- The Home of the Dead -
Time passed real quick.
The one month that they have spent to rest their tired bodies finally passed and the train had reached its next destination.
The Floor of Death.
"This is an announcement for all regulars on train. The train....has just arrived at the Floor of Death."
After having a little bit argument, in order to get to see the Floor of Death, Charlotte purposely jumped between Khun's lighthouses. Khun had three lighthouses and now, he, Endorsi and Bam were riding on it to take a look at the Floor of Death from the window. Khun won't let Charlotte use his lighthouse to annoy her, so Charlotte made her own way and jumped to his lighthouse....though it wasn't really stable since the lighthouse was small and only fit for one person.
By the time he was looking at the window, he felt someone landing on his lighthouse.
"Whoa--"
Charlotte who landed on the small and narrow space of lighthouse stumbled and nearly fell though she then moved her body forward and held the window with her hand to kept her balance. Khun was currently squatting on his lighthouse when he turned and lifted his head to see who on earth dares to step on his lighthouse.
"Ah....."
There was a moment of silence as their eyes locked together. He was lifting his head to look at Charlotte who was looking at him with the surprised look as well.
This time, they saw each other's eyes rather clearly from close.
Their moment was interrupted by Endorsi who put her arms on her waist and raised one of her eyebrows, "What on earth are you guys doing?"
Startled by her voice, Charlotte let go of her hand and nearly fell from the lighthouse. It was rather lucky of her to have Khun to catch her hand before she fell down. He pulled her rather close and being embarrassed she was, she lowered her head and pulled her hand back and changed the topic immediately.
"Gosh, that scares me for a moment."
"If that scares you, you shouldn't risk jumping on my lighthouse like that" said Khun.
"You won't let me see the Floor of Death so I'll just have to make my way" she replied nonchalantly.
He sighed.
"I was just joking about that....you really take my words seriously, huh?"
"Nope" said Charlotte. "We all know that it depends on my mood whether I'll take your words seriously or not. I've always been a rebellious girl since I was small."
"How did you get above here anyway?"
Charlotte pointed to the ices that grew on the wall.
"I used those ices as my stepping stones and strengthened my feet with Shinsu to jump up here."
As Khun enlarged the size of his lighthouse, Bam intended to scold Charlotte for a bit but was defeated as Charlotte used her abandoned puppy eyes to defend herself once more. From below he could hear Altaira mocking him, calling him with the word "loser" after he watched what happened on the four regulars who were riding the lighthouses.
"But this Floor of Death...it really does give chills to people whenever they see it, right?"
The sea was colored crimson red like blood and there were some kind of sharp, huge rocks growing from the red sea. Could they be called as stalagmite? Or stalactite? She never knew the exact answer or the differences between both stalagmite and stalactite. These two words looked identical with each other that it was hard to different them like Estrella and Estelle.
"We've finally arrived."
".....Hwaryun?"
They looked at the source of the voice who was the red haired guide.
"We're getting off soon so get ready. There isn't a proper station here so we'll have to jump."
".....we're jumping off?!"
The lighthouses were moving down as Khun asked Hwaryun, "What do you mean jump off? There's nothing over there."
"It's not that there's nothing there, you guys haven't seen the real Floor of Death yet" she answered.
"What.....?!"
They jumped off from Khun's lighthouses.
".....haven't seen.....? You mean it's like a hallucination?" Khun asked.
"No. It's like the leather. The red liquid that you guys see is the corpse and the blood of the administrator who was murdered by Enryu, an irregular. The real Floor of Death is covered by the body over there. You'll see the real Floor of Death once we get inside the corpse.
From now on, I suggest that you don't only believe what you see with your eyes. This place is hostile to the living."
Enryu was one of the irregulars who entered the tower and he was the one who killed the administrator, turning this floor into the Floor of Death that was filled with blood and the corpse of the administrator.
Though it sounded terrifying at first, but now that she heard it once again, Charlotte started to envy this Enryu. He had the power that could even kill an administrator who was believed to be a creature who couldn't die and feared by lots of people in this tower. She also wished herself to be one.
But that wasn't the important thing right now. For Charlotte, after this, soon enough, there will be a good show or more like a good fight.
≪ ◦ ❖ ◦ ≫
The Emily couldn't be used to look for Wangnan and the others. Communication tools and radio like the pockets couldn't help them in the train since pockets and communication tools like that were useless in the train. They could only wonder where they were and wish for their safeties and luck. Charlotte had nothing to say for that one.
When Boro heard that they had to jump, he shouted in disbelief. He believed that if they jumped there, they would all die. Evan who came with Yuri as the two of them were also going to leave the train agreed with Hwaryun. Though he had never came to the Floor of Death, he was certain that the view that they saw right now was nothing but the outer shell of the Floor of Death. Boro was still thinking that this was one crazy idea. Despite of living for more than six hundreds of years and even fought with Hoaqin once, he still couldn't bring himself to jump from the Train.
"....just keep it simple" Khun assured him. "If we see you jump and survive, then the rest of us will go in after you."
At the end, he still need to jump first to prove whether it was safe or not.
"....you say the scariest thing like they're nothing" said Boro. He took few steps backward and returned to the others. "Ugh.....I don't think I could do it."
