50 – To Walk the Path

'There's something strange about this attack…! What Quality is this? My Shinsoo Resistance is only partially effective against it?' Ren thought to himself.

The light cleaved into Ren's costume before engulfing him completely, and then tore into the cavern ceiling and blasted straight through.

"Sword Beam: Level Ten," Axion declared with a smirk.

'This isn't Shinsoo at all!' Ren finally realized as the attack tore into his body. 'I should have…reinforced…defenses…instead of trying to dodge…!'

O O O

A huge diagonal pillar of light burst through the ground and continued into the sky.

"What…what the fuck!?" Parakewl shouted and then screamed shrilly with a terrified face as the angry beam of energy went straight towards him and Rak who was grabbing him, and Laure who was helping them float in the air.

"…!" Laure's face turned shocked as he quickly moved them away from the devastating attack, landing on the cliff head, next to Hong Chunwa, Sunwoo, and Alexai Amigochez who was their other spearbearer that hadn't jumped down to save Parakewl.

"What's happening over there…?" Hong asked, also shocked.

"Doesn't that kinda look like Mr. Axion's Ignition Weapon's attack, but just a lot bigger?" Sunwoo asked.

"He almost killed me!" Parakewl shouted. "The hell is that garbage doing?! Was the Bull that hard to kill?!"

"Guys, there's been intruders in the test," Khun's voice reached them through a cube.

"What do you mean, intruders?" Hong asked.

"There's a Ranker here that hacked into my Lighthouse, and he just gave some control back to me. I'm not sure what's going on…but it sounds like there was another Ranker that ambushed our princesses, and then Axion fought him. The guy that hacked my Lighthouse seems to be on a different team with a princess of their own, and she came down to find something, but then stopped to watch the fight…" said Khun.

"I'm confused…so there's more than one group of intruders?" Sunwoo asked.

"Why are they interfering with our test?! Where are the supervising turtles?!" Rak asked angrily. "And are the super turtle and the princess turtles alright?!"

"I don't know…I lost contact with Ship a while ago too," said Khun. "I think Axion won though, and the Ranker princess found what she was looking for."

O O O

Axion pulled Derflinger out of his chest and stood back up with a grunt, one hand covering the wound, but apparently wasn't too bothered by the piercing of his heart. "Nice work, Derf," he said.

"Same to you, Partner. Heh, what a dumbass. As if I would just take a new wielder like that," said Derflinger, while transforming back to his normal elven sword design with a single blade.

Ren's costume was sliced halfway up and through to the back, revealing the small round-headed shadowy humanoid creature inside which was similarly sliced in half from its waist up to the right shoulder, green blood pooling on the ground.

"Idiot doesn't even know how to use magic and he wants to claim for himself the legendary Derflinger, the sword made by the right hand of God?" Derf said with a sneering tone.

Axion slowly ambled over, as if he was too exhausted and injured to move, to the corpse of a nearby fish Shinheuh that Ren had used. All of the scattered pieces of armor still on his body, with a particularly large portion from his back, except the part still covering his waist, fell off onto the corpse, combined, and then began to slowly devour the flesh.

"What…what the hell?" Ship asked, eyes wide staring at the results of the battle. "So he was faking it the whole time?! He actually…won?"

Androssi breathed out a sigh of relief. "Now get over here and help us get rid of this thing!" She shouted.

Anak stayed silent, but her eyes were similarly wide like Ship.

O O O

"Princess, you can retrieve the Black March now, the Guardian finally gave permission," said Evan Edrok, while sitting across from Yu Hansung, who was enjoying his coffee.

"Sorry it took so long to get an answer…but you know how it is…the Guardians do whatever they want, and we can only follow their orders," said Yu Hansung with a bright closed eye smile.

'…He's annoying,' Evan thought to himself.

O O O

Suddenly the snake creature that wrapped them up fell to the ground, dead, and their restraints were unwrapped

"That was impressive," said Yuri Zahard, strolling out of the shadows from behind them. "Looks like our first impressions were wrong, Evan, he really was holding back his real power back then."

"Huh?" Ship he got up, shocked. "Wait, who are you? You know Axion?"

