Isa moved cautiously through the structure, which she realized was probably the Magic Tower after finding a room that seemed similar to the one she and Rai had used to explore the various parts of the Tower while trying to find a way out back in the Dragonia ruins. Unfortunately, the enchantment in this room was completely broken, leaving her looking for alternate ways to navigate. She did come across some sealed rune doorways, but the key ring she had didn’t work on them, and she figured that there must have been a different key for each Tower.
Open doorways took her to a number empty areas with no loot to be found, and she eventually resorted to climbing the walls to scale the areas that had once had stairs. Unfortunately, she seemed to be locked into a single section of the Tower and couldn’t go any higher or lower than its limits. Reluctantly, she returned to the room where she had first appeared. A demon had teleported there; she didn’t know if demons had the ability to teleport naturally, but if not, it would indicate there was a way to teleport out.
The key ended up being the altar, whose runes she could now read thanks to wearing a Strap of Tongues. The runes didn’t make a lot of sense, since they weren’t there for communication but for enchantment, but she was able to piece together that a sacrifice was needed to activate it. She dumped the demon’s broken corpse on top of the altar and stepped back as a pillar of fire erupted, consuming it. The circle around the altar lit up.
“Who is it this time?” a deep, reverberating voice said in irritation in a language she had never heard before. “Hm? You’re not one of those demons. Who are you?”
“Isa Bloodscale. I’m currently trapped here, having been teleported in by a sandstorm with no way out. I don’t know what this altar is, but I figured I’d try my luck with it. Who are you?”
“Hahaha! You’re a bold one, saurian girl! Hm? No, you’re a saurian now, but you were hatched as a kobold, weren’t you? I can see telltale signs of evolution. I can see why you’re so unafraid; you must have been formidable among your original kind. As for who I am… I am a dragon. Or rather, the soul of a dragon, housed in this dead structure. I went mad when the stars fell from the sky, but by separating my soul from my body, my followers were able to restore my sanity. Unfortunately, that meant that I could do nothing but watch helplessly as the world fell to ruin around me.”
“So you were around during the Tower Era?”
“Tower Era… yes, that is an apt name. And after my soul separating and subsequent bodily death, I have been here in this Tower for countless years.”
“I will be a dragon one day,” Isa said confidently.
“That is your goal? Well, you’ll have to strive quite hard for that. Your next step is to evolve into a draconid, which will require you to reach just shy of seventh tier and seventh circle, as sixth is the peak of saurian potential. If you manage to break through and evolve again, then you will need to reach the draconid peak, with is ninth circle and ninth tier. Only then can you break through to tenth circle and tenth tier and evolve into a dragon.”
“I can do it.”
“Maybe you can, girl. …Wait, did you say your name was Isa Bloodscale?”
“Yes, why?”
“…Impossible,” the dragon muttered. “It must be a coincidence.”
“Coincidence?”
“Nothing. It doesn’t matter. Anyway, you said you are trapped? I can help you with that. Touch the altar.”
Isa placed her hand atop the altar. The back of her hand burned, and she yelped, but when she tried to pull her hand off, she found it stuck fast. Slowly, a black diamond-shaped mark appeared. The burning sensation faded, and she quickly pulled her hand away.
“What did you do?” she asked uncertainly.
“You should be able to teleport within the Tower now. Just will yourself to go a distance and direction, and you’ll end up in the nearest open space to your specified location.”
“Is that how the demon teleported?”
“Yes. There’s another altar in another part of the Tower that’s exposed to the outside; they made contact there.”
“How many demons are there in the Tower?”
“A total of thirteen have made contact with me and received the mark, but there are plenty of lesser demons roaming around. They probably aren’t all in the Tower, though; they’ve claimed the city ruins as well.”
“Well, I killed one.”
“I gathered that,” the dragon said in amusement. “Which is no mean feat, to be honest – especially when your magic doesn’t work.”
“Why is that, by the way?”
“Your magic doesn’t work because this place was altered by the star that fell here – same reason this is a desert now. Too close to the fallen star, magic starts to go haywire. It destroyed most of the enchantments in the Tower, but thankfully my altars were made partially using stellar energy, so they work… mostly.”
“I see… speaking of seeing, how well can you see what’s going on?”
“I can see the area around my altars clearly, and the entire tower and the surrounding grounds vaguely. I used to be able to see the majority of the city, but over the years my sight has diminished greatly.”
“Can you see any of my companions? An armored knight, a gnome, and a human?”
“One moment. …The human is lying on the ground directly outside the tower; he appears to have killed another demon but he’s not in great shape either. I don’t see the gnome. …Ah, I think I’ve spotted the knight, approaching on the opposite side of the Tower. Hm… how odd.”
“Odd? What’s odd?”
