Chapter 289. The Eternity Tower (2)

The interior seemed like something straight out of a medieval film, lavish to the point of excess.

Servants stood in ornate uniforms adorned with deep red accents. A twelve-seat table was completely filled, piled high with main dishes to the point there was barely space left to sit.

[08:15]

A countdown timer appeared in view. It didn’t belong in this setting at all, yet it felt far too familiar.

Eight minutes.

The time, which had started at ten minutes, had already ticked down to just over eight when Jae-Hyuk broke the silence.

“I get it,” Jae-Hyuk said.

Eun-Ho glanced at him. “You get what?”

“The first trial.” Jae-Hyuk leaned in slightly, lowering his voice. “I think it’s poison.”

“Poison?” Eun-Ho asked.

“Yes, sir. I believe it’s testing whether we can survive after being poisoned.”

Eun-Ho frowned slightly. For a poison test, the setup seemed unnecessarily extravagant.

Still, with a determined look, Jae-Hyuk dropped into a seat.

Ji-Eun stepped closer to him. “Just in case, follow the proper order.”

“What order?” Jae-Hyuk asked.

“The cutlery. Start from the outside and work your way in.”

Following her instructions, Jae-Hyuk picked up a spoon and scooped some soup from the bowl. Then, his eyes widened dramatically.

Eun-Ho asked immediately, “What is it? Is it poisoned?”

“It’s delicious!” Jae-Hyuk exclaimed. He quickly corrected himself, seemingly embarrassed. “Ah, I mean! There’s nothing wrong with it!”

Eun-Ho let out a sigh and thought, So, not poisoned.

“Let’s think this through from the beginning,” Eun-Ho said.

The most important thing in any test was the creator’s intent.

“Why would the chairman design something like this?”

Ji-Eun suggested. “To hide the stock certificate, perhaps?”

That’s likely true, but is that all?

“If hiding it was the only goal, there’d be no need to complicate things with a trial.” No matter how Eun-Ho approached it, his thoughts converged on a single conclusion. “This test and this tower were made to be found...”

Eun-Ho looked at the table, the servants, and the absurd setting. It was to pass something on to whoever managed to clear the trial.

“W-what? To whom?” Jae-Hyuk asked.

“For an ordinary man, it would be an heir, a successor or maybe a child. But,” Eun-Ho said.

However, the former chairman wasn’t an ordinary man, but the Undying. Someone who coveted even the universe itself wouldn’t leave his legacy to others.

“It’d be himself,” Eun-Ho said.

Jae-Hyuk was stunned. “What? You mean he designed a trial for himself?”

“It probably wouldn’t even qualify as a trial for him,” Eun-Ho replied.

For the Undying, the answer would be obvious even with his eyes closed. However, for anyone else trying to break through, it would be a trial that demanded their life.

Then I just need to see it from his perspective. Eun-Ho closed his eyes briefly. I am the chairman.A man who built a company that controls the world starting from nothing.

“Hyungni—” Jae-Hyuk started.

“Shh. Wait,” Ji-Eun said.

Eun-Ho opened his eyes.

“We greet you, Master.”

“We greet you, Master.”

“We greet you, Master.”

He thought about the reasons why so many servants were standing there and repeated their lines in unison.

Ding!

He then picked up the bell on the table and gave it a light shake. One of the nearby servants immediately approached and bowed.

The others stared at him, silently asking what he was doing.

Eun-Ho gave them a subtle look, signaling them to wait. “The food doesn’t suit my taste.”

For the first time, a different response came.

“We will prepare a new course, Master,” the servant replied.

Just as expected.

These servants were the key. They were unnecessary at a glance. Yet, they filled the room, radiating a strange presence.

[05:13]

Only five minutes remained. Whether it worked or not, he had to push forward.

“Never mind,” Eun-Ho said calmly, clasping his hands behind his back. “I have something weighing on my mind. I find I have no appetite.”

A servant who had been silently decanting red wine paused mid-motion. The servant froze, its pupilless eyes slowly turning toward him.

Eun-Ho then measured the distance between himself and the servant, and between himself and his companions.

“Filthy insects dare to crawl their way up,” Eun-Ho said coldly. “To covet my seat? Absurd.”

He became the former chairman. He shaped his thoughts, his words, his tone, and everything as the chairman would have.

“The throne of a king is not something freely given,” Eun-Ho continued, “wouldn’t you agree?”

“You speak the truth, Master,” the servant replied.

Eun-Ho was ready to draw out the answer.

“I was thinking of reorganizing my shares this time,” Eun-Ho said casually. He swirled the wine in his glass as if it were the most natural thing in the world. “Bring it to me.”

The servant looked straight at him, as though peering into his very core. “What is it you seek, Master?”

“The stock certificate.”

Hand over the treasure your master hid so carefully.

A brief silence followed.

The servant clasped the wine bottle with both hands, then bent deeply at the waist, lowering its head until the crown was nearly visible. “May I ask you something, my esteemed Master?”

“Ask.”

