Unfairness

The air all around the four men was heavy, and Felix couldn't help but chuckle slightly to himself as he saw his three opponents ready themselves up. His hopes weren't exactly very high – it was a one-on-three, and even if he had the weapon advantage... could he really take on both Kim and Haruko at the same time? Not to mention Adam, who could've been the strongest person on The Line as far as Felix knew. Truth be told, any of the three in front of him could've filled that position easily... They were picked by the Queen, after all.

As Felix was still in the middle of the four-way staring contest, right behind him the Queen happily sat down once again, on the big chair, crossing her legs as she did so. She couldn't help but chuckle as the first one to move was none other than Haruko Aratashi, who held his wooden sword high and his head even higher. At first, he was walking towards Felix half-heartedly – a bit uncertain, even – but once he took in a big breath, his closed eyes basically swung open as he began running towards Felix. Haruko didn't give him a lot of room to breathe, as he swung the wooden blade at Felix's head the very moment he was in range. However, Felix didn't do much except for crouching down. And, once he was down there, he immediately planted his palm in the ground and swung his right foot at Haruko's feet – although unsuccessful.

Felix immediately got up once he saw that he missed, and he jumped back at just the perfect time as Haruko's sword missed his neck by mere inches. He didn't give up just yet, however, as he wasted no time in sprinting to Felix and swinging his sword relentlessly, again and again and again. To the left, the right, up, down – Haruko was swinging his wooden blade like a madman, without any actual aim nor goal... He was swinging it just to hurt Felix. To get the crown.

As Felix ducked down under yet another aimless swing, he couldn't help but sigh and go back up once he saw Haruko's heavy breathing. He couldn't just swing his sword the whole day, after all – he was human. As Felix finally stood upright, and he went to take a step closer to Haruko, everything seemed... slow. Everything felt slow. Before Felix could figure out what was happening, his eyes finally touched the Blank that started hovering in front of him at one point.

["When did this...?"]

[Skill Activated - Clear Vision!]

["Ohh... So—"]

Out of Felix's hand, the small red ball he was holding started spreading outwards, into a big circle – a shield. Soon after, a "Clang!" echoed through the room as a wooden sword hit the shield, then the ground. Kim's wooden sword. When Felix lowered his shield, peeking at Kim, he couldn't help but chuckle as he saw his angry expression and that his hands were spreading out into nothingness – his inventory.

"That crown's mine, Fox."

"—it was you, Kim! You activated my skill!"

As Kim pulled out the twin Abyss Daggers from his inventory, Felix chuckled and transformed his Concentrated Demon Blood into a sword, immediately swinging it upwards and behind himself, cutting the wooden blade of Haruko – who was behind Felix and tried to sneak attack him – into two pieces. As half of the wooden blade hit the floor, Haruko gritted his teeth in anger, but he didn't get to do much as Felix pushed him away – after all, he had guests. Once again, someone tried to be sneaky and attack him from behind – only this time, they weren't aiming for Felix himself, but rather for his crown. Felix turned around at top speed and swung his sword, causing both of Adam's wooden daggers to fall to the floor and for Adam himself to just stand there awkwardly, weaponless. He couldn't help but chuckle nervously as he spoke, "Heh, but... I didn't make any footsteps... Like, at all...?"

Felix just smiled at him, his green eyes piercing his very soul as he responded, "Sorry, dude. My eyes are... very sharp."

Immediately afterwards, Felix stuck his left foot in the ground as well as he could and swung with his right, knocking Adam straight on his ass. The second his butt hit the hard floor, Adam simply disappeared – well, in reality, he was teleported to one of the chairs that sat next to the Queen's – teleported by the Queen herself, as she used some kind of teleportation magic on him. He slumped down in the chair and sighed heavily, more disappointed than annoyed, "Maaan, I almost had him, too..."

Felix retracted his Demon Blood back into a ball, and sighed while he wiped his forehead with his jacket's sleeve. As he glanced at the timer above him, and he saw that it was still ticking down slowly but surely, now sitting at [03:46], Felix couldn't help but crack a smile as he set his sights on a new goal – knocking these guys on their asses.

