???—-
Han stared at the armored figure, who stared back, just as a voice echoed through the chamber.
〈Ah. That's starting to hit closer to home. Well then. Let's see if the skills still match. Sisters! Come forth!〉
Two large water serpents emerged from the swamp, fangs ready to devour. Omariro gripped his blade, his now distorted voice addressing Han.
"Boy. Tell no one."
The water serpents lunged at Omariro, but he gripped his blade tight, and the air around him shifted, with purple energy bursting out of his back.
〈*Lethal* Skill: Active.〉
SLASH.
With a devastating strike, Omariro cleaved the entire room in two, exploding the serpents in the process. The Escort and Han watched with awe.
Without hesitation, the Escort pointed toward Omariro. "Get him! Show no mercy!"
More water serpents rose, with Escorts riding atop. Omariro stabbed his blade into the ground, turning all the water purple and unleashing a shockwave that turned all the surrounding enemies into ash. Han remained unharmed, unable to process the scene.
More Escorts rose to challenge Omariro, but he destroyed them all with a single slash. The room itself began to destabilize.
〈Error. Error. Power Overload.〉
The entire floor fell apart, shattering into pieces. Omariro flew down and grabbed Han, a purple barrier shielding them from the debris.
"Sir, what is all this?" Han questioned. "Did she do something to you?"
"Things boy must not know," Omariro replied. "Time for boy to go back."
"Wait, sir—-!"
Omariro dropped Han through a portal, before landing on another floor, this time a misty undead-like sea. He walked through the water, with voices of unknown origin ringing through his head.
〈Accept Your Role.〉
〈Destroy the Dungeons.〉
〈O' Broken God, Rule Us Once More!〉
The silhouette of a kingdom appeared, with a shadow rising over it, destroying it all. Tendrils rose from the destruction, with an armored figure opposing them.
〈You Couldn't Save Us…〉
〈You Couldn't Help Us…〉
Various shades grabbed onto Omariro's body, but he spun his sword, slashing them all off. He continued along the path, which showed seven beings bowing before an armored figure with a greatsword, who impaled his blade into the ground as the figures clapped.
〈O' God of Destruction…Return to Us…〉
Omariro brushed past it, and visions of screaming children and crying parents flooded his mind. Memories of pearly white gates, sleek marble roads, and quartz buildings flickered inside his head.
〈Come Back…O' God-King. Come Back…〉
Omariro slashed through it all, walking deeper into the darkness as everything became shrouded in shadow.
Floor 1—-
Rika, Sōshin, and Emeru exited the gate, where the others were waiting. The gate locked itself behind them.
"Did you get the seal?" Zaria asked.
Rika nodded, holding it up.
"Where's Han?" Gakuto questioned. "Wasn't he with you?"
"Friend Han went missing!" Sōshin worried. "We must go look for him!"
"Eh," Emeru remarked. "Han does feed me a lot, so I would prefer we don't lose him."
Rika waved them off. "He's not important. If he got himself lost, that's on him. We need to find our Master."
"Big Sis Rika!"
"She's right, Sōshin," Nonoka agreed. "He probably left on his own anyway. You know the type of guy he is."
Sōshin tugged at Rei's arm. "Friend Rei!"
She ruffled Sōshin's hair. "I'm sorry, Sōshin, but we don't like him! And we can't waste time on him!"
Gakuto slapped his forehead. "Seriously. This isn't right. You kids have to grow up and stop feuding amongst each other. You're all a family."
"We are," Zaria confirmed. "Just not him. If he dies, disappears, quits, oh well. Now then. What's the next floor?"
They walked over to the next gate, which was a mix of red and orange.
〈Floor Level: *5.* Half of Party Will Be Blind.〉
"Come on," Nonoka groaned. "Can't we get one floor that doesn't limit us in some damning way?"
Zaria walked toward it. "We don't have time to shrink now. Move those feet! Master's waiting!"
She jumped inside without hesitation, and the others followed her.
Floor 5—-
〈Rule: Move in the Cover of Darkness.〉
As soon as they entered the floor, they noticed they were inside a pirate ship bunker. The interior walls were creaky and dripping. Zaria and Rei bumped into each other, while Gakuto tapped his face. "Yep. They've got me."
Rika straightened Zaria and Rei. "I'm guessing you two are also blind?"
"Considering the fact I can hear you but can't see a damn thing," Zaria muttered. "I'd say yeah."
"It's not so bad!" Rei assured. "We can keep moving, everyone!"
Nonoka tried to step forward, but she tripped in the process, and so did everyone else. "Huh?"
She looked at her foot, which was chained to the others. Zaria pushed herself up, confused. "What just happened?"
Emeru pulled herself out of Sōshin, a chain appearing on her leg as well. "Well. You all fell like total idiots."
Gakuto held up a hand. "We have to move when it's dark, no? Then everyone who can see, make sure you let us know the timing."
Everyone lined up in a straight line, with Sōshin at the front. "Okay, Friends, follow my lead!"
The room went dark.
〈Go.〉
Sōshin began marching forward as the chain tugged the others along, and they each attempted to follow his pace. Emeru hopped along in the back, making efforts to pull off her chain.
The lights turned back on, and the chains became heavier, leaving the group struggling to move. The moment Rei attempted to take a step, the chains became even heavier.
〈Enforcing Penalty.)
Chains formed around their arms and waist, restraining them even further.
"Nice going, Rei," Nonoka scoffed.
"I'm so sorry! I can't see!"
"Everyone calm down," Gakuto interrupted. "We'll get through this, no problem!"
It went dark again, and Sōshin took charge, leading everyone deeper within the ship. When the lights turned back on, Sōshin and the others with sight noticed a plank beneath their feet, overlooking a bottomless edge.
