The Heavenly Demon Destroys the Tower - Chapter 81

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

Episode 81
-If it’s -20, does that mean 20 stamina is required?
-That’s too much, isn’t it…?
-But didn’t he exceed 15 earlier? Wouldn’t 20 be possible?
-If his stamina was 20, wouldn’t it show as 20 instead of 10+? lol
The number 20 hovered above the black helmet.
If this meant stamina, as the fox had theorized.
Could the Heavenly Demon actually pass this test?
The viewers, who only knew Lee Kang-han’s stamina as 10+, erupted into debate—yes or no.
’20 isn’t happening.’
But he knew better than anyone.
The last time Shin Nyeo measured his stamina, it was 17.4.
He fell short of 20 by 2.6—a gap that couldn’t be bridged.
‘Still, it’d be a shame to give up right here.’
He knew his stamina wasn’t enough.
But wasn’t it worth attempting?
The fox-woman who’d retired earlier—Jeok-mi—had challenged the third stage and failed.
There’d been no penalty for it.
‘Then I should give it a shot using the Cheonma Divine Arts.’
During the climb up to this point.
He’d never once used the Cheonma Divine Arts.
Only the first barrier had been slightly troublesome.
After that, Sun Wukong had cleared a path with his staff, so there’d been no need to exert himself.
“Cheonma Divine Arts.”
Lee Kang-han murmured the name softly and walked toward the helmet.
-Oh, go for it!
-The fox didn’t get penalized earlier, so you might as well try lol
-Wait, he hasn’t used the Cheonma Divine Arts until now?
-Sun Wukong gave him a ride so there was nothing to exert himself on lololol
Messages from hopeful viewers flooded the chat.
But the moment Lee Kang-han stepped inside the massive helmet.
‘The chat just stopped.’
The stream of messages that had been pouring in abruptly cut off.
Whishhhhh…….
Instead, the interior of the helmet filled with thick darkness.
[The final stage trial of the ‘Realm of Death’ begins.]
[Skill effects cannot influence your evaluation in any way.]
[Your raw stamina stat will be verified.]
Skill effects won’t have any bearing on the evaluation.
So the Cheonma Divine Arts would be useless too?
‘Regardless, that number definitely means stamina.’
So the Cheonma Divine Arts is nullified.
And since his stamina doesn’t reach 20, he’ll fail the final stage trial.
As Lee Kang-han was predicting the test’s outcome.
[Your ‘Stamina’ stat falls far short of 20.]
[The ‘Imprisoned Underworld King’ grows furious at your lack of preparation.]
[The aura of death engulfs you…….]
Multiple messages materialized before his eyes.
‘With Jeok-mi there wasn’t anything like this, but now he’s throwing a fit?’
The fox-woman who’d failed the third stage had retired with a carefree wave.
Was this because it was the final stage trial?
The opponent called the ‘Imprisoned Underworld King’ had suddenly appeared.
And was now sending waves of death aura.
‘If this keeps up, I need to get out before I actually die.’
Lee Kang-han tried to move.
Swish. Swish.
But the darkness that had settled thick around him was now preventing him from moving.
It wasn’t merely the absence of light.
The darkness was physically blocking him as well, like a tangible barrier.
‘This is annoying.’
Lee Kang-han struggled desperately to break free from the darkness’s grip.
But the tendrils of shadow only bound him tighter.
Then.
Slither…
The darkness crept across his body, coiling around him like chains.
Was this the aura of death?
If his luck turned, he might drop dead on the spot.
Lee Kang-han watched the encroaching darkness consume his frame, his expression hardening.
‘…But why is it ticklish?’
Tingle. Tingle.
Despite calling itself the ‘Realm of Death,’ the darkness spreading toward Lee Kang-han
brought him no pain—only a strange, prickling sensation.
So the Realm of Death was planning to kill him through tickling?
Yet the sensation wasn’t altogether unpleasant.
As Lee Kang-han absorbed the Realm of Death into his body, pondering this mystery,
a chime rang out.
[Player has died over 1,000 times.]
[The Realm of Death senses familiarity with the player.]
[Vitality requirement reduced by 1.]
A message materialized before Lee Kang-han’s eyes.
‘Over 1,000 deaths? Ah.’
He’d died 999 times or more in the Heavenly Demon Valley’s training chambers.
And that was 999 or more deaths in each chamber—Strength, Agility, and Vitality alike.
Combined, wasn’t that over 3,000 deaths?
And just as Lee Kang-han calculated,
[Player has died over 2,000 times.]