"You're such a baby" Sachi responded.
".....it's safe to jump, Boro."
Hearing that strange male voice, they turned their heads to see who was speaking.
"....Hockney?"
A white haired man who was carrying lantern with a pair of white eyes with something red on his eyes spoke up.
'His white eyes don't change at all. Those white and strange eyes with something red on it is his special ability.....and will definitely be useful for us' thought the one who had read the Manhwa until the second season.
"You won't die even if you jump down there. It's something you need to do if you want to enter the Floor of Death anyway" said the man called Hockney again.
Boro introduced Hockney to the rest who didn't recognize him. David Hockney was the scout he found at the forty floor and he was wondering on the train since he was seeking for his picture. He came from the Floor of Death, the place where they were heading right now. He said that according to Emily, he could get his picture in the Floor of Death. Knowing this, Khun immediately asked Hockney to join with them and go to the Floor of Death together.
Charlotte could tell what he was thinking. He knew that the one who was luring Hockney to the Floor of Death with his missing piece of picture was Rachel and Yura. Considering his mysterious power, it wasn't surprising at all that Rachel and Yura wanted to get him on their side. If he takes advantage of this situation well, Hockney will be a great help for them in the Floor of Death.
Soon enough, the people who Charlotte was waiting for had arrived.
There were two bright white stars with slight blue color and a second later, their enemies had shown themselves up.
Yura Ha had showed up herself with the teleportation and also her blue luggage along with a mysterious man who covered himself with hood.
'Wangnan.....' Charlotte recognized him but didn't call him. She knew that it was him by reading the Manhwa.
"If you are going to leave then make it quick" said the blue haired woman with a smile. "We can't get out with you guys standing there."
"....what do you mean?" Khun asked back. "We're waiting here like this to get you! We'd rather avoid getting backstabbed on the Floor of Death! Rachel must be inside that suitcase, huh?"
"That's right. Rachel is in this suitcase."
"Then tell her to come out. There's no need to go all the way to the Floor of Death just to settle this right?" Khun asked with a confident smirk. "Let's settle it right here!"
"Oh my-- such confidence" Yura replied. "Judging from the way you're acting even while knowing that have Hoaqin on our side, you must be putting all your faith into the big shot behind you."
She was referring to Yuri and Evan.
"Ah, just don't worry about me" said Yur who felt rather happy being called as a "big shot". "We are not allowed to attack regulars on the train anyway. As long as you don't attack first, that's it. I have no intention of getting involved so resolve this among yourself."
"Ah~ of course~ I was worried for nothing. Thank you~"
"Worried for nothing?" Charlotte echoed and walked in front of Khun confidently with a serious expression. "Do you think just because the princess and her guide isn't helping us, we are going to lose from you? Pardon me but even if White is in your side right now, we've defeated him once and we could always do it one more time. His stamina and power aren't even the same as when he was on his peak and he was completely betrayed by his last clone right? Ah, how pitiful of him then."
Yura could imagine White yelling and drawing out his sword right now. Charlotte clearly humiliated him by mocking that he wasn't stronger than them and that he didn't have the ability to convince his own last clone. Besides, no one likes to be called as "pitiful" by their enemies.
"I wouldn't be so confident if I were you. The last time was just because of your luck" Yura responded. "Alright. What about we start making the deal?"
"Deal? What could you traitors offer to us?" Charlotte asked rather arrogantly and there was an irk mark on Yura's forehead.
"I'll give you information about the thorn fragment as well as the whereabouts of your companions whom you must be wondering. In return, let us leave this place."
Yura did offer them with something that they couldn't resist. At the end, they chose to accept her deal and talked about it.
With Khun lighthouses that they were riding right now, it was impossible for Yura and her mysterious friend to run away and if they wanted to do something bad the princess who was watching right now could attack them and they'll be dead on the spot.
According to Yura, their team nearly got Wangnan and the others by setting up a trap with Emily but at the end, Casano betrayed them and ran away with them. Right now, according to her, Wangnan and the others were hiding on the train.
It was a bullshit. What a wonderful lie she said to them, Charlotte thought. There was a reason why people shouldn't make a deal with traitors and it was because they couldn't be trusted from the beginning. They had broke the deal they suggested on their own.
But she said nothing. She could only clench on her arms tightly in anger and restrained herself from shouting and yelling. Altaira tapped her shoulder and made her calm herself down a bit. Just by looking at his expression, Charlotte knew that Altaira wanted her to calm herself down.
"Now, onto the main subject....about the thorn fragment."
❀° ┄───╮
"Find the house where the princess of the deep colored sea lives and ask her for it.
The place where three waterfalls flow.
If you go there and follow the red light, you will reach the place with thorn fragments."
╰───┄ °❀
Charlotte glanced at Endorsi who seemed to be interested, especially at the words of the "princess of the deep sea".
Khun wasn't going to let Yura and the others go at all. Being a smart and wise person he was, he knew that there was something wrong with what Yura had just said and believed that something must have happened to the Sweet and Sour Team. He wasn't planning to let them off but just right at the moment, they had an uninvited visitor.
"Why are you all gathered here?" asked Slayer Karaka.