Prologue
KWA-AANG—!
A deafening explosion rang out as the ceiling of the tower came crashing down.
The red warning window flashed repeatedly.
*5 minutes remaining.
*If the boss is not defeated within the time limit, the tower will collapse.
*Failure: Immediate extinction of humanity
Amid the swirling cloud of dust, Seong Jeyeon pushed away the pile of fallen stones and rose to her feet.
‘Fuck.’
Her breathing was ragged.
Her ears rang violently, and her vision, distorted by blood and dust, was dyed a hazy red.
Beyond it, she heard Gitaewon’s voice.
“Seong Jeyeon! Are you okay?!”
Gitaewon, who asked worriedly, was covered in blood from head to toe, and his right arm was broken as well.
Behind him, a shadow resembling a black beast writhed.
The final boss, the ‘Lord of the Tower.’
Every time that enormous being took a step, the entire tower trembled.
Jeyeon looked at the numbers floating in the air.
The end was in sight, yet still out of reach.
Ten years.
It was the final floor, reached exactly ten years after humanity began climbing the tower.
If they failed here, there would be no next chance.
Gitaewon spoke in a hoarse voice.
“At this rate, we’ll both die.”
Both of their mana reserves were already completely depleted. They could neither attack nor summon anything.
Gitaewon struggled to speak.
“Seong Jeyeon, I can’t hold on any longer. At least you should—”
“Gitaewon.”
But Jeyeon firmly cut him off.
“If the world is going to disappear, what’s the point of that?”
A heavy silence fell between the two as they looked at each other.
It wasn’t that Gitaewon didn’t know the truth.
He probably just needed to say something like that in order to keep going.
‘I can’t let it end like this.’
Jeyeon gritted her teeth and tried to draw up her remaining strength.
But all she could grasp at the end was the pain of scraping against an empty wall.
‘Is this really how it ends?’
After this long journey, continued through countless sacrifices?
‘……No.’
There was exactly one method left worth trying.
Something that the mage Gitaewon couldn’t do, no matter how much he pushed himself—but the summoner Seong Jeyeon could.
Something that only she in this world could do.
“Gitaewon. Take care of our kids.”
“Don’t say that! I’m coming with you too—!”
“We don’t have time.”
Jeyeon’s eyes glowed blue.
“Give this Summoning Book to the guild kids. It has to be passed on. No matter what.”
She forcibly placed the palm-sized book into his hand.
“Next time, I’ll be counting on you alone.”
But Gitaewon never answered her until the very end.
Clenching his teeth, he looked at her with resentment in his eyes.
Jeyeon gave him a faint smile.
“Gitaewon, aren’t you excited? You finally became the strongest.”
“……No, I……!”
Just as he was about to shout something, a massive magic circle rose beneath Jeyeon’s feet.
“Summon.”
Blue rays of light shot upward, tearing through the darkness.
“□□□□, □□□□, □□□□, and □□□□.”
With each great name that echoed out, the entire tower trembled.
The light twisted, and four beings revealed their forms.
But the ritual was not yet complete.
Jeyeon drew in a short breath.
Then she plunged the knife in her hand deep into her own chest with all her strength.
Blood gushed forth.
She pulled out her still-beating heart and murmured,
“I offer my life as the price. Take form within them and annihilate the enemy.”
“Seong Jeyeon!”
Just before Gitaewon’s hand could reach her, an explosive flash of light swallowed everything.
Jeyeon’s body shot upward into the air.
Light flowed through every vein, while cracks resembling shattered glass spread across her skin.
Gitaewon screamed.
“No, no, Jeyeon……!”
Toward her old friend, who wept bitterly, Jeyeon smiled.
“Even if it’s only you, become the center of the new era.”
Thump—
Her heart beat one final time.
Jeyeon’s body was horribly torn apart within the light.
And at the very center of that light, the four beings fused into one opened their eyes.
The Lord of the Tower let out a monstrous shriek.
The fused being reached out a hand, and that enormous body scattered like ash within the light.
And then—
the world fell silent.
