The next floor did not begin with a test.
It began with an invitation.
A throne room of obsidian, lit by no sun but by pulsing veins of red in the walls. The air was thick with unspoken oaths. The ground itself trembled faintly, as though breathing.
The door behind Lucien vanished.
Across the vast room stood a being cloaked in layers of shifting shadows. No face. No eyes. But its presence… was hauntingly familiar.
"Greetings, Lucien Vale," it said, voice rippling like echoes through bone."I am the Tower's Echo. I am what you left behind in every lie."
Lucien raised an eyebrow. "A reflection? A ghost? Another test?"
"No. A pact.""You are not the only liar who climbs. And something watches from beyond the Tower."
Lucien's smirk faded.
Beyond?
Before he could ask, a tremor shook the room.
The sky above the throne cracked open like fractured glass. From the wound came a glimpse of something vast—impossibly large.
A second Tower.
Twisted. Hollow. Inverted. Crawling with shadows shaped like men, beasts, and things between. They clawed at the barrier between realities with hands made of hunger.
"That," the Echo said, "is the Reflection Tower. A parasitic realm born of regret and lies too old to name."
"If they breach this world... even you will not be safe."
Lucien stared up. "Why show me this?"
"Because you are a liar, Lucien Vale. And liars are the best shields."
Meanwhile – Beneath
Naia opened her eyes.
She was no longer in the Library.
Not fully.
The link between her and Calen had deepened. She could see what he saw. Feel what he felt.
The B90 domain had changed.
Where once was void now stood a ruined cathedral of glass and ash.
Calen sat upon a throne made of the orb that killed him.
Armor adorned his body, cracked and glowing.
"You still trust me?" he asked softly.
Naia hesitated. "I… I trust that you hate him enough."
He gave a bitter smile. "Good enough."
Their minds synced further.
She saw his memories.
The warmth of Lucien's words.The chill of betrayal.The peace before dying.The rage after.
"He's accelerating," Calen muttered. "He's touching the Forbidden Floors."
Naia narrowed her eyes. "Then we pull him down before he ascends beyond reach."
"How?"
Naia held up her hand.
It was burning with the Mark of Truth — the brand she earned by reading Lucien's Book.
"We expose him. To himself."
Back in the Throne Room
Lucien paced slowly.
"You want an alliance. That's new. The Tower doesn't bargain."
The Echo chuckled. "The Tower evolves. And the greatest threats are no longer within."
It raised a hand.
Reality bent.
[Offer: Pact of Sovereignty]Access to Forbidden Floors granted.New trait: Liecraft (Passive – allows the fabrication of one alternate truth per floor).Penalty: Each use further erodes your true identity.
Lucien blinked.
Alternate truths?
Fabricated reality?
He could change what was?
But…
At a cost.
"Who decides what's left of me when it's over?" he asked.
The Echo tilted its head.
"You already decided. Every time you lied."
Lucien exhaled.
Then smirked.
"Fine. I accept. But I'll betray you later."
The Echo bowed.
"Of course. The Tower favors liars."
Floor Shift – B93 (Prelobby of Forbidden Floors)
The room twisted.
Lucien appeared on a platform of obsidian spiraling through a realm of broken truths.
And in the center—another Mirror.
Not of himself.
But of Naia.
Alive.
Furious.
Clothed in truth.
"I see you," her voice echoed, though she was far below.
Lucien blinked.
Then, another flicker.
Calen appeared beside her.
Alive in spirit, but anchored by vengeance.
Together, their presence began to distort the rules of the Tower.
"You climbed through lies," Calen said. "We'll climb through memory."
"We'll bring every person you broke back to the surface."
Lucien raised a brow.
"Then let's see whose truth breaks first."
And so began the next war—not of strength.
But of story.