Translator: HH
Crunch.
The first sound to break the silence was someone clacking their teeth together.
“You foolish…!”
The Guild Master of the Black Dragon, and Rank 2. It was the Witch.
“I said not to pick the Devil King’s reward! But you still…stupid!”
A murderous aura swirled around the Witch. Her face wasn’t emotionless like it always was. Hate. Fury. She looked around, face crumpled in anger.
“Well. I guess words wouldn’t work on a stupid fool. Fine! I’ll make a proclamation as the master of Black Dragon here. I don’t know who dared to betray us, but I’ll present to them the most painful death.”
“Hm. Surprising.”
Heretic Questioner stroked his chin.
“This is a game that’s way disadvantageous to the betrayer. But you still chose it…as the Black Dragon Master said, it’s a foolish choice! Haha. Well, it’s definitely human-like to make such a foolish decision”
“Ah…fuck.”
The Venomous Snake scratched the back of his head.
“Ah, I know. I know. This atmosphere. It’s like when we first challenged the tower…my back and my neck feel fucking cold. Some people are gonna die today.”
“I know, right? It’s like when the Five Large Clans were the Ten Large Clans.”
The Count opened her fan. She had a lazy tone. But her eyes behind her fan were as sharp as a beast’s.
“A lot of people died then. And killed a lot too. Isn’t that right?”
“Shut up! Everyone be quiet. It’s not the time to think about the old times right now.”
The Witch’s face was twisted.
“Crusader!”
“Mm.”
“Question everyone here with Lie Detection. Don’t leave anyone out! If someone doesn’t answer you or lies, I’ll kill them right on the spot!”
Everyone knew she wasn’t just saying that. She emanated a murderous aura, and it rode her on coattails like Aura. It was a black color. It was the color that cursed everything in the world.
“I was planning on doing that even if you didn’t say it.”
Crusader quietly nodded her chin.
“First, I’ll reveal that I’m not the betrayer before I question everyone.”
And she turned her feet.
The first person she stood in front of was…none other than me.
“Hunter Kim Gong-ja.”
“Yes.”
“You’re not on the suspects because you gave up the reward. You probably don’t even need to be tested. But I’ll still ask. Did you choose the reward of the Devil King?”
“No.”
The reception room was dead silent.
Every hunter was watching us.
After a few seconds of silence, the Crusader nodded her head.
“It’s the truth.”
Sighs of relief could be heard from everywhere.
The Crusader didn’t stop and headed straight for the next person.
Click clack.
Because the ground of the reception room was made of marble, every footstep rang out.
We followed her feet with our eyes.
“Sword Saint.”
“Speak.”
“Did you choose the reward of the Devil King.”
Sword Saint crossed his arms.
“I swear on my honor. It’s definitely not me.”
“It’s the truth.”
Click clack.
“Heretic Questioner.”
“Yes! Please ask whatever you need to!”
“Are you the person who chose the Devil King’s reward?”
“Sorry.”
In the midst of all the silence, Heretic Questioner laughed. The sound of laughter echoed on the marble and slid over the armor of the knights and the generals.
“But it’s not me! I don’t want to die by the Black Dragon Master yet!”
“It’s the truth.”
Click clack.
“Venomous Snake. Did you choose the reward of the Devil King.”
“Fuck. It’s not me!”
“…it’s the truth.”
Click clack.
“Count. Did you choose the Devil King’s reward?”
“…it’s not me either.”
“It’s the truth.”
Click clack.
The atmosphere of the room turned downhill. When I was revealed not to be the betrayer, there were sighs of relief. But one by one, as everyone’s truth was declared, the reception room was filled with silence and not relief.
Like how sleep crept up.
The silence crept up to our chins.
“······.”
“······.”
The Crusader and the Witch looked at each other.
Every other hunter except for the Witch had been questioned. This was the last. In front of the leader of the most powerful guild in the tower, and the hunter second only to Sword Saint, the Crusader took a deep breath.
“Black Dragon.”
“…yes.”
“Did you choose the reward of the Devil King.”
There was silence.
“No…it’s not me.”
The silence was continued.
The Crusader slowly opened her mouth.
“…it’s the truth.”
And for the last time, silence descended on us.
No.
We descended on the silence.
“Wait…what?”
The Venomous Snake looked around.
“Who is it then?”
