Chapter 295. Proof of Worth (1)

A low, droning roar echoed through the forest.

The monsters exhaled foul mists that filled the woods to the brim. Visibility barely stretched a meter ahead. The area was dark and murky, like a river choked with drifting debris.

[Caution!]

[You have entered the special zone Delusion Forest.]

Delusion was a thought that defied reason. The forest itself drove its visitors toward madness and grandiose illusions.

[Decide the fate of 7,934,635,960 people.]

In an instant, 7.9 billion lives had vanished. The peace of the old world had been erased as if it had never existed.

Was that the delusion I dreamed of? Eun-Ho wondered. And they used it to shake my mind. This feels disgusting.

He clenched his teeth and stared into the fog. Though hazy, there were shapes, which seemed to be monsters lurking like shadows. Eun-Ho’s heightened senses pierced through them.

[Enhanced Vision - Unlocked]

Now he could see them clearly. They resembled grotesquely enlarged eggs bigger than a human head. Only a long, torn mouth split across their surface.

“Kieeeek—”

Behind one came another demon. Behind that came another demon. Beyond them, hundreds, thousands or even tens of thousands more crowded together, packed as tightly as commuters in a rush-hour subway.

Eun-Ho muttered, “There are way too many.”

The attendants he had faced in the first trial had also been numerous, filling the dining hall to the ceiling. However, this was different. This forest had no visible end.

Eun-Ho had to push through these mist-spewing creatures and reach the safe zone within two minutes.

“Kieeeek—”

“Kieeeek—”

“Kieeeek—”

The sheer number of them made his head throb, but it didn’t matter.

[Defense Mechanism - Activated]

[The Defense Mechanism has resisted illusions and mental interference.]

The forest was like an endless sea of monsters closing in from all directions.

Still, Eun-Ho advanced.

“Aaah! I’ll take the lead!” Jae-Hyuk shouted.

“I’ll support you too!” Eun-Ho replied.

For Ji-Eun, who must have endured all of this alone and ended up in such a battered state, Jae-Hyuk and Eun-Ho moved forward without hesitation.

The demons twisted their grotesque arms and lunged from within the fog. In an instant, one was right in front of him. There was a nauseating display of flesh.

Eun-Ho frowned instinctively and twisted himself to evade. Then, a snake-like tongue shot out from the creature’s torn mouth, aiming straight for his throat.

Eun-Ho cut the tongue clean in half. “Sword Force.”

Drawing the sword back toward himself, he thrust again. The blade pierced its smooth, featureless belly, tearing through tough hide, dense muscle, and the organs within.

Eun-Ho pulled the sword free and spun. Pivoting on his right foot, he completed a half turn. Then, the blade traced an arc, slicing into the side of another creature creeping up behind him.

“Eun-Ho! Above you!” Ji-Eun shouted.

The reach of his Sword Force was limitless.

The demon dove down like a bird, aiming to split his skull. Then, another flapped wide wings, spreading smoke and slithering its tongue. However, neither escaped. Eun-Ho tore apart their beak-like maws and shredded their wings.

[The Ghost Butcher title has been activated.]

Eun-Ho knew and felt that these things were no match for him.

[Your attack power will increase by 20% when fighting high-tier Ghosts.]

“Sword Threads.”

Threads extended from his pure white blade, weaving around him like a loose net. Each strand glowed with a dark blue sheen. Like a cocoon spun by a lazy silkworm, they wrapped around him, lashing outward and to the sides.

Fwoosh! Fwaaaah—

The demons were cut apart piece by piece.

[You have defeated a Delusion Demon.]

[You have defeated a Delusion Demon.]

[You have defeated a Delusion Demon.]

...

[Your body resonates with the will of the soul.]

[You have surpassed your physical limits with the Pathfinder’s resolve.]

Messages poured in, but Eun-Ho had only taken his first step. “Acceleration.”

Time slowed, and within that near-frozen world, Eun-Ho broke through the motionless swarm.

“Kieeeeeek—”

The deeper he went into the fog, the more grotesque the creatures became. One had three pairs of limbs twisted in different directions. Another had mouths attached to each of its two wings. One bore a tail where its head should be and horns along its spine.

“Kiiieeeek—!”

“Kiiieeek—!”

Perhaps they truly were high-tier Ghosts. Even with time slowed sixtyfold, many of them still managed to open their jaws and snap at him.

