The fight against the demon generals only lasted a short while, yet it had been the most intense fight in their lives. While their stamina gauge might appear healthy, everyone exceeded their limit during the battle. The generals outclassed most ascenders in every stat. A single mistake meant death, and only by consuming their potential could they survive. Many hadn’t been able to keep up and, as a result, lost their lives.
Although the Alliance lost almost a quarter of their numbers, nobody intended to bring this matter to light. The greatest threat they’d ever faced sat just in front of the haven. If they started to grieve now, how could they hope to overcome what came later? Hence, everyone’s expressions were devoid of emotion as they left to fill their stomachs, repair their equipment, or take a nap.
Even then, Aamon’s presence was so overwhelming that everyone in the haven could see him in their mind no matter where they were.
An all-consuming black hole.
It was like the opposite of mental suppression. Instead of weighing down your will, Aamon sucked it straight out of you with his mere presence. This was no conscious effort on Aamon’s part, just a simple consequence of his existence.
From another perspective, you could say Aamon’s power was so great he couldn’t completely keep it under control. To gods like Vex, this was the sign of an amateur, but it was terrifying to Jason and the others.
After all, the standards of a god were too high. Who could control their minds and body with 100% efficiency? Truthfully, this was a struggle for many creatures, no matter their strength. As you continued to grow in power, what was once familiar became foreign. It was a catch-22.
Take Jason’s World Conqueror skill, for example. He wasn’t aware it was the perfect training tool for the energy-path. The skill gave complete control over Battle Energy while active or, in other words, 100% efficiency. Since it only had a short cooldown of 10 minutes, Jason could frequently use it as a reference to refine his control over Battle Energy. At Jason’s current standard, he only had roughly 25% efficiency without the skill active.
In comparison, Roy had 31% efficiency with Holy Energy, Amara had 35% with Elemental Energy, Andy had 33% with Illusion Energy, and Olivia had 19% with Void Energy. This didn’t mean Jason was an idiot and Amara was an unparalleled genius. There were too many factors at play. How long had it been since they acquired their specific energy? Did they have an affinity for it? Did they understand its nature? Did they train with it or even come up with a training method?
One thing they all had in common was a complete lack of guidance. The gods gifted them with extraordinary energy yet were forbidden from teaching them how to master it. Not even by using one of their monthly quotas could Roy and the others get any help. This was intentional. The tower was both a test and a training ground. Some would shine brilliantly, while others would fizzle out into nonexistence.
Aamon, both the final boss and a genius in his own right, possessed 56% control over his energy. The difference between Jason’s 25% and Aamon’s 56% was the difference between heaven and earth. The increase in power between each percentage was not linear.
In truth, this was what a skill grade was.
Unlike real life, the tower was a simulated environment, a type of game. If an ascender continued to cast Fireball, even without any greater understanding of how the skill functioned on their part, Fireball would gain experience and eventually level up. This was just smoke and mirrors. What actually happened was the tower secretly fueling the ascender’s soul with knowledge, thus resulting in greater control.
Eventually, however, the tower would stop providing such gifts, thus the skill cap: Hero grade. In universes where energy like mana was prevalent, Hero grade was equivalent to 20% control, a significant threshold.
The gift provided by the tower was not as great as you would think. Fireball reaching Hero grade did not mean an ascender had 20% control of mana, just Fireball. Mana was all-encompassing, and Fireball was only a teeny, tiny fraction of what Mana could do.
In the universe where Aros and the other gods came from, having 20% control in Mana took many decades to accomplish for the average creature. Understanding this highlighted how helpful the tower was. After all, how long had Jason and the others used their relative energies?
If it took decades to reach 20% control in mana, just one of many energies, what about the soul-path or body-path? Things quickly got complicated.
Generally, since not everyone could live for millions of years, once a creature’s control reached a bottleneck, they’d focus on the application of their control. In more familiar terms, a skill. It wasn’t uncommon for someone’s skill to defeat someone with higher control—efficiency and application were two different things.
