[Tower of Trial – Global System Alert]
[Notice: UR-tier Duo Detected – Activating High Authority Protocol]
[Global Ranking Update: Top 10 Pairs]
[New Entry at Rank #2]
2. Dev Rajan (India – UR) / Meera Iyer (India – UR) – Level 20
[UR Pair Count: 10/10 Active]
[Broadcasting Visual Feed – Level Access: Apex, Forbidden, Core Zones Only]
The system's announcement echoed through every awakened mind inside the Tower. The earth rumbled, skies turned black, and then split apart with a rift of fire and shadow.
---
[Scene: Apex Zone – Crimson Valley]
A sea of molten lava boiled beneath blackened skies. The Crimson Valley, long considered impassable even for SS-rank pairs, had suddenly gone quiet. The heat had stabilized. Not cooled—stabilized.
That alone terrified the Tower's AI.
Two figures emerged from the ridge.
Dev Rajan, the Ashen Flame Sovereign, wore a simple white kurta, now stained with dragon blood. Golden flames curled behind him like obedient serpents, coiling around his arms but never burning him.
Meera Iyer, the Silent Lotus, moved beside him with a grace that defied gravity. Barefoot, in a flowing dark-blue sari adapted for combat, her hands shimmered with crystalline frost.
Not a word spoken. Not a heartbeat wasted.
Behind them, a crater of charred corpses and frozen titans lay as evidence.
---
[Flashback – Pairing Activation: Indian Awakened Authority, 36 Hours Earlier]
Indian Prime Minister's private chamber, New Delhi.
"Are you sure you want to send both?" the military commander asked, swallowing the weight of global implications.
"They're our trump card," said the PM. "If the world is changing, then so must we. Let them burn and freeze a path to the top."
---
[Scene: Forbidden Zone – Hidden Sanctuary]
Elijah Voss (USA – UR), lounging on a throne of bones, let out a low whistle.
"So, India released its monsters."
Beside him, Selena Drake (SS Rank) chewed her gum slower than usual. "Monsters? You mean weapons."
"He burns cities. She stops time. Together? They could freeze the sun itself."
He laughed—but tension crept into his posture.
---
[Scene: Core Zone – Japan's Stronghold]
Aya Shirogane tapped on her arm interface. The ranking had updated.
1. Kaito Yamada / Aya Shirogane – [Level ??? / ???]
2. Dev Rajan / Meera Iyer – Level 20
Her lips tightened. "Level 20? Already?"
Kaito, stretched out on a stone couch, flipped a coin.
"Either they're rushing... or they're pissed."
He grinned. "I hope it's both."
Aya muttered, "Tch. Another UR pair. India's best. And they're paired perfectly. Fire and Ice, like a damn movie script."
Kaito chuckled. "What, jealous?"
Aya shot him a glare.
"They're too strong to ignore. And if they're only Level 20 now, I don't want to see them at 50."
---
[System Override – Global Civilian Broadcast Leaked]
The top-level civilian feed was never meant to be seen by the public, but an unknown hacker had broken through the firewall.
Screens lit up across the globe. In Mumbai, Tokyo, Seoul, Washington, Rio, Johannesburg—billboards played the live Tower feed.
Dev stood atop a crumbling volcano.
Meera sat on a frozen cliff, drinking from a steel canister.
The people watching didn't cheer.
They watched.
And they feared.
---
[Scene: The Battlefield – Apex Zone, Present Moment]
Tower Beast – Chimera King, Grade SS+
The monstrosity launched forward with the fury of ten evolved gorillas, claws black with venom and mouths fused into grotesque spirals.
It never made it.
Meera raised her hand.
The creature stopped midair.
Frozen in time.
Then in flesh.
It shattered.
Like glass.
Dev turned to her. "I was going to hit that."
She shrugged. "You were too slow."
Dev sighed. "Fine. You can freeze the next one too."
System Alert: Forbidden Kill Confirmed.
You have broken the Apex Zone's core limit.
Your Throne Challenge is now available.
---
[Scene: Tower System Hub – AI Internal Logic]
The Tower AI, an ancient construct bound by unknowable rules, faltered for the first time in millennia.
10 URs... all awakened. All inside. All ranked.
Except one.
Kaito Yamada – Rank: ???. Level: ???. Class: ???.
Error. No data available. Cross-reference denied. System Lock active.
The AI paused.
Unknown.
A variable even the Tower could not control.
---
[Scene: Elite Gathering – Apex Council Emergency Meeting]
The top-ranked SSS and SS pairs were summoned into an astral chamber for the first time since the Tower's birth.
"Why didn't we see Dev and Meera in the rankings earlier?" asked an SS pair from Russia.
"Because," said Xenovia Kael of Vatican, "UR-ranked pairs in Apex Zones are masked by default. We were never meant to see each other until the First Floor approached completion."
The masked Korean SSS Rank pair nodded. "The Tower is merging zones now. The real trial begins."
---
[Final Scene – Tower Skies]
Ten thrones floated in the sky—massive, ethereal seats forming a ring.
Four thrones were now occupied:
Kaito Yamada & Aya Shirogane
Dev Rajan & Meera Iyer
Elijah Voss (partner not yet revealed)
Xenovia Kael (partner: Arata Kanzaki)
The remaining six thrones glowed faintly.
And below them all, the Tower itself began to rise higher—summoning all Awakened to converge.
The Trial of Thrones had begun.
---