"Hello there. Baby~~"
Winston narrowed his eyes, carrying a serene smile on his face.
"Urek Mazino." He called out the name of the beast.
His mere presence felt as if it were reshaping the flow of shinsu on the entire Floor. It was gigantic. Instantly, Winston felt the deadly glare of the administrator.
Both of them were irregulars. The Administrator was especially worried about them than any other High Ranker. But it was also because of that same authority that they could go out just a bit more than most High Rankers.
Is he here to fight? Winston racked his brain, trying to think of the reasons Urek Mazino of all people had come to see him. Both him and the leader of Wolhaiksong were apathetic of everything that happened in the tower. The outside was the only thing that interested them.
So, to Winston, it became increasingly clear why he had been approached by the man.
"How did you find out where I was?" Winston asked him.
Urek gently floated down from the atmosphere, his figure relaxed as if there was nothing in the world that could hurt him. Of course, it was true. No one could defeat him in a life or death struggle. No one that he had personally confronted at least.
"I used a guide." He smiled.
"A Guide?" Winston raised a brow. Guides were inherently unable to see him, as he had found out through Hwaryun. "They were able to see me?"
"Nah." Urek shook his head. "We figured something out. Your presence makes fog overtake all the paths. Following that, we just had to tell them to look for Fog." He smiled, showcasing his teeth.
"I see." Winston chuckled. "Were you looking for me?"
Urek landed on the ground without sound. He was the same height as Winston and looked to be the same age. Yet Winston knew he was far from it. Standing in front of him was the 4th strongest in the entire Tower.
An Irregular that surpassed everything. An ancient being that had survived for centuries.
"That's right." Urek gave him a silly smile.
"I wanted to talk to you. Bro to bro you know?" He continued. "Only if you wanted to that is. There's no way for me to force you after all."
Winston thought for a moment, his eyes narrowing imperceptibly. He could feel hundreds of rankers on board the ship. But none posed a threat. The only real threat was Urek.
And Winston was plenty sure that he held no ill will towards him. Error pathway's ability to sense deception was no joke after all.
"Sure." He said.
"Will you invite me to the ship?"
~~~
A ranker that was dressed as an accomplished butler poured wine for them both and left the room. They needed privacy after all.
They were in Urek's personal hall.
Behind Urek was a large bed which was in a mess. To their right was glass through which everything on the outside was visible, not the other way around and behind Winston himself was a large screen. Below the screen were hundreds of gaming consoles.
To their left was a large double door that led outside.
As the ranker left, Urek Mazino, who was sitting on a bean bag smiled and looked at Winston.
"Help yourself baby! Everything's free for you! I'm a rich man after all!" He exclaimed with joy.
Winston relaxed his shoulders and slumped back into the soft sofa and let out a small groan.
The chairs were indeed comfortable. As he understood it, shinsu had been used for their making to give them extra comfort and a feeling of relaxation.
"That's comfortable." He said, suppressing a silly smile. Then, he extended his hand and took the wine glass into his hand.
"It's been long since I've had good wine." Winston reminisced. The last time he had wine was the night he was whisked into the tower.
"Help yourself." Urek waved his hand with a shake of his head.
Winston took a sip of the wine and was pleasantly surprised.
That's... nice. Winston was a wine enjoyer. He really liked wine. It had slipped his mind how one of his most enjoyed concepts had never been tried ever since entering the tower.
"So, what did you want to talk about?" Winston asked the man before him.
Urek Mazino leaned forward on his bean chair and crossed his fingers together as if he was going to give Winston a deal he could not refuse.
"I want to learn about what lies outside the tower." He said. "Everything about where you lived before this. How the outside world is. Their customs, their stories, the sky and the infinite exploration." He spread out his hands and closed his eyes, imagining himself below an infinite blue sky.
"I want to know everything."
"Everything?" The devil whispered into Urek's ears suddenly. He stared ahead at his fellow irregular.
"Everything."
"Are you sure?" Winston smiled, feeling a bit mischievous.
I wonder what it would be like if I gave him a 7 hour lecture about Quantum Physics and string theory... He thought with a smile.
"I always am, baby~" Urek Mazino agreed without missing a beat.
Winston had a clear look in his eyes as he nodded and said, "Fine."
His black eyes met Urek's red ones.
"I will tell you everything you need to know. Everything about where I came from and everything that I have knowledge of." He said.
Suddenly, he propped up one of his fingers.
"But first." He looked to the glass on the right, looking outside the carrier.
"I need you to help me with something."
~~~
Zarhan laid on the sofa in the waiting hall, gently twirling a few drops of red shinsu in his hand with a blank expression.
Suddenly, his instincts feared up. His hair stood on edge and he felt the shinsu in his lungs become heavier and press down onto his abdomen.
"What the hell?!" He yelled and got off the sofa. Then, he ran outside where everyone was.
