"Welcome to the second floor, the World of Pillars. To proceed to the next floor, please do not fall. Any participant that manages to knock down others will gain Card Points which can be used in the shop of the 4th floor."

The robotic voice briefly explained the rules of this floor just as the nine hundred plus participants.

When Arthur appeared on the 2nd floor, he found himself standing on a very tall pillar, his feet nearing the edges. Below him, there was a bottomless abyss painted by an inky blackness which brought anyone the shivers every time they look at it.

It was safe to assume that falling meant losing the competition and also dying. The rules were simple but it was bound to be a bloody battle between everyone. Apart from the abyss down below, there were only countless pillars, about fifteen meters away from one another. He transformed into a bird and tried to fly but he wasn't instantly and forcefully brought back to the cheetah form, clearly indicating that flight is prohibited here.

The voice only told everyone not to fall but didn't say how to proceed to the 3rd floor, which made some confused. Around six pillars away from Arthur, there stood a dwarf with a thick red beard, holding an axe bigger than himself while eyeing the targets close to him.

Although he could stay his ground and wait for others to leap at him, Arthur decided to take a more offensive approach. The whole cheetah became enveloped in green lightning as it jumped at a robbed-old man, who seemed to be a mage. He waved his staff and was about to use [Blink] to teleport to another pillar only for his spell to break as Arthur used his Space Magic to disturb the Space in the area. Left in the open, the old man could not defend against a violent frontal impact from the cheetah, which sent him flying in the air. He was about to stabilize his body and land on another pillar but there appeared multiple fireballs with creepy faces which detonated, heavily damaging him and causing him to fall into the abyss.

The dwarf witnessed everything and knew he was the next target when Arthur leapt again, this time rushing at the short target like a bullet. The bearded man clenched his axe and used it to block the lightning cheetah, stopping its mad charge and locking it into space.

The dwarf was proud of his monstrous physical strength but when Arthur's slam overpowered him and almost pushed him off the cliff, he became surprised.

"Ugly animal! Get away!"

His forearm muscles bulged as he swung his axe, throwing the cheetah in the air then initiating a comical yet surprisingly swift jump, attacking with his big axe again. A red energy erupted from his body, enveloping the axe and increasing his rising aura. Unfortunately, when he attacked the beast, it vanished, appearing on the pillar the dwarf was on a moment ago. Arthur returned to his human form and used black chains that were created with Dark Magic to quickly bind the airborne dwarf, limiting his movements. Once the enemy was trapped inside the chains, Arthur swung them down, attempting to get rid of another target.

It was almost a successful attack as the dwarf fell into the abyss but before he vanished into the darkness, he managed to break the chains and hold on to the stone pillar before he started crawling up like a monkey.

When he saw Arthur looking at him with a smile, the dwarf inwardly cursed and used the pillar as a stepping stone to jump to the closest pillar. Arthur tried to hinder him by throwing several white thunderbolts but target's thick armor warded them all off.

*******

"What a pleasure to meet you!"

Maxine stabbed her sword at Losha, whose body became a big diamond block, resisting all the attacks of the high-leveled player. The two happened to appear next to each other and immediately started fighting, though it was more appropriate to call it a one-sided battle. This confrontation between two powerhouses was deemed as pointless by Losha, who was really interested in fighting the crazed player.

They jumped from pillar to another, one was relentlessly attacking while the other was calmly defending.

At some point, Max retrieved a potion, quickly drank it then attacked the reincarnator again, her one-handed sword was swung at the blacksmith, emitting a vertical green slash. This time, however, this sword attack was able to penetrate through the unbreakable Diamond Physique and cause Losha to slightly bleed. In retaliation, the reincarnator grabbed the still within-reach blade and pulled it towards her then kicked Maxine, flinging her far away.

The green-haired woman, Max, coughed some blood and drank a special Healing potion then retrieved some sort of a grey cannon and fired a large blast at Losha, who was landed on one of the pillars.

"It's fun, isn't it?" Joked Maxine as she saw how the pillar got obliterated and the target was sent flying toward the abyss.

Max thought she managed to win but a few seconds later, a blinding streak of light rose from the shrouded abyss, breaking multiple pillars and then crashing into her.

******

A pink-haired woman motionlessly stood atop the flat pillar, neither looking at battling contestants or bothering to gain points. On the pillar right next to her, an individual wearing a grey robe which covered his head and most of his body, turned to face her then said:

"It's the first time we meet, right?"

In response, Lucy tilted her head but didn't reply. She looked at him but could not recognize him through his appearance or elderly voice.

Upon seeing her furrow her brows, the old man chuckled whilst adding:

"Did the boulder make that mask for you? It is indeed very deceitful."

Just as she heard that, Lucy grew more cautious as she released a threatening aura, not even hiding her Yin power anymore. Whoever it was, he knew her and was able to see through the mask procured by the Yellow Seat of Black Rose.

"Who are you?"

In response, the old man took down his hood, showing his wrinkled and oddly pale face.

"I don't suppose you'll recognize me even if you see this old face, but, I believe you know me very well."

Dark Magic oozed out of his body, shrouding his body to give a brief demonstration to the startled Lucy.

"Zodiak?"

"It is I."

Forne did tell her that they have an additional ally who'll help them with the plan but never revealed his identity. Now that Lucy saw who it was, she was able to piece things together, however, the very fact that Zodiak is still alive still gave her quite the shock.

Seeing that she gave no vocal reply, Zodiak spoke again:

"Fear not, I've no business with Arthur. I just hope he won't interfere… later on, I mean."

She stared back at this old man, who had a bald head and a not-so-friendly face, feeling rather uncomfortable.

"I will make sure he won't."

"Hahaha that is good to hear."

Just as he finished speaking, someone lunged at him from behind, trying to sneak-attack him but it ended up in absolute failure as the assailant just went through Zodiak's, who's body seemed to be made out of a black and dense cloud.

The attacker didn't fall to the abyss but closed in on Lucy only to be hit in the face by a large bubble of lava, disfiguring him and causing him to wail in agony. When Lucy shifted her attention back to Zodiak, he was no longer here as he transformed into a black fog which seemed to defy the rules of the Red Tower as it flew in the air, unrestricted by anything.

******

Astria, MoonStar sect.

"You still haven't found him?"

Sonia was distressed as she asked Robin, expecting a happy answer. Unfortunately, the glass-wearing businesswoman shook her head, appearing confused about the whole situation.

"He didn't seem troubled when I last saw him. I don't think he did it willingly."

Rey, who grew up since last time and became less childish, strangely sniffed the air and said:

"The whole tower reeks of Death."

A while ago, Jackob and his newborn son, Ragnar, disappeared without leaving any traces, causing the sect to become a bit chaotic. He was the temporary master of MoonStar and took of a lot of matters concerning the external and internal affairs, especially after Arthur tasked him to start expanding beyond Astria.

"We'll go check with King Isadore, maybe he can help us."-Sonia