I turned my eyes away from the beautiful ashen River Styx and looked at Uburka.
"I know someone like that."
"What?"
"I know of such a person."
The Tower Master.
I thought of someone who felt everything was their responsibility, no, more than that, someone who made everything their responsibility.
"But I am not that person."
Kieeeeeee-
A distant rocky mountain.
Piercing through the fog and soaring high on the rocky mountain, a white beast climbed up and howled. Small green creatures, frightened of such a beast, were seen here and there. Grrrrr… They seemed to be contemplating whether to climb to where the white beast was, clinging to the rocks below.
"Since I chose a different path than that person,"
I planted my sword upright.
"Of course, you can blame me. The mistakes you make, the curses you'll hear from others, all of it, might feel like it's because I carelessly chose you as my race and sent you into the world. For being born in vain. For being raised in vain. So, feel free to blame me, but—"
"...."
"Come to me when you are stronger than me."
I smirked.
"Come to me If you can find someone who will make you happier than me!"
I swung my holy sword.
Shiny, the Goddess of Protection shone brightly, as her name suggests, splitting the ashen clouds in two.
Through the gap created by the slash, the blue sky peeked through.
"If anyone can make you more lovable than me, more stylish than me, more intelligent than me, and more beautiful than me, and yes, If someone can do that, then come and complain— I will gladly admit my failure in parenting!"
Until then.
"I am the greatest Daddy there is!"
I clenched my right hand.
"Estelle!"
"Yes, Lord."
Suddenly.
Without any prior notice, Estelle was on one knee beside me. She must have been waiting in a different place from where our hunters were gathered, ready to appear instantly whenever I called.
"Lord's counselor Estelle, at your service."
"It looks pretty pitiful in the rain, doesn't it!"
"...."
Estelle glanced up briefly. Despite the pouring rain reminiscent of a jungle's rainy season, she looked indifferent, as if staring at a light drizzle on a neighborhood street.
"Yes. It's trivial."
"Clear it away!"
I smiled and extended my right hand.
Estelle also smiled and firmly grasped my hand.
"Yes, Lord. I'll clear it."
Our auras resonated through our clasped hands. It wasn't just the mingling and strengthening of red and black auras. We circulated aura as one, bearing the same vision. Recalling the blood-red torrential rain on a distant continent,
Infernal Heavens Formation.
Extra Law.
Sorrowful Heaven, Sorrowful Rain.
It rained.
"Was the primitive fear too terrible, Goblins?"
It rained.
"The sky of the ignorant past was just gloomy, merely stirring ominous premonitions and sinister feelings in your hearts, making it too overwhelming to venture outside?"
It rained.
"Such rain is no longer something we need to fear!"
It rained.
The grievances of villagers unjustly burned to death, the countless screams of death in the empire, are encapsulated in the crimson rainwater, falling as part of the [Infernal Heavens Formation] spread by the Asuras.
Tuk!
The blood drops broke through the fluffy fog and reached the ground in an instant. Tuk! Before the fog could recover, another droplet descended, mercilessly eroding the base of the fog. Tuk! Tududududuk! Tududu! Tuk! Dudududuk...!
"The fear you will face from now on is even far worse!"
The fog couldn't withstand the carpet bombing of bloody rain. It burst, faded, was crushed, and was torn to shreds by the raindrops.
What was revealed as the Infernal Heavens Formation was unraveled was the bare ground of the jungle.
In the landscape devoid of any magic or mysteries, just the mere earth as it was.
-Our formation, deployed with all our might…
-It's impossible, Ugor. We're overwhelmingly superior in terms of aura…
As the bare ground was revealed, the Goblins' figures were revealed too.
The Goblins were in a state of panic. They had intended to use the fog to conceal themselves and attack me with invisible swords and axes. Their strategy had failed before it could even start.
I laid my heart bare and spoke.
"The place we live, this tower… from the 50th floor onwards, it's filled with masters who have came in from all sorts of worlds. Surely you don't think all parents are like us, do you?"
-....
"We communicated and understood each other. I can understand. The fact that you are fighting me now, it's not because you dislike me, but merely to achieve a graceful end."
Estelle's autumn rain had melted away all the fog by now.
The last of the races gathered in the jungle were all looking at me.
"But those gathered on the 50th floor will be different."
I said,
"The existence known as the Princess said that although the content of each tower varies, from the 30th floor onwards, it's generally similar."
"...."
"To accept you Goblins as humans, to embrace you as children, first of all, our hunters need to accept all this as reality. Not as NPCs. Not as dungeons. But seeing each and every one of you as living beings before their eyes."
But.
How many towers have truly prepared their hearts in such a way?
Even our tower, when the Black Dragon Master was the second in the the tower rankings, before my regression, didn't we consider the tower as some kind of [game]?
"How many of them cleared the 40th floor by exterminating the races they nurtured?"
I recalled the 14 Asuras who perished in the previous tower and looked at the hundreds of thousands of Asuras now in front of me.
"If there's one such tower, it would mean millions. Ten towers would mean hundreds of millions. A hundred towers would mean billions. There would be countless bodies, with such people standing over them."
Before long.
The vassals of the Death King Family had gathered around me.
Kim Yul, with his long hair tied with the headband I gave him, quietly looked down at the jungle. Sylvia Evanail, with her hands clasped in front of her, stood silently, indifferent to the millions of human gazes looking up at her.
"Those who don't see people as people."
All of us were soaked in Estelle's autumn rain.
"Lives that were snuffed out without even a chance to scream."
-....
Steam began to rise from the Goblins' shoulders. It was the heat of their hearts being released through their skin. My children, who had learned martial arts of Demonic Cult and danced in Fire plays, knew better than anyone what I was talking about.
"A place where such scoundrels strut around as victors."
