Chapter 175: The Tower Domain

Just moments ago, she had believed she could win. That she could kill him.

But the instant she looked at Gaon, she felt it—she could not win. She could not kill him.

The gap between them was overwhelmingly vast.

Even if she had completed her masterpiece, even if she became stronger than she was now, it would not be enough to bridge it.

In other words, the outcome was already decided.

Of course, that did not mean she planned to die quietly.

She intended to leave as much damage as possible. It was not out of malice. It was pure competitive spirit and curiosity. Bagelina began gathering her power.

Ordinary attacks would not leave a scratch.

She planned to concentrate her strength and deliver one powerful strike.

Meanwhile, Gaon silently observed Bagelina.

Just now…

The black liquid Bagelina had injected into her body.

It was not merely dark.

There were sparkling points scattered throughout.

The black liquid resembled a night sky filled with stars.

Moreover, it contained an extremely intense energy.

And Gaon recognized that energy.

It was very similar to the energy of the wraith Astrex from Lirun—no, the Velterik Kingdom.

Don’t tell me…

The Moshun family excelled in shamanic arts.

Considering the countless chimeras Bagelina had brought with her, he could guess the reason for the similarity.

It was clearly created by sacrificing numerous lives.

Swish.

Gaon took out the gem Astrex had left behind from his pocket.

The gem contained Astrex’s perfection—that is, the rank of his soul.

But if I use this well…

It was not certain, but he felt he could do something interesting with the gem.

To test it, Gaon channeled a strand of Pacheonki into the gem.

He awakened the rank of the soul contained within it.

Shwaaat!

At the same time, the gem emitted a red glow.

And that was not all.

Shwaaaaaak!

A suction force appeared.

It was not a force that sucked in everything.

The gem only absorbed energy of the same nature.

“……!”

Bagelina, who had been gathering power, urgently tried to control her energy.

However, the gem’s suction grew stronger and soon surpassed her control.

Bagelina’s energy began to be sucked into the gem.

With a deeply bewildered expression, Bagelina stared at the gem and thought,

Just what is that thing!

She had known the gem was no ordinary item.

But she could not understand the level of dominance the gem was displaying now.

Moreover, how could it extract only the energy so precisely?

Damn it!

Bagelina cursed inwardly.

She had wanted to land a blow on Gaon.

But the gem had ruined her plan.

Should she attack now?

It was meaningless.

She would not be able to inflict any damage.

In fact, she doubted whether her attack would even connect.

Considering the gem’s dominance, it seemed her energy would be sucked away before it could reach him.

And that was not the only problem.

Perhaps because her energy was being stolen, the side effects arrived faster than expected.

Pain erupted from every part of her body.

The pain was only the beginning.

The full backlash would soon follow, little by little.

However, there was nothing Bagelina could do.

No—there was one thing.

She could quietly accept death.

It was right then.

Shat!

The gem, which had been continuously absorbing energy, lost its light.

Naturally, the suction force disappeared as well.

“……?”

Bagelina looked at Gaon with a puzzled face.

The reason the suction had stopped was not because the gem had reached its limit.

She saw it.

Gaon was suppressing the gem.

If Gaon had not suppressed it?

Bagelina would have had all her energy stolen and died.

Shwaaat!

Light then settled over Bagelina’s body.

She immediately realized what it was.

It was the ‘Heal’ spell Gaon had cast.

What does he want from me?

That made her even more curious.

Just what did Gaon want from her that he would go so far as to keep her alive?

It was while she was wondering that.

Grrrrk!

A crushing pressure bore down on her entire body.

The Heal had restored her to some extent.

But it was not enough to resist the pressure.

Bagelina was slammed straight into the ground.

She could feel the cold chill of the ice remaining on the surface.

Having subdued Bagelina, Gaon turned his head and looked forward.

Three people were rapidly approaching from the front.

They were clearly members of the Ten Strong, on the same level as Bagelina.

Soon the three stopped a short distance away.

All three wore bewildered expressions as they looked at Gaon and Bagelina.

Gaon understood their reaction.

It was only natural to be shocked seeing someone of the same level as them suppressed so easily.

Looking at the three, Gaon thought,

Should I try using that here?

The moment he entered the 10th Circle, he had realized a new ability.

It was an ability related to the rank of the soul. He had tested it in places where no one was around, but he had never used it on others before.

This seemed like a good opportunity to try it.

Yeah.

Having made up his mind, Gaon immediately activated the ability.

The moment it activated, a giant tower appeared in the air.

It had the exact same appearance as the central tower of Gardion Tower.

Of course, only the appearance was the same; the size was not.

The tower was only ten meters tall—extremely small.

Even though the tower had suddenly appeared, Gaon did not panic.

Naturally—because he had created it himself.

Next, bands began appearing around the tower.

One, two, three… the bands continued to increase.

Only after the tenth band was created did it stop multiplying.

From the tower’s appearance to the completion of the bands’ multiplication, it took merely one second.

Naturally, it did not end there.

The ten bands began to rotate.

A massive amount of Pacheonki flowed out from the tower, establishing a domain.

Inside the domain, there was nothing but pure Pacheonki.

There was naturally no mana, nor even the slightest trace of demonic energy.

Pacheonki was an extremely domineering energy.

But for Gaon, who had based his power on Pacheonki, it was the most comfortable space imaginable.

With a satisfied expression, Gaon turned to look at the three people.

The foundation of the three was not Pacheonki.

It was demonic energy.

And Pacheonki was crushing the three who relied on demonic energy.

As a result, they were flailing about like people drowning in deep water.

The satisfaction on Gaon’s face grew even stronger.

Nice. So this is what a domain is.

The tower was the symbol of himself that Gaon envisioned.

