Chapter 69

The instant I retreated, the three-section staff burrowed in with terrifying momentum.

The moment I pulled my body back just a little—

CHAKANG—.

A blade shot out from the end of the three-section staff, aiming straight for my abdomen.

“Hoh!”

To avoid this, I would have to twist my body to the side—

but to the side, the flexible sword was already flying in.

An attack where no matter where you dodged, you had to get hit.

And it was only this floor, but the difficulty suddenly shot up.

Should I just take it?

No way it had killing power in a trial, right?

KAGANG—!

With that thought, I took the three-section staff and the flexible sword at the same time.

But the power wasn’t normal.

It was only because it was me that nothing happened—if it had been someone else, it really could have killed them.

“What the hell? Something’s off about this.”

The difficulty felt way too high.

Like they messed up the tuning?

Did the Strategist intervene and set it like this?

With that wrongness prickling at me, I crushed the illusion that charged again with a single blow.

I lightly ignored the passing sound of “qualified” coming from the air and headed for the next floor.

I stepped onto the fifth floor.

After going through the third and fourth floors, I was sure.

This wasn’t a place for promotion.

It was a place built to kill the people who challenged it.

They said the Strategist put his hands on this place too, right?

Every problem spot in Heavenly Martial Castle had passed through the Strategist’s hands.

Was that a coincidence?

No.

Even the fact that they laid a fog formation outside so the Seven-Star Ascension Tower couldn’t be seen properly was strange.

The Ascension Officers couldn’t see inside the tower.

When a trial ended, their role was to treat the people who failed and send them out, and send the people who advanced on to the next floor.

They didn’t know how hard the tower really was.

No—they couldn’t know.

Because no one came.

And if someone did come, there were illusions made so that they would be killed for sure, on every floor except the first.

On the fifth floor, the illusion glared at me, spilling a monstrous killing intent.

I didn’t need to look.

No—I had to change this entire Ascension Tower.

A tyrannical aura that felt like it could cut down everything in the world tore toward me, but I brushed it aside and crushed the fifth-floor illusion with a single blow.

GRRRRNNG—.

The door opened, and I passed through the corridor that led to the sixth floor.

I subdued the sixth-floor illusion in an instant, too.

And then the last.

The final seventh floor.

There was my grandfather’s illusion.

“Grandfather....”

For some reason, my grandfather looked pitiful.

He must have trusted the Strategist and entrusted Heavenly Martial Castle to him.

And now Heavenly Martial Castle was being ruined by the Strategist.

The Heavenly Martial Emperor’s illusion stood there with his hands clasped behind his back.

I raised my hand and called out.

“I’m stopping.”

Then the door opened, and an Ascension Officer welcomed me.

“My, my. Incredible. Your first attempt and you promoted up to Rank Two.”

“Thank you.”

“Why not challenge the last one too? Did you get scared just because it’s the Lord of the Castle’s illusion?”

I shook my head.

“My original goal was Rank Three, but I’ve reached Rank Two, so this is enough. I’ll save a match with the Lord of the Castle for next time.”

“Fine. When you go back, make sure you tell people about the Seven-Star Ascension Tower.”

I grinned.

I had no intention of saying a word.

If people came here right now, they would all die.

Until I knew exactly what the Strategist really was, I was going to make sure no one came here.

Wait—no.

If I wanted to make the Strategist move, wouldn’t it be better if more people came here?

If promotions kept happening in an Ascension Tower built to drop people on purpose—or kill them—someone would sense something was wrong and come to look.

That meant I didn’t have to go searching for the Strategist the hard way.

First, I had to figure out what the Strategist was thinking.

To do that, I had to pull in the Ascension Officers at the Seven-Star Ascension Tower first.

Without their help, I couldn’t rearrange the tower’s formations again.

But how do I pull them in?

At times like this, criminals and villains are convenient.

You can just solve it with your fists.

As I was thinking, I looked at the Ascension Officer and asked.

“What do you think of the Lord of the Castle?”

“What do I think? He is my lord, and he is my everything. He is why I endure humiliation here and keep holding on.”

As expected, his loyalty was different.

That was why he endured without falling to temptation.

I pulled a single shining token from my chest and held it out.

The Ascension Officer startled, then immediately flattened himself to the floor.

“Ascension Officer! Jeong Unsik pays his respects before the Heavenly Martial Token!”

“You know it well?”

“O-of course! No one in Heavenly Martial Castle can not know the Heavenly Martial Token!”

“I’m here on a special mission under the Lord of the Castle’s order. Can you help me?”

“Of course! Just command me!”

“It’s a secret mission. It can’t leak outside.”

“Yes! I will keep it absolutely secret.”

“Are the Ascension Officers here people we can trust?”

“They are! Every last one of them are people who have only loyalty to the Lord of the Castle left.”

“Then gather them quietly.”

“Understood!”

Ascension Officer Jeong Unsik rushed urgently to where his colleagues were.

“What is it? Something happen? Why are you stumbling in like that?”

“W-where are the other Ascension Officers?”

“They went to patrol around the Ascension Tower. Why?”

Jeong Unsik glanced around, then spoke quietly.

“The Lord of the Castle sent someone.”

“What?”

Jeong Unsik quickly covered his colleague’s mouth as the man shouted in shock.

“Shh! Be quiet. He came in secret. He said he can’t be noticed.”

“Don’t worry about that. Look around. Who’s here besides us? This place doesn’t have even an ant besides us.”

