The Rise Of A Porter

Arnold stood in front of the black tower. He couldn't even locate the top of the tower as if was way above the clouds. The tower seemed endless. But that wasn't the only thing. Even being around the tower felt a bit spooky as if the tower and the area around it had been possessed by Hades or one of his counterparts.

When Arnold got closer to the tower, he saw something strange, there were strange markings etched all over the tower. It almost felt like the markings were the way for the tower to communicate with the others. But it all came to head when system sama informed Arnold of what the markings said...

[Death welcomes all those who wish to conquer the power to rule everyone hidden within the tower.]

'Looks like Halloween came early this year.' Arnold smirked while talking to system sama, 'Now all that's left to see is what this tower will give to us, would it be a trick or a treat.'

As soon as he heard the word power, two thoughts crossed Arnold's mind. The first was that this could be a trick to lure the vassals and paladin's into some kind of a trap. For the Vassals, who had more or less already met their limit to gain more power, the tower was a place they could get past that limit and thus would madly rush into the tower in hopes of gaining more power before the <war of the worlds> event took place.

It was similar for the Paladins, they would come here for two reasons, first was they could kill a vassal and take their place and second if they couldn't kill a vassal they could look for the 'power' the markings spoke of and try to level up to the level of a vassal if not more.

In the second case, the tower could genuinely provide what it said, a 'power to rule over everyone'. If that was true, then Arnold could not let anyone else get their hands on this mentioned power. His reasoning was simple, it was a power that could be easily abused to rule over the planet and he didn't want anyone to misuse the power. Thus he wanted to get the power for himself so that he could either destroy it for good or at least make sure no one abuses it.

[I would recommend you to not enter the tower.]

'Is it because you don't want me to gain more powers?'

[That is partially the reason, but not the primary one.]

'Just say what you want to please. I like the straightforward version of you more than this riddler one.'

[I have no information whatsoever about such a structure in my database. And I know almost everything to have existed in this universe. If I don't know about this, then most probably the tower is something you should stay away from.]

'Hm... I hear you loud and clear. But if the tower is even dangerous for me then that's all the more reason to enter it, don't you think? I can't abandon Nicole to face the troubles by herself. I have to at least get her out of here.'

[...]

'You didn't like my answer, did you?'

[My opinions won't change your mind either way. So let's just go and get your sister out of there for Immortal one's sake.]

While Arnold was busy debating whether to enter the tower or not, the backup from the syndicate arrived. After talking with them for a while, Arnold left the scene after giving orders to his summons to help them in any way they could. There wasn't much for him to do outside either way.

After all, the tower had appeared for the sake of their preparation for the war. Moreover, it was a normal notification that informed him about the tower so even if system sama was a bit confused regarding the tower, it didn't mean that the tower was essentially led to his demise.

But system sama's concerns weren't unfounded. First of all, nothing like this had happened in any of the previous events. Earlier, the participants were just taken off of their planets and forced to face each other without any 'preparations'. But for whatever reason, that didn't seem to be the case this time.

However, it doesn't mean they could head into the tower without a proper plan or something. But Arnold wasn't listening to system sama. If the tower was dangerous, then it meant Nicole was in danger and he couldn't sit idly not doing anything. However, there was one thing he could do. Before entering the tower, Arnold  waved Talos over. There was something Arnold wanted him to take care of.

"I'm going inside. Have everyone camp around the tower and do not let anyone enter. And I mean anyone. But send some people over to Memorial island to ensure safety. Tell Yu Zhung and Kang to go there as well."

"Master, maybe you should let some of us accompany you-"

"Talos, the vassals and Paladins from all over the planet would come here in hopes of entering the tower. I can't allow that. But since I would be inside, the only way to ensure that no one enters the tower and sabotage my or Nicole's safety is to have you guys watch my back."

"Alright, master. We will do as you wish. But there is a slight obstacle." Talos replied while pointing at the warriors dressed in Black armours, "It seems that those people want to enter the tower to investigate it as well. What should we do about them?"

"Show them their place, what else? If that doesn't work, then contact Allen and tell him I have restricted access to the tower of my own volition. No one is allowed to enter it without my permission. Not even the Syndicate."

Talos nodded and left. A few moments later, Arnold's army had surrounded the tower. It was safe to say the people dispatched from the syndicate did not like this development. But as much as they didn't like someone else's army taking hold of something in their country, they knew better and didn't mess with the deathless' army. So they let go of the matter as Arnold entered the tower.