“Enough chit-chat. They are about to embark on the final floor.” Rider stopped his companions’ bickering, as he focused on Oni Hill. At this point, the other battlefields showed no signs of major change, so he surmised that these last few minutes hinged on their performance at Oni Hill.
Dududududu! But then, just as he spoke, gargantuan amounts of mana and ki poured out of the forest in torrential droves. Rider, and several others’ attentions snapped to the forest, where a pivotal battle had suddenly entered its climax.
At the same time, Brilith walked through the portal without acknowledging anyone at the interim waiting spot. The young woman was deathly focused, pressured by the knowledge that the entire expedition rested on her shoulders now. Victory was not the goal. If she wasted too much time in securing said victory, all of their efforts would go up in smoke!
This kind of pressure would have crushed the vast majority, but if Brilith felt it, she certainly did not reveal any nervousness on her face.
The portal’s disorientating void quickly gave way, revealing a world that left Brilith wondering if she was still stuck inside the portal. What appeared before her was a vast empty white space as far as the eyes could see. The only ‘stain’ in this white world was a woman who sat on the back of an Ephrium, observing Brilith with a stoic expression.
Brilith naturally did not recognize the woman, Myra Lock
Brilith returned the woman’s piercing gaze with a languid, belittling sneer. However, she did not speak, choosing instead to spread her mana to probe her surroundings. She was not foolish enough to act when she had not yet ascertained the rules of this realm.
Fortunately, as if to answer her doubt, a dark blob, like a drop of black ink stained the world between the two women. The ink bloated for a bit, before exploding to reveal an aged skeleton in tattered robed. The strange, humanoud figure stood at almost nine feet tall, with four arms that each held brushes of different sizes. On its hunched back lay a canvas roll, or perhaps an extremely large scroll. It was hard to tell.
The skeletal figure’s head was covered in an iron, dragon shaped helmet, but four will-o-sips burning in the eye sockets flitted between the combatants.
Brilith immediately used [Identify] and was instantly stunned speechless. The skeleton was actually named. Keeper of Scrolls. Furthermore, its level and HP levels were filled with question marks. The guildmaster instantly raised her vigilance to the max!
As if understanding that time was precious, the Keeper of Scrolls only glanced at the two women before reaching for the scroll on its back. With one swift motion, it pulled the scroll loose and then tossed it into the air.
The scroll unfurled without fanfare. Brilith, who had prepared herself for an attack, was shocked to find thousands of small paintings on the gigantic banner. Before Brilith could identify the paintings, the Keeper of Scrolls, tapped one of the paintings with a brush.
The selected painting burst with a bright light and then transformed into a furled scroll that shot out of the painting. Fortunately, the Keeper of Scrolls was prepared. It grabbed the scroll out of the air, and then returned the large scroll to its back.
Only after securing the large scroll did it toss open the furled scroll.
Whoosh! Brilith took a step back as a bright light poured out of the scroll, nearly blinding her in the process. She shut her eyes, and only opened them when she felt the intensity die down. When she did, she was shocked to find that the room had not changed much. However, she then noticed another ‘stain’ in the white world: A row of blue shimmering characters hovered in the air between both women.
DECLARE YOUR PRIDE.
Three words. That was all. Brilith observed the phrase with a slight frown. She could not believe the Keeper of Scrolls used all this fanfare just to display these words. However, she changed her mind when she glanced at the enigmatic figure. It was not obvious, but she could have sworn that the will-o’-wisps were pulsating in amusement.
Brilith opened her mouth to question the keeper, but then the distant Myra Locktree spoke first.
“Chaos shall envelop this world.” Myra spoke with a faint smile, her gaze portraying an undying confidence in her words.
Brilith’s gaze narrowed. What was this woman spouting? Was this some sort of cultist catchphrase? Come to think of it, their organization was called Chaos Order. So, it did make sense that they had weird obsessions with Chaos. With these thoughts, the young woman smirked as she derisively replied, “Delusions are common among los—” Gruu!
Brilith’s words froze in her throat as the white space suddenly began to tremble. Fortunately, her vast experience enabled her to maintain her balance, or she might have fallen, ultimately embarrassing herself. That said, her shock had only just begun when she noticed the ‘space’ behind Myra begin to distort before color began to splatter all around the empty space, quickly coloring in a new world.
