Tower Of God: Life As Hoaqin

"The dessert has been prepared in a rather classical fashion. It's a cheesecake where sweet and salty flavors coexist. The base is composed of everything bagel crumble. On top, it's accompanied by white asparagus, cream cheese, and smoked sturgeon. Like this... you place the sturgeon roe on top. During the sturgeon's three-month spawning period, there is just one day when the nutritional content of the roe becomes extremely concentrated—these are the highest quality roe obtained at that precise moment."

I listened quietly to the explanation, and when the chef finished, I nodded in time with his words. The chef likewise bowed to me and Mascheny with a warm smile, then returned to the kitchen to prepare the next dish.

A cheesecake made in a very special and creative way was presented on the plate, and I cut it in half with a knife and pushed it toward Mascheny.

"Here, you eat."

"I don't need it. You eat."

"If you insist."

I took back the cheesecake, stabbed it with a fork, brought it to my mouth, took a bite, and savored the flavor while chewing. Mm, definitely delicious. It was a shame I couldn't express flavors more eloquently. Mascheny was also biting into her cheesecake with a fairly satisfied expression. Still her cold, expressionless face, but that much meant she was satisfied.

Having polished off the cheesecake—which hadn't been a particularly large portion—I turned my gaze to the menu. There were quite a lot of items, but the most shocking was definitely the barracuda barbecue. A menu item that made one keenly realize there was nothing humans couldn't eat. And it was the most expensive too. Did it come with hazard pay or something?

Anyway, preferring normalcy over such shocking menu items, we'd simply ordered a light full course, and had just finished eating. We both emptied our water glasses—the ones with leaves floating in them—stood up, and left the restaurant.

The moment we stepped out, gazes converged on us as expected. Just seeing the Khun Family and Arie Family on friendly terms was remarkable enough, but if anyone who knew our true identities saw us, the stares would only intensify. The fact that Mascheny and I had been close since our Regular days was somewhat hinted at in the Ranker description section of the rankings, so there was no need to desperately hide it.

BANG—

"Aaah! M-my camera!"

Still, paparazzi were out of the question. With a flick of my finger, I detonated every Observer and camera trying to secretly photograph Mascheny and me, and the two of us strolled leisurely along the street.

They had some nerve too. Hiding that clumsily and thinking they wouldn't be caught.

"Ah, Mascheny. Want to get ice cream?"

"Stop asking me to eat things. I'll go buy it, so stay put."

I watched the rare spectacle of Mascheny personally expressing her intent to purchase from the ice cream vendor and receiving ice cream, and when she approached, I took one from her and chuckled at the sight of her.

"Mascheny, I've been meaning to say—it looks like you're missing one earring?"

For her to make a mistake like this. Did she rush out from relaxing? That would make me feel a bit bad. She touched her ear quizzically at my words, paused for a moment, then declared to me boldly.

"...This earring is designed as a single piece."

"Hahaha! That's the first I've heard of that."

"Th-that's because you don't know anything."

"Want me to just make you one?"

"...?"

I drew shinsu using a droplet-sized Shinwonryu formed at my fingertip, shaped it to match what she was wearing as closely as possible, and carefully compressed the shinsu until a translucent blue earring was formed. Using Shinwonryu to make earrings—if the Guardian's god saw this, they'd probably take issue with it, but I'll use it however I please.

"Want me to put it on you?"

"...Go ahead."

She reluctantly agreed, and I chuckled as I carefully attached the earring to her ear. Ah, now it's balanced. The color happened to match too.

Bursting into laughter at Mascheny's insistent explanation right until the end that the earring was originally meant to be worn as a single piece, we wrapped up the day's schedule and headed back together to the Khun Family main house.

Along the dim streets, lit somewhat by the surrounding lamps, we chatted using episodes from our time apart as conversation topics, and before we knew it, time had flown.

"...So I was wondering where Harpe went, and she comes out of the kitchen on the verge of tears. She'd eaten all the cookies in the storage and tried to bake new ones but it was a disaster. Isn't that just adorable?"

"...How childish."

"Haha, well, she is a child."

