Awakener's Guide to Climbing the Tower

The Primarch moved first, and Caius knew something was wrong before the first strike ever reached him.

Until that moment, the creature had fought the way its body suggested it should: brutally, directly, with the obscene confidence of something possessing six arms, superior mass, and enough stored flesh beneath its skin to repair whatever damage slipped past its defenses.

It had overwhelmed rather than outmaneuvered. Every swing of its chains had been meant to break bones. Every descent of its hands had carried enough force to crater stone. Even the gong had been used without restraint, its oppressive toll spreading through entire streets because there had been no reason for the monster to conserve itself when everything standing before it was weaker.

Equinox had changed that. The Libra Chamber had taken the difference between Caius and the Primarch, weighed it, and imposed correction whenever the difference became too excessive. Strength that should have flattened him became survivable. Force that should have sent him through walls was dragged down to something his body could answer. The creature had tested that law repeatedly, and apparently something inside the parasite-ridden mass had finally understood that trying to overpower Caius only gave the Chamber more to punish.

Its upper-right hand twitched.

Caius shifted Valecyr toward it immediately, amber current crawling along it as he prepared to redirect the expected blow. The hand moved, then stopped.

"What the–"

A second arm came low instead, fast enough that he barely caught the hooked wrist against Valecyr’s shaft. The Primarch withdrew before Caius could counter and a third limb snapped toward his shoulder, but instead of committing its weight, it brushed his guard and retreated.

The scales overhead moved with each exchange, yet only slightly. There was no violent plunge, and no golden correction powerful enough to reverse the imbalance. It was just tiny adjustments like one pan lowering by an inch before rising again, and another trembling once before settling.

Caius felt unease crawl into his stomach.

The next attack came high, and he shifted to meet it, only for the Primarch to loosen its shoulder halfway through the swing. Momentum disappeared. Caius’ own defensive movement carried him too far to one side and a lower fist drove into his rib. The hit was not overwhelming so that made it rather worse since nothing in the strike crossed the threshold the Chamber had been punishing. The Primarch had not tried to crush him with its overwhelming strength, it had hit him only as hard as necessary.

Pain burst across his side and shoved him three steps backward.

"Misha," Caius breathed, staring at the creature as it drew all six arms closer to its torso. "It’s adapting."

Behind the golden interference chains, Misha stopped trying to find another angle into the duel. Her white cat mask turned sharply toward him. "Adapting?"

"Yes, it’s adapting to the correction."

The Primarch lunged again before he could explain more. Two arms came forward simultaneously. Caius caught the first, twisted Valecyr beneath the wrist, and prepared for the second–only for that one to become a feint. A third hand struck from beneath the creature’s own elbow. He saw the movement too late and took the heel of its palm against his sternum. Air burst from his lungs and he staggered.

The fourth arm followed with another shallow strike against his already damaged shoulder. Again, nothing excessive. And again, the great scales barely moved.

Caius forced his breathing back under control as he retreated half a step. If the Libra had been summoned while he was still at full strength, he might have stood a better chance against the Primarch. But he was already injured, and blood had begun to seep through the fabric at his side where the chain had struck him earlier.

Six arms moved independently now, no longer with the mindless overlapping aggression from earlier. One hand lifted and stopped. Another scraped its claws across the black floor. A chain rose just high enough to suggest an attack before falling again. It was provoking the Chamber, watching the scales, learning which motions created which corrections.

Misha’s grip tightened around Twinfag. "So the dead corpse-monster is doing experimentation now."

"Yes."

"I liked it better when it was stupid."

"So did I."

The Primarch’s mouths stretched wider, then it attacked again. This time, it became impossible to read. Two arms moved, then three. One strike accelerated suddenly while another decelerated.

A chain snapped toward Caius’ head, but the creature released tension before the link reached him, letting the metal fall while a hooked hand came from the opposite site. He ducked, pivoted, blocked the next strike with the middle of Valecyr, then nearly lost his footing when the Primarch abandoned the attack before the Chamber could fully balance it.

Caius had read old accounts describing higher Variations developing tactical intelligence during prolonged combat. Most scholars had treated the claims with suspicion because survivors who escaped an evolving Primarch with their lives had a tendency to exaggerate whatever had nearly killed them. Caius decided those scholars had been idiots.

The Primarch’s knee slammed into his abdomen, folding him around the impact. He would have been thrown backward if a hand hadn’t seized the back of his coat.

