"Why? Why do you harbor such doubts?"
Carissa stood before Akumo and his companions.
He blocked their path with a look of genuine confusion on his face.
"Simply defeat the enemy before you and grow stronger."
He tilted his head curiously.
"Isn't that enough?"
The people before him were adventurers.
They were beings who existed to grow stronger and move toward their goals.
"You have all grown stronger as you climbed this tower. Isn't that the truth?"
And indeed, they had.
Mikoto, despite her Falna being sealed, was now capable of facing the entities within Babel, who were equivalent to at least Level 5 combatants.
Even if she was acting as support, it was a feat that would have astonished even the Gods.
"The elf next to you. She should know best, shouldn't she?"
"That's...!"
"You were nothing more than a grunt before, but look at you now."
Litos's eyes trembled.
Clench!
She squeezed her fist, but all she felt was a surge of power far greater than anything she had possessed before.
'With this power...'
"The heroic sagas you only dreamed of... you can write them yourself."
"!!"
"Time flows differently here."
That meant they could grow stronger indefinitely before leaving this place.
"You can become several times stronger than you are now, walk out those doors, and become a hero."
"..."
"Even the Sun you believe in so much... he will look at you instead of that rabbit. He will look at you instead of your superior."
Litos, who hadn't even reached Level 3, could already surpass Hyakinthos—perhaps even Bell.
"The same goes for the elf over there."
"Shut up. I live only for my Goddess..."
"Even your Goddess's eyes are wide with surprise, you know?"
"What...!"
Hedin turned his head, only to see a sight that confirmed Carissa's words.
"..."
"Lady Freya...?"
Even the Goddess of Beauty was looking at the light Hedin radiated with astonishment.
'In just a few days...'
His light was dozens of times more intense than it had been before.
It was a brilliance that did not pale even when compared to Bell or Akumo.
"It doesn't even have to be about someone else's recognition."
Step.
"You can obtain the power to protect the person you love, the person you respect. Isn't that right?"
""...""
"Is that truly a bad thing?"
Ryu and Mikoto could find no words to counter Carissa's logic.
"You simply climb the tower, and you grow stronger."
He spoke with pure, simple conviction.
"I do not think you are so foolish as to be unable to swallow a miracle that has fallen right into your laps."
Step, step.
With that, Carissa's silhouette faded away once more.
""""...""""
If they had this power... their lives would change. The very perspective of their existence would shift.
The life they had dreamed of—no, if they climbed even higher... they could achieve even more.
Step, step.
Silence fell over the group.
Everyone's nerves were focused solely on the fundamental strength coursing through their bodies.
Shring!
"My name is [Parwin]."
A high-level warrior pointed a guardian's sword at them with both hands.
Clang!!
"My name is [Serin]."
Cr-crack!
A master of the rapier, known as the Ice Empress, stood her ground.
Slash!
"Gah...!!"
Whoosh!!
Even as Hedin was attacked and pushed back, Ryu drew her bowstring without hesitation, aiming precisely at the enemy.
Thwip-thwip-thwip!
Litos's sword drew the enemy's attention by targeting their openings.
"Draw."
Slice!!
Mikoto's blade severed the opponent's neck.
"..."
Thus, they continued to ascend the tower, growing stronger with every step.
Enemies appeared in various forms and guises to ensure the same doubts wouldn't resurface.
Shring!
"I am called [Poria]. I ask for a match."
A master of the plum blossom who appeared to be from the Far East, just like Mikoto.
Swish!!
"Haaah!!"
Clang!
"That is a fine blade!"
"As is yours!"
Was she happy to meet someone from her homeland? Before she knew it, Mikoto's face was lit with the joy of an equal match.
"[Paul Cron], Battle Mage."
"What a coincidence. I'm a Magic Swordsman myself."
Light and darkness mingled as a scythe and a sword aimed for each other's throats.
"..."
'Why... did I come here?'
Didn't you come here to get stronger? Have you forgotten already?
Look at your comrades. They are growing splendidly and facing enemies on their own without you having to lead them.
You don't need to shoulder the burden alone anymore. Let's save everyone together.
"...Just like that? So easily?"
What are you thinking so hard about?
Isn't that Epimetheus fellow the same? He was lucky enough to be chosen, lucky enough to take your power.
"[Charon]."
A man in navy blue armor wielding dual swords pointed his blades at Akumo.
"Why... are you here?"
"...To climb the tower."
"Why did you come to the tower?"
"To climb the tower."
Charon rushed at Akumo with an expressionless face, repeating the same mechanical words.
Step, step.
Being serious about the fight felt meaningless now.
Once they were on track, they grew and won even when fighting alone.
"Hmm... I suppose conversation with me is unnecessary now?"
"We must climb the tower, Master Carissa!"
"I wonder what warriors await us next..."
"Of course, we will win no matter who comes."
The immaturity and fear they had shown when they first arrived were gone, replaced by the confident smiles of Mikoto and Ryu.
Hedin and Litos looked satisfied with their own strengthened states.
"..."
Step, step.
Leaving them behind, Akumo simply continued to climb.
"My, my, aren't we in a hurry?"
Was he also happy about climbing the tower? He had already set foot on a floor he couldn't even keep track of.
"I am..."
"Shut up."
