’Aghhhh...’

Cough...Gahhhh

"You won for now, but soon the abyss will be shitting itself."

In the depths of the universe, a tower stood so grand that even if someone stacked multiple worlds, they’d never reach its peak. Each floor was its own world, packed with nearly every race imaginable.

Some call it home, others call it a path to power. The Tower of Ascension was a symbol that kept the balance between two godly forces in the universe.

But today, chaos unfolded on the tower’s highest floor. Thousands upon thousands of lifeless bodies lay mingled on the ground, tossed aside like some broken toys. In the middle of all the hell, a bloodied figure writhed. His limbs had been ripped clean off, and his eyes were nothing but gouged pits.

Every breath was a struggle. Blood dribbled from his mouth with each ragged gasp, but even like this, his stubborn will refused to die.

Cough...

"Argh!... and you... You’re going to end up even worse than me." Every word shredded his throat like a rusty blade.

In front of him stood a lone figure, his posture calm and composed. Two curved horns rose from his head like a crown, and his obsidian eyes were locked on the bloody mess before him.

He was Lucifer, one of the kings of the abyss, bearer of the sin of pride. The one behind the massacre. A wicked grin appeared on his face at the words the bloodied worm in front of him.

"Kekeeke... Hahaha!" His laughter echoed across the floor.

"Damn! It’s been a million years since I laughed like this. And here I thought you were the most useless tower lord to ever show up." He strolled toward the dying tower lord.

Once he reached him, Lucifer shoved his index finger straight into the raw wound where the leg had been torn off. The fallen lord groaned in agony. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

Lucifer smirked, the tower lord’s pain a sweet melody to his ears. "Eons have passed since your pathetic gods tried to stop us with this toy in the name of balance. Every time it breaks, they create another. And you, you’re the weakest tower lord to ever rise."

A faint smile appeared on the tower lord’s lips. "Khugh... I know I was the weakest. But even then the stronger lords respected and followed me, because there’s a reason for that, you horned idiot."

Seeing the broken lord still confident even in that sorry state made Lucifer flinch. His eyes narrowed as he felt something was off. He shot his hand out to finish the rat, but the tower lord was quicker. "Hah! Too late. System, initialize Final Sacrifice."

Before Lucifer could strike, a blinding light exploded from the tower lord, forcing him to stumble back.

The light swept across the floor, swallowing the entire tower in seconds. At the center, the tower lord’s broken body began dissolving into particles. His gaze flicked from one lifeless body to another as they, too started to fade into nothingness.

These were his comrades, who once shared the bond of respect, trust, and love. His damp eyes found a familiar figure: her golden hair now drenched in crimson, her flawless face, once enough to make a goddess, bit her lips, now pale and empty.

His eyes stayed on that figure as the final moment reached, he muttered, "Hahh... so this is the end of our tale. I always knew it’d come to this. I was the weakest, after all. But the reason the other lords followed me? I had the SSS-rank talent: Sacrifice. Kughh... When I became tower lord, I created a command, Final Sacrifice. It meant giving up everything: my treasures, my soul, even the Tower of Ascension. In return, it’d grant a talent beyond any rank to someone worthy. Someone who’d make these bastards bite their balls."

Everything began to disappear into tiny particles. Lucifer and the other abyssal creatures stood frozen, as if time itself had stopped for them. As the last of the tower faded, a faint voice echoed, "I hope my and my comrades’ sacrifice won’t go to waste."

With the tower lord’s final words, everything faded into nothingness. The force binding Lucifer also vanished.

He found himself suspended in the void, surrounded by nothing but emptiness. Rage twisted his face as darkness exploded from his body, disintegrating nearby stars. He snarled, "These fucking insects... every damn time, they pull some shit at the end. I swear, whoever the next lord is, I’ll butcher him piece by piece and grill them in front of him, starting from his tongue."

⟡⟡⟡

Far above where any eyes could reach, countless beings watched the chaos at the tower. Some raged, some wept, and one was even caught getting way too intimate with a colorful tower lord’s plushie.

These were the gods who’d built the tower, a place where gifted ones from across the universe come, hoping to get strong enough to stop the abyss from swallowing everything.

A being made entirely of lightning arcs of different colors crackling around him spoke in rage, "Tsk... I knew this tower lord was pathetic. Didn’t even last a few thousand millennia." This was Voltaris, the God of Lightning.

Another figure, draped in a white robe, rivers of tears streaming down her cheeks. "B... But he did something g... good in the end with his talent," she sobbed. That was Lacrimael, the God of Tears.

Other gods began to voice their opinions. Some stayed silent, quietly judging the situation. They had seen the fall of countless tower lords over their eternal lives.

Then a quiet but firm voice echoed from the far side, belonging to a being so massive even galaxies looked like marbles next to it. He resembled a dragon.

"The tower lord did his best with what he had. Enough with the bickering. We must start the ascension trial right away, who knows what the abyss will try without the Tower of Ascension in its way." This was Dracorynth, the cosmic dragon.

Every god agreed, after all, to them, years were mere seconds. For mortals, though, those could mean their end. There was no time to waste.

At the center stood a figure in a sleek black suit. Glasses hanging on his nose, not for himself but for the sake all the worlds.

He held an endless ledger in his hands that contained the secrets of every being and place in the universe. Flipping through the pages, he announced, "Umm! This time, it’s UMW-90221, Earth’s turn to participate in the Ascension Trial." He was Archivon, the God of Records.

Upon hearing this, multiple gods spoke in unison like an anthem: "So let the Ascension Trial begin!"

⟡⟡⟡

[A/N]: Please consider supporting by sending some Power Stones and Golden tickets. Your support means a lot and really helps me continue writing.