Chapter 178

Chapter 178
## Chapter: 178
Chapter Title: Final Settlement

A singular thought occupied every mind.

Randolph. The figure known as Phantom was undoubtedly lurking within the ranks of the combined resistance, mask firmly in place.

After all, Phantom was defined by an aura of total enigma.

That reputation was precisely why so many had flocked to the coalition.

And yet.

“Refresh my memory—what was Main Quest 9?”

“You moron. It’s Scaled the Tower of the War God!”

“So Randolph… Phantom was actually in Pangeniar, not on the front lines?”

As the minutes ticked by, the hushed conversations grew into a roar.

The requirement of Main Quest 9—reaching the summit of the Tower of the War God—was common knowledge for the majority of the player base.

It was also a recognized fact that Randolph had already finished everything up to Main Quest 8.

But nobody had anticipated him ascending the Tower of the War God while the world was being overrun.

The natural assumption was that he was hidden somewhere among the allied troops.

“…We are finished.”

“Wait, did he actually climb it? That rating makes zero sense.”

“Did he actually take down the title-holder on the 20th floor?”

“The boss that hasn’t seen a challenger in a full year?”

“It’s Randolph, isn’t it?”

“No, even if he managed to win, look at that total…”

The reigning champion of the Tower of the War God had remained unchallenged for five years.

In reality, the current title-holder hadn’t even deigned to accept a duel in the last twelve months.

The highest any person had climbed was the 19th level.

And the points awarded for the 19th level were public record.

Even granting a miracle victory over the champion, the number appearing on the board was beyond comprehension.

“…”

Darkstar found his brow twitching involuntarily.

His internal state was foul.

With the Master dead and even Gracia forced into retreat, he had finally stepped into the role of the lead actor.

The stage of the world was finally his.

Phantom?

That man had shown no desire to step into the light as a savior or a protagonist.

He’d likely just remain a ghost in the shadows, following in his wake like a minor character.

Much like MintChocoDelicious.

But…

‘He didn’t even show up?’

He hadn’t displayed a shred of concern for the alliance.

While the rest of humanity was panicking over the fate of Earth, he had been leisurely scaling the Tower of the War God in Pangeniar all by himself.

‘Is he out of his mind?’

How is that even possible?

Or was he something other than human?

How could he maintain such composure in the tower when the second wave of the invasion had already landed?

One slip-up, and his physical existence on Earth would be permanently extinguished.

He’s a lunatic.

He has to be.

When everyone else was terrified to even initiate a login to Pangeniar.

If he’d conquered the tower, it meant he had been climbing it tirelessly since before the invasion even started.

That went far beyond having “nerves of steel.”

‘He truly defies expectation.’

…There was no choice but to acknowledge it.

If Randolph was the one who ended the Master, it signified he had surpassed the Master’s limit.

Scaling the tower and seizing the title of champion wasn’t out of the question.

However.

‘…But that score is still impossible to digest.’

No, it was more than just hard to swallow.

It was a physical impossibility.

The Hall of Fame.

Those who earned a place there had scores that hit a definitive ceiling.

Specifically for certain milestone quests, the limits were strictly enforced.

The Tower of the War God was the textbook example.

With a set number of floors and the only variable being the defeat of the champion.

Even at a theoretical maximum, it should hover around 500 points.

But this…

‘An error. A glitch. Whatever it is, the math is broken.’

Darkstar fought to deny reality.

No matter how many times Randolph had broken the world before, no place had more rigid boundaries than the Tower of the War God.

Something had to be malfunctioning.

So why did that number continue to burn before his eyes?

Gnash!

Darkstar ground his teeth together.

It felt as though Randolph had snatched the spotlight and the protagonist’s mantle right out from under him.

And he did it at the most cinematic moment possible.

Every demon turned their gaze toward the firmament simultaneously.

In ages past, they were forbidden from looking at the heavens, but those shackles were gone.

“War God Karas. Has his divine essence returned?”

One among them spoke.

Pride sat in the center of the carnage, whispering to himself.

Perched atop a mound of the slain, he looked at the sky with a thin, mocking smile.

“Is this a signal for me? A reminder not to overstep?”

The celestial beings of the tower.

The divinities were the inherent antithesis of demons.

They were the only existing tether against the spread of demons and fiends.

But currently, since most gods had been wiped out by “Annihilation,”

Not a single soul on this continent possessed the power to halt them.

That was the reason the demon realm could bleed into other worlds and why demons could treat this like a playground.

And yet.

“How was he restored?”

Pride tilted his head in thought.

War God Karas was back in his full divine glory.

The instant he returned, a thunderous roar echoed through the sky as a cautionary signal.

He was announcing his presence.

Warning the corrupt to be wary.

And what’s more…

‘Envy has fallen.’

Envy, one of the seven pillars of the Deadly Sins, was gone.

Did Karas strike him down?

Only a true divinity could extinguish a Seven Deadly Sins demon.

Those with mere demi-divinity couldn’t even leave a mark.

Looking at the timeline, it was logical that Karas, reborn as a god, had ended Envy.

‘War God Karas. If it’s him, yes, he’s capable of killing Envy.’

Envy was always a solitary wanderer anyway; he had it coming.

Above all, Karas was one of the more resilient gods even among the pantheon.

Surviving this long was a feat in itself.

Most of the other remaining divinities had faded and merged into their respective towers.

The demon Pride rubbed his chin.

“It appears the Omen Clan wasn’t entirely eradicated.”

Annihilation must have missed a few.

A remnant of the bloodline endured… and reignited Karas’s tower.

Intriguing.

“The Druids seem to be waking up as well.”

The elves were becoming restless.

The spiritual links between the forests and the wild were unnaturally vibrant.

Pride was certain of it.

A Druid capable of wielding the power of nature itself had emerged somewhere.

