Subscriber of the Gods Chapter 374 - The Tower Master and the Reward

Kugugugugung-!

With a thunderous sound, stairs appeared in front of Ethan. They were stairs leading up to the sky above.

-Could it be…

-He passed the third gate!

-We’ve witnessed something incredible. Truly, truly incredible!

The three guardians each savored Ethan’s clearing of the third gate in their own way. It was truly an astonishing sight. How long had it been since they had seen a hero candidate clear the third gate?

-It’s been so long. So much time has passed that I can’t even remember, yet here’s someone breaking through the third gate again.

-Whew, my heart is racing. It’s beating as if I were alive.

The guardians’ voices reached Ethan as he lay fallen.

“Were you watching?”

-Indeed, we were. You are truly… remarkable! It’s been so long since I’ve held my breath watching a hero candidate like this.

First Guardian Fientro approached Ethan with a smile.

-Congratulations! Truly congratulations! You are now a hero recognized by the guardians of the Hero’s Tower!

-Congratulations! I knew you could do it. Somehow, I had a feeling you would.

Ethan slowly got up.

As he did, all the strength that had disappeared began to return. The Frost Sword and Thunder Sword had somehow returned to his waist.

-I don’t know how long it’s been since a hero was born! Great hero, you are more than qualified to reach the top of the tower! Follow those stairs up. There’s a gift left by the tower master for the hero.

The Third Guardian said.

-And this is a small gift from me. Congratulations on breaking through the third gate and clearing the Hero’s Tower.

Ding-!

-You have received the reward for breaking through the third gate!

A pill appeared in Ethan’s hand.

The first gate was the Pill of Strength, the second gate was the Mana Pill, and the reward for breaking through the third gate was a Physical Enhancement Pill.

‘A pill for physical enhancement, it’s really meaningless to me right now.’

Ethan swallowed the pill.

-Powerful strength imbues your body!

-Extinction has absorbed that power.

Unless specifically bypassed, physical enhancement rewards were simply absorbed by Extinction.

“Still, a tiny bit does get absorbed, so it’s better than not taking it at all.”

After swallowing the pill, Ethan began to climb the stairs.

The guardians of the three gates saw him off as he ascended.

-You have reached the top.

After walking for who knows how long, the surroundings changed as the notification appeared.

It was the vast meadow he had seen at the third gate.

The difference was that someone was standing in that meadow.

“New hero.”

“Are you the tower master?”

“I am a part of the consciousness left behind by the tower master. The real tower master is already dead.”

It was a man with silver hair.

Ethan could tell as soon as he saw him.

‘As expected.’

Even in this part of his consciousness, there was a tiny bit of miasma mixed in.

As Ethan had guessed, the tower master had experienced the Primordial Evil, and created this Hero’s Tower to counter it.

“This Hero’s Tower was created by the tower master, envisioning the ideal hero. Only those with truly heroic abilities can reach the top of the tower. Hero, you have passed all three trials.”

The tower master’s consciousness spoke.

“You probably have many questions. What was the tower master’s purpose in creating this Hero’s Tower, what was his ideal vision of a hero.”

Snap-

As he snapped his fingers, the surrounding scenery instantly darkened.

“The tower master was an adventurer. He traveled to any interesting place, no matter how dangerous. During his travels, he discovered a very intriguing place. Underground, even deeper. The subterranean world.”

This dark place was the subterranean landscape that the tower master had seen.

“Even the dwarves living underground didn’t know much about the subterranean world. The tower master began to explore it. His heart raced. Taking the first step into an unknown world was more valuable to the tower master than anything else in the world.”

As he was accumulating information while exploring the subterranean world, that’s when…

A green light was visible in the distance.

‘Those eerie eyes.’

Ethan knew the identity of those eyes well.

Primordial Evil.

The tower master had discovered the Primordial Evil while exploring the subterranean world. And at that moment, the Primordial Evil extended its massive tentacles.

‘That’s when he got infected with the miasma.’

What would happen if the Primordial Evil came up to the surface?

“That’s where he saw it. The terror lurking in the subterranean world. Upon encountering this terrifying entity, the tower master learned of its goals.”

Ding-!

-You have received the [Primordial Evil] quest!

* <<Primordial Evil>> Rank: Unknown

[Deep in the subterranean world, the Primordial Evil lurks. Enze, the tower master who created the Hero’s Tower, discovered the subterranean world during his travels and encountered the Primordial Evil there. Enze learned of the Primordial Evil’s goal through his abilities. However, Enze didn’t have time to stop it. In the end, he decided to create heroes. You, who have newly become a hero, must inherit Enze’s power and stop the Primordial Evil.]

Ethan received a quest of unknown rank.

