499 Project Ad Infinitum Begins!
[
Congratulations Contestant Kai Stormborn…
You have achieved a new standalone Title
Title: Faceless
Rewards:
1. Multiversal membership in the House of Black and White
2. By registering yourself in any Many-faced God's temple in Westeros-based Random World, you can enjoy all benefits available to the in-world Faceless men
3. A Multiversal identity is now available to you, which you can assume in any Random World and the Primordial Tower anytime you wish
—
Multiversal Identity: Simon
Warning:
1. Every time you assume Simon's Identity, a Random Generator will generate random physical, emotional, personality, and habitual statistics for Simon.
2. As a Faceless, you must Act as per the randomness, or you will lose Simon's identity during the full duration of that mission
3. The code word to wear Simon's face is - Valar Morghulis
4. The code word to lose Simon's face is - Valar Dohaeris
5. You have now the privilege to access all data, information, and material from all Faceless men scattered across the Multiverse and the Primordial Tower
Note: As you now enjoy the special privilege to ask for the help of any Faceless, other Faceless men, and the Organization itself, also expect you to extend your services to them. You can choose to ignore them. But it will be remembered.
]
This was not what Kai had expected when he had gotten the notification last week. The day when Darcie had accepted that she was Kai Stormborn.
The day when they had expected that he was No One.
Kai had expected an Ability, but upon further rumination, a standalone Title did make sense to him.
Being one of the Faceless men not only represented a personal achievement, but it also meant that now he was part of something much bigger. An Order of Eccentrics, if he was true to himself.
He didn't need to equip the Faceless Title, either. In that sense, it was much like the standalone Title of Pirate, a one-time granting or allotting to a group by the Systems.
Now he could freely Act like himself while still being Darcie or just anyone. But that didn't mean he would. He neither had to Act like Darice nor did he need to Act like himself. The only reason that he Acted like Darcie when outside was because it was convenient.
Yes. Convenience. As simple as that.
The Self of a Faceless was like that of water. You poured it into a glass, and it would take the shape of a glass. You poured it into a jar, and it would take the shape of a jar. In both cases, water was still water.
The only thing worth noticing was that water didn't resist. It could. Oh, yes. Water could become ice, refusing to budge out of the container, even if forced. Or it could become fog, making it impossible to contain it.
But… that was just too "inconvenient" for water, much like not Acting according to the environment was inconvenient for a Faceless.
This was also the reason for Kai delaying a most-needed visit to the Tomb of the Thirteen to release the abomination upon this world and Merlin.
This was also the reason behind Kai not awakening Black until now.
And now that he had achieved what he wanted, there was no point in not carrying on with his well-awaited plan.
"We will first get all the ingredients of the Dark Scroll," Item-M said, holding a document. "One we already know, the Chinese Fireball Claws. How many claws, and of which toe, and in which state? We do not know, though."
She had taken a seat in the middle of the table, being the General of Kai's army (-a non-existent one-). On her left were Item-S and Item-E, Moraine the Elegant. On Item-M's right were Red Sun and Rintaro.
Red Sun was still looking at Kai, dumbfounded. They had explained it to him already, but the man just refused to take his eyes off the body that sat on the throne.
When Kai had assigned Item-E and Item-R missions to make them come here to the Harry Potter World, they arrived one by one. Then, with the help of Lethifold, he had directly brought them to this place. So, despite being here for so long, they didn't know who Darcie was or what her name meant in this world.
That had changed just now.
Item-S kept quiet, occasionally glancing at Kai, and then closing her eyes. Rintaro kept petting the large mouse in his hand, who looked nothing like a mouse at a second glance.
Only Item-M and Moraine talked, the two most "normal" in his Party.
Kai sighed inwardly.
"I think," Moraine said, adjusting her glasses, "that we will know this information after obtaining all 13 ingredients. The time when we know of the procedure, I mean."
"Reasonable," Item-M nodded. "On another point, we still need to confirm how powerful Ekrizdis and other members of the Order will be if released."
"When released, you mean," Moraine added.
The two ladies looked at each other and laughed.
Darcie couldn't tell anyone about the Order's name or its members. Good thing was, Darcie wasn't just Darcie, but a Contestant.
"The current Mission Difficulty stands at C+," Kai said, bringing them to attention. "When I assigned the mission to Red Sun, according to the rules, Chaos should have restricted his powers, as he is a 10th-floor Contestant. But his mission turned out to be B-, confirmed by his having access to all of his powers.
"We can safely assume that figures like Professor Dumbledore now have a strength equivalent to a Top-level 10th-floor Contestant. And Ekrizdis, Merlin, Herpo the foul like anomalies will have a strength anywhere between the Top-level 12th floor or even just a step into the 13th floor."
