The Stairs Burned Down, So How Do I Get Up?

The system has not yet provided any notification; the Exploration Quest is not yet complete.

Based on Su Luo's understanding of Dreamscape.

The Eternal Night Court is currently a tower structure, each layer deeper than the last. The scattered Era Fragment outside the tower have already been explored during these past few days of travel, so only...

Su Luo's gaze fell on the door behind the architect.

Top of the tower.

Over here, the Machine Fortress finally couldn't help but say:

"You, you're an architect, then who am I?"

"You're an architect too," He said gently, addressing the Machine Fortress.

"Two?" The Machine Fortress was still shocked.

"I am the part you abandoned, you selfish bastard." His voice was devoid of emotion.

"The Tower cannot be Corruption by the Desolation Plague, but the Gods will... You merged your body into the Tower, exchanging your consciousness for complete entry into the mechanical body, leaving me here to Corruption along with the Tower."

The Machine Fortress fell silent; these memories had long been lost in the Reincarnation of millennia.

Su Luo slowly walked forward, stood in front of the architect again, and looked at him.

This time, it was the architect's turn to remain silent.

"You're still watching," He said.

"Yes." Su Luo said without looking up, "It still has value."

"Once the gates are opened, the Tower will be utterly Corruption. The Eternal Night Court will be destroyed forever."

"I know," Su Luo said, "But I can take the throne with me."

He could sense that this throne was a product of Deep Dream, a remote control for the entire [Eternal Night Court].

Even though it has been Corrosion to this extent, and even though most of the patterns have disappeared, it still has value.

The architect thought about it for a long time and felt that Su Luo was truly shameless.

However, Su Luo's strength has been fully restored, and He might not be able to defeat him now, after all, He hasn't fought in countless years.

"Okay," He said helplessly, "But on one condition."

He paused, then turned his blurry face toward the Four-Colored Puppets, mainly toward the Machine Fortress.

"Take them to the top of the tower too."

"When the Desolation Plague struck, I sealed them in Tower, allowing them to survive in Reincarnation. Now, the Tower is nearing its end, and so am I. They should... go and see the outside world."

"If he can't get out of the Machine Fortress, he'll break down," Su Luo kindly reminded him.

Machine Fortress: "..."

Finally, Su Luo pushed the door open one last time.

The Desolation Plague rushed in, chasing after the architect and ignoring the others.

Su Luo did not turn around.

He stepped into the darkness behind the door.

It was dark behind the door.

That darkness wasn't the absence of light, but rather the Ethereal after the light had been swallowed up, much like Land of Darkness.

But within that Ethereal, there is a simple staircase, winding its way up step by step, until it reaches that point of eternal golden light at the end.

Su Luo climbed the steps.

One step, two steps, three steps.

Finally, he reached the end of the stairs.

The golden light was right in front of them.

Su Luo reached out and touched the golden light...

[Exploration Quest completed]

You have acquired the Purple Skill - [Power of All Beings]!

A streak of light landed in front of Su Luo.

That stream of light was a simple and unadorned flow of energy, yet it was extremely special; Su Luo couldn't discern anything unusual about it for the time being.

Someone came up behind me.

Iron Guard walked up the steps one by one.

He walked very slowly, each step as if he were using all his strength. The purple flames on his body were rising, growing stronger and stronger, enveloping his entire body.

His body began to change; his armor crumbled, his muscles swelled, his bones lengthened, and a pair of tattered fleshy wings sprouted from his back.

Characteristics of Devil.

But the purple flames burned ever brighter, beginning to burn away those features. The fleshy wings turned to ashes in the Burn, the swollen muscles contracted in the Burn, and the deformed bones were restored in the Burn.

Finally, when the purple flames burned out, the Iron Guard stood there, exactly as he had at the beginning.

But things are different now.

The Contract binding him had vanished. The power the Devil had stolen from the Gods was now being reclaimed by him through legitimate means.

He raised his head and looked at the golden light.

Flames rose from beneath his feet, burning the steps, one by one, until they turned to ashes.

Iron Guard broke free from the Devil's Contract.

And it seized the power of the Devil.

Jingjing and Machine Fortress looked at each other in bewilderment.

Damn it, the Iron Guards went up and burned down the stairs, so how are we supposed to go now?

The Observer stood silently in the darkness, and purple things began to grow in the Void around him.

Those were eyes, countless eyes, one after another, opening from the Void. They varied in size, some were open, some were closed, some were gentle, some were cold, some were ethereal, and some were ferocious.

The eyes of the Gods.

Those eyes slowly turned, all looking in the same direction—at that golden light.

The power of faith surged within the Observer, and she allowed that power to cleanse every inch of her soul.

When she opened her eyes again, those purple eyes had turned gold.

She has Ascend to Godhood and no longer needs to make offerings to God.

She sighed Jingjing, lightly touched the ground with her toes, used the bricks of the wall for leverage, and nimbly scrambled up the wall in a few quick movements.

When she touched the golden light, her weapons began to change. The daggers became sharper, the poisoned blades more deadly, and each weapon seemed to come alive, radiating a faint glow.

She removed the enormous skull mask.

The face below was revealed.

After looking around for a while, the Machine Fortress slowly climbed up the wall.

Bathed in golden light, he slowly began to recall the past years, lost in memories.

The Blood Moon, which Su Luo had placed at her waist, flickered. It had been freed from the [Eternal Night Court]'s affiliation and restrictions, and had regained its freedom...

Behind me, a song began to play.

The singing was soft and distant, as if it came from the end of Dreamscape. There was no melody, only fragmented words that echoed in the Void.

"Use light as shackles, and desire as chains."

"The Eternal Night Court, a glorious prison forever."

"The music and songs have ceased, and civilization has turned to dust."

The song repeated itself, over and over again, growing fainter and fainter, fading into the distance.

Behind them, something happened, and the Tower, instead of being Corruption by the Desolation Plague, gradually collapsed and fell silent.

The Tower is asleep.

Also slumbering within the tower are the Giant Whale at its base, and the merchants and monsters within the Tower itself...

Ethereal.

But within the Ethereal, there is a path.

It was a path of light, golden light, stretching from behind the door into the unseen distance. At the end of the path, an exit could be vaguely seen—that was the real world.

With Blood Moon hanging from her waist, a tattered throne in her hand, and a strange light in her other, Su Luo stepped onto the path.

Behind them, the Observer, Iron Guard, Jingjing, and Machine Fortress followed silently.

They are about to leave this Dream World that has trapped them for countless years.

They walked slowly, each step seemingly treading on the wrinkles of time, with fleeting images occasionally flashing through the surrounding Ethereal.

Burn villages, twisted cities, fallen God Corpse, Towers of Reincarnation... These are the memories of the Eternal Night Court, the traces left by those who climbed the tower over ten thousand years.

The Iron Guard suddenly stopped.