{Author's note: Chapters 1 and 2 serve as a prologue. You can read them to understand the world-building and get an introduction to the plot, but they are unnecessary since the main character returned to the past. Therefore, you can skip them depending on your preference.}

In the vast sky, filled with a crimson aurora—a sight that would have stirred the hearts and minds of individuals in 2032—had become a daily occurrence for the natives of the Tower, or more specifically, for the Earthlings who had been thrust into this new world a few years ago.

Yet, today's aurora held a different allure for the few who stood beneath the enormous sky. They appeared like small ants against the unending expanse of land that stretched to the horizon.

The entire atmosphere was bathed in a red hue, with shadows cast by clouds of the same color.

Beneath this humongous space lay a ground that bore the scars of countless bloody battles. Thousands of humanoid figures, appearing completely white, lay scattered with broken limbs, their blue blood gushing from the cuts and drenching the land.

Everything seemed devastated, devoid of any sign of life, yet the ground was littered with thousands of human bodies too, mixed among the fallen.

The battlefield appeared to be breathing while screaming the pain and showing the scars of relentless battle that had occurred on this land for more than a month, costing the lives of 3,564 humans and 12,973 Xivorians in their clash on this floor.

Yet this wasn't even the topmost floor hailed by those who hold the power to climb the tallest tower and conquer it.

In that desolate scenery, barren as if nothing was left except death, lingered the sound of someone heavily gasping, their voice appearing to reach the limit of its pain, where it was soon going to fade away.

Upon paying more attention to the source of the low voice, one could find it coming from behind the hundreds of crystalline amethyst shards embedded in the ground, appearing to rise to ten meters in height with sharp edges.

"I... am sorry..." A man with fluttering white hair apologized, his eyes heavy with trickling blood as he gazed towards the eyes drenched in sorrow and pain of that fleeting moment belonging to a woman with a missing hand, her body stumbling while pierced by three arrows and a large amethyst crystal piercing her abdomen. Yet above all, the most excruciating pain was inflicted by the man who held a black sword passing through her chest.

"W-why?...." Standing with a face showing no hint of pain but visible anger towards the individual in front of her, her tone quivered as she parted her lips, letting out warm breath and trickling crimson fluid. Her face was broken, with one eye completely destroyed, yet the remaining hint of milky white skin showed the beauty she once possessed, with one pointed ear cut.

Even in her broken state, she had pushed this far only because of the man she trusted to support her, yet she met with betrayal and death.

Not only her but also six other women lay fallen around, bearing the same brokenness as her, their heartbeats conveying that they were still alive.

Indeed, their bodies were drenched in blood, some missing limbs, others with burns all over, and some still carrying arrows in their remaining hands, showcasing the strength they once possessed to keep themselves alive after losing more than half of their bodily functions.

All this was because of their single thought wanting to understand.

Why betrayal?

Schlkt

"Ugh..." Pulling back his sword with a clear arc forming to even slice the heart that once beat for him, the man swung his sword with bloodstains scattering all over the woman's falling body, which soon hit the ground.

THUD

"...A..ven.." Yet, due to belonging to the Elven race, her body still kept pushing itself to get the answer for why she deserved all this after finally trusting a human.

A race holding purity and nobility higher than any race, one where the future queen chose a human as her partner even after being aware of his interest in several women.

Did she really deserve all this?

'Last one,' Avendial looked down at the fallen woman, her white fairy robe drenched in blood. Yet, due to the land beneath reaching saturation, it prevented further absorption.

"Haaah." Exhaling his breath and looking towards the vast sky with hollow eyes that seemed unhindered by the gazes of women redirected at him while screaming their agony of betrayal, he seemed like a stone.

Everything appeared broken; he destroyed everything with his hand and knew that he had come too far to even bring all things together. Yet turning his gaze down towards those women, he murmured, "I..am sorry.."

Not that he wanted an apology, but it was just to let them know that he was fully aware of what he had done.

He betrayed them.

Standing there as a statue while looking towards them with his hollow eyes, he remained unmoving as if trying to etch each of their images for the last time.

"Tch, tch, such beauties dying like this; how wasteful," suddenly arrived a group of individuals among whom a man looking towards those seven women with a lost expression felt sad seeing them dying like this.

Even though they all arrived after the battle with Xivorians occurred on this floor but seeing how seven beauties were dying ached his heart.

"Sigh, even the extras have died," another bulky man holding a big axe came forward, looking in the direction where several bodies of women and men lay throughout the place just behind these seven individuals—a complete waste of potential slaves.

From a vast view, it appeared as if those now-dead bodies had once pushed forward while following the lead of these seven women and the man whom they followed while charging aggressively through the Xivorians—unlike the usual approach the man showed while bringing them above 60 floors.

Indeed, they all were civilians or individuals who had been rejected from their lives, possessing the will but not the strength to take revenge for their family members. Some had the heart to conquer this tower which devoured their loved ones, yet they followed the lead of the man whom they trusted would take them to the topmost floor.

But still, seeing how these individuals' faces didn't carry the horror of death, it seemed they didn't regret a moment while following that man.

Out of the 9.3 billion humans who were thrown into the tower, only 20,976 remained alive until this floor, but presently this number had decreased to 11,868.

And even among them, it seemed 7 were going to take their last breath at any moment.

Indeed, they could see the man standing with his sword placed on the ground, but who cares if a single human among the party members of a thousand remained alive, and at that, a puny human.

"Young master, her blood could be used to make fintril," a woman wearing a black dress with only one horn looked towards one of the women among those seven lying on the ground. A visible quiver in her pupil showed the intent behind the woman's suggestion, harboring rage for that particular individual who broke her horn and acted perfectly.

