Subscriber of the Gods Chapter 369 - Tower of Death

Hero’s Tower.

But now, no one called that tower the Hero’s Tower anymore. To the Dark Elf Yugos clan, it was now known as the Tower of Death.

“It might as well be considered closed. Countless people headed to that tower to prove themselves, but none ever returned.”

Arean spoke to Ethan with an anxious expression.

“Are you planning to go there?”

“I need to obtain something important that’s in there.”

“Is it more important than your life? I’ve never heard of anyone who went there and came back alive.”

Arean tried to dissuade Ethan.

“I don’t know how important the thing in there is. But you absolutely must not go. I know very well with my own eyes how strong the Leader is. I know that all those ridiculous rumors about the Leader are true. Even so…”

Arean, who had spoken up to that point, tightly closed her eyes.

“You must not go. You absolutely won’t be able to reach the top of the tower.”

“There must be a reason you’re saying that even though you know I’m strong?”

“It’s not a place you can reach the top of just because you’re strong. I received a lot of education from my father, the previous Elf Lord, since I was young. The previous Elf Lord said there was one thing to be most careful of.”

After saying that, she went outside the temple for a moment.

Not long after, she returned and handed Ethan a piece of parchment.

“This parchment contains information about the Hero’s Tower. It says at the beginning: Do not send anyone with strong powers to the Hero’s Tower. The Hero’s Tower will swallow those who try to become heroes. They say the reason it’s called the Hero’s Tower is because it swallowed all the powerful beings who called themselves heroes and used them as nourishment.”

The Hero’s Tower was closely intertwined with the history of this Asterian.

The Hero’s Tower was a legend that had been passed down since ancient times, with stories that those who wanted to become heroes should climb that tower to test their qualifications.

It was said that upon reaching the top floor, one could obtain everything they desired, so countless people challenged the Hero’s Tower.

At first, those called heroes among the Dark Elves challenged it, but they never returned.

Their children grew up and challenged the tower but didn’t return, and their descendants challenged it and lost contact.

After that, going to the Hero’s Tower itself was banned among the Dark Elves, but humans started coming to find the tower after hearing rumors from somewhere.

“They say many humans who claimed to be the Continent’s Best Sword or the Continent’s Sword Master came. Of course, they also challenged it and never returned.”

After humans came, many other races came as well.

“I’ll tell you just one thing. No one has ever passed through. No one.”

She wasn’t trying to scare him. She was just stating the facts as they were.

Arean sincerely hoped that Ethan would not go there.

“If you want, I can guide you there. But I hope you’ll think about it one more time. I…”

Although she had only known Ethan for a very short time, she had accumulated too many debts during that brief period.

Those debts needed to be repaid from now on.

Despite her earnest gaze, Ethan remained calm.

“I have to go. There’s something I want there.”

“…”

Ethan’s will was firm.

“If I can’t come out, Arean, become the leader in my place.”

“… You’re joking, right?”

Ethan laughed at those words.

“I’ll be different.”

“Everyone who said that died.”

“When I reach the top of the tower, I’ll…”

“… You shouldn’t say any more!”

***

Hero’s Tower.

Ethan had various pieces of information about the Hero’s Tower.

‘There’s something at the top of the tower that I absolutely must obtain now.’

A power to complement what Ethan lacked.

A superhuman ability, the power of infallibility.

‘I know how great the power of infallibility is because I’ve used it before.’

The evil god he had fought just before had evasion and defense techniques no less than Ethan’s.

It was the power of infallibility, the divine power briefly granted by Moonforce, that perfectly broke through that evasion which had been quite difficult to shatter.

It was because of the power that guaranteed a hit that he was able to break through the evil god’s evasion and deliver a powerful blow.

However, even Moonforce, who had granted this power of infallibility, couldn’t continue to bestow the divine power of infallibility on Ethan.

It was such a powerful divine power that it could only be used for a short time.

‘The superhuman ability that allows me to continuously use such power of infallibility is right at the top of this Hero’s Tower.’

Although Arean said that everyone who entered the Hero’s Tower had failed, there were certainly those who had succeeded.

Ethan had obtained information about the Hero’s Tower and its rewards through their reviews.

‘But as Arean said, the difficulty is quite high.’

Even those who succeeded had attempted it countless times, so many that it was hard to count, and at the end, they said they cleared it only because they were really lucky.

‘I know very well how difficult it is.’

But that was all.

Ethan didn’t have a detailed strategy for this Hero’s Tower either.

‘What I know is that you have to pass through three trials to reach the top.’

High difficulty and correspondingly substantial rewards.

But to Ethan, who was playing MePan at the time, it wasn’t such an attractive reward.

‘Back then, there were quite a few things that could substitute for the Hero’s Tower’s reward.’

The ability gained through such hardship, with such a high probability of dying if you failed, wasn’t worth taking such a penalty.

For that reason, Ethan didn’t particularly seek out the Hero’s Tower.

But he didn’t forget the information stored in a corner of his mind.

“I told you before that everyone failed, right? But actually, there were people who succeeded. In the hundreds of years of Asterian history, exactly three people succeeded. Well, to be more precise, three people challenged it, but only one reached the top, and the other two just managed to come out alive.”

