Tower of Endless: Death Granted Entry

Samuel stood still, his gaze as indifferent as ever, yet his face looked heavier than usual.

Ed, on the other hand, was smiling widely. ”Lively kids are better than vicious ones.” Ed looked at him. ”What you’re looking at was a possibility, one of many. One that could have existed naturally if the Tower wasn’t overtaken by these bastards as its law and sky.”

Samuel didn’t respond immediately; he kept watching.

Now Mishu, who was doing a full-body stretch... he had his hind paws contracted into a butt-wiggling stance.

Rumble~

He instantly jumped in the direction where Moon was running with the stolen food he stole back from Mishu. The bench collapsed into rubble under the force of the lunging, small, cute-looking cat.

Moon heard it. ”Shit, shit, shit.” He ran faster.

Mishu ran after him, not too fast, unlike what his lunge indicated.

Watching the scene, Ed raised his eyebrows. ”He’s definitely toying with the kid.”

Samuel responded, ”Quite unusually.”

”Hey Samuel, how much do you know about that cat?” Ed asked all of a sudden.

For very long years they’d been living like good, reluctant neighbors, being around one another occasionally. Sharing food from time to time.

But truly, Ed didn’t know much about the cat or where he came from... nor why he was waiting here on the second floor.

A being that strong was just lurking around new ascenders for a very, very long time when it could roam the Tower.

”Remember back when we first ascended and came here?” Samuel asked. His voice was different from the last time Ed asked; it wasn’t dismissive.

Ed closed his eyes, ignoring Moon’s curses and screams. ”It was there at that time as well. Yeah, I remember a few almost died trying to have a cat companion.” Ed nodded; it was a distant memory, but one unforgettable.

”Mishu is much, much older than us, that’s one thing I know.” Samuel paused for a second before adding, ”Unlike how it usually behaved, it started sneaking into my hall recently, which allowed me to find a few things I failed to notice before.”

Ed’s interest was piqued now. ”What did you find?” he asked.

Below, Moon kept screaming, ”GET OUT OF MY WAY, DAMMIT!” He ran with all his might without looking back.

His eyes were solely on the Fate Alert... Only by reacting to the Alert could he react to the cat.

It was the conclusion he came to after getting alerts for various reasons over the days he’d been in the facility.

And after failing to react last time, he had no way of seeing the attack no matter how hard he tried... if not for the brief warning, that is.

Before long, the moment he was waiting for finally came.

Ding!

He didn’t look, didn’t see the alert, didn’t bother himself with the value.

Nor did he try to evade the attack.

What he did was by far more simple, and possibly more practical considering the food he was trying to protect.

His Echo left his body as he leaned forward at that very instant.

Behind him, Mishu leapt up, attempting to smack, or slap; whichever came under his paw was getting the beating.

But at that instant, a round, transparent lump of Echo phased out of Moon’s body, intercepting him. Mishu looked at it curiously again, but didn’t hesitate.

Boing~

He smacked it aside, sending it far beyond eye’s reach, especially for the young ascenders of the facility.

”Fuck!” Sensing his Echo getting sent so far away before he could retrieve it, Moon couldn’t help cursing.

Little did he know, help was rapidly approaching.

Help that didn’t help much, but was sacrificially admirable regardless.

Mishu landed on the ground softly and started running after Moon, looking both menacing and playful in a way that didn’t make sense to anyone.

Moon had no way of seeing that small face or wiggling tail.

The one who could see it... was Basil.

A devoted heroic spirit, he sprinted at the cat, sliding between the incoming attack and Moon, who had yet to retrieve his Echo.

He had not the slightest intent to evade; he went there for the sole reason of protecting Moon.

”BOSS, I’LL PROTECT YOU WITH MY LIF—”

SLAP~

Before anyone could figure out what was happening, Basil was slapped hard enough that he turned into a human shuriken.

He spun in the same direction as the Echo.

Moon looked to his right and watched the flying Basil. ”You bastard, who asked your weak ass to do that? Don’t die, dammit!”

Basil soon crashed into some innocent passersby, falling to the ground unmoving.

His current status was unknown.

Mishu landed on the ground—

Rumble~

He smacked it hard enough to send waves of rocks in every direction.

Moon was having a mental breakdown. ’Did I have to steal back the food?’ he questioned his decision.

He questioned his current action; the situation he was in was new.

It was his first time being chased by something that could make craters by jumping; the only thing he knew that could do that was a catapult.

But catapults didn’t chase and weren’t small.

The damage-to-size ratio was so utterly nonsensical that it felt even more dangerous and threatening to Moon than ever.

He could attack those who were operating catapults and kill them, turning the machines into some uselessly erect wood, but what could he do about that cat?

Further away, Ed looked in utter disbelief. ”Are... are you certain?”

Samuel watched the scene playing; he nodded slowly. ”Yes, there wasn’t the slightest trace in his body.”

Ed couldn’t help rubbing his forehead. ”It... that cat is obviously a sentient beast. What you’re saying is impossible!”

”I know. Under normal circumstances, it definitely is impossible.” Samuel didn’t disagree, even though he was certain and had absolute evidence of his discoveries. Still, he was in disbelief himself when he found out for the first time.

”As a sentient being that has lived for far too long, it’s not entirely impossible if you think about it slowly,” Samuel tried to reason. ”Look at us. We could be considered among the youngest few in our power standard, but can you explain everything we’ve seen or gone through in the Tower?”

Ed looked back at Moon, who was being chased, and the rubble Mishu was sending flying with every bounce now.

He shook his head. ”You know it’s not what I meant, but you understand what that means...” He looked at Samuel. ”Mishu is currently completely independent.” His voice was heavy, very much heavier.

Samuel went silent for a moment, longer than he should have.

”I can’t tell for sure if Mishu gave it up himself or if someone took it away from him, which is why he was staying here,” he said.

Ed shook his head; he wasn’t convinced in the slightest. ”It’s impossible to give it up even if you wanted to. Otherwise, we might have done the same.”

”Would you?” Samuel asked, his tone sharp.

Ed looked him in the eye. ”Why not?” He squinted. ”Having completely no Echo means losing the connection we have with the Tower system. We could start over with insanely strong bodies and rebuild our Echo to be on a completely different level.”

Samuel looked down again. ”The Tower never allowed a single ascender, no matter how impossible and untalented, to walk around without any Echo of his own, for it’s the embodiment of the Tower’s system, authority, and structure. But this cat managed to do it somehow, and we only discovered it after hundreds of years.”

”YOU CAN BITE MY HEART BUT NOT MY FOOD!” Moon’s curses echoed.