Rumble rumble—

The massive iron gates that had been firmly shut on the path to the main house began swinging wide open the moment Mascheny drew near. The guards bowed their heads deeply, tense with nerves, and the butler who had been waiting for Mascheny also bent at the waist to greet her.

"Welcome back, Princess Mascheny. And... Branch Leader Hoaqin."

Oh my, the look he's giving me isn't exactly warm. I suppose that's natural since I'm from a hostile Family. I smiled wryly and gave the butler a light greeting in return.

"Branch Leader Hoaqin, our Khun Family main house has sent a reply. It states that the matter of negotiations and treaty formation will be discussed one month from now, for your reference. Since you arrived at our Khun Family so abruptly, we ask for your understanding."

Wariness still lingered in the butler's eyes, but I beamed and grabbed his hand.

"No, thank you so much. Haha, I would have been fine even if you'd scheduled it a year from now."

"...?"

Okay, this meant I could laze around with Mascheny for a month. Honestly though, the Khun Family folks could stand to be less stingy—what's a month? They should've come out strong and said they'd negotiate in ten years.

"Hahaha, Mascheny. So with that in mind... I'll unavoidably need to stay at your place for a month."

Mascheny and the butler both froze for a moment, and less than a second later the butler cleared his throat roughly.

"Ahem! Branch Leader Hoaqin may use the main house's VIP quarters. I'm sorry, but outsiders cannot freely roam the main house. You must use only the designated routes and buildings. You cannot stay with Princess Mascheny."

"...Okayyy..."

Feeling a sudden chill, the butler turned around to find Mascheny glaring at him coldly. Hastily following the butler who immediately began escorting me to get away from the situation, I trudged along until we reached the VIP quarters, where I exchanged farewells with Mascheny, who had accompanied me this far.

"Mascheny, today was fun. And... stop glaring at the butler."

"Hmph, who's glaring? Come to my side early tomorrow morning."

"Haha, I'd love to, but according to the butler I'm supposed to stay in designated areas, so you come to me instead."

"...Fine."

"Good night, Mascheny."

"Yeah."

After she and the butler left, I closed the VIP room door and immediately threw myself onto the bed, savoring its softness as I drifted off to sleep. Ugh, I'm exhausted.

.....

The night when Hoaqin fell asleep thinking of Mascheny, and Mascheny fell asleep thinking of Hoaqin. Someone who had been looking down from atop a tall building in the main house shifted their steps. Neither Hoaqin nor Mascheny had noticed that someone had been watching them the entire time.

.....

80th Floor, Temple that once served 'The Erased One'

"Viel Glück! My, it seems our efforts have finally borne fruit! Hahaha!"

At the very center of the temple's lowest level, a man smartly dressed in a tailcoat burst into laughter and carefully tucked the ancient text he'd just discovered into his coat. The Rankers scattered around him looked up at him with expressions of reverence.

"Congratulations, our god."

"What shall we do now?"

"My followers, your devotion and faith have been an immeasurable help to me, and I wish to make one more request of you."

"""Just give us your command!!!"""

They knelt simultaneously, pledging eternal loyalty and faith as they awaited his orders. Slayer Vertia smiled at them, then looked up at the ceiling.

"From this moment, scatter in every direction and flee. Survive as many of you as possible—that is the command I give to you, my devout believers."

"""...?"""

The moment everyone tilted their heads, an explosion thundered and the ceiling began collapsing. Vertia bought time for his followers by detonating the large pieces of debris falling toward them, and in the meantime his followers began hastily fleeing the temple to faithfully carry out their god's command.

From the ceiling, someone powerful descended rapidly. Vertia faced him with a warm smile.

"Well, well... this is my first time facing the Zahard Army Imperial Guard I've only heard about. Hahaha, I'm practically breaking into a cold sweat."

"A being who calls himself a god, trembling in fear and trying to flee. So laughable and pathetic I can't even bring myself to laugh. Go on, keep trembling in fear and fleeing deeper into the darkness."

The man facing Slayer Vertia wore the uniform that only members of the Zahard Royal Guard could wear, and naturally, a large red three-eyed insignia was emblazoned on it. Soon, the man whose face had been obscured by the shadows of the collapsed debris stepped forward.

With purple slicked-back short hair and green eyes, he carried the aura of the 10 Great Families, but his appearance alone made it difficult to determine which Family he hailed from.