Sword Saint looked at the Witch. The Witch looked at the Heretic Questioner. The Heretic Questioner looked at the Count, and the Count looked at Venomous Snake. The Venomous Snake looked at the Crusader like he was hanging onto her, and the Crusader silently looked at me.
Everyone looked at each other.
“Why is everyone saying they’re not it…?”
But no one answered.
“Fuck! Who betrayed us?”
No one.
No one answered.
Amidst the silence, a voice that wasn’t ours rang out.
[The Goddess of Protection sighs at the foolishness of the warriors.]
[The Devil King of Fall Rain laughs amusedly.]
It probably wasn’t a voice that only I heard. Everyone’s face darkened.
And the Crusader spoke with much difficulty in that silence.
“…Calm down.”
No one opened their mouths even though she said to calm down. How were they supposed to speak? They looked like they were all seriously in thought.
“Don’t be taken aback. Yes. Maybe the betrayer has the skill to hide their lies. And there might be someone with a split personality. Everyone has their secret weapon, right? So it’s not impossible…”
“Or.”
Sword Saint spoke up.
He was looking at the Crusader coldly.
“Or, you might be the dirty betrayer.”
“······.”
The reception room became silent.
Gazes sharper than knives were exchanged. Just now, the Sword Saint and Guild Masters had been about to fight. The heat and sweat of that hadn’t cooled down, but it was beginning to waver again.
The Witch narrowed her eyes.
“Are you doubting us right now?”
“Yes.”
Sword Saint admitted it directly.
“Even if Ms.Crusader isn’t the betrayer, she could’ve lied to us. You all. You were all close as the controllers of the Five Large Guilds since a long time ago. A crow hides with other crows. Aren’t you protecting each other?”
“Sigh, you’re really…”
“Of course!’
The Crusader shouted out frantically. Sword Saint and the Witch stopped arguing to look at her. She tried to speak calmly.
“Of course, logically speaking, it could be me. Yes. I could be the betrayer.”
“······.”
“But we all have to keep our cool. It’s alright. We’ve faced many dangers before. Isn’t that right! So if we just trust ourselves we can…”
“Hahaha.”
Someone laughed.
“You’re quite innocent. No, naive.”
It was the Heretic Questioner.
“Trust. Mm. Trust. It’s beautiful! But we need time to trust each other. Us Five Large Guilds have spent 10 years working together. But that also means…”
Heretic Questioner took adjusted his cap.
And he shook off his clothes.
“It’s hard to trust those other than us Five Guilds.”
“…..”
“And it would be inefficient to take 10 years to stack up trust with everyone. Yes, it’s a waste of time!”
“…wait.”
The Crusader’s face was frantic as well. I couldn’t feel her relaxedness back when she asked me if a girl who graduated with a music degree was charming.
“This isn’t the time to talk about efficiency. Heretic Questioner. Please…”
“Holy Technique.”
The Heretic Questioner gathered his hands.
“Divine Body.”
White light surrounded his hands.
“Venomous Snake. You take care of the 10th.”
The light spread around.
“I’ll kill the 8th and 9th.”
“Heretic Questioner! You can’t!”
“Holy Technique, Divine Transmission.”
The Heretic Questioner and Venomous Snake disappeared. In the blink of an eye, the Heretic Questioner was holding someone’s back. It was the hunter who finished as 8th. The hunter instinctively looked back.
“-Huh?”
It was an extra who had quietly been standing to the back, surrounded by the Guild Masters. No, saying he was an extra seemed too mean. Since he was standing here with his contribution in the last stage. He was a much more powerful hunter than the old me.
But his future didn’t last for too long.
“Sorry!”
Heretic Questioner smiled brightly. In his weaponless bare hand, there was pure white Aura.
Swoosh!
“Huh, ah…?”
Blood soared up.
The hunter’s body tilted.
The hunter that wasn’t bound to any guild, had the immense power of Sword Saint, or had an alliance with the guilds like me, the hunter that had climbed to where he was with his own power, died just like that.
Simply.
[A warrior has died.]
[He is not the servant of the Devil King.]
Voices rang in my head again.
[The Goddess of Protection thinks it’s a shame.]
[The Devil King of Fall Rain laughs snidely.]
It was a murder that had happened in the blink of an eye.
“E, eek!?”
A hunter that had finished 10th screamed. But the hunter’s scream didn’t last for too long.
Crunch!
The hunter’s body fell to the ground, halved, by the Venomous Snake who was transmitted by the Heretic Questioner.
