Before the floating ship exploded—
—Cause as much chaos as possible and escape outside the floating ship. This is an order.—
That was the content of the secret Pocket ssage Yeon Yuhwa Zahard sent to the Yeon Family Rankers.
The Yeon Family Rankers, who had been struggling in fierce combat against the Khun Family Rankers, hesitated for a brief mont upon reading the ssage. Then, one by one, they began fleeing outside the floating ship.
Originally, the floating ship should have been a sealed space. However, just before Hoaquin was forcibly teleported away, the Shinsu blade he fired in retaliation had punched a massive hole straight through the hull.
The Workshop researchers had confidently claid that the ship would remain intact even if Rankers went on a rampage, yet sohow a hole this large had been torn open. No one knew how—but regardless, it had now beco a priceless escape route.
Whoooosh—
Following Yuhwa Zahard's command, the Yeon Family Rankers burned away their remaining flas, engulfing the interior of the floating ship in fire.
The ferocity of the blaze caught the Khun Family Rankers off guard, and while they focused on protecting Maschenny from being caught in the chaos, the Yeon Rankers fled as fast as they could through the hole in the ship.
Maschenny watched them coldly and issued an order to her subordinates.
She had no intention of sparing anyone who dared step onto the board involving Hoaquin—or herself.
Hoaquin wouldn't have spared them either.
"Chase them all down and kill them."
"Yes."
Most of the Khun Family Rankers imdiately pursued the fleeing enemies.
After issuing her command, Maschenny turned back toward Lainess Zahard and drove the Thirteenth Spear into her once more.
anwhile, Yeon Yuhwa Zahard silently mocked Maschenny from afar. Using the mont when the floating ship was engulfed in flas, she began moving discreetly—
Toward the very core of the floating ship.
Toward the engine room.
I won't lose. That's right—I haven't lost yet.
From the very beginning, Lainess Blitz Zahard had been nothing more than a disposable piece.
I, Yeon Yuhwa Zahard, am still standing.
I haven't lost yet.
There's no way I could lose.
Clinging to that belief, Yuhwa ran as fast as she could toward the engine room.
The plan should have gone smoothly.
So where did it all go wrong?
How did things end up like this—her fleeing so disgracefully with her back turned?
The original plan had been perfect.
The maze created to deal with Maschenny's faction was ant to force the Khun Family Rankers into a collision with her subordinates, inflicting serious losses on Maschenny's forces.
Then, at the final gate, they would fire the Workshop's long-distance warp portal, forcibly teleporting the enemy and splitting them in half—fighting them separately aboard Floating Ship One and Floating Ship Two.
She would remain on the first ship, using the Royal Execution Unit to clean up the remaining Khun Rankers.
anwhile, Leta Zahard would use the Lo Po Bia Family Rankers inside the second ship—converted into an aquarium—to eliminate the enemies sent there.
That was the plan.
But Maschenny hadn't broken through the maze with Khun Rankers.
Instead, Hoaquin—the Arie who always stayed at her side—had single-handedly slaughtered Rankers from the Ten Families and even famous rcenary groups.
And he was a Regular.
That alone was already absurd.
The maze had been designed to fight Khun Rankers.
Yet a single Regular casually overturned the entire setup.
Was such a thing even possible?
In the entire history of the Tower, had there ever been a Regular stronger than Rankers?
Even if one matched a low-level Ranker, slaughtering them alone was unthinkable.
What was he, a High Ranker?
Still, at that point, things were manageable.
If they could just forcibly teleport Hoaquin to Floating Ship Two using the Workshop's warp portal, Maschenny would be left alone.
Victory would be guaranteed.
To make things even better, Floating Ship Two had been remodeled into a new aquarium capable of mind-controlling Hoaquin.
A Regular stronger than Rankers—what a tempting card.
That was why she entrusted the task to Lo Po Bia Leta Zahard.
Leta herself had expressed a strong desire to "ta" Hoaquin, overflowing with possessiveness.