The water colors mixed and matched before forming a dark forest with a gigantic black castle at its center. A magnificent moon hung in the background, with a hazy figure shrouded in its sublime glow.
Brilith and Myra stood in the skies above, providing them a clear view of the newly emerged world. From their vantage point, they could see thousands of Primes coming in and out of the castle. These people, regardless of station, wore large, happy smiles as they completed various trades or businesses. The only strange thing in this picture was that everyone had to stop and pay respects to a statue at the castle gates before continuing. However, it did not seem like anyone minded this point.
Brilith observed this ‘world’ with a thoughtful expression. She did not dwell too long on her ruminations, however, because she noticed that this inkish world was slowly surging forward like rolling liquid. Brilith did not know why, but the approaching liquid gave her an intense sense of danger.
Brilith quickly pieced together every piece of information since she had arrived on this floor. First, this was the Pride floor. Like every floor previous, each floor operated by distinct set of rules, some of which defied logic. However, the theme would always be tied to the allocated sin.
Unlike previous floors, this one had a ‘steward’ who gave a clear instruction. ‘DECLARE YOUR PRIDE.’ This suggested that the creator of this floor surmised that the participants of this floor needed the instruction to stand a chance. That, or, the balance of power would be too much in one side’s favor if the other did not receive a hint beforehand.
Brilith chewed on the provided information. She already calculated the floor’s most likely restriction. However, to be sure, she attempted to channel her mana to cast a spell. “Hmm.” Brilith snorted. Unsurprisingly, she could not channel her mana in any way. Furthermore, her body was frozen in place. She could move her arms, and adjust her feet to ease comfort, but she could not move a step in any direction.
“I see. Declare my Pride, is it?” Brilith revealed a cold grin as she glanced at the Scrollkeeper. She seemed to sense a spark of anticipation in its flickering will-o’-wisps, but she had no way to confirm.
Still, its minor reaction was more than enough for Brilith to confirm her conjecture. She boldly turned to look at Myra and smirked, “How trite and cliché. A world ruled by some crazy god? Pass!” She patted her chest as she declared, “The only world that deserves to exist is one I built myself!”
BOOM! With Brilith’s declaration, vast amounts of colors exploded around her. A sunny world soon bloomed into view. Thousands of Primes travelled across plains, carrying wood, iron and several building materials to erect a magnificent city atop a grassy plain.
Furthermore, they built a giant tower that broke into the clouds, eventually culminating in a golden throne set at the top of the tower.
Incidentally, the throne just happened to be at Brilith’s location, so with a cocky smirk, she sat upon her throne, and condescendingly gaze at the distant Myra. “All shall bow before me. That is the only world that can exist.”
Bam! Every hume within Brilith’s world fell to their knee, and gazed at her in worship. Her ‘world’ then surged out to meet Myra’s, and a battle soon ensued, as each ‘world’ attempted to intrude into the other’s.
Myra examined her contemporary’s ‘world’ with disdain. “As expected of you. Such conceit. Look at the lives of those in your world. Your decadence has left them without a dream to pursue. A world without hope has no reason to exist!”
Myra’s words were akin to bolts of lightning striking Brilith’s realm. Suddenly, some of the kneeling humes began to raise their heads. These humes’ eyes turned red with rebellious thoughts. They would tear down that throne that limited all hope! With these thoughts, the humes began to ‘grab’ the world, causing large tears to appear in the painting. The weakened painting began to secede space to Myra’s world.
Brilith did not panic when she saw the rebellious humes in her world. Instead, her grin widened. “Do you think I built this world by divine providence. Everything I have, I built through my own efforts, with my own two hands, without any outside help.” Brilith’s gaze grew colder as hints of madness began to flash through her eyes. “A little rebellion? Hahaha! If they are capable enough to crush me, I will accept my fate, but is there anyone who can? This is MY World! You can only dare to dream when I. LET. YOU!”
Crushing pressure burst out from the throne, instantly descending upon the rebellious humes. BAM! The humes crumbled to the ground under the immense pressure. Indeed, in this world, no one could dream unless Brilith permitted it. Such was her pride and confidence in herself! She truly believed she was born to rule. She would tear and claw her way to the top, and no one would dare take it from her!
