Chapter 55

Chapter 55

Ooh, finally! Commensurate with its massive size, the update took quite some time to complete. My expectations were building up in proportion to the wait time. I could feel the butterflies in my stomach as I opened up the update patch notes.

The long-awaited new content!

⟬«Notice» [Skyscraper of Suffering Update]

O, valiant warrior summoned from a distant realm! Unveil the depths of your fortitude! Conquer the pinnacle of the tower, unravel its mysteries, and unveil the boundless might that resides within you!⟭

“Whoa!”

Alright! This is what I’m talking about! Can’t leave towers out of game tutorials, amirite?

⟬The Voice that Shapes the World proudly says it’s a one-of-a-kind masterpiece.⟭

⟬The Architect of the Skyscraper of Suffering gnashes their teeth together and says that the towers usually only go up to 100 floors, but they had to build 200 extra floors because you’re OP.⟭

⟬The Eye Overseeing All Chaos rubs their eyes in pain from all the quality assurance they had to do.⟭

⟬The Critic for Balance says they’re planning to roll out a few more patches tailored to your particular strategy.⟭

Each member of the development team gave their remarks and went off to celebrate.

«What happened? Why are you so happy all of a sudden?»

“Agnes, let’s go train now. Lord Voice has bestowed me with a training arena where I can gain battle experience in real-time.”

«A whole arena?»

“Yup. My god is extremely generous.” As I was about to take off, I had to first ask about a pretty standard feature of in-game towers.

Lord Voice, wait! I have an urgent question about the tower!

⟬The Voice that Shapes the World asks what is the matter.⟭

Just to be sure. The tower isn’t programmed so I’m not able to leave the tower until I go through the entire thing, right? I thought of all the towers I’ve seen in games, shows, and movies where the tower is inescapable until completion. I couldn’t disappear on my parents like that, just so that I could train!

Thankfully, Lord Voice’s answer took care of all my troubles.

⟬The Voice that Shapes the World says there’s no need to worry about such terrible requirements.⟭

⟬The Voice that Shapes the World says you can enter and exit the tower whenever you want.⟭

Maybe it was because it was a part of the transmigrator support system, but the features were awfully convenient for the user.

Thank you for that. Have fun at your party! Now there was nothing to worry about. I gathered my belongings and picked up my satchel with a light heart.

«Seems like your new training ground is on a different plane, the same way dungeons are,» Anges said. «I look forward to seeing it.»

“I know right?”

«Then to commemorate this occasion, go ahead and pull out that sword.»

“Whoa! You’re finally going to let me use a real sword?”

«Yes. You’ve awakened your aura. We can’t have you lugging around a training sword forever.»

The sword Agnes was talking about was one of the dropped items recovered from the Black Salt Desert three years ago. It rightfully belonged to Mom, since she defeated the boss monster, but Mom said she didn’t need it because she battles with her long and short spears. And so, the sword, Europa, became mine. It had been stashed away inside my satchel for a long time, but I finally pulled it out.

Europa had a flowing blade that gleamed with a silvery-blue sheen. I secured Europa at my side, pulled my long hair back into a ponytail, and finished up with preparations.

“Shall we, Agnes?”

⟬«System» Enter the [Skyscraper of Suffering]?⟭

Yes!

A swirling white light enveloped me.

✠

Hm... Saintess... The Vatican’s young holy knight, Clovis Argente, gave a deep sigh. The handsome, blonde knight was faced with a dilemma. He was Cardinal Vegalius Argente’s son and the captain of the Knights of the Temple. He was a man with a bright, promising future ahead of him.

But here he was, about to blemish his perfect track record. It’s already been three years since he and his team took on the task of finding the saintess. They’ve been searching far and wide, all over the continent, but they couldn’t find a single lead about the saintess’ whereabouts.

Is she cooped up in some dungeon? How can someone possibly conceal their divine power like this? Nevertheless, the saintess’s powers had grown nearly to the limits of what was humanly possible and her presence somewhere in the world became ever more distinct. He began to see a light at the end of the tunnel. The cardinals at the Vatican were wearing him down with all their nagging.

“O, Strict Order and Goodness, graciously grant me the opportunity to behold the countenance of the saintess.” He made the sign of the cross and got up off his knees.

“Brother.”

“Ah, Tesilid. You’re here.”

“Yes.”

Tesilid Argente, the boy blessed with divine grace, a position attested to by his silver hair that was unique to those chosen by god, stood behind him. Both young men shared the same Argente surname, yet they were not brothers by blood.

Stigma bearers were assigned cardinals as godfathers or mothers. Clovis’ father just so happened to take up that role for Tesilid, thus he gained the Argente surname. Even so, the title was just a formality, if nothing else. All stigma bearers were orphans, so their upbringing was entirely taken care of by the Ministry of Education.

