Immortal Paladin

The inside of the Tower was unlike anything I had expected.

The moment I crossed the threshold, I felt countless laws intertwining with one another, woven so deeply into the structure that they had become inseparable from the Tower itself. It was less a building and more a self-contained reality. Every wall, every stone, every grain of dust resonated with power. The laws were anchored here, bound into place with a degree of permanence that made even the Hollowed World seem flexible by comparison.

Below us stretched an enormous maze suspended in an endless void.

The sight reminded me of an old Earth game called Snake & Ladders. A winding path of colored tiles zigzagged toward a distant finish line that vanished beyond the horizon. Some sections rose into the air through floating stairways. Others descended into darkness through spiraling chutes. Strange symbols decorated each tile, glowing faintly as if waiting for something to trigger them.

At first glance, it looked harmless.

My Ophanim quickly corrected that misconception.

Visions flooded my sight.

A young man landed on a crimson tile. The moment his foot touched its surface, dozens of metallic spikes erupted from below, piercing through his body from every direction. Blood sprayed across neighboring tiles before his corpse collapsed into a heap.

Another vision followed.

A woman rolled her die and advanced several spaces. The tile beneath her cracked open. Black tendrils emerged from the abyss below and wrapped around her limbs. She screamed as they dragged her downward. The darkness swallowed her whole. Moments later, the tendrils reappeared carrying only a stripped skeleton.

Then came another.

An elder stepped onto a tile marked with an eye. His body instantly froze. His flesh aged thousands of years in seconds. Skin shriveled. Bones crumbled. Dust scattered into the wind.

The visions continued relentlessly, unfolding in a nightmarish cascade where people exploded without warning, drowned in unseen depths, burned alive in invisible infernos, were dissected by phantom blades slicing through flesh and bone, and wandered endlessly through cruel illusions until starvation finally claimed their broken bodies.

The maze was a slaughterhouse masquerading as a game board.

”Beautiful, isn’t it?” Supreme Heart said beside me. ”One of my favorite floors.”

I tore my gaze away from another vision involving carnivorous flowers.

”You have strange tastes.”

”I am a strange man.”

His grin widened.

”This floor appears randomly throughout the Tower. Sometimes players enter it. Sometimes they don’t. There is no pattern. No fairness. No hidden trick to uncover. The minimum requirement for clearing it is luck.”

He spread his arms dramatically.

”Pure, unadulterated luck.”

The amusement in his voice grew increasingly malicious.

”I’ve seen geniuses die here. Heroes die here. Chosen Ones blessed by fate itself die here. They all made excellent corpses.”

He leaned closer.

”Speaking of luck, have I ever mentioned that your existence is a public menace?”

I sighed.

Here we go again.

”The Dark Sun of Misfortune nested inside your soul,” he continued. ”What do you think happened after you started wandering the Greater Universe? Coincidences? Accidents? Sudden disasters? Entire generations probably stubbed their toes because you woke up in a bad mood.”

”That’s not how it works.”

”Are you sure?”

”Yes.”

”Then explain this floor.”

I stared at him, and he stared back.

The bastard somehow looked genuinely convinced.

”Those people didn’t die because of me,” I said plainly.

”Mm.”

”You don’t believe that.”

”Not even slightly.”

”You’re insufferable.”

”And yet you’re the one carrying a cosmic bad-luck generator.”

I hated how effectively he delivered his nonsense.

The rational part of me knew he was trying to get inside my head. Unfortunately, the irrational part kept replaying every tragedy I had ever witnessed. The Dark Sun wasn’t exactly a comforting topic. Supreme Heart understood that perfectly and exploited it with the enthusiasm of a starving shark smelling blood.

A massive twenty-sided die materialized above the maze.

Golden light descended from it.

”The rules are simple,” Supreme Heart announced. ”I shall bring two mortals into this floor. They will serve as our pieces. We roll the die. Our pieces move according to the result. First to reach the finish line wins.”

”That’s it?”

”Mostly.”

”Mostly?”

He flashed me another grin.

”The board itself supplies the complications.”

I immediately attempted to establish contact with the outside world, unleashing the Divine Phantasm of Dreams in a desperate surge of power, yet nothing happened. I tried again, only to be met with silence as the connection vanished before it could even form. A chill ran through me as the grim realization set in. The Tower had blocked it completely.

I studied the surrounding laws and discovered layer upon layer of isolation mechanisms embedded into the structure. The Tower wasn’t merely containing people. It was severing them from everything outside.

Suddenly, many old mysteries fell into place as I realized the truth behind the countless missing persons cases, unexplained disappearances, and individuals who had simply vanished without a trace. Every report I had ever encountered involved mortals, ordinary and weak people without any powers capable of resisting abduction, victims who had never stood a chance. My expression darkened.