“This will not do. It would be unfair of me to not reciprocate your advice.” Brilith’s cold words caused Myra’s brows to furrow. Myra grew vigilant. She had already seen that Brilith was far from normal. This crazy woman’s narcissm had exceeded human levels!
Tut! Tut! Tut! Brilith softly thrummed her throne as she glanced at the blurry figure in Myra’s moon. She then snorted, “Hmph. An entire world built on believing in some distant god. Have you ever wondered what would happen if that god did not care for your worship?” Brilith would have loved to attack the god’s very existence, but Destia’s world had far too many proofs of their gods’ existences to every cast doubt. So, she wisely adjusted her tactics to dismantle Myra’s belief. “What makes you believe you are even worthy of worshipping him? Have you never wondered what would happen if he is disgusted by your so-called worship? If he wasn’t, why hasn’t he ever appeared before you?”
Brilith’s harsh questions caused a rift in the hearts of the traders walking in and out of the castle. They cast doubtful gazes at the blurry figure in the moon, which began to grow faint like it was disappearing from view. Indeed, what would they do if Razznik abandoned them? Their entire system relied on his ever watchful gaze.
Myra’s heart pounded for a moment, causing her world to severely weaken. However, her gaze sharpened just as Brilith’s world began to consume hers. “Haha. You almost had me. But, you appear to be mistaken.” Myra chuckled as she ruffled Ephrie’s feathers. “We are not delusional enough to believe we are worth anything. We follow Chaos’ teachings, not for his great power, but because his teachings are the closest we can ever get to true freedom in this world.” Myra’s lips spread in a small smile. “Ultimately, it matters not if he cares for us or not. The beauty of Chaos is that it abides by no established rules. We will worship him whether he is disgusted by us or not. Chaos is Freedom, All Consequences Accepted!”
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
Myra’s conviction strengthened her realm. The traders cast a respectful gaze at the blurry figure and then continued on their daily activities. Indeed, they no longer cared if their god left and never returned. The tenets of Chaos were immortal, outliving any being, god or human. Their will would never be dependent on a living being’s whims.
“Haha! You are truly insane.” Brilith could not help but burst out laughing at the other woman’s outrageous words. “By your words, you are using your esteemed god. He is nothing but a tool to you all.” Brilith nodded, and her gaze finally had a hint of respect in them. “It would seem I must reevaluate your organization. You are not blind cultists. At the very least, your beliefs are in somewhat more realistic than I expected.”
Myra smiled. “I sense a ‘however.’”
“Indeed.” Brilith crossed her fingers. “Your beliefs are admirable, however, they are ultimately in some external being.” Brilith tapped her throne as her gaze grew heated. “It might be different if I faced your leader. Unfortunately, you are but a general at most. Your faith is placed on your leader and your god.” Brilith tapped her chest as her aura exploded forth, “My faith comes from myself. It does not matter how great my adversary. As long as I draw breath, I shall claw, tear and bite my way to the top! Leaders can change, gods can die, but my heart, my conviction will never waver. You, who place your faith in others can never compare!”
Brilith’s conviction poured out like a tsunami, sending her world crashing into Myra’s with thunderous force.
Myra paled under the force of Brilith’s pride, but determined not to lose, she bit her lips till she drew blood to regain focus and then argued, “Even if my faith is not enough, the belief of one selfish heart can never compare to a thousand united hearts!” Myra’s staunch beliefs in the Chaos Order did not let her give up so easily. Why should she, when she had seen the Chaos Order’s eventual world. It was one without prejudice, where anyone could become great regardless of birth. In this feudal world, that was practically heaven to over ninety percent of the population!
Unfortunately, her conviction could not match Brilith’s madness! “A thousand united hearts? Seven billion could not shake my heart, and you think a measly thousand can!?” Brilith’s crazed declaration energized her world with narcisstic pride. It began eroding Myra’s at insane speeds.
Still, due to Myra’s strong beliefs, it did not look like the corrosion would finish within the ten-minute deadline.
***
“Looks like its about time.” While Myra and Brilith’s clashed, a certain draconian muttered this phrase in an alternate dimension.
Kashi, who had been sitting in the ‘sky’ slowly stood up and stretched. He then glanced around, and smiled at the vast dark world surrounding him. From the looks of things, his ‘Myra’s’ pride had completely surrounded him.
