Irregular.
A normal person understands not the significance of such a term, but merely the fear it invokes; and that alone is enough.
An irregular is a being that provokes fear and chaos everywhere it goes. A being unbound by the rules of the tower and those that exist therein, someone that stands as the sole opposition to everything the tower stands for. A true Error in the tower.
The sole meaning the word 'irregular' holds, and the latent strength it harbors was obvious. Just the label of that term was enough for the entire Tower to turn it's head and look over in awe at the new God that had entered it's confines. The very notion that such an insurmountable being, a mountain of power was climbing the tower was enough of a reason for millions of regulars to stop their climb for centuries to come.
Irregulars breed chaos. Irregulars breed change. Irregulars breed a new era.
And all of those stood as an opposition to everything that Jahad Empire wishes to establish!
Floor 134, Ranker Administration Headquarters-
Robert Aisand calmly sat inside a meeting room, calmly overlooking the entire hall filled with rankers and high rankers.
He sat at the forefront, guiding the discussion and getting along with the daily procedure.
Just then, someone burst through the doors of the hall, making all the members of the hall to lock their eyes upon the poor man.
The man who had broken in trembled under their gazes.
Aisand stared at him without blinking and spoke, "What is it?"
"S-sir! A-a new i-i-ireegular! A new irregular has been revealed to have entered the tower!"
The air in the room chilled instantly.
Aisand blinked expressionlessly.
"And?"
Hearing his nonchalant tone, the man was at a loss for words.
"...Umm. Sir, its a new irregular. An irregular has entered the tower. Not only that, it was more than 4 years ago.."
"So? Quit wasting my time." Aisand scowled at the man who felt a chill travel up his spine.
All the High rankers and rankers were quiet in front of the behemoth that was Aisand. There was only the sound of their own conversation.
At that moment, the man again felt the authority this man commanded- the unfeeling man named, "Robot" Aisand.
"U-ummm.. It was Emily sir. She was the one that leaked the news" The man pulled out a mobile phone from his pocket and showed Emily on it. It was a chat about Winston Heath and how he was an irregular.
Aisand's face that was without any semblance of an expression until this point soured instantly.
"You interrupted a board meeting just to show me a rumor spread from an app? You can't be serious." The man's blood chilled as he felt his mind turn heavier.
Hastily, he explained himself.
"No, sir! This is not the main news actually!" He continued, "The main news happened afterwards."
A lighthouse appeared behind the man, of which one of the screens displayed a man standing on a precipice of a large hill, dressed in a long tail coat, a half top hat and dark pants. He also held a cane in his hand.
"T-the so called irregular, Winston Heath who has yet to pass the 29th floor actually admitted to being an irregular! He started a live stream and has challenged one of the Jahad's forces' High rankers to a duel!"
A wave of exclamation instantly went through the room, like a ripple disturbing the still surface of a lake.
Aisand raised his hand and everyone quieted down instantly.
"He wants to fight a High Ranker?"
"Y-yes!"
"And has anyone accepted?"
"T-thats the thing sir!" Sweat poured from the man's temples.
"Many High rankers in the Jahad Forces, even ranging from Khun Maschenny Jahad, Ha Yuri Jahad, multiple High rankers from the Lo Po Bia family and even Corps Commander Kallavan of the 4th Army Division offered to fight the irregular!"
For the first time since the man had begun to speak, he the slightest of changes within Aisand's facial features. Just the slightest flicker of his eyelids that signified his surprise.
"I see. And he's live streaming this?"
"Yes... he's currently waiting for a high ranker to arrive." The man said, now feeling confident again.
"Then get out."
The man ran without any words and closed the doors behind him.
Aisand was silent for a moment, an action that came as a surprise for the people present.
Then, he did something that chilled their spines to the core.
He smiled.
That one smile made them freeze in place as if a phantom threat was looming over them. Aisand never smiled. He never even showed any expression. His face was a constant blur of nonchalance.
But here they saw something they had never imagined even in their wildest dreams.
"...Sir?" One of the High Rankers spoke.
Aisand turned to him.
"What?"
"What... what do we do of the news?"
"What's there to do? Watch the livestream and proceed from there."
With a shake of his head, Aisand resumed the compulsory meeting for the day.
~~~
While people worked as they usually did at the Ranker Administration Headquarters, the entire Tower was taken up by a Storm. An Irregular on the 29th floor, livestreaming a fight with a High Ranker. Not only that, it was one of the big shots, a high ranker from the Jahad forces!
But the perpetrator of this sat on a cliff that faced the ocean. The observer and the lighthouse floated before him as he calmly read through the chat.
[XHyedioX: @Winston Heath, Are you really an irregular?
OneMorePebble: Fight! Fight!
Danherus: What is happening? Why does this stream have 10 million people watching?
NoSignificanxe: Charlotte My Goddess!
GuutionTheDestroyer: I heard the irregular is fighting Commander Kallavan! Chat, is that true?!
Lookstothetop: @Winston Heath, please don't die! Take my points!
DogShit: lol, why is he just standing there?
OneMorePebble: Fight! Fight! Fight!
Radhan: What is happening?
Tsukuneo: Huh?
RegularSlayer: Irregulars are lame!
HunterofGod: Ban the irregulars!
NoSignificanxe: Charlotte! Leave this man and come to me!
JahadSimp: You're going down! I already disliked the Stream!
Lookstothetop: TAKE MY POIIIIINTTTSSS!
XvudoltuX: REEEEEEEEE
HumanHunterof78thFloor: Is the stream frozen? I keep seeing a catatonic man simply smiling at the camera. I do admit he looks good though..
BeautyGoddess: @Winston Heath, what are your thoughts on marriage?
OneMorePebble: Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight!]
