NOVEL NEXT Chapter 1: The Fall of Adam
"Everyone! Activate your shields! Now!"
Adam's voice shouted across the battlefield, cutting through the loud noises.
Clad in a crimson robe embroidered with ancient sigils, he stood at the forefront with his staff crackling with red energy.
His gaze locked onto the sky, where an enormous meteor, wreathed in blue flames fell towards them like a divine execution.
The team obeyed without hesitation, each member raising their defenses!
[Obsidian Mana Shield]!
[Steel Aura Defense]!
[Divine Protection]!
A series of barriers erupted in shimmering hues of black, silver, and gold.
They overlapped in layers, forming a protective dome just as the meteor made impact.
Boom!
The ground shook.
A deafening explosion roared as the celestial fireball shattered against their combined defenses.
Shards of molten rock and energy burst in every direction, lighting up the battlefield.
For a brief moment, silence followed.
And then...
The flames did not fade!
Instead, they clung to the barriers, sticking like living entities.
The eerie blue fire oozed across the shields, spreading like ink in water.
The air itself ignited as stray blue flames floated, setting even the empty space ablaze.
The fire was spreading everywhere... even in the air!
"Shit! The fire isn't dying out!"
One of Adam's teammates cursed, struggling to maintain his shield.
"Keep holding on! Do not let it reach you!"
Adam commanded, sweat beading his forehead.
But he could already see it... their shields were weakening.
Not only were the flames just burning...
They were also eating away at their defenses consuming their mana like a parasite!
System notifications flickered across Adam's vision, reminding him that his struggle was being watched.
[Knight of Rose is expressing her worries.]
[Sadist of Sufferings: Hahaha! That's what you humans get for challenging the Tower of Yxthar.]
[Inheritor of Dust expresses his pity towards your universe.]
Adam gritted his teeth.
'No time to focus on these bastards...'
His audience could watch, mock, or pity all they wanted...
But he needed to keep his people alive!
"Team Two! Redirect your mana into the core shield! Team Three, prepare countermeasures!"
A female spellcaster immediately stepped forward. '
"Understood! Channeling purification spells now!"
Golden runes shimmered into existence as purification magic surged toward the flames.
However...
The fire did not flicker. It did not weaken.
Instead, it spread faster.
'Dammit! It's resisting holy energy?!'
Adam's mind raced for solutions.
"Switch to elemental nullification!"
However, before they could react...
A voice, ancient and cold, whispered through the battlefield.
"Death."
A piercing silence fell upon them, as if time itself had stopped.
Then it appeared...
A towering figure stepped from the shadows.
It had six legs, each ending in jagged talons.
Its upper torso was humanoid but grotesquely elongated, its skin stretched tight over bones that barely seemed human.
It carried a staff carved from something blacker than night, its head crowned with twisted horns.
Its presence alone sent a wave of dread through Adam's veins.
Then, one by one, his teammates collapsed.
"Ngh-!"
A warrior dropped to his knees, coughing blood.
"I… I can't… move…"
Another's weapon slipped from her grasp as her body went limp.
Adam gasped as his own legs gave out beneath him.
A suffocating pressure crushed his chest, his vision blurring.
'What… what is this?!'
The system notifications continued, oblivious to the unfolding horror.
[Knight of Rose is panicking.]
[Sadist of Sufferings: Hahaha! Struggle more!]
[Inheritor of Dust: How disheartening. I guess this is the end of your livestream.]
[Inheritor of Dust has unsubscribed.]
Adam barely registered the words.
His fingers twitched.
His mind screamed at his body to move, to stand, to fight.
'Dammit…! Humanity has made a mistake…!'
The Tower of Yxthar…
We never should've went against it...
A tremor ran through the battlefield as reinforcements finally arrived.
A platoon of warriors, mages, and summoned beasts rushed forward, clashing against the encroaching horde of monstrosities.
Spells exploded in the distance, steel met flesh, and desperate cries filled the air.
Adam's lips parted.
"B-Backup…?"
He muttered in a low voice.
