One week later — 91st Floor
— In conclusion, it seems there is soone within the Execution Force who belongs to another Princess's faction. It's also likely they were the ones who preemptively stationed several FUG Rankers at the base you attacked last ti…
"I understand. Finish handling your assigned work."
— For the glory of the royal family and the Great Families.
Beep—
Maschenny's gaze sank coldly.
Well, she always carries a chilly expression and sharp eyes—but this ti, it was deeper sohow. Colder.
She looked far more serious than when we'd been wandering around together. It felt like I was seeing Princess Maschenny from the original tiline.
Just getting close felt like I'd be wrapped in frost, but letting her stew in that low-pressure mood all day didn't seem healthy, so I quietly approached her.
Sneaking up behind her, I pulled the hood of her hoodie up over her head.
"Seriously, you're annoying. This is exactly why you bought this thing, isn't it?"
That… wasn't really the reason, but—
"Haha, no way. I just thought you looked good with the hood up."
As she glared at from under the hood, warmth returned to her eyes—just a little.
Before I could get electrocuted again, I quickly laughed and raised my hands.
"Ti out, ti out. So, Maschenny—what's the plan?"
I hadn't been trying to eavesdrop, but I'd heard everything anyway, so I didn't bother asking about the details.
From the sound of it, this was a power struggle between Zahard Princesses.
Sothing like Hendo Lok Gladrry Zahard vs. Arie Rose Zahard, maybe.
I smiled faintly and offered my opinion.
The easiest, fastest, simplest—and the thod I personally preferred most.
"Should we just kill them all?"
Even the authoritative Zahard royal family rarely interferes in matters involving Regulars.
aning, killing one rival Zahard Princess wouldn't really be an issue.
The problem, of course…
There might be soone else behind the Princess who orchestrated this.
Maschenny clearly understood that as well, because she shook her head at my suggestion.
Tch.
That's disappointing.
I really wanted to kill everything that ssed with Maschenny.
Activating her Pocket's call function, she answered my question.
"No. If we deal with it that simply, we gain nothing. This is a good chance to wipe out the troubleso factions altogether."
Maschenny and I exchanged sharp, predatory smiles.
Wait—aren't we starting to look like villains?
That thought made cough awkwardly as I fidgeted with my sword sheath.
"Ahem. But Maschenny."
"What."
"What about the spectators?"
"We kill them."
"Right?"
Shrrraaaak—
You've been hiding pretty blatantly for a while now.
Maschenny might not have noticed, but the instant my sword left its sheath, a massive wave of brilliant white energy cleaved straight through the distant air.
If it had truly been empty space, it wouldn't have split like that.
As the flimsy shinsu veil tore apart, the one hiding inside revealed himself.
Judging by his appearance… not a Great Family mber.
Likely a scout-type Ranker.
Clutching his shoulder where my attack had grazed him, he stared at in shock.
Judging by his expression, the opposing faction's intel on was severely lacking.
Seems they don't know I'm vastly stronger than an ordinary Ranker.
When I lunged toward him, he turned pale and raised his hands, trying to stop .
"Hey—"
Before I could finish speaking, more than forty fully-ford swords rained down like a storm, shredding his body into pieces.
…Maybe I should've just cut his neck with one clean strike.
"Maschenny, did we need information from that guy?"
"Watchers are disposable pieces. They never know anything."
"Fair enough. Then let's move quickly. Our position's been exposed."
Maschenny nodded and headed toward where we'd parked the floating ship—but then stopped.
She turned back, puzzled, seeing still sitting on the ground where I'd killed the Ranker.
"…What are you doing?"
I looked up at her with my best pained expression.
Might as well milk this.
"Help up. I hurt my ankle in that intense fight with the Ranker."
"…You didn't get hit even once—haa…"
In the end, Maschenny sighed in resignation and extended her hand.
I grabbed it and stood up smoothly—
Except for misjudging my strength.
I yanked her toward harder than intended, and she stumbled, losing her balance.
"…Ah."
"Whoa—Maschenny, careful—!"
She nearly fell, dragged toward , and shot a sharp glare.
…Crap. I was just trying to tease her.
She's not about to electrocute again, right?
"Don't ride my floating ship. Fly."
"W-wait, Maschenny! I'm really sorry!"
She was seriously mad—I almost got kicked off the ship for real.
Sigh… why did I have to deliberately crash my old ship a hundred years ago?
Feels like karma's piling up for all the dumb things I've done.
Well… at least she looks even prettier up close.
....
