A Tower Reborn/Story

←Ash of Souls | A Tower Reborn (Battles) | Terra Battle (Chapter)→

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Chapter 41: A Tower Reborn

It's located on the other side of the planet,
directly opposite the Life Breeder.

"There was a Tower of Temptation on our
planet, too. So this is the path to the
Maker... Now I understand..."

The Tower of Temptation, or in other words,
the boarding gate to the Animata. Together
with the Life Breeder, it forms a skewer with
the planet at the center.

---

"If Pepropé was the Animata of our world...
Then that means the layout of this tower
should be the same, right?"

"No, I should think not."

"What makes you say that?"

"Pepropé told us to use the Ancient Key
for a reason."

"Oh, I get it! So you're saying there's a new
area we have to unlock!"

"Just like in an RPG or something!"

"Hohoho! What old-fashioned taste you have!"

And so you enter the tower at the core of the
newborn planet.

---

Upon first glance, the interior does look
rather familiar... Save for the giant murals on
the walls.

"Is this the Lizardfolk home world?"

"Hey, isn't this a Spirit?"

"And this is a battle with a black Animata!"

"Hold on a minute... Those ones fighting over
there look like humans..."

"This one looks like... giant sleeping
beasts...?"

The battles depicted here strike you as eerily
familiar.

---

"This one looks like Pepropé... and this one
might be Palpa... Wait, but who's this kid?"

An unfamiliar, grouchy-looking boy stands
together with Pepropé and a somewhat younger-
looking Palpa, all holding hands.

"That's not their son, right. Or is it...?"

"They seem happy, though..."

---

The mural strikes a chord with Palpa's spirit,
and she reaches for it--timidly, as if
touching a fresh wound--and yet as gently as
if she were caressing a loved one.

With a snap, the missing puzzle piece falls
into place... and she melds back into the
wavelength of consciousness.

---

"Is that...Proto...?"
Tears well in 54B2's eyes. Sure enough, it was
the very friend who had sacrificed himself to
protect him.

"Now I understand... 'Find our everything, our
beginning and our end'..."
With this new understanding, 54B2 calls you
all over.

"I've figured out what's going on in this
tower."
"Good, because the rest of us are clueless.
Please, tell us!"
"Mind you, I don't have proof, but...I believe
these murals are drawn directly from the
memories of the Animata."
"So it's like a photo album or something?"
"Why, yes, what an apt analogy. I should have
thought of that myself. The higher we climb,
the further into the past we will descend."

---

Soon, you will reach the top. There, the final
memory carved into the mural is...

"A battle with the Oxescians...?"

"No, wait, there's more than that!"

In the mural, you and all of your
companions... No, all of the life forms
created by the Life Breeder... All of you are
geared up to fight a giant beast the likes of
which you had never seen.

"I don't remember anything like this
happening..."

"Let's get a better look--"

Just then, you discover it.

"Look! A keyhole!"

---

The Ancient Key easily unlocks the giant door.
You pass through it into a new area--a vast,
translucent white space. So white, in fact,
that without a point of reference you feel
as if floating in the air.

The air is dry and carries a faint scent.

"This fragrance... It smells like a
disinfectant. Perhaps this area was kept
sterile..."

"Sterile? But why?"

"Hey, look!"

The image of a man is projected against the
pale white wall.

"Pepropé!"

---

I have one final request for all of you.

---

"What's the meaning of this?!"

The instant Pepropé appears, a swarm of
monsters billows forth with a deafening roar,
as if the Tower itself has bared its fangs.

"Soon I will no longer be myself... I will
become the Maker."

"What? Where'd THAT come from all of a sudden?!"

"It's too late to stop it now. I was
powerless... I'm sorry to place this burden on
you."

"Slow down! Where are you going?!"

"I'm not going anywhere. I'll still be here...
Listen, there's no time. There is one thing I
must tell you above all else."

---

"Everyone here, including me, was created by
the Life Breeder. All the races are artificial
creations, imitations. But no one here is
a 'fake'. We're all real. Do you understand?"

"We're all imitations...but we're all real?"

"We were born, we grew up, and now we're here.
Every moment, every passing season... Those
experiences weren't predetermined for us. We
are the product of our free will. Our
lives are unique, and that individuality gives
us the right to be progenitors."

"What meaning is there in contemplating our
bloodlines or authenticity?"

"Save the thinking for later! What do we do?
What do we--"

---

-Please...put an end...to the Animata.



You thought you heard a voice just now. but
Pepropé is already gone.

In his place is the Animata and Pepropé
the Maker, sheltered by the last lingering
remnants of faith stored within.

---

-We were trapped in the darkness.
-We vowed to escape to a world full of color.
-To a place we never knew.


No matter what form he takes, his promise with
Palpa still stands.

As the Maker, Pepropé has lost everything--but
now, at last, he smiles.

"I'll be waiting for you tomorrow."

His voice is gentler, more expressive
 more beautiful than any instrument.

---

Inside the bright white room you all stand in,
there is a perfectly clean wall with nothing
drawn on it.

A blank slate.

But upon that empty space, something can take
form. What will be drawn there? The
possibilities are endless...and yet you can
only choose one.

That is the duty you are tasked with: Decide.

Your choice will become reality, and that
which goes unchosen shall fade into the ether.

---

Palpa can sense the mission Pepropé left
behind.

A token of the void, deemed fit to bear their
everything.

The voice of the Queen of the Stonefolk rings
out.

"Let us record our history here."

---

A large spherical mass looks down over the
young planet known as Luna.

It is Palpa... the Animata of Planet
Beastbait.

The Animata has decided to take up a challenge
no one else has ever dared.

"I shall bring you to your end."
Palpa turns her strong will against herself,
and the Life Breeder shatters.

This causes significant damage to the heart-
like apparatus inside the technological life
form.

Driven mad by the agony, the Animata undergoes
a terrible transformation into a demon that
devours all life.

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←Ash of Souls | A Tower Reborn (Battles) | Terra Battle (Chapter)→

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