The past Flame Emperor.
"A place swarming with those who idolize such scoundrels as heroes."
The past me.
"That place is right there."
I raised my hand and pointed to the red sky.
"The world beyond the 50th floor."
If that place wasn't hell, then what is?
[Quest Progress.]
[The vote of the Vampire race begins.]
At that moment.
The Black Dragon Master landed silently beside me.
She stood beside me, expressionlessly gazing at the world drenched in blood.
"The Death King is right."
"Anastasia."
"It's hard to see it as solely the fault of us humans. After all, the wolves that appear in the hunting grounds are called monsters, and when you read the minds of people appearing in the Aegim Empire, they're labeled as [NPCs]. Well, maybe that's because the Aegim Empire is a recreation of a once-destroyed world."
The Black Dragon Master's lips curved in a near sneer.
"Even if there are reasons not to kill, humans will kill. If there's no consequence to killing, then it's practically granting free rein to massacre. If the world beyond the 50th floor, as the Death King said, is a battleground for all towers… then finding someone who is not a slaughterer might actually be more difficult."
The Black Dragon Master turned her head.
Bats were hanging from the dense palm tree branches.
"Sorry. I interfered with your conquest of the continent time and time again. Despite being your mother."
-....
"But this world is broader than you think. The enemies you have to face are more than you can imagine. Of course, there are monsters that you cannot defeat."
-....
"You must have observed other races for thousands of years. The Goblins won't betray you first, no matter what. Nor will the Ocean Race. The Noble Race too. Even now, the Bloodsucking Race and the Fairy Race. Kids, your task isn't to vie for supremacy on this narrow continent, quarreling with docile races."
The Black Dragon Master smiled gently.
"Unite and strike against the enemies that will threaten your world."
Flap flap.
The bats flapped their wings.
[Voting completed.]
[Vote for option 2: 02.45 percent]
[Vote for option 1: 97.55 percent]
"We are blood allies."
[Stage cleared.]
[The 43rd floor stage has been cleared!]
43rd floor.
The highest floor reached in the world before the regression— the 40th floor— had already been surpassed.
Stages that even the Flame Emperor had failed once and the Black Dragon Master had despaired over.
We conquered them one after another.
But that wasn't all.
[Quest progress.]
[The Dream Demon tribe's voting begins.]
'Eh?'
I blinked and looked at the Black Dragon Master.
The Dream Demons weren't originally included in the races we were taking care of.
Then, as she made eye contact with me, the Black Dragon Master chuckled softly.
"Kim Gong-ja. Sometimes you really underestimate me."
"What?"
"There are others besides you frantically trying to clear stages. Remember I told you I used up all my points to bring in the Dream Demon Tribe and had no choice but to drop out? Have you ever thought about what someone like me would risk elimination for?"
[Voting completed.]
[Vote for option 2: 00.00 percent]
[Vote for option 1: 100.00 percent]
"...."
Indeed, even I couldn't help but be slightly taken aback.
"Not a single person opposed…"
"Well, let's just say I successfully concluded various contracts. As much as we are friends, I must respect the confidentiality of the contracts, right?"
The Black Dragon Master winked lightly.
[Stage cleared.]
[The 44th floor stage has been cleared!]
Haha.
Really.
"...."
I smiled and turned back.
"Uburka."
I looked at my son.
"You know, I don't think choosing you was a mistake."
"...."
"Even if I could go back, I would choose you again. Even if I were reborn, I would raise you again. If I am the best father to you, then you are the best children to me."
"I know."
Uburka clenched his jaw, saying, "Ugor."
"I know. Daddy, it's just…"
{{{{{{{{{{{{{"If this daddy seems to be carrying too heavy a burden, and you wanted to become stronger, to join me, and that's why you challenged me to a duel."
"If this challenge is because what I carry seems too heavy, and you want to become stronger to share the burden with me, to be with me."}}}}}}}
"There's no need for that."
I smiled brightly.
"Just as I am precious to you like a whole world, so are you to me, Uburka. You see the world as I see it. You feel as I feel. But, Uburka, I too will see the world in the way you see it, and feel as you feel."
"...."
"We are people of the same world."
I held the back of Uburka's hand.
"Of the same humanity."
I looked past Uburka at the many Goblins lined up.
"My friends."
"Beyond the 50th floor, there will be those who have not been as fortunate as us. Even those who consider this fortune, treating all this as a mere game, becoming conquerors and rulers, indulging in pleasure."
[Quest progress.]
[The Goblins' voting begins.]
"Let's go."
[Voting completed.]
"In the name of Infernal Heavens. With the feet and mouth of Fire Painting."
[Vote for option 2: 00.00 percent]
"Let's show them who we are."
Uburka was silent.
But it was not an ominous silence; rather, it was a silence of accepting my words. Uburka's fangs were always sharp, so it didn't take long to chew and digest my words.
"Are we to kill those who deserve to die, Daddy?"
"We shall rightly save those who need to live."
"How will we know who should live, how they should live, and what's good for them?"
"Through my death."
I pulled out a dagger from my bosom.
And I tapped the tape-wrapped handle of the dagger.
"Through their lives."
"...."
Is that so, huh?
Uburka nodded and muttered to himself.
Then he firmly grasped my hand that had tapped the dagger.
Silently.
"It's okay."
I stroked Uburka's red arm.
[Vote for option 1: 100.00 percent]
"We are stronger than any tower."
[Stage Cleared.]
"And more capable than any tower."
[The 45th floor stage has been cleared!]
"We can save countless worlds, numerous people."
I looked down.
At my children who would henceforth be called Asuras, the lowest dwellers, who will eventually rise to the heavens as Heavenly Demons.
I reached out my hand to those children.
"Let's ascend the tower together."