Chapter 96 - 96: « Anubis »
[Bonus Chapter for 10 Golden Tickets ~ refer to the Author's Reward system.]
In the Hall of Eternal Eclipse, a banquet was underway that would have turned a normal human's soul to ash just by standing near the entrance.
Huge slabs of meat from mutated sea-serpents were piled high on obsidian tables. Violet wine, squeezed from the grapes of the Wailing Vineyards, flowed into golden chalices. Seated around the long table were several figures, their auras dark enough to swallow light.
These were the [Demon King Candidates]. Beings who had spent centuries accumulating [Fables] to earn their seat among the stars.
"Did you hear the news from the 11th floor?" a demon with four curved horns sneered, tossing a bone onto the floor. "The 65th is dead. Erased. His Star has flickered out of the Constellation Stream."
"The Sludge King of the 65th? What an utter idiot," another demon laughed, her voice like grinding glass. She was the [Witch of the Frozen Thorns], a candidate vying for the 60th seat. "To think he ruled over the Domain of Putrid Desolation for five hundred years, only to die in a low-level ruin. It's pathetic. He was always a fool, chasing after crumbs of divinity."
A third demon, shrouded in a cloak of living shadows, leaned forward. "He didn't just 'descend' by accident. Word among the stars is that he was promised something. A shortcut to becoming a [Great Demon King]. He was given an order to manifest in that Abyss by... Him."
The table went silent at the mention of Him. Even among demons, some names were too heavy to speak.
"So he gambled his life on a promise and lost to a bunch of human Rankers?" the four-horned demon mocked. "He was always obsessed with breaking free from the [Constellation Stream]. He wanted to be a 'Free Star.' Admirable, in a suicidal way. But to fail on the 11th floor... his story will be a comedy for the next millennium."
THUD.
The heavy doors at the end of the hall didn't open; they were erased.
A shadow colder than the void itself stepped into the room. The golden jewelry on his jackal-headed frame clinked with a sound like a funeral bell.
[The High Constellation, 'Anubis', has entered the banquet.]
The candidates immediately went stiff. They were powerful, but Anubis was a being who managed the very scales of the Tower's justice.
Anubis didn't sit. He walked to the head of the table, his eyes burning with a dark, stellar fire.
"You fools are laughing at a corpse while the house is on fire," Anubis's voice vibrated through their marrow.
"Great Overseer," the Witch stammered, "we were just discussing the 65th's incompetence—"
"Incompetence?" Anubis slammed a clawed hand onto the table, shattering the obsidian. "The 65th didn't die to 'Rankers.' He was hunted. By that brat from the Old World. The one who emerged from the 65th's own frozen corpse."
The demons froze.
"Emerged from the corpse...?" the shadow demon whispered. "That's a [Calamity Succession]. That means..."
"It means he himself is now a [Demon King Candidate]," Anubis snarled, his teeth baring. "A human rose to such a position in such a short time compared to you pathetic fools. While you sit here drinking fermented blood and bragging about stories you bought with coins, a human is out there rewriting the logic of the Tower."
He looked around the table, his gaze making the candidates shrink.
"How pathetic you all are. You call yourselves candidates, yet a ghost from the past has already outpaced your progress for the century."
Anubis turned his gaze toward the ceiling, as if he could see through the layers of the Tower.
"And the higher constellations... those indifferent assholes. They allow such a person to live? There is a bounty on that brat's head that could buy a dozen floors. His very existence is a middle finger to the [Constellation Stream], yet they sit in their palaces and watch like it's a theater play."
"My Lord," the four-horned demon spoke up tentatively, "I even heard that the [Maker of Stellar Anvils] and the [Mother of Abundance] are backing that brat. They've been sending him blessings through the sub-channels."
"Don't forget the [Changing God] too," the Witch added, her voice trembling. "His aura was detected near the 11th floor Gate."
Anubis slammed both fists onto the table this time. The shockwave blew the wine out of the chalices and sent the plates flying.
"This [Changing God] is the main issue when it comes to threats concerning the Tower on Earth!" Anubis roared. "That shapeshifting bastard always interferes where he doesn't belong. He's a pain in the neck for every Overseer."
The room fell into a tense, suffocating silence. Anubis's chest heaved as he let out a long, sulfurous breath. Slowly, the anger in his eyes shifted into something more calculating. A cruel, sharp smile began to form on his jackal face.
"But... this is good," Anubis whispered. "Actually, this is perfect."
He looked at the candidates.
"There will be a meeting soon. A Great Assembly of all Demon Candidates. Seeing as he has technically qualified by consuming the 65th's core... I'll have to invite him myself! I'll send the invitation to the 11th floor."
The demons looked at each other, confused. "Invite him? To the Assembly? He'll be torn to pieces."
"That is the point," Anubis said, his voice dropping to a dangerous register. He began to bang his fist rhythmically against the table. "Afterwards, I'll proceed to killing that bastard myself. I haven't forgotten what he did in the Old World. He robbed me. He took my relics, my items, and mocked the Scales of Judgment. He treated my domain like a treasure chest!"
BANG. BANG. BANG.
With every strike of his fist, the floor of the 72nd floor cracked.
"With him gone, his [Fables] will be up for grabs. And then... I'll finally descend to Earth myself. I won't go as a boss. I'll go as a Conqueror. I'll take over and consume everything in my path. Who knows how many strong stories are hidden in that fragile little world?"
Anubis threw his head back and laughed. It was a sound of pure, unadulterated greed.
"It's only a matter of time before I consume those stories and use them as fuel. I will rise. I will become a [Greater Constellation] in the Stream, and the name Anubis will be the only law the Stars know! Hahaha!"
The Hall of Eternal Eclipse shook with his laughter, a herald of the massacre that was about to be invited to the world of men.