The Tower (Part 3)

The fire suddenly stopped pushing against Tide's shield. Instead, the spiral of flames reflected off the shield and shot rapidly towards the dragon's stomach.

RAWR!

The dragon suddenly began to writhe in pain, his wings unfurling unconsciously and slamming into the stone walls. His pain prompted him to stop breathing fire, subsequently ending the attack, but Tide's objective had already been achieved. While the rest of the dragon's body was covered in impenetrable red scales that were impervious to heat, the stomach was left completely bare, allowing Tide to damage the dragon and halt its attacks. However, the reflection magic did little to take down its health.

[HP: 906392/967283]

"Shit." N1ght_Gh0st said, still crouching behind him. "Is it even possible to kill that thing?"

Tide smirked subtly.

"That's exactly it. You're not supposed to kill the dragon."

"What do you mean by that?" She asked quizzically. "What are we supposed to do instead?"

"The Instruments of Creation await at the end of the hall, correct?" Tide asked.

N1ght_Gh0st nodded.

"Then all we need to do is bypass the dragon and get to where the Instruments of Creation are."

N1ght_Gh0st's face shone in realisation as she heard Tide's explanation.

"So all we have to do is get past the dragon taking up the entire hall?"

Tide nodded, a triumphant smile emerging upon his face.

"Yep. Pretty easy, isn't it?"

"There!" A voice suddenly called out from far behind them. "The boss monster is ahead!"

Tide's smile slid off his face.

Other players had already caught up.

"Are you serious?" N1ght_Gh0st sulked. "Can't we have just a small break from the action?"

RAWR!

The dragon had already recovered from the attack, preparing to charge at Tide and N1ght_Gh0st head on.

"Doesn't seem like it." Tide replied. "Can you distract the other players for me? I'm gonna go ahead now."

"But-"

"Thank you."

Tide did not wait to hear N1ght_Gh0st's response and immediately sprung into the air. Using wind magic to create footholds, he propelled forward and aimed to go straight over the dragon's head. Unfortunately, the dragon had noticed his approach and halted its charge surprisingly quickly despite its large body.

FWOOSH!

The dragon used its enormous wings to send a wave of wind towards Tide, flinging him backwards. Tide tried to go forward again, yet the dragon continued to send wave after wave of wind.

'Shit. I need to get past him now.'

Tide stabilised himself horizontally on a wind foothold, the constant wind attacks helping him remain on the foothold. He unsheathed his longsword, the colourless crystal on the helm of his sword sparkling under the torchlight of the hall. He launched himself towards the dragon's wings at an astonishing speed. The dragon's large pupils widened. It noticed his attack, but there was nothing it could do. Tide pulled his sword above his head and a sheen of bright yellow light shone from the sword.

[Sword of Order Series: Beaming Slash]

Tide slashed through the dragon's wing, creating a hole for himself to jump. He was through.

SCREEEE!

The dragon howled in pain and began to thrash violently. Tide took no notice of the dragon's behaviour and began to sprint towards the end of the hall with great urgency. As he continued to sprint forward, the hall seemed to become brighter, revealing detailed frescoes covering the stone walls on both sides. Tide paid no attention to the frescoes however. He only cared about reaching the blinding light at the end of the hall.

He needed to reach the light.

That was where his salvation lied.

After what seemed like an eternity of sprinting, Tide finally reached the end of the hall and stopped. The sight before him was breathtaking. Stone stairs rose with statues of knights parading the walkway towards a grand throne of quartz. Upon the throne dais, three items awaited upon a glass rack, each item as beautiful as it was unique.

The Instruments of Creation.

However, the bright light did not come from one of the three items. It came from the enormous statue behind the throne. Two life sized men with graceful armor staring each other in the eye. One was short and one was tall. One had short, scruffy hair and one had long, smooth hair. One was without a weapon and one was with a spear. The light came from the helm of that spear. It was a blinding light. An all-encompassing light. A light that devoured everything and nothing.

Tide stared mindlessly the two statues for a few moments, his mind encapsulated by the light of the spear.