Yuri ignored him, then Androssi cut in. "Were you here the whole time?! Why didn't you do anything sooner?!"

"Hello, little sister," Yuri said.

"L—little sister?!" Ship's face changed as realization set in.

"I'm just passing through, looking for this, and for a certain someone," Yuri explained, before going to pick up the Black March that had dropped on the ground with Androssi. "You should know him, sister, you were wielding the weapon I lent to him after all."

A weak and croaking voice came out of the apparently not quite dead Ranker.

"That person you're looking for…could it be the Irregular, Baam?"

There was a look of surprise on Yuri's face.

"I sent the Bull. Sorry…it's a waste of his talents, but we can't let the Irregular…stay alive…hehehe…that boy won't be able to come back alive, princess. Even killing me won't stop it…you may have noticed…this is one of the skins that I use…my real body is already far away…" Ren continued to speak. "See you again…mutt…and you as well…my talentless student…hehehe…"

The corpse suddenly disappeared into smoke, leaving only an empty costume and the Green April behind.

"Evan…I can't stand this anymore…I'll finish this absurd game and rip this whole stage apart," Yuri said with a furious expression.

"My Lady, stop!" Evan's voice appeared seemingly from nowhere, through some sort of invisible communication device.

"Stop what? This test didn't make any sense from the beginning. I only held back so far because the Guardian was supposedly running this, but now we've got permission, don't we?"

"That's enough…princess. You have retrieved the Black March, and that's all you were permitted to do. Any more interference, and Baam will automatically fail the test. These are the Guardian's orders," said the voice of Yu Hansung.

"Lady, he's right! The test is still being carried out as the Guardian planned! The twisted assassin…our intervention…and the Bull…it's all part of the test! If Axion had lost, then our intervention would be permitted to kill the intruder…but our role ended with the furball's death! Now it's up to Baam to finish it!"

"…" Yuri turned to look at the Regulars sprawled around her, before honing in on Androssi again. "Hey sister, do you think Baam can pass the test?"

"Baam will survive…because he's tasted Axion's chicken pie…he'll regret it if he isn't there to taste the next batch!" Androssi said with a smirk.

"What? Axion really made him chicken pie?" Anak asked. "Are those two lovers?"

Ship choked and spat. "What? They were gay all along?"

Yuri looked shocked speechless, unable to follow the train of logic, until Androssi spoke again.

"Baam promised me he'd eat it with me again next time! I won't be the only one to suffer that poison!"

Anak, Ship, Yuri, and Axion all sweatdropped.

Yuri gave one last suspicious look at Androssi and Axion, then shook her head and muttered. "Kids…" Then she turned to Ship instead. "Hey, sweatsuit, catch." She threw him a small shiny object.

Ship looked at the wing tree badge in his hands with awe. It was the symbol of Wolhaiksong, an organization led by the famous Irregular Urek Mazino and his friend Baek Ryun, and the wing tree commemorated the founding of the organization, the fulfillment of Mazino's promise to give wings to the forest that Baek Ryun refused to leave.

"When Baam comes back, sweatsuit, give that to him." Yuri turned to the other Irregular whom she'd seen on the first floor. "Sorry Axion, my teammate ate his words twice but he only had the one badge to lose, or I'd give you one too. But, since Baam did it first, I have to give it to him. But both of you should come to the 77th Floor when you become Rankers. Urek Mazino is waiting." Then she turned back to Ship. "Pass that message on to Baam, got it?"

Ship looked confused for a moment, then nodded. "Huh, oh, yes!"

'Why is she giving this to me to pass on? And why does Urek Mazino want to meet them? Could it be…that Axion is also an Irregular?' Ship thought.

Finally, Yuri made her way towards Ren's corpse.

Axion spoke up then. "You should've come and said hi when I was with Headon, princess. It's rude to spy on people, you know?"

Yuri gave him an unapologetic smirk while roaming her eyes over his mostly exposed skin that was also largely healed and back to a normal color. "Sorry, I was in a hurry. But don't worry, I'll keep watching you…don't disappoint me, and climb quickly, little trickster."

"That's not reassuring…" Axion said.

