Chapter 54 – Floor 3 – Eternity Awakens

Trike awoke from his eternity. He was no longer a man, but a monster. Living in the illusion for an inhumane length of time, he constantly craved new stimulation to stop himself from committing suicide, but the nightmare was now over. Attempting anything and everything, this new Trike was demented and unpredictable.

"I'm free." Trike cried out as Realeh jumped up in surprise. The Council Trainee was finally awake!

"Mister Trike, you're awake!" Realeh smiled and brought over some water for him to drink.

"Miss Realeh, it's good to see you for real." Trike's face twisted sinisterly. Of all the women he tried to brainwash and experiment on in the dream, she was by far the most intriguing to torture and talk to. Realeh was the perhaps the nicest person in the sub-party.

As time drug on, his sanity completely left him. With new and creative means, he was able to get just about anything he wanted in the illusionary world. All it took were specific routes to get his hands on the Artifacts needed to become strong enough to face most of the party members. Despite being Auraless, his deep knowledge of the party gave him the power to do just about anything he wanted.

Trike got up from the bed. His grey eyes bulged from its head as he licked his lips at Realeh. Trike was not a man, but a beast, born in eternity. Realeh backed away, feeling a malevolent force, yet there was no aura whatsoever coming from Trike.

"What is this?" She asked, quivering in fear. As if facing a pressure larger than Ziphe and Tyermsy, she quaked in despair. Whatever happened to Trike in his coma was not normal. Trike's presence was all consuming, as if he was greater than everyone and everything. The eerie lack of aura was replaced with an all-consuming presence that felt thicker than the aura of a Deity. It was impossible.

Running out of the room, she burst into the Control Room for help.

"What's wrong?" Tyermsy rushed over and held the crying Realeh.

"Something's wrong with Trike." She cried into Tyermsy's arms. Everyone looked at each other in concern. Realeh looked as if she had met a monster.

Walking into the control room, Trike leisurely walked up to Ziphe, as if Ziphe was nothing but an ant to him. The haughty and twisted smile on his face made Ziphe feel uneasy.

"What's the meaning of this trainee? Why is Realeh so scared?" Ziphe asked, flabbergasted at Trike's irrational behavior.

"Grand Councilman, I have returned from eternity." Trike burst out laughing manically. Ziphe was semi-aware of the situation. Trike started laughing harder. Deliriously, Trike couldn't stop laughing. After a minute, the laughter turned into tears. Curled up in a ball, he giggled and cried at his freedom. Blubbering like a baby, Trike murmured to himself.

"I'm free. I'm finally free. Yes, now I'm free."

In horror, they watched as Trike broke down. Just as Blue was about to move to restrain Trike, he felt as if he was stuck in place.

"What's happening?" Blue turned his head to the commotion. Something felt very off. There was not an ounce of aura coming off of Trike, as if he was Auraless, yet, chills were coming down his spine. The pressure exuded from Trike's body was strong enough to keep him in place.

"This is impossible! There's no aura coming from his body, but I can't move!" Blue thought.

Tyermsy pulled Realeh closer. Only Deities could hide their auras like this, and Tyermsy knew it. Only someone truly strong could make you feel their aura, even if they exuded none.

"What have you done with Trike?" Ziphe demanded. Was this the Trike he read about in his prophetic book? There was no way this person was the lazy and depressed trainee he knew and loved.

Trike composed himself instantly, jumping up excitedly in one fluid motion. Then, he paced back and forth and tilted his head at Ziphe. Feeling the urge to back away, Ziphe stopped himself.

"Was that fear?" Ziphe gasped inwardly. He didn't even fear other B Rank Deities.

"My dear Grand Councilman, what ever could you mean? I am Trike. Investigate my body if you don't believe me. I am Trike! I am Trike!" He taunted the Grand Councilman. For a millisecond, Ziphe felt another sliver of fear. Shaking it off, he covered Trike in his aura to inspect him.

Tyermsy noticed Ziphe's hesitation.

Upon inspection, there was nothing wrong with Trike's body. In fact, Trike's soul power was the purest he had ever seen! Only a Deity could have a soul this pure, yet there was something amiss. Trike's aura realm wasn't hidden but sealed with a strange skill!