Without warning nor hint of hesitation, Felix swung a bloody crimson red spear at the nearest thing, which just happened to be Haruko. Felix had swung at his legs, full force, only to miss by just a few inches. After clicking his tongue, he took a step forwards and used the momentum of the last swing to attack again, horizontally, aiming for Haruko's legs once again. Haruko jumped back, dodging again yet being blinded by his newest hyper fixation – beating Felix. He griped what remained of his wooden sword with all of his might, tightening his jaw and breathing heavily as adrenaline rushed his brain. Countless words echoed in his head all over, from countless people. Haruko placed a hand on his head in both pain and annoyance, with a deadly look on his face as his gaze lowered to the floor slowly.

(Haruko, you have to be better than everyone... Better than even me. Because you are my son.)

(Ha— Haru, I... I think you're really good... at this fighting thing...!)

(Hey. I'm Haleefa, Haleefa Arcwoods. You're... that great swordsman, right? Aratashi?)

(M— My child... You mustn't... remain here... Go...! Live, for... for me, and for your father...! Live!)

(Live!)

(Haruko!!)

Haruko remained still and silent, like he wasn't even there anymore. His gaze was still in the ground, and he was barely breathing. At one point, his face looked like it hadn't felt any emotions in decades – a blank sheet, an unfeeling monster. But that wasn't the case. There was an emotion. Just one.

Anger.

So, so much anger.

Haruko was angry.

His face slowly started lifting upward, towards Felix. It wasn't emotionless anymore – instead, it was a face so angry, so full of disdain and bloodlust, Felix wasn't sure Haruko had ever smiled in his life – even though he'd seen him smile before. Haruko's teeth clenched so hard his whole jaw almost dislocated, and the grip on his broken wooden sword was so tight that blood started dripping down his fist. He pointed whatever remained of the blade at Felix's head, and even though he was staring him in the eye, Felix couldn't see anything except for a pure blue in them. Haruko frowned at Felix, and once he saw he wasn't intimidated whatsoever, he looked high up at the ceiling and screamed at the top of his lungs, as loud as he humanly could.

"{DIVINE BLESSING!}"

"Divine, wut now?"

Immediately, surrounding both Haruko and Felix, dozens of Blanks started opening left and right. Each and every one of them was stating a different effect and buff that was cast on Haruko, and they didn't stop soon either. More and more started opening, and soon enough, Felix's whole field of vision was filled with nothing but green Blanks that told him just how fucked he was. Not even a second after they were finished appearing, Haruko broke through all of them, as he basically teleported right next to Felix with his wooden sword held high, ready to strike him down. Felix barely managed to dodge Haruko's slash – which left a powerful blue blur behind it – as he jumped back and turned his Demon Blood into a shield, and he couldn't help but let out a small chuckle while speaking, "That's what you call fair, you bastard?"

Haruko immediately followed up on his previous attack, as he was already next to Felix, swinging his sword. Felix clicked his tongue and swung his shield at Haruko's wooden blade, and as they made contact, a huge "Thud!" echoed through the whole room – or maybe even the whole building. Haruko's expression shifted slightly, to a more concerned yet still angry one, and Felix smiled at him warmly, with his green eyes glowing as powerfully as ever as he spoke, "Didn't think I'd block that one, huh?"

Haruko clicked his tongue loudly and jumped back, then immediately came back from a different direction to attack yet again, but Felix blocked that one too – with a "Thud!" as equally as loud as the one before. Haruko repeated this process for a few more times, before jumping back for good at one point, as he struggled gathering his breath for a bit. Felix retracted his shield back into a ball, and simply put it in his jacket's pocket, tapping it into place safely. Haruko raised an eyebrow at this, his fully blue eyes confused and still angry, but Felix just smirked as he put a finger over his mouth, "Shh. Don't need all that for a broken wooden sword."

Haruko's eyes widened incredibly, and his jaw clenched once more, as his veins were fully visible all over his body, not just his hands or neck. He was more than just angry now. He was gonna kill him. But, before he even got the chance to take a step forwards and use his speed again, Felix raised his hand up and yelled, "{Stat Gamble!}"

[Rolling dice. Godspeed!]

Again, the sound played in his head – a small plastic die, hitting and rolling against a big, wooden table. Just like last time, it started spinning and rumbling about, touching every single bump on the table before finally settling down...

[Natural twenty. Congratulations!

According to the user's needs—]

"Cancel. I want something else."

[Calculating. Exception being considered.

Calculation complete. Exception allowed.

According to the user's (wants), temporarily increasing Dexterity by fifteen Stat Points!]

