Tower of Endless: Death Granted Entry

Boa listened to the exchange between Talia and Lexie.

The exchange brought more questions than answers. These two were not people who seemed to have seen the blood of even a chicken in their entire lives.

What Moon did was a very precise and practiced movement that was both breathtakingly dangerous and awe-inspiring.

Yet, his movements didn’t have Echo reinforcement, combat art, or arcane. It was just pure practiced combat.

As brutal and maybe even unorthodox as it seemed, it was still but pure physical movement, yet these two girls had no idea what exactly happened.

Then again, many questioned what happened when it did.

Yet, Boa was sure that it wasn’t what it seemed. ’They must have been asking out of shock, not that they failed to see what he did.’

Boa couldn’t resist the urge anymore.

She squinted at Lexie. ”How did you two even pass the first trial?” she inquired.

Lexie exchanged a look with Boa. ”Oh...” she exclaimed. ”Well, we have our ways.”

Boa’s face fell. ”Okay~” She didn’t ask further.

Lexie, on the other hand, was troubled. ”I’m not sure if our skills will keep us alive,” she spoke her mind while looking at the arena.

Talia wasn’t bothered by her worries. ”It’s fine; potionists are valuable.”

”Valuable is one thing.” Lexie rubbed her forehead.

”Listen, from what we know right now, the second trial will be done in two groups. The theme is still unknown, and if the two groups could interact is still undetermined,” Talia explained before turning to Lexie. ”We can be part of one group; a few of my allies are also scattered between branches. They will be recruiting more to our side,” she assured her further.

Lexie blinked, looking somewhat less stressed about it. But then again, ”What about him?” she asked as she pointed her finger at Moon at the bottom of the arena.

Boa gave Lexie a nasty look. ”Do you want a hooligan like him on our side?”

Lexie raised a finger. ”One is enough,” she said.

”One what?” Confused, Boa asked.

”One slap is enough for him to knock out your teef!” Lexie spat.

Boa, taken off guard, blinked a few times before suddenly snapping, ”WHAT DID YOU SAY?”

While the two were at it, Nola’s eyes were fixed on the arena.

She suddenly tugged Lexie’s sleeve again. ”What?” Lexie turned back to her.

”You two stop it, something is happening!” Talia said, bringing the attention of the hot-blooded girls back to the arena.

Something was about to happen.

Below, Moon was just standing, staring at the person who was watching him, or he happened to feel their watchful eyes on him.

The person didn’t answer, nor did they move or flinch.

Moon didn’t avert his gaze, watching, trying to discern anything... Yet distance and the person’s attire didn’t help him.

”DO IT NOW!” Zera suddenly screamed.

Moon snapped; he started looking around.

’Do what?’ His eyes darted around.

Soon, he heard a familiar sound.

Clang~

Clutter~

Clang~

Clutter~

It sounded faster and more urgent than the first time.

Moon didn’t need to turn around to realise more armored individuals were running down the stairs.

Their numbers were greater than the group Zera brought, and they didn’t seem hesitant either.

But that wasn’t everything.

Shuuuu~

Moon’s eyes suddenly widened. ’Echo?’ He looked back at an individual in the arena.

In a certain direction, he felt someone using Echo. Even though Fate Alert didn’t react to anything, he felt it.

Moon didn’t have time to think before the ground beneath his feet exploded in chains made of Echo.

Above from the audience, Samuel asked, ”Are you okay with this?”

Ed replied nonchalantly, ”Yeah, leave them be.” He assured him, ”Don’t interrupt them no matter what.”

Samuel didn’t have any hint of concern in his voice or on his face. ”This will turn messier than intended,” he still voiced out his thoughts.

Ed nodded. ”It’s still fine, I had Uon run some errands too,” Ed added. ”The kid can’t keep up with how things are changing for him. He was just until a few days ago fighting to live since it was the only way anyone would live on the first floor, no Echo, no system, no quests... No Death Echo to falsely turn him into a target for others.”

Ed inhaled slowly. ”Then one day he was told Echo exists, people can attack from a distance and use weird abilities, yet he still accepted that easily and didn’t shake under the weight, even adapted perfectly.”

Ed turned his gaze to Samuel. ”Then he was told that people are no longer equal, those who climbed the Tower cannot be touched... Soon a certain cat and a mustache guy proceeded to beat him up one-sidedly.”

Samuel wasn’t bothered by Ed’s words. ”You’re the one who demanded it.”

Ed retorted, ”I didn’t know it was like that.”

”How’s that my fault then?”

Ed pursed his lips. ”Anyhow, leave him be. If he wins, it’s for the best; if he suffers, he learns something from it.”

”What if he dies instead?” Samuel asked, hinting at the direction the round was taking.

”Worst case, he would end up using his Echo,” Ed assured. ”Just look at him, like hell they can win, Samuel.”

Below, Moon was rapidly twisting, squatting, leaning forward, and jumping. The chains struggled to surround him, but they still failed to keep up with him.

He nimbly passed through every encirclement made, but he had also wasted too much time.

He failed to identify who used the Echo; the one he looked at wasn’t even moving, and for some reason, he didn’t feel the connection between the Echo and the user.

But one thing he noticed... This wasn’t a regular combat Echo, but arcane.

He was oblivious to many things, but considering that the chains were seeking him without anyone actively controlling them meant it was probably an indicator that an Arcanist was among them, the fifteen in the ring right now.

Yet, he couldn’t see any circles anywhere... Which brought him to a new question.

’What exactly was the difference between Arcane and Combat arts?’ he thought.

What if someone could shape their Echo into chains and directly move them through their own control? What makes it different from someone who built an Arcane circle that would release Echo to find and bind someone?

He had no answer, yet he didn’t stop his maneuvers... Still, that gave them enough time to arrive.

Dara’s group was finally within the ring, proceeding with the same tactics Zera tried to implement, having everyone march from a different point around.

”EVERYONE ALL OUT NOW!” Zera shouted his orders again.

Moon, who was forced to the very center by the chains, heard him. He looked around to find Uon, who should have extracted these cheaters by now...

He felt everyone around him activating their Echo...

Yet, Uon was nowhere to be seen.

Nor did any of them get disqualified.

Moon’s eyes at that very instant darted to the high seats of the arena, where Samuel and Ed were seated.

There, Ed smiled amiably at Moon. He waved his hand in encouragement before finally giving him a thumbs-up.

Once Moon realized what was actually happening, ”Fuck dammit!” He cursed.