Chapter 74
The three elements of persuasion were ethos, pathos, and logos. Ethos represented the character and personality of the persuader. Pathos represented the emotions of the audience. Logos represented the logic of persuasion. If one was asked which of these three was the most important, the answer was obviously ethos, the character and personality of the persuader.
If a madman passing by said, “If you keep building the tower, God will be angry, and you will be struck with divine retribution," the workers and administrators would not bat an eye and would only focus on the construction. However, what if God himself presented a miracle and said the same thing? The workers and administrators would tremble in fear and stop the construction through fear of divine retribution. Persuasiveness varied greatly depending on the speaker.
[Using the trumpet was a good idea,] Legba said.
I nodded. Simply showing a miracle was not impactful enough. Therefore, I used the trumpet to first blind their vision and create confusion, and then appeared before them by impersonating ‘God.’ By impersonating God, I had the strongest ethos one could have.
This ethos naturally fulfilled pathos and logos. Since it came from a god, the natives had no choice but to listen to me and be convinced by my logic.
"───! ───!"
"──! ────!"
The natives, still kneeling and bowing their heads under the tower, shouted in excitement.
Although I still had not fully mastered their language, I could easily understand what they were saying. They were praising me, the impersonated god, while shouting in obedience and reverence.
"I wonder if this is blasphemy," I muttered to myself, looking down at the prostrated indigenous people from the top of the tower.
Even if it was an act committed to pass the test, blasphemy was still blasphemy. After all, I had impersonated a god. Hoping that the judging panel would consider my actions, I sat in the middle of the tower and leaned against a wall. I had used the power of both Marinette and Soba to aid in my impersonation. It was the first time using the power of two Loas at once, so it had put quite a burden on my body.
Crunch.
At that moment, a chilling sound echoed from behind me. Startled, I turned my head to look, but all I could see was darkness. It seemed like the noise was caused by the wind or some kind of wild animal. Although I was a little suspicious, I made an effort to dismiss my doubts and stood up from my seat. Brushing off the dirt and dust clinging to my clothes, I glanced briefly down at the bottom of the tower.
"...Oh my."
A pitch-black darkness was spread out below the cliff, greeting me. The cliff was so high that I couldn't even gauge how far up I was properly. All I could do was vaguely guess that I was pretty far above the ground. The inaugural upload of this chapter took place via N0v3l-B1n.
Bossou.
I called out Bossou in a whisper so small that no one could hear me. As I used Bossou's power, my body, which had been chilled by the cold of the desert, suddenly burned hot. My heart raced, and I could feel my blood boiling. Along with that, the bubbling rage for battle drove away my fear.
Tast!
The moment fear had been driven away from my body, I threw myself down the tower. The air, filled with the darkness and coldness of the desert, brushed against my body. Soon, the darkness faded away, and I was greeted by a pure white sandy beach. Just before I landed in the desert head first, I twisted my body and landed on the ground on my feet.
Thud!
"Ouch, ugh."
I had expected it, but it seemed like my legs were broken. Although it was just phantom pain, it still felt quite real. Holding onto my broken left leg, I forced myself to suppress the groans and slowly moved away from the construction site.
Anyway, the construction had stopped. I had fulfilled the condition stated in the note. However, strangely enough, I didn't hear any announcements about passing the test or crossing a checkpoint. It wasn't an error. It simply meant that the test had not yet ended.
"..."
In order to finish the test, I had to fulfill another condition besides stopping the construction. I already knew what that condition was.
"Ugh, my leg," I groaned and sat down in the middle of the desert.
Snap!
"Well, here's a question for you!" Jun-Hyuk said, flicking his finger. With that cheerful sound, the silence in the desert crumbled.
"...What do you mean question—?"
"If my goal was to hinder you, why didn't I stop you earlier?" Jun-Hyuk said, smiling innocently and brightly like a child amidst the thick and sticky darkness.
I couldn't easily give an answer to Jun-Hyuk's question. I got lost in my thoughts while trying to ignore the pain of my broken left leg.
According to my theory, Jun-Hyuk's goal was to hinder me or, in other other words, prevent me from stopping the construction process. If that were the case, he should have done something to stop me before the construction came to a halt. However, Jun-Hyuk only followed me without any interference or sabotage while I was persuading the indigenous people to stop the construction of the tower. If my theory was correct, then Jun-Hyuk's behavior was definitely odd.
"..."
No, at this moment... it was more reasonable to think that my theory was wrong rather than to label Jun-Hyuk's behavior as strange.
"It’s weird, right?" Jun-Hyuk said.
I stared at Jun-Hyuk's faint face that hung in the darkness without nodding or shaking my head. The silence seemed to become even thicker and heavier as it mixed with the darkness of the desert. Gulp. The sound of me swallowing saliva felt extremely exaggerated.
"If your deduction is correct, then I should’ve lost by default the moment the construction stopped... But why did I stay still while you were stopping the construction?" Jun-Hyuk asked with a hint of mockery in his tone.
He rummaged through his bag, looking for something. Instinctively, I felt the need to run away. However, my broken leg defied me. I was struggling to keep my body standing straight, let alone get away from him.
"Even if you were successful in stopping the construction... Ah, here it is." Jun-Hyuk took something out of his bag.
It was a holy artifact. I couldn't tell what it was exactly, but it had a menacing appearance, resembling a cannon that had been shrunk down.
He unleashed divine power into the holy artifact.
Tsssk...
A sound like a burning fuse came from the holy artifact. The sound increased menacingly as seconds passed. Soon, the holy artifact began to tremble like a cannon moments before firing.
"Anyway, in conclusion, my goal was not to 'prevent you from stopping the construction of the tower,' but to 'defeat you'~ You know what I’m saying?"
TSSSSK–!
The sound of the burning fuse grew louder. Jun-Hyuk’s canon was aimed at me.
“The conclusion is, whether you stopped the construction of the tower or not, it was none of my concern. I only had to deal with you. Easy peasy, right?”
Thud.
The sound of a match being struck stopped. Instead, it was replaced by a dry sound that a pistol made after pulling the trigger. The sound felt incredibly eerie and terrifying.
─Bossou.
There was no response. It was too late.
"Anyway, I’ll see you outside!"
Boom!
A shot echoed. Along with it, a cannonball that had sprung out from the holy artifact cleanly passed through my forehead.