I Became the 1st Floor Boss of the Tower-Chapter 239
Chapter 239
White flames started to fill the air. The flames moved erratically, heating up the air and engulfing souls as if they had their own will. Lee Shin, who had been constantly spinning his mana as if preheating an engine, glowed with a bright aura and shot a blue mana beam into the sky.
Rumble—!
The next moment, a thunderous roar resonated in the sky, and two pupils shone brightly within the flames. A smile briefly crossed Lee Shin’s lips as he sensed the murderous intent in those eyes, because that was a sign that Lee Shin’s attack was gradually taking hold of them.
[True Thunderbolt]
Bababam—!
A relentless flurry of white bombs fell from the sky. Lightning illuminated the area between the flames and turned into a sharp blade that struck him.
Kraaaaah......!
A chilling scream echoed in the air. A chaotic, white smoke spread, revealing the faces of tortured souls who were crying out in agony. Lee Shin narrowed his eyes and spread his mana wide, toward the approaching souls. Then, the souls collided with Lee Shin’s transparent shield and exploded upon impact. Every single collision sent the entire shield shaking.
- Watch out!
Gene Ebrium noticed that the thousands of souls that appeared before his eyes were about to make contact with the shield at once. Gene sensed the impending force and urgently cried out. Lee Shin took out the Gourd Shaped Bottle of Tolcher and quickly removed the stopper.
Babababam—!
As soon as he removed the stopper, the Gourd Shaped Bottle of Tolcher began to voraciously draw in the souls with force. As thousands of souls were getting sucked inward, a fierce spiritual pressure surged outward. While Lee Shin had somewhat managed to get a handle on the strength of the spiritual power in the recent battle, he was far from complete mastery.
Just trying to manage the flow of spiritual power rushing in through his bare hands that held the Bottle made his head throb. Nevertheless, in such a situation, ordinary wizards would have been helplessly swept away by the immense wave of spiritual power. Lee Shin was converting the spiritual power into mana in real time, trying to regain control over his body.
“Keaughhh!” Lee Shin shouted as he tried to put the stopper of the Bottle back on.
Lee Shin then looked up, breathing heavily. It seemed like all the souls that had filled the surroundings disappeared as if they had been swept away. Even when he spread his mana further into his surroundings, the result was the same. There were no more souls left in this area. The only one standing before him in this space was the Soul Scavenger.
"..." The Soul Scavenger remained silent.
The Soul Scavenger’s emotionless gaze was fixed on Lee Shin. Unlike Lee Shin’s first encounter with him, the power emanating from the Soul Scavenger now had decreased drastically.
"Oh… So this is what happened… I was thinking that sucking in the souls this time was much harder than I expected..." Lee Shin muttered as he realized what was going on with the Soul Scavenger.
It seemed that even the soul of the Soul Scavenger had been sucked into the Gourd Shaped Bottle of Tolcher. A dense, sinister aura emanated from his hand when he held the Gourd Shaped Bottle of Tolcher. This time, it seemed that the Bottle had reached the point where Lee Shin might not be able to put the stopper back on again if he were to open it.
"Is this it?” Lee Shin asked, looking confused.
Does all of these mean that the enigmatic attribute known as the power of the souls was what made this Soul Scavenger an entity that dominated dimensions? Or perhaps this human wizard named Lee Shin had grown so greatly that this was beyond his comprehension?
- It seems like he’s dying.
Lee Shin nodded in response to Gene Ebrium’s words. The Soul Scavenger’s power had been diminishing rapidly. It felt as if this world was greedily trying to take away the power of his soul.
"F-finally...!" the Soul Scavenger exclaimed.
Suddenly, a voice filled with excitement came out from the Soul Scavenger’s mouth.
It seemed like he was experiencing emotions similar to when he had possessed the executioner, unlike the calm emptiness from just a little while ago.
"Has your mind returned?" Lee Shin asked the Soul Scavenger.
"Yes, my mind and soul were bound here. And also, the reason why I briefly regained my mind was because of your existence," the Soul Scavenger explained to Lee Shin.
"Huh? You were able to do that because of me?" Lee Shin asked.
"But still, I never thought that you would actually be able to kill my main body. Well, I suppose that's the kind of person you are, because my mind was able to return for a second when you arrived,” the Soul Scavenger muttered.
"What are you talking about? Get to your point," Lee Shin said.