93rd Floor — Zahard Royal Family Execution Force No. 32
Pallian was in a terrible mood.
"Ha… you. How exactly did you handle this?"
Grinding his teeth, Pallian bowed his head.
In stark contrast to his pathetic posture, the girl sitting comfortably before him was a Regular—far younger than he was.
Yet threatening her wasn't an option.
The Ranker standing silently beside her like a bodyguard made that very clear.
Besides, threatening a Zahard Princess while serving the Zahard royal family would be treason worthy of a hundred beheadings.
In short, he had chosen the wrong side—and was paying dearly for it.
"The Ranker sent as a scout was killed? And you still don't know their location?"
"We're tracking them as fast as possible. If they take the climbing test, we'll find them soon enough."
No matter how much pressure he applied, the man before her kept offering nothing but useless, unproductive answers.
Finally, her irritation boiled over.
"You really think that's an answer—"
Just as she looked ready to hurl sothing at Pallian—Soone stepped in and stopped her.
"That's enough, Lainess. Getting any angrier than this won't do you any good."
A familiar voice—one she both feared and admired—wrapped around her gently.
At those words, Lainess Blitz Zahard, who had been monts away from lashing out at Pallian, froze in place.
Her eyes slowly shifted toward the back of the room.
"Y-Yu… Yuhwa unni?"
Among the Zahard Princesses who were currently Regulars, the factions had largely divided into two major camps.
One was the faction led by Khun Maschenny Zahard.
The other belonged to Yeon Yuhwa Zahard.
Originally, Yuhwa was slightly older than Maschenny and active on much higher floors, so the two factions rarely crossed paths.
However, for reasons unknown, Maschenny had begun climbing the Tower at an unusually aggressive pace over the past 120 years—so fast it could only be described as reckless.
Naturally, this drew Yuhwa's attention.
The other Princesses aligned with Maschenny were still operating well below the 90th Floor, so the plan had been to eliminate Maschenny quickly during this window of isolation.
But as was now painfully obvious, every attempt had failed.
That was why Lainess Blitz Zahard—who had confidently declared she would personally deal with Maschenny—had grown increasingly impatient.
"U-Unni… why are you here? You should be on the 99th Floor…"
The arrogance Lainess had displayed just monts ago was nowhere to be found.
Now she trembled like a mouse before a cat, barely daring to et Yuhwa's gaze.
Yuhwa, however, showed no interest in Lainess at all.
She ignored her completely and turned her attention to Pallian.
"You sent Rankers, and still failed? How many tis now?"
The sheer weight of her presence was nothing like Lainess's empty fury.
Pallian bent at the waist, bowing deeply without thinking.
"I have no excuse. At present, it appears likely that Khun family Rankers are directly backing Khun Maschenny Zahard. Additionally… there is one more factor of concern. A Regular from the Arie family nad Hoaquin, who always accompanies her."
Yuhwa nodded calmly at Pallian's report.
Lainess might not realize it, but this man was quite competent.
There was no harm in hearing him out.
"Hoaquin… that would be the Regular rumored to have defeated a FUG Ranker about a hundred years ago?"
"Yes. I've compiled further information as well."
Khun Maschenny Zahard is almost always accompanied by him.
Their relationship is presud to be extrely close.
Whenever he accompanies her, Rankers assigned to surveillance or interception lose contact.
His past movents, additional anomalies, and so on…
As Yuhwa scrolled through the report transmitted to her Pocket, her finger suddenly stopped.
"From the 99th Floor… Arie Family, Second Branch. Wait—99th Floor… 120 years ago…"
Her thoughts clicked into place.
"The Arie Branch Terror Incident."
Piecing everything together with rapid clarity, Yuhwa's lips curved into a faint smile.
"Hmm. This is interesting, Pallian."
"Yes."
"Investigate Hoaquin and the FUG terror incident from 120 years ago. As for Lainess—confirm whether Khun Maschenny is truly being directly supported by Khun family Rankers."
With her orders given, Yeon Yuhwa Zahard left the room without another word.
After all, the Rankers who had been eliminated were surely Khun family Rankers.
Dealing with—or exploiting—a Regular like Hoaquin would be trivial.
Fra Maschenny Zahard for violating regulations.
Or turn Hoaquin into the blade that betrays her.
Yuhwa Zahard genuinely believed it would be that simple.
After all, manipulating an opponent by gripping their weakness was her specialty.
"And the 99th Floor incident… yes. This might be very useful."
She felt the taste of victory already.
Completely unaware that she had just touched a dragon's reverse scale.
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