#29 The Tower
People loved to rank everything.
Hunters banded together into guilds, and folks started predicting their rankings. From there, they ranked the strongest hunters among them. And eventually, they even tried to measure the power of villains lurking in the shadows.
The Tower was the name given to the top ten strongest among those villains.
It started out with the corny name "Tower Ten," but before long, "Tower" itself came to imply the top ten.
And "Tower" became a proper noun in its own right.
Anyone who heard "Tower" immediately thought of the great evils writhing in the underworld. And they feared them. A villain worthy of the Tower would claim your life the instant you crossed paths.
The Tower became every villain's dream, goal, and ultimate destination.
And here, in the place people called the Tower—
At the pinnacle of the black tower, accessible only to those permitted by the Tower itself, a meeting was underway after a long hiatus.
Atop the tower, which leaned crookedly like the Tower of Pisa, lay a circular obsidian platform on the top floor. Surrounding it were chairs of black granite arranged in a perfect circle.
Five figures sat in those chairs, each exuding their unique presence.
Blood Demon Chumageol, cloaked in black robes and seated with his back to the light streaming through the Tower's windows, spoke first.
"The Butcher's definitely lost his edge."
His voice was gravelly, as if he hadn't spoken properly in months. The one who responded was Gemini, sitting directly opposite him.
"Yeah, every time we got lumped together as 'same Tower,' I wanted to just kill the guy."
Her hair, split black on one side and white on the other, was braided down low. She spoke in an innocently cheerful tone.
"Good thing the newbie seems solid."
"That was one hell of an initiation."
Trickster's voice carried a hint of amusement, and Gemini nodded. Blended into the shadows as always, Trickster didn't fully reveal himself today either, but Gemini didn't seem to mind.
Cube, a man in his mid-thirties who had been quietly listening from the corner, finally spoke up.
"Yeah, it's been ages since we got someone this entertaining."
"But get this—no one here actually knows who the guy is?"
Gemini leaned close to the platform, scanning everyone's faces. Blood Demon Chumageol, face hidden by his black robes; Trickster, concealed in the shadows; Cube, watching her with his usual gaunt expression. And the Puppeteer, sitting silently in the corner as always, saying nothing.
She examined them all carefully, but not a single one admitted to knowing anything about Beltsmets.
"This is wild. No one? Seriously, no one at all? You're not just covering for some buddy's mysterious vibe, are you?"
"I could ask you the same. They say he might have compound talents too—got any intel on that?"
"You asking if he's a twin like me? No way! There's no other adorable pair like us in this world!"
Cube nodded at Gemini's words.
"Fair point. Your type isn't exactly common."
A freak who lost his Awakener twin at age ten but somehow absorbed her with his own power. Gemini grinned wickedly and turned her head.
"The puppets aren't saying much either?"
At her words, all eyes turned to the woman in her forties sitting quietly in the corner. She spoke slowly.
"Nothing."
"Hmm."
The Puppeteer was notoriously tight-lipped, but no one in the Tower surpassed her information network. Every puppet she scattered across the world served as her ears and eyes.
Even she knew nothing.
"Weird."
Gemini rolled her eyes.
"You all knew everything about me before I even got here. Same with Cube."
Cube feigned ignorance at her words, but Gemini wasn't done.
"The news was huge back then, right?"
Cube had turned villain after "accidentally" killing a classmate at Hunter Academy. His touch had swapped the kid's "inside" and "outside," and horrifically, the victim lingered for a while.
Gemini knew the full story. She knew Blood Demon Chumageol's and the Puppeteer's tales too, from before she was even born.
There were no perfect secrets in this world.
"So why's there nothing on these guys?"
It was hard to believe someone could rise to this level of villainy overnight, without any precursors or history.
Trickster spoke up.
"We know one. That necromancer kid."
"He seemed pretty talented."
Gemini giggled at Blood Demon Chumageol's words.
"Interested 'cause he uses black magic like you?"
"Still, his heart's too soft. If it were me, I'd have used those kids as materials instead of saving them."
"Unlike you fossils, he's a proper necromancer. Guess tiny skeletons aren't that useful."
