Free Web NovelAs they spoke, the card formation was nearing completion.
The Tarot cards were arranged in a complex cross pattern, each representing a specific meaning—the past, the present, potential futures, and possibilities hidden deep within fate.
"The last one."
Margaret's finger rested on the card at the very top of the deck.
"This card represents the 'Core'—your essence, your deepest connection to The Way Back."
Pavela stared at the card.
For some {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} reason, she felt an inexplicable surge of nervousness.
Margaret flipped the card over.
Depicted on the face of the card was—
Pavela didn't see it clearly.
The moment the card was flipped, the surrounding air suddenly became viscous.
The massive steam chandelier began to flicker, emitting a harsh buzzing sound.
The light pulsed erratically, as if something were interfering with the current.
"This is..."
Pavela tried to speak, but her voice was seemingly swallowed by something.
The outlines of the underground classroom began to distort.
The rough rock walls flowed downward like melting candles, and the dark gray stone floor rippled like the surface of a lake after a stone had been tossed in.
Margaret's figure became blurred.
Her lips were moving, seemingly saying something, but Pavela couldn't hear a sound.
...
--【Warning: External mental interference detected】--
--【Source: Unknown】--
--【host consciousness is being—】--
...
Pavela felt as if she were falling into a bottomless abyss.
Everything around her was rapidly receding into the distance.
Margaret, the Tarot cards, the underground classroom, the steam chandelier.
They turned into smaller and smaller points of light, eventually vanishing into the endless darkness.
She wanted to struggle, wanted to scream, but her body wouldn't obey her. freeweɓnovel.cѳm
The darkness lasted for who knows how long.
It could have been a second, or it could have been a century.
Then, light appeared.
Pavela blinked.
She found herself standing in a completely unfamiliar place.
This wasn't the underground classroom.
It wasn't the Royal Knights Academy.
It wasn't anywhere she recognized.
She stood on a desolate wilderness; the sky was leaden gray, with no sun, no moon, only eternal gloom.
At the end of the horizon, a massive tower stood tall.
The tower's body was pitch-black as ink, soaring into the clouds as if to pierce the gray canopy of the sky.
Lightning circled the spire but never struck down.
"Welcome to 'The Tower'."
A voice came from behind her.
Pavela spun around abruptly.
Standing behind her was someone she had never seen before.
No—
Not a "person."
The outline of that being was like paper scorched by fire, its edges constantly disintegrating and reforming.
It had no face, only a mass of burning void; no body, only a distorted form that was constantly collapsing and rebuilding.
"Or rather..."
The voice carried a certain ancient echo that transcended time.
"Welcome home."
"Home?"
Pavela took a step back, maintaining a posture of vigilance.
Her right hand had quietly moved toward her waist—even though there was nothing there.
It was instinct.
When facing an unknown entity, the first reaction is always to look for a weapon.
"I don't recall this place being my home."
The being that was constantly disintegrating and reforming let out a low chuckle.
That laughter didn't seem to come from a throat, but sounded from all directions simultaneously, as if the entire wilderness were vibrating.
"Home is not a place you remember."
It said, its voice carrying a certain ancient, unsettling tenderness.
"Home is the place you are destined to return to."
Pavela did not respond to it further.
She looked around, trying to find any possible exit or clue.
At the same time, she was rapidly assessing the situation before her.
Unknown space.
Unknown entity.
Unknown rules.
Worst-case scenario: This is some kind of mental attack, and her consciousness is being eroded.
Second worst-case scenario: This is some kind of trap, and that being wants to get something from her. ƒree𝑤ebnσvel.com
Best-case scenario—
Pavela sneered inwardly.
There was no best-case scenario.
In her experience, the "best-case scenario" usually meant "you haven't found where the trap is yet."
Aside from that pitch-black tower soaring into the clouds, there was nothing on this wilderness.
No trees, no rocks, no landmarks by which to determine direction.
The ground was gray, like ashes burned to nothing.
The sky was also gray, with no clouds, no sun, only a uniform, deathly gray.
The only source of light came from the distant black tower; the lightning circling the spire, though it never fell, continuously emitted a pale glow.
"What is this place?"
"The Tower."
The being's answer was concise and vague.
"The end of the Path of the Tower, the destination of the Destroyer. Everyone who embarks on this path will eventually come here."
It leaned slightly toward the direction of the black tower, if that mass of shifting void could be described as "leaning."
