《Yamata no Orochi.》 

It was one of the most dangerous monsters in YuWon’s memory. Among the monsters that existed in the Tower, it was a predator at the top of the food chain. It was also the thing that took Susanoo to the grave.

It was an ancient shard of an Outer God.

‘For this thing to actually be in the Colosseum.’

YuWon couldn’t believe the difficulty. If the Administrator was here, YuWon would have cussed him out. 

“Kkiyah, hiss—!”

The beast unleashed its fury with a cry. Bloodthirst, anger, torment, all sorts of emotions could be heard in that cry. 

It only had one head, and it was significantly smaller than YuWon remembered, but it was still an extremely dangerous monster.

Crash, slam—!

Ssss—

No matter how much the serpent thrashed around, the Colosseum stayed sturdy.

At this point, it was simply a large animal. To put it in perspective, it was the equivalent of a newborn human baby. It was only loud. 

Unable to break anything, Orochi started throwing a louder tantrum. 

“Kkyaaah—!”

Its cry echoed and filled the colosseum.

YuWon started to find the beast loud and annoying. 

“I’ll have to take it down quickly.”

Fwoosh—

A crimson light glimmered from YuWon’s eyes. 

At the same time, the thrashing Orochi spotted YuWon.

“Sssss—”

It flickered its long tongue, closely watching YuWon. 

The bloodthirst and mana that radiated from its eyes were quite ominous. 

Without warning, Orochi started charging at YuWon.

Gnaaaw—

Crunch—

Orochi took a bite out of the ground. 

YuWon jumped to the side, landing with one hand on the ground. 

Orochi truly was a threat. Its bloodthirst was one thing, but there was also its size, which exerted a pressure. Being large in size was a powerful strength.

‘I guess the silver lining is that all it has going for it is its size right now.’

As YuWon tightly gripped his sword…

Slam—!

Orochi’s tail slammed down towards YuWon’s head.

Slam, slam, slam—!

Seething with anger, it continued to slam its tail down, even though YuWon’s body would have been turned into mincemeat after the first strike. 

After it had swung its tail countless times…

“The Orochi I knew wouldn’t have acted like this.”

Vzzt—

Orochi sensed an ominous energy above his head. 

Crash—!

It felt a blow on its head.

Vzzzzt—!

A rain of black light swallowed up the surrounding light as Orochi’s head shook and fell.

“Kkkiyaaaaaaah—!”

Feeling excruciating pain, it let out a scream as it thrashed around. It shook its head, trying to get YuWon off of it, but he endured, swinging his sword.

[「Pure Dark Divine Crystal」]

The 「Pure Dark Divine Crystal」 concealed by the invisible glove let out a black light that started enveloping 「Edge of Nightfall.」 

This was a completely different sensation to the one he felt while fighting Chryses.

‘This is much better.’

The energy of the Crystal wasn’t something that could be controlled by a mere normal sword. This energy wore out one’s body just by using it and made any normal weapon that took on its power disintegrate rapidly. 

However, 「Edge of Nightfall」 was different. It was an item Hephaestus forged using the powder from the 「Dark Divine Crystal.」 As it held the same property, it had no risk of disintegrating from the Crystal’s power. 

YuWon widely swung the sword filled with the energy from the 「Pure Dark Divine Crystal.」

Klang—!

Ting, ting—

The hard scales and tough leather impeded YuWon’s attack. Even though the scales and skin were being cut apart, causing Orochi to bleed, the wounds were too shallow. 

Whoosh—

Dash—

With Orochi’s tail flying above his head, YuWon jumped down to the ground. 

He wasn’t satisfied by the cuts he had inflicted. All he managed to do was make the thing bleed a little.

However…

Fssh—

“Hissss—!”

Orochi trashed around in pain from the Crystal’s mana, which had penetrated through the cuts on its skin. 

YuWon stared at Orochi, writhing in pain, coiling up its body.

“It’s way too fucking sturdy.”

Its scales and skin were far tougher than YuWon had anticipated. 

Thanks to the Crystal’s power, he managed to inflict some damage on it, but it was still nothing if you took its large size into account.

YuWon needed a plan B.

‘This might be the twentieth trial, but this is still the 1st Floor.’

YuWon’s eyes darted around the Colosseum. 

‘The difficulty shot up way too high, almost to an impossible level.’

“Kkkiyagh—!”

The wounded Orochi started swinging its tail around even more violently. 

YuWon continued to avoid its tail, chipping away at its scales and leather. 

Slash, slash—!

“Kkiyaagh—!”

The number of wounds on Orochi increased. But unlike previously, it stopped screaming and coiling up. Maybe it was overtaken by anger, but it continued to rampage after YuWon, fiercely whipping its tail around. 

Slam—!

Dust was kicked up. 

Every single attack was powerful enough to chill one’s spine.

“Phew—”

With higher focus came a faster consumption of stamina. 

After a certain point, YuWon stopped swinging his sword around.

Some time passed.

YuWon, who was busy avoiding Orochi, stopped in his tracks, and his crimson eyes looked to a specific spot.

“… Found it.”

Slam—!

Orochi’s tail fell on top of YuWon’s head.

* * *

‘So you showed yourself, 《Yamata no Orochi.》’

The text examiner for the 1st Floor, Shuri, got up after seeing the boss make its appearance inside the Colosseum.

