White Guardian

Prologue

Friends, entertainment, leisure. There was a time when Friedrich did not need these things. Back when his fear and sense of duty stood at the foremost of his actions. Nowadays it was the only thing he could turn to. Letting go of his burdens lifted a huge weight off his shoulders, it allowed him to live, to enjoy as any normal person would. However, Friedrich realised it only shifted that weight onto his heart.

It was there when he got an 'invitation' or rather a cry for help. Despite his grievances, Friedrich decided to go with it, if anything to help out an old friend.

The tower of god was built by the axis to create the ultimate being. One which could put the universe into a chokehold so they could control it as they please. A tinge of guilt reverberated in Friedrich's heart, feeling as if he of all people should not have waited this long to finally take a look at it.

The tall white-haired man with pitch black eyes approached the tower stretching as far as his eye can see. Several times larger than many planets, home to trillions of life. Likely trapped, unknowing of the universe on the outside.

Entering was surprisingly easy, the door had already been opened! Walking through the dark, damp halls ominously decorated with ancient mosaics, he spotted a commotion towards the light onwards. A tall woman, a dwarf and a bunny-like humanoid were observing in tension, a boy battling a large sea creature in a tank. 'How barbaric' Friedrich thought, watching as a young boy battle his life against such a terrifying creature. All this whilst a yellow-haired girl hidden near the darkness of the cave watches them. Her act of stealth made Friedrich more curious about the situation but could not judge as they did not know he was there.

A loud crack brought Friedrichs attention back as the boy had suddenly disappeared.

"The child has proceeded to the next level" the humanoid creature stated.

"Headon, just what are you thinking" the woman questioned.

Their brief intermittence brought the woman and dwarf sprinting away to what is presumed the 2nd floor. Wasting no time Friedrich followed them, being careful as to not alerting anyone else there of his presence. Especially the creature called Headon, who he sensed was far more powerful than the other three people. Following the pair up a pitch-black staircase, Friedrich carefully listened to what they had to say. He was interrupted however when he was suddenly teleported into a large open field.

"Mic test! 1,2,3 !" a speaker announced. Presumably coming from the floating black square further in the sky. "Welcome to the 2nd floor, there are 400 regulars here. In 30 minutes you are required to take down as many regulars as possible."

The seemingly empty field came alight with the sound of battle. People desperately trying to kill as many people as possible. Maybe Friedrich knew to be aware of this. With just one simple command the people sharing this field went berserk and threw away any semblance of their morality just to go higher.

Before being caught out he decided to move and see what he needed to do. Screams, the sound of the lives of people being taken away from them echoed through the plains. It made him feel sick knowing that he must keep calm and stand by as people were being killed. Maybe he could help those in range of him. The nearest commotion occurred just around 100 meters away from him.

A towering red humanoid wielding 4 swords was eagerly trying to cut down a pair of young siblings. A boy and a girl who could be no older than 16. Serving once again as a reminder of the brutality present in the tower. Quickly stepping in planting a low kick on its shin. This caused the creature to lose its momentum which gave Friedrich an opportunity to grab one of the creature's arms. Using his body as a pivot, Friedrich twisted the creature's arm allowing making it howl in pain. A jab to the face made it fall to the ground unconscious.

"Relax, it's ok I'm not planning to hurt you." Friedrich calmly reassured the frightened siblings. They were huddled close together shivering and shaking trying desperately to keep calm. Sensing this he knelt down on one knee and threw his arms up. Gradually they began to calm down sensing safety.

"Why, why did you help us?" the girl, who had long brown hair, black eyes and a pale face questioned.

"There really should not be a reason to not help you" Friedrich replied. "If I were in your situation I would want someone to help me. It is just the right thing to do. Anyways there should be around five minutes left and I'm not sure how many people are lurking."

"Uhh, you can check the time and number of people using your pocket" the boy who had very similar features to his sister suggested. Out of nowhere, he pulled out a black orb which displayed the remaining time, 6 minutes and the number of people at 56,54, 53... A number which was spiralling downwards.

"What's a pocket?" Friedrich asked feeling a bit left out.

"You don't have a pocket?" the girl questioned, "Once you enter the tower Headon gives everyone a pocket. Maybe you could steal the pocket from that guy there," she pointed to the unconscious body of the creature.

"I must have not gotten one" Friedrich stated, moving to find the black orb. Unfortunately, it seemed to be an item bound to the person and stored in a non-physical space just like Friedrichs coat and main weapons. However, he did end up extracting the pocket from the person. "My name is Friedrich, nice to meet you."

"I'm Anna and this is my brother Kenji" the girl introduced feeling comfortable enough around this stranger they just met. "Umm, please the numbers are going down very very fast, could you please stay with us." the girl hesitantly mumbled.

At that moment the number on the pocket hit 6. It was just the three of them and three other people. Friedrich sensed the other trio were fast approaching their location. If they were to move he doubt the siblings could keep up.

"Anna, Kenji get behind me, the enemy is approaching from that direction." Friedrich faced the empty planes, he saw figures rapidly galloping towards their position. He made sure the siblings were safe behind him.

Several black discs flew from the figure at full speed towards them. Grabbing a sword from the fallen enemy he deflected the objects, making sure to manually strengthen the sword with magic so it would not break. The three cloaked figures stood in front of them. Surprisingly the aggressor looked to also be a small girl, no doubt hardened by the harshness of the tower.

"We are the only six left, please let us stop this fighting," Friedrich pleaded.

"Climbing the tower is not a family activity for you and your children." the girl stated before launching herself towards him, planting a kick to his face. Bringing his arms up he easily blocked the kick with his sword. He launched a counter kick followed by a sword swing which forced the girl to step back.

'She is the only one fighting whilst the other two are just standing and watching. Come to think of it, that hooded girl looks like the one I saw on the first floor.' Without any more time for thought, the girl was back at it targeting him. Being careful so as to not reveal the true nature of his power Friedrich tried to do the bare minimum required to defend against the girls' attack.

"Time's up! Stop all fighting." the announcer exclaimed. "Separate yourselves into groups of three. Since there are only six of you, your current groups will do."

Immediately the six contestants were teleported to a new area.

The three of them were locked in a cage. In a circular room with a large throne in the middle. Many other teams of three including the one they had met earlier were also trapped in similar cages.

"Now that you have all been transmitted to this same spot. I will explain the crown game to you." A man with cricket-like legs and yellow hair and eyes explained. The man explained the rules of the game. A team has to have a person with a crown sitting on the throne. After the game ends in the fifth round that team wins and immediately moves to the second floor.

"Now let's start the game!"