Ch-276 **God of Omen, God of Ash**
—
“It’s a miracle!”
Aaron wept openly.
There was no other way to describe it—this could only be called a miracle.
*As expected of the one beloved by the Goddess…!*
The tower had collapsed.
Sansha had been forcibly made to move.
Yet what moved Aaron far more deeply than that was the *miracle* that had befallen him.
*My divine power… it has surpassed its limit.*
Fwoooosh!
A brilliant radiance of divine power enveloped Aaron.
Proof that he had gone beyond his limits.
Two self-sacrifice spells.
And the Prayer of Adoration!
He had done nothing more than recite them at the cost of his life—yet to receive such boundless grace!
*The will of the Goddess has reached me!*
The Goddess had answered his prayer.
Overwhelmed by indescribable elation, Aaron trembled violently from head to toe.
And it was only natural.
For well over a year, the Church of the Goddess had stagnated.
No one had appeared who surpassed their limits to gain stronger divine power.
No child chosen by the Goddess had been born.
They had all sensed it, subconsciously.
…That the Goddess’s blessing was no longer with the Church.
*The Goddess’s favor didn’t disappear—it simply moved!*
That was it.
It had moved from the Church of the Goddess to *that person*—to Hyun of Adrium.
But only one person in the world knew this truth.
Even the Pope himself surely did not know.
If that was the case—
“More favor! Grant me more grace…!”
He would become that person’s First Apostle and gain even greater favor.
The 18th floor.
Though that person had vanished from sight, it didn’t matter.
Aaron felt a powerful premonition that if he climbed higher, he would meet him again.
The tournament?
The relationship between the Empire and the Church?
None of that mattered anymore.
He had long since lost even a shred of interest in such things.
“I shall offer all glory unto you!”
He would climb to the summit and dedicate every last bit of glory to that person alone.
For that purpose alone, Aaron began ascending the tower.
—
—
A wasteland.
Upon barren, rugged ground where not a blade of grass grew, two enormous crows towered like spires.
* You pathetic wretch!
* Incomplete fool!
* Weakling!
* That’s you!
Kuuung—!
The two gigantic crows suddenly crashed into one another and began a brutal physical clash.
Just their collision alone caused the world to tremble.
*This place is…*
Watching the two crows, I couldn’t help but tilt my head in confusion.
After collapsing the 17th floor, I had fallen for so long that the very concept of time had faded.
And the place I arrived at was neither the tower, nor Pangaenia, nor the Abyss.
It was a completely different world.
The reason I was certain wasn’t anything complicated.
*There are two suns.*
It was the first time I had ever seen a world with two suns.
And the two suns looked entirely different.
*One is a black sun, the other blood-red.*
The black sun felt strangely familiar.
Hadn’t I once become a “Dreadful Omen” and summoned Taoist crows, driving Baal to the brink of death?
The sun summoned alongside those Taoist crows back then was that very *black sun*.
* Die!
* Die!
* Two suns cannot exist under the same sky!
* You fake bastard!
* I am the real one!
* Bullshit!
* Crow!
* Kraaak!
…What was this?
That stream-of-consciousness dialogue.
Yet there was no room to intervene.
Kwaaaaaaang—!
I had never seen a clash this massive.
Calling them giants didn’t even come close.
The colossal crows, stretching beyond the clouds, slammed into one another relentlessly, as if trying to kill each other.
*Overwhelming.*
For roughly half a day—
When the suns set and twilight fell, the battle stopped.
* I’ll let you off today!
* We fight again when the sun rises tomorrow!
Then, as if accustomed to it, they turned their backs on each other.
But they didn’t move.
They simply stood there, backs turned.
“Um.”
Only then was I able to approach quietly between them.
At the same time, both crows slightly turned their heads and looked at me.
* What are you?
* You’re tiny.
* You look like a little pill bug.
* Are you a hippo?
Were they doing this on purpose?
One thing was certain—they didn’t seem very intelligent.
Ignoring their remarks, I asked,
“Where is this? Is this inside the War God’s Tower?”
* War God’s Tower? What’s that?
* Is it edible?
* Sounds tasteless.
* Might be tasty though.
Neither of them knew of the War God’s Tower.
Meaning this place was entirely separate.
I sighed and asked again,
“How do I get out of here?”
* You can’t.
* Until our fight ends, no one leaves.
“Then hurry up and finish your fight.”
* We’ll fight when the sun rises.
* It’s night right now.
They fought by day and rested by night.
An unspoken rule between them.
*There has to be a way out.*
These two wouldn’t be much help.
Shrugging, I began searching for an escape.
But before long, I hit a wall.
*…I’m back again.*
No matter how far I walked, I always returned to where the crows were.
It was the same in every direction.
* That little cricket sure moves around a lot.
* For an elephant, you’ve got good stamina.
The crows watched me with curiosity.
Then, whenever their eyes met, they’d suddenly snap their heads away as if nothing had happened.
When morning came and the suns rose—
* Die!
* Dieeee!
They resumed their mad battle.
I shook my head and watched.
*I’m completely trapped.*
Teleportation and warp didn’t work.
Log-out and log-in were impossible.
Even the *Spear of Longinus* was unresponsive.
I was trapped in a perfectly sealed star-world.
And worse—
*My body… it’s stiffening.*
Once again, paralysis seemed to be setting in.
My movements dulled, my arms and legs refused to move freely.
I was certain of it.
