"Ah, i am not really the violent type, also i can't really follow you i need to get something inside the Spire so i can travel through the void and find a way to keep my races legacy intact" She said with a sincere smile.
Allen shrugged, he placed his hook into his inventory and held the revolver instead. "You don't seem sad your world is gone"
She chuckled. "Well maybe it's because we deserved it"
Allen looked at her smiling expression and looked down in deep thought, what does she mean by that?…"Well…ok"
Xixe looked up at the coloful void. "I didn't mean it like that Allen, it's just that we plundered our entire world's resources which made it die, So my race dying out is a reasonable answer, in a way we killed our selves, but now it's just me ,Xixe, a girl with an ambition to see and experience different things whether they are sad or happy, i am grateful to you for releasing me from that stone prison"
Allen was stunned, he didn't kniw how to respond. "Well, you have a way with words and i am feeling a sense of accomplishment so you're welcome, Friend"
"Friend huh?, ok" With that the two bith turned to the doors of the spire and then pushed it.
It did crumble to dust the moment they did. "I expected that"
Allen said and then immediately walked forward into the spire, inside was a huge spiral of stairs going up, some of the stairs were broken while some were about to crumble. "Well i guess this is my new livelihood"
Allen stared up at the massive spiral staircase, its endless twists disappearing into the glowing depths of the Spire. The structure seemed alive in its stillness, the faint hum of energy vibrating through the air and into his bones. The stairs themselves were a mix of solid stone and crumbling debris, each step a gamble.
"Well," he muttered, "I've always been great at climbing questionable structures." He glanced at Xixe, who was studying the Spire's walls with a curious gleam in her pink eyes.
"This place hasn't seen a visitor in a very, very long time," Xixe murmured. Her voice echoed faintly, as if the Spire itself was listening. She tapped her staff against the floor, sending small ripples of energy through the ground. "It feels… awake now. You must have triggered something by entering."
"Great," Allen replied, already gripping the edge of the first step. "If this thing decides to eat us halfway up, I'm blaming you."
Xixe smirked. "Fair enough."
They began their ascent, Allen taking slow, cautious steps while Xixe moved with an eerie grace, her staff glowing faintly to illuminate the dark recesses of the Spire. The hum grew louder as they climbed, the air thickening with an unplaceable tension. It wasn't long before they reached a section of broken stairs, the gap between one step and the next impossibly wide.
Allen groaned. "Of course there's a death trap. Why wouldn't there be?"
Xixe tilted her head, studying the gap. "It's not so bad. Just a simple jump."
"For you, maybe," Allen said. "You've probably got void-physics or magic or whatever on your side."
Xixe laughed softly. "Void-physics? Is that what you're calling it?"
"Don't mock the guy with a gun," Allen quipped, though he was already sizing up the jump. The revolver felt reassuring in his hand, even if he doubted it would help against gravity.
Xixe tapped her staff, and a faint energy bridge materialized across the gap. "There. Problem solved."
Allen raised an eyebrow. "You could do that the whole time?"
"I wanted to see if you'd try," she replied with a grin. "Consider it a test of your resourcefulness."
"Yeah, thanks," Allen muttered, stepping onto the glowing bridge. It held firm beneath his weight, though the faint vibrations sent shivers through his legs. "Next time, just say you want to mess with me."
As they continued, the walls began to shift subtly, glowing glyphs appearing in the stone. Xixe stopped, her gaze fixating on one of the symbols.
"This… this is part of my people's language," she whispered, running her fingers over the glowing lines. "It's a record of our past. The Spire must have absorbed it."
Allen peered over her shoulder. "What's it say?"
"sigh, It says that others should learn from the mistakes and hubris committed by the greed of others" She replied with a sigh.
Allen thought it was a small but significant message. "Wise words, i am still confused to the whole Dead world concept"
Xixe turned her gaze to Allen, her expression soft but tinged with an ancient sadness. "It's not that complicated when you think about it," she began. "A dead world isn't just barren or lifeless—it's a testament to what happens when a civilization pushes too far without knowing when to stop. My people didn't see the warning signs until it was too late."
Allen scratched his head, processing her words. "So, you guys just… used up everything? No backups, no contingencies?"
Xixe gave a bitter chuckle. "Oh, we had contingencies, all right. Grand plans to harvest other worlds, siphon energy from stars, even cheat death itself. But by the time those plans could be implemented, there was nothing left of us to carry them out. Hubris and desperation made us blind."
"Sounds like a disaster waiting to happen," Allen muttered.
"And it did," Xixe said, her voice steady but weighted. She traced her fingers along the glyphs again. "This Spire was supposed to be a refuge, a beacon of hope for anyone who survived. Instead, it became a tomb."
Allen frowned, gripping the revolver tighter. "Then why are we climbing it? Doesn't seem like the kind of place that's gonna hand out gifts for free."
Xixe turned to him, her pink eyes gleaming faintly. "Well maybe you can find something useful to you but there is an artefact there that can allow me to travel through the void without getting hurt or lost"
They continued walking as they conversed. "Oh what does it look like"
"It's a void lense" She said truthfully.
Allen raised an eyebrow. "A void lens? Sounds fancy. What does it even do?"
Xixe's staff emitted a soft glow as they approached another set of crumbling stairs. She stepped lightly, as if the Spire itself welcomed her touch. "It's not cr fancy. The void lens bends and stabilizes the chaos of the void, letting me see pathways through it. With it, I can navigate to places beyond normal comprehension. Without it…" She hesitated. "I'd probably dissolve into nothingness or get trapped in endless limbo."
