Chapter 152

Chapter 152
## Chapter: 152
Chapter Title: Lord Solbaren’s Iron Wall Crumbles

Softly.

Lactusha lifted her blade.

Regardless of the circumstances, now that their paths had crossed, only one of them would be leaving this place alive.

Lord Solbaren.

Serving as the ruler of the 1st domain and the sentry of the tower, his purpose was to baptize all who challenged him in pure hopelessness.

He held a vast array of invulnerability techniques, rendering him a fortress that could not be breached.

Furthermore, due to his developmental trait that granted him increased power as he took hits, it was no hyperbole to claim he was invincible within this realm.

‘Monotonous, as always.’

He thought of the previous group’s attempt.

They possessed decent capability, yet they failed to leave even a minor mark upon him.

His impenetrable defense remained unscathed.

They were wise enough to retreat the moment they recognized the gap in power.

Had they persisted blindly, Lord Solbaren would have simply continued to scale in strength.

‘I have slumbered for an eternity. Is there truly no one capable of providing a challenge?’

He had existed within the rift for ages beyond counting.

He had fought through countless rift entities to claim the status of ‘Lord,’ a title eventually ratified by the tower itself.

Since then, Solbaren had waited with infinite patience for a worthy opponent.

Yet, this was the fruit of his long vigil.

The reality was so lackluster it moved him to boredom.

‘And that is despite me providing the secret to my own undoing.’

Should a party’s collective score surpass 500, his martial prowess would diminish by 1% for every 10 points gained beyond that threshold.

To Solbaren, “combat power” represented the totality of his existence.

It was the combined sum of his levels, his armaments, and his mystical abilities.

‘I hope those first challengers return.’

Even though they ran, their individual strength had been notable.

The strongest among them had a combat rating exceeding 400,000.

They only backed away because they lacked the means to bypass his invincibility.

If they managed to inflate their score and return, things might actually get interesting.

‘Though even then, my iron wall would likely hold firm.’

Still, there were ceilings to how much a score could be raised.

Points were strictly earned within level-capped domains, and once a domain’s master was defeated, the well ran dry.

The only remaining path was to hunt down challengers from parallel domains.

Naturally, even turning to such slaughter would not guarantee a victory over Lord Solbaren.

‘Come then, step forward. Who constitutes the next group?’

The harbinger of ruin.

Lord Solbaren grinned at the prospect of crushing the spirits of the next arrivals.

The vision of them breaking against his defense filled him with a dark sense of satisfaction.

A period of time slipped by.

《The next group has initiated a challenge against ‘Lord Solbaren.’》

《The party’s collective score is 1,520 points.》

《’Lord Solbaren’s’ combat power is reduced by 99.9%.》

……?

“……?”

For a brief window, Solbaren’s cognitive processes seized up.

The administrative authority over the 1st floor domain resided with him alone.

By his own design, the absolute maximum score obtainable through clearing the level-locked rifts was 1,000 points.

Lord Solbaren had established that limit himself.

A score higher than that was a logical impossibility. It shouldn’t exist.

‘1,520 points?’

What was this madness?

A total that shattered his established ceiling?

Was it a system error? Had his eyes deceived him?

《The reduction of combat power based on total score is in effect.》

《Combat power of 999,999 is scaled down to a baseline of 1,000.》

《Physical dimensions are shrinking to maintain existential stability.》

Lord Solbaren stared down at his own frame.

The titan of the iron wall.

His once-mighty, towering physique began to contract.

With his power stripped away, he no longer possessed the energy required to hold his massive shape.

‘This is……’

Something had gone catastrophically wrong.

He was not prone to fantasies, but this felt like a nightmare.

There was no other logical explanation for such a devastating collapse of his power.

The score itself made even less sense than his shrinking limbs.

But the loss of size was only the beginning.

《Ironclad is negated; ‘Weak Point’ is now visible.》

《Iron Shield is negated; ‘Weak Point’ is now visible.》

《Iron Helm is negated; ‘Weak Point’ is now visible.》

……

《The level of the skill ‘Iron Wall Solbaren’ has collapsed.》

《The level of the skill ‘Invincible Solbaren’ has collapsed.》

《All fundamental attributes have undergone a drastic reduction.》

This was insanity.

Every layer of protection was being stripped away.

The armor, the wall, the invincibility—all gone.

The version of Solbaren that remained was pitiable.

His body had shriveled to less than half its original size, with his vulnerable spots clearly marked upon his exposed skin.

He felt disgusted by his own form.

He felt as though a stiff breeze might knock him over……

‘This…… this is a disaster.’

A failure of the highest order.

What creature had managed to circumvent his laws to bring this about?

‘Did they hunt down every single soul in the domain?’

A group of five.

Even if they had systematically executed every other challenger across the various domains, 1,520 was an impossible number—yet it was the only theory he had.

And even if they had done so.

‘They still won’t be able to finish me.’

Lord Solbaren drew a heavy breath.

Yes, even in this state, they could not kill him.

They would eventually realize their futility, retreat, and perhaps try a different approach later.

Ziiing.

Suddenly, teleportation gates manifested before him.

Lord Solbaren fixed them with a hateful stare.

He would see exactly what kind of people had done this.

“So they arrive to challenge me…… Hmph.”

The first to step through the gate was a priest.

【31,050】

A pathetic combat rating of barely 30,000.

Trivial.

Being a priest, the man was likely incapable of significant direct offense.

Whatever trick they used to hunt challengers, it wasn’t reflected in his raw power.

