The Tower of Myths did not welcome them with light.
It welcomed them with pressure.
The moment Satre, Amelia, Yura, and Babylis crossed the colossal black gates, the atmosphere itself became heavier—as though reality had thickened around them. Ancient dimensional energy saturated the air so densely it felt almost liquid against their skin.
Satre's breathing slowed instinctively.
Not from fear.
From instinct.
Something about this place demanded respect.
The massive halls stretched endlessly forward, layered with impossible architecture. Entire stairways floated sideways through open space while glowing rivers drifted across the ceilings like inverted galaxies. The walls pulsed faintly with ancient scripture carved into black stone older than civilizations themselves.
And everywhere—
history.
Wars.
Collapsed dimensions.
Dead gods.
Fallen monsters.
Entire universes etched into murals large enough to cover continents.
Yura's icy-blue eyes narrowed carefully as she extended her senses outward.
"…Time feels unstable here."
Her voice echoed strangely.
Not delayed.
Layered.
As though multiple versions of her words existed simultaneously.
Babylis walked calmly behind them, her bare feet never fully touching the floor.
"The Tower exists outside conventional temporal flow," she explained softly. "Time moves differently on every dimensional layer."
Amelia crossed her arms beneath her chest, crimson eyes scanning the endless structure ahead.
"…Meaning?"
"The deeper you climb," Babylis replied, "the less ordinary reality applies to you."
That answer unsettled all three women.
Especially Satre.
Because Gurter had begun vibrating softly against her back.
The divine sword never reacted without reason.
Her hand slowly rested against the hilt.
Immediately—
the tower responded.
Ancient runes illuminated across the nearby walls one after another like waking stars.
The entire structure pulsed once beneath their feet.
Amelia's expression hardened instantly.
"…Did you just activate something?"
"I didn't do anything."
But even Satre could hear the uncertainty in her own voice.
The deeper they walked, the more overwhelming the tower became.
Eventually the corridor opened into something impossible.
An entire dimensional world.
Satre stopped walking completely.
Massive floating continents drifted through endless cosmic skies while battles erupted across thousands of layered platforms suspended in open space. Entire civilizations existed inside the tower itself. Warriors crossed dimensional fractures through pure physical strength while monsters larger than mountains fought beneath collapsing stars.
And nobody stopped fighting.
Not for rest.
Not for glory.
For ascension.
Yura stared silently as a silver-armored woman froze an entire sea suspended in midair before shattering it alongside her opponent with a single spell.
Amelia's gaze shifted upward just in time to see a four-armed beast punch through distorted space itself before dragging another warrior into the fracture barehanded.
"…What the hell is this place?"
Babylis finally looked serious.
"The Tower of Myths."
Not a title.
An explanation.
Satre slowly realized the terrifying truth.
This wasn't simply a training ground.
This was where monsters came to grow stronger.
The dimensional pressure suddenly increased.
Violently.
The first layer had acknowledged them.
Nearby combatants slowly began glancing toward the newcomers.
Not because they were weak.
Because they were new.
And new climbers rarely survived long.
One massive dragon-kin sitting atop a floating ruin stared directly at Satre before slowly narrowing his eyes.
Not hostility.
Recognition.
Specifically toward Gurter.
The Hero's blade.
Satre immediately looked away.
She hated attention.
Amelia, meanwhile, looked almost irritated by the atmosphere around them.
"Everybody here feels insane."
"They are," Babylis answered calmly.
Then—
the sky split open.
A battle erupted above them so suddenly the surrounding dimensional layer trembled from the impact alone.
A colossal phoenix wrapped in white fire collided against a titan wielding chains forged from compressed gravity itself. Entire fragments of reality shattered beneath their attacks while dimensional storms spiraled outward across the heavens.
Satre's eyes widened slightly.
Every person here…
was terrifying.
And yet—
none of them had reached the Void.
That realization settled heavily in her chest.
Yura stepped closer beside her quietly.
"…We can still do this."
Satre nodded once.
But internally—
she wasn't certain anymore.
The climb continued.
The second dimensional layer felt immediately different.
Gravity multiplied instantly the moment they crossed through the ascending gate.
The floor cracked beneath Amelia's boots.
Even breathing became heavier.
But worse than the pressure—
was the density of existence itself.
Everything here felt more real.
The stone.
The air.
The magic.
Even light itself seemed physically heavier.
"This is what literal dimensional ascension feels like…" Yura whispered softly.
Her frost aura automatically expanded around her body as she adapted to the new layer.
Amelia grinned suddenly.
Not nervous.
Excited.
Now this environment suited her.
Blood-red flames rolled off her body as her vampiric aura surged outward hungrily. Tiny streams of blood pulled from old battlefields hidden within the stone itself, spiraling around her arms like living serpents.
Nearby climbers immediately glanced toward her.
A Daywalker.
Even here, that bloodline carried weight.
One warrior wisely stepped away.
Amelia noticed and smirked.
"Good instinct."
Then the layer attacked.
Creatures formed from compressed dimensional matter erupted from beneath the floating terrain, their bodies constantly shifting between crystal, flesh, and fractured magic.
One lunged toward Yura instantly.
She didn't move.
Ice spread across reality itself.
Not the creature.
Reality.
The space around the monster froze solid before shattering apart soundlessly.
Another rushed Amelia.
She smiled.
Blood exploded outward from her fingertips in elegant arcs, forming dozens of razor-thin threads that sliced the creature apart mid-charge before igniting into crimson-black fire.
Satre moved last.
And the moment she drew Gurter—
the battlefield changed.
Golden light erupted across the dimensional layer as divine magic flooded outward instinctively. Her swordsmanship flowed beautifully, almost gently, every movement resembling a sacred dance rather than combat.
One slash.
The dimensional creature split apart instantly.
Not wounded.
Separated conceptually.
Even the surrounding climbers paused briefly after witnessing it.
Because Gurter did not simply cut matter.
Depending on Satre's will—
it could cut anything.
Magic.
Space.
Concepts.
Dimensional structures.
Even layered existence itself.
Satre herself didn't fully understand the extent of what the blade could become.
That frightened Babylis more than she admitted.
The third layer came hours later.
Or perhaps centuries.
Time inside the tower no longer behaved consistently.
This realm resembled endless black waters beneath a sky with no stars. Massive ruined temples drifted silently across the ocean while ghostly echoes moved beneath the surface.
The atmosphere here felt ancient.
Hungry.
Watching.
And for the first time since entering the tower—
Satre felt it.
The Void.
Far away.
But real.
Her chest tightened painfully.
Shiro was somewhere beyond all this.
Suffering.
Alone.
Her grip around Gurter slowly tightened.
Amelia noticed immediately.
"So we keep climbing," she said firmly.
Yura nodded beside her.
"No matter how long it takes."
Satre looked between them quietly.
Then forward.
Higher above the endless dark ocean—
more dimensional gates waited.
More impossible realms.
More monsters.
And somewhere beyond infinity itself—
waited the World of Void.
The place where broken legends disappeared.
The place where she would find Shiro.
Or die trying