The Myriad Manifestations of Perception - a Theory!

18th floor, Purple Castle

The Primordial Tower

Contestant Shadow Origin passed the vial, filled with flowing silvery, smoky liquid, to the King Purple Mist with a solemn expression on his face.

It was a collection of memories!

Shadow Origin had short black hair, black pearl-like eyes, and a youthful face. He was wearing a tight-fit pair of black suits and pants, with an odd purple geometric configuration emblazoned on the left side of the suit, just over his heart.

The vial floated towards the king and vanished within the churning purple mist.

A grunt of acknowledgement entered the Viceroy's ears and his shoulders relaxed with an inaudible sigh.

"The Butcher of the 2nd floor, Master of an ex-priestess from the Temple of the Yellow King, and the killer of a restricted Viscount…" Shadow Origin listed out the results of his investigation one by one. "This Red has done some significant things in only a few months of his arrival, your grace.

"I failed to find the method he must have used to assassinate Viscount Purple Spark. Nor could I unearth the reason for the empire to drop the search for him regarding the same. But there are subtle clues that point toward him. And…"

The purple mist surrounding the King paused.

Shadow Origin gulped. "And…" he stretched the world as though it would bring the end of time, preventing him from saying the next words. "The Temple of the Many Faced God has taken responsibility for the assassinations under the hidden currents," he blurted, taking a step back. "They didn't leave any clue related to their connection with Red."

An eerie silence choked the soul out of the people present in the Throne Hall.

Throne Hall of the Purple Castle…

It was a majestic hall, so humongous that one could fit several Sea Kings in it and still have space left to stuff more. A purple carpet was leading from the absurdly large entrance to the dozens of feet tall high-backed throne, climbing hundreds of steps up the dais.

On both sides of the purple carpet, leaving a gap, were purple armored sentries standing with spears in their hands.

Trr-trrrr!

Now their armors rattled.

Yet, none complained. Not even Viceroy Shadow Origin, beads of sweat donning his forehead.

A few moments later, the pressure subsided and a majestic voice thundered in the Throne Hall. "It must have started by now," the king commented leisurely. "Bring up the screen."

"As you command, your grace," Shadow Origin bowed, coming to stand by the king's side, sighing in relief inwardly.

The Viceroy of the Purple Castle waved his hand and a giant video screen appeared in front of them, hovering midair. It hadn't come as a shock to him that Red had accepted all five of the Sponsors' requests.

Anything else, and it would have been a disgustingly disappointing decision.

The video screen flickered and Golduck-Kai appeared in their eyes, his brilliant blue appearance getting contrasted by the snow in the background.

Shadow Origin raised an eyebrow. "Genetic mutation?!" he mumbled, looking at the king. "Only a month has passed since the last stage. This doesn't seem to be the reward of a Main Mission, your grace. It is perhaps the reward of getting the top place in the 1st Stage."

With their wealth, it wasn't a surprise that they knew the detailed passing-list of the 1st Stage.

Though what rewards individual rankers had received from the Tower for their performance, the Systems would never reveal such a personal information about any Contestant without demanding a huge price. A price so exorbitant that it would have made the answer itself meaningless.

However, when it came to the top 3 ranks, even paying price didn't suffice.

Not all things could be bought using the Mission Credits.

The king didn't comment on Shadow Origin's theories. Such transformations were too common in the Primordial Tower for Golduck-Kai to receive another careful glance.

The Mission details had already been shared with the Sponsors, so the audience left the wooden case and the sudden appearance of Tanjiro, the main character, unquestioned.

They saw Kai fighting, running away, and then getting attacked by the Water Hashira, Giyu Tomioka. Then the screen showed the sudden boost in Kai's reflections and him meeting Hashira's slash with his tail.

The tail flew up, slashed cleanly by the sword.

"This sword looks different…" Shadow Origin whispered, narrowing his eyes at Water Hashira's katana. But the video screen was bound to follow the Candidate, so he didn't think about it anymore.

They saw Kai hiding in a cave and then recuperating without consuming the HP capsule.

"A prudent decision," Shadow Origin commented, nodding. "He should contact a Sponsor now and get the details of the Unique Random World he is in."

From his left, an ancient sigh escaped, echoing in the Throne Hall.

Shadow Origin stupidly looked at the king, waiting for the words to follow the sigh.

"Attributes restrict the Contestants as much as they assist them," the king mumbled to himself, his voice ethereal with a touch of remembrance.

This?! Shadow Origin's mind shook. "Your grace," he prodded carefully, taking control of his senses, "isn't it a Saying from the Remote Antiquity?"

The mist roiled as the king chuckled. "It is," he agreed. "What do you know about it?"

Shadow Origin straightened his spine. "In the Tale of the Two Brothers," the viceroy began, reciting from memory, "the younger brother with the blessing of Kekkei Genkai, Byakugan, descended from the 16th floor and restricted himself to the life of the lower floors.

"Despite this, in only a few centuries, the younger brother made a name for himself, getting the singular title of Scholar King from the Emperor in those times.

"It turned out the younger brother was a stupendous genius in understanding the Systems, Stats, and the Multiverse. For many centuries, the Byakugan-user traveled across the Multiverse, figuring out the hidden meanings behind them."

Shadow Origin paused, looking thoughtful as he saw Kai in a meditative posture.

"Continue…" the king commanded.

Shadow Origin jolted. "The theories summarized by the younger brother are mentioned in the tale," he continued, sweating. "He said that Multiverse holds infinite Random Worlds and Timelines together using glue.

"This glue keeps the Random Worlds and their Timelines in check, and acts as the most primeval source of energy and shared essence among them. Without it, the entire Multiverse would fall apart, and even Chaos and Order would not be able to salvage the situation."

"And this glue is…" the king intoned.

"Perception." Shadow Origin answered, his eyes observing Kai with a meaningful gaze. "According to him, Perception has the property of being Omnipresent. It is everywhere and in everything.

"Being Omnipresent, it is naturally present in the different Random Worlds, even in those that share no laws between them.

"Whether sharing laws or not, Perception manifests itself in all the Random Worlds in one form or another. The younger brother listed out a thousand such forms, and named it —

"The Myriad Manifestations of Perception."

"You are right," the king said, his voice slow and mighty. "The tale says nothing about the ranking of these forms. But, with the passing of ages, Contestants have confirmed that there are differences in these manifestations; and the higher the rank, the more powerful a manifestation is.

"What interests us kings the most is the theory mentioned under this list."

***************

AN: Now you can access 15 Chapters of Chaos and Order ahead of Webnovel on Patre0n (including up to 60 montly chapters). If you would like to access the exclusive content, while simultaneously supporting the fanfic, then do consider becoming a Patron

Bonus Chapter Deal - 70 Power Stones per day: +1 Bonus Chapter