On Hiatus: God's Personal Reasons

Chapter 62: Warrior Climbs the Tower, Saintess Builds the Country

The Twelfth Floor of the Tower of Warriors: Trial of Remorse.

“Kill them!”

“Show those barbarians who don’t recognize the might of the Emperor no mercy!”

The imperial soldiers swarmed over like raging beasts. Such a majestic sight it was, like a massive tidal wave rolling over in the distance.

Only one person stood in the face of that incoming wave.

“Aaaarrghh! Muuuuscles!” Il-Ho roared, charging at the huge army head on.

Each swing of his fist roared like a thunderclap, scattering dozens of soldiers in every direction. None of those soldiers stood a chance against his combat prowess.

“Fire!”

“B-but General Stoogi! Our comrades are still fighting him!”

“I said fire!”

His enemy closed the insurmountable gap in strength with their overwhelming numbers and savagery on the battlefield.

Swoooosh!

Hundreds of catapults were fired, raining rocks down on both their comrades and Il-Ho.

Bam bam bam bam!

“Aaaargh!”

“S-save meeee!”

The imperial soldiers cried for help. Bloody rocks piled up on Il-Ho, burying him. Seeing that, General Stoogi sneered and said, “Kehehe, way too extravagant for a lowly barbarian’s tomb.”

Due to that attack, thousands of imperial soldiers perished along with Il-Ho. Nevertheless, this amount of damage left General Stoogi unfazed.

“Now, to finish off the remaining barbarians and capture the Saintess alive...”

Ruuuumble!

“W-what?”

The ground suddenly shook, making General Stoogi flustered.

Bam bam bam!

Rocks flew into the air like those from an erupting volcano, and bloody Il-Ho burst through the rocky mountain.

Raising his arms into the air, Il-Ho roared, “Arghhh! Muuuuscles! The great God Yu Il-Shin is with Il-Ho!”

General Stoogi watched the scene unfold, tightening his grip on his mace. “That lowly barbarian! All soldiers, charge! He’s dying! End him!”

“Waaaah!”

The battle between the Empire's 100,000-strong expeditionary force and a single warrior.

“Huff huff!”

The lone warrior won. Drenched in blood, Il-Ho turned his back on the mountain of imperial troops’ corpses. The hiding Gayamis cheered as they saw Il-Ho return victorious.

“He did it! We believed in you!”

“Hyungnim! When did you become so strong?!”

“You did it, Dear.”

His wise and strong father, tender mother, trusted brothers, and the woman he was engaged with.

However, Il-Ho walked past all of them, since none of this was real.

The reality was the other way around. General Stoogy and his expeditionary force had massacred his family. The mountain of corpses were theirs. Instead of rejoicing, his family and beloved desperately cried for him...

They were his remorse. As much as he wanted to cry, Il-Ho held back his tears. All that flowed out was blood from his wounds.

Ding!

[Congratulations. The Twelfth Floor of the Tower of Warriors: Trial of Remorse has been cleared.]

[The challenger has been rewarded with Indomitable Will from Eternal Seeker.]

[Indomitable Will: Challenger, nothing in this world will be able to bend your will!]

Il-Ho steeled his resolve—to never go through the same pain again. Instead of remaining in the past, he would protect the present, and look forward to the future.

Glug glug!

Il-Ho burned with passion as he downed the Blessing of the Growth God given by Yu Il-Shin. Then, he headed to the trial on the next floor.

Ding!

[Aspiring Warrior Il-Ho has potential for transcendence.]

[Yu Il-Shin watches Il-Ho with a smile of contentment.]

***

Arachne drank a glass of blood diluted with strong wine. Black aging spots marred her once-beautiful skin. It was the side effect of eating Poison Sword Buttor’s wings. Nevertheless, it was also proof that he was living inside her.

“Buttor, how I miss you.”

Sorrowful tears filled her eyes as she gazed at the small piece of wing he’d left behind.

Clank!

Suddenly, the door opened, and the High Chancellor bowed deeply toward her.

“Goddess! Reporting! Oak Tree Unit and Black Moss Unit have joined up! This increases the total strength of the expeditionary force to over a billion troops! The Ten Swords and General are requesting to set off at once!”

