Devil Fruit Powers In The Tower Of God - Chapter 41

At an unknown Floor, three FUG Elders were discussing how to proceed with the Irregular that they have captured. His training has been progressing as planned, so they were thinking about sending him up the Tower. They wanted to proclaim the existence of their new Slayer candidate, but they knew what would happen if they do so. Urek didn’t care if the individual is a Ranker or a Regular, as long as he is a member of FUG, he would happily kill them, especially if that member is a Slayer candidate.

As the Elders were talking about their plans, a cloaked individual entered the room. Bright green hair could be seen sticking out under the person’s hood, and the tapping sounds of high heels were heard from the person’s steps. As soon as the woman entered, she immediately got on her knee and bowed in a show of respect.

“Elders, I have something to report to you.” The cloaked woman said while staying on her knee.

“Stand up and speak.” One of the Elders commanded.

The cloaked woman stood up. “The Regulars that Lord Karaka had injured have been sighted without any injuries. They have all been healed up.”

“How? Healing their injuries should be impossible in the Lower Floor?” Questioned one of the Elders.

“We do not know how, but that happened after their arrival on the 21st Floor.” The cloaked woman explained.

“Was it someone from the Yeon Family?” The Elders were aware that there are members of the Yeon Family that are able to heal others with their flame. Although very few of them have that ability, one of them could have ended up helping the Regulars.

“We do not know for sure, Elders. However, there appears to be a masked Regular that has joined their team on that Floor as well.” The cloaked individual informed them.

“A masked Regular? What do we know about him?” An Elder with a horned helmet asked, already having a bad feeling about this.

“We have no information on him. We do not know where he came from or who he is.” As they heard that, all three Elders let out an audible sigh.

They looked at each other and had the same thought in mind. ‘Not again.’ They all remembered what happened last time when an unknown variable appeared in the picture. FUG had lost a few Regulars and a Ranker to that unknown variable. A Slayer had to step in and had to sacrifice his body in order to kill him.

However, the consequences of doing that had cost them dearly. They hadn’t expected Urek to react in such a violent manner, and they were still recovering from their losses.

“We are sure we have no information on him? And he is definitely not one of ours?” FUG had tried quite a few times to get one of their members to join the team, but with the Guide, Merrie, leading them, they’ve had no success with that.

“No, Elders. The masked Regulas first recorded appearance is on the 21st Floor.” The Elders stayed silent for a minute, contemplating on how to proceed.

One of them let out another audible sigh and spoke. “Gather two more members, and contact the masked Regular. We need to confirm his identity and try to get him on our side if possible. Try to do this in a non-aggressive manner.”

“Understood, Elder. I will be on my way.” The cloaked woman replied and left the room.

Once he was gone, one of the Elders turned towards the helmet-wearing one. “Khel, what do you see? What is his destiny?”

The addressed Elder answered after a moment of hesitation. “Nothing. The moment we decided to send her to contact the masked Regular, I was no longer able to see her fate.”

Silence filled the room as the other two contemplated his words.

In the meantime, Lumen and his group had arrived on the 23rd Floor.

The Floor was one massive mountain, filled with stone trees. Oval shaped buildings made of stone were littered everywhere. Despite their look, most of them had highly advanced technology inside them.

The Test on the Floor takes place on the top of the mountain in a giant colosseum every three days. Five teams of five Regulars can take the Test at the same.

The Test consists of five rounds, where each team would have to have a Regular participate. In order to pass, a team has to win at least three rounds.

This would have been a problem for Lumen’s team, considering they have eleven members, but one of them was a Guide.

“There is no need to concern yourselves with me. As a Guide, I do not need to pass the Tests to move between the Floors.” Merrie ȧssured them.

Splitting the teams was an easy matter for the group. Anak, without hesitation, had walked up to Lumen. Verdi, Vespa, and Tiana followed suit. The others didn’t even have a say in this.

Androssi’s team would be the first to fight in two weeks, and Lumen’s team would participate three days later.

Lumen and Verdi were exploring the shops on the Floor. There were a few quite remarkable items that caught his eye, but each one cost at least 5 000 000 Points. The most impressive shop was one that dealt with flying ships. However, the cheapest one was 7 000 000 Points, while the group could gather around 3 000 000 Points at most.

Verdi suddenly stopped in place and looked towards the side.

“Lumen, look! Those four there. They are perfect for my new collection!” She exclaimed, as she tugged on his arm and pointed with the other at four Regulars. Each one looked very unique, but they all shared the same point. They all looked like a humanoid animal, a boar, lizard, hippopotamus, and a lemur.

“Well, they seem ownerless to me, so do your thing.” Lumen gave her the green light, and Verdi exclaimed in happiness. “Yay!”

