Chapter 1039: Life


    Red ming hair,6muscr arms, a face worthy to be called a god of wrath. But perhaps none of those weretrulymarvelouspared to what makes the 6-armed asura daunting — those who were watching the projection did not notice it at first since they were looking at what Karina was seeing from her point of view, but…


    …the 6-armed muscr man she was fighting was a giant—no, it was colossal.The only reasonwhythey could see all of him was that they were fighting in somesort ofdark space, or perhaps theytrulywere fighting in the expanse ofspace,where the sun only shone on the two of them.


    But perhaps the most important factis,the titan seemed to be…scared.


    It was covering his head with his6arms; his6arms that everyone could see were slowly withering away—no. It may just seem slow rtive to what they were seeing, but if the titan was as big as they think he is, then he wapletelybeingobliterated at a speed that would probably destroy continents in the blink of an eye.


    Andupon seeing this, asmallhint of a smile slowly crawled onRiley''sface;hishead,slightly nodding.


    "With how human she acts…"Ang spokeeven as Riley was delving into her mind,"...I sometimes forget thatshe''sstill yourdaughter,and thatshe''sa monster all on her own."


    "She is not a monster, Miss Ang,"Riley shook his head,"Not at all."


    "...Of course."


    Everyone then watched as the arms of the 6-armed titanpletely withered away, leaving only his faceleftto be devoured byKarina''slife-shattering abilities, literally.Firstthey saw thetitan''snose melt,andthen they got a view of his skull…and thenthere was nothingleft.


    "She… defeated that monster?"Elizabeth could not help but take in a small gulp as she looked back and forth between Riley and the images he was projecting,"The things inside the tower, they are… they arereal, at least they were to me.They''renot just a dream or something like that, itfelt like I wasreallythereandit was happening…


    …that means she defeated that thing all on her own. How…how could we evenpare?"


    "The trials seem different for everyone, Cardinal Elizabeth,"Riley offered Elizabeth some words,"You do not need topare yourself to anyone."


    "Of… of course, god,"Elizabeth closed her eyes and bowedher head.


    The imagesbeingprojectedby Riley then began to shift as Karina seemed to have cleared the trial. The expanse ofspace,nowreced by a more mundane view of a…room.Nothingreallyspectacr or grand, it was justa normalroom —andseeing as Karina was looking around the room confused, but at the same time familiar with it as shewas gently brushingher palm along the walls and the bed.


    "Hm?"Riley tilted his head to the side as he stared at this room. His eyes,slightlylocked as soon as he saw photos of Karina with Diana, Katherine, other people…HannahandAerith.Riley had no problemat adjusting to everyone changing almost instantly for him since hedoesn''treallycare either way.


    But only now does hetrulythink of what could haveactuallyhappened to all those 600 years that have passed for the rest of them.


    Could his sister have been married at some point? Could have Aerith? Where wasNannah''sfather?


    A lot could have happened — hetruly barely evenknew Karina before, and now she was pletestranger. Mostof thepeople here do not even know of him, of Darkday.


    The entire multiverse has moved on. But of course, it did notreallymatter forhim—hetoo, has livedhislife.


    "Who''s… that? Is that supposed to be her trial?"


    Riley then quickly turned his focus back to the projectionas soon ashe heard people whispering. And there, he saw a woman enter the room. Riley then sawasKarina take several steps back, seemingly losing her strength and dropping to the floor.


    The woman who entered the roomthenquickly rushed towardKarina;not to attack her, but to help herup.


    "Hm…?"Riley tilted his head to the side as he stared at thewoman''sface, or more specifically, toward the reflection ofKarina''sface in her eyes — and there, he saw tears trailing downKarina''scheeks. Karina then grabbed thewoman''sface, touching it as if it were the most fragile thing in the world.


    "Nope."Andbefore everyone could see what would happen next, Ang leaned away from Riley and started shaking her head, causing the projection to fade away and disappearpletely,"I recognize thatdy, wedon''twant to see what happens next."


    "You recognize the woman, Miss Ang?"Riley could tap intoAng''smind if he wished, but he did not do so and just asked her,"Who is she?"