The tower dumbed down these concepts, similar to how a baby first learned math with colored blocks. The tower provided ascenders with training wheels, assisting them with each skill cast, much like how a parent would hold their child taking its first steps.
The tower's mission was to guide creatures into taking their first steps onto one of the three paths: body, energy, and soul. At least, that was how it was supposed to be. The majority of creatures didn’t know there was something far, far greater than the three paths.
The Greater Paths.
Unlike their counterparts, the Greater Paths numbered in the tens of thousands. Gravity, space, and time were Greater Paths. Fire, water, earth, and wind, these too were Greater Paths. Some were more arcane. They came in many shapes and forms, but they all had one thing in common. Controlling one leveled the playing field between you and the universe.
The difference between a fireball and the fire path was so immense they were not even comparable. Think of it this way: energy formed a fireball, but a fireball could not exist without a corresponding Greater Path.
Thus, the reason the tower’s creator sent Jason back in time.
During the fight against Baal, something miraculous happened to Jason, something he caused unknowingly. The sign of a Greater Path.
Two years had passed since Jason returned to the past. Since then, no signs of that Greater Path appeared.
When everyone left to regain their strength, Jason remained on the wall, staring straight at Aamon in a trance.
Jason thought about the difference between Aamon and Baal. While both were the tower’s final bosses, Baal could be considered the tower’s medium difficulty boss. Aamon was the hard difficulty boss. The change was Jason’s own doing, whether he liked it or not. The butterfly effect caused by Jason’s knowledge of the future ultimately elevated humanity's status in the eyes of the tower, and so the test’s difficulty raised.
Before, you couldn’t die even if stabbed in the brain or your heart exploded. Only if your Health reached zero would you die. Now, Health was misleading. Barring exceptional stats or skills, a pierced brain resulted in instant death, regardless of Health. This change resulted in several deaths before ascenders could adapt.
It might seem unfair, but this change also affected monsters. Before, a raid boss with millions of Health took a long time to kill. Now, if you had enough strength to break their defenses, an instant kill wasn’t impossible.
Jason thought about all this as he inspected Aamon. Slowly, the gravity of the situation sank in. This was the final battle—the last obstacle preventing Jason from ascending this tower once and for all. As for their odds? Jason was not optimistic.
And yet, he found no trouble finding the resolve to overcome everything and anything. Perhaps it was because of his recent boost in confidence or his desire to prevent his companions from dying a second time. It could even be the subtle change in his mentality from taking on a tank's role for decades. Maybe it was all these things.
Regardless of what reasons there were, it was a fact Jason’s current will was unbreakable. Tenacity and perseverance were his DNA. His lifeblood. His soul.
In Jason’s trance, he didn’t realize everyone had returned to the walls, recovered, and prepared for
their deaths. Only when Peter shook his shoulder did Jason awaken. “It’s been an hour. How’s your Soul Force looking?”
Jason took a moment to wake up fully. He was about to shake his head but realized he felt better than ever. Confused, he glanced at his Soul Force and was surprised to discover it completely recovered. But how could that be? Less than two hours had passed since he spent 70% of his Soul Force. Even if he meditated the entire time, it would still take 6 hours at least.
Unable to come up with an answer, he could only reply with a smile. “It should be fine.”
“Okay,” Peter answered without putting much thought into it. After seeing Aamon nearly instantly kill the ash orc chieftain, his thoughts had taken a turn for the worst. Checking Jason’s condition was merely a habit on his part.
At this moment, Aamon opened his eyes and stood. “Let’s begin.”
Chapter 74
Aamon scanned the Alliance, minotaurs, Lavos, Sersa, and the other two chieftains. His gaze stopped briefly on Amara, Jason, Olivia, and any other ascender who possessed an Ultimate rune. After adding them all together, he cracked his neck and smiled. “Not bad. You humans only took a few months to acquire so many Ultimate runes. One of you even has two.”
