The air in the room was heavy.

The revelation of my father’s past, his exile, his stolen power—it all sat in my chest like a boulder, refusing to move.

But something inside me rebelled against it.

I clenched my fists.

“This… this doesn’t have to be permanent,” I said, my voice firm despite the storm in my chest. “There has to be a way to break your seal, to free your beasts. Maybe we can—”

“No.”

My father cut me off instantly.

His voice wasn’t harsh.

It wasn’t angry.

But it was absolute.

“There is no hope, Akul.”

I stiffened.

He had never spoken like this before. Never without a shred of optimism, without some lesson hidden behind his words.

But now?

There was nothing.

Just resignation.

Just loss.

I shook my head. “Father, that’s not—”

“I know you want to help me.” His voice was softer now. “But the truth is, my fate was sealed the moment I chose your mother.”

I grit my teeth.

“Why?” I demanded. “Why is it impossible? There has to be—”

"To break my seal,” he said, voice calm but unshakable, “I would have to free all my contracted beasts from their imprisonment at the same moment.”

I hesitated. “Then why not—?”

"Because if I fail to do so, they would all die, Akul. And I would not be able to live with that."

I inhaled sharply.

“They are still bound to me, held somewhere beyond my reach. As long as they live, my contracts remain. I cannot make any new contracts with another beast to replace them. My soul slots are locked. And this curse feeds on my mana preventing me from cultivating. ”

I stared at him, breath uneven.

“But if you could release them…”

His jaw tightened.

"Release them?"

“To do that,” he said, eyes dark, “It would kill them.”

Silence.

It rang louder than any words.

I swallowed. My body felt cold.

“Akul.”

I looked up.

My father’s lips twitched into something almost like a smile.

“Do you know what my father used to tell me?” he asked, voice distant. “He said… my compassion would one day be my downfall.”

He let out a forced, dry, mocking laugh.

“Maybe he was right.”

“No,” I snapped, voice sharp and immediate.

My father blinked, caught off guard by the force in my tone.

I took a step forward.

"Never," I said, my voice unwavering. "He was definitely not right, Father.

"Your father was a jackass." I exclaimed my anger boiling over.

"Your love, your compassion—that's what makes you the man I'm most proud of. The father I admire."

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

My hands clenched.

“If that’s a weakness… then I never want to be strong.”

For the first time since this conversation started, I saw something crack in my father’s expression.

Something raw.

Something deep.

And yet…

Even as those words settled between us, something else burned inside me.

A flame.

Rage.

Not just at what they did to him.

But at how they did it.

They didn’t just seal his power. They didn’t just exile him.

They weaponized his own love against him.

They knew he would never kill his beasts.

And they used that against him.

It was sick.

It was cruel.

It was unforgivable.

I clenched my fists tighter.

I won’t accept this.

I don’t care how impossible it seems.

One day…

I will free him.

A voice cut through the silence.

“If you don’t want to join them,” my father’s friend said suddenly, his tone grim, “then I’ll tell you this now—it’s better if you never go to the Heavenly Tower at all.”

I blinked.

“What?”

My father sighed.

His friend crossed his arms, gaze firm.

“You have the founding father’s inheritance,” he said. “The moment they see you, the moment they recognize you—”

“They’ll recognize my father.”

The words slipped from my lips before I could even process them.

His friend nodded.

“They will recognize him. They will recognize your mother. And that means they won’t just come after you.”

A chill crawled up my spine.

“If you step into the Heavenly Tower,” his friend continued, voice low, “you have only two choices.”

I swallowed.

I already knew what he was going to say.

“You either submit to the family… or you get hunted.”

The words landed like a hammer.

No middle ground.

No alternatives.

I gritted my teeth.

That was it?

Join them, bow to them—or die?

I refused.

I didn’t want their power. I didn’t want their legacy.

And I sure as hell didn’t want their chains.

My hands clenched into fists.

“Then I won’t go,” I said, voice firm.

The moment felt final.

Settled.

Until—

My father’s friend spoke again.

“…Then go to the Abyssal Tower instead.”

The words dropped like a thunderclap.

A heavy silence followed.

Then—

My father’s expression darkened instantly.

“What are you saying?” he snapped, voice sharp. “Don’t put nonsense in my son’s head.”

I barely heard him.

Because my focus was locked on his friend.

“What is the Abyssal Tower?” I asked.

My father groaned, rubbing his temples.

But his friend only smirked.

“If the Heavenly Tower is the land of order and legacy,” he said, “then the Abyssal Tower is the land of chaos and power.”

My breath hitched.

“The towers of this world are… vast,” he continued. “Each one is like a universe of its own, layered with endless floors. Some floors are larger than entire continents. Some are as large as galaxies.”

I stared.

Each tower was its own realm?

“Every floor is different,” he went on. “And the higher you climb, the more powerful the forces that rule them.”

I swallowed.

“And the Abyssal Tower?”

His smirk deepened.

“The Abyssal Tower isn’t controlled by a single faction,” he said. “Unlike the Heavenly Tower, which belongs to humanity, the Abyssal Tower belongs to no one.”

I stiffened.

“It is the land of monsters, chaos, and war.”

The weight of his words settled into my bones.

“In the Heavenly Tower, heroes are made,” he continued. “In the Abyssal Tower…”

He leaned forward slightly.