Yuri laughed before picking up the Green April. "I'll be taking this too," she said.

"Wait, why? Give that back to me!" Anak shouted.

"Why you? It's mine! I won that fair and square in the Crown game!" Androssi shouted.

"It's too heavy for you, either of you," said Yuri as she walked back through their group. "When you're ready for it, come see me with Baam and Axion."

"No!" Anak yelled.

Androssi pouted but didn't say anything further. She knew that a princess who was still a Regular wouldn't be allowed to hold onto a Thirteen Month Series weapon that they hadn't been awarded by the order of Zahard himself.

"Guide the way, Evan," Yuri ordered. "Yes, my lady!" Came the response.

Ship stopped Anak from trying to chase after her.

Axion walked around, looking for various things. He found his crystal sheath blade, and then sheathed Derflinger. Next he recovered his discarded cape and wings that had seemingly survived mostly intact. These he put back over himself, at which point it wrapped around him and began to slowly morph, the cape changing color into his default crystalline light teal armor with silvery edges, though the coverage was light due to its comparative lack of mass.

Androssi went up to him. "Are you really okay? You took some bad hits."

"Don't worry, I'm already mostly healed," said Axion.

Androssi watched as Axion retrieved a vial from his Pocket and then sucked up the green blood on the ground into the vial with Shinsoo manipulation, before putting it back into the Pocket.

"What are you going to do with that?" Androssi asked.

"I collect samples of all sorts of things. Most of the time it'll be useless, so I don't expect anything, but sometimes I'll find a use for it. I'm going to collect some from the rest of these Shinheuh as well," said Axion.

He glanced around the battlefield which was littered with corpses. "I wish I had something to store all the corpses intact, but these are much too large. Even a single one wouldn't fit in my Lighthouse. I wonder what Ren used to store them while they were alive."

"It's called a Bowl," said Androssi. "But to store this many, of this size, it would have to be a pretty high level Bowl."

"But, where is it now? Where's the rest of the loot supposed to be?" Axion asked, rummaging around the costume for anything else that might still be there. "And there was that cannon too."

"Maybe he took it with them before leaving that skin behind," said Androssi.

"But the Green April dropped out," said Axion.

"You might have destroyed his stuff with your big attack as well," said Androssi, shrugging. "Obviously the Green April would survive something like that. If items like that get destroyed while they're in compressed mode, they tend to just disintegrate. Actually…I think this sheep costume is the Bowl."

"Ah…fuck!" Axion stared at the ruined costume in his hands.

"That cannon…might still be around somewhere, probably invisible," said Androssi, reaching her hands out and trying to feel for it with her Shinsoo senses as well. "I don't think he actually put it away at any point."

She bumped into something, and then felt it up, before it turned visible again. "Here it is," she said with a grin, holding it towards Axion.

"Nice!" Axion took the cannon and observed it for a bit, before putting it into his Lighthouse to figure out how to use later, and then did the same with the ruined costume.

"Khun? Yeah, we're okay," said Ship. "Thank god. My heart can't handle so many scares. You won't believe what happened…"

"I heard everything, actually. A member of Yuri Zahard's team hacked into my Lighthouse and was using it earlier to communicate with the rest of them," came Khun's voice. "He just left and I got full control back. The rest of the test is going well. Just take a rest, you guys, we'll keep the worm hunt going."

"Alright," said Ship.

Anak lay down flat on the ground.

Androssi found a spot to sit down.

Only Axion stayed active, going around collecting samples from the rest of the Shinheuh.

Ship looked at each of his teammates, then went to Androssi while limping. "Hey, are you okay? You were pretty hurt too, right?"

"I'm exhausted right now, and I feel like my guts are going to fall out. But I'm fine."

Ship looked skeptically at her clothes which were shredded in a few places and the self-inflicted wound on her arm. "Does that really mean you're fine?"

"How about up there?"

"They don't need us, Khun and the rest are handling it," said Ship.

"Hm…" Androssi looked at Anak.

"I think she's just upset about the Green April," said Ship. "Now there's no way to get it back until she's a Ranker. Do you think Baam's ok?"

"Don't know…probably not," said Androssi.

