The villainous young master just wants to live a Buddhist-like life.

　Dark frowned slightly and looked out the window again.

　However, pollutants clung to the area, and the black fog spread, so the windows on this floor remained completely blocked, making it impossible to see anything.

　At this moment, the magical spirits such as "Demon King Aldridge" and "Gittomon" are using the magical dragon to clear the way.

　However, they are actually still hovering in the middle layer, and it is extremely difficult for them to break through the barrier and get here.

　Dark was mentally prepared to summon "Demon King Aldrich" again.

　"It's not suitable to stay here for long."

　He raised his hand, signaling everyone to continue upwards.

　After walking up two more floors, they rested briefly at the entrance of the stairwell before continuing on.

　This time, I made it through the last eighteen floors in one go!

　The mist above their heads dissipated naturally in their eyes, finally revealing the top of the supporting pillar!

　The supporting column supports an entire plane, and the staircase winding around the supporting column only goes up to this special floor—there is no staircase that goes above to the top of the tower.

　At the top of the supporting pillars, thick, vein-like pipes emerge from the pillars, extending in all directions. When they reach the outer wall, they turn vertically downwards, skimming the floor and finally... coming to rest behind a total of twelve statues.

　At a glance, the twelve statues resembled the twelve celestial gods. After examining all the gold tablets, everyone present had a general understanding of the appearance of the twelve celestial gods.

　They held their breath and observed carefully.

　The twelve statues are incredibly lifelike, but all of them have their eyes closed.

　In front of these twelve statues, there are different styles of tables, all of which are empty.

　After looking around, Dark asked in a low voice, "Which pipe does the damaged pipe belong to?"

　"Magic Beast: Goddess of the Mind's Eye" pointed lightly: "It should be that one, the statue of Hermes himself."

　Dark was speechless. But in truth, it could only be Hermes!

　But now that the statue of Hermes is here, what about Hermes himself?

　Is it possessing the statue?

　Ultimately, what is the purpose of these idols, and why do they need to absorb (angelic essence)?

　It couldn't possibly be that they were trying to cultivate these statues into the physical bodies of gods, could it? Dark frowned slightly.

　Cultivating a statue into a divine body may sound like nonsense, but what he wants to study in the future is actually a topic very similar to that.

　However, he instinctively felt that it wasn't like that.

　Or rather, it hasn't come to that point yet!

　The presence of Hermes and the appearance of fragments of Zeus's consciousness essentially confirm the claim that these twelve gods did not die during Ragnarok.

　Their souls and bodies may have disintegrated, but their consciousness—that is, their awareness—remains.

　However, it seems that, apart from Hermes' consciousness, the consciousness of the other gods is in a state of near-dormancy.

　If his judgment is correct, then... the consciousness of all the gods except Hermes should be dormant within the statue before him.

　It's more likely that those "angelic essences" are merely used to maintain the consciousness of the gods.

　But if that's the case, then the pipeline they damaged was essentially worthless.

　After all, Hermes' own consciousness should no longer be within the statues. Or perhaps, these statues were built by Hermes along with the Tower of Endymion when he was still in relatively "healthy" condition!

　"No! Hermes must be in a very bad state right now. He may not have needed it before, but now he certainly needs the 'Essence of Angels' just like the consciousness of other gods!"

　Dark stared intently at the statue of Hermes, and an idea began to form in his mind.

　If Ergane were here now, that would be wonderful.

　The statue of Athena is over there, and the consciousness of Athena herself may be sleeping within it.

　If Ergani were here, she should be able to recognize it immediately. Dark turned to look at "Magical Beast: Goddess of the Mind's Eye".

　The latter clearly knew what he wanted to ask, and immediately shook his head and said, "It has spirit, but I can't see it."

　“Let’s go take a look. But don’t do anything rash,” Dark said, raising his hand.

　Upon hearing this, everyone cautiously approached the statue. However, no one reached the statue itself; they all stopped at a relatively safe distance.

