Chapter 142

77th Floor → 95th Floor

The sacred beast compressed its body and laid its dozens of tentacles low. It bowed deeply in that manner. It was hard to find a more polite posture than that. It was a rare experience to discover how polite a tentacle monster could be. Nate and Hibiki had their jaws dropped with shock, and Euclid looked at me with a gaze that seemed to ask me, ‘what the hell are you?’ Genograche also leaked telepathy, meaning ‘Huh…’, as if he had never expected that kind of situation to occur. A heavy silence broke out. There was no reply because of everyone’s bafflement, but the tentacles seemed to misunderstand it as unpleasant. It flattened its body wider on the floor like an octopus, minimized the space it occupied, and then delivered an apologetic mental wave.

– Once again, I apologize with all due respect. I didn’t, for a moment, recognize your grace.

‘All sort of things can happen here, huh.’

I couldn’t simply pass its words off with a simple remark like, ‘Alright, you better do your job properly from now on!’ There was a thing that bothered me, too.

“One thing…”

The word to follow that phrase was ‘I have a question,’ but the tentacle monster replied in a hurry, its body trembling as it did so.

– Do thou require anything?! Just name it. I will provide everything with sincerity. Are you running out of food? Then!

Rattle!

“… Gasp!”

Hibiki swallowed her breath, appalled. It happened in the blink of an eye. Dozens of chopped-up tentacles rolled on the floor. It used the same speed that cut the locks and chains off of the door. Like a lizard that cut off its tail, the sacred beast cut off parts of its own body. The tentacle immediately regrew from the smoothly sliced surface.

– It’s not much… But if you would like to take this to eat…!

Genograche looked serious.

– No, thanks! Why would we take such sacred power clumps? You’re even a higher class entity than the sacred beast buried under that pond!

While I was about to reply that I didn’t need it either…

“Wait! Wait! I’ll take this then!”

Euclid hastily gathered all of the tentacles into a subspace bag. Well, a sacred beast’s body was not an easy ingredient to get, even if one didn’t necessarily eat it. I shook my head and continued my thoughts.

“Well… I think she wants it, so I’ll take it, I guess… But that’s not what I was going to ask. It’s just a simple question.” – Yes, ask me anything! “Is it because of the holy wound that you became aware of me? Or did information about a particular individual, called me, spread to all of those who serve the magical god?”

I had an ominous feeling that it might be the latter. What if the spider god had gathered believers and the sacred beasts and gave them an oracle?

‘There is a man named Seo Jin-Wook on Earth. He will be my incarnation in the future, so pay your respect in front of him!’

… I really didn’t want that kind of fame.

– Oh, that’s…

However, I didn’t think that was the case, considering the answer he replied to my query with.

– I’ve never received any particular oracle about your existence. However, I can see from the traces left on you that you are the one who has received the deep interest and affection of the great being.

It was the former. Thinking that that was at least a relief, I asked one more question, though I could already guess what its answer would be.

“Then, in the future, any other party can recognize me in a similar situation, right?” – I should have noticed it sooner… I am ashamed that I didn’t recognize you immediately.

Since it realized that I had a connection with the god of magic, his replies seemed to have begun to start with apologies. Well, I didn’t particularly mean to… nag it about it. I looked down at my finger. On it were the remaining two sacred scars given to me by the spider god. After the tutorial, I was going to erase it anyway, but there was some unexpected use for it as well. The tentacles continued to explain itself.

– For me, since the divine trace is from the one that I closely serve, I can detect the fact that there were originally three sacred wounds. In addition to that, those who serve it at lower levels, such as priests, can also sense the holy wound. They will show you the utmost respect that can be offered to the beings of Earth as I have now, regardless of how many holy scars there are left on your finger.

Nate spoke with admiration in his voice.

“Woah, so in the end, you will be treated like VVIP by the people in that religion? That’s awesome…”

Still, it was unknown how often such things would happen after entering the main quest. Anyway…

“That means that the holy scar isn’t that common.” – That’s right. I will put it in a way that would perhaps help you understand it quickly. There is only one holy scar on the archbishop of the dimension that the faith serving the great being was most widespread, and it was received in return for hundreds of years of sacrifice and service. Not to mention, its size and divine power are also shabby compared to what the great individual in front of me has received. “…”

Was it that bad?