Eun-Ho let them brush past him.

Swoosh—!

Teeth like awls grazed his left arm. His skin bore the mark of their bite, so he checked his condition immediately.

[99.9%]

He had lost only 0.1% of his Stamina.

They’re weaker than I expected, he thought.

In truth, he had grown stronger. Since entering the Tower, Eun-Ho’s senses had sharpened, and his rank had risen. His heart pounded like a galloping horse, and an indescribable vitality surged through him.

If this is how much damage they can do, I won’t dodge.

Instead of blocking their attacks and countering them, Eun-Ho stepped forward. He trusted his armor and ignored even the slightest distortions, pouring everything into offense. It was a fighting style built purely on destruction.

I think I can finally understand why every transcendent I had faced had fought so aggressively.

If they had fought like this countless times, it made sense.

Tick—

Time resumed its flow and so did he. Eun-Ho’s sword moved like a dance, leaving trails of dark blue aura in its wake.

[You have defeated a Twin-Winged Hellfiend.]

[You have defeated a Horn-Tailed Demon.]

[You have defeated an Abyssal Demon.]

...

He cut, and cut, and cut again across their necks diagonally from collarbone to flank and vertically from groin to crown.

[You have defeated a...]

Eun-Ho moved in a trance, intoxicated not by drink, but by the sword.

Swoooosh—

Blood rained over him like a downpour.

His heightened sense of smell tracked the strongest among them, distinguishing even the scent of horned beasts from six-armed ones. By the time that sensation finally dulled, Eun-Ho had reached the safe zone.

***

There was a reason why Kim Ji-Eun hadn’t been able to advance alone through this hellscape of demons. She could have killed them because crushing their heads would have been enough.

However, that wasn’t the end of it. Whenever one died, the surrounding demons would devour it and grow stronger. It was a horrifying ability.

“Eun-Ho! Above you!” she shouted.

That was why she warned him, and why she forced herself forward in a hurry, dragging her limping leg and raising her gun. In that brief moment, hell unfolded before her eyes. It was an outright massacre.

Absorption? Regrouping? What’s the point of any of that?

Eun-Ho didn’t give them even the slightest opening. He tore them apart before they could do anything.

“Kiiieeeek—”

“Kiiieeeeeek—”

To the fiends, Lee Eun-Ho had probably appeared like a reaper from hell.

“Wow...”

“It’s like he’s dancing."

It was terrifying yet beautiful.

Fwaaaah—!

Blue aura surged like fresh sprouts in spring. Flames burst forth with the intensity of midsummer heat. The demons fell like autumn leaves. His blade flowed white as winter, cutting through it all.

All four seasons existed within that scene. How could anyone remain silent after witnessing something like this?

“Hyungnim, you’ve gotten stronger,” Jae-Hyuk said in awe.

“Yeah... I didn’t think it was possible to get even stronger than that,” Ji-Eun remarked.

They had known he was strong.

Ji-Eun felt clearly that the man before her was no longer the same as before. He had shattered a limit she hadn’t even known existed, ascending to an entirely different level.

She murmured, “He doesn’t even feel human anymore.”

There was no better way to describe it. He had surpassed humanity itself.

“Kiiiek...”

“Kiek...”

The few remaining demons stopped fighting altogether.

Like a red carpet, a path lay before them, formed by dark red blood flowing like a stream. Only then did Eun-Ho come to a stop.

His breathing wasn’t even ragged, but he still exhaled lightly and turned back. “Phew...”

Ji-Eun felt her breath catch in her throat.

“We have thirty seconds left,” he said calmly.

Was I really trying to follow him? she wondered. And to stand beside someone like him and keep pace?

For a fleeting moment, despair crept in.

As if unaware that he was drenched in blood, he extended a hand roughened by countless hours of sword practice.

Eun-Ho gestured. “Over here.”

What choice did she have?

“Okay!” She had no choice but to run or to fly toward him. “Wait for us!”

***

“Hyungnim! That was completely insane!” Jae-Hyuk exclaimed, beaming with his face flushed red. “You’ve gotten even stronger since entering the tower, haven’t you?”

“You too,” Eun-Ho replied. “You were practically killing them in one hit earlier.”

“Ah, you saw that?” Jae-Hyuk grinned. “For some reason, I’ve been feeling way stronger today!”