[The Realm of Death senses kinship with the player.]
[Vitality requirement reduced by 1.]
The Realm of Death tickled his body a little more insistently.
His vitality requirement had dropped another point.
The message itself had upgraded from familiarity to kinship.
And then.
[Player has died over 3,000 times.]
[The Realm of Death recognizes the player as one of its own.]
[Vitality requirement reduced by 1.]
When the count registered over 3,000 deaths,
his vitality requirement dropped by three total, landing at 17.
‘Never thought I’d gain an advantage from this angle.’
So dying often had its uses after all.
Of course, the only ‘death’ Lee Kang-han had directly experienced
was when his body ruptured in the Mana training chamber—just once.
But now that the Realm of Death treated him as one of its own,
a rushing sound echoed forth.
The thick darkness pooling around him was suddenly absorbed entirely into his body.
[The Underworld King’s helm, Queene, recognizes you as ‘Agent of the Underworld King.’]
A message appeared as the helm granted its approval.
Whisper…
The helm—which had been so massive that Lee Kang-han’s entire body could fit inside it—
shrank in an instant to fit perfectly on his head, resting in the palm of his hand.
‘The Underworld King’s helm… This doesn’t seem like an ordinary item.’
Perhaps because it imposed that absurd Vitality requirement of 20.
Passing the trial yielded rewards beyond measure.
Lee Kang-han tried to check Queene’s item description,
but a chime interrupted.
[Constellation ‘Underworld King Hades’ blocks the decision of Queene.]
[Constellation ‘Underworld King Hades’ demands that you accept him as your patron Constellation.]
Before that,
a message arrived from the Constellation.
* * *
‘Hades? Hades is appearing… So this helm was connected to Hades after all.’
The Underworld King, Hades.
Among the three chief deities of Greek mythology, the god of death who presides over the underworld.
Even Lee Kang-han, whose knowledge of mythology was far from encyclopedic, knew that name well.
But if that were the case, did the earlier reference to “the confined Underworld King” also refer to Hades?
‘Heracles, whom I met before, belongs to the Giant tribe, and Hades is imprisoned. So….’
Lee Kang-han recalled the mythological details he’d researched separately after meeting Heracles.
A great threat foretold to the gods of Olympus.
In order to triumph in the war against the Giants, the Gigantomachia.
They needed the power of a great human hero.
And so Heracles was created.
In the Gigantomachia, it was his joining the battle that led the Greek gods to victory.
‘But the situation I’m seeing in the tower now is the complete opposite of the myth.’
Heracles has become a Giant.
And Hades is in a state of confinement.
Did the Giants win here instead?
As Lee Kang-han was working through his own reasoning,
[You are the owner of the trait “Cheonma Body Constitution.”]
[If you accept a Constellation patron, your Cheonma Body Constitution Rank will drop to F and become fixed.]
The message came flooding back—that if he accepted a guardian Constellation, he would drop to Rank F.
He remembered it clearly.
‘Hades’s helm would be a shame to pass up, it’s true.’
But the Cheonma Body Constitution was worth far more.
Lee Kang-han declined Hades’s demand.
[The Constellation “Underworld King Hades” is angered by the player’s decision.]
[The Constellation “Underworld King Hades” expresses his indignation, saying you dare reject him while he is confined?]
[The Constellation “Underworld King Hades” …….]
Message after message from the raging Underworld King poured forth, shocked that someone so insignificant would dare refuse him.
Lee Kang-han had expected a few lines and nothing more, but Hades’s messages kept coming and coming.
He tried to placate him with an explanation.
“My trait is rather special, so my Rank would drop to F if I accepted a Constellation. I meant no disrespect at all.”
But Hades was not appeased.
Rather,
[The Constellation “Underworld King Hades” questions the existence of any such trait, asking who you think he is—does he look like a fool?]
‘Good grief, has this man spent his entire life being deceived?’
Other Constellations had understood.
But Hades was still in an uproar.
What could he do?
“If you won’t believe me, there’s nothing to be done about it. Either way, I can’t accept a guardian Constellation, so I’ll forgo the item instead.”
Lee Kang-han set the helm in his hand down on the ground.
But then—
Whoosh.
The helm “Queene,” now resting on the earth, lifted itself into the air of its own accord
and settled back into Lee Kang-han’s hands.
‘What is this thing doing?’
Here Hades, its master, was throwing a tantrum,
yet the helm acted independently of his will.
[The Constellation “Underworld King Hades” laments that now that his power has waned, even the helm no longer obeys him.]