– Huh, seriously.

The devil’s sword sent a sarcastic mental wave.

– After starting the main quest, all you’ll have to do is go to an adequate level and raise your fingers for everyone to see. After that, then you would already have a status as a religious order leader reserved for you.

Nate’s eyes got bigger.

“Then, will Jin-Wook become something like a pope?!”

I dismissed that idea.

“That will never happen.”

I remember what the Albanos babbled about. They said that if an ordinary mortal were to receive three holy wounds… his entire body would’ve been turned into a mucus-like substance. And the reason why they didn’t believe me was exactly due to that reasoning. I mumble internally.

‘This is strange.’

Listening to the story of everyone made me feel convinced. There had never been a case in which a divine being had shown such favor to only one human being. I was the first. Was it because I was special or because I was the successor? The spider god also said the following at the second possession:

‘I see your soul is still as strong as ever. How long must you have spent refining it? How many times did you hone and hammer yourself to become this hard? If you’re a mortal, even if you don’t remember, it should have been enough for you to go mad…’

The god also talked about my soul being tough and firm during the first encounter. The reason for speaking in that way seemed to be that the successor’s soul repeated the cycles and the regressions countless times. Just like steel becoming tough by hammering it, did the same thing happen to my soul?

‘Did it give me three because it was sure that I could handle it? Perhaps the reason it showed affability towards me is that my soul was of that kind.’

While I was immersed in my thoughts, the tentacle monster hesitated and spoke again.

– Well, with all due respect, if thou are not in a hurry, may I offer you a suggestion?

I asked bluntly.

“What is it?”

– From what I heard, the ‘crow that sings of the apocalypse’ was observed in the dimension where this Tower was summoned and connected…

My eyes narrowed as I replied.

“Now, how do you even know that?”

Genograche, who listened to the information while working with me, did not respond much, but the other three seemed to be bewildered by the unexpected word. Hibiki raised a related question.

“Apocalypse?”

I raised my hand to gesture to them that I would explain everything to them later. I then spoke to the sacred beast again.

“Does the god of magic… watch over such things?” – That is what one of the mortals that serve great beings prayed and told to god.

It meant that it was reported by a believer. Perhaps it was a member of the Union.

– If so, it seems thou doesn’t have to hesitate because thou already have two scars left. They, the ‘Prophets of Destruction,’ are enemies of all gods, but my god cannot intervene in the material world for reasons thou already know. Eventually, the principle of causality should be adjusted, and the best way is to make a wish by consuming the scar…

I cut off his words determinedly.

“That is something I will take care of on my own.”

I then pinched out the meaning that had been omitted from what the sacred beast said.

“Looking at the fact that it is recommending that I do what the god wants me to do… the weight of the wish to get rid of ‘Mercadius’ is enormous. Enough to tilt the scale to the bottom at once.”

The sacred beast confirmed my suspicion with silence. Clearly, it seemed to be interpreted as a powerful wish that was incomparable to the first wish to contain Albanos. However, that meant that the risk that I would have to deal with later would increase as well.

– I do apologize if I have offended you in any way.

I looked at my companions, who seemed eager to question me about the conversation we exchanged just then.

“Alright. Let’s go straight to the 78th floor.”

I hesitated for a moment before continuing my thoughts.

“I’ll explain everything there.”

With the entry to the main quest imminent, it seemed that the time had come to share my secret with them since it could no longer be kept away as I had intended. I headed to the door that led to the 78th floor. After my determined footsteps, the sacred beast’s words rang low.

– It is an honor to have met you, the one that received the most profound love of the greatest being among all the beings I’ve witnessed so far. Please be a stepping stone to restore the eighth magic that has been lost.

I didn’t answer.

*

After moving on to the 78th floor, before we started the hunt, I briefly disclosed everything I knew about the species called Mercadius. Nate’s face turned pale when he heard the story.

“Destroy the world? Then does it mean that he’s that strong of an entity?”

I corrected his words.

“Rarely had it ever been seen destroying and killing with its own hands. Only the causality was made that if they are observed in a dimension, then it eventually leads to the apocalypse of said dimension. The intermediate process has not been discovered yet.”

I also explained why we were in a hurry to Clear the Tower.

