1781 Ultimate Survival Techniques.

Many years ago, within the void...

Felix was sitting at the central table with the rest of the tenants, discussing their upcoming strategy to take down either Uranus or Eris.

"Since your first fight will be held on the 20th floor, you have to come up with a plan that utilizes the environment to your advantage...Spatial lockdown isn't enough." Thor said.

"Indeed, especially when your immunities and spatial lockdown will be temporary." Lady Sphinx nodded, "You can't rely on your powers alone. The moment Uranus or Eris will feel an ounce of danger, I have a feeling they will find a way to escape with their sets of laws."

"Really? Isn't the tower's authority supreme?" Cyclope rubbed his chin in puzzlement, "How will he be able to escape during the lockdown?"

Before anyone could respond, Lilith invaded their meeting, manifesting in the center of the table. She sat down with one hand resting on her knee nonchalantly.

Everyone's eyelids twitched but remained silent, already used to her unusual entrances.

"Let me put you on some game." Lilith licked a rainbow lollipop as she shared casually, "Both Uranus and Eris possess an ultimate survival ability that can get them out of life-and-death situations for a steep price."

"In the case of Uranus, he has used it before to escape from the first floor after the stone of reality almost snatched his life away."

"Can you show us?" Felix asked with a deep frown, "I would rather see your whole journey in the tower with Eris, Uranus, and Ares."

"He is right, if you are trying to help, you might as well put some real effort into it," Thor said coldly, not pleased with Lilith's withholding information from them.

He knew that it was hypocritical to ask for her full cooperation when they had no intentions of forgiving her for what she had done to Felix or them.

Still, he wasn't a fan of the way she was helping Felix, sharing with him the bare minimum and always withholding critical Intel.

Too bad, Lilith wasn't to be pressured or threatened.

"Hmmm, nah, I don't feel like it." Lilith yawned, "If you are interested in our journey, reach the first floor and you will know."

"What do..."

Before Felix could interject, Lilith returned to the main subject, "Now, do you want to know their flawless escaping abilities or not?"

"Do tell."

Felix dropped the subject at once, not wanting to antagonize Lilith. He knew that she was too fickle and could change her mind quite easily."Let's start with Uranus...When sh*t hit the fan and he realizes that nothing will get him out, he decides to abuse his laws and use a technique he calls, Strings Collapastoration. I know, I know, it has a tragic name."

Lilith chuckled when she saw their weird reactions to the name.

"But, its effect is the real deal. It allows him to collapse his shape at the strings level and restore his form somewhere else else he has already picked or marked. Since it is happening in the vibrational strings realm, it allows him to move past dimensions and whatnot."

"Sh*t, does this means my dimensional lockdown or the tower's authority won't hold him down?" Felix frowned.

"Yep."

"But how can he move past the tower's authority?" Candace raised an eyebrow in surprise.

"He can because he genuinely destroys his shape and rebuilds it somewhere else else." Felix explained it with a serious tone, "It's different than using dimensional abilities or such. The tower can do nothing to anyone desiring to kill himself."

"I see..." Candace murmured.

She realized that if Uranus managed to pop this technique, there was literally nothing Felix could do to stop it unless he abused his laws too.

"How about you wish to make him forget such technique or better yet, make the vibrations static against him?" Lord Marduk suggested.

"No, they are way too risky." Felix shook his head, "Whether it succeeds or fails, I will be punished heavily. By the time I finish with him, the chains will seal my powers and this will force me to enter one of the temporary rooms to get rid of the chains."

"The dimensional lockdown would have expired by then, and I am certain Eris wouldn't miss such a free opportunity to capture me."

Felix wanted to stay as far as possible from abusing his laws ever again. While the results were almost always positive, the aftermath was too much to handle.lightsnovel

lightsΝοvεl ƈοm He barely survived the last time after he abused his laws. If it wasn't for Apollo and the goddess of luck holding his hand, he would be chained up in some basement in the three-dimensional pocket.

Thus, it was the very, very, last option to consider.

"Then, what? If even the stone of reality failed to take down Uranus and you refuse to abuse your laws, how can you ensure his core gets devoured?" Lord Loki inquired while leaning against his chair, wondering if it was possible to pull it off in those conditions.

Everyone went silent, even Felix.

As the silence began to prevail in the central plaza, Lady Yggdrasil glanced right and left. Then, she suggested with a gentle breezy tone, "Is it possible to gain control over the Clockwork Tower by corrupting it?"

"Corrupting the tower? I don't think it's possible to do it before the dimensional lockdown dies out." Thor knitted his eyebrows, "Even if he does it, how will it work to his advantage?"

"He can freeze the time or something."

"Won't it affect him too?"

"I don't know, he can use celestial flames or wish for time immunity to combat it."

"If he can use celestial flames against it, doesn't this mean Uranus' divinities will work too?"

"True...Hmmm, maybe the tower's authority will override the divinities' effects?"

While the tenants were deep in their discussion about the validity of this strategy, Felix remained affixed in his position the moment he heard the suggestion.

It was like it gave him the inspiration he needed to come up with his own strategy. As his mind kept running over thousands of simulations if he went for it, he finally landed on the perfect approach!

He brought out the map to the tower and scrolled through the details related to the Clockwork Tower. Although he remembered it to heart, he still read it again, seemingly seeking confirmation with his eyes.

When he reached the line he desired, a sinister smile emerged on his lips and kept widening the more he read it.

When the tenants noticed Felix's sudden aura change, they quietened down and gazed at him with intrigue looks.

"You got something?"

"If Uranus is the one left to guard the 20th floor, I can confidently say..." Felix smiled coldly, "He has signed his death warranty."

Without needing them to ask, Felix went forward and gave them the details of his plan. The moment he finished, everyone was left staring at him in astonishment and a bit of dread.

'To even come up with something like this...His scheming abilities have started to scare me.'

This was the only thought coursing through the majority of the tenants' minds...

...

Back to the Clockwork Tower...

Asna's core was close to finishing its feast...It took almost no effort since Uranus' core could not resist it while its owner was frozen in time.

After the core was devoured, Asna's core returned inside Felix's chest and settled neatly. Meanwhile, Uranus's body remained affixed without much change to it.

Frozen time or not, his body would remain the same unless Felix gave an order for its destruction.

With Asna's core finishing its devouring process, nothing was left moving on the floor. The moment this happened,a subtle stirring began to manifest itself apart from the suspended chaos.

From the shadows of the Clockwork Tower, a figure emerged.

Unlike the frozen beings caught in the temporary halt, this entity moved with purposeful autonomy.

He appeared as a humanoid soldier toy, his body articulated with polished brass joints and panels of finely carved wood.

The most distinctive feature was a slowly winding key protruding from his back.

This was The Clockwork Tower Engineer!