Chapter 53
Chapter 53
Chapter 53
Tower of Trials (2)
Rudian headed north for nearly ten days without rest.
The northern part of the empire was close to the northern Ergon Kingdom, and it was also a place that boasted a cold wave that rivaled Russia.
As soon as he crossed the northern border, faced with the fierce cold, Rudian quickly put on the things he had brought.
"As expected, it's c-c-cold."
His chattering jaw only calmed down after he put on several layers of clothes and then wrapped magic around his body.
'Even though the border area is right in front of me, it's hard to find people.'
The Morian Empire and the Ergon Kingdom had existed side by side for a long time, yet historically they had almost never waged war.
The reason for this could be easily understood as soon as he arrived - it was because of this freezing weather at the level of Russia's Oymyakon village.
'It would be fortunate if they don't freeze to death while trying to swing swords and spears.'
Originally, this northern region was not such a cold place.
If you go south for just 30 minutes from where Rudian is now, the temperature instantly soars above freezing.
'An artificial cold wave. As expected, it's according to the setting.'
The empire's wizards and scholars who had historically investigated this abnormal climate concluded that this climate was the result of a great magic's aftermath, or the influence of a ritual.
Of course, Rudian knew the cause of this artificial climate.
This relentless cold wave was precisely the reason Rudian had come to this northern region.
'By the way, I thought they would attack, but were they unexpectedly cautious by nature?'
Rudian slightly frowned as he looked beyond the south.
Asking Yev for help was by no means an easily usable card.
He had made up his mind and pulled out his secret weapon, but if the opponent didn't take the bait, that was also annoying in its own way.
"Well, they'll have no choice but to take the bait. Just wait a little longer."
If the opponent didn't appear, that would be fine too.
He could just go and take care of business.
Rudian didn't delay and spent a day in a village near his destination, then equipped himself and headed into the mountains that rejected human touch.
Naturally, he didn't expect a road to be paved, so he began climbing the rough cliffs with only equipment obtained from the village.
WHIIIIING!
If he let his guard down even a little, his hands and feet would freeze, but fortunately he had enough magic to somehow endure and climb up.
Rudian gritted his teeth while sweating all over his body.
'It's already hard...'
He had only climbed for 30 minutes, but his breath was already coming up to his chin.
He had certainly trained enough, but the tremendous cold wave that transcended common sense was robbing his stamina in real time, making that training meaningless.
Then.
Rudian, who was suffering while sweating all over his body, almost slipped when he saw Yev 'walking up' beside him.
Unlike Rudian, Yev , who had no special equipment, was trudging up the cliff in a straight line as if she had glue attached to her feet.
Rudian asked Yev in bewilderment.
"...How do you do that?"
Yev, who had been walking silently, tilted her head and answered.
"Well?"
"......"
'I will definitely learn flight magic later.'
Flight magic was high-difficulty magic corresponding to 7th class, but Rudian thought it wasn't an impossible level to reach.
'If I just learn magic to a certain level, I won't have to suffer like this!'
Although he was suffering like this now, surely the end would be glorious!
...As he would learn later, among the artifacts of Casley that Rudian was keeping, there was an item enchanted with Levitation, one of the flight magics.
And even without that, Rudian could also use Levitation by borrowing Adi's power.
When Rudian learned this fact, he struck the ground and wailed, and severely scolded Adi for not teaching him this fact.
Of course, this was quite a bit later, but well...
***
The reason Rudian climbed the huge mountain while sweating profusely was because his destination was inside this northern mountain range.
After crossing several more mountains and searching for three days while risking the danger of falling to his death, he was finally able to find an old and shabby ancient temple.
"...Found it, this damn thing."
Rudian, completely exhausted from three days of arduous march, lifted only his head while lying down and glared fiercely at the temple in front of him.
This place was completely removed from the hellish northern cold he had experienced so far.
Rather, it was like a garden where beautiful flowers bloomed in full bloom, fitting the phrase "exotic flowers and plants."
"It really is like the eye of a typhoon."
When Rudian muttered quietly, Yev also nodded.
"Agree. Center of great ritual."
This place was the cause of the northern cold continuing for more than 10,000 years regardless of season.
More precisely, it was because of the poorly maintained ancient temple right in front of them.
Rudian looked around the inside of the temple with emotional eyes.
'Certainly Abel reached Sword Master here.'
Just as described in the novel, the temple in front of him was a small building of barely thirty pyeong, too embarrassing to even call a temple.
But this small temple was only a fake.
Its true identity was...
"Tower of Trials."
