To be revived is awfully jarring, despite how much people seem to enjoy dragging others back from the dead. This is coming from experience, as someone who’d been revived twice before. Some things do get easier the more you do them, dying and then coming back is not one of them it would appear.

  But despite that, the hurt that the others state is being felt is supposedly worse than the pain of being torn apart. Yes, many believe that their own selfish desire to see a friend, or worse, a lover, once more is justified due to the grief struck by the loss.

  They suppose that maybe that person should be torn from the bliss of the afterlife Unfortunate Ends created for us, entirely just to die again, to experience the grandest pain over and over again.

  -Therinov, A First Adventurer’s Dislike of Death.

  71 - Clockwork

  The previous king before the current sat still on a throne in a dark palace. The palace was filled with brass gears, and he stared at his subjects he could have sworn he’d abandoned over a hundred years ago when he perished.

  Now, he was sitting on a wonderful throne, surrounded by brass gears kept together by steel rods, and some of them floating about. And he stood up to properly speak to his subjects, even if they were technically far stronger than he.

  But now, the King was granted the power of the system, reborn not as a mortal, but as a Monster of immense power. He gripped onto the blue cube the system offered him, and summoned some of his more intelligence confidants.

  He got to revive some of them, for they weren’t killed by true gods just yet. The Child who stole from Heaven, Oedipus was first to respond. “Sorry, King; we lost three of our men to Eurylochus and his new team.”

  The King felt his eyes open wider in shock, but he should’ve expected this. “Hm, that man had always felt larger than life, hm?” He shrugged as he gripped the blue cube. It was connected directly to the System, which gave him the right to move between floors freely.

  And the better of the powers, to summon his dead soldiers back to life. He reached deep within the system itself, and attempted to find the two, blindly swinging his mana from left to right. It’s always a pain to use this.

  [Warning! The Souls you are trying to reach have been expended!]

  “What?” The King didn’t hide his anger from the System, and the warning light of Red shone from the cube as well. He took a deep breath, and simply muttered a prayer to Shadowing Voices beneath his breath.

  “Why, pray tell, can’t I bring those three back?” The King turned on his heels to face the kid who looked so young, and yet was almost as ancient as Eurylochus. The King looked at the kid, who flinched back at a glance.

  The King simply took a sigh. “Oh please, I’m a benevolent leader…” The King opened up his arms to his subject. “Did they die to the ‘Tower Heroes’ as the quest so graciously called them?”

  Oedipus nodded. The King was then lost in thought for just a minute. It mattered plenty as to the reason these three couldn’t be brought back. They could be brought back if they died on accident from the rest of the Tower, but now…

  [Quest; Prevent the Ascension of the Tower Heroes]

  [Clear Condition: Kill the 5 Tower Heroes: Bariton, Clara, Judine, Pallad, and Shammus]

  [Time Limit: 2 Years]

  [Failure Condition: The Tower Heroes get to Floor 75]

  [Reward: Ascension for you and 4 of your men of your choosing, excluding Shammus.]

  [Failure: Destruction of your and your men’s soul, excluding Shammus.]

  The King watched the Quest details reload, and looked deep into the item he was given by the man who introduced himself as the system… The blue cube shifted in the palm of his hand, the insides containing some kind of gel and what looked to be immense mana.

  There was a smaller cube rotating within, with countless faces within. Those were the Swordmasters the King now held true power over, and the question did remain. The System granted them all immense force, but he could only confirm he himself as true.

  The King faced the violent storm within it, and pulled more power of the System into it. The system spoke to him through the cube, the Mythical item only the System itself could grant according to the person behind it.

  [Mythical Item; Heart of the Tower]

  [Item Abilities;

  Floor Hopping (Up to Floor 75)

  Animancy Lv. 750

  Revival

  System Manipulation Lv. 15]

  The King felt into the souls entrapped in it, and he knew one of them were his own. He too had immortality as long as he held this small cube; and eventually he’d have to fight the ones the System labeled as the Tower Heroes.

  It disgusted him, and he didn’t mean to say anything. “Floor 53.” The King points at Oedipus, nay, Freisun. “We will denounce the code names for the Swordmasters clause. We are no longer swordmasters but hunters for not the weak, but rather the strong. Our goal is to claim their lives, right?”

  Freisun nodded, the younger body forced upon him by the timing he reached 500 Constitution. “You will wait for them, on floor 53. They are on Floor 51 right now, yes? Then wait for them. You have a blessing from a god, yes? You took it from them, didn’t you Freisun?”

  The words were infused with the King’s personal trait. His power to convince which led him to the throne of Forsivo all those years ago. Freisun stood taller after the King practically told him to.

