Chapter 40
I waited until I was safely back in my apartment at the player hub before turning my attention inward to the Spire.
Just as I suspected, the obsidian tower had taken root within my consciousness.
It was inhabited by every soul I had encountered in the dungeon.
But they were no longer twisted monstrosities.
Their grotesque features had melted away, revealing their true forms.
The feral beasts were now loyal companions, and the terrifying monsters were simply ordinary men, women, and
children.
“Alice, you saved us,” they chorused. “Thank you.”
That was when the true nature of the mission finally dawned on me.
“Eliminating the monsters” was never about brute force.
It was about healing the trauma that had turned them into monsters in the first place.
I shifted my focus to the eighth floor..
They had transformed it to look exactly like our old apartment in Blissful Manor.
Bernard was whole again, his gruesome wounds gone.
Eleanor was no longer a charred husk, but a dignified elderly woman.
Meg twirled in a pristine white dress.
Julian stood tall, his neck unmarred and his head firmly on his shoulders.
They had prepared a feast and seated me at the head of the table like a queen holding court.
“Mommy! I get to stay with you forever,” Meg chirped, beaming. “This is the best day ever!”
That’s my girl,” Bernard laughed. “You’ll have to look after us old folks now, so don’t complain if we eat you out of house
and home.”
Julian looked at me, his gaze tender yet intense. “Alice, finding you was the best thing that ever happened to me.”
I choked back tears and waved a hand dismissively to hide my emotion. “Alright, knock it off with the mushy stuff”
“I’ve got big news. I’ve saved enough redemption credits over the last five years to buy my freedom.”
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Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: Her fifth daughter died, so she deleted his bloodline.