The streets burned.
Smoke swallowed the morning sky.
Screams echoed from every direction.
Noah ran.
Not because the Tower ordered him to.
Because someone needed help.
A wooden house collapsed.
A woman screamed from inside.
"My son!"
Without thinking...
Noah threw himself into the flames.
Heat scorched his skin.
The roof groaned above him.
He found the boy trapped beneath a broken beam.
"It’s okay."
"I’ve got you."
The child looked terrified.
"M-Mister..."
Noah lifted the beam with every ounce of strength he had.
His muscles screamed.
The beam barely moved.
"Damn..."
One more push.
CRACK!
The wood shifted.
The boy crawled free.
Noah grabbed him and sprinted outside just as the building collapsed behind them.
BOOM!
The mother embraced her son, tears streaming down her face.
"Thank you..."
"Thank you so much..."
Noah simply nodded before running toward the next scream.
The city gates exploded.
BOOOOOOM!
The Eclipse Army poured into the streets.
Black-armored soldiers cut through the defenders like a tide.
They weren’t monsters.
They were people.
People who had chosen this path.
Noah ducked behind a wagon.
His fists clenched.
"If only I had Shadowfang..."
The First Successor’s voice answered.
"Would you only save people with a sword in your hand?"
Noah froze.
A little girl cried beside a fallen cart.
She couldn’t have been older than six.
An Eclipse soldier slowly walked toward her.
His sword dripped with blood.
He raised the blade.
Noah didn’t think.
He moved.
He slammed into the soldier.
The two crashed into a market stall.
Fruit scattered everywhere.
The soldier snarled.
"You idiot!"
He punched Noah across the face.
Blood filled Noah’s mouth.
Noah answered with another punch.
Then another.
Neither had elegant techniques.
It became a brutal fistfight.
The soldier reached for his sword.
Noah grabbed his wrist.
They struggled.
The blade slipped from the soldier’s hand.
It landed several metres away.
The soldier headbutted Noah.
Stars exploded across his vision.
Noah staggered.
The soldier lunged.
Noah sidestepped at the last instant.
The soldier crashed into the broken cart.
Noah picked up a loose wooden plank.
CRACK!
It shattered across the soldier’s helmet.
The man collapsed unconscious.
The little girl stared at Noah.
"You won..."
Noah laughed between heavy breaths.
"Barely."
He picked her up.
"Let’s find your parents."
Hours passed.
Noah carried the wounded.
Helped soldiers barricade streets.
Pulled survivors from burning buildings.
He wasn’t the strongest.
He wasn’t the fastest.
But wherever he could help...
He did.
By sunset...
The city had fallen.
The black banners of the Eclipse Army flew above the walls.
Smoke covered the horizon.
Bodies filled the streets.
The old baker sat against the ruins of his shop.
His apron was stained with ash.
Noah walked over quietly.
"I’m sorry..."
The baker smiled weakly.
"You tried."
"It wasn’t enough."
"It never is."
He looked toward the burning city.
"Strength isn’t measured..."
"...by the battles you win."
He coughed.
"It’s measured..."
"...by the people you refuse to abandon."
His eyes slowly closed.
The warm smile remained on his face.
Noah lowered his head.
For the first time since entering this world...
He mourned someone whose name he had never learned.
The city dissolved into countless golden lights.
The screams disappeared.
The fire vanished.
Only Noah remained standing in an endless white space.
The System appeared.
Third Floor Trial Complete
Evaluation: Perfect
Reason:
You chose compassion over victory.
Reward:
+3 LevelsWillpower +15Passive Skill Acquired:
Unyielding Heart
Your resolve becomes stronger the more hopeless the situation.
The First Successor’s voice spoke one last time.
"Now you understand."
"A king isn’t measured by the enemies he defeats..."
"...but by the people he chooses to protect."
A new staircase appeared before Noah.
Unlike the previous ones...
This staircase was black.
Each step bore ancient crimson runes.
At the very top...
A pair of massive doors slowly opened by themselves.
Cold wind rushed downward.
The System suddenly flashed crimson.
WARNING
Fourth Floor
Difficulty Adjustment Detected
An external force has entered the Tower.
Noah’s expression darkened.
"External force...?"
The warning repeated.
This time...
A name appeared beneath it.
Unknown Intruder: Azrael
Noah’s heartbeat stopped for an instant.
"...He’s inside the Tower."
Far above...
On the Fourth Floor...
Azrael stood in a cathedral of broken glass, his black cloak swaying gently.
He looked toward the staircase below and smiled.
"I’ve waited long enough, Noah."
"Come find me."
The cathedral doors slammed shut.
The hunt had begun.
