The first day of the tournament ended in disaster. Everything was going well for the gamblers.
A total of 130 rounds of the individual matches were performed. And at the 129th one, every gambler had sizable amount of points to their names.
However, the disaster struck at the very last moment. One had to wonder, was Murphy's law really so powerful?
The last round contained Ran and Anaak in the same stage. Naturally, with there being an inherent rivalry between them, they were not going to miss the chance to establish an undisputed hierarchy.
Almost every gambler went all-in in the betting that follower, either choosing Anaak Jahad or Khun Ran save for only two.
Unfortunately, the ones that had bet their entire savings on the battle included Khun Aguero Agnis, who had amassed 2 million points, which was the largest sum out of all the people.
The last battle started off as normal. But then, Anaak and Ran proposed a deal to the hosts. A separate arena for them to fight in, and whoever wins would be able to get back onto the main stage.
Surprisingly, the hosts agreed and the separate arena was set up.
It was a tough battle for both parties, though Anaak seemed to be mostly at a disadvantage considering Ran was a natural spear bearer.
But in the end, it all ended in the blink of an eye.
From the rubble that floated on water and atop which Ran and Anaak were engaged in a final clash, emerged a creature. A Green Humanoid, dressed like a messiah and yelling a particular word. "Revolution."
Unexpectedly, he toppled both of then over; and the two rivals who were too tired from fighting each other lost at the same time.
There was no winner. The gamblers lost all their money, save for 2. That being the team of the Mad Dog and FUG.
And so, since not all of the gamblers could be deemed to fail solely because of the unseen interruption by Paracule, the hosts gave a solution.
"The Growth Tournament?" Wangnan asked, raising an eyebrow in the process.
Khun nodded, "That's right. Tomorrow, at the same time that the team Battle between Varagarv's team and FUG's team will take place, the other half of the entire battlefield will be given to the 8 gamblers who lost.
"They will each be given 100,000 points and may choose one regular to represent them at the start. For the rest of the game, the teams will progress and fight the others while simultaneously growing their own team through the points that have been provided. Each regular in participation has been given a certain 'value'. Through the course of the game, one can buy each contestant." Khun explained.
"Arrgh! That makes it too complicated to get to Viole!" Wangnan scratched his head in annoyance.
"Not necessarily." Charlotte chimed in with saturated chuckle. "You're missing the entire point of the game. The moment a strong member of a team can be summoned is the moment they can hold the upper hand. But one can also assign the strong member right at the very start to eliminate everyone all together." She continued.
"But here's the loophole. What if we don't go ahead to fight Viole... but instead, we summon him through the rules of the game."
Suddenly, everyone's eyes widened in shock.
"Hmm. That's certainly an interesting proposition." Khun pinched his chin. But then, he looked back at her.
"But how can you be so certain that Viole will be able to be summoned in the first place? He is a member of FUG's team after all."
Charlotte gave him a knowing smile.
"I know he will be available. But not as a teammate no... but as an "item"." Everyone's eyes collectively widened as her words reached their ears.
"What do you mean?" Asked Khun, his eyes taking a dangerous flare.
"I've found some... interesting information through some channels." She said. "The reward that the winning team will recieve in the workshop battle is not something common made by the workshop itself. It is the ignition weapon. Jue Viole Grace."
Khun stayed silent for a moment.
"How can we know this for certain?"
"Because I said so." Charlotte said simply. "I cannot prove it to you in any way. FUG will betray their new slayer nominee and try to fuse him with another weapon kept inside the stadium itself."
"What weapon?"
"The needle to kill the king... The Thorn of Enryu."
A feeling of dread suddenly overtook everyone in the room.
"That makes it... troublesome." Khun narrowed his eyes, deep in thought.
~~~
"How come your here? Perfect one?" Beta sat onto the highest tower of the 5th floor of Archimedes.
He wore bandages over his eyes and a red cap over his head. Yet, even beyond those bandages, he glanced over his shoulder at Viole as if he were able to see him clearly.
"I want to ask you about the thing FUG put inside me." Viole said, his baangs covering his eyes.
"Ah, the Thorn." Beta chuckled. "What do you wish to know? How to ignite it?"
"That's right."
"Truthfully, even I have no idea. In the first place, I'm not certain if it's even possible for you to do so." He chuckled. "But that's only when talking about the one on the ship. The one inside you is impossible to ignite."
Viole's eyes widened a bit.
"What do you mean?"
"It's a fake." He said. "The one on the ship is the real one. The stadium that you'll be fighting in tomorrow has a chamber where it is kept. They gave you the replica for you to get used to it."
He got off the ledge and walked towards the slayer nominee.
"Do you want to know how to obtain it?" He asked.
Viole stayed quiet.
"It's easy." He broke out with a toothy grin.
"Just steal it."
Viole stayed deep in his thoughts.
Unbeknownst to both of them, a pair of fiery red eyes watched them from the darkness, hidden behind a layer of shinsu.
"Tch!" The hidden being clicked his tongue as he heard their talks and disappeared from place.
~~~
"You took your time, didn't you?" Charlotte got off the bed and looked at the one that had appeared in her room.
