Chapter 25 - Sixth Floor (2)

Lumen's whole group had gathered, ready to take the Test on the 6th Floor.

His team had only nine members, so they were a bit at a disadvantage when it comes to numbers since the other team had eleven.

Despite their current fame, the other team didn't look to be afraid of them the least bit. The Regulars looked confident in competing against them. Each member had a smug look on their face while staring at Lumen and his team.

The location for the Test was chosen, and it was underground. One of the rarer fields for the Tower Defence.

They were shown the layout of the location. On each side, there was an underground cavern that branched out into five paths. The paths had twists and turns, but in the end, they merged into a single one. Which is in the middle of the field, the neutral zone. It's also where the Minion teams would have to pass through to reach the other side.

Both groups had their member for the Base team randomly chosen, and Anak was the one that was picked from Lumen's team. With that out of the way, they selected the members for the other teams.

Laure, Aleksai, Tiana, and Verdi were chosen as the Tower team. While Lumen, Androssi, Hatsu, and Leesoo were placed on the Minion team.

Their plan was a simple one. Each member from the Tower team will guard one of the paths, and since they were lacking two members, Leesoo would also act as part of the Tower team.

But just in case, Hatsu would be staying with her, acting as her bodyguard.

Lumen and Androssi, on the other hand, will be the ones attacking the opponent team.

"With you two going after them, I don't see us losing this game." Leesoo confidently said.

"Hmpf, I could do it alone." Androssi smugly said and turned towards Lumen.

"Want to make a bet at who would get the other team's badge? The winner gets one wish from the loser. How does that sound?" She asked.

"Sure, let's do this." Lumen replied, confident in his speed. Having the Pika Pika no Mi, he didn't think someone could be faster than him.

"Haha, yes! Just remember the bet when you end up losing!" Androssi laughed out with a smile. Lumen just rolled his eyes at her childish antics.

In a moment, they were all transported to the underground cavern. Since each member of the group already knew their role, he didn't bother staying with them even for a second.

Transforming into his Logia form, he disappeared from his spot and made a b-line towards the other side. Androssi was wide-eyed as she saw him rush towards the enemy direction.

"Fuck, you're cheating!" Screaming out, she ran after him.

It didn't take Lumen long to reach the place where the paths converge. And he soon reached the middle of the field, the neutral zone.

Just as he stepped foot there, he felt something off. He wasn't sure what, but the whole place felt empty and different.

It took him a moment to realize what was wrong. Shinsoo basically didn't exist in the neutral zone. There was so little flowing there, that it didn't even make a difference.

Alarm bells were ringing in his head, but Lumen didn't know what to look for. With his guard up, he slowly stepped inside.

Two steps in, and he felt like someone was watching him. Someone was observing him like a predator eying his prey. That feeling annoyed him to no end since he wasn't used to be in the position of prey.

When he reached near the middle of the neutral zone, he felt a tremor. Walls were erected on both sides, blocking off the exits. The small amount of Shinsoo that flowing through the tunnel soon disappeared as well.

"Ha! I got you now!" Lumen heard the voice of Bob, but he couldn't pinpoint where it came from.

Suddenly, a hole opened up on the side of the tunnel, and the Test Director showed himself. He casually walked in, with a finger up his nose.

"You know, uhmmm, I had to go through a lot of trouble to set this up. But the higher-ups are really displeased with your actions." Bob told him while ŀɨċkɨnġ his finger.

"So, you're part of FUG? What's so important about my teammates, that you are going so far them?" Lumen asked him while thinking of ways that he could deal with him.

"Obviously, they are hostages. But, uhmmm, I shouldn't tell you that." Bob carelessly replied.

"Hostages? Who is being threatened with their safety?" Lumen was trying to find out more about the whole situation, while also trying to form a Baang. Unfortunately, he had no luck with the second part.

"Ühhhh, I can't tell you that we are threatening an Irregular with his friends. That's top-secret information, you know." Bob replied, not even realizing what he had just said.

"So, Bam actually didn't die." Lumen commented.

"What?! How do you know that?!" Bob's eyes widened in surprise. "Uhmm, are you also a member of FUG? But even if you are, the higher-ups want you dead."

Bob didn't waste any more time and ran towards him. He moved extremely quickly and reached Lumen in a second.

Lumen was extremely confident in fighting him in an environment with no Shinsoo. He planed on letting the attack go through his element form, but something didn't feel right.

At the last moment, he managed to bring his arms up to block the attack. Despite being in his Logia form, he was sent flying and crashed into the walls of the tunnel. Both of his arms were badly damaged and twisted at a weird angle.

Right before he was sent flying, he managed to shoot a blast of light beams at Bob. Sadly, a purple round shield appeared in front of the Test Director and blocked the point black lasers.