Even the Cardinals hardly paid any attention to their godchildren. The stigma bearers were nothing but public goods to be used by the Vatican to bring salvation to the world. In this harsh environment, Clovis acted no differently toward stigma bearers. The only point of contact the two ever had was when Clovis briefly saw Tesilid whenever he returned to the Vatican. Like now.

“I hear you were officially appointed as a holy knight last winter. Congratulations.”

“Thank you.”

“I also heard that the stigma bearers are getting transferred to the Heathen Judgment Division within the Holy Prosecution Department. Are you guys about to start working outside the Vatican now?”

“We’ve already begun. I just completed my third mission the other day.”

“Already? What kind of job was it?”

“We cleared out a dungeon.”

Tesilid had been traveling around the holy kingdom these past two weeks, subjugating two B-class dungeons and one A-class dungeon. They were rather difficult, considering that they were his first missions.

The task force was comprised of stigma bearers, including Tesilid, and four trainee healers. Everyone in the party was inexperienced and went through a lot of trouble. Tesilid ended up carrying the whole team in the A-class dungeon when they were trapped in a dead-end, fighting the boss almost entirely on his own.

He thought back to when he led the injured members of the party to a cave atop a cliff and battled a demonic dragon alone. Fighting on top of a rickety, thin bridge hanging over a cliff without a healer present was truly exhausting.

If only we had a decent healer. Tesilid’s habit of saying this all throughout the original story probably started with these missions.

“What’s your next mission?”

“We leave for the Agoni district in two days. We’ll cleanse the area and evangelize the native people there.” Tesilid watched as Clovis scrunched his eyebrows in thought.

“Hmm, Agoni... That’s the region near the Ragneif Republic of Magic. Let me know if you spot any signs of the saintess while you’re over there.”

“Yes, I’ll do that.”

“Good.”

As always, Tesilid assumed they’d talked enough. Just as he was about to bow and be on his way, Clovis stopped him.

“Wait, Tesilid.”

“Yes? Was there something you wished to tell me?”

“How much do you know about the Agoni region?”

Judging from his odd reaction earlier, there must’ve been something peculiar about it. “I’ve heard that it’s a far-off land that has been unable to recover from a dungeon burst.”

“That place is a cesspool of heretics. You know what the religious order’s commandments say to do when you fail to evangelize pagans, right?”

The tip of Tesilid’s fingers slightly trembled.

Clovis noticed the agitation and said in an emphatic voice to deliver the final blow, “You are now a member of the Heathen Judgment Division. You have been granted the authority to pass judgment on these blasphemers. Those that have been banished have no human rights and killing them is not murder. Now remember what I tell you. Do not hesitate to dedicate your life to God and the church.”

Tesilid dropped his gaze instead of answering. An exclusive, monotheistic religious order. Tesilid started to think that his god was no longer “The Strict Order and Goodness,” but just “The Strict Order.” Orders, commandments, doctrines, and regulations were valued over goodness and virtue. The stigma engraved on the inside of his left arm symbolized this attitude.

“I’ll be off now.”

He was used to swallowing the words he wished to speak. Tesilid politely bowed and left the sanctuary. as if he already knew what the future had in store for him.

✠

I opened my eyes to the smell of fresh grass, a soft wind tickling my cheeks. A majestic tower stood waiting for me at the center of a vast meadow, its soaring peak obscured by blinding rays of sunlight. I approached the tower and stood directly in front of the massive steel doors. A written note of caution was posted to them.

[Divine Advent Forbidden!]

I had no intention of cheating my way through the tower. I was going to take this on all by myself. The moment I swung open the iron doors and entered a luxurious, antique room, the doors slammed themselves shut behind me, cutting off my way out.

⟬«System» Welcome to Floor 1 of the Skyscraper of Suffering. Be aware of your surroundings.⟭

I was about to engage in combat. I was already liking this place. I focused on my hearing as I waited for my eyes to adjust to the dimly lit room.

There’s only one... presence. Seems like the lower floors are mostly one-on-one.

“It’s coming, Cadet Ailette.”

I acknowledged Agnes’ warning and grasped Europa’s hilt.

Thud! Boom! Crash!

Whatever it was, it had an imposing presence, large enough for me to feel the vibrations through the floor. The enemy slowly made its way toward me. The unknown enemy approached me, unhurriedly making its way over to where the torchlight was.

And so, the terrible, horrifying first-floor boss that I was about to face was...

Squish, squish!

⟬«System» The Tower of Suffering’s Floor 1 Boss, [Cute and Cuddly Slime] has appeared!⟭