As soon as Rudian mentioned the name of this place, there was an immediate reaction from around his waist.
-Is this the place?
"That's right."
-...I can feel Leviathan's power.
"As expected, you recognize it right away."
-How could I not recognize it?
For some reason, Diablo's tone was different from usual.
Diablo's words filled with regret and anger followed.
-Foolish bastard. It seems he didn't have a good end after all.
Seven Seats.
Leviathan of Envy.
This Tower of Trials was the place where his last traces remained.
-I can feel traces of a great ritual. He made this entire area similar to his own domain to protect his last fragment.
Rudian was quite surprised by Diablo's words.
"Do you even know that?"
-Of course. Rather, I want to ask you, brat. How did a novice like you know this?
"There are ways to know everything. Just like how I found you."
-...Damn brat.
Rudian took off his coat and approached the center of the temple.
Since this place was removed from the northern cold, there was no need to wear a thick coat.
In the very center of the temple, there was a statue shaped like a giant water serpent.
It was damaged here and there, but that water serpent was probably shaped after Leviathan.
"To create such a vast land of severe cold that would last 10,000 years. Certainly, the power of the Seven Seats rivaling gods is not false."
Knowing the setting of , the real thing felt even more extraordinary.
-Brat, you're finally acknowledging the greatness of the Seven Seats.
"Shut up. You can't even handle one Adi."
-Ah, no. That's...!
Well, conversely, it also means Adi is that amazing.
Rudian, who had silenced Diablo, spent time quietly in the center of the temple for a while.
It was both to recover his tired stamina and to welcome the uninvited guests who would soon come.
After an hour passed like that...
"...They're not coming?"
Whether they were testing the waters, or whether they too were suffering in this cold...
Whatever it was, they showed no signs of appearing.
"Tsk, can't help it."
Rudian clicked his tongue and stood up.
He couldn't wait endlessly for enemies who wouldn't come.
"I have no choice but to enter the tower."
When he entered the temple, there was a small statue shaped after Leviathan in the center.
'Certainly like this...'
Recalling the original setting, Rudian dropped his blood on the square altar right in front of the statue.
KUGUGUGUGUNG!
After the floor absorbed Rudian's blood, before long a strange resonance occurred throughout the temple.
Soon the resonance ended and a warp gate about 3 meters in size revealed itself.
'Phew...'
The true entrance to this Tower of Trials.
A place you can enter at will, but can't leave at will.
Rudian asked himself one last question.
'Is challenging this place now a mistake or not?'
Even if it meant taking a detour, was there a reason to take this risk?
Even though he had already made up his mind, the danger of this tower brought fear that made him look back again.
'Phew, let's go!'
Rudian, who had made up his mind, turned his head and said to Yev.
"Please, Yev."
"If you're late, I'll kill you."
"......"
That was definitely 100% sincere.
"I, I'll try my best."
Anyway, even if he failed inside, he would die, but if he was late, he would be in danger of being killed by Yev.
Rudian entered the warp gate while breaking out in a cold sweat.
At the same time, Yev's figure also disappeared.
Five minutes after Rudian disappeared like that.
A black knight on a black horse and his subordinates appeared where Rudian had vanished.
"Those bastards, what exactly are their identities? How do they know about this place?"
Rigos, who was in charge of one of the 72 Demon kings' seats, muttered while clicking his tongue.
"Are they really avatars of divinity as Asmodeus said?"
This place was not somewhere that mere humans who live less than 100 years could discover.
It was also a place protected by magical authority, not just a cold wave.
"Adora. To think such beings really existed!"
Asmodeus had concluded that organization to be a group organized by gods of heaven or outer worlds, or their incarnations.
Rigos, who had been slightly looking down on them, frowned and glared at the spot where Rudian had disappeared.
'I'm somewhat regretting this.'
***
Naturally, when Rigos heard the news that Rudian would be away for a month, he tried to attack Rudian by bringing up the condition of not fighting in the former capital.
However, that decision met with fierce opposition from Asmodeus.
"Do you really have to do this? Whether you kill him or not, this will cause great repercussions."
"Hmph! Didn't you yourself say their members are extremely few? If we can eliminate one of them, it would be very good."
"Even so..."
"Ah, a promise is a promise, so be quiet. If I can't kill him, that's just my lack of capability."
'If you get hurt, everyone will suffer because of it, you stupid bastard!'
Asmodeus put in a lot of patience to not actually say these words. Anyway, she had no more justification to control Rigos.
The best result in the current situation was for Rigos to really eliminate Rudian without great damage, and if other members belonging to Adora came to question them, to make excuses that there was nothing wrong with the contract.