More precisely, it was the symbol of his soul rank.

He had manifested the symbol and declared his domain in order to maximize his power.

It was not merely about maximizing power.

The domain was a space under Gaon’s absolute control.

It was not a metaphor.

It was literally a space where Gaon could do anything he wished.

Gaon stretched his hand toward the three people.

The Pacheonki within the domain immediately began moving according to his will.

Of course, there was no need to stretch out his hand to move the Pacheonki.

It was simply a trigger to make control easier.

Grrrrk!

Crack! Craaack!

The three people’s bodies were bent at bizarre angles by the Pacheonki.

“Khk!”

“Kugh!”

“……!”

Two of the three let out short screams.

The last one did not scream, but his eyes widened as he gritted his teeth.

Then the Pacheonki dug into the three people’s bodies.

It dismantled all the existing restrictions inside their bodies and created new ones.

Previously, dismantling or creating restrictions had required direct contact.

But not anymore.

Every part of the domain was like Gaon’s own hands and feet.

He could do it without direct contact.

Having subdued the three, Gaon immediately activated Bone-Crushing Agony.

The same went for Bagelina, whom he had subdued earlier.

The moment Bone-Crushing Agony began, all four people contorted their faces in unison as if on cue.

Gaon spoke to the four who had begun expressing their pain.

“When you are ready to tell me everything, trigger the restriction. You don’t need me to explain how. Also, keep in mind that the restriction will only activate if you are sincere. Don’t even think about trying to deceive me!”

Naturally, no one answered Gaon’s words.

Gaon, who had not expected an immediate reply anyway, calmly dispelled the domain with an indifferent expression.

Maintaining the domain consumed a great deal of mental energy.

His curiosity had been satisfied, and there was no need to waste mental energy maintaining the domain when the situation no longer required it.

The tower vanished, and the Pacheonki disappeared as well.

Once again, demonic energy filled the surroundings.

After confirming the environment that had changed in an instant, Gaon looked at the four people.

How long will it take, I wonder.

The four were high-level existences.

While level did not equal mental strength, those at a high level usually possessed strong willpower.

In other words, it would likely take a considerable amount of time for them to confess everything.

Well, I can do other things in the meantime.

Gaon focused his senses.

The four were the strongest here.

But there were still many people left in the sanctuary.

In other words, the cleanup was not finished.

Gaon planned to continue cleaning until the four’s mental strength ran out.

And if their mental strength still held even after he finished cleaning?

Then he could spend time collecting the spoils.

First, the surroundings.

Gaon chanted a spell.

Dark clouds appeared nearby.

Craaaack, crack, craaaack—

The dark clouds began unleashing lightning without pause.

It was right then.

“……!”

Gaon’s eyes flashed.

The reason his eyes flashed was because something completely unexpected had happened.

Swish.

Gaon turned his head to look at Bagelina.

Unlike before, Bagelina’s face looked extremely relaxed.

The reason she had become relaxed was because Bone-Crushing Agony had ended.

The reason Bone-Crushing Agony had ended was because Bagelina had triggered the restriction.

This quickly?

He had expected it to take a long time.

That was why he had planned to clean up the area.

But she was already trying to spill everything this fast?

Don’t tell me she’s trying to pull some kind of trick…!

The condition to trigger the restriction was ‘sincerity.’

As long as it was sincere, it would activate.

But what if conditions were attached to that sincerity?

For example, “I’ll speak sincerely if you spare me,” or “I’ll only tell you part of it.”

Of course, Gaon had no intention of accepting such conditions.

And if Bagelina tried to bring up such conditions?

He planned to place even more precise restrictions on her.

While Gaon was lost in thought, Bagelina spoke.

“Do I have to speak in this state?”

Unlike before, respectful speech came from Bagelina’s mouth.

Gaon waved his hand.

The pressure weighing down on Bagelina disappeared.

Bagelina stood up from her spot.

“There is no way for me to survive anyway, correct? Even if I tell you everything truthfully?”

“……”

Gaon silently nodded.

Bagelina spoke with an expression that said she had expected as much.

“Very well. Instead, could you resolve one curiosity of mine?”

“What is it?”

“That gem that absorbed my energy earlier. What exactly is it?”

“A relic of an ancient wraith.”

“Does it have any connection to the Velterik Kingdom?”

“It does.”

“I thought so.”

Bagelina nodded in understanding.

After stopping her nod, she spoke with a refreshed face.

“Please ask. What are you curious about?”

At Bagelina’s reaction, Gaon paused for a moment.

Then he asked a question he had not thought of at all first.

“Why did you give up so easily?”

He was genuinely curious.

Bagelina possessed the mental fortitude to endure for a long time.

So why had she given up so quickly?

Why was she trying to reveal everything like this?

“Because I saw it, even if only for a moment. That is why I realized resisting was meaningless.”

After answering the question, Bagelina looked at Gaon and swallowed nervously.

And after hearing the answer, Gaon understood.

Even if only briefly, Bagelina had obtained the rank of the soul.

Of course, it had not been a complete soul rank.

It had been so unstable that it would have dispersed on its own even if Gaon had not intervened.

But that alone had been enough.

Enough for her to understand what kind of realm Gaon had reached.

It was then that Bagelina carefully observed Gaon’s expression and spoke.

“If I answer with all my heart and sincerity… would you consider sending me off without pain?”

“……”

Caught off guard by the unexpected question, Gaon paused for a moment before nodding.

“I can promise you that much.”

“Oh, thank you.”

At Gaon’s answer, Bagelina’s face relaxed considerably as she expressed her gratitude.

Then she stared straight at Gaon.

Gaon thought for a moment under her gaze before beginning the interrogation.

“Where did Murin and the other six go?”