Chapter 45 – Floor 5, Part I: Echoes of the Lost Empire

Arc: The Forgotten Throne Begins

📍 [System Notice – Tower Advancement Confirmed]

🗝️ Floor 5 Unlocked

Theme: The Empire That Fell to Silence

Environment Type: Ruined Civilization

Primary Challenge: Historical Echo Combat | Ruin Exploration | Adaptive Threats

Floor Traits: Reality Bleed | Emotion Feedback | Legacy Binding

Recommended Group Size: 5–15

Recommended Level: Mid-to-High C Tier

📜 Lore Note: "In the lands where kings knelt, only echoes remain. But even echoes can kill."

⛩️ Transition Platform – One Step Forward

Wind howled as Blackhunt stood atop the obsidian circle floating in the space between floors.

Beyond them, the edge shimmered with shifting silver light.

This was the gate.

The portal to Floor 5.

Toni stood beside Ankit, scanning the terminal.

"Three things to note," Toni said as flickering runes pulsed across the edge. "One, the entire floor reacts to emotions. Two, we'll be seeing memory ghosts—both ours and the Empire's. Three…"

Kaido raised an eyebrow. "There's more?"

Toni nodded. "Three… is that the Empire didn't fall because of outside invasion."

Ankit's eyes narrowed. "Then why?"

Toni turned to him.

"It destroyed itself."

🌫️ Descent – Arrival at Floor 5

As the team stepped into the gate, light consumed them.

The world rebuilt itself piece by piece—stone, ash, wind, and time.

When their feet hit the ground again, they stood in a massive ruined courtyard, overgrown with crimson ivy and black stone statues twisted in agony. Marble pillars lay broken, and in the sky above, a cracked moon hovered in eternal twilight.

📢 [Welcome to Floor 5 – Realm of the Forgotten Empire]

📍 Region: Veil of Sol'Thar

🌒 Time Distortion: Variable

🧠 Emotion Feedback: Active

⚔️ Threat Class: Adaptive Echo Constructs

📜 Hint: "The first secret lies where the throne no longer sits."

🏙️ Scouting the Ruins

The team split into exploratory units:

Team A – Central Ruins (Ankit, Toni, Riya, Vikram)

Team B – Outer District (Asha, Raunak, Sana, Kaido, Raghav)

The former capital of Sol'Thar stretched miles in every direction—cracked towers, half-floating staircases, and shifting streets.

Everything hummed with mana scars.

And every now and then—

Whispers echoed.

Not voices.

Memories.

Ankit paused by a statue of a crowned emperor, its face scratched away.

"I feel like we're being watched," Riya whispered.

"No," Toni said. "We're being remembered."

Suddenly—

The ground glowed.

[Trigger: Legacy Echo – Level 1 Activated]

🎭 Enemies Spawned: Imperial Guard Constructs (3)

🛡️ Threat Rating: B

From the dust, three armored figures emerged—twice the height of men, forged of glowing steel and wielding blade-staves.

⚔️ Combat – First Echo Battle

Ankit moved first, his twin Talwars glowing with controlled flame.

He dashed at the nearest construct and struck—but the blade passed through, dealing no damage.

"They're not fully physical!" he called.

"Then use soul-imbued strikes!" Toni shouted, drawing an arrow inscribed with echo-sealing script.

Riya unleashed a frost chain, wrapping around one construct's arm and freezing it solid—allowing Vikram to detonate a shadow bomb directly in its chest.

❄️ CRACK–BOOM!

[1 Down]

The second construct blurred, slamming a heavy blade across Toni's path.

He sidestepped, barely avoiding the strike, and shot an arrow through the construct's knee joint.

Ankit delivered a double-slash to the neck—one blade phased, the other hit true.

⚔️ [2 Down]

But the last one didn't fight.

It spoke.

Or rather—echoed.

"...He let the empire fall... We must not fail…"

Its blade glowed with memory—a historic technique.

[Echoed Skill Detected – "Emperor's Last Stance"]

Effect: Triggers aura explosion upon defeat

"EVERYONE BACK!" Ankit shouted.

They jumped—

And the blast shook the ruins, leveling the stone altar behind them.

The construct vanished in sparks.

📜 System Update

🧠 [Echo Link Analyzed – Memory Path Discovered]

📍 "The Crown Was Taken. Not Lost."

New Mission Added: Trace the Legacy of the Last Emperor

Reward Tier: Unknown

🕵️ Side – Toni's Theory

Back at temporary camp, Toni drew a rough timeline on stone using chalk.

"Based on energy signatures and echo sequencing," he explained, "this floor doesn't follow linear time. We're walking through a memory broken into pieces."

"And some memories… fight back," Kaido muttered.

"Exactly," Toni said. "Which means we're going to need more than weapons."

Ankit nodded.

"We'll need to understand the empire. How it lived. How it fell."

Asha crossed her arms. "But why? Just to climb?"

"No," Ankit said softly. "Because someone's still here."

They all looked at him.

"I can feel it," he continued. "Someone survived."

—

🌒 Meanwhile – Deep Beneath the Floor

Far below, in a catacomb lined with obsidian thrones, a young man sat surrounded by whispering shadows.

Eyes closed.

Skin marked with echo veins.

He opened his eyes as light pulsed above.

"The next inheritors arrive," he said, voice brittle and sad.

"Let's see if they're worthy of our sins."

🏰 Closing

As Blackhunt prepared to delve deeper into the ruins of Sol'Thar, one thing became clear:

This wasn't just a challenge.

It was a grave.

And something buried within it was starting to wake.

—