Tower of Karma
Vol. 1 - Ch. 12 - The Moment of Awakening (2): Awakening

 William Livius was standing in a world that smelled of dim sewers. The hopeless lowest layer, the hopeless bottom. This was the beginning of the world, and this was the end of the world.

 He had sipped muddy water. He had taken a bite of a dry bread covered with mold, and he thought that was happiness. In this unsanitary environment, death was a common occurrence; He would be the first to die if a disease broke out. He had pecked at the dead flesh of the starved to survive the winter. He did anything to live.

 If they called him a beast, then let them say so.

 If they called him inhuman, then let them say so.

 But, world. Be careful.

 The ones who change the world are always those who stray from the path of humanity.

 Al was crying. He was gently embraced by Arlette. The dead around them circled around and continued to raise the same voice of resentment as "always". The only difference from "always" was—

 "...Can you move?"

 The fact that William could move. The scene that was a dream where he could only look at the scenery without moving at all, had transformed into a world where William could move actively. In a sense, William, who had only a god's eye view, had stepped into the world with his own feet for the first time.

 "...Are you wearing a mask?"

 William touched his face and felt something foreign. The familiar bumps told him that it was the mask he usually wore.

 "Well, whatever."

 One step.

 "What?!"

 What clung to his leg was the owner of the imported bookstore he used to frequent, Norman and his wife. Their faces were horribly distorted, and their eye sockets were nothing but abysses. They were hideous corpses with bones and flesh mixed together, clinging to William's leg.

 "Why did you betray us? We trusted you so much. We thought of you as our son."

 "Ugh, get off! You're in the way! To kill me, you have to kill the ones who know Al. Even if you were keeping a low profile, you wouldn't forget me. That's why I killed you! If you understand, then get lost!"

 William swung his leg and blew away the Norman couple.

 Two steps.

 "You're not William. I'm William. You're not Norman. You're not even Al. Then, who are you? What are you? What am I? Why did I have to die?"

 A red-haired corpse hung from William's right arm, crawling and clinging to it.

 "Ha! You're pathetic and pitiful, William! You would have died in the streets anyway. You should be grateful to me. I'm using your name, you know!"

 William shook his right arm and blew away the corpse.

 Three steps.

 "Why?"

 Four steps.

 "I don't want to die."

 Five steps.

 "I want to see my family."

 Six steps.

 "For the sake of the country."

 Seven steps—

 Shaking off everything, William moved forward. He didn't care about the dead he had killed. He didn't care what happened to the outside world. If he paid attention to such things, there would be no end to it.

 "...You really piss me off."

 Beyond the crowd of corpses, a black-haired boy, Al, was sitting with his knees hugged and crying, and a black-haired maiden, Arlette, was comforting him.

 "You're making a pathetic face with my body."

 Spitting out the words, William threw them at Al. He flinched and looked up. His face twisted unpleasantly as he looked at William.

 "What's with that face?"

 William reached for the sword at his waist. Al flinched, but in the meantime, a shadow intervened. William frowned.

 "Hah, of all people, you're going to get in my way? Sister Arlette!"

 "William" raised his voice defiantly, but his hand on the sword at his waist did not move.

 "You're not me. I'm sister's knight. Not a monster like you."

 A clear rejection that irritated William.

 "...Don't mess with me. It's because you wished for it that I'm here now! I'm sister's knight, so I'm going to avenge her. We wished for that! That's why I'm here!"

 "No! Sister's wish was for me to live healthily. Even if I were to take revenge, what are you now? You killed many people who had nothing to do with it, committed meaningless sins, and you don't even know the face of sister's enemy. Is that what sister's knight would do?! You don't care about sister at all!"

 "Th-That's because it's a necessary step. Sister is everything to me. So, since she was taken away from me, I have to take away more—"

 "Sister would only wish for you to kill Count Vlad. Nothing more, nothing less."

 William was outwitted by his own self, who was much smaller and weaker than him.

 "You should have turned back as Kyle said. You're twisted. You're too twisted. You forgot your original wish, and you're just doing bad things and using sister as an excuse. You don't have any intention of taking revenge. You don't really love sister either. You can't love anyone."