"Save me… Please… I can't… die here…"
His vision darkened. His body felt like ice.
He immediately tried to request for help through his livestream.
[Streamer, Crimson Mage, begs for help!]
But no viewer from the multiverse seemed to respond.
"Adam!"
A knight in gleaming armor sprinted toward him with his sword drawn and his mana surging with power.
However... A blinding beam of fire descended from the heavens.
It struck the knight before he could reach Adam, vaporizing him instantly.
"Brother..."
Adam weakly muttered in agony.
His unfocused gaze drifted sideways.
Through the haze of fire and blood, he saw it.
A colossal dragon-like entity soared above, six massive wings blotting out the sky.
Its maw pulsed with cosmic fire, its eyes glowing with ancient hunger.
It was not alone...
More creatures, titanic in size and apocalyptic in power, descended upon the world...
Across the globe, disasters unfolded simultaneously.
Tsunamis swallowed entire cities.
Flaming tornadoes ripped through continents.
Colossal beings crushed buildings beneath their feet.
The end had come.
'God… please… Anyone… help us…'
Adam's final plea vanished into the void.
His body grew still.
His blood ran cold.
And then...
[A viewer from a very distant universe has entered your channel.]
The system notification flickered in the air, its glow casting a faint light over Adam's unmoving body.
His mind was slipping, his consciousness fading... yet the moment those words appeared, something within him refused to let go.
Time seemed to slow.
The pain, the cold, the suffocating pressure of death...
It all dulled into a distant hum as his thoughts barely clung to reality.
And then, another message.
[??? has subscribed.]
[??? : I am not God, but I do find your situation quite entertaining... do you mind if my universe connects to your existence?]
Adam's thoughts scattered into confusion...
'What…?'
His mind, sluggish from impending death, barely processed the strange message.
'What the hell do they mean...'
The viewer's name was even stranger... he had never seen a username with only question marks on it.
[??? : In my universe, we don't have grand and exciting things like the Tower of Yxthar. I would like to ask for your permission in allowing me to connect our universe to your existence... that way, we can also witness and join your fun livestreams!]
'A universe that doesn't have the Tower of Yxthar…?'
Impossible.
The Tower of Yxthar was everywhere.
Every universe had its presence looming over them as every universe was destined to have its beings climb it!
That was a fact... an undeniable truth that no one questioned.
As if reading his thoughts, the viewer responded.
[??? : I agree. Perhaps it is just because the Tower of Yxthar hasn't reached us yet and is still on its way. However, in the meantime... we're quite bored of our universe.]
[??? : So will you agree to giving me permission? I can't do anything without your consent.]
[??? : It won't be for free, of course! I'll give you something in exchange...]
Adam's barely-beating heart thumped at those words.
His fingers twitched.
His lips, cold and pale, parted slightly, though no breath escaped.
The system paused.
A new notification popped up.
[??? : I'll give you a gift that can allow you to save your universe.]
His mind trembled. His dying body refused to react, yet his thoughts surged forward.
'A gift to save my universe… are you sure you're not God?'
[??? is shaking their head.]
[??? : If you find a way to destroy or defeat the Tower of Yxthar using the gift that my universe is about to give you... please come to our universe and save us.]
[??? has sent you an ?-tier gift. Do you accept?]
'You're not God, you say… I don't care! Even if you're the devil, I will gladly accept it as long as you save us!'
Adam didn't hesitate.
He reached out... not with his hand, but with his will as he accepted the gift.
A single notification awaited him.
[Your Multiversal Livestreaming System has evolved.]
And in that moment, the universe listened.
The world around him cracked.
Time itself trembled.
Everything... every burning ember, every fallen ally, every drop of his own blood all began to move in reverse.
The flaming meteor soared back into the sky.
The blue fire retreated, vanishing as if it had never touched the land.
The ancient being that had whispered death unraveled back into the depths of the darkness.
Adam saw it all.
Every moment played backward, like a film rewinding at an incomprehensible speed.
And then...
He gasped, eyes snapping open.