Echoes of Hollow

Raising a hand to the side, the door to the void opened, allowing Eudora to step out.

The girl appeared frightened and trembling, but unlike when Hye had previously found her, she was no longer in her wolf form for some reason.

‘...This might be because there isn’t a moon in this void, according to the ability..? But if so, why didn’t she transform when she came out?’

Placing his hand on the child's head, Hye momentarily patted her.

"I don’t know what you saw in there, but it’s alright, calm down."

He pointed to the black wolf with red eyes lying on the ground below, who was intermittently shaking his head.

"Why don’t you go to your father? He seems to be almost..."

Ignoring his words, Eudora leaped down the hill and ran toward Lykos, passing through the other wolves who were still trying to reach Kyros’s body to sate their own anger.

‘To think of calmly telling a frightened child that her father is near death... come to think of it, you remind me a bit of someone.’

"Huh? What’s the difference? They will end the same way... But still, she should at least have the chance to say goodbye and show she cares."

[Congratulations]

[The sixth floor of the Tower of Six has been successfully completed]

[The exit portal will open]

[The sixth floor has been completed]

[Calculating earned points]

As the reddish portal gradually formed in the center of the wolves' city, Hye turned his back on the wolves and re-entered the forest.

‘I understand... it’s definitely strange...’

"What...?"

[Congratulations on completing the sixth floor of the Tower of Six]

[The reward has been delivered]

"Huh?"

[Name: ??

Type: Egg]

His head swayed, tilting increasingly downward as the constant changes occurred in his eyes. His pupils appeared and were quickly replaced by absolute redness.

Blood pooled around him on the ground, as an intense battle raged in his mind. None of his wounds were healing. Even after so much time, the holes created by Kyros’s claws remained, and the bones broken during the previous tumble had not yet reconnected.

Having passed the wolves, Eudora tried to continue approaching, but when she looked into the red eyes, her feet froze, her heart tightened, and taking a step back, her mind wouldn’t let her advance.

"Daddy...?"

A growl echoed as the creature raised its head. Amidst the fluctuation of its consciousness, it saw one of the few things that could keep it somewhat sane.

"Does it hurt...? You’ll be alright, won’t you...? You will..."

"Eudora..."

Standing before the door that, in exchange for his mere rationality, would make him reach the pinnacle of his species—the highest anyone like him could attain—Lykos turned around... Who would have thought that mere transparent drops would be enough to make him overcome the beastly nature within him? The one calling you from behind the door could not, in any way, be compared to the original.

"What... did we already tell you...? One step..."

Wiping her tears, Eudora raised her head only to see the beast rising before her eyes. Instinctively, her body shivered.

"One step... at a time..."

"Exactly..."

The wounds slowly closed, and his bones rejoined as his body regressed in size.

"Don’t cry... I thought you were already too grown up for this..."

The red in his eyes faded, mixed and almost completely replaced by a softly glowing yellow.

"I... I am... I’ve grown up..."

Lykos looked around, observing that yes, everyone was still in their wolf forms. Smiling, he turned back to Eudora, the only one among them who retained her human form even under the full moon’s light.

"Yes, yes, I see... I can see how much..."

"Daddy!"

In a leap, the child clung to his neck, and as tears mingled with the blood in his fur, she did not let go.

[The exit portal will close in 23:46]

[The Invisible Steps ability has been deactivated]

"Perhaps if it’s now, you might still get a bit of revenge."

As he approached the cave, Hye glanced to the side, aiming at the black wolf with white spots who was watching the moon at the entrance.

Arche shook her head in denial and then looked directly into Hye’s eyes with her bright yellow eyes.

"...Now that Kyros is dead, your goal has been achieved, hasn’t it? So..., what will happen to the rest of us now...?"

"Just like the other floors..."

"Hey!" Samantha exclaimed, interrupting Hye.

"They deserve to know, don’t they?"

"Yes, but..., alright..., you’re right, they deserve to know..."

"You will be deleted, even before the moon leaves the sky."

Raking the ground with her claws, Arche gave the closest thing to a smile she could manage, bearing the strange face of an animal.

"And you say this so calmly... it makes it seem like we’re insignificant in your eyes..."

With a brief sigh came the inevitable acceptance, after all, what other option did she have? She sheathed her claws and took a few steps forward, allowing the moonlight to illuminate her body.

"I understand... so Lykos and Eudora... they will... There’s no other alternative...?"

"No. At least none that we know of."

Approaching the edge, with a tight heart and an oddly cold body, Arche gazed at the forest below, at the base of the mountain.

‘Well, actually, there is a way, aside from possessing a physical body from the other side.’

‘If that’s true, why didn’t you use it instead of us having to do something like this?’

‘Don’t even think of considering that possibility! How could I, the greatest of angels, lower myself to the level of a mere possession?!’

‘Possession? Then...’

‘Yes, what belongs to you can be taken with you through the portal. This includes mundane objects like what you call a smartphone, artifacts like your dagger or that ring on your finger, and, obviously, living beings.’

‘But how should this be done? I don’t think written contracts would work.’

‘How ignorant... An unbreakable contract that grants control over the life and death of the being under your possession is what must be done. In other words, a soul contract.’

After another brief sigh, Arche prepared to make her first jump down the mountain.

“Wait…! Maybe there’s a way.”

[The exit portal will close in 19:38]