All suddenly went silent.
Red Sun closed his mouth, gulped to wet his dry mouth, and opened it again.
They hadn't gone silent because of the danger, but because of the being that now sat before them.
Darcie Malfoy, an in-world Character.
If the entire world had gone under an upgradation, then what did it say about a major storyline Character like Darcie Malfoy?
One could guess the changes in Darcie's magical prowess by the actions of his team members. His Items hadn't kneeled in reverence when they had faced him an hour ago. Item-M, Item-S, and Item-E had also kneeled because they just couldn't stand under the full brunt of Darcie's presence.
All risks had calculated reasoning behind them. For Kai to accept Death's task, other than getting revived, the unsaid promise of Darcie's great powers was the second-most important reason.
"They are going along well, Kai," Cersei said, smirking. "What did you do?"
"Nothing."
Well, he did reveal Item-M's 5th Rank in the Tournament to Moraine, and to Item-M he had told how Moraine had acted in the Pirates of the Caribbean World.
But what Kai truly believed to be the reason behind their closeness was that they shared something.
Both had been used by the Old Ones' Temples for a better part of their lives.
The danger of Amon-Gorloth's Temple, and its High Priest's retribution, still lingered on Moraine's help, because of Kai releasing Sounga, who was sealed inside her heart. However, the Sun and Moon Organization, led by Red Sun, had been sabotaging the High Priest's attempts secretly on Kai's orders.
Secrecy was important, more than it seemed. No Temple could be taken lightly, even by Kai.
"What are your plans after obtaining the Dark Scroll's entire ingredients and procedure, my lord?" Item-M asked. "We only have two years to ourselves before entering Hogwarts."
"Can you close that mouth of yours, Red Sun?" Kai frowned.
"Huh?" Red Sun jolted upon hearing his name. "What? Oh, yeah! What in the damnation's name possessed you, my lord, for you to take… this appearance?"
Cersei glared at Red Sun, and that shut him up, but not before he glared back at her, thinking that they were having some eye contest.
Kai felt amused instead. "Of course, we will collect ingredients," he told Item-M. "You can buy them from the Primordial Tower Trade Market as well. The more cumbersome ones we will have to either obtain from the world itself or create by ourselves. Darcie will take care of that if needed.
"After creating the Dark Scroll Elixir, I will need to go to the Verse Fusion Random World. There are some things… that can only happen in that place."
Cersei looked at Kai from the corner of her eyes but said nothing.
Verse Fusion. Red Sun gulped again. Moraine's finger balled into a fist.
Kai smiled. "I can take you all with me," he said, "depending upon your progress meanwhile."
That stirred the two newly joined Items.
"I will have no time to play with you guys for some time starting tomorrow," Kai said. "I will spend my entire time learning Wandlore and its secrets. So, we will do it now."
"We will do what now?" Moraine asked.
Kai jumped off his throne, and the rest stood up. He grinned, the Dementors howling behind him. "Let's go. It's time to get those ingredients."
"In one night?" Item-M asked, shocked.
"Why?" Cersei teased. "Did you have some other plans?"
"Stop it." Kai felt a headache coming whenever Cersei teased Item-M. Especially now… now that he and Cersei kept doing it like rabbits during the 3 hours of the Identity Period. "Gather into the middle of the hall."
As the Items lined up in a circle, and Rintaro disappeared, leaving the mouse on the table, Kai and Cersei walked side by side.
"Portkey?"
Cersei took out the wooden object and put it on his palm.
"Compass?"
Cersei put the compass on the Portkey. He had nudged Darcie to buy it last New Year, during Diagon Alley Grand Fair.
Kai stopped in the middle of the circle and looked up at all of them. "Ready?"
Now that the time for action arrived, Red Sun shockingly lost his irritating nature. He cracked his knuckles and neck, his eyes going hard. Item-M was blushing, her gaze lost. Item-S returned to her Spawn form, four iron chains flailing around her, along with the large, rippling red cloak.
Moraine the Elegant took out her sword, nodding to herself.
A suit of shadows covered Cersei from her toes to the tip of her nose.
It was then Kai hissed. -Open.-
A puff of dark smoke burst out of the Portkey and engulfed all of them.
And when things went quiet, they had already disappeared.
**************
AN: Break Tomorrow
In the meanwhile, would any of you like to guess the rest of the 13 ingredients. If you can guess it right, then I will list out your name in the Author's Note as a reward. :p
Also, you guys want the answer to the previous question? Alright! [Don't spoil it for future readers...]
Answer: Mouse!
If you want to read ahead, then you can access up to 21 chapters ahead of WN on Patre0n and Ko-Fi. Do consider supporting the work and the author. Thank you!
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