Chapter 195: Fifty-First Floor, The Female Warriors of Androctones (4)

I glanced at Ha Hee-Jeong, wondering if it was just me. “Hey, Hee-Jeong, do you see anything?”

Ha Hee-Jeong shook her head slowly. “No.”

It wasn’t just me, then.

I scrutinized the Camadeni’s necks again. Even if it wasn’t visible to us, something had to be there. Yoonie had no reason to lie—especially after Ha Hee-Jeong had disciplined her.

The surrounding commotion grew steadily louder as more climbers gathered out of curiosity.

“What are those strange-looking cows?”

“No idea, but apparently Kwon Su-Hyeok brought them back.”

“Didn’t he say he was scouting the minotaurs earlier?”

“Yeah, but maybe it’s part of some hidden mission?”

This attention was far from ideal. In fact, the intensified murmurs began to concern me.

My aversion to attention aside, I also felt worried for the Camadeni. Animals tended to be highly sensitive to their environment, and while the Camadeni appeared calm at the moment, the growing noise and crowd could stress them out, potentially causing unpredictable reactions.

They could panic, lash out, or even collapse suddenly. The minotaurs had likely kept the Camadeni locked in isolated cages for a reason.

Even if I doubted someone would die, it wasn’t a risk I was willing to take.

Sensing my unease, Ha Hee-Jeong cleared her throat and turned to the climbers. “Everyone, I kindly ask you to step back. We’ll provide a detailed explanation later.”

She had been firm and authoritative, leaving no room for argument. I considered chiming in to quell any dissatisfaction, but it soon became clear that it wouldn’t be necessary.

“Understood!”

“Got it.”

Although some still wore lingering expressions of curiosity, the climbers nodded compliantly and began to disperse. A few appeared full of discontent, but none dared to voice their grievances openly.

Is this Ha Hee-Jeong’s presence at work? It has felt pretty intense after her regression.

Upon reflection, Ha Hee-Jeong’s words seemed to always possess a certain weight, perhaps a result of her wealth of experience.

Once the climbers had fully retreated, she tapped my shoulder lightly. “Better now?”

“

Huh?

Oh, yeah. Thanks.”

“Good. Now let’s figure out what’s going on with that so-called pendant.” Ha Hee-Jeong cast another glance toward the climbers in the distance.

The climbers who had just left were explaining the situation to the others, seemingly preventing any further disruptions.

Relieved, I stepped closer to a Camadenus.

An invisible pendant, huh?

Locking eyes with the creature, I slowly reached out toward its neck.

Contrary to my concerns, the Camadenus remained still and showed no reaction. It merely blinked, much like it had when the minotaurs were milking it. Given the minotaurs’ fervent desire to birth a Camadenus, its passive demeanor felt decidedly unnatural.

I have to pour the milk, the Amrita, onto a pendant, right?

Something was likely hidden within the invisible pendant. Pouring the Amrita on it could reveal the truth, possibly even restoring the Camadenus’s will.

I gently stroked the Camadenus's neck but felt nothing. Not only was the pendant invisible, but it also appeared to be intangible.

“Yoonie, there’s nothing here. What exactly do you mean by a pendant?”

“The pendant Yoonie mentioned is the red fur on its neck!”

“Red fur?”

I hadn’t noticed any red fur. Turning my attention back to the Camadenus’s neck, I examined it closely. Hidden among the white fur covering its throat, a single strand of red fur peeked out.

Ah, so that is the pendant.

Still, I couldn’t help but wonder why Yoonie had referred to the red fur as a pendant. The question lingered briefly before a realization struck me.

Right. Yoonie is a spirit of treasure hidden in plain sight.

She was attuned to valuable things concealed within the ordinary. To us, the single strand of red fur would seem insignificant, but to Yoonie, it appeared as a pendant.

Finally understanding, I retrieved a bottle of Amrita from Mung-chi before glancing at Yoonie. “Do you think just a little will be enough?”

Given how the minotaurs coveted Amrita, it was undoubtedly precious, perhaps akin to an elixir. With only five bottles of it in my possession, I wanted to conserve as much as possible.

Yoonie tilted her head and replied uncertainly, “Yoonie isn’t sure, either!”

“Ah, okay.”

No matter how much I try, she just won’t stop speaking in the third person.

I sighed and shook my head. Popping open the bottle, I decided to proceed cautiously.

Worried about wasting the precious liquid, I gently tilted the Camadenus’s neck upward and began pouring the Amrita drop by drop onto the red fur.

Huh?

Strangely, the Amrita didn’t trickle down. The red fur absorbed the liquid as if drinking it, and a peculiar wave of magical energy began to ripple outward.

Something was definitely happening. I quickly emptied one bottle before grabbing another.

Before I could continue pouring, the Camadenus’s eyes widened dramatically.

Startled, Ha Hee-Jeong shattered the tense silence. “What?!”

An intense burst of magical energy radiated outward as the Camadenus briefly glowed brilliantly. When the radiance subsided, the creature stared at me.

Its once-ordinary white fur, tail, and wings now shimmered with an otherworldly brilliance. The transformation was so striking that it felt as if I was looking at an entirely different being.

