The 49th story arc of the Tower of God series consisting of chapters 226 - 231 from the second season. The arc centers around Team Sweet and Sour's attempt to capture Cassano of Team Rachel so that they can finally reawaken Horyang from his coma. Meanwhile, Bam's group has returned to the Hell Train, which they train up for their expedition to the 43rd Floor of Death.
Arc 48 - Part 2 | Return to the main Tower of God recap page. | Arc 50
39F-42F - Hell Train: Wangnan
Somewhere within the Hell Train, Team Sweet and Sour are currently in the midst of their plan to capture Cassano in order to wake up Horyang. Wangnan is seen about to battle with Cassano and Traveller after getting them away from the rest of Team Rachel. Wangnan holding a Pocket Ball to capture Cassano within it. Team Sweet and Sour had caused a distraction that got White trapped within a room. However, it turns out that Prince and Miseng are with him in the locked room. White goes about yelling to let him out of the room, but he's only putting on an act since he's actually teamed up with Miseng and Prince. He asks Miseng and Prince if he did enough, which they agree he did.
A brief flashback is seen where Prince and Miseng had run off to the Hell Train room where the current members of Team Rachel (Rachel, White, Yura, Cassano, and Traveller) have settled into. The plan being for Prince and Miseng to infiltrate Team Rachel, which Prince claims that they want to become White's servants since they don't enjoy being part of Team Sweet and Sour, and even offer to help White find his clone. Yura warns not to go through with it since it sounds like an obvious trap, but White accepts it thinking that it's a chance to start getting the upper hand within Team Rachel. Despite Yura's disapproval, White heads off with Prince and Miseng while Rachel watches it all unfold. White offering to have Rachel and Yura sent away so that the rest of Team Sweet and Sour has just Cassano and Traveller to deal with. In the present as Rachel and Yura are away on a recon mission, White sits idly within his supposedly locked room with Prince and Miseng as they wait for Wangnan to finish things up on his end.
At Wangnan's Hell Train location, Wangnan appears before Cassano for a 1-on-1 duel while Traveller waits on the side since he's not much of a fighter to help out. Wangnan announces his plan to return the stolen demon that Cassano took away form Horyang in order to wake him up from his coma. Cassano doesn't take Wangnan seriously since the former's a complete Living Ignition Weapon while Wangnan's just a weak Regular. However, Wangnan ignores it and charges in. Managing to get up close, Wangnan proceeds to stab Cassano with a syringe that sends a special liquid into Cassano's body. Cassano questions what was done to him, which Wangnan explains how the syringe liquid was invented by the Workshop researcher, Sophia, to put the demon with Cassano's body to sleep after 5 minutes. Thus, Cassano would also fall asleep after 5 minutes. Before time runs out, Cassano begins to beat up Wangnan while questioning how the latter plans to take him back to Horyang. In return, Wangnan shows off the special Pocket Ball invented by Sophia that he plans to capture and hold Cassano within.
The plan enrages Cassano as he proceeds to pummel Wangnan into a bloody pulp. Cassano questions what Wangnan's plan will accomplish since it gets in the way of the former's overall goal that will benefit the poor and abandoned kids of the Tower. That Cassano being a poor and abandoned child who eventually succeeded in climbing the Tower will give hope to kids similar to him, and bring about a Tower reformation to help such people. Cassano calls out Wangnan for having no right to be here when the latter's goal to save one person is nothing compared to his goal of saving many. However, Wangnan calls out Cassano that he's never seen a person claiming to save the world while forsaking those around them to turn out to be good people. Wangnan also points out that no one actually believes in Cassano's goal, and that FUG ended up abandoning Cassano anyway. Such words enrage Cassano to continue the beatdown until the bloody Wangnan's no longer able to move, and the Pocket Ball destroyed.
Not liking what he's seeing, Traveller convinces Cassano to stop, which Cassano agrees. Cassano calls out Wangnan as someone who's just all words and no fight. However, he starts to feel the effects of Sophia's sleep syringe. It's at this point that Akraptor appears before them. Akraptor claiming that being forced to wait out the 5 minutes was brutal since it forced him to watch Wangnan get beat up, but went along with it because it was Wangnan's plan to act as the bait. Akraptor proceeds to knock Cassano back with a shinsu blast from his umbrella weapon, which Cassano's left lying on the floor and unable to move due to the syringe kicking in. Traveller can only watch as Akraptor pulls out another Pocket Ball, which he reveals to be the real once since the one that Wangnan had was a fake to trick Cassano into attacking him. The Pocket Ball is then activated, which successfully sucks the helpless Cassano into it.
With Cassano captured, Akraptor picks up the heavily injured Wangnan onto his back, and they head off. As they walk back to reunite with Prince and Miseng, Akraptor informs Wangnan that they've won, which the latter's glad to know that they can finally go back. They discuss what Goseng will think when she sees that they've returned Cassano to Horyang. Wangnan then states that he, himself, is actually an extremely remarkable person, and that he'll one day reveal to Akraptor his true identity, which Akraptor finds hard to believe.
Akraptor walks through the Hell Train while carrying a heavily injured Wangnan on his back after they successfully captured Cassano within a Pocket Ball. They arrive at the room where White, Prince and Miseng are locked in, which Akraptor puts Wangnan down so that Akraptor can open the door. Wangnan remains worried about White betraying them, which Akraptor claims that the FUG Slayer has to follow along with them for now since only he, himself, knows the door's password. It's at this point that a voice is heard claiming that she now understands who has the password to free White, which Wangnan and Akraptor are caught off-guard realizing that Rachel was watching them from afar.
Akraptor questions why Rachel's here, which she answers that it's because it was all a lie. That White had no intention of ever joining Miseng and Prince since his aim is to kill everyone anyway, and that rather than being on a recon mission, her and Yura have instead been following Wangnan and Akraptor in order to turn the trap against them. Yura then quickly arrives at Wangnan's location, and easily takes him hostage given that he's heavily injured from the fight against Cassano. With Yura holding a knife up to Wangnan's neck, Akraptor's ordered to hand over the password for the room that White's locked in.
Meanwhile within the locked room, White, Prince and Miseng continue to wait things out until White gets a message on his handheld Emily terminal revealing that Rachal and Yura succeeded in getting the room's password from Akraptor. Feeling that his time of fun deception is over, White approaches Prince and Miseng aiming to kill one of them since Team Rachel needs a hostage to enter the Floor of Death, and asks them which one he should eat. Prince and Miseng get ready to fight, and warn White that he can't escape anyway without the password. However, White informs them that their teammates outside the room ended up losing and gave up the password. White's power keeps Prince from being unable to move, which he asks Prince once more who between him or Miseng he should eat.