"What, that's not what you said earlier!"

"Baam can definitely stop the Bull. The problem is that he doesn't have any way to hurt it while it's stopped," said Androssi. "Even if he manages to make a second Baang, it's just too strong to be hurt by his attacks."

"Shit…"

"Maybe if he had the Black March, things might be different…" said Androssi with a tremendously sad expression.

"Why did he give it to you?" Ship asked, confused.

"Axion received a tipoff about Yuga before the test, as somebody who might have connections to another family with competing princesses, which meant that he'd go after both of the Thirteen Month Series and us. So he asked Baam to lend the Black March, so that he wouldn't be a target and Ren's attention would be focused on just Anak and me as the princesses, and Axion, whom he thought was a retainer from my family," said Androssi.

"Damn…but he went after him anyway, just because he's an Irregular…" Ship said. Androssi looked away. "Shit, I didn't mean it like that, that's not your fault, you couldn't have known!"

"Actually, I did think about that possibility as well. Unfortunately, if he had the Black March, the situation might be even worse," said Axion, walking over.

"What? What do you mean?" Ship asked.

"Do you remember why Yuri wasn't allowed to interfere earlier?" Axion asked.

"…because the Guardian considers the Bull to be a part of the test. The same way it considered Ren to be a part of the test for you…right?" Ship asked. 'Because he's an Irregular too,' Ship added in his mind.

"Exactly. By your expression, you've probably figured it out, huh? The Guardian intentionally set up the test like this, with the difficulty matched to the challenger's capabilities. This must be why taking tests directly from the Guardian is considered extremely difficult," said Axion.

"Ah…so if Baam had the Black March with him, whatever went after him would probably be even stronger!" Ship said, understanding dawning on his face.

"Precisely. If we really think about it, why did Ren leave and only send the Bull? Wasn't it because Yuri showed up and he heard that Yuri was also looking for Baam, and he knew he couldn't defeat a High Ranker like her? I doubt that Yuri found the Black March with us by pure chance—she must have some way to track it. So if she hadn't shown up here and revealed her intention, would Ren really have just left like that? In my opinion, he probably would have gone after Baam next after failing his mission here. If he retrieves at least one Thirteen Month Weapon, his failure might not be as humiliating and his punishment not as bad, right?"

"Shit, you're right…!" Ship said, then he seemed to think of something. "Wait, who was it that gave you the tipoff about that guy?"

"The warning came from Hwa Ryun," Axion said easily. "She's a Guide, so she has good instincts when it comes to things like this."

"That redhead? A Guide? She didn't take the test with us…" Ship noted.

Axion shrugged. "I've been told that Guides can go anywhere they want, even if they don't take the tests. It seems that she doesn't care about it. Maybe she didn't want to get involved in such a dangerous test."

"She was smart…this is all so crazy…" Ship said with a sigh. "I really hope we never have to take one of these Guardian tests again."

O O O

Evan Edrok stopped and turned with surprise as a red headed girl in pink robes passed him by without giving him a glance.

"Come here in ten seconds or you'll die, you mushroom!" Yuri's voice urged Evan on, and he rushed away.

Hwa Ryun walked into the test director's office and closed the door.

Yu Hansung put his coffee down as she approached.

"I didn't actually expect him to win that fight," Hansung said. "Though it seems he still needed a little help at the end."

Hwa Ryun sat down opposite him and touched the coffee cup that Evan had used, looking at it as if there was something deeply interesting about it.

"He could have won even without the Ghost," said Hwaryun.

Hansung looked curiously at her. "So you knew he could walk this path. I thought you couldn't see the paths of Irregulars?"

Hwa Ryun placed the coffee cup back down, then got a new one for herself, which Hansung poured for her. "I didn't know for sure until the last chapter was written." However, Yu Hansung only heard and saw her mouth move for the first five words of her response.

"But isn't this rather inconvenient? A Regular defeating a Ranker in a serious battle on the Floor of Tests won't go unnoticed," said Hansung. "It's unprecedented. Nobody would believe that he's just a Regular…and after all the trouble I went to hide his status."