This quest was linked to the Hero’s Tower, and in fact, the Hero’s Tower quest could be seen as a test of qualification to stop the Primordial Evil.

‘So I could receive the Primordial Evil quest this way too. This must be one of the starting branches for the Primordial Evil quest.’

It was the first time he had received the quest through this route.

The Primordial Evil was a monster lurking in the subterranean world.

The ultimate goal of this quest was to stop that monster.

‘The Primordial Evil’s goal is to flip the earth.’

The Primordial Evil’s purpose was to literally flip the subterranean world and the surface of the earth. Its goal was to physically flip the continents and devour the abundance of the surface.

‘This is also one of the main quests that comes up as you progress through the scenario.’

Ethan could tell for sure.

‘I’ve come deep inside.’

He was already in the middle of the main scenario. There were many paths forward, and among those many paths, bad endings were also lurking.

‘But I can’t focus solely on that.’

The Primordial Evil, the Dawn Council, the resurrection of the Moon Mother.

If he gets too caught up in these main quests, he might end up postponing his own goals.

‘My goal is still to cure Extinction.’

“I’m sorry for passing on such a heavy burden.”

“No, it’s fine. Having been recognized as a hero, I should act like one, shouldn’t I?”

Of course, Ethan had no intention of actively confronting the Primordial Evil.

‘Rather, I might be able to use it.’

If used well, the Primordial Evil could become one of Ethan’s weapons.

“Someone as strong as you might already possess this ability, but the tower master judged this to be the most important ability and wanted to give it to the newly born hero. So please.”

The tower master’s consciousness said.

“Accept this. It’s the reward for the hero who has reached the top of the tower.”

Following the quest, the tower master’s consciousness handed something shining to Ethan.

“You have gained a superhuman ability!”

“The superhuman ability of infallibility imbues your body.”

Finally, he obtained the superhuman ability of infallibility that he had been seeking. Ethan smiled and took the hand extended to him.

Swoosh-

Suddenly, Ethan found himself back on the first floor.

“I’ll put it to good use.”

Ethan smiled as he opened the exit door.

***

“Everything is prepared.”

“Do you need anything else?”

“No, that’s enough.”

In front of the Hero’s Tower.

Arean Windreaker was taking out and reading the stacks of parchments one by one. They were all parchments with records related to the Hero’s Tower.

“I’m sorry to say this, but I’ve read quite a lot of those historical records. Our savior probably won’t be able to come out.”

“I don’t want to say this either, but…”

The dark elves looked at Arean with regretful expressions.

“It’s true that the parchments say no one can come out alive. But did these parchments say that the World Tree would return to us? Did they say that a descendant of Moonforce would appear and help us?”

“…”

“Count Ethan Whiskers is someone who’s writing new history. We have the honor of witnessing that history up close.”

Although Arean was hopeful, she couldn’t completely hide her anxious expression.

“It will take quite some time. It’s cold here, my lord.”

“We could set up a tent.”

“No, you can all go back. I’ll stay here and watch. When Lord Ethan comes out of that tower, I’ll write new content at the end of this parchment.”

That Asteria’s savior had conquered the Hero’s Tower.

“…”

The elves assisting Arean didn’t look too pleased.

Arean could talk about hope because she was a young elf lord. But the dark elves who assisted them had served the previous elf lords for quite a long time and had various experiences.

Among those experiences, there were many desperate events.

Especially regarding the Hero’s Tower, it was fair to say there was virtually no hope.

How many great individuals had entered there?

The number of those who claimed they could conquer the Hero’s Tower and become heroes, where everyone had failed, was too many to count on both hands.

That’s why they were quite puzzled as to why Ethan had challenged the Hero’s Tower.

They also wondered why the young elf lord, who knew the dangers best, didn’t stop him.

After quite some time had passed like this.

As the sun was setting, a loud noise was heard from the direction of the Hero’s Tower.

Kugugugung-!

It was the sound of the Hero’s Tower’s door opening.

“…Huh?”

“The, the door…”

The first to move was Arean. Rushing out, Arean soon saw Ethan walking out of the tower.

“Count Ethan…”

“It didn’t take too long. Oh, you were all waiting.”

Ethan smiled at the dark elves.

“Thanks to you, I’ve successfully conquered the Hero’s Tower.”

“Eh, Count Ethan…? Is it really you, Count Ethan?”

“Didn’t you believe I would come out after conquering it?”

At Ethan’s playful words, Arean shook her head vigorously.

“I knew you would come out after conquering it! I was waiting!”

Behind the rejoicing Arean, the dark elves were too shocked to show proper expressions.

It was exactly as Arean had said.

They were in the middle of new history being made.