Chapter 56 - Workshop Battle (2)

Lumen and his group were in their villa when the message for the One Shot, One Opportunity game was transmitted. A timer appeared on everyone's Pocket, and it started counting down from 60.

"Might as well get all the items while we are at it." Lumen told the rest.

"Definitely! The White Heavenly Mirror would be the perfect item for me! Only a mirror with a name like that could show my beauty!" Androssi stated with a wishful look. If only she knew that the White Heavenly Mirror was, in fact, a knife.

Lumen ignored her and created four humanoid forms made of darkness. Each one required three Baangs of Shinsoo, one for the body, one for the legs, and one for the arms.

He created four more Baangs, which he imbued with his light powers, and he sent them towards the four humanoids made of darkness. A flash of white light enveloped them, and after the light diminished, the four looked identical to Lumen's masked appearance.

Lumen had greatly improved in using his light powers during the past three years and was a lot more versatile when utilizing them. Bending the light to create illusions was something that he had managed to learn how to do in that time.

Combining that with his darkness ability, which allowed him to create objects, he was able to create a type of clone. As long as the clones were within his Shinsoo reading area, Lumen had perfect control them. The clones didn't have the same power as him, but they were more than enough to deal with E-Rank Regulars. He didn't need to command them, and they all dashed out of the villa.

At that point, the countdown was already at 20 seconds.

"Well, let's go and get the Blood Tamara." Lumen grabbed Leesoo and disappeared with him in a flash of white.

Meanwhile, Khun Aguero Agnis, who was now wearing a white mask, the six Regulars that were once a part of Bam's team, and a small crocodile-humanoid were running towards Lumen's villa.

"Are you sure that they will help us?" Wangnan asked Agnis. He had never even imagined that he would get to meet a Princess of Zahard, let alone that she would actually help him.

"Yes, trust me." Agnis confidently replied. He had previously met with Lumen and Leesoo, and they have already agreed to ȧssist him. Lumen was against bringing Bam's previous teammates since he believed they were unnecessary baggage, but Agnis had promised that he will carry that baggage. They were Bam's friends, and as heavy as they were, he will put them on his back.

At that moment, Lumen and Leesoo appeared behind a group of four Regulars. The countdown for the game hit 0, and Leesoo instantly shot one of the Regulars with his gun. With that, he was the first to shoot someone else and the first to receive a ticket for the Archimedes. Blue light enveloped Leesoo, and he was transported onto the Suspendship.

"What the hell?!" The other three Regular exclaimed in surprise. They hadn't even sensed that Lumen and Leesoo had appeared behind them. They turned around, ready to shoot Lumen, but metal tentacles appeared from Lumen's back and bound the three. He grabbed their guns and made his way back towards the villa.

Meanwhile, Lumen's clones were hunting Regulars. One of the clones jumped between another group of four Regulars.

"You sure got guts coming here alone." A Regular remarked and prepared to shoot the clone. Before he could fire his gun, two tendrils made of darkness shot out from the clone's body and captured him. They brought the Regular to the clone, and he was absorbed inside its body.

"What kind of freak is this?!" The rest of the Regulars yelled out and aimed at the clone. However, the clone's arms and legs also transformed into tendrils, and with the two that came out of its body, it captured the rest of the Regulars. They were also absorbed inside the clone's body.

One of Lumen's darkness ability was that it could create a very small pocket dimension. It's that very dimension that he uses when he travels between his black orbs. He could use it to store objects or even living beings inside it, for a limited time.

Agnis and his group arrived at the villa, just as the four clones and Lumen returned. All the clones spewed out the Regulars and their guns, and Lumen dispelled them. All the Regulars were then bound by a rope of darkness that he created.

"Since everyone is here, Androssi, you could start gathering their bullets and shoot everyone with the Light mode." Lumen told her, and she grabbed one of the guns.

"I can't believe I'm standing next to a Princess of Zahard," Wangnan said with a lovestruck expression.

"A White Heavenly Mirror for a heavenly beauty like me, hihihi." Androssi giggled, as she placed a bullet in her gun's chamber. She changed the gun's mode to Light and was about to place another bullet inside when a small white object with tiny wings flew inside the villa.

"Oh! Isn't that Bong Bong!" Androssi exclaimed and shot the fairy of luck with her gun. Blue light enveloped her, and she disappeared from her spot. Since she shot Bong Bong, she was granted a ticket for the Archimedes.

"That idiot." Lumen facepalmed. "Didn't she want the White Heavenly Mirror?"

"Knowing that brute, she would just force it out of whoever gets it," Agnis stated, and knowing her personality, Lumen agreed with that.

"Whatever, Verdi, you shoot everyone." Lumen told the green-eyed girl. She nodded at him and started putting bullets in her chamber. Verdi changed the gun's mode to Light and started shooting everyone there one by one. Blue light enveloped them, and they were all sent to the Archimedes.

In the end, Verdi and Lumen were the only ones still there. By that point, the available tickets for the Archimedes had already been reduced to 201.

"Just shoot one of the Regulars with a Dark bullet, and I will come right after you." Lumen told her and ruffled her hair.

"Mkay~" Verdi replied and shot one of the bound Regulars. Blue light surrounded her, and she disappeared from her spot.

Lumen turned to shoot one of the Regulars, but at that moment, the entire villa was enveloped in a dark-blue fire.

