Fate/Tower of God - Climbing the Tower as/with Mordred (fanfic)

"Laureee!!!" Serene screamed for help while running away from a tentacle monster.

Laure sighed. He raised his hand and readied a Shinsoo attack nonetheless.

The Regulars looked at it.

Khun also noticed it, turned toward the throne and shouted out, "Isaac! It's a Shinsoo attack!"

But Isaac was prepared for it from the start and barely reacted. As a ball of light formed at the enemy's hands, he raised and readied his sword in place.

In the next moment, a blast of air short straight at the throne.

Crimson thunder surrounded Isaac's sword and he quickly slashed out, his blade cutting through the blast of Shinsoo.

As the light from the collision faded away, it was revealed that Isaac and Bam behind him were both perfectly fine. Isaac effortlessly blocked the Shinsoo attack.

Seeing this, Laure raised one of his hands and said, "We admit defeat."

At this, the Regulars that slowly chased after Serena and Ho stopped. They noticed Laure's strength. Their only role was to help out, so they would naturally avoid pointless fights to the death.

Serena and Ho panted as they regrouped with Laure and began returning to their room.

"You guys are so useless," Laure said indifferently as he wrapped himself in his blanket.

Serena gnashed her teeth. "Shut up! You didn't do anything either! We almost died because you were sleeping at the back!"

Ho gently smiled and said, "Haha. Let's not fight. I'm sure Mr. Laure had a good strategy, but the team on the throne simply turned out to be too strong."

Eventually, Lero Ro's voice sounded out through the arena:

{Because the Regulars Laure, Serena and Ho returned to their room, their team was eliminated from the game!}

{The team of Blarouse, Rakukakuka and Grey was also eliminated!}

{The other Regulars are not able to continue fighting, so the fourth round is now over.}

{The winner of this round is once again the team of Bam, Khun and Isaac!}

Lero Ro announced the result of this round and chuckled. 'Secret allies, a planned sneak-attack, Princesses of Jahad, the Green April and the Black March… The Regulars in this batch are truly resourceful.'

'The Regular from the Phonsekal family attempted to blow away Mr. Bam from the throne during this round, but Mr. Khun outsmarted him and Mr. Isaac protected the throne. These three Regulars have outstanding teamwork and synergy. If only Mr. Bam was a strong Wave Controller, it would have been perfect!'

The team of Khun and Isaac dominated the Crown Game from the beginning not only thanks to raw power, but thanks to strategy and teamwork, all while protecting their useless and weak third team member. This kind of game was a pleasure to watch.

'Now, will the remaining team from Quant's area be able to stop them? In case Mr. Khun's team maintains its dominance and manages to win in the end, it will be the most outstanding Crown Game in history! The only question is whether Mr. Isaac would be able to face off against a Jahad Princess. If he could stall Miss Endorsi until the round's end, it would be quite a feat. I'm honestly excited to see the result!'

Although it was only a game among Regulars, Lero Ro found himself heavily interested in seeing the outcome.

He excitedly announced, {The crown Game is becoming more and more interesting, and now only the final round is left!}

{The count will start now, so any joining teams, please press the buzzer!}

{One!...}

{Two!...}

'It's the last round now. It will be the most chaotic,' Isaac thought as he was on the lookout.

During this time he had a chance to think about his future actions and about his situation.

Firstly, Isaac planned to stay on this floor.

The rest of the tests on this floor was like a tutorial in a game where he would be taught by Rankers about the basics he needs to know as he begins to go up the Tower. Choosing to immediately go up would only be detrimental.

Apart from that, he also wanted to become acquainted with the various important characters from the story and stay in the loop of things.

In other words, he didn't care about winning this game!

Secondly, he wondered about FUG's plans.

He found it surprising that the Crown Game happened in the first place even though a strong person like him was on Bam's team.

He felt that there is a high chance that the Test Director might simply not have a way to see just how strong he really is, but he could have also been informed by Headon that Isaac could defeat a White Armored Eel.

Because it wasn't getting him anywhere, Isaac didn't bother thinking about this aspect.

Instead, he felt Yu Han Sung might be relying on a Guide's predictions and what he knew about him and Bam.

'Even if we win this game, Bam would have still stayed when he discovered Rachel… And after seeing Bam stay, Han Sung might have hoped that I would stay as well, since I promised Yuri to protect Bam. Han Sung should have already had all of the information on us, had watched us from the beginning and he went along with the Crown Game because he knew that we probably won't go up anyway. It's possible that's what he's thinking.'

