Chapter 1: The Truth
"How unfortunate…" Kayn muttered as he stared weakly in front of him while holding onto his sword. In front of him was the last remaining God that resides on the 1,000th floor of the 'Tower' and was also in a similar injured state as him.
At the moment, Kayn has already reached the last floor of the 'Tower, the 1,000th floor, and had also already slain all the Gods except for just one single God, the God of all the Gods, Natas.
"Kayn, I commend your strength and bravery. Throughout many millenniums that I live in this 'Tower', you are the only person that has ever brought me into this miserable state,"
"I don't need the praise of someone like you!"
"Hmmm, I understand. But I still can't help myself from feeling admiration for such a praiseworthy warrior. What a real shame that the Humans on Earth are going to lose someone like you,"
"Cough… I hope you don't lump me with the likes of them," Just the thought alone of being the same kind as the people living on Earth was enough to make Kayn feel unpleasant. Of course, there is a reason why he felt that way.
"Oh, my deepest apologies. I have nearly forgotten just how ungrateful those people were to a great and honorable Hero like you. After all that you have done for them, those selfish people still decided to turn their backs on you in your times of trouble. If only they didn't push you to enter the 'Tower' ahead of time, then things would have developed differently. I feel pity for their foolishness and stupidity,"
"Tch! Don't act like it wasn't done by you and the other Gods!"
"Eh? Of course, it wasn't our fault! At least not solely our fault,"
"Don't joke around with me! Then who the hell had tempted those people to betray their own kind for the pursuit of their personal interest and profit?!"
That's right! It was the fault of the so-called Gods why everything that he had worked so hard in his entire life to build was destroyed, and why he had to enter the 'Tower' ahead of time and fought his way up from the 971st floor to the last remaining floors, 990th – 1,000th, which are the floors that the Gods residing inside the 'Tower' inhabits.
"When I realized that something wasn't right, it was already far too late for me to change anything and make things right…" Kayn whispered under his breath.
How did all of this happen?
Just where did it go wrong?
As far as he could remember, he has done everything perfectly so as to prevent failing and wasting the effort that everyone had worked so hard to achieve.
But still, why… why did things not develop in the way he expected them to?!
"Oh, I finally remember why!" Kayn started remembering the painful memories that he was trying to forget while fighting his way to reach this place.
He was the number one Hero of the Human race and was also bestowed the title 'Hope of Terran' by everyone, which means the hope of Humankind living on Earth. In addition to that, he also carries in the palm of his hand the strongest Guild on Earth, 'Mischief', that had successfully defended the planet from the numerous invasions of the 'Tower' for decades and had also led the clearing of the 'Tower' along with thousands of powerful Heroes in their organization and their allies until the 970th floor.
But one day, when he was out training in preparation to clear the 971st floor until the 980th of the 'Tower', a tragedy suddenly occurred inside his Guild without him getting informed.
This tragedy started because of the greed of some of the members of his guild who, all of a sudden, strangely expressed that they don't want to clear the 'Tower' anymore because it would mean that they won't be able to continue earning more profit. Simply put, some so-called Heroes, or more appropriately 'Fake Heroes', weren't climbing the 'Tower' in order to save Humankind from the 'Tower', but rather they were only doing so to benefit themselves.
Honestly, he had already known throughout the years that there are many Fake Heroes and even 'Greedy Guilds' that were displeased with him because of how fast he was clearing each floor in the 'Tower', which resulted in their own interest getting hurt over and over again. Some had even openly expressed to the public that they want him to stop, or at the very least to slow down, saying that they should give the other Heroes some time to catch up to them using the pretense that they should be working together to clear the 'Tower' as they believe that it is going to be next to impossible to do it with just their guild alone. Needless to say, that was obviously not the real reason.
The guild 'Mischief' has already grown far beyond the reach of every other Hero or any Guild. As a matter of fact, every Hero and Guild on Earth combined together still can't even hope to contend against them, at least as far as he knows. That's why the other guilds wanted them to stop or to slow down so that they can use that time to build up their forces and quickly catch up to them. By then, it wouldn't be a problem for them anymore to openly fight against them.
