Tower 1 — Floor 22, Memory Catacombs (Instability Phase)
The walls breathed.
Slow.
Heavy.
Sickening.
Ragnor froze mid-step.
"NO. Nope. Absolutely not. I'm done. Someone else lead."
Iris tugged his sleeve.
"R-Ragnor… stay calm…"
"I AM CALM—THE WALLS ARE WHEEZING LIKE AN OLD MAN—!!"
Lyra ignored them, focusing her bow.
Aetherion pressed a palm to the rippling stone.
"Something is behind this wall."
Rio took a step back, gripping his staff tighter.
The runes shifted—
letters twisting to form a single chilling warning:
IT IS STARVING.
Rio's heart clenched.
Lyra whispered, "Stay close to us, Rio."
But then the runes warped again:
IT SEES YOU.
A low hum vibrated through the floor.
The walls expanded and contracted—
not like stone—
but like lungs.
Aetherion's eyes widened.
"This floor is collapsing into an instinctive defense phase.
The Tower is… panicking."
Before Ragnor could complain,
the floor cracked.
Not shattered—
Split.
Silver ooze rose upward, swirling like liquid mercury.
Then it formed an enormous suspended eye—
pupil rotating slowly like a void.
Everyone froze.
Even climbers from the other groups—
mercenaries, assassins, beast-kin—
tightened their formations.
Iris whispered:
"T-That's not a monster…"
Aetherion nodded grimly.
"It's a Memory Devourer. A very old one."
Ragnor squinted.
"That's an eyeball. A BIG eyeball. Why're we naming it something fancy?!"
"Because," Aetherion said softly,
"this thing is older than the Tower."
The Devourer's pupil divided into spiraling rings.
"How many of you taste worth remembering?"
Every climber in the chamber recoiled.
Iris screamed.
Lyra fired immediately—
her arrows phasing through and reappearing from behind.
Ragnor rushed forward, punching it—
and was blasted into a pillar.
The impact cracked stone.
Aetherion and several other mages unleashed spells—
gravity wells, star bolts, flame sigils—
All were consumed by rotating rings of silver light.
The Devourer drifted closer.
Toward Rio.
Lyra moved instantly.
"STAY BEHIND US!"
Aetherion barked:
"All parties—defend the support mage!"
Dozens of climbers formed lines.
Shields raised.
Runes carved.
Weapons drawn.
And still—
The Devourer hardly acknowledged them.
Rio whispered:
"It… it feels familiar…"
The Devourer's rings spun violently.
"One of you carries a false memory."
Everyone stiffened.
Iris grabbed Rio's arm tightly.
Lyra stood protectively in front.
Aetherion prepared to pull Rio away with gravity.
The Devourer's voice deepened.
"False one…
who gave you that shape?"
Rio's breath stopped.
He couldn't speak.
Couldn't think.
The Devourer began to descend.
Closer.
Lower.
Hungrier.
Then—
The walls pulsed.
Not from fear.
But from recognition.
A ripple went through the entire catacomb—
something older than the Devourer.
Something deeper than the Tower.
Every rune on the walls rearranged:
"IT APPROACHES."
Aetherion choked.
"What… approaches?"
The Devourer's enormous pupil contracted—
in fear.
Rio stepped back.
Even Ragnor felt the shift.
"What's going on?? What's scaring the giant eyeball?!"
Lyra whispered:
"…another presence?"
Iris trembled violently.
"S-Something else is in the walls…"
Then—
The Devourer spoke again.
But this time with fear.
"No… not the cracked one…
the other."
A chill plunged through the chamber.
Ragnor swallowed.
"THE OTHER? What other?!"
The walls began pulling inward, as though something was moving through them—
not walking.
Not crawling.
But flowing.
Aetherion's voice cracked.
"That… that aura…"
Iris covered her ears.
"It hurts…!"
Other parties panicked.
"WHAT FLOOR IS THAT?!"
"WHOSE AURA IS THAT?!"
"IS THAT A GOD?!"
"NO—WORSE—"
Rio stepped back until he hit the cold wall.
He whispered:
"…that's not a god…"
Then everything froze.
Every rune.
Every breath.
Every flicker of light.
And out of the far corridor—
beyond crumbling stone—
beyond the mist—
beyond the living walls—
A silhouette stepped in.
Tall.
Broad-shouldered.
Unmasked.
Aura leaking like a tearing fabric of reality.
Footsteps heavy.
Measured.
Slow.
But not DRM.
Not even close.
This was someone else entirely.
A man.
Maybe not human.
Eyes burning with ancient hunger.
Aetherion exhaled sharply.
"An eldritch-class wanderer…"
Ragnor blinked.
"A WHAT?!"
Lyra whispered:
"I've… read myths about them…"
Iris shook violently.
"They don't belong to the floors.
They don't belong anywhere.
They… drift between broken spaces."
The wanderer walked forward—
And the Memory Devourer screamed.
A soundless scream.
Then imploded into silver dust.
Gone.
The wanderer didn't look at the group.
Didn't speak.
He just walked past them like they weren't worth noticing.
His aura felt wrong.
Incomplete.
Empty.
As if he used to be something else.
Something greater.
But was shattered.
Ragnor whispered:
"…who… was that…?"
Aetherion answered quietly.
"No idea."
Rio stared at the wanderer's back.
Something about him—
Something in the silhouette—
felt familiar.
But Rio didn't know why.
Not yet.
Not even close.
And the wanderer disappeared into the next corridor, leaving a single rune flickering behind him:
WATCHER.
The floor event ended.
The runes returned to normal.
The walls stopped breathing.
But no one in that chamber
would ever forget the moment
the Tower reacted to someone
other than DRM.