FLOOR 90 REVEALED
1582 Words
The desert was red.
Not from sunset. From the sky.
Above the Wall: a tear. Red light pouring out.
And from it: *CHAINS.* Hundreds of them. Hanging down like ribs.
Kuroda’s army was moving. 1000 soldiers. Tanks. The mech.
And in front: The S-Class. All 5. Healed. Angry.
Behind them, floating on black water: *THE FIRST KING.*
He wasn’t walking. The water carried him.
Enma stood at the camp gate. 40%.
Jin was next to him. 36%. Holding a pipe.
Aoi. Hana. Varn. The 20 kids. All armed with scrap.
Bad odds.
_“Good odds,”_ the King said. _“Finally, a real war.”_
*CRIMSON SYNC: 45%*
The First King stopped 100 meters away.
“Kurogane Enma!” his voice boomed. “Come to me, Vessel!”
Enma stepped forward. Alone.
“What do you want?”
The First King smiled. “The truth.”
He raised a hand.
The red tear in the sky opened wider.
And something fell out.
---
*THE REVEAL*
It was a city.
But not a normal city.
It was upside down. Buildings pointing down. Streets in the air.
And it was chained. To the tear. To the sky.
The Wall wasn’t a prison.
The Wall was a *CORK.*
“Floor 90,” the First King said. “The top of the Wall. And above it: Heaven.”
Aoi went pale. “No. That’s impossible.”
“Is it?” the First King said. “200 years ago, the world ended. Demons came. The Sync was our only weapon. So we built this.”
He gestured to the Wall. “90 floors. 90 seals. Each floor keeps a piece of Hell out.”
He looked at Enma. “And Floor 90 keeps _me_ in.”
Enma’s blood went cold. 50%.
“You’re not human,” Enma said.
“No,” the First King said. “I’m the first Sync. The prototype. They locked me up here to keep the demons out. But Kuroda’s experiments... they cracked the seal.”
He pointed at Jin. “And your brother finished it.”
Jin took a step back. “I didn’t—”
“The black blood,” the First King said. “It’s demon blood. Mixed with mine. When it entered him, it opened the door.”
The chains in the sky rattled.
Something was on the other side. Pushing.
Kuroda was watching from his cage in the truck. Laughing. “See? See?! I told you! I told them all!”
The First King looked at Enma. “So here’s the deal, Vessel. You have 2 choices.”
He held up one finger. “One: You hit 100%. You become the new seal. You take my place. The Wall stays up. Everyone lives. But you never leave.”
He held up two fingers. “Two: You don’t. The seal breaks. The demons come. Everyone dies. Except you. Because you’re too strong to die.”
Silence.
Hana whispered. “That’s not a choice.”
“It is,” the First King said. “Sacrifice, or extinction.”
Enma looked at Jin. At the kids. At Aoi.
*CRIMSON SYNC: 55%*
“Third option,” Enma said.
The First King tilted his head. “There is no third option.”
Enma smiled. “There is now.”
He ran.
---
*THE WAR STARTS*
The army charged.
Enma was in the middle in 3 seconds.
*CRIMSON SYNC: 60%*
He wasn’t trying to kill. He was trying to break.
Tanks: flipped.
Soldiers: disarmed.
Drones: crushed.
Raijin met him. Lightning vs Red.
“Again?” Raijin said. “You don’t learn.”
Enma broke his swords. “I do.”
Goro charged. Enma caught his fist and broke his arm.
Hoshiko’s fans cut his back. He turned and knocked her out.
The Blank thrust. Enma caught the spear and threw it back.
Through the Blank’s leg.
Yume was in the air, screaming.
Enma screamed louder. She dropped.
*CRIMSON SYNC: 70%*
In 2 minutes, the S-Class were down again.
The First King was clapping. “Beautiful! But can you do this?”
He snapped.
The chains in the sky dropped.
One hit the ground next to Enma and punched through it.
Another grabbed a tank and crushed it.
The demon was pulling.
“10 minutes,” the First King said. “That’s how long until the seal breaks completely.”
Enma looked at the tear. At the upside-down city.
Then at Jin.
Jin was fighting. Badly. 40%.
But he was fighting.
Enma made a decision.
*CRIMSON SYNC: 75%*
He ran to the Wall.
Aoi saw. “Enma! What are you doing!”
“Buying time!” Enma yelled.
He hit the Wall.
Once.
Twice.
Cracks.
Third hit. A hole.
He climbed in.
---
*INSIDE THE WALL*
It was different inside.
Not metal. Not concrete.
