110 The Butcher of the 2nd Floor

'Why didn't it work?'

Kai let out a forced smile, asking himself the same question again. The Blood Ocean had never been so calm. He could blame this failure of Blood Prophecy on the Primordial Tower. Yes. But then what about the last time in the world of Game of Thrones?

'That wasn't the Primordial Tower,' Kai reflected. 'Yet, the Act had failed the same.'

Seline had come back some time ago. Even little Hao looked cheery, despite the pale blue bruises on his body. 'The boy has quite an endurance,' Kai had thought, seeing that. 'I wonder what his Stats will look like if he were to ever become a Contestant.'

For the residents of the Primordial Tower, there was only one way to become a Contestant. Death. Die, and you will know you were worthy if you would come back to life. Simple and effective.

'Few can hurl themselves in the grasps of death, though,' Kai thought.

Little Hao had claimed a wooden stick from outside, and now was whirling it like a saber in all directions. "Hisssss," the boy whistled through his teeth. "It was like this, ma. Hissss."

Kai smiled.

The boy had been telling his mother how incredible Kai was while dealing with the three hooligans. Little Hao had seen nothing, but he could still hear it.

"Aii! They screamed," the boy said, gliding on the ground as his mother prepared broth for the supper. "Big Brother took their Cards after getting the Ids. Then there was a thud. Three times. Fatty's head must have rolled the easiest."

"Little Hao!" Seline rebuked, glaring at the boy. "Is it the time for these things? Where are your manners?"

The boy meekly put the wooden stick down and slumped over the cot. But as soon as his back had touched the wood, the boy sat up back again.

"Big Brother," he called out. "You are a swordsman, right? You must join 100 Zanpakuto School, then."

Kai's eyes shot open.

"That'll be enough out of you," Seline said, now almost fuming. "Don't blurt out nonsense."

"It's OK," Kai said, holding back his urge to torture the boy to get the answers from the mother. "Let him talk. I am quite curious."

Seline hesitated. But the boy didn't. He seemed already excited enough about it.

"100 Zanpakuto School is the strongest organization below the 12th floor, like the Ancient Mystic Order from the enemy empire," little Hao said, his voice gaining pitch with every word. "The leader of the School is the personal student of one of the Gotei 13 from the Bleach world. Isn't that right, Ma?"

Seline nodded. "Bleach is the world all swordsmen wish to go to. It's like heaven for them," she said. "A place where swordsmen can surpass their limits. If you are a part of 100 Zanpakuto School, your chances of going to the Bleach World increases, or so they say. But I doubt that."

Kai's heart was already pounding. The Pokemon World had made him excited, but even then Kai considered it an external power. Only his Movement Technique and Twin-Saber Style Kai called truly of his own.

'Bleach,' Kai whispered in his mind. '100 Zanpakuto School…'

"Not only that, Big Brother," little Hao said. "But the School has one of the three Temples I have told you about."

"HAO!" Seline stood up. Her scream echoed in the small room, the ladle in her hand dripping hot broth on the hard floor. She must have realized the meaning of the boy's words, for her face paled like a dead leaf.

The boy cowered, backing up, his legs shivering.

She looked at Kai. "He… He told you about the Temples?" she asked.

Kai almost sneered. "Yes," he answered. "That was the deal behind saving him. What? You'd rather see him dead?"

"NO," Seline blurted out, sitting down on her haunches in despair and relief. "I have no right to ask this. But I must. Please do not mention the Temples to anyone else. They would know. They always find out."

"I promise," Kai immediately lied. This was the best time to know more about the Temples. No way he would let go of this chance. "Can you tell me more about your husband?"

Seline gave Hao an exasperated look. But when she turned around to attend the broth, her voice had calmed down. "He was the youngest son of Count Sanderson," she said, tasting the broth's saltiness. "Unlike his brothers, my husband became a Priest in the Temple of… (-'Seline took a deep breath of courage'-)… Temple of Hastur. He was pious and better than most men. After 10 years of service and prayers, he became the High Priest. It was only then he was allowed to marry."

Little Hao must have heard the tale many times. But even he became silent, concentrating on his mother's words. A proud expression appeared on the boy's face, which hadn't escaped Kai's eyes. Nor had escaped the name of the Temple in which the boy's father had served.

"After a year, I had just come to know him more, when something happened," Seline continued. "One day, he came home muttering incomprehensible things. It scared me. I had never seen him like that. I thought it was related to the Temples, secret as they are, and it would pass with time. But it only became worse.

"First, the Temple threw him out on the grounds of impiety and hubris. Then, the Count, half scared and half ashamed, refused to accept us, either. The only help I could get was from the Empire, but even that came at a cost, as you must have realized already."

The silence became unbearable, choking in the room. But it only took a giggle to wash it away. "Hehe!" Seline laughed, her face almost buried in the hot pan. "It's been a long time since I talked to someone about it. Usually, it's me and little Hao."