'If that's the case… Then I'll simply pretend to fall into his hands,' Isaac thought inwardly.

In relation to this, it was good that Bam ended up sitting on the throne thanks to Khun because in this case Isaac can simply stay back and allow the events from the novel to repeat themselves.

{Five!}

{Well, the final round of the Crown Game begins now!}

Isaac looked out and saw that, once again, four gates opened up.

"Wow, it's crowded," said Khun.

'Because it's the last round, four teams still came out. And here is the team from the other test spot. They must be the most dangerous ones,' Khun thought as he looked at a team of three people wearing cloaks that included the girl that Lero Ro called 'Miss Endorsi'.

Meanwhile, from the start Isaac's eyes honed in on Rak and Hwa Ryun. He knew that this round would be the most chaotic. 'Rak is here too. And that masked woman with a staff should be Hwa Ryun, the FUG's guide.' 

Right when the round started, the woman with a staff immediately rushed out to attack a nearby team.

The first, second and third Regular received a heavy staff strike on their heads as the woman agilely and quickly moved around them, taking the entire team out within moments.

After taking out the first team, the staff wielder didn't stop.

She leaped into the middle of another team and quickly wiped them out as well, making Isaac think that she simply wanted to eliminate all the extras that could be a hindrance.

Rak looked at this scene while blinking his eyes. He didn't expect that sneaky black turtle to be this strong!

The end of the masked woman's staff dripping with blood as she looked toward the throne. She then gripped her staff and silently broke into a sprint, beginning to rush toward the throne.

"Isaac!" Khun called out and rushed out.

"Got it!" Isaac gripped his sword as he remained near the throne, assuming the role of a defender.

In the meantime, Khun dashed straight at the staff-wielding Regular, quickly covering the distance of around a hundred meters. 'Isaac is the trump card and the main fighting strength of our team. I need to save him for any unexpected threats. For this staff wielder, I'll have to stop her myself.'

However, just as Khun neared the staff wielder, the woman suddenly kicked off the ground and jumped over him.

"What the…" Khun was flabbergasted as the woman flew high above him.

The masked woman flew several meters into the air, then kicked off her own staff to accelerate once again, beginning to fly toward the throne while her staff magically followed behind her. After kicking off the staff once again, she began to descend toward the ground at an angle a high speed.

Seeing the approaching masked figure in a bodysuit, Isaac stepped back to be closer to Bam. Even if he wanted to imitate the events from the novel and wanted to lose this game, he still had to at least pretend to want to protect Bam.

[Oh, she's quite agile! Finally a strong enemy!] Mordred called out.

The masked woman landed two meters in front of Isaac and said, "Give up the crown."

Isaac didn't reply.

After waiting for a moment, the masked woman raised her staff and attacked.

Isaac swiped out with his sword, forcefully sending the staff out of the woman's hands, and then sent out a telegraphed front kick.

Seeing the kick coming in advance, the woman let go of her staff and jumped back to dodge it, retreating.

In the next moment, the staff flew back into her hand.

Hwa Ryun secretly frowned as she looked on at the armored man whose future she couldn't see.

The truth is that she was not a true newbie Regular, but a Guide. With her abilities as a Guide she could freely travel to any floor she wanted. Her strength was beyond that of an F-rank Regular.

However, just after that one exchange she knew that she was outmatched by this anomaly, and that was while he wasn't even taking her seriously.

'This is annoying. I'm not here to fight that strange Irregular… From what I saw, I won't be able to get through him by myself.'

Khun watched this stalemate and thought, 'Isaac is strong. He should be able to handle that leotard. But what's the problem is the others…'

Khun suddenly turned away just in time to intercept a sword strike flying at him.

The one who sneak-attacked him was a dual-wielding man with long black hair bound into a ponytail. Khun recognized him as one of the teammates of that staff wielding woman.

"Don't look away, brat! She's not the only one on our team!" The swordsman said with confidence.

"Hn!" Khun snorted and engaged him, blocking his attacks with his bag and knife.

In the meantime, Isaac looked at the masked woman a bit further away from him.

Isaac saw Hwa Ryun hesitating and said, "Why do you want the crown? I could give it to you."

"Sir Isaac?" Bam was surprised when he heard this.

"-If you pay the right price," Isaac added and slightly grinned.

He only said this casually and didn't expect anything, but he was also honest. After all, what's the problem with giving up one thing for greater benefits, especially when he didn't even care about it?

Hwa Ryun was silent as she looked on at the Irregular with surprise. Normally, as an exceptional guide that could see the future of herself and the people around her, not many things would surprise her, but she didn't expect this development. Not expecting much, she asked, "What do you want?"