"That tower is the incarnation of destruction. It is eternally collapsing, eternally rebuilding. Just like your power."
Pavela followed its gaze.
Now she noticed—
The tower was indeed changing.
Bricks peeled away from the tower's body and fell into the void; yet simultaneously, new bricks condensed from nothingness to fill those gaps. Lightning struck the spire, blasting part of the structure into fragments; but in the next second, those fragments recombined to form new shapes.
Eternal destruction, eternal rebirth.
"Beautiful, isn't it?"
The being's voice carried a certain near-devout fanaticism.
"This is the essence of the Path of the Tower. It is not simple destruction, but—"
"Creating new life through destruction."
Pavela finished the sentence.
Margaret had just spoken about this.
"You are very clever."
The being seemed to laugh, though it had no mouth.
"But being clever is not enough. You need to understand, to truly understand."
It took a step closer to Pavela.
Pavela instinctively backed away, but her feet felt as if they were nailed to the ground, unable to move.
Her eyes narrowed slightly, forcing herself to remain calm.
"Who are you?"
"No, I should say—what are you?"
The being paused for a moment.
"I am the Gatekeeper."
It said, its voice carrying a certain solemnity.
"The Gatekeeper of this tower."
"Gatekeeper."
Pavela chewed on the word; Margaret had also just said she would be her Gatekeeper.
"What gate are you keeping? Where does the gate lead?"
"You ask too many questions."
The Gatekeeper's voice became playful.
"In your current state, you do not need to know these things yet. You only need to know—I am the administrator here, and you are the master here."
"Master?"
Pavela sneered.
"I am trapped in a strange place, unable to move, standing before a being of unknown nature, and this is what you call a 'master'?"
"You are the master, of course."
The Gatekeeper's voice carried an unsettling tenderness.
"This space was created by you. Using the souls you devoured as material, and your consciousness as the framework. It is a part of you, and you are a part of it."
"As for why you cannot move..."
It let out a low chuckle.
"That is only because you are too tense. Relax a little, Master. Nothing here can harm you."
Pavela did not relax.
But she noticed that when she stopped trying to back away, the sensation of being "nailed down" indeed lessened somewhat.
What was the principle behind this?
A confrontation on a mental level?
A game of consciousness?
"You said I created this space."
Pavela tried to make her tone calm.
"Using the souls I devoured."
"Yes."
"Where are those souls now?"
The Gatekeeper seemed very satisfied with this question.
"You have finally asked the right question."
It extended its void-like "hand," pointing toward the distant wilderness.
Pavela followed its lead.
And then she saw them.
Those... shadows.
On the gray wilderness, countless translucent figures were wandering.
Their outlines were blurred, like human forms composed of smoke.
Some wandered aimlessly, some knelt on the ground, and some looked up at the distant black tower.
Further away, in the area near the black tower, Pavela could see some figures that were much clearer. They weren't as ethereal as those on the wilderness but had more solid forms.
"Wandering on the wilderness are those weakest soul fragments."
The Gatekeeper's voice sounded in her ear.
"In life, they were just ordinary people. Soldiers, farmers, merchants, servants... they had no special abilities, nor any knowledge worth mentioning. After being devoured by you, most of their'self' has dissipated, leaving only a bit of residual consciousness to wander."
"But those inside the tower..."
Its voice became meaningful.
"Those are different."
Pavela gazed at the black tower.
Now she could see it more clearly.
The surface of the tower seemed to be writhing.
No, not writhing.
It was the figures "carved" into the tower walls that were struggling.
Countless distorted faces were embedded in the pitch-black stone walls, their mouths opening and closing as if screaming silently.
"Those are more powerful souls."
The Gatekeeper's voice carried a certain cruel delight.
"Officers, elite soldiers, experts with special skills... their consciousness was too strong to wander on the wilderness like those ordinary souls."
"So you locked them in the tower."
"Not I. You did."
The Gatekeeper corrected her.
"This is your space, Master. Everything operates according to your will, even if you do not know it yourself."
It paused.
"Those powerful souls are suppressed by you within the tower, assigned to different levels according to the strength they possessed in life. The higher up you go, the more powerful the souls, and the more precious the abilities they contain."
"Then what is at the very top?"
"You are not yet qualified to know that."
Its voice became low.
"In your current state, you haven't even touched the souls on the wilderness. Let us start from the bottom level, Master."
