Chapter 5: The only flaw of the 'Tower'
"If I understand your perspective correctly, it makes sense why you'd want to end everything in the same way. However, I'm curious about how you managed to deceive the `Tower`. You did mention earlier that no one can effectively trick the `Tower`, so even if you did alter the fate of my family, shouldn't still be impossible to hide it from the `Tower`?" Kayn doubted Natas` words.
"Yes, it wasn't possible for us to hide your existence from the 'Tower'," Natas nodded. "Though, from the start, there was no need for us to hide that you lived in place of your father since he had made that wish unto us inside the 'Tower' after he had found out that the 'Tower' plans on secretly sending Nicholas into reincarnation. Knowing that, he thought of using the opportunity of Nicholas returning back to the past to give his child a chance to experience life as he and his wife already had fair enough of it,"
"Yes, concealing your existence from the `Tower` was not feasible," Natas affirmed. "However, right from the beginning, there was no need to hide the fact that you were living in place of your father. He had expressed this wish to us within the `Tower` when he discovered that the `Tower` intended to covertly send Nicholas into reincarnation. Upon learning this, he saw a chance for his child to experience life as he and his wife already had fair enough for it,"
"Let's set aside my father's matter for now," Kayn decided to temporarily put aside the intriguing aspect of the other side of the story and concentrate on the primary topic. "So, what you're trying to say is that the `Tower` was conscious of my existence but deliberately opted not to be concerned about it?"
Natas shook his head. "It's not quite that simple. The `Tower` was actually quite wary of your existence from the moment it consented to us fulfilling your father's wish. That's why it instructed its incarnation to appoint someone he could trust to be by your side. This way, if you ever posed a threat to the `Tower', they would have the means to effortlessly eliminate you,"
"So, that's precisely why the President of the World Leader Alliance and my wife conspired to end my life," Kayn realized why his wife and her father had sought an alliance with the Gods and proposed his elimination. It wasn't solely motivated by potential gains or advantages; those were merely bonuses they would obtain once he was out of the picture. Rather, their primary duty was to eliminate him.
"To clarify further, the `Tower` concluded that it was in its best interest to assist us in removing this unknown variable. In doing so, it aimed to rid itself of the potential concerns that your presence might pose in the as-yet-uncertain future," Natas elaborated.
"So, you're saying that the `Tower` wanted me gone, regardless of whether I posed a threat or not?" Kayn expressed disbelief.
"I'm afraid so, but yes! That's precisely what the `Tower` had in mind during that time,"
Listening to Natas` explanation, Kayn couldn't help but let out a deep sigh, feeling the unfairness of the `Tower` towards his family. The `Tower` had granted others the opportunity to start all over again, yet it had chosen to disregard his father's heartfelt wish, even though it meant sacrificing his life for another, and just a single life at that.
"How ironic," Kayn muttered under his breath. In a strange way, this situation aligned with his expectations since it mirrored how the `Tower` had operated when selecting individuals for a second chance. This led him to consider that perhaps it sought to determine if he was worthy of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity as well. If that were the case, though, why had it allowed him to live for so many years? The `Tower` could have presented him with a challenge at any point before his last entry into the `Tower` and the moment the Gods offered him the chance to live in his father's place.
There were countless opportunities when the `Tower` could have subjected him to a challenge, yet it picked that particular moment when the Gods conspired to end his life. It seemed incredibly suspicious to Kayn, leading him to believe that there must have been another motive behind the `Tower's` actions.
"However, that wasn't the sole reason," Natas interrupted Kayn's contemplations. "The `Tower` had another motive in assisting us, beyond just eliminating an unknown variable,"
"What other reason did you discover?" Just like what Kayn had expected, there had to be more to it than just his status as an unknown variable. If that were the sole reason, the `Tower's` schemes should have already been enough to deal with him. It could have easily eliminated him at any time by using his wife, who he didn't yet know harbored malicious intentions. An assassination attempt from someone he loved and cherished could pose a significant threat to his life, as he would never expect betrayal. Even if the assassination fails due to unforeseen circumstances, he would likely be injured, providing Nicholas, the President of the World Leader Alliance, with an opportunity to finish him for good.
"For the first time ever, we observed the `Tower` displaying lack of confidence and fear. A flaw, you could say,"
Despite having numerous opportunities to eliminate him, the `Tower` had gone to the extent of proposing cooperation with the Gods to eliminate him.
