Chapter 12

Location: 2nd Floor, Evankell’s Hell, The Floor of Test

Stepping out from the light, I found myself in a wide field with tall grass. The plants of the wheat field was so tall that it completely covered my sight, but after years of training under father, sight wasn’t truly necessary if you could sense the shinsu around you.

So this is Evankell’s Hell

It was a different…yet nostalgic sight. To see color once again, to see something other than the bleached white blankness of the 100th floor. To be able to see the blue shinsu ceiling instead of a bland infinite white light, it was refreshing.

For a floor that was nicknamed hell (other than the floor of death), it looked too peaceful and nice to be true. The very shinsu density in the air was thin…too weak and the lack of an omnipresent ruler on the floor watching everything seemed to decrease the pressure…just maybe.

But Headon, he knew I was an irregular…so why didn’t he send me to the first floor?

When the first administrator called me out on who I really was, I thought he was going to send me to the first floor. *Shudder* A place where it was rumored that Headon eliminated irregulars before they became a threat should be deem them unworthy.

Seeing the shrewd administrator’s in person, any doubt of the rumors disappeared. Well, I could only hope to never meet him unless…

I thought of Enryu, the Red Tower. Unless I could become like him and do what he has accomplished…

As I began to sense around the wheat field, a loud speaker sounded from above, informing what she had expected.

“ *beep* Ahh, Ahh! Mic test! Hello New Regulars! Welcome to the First test of the Tower. There are exactly 435 regulars in this batch! Your task is simple, its cough* *cough* *cough* Sorry, one moment *beep* ” Apparently the test director was sick as he began coughing and the mic shut off.

“ *beep* Okay, I’m back. Anyway…you know what? Let’s have some fun! Only about 15 of you will make it anyway. Kill as many as you can within the next hour! Know that the less competition you have, the more you are likely to pass the test! Bye, going to get some coffee. *beep* ”

Immediately the streaming’s began as the smell of blood wafted into the air, the familiar smell of iron and rust.

“Visible Mode” My pocket turned visible as the number, assumably originally 435, began to drop rapidly. 433…431…430…

“DIE!” A human male jumped out from the tall wheats around her as he attempted to stab her with his needle. Her body acted on instinct as she instantly bisected the man in two, and also accidentally cutting away a large portion of the wheat field as well.

The less that remains, the less competition.

Only 15 out of 435…that was barely 3.4% of survival. I didn’t know how they would choose the final remaining 15 but if it was completely dependent on exact number without regards to quality…then the answer was rather simple, wasn’t it?

If there are less than 15 people remaining by the end of the first exam, then by error, she should pass by default. Right? No need to waste more time than necessary.

Weed out the weak

Spreading my arms out wide, I called upon one of my curses. Ten years ago, this would have drained me and more…but now? It wasn’t even a strain. Constant training and getting the demon to swear fealty was the result.

Pandora’s Curse; Adephagia-Pathogenesis (Watered Down Weak Version)

Darkness exploded from my left eye as I put on my eyepatch which began to be dyed red from the blood that escaped from the tear glands. After years of training upon calling on the sins…or rather the ones I managed to prove worthy of, it didn’t hurt or strain as much anymore, but the blood simply seemed to be a part of the process.

Screams and coughs of pain, agony, and despair filled the fields as the plagues of mankind spread all over the regulars and began to kill them, fast.

Within mere seconds the numbers began to drop and within minutes…the number was far below 200. It continued to drop as she made her way around the field, killing any unfortunate soul who happened to cross paths with her.

Most of the time, I was simply putting them out of their miseries with a quick stab through the heart while others, though drastically weakened, attempted to fight to survive.

There should be a few that are immune or strong enough to resist this weak version, right? Or did I underestimate the strength of Headon’s chosen?

For the next forty minutes, it only confirmed my suspicions of their lack of strength as all I was met with were the bodies of the dead or those in similar shape. At least that was until…

37 Remaining

“Haaaahh!!!” A black haired girl burst out from the plants, mid punch, as she lunged at me. Dodging underneath the swing and stepping out of her reach, I inspected her more carefully.