'But... Will that really happen easily?'
In the end, Rigos shook off Asmodeus's dissuasion and left the capital.
Of course, he wasn't a complete fool, so the intermediate and lower-level subordinates he had worked on so far and the demons who had served him from the demon world participated in Rigos's expedition.
Rigos found Rudian traveling normally by carriage without difficulty.
Just as he was about to go on a rampage, he detected an unidentified girl right next to Rudian.
'...What is that?'
A black-haired girl constantly putting something in her mouth.
Rigos, an excellent warrior who had earned the title of Black Knight of the Demon World, felt an ominous uneasiness from that black-haired girl.
"...I was foolish. Certainly he wouldn't come out alone."
Rigos didn't let his guard down and assumed Rudian was his equal.
Then the being accompanying such an equal opponent could never be underestimated.
'What should I do? That kid is probably also a being belonging to the organization called Adora...'
Retreating like this would hurt his pride.
But if that girl's power was really as expected, even if he won, he would suffer damage to the point where winning wouldn't be winning.
'Attacking immediately would be a bad move.'
After much consideration, Rigos's conclusion was postponement.
And pursuit.
'There must be a reason he left the capital with only one companion, without a single attendant.'
If he returned like this, only Asmodeus's mockery would be waiting for him.
With such thoughts filling his head, Rigos chose to keep his distance and pursue Rudian from behind.
Of course, Asmodeus would have praised him generously, saying it was the best decision he had made so far, but unfortunately Rigos's mind didn't reach that far.
The place he reached after following Rudian for more than ten days was none other than the northern mountain range of the empire.
"...This can't be."
Rigos was shocked when he recognized the identity of the temple that Rudian and Yev had reached.
"How did they know about that place?"
That place was where Leviathan of Envy, the primordial Demon king and one of the Seven Seats, had left his last soul fragment.
It was virtually Leviathan's 'tomb.'
Though it looked like an ordinary building with no function on the outside, Rigos, who had lent a hand when the Seven Seats were driven from the demon world in the past, knew the truth.
"This is terrible! If he obtains Leviathan's legacy...!"
It was unlikely, but if Leviathan hated the current demon world and lent him power.
It would be a disaster for the Demon kings who had crossed over to the middle world.
"...But is it possible for him to break through that place? That bastard's power must also be restricted in the middle world, right?"
This tomb of Leviathan, which would be known to humans as the 'Tower of Trials,' was virtually impossible for Rigos and other Demon kings with restricted power to conquer.
That's why the Demon kings who crossed to the middle world didn't bother to touch this place even though they knew of its existence.
The same should be true for the opponent.
"Does that guy not know that they can't cooperate inside the tomb?"
If cooperation had been possible, the Demon kings would have conquered it long ago and stolen Leviathan's legacy.
Sure enough, after watching them for a while, only the one who appeared to be Rudian opened the tomb's entrance and went inside, while the black-haired kid who seemed to be his companion disappeared suddenly from sight as if she had teleported.
"What will you do, Lord Rigos?"
The adjutant carefully watched Rigos's mood and asked.
"......"
Rigos pondered for a moment in the center of the now-empty temple, then made his decision.
"I'll enter here alone. Krampus, if anyone appears here, quickly eliminate them."
"Yes, sir!"
Inside the tomb, it was impossible for visitors to meet each other without Leviathan's permission.
And the tomb's guardians and Leviathan's subordinates would display their full power ignoring restrictions, but Rigos had to challenge the tomb while still bound by power.
However, Rigos had one secret method he could use only once.
'I'll backstab him.'
With that thought, Rigos slowly crossed the gate.
After Rigos disappeared like that, the remaining demons and subordinates began to surround the temple tightly as ordered.
Krampus, Rigos's adjutant, shouted at his subordinates.
"We are the elite serving Lord Rigos. No matter how few enemies are around, always keep your wits about you!"
"Yes, Lord Krampus!"
They were certainly elite, maintaining tight security even when no threat was visible.
But unfortunately...
"...Huh?"
Step, step.
In front of Krampus, who was guarding the temple entrance to complete his orders, Yev, who had been hiding her presence for a moment, suddenly appeared.
"You, who are you?"
Grin!
"Promise, fulfillment."
The corners of Yev's mouth, which had been expressionless from the moment she was summoned to this world until now, began to form a long, stretched curve for the first time.
"...It's, it's a trap!"
The adjutant tried to resist by emitting magic, but unfortunately, those words were the last he uttered in his long demon life.
Around the temple, darkness from the outer world descended.