“Brother! I’ve made it! Where are you hiding?”

The next to appear was a dryad.

She seemed to be a high dryad, radiating the aura of verdant vitality.

【98,700】

Her power was notably higher than the priest’s.

But it was still nothing special.

Had a group like this really managed to pull together 1,520 points?

“Is this the spot? Oh, that thing looks like a sad ogre—that’s Solbaren? How embarrassing.”

A warrior clad in silver plate stepped out.

【115,600】

The first one to break the 100,000 mark.

Yet, this warrior was still significantly weaker than the members of the first party he’d faced.

Ziiing.

The last two gates began to pulse with energy.

“Ah! Everyone is already here.”

A spearman materialized.

【74,800~?】

Hmm……

This one was difficult to read.

Likely a combatant whose strength fluctuated based on certain variables.

Even so, the base number was laughable.

‘This is nonsense. What is happening?’

Was the tower malfunctioning?

How could these weaklings have achieved that score?

The math didn’t work.

If the system wasn’t broken, then this was beyond comprehension.

Finally, the last man stepped into view.

“Ah! Lord Randolph!”

“We’ve been waiting for you!”

Was he the leader?

Lord Solbaren’s eyes flared with rage.

Then.

【217,400~?】

Hmm.

This one possessed some degree of strength.

He was clearly the most capable of the lot.

He looked the part of a leader.

Though even he didn’t quite reach the heights of the previous challengers.

It was then.

‘What?’

Solbaren knit his brows.

Abruptly, the digits hovering over the man’s head began to fade away.

【??????】

They were replaced by a string of question marks.

……What did this mean?

One thing was certain: this individual was the architect of this chaos.

“Even with my ‘Weak Points’ showing, you people lack the means to end me.”

Lord Solbaren spoke with absolute certainty.

There was a specific reason for his confidence.

To defeat Lord Solbaren, his five ‘Weak Points’ had to be destroyed.

And that destruction carried a very specific prerequisite.

If they hadn’t solved that riddle—and even if they had…… they were powerless.

At that moment, the ‘priest’ smirked and spoke.

“By the looks of it, you’re untouchable as long as one carries ‘Sin’.”

Oh?

A priest with a sharp eye for detail.

He had deduced the mechanic simply by looking.

However, knowing the rule didn’t provide a way to purge ‘Sin.’

Massacring other challengers across the domains would have draped them in an astronomical amount of Sin.

That was the very reason Lord Solbaren considered himself truly invincible.

Now that they understood the trap, he expected them to fall into deeper despair.

He waited for them to realize the impossibility of the task and surrender.

Lord Solbaren began to smile.

In that heartbeat.

“……Observe, Successor. Did I not tell you that my presence was mandatory?”

Fwoooosh!

Piles of Indulgences began to manifest and multiply within the priest’s grip.

Settlement Time

Indulgences.

Only an ordained priest of the ‘Church of the Goddess’ had the power to produce them.

They were limited to three uses in a single lifetime to wipe away a specific portion of Sin.

Even the Pope was bound by that restriction.

Regardless of how many they had, they shouldn’t be able to wash away sins on a massive scale.

‘If they truly slaughtered everyone in the domain, a handful of papers won’t even make a dent.’

When the first paper appeared, Solbaren was unimpressed.

A priest of the Church of the Goddess.

That was his only takeaway.

But then came the second, and then the third.

‘Is a priest who has never used his gift before burning it all right here?’

Solbaren stayed calm.

Sin had to be reduced to zero to impact his ‘Weak Points.’

And that zero-Sin requirement applied to the entire group collectively.

Could three measly sheets cleanse the stains of five people?

Fwhoooosh!

‘……’

Fwhoooaaash!

‘……’

Fwhooooaaaaash!!

Blinding, divine radiance erupted from the priest’s hand.

Indulgences were manifesting in an endless stream, as if being copied by a machine.

‘What in the world is that……’

He felt like he was watching a series of impossible dreams.

Even as the first ruler of the rift, he couldn’t grasp what he was seeing.

The number of Indulgences had already soared past ten.

The priest was using them to systematically purge the Sin from every member of the party.

Just observing the process made Lord Solbaren feel as though his own transgressions were being washed away.

‘Wasn’t the limit three? Even for the highest authority?’

All the records of the world absorbed by the rift lived within his mind.

He was positive.

Even the Pope could not generate more than three.

So who was this priest?

He was performing a miracle that eclipsed the head of the Church.

Was he a literal vessel for the gods?

‘This…… this was never supposed to happen. It’s impossible.’

The tower’s 1st floor.

The domains within the rift.

Every rule here was established by Lord Solbaren.

He welcomed challenges at 500 points, weakening himself for those who earned it.

But to go over 500, a party had to rob and kill their peers.

That act would stain them with Sin, making it impossible to actually defeat him.

It was a loop designed to keep them trapped in the tower forever.

‘It isn’t that a solution doesn’t exist. I created one.’

There was a different path to victory.

Perhaps the only legitimate one.

To reach exactly 500 points and then challenge him repeatedly, sharpening themselves against him like blades against a whetstone.

For challengers to form unbreakable bonds, sacrifice for one another, and never yield—striking him with wills of tempered steel until he fell.

‘If I were to be defeated in that manner, I would have opened the path with pride.’

Lord Solbaren.

He desired a death with dignity, befitting a ‘Lord.’

……But he had never envisioned a scenario like this.

Being confronted by a party with impossible scores and a priest who could duplicate Indulgences to bypass his ultimate defense.