In the very spot I had poured the Amrita, a large, crimson, and radiant pendant hung from a similarly colored necklace.

The Camadenus locked eyes with me and bowed its head. “This humble replica greets the Liberator.”

I frowned. “Replica?”

I was puzzled. While this wasn’t the first time I had been called the Liberator, I was unfamiliar with the term “replica.”

That was when the name Camadenu came to mind—the deity of the minotaurs.

Are the Camadeni merely copies of Camadenu?

The idea seemed incomprehensible.

Why is Camadenu permitting others to create replicas of herself? Maybe our perspectives are just different.

Alternatively, another deity could have restrained Camadenu, like Fenrike, exploiting her name to manipulate the minotaurs.

While I pondered, the Camadenus gazed at its kin. “If it’s not too much trouble, could you liberate my companions? I will explain everything to you in detail afterward.”

I simply nodded.

Using the remaining four bottles of Amrita, I successfully awakened the other three Camadeni.

***

[Survive. Time remaining: 60 hours 26 minutes.]

“And that is how things came to be.”

Even though the Camadenus had finished its account, Ha Hee-Jeong and I remained silent, momentarily at a loss for words.

Contrary to my initial assumptions, Camadenu wasn’t oppressed or missing—she was perfectly fine. To my surprise, though, she had essentially discarded the minotaurs and the Camadeni.

The Camadeni were said to be apostles born with Camadenu’s power.

Yet Camadenu had stripped them of their intellect. They had been created solely to produce Amrita, a highly coveted elixir among the gods.

Camadenu had become completely absorbed in extracting Amrita, showing no regard for this world or its inhabitants.

The Camadeni are aware of this from the moment they are born, but because they lose their intellect, they cannot reveal the truth to the minotaurs.

Camadenu’s objective was simple: offer her planet to the Tower of Ordeal, continuously create Camadeni, and endlessly harvest Amrita.

In essence, the minotaurs and Camadeni were treated as livestock, existing solely to generate Amrita.

The minotaurs exist to give birth to Camadeni, and the Camadeni exist to produce Amrita.

When a new Camadenus was born, the older ones were transferred to other facilities, where they were milked for Amrita until their deaths. In simpler terms, Camadenu was a corrupt god, much like a negligent monarch who disregarded the plight of their people in pursuit of wealth and power.

I clenched my teeth, anger surging uncontrollably.

What a despicable being. How can she treat her followers like that?

Deeper questions about the tower and its inhabitants began to surface in my mind.

Who exactly are the different species populating the tower?

After clearing a few floors and thinking I had figured out the tower, I assumed that they were merely followers of oppressed gods. Moreover, I also assumed that we would become just like them if we didn’t succeed in conquering the tower.

This floor had finally made me realize that my assumption had been wrong all along, however. The creatures within the tower weren’t just remnants of worlds held hostage.

The elves and humans I had encountered—followers of the Drifting Sky Sea and Endless Furnace—were only one example that I had overlooked until this point. Both deities were alive and well, yet they and their world were offered up to the tower’s trials.

Even the followers of my patron weren’t exempt. Ryun and the ents were all adherents of the Omniscient Thunder Axe.

Why do gods—who aren’t oppressed—willingly send their followers into the Tower of Ordeal?

The Omniscient Thunder Axe was among the highest-ranking first-tier gods. It hadn’t occurred to me during my climb, but reflecting on it now, something didn’t add up.

Does sending their followers into the tower yield them some benefit? Or is the tower compelling them to do so?

On further reflection, both scenarios seemed to be likely.

Without some form of compensation, the gods wouldn’t offer their worlds to the tower. Camadenu’s willingness to submit her world for Amrita production evidenced that.

Coercion seemed to be no different. After all, I had encountered plenty of gods who had been trapped, along with their followers.

Of course, I couldn’t confirm whether my theories were correct. There were still gaps and inconsistencies that didn’t quite have answers.

For all I thought I understood about the tower, I was realizing how little I truly knew.

“

Haa....

”

I felt truly frustrated. What stung most was seeing the benevolent followers of the Omniscient Thunder Axe, who had only ever supported me, end up in the tower.

Are all gods cold and detached beings, so alien in their thoughts and motives? What is the tower’s true purpose? Why would it force gods to send their followers practically to their deaths?

A deep sense of disillusionment with the tower and the gods began to settle within me. I also felt anger born from empathizing with their followers, as someone weaker than the gods themselves.

Amid the silence, the Camadenus pleaded in a quiet, sorrowful tone, “Liberator, please temper your anger. Rage clouds judgment and hinders clarity.”

Its mournful voice pulled me from my thoughts. I tilted my head from side to side, trying to organize the storm of emotions within me.

These creatures had been forsaken by their own god. Their pain and anger likely ran far deeper than my own.

I shifted my focus back to the Camadenus.

What could I possibly do for them?

“Camadenu is still ultimately your god. Is there any way to break free from her?”

Meeting my gaze with a determined expression, the Camadenus nodded resolutely.

***

「Invisible message: Challenger Kwon Su-Hyeok has restored the intelligence of the Camadeni. Savior is now lvl 6.」