"You would strike me, Kaelen?"

Charymos slightly staggered back, covering his mouth in disbelief, his eyes trembling so much that one would swear he was having seizure.

Just what was happening? He couldn’t fathom what had occured. Had he been caught in some strange spell that rendered him delirious?

No matter how much he thought about it, this shouldn’t be possible, a mere Homunculus that he created with his own two hands bearing its teeth against him?

[Impossible!]

That can’t be. A Homunculus betraying him? That has the same possibility of occurring as the Tower itself inverting and Charymos becoming its new ruler.

Absolute loyalty to Charymos is something that is deeply ingrained in all of his creations’ DNA. If he were to order them to kill themselves, they would do so with the utmost gratitude.

That wasn’t even the only thing that shocked Charymos...

[Such raw emotion... How can you be capable of it, Kaelen? You are without a soul, a mere doll that exists for my whims and ambitions!] 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

Charymos mused and as the trembling of his eyes recessed. He studied each and every feature of the boy’s wrathful, vengeful and sorrowful expression.

[Now that I think about, did Veylith not also bare her teeth at me when I tried to kill Kaelen during the Naming Ceremony?]

[Just what went wrong that day when they were born? Were my modifications somehow overridden by that strange power I felt?]

Charymos began chewing his nail, but it was not so seductive this time. He gnawed at it until he began to rip the flesh from his finger.

He had been secretly investigating the source of said power, but he knew that it was something beyond him. He knew that only beings of the higher Floors could directly influence the lower Floors without they themselves being there personally.

[But just who? No one should have known about my experiments aside from that prickly fox Rowena.]

[Was it her? Inconceivable! This is to her benefit as well, she would not deliberately sabotage this, nor is she smart enough to conceive an elaborate plot.]

[Then just who, damn it!]

"Who in the hell has ruined my beautiful masterpiece?!!!"

Charymos roared so loudly that Kaelen could feel his bone marrow trembling, but he refused to back down.

[Damn it, why am I doing this again?]

[Why am I putting my life on the line for the sake of another person? And it’s not like I can save him either. We’re both just going to die instead.]

Those rational thoughts nipped at Kaelen’s psyche, but they did nothing to quell his rage. They had almost no effect on him, they were like faint echoes at the back of his mind.

"Shut your damn mouth!!"

Kaelen reached into his pocket dimension, retrieved one of his spears and immediately condensed Mana at its tip, until it chimed quietly and emmited a controlled, blood-pink light.

"I will grant you this one grace, Kaelen."

"Step away from the Human, and I will erase your transgression from my memory. I understand that they resemble you and the others, these Humans. But they are not your kin!"

Charymos’s rage boiled over, the tentacles on his chin rose rigidly and obscured his mouth, thick slime oozing from him like the waters of a fountain.

"I said shut your damn mouth!! Ahhh!!!!"

Kaelen’s rage mirrored that of Charymos, clouding his judgement and drowning what rational thought remained in his subconscioussnes.

He then coiled his elbows and thrusted his spear at —

"I said. Step. Aside."

[!!]

"Argh!"

Thud!

Charymos’s order was spat through gritted teeth, and Kaelen collapsed to his knees— refusing to fall on his face, the pink Mana imbued on his spearhead fizzing away like an effervescent in water.

"You need to be disciplined, you brat!"

Charymos loomed over Kaelen and Julius, ready to enact his wrath, but...

POWW!!!

A pinkish fist as large as his, bashed his jaw with such immense force that he was sent flying kilometers away, as though he’d been struck by a bullet train.

This was the perfect equivalence, in fact.

"Oink..."

Honyopi snorted, steam blowing from his large nostrils.

With the pressure alleviated, Kaelen raised his posture and found that an incredibly large Orc now stood before him.

"How dare you deceive me, Charymos? Oink!"

The High Orc glanced down at Kaelen.

"Stay here, I’ll eat you too once I beat your Master half-dead."

Threatened Honyopi.

[Me... Too?]

Those dreadful words piqued Kaelen’s curiosity as he caught his breath and steadied his posture.

[!!]

"What the —"

Kaelen’s eyes widened in disbelief as he finally noticed the armoured torso in Honyopi’s grasp. And as if to rub it in Kaelen’s face...

"Munch! Munch! "

Honyopi ripped into the torso’s flesh.

"I-igor?"

Those words escaped his lips with a trembling breath, his nose and entire body perspiring dreadfully.

Although the torso was somewhat unrecognizable, Kaelen could never mistake those short legs and round belly for anyone else, it was most definitely Igor’s carcass.

"Heh."

Something of a scoff escaped Honyopi as he turned to engage Charymos who was darting toward him, fuming in the distance.

