The essence of a Berserker was in their ruthlessness. One must first be ruthless to oneself before one can become ruthless to others.
So, Zöe shed all pretense and struck with that ruthlessness characteristic of Berserkers. His power spiked the moment he lost his leg, so he balled å finger-less fist and slammed down.
—BOOM!
The wasteland sandstone beneath his feet cracked upon contact. However, his hand turned into a lump of mangle flesh.
—Swish!
The entire arm followed shortly after.
But Zöe did not hesitate.
'The Tower never gives out impossible Trials.'
Everything hinged on this understanding.
'Since it asked me to kill the spider, I must have the ability to do so.'
—BOOM!
Zöe struck the spider's bleeding carapace with a jumping stomp. Having lost his right leg and left hand, he still had two more limbs to sacrifice.
—Crack.
The sound of the spider's exoskeleton was music to his ears. He was close!
Still.
—Swish.
He lost another leg, and he fell miserably onto the ground. However, his strength reached an entirely knew level.
Zöe's eyes flashed with a brilliant blue and a rabid desire for survival.
—BOOM!
His fist slammed down, snapping several of the spider's legs as it was forced into the ground once again.
"YOUUUUU BASTARDDDDDDD!"
The spider's roar brought a chill down his spine. The sheer blood lust in its tone…
Zöe was terrified.
—Swish!
He lost his final limb.
Watching his arm trail through the sky as his blood drew a grim yet beautiful arc, Zöe was at a momentary loss.
The spider was still alive.
And yet he…
He had lost the means to strike it down.
"NO!"
Zöe refused to succumb, screaming out with an unfathomable rage of his own. Like a worm, he wiggled with all his strength, lunging head first at the spider using what remained of his limbs.
The irregular cutting of his arms and legs still allowed him some leverage to send himself flying.
Zöe's mouth opened up, revealing two lines of pearly white teeth.
—Bite.
Clamping around the spider's head, he bit hard.
However.
—Swish!
Suddenly, Zöe could no longer feel the rest of his body.
All there was… was his head.
And yet!
Despite being nothing but a head!
The Vengeful Soul refused to let its host perish.
Zöe felt it when Eve's Berserker head rose in power beyond anything it was capable of. His blood flowed in reverse, rejuvenating his brain and keeping his consciousness alive. Although his body was no longer a part of him, the blessing of strength still arrived.
Power.
Unbelievable power.
Enough power to…
—CRUNCH!
…Shatter the spider's body in his mouth. Just like him, the spider's head was separated from its body.
But then, Zöe began to chew.
—Crunch! Crunch! Crunch.
Blue-green arachnid blood sloshed around his mouth.
It was at this moment that the spider was truly dead. And, accordingly…
[You have slain the Suiroican Spider.]
[You have been awarded with the Suiroi Civilization's Final Spark.]
Messages poured into his mind, appearing as floating screens in the air.
[Detected the death of a being from the Tower of Hells.]
[The Law of Ascension states that all beings in flux must ascend.]
[Fail to do so and you will fall into hell.]
[The Tower of Thorns offers you a chance.]
[Will you accept?]
[Y/N]
"Yes!"
Zöe finally heard what he was waiting so desperately for.
[Chance accepted.]
[Welcome, Vengeful Soul, Zöe.]
[Reconstructing your host body to accommodate a Civilization's Final Spark…]
[…]
[…]
[…]
The world went dark long before Zöe witnessed the rest of the messages from the Tower of Thorns. The pain… what could it be?
To be beheaded was an experience that no one can pass down.
In a way, it was eerily filled with tranquility. All the pain he felt vanished, replaced only by a warm buzzing from where his head was separated from his body.
Perhaps the only reason he could feel anything at all was because his blood had flowed in reverse.
After the world went dark, Zöe was unaware of the passage of time. In fact, the next thing he knew, he was standing in line.
"…?"
****
Let me tell you about how jarring it is to wake up standing, in line for something important, yet being unaware of where I was, nor what I was lining up for.
It is beyond confusing.
Especially since I was not standing at the back of the line. There were others behind me, and even more in front of me.
But the line moved at a speed visible to the naked eye.
The only other jarring thing was that… It wasn't just humans in line. Everything and everyone that could ever exist was in this line.
As I looked around at the snaking line in the distance, I saw them all:
Plants waiting for their evolution into spirits.
Objects whose consciousness had reached the threshold of birth and intelligence.
Animals who have absorbed enough energy from the world to earn a Name.
The myriad races who have reached maturity.
Even newborn concepts who wished to become gods.
Everything and everyone was lining up for a chance to challenge the Tower of Thrones' First Trial.
The definition of 'living being' had underwent a drastic change in my eyes.
In fact, I think the living being standing in front of me was…
A single stalk of grass.
It was wiggling in either the breeze or in excitement. I didn't know. It didn't make any sounds, but I somehow felt its joy as a fellow spiritual body.
If the stalk of grass was going to become a spirit soon, then I, as a Vengeful Soul, had the capital to communicate.
"…"
In the end, however, I opted to stay silent.
Eve's memories had nothing about all of this. Although he was aware of the Tower of Thorns, he was never given an offer.
Which was odd.
Was he not a so-called 'being in flux' who was fated to ascend?
Wait, no…
He was a reincarnator — or more specifically, a regressor. His life had looped in on itself when he sent his soul back in time.
Perhaps it was this binding in time that meant that he was never going to undergo that flux, forced to relive a life he could not transcend once more.
Perhaps only in his second life would have been offered a chance by the Tower of Thorns.
Perhaps…
No.
I could not be too sure of anything.
Furthermore, thinking about this wasn't going to help me solve the mystery of my own existence. On top of that, I was also more concerned about exploring new worlds than having an existential crisis.
Therefore.
Going with the flow of events, I took a step forward as the line shortened. Looking at the endlessly flat and mirror-like land, stretching infinitely in all directions and accommodating everything and everyone, I felt an immense sense of awe.
Just what kind of existence was the Tower of Thorns?
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Polls will release after Chapter 6. The novel will be meaty enough for sufficient context by then.
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