"Ahh!" Rika screamed.
Nonoka managed to put a hand on her shoulder. "Relax. We got this, Rika. Just move smoothly."
"What's happening now?" Zaria questioned.
"Well, we're one wrong step from being shipwrecked, and Rika's about to puke."
"What? What's that mean?"
"Trend lightly. Very lightly."
The plank shook beneath their feet as Rika's nerves shot up some more. Once the darkness returned, Sōshin took a step. The others followed, one by one, with Rika clinging tightly onto Sōshin's back.
Zaria bumped into Rei, who did the same to Gakuto, and they all messed up the formation, causing everyone to trip and fall over the plank. Rika shrieked at the top of her lungs as Emeru used an arm to grab onto the plank, keeping them from falling.
"This isn't real, this isn't real, this can't be real!" Rika exclaimed, holding onto Sōshin for dear life. "Someone help me!"
Rei was dangling upside down, trying to find some support. Sōshin looked up. "Hang on, Friends!"
Once the lights cut out, Emeru used all her strength to pull the group up onto the plank, and they slowly began to crawl to the other side, with Rika riding on Nonoka's back.
The lights cut back on, and they made it through the door, where shark pits were waiting. Every few seconds, a platform covered them.
"So, we've gotta time these," Nonoka realized.
"At least we're not dealing with more pitfalls," Rika said, relieved. "Little Bro, do you think you can handle this?"
Sōshin nodded. "Leave it to me!"
Sōshin examined the pattern, and once the lights turned off, he used his Jugen to speed across the first platform before it retracted, dragging his group along with him.
"Did we make it?" Gakuto asked.
"Still working on it!" Rika replied.
The second platform retracted and extended even faster, as Sōshin tried to keep up with its pace. "Hmm. Hold on tight, Friends!"
"Go ahead, kid," Nonoka told him. "But please don't kill us."
Sōshin got into a running stance, touching his chest just as the lights went out. "Jugen-Sōunsha: Densō-Dai-ni Giyā!"
Sōshin boosted himself and the group past the second shark tank, with the platform opening and a shark biting off Emeru's foot. "Gah!"
They slammed smack into the wall as everyone collapsed to the floor. Sōshin got up, opening the door, and the totem was residing over a chest. He waited for the girls to shut back off and inched toward it, taking it in hand.
〈Totem Seal Acquired.〉
Emeru regenerated her foot as the gate opened. "Is it over?"
"Yep!" Sōshin confirmed. "Time to go, Friends!"
He attempted to walk through the gate, but the blind members kept tripping over each other, making it impossible to escape as the lights cut back on and forced them all to stop.
"Seriously, people," Nonoka grumbled. "Get it TOGETHER."
Meanwhile——
Omariro kept walking his wayward path, with strange figures approaching him and trying to reach out. Omariro sliced off their hands, pushing forward.
〈Yes…my Master is still in there. You've been through much, but you can still take control when it counts.〉
Omariro stopped, stabbing his blade into the ground. "Game is over. Come. Help is needed."
〈Not yet. You've shown you can summon your old power. But can you show me if you can control it?〉
The entire scene crumbled away and revealed a marble Colosseum, with a giant white-armored knight with wings standing before Omariro, holding a massive sword of his own.
〈Remnant of an Old World—-Elias the Fallen. Level: 350,000〉
Elias analyzed Omariro for a moment, recognition flickering in his hollow eyes. "Ah. The God-King."
"No king," Omariro replied. "None for you."
"Then we will mourn the man you once were."
Elias allowed his blade to hover in the air, before a holy light descended from the roof and attempted to strike Omariro, but the latter formed a purple barrier, deflecting it.
The knight swung his sword at Omariro as the latter sidestepped, flying into the air and slicing Elias to pieces.
〈Domain Effect: Undying Knight. Elias *Cannot* Be Killed on This Floor.〉
The knight reformed, unleashing a barrage of attacks against Omariro, but Omariro remained calm and responded with a powerful purple blast that turned the knight into ash.
Yet again, Elias reformed himself, delivering a potent golden strike to Omariro's chest, but it merely bounced off.
With blazing speed, Omariro delivered an explosive purple punch that shattered Elias into pieces. This time, Elias reformed, with more knights joining him.
"Master…" they all chanted. "Come home!"
All at once, they began lunging at Omariro, slashing at him repeatedly. Omariro used his blade to deflect their attacks one by one, remaining in the same position. Elias attempted to deliver a jab to Omariro's helmet, but Omariro caught it with two fingers, shattering the sword.
Knights piled atop Omariro, but he blasted them off with a dark wave of energy. In no time, there was an entire army, with Elias at the head.
"Return, Master," he ordered. "Rebuild the land you failed to protect."
"Land is done," Omariro informed him. "All is ruined."
"Attack!" Elias pointed. "Bring him back, dead or alive!"
Omariro snapped his fingers. "Jugen-Daraku: Hakai no Ryū."
Omariro's body formed into a massive black-purple dragon, which spewed a beam of pure dark energy from its mouth, eradicating all of Elias's knights. Elias withstood the beam, reforming, as he bowed to the dragon.
"I yield," he stated. "It's clear I cannot beat you, even in this state."
Omariro opened his large mouth, communicating. "Point to exit."
"You must walk through the old kingdom once more. Then you will find the path you seek."
"Hmm."
The Colosseum split, allowing Omariro to travel deeper into the lavish realm, with Elias walking alongside him. "She waits for you."
"Speak clear."
The two walked along the path leading to the kingdom, until Omariro spotted a golden-haired woman with pale skin waiting at the end, briefly surprising him. "Woman."
The woman turned to him with a warm smile. "Ah, there you are, my King."
——-