" What was that explosion? did the gods just drop some Divine Bombs over the tower? " the people from the second wave of the Raid come near as they began to see if the Tower is finally dealt with for they see that the skies are getting clear.
Using their Gift abilities as transport and mobility, they began to get closer to the tower, especially the Lower Rank Hunter who also joined in order to scour the Tower for its treasures and items.
" Let's go people, the sky is clear now... "
" Which means the tower is already deactivating, we've won! " said the Hunter while the others followed from behind, even Artemis.
" Hmmm... that explosion... "
" Didn't come from inside...? " she says while receiving some telepathic communication from Hephaestus that he is currently fixing the Gigantomachy Cannon before firing it again.
" Hmph, you better not, " Artemis says while telling Hephaestus to wait for her cue before doing it.
"Alright... " Hephaestus replies to Artemis' telepathic communication while fixing the cannon.
" Lady Artemis...? " S-Rank Hunter Yukino approached the goddess.
" Ah, young Fubuki girl... "
" What is it? " she asks her while Yukino looks at the tower, seeing all of the people raiding with her go there first.
" Do you think is it over, Lord Artemis? " she asks.
" I'm not sure... " Artemis tells her.
" But I'm sure everything's fine. " she tries to assure Yukino as she follows the guys in who already go there.
" Lady Artemis... " Yukino says as she sees her left.
...
( Meanwhile. )
[ Inside the Tower. ]
" Ga... len... " Ragna says after the explosion is over, as Galen was fully vaporized after defending him with his full power and life, he is finally gone and thus letting Ragna loose to fall into the bottomless ground.
But before Ragna falls to the ground.
* Ragna's clothes are grabbed in his neck collar.*
" You...'re... " Ragna says as he sees the person who grabbed him with his remaining right eye.
" Yeah, brat... "
" Ragna Kent... " the person answers him.
" It's me... " he presents himself, telling Ragna that he is what Ragna thinks he is.
" I... see... " Ragna says as he felt so down after Galen's demise.
" You're... Adrian... " Ragna says.
Adrian holds Ragna as he already attained a new form. Instead of his demonic-hybrid appearance, his new form appears to be more Divine as Ragna could see probably that his hair turned to gold and grown longer, his Crown is still intact on his head, had horns on his & elbow, and his body skin is mostly white while Ragna kinda sensed that he is getting taller than before despite Adrian form is mostly covered by the shadow of the clouds.
< Scanning >
< Scan...ning >
"( Oh my... )"
"( This is... )" Ragna says as he realized this new evolution of Adrian is not a good thing.
< Boss Name: Avatar of Avarice Deviant Diviner, Adrian Waterson >
" How's my new look? " Adrian asked him while Ragna could only be silent.
" Yeah, I know it kinda makes me look like I've been painted with some kind of white cement... "
" But in this form, I also felt more powerful than ever before, I have now abandoned my mortal limitations. " Adrian says as his new power begins to shift the weather, making the clear sky turn dark as his power slowly creates a storm that could be seen outside the Tower even from the Gigantomachy's location that flies around the clouds above the Abyss Tower.
As it happens, Ragna begins to realize how f*ked this is, he just stays silent to witness his enemies rise to power, even more than before.
" Thanks for this, Ragna Kent... "
" I must say, that you're such an annoying brat that made gave me troubles ever since the start of this Tower's Raid. "
" To think a teenager like you would stand in my way, in any chance. "
" Failing me in every attempt, even took my friend from me. " Adrian says while he grips Ragna's clothes neck collar.
" For times, while fighting Raiden... "
" I was wondering what kind of brat you are to even make my friend's heart change so much... "
" But after looking at you... "
" I realized why... " Adrian says as he then gets his face closer to Ragna's face.
" Because you and I are the same. " Adrian says to Ragna which made him shocked as his eyes were widened.
" What... did... you...- "
" Of course you are, don't tell me that you didn't realize it until now. "
" First, We both had things behind our friends' backs... " Adrian says as he remembers hearing it from Raiden in one moment in their fight.
" Second, We both grow more powerful after defeating our enemies, hence why I often see you immediately recover after killing my summons... " Adrian says as he remembered Ragna gets healed after killing his summons due to his 'level up' which Adrian can't see ( he still can't see the System, even in his current form).
" And the last similarity, between you and I... "
" The very thing I just realized on why... " Adrian says to Ragna.
" Both you and I, both of us sacrificed those we cared about to attain more power and heights, we both discard them even killing them in some way... " Adrian tells Ragna which made Ragna releases his tears again.