 Before he knew it, there was a mountain of corpses behind Al. They writhed and roared with resentment, waiting for the moment to swallow William.

 "Just die, you terrible person. We'll take Vlad's place. That's the end of it. Then we'll live healthily as sister wished. Simply, modestly, with Kyle and Favela. Oh, let's be friends with Carl and Rutgard too. If only you died, everything—"

 While Al was talking, the sword that William threw pierced Al's stomach. He stopped talking and looked at William.

 "I see. I see, huh. You're right. I'm crazy. I'm a disgrace as sister's knight. ...But, so what?"

 The eyes behind the mask shook wildly. The ruby hanging from his neck shone like blood.

"When I ate my sister, I was born. I thought you were dead then. But you were alive, weren't you? Sitting in me, hugging your knees and crying... trying to eat me back! Ha, I can't save myself!"

 Arlette stood in silence to protect Al. William smiled.

"Sister Arlette. You always protected me. Even in death... you supported my heart. But I don't need a babysitter anymore!"

 William strangled Arlette's neck. With both arms, as if to gently embrace her,

"I loved you. I loved you more than anything in the world. I still love you. But still, that's why, I won't make you an excuse anymore. I shouldn't. The path I'm going on, even if it started that way, isn't revenge anymore."

 He was hopelessly twisted. He was twisted from the beginning. He had no guilt for taking from others. He even felt pleasure. He couldn't call this, this karma, revenge.

"I'm done making you an excuse, lying that it's revenge, and justifying myself. You are me. The revenge in the name of an excuse that was sleeping somewhere inside my heart... but it's okay now. I've become stronger. I'm okay without you."

Even as she was strangled, Arlette did not break her smile. It was an illusion in William's memory. A dream that he could never reach. He wanted to drown in his fantasy. He wanted to dive into the sweet dream. But he couldn't forgive that.

"Do you want to kill sister Arlette?!"

 Al's roar hit William's ears. He looked at him with a twisted face.

"Hey, hey, I don't have any intention of killing her, she's been dead for a long time. What's in my hand is a pure fantasy that we conveniently only saw the beautiful side of. She always smiled? She loved me? No one knows that!"

 Al wavered.

"We don't know the sister who was selling flowers. We don't know the reason why sister wanted to leave that shabby shack, even if she had money. Did you want to know her true face? We were satisfied with the one side we were given, and we turned our eyes away from the painful truth. That was me. That was you."

"No! Sister loved me, and I loved sister. There was a world for just the two of us there! That's why revenge has meaning!"

"There's no way to verify that anymore. Sister is dead. Before I heard the true words, before I saw the dark side that might have existed, sister died. Of course, I had the confidence to love sister even after I knew that. Even if I wasn't really loved, I have the confidence to love her to the end. But there's no way to know that. What's in my hand is nothing but a convenient fantasy!"

 Without any hesitation, William broke the neck of the phantom he loved. He made a dry sound, and Arlette crumbled. Al's scream echoed in this world.

"I won't make you an excuse. Of course, I'll give Vlad, who took you away, a fitting pain. But even that, I'll do it because I want to do it. Hate, take. Anger, take. Want, take. I'll go crazy as I please, to my heart's content."

 William broke Arlette, who was revenge.

"Next is you, little boy."

 William looked at Al.

"You're crazy."

 Al pulled out the sword that was stuck in his stomach, and stabbed it into William's stomach with all his might. William accepted it without shaking.

"Yeah, I'm crazy. And I'll keep... going insane."

 William slapped Al's face. Al flew away.

"You were always inside of me. Every time I killed someone, every time I piled up karma, you whispered to me. You're wrong, it's wrong, you said. That sometimes caused me pain, hesitation. I threw away the kindness, love, morality, ethics, and conscience that I used to have. You are that."

 Al glared at William as he lay down.

"You're wrong!"

"Maybe. But I won't stop going."

 William stomped on Al's head with his right foot.

