Chapter 20

 

 

Flashback

 

 

POV Jahad, the Immortal King of the Tower

 

 

He was a king…a god…so what was this…

 

Countless years ago, he and his great warriors had conquered this tower and placed its rule under their thumbs. With the contract with the administrators made, they were the new gods of this infinite domain…and even among the great 13, or now 11, he was the greatest of them all.

 

It was him, Jahad, that gathered them from outside the tower. It was him that lead them up this vast world, floor after floor. It was him, it was always him, that lead and ruled…it was always him that claimed victory over it all.

 

Yet, what was this…

 

… …

 

He had never forgiven himself for the sins he had committed on that fated day. The day he had done the unforgivable. A crime so unspeakable that its memory was embedded in his very heart. Not a day went by when he could forget the deeds.

 

The metallic smell of blood constantly reminded him of his sins. The dried blood of his own companions on his own hands. Blood between them because of a mere disagreement…was fate so unkind to him?

 

Sickened by his own deeds, he had removed all evidence and memory of such a thing happening. Monuments were broken, entire floors were burnt down, countless millions slayed…yet their memory never faded.

 

Viole might have been lost to the passage of time but his lover…no, the one he had loved…refused to die, refused to leave.

 

Arlene Grace was as stubborn as ever.

 

With her passage, others took up her mantle and yelled her name as loud as they could. A religion forming…a religion dedicated purely to dismantle his rule and share the hidden ‘truth’ of that day…of what he had done.

 

Did he fear them? FUG, as they called themselves…with very few that remain even knowing what it stood for. ‘For Unforgettable Grace’…an ironic name as it was he himself who could not ever forget her.

 

No. He didn’t fear FUG. He didn’t fear their influence or their goal. Their weak Slayers and their weapons nor their trickery. What he feared was Arlene’s prophecy. What he feared was fate.

 

And perhaps fate had arrived

 

… …

 

Fear was a concept that had been gone so long, it felt foreign to him. He would have imagined he had forgotten the concept of ‘fear’ should it not have returned to him at this very moment.

 

His immortal guard…slaughtered. His connections to shinsu…severed. He was no longer King, God…he was not even the adventurous child that had lead his ‘friends’ into the tower, into the unknown.

 

Now…he was less.

 

Staring up into the eyes of the man the tower would come to learn as ‘Phantaminum’…he knew fear.

 

… …

 

Centuries had passed since the invasion of Phantaminum into his Palace where the ‘irregular’ had spared his life. It was centuries since he, Jahad, had given up searching the answer as to why he had done so.

 

“You have ruined the ‘story’ I had so carefully crafted” Phanataminum had said to him on that fateful night…and yet moments later, it was as if he was talking to a different man.

 

“A foolish King, drunk of power and wealth. You remind me of myself and it disgusts me.” Jahad remembers the voice drenched with hate and disgust. Disgust not just at him but also at himself.

 

It was when the unknown force lifted he was finally free…coming to know that he would live to see another day. Spared by a man who had come to kill him…only to spare him.

 

“It seems you share my destiny.” The irregular said as he began walking away from the broken throne. “It is not my fate to kill you here today…but we are to meet our ends by the demons we made with our own hands.”

 

The man was gone…and in Jahad’s head was only one thought. A thought of survival and preservation instinct triggered from the mortality that he was reminded of after eons of being ‘god’.

 

To place ‘Fate’ under his control.

 

 

Flashback end

 

 

POV Pandora (Not first person)

 

 

The throne was shattered and the game won…but why did she feel so lost? As if she had lost something… She knew it was not her soul nor her heart. Her soul remained firmly anchored to her ‘self’, refusing to leave even after death.

Her heart, always working, continued to pump cycle after cycle of blood and shinsu through her physical self. It kept her strong.

 

So what was it…?

 

She looked at the corpse of a man who claimed to be her ‘brother’. A man who a monster…no…a demon. She was a monster but she was not a demon. She didn’t choose to be evil…the evil found her first.

 

She never fell for the temptation of power but rather was manipulated into opening all the sins of the world. She never wanted the power…she never wished for more either. If anything, she wished for it to end.

 

But now…what did she want? Revenge? Blood? Just like her ‘brother’?

 

Hoaquin, the former Slayer White, had become a demon in order to kill his…our…father. But her? Wasn’t she climbing the tower to attain power to kill her creator? To kill the gods who planted the seeds of evil inside her?

 

So what was so different about them…?

