As the heroes entered the World Tower, the beams on their bodies disappeared. The sigil that was hovering a few thousand meters from them also vanished. The mystery of the World Tower will now start and the fate of humanity and all other life forms on earth resides in their hands.
Kian felt a strong pressure surge in his veins as he stepped inside the tower. It was like there was a fire running around his body, rapidly increasing his heartbeat and blood flow.
He checked his status screen, but there were no changes.
"Fuck," Kian whispered to himself after he was disappointed by the unchanged display of the screen. He thought that when he entered the World Tower, the state of his status screen would change and his Soul would activate.
"Still no changes?" Brent felt his brother's distress. "Don't worry, we can survive this without that."
Brent talking to him felt odd for Kian. Just the night before, the man threw a punch at him and then left the room in an enraged state. Now he seemed to have calmed down, maybe after talking to his mother.
"I don't think there will ever be any changes," Kian confessed. "I just have to rely on my brute strength from now on."
When the final Hero entered the tower, the doors closed. All that remained were the silence and the darkness of the entire floor.
Technology does not work inside the tower. The Heroes figured this out after they tried to use the flashlight in their bags. When it didn't work, they took out the wooden torch to light them up. Just before they did, a large holographic screen appeared before them.
It was the man from the other day, the man who announced the World Tower and its purpose.
The name of the floor that they are in sent shivers down their spine. Betelgeuse spoke of the words coldly, seemingly meaning something more than just a name for the floors.
Just like that, the holographic feed stopped. Growls erupted everywhere right after the screen disappeared.
"Light the torches!" Joseph yelled and lit his own torch first.
Spark. Spark. Fizz.
The faint orange flame from the tip of his torch lit up the area around him. Just when the man looked up, a pair of red glowing eyes lit up from the darkness. Not long after, several more followed. The group tried to take a few steps back, but when they did, the door that they used to enter was now gone.
One by one, the Heroes lit their torches up to light up the area. It was confirmed, the door had vanished.
"Where's the door?" a young girl shrieked. Kian recognized her as Amanda, the Hero that Canis Minor, the Small Hound, chose. She was panicking as she hid behind a larger man, Flavio, the Hero of Canis Major, the Great Hound.
The disappearance of the door led to the Heroes being cornered by the monsters. There was nowhere to run. The eyes grew in number, there were more and more of the creatures around them as they speak.
"I guess there's no other way but to fight," Mira said. She drew a rune in the air using the orange light that followed her fingertip. "The Queen's Blessing."
Kian heard a woman speak in his mind. It was the same woman who did the countdown for the World Tower before Betelgeuse showed himself on the screen. The notification said that Mira blessed their party with damage, which means Mira was more of a support-type Hero.
"Fighting class heroes should take the front lines along with the defense type," Mira commanded. "Leo and Dorado, defend the south. Perseus and Cancer, defend the east. Aries and Centaurus, defend the north, and then Orion and Lupus, defend the west."
"Lion's Blade!" Brent yelled and raised his right hand. On it, a light appeared between his palms, it formed a sword to which Brent gripped. The sword made its physical appearance, a bright orange sword with a lion for a pommel. He gripped the blade and slashed forward, killing a monster with a swift motion.
"Sword of the Fish!"
"Horns of the Ram!"
"Sword of the Hero!"
…
The rest of the Heroes followed Brent as they summoned their weapons. Kian was left in awe as the bright lights erupted from them one by one.
This made Mira smirk as she hovered both of her hands on the side of her head. A light spun around her head and it formed a crown. Behind her was another large lump of light, forming a golden throne as she sat on it and held her hand out. "The Throne of the Queen!"
Mira commanded the team efficiently. Everyone listened to her commands which made their defense formidable. It took them a while to get a hang of the battle, but when they did, they defeated all the monsters easily.
"Swift Slash!"
Kian heard a small voice yell near him. It was a skinny young man who had pale skin and narrow eyes. His hair was wavy and black which reached right below his eyes. He held a dagger which had a thin purple light covering it.
"So that's him," Kian said to himself. "I have to talk to him."
The fight went on for five hours, but it was finally over. The Heroes collected dry wood from the floor and set it on fire. Mira thought that it would scare the monsters away, giving them time to rest.
It started to get colder a while ago, but the group did not realize it until after the fight. Kian had his eyes on someone. It was odd how the snake itself had the Soul, but not him.
He wasn't well equipped with the constellations before Mira gave him the thumb drive. It was odd how he was alone in his error while the closest constellation to him was fine.
He made his move and stepped towards a small young man. He stood in front of him, eyes blaring with questions.
"Chen?" Kian called out. The young man looked up to see a tall man towering over him, glaring with anger in his eyes. "Can we have a word privately?"
Chen gulped and walked with Kian. He was following the man who radiated with unspoken anger and confusion.
"Your Soul seems fine, right?" Kian asked. "You have Serpens right? The Serpent?"
Chen gulped as he fumbled his fingers. He was looking down in silence as the confrontation continued. His pale white skin was glimmering in the darkness with only the torches to light up, his skinny figure seemed so small compared to Kian's large figure.
"Do you know anything about what happened to my Soul?" Kian asked, dropping all ill intent. "It shows an error for the status screen which weirded me out because I don't know what happened."
"I know," Chen said with a silent voice. He looked up and faced Kian eye to eye. "I am the serpent, you are the bearer. While I'm alive, you cannot have your power."
Just when Kian opened his mouth to speak, a faint light lit up from afar. It was a familiar glow to which he immediately looked at.
"Look!" Amanda cheered as they saw a light from the corner of the horizon.
"Impossible," Kian whispered to himself as they all witnessed the ball of light slowly appearing in the sky.
"Why is there a sun here?!"