[A warrior has died.]
[He is not the servant of the Devil King.]
Blood flowed on the marble floor.
[The Goddess of Protection shuts her mouth.]
[The Devil King of Fall Rain explodes in laughter.]
Kashing!
From somewhere, the sound of a sword being unsheathed rang out. It was the Sword Saint.
“You bastards are finally showing your real selves!”
The old man’s face was crumpled in anger.
“Disgusting! You’re not the slightest bit different as before! Stop this instant. If you don’t stop, I’ll-”
“Holy Technique, Divine Transmission.”
With a flashing light, the Heretic Questioner disappeared.
The hunter who was 9th ran away as soon as they saw the 8th and 10th hunter die. But the moment he tried to leave, the Heretic Questioner appeared right in front of his nose.
“Ah,”
The hunter stretched his hand out.
“W, wait-”
“Yes!”
The Heretic Questioner smiled from ear to ear.
“Sorry!”
The hunter’s head exploded. The hunter fell over with one arm extended. Plop. The headless body lightly fell over. Blood and flesh that burst with the explosion was spread out everywhere.
[A warrior has died.]
[They are not the servant of the Devil King.]
[The Goddess of Protection is silent.]
[The Devil King of Fall Rain is clapping his hands.]
“Mm.”
The Heretic Questioner pulled out his handkerchief.
His face was red with the blood of the hunters who died. He lazily wiped his face. With just three wipes, the handkerchief was soaked in blood.
“So it wasn’t the three!”
It was silent.
“This is tricky. I thought the betrayer would be along the 3! Haha. Then that means that betrayer is among us. Seems like the trust of 10 years will disappear in a moment!”
He threw the red handkerchief to the ground.
It fell in a puddle of blood and floated like a paper sailboat.
“I said wait…”
The Crusader’s shoulders were shaking.
“I said to wait. I definitely said so…didn’t I ask you to wait! I asked you to be calm, Heretic Questioner, and like the past…!
“You’re being strange. Vice Guild Master! I’m calm right now.”
The Heretic Questioner smiled.
Like it wasn’t enough, he pulled out a handkerchief with his right hand.
“I calmly came to the decision that the three were most likely to be the criminal. Although it was wrong! Let’s be on the positive side and think that we got rid of the three most suspicious people. Ah. If the media saw, it would’ve been bad, but no one was filming so-”
It was that moment.
The handkerchief flew in the air.
The clean white handkerchief that hadn’t wiped blood yet floated up. Before it fell, something that was heavier fell first.
It was the right arm of the Heretic Questioner.
“Ah.”
It might’ve been a relief it was just that.
If the Venomous Snake didn’t stop the attack of the Sword Saint, it might’ve been his head.
“Fuck…!”
The Venomous Snake cursed and stood in front of the Sword Saint.
“Hey, zealot! Let us know if you’re going to kill someone beforehand!”
“Ahh.”
The Heretic Questioner looked down. The handkerchief landed a moment later. It quickly turned red.
“This is difficult now, not just tricky. I can’t help without both hands. Sorry, everyone! I can’t be of help anymore!”
“Is…that…the…problem now…!”
The Venomous Snake looked like he was struggling against the Sword Saint’s attacks.
“Someone…fucking….help me! I’m gonna die! Seriously!”
“Kim Gong-ja!”
The Crusader shouted.
“I’m leaving everything to you! You can even take my life!”
It was more of a scream.
“Only you didn’t receive the reward! Others might be the betrayer, but only you’re not! You 100% not the “······.”
“So please, I’m asking this of you! Stop the Sword Saint!”
The sounds of swords clashing against each other filled the room. The Witch and the Count were helping Venomous Snake. Only the Crusader was looking at me.
I momentarily looked at the fight in front of me.
‘Sword Emperor.’
-Hm? What?
‘…Am I destined to be loved by psychopaths or something?’
I had expected something like this would happen.
I thought they would raise their swords at each other if a betrayer came up. So I had given up the reward.
But.
‘I didn’t think it would become like this…’
I sighed.
“Ah, that’s good! It’s not a bad idea!”
Heretic Questioner popped up between me and Crusader. He was holding his arm to stop the bleeding. Surprisingly, his face didn’t seem pained.
“In these cases, a lot of people only get in the way. So it’s better to focus on the person who’s not the betrayer.”