Back at Wangnan's location, Rachel is now holding Akraptor hostage with his own umbrella weapon, which Akraptor gets the gist that Rachel's team knew that they were after Cassano, and planned their own trap for them. Rachel admits that to be the case, but points out that they only need one hostage to enter the Floor of Death, which Yura's about to kill Wangnan. However, Akraptor offers himself to be the one who's killed so that Wangnan can be their Floor of Death hostage. Akraptor explaining that he won't go down without a fight if they don't let Wangnan live, and that Wangnan's an extremely remarkable person to have around. Wangnan hates what he's hearing as Akraptor says his last words asking for Wangnan to take care of Prince and Miseng, and then suicide charges at Rachel. The result is Rachel blasting Akraptor with a blast of shinsu from his own umbrella weapon, which results in Akraptor's death.
Distraught over Akraptor's death, Akraptor crawls over to his body, and begs him to wake up since he still needs to find his daughter. A flashback is seen back to a day when Team Sweet and Sour was climbing the Tower with Viole. While the team sleeps, Akraptor is up with Wangnan where they engage in a conversation. Akraptor explains how he has a daughter with a woman from the Ten Great Families, but due to him being just a random nobody, he was forced to be split apart from them after the Great Family found out about it. The only clue left being his engagement ring that he now wears as an earring, which he hopes that his family somewhere in the Tower still has the other ring. However, Akraptor points out that he enjoys his current life since Team Sweet and Sour has become his new family, and that Wangnan should be proud of himself since the latter is center of the team that keeps Sweet and Sour together.
In the present, a crying Wangnan continues to hold the dead Akraptor while Rachel and Yura watch. Wangnan begging Akraptor to still be alive. White then appears out of the locked room since Rachel and Yura sent him the password through Emily. However, only a crying Miseng comes out of the room with him, which stuns Wangnan wanting to know what happened to Prince. In return, White reveals that he ate him. The story flashes back a bit to the moment that Prince was asked who should get eaten, which Prince ended up choosing himself so that Miseng can live on. Thus, resulting in Prince's death having his soul eaten by White. In the present, White's left disappointed that Prince didn't sell out his teammate, which leaves Wangnan shocked that he's now lost two of his teammates because of his failed plan.
Meanwhile at the Hell Train location of Bam and his companions. Bam remains in his room since he still hasn't gotten over Rak, Ehwa, and Danhwa falling off the Name Hunt Station bridge a day ago. His teammates remain on standby other than Khun bringing him food to eat. Within the room however, Bam is seen with a serious look on his face, which implies that he knows that it's time to get moving again.
Bam remains alone in his Hell Train room thinking over how he doesn't like that he was unable to save everyone at the Name Hunt Station bridge. He's left wondering if he could ever find the real him in his current weak state, which Bam decides that in order to protect everyone, he wants to become strong enough that he would never lose.
At that same time, Wangnan finds himself in a dark place where he sees Akraptor and Prince in the distance. He happily calls out to them only for Akraptor and Prince to ignore him and disappear into the darkness. Nia then appears from the darkness telling Wangnan that the latter hasn't saved anyone. That just like Nia, it's now Akraptor and Prince who can no longer return. Nia calls out Wangnan as someone who has the charisma to gather people around them, yet Wangnan ends up only ever leading them to their deaths. Sure enough, many other Regulars appear from the darkness, which heavily implies that Wangnan led all of them to their deaths during his climb up the Tower. Nia continues to berate Wangnan by calling him a coward and a liar. That Wangnan ended up alone because his companions either sacrificed themselves to allow Wangnan to continue on, or they just left, because they got sick of his recklessness putting them in danger. Nia orders for Wangnan the Prince of the Red-Light-District to wake up. Sure enough, it turns out to have all been a bad dream as Wangnan wakes up in a Hell Train prison cell along with Miseng as the only remaining survivors of Team Sweet and Sour.
As he wakes up from the dream, Wangnan realizes that he and Miseng have been captured by Team Rachel, and that the disaster that led to Akraptor's and Prince's deaths wasn't a dream. He starts to mentally break as he hears the voices in his head of all the people he left behind calling out to him for help, which causes him to scream out in horror within his prison cell. Meanwhile, White's been tasked to stand guard outside the cell, which along with being annoyed that he was ordered to not eat their two new hostages, he calls out Wangnan for being pathetic since he's crying over two lost companions. White departs as Wangnan remains in the cell crying over his incompetence that got Akraptor and Prince killed.
As White walks through the Hell Train, he can't help but wonder that despite how weak Wangnan looks, there must be more to him since White's now witnessed Wangnan survive through several encounters that should have gotten him killed. White's then met by Cassano and Traveller. Despite Cassano being freed from the Pocket Ball, he remains enraged that he wasn't let in on Rachel's deception plan. White points out that Cassano not knowing made their deception plan go unnoticed to Team Sweet and Sour, but he also calls Cassano a disappointment since the latter ended up getting captured in a Pocket Ball despite supposedly being a powerful fake Ignition Weapon. Cassano remains confused as to how he's fake, which White gives him a bit of advice that his problem is a mental one. That Cassano won't become a true and powerful sword until he gets rid of all his human emotions. White then walks on while giving Cassano a final warning that since FUG doesn't tolerate dull weapons, it will result in the organization abandoning Cassano if he remains in an ambiguous state between human and weapon.
Meanwhile, Rachel holds a meeting with Yura, which the latter remains confused as to why they're taking along two hostages when they only need one sacrifice to gain access the Floor of Death. Rachel explains that it's assurance in case one of the hostages escapes, and that they should be fine taking the hostages through the Hell Train's Floor tests since White will be doing all the work. Rachel then asks if Yura got in contact with their potential new companion, which Yura answers that she has. That the greatest D-rank Scout will be getting on the Hell Train at the next train station. Said Scout is seen waiting at the train station for the Hell Train to arrive. Yura assures Rachel that the greatest D-rank Scout will make for a good companion, but she remains unconvinced that he will truly join them. Yura next asks if Rachel found anything dangerous on their hostages, which Rachel answers that she didn't.
Yura then departs to get some rest before the next Floor test, which leaves Rachel alone. Rachel's shown visibly shaken by Akraptor's death as it turns out that killing people disturbs her. However, she assures herself that it's "just killing people," and needs to push on. Rachel then thinks about Wangnan, and how she originally believed that he was just another Regular that followed Bam up the Tower. However, she pulls out the red Jahad ring that she took off Wangnan, which she's left wondering who Wangnan is that he would have such an important ring.
