Conquering the Tower Even Regressors Couldn't-Chapter 368: Eighty-Fourth Floor, The Corpse of the Dead God (2)

Chapter 368: Eighty-Fourth Floor, The Corpse of the Dead God (2)

As soon as I emerged from the lava—in a swirling column of fire, no less—I wasn’t greeted with a flurry of handshakes. Nor did I face a wave of questions.

Though countless eyes lit up when they looked at me, all I received were cheers and distant applause.

It wasn’t that they feared mages or didn’t know how to respond. More likely, Remtal had done an excellent job managing their expectations beforehand. I had no idea what exactly he had told them, but the gazes directed my way, filled with awe and gratitude, were enough to lift my mood.

The fact that they aren’t swarming me with attention really is a bonus.

Despite having expended a great deal of energy to make it back up, I couldn’t afford to simply stand around and recover.

I shot up while holding the horn, and I didn’t even have the luxury of activating Shadow Veil to block the light. Everyone saw the bluish-gold glow.

Remtal approached with a gaze full of hope and, after sincerely thanking me for my efforts, asked, “Did you locate the trench and resolve the issue?”

Unfortunately, I could only shake my head. As for the glow, I merely described it as a force from ancient times.

I had hinted at this before descending, so Remtal simply nodded. Still, a trace of disappointment showed on his face. He seemed to have plenty of questions, but seeing how worn out I was, he didn’t press further and turned away instead.

That night, the submersible remained where it was.

It is about time for a proper rest anyway.

The submersible resumed its course at dawn the next day. I had slept enough and recovered my stamina, so I climbed back up onto the deck.

The navigator was still looking at me with fiery eyes, which was a little uncomfortable, albeit manageable.

Nothing noteworthy happened during the journey. The horn remained quiet within my mimic.

It clearly frightened Mung-chi, but there was no helping that. I couldn’t exactly carry it around myself. Not with its glow, and certainly not with the pain it caused me.

Still, I had told Mung-chi to open itself immediately the next time it showed signs of change.

There is always a chance someone could get hurt.

Anyway, a few more hours passed. The voyage continued, and by afternoon, we arrived near the purported epicenter.

Not long after the navigator informed me of that, Remtal climbed up onto the submersible. “Do you sense anything?”

It was a natural question. We were nearly at our destination. From this point onward, I was meant to take the lead.

Rather than respond right away, I slowly turned to scan the area. The Sea of Lava stretched endlessly in all directions.

Everywhere looked the same, and nothing in particular stood out. The horn was still quiet as well.

We hadn’t reached the true center yet—that much was clear.

I shook my head. “Not yet. I think we need to go a bit closer.”

“I see. We can’t move just yet anyway, so I came to check. We’re almost at the core.”

“Yes.”

Our conversation was a little dry. Ever since I had emerged from the lava, I could tell Remtal had started treating me differently.

Well, I have left quite an intense impression.

Thinking back to how I was on Earth, I probably would have reacted the same way.

I didn’t give it much thought.

Even as we stood in silence, it wasn’t uncomfortable. By now, I was used to this sort of atmosphere.

During my climb through the tower, I had met more than enough strangers from unfamiliar worlds. The awkwardness had faded over time.

Earlier in the tower, I hadn’t exactly welcomed encounters with those from vastly different backgrounds. Now that I was reflecting on it, I realized I had changed a lot since then.

Not that I know how Remtal feels about it.

Pushing aside my idle thoughts, I expanded my senses. My gaze swept far across the Sea of Lava. I didn’t sense anything, but last time, traces of the god’s remnants had appeared in an instant. I wasn’t letting my guard down.

Several minutes passed in silence before Remtal carefully stated, “I’ll head back below. If your senses pick up anything, please don’t hesitate to let us know.”

“Sure.”

Remtal turned and walked away. His footsteps gradually receded.

Out of nowhere, something at the edge of my vision caught my attention.

At the ship’s one o’clock.

