The Heavenly Demon Destroys the Tower - Chapter 69

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 69
“At first, the man was floundering in the sea…… but he’s grown unbelievably strong.”
“Thanks for the compliment.”
Step. Step.
Lee Kang-han walked toward him.
“Ugh…….”
Columbus, who had been raising the shattered wine bottle to fight back against Lee Kang-han,
“……this won’t help, will it.”
set the bottle down again, making his surrender clear.
“You’re not fighting?”
“What’s the point of fighting a monster like you? I’m just a common drunk now.”
As he spoke, Columbus gazed around with weary eyes.
“I don’t understand it. I’m merely a navigator who sought the New World with the Queen’s investment. I was greedy, sure, but does that make me one of the Seven Deadly Sins? Greed, at that?”
“Who knows.”
“And these vengeful spirits—I killed maybe a thousand people at most, but what of all these spirits filling the sea? Why am I held responsible for what my descendants did? They slaughtered the enslaved peoples of the New World. Why does the blame fall on me?”
He had his grievances.
Even in his aged frame, Columbus bellowed with indignation.
But.
“I have no idea.”
Lee Kang-han was unmoved by his outcry.
It wasn’t as though he had assigned Columbus to be one of the Seven Deadly Sins.
That was Columbus’s own affair entirely.
“Rather than that, tell me what you know about the First Tower.”
“What……?”
“When you fired that cannon, you compared it to the Iron era. Knowing about player ranks like that means you have knowledge of the Tower too, don’t you?”
The fact that he recognized player ranks like Iron and Bronze
meant Columbus possessed knowledge of the Tower.
Lee Kang-han was curious what the guardian of greed might know.
“Knowledge of the Tower, you say…….”
Columbus repeated the question to himself,
then smirked.
His mouth twisted into a smile.
“I know only myself. I have no knowledge that would help you.”
“We’ll see once I hear it.”
“Is that so? Then…….”
Thump.
Columbus sat down on the deck and, without thinking, brought the rim of the broken wine bottle to his lips,
but finding it empty, he clicked his tongue in disappointment.
“Bring me a proper wine bottle, and I’ll tell you what I know.”
This man.
Alcoholism truly was hopeless.
Lee Kang-han chuckled and searched for a bottle when—
Whissh.
One of the vengeful spirits brought a wine bottle.
He took it and handed it over.
“Hmph. Still bearing that slave mentality even after death…….”
Columbus, jeering at the spirit,
Clink!
broke the bottle’s mouth off with his hand
and drank straight from it.
“Do you know why I became one of the Seven Deadly Sins?”
“Not this again. What does that have to do with the Tower?”
“Hear me out. I, Columbus, am not a good man. Yes, I sold those natives into slavery and plundered their wealth. Greed? Sure, I indulged in it. But listen here.”
Bang!
He stopped mid-drink
and slammed the bottle hard onto the deck.
“When you consider humanity as a whole, am I one of the few great villains? There are countless warlords who’ve slaughtered tens of thousands. Slave traders have existed in every age. How could an adventurer like me rank among the Seven Deadly Sins?”
……
He was supposed to share Tower information,
but this drunk was just talking about himself again.
‘At this rate, I’ll hit the time limit. Should I just toss him in the sea?’
The Stay Duration in the First Tower scaled with Level.
My Level had risen considerably since last time, so my allowable time here had increased as well.
But listening to this drunk’s laments, I risked ending the tower run due to time expiration, just like before.
While Lee Kang-han seriously considered putting an end to Columbus,
“Of course… I do recall hearing about my charges at first.”
He broached the subject of his ‘sin.’
“Oh? What is it?”
“I am a sinner who destroyed a certain ‘possibility,’ or so I was told.”
“Possibility?”
“Yes…”
Gulp. Gulp.
As he took another swig of wine,
“I destroyed a possibility… I discovered the New World, so what possibility could have vanished?”
“I don’t know. Too many, I suppose.”
After all, I’d wiped out all the native peoples of the New World.
Was that connected to it?
As Lee Kang-han made his conjecture,
“But they never explained it to me here either. They merely said that if I killed a Challenger, they would forgive my sin…”
Columbus, wavering on his feet, pointed toward Lee Kang-han with an unsteady hand.
Thud.
He set down the wine bottle he’d been holding.
“That’s all I know.”
“…That’s it?”
“Yes. Didn’t I tell you—I only know myself?”
