The city did not change with dawn.
Same cracked streets. Same empty silence. Same twilight sky.
But Aelric felt the change.
Each night survived didn't feel like victory. It felt like… payment. The city was watching, waiting for its due.
Elara rubbed her arms as they walked, exhaustion plain on her face.
"Five nights left…" She tried to smile, but it faltered. "…that means we're already halfway there, right?"
Aelric didn't answer. He was staring at the frozen clocktower ahead. Its hands locked at twelve. Its gears turning with no purpose.
---
They reached the plaza again. The names carved into stone seemed clearer in daylight, as if new ones had appeared overnight.
Elara bent down, tracing them with trembling fingers. "…Some of these weren't here yesterday."
Aelric's eyes narrowed.
"The city's still feeding. Every death during the trials… adds to its archive."
She paled. "Then… other challengers?"
"Or us," he muttered. "The system wants us to see what happens if we fail."
---
He stepped to the tower's base, pressing his corrupted hand against the stone. The whispers surged instantly—louder, clearer than before.
Time stopped. Life stopped. Forward no more. Hollow remains.
> [Archive Fragment Unlocked]
Lore Acquired: The City was once a sanctuary. Its people tried to escape the System by refusing to move forward. But stagnation became their sin.]
Aelric's eyes widened.
"They rebelled… by refusing to progress."
Elara frowned. "Like… just living, without Trials? Without fighting?"
"Yes." He clenched his fist. "They thought if they stood still, the System couldn't control them. But the System turned their stillness into hollowness. An eternal punishment."
Elara's voice trembled. "So that's what's happening to us. If we stop fighting—"
"—we stop existing," Aelric finished coldly.
---
They searched the plaza. Aelric's sharp eyes caught faint carvings in the tower's shadow: a spiral pattern etched into stone, pointing upward.
"A mechanism," he murmured. "This tower isn't just for show. There's something inside. Something the city doesn't want us to reach."
But the doors were sealed tight. No key, no handle. Only silence.
> [Requirement: Survive until Night 4 to access the Clocktower.]
Aelric's jaw tightened. "Of course. The System forces progression. No shortcuts."
---
[00:10:00] until Nightfall.
They returned to the library, reinforcing barricades. Aelric lined the walls with broken mirrors again, but this time he added something new—metal scraps and wires twisted into makeshift traps.
Elara watched, confused. "Traps? Do you think they'll work?"
He gave a thin smile. "Not against the hollows. Against whatever comes next."
---
The sun bled out.
Darkness fell.
And Night 3 began.
---
At first, silence. Too much silence. No scraping claws. No static. Only stillness.
Elara gripped his arm. "…Why aren't they coming?"
Aelric's gut twisted. They've changed tactics.
Then it began.
From the far end of the street, a single hollow walked. Slowly. Calmly. Its body flickering, taller than the others.
But it wasn't alone.
Behind it, dozens more followed. Not charging. Not clawing. Just… marching. Perfectly in sync, footsteps echoing in unison.
The sound pounded like a heartbeat.
THUD. THUD. THUD.
Elara clamped her hands over her ears. "Stop it… stop it!"
Aelric forced her behind him, eyes narrowing. "Not noise. It's synchronization. They're trying to drag us into rhythm—make us part of them."
---
The marching grew louder. The walls shook.
Aelric's corrupted arm throbbed violently.
> [Corruption Surge: +4%]
Current: 61%
Whispers drilled into his skull.
Fall in line. March forward. Become one of us.
His vision swam. His feet twitched against his will, trying to match the rhythm.
"No…" He slammed his pipe against the floor, breaking the beat. "I don't move to your rhythm. You move to mine."
---
He grabbed Elara's hand, dragging her to the fire pit from the previous nights. With his other hand, he smashed two shards of glass together, sparks igniting the dry curtains.
The flames roared. The marching faltered. Shadows flickered violently, their rhythm breaking.
Aelric grinned coldly.
"Predictable. Parasites of order. Break their pattern, and they collapse."
The hollows shrieked, breaking formation. Their synchronized march shattered into chaos, bodies lunging forward again.
But the traps were ready. Wires snapped tight, slashing through their unstable forms. Metal shards pierced shadow-bodies, scattering them into static.
Elara gasped. "It's working—!"
"For now," Aelric muttered, eyes scanning the horde. "But the leader's still standing."
---
The tall hollow moved forward, unaffected by fire or traps. Its faceless head tilted unnaturally, empty sockets fixed on Aelric.
The whispers grew deafening.
You resist. You think yourself above us. But every step you take… you are already hollow.
Aelric staggered, clutching his skull. His corrupted arm seared with pain, black veins crawling further across his chest.
> [Corruption Surge: +5%]
Current: 66%
Elara grabbed him desperately. "Aelric! Stop—don't listen—!"
Through blurred vision, he saw the hollow leader stepping through the flames, its body reforming every time it was torn apart.
For the first time, Aelric's face twisted—not in fear, but grim realization.
"This one… isn't a hollow."
Elara's eyes widened. "Then what—?"
He raised his pipe, voice sharp, cold.
"…It's a failed challenger. One who survived too many nights."
---
The leader lunged.
Aelric met it head-on, pipe smashing into its chest. Shadow and static exploded outward, the shockwave hurling both of them across the room.
The corrupted whispers screamed louder, filling his head with agony. But even through it, Aelric grinned, blood dripping from his lips.
"Good… finally, a real opponent."
---
Hours bled away in chaos. Fire, broken glass, and desperate strikes. Elara fought by his side, her arms shaking but her will unbroken.
And finally—just as dawn threatened—the tall hollow staggered. Its body flickered violently, then shattered into shards of shadow, dissolving into nothing.
The System chimed:
> [Night 3 Survived.]
Remaining: 4 Nights.
[New Access Unlocked: The Clocktower.]
---
Aelric collapsed to his knees, gasping. His corrupted arm twitched violently, the black veins now crawling dangerously close to his heart.
Elara fell beside him, clutching his shoulders, tears streaming.
"You can't keep doing this… it's killing you!"
He forced a ragged grin, whispering hoarsely:
"Killing me or not… the tower's open. And whatever answers it hides… will decide if we live through the seventh night."