Tower Eternal

It was past midnight, a time when most people should've gone to sleep already. However, every single person in the Town of Beginnings didn't have the leisure to sleep. All were wide awake as they looked at the lone pyramid erected in a wide-open area in the distance.

At the top of that pyramid was a single pillar of golden light that pierced through the dark clouds, illuminating the area around it and making it visible to the onlookers watching the spectacle.

Everyone had varying expressions on their faces as they watched the pyramid. A large portion of them was fearful while the rest were in reverence.

As for why?

It was because a god had come into the tower.

It was New Year and also the Festival of the Gods. Every year, a god would come inside the tower and demand sacrifices from its inhabitants. The god would randomly choose a few children for themselves, leaving the inhabitants no choice but to comply, otherwise, they would suffer divine retribution from the god. However, if they willingly sacrificed the children, they would be protected by the god instead and be allowed to have peaceful lives for another year.

"My daughter!" a young woman in her late twenties cried out loud in a heart-wrenching tone while being consoled by her husband.

"Shhh, our daughter is a brave child! She didn't cry when she left so why are you crying? She is a hero for her sacrifice! It will be because of her and the other children that everyone can live in peace for another year!" though her husband said that, everyone around them saw the tears in his eyes.

After this day, this couple would no longer see their daughter anymore. She, along with the other children, would become sacrifices for the god.

Everyone was silent and the mood was incredibly solemn. None of them dared to make any noise in fear that they might disturb the god, prompting him to kill them as a result. A few years ago, a god killed hundreds of people for being too noisy. They had learned from their mistakes back then and made sure to remain quiet in the years after.

It was due to that incident that a few were fearful and annoyed at the couple's cries. However, no one had the heart to reprimand them since their daughter was at the top of the pyramid as one of the five sacrifices for the god. Instead of complaining like ungrateful bastards, they just gave them a look of sympathy.

On that fateful night, a lone child calmly climbed the pyramid with no one the wiser. The people didn't notice him until he was halfway up the pyramid. And when they did, everyone's eyes were glued to him.

"There's a child up there!"

"What do you mean?"

"You're right!"

Murmurs filled the area at the unexpected appearance of a child who wasn't one of the sacrifices. But as soon as the murmurs were heard, they died down immediately as the people were too afraid of annoying the god on the top of the pyramid.

As the child got closer and closer to the pillar of light, everyone was still and nervous. They didn't know what that child was up to but if he angered the god, the divine being might take out his anger on all of them. They couldn't care less if the child died but it wouldn't be funny if they got implicated by him.

While they were all nervous and fearful, the child himself didn't feel any emotion of that sort. Unlike them, he felt nothing about this whole ordeal.

When he got on top of the pyramid, he saw five children standing together in fear with the god sitting right in front of them.

Even though the god was sitting, he was a lot taller than all of them. He was taller and bigger than any human he had seen before.

The child took this chance to take a careful look at the god, but he couldn't see the god's face since it was covered by darkness. It made it impossible for him to discern his true appearance.

[https://i.imgur.com/fNlEGKB.png]

"Looks like our little visitor has finally arrived."

The god's voice was very unusual. When he spoke, it felt like there were thousands of people speaking at the same time. It wasn't loud but it was unpleasant and overwhelming for mortals like them.

The god didn't look surprised at his arrival as well, which was to be expected. The other party was a god. There was no way a child could ever sneak up on a terrifying being like him.

The other five children turned their attention to him, wondering what another child was doing there since there should only be five sacrifices and all of them were already accounted for.

"Tell me, child. What are you doing here? Do you want to become a sacrifice as well?"

The child opened his mouth.

"No. I'm here to challenge you to a game."

All of them were surprised to hear that including the god. Of all the things that they had expected to hear from him, challenging the god to a game certainly wasn't.

"Interesting," the god said with a tone of amusement, "why are you challenging me to a game?"

The child looked over the five children before looking back to the god.

"Do you believe that all lives are equal?"

The children all looked at him strangely.

"What the hell is he up to?"

He first challenged the god to a game, and when the god asked him why, he asked him back with a strange question instead. They couldn't understand his intentions. In fact, they couldn't understand how he was able to talk to the god without any fear in his eyes.

"No, I don't. Every life has a different value. Some are worth more than the others while some are basically worthless."

The child nodded at that.

"I think so too."

No matter how society tried to change it, it could never change the fact that life was by no means equal. Some lives were worth more than others while some had lesser value. It had been that way since mankind existed and it would remain that way until all lives have perished. That was just how the world works.

Does a king's life have the same value as that of a slave?

Of course, not. One is worth a kingdom while the other is worth nothing.

Are all children equal?

Even children themselves have different values, and the best thing to determine these values is through their background. A child born from a poor family is worth less than a child born from an affluent family.

It isn't just humans either. Animals too have different values. Some are considered pets, while some are raised as livestock.

There's nothing equal in this unfair world. Some will always receive less than others one way or another.

"What brought on this question?"

"As I've said before, I want to challenge you to a game."

"I am aware of that."

"If I win, you will let all of us go. But if I lose, I alone will be your sacrifice."

"And why should I do that?" the god asked with a dangerous tone.

Even a blind person could see that this kind of deal was very disadvantageous for him. If he accepted the challenge, no matter what the outcome of the game was, he was going to lose more sacrifices.

