My Charity System made me too OP-Chapter 413: Null Void II

The doorway reopened with a faint hum, folding back like mist.

Leon stepped through.

The Hollow greeted him not with silence, but a breeze—real, gentle wind swirling across the stone corridor. A flicker of firelight curled upward from the torches Kael had set. The walls no longer hummed with uncertainty.

They recognized him now.

He didn’t look different.

No glowing aura. No golden eyes. Just Leon.

But the others knew the moment they saw him.

Aris straightened. "It’s done?"

Leon nodded.

Roselia tilted her head. "You don’t look any stronger."

"I’m not," Leon said. "Not like before."

Kael raised a brow. "Then what happened?"

Leon thought for a moment, then said simply, "It’s not about adding more."

He looked at his palm, then closed it gently.

"It’s about not needing to."

That silenced them more than any speech could have.

They stood for a long moment, surrounded by the Tower’s shifting breath. The Hollow had begun to heal—walls reshaping into proper sectors, old scaffolds withdrawing, once-dead machines flickering back online.

Then Kael’s tablet chirped.

His eyes widened. "Uh... you guys are gonna want to see this."

He turned the screen around.

A map of the Tower’s full structure blinked with white data points. From Floor 1 all the way to Floor 999, markers were flashing in slow, rhythmic pulses.

And all of them pointed up.

Toward the Crown Sector.

Toward a signal that had not activated for over three thousand years.

Aris stepped closer. "They know."

"Who?" Roselia asked.

Aris didn’t look away from the screen. "The ones who ruled before the Tower fell silent. The Architects. The Keepers. The other Kings—if any are still alive."

Leon narrowed his eyes.

"No hiding now," he said.

Kael exhaled. "That’s not all. Messages are coming through. From other Ascender networks. Some are rallying. Others are... evacuating."

Roselia smiled faintly. "So. We go from Hollow-walkers to war banners."

Leon didn’t smile back.

"We’re not at war," he said.

Aris gave him a look. "We’re not?"

Leon stepped toward the gate that would take them back up the Tower’s central axis.

"No. But something’s coming down from above. And we’re going to meet it."

The gate activated on its own.

No key. No sequence. It simply opened.

For the first time in centuries, the way upward from Floor 500 was unlocked.

And on the other side, for just a second, they glimpsed a realm far more massive than any Hollow. A world of skyplates, floating cities, Ascenders cloaked in light and shadow—watching.

Waiting.

The Tower had seen its next Elemental King.

And now the upper realms would answer.

The gate opened with a low, smooth breath—like the Tower itself was waking up for the first time in centuries.

And Leon stepped through.

No fanfare. No trumpets. Just the faint sound of his boots touching the surface of a world unlike anything below.

Floor 501 wasn’t a floor.

It was a horizon.

An endless sky stretched around them in every direction. Floating islands drifted slowly through the air, wrapped in threads of silver wind and translucent aurora currents. Mountains floated upside down. Oceans poured in slow spirals from one landmass to another without ever touching ground.

And there was no ceiling.

Above them, the Tower kept going—far beyond sight.

Kael nearly dropped his tablet. "This isn’t a floor. This is... this is a whole dimension stitched into the Tower’s core."

Aris took a deep breath. "The Ascended Realm."

Roselia smiled faintly, eyes narrowed as she scanned the shifting winds. "I always heard the top five hundred floors were sealed. Myth. Lore. Most people don’t even believe anyone’s been up here."

Leon didn’t speak.

He was watching something.

A figure floating across one of the distant skybridges—moving in a streak of light too fast for normal sight. But for him, it was clear.

Someone had seen them.

And was already moving to intercept.

"Get ready," he said.

Seconds later, a beam of white light descended from above—and formed into a humanoid shape just a few meters away from the team.

The figure was tall, dressed in layered robes woven from storm threads and mirrored metal. Six rings floated in orbit behind their back, each etched with a different symbol—faintly glowing.

Their face was concealed behind a mask—one half silver, one half obsidian. And when they spoke, the voice came not from their mouth, but from everywhere at once.

"You have awakened the Crown Circuit."

Leon didn’t react.

The figure continued. "Six elements. One bearer. The signal has reached every living Floor above 700."

Kael whispered, "Is this a Keeper?"

"No," Aris murmured. "Too active. This is a Watcher."

The figure nodded once. "Correct. I am Watcher-Six. I have observed four Crowns rise. Three have fallen. One still sleeps."

It turned its masked gaze to Leon.

"You are the fifth."

Leon stepped forward. "I didn’t ask for it."

"You didn’t need to."

The rings behind the Watcher spun slowly. "Do you intend to keep walking?"

Leon didn’t hesitate. "Yes."

"Then be warned."

The Watcher raised a hand, and light formed a projection in the air behind it—a slowly spinning map of the Tower’s upper structure.

"Above Floor 600, the laws of the Lower Tower no longer hold. Matter bends. Time folds. Concepts obey strength, not sequence."

"And above Floor 750—" the Watcher paused.

"—you will meet those who were once Kings themselves."

Kael looked to Leon. "You still sure about this?"

Leon’s answer was simple.

"We didn’t come this far to turn back."

The Watcher tilted its head.

"Then your first trial begins here."

The floating islands above them shifted.

One in particular began to fall—slowly, descending like a judgment.

It was covered in broken relics. Giant statues shattered at the knees. Golden towers bent in half. Storms hovered above its surface.

Leon stared up at it as it drew closer.

"What is it?" Roselia asked.

The Watcher answered.

"The Ruins of the Last Crown."

And then it vanished—light scattering into sparks.

The sky trembled as the island came to rest ahead of them.

Leon didn’t wait.

He started walking toward it.

The others followed without a word.

Because they all understood something now:

This wasn’t just a new level.

This was a graveyard.

Of those who came before him.

And the Tower was watching to see...

If Leon would join them.

Or rise above them.

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