There was no time to sigh. Leonardo grabbed Ero's waist and threw him across to the other side of the collapsed stairs.
"Keep running!"
"Aaaah, yes!"
Ero, whose body had floated for a moment before landing, twisted his ankle but steadied himself by placing his palms down. He looked back briefly, but it was only for a moment. Quickly recalling his role, he left the situation to his big brother without complaint and climbed the stairs. Leonardo kept the intruder in check from behind Ero.
"Damn bastard. So persistent..."
Muttering with furrowed brows, he stood at the tower's waist and threw a fireball inflated to his own height through the wall. Then he ignited the spark in mid-air.
The moisture-filled air met the hot wind, creating thick fog that made the area hazy. Leonardo fired seven streaks of blue lightning through that gap.
About 3 seconds later, the concentrated mana bodies that had flown in all directions exploded, creating thunder that shook heaven and earth.
He had never intended to hit his target from the beginning. It was enough to threaten the guy. If he couldn't kill his opponent anyway, it was wise to shake him off appropriately and pass through the portal quickly. The fake attack that made only loud noise seemed to work quite well, as the flickering shadow of the whip disappeared again.
In the meantime, Leonardo plunged his fingers into the surface of the tower's destroyed fibrous tissue. His superheated fingers penetrated the inner wall with a sizzling sound and smoke, then traced holes haphazardly like a beast leaving claw marks.
Then a fence with high-voltage current flowing formed where his grip had scratched past. Though it was a temporary measure, the pursuer wouldn't be able to penetrate carelessly unless he wanted to become grilled meat.
It was just as Leonardo, having finished dealing with the situation, was about to follow Ero who had gone ahead.
"Big brother, I think this is it! There's a small hole!"
A voice echoed from above. The distance wasn't very far.
Perhaps because he had struggled for about 4 hours, a small exclamation flowed between his teeth at the thought of "finally." Leonardo extended his palm toward the ceiling and fired a red beam in a straight line. His mana that shot up in the blink of an eye pierced through 5 floors of the tower at once.
From the charred cylindrical trajectory, only impact sounds and dust fluttered, but no debris fell. It had been cleanly annihilated.
Leonardo instantly leaped up the new path and met Ero, who was about 4.5 floors above. Without needing to look around, a thick core protruded up and down at the center of that floor. It looked like stalactites and stalagmites in a cave just before meeting to form a column.
"Is this it?"
The stalagmite rising from the floor had a flat cross-section facing the ceiling. On top of it were holes riddled throughout, shaped like a lotus root cut in half. If he hadn't remembered this was part of a plant, it might have looked like an altar where a legendary sword might be embedded in ancient ruins.
When Leonardo placed his hand on the altar and looked at Ero, he answered with a reluctant expression.
"...Big brother, what if you had blown this up too—"
"Quickly take out the crystals. We both need to put them in together."
Ero looked alternately at the floor and ceiling that Leonardo had pierced through. However, he didn't argue further and took out a total of 3 crystals from his bag. He handed Leonardo the white one he had so desperately wanted, and held the yellow and red ones that he was sick of seeing in his own hands.
"Does it matter where we put them?"
"Since there was no specific explanation, it should be fine, right?"
The two made eye contact and nodded.
"Putting them in."
"Yes."
Using their brief exchange as a signal, they dropped crystals into different holes. Though they wondered if this was right, their hesitation was brief. About 2 seconds after the two put in the crystals, the holes' entrances slowly closed.
Shortly after, the cores that had risen from above and below extended their length to meet in the center like stalactites and stalagmites. As the cross-sections overlapped as if they had been one pillar from the beginning, the seam at the joint also disappeared cleanly.
The stamen's core, which had finally become a column, began to undulate beyond just its surface wriggling. It looked like a flexible, thick hose moving liquid inside to another location. At the same time, the fibrous material the two were standing on vibrated as if causing internal reactions.
To make matters worse, a roar disguised as crustal faulting occurred like an earthquake precursor.
Thump, thump—
"B-big brother. What is it?"
As irregular shaking and impact sounds continued, the tense Ero grabbed Leonardo's forearm and stuck close to him. Since Ero was a bit shorter, Leonardo naturally stepped back while wrapping his shoulder and pulling him toward his chest. His gaze alternately stared at the ceiling and floor that the stamen's core had penetrated.
