Winston looked at the giant door in front of him and looked back at his teammates.
"Yep. This is the one." He nodded. This was the supposed entrance to the so-called 'hidden floor.' A floor accessible only to those who have cleared the hell train in it's entirety. And sure enough, Winston felt as if he could walk right into it.
The barrier between the floors had always been something non-existent for him the moment he became able to leap into the spirit world. As long as a place had shinsu, he could travel there.
He looked at his teammates. Khun, Bam, Sachi, Boro, Wangnan, Miseng, Prince, Yihwa, Endorsi, and finally, Zarhan and Amon. Of course, Yuri Jahad and Evan Edrock were also there.
"Isn't this exciting Evan!? A whole new floor that we haven't seen before!" Yuri exclaimed as he held onto Evan's collars and shook him left to right.
"Calm down, princess! We aren't going to be the ones entering!"
"Still! Isn't it exciting!"
"Aah! Let me go, you crazy woman!"
"What did you just call me!"
Everyone ignored them. They had grown used to her shenanigans.
"Is there anything that we know for certain we can expect?" Khun, always the logical one, asked with relaxed shoulders.
"Not that I know of." Endorsi was the one to reply.
"Who asked you? Dumb Princess!" Zarhan snapped with a cocky smile.
"Who the hell are you calling dumb! You're talking to a legitimate princess y'know!"
"Stop fighting!" Amon got in between them, trying to stop the fight.
"Alright then!" Winston's shout brought them back into reality. Seeing their focus riveted on him, he chuckled. They were like children. But of course they were.
They had learned to grow dependent on him.
Hmm... Might need to fix that. Maybe I shouldn't do anything this time around? Perhaps that will give them some sort of incentive. He mused absently before clapping his hands.
"Alright, so! This is hidden territory so we have nothing to go off of. And while I could go ahead and scout, I'm not going to do that. Why? 'Cause I don't want to. You people are going to deal with everything that comes your way throughout the entirety of the hidden floor!"
Nobody said anything. They were all in collective agreement of his words.
He smiled, "Then! Let us get in!" He motioned Bam to move forward. The chestnut haired boy smiled confidently and strode forth in large steps. Then, he summoned his pocket and pulled out a weirdly shaped key.
Winston looked at him with an encouraging smile as he inserted the key.
And so, just as he twisted it, a loud noise broke their attention.
It was the sound of the doors opening.
Instantly, Winston and Yuri's pupils dilated as they looked to the entrance of the room.
And there, Karaka was standing.
"Yuri Jahad! Winston Heath!" Karaka screamed, his voice full of unbridled rage.
"Karaka!" Yuri screamed back. Her arms inventory appeared in the air as she drew a weapon.
Winston noticed the ones behind them. Rachel and Yura Ha.
White had, at some point, been left behind. Partly because Karaka was afraid of him now and partly because White himself was too lazy to go along with them.
"Come here!" Winston exclaimed, his hand swiping the air as if drawing a veil over the air. The entire room was sealed just then, a black cloak closing it over like a soap box.
However, a bright flash of light came from behind him.
Winston's eyes widened at the last moment, having realized what it was.
The door to the hidden floor had been opened. The light expander, enveloped Winston who was standing still, Yuri who had drawn a needle and Karaka who had sprouted numerous black tendrils from the air.
Winston felt a pull. A phantom pull wanting to wisk him into another dimension. He resisted, and the power fell apart.
From the corner of his eye, he noticed both Rachel and Yura getting enveloped all the same. The light differentiated not between the different groups. Only between the regulars and the rankers.
Winston heightened his focus. He would make Karaka a host as well, he decided in that split second.
However, just as the people disappeared and the light began to dim, he felt a shift.
A shift in time.
What? He almost spoke out, yet stopped when he felt someone approaching from behind him.
He side stepped to find Endorsi and Bam falling over as if they had been thrown. Bam was battered and bloody, same for Endorsi.
The regulars that just a split second ago had disappeared into the hidden floor had returned in just a moment.
"What the?" Winston couldn't help but say. "That's it?"
His momentary shock was quickly overwhelmed by conscious logic.
Instantly, he leapt into the spirit world as Yuri prepared her weapon and split off into hundreds of worms.
His blood and flesh split apart, revealing a swirling mass of tentacles and worms writhing and yearning. One of the worms leapt from the spirit world and into the astral world, parasitizing Karaka's astral body.
