Inside the tower, 22 hours later...

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Congratulations! You have successfully cleared the Eighth floor of the tower of trials.

You have gained 1000 tower point(s).

You can proceed to the next level when you please.

Current points: 10165

You can exchange 10000 points for an exit ticket or you can head to the next floor. Please remember, shall you choose to take the final floor of the trials, you will not be permitted to leave unless you have cleared it.

In the event shall you choose to leave the tower now, please note that you will not be allowed to enter the tower for the next 30 days (outside time).

Exchange the points for the ticket?

Yes    or      No

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Arnold thought about it carefully. His arm bionic arm was busted, his gears were a mess thanks to all those disgusting demon lords and their pawns, otherwise, he was in a good shape. Physically he had no reason not to get rid of the tower once and for all. However, his gut was telling him that he wasn't ready for the final floor. Not yet.

It was a strange feeling. It wasn't as if his mind was telling him to run away from there, it was more like the mind was trying to tell him he wasn't just prepared yet. He was pretty sure he could defeat whatever that was waiting for him behind those closed doors. After all, he had killed demigods, he doubted there was anything worse than a demigod waiting for him inside.

But it was more like a feeling that he should do something else first. He just couldn't pinpoint it. He could have used the foresight to look into the future and see what was inside the last floor... if only he had more usage left for the day. He had already used the skill five times to clear the last five floors and now he couldn't use it anymore due to the daily usage limit.

Also, the main reason for him to enter the tower was not to clear it but to get Nicole out of there. But after clear the floors till now, he was pretty sure Nicole wasn't in there, either she never entered the tower or had already cleared it. If she was inside the tower, he would have already run into her.

On top of that, as far as the 'secret power' held within the tower was concerned, Arnold was pretty sure one could only get their hands on it after clearing the final floor. Also, by judging how tough of a time he had while climbing to this floor, he was pretty sure no one else would have been able to get to the final floor either way.

Then there was the fact that he would leave his summons to guard the tower even when he wasn't there. And no one in their right mind would go against him or his army. so the tower would remain safe until he decided to visit the tower again. After all, he had lots of time left the tower would disappear or till the 'event' takes place and the tower wasn't going anywhere till then.

'Let's just get out of here first.' Arnold mumbled as he exchanged the points for the ticket to leave the tower, 'I have already spent 22 hours here, which should be a bit over 9 days outside. Not need to spend any more of my time here.'

Arnold might not have said it, but the main reason for him to leave the tower were Nina and Aiden. He couldn't just keep disappearing on them like this. It wasn't fair to with of them. In his eyes, it was about time to stop thinking about the world for once and try concentrating on being with his family because no one knew how long would he be gone during the war of the worlds. So it was probably the right decision to focus on his family for now and let his summons take care of things for him.

The next moment he had a golden ticket in his hands and the tower points got deducted. He tore the ticket in half and was immediately teleported back outside. He was graced by the sunlight outside as well as his summons who all jumped up after seeing him alive and well.

[How did you know you had to tear the ticket in half to get back?]

'I didn't.'

[... you really are lucky.]

However, his summons weren't the only ones waiting for him there. Nicole and a few other Black family members were there as well. It looked like they were there to discuss something, and Arnold had an idea of what they wanted to talk about. 

"Did you know I was going to come out like now or what?" Arnold smiled as he took the towel from Nicole's hands to wipe the dirt off his face.

"We have been waiting here for quite some time..." Allen spoke with a smile on his face, "Actually for a week."

"What a way to waste your time." Arnold smiled, "So to what do I owe the pleasure, Mr Black... that sounds awkward. I think I'll stick with Allen for now."

"Haha, it's fine by me even if you call me a retard like you used to." Allen smiled back, "But let's cut the crap. You know why I'm here, so why waste each others time?"

"Straight to business, I like it. But as much as I like it... the tower will stay under my control. That's non-negotiatable. It's too risky to even for me to enter the tower so y'all can forget about it."

"But it's on our soil." One of the men accompanying Allen bu*ted in before Allen could say anything, "You might be the strongest and a king, but that does not give you the right to invade our land and claim it as yours."

Everyone gasped noiselessly as Jack, the new guy, said those words to Arnold. Only one thought was racing through everyone's minds... Jack was a goner. However, Arnold surprisingly didn't get mad at all. In fact, he burst into laughter while patting Jack's shoulders.

"You're not wrong. I don't have any right to hold on to your land... but wait for a second... as far as I remember, it was MY summon who made this land using his ability. In other words, this land was terraformed by him on MY orders. So the way I see it, this land was mine since day one." Arnold stopped smiling all of a sudden and bore a hole into Jack's eyes through his gaze, "Still, I think you are right. It IS your country, after all, and it's not like I will have to move a finger to conquer this 'country' of yours. Just my summons would be enough for me to do that."

"B-But that's tyranny-" Jack mumbled as if he was about to cry any second.

"That's how the world always has been." Arnold turned around and activated a portal, "Fine, you can have the tower. It's not like you can enter it anyways. My summons will stay here and guard it while I rest and clear my head. Once that's done, we can talk again, would that be alright, Allen?"

"Sure, brother... anything you want. In the meantime.. take this idiot away from here!" Allen roared at his guards as Arnold disappeared.