The boy said nothing. He took out two plates from underneath the wooden cot. They seemed clean enough. One Seline passed to Kai, the other she kept for her and the boy. She put half a loaf of fresh bread into Kai's plate, followed by two big spoonfuls of broth in a bowl.

It was only then did Kai notice the "fresh" bread. It was hard, just short of going stale.

"Did your husband say something other than the name of the three Temples?" Kai asked, breaking his bread into pieces and pouring the broth over it. "Anything that would have made sense."

Seline shook her head. She put the remaining food, which was almost as much as she had given to Kai, on her and little Hao's plate. As the boy broke the bread merrily into small crumbs, Seline gazed at the roof.

"There was only one sentence," she mumbled. "There was this one sentence which he used to say most of the time…"

Kai forgot the morsel in his hand coming for his mouth. Seline's voice echoed like an ethereal song as she uttered those words.

"Memories and possibilities are ever more hideous than realities."

Seline mixed the broth into the bread crumbs and used her hand to feed the boy. For some time, Kai watched them. It wasn't much. But the pair of mother and son seemed to be content, living their hard life happily. Together.

The scene slightly shook in front of Kai's eyes, blurring out Seline's figure. His head drooped as he ate the simple food. The softened bread went down easily. It was just…

It tasted a little salty.

*

*

Midnight, Pillar of Trades

A hooded figure walked out from the pillar's shadow cast by the full moon.

It was wearing a poncho, and two sabers glistened silver as if they had been recently polished. The figure walked towards the tallest building in front of it. The white structure seemed to reach out to the moon.

This figure was none other than Kai Stormborn.

He walked leisurely, approaching the tall doors at the entrance, guarded by 10 guards.

"Who is this?" a guard shouted. Others became attentive, following the shout. Not all of them were Contestants. Though they wielded mass-produced weapons.

"Stop! State your purpose," another guard demanded, pointing his spear.

Kai stepped. Then he slithered.

The screams were loud enough to wake up the dead, let alone the Contestants. Kai didn't avoid the guards. He cut through them, dividing anything that came in between him and doors in two. Even those who lost their limbs died almost instantly, their body stiffening as if they had suffered a heart attack.

Behind the door, dozens of Contestants positioned themselves in formation, each holding one Item or another. Unlike Thunder Faction, who took pride in their magical capabilities, Silver Hunters Guild's members took pride in their sheer number and their close fighting.

This pride… was bound to be crushed today.

The doors parted a little. But then it stopped. Suddenly, a mass of mustard-colored gas entered like a waterfall through the opening.

"Everyone," one Contestant shouted. "Put on your gas masks." This was the difference between major organizations and unaffiliated Contestants. They were prepared for almost anything.

Just not for Kai.

After 5 minutes, Kai walked in, a forked tongue slithering in and out of his mouth. The pit organs had replaced his nose, and they flared, making thermal profiles of everyone inside his reach. Time was of the essence.

[

Skill Heat Sense Activated

Time Limit: 30 Seconds

]

Hissss!

Their masks had prevented them from the foul order, and their clothing kept the gas away from their skin. But they couldn't do anything about the visibility, Kai knew.

"Twin-Saber Style…"

"Who said that?" "Everyone, calm down, don't break the formation…"

"Dance of the Giant Serpent."

Kai danced, hacking at all and everyone. Hand, legs, necks, and backs, the sabers kissed wherever they could, leaving behind long bloody trails on the Contestants' bodies. 5, 10, 20… they kept dying like flies under the effect of Light Neurotoxin, their bodies becoming a blanket of death behind Kai.

Then he walked up.

Koffing's blood essence appeared on Kai. He took out a vial of filth and drank it, replenishing his MP. More Contestants were waiting for him on the first floor of the building. From under the hood, Kai saw swordsmen, gunners, and a few Pokemon, too.

"Haha!" Kai laughed maniacally. There was slaughter in his mind.

This was Kai Stormborn, the Blood Demon. Exchanging wounds, snatching lives; this was his fighting style.

Floor by floor, killing men and women alike, he ascended like death itself, leaving no one alive. Contestants were jumping out of the windows, fleeing from any hole they could find. Under the moonlit night, the entire building seemed to scream bloody murder.

The Vice-Leader came then, with all the bravado. There was a pulsing hammer on his shoulder, giving out thunderous sparks. "Who the hell are you?" he asked. "How…"

"Titan's buff!"

His head shone bronze as the spartan helmet covered it. The mane on the helmet fluttered as Kai's figure blurred.

One slash and the Vice-Leader's head left his body, his eyes still asking the next question.

Kai looked at the survivors, taking out his badge. He flipped it in the air and caught it back.

"I am Ser Morgan Tussy's heir," Kai declared. "I have come to claim what's rightfully mine."

Kai turned around but suddenly snapped his neck back, looking over his shoulders. Some pissed, and some lost control of their bowels, filling the air with the smell of shit.

"And count on it when I say I will come back again tomorrow."

***********

AN: In the name Seline Hao, Hao is the surname of Seline from her father's side. She had wed into Count Sanderson's family (to his youngest son). Here too, Sanderson is a surname - a family name that is.