Toward the far end of the Sea of Lava, a dark shape came into view. It was something massive, like a ship.

I reached out to stop Remtal before he could descend. “Wait a moment.”

“Yes?”

“There’s something over there. One o’clock. Looks like the supply ship you mentioned.”

Submarines weren’t the only vessels traversing the Sea of Lava. That was likely the reason Remtal hadn’t ordered an immediate course correction.

A supply ship had been left at the center of the search zone. It was practically a central base, and it managed the submersibles, allowed them to refuel, and offered the crew a modest place to rest.

Didn’t they say it was built after they realized what happened to the first submersible?

At first, they had thought it had gone missing or lost its way. It wasn’t until much later, when they found fragments drifting on the sea, that they realized it had been wrecked.

In truth, it had been melted by lava imbued with divine energy. Only a few of its components had floated back to the surface.

After that, they established a new rule. All submersibles had to stop by the supply ship at fixed intervals. The maximum dive time was ten hours, and each vessel had to check in with the central ship once every day.

Though considering three more have been lost after that, the rule doesn’t seem to mean much.

Still, it served an important purpose. If a vessel didn’t return within a day, people would at least know something had gone wrong, and they could inform the families.

At my words, Remtal turned back and stepped closer, narrowing his eyes as he tried to make out the shape in the distance.

He mumbled uncertainly. “I-I don’t see anything.”

“It’s there.” I declared firmly.

Remtal nodded. “One o’clock, you said? Huh. Did we misalign our course?”

The navigator, who had been quietly listening, jumped in without hesitation, “Our heading is correct! If it’s one o’clock, then we’re on target! The supply ship must’ve drifted slightly with the current!”

Remtal hesitated, then asked. “I see. Are you certain?”

“Yes!” the navigator quickly followed up.

“Should we adjust course?”

“Of course we should! Why even ask?” He then shouted down to the crew below, “Adjust course! One o’clock! Just a bit!”

***

Remtal was forty-seven.

Forty years ago, when he was just seven, he had lived through the Great Earthquake. The memory remained vivid, etched into his mind by trauma because the tsunami it unleashed took his father from him.

That was the beginning. The moment Remtal’s obsession with the Great Earthquake had begun to take root.

He couldn’t say for certain why. Was it his father’s death? Or a desire to be better prepared should another terrible quake?

Even he didn’t know for sure. However, from that day on, he devoted himself to uncovering the cause behind the catastrophe.

In the process, he had become immersed in legends. Stories of the so-called Great Explosion had striking similarities to the quake he had experienced as a child.

I worked so hard.

At a young age, he entered royal service. The level of discipline and effort he poured into his work was far beyond what any ordinary man could understand.

By the time he had grown older, the rising sea levels had become visibly apparent. Coastal villages were being swept away, and Chusain Volcano had begun to rumble from time to time.

When it came to understanding the cause, no one was better suited than Remtal. He was the one who had studied the quake since childhood.

Under the king’s command, he was appointed to the Sea of Lava Countermeasure Headquarters. He gave his all in pursuit of a solution.

Much had changed since then. The once-peaceful kingdom poured its resources into studying the volcano and the sea. They had even constructed submersibles.

Despite everything, Remtal believed that the most significant change had occurred only recently.

To be honest, I had half-given up.

It hadn’t been difficult to link the rise in sea level to the Great Earthquake. After all, he had carried the memory of it in his heart his entire life.

When he had realized the volcano wasn’t the root cause, he truly believed the problem would soon be resolved.

The submersible was a flawless invention. All they needed to do was locate the trench and clear the blockage.

Unfortunately, that too proved to be no more than a dream. The submersible couldn’t see through the lava. It couldn’t navigate its surroundings.

What good is diving if they can’t even find the trench?

They tried attaching octopus-like appendages beneath the vessel to help identify trench-like terrain, but it wasn’t that simple.

Four submersibles went missing. That was when he gave up; he could no longer see any hope.