"Let's see…" Isaac showed a pondering look for a while, then slowly said, "I want to reach the top of the Tower."

"..."

"Oh! And I want to meet a nice girl too," he then added jokingly as if he suddenly recalled.

Hwa Ryun was silent. She knew that the Irregular wasn't speaking seriously, but she still thought of the words he chose to say.

Truth be told, from the moment that she first saw this Irregular she felt that there was something extremely odd about him.

For the girl and the boy, she could at least see the paths they could take if she tried hard enough, she couldn't predict their choices and also the path they'd choose, but this Irregular was nearly a blank slate. She could hardly see his available paths, and whichever path he would choose to walk, it was a complete mystery.

It was an existence that shouldn't exist within the Tower even more so than the two others. An existence that could create their own destiny.

In this Tower, where nearly everyone lived predetermined lives, he might even be called a God.

Isaac slightly chuckled. He only made a random ridiculous demand that could have moved him and felt would be amusing. He continued, "If you could help me with that, I don't mind giving you the crown and the throne."

"You're quite demanding," said the masked woman.

"Yeah, I know. I'm a greedy man." Isaac chuckled. He secretly felt amused by the hidden meaning behind his words; after all, Hwa Ryun was one of the most attractive and capable women in the series.

"What are you talking about, turtle? Do you like that black female turtle? Is this your mating season?" Rak asked as he came closer, looking flabbergasted.

'What?' Isaac looked at Rak. He felt even more weird because Rak randomly struck the core of the matter; although he had never even seen Hwa Ryun's face, he was naturally curious about her.

Rak noticed the change in Isaac's expression and nodded. He had no idea what that expression meant because all turtles look nearly identical to him, but he felt that he was right after all. It was instinct. He called out, "Hey, black turtle! That yellow turtle is a strong and good turtle! You should accept his crown!"

Isaac heard this and his brain lagged. He saw that Rak was completely serious.

[Ha! Hahaha! Hey, Master, you only joked, but that crocodile really thinks it's some kind of mating ritual! Ahaha!]

At that moment, a new person appeared near the throne and spoke up in a sweet voice, "~Are you guys having fun? How about giving the throne… to me?"

Isaac saw that the new person was Endorsi.

Endorsi continued with a playful smile, "Well, I don't really care about the game, but I hate being ignored."

At that time, Khun had already sliced up and defeated the swordsman Regular and looked back, thinking, 'He acted tough but was only average. But what are they doing? Was Isaac stalling by talking? I'll go back to support him!'

Seeing Khun return to the throne, Endorsi said, "It looks like the game is about to end. Hey, leotard, let's have a fight!"

Hwa Ryun swiped out with her staff as in the next moment a bunch of small red needles were sent flying at her.

Following that, the two women began a fierce melee.

"What?... They're fighting each other?" Bam muttered in surprise, seeing this..

Khun had also reached the throne at that time and was similarly surprised by this scene. The two women were fighting one another while the crocodile, the giant and the last cloaked Regular simply stood in the back, leaving Isaac, Bam and him alone.

Khun appeared at the other side of the throne with a knife in hand, thinking, 'I don't know why they're fighting or standing by, but that's good for us…'

Meanwhile, Rak stood in place and scratched his cheek. 'The female turtles are fighting for the iron turtle... Then what should I do??? Will I interrupt their mating ritual if I try fighting him? Can I do that or is that against the custom?'

At that time the rules and the point of this game had already escaped his mind.

It was at that moment that a 5-meter-tall giant that dwarfed even him in size suddenly rushed in and blocked Rak's line of sight.

Rak looked up. 'What a big turtle…'

While Endoris engaged Hwa Ryun and Rak was blocked by the giant, Isaac saw the remaining Regular in a cloak jogging toward the throne.

Their head was covered with a hood, but at first glance it was a girl. Her speed was much more ordinary compared to others in that place.

Still staying near the throne, Isaac readied his sword, but didn't move away from Bam. Meanwhile, Khun stood at the other side of the throne with his knife out.

"Don't worry, we're not interested in the crown! We're here to help!" the girl called out and after coming closer, then turned around as if to help them protect the throne.

"Rachel?!… Rachel, is that you?!" Bam called out toward the girl with a shocked expression as if he had recognized her.

Isaac heard this and narrowed his eyes, but still didn't move. He continued guarding the throne while overseeing the arena.

Rachel was a crucial character for this world and also a crucial character for Bam's development.

