Conquering the Tower Even Regressors Couldn't-Chapter 375: Eighty-Sixth Floor, Shrine of the Forgotten Gods (1)

Chapter 375: Eighty-Sixth Floor, Shrine of the Forgotten Gods (1)

[Infuse the shrine with divinity. Time remaining: 2 minutes 57 seconds.]

It took me roughly two seconds to organize my thoughts and make my way toward the altar. Thanks to Flash Strike, I moved swiftly.

I planned to call for Ha Hee-Jeong and Gehenna only after I saw my opponent firsthand. There was still a chance I could handle this alone.

Walking along the short path lit by blue torches on either side, I ascended the stairs. Upon reaching the top, I took in the altar’s appearance.

That is strange.

Countless translucent divine lights surrounded the altar, each glowing a different hue. It was a remarkable sight.

I stepped in front of the altar. It was about hip-height, and there was a shallow indentation at the center. I immediately realized that I was supposed to channel my divinity into it.

There is no time to waste.

I placed my palm over the hollow and pushed my divinity into it. At that moment, Flash Strike naturally came to an end.

The divinity I released was drawn into the altar as if absorbed by some unseen force.

Watching the energy vanish, I began to understand why the message said I could receive power from friendly gods. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of the divine lights surrounding me had begun to slowly gather near the altar. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

They hovered close by, drifting around as if examining my divinity. Their movements were subtle and deliberate, like entities quietly observing and probing.

They are sensing my divinity and checking what it holds.

Divinity always carried a person’s will and unique imprint. No two were ever quite the same. Though these belonged to forgotten gods, they still held power.

They observed the will within my energy, and if it resonated with them, they would offer me power in return.

As I continued to infuse the altar with divinity, the activity around it grew more pronounced. Some lights approached only to withdraw, while others moved steadily closer.

I looked up to check the time.

Two minutes and eleven seconds.

Roughly a third of my allotted time had passed, and the altar had already absorbed about a third of my divinity. The floor’s timer seemed to have been calculated based on how long it would take me to infuse my divinity into the altar, including the time it took to reach the altar at the start.

Regardless, a full minute had passed, but nothing unusual had occurred at the altar so far. Even so, my instincts continued to sound the alarm. A sharp, tingling sensation lingered at the edge of my awareness.

I had no intention of backing down, so I continued the infusion. The lights around me began to move with greater clarity and purpose. Some drew near while others pulled away.

The majority still lingered close, though, as if quietly assessing the divinity I offered.

Fascinating.

As the seconds ticked on by, I started to sense not only the power emanating from the surrounding lights, but also the intentions they carried. The resonance of hundreds of divine lights felt like an encounter with something completely unknowable. The will of those drawing closer became especially vivid.

However, I couldn’t group their intentions under a single category. Though they were supposed to be “friendly,” each radiated a distinct presence. There were lights that felt aggressive, others that were gentle and warm, and some that exuded a cold, razor-sharp stillness.

Among them, I felt something difficult to describe. It was both serene and solemn.

Something sacred.

At that moment, I grasped something new. New ways of using divinity came to mind, directions I hadn’t considered before.

For a brief while, I immersed myself in the will flowing from the lights around me. Even then, I never lost hold of my own.

It was then that my instincts flared again. This time, with unmistakable urgency.

[Infuse the shrine with divinity. Time remaining: 0 minutes 42 seconds.]

At that point, more than two-thirds of my divinity had been infused into the altar, and the movements of the surrounding lights halted. The lights that had chosen to withdraw were gone, while those that had chosen to stay had drawn close.

Many still hovered in between, but they no longer moved. It seemed they weren’t particularly hostile or friendly, but simply indifferent.

Then, without warning, a massive crimson light appeared just beyond the altar.

The moment I saw it, I knew. That was a god that bore hostility toward me. I also realized something. If I stopped channeling my divinity now, the god wouldn’t appear. The longer I continued, the more the red light grew in size.

However, just like I had resolved from the start, I had no intention of backing down.