The black staircase stretched endlessly upward.
Each step pulsed with faint crimson light.
Noah climbed in silence.
The System’s warning remained suspended before his eyes.
External Force Detected
Intruder: Azrael
Threat Level: Catastrophic
Noah exhaled slowly.
"So..."
"You couldn’t wait."
Far above...
Azrael wandered through a ruined cathedral.
Thousands of stained-glass windows floated in the air, broken into shimmering fragments.
Each fragment reflected a different memory.
A child laughing.
A kingdom burning.
A king kneeling.
Azrael stopped before one particular shard.
It showed Noah standing beneath the crimson eclipse.
Azrael smiled.
"You’re growing exactly as planned."
He gently touched the glass.
It shattered.
Noah reached the top of the staircase.
Before him stood enormous obsidian doors.
Ancient runes glowed across their surface.
As he approached...
The doors slowly opened.
GRRRRRR...
A cold breeze swept past him.
He stepped inside.
The cathedral was breathtaking.
Sunlight poured through floating stained-glass windows.
Marble pillars stretched hundreds of feet into the air.
At the centre...
A single throne stood upon a raised platform.
Empty.
No enemies.
No monsters.
Only silence.
Noah frowned.
"Too quiet."
A voice echoed through the hall.
"Welcome..."
"...Successor."
Noah spun.
An old priest emerged from behind one of the pillars.
White robes.
Long silver beard.
Kind eyes.
He carried a wooden staff instead of a weapon.
The old man smiled warmly.
"I’ve been waiting."
Noah didn’t lower his guard.
"Who are you?"
"I am the Keeper of the Fourth Floor."
He bowed politely.
"And your examiner."
The System appeared.
Fourth Floor Trial
The Trial of Truth
Objective: Pass the Keeper’s judgment.
Combat: Prohibited
The old priest gestured toward the empty throne.
"Sit."
Noah remained standing.
"I’d rather stand."
The priest chuckled.
"Good."
"The wrong person always sits."
The old man slowly walked around Noah.
"You’ve inherited Ragnarok."
"You’ve survived."
"You’ve grown."
He stopped.
"But tell me..."
"What kind of king do you wish to become?"
Noah answered immediately.
"I don’t want to be a king."
The priest smiled.
"Excellent."
Without warning...
The cathedral dissolved.
Noah found himself standing in another place.
Valhalla Academy.
Students filled the courtyard.
Everything looked normal.
Then...
Eric walked toward him.
Smiling.
"Hey."
"We finally made it."
Sophia waved from behind him.
Luna carried a stack of books.
Damien complained about homework.
Everything...
Was peaceful.
Noah blinked.
"An illusion?"
Before he could react...
The sky turned crimson.
A spear of black light fell from the heavens.
BOOOOM!!
The academy exploded.
Students screamed.
Buildings collapsed.
Professor Elena fought desperately.
She was overwhelmed.
One by one...
His friends fell.
Eric.
Sophia.
Damien.
Luna.
Noah tried to run toward them.
His legs wouldn’t move.
"No!"
He screamed.
The illusion ignored him.
Luna reached toward him with trembling fingers.
"Noah..."
"...help..."
Before he could reach her...
Darkness swallowed everything.
The cathedral returned.
Noah stood exactly where he’d been.
His breathing was ragged.
The priest watched him quietly.
"Did it hurt?"
Noah glared.
"It wasn’t real."
"No."
"But your fear was."
Silence.
The priest leaned on his staff.
"Every ruler carries one fear above all others."
"Not dying."
"Not failing."
"Losing the people they love."
Noah lowered his eyes.
He said nothing.
Because the priest was right.
Suddenly...
The cathedral shook violently.
The stained-glass windows cracked.
The priest’s smile vanished.
"...He’s here."
A surge of black mana erupted outside the cathedral.
The massive entrance doors exploded inward.
BOOOOOOM!!
Smoke rolled across the marble floor.
Slow...
Measured footsteps echoed through the hall.
One...
Two...
Three...
A familiar figure emerged from the dust.
Black cloak.
Silver mask.
Golden eyes.
Azrael.
He looked first at the priest.
Then at Noah.
Finally...
He laughed.
"How disappointing."
"I expected the Tower to kill you before I arrived."
The priest slammed his staff against the ground.
"You are not welcome here."
Azrael shrugged.
"I rarely am."
His gaze settled on Noah.
"But this conversation..."
"...belongs to us."
The cathedral doors slammed shut behind him.
Noah slowly drew Shadowfang.
For the first time since Ironwood Valley...
The Apostle and the Seventh Successor stood face to face.
Neither of them smiled.
Neither of them looked away.
The Tower itself seemed to hold its breath.