Chapter 308: Climbing the Tower Is a Necessary Step Before Fighting the Boss
Steven had no intention of playing word games with this man. He wasn't about to get dragged into some tedious back-and-forth, either.
After all, these bigwig merchants were masters of twisting words—slippery old foxes with "reasonable" excuses for everything. If you listened to them long enough, you'd eventually start to think they were right.
And Steven had no patience for that.
He didn't care about their logic. He didn't care about their reasons. He simply didn't like them after what they tried to do to someone close to him. And that, to him, was more than enough reason to go after the K.G.C.C.
As far as he was concerned, they'd chosen the path of ruin long ago.
"Don't you think you're being a little too domineering?" Kain's voice wavered slightly over the phone. "Are you saying you intend to make an enemy of all Kazimierz?"
As expected, the moment Steven dropped his blunt declaration, Kain was stunned. He had never once met a man so brazenly unreasonable—someone who openly admitted he wanted to target them.
The worst part was, Kain had no real way to argue back.
"Sorry," Steven answered with a smile, "but that's exactly how domineering I am. And since when does the K.G.C.C get to claim it represents all of Kazimierz? Don't flatter yourself."
Perhaps another man in his place would've hesitated, weighed the risks, maybe even taken Kain's words as a warning.
But not him.
"And even if we take it a step further," he continued, his tone sharpening, "let's say I do decide to make Kazimierz my enemy. So what? I'm willing. And I have the strength to back it up. If you don't think I can… then stop me. I'll give anyone that chance."
His voice shifted from casual to arrogant, brimming with the kind of confidence that chilled the blood.
Kain's hand tightened around the receiver. His instincts screamed at him that the man on the other end wasn't bluffing. Not even close. To him, the prospect of clashing with an entire nation wasn't a threat—it was entertainment.
Did such a reckless, irrational monster truly exist in this world?
Steven chuckled. "Forget it. Explaining myself to you is pointless. If you actually care about your K.G.C.C, then I suggest you hurry back and watch over it personally. Otherwise… don't blame me if I decide to come looking for you."
There was a pause, and then the finishing blow:
"Enjoy your stay in Columbia, Mister Kain."
With that, Steven hung up, smiling faintly as he did.
The man had chosen to hide himself away in Columbia, which was Annoying—Steven couldn't simply teleport across the sea just to pay him a visit. This Chairman's hardly worth wasting WAP over.
There would be plenty of opportunities later.
For now, he had other amusements in mind.
Snapping the call shut, Steven finally shifted his gaze back to the room.
The K.G.C.C's spokespersons sat frozen, pale as statues. They had heard every word of his exchange with Kain.
"Why are you all still staring at me?" Steven asked lightly, his tone almost playful. "This place is mine now. I'll be borrowing this building for a while. I'm sure you won't mind… will you?"
He flashed them a smile—not friendly, not hostile, just sharp enough to make their stomachs twist.
It was less a question and more a declaration.
Steven, of course, didn't care whether they listened or not.
"To thank you all for lending me this little venue," he said casually, "I'll give you five minutes to run. But if you're still hiding in this building after five minutes… well, don't blame me."
He declared it like he was starting some sort of countdown. With a snap of his fingers, the Evol armor he wore gave off a metallic gleam—and a black sphere the size of a ping-pong ball appeared at his fingertips.
The tiny orb detached itself from his hand, floated lazily upward, and drifted out of the window until it reached the roof of the K.G.C.C's tower.
The K.G.C.C spokespersons, who had been frozen in shock, watched blankly as the harmless-looking speck suddenly expanded. In an instant, it spread wide into a yawning black circle, devouring the light above until the entire sky was swallowed by darkness. Then, like some great beast sucking marrow from bone, the void began pulling the massive skyscraper into itself, piece by piece.
Only then did they understand what Steven's "five minutes" really meant.
The next moment, panic exploded. The men who'd just been stiff as statues bolted like racehorses. Literally. For the first time, Steven truly saw why Kurantas were said to descend from equine stock. Each one sprinted with such force they left afterimages behind them.
That burst speed? Ordinary humans could never hope to match it.
This time, Steven wasn't making a small spectacle like before.
