Conquering the Tower Even Regressors Couldn't-Chapter 342: Eighty-First Floor, Starfish (2)

Naturally, everyone’s opinions differed.

Though the king didn’t object to my idea outright, he wore a cautious expression as he asked whether it wouldn’t be too dangerous.

I had expected this. The Celestial Bell was a sacred artifact meant to protect them, and there was no guarantee I would be able to defeat Starfish. His concern was understandable and even inevitable.

Fortunately, convincing him wasn’t particularly difficult.

A couple more portal jumps did the job.

Although I had demonstrated it once while summoning Ha-Seon, that had been without enemies nearby.

This time, I made a point of showing them how quickly I could move and how effortlessly traveling through a portal was. I proved that as long as they could retreat to safety, I could return to them at any moment, even in the midst of chaos.

With Ha-Seon’s reassurance on top of that, the king handed over the Celestial Bell without further resistance. Well, he had asked me to take good care of it multiple times.

Shortly afterward, we relocated the hideout to a more distant location.

If I fight the Starfish nearby, the surrounding yokai will likely be drawn in.

Their current location was simply too close to the Fourth Division. We had to minimize the risk that the fallout would impact them.

After taking our time to find a secure site, we set up the new shelter. Once I locked in its coordinates, I entrusted Doppy to Ha-Seon.

While I may need his buffs...

My current goal was to figure out whether or not Starfish could be killed. It was also a chance to get a read on his abilities.

If I ended up needing a buff, I could always retreat through a portal and return later. If it felt manageable, I would engage him right away. If not, I would simply move on to hunt another Great Yokai.

Either path is fine.

I didn’t feel weighed down by any worries. Having obtained the Celestial Bell, I felt at ease.

Illusions and mental interference were no longer a concern; I just needed to handle the physical confrontation.

The moment I stepped out of the hideout, I veered sharply to the right and stealthily circled out as far as I could before heading to the Fourth Division. If Starfish forced me to retreat, the battlefield and the hideout needed to be well apart.

As for tracking down Starfish? That wouldn’t be necessary. With the Celestial Bell in hand, he would come to me on his own.

“Haaaa.”

Near the outskirts of the Fourth Division, I deactivated Shadow Veil.

A wide, open plain stretched out before me, the ideal terrain for a fight. At the same time, I released the power I had been storing up.

My presence radiated outward, and the flow of mana and divine energy through my internal circuits steadily accelerated. It was the natural warm-up before combat. Sparks danced faintly across my skin.

Some things in my surroundings reacted immediately. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

To my eleven and three o’clock.

I sensed the yokai noticing me. Their eerie energy shuddered as they turned toward me.

After all, I didn’t intend to hide.

Still, it wasn’t enough—I could draw more attention.

I reached into Mung-chi and drew out the Celestial Bell—a jade-colored staff with four bells affixed to the end. Of course, it would ring when shaken, but I hadn’t tested it yet,

The king had said that shaking it would violently disturb a monk’s energy. Even those without spiritual power could use it. In such cases, it would draw from their life force instead. For me, divine energy would serve as a substitute.

Though I hadn’t activated it before, I could tell instinctively that it would channel divinity in place of monkly energy.

With my axe held in my right hand, I lifted the Celestial Bell high with my left. Two yokai continued to approach me silently from both flanks.

Time to see how far this reaches.

Summoning Starfish was a requirement.

I inhaled quietly and shook the bell. A rush of divine energy surged outward.

Drring—

A clear, resonant chime rang out, but it didn’t feel as if the sound came from the bell itself. Rather, it echoed throughout the entire space around me.

Moments later, waves of spiritual force erupted in a violent tremor. A solemn, orderly aura radiated in every direction from the Celestial Bell. The air roared, and the wind howled. Sand scattered in the blast. I could sense the oncoming yokai flung back by the force of the bell’s energy.

The pulse didn’t stop there, though. It swept across the plains like a storm, rushing toward the mountain in the distance and behind me as well. By now, it had likely reached the hideout.

I set those thoughts aside and looked up at the mountain peak.

He will react soon.

According to the Head Monk, Starfish had last been seen ascending that very summit, toward the Fourth Division built atop Mountain Suchal. If they intended to hold the ritual there, it would make sense for him to remain close.

I received a response three seconds later.

A pillar of fire erupted from the mountaintop. It shot toward the heavens, then arched downward in a graceful curve like an inverted “U.” Its trajectory pointed straight at me. The tail of the flame extending from the summit gradually faded away.

Just as I thought.

Although I had suspected as much, this confirmed that fire wasn’t Starfish’s weakness.

That struck one more option from the list.

I took half a step back, braced, and raised my axe. The column of flame crashed down thirty meters in front of me.

Whoosh!

A blast of heat swept over me, but I held my ground.

As the final wave of heat dissipated, the fire converged and slowly took shape.

Starfish.

Took on the form of a woman.

Well, I guess he is a she.

She wasn’t human, of course. Her entire figure shimmered with a soft crimson glow. Flame-like hair rippled above eyes as deep and red as garnets. Twin horns, reminiscent of a bull’s, curved from her crown, and a whip-like tail traced arcs in the air behind her.

The skin visible between her black garments glowed red from heat. From the back of her hands to beneath her neck, delicate lines of metal ran across her skin. Although most of her skin was concealed beneath fabric, those threads clearly extended far deeper.