'Where… I feel like I've seen that before…'

Tide shrugged off the feeling. That wasn't important right now. He began leaping up the stone stairs and reached the throne dais in a matter of seconds, picking up a small golden ring fitted with a single ruby

"Store Item in Inventory."

The game responded immediately, a semi-transparent screen appearing in front of him.

[Storing Ring of Silence (S-Class Item) Into Inventory]

The item disintegrated. At the same time, another message popped before him.

[Quest Details: Ring Of Silence (S-Class Item) Has Been Retrieved]

Tide winced.

'Now everyone knows that someone has made it to the end...'

He quickly moved onto the next item, a long iron sceptre inscribed with indecipherable glyphs.

"Store Item in Inventory."

[Storing Sceptre of Revelation (S-Class Item) Into Inventory]

The quest details followed.

[Quest Details: Sceptre of Revelation (S-Class Item) Has Been Retrieved]

Tide smiled victoriously. Two out of the four Instruments of Creation were now in his hands. He reached his hand out to grab the last item on the rack, but his hands felt nothing.

'Wait…'

At the same time, another message appeared in front of him.

[Quest Details: Chalice of Compulsion (S-Class Item) Has Been Retrieved]

Tide's heart stopped.

'WHAT?'

Someone else was also at the end of the hall. Someone who he could not see.

Tide's eyes immediately gravitated to the spear behind the throne. Panic began to set in. That item was definitely much stronger than any of the other Instruments of Creation.

'I need to get that spear now.'

Tide sprung out towards the spear at an incredible speed.

'Please...Don't tell me I'm too late.'

He was within arms' length of the spear.

'Please.'

He extended his arm to grab the spear.

'It's right there.'

Tide froze.

'What?'

Tide tried to move his arm forwards, but it remained stationary.

'What's happening?''

The spear was right within his reach, but for some reason, he could not grab onto it. His body would not move. He tried opening his mouth to utter a dispelling spell, but he could do nothing.

He was completely frozen and utterly defenseless.

'No...this can't be real…'

Behind him, the clank of footsteps against the stone floor began to approach him. Tide tried to turn his head back to the sound of the footsteps, but he was unsuccessful.

"Your friends were quite easy to dismantle, Tide."

Tide's heart skipped a beat. He recognised that cold and calculating voice.

It was the leader of the Titan Guild: Fraus

"They were too arrogant. Too cocky. Just like you, Tide."

Rage pounded violently in Tide's veins. His mind was bent on breaking from the restriction on his movement, bent on taking the spear before Fraus could. It did nothing. Fraus continued to approach him.

'Dammit. It can't end like this!'

"You have sacrificed everything to win these games, Tide."

'IT CAN'T END LIKE THIS!'

"But you will still lose."

Fraus finally passed by Tide and was now visible to his restricted view. With a lean physique, rolling blonde hair and pointed ears, Fraus was undoubtedly a high elf. Despite his victory seeming so certain, his face was expressionless, the lips flat and devoid of victory. The only emotion present on his face seemed to come from his inquisitive eyes as he studied the statue. They emanated a surprising emotion.

Pity.

"You are not worthy of this weapon." Fraus said, reaching his hand out towards the spear. "You are only trying to save yourself."

The hand clasped around the spear and it disintegrated.

[Quest Details: Spear of Destruction (SSS-Class Item) Has Been Retrieved]

[ANNOUNCEMENT: The Ranker Games Are Complete]

[Calculating Placements]

Fraus took his eyes off the statue and stared at Tide, his stare piercing straight through his soul.

"Wake up, Tide. You must wake up to reality."

[Quest Individual Standings]

[Fraus- 1st]

[Tide- 2nd]

"Wake up."

The world suddenly turned to darkness and the restrictions on his movement were gone. Tide was transported away from Fraus, but he could still hear his last words repeating inside of his head.

"Wake up."

"No...this isn't real." He muttered in the pitch black, his voice quivering with every word. ���There's no way…"

"Wake up."

"Why did I lose!" He shouted, pain searing every bone of his body. "Why!"

"Wake up."

Tide howled, a guttural cry piercing through the darkness.

"Wake up."

He had lost the Ranker Games.