I swallowed hard, resisting the rising tension, and continued channeling divinity into the altar. A chill spread across the back of my neck, followed by the sharp sting of invisible needles pricking into my skin.

A question suddenly surfaced in my mind.

If a hostile god appears, what happens to the divinity I have already infused? Will I receive double the return before the battle begins, or only the amount I originally poured in?

I couldn’t say for certain, but the latter seemed more likely. After all, receiving double was likely meant to be this floor’s reward. If it were the former, the fight would be far easier.

Either way, I would find a way through.

Without hesitation, I drew on more of my divinity. As I did, the red light continued to grow, keeping pace with the volume I poured in.

Twenty seconds.

As soon as I glanced up at the timer, the crimson glow changed. Instead of expanding, it began to take shape.

In that instant, I knew I had crossed the point of no return. Even if I stopped now, the hostile god would still descend.

My instincts flared once more, sharper than ever. My divinity kept flowing, and the god’s power grew.

The opponent is a god. Should I stop now to improve my odds of winning?

That seemed like the safer option.

Almost immediately, instinct told me I couldn’t stop. I gritted my teeth and continued the infusion.

The red light slowly began to take on a human form.

Seven seconds left.

Then, it happened. The divine lights that had only been watching finally stirred. Hundreds of them began to approach.

I had been wrong. They hadn’t been indifferent but were simply watching and waiting. Perhaps they had been testing my resolve. Even those that had previously drifted far away suddenly changed direction and flew toward me.

Relief washed over me.

If I can survive this trial, the rewards will be far greater than I expected.

At the exact moment the tower’s message hit zero seconds, my divinity ran dry.

Thankfully, I wasn’t exhausted. The energy I had given returned to me, completely intact.

At the same time, the divine lights surrounding me flared brilliantly. Bathed in that multicolored glow, I felt a sense of elevation I couldn’t put into words.

[Challenger Kwon Su-Hyeok has completed infusing his divinity into the altar. A hostile god is descending.]

[The strength granted by the forgotten gods will be awarded after the trial concludes.]

[The trial has been changed.]

[Defeat the fifth-class god, Endless Furnace. Time remaining: 1 hour 59 minutes.]

I checked the crimson light again just in case, but it remained still. It seemed the tower was granting me a moment of reprieve.

Keeping my focus, I scanned through the updated messages but almost immediately froze.

The fifth-class god, Endless Furnace?

It was a name I knew all too well. I first heard the name on the thirty-first floor, where man-eating elves had fought nature-destroying humans, and the seventy-third floor, where this god had wrought a conspiracy to take over a world.

Seriously...

To be honest, it wasn’t strange that Endless Furnace harbored hostility toward me. I had passed through the earlier floors without incident, but on the seventy-third, I had killed one of their apostles.

Therefore, their anger didn’t surprise me—I simply hadn’t anticipated their appearance at all.

The Shrine of Forgotten Gods.

Naturally, I had assumed one of the forgotten gods would take issue with my presence. That expectation had made me believe this trial would be more manageable.

I clenched my teeth.

I couldn’t take facing a current fifth-class god lightly. For the first time in a while, I felt anxious about a fight.

In an instant, the scenery began to change. The blue torches, the short path, and the altar all disappeared. In their place, a wide, open plain unfurled. It was barren, with dark and blood-like crimson earth.

The new battlefield appeared familiar. It matched the scenery from The Meticulous Architect’s revelation.

The place where I will collapse, lying face up.

I had replayed that moment so many times that I no longer had any doubt.

A heavy feeling settled in the pit of my stomach. I had a feeling this would be brutal.

Endless Furnace stood on the other side of the field. Their face was blank, but divine energy surged visibly across their body. Even a single glance was enough to tell I was at a disadvantage.

Yet in that moment, I couldn’t help but quietly laugh. Even I wondered if I had finally lost it.

A flare of competitiveness rose within me. The Meticulous Architect had shown me that vision on the seventy-sixth floor, and now I was on the eighty-sixth. Ten floors had passed.

