The tower had a total of nine floors. Its entire structure was built from obsidian, the heavy black exterior dotted with purple veins that added a touch of mystery.
Not a single ray of light could be seen inside the hollow, square entrance, as if it were preparing to swallow a person's soul.
Climbing the tower—since they had Boingo's absolutely guaranteed prophecy, what was there to fear? The Nine Glory Gods entered one by one. With their every step, Redstone Lamps lit up one after another. Then, the square opening that served as the main entrance suddenly slammed shut.
"Welcome to my Battle Tower, members of the Nine Glory Gods. I am waiting for your arrival at the top of the tower, and I look forward to your wonderful performance."
Zenith's voice echoed through the first-floor hall via speakers installed in the four corners. "Now then, let's start with a little appetizer."
The lights suddenly went out, immediately followed by the sound of arrows! Countless arrows shot out from all directions. They came from Dispensers surrounding the hall, each loaded with at least four stacks of arrows!
A flash of a blade!
Anubis of the Nine Glory Gods made his move. His true form was a magnificent cursed sword capable of controlling anyone who drew it from its sheath, and he himself was a formidable master of swordsmanship.
Acting alongside him was the god of the earth, N'Doul. He was a blind man with extremely developed hearing, capable of manipulating water in combat.
Under the high-frequency activation of the Redstone Repeaters, the arrows were quickly depleted. The hall was littered with fallen arrows, and half of the Nine Glory Gods were injured.
"I can't help but feel this is a bit excessive. It doesn't really align with the spirit of chivalry."
Jean Pierre Polnareff sipped black tea as he sat on the sofa, watching the monitors. Joseph, on the other hand, was drinking an ice-cold cola with a look of pure excitement.
"Oh—yes! I don't think so at all. If Zenith hadn't saved Holly, we'd be the ones desperately trying to clear this tower right now. Besides, just recall the disaster in Singapore. At least this way, no innocent bystanders will get hurt."
After a brief silence, Joseph coughed and added in a low voice, "Plus, it's like watching a TV show. It's been a long time since I've been this relaxed, ha!"
The group watched with great relish. Zenith had even changed into a suit, holding a microphone to communicate with the Nine Glory Gods while moonlighting as a combat commentator.
"It seems my welcoming gift didn't cause the Nine Glory Gods too much trouble. But don't worry, the upcoming levels are even more thrilling. As for whether there are still traps on this floor, or if you can safely rest up... who knows? Why don't you take a guess?"
*...What a terrible guy,* Jotaro shook his head, continuing to watch the TV. Although Zenith's hosting and commentary were a bit annoying, he had to admit that this kind of program was indeed quite entertaining.
What should they do? The Nine Glory Gods were also panicking now. Hastily dealing with the wave of arrows had already stretched their nerves taut, and Zenith's words made them feel like they were walking on thin ice.
*It's psychological warfare, that despicable bastard.* The god of the earth focused his attention, but he couldn't hear the sound of any mechanisms or bearings turning at all. "It should be a bluff. Let's go upstairs."
Among the Nine Glory Gods, only three possessed direct combat capabilities; the other six were all fighters who relied on specific gimmicks and mechanics. Therefore, it was only natural that they were led by the god of the earth, who had both combat ability and high battle IQ.
The stairs leading to the next floor were right in the center of the hall. As they cautiously arrived at the second floor, Zenith's voice rang out once again.
"As expected of the only real heavy hitter among the Nine Glory Gods, the god of the earth has excellent psychological fortitude. However, this floor is different, especially for you."
On the second floor of the Battle Tower, the ground was densely covered with irregularly placed Pressure Plates of various colors!
Among them, some would trigger traps when stepped on, while others would do nothing. This floor didn't test strength, but luck.
"These floorboards look very suspicious. Wooden, white, gold... Do we need to find some sort of pattern?"
No one paid attention to this muttering. Unlike the protagonist group, who were incredibly close and could entrust their lives to one another, these scumbags gathered under Dio for various reasons had absolutely no trust among peers.
Pet Shop, representing the god of the sky, made his move. His true form was a massive falcon. Being a bird naturally granted him air superiority, and his ability to manipulate ice allowed him to recklessly trigger all the traps from the air.
The struck Pressure Plate let out a click, and immediately after, the block beneath it fell away, emitting a sharp hiss.
The bubbling sound of churning liquid, accompanied by a scorching heat, instantly spread throughout the room.
Hidden beneath the traps was an imposing lava pool, a full two meters deep!
"Wait, stop, Pet Shop! If the triggered traps cause all the floorboards to sink into the lava, we won't be able to reach the stairs to the next floor!"
Would a bird really listen to human words that easily? Obviously not. As the ice bullets triggered the Pressure Plates one by one, the amount of ground available to step on grew scarcer, and the temperature of the entire floor rose sharply.
At the same time, pitch-black holes began to appear on the surrounding walls: Fire Charges!
Fire Charges capable of causing explosions and fire effects shot out. The missing floorboards meant there were fewer and fewer footholds to step on to dodge. And even on the floorboards that hadn't disappeared, the Nine Glory Gods didn't dare step on them lightly.
"It looks like you're having a hard time passing even the second floor. You don't need to worry about your lives, though. Right before you fall into the lava, I will rescue you, erase your Stand abilities, and let you enjoy the rest of your lives in the great underground prison, Impel Down."
Erasing their Stand abilities? Compared to that, they would rather choose death.
"Protect Boingo! The prophecy said he's the one who gets the Red Stone of Aja, letting the others fall down the tower. As for those who can't help in the fight, just leave them be!"
Anubis deflected a Fire Charge with his blade. "I get it now! When these traps are triggered, there's a delay of less than a second. We can get through if we sprint across!"
*They* could certainly get through, but the god of the earth, being blind, had absolutely no way to do so. They abandoned their teammate with extreme decisiveness, screwing him over as smoothly as could be.
Zenith watched with great amusement. The number of reserved tenants for Impel Down had increased by four, leaving only five of the Nine Glory Gods to continue the challenge.
Boingo, who was prophesied to obtain the Red Stone of Aja; the flying falcon; Anubis, whose true form was a sword; Alessi, who could reverse the age of any living creature he touched; and the soul collector Daniel J. D'Arby, who only knew how to gamble.
Oh, wait, now there were only three. The entrance to the stairs on the third floor looked like two revolving doors, but in reality, it consisted of four Iron Doors arranged in a pinwheel shape.
In the middle of the four doors was a Pressure Plate. The moment someone stepped on the Pressure Plate, the four doors would close simultaneously, trapping the person inside.
Daniel J. D'Arby regretfully exited the stage. In a Battle Tower—scratch that, a Trap Tower—with a full nine floors, they had only just reached the third floor, and the Nine Glory Gods were already down to three. And one of them was a child with zero combat ability.
How was he supposed to get them to the top floor? Zenith was a little troubled. If worse came to worst, he'd just have to go easy on them. If he didn't let them experience the whole thing, wouldn't designing this nine-story tower have been a complete waste?
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