Chapter 216 : Chapter 216
Chapter 216 - Tower of Causalitas (4)
The Hellfire began to fall from the sky again as soon as I stepped onto the stairs.
As that powerful fire demon lunged toward my body, the memories of the past, where I had experienced death, began to revive.
It was the boundary between life and death, the watershed between my previous life and my reincarnation.
The split second of a moment that I had completely forgotten unfolded, and the scene of that time was reproduced like a phantom, as if time had stopped.
The Red Dragon, Devrias, poured out an overwhelming fire attack. And before him stood Johan Raven, facing him with detachment. Looking into my past eyes, all kinds of emotions I felt then came rushing in.
Thinking back now, those were all the agonies I had struggled with before reaching the pinnacle of the sword.
WHOOSH.
However, that agony did not last long. The massive fire demon that the Red Dragon had fired turned everything of mine into ash. And the emotion I felt at that moment was, absurdly, that it was beautiful.
I felt like I finally understood the reason, at least vaguely. What I had realized at the last moment was the final enlightenment regarding the sword and a sense of liberation. And the Hellfire currently pouring from the sky was reminding me of the enlightenment from that time.
WHOOSH!
The glowing fireball lunged toward me. It was hot. It was agonizingly hot. It was extreme pain, but I wanted to hold on to this split second just a little bit longer. I had not yet fully restored the final enlightenment I had realized at the moment of death.
"Just a little more!"
However, the split second of time that seemed frozen flowed away like the wind.
[Quest Failure]
[Returning to the starting point.]
The realization gained at the boundary between life and death. The enlightenment of that day, which I had forgotten, scattered away like the wind once again. I had to grasp it again.
Thus, I began to climb the stairs once more without delay.
"Hey, you! What is going on right now?"
The fairy fiend buzzed around me and chattered, but now was not the time to pay attention to such things.
"Have you gone mad after being hit by the Hellfire?"
One step. Then another step. I climbed the stairs like a madman. Perhaps in the fairy's eyes, I looked like a moth jumping toward a flame.
"Stop doing useless things and just give in to despair instead!"
At that moment, the Hellfire poured down from the sky again. I held up the Holy Sword Bastian and looked up at the massive fireball. It was still a fire demon that was difficult to handle.
However, around the time that overwhelming mana of fire lunged toward me, I thought to myself.
"It is beautiful!"
[Quest Failure]
[Returning to the starting point.]
***
I closed my eyes. I could not know how much time had passed since I started meditating like that.
"You have despaired, have you not?"
"Is that right?"
"Hey! Open your eyes!"
Even the fairy fiend, who had been talking incessantly, eventually got tired and fell away at some point, so a considerable amount of time must have passed.
I succeeded in barely grasping a piece of past enlightenment. Since it was a vague memory, I reflected on it over and over again so as not to forget it.
The moment I became impatient, this enlightenment would evaporate and fly away in an instant. I concentrated all my spirit and senses so that not even a speck of a ripple would occur in my heart. And when I opened my eyes again, I gained a certain conviction.
"...I have realized it."
Of course, it was not everything. The fake death encountered here was only at a level of faintly restoring past memories. However, the fact that I had obtained the starting point of enlightenment and had now taken the final step toward the pinnacle of the sword carried great meaning.
"You have realized it?"
Hearing my presence, the fairy fiend hurriedly flew to me.
"To suddenly say you have realized something... do you know how long it has been since you last opened your mouth?"
"How long has it been?"
"Two weeks and three days by the time of this tower. If you had not been breathing, I would have thought you were dead."
A longer time had passed than I thought.
However, considering the scale of the realization, it could not be said to be long at all. For some, several decades of training are sometimes needed for this speck of enlightenment.
"While climbing all the stairs, do you know how many times the Hellfire poured down?"
"That seems like a rather meaningless curiosity right now, does it not? You end up finishing at the first Hellfire anyway!"
"As expected, it is not just once."
"Even considering your amazing pace, you will still need another hundred years. I will tell you if you ask again then."
Of course, a hundred years was not necessary.
WHOOSH!
As I reached the same point on the stairs, the Hellfire poured down without fail. This time, I did not intend to just welcome that fire demon with my whole body. I intended to at least make a gesture of splitting it apart. I pulled up the mana from my dantian and immediately converted it into the freezing attribute. Then, an extreme cold air surrounded my body and the Holy Sword.
"You really are persistent! Do you have some kind of grudge against fireballs? Why are you so anxious to burn to death!"
The fairy finished those words and flew away to avoid the fireball, and my Holy Sword drew a massive line of ice in the air.
SWOOSH!
Fire and ice met and began a fierce battle. This time, neither side was easily pushed back.
Fire and ice sang a massive song of mana as if they would swallow each other. And finally.
CRACK!
CRACKLE!!
The ice split the middle of the fire and embroidered an icy path toward the sky.
My friend!