At that same time, Khun brings another meal to Bam's room only to realize that Bam's no longer there. Bam meanwhile has returned to the Rice Pot, which catches the God of Guardians' attention. Seeking power, Bam asks for the God of Guardians to teach him how to become a God.
At the Hell Train's Rice Pot, the God of Guardians remains confused about Bam wanting to be taught how to become a God. He questions if Bam thinks it's because he's known as the "God" of Guardians, which the latter provides the bad news that he's not all that special. That it's just a nickname that was given to him by past Regulars who took on the Hell Train. Bam gets ready to leave only to be stopped by the God of Guardians since the latter can tell that something bad must have happened. In return, Bam admits that to be the case, and explains how he lost several companions to FUG Slayer Karaka at Name Hunt Station, because he was too weak to do anything about it. The God of Guardians replies that while he now understands why Bam wants to become a God, he calls the boy greedy since Bam's already stronger than a lot of other Regulars. Bam yells back that he still ended up running into stronger enemies anyway, and that he wouldn't have lost his companions if he was just stronger than them. In return, the God of Guardians gets that Bam just wants to be strong enough to keep his companions protected. However, he warns Bam how great power won't make everyone happy.
The God of Guardians explains how he met someone in the past (King Jahad) who wanted power in order to become the King of the Tower, which the person desires to turn the Tower into a place where everyone can be happy. As a result, the God of Guardians agreed to it and trained up this person. Eventually, the person did succeed in becoming the powerful King, but certain things happened that resulted in the Tower becoming a place where not everyone's happy. As a result, the God of Guardians states to Bam that such an event is how he knows that having great power doesn't lead to happiness, which he calls out Bam for suddenly wanting to become a God just because his emotions are messed up at the moment from losing a few companions. Thus, he asks Bam to return later once the boy's cleared his mind. Before Bam leaves, the God of Guardians assures the former that while he doesn't know how to make one a God, he can still provide training.
Departing the Rice Pot room, Bam returns to his team's Hell Train room where Khun's been waiting for him to return. Khun gets the gist that Bam went off to the Rice Pot to train, and asks that Bam not hide where he's going since Khun wants to continue chasing after him. Endorsi then enters the room since she was also worried about Bam disappearing without warning, but is seen being tailed by a floating toy-like head that looks like Yuri. The floating toy being Yuri's means for her to keep an eye on Endorsi, which she can also speak through it. Endorsi runs off to try to lose Yuri's toy as Khun reassures Bam not to worry about Rak, Ehwa and Danhwa since they only saw them fall off the station bridge, so their deaths aren't confirmed. Khun makes it clear that they should only worry about their own survival until said companions return, which Endorsi returns again to say one thing to Bam. She yells at Bam to stop acting like it's the end of the world since he still has other companions, including herself, who want to be with him, and wish to protect him. She asks for Bam to be safe and get some rest as Endorsi runs off again to escape from Yuri's toy.
The next day, Bam's Hell Train group that consists of himself, Khun, Hwaryun, Endorsi, Boro, Sachi, Bero, Iruroe, Beta (inside Khun's Lighthouse), and White's female clone, complete the Hell Train's 39th Floor test in order to continue riding the express up to the 40th Floor. The test being that they had to press a button on a floating platform while avoiding spike traps, which Yuri and Evan remain with them to watch their efforts. Khun notes the problem that their team's struggling without a true Scout position to give them better trap warnings, and that Endorsi being lazy isn't helping. Bam and company also remain worried about Wangnan's group, which Hwaryun reminds them that Wangnan made the choice to go off on his own. Thus, they need to let Wangnan walk down his path while Bam walks his, which she reminds Bam's group that they need to be ready for the 43rd Floor of Death. Following the test, Bam's group gets ready to train. Bam departs to return to the Rice Pot, which he notes how odd it is that it feels cold all of a sudden. Khun also heads off with Evan, which said Guide plans to teach Khun how to better handle a Lighthouse. Finally, Yuri takes Endorsi along to help train the latter up.
Shortly after, Bam returns to the Rice Pot room. The waiting God of Guardians asks if Bam has sorted out his thoughts. In return, Bam explains that while it still bothers him that he lost his companions due to being too weak, he now understands that just wanting power isn't going to make him happy, and that he feels that such a path will just pull him away from everyone. Thus, Bam states that what he's decided is to get stronger in order to become a God for someone else. Bam adding that he wants to become stronger in order to protect those he loves, and stay by their side. The God of Guardians thinks the answer over, and concludes that Bam's path is a bit different. That compared to King Jahad, who wanted power to stand above others, Bam just feels that he needs power in order to stay with his companions. Feeling that Bam's path is worth trying, the God of Guardians agrees to help train Bam until the latter finds his "real self." The result is the God of Guardians shrinking down to a size closer to Bam's in order to have a proper close-combat training duel with the boy. The God of Guardians announces that he will now be teaching Bam how to use the shinsu control that is used by the Ten Great Families.
Several weeks later, Wangnan and Miseng remain tied and locked up by Team Rachel within a Hell Train room where the two of them are starting to freeze due to the cold weather of the 40th Floor being felt within the express. Rachel then arrives to provide her hostages some jackets, which despite Wangnan refusing given what's happened, Rachel reminds him that as a team leader, he should at least care about keeping Miseng warm. Wangnan remains depressed since he's not a team leader anymore after what happened to his team, which Rachel finds odd since he's got Jahad's blood within him. The latter part shocking Wangnan that Rachel knows his identity as the Prince of the Red-Light District. Rachel pulls out the red Jahad ring that she looted off him, which she explains that only she knows about it. She further explains how she knows of another red Jahad ring wielder, and that such ring holders are a fatal point of Jahad that the King tried to hide away, because such people gained power they shouldn't have. Wangnan can't believe what he's hearing as Rachel reveals that she's an Irregular just like Bam, and that she knows of some things given her connection to FUG.