 

She remembered the cruel, sadistic, smile of Hoaquin as he mentioned the deaths, the crimes, and the evil-doings. The utter madness he committed in his name for power, for the taste of the souls, and for his selfish needs.

 

Yes…yes, she convinced herself. She was different from that demon. She wasn’t anything like that. She was better…she had a cause…she was different.

 

 

… …

 

 

POV Ha Yuri Jahad, The Blackhead Princess of Jahad. Carbonara Alliance

 

 

The game was announced as over just as soon as she was beginning to finish off all the goons outside. She, to her guilty pleasure, rather had some fun bashing in the heads of the weaker scum who thought they had the advantage as they had the ‘numbers’.

 

She wasn’t sure how someone like them could be qualified as ‘D-rank regulars’ with such a low level of strength or knowledge but she decided she didn’t care. Thinking was reserved for Lero and Pandora. She would much rather prefer talking and thinking with her fists; something she shared in common with their new teammate, Quant Blitz, as well as the big dude from the other team, Aka Williams.

 

She had expected a rather smug looking Pandora to walk out of the enemy castle or at least brag it right in front of her face but to her surprise, she got to see a solemn, gloomy, princess drudging out.

 

While the two, herself and Pandora, had their rivalries and moments of intense fights…they were sisters (although adopted) after all. If she had learned anything during the long climb up the tower with her peanut gallery, it was that they took care of each other when it was needed…and this seemed like a good time.

 

Like the good teammate she was, she sprinted behind the sad looking, thought locked, Arie princess before whacking her on the back of the head before giving her the finger. Pandora simply looked at her with an expression of shock before her annoyed expression returned. Her lifeless face replaced with something more akin to ‘pissed off’

 

Life goals achieved. This is what friends are for…right?

 

… …

 

A few days later…

 

 

The rest of the group (namely, the Carbonara Alliance) were looking in shock and awe at a surreal sight. At something which was previously thought to be impossible, or at least, considered sacrilege and heretic.

 

A base explanation was the Arie Princess, Pandora, training; however, training for her was normal…but instead this time she was holding a Warhammer in which she had bought off of Aka Williams and trying to use it like a sword.

 

“Princess. You’re holding it all wrong. You cannot cut with a Warhammer. You’re supposed to crush them.” Aka would say only to receive a glare from the eyes of the white haired princess.

 

“Nonsense. Everything an Arie holds can be a blade. Be it a katana, a great sword, or even a pipe. There is no reason why this cannot be so as well.”

 

Gripping the Warhammer in a two-handed stance, she tried to cut the space in front of her only to fail miserably. The blade in which had once cut through time and space, disappeared from view, and defied logic and the laws of the tower’s physics itself now looked ridiculously slow…and funny.

 

To see someone called a prodigy, and a princess of Jahad no less, fail at something was quite interesting to watch.

 

“What’s gotten into you?” Lero asked “A couple days ago you were preaching about the ways of the sword.”

 

“Hoaquin happened” She replied. “Someone who had been able to read and keep up with my swordsmanship. Match me blade for blade until I had taken out Tell-Tale which was reserved for father’s test.”

 

She continued to attempt to use the Warhammer like a double handed blade which ended rather badly-a cracked floor as she lost balance of the blunt weaponry.

 

“Unless there is a substantial difference in power or skill, a battle between two Arie swordsman are decided with who can disable the other’s sword first. I merely thought that having a ‘Hammer’ to use would give me the means to break the other’s blade entirely.” Pandora said blankly as she, once again, failed to cut open the space in front of her.

 

“I’ve done this with a literal wooden stick before. I’ll be damned if I can’t do it with a pole arm weapon.” She grumbled as she continued to fumble around with Aka’s weapon.

 

 

… …

 

 

“So let me get this straight” Lero-Ro stopped Pandora from continuing her explanation. 

 

Ever since the massive team battle, the tests have been generally easier as they took their time to advance through the tower. They were closing in on the 39th floor as they (the Carbonara Alliance) sat around the large (metallic, industrial themed) room.

 

“You think that Hoaquin’s not technically dead?” Lero clarified.

 

“No. Hoaquin is dead…White, the Slayer, is not.” Pandora replied before digging into her favorite dish. She stopped paying attention as if that previous explanation explained everything.

 

Lero, who was used to dealing with the Arie princess, snatched away the Carbonara dish before holding it hostage before glaring at Pandora. The princess looked as if she had just lost a fortune as she glanced at her empty hands. Hands which, moments ago, held the most divine of dishes.

 

“Explain. Or else…” Lero threatened as he motioned to spill the divine pasta onto the floor.