Unfortunately for those Fake Heroes, he didn't care about whatever they said to him. Why would he? On top of the reason that he is fully aware of their original intention in mind before he actually became a Hero, he had watched his parents get killed by the monsters from the 'Tower' right in front of his very eyes. That experience was what had awoken his powers and made him into a Hero. And from that day forth, he swore to save everyone and to destroy the 'Tower'. So, there's nothing that can stop him from reaching the last floor of the 'Tower' and ending everything for good.
But what he never expected to happen was that even the Heroes from his own guild and his allies would actually also share similar beliefs as those Fake Heroes and those greedy Guilds that only care about the profits that they could get from the 'Tower'. After all, they had fought alongside him all this time, and if it wasn't for them, it would have been very difficult for him to climb the 'Tower' all alone. He trusted and put his faith in those supposedly friends and allies of his, that's why he was never afraid to leave his back to them. Never once has he doubted them or even entertain the thoughts of them betraying him.
Just how mistaken he was…
In the end, they were easily tempted by the alluring profits and benefits that they could earn by agreeing to ally with the Gods of the 'Tower', which is then what prompted them to not only betray him but also their own kind.
If it wasn't for the Gods, then…
"I admit that we, Gods, have indeed intervened with your plans that's why your friends and allies betrayed you and never once showed up when you called out for them. But you're hugely mistaken if you thought that it was solely our fault why all of this has happened to you," Natas shook his head. "Remember, even to the very end, you didn't enter the 'Tower' and fought all the way up to the last floor all by yourself. In my opinion, it's impossible for you to reach this place alone, especially considering that your mental fortitude was greatly affected by a lot of negative emotions,"
Hearing Natas' words, Kayn's expression instantly turned solemn as he remembered those mixed of joyful and painful memories that he had made with some new companions that he never ever once expected in his entire life to be the people that will choose to fight alongside him till the very end of their life.
"Your own kind had always believed and thought of them to be nothing more than trash and the cancer of the human society. Calling them with all sorts of names, including Villains. But in the end, those cruel, despicable, and evil people were the only Heroes that stood up when you called for help. Do you want to know the reason why?" Natas asked albeit he would still give Kayn the answer regardless of him saying yes or no.
"Why…?"
"Because they choose to! Similarly, those Heroes that betrayed you had also chosen to be tempted by us. Do you seriously think that we have not tried to tempt those new companions of yours who decided to help you to betray you as well? We did, and we even offered more than what we had initially offered to those previous Heroes, even going as far as giving them an opportunity to become Gods like us. But in the end, they still choose to believe in you and not be tempted by us even to their very last dying breath,"
Kayn stood silently still after hearing Natas' words. As much as he wanted to disagree, he has no words to utter in his mouth that can prove that the latter was wrong. And he's also not someone who would mutter a response just for the sake of having something to say. Moreover, deep inside of him, he knew clearly well that Natas couldn't be more accurate.
As a matter of fact, he already knew the answer to Natas' question way before the latter had explained it to him. He simply asked 'Why' because he was too afraid inwardly to believe that he was correct. He needed someone else to tell the truth to him upfront, otherwise, he will just continue denying it.
Honestly, it is very funny. How he was still able to reach this far in the 'Tower', even killing all the Gods until only one remains, despite feeling a lot of mixed emotions deep inside of him. If it was anyone else, just that weakness alone would have cost them their life in crucial situations.
"Seeing your reaction right now, I guess you have already thought of the same answer as me even before this meeting,"
As expected of Natas, he could easily see through the truth.
"Hmmm…" Kayn uttered a sound of confirmation as he cliched his hands holding the sword tightly. He finally understood why some people would still choose to believe the beautiful lies rather than the ugly truth, why they would firmly choose to be fooled for many years and not open their eyes because there are times in life when deceiving oneself would save them from the painful reality.
Truth be told, he had already found the answer to that question from the day everyone who came along with him had died. From that moment on, he felt mixed emotions of pain, regret, disappointment, and rage inside of him, until it all eventually boiled down together and became hatred.