She was absolutely confident of success, and Yuhwa trusted her.
Leta never spoke without certainty.
And even if mind control failed, taking Maschenny hostage would force Hoaquin to surrender.
No matter how the ga unfolded, victory was assured.
In fact, when the ship's cannons fired and the warp portal activated, Hoaquin had thrown Maschenny away to protect her—resulting in only Hoaquin being transferred to Floating Ship Two.
Up until then, everything had gone exactly as planned.
Watching Maschenny's stunned expression had been exhilarating.
Defeating a lone Maschenny should have been easy—
But then what? A "Manbarondena"?
A bag she had never even heard of appeared—and suddenly, Khun Family Rankers started pouring out of it.
Because of that ridiculous bag, the entire plan collapsed in an instant.
The Yeon Family was one of the Ten Families, yes—but their opponent was the Khun Family, one of the strongest among them.
And with only lower-ranked male Yeon Rankers, there was no way they could handle fully prepared Khun Rankers.
Worse still, if Leta's confident promises were true, Hoaquin should have already been under control by now.
Then why—
Why was there no contact at all?
Where did it all go wrong?
Where did things start unraveling?
Yes—when Maschenny brought that damned bag—
No.
If things had gone normally, the Khun Rankers should never have reached the 96th Floor so quickly.
Yes. If the rulers from Floors 90 to 96 hadn't suddenly united—
Then was choosing the 96th Floor itself a mistake?
No, that couldn't be it.
Then why—
Why was an Arie helping the Khun Family in the first place—
"…!"
At the end of that endless chain of questions, Yeon Yuhwa Zahard finally realized the truth.
Hoaquin had been the problem from the very start.
Touching him at all had been the mistake.
This was a battle she never should have picked.
An opponent she never should have provoked.
This was the price of that mistake.
"Damn it—damn it—DAMN IT! No, no, no!"
She couldn't accept it.
Why was Maschenny the only one blessed with such luck?
"…Ah."
Still denying her defeat as she ran like a madwoman, Yuhwa found her path blocked by a massive door.
She had arrived.
The engine room—the deepest core of the floating ship.
"…Hahaha… haha…"
If I can't win—
Then no one will.
"So, Maschenny… this match is void. Yes—void."
Yuhwa walked into the engine control room.
Crackle—snap—
At the center of the engine room floated a blue, spherical energy core, constantly feeding power into the connected machinery to keep the floating ship aloft.
"P-Princess? Your condition—what happened outside—w-wait—!"
"AAAAAH—!"
A Workshop researcher rushed toward her in panic, but in an instant, Yuhwa's flas reduced him to a charred corpse.
After killing him without a second thought, Yuhwa glanced down at the marble floor—
At her reflection.
"…Pathetic."
When had she fallen this far?
Was it when her mother, Yeon Illarde, the family's proxy, turned her back on her?
Or when she abandoned everything to beco a Princess of Zahard?
Illarde had rejected her, claiming her nature was impure.
She had believed that by becoming a Princess of Zahard, she could make her mother look at her again.
She had used every ans necessary.
Yet Illarde had completely turned away.
She had fallen to this point.
Being a Princess of Zahard had only ever been a ans to earn her mother's love.
A tool.
Yet sowhere along the way, the ans had beco the goal.
She had abandoned the goal for the sake of the ans.
Why had she even climbed the Tower?
Standing silently in the control room, Yuhwa let out a hollow laugh.
"Heh… hahaha…"
Feeling sorry for herself alone—
But the Tower had always been this kind of place.
Climbing higher until even the aning was forgotten, driven only upward.
She was just one of the countless souls swept up by that law.
"…Right. Nothing has aning anymore."
I'll admit it. I lost.
You win, Maschenny.
"So let's disappear together. I think I need a companion for the road."
Click—
She pulled the lever controlling the engine's output limiter.
Then, smashing and pressing countless buttons, she completely ruined the control system—turning the floating ship's power source into a massive Shinsu bomb.
