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Why do yall still collect. Just read the AN if you're a active reader anyone who comes later will be in Vol 0 section. God I can image the headache of doing it.
Scene 1
"If you think killing me is the end, then let's give it a shot!"
I wiped the blood off my face and pushed my hair back, my fingers coming away stained the same color as the strands hanging over my eyes.
Around me, my flames ravaged the city.
My robe was already ruined, half-burned away from the heat rolling off my body, leaving me bare-chested and riddled with wounds. Ice shards had torn through my skin in shallow lines, just deep enough to keep me bleeding. Annoying. Effective. The kind of technique meant to keep someone from recovering cleanly.
"Just surrender," one of them barked. "You've already killed enough of us."
A warhammer slammed into my side before the words finished.
I was launched forward by a half-giant Ranker built like someone had decided a Fisherman needed to cosplay as a siege weapon. He thought he was setting up a team attack.
He was.
Just not for himself.
His teammate planted a tower shield in front of me, matching the brute's size with a slab of metal and Shinsoo reinforcement. I hit it fist-first, Shinsoo and Haki layered through my knuckles.
A crack formed down the surface.
Ice spears rained from above.
Their Wave Controller—a winged woman hovering just above the ruined street—kept trying to force me back into their formation. Smart. Annoying. Persistent.
I blasted Shinsoo outward like a rookie making a mistake, then shaped my flames into a shield at the last second. The weaker ice melted. The stronger ones punched through and left shallow cuts across my shoulders and ribs.
The warhammer came again.
This time I twisted midair, landed on both feet, and increased my weight with Shinsoo.
The shield-bearer tried to hold.
He failed.
The recoil forced us apart.
The warhammer brute thought that gave him a clean swing.
I used Sun Steps in midair, making my body wait for half a breath longer than it should have. His weapon missed by a hair.
I drove my fist into his body and let my energy reverberate through him.
He spat blood.
Then he brought his arm down on me.
I blocked, raised my free hand, condensed flame into a blade, and slit the arm at the base.
Then the shield user kicked me across the street.
"See," I said, rolling back to my feet with the severed arm in my hand, "we could've been friends if you weren't hunting me down. Now look at us. Wounded and dying over FUG's dumbass goal."
I set the arm ablaze.
Couldn't have him getting that back.
He was still the strongest one here, but losing an arm on short notice would mess anyone up. Even me.
"I'll show you how we treat friends!"
The shield-bearer abandoned defense and swung a giant broadsword flooded with Shinsoo, trying to bisect me outright.
I kicked the flat of the blade, shifting it just enough, then jumped at his face.
Our eyes met.
His widened.
My palm came up.
Point blank.
Flames swallowed him.
That turned the fight into a one-man race.
Then a spear punched through my side and barely missed my heart.
I grabbed the shaft and ripped it free before the ice could spread. My flames flooded the wound, burning through the cold before it could force itself deeper.
The winged woman's eyes widened.
I coated her own ice spear in Haki.
My grin caught her by surprise.
Then I launched it back.
Bullseye.
She dropped.
I exhaled and turned toward the last party waiting their turn.
"I don't ever recall Hina or Amber using soldiers this brazenly for personal desires."
Zahard's men were already covering the area, putting out flames and dragging bodies away. At their center stood the commander Jinsung told me to avoid.
Maschenny.
The Ice Princess.
She looked less concerned about the dead than interested in what caused them.
Whatever plans were being committed by everyone in the Workshop had clearly shifted. Her side and the elders of FUG were focused more on me now. My activities. My routes. My habits.
They were using this chance while I was still inside the Tower's natural operating spaces.
Maschenny smiled.
"Let's make a deal."
I stared at her.
Then looked around at the people staring at her in disbelief.
"Umm. No. Actually, leave me alone, please. Stalkers make me feel weird. Tell that other one watching me digitally to stop as well. Or hide deeper."
Her men carried away the only living survivor of the fight.