“Still, be careful. Birds hear the words spoken in the day, and rats hear the words spoken at night.”

“Enough with the strange talk. Keep going with what you were saying.”

“What did I tell you? Didn’t I say the Lord of the Castle would never abandon us—never abandon this Seven-Star Ascension Tower?”

“You’re saying the Lord of the Castle really sent someone?”

“He did. I confirmed the Heavenly Martial Token.”

“Y-you’re saying he even bestowed the Heavenly Martial Token and sent someone?”

“He did. ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) Doesn’t that mean he considers the Seven-Star Ascension Tower important?”

“Ah...! Lord of the Castle!”

Overwhelmed, his colleague bowed toward where the Heavenly Martial Emperor was.

Jeong Unsik also bowed that way.

When they finished, Jeong Unsik hurried.

“Get up. We have to gather the others and go to him.”

“O-okay. You go that way. I’ll go this way.”

The Ascension Officers of the Seven-Star Ascension Tower gathered in one place, all with tense faces.

Jeong Unsik spoke.

“I’ll escort him in, so all of you wait.”

When he went out, they began murmuring.

“Is it really true?”

“When the Strategist came before, I thought we’d finally be noticed... but instead, the flow of people completely dried up.”

“Because of the formation the Strategist spread and left behind, sunlight barely gets in, and it was already gloomy—now it’s even gloomier.”

“This time will be different. They said he’s someone the Lord of the Castle sent.”

“Right! If the Lord of the Castle sent him, that changes everything!”

“Let’s help him and restore this place to normal no matter what.”

“I’ll do everything I can with full sincerity.”

“Me too!”

“Me too!”

With faces full of hope, they waited for me.

CREEEAK—.

A little later.

Jeong Unsik opened the door, then lowered his waist.

“Please enter.”

The person who came in under Jeong Unsik’s guidance was the trainee who said he would take the Ascension Tower trial today.

But no one said anything.

The Ascension Officer at the front asked carefully.

“They said you came under the Lord of the Castle’s secret order. Is that true?”

I grinned and, without a word, pulled out the Heavenly Martial Token and held it out.

“Th-the Heavenly Martial Token!”

The Ascension Officers all dropped flat at once.

“We pay our respects before the Heavenly Martial Token!”

“You all heard everything, right?”

“Yes!”

“The Lord of the Castle wants Martial Star Hall to return to what it used to be.”

At the words that Martial Star Hall should return to its old self, they trembled, overwhelmed.

How long had they waited for those words?

“Command anything! We will follow with all sincerity!”

“We will follow!”

Their loyalty to my grandfather was this intense.

It made me feel good.

“Good. We’re going to completely rebuild the Seven-Star Ascension Tower. For that, I need your help.”

“Yes!”

They would simply follow.

“What do you need us to do?”

I grinned.

“There’s nothing in particular you need to help with. I’ll rebuild the Seven-Star Ascension Tower by myself.”

“Pardon? That will be difficult alone.”

“That’s right. We’ll help.”

“You have something else to do.”

“What is it?”

“From what I see, it looks like you’ve been living in laziness all this time. Am I right?”

At my words, they lowered their heads.

“While I rebuild the Heavenly Martial Seven-Star Tower, return to how you used to be.”

“Understood!”

“I’ll give you one week.”

“Pardon? Y-you’re saying you’ll rebuild the Heavenly Martial Seven-Star Tower in one week?”

I nodded, then pulled something out from my chest and held it out.

“Here. Take one each, then do energy-circulation breathing. This is the Lord of the Castle’s reward to you.”

“R-reward...?”

“It’s compensation for not properly taking care of Heavenly Martial Castle’s loyal men all this time.”

“L-loyal men... We aren’t people like that!”

“That’s right! W-we can’t accept this!”

They shook their heads hard.

“Are you rejecting the Lord of the Castle’s heart?”

“Th-that...”

“It’s an order. Take it and do energy-circulation breathing.”

When I came down hard, they hesitated, then accepted the pills.

Then they lined up neatly and sat down cross-legged.

“Alright. Take it and start energy-circulation breathing. I’ll stand guard for you.”

The Ascension Officers stared at the pills with moved eyes, then poured them into their mouths.

And as they began energy-circulation breathing, a tremendous force began to whip through the room.

WHOOOOSH—.

Their forces tangled together in midair, knotting into one great current.

Then it scattered again and was absorbed into their bodies.

About an hour passed, and they opened their eyes.

“Th-this...”

None of them could continue speaking.

This wasn’t a simple pill.

It was a spirit pill.

“M-my internal energy increased by half a cycle....”

With disbelieving eyes, they stared at me.

“The Lord of the Castle will never forget you. So from now on, be even more loyal to the Lord of the Castle.”

The Ascension Officers bowed toward where the Heavenly Martial Emperor was, sobbing as one.

“Kkhhk! Lord of the Castle!”

“Even if this body turns to dust, I will follow the Lord of the Castle!”

“TEN THOUSAND YEARS! TEN THOUSAND YEARS! A MILLION YEARS!”

Watching their reaction, I grinned.

They would never betray my grandfather.

Should I hammer it in here?

I murmured an invocation.

“Space Rends, Void Opens; Severed Principle Appears.”

A black space opened to my right.

The Ascension Officers’ gazes locked onto it, wondering what it was.

I thrust my hand into the black space and pulled it back out—

and a huge box came out with it.

When a huge box suddenly appeared out of thin air, the Ascension Officers recoiled in alarm.

“W-what is that?”