Wheeeee— Wheeeee— Wheeeee—
—Warning. Warning.
—Engine overload. Output exceeds limits.
—Explosion imminent. Please evac—
Yuhwa muted the warning broadcast and left the control room, heading toward the engine core.
CRACKLE—
As the warning had stated, the once-stable Shinsu flow had beco violently unstable, its output skyrocketing out of control.
At this level, even ordinary Rankers would die if caught in it.
Maschenny would die with her.
"Not a bad way to land one last hit."
Voooooom—
The power core swelled larger and larger, emitting an increasingly unstable roar.
Soon, it would explode with enough force to engulf the entire floating ship.
Originally, she had planned to escape after activating the self-destruct sequence.
But even if she fled, the Khun Rankers would capture her.
And she no longer wished to cling to life.
A Yeon Family daughter unloved by Illarde—Princess or not—ant nothing.
"Hahaha… calling evil by nature… you're the one who gave birth to ."
FLASH—
At last, unable to contain the endlessly surging energy, the engine core detonated in a massive explosion.
Blue light swallowed the engine room—and then spread across the entire floating ship, consuming everything.
The heat unleashed with the blue flash destroyed the ship completely in an instant.
It was unbearably hot.
Painful.
As if her entire body were being lted by hellfire.
They said death was supposed to be peaceful.
Then why did it hurt this much?
It was so hot, so painful, that she found herself wanting to live—
But it was already far too late.
The scorching heat of the energy pouring out while overloaded slowly—yet relentlessly—lted and burned her away.
Even dying peacefully was not sothing she was allowed.
....
Floating Ship No. 2
Thud—
"Th-this… what the hell is this…?"
Leta Zahard collapsed to the ground, her body trembling uncontrollably.
At this point, the only beings still capable of moving in this space were her and .
Everyone else had been cut to pieces—limbs and bodies severed beyond recognition.
It wasn't called killing intent for nothing.
There was even a saying that the "kill" in killing intent ca from "survive," but that kind of rcy had no place here.
Shaking her head as if trying to deny reality, she scread in desperation.
"T-This is impossible! How could you kill that many Rankers with just eight sword swings?! This is cheating! It's cheating! Damn it!"
Words not worth responding to didn't deserve an answer.
She had been on the second floor earlier, but now Leta Zahard had fallen to the first floor where I stood. As I quietly stared at her, she noticed my gaze and flinched backward.
"So… you're the only one left now."
Kiiiiik—
"Eek!"
I placed Baekya against the floor and dragged it as I slowly walked toward her.
At the chilling tallic screech, Leta Zahard covered her ears in terror. She tried to back away, but behind her was nothing but a black, cold wall.
With her escape route cut off, I advanced one step at a ti—like a predator leisurely closing in on prey already cornered. With each step, Leta Zahard's face grew paler and paler.
I wanted to rush her imdiately, but irritatingly enough, her pitiful ntal attack technique wasn't completely ineffective.
The splitting headache made want to crack my skull open.
"I told you, didn't I? Leta Zahard. I'd kill you myself…"
—tear you apart piece by piece.
As my strides grew longer and I closed the distance, the deer that had been baring its fangs at beside her suddenly lunged forward.
"P-Pulfur! Kill him!"
"Kiiiiiiek!"
Faithfully obeying its master's command, the crimson stag unleashed violet lightning once more.
At the sa ti, I concentrated Shinsu into my legs and kicked off the ground.
Earlier, I couldn't move because of the curse—but that wasn't the case now. There was no way I'd just stand there and take it.
The violet lightning struck only empty ground.
Ignoring the deer entirely, I appeared right in front of Leta Zahard. Her eyes widened in delayed realization.
"W-Wait—!"
Slash—
"…Huh?"
Crimson sprayed across the floor.
A severed arm dropped into the spreading pool of blood.
Only after seeing it with her own eyes did Leta Zahard understand what had happened.