　Even Fred North, who spoke of "inheritance," did not actually go to the statue to receive the "inheritance."

　Everyone knows they have reached the "end." If Hermes is the one orchestrating the game behind the scenes.

　So Hermes' purpose in transporting them from that flesh-and-blood passage to "Heaven" and then to this "Tower of Endymion" should be nearing completion.

　Twelve statues stood before them, each with a table in front of it. It was as if they were beckoning them to place the gold medals they had painstakingly collected on those tables.

　"Fight, vie, and offer up the spoils of war."

　Dark muttered to himself as he walked to the statue of Hermes. His eyes gleamed with golden light; he had activated his "Eye of Truth." The statues were incredibly valuable to him. But indeed, the statue of Hermes was less valuable than the others.

　It's unclear whether it's due to the lack of "angelic essence" or because Hermes's true consciousness wasn't within that statue (it's probably the latter).

　Thinking this, Dark took out the twelve gold medals one by one from his backpack. Now that he was basically certain that Hermes was controlling everything.

　So let's think about it from this perspective.

　Hermes has collected a vast amount of information about the human world over the years. There's no reason for him not to be interested in magical technology.

　Furthermore, the ritual currently underway may even be based on magical theory and deduced from it.

　After all twelve gold medals were retrieved, Dark suddenly said, "What do you think would happen if I threw all these gold medals out now... or into the pollutants?"

　The atmosphere froze as soon as he finished speaking.

　The others, who had just been carefully observing the statue, all turned their attention to him.

　Even Aurora and Ollie wore strange expressions. But Dark emphasized, "I'm not joking."

　"Ahem!" Sensing his seriousness, Fred North quickly coughed and said, "Wouldn't that anger Hermes?"

　Dark shook his head and said, "So what if we anger them?" Just as he had raised that thought, he suddenly realized something. The current situation clearly showed that Hermes needed something from him.

　Why should the person being asked for a favor have to be so apprehensive?

　Moreover, how much of Hermes' fighting strength does he still have left? Ultimately, is it possible to expect someone to accomplish everything perfectly without saying a word, allowing you to reap the rewards without lifting a finger?

　Thinking this, he suddenly picked up a gold medal, and without even looking at which god it belonged to, he threw it forcefully towards the window!

　Surprisingly, there was no black fog outside the window on the top floor. Looking up from here, the edge of the enormous halo was clearly visible. The twelve colors of light illuminated the night sky, making it a kaleidoscope of colors.

　Amidst the astonished gazes of the crowd, the gold medal flew out of the window at an incredible speed.

　Just as the gold medal was about to be thrown out, a gust of wind suddenly blew up from the window and pulled the gold medal back!

　"Ah."

　Dark gave a soft chuckle and finally laughed.

　He reached out, and magic flowed out, swirling the gold medal back into his possession. But then, he took the medal and walked towards the window. The appearance of that wisp of wind was thought-provoking.

　The others were shocked, but did not stop it.

　A gentle breeze wouldn't have been enough to stop Darko from throwing the gold medal down.

　Even if Hermes doesn't act personally, he will inevitably have to take some action. But what will he be able to do?

　"boom!"

　A dull thud suddenly came from the direction of the statue.

　Dark's expression remained unchanged; he simply turned his head slightly toward the direction from which the sound came.

　As expected.

　The statue that moves is that of Hermes himself.

　Although the purpose of the other statues is unknown, the fact that Hermes did not remove the tubes from the other statues to connect to his own shows that he would not touch the other statues.

　In this way, all he can control is his own idol.

　Placed in online game novels...

　"Is this the final boss?"

　Dak casually tossed the gold medal out the window again.

　But as the statue of Hermes himself began to move, an extremely powerful divine force suddenly erupted from this floor.

　Centered on the statue of Hermes, a wave of divine power rapidly spread out, enveloping the entire floor.