[The Constellation “Underworld King Hades” gives up, telling you both to do as you please.]
Just moments ago consumed with fury, the Underworld King had now turned sullen.
Watching Hades’s mercurial emotions swing, Lee Kang-han changed the subject.
“But about Heracles—how did he end up becoming a Giant?”
[The Constellation “Underworld King Hades” is astonished, asking how a mere human could know such a thing.]
“I met him during my last record-breaking attempt.”
Lee Kang-han explained.
[The Constellation “Underworld King Hades” is aghast—do you mean you broke Heracles’s record?]
[The Constellation “Underworld King Hades” asks whether your trait played a major role in breaking the record.]
“Well, without the Cheonma Body Constitution, I never could have done it.”
Hades, realizing from his words about “breaking the record” that Lee Kang-han had surpassed Heracles’s achievement,
had shifted his attitude toward Lee Kang-han considerably—toward something warmer.
And then,
[The Constellation ‘Underworld King Hades’ offers to unseal ‘Queene’ if you rescue Zeus.]
[If you accept the proposal, a special quest will be granted.]
A quest titled “Rescue Zeus” materialized from Hades.
‘So Zeus is trapped somewhere too.’
At this rate, Olympus is completely destroyed.
But do I really need to unseal this helmet while taking on a rescue quest?
As Lee Kang-han studied the message, he hesitated for a moment.
[The Constellation ‘Underworld King Hades’ persuades you that if you rescue Zeus, the reward will be far greater than just Queene.]
[The Constellation ‘Underworld King Hades’ pressures you again, insisting this is a good deal to accept.]
[The Constellation ‘Underworld King Hades’…….]
Hades seemed to be sending a long message combining persuasion and pressure.
Ding.
[The Constellation ‘Underworld King Hades’ sending a message is detected.]
[He is dragged deeper into the Confinement Space.]
[Hades’ anguished cry echoes for a long time…….]
A message appeared saying Hades had suddenly been dragged away.
[The connection with the Constellation is severed.]
The connection cut off.
‘What?’
And just like that, it was over without me even accepting the quest.
He was sending messages so actively from the Confinement Space.
I wonder if he got caught.
It was unfortunate that he couldn’t compare Queene when unsealed versus when sealed.
Still, Lee Kang-han didn’t feel much regret.
And for good reason.
‘Rescuing Zeus is too large a quest for a Bronze Rank to undertake.’
It seemed the giants were the ones who sealed Zeus away.
There’s no need to clash with the enemy who sealed the gods just to get a helmet.
Besides, looking back at when I received a Temporary Quest from Karana before.
Every time I entered the tower, only maps and pathways matching the quest kept appearing.
‘If I accept the quest here and only maps for rescuing Zeus start appearing, that’d be a headache.’
Right.
Being greedy for items could lead to ruin.
‘And if I’d taken Hades as a Constellation, I’d be in a bind anyway. He’s helpless now that he’s being dragged away from the Confinement Space, isn’t he?’
In that case, the Aztec gods that were freed last time would’ve been better.
Even if Hades has a famous name value.
I don’t need a Constellation who gets dragged away like that from the Confinement Space.
As Lee Kang-han congratulated himself for wisely refusing the quest on impulse.
-Oh, the Heavenly Demon Lord’s back again
-The screen suddenly went dark, scared me. Is it just me?
-Nope, everyone had it. Community’s going crazy
-Even TowerTube’s not working right
The chat that had been frozen suddenly erupted with messages flowing up.
‘The chat’s back now that Hades is gone.’
Was the frozen chat connected to Hades somehow?
As Lee Kang-han considered this.
Whoosh…….
The helmet Queene rose above his palm.
Swish.
It settled perfectly onto Lee Kang-han’s head.
Then.
[You pass the final stage trial of the ‘Realm of Death’.]
[The Underworld King’s helmet, ‘Queene’, recognizes you as an ‘Agent of the Underworld King’.]
Along with the trial passage message.
[‘Queene’ becomes bound to the Agent of the Underworld King.]
Fzzzzz…….
The helmet on his head gradually became transparent.
Item information bloomed before his eyes.
The Heavenly Demon Shatters the Tower (Ongoing)
Author | Yeom Bi
Published by │ Kim Ju-hyung
Published by │ J Plus Media Co., Ltd.
Marketing │ Han Jae-hyuk
Address │ 204 Daelung Post Tower 1, 288 Digital-ro, Guro-gu, Seoul (Guro-dong)
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 the permission of the company and author.
Violations of this are subject to criminal and civil legal liability.

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