However, the mere thought of hating the people he had spent decades together with and experienced a lot of ups and downs in life wasn't something that could just be done easily. No matter how capable he was, it was just next to impossible for him to do so. So, he kept on denying the truth.
In his effort of refusing to hate them, he decided to express all of the pent-up hatred to someone else instead. And that someone else just happened to be the enemy he met along the way to this place. He was so blinded by his own emotion of hatred that he practically killed everyone that dares to block his path, no matter how powerful they were, as he continued climbing the 'Tower' higher and higher. And before he realized it, he is now standing in front of the last remaining God, Natas.
After his mind was cleared, Kayn now has only one last remaining question left in his mind.
"If it's okay with you, can I ask you one last question?"
After Kayn said that, he suddenly exerted force in both of his feet and arms with great difficulty in order to pull the sword out from the ground. He then held the sword up high in front of him while pointing the sharp edge of the sword straight towards Natas, as if telling the latter that after he answers his question, he is going to execute his last attack using the remaining power that he has and end everything. Regardless of who will win in the end, it will not matter as he knew from the depths of his heart that he already did everything he could for the sake of mankind at this very moment.
"Alright! This is the least I can do for the first person that I wholeheartedly respect," Natas doesn't mind granting Kayn such a small favor. As a matter of fact, he was even willing to grant the latter more time to prepare for another fight. Sadly, Kayn seems to want to end everything right this very moment.
This was one of the reasons why he respects Kayn. The latter was determined and decisive. That's why no Gods had ever thought of trying to persuade Kayn to stop even once because whatever he has decided on, he will see to it till the very end of his life. Only a man like him is worthy of his admiration.
"Why did you and the other Gods make them betray me?" Kayn has already accepted the truth now as to why all of his friends and allies betrayed him, but he is still unaware of why the Gods made them betray him.
This was the question that Kayn has been asking himself after getting betrayed. Even when he was with his new companions, he still continued to look for answers to this question. Why did the Gods do it? He just doesn't understand the reason why. Needless to say, he naturally had some assumptions inside of his mind, but it's much better to hear the answer from one of the Gods. That way, everything would become much clearer for him.
Hearing Kayn's question, Natas unexpectedly showed a regretful look on his face before he replied, "From the start, everything was nothing more than just a source of entertainment for us Gods. We look for Heroes that we deemed as fitting to our liking and then sponsor them in order to help them become much stronger. After they become strong enough, we will then give them missions to entertain us even more. Like for example, slaying powerful monsters, competing with other Heroes, and even killing some people. This process continued for many years, and we thought that there might be a chance this time that it will continue remaining that way between your own kind and us,"
"However, things started to change for the worst when you led some Heroes to reach the 900th floor. At that time, we Gods no longer view you as mere tools for entertainment, but instead swords hanging up above our heads with no way of possibly knowing when it would suddenly fall and kill us. What's even scarier was, it was us who created these weapons and gave them the opportunity to bring the battle straight to us,"
"And as if that wasn't enough, some of the Heroes we have sponsored started to not listen to our commands because of your influence. They even dared to openly challenge us by telling other Heroes who were under the same God as them to refuse to listen to any of God's orders as well,"
"From that moment on, we knew that it was no longer something that we can just simply treat casually, and for that reason, all the Gods decided to hold a very important meeting to discuss you. At the end of the meeting, it was concluded that your action was a declaration of war to all the Gods and requires an immediate retaliation before it was too late,"
"In other words, it has now become a battle for survival,"
"So, how did you do it?" Kayn can't help but interrupt Natas with another question as he was feeling really curious about the methods that the Gods had used in order to persuade his friends and allies. "I know that I only asked for you to answer one last question, but I want to know just how you Gods were able to make even the closest people in my life betray me,"
"It's fine, I was planning to tell you about it anyways. You deserve to know about the truth," Natas gestured using his hand that it wasn't a big problem. He continued explaining, "Unfortunately, with how huge your influence was, not only to all Heroes but also to the masses as well, we knew that it wasn't going to be easy to defeat you, especially considering that we cannot leave our respective floors inside the 'Tower',"
