“Who could have believed the existence of the towers. Just like in the games.” The red-haired woman looked at the stairs while smiling. They were cleaning floor after floor, and the harvest was great.

Merlin heard of the existence of towers before. Unlike the soldiers following him, he knew that in many parts of the Portal World, there were many of these towers, and what they really served. But he wasn’t allowed to share the information.

The reason why they raided the tower wasn’t the monsters nor the richness, but the variety of natural treasures on the top floor. But it wasn’t easy to reach the top floor. Firstly, all towers had rank restrictions. If an Extol-Rank human entered the tower, it would cause the tower to summon all monsters on one floor. Secondly, there was an entry limit. The number of creatures able to enter the tower at a time was 50, including pets.

Starting with a low-rank monster on the lower floor, the difficulty would increase if one went higher. The first small boss, as humans named them, would have rare elemental abilities, and ultimates.

From the 11th floor, the monsters would be middle-tier. Elements would once again reset to commons, while rarity and strength would increase the higher it went. The 20th-floor boss would definitely have a dangerous element and a strong ultimate.

The one Merlin and his team encountered was a spider-like monster with indestructible webs. The metallic webs were still soft and elastic but were too hard to get rid of.

From then on, the difficulty increased until the pinnacle-tier, the small boss on the 40th floor was also quite handy. It was an ox-like monster with two giant horns. Merlin and fifty soldiers cooperated to kill the beast, although many of them got injured during the battle.

The beast's ultimate was phantom horns. A couple of phantom horns would surround its and could be detached from the body to attack autonomously. Thankfully they didn’t lose anyone in that battle, but it reminded them how hard the battle at the top of the tower would be.

Merlin looked at the last staircase with dread. The difficulty of the monsters was increasing, and even he would have a hard time against the monster on the 40th floor if he was alone. He didn’t think they could kill the monster on the top floor with the same ease. Unlike other small bosses, they were the real deal after all.

“Im, Lalla, Chinu, Parwa, and Mich will come with me. Rest of you secure the floor.” Merlin said and rose to his feet. Although 49 soldiers following him were his best and most loyal followers in the stronghold, they were still falling short against the monster as dreadful as they would fight soon. Having a smaller team would be better.

“Sir, with all due respect, we cannot accept this!” A soldier walked up to Merlin and saluted defiantly. They couldn’t let Merlin take the risk because they were waiting.

“This is an order,” Merlin shouted.

“Sir, no, sir!” All the soldiers shouted at the same time. The girl with the redhead walked up to Merlin with a smile, and said, “We all know the risk, still follow you. This is our will. You have no right to ignore it.”

“You will be a dead-weight. So follow my orders.” Merlin said with anger and battle intent, but soldiers stood straight and strong. Seeing their unyielding wills, Merlin sighed and looked at the stairs. “Don’t dare to die on me.”

“Sir, yes, sir!” Shouted 49 soldiers, quaking the tower.

“Take the Strong Man formation. Shield bearers will tank the damage while rangers will stay at the back. Parwa will stay at the backmost to protect the rangers. Close-range fighters will stay behind shield bearers to deliver their attacks when the monster is in the open. Use ultimates as soon as battle starts, and don’t hold back.”

“Yes, sir!”

“Let’s go then.” Merlin walked toward the stairs

————

Outside of the tower, more than a hundred men were walking toward the black structure. They were donned with armor and were holding a variety of weapons. The one at the forefront had an ugly look on his face, while his eyes were emitting killing intent. The one beside him had his eyes closed and was sweating profusely.

“They are battling with the boss. The battle is about to end.” He said. He was the one who directed Merlin to the tower and gave him his power.

“Merlin is really strong. But today he will die for his sins.” The one at the forefront said while caressing his sword.

“Are you sure about this sir? You know who he is. Cruel Heart will never forgive us for this.” Man with his eyes closed opened them and looked at the leader.

“Focus on the battle.” The leader rebuked the man and looked at the tower. “He shouldn’t have exposed us.”

“Battle ended. Two died, while almost all of them were injured. Humanoid monsters are indeed too strong.” The man said while opening his eyes. But he didn’t have to report, as the tower was shaking madly. It looked like it was about to collapse. Not long after, Merlin and soldiers with gruesome injuries on their bodies walked out of the tower and collapsed on the ground.

Merlin looked at the 100-odd people in front of him with no surprise on his face. “Yo, took you long enough.” He said with a mad look in his eyes. The battle was harder than he imagined, and because he couldn’t use his ultimate, two of his soldiers died. He was fuming with anger.

“Hmph. That unfazed look in the face of death. Just like your grandfather’s!” The leader said with an ugly smile and pointed his sword at Merlin. “I will make you regret crossing us.”

“Heh, you talk big, but are you sure you are capable enough to end me?” Merlin said with a smile.

“Stop spouting bullshit. Give me the orb and the tower core!” The leader reached out his hand toward Merlin but the latter ignored him.

“You all are too naive,” Merlin said with a shake of his head.