The doors of the Ashvale Clocktower slammed shut behind them, sealing out the ruined city. For a moment, there was silence—thick, suffocating silence, broken only by the faint drip of water echoing through the halls.
Elara gripped Aelric's sleeve as her eyes adjusted to the dim light. The inside of the tower looked nothing like she expected. It wasn't stone or wood. The walls were made of shifting gears, massive wheels grinding slowly against one another. Chains hung from the ceiling like vines, each link etched with glowing runes.
But the most terrifying part was the floor.
Beneath the glassy surface stretched rivers of light—timers. Thousands of them. Numbers flickered, each glowing like fireflies. Some counted years. Some hours. Some mere minutes. And with every swing of the tower's gears, some flickered out entirely, vanishing into the abyss below.
Elara staggered back, hand covering her mouth. "All these… they're people's lives…"
Aelric's grin thinned, his corrupted arm twitching. "No. They're not lives. They're chains. And we're standing in the heart of the lock."
---
The System's voice boomed around them, echoing from every surface.
> [Ashvale Clocktower Trial Initiated.]
Objective: Break the False Bell.]
Warning: Bell Wardens will regenerate indefinitely until the bell is destroyed.]
Aelric tapped his pipe against the floor, eyes sharp. "Good. Clear instructions for once."
But Elara's hands trembled. "Do you even know where the bell is?"
The answer came before he could speak.
From above, the bell tolled again. The sound wasn't just noise—it pressed into their bones, their skin, their souls. Elara screamed as the numbers on her wrist burned. [2 Days: 22 Hours: 13 Minutes]
Another hour gone. Just like that.
---
Stairs spiraled upward, vanishing into the shifting shadows above. With each toll of the bell, the steps rearranged themselves, twisting and warping like a puzzle that didn't want to be solved.
Aelric smirked at the sight. "Figures. A climb, then."
Elara grabbed his wrist. "You can barely stand. Let me—"
He pulled free with a sharp grin. "Save it. I don't need to stand. I just need to move forward."
She wanted to argue, to scream, to drag him back, but the ticking of countless unseen gears pressed her forward. There was no time to waste.
---
They climbed.
Each step creaked under their weight, shifting and twisting. Sometimes stairs stretched too far, forcing them to leap. Other times they collapsed beneath their feet, reforming behind them.
And always, the Wardens followed.
Figures with clock-face masks emerged from the gears, ticking hands clicking as they crawled across walls and ceilings. Every time Aelric smashed one apart, the pieces spun backward, rewinding themselves, and the Warden rose again.
Elara's dagger flashed desperately, cutting through the nearest Warden's chest. It fell apart into fragments of light—but only for a moment. Then the glow reversed, the mask reforming.
She panted, back against the railing. "We can't keep fighting them!"
Aelric grinned, pipe slick with ichor. "Then don't. Just keep climbing."
---
The bell tolled again.
Elara cried out as her timer burned once more. [2 Days: 21 Hours: 7 Minutes]
Aelric glanced at her wrist, his grin flickering. He didn't show it, but the pain in her eyes dug at him more than he wanted to admit.
He reached out, pulling her up the next step. "Stay angry, Elara. Not scared. Anger keeps you moving."
She blinked at him, breathless. "And what keeps you moving?"
His grin sharpened. "Spite."
---
Halfway up, the stairs split apart entirely, forming a massive gap. The gears below churned endlessly, grinding away rivers of timers. If they fell, they'd be shredded—body, soul, time.
Elara froze at the edge. "We can't make that jump—"
Aelric didn't hesitate. He shoved her forward.
She screamed as she fell—then his corrupted tendrils lashed out, catching the railing across the gap. With a snarl, he swung both of them over, slamming onto the next platform.
Elara tumbled into his chest, shaking. "Don't do that again!"
He smirked, wiping blood from his lip. "No promises."
---
But the climb only grew worse.
The higher they went, the less the tower obeyed reason. Steps folded into themselves. Railings twisted into chains. Time slipped—sometimes a second stretched forever, sometimes whole minutes vanished in a blink.
And still the bell rang.
Each toll stripped more time from their wrists. Elara's countdown bled away mercilessly: [2 Days: 18 Hours: 59 Minutes] … [2 Days: 17 Hours: 43 Minutes] … [2 Days: 16 Hours: 15 Minutes]
Her breath grew shallow. Tears streaked down her cheeks. "I'm losing everything—Aelric, I don't want to die here—"
Aelric caught her chin, forcing her to meet his eyes. His grin was steady, wild, unshaken.
"Then don't. Don't let them decide for you."
She choked on a sob. "But I can't stop the bell…"
"You don't need to stop it," he growled. His corrupted veins burned black across his arm as he slammed his pipe against the gears, shattering one into sparks. "You just need to outlast it."
---
At last, the stairs opened into a vast chamber.
The bell hung above them—enormous, cracked, its surface crawling with runes that pulsed with unnatural light. Each swing of its clapper made the tower tremble.
Dozens of Wardens lined the room, standing still as statues, their masks glowing faintly in the darkness.
Elara gasped. "We… we can't fight all of them."
Aelric grinned, his corrupted arm blazing like fire. "Good. I wasn't planning on fighting fair anyway."
---
The Wardens stirred as the bell tolled again. The sound ripped through the chamber, burning another hour from their timers. Elara cried out, collapsing to her knees.
Aelric snarled, stepping in front of her. His corrupted tendrils lashed out, cracking against the floor.
The System's voice filled the chamber, cold and merciless:
> [Final Phase Initiated.]
Destroy the False Bell before time runs out.]
Elara forced herself to her feet, dagger trembling in her grip. She looked at Aelric, her voice breaking. "How? How do we destroy something that's rewriting time itself?"
Aelric smirked, raising his pipe. His grin was sharp, defiant, fearless.
"We hit it until it breaks."
And with that, he charged the bell.