Despite the shock — shared between joy, fear, awe, and raw motivation —
everyone assumed the trial was finished.
The guards fell.
And they all rushed toward the exit Kael had served on a silver platter.
That was when everything went wrong.
No one could explain it.
No one knew where it came from.
But it was there.
A final illusion.
A net that dragged them all in — resistant or not.
As if the labyrinth had kept one last trap hidden.
The true final trial of this floor.
As the illusion crashed down, Gravyor found himself in chains.
Arms, legs, entire body bound by heavy iron.
Around him, children walked forward in silence.
Children marked by the same chains.
Empty eyes.
Thin bodies.
Unable to defend themselves.
He pulled.
Roared.
Muscles swelling, veins bursting.
Nothing moved.
Every scream from the children stabbed into his skull like a blade.
He, the invincible colossus, reduced to helplessness.
Forced to watch those he would have protected fall, one by one.
That was his torment.
Not physical pain.
But the impossibility of acting.
The illusion hit where willpower meant nothing.
For Veda, it was different.
The illusion didn't strike one wound… but several.
Sometimes, she saw her family.
Her hands trembled, unable to feed them, protect them.
Every accusatory stare weighed on her shoulders like a verdict.
Then the scene shifted.
Kael.
But not the Kael she knew.
His eyes moved away from her.
His gaze turned cold, distant.
His words became blades pushing her away again and again.
A cruel alternation.
Memory and present mixing.
Her cracks colliding until her heart blurred.
She no longer knew what she feared more:
disappointing her own…
or being rejected by the one she trusted.
For Kiyoshi, the illusion was particular.
His inner demons didn't attack only in thought—
they took form.
Dark silhouettes.
Twisted.
Dripping claws.
Crawling out of the mist.
They circled him, eager to tear flesh and crush will.
At the center, Kiyoshi remained seated.
Breath calm. Eyes closed.
A sigil glowed under him, pulsing like a living heart.
Around him, mantras floated in the air, written in flame and light.
Each demon struck.
Each claw hit the barrier, shattering into sparks.
But the more they were repelled, the more they returned.
More vicious.
More aggressive.
Kiyoshi held on inside his bubble of prayers, but sweat rolled down his forehead.
He knew one moment of hesitation…
and the dark tide would swallow him.
For Narcisse, it was brutal.
She, whose arrogance was a way of life, had just watched her entire group get wiped out — devoured by the mist before even reaching the illusion.
Alone, she had run.
The exit widened by Kael was only a few steps away.
She believed she would make it.
But the web of nightmare didn't spare her.
And when she fell into the illusion, it wasn't monsters waiting for her.
It was them.
Her own men.
The ones she had charmed by force.
The ones she had chained to her whims.
Their faces twisted.
Their once-empty eyes burned with devouring hatred.
They lunged at her.
Narcisse screamed.
Every second was a torture.
Every movement, a revenge.
They cut her.
Crushed her.
Tore her apart.
Her mind cracked.
Her pride collapsed.
And in that endless pit, she felt her very soul slipping.
And for the last one—
Rain.
Impact.
Metal folding.
The world screaming.
Kael suffocated, pinned, unable to move.
His father already lying lifeless.
His mother, body broken, turned toward him.
Her fingers trembled, but she managed to place them on his chest.
A black seal ignited.
The mark of Thanatos.
Transferred.
Engraved into her son to save him.
But as Kael thought he was fading, a voice slipped in.
Not his.
His mother's.
She wasn't speaking to him.
She spoke… to the Shadow.
— Thanatos… I beg you.
— Protect him. Make sure he lives, no matter the cost.
Silence.
Then the answer came.
Cold.
Distant.
— He will bear my seal. But he will bear its weight.
— Then promise me… her voice trembled.
Promise me you will never reveal the truth to him.
— What truth? the Absolute asked.
— It wasn't an accident…
But if he learns it… he'll be consumed by hatred.
Another silence.
Then, for the first and last time, the Shadow agreed:
— I swear it.
And the next second, her breath went out.
Kael screamed.
But the scream only echoed inside him.
Because this wasn't an illusion.
It was a memory.
A memory he was never meant to recover.
A black window opened before his eyes:
⟡ [ Sealed Memory Fragment Revealed ] ⟡
→ Origin of the Thanatos Seal: inherited maternal transfer
→ Pact with the Absolute: protection of the bearer
→ Imposed Secret: "Accident" surrounding parents
→ Mental lock partially broken by the Floor 6 Final Illusion
The window closed.
