Boom! Boom! Boom!
In the Inverted World, Jonathan had managed to wipe out every dark creature that crossed his path. With each step he took, the corpses of those beings were left scattered across the terrain, while explosions and gunfire announced his advance through that twisted world.
Finally, after crossing a vast stretch of desolate land, he managed to spot a village thanks to the drones that had expanded their aerial search.
The wooden buildings were deteriorating, and the wind swept dust through the empty streets. At first glance, the place seemed abandoned, but Jonathan soon sensed several presences within it.
Jonathan raised a hand and ordered the members of his group to stop. Then he asked, "Zz… How is the portal coming along?"
"Zz… It has closed. We're on our own."
Jonathan frowned slightly and spoke over the radio. "Zz… Then locate the Dark Tower. Let's not waste any time."
One of his companions nodded and began operating the device he was carrying, trying to obtain a reading of their surroundings. Meanwhile, Jonathan observed the village with his own eyes.
There was something strange about this place.
It wasn't just the oppressive atmosphere that permeated this world. It was the absence of movement, natural sounds, or any sign of life unrelated to the creatures they had slaughtered along the way.
However, they weren't alone.
Jonathan spotted several figures in the distance. A group of men had gathered near one of the buildings, and among them was someone whose appearance particularly caught his attention.
A stern-faced man dressed in traveling clothes and armed with a revolver. His posture conveyed a sense of caution that didn't stem from fear, but from years of experience facing dangers that most men couldn't even imagine.
Beside him stood a young man named Jake, who watched the arrival of these strangers with evident bewilderment.
Jonathan advanced without hesitation, followed by Wednesday.
His companions followed at a distance, remaining on high alert. After all, although that man didn't seem to pose an immediate threat, they couldn't afford to lower their guard in a world where anything could try to kill them.
The gunslinger was the first to react.
His hand slowly moved toward the revolver at his waist.
"Stop right there."
Jonathan stopped a few meters away from him.
For a moment, the two men studied each other in silence.
The gunslinger examined his clothing, weapons, and the attitudes of the individuals accompanying him. They didn't seem to be inhabitants of these lands, nor did they resemble the travelers who usually crossed the nearby territories.
There was something different about them.
Something that didn't fit.
"Who are you?" the gunslinger finally asked. He was none other than Roland Deschain.
Jonathan met his gaze and said, "My name is Jonathan, and I'm the man who will defeat the Crimson King. If you know where he is, share that information with me."
The silence that followed those words was absolute.
Jake's eyes widened slightly, surprised by the confidence with which the stranger had made such a declaration.
Roland, on the other hand, showed no such obvious reaction. He simply observed Jonathan, as though trying to decide whether he was dealing with a madman, a fanatic, or someone who genuinely knew what he was talking about.
Finally, he let out a brief breath.
"The man who will defeat the Crimson King?" Roland's voice was skeptical.
"I've met many men who believed they could change destiny. Some were brave. Others were simply too insane to understand the nature of what they were facing."
After saying that, Roland tilted his head slightly and asked, "What makes you think you're any different?"
Jonathan wasn't offended by the question. In fact, he seemed to have expected that reaction.
"Because I'm not from this world."
"I had already figured that much out."
"I don't mean just these lands. I come from a different reality, from a universe that has nothing to do with yours."
The gunslinger kept his hand near his weapon.
"I've traveled to places most men would consider impossible. I've seen things that defy all explanation. You'll have to try harder if you expect to impress me."
Jonathan gave a small smile and said, "I'm not trying to impress you. I just want you to understand who I am and why I'm here."
His expression grew more serious.
"I'm a warrior from my world. A man who has fought threats that would have destroyed humanity if no one had stopped them. I've crossed dimensions, survived enemies whose power surpassed anything ordinary people could comprehend, and made my way here by following the trail of an entity that threatens far more than a single universe."
Roland didn't respond immediately. He was thinking about what to do.
Jonathan continued, "Of all the worlds, dimensions, and realities that exist, I'm the only one left."
Those words prompted Jake to exchange a glance with the gunslinger.
"The only one left?" Jake asked in confusion. "What do you mean?"
Jonathan briefly turned his gaze toward him. "The Crimson King has killed me in every universe except the one I come from. There's no other warrior who can take my place. There's no army waiting behind me, nor a group of heroes who will appear at the last moment to save us."
