Chapter 379: Eighty-Sixth Floor, Shrine of the Forgotten Gods (5)

Weapons forged from soulsteel adapted to the actions of their wielder, slowly revealing their true form.

I had believed Soulbound was already complete. It had changed so much since our first encounter, and at some point, its form had solidified and remained the same.

I had been mistaken. The moment I heard the cries of the souls trapped within, I realized how wrong I had been.

Infused with the blood of a god, Soulbound had begun to transform once more.

Outwardly, little had changed. The blade had always been sharp, and its color remained the same. Only the worn and chipped edges, scars from countless battles, had been neatly restored.

However, the very energy the weapon emanated had shifted. The souls now felt alive.

Steeped in my divinity and drenched in divine blood, Soulbound seemed to have become a true godly relic.

Thud—

Snapped from my thoughts, I watched as Endless Furnace’s body collapsed. Their upper half, eyes still wide with shock, struck the ground, while the lower half tipped to the right. A faint cloud of dust rose into the air.

Then, there was a flicker of flame. Their divinity burned quietly atop their corpse as if gnawing away at what remained.

For the death of a being who had once ruled over an entire world, it was pitifully modest, silent, and swift. My own feelings were much the same.

So even a god can’t guarantee they will leave an intact corpse.

Just like the rest of the god whose horn I now held, Endless Furnace didn’t leave behind any tangible remains. Perhaps it was the price of delivering a flawless death. I couldn’t be certain.

Regardless, Endless Furnace’s body had undoubtedly turned to ash and scattered into the air.

A moment later, divinity surged toward me. It was raw, unrefined, and impossibly pure.

What is this?

Even as I recognized it as coming from the altar, the suddenness left me unsettled.

The floor’s description had clearly stated that the altar would double the amount of divinity I offered it. Despite that, I was being flooded with triple the divinity I had infused.

I had a suspicion as to why.

Defeating the hostile god probably counts as a hidden mission.

The system had issued me a clear warning. Since I had continued despite its warning, the reward had likely scaled accordingly.

The divinity pouring into me originated from many different sources, but it was unexpectedly pure. Because of that purity, I was able to absorb it all with ease despite its sheer volume.

All that remained was Endless Furnace’s personal divinity. Their foreign energy lingered around their remnant ashes.

The flame.

Contrary to my earlier concerns, it wasn’t hostile, though it wasn’t friendly either. It simply felt compliant, as if it would obey my command.

Still, I couldn’t take it all in. Perhaps because Endless Furnace had been a living god, the sheer quantity of divinity they left behind was staggering.

Unlike the altar’s energy, this wasn’t pure. Absorbing it carelessly would likely have disastrous consequences.

I should only take what I can manage.

The thought alone was unsettling.

Though I had won the battle, I could now understand why my defeat had once seemed inevitable.

If I hadn’t had the horn or if I hadn’t summoned Gehenna and Ha Hee-Jeong, I would have lost. I wouldn’t have been able to land a critical blow or activate my Savior skill.

Of course, that is all just speculation.

There was no point in dwelling on it. I had won, and Endless Furnace had died. That was all that mattered now.

Still, it felt like a waste to simply abandon the divinity I hadn’t absorbed.

What should I do?

At that moment, Endless Furnace’s divinity began to move. Perhaps because I had rejected it, it drifted past me toward Gehenna and Ha Hee-Jeong.

Wait, is that okay?

The thought gave me pause.

Gehenna was my apostle, so she would likely be fine. On the other hand, Ha Hee-Jeong was just an ordinary human.

Yet for some reason, I felt confident they would both be safe. It was simply my intuition, a notion born from possessing divinity.

Though both were clearly startled at first, they quickly began to absorb it without issue.

That is fascinating.

Gehenna’s absorption process mirrored my own, but Ha Hee-Jeong’s seemed different.

Endless Furnace’s divine flame was flowing directly into the Fire Essence she carried within her. Rather than absorbing the divinity itself, she was drawing in the fire energy it contained.

It was probably safe because it aligned with her elemental affinity.

Hmm. But what shall I do with the rest?

Even after all that, remnants of Endless Furnace’s divinity still lingered in the air.

Just as I began debating whether to abandon it or not, a white glow began emanating from the arm the bracelet used to be on.

Though the bracelet itself had vanished, I instinctively understood what was happening. It was asking me to offer up divinity.

