The funeral site had been established in a wide, open valley just outside the city in a place once known for quiet weekend retreats and hiking trails. However, it was currently closed off under heavy A2P2 jurisdiction.
The air slled faintly of pine and rain-soaked stone, but beneath that lingered the scent of sterilized ash— the remnants of the bodies recovered from the Tower’s second floor, many of which had been beyond recognition after being influenced by the corrupt energy.
Surrounding the valley was a temporary periter of magical barriers and tactical barricades— flickering lines of violet light and armored personnel guarded every entry point. Camouflaged drones hovered silently in the air, their presence a reminder that even here, peace was enforced, not given.
The ceremony was held at the center of a natural amphitheater ford by sloping rock formations and dense trees.
The A2P2 had erected a circular platform of white alloy and dark stone, with a low altar at its heart where nas and symbols of the fallen were displayed.
Badges, broken weapons, personal items retrieved from the Tower floor, and their belongings, now purified and sealed off, were also presented here.
Above it all hung a suspended holographic display, rotating slowly, showing the nas and faces of each casualty in silence. The association did not glorify their deaths, they presented it just the way they were— cold, aningless, and unfair.
Rows of chairs had been arranged in perfect arcs around the altar, filled with families, friends, and fellow players dressed in mourning attire or their guild uniforms.
mbers of the press were kept at a distance, behind a second ring of mobile barricades, their access to the event limited by the association. Their lenses tried to capture grief, but their audio feeds were unable to capture the sounds from their distance.
At the front on the stage stood the ceremonial speaker, flanked by association officials and emissaries from the other important guilds of their city.
{ "Hello, everyone." }
Her voice echoed through a magically enhanced mic, clear but solemn.
{ "We have all gathered here for the people we lost, for the friends that won’t see the sun anymore, for colleagues that we couldn’t get to know better... for the family mbers that we wanted to see in the light of the new tomorrow." }
She spoke not just of death, but of honor. Of lives lost in service to a world still struggling to understand the Tower’s rules. Of the horror unleashed by the corrupted mutants, and the quiet bravery it took to hold the line against them.
{ "..." }
A mont of silence followed right after her inaugural words.
Then, as per custom, each family stepped forward one by one, placing a shard of mirrored glass into a growing mosaic: a morial they were building together, fragnt by fragnt.
It wasn’t an association that suggested this. This was the custom of the tower well known among the players, a ritual that would honor the deceased players.
When complete, this mosaic would be sealed beneath the altar, a permanent installation to reflect the light of every sunrise in that valley.
The sa would follow in other cities around the world as well, with so places adding their unique customs to the mix.
The Association was taking no chances in these funeral locations. In the vicinity of these locations, hidden beneath the forest canopy, were snipers and defensive teams ard with the best available tower items.
They weren’t here for a show like the rest of the defensive teams but for actual threats. Tower’s dangers. Protesters. Opportunists. This was sacred ground now, for a ti, and it would be protected as such.
"There are more people than I anticipated," Izzy whispered to KiRA, trying to be as quiet as possible, but he shook his head, urging her to not say anything out loud.
[{ "I an, just from our city, there are like a hundred families here." }]
She used her {Mind Link} and telepathic connection instead, and that much was at least better than whispering in the middle of funeral proceedings.
[{ "A lot of people died, Izzy. It shouldn’t have been like this." }]
KiRA and Izzy sat at the very back of the association’s side instead of the relative’s side.
They were in neat, appropriate dark clothing and didn’t look out of place, unlike Ziggy who stood on the stage along with the other association officials in his uniform, which was still stained with blood.
He had protested against wearing traditional funeral attire and was honoring the dead in his own way— many from the association who had been on the 2nd floor during that ti followed behind him as well, so now there were many people on the stage with bloodstained clothes.
He had at least made sure the clothes did not have any signs of corruption left on them, ultimately helping the people of the association once again.
[{ "It would have made so difference if we were there, it most certainly would have." }]
KiRA was on the 2nd floor when this happened and yet he had no idea when any of it was happening.
He was in the cave, fighting Crabby when he should have been fighting the corrupted monsters.
With his Purity and skills, he would have saved at least a third of the lives. With Izzy helping him, they would have prevented many casualties.
But it was aningless to drown in guilt now.
The people were dead and the floor was cleared, they could not bring them back and they could not change what had already happened.
The cause was already born, what would follow now would be the results of this incident.
{ "Now, we shall hear a few words from the Association president." }
There were many powerful people present here. Many from the association, many from the guilds.
There were many unexpectedly stronger than him and Ziggy, but KiRA wasn’t here for them or their skills.
There were many interesting skills around him, but he wasn’t paying attention to them at the mont.
Instead, he looked at the stage and waited for the person who would address the entire world for the first ti— the person who was behind the abnormal expansion of the association.
-Oooooooooooooooooong!
He was expecting soone old, soone with experience. He was expecting them to be from the tower as well. There were many theories behind who this could be, but what appeared before him, before the rest of the world surprised them all.
{ "Good morning, everyone." }
The association president and the most important individual in the world right now... they weren’t what the world had expected them to be.
{ "This may co as a surprise to the people of this world, however, I would urge everyone to overlook this form." }
She was a girl who seed to be the sa age as KiRA and Izzy.
{ "I am the first president of the Association for Awakened Players and Public, Lucy." }
Her voice did not match her looks, and neither did the eyes that were looking at all of them right now, at the entire human body of this world who could feel her gaze in their hearts.
{ "It is with great sorrow that I stand before you, in this unexpected situation, after this unforeseen carnage." }
There was sothing strange about this person.
Sothing that many would not understand.
’She’s a Crown...’
But for soone like KiRA who had been in the presence of the highest holder of the Tower’s Authority, it was obvious.
{ "I offer my deepest condolences to everyone, to all my fellow humans." }
This person before them in her holographic form, was, in fact, one of the 30 original owners of a Pinnacle.
As well as soone who held a higher authority within the tower and this world than soone like him...
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