Due to her contract with the Administrator as a test examiner, she wasn’t permitted to speak about the contents of the test with anyone. That’s why she couldn’t let anyone know about the existence of the creature in front of her, even though she was aware that the “Three Precious Children” were looking for 《Yamata no Orochi.》 

This was the second time she was seeing that giant creature. 

The first time she found out about Orochi’s existence, Shuri shouted in disbelief. 

“How does this make any sense?!”

The twentieth trial was at a difficulty that no 1st Floor player could ever conquer. 

The same could be said for the nineteenth trial, the nameless swordsman, but at least in the fight against him, one could win with a mix of skills and luck. 

But in comparison to this monstrosity…

Its body was big enough to take up half the Colosseum, and its fangs were longer than a person’s height. 

Though it didn’t have any special abilities because it only had one head, it was still 《Yamata no Orochi.》 

“So the rising rookie’s challenge ends here.”

Shuri shook her head, watching YuWon get flung away after Orochi’s sudden appearance. 

It was as she had expected.

‘You can’t beat something like that.’

《Yamata no Orochi》 wasn’t a being that a 1st Floor player could challenge. 

The original Orochi was literally capable of insta-killing a player in the lower floors just by looking at them. 

Even the greatSon OhGong couldn’t surpass this Orochi. OhGong had lost consciousness during the fight, and by fainting, the system failed him on the twentieth trial.

YuWon had unbelievable tenacity. Despite only being a 1st Floor player, he had survived a hit from Orochi’s tail.

‘Give up already. You’ve already set a historic record.’

A new player that cleared the nineteenth trial. Though Son OhGong had already set this record, the Tower would eternally remember YuWon’s record as well. That should be enough, since, as a 1st Floor player, there was no way he would be able to even leave a scratch on Orochi…

Vzzt—!

Mana emitting black light flowed out from YuWon’s hands. 

Shuri’s eyes widened, seeing the mana suck up the surrounding light as it swirled around YuWon’s sword. 

“Such recklessness…!”

And that’s when it happened.

Pssk—

“Kkkyaaah—!”

Orochi screamed, its scales and skin cut apart.

The mana that snuck into the open wounds rotted away its flesh. 

As if it was spooked, Orochi coiled up.

Shuri was left speechless. She couldn’t believe Orochi was shying away.

But more importantly…

‘He cut through Orochi’s scales and skin.’

A 1st Floor player, a brand new player that had just finished the Tutorial no less, had managed to cut Orochi’s skin.

She couldn’t believe this.

Slam, slam—!

Thump—!

Orochi widely flung its tail around. 

YuWon darted around, avoiding its tail while inflicting more wounds on Orochi with his sword. 

Fsh, fsh—

The number of cuts on Orochi grew.

It no longer cared about being wounded. Instead, it swung its tail and bared its fangs with the sole purpose of killing its enemy. 

YuWon kept cutting it so close that Shuri was scared for him. 

That’s when she realized something.

‘Why…?’

Shuri noticed that YuWon had stopped using his sword a while back. This was odd, considering how YuWon’s sword was capable of cutting through Orochi’s scales and hide. 

‘So why is he…?’

As she pondered…

“… Found it,” said YuWon, who had stopped in his tracks. 

‘What’s he looking at?’ Shuri wondered. 

His eyes were a crimson color, and she could have sworn she’d seen eyes like his before.

‘Could it be?’

She saw the face of a great being overlapping with YuWon’s face. 

Slam—!

Orochi’s tail fell on top of YuWon’s head, but Shuri didn’t freak out. 

This was no time for her to freak out. 

As a Ranker, she could see it clearly.

“What is that?” she asked.

In a short span of time, YuWon had managed to twist his body to avoid Orochi’s tail and get on top of him.

Tap, taka, taka, taka—

YuWon ran across Orochi’s body by using the openings between the scales as a stepping stone. 

Orochi wiggled around to try and shake YuWon off, but it was unsuccessful as YuWon continued to jump up its body.

This wasn’t something that was possible with just pure stats alone.

‘What in the world is he planning…?’

Once he was at the center of Orochi’s body, YuWon changed the grip on his sword to a reverse grip. 

Finally Shuri understood what YuWon was up to.

“Could that place be…?”

There was a small indent near Orochi’s heart, the only part of his body not covered in scales. That was Orochi’s reverse scale. 

Suddenly an unchanging fact entered Shuri’s head. 

No matter how high the difficulty of the Colosseum increased, this was still a part of the 1st Floor’s test. And the Tower and the Administrators did not give tests that could never be cleared. 

Psshk—

YuWon’s sword pierced Orochi’s reverse scale.

Pshk—

Orochi did not scream. Instead of crying in pain, Orochi stopped letting out any sound.

“Kkhaa… Kkiyagh…”

The snake’s sharp eyes started turning murky, and its body slowly stiffened up.

This was an old tale. A sinister snake that could cover eight mountains and ravines with its body, capable of using strange spells and enchantments. 

The one who managed to bring down this enormous catastrophe that almost annihilated a floor was the High Ranker Susanoo.

Susanoo used an indestructible sword. There were special enchantments on it, and one of them was the power to seal a being that was pierced with this sword. 

The name of the sword was 「Totsuka no Tsurugi.*」 

*TL/N: “Sword of Ten Hand-Breadths”

With that sword, Susanoo was able to inflict a wound that could never be erased on Orochi’s chest. That became the only reverse scale on Orochi, and it was the only way to clear the final trial of the Colosseum.

And now, in this place, a legend was reenacted.