Chapter 434: Ninety-Second Floor, Waiting Room (3)

“You know. I can’t share that information...” Natalie trailed off with a dry smile.

Hmm, just as I thought.

I nodded without protest. It was more or less what I had anticipated, so it didn’t leave me frustrated. This had happened many times before. After meeting Thunder Axe, I had asked her a similar question, but Natalie had given a noncommittal response.

The girl softly added, “And besides, it’s not as if I know everything. It’ll be better if you see and hear it yourself.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

Fair enough.

Even if Natalie was a dimensional witch, she was still a young girl who had only visited two places: the frozen castle and her world. It would be impossible for her to know everything about the Primordial God or challengers.

Even if she was considered more precious than a god, she couldn’t provide me with what Thunder Axe himself could not. Having let the idea go, I didn’t want to place her in a difficult position. She was wholly on my side and had no reason to conceal anything from me.

Still, I had asked again for a different reason.

My power—and its sources—has grown.

Even previously, when she withheld direct answers, Natalie would sometimes hint at her meaning through expressions or tone. Since I had passed the ninety-first floor and inherited some of the Primordial God’s power, I had wondered if she could share more. Our capabilities were connected in some ways, after all.

However, it wasn’t enough, especially when it came to the Primordial God, the tower, or challengers.

“Then what about Kalain? Not even anything about him?”

She gave a soft, playful smile. “

Ah

, now that’s a different matter.”

I almost sighed in relief. At least I would hear something regarding Kalain. Whether it would be the precise answer I sought remained uncertain, but having some information was still far better than none.

Natalie queried, “Could you narrow your question down a bit?”

“Would that make it easier?”

From the look in her eyes, she already knew what I planned to ask. That suggested there was a reason behind her request.

“Yes. It takes less out of me if it’s done in a question-and-answer format rather than me just explaining.”

That seemed plausible enough. There was a difference between handing out contextless knowledge and responding to something more focused. Instead of having her sort through immense amounts of information on my behalf, I should ask her something she could answer directly.

Hmm.

Now that I thought of it, I hadn’t asked Natalie how exactly her powers worked, or what they encompassed. All I knew was some vague notion that she observed dimensions and discerned their flow.

“So what exactly does it mean to be a dimensional witch? You see the future and the past? That sounds complicated.”

“

Hmm

, it’s difficult to explain.” She scratched her head. “To be precise, I don’t see every past or every future.”

“Right. You said that before. That it concerns the contractor, and even then, there are restrictions.”

“Yes. To put it simply, dimensional witches were created to help gods govern their worlds more easily.”

“Created, you say?”

Natalie nodded. “Yes, back when the Primordial God still existed. We’re a kind of proxy.”

From how she was describing it, they were practically agents of the Primordial God.

Why would they have needed proxies? Didn’t they manage the universe single-handedly for countless years?

Her statement caused me to feel doubtful for a moment, but then I realized that if I didn’t assume they were all-powerful, it was reasonable. If the Primordial God had truly been omnipotent, the gods or the Tower of Ordeal wouldn’t have ever come into existence.

So as the number of gods grew, the Primordial God sought to manage their worlds through dimensional witches.

Dimensional witches seemed completely benevolent.

Or maybe not?

I couldn’t generalize what dimensional witches were like based on Natalie alone. I didn’t even know if the Primordial God recognized the concepts of good and evil. In truth, most of the tower’s trials tested strength rather than morality.

Better to ask than to speculate.

“So you were created to steer the flow of the worlds toward a better future?”

“

Hmm

, we don’t have such a concrete command. Each dimensional witch has a different personality, and we simply choose the contractor who suits us best.”

“I see.”

As suspected, morality hadn’t played a role in their creation. Natalie had chosen me not because I was virtuous, but because we shared certain affinities. Come to think of it, after I had helped her escape, I hadn’t ever felt uncomfortable speaking with her. It was as if we were naturally attuned.

After a pause to gather her thoughts, Natalie added, “It’s more about maintaining balance, rather than what you said.”

“Balancing the gods?”

“Yes.”

Listening to her, I made sense of the situation. From my experience, the tower didn’t look kindly upon invading gods. That should reflect the Primordial God’s will. Perhaps the Primordial God had created dimensional witches to prevent such conflicts. Since I had found plenty of evidence pointing to strife between gods, the balance she spoke of could be about evening out their powers or even to balance good and evil.

Of course, I am basing good and evil solely on my perspective.

Anyway, given that Natalie had been imprisoned within the tower, the Primordial God had clearly failed.

As I drifted into thought, Natalie cut in, “You’ll come to understand naturally in time.”

That was her way of saying she couldn’t share more. I accepted it and returned to the original matter. There was still something I needed to ask.

“Then let me ask about Kalain.”

“Go ahead.”

“I believe the tower intends to bestow items and power related to the Primordial God upon challengers. Did Kalain also gain his strength through an experience similar to mine?”

“You’re rather mischievous.” Natalie squinted and gave me a playful glare.

Her sudden remark made me retrace my words. Repeating the sentence internally, I realized I had unintentionally folded two questions into one.

“Sorry, that wasn’t deliberate. Forget the first part.”

“I was only teasing you. Of course, I can’t tell you the first part anyway.” The girl laughed brightly. “But since Sky of the Nine Heavens is also a challenger, he underwent trials similar to yours. Still, he didn’t obtain the same ■■■ that you did.”

“

Huh?

What did he gain again?”

“

Ah

, well... causality is another way to phrase it. You’ve heard of it, right? The power to regulate the universe; the very power the Primordial God possessed.”

