Chapter 1580: Chapter 1580

Inside the only active volcano of Onsenkai, a blazing palace stood, home to a single man accompanied by dozens of his children—spirits who aided his every need. They had even transformed this small realm he created into a thriving touristic spot, a place suddenly connected to the Tower of Babylon thousands of years ago.

Although many worlds had fallen victim to the Calamities and were destroyed, swallowed by the Tower never to return, this world had maintained its unique niche for all these years, surviving against all odds thanks to the ingenious vision of its creator and sole divine guardian.

He was no spirit like his creations but a tall, muscular, red-skinned Oni with sharp black horns sprouting from his forehead, long white hair, and piercing golden eyes. His flowing white beard lent him a wise appearance despite his burly form, blending strength with youthful vigor.

Clad in a black and red yukata, his chest bare, he drank cold sake from a small white cup. Standing over fifteen meters tall, he was a true giant. Yet he never left the volcano, and no visitor to Floor 48 knew what the ruler of this world looked like.

"How are the sales today? Anything unusual?" he asked, sipping sake and eating sushi.

"No, Your Divine Eminence, nothing unusual today," one of the spirits replied.

"There have been a few new visitors—a party of rather wealthy Players, including dragons and vampires among their ranks. They've been resting at the Golden Sakura for a few hours now," said another, pouring him more sake.

"A peaceful vampire and a friendly dragon, huh? That's unusual. I haven't seen actual dragons in a while! Don't they originate from Yggdrasil?" the Oni wondered. "I thought that world was sealed by its new ruler ages ago."

"It seems things are changing," said another spirit.

"Yggdrasil and the challenge of Floor 49 are different now," added another.

"Reports say Floor 49 has finally been completed, and a new world lies there, though its ruler has sealed it off as well," said the second spirit to his left.

"Hmm, well, that's none of my business either way," the Oni shrugged, gazing over the landscape from his volcanic temple. "As long as we keep earning a good amount of System Points, we can ensure our world remains secure."

By paying a substantial fee every few years to the factions of Floor 70 and beyond, the Oni secured the safety of his floor, transforming it into a touristic haven where none dared to invade, lest they provoke the fury of Thebes' inhabitants and their warlike gods.

"I hope those visitors spend plenty of System Points… Phew!" the god sighed, relaxing as his spirits fed him fruit. "Now, I suppose it's time for my year-long nap—"

"Oho, what a temple this is! So this is where you live, huh?" ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ novel✦fire.net

A voice suddenly echoed through his temple, unfamiliar and startling. The god scanned his surroundings, his spirits mirroring his alertness.

Then, he looked down at the temple's red floor and saw a small figure—a woman with pale white skin, long silvery-white hair, and glowing red eyes.

She resembled a vampire, her terrifying aura of darkness confirming the impression.

"V-Vampire?! How did you get here?! Do you know the Thebes Pantheon protects this floor? Do you want to awaken their wrath?!"

"Hm? Oh, no, I'm not a vampire. I come from Yggdrasil. Nice to meet you, my name is Maria."

"Ma… Maria? What? I don't even know who you are."

"Is that so? Well, I don't know who you are either. I just visited this beautiful floor today, and I'm honestly in awe of its beauty and structure. I was curious about what its ruler looked like. I must say, I'm a bit disappointed. I expected a grander spirit, not… what are you, anyway?"

"I should be asking that question! What are YOU?!"

"Me? Well, haha, it's hard to explain. Something like… a ghost of sorts."

"…Ghost? So you come from Floor 41?!"

"No, I'm from Yggdrasil."

"That's impossible. Yggdrasil is sealed."

"Well, I found a way to come down anyway."

The Oni God tried to measure her with his powers, probing to see if her soul spoke the truth. But the moment he gazed into her essence; an eternal darkness engulfed him.

"Oh, you shouldn't have tried that."

"W-What am I looking at?!"

The Oni God screamed, feeling himself fall through an endless black void. Small red stars appeared—eyes glaring down at him, weeping black miasma.

As he drowned in the miasma, he opened his eyes, back in his temple as if nothing had happened…

In truth, he hadn't gone anywhere—it was merely a vision of Maria's soul.

"I'd recommend not doing that again. It was very dangerous. There are powers I can't fully control, you see."

"G-Get away from me!"

The Oni God stumbled back, sake bottles crashing to the floor as he gripped his throne, hands trembling.

"I'll summon them! Don't you dare harm me! Or do you want to awaken the wrath of Ra and his family?!"

"Ra? Wait a moment, I don't want to harm you. I just came to talk."

"T-Talking?! You nearly devoured my soul!"

"No, I didn't! You tried peering into my soul! Okay, listen. Calm down. I just want to talk… Hmm, here."

Maria attempted to negotiate with the rattled god, offering a tip of five million System Points.

The god instantly calmed, realizing no enemy would offer such a sum without reason.

"…You gave me money?"

"I said I wanted to talk. Is that fee enough for five minutes?"

The god studied Maria, cautious but no longer daring to probe her soul. He sighed, regaining his composure as his spirits cleared the mess. He seemed calm enough to hear her questions.

"Speak. What do you want?"

"I was curious about your existence. Are you truly a god or a spirit? How is this world structured? I checked, and it's smaller than my home. It's just a small space with three mountains, forests, and temples at the center, like a floating island amid nothingness."

"That's because this is… well, a fragment of my original world. I'm its last survivor. It began as a Gate meant to invade another world, but something went wrong, and it didn't invade anything. So we drifted in the void for millennia."

"Apparently! But we didn't need to invade another world. The Tower found us and placed us on Floor 1. From there, we were constantly invaded by beings who came to investigate. I fought with everything I had to secure my position here. Eventually, I made alliances with powerful factions in exchange for resources and money, slowly establishing my place on Floor 48."

"That's remarkable. What was your world like before?"

"It was a vast, beautiful world filled with wonders, but it lost a war against invaders and was consumed by Babylon upon its destruction. Another alliance of gods escaped with their own fragments and combined them into a much larger realm than this one. You'll find that world on Floor 20."

"Interesting. They're far below you, yet your world is much smaller, and you're the only guardian. Why didn't you ally with them?"