  “Collect the other swordmasters, now.” The King asked the other with Friesun, and they stood at attention. The King knew his eyes were likely darkening with the storm in his mind, but he needed to make this work.

  “Yes Sir!” The two moved, and Freisun vanished in a flash of the same blue the cube was made of. The same blue the system talked to them with. The blue of reality, the shine of Animancy keeping the souls entrapped.

  The second, ran off in between the gears to collect the swordmasters. It was time to get to moving, the Tower Heroes speedran through floors 40 to 50 so insanely quick, that the time between didn’t quite allow him to set up an ambush.

  If they blasted through to Floor 75, his own soul would be destroyed, his survival would be endangered. And therefore, the King decided to act now. Nothing better to do, as he walked beyond the throne room he’d set up on Floor 74, into the chamber the System placed the original boss of the floor.

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  It was a person that stood a full head taller than the King, despite his increased stature in this new form with the white hair. And it was even Level 2500, something the people of the world outside the tower could simply pray to reach.

  But then, the cube made it trivial. No traces of a battle occurred, for the four armed beast who wore no shirt was consumed by the cube, turned into nothing but ‘data’. And now, his own level was 2500. He felt immense power flowing through his veins after he stole it from the System with the cube.

  And the System treated them as the boss monster for each floor, opening the way for the Tower Heroes between the floors when they perished, and setting their level for the right setting. Frienu’s was Level 1900 on Floor 53, 1925 on Floor 54, so on and so forth.

  The King’s supremacy was still confirmed, with them changing to mere footsoldiers in level. The King was grateful for the fate that offered him this, as he gripped his sword. A now mythical blade, with space and time itself warping around it.

  The swordmasters finally appeared, and he placed his blade against the soil. “My men, you are all curious as to why I summoned you here, yes?” The King stood purposely in front of the ginormous clock face the boss room had as a wall. Light glittered into it, shining his armor in an ethereal light.

  He stood tall, and his men stayed silent in solidarity. “We shall battle these five foes here soon,” The King raised his hand, the cube allowing him to implant a visual image of the five fools who dared stand against him.

  One, a blonde haired bard with blue eyes. The next, a dark haired healer with pink eyes. The third, a blonde haired woman, more elegant; likely a noble, with golden eyes. The second to last, a long haired Paladin, with forest green eyes. The final was the face that everyone recognized. It was Shammus.

  “These five have teamwork created through violence, bonded better than we ever had beforehand.” The King spoke loud and clear, allowing his voice to echo throughout the blackstone pillars, absorbed into the banners with his Trait.

  “As such, we will do similar!” The King stepped forward, lifting his blade fast enough for the thin red metal the blade was forged in to look blue for just a moment. “We will train til our bones are broken, ‘til our power matches their own, not just Systemically! That is the mistake Daedalus had made!”

  His voice empowered his soldiers as it had before his death. They all drew their blades in a wonderful sound of metal grinding against metal. Those were terrible sheathes, but they were terrifying to hear for the opponents.

  And as such, he walked down. “And for the training, we will have to slow down our opponents from reaching us…” He knew they would die for good. The ones who died in training would be just fine. “So, why not you two?”

  He stopped in front of the duo of soldiers that helped the most in Lirdsuania. They always worked so well, and it pained him to send them to die. Not enough to stop though. “Pirene and Kithter; previously called Artemis and Apollo for the twinhood. You are to go to Floor 54.”

  The taller of the twins hit a salute, and the other got ready to move already. “Yes Sir!” They said at the same time, their voices harmonizing for just a moment before they were sent away by the blue cube.

  He stopped in front of his usual spy. The cube didn’t allow him to see what the five were actively doing just yet, and the clock hit 12. The bell rang, almost muting his own voice. “Ophirus, previously called Hermes for your speed and stealth.”

  The shorter goblin nodded sternly, still dressed in the cloak. The King continued his orders, “You are to go to Floor 52, figure things out.” The goblin nodded, pulling up the hood and putting on the metallic mask that showed just a humanoid skull.

  “I trust you with this, return when you get enough information, do not give away the ambushes on Floor 53 and 54.” The orders given, he went on to designate the training regimens. The espionage member sent off.

  ******

  Ophirus felt the system transport herself into the floor, the air behind the floor shattering like glass as they appeared. It resealed itself with naught but the soft sound of a suture. With the air resealing itself, they fixed their suit.

  It was an odd environment, one Ophirus, despite being plenty well versed and well traveled hadn’t seen too often. It looked like a fancy palace, but with so many guest rooms that upon looking left and right, there was no sign of the ending.