‘Are the extinct races coming back to life?’

Hmph.

The strange part was that these wiped-out races were popping up at the same time.

All of them were the groups that Annihilation had targeted first for total destruction.

The Omen Clan, the Druids… and.

‘The ones who disregard all logic. Those individuals were definitely erased.’

In some ways, even more troublesome than the previous two, “those people” seemed to have returned as well.

He had personally witnessed the laws of reality being bypassed in certain dungeons and spires.

Gods recovering, lost things returning one by one.

But War God Karas alone couldn’t stop their momentum.

Pride gave a casual shrug.

‘A shame. I was planning to turn Karas into a star and shatter him over the mortals.’

Still, it wasn’t a total loss. If things are too simple, they become tedious.

In this dark age without the old gods, the demons had grown to the peak of their potential.

Many demons were actually more formidable than they had ever been.

Clearly, Karas by himself couldn’t block his path.

Clatter! Clatter! Clatter!

Before long, tens of thousands of infantry and knights surrounded the heap of corpses.

“King Friedrick! The battle is won!”

“The savages have been put to the sword!”

“Glory to King Friedrick!”

“Long live the King!!!!!”

I began my slow descent from the Tower of the War God.

‘Still just out of my grasp, it seems.’

War God Karas.

Now that his divinity was fully restored, he wielded power that was truly beyond the mortal realm.

In my current state of evolution, a victory was impossible.

Perhaps once I’ve reached a more finished state.

‘It wasn’t a loss, though.’

I had committed everything to that fight and left nothing on the table.

How many opportunities like that would I ever get?

Even attempting that as Wilhelm wouldn’t have been simple.

-Caw!

The crow hopped along at my side.

The Omen Clan had fixed the tower in a heartbeat.

And that was hardly the limit of their talents.

‘With four Omen Clan members acting in unison, the Black Sun can be summoned again.’

The power that ushered in “Absolute Death” as a terrifying harbinger.

Even a figure like Baal wouldn’t have walked away from the Black Sun without revealing his “Fragment of Annihilation.”

What used to take a massive swarm of lesser crows, the Omen Clan could now achieve with just four.

Furthermore.

《The Omen Clan has been appointed as the warden of the ‘Tower of the War God.’》

《The Omen Clan is granted the favor of the tower and ‘War God Karas.’》

《All base attributes are locked at 120.》

《The Omen Clan is permitted limited use of ‘War God Karas’s’ techniques.》

……Evidently, acting as the tower’s guardians came with significant advantages.

A mechanic where the wardens of a powerful spire inherit even more strength.

It made perfect sense.

‘Now for Main Quest 10. It’s time to face the Dragon God.’

A faint grin touched my face.

The most grueling hurdle was cleared; now it was time for the vital work.

‘But first.’

There was a matter to attend to before that.

Quite possibly the most important thing of all.

Specifically.

‘The payout.’

The moment I stepped out of the tower’s threshold, a flood of notifications began to pour in.

I summoned them to the front of my vision once more.

《You have successfully finished Main Quest 9 ‘Climb the Tower of the War God’!》

《O Architect of Legends!》

《O Warden of the Origins and Finales of All Legends!》

《Your legendary feat shall resonate throughout the land.》

《Final Rating: 1,990 points!》

《You have obtained one ‘Intact Golden Rule’ and ‘Fragment of the Shattered Golden Rule (1,990h).’》

《The assembled constellations of the Citizen War agree to elevate the prize tier.》

《You are the owner of the Lucky Die.》

《A loot table from 101 ranks higher is now visible.》

《You have significantly surpassed the intended reward tier for this quest!》

《Merge three mythic-tier artifacts from previous rewards to forge a new relic.》

《Pick three from the following index.》

《Grand Severance》, 《Dragon Slayer Sword》, 《Lu-》, 《Transcendent Earth Sword》, 《Avatar of Ultimate Annihilation Slash》, 《Pureblood Rune》, 《Avatar Zigret’s Armor》, 《Dorian’s Presence》, 《Lava Giant’s Soul》, 《Eye of the Lamb》, 《Ultimate (極眞) Saber》, 《Radiant Robe of Honor》, 《Absolute Void》, 《Tainted King’s Armor》, 《Tainted King’s Crown》, 《Tainted Knights’ Round Table》, 《Starwalker》, 《Staff of Original Sin》, 《Demon Spear of Defilement》, 《Edge of the Labyrinth》……

Karas looked down at the palm of his hand.

With his divinity fully returned, he had been confident he could easily subdue Randolph.

And he had succeeded in winning, hadn’t he?

And yet.

“…Why is my hand shaking?”

His fingers were trembling.

It had been a direct collision of raw force.

Randolph should not have been able to stand against him.

He shouldn’t have even been able to touch him.

Randolph had broken that rule, that fundamental truth.

He hadn’t experienced this sensation even against Wilhelm.

Wilhelm was a finished product, but Randolph was still in the middle of his journey, wasn’t he?

Despite that, his hand shook.

Why?

Was it fear?

But Randolph hadn’t yet reached the level of power required to strike fear into his heart.

Then why the tremor?

Karas couldn’t find the answer.

That wasn’t the end of it.

Karas placed a hand over his chest.

A deep laceration from a sword was carved there.

An impossible event had taken place.

To inflict a wound on him, a god.

And to do it inside this very tower.

A mortal wounding the God of War who had regained his status within the Tower of the War God.

Even for someone who wasn’t a normal human, it was a first since he became the tower’s sovereign.

That man’s terrifying ceiling and rate of improvement were shocking.

He had become more lethal with every passing second of the duel.

A genuine freak of nature when it came to growth. No, a deity in his own right.

Because of this, Karas let out a quiet chuckle.

‘He really is… beyond belief.’