The tower spat them out.
When the gears cracked and the pendulum shattered, the Clocktower's great doors opened like a wound. Aelric and Elara stumbled into the night air, coughing on smoke that didn't exist. The city looked the same—ruined, gray, broken—but the silence had changed.
It wasn't empty anymore.
It was listening.
Aelric wiped blood from his mouth with the back of his corrupted hand. His timer blinked faintly on his wrist.
[10 Years : 8 Months : 6 Days]
He laughed, low and bitter. "Still ticking."
Elara's face was pale. Her own timer still glowed steady—[4 Days : 23 Hours]—a cruel reminder. She touched his arm, voice trembling.
"You're burning yourself away. Every night takes more. How much longer can you—"
Her words died.
Because the air shifted.
---
> [System Notice: Night 6 Begins.]
Trial Type: Choir.
Objective: Resist the Song. Survive until Dawn.
---
The First Note
At first, it was beautiful.
A sound, drifting through the streets—soft, delicate, like a lullaby hummed by unseen lips. It carried no words, only harmony. It was the kind of song a mother would sing to her child.
Elara froze, eyes wide. "I… I know this…"
Aelric's corrupted arm throbbed violently. His grin slipped. "Don't listen."
But the song seeped into their bones. Elara's shoulders relaxed, her tears drying as her gaze unfocused. She smiled faintly. "It's… it's safe. We're safe…"
Aelric slapped her cheek—hard. "No, we're not. Stay awake."
She blinked, startled, breath catching. The melody twisted immediately, the lullaby darkening into a dirge.
From the fog, shapes emerged. Figures of ash and smoke, draped in tattered robes. Their faces were hidden behind masks shaped like cracked porcelain. From their hollow mouths, the song poured.
The Ashen Choir had arrived.
---
> [Condition Applied: Lingering Song.]
Resist the Choir's voice or lose willpower. At 0%, you join the Choir.
---
The Pull of the Choir
Elara clutched her ears, shaking. "It's inside me—it's pulling me—"
Her willpower: [78% → 64%].
Aelric's veins burned, corruption fighting the melody like fire against oil. His smile returned, sharp and bloody. "Finally. Music worth dancing to."
The Choir stepped closer. Every note they sang pressed against his skull, whispering promises: Rest. Surrender. Sleep forever.
Aelric swung his pipe, cracking one Choir-singer across the mask. It shattered like glass, the figure dissolving into cinders. But the song didn't stop—only grew louder, more voices rising from the streets.
Dozens. Hundreds.
Elara's voice broke into sobs. "There are too many! We can't fight them all!"
Aelric spat blood and grinned. "Then we don't. We make them choke on their own song."
---
The Fire Within
The corruption in his arm pulsed, begging to be unleashed. Tendrils writhed beneath his skin, whispering louder than the Choir.
Use us. Break them. Become hollow.
He clenched his fist until his nails drew blood. His grin widened. "Fine. But on my terms."
He slammed his corrupted arm into the ground. Black veins spiderwebbed across the stone, erupting into writhing tendrils of shadow. They lashed outward, wrapping around three Choir-singers at once. Their song warped, turning into shrieks as the corruption devoured them.
Elara gasped. "Aelric—stop! You'll lose yourself!"
> [Corruption Surge: +7%.]
Current: 80%.
Aelric's chest heaved, sweat pouring down his face. He looked at her with burning eyes. "If I stop, we're both dead. And I'm not done living."
---
Elara's Stand
The song kept pulling, harder now. Elara's willpower: [64% → 42%]. Her knees buckled, tears spilling as the lullaby dug into her mind. She saw her mother's face. Her father's. A home she never had.
"Just… one rest," she whispered. "Just a little sleep…"
Then she remembered Aelric's slap. His bloody grin. His madness.
Her hands lit with trembling light. She screamed, forcing power through her body. A ring of radiant fire erupted around them, pushing the Choir back a few steps.
Her willpower stabilized: [42% → 44%].
"I won't leave you," she sobbed. "Not yet. Not ever."
---
The Choir's Crescendo
The Choir didn't retreat. They sang louder. Their harmony turned sharp, jagged, a chorus of knives. The very air vibrated. Windows shattered. The ground cracked.
> [The Choir's Song intensifies.]
All resistances halved.
Elara collapsed, clutching her head. Her willpower plummeted: [44% → 18%].
Aelric staggered, his corruption raging like wildfire. His timer flickered violently. He laughed through the blood. "If music kills me, at least it won't be boring."
The Choir surrounded them in a full circle now. Dozens of porcelain masks tilted in unison, voices swelling into one devastating crescendo.
Elara screamed. "I can't—Aelric—I can't hold on—!"
---
Breaking the Song
Aelric dropped his pipe. Slowly, deliberately. His corrupted arm twitched, black veins spreading up to his eye.
He looked at Elara, grin trembling but fierce. "Then I'll sing louder."
Before she could stop him, he opened his mouth—
and screamed.
Not words. Not human. A guttural roar torn from the infection itself. The corruption in his chest ripped free, echoing through the streets.
The Choir staggered. Their song broke, voices clashing against the monstrous sound. Masks cracked. Figures convulsed.
> [System Notice: Counter-Song detected.]
Corruption output unstable. Risk of Hollowfication: 67%.
The roar continued, shredding his throat. Blood poured from his mouth, his timer glitching wildly. But the Choir's harmony collapsed, their figures dissolving into ash one by one.
Elara crawled to him, sobbing. "Stop! You'll kill yourself—"
His voice finally broke. The last of the Choir dissolved into cinders, leaving only silence.
---
Aftermath
Aelric fell to his knees, coughing blood. His corrupted arm smoked, veins pulsing dangerously close to his heart.
> [Choir Defeated.]
Willpower Restored: +15%.
Elara's Current: 33%.
Corruption Stabilized: -4%. Current: 76%.
The System's cold voice rang through the empty streets.
> [Night 6 Survived.]
Remaining Nights: 1.
Final Trial: The God Beneath.]
Elara held Aelric as he shook, his laughter cracked and broken.
"One night left," he whispered, eyes burning with madness and defiance. "Just one. Then we see what kind of god waits at the bottom."
She clutched him tighter, whispering through tears: "Don't leave me. Please… don't leave me."
Aelric smiled faintly, blood on his teeth.
"I don't break the law, Elara. And the law says—I die last."