Tower of Endless: Death Granted Entry

Everyone exchanged glances once they were exposed to Moon’s sudden chilling reaction.

After a long moment of silence, ”Can you take down that guy?” the shadowy figure asked.

Moon raised an eyebrow in evident disgust. ”Do you think that bitch is any good at fighting?” he asked in a tone full of disdain.

Talia spoke this time. ”That’s not what he meant. Korr has been receiving a large amount of support and resources, as well as training... He’s stronger than how you remember him,” she explained softly.

Moon shook his head. ”Have you ever seen scorpion cow dung develop legs and walk by itself?” he asked.

Everyone went silent, exchanging glances that screamed, ”What does that mean?” Though no one voiced it out, not until-

”What does that mean?” Dorbish poked Moon with his elbow and asked, sacrificing himself for the group.

Moon squinted at Dorbish before he started rubbing his chin. ”Welp, I’m stronger than him no matter how hard he tries,” Moon said with absolute certainty.

He pointed at the screen. ”That bitch avoided fighting me for as long as we worked together after getting beat once.”

Moon looked at Talia. ”If he’s the strongest of these bitches, then you have nothing to worry about.”

Talia shook her head. ”He’s not the strongest by any means.” Her voice was soft and heavy at the same time.

”That’s good then; this meeting would be meaningless otherwise.” Moon dropped his piece, earning another death gaze from Boa.

”If I may say something, aren’t Ashspawns notorious on the second floor?” Roran finally said something meaningful.

Moon didn’t know anything about that, so he stayed silent.

Boa decided to answer instead, ”Ashspawns, or any other clan, usually come to the trials alone or with one or two more rising stars of each clan.” She elaborated slowly, ”But look at this wave; how many are there? How many have we even failed to point out yet?”

Roran’s eyes went wide; he looked around before his gaze fell on the screen again.

”Too many talents to be stuck together in one round,” he whispered.

Boa nodded. ”This round is different; we can’t afford to lose,” she added.

”Moving on to the last important, and the most important, individual on the opposing side.” The shadowy figure took advantage of the short pause and proceeded.

Korr’s face disappeared, replaced by a new face.

A face of a man who looked exceptionally charismatic, strong, confident... but of all things-

He had a horn on his head.

”Is that real?” Moon stood from his seat. ”How did he dig that thing into his head?” He leaned forward near the screen, studying the crystal-like horn coming from one side of his forehead.

”Enzo of Dokkaebi,” the shadowy figure introduced. ”The man behind the entire faction,” he added.

Talia spoke next. ”These are real, and he’s also the young master Zera spoke of.” She filled in the gaps the shadowy figure had no awareness of.

”Oh,” Moon exclaimed. ”He does have a punchable face,” he added.

No one said anything to that. Moon looked around, waiting for what would happen next. They should be done by now, or so he thought.

”Enzo has been sighted multiple times watching the round of skirmish or the duel of Sir Moon in the branch; he even invited a few random individuals to watch with him on multiple occasions,” the shadowy figure added all of a sudden.

Moon pursed his lips.

”Hoho, you got a new fan,” Lexie teased.

”You’ve become famous now,” Dorbish added.

”A well-deserved reputation,” Abshi nodded.

Moon, on the other hand, had his face crumple with each passing second and comment.

”Are you guys blind?” he asked, pointing at the screen. ”Or can’t you really see it?” he inquired, looking around.

”What now?” Dorbish’s droopy eyes closed a tad more than usual.

Moon raised both hands forward and waved them in absolute certainty. ”That bastard is obviously gay,” he explained.

Dorbish massaged his nose bridge.

”Moving on to the last, the Southern Branch.” The shadowy figure stepped in, earning a look of gratitude from Talia.

Moon looked around, realizing what had just happened. He grabbed his now half-empty second cup of coffee and closed his eyes for a moment in a dejected manner.

The screen showed a new figure.

It wasn’t Zera; he wasn’t very important. As for every random follower, they were also not important.

The image was that of a girl, pale skin, black eyes, and straight hair of the same color.

”Who’s that?” Lexie asked.

”That person is in this branch?” Roran asked as well.

Moon opened his eyes, blinking a couple of times. ”Oh, that one who was watching under the large black cloak,” he said.

”You’ve seen her?” Boa asked, surprised.

Nodding, ”Yeah, I bumped into her once a while ago or so,” he said randomly. ”Couldn’t feel her standing there, though,” he added.

”Name: Still Unknown,” the shadowy figure spoke. ”Suspected affiliation: Order of Assassins,” he stated flatly.

”What?”

”Order of Assassins?”

”Someone from the order is here.”

Moon watched them speak. ”What’s going on?” he asked, forcing the side talk to die out.

Talia shifted her focus to Moon. ”The Order of Assassins is an illegal organisation without any affiliations or a goal,” she stated. ”They perform assassinations that look random against great or insignificant figures alike; no one has ever joined them or left their order,” she explained slowly for everyone to listen.

Her focus returned to the shadowy figure. ”How much did Enzo pay to hire her?” she asked.

The shadowy figure paused for a beat. ”It wasn’t money; the price is still undetermined till now.”

Talia nodded. ”Any guesses? Something solid we should start with,” she asked again.

The shadowy figure shook his head. ”I believe she joined for the price of intel - the exact intel, what she’s seeking - these are unknown till this moment to everyone but Enzo and herself,” he explained.

Moon drank his coffee, squinting at the image of that girl. ’Why does she look familiar?’ he asked himself, knowing too well he saw her for the first time when he took the cheesecake and ran away from Lexie.

’Who’s that brat?’ he wondered in silence.

He leaned back in his chair, rubbing his chin, squinting to the sky. ’Did I see her maybe... on the first floor?’

He shook his head. ’Impossible,’ he answered to himself. ’If it was on the first floor, then she must have known me; I was pretty famous,’ he added, pleased with himself.

’Also, I would have needed to kill her there,’ he concluded. ’She didn’t try to use my old identity against me, nor did Korr.’

’He’s probably too embarrassed of himself to speak of his dark past.’ Moon chuckled inwardly.

Talia suddenly stood. ”Thanks everyone for attending this meeting,” she said with a smile.

”I’ll arrange a new one in a few days; there we’ll discuss our strengths and the strengths of our opposing faction. Be well till then.” She dismissed the meeting, grabbing her ring and walking away first.

Everyone soon followed.

Moon followed everyone, slowly. He had a weird feeling kicking in, a very weird one.

A feeling of forgetting something, losing something. For some reason, Moon felt like he had forgotten something and left too fast.

”Ah, fuck... dammit, how could I?” He suddenly turned around.