She wasn’t human, but she didn’t look quite like a yokai either. If I had to describe her appearance, I would have called her a goddess of fire and steel. Her presence was overwhelming.

She narrowed her eyes slightly and scanned me. Her expression was unhurried and composed.

A system window appeared.

[Gehenna]

The window was simple and succinct. It only showed a name, with no accompanying explanation. This was a familiar situation, though.

So this was Starfish’s true form.

Most likely, this was her real name, and the people of this world had named her Starfish.

Suddenly, a small child poked their head out from behind her.

“Ah.”

I hadn’t sensed them at all because of her overwhelming presence.

The child resembled her closely. Her red hair, crimson eyes, horns, tail, and thin metal lines tracing upward from her fingertips looked exactly like Starfish’s.

That only held true for one half of her, though. Although the child’s right half mirrored Gehenna, her right was stark white—hair, skin, and eye all pale.

From her pale half, I could feel the clear presence of the energy that monks manipulated.

How the fuck?

There was no doubt that this was the “small yokai” Sorcerer Ichon had mentioned. Judging by appearances, she was likely Starfish’s child.

What struck me as strange, however, was the unmistakable aura of a monk emanating from the child.

I couldn’t say for sure why that was, but I had a hunch. If the child’s father happened to be one of the celestials, it would explain a lot, including why Starfish was so fixated on the Celestial Bell. Perhaps she sought to reunite with him.

Of course, it was all an assumption.

“I thought the king had finally given up, but it seems he sent some odd stranger instead,” she murmured and tilted her head slightly.

She regarded me interestedly. “From the looks of it, you’re not from this world. How did you get here? Did a god summon you?”

“Is that really important?”

“Well, for me, it could turn out to be quite significant,” she replied with a nonchalant shrug. After letting out a long sigh, she added, “Things are becoming increasingly troublesome, and you’re not someone I can simply crush with force.”

Her gaze locked onto mine. “Will you answer me?”

Instead of replying, I studied her closely. She was far removed from what I had imagined. Unlike any yokai I had encountered before, not just in appearance, but in presence.

There was something distinctly human about her demeanor. A certain weariness lingered in her expression. Beneath it, a subtle, almost imperceptible sorrow existed.

Still, her aura was formidable. I couldn’t tell at a glance whether I could kill her or not.

Hmm.

Amidst the swirling and eerie energy emanating from her, I detected a faint yet distinct trace of divinity. It didn’t seem to belong to her, but it was familiar. It was the same sensation I had felt when encountering other apostles.

Wait, I thought yokai and celestials are in direct opposition.

Between the divine energy and the child behind her, I couldn’t help but wonder.

Is she, too, one of the celestials’ apostles?

There was clearly something at play here that I hadn’t yet grasped.

Still, one thing I could say with certainty was that we were nearly equal in strength.

If it comes down to a direct fight, I think I can barely edge out a narrow win.

Then again, even that wasn’t guaranteed. If she truly was undying, then no amount of effort would be enough to defeat her.

“You're quite the tight-lipped one, aren’t you?”

I couldn’t afford to stay silent any longer. I needed answers. There were too many unknowns to dive into a fight unprepared.

“It’s not that. I just heard that a ritual would drive you out, so I came to help.”

“I asked where you came from, and whether a god sent you.”

Did she?

I had been too focused on reading her movements, so I shrugged. “Earth.”

“And where is that?”

“Would it matter if I told you?”

“No.” She shook her head, perfectly composed.

What the fuck?

Her bluntness caught me off guard.

Despite that, I had a strange feeling that we could actually talk this out, so I continued, “I’m not sure whether a god sent me or not. I was only told to take down a Great Yokai.”

“Is that so?” She sounded unimpressed.

Maybe she didn’t believe me.

I couldn’t bring up the Tower of Ordeal, so I steered the conversation elsewhere. “Well, to be honest, I don’t know either. Maybe one of the celestials sent me?”

Starfish let out a short, amused laugh. “Celestials? What a ridiculous thing to say, and with such a straight face, too.”

Why is she laughing?

As I looked at her in puzzlement, she furrowed her brow. Clearly, we were misunderstanding each other.

“Judging from that look, you really don’t know anything, do you?”

“What’s so funny about the celestials?”

“They aren’t gods.”

“What?”

“The ones humans call celestials—those so-called divine figures—they’re not gods. They’re the same as me.”

The child behind her shifted slightly. Starfish reached back and gently held her in place.

“What do you mean?”

“Exactly what I said. They’re not gods. They’re puppets, creations of the true god.”

Her words rattled me. I recalled what Ha-Seon had once told me about the celestials. According to him, they were the gods who had long ceased to interfere in mortal affairs.

Back then, I had assumed they had withdrawn because of some divine, non-aggression pact. Now, however, I once again wondered about their existence—if the reason he had given wasn’t true.

Apostles.

If every celestial was simply an apostle, everything took on a different meaning.

Starfish also possessed divinity. If she claimed those beings were like her, then perhaps she was telling the truth.

“The real god... that cruel bastard is up there. I don’t know why, but he’s probably the one who called you here.”

Then she added after glancing up at the sky, “In the end, this is all just a means to harvest divinity.”