She summoned her octopus, and before the four Regulars could react, they were all entangled by its tentacles. In a matter of seconds, all of them turned lifeless, and Verdi stored them in her dollhouse.

This caused a commotion, and all the Regulars in the vicinity turned their attention to Lumen and Verdi.

A brown-haired human Regular, followed by four more human Regulars, shouted. “Hey, what the hell do you think you are doing?”

Lumen shot them an annoyed look. “If you value your lives, move on.”

His words provoked the brown-haired Regular, he pulled out a unique-looking needle that had spikes all over it and prepared to attack Lumen and Verdi. “This Floor is owned by the Ari Family, and as a member of the Great Family…”

Before he could finish what he was saying, he and the other four Regulars were swallowed by a terrifying maw made of darkness.

Lumen turned towards the crowd that was gathering around them. “Does anyone else have something to say?”

No was willing to respond, considering what they had just witnessed. The Regular was a member of the Ari Family, but the masked Regular had killed him without hesitation. If he dared to kill a member of the 10 Great Families, what’s stopping him from killing them as well. With fear in their eyes, they all scattered from there as fast as their legs could carry them.

“Thought so.” Lumen uttered.

Sensing the aura coming from them, he turned towards Verdi. “Hey, Verdi, there is something that I need to take care of. Why don’t you head off towards our residence?”

Seeing her reluctant look, he ruffled her hair. “Don’t worry, I will be back before you know it. Trust me.”

“Okay~, but don’t be too late. We have to pair the new dolls I got!” Verdi exclaimed, and she started walking towards their residence.

Lumen wanted to figure out who were the three individuals after. They didn’t make a move when Verdi left, so that answered his question.

Since they were after him, he made his way outside of the city. The three individuals followed after him. On the way, he was able to learn more about them, by sensing the way Shinsoo moves around them. Lumen was sure that all three should be Rankers.

Soon, he left the outskirts of the city and entered a forest of stone trees.

The three individuals were following after him when one that had a visible bulge on their back asked the one that led them. “Shaya, he is obviously leading us outside the city. Don’t you find this suspicious?”

“I do, Cecro, but we need to confirm his identity. That’s an order from the Elders.” Shaya answered him. She was prepared to complete her mission, even if it costed her life.

As they were following Lumen, they saw him go behind a tree, and they lost sight of him afterward. They were looking around in confusion when they heard a voice from behind them. “I spy three little rats with my eye.”

The person with a bulge on and the other cloaked individual immediately got on their knees. “Lord Karaka.” The two said in unison.

Unlike them, Shaya didn’t bow and questioned him. “Who are you?” She had seen Karaka personally and knew that there was something off about this situation.

“Tsch, tsch, tsch. Who else can I be but Lord Karaka.” Lumen answered with a chuckle.

“Get up, you fools.” Shaya hissed at the other two. “This guy’s an imposter!”

“Answer me, who are you?” Shaya said in a threatening manner.

“You don’t believe me? Well, I guess I have to take your lives for doubting me then. For I am the great Slayer of FUG, Lord Karaka!” Lumen replied in a teasing manner.

Hearing ridicule in his voice, they understood that he is playing with them. Green water started flowing around Shaya. The person that had a bulge spread moth-like wings from his back that shredded his cloak. And the last individual pulled out a single-edge sword from his Arms Inventory. The sword had a white blade with a blue handle.

Seeing them prepared to fight, Lumen let out a laugh. “What is it called. Ah, yes, I remember now. Karaka Style: World of Darkness.”

Lumen created twelve black orbs that surrounded him. He was already able to control up to 14 Baangs of Shinsoo at the same time, but two of them were already used to make the spear with a lizard head.

Seeing Karaka’s personal technique, Shaya didn’t know how to respond. Not only did the person look like the Slayer, but he could also use his technique. The other two FUG members were also confused and didn’t know what to do. They were waiting for Shaya, their leader, to give her orders.

“Now, what was the other one called. I think it was Black Goral’s Horn Whip.” Whips made of darkness came out of the black orbs and flew towards the three FUG members.

The man with moth-like wings was able to dodge the four going towards him, by flying in the air with a burst of speed. Shaya sent four torrents of green water to stop the ones that were aiming for her. Her attack broke through the whips of darkness and continued towards Lumen, but the four torrents were absorbed by the black orbs.

“Ignite!” The third member shouted, and ice surrounded his blade. He slashed four times with it, sending four waves of ice to stop the whips of darkness. Like with Shaya, his attacks didn’t stop after destroying them and continued on, only to be absorbed by the black orbs.

Knowing that they can’t deal with this without fighting, Shaya gave her orders. “Ned, take him head-on. Cecro, support him in the air, and I will attack him from a distance.”