Over the Grand Knight Territory, the once-clear sky vanished. Not even sunlight pierced through the writhing abyss overhead. The distortion blanketing the heavens was on par with a Catastrophe—no, worse.
In fact, most Catastrophes couldn't rival something like this.
The weather forecast for Kazimierz today: sunny, turning into black hole.
Everyone across the Territory could see it. This wasn't some storm, wasn't clouds blotting out the sun. No—something incomprehensible hovered over their heads, sealing them off from the heavens. The sheer pressure suffocating the city below left every chest heavy, every breath labored.
And when the K.G.C.C's towering headquarters began crumbling into nothingness before their very eyes, they knew this was no illusion.
That building had become the focal point of the entire Grand Knight Territory.
The only small mercy was that Steven kept his word. He'd promised five minutes, and so he didn't rush. That gave time for the ordinary employees to evacuate. Soon the streets below filled with crowds, all staring upward as their workplace was devoured like the end of the world.
Nor was it just the locals who saw it. Across Kazimierz, even in cities far away, eyes turned skyward toward the impossible void.
And aboard a massive mobile fortress passing near the Territory—Rhodes Island—the bridge crew fell silent.
From the deck, even across thousands of kilometers, the phenomenon was visible.
Kal'tsit stood there, her face solemn as she gazed upon the oppressive darkness.
Most in this world couldn't possibly recognize what they were witnessing.
But she did.
It was a black hole.
A calamity far beyond human comprehension.
But… wasn't this kind of thing supposed to exist only out there, in the endless starry skies above? How could something like this be artificially created?
"…Looks like leaving him alone was the wisest decision we ever made. That guy… he's even stronger than we thought."
Standing beside Kal'tsit were four casually dressed young women—ones Steven would immediately recognize if he were here. The members of Alive Until Sunset. Their gazes fixed on the black hole hanging over the Grand Knight Territory, and without a second thought, they knew: this kind of phenomenon could only be caused by that black-haired boy. The one who stirred primal fear deep in their very instincts.
"Is the him you encountered a boy who always looked half-asleep, carried himself with a lazy, irreverent air… and had the features of someone from Yan?"
Kal'tsit's voice was laced with disbelief as she stared at the four Feranmut, all visibly shaken. In all her time, she'd never seen them show such an expression.
"You… know him?"
Aya, leader of the group, asked uncertainly.
Kal'tsit exhaled, her expression turning complicated.
She had already imagined Steven's strength in the most extreme terms possible. Yet no matter how high she set her expectations, his actions always shattered them anew.
At least there was one small comfort: back then, she had chosen to seek ties with him rather than opposition.
If she had acted on her distaste for his abrasive attitude and turned him into an enemy…
Rhodes Island would not exist as it did today.
"No," Kal'tsit said softly. "It's not that I know him. Strictly speaking, there are many operators on this island who count him as a friend."
Her voice faltered. "…But unfortunately, I am not one of them."
A shadow crossed her face.
For someone who had always prided herself on her unyielding reason, regret was a foreign, almost impossible emotion. And yet—closing her eyes, Kal'tsit finally tasted it for the first time in her life.
Regret.
If only she had been like Gavial, or Warfarin—if only she had reached out to him instead of keeping her distance. What would Rhodes Island be now?
. . . .
Meanwhile, Steven, oblivious to Kal'tsit's silent lament, simply floated midair, surveying his masterpiece with a faint smile.
The K.G.C.C's headquarters had been reduced to nothingness. In its place, he slowly descended, landing atop the ruins.
Half crouching, Steven pressed his palm against the rubble.
Then—
A strange white tower erupted from the earth, impossibly tall and seamless, as though pulled into being by invisible threads of magic. The gleaming spire stood proud amidst the steel and neon of the Grand Knight Territory, alien and defiant.
Steven's voice, amplified through the Evol armor, rang out, magnetic and irresistible, reverberating in every ear across the city:
"Knights of Kazimierz! If you want to stop the annihilation of your Grand Knight Territory, then come—fight! Struggle, and try to stop me!"
And with the rise of that white tower, the declaration thundered like a starting bell.
The true finals of the Kazimierz Major… had begun.
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Note: Character Illustration is in this Google Drive:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1iuyfwNVFHzIi9H4rWNT_lAm7jTSiah_M
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