Rachel questions if Wangnan was only traveling with Bam to use him to get revenge on Jahad, which she points out that such a method won't work. That instead, Wangnan should team up with her, which confuses him. Rachel explains to Wangnan how there's another one of Irregular Enryu's Thorns on the 43rd Floor of Death, and that with the combined Thorn, there might be a way to break Jahad's immortality, which would cause a critical rupture that will finally start to collapse the world of Jahad's Tower. Rachel also figures that Wangnan must know about the "key" that opens the locked 144th Floor. That the day Jahad climbed the Tower up to the 143rd Floor, and announced himself as the Tower's King, he hid the key that grants access to the 144th Floor so that no one can access the remaining Tower floors. Rachel then explains how Jahad broke the key into two halves. One half being where Jahad's famed blacksmith, Ashul Edwaru, turned half the key into the 13 Month Weapon series that are used in fights amongst the Jahad Princesses. Rachel then notes that while the other key half vanished, she has now realized that said key half must be the red Jahad rings. Believing that all the ring holders are climbing the Tower, Rachel once more asks for Wangnan, the Prince of the Red-Light District, to join forces with her so that they can change the Tower together.
At that same time, the Hell Train is seen arriving at the 40th Floor station. Within said station, the great D-rank Scout that Team Rachel is after takes note of the train's arrival since he's been waiting to board it.
While Bam's group is off training, Boro and Sachi arrive at Hell Train's side entrance to see who the newcomers will be from the 40th Floor train station, which is known as the Mushroom Farm. Sachi notes how he knows of an incredible Scout living at the station, but remains unconvinced that said Scout will be of use to them since he has no business being on the Hell Train. Meanwhile at the Mushroom Farm, the great D-Rank Scout is seen watching the Hell Train arrive.
At that same time at the Rice Pot, Bam's training with the God of Guardians continues. As Bam attempts to train his shinsu Bangs against the God of Guardians, the latter points out Bam's problem that he's still using shinsu skills that was taught to Regulars. That Bam needs to expand his shinsu control further by feeling and controlling the space around them since the world itself is made out of shinsu. The God of Guardians explains the difference how Regulars need to get permission from the Floor Guardian to use shinsu on certain Floors, but because Bam's an Irregular, he has no such restriction. The God of Guardians then creates a special Bang stating that he will now be teaching Bam how to create the Shinsu Black-Hole Sphere that relies on Bam needing to understand his Tower freedom as an Irregular.
Outside the Hell Train side entrance, Boro and Sachi wait on the summoned boarding stairwell to see who the newcomers will be from the Mushroom Farm. However, the station appears to be empty due to the mushroom spores making it hard for people to settle down at the Mushroom Farm station. The one notable Mushroom Farm structure is a castle-like house on a floating island, which Sachi reveals is the place where the great Scout lives. Sachi explains how the great Scout is a painter who has a unique set of eyes, and that he settled down at the Mushroom Farm to make a painting of the station. However, he's also said to be waiting for someone, which is why Sachi doesn't believe he will show up. Suddenly, Sachi's shocked to see that the great D-Rank Scout named Hockney is heading towards the Hell Train.
Hockney eventually arrives at the base of the summoned stairwell that will take him up to the Hell Train. Before going up the stairs, two Regulars named Jourdan and Arcu appear to block his way. Jourdan and Arcu beg Hockney not to go since the great Scout with the help of his unique eyes has been protecting them at the Mushroom Farm. However, Hockney had no interest being their protector, and only wants to board the Hell Train now. Showing off his power, Hockney's main weapon, which appears to be a lantern on the tip of a fishing pole, casts out shinsu from the lantern, which binds the two Regulars. Hockney then passes by Jourdan and Arcu, and walks up the stairs to the Hell Train. Boro and Sachi greet Hockney at the Hell Train side entrance, which Hockney and Sachi catch up on recent events with explaining that he's gotten his closure regarding what happened to Roen.
Bero, Iruroe, and White's female clone also appear to see the newcomer, which Hockney takes a liking to Bero. After Hockney congratulates Sachi for having a new purpose in life, he explains his reason for boarding the Hell Train. Hockney shows off a hand-held device that has a 6-piece art picture on it. However, the middle left piece appears to be missing. Hockney explains how he hasn't been waiting on a person to appear, but that he's been waiting for his "Red Light" art piece to finally show up. He notes how it's a painting that he made before being summoned into the Tower as a Regular, but had it stolen from him beforehand. Hockney explains how his "Red Light" painting was ripped into 6 pieces, but he was able to get back 5 of them so far during his climb up the Tower. The last of which he purchased from an auction, which based on Hockney's information from his Emily terminal, he knows that someone aboard the Hell Train is bringing the last piece to him, but has since lost contact with this person. Thus, he's entering the Hell Train to find his contact that has his "Red Light" soul.
Meanwhile on Team Rachel's end within the Hell Train, Yura and White remain in their waiting room. Yura sees on her Emily terminal that the great D-rank Scout, Hockney, has entered the express, which White questions why they're not going to Hockney. Yura answers that there's still no telling how Hockney will react to them, and that it would be better to have Hockney act as a spy within Bam's group. White then questions why Team Rachel is interested in Hockney specifically, which Yura answers how they've learned that Hockney is actually someone who lived on and escaped the Floor of Death. Thus, the plan is for Hockney to act as Team Rachel's guide on the Floor of Death. White remains unconvinced that Hockney will go along with Team Rachel, which Yura assures the FUG Slayer that he will since she's the one who has Hockney's soul (the "Red Light" piece).
At that same time, Wangnan and Miseng remain locked up in a room as Team Rachel's prisoners. Wangnan thinks over Rachel's offer to him the day before. That in exchange for Wangnan teaming up with her, and as an apology for killing his companions, she offers to send Cassano back to wake up Horyang. Before leaving, Rachel orders him to make the choice by tomorrow, or else he risks more of his companions dying.
In the present, Rachel returns to Wangnan to hear his answer, and even frees him from prison to try to show him that she's serious about the offer. Wangnan makes it clear that he will never work alongside someone who murdered his companion, and will kill Rachel for it. However, Rachel ignores it; claiming that she's already used to the whole Tower hating and being against her, and has no interest in being companions with anyone. She also reminds Wangnan of how using each other has always been how the Tower works, and that Wangnan can still follow his own ideals since she just wants to climb up the Tower. Hearing Rachel's answer, Wangnan agrees to team up with Rachel, but only if she frees Miseng, and allows her to travel back to Horyang alongside Cassano. Rachel agrees to it, which Wangnan once again makes one thing clear to her. He yells at Rachel that he will one day make her pay for the crime of killing Akraptor. Rachel just says that she will keep that in mind.
Elsewhere within the Hell Train, Khun is seen collapsing in exhaustion after his day of Lighthouse training with Evan. Khun's left complaining how extreme and non-stop Evan's training is, which Evan ignores, but admits that Khun's Lighthouses have improved. Khun's Lighthouses now showing that they've transformed into multiple boxes within the main large box. Evan then uses the break to ask Khun why he, and the other Regulars, are so invested in following Bam to the 43rd Floor of Death despite knowing how dangerous the place is. In return, Khun explains how ever since he first met Bam holding the Black March, he was convinced that interesting things will happen by journeying with Bam. Evan questions if this means that Khun's just doing this for fun, which Khun answers that while that was the case at first, he now feels like he's found meaning in his life being with Bam. That he feels like the world will end if Bam's no longer here.