Her words stirred a memory. Some mad scientist on the thirty-fourth floor had captured me and rambled on about his plans. Though many of his words had sounded garbled to my ears, he had also mentioned causality. He had even wondered aloud whether lesser life forms like me simply couldn’t perceive it properly.

There was a separate matter, though, that came to mind. Garbled speech or distorted words weren’t confined to discussions of causality alone, nor exclusively to the power of the Primordial God.

I have seen it happen before.

On the sixth floor, objects and names related to the seraphim were obscured. Later, Seorden's Bracelet had its description hidden until I was on the verge of death, and it activated.

Ha Hee-Jeong had also told me about some garbled messages she had seen when she had returned. Moreover, the tower had concealed her sponsor’s name.

That made me think that the tower deliberately disguised information it wished to hide. Although perhaps a god could also request that their name be obscured.

Oh? Now that I think of it, a similar thing happened when I helped Paraktus.

Just before the trial ended, a message had appeared.

[You have slightly contributed to defying the overwhelming ■■■. Additional achievement points awarded.]

Also, in the boss room just before that, the orc paladin had praised Kal-Lain. Seeing that, I was certain that Kalain possessed the power also known as causality. The realization felt oddly unsettling.

It wasn’t because I had only now learned of it through Natalie, though, but rather that I had always known and simply failed to remember.

My memory has always been very good.

Perhaps causality influenced others in such a way. After all, it was the power of the Primordial God, deliberately hidden by the tower.

Natalie said nothing, only raising the corners of her lips in a faint, enigmatic smile as she watched me. At the very least, I could infer the situation with this information.

“So, he went through something similar to me, but didn’t gain as much?”

“Yes. And there are still things you have yet to obtain.”

“That’s a relief. Not bad at all.”

I truly meant it. If Kalain had secured causality in the same way I had, I would have been far more concerned for my future. Of course, Kalain was already immensely more powerful than I was, but causality was a force that surpassed all boundaries.

As I had experienced, and as Natalie had explained, it could regulate the universe. It was something wholly distinct from divinity, both in essence and quality. That meant, with some time, I could narrow the gap between us considerably.

The floors ahead will decide everything.

Based on Natalie’s words, Kalain hadn’t conquered the tower by facing the last ten floors alone. Or perhaps he had, but faltered at certain decisive junctures, and I hadn’t. After all, Kalain had passed through Seorden’s Forest, just like I had, but I inherited it, not him. If continued at this rate, I could probably surpass him one day.

Natalie’s voice distracted me. “I’m sorry I can’t tell you more. You haven’t conquered the tower.”

“Well, it can’t be helped. You’ve already shared more than enough. Thank you.”

She hadn’t dispelled all of my doubts, but I felt steadier and more grounded than before. In conclusion, my end goal remained unchanged. I had to grow stronger.

I would inevitably confront Kalain and the other gods after conquering the tower. To obtain causality, I would need to face the tower’s ordeals with unwavering resolve.

The tower itself said it chose me.

It would help me establish a foundation. I simply had to endure its trials. I had always possessed sufficient willpower, but now I had gained even greater motivation. There was no loss in that.

“Shall we check in on Gehenna and the Hyang now?”

“Yes, let’s do that.

Ah

, how about we visit the forest together afterward?”

“Sounds good.”

Natalie’s face lit up delightedly.

***

[4 minutes 21 seconds until the rest period ends. Please take a rest.]

The trip to Seorden’s Forest went normally. I merely offered my thanks to Poong-Wol and to the forest itself. Even if I had saved it, gratitude was still due.

I expected Poong-Wol to be able to speak despite being a dragon, but to my surprise, he couldn’t. Instead, we communicated through thought, and I came to understand more about his abilities. They seemed well-suited for the ordeals to come.

Afterward, I shared some of my divinity with Poong-Wol and the forest, and in return, I drew a little more of the forest’s strength.

My divinity always replenished over time, so I was simply profiting at no cost.

With that settled, I returned to the waiting room and threw myself into training once more, striving to break through the wall I had recently touched upon.

Sadly, I didn’t have a dramatic breakthrough.

Even so, I had slightly grasped how to cut with will alone. I couldn’t yet reproduce it perfectly, but I felt like I was at least halfway there. Perhaps the next time my life was on the line, I could do it. What better way to learn than that?

It was nearly time to enter the next floor—only four minutes remained. I calmly checked my equipment and made sure I had prepared any necessities.

Normally, when it was time to enter a floor—or not—Doppy was at my side.

His absence left me with an unexpected feeling of emptiness. This was about the time he would usually ask me if I was ready. Even after he had grown more independent, he had always done so. It had become part of my routine. Still, his absence didn’t affect my ability to conquer the floor. He hadn’t been with me when I entered the ninety-first floor, either.

Regardless, it was time to move. I set aside my idle thoughts and gazed toward the ceiling of the waiting room.

“Send me to the ninety-second floor.”

A sensation of weightlessness swept through me as my vision dimmed. In the darkness, the notification window refreshed.

[Welcome to the ninety-second floor of the Tower of Ordeal: The Feast’s End.]

[Eliminate the third-class god ‘Eternal Feast’ alongside the other apostles. Time remaining: 48 hours 0 minutes.]

Amid the messages glowing in the dark, I recognized a familiar name.

Eternal Feast.

I had first heard of this title on the thirty-fourth floor while cleaning a sewer. Additionally, he had saved me from a mad scientist on the same floor.

At the time, I recalled him being a fourth-class god. That wasn’t what mattered, though—the floor commanded me to eliminate him. For the tower to demand his death, something serious had happened.