On Hiatus: God's Personal Reasons

Chapter 85: The Thirty Floor of the Tower of Warriors — Trial of Dead Dragon

What is this place? Who is this petite girl?

The baby crocodile was overwhelmed by its surroundings. Not to mention, its body was no longer separated! It had been healed as if nothing ever happened! If not for the faint scar on its stomach, the baby crocodile would’ve thought that it merely had a horrifying nightmare.

Thinking it didn’t hear her, Anty hovered her hands near her mouth, mimicking a megaphone, and screamed. “Hello!”

Growl—

Letting out a low growl, the baby crocodile stood up.

Ruuuumble!

“Wow, you're huge,” Anty exclaimed in awe. Compared to her height, the baby crocodile was akin to a small mountain.

The baby crocodile was also surprised. Anty was much smaller than expected. Was the human of this world just this small? She was so different from the scary humans it had met back in the meeting room. It could probably kill her with a flick of its toe.

Just as it entertained such a casual thought...

Chills!

Goosebumps spread throughout its entire body, prickling its skin. Feeling a burning gaze, the baby crocodile looked up to the sky.

There was that man, but he was no longer in his human form. He towered into the skies, shrouded in black flames that seemed to have originated from hell. A crown of horns was placed above his hideous face.

That must be the true form of his mother’s killer! The great malevolent god, Yu Il-Shin!

Shiver!

The baby crocodile shuddered in fear.

Grrrrr!

As the great evil god lowered his head, his gaze seared the baby crocodile.

Ssss—

As if a mountain had fallen, Yu Il-Shin’s forefinger came crashing down at the baby crocodile. It froze on the spot, unable to run away. Death was imminent and inescapable.

Shhhhh!

The baby crocodile was so terrified that it pissed itself.

Watching the baby crocodile tremble as it awaited its demise, Anty rushed toward it. She spread her arms wide in an attempt to protect it, screaming, “Lord Yu Il-Shin, please stop! I beg of you!”

Why is she being so reckless? The baby crocodile thought. Would such a terrible, wicked god even listen to a small human like her?

Yet...

Crunch!

A miracle happened—the forefinger had stopped! The great evil god glared at Anty and spoke.

-Even if his bloodlust was directed toward me?

Instinctively, the baby crocodile covered its ears with its front legs. The great evil god’s fury was so deafening, almost shattering its eardrums.

“Still, it’s so young! I know for sure that it bears no malice!

-Shouldn’t we just kill it right away? It might harm you and the people of the Gayami nation in the future.

“K-kill?! Such a small child...?! That’s too cruel! Look at how cute it is!”

The great evil god seemed confused.

-Cute? That thing? Anty, I’ve thought about this for a while, but you might need to get your eyes checked...

“Lord Yu Il-Shin! I’ll take responsibility for this beast and raise it properly, so please have mercy!” tears welled up in Anty’s eyes as she bowed down to the great evil god.

The baby crocodile saw Anty in a new light. Despite being so much smaller than itself, she dauntlessly spoke with the great evil god. Furthermore, she begged for the god to have mercy upon him!

The baby crocodile was touched.

-Are you sure you can raise it properly?

“Yes! Your servant will do her best!”

-If it becomes too much to handle, let me know right away. I’ll crush it.

Ruuuumble—

The great evil god laughed menacingly while flicking his finger. That sight made the baby crocodile pee once more. What a horrifying great evil god!

“Don’t worry, that’s just how he talks. In truth, God Yu Il-Shin is extremely warm and merciful!” Anty stroked the baby crocodile comfortingly, trying to calm it down.

“But Lord Yu Il-Shin.”

-What is it?

“What should we name it?”

-Huh? I haven't thought of it yet.

“Then please bestow it a name!”

-Huh? Does it need a name?

“Duh! It's a divine beast given by Lord Yu Il-Shin, so of course it does! Please give it a cool one, just like how you named all of us!” Anty looked up at the great evil god with twinkling eyes.

This interaction left the baby crocodile flustered. Meanwhile, the great evil god showed an awkward expression, visibly scratching his head.

-Since it's a crocodile, la cos...no. We mustn't risk a copyright strike. Uhm...

Seemingly in deep thought, the great evil god rubbed his chin for a while. Then, he finally made his decision.

-Alright. Since it's a male crocodile, how about Akdol?

“Wow! Akdol sounds amazing!”

-Huhu, as expected of my naming sense.

However, unlike the other two, the baby crocodile seemed dissatisfied with the name.

Tzzz!

Just then, the baby crocodile’s body began transforming.

Ding!

[Yu Il-Shin has renamed the offspring of God of Destroyer “???”’s Apostle Gustav to Akdol.]

[Low-tier God Yu Il-Shin’s divine power has cleansed the traces of God of Destroyer “???”’s power from Akdol’s body.]

A dazzling white light, similar to the one that had healed his body, enveloped him once more.

Tsss! Crunch!

As black aura seeped out from his body, his bone structure and muscles were reconstructed. Like air escaping a balloon, Akdol began to shrink in size.

Akdol's eyes widened in shock. Until a few seconds ago, Anty was barely the size of his finger. But now, he had to look up to see her!

