A/N: This chapter will have a lot of substantially original inserts.
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"Hey, Lizard. After the test, let's go eat together."
"What?!" Anak's terrified countenance was broken out of its tunneled concentration, ludicrously gaping at the Jahad Princess' offer, which to her sounded as idiotic as she's always thought her to be. Maybe it was just supremely more stupid, if she were to be a tad bit honest. "In a situation like this!"
Grinning as dumbly as she's given justice for, Endorsi added, "But you pay instead."
"Can you really talk about food?!" Her words trailed off into ellipses as she processed what the other was implying so carelessly, forcing her eyes to widen back again. Together?
"You... are you serious?" The green-skinned Regular's teeth were clenching in a serious frown.
Nodding in a pleasurable close-eyed display, "Yep," the brunette assured before marginally opening her eyes in a scarier expression. "Lend me the Black March."
"Then first," Anak got up in an agile dash, tossing the Black March to Endorsi, who switched the Green April with her. "Time to get rid of that disgusting thing!"
However, there was no way they could ever hope to take on a Ranker, let alone a noble from the Jahad Family.
Chuckling darkly, he had an air of fulfilled expectancy. "This is self-defense, my Princess."
Safely attacking the princess to take her down in one uncaring move, Ren kicked the real target of his mission down before she knew it. Crushing her neck on the cold hard ground, the dragging impact created heavy noises and cracks where she lied.
"Guess there's no choice," he snickered while squeezing the shorty's neck. "I'll just have to eliminate you myself."
"You... bastard... stop it," Endorsi weakly protested, trying to get up from the deeper fractures of natural land she was in.
"Princess, I'll be sure to report this to King Jahad in all of its entirety," Ren laughed intelligently. "With this, our Lo Po Bia Family's princesses will have one less competitor."
Blood dripped down her mouth, anger clouding her atmosphere. The comparatively unknown princess' mind clicked, "That bastard! He was from the Lo Po Bia Family! That's why he intentionally put me in this predicament!"
"Now that the entertainment is over," the member of the 10 Great Families turned his attention back to the one below him, putting even more pressure on her fatal point. "Please die now."
He was showering in the dying agony of the fake, the horrific screams of the authentic, and the callousness of which he bended everything into for his own goals and amusement.
Tong!
His vicious laughing and setting were stopped by a stone bouncing directly off his head.
"...Who's there?"
Despite his interrogation, the undercover assassin was only answered with more provoking stone-throwing, triumphantly angering him as he went off.
"Which insane retard is throwing that! I know you're there! Come out right now before I kill you," he threatened in his quaking rage.
"Which insane retard?" A female's voice asked from the unseeable territory of the location's darkness.
"The two ugly idiots that are pitifully lying over there after being beaten by you..." Neat white shoes entered into visibility as steps were heard from the person's crushing aura. The pair in reference watched her in their rude awakening, a necktie decorated with Jahad's eyes was the object of their lack of speech. "I'm their older sister."
Yu...
Yuri Jahad?!
"Yu... Princess Yuri Jahad, why are you here?!" Ren questioned at the now fully revealed body, a scared and baffled Regular in the name of Shibisu accompanying her.
"Well... I somehow ended up here. I have something I need to find, and someone to find, as well," she replied, eyes scanning the lit area before arriving at the white guy. "But you—who do you think you are to act friendly with me?"
Inside the confines of his Lighthouse, Khun supervised the team's endeavors above ground. Crossing his legs in a relaxed manner while those on the frontlines had their share of fun, he commented, "If it progresses like this, is it a victory? So, the test from the Guardian, guess it was really no biggie."
"But the Bull front is still undecided. It's been a while since contact was lost with Isu, as well... Although Hatz went to investigate, nothing yet from him..." He ran over his worries in his mind, staring fixatedly at his monitor. So much for not being a 'biggie'.
"What are you thinking about?"
The unidentified person's whisper cut through the air between the crevice of his left neck and shoulder. Khun's stupefaction fullproof in his eyes. Caught off-guard by the minacious intrusion, the Light Bearer instantly stood up in a defensive stance, pulling out his trusty knife.
"Who's-"
The looming presence laughed, his appearance shocking Khun. "So tense."
"This guy... Could it be?" He wondered, scrutinizing who was approaching him.
A thud reverberated to expand his vision, marking it the second time he's heard an unwanted sound that day.
