[Tower of Trials, ?? Floor, Alan Peccator POV]
“Urgh…”
My head hurt…it was aching like a fucking boulder had been dropped on it.
‘Where am I?’
I opened my eyes, only to struggle to see what the fuck was happening before me. My vision was incredibly blurry, I could only make out that I was in a hallway of sorts…
Nothing else.
“I can’t believe it…”
Suddenly, everything became clear as I realized that I was still In Elijah’s body. Unfortunately, I still had no control over my actions, I was, once again, an Observer.
Or rather a victim.
‘What is the purpose of this floor now…?’
I thought, curious.
Elijah’s voice sounded depressed, I don’t know what will happen but I don’t think it will be anything good.
We(?) or rather I, was currently in the hallway of a hospital, filled with people. Most of the people here were injured…Some even corpses.
All available doctors and nurses rushed to do whatever they could, the family stood beside them, ready to help in any way possible.
‘Disgusting…’
The smell inside this place…was foul.
From what I could see…there were dead bodies, half eaten bodies, legs, arms…Everything.
Some held the appendages covered in cloth and cried as much as they could. Some were…shocked.
Their eyes were listless and they were either holding an appendage or looking at the dead body of someone.
“I…can’t believe it…”
I heard Elijah say again, and he slouched down on a random free seat in the hallway. He looked aimlessly at the ground.
He raised his hands…and just stared at them, shaking little by little.
He raised his hands further…and grabbed his face.
‘Hey! Hey!’
I had expected he would just cover his face with his hands but this lunatic was ripping his skin off!
‘Hey!’
Thankfully, he stopped, whether it was due to me or something else…I was just glad he stopped trying to rip his own face off.
‘Whew…’ 𝑖.𝘤ℴ𝘮
I let out a sigh of relief.
‘What’s the objective here?’
I wondered…What is the tower trying to do now?
The concept of these trials is…confusing to say the least. While I had concluded that maybe it was just giving me a taste of Elijah’s pain and memories…I have an inkling that maybe there is an ulterior motive here that I am unaware of.
And the thought irks me. I can’t predict what the tower will do.
This goddamned tower is capable of doing anything it wants…And that fact alone is all I need to be constantly on my guard…
Who knows, maybe a demon or whatever will appear in front of me again, and that time I would have control over Elijah’s body and would have to fight.
“..i’m sorry…”
All of a sudden, a plethora of emotions overwhelmed me.
Depression.
Anxiety.
Guilt.
Regret.
My heart was beating loudly, or rather Elijah’s heart was beating loudly.
I could hear every beat.
Thump!
It did not stop there.
Thump!
The emotions were so intense that I had fallen to my knees and I could barely breathe.
‘..!’
Elijah raised his head, his eyes filled with tears and looked at a particular family far away, all crowded around a bed.
I could see his father’s robust back, he was standing firm and proud, but I could see tears running down his cheek.
His mother and sister, both were hunched over the bed…breaking down in tears.
“I’m sorry…”
Ah, guilt hit me again.
“I’m sorry…Elton.”
And when those words left his mouth did I realize who it was on the bed. It was his brother, Elton Ardor. The one Elijah was trying so desperately to save. He…was the reason why everyone was crying.
He was the reason why I was crying as well…No matter what, I couldn’t help it. Elijah’s emotions overwhelmed me and I felt as if tears were running down my cheek.
‘…’
I tried to withstand the onslaught of the emotions, but they, slowly but surely struck me again and again and again.
‘Kuuhh…..’
“I’m sorry Elton…”
Again, his saddened voice rang out. The sounds of various children and mothers crying in the hospital disappeared.
It was all a blur, the voices in the surroundings had gone silent.
***************
[Tower of Trials, 41st floor, Elijah Ardor Pov.]
“Ugh…”
My head hurts….so much.
I tried to massage my head but I couldn’t feel…my body moved according to my will.
It was…blank. All I could hear was the distant echoes of a raging battle going on. And even that
‘Where am I?’
I questioned, trying to calm my mind. I raised my head but what I saw…
Was destruction, nothing else.
All around me, debris and blood littered the ground, accompanied by an occasional corpse.
My feet were bare, and the cloth on my knees had been eviscerated. The pain in my knees from sitting on the rough, broken ground was…immense.
I felt weaker, I felt…smaller. It was as if all of my strength had been sapped away and I had regressed back to when I was a kid…
No, even as a child, I was still stronger than this.
‘What…is happening?’
I questioned, tears ran down my face endlessly, my throat and mouth were filled with saliva and snot, which blocked my air passageways, making me struggle to breathe.
My chest…was in pain from all the crying, I could barely breathe!
Boom!
“..!”
The sudden noise shook me, I looked up to see an explosion of ice mana which had coagulated into massive spears. The spears however, were shattered by a black whip.
It seemed familiar to me…But I could not accurately grasp why. I knew I had seen it somewhere before…but where?
I could see a man and a woman, both clad in armor fighting against something, the explosions from their fight had rendered my ears useless…All I could hear was a constant ringing.
‘Wait…’
Looking further, I spotted the body of a young girl, she looked to be only a little bit bigger than a baby. Being able to walk and talk but not that well at her age.
“!”
My eyes widened when I observed her more…
‘My god…’
Her legs had been crushed. Although the pelvis and groin was still fine, everything from her thighs to her feet had been brutally crushed. It was as if a snake had strangled them with all his strength and broke the twigs that were the little girls legs.
Blood and flesh escaped from the punctures of her skin, caused by shards of broken bone or the sharp objects on the ground.
‘I need to help her.’
I could see her chest moving up and down…the girl was alive, albeit barely.
But then, I realized I could not move.
Like a coward…all I was doing was crying an endless river of tears
Move!
Move!
Move!
But no matter what, my body refused to listen to me. I tried to do anything I could, with all my might…
But nothing happened.
‘Move! Move!’
That girl will die soon enough! I need to go there and feed her a potion or use a skill to heal her!
‘System!’
I called my system, trying to access the shop in order to purchase a high grade potion…But nothing happened.
‘…System?’
Shocked, I called out again. But nothing happened.
‘…system!’
Desperate,?I did it again, but nothing happened.
“…?”
At this point, I was truly confused…
‘Has the tower restricted my system?’
The very thought was terrifying…and impossible.
The system couldn’t be restricted by anyone! It’s just something…that can’t. Even Agri failed miserably when he tried to tamper with it. He was gone for an entire year.
‘System!’
I called out again, refusing to believe this accursed tower is stronger than the King of Fire Dragons. I refuse to believe it can do anything to my system.
”System!”
Come on!
Boom!
‘Ah!’
Another explosion of mana erupted, and out of instinct I tried to erect a mana barrier in front of me. And at that point I realized.
I had no mana as well.
I could not feel the mana of the fire element flowing through my veins. I could feel nothing in my body.
‘This…can’t be happening.’
Tower, to even take away my mana? Are you trying to kill me?
What happened to the ‘I give trials, not executions?’
‘Tower!’
But there was no answer.
“Argh!”
A piece of rock hit my shoulder, the explosion was probably the reason for it coming at me with a high speed.
‘Fuck!’
I cursed, the pain was immense…even though it was a little rock it hurt so fucking much.
I looked at the duo, however, this time…They had fallen to the ground.
And I saw him.
I saw his figure, covered in a cloak of darkness, wielding a black whip covered with thorns.
Ah, now I know why that whip felt so familiar.
It was him, the bastard that had brought forth the destruction of my home.
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