CHAPTER 127: CHAPTER 127: THE NIGHTMARE TOWER (2)

Anubis’s story matched what was written in that mansion. This made William feel incredibly strange; he had accidentally found Lerion’s resting place, his armor and weapon were there, but strangely, both were intact and showed none of the damage Anubis claimed Supreme Rhods had inflicted.

Intrigued by the situation and all the information, William questioned Anubis on a few points.

"I’m curious about a few things. First, what is this tower? I understand it’s a link, but why is it necessary to connect it with the world of nightmares?"

"Supreme, the answer to that is quite strange, but I will tell you everything I know, though I apologize if my knowledge is limited. The tower is made from the blood and flesh of the planet’s natives; their souls are chained to the tower. At the summit, the heart of the world and the spirit of the world must be placed. The heart of the world is what keeps the planet alive; it can be any object, the planet can camouflage it as anything, but our ancestors had spells to track it. And the spirit of the world is found in the planet’s core; it is the world’s consciousness. Every world has the power to repel invaders; that consciousness is what allows people to be recognized as natives of a world, and all those marked as invaders will receive a rejection from the world, causing continuous damage as if they were poisoned until they die."

"Then why can we be here, if that spirit is still alive?"

"Supreme, although the spirit was not captured and was taken by the knight somehow, it doesn’t mean it’s well. The son of the ancestor who participated in the war survived and, being one of the most powerful, took leadership of this area. The other four most powerful survivors each took their own area, and their descendants defend each zone to this day. In one of their writings, in addition to what has been passed down verbally through each generation, the day the Supreme died, they stopped feeling the rejection. One time, that ancestor theorized that the knight Lerion destroyed the spirit of the world to reject the Supreme’s invasion, which would make sense since power of that magnitude is needed to kill a Supreme. Furthermore, there’s something else: the influence of the nightmare world penetrated this world, and the guardian has watched over this world, leaving a clone that appears whenever it senses a true threat; it has beetle-shaped armor and hides on the moon, at the portal’s base. Being just a clone, it doesn’t have the power to return by itself, so it only watches the world, saving its power for an emergency."

These words surprised William, as he didn’t expect the beetle knight to be just a clone of the nightmare world’s guardian. If that was only a clone, he didn’t want to imagine the true power of the nightmare guardian.

"I recently met that person you mentioned; he told me I was welcome and then left. Based on what you’ve told me, how long will it take to reconstruct the rest of the tower, and what else is needed to activate it? And why, if all five have the same goal, are they enemies?"

"The other rulers don’t want to return to the world of nightmares; in that place, they won’t have the luxuries they have here, but they don’t understand that we’ll eventually have to return, whether they want to or not. This world, without the spirit, is barely staying alive; a very clear case is that this place only has nightmare energy, and the world stopped producing its original mana, so every original living being will gradually die, and eventually, we’ll run out of food, forcing us to devour each other. My family has tried to convince them for generations, but it hasn’t progressed in any way. With your presence, it’s impossible for them to stop us, Supreme, but I must warn you that they were subjugated by the previous Supreme. Unlike my family, who were his vassals, they were slaves, so if they discover you, they will try to eliminate you before allowing you to grow. I have already reached my evolutionary limit, and only Supremes can allow evolution, but there are no records of how, so I beg for your help to grow and defend ourselves from them."

William looked at him for a long time. The idea of being the key to the evolutionary pinnacle of such powerful creatures thrilled him. Both continued walking through the area, but there was nothing interesting other than beasts and destruction. Damage was still visible throughout the area, showing how brutal that war had been.

Anubis raised a claw and pointed towards the large central clearing. "...I have gathered this for you, Supreme."

In front of them, a line of chained monsters awaited. Some were tall as golems, others deformed, others grotesquely beautiful. All exuded dark energy.

"They were condemned for crimes. They are strong, dangerous, and will be the perfect sustenance for you, my lord."

William frowned, about to refuse, thinking: "I’m no butcher..."

But Angel intervened.

"William, listen. You don’t have to feed for pleasure. But if you strengthen your body, you could reach the level of a great knight. You could hide it as long as you don’t use your power, and it would be your secret weapon. A real advantage. We need it."

William took a deep breath.

"Alright. But on one condition."

Anubis raised his eyebrows.

"I will devour only those I defeat myself. If I want to grow, I must experience danger, not be cared for and fed like a helpless animal."

A smile spread across the jackal’s face; he had thought about this a lot. As a proud warrior, he disdained gaining power without earning it and only believed in power gained through hard training. Despite that, his primary duty was to serve the Supreme, as he himself would be trapped in this place until his death, so he came up with the idea of sacrificing his subjects and strengthening him at the expense of his principles.