My Charity System made me too OP-Chapter 425: Void Walker VI

He kept walking.

Past pillars cracked in half.

Past ones where names tried to appear—glitching out, unable to fully manifest.

Until he stopped.

There, at the far end of the chamber, stood a single empty pedestal.

But the moment he looked at it—

A glowing name began to write itself, letter by letter.

Not in gold.

But in blue fire.

[Name: Leon Aetheren]

The others froze.

Milim inhaled sharply. "What the hell—?!"

Leon stared.

Then looked behind him. "What does this mean? I’m still alive."

Roselia whispered, "Maybe this is where you’re supposed to die."

Then, a shape appeared.

No sound.

Just the faint shimmer of a hooded figure, cloaked in shifting symbols.

It didn’t speak.

It held out a scroll.

Leon took it.

And instantly—

The world twisted.

He stood alone.

The chamber gone.

Just an empty room.

And across from him... a young man. His face familiar. His posture confident.

Wearing a tattered Crown.

Leon recognized him immediately.

It was him.

But younger.

More reckless.

The version of himself from Floor 300—before Absolute Return. Before Origin Pulse. Before the burdens began to weigh on him.

"So you made it this far," the younger Leon said with a half-smirk.

Leon didn’t flinch. "I lived it. You didn’t."

"I climbed for power. For control. To be stronger than anyone. You’re letting that fade."

Leon stared at him, silent.

"You’re slower now. You hesitate. You think too much about your team."

"You mean I grew up."

"You got soft."

Leon stepped forward, closing the distance.

"Maybe. But I’m still climbing."

Then the younger Leon attacked.

Trial Battle: Self-Reflection – Echo of the Past

There was no delay. The younger Leon moved like lightning, Shell Reverb in its most aggressive form—no rhythm, no flow. Just impact.

Leon blocked the first blow, staggered back, then twisted into a defensive parry. This wasn’t a test of strength.

It was a test of resolve.

"You think the Tower respects kindness? Mercy?"

"We claw our way up. We don’t lead—we survive."

Leon didn’t argue.

He just kept fighting.

One strike. Two.

He didn’t overpower his past.

He outlasted it.

Each blow he took reminded him of who he was, and why he no longer fought like that.

He wasn’t fighting to climb.

He was climbing so no one else had to.

The final strike came.

Leon ducked under his younger self’s blade, drove his palm into his chest, and whispered, "You’re not who I am anymore."

The chamber returned.

The blue flames faded.

[Name Rejected: Leon Aetheren]

• Current Status: Climbing

• Floor Cleared.

The pedestal retracted into the floor, and a single message burned in gold on the wall behind it.

"Only the dead rest here."

Leon turned to the others.

"Let’s move."

When the gate to Floor 525 opened, it didn’t reveal land.

There was no platform. No mountain. No city.

Only water—black, glimmering, endless.

A vast ocean of ink and void stretched across the horizon, the sky above it low and starless. The air smelled faintly of brine and ozone, as if the Tower itself had drowned this place in time.

[Welcome to Floor 525 – Leviathan Coil]

• Environment: Endless Voidwater Sea

• Survival Rule: Cannot Swim – Buoyancy Nullified

• Objective: Cross the Coil

• Mount: Detected

Sovereign Presence: Dormant

Roselia took one cautious step onto the water—only for her foot to plunge down into the depths. She pulled back fast, breath caught.

"It’s not real water," she said. "Or maybe too real. I can’t feel the bottom."

Leon narrowed his eyes and scanned the area.

There was no land.

Nothing in sight.

But something below—moved.

Slow.

Rhythmic.

A current not caused by waves—but by something living.

And then... it rose.

The ocean split.

A mountain of flesh and scale and stone coiled upward from the deep. The creature was so massive it blotted out the false sky, its body like a twisting continent. Its spine, marked by ancient ruin lines and glowing sigils, stretched for miles.

The water itself feared it—pulling back as the titan moved.