On the Hell Train during a break in Khun's training with Evan, Khun comes to the realization that he now understands why Bam feels that his world will end should Rachel disappear from his life since it's similar to how Khun now feels about Bam. Evan states that he gets it since it must feel special climbing the Tower with an Irregular, which Evan questions what Khun will do since Bam's power is developing so fast that he's going to one day leave his Regular companions behind. In return, Khun just states that he will continue following Bam as far as he can. Khun then resumes his Lighthouse training with Evan.
Meanwhile at the Rice Pot, Bam looks upon the Shinsu Black-Hole Sphere that was created by the God of Guardians. While observing it, Bam can tell that the Shinsu Black-Hole Sphere is sucking up all the surrounding world's shinsu, and blowing it up. The God of Guardians explains the basics of the Shinsu Black-Hole Sphere where it draws in all the surrounding space's shinsu to a single point as if it's an explosion of space. However, the God of Guardians warns that simple Regulars won't be able to learn it since even just the smallest Shinsu Black-Hole Sphere is capable of destroying a massive world. Bam admits that he gets it to a certain extent, but because it's a skill different from anything he's learned so far, he can't fundamentally understand it fully. Thus, Bam decides to rely on his copying power that requires his body to be hit by the attack to learn it. He tries to convince the God of Guardians to attack him with the Shinsu Black-Hole Sphere, only for the God of Guardians to quickly reject it given the danger. However, Bam makes it clear that he doesn't mind since he feels there's more important things than his own life, which the last part about Bam putting something over his own life convinces the God of Guardians to go through with it.
At that same time, Wangnan returns to Team Rachel's prisoner room to inform Miseng that due to certain circumstances, he's going to be teaming up with Rachel. Miseng remains confused by that given that Rachel's team killed Arkraptor and Prince, which Wangnan answers that he took Rachel's offer to have Miseng freed, and Cassano sent back to wake up Horyang, in exchange for Wangnan joining Team Rachel. With Miseng now free, Wangnan advises her to go with Cassano back to Horyang, and live a better life that doesn't involve Team Sweet and Sour. Several days later, the Hell Train departs from the 40th Floor's Mushroom Farm station, and returns to climbing up the Tower. Bam and company continue their training over the weeks, which Bam is seen taking hits from the Shinsu Black-Hole Sphere.
Two months later, the Hell Train arrives at the 42nd Floor's train station known as the Black Mountain, which many Regulars are seen at the boarding platform aiming to board. Boro and Sachi's group head for the Hell Trian side entrance. Their goal being to keep the Black Mountain Regulars off the Hell Train as they could get in the way of Bam's expedition to the 43rd Floor of Death. It's at this point that Miseng and Cassano appear before them, which confuses them as to why their enemy, Cassano, is here. However, Miseng convinces them not to attack since a deal has been made to have Cassano go back to wake up Horyang. They agree to step aside, which Cassano departs from the Hell Train, and heads down to the Black Mountain boarding platform. Boro and Sachi's group remain confused as to what's going on, which Miseng just asks them to trust her. The story flashes back to Miseng's prison conversation with Wangnan where even though she's been freed, she makes it clear to Wangnan that she's not going to leave him. That just like Arkraptor and Prince, she understands the danger she's in, and is grown up enough to stand on her own. Thus, she wants to continue helping him out instead of run away.
Wangnan accepts the answer, and asks for Miseng to do one thing for him regarding Cassano, and to not tell anyone about it. In the present, Miseng just leaves one message to Boro and Sachi's group, which is that if Viole wants to contact Wangnan, he should look up the "Yellow Prince" on the Emily terminal. Miseng then runs off to return to Team Rachel, which Boro and Sachi agree that something bad must have happened to Team Sweet and Sour. However, they also agree that Miseng appears to have grown up. At that same time as Cassano walks down the stairs to Black Mountain station, he powers up his Devil Arm, and begins to fight through the station's Regulars to begin his journey back to Horyang. He thinks about White's advice about needing to kill his emotions to become a true sword, but also what Miseng told him before leaving. Miseng explaining that they know that Cassano isn't actually going to wake up Horyang and return to Team Rachel, which she warns Cassano that they're just using him. Thus, she mentions Wangnan's offer to him. That if Cassano was to actually wake up Horyang, then Wangnan can grant Cassano's wish, which Cassano appears to have taken an interest.
Meanwhile at Team Rachel, White remains confused as to why Rachel has teamed up with Wangnan and Miseng. Despite White's whining, Rachel explains that it's better for them to just cooperate together since she's not convinced that they can take on the 43rd Floor of Death while having to watch over hostages. It's at this point that Wangnan appears to make it clear that he's fully on board with joining Team Rachel, and that in exchange for saving Horyang, he will be sure to not stab them in the back, and even help them find the Thorn piece on the Floor of Death. White remains suspicious about Wangnan's motives, which Wangnan then suggests that they start forming a plan since it's not much longer before they arrive on the 43rd Floor of Death. However, Wangnan also thinks over that he will make sure that Rachel dies on the Floor of Death.
Back at the Rice Pot, a bloody and exhausted Bam is seen lying on the floor. Bam having spent the past few weeks in intense training with the God of Guardians to learn how to make a Shinsu Black-Hole Sphere. Despite his rough state after taking so many Shinsu Black-Hole Spheres, Bam's training pays off as he's finally able to make a Shinsu Black-Hole Sphere of his own.
Long Summary
Within the Hell Train, Wangnan is seen behind a wall breathing in exhaustion as he looks at Cassano in the distance. He thinks to himself that if he manages to catch the man known as Cassano, he will finally be able to awaken Horyang from his coma. Holding onto a Shinsu bomb, Wangnan asks for Goseng to wait for them just a little bit longer.
Meanwhile, Hoaqin is seen in another Hell Train room yelling out how they could dare lock him away. However, Miseng and Prince are for some reason in the room with him as well covering their ears. Hoaqin then yells out ordering the person who supposedly trapped him to tell him what the password of the locked door is, or else he will kill everyone. Turning his attention back to Miseng and Prince, Hoaqin asks if this is enough, which they both nod excitedly in agreement.