I could feel Maschenny restraining her battle lust like someone keeping a knife under a silk sleeve.
She raised both hands when I started to transform, clearly seeing the movement of energy and deciding talking was still better.
"Well then," she said, "let's not call it a deal. How about a partnership? I'll even give you a freebie by teaching you how to block the Number One Lighthouse."
I paused.
That offer was practically something I'd never heard of.
If there was a ranking for Lighthouses, then the number one was clearly connected to whoever had been watching me.
"Fine," I said. "But Selena will bear witness to the deal. What do you want?"
Selena materialized from the abode she'd been using to take care of her affairs while I was inside the Tower interior.
Maschenny's smile sharpened.
"That black mark you used. And your fighting style to begin with."
My heart sank into my stomach.
I placed my hand out, annoyed before the handshake even happened.
"I swear the women here are a headache to handle. No sharing my secrets. That's the only rule."
I sat down on a ruined chair that was better suited to be called a stool.
Scene 2
"You'll officially be classified as a mercenary for the Ten Families," the representative said. "Same as Urek and his group. As long as you are not aiding FUG, your status remains in effect."
I nodded.
"That's fine. Me and FUG aren't exactly friends."
Baam was also on the outs with FUG, even if they wanted to pretend otherwise. Jinsung had practically built a faction of Slayers around the mysterious leader who was more pretty boy than actual leader.
"Second," the representative continued, "any techniques you teach Tower residents must be verified by the Family—"
"That one doesn't need to be added."
Maschenny's icy aura spread across the room.
Everyone froze.
I grinned at her selfishness.
"I'll be the oversight over who gets his techniques and who doesn't," she said.
The representative swallowed.
"Moving on. In the case of FUG versus the Ten Families, including Zahard as leader of the families, you'll be expected to remain neutral at the lowest level possible."
I glanced at Maschenny.
She was frowning.
That condition had clearly been added after the two terms we agreed on before this sit-down.
"Nope," I said. "If Baam is counted, then this deal is nullified."
The representative stiffened.
I stood.
"Maschenny, clearly your side is overestimating my humility. You have my pocket number. Let's reconvene on a later floor. I'd prefer you get their word as a promise personally."
Maschenny's bloodlust poured toward the representative like winter deciding to become personal.
"We aren't done, Ras."
Her voice softened.
My instincts immediately told me to escape now or never.
"If you want immunity," she said, "then I'll give it. But how much are you willing to sacrifice?"
I looked back at her.
"What's your angle? Clearly, as a Zahard Princess, if he can't do his job properly, then you are the next best authority to get this done."
I sat back down.
The representative tried to make himself smaller.
Maschenny smiled warmly.
That was worse.
"Become my husband."
My jaw dropped.
The representative fell out of his chair.
I glanced at Selena and caught her slowly forming an "I told you so" smile. Clearly hinting at her prediction for what would happen once I got more involved.
"I might as well call FUG's elders myself and tell them I'll lead the group for them."
I waved the offer away.
Marrying a Zahard Princess was a death sentence with perfume on it.
"That rumor," Maschenny said, "was something Tower residents used when the first group of Princesses went to war. No one is above the dirtiest strategies. Who do you think I'm stealing this move from?"
That warm smile covered her normally icy features again.
My heart sank even lower at the effort.
"Nope. Get a deal, then we'll talk. In fact, give me your sword. I'll unlock it so you can leave me alone."
She gave me a questionable look.
I opened my hand.
"Yuri did mention once how Irregulars meet a standard we don't."
Maschenny grabbed her chin, thinking it over. Then she took the sword and handed it to me.
A white-haired older woman with fuller features materialized behind her.
"It has been so long since one of the royalty held me," the phantom woman said. "Sadly, we aren't compatible."
She floated over and covered my chest with her arms from behind.
Maschenny glared at her own weapon.
"Compatibility is for those who can only use the principles behind the method," I said. "I might not be an ice type, but astral energy has never been dependent upon one element. Can a fire rage in a blizzard?"