[Mount: Leviathan Detected]

• Designation: World-Serpent Core-Class Entity

• Behavior: Passive | Trajectory Locked

• Traversal Distance: 11.8 kilometers

• Hostility Chance: 7%

• Objective: Ride the Coil to the Far Gate

Kael stared, slack-jawed. "You’re telling me we have to ride that thing?"

Leon didn’t hesitate.

"Gear up. Don’t look down. Stick close."

The team climbed onto the Leviathan’s back using spiraling ridges along its dorsal spine. The surface was uneven—part scale, part obsidian-like plating, and strange tendons that throbbed gently underfoot.

Each footstep felt like standing on the back of a slumbering god.

As the creature began to move again, the world lurched sideways.

Phase 1: Traverse

The first kilometers passed in eerie silence. The wind howled, the ocean below shimmered with impossible depth, and lightning sometimes rippled across the Leviathan’s scales like natural armor.

They followed a glowing path inscribed with markings in an ancient tongue—possibly the language of the Tower’s Architects.

Aris scanned them.

"They say... ’Path must be earned in balance. Tilt, and the beast will wake.’"

New Rule: Movement Penalty – Disruption Level >5% triggers Leviathan Instinct

Milim looked up from her map projection. "It’s a balancing test. Too much weight on one side, and this thing will react."

Kael grumbled. "Why is every floor smart now?"

Leon adjusted the formation. "Even weight. We move like a single body."

Phase 2: Disruption – Wind Strike Event

About five kilometers in, the first storm hit.

Wind tore across the back of the beast in chaotic bursts. Roman nearly slipped, saved by Naval’s grip. Cracks opened across the spine’s ridges, releasing steam and pulses of pressure that shook the surface violently.

A pulse from below vibrated through them.

Instinct Level: 4.9%

"Hold!" Leon yelled. "Stay grounded!"

Suddenly, one of the scales under them peeled up, revealing an eye.

A vast, slitted, violet eye.

It stared directly at Leon.

"He sees us," Roselia whispered.

But the eye didn’t blink.

It simply watched.

Leon stepped forward slowly.

And bowed.

For a moment, the wind stopped.

The eye closed.

And the Leviathan shifted—faster now.

Instinct Reduced to 2.1%

• Respect Earned: +1 – Leviathan Status Passive Boost Granted (Until Floor Exit)

Phase 3: Apex Climb

At 10 kilometers, the path tilted upward sharply. The Leviathan was coiling around a massive spire protruding from the ocean floor—a forgotten Tower fragment, covered in vines and rusted memory cores.

Here, the gravity changed.

Up became sideways.

Time distorted.

They had to climb up a slope of moving flesh, lightning still cracking across the sky.

Naval slipped once—Milim caught him with a tether.

Kael grunted, "If this thing even sneezes, we’re all dead."

Leon pressed his palm against the Leviathan’s spine again.

This time, it pulsed—responding to his Shell Reverb.

A tremor passed down its body—and new ridges formed beneath their feet. It had... heard him.

"It’s listening," Leon muttered. "We’re not intruders anymore."

Final Segment – The Crowned Cradle

At the highest point of the Leviathan’s back sat a crater-shaped platform, with one thing in the center: a spiraled sigil made from Tower stone.

The exit gate.

As they stepped toward it, a voice echoed—not from the beast, but from the Tower itself.

"Few ride the Coil. Fewer walk it willingly. One once fell from here... and never rose again."

Leon stopped.

"What name?" he asked.

The Tower answered.

"There was no name. He refused one."

"But he walked until the end."

Leon looked down at the sea of stars below—and then to his team.

"Then we’ll do better. We’ll walk past the end."

And they stepped through the gate.

[Floor 525 Cleared – Leviathan Coil]

• Trait Gained: Beastmarked (Passive) – World-Class Creatures will hesitate to attack unless provoked.

• Memory Core: 1 Fragment Unlocked – The Tower Watches Itself

• Chain Protocol Node 4/12 Acquired