Kai pushed the arched doors open.
He hadn't lied when he had claimed that he did not need to depend upon Blood Prophecy anymore when facing a 12th Floor Contestant. But he hadn't been completely truthful, either.
Timeline's mere suggestion about Blood Prophecy had alarmed the Ad Infinitum, generating a string of Lucky Intuitions. Kai had confirmed that the Timeline wanted to see how far he could see through Blood Prophecy, and if the Skill could bypass Her authority.
Last time, during the escapade of the Cursed Vault of Ice, Kai had ended up dying to Black Ghost, the Mad Commander of the Millennial Magical Alliance, ending the Blood Prophecy. Thus, the Skill hadn't revealed the Timeline's descent later, who ripped the 12th Floor intruder to pieces when he unsealed his true strength.
With Kai's upgraded Stats now, there was a chance that he would end up pushing the enemy to unseal himself, destroying the Bounded Field and letting Timeline descend once again.
If Blood Prophecy could capture that moment, then it would practically mean that Kai could scheme against the Timeline, without the latter ever being wise to it.
In the Fate Bubble, Kai had already confirmed that Blood Prophecy was still heavily restricted when forces on par with Deep Ones, Timelines, and Divine existences like Gorgon were involved.
There was no need to ease Timeline's worries by letting Her know that, though.
Conspiring against me? Kai smirked, scoffing. As Timeline's approaching Pillar Status, She's getting desperate…
The Conspirer of Fate closed his eyes as he stepped into the Cursed Vault of Fear and instantly felt Timeline's gaze lifting off him.
When he opened his eyes again, the Ad Infinitum had already locked all stray thoughts, tuning his mind for the upcoming fight.
As the arched doors behind him closed with a loud thud, Kai scanned the vast labyrinth in front of him.
From where his eyes could see, drawers and cabinets covered everything.
It was like Kai had walked into a mansion, the size of a small city, whose walls, floors, and ceilings were all made of cabinets.
There was no sky or earth in this place, either.
Only tiny corridors, leading to absolute nowhere in no particular direction, and surrounded by cabinets of all sizes on the left, right, up, and down
Moreover, it was the same for the walls that stood upright and the ceiling, with infinite drawers and cabinets facing outward and downward.
Merely standing at the threshold of this place was enough to befuddle minds.
The good thing was—the players who would be playing on this battlefield—possessed extraordinary minds, to begin with.
As Kai took his first step forward, a gust of wind picked up out of nowhere.
It was a mere wisp when he had noticed it, playing with his spiky, short white hair. In the very next moment, it became a storm, covering the entire Vault.
BOOMS-BANGS deafened the ears as the doors of the cabinets opened and slammed shut repeatedly, like wooden window shutters.
But where the rattling shutters threatened the house with a sheet of rain, the cabinets promised pure blackness, both carrying a chill with them.
This was no mere chill, either.
Kai recognized it the moment he felt it.
It was like a wraith had put the tip of its sharp nail on the back of his neck before slowly drawing a bloody line down…
It was—fear.
Kai stopped as he saw countless Boggarts blasting out of the cabinets like black, chaotic raindrops.
However, the moment they lashed at Kai, an unbelievable thing happened.
In his mindscape, hundreds of Boggarts appeared, each going after a yellow crystal that bobbed up and down in the blackness. Yet, no matter how much the Boggarts closed in on those yellow crystals, hoping to find out what Kai feared the most, to take its form, they failed to reach them.
Slowly but surely, all the Boggarts were getting pulled toward the center, where utter darkness lay.
By the time the Boggarts realized what was happening and decided to leave this place, it was already too late.
The chaotic force they were made of was stretched infinitely, instantaneously.
And with a screech, all the Boggarts who had invaded Kai's mind got spaghettised under the pull of the black hole that was the core of the Ad Infinitum!
Outside, Kai took another step forward… in terrifying silence.
The cabinets were still opening and closing, but the wind had disappeared.
An uncountable number of Boggarts were still in the surroundings, hovering near the drawers they had made their homes. But not one of them dared to go near him, where a hundred of their brethren had gone… and never returned.
As Kai went deeper and deeper into the Vault of Fear, it was like he hadn't taken even a step forward after entering it.
It was all the same.
Same cabinets and drawers-filled floor, walls, and ceilings.
Same Boggarts, coming out to take a look at Kai before slamming the cabinets' doors shut.
And just as Kai thought it was best to change the topography of this place a little, he found himself facing him.
The man was seated cross-legged in a meditative posture with his eyes closed.
He had a headful of long, black hair, and he was dressed in loose, white clothes that made Kai instantly remember wuxia-style garments.
Like him, the man, who was a hundred meters away, was also surrounded by Boggarts, Kai noticed.
But unlike him, the Boggarts weren't afraid of the man.
Instead, they lingered in his surroundings like a bunch of children having fun.
Sensing Kai, perhaps, the man let go of his meditation and stood up, his left hand landing on the hilt of a sheathed, straight, double-edged sword—a Jian.
Even then, the closed eyes of the man never opened.
No matter how Kai looked at the 12th Floor Contestant, it felt like he was looking at a fellow scholar, and not a murder machine.
That thought brought a smile to Kai's face.
"… Rumors say that the Blind Executioner of the 100 Zanpakuto School is a heartless killer," the Captain of the White Serpent Pirates said. "Who would have thought that he was also a peace-loving scholar? Haha! Now that's an exquisite find…"
The swordsman smiled, showing his right hand, in which he carried a Wanted Poster that held a demon's image worth $2,300,000,000 berries.
"… We both know that…" Mang Jian, the Blind Executioner, said, "… not all rumors are the truth. Wouldn't you agree… Red?"
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AN: Original Character Image of Mang Jian is available
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