The moment Rex stepped onto the next floor, the entire Tower reacted like a living creature waking up in rage.
Red lights flared across every surface.
Warning sirens pulsed like a heartbeat.
The air vibrated with humming energy so dense it made Rex's skin tingle.
This wasn't a normal layer.
This was a defensive mode — the kind triggered only when the system felt cornered.
[System Alert: Core Break Protocol Activated]
[All Units Mobilizing]
[Escape Routes: Disabled]
Rex wiped sweat from his forehead. "So the Tower finally noticed me."
The walls around him shifted rapidly, forming heavy armored plates.
Giant vents opened.
Mechanical limbs extended from the ceiling like jointed steel snakes.
Then the floor exploded upward.
Huge constructs emerged — not like any Guardian he'd faced. These were unrefined shapes, built in pure panic.
Some looked like half-formed machines.
Others were just clusters of weaponized metal.
All of them locked onto Rex.
[Hostile Entities: 27]
[Engagement Probability: 98%]
Rex flexed his fingers. His new power — Structural Shift — pulsed beneath his skin.
"Fine," he muttered. "Let's see what this can do."
The Tower Attacks Like a Living Beast
The first construct lunged — a metal mass with spinning blades.
Rex jumped aside, slammed his hand into the nearest wall, and twisted.
The metal bent instantly, folding like soft clay.
A pillar snapped sideways, smashing the construct into pieces.
Another creature fired a barrage of needle-like projectiles.
Rex altered the ground beneath his feet — shifting it into a ramp — and sprinted upward.
The projectiles slammed harmlessly below him as he leaped over the monster's head.
The Tower roared.
Lights flickered violently.
Panels slid open, revealing heavy cannons charging up.
[Warning: Beam Discharge Imminent]
Rex braced — then dove as a massive red beam tore through the entire hallway, vaporizing anything in its path.
He rolled behind a pillar, breathing hard.
"Okay," he whispered. "This place wants me dead more than anything else so far."
The Tower Changes Strategy — Psychological Warfare
Suddenly, everything went silent.
The machines stopped.
The lights dimmed to a cold, faint red.
Then the walls around Rex rippled, displaying scenes — not memories, but possibilities.
In one, Rex lay on the ground, defeated.
In another, Lira dissolved into static, reaching for him.
In another, the entire world collapsed because he went too far.
Each image flickered.
Each one stabbed into him like a blade.
[System Message: Statistical Outcomes Show 89% Failure]
Rex clenched his fists.
"I told you already… you don't decide my reality."
The images warped, the Tower trying to rewrite the narrative around him — but Rex slammed his palm onto the floor again.
[Structural Shift — Overload]
The entire corridor buckled.
Walls distorted, bending away from him like they were afraid.
The red lights cracked and sparked out.
"Don't show me fake endings," Rex whispered.
"I'm choosing my own."
Core Break Protocol: Final Assault
The ground shook violently.
From the far end of the corridor, an enormous shape rose — a fusion of every failed construct the Tower had produced.
A titan made of broken machines, glowing core fragments, and raw system energy.
The Tower's last resort.
[Final Defense Unit— CORE SENTINEL]
[Directive: Terminate the intruder]
It charged — the floor shattering under its weight.
Rex sprinted straight toward it, activating Phase Shift at the last second.
Time froze.
The titan stood mid-strike, inches from crushing him.
Rex weaved through the frozen debris, climbed the titan's arm, and drove his blade into the glowing core at its chest.
Time snapped back.
A shockwave blasted outward.
The Sentinel collapsed in a cascade of crumbling metal.
The Tower screamed through its alarms.
And then—
Silence.
A new staircase materialized in front of him, glowing with cold blue light.
Rex stood over the remains of the destroyed titan, wiping dust from his face.
"Your protocol failed," he whispered.
"Now I'm coming for the truth."
He stepped onto the next stair.
The floor above was dim.
Cold.
And waiting for him.