I looked up after descending the spiralling staircase in its entirety.
The oasis seemed to be illuminated by three, dull-red suns.
From the dim crimson skies outside, enough light bled through the giant's eye sockets to illuminate this small haven of forced life.
It was a majestic sight, to see a pyramid of homes built out of bones, seated beneath three pillars of crimson light. At the very top of each pyramid was a statue, thus depicting three beautiful figures.
One was reptilian, with horns jutting out of his head and torn wings folded on his back.
Another, had a single eye and held a war hammer in his hand, raising it towards the sky above.
The last one held a tome, and was smaller than the book she held.
A Fallen Drakon.
A Violent Cyclops.
A Knowledge Sprite.
"Who are those people?"
After scanning the three statues, I looked to my left, and threw Irmak a question.
"…"
For a moment, Irmak was silent. Then, his eyes seemed to flash with melancholy as he too, glanced at all three statues.
"They're the leaders of this oasis. Long-lived races who've been stuck on this damned First Trial for decades… maybe more? I'm not sure. No one really dared to ask."
Nearby, Varak nodded.
"They look younger than us, but they speak like dying relics."
Irmak stiffened.
"Varak." The Higher Golem father delivered his words with a dire warning. "If there is anything you value in the world, don't ever say that again."
Seeing Irmak react this way, I was stunned. Then, a shiver ran up my spine at the implications of his reaction.
"…I see,"
I decided to end the conversation there.
Not only because I could not find myself replying to such a reaction, but because the boisterous atmosphere of celebration was loud. Laughter and cheers filled the air, growing stronger as Irmak led Varak and I to the area beneath the central eye socket.
There, under the red spotlight, a banquet was being held.
"This…" I was astonished.
"It's a banquet for those who made it here in one piece. For our children and anyone else who had been given this accursed trial."
An uncertain light flashed in my eyes. Such a festive atmosphere felt… out of place. Why were they celebrating the moment when other people joined them in hopelessness?
Irmak glanced at me, and upon seeing my expression, he seemed to understand.
"Don't think to much about it. In a way, we've accepted this place as our new home. So, when others become a part of the village, we should, at the very least, be happy that the world continues to turn. Although our First Trial is hopeless, we still have lives we can manage to live."
I fell silent once more.
A sense of familiarity befell my shoulders. Constricting my heart like shackling chains. This was no oasis.
This place… was another prison like the four walls of my cell.
****
Hopelessness masked by festivity.
A derisive sense of disgust boiled within Zöe as he looked through those joyful gazes directed upon him. Outwardly, he held himself together, desperately trying to avoid a scowl that could cut steel.
He disdained the lives of these people.
To accept this cage and be deprived of a better life… He saw his past self in them. Content merely in transferring from one trapped body to another.
Now that he'd seen wider horizons for himself, he had long realized how small his mind was. Memories just didn't cut it.
The Suiroican Spider.
The Tower of Thorns' Floor 0.
And now, the First Trial.
Zöe merely had a glimpse of each of these experiences, yet he already felt it in his heart. This was what he wanted.
To explore the world and see it in all its glory.
"No…"
Zöe wanted to explore worlds! Every single world out there!
He would not let a single beautiful sight escape his gaze.
Thus came the declaration:
'I cannot be trapped here.'
"Hey~"
Averie's voice tore Zöe out of his reverie. He looked at the young woman whose face seemed to chiselled by the heavens—angelic, if he were to use Eve's vocabulary.
Divine, if he used the memories of a few merchants.
Enchanting, if he used the memories of the women he once possessed.
Either way, Averie was beautiful in terms of human standards. For a Vengeful Spirit who sought freedom in its truest sense, she looked like a dead woman walking.
A pang of melancholy flashed in Zöe's eyes, and Averie noticed.
"Hm? Did seeing me make you sad, Zöe? Am I not pretty enough for you?"
Averie stepped closer to Zöe, looking straight into his eyes.
"Don't." Zöe's eye twitched and he pushed the Winged-Born's forehead back with a finger.
He then waved his hand while sighing, "Your greeting just reminded me of someone I know."
Having her mischief discovered, Averie chuckled.
"Well, that look of yours was quite heavy. If you wanna talk about it, I can bring you some grape mead. We can drink until your sorrows vanish, ya hear?"
Having travelled with Zöe for a few days, the siblings Averie and Varak had opened up to him. Averie, especially, seemed to hold some form of fondness for humanity's similarities with her Winged-Born features.
Moreover, their parents were kind to him, telling him about their own world before they challenged the [Tower]'s trial. Averie found the young man's curiosity a desirable trait.
Thus.
Zöe smacked his lips.
"Well, it's not mead that I want but the delicacies the Life Oasis has in store for me."
He had eyed a few interesting-looking dishes from afar. Under Averie's guidance, he wanted to try those that wouldn't kill a Lesser Human like Eve.
Moreover…
While he was waiting for his lodgings to be constructed, he wanted to roam around. A stone mason's memories in his mind allowed him to appreciate the craftsmanship put into constructing the buildings that now surrounded him.
White bones, dyed a shade of red by the crimson spotlight, were cut, carved, and used to raise a variety of roofs into the air. Different sculptures decorated the wide ivory streets, and the many gardens were all connected by streams of vibrant cerulean water.
Each garden produced their own bizarre-looking fruits, looking slimy and grotesque, all while hiding the prized saplings at their cores. It was a fierce dissonance with the cerulean water.
But Irmak had warned him to avoid touching the water. It was a clear deception.
Any living being who submerged a part of themselves in the water would be voided of their soul in an instant.
It was a beautiful thorned rose.
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