"Fear…" Kayn fell into thought. There was a saying that he once heard that states, "Only the weaker side would use tricks and schemes to defeat their opponents. The true strong ones would rely solely on their own strength and power alone to defeat whoever and whatever comes in their way,"
That's right! The only reason an entity as formidable as the `Tower` would refrain from placing trust in its own incarnation and the preparations it had made in advance, and would even consider cooperating with others, was because it harbored doubts about its ability to defeat him. In most cases, a lack of confidence stems from the fear that one's own abilities alone won't suffice to deal with someone.
"Why was it afraid of me?" Kayn can't help but ask Natas.
"Because you became an existence it had never encountered throughout its countless millennia of existence. Among the millions of Planets it had visited and terminated in the past, only you had reached a point where you possessed the potential to annihilate everything within the `Tower`, including all the Gods who were once the mightiest on their respective planets, as well as the Gods who coexisted with its creation, which, of course, including me. What made it more perilous for the `Tower` was your capacity to annihilate everyone on your own planet and the potential to go as far as obliterating Earth itself,"
"Impossible! I was clearly unable to defeat you. If it wasn't for you teleporting in front of me and stabbing yourself with the sword I had released, I would never have come out victorious in that battle" Kayn found it difficult to accept Natas' assertion.
"I know," Natas concurred. "However, as I mentioned before, circumstances would have unfolded quite differently if you hadn't been influenced by various factors, such as the negativity that had taken a toll on your mental resilience during that period. One significant factor, I believe, was the lack of sufficient rest on each floor that you cleared, as you had been continuously charging from the 971st floor to the 1000th floor without rest,"
Kayn fell into silence once again. As he pondered this matter more deeply, he came to realize that he had indeed neglected to take adequate rest after the loss of all the people who had accompanied him. As he had previously admitted, his overwhelming hatred had consumed him, and his sole focus had been on the mission to eliminate all the Gods.
"Anyways, that's all in the past; there's no need to delve any further into it. We don't need to keep pondering what might have been the optimal choice during that moment to secure a better outcome," Natas suggested, steering the conversation away from the past.
"You're right," Kayn immediately stopped reminiscing about the past. But quickly, another thought came into his mind, "Last question,"
"As if," Natas chuckled. He had observed what transpired with Nicholas after his reincarnation into the past. That man had posed so many questions to the `Tower` and all the Gods present during that time that their question-and-answer session lasted over a week. Even after that period had elapsed, Nicholas still occasionally inquired about the `Tower`. If only the `Tower` hadn't mentioned that he would eventually gain knowledge of all the answers, there was no doubt that Nicholas wouldn't hesitate to keep asking questions for more than a month, or even a year. After all, anyone who reincarnated into the past would likely have an abundance, if not an infinite number of questions they desired answers to.
"Hehehe," Kayn could only scratch the back of his neck awkwardly. It's seriously difficult for him to hide things from Natas since the latter has extremely sharp senses that can detect even the tiniest of details from him.
"Ask away. I'm willing to answer all of your questions until you are satisfied…" Natas replied before quickly adding an extra precaution to avoid the worst situation, "…or until when I am tired,"
Kayn breathed a sigh of relief, now he was given consent. "So, how precisely did you manage to trick the `Tower`? I brought this up moments ago, but you didn't provide me with a clear answer."
"Oh, it's rather simple," Natas replied without hesitation, "If there's no one else who exists capable of outmatching and successfully tricking the `Tower`, then let the `Tower` trick itself,"
"Oh…Ehh…Wait! Why didn't that occur to me…?" Kayn began to mull over the idea. It did seem rather logical: if there was no way to defeat an invincible entity, then having that entity defeat itself was a clever workaround. However, as Natas had emphasized, accomplishing such an impressive feat wouldn't have been possible without Kayn. The `Tower` only revealed its flaw in response to the threat he posed. He couldn't help but wonder if this was the complete truth, given the information that he had received so far. He still had reservations about fully trusting Natas at this point.
"Due to your blind hatred towards us Gods, it gave us a perfect excuse and opportunity that prevented the 'Tower' from uncovering the fact that we were secretly planning on sending you into reincarnation by sacrificing ourselves. Naturally, this wouldn't have been made completely possible if it wasn't because the 'Tower' itself intended to use every means in order to eliminate you, thus it didn't mind all the sacrifices made in the process. That was the exact moment when the 'Tower' didn't realize that it actually tricked itself," Natas explained with a smile of triumph.