His gaze returned to the gunslinger.
"There's only me."
Roland Deschain narrowed his eyes.
There was something about the way this man spoke that made it difficult to dismiss him outright. Roland couldn't know whether his claims were true, but he recognized the determination of someone who had come too far to allow himself to turn back.
And above all, he recognized that look.
It was the look of a man who had accepted a responsibility no one else was willing to shoulder.
"If you're truly the last of your kind," Roland said, reminding him, "then you should know that the Dark Tower isn't a destination you can reach through sheer willpower alone."
"I know."
"The Crimson King isn't an enemy you can find, shoot, and kill as though he were just another man."
"I know that too."
"Then why are you here?"
Jonathan answered without hesitation. "Because I intend to kill him before he destroys my world."
Roland remained motionless.
That answer would have sounded absurd coming from any other man. However, Jonathan didn't speak with the arrogance of someone seeking glory, nor with the desperation of a fanatic determined to sacrifice himself for a lost cause.
He spoke like someone who had already made a decision and had no intention of changing it.
"And how do you intend to reach him?" Roland asked, moving closer and closer to Jonathan.
Jonathan turned his head slightly toward his companions. "We're trying to locate the Dark Tower. But the portal that allowed us to get here has closed, and we don't have time to look for an alternative way out."
Then he looked back at the gunslinger.
"That's why I need your help."
Jake frowned.
"Wait a minute. You want us to help you reach the Dark Tower so you can kill the Crimson King?"
"Exactly."
"And you expect us to simply trust you?"
Jonathan studied him for a moment and said, "No. I expect you to understand that if I intended to hurt you, this conversation would be very different."
Jake fell silent.
It wasn't a particularly reassuring answer, but he couldn't deny that this man seemed extraordinarily confident in his own abilities.
Roland, meanwhile, never took his eyes off Jonathan as he asked, "And what would you gain from my help?"
"A guide who knows this world better than I do. Someone who understands the nature of the Tower and the forces trying to protect it. Someone who has dedicated his life to reaching it."
Jonathan paused briefly before continuing, "I don't need you to fight for me. Nor am I asking you to put your trust in a stranger. I just need you to lead me to the Dark Tower."
The gunslinger clenched his jaw slightly.
He had spent his entire life pursuing that Tower. He had lost friends, suffered injuries, and sacrificed parts of himself on a journey that seemed to have no end. The Tower wasn't simply a destination; it was the center of everything he believed in, the answer to questions that had tormented him for years.
And now a stranger had appeared, claiming he could defeat the Crimson King.
A man from another reality who claimed to be the last warrior in his universe.
It could all be a lie.
It could also be an opportunity that would never come again.
"Let's suppose I believe you," Roland finally said, murmuring, "Let's suppose you really have the power to face the Crimson King. What will you do when we reach the Tower?"
Jonathan held his gaze.
"I'll kill him."
"And if you can't?"
"Then I'll die trying."
The answer came immediately.
There was no hesitation or trace of doubt in Jonathan's words. He knew that everything would end for him here.
Roland remained silent for several seconds. Finally, he withdrew his hand from the revolver.
"My name is Roland Deschain."
Jonathan nodded and said, "I know."
Roland raised an eyebrow slightly and asked, "You do?"
"I've heard of you. The last gunslinger of a bloodline that refuses to disappear. The man who has dedicated his life to pursuing the Dark Tower."
Jonathan paused before continuing, "I'm not going to pretend I understand everything you've had to endure to get here, Roland. But I do know one thing: our goals are aligned."
Roland watched him with an unreadable expression. "Don't confuse our goals. I have my own reasons for reaching the Tower."
"I'm not trying to. I don't need you to share my reasons. I just need you to help me get there."
Roland briefly glanced at Jake before focusing on Jonathan again. "If we're going to do this, you'll have to agree to one condition."
"What is it?"
"When we reach the Tower, you won't do anything that could destroy what I've spent my life trying to reach without hearing me out first."
Jonathan remained silent for a few moments.
He understood that Roland wasn't willing to hand the fate of the Tower over to a stranger, no matter how much power that stranger claimed to possess.
"Agreed. But if the Crimson King poses an immediate threat to all realities, I won't stand by doing nothing while you decide what to do."