"I kept rejecting you guys. I didn't want to see. I kept making sister an excuse, the normal, obvious, conscience that was latent in me, the same thing as any ordinary person that was inside of me. I didn't want to admit that."

 William stomped on Al's head. He heard a groan. A sense of conquest came from his toes. This is pleasure. This is karma.

"But I'll accept you guys. I'm both clear and muddy. And I'm me by stepping on both. The swelling corpses, you who glare at me without acknowledging me, and even the excuses, they're all part of me."

William glanced at the direction where Arlette, with her neck broken, was smiling at him. Seeing that, William gave a bitter smile and continued.

"If you want to stop me, then try it. I'll swell up more. I'm thirsty, and thirsty, and I can't help it. I want this and I want that. I don't have enough money or status, I don't have anything, and the only way to fill it is to take it."

 William turned his feet to the crowd of corpses. The corpses were startled by his strangeness.

"To take is to be satisfied."

 William trampled on Norman and his wife, who had been very kind to him.

"To be satisfied is to win."

 William trampled on the red-haired William.

"What will the scenery in front of me look like after I keep winning and being satisfied? Will it be dazzling? Will it be warm? Will it be pitch black? Will it be cold? Is there such a thing as me being satisfied in the first place?"

 He trampled on many corpses and ascended. There was no hesitation there. His steps were steady, and his eyes looked straight up. Absolute confidence, firm pride, he proved himself to be himself with every step.

"You're wrong!"

 Al's scream came from below.

"Heh, scream and shout. Resentment is a blessing, struggling is applause, let the thunderous gospel ring!"

 The corpses screamed. The voices of hatred-filled resentment and the heartbeat of crawling and struggling to avoid being crushed came from his feet. They all turned into pleasure and power.

"If I show weakness, possess and kill me at any time. If I show weakness, overthrow me at any time."

 Of course, William had no intention of showing weakness. But he thought his deeds were halfway done, and he had just started, but he was already so high. If he reached the "top" where he would be satisfied, how high would he be? How many lives would he trample on? William himself couldn't even imagine.

 Therefore, this was a warning. His many evil deeds, he looked back at them and still asked himself if he could advance without hesitation. The answer is of course—

"It starts here. World, are you ready? I'm ready. You guys, I'm ready to eat you with my will. We're hungry. We're thirsty. We can only be healed by taking, that's "me". Born usurpers. Let's go, my way!"

 On top of the tower of corpses, the king reigned. The tower was still small, and the king was weak. But as he plucked and took lives, the tower would rise higher and bigger. The authority of the king who reigned over it would increase endlessly.

 They all became the king's power.

"I won't give up! Someday I'll stop you... I'll!"

"Hmph, I think it's too late, but well, good luck."

 Once he recognized him, Al was nothing but a part of the corpses.

"Do as you like. Your way, with your feet."

 Was that Arlette's words, or—

"That's what I intend to do. Thank you for everything."

 William thanked them. Arlette and Al's existence. Because he spent so much time here, William gained the power to reign over these corpses. If they hadn't been there, he would have become a mere beast when he was swallowed up.

"Well, shall we go?"

 The masked king reigned alone on the tower of corpses.

"......"

 William slowly opened his eyes. He traced his face as if to confirm his existence. The bumps of the mask, the coldness of the mask, came to his fingertips.

 William checked the situation. The candlelight had long gone out, and the noise of the banquet that was supposed to be outside the tent was gone. In fact, almost all the sounds were gone, and all he could hear was the rustling of the trees.

"Late night, huh."

 William slipped out of the tent.

 Almost no visibility in the dark night. The twinkling of the stars was far and thin.

"I can see."

 William walked slowly. He left the camp set up in the mountains and walked alone in the night where even the beasts slept. His steps were not those of the dark night. He stepped out without hesitation and firmly stepped on the ground. He walked on the uneven ground as if it were flat.

"I can hear."

 William bounced as if he was dancing. The music was the orchestra of the night, wind, and the trees.

"It smells."

 The mountain was full of scents. The smell of soil, the fragrance of wood, the smell of people and iron in the distance, and the scent of blood scattered around. Fragrantly filled, the world was full of scents.

