“It’s not over.”
Rex couldn’t understand why the singing was still there, light but clear.
He was sure he had killed the Singing Lady—he’d even received the notification that he did.
But as he slumped back down, coughing blood, his eyes landed on the Singing Lady’s head.
Instinctively, he scanned it with the System and realized that it had turned into an artifact.
<Doll Head of Sonanta>
Despite the powerful dizziness that throbbed in his skull, along with his ringing ears, Rex forced himself to item’s description. His face turned pale, drained of all color. He blinked, desperate to believe that it was a hallucination.
It wasn’t.
On the description, on the very first line, he instantly knew that he was correct.
It wasn’t over.
<Description: It is the head of Sonanta’s doll body…>
Viora, on the other hand, felt her heart skipped a beat when she heard what Rex said.
Not in a good way, but in the worst possible way.
Seeing Rex slumped down, Viora wanted to pull him, and asked him to elaborate—but she didn’t need him to do that anymore as she finally realized the singing in the background. It seemed the others also realized it as their faces paled in horror.
Almost at the same time, they snapped their heads skyward.
Like earlier, the singing came from the top-most chamber.
And that chamber was the one that they hadn’t checked yet, the final floor, the rooftop.
Fearing for his life, Taylan took out his life-saving item, a necklace, and activated it.
He didn’t hesitate, his move was guided by the instinct to survive.
“Brother, no!” April called, her voice rose for the first time, but it was already too late.
“I’m sorry,” Taylan looked at April apologetically. “I don’t want to die here.”
Once he said that, his body faded—he got teleported elsewhere.
Gritting his teeth in reluctance, as he was about to do a cowardly and shameful act, Riko also activated his life-saving item. Regardless of the time spent together—the bond they created, he only knew Rex and Linthia for a couple of days.
He would not want to fight to the death here.
“Please don’t, sister,” April turned to the last one, Hannah. “Linthia wouldn’t like it.”
As she said that, Hannah turned to Linthia, who was kneeling by Rex’s side without any fear.
All she had behind her eyes was determination.
Hannah has bonded a lot along the way with Linthia, mainly because Linthia has no filter when she talks with her, so this made her hesitate. However, unfortunately, her desire to keep living was a lot stronger.
“Save yourself, April. Don’t die with them,” Hannah said as she also activated her necklace. “No chance that we could kill the Singing Lady now, not when Lord Rex was like that. Don’t die with them. Priestess Viora and Dame Crimoria would also leave soon.”
Like Taylan, Hannah also disappeared, leaving behind April as the sole heir remaining.
Biting her lower lip hard, April contemplated leaving for a second.
Then, she quickly approached Viora.
“Priestess… staying here—is it a suicide?” April asked, her voice low with tension.
Instead of Viora, Linthia answered, “No, not when he is still around and breathing.”
She said it with conviction, Rex will certainly get them through this.
“Do something,” She turned to Viora, who was already channeling her life energy. “Heal him!”
“I’m trying, okay?!” Viora retorted, exerting herself to the limit to heal Rex. “His Soul Artifacts and his mark are fine—they could endure the strain from the earlier attack. But his body, the power of the law, was too great for him, he is suffering from Law Predation—and his body is breaking down. I need him to stay awake to help me locate where the source was—but he’s losing consciousness.”
She explained as clearly as possible, despite the urgent situation.
It’s going to get worse for Rex.
“There’s only so much the power of the Saintess could achieve…” Viora muttered helplessly.
Crimoria, who was watching this from the side, firmed herself.
“I’ll handle the Singing Lady,” She finally said. “I’ll sacrifice my Echo to kill that persistent monster.”
“No, even if you do that, you won’t know if you win, and you could also die!” Viora shook her head.
Regardless of the situation, that move was too risky to take.
“Then what are you suggesting?” Crimoria snapped, her voice sharp with disbelief. “That we just leave and let the enraged Singing Lady roam free, venting her fury on the Mahkam Ruin, and killing its people?” She asked.
Her eyes flared behind her helmet, glowing with the force of emotions she could barely contain.
It was going to be messy if the Singing Lady was left alive, and Viora knew it.
She was also unwilling to leave, especially remembering how Grant begged Rex to succeed this time.
Clearly, this attack was the Mahkam Ruin’s very last hope.
As soon as this raid came to an inevitable failure, the ruin would also collapse.
Linthia held Rex’s hand with both hands, ‘Come on, Your Majesty. I’m not strong enough to handle this situation, I don’t have the strength that could tip the scales like you do. So please, snap out of this, you are stronger than this!’
Meanwhile, Rex was already lying on the ground, staring at the ceiling blankly.
I need to stay awake.
He thought inside, choking on his own lifeblood as he fought the darkness that was swallowing him.
Now that he thought about it, the Chain Sudden Quest hasn’t been completed.
From that, he should’ve known that it wasn’t over—the Singing Lady was still alive.
<Warning: The user is suffering the backlash from utilizing too much of the Law of Inevitability!>
<Law Predation has taken effect on the user: the user’s body is beginning to break down!>
<Paralysis is imminent without direct exposure to moonlight!>
<Be advised, losing consciousness would result in default failure for the Chain Sudden Quest!>
<All penalties would be applied permanently!>
Notifications were still clear, even brighter than the darkness swallowing him, appearing one after the other. Despite the blurriness of his vision—the words in these notifications were as clear as day, Rex could read them annoyingly fine.