From the time when Asterian was most prosperous in the past until now.

It meant that a total of three elves had come out alive from that tower.

“And… the one who reached the very top… was the grandson of the person who created the Hero’s Tower. They say the ancestor who created the tower gave that grandson a lot of information. He left a message saying that he absolutely couldn’t have reached the top without that information.”

“Then is there anything left about that information?”

“There was… but it disappeared. Because they fought even with the book containing that information.”

“What about besides that?”

“I heard that… a human adventurer reached the top a very long time ago, but I don’t know much about that. Anyway, the Hero’s Tower is that dangerous.”

‘Officially, just one person.’

Even unofficially, the difficulty of clearing the Hero’s Tower was at its highest, with only a handful of people succeeding.

‘It’s truly high risk, high return.’

Arean told him various pieces of information and stood in front of a huge cliff. It was a dead end surrounded on all sides.

“It’s here.”

Swoosh-!

The wind blew. At the same time, as Arean deployed the mana unique to Dark Elves, the hidden Hero’s Tower began to reveal itself.

“No wonder it couldn’t be found.”

Ethan marveled at the magnificent appearance of the Hero’s Tower.

It looked almost like the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

“Are you still going to climb it?”

Will you climb despite all these dangers?

Ethan nodded at her question.

“I came here from the start to climb up there. Don’t worry, I don’t plan to die in the tower. I’ll come back alive.”

Hearing Ethan’s confident voice, Arean could no longer dissuade him.

“Then I’ll wait here.”

Since he said he would climb, surely he could come down as well.

Somehow, she felt that Ethan would be different from those who had challenged before.

“You said you’d come back alive. I’ll wait here for Count Ethan. You must come out.”

Ethan headed towards the entrance of the tower, leaving behind Arean who was seeing him off.

Boom-!

As soon as Ethan stood in front, the tower’s huge door began to make a sound.

“It’s telling me to come in. What a noisy welcome.”

Ethan placed his hand on the huge door.

Then he used the power of Counter Radiance.

Crack-!

Suddenly, an enormous force was applied to the door, and with a thunderous sound, the door began to move.

-You have entered the Hero’s Tower!

-Difficulty: Immeasurable.

-Only true heroes can survive this tower.

-Warning! Goddess Moonforce strongly warns you! Moonforce’s blessing is reduced in a place reeking of death!

As soon as he entered, numerous notification windows popped up. Most of them were negative content, and it seemed that Moonforce was also quite negative about Ethan climbing the Hero’s Tower.

But Ethan nodded once and entered inside.

“I’ll be back.”

Of course, he wasn’t confident.

Confident that he wouldn’t die in the tower, that is.

***

-You have achieved an achievement!

-You have gained likes for achieving the [Not Retreating Even in the Face of Death] achievement!

-You have gained ’10’ likes!

As soon as he entered the Hero’s Tower, an achievement was unlocked.

He gained as many as 10 likes.

“How difficult must it be.”

They made such a fuss before he entered, and now they’re making such a fuss after he entered.

The inside of the tower was quite dark.

But as the Eye of Horus adjusted to the darkness, the interior of the tower became clearly visible.

The interior was simple. A wide hall and a staircase leading upwards.

“Three trials, they said?”

If so, the tower probably consists of a total of 3 floors.

“Well then.”

As soon as Ethan approached the stairs, suddenly a fire lit up and the inside of the tower brightened.

-You who wish to become a hero.

And a voice was heard. It was right behind Ethan.

When he turned around, there stood a person whose entire body was gray.

No, it had a form similar to a human, but something was strange.

-Pass through three trials and reach the top of the tower. Then you will be able to achieve everything you desire.

The gray person approached Ethan step by step.

-This is the first trial. I am called the First Guardian. I was captured by the one who created this Hero’s Tower and put in charge of this place. I will give you a trial.

Whoosh-!

-Pierce through the absolute defense.

Ding-!

-The Hero’s Tower bestows a trial upon you!

Soon, a pure white sphere formed on the First Guardian’s body.

-You have five chances.

-If you fail to pass the trial.

The First Guardian spoke in a slow voice.

-You will die according to the covenant.

The First Guardian looked at Ethan.

Until now, countless people had boldly challenged the Hero’s Tower.

But many of those people died without even passing this first gate.

Ethan seemed quite strong, but compared to them, he had many ordinary aspects.

-Let’s begin.

Therefore, he thought Ethan would also be crushed.

As its name suggests, this spherical barrier could block any attack, it was an absolute defense.

Ethan looked around the sphere for a while and then drew his sword.

Crackle-!

-Oh ho.

The First Guardian marveled at Ethan’s sword.

-That’s quite a good sword.

But there were quite a few who had come in with such good swords. Of course, they also died without passing the first gate.

After checking here and there, Ethan took his stance.

-…!

Bang-!

Ethan’s sword, swung as if hammering, strongly hit the sphere. True to its name of absolute defense, the sphere didn’t budge at all. But the First Guardian wore a quite displeased expression.

“I think I’ve got the gist of it.”

Ethan raised the corner of his mouth and his eyes gleamed.