“What is my name?” asked the servant.

Eun-Ho felt the others hold their breath behind him.

Its name? This is unexpected.

There had been no hint.

Is this something only the former chairman can know? Ah...

Then, a realization struck him, causing a chill to run down his spine. He had failed. Whatever he said now, that brief hesitation had turned it into the wrong answer. Eun-Ho hadn’t fully become the former chairman.

Without a word, Eun-Ho drew his sword from behind his back. Behind him, his companions and the Skeleton Knights silently prepared themselves.

“Master. How unfortunate,” the servant murmured.

A faint, fog-like tension filled the air, layer upon layer. The servant slowly raised its head, its lips curled upward in a grotesque smile. Its eyes lowered slightly, and its hands moved with eerie politeness.

Crack!

The wine bottle slammed against the ground, shattering. Red liquid spread across the carpet, staining it like fresh blood.

Then, the servant’s eyes shot open. They were a deep, vivid red, darker than spilled wine. It resembled those of an enraged master, serpentine.

“So you are not him.”

A killing intent burst forth like a ruptured pipe. In the instant Eun-Ho brought his sword forward, the servant lunged, its arms transforming into blades.

Clang!

The red blade met the servant’s twin edges. A crushing force pressed in, as if tearing into his very lungs.

Flames like the sun itself flared along Eun-Ho’s sword, threatening to consume everything they touched.

Whoosh—

The heat was immense. Even Eun-Ho found it difficult to endure, yet the servant’s arms had already blackened and hardened from the flames.

“Loyalty means nothing if you’re dead,” Eun-Ho muttered.

“Keugh!” the servant strained.

However, it wasn’t alone.

“No one but our Master...”

“Shall be allowed...”

“To pass!”

Dozens of servants surrounding the table lunged at once. Each of them twisted their arms into grotesque blades, leaping forward like mantises.

“Hyungniiiim!”

However, Eun-Ho wasn’t alone either.

“Who do you think you’re aiming at?!” Jae-Hyuk shouted.

“I’ll handle the rear!” Ji-Eun called.

Jae-Hyuk’s brute force and Ji-Eun’s covering fire created an opening. Eun-Ho slipped through it, raised his sword, and stopped time.

“For our esteemed Master—”

“Acceleration.”

“Wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiith aaaaall ooooour deeevoootioooon!”

Their mouths stretched unnaturally wide, tearing at the corners as blood seeped out. Eun-Ho drove his blade into one of them, releasing a surge of blue energy.

Fwoosh—!

Time slowed and within that stillness, he moved freely, cutting through them. They fell like autumn leaves.

Swoosh—!

Heads severed, mouths split and hearts pierced. Their bodies came apart in chunks as though they had no bones at all.

Just as a chill crept up his spine, the first servant he had cut down stood back up.

Huh? But I cut off its head, Eun-Ho thought.

From the severed head, a new neck, shoulders, chest, and limbs sprouted. Finally, it grew a new head. Such a grotesque regeneration it was.

“Maaaaaaasteeeeeer!”

Their voices dragged out, warped and distorted.

Feeling goosebumps rise along his back, Eun-Ho tightened his grip and raised his sword again. “Electric Discharge,”

He moved to the servant’s flank and drove a bolt of lightning straight through both halves at once.

Crackle—!

Violent sparks erupted across the servant’s arm. Lightning etched itself across its face like veins of fire.

“Kyaaaaah!”

“Kyaaaaah!”

Two dying screams rang out, leaving behind two corpses.

At last, a message appeared.

[You have defeated the Bifurcated Servant.]

Bifurcated?

It was not quite a name, but one they were already familiar with.

[Eradication route has been selected.]

[Prove your worth through overwhelming force!]

***

They were enemies that didn’t die when pierced and split into more when cut. They were a nightmare to deal with because attacking made them multiply, but simply defending wouldn’t solve anything either.

If this were the first time, we’d be in trouble.

Fortunately, they had done this before.

[You have defeated a quartered Needle Parasite!]

[You have defeated a quartered Needle Parasite!]

[You have defeated a quartered Needle Parasite!]

[You have defeated a quartered Needle Parasite!]

“Eun-Ho! This is—” Ji-Eun called out.

“Beacon Fire.” Eun-Ho tossed her a torch, then summoned his squad, “Skeleton Knights!”

“Yes, sir!”

Then, he ordered the Skeletons Knights to herd them.

“Hold the line!” Eun-Ho commanded.

“Leave it to me!” Jae-Hyuk shouted.

Jae-Hyuk took up the defensive front.

Just like that, the hunt resumed.

[03:05]

The Skeleton Knights, cloaked in violet aura, surrounded the servants from all sides.

With each step, dozens of blades clashed like striking flint. Whenever they lunged, they were stabbed. When they split, they were cut again until Ji-Eun’s flames finally engulfed them.

[02:32]

At the center of it all, Eun-Ho moved like he was dancing. His sword, blazing like the sun, flowed seamlessly from strike to strike. He gathered them in again and again, only to incinerate them in crimson flames.