The Guide drank a slow sip. "The ones who look into him will come across Lero Ro's theory first. Lo Po Bia Ren will report the 'truth' that the princess is dabbling into the forbidden art of Spells, contracting a demon possessing the body of a Regular."

"So they will be feared and hated, but as long as he is with the princess, the response from the Zahard Family will be limited. She will lose favor with Zahard for this and helping the fake, but the consequences will not be severe. The Green April was an item that needed to be retrieved at all costs, but by themselves they would not be worth the effort of breaking the rules of the Tower by sending more Rankers to interfere with them while they still are Regulars," Hansung deduced.

Hwaryun nodded with a slight smile.

O O O

A great lance of Shinsoo pierced through the mouth of the Bull into its head. It fell into the depths of the water as the bubble continued rising.

Baam panted, and held his bloody hand, but there was a smile on his face. "I did it…"

He turned around and looked over the headboard. "Rachel…wherever you want to go…I'll take you there."

"Baam…" Rachel said, looking at him with awe.

Baam reached out his hand with a smile, and Rachel reached out her own.

Suddenly Rachel moved up to a full standing position before he could react and pushed Baam hard.

The boy's face was uncomprehending as he fell backwards out of the bubble.

"Sorry Baam…but you should stay here," said Rachel, her hair covering her eyes.

'Why…? Rachel?' Baam continued falling further into the depths.

O O O

Rak, Sunwoo, and Hong approached the Dolphin Madame.

"Damn, why are they coming out through some butthole looking place?" Rak said.

The orifice wiggled then burst with green liquid and ejected Rachel with it onto the ground.

"Why…is there only one turtle?" Rak asked. "Hey female…where is the other one?"

"Baam…the Bull attacked suddenly…he tried to protect me and…he fell…"

Khun listened to Rak's voice with shock from his Lighthouse. "Do you mean…that the turtle's dead?! Hey…say something…what happened to my prey?!"

O O O

It was a somber mood when Khun broke the silence.

"Didn't the test director say that all Regulars should be here? How come this is it?" He demanded, referring to the absence of the two princesses, Axion, Rak, and Laure.

"Um…Khun…" Sunwoo stood up to answer. "Androssi and Rak are…"

"I know, they never participate in stuff like this," said Khun.

"Hey, how can you say it like that? Think of how they feel!" Sunwoo protested.

"I'm sorry, I'm not in the mood to understand anyone else," said Khun, leaning his forehead against his palm as his hand was propped up on his knee.

"Stop you guys…what's important is the future," said Ship. "Geez…what…should we do…" He faced down and held his head.

"Um…sorry, but…did we pass the test?" Parakewl asked.

"Does that matter, filth?" Hatsu asked.

"Of course, that's the most important question!" Parakewl said.

Hatsu looked like he was about to give him a piece of his mind when Axion suddenly walked in and sat down. The room went silent.

His armor and cape fully restored, though his armor was still in the default smooth teal texture rather than the golden dragonscale design. "Where is everyone else?" He asked, glancing around.

Khun clicked his tongue.

Sunwoo opened her mouth, then decided against it, sighing before sitting down.

Ship answered instead. "Probably shutting themselves in their own rooms. I don't blame them…"

Axion nodded, then walked to Rachel. "You alright?" But she was completely unresponsive.

Axion went back and sat beside Ship.

Then Lero Ro walked into the Regulars' waiting room.

"Regulars. You have all passed," he announced.

"What? How is that possible, weren't Baam and Rachel both supposed to return?" Hatsu asked.

"Before the test, Baam asked the Guardian for a favor. If he died during the test, he wanted the rest of you to go up to the next floor, no matter the results."

"Wait…that means…" Khun said, with a disbelieving face.

"Yes, I'm sorry to tell you, Baam is dead. We looked everywhere after the wineglass emptied out, but couldn't find him. There's very little chance that he's alive," said Lero Ro.

Rachel fainted back into her chair.

O O O

The Regulars who were in the waiting room had gathered in a medical room with Rachel who was unconscious.

Hatsu proposed that they were all in debt to Baam, and then said that they should help Rachel climb. Hong agreed as a knight, and Ship agreed as well. Soon almost everyone agreed, even Parakewl who was just following the crowd, and then Ship asked Khun who had stayed silent.