*FLESH.*
Veins. Pulsing. The Wall was alive.
And at the center: *THE SEAL.*
A giant door. Made of bone. With chains wrapped around it.
And in the middle: a slot. In the shape of a person.
The First King’s voice echoed. “You figured it out. Smart boy.”
Enma touched the door. 80%.
It was warm.
_“This is where you go,”_ the King said. _“This is where you belong.”_
Enma pulled out the gray stone. The one he thought he lost.
It was in his pocket. Cracked.
He put it in the slot.
Nothing happened.
“Wrong,” the First King said. “It’s not a stone. It’s you.”
Enma closed his eyes.
He thought of F-Block.
He thought of Jin’s face.
He thought of Rule 3.
*CRIMSON SYNC: 85%*
He stepped into the slot.
The door started to close.
Outside, the First King screamed. “NO! THAT’S MY PLACE!”
The chains in the sky stopped moving.
The tear started to close.
For 5 seconds, there was hope.
Then: *BOOM.*
The door blew open.
The First King was standing there. Bleeding. Angry.
“You think you can replace me?” he said. “I’ve been doing this for 200 years!”
He grabbed Enma and pulled him out.
*CRIMSON SYNC: 90%*
Enma hit him.
The First King hit back.
They were evenly matched.
But the First King had 200 years of experience.
He grabbed Enma’s throat and lifted him.
“Let’s see you save them now.”
He threw Enma through the Wall.
Enma flew 50 meters and crashed into the camp.
*CRIMSON SYNC: 92%*
The tear opened again. Wider.
A hand came through. Black. Clawed.
Then another.
The demons were coming.
---
*THE LAST STAND*
Jin ran to Enma. “Brother!”
Enma stood. Ribs broken. 93%.
“It’s okay,” Enma said. “I have a plan.”
“What plan?” Aoi asked.
Enma looked at the tear. At the hand. At the First King.
“All of you, get behind me,” Enma said.
They did.
Enma walked forward.
*CRIMSON SYNC: 94%... 95%...*
The First King was laughing. “You can’t stop this! No one can!”
Enma stopped 10 meters from the tear.
He looked at the hand.
Then at his own hands.
Then he did something no one expected.
He cut his palm.
Blood dripped.
And he offered it to the demon.
The hand stopped.
The demon sniffed.
_“KING BLOOD,”_ a voice said. In Enma’s head. _“YOU SMELL LIKE KING BLOOD.”_
Enma nodded. 96%.
“Then take me,” Enma said. “Not them.”
The First King stopped laughing. “What are you doing?”
Enma ignored him. “Take me, and leave them alone.”
The demon hesitated.
Then: *GRAB.*
The hand grabbed Enma and pulled.
Enma didn’t fight.
He was pulled halfway through the tear.
Cold. Dark. Screaming.
He looked back.
Jin was running. “NO! BROTHER!”
Enma smiled. “Live, Jin.”
And then he was gone.
---
*SILENCE.*
The tear snapped shut.
The chains vanished.
The sky went normal.
The demons were gone.
The First King was on his knees. Screaming. “NO! THAT WAS MY SACRIFICE!”
Kuroda stopped laughing.
Aoi dropped her sword.
Jin was on the ground. “Brother... brother...”
No one moved.
For a minute.
Then two.
Then the Wall shook.
Once.
The seal was holding.
Enma did it.
---
*3 DAYS LATER.*
Camp was quiet.
The Wall was still there.
The army was gone. Retreated.
Kuroda was in a cell. Not laughing anymore.
Jin was sitting on the roof. 30%.
The red lines were fading.
Aoi sat next to him.
“He’s not dead,” Aoi said.
Jin didn’t look at her. “How do you know?”
“Because he wouldn’t,” Aoi said. “Not like that.”
Jin nodded. “He said live.”
“So we will,” Aoi said.
Below: the kids were rebuilding.
Hana was teaching.
Varn was fixing the gate.
Life was going on.
Because Enma made sure it did.
---
*SOMEWHERE ELSE.*
Dark.
Cold.
Screaming.
Enma opened his eyes.
He was in chains. Black chains.
Around him: demons. Hundreds. Staring.
And on a throne: *SOMETHING.* Bigger than the First King. Older.
It looked at Enma.
“KING,” it said. “YOU ARE KING.”
Enma smiled. Blood on his teeth.
*CRIMSON SYNC: 50%*
“Yeah,” Enma said. “I am.”
He broke the chains.
“Now let’s talk about my brother.”
The demons roared.
---
*TO BE CONTINUED*
- Writer
