Chapter 45 – Floor 3 – Glimpse into Eternity

Wandering Sage Mite stood next to Clico on the 69th Floor. Volcanic ash scattered through the air.

"Hmm, this isn't right." Mite looked at Clico with curiosity.

"There are sometimes variables, but this isn't right. This isn't right!" Mite looked around with desperation.

"Where is 21?" The Arch Priest Joseph demanded from Mite. Something was wrong.

"I can't find him." Replied Superior Councilman Tirips.

"Lavilin is hiding somewhere on this volcano. Ziphe has already taken a portion of the party to the summit. Is he with them?" Councilman Ryke suggested. Like before, Clico tried to take in his surroundings carefully.

From Clico's estimates, there were a few people who always survived to the later floors.

Grand Councilman Ziphe,

Wandering Sage Mite,

Wandering Sage Jing,

The Arch Priest of Order, Joseph,

Cheptah,

And finally, 21.

The other scattered party members in these strange visions of the future appeared and disappeared at random, giving the illusion that some were alive or dead in different iterations. Clico was unsure if these illusions were actual recreations of the future or if they were supposed futures like how Mite explained his prophecies.

However, in every illusion so far, these people were always there or at least mentioned in passing.

"Look at the kid. There's something wrong with his aura." Councilman Ozzy signaled to Clico from the group.

"This hasn't happened in my prophecies before. If this happens continues at the next fixed event laid out by 21, everything will be for nothing." Mite solemnly glared.

"We've been in Hell for how long, and something as miniscule as Clico's aura shifting is enough to ruin all these years?" Joseph exclaimed in shock. Ozzy sized Clico up and put his hands in his pockets, walking away.

"Nothing like this has happened before according to my prophecies. Stay alert." Mite warned as the ground continued to search around the volcano. Dodging plumes of lava, the group grew increasingly worried about Clico. From his peak, he had fallen down to the peak Sage Realm.

"What's wrong with you. Tell me." Mite demanded with desperation in his eyes.

"I don't want to say. Please show me what will happen next as if I weren't damaged. I will be fine for the battle." Clico suggested. Every time Mite discovered Clico's condition, he instantly killed himself every time without fail. There was something slightly different this time. Mite described it as not being in a 'fixed event' yet.

According to time travel theory, fixed events were events planned by the Authority of Destiny and Time in conjunction. Fixed events always happened no matter what you did in the past to change it. If someone was meant to die, no matter what you did to save them, they would still end up dying. Even if they survived the fixed event, time would self-correct itself and cause slight alterations into a timeline until the next fixed event merged the timelines together again.

Clico tried to figure all of this out by himself, but he couldn't wrap his mind around time travel.

Mite, 21, and Ziphe seemed to have predicted that their party was meant for destruction by the Authorities. No matter how many survived towards the end, everyone ended up dying in a cataclysmic event with a single mistake.

It suddenly clicked in his head.

21 was using manufactured fixed events to stop their party from being slaughtered through careful planning. They were not true fixed events, however. Over and over, 21 had to prepare for the next floor, where a new event would take the place of the previous one. It was as if 21 was playing a game of cat and mouse with the Authority of Destiny and other fate related Deities. Even if 21 eluded death on the 69th Floor, the events of the 74th and 86th Floors witnessed prior would then be used to kill the party.

"So, 21 is prolonging our deaths through careful planning, but I wonder, how was the party supposed to be in the original outline?" Clico wondered what the Authorities original plan was, before 21 intervened with his prophecies.

Arriving at the summit hours later, Lavilin was fighting Grand Councilman Ziphe to a draw.

"Finally, you've arrived, Clico!" Lavilin laughed but then suddenly stopped.

"You're crippled? How sad. Find me again on the 79th Floor. I'll be waiting." Lavilin disappeared from the spot, similar to the event on the 19th Floor.

"No! No! Impossible!" Mite yelled.

"This isn't right. This isn't right!" Mite put his hand to his head like a gun.

21 stood silently at the back of the party.

Ziphe looked at Clico, but a voice interrupted everyone.

"What are you doing at the summit?" There was a middle-aged man looking down on them from the highest peak, overlooking a lake of lava.

"I'm the Sector Administrator here. I've been waiting for your party for a long time." The Deadly Sin of Wrath smiled maliciously.

The scene faded as Wrath unleashed his aura.

***

Floor Three.

"Huh, no one died?" Clico wondered why 21 took him and Ziphe out of the illusion. No one had died that time.

"Lavilin wasn't supposed to go off on his own there. The fixed event was shattered, and that led to the party ending event similar to the one on the 74th Floor." 21 explained.

"Even making a mistake on the 69th Floor can impact the next fixed event then?" Clico asked.

"Exactly. You're starting to catch on a bit." 21 nodded. Despite his love-hate relationship for his main character, he acknowledged his wits and experience. Understanding his game with the Authorities was half of the battle.

"I'm going to show you both two more visions. Tyermsy, Vladimir, do you wish to watch this next one?" 21 offered.

"No." Tyermsy angrily frowned, tired and bored.

"Sure. I don't see why not." The High Priest grinned. This could be fun!

Waving his staff, the trio entered the illusion.

***

Floor Six.

Towering tsunamis scattered the horizon. There was a woman Clico didn't recognize yelling something at Anaxmai on the deck.

"What's happening?" Clico asked Ziphe.

"This is the Sixth Floor, but it's different from our reality. That woman isn't supposed to be here." Ziphe pointed to two women next to Anaxmai. The first woman wasn't someone he recognized, but the other woman was Council Trainee Duchess.