"Is this it, is this it?!"

 Everything he saw was new. Everything he heard was vivid. Everything he smelled was bright. Everything he touched, and probably everything he felt with his tongue, was renewed. The world had changed so much. The mere scenery burned his eyes, the mere sound made him dance, the mere smell made him ecstatic, everything was sharpened.

"Ha, haha. How cruel, Kyle! You've been seeing this scenery, and you've been feeling this world. You're so unfair!"

 The world was so beautiful.

"Ahahahahahahaha!"

 The world was so fragrant.

"Is this the world you've been seeing... beautiful—"

 A large number of corpses poured out from the masked man. A swarm of bodies. Surrounded by them, the king of the corpses reigned.

"—cruel and shitty! Ugly, noisy, smelly! But good, that's good, that's fine! I'll smear this beautiful world with shit. I'll take everything that shines beautifully, everything that rots ugly, and leave nothing for you. Everything, mine!"

 William Livius reigned.

"Come on, world. Let's start! Let's play a game, whether I eat or get eaten!"

 The one who usurped everything, was born.

"What? What did you say?"

"I'm changing the plan. I'm feeling good today."

 William tapped Carl's head, who looked puzzled.

"Trust me."

 Carl felt uneasy about William's different atmosphere from yesterday, but he had no choice but to trust William. He had no choice but to nod.

"Thank you. I'll live up to your trust."

 How would Carl's anxiety turn out?

"You're kidding, right?"

 Ignatz saw an unbelievable sight in front of him.

 The flag of Arcadia was fluttering on the mountaintop. It was Tyar's territory on the map, and a land that Arcadia had never invaded before. Now, it might be temporary, but it had fallen into Arcadia's hands.

 It was just one point, just one mountain. But if it was taken by a squad of only ten people, the story would be different.

"Sure, I didn't expect them to go that far, but still, is it okay for a ten-man squad to do this much?"

 Everyone knew that they had no margin of force because they had been sparing their forces. But no one thought they could take the base. It might not be impossible with a hundred-man squad, but they hesitated because the risk was too high.

"I don't care. We're at war. There's nothing wrong with winning."

 The front line with the enemy country. They didn't know what was inside. They didn't know how much force they had. That's why, normally, they couldn't take this risk. Even with a hundred-man squad, it would be difficult. With a ten-man squad, it would be insane.

"If you look at the placement and force of the last few days, you can roughly estimate how many people they have. They were pushed into such a disadvantage and still didn't increase their defense, couldn't increase it. They didn't have enough soldiers to spare."

 There were corpses at William's feet.

"He made a mistake. He should have thrown away his shame and reputation and concentrated all his forces on the base. If he had done that, he wouldn't have been able to take it. He didn't do that because of his stupid pride and his mistaken confidence."

 William looked at the heads lined up. It was the head of the hundred-man squad leader who had pushed William back the day before. The others were the ten-man squad leaders who had defended the base.

"He thought he could beat me, so he formed a phalanx and faced the enemy in the middle of the battlefield, just like yesterday. He misjudged me, us."

 William looked away with no interest. William was no longer interested in them.

"That's why he lost."

 It was as William said. They formed a phalanx in almost the same place as yesterday, and unlike yesterday, they were ambushed by William and his men. And they lost.

'It was a moment. A moment until William's sword cut the throat of that hundred-man squad leader. It was like a whole other level. Honestly, today William was scary. He was sharp.'

 Was this a special good condition that lasted only for today? Or would it continue? No one knew. There was only one thing they knew—

"Lord Carl. Let's win, for the Taylor family. I'll do my best too."

"Y-yeah."

 William reached out to the sky.

"Let's keep winning."

 The fact that Tyar's base was taken by a squad of only ten people. The fact that the hundred-man squad leader was killed. The fact that Arcadia won.

 From here on, the name of the undefeated Carl ten-man squad lost its meaning of contempt and became known as the strongest ten-man squad in Arcadia. The battlefield with the Carl ten-man squad added would win. They'd say that—