"I didn't receive a system quest. Did Enbillick act on his own?" Teest said, dangling under the dragon's claw. He applied a dark shield to himself to avoid being disheveled by the wind.
"I also didn't receive a quest, but that guy can control the system. He might deliberately exclude us." Nol rushed towards the direction of the Lost Tower.
Aside from leveling up as planned, the neighbors mostly stayed inside the Tower obediently. Enbillick currently had no knowledge of the situation inside the Tower. Personally entering the fray wasn't his style.
Players were the best guns to use.
After suffering a loss in the Dragon's Lair quest before, if Star Stealer Sol were to utilize system quests, he would definitely exclude both Nol and Teest first—they were too high-level, so just adding a level restriction to the "quest" would be enough.
"The system lockdown is stronger than during the Dragon's Lair," Kando interjected. "I feel like I was targeted."
"Last time during Ship Island reversion, Star Stealer Sol discovered your existence. Kando, can you contact Perradat?" Nol tore through the air, charging forward.
Star Stealer Sol probably didn't know about Perradat's descent through Lilith.
"I can't contact Her. She is likely also inside the Tower right now," Kando replied urgently, without wasting any words.
'Too bad Perradat wouldn't be of much use,' Nol thought.
If his guess was correct, Star Stealer Sol must have used the quest to create a sealed dungeon, completely cutting off the Lost Tower's contact with the outside world. Until the quest is completed, Players could only enter, not leave, and couldn't send out any messages.
Nol flew through the night sky, stopping where the Lost Tower should be. As expected, the entire Lost Tower was nowhere to be seen, and he could feel the faint force of the system.
"Two possibilities."
Teest climbed onto Nol's claw, standing on the dragon's claw.
"First, Star Stealer Sol lured the Players here and then left, using rewards to attract a large number of Players to come and kill all the monsters in the Tower. The second possibility…"
He didn't immediately continue, and Nol understood what he meant.
The second possibility, Star Stealer Sol, under the identity of "Golden Sword" Enbillick Alva, intervened in the dungeon as an NPC, guiding Players to attack. With Star Stealer Sol's ability to reverse time, he would become the most troublesome commander.
Since they left the Lost Tower, six to seven hours had passed.
At this time, the cafeteria in Paradise should be open, with neighbors making midnight snacks together. Before they left, the Banshee mother said she would personally make dumplings, and the beastmen cubs were frolicking in the hall.
"…It's my negligence."
Nol hovered in the air, angrily staring at where the Lost Tower should be. "Interfering with the Lost Tower requires administrator permissions. Star Stealer Sol must have tampered with that gold wheel!"
Golden threads shot out, and Teest nimbly stepped through the night, leaping onto Nol's head.
"As an outstanding villain, I disagree with your statement." Teest kissed the gem-like dragon horns. "I can probably guess Star Stealer Sol's plan. He doesn't dare to confront us directly. 'Attacking the Lost Tower' is essentially the same as 'killing an enemy's relatives'—just the most basic means of harm."
"You also know how troublesome the 'reversion' skill is. Unless you and I stay in the Lost Tower all the time, this kind of thing was bound to happen sooner or later."
Nol was so angry that his scales heated up, and Teest couldn't help but pat the dragon's head.
What a pity his Nol couldn't retaliate tit for tat.
"..."
Dracolich Nol took several fiery breaths. "You're right. The priority is to contact the inside of the Tower."
And find a way to break this deadlock.
During the Ship Island battle, he was able to break Star Stealer Sol's reversion with permission as the God of Creation. This time it was trickier, as the reversion was initiated by Star Stealer Sol's avatar, and Perradat inside the tower wasn't even an avatar.
Contact the Tower through Players?
No, Star Stealer Sol had been tricked once on Ship Island. If Mentor were still contactable inside the Tower, they would have received a warning in advance.
Find a way through Perradat?
But even Perradat's knight, Kando, couldn't contact her, and Perradat's avatar itself was damaged, with the core far away.
Stay calm, Nol. Stay calm. Yes, inside the tower are Lynn, Mentor, Anakin, Solo, and Perradat. So much time has passed, and the Lost Tower instance hasn't been breached yet. Don't panic. Think…
Nol summoned a system popup. The key to the Lost Tower floated up, casting a dim glow. Blue fire burned rapidly in the night sky, spelling out lines of code characters.