At this rate, my body would soon cease functioning entirely.
To resolve this situation and escape, I would likely need those two’s help.
* I’ll let you off today.
* Says who.
As night fell, the fighting stopped as if it had been a lie.
The only time normal conversation was possible.
I slowly opened my mouth.
“How long have you two been fighting?”
* Eighty-seven thousand years?
* One hundred thirty thousand, idiot.
* Actually, one hundred ninety thousand.
* Oh right. It’s probably been about a million years now.
In short, they had been fighting for an unimaginably long time.
A span so vast it made one dizzy just hearing the numbers.
“Why are you fighting in the first place?”
* Because I’m stronger!
* Because I’m stronger!
They were fighting to see who was stronger.
A statement as crude as it was simple.
To fight for eons just to prove that?
That only made me more curious.
“What kind of gods are you two?”
Both were divine beings.
And not ordinary divinities—but *chief deities*.
A chief deity is the central god that rules an entire world.
And yet, why were beings of that level bickering like this?
The two crows answered.
* I am the God of Omen.
* I am the God of Ash.
At least they answered properly.
The God of Omen and the God of Ash…
*Both are races that manage the tower.*
The Omen Clan manages the tower as a whole.
The Ash Clan controls the tower’s trials.
They possess completely different authorities.
*The War God Karas belongs to the Ash Clan.*
More precisely, he is the king of the Ash Clan.
And the Omen Clan and its king were completely annihilated by Destruction, leaving only steles behind.
Though I succeeded in reviving the Omen Clan using Randolph’s body, not all steles had been recovered yet.
Yet despite their people being in dire straits, these two gods were here, endlessly fighting.
“So all you need to do is decide who’s stronger?”
* Of course.
* Under one sky, only one sun may rise.
The God of Omen wielded the black sun.
The God of Ash wielded the red sun.
They were evenly matched.
Neither could claim clear superiority.
After a brief moment of thought, I proposed a bold idea.
“Teach me your techniques. Then I’ll judge who possesses greater martial power.”
* What nonsense is this mayfly spouting?
* Our techniques can only be learned by our own clan.
* You’re not even a crow—are you looking to die?
* No other beast can ever match the superiority of crows.
Both scoffed.
Techniques difficult even for their own clan to learn.
But I had once become a *corpse crow* myself.
And I had summoned the black sun using Randolph’s body before.
The inheritor of the Omen King’s will.
Acknowledged by Karas.
That was me.
“Then just turn me into a crow.”
I took the gamble.
Either way, if things continued like this, I would die here—isolated.
My limbs would paralyze, my heart would stop.
At my words, both the God of Omen and the God of Ash blinked at the same time.
* Kraaak?
* Kraaak?
—
—
“Kraaak!”
“Kraaaak!”
The Ash Clan crows fell into chaos.
Letting someone enter the gap between floors was taboo.
Even looking into that place was absolutely forbidden.
“K-kraaak…”
The Omen Clan crow was just as flustered.
Where is Lord Karas?
To restore this situation, they needed the War God Karas.
Yet despite things reaching this point, Karas was nowhere to be seen.
Sensing something wrong with Randolph’s summoning, he had gone to the 30th floor.
But his whereabouts afterward were unknown.
The 30th floor.
The summit of the tower, the champion’s sanctum—a place even crows were forbidden to observe.
“Kraaak!”
There was no choice.
The Omen Clan crow clenched its wing-fists.
It resolved to try and fix this situation with its own power.
“Kraaak!”
“Kraaaak!”
H-hey, is this really okay?!
We’ll help too!
The Ash Clan and Omen Clan crows joined forces.
With the two tower-managing races working together, surely no problem was unsolvable.
The problem was that neither side understood what truly happened when the *gap between floors* opened.
As the Omen Clan searched for the gap and the Ash Clan adjusted trials, violently shaking the tower—
《The structure of the tower has changed.》
《The tower’s trials have changed.》
《The structure of the tower has changed.》
《The tower’s trials have changed.》
《The structure of the tower has changed.》
《The tower’s trials have changed.》
…
……
《Challengers are being relocated.》
《New challengers are entering.》
《The method of challenging the Champion’s Throne has changed.》
《Notice has been updated.》
《The “War God’s Tower” has been updated.》
《Eliminate “Champion Randolph”!》
“K-kraaaak!”
“Kraaak! Kraaak!”
The crows cried out in panic, utterly losing their minds.
Things had gone beyond their control.
In the end, the crows had no choice but to admit it.
This had truly gone horribly wrong.
—
—
《Notice has been updated.》
“…An update?”
“What the hell, all of a sudden?”
“What got updated in the War God’s Tower?”
“Eliminate… Randolph?”
Messages appeared before everyone’s eyes.
Every Awakened could see the notice.
But it wasn’t only the Awakened who understood its meaning.
“A prophecy has descended!”
“The stars spoke! They said to climb the War God’s Tower!”
“Guardians, ascend the tower!”
“Our Lord commands it. Climb the tower!”
…Countless beings across Pangaenia, regardless of race, came to know.
They learned *why* they had to climb the tower.
And among those preparing to ascend—
“Raktusha.”
“Yes, Black King.”
“Ascend the War God’s Tower with the Dark Elves and the Ant King Pheromone. Kill Randolph, and retrieve *that* without fail.”
“I obey.”
Among them were Swordmaster Raktusha and his companions, acting under the command of the Southern Ruler—the Black King.