Felix slowly raised his hand, his palm facing upwards. He pointed it straight at Haruko, then slowly waved him over with two fingers. Haruko, of course, immediately charged at Felix again – madder than ever – this time using his speed to appear straight behind him. Again, he wasted no time in swinging his wooden sword at his head, full force. Except... the attack never landed. As Haruko looked up at his opponent in horror, he could clearly see Felix, and the fact that he's got a grip on his sword.

Felix caught Haruko's attack with one hand. Perfectly.

Haruko remained in awe. Dumbfounded. Flabbergasted. His jaw hung wide open, and he couldn't even breathe, out of shock, surprise, and whatever else he was feeling. How did... he do that? How'd he catch it...?

("This... guy...?")

"You're faster than I expected you to be, Aratashi."

("He's been... reading me... the whole time? His eyes... How sharp are his eyes...?!")

"But not fast enough."

Felix tightened his grip on the broken blade and ripped it out of Haruko's hand, throwing it to the side with an annoyed expression on his face. Haruko didn't even get to properly move his feet more than one inch before he was met with a crimson blade right by his throat. He broke into a cold sweat, with his eyes widening at the sight of the blade.

"Don't move. I see... everything."

Haruko didn't even dare turn his neck to properly face Felix anymore.

"If you breathe the wrong way, or if I don't like the way you blink, I'll be going on to the next floor with your blood on my clothes, your death on my consciousness, and this crown on my head. So... don't move, Aratashi."

Haruko's eyes slowly started fading back into their usual blue rather than this pure, bright one they were just a moment ago. He was still angry – angrier than ever, even – but he couldn't do anything about it. He... lost. Haruko had fully lost to Felix.

("Even with... Divine Blessing, I... I couldn't beat someone like him. What... What makes him so special...?!")

"You're wondering how I beat you, I'm guessing."

("How did—?!")

"No, no, I can't read minds. But... that expression on your face..."

Felix smirked slightly, and raised his hand up against his forehead. The next second, he simply flicked it, and Haruko slowly but surely started falling backwards. He didn't catch himself. He couldn't. He wouldn't. As he fell slowly, Felix simply raised his hand and waved slowly, with a cursed smirk on his face as he spoke.

"Take your seat, you main character wannabe."

The next second, Haruko hit the floor, and he was then teleported to one of the chairs next to the Queen. He sat idly on it, not even muttering a word nor breath. He still hadn't fully realized, or registered what just really happened. Adam slowly tapped him on the back encouragingly as he spoke, "Hey, look on the bright side, Haru. Your father's technique, {Divine Blessing,} finally worked, right?"

"You... know of it? Of my father, of... me?"

Adam slightly smirked before speaking, "I'm from Feneder, too. How could I not?"

Back at Felix, whose buff had just worn out, he couldn't help but sigh as he rubbed the back of his neck and glanced at the timer – [00:57] – only to redirect his gaze at Kim soon enough, speaking as he did, "Wanna try your luck at my crown, Kim?"

Kim grunted and frowned, before sighing and speaking, "...Actually, no, I don't."

"Oh?"

"I'm already stronger than you, Stat-wise. It'd be beneficial if you have it, so we're more even."

"Wow, Kim, you're... being a team player? That's... unexpected, especially from you..."

"Yeah. Because, like... I can totally beat you right now. I just won't."

"Oh, of course, of course."

"But when the time comes... and you get to use that crown as a key... I expect some rewards too."

"I'll be sure to give you somethin', at the very least."

"...Fine. You win this time, Fox."

Kim then spun the two daggers around and threw them back in his inventory, sighing and crossing his hands, slowly leaning back and soon falling to the floor, getting teleported to the final empty chair as he did. The Queen, who was dead silent all along, finally got up from her chair and started clapping and speaking as she did.

"Why, you have my congratulations, Felix Fox."

"Right, uhm... Thank you, your Majesty."

"As promised, the crown is yours. You may do with it as you see fit."

"Neat... Well, uh, that was... just slightly hard. Yup. So... now what?"

Right as he stopped talking, a huge white gate opened up behind him, and Felix had a feeling he already knew where it lead.

"Really, no warning? Just like that?"

"Until we meet again. Fox, everyone."

Before Felix even got to respond, the white gate slowly expanded all over the room, swallowing the Liners and throwing them back into the Resting Grounds – but not before they each got a Blank.

[Dear Liners, the Fifth Floor has been cleared. Everyone shall be returned to the Resting Grounds where they'll await further messages.]

Though, as usual, Felix had an extra Blank aside from the one everyone else had read.

[Godspeed!]