"What is it this time?!" The strategist scanned to see a blonde girl, her wavy shoulder-length bob cut parted on one side, hands courtly resting on her red skirt, and back straight in a closed black jacket with golden details. Gawking back at him, shame undetected from seating prettily on one of the smaller lighthouses inside, his intuition was subconsciously analyzing the familiarity of her image.
"It sure has been a long time since I came into a Lighthouse like this... makes me nostalgic," the man stated.
"Who are you? What are you doing, suddenly entering into someone else's Lighthouse?" Khun examined the two, not putting his alertness down.
"Ah, I thought I might borrow the Lighthouse for a bit," said the other male, who slipped his game console up from being tucked away in his pants' pocket.
"What?!"
Toying with the device, the mini lighthouses started moving on their own, perplexing Khun even more.
"They're moving on their own?! That guy's gaming console! Is he controllong them with that?" He took notice from its sounds.
"What do you think you're doing with someone else's Lighthouse?! We're in the middle of a test right now!" Protested the younger lad.
"Sorry. It's just that we got separated from our friends along the way," he retorted whimsically.
"Friends?!" They're... not alone!
"Yeah, I have to find them quick. Since they all tend to be like ticking time bombs."
Pew! Pew!
"Okay. Found them all," he declared before breaking into a troublesome smirk. "What's this? Flora, looks like something fun has happened."
"Flora?" Now less forward, the owner of the Lighthouse surveyed the name's carrier once more.
"I asked who you are. Is your name sewn shut?" Yuri taunted the Ranker.
"Ah! No, princess." His reaction reverted into its gruesome reality, bowing, "I'm sorry my introduction has been late, my princess. I am the Royal Enforcement Division, No. 67, Lo Po Bia Ren."
"Royal Enforcement Division..." The Ha's eyes weren't leaving the Lo Po Bia's.
"Yes, princess. With orders to retrieve the Green April, I have entered this Testing Facility, and am currently performing my duties."
Green April? I see... Then that child must be Anak-unnie's daughter... Flora won't help me now. She was never here to help me to begin with.
"Now then," Her vision, which briefly sought her illegitimate niece shot back to the RED member at his notion. "I will continue my duties, princess. Since it may not be a sightly scene to show you, it may be best to move along."
Proceeding towards the bogus Anak Jahad, his poised steps that were the focus of the scene was once again interrupted.
"Stop, Ren." It was the High Ranker Princess he slid away from. "A Ranker interfering with Regulars during a test; that's against the laws of the Tower. Since when did the Jahad Family's RED perform their missions even while breaking the laws of the Tower? I will retrieve the Green April and the Black March. So, before the Administrators take notice of you, disappear quietly."
Watching faraway from the Bull's front, the hacker held his game console for the shorter girl's comfort.
"Princess, Yuri's threatening you. She's so mad right now," he tittered, gazing more fondly at the one beside him than those on the other side of the screen.
The title alarmed Khun more. On the back of the woman the man called 'princess' was the crest of three daunting eyes, scintillating more condescendingly in the tint of genuine high-priced rubies, and built with the prideful foundation which stood taller than the Tower itself.
"Blonde hair, red eyes, and an anklet on her left foot with Jahad's symbol," Khun went through the requirements in his mind with the attributes in front of him in realtime. "I... You're kidding? Why would...That's-"
"You're," breathlessly muttered the sole Regular in petrification. Beads of unsettling sweat were forming all over his body and surroundings. The fact that he didn't know what to do with the realization cornered him even more. "High Ranker Blue Hole, Royal Enforcement Division Supreme and Absolute Commander Hendo Lok Sunflora Jahad."
"Princess," a voice spoke through the other side again. "Are you suggesting that we let that fake live right now?"
"Beyond letting and not letting her live, since she's a target you can't touch at the mome-"
"I can't do that," Ren cut Yuri off in resolute, vexing the latter. "The meaning of the existence of that fake, why she must be eliminated, you know them very well, don't you, princess? This is problematic. Though we may let Princess Endorsi slide since she's young... but for a princess who's been bestowed with a 13 Month Series to say such a thing, as well... If King Jahad were to find out about this, I can't imagine how disappointed he would be."
Pfft!
A boisterous laughter replaced the mass of the blue Lighthouse. Slapping her partner's side as a result of her act of satisfaction, the RED Commander finished her upsurge in a naughty smile, her touch clenching where she left it on his arm, looking fiendishly at the show on the screen.
"For a daughter whose father just got sold out, you sure look like flowers are blooming all over you," Hachuling pleasantly snorted.
"Nice job, Ren!" She commended cheerfully and, as her companion noted, in earnest.
