Return of the Tower Conqueror

  Empire Engulfed (XIV)

Almost a week had passed since Cain, Senna, Anna, and Sebas had freed the prisoners alongside the other masked group. Though the week appeared uneventful on the surface, the ever-bubbling tensions unveiled that the Kingdom was all but peaceful. Cain largely remained inside, mostly acting as the hub of information between everyone; Senna, Anna, and Sebas ventured out in his place almost every day, leaving him enough free time to further polish his skills.

He felt a certain sense of pressure; it could be called his intuition, 'sixth sense', a certain nudge he developed over decades spent in here. It warned him whenever things appeared off -- and now was one of those times. No matter how he looked at it, the atmosphere was strange. Something didn't fit, something was out of place -- unfortunately for Cain, he wasn't nearly smart enough to figure out what. The clues were likely there, hiding in the bushes, but past the sensation akin to ants crawling on his skin, he couldn't put it all together.

This was despite him knowing that it all likely had to do with the Third Prince and with the Lunar Cult and with the other powers; but, it didn't matter in the end. His intuition was like a smoke alarm -- just because it rang, it didn't mean he could immediately see where the fire was, especially considering the room was the size of a country.

Sighing, he let go of a rancid breath and pulled himself out of his thoughts; he'd already created seventy-six new Skills, yet he still felt it wasn't enough. However, this was his limit -- no matter how he thought, he was unable to procure any more variations. If it came down to it, he'd have to improvise again. However, he was fare more confident this time around; after all, two decades of heartless fighting had chiseled his instincts enough, especially compared to his current peers.

The world shuddered abruptly, causing Cain's relaxed expression to do a complete 180; a mere second later, a set of notification screens flashed in front of him, crying in alarming scarlet.

//Emergency Update!

Your quest 'Crisis of the Sands' has been automatically forfeited.

...

...

Quest 'Crisis of the Sands' has been updated to 'Empire Engulfed'; the difficulty has been updated from 'SSS-' to 'Thief-variant'. Rewards have been updated: clearing the quest will unlock access to the next Crucible, among other rewards.

...

Re-calibrating...

...

Quest Update: Having not joined hands with Third Prince Eldur, instead choosing to sit on the sides and observe, you have patiently welcomed the usurping of the Kingdom; within the surging currents, you find yourself unswayed. The previous goals have been annulled and re-calibrated:

Uncovering the identity of the people who helped you rescue imprisoned commoners

Ascend Princess Annashel to the Throne by any means necessary

Assist Lunar Children in carving out their independence

Assassinate Third Prince Eldur

Assassinate Crown Prince Izirdul Assist Crown Prince Izirdul

Destroy the Kingdom and Crown anyone of your choosing

Depose the hidden power

Uncover the terrible secrets lining the Kingdom's foundations

...

Quest: You must complete at least 3 of the 8 tasks for the quest to be successful, and one of them has to do with whoever reigns the Kingdom. You may seek external assistance for the two out of the three tasks, but one you must complete on your own. Whichever task you choose to complete on your own will have its difficulty re-calibrated to the 'Thief-variant'. Rewards, similarly, have been adjusted.

You will gain two 'Legendary-tier' Titles

Your 'Hero' Talent will undergo its next evolution

You will gain 10 Levels

You will gain a permanent bonus to Experience (30%)

You will be allowed 1 Potion of your choice (within Earthly-grade)

Random three items compatible with your Path will be given upon completion

Access to one of the following four Elements: Earth, Blood, Lightning, Shadow

Upgrade to 'Dimensional Talisman', gaining ability to use it up to the 3rdCrucible

...

Failure: You will immediately forfeit your 'Hero' Talent, lose 20 Levels, downgrade the tier of your current Path, and gain a permanent penalty of -25% to all your Stats.

...

Due to the sensitive nature, the Quest will be further re-calibrated into a 'Time Trial' -- the quicker you complete it, the greater the rewards. The minimum requirement for completion is three months; a minute past that will be considered an automatic failure.

