Strongest Among the Heavens-Chapter 538: An Architect At Last

Nyx’s Territory...

This was all Nyx’s Territory?

This...this was something he did not know. No consensus was made on where exactly the White Abyss was, only that it was in a special region riding among the Current of Darkness like every other afterlife and dimension. Oh, yes, there were some scholars who disputed it. Those scholars believed the White Abyss was riiight outside the normal universe, close enough to Earth for souls to be able to travel here. It was called the Near Earth Theory.

"But Nyx does not control the Heavenly Tower," Dasha pointed out.

"She does not. No one controls the Heavenly Tower, not even the Administrators that built it. The ability to bring souls from Earth, the ability to create planets and even universes—it is the ultimate creation that is facilitated by the Tower and no one else. The Administrators and the Architects may be able to create their own gate three times every ten gates, but nothing more."

Only three times...

What a specific number. Suspiciously specific.

"You know far more than I expected. I get it, your masters worked on the Heavenly Tower with the Administrators."

"No, not just them. I was there to help with the Heavenly Tower’s construction. I..." Alþjófr grunted. "I am a former Architect."

Behind his mask, Dasha went wide-eyed. "So that is where you learned such sophisticated runes. The Heavenly Tower....!"

"It is the most sophisticated, most advanced construction in the history of the universe. All cultures, all manner of languages and magic circles have made their mark on it. I learned much, particularly from those of other cultures. It is...what made me come into this business."

Alþjófr grunted again. These were secrets he swore to keep to himself.

"But you were too weak. You had knowledge but not power. An ordinary worker, an ordinary student, yet you came this far. I am truly impressed. Truly." Dasha turned to face him and dropped to one knee. "What can you tell me about the Heavenly Tower? The Administrators and the Architects, tell me their names."

"I...I can’t."

Dasha grabbed his skull. The circle that ensured his tethered will bolstered. "Tell. Me."

Alþjófr gnawed on his bottom lip. Blood oozed out. His loyalty to them was commendable. However, like all creatures, the hierarchy was set. Dasha was his superior, his god, and like any god, he was to be obeyed.

"I only know of the Administrators Enoch, Thales of Miletus, Confucius, and Hypatia."

Names. Finally.

"And the other Architects? How does the System work? How long did it take for the Heavenly Tower to be built?"

"W-we built it out of Noah’s Ark! And Argo, the legendary ship of Jason and the Argonauts, a-and others! There were thousands of us that worked on it a-and our memories were wiped when we left!"

"Then remember."

"I-I can’t! I’ve tried! I’ve only managed to retrieve some of my memory through a surgery with special anti-magic needle. B-but it only helped me remember the Administrators. I-I can’t remember all the unimportant f-faces and friends that I met!"

"How did you even know that you lost your memories in the first place? Were they clumsy?"

"N-no, they warned none of us of the memory wipe, they just did it. B-but just barely, I..." Alþjófr’s voice cracked. "I managed to place a magic circle inside my glove that gave me a snippet of memories. Of me working on the Tower. A-and the confused me just wanted to know what these memories meant."

"And? This is all you know?"

Dasha tightened his grip. He threatened to crush his skull right then and there.

"I promise! I promise!" Alþjófr screamed. He wasn’t lying. He tried to break the seal on his memories and only got this much. As blood began to seep from the corners of his eyes...

"So you’re useless." Dasha released his skull and rose to his full height. Alþjófr gasped and collapsed to his knees. Scarlet tears fell from his nearly crushed eyes. "I suppose I should have expected as much. If there was a weakness in the Heavenly Tower, you Architects would have already exploited it. Although there is also another conclusion."

Dasha looked down. Alþjófr already understood.

"It means you were not the ones that discovered the exploit. Everybody with a modicum of history knows of this: Yamata-no-Orochi’s escape and the Great Fire of Heaven. Two glitches, two disturbances caused by the Heavenly Tower. What do you believe happened in either scenario?"

"...I can...only say what I assume."

"A rogue Admin, a rebellion of Architects, or perhaps a simple flaw. Which is it? Which caused each? Are they unrelated?"

"I-I do not know! I do not! Yamata-no-Orochi...that is..." Alþjófr gulped and sputtered. "It should have been impossible for it to leave."

"Why?"

"Because!" Alþjófr yelled. "The gods had the Heavenly Tower constructed for one other reason! To seal the great monsters that may threaten them! We call them Creatures of the Apocalypse! The Sacred Beasts! The Forgotten Ones! They were never meant to be killed, they were meant to be sealed. But the players insisted and so they fought! And if they did die, then good riddance! Tiamat, the Leviathan, the Behemoth...all of them are not of this world! All of them seek nothing but the end!"

The final gates of the Heavenly Tower. The 90s, which none had conquered. None were likely to ever conquer, for they sealed up the monsters that the monsters hid from. The monsters that gods did not and could not slay themselves.

The Creatures of the Apocalypse. The Sacred Beasts. The Forgotten Ones. Yamata-no-Orochi was among them. Only through the miracle of all the Chinese Sects working together were they able to fell it.

"Get up and keep walking, Former Architect. I have yet to make a selection of a weapon."

These monsters were of a future he could not fathom yet. Thousands before him had tried doing what he had. They all failed. Until Dasha possessed the power of the unfathomable, he could only fight against those he could fathom.

Like those Angels of Justice.

Yes, soon.