The chat blizted ahead without any chance for a normal person to make out the contents. Most of it was gibberish, but there were some curious ones. One proclaimed how FUG was the true saviour of the tower and would soon crusade to destroy all the irregulars. One confessed his love for Charlotte and suggested her to leave the time bomb that was the irregular... okay, not one but multiple.
Another said the word 'Shit' 428 times in a single message without space.
Truly, the streaming services were strange no matter where you were.
This was the consequence of his identity as an irregular being revealed overnight. It was not known how exactly it was revealed.
Well, to the rest of the tower that is. For them, the only source was Emily who began to tell everyone a deep secret about a famous E ranked regular.
But of course, Winston knew exactly who had done so.
Who could it be but Rachel? Spectral Threads, his new ability, was tailor made to draw out such information from the spirit world.
Of course, there was also the news of the new slayer nominee Jue Viole Grace, who Winston had found out to be none other than the 25th Bam, 'killing' Khun Ageuro Agnis to gain traction. A plan that had failed however, considering how Khun was still very much alive as per his divination and Spectral Threads and the fact that they had stupidly chosen to reveal his identity as an irregular amidst their endeavour.
Why would they reveal such a shocking news - on Emily no less - and expect everyone to pay attention to a regular getting killed by a slayer nominee? Winston lampooned while watching the chat roll by.
In any respect, it couldn't have been a calculated move... Maybe Rachel and the main group of FUG is operating differently? But that wouldn't make sense considering the ambush Khun recieved...
Winston shook those thoughts away and focused his spirituality.
All of his avatars across the tower, that now numbered 10, had already been assimilated back to him.
In a fight with a High Ranker, getting in without full strength was bound to be a bad idea. As for using Reset to get his full strength while maintaining the avatars, it wasn't possible. He could logically do it, but the state was transient because of the large spirituality drain; lasting only 30 seconds.
In comparison, it was better to be at full capacity and have the ability as a trump card in case of a serious injury.
Winston sighed, spiking a wave in the chat about him finally moving.
I do wonder who they'll send. I don't want to do divination and spoil the fun. He smiled and stood up from the small rock he had been seated at.
Then, he looked towards the ocean, from where a gigantic fleet of hundreds of airships was sailing towards him.
"It seems they won't keep me waiting." Winston said, turning the observer in the same direction.
[MyNameis-: It seems like an entire fleet! Maybe a Corps Commander is coming! Kallavan?!
Junghunsoon: OMG! It's starting!
Pie: Die already!
Thresha: They're here!
XHyedioX: HYPE!
Lookstothetop: HYPE!
GuutionTheDestroyer: HYPE!
DuNg: HYPE!
OneMorePebble: Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight!]
Winston smiled as his spirit vision activated. His eyes saw through everything, piercing through the truths of the world and monitoring the shinsu flow in the area.
It was chaotic. Hundreds of behemoths were mounted atop those warships, each of them coming towards him at this moment for a fight.
Slowly but surely, the warships drew in closer and Winston took in more of the people on board. The rankers rummaged around everywhere, their emotions riled up and nervous as they approached him.
As for the High Rankers, he could feel their gazes locking onto him, filled with malice, interest and a strange elation.
And there, at the forefront stood two distinct figures.
One of them was a curvaceous and beautiful woman. Her hair was flowing long and bright blue in colour with eyes like the darkest shades of sapphires. She has a broad forehead and fair skin with a small redness at her cheeks. At her lips was a smile as she looked at him from the main hall of the leading battleship.
And not only her. Right beside her was a man. He was large and muscular with blonde hair cut short and a rugged appearance. He too was fair skinned and had a piercing glare. His gaze was of such enmity that Winston doubted if he had some previous ties with him.
They were, of course, Khun Maschenny Jahad and Corps Commander Kallavan!
There was word of them wishing to appear in a battle against him, but who would have guessed it would be to this extent?! And not to mention Jahad sent both of them at once!
"Khun Maschenny Jahad and Kallavan." Winston whispered beside the observer to let the people watching know. At this point, the view count had reached a staggering 50 millions and climbing! It was as if all regulars had dropped what they were doing and immediately hopped onto the livestream to do check the battle!
The Chat went absolutely ballistic as they registered Winston's words. But the next comment riled them up even more.
"This ought to be fun."
~~~
Aisand sat in his office with a hardened expression, his silver hair flowing down to his feet. In front of him was another man that sat leisurely and laughed at the lighthouse that too was displaying the same stream. He was shorter than Aisand and did not boast a strong presence, yet before him, he was increasingly confident unlike anyone else.
It was none other than Tommy, the director of the ranking administrator office.
"That man's quite something isn't he? Aisan." The man said.
Aisand threw him a small glance before he returned to the live stream.
"Such a wide scale fleet requires the permission of the floor administrator. Not only that, the battlefield itself needs the permission of the guardian so it can commense. If the administrator has not been notified beforehand, it makes it impossible to fight since the administrator will appear and kill everyone involved.
"That means the administrator is in the knowhow of the battle, and in doing so, he has also offered the tacit confirmation of the man being an irregular." He concluded.
Tommy narrowed his eyes a bit.
"What do you mean to say?"
"Winston Heath. That man says that by defeating two high rankers as an E ranked regular, he is proving himself as an irregular. But that itself was already made clear the moment the Administrator offered his agreement and the Jahad's forces came to the battle."
"And?"
"The fight isn't taking place to prove that he's an irregular. Though it will take care of the naysayers, its not the main intent behind it." Aisand's expression changed, now appearing somewhat impressed. A small tug at his lips proved that.
"The main reason is to make a point..." He gazed intently at the lighthouse, feeling a strange intrigue at the irregular.
"Interesting..." Tommy chimed with a small laugh.
~~~
A/N: Nice.