16 - Ace
Within a dark enclosed space, on a rocky cliff, stood six figures, looking below the bottomless pit.
"So… I have to jump down here to get into the Regulars Testing area, right?" Kicking a small pebble, Yuri questioned the little dwarf next to her.
"I recall asking you to lead the way, but I didn't tell you that I'm planning to go to hell, Evan," she stared holes at Evan, who had a tick mark on his forehead.
"T-There's no other way! This is the only way to get into the test spot without getting caught," he stuttered, thinking about what this crazy princess was going to do.
"I guess I have no other choice then. Let's go—" Evan interjected her suddenly.
"Wait a minute, Princess Yuri. These four have to go together." He pointed at the four 'Wolhaiksong' members they brought along this time.
"Why?" Yuri asked curiously, as Evan never got serious except for something that was beyond him.
"I do not know, Princess. But I saw their paths would be miserable… if they went alone!!" As Evan dropped a warning with a serious face, Yuri gave her permission and kicked Evan down the cliff.
"WAAAHHH! Damn you, crazy Princess!" Evan's voice faded into the bottomless pit along with his figure.
Yuri turned around and looked at the four with narrowed eyes and stated before jumping down, "If there is anything dangerous, crush your Winged Tree badge… if you are lucky… 'He' will come."
"Well, well, looks like something is waiting for us?!" With a wide smile, a blue-haired boy with a console in his hand jumped down the cliff. Following his absence, the rest jumped down, far from scared, they all had wide grins plastered on their faces.
…
Back on the hill, Indrah stood. He looked at the hole in the distance where Endorsi and Anaak were fighting against a presence way stronger than them.
"I really forgot that furball in the plo—"
Suddenly, he felt an enormous presence near the hole. It was so strong he wiped an imaginary sweat on his face. Like a volcano waiting to erupt and blaze the entire place in a flood of destruction.
"Yuri," he bit into his bottom lip, trying to contain his grin.
Along with this presence, he felt four more new ones coming in his direction. Indrah stretched his body and waited. Soon they reached below his cliff.
Khun was alerted and exited the suspending Blue Lighthouse. With a short knife in his hand, he looked at the person who seemed to be the leader of the four.
"Who are you?!" Khun asked guardedly, seeing that the person standing at the front seemed to be from his family.
"Oh, a brother of mine! I'm Khun Hatzling." Hatzling introduced himself while taking a console out of his pocket.
"We aren't here for you—" Before he could finish his sentence, something crashed into the land, and smoke pervaded the entire area. From the smoke, Indrah walked out slowly with his hands in his pocket.
"It's for him!"
…
"Yo! Wassup, Indrah is it?! I'm Hatzling. This tanned guy is Kurdan, the little girl is Ice Strawberry, and black hair is Blackberry. Sorry, but these two don't like to share their real names with strangers." Hatzling pointed at everyone and started introducing themself while looking at his Rinnegan curiously.
Indrah narrowed his eyes hearing that guy casually saying his name, as if they had known each other for years.
"How do you know my name?" He was genuinely curious, and from the way Shinsu was flowing around their bodies, he could tell the Khun guy was a Scout, Kurdan was a Wave Controller, Pinky was a Fisherman, and Blacky was a Spear Bearer.
"Ahh, that… I just hacked my brother's Lighthouse, nothing serious." Hatzling said with a smile, seeing Khun gritting his teeth. "You should leave this place, little brother. It will be chaos soon."
"So, what's someone of your strength doing here, boy? I checked the Rankers list and didn't find your name!" Kurdan suddenly interjected with a question, seeing they were just loitering around. Their time on this floor was limited, after all. They wouldn't know when 'Evankhell' would return. Also,
'For Sir Evan to say we four have a role to fulfill and we should come to this place especially…'
Kurdan looked at the person standing in front of him with a hint of caution. He didn't know why, but he could feel… there was an existential gap between them. He'd never felt anything like this—no! He'd felt this before… in his entire life, he only felt this kind of sensation from a single being.
Kurdan's eyes widened when he thought along those lines, and the following words from Indrah confirmed his suspicions.
"Is it that Dwarf who warned you about me? No, that's not possible. No Guide can see anything about an Irregular. So, he must've seen your paths?? Hmm… that could be the only plausible reason. Anyway, I couldn't care less about it." With a wide smile, he watched as the expressions of all four in front of him changed from indifferent to serious and then terror.