    "That''sa conversation you and your daughter should be having,"Ang shook her head again,"You''vebeen gone all this time, Darkday — you were so busy living whatever life you were having…


    …thatyou''veforgotten the life you should have been living."


    "And what does that mean, Miss Ang?"


    "...Iactuallydon''tknow,"Ang just let out a small sigh before turning to look at Karina,"And our princessis done."


    "Hm?"Riley also looked at his daughter, and as soon as he did so,8rings appeared around the tower.


    "She… she was fighting a fucking titanandshe only cleared8floors!?"Those who have already attempted the trials could not believe what theywere seeing. They have no idea what was going to happen if theypleted all of the trials, buttheystill could not imagine what it would be like if they somehow had to face an enemy that was the size of an entire continent,


    "It…it''sa good thing the trials are different for us, or else wewon''teven have a chance to climb the tower."


    "Climb it? Is that what we were doing?"


    "It… makes sense, no?I''veread a couple ofics like that before, I think."


    "Karina."And while everyone was deliberating what they had just witnessed, Riley quickly appeared behind his daughter and caught her before she could fall to theground;gently carrying her back to where Ang and Elizabeth were.


    "I…I can walk, Dad,"Karina was still obviouslypletely confusedas towhat just happened to her; hereyes,onlyslightly lucid as she looked at her father.


    "It is fine,"Rileyshook his head,"I have never carried you as an infant, justconsider this as me trying to rescind that, Karina."


    "You—"


    "The woman with the mole below her left eye. Who was she?"


    Andbefore Karina couldevenfree herself fromRiley''sarms, she could not help but almost choke in herownbreath as soon as she heard his words.


    "You… you could see what I was… I was experiencing!?"Karina raised her voice.


    "Glimpses,"Riley nodded,"Ang could see, and I could see through her."


    "D—"Karina then quickly leaped fromRiley''sarms and quickly rushed toward Ang; grabbing her by the shoulders,"Don''ttell me you saw!?"


    "Don''tworry,"Ang sighed while shaking her head,"Ididn''tlet your father and everyone see what happened after Debbie tried helping you up. I…know you and her have something, Iwasn''tabout to show the world something only intimate between the two of you."


    "That—wait, what do you meaneveryone!?"


    "Darkday cast a projection on the tower,"Ang looked at the tower, only to see several more projections ying,"Just like—wait. How are you doing that, Darkday!?"


    "It is not me, Miss Ang,"Riley looked at the projections on the screen,"It would seem the Tower liked what I did and decided to do ititself…


    …interesting."


    "No, not interesting!"Karina stoodin front ofher father,"You… you almost saw something youshouldn''thave! I am never putting my arm through that hole again!"


    "Why? Did this Debbie person die already, Karina?"Riley tilted his head to the side.


    "What? Why—No, ew! Dad!? What the fuck!?"Karina''seyes widened as she realized what Riley was implying,"And… And Debbie and Iweren''tlike that!"


    "You were not romantically involved with each other, Karina?"Riley ced his hand on his chin,"It ispletely fine if you do, Ihave had many acquaintances who had simr preferences toyou;Be and… I do not remember the rest, maybe Gary."


    "Iseriously do not want to be having this discussion with you right now, Dad,"Karina said with a straight face,"And why do you care!?You''vebeen gone for so long that I think you should have never reallye back! You know…


    …Iwish youdidn''e back!"


    And with those words, Karina flew away…only to be brought down by the mysterious power preventing them from flying across the skies.


    "..."And there, everyone watched as Karina nced at Riley for a few seconds before just running away awkwardly. N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "Shedidn''tmeanthat,Darkday,"Ang stood beside Riley.


    "She did,"Riley closed his eyes while shaking his head.


    "Yeah, she did,"Ang shrugged,"Idon''teven know whyI''mfeeling bad for you, Darkday —you''relike a super evil viin. And I should be d. Anyway, I should be following her too, thisisn''ta ce for her tojustroam around."


    "Hm,"Riley nodded before finallycing his attention backto the Tower,"Well then…


    …Isuppose it is my turn?"