Army

The happenings of the workshop were not turned a blind eye to.

After all, two family heads had appeared at the Archimedes and one even engaged in a short battle against an unknown assailant, resulting in the collateral of 71 rankers and a High Ranker!

The entire tower, was once again shaken to the core. Family Heads had not personally moved since the ancient times. It was very rare for people to even catch a glimpse of their revered forms. And here, some unknown man, flaming red in colour had challenged one of them and caused another head to intervene!

The masses were scared. The Tower was turning chaotic again.

After prolonged peace, the Jahad Empire once again teetered at the precipice of war.

The various reporters of the major news channels didn't miss the opportunity to bite into the tender and tantalizing news. Just a way after the workshop battle had been put to a forceful end, the entire tower heard of the news. It differed based on the sources, but the main points were all the same.

The head of the Lo Po Bia family and an Unknown High Ranker(suspected to be an ancient war time ranker) engaged in battle. The Leader of the Po Bidau family had to come and intervene to save his fellow head. And later, to even the scales, Urek Mazino made his appearance.

The news openly spit on the majesty of the family heads, questioning their hitherto unquestioned might and sowing the seeds of doubt. The Lo Po Bia family was enraged.

How dare the puny news channels disrespect the family head like that? They thought.

And so, a purge commenced. Although the Po Bidau family tried to intervene and clear out the misunderstanding to quell their rage, they were not having it. Every news channel and piece of media that had bad mouthed their family head was tracked down within the course of 5 days and their respective heads were all executed.

Strangely, every single one of the news heads had a monocle on their right eyes.

The Lo Po Bia organized a special unit, revealed to the public which would track down and hunt the ranker that had dared to put a stain on their names and reclaim their honor.

But even after the purge, the masses had been moved. Unrest and chaos ensued in the lower floors where administration was not too widely placed. The rulers of the floors scurried to control the chaos, but it left lasting impacts.

Riots began to form, led by the enemies of the ten families. Floor wide protests about getting rid of the family heads were underway! The leaders of the respective groups argued how the family leaders were not fit to lead and protect them anymore. If they were getting jumped by a random High Ranker from the ancient times, how were they supposed to protect the people?

Some groups, led by rankers even attacked the family bases of the various families!

In the end, various families, including the Khun, Ari, Arie, Ha, Eurasia and Tu Perie had to get involved in the entire thing.

Tension filled the hearts of the various floor rulers and the people. They knew it. It was no use telling oneself otherwise.

War was on the horizon. And it approached with haste.

...

Before the situation could derail into something unsalvageable, Jahad gave an order at one of his prominent outposts. It followed his traditional style of issuing orders, giving out three orders where one had to be followed.

1. Control the riots, crush all opposition.

2. Kill the Irregular, Winston Heath.

3. Destroy FUG.

The order was announced publicly on the orders of the supreme commander of Jahad forces, Adori Jahad along with her own ominous words.

The words were:

'Every single order will be fulfilled, starting with the riots.'

And then, there blood pooled the streets.

The entirety of the 2nd and 3rd Corps along with the 4th and 5th division of the 1st Corps of Jahad Army were moved. The riots which raged on the floors 21, 22, 23, 24, 27, 28, 30, 33, 47, 48, 49, 50, 77, 79, 81 and 82 were all crushed in 3 days.

While Adori Jahad herself hadn't participated in the movement, many of her subordinates had stormed the FUG outposts that had popped up by themselves, destroying everything within.

It was a display of power unseen since Urek Mazino.

The things calmed down quickly afterwards.

Everything was arranged properly.

And the one responsible for everything?

Well....

~~~

~~~

1 day after the Workshop battle ended.

Wolhaiksong's floating ship, 30th floor.

Inside a large room that hosted a King sized bed and various seating places, three people sat with varying expressions.

"I can't get over how you managed to put a scratch on Urek..." Winston stared down Bam with a dangerous gaze. Part of him wanted to parasitize the boy and explore what it was that made him special.

Winston knew it himself; without his beyonder powers, he could never hope to get through Urek's tough body. It was his intuition. Unless he used his error pathway abilities or his door pathway abilities, he wouldn't be able to harm the man.

There was of course the broken Fool Pathway which could theoretically allow him to turn him into a marionette, but it was easier said than done.

The stronger the soul, the harder it was to parasitize or turn into a marionette. Of course, things like surprise attacks would work wonders. Anyone could before a marionette given enough time. But the essence lay in the opposition.

Anyways, Winston had half expected the entire team to be surprised at Urek's appearance. But instead, Shibisu's team stayed somewhat nonchalant about it all. In their words, they were already teammates with a freak irregular.

Wangnan and Co had already met Urek before, so their reaction was also not very impressive.

Bam was the only one with a sizable reaction, but not in the way one would consider normal. He was happy. He was happy to see a man who had almost killed him.

Apparently, he wished to know more about the outside of the tower.

And so, he was also called to the room.

Imagine Winston's surprise when he found out Bam had managed to scratch Urek's skin.

Mind blown.

