In a few minutes, Doom Bringer would appear.
Kael, Hans, and Caster were sitting under the apple tree - the place where they first really talked to each other.
And ironically, this was also where they talked to each other for the last time.
The orphanage was unusually quiet today.
It was quieter, without any laughter, or any sign of the children.
It wasn’t that they had been kidnapped.
They were fine, just moved away by Kael himself because this was the place where Doom Bringer would appear soon.
"How do you feel after spending a day with your mother, Caster?" Kael asked, breaking the uncomfortable silence.
"Uhm, it was fun. This was probably the happiest day of my life."
The silence continued.
And that silence only ended when the boy spoke up:
"...You hired her, right? To have her play the role of a gentle, kind mother?"
Those words were like a bullet that pierced straight into his brain.
It took him a long time to digest what Caster had just said.
"...What are you... saying? Haha, you’re joking, right?"
A smile that couldn’t be more forced.
And that couldn’t escape the protagonist and Caster’s eyes.
With a faint smile, the boy shook his head.
"It’s not a joke, Kael. It’s just that I feel strange, because why does my mother - the person who abandoned me when I was young, suddenly appear and treat me so suspiciously well?"
"You think I’m easy to fool, because I’m a kid, right?"
Kael didn’t reply, but his eyes said it all.
"Maybe for others, your way would really be able to deceit them. But not for me."
"Because I’ve been through too much."
"Why did you do that, Kael?" This time, Hans was the one to speak up.
The gaze he used to look at him was filled with question marks.
"...You don’t have to pretend not to know, my friend. I’m pretty sure you’ve already guessed something."
"..." The protagonist didn’t say anything, just pursed his lips.
He took a deep breath.
"Caster is Doom Bringer - the Boss we need to defeat."
"...And you did all of this just to satisfy Caster’s last wish before he died?"
No, Kael fulfilling the boy’s wish meant much more.
He didn’t want to lie to Hans, he wanted to tell him about everything he had gone through.
But, Kael knew that was impossible.
What if he found out that it was all because of those Tower Creators?
With Hans’s personality, he would definitely confront all of them.
His winning percentage was 0, and his chances of being killed was a perfect 100.
And if the game’s main character, the strongest one, the one who shouldered everything, died, what would happen?
This world, or the Tower, wouldn’t last for long.
"It’s all for the greater good, Hans. Trust me."
"Can I speak up?" At that moment, Caster interrupted.
The two of them didn’t reply, but turned their attention to the boy.
"To be honest... I don’t understand a single thing you guys just said."
Because Caster didn’t know about the Tower’s existence.
"But I can feel that lately, inside my body, there’s something that wants to be born. Sometimes, it hurts so much that I can’t sleep."
That was the seed of Doom Bringer.
And in just a short while, that seed would turn into a giant tree.
"This is my body, so I know that I don’t have much time left."
It was heartbreaking.
At this age, Caster should be able to play around freely with his peers.
But the world had denied him that blessing.
"Am I going to become a monster, and... kill everyone?" Caster said, his voice choked up, tears also starting to well up.
After all, he was still just a child.
"No, it’s not your fault." The boy shook his head bitterly.
Even though he knew his fate, Caster still had to put on a smile so as not to cause Hans and Kael any pain.
The kid let out a sigh, then raised his still teary eyes to look at the clear blue sky.
"So I’m going to die? What a pity, I still have a lot of things I want to do, make more friends, meet more people, eat more food, and a lot more."
The protagonist turned his face away, using his hand to cover his eyes, not allowing anyone to know that he was crying.
Meanwhile, Kael was closing his eyes, gritting his teeth, and clenching his fists, as if he wanted to crush the world right away.
[In 5 seconds, Doom Bringer will be born.]
A message appeared before both of them, signaling Caster’s death.
That moment was getting closer.
Time seemed to slow down.
Kael slapped himself twice, forcing himself to calm down.
He still had a duty to fulfill.
Kael had to kill Caster with his own hands, as promised between him and the Tower Creators.
"I just realized something, Kael, Hans."
The boy’s voice rang out once more.
This was probably the last thing he said.
"My first wish is to see my parents again, and... my second wish is to find the people I consider family, and receive love from them."
Caster grabbed both of their hands.
"And it seems like I’ve already fulfilled my second wish."
A smile appeared on the boy’s lips.
A bright smile, like the sunlight, like the stars in the night sky.
"Farewell, Kael, Hans. If there is a next life, I hope we can still meet again."
"Farewell... Caster." Kael and Hans said in unison.
[Doom Bringer has appeared.]
[Defeat it, and complete the 20th floor’s mission.]
The next moment, the boy’s body began to change.
— It hurts more than when I was a test subject.
A curtain of darkness quickly covered the boy’s entire body.
Almost immediately, Kael and Hans jumped back, took out their weapons, and prepared to fight with everything they had.
There was no time for regrets.
Now was the time to kill.
— But it doesn’t matter.
— Because I’m already satisfied with everything.
When that curtain of darkness disappeared, Doom Bringer was truly born.
It was a Tower Creature with the exact same body proportions as a human, but the only difference was that it was black, and only black.
Although the two sides had not actually fought, Kael could feel that Doom Bringer was even weaker than the Shadow Slayer they had faced before.
Completely different from the embodiment of destruction he had seen in the game.
The Tower Creators had truly lived up to their promise.