One day earlier, Miseng and Prince are seen arriving at the Hell Train room where Team Rachel had been staying at. The two Sweet and Sour members bow down before Hoaqin, and beg him to make them his servants. Hoaqin remains confused by this turn of events as Rachel, Yura, Cassano, and Traveller, watch this event unfold. He asks what Miseng and Prince are rambling about deciding to just barge into Team Rachel's room all of a sudden.
Yura warns Hoaqin that this is obviously a trap set by their enemies trying to enter the inner lair of Team Rachel. She explains that Miseng and Prince showing up here was a result of her entering their location into the Emile terminal in an attempt to lure hostages here. She asks the two if they truly believe that Team Rachel would fall for such an obvious trap, which Prince answers that he doesn't.
Prince explains that they're here because not only do they not want to be a part of their old team anymore, they truly want to be Hoaqin's servants. He begs Team Rachel to believe them since his old team always looked down on him, and for the fact that they were making them go towards the dangerous 43rd Floor of Death. Breaking down into tears, Prince yells that he wants nothing to do with that Floor, and doesn't want to go. Prince then gives Hoaqin an offer that they will even help him search for his last clone if at the very least, they let the two of them off at the next Hell Train station.
Still bowing before Hoaqin, Miseng and Prince continue to beg him to make them his servants. Their actions begin to irritate Yura calling them pathetic since no matter what, they're not going to fall for this. Hoaqin thinks things over, and looks toward Rachel, which confuses her. He thinks to himself that this is obviously a trap, but will lose his upper hand, and eventually get impeached, if he continues to follow along with the idiots here. Hoaqin also remembers how Miseng and Prince are from a group that's going after Cassano. He thinks that there may be a benefit accepting them regarding this, and figures that even if they turn against him, he could devour Miseng and Prince at any time anyway.
Hoaqin decides to go along with it, and agrees to accept Miseng and Prince as his servants, which shocks Yura. She asks what Hoaqin is trying to pull with this, which Hoaqin answers that everyone will be find for them as long as they remain to act carefully. He also points out that this is a good thing for him since they offered to help him find his final clone. Hoaqin assures Team Rachel that they have nothing to worry about, and will take full responsibility of anything that Miseng and Prince might try to pull. Hoaqin begins to laugh, and pulls Prince and Miseng along with him to the next room stating that he will keep them with him, which the two thank him for.
As Hoaqin leaves with Miseng and Prince, Yura asks Rachel if she's truly ok with this. Rachel watches as Hoaqin states to Prince and Miseng that they should make a more comfortable vibe together since they're now apparently on the same side, which Prince slowly agrees with. Rachel remains in silence thinking this sudden turn of events over as Yura asks if she's really going to let Hoaqin do what he wants.
Returning to the present, Prince states his relief that Hoaqin and him were thinking so similarly. Hoaqin laughs in agreement since he knows of an old saying that yesterday's enemy can be today's companion. Unable to believe how this is going so smoothly, Prince thinks over how the goal was simply to infiltrate Team Rachel somehow. He thinks over how amazing it is to learn that there appears to be some sort of internal conflict going on within the enemy team.
Prince remembers back to how after Hoaqin pulled them away from the rest of Team Rachel, he whispered to him and Miseng that he will help them catch Cassano. Prince also goes over how this is their chance to go after Cassano now that Rachel is away doing something else, but knows that Wangnan is anxious to take on Cassano by himself. Nodding that this plan is going well, Hoaqin states that there's no need for Prince and Miseng to thank him for this since it benefits him by getting rid of some of the henchmen that surrounds Rachel.
He then points out how Miseng and Prince can achieve their goal while this is all going on, so it's like killing two birds with one stone. Hoaqin leaves off stating that in the end, this plan will only work if the yellow kid (Wangnan) does his job.
At that same time, Wangnan begins his fight with Cassano as the Devil of the Right Arm shields Traveller from getting hit by a Shinsu bomb. Wangnan stands before Cassano ready to throw another Shinsu bomb, and states that the two of them finally get to meet again. Giving off a grin, Wangnan properly introduces himself, and that he's a companion of Horyang who's here to get back his companion's demon that was stolen away. Giving off a few stretches, Wangnan states that Cassano got lucky escaping from him back at the 35th Floor's Train City, and that they should finish their fight before everyone else gets back.
The mention of being lucky to have escaped catches Cassano's attention, and taunts Wangnan that the latter is mistaken about his belief that he can beat the Devil of the Right Arm. He reminds Wangnan that while the latter is just an ordinary Regular, he's a Living Ignition Weapon that was created by Workshop. Cassano taunts Wangnan that there's no way the latter can defeat him, but Wangnan orders him to stop being ridiculous. He throws his Shinsu bomb at Cassano claiming that it's not over until it's over.
Cassano tanks the explosion of the Shinsu bomb as Wangnan charges at him running along one of the Hell Train walls, which surprises the Devil of the Right Arm. Wangnan yells at Cassano to bring it on as he stabs some sort of syringe object into Cassano's left arm. Cassano is confused by the action asking if this is a joke as he punches Wangnan with his normal Devil Arm to knock him back, but not before Wangnan can push the syringe substance into Cassano's arm. Looking at his Devil Arm, Cassano remains confused as to why his activated ignition arm is suddenly deactivating.
Pulling out the syringe, Cassano orders Wangnan to explain what he just did to him. Cassano walks up to Wangnan, who's still trying to re-establish himself after getting knocked back, and kicks him ordering once more to answer his question.
In return, Wangnan gives off a laugh explaining that the syringe substance he just injected Cassano with is a drug designed to force the demon with him to go to sleep, which shocks Cassano. Wangnan explains that Researcher Sophia gave him it, and that it's similar to the antimatter bomb that he used against Cassano back at Train City. Giving off a grin, Wangnan claims that after five minutes, Cassano will completely pass out.
Hearing that he has five minutes, Cassano asks if Wangnan believes he will be able to last for that long against him. Punching Wangnan in the gut, Cassano claims that Wangnan will be dead before it reaches that point. The punch knocks Wangnan into a wall of the Hell Train as he yells out in pain. Cassano then walks towards him, and admits that Wangnan has the courage to rush in and stab him with the syringe, but points out how Wangnan's biggest flaw appears to be that he doesn't think that much farther ahead. He asks how Wangnan plans to take him back to Horyang at this point.
Holding up a different Shinsu bomb, Wangnan explains that this particular ball was also made by Sophia to allow him to contain Cassano for a few days while the Devil of the Right Arm remains unconscious. He claims to Cassano that no matter what, he's going to trap the Devil of the Right Arm within it if it's the last thing he can ever do. In return, Cassano kicks against Wangnan's chest, and asks how Wangnan's actions are going to change anything by simply bringing one person back to life.