To top it off, he had an Armor Inventory as well. An item that is not only able to store other equipment but can also serve as a protection tool.

Quickly getting up, Lumen used his Pheonix flames to heal his injury.

"Uhhmm, how are you doing that? There should be no Shinsoo here." Bob looked puzzled. First, he shot him with a laser, then he healed his wounds with a weird white flame.

He was only told that Lumen is an extremely proficient Wave Controller, and there was no mention of those weird abilities.

"Uhmm, guess I just need to punch you until you die." Bob dashed towards him once again.

Unlike before, Lumen was prepared this time. Despite that, he still let Bob's attack to hit him. The moment they made contact, Lumen applied the maximum amount of gravity he could use on him.

Bob felt pressure like never before. It felt like the whole world was crushing him, and he could bȧrėly move his muscles. "Uhh, what did you do?"

He actually had a similar ability, but he couldn't use it due to the lack of Shinsoo. Bob was beyond confused at how Lumen was able to use all those abilities without Shinsoo.

Lumen didn't respond to him. He stood up and healed his wounds again.

From his shoulder blades sprouted two white flaming wings. Something that he recently picked up on. Transforming his hands into wings felt a bit awkward to him, so he figured out a way around it. This also allowed him more options when attacking someone.

"Now, we can play by my rules." With a grin, he sped off towards Bob.

With his speed and wings, he would attack him from any direction. From the front, back, sides, or from the top as well. Lumen was pushing himself to the limit, but the purple shield would always pop up and block his attacks.

He would mix in his light beams with his attacks, but even that didn't break through the shield. But during that time, he noticed that Bob was actually following his movements, despite him going at max speed.

Lumen knew that he couldn't move at the actual speed of light, but he was disappointed that the other party was able to follow him. He also had to figure out a way to deal with him as soon as possible, since he was feeling him resist the increased gravity.

Bob, proving that he is a Ranker for a reason, was struggling to break free of the pressure that Lumen used on him. He knew that with just a bit more time, he would be free. All he had to do is block his attacks until then.

Lumen was struggling what to do when he remembered one of the first ways he learned to use his Pika Pika no Mi. He made sure that Bob was looking in his direction and snapped his fingers.

Light illuminated the whole tunnel, blinding Bob in the process. Pushing himself to the limit, he sped off in his direction.

He kicked, using his maximum speed and his leg landed straight on to Bob's head. The upper half of his head completely disappeared while his body crashed into the tunnel's wall.

Letting out a sigh of relief, he cursed at him. "Damn, filthy bastard."

Had it been any other Regular in his situation, death was a guarantee. With no Shinsoo flowing in the tunnel, the Regular won't have a way of defending himself. Thankfully, Lumen was an Irregular who had three Devil Fruit powers as well.

Lumen made his way to Bob's corpse to confirm his kill and to loot him as well. The purple shield gave him a lot of trouble, so he was definitely going to get that. Surprisingly, he found two of them.

Armor Inventories are extremely expensive, so Regulars normally don't own one. Now, Lumen had two of them. He didn't know how strong they are, but he will test it out in the future.

With the disgusting Test Director dealt with, he planned on letting out some steam against the opponent team. They definitely knew that Bob would interfere in the Test, considering their smug and arrogant looks.

He was taking his time when he realized he was starting to run out of breath. 'Shit, I better hurry.'

Lumen reached the exit leading to the opponent's field and saw the wall blocking it. Charging his light powers, he blasted a hole big enough so he can pass through it.

Since he knew the appearance of the badge holder, he went for everyone else first. In a dozen minutes or so, he had gone through all the tunnels on the other side and killed everyone he met.

The last Regular was staring at him in disbelief as he watched Lumen walk towards him. "But how?!? You shouldn't be alive!"

"Turns out, I'm a lot harder to kill than expected." A laser pierced the Regular's head, and he fell on the ground. Lumen walked up to him, found the badge, and crushed it.

With that, his team was teleported out of the underground area. In front of them were two Test Administrators that were looking around in confusion. Bob had told them that he is going to the toilet, but he hadn't come back yet.

Despite that, they've been Test Administrators for a long time, so they quickly snapped out of their confusion.

"Congratulations, Regulars. You have successfully passed the Test on the 6th Floor. As a reward, all of you will be granted 4 000 Points, and you will be teleported to the next Floor shortly." A brown-haired woman told them.

His teammates looked as that is the most natural thing ever. With Androssi and Lumen working together, they didn't even think they could lose the Tower Defence.

Androssi, on the other hand, was staring at Lumen with hateful eyes. "You cheated! You had a head start, and you even blocked my way! The bet doesn't count!" She was definitely a sore loser.