　This time, the gold medal struck the light barrier, which resembled a protective barrier, and bounced back.

　Dark picked up the gold medal, and the idea of ​​trying to forcefully break the barrier arose in his mind.

　But as if sensing his thoughts, the statue suddenly turned its head, its tightly closed eyes snapped open, wind elements instantly gathered, divine power erupted, and two beams of azure light shot out from those eyes.

　Dark jumped back suddenly, and the two beams of light slammed into the ground in front of him.

　The bricks on the floor suddenly shattered, and the energy layers that separated them were activated, releasing waves of energy.

　Dark summoned "Dream Demon" with lightning speed, as if walking on water, and then...

　"In the name of Dark Demon, a magical summoning—'Elysium 4? Moon'!"

　A pink beam of light suddenly shone on the materialized "Dream Fairy". The "Dream Fairy" rapidly transformed in the light of evolution, instantly becoming a six-star "Dream Demon".

　A six-star magical spirit is meaningless before a statue controlled by a god. However, this limitation does not apply as long as the target of the ultimate skill is not a statue.

　"Miyo!"

　As the "Dream Demon" let out a high-pitched scream, Ollie, who was already dressed, stood between Dark and the statue.

　On the other side, Angry protected Aurora.

　The group quickly retreated towards Dak, but kept a distance to avoid being attacked by the statues simultaneously.

　After evolving "Dream Fairy", Dark drew his own field card - [Paradise 3.0]!

　Even under these circumstances, Hermes himself still did not appear.

　The deployment of that statue would inevitably disrupt the entire framework of the ritual. Hermes must have sacrificed something when he made this decision.

　Dark quickly analyzed the situation, his summoning speed remaining unchanged. "In the name of Dark Dimon, Summon Magic—'Paradise'!"

　The ground trembled slightly, and immense magical power spread wildly outwards in a grid-like pattern from beneath his feet.

　Almost simultaneously, "Dream Demon" unleashed "Nightmare Space." A thick purple mist rose from the ground, spreading in all directions along with the "Paradise" area effect.

　Buildings sprang up from the ground without restraint, crashing straight into the ceilings of the buildings.

　A giant Ferris wheel appeared near the entrance to the building, but more than half of it was blocked by the ceiling.

　The carousel's song filled the room, and tiny ghosts peeked out from the ghostly mist.

　As soon as Dak had a thought, pale yellow healing flowers bloomed in the park.

　A pitch-black curtain obscured the sky, and a full moon radiating a pinkish haze appeared on the curtain, as if the moon were hanging in the darkness.

　That is the "Moon of Elysium"!

　Under the illumination of the "Moon of Elysium," the enhanced effects gained by the magical spirits belonging to the Paradise through the power of "Elysium" have their duration doubled.

　In other words, the evolution time can last for thirty minutes! Of course, this is not important.

　The reason for summoning the "Nightmare Space" was simply to speed things up for himself.

　Dark kept the "Dream Demon" by his side and gave it precise instructions to control the "Nightmare Space"—simply apply the effect of the "Nightmare Space" distorting space and reversing speed to Dark's feet.

　Hermes wanted to complete the ritual, and activating the idol served the same purpose: to coerce Dark and the others into handing over the gold medal through the idol's threat.

　He actually has another way to do this.

　As long as the windows are sealed and pollutants are allowed to rise to the top floor, people like Dak and others will naturally offer up their gold medals in their quest for survival.

　But he couldn't wait until then!

　Without the nourishment of "angelic essence," his consciousness, which had sustained him for countless years, was like a small boat in a storm, ready to capsize at any moment.

　As for the influx of pollutants threatening the statue... that was no longer within his consideration.

　Once the ceremony is completed, everything can start over!

　However, the question of how to start over and what benefits he can gain from the process is different.

　When he devised this plan, he had considered the possibility of unexpected events, but when the unexpected actually happened, he was still extremely agitated.