Conquering the Tower Even Regressors Couldn't-Chapter 442: Ninety-Second Floor, The Feast’s End (8)

The Community on Earth, during the events on the ninety-second floor.

[What’s happening rn?]

[Weren’t we supposed to be winning?]

[Bruh. We’re cooked.]

[Kinda sus.]

[Kick out all the nonbelievers!!]

[I trust Su-Hyeok. I trust Su-Hyeok. I trust Su-Hyeok. I trust Su-Hyeok.]

[Please, Light Su-Hyeok!]

[Hyung!! Wake up!!]

[This mf really dropping jokes at a time like this??]

[That’s supposed to be a joke?]

[Dad, wake up already, don’t you get it?]

[Cap.]

[💀 You’re laughing rn?]

[Why wouldn’t I? Has Su-Hyeok EVER let us down?]

[Lolol.]

[Just believe. He’ll get back up.]

[Huh?]

[Wtf??]

[Knew it lmaoooo.]

[Damn.]

[Lmfaoooo.]

[Kiaaaaaa~~~~]

[Clean slice, right?]

[Where the haters at now?]

[They were never here lol.]

[Light Su-Hyeok! Light Su-Hyeok! Light Su-Hyeok! Light Su-Hyeok! Light Su-Hyeok!]

[Screeeeeeech!!]

[This is IT 👏]

[His arm! He actually cut it off!!]

[Damn that mf’s health bar gotta be massive.]

[Lol, wait, he is still standing even with an arm gone?]

[Well, if you think about it, Su-Hyeok had a hole blown through his chest, too.]

[You are seriously comparing him to Su-Hyeok??]

[I almost skipped this bc of my exams tomorrow, but THANK GOD I didn’t. Would’ve missed Su-Hyeok breaking the internet.]

[Bro. Watching this the night before exams makes you a real legend lmao.]

[This?? THIS?? Bro ofc I’m watching.]

[Nah? Life’s more important tho?]

[U wanna die?? This IS my life, this IS my club.]

***

Eternal Feast charged at me, and I deflected his blade before driving my foot into the ground to create distance. I swept my axe as if to cleave him from shoulder to hip, using pure willpower to enhance my blow. It sharpened my lightning-infused arc of Aura, somehow going beyond mere resonance, and the arc sliced forth.

However, Eternal Feast didn’t care—he instead accelerated.

Recklessly barreling forward, he let my attacks crash into his barrier. He seemed resolved to trade blow for blow. Given that I was still trapped within his Banquet Hall formed from golden whips, I couldn’t widen the distance as much as I would like. To do so, I would have to clash directly with Eternal Feast.

Twisting to evade his thrusting blade, I swung my axe upward in a clean crescent.

Beams of light rained down from every direction. I repelled them with causality and imbued my lightning with divinity. Just like his beams peppered me, the lightning drove Eternal Feast into a tough situation.

Such a war of attrition gave me the advantage. Once more, I pivoted and widened the gap.

“Phew.”

Even with one of Eternal Feast’s arms severed, the battle hadn’t grown noticeably easier. Though it had weakened his ability to keep me in check with the whips, he had focused more efforts on his sword strikes. Therefore, the sheer force radiating from him remained overwhelming.

It wasn’t that he had hidden reserves. Simply, with nowhere left to retreat, Eternal Feast was pouring every ounce of his strength into killing me.

Tough asshole.

The tide of battle shifted because of it.

Earlier, I had closed in to prevent Eternal Feast from freely shooting beams at me. Now, the tables had turned. Eternal Feast pressed down on me as if determined to end things swiftly. I didn’t mind it—I just had to endure. Even now, I was steadily whittling away at his strength.

The apostles’ clash still raged on.

The danger had passed, but in hindsight, we had been in a perilous situation. Perhaps because Skyalf had exhausted himself conjuring a massive magic circle, our side had gained a slight edge. The balance hadn’t truly broken, however. Moreover, if reinforcements had stormed in as Eternal Feast intended, I would likely have already collapsed to the ground.