Hmm. It's a different process to parasitize the astral body huh... though the result is the same. Winston chuckled at his observation, noting that his habit of experimentation still remained. As he finished parasitizing, he noticed a peculiar thing.
He keeps his heart in a different space huh... that's a peculiar way to stay alive. No wonder they call him the immortal slayer. Pretty difficult to kill someone whose source of life is in a different place entirely.
Heh. I can only imagine the frustration of someone having to deal with a beyonder of the cowardly trio, much less me...
Having had his share of lampooning, he appeared back into the physical world. His worms, thousands upon thousands in number had been spread throughout the tower. He had taken the time to make some more avatars, just to keep the jahad empire on it's toes. He had noticed the Supreme commander Adori Jahad destroying many of his avatars. Maybe it was time for him to teach her a good lesson.
As he reappeared in the physical plane, Yuri wasted no time in using all of her might.
Shaaaaa!
Boom!
Roses blossomed in innumerable numbers; hundreds upon hundreds of then as they all coalesced into a single focal point. The energy, concentrated as so gathered above the needle she held - the Black March and fired!
Crack!
The world cracked.
That was not an exaggeration. The plane of the world shattered like a mirror as this one beam of shinsu, impossibly powerful travelled in a single stroke.
It hit Karaka right in the chest!
"Kuah!" Karaka yelled out in pain.
Winston flipped his hand in that moment. And the dimensional plane flipped onto itself like a book. The 3 dimensional world turned inside out, infinite series of 2 dimensions getting compressed over and over again.
Karaka, who had lost the power to resist at that moment due to Yuri's attack was caught like a helpless bird ensnared by a net.
His form compressed, his armour breaking, his flesh splitting and his bones rending. He could not even scream properly.
Winston smiled, knowing that he wouldn't really die even if he went all out. If he destroyed this body, Karaka could form another vessel in time.
And so, he meant to destroy this vessel completely.
It was a training dummy. A mere convenience. Since he was already here, might as well do so, right?
Yuri didn't let up on the assault. Holding black march in her hand, her nimble form leapt up, flipping in the air and coming to a stand still before she used the needle in a swiping motion!
Boom!
The room finally couldn't hold it in, collapsing under the assault.
"Winston!" Winston heard Khun call out to him and so he turned.
Khun kneeled over Bam's body. The boy in question was battered badly, bleeding from almost everywhere. He had failed to notice the extent if the injuries first hand.
Without missing a beat, Winston appeared over them and placed his hand on Bam. Instantly, the boy's body was restored to full.
Paper figurine substitution!
Before the room could fully collapse, Winston focused his spirituality and extended his influence. Instantly, everything stopped. The walls stopped crumbling and the debris became suspended in the air, as if time itself had been stopped. And as if on que, his vision blurred. Everything turned dark.
He had stolen all motion from the room!
Even the motion of light had stopped!
The theoretical state of zero motion, absolute zero!
Shaking his head, he gave the motion back to the light and his companions. As everything became lit once again he wrapped everyone in his spirituality and disappeared from the place.
...
...
"Huuuu! Huuuu!" A man was hyperventilating.
His red haired glowed in the dark as he remained huddled in a corner. His fingers grasped onto his head, pulling on his hair as if they were a disease.
His clothes were torn and ragged and his body held injuries all over.
"Please! Please please please please pleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleaseplease!" He repeated over and over and over.
His voice was cracked too and blood flowed from his eyes.
He could feel it.
Two forces lay dormant inside his body, each fighting for control.
He did not what triggered it, but they had suddenly entered into battle. The battleground? His body.
He doubled over and vomited red all over the floor.
Theolis was not having a good day.
And as he lay there, on the group, bloodied and defeated, he could not help but close his eyes and think back to his calm life on the farm.
Fuck... this...
...
...
A/N: I have released a Re Zero fanfic. It is called Re Zero: Dawn Eater and currently, 3 chapters have been released. I humbly request everyone to check it out and donate some stones to it.
I felt like I was wearing myself thin with working on a single piece of work. Yeah, it helps me keep singular focus but at the end of the day, it makes me burn out that much quicker. I have hundreds of ideas in my head, the majority of which are unsuitable to be applied to a single work.
Another thing is, I have opened a patreon and I did not think I could maintain a consistent schedule with this fanfic on there.
And so, if you like re zero or have been looking for a decent fanfic on it, do check it out. It will help me stay motivated and if it gets onto the rankings, people might even go to my patreon and it'll really help me out.
Cheers~