"Hmm... from the 10 Great Families? A handsome face indeed. Ah, though not as handsome as that Arie young master I saw recently."

"...? The Arie Family must have declined considerably. Letting a Slayer slip through their fingers."

"Haha, by the way... friend, mind telling me your name?"

"I have no name to give to the likes of you. And I'm not your friend."

"Tch, how boring. That Arie young master had a much better sense of humor. Anyway, judging by the aura you're giving off... Po Bidau Family and..."

CRACKLE—

As if he had no intention of continuing this pointless conversation, the guard drew what appeared to be his main weapon—an enormous spear. Fierce lightning immediately erupted from the spear. Only upon seeing that brutish great spear crackling with electrical energy did Vertia realize.

"Aha, a hybrid of Khun and Po Bidau. Then is it the father who's Khun, or...!"

CRASH BOOM!!

The Khun and Po Bidau hybrid—Zahard Army Imperial Guard member Po Bidau Lyborick Khun—silently thrust his spear with full force. Shinsu of the lightning attribute carrying tremendous density surged toward Vertia, followed by electricity so intense it obscured all visibility, destroying everything in the temple.

Lyborick's assigned mission was the complete demolition of this temple. The encounter with a Slayer had been unexpected, but as a member of the Zahard Army Imperial Guard—who served the Royal Palace more thoroughly than anyone—he had absolutely no intention of letting a Slayer go.

The magnetic storm subsided, and within it Slayer Vertia was drenched in nervous sweat, brushing off his white tailcoat. By now, scorched black in patches, it could well be called a spotted tailcoat.

"Phew, that's brutal. If I die this time, I'll really die. That would be inconvenient, so..."

"Good to hear."

This time Lyborick charged in directly, his great spear reaching right before Vertia's nose. Without pause, with ferocious momentum, just as it was about to pierce Vertia's heart, Vertia's eyes gleamed slightly.

"From here on, it's self-defense, friend."

KABOOOM!

"....!"

Just before the spear made contact, a massive explosion erupted point-blank, sending Lyborick flying backward. An explosion that occurred without any warning whatsoever. Though caught off guard momentarily, Lyborick gleaned much from that brief exchange.

"The Singing Wave—Slayer Vertia."

"Oh? I'm honored you recognize me. Come to think of it, I really do like that epithet. Back when I was a regular Ranker..."

Lyborick charged in again, ignoring him completely. Vertia smirked at the sight and triggered chain explosions across the surrounding space.

This was a crumbling old temple. It wasn't a home he cherished, nor did it suit his tastes to begin with. Above all, he'd already secured that ancient text earlier...

"Let's blow things up to our hearts' content!"

Vertia's eyes flashed, and the sounds pervading the surrounding space reacted, detonating in succession. The scale was incomparable to his previous battle with Hoaquin. With each explosion, everything in the temple was destroyed and buried deeper underground. With no ground left to stand on, the two continued fighting while standing on air.

Lyborick advanced rapidly, using the collapsing debris as cover. When he raised his spear high, a massive amount of electrical energy coiled around it once more.

"Hmph!"

When he thrust the spear, the coiled lightning poured toward Vertia. Vertia grinned and drew out a conductor's baton made of shinsu.

"Haha, thunder is part of sound too..!"

A deafening thunderclap that made one's ears ring. The louder the sound, the proportionally greater the power he could amplify. Vertia swung the baton with crisp precision, controlling the sound flowing through the medium of shinsu.

Vertia-Style Shinsu Control — Vigoroso

CLANG—

A barrier of sound-attribute shinsu formed around him. The lightning that scorched and burned everything as it struck fiercely did pierce through the barrier, but not perfectly—and the imperfect lightning was blocked by the explosion that followed.

Vertia-Style Shinsu Control — Fortissimo

The next conducting motion followed immediately. As the baton traced through the air, the surrounding shinsu vibrated, and then a tremendous blast of sound erupted. The noise was enough to burst the eardrums of most High Rankers, but these two facing off were far beyond the level of ordinary High Rankers.

"Nothing but noise—not a single thing of substance."

"Then why would I have used it?"

"....!"