Maschenny gave me the rightful look that kind of statement deserved.
The phantom woman hugged me tighter.
"Naughty boy," she teased. "You aren't supposed to teach the ignorant how to think."
I smiled back at her before she hid herself.
Then I flooded the sword with astral energy.
Not enough to claim it.
Enough to leave a link to my domain. A door. An access point. A way to forcefully bring out the blizzard buried inside it.
Maschenny's eyes sharpened.
"What did you just do?"
One strand of her silver hair slowly started changing color to match mine.
"Gave you a superpower. In Tower terms."
I handed the sword back.
"I don't do marriages. I was raised by warrior women. So consider this our link. You'll get your techniques, and I expect my immunity to remain. For Baam as well."
Maschenny inspected the sword, then pushed deeper with her Shinsoo.
Cold radiated across the table.
I had to protect the representative from freezing.
"Fine," she said. "But you better refuse the rest of the Princesses. I can accept a bunch of nobodies or the Guides who love to pamper you."
I wore a wary grin as she poked at my reverse scale.
"We'll cross that bridge when we get there. For now, we meet at a later date after you confirm the deal."
I left before she could put any more conditions on me.
Behind me, I felt her messing with the imprint I left in the sword's soul.
Scene 3
"Oh, sister! I've come to visit!"
Maschenny kicked the door down on the shut-in's room.
The Lighthouse screens all shut off in response as Repellista turned over, trying to cover herself from the light.
"Maschenny?" Repellista groaned. "I should've known you'd come here after getting a deal."
Her Lighthouses deployed barriers.
Maschenny tested her sword's new feature.
Blue flames spread across the floor, leaving ice trails behind them as they broke through the first layer of barriers.
"We both know there's only one way to keep you from spying on what's mine."
Repellista pulled out her staff from the Thirteen Month Series.
Blazing August.
A red and gold staff.
It blocked the blue fire with orange flames, forcing the room into a deadlock.
"You'd destroy the Number One Lighthouse for an Irregular?!" Repellista snapped. "Zahard would have our heads if he knew there was a war going on over these people."
Maschenny smiled.
They both knew that rule wasn't even real.
"Either I break it," Maschenny said, "or you officially become my underling. Take your pick, Repellista."
More barriers appeared between them.
Maschenny could already feel more Princesses coming to break them up.
Repellista's expression hardened.
"Or I show the rest of our sisters the damages you've been hiding."
The room stilled.
Repellista slowly set her staff down.
Not surrender.
Calculation.
Maschenny's smile widened.
Good.
Now they could negotiate like sisters.
Scene 4
Ras POV
Barely getting away from my meeting before the Tower started feeling wrong.
Not danger.
Not bloodlust.
Wrong.
The hallway lights flickered once.
Then again.
A sharp hiss dragged across my ears.
Static.
I stopped walking.
Selena, who'd been following a few steps behind me, grabbed her staff so fast it almost made me grin.
Then the grin died.
The walls began to grain over.
Stone turning rough beneath my eyes like someone had rubbed ash into reality. The Lighthouse glow bleeding through nearby rooms distorted into broken lines as a wave of white noise rolled through the corridor.
Shhhhhhkkkkk—
My ears rang.
The Tower's pressure didn't disappear.
It got drowned out.
Like a signal being overwritten.
My grotto heart opened on instinct.
Only a little.
Enough for black flames to stir beneath my skin.
Enough to remind whatever was forcing its way in that I was still here.
The static thickened.
Then a voice came through it.
"Raster Illos Buné."
My smile vanished.
A green circle flashed under my feet.
Time laws.
They snapped around my ankles and wrists before I could fully move, freezing the space around me in staggered jolts. Not enough to hold me completely.
Just enough to prove a point.
I looked up.
A bald woman in orange and yellow robes stood in the middle of the corridor as if she had always been there.
No grand entrance.
No ripple.
Just there.
Like the static had finished building her.
