The most hideous sight presented itself to the world within the Cursed Vault of Ice.
A monstrosity of thousands of thousands of fingers was wrapping around a black-haired man.
Within the prison of bluish walls of Room, the fingers possessed a rule of their own, sending chills running down spines.
It was beyond astonishing that Kai had managed to not only Survive but defeat a 12th-floor Contestant purely using his Stats. No. Saying that would be wrong.
Kai had done it using only 50% of his true power.
First, Kai hadn't even used his Reality Marble.
Without the Limitless Blood Firmament, he couldn't bring out the full potential of his Selfless Breathing Art, Shikai, and Glitch, literally blocking off a great chunk of his power.
Second, Kai lacked one of his greatest Items — Black.
However, despite this marvelous achievement, one thing still stood true — even if Kai had access to 110% of his power, it wouldn't have mattered against Black Ghost, the Mad Commander.
The thing that led to Kai's victory wasn't power, per se, this time.
It was the odd, complex, and irresistible nature of his Skills — Blood Prophecy and My House, My Rules.
Of course, the Skills were only as good as the one using them, giving Kai, who possessed literally AI for brains, a tremendous advantage.
No matter how it came to this point, Kai was more than glad to take care of the enemy.
However, Blood Prophecy had its limits, too.
Black Ghost's gray eyes trembled as the fingers closed on him.
He couldn't move. He couldn't blink. He struggled to even think.
When Black Ghost had reincarnated, his trauma from his previous life had reincarnated with him.
They made him recall the things that had been done to him.
That's why, during his Initiation Mission, he pushed himself beyond limits to get his hands on the powers of 009.
If only he could have that, then no one would be able to touch him.
The Millennial Magical Alliance had picked him up from the Initiation Mission itself, supporting his growth.
By the time he ascended to the 4th Set, he had earned himself the title of Mad Commander, one of the 5 Commanders level Contestants on the 12th floor.
They called him weakest, Black Ghost knew of this, too.
However, it was known to none but few that the weak symbolized his state of mind here, not his actual powers.
Black Ghost hated them.
The feeling... those eyes. Those smiles. Those grins. Those words.
"Fuck..." words came out of nowhere from his mouth. "... you Supreme and..."
Hundreds of eyes opened at the tips of fingers, narrowing at the defeated enemy.
Black Ghost stared at them with a blank expression, his eyes dead. "... Fuck this Timeline!"
A seven-colored lotus lit up on the Mad Commander's forehead.
Kai's heart gave out.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
The Order of the Immortal Lotus had sealed the Contestants' levels, resonating their powers with the fluctuating Upper Limit of the evolving timeline —
The impervious boundaries of My House, My Rules' House Common Room shattered.
— Then they hid the Contestants under separate Bounded Fields, knowing the Supreme would go to look for them by himself.
A seven-colored explosion rattled the Vault, widening the cracks running down the black-purple sky.
No concept of earth remained anymore. Hundreds of meters of ice, from one end of the Bounded Field to the other, got crushed, becoming melting sand.
Like a torn leaf, Kai struggled to cope with the sudden loss.
Victory seemed to have slipped right through his fingers.
Kai had thought that the 12th-floor Contestants had released their sealed powers after getting the Bounded Field's protection. And the only reason he defeated Black Ghost, despite his strength, was that he had already planned it all using Blood Prophecy.
Kai's purple, demonic eyes shook as, for the first time, he truly faced the brunt of raw power. The power of a real powerhouse.
Like a fish sensing the hook, Kai kicked the space, running for his life.
His lower half exploded.
Kai gritted his teeth, regenerating his body parts instantly. Observation Haki could help him only so much against an opponent whose strength lies in speed.
"... Where... Where... WhereWhereWhereWhere..."
Mad ravings echoed throughout the Cursed Vault.
-Selene!- Kai hissed, an impending doom announcing itself to his Lucky Intuitions.
Black Ghost appeared right in front of him. His eyes had no life.
"... Where do you think..."
Selene's mist form oozed out once again. The mist took the form of ethereal hands, grabbing his shoulders.
As if melting into space, Kai blinked out of existence.
Kai reappeared a hundred feet away from the Cursed Vault's entrance.
Black Ghost was staring back at him.
"... you are going..."
A giant hole appeared on Kai's chest.
Kai blinked away, knowing he was running low on Calorific Value now. One more blow and he might not be able to use Biokinesis anymore.
The only reason he was still alive was because Black Ghost had gone truly mad, Kai knew.
The truly, horrific fact was that you couldn't madden a person more who had no hope to get better.
Kai reappeared inches away from the giant doors, cracks running over them.
And the ghostly voice entered straight into his right ear.
Kai had already taken a step, his foot passing through the opened door's threshold.
Then, as if time had betrayed him, his foot traced the path backward.
This?! Kai's eyes widened. Time Reversal?!!!
Like a puppet, the foot returned to its place and Kai blinked.
He appeared 100 feet away from the Vault's door with Black Ghost in front of him.
Vainly watching it all, Kai blinked once more. Then, he appeared hundreds of meters away, returning to his original position where the Space Devourer had used Blink for the first time.
Black Ghost popped into existence in front of Kai.
Froth was foaming in Mad Commander's mouth, a mumble dancing on his lips. He had lost his mind. The seven-colored lotus on his forehead was flashing blinder than ever, his true power shattering the Vault beyond repair.
Black Ghost lifted his fist, grabbing Time itself.
Yellow bolts of lightning exploded around Kai as he used the Color of Supreme to fend off the blockage of Time.
The only way he could survive now was to use the Reality Marble.
But, to Kai's dismay, the punch that was coming at him... was faster than Ad Infinitum's processing power.
Kai had already used a great amount of Mana to create a House Common Room, which, by the way, still existed in the Vault.
To cast the Reality Marble, and keep it activated, he needed more Mana.
A signal was sent to his body to rapidly digest an MP capsule stored within it. But, the AI realized the punch would land before Kai regained even the bare minimum MP through it.
Escape... seemed impossible.
Many things happened simultaneously in that stagnated moment.
The Cursed Vault of Ice couldn't hold it any longer. It collapsed under the full brunt of Black Ghost's true power.
The sky fell. Pieces of it flattened the non-existent grounds, space cracks wreaking havoc overhead.
Two ethereal, blue-black hands descended from the cracked sky.
Above those cracks, one could spy the hint of an eldritch gaze.
Time, Speed, and Space — Nothing mattered to these hands. They all belonged to HER in this world.
The hands grabbed the Timeline Invader and ripped his mad figure apart...
... blood showering to the further corners of the collapsing Vault!
"Humph!" The TIMELINE snorted. "Bug."
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