A strange scene unfolded amid the expansive tower.
In a large space, somewhere that looked not unlike a movie theater, two figures sat down quietly. Both were shrouded in a veil of darkness, the only illumination provided by the screen that glowed with abstract imagery before them.
The flashing lights revealed a rough appearance of the men.
One had dark hair and looked somewhere between 25 to 30 years old. He had a sharp jawline, a small forehead with bangs falling over his face, stopping just above his eyebrows, and a nose shaped like a keel.
He wore a casual t shirt and shorts. His feet were adorned with a pair of crocks.
The man beside him had a hood on his head and his eyes gleamed crimson. He wore a white trenchcoat, and 3D glasses on his face that fell onto his nose, barely concealing his eyes.
Calmly and methodically, the hooded man extended his hand and took popcorn from the basket in the other's hand. He popped them into his mouth, chewing quietly.
In comparison, his companion was all the more obnoxious. He chewed loudly and without etiquette, as if he cared nothing of the one seated beside him. He held his left leg on the head rest of the empty seat before him and his left arm and crossed over the red haired man's shoulder.
The scenery seemed to shift as the movie screen displayed what seemed to be visions from a metal compartment. The compartment was rapidly healing itself. The metallic walls fell into place, the ceiling and the ground reformed and those that stood therein heaved a sigh of relief.
And amid their relaxation, a man appeared and dropped off a black haired woman.
The black haired man laughed, his voice echoing the in the closed space, bouncing off the wall.
His companion scowled in annoyance.
"Get your arm off me." He said, showcasing his teeth with a gesture of wanting to bite off his hand.
With a genial smile, the man continued laughing and calmly withdrew his hand, holding each of his arm up as a sign of surrender.
"A lot stronger than I'd hoped." The hooded man spoke, starting the conversation.
The other man threw him a passing glance.
"True. I wasn't expecting such a tremendous leap in strength."
"Are you sure he really can't sense us?" The man's crimson eyes glowed from beneath the hood as he turned to his companion.
The other party shrugged his shoulders, as a universal gesture of 'I don't know.'
"Who can tell. He might already be aware, just not reacting. Either that, or we've actually eluded him."
"Now what?"
"What? What can we even do?"
"Do you not want to?"
"Want to what?"
"...do something." The hooded man sighed in exasperation. "They're on the floor of death. That irregular is even on his way to meet Garam Jahad. Do you wish to sit still?"
With a chuckle, he replied "What? Afraid that the King's secrets will be further revealed?"
"Heh. Right. Nice one." His voice dripped with sarcasm as he huffed.
"Even so, there's very little that I can do. Or rather, there's very little that I want to do. I always like a little bit of chaos you know?"
"If he does reveal something, or even steps up to the family heads, the tower won't be 'a little bit chaotic'."
The man shrugged his shoulders.
"Can't do anything about it. You know how it is."
"...right."
With a shake of his head, the hooded man turned again to the screen.
Suddenly, as if a light bulb went off inside his head, the black haired one trembled and snapped his fingers.
"Oh, I know!"
"What?"
"Let's watch The Adventures of Quant again!"
"...I'm leaving."
Before the hooded man could get up, the screne instantly changed, displaying a title screen.
'The Misadventures of Quant!'
"Sometimes, I wonder how we even became friends."
"Touché!"
...
...
~~~
Huuuuuu~
Winston breathed out, feeling a bit chilly. The floor of death was chaotic. Both literally and figuratively.
The shinsu flow that created chaotic rivers across the land resulted in extreme weather conditions. Some places could be hot as the sun, while others could reach a chilling temperature of near absolute zero.
Caught in such a turbulent flow, even a high ranker, much less a ranker or a regular would have a hard time.
With a thought, he willed the shinsu to form around his body, creating a sheath of protectiveness, manifested as a large fur coat over his body.
He took off the monocle from his body and his features reverted back, turning into his true form.
The ground under him crooked as the brittle ice cracked under his weight. He could, with his muscle control, choose to walk without breaking it, bit he simply liked the sound it produced.
His eyes travelled up, looking at the ceiling of the floor, made out of the carcass of the floor guardian. The blood vessels and various organs inside the administrator became the labyrinthine caves that the people inhabited.
It's blood formed the rivers and oceans while it's hollow cavities formed the grounds for a city.