Arachne emptied the glass of blood wine at once.

Slam!

Then, she shattered her glass, her eyes glowing with hatred.

“Not yet! That’s far from enough!”

Arachne wanted a perfect revenge, one that didn’t allow room for any loopholes or variables to happen. She wanted to crush them with such overwhelming strength that they couldn't lift a finger. Only then could she exact vengeance for Buttor’s miserable death, even for just a bit.

“When it comes to that malevolent god, relying solely on numbers will only put us at a disadvantage! Every single troop of our empire will assemble in a month! I’ve also spoken to the gods of the thrones to lend us their power! Tell them to wait until then!”

The High Chancellor’s face turned pale blue. They could blow up the entire continent with that! Weren’t they up against a misfit malevolent god and refugees? They were going overboard with this strategy!

“Still... I can’t wait patiently for that long.” All three pairs of Arachne’s eyes glowered eerily.

“Accursed followers of the malevolent god... You should lose something precious, just like me. It’s only fair, right?”

At the same time...

Sha sha sha!

A group stealthily scaled the fortress walls of the Gayami tribe. The imposing walls, built by Yu Il-Shin to protect his followers, could hold back millions of troops. And yet, it was nothing to them.

The group that scaled the steep fortress walls as if walking on level ground were the eight-legged spiders from Arachne’s clan.

They’d arrived under her secret command, which was to assassinate. They looked through the city for a while to find their target. Soon enough, they found her. Her holy aura was like a candle burning in the darkness, so they identified her right away. Saintess Anty.

“O’ Saintess.”

“Please bestow your grace upon us, too...”

Anty had been working hard to heal the refugees and spread the belief of Yu Il-Shin to them. As a result, the number of followers for Yu Il-Shinism grew. Nevertheless, her Gayami bodyguard, Yi-Ho, watched her with a pale, concerned face.

“Saintess, you should probably rest. You’ve been performing miracles for the refugees for days on end without sleeping.”

“But there’s still so many of them hoping for God Yu Il-Shin’s miracle...”

“Thanks to your teachings, both Oh-Chil and Gu-Gu have become priests. Their powers may not compare to yours, but you can trust them to heal minor injuries.”

Unable to refute, Anty nodded. “I’ll leave it to you then.”

“Also, please give the Elder’s words some thought.”

By that, Yi-Ho was referring to the elder of the Termite Kingdom who had arrived not long ago. In hope of reviving the country, he proposed for Anty to become queen, especially since she inherited royal blood.

“Do you think someone like me can take up such a heavy responsibility?”

“You don’t have to make a decision right away, but please remember this. Both I and the Gayami people are always with you.” Yi-Ho bowed respectfully as he escorted Anty to her quarters.

“Pheeew.”

Now left all alone, Anty took off the white robe that covered her body.

Flutter flutter—

The mirror reflected her short figure, pearly skin, and flowy white hair. Thanks to the grace of God Yu Il-Shin, her body transformed. It looked so enchanting, she almost couldn’t recognize herself. However, her mind was the same as when she was still an ant.

“I only gained God's favor by chance. I’m still my scared and weak self. Will I be able to bear the weight of the crown?”

She couldn’t do anything when the people were dying from the poisonous powder spread by Buttor, the Poison Sword of the Ten Swords. More refugees had joined the city, and now their population had hit the millions. Would she be able to look over all of them? Instead of her, wouldn’t someone with overwhelming power be more suitable for the crown? For example, someone like Il-Ho.

“Lord Yu Il-Shin, please provide me with enlightenment.” Anty sniffled as she prayed piously.

The response was unexpected.

Flick flick!

White threads flew at her from all directions, wrapping her like a cocoon!

“S-someone—mmph!”

Flick! Plop!

She tried to cry for help, but an extremely sticky mucus stopped her from talking.

Ssss—

Along with a strand of thread, Intruders appeared from the ceiling. Six glowering eyes, black fur, and eight legs. They were spiders.

“You don’t have to worry about that. We’ll end you right at this second.” The leader of their group turned to his subordinate, who was holding a crystal ball. “How is it?”

