"W-who are you?" Vihr was incredibly pale, shivering in fear of the entity in the form of his Father, who was just a few steps from him, like an insurmountable mountain.
"Very sensitive soul, you recognized your Father's aura signature even without having access to a soul authority." The voice was emotionless and cold, and while he wasn't being attacked at the moment, he might as well have been.
With his legs out of order and the cold feeling he was drowning in, only the last dregs of his energy kept him standing.
"You know? for a figure you plan on surpassing. You have quite the fear of him hidden within you." Vihr failed to hold his position as he attempted to stumble backwards and free himself from the pressure of the entity before him.
But unfortunately, he couldn't. He was forced to either stay in place or move forward. It seemed as though his body refused the very action of retreating.
"This feeling... I see. I'm still inside the tower."
Vihr calmed slightly at this thought; as long as he wasn't facing the real thing, this was only a challenge.
"So what? Yes, it's only a challenge, but I'm every bit the image of how you see your Father." The entity stared down coldly at the Vihr, who was trying to calm himself.
"Maybe this will give you a sense of what I mean." Suddenly, the entity disguised as his Father gently waved his hand with an emotionless face,
Riiip!!
A bloody hole—about three centimeters wide—tore through his left shoulder.
Vihr was confused about his thoughts being heard by the entity, but the gaping hole on his shoulder was a more important topic.
The pain didn't hit immediately. The wound was made so fast that it took three seconds for his body to bleed, and four more seconds for Vihr to feel the striking pain that came with it.
"Aaaghhh!!!" He coughed violently. "Cough! Cough!!"
"Why... why!!!!" Vihr clutched his throbbing shoulder, screaming in pain as he coughed up a mouthful of blood.
Pain was far from the scariest thing within the Tower of Authority, but this pain was fundamentally different from the pain the challenges of the tower hit him with.
"Why?" The entity snickered with a sadistic laugh, clearly enjoying the torture. "I thought we both established that I'm not your Daddy, and while your Father will not harm you.... I'm different."
Riiip!!
A second hole punched through his right shoulder. With both nerves severed, Vihr lost all control over his arms; they dropped limply to his sides.
"Aaaagghhhh!!! No! Please, stop!" Vihr screamed in pure agony, blood pooling heavily on the floor where he stood.
"Unfortunately, I can't, my dear challenger. Blame your greed for your misfortune." The entity was brewing another attack as he spoke, "You dared to challenge me with such meager will. You deserve death a dozen times over... but... I'm fair to all challengers, so this one death will do."
Vihr was a shadow of his former self, staring up at the entity wearing his father's face. I'm going to die here.... I'm going to die from this stupid mista—
Riip!!!
This time, the strike hit his left shoulder again. Vihr let out all sorts of curse words he could think of, the helplessness in his eyes slowly giving way to raw rage.
"Even if I have to die here.... Do you have to humiliate me?" Vihr complained bitterly in his heart as he stared at the emotionless entity looking at him while preparing the next beam of light.
"Why do I have to humiliate you..... I can, don't you see? It's your misfortune. You're this close to death; stop thinking about the wrong things." The entity said with a faint sadness, right before sending out the next beam of light.
Riiippp!!!!
Aagh!! Ple-please stop!!!
The beam tore through his left knee, forcing him down. Unfortunately, it was the wrong knee to collapse on—the impact tripled the agony radiating through his body.
Argh!!!
With each subsequent injury, he felt his thoughts slowing down, bit by bit.
"-Hm? He really made it to the final summit."
Just when Vihr felt like it was over, the entity let out a questioning hum. Looking up through space, Vihr saw it staring off into thin air, momentarily distracted.
In that fraction of a second, something snapped inside him.
Pulling together every last drop of remaining energy, Vihr forced himself to his feet. Death was breathing down his neck, and nothing in creation felt scarier than giving up right here. He knew his chances of surviving were practically nonexistent, but as long as he was still inside the tower, the rule remained simple: all he had to do was move forward.
He lunged past the entity, bolting straight for the exit without looking back.
"Move... move—" Vihr chanted under his breath as he ran. Tears and blood streaked down his face, but he drove his broken body through the agonizing fire.
"And where do you think you're going?"
Riiip!!
Immense pain tore through his right leg. Without missing a beat, Vihr bit down on his lip so hard it bled, forcing himself to keep moving despite the agony.
Riiip!!
Just a single step away from the entrance to the training hall, another beam ripped through him. His legs gave out completely, and he lost his footing mid-stride.
And I almost made it...
Staring at the doorway mere inches away, bitter disappointment washed over him.
He couldn't even turn his head to face the entity, but he could feel its cold, blank gaze piercing into his back as he fell toward the floor.
No... no... I refuse!
"Give it up, kid. You're not making it out," the entity sneered. "I might not be allowed to kill you before the awakening ends, but you can't escape me with such corrupted willpo—"
The entity's words were cut short.
Mid-fall, Vihr forced his shattered, unresponsive arms to strike the ground with everything he had, hurling his body forward in one final desperate leap.
He vanished from the space in an instant.
The entity stared at the empty spot where Vihr had just been. Its face remained cold, but deep within its eyes, a flicker of genuine disbelief surfaced.
Silence settled over the training hall for a long moment before a low sigh broke the quiet. "I guess he accumulated enough luck for a few generations."
Passing the challenge required more than just physically reaching the exit; a challenger needed raw, overwhelming willpower to break free from the entity's spiritual corruption. While Vihr had taken advantage of a momentary distraction, it was only after both of his legs were completely ruined that his survival instinct ignited the necessary burst of will.
Ironically, in its attempt to break Vihr's spirit, the entity had given him the exact pressure required to pass the Sixth Challenge—a feat that seldom happened under such heavy corruption.
"That's one less viable meal for me..." the entity muttered. "I can't believe he actually passed with only a few seconds to spare."
As it spoke, the surrounding reality began to warp. The human face shifted and deformed, dissolving into a pitch-black, gaseous lifeform anchored by three massive, blood-red eyes. Golden glyphs—identical to the ones that had engulfed the tower before its activation—surfaced across its shadowy form as the room collapsed into void.
"The energy spent this time far exceeded the gains. I suppose I can't always enjoy exotic meals." Deep within the swirling glyphs, a simple golden mark shaped like an hourglass ticked down its final seconds.
Hah!... Haaah!...
Vihr gasped for air, collapsing onto the steps of the tower.
[Congratulations, challenger, on reaching the Sixth Summit.]
[The Tower will now awaken your Soul Authority.]
Vihr barely registered the floating system text; his mind was still trapped in the horror of the trial.
"I'm alive... I'm really alive," he whispered, frantically running his hands over his arms and legs. Everything was whole. The severe wounds were gone, leaving no trace of pain.
As his breathing slowed, his thoughts drifted back to the opening that had saved his life—specifically, the words the entity had uttered while looking into the distance: "He really made it to the final summit."
Vihr turned his head toward the peak. High above, crouched at the edge of the final summit, stood Arthur, looking down over the expanse.
Vihr couldn't help but let out a weak breath. With a fresh lease on life, he had to admit—the guy who had indirectly bought him those precious few seconds looked pretty damn impressive up there.