The Primordial Tower [DN: 0.1543P]
Hidden currents had shaken the tower on the very first day of the Tournament of Worth.
There were many Candidates, belonging to some distant or core branch of top organizations in this Tournament. Other than getting the rewards, they needed to prove themselves worthy enough for the higher-ups to keep investing resources in their growth.
And there were uncountable organizations, just waiting to chance upon some hidden gems through this Tournament as well.
Yet, something happened in this Tournament that hadn't happened in hundreds of years.
Something unprecedented and equally unbelievable.
A King had moved.
Those who were at a place to know about this movement had been utterly shocked.
These Candidates, participating in the Tournament, were just puny Contestants playing uninterested games. Who among these runts could catch a King's eye?! What could be enough to garner a King's attention?!
There was no threshold to such things, and this didn't help in lowering the mysteriousness of this situation.
When the official announcement came, it shook almost the entire Chaos' Valley.
It had come directly from the Viceroy of the Purple Castle, giving it a heaviness none could afford to weigh.
The document with the King's seal said only one thing — Red is mine.
Some didn't even know who this Red was. But few were as clueless as others. Not even an hour had gone by when another announcement engulfed the 5th and 6th Set like a tide.
This one had come from the Viceroy of the Golden Castle, and it too said one thing — Red is mine.
It was just the beginning.
The Pink Castle and the Black Castle's Viceroys issued the same announcement together.
After this, things had gone quiet, if the massive surge of whispers among the Duke-level Contestants could be termed as quietness.
When it seemed it was over, the last announcement came.
It was this announcement that toppled everything, for it had come from the Red Castle.
And knees had buckled when Contestants with lower Willpower had read this announcement's contents — Touch Red and get obliterated.
By the end of the first day, almost everyone below the 18th floor wished this Tournament would never end, for these Kings were monsters, sleeping Demons, Gods, and Devils. None knew how a clash between them would affect the lower floor Contestants.
Only the most ancient of the Contestants, who were unfortunate to never reach the level of Kings but were still alive, remembered the time when two Kings had fought with their full strength.
The entire population of Chaos' Valley and Order's Peak on a floor had disappeared then.
…
Inside the Purple Castle, sitting on a throne made of shimmering purple crystals, was King Purple Mist, enshrouded in his signature dense purple mist.
Through the mist, one could see two red glints, marking the presence of opened and narrowed eyes. These eyes were planted on the screen that encompassed the entire width of the Throne Room.
The Contestant Red could be seen seated on a thick branch on this screen.
Then Red stood up, put his swords at his waist, and was about to jump down when he halted. It was just a momentary stop, and he soon continued on his way.
But the red glint coming off the purple mist had become even sharper.
Viceroy Shadow Origin worded out his lord's puzzlement. "Something weird happened just now, your grace," he said, looking at the blurred face of the Candidate. "Why did he stop then?"
The king didn't deign to comment.
They saw him walking to the point of meeting, and after some time, handing over One-Half of the Power Sword, trading the Item for a document.
"What?!" Shadow Origin blurted in confusion. "He gave up that Item? Does he have some plan to get it back?"
"Give me the details on his Items," the King demanded.
Shadow Origin, his brows still pressed in utter bewilderment, took out three documents and handed them over to the king.
King Purple Mist held the three documents in his hands and went through them one by one. The first had the Stats of the Named Item — Murasame. After a glance, he slid this document to the back of the stack and looked at the second one.
This one had the Stats of the Item sold by Seven Mystic Flowers on the day of the auction.
…
…
[
Item: One-half of the Power Sword
Grade: Uncommon
Sub-Grade: Top
Specification: The weapon endowed upon Prince Adam of Eternia, son of King Randor and Queen Marlena, by Sorceress of Castle Grayskull with the power to transform into He-Man
Requirement:
1. At least one sword-related Ability
2. Worth >10
3. Correspondence >12
4. Stamina >12
Attributes:
1. Measurement: 101.6 cm
2. Material: Coridite
Skill: Armor of Justice
Skill's Effect:
1. Mana Consumption — 10 MP/minute, +2 MP/minute for each successive minute (Max 5 minutes)
2. Cooldown: 2 minutes
3. The Sword covers the arm holding the weapon in a gauntlet, vambrace, couter, rerebrace, and pauldron, before ending in a breastplate, covering the torso of the Contestant
4. Once every 60 seconds, neglect the 1st Damage below 20 HP and reduce the 1st damage above 20 HP by 10
5. Generate an Energy Field around the Contestant in a radius of 1 meter which impedes and deflects the trajectory of incoming physical attacks
Quality: 87%
]
…
The king looked at the Skill's effect passively and put this one to the back as well. Now came the third Item whose identity had taken them some time to figure out.
Afro's Tachi!
It happened then.
Shadow Origin stepped forward, down a step, and couldn't help but curse. "What the…?"
Unsheathing a sword, Red looked like a wraith blurring in and out of the group of Contestants, as he cut them left and right. Blood showered everywhere under the horrified eyes, and before the stronger-willed caught hold of their senses, 4 Contestants were already covered in wounds, making them useless.
When the 5th slash descended, it beheaded two Contestants in a single long arc.
All hell went loose then, madness rampaging around, and unheard shouts echoing inside the screen.
A few were about to make a run for it through the doorless windows, and the likes of 47, 55, and 39 had instead dashed towards Kai, almost thinking him dead already.
Who could live after such a foolish attempt?!
Suddenly, a could of silver mist burst around him, scattering to the further corner. It penetrated all armors and entered the bodies as if nothing could stop it. The Ghost Basilisk then burst out with 100% Soul Chill.
Selene couldn't execute this move in her mist form when scattered so much. Yet, the attack was sudden and on the soul, catching the Candidates by surprise and rooting them to their place.
It was an attack Kai and Selene had developed, converting Soul Chill into an AOE attack — Soul Chill Reversal!
However, there were those among the Candidates in the room who had major organizations backing them up. They had Skills and Items to secure such queer attacks on Soul, making such a weak use of Soul Chill useless against them.
Something odd happened then.
The Contestants who were rushing at Red from all around, almost unhindered by this chilly burst, stopped as if frozen in time when they entered a radius of 3 meters around him. Then they shook, their knees buckling like dry leaves.
Those who were smiling lost their smiles. Those who were shouting became silent. Those who were looking happy lost hope.
Gripped under the clutches of some unknown force against their will, now their faces only showed despair like never before.
All happiness seemed to have abandoned them instantly.
***************
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