In essence, it was like various creation myths Winston had read about in his previous world– where a God sacrifices their body to make the world. Only in this regard, not only was the decision not conscious, but forced, but it also brought upon chaos and entropy on the inhabitants, forcing them to bind themselves in a spell, trapping their souls and gaining a primitive form of immortality in exchange for never leaving this hellish place.
Strange creatures inhabited this area, also trapped by the same spell, completely immortal in nature.
He stared at the figures flying in the distance. They weren't too different from the various renditions of flying dinosaurs in his previous world. They flapped their fleshy wings, soaring high above and casting their gazes upon those under them.
Do they still engage in hunting? Probably not. With all needs of sustenance gone, there's no real benefit to spend the time to hunt. There's always the chance for their animalistic instincts to be stronger though...
Winston quietly mused as he watched the beasts. In the chilling winter storm, it was astonishing that they– with their fleshy and uncovered forms– were comfortable in the environment.
Cling!
He flicked a suspendium coin into the air, watching it spin around and land back onto his palm.
With a smile, he took a step in a certain direction and blinked from his spot.
He had, after all, not forgotten his reason for coming to the hell train in the first place.
The rice pot, in all honesty, had been something he was quite disappointed in. It practically offered him nothing of value. If he had chosen the scientist, his mind would become unfeeling as it used to be back on Earth. Preferring cold clarity and logic.
And if he chose the Divine counterpart, he would become so far gone from any trace of humanity, it was more than probable that he would lose himself within that divinity, becoming another creature entirely and fully take in his divine mythical creature form.
As for the last one, his most human, yet also the most vulnerable form. It offered him a whole lot of nothing.
Of course, it would stabilize the divinity, but it would also counteract it, reducing the overall effectiveness and edge his abilities provided him in battle.
In the first place, there was no need to choose any of them.
After all, he alone was more than enough.
He was an amalgamation of them all, why would he lean towards any one of them?
All in all, the 'revolution road' turned out to be disappointing.
His figure rapidly blinked through thousands of tunnels, discretly avoiding running into any creatures.
His figure, encased in an air of concealment with a smile atop his face appeared in a large open space.
The space was filled with a bright yellow light originating from large bulbs hanging down from gigantic stalactites. Pillars that touched the rocky ceiling rose up from the ground, as if holding up the sky and a large structure sprawled beneath it.
A gigantic cityscape, filled with large buildings made out of metal and concrete was visible. Insects the size of buildings flew about the area, as did various dinosaur like creatures and strange amalgamated mutants that seemed almost alien, yet fitted right in.
The glinting lights, still visible in the bright illumination provided by the lamps overhead gave the city an almost breathing feel, as if it were alive.
At this point, Winston noted, the atmosphere had stopped being so chilly, instead turning almost sweltering.
With a simple command in his mind, the quality of his shinsu changed, adopting a glitchy pattern that soon covered the fur coat he donned.
The static void lingered over the coat for a moment, and then receded.
His shinsu quality, the static allowed him to forcibly endure errors in all objects it touched.
And with deception to 'decieve' the fur coat, he had essentially turned the garment into an all purpose tool, one that could be worn in blistering heat as well as freezing cold.
As Winston stood atop a large mountain, his figure appearing like a shadow moving through the world, veiled in concealment and resting above the spirit world, various threads began to extend from his body and dashed into nothingness.
The threads disappeared two meters away from his, supplying him with information– all the information about this space. Those that he did know, and those that he did not.
He eyes narrowed slightly, feeling the presence of another Jahad princess in the city before him. North City it was called, one of the two cities established by 'Grand De Sah' and 'Grand De Jah'.
His eyes rapidly gained visions, revelations from the spirit world appearing at his will.
The entire floor's information was his to claim. And since there was no administrator here, the flow of information too was his own to command.
It was almost scary how efficient his information gathering ability could become without an overseer lording over the shinsu.
Each happening in the world left a mark, snowballing into something unrecognizable in the long run. And shinsu, being the source of all that happens in the tower, could record everything. Shinsu knew everything that happened. It was everything that happened.
After only 30 seconds, he opened his eyes and the threads retreated back to his body.
Hmm... His eyes narrowed a bit.
The avatar I made... that Theolis Clear is with the target. I'm not in a hurry to ascend, especially not here where it's so volatile. The moment I do so, all my avatars will enter a state of inactivity as well, leaving me with no protection.
