Monarch of Gluttony: System of Sin
Chapter 192: Because I...

It was like the equations had turned now. While Lia believed Azekiel before and Raphael didn't, now it was Lia who didn't believe him while Raphael wanted to listen to what he was saying.

Raphael knew that if Azekiel wanted, he could've lied about many things. He could've lied about not creating the Tower as well. Why would he accept the truth? If he had lied, the two of them would've believed him even then. If he told them the truth, then maybe he really didn't want to lie.

If he was telling something, Raphael believed that they needed to give him a chance. In any case, it wasn't as if they could do anything else. They couldn't hurt him since they were bound by the rules of the Tower, which didn't allow them to attack their Summoner.

They were at Azekiel's mercy even now. Moreover, Azekiel didn't look like he was lying. At least Raphael couldn't see it.

"Why did I force people to kill each other? Why did I trap your soul here? Do you really want to know?" Azekiel asked back as his aura became a bit darker.

"Firstly, I didn't force anyone to kill each other. You've been with me ever since the beginning. Did you see any mission which asked me to kill any other King or Lord? The tower doesn't force anyone to kill. It's all the greed of Kings and their fear of the unknown!"

"The missions were created to make a merit system where only the ones who worked would get the strength they crave for. The missions about killing beasts and other such beings in the tower were also the same... It was so the tower could recover the strength that it was later giving to these Kings!"

"So no, I didn't force anyone to kill anyone! Even if there was no tower of Sins, there are wars! There is destruction, all created by your own. Did the Tower tell your king to burn the Witches? Did the tower tell you to kill people? Did the Tower tell the humans to wage war on each other? No. So don't blame your faults on the tower."

"It's all your greed and nothing more which forced you to kill! Your people wanted to be the only ones who could stand at the top! That's why they killed the others!"

"As far as why your Soul is trapped in the Tower even after death... What did you think would happen? This is a prison of space and time. Even the concept of death is incomplete in this realm. Death can turn to life, and life can turn to death at any moment."

" That's why the souls are reserved! It's not because the tower wants to keep them hostage. It's just because there is no other way."

"Your Souls were trapped in the tower, but it's not because I wanted it! I didn't even know you two before meeting you in this timeline. I have no reason to keep you hostage," he further explained.

"But you said that only one King from a world can climb up after a certain point in the tower. Isn't that a way to indirectly force them to kill each other?"

"That's an answer even to that, but I won't tell you that." Unlike before, this time Azekiel refused to answer this time. "I think I've given you enough answers for now."

"You are still playing with us, aren't you?" Lia frowned. "This time, no one is going to fall for that."

"I don't need you to fall for anything. You two had already fallen into this mess on your own when you died inside this Tower. You people never understood the true concept of this tower and just what it was supposed to be. You aren't the only ones though. Not a single person understood anything about this."

"This tower isn't so simple, Lia. You people should consider yourself lucky that you managed to enter the Tower and that your world was selected. Otherwise, let alone having another chance, you wouldn't even be alive..."

Unlike Lia, Raphael didn't blame Azekiel. If what he was saying was true, then it really made sense why he made this tower. Moreover, it was really hard to find any flaws in his Stories.

"Can I ask how you fell this much?" Raphael asked a more important question. "You were the god of the tower... You were the supreme being. Why did you end up on earth without your memories? Why did you not know anything? Why are you climbing your own tower as a King instead of just going straight to the top?"

"Because I can't," Azekiel answered. "I just can't... I need to reach the top, and I have no easier way than to climb this tower like the others."

"Why? Don't you control the tower?"

"Not anymore. Not entirely at least," Azekiel answered. "I don't control the tower... But I'm still linked to this tower, which can't be snatched from me."

He gazed at the floor on which he was standing, gently tapping it with his foot. "This tower... It's like an entity which is alive. It remembers me, and maybe that's why I'm still alive. It's like my baby, which didn't want me to die, even though it's in someone else's control now."

"Someone else's control?" Raphael asked, stunned. "You mean the second statement of yours was also true?'

Azekiel nodded. "It was partially true. The thing about me wanting revenge was true. I want to kill the bastard because of who I'm in this situation."

"Who is it? Who controls this tower now?"

From what Azekiel said, the tower belonged to him and helped him to some extent, but it was in someone else's control now. It's also because of that person that he couldn't just climb to the top of the tower directly.

No wonder he needed to clear the missions to climb up. Moreover, all those hidden missions that he received... It was like the tower subtly helped him through missions. The First Mission sent him to the village where he met the old man. The second hidden mission sent him outside the tower, where Azekiel regained his memories.