Kael remained standing.His fists were clenched so hard blood ran from his palms, his breath rough, tearing through the silence.Beside him, Thana—pale, trembling—watched without looking away, as if trying to carve his image into memory, fearing he might vanish again.
Then… space tore.
Not a fissure.Not a doorway.A rending.
Reality itself gave way, unable to contain what was coming.Whole swathes of the burning sky folded in on themselves, reduced to glowing fragments that crumbled like scorched glass.From the yawning dark, a figure emerged.
The Guide.
His step never touched the ground: he crossed the ashes like inevitability.Around him, the air bent, caught between reverence and terror.His eyes were not merely bright—they were twin abysses, reflecting both origin and end.
He raised a hand, and silence, already heavy, became absolute.Even Kael's heartbeat seemed to stop.
— "Congratulations."
His voice fell, deep, sovereign.It didn't just echo in the air: it vibrated through flesh, soul, and the marrow of the world.
— "The Fifth Floor is complete."
The Guide lowered his hand slowly.Behind him, space lit up, and translucent windows burst into being, aligning like verdicts carved in stone.
His grave voice marked each line:
— "You did not merely meet your objectives.You surpassed them."
His eyes narrowed, and a flicker of amusement passed across them.— "And all of this… under malus.The Tower set a price for your request on the Third Floor: Umbra's absence.And, for this Floor… the obligation to appease Mimas before the goal could be validated."
The windows pulsed.The judgment fell.
⟡ Main Objective: cleared → +300 Conquest Points⟡ Secondary Objective: cleared → +100 Conquest Points⟡ Hidden Objective I: cleared → +500 Conquest Points⟡ Hidden Objective II: cleared → +500 Conquest Points⟡ Feat achieved → +50 Merit Points
A golden halo cinched around Kael, tracing luminous marks across his body.The total blazed before his eyes.
Total: 1,400 Conquest Points + 50 Merit Points.
The Guide closed his hand, and the windows dissolved in a rain of shards.He inclined his head slightly, sealing the judgment.
Grand Total: 4,320 Conquest Points + 60 Merit Points.
— "Now, the Tower will expose you to contracts.Gods, demons, or other entities… some will extend their hand.But remember: every pact is a chain, and every chain has a price."
His voice fell sharp.Then he raised his hand again.
A rumble coursed through the Furnace.Space bent.And before Kael, an arch of black light unfurled, circled by shifting runes.
— "Behold… the Conquest Shop."
The structure opened like an infinite cathedral.Thousands of icons floated in the void, each shimmering with its own glow: blades of ethereal edge, armors that pulsed like living hearts, grimoires with self-burning pages, forbidden runes etched in shadow.Each felt alive.Each whispered its price.
The Guide spoke, his voice a proclamation.
— "Every objective grants Conquest Points.The greater the goal, the greater the reward."
A secondary window appeared.
⟡ Main Objective → 300 Conquest Points⟡ Secondary Objective → 100 Conquest Points⟡ Repeatable Secondary Objective → 10 Conquest Points⟡ Hidden Objective → 500 Conquest Points⟡ Feat → Merit Bonus
The figures shimmered, confirmed.
— "These points are your currency here.Every purchase binds you further to the Tower.And each choice will either bring you closer… or damn you."
The Guide shifted away from the Shop.His gaze slid to Kael, pinning him with glacial intensity.
— "Furthermore… one among you has already unlocked a hidden use of the Orb."
His eyes never left Kael, and it was as if all the Furnace's attention fixed on him.
— "The Orb is not only a vessel.It can serve as a communicator, if bound to another Orb."
Windows bloomed before the unseen assembly, showing orbs pulsing, linked by filaments of light.
— "Through this bond, you may speak even when separated by entire floors."
A pause. His lips almost curved.
— "The Orb has other functions still… but I'll leave those for you to uncover."
His arm lowered, the images splintering away like glass.The arena sank back into its heavy silence, while the Shop still floated, vast, a gulf of temptation.
The Guide swept the unseen assembly with a cold gaze, his aura pressing like a carved sentence.
— "I have said, and done, all I could to give you the maximum cards to survive.Perhaps I've already told you… but it bears repeating."
He stepped forward, the air folding around him.
— "The first five Floors had one purpose only: to strengthen you individually.To forge you, break you, rebuild you."
His tone darkened.— "But the next four will be different.They will test you.Individually… or together, by your choice.Their single purpose: to decide whether you are worthy of the title Conqueror.And whether you deserve to begin the Tower's true ascent."
A heavy silence. Then his voice swelled, resonating in flesh:
— "Some will climb for glory.Others for wealth, power, strength… or dominion.And a few, perhaps, for immortality itself."
His eyes narrowed, piercing to the core.
— "No matter. Every Conqueror has a goal.A fire in the heart, an ambition guiding every step.Find yours.Feed it every day.Grow stronger."
He raised his arm, his voice falling like a blade:
— "Climb to the summit… or fail.And be erased."
The air broke into a low thunder.One final portal opened in the extinguished Furnace.
— "The Sixth Floor will open in forty-eight hours.I expect to see great things."
Then his figure vanished, devoured by the rift.