"And just like what we have expected, we faced numerous difficulties in trying to get other Heroes to help us. Persuading them through force was proven to be ineffective since they have the upper hand against us during all negotiations by simply using your name. Neither can we easily entice them using items or giving them power. After all, they can get those things eventually just by simply climbing higher in the 'Tower'. But as we continued to negotiate with them, we slowly started learning about the fullest extent of their greed, thus allowing us to use it to our advantage,"
"We started with the Villains, thinking that it would be easy to tempt them because of their evil nature. However, we soon realized just how mistaken we were when we found out that a considerable number of them were actually far nobler than even the so-called Heroes themselves, and the society they have created with each other was next to difficult to break as the consequences of not following the top of the hierarchy is death,"
"With that discovery in mind, we decided to forget about persuading all of the Villains and instead focus on those Fake Heroes, you know what I mean. Honestly, it was quite easy to persuade them as long as we know about the extent of their greed. But even with their help, we were still aware that it won't be enough to defeat you,"
"So, using those Fake Heroes, we slowly started establishing connections with those greedy guilds that we already knew hated you. Tempting them was a bit of a challenge, to say the least, but as long as the agreement involves helping them to defeat you, they all unhesitatingly jumped onto our side,"
"After getting the fake Heroes and greedy guilds that hated you on our side, it was then finally time to persuade our last targets, the Heroes who were part of your Guild and your allies. We knew that unless we get some of them to go to our side and help us, even if our victory is still not completely guaranteed, we could at the very least be able to delay you and buy more time for us. We will then use that time to prepare even stronger forces on the remaining floors so as to prevent any of your remaining forces from continuing to climb up the 'Tower',"
"In other words, since we can't take back what we have already lost, we have no other choice left but to use every means necessary in order for us to keep what remains. That was honestly all that we were asking for after conceding a lot of things to ask for help from your kind,"
"But what we didn't expect was that it would actually be your guild instead who decided to approach us first, and even gave us the upper hand in the negotiation as if wanting us to accept it no matter what. Just when we thought that alone was unexpected enough, they surprisingly proposed to us that as long as we help them overthrow you from your guild, they will help us in return not only to defeat you but also in killing you as well,"
"Oh, and that's not all. Do you know who ordered them to approach us?" Natas' regretful look turned slightly sorrowful, as he knew that this revelation is going to be the most painful part of the story for Kayn.
"The Executives," This was what Kayn had heard after knowing about his friends' and allies' betrayal. When the members of the Guild were having an internal conflict because of their different beliefs and goals, the Executives suddenly disappeared. And when they returned after disappearing for many days, they unexpectedly announced to the entire world some made-up stories about him that was enough to drive him into a corner. In just a matter of a single day, he went from being the greatest Hero to the greatest Villain, even going as far as overtaking the number one Villain who had destroyed four organizations that were part of the World Leaders Alliance. And to make matters even worst, some of the Executives strangely died a few days after announcing those shocking revelations and all the blame was put on him.
"On the surface, it was indeed the Executives of your guild who had betrayed you. But in truth, they were nothing more but mere tools that the real masterminds had used," Natas shook his head to express that it wasn't that simple. Without holding back, he revealed, "The true masterminds behind everything were your wife, Isabella, and her father, the President of the World Leader Alliance, Nicolas. Your wife was Nicolas' daughter that he secretly planted by your side and whose real mission from the very start was to kill you one day if ever you went out of their control or once you completely serve your purpose,"
As if his entire world had come crashing down on him, Kayn's body instantly turned weak causing him to let go of the sword that he was holding tightly just a moment ago. But before his weapon could go far from his fingers, a mysterious force suddenly lifted it back up for his hands to grab once again. In the next moment, his eyes stared widely in disbelief as he saw Natas who was just standing some distance away immediately appearing just a few inches from him while blood was now slowly oozing out from his lips that strangely looked like a smile of relief. As he gradually looked down at his hands, he saw that his sword has now stabbed Natas' heart, causing gold-colored blood to gush out from the small gap in the wound.
"Why…?" Kayn was unable to believe what just transpired in front of his eyes.
"Now is not the right time for us to talk about this," Natas whispered into Kayn's ears before the both of them were covered in white light.
Whoooooosh!