She was a beautiful girl…clear and fair skin, piercing red eyes, and long flowing black hair tied back in two ponytails (twin tails). She had on a confident smile of arrogance…battle lust, one that she usually associated with muscle heads…but she was too fair looking, right? But most importantly, I could tell that she was strong. Stronger than any other opponent she has faced thus far. Far far stronger.

She was wearing a black formal shirt and above it a white blouse and her red tie. Wait…is that…?

? & Me: You’re a Princess of Jahad

Neither of us were asking…we simply knew. Ridiculous strength that we could feel from each other, beautiful female, and finally the symbol of Jahad that only his chosen, us princesses, were allowed to carry.

My eyepatch, her red tie.

“My name’s Yuri! Ha Yuri Jahad! Muahahahaha!!!!” Without even waiting for my name, she lunged at me once again as she attempted to kick off my head.

Ha family? Chances are she has Ari (not Arie) blood as well…so that’s 2 of the ten families already…and King Jahad’s blood on top of that…so she’s going to be an indestructible sandbag.

I swung my blade, Azurite, to match her fist. *CLANG* and as expected…she fist didn’t split into two like it should.

This is bullshit. She didn’t even use color of arms

“Arie Style- Fine Edge Blade Aura” White shinsu glowed around her blade it began to micro-vibrate.

“Oh, what’s that? You think that’s going to work? Muahahaha!!!” Princess Sandbag rushed at me with both her hands up as I swung across her arms…leaving a thin red line of blood.

“??!”

“That cut me??!”

That’s all? Seriously??! This is a ridiculously powerful sandbag!

Princess Sandbag bean cracking her fingers and neck as her aura turned darker…her red eyes glowing eerily similar to the way mine glowed.

“Oh, you are so dead.” A threat I didn’t feel threatened by…I had my own cards to play.

Blessing of Athena: Pattern Recognition (Passive)

This should be enough…for now, if not I’ll begin to pile up the blessings and curses. Besides, killing a princess like her so early in the tower would make enemies of the Ha family…that was never a good idea. Not against a family that had incredibly powerful muscle heads.

“Get crushed!!” A flurry of punches came towards me as I parried each and every one of them. Each strike getting easier to reflect as the sandbag stuck to her usual rhythm.

Staying on the defensive, I let her waste her stamina as she continued to pour attack after attack.

“Nuclear Punch!” Black and red shinsu gathered around her fist as my senses warned me of danger. If the shinsu rippling around her fist was any indication of her ridiculous strength as a regular how just entered the tower, the sizzling of the air as it made its way towards my face was an obvious sign of its lethality.

Pandora’s Curse; Lyssa-Reflection

Her fist touched my face but there was no force behind it…all the force went to her. The sandbag’s face crumpled for a second as she felt the full force of her own attack before doubling over and shuffling back.

“Ow…ow…ow…what the hell was that??!” She clutched her right cheek (where she was hit apparently) as she glared at me. Still, she truly was a monster from the Ha family to take her own attack at full strength and still be completely fine. From the looks of it, her face wasn’t even going to bruise.

I ignored her complaint as I spared a glance at my pocket.

17 remaining

Almost. Just wait until 2 more are dead

“You are SO dead!!” Internally, I decided to change her nickname from Sandbag to Idiot Sandbag.

Her stance changed as she bent her front knees and changed her hands from fists to open palms facing her.

Grappling Martial Arts? Wasn’t the Ha family specialized in impact based combat?

“Your sword is annoying. I’ll rip it out of your hands and we’ll see if your Swordsmanship matters without a sword” Idiot Sandbag snarled as she dived towards me, hands open.

What an idiot

Side-stepping her once again and putting my foot out, she tripped and fell. Not willing to let her up again, I jumped on top of her before placing the sharp edge right on her neck.

Arie Style- Armor Piercing Stabbing Technique

Energy barely contained by my shinsu control and blade. All the other attacks might not have had much of an effect but this one was different. A skill taught to me by father himself…of the base Arie swordsmanship, this was among my strongest attacks (without blessings or curses).

“Indestructible skin or not…this one will kill you. Surrender now” To emphasize my point I pressed the blade downwards slightly as the skin on princess Sandbag’s neck tried to hold against the blade.