"When you arrived in this world, having reached the pinnacle of Transcendence, the power that sustained this place wavered for a moment. And because of that, the power that was binding me also wavered, and I was able to regain my senses," the Soul Scavenger explained.
"And so, are you fully awake now?" Lee Shin asked.
"Yes, because most of my soul's power has been taken from me, the balance of the power that was binding me has also been disrupted," the Soul Scavenger explained.
This happened because most of the souls have entered the Gourd Shaped Bottle of Tolcher. Lee Shin would have had to endure much more suffering if he had tried to deal with all those souls on his own without the help of this Gourd Shaped Bottle.
"I will tell you everything as you have requested," the Soul Scavenger said.
"Okay, so what is this world, and why were you bound here?" Lee Shin asked.
"I was captured by a being called the 'God of Chaos'. He is a madman who covets everything in the world. And he bound me to this world to steal my power," the Soul Scavenger said.
The God of Chaos was a name he had heard over and over again, though he did not expect to hear this name again here.
"I may be greedy, but the God of Chaos is way beyond that. I even reached the point of creating the power of the souls myself, but it became a shackle that bound me instead," the Soul Scavenger explained.
"Is your power diminishing now because of that?" Lee Shin asked.
"Yes, that’s right. This world was created solely to steal my power. I kept losing the power of the souls, but now that I have nothing left in me to regenerate the power of the souls, I will eventually die,” said the Soul Scavenger.
"But then you said you can come back to life, right?" Lee Shin asked.
"The gods who are chasing me want to completely erase me from this world, but as long as they don't catch me, I can come back to life,” said the Soul Scavenger.
Lee Shin nodded in response to the guy's confident words. From the perspective of the rest of the dimension, the Soul Scavenger was no different from a force of evil. The one here in front of Lee Shin right now was just a fake created by the Tower. The real Soul Scavenger would have been caught by the gods of Astria already and completely destroyed.
‘So… the God of Chaos was behind all this…’
"So, do you know anything about the God of Chaos?" Lee Shin asked the Soul Scavenger.
"No, I don’t know much about him, but I know his true name," the Soul Scavenger replied.
Finding the true name of this god was more difficult than peering into the contents of ledgers hidden deep inside a wealthy merchant's safe. The meaning behind the true name was significant; one might even claim that they possess insight into everything about the god if they knew the name.
Gods were mysterious and enigmatic beings. If the divine titles were used to reveal the identity of a god to the masses, then the true names enhanced the value of a god by concealing their secrets. That was why gods revealed their true names to each other as a sign of mutual trust. By merely knowing the true name, one could increase their influence over the god.
"So, are you going to tell me the true name of the God of Chaos?" Lee Shin asked the Soul Scavenger.
After asking for that, he waited for the Soul Scavenger’s response with a calm gaze, his best effort at concealing his nerves.
"Yes, the true name of that god is..." the Soul Scavenger replied with the true name of the God of Chaos.
Lee Shin nodded. In fact, Lee Shin could tell whether he was lying or not just by listening to the true name of the God of Chaos. For a god of this caliber, the name itself would have gravitas. Bringing the name out into the open and hearing it without any difficulty or consequence were all possible thanks to the Soul Scavenger and Lee Shin’s classes.
"Thanks for letting me know," Lee Shin replied.
"Ha, can you kill me quickly if you’re grateful? I don't know when they will come in and bind me again, so I'm very anxious right now," the Soul Scavenger said to Lee Shin with nervousness.
How much had the Soul Scavenger suffered under the hands of the God of Chaos that he would speak this way? After hearing his request, Lee Shin nodded and attached a flame that erased his spiritual power to his body.
[You have killed the Soul Scavenger.]
[You have cleared the 『Hidden Stage - Soul Scavenger』]
[The ruler of the Archipelago of Punishment has disappeared.]
[The world has begun to crumble.]
[The thirty days of endurance have ended.]
[You have cleared the 98th floor.]
[You have entered the 99th floor.]
[Please choose a divine name.]
[You will have the opportunity to have a conversation with the god that you have chosen.]
[List of divine names]
# God of Death
# Heavenly God
# Demon God
# God of Harmony
# God of Malevolence
# God of Time
# God of Transformation
# God of Destruction
# God of Order
An endless list of divine titles appeared in front of Lee Shin. All of them were titles that anyone would have heard at least once in their lives. The 99th floor was a stage that, in a way, felt different from what everything had been up to this point. On this stage, challengers could just have a conversation with gods whom they have heard about and seen before.