And realizing that he would fail his Chain Sudden Quest, his instincts kicked in.
No matter his condition, his body was forged this way—to respond in danger.
I need… to move.
Through his blurry vision, he looked at the others.
Linthia was holding his hand as if holding it tight enough would heal him, Viora was doing her best to heal him, Crimoria was ironing her resolve, and April was pacing in the background. It was total chaos, the fact that the Singing Lady was still alive wavered their hope.
Even three of the heirs were nowhere to be seen—they had already escaped.
If I can’t finish the Chain Sudden Quest, they could. I need to help them.
Summoning all his willpower, fighting back the paralyzing pain, Rex’s muscles twitched.
Under the others’ gazes, he sat up with great struggle.
Everyone turned silent when they saw him sit up, it was almost his presence alone was enough to calm them down. Then, he groaned painfully to turn to look at Linthia, “Bring me to the last floor,” He said with a hoarse voice. “I need to get there.”
Nodding instantly, Linthia sported her Soul Artifact, a pair of wings.
She supported Rex to stand before flying to the top.
Naturally, the others followed from behind.
Upon reaching the top, Linthia realized that the ceiling wasn’t a gate, but the singing clearly came from the other side. As she was about to fly out the window to check the top, the tower suddenly shook, like there was an earthquake happening.
Then, the ceiling was opened—it opened like flower petals blossoming.
Behind it was a deep azure glow that stained the air.
Cautiously, Linthia went through and reached the rooftop of the tower.
It was a spherical open space, nothing was there, except a glowing item at the center.
Surprisingly enough, the item was the source of the haunting, melodic singing that they thought came from the Singing Lady. It wasn’t the Singing Lady herself who sang this silent song. As Linthia went down to the ground, the others followed, leaping from the hole and landing on the rooftop.
Each of their eyes was drawn to the same strange item.
From afar, it looked like a small table made entirely of stone.
On top of it, there was a blue musical instrument that played the melodic singing.
“It isn’t the Singing Lady?” Crimoria frowned.
“I thought this is probably why people called the Singing Lady, the Singing Lady,” April uttered, looking at the item intently. “Then what was this singing for? Does it influence us in any way? Maybe this was the thing that caused the illusions earlier.”
“No,” Viora shook her head. “I’m pretty sure the illusion was a Spirit Genesis, not because of this.”
Now, the group was beginning to doubt whether the Singing Lady was actually alive.
Ignoring their discussions, Rex pointed at it, “Bring me there.”
He needed to inspect what it was and scan it with the System.
Nodding, Linthia helped him get closer, but as they did, the singing slowly faded away.
Once the singing was gone, the entire place became dead silent.
Rex turned to Linthia, “Hurry.”
Snapping out of her daze, Linthia quickly leaped and landed near the item.
Upon reaching there, Rex forced himself to stand, though his legs trembled beneath him.
His gaze then dropped to the item.
Just as he’d suspected, it was some kind of music box, now silent.
Since this item was the only thing that could possibly give him a clue, he scanned it.
…
<Song of Kuntua Box>
Grade: –
Type: Miscellaneous
Description: A normal box that was crafted intricately and could play the Song of Kuntua.
…
A frown crept to Rex’s face when he realized the music box was a normal music box.
He didn’t get it.
“It’s a normal music box…” He whispered in confusion. “Just a normal music box…”
“Just a normal music box?” Crimoria repeated in confusion—then she stepped forward with concern. “So what is it then? Is the Singing Lady alive or not? Are we fine or not? I don’t get it. What even this music box even have to do with the Singing Lady?”
“Calm down, let’s think about this slowly.” Viora raised her hands, defusing the situation.
The Forsaken Tower was confusing, and it was easy to get frustrated and angry.
Regardless, Viora approached Rex and reached out her healing hand to make sure he stayed conscious.
On the side, Linthia decided to sweep the entire place instead of idling.
But there was nothing other than the music box.
Since there was literally nothing else here, the others thought that perhaps they were on the clear.
Earlier, the singing was nothing but a fluke.
However, Rex knew that this wasn’t over—the Chain Sudden Quest was still active.
In confusion, he grabbed the music box to see what was underneath it—but instead of looking at what was underneath—his eyes caught sight of something on the table. Rex leaned closer to check.
Once he used the System to scan it, he realized that it was a keyhole.
A keyhole…?
Rex’s frown deepened, remembering Grant’s necklace, which was a key.
He instantly thought that the Singing Lady might be aiming for Grant.
But that shouldn’t be the case.
The shape of the hole… It wasn’t even remotely close. Moreover, the key was already there.
Just as he was contemplating what to make of this, a notification appeared.
<Congratulations, the user has found the Forsaken Tower’s foundation!>
<Does the user want to decipher the tower’s functions?>
Reading this, Rex’s eyes flashed as this would give him all the answers he needed.
But then, as he was about to say yes, a loud explosion resounded in the distance.
Kaboom!!
Almost instantly, Rex and the others snapped their heads toward the Mahkam Ruin’s direction and saw a massive torrent of voidal energy shooting into the sky. Seeing this, Rex was at a loss for words.
Then—he sensed a flicker of energy coming from the music box.
Rex looked at the music box and saw a strand of energy shooting out.
Swish!
It shot towards the key, and with a simple push, it was twisted, creating a dull sound.
As soon as that happened, another notification appeared.
<Notice: the Forsaken Tower is activating!>
Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!
Use arrow keys (or A / D) to PREV/NEXT chapter