Chapter 438: Ninety-Second Floor, The Feast’s End (4)

Eternal Feast looked down at Kwon Su-Hyeok and wondered where it had all gone wrong. Of course, he knew why. It had begun the moment he offered his world to the Tower of Ordeal. Sewer-cleaning on Aisengard had always been a routine, albeit tedious, task. He hadn’t joined the Tower of Ordeal for any other reason.

Plants and animals on worlds where gods gathered frequently tended to grow abnormally. Residual divinity left behind by gods altered the air and soil, reshaping the ecosystem. Aisengard didn’t deviate from that expectation. The sewers, where remnants of divinity flowed after gods and apostles departed, were fertile grounds for monsters to be born.

Eternal Feast had long sent his apostles, or those indebted to him, to keep them in check. Usually, his own apostles handled the work, but then the Tower of Ordeal had opened its doors.

Faith, and the divine energy received from it, had grades. Divine energy received from ordinary life in a stable world could not compare in quality to divinity born from miracles or salvation.

Greater still was the divine energy offered by the Tower of Ordeal.

The tower’s rewards even carried faint traces of causality, something no god could afford to ignore. If handled well, it could raise a god’s rank, along with countless secondary benefits. That was why gods competed so fiercely to offer their worlds to trials, and Eternal Feast was no exception.

Aisengard’s sewer cleaning responsibility. If provided to the tower, it could become a lucrative source of divinity. For climbers, it was a daunting ordeal since it was work normally done by apostles.

Unfortunately for Eternal Feast, the tower had rejected the proposal as unsuitable. From its perspective, it fit neither an individual floor, a party floor, nor an all-climber floor.

Circumstances had changed when a challenger appeared, however.

Eternal Feast had considered this fortunate. Gods received greater rewards if a challenger completed a trial on their world than in any other case.

He sighed inwardly.

Ugh.

One way or another, his own greed had led to this. He had reached too far. After killing the mad scientist and sending the research to the tower, the facilities and procedures refused to leave his mind.

He tried to forget, but couldn’t.

It was in his nature as a god of revelry. He could restrain desire, but when it grew excessively, that very desire consumed him. Looking back, the tower had obviously been watching. At the time, it had felt as if something had possessed him.

He had carried out the work so discreetly, though, practically in perfect secrecy. He hadn’t shared it with anyone, not even his apostles. After countless failures, he had finally succeeded.

Then, disaster struck. As soon as he absorbed the causality he had collected, the tower intervened. Causality was forbidden for non-challengers, although some ancient and high-ranking gods had once received causality directly from the Primordial God. Technically, the tower could reward a god with causality; however, that was beyond exceedingly rare.

Even then, there was a limited supply of causality, and once spent, it was gone.

Eternal Feast had been caught without recourse. The tower had stripped his world and divinity—along with the scraps of causality—away. Just before erasing his existence, the tower made him an offer: he could appear in a trial.

It was an offer he couldn’t refuse. Otherwise, he would die.

As long as he killed the challenger facing the trial, he could survive. His rank would fall, and his world would be forfeit, but survival alone was enough.

He could always rebuild what he once had.

The tower had placed restrictions on him, of course. Without a world, he no longer received the steady influx of new divinity, and even his existing divinity was capped. His only consolation was that he would enter the battlefield first, and he could wield the causality he had already absorbed.

Even so, it wasn’t in large supply. Regardless, Eternal Feast hadn’t cared. He was a third-class god. It wouldn’t be difficult to kill a climber, even if they were a challenger, or so he thought.

That confidence wavered the moment he faced Kwon Su-Hyeok.

Hmm.

Eternal Feast studied him closely. The challenger he hadn’t seen in for a while had utterly transformed. Observing the tower’s trials consumed divinity, and the higher the floor, the greater the cost. Still, Eternal Feast had continued to watch—up to a certain point.

The tower had caught him while Kwon Su-Hyeok was on the eightieth floor, forcing him to stop spectating. The Kwon Su-Hyeok from the eightieth floor and the Kwon Su-Hyeok were incomparable. He wielded vast, immaculate divinity and even causality of unknown origin.

What Eternal Feast had thought would be simple was anything but. The tower hadn’t made its offer in vain.

Eternal Feast steadied himself.

Challenger or not, he is still just a climber.

He had no intention of showing mercy. He would end it in one blow, with everything he had. Though his strength was restricted, that did not matter.

A climber with such a powerful presence couldn’t be taken lightly. A prolonged battle could prove worse for Eternal Feast. He had to finish it quickly, while he had the advantage. He would test Kwon Su-Hyeok once, then take stock of the situation.

Kwon Su-Hyeok charged forward, and Eternal Feast struck in the brief moment his eyes turned toward the apostles. It was a beam of retribution, infused with both causality and divinity. This was the very attack Eternal Feast had often used to punish criminals on Aisengard.

Just before the light reached Kwon Su-Hyeok, a radiant blue domain flared into existence. Eternal Feast’s eyes widened in shock. He had seen a divine domain before. High-ranking gods sometimes used them, and they couldn’t be imitated.

So how can Kwon Su-Hyeok, who still hasn’t attained godhood, wield one?

Eternal Feast couldn’t comprehend what the challenger had undergone after the eightieth floor. His face twisted in shame, and he clenched his teeth.

I swore I wouldn’t use this... that it would be meaningless...

***

[Eliminate the third-class god ‘Eternal Feast’ alongside the other apostles. Time remaining: 47 hours 21 minutes.]

