—Pope Karsel. He has begun to move.

—The Pope of the Ares Church is a man with great power and holy power because of the duty to protect the world.

—With just a single buff he cast, the Ares Church is gaining tremendous strength.

—But it is doubtful how long they can hold out.

After waking up, Hyunsoo was eating cereal while watching footage of the war.

“I need to get to Floor 10 as fast as possible.”

With Gremory’s revival having changed to ???, Hyunsoo could feel that this war and that revival were connected.

So the key issue was how long the Ares Church could hold out.

He immediately logged into Ares and stepped onto the stairs leading up to Floor 9.

Floor 9 was the place Bahala had failed to conquer.

Obstacle avoidance.

Just how many obstacles were attacking for Bahala to have failed?

If things go bad, I’ll use what I got as the reward from Floor 8.

Once he cleared Floor 8, he had received a reward.

[You obtain a Potion of 250 Stats.]

This was an insanely broken item of epic proportions, one that could raise any chosen stat by as much as 250 in one shot.

Bahala probably got a potion that raised them by around 100.

That had to be the result of Hyunsoo’s absurdly massive hunting total.

Depending on the situation, I’ll dump everything into Agility or Vitality.

Hyunsoo had been preparing himself for the obstacles that would go berserk and erupt the moment he opened the door, but then he froze in confusion.

All the obstacles had already been destroyed, and a massive status-inflicting force was trying to crush him.

[Appearance of the Nameless King!]

[The Nameless King’s killing intent.]

[You resist all status ailments.]

Hyunsoo looked at the lone man standing before him.

[Nameless King Lv.601]

What kind of insane level is that?

The moment he saw it, every hair on his body stood on end. It was that overwhelmingly high.

[He is a being you were originally meant to face on Floor 14.]

[He has descended to Floor 9 of his own accord.]

Hyunsoo wanted to cry.

Why?

Why in the world had something from Floor 14 suddenly come down here on its own?

And the bastard’s gaze was fixed on Full Bloom.

Don’t tell me...

Did he covet Full Bloom?

Honestly, that was the most likely answer.

At present, thanks to Hyunsoo’s exhaustive grinding on Floor 8, Full Bloom’s proficiency had reached 62%.

Before long, it might grow into Transcendence grade.

And when it became Transcendence grade, Full Bloom would display power beyond imagination.

I’m never letting anyone take it.

Hyunsoo tensed as he watched the man approach.

Just as he was preparing to fight at any moment, he was able to make out the Nameless King’s state once the man drew close.

His eyes looked utterly vacant, as though filled with a kind of emptiness.

He was pale as well, almost like a puppet.

In a clumsy voice, he said,

“I wish... to commission a sword.”

Ding!

[Quest: Sword Commission]

Grade: A

Restriction: One who has received the Nameless King’s request

Reward: All Stats 1, completion of Floor 9 trial.

Penalty on failure: You cannot climb the tower.

Description: The Nameless King wishes to commission a sword from you, the exceptional blacksmith who created Full Bloom.

“...And if I refuse?”

The Nameless King gave a simple answer.

Slide.

He raised his sword for Hyunsoo to see.

...This is basically a threat, isn’t it?

Hyunsoo gave a hollow laugh.

“First, tell me what kind of sword you need.”

“A child... will use it... an excellent sword... Height, 154 centimeters... Weight, 37 kilograms. Age, nine years old. A fine sword that would also be good even if a child thinner than others his age swings it....”

Hyunsoo tilted his head.

“Judging by your condition, it looks like you may have stayed in this tower for at least ten years. Then that child wouldn’t be ten now—he’d be an adult. Shouldn’t it be a sword for an adult?”

“He does not grow.”

Meaning, he was dead.

“Can you tell me why you need a sword like that?”

The Nameless King nodded, and the story began.

He had once been the king of a small country, and he had a dream-filled nine-year-old son.

The queen had died several years earlier, and that child had been his only blood relative.

The Nameless King had been a cold and harsh father, while his son, Barsen, had supposedly been a lively and affectionate child.

Then one day—

that lively, upright child had been given a terminal diagnosis.

Hyunsoo thought the man would wear a sorrowful expression.

But he did not.

With an endlessly cold face, as ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) if speaking of a stranger’s death, he said,

“I was... indifferent....”

“......”

The Nameless King said that even after the child was declared terminally ill, he himself had continued to grow stronger.

He had gone from victory to victory against many kingdoms, and the small, insignificant country had prospered.

He had supposedly been like a beast running across the battlefield.

“There was even a day... when I cut down tens of thousands... alone.”

Once he began cutting down enemy soldiers like a madman, from a certain point onward, other kingdoms and empires could no longer easily covet his small country.

Then, while still accepting his son’s terminal illness with indifference, the king learned that his son’s birthday was approaching.

As other parents usually did, he asked what gift the child wanted.

“A gift? I want a good sword so I can become a cool swordsman like Father!”

So he had planned to commission one from a rather famous blacksmith.

The problem arose there.

“A mad king coveted my territory.”

He said he had turned back and gone to fight.

That day, he cut down a large portion of the enemy’s forces, and the mad king fled.

When he returned ten days later, his terminally ill son had already gone to heaven without ever receiving his birthday gift.

And even now, there was no change in his expression.

“I looked down at the body... indifferently.”

Hyunsoo felt a coldness in him, as if he were talking about someone else.

“I do not regret it. That day, I lost my son, but I saved hundreds of thousands of people.”

After saying that calmly, he turned away.

“In four days... I will return for the sword.”

With that, he stepped onto the stairs and disappeared.

Hyunsoo let out the breath he had been holding.

“So to sum it up, it’s a tale of some power-mad father abandoning his dying child to save the kingdom. Hm.”