And with it, Kael knew he had crossed a boundary he could never return from.
He opened his eyes abruptly.
The mist faded around him.
A new window appeared:
⟡ [ Seal Evolution ] ⟡
→ Veil of Clarity: Rank C → Rank B
His breath was short, but his face remained still.
Nothing leaked out except a cold, cutting stare.
A vibration rippled through his shadow.
Umbra emerged at his side, silent, holding a dark sphere between his claws.
⟡ [ Item Acquired ] ⟡
→ Labyrinth Core
Kael took it, and the shadow dissolved back into his body.
The link had returned.
Only then did he turn toward Narcisse, wounded, then toward his companions still trapped in their nightmares.
One by one, he woke them.
They all recovered, but none dared comment on what they saw in his eyes.
Kael said nothing.
He simply walked.
He crossed the breach of the labyrinth and left the floor…
heart tight, face frozen,
and an aura of ice clinging to him like a second skin.
Only nineteen survivors made it out of Floor Six.
From there, an inter-floor chamber opened between each level — a resting zone outside of time where everyone could breathe again.
But none of them approached Kael.
His icy aura filled the space, sharp and suffocating.
It gave the impression that getting too close…
meant dying.
The Guide appeared as usual, emerging from a spatial tear that split the air.
His hands clapped slowly.
An ironic applause.
— Nineteen survivors, he announced.
Congratulations.
Black windows unfolded before each of them.
⟡ [ Rewards – Sixth Floor ] ⟡
→ Main Objective: +300 Conquest pts
→ Secondary Objective: +100 Conquest pts
→ Hidden Objective: +500 Conquest pts
Silence filled the chamber, broken only by notifications.
The Guide continued, voice heavy:
— You have crossed the first threshold of consolidation.
Your progress deserves to be noted… but don't be mistaken.
His dark eyes swept the group, dissecting each of them.
— The Seventh Floor will remind you of one simple truth:
Survival isn't about strength…
but adaptability.
— Never forget this: the Tower does not reward the powerful.
It rewards those who change.
A cold smile touched his lips.
— Prepare yourselves.
The tear closed, and the echo of his presence vanished.
A window appeared in the chamber:
⟡ [ Transfer – 7th Floor ] ⟡
→ Activation in 60 seconds
The survivors tensed.
Some checked their weapons.
Others whispered prayers.
A fragile silence settled.
Kael didn't move.
His frozen eyes already fixed the place where the tear would form.
His group stood behind him without a word.
The ground vibrated.
Light twisted.
And the chamber dissolved in a blinding flash.
When the light faded, they were elsewhere.
The Seventh Floor had begun.
Everyone expected to move forward together…
But a final window appeared:
⟡ [ Individual Transfer – 7th Floor ] ⟡
→ Imminent
A brutal silence fell.
The word individual froze the air.
Some panicked immediately, turning to their newly formed allies.
Cries broke out:
— This is impossible!
— We were supposed to stay together!
— The Tower is lying!
But nothing changed.
The window stayed.
Cold.
Immovable.
Kael didn't move.
His icy gaze fixed the light forming under his feet.
A single certainty crossed his mind:
once again, he would walk alone.
The floor vibrated.
Columns of light erupted under each survivor.
And the chamber shattered.
Kael opened his eyes.
He thought he had reached the Seventh Floor…
but nothing looked like what he expected.
Everything was darkness.
A suffocating, complete darkness.
Nyx's Eyes activated.
Slowly, they pierced the veil, revealing shapes invisible to normal sight.
Under his feet, the ground was damp.
Every step made a faint splash, as if the entire floor was coated with stagnant water.
But the air…
The air carried a metallic smell.
Acrid. Suffocating.
A bad feeling twisted in his chest.
He walked forward.
Then suddenly—
braziers lit one after another, like falling dominos of flame suspended in the air.
The room glowed red.
A wide circular arena.
No doors.
No windows.
The floor glistened.
And Kael realized immediately—
it wasn't water.
It was blood.
A crimson pool covering everything.
At the center stood a colossal mirror.
Three meters wide, ten meters tall.
Its edges sculpted with frozen swirls—
rivers of blood etched into metal.
A monument both magnificent and terrifying.
And that's when I saw it.
My reflection.
Red, black, and gold eyes stared back at me—
with a predatory smile…
while I stood frozen.
A cold shiver climbed my spine.
Then the mirror pulsed.
As if it were breathing.
What I saw in that reflection…
was not me.
And I understood.
The Seventh Floor had begun.