Up And Away We Go

With the ground underneath completely crumbled and collapsed into the deep void, my foolish self thought for a moment that the steps leading to the top of the tower would save us. However, just like the earth the first step also collapsed under my weight as if it's made of wet cardboard and we almost lost fell down the huge hole below had I not jumped to the next step, and the next, and so on.

"...I told you already, right? No matter what you do this tower will do everything to spit you out of this place! Why can't you just give up for your own sake?!"

"But Miss Aoi, the exit..."

"Okay, hold on tight to me, girls. This will be a long and rocky way up to the top."

"...A-Are you even listening to me?!"

Carrying both girls in my arms, I concentrated most of my energy around my legs and took a deep breath. Then, with an explosive force I took another great leap up, and a couple more, until we landed on a circular platform that is more spacious than the rest of the steps below.

Because each step takes around two seconds before it crumbles, there's so little time for me to prepare for another jump, therefore I would expect that the next one won't be as powerful as before. But to our surprise, that time window has already passed and the platform remained sturdy and had no indication of collapsing anytime, unlike the previous steps we skipped below.

"Ah, finally, I thought I will never take a rest from jumping around. Geez, my lower body hurt like hell," I groaned, as I immediately lay down to rest on this platform, which became our temporary haven.

"Thank you for carrying us all the way here, Ren. Here, I have some patches in my kit to help relieve the pain in your legs," Lerish spoke as she quickly grabbed the first aid pouch she always carried on her waist.

"But, we're not yet at the top; it looks like we're still too far from it. Thank me when we finally get there, okay?"

"Nn. I will."

"...Hmph, if you think you'll make it up there, then you're out of your mind," the little girl commented.

"What did I say earlier about not causing a fight, Miss Aoi?" Lerish asked her, her aura becoming scary all of a sudden.

"...Hii?!!"

"All right. I am done putting these patches on your legs, Ren. You should rest here for a while as I look around and see why this platform is not behaving like the others."

While Lerish is taking a class inspection of the platform, the little girl and I are left with nothing else to do. Though tensions have somewhat calmed down a little, starting a conversation at this time proved to be very challenging for both of us.

"...W-Why are you looking at me like that...?"

"What? Is it wrong for me to look at someone in the eye?"

She cleared her throat, and spoke, "...Just so you remember, I still hate you. And by that, I mean a lot. Once I find an opportunity, I will either get out of here alone, smite you into nothingness, or both. I will make sure that our paths won't intersect again."

Wow. She hated me that much, huh? Can't say I'm surprised to hear those fighting words from her.

"Then, I wish you good luck."

"...Huh?! Are you trying to pick a fight with me?!"

"No. Rather, I want all of this to end."

"...Eh?"

"Miss Aoi! If it is alright with you, can you assist in reading this inscription for me?" Lerish called the little girl from afar, as she appears to have found something of interest to her.

"...Uh, coming! Hrgh, that woman..."

As I'm left behind here on this side of the platform, I focused my sight on what was ahead for us. These infinitesimal steps tell me that our progress is but a drop in the ocean. Still, I have this urge in me to keep going. I have this hope in me that up there, something that will make all of this ordeal all worthwhile, something that a deity would make a tower for and hide from the rest of the world.

I want to see it with my own eyes, my situation notwithstanding.

-----

According to the inscription that Lerish found, within these infinite steps, some platforms provide safe harbor to anyone that dare reach the top of the tower—[Checkpoints], as they are explicitly called by the creator of the tower. Between each checkpoint, however, various challenges of increasing difficulty lie in waiting for the trespassers to test their mettle.

The inscription also states that those who enter the tower must continue to climb at all costs because the checkpoint platforms will also eventually crumble after 6 hours. It will also collapse once someone steps out of a checkpoint before that time limit.

"Now that we know what this inscription reads, I'm thinking if the god who created this tower is some sort of a maniac or worse," I expressed my distaste while stealing glances at the little girl, whose brows instantly furrowed the moment our eyes met.

"...What are you implying, huh? Are you saying that I'm also a maniac like him?!"

I shrugged my shoulders. "I'm not saying anything like that. At the very least, I'm confident enough to say that you're not that insane, even though I hate you to the bone."

"...Y-You..."

Because the rest of the old gods were already dead, I can't know all of them—their faces, mannerisms, and the way they see us mortals. Well, I would be very disappointed if all of them were as annoying as this brat, though.

*grrrrrr*

At that moment, we heard a faint grumble coming from someone's stomach. By reflex I looked at the little girl, and—

"...I-I'm hungry, so what? I-It's not that it's a crime if someone hears my stomach rumble that loud," she yelled angrily, her ears becoming red with embarrassment.

"Do you have something to eat, Miss Aoi?"

"...Eh? I do have some," she replied, grabbing her remaining MREs from her pouch, three in total.

Taking one for herself, she peeled the paper packaging, and as she was about to take a bite, she asked:

"...Uh, I would like it if the two of you stop watching me while I'm eating. Why don't you just stay away from me and eat your food over there?"

"Well, we would...if we still have our supplies with us."

"Although I made sure to bring some foodstuffs for us before we were brought underground by the worm, it was too late when I realized that the compartment in my pouch where I stored our supplies had a slash, and they all dropped somewhere along the way. Fufu."

"...Y-You two..."

Realizing how miserable the situation Lerish and I currently have, the little girl hesitated for a moment before giving us each a third of her remaining food supply.

"...Grrrr. If not for my benevolence, you would have already starved to death. You should be grateful."

"Thank you very much, Miss Aoi!"

"Yeah, thanks!"