Meanwhile, in an underground bunker, 200 FUG Regulars had been gathered. Bam and the team that FUG had gathered for him were among those 200 Regulars. In front of them were 200 more Regulars, that were all bound by ropes.

FUG had made a deal with IO and Punk, the hosts for the Workshop Battle, and the operators of the Archimedes. They knew what the first game would be, so they had captured 200 Regulars in advance.

The underground bunker was the place that all the FUG members resided. Usually, the members of the Workshop would do their more inhumane experiments in that place. So the bunker had a cloaking system that even the High Ranker who are incredibly skilled in Shinsoo reading, would find it hard to locate.

Lumen had circled the entire Sepia Island numerous times, hoping to locate the place where FUG was hiding, but he had no success since they were hiding inside that bunker. Knowing that all the Regulars would have to board the Archimedes at some point, he had planned on dealing with them there. Unfortunately, FUG had prepared for that.

The 200 Regulars shot the other 200. They were all surrounded by blue light and transported to the Archimedes. With that, the tickets for the Archimedes were reduced down to 0.

On the Archimedes, all the teams were transported to different locations. Lumen's group was all together. However, Agnis, the small crocodile-humanoid, also known as Rak Wraithraiser, and Bam's previous teammates were sent to a different location.

In the control room of the Archimedes, IO, a man wearing a black suit, white gloves, and a blue helmet that covered his entire head, sat next to his partner, Punk, who wore a similar outfit as IO, but he had a red helmet that covered his head.

"All the tickets have been used. Might as well reward the Regulars who won the special items and congratulate the rest." IO told his partner.

"I agree," Punk replied to him, and the three items in front of them disappeared. They were teleported to the Regulars that won them, Leesoo, Verdi, and Androssi.

IO then picked up a microphone and cleared his throat before speaking.

"The One Shot, One Opportunity game has ended! Congratulations to all the Regulars that received a ticket for the Archimedes and to those that won the special prizes!" IO's voice was transmitted throughout the Suspendship.

"The game ended?" Leesoo asked in surprise and looked around. "Then, where is Lumen?"

"He said he will come right after me," Verdi said while looking around.

"Then where is he? Why isn't he here?" Androssi questioned while everyone was looking around in worry.

"The Archimedes will now depart from Sepia Island and sail throughout the 30th Floor! The next part of the Workshop Battle will start in a few days. Which means you could all GAAGH." IO screamed at the end. While he was about to inform the Regulars of the Workshop Battle schedule, a black shadow had formed behind the two hosts, and two people walked out of it.

One of them was a woman whose body was made of pure white flames, and she wore a grey helmet with three horns that covered her left eye. She was known as Death Lady, a loyal servant of Karaka.

As soon as the two walked out of the shadow, Death Lady threw two white bandages towards IO and Punk. The bandages wrapped around the two hosts and bound them in place.

"You two sure are good at making items." Death Lady laughed out with a sweet voice.

The two bandages that she used were created by IO and Punk. They had only one ability, and it was to restrict someone. However, the bandages were still a high-rank item, and they could restrain even an Advanced Ranker. Not only could they bind someone in place, but they could also remove that person's ability to use Shinsoo. They were the perfect item for capturing someone.

IO and Punk were Rankers, but they were one of the weakest ones when it comes to personal power. Their biggest strength was the incredible items they have created. With the items they had, they could escape, defend, or even fight back Karaka's servants. However, being bound by those bandages, they weren't even able to use any of their amazing creations.

"What are you doing?" Punk yelled at the two. He would have never imagined that FUG would backstab them like this. The Workshop was a neutral organization in the Tower and had worked with FUG on numerous occasions. It didn't make sense for them to do this.

"Don't worry. We will let you live, but you will have to sit there patiently for some time. Our God has planned something big, and we need to take over the Archimedes for it." Death Lady told them.

"Are you insane?! Is FUG willing to go against the Workshop? Do you even know what you are doing?!" IO shouted, but Death Lady laughed in response.

"Yes. Yes, we do. Today is the beginning of the end. This day will forever be remembered as the day that the Zahard Empire started to crumble. You should be grateful for being able to see this." Death Lady answered them.

"What are you talking about?" Punk questioned her in anger. He couldn't understand the nonsense she was spouting.

"We would have killed you normally, but you were the ones that created the Boiling Acid, so our God had decided to spare you. Our God would soon obtain the Thorn, and with its power, he will bring Zahard to his knees!" Death Lady stated in a maniacal manner.

Hearing that, IO and Punk realized what they were planning. The Boiling Acid was a liquid capable of fully dissolving a Regular's body. FUG was planning to use it on Bam and merge him with the Thorn.

"Before you succeed, the Workshop and the Zahard forces will storm this place! You are out of your mind!" IO yelled at her.

"Do not worry about that. It will take them at least a day before they reach here. By then, we would have already completed our objective and left this place." Death Lady laughed out.

In the meantime, Gromm walked over to the microphone and picked it up.

"I'm happy to announce that the Workshop Battle has ended!" His voice was transmitted throughout the Archimedes.

"What?!" Exclaimed all the Regulars that weren't a part of FUG.

"Now, FUG's lovely Death Game is about to begin! Hahaha!" Gromm laughed out and pressed a buŧŧon. All the lights in the Archimedes were turned off, and darkness filled the Suspendship.