"There's no turning back now..."
Ethan climbed the steps one by one. Although he felt an urge to go back down just to see what would happen, he knew this wasn't the time for such antics.
This wasn't just a casual journey through some random world. It was a life-and-death competition. The best option was to keep moving forward.
"Though, really, there was no turning back from the start..."
After who knows how long, Ethan gradually noticed something was wrong.
With his current divine body, climbing stairs for this short amount of time shouldn't have caused any fatigue. Even sprinting full speed for a year wouldn't have exhausted him. Yet, he could clearly feel his stamina depleting, and the divine power within him was slowly decreasing.
"What's going on?"
He stopped and carefully observed the divine power within him. Finally, he realized it wasn't being consumed—it was being compressed.
Moreover, his divine power was being tightly sealed within his body, completely unable to be released. Even his ability to fly had disappeared, as if it had never existed.
...
Ethan paused for a moment, then continued forward. This time, he focused part of his attention on observing his internal state.
He found that as he advanced, his divine power was constantly being squeezed into his physical body. Not just divine power—his physical form was also "regressing."
Everything, including divine power, the miraculous nature of his divine body, and even his powerful mental strength, was being compressed inward. As long as he continued forward, this process would continue. On the surface, it seemed as though he was being stripped of divinity and reverting to a human.
"So this is the trial?"
Stripping away power? Then making a Main God face various difficulties as an ordinary person?
Ethan thought about it and realized it probably wasn't that simple.
If it were the old him, he might've pondered this for much longer. But after personally experiencing severe injuries that had allowed his body and rule comprehension to fuse, he had a clearer understanding now.
Back then, that injury laid the foundation for the integration between his body and the rules. He now saw that the current situation had something in common with that fusion. Eugene had mentioned that the Tower of Babel could help Main Gods further integrate with the rules they had grasped.
So this compression—forcing everything to the limit—was actually meant to fuse all powers into one?
Compress everything to the extreme and blend it together by force... while that would combine all of his powers and rule comprehensions, wouldn't that just turn it into some formless lump?
As he continued forward, all the rules he had comprehended, the divine power he wielded, and even the special abilities contained in his divine body were being compressed into a single sphere. It hovered inside him, somewhere between reality and illusion.
Aside from his still-impressive looks, Ethan's current physical body was no different from that of a strong and healthy human. Facing the seemingly endless staircase, he went from being able to handle it well at the beginning to gradually struggling.
"This so-called Babel Tower better not just be about climbing stairs..."
Ethan knew that couldn't be. From Eugene's words, it was clear there were real dangers inside the Tower of Babel. Just climbing stairs couldn't count as danger. Unless he got so exhausted that he fell off the stairway that had no walls or handrails...
"Actually... that might happen."
It had been a long time since he felt this way. His clothes were soaked in sweat. He casually took off his outer coat, then took off his inner shirt, tied the coat around his waist, and used the shirt as a towel.
He was honestly thankful that this outfit hadn't disappeared when his power was compressed into his body. Otherwise, he would have had to climb naked, which would've been... less than ideal.
After who knows how long, the sphere inside his body had compressed to the point of being nearly invisible. It was no longer a mix of illusion and reality. Even if it were a tangible object, it would just be a tiny bump—so small you'd need a magnifying glass to see it. Since it wasn't located in any vital organ, it had no effect on his body at all.
"Seems like it's stopped changing..."
Perhaps because he'd been distracted focusing on that sphere, Ethan hadn't felt overly tired.
But as soon as he stopped paying attention, the fatigue and soreness he'd forgotten for years—feelings he could barely describe anymore—hit him all at once. It was unbearable. He felt like his entire body was about to fall apart.
Although he was still standing, his trembling legs looked like they could give out at any moment. To avoid falling off the stairs, Ethan crouched down. As soon as he did, his legs gave out and he collapsed on the steps.
"That really hurts!"
He face-planted, his chin smacking the edge of the step. If he hadn't lowered his body and used his hand to brace himself, he would've been disfigured.