It would probably be wise for me to wait until we leave the floor. The target– Slayer 'White' will also have to leave by the Train. Even if he manages to run away, I can locate him quite easily and so long as Theolis is with them, I have nothing to worry about.
"Now then..." He said, suddenly turning to the air and gaining a cold look on his face.
The surroundings instantly chilled. An eerie momentum dashed out from his body, spreading in the area, just short from reaching the city and alerting any people.
His body, concealed by his powers as a Secrets Sorcerer opened it's mouth, appearing illusory and powerful.
"What do I do about this piercing gaze I keep feeling?"
"What do I do about this piercing gaze I keep feeling?" Winston's words hung in the air.
As if holding a certain effect on reality, the spirit world around him trembled, his powers as the bearer of the Mysteries pathway fully realized. With a clear expression, he activated his spirit vision, gazing at whatever it was or whoever it was that was spying on him.
Yet, at that moment, he felt the world itself tremble around him. His pupils constricted as his spirituality dimmed with a subtle hint of danger. Not lethal.
Very few things could be lethal at this point in time.
Yet, he also, very clearly recognized the strange feeling he was getting.
The gaze I felt on the 2nd floor... he remembered, his face darkening in grim foreboding. As if on que, the gaze retreated, no longer visible.
Winston grew a visible veins on his head, feeling a bit insulted.
"Oh no you don't." He said and extended his hand.
The shinsu swirled, creating various forms of microbes in the air.
And all of them were instantly parasitized!
Their figures expanded, filling up with shinsu and various figures came into view.
One was embroidered with pure white robes and manifested with the brilliance of the sun. It was The Sun.
Another was a being who held a weighing scale in hand and wore dark robes. The Justiciar.
Another had silver hair, gleaming in the yellow light and had a pendant that resembled an eye around his neck. The White Tower.
And finally, the last one was a wheel, formed from two serpents biting at each other's tails. The Wheel of Fortune.
After getting destroyed in the fight with Eduan and Han, they had returned to him, carrying along their powers.
Not a word was spoken. They already knew the task.
Their figures blinked, disappearing into the void.
Winston stood in silence for a moment, staring into the void as of looking for something.
Then, he shook his head and had a peculiar thought.
Since the shinsu here is so willing to listen, why don't I bring all of my other avatars here? It'll be like a picnic while they can better work on their powers.
He felt the thought process was quite reasonable.
The shinsu without an owner was like a puppy eager to please. As compared to the other floors, their shinsu abilities would progress with as much as 40% more efficiency!
With a smile, Winston chose to follow through with the idea.
Donning a hat on his head, he quietly blinked away from the area, not caring to investigate more or meet with the exiled princess.
If it were him before, he might have chosen to meet her, solely for the sake of getting to know her. Now?
He suddenly found himself not caring all that much.
Wonder why...
...
...
~~~
Theolis Clear was not having a good day.
As a matter of fact, none of his days had been 'good' ever since he entered the tower.
The silver dwarf hanging like the blade of a guillotine over his head had been bad enough. Now, when he had finally gotten a moment of respite and a chance to flex his power- finally becoming one of the strongest regulars all over the lower floors- his transient victory was not bearable to the world. It was as if the tower itself was ought to get him.
The first hint of his downfall began when they boarded the hell train. The red rain summoned by the slayer candidate, Jue Viole Grace, had surprised him but it had also blossomed as a wave of excitement in his heart. The nature of his power was connected to the thorn of Enryu! It was the Red Tower!
But sadly, shortly after boarding the train- and by shortly, he means 2 months, they met a strange regular. He was undoubtedly from the Arie family with their signature white hair and sword in hand. Yet, the moment he joined them, Theolis lost his position as the top dog.
That alone was fine. Then, the regulars they had a fight with at Train City boarded the train! And then, as if on cue, the conductor intervened and orchestrated a large game. The Dallar Show.
In the end, Theolis and Jue Viole Grace ended up facing against each other in one of the first rounds.
And he... got decimated. It was insane to him how his strength could grow at such an astounding pace. It was nothing short of miraculous, leaving Theolis wondering about the unfairness of the world.
And then, as if to put salt on the wound, Jue Viole Grace ended up receiving all of Hoaqin's... or better yet, Slayer White's powers and continued to defeat White.