“So you’re saying…”
“Yes!”
The Heretic Questioner smiled brightly.
“I’ll give all judgement to you!”
“······.”
“Mm, I thought the criminal would be from the 3, but nothing can be done about it anymore! I don’t trust myself. Hunter Kim Gong-ja. I’ll do what you say!”
Bae Hu-ryeong muttered.
-Yes. Yeah. I think you’re destined to be loved by psychos. Guys like this aren’t common. There was only about 1 of them in my tower.
I really didn’t like this fate.
‘I even got all authority from the Vice Guild Master and the Guild Master…’
-You’ve been promoted. Wasn’t this why you gave up the reward? I was impressed by you right now.
‘I knew it would become a mess but not like this. What should we do about those poor people? I guess I’ll have to regress…’
I glanced at the Crusader behind me.
She was gripping her head.
“Uh. I have a question.”
“…yes.”
Did she already know what I was going to ask.
“He was already like that.”
‘He’ was the Heretic Questioner.
“When we first entered the tower, it was pandemonium. Everyone believed in different religions, and they split and made up again. Then, the Heretic Questioner appeared and…”
“And?”
“…Killed them all.”
She sighed again.
“He completely killed everyone who fought because of religion. That’s the only way he knows…”
“Wow.”
I thought he had peacefully settled things with everyone, because that’s what the media said. But to think such a massacre was behind all of it…
“Save….me!”
The Venomous Snake screamed a bit over where I was.
It felt like the octave increased with every minute.
“Dying! Fu…ck! I’m really dying! The Chen-mu Master is going to die, you bastards!”
“Hahaha.”
The Heretic Questioner fixed his cap with his left hand.
“I’m sorry for making this mess. Kim Gong-ja hunter! Can’t you please stop the Sword Saint with the condition of my authority!”
“Sigh. You…never mind.”
I shook my head.
“Let’s talk about you later. Very deeply. But I’ll take care of this right now because I think Venomous Snake will really die right now.”
“Yes! Thank you!”
‘Well. It’s nice to be able to control Ten Thousand Temple and the Civil Militia if only for a bit…’
I convinced myself.
There was an intense fight going on. To join it would be suicide.
But I knew the magic word to stop the Sword Saint.
“Sword Saint-nim!”
There was no reply.
“Sword Saint-nim! Since you already bowed your head to me once again, please listen to me! Let’s stop fighting and talk!”
There was still no reaction.
Ah. There was no other choice.
I took a deep breath, and shouted.
“I’ll ask your granddaughter out!”
Pause.
“If your granddaughter enters the tower. Yes, I’ll meet her once. I don’t know if we’ll go out, but since I might be your grandson in law, please listen to me!”
He quietly looked at me.
“…I’m not forgiving them.”
“Yes.”
“I’m not stopping because of what you said. I just thought that it might be better to find the betrayer and kill them after. Right?”
Why are you asking me-
Was what I stopped myself from asking, and I nodded my head instead.
“Ah, yes you’re right. You can kill them after.”
“Mm.”
The Sword Saint pulled his sword back.
Opposite of his, the Venomous Snake was panting hard.
“Everyone. Please calm down.”
I spoke looking at the hunters.
“I don’t know who’s the betrayer. We might not find out. But, that’s another problem. We can defeat the problem even without finding them.”
“….how?”
The Crusader asked.
“The fact that they accepted the reward means they can stab us in the back any moment.”
“Look at this.”
I pointed at the marble ground. What the Heretic Questioner had engraved was still on there.
“It says the Devil King’s Core is on the 20th floor.”
I looked at each of them one by one.
“Don’t focus on finding the betrayer, it’s a trap. Don’t fall for it. The betrayer might be sacred out of their wits right now, and they might have been forcefully picked by the system. Who knows?”
“·····.”
“Let’s get rid of the Devil King first.”
It became silent.
“If we get rid of the Devil King, his reward will disappear as well. It’s simple. No matter what kind of ridiculous tst the tower offers, the solution is simple.
Voices rang in my head.
[The Goddess’s eyes are shining.]
[The Devil King clicks his tongue.]
I put emphasis on my words.
“Let’s climb the tower.”
This was my answer.
“And let’s destroy the Devil King’s Core on the 20th floor.”
This wasn’t my answer only towards the hunters, but to the tower.
And there was a reply to my answer.
[The quest of the 12th floor is being given.]