Peter’s expression changed when Aamon correctly identified their species. This didn’t go unnoticed by the demon, who turned to the Alliance’s leader with a nod. “Smart. I’m unlike these pitiful puppets, unaware of the truth of their world. They ignorantly perform their role in the tower’s test, nothing more.”
The eyes of Lavos, the other chieftains, and minotaurs grew dull upon hearing words they weren’t supposed to hear. The memory of what just occurred vanished from their brains, giving them a dazed look. At this, Aamon shook his head with a sneer while Jason’s anger flared.
Lavos had dedicated his entire life to protecting his tribe. He had emotions, dreams, and aspirations, just like anyone else. Then there was Cable, Decker, and every other intelligent lifeform in the tower. Jason treated them with the same respect he gave to others. What right did Aamon have to disregard their existence? For that matter, what right did the tower have to play with their lives as if they were toys?
“Oh?” Aamon raised an eyebrow when he witnessed the Alliance’s fierce expressions.
Roy nearly jumped off the wall as he snarled. “What makes you any different? Aren’t you here, like them, to perform a role? You’re merely the final boss of the tower, yet you act so high and mighty!”
Aamon blinked his eyes in disbelief before letting out a grim chuckle. “I’ve followed Lord Vex for over ten thousand years. Not once has anyone shown me such disrespect, kid.”
The wind suddenly picked up until a low howl filled the area. Dust swirled around Aamon, his eyes cold. “I thought it beneath my status to massacre a primitive species from a backwater planet, yet now I’ve changed my mind.”
“FIRE!” Peter commanded without hesitation. The haven, previously quiet and orderly, sprang to life in an instant. All one hundred and six towers concentrated fire on Aamon, whose figure disappeared under the bombardment.
It was like a nuclear bomb went off.
At first, silence, then an explosion. Mana, previously considered tame and gentle, left only destruction in its wake. The ground disintegrated into nothing while the air warped and twisted like the crumpling of paper.
When the dust settled, only a crater remained, at the center of which stood Aamon, completely unharmed. What few burns he had healed before everyone’s eyes. The demon guffawed. “Did you know I’m not allowed to use any equipment? No weapon. No armor. Nothing. Turns out I don’t need it.”
At that, Aamon widened his stance, threw back his arm, and froze as the ground started to tremble. It was of no concern at first, but soon everyone had trouble standing. Roy tried to steady himself and exclaimed. “What’s going on? Is Aamon gonna attack with an earthquake?”
“No. Take a close look at his body,” Olivia responded with a hint of terror.
At her words, everyone looked over and doubted what they saw. The cause of the tremors was merely from the vibration of Aamon’s muscles. But how was that possible? How much force could Aamon create without moving an inch?
Unwilling to let the situation continue, Shenlong struck out with his spear. Distance meant nothing to Godslayer, and with Aamon stationary, the attack struck true. Unexpectedly, as soon as the spearhead pierced Aamon’s skin, a terrifying destructive force traveled through the spear into its wielder.
Shenlong screamed as the unknown force ripped his arm apart like a cook peeling a potato. Pieces of skin, muscles, and bone flew in all directions. Even then, Shenlong never let go of his spear.
In response, everyone used long-range skills to interrupt Aamon as healers regenerated Shenlong’s arm. The demon’s natural defense was unimaginably high, almost absurdly so, but the Alliance was no pushover. Especially Lavos. Under their attacks, the demon’s health slowly dropped.
99 million.
98 million.
Suddenly, the power Aamon accumulated flowed through his body, down his arm, and into his hand. Then, he struck. It was a simple punch, yet what happened next shattered everyone’s understanding of what was possible.
The shockwave produced by Aamon’s punch cleaved the ground in two, leaving behind a ravine fifty feet deep and thirty feet wide. When the wave struck the haven’s barrier, it caved inward, then popped like a bubble. The wall fell next, followed by countless structures. It was like a class-10 tornado swept through the haven.