After that, it only went down from there. When Theolis wished to quietly slip away after getting off on the name hunt station, another bigshot from FUG captured him- Karaka, the Immortal Slayer.
And now, here he was, stuck in the floor of death, separated from the rest of the gang by a shinsu anomaly all because Rachel was too stupid to plan everything out beforehand.
It was, in a word, a disaster. It was all but a nightmare, one he wished to wake up from as soon as possible.
"Damn..." Theolis cursed under his breath as he shielded himself from the winds that tore through the landscape. It was as if a large tornado was tearing everything asunder. And in this cave like labyrinth, there was no hiding. There was only lasting.
Theolis covered himself with a red shinsu, creating a protective layer around himself.
His attire was barely holding on, reduced to a sorry state. Wounds littered his body, but strangely, he was somehow able to utilize shinsu here. It was supposed to be impossible to use shinsu on the Floor of Death as far as he was aware. But somehow, thankfully, it seemed to not apply to him.
His red hair thrashed around in the wind as his feet embedded themselves into the ground. His crimson eyes peered at the rapidly approaching tornado with a gaze of steel.
It's undoubtedly because my power stems from Enryu that I'm able to use it here. Shortly, his expression changed to one of thoughtfulness. Speaking of, I've never thought how or why my powers manifested to begin with. Am I some special pawn in some big-shot's chessboard or merely a... lost lost descendant in his questionable lineage...
Before his musings could take a tangible form and he could arrive at a result, a screech, like that of a bird's reached his ears.
Kawwwwwwwwwww!!!
It was the shrill screech of a bird.
His eyes widened as shinsu surged through them. Turning over instantly, he gazed at the heart of the tornado! There was a large bird piloting the tornado!
And it was coming straight for him!
"Why me?!" Theolis yelled as he was swept up by the wind, the ground under him crumbling without resistance and being carried into the air!
Theolis screamed as the bird extended it's talons. One of them embedded straight into his shoulder, drawing blood.
"Argh!" He groaned. "Samuel.... when I catch you, I don't care if you kill me... I'll smack you on the head... hard!!!"
Sadly, his yelling was drowned out by the sound of the wind. And he was carried off by the bird.
...
...
~~~
Winston looked on with a smile in the large clearing. Multiple humanoid figures, some animalistic in nature stood before him, perched atop rocks and mountains. They were many in shape and form- women, men, children, dogs, cats, birds, fishes, shinhueh- and numbered in the thousands.
The only thing that joined all of them within a single group was a crystal monocle that hung on each of their right eyes.
They were all part of Winston. His avatars.
With a smile, he looked upon them.
"You're all here." He gave a toothy grin as right before his eyes, every being extended it's hand or tail, and gently nudged the crystal monocle on their right eyes as a collective gesture of respect.
Extending his hands as if he wanted to embrace the world, Winston opened his mouth and solemnly proclaimed as if issuing a divine decree.
"My avatars! This is both a training ground and a picnic spot. Half of you shall work on finding the rat that was spying on me. The other half will focus on training.
"We have held this off for long enough! It is time to declare war! After we leave the Floor of Death, it is time to descend upon the Jahad Empire!
"In some time, when I leave the floor of death, I shall overtake this sequence, and step into the domain of a Sequence 3, a step closer to Godhood!" He exclaimed, getting a wide variety of cheers from his onlookers.
A baleful red light fell on his face and he smiled.
"May madness take the tower."
...
...
~~~
A/N: I apologize for the upload speed, but I'll be having a tough couple of months so bear with me here. I won't be dropping this story as I have yet to write the two critical moments that sparked the story to begin in the first place. But with the current upload speed, I can't be sure that if I ever get to that point, I will get the response I had initially been hoping for.
Anyway, once May descends upon us, It'll most probably be regular uploads with a few breaks in between- so if you can stick around till then, you'll be in for a treat.
Also, I've been researching a lot about the LoTM fanfic that I eventually want to write. It'll probably be a slower pace story as LoTM is, but there's a lot of room for speculation. And I know I've said that I probably won't make any more stories with the lord of mysteries power system in the future, but nowadays, I've been getting fascinated by the concept of an Abyss pathway beyonder in DxD or a similar world where mythology is real.
So, there's a lot that may happen. You never know.
Anyway, I won't ask you to throw any stones, but do tell me your thoughts.
Cheers~
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