The man was tall, standing at a height of 5 feet 5 inches and had blazing red hair that extended down to his back. All around his body was a red robe that burnt with flames and his lava coloured eyes shone with a wild glimmer.
At his hip was a large sword and in his hand he carried a book, outlined with blood and embossed with the glyphics of battle.
"Red Preist." Charlotte smiled.
The man was another interation of Winston. One he had taken another deep dive into experimentation with. With the limitless nature of shinsu, Winston wished to not only be limited to the Lord of Mysteries sequences, but branch out into the 22 different pathways!
And of course, the Red Priest pathway was the first one to be tested. For its nurturing, he had sent the avatar to possess a ranker's body and travel to the 107th floor. There, in the middle areas, he engaged in war.
War and more war was the true nature of the Red Priest.
And truth be told, the experiments had born fruits. As of right now, even more avatars were given the responsibility of cultivating different pathways.
"Well well, if it isn't the woman." The red haired man smirked.
"How come you remembered me?"
"Don't act like you can't feel it." Charlotte closed her eyes and said with a stern tone. "My intuition has been warning me. Something strong is approaching. It would probably be her tomorrow."
The Red Priest scratched his head.
"Ah, so that's why. You were too scared were you? That's fine." He nodded as if he sympathized with her.
Charlotte gave him a sidelong glance and walked over to the window, glancing to the sky.
"I figured that we might as well test put your powers in front of a strong foe. Who knows? It might make you stronger." She chuckled.
"Yeah yeah. Make me the scape goat again." He clicked his tongue and also walked to the window.
"And what of the Thorn?"
"You want to steal it?"
"Perhaps." Red Priest smirked.
"As a matter of fact, we haven't stolen anything in a long time have we? It's quite a pitiful existence for thieves like you."
"You mean us?" Charlotte looked at him.
He snorted boastfully. "Talk about yourself. I am a noble existence."
"And apparently a hypocrite as well."
"Nothing wrong with that."
There was silence in the room. Until there wasn't.
They laughed.
They felt giddy, for reasons unknown to them. Perhaps it was the schizophrenia finally catching up....
"Let's just discuss it over with the original first." Charlotte shook her head.
"Tch! Little sissy..." He clicked his tongue.
Winston's Avatar collection no longer shared a hive mind like it did before. At least not in the same sense.
It was still there and information gathering and discussion was still possible. But because each avatar was made out of hundreds of worms - each functioning as a super computer - the need to exchange information constantly and decide on the next action was lessened considerably.
"We might steal it, we might not. Only time and the mood will determine." She narrowed her eyes. "And we might get something better to steal before that. You never know."
"You thieves and your shitty ways of thinking eludes me." Red Priest shook his head with a mocking grin and laughed.
"You've grown quite the tongue now."
"And you've grown softer acting as a woman. Maybe you've always been one at heart."
"You're indirectly mocking yourself with that."
~~~
~~~
~~~
Red. Boundless Red.
The shinsu all around him was turned crimson and Theolis floated between all of it. It looked like an ocean of blood upon which the rain that fell was also bathed in red.
"So much red..." Theolis muttered.
Then, he saw something.
An Angel descended from the sky, opening a large door behind him.
He has short and messy red hair and wore a suit. It was the same person he had seen before.
"You again?!" Theolis yelled at the man.
The man looked at him with his glowing beads of red eyes and gave him a slight smile.
"Wake." He whispered. And the shinsu trembled with his mere words.
Then everything broke.
Shatter!
Huuuuuu!
Theolis sucked in a breath of air as he leapt off the bed and slammed right into the ceiling.
"Ack!" He screamed as he fell down. Then, he looked at the room.
Red droplets of shinsu were now floating around all over.
It's getting stronger. Theolis had a strange looked of worry on his face.
His abilities... they were growing. That too at an incredible pace. Everyday he woke up to be stronger than he was. The strange red shinsu quality was getting more and more prominent.
He sighed and got up.
He had an inkling of the identity of the man he kept seeing in his dream.
Someone who turned the tower crimson upon his descent.
The Red Tower, Enryu.
"Boo." Theolis jumped as he heard a voice behind him.
"You again?!" He yelled at Samuel.
"I couldn't help myself. The changes your going through are too fascinating." He chuckled.
"Well, enough about that. Pack up. We're getting out of here."
This made Theolis raise an eyebrow. He for sure thought that they were here to needlessly sacrifice their lives to Winston Heath.
"What? Why?" He asked, genuinely surprised.
"Because I've already set everything up." He said. "It won't be enough to harm him in the long run, or perhaps it will be. We can only leave it up to fate. I've arranged everything upto the best of my abilities."
"What exactly have you set up?"
Samuel looked at him with a smile.
"Getting more comfortable with me are you?" He asked.
Theolis shifted under his scrutinizing gaze.
"Well, its nothing too crazy. I just... transported the call of a beast to the ears of a collector."
~~~
~~~
A/N: Throw some stones.
I might double upload if I can make the chapter in time. And if it reaches enough stones, I might do it regardless. Let's say... 500 stones in a day?
That seems pretty unreachable right?
Cheers~~