"Hm, but..." Standing in front of the group was a man with a calm gaze and observant eyes, which narrowed the moment they fell on that man stoic at his position—the man behind the destruction of his own team.

"Weren't you the strategist of this team if I remember correctly? What happened here, Human?" Lifting his gaze with a clear indication of superiority only present among the strongest of Empyreals, the man looked down upon Avendial as if inquiring about the details of exactly what happened here.

"24 more..." Avendial murmured, his eyes blurred in crimson sight, with slight movement in pupils following gazes of all the women fixed on him.

They all have several assumptions about why this all happened yet among all this, their agony was evident in the trickling blood which seemed to vaporize the moment it touched the ground.

Naturally, none of those women were in a state to even move a single finger, yet the only thing alive in their bodies was hearing and their heartbeat, as if wanting to hear a valid reason while not letting their consciousness fade away—a burning will which proved each of their might to still remain stubborn until the end.

Right now, none of them were angry enough to kill the man but it was a mix of emotions born from something unexpected, unthinkable and shattered trust.

"Pffft, why are you even asking a mere Human who already lost sanity seeing this much blood?" A woman came forward with a chuckle while looking towards another among those seven women lying on the ground, clenching a sword. The sheer glimmer emitted from the sword riled up the hearts of several women in that group, their eyes wanting to have the legacy of the enchantress.

Indeed, the woman who was now on the ground possessed beauty that even made goddesses tremble in jealousy, leading them to curse her with a body that would break slowly with time. But this became her determination to climb this world to reach the highest and kill those goddesses who cursed her.

Not only her,

Each of these seven women held titles befitting their caliber, possessed beauty rivaled by none, held the elegance of thousands of etiquette goddesses, with an aura even defying normal human comprehension, and strength counted among the few in this world, yet...

They all lay on the ground in a state that no one had expected, only because they trusted the man who betrayed them.

"Indeed, I want her horns," a woman wearing a Daoist robe came forward, pristine white fabric adorning her milky white skin, with long eyelashes looking towards the woman belonging to the demon lineage, yet holding a beauty far greater than hers but now faded behind the blood and wounds inflicted by her rash actions.

"I will take that Trident," a man wearing a black suit on his blue skin came forward, holding a trident with eyes appearing like a chameleon's, looking towards one of the women lying with the same color skin as him, yet holding the trident of crystalline Arnetite.

"That Yintrit stone on her forehead is valuable," another man joined in while holding a scythe, his striped pupils revealing himself as a higher demon, visible greed passing through his eyes as he looked at the stone embedded on a woman lying with hollow eyes, staring back at them with clear hatred, rage, and disgust.

Several individuals belonging to different races, either human or others, held greed to get the weapons of those seven women, which made them stand above their respective races, yet they followed a mere human.

A pathetic and embarrassing act.

"Excuse me though, exactly I want that man." But breaking that intense environment was a soft and melodious voice, soothing the whole space with a mere ripple formed due to the energy carried behind that tone, sourced from a woman walking elegantly with reverting rhythmic footsteps, causing everyone's attention to turn towards her.

"Exactly, it should be us who want that man," correcting herself, the woman teasingly looked towards the crowd of individuals while placing her fingers above her lips with a curve forming, which soon turned into an alluring smile.

Not only her but all the others behind her held the same greedy eyes fixed on the human protected behind these seven women until now, yet finally was out and alone after being left alone by those women for them to feast on—a desire only these succubi could understand.

Indeed, these women present here were Succubi, emanating a deep enchanting aroma, making several men gaze back at them with lustful eyes. But this wasn't true for one individual; they had just arrived here to claim that man.

"Never expected to see Lustre having an interest in a mere human?" Another man with a white beard and mustache, his eyes shining in deep gold, revealing the strength and experience of that old body which wasn't the least bit slim, came forward, referring to the organization of succubi who held the majority control of the initial floors of the tower, now interested in a human male.

"Heh, you think he is just a mere human? Then why not just hand over him to me" The woman with a sly grin leaned in, her eyes filling with a heart-shaped illumination holding mesmerizing magic capable of brainwashing anyone, presenting a proposal to have that man if he was that worthless.

"....." The old man meeting eyes with that succubus felt a twitch between his legs, appearing as if the lustful aroma was influencing him, yet due to his enormous strength, it had only a stimulatory effect, nothing more.

Lust and bodily desires remain within the weakest ants, not those who reached the epitome of strength—at least this was the thinking of the old man.

"Fine then, Lustre will take Avendial and...." The old man abruptly turned to announce the final decision, with a few words already coming out of his mouth, but before he could finish.

SLICE

A sharp blade passed through his neck, forming a deep red line enough to make a few of them react by guarding up yet the old man being influenced by lust appeared much slower to react.

'Huh?' The old man felt confused seeing the whole world turning upside down yet only felt his vision turning black as he processed things much faster than he could calculate that his head had just been cut off in those mere seconds and even spoke a few words," Y-you..."

Before finally having his head roll on the ground.

"You all seem to be confused about something here," Avendial said with his eyes holding no attachment to this present world, already having lost everything he built so far by his own hand. The final bit of rationality and attachment keeping him together appeared to let loose.

There was no one left now for him; he had done something which was irreversible and finally would put an end to what he started.

Lifting his eyes which shone in deep sapphire, visible crystalline nerves showing the enchanting pupils gazing towards all of those present here, he firmly declared with his figure blurring,"There isn't any takeaway here; since no one is leaving this place."