9 remaining

“There’s not even 15 left. We can be a team. You and I. Two princesses together, think about it.” As the blade began to dig deeper, I could finally see the trace of fear in her eyes as she realized that she might die.

The princess system, although beneficial, was a competition. Due to the nature, very few princesses in the history of the tower has ever teamed up together…unless they were blood related. The implications of having another princes on your side, two princesses, was immeasurable in climbing the tower.

“*che* Fine. You win” She looked away in annoyance and embarrassment as she gave up. Searching her eyes for any signs of lying or a trap, I found none. Getting off of her, I offered my hand to help her stand up.

She stared at it (rather unhappily) for a bit before resigning and taking it.

“Let me introduce myself. I am Arie Aria Pandora Jahad. A Princess just like you. Team?”

“ Heh, I’m Ha Yuri Jahad! We might act as a team now but I swear I’m going to whoop your ass one day!” Such barbaric language for a princess…refreshing. “OH SHIT!” The barbaric princess noticed her mud stained face and clothes before almost tearing up before trying to scrape the mud off.

“Hah…” A small sound escaped my lips before it exploded into full blown laughter. How long has it been since I laughed so genuinely? “Hahahahaha!” I grabbed my stomach as I doubled over in laughter.

Why was I laughing? Why was this funny?

“THIS ISN’T FUNNY DAMMNIT!” Yuri bellowed “I FORGOT TO PACK MY CLOTHES SO THIS IS MY ONLY ONE!”

At her words I lost it. Was this really the angry (and crazy) animal that just tried to kill me moment before?

Finally calming myself down, I stepped forward before I used a very simple form of shinsu manipulation.

Pandora Style Shinsu Manipulation-Micro Vibration

Yuri’s face didn’t clear of mud but the stains on her clothes and tie fell off like dry sand, leaving the clothes perfectly clean as if it came right out of the wash.

“Better?”

Sandbag frowned a bit as she examined herself. Seeing no more stains, she allowed herself that arrogant smirk as she confirmed “Yup, all better!” She dusted off the sand-like dust particles off herself a bit more as she looked at the numbers of survivors.

“You did this right? That black shinsu or something that killed everyone”

I nodded

“And now there’s only 4 survi—3 now actually. Shouldn’t you stop?”

*sweats heavily* Oh yeah…crap…

“You’re hiding something from me”

“I…I can’t stop it…” Adephagia was the aspect of gluttony…and gluttonous beings simply never stopped. Just like how a glutton would never stop eating…my plague would continue to kill until all its hosts were dead before dying out.

“You just killed over 300 people…minimum”

“Yeah, I know” Strangely, the last survivor other than Yuri and myself seemed to have found a way to survive…could it be someone from the 10 families or perhaps another princess? Since I used the weak version of the plague, I already knew it wouldn’t be able to bust through the ridiculous immune system of the 10 families and much less the acidic blood of Jahad.

Sandbag and I walked around the field trying to locate the survivor as our talk shifted to lighter topics.

“Wait, you had to kill everyone to become a princess?”

I nodded

“Holy shit! I was just, uhh, like, they just chose me and sent me up!” My muscles froze upon hearing her words. She didn’t have to kill them? Didn’t need to become a monster like herself to gain the power and the blood of Jahad?

Then…then…why did I have to? Why was I always the monster??!

“Apparently I looked exactly like grandmother Yurin, you know the family head…and I have the Ari (AN: Not to be confused with Arie. The Arie family uses swords, Ari family uses needles) blood in me…so 2 of the 10 family bloods ya know?”

While Yuri was happily explaining how she was chosen 250 years ago and me sulking about the difference in the selection process between her family and mine, we finally found the survivor.

… …

“Huh, didn’t think of that method. Where’d you get the Lighthouses?” Typical Sandbag method of talk.

“Ummm…” A rather tall blonde haired boy looked at us, shaking rather nervously. Under the barrier that 3 yellow lighthouses (floating cubes) provided “Nice to meet you, I’m Lero…Lero-Ro.”

AN: TOG Fact! It is in fact canon that Yuri & Lero-Ro were in the same group on the Floor of Test. Though due to the massive difference in strength, Yuri left Lero in the dust during the climb of the tower.

It is said that they were the only ones who became a ranker in their group while the others either died or gave up.