Chapter 278: The Secret Of The Black Tower!
Novak glanced at his palm, a flicker of realization crossing his eyes.
Then—
His gaze shifted to Crow, standing behind him.
And then to the three tenants of the second floor, their faces filled with despair, looking as if they wanted to cry but had no tears left to shed.
The demon avatar dissipated, yet Novak's expression remained unreadable, his eyes narrowing slightly.
At that moment—
A thought struck him.
Had he just touched upon a deeper secret within this Black Tower?
This hell-level novice dungeon, once regarded as an absolute death trap in his past life, seemed to be hiding something far beyond what was publicly known.
A secret more terrifying than he had ever imagined.
Behind him, Crow let out muffled noises.
"Mm-mm…!"
He wanted to speak—needed to speak—
But he still couldn't.
Novak turned to look at him.
Then—
He smiled.
And nodded.
In that instant, Crow was nearly moved to tears.
He didn't know how Novak had done it, but—
Novak remembered him!
That's right—
The Time Hourglass was truly a godlike ability!
Even though the ability to rewind time would now trigger the cooldown unlike when he was doing the Abyss Trial, its second ability is still there.
[Time Backtracking: You can mark your perfect state. During battle, you may use this mark to reset all injuries, negative states, and skill cooldowns. Cooldown: 1 hour. Highest priority skill.]
More importantly—
The nature of Time Backtracking meant that even the strongest memory-altering effects couldn't erase what never happened.
No matter how powerful the memory loss effect was—
Novak could always undo it!
However—
It was precisely because of this experience that Novak became keenly aware of something else.
Something unusual.
The rules of this Black Tower were highly structured.
At the beginning, Meikanxie had once said:
Authority is the power of rules.
And the power of authority is the power of the gods themselves.
Even though Novak had never been a god—not in this life, nor the last—
He had still wielded authority.
And authority meant control.
For example—
As the Master of the Abyss, he could manipulate the abyss itself, consuming his own power to reshape it as he pleased.
That was the power of authority.
And just now—
When he used the Time Hourglass to restore his lost memories, he had felt something peculiar.
The force that had erased his memory…
It was no ordinary magic.
It was a power tied to authority!
This could only mean one of two things—
Either this power originated from an incredibly rare high-level artifact…
Or—
It was something far more terrifying.
The power of a god…
Novak's heart pounded.
A dungeon designed for levels 10 to 20—
Possessing divine-level power?!
Impossible.
Or at least—
It should have been.
Yet his instincts told him otherwise.
Something was very, very wrong.
This Black Tower—
Was hiding a secret far greater than anyone had ever realized.
Novak no longer cared about the possible loot or the rewards of this dungeon.
Everything else pales in comparison to the truth behind this place.
Ignoring the bewildered second-floor tenants, he spoke in a low voice:
"Move."
Crow still couldn't speak—and Novak understood why.
His Abyss Authority had expanded his perception.
And his Time Backtracking had allowed him to see the truth behind the rules.
On the bulletin board outside the Black Tower, the rules had been clearly written—
No light.No sound.
As one descended deeper into the Black Tower, these restrictions would only grow stronger.
Just like the memory loss effect.
The higher the floor, the stronger the rule became.
And Crow—
As the weakest of the three—
Was the first to lose his ability to speak.
If they continued to climb—
By the time they reached the third or fourth floor, even Meimei might be unable to utter a single word.
At that point—
If they still needed to complete the resident trials, they would have only four hours to do so.
No wonder.
No wonder this Black Tower had been known as a restricted zone for evolutionists in his past life!
But For Novak?
The rules weren't so difficult after all.
In his past life, Novak had heard whispers about the Dark Building.
Some who had managed to escape mentioned its unwritten rules—
Rules that were absolute and unforgiving.
One of them was particularly crucial:
No player inside the building could take action against another.
Likewise, residents of the building were bound by the same restriction—they couldn't attack players either.
And yet, despite this protection, the Dark Building's trials were so brutal that they felt insurmountable.
The randomness and uniqueness of this place made it impossible to believe that such overwhelming pressure could be caused by a mere artifact.
Then—
A thought struck Novak.
His eyes ignited with fire.
Without hesitation, Novak rushed forward, his figure flashing past the corridor of the third floor.
Sure enough—
The thoughts that had just filled his mind began to blur and dissolve.
The deeper he ventured into this Dark Building, the stronger the rules' influence became.
He turned back, casting a glance at Meimei and Crow, who had hurried to catch up.
As expected—
The moment they reached the third floor, both of them froze in confusion, their eyes filled with bewilderment.
They could no longer see anything—
The darkness had grown so dense that they couldn't even tell if they were alone or accompanied.
At this point—
The only thing anchoring them was the vague sense of their own existence and the singular purpose of this journey.
To pass the test.
To escape the Dark Building.
This time, Novak didn't move.
He simply stood still—waiting in the darkness.
Silently observing Meimei and Crow.
302. 303. 304.
The third floor, the one closest to the top level, was surprisingly the most normal.
Because—
Novak didn't interfere.
He simply watched as Meimei and Crow fought their battles.
Again.
And again.
Failing.
Again.
And again.
Even their memories seemed to be unraveling.
Finally, Novak let out a slow breath—
And stood up.
Repeat the trick.
The power of the demon surged—
And the Dark Building trembled once more.
For the next hour, the four residents who had treated Meimei and Crow like mere playthings were now shaking in fear.
And just like that—
They cleared the floor.
Still dazed, Meimei and Crow followed Novak to the fourth floor.
By now—
They had lost almost everything.
Their memories, their sense of time—all of it was fading.
The only thing left in them was the mechanical instinct to complete the test.
Novak frowned.
If this continued—
If they kept going like this—
They would lose themselves completely and be trapped in this Dark Building forever.
But there was no doubt—
Without Novak, Meimei and Crow would have never made it this far.
This place—
Was terrifying beyond reason.
At first glance, the Dark Building seemed like a dungeon where strength didn't matter.
But in reality—
Strength played a crucial role.
Because the stronger one was—the less they were affected by the rules.
Take Crow, for example—
By the second floor, he had already lost his ability to speak.
The clearest sign of the rules tightening their grip.
Now, at last—
They had reached the fourth floor.
The highest level of the Dark Building.
This was where the building's leader resided.
And once they cleared this floor, this hell-level secret realm would be sealed shut.
But more importantly—
Novak was certain.
The secret of this Dark Building was hidden here.
The moment Novak stepped onto the fourth floor, he ignored Meimei and Crow, who stood beside him, their minds blank.
Instead—
His gaze locked forward.
Unlike the previous floors—
There were no separate rooms here.
Instead, the entire fourth floor was a single, massive hall.
This was it.
The room of the Building Leader.
But Novak didn't look at the figure standing in the distance.
No.
His eyes were fixed on something else.
Something etched into the far wall.
A pattern.
A massive, intricate design—
So complex that it seemed infinite.
At first, it looked like a snake.
But no—
Not quite.
It had the legs of a centipede.
The legs of a spider.
Its twisted limbs spread outward, and from each limb, new limbs branched out, mirroring the original.
A design that never ended.
Its entire form was black as ink, and the layered composition resembled a dark, eerie moon.
Novak stood frozen.
Unmoving.
His gaze locked onto the pattern—
His mind racing.
Because he knew this emblem.
He had seen it before.
He had lived under its shadow for decades in his past life.
For this—
Was the Emblem of the Dark Mother Goddess!
The mark of Hell Rose Andashir!