“So, this is the highest floor in the tower,” Tafel said as she took a look around the region. She was standing outside a cabin with Vur, Kim Hajun, Malvina, Volearden, and Lindyss. Their feet were buried underneath a tall layer of snow covering the ground, and around them, there were other snowy mountaintops in the distance. The clouds were so close that Tafel felt like she could touch them if she reached out with her hand and jumped.

“It’s the hundredth floor, yes,” Kim Hajun said. He gestured towards a structure beside the cabin. It was a cylinder that extended upwards, the top of it obscured by the clouds. “This is the void observation post. From the top of the observatory, you can see what lies outside the tower: planets, stars, galaxies, and of course, the creatures that inhabit the space between.” He casually stretched out his arm, his root bracelet flashing, and put on a coat. “You can ask the tower to transmit a video feed of what’s blocking it from forming the portal with Erde, and if you’re confident, you can ask the tower to transport you to the location if you want to fight whatever’s in the way.”

Lindyss stared at the base of the observation tower. Her head tilted back as she glanced up, following the structure up to the clouds. “Wouldn’t it have been better to transport us directly inside?”

“I suppose,” Kim Hajun said and scratched his head. He gestured towards the closed doors on the base of the observatory. “There’s an elevator you can ride to the top. It’s not as good as arriving directly inside the void observation post, but it’s the second-best thing.”

Lindyss nodded as she turned her head towards the set of doors. After getting a good look at them, she couldn’t help but glance at Malvina and Volearden. “It’s not made for dragons or phoenixes, huh?” the cursed elf asked. The doors were tall and wide enough for any human to pass through with ease, but Malvina would have to lose a few bones to squeeze through the opening.

“You’re right,” Kim Hajun said. “It’s man-made, created by the human lords.” He glanced at the magical beasts before nodding at Lindyss. “Dragons and phoenixes weren’t very interested in handling external threats against the tower.”

“Well, they are now,” Lindyss said before placing her hand on Vur’s shoulder. “It’s a good thing you can polymorph them, right?”

Vur nodded and pointed at Malvina. The queen of the phoenixes straightened her spine as she shrank, growing a pair of pointed ears as her feathers receded inside her skin. Her wings turned into arms, and her legs expanded as fleshy thighs, calves, and feet appeared. From Malvina, the queen of the phoenixes, she became Malvie, the beautiful elf who had gotten drunk with Lindyss and Erin.

Vur pointed at Volearden, and the dragon shrank, turning into something resembling a miniature replica of himself, the armor on the dragon’s body shrinking as well. When the Tyrannical Dragon Monarch became the size of a large dog, the polymorph stopped, causing Malvina’s elven lips to split open into a smile, not bothering to stifle her laughter.

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“Why did you shrink me but turn her into an elf?” Volearden asked, tilting his head. Despite the change in shape, his voice remained deep and rumbling.

Vur blinked. He didn’t know what Volearden looked like underneath all the dragon’s armor. “It’s easier,” Vur said, nodding his head; after all, he had already seen Malvina’s elven form before. “Let’s go.”

Malvina grinned to herself as she followed behind Vur, Tafel, and Lindyss. Volearden exhaled through his nostrils, the air escaping through his helmet. As he walked ahead, the armored dragon slapped at the back of Kim Hajun’s leg, causing question marks to appear over the well-dressed man’s head as he stumbled and fell onto his knees. Kim Hajun’s expression darkened as he suppressed the urge to ask the tyrannical dragon what its problem was.

It wasn’t difficult to locate the elevator going to the top of the void observation post. It was in the center of the lobby, and beside the entrance, there was a spiraling set of stairs leading to the top for people who were afraid of elevators but not afraid of walking up several thousand steps. The top of the void observation post was a circular platform with a large, glass dome covering it. Mounted to the dome, there was a large cylindrical barrel, a telescope that could be adjusted via a control panel which also displayed a video of what the telescope could see.

Vur stared at the control panel before tilting his head. It wasn’t a living control panel like the wooden tablets spread throughout the tower. Even if he threatened it with violence to get it to work, it wouldn’t listen to him. In that case, Vur nodded his head and looked at Kim Hajun. “Show me the thing blocking the tower.”

Kim Hajun wordlessly went up to the control panel and fiddled with its interface. After a while, an image of a massive tentacle appeared on the screen. Behind the tentacle, there was nothing but darkness, a background of pure black. Kim Hajun narrowed his eyes and pressed a few buttons on the screen, causing the image to zoom out. The tentacle looked like it belonged to an octopus, but the ratio of the tentacle’s thickness compared to its length was way off. The tentacle was long and thin, resembling hair more than an octopus’ leg.

Stella poked her head out of Vur’s chest before flying out of him to get a better look at the image on the screen. Her brow furrowed, and she tilted her head to the side.

“Did you notice something?” Tafel asked.

“Yeah,” Stella said and blinked. She turned her head towards Lindyss. “Hey, Erin. Come look.”

Erin sat up on Lindyss’ head, emerging from underneath a layer of the cursed elf’s hair. The fairy queen blinked and wiped at her eyes, but the grogginess remained on her face. “What?”

“Doesn’t this look familiar?”

Erin flew down to the screen, and, like Stella, Erin’s brow furrowed, and she tilted her head to the side. “It looks like the Wisty.”

“It’s definitely the Wisty,” Sheryl said from the sunlike runes on Vur’s shoulder.

“You know what it is?” Kim Hajun asked.

“Uh-huh.” Stella nodded her head. “It’s the Wisty.”

Kim Hajun frowned upon realizing Stella wasn’t going to elaborate. “And the Wisty is…?”

“Right there,” Erin said, pointing at the tentacle on the screen. Erin blinked at Kim Hajun. “You’re a bit slow, huh?”