"Explain yourself, trainee." Ziphe said, half-scared and half-curious of the answer. Trike was turned into something beyond his comprehension. How was this even possible?

"I've completed my training. As you can see, I am fine. However, I do appear to be crippled from the imaginary world and can't fight on my own now. I require some Artifacts to defend myself." Trike's face twisted devilishly. Unlike in the illusionary realm, Trike didn't care about actually getting what he wanted. Just being free was enough to let the chips land as they fell. This new experience was enough to fulfill his gluttonous urge for stimulation.

"Hand it all over! All of your Artifacts are mine now." Trike demanded from those present like a bank robber. Truly, this was new stimulation. Even if he did the same thing in the illusionary world, they would never act like this, mainly because he couldn't act out the joys of being free!

Ziphe stood between him and the crowd in the Control Room.

"How long were you in there? What were you doing?" Ziphe exclaimed. Ziphe felt the urge to know what the training did to him. Vaguely, he knew Trike was undergoing a strange training under 21's oversight. The distorted aura around Trike's unconscious body gave it all away, and Ziphe confirmed it in his prophetic book. In all his years of living, Ziphe had never seen someone's aura distort like that before.

"Time is just a word, but eternity is forever." Trike said cryptically and hopped onto the central command station, staring into Ziphe's eyes at an uncomfortable distance.

"Give me some Artifacts. I am defenseless without them. I must survive, for the party to survive! The world is at stake. No, reality is at stake!" Trike backed away from Ziphe and declared to the Control Room.

"Hand it over. Now!" Trike yelled in a dark and malevolent voice, yet not one iota of aura came off of him, despite his volatile mood swings. Groth shuddered next to Tyermsy, too paralyzed to move.

"This isn't Trike. This is a monster." Ziphe gasped inwardly. Whatever happened to him produced something inhuman. Not even Ziphe felt as if he could hide his aura this well. If Ziphe's suspicions were correct, Trike was now the strongest member of the Great Dungeon Party. If Trike were to attack, he could easily wipe out the entire Third Floor if he wanted to with raw aura.

"Ah, Trike, damn! You should've waited for me!" 21 appeared in the doorway to the Control Room casually. Trike hopped down from the center piece towards 21 and past Ziphe as if he was no threat at all. Tyermsy even flinched when Trike jumped down. In shock, Tyermsy felt an extreme sense of danger coming from Trike.

"How is this possible?" Tyermsy gasped.

"21! My brother. How I've longed to thank you. How I've longed to meet the real you." Trike grinned from ear to ear. In this world, 21 was one of the few who could understand his pain and trials. His one and only brother, 21, who was just a man, yet, he knew more than his eternity did.

"Listen Trike, if I am your brother, you will let me seal your memory until the right moment. You should understand from the prophetic book." 21 mysteriously told Trike. Tyermsy stared at 21 maliciously. This must have been all his doing.

Trike sighed.

"Yes, yes, I understand. From the outside perspective, my enlightenment is otherworldly and strange. I will submit for the time being. I apologize for the inconveniences everyone. I was just trying to have a bit of fun." Trike ripped off his patient's gown and got onto the metallic floor, nude.

Realeh gasped at the submissive attitude of Trike.

"Just what did 21 do to him?" Everyone thought at once.

21 sighed, and hurried over to Trike, who lay nude, waiting for the seal. Even the deranged monster that came out of the illusionary eternity was smart enough to understand its actions were inappropriate. It just didn't care.

Inscribing a runic seal onto his forehead, Trike's memories were sealed away by 21 efficiently.

"A Tier Three Memory Seal done in less than 15 minutes. That's insane!" Superior Councilman Nure exclaimed out loud. This was close to his own record. 21 was actually a secret runic expert! The unseen pressure from Trike went away the moment 21 completed the seal.

"Realeh, take Trike back to the infirmary. He should awaken again on the Fourth Floor. I apologize for the trouble everyone." 21 bowed his head to Tyermsy and Realeh.

"How strong is that thing?" Tyermsy asked 21, referring to Trike.

"In terms of combat ability and aura, he is stronger than the whole current Great Dungeon Party put together." 21 smiled weakly.

"How is that possible?" Tyermsy demanded to know. Ziphe felt dizzy. Trike was talented, but this was absurd and impossible.

