The Tower
1053 Words
“Hahaha! It’s just as large as I imagined!”
Seth found himself laughing as he stared at the Black Tower that stood in front of him.
“Not as large as the Hell Monoliths, though. Hahahahahaha!”
He didn’t care that he was laughing so loudly, considering the fact that no one was remotely close enough to hear a single word he was uttering.
The area had been abandoned thanks to the suddenness of the Black Tower’s appearance.
That wasn’t all, though.
The Miasma that the Tower exuded caused an unnatural heat to waft through the area and a very unpleasant sulphuric smell to pervade everything around.
“Hmmmmmm!” Seth inhaled deeply, smiling to himself.
“What a nostalgic smell!”
Compared to the burning sensation that overwhelmed one’s nostrils and throat the moment they took a single whiff of Hell’s atmosphere, the feeling that coursed through Seth’s body felt too mild to be considered anything special.
It felt like having a tasteless meal right after eating the spiciest dish imaginable.
Seth could still detect the hellish flavor in the air, tingling his skin, but he knew it just wasn’t the same as what he remembered.
‘I suppose that’s a good thing. I can only imagine how many people would have died if they were exposed to that kind of stuff all of a sudden…’
The only reason Seth had survived Hell was because it operated on a different set of rules.
For one… no one could die there.
He had tried many times, but it was impossible to die when one was already in the afterlife.
He heard there was a certain ‘power’ that could permanently destroy souls, but Seth wasn’t at the level to learn something like that.
‘If I wasn’t immortal back then, I would have died a million times over…’ A wry smile formed on his face
Bittersweet memories flooded his brain..
“In any case, since I’m here already… I might as well go in.”
Seth had spent all day trying to get to this location. He would have tried teleporting, but since long-range Teleportation was Tier 5 Magic, and prolonged use of short-range Teleportation drained his Miasma too much, Seth had given up on that venture already.
Thanks to that, he had to rely mostly on his physical prowess, while using basic enhancements to strengthen himself to traverse the distance.
‘I have no idea how many miles I covered, but I didn’t expect it to take so long…’
Time never passed in Hell, so Seth had been surprised to see the day slowly change while he was sprinting towards his goal.
‘I used to do exercises more intense than this every day, though. Does that mean the days I calculated in hell were longer than in here?’
If that was the case, then did the 66 Years he spent in hell equate to the way they were calculated on Earth?
“Meh…” Seth shrugged those thoughts aside.
He didn’t really care for all of that now—not now that his goal was standing right in front of him.
“There’s no need to think about unnecessary stuff.”
He was here now, and that was all that mattered.
Seth casually approached the towering structure before him, unintimidated by how its sheer mass spread about the area, and its elongated height pierced the very clouds.
None of those were of concern to him.
His Stealth Magic was still active, so he was confident no one would see him near the Tower and try to stop him.
‘Alright then…’
Once he reached the Tower’s base, he found no entrance. Seth wasn’t surprised, though.
This, too, was natural.
He placed his left hand on the black surface of the Tower, prompting a certain pop-up message to appear in mid-air.
Like a System Window, the black-colored panel asked him a question in fine print.
[BLACK TOWER NOTICE]
{Would You Like To Challenge The Black Tower?}
[Yes] [No]
Seth considered how stupidly nice it was for the denizens of hell to add an option for the Black Tower, as if anyone who made it this far didn’t already know what they were going to do.
‘Unnecessary…’ He smiled and pressed the [Yes] Icon before him.
The moment he did this, everything around him became a blur, and in a second…
… It all faded to black.
*********
[Welcome, New Challenger!]
{The Black Tower recognizes your presence as a Harbinger.}
~You will now be transported to the First Floor~
Seth felt all of this information pour into his mind as a myriad of energies lashed on his face and his entire body.
He felt like he was crossing dimensions—almost similar to the feeling he had when he left hell.
To others, it might have been an overwhelming sensation, but Seth sincerely thought it was more akin to a light breeze blowing past him.
It… surprisingly felt good.
“Huuu…”
Once he felt this sensation crease, Seth slowly opened his eyes and found himself in a completely different place than before.
“Haha! Is this for real?” Rey asked himself with a small smile on his face.
Right now, he was in an alternate dimension—one that seemed as large as an entire city.
This world had darkened clouds hovering above, barely letting any light pierce through the puffy surfaces in the sky.
The area around was eerily quiet, and the air felt so still… so stale.
But Seth knew better than to fall for that.
The fog that wafted through the air tickled his nose, and the darkness that pervaded everything threatened to blind his eyes.
Despite it all, he remained unfazed.
“[Sense: Dark].” Instantly, Seth’s crimson eyes glowed and he was able to see in the dark.
The first thing he noticed, however, would be enough to make many wish they didn’t have their sights.
“Ahh…” Seth’s lips dropped slightly as his heart began to race.
A few more steps forward, he could see an imposing gate made with rusted metal poles standing before him.
A crooked wooden board read “DO NOT ENTER!”, and beyond the gate he could see why.
“… Looks like trouble, eh?”
- Writer