"I know right? With my strength, people would imagine me to be invincible; which admittedly I am." Urek shook his head with a smile. His face was a painting that screamed 'I'm too strong for my own good'.

Bam laughed awkwardly, not sure how to respond.

"Enough about that." Winston clapped his hands and brought the attention to him.

"Let us get to the main point. The outside."

Winston said with deadly seriousness. From words alone, it felt as if some socially awkward good for nothings were discussing their worst fear- Going outside.

But that could not be further from reality.

"Ah right." Urek leaned fowards and propped up his elbows against his knees. He held his hands and looked at Winston.

"Now, tell me. What was the outside like for you?" Urek asked.

Bam also leaned in to hear clearly.

Winston smiled and started his explanation.

~~~

"That's... quite a lot different from what I've seen." Urek tilted his head in puzzlement while Bam continued to praise the 'outside world' more after hearing everything about it.

Winston raised an eyebrow.

"Why? What was it like for you?" Winston took a spare glance at Bam.

Bam had already told Urek about his experience outside the tower. Just darkness and a girl. That was all he had for memories.

"Well... as your accounts and mine don't exactly match..." Urek's eyes narrowed as he continued. "The way I have experienced the outside is an infinite blue sky and an infinite world in all directions." He spread his arms wide and closed his eyes as if envisioning the place.

"The world outside is never ending. The blue skies lead on to infinity. There's isn't a system of such countries, although they do exist. Nobody can put a number on how many there are.

"Although the Ten family heads are stingy assholes, some did tell me about somewhat similar stuff. But what amazes me is the similarities. Languages, folktales, myths and stuff. It all seems interconnected somehow." Urek finished.

Winston also scratched his chin in thought.

That's right.. all the similarities are indeed a bit uncanny. It can't be just a coincidence... or is it?

He felt a shiver go down his spine.

It might be something else. Parallel worlds, which have all but been proven by now, can have matching myths and folklores. It's not that big of a deal... Lord of the Mysteries too was only a thing of fiction. Yet they might very well be real. He said, trying to calm his nerves. It was surreal that the multiverse theory might be real, and amid an infinite series of universes, two having the same mythos was no big deal.

But it was still uncanny for it to be so. What were the chances that the world he was mysteriously transferred to had the same myths and various languages as his old world?

Just then, a light bulb just when off inside his head.

What if... The tower was also another story like Lord of Mysteries? That would explain everything... Another shiver went down his spine. He imagined Visionary Adam or some other big shot sitting down and eating a burger while simultaneously writing a story where the tower existed and everyone in it was only a character.

....Terrifying... May Mr. Fool protect me... He silently prayed in his heart.

"Well, enough about that. Now that you've told me about the outside, there's something else I wanna ask you." Urek smiled.

"What's this fuzz about 'Traveller of the Endless Worlds?'" He asked.

Winston raised an eyebrow.

"Ah, that." He gave a cryptic smirk and flicked his wrist for the dramatic effect.

Just then, a door appeared some distance from them.

"What the?!" Bam exclaimed, startled by the sudden appearance of a door.

"What's this?" Urek asked.

"It's a door."

"I can see that. What does it do?"

"It does it's best."

"..."

An awkward silence followed. Winston wasn't the best at joke delivery.

"What do you think it does? It does what it's supposed to. It connects two spaces together. Like a door." Or maybe that wasn't a joke.

Suddenly, Winston smirked.

"I mean that literally. It can literally connect any two places that I want. Of course, the range is still very limited and under various different factors. I'm not powerful enough to operate at infinite range yet." He said as if it were a mere parlor trick to him.

"But when I get strong enough... perhaps we can have a chat again... about connecting some place in the tower to the 'outside.' At a reasonable price of course. I swear I won't swindle you."

Hearing his words, Urek's eyes widened and a grin graced his face.

"That's what I'm talking about! Baby!"

~~~

~~~

The same day, at the Ark of Knowledge.

Tiara walked to the very edge of the Ark, where the airships were located. She looked around for a bit as her butler followed her. Then, finding an empty spot, she spoke.

"Tell them to open the gates." She said.

"But princess, what about the ship?" The butler asked.

"I have one right here." Tiara smirked and pulled out a golden pen. Then, opening her book, she wrote into the pages.

Metal envelops the outside and inside it supports a powerful spell.

Ancient power fills the engine and a roaring intelligence finds the man named Winston Heath.

This handkerchief will transform into an airship.

Then, she pulled out a handkerchief from her pocket and threw it into the air.

The piece of cloth contorted in the shinsu and metal lined it's surface.

It expanded by a thousand times, becoming a giant oval shaped air ship!

"Specially made to find who I desire." She smiled, her glasses glinting in the light.

"Tell them to open the gates. I'll be taking my leave."

~~~

A/N: I feel like there's been an awful lot of translated works these days. It amazes me that you can make money like that, by offering a translation on a patreon.

I had my mtl arc in 2020 and there's still a lot of trash on there. But at least there can be some occasional gems.

As always, throw some stones and leave a review.

Cheers~~