While the contestants were climbing the Red Tower, things weren't as peaceful in the System's universe. In fact, there was one individual who caused a huge mess and forced the System to lock down the whole universe and tighten the security around the PE-50 Galaxy, where the majority of the forces and the main controlling unit is situated.

"Airship KX-09 down! All combat units requested in the AT zone."

A human female was speaking through the microphone, passing the orders to players and alike. The invader appeared out of nowhere and killed everyone without any discrimination. The casualty toll was over a thousand in less than an hour and it's still growing every second.

Right after she passed another order, she leaned against her chair and let out a long sigh. She looked at her partner, who's also in charge of passing emergency orders.

"What the hell is happening?"

In response, the partner wiped the sweat off her forehead and replied:

"I don't know… he uses high leveled Blood Magic, maybe a vampire?"

"No… why would a vampire attack us?"

She was about to continue only for alarm to start going on and off again, causing her to slightly tremble.

"Invader has broken through to the Core Factory! Airship KX-08 Down! Antimatter barrier Num.608 Down!"

****

Core Factory, entrance

"We had to use our precious concentrated Dimensional stone for ONE person?"

A tall male player wearing light golden armor complained, not happy that he was urgently summoned.

Next to him were two women, both wearing robes and seemed to be mages. Unfortunately, they didn't get to say anything as a fast figure came running, stopping a couple of meters away.

It was none other than the invader, who looked no different than a human. He had long scarlet hair, snow-white skin, and two blood-red pupils.

The male player, who was very high-leveled, even stronger than Maxine, appraised the man but got confusing results.

"Hm?"

He frowned and read the notification again, ascertaining that he wasn't mistaking.

"Arthur Bilgart? Isn't that the parasite in the Red Tower?"

Like him, Melinda and Syra were startled and chose not to recklessly attack. They couldn't see the Level of their target and what made them even more surprising was his race

"Ascended Royal Vampire / Half-parasite?"

Eric, the male player was really shocked as such a race wasn't recorded in their system, the name was too strange. There exist Royal vampires but Ascended and half-parasite are totally new, especially the latter, which isn't logically possible. One cannot be half-parasite, even through evolution.

"Get out of the way."

The vampire wore luxurious noble clothes that looked clean and unscathed despite his fights for the last hour or so. He didn't seem to be bothered by Eric and the other two as he started walking towards them, his eyes pulsating with a scarlet light.

"What are you?"

Eric took out his bow and pointed at the incoming enemy, ready to shoot, however, his body was suddenly hit by an unstoppable force, sending him crashing into the wall. He was knocked unconscious due to the powerful blow, as for the two female mages, they dropped their staffs and clutched their throats, unable to breathe due to a bloody fog emitting from Arthur.

The vampire didn't even glance at them as he entered the factory and started wrecking everything in the search of something specific.

That day, the System suffered unexpected losses, something that hasn't happened for thousands of years. More than thirty airships were destroyed and two colossal spaceships were broken beyond repair.

Eighteen core factories were annihilated, 241 players perished and 3,690 robots were ruined, all by the hands of a single individual.

The vampire seemed to have found what he came looking for so he swiftly left. The System was unable to track him down as he simply vanished into nothingness. Later on, it was discovered that he didn't even come from this world and that fact was proven by a few lingering Time Wraiths which were slowly being consumed by a poisonous blood.

*******

Red Tower, 8th floor

Before he left the area, Arthur used an offensive formation on Maxine, which should keep her busy for a fair amount of time. His appearance changed, the human became a white tiger which jumped in the air, magically disappearing into the air.

Inside the isolated dimension, the white tiger was like a bolt of lightning, distancing itself from any nearby presences.

Maxine, who was relieved that the dragon words effect finally wore off, was assaulted by sentient-like golden blades. There were sixteen of them and they all attacked at the same time, forcing her to retreat while swinging her sword, attempting to block.

While she fared well against the formation, she was still hit by three swords at the same time, flinging her dozens of meters away. This infuriated the player, who drunk a potion then unleashed a blinding sword which broke half of the formation. The remaining sword fused into one then descended upon Maxine, directly hitting her again and even causing her to cough some blood.

"Damned Parasite! Wait till I catch your ass!"

She wiped the blood off her lips then glared at the disappearing golden sword, wondering how many tricks Arthur actually has. What she saw as a simple formation was actually a complicated one that required precious materials and preparation, however, Arthur already created many formations and stored them in his ring for later usage, such as this one, for example.

As for the Shaman, due to Arthur's Dark Magic, he was forced to use the Escape Ticket to bail out of the tower and save himself. In addition to allowing the user to leave the tower, the ticket also got rid of any debuff he or she received inside it.

Fortunately, after his encounter with Maxine, Arthur didn't run into any trouble and successfully completed the task. Including the hidden Losha, fifty one contestants passed to the 9th floor and the rest were disqualified.

Arthur looked at the people inside of the Waiting Room, some were familiar and others he knew nothing about. Forne and his group were all present, so was the woman was very long black hair, Zodiak, the guy who mastered Earthen Magic, and even the two advanced robots.

Noticing her husband sitting alone in a corner, Lucy went and sat next to him. As she saw his dazed face, she asked:

"Did something happen?"

Hearing her soft voice, he looked back at her and answered:

"Nothing… just wondering how things will proceed now that only the best remain."

Unlike the previous floors, there probably won't be a mass disqualification due to the strength of these contestants. Each and every one of them mastered one field, if not more, and they were opponents that can match Arthur and make him go all out.

Whether it's Ber Von Xin, the strange woman who stole Forne's flag, or Zodiak, they were not to be underestimated and, except for Lucy, everyone is an enemy. They were still on the 9th floor and the top floor is the 50th, the hard challenges will begin very soon, at least that's what Arthur guessed.

He knows a fair bit of how The Joker does stuff and since he's the one who built the tower, it won't be surprising to see unbeatable floors. After all, you can't expect the competition to be a walk in the park when the rewards are miraculous things that can even make the Twelve greedy.

****

Author's note : Hello, I know you're probably confused when reading the first part of the chapter which is why I'm writing this... to provide some needed clarification. We've already 600 chapters into the story and I won't lie and tell you it's just the beginning. Quite the contrary, in fact, we're nearing the end with every chapter and with how the story is written, one end won't explain everything but I'm not saying it won't be satisfactory.

There are many mysteries and the stuff with the time travel that are still left unexplained, which they will be in the future, in detail, too. Before you ask... no, the Arthur you saw is not our Main Character but he is indeed the very same Arthur Bilgart, strange, right?

Do you guys know a game called Nier Automata? Basically, my story will be like that. There will be Ending A and B, and more if necessary, to explain the complete story of Arthur Bilgart and Eva Album Larva(Lucy). What happened to them in the past, present, and what will happen in the future.

Mind you, Ending B will have relation to A but as a reader, you can stop at A if you're satisfied with what you've read. You can consider B as a bonus route that expands the world and adds a lot of lore and characters, it will also explain many events that happened so far in the story. Like the briefly mentioned B-32 Virus lurking in the System.

PS: Don't panic, I said the ending is near but it's not like... around the corner.