Remtal himself ended up suggesting pausing further construction. Instead of building more exploration vessels, he proposed creating a massive submersible capable of sustaining life above the Sea of Lava.

As a final sanctuary for our kind.

The king agreed.

The adventurer was summoned not out of conviction, but out of necessity. They couldn’t simply do nothing in the meantime.

That had been the extent of it. He didn’t dare to hope. Whatever faint hope lingered in the corners of his subconscious had evaporated the moment they first met.

He knew nothing.

Even if Kwon Su-Hyeok came from the West, he didn’t know much about the Chusen Tribe, nor about the Great Earthquake.

He seemed interested, but Remtal assumed it was all an act.

Just another adventurer here to take the reward and flee.

That was all he had expected—until the adventurer returned from the volcano. That was when things began to change. The volcano rumbled, and they learned he was a mage.

For the first time, a distant glimmer of light pierced the fog. The hope buried deep within Remtal’s heart began to stir once more.

Looking back, I think something really did happen that day.

The mage dismissed it lightly, saying a rock must have shifted. Remtal was convinced there was more to it, though.

This same mage later uncovered an ancient force beneath the lava. Who revealed that the submersibles hadn’t simply crashed, but had melted in lava imbued with something unnatural.

He was quiet but had lots of secrets. Thankfully, he seemed genuinely determined to solve the problem.

He likely didn’t explain more because his solution wasn’t yet complete.

We have reached the supply ship.

Surely, something would happen now. Perhaps he would identify the cause behind the rising sea and put an end to it.

Long-forgotten hopes began to surface, unbidden.

“... Sir Remtal? Remtal?”

A voice pulled him out of his thoughts. At some point, the supply ship’s captain had approached him.

Standing atop the vessel, he had been momentarily lost in reflection.

He slightly shook his head. “My apologies.”

“Not at all, sir.”

“How’s the situation?”

“Two submersibles set out this morning. One headed west, the other east.”

It was according to plan. There hadn’t been any issues so far, but Remtal still felt relieved to hear they hadn’t gone missing.

“Would you care to rest for a bit?”

“Hmm...” Remtal trailed off.

Typically, it was customary to rest for about an hour after reaching the supply ship. His gaze had already drifted to the mage, however, who stood at the edge of the deck, facing east. There was a grave look on his face.

From that solemn expression, Remtal sensed something unspoken—a heavy feeling that something was about to unfold.

Therefore, he couldn’t bring himself to respond.

Just then, the mage turned and strode directly toward him. “I believe we should head east.”

“But a submersible already departed in that direction—”

Remtal cut off the captain’s objection, “No. We’ll head east as well. We depart immediately. No rest. Navigator!”

“Yes, sir!” The navigator spun around at once. He called out to the crew still on deck, “Move it! Everyone back aboard! Get ready for launch!”

“What?”

“Hurry! Bring the researchers back right now!”

Boarding resumed in a rush.

Though everyone looked confused, the moment they heard it was the mage’s order, they boarded the submersible without complaint.

The voyage resumed. Once the crew was in position and all preparations had been completed, Remtal approached the mage.

The mage left only a single instruction: maximize speed. Now he stood atop the submersible, his gaze fixed on the sea with a weight that made it hard to look away.

“What is it? You’re acting far too urgently for this to be a mere hunch.”

“I have a bad feeling.”

“I don’t understand.”

Instead of answering, something burst from the mage’s pocket. The horn spun rapidly in the air and pointed below toward the lava beneath the eastern sea.

“I think the submersible that went east has entered some kind of corrupted lava.”

Remtal’s eyes widened. “What? I beg your pardon?”

He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Sadly, the words had come from the mage.

He absorbed the information quickly and made his decision. “This isn’t the time to hesitate. Prepare for immediate descent!”

The mage shook his head. “No. By then, it’ll already be too late.”

With those final words, he leapt from the top of the submersible. A flash of golden light burst forth, and the lava split open.

“Wh-what in the world!”

Only the navigator’s half-dazed voice echoed across the surface of the churning Sea of Lava.