'Why is this happening? Does it normally shake like this?'
The question was brief, as the ceiling, which had been repeating contraction and relaxation like biological cells, split wide open to create a new path. As if the closed sky was opening, oxygen rushed in and transparent mucus dropped from above.
The two, who instinctively knew that the path to the tower's top had opened, tried to move to the upper floor without anyone going first.
However, the moment they took their first step, a tremendous impact occurred and the entire tower shook violently.
Boom—!
"Aaaah!"
Due to the aftermath, Ero's body almost bounced up and floated before landing. It was such a strong impact that even Leonardo staggered greatly, but he barely managed to maintain his balance. Just as he was about to support Ero, a chilling aura scratched his nerves.
The same fierce whip sound as before was heard nearby. Along with it, the tearing sound of fibrous material also grew closer. The guy outside seemed to be striking the outer wall again, looking for them hiding inside the tower.
The moment Leonardo, sensing something strange, lowered his posture, a black whip penetrated even the inner wall and passed over the two's heads.
It could no longer be seen as a whip. It was closer to the shape of a giant scythe with a blade gleaming ominously blue.
The transformed scythe cut not only the stairs leading to the next floor but also the core where they had just inserted the crystals. The severed hose flapped in all directions, spewing transparent mucus.
Though the two had suddenly been doused with strange liquid all over their bodies, they had no time to worry about such things now.
Even though they were clearly standing properly, their bodies tilted to one side. The severed tower's cross-section slid diagonally, and the night sky appeared above their heads.
"...Huh?"
Ero, who had been looking up with his mouth agape, turned pale.
From below, sounds of elongated fibrous tissue barely holding on before breaking with cracks could be heard several times. Based on the point where the whip had destroyed the outer wall, the upright stamen was slowly breaking.
Ero screamed as if the world was collapsing.
"Big brother, the tower is tilting—!!"
Leonardo, who had similarly grasped the situation, tucked Ero under his side like baggage with one arm.
"That crazy bastard—"
The two who leaped from their position escaped outside through the cross-section of the severed tower. In an instant, looking down at the stamen tower's situation from mid-air was quite a sight. The thick stamen, cut into seven parts like a banana sliced for eating, was falling to one side.
The sight of a large tower reaching fully 50m in height collapsing was truly surreal. At its end, a portal emitting blue light flickered faintly.
Perhaps because the mediator supplying energy was cut midway, the leaking light was blinking precariously as if it would go out at any moment.
Leonardo rushed toward the tower's top without time to think. He stepped on the fragments of the broken stamen as footholds and flew at full speed with added propulsion.
"Hold on tight!"
Since his lips were flapping again, Ero couldn't answer. Instead, he desperately hugged Leonardo's waist like a lifeline.
The remaining number who could pass was 4 in total. Since there were 11 passers in the previous time, in a way, this time's portal might actually be the last chance.
Final moments always drew out courage that people never had.
To make matters worse, other participants flew up into the air all at once. Originally, the portal's opening status couldn't be confirmed from outside due to cloud cover, but as the tower collapsed, its appearance was exposed to the eyes of participants waiting throughout the island.
Perhaps everyone had conserved their strength for this moment, as their approach speed was extraordinary. Nevertheless, Leonardo drew out all his strength and overtook his competitors.
It was around then that the annoying sound of cutting through air followed nearby. Leonardo, who lightly changed direction to avoid the guy's obsession, glanced back. The spiral gust gathered in the sadist's grip had approached right before his nose.
Just then, Ero could see the portal entrance, maintaining its thread-thin lifeline, slowly closing before his eyes.
"Big brother, hurry—!"
It was when only 3m remained to the goal point. Leonardo met the guy's eyes within the silver mask. His golden eyes crumpled greatly.
'This bastard...'
Since momentum had built up, the rippling goal point was within arm's reach. Nevertheless, the guy's gaze was directed solely at him. Only then did he vaguely guess the sadist's purpose that had been puzzling throughout the match.
Leonardo condensed violently boiling mana in his left hand. Opening his palm wide, he grasped the silver mask.
'Your target was me from the beginning.'