“The knight. They’re a holy knight of the Sun God, I can see his mark, but… are you aware of what race they are?”
“No. I’ve never asked, and they don’t show their face.”
“Hm. I suppose it’s not my place to tell you, then. It is unusual, though. I don’t think I’ve ever seen one of them as a holy knight before.”
“I should go meet up with both of them.”
“You’ll only be able to teleport within the Tower, which means you’ll need to find an exit to get out. Just so you know.”
“I’d better get to searching, then. Speaking of which, are there any interesting or valuable artifacts in this Tower?”
“Not really. The demons stole most of what was left and melted it down for energy.”
“All right. Well… thanks. What’s your name, Mr. Dragon?”
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“I was called Imperator by my followers. I’ve long since forgotten my real name. Now, I’d like to return to my slumber. It’s the only thing that keeps me sane.”
“Okay. I’ll get going, then.”
Isa stepped back and willed herself to teleport a hundred feet straight up. She disappeared.
“Oh, wait, there is one thing of interest… and she’s gone.”
-x-
“Yi-meep…”
The carbuncle rubbed itself against Rai’s face almost like a cat, then turned and started licking off his tears with a tongue that was significantly less rough than a feline’s. Rai brought up his hand to stroke the creature, his sobs fading.
“Thank you,” he whispered. “You’re a balm, if not for my body, then at least for my heart.” He slowly sat up. “I can’t stay here and keep feeling sorry for myself, no matter how much pain I’m in. The potion reversed around half the damage I’d taken, so I can still move, and, if necessary, fight. Do you have a place you can go for safety, little one?”
“Yi-meep?” it replied, tilting its head cutely.
“Yeah, I guess you wouldn’t understand the question. I wonder if you’re a juvenile or whether that’s as big as your kind gets. You’re really quite adorable. Unless you have somewhere to be, you can come with me if you want.” He stood up, wincing. “Though I don’t know where to go. Isa and the Sun Knight are hopefully nearby, but they might be in the Tower itself. They should be able to survive as well as I can. The gnome… might already be dead. He wasn’t a fighter.”
The carbuncle jumped up to his hip and then climbed the rest of the way to his left shoulder, where it sat, tail dangling down his back.
“Yi-meep!”
“I guess I’ll search around the exterior of the Tower for any entrances near ground level.”
Rai started walking counterclockwise around the Tower. He made it a full quarter of the way around when he spotted a window that looked big enough to climb into about ten feet up from the sand level. He started walking toward it when four demons jumped out, one after another. One had flaming hair, another had yellow lightning sparks around its head, the third looked like he was made of metal, and the last appeared as living shadow.
I should have meditated and recovered my qi, Rai realized belatedly. These had better be less powerful than that wind demon, or I’m definitely dead.
The demons spotted him.
“Oh, lookie there, a human!” the flame demon chortled, a fiery sword appearing in his hand.
“We shall have some sport!” the metal demon said, a two-handed metal hammer popping into existence.
“Do remember to leave some for us,” the shadow demon said, a flail coalescing out of blackness in her hand.
“No promises,” the lightning demon laughed, holding up his claws, lightning dancing along them.
“Meep!” the carbuncle said in alarm, jumping off Rai’s shoulder.
“Hey, isn’t that one of the carbuncles?”
“How’d it get all the way down here?”
“We should catch it, earn some favor with the bosses.”
Bosses? Then these guys are underlings, Rai thought. Good; they should be weaker, then.
The lightning demon dashed over to him in an instant and slashed with both claws. He jerked back, the first slash ripping clothing but not flesh, but the second tore up his face, going both above and beneath his right eye. The lightning danced harmlessly on his skin, but the claws themselves did serious damage, dragging across bone. A moment later, the fire and metal demons reached him on the left and right. He jumped away from the hammer and into the flame sword, which carved through his side. Before he had a chance to do anything else, the shadow demon appeared from nowhere behind him, swing the flail at his head. He ducked under it.
He infused himself with star energy and shifted his stance, activating his accelerated healing and preparing to counterattack any missed strikes. He had enough qi left to use first tier arts four times (and nothing else), so he used Swift Strike to thrust with blinding speed, stabbing through where he thought the lightning demon’s heart was. The demon coughed blood as he withdrew his sword, but it didn’t go down. Instead, it clawed at him. One claw caught him, keeping him still long enough for the flail and hammer to strike him, breaking bones. His vision briefly went white, then a surge of energy rushed through him and brought him back from the brink.
