It was Red Sun's first, and last, B- Main Mission.
It's been long since he had become a 10th floor Contestant. But then Red called him directly to the Harry Potter timeline of his Main Mission, using his privilege of Commander of Guard.
Since then, Red Sun had been stuck in that timeline.
The only joy in his life had come when they had switched timelines to a freaking Verse Fusion Random Worlds!
Before that, Red Sun had considered them a myth, spreading so many lies about their existence that now he felt afraid of going back to the Primordial Tower.
Myths were good.
You could manipulate them as you'd like.
It was much like lores based on the many storyline characters.
Red Sun was a master in taking advantage of these things. That's how he had created the Sun and Moon Organization in the first place.
And that's how he had gained a one-way ticket to the 18th floor as well.
But, never in his wildest dreams, Red Sun had believed that this day would come.
Generally, a Contestant of the 10th floor could spend anywhere between ten to twenty years carrying out a Main Mission before ascending to the 11th floor. With their Life Halts, it wasn't a big deal.
So, many 10th-floor Contestants preferred to spend a great part of their lives building contacts within the Primordial Tower.
As one ascended the Tower, how well one knew the various Organizations, how well one knew the various timelines, and what boundaries one mustn't cross became too important.
Red Sun, with Red as his leader, didn't worry about such things.
Red was backed by Purple King! And, if Red Sun wasn't wrong about it, then something had changed recently. Something massive had happened.
Unlike others, Red Sun had many sources of information in the Primordial Tower.
From one of them, he had heard that the Tower's skies had split apart recently. And then, there was this… abnormality around Red.
Red Sun had visited one of the Temples once, trying to swindle the Priests.
Then, he had felt odd… as if a gaze from millions of light years away was falling on him, making the hair on the back of his neck rise.
It was something similar, Red Sun had observed. Not that absurd… but, yes. Similar.
That's how Red Sun found himself in this mess, he believed. By taking a literal monster as his leader.
"Are you OK?" Rintaro asked, making Red Sun jump in surprise. "Are you dying?"
In the background, deafening booms, bangs, and roars rang as if doom had arrived to claim them.
Red Sun's Vash the Stampede transformation was in shambles.
His spiky, blond hair was turning red now and then. The amber glasses sat broken on his nose. The red overcoat was torn, showcasing a white t-shirt and blue shorts.
He was missing his right hand.
The revolver couldn't be seen anywhere.
Red Sun took a deep breath, looked at Rintaro, and just knew he was dying.
The mad scientist sighed. "I knew the Organization would get you one day, my friend," he told Red Sun. "I will miss measuring boobs with you. I have a picture of Ms. Big on my mobile. Wanna see? Oh! Wait a minute! Let's use D-Mail… Again…"
Red Sun's lips twitched.
They had already used D-Mail three times because Red Sun kept dying.
No matter how he changed the tactics regarding the scenario happening outside, he just couldn't find a viable solution.
In the end, he was always forced to do something extreme, dying in the process.
Rooooooooooooooooooarrrrrrr!!!
It wasn't even loud.
It was like a low rumble, seeping into the bones.
Like it or not, Red Sun knew it was happening all over again.
BOOM!!!
The roof collapsed over their heads.
RizeGreymon and Beelzemon's figures landed in front of Red Sun, tore through the floor, and then went deep where they disappeared into tiny, digital forms.
Boom… Boom… Boom…
It wasn't the sound of explosions.
Red Sun looked up from the broken roof and saw the creature march away, each step of it shaking the entire city of MegaTokyo.
Over 400 ft tall and weighing over 7800 tons, covered in multicolored carapace that kept glowing blue and red, two arms and four legs, ten eyes, spear-headed tails, and towering spines… It was a Kaiju!
Not just any Kaiju, though.
It was — Mega-Kaiju!!!
Red Sun's Main Mission Objective, as decided by Red, wasn't to prevent the worldwide destruction that could happen if the Mega-Kaiju fell into Mt. Fuji, but to make sure it happened.
In the main storyline, the Mega-Kaiju had the sole objective to fall into Mt. Fuji.
Then, because of its blood, it would have triggered all the Pacific Ring of volcanoes, triggering an extinction-level event.
To prevent that from happening, the Pan Pacific Defense Corps had deployed many Jaegers — giant robots piloted by two people with synchronized minds.
In the main storyline, one of the Jaegers survived and then ultimately killed the Mega-Kaiju.
Red Sun's Objective was to finish all the Jaegers before that could have happened.
With the Mission Grade being B-, it was already a monstrous task. If Red Sun had been assigned this Mission by the Tower itself, then he would have come here at least 5-6 years in advance.
Still, with RizeGreymon and Beelzemon and Angel Arm, he had bridged the gap, destroying all Jaegers.
That's where things got twisted.
For all reasons and purposes, Red Sun's mission was already over.
It was just that his master's mission began from right here — Making sure that the Mega-Kaiju didn't reach the volcano before Black could arrive here in the next 15 minutes… because he was attending classes.
Classes…
Red Sun let out a wry chuckle. He had given up. He couldn't handle it anymore.
Using Primordial Tower Trade Market, he called home.
A video screen popped up, showing the silhouette of a red-haired, nine year old boy. [Dad!] the boy cried. [I was just thinking about you!]
Rintaro pushed in. "Mon ami!" he shouted. "You dad's dy…"
Red Sun wrapped his hand over Rintaro's mouth. "Mark, how… are you?"
Mark was a cursed child. Neither he could grow physically nor mentally.
When Red Sun was on the 4th floor, he had married the love of his life. And they had a son.
In those times, Red Sun had no zeal to rise higher in the Tower, settling down on the 4th floor permanently for the remaining lifetime.
Then, Red Sun being Red Sun, he pissed off the priests of the Temple of Amon-Gorloth. He didn't even know how?
By the time he realized his mistake, they had killed his wife, cursed his son, and were already hunting him.
With no one to rely on, Red Sun had only one way to stand up to the Temple and heal his boy… become an 18th floor Contestant.
Surely that power was enough to contend against those roaches. Right?
[Dad… are you OK?] Mark asked.
Red Sun took a deep breath, burying the shakiness in his voice. "Yeah. Haha!" he laughed, Rintaro eying him oddly from the side. "Just drank a lot."
[Dad! You shouldn't drink! I told you!!]
"Cough!" Red Sun coughed out blood. "Sorry. I will… yes, try to give up. OK. Take care, Mark. Got to… go."
Then, before hearing Mark's bye, Red Sun cut the call.
He looked at the sky outside, the booming steps becoming dull thuds in the ears.
"If I am gonna die anyway… " Red Sun mumbled, preparing the ritual, "What does it matter who kills me…"
And then he chanted the epithets, calling an eldritch entity right into this timeline.
"The Devastating Despair…"
**************
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100 Power Stones: +1 Bonus Chapter