larger than the giant Dimensional Rift from the Great Invasion...

The level 990 boss was nothing short of a cosmic horror.

“...H-hurry...”

Someone watching TV muttered without even realizing it, terrified.

Even Person123 couldn't handle this.

Humanity stood no chance against that monster. Earth was going to be destroyed.

He had to hurry and use his Nullification Right to cancel the rule...

Crrrrraaack-

That was when it happened.

Something suddenly appeared down the middle of the boss's body.

It was a single vertical line.

Then the boss's body split cleanly in half along that line, all in an instant.

“...!!”

The two halves began to topple in opposite directions.

Ruuuuuuumble...

That colossal body, far larger than Mount Everest, never made it all the way to the ground.

Before it could, the boss's remains slowly disintegrated and drifted away into nothingness.

[The boss monster has died.]

[The ‘Summoning Circle of Greed’ has ended.]

The messages appeared.

The boss had died the moment it was summoned.

The world fell silent.

For a few moments, no one could understand what had just happened.

Then the silence broke.

...WOOOOOOOOOO-!!

Thunderous cheers erupted all across the world.

“I-it's over! It's over!”

Even Australia's prime minister, who had looked on the verge of collapse moments earlier, finally let out a shaky breath.

Person123 really had defeated the boss.

He had defeated a level 990 boss, a monster so enormous it defied belief.

And he had done it in a single instant.

The prime minister was ashamed of ever having doubted Person123.

“My God...”

It wasn't a sigh of relief. In that moment, it was pure reverence, directed at one being alone.

Person123 truly was the God of Humanity.

[Electricity: Person123! Person123! Person123! Person123! Person123! Person123! Person123! Person123! Person123! Person123!...]

[Person321: What was that? How is that even possible? Lmaooooooo]

[Emperor Penguin: What do you mean? That's our god]

[Toddy: But Person123 didn't even show up? How did he kill it??]

[Prrr: He must've executed the boss remotely, holy shit. He can send messages to all of humanity, so why couldn't he do that too?]

[Leopard Cat: A god... He's really a god...]

[Person321: Everyone, join the Person123 Church. Worship Him, revere Him, praise Him]

The whole world was swept up in ecstatic reverence for a single being.

And so the 18th-floor rule came to an end, as anticlimactic as it was awe-inspiring.

*

I had broadcast an announcement telling everyone to claim the reward.

I also made a separate post in the Communication Channel.

[Person123: Everyone, please claim the reward.]

There were still a few people with doubts, after all.

They were being cautious and refusing to trust the Tower. That was exactly the right attitude.

But it really was me, so everyone could relax and claim the reward.

“I'll be back.”

After letting my family know, I headed to the site where the summoning circle had appeared.

It was in an Australian desert.

I warped there with Concealment active and waited for the countdown to end.

[Current percentage: 99%]

[Selection has ended.]

The acceptance rate stopped at 99%, just shy of 100%.

Some people had probably still been too nervous to accept despite my reassurance, while others must have turned it down early on.

Anyway.

[A level 990 boss will be summoned from the Summoning Circle of Greed.]

So the boss ended up at level 990.

As the message appeared, the summoning circle began to change.

Whoooooosh-

The circle expanded, blazing with light.

...Hang on, isn't this getting a little too big?

It grew so large that it might as well have covered the entire desert.

I used Air Walk to climb into the sky, one light step at a time.

Booooooom-

Soon, a hand the size of a mountain burst from the circle and planted itself against the desert floor.

Whoa...

What is that thing?

When the level 990 boss finally emerged in full, its size was staggering.

It was a giant so ridiculously, impossibly huge that its head towered far above the clouds.

I'd expected something out of the ordinary from a level 1,000 boss, or rather, level 990...

It was so much bigger than anything I'd imagined that I let out a disbelieving laugh.

That was the only reaction it got out of me, though.

I stopped time.

“Time to deal with this.”

I couldn't sense any Divinity from the boss.

Sure enough, it seemed that no matter how high the level got, the circle wasn't going to summon a god with Divinity.

As far as I was concerned, it was just a ridiculously huge hunk of meat.

I took out the God-Slaying Sword and infused it with Divinity.

Then I rose until I was level with the boss's head...

...Shhhhhhhhk!

I descended toward the ground, cutting straight down through the boss with the Divinity-infused God-Slaying Sword.

The cut ran all the way from the crown of its head to its crotch.

Then I let time resume.

The boss's body split cleanly in two. It was over.

The two halves started to topple, then vanished completely before they hit the ground.

[The boss monster has died.]

[The ‘Summoning Circle of Greed’ has ended.]

Once the message confirmed it was over, I activated the Warp Device and returned home.

I checked the Communication Channel and the news.

To everyone else, it must have looked like the boss had just split in two and dropped dead for no reason.

That was exactly what I'd intended.

I figured this would inspire even more awe than letting them see me fight.

I could feel their Faith in me growing stronger by the second.

I'd drained some of the Tower's power, secured the two-level reward for everyone, and strengthened their Faith in me.

I smiled in satisfaction.

The 18th-floor rule was over, and I'd milked it for everything it was worth.

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