“In the end, it means that the people of Earth must enter the main quest as soon as possible to survive at least.” “Yes. And, we need to join the Union and get help. There’s no guarantee that the destruction will be definitely stopped, but we can’t just wait for it to go down without trying our best to prevent it.”

Adam was confident that the Union would actively help to at least prove the hypothesis that we had. However, no one on Earth would believe such a seemingly farfetched story even if we brought our knowledge to the governments around the world and made them aware of the existence of such a destructive species in our home dimension. Instead, We had to proceed to the main quest and start interacting with aliens in earnest. Only then would the information I held would have sufficient gravity to remove all the reasons that might arise to hesitate to join the Union. Considering all of the factors involved, Clearing the Tower as soon as we possibly could was the best course of action to ensure our continued prosperity.

“But… What the hell is the actual identity of that Mercadius thing?”

It seemed that what was discussed that day was the first time that Euclid heard about it as well. She had long been lost in thought. It was almost as if she was hooked on the mystery of the species’ identity despite all the things I explained. We continued our Clear beyond the 78th floor, and when we reached the 81st floor, the dragon shouted with confidence.

“Alright! I finally got it!”

I answered back while I was absorbing the Mana Core that the zombies had pulled out.

“What do you mean? What did you get?”

The dragon screamed with a glowing face.

“THe Mercadius’ identity!” “Were you thinking about it since our meeting back then?” “Yes! No matter how much I think about it, I’m sure. They must be demons!”

That conclusion of hers came across as quite a shock.

– What?!

Genograche sent telepathy as if he were dumbfounded. Euclid began to voice out her thoughts with sparkling eyes.

“A sign of destruction? The devil is the only species that had ever been called such a shady and bizarre name. The devil is also the only species terrible enough to eradicate all the lives in an entire dimension. Now, we have even figured out a way to catch Mercadius. With the overwhelming power of faith enough to-!”

The devil’s sword, who controlled the golden armor, dismissed it as absurd babble.

– What kind of nonsense is this? If they were demons, they’d be from the magic world, and the magic kingdom should have already been ruined. But that dimension remains undiminished. It’s even one of the longest dimensions in existence!

He then spoke in a tone that told me he was refuting Euclid’s claims.

– Also, if there is a demon with such a transcendental power, the rumor should have spread in the magic world already. It’s in the nature of the magic species to show off our strength! It would make no sense if you had only thought about it a little bit more. That’s indeed the kind of crap an empty-headed dragon’s head is supposed to make. “What? What did you say about my head?”

The devil’s sword giggled and replied.

– Am I wrong? If you lack experience and have insufficient knowledge and culture, don’t say absurd things and just watch your mouth. “What even, you retard demon became trapped in a sword because you can’t even properly die.” – What?! This bitch! You really want to die, huh?! “Kill me! Kill me! You are bound to a contract like me in the end.”

I knew that the devil’s sword was very talkative, but when I was with him, I was the only one who could hear the psychological waves he released, and my universal response at that time was to ignore him. Now that he could control his armor and send his psychological waves in a one-to-many manner, he became even noisier. And the conversation he held usually had Euclid on the other end of the line. However, what they did was more like a quarrel than a conversation. Their scuffle continued throughout the 81st floor and only stopped after I shouted at them.

“… Yes! I remember! If it’s not the devil, it’s certainly the system’s subordinate! You can’t do such a tremendous thing if you’re not the system.”

Soon after that, we were passing through the 87th floor when Euclid came up with a new assumption. Her claim that the system’s arrangement to cull an unqualified dimension was Mercadius. It collapsed due to the devil’s sword’s counterargument that there was a dimension that had broken through the main quest and was inflating its power but still ended in destruction. Of course, the process was accompanied by various abusive language, threats, and regards to each other’s parents, ending with my scolding.

“…Well, then!”

We arrived at the entrance to the 95th floor, listening to Euclid’s claim that if Mercadius’ identity was not the devil, not the system, then it must the result of the senility of the gods. Instead of pointing out that if Mercadius was a messenger of god, there was no reason for the gods to oppress it, and that gods who could exist only by being worshipped after the collapse of the old world would not encourage the extermination of the mortals, I picked up my sword with a determined expression.

“Now, shut up. This place is the last hardest hurdle.”

Only then did the dragon’s lengthy reasoning presentation time end. We prepared for the battle in tension.