From near Yuri's feet, a dark aura stole Endorsi's attention, overpowering the natural atmosphere of the environment in a heartbeat.
"Oy, RED newbie, are you threatening me right now?" A grin grew from her lips.
"Th- threaten. Of course, not. I'm simply worried for the future of Jahad..." He denied. Unlike his verbal stutter, he wasn't being moved at all.
"Aha? Really? Everything seems to be solved for you when you just add Jahad's name. That's really convenient!" The woman matching that of his costume's grin judged sarcastically. "Using Jahad's name to threaten a Jahad's Princess while working for one, you must be really out of your mind. Know this, the strength of Jahad isn't the kind of convenient thing that you're thinking of. Didn't your Commander teach you? Though there's no need bothering to explain it to someone who's just using Jahad's name as he pleases. Get out of here right now or I will kill you."
Underneath the permanent smile of his thick body suit's orange mouth, Ren's real one was beaming to be far more out of hand.
Princess Yuri really is different! Sending shivers down my spine. But I'm a member of RED, I can't back away due to something like this. On top of that... Aha! I can't hold it anymore! Within this container, countless shinhueh are squirming in joy reacting to the princess' ferocity! This ecstasy! This excitement! N- No! Anymore and- I won't be able to hold it anymore! But, Princess, you really shouldn't have the face to say that to me, when-
"...You can't even beat the Commander." Wind gushed along the buried zone analogous to Sunflora's shinsu nature. "Princess Ha Yuri Jahad, the prodigal Fisherman who took only 100 years to reach Top 500 High Ranker, becoming the only princess in the last 500 years to receive a 13 Month Series, the Black March—until not even 100 years ago when Princess Hendo Lok Sunflora Jahad broke that record after being chosen as the first owner of the Rainbow Undecimber in history. If I recover both the Green April and the Black March here, the Commander will be the only princess in the Tower's length to have ever possessed more than two 13 Month Series. Additionally, collecting it from you, Princess... How momentous, am I right?"
"Why are you RED clowns so obsessed with Flora?!"
Yuri glared at Ren's furiously unstoppable squirming that basked the enclosed space in eeriness as if he were about to pop it and himself in a grand disaster. Restricting herself out of the virtually nonexistent respect extended to the heathen letting loose before her for being her favorite little sister's subordinate, it was for that same reason she considered she might've actually been wrong for overstepping at saying something for the first time in a very long while. But he annoyed her to the gut, so like always, Yuri did as Yuri did.
Ah... I did it...
Rainbows of monstrously titanic shinhueh poofed out of his container's mouth, leaving the impression of a saturated after rain.
"Hey, sheep wool..." The renowned Fisherman snapped the genius Anima out of his climactic moment.
Huh...?
"Are you done?"
Ara?
Green
Ara Ara?
And red.
Ara Ara Ara Ara Ara Ara Ara?!
Lake-sized blood oozed out of the shinhueh.
Closing the gap that separated them, the temperamental woman positioned her right hand just in front of the working man's head. Three fingers outstretched, her index and thumb readying for a flick as she wore the smile she picked up from the situation.
"It's not that I don't know how amazing Flora is," she proclaimed to him specifically, but also to herself and the Tower that name protects. "It's just that you're not as great as her."
"Then, from now on, it's self-defense." Her fingers whisked to attack.
The force eroded the ground, scattering smoke everywhere in a deadly impact.
"Huh? Why are you dodging? You afraid? Bring it, your forehead," ordered the gorgeous royal.
"Stop it right there, unnie."
"Ms. Ice Strawberry, what are you doing?" The Wolhaiksong Scout querried to another vicinity on the Test Arena with the short girl and her tall partner. He was now on his game console by himself after connecting Yuri and Ren's location to Sunflora's own.
"Hachuling? Ah! No! Mr. Blueberry! I found a homeless person here!" She declared, referring to Laure, who was sleeping on the grassland with his pillow and blanket.
"Sounds like an amazing discovery. But, we've got a big problem," he informed them.
"It looks like someone has made our princess quite angry. Looks like a Ranker... they might even have a big fight." His information enticed the pair.
"You mean Yuri, because Sunflora's with you, right?" Ice Strawberry excitedly asked, "Blueberry, where?"
"Want me to send you the coordinates?"
"Ng! Ng! Of course!"
Khun sat slouched behind Hachuling, his eyes darted over to whatever it was he was doing, a hand supporting his chin, and the other resting over his thigh.
"What's up with these guys? Using such stupid names. And a fight inside a Testing Arena... are they insane?"