  The goblin wasn’t one to question it however, and moved throughout the halls. They stood tall, knowing full well how the System treated creatures like itself. It was expendable, and the way the goblin felt far far weaker here…

  Only solidified the feeling. The Tower Heroes were in for a reckoning though, this the goblin knew. And it walked. It passed by many windows, never quite bothering to look out them before noticing an odd detail.

  A lack of a floor. There were candles floating about, but a few were snuffed out. Those snuffed out were only still visible from the impossible light that shone on each candle, highlighting even the copper holding.

  It was unnatural, there were no shadows and no reflection of the flame atop each one. And the ones snuffed out were still freshly burning, based off the thin smoke arising. Of course, Ophirus wasn’t here for fun. Wasn’t here for joy.

  She was here for due process, to figure out the progress of the tower heroes. And as such Ophirus simply just had to find whichever rooms they were within. The same hallway repeated itself after a long walk, and Ophirus paused.

  She almost muttered aloud to herself her thoughts, before noticing the chandeliers shaking ever so slightly, although a breeze. She stopped in her tracks, turning around swiftly. She was alone in this hallway, but something deep in her gut told her that something was wrong.

  She almost moved to flee, but she had no information to report back with. The breeze wasn’t felt on her skin, despite her heightened senses at Level 1500. She double checked the level and that was indeed her level here.

  Something, someone, was watching her. She knew that much for certain. All of her senses screamed that she was missing something, anything. Eventually, she saw a tall figure in a hallway. Someone she felt she could trust.

  Although they held everything she lacked, leaving a disgusting sense of Jealousy deep in her gut. She refused to speak to the individual as she tried to slip past. It would appear they had a better sense of awareness than her too.

  “Oh, where may you be headed miss?” The voice was beautiful, almost akin to her own but… more likable. She felt disgusted at the voice, felt a rage build up. But she was trained better than that.

  “Oh, just trying to find where the food is…” She spoke solemnly, swallowing down her emotion. It was a partial truth, and the way this person looked at her. The beauty in the eyes slimming as they held a suspicious glare. “You know how I get in the latter hours.”

  She added in a minor detail she could presume from the empty halls. Hopefully she wasn’t wrong. “Ah, well you just need to actually want to reach somewhere and you’ll reach it.” The person nodded before vanishing from view.

  It even held more stealth than her… But she felt the jealousy subside before long, leaving her feeling confused and a bit… anxious. She didn’t actually care much about people better than her in the usual day to day.

  And now, she was left letting her anger simmer, anger that was unfamiliar to her after her ages of serving King Forsivo VI. The King as the System called him now. What he called himself. Ophirus let her mind wander for a second as she realized what the person had told her.

  One of these rooms within this hallway were one of the tower hero’s rooms then. If this place had a magical seal on the geometry, then it’d only make sense that it’d lead her to the tower heroes when that is what she wanted to see.

  She walked up to a door, one of the few hundred she’s been passing by for ages upon ages. And she summoned her lockpicking tools to her palm. Even at level 1000, she’s doing grunt work.

  She let out a soft laugh at the idea. How even after rising so far, even after being pulled out of a shadow forcefully, she was always in her king’s shadow. Always in King Forsivo VI’s shadow.

  Never away from arms reach. She inserted the lockpick into the lock, and allowed the lock to subsume her thoughts, the soft click on three, the tougher to move pin on two. Her innate trait made this absurdly easy.

  Didn’t help that these locks were definitely insecure as high hell. Only 4 pins, and even then only three needed to be popped above the sheer line at all and it opened. She recognized the model actually, being the least common; and the cheapest, back in Lirdsuania.

  She assumed nothing of it, however. The door creaked open, and she looked around. Nobody else in the hallway, other than the eerie wind. And of course, it felt like the System was laughing at her as she felt a magical sense of shame wash over her.

  She snuck into the room and found the blonde woman inside. She summoned her knife into her hands, ensuring the blue shine of the inventory never reached the sleeping woman’s face. It would be too easy right now, to simply slaughter the Tower Hero.

  Revoke her king of so much trouble, as she silently stepped along the room. As she watched the chest rise and fall of her newest target. She was in a nice dress at least, Ophirus thought, before rising the blade high above her head.

  Ophirus stepped ever so slightly closer, she never bothered to learn her targets names. And maybe that’d come to bite her in the ass at somepoint, but she was determined to not make that day today. And as the blade fell, she noted the golden look in the eyes of the woman as they snapped open.

  For those only checking this chapter because I only post news of Foundational Escape here, that too will be biweekly, on the Sundays this story fails to drop!

  [System Message: Wasn't up to me guys, just had to infect another world! Actually, no, this one was infected by me already, I just put an infection there too!]