Cassano yells out how he has the potential to change the Tower as he's just a normal human who was able to become one with Shinsu. As a result, he's climbing the Tower as hope for all the abandoned bastards of the Tower. Cassano explains how by using the power of Emile, he can gather up all the abandoned children, and provide them with the same power as himself and Ilmar so that there won't be anymore scapegoats. He yells at Wangnan if he understands it yet that he's going to use the gathered power of all the bastard children to finally reform the Tower. A task he will complete himself that Sophia had chosen to give up on.
Still with his foot on Wangnan, Cassano reminds him that Wangnan is trying to capture the one person who can save everyone just so he can save one person. He announces to Wangnan that if the latter still wishes to take him away to save Ilmar, then Wangnan has no right being here in front of him. Cassano calls out Wangnan as nothing more than an unworthy vessel that has only managed to get up the Tower this far relying on sheer luck. Sweating, and breathing in exhaustion, Wangnan orders Cassano to cut the crap, which confuses the latter.
Wangnan explains that he's never met a decent person in his life who goes about claiming that they will save the world only to forsake the people around them. He states to Cassano that those types of people are intoxicated by hollow dreams to the point that they see everything around them as nothing but trivial matters. Wangnan also asks how Cassano could be someone going about calling people unworthy vessels, and orders the Devil of the Right Arm to take a look around. He asks Cassano if the latter sees anyone around him that actually believes his words, and taunts him that he's nothing more than a chess piece being used by others. Wangnan also points out that Horyang knew this, and tried to stop Cassano since in the end, he knew that FUG was going to abandon them someday.
He states that Cassano must know this as well, which catches the Devil of the Right Arm's attention to the point of stomping down on Wangnan's hand. Wangnan screams out in pain as Cassano brutally beats him up to the point of Wangnan being nothing but a bloody body. As the beatdown continues, Traveller, who had been watching this whole time, begs Cassano to stop since the ball Wangnan was threatening to use is already destroyed at this point as well.
With Wangnan's blood all over his clothes, the exhausted Cassano catches his breath, and orders Wangnan to screw off since the latter is nothing but a little punk that has no clear ideals or abilities. Cassano states that Wangnan is nothing but a bigmouth that goes about trying to tell everyone else how to live, and must have been deluded into thinking he was remarkable since he hung out with the Slayer Candidate in the past.
At this point, Cassano begins to stumble over beginning to feel the effects of the syringe drug. Traveller remains worried about him as Cassano is surprised to realize that the five minutes is already up, but figures he should be fine at this point since he beat up Wangnan to a point where he won't be able to move anymore. However, a voice is heard stating that Cassano doesn't look well at the moment, and points out how waiting five minutes was brutal, which confuses Cassano. A beam of Shinsu suddenly blasts Cassano back, which shocks Traveller.
Cassano remains lying on the floor as Akraptor is seen walking towards them. He explains how he was ready to jump in at any time, but made the promise to Wangnan that no matter what, he would hold off from getting involved until the timer was up. Showing anger, Akraptor states how he wanted to jump in so many times, but was forced to hold himself back time and time again. Cassano thinks to himself that the bastards he's currently dealing with were planning for this all along. That one teammate would remain in hiding until Cassano is forced to fall asleep after five minutes dealing with the first person.
Struggling to move, Cassano realizes the danger he's in as he tries to keep himself awake. Traveller begs him to wake up as Akraptor points out how Cassano seemed to enjoy beating up Wangnan, but failed to realize that he had already fallen for Wangnan's provocation.
Akraptor also points out how Cassano never realized that he fell into the trap due to said provocation as Cassano spots Akraptor holding a gray ball similar to what Wangnan was threatening him with earlier. Akraptor informs Cassano that what he's holding is the real Pocket ball that Sophia provided for them, and that the one Cassano broke which was in Wangnan's possession was a fake.
Pointing his umbrella at Traveller, Akraptor warns him to stay back if he doesn't wish to die, which Traveller agrees to do. Activating the Pocket ball in front of Cassano, who's now lying on the floor defeated, Akraptor states that it's time for the Devil of the Right Arm to come along with them. Cassano is then sucked into the ball as leftover sparks from Cassano's devil is seen sparking out from it. Akraptor looks down at the Pocket ball containing Cassano in silence as he runs over to the bloody Wangnan to check on him. Meanwhile, Traveller continues to stand by unable to do anything.
Akraptor looks down at the heavily injured Wangnan, who continues to groan in pain. He then picks up Wangnan, and calls out the latter for being a silly kid who's going to die at the rate he keeps getting beat up. Wangnan asks about Cassano, which Akraptor informs him that the Devil of the Right Arm has been sealing away in the Pocket ball. The answer leaves Wangnan happy as he gives off a laugh in excitement knowing that they can finally go back to Horyang. In return, Akraptor remains confused as to why Wangnan is smiling at the moment, but Wangnan simply states once more that they can finally go back. Being carried away on Akraptor's back, Wangnan asks what he thinks Goseng will say once she realizes that they caught Cassano.
Wangnan asks if Goseng will go so far as to compliment them, to which Akraptor answers that all he can do is wonder since they made her wait for so long. He also warns Wangnan that they will be lucky if Goseng doesn't go so far as to slap them for taking so long. Wangnan laughs in agreement stating that Goseng probably went through a lot while they were away, and states that he wouldn't mind if Goseng hits them since he just wants to see her again. The answer leaves Akraptor confused, calling Wangnan nuts since one more hit could kill him at this point, which causes Wangnan to laugh.
As he continues to get carried away, Wangnan asks for Akraptor's attention once more. Wangnan reveals that he's actually an extremely remarkable person, and that while he can't tell Akraptor who he really is currently, he will gladly tell him one day as to what kind of person he truly is. In return, Akraptor calls Wangnan an idiot asking if Wangnan hasn't been smacked around enough, which causes Wangnan to laugh in agreement.
Some time after, Akraptor carries Wangnan to the spot of the Hell Train outside the Door where Hoaqin was supposedly locked within, and puts him down. Akraptor complains that it felt heavy carrying two people since Cassano's weight was felt through the Pocket ball, and figures he must weigh as much as Horyang.
Placing Wangnan against a wall to let him get some rest, Akraptor states he will be leaving for a bit to retrieve Prince and Miseng, which Wangnan agrees with. Wangnan warns Akraptor to be careful believing Hoaqin may be up to something despite the fact that he's been helping them up to this point. However, Akraptor reassures him that Hoaqin won't be able to go anywhere since he's the only one that knows the password to open the door.