[00:57]

Then, just as less than a minute remained, the remaining servants stopped moving.

“W-what are they doing now?!” Ji-Eun shouted.

Like machines that had run out of power, they froze in unison.

Swoosh—!

Then, they began cutting themselves apart.

“Are they insane?!” Jae-Hyuk shouted.

Their arms bent inward, forming scythe-like blades as they carved into themselves. Like lizards shedding their tails, they cleanly sliced off parts of themselves. From those severed sections, new bodies began to grow.

“Damn it!”

Two became four, four became eight, and eight became sixteen. In an instant, their numbers exploded endlessly. They surged forward like a swarm of locusts, devouring everything in their path.

“There are too many!” Ji-Eun cried.

“Can we even wipe them out like this?!” Jae-Hyuk shouted.

Damn it!

Their objective was eradication, which meant as long as the servants kept multiplying, they would win. The servants didn’t even need to fight head-on anymore.

“Come at me!” Jae-Hyuk roared, charging forward and swinging his mace.

However, the servants ignored him completely and kept multiplying.

“Captain! They keep increasing—ugh!”

“Number Two!”

The more they fought, the more enemies appeared. There was no way this group could hold them off like this.

In this case, it’s a gamble.

Eun-Ho turned without hesitation. ”Summon. Activate!”

Boom!

He planted an explosive against the sealed door and detonated it. Beyond it was an empty corridor.

“Everyone, get out!” Eun-Ho shouted.

“What?!” they cried.

The dining hall was already overflowing, filled to the brim with servants. Eun-Ho forced all of them out into the corridor.

“How dare you!”

The enraged servants didn’t just stand by. They poured out after them like water bursting through a broken dam.

Eun-Ho stayed behind, deliberately acting as bait, waiting as the servants and their clones flooded toward him.

Then, he drove his sword into the ground.

Crack!

Three, two, one... Now.

“Black Sun Explosion!”

His sword blazed gold, its light swallowing him. The brilliance was so intense he had to shut his eyes briefly, before prying them open again.

Babababam—!

Flames erupted, spiraling out of control.

From the point where the blade pierced the ground, molten lava spread outward in a perfect circle. A deafening roar followed a split second later, shaking him all over. It was as if the sun itself had exploded.

At the same time, warnings flooded his mind.

[Caution!]

[You have sustained an impact beyond tolerable limits!]

[Evacuate the blast zone immediately!]

Not yet.

There were still enemies burning, piled high like a mountain. What he could rely on now was his Revive skill and the artifact of an ancient god.

[The Armor of the Sun, Kavacha, absorbs energy of the same type.]

[Activate!]

[Kavacha First Form - Shock Absorption]

The violent shockwaves that had been tearing through his insides were drawn inward, settling into him. The searing heat, like molten lava coursing through his veins, gathered near his heart.

[Absorbing solar energy.]

Wrapped in that strange warmth, Eun-Ho slowly opened his eyes.

[Eradication has been completed!]

Before him was a mountain of ash.

[The First Trial has been cleared!]

[You have acquired the First Key.]

Eun-Ho picked up the golden key that was slightly smaller than his palm.

[You have absorbed the memory fragment.]

Ripple—

Eun-Ho’s vision blurred, as though fog had rolled in. Through the haze, a familiar face emerged.

“I will grant you bodies that can walk and speak,” an elderly gentleman had said.

“What are our names?” came the reply.

“You are to become my hands and feet. Why would you need names?” he had answered flatly, with no emotion. “If one day I return to this place, you must recognize your master.”

“We swear it. No matter your form, we will recognize you and bow before you,” the servants had replied.

“Good. This is a trial for me, and for you as well.”

The man had looked down at the kneeling servants, a satisfied smile spreading across his face.

“A trial,” he had murmured.

“A trial...” the servants had echoed.

“Yes. I suppose that’s what I’ll call it.”

Then Eun-Ho turned and inserted the key into what had been an empty wall.

Click.

At once, the pure white surface shimmered, color bleeding into it like paint. A pattern emerged, forming the outline of a rectangular door.

“It’s a door,” Ji-Eun said.

The golden door, identical to the key, slowly opened. Beyond it lay complete darkness but now, Eun-Ho could roughly guess what awaited them.

“Bifurcated Servants? I thought it’d be those bugs from before,” Jae-Hyuk muttered.

“This might be the very first trial,” Eun-Ho said.

“The first?” Ji-Eun repeated.

The former chairman probably created this as his first test to identify his people. Everything that came after was likely built on this foundation.

Ji-Eun furrowed her brows, thinking. “If that’s the case, will there be more trials like this?”

This time, her voice held no fear, only tension and a trace of anticipation.

Eun-Ho noticed that and stepped forward. “Let’s find out.”

His stride was nothing like it had been before.

“Alright!” Ji-Eun said.

“Yes, Hyungnim!” Jae-Hyuk added.

[Moving to Trial Site Two.]

[Your rank has slightly increased from 0% to 20%.]