Confirm the Tower's owner and administrator permissions…
Confirm the Lost Tower's system coordinates…
Send a spatial access request…
[Sorry, the "Lost Tower" instance is locked. The target is in a system closed state, temporarily inaccessible.]
In Nol's blue eyes, rows of complex, mysterious characters burned to ashes again.
Send a message communication request…
[Sorry, the "Lost Tower" instance is locked. The target is in a system closed state, temporarily inaccessible.]
"…It doesn't seem to be going well." Teest sat down on Nol's head, soothingly stroking the dragon scales.
"Yes. It's like the sealed dungeon Night of the Hunt. This situation is the hardest to interfere with," Nol said. "Normal methods simply won't work—"
He stopped himself mid-sentence.
"When we saw the General recently, you said your life needed a bit of evil," Teest said with a hint of laughter. "I strongly agree."
He extended his hand downward, and dark power poured down, contaminating the surrounding land and setting up a semi-transparent black protective barrier.
"If it's similar to Night of the Hunt, it should have requirements related to the location," Teest said. "This can stop more Players wanting to approach. Now it's your turn—trust me, you have a talent for destruction."
Nol was already deep in thought.
From the beginning, he always considered the system as an ally. He was the system's administrator and guardian, with "invading the system" Star Stealer Sol being the enemy. As a righteous young man of the new era, this thought was almost branded into his subconscious.
But if the system had already been utilized…
"The 'level restriction' rule is too rigid and hard to tamper with. With this level of closure, it's difficult for us to enter personally," Nol murmured. "As for instant messaging, it should be doable… but we need to 'infect' the Lost Tower with a 'virus'…"
Blue fire ignited again, and rows of marvelous equations spun and condensed in the air, eventually forming a black sphere emitting a faint blue glow. Under the moonlight, its surface shimmered with fine halos, which, upon closer inspection, were rows of rapidly wriggling character formulas.
"We need to get this thing inside," Nol said. "External personnel can't enter the instance, so asking a Player is the fastest way."
But the Players they were on good terms with were all inside the tower. As for Dorothy from Amazon and Hot Ash from the Saints Guild, they were precisely the targets under Star Stealer Sol's surveillance.
But randomly getting someone in who couldn't quickly meet with Paradise's comrades…
"Hmm, you said this place is like 'Night of the Hunt'."
Teest prodded his own shadow, casually asking, "Does this guy count as 'external personnel'?"
Shadow Wolf Ben reflexively opened its mouth, and Teest threw a piece of jerky into it. Immediately after, they found themselves plummeting down with Nol, landing on a patch of grass.
Before Teest could react, his shoulders were grasped by Nol, who planted a firm kiss on him.
"Brilliant!" Nol exhaled. "It can indeed work!"
Shadow Wolf Ben truly wasn't an "external NPC". It was indeed born from a dungeon. If it entered the instance, it wouldn't be detected by the system's "intercept external NPCs" check.
"Ben!" Nol tapped on the shadow and Shadow Wolf Ben poked out its cold snout again.
With Nol's permission, the bulky wolf squeezed out of the shadow, vigorously shaking its fur.
"Shrink a bit, grab this, and quietly find Lynn." Nol handed over his virus program sphere. "Once delivered, stay there to protect everyone—once this is over, we'll prepare a feast for you."
The shadow wolf immediately shrank to the size of a large dog, grabbed the virus sphere in its mouth, and excitedly wagged its tail.
"Go." Nol's fingers moved, wrapping the shadow wolf with the Creator's power, and sent it near the top of the Lost Tower.
The little shadow wolf looked back at the two, took a small leap forward, and vanished into thin air.
Hopefully everything will go smoothly. Nol clenched his fist, now back in human form.
...
However, contrary to Nol's worst fears, the interior of the Lost Tower was peaceful.
This matter started five hours ago.
Solo was blissfully eating lamb hand-pulled rice in the cafeteria when a system popup suddenly obstructed his view of the bowl. Reading the text, Solo nearly lost his grip on his spoon.
[You have entered a hidden area.]
[You have triggered the hidden dungeon quest: Assault on the Lost Tower.]
[Objective: Kill all monsters inside the tower.]
[Reward: The unique system guild base "Lost Tower"; all treasures and items within the Lost Tower; clues about the Demon King.]
[※This mission is limited to human-shaped Players below level 300 (including job levels), with no Player number or party requirements.]