Roland studied him for another moment.
"We'll have to deal with that when the time comes."
"Then we have a deal." Jonathan extended his hand.
Roland studied it briefly before shaking it.
It wasn't an alliance born of trust. It couldn't even be considered a friendship. It was an agreement between two men pursuing the same goal for different reasons, willing to walk together for as long as their interests aligned.
But in that world, even such an alliance could make the difference between survival and destruction.
"Zz…! I've got something!" One of Jonathan's companions interrupted their conversation.
The man was kneeling beside his device, watching a series of readings that were beginning to stabilize on the screen.
Jonathan turned toward him.
"What have you found?"
"Zz…! I've detected an anomalous concentration of energy a great distance away. It's far greater than anything we've encountered in any other area we've crossed."
The man operated the device and projected a rough representation of the terrain.
A structure slowly took shape on the screen.
A tower that seemed to rise above everything surrounding it.
Even through that representation, its presence was impossible to ignore.
"Zz…! The structure matches the description we were given. There's no doubt about it. It's the Dark Tower."
Jonathan stared at the image without saying a word.
Finally, after all their efforts, they had found their objective.
However, the scout's report wasn't over yet.
"Zz…! There's something else. The Tower is surrounded by multiple presences. There are too many to identify individually, but the readings indicate that they're hostile entities."
Roland moved closer to the projection.
His expression changed as soon as he recognized the structure.
"The Dark Tower…"
For a moment, all his attention was fixed on the image. He had pursued that place for so long that seeing it represented before his eyes stirred a feeling he could hardly describe.
But the emotion didn't last long.
"How many enemies?"
"I can't determine the exact number. Dozens, perhaps hundreds. The readings are overlapping."
Roland pressed his lips together.
This wasn't good news.
If the Crimson King had gathered so many Demons around the Tower, it meant that something important was happening. Perhaps he was preparing his final move, or perhaps he simply wanted to prevent any intruders from getting too close.
Whatever the reason, breaking through those defenses wouldn't be easy.
Jake looked at Roland and asked, "What do we do now?"
Roland didn't answer immediately.
His gaze remained fixed on the Dark Tower, as though he were trying to calculate all the possibilities before them.
Then Jonathan stepped forward.
"We go straight there."
Roland turned toward him.
"Did you hear what he just said? The Tower is surrounded by Demons."
"Yes."
"We don't know how many there are or what kind of creatures we'll encounter along the way."
"I know that too."
"Then why are you in such a hurry?"
Jonathan gave the image of the Tower one last glance. "Because every minute we waste is another minute the Crimson King can use to complete his plans. I didn't cross entire dimensions just to stop now because there are a few Demons guarding his doorstep."
He turned toward his companions.
"Get everything ready. We're leaving immediately."
The members of his group began moving without wasting any time.
Roland, meanwhile, watched Jonathan with a mixture of caution and interest.
That man didn't behave like someone searching for a way to survive a suicide mission. He behaved like someone who considered victory a real possibility, even against an enemy who had managed to bring much greater forces to their knees.
Perhaps he was too confident.
Or perhaps he knew something Roland didn't.
"Jonathan," Roland called out firmly.
Jonathan stopped and turned his head.
"What is it?"
Roland adjusted the belt holding his revolver. "I don't know your world or the battles you've fought before coming here. I also don't know whether you're truly capable of defeating the Crimson King."
His eyes hardened.
"But if we're going to the Tower, don't expect me to stand back while you do all the work."
Jonathan smiled slightly and said, "I wouldn't ask you to do that."
"Good. Because I still have unfinished business with the man waiting at the end of that road."
For the first time since they had met, Jonathan sensed something beyond Roland's determination. Behind that gaze lay years of pain, loss, and an obsession he could hardly hope to understand completely.
He didn't need to know all the details to understand.
They both had reasons to keep going.
And neither was willing to give up.
"Then we'd better get moving, gunslinger," Jonathan suddenly said. "The Crimson King is waiting for us."
Roland adjusted his hat and began walking.
Jake followed him, while Jonathan's men prepared to leave the village.
Far away, beyond the twisted lands of the Inverted World, the Dark Tower rose above the horizon.
And at its feet, a multitude of Demons waited in silence.
The hunt was about to reach its end.