“…Only the strong survive.”

I exhaled, slow and steady.

Something about those words resonated with me.

The Heavenly Tower… the place where my father was broken. Where rules and politics suffocated everything.

And then there was the Abyssal Tower.

A place where nothing was given.

Where strength was the only thing that mattered.

I didn’t know what I wanted yet.

But at that moment…

I knew one thing.

I wanted to learn more.

“Tell me everything,” I said.

My father was furious.

His expression darkened, jaw tightening, veins subtly visible beneath his skin.

“Son, What are you saying?” he snapped, glaring at his friend. “I told you, don’t put no nonsense in my son’s head.”

His friend, however, only grinned.

“Oh? And what nonsense would that be?” He leaned back against the wall, arms crossed. “I’m simply giving the boy options.”

I didn’t hesitate.

“Just tell me. Tell me more.”

My father groaned, rubbing his face.

“Akul,” he said, exasperated, “do you even hear yourself?”

“I do,” I said, stubbornly. “And that’s why I want to know more.”

His friend chuckled. “See? He’s got a good head on his shoulders.”

My father looked ready to strangle him.

But I wasn’t going to let this drop.

“The Abyssal Tower,” I repeated. “What is it?”

The grin faded from his friend’s face.

His voice lowered.

“It’s hell.”

I frowned.

“What do you mean?”

He sighed, then gestured with his hands.

“The Abyssal Tower isn’t like the Heavenly Tower, where civilizations flourish, where resources are controlled by noble families, sects, and organizations.”

He leaned forward slightly.

“The Abyssal Tower is a world that actively rejects life.”

I stiffened.

“From the very first floor, the environment itself tries to kill you.”

My father crossed his arms. “He’s not wrong.”

His friend nodded.

“The weather is violent—extreme heat, freezing cold, storms that can tear flesh from bone. There are floors where the very air is poisoned. Others where the ground is so unstable it collapses under your feet.”

I swallowed.

“And the beasts?”

My father’s friend gave me a sharp, knowing look. "Every single one of them is carnivorous."

A chill ran down my spine.

“No herbivores? No passive creatures?”

“None.” His voice was firm. “Every single beast in that place is an apex predator—territorial, aggressive, and endlessly hunting. There is no such thing as ‘neutral ground.’”

My breath hitched.

A place where everything was trying to kill you.

But he wasn’t finished.

“The Abyssal Tower isn’t just a tower,” he continued. “It’s also a prison.”

I frowned. “A prison?”

He nodded.

“The most dangerous criminals, the ones deemed too evil, too powerful, too uncontrollable—they are all sent to the Abyssal Tower. Sealed inside.”

I stiffened.

That meant—

“You’re not just fighting nature,” he said. “You’re not just fighting beasts.”

His voice turned grim.

“You’re fighting other humans, demons, and races who have long abandoned their morality.”

I clenched my fists.

No governments. No laws. No rules.

A world where only power dictated survival.

And yet…

That wasn’t what unsettled me the most.

What about cities or places people gather?” I asked. “How do people live inside the tower?”

My father’s friend smirked.

“They don’t.”

I froze. “What do you mean?”

“The Abyssal Tower isn’t meant for settlement.” He leaned back against the wall. “Because it has something no other tower has.”

I waited.

Then—

“Pressure.”

A strange sensation crawled up my spine.

“Pressure?”

He nodded. “Each floor of the Abyssal Tower has a constant force pressing down on the body. The deeper you go, the heavier it gets.”

He raised a finger.

“The moment you step onto the second floor, that pressure doubles.”

I inhaled sharply.

“And on the third?”

“Doubles again.”

My mind spun.

“That means—”

“Exactly.” He grinned. “It’s an exponential increase. The further you go, the more impossible survival becomes.”

I exhaled slowly.

“And that’s why civilization can’t form?”

He nodded. "Newborns can’t survive. Weaklings can’t adapt. And the moment you stop pushing forward?" "You die."

I swallowed.

Even in the Heavenly Tower, people could build homes, cities, legacies.

But in the Abyssal Tower…

There was no future.

Only the present.

Only survival.

“But it’s not all bad,” he added.

I raised an eyebrow.

“Oh?”

He smirked.

“The Abyssal Tower is the most resource-rich place in the world.”

My father groaned again. “Stop encouraging him.”

His friend ignored him.

“Ancient ruins. Battlefields of fallen warriors. Treasures that have been left untouched for centuries.” He spread his arms wide. “Everywhere you go, there’s loot.”

I narrowed my eyes.

“And yet, few ever make it out with them.”

His grin sharpened.

“Because in the Abyssal Tower… finding treasure is easy.”

He leaned forward.

“Keeping it? That’s the real battle.”

I exhaled slowly.

A world that rejected life.

A prison filled with criminals.

An abyss where civilization couldn’t exist.

And yet—

It held the greatest rewards.

“This is madness,” my father muttered.

His friend simply chuckled.

“And yet, people go.”

My father’s eyes darkened. “Only fools.”

His friend turned to me, ignoring him.

“Well?” He smirked. “What do you think?”

I looked between them.

My father—his hands clenched, his disapproval obvious.

His friend—leaning against the wall, watching me with an expression that said, I know you’re interested.

And he was right.

I shouldn’t have been.

I shouldn’t have even considered it.

But…

My heart was pounding.