"I-Irregular? What's happening here?? Another one? I need to inform Sir Evan!!" Kurdan couldn't stay calm anymore.
"Sir Evan, Sir Evan… Si—"
"Don't bother. This test is issued by the Administrator… You have no choice but to fight." Indrah spoke, then turned around and looked at Khun.
"Enter this portal, it will take you near Rak…"
Khun didn't reply but turned around and entered the portal. He wouldn't forget this. The weakness, the humiliation! He didn't bother asking how Indrah could open a portal… a feat only a Family Head could do!
'He can open a portal?!… Is he an Irregular?!' Hatzling's face turned grim but soon calmed down. He isn't a Ranker for anything.
Suddenly, a voice spoke from the pocket of Kurdan.
"He's right, Kurdan. The princess coming and interfering with the Furball, you killing it and then fighting this Irregular… it is the role we have to play." Evan spoke solemnly from the other side. He looked at Hansung Yu, drinking coffee in front of him, and had an impulse to strangle him.
"Hey, Irregular, we at least need a reason to fight… You don't want Princess Yuri to interfere, right? Mind you, she wouldn't care even if it's the Administrator who issued the Test."
"What is the test the Administrator gave you?"
'I see, so that's why the Administrator asked me to defeat the team of a Princess of Jahad, to pass the Test.' Indrah thought. He now understood why the Administrator issued an Active Test. If creating a Position is passive, fighting is active.
Indrah sat on a nearby rock and spoke nonchalantly after analyzing the benefits of speaking the truth,
"The Administrator asked me to create a New Position. Unique and never before seen in the Tower…" he deliberately paused to put on airs.
"And?" Evan questioned with a tick mark on his forehead. He felt a sense of déjà vu.
"and…" he looked at the four who had already drawn their weapons.
"He wants me to defeat these four to pass his test."
_
"That means you already created it? … Would you mind sharing it with us?" The brief movement of silence was broken by a curious Hatzling.
"Of course, I should! Isn't it the reason the Administrator issued me to fight especially a team of Princess of Jahad?" Indrah laughed slightly. "Don't you think so, Evan?" He added.
"The Administrator wants to add a layer of protection on you? You being an Irregular will be exposed sooner or later. So, by giving a test that benefits the Tower and the honor of defeating a High Ranking Princess of Jahad's Team, before even becoming a Regular…" Evan squeezed his little brain and saw the paths that would lead as the consequence of this event. But he didn't ask the question that had been lingering in his mind, because he knew even the one in question didn't know; Why? Why would an Administrator show favoritism? This kind of incident never happened in the past!
"Hahaha… man! Talking to someone intelligent is really different. Well, let's not waste any more time…" he dropped from the rock and relaxed.
"My position is simple… it's the Balance of the Battlefield."
SWOOSH SWOOSH SWOOSH SWOOSH
"Balance? Elaborate please?" All the four split and took their respective positions. Hatzling with a blue spear in front posed a question, Kurdan with a hammer behind Indrah, Pinky and Blacky stood left and right respectively.
Indrah didn't mind them and continued to explain, "You see… the five primary positions all support each other and fight together. If a light bearer gets eliminated, a scout will switch and take on the light-bearer position… in this manner, even if you lose a person in the middle of the battle, they can adjust and fight. But, in the end, they still will lose a position because a person can't do two positions at the same time, right?"
"So, you're saying the position you created will fill in the role that's missing in an ongoing fight?" Kurdan questioned, he coated his hammer with Shinsu, ready to strike if Indrah made any move.
"Tsk, tsk, you still don't understand it seems… Then, let me practically show you," after uttering those words, his smile faded from his face. Indrah looked at Pinky, who held a needle and looked at him warily.
WHOOZ
"My hand is sharper and stronger than your needle." He gathered the surrounding Shinsu and coated his hand.
[Solid]
The liquefied Shinsu in his hand solidified instantly, forming a blade-like shape. Before anyone could react, he swung it at an untraceable speed, the radiance of the slash blinded everyone in the area.
SWIIIISHHH
"Shit, Ice Strawberry dodge!!" the Blacky shouted after recovering from the blindness, unfortunately, it's too late.
BOOOOMMMM
Everyone watched as the slash cleaved the cliff in the direction of Pinky in half. A vast amount of smoke filled the place along with a loud fall of debris from the cliff. Before the dust could settle and everyone could recover, Indrah looked at Blacky and spoke.