"M-My arm…! My aaaaaarm!!"
Three left.
I raised Baekya to swing again—but just as I did, she clutched the bleeding stump with her remaining arm and slamd her head against the floor toward .
"Ghk—p-please! Please spare ! Y-Yes—Anna! Your little sister, right?! I'll return her imdiately! Right now!"
I was about to ignore her and swing again—
—but the mont I heard Anna's na, my arm froze midair.
I couldn't forget my objective.
I needed to retrieve Anna and get to Maschenny as soon as possible.
"Where is Maschenny?"
"I-I'll show you…!"
She fumbled with her Pocket, and a massive screen appeared, displaying the location of Maschenny's floating ship and its current condition.
Judging by the blue electricity erupting in all directions, Maschenny appeared to still be alive—for now.
All that remained was my beloved little sister.
Vooooom—
I nodded toward Leta Zahard.
Understanding imdiately, she hurriedly summoned her Lighthouse and opened its storage.
And the mont I saw what was inside—
My mind went completely blank, as if I'd been struck in the head with a hamr.
A white-haired girl with pale skin lay there peacefully, as though asleep.
Exactly the sa as the last ti I'd seen her—before that day.
"…A-Anna…"
With trembling hands, I lifted her into my arms.
She was cold.
There was no warmth.
She didn't open her eyes.
Her skin was far too cold.
She looked exactly the sa as back then.
Back then, she had been smiling brightly, looking at with her round eyes.
I'm sorry.
I'm so sorry.
I'm sorry I wasn't there.
A guilt I would never be able to erase for the rest of my life crushed my chest as I faced it head-on.
This frail, lightweight body had no heartbeat.
Only silence.
Why did sothing like this have to happen to such a lovely child?
"..."
The more I looked at Anna, the more mories of playing together flooded past like a revolving lantern.
I couldn't stop the tears.
Afraid my tears would stain her clothes, I hurriedly wiped them away and gently carried her on my back.
Were my other family mbers wandering the Tower sowhere like this too—cold, lifeless corpses?
"..."
Just as I was about to leave—
Flash—
"…What?"
A massive light erupted beyond the screen.
Even through the display, the flash was blinding.
That was where Maschenny was.
I desperately shouted into the Pocket connected to her.
"Maschenny! Get out of there! Now!"
—crackle—static—
"Maschenny?! Maschenny! Can you hear ?!"
There was no reply.
A mont later, a trendous vibration shook even this floating ship.
KRAAAASH—!
The explosion was so massive it could be heard even from this distance.
Then, with a thunderous roar that seed to shake the entire 96th Floor, the floating ship on the screen completely exploded.
"…M-Maschenny… I need to contact Maschenny again…"
There must have been plenty of Rankers with her.
They must have protected her.
They must have—
"…No signal?"
When a Pocket has no signal, there are only two possibilities.
Either the Pocket was completely destroyed—
—or the user is dead.
I understood it logically.
An explosion of that scale would kill even most Rankers.
If the Pocket was completely destroyed, then unless its owner had absolute protection—or a miracle occurred—
their safety could not be guaranteed.
Clinging to hope, I stared unblinkingly at the floating wreckage beyond the screen.
But all that drifted through the air were shapeless scraps of twisted tal.
The girl with long, flowing blue hair I desperately wanted to see—
was nowhere to be found.
"..."
Why do you keep taking things from ?
Why am I so utterly useless?
Pain stabbed my chest again.
I should just die.
No—this wasn't just my heart.
The agony surged from far deeper within, tearing through my entire body.
But none of that mattered.
I had done nothing again.
All I could do now was cling to hope and rush to find Maschenny myself.
Calm down.
Think rationally.
There was still a chance she survived.
If it was the Khun Family Rankers, maybe—
Thump—
Even so, rage, grief, and self-loathing twisted together, spiraling out of control until they threatened to consu whole.
I'd already lived through this once—
and yet I'd repeated the sa mistake, putting Maschenny in danger again.