Eternal Feast’s golden beam hit the domain with a deep, resonant thud. The domain buckled, bending inward beneath Eternal Feast’s power. Thankfully, it hadn’t broken; I was aiming to buy time.

As the contest of strength dragged on, the notification window refreshed.

[The skill Scientist Do’s Composure, acquired as an additional reward, will be deleted.]

What?

It struck me as absurd. For a moment, I wondered if Eternal Feast had unleashed a psychic attack in an attempt to distract me. Laughing bitterly, I forced my focus back to the fight. Blue radiance and golden light oscillated in a violent struggle.

Even so, Eternal Feast was pushing me back slightly. The gap between a third-class god and me was undeniable. Still, the fact that I could endure at all was encouraging.

Huh?

It happened in an instant. From within Eternal Feast’s beam, another ray shot out like a drill.

Crash—!

The domain, which had held despite the dents, was pierced through in one blow. A sharp flash erupted. I twisted to the side in a rush, but couldn’t move out of the way just in case he targeted my allies.

Too late.

A beam as thick as my forearm tore through my side. The sensation of armor and flesh disintegrating ripped through me, sharp and searing.

Fuck.

I had already planned to watch for feints when dealing with the apostles, but I hadn’t expected another strike to come bursting from within the beam itself. Rolling across the ground, I clutched my side. Casting a quick healing spell, I managed to stem the bleeding, causing my side to glow slightly.

Glaring at Eternal Feast, I extended my senses outward. I hadn’t been able to dodge properly since I wanted to shield the apostles, but they weren’t idiots. Thankfully, they had already retreated to safety. They had only had the briefest window, but they had escaped unharmed.

The beam faded not long after piercing my side, as if Eternal Feast had drawn his power back. He didn’t want to waste his strength. I smirked inwardly.

𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

As I thought, he isn’t at full strength either.

He was a third-class god who had seized causality. That would make him a difficult opponent, but I also suspected the tower had imposed restrictions on him.

As I chanted inwardly on every floor, the tower only handed me trials I could overcome.

Compared to the oppressive force I had felt earlier, I had managed to block his attack more easily than expected. He clearly hadn’t unleashed his full strength. The attack just now had been a delayed surge of power. Withdrawing the energy from that beam and stripping away my skill were further proof. Even now, thinking about it left me dumbfounded.

What a petty asshole.

Deleting my skill in the middle of blocking his strike? Is that really worthy of a god?

Worse, it was the first time I realized that a skill could be taken away. Then again, that particular reward hadn’t come from the tower itself but from Eternal Feast, since that trial had gone outside the usual bounds.

It didn’t matter. Scientist Do’s Composure wasn’t even a combat skill. Perhaps he thought unsettling me before the attack, then following up with a mental strike, would throw me off balance.

Even without Scientist Do’s Compusure, I had Clarity of Mind, which anchored my mind like a clear pond. If he had resorted to stripping away something so trivial, it was proof he was desperate.

“Don’t you think that’s a bit low?” I curled one corner of my mouth into a smirk as I looked up at him. “A god is taking back the reward he gave himself.”

Eternal Feast clamped his jaw shut and glared at me.

He didn’t show it outwardly, but his aura had grown sharper. It felt as if my mocking had struck home. Not that it would matter much. As the god of revelry, he wouldn’t have weak willpower. He was a god, after all.

Still, his actions revealed something to me.

If this drags on, I will win.

In a straight contest of strength, I would always be at a disadvantage; a provisional god was simply weaker than a true one. Even with causality and how much I had grown since fighting Endless Furnace, he was still a third-class god.

The balance shifted entirely depending on how much the tower had weakened him. I didn’t know exactly how much it had, but the way he deliberately conserved strength told me enough.

Thank goodness he isn’t a battle-oriented god, I probably wouldn’t have noticed then.

Because of that, his combat sense was lacking. He had given me the clue far too easily. Even with weakness, truly skilled fighters feigned strength. If he hadn’t withdrawn the power left in the beam or stolen back the reward skill, I never would have suspected. By revealing both, he had exposed his weakness.

Meanwhile, divine energy surged into me, overflowing as it poured from those watching me.

Time to play with him a little.

I would need to heal first if I wanted to fight at full capacity. For now, I would conserve my strength, focus on evading, and draw the fight out.

Flashing Eternal Feast a grin, I hurled lightning past him. The bolts streaked toward the backs of the two apostles fighting Wan, Skyalf, Purehe, and Sdeeka. His apostles startled. One dodged just in time, but the other didn’t.

Wan’s greatsword carved an arc and gashed the apostle’s arm. Wan gave me a grateful glance.

Eternal Feast seized that opportunity to attack. Earlier, my allies’ proximity had forced me to take a hit. Now, I could dodge as much as I wanted. I stamped against the ground as I reactivated Flash Strike, angling so that no one else would be caught in the blast.

From the flank of the incoming beam, another ray shot out. Eternal Feast was using the same trick from before. The only difference was where the additional attack had split from.

Seriously?

I dodged again, only for another ray to leap out from the beam’s flank. This one was faster.

Time to stack Flash Strike.

I just barely slipped past the attack.

Fortunately, the beam didn’t split again. Eternal Feast had realized it was useless.

Locking gazes, I arched my brows and tilted my head toward the apostles, as if to ask him how he planned to help his apostles against me.

“What are you doing? Don’t just stand there.”

Go on, try again.

My mocking smile was deliberate.

Eternal Feast didn’t reply. Still atop the skyscraper, his expression appeared calm, but his silence chilling. He couldn’t fully maintain the facade, however, and his lips twitched slightly. Then, at last, he raised a sword and a whip.