"Caius!"

Misha’s shout came a fraction before the monster threw him. He struck one of the black pillars shoulder-first. The impact drove a grunt from him, and for a second his arm went numb from fingertips to elbow. He coughed up blood, and his vision blurred at the edges.

「 〔CONSTELLATION CHAMBER〕

Stability: 41%

Equinox correction exceeding sustainable output.

If Chamber Stability reaches 0%, forced collapse will occur. 」

"Caius, you have to cancel the skill!" Misha’s frustration sharpened into helpless anger. She could do nothing but watch as he pushed himself further.

"N-No..." He wiped the blood from his lips as he dropped to one knee while dust-like fragments of golden light drifted from the pillar behind him. "Hiiro is unconscious... you’re bleeding..."

"Shut the fuck up, Caius! You’re half-dead! If you die doing this, I swear I’ll drag you back just to beat your ass!"

Caius would have answered, but the Primarch lifted the mallet. His expression changed.

The gong did not receive a full strike, the mallet touched bronze lightly.

Gong.

A smaller pulse ripped through the Chamber. Three golden rings appeared automatically and caught it. The first flexed, the second dispersed half the force, and the third sent the remainder toward the scales.

「 〔SYSTEM NOTICE〕

[Deathly Oppression] detected.

«EQUINOX» responding...

Hostile influence weighed.

Excess suppressed.

Remaining burden distributed according to the Scales.

—

Chamber Stability: 37% 」

A tiny shudder passed through his chest.

Gong.

「Chamber Stability: 34% 」

The black pillars flickered. One vanished for less than half a second and returned translucent before recovering its solidity. Golden chains along the upper reaches of the Chamber strained audibly, their links drawing tighter as the suspended scales began trembling.

The Primarch lunged between pulses. Caius caught the first arm and let Equinox slow the strike just enough for him to turn beneath it. Valecyr’s blade opened black flesh along the creature’s elbow. The corpse recoiled, but instead of retaliating with force, it struck twice more with shallow movements that kept Caius occupied while another toll vibrated through the bronze.

Gong.

「Chamber Stability: 31% 」

Caius stepped backward and forced himself not to look at the number again. Watching it would not slow the collapse. He needed a solution.

Sever the gong. That remained the best theory but reaching the chest long enough to cut every connective strand was impossible while six arms remained free. Aside from that, Equinox’s rules prevented Misha from intervening.

Equinox had identified two opposing parties–himself and the Primarch–and yet Misha remained inside while Hiiro was nowhere to be seen. Her presence was not neutral. She had been the catalyst that allowed his Constellation Soul authority to awaken at all.

"How many Souls can you currently communicate with?"

"What?"

"Answer."

Her brow flinched. She didn’t like the tone he was using on her but she answered anyway. "Tobias is restricted, Gerbaut is in cooldown, and Nameless is locked."

"Can you communicate with Tobias?"

"Possession is restricted."

"That wasn’t what I asked."

Another chain struck Valecyr, then another snapped into place.

Misha tightened her grip once more to the point it hurt. "Yes, I think."

"Manifest him." Then he ducked beneath a hooked hand and caught another wrist against Valecyr despite having his movements restricted.

"W-What?"

Gong.

「Chamber Stability: 24% 」

Caius shoved the Primarch’s hand away and shouted, "Call Tobias!"

Misha sheathed Twinfang before she raised one hand slowly. "Tobias!"

There was no response.

"Don’t pull him toward yourself." He felt something in his chest tighten that had nothing to do with Equinox. "P-Possession is inward. This is the opposite. You must open the Chamber and give the soul somewhere else to go."

That was an incredibly vague instruction for her. Seeing him struggle against the corpse, she bit her lower lip then closed her eyes.

Caius knew he had to buy her more time. For now, all he could do was hold the Primarch and hope the plan forming in his head would work.

His chest burned with every breath and the Chamber’s floor flickered beneath his boots.

「 〔SYSTEM NOTICE〕

Previously registered Contractor Function recognized.

Temporary Access Authorized:

«Soul Manifestation» 」

Something ancient and heavy seemed to open behind Misha and the temperature inside the Chamber dropped. The air became denser, carrying the oppressive stillness of underground places where mountains had rested for thousands of years without needing permission to remain.

A faint brown-gold sigil appeared beneath her boots, then several paces ahead. The golden chains around her rattled, and every scale overhead twitched.

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