Tower 1 — Floor Fifteen, The Cathedral That Sings
The staircase from the dead garden ended with a soft ring—
A chime.
Pure.
Delicate.
Like someone tapped a crystal goblet in a silent hall.
They stepped into a cathedral of glass.
Everything—
the walls,
the pillars,
the benches,
the artwork—
was carved from shimmering translucent crystal.
Lyra's voice was a faint whisper:
"…beautiful…"
Light refracted through the glass, scattering rainbows across the ground.
The floor rippled like water when stepped on, but remained solid.
Ragnor whistled.
"Okay… this is kinda nice. Creepy, but nice."
Aetherion held his hand out.
His cosmic particles refracted into a thousand tiny galaxies.
"A cathedral made of enchanted quartz…
and something else.
Something… alive."
Iris shivered instantly.
"I-I hear… singing…"
Ragnor blinked.
"I don't hear anything."
Aetherion frowned.
"I do."
Lyra stepped closer to Iris.
"Describe it."
Iris hugged her spellbook.
"It's…
soft…
sad…
and… hungry."
Ragnor sighed.
"Everything in this damn Tower is hungry."
A gentle vibration traveled up the glass pillars.
Ding… Ding… Ding-ding…
A slow, mournful melody.
A song.
Aetherion stiffened.
"This cathedral is alive."
Ragnor groaned.
"Great. The BUILDING sings."
Then the melody shifted—
filling the hall with sudden dissonance.
High notes.
Unsettling.
Like glass cracking.
Lyra's Constellar Mark flared brightly under her collarbone.
She gasped.
"This floor… reacts to sound!"
Aetherion nodded fast.
"Yes—be careful.
Loud noises might—"
A crack shot across the floor at Ragnor's feet.
AHHHHHH—!!
He jumped back.
"HEY—I DIDN'T EVEN SAY ANYTHING—!!"
Lyra pointed.
"No. It reacted to your frustration. Your aura spiked."
Aetherion's eyes widened.
"The floor senses EMOTIONS through sound vibration…!"
Iris trembled harder.
"S-So if we panic or yell… the cathedral will shatter and kill us?"
Ragnor swallowed.
"…we're screwed."
The Choir Awakens
As they walked forward, the glass pews vibrated—
Harmonizing with the song.
Aetherion whispered:
"Don't let your heartbeat spike.
It'll resonate."
Ragnor glared.
"I can't control my heartbeat when I'm being WARNED I might die—!!"
Cracks webbed beneath his boots.
Lyra grabbed his arm fast.
"Breathe.
Slow.
Focus."
Iris whispered:
"Something is coming…"
And she was right.
The glass statues lining the cathedral slowly rotated their heads—
turning towards the party.
All of them.
Hundreds.
Their empty crystal faces lit from within with soft white light.
Aetherion murmured:
"Oh no…"
The statues opened their mouths—
and sang.
A haunting, layered choir of broken glass voices.
Ragnor clamped his hands over his ears.
"AHH—WHAT IS THIS—?!"
Lyra winced but held steady.
Iris screamed—
"THEIR SINGING IS TRYING TO GET IN MY HEAD—!!"
Aetherion gritted his teeth.
"It's a hypnotic frequency—!! Don't listen—!!"
The choir's voices rose in pitch—
Glass pillars trembled.
The floor warped.
The windows vibrated dangerously.
A system prompt appeared:
[FLOOR FIFTEEN: GLASS CHOIR CATHEDRAL]
[BOSS: THE HARMONIC WAIL]
[WARNING: DO NOT LET YOUR EMOTIONAL FREQUENCY SPIKE]
Ragnor shouted:
"MY FREQUENCY IS ALREADY SPIKED—!!"
Another crack shot up a pillar.
Glass began dripping from the ceiling like icicles melting in reverse.
Iris tried to scream but stopped—
realizing sound made it worse.
Lyra aimed her bow—
"No…
it absorbs vibrations."
The glass statues stepped off their pedestals—
hundreds of them—
marching in perfect harmony.
Their footsteps made chimes that sent shockwaves through the cathedral.
Aetherion yelled:
"Don't fight them—YOU'LL SHATTER THE FLOOR—!!"
Ragnor's eye twitched.
"SO WHAT DO WE DO—HUM ALONG?!"
Iris fell to her knees, tears spilling.
"I can't—
the singing—
it's crawling into my head—
it's replacing my thoughts—!!"
Lyra dove and wrapped her arms around her.
"Iris—focus on my voice—NOT theirs!"
But the statues were inches away now.
Hands reaching.
Voices vibrating the air violently.
The cathedral began shaking—
on the verge of exploding.
Aetherion screamed hoarsely:
"DRM—!!! ANYTIME—!!!"
The statues froze mid-step.
The entire choir silenced.
The cathedral stopped trembling.
And DRM walked forward.
Small steps.
Mask glowing faintly.
Red eyes luminous through the glass reflections.
The glass statues towered over him.
Dozens of heads tilted in unison.
Then—
They dropped to their knees.
Every statue.
A ripple of kneeling glass echoed across the hall.
Ragnor collapsed in relief.
"Oh THANK GOD—!!"
Lyra exhaled sharply.
"I still can't get used to that…"
Aetherion whispered:
"He didn't even flex his aura.
They just recognized him."
Iris held her head, breathing shakily.
"T-They… they were scared…
all of them…"
DRM raised one small hand.
The statues' bodies cracked—
slowly—
cleanly—
chink
chink
chink-chink-chink—
Shattering into glittering dust.
The choir silenced forever.
The cathedral rebuilt itself out of habit—
opening the path to the next floor.
Aetherion stared at DRM.
"…do you even understand what you are?"
DRM didn't answer.
But behind him…
the shadow flickered once.
Watching.
[Shadow Presence Detected]
[Name — ████]
[Comment: "You break all the toys. Heh."]
It vanished.
DRM looked up the staircase.
And continued climbing
CHAPTER 27 — STATUS REPORT
Ragnor
Level: 20
EXP: +350
Physical: Stable
Mental: Near panic
Notes: Floor 15 triggered emotional resonance dangerously
Lyra
Level: 17
EXP: +280
Constellar Mark: Node II active—boosted precision
Mental: Calm under pressure
Notes: First to adapt to the frequency puzzle
Iris
Level: 12
EXP: +310
Mental: Extremely fragile; Choir nearly broke her
Notes: Vulnerable to sound-based illusions
Aetherion
Level: 18
EXP: +330
Mental: Fear for DRM's implications growing
Notes: Realizes DRM exerts passive authority on every floor
Boss — Harmonic Wail
Status: Neutralized
Notes: Submitted instantly once DRM stepped forward
DRM
Level: ERROR
Mask Sync: 98%
Aura: Stage 3.3 — "Harmonic Null Pulse"
Emotional State: Unchanged
Notes: Can silence sound-based domains by presence alone