The city never slept, but some parts of it were meant to be forgotten.
Beneath the rusted pipes and clattering mana-rails of the Industrial Sector, deep under Level -13, sat a structure no one dared mention—a facility once linked to the Tower, erased from all maps and memory. It had no name.
But the Tower remembered it.
So did Rael.
[Mission Objective: Investigate Anomaly – Tower Pulse Detected][Coordinates: Level -13, Restricted Zone][Threat Level: Unknown]
Rael stood before the elevator door, the corrupted mana seeping through the cracks like a slow poison. Beside him, Selene leaned against the concrete wall, flipping a dagger between her fingers.
"You sure it's here?" she asked.
Rael nodded. "The pulse started three days ago. Tower signature—subtle, but old. Very old."
Selene sighed, brushing her silver bangs back. "It always has to be creepy ruins with you."
[Skill Activated: Phantom Override – Barrier Disruption][Access Granted]
The mana-lock whined as it disengaged. The steel door groaned open, revealing a tunnel swallowed in darkness. Broken runes flickered weakly along the walls like dying fireflies.
They stepped in, weapons drawn.
Level -13 – Blacklight Facility Core
The corridor led to a vast chamber of metal platforms suspended over cracked abyssal stone. Machines lined the walls—tortured remnants of Tower experiments. Syringe arms, shattered pods, tubes filled with dry, black residue.
Dead silence.
Then whispers.
Not voices—memories.
Rael's breath hitched. Echoes of screams, pain, tests. A dozen Tower trials buried in his subconscious flickered through his mind. He shook it off.
Selene gripped his arm. Her foxlike ears twitched. "There's something alive here."
Rael approached a wall where faded blood had been smeared in deliberate strokes. He touched it.
Old Tower script.
It woke up.
[System Alert: Aberrant Lifeform Detected][Designation: Subject Zero – Failed Ascendant][Containment Status: Breached]
A tremor shook the ground. Then laughter—low, distorted, not meant for human ears.
From the shadows emerged a beast. Eight feet tall, bone fused with flesh, glowing veins pulsing with Tower corruption. One eye gleamed crimson like a blood moon.
Selene's eyes widened. "That used to be human…"
Rael stared. "Subject Zero."
It lunged.
The fight was chaos.
Subject Zero roared, charging with terrifying speed. Its claws tore through pillars like paper.
Selene darted around it, her daggers flaring with anti-curse enchantments. She aimed for joints, nerve points—but it barely flinched.
Rael attacked from the shadows. Illusion, misdirection, surgical strikes. Every hit cut deep, but the monster regenerated instantly.
[Regeneration Detected – Tower Mutation Core Active][Solution: Core Extraction Required]
Rael cursed. His clone wasn't enough.
"Selene, stall it!"
She nodded without hesitation.
Rael closed his eyes.
[Skill Activated: True Body Sync – 15% Manifestation][Warning: Overload Risk – 8%]
His clone's body cracked with power. Black lightning surged through its limbs. The sword in his hand shifted—no longer steel, but shadow wrapped in pure Tower energy.
The world slowed.
He moved once.
Just once.
The ground split. Air shattered. The creature let out a soundless scream before collapsing in pieces.
Rael stood in the center of the crater, breathing heavily. In his hand, a pulsing organ.
[Core Acquired: Aberrant Type – Subject Zero][System Update: Tower Activity – Global Instability Increasing][New Objective: Locate Other Failed Ascendants – 6 Remaining]
Selene stumbled over, bleeding from a slash on her shoulder. "You… pulled from your real body?"
Rael didn't answer right away. He stared at the core.
"That thing was a failed version of ascension," he said softly. "One misstep… and that could've been me."
Selene frowned. "But it isn't. You're still fighting."
He looked at her, his voice cold. "Not just for revenge anymore. The Tower is waking up. If we don't move first, everything burns."
Back at the Apartment – 3:12 AM
Rain tapped the windows. Rael sat cross-legged in the center of the room. Before him, the aberrant core glowed faintly. He placed it beside a large map—one drawn with ley lines, ancient dungeon gates, and hidden Tower links.
Three new markers glowed:
— A volcano.
— Deep ocean trench.
— Directly beneath the capital city.
[Warning: Global Anomalies Increasing – Pulse Detected from Failed Ascendant #02]
Rael's fingers tightened around a red pen. He circled a name on his traitor list: Kael Sorrin.
His next target.
Selene appeared behind him, draping a blanket over his shoulders. "Planning tomorrow's hunt?"
"No," he whispered.
"I'm planning the end."
Elsewhere – Unknown Location
The cloaked man from the Crimson Dawn Guild stared at the Tower signal spike. A small smile crept onto his lips.
"He's getting stronger."
Behind him, seven figures stood cloaked in shadow.
"It doesn't matter," said one. "He can't kill what he never understood."
"But he remembers us," said another. "And that means… we finish what we started."
The Tower's pulse echoed across the continent.
War had begun.