He'd either get only one or no one at all.

The god was playing along with him because he was curious about his intentions, but if the child thought that he could make a fool out of him, he'd be dead wrong.

Before he could punish the child for his insolence, the latter continued his words, "Because my life is worth more than all of theirs combined."

The god paused. The way he said those words naturally was like he was speaking nothing but fact. He started looking at the child in a new light.

While the god was amazed, the children mentioned got angry. He was basically insulting them for that statement. Even so, they said nothing no matter how angry they were since they no longer had any rights. As long as the god didn't give them any permission to speak, they wouldn't dare to speak. Moreover, it seemed like the child came to help them so even though they were angry, they kept their grievances in their hearts.

That was the normal reaction of the other children, however, the child found a white-haired girl who was different from the others.

Among the five, she was the only one who wasn't afraid for her well-being from start to finish. She wasn't even angry at him. In fact, she seemed amused. It felt like she was watching a good show with him and the god as the actors.

When the girl saw him looking at her, she waved at him. Before he could think further about her action, he heard the god laugh.

"What an amusing child! Very well. I'm bored so I might as well accept your challenge."

The child snapped his attention back to the god.

"Since I was the one who challenged you, you can pick the game we have to play. But both of us must agree to the rules beforehand."

"That is fine."

The god then turned his attention to the children.

"You may all go. Be glad that someone else risked themselves in exchange for your meager lives."

The children had hesitant expressions on their faces as they looked at each other. They set their gazes on the child, and although they were angry about his words earlier, he was doing it to save them. What was more was that he was actually succeeding!

They had nothing but gratitude for him.

"Thank you for saving us. If not for you, I don't know what would've happened to us."

"If you manage to get out of this situation alive, I will gladly become your servant for the rest of my life."

"Please win."

"We owe you a lot. I will never forget this favor."

One by one, the children expressed their heartfelt gratitude to the child before walking down the pyramid. The last one to leave was the white-haired girl who was looking at the child with curiosity.

"What is your name, my savior?" she asked with a lovely smile on her face.

The child responded in a dull tone, "Zenith Victor."

"Zenith Victor?" she tested saying his name. "A nice name."

He didn't say anything. He only looked at her indifferently.

The girl started to walk down the pyramid but before leaving, she left him with a few words.

"Good luck, Zenith Victor. You'll need it. After all, you're challenging the god of the underworld himself."

Upon her departure, only Zenith and the god were left at the top.

"As I expected, she is..." the god murmured to himself as his gaze lingered on the spot that the girl had gone down to, however, he didn't continue his words. Zenith Victor stared at him but he had no intention of asking about that girl.

The onlookers were surprised when they saw the children walk down from the pyramid and broke into a commotion.

The child and the god duo didn't care about any of them as they were focused on each other.

"What game are we playing?"

"Chess."

Zenith Victor wasn't a stranger to that game. He had played chess many times in the past and won against grandmasters decades older than him. Suffice to say that he was confident with his skills. Nevertheless, his opponent wasn't just any grandmaster. It was the god of the underworld himself. It wouldn't be that easy to defeat him.

"Since we don't have a chessboard, we'll say our moves out loud. It is basically a game of blindfolded chess. Do you know how to play this form of chess?"

Zenith Victor nodded.

"Good. If you can't even do that much, then you aren't worth my time."

"I'll decide the rules if that is fine?"

"Go ahead."

If he had to read between the lines, it meant, go ahead and make whatever rule you want.

The god didn't care at all since he was assured of his victory no matter what rule he was going to make. As a god, he was confident that he would be able to see through all of the child's tricks and plans.

Zenith figured that was probably what the god was thinking.

"Oh, let me give you a warning before we start..."

Suddenly, the pyramid shook violently as the god showed off his might.

"I accepted this challenge out of boredom. If you fail to amuse me to the end, I will slaughter every person here before I kill you. And don't think you'll have an easy death either. Do you understand?"

Zenith's entire body went cold, and he couldn't move at all due to the suffocating pressure coming from the god. If he had to describe what he was feeling, it was like he was bare naked in the middle of a winter storm!

In front of such a mighty being, his body had an intense reaction and started shaking in fear. He couldn't think properly, and he almost couldn't breathe. Even his vision was blacking out!

"This is the power of a god!'

He forcefully tried to calm himself by taking deep breaths but it wasn't working.

"Hm?"

Suddenly, Zenith's eyes went dull. Not even a second later, he regained the light in his eyes and clarity gradually returned to his mind. While his fear had not yet disappeared, he was doing much better compared to before. There was even a smile on his face.

For a split second, the god thought that he scared the child's soul out of his body. However, he quickly realized that the child's strangeness was caused by something else.

"He already awakened it at such a young age? Impressive."

It would seem like he was going to have an interesting match with this child, after all.

Zenith Victor looked at the god courageously before stating his rules. The god agreed to all of it. The god knew that the rules favored Zenith greatly, but even so, he agreed. It was clear that the god didn't think of him as a real threat at all. Instead, he was merely just an amusing bug in his eyes that he could casually crush whenever he wanted to.

Zenith didn't mind this as he understood the god's position. It was the confidence of the strong! If he was a god, he would also look down on his mortal opponent, especially if it was a child. However, that confidence...

...would prove to be his undoing.