Crown Game (4/?)

Though few people expected Rak's attack to succeed, especially after seeing the power exhibited by Phae and Gandr, absolutely no one expected his spear to stop fewer than a centimeter from Vahn's forehead, slowly spinning in place as the man who had declared himself an Emperor continued to smile casually.

Without waiting for the peanut gallery to fully process what they had just witnessed, Vahn raised his right hand slightly, his smile becoming more prominent as he said, "It is a pleasure to meet you, Rak Wraithraiser. Unfortunately, I'll have to return the gift you have so graciously bestowed upon me..."

During Vahn's short statement, the spear that had been revolving in front of his forehead spun 180 degrees. With a simple flick of his wrist, it was then launched back at Rak with comparable speed to the original throw. This came as quite a surprise to the gator-like man, momentarily stunning him in place and forcing the blue-haired youth to pull him aside by the cape.

With nothing to obstruct its path, the ruby-red spear crashed into the ground with explosive force, propelling dust and debris like tiny pieces of shrapnel. Fortunately, the only group near the impact point was Baam, Rak, and the as-of-yet-named blue-haired youth. The latter had pulled Rak in such a way that his large and durable body acted as a shield, so, other than a few pockmarks and bruises, there were no major injuries...

---

Cursing his misfortune for having an idiot on his team, the blue-haired youth, known better as Khun Aguero Agnis, released a tired sigh before glowering at Rak and saying, "I told you not to charge in, you idiot crocodilian..."

Annoyed by the former's words, Rak yanked his cape free from Khun's hands as he bellowed, "Blue Turtle! Do not interfere between me and my prey! I will hunt the Bearded Turtle and become even stronger!"

While doing his best to ignore the smell and spittle emanating from Rak's mouth, Khun adopted a relaxed stance, shouldering his stylish leather briefcase as he said, "This isn't one of your hunts. If we want to defeat that man, we need to work together. If we violate his 'rules', the other two are bound to step in. If that happens, we'll have already lost this fight..."

Agreeing with Khun's statement, Baam, clutching a wrapped Black March in his hands, nervously added, "Khun's right! That man is too strong for us to battle on our own. Maybe if we team up with the others...we might just win! Please, Mr. Rak, we need to win this game so we can move higher up the Tower!"

Unmoved by the frail boy's appeal, Rak emanated steam from his nostrils as he plainly stated, "The only thing I care about is hunting strong prey. I agreed to climb the Tower with you, but that does not mean I will ignore prey right in front of me..."

By the time he had finished his statement, Rak had liberated his spear from the ground. Then, with a firm and resolute gaze, he turned his attention toward the throne and added, "I will go first...if you and the other Turtles see an opportunity, take it..."

With those parting words, Rak leaned forward, running at a surprisingly swift speed for someone his size before leaping high into the air. Vahn could detect a powerful and ancient aura surging from within the man's body, but, while it was certainly very impressive, he was far from the level required to reach the throne. This did, however, confirm that he was likely central to the Record's original plot as it was surprisingly common for allies of the protagonist to have power hidden within their bloodlines...

Rather than waiting for the man to try and hammer down with his spear, stepping onto the throne's platform in the process, Vahn confidently raised his hand towards the meteoric figure. He could feel quite a bit of resistance due to the man's aura, but, without any real suspense, Rak's figure came to a halt in mid-air before Vahn waved his hand to the side, slamming him into the arena's wall before raising his left hand and repelling a glistening blue 'laser' formed from water Shinsu.

Seeing her surprise attack dealt with so easily, the pretty-looking woman wielding a wand adorned with a watery blue sphere at the top completely froze in place. The projectile she had fired was split into three separate beams that curved around her body without causing her harm, but, knowing her opponent had the ability to 'reflect' Shinsu, the wand she had spent all her fortune on suddenly felt like a paperweight.

Fortunately, she didn't have to worry about being the only useless Regular participating, as, with the exception of Baam, Khun, and the burly red-haired man, everyone else felt as though their bodies were squeezed by an invisible force. All the air was forced from their lungs, and, though they didn't sustain any heavy injuries, it wasn't long before most of them had passed out from asphyxiation. As for the rest, the also felt a restrictive force, but, due to their body's natural resistance and willpower, Vahn had a harder time applying his Telekinesis to them.

Though Telekinesis was an 'exceptionally' useful ability once mastered, it could be interfered with by just about anything. Certain individuals could break free using raw power, and, should they possess an inordinately strong will, Telekinesis could be completely useless on others. Because of this, Baam and Khun were largely unaffected, earning an approving nod from Vahn. As for the remaining man, he was bound in place for a brief moment, but, seemingly drawing strength from rage, he managed to break free after a few seconds had passed...

Noticing most of the other teams had been eliminated in an instant, a bead of sweat ran down the side of Khun's face as he realized they might have gotten in over their head. The opponent in front of them possessed the kind of power that schemes didn't work against, and, due to their hesitation, they had even lost the chance to team up with the others.