"Is that so?"
Blood Demon Chumageol shrugged at her. Anyone else calling him "fossil" would've been reduced to a puddle of blood, but Gemini was the exception. He rather doted on her, the youngest to join the Tower.
Gemini, perched on the platform, continued.
"Anyway, that's not the point. There are three of them. Only one's been ID'd. The leader in the mask—we know zilch about him."
She narrowed her eyes and whispered.
"What if they're fakes? Like last time."
Fakes. Fire sparked in Gemini's eyes. She hated hunters most of all. Those who wrapped their powers in "saving the world" rhetoric while doing filthy deeds behind closed doors, branding themselves good and others evil—hypocrites.
"If they are, I'll burn them myself."
Blood Demon replied.
"I'll look into it."
"You, old man?"
Gemini craned her neck. Always shrouded in black robes, Chumageol was the Tower's longest-serving villain. He never stirred for small matters, always claiming his blood magic research kept him busy. His offer to step up surprised not just Gemini but everyone at the round table.
"They'll bow their heads when they see me."
Chumageol had claimed his Tower spot thirty years ago, before the Tower even existed by that name. Since its formation, he'd never once left.
His name carried serious weight in villain circles.
"Nice! They'll flip out seeing you!"
Gemini cackled. But her laughter faded fast. A tiny flame flickered in her eyes, her playful tone sobering into something entirely different. Like a new person, she asked Chumageol,
"You sure you're okay with this?"
"I'll be fine."
Chumageol smiled faintly. She watched him with lingering worry, but then blue flames flashed in her eyes, and she reverted to her mischievous grin.
"Just in case, if they mess with you, I'll get revenge."
The sudden personality shift was bizarre, but no one batted an eye.
Gemini lived up to her name—two souls in one body, just like the twins of the zodiac.
"Won't happen."
Blood Demon dismissed the concern outright. He wasn't some pushover to fall to rookie villains.
Trickster asked,
"What after you check 'em out?"
A coin gleamed in his hand, flicked spinning by his fingers.
"Recruitment, obviously?"
With a Tower member dead by their hands, Beltsmets ascending was natural. But Trickster meant something else.
"Bring him here?"
Cube added,
"The Butcher never set foot here till the day he died."
"That guy's filthy."
Gemini piled on.
"Filthy, loud, rude, no manners!"
Her tiny mouth spewed nonstop trash talk about the Butcher. Trickster flicked the coin upward.
"He'd cry hearing that from beyond the grave."
"I hated the bastard."
Trickster nodded at Gemini. The Butcher hadn't been their taste. But Beltsmets?
"We'll see and judge."
Everyone nodded at Blood Demon Chumageol's words. As the Tower's senior-most, they trusted him.
"If we're done, can I go?"
A weary voice cut across the table. The Puppeteer. Gemini asked her exhausted face,
"Something wrong? Why you nodding off like a sick chicken?"
The Puppeteer didn't respond. Miffed, Gemini crossed her arms and pouted, but still no answer. Sensing the odd tension, Trickster jumped in.
"Sorry, one more item."
"What?"
"Word from Assemblyman Seol."
"What does that guy want now?"
Gemini blinked wide-eyed.
"Another chance to scarf down dirty money?"
Seol Rokjin wasn't the only one trying to exploit the Tower for a quick score, but he was special among them.
He offered temptations too juicy to ignore. From the shadows, Trickster said,
"He asked about Beltsmets."
Gemini looked disappointed.
"We barely know them ourselves. This'll look bad. Hard to say 'no clue'..."
Her spirits lifted as she raised her voice.
"But if you bring him here, old man, we can answer then!"
"We'll hold off on replying till after."
"Now we're done?"
Cube glanced at the Puppeteer. A sickly aura had been leaking from her; ignoring it was getting tough.
Trickster said,
"Seol said..."
"Spit it out!"
"You interested in hunting an S-rank rookie?"
The villains' eyes lit up. Gemini, Cube holding back his interest, even the slouched Puppeteer—all looked his way.
"Hell yeah."