[Quest: Defend the Ladder of Heavens]
[Duration: Six Months]
[Alert! Protocol 214AS214X-QQ is active on Selene Calloway’s World!]
[Quest Difficulty will be automatically increased.]
[Difficulty ’Hell’ chosen.]
[For choosing Hell Difficulty, all Quest rewards are increased by 50%.]
[Warning! This is a Special Quest! All choices made during the Quest will have consequences!]
Isaac’s eyes moved quickly across the screen.
Six months.
The length alone nearly made him pause, but instinct forced him forward. Standing still on a battlefield was a luxury reserved for the dead. He absorbed each line while keeping his awareness spread outward, listening to distant explosions and shouted orders.
’Difficulty is Hell. Rewards increased... these are expected.’
His gaze lingered on the final line.
’Special Quest? Choices will have consequences? What does this mean?’
Isaac exhaled slowly and forced his thoughts back to the present. Analysis could wait. Survival could not.
He scanned the battlefield.
The soldiers who had been cheering earlier were regrouping near one defensive line, rallying under banners marked with a silver blade. Others stood closer to massive structural pylons rising toward the sky: the Ladder itself.
’There are two sides here. the Sword Maiden supporters, and defenders of the Ladder.’
A sharp grip landed on his shoulder.
"Captain! Orders?" a soldier asked urgently.
Isaac turned toward him.
The man wore the same uniform Isaac now found himself in. Dark armor layered with faintly glowing circuitry lines. Sweat streaked across the soldier’s face despite the cold air.
’Captain.’
Isaac’s thoughts sharpened instantly. The System had assigned him a role.
He straightened slightly, and spoke with authority, "I need a situation report. Where are our main defensive forces right now?"
The soldier blinked once, clearly surprised by the question, but training overrode confusion.
"Frontline units collapsed after the breach. The Sword Maiden destroyed the orbital shield generators herself. She cut straight through them. The Stronghold General teleported her away to intercept personally," he said quickly.
Stronghold General. The golden star Isaac had seen earlier.
"And the Ladder’s integrity?" Isaac asked.
"Structural damage at twenty-three percent and rising. Engineering teams can’t keep up while enemy Champions keep pushing forward. If we don’t stop them soon..." The soldier hesitated. "We will lose."
Isaac nodded slowly.
While the High Arbiter—or Stronghold General—had removed the Sword Maiden from the battlefield, her army remained intact.
And judging by the pressure in the air, they were far from weak.
He extended his senses.
Immediately, he felt them.
Multiple presences radiating overwhelming authority. They were Overlords of Apex-ranked species.
Beneath them moved dozens of Champions of Apex rank species. Each one was strong enough to devastate cities alone.
Their energy signatures pressed against the battlefield like a storm waiting to break.
Isaac was just about to issue his first command when a sudden wind swept across the field.
It came without warning.
Every soldier felt it at once.
The air smelled like wet earth after rain.
At the border of the Ladder of Heavens, water began to rise.
At first it looked like mist gathering, then a stream, then a towering column. The water expanded upward and outward, unfolding like a blooming lotus. Its scale grew rapidly, swallowing the horizon.
Someone shouted, "Incoming!"
The water surged forward.
By the time it reached Isaac, it had already become a massive tsunami. There was no time to dodge, or brace.
The wave passed through him.
Cold rushed across his skin, but there was no force behind it.
Isaac turned immediately.
Behind him, enemy soldiers were thrown violently backward, lifted and scattered like leaves caught in a storm. Defensive troops, however, stood untouched. Some staggered from surprise, but none were harmed.
The water continued flowing across the battlefield before dispersing into shimmering droplets that evaporated into light.
Silence lasted only a second.
Then the wet ground trembled.
Water surged upward again, forming enormous circular walls around the Ladder of Heavens. The liquid hardened into a rotating barrier, translucent yet impossibly dense.
A voice echoed through battlefield speakers.
"The enemy has been forced to retreat, but none of them are injured. They cannot attack while the defense shield remains active. All units, regroup immediately and treat the wounded," the voice announced calmly.
Isaac recognized that voice.
Even distorted by static, it was unmistakable.
"All Team Leaders and higher-ranking officers, report to the meeting hall immediately."
The speakers clicked off.
Around him, officers began moving without hesitation. Several individuals wearing captain insignias gathered and headed toward the massive structure behind them.
Isaac followed.
The entrance to the Ladder of Heavens opened like layered petals, revealing an interior that made him momentarily forget the battlefield outside.
’This level of technology... it feels like I walked into a sci-fi film set.’
He kept his expression neutral, but the scale stunned him.
The inside of the Ladder was enormous, easily the size of a Tier-1 city. Wide platforms stretched into the distance, intersected by glowing pathways and suspended structures. Above them spread an artificial sky projecting stars and drifting clouds, so realistic that his instincts briefly accepted it as real.
In the center stood a colossal glass elevator shaft extending upward beyond sight.
This was just the first floor.
"Isaac!"
He turned at the familiar voice.
Alice hurried toward him through the crowd, dressed in similar combat attire but marked with a Team Leader insignia.
She slowed when she reached him, lowering her voice.
"Did you wake up outside the soulbind pendant too?" she asked quietly.
"Yes. I think the Quest forced everyone to start outside it," Isaac murmured.
Alice frowned slightly as they joined the flow of officers heading toward the elevator.
"What about your summons? Do you think they were placed outside too?"
"I don’t know," Isaac admitted with a small sigh. "I haven’t been able to get in contact with Selene. Either they’re deployed elsewhere or restricted until certain conditions are met."
"That’s worrying. We’re already dealing with Apex species," she said.
They continued walking in silence for a moment, absorbing the scale around them.
Engineers rushed along elevated pathways carrying floating tool arrays. Medical drones moved injured soldiers toward treatment zones. Despite visible damage reports flashing across walls, the structure still functioned with eerie efficiency.
Selene’s location remained unknown.
Avery’s, however, had already been identified somewhere within the Ladder’s command structure.
They reached the giant glass elevator alongside dozens of officers.
The doors opened soundlessly, and everyone stepped inside.
The elevator began ascending almost immediately.
The acceleration was absurdly smooth, yet incredibly fast. Floors blurred past them, revealing glimpses of devastation.
Entire floors had been carved open.
Massive corridors ended abruptly in melted edges. Reinforced walls looked sliced apart rather than destroyed.
Alice stared outward, her expression tightening.
"It looks like all of this was done with a single attack," Alice muttered, her eyes following the long scar running across several destroyed floors outside the elevator glass. "I knew the Sword Empress was strong, but this... this is beyond anything I imagined."
Isaac nodded slightly, his gaze still fixed upward as damaged levels slid past them.
"That’s not the only problem. Did you look at the sky earlier? The moon is still there," he said quietly, making sure the nearby officers couldn’t overhear.
Alice nodded slowly. She understood the meaning behind his words immediately.
"The moon’s fall symbolizes the beginning of the Apocalypse and the arrival of the System. If the moon is still standing, then the System hasn’t descended yet. And yet the Sword Empress is already this strong," she said under her breath.