"Everyone!"
The people turned to stare at him.
"What?" Asked Amon.
"Don't you feel it?" Zarhan asked, seeing their relaxed postures.
"No?" Anaak was the one to answer.
"You're not going Schizo are you?" Endorsi chimed.
"Uh...." Zarhan held his head and headed back inside.
Am I really going schizo? He thought. Maybe it's because I've been too paranoid about this power.
He eyes again traveled to his hand where a few drops of red shinsu were gathered.
Yet, deep in his heart he could feel it still. That unsettling feeling was not just about this new power.
It was something else...
And something else it was!
Above the Archimedes, Red Priest and Lo Po Bia Traumerei engaged in a standoff.
"Who else? Your father!" Red Priest yelled with a grin.
Traumerei suddenly felt his eyes twitching and an insurmountable urge to attack this strange person welled in his heart. However, he stopped.
Strange... He thought with narrowed eyes.
"You have quite the tongue on you." He extended his hand upwards. Around his hand, a sleek silver eel appeared to circle his fist.
"Why don't I cut if off for you?" He said, and suddenly, his shinhueh, Fandore Harpe dashed out!
Whooosh!
Shiiiiiiing!
The eel expanded in the air, transforming into a larger form of itself! The eel was sleek and agile, unbearably fast for its size!
The shinsu in the air split apart, torn by its figure moving through it!
Red Priest's eyes widened considerably and instantly, his right hand that was free travelled to the red sword at his hip!
Clang!
The sound of metal clashing with metal echoed in the area.
Red Priest stood exactly where he was with his sword extended out. Not only did he manage to repel the Eel, he managed to stand his ground.
He's strong... Red Priest thought. It was not information he gleamed from the small clash. It was something he understood inherently.
Traumerei seemed a bit surprised as if eyes that rarely saw daylight expanded just a tiny bit. It was almost imperceptible, but enough for him to notice.
"Well look at that. You're actually a bit competent."
"Heh. Competent? Nah. It's just that you're too weak." It seems this man knew not the thin line between being a menace and being suicidal.
Traumerei tilted his head in bafflement. He had never met someone as strange as this fellow. Why was he so toxic?
"Well... an ant is still an ant." He said, a green hue suffusing out from his figure.
Haaaaaaaa~
Red Priest breathed out steam from his mouth as his lava coloured eyes shone with light.
"I'll ask you again. Who are you?" Traumerei asked in his monotonous voice.
"Heh." He chuckled. "Let me introduce myself then." He said.
He extended his sword to the sky and opened the book that he left in his other hand.
"I am the Symbol of all Iron and Blood.
"I am the Angel that is Red of War.
"I am the Fighting Man of Crimson Tides.
"I am the Great Medici."
With that said, his book emitted an eerie glow that symbolized strife.
"And I am also a humble servant of our God - The Embodiment of the Sefirah Castle."
Traumerei looked at him with interest.
"You're interesting. I'll deal with you as well. But before that." He looked behind him.
"Cobalt. Bring me the fish."
The frog croaked and made a gesture with his hands.
A green flame instantly extended out from his body and disappeared into the air.
Just then Medici also made his move.
The Book that he held in his hands shone with blood and screams filled the vicinity.
"I don't think so." His whisper carried itself into Traumerei's ears.
"This isn't part of the plan. But I suppose I will have some fun while I'm at it." He broke out with a vicious grin.
"Hereby, by the Authority of the God of War, I seal this area and deem it as my battlefield!" He yelled. And the world answered.
The shinsu in the area came alive and rushed towards him, encasing him and Traumerei, alongside the entire Archimedes in a static void that was a battlefield.
Everything stopped. The shinsu flow in the area was no longer there.
It had become a war space.
Then, before anyone could react, his book shone yet again!
Blood.
Thousands of liters of blood poured out of the book and coalesced around him, burning away into a glorious orange red flame.
Traumerei didn't stop it from happening.
Eventually, the Red Priest came out.
"That's more like it."
All around him was an armour made of blood. His sword had increased in length and a sense of foreboding accompanied his every step.
"I'll make you taste some Dogshit." He said.
Traumerei, for the first time, was a bit agitated by his words.
"Let's see you try." Behind him, multiple eels, numbering in dozens appeared without a sound. "Try not to get ripped apart."
While he said this, he could not help but have a strange thought in his heart.
I was only here to collect a divine sea fish. Where did this cartoon come from?
~~~
~~~
A/N: Here's another one.
Traumerei seems to be getting more talktive with a Red Priest around lol. He's trying to catch his raging emotions that get stirred up everytime Medici opens his mouth. That's why he's so talktive and has not attacked Medici with full power yet.
Also, Place your bets.
Medici
Or
Traumerei
Or my favorite
No conclusion.
Throw some stones and leave a review plz.
Cheers~~