The white light began absorbing the remaining divine energy in the air, along with a significant portion of my own. In just a few seconds, more than half of my divinity was gone.

Still, with my expanded reserves, it will recover quickly enough.

Either way, the eighty-sixth floor had come to an end. Though it had lasted less than an hour, I could feel just how much I had changed.

It was hard to put into words.

I hadn’t changed as a person, but my perspective had broadened and my strength had grown.

In the stillness that followed, I stood momentarily in the spot where Endless Furnace had turned to ash. Even the death of a god could feel this empty. That thought left me with an odd sense of futility.

Sensing movement behind me, I turned to find Gehenna and Ha Hee-Jeong standing nearby.

“You two alright?”

“I am unharmed.” Ha Hee-Jeong nodded without hesitation.

Gehenna, however, frowned slightly as she answered, “Yeah.”

Although she had said she was fine, she didn’t look like it. A god had injured her, after all.

Still, perhaps because she had absorbed some of Endless Furnace’s divinity, I could see she was healing, albeit slowly.

“Let’s get you patched up first.”

“I’m fine. No need to waste your strength—” Gehenna shook her head in polite refusal, but I ignored her and reached out.

My divinity stirred. Golden light shimmered and settled onto Gehenna’s shoulder, and the wound disappeared cleanly.

Even though it was inflicted by another god, it doesn’t matter anymore.

I now had a deeper understanding of divinity, and with the power I had absorbed from the Furnace, healing her wasn’t difficult.

On the other hand, Gehenna was visibly surprised.

Ha Hee-Jeong seemed equally taken aback. “You!”

I chuckled and answered with a grin, “Let’s just say I’ve had some revelations.”

Gehenna didn’t reply but simply nodded, then glanced between me and Ha Hee-Jeong. “I’ll head back now.”

She didn’t wait for permission or protest.

“Alright. You did great. Thanks.”

“No need for thanks.” With that, Gehenna activated her divinity and returned to Natalie’s world.

Now alone in this realm, I locked eyes with Ha Hee-Jeong.

Truth be told, we didn’t have much time. As soon as Gehenna vanished, a new system message appeared.

[Congratulations. Challenger Kwon Su-Hyeok has conquered the eighty-sixth floor of the Tower of Ordeal: Shrine of the Forgotten Gods. Achievement points will be calculated.]

I glanced at the message, then turned back to Ha Hee-Jeong. “You sure you’re okay? You didn’t get hurt anywhere?”

“Yup! You protected me, remember? I even absorbed some of Endless Furnace’s divinity. I feel amazing, like seriously stronger!” With a cheerful nod, she playfully raised her arm in a flexing pose.

It looked like she was trying to show off her muscles, and it was honestly kind of adorable.

I let out a quiet laugh, then gently shifted the topic, “How was your trial going, by the way? I know you were on the eighty-seventh floor before I called you.”

Summoning her mid-trial had been unavoidable. Since the eighty-seventh floor was a party floor, I couldn’t help but worry that something had gone wrong after she left.

Ha Hee-Jeong gave my shoulder a light pat, as if to ease my concern. “It’s fine. The timing was actually perfect. We were taking a break anyway, and we hadn’t been there long, either.”

“That’s a relief.”

There wasn’t much else to say. A quiet pause followed before Ha Hee-Jeong broke the silence. “By the way, that was kinda cool, you know?”

“What was?”

“You charging in after protecting me, shouting ‘You son of a bitch!’ like that.”

Thinking back on it now, I felt a little embarrassed. At the time, I had lost all sense of reason. I had simply acted on instinct.

As I let out an awkward chuckle, Ha Hee-Jeong smiled and stepped in, giving me a brief hug. “Thanks. For saving me.”

“No, really, you don’t have to thank me. It was the right thing to do.” I scratched my cheek, awkwardly averting my gaze.

She pulled away a moment later. In the next instant, the tower’s voice began to echo incessantly in my ears. I glanced toward the air, where the messages usually appeared.

Sensing what was happening, Ha Hee-Jeong added, “Looks like you’re about to return to the waiting room?”

“Yeah, probably in the next fifteen seconds or so.”

“Then I’ll head back first. See you soon.”

“Take care. Don’t get hurt.”

As I bade my farewell, she nudged me gently with her shoulder.

“Get hurt? Please. I’ve seen it all. Especially the higher floors, they’re even clearer now.”