Despite what he said was true, there's a significant difference between them in how they 'sacrifice' their own friends and comrades. For Adrian, he desires to sacrifice his own friends for his own goals and survival in the first place, thus why he is perfect for [Greed & Gluttony] since he has little regard for those around him (except Raiden for a bit), thus making him obtain the Sin Ability of [Avarice] and attain his current form. For Ragna, he never once desires to sacrifice his friends, yes he may have something behind their backs, but still, he still provides for them and even gives them the things he privately knows or has despite fate making his friends die for him to return their debts back to him while Ragna never once asked them to return all of it in the first place.
As Ragna realized this, he begins to cry as he realized how wrong he was this whole time, realizing it was really him that killed his friends even if they did it of their own accord.
" Hey, don't cry brat... "
" This isn't even an insult I gave you, I'm praising you right now. "
" You should be proud of yourself that you managed to survive this far, you just did what other winners do to survive every competition... " Adrian tells Ragna.
" Competition...? "
" Oh, you still don't realize... "
" Life itself is a competition, it is always a mortal combat, a battle royale... "
" You here exist to fight against your enemies, even friends to attain a better life. "
" In this competition, let me tell you that only the winners who had the balls to outcompete the others, while the losers spend their time, thinking about the others, believing that they can achieve things together while they didn't realize that their life should've belonged to themselves and only themselves. "
" No matter how cruel your methods are, no matter how many you sacrificed for victory, in the end, you're the only one that will enjoy the results... " Adrian says while slowly loosening his grip over Ragna's clothes.
" Now as I said earlier... "
" Only winners who outcompete the others... "
" The rest of them are losers, including you... " Adrian says as he decides to release Ragna, letting him fall with his mentality gets rechecked by reality as he falls to the bottom Floor of the Tower that is filled with the ruins of the Floors beyond it.
"( You're sparring him? )" the Deviant Monarchs say as they communicate with him through the Crown.
"( He reminds me of my past days after all..., after I examined him. )"
"( His relentlessness against me, I kinda liked it in some way... )"
"( This behavior of his is what's being lost from any man that lives right now, relentlessness against any odds. )" Adrian says as he then flies outside, flies outside into the dark clouds, thunder begins to spark as he presents himself from the skies.
"( Now it's time to let go of my mortal past... )" Adrian says while remembering himself letting Ragna fall into the unknown grounds. He sees it differently for after fighting Ragna for some time, he realized that Ragna is technically him in some way, for his actions remind him of himself before even obtaining [Greed & Gluttony], his past self that brought him this far.
As he relinquishes it forever, Adrian who is now in the skies is seen by those around the Abyss Tower as he then was highlighted with the lightning from the clouds, showing his face to the crowds as he then completes his transformation.
" What is that!? " the people say, all of them who were there see this as they see him growing wings from his back and growing some horn in his head.
" *Sighs* Losers... " Adrian says as he sees the people around the Abyss Tower.
" It's time for you to be devoured. "
" By my Avarice. " Adrian looks down on them in the skies, even Artemis.
...
...
...
...
...
While Adrian is in the skies, Ragna is in the lower ground inside the Tower, fainting for his HP is just 20 out of his total HP of 97.500.
" Master... " Rachina says as she was summoned before Ragna falls to the ground while he still holds firm to the handle of the 'Dainsleif Sword' that already lost its blade.
" He's alive, but still... " a voice says as it comes out too from the sword.
< Summon: [Dainsleif Spirit] >
As she was summoned, she can felt that Ragna Twelve has entered the place.
" Oh, you're here... old chrono-spirit... " she says to Twelve.
" Where were you!? what are you doing while Current Timeline Self is having all of this suffering on his own? " she says to him while Twelve could only close his eyes and then calls Ragna 69 and 100 out of the System for a while.
" Old Twelve..." Ragna 69 says.
" Should we do it? " Ragna 100 adds the question which Twelve then looks at the [Dainsleif Spirit].
" This was your idea, was it? " Twelve recounts to the Spirit.
" To make Ragna Current retreat from fighting for a while and do this ritual? " Twelve says to her.
" I didn't hope for this to happen but it seems that there's no other time to do this than now. " Twelve says to her as Dainsleif Spirit nods.
" Indeed... " she says while creating a [Black Shadow Sphere Cocoon] to contain Ragna's body.
" It seems there's no better time to do it than right now! " she says as she starts it for she then decides to stab the very remains of the 'Dainsleif Sword' to Ragna's chest.
" All of you Black Shadows, you better entered the Cocoon. "
" It's time for us to improve our master exponentially...! " she says while starting the ritual.
" Now, young master... "
" After you learned to have Ki, Aether, and receive many skills from your previous 'selves'... "
" It's time for you to be more immersed, to transform you into a greater being using what you have gained inside the Tower. " Dainsleif Spirit.
" Let the 'Aether Metamorphosis Ritual' begin," she tells as it all begins.