Chapter 163: Rule Number One

Kaelen’s vision immediately blacked out, and the next moment he was standing in an expanse of space with countless individuals and more still popping out every second, slowly filling the dimensional space.

There was no solid ground beneath his feet, but yet everyone stood on equal ground. And surrounding them was a seemingly endless expanse of space with no lights, yet everyone stood out like a flicker of flame in the dark no matter how far or near they stood.

It was a bizarre experience for Kaelen, but on observing the various humanoid races surrounding him, he could see it wasn’t new to just him.

Their various reactions were also something that caught his attention. Some looked curious but anxious, some calm and collected, while some looked confused and panicked, which piqued his interest.

Weren’t they all candidates who agreed to climb the Tower of Babel for the grand tournament?

It was getting increasingly noisy as more people appeared, till it became hard to focus on one conversation or even see someone ten feet away from him due to the sheer amount of individuals that were transported there.

While Kaelen was still trying to make sense of what the fuss was all about, several figures suddenly appeared in the sky surrounding the multitude, and a large blank screen appeared above.

Kaelen couldn’t count because there were many of these figures who appeared in the sky, but what intrigued him was the form they all had. They all resembled chibi avatars with different colours and features, and were all fun-sized.

Unlike the candidates who appeared below and immediately began complaining or mumbling, those ones remained silent and motionless as they looked down on the candidates below like herding gods.

Heralds.

That was the first thought that crossed his mind. But because Emir was supposed to be a Herald and he couldn’t remember her looking like any of the chibi avatars who either looked cuddly cute or straight out of a horror movie, he suspected the Heralds’ real identities were anonymous and the only way to know which one was Emir amongst all of them would come down to the lobby he’d be assigned to.

As he observed further, another thing he came to notice was with the candidates. Most especially those who remained calm and collected.

They all had a weapon, just like his Supreme Heaven-Splitting Twin Blades strapped to his waist. While some carried heavy backpacks stuffed with unknown items.

Unlike those who looked confused, who neither carried any sort of weapon on them nor even wore proper clothing. There was a guy putting on only summer shorts, bunny slippers, and a night robe not too far away from him, except he looked rather amused than confused.

All this suddenly reminded Kaelen that only he had been summoned and Lysandra was likely back in Emir’s domain, or back in his castle. So he didn’t hesitate to look into his world authority fragment, where he was lucky to find her, and immediately summoned her into the plane with low expectations.

Surprisingly, it worked, and Lysandra appeared before him like every other person. He also decided to secure a few items and potions into any sort of bag he might find in his inventory to imitate the calm candidates. But before he could find anything useless to put his items into, an unnerving music suddenly began playing across the plane as the blank screen blared to life.

At the same time, a system notification flashed before everyone’s vision.

[Your System Panel has been deactivated and your Inventory has been locked.]

His eyes immediately widened in surprise and confusion. He wasn’t sure, but wanted to believe the notification was speaking of his Evolution Online system panel and not his 10,000× Reward Multiplier System, because it also mentioned inventory, which the Reward System didn’t have an independent spatial storage.

But this confirmed one thing for Kaelen; Felix wasn’t lying. All those who had their items on them were probably those from big families who got tipped about the rules and prepared accordingly.

If Kaelen hadn’t decided to keep his swords on him just because, he would’ve been stranded with no weapon. Luckily, he had left the Suppression Pill in his pocket and chose to risk everything at that moment to secure the ability he wanted to make use of for the next ten floors.

He popped the pill into his mouth but almost gagged at the atrocious taste of it. He forced it down his throat with an ugly expression, and it didn’t take long before its effects kicked in.

[You have consumed a Suppression Pill that will temporarily restrain 99.9% of your abilities.]

[You have a chance to unlock just one ability in (10) seconds.]

As the notification flashed across his vision, the countdown began, and he didn’t hesitate to select the ability of his choice.

"Infinite Mana."

[SSS-rank Infinite Mana Talent has been unlocked. The rest of your abilities have been restrained till the effects of the pill wear off.]

His reasoning was simple.

Infinite Mana was the most versatile ability in his possession, and the fact Emir had assured him he could find the Immortality Pill in the Tower of Babel simply told him that there would still be rewards for killing monsters or clearing floors.

If he could find the Immortality Pill here, then he could as well find Skill Books which used mana as fuel to be activated. His natural mana might not be weak, but imagine what Infinite Mana could do with a broken skill that had no cooldowns.

The music suddenly rounded up, and a figure no different from the Heralds appeared on screen with an unsettling smile.

"WELCOME, EVERYONE, TO THE 21ST GRAND TOURNAMENT OF THE TOWER OF BABEL." The voice that Kaelen could neither pin as male nor female boomed across the plane with an excited giggle as they spun around on the screen.

"MY NAME IS KELSEY, AND I’M GOING TO BE YOUR HOST FOR THIS MILLENNIUM’S EVENT. LET THE AUDIENCE GIVE A ROUND OF APPLAUSE FOR THE BRAVE SOULS GATHERED HERE TODAY."

A soundtrack of an audience clapping and cheering was played right after, making Kaelen’s lips twitch.

It was like Felix had mentioned. This was going to be a sick death match where the candidates’ survival would be gambled upon by superior figures who found pleasure in blood and chaos.

Kaelen kept his thoughts to himself, but there were those who didn’t and began lashing out at the host and encouraging more people to vent their anger.

"Who the hell are you?!"

"What’s this all about?!"

"What makes you think you have the right to summon me here without my consent?"

"Do you know who my father is? I demand that you send me back to my world this instant!"

Kaelen’s brows furrowed on hearing their frustrations. From the looks of it, not everyone was here out of their will like he thought. Some had been ripped out of their worlds and tossed here.

But what were the requirements to do so?

Is there a possibility that someone from Earth or Akkad might be there as well?

Kaelen found it hard to think straight because of the angry mobs that were forcefully protesting, while the host, who looked cheerful at the start, frowned at the noise.

"EVERYONE, BE SILENT."

"Shut your damn mouth!"

"Send me back now!"

"Who do you think you are to bring me here and tell me what to do?"

"I swear I’m going to kill someone—"

A loud pop suddenly came from somewhere in the crowd. Kaelen couldn’t see, but someone’s speech had been cut short, and the individuals around that area had fallen silent for a moment.

Then another pop came, and another, and another. Kaelen was still trying to strain his neck to see when the woman standing before him suddenly had her head implode in a bloody mess, and she slumped to the floor.

Kaelen wiped the blood streaked across his face with wide eyes. The woman had been amongst the protesters, but what stunned Kaelen even more was that it was all too real.

Even after a good minute with continuous pops resounding around him and the crowd thrown into chaos, the bodies around him didn’t disappear.

"RULE NUMBER ONE; YOUR RIGHT TO IMMORTALITY HAS BEEN REVOKED. YOU CAN ONLY BE REVIVED IF YOUR PARTY REACHES THE LAST FLOOR. WITHOUT A PARTY, THIS IS YOUR END."

Kaelen’s pupils constricted, and he snapped his head around towards the individuals that had stood out to him, only to see their faces mirrored his expression.

To make the matter worse, the Heralds reacted for the first time. And what they did was collectively snap their heads towards the host’s direction, the confusion and misunderstanding evident in their countenances.