"Good thing I protected my face in time and preserved my good looks..."
Muttering to himself to relieve some stress, he also did his best to recover his stamina. He couldn't afford to waste too much time on these stairs. He had noticed a very critical problem.
Now that he had reverted to an ordinary body, would he need to eat like a regular person to replenish his energy? These stairs didn't look like they came with any service stations, and it didn't seem like there'd be food before he left them.
"No... what I need most right now is water."
He spread his hand, trying to recall the first spell he had ever learned, hoping to create some clean water. But now, he was a true ordinary human. Magic? He couldn't use it.
"Looks like I need to speed up."
At this point, it wasn't just a test of physical strength, but of willpower.
Ethan judged that Abraham must be in the same situation. Both of them had originally possessed extremely powerful divine bodies. Now that they'd regressed into ordinary people, their base physiques should still be at the level of strong and healthy humans. So their constitutions should be roughly the same. From here on, the deciding factor would be their willpower, which wasn't suppressed or affected.
"I can win. I have strong willpower."
Muttering encouragement to himself, Ethan knew that if he chose to rest for real now, he might not be able to get back up today.
Finding a second wind was easy, but once you slacked off, it became extremely hard to get moving again.
While he still had strength and drive, Ethan decided to push forward. If he could reach the end now, that would be ideal.
Step after step, Ethan climbed steadily. He cleared his mind of all other thoughts, just focusing on the act of climbing. Even he didn't know how long he had been walking. His legs no longer felt like his own. When his body was nearly at its limit, he finally thought about taking a break.
He tilted his head slightly to look up. He had been avoiding looking up the whole time so he wouldn't feel despair at the seemingly endless staircase.
But now that he was considering resting, he took a look... and saw that the end of the stairs had appeared within his sight.
It was a square-shaped, glowing object that resembled a door. But from his current position, he couldn't see what lay beyond it.
Ethan hesitated. He was in poor condition now. If he rushed through immediately, it probably wouldn't end well. What if there were enemies waiting for him on the other side?
But seeing the end so close reinvigorated him. He pushed himself until he reached the door. Still, he couldn't see anything. It was just a glowing light. He had to go through it to see what lay ahead.
"Although this competition is about who finishes the trial first, it obviously won't end here. There must be more difficult challenges ahead."
The Tower of Babel was supposed to help raise him to a higher level. Compressing his power into a tiny point didn't count as a higher level. So there had to be more tests ahead.
Having figured that out, Ethan chose not to pass through the door immediately. Instead, he rested at the entrance to recover some strength.
Without food or water, he couldn't rest too long, or things would only get worse. After resting for two or three hours and regaining some strength, he would move forward. His first priority after that would be to find food and water.
Since the stairs weren't wide and had no protective measures, Ethan didn't dare sleep. He just sat on the steps. Once he felt some strength return, he didn't bother checking how long it had actually been. He put on his still-damp undershirt, pulled on his outer coat, made sure he was prepared, and stepped into the light.
His vision blurred. His head swam. Then he felt his feet sink slightly, as if he had stepped onto unstable, swaying wooden planks.
Even though he had lost his divine power and returned to a normal human body, the training and experience he had accumulated over so many years remained. Ethan immediately stabilized himself and assumed a defensive stance. But when he got a good look at his surroundings, all he could do was smile bitterly.
He was on a small boat. It had a mast and sail. Behind him were several barrels and crates. One of the crates had a hole, and through it, he could see that it contained food.
Looking farther, there was nothing but a vast, boundless ocean. Ethan was drifting on it in this small sailboat, with no idea where he was.
He sighed helplessly. At least there was food and water, so the situation wasn't that bad. But really, this setup was just ridiculous.
"Does this mean I'm playing New Game+ now?"
(To be continued.)
◇◇◇
◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 200 Power Stones.
◇ You can read the ahead chapter on Pat if you're interested: p-atreon.c-om/Blownleaves (Just remove the hyphen to access normally.)