Only when he drew closer did Silvanus finally see the true appearance of the tower.
It was far from calm or ordinary. Instead, countless chains wrapped around it, constantly shifting and moving.
The body of the tower might have been half the size of the World Tree, making any human before it painfully small.
Those chains coiled and twisted as though anchoring the tower deep into the ground below, extending so far downward that the end could not be seen.
Yes—into the ground. Because surrounding the towering structure was a vast abyss. Looking down from above revealed nothing but a mass of darkness, impossible to discern.
The maid was preparing to swim across the chasm, but at that very mont, her entire body suddenly froze. The water around her turned to ice, and in the next instant a powerful force yanked her backward, slamming her onto the ground. She couldn’t move even an inch.
A shadow flickered past, and the tray in her hands was already gone.
Silvanus moved forward, murmuring a transformation spell. In the blink of an eye, a r-tail grew from his waist, replacing his legs. His appearance shifted as well, becoming identical to the maid’s.
However, before crossing the abyss, he paused for a mont. Yet no matter how carefully he observed, all he could see were the massive chains plunging deep into the earth, twisting as though sothing below kept tugging them around in circles, producing tangled tallic echoes.
At that mont, Vivian suddenly snorted and declared with certainty, "There’s sothing alive underground."
Silvanus spoke softly. "Vivian, hide."
Vivian fell completely silent.
Then Silvanus launched himself forward at full speed, crossing the abyss in an instant. A door stood wide open before him, as if it had been waiting for him all along.
Silvanus frowned. Instinctively he pushed off, twisting in midair—yet...
"Bang!"
Before he could catch sight of anything behind him, the door slamd shut with trendous force. Only the iron gate before him remained.
The tray in his hands tipped over, spilling onto the floor with a loud clatter that shattered the stillness of the tower. Silvanus looked down. There were no shrimp, no fish, no at—only brilliant, beautiful gemstones arranged, "coincidentally," into the shape of a smiling face.
Silvanus frowned. This was clearly a prank, and not even one that bothered to hide itself.
anwhile, Vivian kept gnawing on her claws, clinging to Silvanus’s neck, muttering nonstop, "There’s a ghost, Silvanus, there’s a ghost."
Silvanus spoke indifferently. "If there’s a ghost, we’ll just scratch it to death. Don’t be scared, Vivian."
By now, he had returned to his normal form. He lowered his gaze toward the smiling face made of gemstones on the floor and called out in a deep voice, "Nerio."
No one responded. Instead, the entire tower suddenly lit up.
At the sa mont, Silvanus saw nine statues encircling the tower’s interior.
They were all rfolk—male or female—but shared the sa trait: each one was powerful, riding atop roaring waves, tridents in hand, summoning storms.
Suddenly, their eyes shifted. Regardless of where they had been gazing before, now every single pair of eyes was fixed on Silvanus.
Vivian bristled, baring her teeth at the statues.
The water surged. All nine statues ca to life—and imdiately advanced toward Silvanus.
Silvanus reacted as if he had anticipated this. He pushed off the ground and leapt into the air, body suspended midwater. One hand rose high, his index finger pointing upward. In an instant, golden lightning-like energy gathered at his fingertip. Power rippled across the floor, converging within monts into a massive sphere of energy.
But it didn’t stop there. Several smaller spheres ford around him as well, filling his surroundings until they nearly blocked the view from below.
Silvanus frowned, his eyes cold with killing intent. His arm dropped sharply.
"Shattering Starfall."
With Silvanus’s soft utterance ca an explosion that shook the entire space.
"Rumble! Boom!---!"
At first, a single streak of light spread in all directions. The massive and miniature spheres crashed into the ground and detonated in rapid succession, like countless giant mushrooms erupting from the earth.
The shockwave rattled the entire seabed. Powerful energy burst outward, sending the surrounding waters into a near boil. The ground groaned with a dull, simring protest.
The impact was impossible to ignore.
Athena involuntarily halted, her eyes filled with doubt and astonishnt as she stared toward the tower. "That place..." she murmured, sounding both wary and uncertain.
By this ti, Nana had caught up, coming to stand beside Athena. Her gaze followed Athena’s, and she curled her lips into a mocking smile, speaking as if she didn’t care—though her eyes trembled with excitent. "The truly arrogant one who doesn’t care about anyone is right there."
"Let’s go, before that tower collapses for whatever reason," Nana said directly.
Athena’s mouth twitched at that, and she gave a fond, almost indulgent smile. "No one can bring that tower down."
"Nothing is certain with him," Nana replied.
Athena sneered. "I think you’re just blinded by love."
Nana frowned, her voice cold. "Be silent if you don’t want to cut off your tongue."
Athena covered her mouth and laughed. "Don’t say such things, you’ll make want to test that."
Disgust flashed across Nana’s face, and she quickly put more distance between them.
Back in the tower, the repeated explosions made the entire structure sway as if on the verge of collapsing—but that was all it did. The compressed energy surged upward, almost blasting straight to the top, sending Silvanus’s cloak and hair whipping wildly. The glare of the blast reflected in his eyes, yet the tower still stood firm, not a single crack appearing.
The rising energy then fell, gathering into a violent swirl. With no way out, it was about to form a massive vortex right there inside the tower.
Silvanus lifted his hand, opened his palm, then lowered it ever so slightly. Instantly, the raging winds slamd down onto the ground and vanished as if they had never existed. The frenzy fell silent. Vivian landed back on Silvanus’s shoulder.
She was especially obedient now, rubbing her face repeatedly against his neck, smiling foolishly. "Silvanus, whatever the reason is, I’m not the reason you’re angry... right?"
Silvanus lowered his gaze toward her and smiled. "Why, do I look like I’m angry?"
Vivian quietly tucked her tail downward and said nothing. Inside, she scread, Yes! Extrely yes, okay?! Since when have you ever used moves like that? I thought you were supposed to be the humble type!
Silvanus paid her no mind and descended to the ground.
The floor was shattered in countless places, not a single intact spot left. The once-majestic statues had returned to stone, broken into pieces scattered everywhere.
Silvanus looked upward. The hollow center of the tower opened straight out to the outside world, but from here he could only see a tiny point of light above.
It seed likely that the secret Nerio wanted to lead him to was actually belowground.
Silvanus thought to himself as he crouched down and placed one hand on the floor.
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