At that moment, the Holy Sword howled in joy. The fairy Alicia, who had flown far away, also screamed. The icy path stretched out much more brilliantly than originally expected. Even so, it did not mean I was completely free from the Hellfire. The embers that split to both sides poured down and lunged toward me.
WHOOSH!
Of course, it was not of a destructive power that could make me fall. Pain rushed in from the blazing flames, but at this moment, a greater emotion was satisfaction.
"Then I will ask again. While climbing these stairs to the end, do you know how many fireballs pour down?"
It was a promise already made. She had to answer.
"T-twelve times!"
I was simply dumbfounded by that number. To create a quest in this way and tell me to clear it. On the other hand, it was also surprising. It meant the person who came here before me also passed all these processes.
"Then I will ask one more thing. How long do you think it will take me to clear the third floor?"
"I do not know. Do not ask me!"
The fairy fiend had a disappointed look at the thought that she would not be able to see my despair and pain on this floor either.
***
To clear the third floor, honestly, a few more attempts were needed than I had expected. The power of the Hellfire that poured down right before the last step of the stairs was considerable. Alicia seemed to have thought that point was her last bastion.
"How is it! How does it feel to taste despair right before hope!"
However, I replied with a smile instead. I completely crushed her expectations. As the power of the fire became stronger, the forgotten enlightenment of the past also approached intensely, so it was a situation that could not be better for me. The fairy fiend's expression hardened coldly.
"Darn it! How annoying!"
The fairy looked as if she was about to swear. And after a few more attempts, I was able to reach the end of the stairs.
[You have cleared the quest.]
[A portion of the karma accumulated by the twisted law of causality is dissipated.]
[The connection between Earth and the Abyss becomes much clearer.]
I thought the day when the Abyss on Earth would return to normal was not far off now. Of course, a greater gain than that was the realization I personally obtained.
The power of the Hellfire that flew at the last moment of the stairs was clearly not much different from that attack by the Red Dragon. That massive fireball that was perfectly split.
Now, the minimum qualification to go to the Dragon's nest again was completed.
'The day is drawing near.'
It felt as if I could feel some unknown power of fate. As if all the harmonies of the world were being arranged for that day.
"Now, what is waiting on the fourth floor?"
"It is nothing much."
Unlike before, it was a lackluster answer. Then she asked me back indifferently.
"You have faced the power of wind and fire, so what would be left?"
"Well. Somehow, I do not think it is water or earth. Is the power of the heart what remains?"
"You are good at guessing."
"Then what should I do on the fourth floor?"
"You do not have to do anything."
"Just stay still?"
The fairy nodded. Since it was the first time I had encountered such an absurd quest as staying still, I could not even guess the reason for this.
"You will find out when you go. For your information, as soon as you clear the fourth floor, it is the final floor."
"That is the best news I have heard so far."
"It is so disheartening. While coming up to the third floor, you took away the pleasure I deserved to enjoy."
"Because I did not suffer?"
"Yes! Do you know how many years I have been waiting!"
"That is an absurd reason."
"Still, the fourth floor will be a bit different from before! Because that place has nothing to do with your strength."
And a moment later, the location of the fourth floor was transmitted. I could immediately see why the fairy Alicia said that. The quest here was to suppress human desire. It was completely unrelated to handling mana.
"If you cannot control your mind here, the quest will repeat forever!"
[Quest begins.]
[Remaining time 48:00:00]
"Is this the end of the explanation? It is too vague."
And time began to flow. A quest to suppress desire for a mere 48 hours.
"You will naturally understand the vague explanation. It is about time for a reaction to come."
Around the time the fairy's words ended, a sudden hunger arrived. I could not help but feel a sense of incongruity for a moment. Since coming to this tower, a considerable amount of time had passed, but I had not felt hunger even without eating anything.
[Quest Failure]
[Restarting the quest.]
[Remaining time 48:00:00]
"Quest failure just from feeling hunger?"
"Because you failed to control the basic desire of appetite."
It was just absurd. To fail even though I did not reach out for food but just felt hunger.
"If you thought the fourth floor was easy, it is a big mistake!"
"The setting is just too forced."
"I do not think that is something a person who came here by twisting the law of causality should say."
The fairy fiend smiled and continued her words.
"I feel like I might be able to see you falling apart on the fourth floor. For your information, from now on, extreme fatigue will come rushing in. You have not slept at all since coming here, have you? Well, you know the other remaining desire, right? I will not bother explaining that."
As she said that, Alicia giggled to herself as if it were fun.
"Still, 48 hours seems doable."
"Doable? Will that really be the case? The intensity of the desire will become stronger as time passes."
Suppression of desire. It was a very easy task for me. While I was on Earth, what I did every single day without fail was to go to the Spring of Elixir and sink into meditation. For that duration of time, I would escape from all agonies and reach a state of nirvana. 48 hours is a bit long, but there was no reason I could not do it.
"Do you think everything will be fine just by closing your eyes like that?"
It will be fine. Because the mana breathing technique of the Johan Raven family was originally like that.