Among the rubble, the Alliance, chieftains, and minotaurs struggled to their feet and looked around in amazement. Thankfully, the haven’s defenses absorbed most of Aamon’s attack, leaving them shaken but unharmed. Now, however, the Alliance couldn’t rely on the haven’s structures to assist them in their fight against Aamon. From another perspective, the playing field was now equal.
Jason locked onto Aamon in the distance, watching as the demon walked over. Shockingly, with every step, runes appeared on the demon’s body. Soon there were so many you couldn’t even tell them apart.
“Did I forget to mention I can copy your runes?” Aamon laughed as he observed everyone’s depressed expressions.
Unknown to Aamon, Lavos had already informed the Alliance of this secret, yet they never expected Aamon could copy runes indefinitely. There were almost 1,500 people here, minotaurs and humans combined. That meant Aamon possessed some ten thousand runes.
Upon realizing this, except for a few, everyone else summoned their mounts and reluctantly fled the battle. In seconds, only Jason, Shenlong, Olivia, Roy, Amara, Carly, Dubaku, Lavos, Sersa, and the other chieftains remained.
“No matter.” Aamon shrugged, unconcerned with the loss of runes, then cracked his knuckles. “Now that the weaklings are gone, we can fight for real.”
Chapter 75
Jason stood in front, his body covered by the Serrated Abyssal shield. Shenlong and Dubaku were to his left and right, both a few steps behind him. Further back was Roy and Carly, with Tank on Carly’s shoulder. Olivia had disappeared at some unknown time while Lavos took up the rear.
Sersa, Fixi, the satyr, and Eok, the storm ant, were not a part of the formation. Unfamiliar with the Alliance’s tactics and abilities, they orbited Aamon some distance away, ready to strike when they found a chance. They were more confident fighting solo than awkwardly trying to work together with people they’d just met.
Aamon watched them get into formation without moving a muscle. His folded arms, relaxed posture, and slightly raised chin exuded arrogance. Thinking of his previous display of strength, he decided to explain something so his opponents would fight at their best. He spoke with a forced, friendly smile. “Don’t worry about that vibrational force from before. It was the innate ability of Rox, an ash orc from several hundred years ago. I ripped the technique from her soul, but I lack her unique physique. My body will destroy itself if I use it too much.”
Jason and the others
didn’t respond, though Sersa and Eok’s shift in posture announced their relief. Jason didn’t know whether Aamon was telling the truth or not. It didn’t matter. What he needed to do remained the same.
Aamon stood only fifty feet away, a meaningless distance to people at their level. Jason shifted forward, inch by inch. Beads of sweat dripped down his face as he slowly but surely approached death. That was the feeling Aamon gave him.
Although Jason’s level neared 330 and his Health crossed the one million threshold, it was nothing compared to Aamon’s stats. All of the demon’s stats were likely over 6,000—an insurmountable gap.
At this moment, Fixi made the first move. The satyr was skilled in mental attacks, inflicting negative effects, and empowering allies. Standing two hundred feet away from Aamon gave it some degree of comfort, so it decided to act. In the mental realm, a scythe dripping with venom flew forth.
Aamon’s soul took the shape of a ball, appearing harmless. Suddenly, a slit spread across its surface, revealing rows of sharp teeth that would make a shark envious. The mouth of Aamon’s soul opened wide, then bit down on the scythe, shattering it into pieces. The soul shuddered in delight as it swallowed the remains of Fixi’s attack.
After absorbing the Soul Force, a long, black tongue covered in spikes shot out of the soul’s mouth. In the next moment, it wrapped around Fixi’s soul. The barbs on the tongue sank into Fixi’s soul like the roots of a tree searching for water, except in this case, they were absorbing Fixi’s soul.
In reality, Fixi collapsed to its knees, unable to move a muscle. Although its attack failed miserably, it gave its allies an opportunity. In the fraction of a second it took Aamon to defend his soul, Jason shot forward like a bullet with Burst fueling his every movement.
Towers of Heaven: A LitRPG Adventure (Book 3) Page 33