“What about information on the First Tower?”
“That? I don’t even remember. I’ve been dead for ages—why would I know the circumstances of those who came after?”
He really only knew about himself.
Lee Kang-han let out a hollow laugh.
“Then…”
Columbus staggered as he rose to his feet.
He shrugged his shoulders.
“What will you do with me now? Kill me with your own hands?”
“I was thinking of throwing you in the sea.”
“Why?”
“Those guys—I need to free them.”
“Ha. Barbarous slave wretches. It’s only natural that the loser loses everything…”
Columbus, gazing at the Vengeful Spirits surrounding him, sneered.
He staggered toward the edge of the deck.
“Well, fine. I’ve lost too…”
Creak.
At the deck’s edge.
Standing at the railing, Columbus said,
“I’ll submit to the victor’s will.”
Splash!
Without a moment’s hesitation, he plunged into the sea.
Then.
Whoooosh!
The Vengeful Spirits surged toward the spot where he’d fallen.
There,
[Benefactor…]
[Might we…]
[Finish him?]
Several voices spoke in unison.
“Go ahead.”
At Lee Kang-han’s permission,
Whoooosh.
The Vengeful Spirits converged at a single point.
Shriek. Shriek!
The sound of something being torn to shreds echoed across the water.
And not long after.
[You have cleared B1 Floor, ‘Sea of Darkness’.]
A clear message materialized before his eyes.
Whoooosh…….
The surroundings shifted back to the space before entering B1.
* * *
The dark space where he’d first spun the Seven Deadly Sins wheel.
Lee Kang-han stood there motionless, lost in thought.
‘I managed to clear it, but…….’
Columbus had seemed cooperative at first.
In the end, he’d revealed almost nothing.
‘Well, it was only B1 anyway—I suppose I should be satisfied with this much.’
The Sea of Darkness had been the most troublesome floor he’d encountered so far.
But in the First Tower, it was still just B1.
Expecting too much from here might be greed.
Then.
[Calculating B1 Floor Performance Evaluation…….]
[Cleared within 3 attempts.]
[Cleared below Platinum Rank.]
[Entrusted Columbus’s final moments to a Vengeful Spirit.]
The Performance Evaluation message appeared.
Three evaluation conditions manifested.
‘Interesting. This is the pattern when SSS+ ratings come through.’
Having received SSS+ so many times now.
Lee Kang-han had developed an instinct for recognizing the signs.
He felt satisfied with leaving Columbus’s finale to the Vengeful Spirit, and waited for the Clear Rating.
And soon.
[Clear Rating – SSS+]
[Opening Clear Rewards.]
“Excellent.”
Better than expected.
SSS+ it was.
‘Should I expect TP rewards and a Level Up with this?’
Lee Kang-han had already gained considerable levels thanks to the Angel’s Sword’s radiance earlier.
If he received another Level Up as a reward this time.
He’d only just entered Bronze, but he’d likely reach level 50—the Bronze Rank ceiling—in no time.
However.
Instead of a Level Up message or TP acquisition message.
Whoooosh…….
Three treasure chests materialized before Lee Kang-han’s eyes.
Then.
Gleam!
All three chests opened simultaneously.
System message windows appeared above each one in perfect unison.
[Eye of the Legendary Adventurer]
[Santa Maria]
[Gold Mine of the New World]
‘Hm.’
All three—just by their names, desirable rewards.
With an SSS+ evaluation, maybe he’d get all three?
That was Lee Kang-han’s initial hope.
[Select 1 of the 3 rewards.]
He could only choose one.
‘A shame.’
At least being able to see the names and pick was some consolation.
Lee Kang-han swallowed his disappointment.
Then examined the three rewards.
Let’s start by tapping on the first one that came to mind—’Eye of the Legendary Adventurer’.
Zing…….
A separate description appeared before his eyes.
[Eye of the Legendary Adventurer]
Rank: SS
Passive Skill.
Upon entering a Tower, you gain a certain probability of discovering hidden Clear Conditions.
Additionally, when surveying the interior of a map, you have a certain probability of uncovering hidden locations.
The activation probability of this skill increases in proportion to your Agility stat.
‘Not bad.’
When climbing Towers before, I’d often get an S rating simply because I didn’t know the hidden Clear Conditions.
If I obtain this Eye of the Legendary Adventurer, I’ll be able to discover those hidden conditions, right?