Shifting his attention from the crater where Rak had been embedded into the wall, Khun observed the young boy standing to his right, once again surprised by the fact that Bam had made it through virtually unscathed. He wasn't even breathing heavily, and, though beads of sweat had formed on his brow, that was pretty normal considering the aura emanating from the man seated upon the throne.

Though he knew it was useless, Khun suppressed a sigh as he smiled towards Baam and said, "We should forfeit the match. I now understand why the Test Admins decided upon this game. They are trying to get rid of this team to level the playing field. We can't hope to defeat these three at our current level."

Without any hesitation at all, Baam shook his head in response to Khun's words, tightly gripping the Black March as he replied, "I'm sorry, Mr. Khun, but I can't just forfeit! I would rather try my hardest, even if it means I'll fail! I have to do everything in my power to catch up to Rachel...!"

Unsurprised by Baam's words, Khun shrugged in a 'what can you do?' manner before pulling out a knife from his briefcase and musing, "At least he is still going easy on us..."

---

Hearing Baam shout out Rachel's name, several alarm bells began sounding in Vahn's mind as he slightly squinted his eyes. He didn't actually know Baam that well, but he got the impression they were very similar to each other. Rather, it seemed like he paralleled quite a number of protagonists in other Records...

In Vahn's case, he had found people very early on to support and push him forward, shaping him into the man, and Emperor, he had become. Without this support group, he might have wandered down a very dangerous path, a truth embodied by his character in the Divination.

If Baam was searching for the same Rachel that Vahn had been observing over the last few hours, it wasn't difficult to imagine what kind of fate awaited him. She was bound to betray him in order to further her goals, and, though he wasn't familiar with the original story, Vahn had compiled enough stories in his mind to intuit how things would develop.

The Tower was a place that promoted those who were willing to do whatever it took to complete their objectives. It wasn't a place for a naive young boy with social anxiety to try and make friends, even if he was the protagonist. That meant there had to be 'something' that happened to alter his course, a significant enough emotional event that either changed the way he viewed the Tower or gave him the drive to conquer it.

More than any other catalyst, it was acts of betrayal that had the deepest impact upon a person's character. This was especially true when the person in question had absolute faith or trust in the person who had betrayed them, the kind of faith that compelled them to fearlessly stand against giant monsters just for a chance at following after the target of their adulation.

Vahn didn't owe a single thing to Baam, but, as someone who had always protected the innocent, he wouldn't just stand by and watch the boy suffer. Thus, in an effort to ascertain the truth of the matter, Vahn surprised the charging youths by raising his hand and saying, "Enough. That previous attack was my final test. Now that you have passed it, you have earned the right to wear this Crown. Guard it well, young heroes."

Demonstrating he wasn't just trying to lull them into a false sense of security, Vahn subsequently removed the Crown from his head, placing it on the armrest before rising from the throne. Then, after a curt nod towards the stunned duo, he returned to his team's waiting room, his expression turning inordinately serious as he turned around to bear witness to the events to come...

---

Having expected Vahn to forfeit 'after' defeating all the other teams, Lero-Ro was more surprised than anyone else by the sudden turn of events. He suddenly felt as though he couldn't get a read on the man, someone who seemed paradoxically eager to participate in the Testing despite a very clear disdain for the system itself.

Exhaling a profound sigh, Lero-Ro picked up the intercom with his left hand while simultaneously pulling up the information on the remaining contestants. His intuition told him there was a reason for Vahn's behavior, and, having talked with Baam during the Shinsu Resistance Test, he already had a number of suspicions as to what it might be...

Seeing Baam's virtually empty profile, lacking everything from his age to his origin, Lero-Ro pulled up the data pertaining to Vahn, Phae, and Gandr alongside it. Like the former, the latter three were both anomalies within the system and confirmed Irregulars. Thus, unless Baam's data had somehow been expunged from the Tower's records, the chances of him also being an Irregular were high. The only reason he hadn't jumped to this conclusion previously was due to the fact that Baam had in his possession the Black March, indicating at least a middling relationship with the Jahad Empire.

As the most powerful force within the Tower, the Jahad Empire had more than enough power and authority to expunge or alter the data of a single Regular. In fact, it was pretty common for most of the Ten Great Families to expunge some of their descendants' data in order to protect them as they moved up the Tower. This made it harder to learn their strengths and weaknesses while also serving as a preemptive measure against 'failures' within the family. There were even cases where Regulars who had underperformed were outright discredited as descendants of the Ten Great Families, many disappearing shortly after these claims had begun to circulate...

Feeling that his headaches were only going to increase in the future, Lero-Ro released one final sigh before resuming his usual calm and slightly cheerful disposition. There would be plenty of time to conduct an investigation following the Crown Game, so, for the time being, he wanted to focus on wrapping things up as quickly as possible. Fortunately, there were only two rounds left, so, with as much enthusiasm as he could muster, he brought the intercom to his mouth to announce...a three-minute break...

(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'No u','The Force is strong with this one...','Lero-Ro can't catch a break...')

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