He didn't care about silly things like liking or not liking her. Putting aside the fact that she was a fictional character that he didn't even know, he had his own goals.

Khun saw this and thought, 'Rachel? Is this the girl Bam was looking for? Is this why they're helping us?'

After noting Rachel, Isaac glanced at the fight of Endorsi and Hwa Ryun, which was the only action that was happening at that time in the arena.

Endorsi threw a barrage of needles at her opponent, seeming to use more than just physical strength to do that.

Hwa Ryun spun around her staff and blocked all of the needles flying at her.

"Good defense! But let's end this! It will be embarrassing if I take too long! It's time to finish it! Leotard!"

Endorsi began to dash forward as Hwa Ryun retreated, but she stumbled on the high heel of her shoe that seemed to have suddenly broken off after being previously weakened by a staff strike.

"Ouch!"

Making use of this chance, the masked woman leaped into the air to disengage, then kicked off her staff.

Leaving behind Endorsi, she began to fly in the direction of the throne again. However, she didn't fly straight toward the throne, but to the side of it.

She landed in front of the hooded girl and then swiped out with her staff.

The round stuff hit the hooded girl's face, sending blood flying and throwing off her hood.

"Rachel?!!!"

After seeing the girl's face, seeing her wounded, Bam leaped off the throne without hesitation to stop the follow-up attack.

"No, Bam!" Khun shouted.

Isaac frowned as he watched. With his perception, everything was happening in slow motions, so he saw it very clearly.

Bam leaped off the chair and then landed on top of the blonde girl in a cloak, shielding her with his own body.

Bam!

A heavy strike landed on Bam's head, sending blood flying.

The wound looked fatal and even gave the illusion of Bam's skull being caved in, but Isaac didn't think much of it; he doubted that anything serious would have happened to Bam.

The Regular in a leotard raised her staff again, preparing another strike.

"Damn it!"

Together with Khun's shout, Isaac appeared behind Bam and prepared to block the next staff strike.

In the next moment, Isaac was surprised when he saw the staff continue falling down. Bam didn't do anything. There was nothing that would stop the strike unless he made his move.

[Master!!!] Mordred shouted out toward him inwardly as if in reminder.

At the last moment, Isaac didn't wait anymore and slashed upwards with his sword at high speed to block the staff.

Peeeng!

Before the second strike landed on Bam's head, sword and staff collided.

At impact, the staff bent like a crescent moon and heavy vibrations traveled along the staff, causing the masked woman to slightly stumble and let go of her staff.

In the meantime, large amounts of white energy left Bam's collapsed body and poured straight into Isaac.

What's happening?

Everyone was shocked.

Khun, Endorsi, Rachel and all the other Regulars.

This also included Hwa Ryun. She was more shocked than anyone because she clearly knew that this kind of white and pure energy could come from a soul, and a very powerful one at that. 'What is happening here?...'

[Master? What's going on?] Mordred was also flabbergasted.

The intense stream of white energy pouring into him only lasted for a brief moment, freezing Isaac in place.

Following that, even Bam's body began to surprisingly disintegrate and turn into black energy that also entered Isaac's abdomen.

Just as this happened, Isaac's vision blurred and he lost consciousness.

As he began falling to the ground, his previously raised sword also fell down and slashed across the masked woman's face while she looked at that scene in shock, holding the side of her head as if in pain.

With a single long strike, the sword cleanly sliced the woman's mask in half.

"-Aaaaaaah!" Red hair and red blood poured out from behind the shattered mask, and the girl screamed out in pain while kneeling down and covering her face.

"Bam?! Bam?!!!" The blonde girl shouted out in shock as only a servant's clothes that she previously gave to Bam remained in her arms. She was horrified as she turned to stare at collapsed Isaac that had just 'swallowed' Bam. "What happened to Bam?!"

It was at that moment that she recalled the Test Director's earlier words when he introduced her to their Guide: "You don't need to worry at all, Michelle. His teammates… his position, and his powers… We'll steal everything from him."

Is that what he meant he'll do… to make her the heroine?

"Noo…" Knowing that it was her who was clearly responsible for orchestrating Bam's death here, Rachel nearly fainted.

It was only a while back that she entered the Tower and she wasn't ready for any of this. She wanted to be special and wanted to take Bam's place, but still didn't want Bam to die.

The guilt she felt made her sick to her stomach.

There was only one thing on her mind that kept her conscious as she stared at Isaac's collapsed body.

What was that light? Was that Bam's power?

Then why didn't it go… to HER?

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Note: I am still considering if that should be development. I haven't fully decided yet.