Vladimir stood behind them, watching silently. Suddenly, the unrecognized woman attacked Duchess, killing her instantly.

"What are you doing?" Tyermsy burst onto the deck and attacked, killing the woman who killed Duchess in defense of Anaxmai.

"Who is that?" Vladimir asked Ziphe.

"Someone you will never meet. Clico will meet her though. I can't spoil it too much." Ziphe shrugged. This was a strange scene, but the young girl seemed awfully familiar. From this distance, he couldn't quite make out who she was.

Racking his brain, Clico tried to remember. Of the people he didn't really know, he was reminded of Moti, the stowaway, and Councilwoman Zirene. Because the girl had blondish brown hair, Clico couldn't tell if it was them or someone else from the dungeon party. Because the waters drenched and rocked the ship, it was impossible to tell.

Suddenly, Anaxmai, White, Goln, and Zacchaeus burst onto the scene.

"What have you done?" Zacchaeus yelled at Tyermsy. All three bystanders turned to look at the four surrounding Tyermsy.

"Who did this?" White demanded from Ziphe.

"You know who started it." Ziphe said, speaking from the sidelines with Clico.

"The Priest was right about you, Grand Councilman. You don't deserve to run this party!" White yelled and ran over to Duchess and the other woman's body.

"What? You can't believe that trainee." The High Priest laughed awkwardly. He kept his private thoughts to himself. Disrespecting the Grand Councilman wasn't something he would do lightly or in front of White.

"Don't worry about it, High Priest. This is another reality. I won't take his words seriously." Ziphe reassured. Vladimir nodded and sighed with a breath of relief.

Unexpectedly, Trike arrived at the scene as Anaxmai turned and attacked Goln.

"This is all your fault!" He roared.

Clico was taken aback. Anaxmai was rarely emotional like this.

Goln fell to the ground, dead. Trike laughed manically. Clico's eyes bulged out of his head. This wasn't the Trike he knew.

"Stop him!" Tyermsy yelled, and Anaxmai was restrained by her own aura as the others grabbed him. In a flash, Trike used a strange Artifact and caught Tyermsy off guard.

"What are you doing, trainee?" She was unharmed, but briefly, Anaxmai could use his aura once again.

"I can never forgive you for what you did to her!" Anaxmai yelled as he stared at the dead, unrecognizable woman.

"Hmm, the adventurer must have had feelings for the dead one." Vladmir contemplated out loud. Soon, Trike was wrestled to the ground, but it was too late.

"You'll all pay for what you've done!

Skill: Shade Core Self Destruction!"

Before anyone could react, Anaxmai detonated his Shade Core, obliterating the Labyrinthian in a mushroom cloud shaped explosion. Over half the party instantly died, and the other half fell into the watery abyss.

***

Floor Three.

"What did you think?" 21 asked the trio.

"I don't really understand." The High Priest shook his head. It was indeed interesting, and he felt a new perspective dawn on him. Thus far, the High Priest was treating Hell as a tourist being escorted by the party, but by seeing the sub-party take heavy casualties, he was enlightened.

If they made one mistake, he could die! He had to be careful and help when the time came.

"Who was that young girl? I couldn't tell who it was. Why did Trike act that way?" Clico asked 21 curiously.

"You'll figure it out soon enough, but don't worry. In our real life, that scene will never happen. Anaxmai won't fall in love with that girl this time." 21 explained.

"How can you be so sure of his feelings?" Clico wondered.

"Even if it kills me, I will stop Anaxmai from falling in love with her." 21 boldly stated. Tyermsy laughed. Was it really worth his life?

"It's not that funny, Queen Tyermsy. Anaxmai's love life will kill the Labyrinthian and over half of its members." Ziphe lectured the Queen.

"Hmm, weird." Tyermsy didn't take 21 seriously, and before entering the illusion, neither did Vladmir.

The longer one spends time with 21, the more rational his insane actions became. Clico felt a chill going down his spine. If these realities actually came to pass, acting strangely justified reaching the next fixed event. There was truly a method to 21's madness. It was like a butterfly effect.

"Now, there is one last thing I want to show you, but it can only be Clico and Ziphe. I will show you the bad ending where Clico fails to conquer the 100th Floor." 21 declared.

Ziphe's eyes grew wide in shock.

"Yes, Ziphe, I will show you from an ariel view whereas Clico will personally experience it."

Suddenly, Ziphe's calm approach to the illusions changed.

"Please, don't show me!" Ziphe begged 21. Both Tyermsy and the High Priest looked at each other in concern. Could the 100th Floor be enough to scare a B Rank God? Surely, it was related to the Ruler of Hell.

"You have to see it. If you don't, you will always feel like you do now. You will feel half-invested in my plan. Logically, you've allowed me to do as I've pleased, but emotionally, I know you resent me and King Xie for our plan. For the sake of our cooperation and relationship, you must see it yourself." 21 explained and waved the staff.

***

Floor 100.

Clico blinked, and the Labyrinthian vanished into the void. Only darkness could be seen, besides one singular tower sitting alone in nothingness.

Alone, Clico walked to the tower in the darkness. He didn't know how he was standing, but he was. Its pressure was all consuming. Clico could barely breathe. In fact, logically, he shouldn't have been able to with his aura realm. Clico tried to breathe, but it was too hard. Gasping for air, he took one step after another, towards the tower.

At the entrance of the pillar-like structure, Lavilin and Nillvia waited for him.