"I'm sending it to the others, so we can throw them off. You can choose wherever we go next if we do this," Codename Blueberry explained it easy enough for Sunflora to understand, manually distancing himself from his device, as shutting off the audio would only pique his comrades' curiosities. She's smart on-duty, but a numskull all-around. He then laid a hand on top of her head. "It's good that you took care of the important stuff way beforehand, Princess."
The Regular thought about what exactly these people were, keeping an eye out for the Jahad's Princess sharing his Lighthouse with him, still uneasy.
"Transfer complete," the gamer began turning away from his game console to where he first entered from. "Guess we should head out, too."
"Stop! Where do you think you're going, morons?!" A voice put every Wolhaiksong member into a halt.
"Ah, so you were alive, Mr. Yeongji Mushroom!"
"Of course I'm alive. You think I'd die? And why am I a yeongji mushroom?" Evan countered, Kurudan beside him. "Anyway, don't make this into a big deal. All of you just stay put quietly. I will take care of everything. Princess Sunflora, I shall lawfully follow your orders. If I may bargain for something, please reconsider Princess Yuri's actions towards your Ranker."
"No! We want to play, too!"
"That's right. We also have the right to play!"
"We all know you just want to keep all the fun to yourself, you scrooge!"
"That's right!"
Argh... those loons... The princess isn't even listening, is she?
"All of you shut up!" The Guide's head was now beet red, finally erupting in anger as he clutched the huge backpack he always carried tighter. "If you keep on making me angry, you're all going to be missing children when we return!"
Damn it, this is all because that crazy princess kicked me down. She's always the one causing problems and giving me more work.
"Let's go, Kurudan!" He told the large man, stepping out to leave the useless and gradually fading incoherent remarks of the Wolhaiksong constituents behind to the unilluminated part of the room to enter the one ahead of them.
"Okay, Hyungnim."
Yu Hansung sat at the center forefront of the large expanse, glancing at the two visitors from his usual coffee-making. The red cups, meant for them.
"So you knew we entered, after all," said the Silver Dwarf. "Yu Hansung, Director of the Floor of Tests."
"I grew tired of waiting," he welcomed. "Chief Guide of the Jahad Royalty, the Fast Ship, Evan Edrok."
Dropping to sit at the prepared table, the High Ranker Top 100 asked, lifting the cup to examine for himself, "What, is this instant? Evankhell must be out."
"Yes. There was business to take care of, so she left momentarily. It must be great luck for you. Since thanks to that, all of you are still alive."
"Well, that's true."
"Though you also brought someone she can't beat," Hansung notified. "But that person isn't really on your side, either, right?"
"You're right. But if Evankhell was around and that person wasn't here, you wouldn't be able to conduct a test like this, as well," Evan grinned at the Director, gulping down his instant coffee.
"Pardon?"
"It seems there's an assassin of the Jahad Family inside the Testing Facility. You aren't going to say you didn't know, did you?" The man's silver eyes converted into a somber wrinkle.
Hansung only maintained his straight gaze at the gibe.
"I'll be blunt. We came in here to retrieve the Black March." The manmade sky outside already saw the luminescent crescent moon, infinite number of stars dotting the outside of the window. "No matter what happens during that process, I trust that you won't have anything to say otherwise?"
"It seems so," the highest present official of the 2nd Floor smiled simply.
"...Huh?"
"Playing it... cool?"
The tension Evan molded in the room was completely shattered by Hansung's sweatless reply, invoking reactions on the two like their car's brakes were malfunctioning, but then they realize they were actually mistaken about it.
"And you still call yourself a Test Director?! Because you're agreeing so easily, it's making me angrier," Evan objected childishly once recovered.
"Yes, because I am conducting this test faithfully under the direct orders of the Guardian."
"...What?"
Under the direct orders of the Guardian?
"Now, please either eliminate Jahad's assassin with haste or wait for his boss to clean it all up including yourselves, and leave with the Black March."
Could it be...
"Don't you agree that the trash of the Jahad Family should be picked up by the Jahad Family?"
The ominous vibe of the Test Director plainly contrasted his folded background of a clear blue sky decorated with puffy clouds. Yu Hansung, nobody understands him.
"Kurudan!"
"Okay, Hyungnim."
"I'll give you one minute. Princess Yuri is in danger. Eliminate it."
"Got it, Hyungnim. I'll save Noonim. Blueberry-hyungnim, please stop your princess!"
Returning his sights to the smiling Hansung as he sparkled in all his debonairity, Evan felt it.
Giving me a bad feeling...