I also liked how the skill activation probability scales with my Agility — a stat that had long since transcended human limits.
Lee Kang-han’s Agility lay far beyond the realm of mortal measure.
‘This is the most tempting option, but… let me take a look at the others.’
My heart was already more than half set on the Adventurer’s Eye.
Still, to be thorough, Lee Kang-han examined the next reward.
[Santa Maria]
Rank: S+
The flagship that the legendary adventurer Columbus sailed when he discovered the New World.
It can only be summoned on water.
Navigation is possible without a crew, and any damage is automatically repaired.
‘Summoning a ship… it’s not quite compelling.’
The Santa Maria.
A self-propelling vessel seemed nice enough.
But I wondered how often I’d actually need to summon a ship.
Especially among the maps accessible within Towers.
Battlefields where ‘water’ was the primary element were nearly nonexistent.
‘I’ll pass on this.’
Having ruled out the Santa Maria, Lee Kang-han turned his attention to the final item.
He examined the last option.
[Gold Mine of the New World]
A gold mine of massive scale is established in Manma Hall.
By assigning members of Manma Hall to work, gold mining becomes possible.
The mined gold is automatically converted to TP, and the more skilled the miner, the greater the amount of TP generated from conversion.
The ‘Gold Mine of the New World’ has a mining limit.
It is a facility that cannot be leveled up.
‘An actual gold mine, then.’
The Gold Mine of the New World — you assign the members of Manma Hall, and they extract gold.
I’m not sure what the mining limit actually is.
But since it’s a gold mine, it should yield a considerable amount of TP.
‘If I choose this, I could mine gold here and rebuild the Celestial Demon Religion.’
Admittedly, factoring in that possibility.
This gold mine did look more appealing than the Santa Maria.
‘But the Eye of the Legendary Adventurer still tempts me more.’
The gap between a SSS+ Clear Rating reward and an S reward was simply too vast.
Lee Kang-han’s heart leaned toward the Adventurer’s Eye.
Having made his decision, he selected the box bearing the name ‘Eye of the Legendary Adventurer.’
[Will you receive the skill ‘Eye of the Legendary Adventurer’ as your reward?]
A confirmation message appeared once more.
Click.
Lee Kang-han pressed yes without hesitation.
[You have acquired the skill ‘Eye of the Legendary Adventurer.’]
For the first time, something other than a Cheonma-related skill was added to his skill window.
A skill unrelated to the Celestial Demon Arts.
‘I won’t know if it actually works until I enter the next Tower.’
Or would the condition appear even if I descended further into B2?
Wondering this, Lee Kang-han glanced around to figure out how to proceed to the next stage.
As he swept his gaze across the surroundings.
Flicker. Flicker.
From one side of the darkness.
A faint shimmer of emerald light caught his attention, wavering softly.
‘Hm? That light… I don’t think it was there a moment ago.’
If I go that way, I can descend to B2, can’t I?
Lee Kang-han walked toward the light.
[Master?]
“Hmm?”
[Ah. I was just wondering why you’re heading that way.]
“Don’t you see that light over there?”
[Light?]
Shin Nyeo’s ghost looked bewildered at his words.
Could it be that she couldn’t see that emerald glow?
Then.
Whoooosh——!
Near where Lee Kang-han had been standing.
A crimson portal materialized.
[Um… that looks like a descending portal?]
“Seems so.”
The crimson portal was becoming familiar to his eyes now.
If I enter there, I should be able to reach B2.
But then, what is that emerald glow?
As Lee Kang-han pondered this.
[The Eye of the Legendary Adventurer has activated.]
[A hidden location has been discovered.]
Ding.
With the message that the Adventurer’s Eye had activated.
The emerald glow began growing steadily sharper and clearer.
The Celestial Demon Shatters the Tower (Serialized)
Author │ Yeom Bi
Publisher │ Kim Ju-hyung
Published by │ J Plus Media Co., Ltd.
Marketing │ Han Jae-hyuk
Address │ 204, 288 Digital-ro, Guro-gu, Seoul (Guro-dong, Daeryung PostTower 1st)
Email │ [email protected]
Website │ www.jayplemedia.com
ⓒ Yeom Bi 2025
※This work is published by J Plus Media Co., Ltd. under contract with the copyright holder, and the contents may not be used in any form or by any means without permission from the company and author.
Violation of this provision may result in criminal and civil liability.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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