Then, challengers had to choose one of the gods on the hundredth floor. Therefore, this was giving them an opportunity to get to know these gods before making a choice.
Lee Shin went through the list of the divine names that continued to float up.
"I'll choose the 'God of Chaos,'" Lee Shin said.
[The 'God of Chaos' is not on the list.]
Indeed, that was the response Lee Shin was expecting. However, he continued to speak with a calm demeanor.
"The God of Chaos exists," Lee Shin added.
[Such a god does not exist.]
The response of the system was just as expected. After all, even the description of the Immortal Sphere said that the God of Chaos was a forgotten god.
"Gier nach Geld perth gebo mannaz," Lee Shin said.
He repeated the name he had heard from the Soul Scavenger.
"This is the true name of the God of Chaos. Do you still not recognize him?” Lee Shin asked.
[Gier nach Geld perth gebo mannaz... A forgotten name has been discovered.]
[A dormant god has awakened.]
[You have made an achievement that no one else has accomplished.]
['God of Chaos' has been added to the list of divine titles.]
[Do you wish to select the 'God of Chaos'?]
"Yes," Lee Shin replied.
[You have chosen the 'God of Chaos.']
[As a reward for discovering a new god, the time limit for the conversation is lifted.]
The background, which had earlier been pure white, suddenly turned dark.
An ancient temple came into Lee Shin’s view. He was standing on a massive bridge that connected to a giant door. Huge pillars adorned with intricate and unknown symbols stood on either side. Thick fog shrouded the area below the bridge, making it hard to see. The interior of the temple seemed to have been meticulously crafted.
Slowly, Lee Shin walked toward the door.
"The atmosphere is quite similar," Lee Shin muttered.
- Similar, you said?
"Yes. It actually feels quite similar to the altar that was hidden in the waiting area on the first floor," Lee Shin replied to Gene Ebrium.
The door was grand and majestic. Noticing that it exuded an unusual aura from inside, Lee Shin had a feeling that the God of Chaos was behind this door. He slowly placed his hand on the door and tried to push it.
While he was a wizard, he also had exceptional physical abilities, so he could easily open most doors by lightly pushing them. However, this door did not budge. Even when Lee Shin tried to push it with his mana, the result was the same.
- It seems like there is a condition for opening it.
Slowly, Lee Shin moved his mana to scan the surface of the massive door. He could feel that something was up. Amidst the confusing symbols, there was a power of chaos drawing in his mana. When Lee Shin infused his mana following the power of chaos, a pattern began to take shape.
‘This pattern is…’
It was almost certainly the same pattern that was hidden on the altar of the forgotten god in the waiting area of the first floor. Lee Shin quickly realized that and promptly completed the pattern.
Wooong— Woong—!
When he infused mana once again along the shape of the pattern, a violet radiance flashed, and the door began to move.
Kugugugu…
A massive figure appeared through the gap of the slowly opening door. The figure had bloodshot eyes with sharp black pupils. Also, it had a long snout as well as jagged sharp teeth. Strange-looking violet fur covered its entire body. At first glance, the figure appeared to be a monster resembling a dog.
"Chaos..." Lee Shin muttered, looking at the figure.
- Is this creature truly Chaos?
Gene Ebrium experienced a mix of emotions as he realized that the Chaos that he had seen in his hazy memories was here.
Gene and Lee Shin could see the iron chains had coiled around Chaos's entire body. It seemed like Chaos was bound. Lee Shin briefly used his mana to inspect the chains, but they were not just any ordinary chains.
"It seems there's an invincible constraint at work," Lee Shin said to Gene Ebrium.
- What kind of constraint can bind a god like this?
The next moment, Lee Shin looked up and looked at Chaos's face. Staring into the bloodshot eyes that seemed to have lost focus, it felt like the Chaos could charge at him at any moment.
- Hmm… I guess there’s no response.
Lee Shin then put his palm over Chaos's body and infused mana. Along the surface of Chaos's body, a violet radiance began to flow above the coursing mana.
"Krr..."
And then, there was a subdued growl. Chaos's pupils slowly began to move.𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝓌𝑒𝒷𝘯𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝑜𝓂
"Is it you… who awakened me…?”