”I want an additional rule.”

Supreme Heart sighed dramatically.

”Oh no.”

”We each get three opportunities to interfere directly.”

”No.”

”No?”

”You may do whatever you want. If I notice you breaking the intended rules, however, I’ll gladly sink my teeth into the violation and use the Tower’s authority to punish you.”

”You’re rejecting the proposal.”

”I’m encouraging your creativity.”

”That’s not the same thing.”

”It is for me.”

The grin became positively predatory.

”What happened, Da Wei? Afraid your luck is really that terrible?”

I chose not to answer. Mostly, because I wasn’t entirely certain. This situation was becoming increasingly troublesome. Unfortunately, backing out wasn’t an option.

”What are the wages?” I asked.

Supreme Heart’s eyes sparkled immediately. ”You bear my child.”

”No.”

”A child.”

”No.”

”A very adorable child.”

”No.”

”A magnificent child.”

”No.”

”A child possessing the combined beauty of both parents.”

”Absolutely not.”

His shoulders slumped.

”My dreams are forever denied.”

”I want your Tower removed from my Hollowed World.”

”How heartless.”

”I learned from the best.”

His offended gasp deserved an award, but I ignored him completely and consulted my Ophanim instead. Countless futures branched before my vision as probabilities shifted and new possibilities emerged, schemes already beginning to form within my mind.

Eventually, I spoke.

”Why not let us become the pieces ourselves?”

Supreme Heart froze for a moment, then burst into laughter that grew harder and harder until he doubled over, pointing at me while wiping imaginary tears from his eyes. “Oh, Da Wei. Da Wei, Da Wei, Da Wei...” he wheezed, clutching his chest as though I had just delivered the greatest joke in existence. “You actually suggested that? You looked at this beautiful game, this masterpiece of suffering, and thought, ‘Why don’t we become the pieces ourselves?’”

He straightened abruptly, eyes gleaming with manic delight. “Rejected. Denied. Refused. Dismissed. Cast aside. Thrown into the abyss. Absolutely not. Do you think I’m insane? No, don’t answer that. I know what you’re going to say. The answer is yes. But not that kind of insane. You don’t get to drag me onto the board with you. You don’t get to turn my entertainment into a fair contest. You don’t get to rob me of watching you squirm. Absolutely, categorically, magnificently rejected. And the fact you thought I’d agree only makes me want to continue this game even more!”

I narrowed my eyes as the futures shown through my Ophanim immediately shifted, and suddenly I understood: he never intended to risk himself. This game wasn’t designed to test luck. Instead, it was designed to torment me.

”Let’s begin, shall we?” he said.

He snapped his fingers.

Two children appeared upon the starting tile.

A boy.

A girl.

The boy’s clothes were patched and worn. An orphan. No family. No home. No one waiting for him.

The girl wore fine garments stained by tears. A merchant’s daughter. Loved by her parents. Cherished by her family.

My Ophanim revealed their histories in an instant: the orphan stealing food to survive, the merchant’s daughter learning mathematics from her father, the orphan sleeping beneath bridges during winter, the merchant’s daughter dreaming about future adventures, along with all their fears, hopes, and futures. My chest tightened.

Supreme Heart observed my reaction with visible satisfaction as he added. ”The losing piece dies. As always, I am a generous and compassionate individual. I’ll even allow you the privilege of choosing first. And if you wish, we can establish a Binding Vow. That way neither of us can conveniently misunderstand the agreement later.”

No freaking way I’d enter with him on a Binding Vow.

His smile widened.

The children stood silently upon the board, completely unaware of the nightmare they had entered.

”Choose carefully, Da Wei.”

There was no humor in his voice, only anticipation, and through my Ophanim I saw countless futures unfolding from the decision I was about to make.

Choosing meant intent.

The realization struck me the moment Supreme Heart offered me the choice.

It wasn’t merely selecting a piece for a game. The act itself carried meaning. If I chose the boy, I was abandoning the girl. If I chose the girl, I was abandoning the boy. The decision would establish which child I was willing to protect and which child I was willing to sacrifice.

My Ophanim showed me the consequences immediately, with future after future unfolding before my eyes. In one possibility, I rejected the game outright and attempted to leave, only for the boy and the girl to die as the maze activated, tiles shattered, monsters emerged, and reality twisted.

The children suffered gruesome fates while Supreme Heart watched with the same expression a child might wear while observing insects beneath a magnifying glass.

Another future appeared, followed by another death, and then another, and another. Every path where I refused to participate ended with both children dead. My fingers slowly curled into fists. This was no different from taking hostages, and the two children appeared equally aware that something was terribly wrong.