"I can't leave it like this…I'll make his dream come true and bring her to the top," said Khun.

"And what about you, Axion?" said Ship, turning to Axion who leaned against the wall beside the door with his arms crossed.

All of the Regulars waited for his answer with baited breath as he continued to remain silent.

Parakewl suddenly realized that he may have agreed too soon. 'Wait, if he's not helping then…'

"Sorry, Androssi and I already have other plans," said Axion.

There was a deep silence.

"What…? But weren't you two Rachel's first teammates?" Ship asked, confused and shocked.

"We were, but we can't climb with her the way she is now," said Axion, turning to the door and putting his hand on the knob.

"Really? That's it? She's dead weight now so you're tossing her aside?" Hatsu asked angrily.

Hong looked disdainfully at Axion. "You guys really are the worst."

Then Axion spoke quietly again without turning around. "The name of the assassin who sent the Bull…is Lo Po Bia Ren, and he's a member of the Royal Enforcement Division. The Irregular with incredible talent is dead, and Yuri Zahard retrieved the Thirteen Month weapons, but Ren is still alive, and so are we. We barely survived this first battle but the war of the princesses and the games of the Tower's great powers will continue. They'll come for us again, I don't know when or how, but they will come, and it will only get more dangerous the higher we go."

"Huh? Wait, what exactly happened down there? Nobody explained it to me," Sunwoo said. "What's this about a war?"

"Leesoo," said Axion, tilting his head back to look at the Regular who saw their battle, ignoring the other comments. "Androssi and I are going up together, and we'll take Anak too if she wants to come," said Axion. "But our enemies are not yours or Rachel's. If you truly want to protect what Baam wanted to protect and carry his dream up rather than endanger it…then you need to be ready to fight his enemies too! Do you think this team is ready for something like that? Do you think you are worthy of carrying the badge Yuri entrusted to you in his stead too?"

"I…understand." Ship Leesoo clenched his fist and put a hand into his jacket pocket which held the badge.

Then Axion opened the door and left.

"What badge is he talking about? What's going on, Leesoo?" Hatsu asked.

"I'll explain it in a bit, Hatsu…but Axion is right. There's no way any of us are ready to fight those kinds of enemies, we'd just be putting Rachel in danger if we tried to bring her with the princesses. I was there and saw it…but I was completely useless. I'm only alive because that sick bastard was playing with us, and wanted us to watch him kill us one by one," said Leesoo through gritted teeth.

There was a long and uncomfortable silence, then Parakewl laughed and pointed at the rest of the Regulars in the room. "Looks like you garbage were all tossed aside!"

"…" Everyone gave him unimpressed looks.

"And you think you're strong enough to climb with them?" Hatsu asked.

"Of course I'm going to go with Mr. Axion right now!" Parakewl said then moved towards the door.

"Settle down idiot, didn't you complain earlier about him almost killing you by accident?" Khun said with a sneer. "You think you'll survive next time without us to pull you out of the way?"

Parakewl stopped and hesitated with a sweat before he reached the knob. "Th-that's…!"

"What's wrong? Why aren't you going after him? Nobody wants you anyways, you scum," said Hatsu.

Parakewl looked back at the unfriendly or apathetic faces surrounding him, then he shut the door and stepped back.

"Hah! As if I'd go with that trash who doesn't care about his teammates!" Parakewl said with scorn.

"I think I misjudged him. He's actually much, much better than the likes of you," said Hatsu.

"Way better," said Khun with a nod. "He hasn't betrayed anyone yet."

"I jumped to conclusions as well," said Hong. "But that man has an honor of his own. Unlike you."

"Yeah, you have no right to talk about him, you stupid, ugly bully!" Sunwoo said to Parakewl. "Go away!"

"Wh-what?!" Parakewl squawked. "What would you do without me, huh?!"

"Guys, just ignore him. I'll explain about what happened down there, and then I'll go tell everyone who isn't here about our plan to help Rachel," said Leesoo.

Everyone tuned Parakewl out and listened to Leesoo.

"Y-you garbage! How dare you just ignore me?!"

O O O