Now that I think about it, even though Skyalf initiated a summoning, he barely brought any reinforcements. Did his god abandon Eternal Feast as well?

Just then, an anomaly appeared, something that neither Eternal Feast nor I had caused. Two radiant lights emerged in the ashen sky.

What are they? Are there other people still left in this world?

I wondered as I slipped past Eternal Feast’s sword, but that wasn’t it. The streaks of light descending from the heavens took Skyalf and Purehe away with them. The gods had recalled their apostles.

I exhaled in relief.

Looks like they think Eternal Feast is screwed.

This meant even the gods themselves had foreseen my triumph. Not that it surprised me. It had always been a battle of attrition. Still, I felt a lingering trace of regret. I had intended to interrogate the apostles once Eternal Feast was dealt with, to ask why they had betrayed me.

Now, that chance was gone. Even so, I remembered their names.

Wrath of All Creation and the Sea of Transformation, was it?

It was something to verify later.

Even with the sudden disappearance of our enemies, Wan, Sdeeka, Gehenna, and Poong-Wol didn’t pause. They turned immediately and hurried toward me. Help was always welcome in such dire straits, but I likewise felt concerned.

I quickly shouted, “Don’t approach!”

Between the whip lashes, beams, and Eternal Feast himself, even I struggled to survive in his Banquet Hall. As apostles who were weaker than I, they would be more of a burden than a help.

Not that I would soften my blows if they were taken hostage.

Regardless, I didn’t want to see them die. Besides, they could support me adequately from afar.

Wan is a melee fighter, so he won’t be of much help.

The others were different.

Sdeeka commanded shadows, Gehenna wielded fire, and Poong-Wol controlled wind. That meant they could assist me—or at least annoy Eternal Feast. Even if they couldn't land a decisive strike, draining his strength would be valuable.

The apostles halted once they understood my intent. I no longer needed to worry about them, and they would support me of their own accord. Reinvigorated, I raised Soulbound before bringing it down in a great slash. Shadows bound Eternal Feast’s feet, while flames harmless to me surged through the whips.

It didn’t stop there.

Blades of wind surged at him, and a cool breeze bolstered my movements.

Grinding his teeth, Eternal Feast swung his sword with increased intensity. He endured every attack as he bore down on me. He had recognized that the situation was turning against him and accelerated his pace.

Thus passed a tense yet slightly monotonous stretch of time.

Eternal Feast was riddled with dozens of wounds. Even without counting his severed arm, his golden armor was drenched in blood. As more time wore on, his lack of causality and divinity forced him to accumulate injuries—albeit non-fatal ones.

On the other hand, I felt my divinity steadily accumulating the more I pressed the advantage.

Is this enough?

Compared to several dozen minutes ago, Eternal Feast had a pathetic amount of power remaining.

Though his physical abilities were formidable, flesh alone could achieve nothing in a contest of divinity and causality. Also, he hadn’t ascended to godhood based on his martial strength, after all.

The fight had been grueling, but it was time to end it.

As soon as I resolved myself, I summoned every reserve of divinity and causality I had held back until now. I spared not a drop. Causality could be drawn from Seorden’s Forest. It wasn’t abundant, but the more the forest regained its strength, the more it replenished. Meanwhile, divinity flowed ceaselessly from climbers and Earthlings alike.

I planted my foot firmly into the ground and prepared to charge. Sparks flared around me.

Lightning Transformation.

I streaked rapidly through the air. The whip sections closed in on me, but I kicked off the ground and leapt skyward, snaking by them. Using the momentum from my serpentine rotation, I let it carry my axe.

Eternal Feast was right before me.

Cleaving downward with my axe, I poured my intent into splitting him both physically and spiritually. He raised his sword to block, but the blue-gold light split it apart.

Clang!

With the sound of shattering metal, Eternal Feast’s blade broke. My axe carved through his golden armor.

Crunch!

It wasn’t a clean, destructive blow. Eternal Feast’s shoulder burst apart. An instant later, my axe burst out the other side of his chest. Soulbound roared in victory.

“Ah...”