"Trike was among the only ones in our party capable of facing eternity." 21 explained, but Tyermsy stopped him.

"Eternity?" She inquired.

"Trike is the God of Eternity now. His lifespan is longer than most living creatures in this universe. The aura distortions around his body were due to time accelerating faster in the illusionary world under the parameters of the Administrator Privileges I conned out of the Administrator Eros." 21 explained in depth yet mysteriously.

"So, you're saying that thing is capable of defeating the Administrators? Just what kind of skill did he use?" Tyermsy couldn't believe it. Ziphe was speechless. This wasn't explained in his prophetic book.

"Trike is capable of defeating over 95% of the current Administrators of Hell. I invented a Unique Skill for him called Illusionary Eternity. I just turned off his skill moments ago using Eros's staff. If I had let him stay in there any longer, he would have become so depraved, he would no longer have had a use for the party." 21 said coldly.

"Trike is dead then, no? All that's left is that monster?" Tyermsy asked, looking at the nude body of Trike with caution.

"With the memory seal, Trike will know he accomplished his training, but he will have any memory of it. Even his prophetic book's restrictions will go back to his current memory span unless he lives long enough to read it again. Trike is harmless now.

I've prepared some Artifacts for him. He can still fight and be useful to the party. The memory seal I set will allow Trike to trade places with Eternity at will. When it's time, the beast inside him will awaken again. The monster inside still has a semblance of logic, but he is no longer Trike." 21 addressed every issue regarding the monster hiding in their party.

"Be warned though. If Trike's life is threatened, the memory seal will be undone completely. I'm sure you all will spread the rumors effectively. Trike is now our party's greatest weapon. Every few weeks, I'll have to redo the seal on Trike. The beast within him cannot be chained for long without wanting stimulation…" 21 shuddered at the abomination he helped create.

"That will take lots of resources, no?" Ziphe inquired coldly. Giving 21 the liberty to rise up Deities was something Ziphe felt uncomfortable with, but at the same time, rising up a Deity was something countries did over centuries. The fact that 21 did it in a few weeks was something greater than legends and was completely unprecedented.

"Yes, but Trike will use his power within the next few years. Since I'm not inscribing the rune again and just resealing it, the resources will be restrained to my own reserves. After he uses the skill, he will become harmless. For the Trike of Eternity, he can watch Trike and interact with him sometimes, but most of the time, he will just sleep until the right moment." 21 reassured Ziphe.

"How many others will you turn into monsters?" Blue asked from the sidelines in disbelief and resentment. Although this was a talk amongst the elites, Blue had to speak up. What he just witnessed disturbed him to his core. For years, he had known Trike, but now, Trike's personality had morphed into something even beyond that of a crazed Shade. This wasn't natural. This wasn't okay.

"Are you willing to lose your humanity to conquer Hell to survive?" 21 asked the whole Control Room but immediately turned around to leave.

"Trike was." 21 whispered on his way out.

Everyone contemplated 21's words thoughtfully.

Trike's inner subconscious stirred, wanting to come out.

"Lose your humanity? What a joke. How can 21 be just a man? How is that possible?" Eternity roared inwardly. No matter how Trike saw it, 21 prepared everything so that not even he, in his eternity, could scratch the surface of the fixed events laid out in 21's plan. 21 gave Trike exclusive access to the highest levels of information regarding the Dungeon Conquering Plan. Apart from 21 and a few others, the Trike of Eternity knew everything.

21 was just a man though. How? How? How? How? How?

"How? How?" The eternal Trike squealed like an animal. How was 21 not an Authority? How 21 was not a Deity without his Artifacts? 21 just a man? Just a man? How could he know more than his eternity? How? How? How? How? How? How? How? How?

21 was a man, but he knew more than the S Rank God of Eternity, Trike.

21 was a man, but he knew more about getting to the fixed events than Trike could deduce.

How could 21 figure out this plan? Its was too much! It was too complex!

21 was just a man, but he faced the eternity of the Dungeon Plan better than Trike ever could. Over years and years, Trike tried to disassemble 21's plan, but he couldn't understand it entirely.

21 was a man with knowledge, and that was it.

21 had no other tricks besides his mysterious wealth.

21 was just a man who knew too much.