 

“Fine *pout*. Hoaquin was incomplete for a lack of words. There are parts of him scattered throughout this train. I’m not sure if the others will be anything like him but I’d rather not find out.”

 

“Wasn’t he the center piece though?” Yuri asked.

 

“I think so but honestly, I don’t care.” Pandora motioned for her plate, which she graciously accepted from Lero. “Though from what I could tell, them seemed to be sealed inside compartments of the train so as long as we don’t do anything stupid…shouldn’t be any trouble.” As she finished her quick explanation, she returned to slurping the smooth, soft, noodles. Smiling softly at the familiar yet comforting taste.

 

(AN: To those who are trying to make carbonara. Don’t use manufactured ‘cream’ or else you’ll have a slight ‘sour’ taste in your noodles. Instead, make it yourself with egg whites and a (very small) bit of milk (to smooth it out further). If you must use the pre-made cream, as least add in something to dampen the sourness or replace it with a small amount of white-wine to make the ‘sourness’ appealable to the palate.)

 

 

… …

 

 

It has been months inside the train and the team was getting tired of the metal walls and the ever-dull grey which lined the inside of the train.

 

“That’s it. We’re getting off for a bit in this floor.” Yuri declared.

 

Lero initially tried to go against her decision but with Pandora’s support to Yuri’s argument (?), he had to relent at the end. In truth, he to was tired of being stuck inside the train for too long. Despite the ease in which they passed through the tests and the high scores which were transferred over to good rewards, they would much rather go outside for once.

 

“39th floor…what was this floor again?” Lero pondered.

 

“The Name Hunt Station” Sachi, the sorcerer explained. “It’s one big trap disguised as a station but with your strength…” He looked at the two princesses, completely ignoring the red haired fire user scout. “I suppose you’ll be fine. Enough to cover up for that scout of yours.”

 

“Hey!” - Quant Blitz. 

 

“We’re not planning on causing trouble or triggering any traps.  …right girls?” Lero glanced at the two (or now three) troublemakers before he began to sweat profusely at the expression the black haired princess was making.

 

On the face of Ha family princess might have well be written ‘Thinking of causing trouble’. Her full grin in full display as her eyes widened at all the chaos. she could cause.

 

“Yuri, no!” Lero yelled, but it was too late.

 

“Muhahahahaahaa!!!” Yuri began sprinting towards the next test area which would clear them for the 39th floor. As the indestructible sandbag activated the testing system on her own, Lero felt a rather familiar migraine forming as he massaged his head.

 

Being on the same team with these two monsters was both a blessing and a curse. He wasn’t sure which side it weighted more heavily to. With a slight bit of hope, he looked to his right where the relatively new member of their team was supposed to be.

 

“Whahahaaha!” Quant Blitz, the mad firecracker, the Cola, and the new team member was sprinting after the black haired madwoman. Lero merely grasped his head again as the pain of the migraine doubled.

 

 

*pat* *pat*

A pat on his back was all he got as he looked graciously at the only member that stayed behind. 

 

“It’s alright. That’s just who Sandbag is.” Pandora reasoned. “Besides, it’s fun. No?”

 

“Not really helping *sigh* Pandora.”

 

 

… …

 

POV ??

 

 

“My lady! The train has arrived once again.” A blond haired woman stated to a seated figure in the darkness. Her blond hair covering the left part of her face, her one visible golden eye unblinking, void of emotion, towards the said figure.

 

She was Alphine of the Lo Po Bia family. A family well known for their abilities to tame, dominate, and control the beasts of the tower. Animas, as they were called, are a natural for those who hold the bloodline of the Lo Po Bia, one of the ten great families. Alphine, is loyal servant to the ‘ruler’ of the station and one of the ‘Ten Bosses’ who ruled this part of this floor. 

 

The seated figure sat unmoving. Her mask covering her face, showing no emotion or interest, as she pondered the forgotten time of her past.

 

How long has she been here…how long had she slaved for her family?

 

Her sins resurfaced and her sins disappeared once more. A year or a thousand…it didn’t matter. 

 

“Let them come Alphine” She stated slowly, befitting the voice of royalty. “Let them know the power of Kaiser.”

 

Next Chapter: Extra Spicccccxxxy fan favorite charater's *drummrollll* Origin Story *borrringggg*

*People who were expecting smut or fluff*: KILL THE AUTHOR!!

*throws rocks and eggs*

Author: Sorry Sorry! *ow!* But I've already wrote it so I can't just erase it!