Only I Am A Reader

The inanimate tower seemed to have a mind of its own, pouring all of its piercing Aura onto Leo's body. However, let alone backing down, Leo didn't even flinch.

'Your turn.'

What was there to be scared of when facing a powerless building?

Regardless of its mysterious Final Phase, the Encroachment Tower was now completely defenseless. This limited Free Attack Phase was the only justice that the Challengers received, and Leo was going to make the most of it!

Before doing anything else, Leo charged his spear with everything that Shadow Armament had, altering its head to possess another horizontal blade. 

He then used the very same ability to temporarily add muscles to his arm. Finally, he twisted the spear around for a spin and threw it at the tower with all his might!

Wishh!

Like an arrow thrown by a medieval ballista, the spear soared into the air before embedding itself under the charge counter.

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'As expected, it's not just any building.'

Even if this was the strongest sky-scraper on Earth, it would have collapsed on itself just from receiving this attack. However, if things were that easy, Aurora wouldn't have struggled all the way up to the third cycle.

'Let's go at it together.'

That was exactly why Leo had called out the biggest Shadow Nightmare that he could maintain. The Miniboss was only a stepping stone, the real target that needed a giant to take it down was the Encroachment Tower itself!

Naturally, the Shadow Dragon followed Leo's spear by jumping on the tower. In order to properly grasp its target, the Nightmare took it into its embrace.

However, even with the pressure brought by the Nightmare's weight, the Encroachment Tower only shook ever so slightly. This wasn't something that could be handled through the basic rules of physics, some real action was needed.

'I still need to get used to it.'

Unfortunately, against Leo's expectations, the reins of the Nightmare that he conjured weren't as tight as he imagined them to be.

The Peak level ability and the evolved Enigma might have cracked the size's limits, but it seemed that putting constraints on something of this size was still a tough task.

While it might not be impossible, Leo at least had to constantly try it out so he could put the reins into proper shape.

'This makes no difference.'

Since the Shadow Dragon was still following his directions, nothing had changed. Leo was already tight on time considering that the new cycle might start at any moment.

He just had to go all out before that window was closed. If need be, Leo was ready to face his own giant in a battle of control after everything was over!

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Cruck!

After enduring the crushing force that the Shadow Dragon kept applying, the Encroachment Tower gradually started to give in.

Making use of this opportunity, the Shadow Dragon used the same tactic it did against the bloody abomination, sinking its claws into the target!

On the other hand, Leo conjured more spears as he climbed over the Shadow Dragon, planting them all over the tower to hasten its destruction. 

Since the Shadow Dragon didn't attempt to climb it, the Encroachment Tower's upper body was still relatively unharmed, but with so many weak points created on the lower part…

'There we go.'

The tower was finally acting like a proper piece of architecture, small red rocks started raining down as the shaking got even more intense.

Once again, the tower felt like a living being that had a heartbeat of its own, and from the looks of it, it was currently having a heart attack!

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'The demolition crew is here!'

The Shadow Dragon's embrace was getting tighter, but Leo wasn't going to wait for it to finish the job. 

Jumping down, Leo struck the Encroachment Tower's shadow. Although there appeared to be some resistance at first, the shadow gladly devoured its source.

Climbing over the tower, the shadow dyed the bloody tower in its own shade of black. At this point, Leo could almost hear the tower's protest, but to what length?

'You are on your own.'

The endless monsters, the unfair advantages… None of that could save it from falling under Leo's hand!

The climbing shadow wasn't just for show. After it firmly covered the entire lower half, Shadow tendrils sprouted, giving the Encroachment Tower an extra squeeze.

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'More.'

The tower looked like it would turn into rubble at any moment. However, Leo wasn't disillusioned by his close victory. 

Although it looked on the brink of collapse, the Encroachment Tower was actually holding on very well as the numbers kept climbing up.

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'More!'

Even at the risk of tearing the reins apart, Leo pushed the Shadow Dragon to its limit. Thankfully, the Nightmare was already violent by nature, so a little extra push was enough for it to go wild.

As for Leo himself, he struck a giant wedge at the base of the tower before conjuring a great hammer and striking it over and over.

Regardless of how little that contributed to the process, he wasn't going to stand still while biting his nails. Old-fashioned methods were still okay as long as they did their job.

At such moments of persistence, chipping away at the tower's stability was more effective than one might think.

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As if making one last push, the numbers started escalating faster and faster. However, Leo didn't let it get to him. The only response to this provocation was to keep on hammering!

Crunch!

At that moment when the second cycle seemed imminent, the Shadow Dragon's teeth finally got through, snapping the tower in half.

Once its last attempt at keeping itself in one piece ended in failure, the tower's structure quickly crumbled into nothing like a piece of fragile wafer. 

[ Congratulations! The Final Challenge has been cleared! ]

After a very long couple of days, the battle of the first True Gate had finally come to an end.

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