"What—?!" Solo exclaimed, almost choking on a rice grain. "Wasn't this place well-hidden?"
Anakin left Solo, who was shouting in place, and rushed to the top of the tower. The quest was restricted to "human-shaped Players"—no mistake, this wasn't a regular Player attack. Star Stealer Sol was making his move.
Only Mentor continued to calmly sip his soup.
"Aren't you worried, sir?" Solo looked at his boss in shock. "Even if we're not the target, surely the other side won't let us off—"
"Mr. Nol is someone who worries a lot," Mentor said calmly. "He always thinks he's not doing enough, which isn't the case. In this Tower, nobody wants to be his burden."
He knew, of course, that Star Stealer Sol had something akin to a savepoint ability. When Nol was out, Lynn, Officer Luo, and others even specifically discussed this with him.
The Lost Tower indeed didn't possess nearly godlike powers. However…
"This quest has a level restriction to exclude those two."
Mentor said leisurely, "Participants' total level cannot exceed 300, meaning, even if our enemy personally participates in this, it must suppress its power—it's not the target inside the Tower. It can only infiltrate as an external participant, right?"
It seems to be so. Solo calmed down a bit.
"Believe in this place," Mentor said after finishing his last sip of soup. "Anakin has gone to send a message. Just finish your meal and follow the arrangements."
Before he could finish his sentence, the Tower shook.
The central staircase that originally led to all floors was sealed, and a designated short-distance teleportation array appeared under the feet of the people in the cafeteria. After the glow of teleportation vanished, everyone arrived at the level just below the top floor—this place was neither a natural landscape like the other floors nor a rich and magnificent hall, but more like a royal palace somewhere.
Everyone actually knew this place because its decorations were too extravagant. Plus, with its high location and few rooms, nobody wanted to live here.
Lynn stood on one side of the stairs below the throne, with Lilith, whose eyes emitted blue light, standing beside her.
All living beings were teleported to this level of the great hall, including curious neighbors talking to each other, confused succubi, and dog-headed beastmen residents. In the spacious hall, countless magic screens were unfolded in a circular arrangement, broadcasting the situation on various levels from multiple angles.
"Please pay attention, everyone. The wartime emergency plan has been activated."
Lynn picked up a microphone-like magical device, and her voice echoed from all around the great hall. "The Tower has been invaded by a formidable enemy. For the time being, please stay on this level."
"There are two servant rooms on the left side: the kitchen and the storeroom; and two on the right: the medical room and the washroom. Supplies are very abundant, so please stay calm."
Officer Luo sat on his wife's shoulder, surveying the surroundings with a dignified face.
They all knew that external communications had been completely cut off. Fortunately, the neighbors and monsters inside the tower had little contact with the outside world, so this didn't cause panic.
"The invaders are humans," a neighbor close to one of the screens exclaimed in surprise. "They don't look like knights from the Temple. Each one looks fierce and menacing."
"What should we do? Are we going to kill people…"
"This would be self-defense, right?"
"Shh, Officer Luo hasn't spoken yet."
Near the screen, the large monster neighbors whispered to each other.
"Don't worry. These people won't die. Each time they are killed, they will become weaker." Officer Luo glanced at the invaders. Unsurprisingly, most of the first to arrive were Demon Players.
This group had been treasure hunting in the Black Forest for a long time. Rosen had always been wary of them—Nol was on good terms with two Players leaders, and Hermitage and Amazon wouldn't interfere with the affairs of Paradise.
People from the Saints Guild wouldn't act alone, making them easy to distinguish.
"They won't die, why?" The neighbors were all surprised.
They indeed knew this world was like a game. But to avoid disputes, Paradise had always refrained from publicly disclosing information related to Players—
If the neighbors knew that normal Players existed in this world, they would surely doubt the legitimacy of their own existence and then doubt the reality of this world.
Lynn looked at the agitated neighbors and tugged at her witch's hat.
Nol always wanted to protect everyone behind him and solve all problems by himself. Unfortunately, as long as the Star Stealer Sol made his move, the neighbors would have to face reality sooner or later.
This was a good opportunity. Nothing was more suitable as a prelude than "a victory".
"I will explain the specifics to everyone."
Lynn raised her voice. "…After our victory."
The author has something to say:
The Paw Patrol (?) has made a great contribution!
The neighbors are finally going to fight lol