"I don't need a hand to wield a spear."
[Senbonzakura]
CRAACKKK
A multitude of purple lightning petals gathered atop his head and took the shape of ten long purple lightning spears. He hurled the spears mentally, which painted ten long line marks in the sky as they struck Blacky.
PANG PANG PANG PANG PANG PANG PANG PANG PANG PANG
"Damn it, are they dead?" Kurdan shouted seeing the situation escalating way quicker than they could react.
"Shut up and focus on yourself…" Hatzling shouted, swinging the spear and clearing the smoke.
Indrah watched as the smoke cleared and looked at Hatzling next.
"I won't let you run amok, bastard!!" Kurdan jumped in front of Hatzling and sprinted toward him.
"Shinsu amplification - Cutter!" he shouted and swung his glowing hammer. Indrah could feel if he received this attack head-on, he wouldn't come out unscathed. He jumped and avoided the hammer at the last moment as it touched the ground.
BOOOOMMM
The ground quaked and broke apart for a mile at least.
Still in the air, Indrah landed on top of the hammer elegantly, grabbed the head of Kurdan, and continued with both his Rinnegan and EMS shining.
"You see… my eyes are way above a Lighthouse." He tightened his hold of Kurdan's head and hurled him toward the sky.
BOOOOM
He flew so fast that a smoke trail stretched out behind him, like a jet tearing across the sky. As he broke past the three-mile mark above the ground, Indrah grinned and muttered,
[ Amenotejikara ]
BOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMM
A deafening explosion tore through the landscape below, shaking the earth to its core. The cliff shattered, a trench ripping into the ground like someone had taken a sword to the entire horizon. Smoke billowed up in violent spirals, thick and choking. The entire battlefield fell into a stunned, silent pause.
"Y-You… are you trying to kill us?!" Hatzling asked awkwardly, having barely escaped the blast by a hair. He looked up at Indrah, who floated in the sky using Shinsu, hair whipping in the wind.
Indrah didn't answer. He just let the silence drag… then spread his arms, eyes locked on the heavens.
"A Scout should be fast as the wind… but I am—"
[ Atomic ]
That was the last thing Hatzling heard before everything turned white.
An overwhelming column of purplish-white Shinsu slammed down on the field like a god's judgment. The air screamed as a vortex of atomic destruction swallowed everything. The shockwave cracked the earth, blowing away trees, rock, and sky alike. The landscape was erased.
From above, Indrah watched the destruction in silence. The thrill of letting loose, of not holding back… it was exhilarating.
'Hmm?'
Movement flickered in the trench below. Kurdan.
The man dragged himself out, panting, body bruised but somehow still standing. He looked around at the ruin, trying to steady his shaking breath. He could still sense the faint life signs of his teammates. That was the only thing that told him—barely—that Indrah hadn't meant to kill them.
But still…
"I'm a Wave Controller," Kurdan growled, gripping his hammer. "I don't know what that was… but it's not enough to take me down."
He swung his weapon into the air, firing off a beam of Shinsu that tore toward Indrah like a shooting star in reverse.
Indrah dodged easily. That grin returned.
"Just so you know… I'm not finished."
Kurdan's eyes widened.
Indrah locked eyes with him,
"A Wave Controller uses Shinsu. But I…"
He raised one finger.
"I am Shinsu."
[ Nova ]
A small red orb, no larger than a teardrop, formed at the tip of his finger. It dropped.
BOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMM
The world exploded again.
…
When the smoke finally cleared, the entire battlefield was unrecognizable. The once-towering cliffs? Gone. Blackened land stretched in every direction, like someone had painted hell over paradise.
The four Rankers—Kurdan, Hatzling, Ice Strawberry, and Blackberry—lay motionless, barely breathing. Bloodied, shaking, terrified. If not for the flicker of life in their eyes as they watched Indrah descend from the sky, they might as well have been corpses.
He landed softly, staring down at them.
"My position doesn't replace a single role…" he said, voice low but clear. "It's the amalgamation of everything. Just like how our Bodies hold every parts."
He looked at each of them in turn.
"The one who bears my Position must wield all Five Roles—simultaneously. Lightbearer, Scout, Spear Bearer, Fisherman, Wave Controller."
"Otherwise, they aren't worthy to be called an…"
He turned and walked past them.
"'Ace.'"