Kyak?

Anty looked down at Akdol, who became smaller than herself.

“Kyaa! Akdol has become so cute!” Anty blushed.

Kyaaak!

Akdol let out a scream once more. Why did he become so small?!

Meanwhile, the great evil god looked down at him, seemingly unimpressed, and muttered.

-Hm, I'm not sure what happened, but I think it's overall better for you to raise him like this. ut just in case, let's do this. Open God's Shop. Purchase.

Ding!

[You have purchased World-Binding Snake's Rope (Mid-tier God).]

[You paid 100,000 Gcoins.]

The great evil god waved his finger.

Whirrr!

Then, a rope made of snake scales appeared out of thin air, coiling itself around Akdol’s neck.

Kyaaak!

Despite how much he struggled and screamed, Akdol couldn’t get the rope off his neck.

Kyak?

It was no ordinary rope! Akdol could feel his strength and magic power being sealed. Now he was weaker than a normal crocodile! Akdol fell into despair.

-Anty, you have to be careful while raising him, okay? Don’t ever let your guard down. Got it?”

Holding onto the rope tightly, Anty yelled in response, “Yes! Please leave it to me! This servant will raise this divine beast to the best of her efforts!”

***

“It isn’t a divine beast, so just raise it normally. Don’t overfeed it, or it’ll grow too big. Got it?” I repeated my instructions to Anty.

As much as I’d like to get rid of any future mishaps, the baby crocodile did seem quite pitiful. Anty’s pleas also made me unable to kill it.

Well, it suddenly became so small. I even sealed it with an artifact, so it shouldn’t be able to do anything funny. But just in case, I’ll be checking in regularly.

Haa... Despite having tied the loose ends properly, I didn’t feel relieved at all. Even if I had Akdol under control, there might still be 99 more of him out there. Picturing other crocodiles like Gustav heading for me in groups gave me chills.

Still, they aren’t going to come at me out of the blue, right?

They were reportedly found in Africa, so I sure hoped that the Hunters from each country wouldn’t leave them be.

Ding ding!

Just then, I received more messages from God-Maker. Did Akdol do something? I quickly turned my attention to my phone.

“Huh, it’s just Il-Ho...” I sighed and launched God-Maker.

Tzzz!

The screen switched to the Tower of Warriors, showing Il-Ho all bloodied and battered lying on the ground.

-Ughh...

“Wait a minute. Healing Ring Finger of God!”

Ding!

Along with a message that I’d paid a hundred Godcoins, a flash of white light enveloped Il-Ho, healing all of his injuries.

Il-Ho sprung up onto his feet and waved his fists in anger.

Bam bam bam!

His actions caused my phone to vibrate strongly, I almost dropped it. Il-Ho bit his lips in resentment.

-Keugh! Forgive me! Despite my muscles, I’ve been defeated! I’ve let Lord Yu Il-Shin down!

I comforted him.

-Don’t worry about losing. You don’t have to be so hard on yourself.

But still, I was curious about something. Why was he struggling so much with this floor?

After climbing Tower of Warriors for so long, Il-Ho had become powerful, so much so that he was considered to be one of the S-rank beings of my Low-tier God promotion quest.

Of course, there was no comparing God-Maker to reality. But at the very least, in God-Maker’s world, Il-Ho was still considered an equivalent of an S-rank Hunter. As such, I never imagined he’d be having a hard time clearing a floor.

What kind of trial is he facing now?

I opened the status window to find out.

-----

[The Thirty Floor of the Tower of Warriors: Trial of Dead Dragon]

Kaizer, a blue-eyed white dragon, was once a righteous creature who sought benevolence. He was killed and corrupted by the God of Destroyer. Warrior, defeat the Dead Dragon Kaizer and grant him eternal peace!

-----

That fucking God of Destroyer... again?! He really doesn’t know when to stop!

Still, since this was a trial of the Tower of Warriors, something should be different, right?

Anyway, I couldn’t imagine our amazing Il-Ho getting stuck on the 30th floor. Considering his clear speed so far, I thought he’d conquered all 50 floors.

Seems like the 30th floor is extremely difficult.

As if having heard my thoughts, Il-Ho’s shoulders dropped.

-Keugh, I’ve wasted so much time on this floor. I feel so ashamed toward both Lord Yu Il-Shin and Eternal Seeker. You must be utterly disappointed in me.

Unlike his confident self from before, Il-Ho was dejected.

“Don’t worry, Il-Ho.” I moved my finger, lightly tapping his shoulder. “It’s true that I’ve been busy recently, but I have a bit of free time right now! I should be able to help you out!”

-I-is that true?

His face lit up.

“Yes, believe in me!”

-Ooh! With Lord Yu Il-Shin’s help, nothing in this world shall faze me! Muuuscles!

Il-Ho pounded his chest with confidence like a gorilla.

Well, I didn’t know how difficult this would be, but Tower of Warriors was just a mini-game! Besides, it wasn’t my first time missing a deadline just to help him, so it should be easy!

...Or so I thought.

“Fuck this game!!”

I cursed as I watched Il-Ho being reduced into a bloody mess.