...

Due to the difficult nature of the quest, you will be given four hints:

Lunar Stone isn't stone

Friends are not eternal

Maelstrom

Throne is not hollow

...

Good luck, Conqueror Cain! May the Blessings guide your journey!//

Cain's eyebrows began to twitch violently, his teeth grinding against each other. There was a look of anger, hate, despair, and helplessness burning inside his eyes as he scrolled through the notifications. Virtually every single sentence was like an extra sword piercing his abdomen, and an extra needle digging into his brain.

The quest went from 'ah, terribly difficult but with a lot of struggle somewhat doable' to outright insanely impossible. Ah, is this my punishment for trying to be clever? Should I just have joined hands with Third Prince? What do you mean with the difficulty 'thief variant'?! Aren't you just bullying me?! What do you mean I have to do it all in 3 months?! And one of them all by myself?!! Aagh, I hate this! I hate all of this!

He was spiraling, nearly screaming out into the void. And what's with those hints?! They tell me fucking nothing!! What do you mean 'Lunar Stone isn't a stone'?! What do you mean 'friends aren't eternal'?! Are you sharing fortune cookie wisdom with me, you bastard?! Maelstrom?! This whole thing is a fuckin' maelstrom, you stupid system!

He endured, however, taking several deep breaths in sequence. He was already warned this would happen -- but he was also told it wouldn't be every floor.

"Goddammit," he groaned aloud as the doors to his room were slammed open, startling him.

"Shit, what did you do?!" Senna asked in panic.

"H-huh? What do you mean?"

"I just got a quest update!" she said. "Saying that the quest was now to assist you -- specifically. And that our rewards will be based on how well we assist you! What did you do?!"

"... literally nothing," Cain shrugged helplessly. "It should have been triggered by something else. Did you feel that shudder?"

"Yes," Senna nodded with a frown. "It was right after that the quest was updated."

"Aah, this is pissing me off," Cain sighed. "The ending will be the same as the first floor."

"E-eh? This... this is the floor-ending quest?!" Senna asked, her expression one of horror.

"Yup," he smiled bitterly. "I need to complete three tasks; of the three, you lot can only help me with two. If we do them all, we'll unlock access to the third floor."

"... I'm assuming it wasn't like this in your previous life?" noting the tone of his voice, Senna probed.

"Not even close," Cain scoffed. "The fuckin' Tower is fuckin' with me again. Tsk, tsk, goddamn bitch, won't let me have a minute of peace. Just you wait, you bitch; I'll wring your fuckin' neck one day and slather your throat with the smelliest shit I can find."

"..." listening Cain mumble profanities to himself, Senna sighed with a faint blush. "Looks like you can't brute-force this one, eh?"

"Haah," Cain sighed, leaning into the wall. "I'm tired of concocting up schemes just to stand a chance. The main crux of the quest is that I have to put someone on the throne. It's like the Tower is testing me," he added as Senna sat down, listening curiously. "Will I take the easy route and go against my conscience, or fight."

"What will you do?"

"I really wanna take the easy route."

"Don't we all."

"I'm like 99% sure that if I tossed myself into the Third Prince's harem, this quest would be piss-easy. The only difficulty would be not vomiting my guts out while I'm kissing his ass."

"And you even have the perfect opportunity," Senna said. "You could just drag Anna to him as the offering of friendship."

"... I could never do that."

"I know. That's why you're so hard to dislike," Senna chuckled, walking over and, against all odds, actually giving him a hug, startling him. "Whatever you choose, we'll be there to help you. Besides, the rewards for helping you are really tempting, tsk. Look at this shit -- no matter our levels, we'll all ascend to Level 50 and be granted an item that will teleport us to the Hall of Awakening for our classes. Not to mention we'll all get a legendary item tied specifically to that Awakened class."

"... say what now?"

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