THAT DAY I BECAME A STAR

Finally, after a lot of trials and errors, we have reached the end of the maze. According to Maria, there is supposedly something that I should feel and my senses should sharpen as I walk through the maze, eventually finding the right path or something. But we don't have time for this. If the goddess that is squatting my mother's body wakes up before we reach the top, we will have to fight her. 

"And you are sure I will lose?" Maria said I would lose if I fight her even if I go all out. As we are walking the stairs to the second floor, I ask her since I would like to know why. She can't be that strong, can she? Though the god of absolute victory looked way too strong back then.

"Of course you will. Mother is a goddess. If humans could beat gods then…Well, if humans aside from him could hold themselves against gods then there would be no need for them." 

"So N'donkeu beat her then?" 

"No, he only managed to fight evenly with her.. Though that is a great feat already since she was using Genesis's body. Anyway, here is the door to the second floor. Don't forget, once you open the door, run straight forward. Don't look anywhere else." 

"Huh…Okay." What is it that she is so afraid of? "But you know I can use light wall right?"

"N-no, that's not the matter here." Maria's voice starts trembling and her ghostly appearance shakes a little as well. What is she so afraid of?

I push the door then hold on to Rebecca's body tightly so that she won't fall. Since when did my mother's body felt so light? 

"NOW!!! RUN!!" 

I start running, ready to use Disperse and activate Sphere at any time as well but when I enter, the second floor is completely empty with only pillars here and there. Then I hear little noises as I am running to the door on the other side of the room and when I look at my left, I see a worm wriggling on the floor while coming to me. 

"Kyaa!! Hurry up!! Before they reach us!!!" 

Maria is already ahead of me and reaches the door while I am still in the middle of the room. What kind of speed is that? Or maybe it is because she is a ghost?

I open the door brutally then close it right after me. Why do I feel like there was nothing on this floor to be afraid of?

"See!! I told you that this floor is terrible. Did you see how they were wriggling around? Those things are the devil, I can assure you. They are worst than Longinus." 

"Do they spit acid or anything?" 

"What?!! Can you imagine how scary it would be if they could?!" 

"Huh…" I thought they were a smaller version of those big worms but I guess they aren't. "Anyway, let's go to the third floor then." 

"Yeah, it will be the same until the sixth floor. You must run straight forward." 

"Got it." 

***

"Maria…" 

"Hm…" 

"Could it be that…Who built this tower?" 

"N'donkeu did it. Together with some other people." 

"Did you anger him at some point?" 

"No. Not that I can remember. Though there was this one time he went nuts because I broke his staff."

"I see." That's must be why. I am sure it is the reason. 

From the second to the sixth floor, anything that is inside seems to scare Maria. From wriggling worms to unusually big flies. We had everything. By the fifth floor, I had stopped running for nothing while she was sprinting for the door like her life depended on it. I am pretty sure that he made those floors like this to punish her for breaking his staff. 

"There is no way." 

"And of course, you were reading my mind."

"I broke his staff long before he started the tower. It must have been years. Or was it months?" 

"It was definitively months."

" Wait, it was during winter that I…Then if I count…" Maria starts counting something while using her fingers. She looks cute right now. "Don't distract me, pervert." 

"Then stop reading my thoughts. By the way, why did you break his staff?" 

"I was cold." 

"You were cold?" 

"Yeah, we went to fight Longinus during winter that time. And then we lost our mantles and there was no firewood or anything so…" 

"You broke his weapon to make fire." 

"Yeah, it kept us warm so nobody complained." Oh, trust me, he complained in his own way.

"Let's go to the next floor." Those sisters are really the same. 

"I heard that!" I bet you did. 

I stop at the door of the seventh floor and look at Maria who then smiles mischievously. 

"I won't tell you." 

"Okay." I open the door and enter, she follows me surprisingly though.

"You won't beg?" 

"You sisters really have the same habit. If you won't tell me, then you won't and that is that." 

"GAOOOOO!!" 

Out of nowhere, a gnoll appears, smashing the ground while coming to me. His color is weird. It has a blackish skin that I had never seen on those before.

I mask my bullets with fireballs and send it to him. Surprisingly enough, he dodges the first one. The second fireball, however, hits his arm. Then the bullet inside explodes as well and the gnoll's arm is yanked in the air. 

"GAOOO!!" 

"See you around." 

While it got distracted by the pain. I have already used Disperse. But even I got surprised because when I thought of using Raizen, it is Maria's weapon that materializes in my hand instead. Creating a blinding light for the gnoll as it came out of my arm. Oh well, the desired effect is the same, I guess. I stab through the gnoll's mouth and it falls backward while I retrieve my weapon. 

Maria starts clapping behind me when I land. How can a ghost make sound anyway?

"You did well. It took a bit more time to handle this guy the first time. Especially because he was a bit more agile than a normal one. Though they will be even more agile as we go up." 

"Seriously?" 

"Yep. Also, the fight isn't over." 

Maria points at the gnoll and when I turn around to look, the freaking monster is healing back. 

"Starting from this floor to the 50th floor, every monster you will encounter will need to be killed three times." So that's why you had that smile on your face. 

I go to the monster's head and blow it off a first time, then a second when it started regenerating.

"Hey, that's not fair!! You didn't give him the chance the retaliate!"

The other door in the room opens after that.

"Maria, the goddess…" 

"Ah, yes, you are right. Let's hurry a little." 

"A little." Did she forget that we came here for a precise and on-time objective?