“Alright. Once you’re back, let’s go visit Natalie. We made it through a major crisis together, after all.”

Ha Hee-Jeong let out a rare, carefree laugh, “

Hehe

, sounds like a plan.”

After giving me a small wave, she disappeared. She had returned to her trial through the necklace.

Moments later, the notification window refreshed.

[... He will now enter the waiting room.]

My vision dimmed. A floating sensation took over as darkness swept in, and after a brief pause, the next set of messages appeared.

[17 hours 59 minutes until the rest period ends. Please take a rest.]

I had returned to the waiting room.

Doppy, Ryun, and Yoonie were nowhere to be seen, so I guessed they were still training.

Although I had gained far more divinity than expected and felt physically fine, the trial had taken quite the emotional toll on me. After all, I had just returned from battling a god.

On any other day, I would have gone straight to wash up. Instead, I sank into one of the chairs in the waiting room and sat motionless.

Barely ten seconds passed before the door to the training room burst open. They seemed to have sensed my return.

“Su-Yeok! You’re ba— wait?” Doppy greeted me with excitement, but suddenly stopped.

The look on his face said it all: he was startled.

My presence, my energy, and everything about me had shifted dramatically.

I smiled faintly, and Doppy cautiously asked, “W-what happened in there?”

“I cleared the trial and came back. Why?”

“It felt like I was looking at Lord Fenrike just now.”

Being compared to a god didn’t feel bad at all.

“Well, I did take one down just now.”

Doppy didn’t respond. He looked as if he was still trying to process what I had said.

Then, a few seconds later, he asked in a trembling voice, “W-wait... are you serious?”

***

Earth, after the events of the eighty-sixth floor.

[(Tower of Ordeal Special) Kwon Su-Hyeok resurrected instantly, and not after three days, but in less than a second. Is he truly a god?]

October 3rd, 2020. The day the Tower of Ordeal appeared, a million people vanished across the globe. Barely more than a year has passed since then, but our way of life has changed beyond recognition.

...

An alien invasion. Divine punishment. A brain-in-a-jar scenario. A large-scale Truman Show orchestrated by the United States of America. Countless theories and conspiracies have surfaced, but regardless of scientific explanations, most people today see the tower as a place where gods are born.

Religious institutions, in a rare moment of unity, have condemned such ideas as absurd. Yet when the miraculous unfolds right before one’s very eyes, what else are they supposed to believe?

...

Kwon Su-Hyeok has made countless people laugh and cry.

He has saved climbers who were also someone’s family, and since the earliest days of the tower, he has never once yielded the top rank, demonstrating overwhelming might again and again.

He has faced every unreasonable trial and impossible challenge head-on, inspiring people to cheer for him without even meaning to.

...

At some point, Kwon Su-Hyeok stopped being someone to root for and became someone to revere.

Light-Su-Hyeok. God Su-Hyeok.

What began as a joke on online forums has since spread to the general public.

Originally, the nickname came from his overwhelming strength and his efforts to rescue others in different worlds, but after what happened yesterday, the meaning changed completely.

Jesus Christ resurrected in three days. Kwon Su-Hyeok came back in less than a second. Then, he killed a god attempting to invade another world.

At that moment, I was certain. Some may call it blasphemy, but I must say this clearly:

Kwon Su-Hyeok is a god.

If you accuse me of heresy, then perhaps you are the one who blasphemes the truth.

- Wangsimni_fists_of_fury: sbkkk bro this is next-level delusion.

- YoonMinji: delusion? Say that again and catch these hands.

- SOWOM: No lie, Light-Su-Hyeok was literally God yesterday.

- BananasAreB: FACTS. I changed my underwear like twenty times watching that.

- ajadne: I ordered extra pairs. Hope they show up soon.

- hunter0319: Active-duty Hunter here. This article is straight facts.

- Poporo: Yo, this guy’s back? Where have you been all this time?

- hunter0319: Been out fighting threats to Earth.

- Poporo: What’s your take on that secret report about the change in the? True or fake?

- hunter0319: It’s true. That was mana.

- Don_jeolrae: LOL. This Hunter guy... last time he commented, it lined up with basic training.

- Chisaldae: What do you mean lined up?

- Donjeolrae: It was the exact boot camp window, bro lmao.

- Poporo: sb;;

- Chisaldae: The real joke is that you believed any of this.