Allen winced. "Yeah, let's not do that."
Xixe chuckled, her voice echoing faintly in the Spire's hollow depths. "Agreed."
The air grew heavier as they climbed further. The glyphs on the walls became more erratic, some flickering with unstable energy.
Suddenly everything went silent.
*Tap*
*Tap*
*Tap*
The sound of their footsteps is the only sound that was heard, everything was eerily silent.
[You have been pulled into the echos of the Past]
"Somethings wrong" As allen said that, he found himself in a large dark chamber, in the center of the chamber was a pedestal with a floating piece of a diamond shaped crystal, Xixe who was behind him gasped at the scene.
"We..we were transported into an echo, that means we have reached the end of the spire" As she said that, the entire chamber trembled and the pedestal slowly rose up, the walls.
Allen was someone new to this whole situation, when he saw this scene he had a deep sense of foreboding.
From the ceiling a figure dropped onto the ground creating a small crater on the ground , at first both Xixe and Allen were startled, but when they saw that nothing happened for the first few seconds they took five steps backwards. "Yeah something is definitely going to pop out of there"
Allens words were correct unfortunately, Suddenly Six sharp appendages attached to the edges of the crater as the thing slowly propelled itself.
[The ??? Factor has been detected, Warning The dead World, Echo Drift is infested by a hive mind creature, Actions:Abandon the dead world before it becomes a lost world]
Twelve crimson eyes, a huge maw in its underbelly revealing countless small tentacles and on its back was glowing blue orbs.
"…Wasn't this world a Low threat" Allen asked dryly, What do you mean by hive mind creature?!, What do you mean lost world?!.
At this moment Allen was utterly confused, First he was dragged into the void then had to fish for gods sake?! and the. he had to come to an unknown world to free a girl and now.
He was here, facing some kind of eldritch abomination. The creature's massive form slithered from the crater with an unsettling fluidity, its sharp appendages scraping against the stone floor like blades cutting through air. Each of its twelve crimson eyes blinked in unison, and the soft, rhythmic glow of the blue orbs on its back pulsed, casting an eerie light across the chamber. The whole creature seemed to breathe in sync with the oppressive hum of the Spire, the air around it thick with malice.
Allen's grip tightened around the revolver. He had no idea what kind of weapon would take down something like that. His eyes darted to Xixe, who stood frozen in place, her pink eyes wide with shock. For a moment, they were both caught in the creature's gaze, its eyes almost hypnotic, as if it were waiting for something.
"Xixe," Allen muttered, "What the hell is this thing?"
"I-I don't know" She said in a low terrified voice, Allen didn't have the luxury to ask any more questions he aimed his revolver at the creature aiming directly at one of its eyes.
"A hive mind huh, So i am guessing this thing is a minion of something bigger?" Allen said, his voice tight with tension as he slowly backed away, keeping his revolver trained on the creature's glaring crimson eyes.
Xixe nodded shakily, her staff now glowing brightly as she braced herself. "I don't know?!"
She sounded scared…Allen looked back to only see her gripping her staff while tears were streaming down her face, if he could he would have atleast askwd why she is crying, oh yeah an indescribable creature is literally scurrying its way over to their direction?!.
The creature continued its slow, deliberate crawl toward them, its appendages scraping against the stone floor like giant claws. Every movement felt calculated, purposeful like it was savoring the moment, enjoying the terror it was causing. The rhythmic pulsing of the blue orbs on its back seemed to sync with Allen's quickening heartbeat, the air growing thick with dread.
Allen's finger hovered over the trigger, but he didn't pull it. Not yet.
He waited until it was close enough then…
*BANG?!*
The bullet shot out of the barrel of the gun and was then immediately sent towards the creature, within seconds the bullet hit one of the creatures eyes momentarily making all its other eyes close, Allen then immediately took out his harpoon from his storage and dashed towards the Abomination.
It opened its eyes and then immediately crossed two of its appendages against one another
'Sell the Baecho totem and upgrade the harpoon'
[You have gained 0.3 Points]
[You have upgraded the Harpoon 2/10 by using 0.1 points]
[You have upgraded the Harpoon 3/10 by using 0.2 points]
The harpoon in his arm suddenly gained a simvery texture and a sharp edge, the harpoon clashed with the appendages like two spearmen fighting , one attacking while the other defending
"Hissss??" The Abomination hissed from his underbelly, its tentacles suddenly coming out from its maw, they were razor sharp and looked harmful enough for Allen to dodge back from the parameters of it.
Allen quickly sprang back, narrowly avoiding the flurry of razor-sharp tentacles that shot out from the creature's maw. His heart pounded in his chest, his pulse racing as the air seemed to crackle with the creature's malevolent energy. The harpoon now felt lighter in his hand, as though it had become an extension of his will. He tightened his grip, preparing for another strike.
The creature's eyes flickered in annoyance, its body twisting with unnatural speed. The appendages recoiled before launching forward again, but Allen was already in motion, darting around the creature, his harpoon poised for another strike. His breath came in quick bursts, adrenaline flooding his system. He couldn't afford to make a mistake—one slip-up could be the end of him.
Xixe, still frozen in shock, finally snapped out of her stupor. Her staff flared with energy as she raised it high, chanting words in a forgotten language. The air around her shimmered, and for a brief moment, it seemed like the world itself was responding to her call. She swung the staff downward, unleashing a sound wave that pushed the abomination away.