His body blurred as he moved without thought, dodging and countering attack after attack as though he were the wind itself – a vengeful wind. The lightning demon went down to a second heart blow, the fire demon took two strong thrusts, and each of the others suffered a hit. Then he executed another Swift Strike, separating the fire demon’s head from its body. Keeping his body infused with star energy, he ducked under a flail swing, stabbed, jumped back from a hammer blow, lunged, twisted away from another flail swing, slashed, sidestepped another hammer blow, slashed, and then slashed with a Wave Strike to down both of the demons. Then he quickly finished them both off.
Rai stood there, heart pounding, his body struggling to stabilize, until finally his second wind evaporated, and he passed out.
-x-
The Sun Knight found Rai not long after with the carbuncle standing guard over his fallen form.
“Scholar!” they cried, breaking into the closest thing to a run they could manage on the sands. Kneeling beside him they placed hands on his chest. “I hope I’m not too late…”
The remaining daily allotment of healing energy flowed from their hands into Rai’s body, and he let out a gasp as he awakened. His bones had been healed and he was no longer bleeding heavily, but most of his other injuries remained.
“Sun Knight? Oh, thank the gods…”
“The Sun God deserves the thanks indeed. I’m glad I made it to you in time. What is this strange creature?”
“This is a carbuncle. I saved it, so it’s stuck by me since. I killed a greater wind demon, then these four lesser demons, but without a way to heal, it was too much for me.”
“I also killed a so-called greater demon, a lightning demon, as well as many undead. Unfortunately, I was unable to protect the Salt Gatherer.”
“…I see. If you didn’t encounter her out here, then Isa must be inside the Tower. I don’t know how many more demons there are, but we should be prepared for a long fight. We need to recover our qi, even if we can’t heal. You are out of healing, right?”
“I am. I had to use most of it on myself.”
“Do you think you can climb up into there?” Rai said, pointing at the window.
“…The best I can do is attempt it.”
They sat and meditated, restoring their qi. After ten minutes, Rai braced himself, then jumped up to the window with the carbuncle in his hands, wincing. A short while later, the Sun Knight managed to climb up and over. Together, they entered the Tower.
The interior was dark, but an eerie green glow suffused the area, providing just enough light to see. They searched, but found no objects of interest. They were able to go several floors down and several floors up, but any rooms they encountered were empty and most doorways were nonfunctional. They did, however, encounter a greater demon when they reached the top – a demon enshrouded in darkness and holding a black stone fragment that glowed green.
“A star shard,” Rai said. “Is that why you demons are here? To do something with a star?”
The demon’s red eyes stared out of the darkness.
“Hm. A holy knight of the Sun God,” it said, deep voice reverberating in a manner similar to the Sun Knight’s voice. “Is it fate? Or perhaps the Sun God has sent you to stop us.” Its grip tightened on the star fragment, and a black flanged mace appeared in its other hand. “No matter. A couple fools will be of no consequence.”
The demon forward and the Sun Knight did as well. The demon’s mace came hurtling toward their face. They blocked with their shield, but the demon was only getting started, striking again and again, the force of its blows driving them back. Rai darted forward, striking out with a Lightning Strike, but the demon’s body turned to smoke and his blade passed through ineffectually. Its body reformed an instant later, but the brief pause in its assault was enough for the Sun Knight; they cried, “Light Slays Evil! I’m your opponent!” and lashed out with a glowing blade. The demon grunted as a golden gash appeared across its chest, visible clearly through the darkness.
It returned its attention to the one who had injured it and battered at them from multiple angles, but their armor protected them. Rai circled around to the back and struck an X-slash simultaneously with a thrust from the Sun Knight. A shallow laugh escaped the demon as it turned to smoke again, then reformed off to the side, raising its mace up high for a downward blow.
“Parry and Strike! Sacred Exorcist!”
The Sun Knight bashed the mace aside when it came down and thrust their sword right in the center of the demon’s chest as it flared with light. The demon roared in pain, turned to mist, and reformed behind them with mace already swinging. The mace connected hard, denting the backplate and sending them staggering forward.
Rai’s sword flashed, and a spear of aura shot out of the tip and directly between the demon’s eyes, blowing a hole right through its head. It dropped, the darkness dissipating.
“You okay?” Rai asked.
“I will live.”
There was a popping noise from higher up.
“Hello?” Rai called out.
“Rai?!” Isa’s voice called back. “Oh, thank the gods!”
With another pop, Isa appeared in front of the two of them. She grinned. “Good to see you’re both alive.”
“Your face! Your chest!” Rai exclaimed.
“Yeah, you don’t look much better. I guess Sun Knight here’s outta healing?”
“Yes. My healing is not magic, but pure divine power, so it was unaffected by whatever is disturbing magic, but I have already used it all.”
“Let’s rest and – oh, dead demon. Wait… is that a piece of a star?”
“Yes.”
“What is this about stars?”
“Bit of a long story, but while we’re taking a breather, I might as well explain…”