"Everyone ready?" sounded the squad leader, his voice echoing off the dark stone walls of the 9th floor.
Sailor nodded and took a step forward. "I'm going," he said calmly, without further explanation.
The squad consisted of sixteen rookies. They were all tense, their eyes betraying fear of what awaited them inside the Tower. Every step echoed in the empty corridors, as if the Tower itself was watching them.
The first trial was a huge monster that suddenly jumped out of the shadows. Its massive body, covered in black scales, shimmered in the dim light, its eyes glowing with a blood-red fire. It was much taller than a human, its powerful claws capable of tearing apart any rookie with a single blow.
Sailor tensed up, instinctively crouching, and began to observe. "If I charge straight in, I'll be crushed. I need to think, not run." He noticed a weak spot on the monster's legs when it slowed its movement. Sailor quietly gestured to it, showing a squadmate, and together they distracted the monster, allowing the others to attack.
The monster collapsed, but the squad was stunned: almost everyone had moved slowly, cautiously, while Sailor, though he dealt no direct damage, his observation and cunning had helped them win. The commander nodded at him: "Well done. Let's move on."
But after a few steps, they found a small monster hiding in a corner. Its eyes were full of fear, its body trembling; it didn't want to attack—only to defend itself.
"Let's kill it," said one of the fighters coldly, raising his weapon. "These monsters are the cause of all our problems."
Sailor looked at the monster and felt an inner protest. Everyone deserves a chance at life. Be it human or monster, it just wants to survive. It needs nothing else.
A debate began. Some in the squad supported Sailor, others were categorically against. The commander suggested a vote. The majority decided: the monster must die.
Sailor felt a chill of fear when they turned to him. "Hey, are you on the monster's side?" a mocking voice rang out.
He stepped forward: "If you kill it, you're not only taking the life of an innocent creature but also losing your humanity. It didn't attack; it wants to live."
But the vote was final. The small monster was mercilessly killed, and its cries, like an echo, hung in the air for a long time. Sailor, feeling rage and powerlessness, took a step back, trying to escape the squad's grasp.
"Stop!" shouted one of the fighters, and his comrades lunged at him.
Sailor dodged the first blow, but the second—a massive sword raised over the head of one of the rookies—was precise. The blade pierced his body, the cold metal instantly stopping the movement of his muscles. He felt weakness envelop his entire being, blood burning his insides, and his heart seemed to slow down.
"Am I... going to die now for trying to protect a merciless monster?" raced through his mind.
His eyes, bright red even in his final moment, were full of incomprehension and desperate reproach. He had no time to say another word, no time to take another step.
Consciousness slowly left his body, leaving only cold and emptiness. His last sensation was a bitter darkness—a feeling that the world of the Tower knew no justice and spared no one who dared to show humanity.
The bodies of Sailor and the small monster lay on the cold stone floor. The squad, gripped by tension, stood over them, evaluating what to do next.
"There's probably a trap ahead," said the commander, peering down the corridor. The floor and walls looked suspiciously smooth, almost too perfect. The men understood: one wrong step, and they could become victims themselves.
"Alright, to hell with them," muttered one of the fighters. He picked up Sailor's corpse, and another—the small monster that no longer stirred. Carefully, so as not to trigger the trap, they carried the bodies to the edge of a chasm or deep hole in the corridor.
"One, two... drop," the commander nodded.
The bodies fell down, disappearing into the darkness. The echo of the impact reverberated down the corridor, and for a moment, there was silence.
The men froze. They were about to move on when they noticed: the space where they were about to step looked strange. A faint vibration underfoot, a barely perceptible noise in the walls—the trap had been triggered, but Sailor and the monster had become its "trigger."
"So it was a trap," muttered one of the fighters, feeling a chill of fear.
The squad moved further down the corridor, unaware of what had happened to their "victims." They had gone a few meters when suddenly, from the shadows, a pack of monsters appeared, moving quietly and almost silently.
They were unusual—from the 20th floor, experienced hunters, not weak creatures, but capable of speech and organization. One of the monsters stepped forward and said: "We were watching you. You humans kill each other so easily, you just look for a reason to kill, and you still call us monsters? You are the real monsters, who care nothing for others. Your main concern is just protecting your own hides."
The battle began. The monsters attacked in a coordinated manner, with incredible precision. The humans tried to defend themselves, but one monster, with tremendous force, killed three men from the squad with a single blow...