With Jae-Hyuk beaming beside him and Ji-Eun oddly quiet, Eun-Ho stepped fully into the safe zone.

[00:01]

The final second ticked down to zero.

[Trial has been completed.]

At the same time the system announced the end of the trial, the safe zone trembled.

[The Fourth Trial has been cleared!]

A green light burst upward from beneath their feet, flooding their vision. The world turned green, then gradually faded into white.

Then, the Undying’s voice echoed, growing louder.

—If one’s truly my enemy, then reaching this place would be within their means.

—Therefore, my trial is needed.

Did he just say my trial? Eun-Ho thought.

“What do you want from me?” Eun-Ho had asked.

“Overcome the Tower’s trials,” a woman had replied.

If the trial spoken of by that unknown god was different from the trial the Undying mentioned, then everything changed.

Until now, Eun-Ho had thought of the Eternity Tower as nothing more than a vault the Undying had created. However, what if that wasn’t the case?

It’s certain the Undying tried to hide something here, Eun-Ho concluded.

Within the creature’s memories, he had seen a document envelope tucked away and a rattling black box. However, what if the Tower had its own original purpose, and the Undying had merely taken advantage of it?

Then it’d make sense why clearing these trials make us stronger.

Just as that thought fully formed, the ground shook.

Thud!

—Trials... You dare entrust something so trivial to me?

It wasn’t the ground beneath Eun-Ho’s feet that trembled, but the dark, endless space within the memories. The cause was obviously the rage of the one who had stood before the Undying.

—Please.

In that pitch-black darkness devoid of even a single ray of light, Eun-Ho didn’t know from whom the rage and plea came from. However, it didn’t matter.

[Congratulations!]

[The Fourth Trial has been cleared!]

After all, he would find out soon enough. He already knew they would overcome it.

[Your rank has slightly increased from 60% to 80%.]

The rank that had been rising in increments of twenty percent had reached eighty, which meant the next one was the last.

[There is a high probability that your unique ability will transcend its limits.]

[There is a low probability that the Mind’s Eye will open.]

[There is a rare probability that you will gain Foresight.]

These trials granted unimaginable things, such as growth and abilities one had never possessed before. And now, the final gate lay just ahead.

“Phew! What do you think will pop out this time, Noonim?” Jae-Hyuk asked.

“I don’t know,” Ji-Eun replied. “At this point, I don’t think anything can scare me anymore.”

Jae-Hyuk muttered, “Yeah, that just now felt like a full-on paranormal experience.”

He gulped as he finished speaking.

Soon after, the final testing ground unfolded before them.

[Moving to Trial Site Five.]

Whoosh—

The green light that had filled their vision surged upward as if piercing the sky.

“W-what’s going on? We’re rising!” Jae-Hyuk shouted.

“I’m not doing anything!” Ji-Eun replied.

They ascended within the cylindrical column of light like an elevator. Then suddenly, everything went dark.

Thud—!

“Ow...” Ji-Eun groaned.

When they opened their eyes again, they found themselves dropped onto the floor of a massive cavern.

Eun-Ho muttered. “Where are we?”

“A cave maybe?” Ji-Eun said.

The moment they pushed themselves up, the interior lit up as if electricity had surged back to life.

Jae-Hyuk gasped, his jaw hanging open. “What the hell is this?!”

Piles of gold and treasure rose like hills taller than a person. Molten gold spouted like fountains and flowed in streams. Glittering sapphires hung from above like stalactites.

Rather than a cave, it resembled a vast chamber filled with treasures. The owner had to love all things that glittered. And if he had to guess, it was something not human, but far larger.

“Whoa, damn, a dragon’s treasure vault?! Then isn’t that basically a dragon’s lair?!

The Swear-Master’s words echoed in Eun-Ho’s ears like a curse.

“Foolish creations.” Just then, the creature’s chilling voice shook the entire space like an earthquake. “Speak.”

It carried the same fury Eun-Ho had once seen in memory, yet dulled by the passage of immeasurable time.

“What is it you seek, crawling all the way here?”

Jae-Hyuk squeaked as he flinched. “Hic!”

Ji-Eun hissed. “Jae-Hyuk, be quiet!”

“O-okay! I-I mean, even if you enter a tiger’s den, if you just keep your wits—”

“Shh!”

Somehow, they had walked straight into a dragon’s lair.