Chapter 35 - 21st Floor

Hatsu, standing only on his left leg, since the other one was missing from the knee down, was wide-eyed as he stared at where Karaka disappeared. Lumen was the strongest Regular he had seen. Princesses of Zahard would have to struggle to be able to compete with him. He could move faster than most people could perceive and had all kinds of weird abilities.

Hatsu had never even come close to beating him during their few spars. In his mind, Lumen was someone he would have never even imagined losing, let alone dying. That didn't seem possible in his mind.

Leesoo had a hole in his stomach and couldn't even comprehend what's happening. Lumen was one of the few that gave him a chance to prove himself. He, like Hatsu, taught of Lumen as an invincible figure. He had never seen him come close to losing even once. Leesoo had wanted to ask him about the outside world at some point, but now he couldn't do it anymore.

Aleksai and Laure were in the same situation. They had seen Lumen do amazing feats, but him dying, had never even crossed their minds. They knew that some of them might die during their climb, but they never taught that would be him. That just didn't seem likely to them.

Verdi was trembling as tears dropped from eyes. Lumen was nice to her, he would go around with her and find new dolls with her. He was her big brother, and she loved him dearly for putting up with her antics. Very few would be okay with her actions, and she knew that, but he allowed her to go loose.

She was eccentric, and she understood that, but he had accepted her despite that. Now her big brother is gone, and she couldn't even avenge him. She squeezed the octopus in her hands tightly as tears kept pouring out of her eyes.

Tiana's left side of the face was completely ruined as she silently sobbed. Lumen was the only one to give her a chance when she was at her lowest. He helped her improve herself and allowed her to turn her life around. He gave her hope for the future.

She couldn't deny that she had a crush on him for that, but Lumen was like a bright shining star that she could only look up to, but never have. He was illuminating the night sky while she was on the ground, only being able to stare at him from a distance. Now, that star has fallen down, and she would never get to see it again. Clutching her fists, she continued silently sobbing.

Vespa had her bee-wings shredded to pieces, and she was dejectedly looking at an empty space. Lumen was the strongest and faster Regular she had ever seen. She was attracted to him like a moth to a flame. The man that she admired and was trying her hardest to catch up to had disappeared. She couldn't believe it, and she didn't want to believe it.

Androssi just couldn't understand what happened. Lumen had died? That didn't make sense to her. He had even toyed with her, a Princess of Zahard, how could he die to a stupid FUG Slayer? She couldn't accept that. She might have disliked Lumen in the beginning, but with time, she grew to respect him. Androssi recognized his strength, and she had grown fond of him. She loved bickering with him, but she just wanted to get a reaction out of him. She never meant him any harm.

When she learned that he is an Irregular, she was sure that he'll easily reach the Top of the Tower. It didn't make sense for him to die here. In the end, even she dropped a few tears for him.

However, Anak took it the hardest. She didn't hear the Ruler of the 10th Floor, nor did she perceive the pain from her missing right arm. She was staring lifelessly at where the white flames last burned. With tears in her eyes, she was trembling as she couldn't believe that Lumen was gone.

He was one of the few that helped her and treated her fairly. Lumen gave her a chance to improve, and with that, he also gave her the chance to seek her vengeance. The more time Anak spent with him, the more she taught of him as family and as someone to look up to. And yet, another one of her family members was killed without her being able to do a thing about it. Was everything she cared about, meant to be taken away from her?

Hearing her explanation, Howard shook his head. He couldn't believe that a Slayer would appear on his Floor, but he didn't think the Regulars could destroy his masterpiece in such a manner. He knew they weren't at fault for what happened. With a sigh, he left, noting down that he has to repair this part of the labyrinth.

Marrie walked up to where the white flame last burned and crouched down. Seeing the metallic-looking orb on the ground, she tried picking it up, but her hand got burned the moment she touched it. Using her Lighthouse, she was able to pick up the orb and store it inside the Lighthouse.

"He's not dead." Calmly, Marrie told the rest of the group. She could feel a faint presence inside the metallic orb, but she couldn't perceive it fully. Something was blocking her sight as a Guide, and that ȧssured her that's most likely Lumen. She had no doubt that he had survived.

Hearing her, they all snapped out of their trance and turned to look at her. As much as they hoped that to be the case, they couldn't believe her that easily.