A woman holding a plum blossom sword appeared.
She had a dignified appearance, suggesting she might have been a queen somewhere.
"It's the same. It's always the same."
No matter how much the form changed, no matter how much the personality was altered.
"It's a repetitive, predictable story."
Splurt!!
Akumo cut the woman before him in half in a single stroke.
Step, step.
"Damaged Mironil, [Kerantz]."
"Does repeating some unknown region or some unknown word change anything?"
Slash!
He cut down the man.
"[Peri—"
Crunch!!
He cut down the same icy entity.
"Let me tell you clearly once more."
I will never.
Swish!!!
"High-ranking Ninja, [Solon]."
"I know. You're just going to move annoyingly fast."
Accept power given to me for no reason by some entity.
"Dark Elf, [Brek]."
"And you'll just fire off magic."
Nor will I accept a convenient miracle that weakens the opponent for my sake.
"Revolutionist, [Ran Area]."
"Cut the crap."
After conquering it several times over, he reached the final floor again.
"...Your complexion looks even worse, [Charon]."
"I am the Corruptor, [Charon]."
Indeed, the entity before him was clearly the same one.
"...Mikoto."
"What is it, Master Akumo?"
"Ryu."
"What's wrong, Akumo?"
The girls he cherished.
"Hedin?"
"What is it, Akumo?"
"Litos."
"What is it, [Pioneer]?"
The reliable comrades who answered his call.
"As I thought, you guys are..."
Different entities.
Snap!
The illusion shattered.
Fortuitous encounters, innate talent—strength that came easily under such names.
Reliable comrades growing stronger.
Cr-crack!!
Even if his mouth denied it, had his heart secretly desired it?
Creak—
He had betrayed the convictions he had maintained through every stubborn moment and difficult situation, if only for an instant.
Blink.
When he opened his eyes, what stood before him was the tower as it always was.
"It's the same... but not quite."
'The empty plains are gone now...'
The landscape that had existed only for Babel was no more.
What he saw around him were mountain ranges and the distinct traces of people who had passed through.
"This thing is also just a part..."
Step, step.
'...of this vast world.'
As he walked toward the tower before him, the tower's administrator was there.
"Hello... ha... ha..."
"Where did Carissa go?"
A woman smiled awkwardly at Akumo.
Was she a different administrator than the Carissa he had seen before? Akumo asked immediately.
"My brother... said he had business and left the management of the tower to me..."
Akumo stood alone before the tower, without his companions.
"I'm going to climb the tower."
"...It is not a place for a [Human] to climb."
"I'm going to go out and achieve what I want."
"Everyone always says that..."
Those who challenged the tower either succumbed to its power or became obsessed with the growth it offered.
They became enchanted by their own progress or trapped by their longing for an ideal, losing themselves in the process.
"They grow stronger every time they climb the tower. Even if they are defeated and die."
Clench.
"They are simply reborn with a different face, a different form."
Countless beings had fallen in the process of climbing this tower to reach their ideals.
"So their souls gather to create the repetition of this tower."
Even if they held the same sword, their gender was different. Their personality was different.
The story was different. The strength was different.
"A bottomless pit of infinite obsession."
"This place is... [Avici Hell]."
At Akumo's words, she closed her eyes as if she couldn't bear to meet his gaze.
'A place that exists to punish those who dare to try and reach godhood...'
"An [Otherworld] that feeds on the regrets of heroes, using supremacy as bait."
Clench!
"That is what this place is."
It certainly should have been...
"Then what exactly are you, standing before me?"
"..."
"If it's an infinite loop, why has a change occurred?"
"That's..."
This was the tower reaching toward the heavens, where those seeking supremacy came to challenge themselves.
"...I suppose it can't be helped."
Her voice—no, his voice—could be heard from right in front of him.
"My name is Carissa." "My name is Seria."
Blur.
""We are the administrators of this [Babel].""
The madness toward supremacy woven by humans.
A hell reaching toward the heavens, toward supremacy, created by that madness.
Ironically, it was a pair of siblings chosen by a God who guarded that tower of hell.
"...At first, it was just a childish desire to see heroes."
"Seria and I were happy to see the growth of heroes, and sometimes we helped those who hit a wall."
But at some point, they stopped coming out of the tower.
They became obsessed and turned themselves into parts of the tower.
"'They didn't have the qualities of a hero. Someone else will be different.'"
"After seeing off exactly 100 heroes and facing the storm brought by their absence... that excuse shattered."
The heroes were forgotten, and the resulting chaos created new heroes once again.
"In that terrible cycle, can you truly survive?"
Can you truly become a hero?
""Will you climb [Babel], Master Akumo?""
The answer was already decided.
"To be honest, I am a [Human] who desires power."
""...""
"A foolish person who longs for ideals and reaches for supremacy."
"Then even now..."
"But."
Is there any reason I can't try being a hero for once?
Is there any reason I can't be the one to climb this tower?
Step, step.
Akumo stepped into the [True Babel] without another word.
"...Will today be the last time we meet?"
Seria's words drifted toward his back.
The siblings had met countless heroes over the long years.
Even for them.
"Of course, Seria."
Drip.
"Thank you...!"
"We will... send you up now..."
At the first real goodbye they had ever received, tears flowed from the siblings' eyes.