Chapter 162: The Hollow Crown [15]

Klein swung his spear.

*SLESSH* The real spear carved a vertical arc through the air.

The enormous phantom spear followed an instant later, crashing downward with the full weight of his remaining mana.

BOOOOOOM

A deafening shockwave exploded outward.

The black stone platform shattered in a widening spiderweb of fractures.

Crimson veins running through the cavern walls flared bright, then ruptured one after another.

Entire sections of the ceiling collapsed.

*THOOOOM*

Klein poured everything into the descending force, driving the phantom spear deeper into the structural core of the floor.

*DHOOOMM* Massive chunks of the cavern walls broke away and tumbled.

The exit gate flickered wildly with a distorting light as the Tower’s control over the level began to fail.

He did not stop.

Klein raised the spear again and brought it down in a relentless series of crushing strikes, each one aimed at the load-bearing points of the 40th floor.

The residual seals that still tried to cling to Artoria were ripped apart one after another under the continuous assault.

"Original Spear: Absolute Zero."

For a second every particle of ambient mana in the cavern froze.

Then Klein slashed.

*SLEESSHHH*

The frozen mana shattered like glass, and the shockwave that followed tore through another entire section of the floor, and the platform itself began to tilt.

His mana cores burned at an insane rate.

The four rotating spheres inside his body flared white-hot as cracks raced across their surfaces only to be forcibly held together by pure will and the continuous regeneration of his traits.

Blood streamed freely from the corner of his mouth while Orpheus’s distant healing light struggled to keep pace.

Still, he pushed further.

A second phantom began to form, which was a full-sized projection of Klein himself.

The translucent figure rose rapidly, growing until it towered many meters tall with its outline forged from pure Spear Intent and the last desperate reserves of his mana.

The giant phantom mirrored his stance perfectly, both hands gripping the enormous phantom spear.

’Original Spear: Heaven-Piercing Fall.’

The giant phantom raised its spear high and drove it straight down into the heart of the floor with catastrophic force.

KRAAAAAKOOM

The impact went beyond the 40th floor.

The shockwave punched downward through multiple levels of the Hollow Crown Tower, shattering structural cores, collapsing internal gateways, and ripping open the carefully layered systems that kept the Tower stable.

THOOOM THOOOM THOOOOMM

Entire floors below them buckled.

Artoria glanced around at the destruction happening around before raising her gaze to look at the phantom in absolute shock.

’So he was holding back even... while fighting me? Is this his true power?’

Her gaze quivered slightly ’I had my doubts if he could really destroy the tower...’

She was suddenly thrown to one knee as the final invisible chains binding her to the Tower snapped completely.

"...I am free?"

At that moment, she heard Klein’s voice "Orpheus, take her and leave."

Orpheus was still at his side with both of her hands pressed against his back as she poured steady streams of pure spirit energy into him.

Green light wrapped around the worst of the cracks racing across his body, fighting to keep his overloaded mana cores from completely failing.

"But Husband... you-"

"Just leave."

The Tower continued to come apart around them as the remaining support structures groaned and shredded one after another.

Orpheus gritted her teeth in worry, but she did not argue further.

She shot one last look at Klein and then rushed to Artoria and grabbed her wrist.

"We’re going," Orpheus said, already gathering the spirit energy needed to pull them both through the bond into the Spirit Realm.

She glanced back at Klein one final time, "You better come back soon."

Artoria’s eyes stayed locked on Klein until the very last moment as she disappeared into the spirit realm.

Klein was left alone on the disintegrating 40th floor as the Hollow Crown Tower continued to tear itself apart around him.

---

A few minutes earlier.

Outside the Hollow Crown Tower, the plaza was packed.

Guild observers, academy representatives, noble envoys, media crews, and hundreds of ordinary spectators filled every available space.

Klein Faress’s name sat at the very top with 40th Floor beside it.

The crowd had been buzzing with disbelief and speculation for the last hour, wondering how a first-year could possibly have reached the highest floor.

Then the board flickered.

The clean blue light around his name glitched, and for a second the entire display went dark.

When it stabilized again, a thin red line was drawn straight through Klein Faress.

Above the crossed-out name, a status indicator appeared.

DECEASED

Gasps tore through the crowd, and people who had been arguing about his class, his methods, and his possible backers suddenly stood frozen.

Media drones hovered closer, with their lenses focusing on the leaderboard as reporters began speaking in rapid, stunned voices.

Evelyne stumbled back half a step in shock as tears gathered around her eyes, blurring the glowing letters.

’He’s dead...?’

Her fingers curled tightly into the fabric of her coat.

Tears spilled over, tracking silently down her cheeks as the noise of the plaza rose around her in a chaotic shock.

’Maybe the chip was just destroyed...’ she whispered under her breath.

’Tracking chips can break. Floor traps, heavy combat... it happens. It has to be that. He’s not... he can’t be...’

Evelyne pressed a trembling hand to her mouth and closed her eyes for a moment "Please..."

Around her, reporters were already spinning theories, guild officials were demanding confirmation from the Tower’s external systems, and ordinary spectators stood frozen in collective shock.

But then a few seconds later the ground shook.

*thoom*

A moment later the shake intensified.

Cracks spider-webbed across the polished tiles near the tower’s base.

Screams and shouts erupted across the crowd in panic because of the sudden earthquake.

"What was that?!"

"Earthquake?!"

"No- look at the Tower!"

All eyes snapped upward, and the upper sections of the Hollow Crown Tower were visibly shuddering.

Dust and small fragments of outer plating rained down from heights that had always seemed immovable.

Evelyne’s eyes snapped open, and the tears still clinging to her lashes blurred the sight of the trembling tower.

’...What is happening?’