Anak was venomously staring at Marrie with killing intent flowing out of her. "If this is some kind of joke, I will slowly tear you limb from limb."

Marrie shook her head, showed them the metallic orb in her Lighthouse, and explained her reasoning. "I can sense his presence from the orb. I don't know how or why, but he is definitely still alive. He is not dead."

They couldn't believe that Lumen had survived and turned into that orb, but this at least gave them some hope. As impossible as it sounded to them, they at least had some faith to latch onto.

After patching up the wounded, Marrie led the team through the labyrinth and quickly found the exit. Without anything blocking her sight, she was easily able to achieve that.

With that, they successfully passed the 10th Floor and advanced to the 11th Floor, where they spend the following year, ŀɨċkɨnġ their wounds and learning how to fight with their injuries. They had hope that Lumen would somehow appear out of nowhere or exit the weird metallic orb, but no such thing occurred.

Nevertheless, Merrie was adamant that he is alive and that she could feel his presence. That's what kept them going.

Getting used to fighting without an arm or a leg wasn't an easy thing, especially when you were used to having those limbs. Anak, Hatsu, and Vespa's strength had drastically dropped with the loss of their limbs.

Hatsu had to learn how to move around with only one leg until they manage to find him a prosthetic. He had to change his whole fighting style due to the loss of balance, and he could no longer move as fast as before. Hatsu had to develop a whole new sword style for himself.

Anak had to learn how to fight with only one arm. Her balance was a bit off, but not as bad as Hatsu's. Thankfully, she had her monstrous strength to lean onto. Nevertheless, her fighting prowess have been weakened.

Vespa had lost her wings and couldn't move as fast as before. She couldn't even transform into her ȧduŀt form anymore since she would experience tremendous pain from her shredded wings in that form. With the loss of her biggest strength, she had to learn how to rely on her poison and technique more.

Leesoo had to recover for over four months before the whole in his stomach had healed. He still couldn't move like before and had to take things slowly.

Tiana, on the other hand, had lost the sight of her left eye. It had completely turned into paste, and she couldn't see a thing from it. With the left side of her face completely ruined, she had trouble speaking, eating, and even breathing. Ever since that incident, she had completely stopped talking.

They had all somehow recovered, and once everyone was ready, they slowly restarted their climb of the Tower. No longer were they able to rush past Tests without difficulty. Now, they had to take it at a slower pace, ensuring that they could pass each one successfully without losing a single member.

Test after Test, Floor after Floor, they had to through many hardships while climbing the Tower in their current state. There were numerous occasions where one of them had nearly died, but they pushed through.

Not a single member was left behind as they slowly climbed higher. A year had passed since they left the 11th Floor, and they had reached the 16th Floor.

Another six months passed, and they had managed to reach the 20th Floor. This Floor is also known as the needle hole to heaven, as the 20th Floor has a massive increase in difficulty. More than 50% of the Regulars that reach it, never get to pass to the next one.

From here on, Regulars could be found living on the Floors. Those who find it too hard to climb higher would usually end up staying on the highest Floor they could reach. They would live their daily lives, by doing basic jobs on the Floor that they are at.

The metallic orb had again grown in size a bit, but nothing else had happened to it. At first, they had taught that Lumen might appear from it, but no such thing happened. Their hopes were crushed, but they still had faith that he is alive. Marrie made sure to remind them that.

They stayed for another three months on the 20th Floor, before they all took the Test there and managed to advance to the 21st Floor, also known as the White Cichlid Floor. With this, they have all become E-Rank Regulars now.

The 21st Floor is a Floor in the sky. The inhabitants there all reside in large floating towers. The group was given a small floating tower of their own, where they could stay for their duration on the Floor. Should they end up no taking the Test on the Floor within a year, they would have to start paying for their residence or get kicked out of it.

They had all gathered in a room and were discussing when they should tackle the Test on the Floor. They had already stayed for three months here, and they had to consider what to do.

Anak was sitting on a sofa with the metallic orb nested on her tighs. She was slowly ċȧrėssing it and enjoying its warmth when they all heard a crack coming from it. Everyone turned their attention to the metallic orb and saw cracks forming all over it. After a few moments, the whole orb fell into pieces that turned to ashes, and a bird's cry filled the room.