I was utterly pathetic.
Swoosh—
"…!"
At that mont, Leta Zahard's ring flashed with a dark purplish glow.
As the hand wearing that ominous ring lunged toward my face, I swung my sword at her.
Slash—!
.....
"…Ugh."
Maschenny opened her eyes with difficulty.
Right in front of her was a Khun Family boy staring at her with eyes wide open.
Recognizing the familiar face, her eyes widened slightly.
"…? Asensio?"
At her words, Asensio's face lit up with relief, and he imdiately began talking at machine-gun speed.
For Maschenny, who had just regained consciousness, it was nothing but noise.
"O-Oh! You're already awake, noona! That was really dangerous! Please lie down a little longer—!"
"You should recover soon, but you've suffered burns. Even so, to endure that explosion to such an extent… as expected, soone like couldn't even dream of—"
"Move."
"Kh—!"
Maschenny, who had little interest in Asensio, waved her hand and brushed him aside, then imdiately rose from the bed she had been laid on.
—Noona! Your unworthy servant, Khun Marco Asensio! I will rescue you at once!!
As mories of what had happened earlier resurfaced, a headache suddenly struck her, and she grabbed her forehead.
Ah—right. A floating ship had suddenly warped in, picked her up, and warped away again…
"…Ugh."
"N-Noona! Are you alright?! You really should rest—!"
"I'm fine."
"Y-Yes!"
Until just before Asensio's floating ship arrived, she had taken the explosion head-on with her own body. Her clothes were scorched black in places and riddled with holes, and her skin bore burns here and there.
At least nothing had been completely burned away—that much was fortunate, if anything.
But that wasn't what mattered right now.
"Where's Hoaquin? What about Hoaquin?"
At Maschenny's urgent question, Asensio tilted his head in confusion.
"Huh? Hoaquin… do you an the Regular who's been climbing the Tower with you, Noona? I don't know where he is, but if you give the order, I'll start searching imdiately—"
Vooooom—
"Ugh!"
Asensio's words were cut off when the floating ship suddenly tilted and shook violently.
Irritation flared as Asensio turned angrily toward the servant piloting the ship, shouting at him.
"Can't you drive properly?! Maschenny-noona almost lost her balance!"
But instead of apologizing, the servant protested with a panicked expression.
"No, it's just—the situation outside is—"
"…What?"
Seeing the servant sweating profusely and clearly flustered, the playfulness vanished from Asensio's face.
Just as Asensio was about to speak, sothing entered his field of vision—and he imdiately shouted.
"W-Whoa! What is that?! Dodge it! Noona! Hold on tight!"
Only then did the servant look out the window, hurriedly twisting the controls and barely avoiding sothing.
"Waaah!"
Rooooooar—
Asensio stared outside in visible shock.
He'd lived on the 96th Floor for months, but he had never seen anything like this.
"What in the world…?"
Black-and-white Shinsu, shining in violent contrast, was raging like a blade-filled gale, sharp and ferocious, covering the skies of the 96th Floor.
And far in the distance—
A massive Shinsu storm.
Maschenny, who had been watching the scene with a rare look of surprise alongside Asensio, froze the instant she saw that storm.
"…Hoaquin?"
Though her vision was obscured by the black-and-white Shinsu tempest, Maschenny sohow knew who the owner of this violent Shinsu was—who stood at the heart of that storm.
The figure at its center flickered, its entire body wrapped in white light.
And yet her instincts told her—
That is Hoaquin.
But then…
What was this ominous feeling?
It felt eerily similar to the mont she had faced Data Zahard, when he suddenly transford into a monster in the Hidden Floor.
It was definitely Hoaquin—
And yet the Shinsu, glowing in black and white, lashed out wildly in all directions, destroying everything across the 96th Floor.
Grinding her teeth in unease, Maschenny pointed toward the storm.
"Asensio."
"Enter that Shinsu storm."
"Head straight to Hoaquin."
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