“There's no trace of that fringe malevolent god!”

“Good.” The Leader smiled widely, revealing his venomous fangs. “I almost cracked up. A queen? A lowly, insolent barbarian like you? How hilarious!”

“Peak comedy! Especially when all of you are going to die soon!”

The spiders chuckled amongst themselves while mocking Anty.

Suddenly, the subordinate who looked into the crystal ball yelled, “Leader, I can feel a crack appearing! The malevolent god will soon descend! Please hurry!”

“Tsk, he’s faster than I thought. Saintess, it’s a shame, but this is goodbye.”

The Leader dug his fangs into Anty’s white neck.

Squelch!

Black venom seeped through the puncture wound, spreading through her white skin like spider webs.

“...!”

Anty writhed as pain ran through her body. The mucus that glued her mouth together prevented her from screaming.

Please help me! Please save me, Lord Yu Il-Shin!

The Leader chuckled as he watched Anty tear up and said, “You won’t be lonely, Saintess. Soon, the rest of the barbarians will follow the same fate. Our wrathful Goddess will tear that crude god you worship limb to limb.”

Anty instantly stopped convulsing.

Kill him? How dare they! He's my one and only! How dare you touch my Lord Yu Il-Shin!

Her newfound anger triumphed over the torment of death.

Tzzz!

“L-Leader!”

“What is it?”

Flustered, one of the subordinates called to the Leader, “A-a tremendous d-divine power...”

But they did not get to finish their sentence.

Baaam!

...Because the crystal ball exploded in their face.

“W-what?”

“Convicting Middle Finger of God Yu Il-Shin.”

“Arrrrgh!”

“Kyaaaak!”

Flicker! Splaaaat!

Black flames soared all around them, reducing the Leader’s subordinates into ashes.

Something had gone terribly wrong! The Leader tried to make his escape, but soon realized that his legs were no more. He stumbled to the ground.

Clatter! Splat!

Anty stepped on the Leader’s head with a bare foot.

“Ugh...”

“Care to repeat yourself, you wretched spider?”

Anty's bloodshot eyes glared at the Leader as if he was an insect.

“Who will be torn from limb to limb by whom? Do you honestly believe you’ll be able to touch him?”

“Urk... Such arrogance. Saintess... no, you heretic bitch! For the first time in 500 years, the entire force of the Empire and the great gods will unite! Not even the God of Creation can defeat us! A malevolent god like yours...”

“Shut up, you impudent trash. Convicting Middle Finger of God Yu Il-Shin.”

Baaam!

“Arrrrgh!”

Furious, Anty shot out black flames, engulfing the spider’s entire body. His scorched body turned into ashes in an instant, scattering in the wind.

“Saintess! Are you alright!?”

Upon seeing flames in Anty’s quarters, Yi-Ho rushed in with a spear. But soon, his heart froze from shock. He saw a breathtakingly beautiful woman, naked, with jet-black hair and ruby-red eyes.

“Ms. A-Anty?”

He almost couldn’t recognize her, but she was unmistakably Anty, the Saintess of their tribe.

“Yi-Ho.” Her seductive red lips moved. “Please convey this to the Elder. I shall accept their request. However, our nation shall be named Gayami, the symbol bestowed upon us by God Yu Il-Shin. One last thing, have Baek-Ho lead the messengers to convey this to the entire continent. ‘To unite as one at the Holy Nation of Gayami, where we worship the great and merciful God Yu Il-Shin and stand against the wicked empire!’”

Tzzz!

Black energy exploded from Anty. “Those wicked imperial bastards. I will no longer stand back! How dare you harm our God Yu Il-Shin!”

Ding!

[Anty, fallen saint and dark priestess, has potential for transcendence.]

[Yu Il-Shin, who arrived late, flinches at the sight of the transformed Anty. However, he soon came to his senses and enthusiastically cheered on her.]

Ding!

[You now have 2 more S-rank or higher intelligent beings with the potential for transcendence.]

[Additional targets: Il-Ho, Anty]

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[Quest: Low-tier God Promotion (In Progress)]

Followers of intelligent beings at S-rank and above with potential for transcendence: 3/10

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