"...U-Uuuuu..."

After having our meager meal, we discussed what will be our plans moving forward. Now that our food supplies have reached zero, there's now a dilemma between making our pace faster to save time, and conserving energy. Lerish advocated for the latter option while the little girl—though not wanting to be a part of our lives anymore—chose the former, as she's incapable of dying from hunger anyway.

"The final decision rests on your hands, Ren. After all, Miss Aoi and I have relied on your strength for us to reach up to this point, and will probably continue to do so for a little longer," Lerish said with a solemn voice.

"That's...quite a hard question to answer."

"...Just decide already! We don't have much time left on this platform!"

"Hmmm..."

After contemplating for a while, I—

"R-Ren...?"

"...Uwah—?!"

"I've decided to do this!"

While holding both girls on their waists, I used again the explosive force exerted by my legs to take a huge leap out of the platform, therefore destroying it, and managed to reach the next checkpoint in one try. We didn't stop there, as I jumped onto the next, and the next, and so on, like a grasshopper.

Because the challenges in this tower are connected with the giant staircase itself, we didn't face much difficulty as we climb higher and higher in this tower.

"Ren! You'll exhaust yourself if you continue using your stamina like this!" Lerish spoke worriedly.

"...If his body breaks down, then so be it. I'll gladly take his soul once that happens," the little girl commented.

"As if I'll let you do that," I replied.

I took another great leap, this time I wasn't able to reach the next checkpoint. The girls, thinking that I misjudged the distance between the two platforms, shrieked wildly as we began falling.

"We are falling, we are falling!!!"

"...See? See where your cockiness has brought us!"

"G-Girls, calm down! I'll find a way so that we won't crash down to the bottom of this tower!"

While the girls are tightly gripping onto me and shaking my body like hell, I noticed the way how we fall into the void: lying prone, with my arms and legs spread open like a kite.

This position, more or less, is the one skydivers do after they jump off a plane, aside from other maneuvers like nosediving or doing somersaults while in midair. That, combined with the hollow and spacious nature of this tower, reminded me of that video on the internet, where a person is 'skydiving' inside a cylindrical room, with the help of a huge fan below him blowing powerful winds vertically.

If only we were inside such a facility right now, this won't be as scary as it seems...ah!

"Ren, what are you planning to do...?!"

"Watch," I said as I stretched my hand forward.

WHOOOOOOOOOOOOSSSSHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!

"Eh? EHHHHHHHH?!!!!"

"It worked! Hahahahaha! It worked!!!"

With that principle in mind, I tried to recreate a vertical wind tunnel using the [Magician], and the powerful winds that are created instantly blew us upward. However, the winds I created are too powerful, like we're inside the walls of a typhoon, that the loud and ferocious whistle it makes began to hurt our ears and send shivers to our skin.

"Ren!!!"

"Lerish, hold my hand!"

As we spun out of control while in midair, I managed to grab Lerish and pulled her body close to me. The little girl, however, flew too far from us, that I won't able to catch her.

"...I hate this! I hate this! I swear to myself, once I get out of here I will make all of you suffer! IIIYYYYAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!"

"Miss Aoi! Noooooo!!!!!"

"Don't worry about her! Considering she's a goddess, she won't die from this—"

"Ren?! REEEENNNNNNNN!!!!!"

Suddenly, I felt something hard that was moving so fast hit my head, that it quickly knocked me out. Before my consciousness slips away, I looked at Lerish's anxious face as she tried to wake me up. Even in times like this, her face remained as beautiful as ever.

Ah. Looks like I'll be out for a while. How careless of me.

-----

I don't know how long it's been since I lost my consciousness, but when I woke up, I saw a little face looking intensely at me.

"...Oi, how dare you sleep peacefully like that?! Do you think I'll let you rest while not repenting for all the sins you've committed against me, huh?!"

"Oh, it's you," I said calmly as I slowly get up. "How was it, did you enjoy the ride earlier?"

"...'Enjoy', you say? How could I enjoy being tossed around in the air?!" she complained. "Thank goodness I'm immortal, for I will hunt you for all eternity if something bad happened to me!"

"Yeah. My bad, my bad."

"...Grrrrrr..."

"By the way, where's Lerish? Is she okay?"

"...That woman? I haven't seen her ever since the winds stopped blowing."

"What?!"

"Ren! Miss Aoi! There you are! I was looking for the two of you for a while now," A woman's voice came from overhead us.

Looking up, we saw Lerish happily waving her hand as she peeked from the platform above us. Judging from her smile, it seems that she's all fine even after everything that we experienced so far.

"What are you doing up there?" I asked.

"I am not doing anything as I have only regained my consciousness not too long ago. However, I found something that I believe will truly astound you."

"Heh...can you tell me what it is?"

She then slowly shook her head.

"You should see it with your own eyes."

Feeling a bit bummed by her commitment to not spoil anything, I reluctantly headed for the small staircase that connects the two platforms. As I reached the top platform, Lerish quickly grabbed my hand as she pulled me towards the one she was talking about—an ordinary-sized door that is closed.

"It's just a door."

"You are right. It is indeed a door," she replied. "However, what I am referring to as something that is 'astounding' lies beyond this door."

The moment she twisted the knob, I felt my heart beat faster in anticipation. What's in there anyway? A sacred weapon? A huge trove of riches? Some hidden monster frozen in time? Could it be that she found the thing the creator of this tower tried to keep secret for a very long time?

Shortly afterward, we heard a click coming from the lock, and the door started to open on its own. Instantly, I gasped my breath upon finally seeing what Lerish has also found earlier.

"What...is this place exactly...?"