Sarvek had been erased completely from existence by the black flame of disintegration. The sight of a whole Ascendant rank C simply vanishing from reality had done something nasty to the brain. And worst of all, it reminded every single one of them that all the pressure they had just piled on Kaladian—the chains, the curse, the time slow, the gravity—had not been enough to make him panic. Only enough to make him retaliate. And any successfully delivered retaliation from him equaled death. Erwin's fingers tightened around the shield he had materialized. His breathing had gone rough now due to his HP and strain from activating the Fearless Fool title. The title had deactivated now, though. That was why he was still conscious; if not, he would have collapsed from body strain, muscle damage, and headache. Fernando was crouched low beside him with one hand pressed against his bleeding shoulder, the green glow in his left eye flickering on and off like a light struggling to remain aliv

Erwin kept staring at the board even after the names stopped feeling like letters and became facts. TOP FIVE - COMMUNITY 7 1. Kaladian 2. Khevari 3. Oruun 4. Erwin Veridian 5. Fernando The problem was not his own name; the problem was the first one. He had seen the node break. He had seen the phase destabilize. And still... Kaladian... First place. "You're frowning at success," Einstein said as he floated down to shoulder height. "That is a rare talent, even for you." Erwin dragged a hand over his face. "I'm frowning at the part where the thing that should've been disqualified got rewarded." "Maybe the tower likes him." "The tower can go choke." A laugh escaped him halfway and died before it became real. His body was too tired for proper reactions. Even though the level-up and the tower had repaired most of the damage done to him already, his nerves still remembered what seven HP felt like. So did his muscles. That was the nasty thing about near-death. With his evoluti

Erwin spent the first hour of rest pretending he was going to sleep. The tower had already given him a sealed recovery chamber that would clearly be his permanent residence for the entire Ascendant bracket trials, so he lay down on his bed and closed his eyes. Six minutes later, he opened them and stared at the ceiling. Brokk had turned to dust in front of Fernando. Veyr had screamed with one leg missing. Sarvek had disappeared so completely that his mind kept trying to disagree and kept trying to place him somewhere else in the scene. Too bad it was his delusion, and too bad he was well aware of that with clarity. Kaladian had told him to stay alive until Floor Twenty-Four. Even though he had managed to distract himself from thinking about that, the silence of his room was forcing his imagination in. And those imaginations were all terrible scenarios. "You are bad at resting," Einstein observed from the table. "You are bad at being helpful." "I wasn't trying to be helpful."

The mistake most people would have made was trying to use power through the erasure pulse, but Erwin didn't. The moment the crawler's antennae folded back and fired it's ability, he started counting. 'One.' He kicked the first beetle out of the air instead of cutting it with his blade, applying his full strength for the first time in the battle. The creature was smashed so hard that the air rippled while it zoomed away and struck the wall, bursting into a pulp of green blood. 'Two.' Kitsura copied Erwin's action and did the same instantly. Her boot caught another beetle and sent it into a cluster of three behind. She wasn't as powerful obviously, but her attack wasn't weak either. They were both Ascendants after all, with skin as hard as rock and strength enough to punch through reinforced metal doors. 'Three.' The Anomaly Erasure faded off that moment, and Erwin felt his abilities returning. "Kitsura, again!" he barked, and she obeyed instantly. *Sound Anomaly: Midnight Sile

"I need this seat," someone said, and all three of them looked up. The black-skinned creature who had exited Gutra's chamber stood there holding her bowl. Erwin stared at the several empty tables surrounding them, then Kitsura stared too, and then Fernando. The woman's mouth twitched at first, then she smiled. "It worked on you earlier when Kitsura approached," she told him. Kitsura smiled upon hearing it. Small again, but real. She sat regardless. "Name?" Erwin asked, staring at her with a poker face. "Derin. And before you ask," Derin added, digging her spoon into her plate, "no, Gutra isn't with me." "Didn't seem like that to me," Erwin responded immediately, still looking at her. Derin froze with her spoon standing upright in her plate, then looked straight at him and said, "In that case, I want to be your ally too." "What do you say, Erwin Veridian?" Erwin paused for a moment, then responded flatly, "No." She froze again, then smirked, took a spoonful of her food into