NOVEL ONLINE FREE Chapter 231: A World Brought To Its Knees
Drifting through countless places, memory by memory, he floated along, deeper and deeper, further and further.
Tick-tock. Tick-Tock. Tick-tock.
Descending through the disembodied layers, disconnected from it all, he was suddenly pulled–
"Gah…!"
His eyes shot open, gasping out as water spilled out from his lungs, coughing and fighting to breathe back in. Staring up above him, he found himself staring at a shattered sky, occupied by streams of water that drifted upward.
Attempting to pick himself up, he was met with immediate backlash as the mechanical armor was broken and inoperable.
"Shit…! Ghh–"
He struggled, having to tear the suit from his body before finally picking himself up to his feet. With a slight wobble, he looked at the scenery ahead–one that stole the breath from his lungs.
There was nothing left of discernable civilization; simply chunks of land, barely strung together with strips of the Moon lodged into the remnants of the world.
'This is…Earth?' He realized, witnessing the dreadful state of the planet.
It was hard to fathom anybody being left with how it remained, split into gaping chasms that led to a fall straight into the cosmos.
"Charlotte! Charlotte–!" He shouted, looking for the one he had held just what felt like moments prior.
It was only when he called out that he noticed the figure standing to the side, overlooking the edge of the world-splitting ravine. That gloomy overcoat with an air of enigma around him–he knew that person.
"Evanescent?" Finn called out, perplexed by the presence of the elusive man.
The visitor from afar responded to the call, "You were falling through reality. If I hadn't dragged you out, you would've plummeted to the Bottom."
"Bottom?—That doesn't matter! What's going on?! Did you see her?! Is she nearby?!" Finn desperately pleaded for an answer, grabbing the man by his shoulder.
The Evanescent simply looked at him before taking his hand off of him, "Look around. You'll find your answer." Enjoy exclusive chapters from empire
Nothing was left of the world but whatever was left hanging together, all by a single thread, it seemed. Chunks of both the Earth and Moon drifted in the shattered sky, floating along as if fish through a sea.
"She's…Everyone, they're…" Finn realized, dropping to his knees.
"You survived the impact by Dreamwalking, it seems by accident. Either way, there's nothing left for you here," the Evanescent claimed.
Even though he remembered everything leading up to the impact, it was a hard pill to swallow. Standing there, he stared at the remnants of the Earth and Moon, floating amidst the drifting sea, overlooking nothing but bottomless craters.
"It's over, Finn. There's no fixing this," the man told him bluntly. "There's plenty of worlds out there. I'll show you around."
The offer came, though Finn rejected it without a second thought as he stared at what stood behind him in the near distance.
Still persistent even in the fragmented world, the glistening, colossal Tower remained perfectly intact.
"You're wrong…There's still something left," Finn said, staring at that high-reaching structure.
The man in the coat looked disappointed by the answer, though unsurprised, "I'm not going to pretend to understand the situation your world is in. The only thing I can tell you is that it won't hold much longer. If this is your choice, I won't stop you. Good luck."
"Ah–"
Before any other words could be exchanged, he turned back around, finding the fleeting figure already gone without a trace. Standing there, alone, in the fragile remnants of the world, he stared up at the Tower, slowly exhaling.
There was a tightness in his chest, thinking of his friends, feeling those losses completely fresh. As much as he tried to stand strong, he couldn't hold himself together before keeling over. The tears rushed out as he grasped at the decaying soil.
"Charlotte…Jasper…"
It hurt to cry, as though the tears simply couldn't come out fast enough.
["It should've been me."]
The guilt squeezed at his soul, crushing down on it with an internal agony that deprived him of rationality.
["It feels like some sort of cruel joke. If I could've chosen any of them, I would've chosen them to survive–but I'm the last one standing. But, feeling sorry for myself isn't what I should be doing right now.
There's still a path left. It might be a longshot, but…maybe, everything can still be fixed. At the top of the Tower–it might be possible."]
That stray hope was just enough to drag his body, pilfered of its joy, to his feet. As the pieces of the Earth and Moon trickled down like snowflakes amidst a quiet spring, he dragged his feet towards that iridescent structure.
Approaching that humming tower, it felt as though it stared back at him, beckoning his arrival.
He stopped just in front of the entrance, staring up at it. The Tower was embedded into a barren mountainside, overlooking the crumbling region.
'It's not the end. Not yet,' he thought.
Stepping inside, the air shifted as he found himself inside the exuberant, marble interior. Seeing how it remained perfectly intact, without a single crack throughout the walls engraved with the shapes of men and beasts, was jarring.
"…It's untouched," he muttered, ascending the spiraling stairway that led upwards.
Following each step, his boots echoed against the pristine marble. With nothing left, he felt more empowered to move forward than ever. After all, there was nothing to lose and everything to gain.
Reaching into the next floor, he found himself in the Bazaar, though there was an eerie silence about it.
As always, there was a shop stationed at the other end of the pearlescent chamber, overseen by an inhuman shopkeeper.
'It's open,' he thought, approaching the front of the Bazaar.
"Welcome to the Bazaar, esteemed patron," the shopkeeper with an appearance like that of a humanoid wolf in a suit greeted him.
He had no words for the beast, instead simply gazing at the items on display.
"Status," Finn quietly said to himself.
[Level: 109] [4,255,3200/10,000,000]
[Anarch Coins: 630,344]