Amid the triumph only I could hear, Eternal Feast left behind a single sigh. I couldn’t tell whether it was admiration or despair, though. I met his eyes. His pupils were already unfocused, gazing into the void, carrying with them a tangle of emotions.

What is he thinking now?

The tower had warned me of traitors, but in truth, the one most fatally betrayed was Eternal Feast himself.

Is he resentful?

Thud—

His body collapsed to the ground. Moments later, the corpse scattered into radiant fragments. I felt a surge of divinity and causality flood into me.

What is this?

Even though Eternal Feast had expended all of his strength, the influx was immense.

Will the tower grant me a separate reward?

As doubt filled me, I remembered a key detail—the tower had restricted Eternal Feast’s power. Perhaps that unused power was what had been transferred to me.

I turned my head. The two apostles, along with Gehenna and Poong-Wol, were watching me.

The ninety-second floor had come to an end.

When I grinned, Gehenna returned it with a faint nod.

***

After I sent Poong-Wol back, Sdeeka was the first to break the silence.

“Y-you were incredible.”

He looked at me with dazed admiration, and Wan—standing beside him—was much the same. Gehenna was smiling proudly as if my praise reflected on her as well.

Well, how shall I put it?

“It wasn’t that impressive. Eternal Feast didn’t have his full strength.”

“How can you say that? Even weakened, he was still a third-class god. He used strange powers as well.”

So the apostles could perceive causality, too.

“Well then, should I just accept that I am amazing?” I remarked playfully.

Wan and Sdeeka laughed.

Perhaps I have grown immune to praise after hearing it so often. Maybe becoming shameless isn’t such a bad thing.

There was no point in modesty when compliments would only keep coming. Although it was already the ninety-second floor, I decided that from here on, I would carry that mentality.

“Anyway, the battle is over. Well done, everyone.”

Wan nodded. “You as well, Su-Hyeok. Thank you. Thanks to you, we survived. Damn, I never thought those lunatics would betray us.”

“Exactly. Fucking assholes,” Sdeeka agreed.

Of course, I had known about the traitors from the beginning. From my perspective, I hadn’t known who the traitors were, but to them, such words could have cut the wrong way.

The apostles’ disgruntled complaints continued to spill out, and Wan irritably muttered, “I always knew Skyalf was garbage, but Purehe caught me off guard.”

“Same here. The Sea of Transformation should be a neutral god.”

“Well, there may be things we don’t know. Perhaps he and Eternal Feast formed a contract.”

“That could be it.”

Wan nodded, then blinked as if remembering something. “Ah, Wailing Plains also asked me to convey their gratitude. They said you saved the life of someone as lowly as me. They’d like to meet you someday.”

“Yes, I hope the chance comes. I would welcome it.”

Beside him, Sdeeka wore an expression like a whining pup. “Of course, Shadow of the End feels the same.”

“Haha, thank you,” I preempted him, and he gave me a sheepish smile. I added, “Well, that will have to wait until after I conquer the tower, but you’ve all done well.”

Not a moment later, the notification window refreshed.

[Congratulations. Challenger Kwon Su-Hyeok has conquered the ninety-second floor of the Tower of Ordeal: The Feast’s End. Achievement points will be calculated.]

I quickly turned to the apostles. Even if it was time to part ways, I had to give my thanks.

“It seems this is farewell. Thank you for your help. Until we meet again, I wish you all good health.”

“We pray you also ascend the tower safely, Su-Hyeok.”

I meant to reply, but before I could, another message appeared and startled me into silence.

[Challenger Kwon Su-Hyeok has defeated the third-class god ‘Eternal Feast.’ He has inherited the loser’s debts.]

Inherit his debts? What does that mean?

As the question formed, unseen lines representing contracts coiled around me; they were wrought from divinity, but carried something more. It was something higher, a power from the Tower of Ordeal itself. Caught within that power, my eyes widened in shock. As I read the contents of those contracts, that shock only deepened.

I understood Eternal Feast’s rage.

To think he formed so many contracts. What kind of life did Eternal Feast have?