"That's quite the greeting," I said, forcing my heart open wider until thin cracks ran through the green circle. "You don't smell like someone from the Tower. Who sent you? My master or that old bat Cueljuris?"
The woman said nothing.
She reached into her sleeve and tossed me a book.
I caught it.
Looked down.
Then immediately wanted to burn it.
Odin Diaries.
"This bastard."
The static dimmed just enough for me to flip it open.
The pages moved too fast.
Words I didn't remember learning slid under my eyes anyway. Notes. Instructions. Corrections. That same irritating hand that always acted like I'd eventually thank him for ruining my day.
My jaw tightened.
By the time I shut the book, the Tower felt farther away.
Not physically.
Conceptually.
Like something had already put a wall between me and it.
Selena stepped closer, eyes narrowed, staff raised.
"What is this?"
The robed woman finally answered.
"A retrieval."
The static surged again.
The corridor blurred.
The ceiling went white.
Then black.
Then full of grain.
I could feel the Tower trying to correct itself through Selena's connection and failing. Every attempt came back with the same hiss.
Like someone had jammed the whole floor.
"I'll agree to it for now," I said, tapping the Odin Diaries against my palm. "But if I'm starting over, what happens to this cycle?"
The woman's face didn't move.
"He closes the connection."
No explanation.
Didn't need one.
My fingers tightened around the book.
Behind her, the static split open.
For a second I saw black flames moving somewhere beyond the crack.
Not normal fire.
Not my fire.
Something colder.
Hungrier.
Patient in the way endings are patient.
Selena's breath caught.
The Tower around us twitched.
Then stopped.
Not like time had frozen.
More like the signal had been paused.
Dust hung motionless in the air. A broken stone chip beside the wall stopped halfway through falling. Even the pressure of Shinsoo pressing against my skin flattened into silence beneath that endless hiss.
"You may bring one," the woman said.
Her eyes shifted to Selena.
Selena stared back at her, then at me.
"Well," I muttered, "that's annoying."
She ignored me like usual.
"Then I'm going."
Of course she was.
The static folded inward.
The crack behind the woman widened into a portal. Beyond it, I could feel the Astral Sea.
Not see it clearly.
Feel it.
Like cold teeth pressing against old scars.
"Your memories will be suppressed," the woman said.
"Suppressed," I repeated. "Not erased."
She nodded once.
Good enough.
I glanced back down the corridor.
Toward the Tower.
Toward the mess I'd just walked out of.
Maschenny was probably still touching the imprint I left in her sword. Repellista was probably screaming into her Lighthouse. Baam was somewhere still climbing, still turning himself into a problem for people who deserved worse.
Shhhhhhkkkkk—
The static chewed through the silence again.
No more time.
Typical.
"Fine," I said. "Let's go back to the Sea then."
I stepped through first.
Selena followed.
The static snapped shut behind us.
For one breath the world was nothing but white noise.
Then I was standing in a court.
My master sat ahead of me, watching Earth like he always did.
I waited for his attention to fall on me.
Behind us, one last tear remained open in the air.
Inside it, the Tower was still caught in that paused instant.
Then black flames washed across the opening.
Not dramatic.
Not loud.
Just absolute.
The signal died.
And the tear sealed.
A.N.
[This is skippable content. If you're bored, then have fun.
I don't know why people are still coming back, so instead of cucking you guys by scrapping this story and restarting Ras completely, I'm currently brainstorming which fanfic I can use him for since he's the one getting attention.
Shameless? Maybe. But I'm not sending Patreon messages, so I can keep experimenting with these stories.
The next one is most likely Ras in One Piece, but that's life. I'm pretty sure I've said it before, but this story only had like 2–5 chapters going into it. So yeah, I was pulling from ass. That's my excuse for why I never got fully invested into this one while fanfic and original drafts are piling up for other stories.
Something over 100. Lost count.
Also, if you're seeing names in this story you don't know yet, good. That's the point.]