Fire raged between the Cities of Billions on the 15th Floor.
Chasms, oozing black bolts of spatial lightning, ran for hundreds of miles.
Storms blanketed the sky leading to the 16th Floor, raining darkness and tragedy.
Five of the strongest Contestants from Chaos' Valley had fought for days, scarring the earth permanently.
At first, only some knew the true reason behind the Five-Crowned Prince killing the Black Ghost of the Millennial Magical Alliance — a piece of news that had rocked the tower across multiple Sets.
Now, this public fallout between the leaders of Quasi Cipher Pol, Flowers of Doom, the Millennial Magical Alliance, the 100 Zanpakuto School, and the Hyperspace Raiders had all but revealed the hideous undercurrents involved in this stupendous affair.
…
The Five-Crowned Prince was in the Harry Potter Bubble.
The Dumbledore of his timeline devoured a Pillar Dumbledore from another timeline.
Contestant Red became a Supreme Protector of a unique Character — Darcie Malfoy, whose existence was a barely noticeable divergence among the infinite timelines of the Harry Potter Bubble.
The Timeline of Red's Main Mission was going through an upgrade, birthing countless opportunities.
The five Organizations from the 15th Floor had sent five 12th Floor Contestants to take out the Supreme Protector, not knowing that he was the Five-Crowned Prince at the time.
To enter the timeline without a Mission, the five 12th Floor Contestants sealed their levels, matching their strength to the timeline's Overall Grade.
That later resulted in the Black Ghost's untimely, ridiculous death, despite the Mad Commander being a member of the Billion Club.
Instead of backing out, the leader of Quasi Cipher Pol doubled down, taking the help of the Temple of Amon-Gorloth to curse Red.
That… also backfired, resulting in the descent of Herpo the Foul, angering not only the Timeline itself, but Death — the Deep One of the Harry Potter Bubble.
It also came out that the five Supremes had shamelessly gifted luck-enhancing items to the remaining 12th Floor Contestants, as if they needed an even sharper edge over Contestant Red, who hadn't even ascended the 9th Floor!!!
Then something happened that resulted in this great fallout.
Contestant Red… joined the Billion Club… winning the Holy Grail War — defeating a 12th Floor Glitched Contestant from the Order!
How Red went to the Fate Bubble when he was a Supreme Protector would have been the greatest mystery in all this, IF he didn't have the Purple King behind him… IF he wasn't rumored to be an Emperor's descendant.
Now, the angered Timeline and the Deep One both seemed to have sealed the entire timeline, preventing the 12th Floor Contestants from returning, even if they wanted to.
And the entire burden of this grand failure fell upon Pangu — the Leader of the Quasi Cipher Pol — who seemed to have enticed the other Supremes with promises of fame and wealth initially.
…
Even though many of the most important and shocking details had slipped out among the higher Floor Contestants, some things remained in the darkness.
Like, why was Pangu so adamant on taking out Contestant Red, even after learning that he was the Five-Crowned Prince?
Was it only because Red seemed to have killed a promising junior of Quasi Cipher Pol? Had this junior's worth been so high that it justified making an enemy out of the most promising Contestant in thousands of years?
Or was this only because of greed for the upgrading timeline, which was bound to reveal the most delicious Missions, Items, and Skills, like a tree birthing the freshest fruits for the first time?
These questions lingered because not many knew of another fight that had rumbled on the 18th Floor around the same time that the five Supremes had fallen out with each other.
That fight had taken such a drastic turn that the two Kings involved had taken it to another Bubble lest they anger the Systems.
Now, the Multiverse was missing a few timelines…
In a grand hall within the headquarters of the Quasi Cipher Pol, the giant Pangu sat on a massive throne.
Near his feet, hundreds of white-masked figures stood in rows, all wearing white suits.
One of the figures walked out of the group and took out several Wanted Posters, letting them glide up to Pangu, where they hovered in front of his eyes, spanning out.
The 15th Floor Contestant, bastard of the Red King, eyed the White Serpent Pirates.
"Contestant Red has the highest bounty, of course," the Second-in-Command of the Quasi Cipher Pol said, a giant mouth opening up in the ceiling above Pangu. "$2,300,000,000 Berries. Morning Mist, with a bounty of $450,000,000, is considered the Vice Captain based on our intel. She is the one… who tried to summon Him during her Mission after ascending to the 13th Floor… if you remember…"
Pangu raised his hand. "Don't even mention that affair…" he said, his eyes gaining a hard look. "3 billion people died that day, ten timelines ceased to exist, and a Deep One lost His authority. From here on, we will imagine as if she does not even exist…"
A silence reigned as the giant's words echoed against the domed walls.
"Alright, Your Highness," the Second-in-Command said. "Even if we don't count her, there are still many named personalities in the White Serpent Pirates…"
Spawn — Bounty — $400,000,000!
Blue Stark — Bounty — $450,000,000!
Shadow Queen — Bounty — $190,000,000!
Bronze Titan — Bounty — $280,000,000!
Red Sun — Bounty — $700,000,000!
"Old Sage seemed to have joined them as well," the mouth on the ceiling said. "That will make the total bounty of the White Serpent Pirates…"
— $5,130,000,000 Berries!
A wave of power crushed the Wanted Posters, Pangu's brows furrowing in anger. "Find them and kill them…" he ordered flatly. "Other than the fallen priestess, spare no one."
All the Contestants lined up on the floor slammed their fists against their chests before their holograms disappeared.
"What about Red?" the Second-in-Command asked. "Do you think the remaining 12th Floor juniors have a chance…"
Pangu cracked his neck, his bones still itching due to the last fight. "… the only one who can kill Red is Mang Jian of the 100 Zanpakuto School. But that bastard is just too lucky and sly to fight him first… Sigh…"
…
At the same time, Kai entered the Cursed Vault of Fear—
—and the man meditating within lifted his head… his hand slowly resting on the hilt of the sword at his waist.
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