The blast was merely a precursor. The real thing was this—

Hummm—

The shinsu around them began vibrating in response to the blast just generated. Just as a specific sound wave could shatter a wine glass, the shinsu stimulated by a specific frequency began resonating with that blast.

Lyborick, having roughly grasped what was about to happen, furrowed his brow. In stark contrast, Vertia laughed maniacally.

"Ahahaha! Music is— an explosion! Ah, though of course my music isn't only about explosions. There's the violin, the piano, and also..."

The next words never came. Due to the nature of the sealed underground temple, the blast couldn't escape outside and kept circling within, resonating with all the shinsu present in the temple.

And finally—

FLASH—

KABOOOOOM!!!

The entire temple exploded. Naturally, whatever remained of the temple's structure crumbled completely, filling the underground with debris. Consequently, on the surface, a massive sinkhole could be seen forming.

.....

CRASH!

From the spot that had completely collapsed into a sinkhole, Lyborick finally emerged outside. At some point it had started raining, which only added to his displeasure.

"...."

The explosive force itself had been formidable, but it was manageable if one focused on defense. The problem was that Lyborick—a fanatic who served only Zahard—had refused to choose the option of 'defense' with a fleeing enemy before him, and consequently sustained some injuries.

And yet, despite all that, the Slayer had escaped. He'd managed to wound him somewhat in the moment of escape, but ultimately failed to kill him.

"L-Lord Lyborick..."

The Royal Guard soldiers, who had been maintaining a perimeter at a safe distance, disembarked from their floating ships and cautiously approached him one by one. Lyborick looked down at them with cold eyes. These ones had been setting up a perimeter outside, and they hadn't even noticed the Slayer escaping?

"...We're returning. The temple burial mission has been accomplished."

He would have loved nothing more than to tear through this entire 80th Floor to hunt him down, but he knew it was impossible. Lyborick crushed the rock fragments in his hands into powder as he climbed out of the debris, then boarded the floating ship with heavy steps.

They did not know the purpose for which Vertia had come to the temple, nor that he had accomplished it.

.....

Khun Family Main House

"Mmm...."

Morning had arrived before I knew it. I stretched long as I got up, opened my eyes wide at the refreshing feeling, then immediately finished washing my face and showering before opening the VIP room door and stepping out.

The time is... what, 5:30? Mascheny is already a late sleeper as it is. I woke up way too early.

I turned my head to look at the bed. Hmm... but I've already showered and everything, so going back to sleep didn't feel right. I couldn't go to Mascheny either, so I might as well just take a walk along the designated route.

"...Stay put."

The butterfly perched inside the VIP room was motionless as usual. After leaving it a brief word, I closed the VIP room door and set out.

...But what is the designated route, exactly? Nobody told me.

A smile naturally formed. Since they hadn't told me the designated route... as a first-time visitor, naturally I might make a few mistakes, right? Sure, I could accidentally end up at Mascheny's place. I'd just apologize later.

...Ah, I don't even know where Mascheny's place is.

Trying to mask my deflated expression while wandering aimlessly, I sensed a presence behind me. This was still inside the building where guests stayed—was there another guest who'd come to the Khun Family main house?

Turning around out of curiosity, a completely unexpected person was standing there.

"...Masch— no, that's not her."

She startled me—for a moment I thought it was Mascheny. Before my eyes stood a woman who looked exactly like Mascheny, gazing at me with a gentle smile. She resembled her, but her atmosphere was somewhat warmer, more mature—seasoned, perhaps. I hadn't heard anything from Mascheny about having a twin sister.

"...Who are you?"

At my question, she smiled softly, gave a light greeting, and introduced herself.

"Hello, Branch Leader Hoaqin. My name is Khun Mascheny."

"....?"

That's not Mascheny. An impersonator?

...Wait. Something clicked, and I hastily clasped my hands together respectfully before cautiously asking her.

"Um... are you perhaps Mascheny Zahard's..."

"Yes. I am Princess Mascheny Zahard's birth mother."

"Mother-in-l... ahem, hello."

"...? Yes, nice to meet you. Could we walk together for a moment?"

Swept up by a certain aura she exuded, I couldn't bring myself to refuse and nodded.