It wasn’t a long time, but I had spent every single one of those floors training for this moment.

Standing face-to-face with Endless Furnace, I didn’t believe it was impossible. Their strength and divine presence were overwhelming, well beyond what I could match. Even so, I felt strangely composed.

If this had been a few floors ago, I wouldn’t have even seen a chance. Not that I was convinced I could win, but I did think it was worth trying.

Also, I had prepared for it.

Endless Furnace continued to stare at me, expressionless.

I placed a hand on Mung-chi and retrieved the item I had purchased in the waiting room before the eighty-first floor. It was a small white bracelet with a thin strip of cloth trailing from one end. It had cost one and a half million points.

Without showing it to him, I wrapped it around my left wrist. The cloth curled across my palm, and I gripped the axe over it.

My fear and anxiety had already faded. Even the brief excitement sparked by pride had passed. What remained was a calm and deliberate focus.

I kept my eyes fixed on Endless Furnace. They didn’t resemble an actual furnace, nor did they look anything like me.

Still, they stood on legs, male humanoid in form, though with six arms.

Their skin glowed red-hot, like molten rock. The light in their eyes burned like an open flame. Crimson hair flared behind them in thick strands, blazing like Gehenna’s fire.

Finally, they declared, “It’s been a while. A long while...”

Their voice was steadier than I expected, especially since I had killed their apostle. I had assumed they would be angry.

Instead, I found myself slightly caught off guard. I hesitated, unsure how to respond.

After a brief pause, I just plainly asked, “Been a while? This is our first time meeting.”

“I’ve seen you from time to time.”

My brow furrowed slightly. “So, not recently?”

They didn’t answer, and only smiled. “I thought well of you at first. You passed through the world I entrusted to the tower without inflicting any serious damage.”

They were referring to the world that had appeared in the all-climber floors in the thirties, and there had been an incident linked to them there. If things had gone as intended, the world would have descended into a chaotic war between species.

Hearing them speak, I realized my earlier theory was correct. Gods submitted their worlds to the tower, likely in exchange for some kind of compensation.

Endless Furnace continued, “But you crossed a line. Quinthavaren was a cherished apostle.”

“I didn’t have a choice. That was the result of your own greed.”

“Of course. Just like how my appearance here couldn’t be helped.”

I narrowed my eyes.

Their words clearly conveyed resentment, but neither their tone nor their expression carried any real malice.

That was what irritated me. The absence of hostility meant they didn’t even see me as an equal.

This feels more like discipline than revenge.

It was the way a master would address a rebellious servant, or a beast in need of taming. I had experienced it before, and I wasn’t pleased with it.

I felt a flicker of annoyance, and I tightened my grip on the axe. There was no point in continuing the conversation.

I had never tolerated being looked down on. Everyone who had treated me that way had disappeared from this world.

The thoughts crowding my mind fell away, except for one: Endless Furnace would meet the same end.

It still wasn’t the time to call Gehenna or Ha Hee-Jeong. Endless Furnace was far too composed. If I brought them out now, the god could take them as hostages.

“Enough with the nonsense,” I spat, piercing the stillness.

He simply laughed off-handedly, and once again, it felt like mockery. I let it pass and steadied myself.

Stay focused. Keep the heart burning, the mind cold.

Our exchange alone had confirmed that my odds of winning were slightly better than before. Now, I just had to act accordingly.

My divinity surged within me, and buffs reinforced me in real time. I tensed the muscles in my legs and tuned the flow of my mana.

Divinity and magical energy tore through my circuits like a warhorse charging into battle. Lightning sparked across Soulbound, and I kicked off the ground.

***

「Invisible message: Challenger Kwon Su-Hyeok has infused all of his divinity into the altar without yielding to the approaching threat.」

「Invisible message: If Challenger Kwon Su-Hyeok conquers the eighty-sixth floor, his rewarded divinity will be purified, and its quantity will triple.」