Normally, this result should have severely injured his mind before ejecting him, but upon closer inspection, one would notice that there was a patch of white in a small circle around the draconian.
Myra’s world constantly tried to erode this final piece of canvas, but it kept slamming against the circle like there was an invisible wall.
“Declare Your Pride, huh?” Kashi did not seem to care about the encroaching world as he glanced at the distant Myra. “Only a narcissist like Razznik would make this kind of insane test.” He then issued a wry smile as he added, “Ah, but I do feel bad for him. Despite all these years, no one still got the point of this floor. How can you claim to be proud when you abide by someone else’s rule.”
“Huh?” The distant Myra’s eyes trembled. She suddenly sensed an insane threat pouring from the smiling daeben. She did not know why, but she had to kill him right now. That’s right, not defeat, but kill! Something about this man was very, very WRONG! “BREAK! BREAK!” Myra’s eyes grew frantic as she urged her world to crash into Kashi’s invisible barrier. Her crazed belief in the Chaos Order, and her willingness to sacrifice her life for that belief pushed her world to the brink as it unceasingly smashed against Kashi’s little barrier.
Crick! Criiick! Shockingly, small cracks began to appear in the air around Kashi, showing that Myra’s efforts were indeed paying off.
Kashi, meanwhile, looked at the cracks with a hint of surprise. “Impressive. Such pride in your Order. I can see why you were chosen for this floor.” He then smiled at the distant wisben. “I hope you can take pride in the Maggots one day. Until then…” Kashi raised his leg and shockingly took a step forward! “Rules? Restrictions? Who dares to put these on me? Haha, I’m not unreasonable. You can go ahead and place all the rules you want, but I will ultimately choose if I feel like obeying them.”
Kashi shockingly walked through Myra’s world, approaching her with steady steps. “Why do humans always shackle ourselves to established command? You were told to establish your pride. Why is it that no one ever dares put their pride above the one who gave them an order?”
Kashi finally reached Myra. The young woman, having her understanding of the world shattered, was too scared to resist, so Kashi softly placed his arm on her shoulder. “I commend your world. This is the first time I can see what the Chaos Order is trying to accomplish. Your methods are brutal, demonic and downright evil, but if you succeed, the peace and prosperity your rule brings would make sure no one would care after a few generations.”
Myra’s spine shivered. For some reason, Kashi’s approval made her feel good. She could not understand this feeling. Was this because an existence she could not fathom praised her work?
“Unfortunately, there is just one thing I cannot agree with. Well, two, but the first really bites me.” Kashi continued, as he glanced at the moon shining behind Myra. “First, I will never bow my head to Razznik in this life or the next. Second, I’m on a quest to unite the world under Rosendun’s flag,” Kashi removed his arm from Myra’s shoulder and then balled his palm into a fist. “Your ambition happens to clash with mine, so I’m sorry, but I have to obliterate your ambition.”
“Indeed, I am no match for you.” Myra coldly let out a chuckle. “But you forget. Even if you beat me, my main body can stall long enough until the deadline. You miscalculated. You should have taken the Pride floor. Brilith cannot beat me before the time elapses.”
“Hey, come on. Do you really think I would leave something as important as this quest to chance?” Kashi’s confident smirk caused Myra’s heart to skip a beat. “It never mattered who took the Pride floor as long as we made it here. Do you know why?”
Myra’s throat had long since turned dry. “Wh-Why?”
“Because, on the Pride Floor,” Kashi’s lips spread into a wide, toothy demonic grin. “I.AM.GOD!” With those words, Kashi ‘grasped’ the air.
BRACK!
Gigantic cracks instantly shattered through Myra’s world. It did not take a second before the entire world broke into pieces, falling like shattered glass to reveal a blank, white world behind. Furthermore, it did not stop there.
Kashi’s pride was born from Suzuki and Razznik’s suffering and efforts. Suzuki had fought bigger and stronger boys and men half of his life, but never gave up in the face of adversity. Razznik was even more insane. The mad man wanted to be the strongest being in the world, so what did he do? He progressively challenged every powerful being in the world until he eventually went beyond and even defeated the gods.
Kashi was no slouch either. From an exiled beginner gaming struggling in the Rosendun’s swamps, he fought and built The Hopeful Maggots to a fearsome existence, while constantly defying the odds along the way.