The quest was Grade A.

A Grade A quest meant it would probably be the easiest one out of every floor he had cleared so far.

And if all I have to do is make a sword in memory of the son, then I can clear Floor 9 right away, can’t I?

Thanks to the Nameless King, it had actually turned into an absurdly easy quest.

Hyunsoo had in fact been most worried about Floor 9.

Even Bahala couldn’t clear it, right? And I get through a place like this this easily!?

And Hyunsoo needed to hurry to Floor 10.

Then he paused.

There are too many strange things here.

It was because of the notifications that had sounded while he was speaking with the Nameless King.

[The Nameless King made a deal with the tower not long after his son’s death.]

[The Nameless King’s memories are incomplete.]

Why did he make a deal with the tower?

And the other thing Hyunsoo could not understand was whether the king had really commissioned this merely for the sake of fame, like I made a sword for my dead son!

It happened long ago. So why now?

He could feel it himself.

He was standing at a crossroads where he could choose the easy path—or the hard one.

A good sword? Sure, I can make one.

With skill alone, he could cover it.

But am I really supposed to ignore every question, instant-clear the quest, and move past Floor 9?

Was that really the right thing to do?

At the end of that line of thought, Hyunsoo made his decision.

He would find out more about him.

“Log out.”

First, he searched the community for information on the “Nameless King.”

“There’s nothing at all. Tch.”

But at times like this, there was a trump card he could use.

Kabel.

Out of all users, Kabel was the one who knew the most information.

And as a person, Kabel himself possessed abilities specialized in uncovering information.

“There’s something I want you to look into.”

—I’ll investigate it.

In the end, Hyunsoo kept trying to gather information, but there truly was nothing anywhere about the Nameless King.

Was he really just some lunatic drunk on power?

Hyunsoo began to wonder if his own suspicions had been wrong.

Then it was time to log back in, at the appointed hour he had promised the Nameless King.

I’m not going to end up unable to clear Floor 9 like this, am I?

If that happened, it would be a disaster.

It would be impossible for him to defeat the Nameless King and move on to Floor 10.

And right then—

Bzzzzzz.

His phone rang.

—I found someone who knows about Barsen. It seems there was a quest related to the Nameless King and Barsen from the very beginning.

As Hyunsoo listened to Kabel’s story, his eyes began to shake.

He was now facing a new truth.

That truth was that the Nameless King had loved his son more than anyone.

*****

There had once been an absolute king.

A king who, even before his son’s death, thought only of the country and of his own strength.

A king who had remained indifferent even before the cold corpse after his victory.

The promised day had come. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

The Nameless King moved to retrieve the sword.

When he met him—

the man was not making the sword.

“...Did you... not keep your promise?”

An indescribably enormous killing intent burst from the Nameless King in that instant.

[A massive killing intent rises.]

[The Nameless King’s enormous power seeks to oppress you.]

[You resist all status ailments.]

That killing intent was so immense that it could have killed the man before him far too easily.

And yet the man in front of him said,

“There was something I needed to confirm.”

“Confirm...?”

“From what I can tell, I think your memory is wrong. I think you’re deluding yourself. Is that really the truth? Are you sure you really didn’t care even when your son was sentenced to die, and that you were truly indifferent even in front of his corpse?”

Am I sure?

“There was... an absolute king... and he....”

Hyunsoo shook his head firmly.

“No. On the day Barsen died, there was no absolute, indifferent king.”

“What are you... saying?”

“I’ve heard there are parents like that.”

“......”

“Parents who suddenly lose a child. They get consumed by thoughts like if only I hadn’t done that that day, or if only I had acted differently, and they start thinking it was all their own fault. They even end up deluding themselves.”

And then Hyunsoo began repeating the story Kabel had passed on to him.

“On the day your son was declared terminally ill, you cried in front of everyone.”

“......”

At those words, the Nameless King’s memories slowly began to awaken.

With every word Hyunsoo spoke, those memories became clearer.

That day—

Barsen had said this to him, as he stood there crying.

“It does not look good for the king of a nation to weep. Please be indifferent. I may be only one death, but do not forget that behind Father stand hundreds of thousands of people, all looking only at your back.”

So, just as his son had said, he fought, making it impossible for empires and kingdoms alike to lay a hand on them.

And it was also true that when he had asked about a birthday gift, the boy had smiled that sincere smile of his and said he wanted a sword that would let him become a swordsman like his father.

But—

even after hearing that the mad king was invading, he had not been able to move rashly.

At that moment, his son, lying in bed, had come out gasping for breath.

“What are you doing! Go to the battlefield at once and protect this country! Do you want to let this nation perish because of someone as insignificant as me!?”

When he returned and found that the most precious thing in his life had died, he broke down weeping as he read the note Barsen had left behind.

“Please be remembered as an indifferent father. Please be remembered not as the father who lost one prince, but as the king who saved hundreds of thousands of people.”

At the time, the Nameless King had clutched that note and cried as he repeated it to himself.

Become indifferent. Be remembered that way.

Be remembered only as the absolute king who protected his people.

A single tear ran down the Nameless King’s cheek.

Only now did he remember everything, and realize it.

The reason he had come to the tower.

“The tower... granted me... a blessing to return to the past and meet my son Barsen again.”

It was through that blessing that he had been able to see his son again.

So please... give my son Barsen... a fine sword....

He had not yet finished that thought.

Tap, tap.

He saw the blacksmith brush past him, patting him on the shoulder as he walked by.

Then the blacksmith stretched a hand out before him.

“God’s Forge.”

RUMMMMMBLE—!

A forge appeared before his eyes, radiating fierce heat, and the blacksmith standing inside turned back and said,

“Let’s go give Barsen the best gift.”