The orphan boy looked around nervously, his small body trembling as he clutched his tattered shirt. His eyes darted between me and Supreme Heart, searching desperately for an explanation nobody was willing to provide.

The merchant’s daughter was trying her best not to cry, though she was failing; her lips quivered and her eyes were red.

”What is this place...?” she whispered. ”Father... Mother...”

The boy swallowed nervously. ”A-Are we in trouble?”

Neither child received an answer.

The level of malice and intelligence Supreme Heart possessed was genuinely unbelievable. A lesser villain would have threatened me. A greater villain would have attacked me. Supreme Heart preferred presenting impossible choices and letting me torment myself.

”Let me speak with them,” I said.

”No.”

The refusal arrived instantly.

I narrowed my eyes.

”One conversation.”

”No.”

”Five minutes.”

”No.”

”One minute.”

”No.”

”Thirty seconds.”

”No.”

Supreme Heart crossed his arms.

”You are remarkably persistent.”

”You are remarkably annoying.”

”I know.”

Of course he knew. Heart was fully aware of my foresight abilities. If he was refusing to let me exchange even a few words with the children, then he clearly understood there were ways I could influence future outcomes through information alone.

The bastard wasn’t leaving me any openings.

I closed my eyes and searched countless possibilities, but nothing obvious appeared. There were neither hidden loopholes I could abused nor miraculous solution that would get both kids out of this safely.

”Da Wei., come on,” Supreme Heart’s voice carried a note of amusement. ”It’s really not that difficult. Just pick one. Or don’t. If you’re feeling particularly heroic, you can back off and let both of them die. After all, you possess the power of resurrection. You can bring people back from the dead whenever you want. Why worry about consequences, when you can undo it? Just resurrect them. Resurrect the children. Resurrect the participants. Resurrect everyone who ever died in my Tower. Surely death becomes meaningless when Da Wei is around.”

The praise hidden beneath the taunt was obvious.

He was mocking me, testing me, challenging my beliefs. I gritted my teeth and refused to give him the reaction he wanted, knowing that the moment Supreme Heart sensed genuine disgust, he would savor it like a fine wine.

Still, his words lingered.

Did resurrection invalidate death? No, absolutely not.

I knew that better than most. Memories remained, pain remained, fear remained; the experience itself became a scar that never truly vanished. I knew because I had died again and again, entire lifetimes ending before my eyes as I felt my heart stop, my body break, and oblivion claim me. No resurrection erased those memories or removed that trauma.

Death marked a person forever. I couldn’t do that to these children. There was another problem as well: the Tower itself. Using my Ophanim, I studied its deeper mechanisms and quickly discovered that it possessed its own reincarnation system, separate from the Hollowed World and my authority.

Souls that died here didn’t necessarily leave. Instead, they remained, recycled, repurposed, and reborn, perhaps as people, monsters, or something worse. My expression darkened. I extended my perception further, deeper still, until the Tower unfolded before my vision like an infinite structure of countless floors, games, deaths, and secrets.

The consumption of Divine Qi skyrocketed, draining my reserves at an alarming rate until, reluctantly, I stopped. There was no point exhausting myself before the game even started. I closed my eyes, focused, and let the futures shift and intertwine until, slowly, a solution emerged. It was a small, subtle one, not perfect but sufficient. I opened my eyes.

Supreme Heart immediately noticed.

”Oh? Done enough thinking?”

I stepped closer, and then patted his shoulder.

Heart blinked.

The gesture alone seemed to confuse him.

”I pick the boy,” I said cheerfully.

The confusion vanished, replaced by suspicion immediately as Heart’s eyes narrowed at me. ”What game are you playing at?”

I smiled.

At that exact moment, I activated my Supremacy Trait, Bearer. The authority stirred as, for a brief moment, I bore a fragment of Supreme Heart’s own Supremacy, Heart. The authority connected, and fate became visible as countless emotional connections linking people together.

Quietly and subtly, without drawing attention, I plucked at those connections between the orphan boy and the merchant’s daughter. Their destinies shifted, two separate futures intertwining into a meeting, a friendship, a bond powerful enough to endure countless possibilities. They were fated to each other. Supreme Heart’s suspicion deepened as I smiled wider.

”Ever believed in the power of love?” I asked, after I just did cupid’s work on this two children with hopes the destiny I pulled together was enough to make a difference.

Supreme Heart scoffed. 

”Hah~!”

The sheer disdain contained within that single sound was almost impressive.

A moment later, he snapped his fingers, and the giant twenty-sided die above the maze began spinning as golden light flooded the board and the laws of the Tower awakened. The game had begun.

”Let the game begin!”