---
Chapter 55: Towerfall Pact
The Tower screamed.
Not in sound—though the grinding of ruptured Teeth, the groaning of split steel, and the thunder of collapsing veins was a cacophony that clawed at the skull—but in presence. The structure itself wailed like a living thing being gutted, its lattice unraveling, its purpose shredded.
Aria crouched against the edge of a broken platform, her hands trembling as she kept her eyes locked on the data streaming across her interface. Red lines, ruptures, signals collapsing like severed nerves.
“It’s dying,” she whispered, voice barely audible over the storm. “The Switch cut deeper than I thought. The Tower’s… it’s unraveling its own spine.”
“Good,” Lira spat, wiping blood from her mouth. Her thigh wound still bled sluggishly, but her grip on h
