The Obsidian Tower was as black as night.
Under the moonlight, its dark surface shimmered faintly, revealing only its silhouette.
We gathered outside the tower, ready to challenge the last trial and put an end on this conquest. After stepping inside however, our expectation of finishing it fast was crushed.
[Leave, I will never give thou any token of approval.]
A black tortoise with its head adorned with a gold crown was the boss of this tower. Unlike the others, it chased us out right after we stepped into the tower.
Blasted by the now familiar white light, we once again stood in front of the black tower, the ominous aura still thick in the air, indicating our unsuccessful raid.
Patricia stomped her feet in frustration, "There's no way for us to clear the tower if it doesn't even allow us to do the trial! What kind of bullshit is this?!"
Marcello expressed his opinion, "Do you think it has some kind of theme? Like the previous bosses were."
I rubbed my chin as I turned the gears inside my mind. What Marcello said might be our clue. Each of the towers created its test based on humanity's characteristics, so this one must be the same.
With the azure dragon it was wisdom and strategy, with the white tiger, it was strength and courage, the pheonix was vitality, growth and virtue. So what could this one be?
"How about entering again? We can't just let this tower be." Ilyas suggested.
The five of us agreed, after all there's no other way to disperse the aura other than clearing the trial.
But the moment we stepped into the tower again, the result was expected.
[Leave.]
The shiny door of the Obsidian Tower was once again in front of us.
"Aghhh! I'm going to kill that turtle! It's definitely playing around with us! Unhand me! I said unhand me!"
I held on to the exploding Xain, he tossed and turned while kicking the air. And to be honest, his outburst represented all our frustration too.
It's upsetting that it had complete control over the tower. It could kick us out just based on its mood. If this wasn't cleared, even we couldn't predict the impact this tower had on the world.
"Let's search around the tower. Maybe we can find some clues about the trial."
Reentering the tower wouldn't make any difference, so it's better to search for other ways to trigger the trial or find the catalyst that allowed us to attempt the trial.
Having no other choice, the six of us divided into two groups : One consisted of me, Ilyas, Patricia and the other Cedric, Xain and Marcello. We explored the tower in the opposite clockwise direction.
But not even halfway through our search, problems arrived.
"Ugh."
"Ilyas!"
I held Ilyas in my arms, his face as pale as sheet. Not just Ilyas, Patricia was also having the same symptoms, the nausea and headache from the air around us was getting to them. It wasn't that apparent in the previous towers, as we immediately entered, but now, being exposed longer than we should, the danger level increased.
"I-I'm fine."
Ilyas staggered as he tried to stand up, I caught him in time and embraced him.
"You guys are in no condition to continue, I'll bring you outside the tower's zone."
"But we haven't found any clue… Ugh…"
Patricia couldn't even finish her words as she immediately gagged when she opened her mouth. Judging that these two were in a worse condition than I thought, I took the initiative.
I quickly held them up on each side of my arm, carrying them like a sack of potatoes.
"This is the fastest way I could bring you both outside, so bear with it."
I dashed as fast as I could, away from the tower's ominous air. Spotting the medic camp in the safe zone, I ran over and asked for the healer's help.
"Are they affected by the air?"
"Yes, could you alleviate their symptoms? I have to search for my other teammates."
I was sure Cedric's group would be affected too, especially since our morale was quite low after the last boss' mental attack. It would be harder to resist the air's corruption when your focus and mind were scattered.
"Wait, how about you Ethan?"
"I can handle it, take care of them first. You might receive more patients when I come back."
Having lived all my career enduring nausea and headaches, this level of illness was still bearable, so I could move without being restricted. It even made me kind of proud of this useless achievement of being able to tolerate the tower's air better than the others.
Giving one last glance to Ilyas and Patricia who were lying weakly on the bed, I dashed back to the tower.
And as I expected, the three were having a hard time. They sat on the ground, groaning in pain.
"Can you guys walk?"
Unlike Patricia and Ilyas with smaller frame, there's no way I could bring three of them all at once. I needed them to walk on their own feet while I assisted them.
"I- I can still walk."
Luckily, out of the three, Xain was still in a slightly better condition. He slowly stood up, albeit staggering, and tried to help Cedric up.
On the other hand, I tried helping Marcello instead. I wrapped his arm around my shoulder and held his body up as we dashed out as fast as we could.
The three of them immediately received treatment as soon as they arrived at the medic camp, lying on the bed while being healed by the soft glow of healing esper's ability.
Watching them, I brushed my chin. There's no way I would send them back to the tower in this condition.
Time was running thin, the longer this tower stood and generated this air, the larger it spread, which caused more casualties for the civilians.
A sudden idea crossed my mind.
'Let's scout it by myself.'
It was 7:12 P.M., I could quickly check the area around and should be able to finish it by the time they woke up.
Without a second thought, I dashed back to the tower. At my full speed, it took only one minute from the safe zone back to the tower's entrance.
I scanned the entrance, there's nothing that caught my eye. It was just a normal double door with intricate carvings on its door frame.
As to not miss anything, I moved slower this time, running lightly as I circled around the tower. But as I went further to the back, I noticed the height difference of the protruding ornaments around the tower.
"It's shorter than the ones at the entrance and it's hollow in the center."
Unlike the others, it's less of a tower and more like a fortress.
By the time I ran full circle back to the double door with intricate carvings, I found no clue we could use.
I decided to come closer to the entrance, observing the carvings in more detail. It was a carving of turtle above the sun with a snake circling around the two, biting its tail. Around it was the carving of waves, one above and one below, wrapping around the symbol like an embrace.
However, the door frame told a different story. The left side was carving of thorns and leaves but it's slowly changing in the middle and became full bloom flowers on the right side.
"But I don't know what this symbolizes."
I slowly stepped back, not knowing what these symbols were and decided to discuss it with my teammates.
Walking a distance away from the tower, I gave one last glance.
'Hm? Wait, if I see it from this point...'
Something caught my eye. The more I walked further back, the more I could see the tower's silhouette in a bigger picture.
The tall, wide front gate with intricate decorations. Protruding ornaments that row down its side, forming a circle. Once you understand the structure, you couldn't help but notice.
"It's a crown."