"W-wait!"

Kaelen was completely ignored by the High Orc.

"I said wai —"

Clasp!

[!!]

Just as he was about to chase after Honyopi, Kaelen felt a warm hand pull his wrist.

"Kaelen... cough! Splat! "

Julius coughed out blood, barely even able to speak, let alone breathe given that his nose was completely shattered.

"Julius!"

Kaelen lowered his posture and gently cradled Julius’s neck in his tiny right arm, and feeling that the grip on his left wrist was weakening, Kaelen caught the hand and pressed it against his forehead.

"I’m so sorry... This is all my fault, I never should have —"

Kaelen wept uncontrollably.

"You’re a good boy Kaelen. How cruel the gods are, that you would be born in a place like this."

Julius gathered his strength, raised his arm and patted the boy’s snow-white crown, his words only intensifying Kaelen’s tears.

"Ah... You poor child."

Julius’s eyes flooded with tears, his voice cracking.

[The truth is... I am no better than the gods.]

Knowing the burden he was about to cast unto Kaelen, Julius’s weeping matched the boy’s.

"Forgive me for this, Kaelen."

He said, his usual stern demeanor somewhat returning to him.

"N-no, this isn’t your fault, I —"

"Please listen to me."

Julius cut off Kaelen’s words and winced as he shuffled in his bumbag, retrieving what looked like two notepads, and a silver locket necklace which he never wore when he was at work for fear of losing it.

"Take these Kaelen, they are my... Our legacy."

With his breathing growing ever more ragged, Julius placed his arm on Kaelen’s shoulder who was listening attentively but was still weeping in silence.

"Don’t let this world turn you into what you were made to be, Kaelen. You are not a Monster do you hear me? You’re more Human than any of us."

"Julius, why are you talking like that? Like you’re about to die? There’s still hope, I have a few skills that I can use to —"

"I am not long for this world Kaelen. But you’re right, there is still hope, and that hope is you."

"Julius..."

"I have two children, Kaelen. Those two are my everything, and the reason why I selfishly dragged my comrades to their deaths."

Hearing Julius talk about his children made Kaelen’s expression stiffen.

"I knew that we would die here, but I prayed day and night for a miracle, and that miracle is you, Kaelen. Think about it, what are the odds of your existence here, in this Tower of dread?"

"They may see you as an anomaly, but you are exactly what I prayed for... Words cannot express it, how happy I was to find you here."

Julius’s bloodied face bloomed into a warm smile before his expression became grim once more.

He then gently clasped Kaelen’s cheek and caressed it, tears once again flowing from his eyes.

"I am begging you Kaelen, leave this Tower, you do not belong here."

"Please... Leave this Tower and save my children for me, I know that what I am asking of you is burdensome and probably impossible."

"But if it’s you... If you are the miracle I prayed for, then I beg of you, please save my children."

Julius’s voice cracked until it squeaked.

"You may not have the power to do anything now, but as a being of the Tower, you’ll get stronger if you kill me righ—"

"No, stop! How could you ask me to do something like that?! I can’t Julius!"

Kaelen violently shook his head, but Julius adamantly kept his hand on the boy’s cheek.

"Kaelen."

"I said no! Those kids aren’t even yo—"

Kaelen shut his lips tight and regretted the words that came out of his mouth in his desperation to convince Julius to abandon his suicidal thoughts.

"I know... I have always known. I am unable to have children due to an injury I suffered in my early years as an Adventurer."

"But I never told anyone, not even Helena."

"But Kaelen, I was there when they were born. I was there when they took their first steps and when they uttered their first words."

"They’re my children, and I love them."

Julius’s tearducts burst even more.

"Here... You can do it, Kaelen. If my life can give you even a bit of power to save them, then I’ll gladly perish... Please."

He pleaded, handing Kaelen his spear.

"Please..."

He begged.

"I-I can’t!"

"Yes, you can."

"J-julius please don’t make me do this, I can’t!!"

"Yes you can! Cough! Please, you’re my only hope!"

"..."

Seeing the determination in Julius’s eyes, Kaelen couldn’t refuse him no matter how hard it was for him, how could he possibly do that? He knew all too well the lengths man would go to achieve his dreams.

And Julius’s dream was the safety of his children above all else.

And so... Kaelen slowly stood to his feet and raised his spear, tears blurring his vision.

"T-thank you..."

With a sharp inhale, those were the last words Julius would ever utter before...

Stab!!!

...Kaelen’s trembling spear pierced his heart, and the light from his eyes dimmed and faded.

Ding!

The system notification chimed, like a bell that announced Julius Vanger’s death, and upon hearing this...

"Aaaaaahhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!"

...Kaelen broke.