Suzuki’s stubbornness, Razznik’s achievements and Kashi’s ambitions, formed a terrible trinity that ensured Kashi’s pride was without match in the entire world! What was a little nation-wide conquest to someone who had conquered gods!?
Kashi’s insane pride completely hijacked the rules of the Pride Floor, granting him unprecedented power far beyond his station.
Since Kashi declared that he was the God of this Floor, then all rules no longer applied. Damage restricted to each dimension? Bullshit! Kashi’s power crashed into all dimensions with the force of a world-ending meteorite, destroying all battles and wiping the worlds clean. As a result, every warrior got ejected within the span of two seconds.
Brilith and Myra’s main body could only stare in shock as a flood of white smashed a hole in their world and subsequently drown them both before they could speak a world. THe very next second, both women disappeared.
Meanwhile, back in his own realm, Kashi smiled as he looked at the Myra in front of him. “It feels good to talk to the real you, if only for a moment.”
Myra, who had replaced her dimensional clone stared at Kashi with fear in her eyes. “Why did you bring me here? You could have killed me with your power.”
“What good does killing you do?” Kashi chuckled. “I wanted to thank you for showing me the Chaos Order’s true colors. I’ve been debating how to go about handling your organization. Now, I can battle with a clear heart. At the very least, this world won’t go to shit if you end up winning.”
“What? You think you can lose?” Myra could not understand. How can someone with such pride believe he could lose ever? Those two did not match.
“Haha, Just because I believe I’m a god, those that mean I can defeat a god?” Kashi laughed in response. “Uncommon Pride must be tempered by Uncommon Humility. Only then can one think clearly and objectively. Besides, pride does not correlate to power. Well, except for this realm. Even your beloved god, Razznik, lost several times during his climb to power. His winning streak only came in his later years.”
Kashi tapped his chest with a smile. “My pride comes from knowing that I will keep grinding no matter how many times I fall until will eventually climb over and defeat everyone. It’s only a question of how long it’ll take.”
Myra frowned. “Is that why you brought me here? To boast?”
“Haha, no. I just got side-tracked.” Kashi scratched his head in embarrassment. “Lately I find myself giving more and more speeches. Must be a guildmaster syndrome.” Shaking his head, the draconian centered his focus. “No, I brought you here to pay you back for showing me your world. I believe it is only fair the Chaos Order sees what I’m trying to accomplish.” Kashi then looked up and smirked, “Besides, it’ll also serve as a reward for the peanut gallery that has been monitoring us since the beginning.”
“What?”
“Never mind.” Kashi waved off Myra’s concern with a short laugh and then softly tapped his foot on the ‘ground.’ A brand new painting burst out from beneath his feet, soon encompassing the landscape for miles.
Kashi revealed a large smile as he looked across the world he imagined, “Welcome to my world.”
Myra remained silent for a few seconds as she gasped at the picture below. There were many cities with millions of humes dotted across the landscape. Trains and airships facilitated swift travel between the cities, bringin the world closer. However, it wasn’t just humes that enjoyed these benefits. Orcs, centaurs, goblins and some races Myra did not recognize also had a place in this world. Everyone happily interacted with others, without caring for background, station or race.
If that was all, Myra would not have reacted so strongly. However, she could see a city in the distance that had a large statue of Razznik at its center. Many people bowed to him as they passed, but a lot more only sent interested or blank stares its way before continuing.
On close glance, it wasn’t only Razznik that got this treatment. There were many cities that worshipped certain gods, but the world order did not care as long as they did not disrupt the lives of others.
Aside from Rosendun’s flags which flew everywhere, Myra also spotted the flags of the current nations in a few concentrated cities which still retained their old cultures.
It looked like Rosendun intended on swallowing every culture and nation in this world whole, without destroying what made them unique. Rather than a homogenous state, Rosendun celebrated uniqueness and growth.
It made Myra wonder if the Chaos Orders’ one-god system was truly the best for the first time. Would it not be a shame to lose all of this individuality?
“I see.” Eventually, Myra sighed. However, a soft smile shockingly suffused her features. “My loss was not unwarranted. Kashi of the Maggots, it would appear you are indeed the most dangerous man on this continent.” Myra bowed and then said, “I admit defeat. Next time we meet in battle, I will face you with everything I have.”
Kashi smiled in response as he watched her figure fade away. “I will have it no other way.”