The Tower of Myths stood beyond reality itself.
Not upon a planet.
Not within a universe.
But suspended between collapsing dimensional layers like an ancient law the multiverse itself could not erase.
Entire universes orbited around the tower slowly, drifting like lanterns around an endless black monument covered in glowing scripture older than recorded history. The structure stretched infinitely upward, disappearing beyond sight no matter how long one stared.
It did not feel constructed.
It felt inevitable.
The moment Satre stepped onto the first platform—
the tower reacted.
Ancient runes beneath their feet illuminated one after another, spreading across the colossal entrance like awakening veins.
A deep vibration rolled through the structure.
Amelia immediately gripped Duskpiercer tighter.
"…It knows we're here."
"No," Babylis corrected softly behind them.
Her pink eyes lingered on Satre.
"It knows what you seek."
The massive gates slowly opened.
And the pressure inside nearly crushed the air from their lungs.
---
The inside of the tower resembled an endless world layered vertically across dimensions.
Entire battlefields floated between colossal stairways. Cities existed upside down overhead while fractured mountains drifted through the sky. Thousands of platforms stretched infinitely upward through dimensional fog, each containing warriors locked in combat.
Some were humanoid.
Others were things language struggled to describe.
Draconic giants wrapped in chains fought six-armed swordsmen surrounded by stars.
Winged beasts wrestled armored titans whose fists distorted gravity itself.
One warrior meditated calmly while entire storms rotated around his body like obedient animals.
Another casually cleaved apart spatial fractures with a spear glowing crimson.
Amelia slowly exhaled.
"…Okay."
Yura stared upward silently.
"This place is insane."
Satre remained still.
But her grip tightened slightly around Gurter.
The tower was not simply a training ground.
It was a hierarchy.
A place where myths either evolved…
or shattered.
The deeper truth became obvious quickly.
The tower did not care about species.
Only ascension.
Every battle here existed to force evolution beyond previous limits.
Babylis watched the surrounding warriors carefully.
"Be careful," she warned quietly. "The tower adapts to ambition. The stronger your desire, the harsher your trials become."
Amelia smirked slightly.
"Sounds annoying."
Then the tower attacked.
---
Without warning—
the dimensional floor beneath them ruptured.
Massive chains erupted upward from below, wrapped in glowing scripture designed to suppress divine energy itself.
The attack targeted Satre first.
Gurter moved before thought.
One elegant slash.
The chains separated instantly.
Not shattered.
Not broken.
Separated so perfectly the severed ends slid apart silently before disintegrating into particles of light.
Several nearby warriors stopped fighting entirely.
Watching.
Satre stepped forward calmly as golden magic flowed around her body like sunlight woven into motion itself.
Then more enemies emerged.
Humanoid guardians forged from dimensional stone and compressed magic descended from the platforms above, each wielding massive weapons humming with transcendent energy.
Amelia grinned immediately.
"There we go."
Her vampire aura exploded outward.
The temperature in the surrounding battlefield spiked violently as crimson fire mixed with blood magic around her body. Countless blood droplets emerged from thin air around her, hovering like suspended bullets.
The nearest guardian charged.
Amelia vanished.
A blur of scarlet motion tore through the battlefield.
Duskpiercer split apart into twin blood-forged crescent blades as Amelia spun through the guardian's attack elegantly. One slash severed its arm.
The blood floating around her ignited instantly.
The detached limb exploded.
Then the blood itself transformed.
Massive serpentine constructs formed from burning crimson blood erupted across the battlefield, ripping through incoming guardians while devouring the magical residue left behind.
Amelia laughed.
Not wildly.
Confidently.
Like combat itself excited her.
"You people are WAY tougher than the last dimension!"
Above them—
entire sections of the tower began shifting.
The structure was evaluating them.
Yura noticed first.
"It's scaling."
Almost immediately the battlefield changed again.
Gravity distorted.
Frozen storms erupted across the platform.
Dozens of spatial tears opened simultaneously around them.
Yura stepped forward.
And the battlefield froze.
Not metaphorically.
Literally.
An enormous glacial wave exploded outward from beneath her feet, instantly swallowing the incoming storms while freezing spatial distortions solid mid-formation.
The surrounding warriors stared.
Because freezing space itself should not have been possible.
Yura's expression remained perfectly calm.
Untouched.
Unbothered.
Her silver-blue eyes glowed softly as she raised one hand.
Then thousands of floating ice sigils appeared overhead.
The sky disappeared beneath them.
"Frost Dominion."
The entire battlefield detonated into a blizzard powerful enough to erase dimensional matter itself.
Guardians froze solid instantly before collapsing into shimmering dust.
Silence spread briefly across the surrounding layers.
Even nearby fighters had stopped moving entirely now.
Watching.
Evaluating.
Then—
the pressure changed again.
A massive figure landed before them hard enough to crack the dimensional floor.
A dragon-like humanoid slowly rose from the crater.
Dark obsidian scales covered his massive frame while glowing silver runes spiraled across his body. Two enormous horns curved backward from his skull while a colossal black blade rested against one shoulder.
Unlike the others—
this one smiled.
"You're strong," he rumbled.
His eyes locked directly onto Satre.
"But strength without transcendence means nothing here."
Satre stepped forward silently.
Golden magic swirled around Gurter.
The dragon warrior's grin widened.
"A swordswoman?"
The surrounding pressure exploded.
His body vanished instantly.
The black blade descended toward Satre with enough force to split dimensions apart.
She moved once.
Smoothly.
Elegantly.
Gurter met the blade.
Silence.
Then—
the dragon's weapon split perfectly down the middle.
Not damaged.
Cut.
Cleanly.
The surrounding dimensional layer trembled violently.
For the first time—
the dragon warrior's expression changed.
Shock.
Satre stepped through his guard gracefully, golden magic flowing around her like dancing ribbons of light. Every movement resembled choreography more than combat.
Beautiful.
Precise.
Absolute.
The dragon retaliated instantly with claws wrapped in dimensional fire.
Satre rotated sideways effortlessly.
One slash.
His armor separated.
Another.
The dimensional fire vanished.
Another.
Space behind him split apart cleanly for miles.
Amelia whistled low.
"…Yeah okay. Shiro's completely doomed."
Even Yura looked impressed.
The dragon warrior staggered backward breathing heavily before slowly laughing.
Not mockingly.
Respectfully.
"So that's the level you've reached…"
He lowered himself slightly.
Not fully kneeling.
But close.
"You may climb."
The surrounding warriors began moving aside gradually.
Not out of fear.
Recognition.
The tower had accepted them.
For now.
High above the endless ascending layers—
something ancient stirred.
The Tower of Myths was no longer merely observing.
It was becoming interested.
And somewhere far above—
past infinite ascensions and dimensional hierarchies—
the pathway toward the World of Void had begun opening slightly.
Because the tower had finally found climbers worthy of reaching it.