Suddenly, a voice is heard stating that she now understands the situation hearing that Akraptor is the only one who knows the door password, which surprises Akraptor seeing that Rachel has appeared before him and Wangnan. Akraptor asks how Rachel is here at the moment since the last they heard, she was doing some recon.
Rachel answers that the recon was an obvious lie since Hoaqin isn't stupid enough to join forces with Sweet and Sour, which shocks Akraptor. She explains that the lie was simply for Hoaqin to be able to get rid of the Sweet and Sour team all at once, and that they went along with Sweet and Sour's plan pretending to go on recon, and then quickly returned to this place using Yura's transportation carrier. She states that it was all simply to turn Sweet and Sour's trap around on them.
Suddenly, Yura appears as well, and goes for Wangnan. Akraptor calls out to Wangnan worried for his life as Yura picks Wangnan up, and puts a knife up against his head. Yura next orders Akraptor to put down his umbrella weapon, and to tell them the password to the door to get Hoaqin out of the locked room. She threatens to kill Wangnan if he doesn't tell the password, which leaves Akraptor unable to do anything. Meanwhile within the locked room, Prince and Miseng remain with Hoaqin.
Miseng asks if Wangnan will be ok, which Prince assures her that he won't die since he has the vitality of a cockroach. He assures her that Wangnan will open the door once he's finished catching Cassano, which Miseng agrees with. Hoaqin is seen asking where Rachel is on his Emile terminal, which it answers that she successfully got Wangnan and Akraptor, and that the password to the door is A02-77029. He complains that he sure had to wait a long time for Rachel and Yura to catch her enemies.
Hoaqin walks up to Miseng and Prince, and asks them which of the two he should go about eating. The question confuses the two of them as Prince pulls out his swords and lighthouses prepared for a fight. Prince orders Miseng to get back, and asks Hoaqin what he's talking about all of a sudden. Hoaqin answers that he's done deceiving at this point, and is now deciding on which of the two before him he should eat. Prince realizes that Hoaqin has betrayed them, and reminds the Slayer Candidate that no matter what, he's locked within the Hell Train room since he doesn't know the password to open it.
Stating that the door doesn't matter at this point, Hoaqin informs Prince and Miseng that the people on the outside have already figured out the password, which shocks Prince. Hoaqin also states that even if the others failed to retrieve the password, he would have eventually figured out how to unlock it on his own within the next few days. Prince asks what Hoaqin means by the people on the other side, and deduces that Hoaqin must have come up with a plan with Rachel to act as if they fell into Sweet and Sour's trap. Grabbing hold of Prince, Hoaqin asks why he would go to such lengths of acting for someone like him. Prince realizes that he can't move his body as Hoaqin orders the former not to kid himself since he was just enjoying a little pleasure.
Hoaqin reveals that he was just making Prince a tastier prey by making him fall deeper into despair by going this route. Getting close to Prince's ear, Hoaqin whispers that he does have a bit of good news that since he needs to take one person along with him, only one person has to be eaten. He asks Prince once more if it should be him or the girl that he should go about eating.
Outside the locked room, Rachel is now seen holding Akraptor's umbrella weapon pointing it directly at the latter. Akraptor remains holding up his hands in surrender, and states that Team Rachel must be happy with this result since he's provided them the password. He also asks for Rachel to let Wangnan go since he's no threat to them after the beating he took from Cassano. Yura agrees with Akraptor's logic, and drops Akraptor back down to the ground. Akraptor figures that Rachel must have set this trap up from the beginning knowing that Sweet and Sour has been after Cassano, and asks if this means that they will be taken as hostages from here on out.
Rachel answers that while they do need hostages, they also have to deal with Hoaqin's hunger, who's quite hungry at the moment. Rachel also points out that regarding their need for hostages, they only need one person for their trip to the 43rd Floor of Death, which confuses Akraptor. Yura puts her knife back over Wangnan asking if they should just kill him since he's in such a useless state, but Akraptor asks for her to wait since he already told them the password to free Hoaqin. However, Rachel replies that she never said she would spare them once they've told her the password. All she said was that she would kill them if they didn't tell the password, which shocks Akraptor. Yura prepares to kill Wangnan, but Akraptor asks once more for her to wait. Akraptor orders instead for them to kill him, which confuses Rachel.
Hearing Akraptor asking to die shocks Wangnan as Yura asks why he would do such a thing. Akraptor answers that since they only need one alive, they should just kill them. He also warns Rachel and Yura that if they choose to kill Wangnan over him, then he will have no intention of being taken as a hostage so easily. Akraptor threatens Rachel and Yura that he will go about doing whatever it takes to bring them down with them.
Standing before his own umbrella weapon held by Rachel, Akraptor reminds them that Wangnan is in no position to resist them compared to him. He states that they will think in the future how much better it turned out to be to take Wangnan as their hostage rather than them. Turning to look at Wangnan, Akraptor tells them that despite how messed up he looks currently, he's actually a tremendously remarkable guy. In return, Wangnan calls out Akraptor's name, unable to believe what he's been hearing.
Rachel remains confused about what's going on as Akraptor says to Wangnan that he's not sure what the team leader has been hiding from the rest of the Sweet and Sour team, but assures Wangnan that he's already a remarkable enough person in his eyes. Wangnan yells out asking what Akraptor is planning on doing, which Akraptor answers that given it's Wangnan who's been threatened here, he's willing to give up his own life so that Wangnan can live. Akraptor asks Wangnan to take care of Miseng and Prince as Wangnan yells out to him not to do it.
Wangnan continues to yell at Akraptor not to do it as the latter charges toward Rachel. In return, the surprised Rachel activates the umbrella weapon she's been holding, and sends a Shinsu blast into the defenseless Akraptor, who coughs up blood. Yelling out to Akraptor not wanting him to die, Wangnan is forced to watch Akraptor fall to the floor having been hit by a Shinsu blast through his chest. Wangnan begins to cry as he crawls toward Akraptor's lifeless corpse lying on the ground.
Continuing to crawl towards Akraptor's corpse, Wangnan asks why he would go so far to do this. Rachel is seen trying to catch her breath knowing that she was forced to kill someone as she watches Wangnan crawl up to Akraptor's corpse. Wangnan begs Akraptor to wake up several times as he still needs to find his lost daughter.
Wangnan flashes back to the past where he's seen at a table having a meal with Akraptor. He asks Akraptor if he's given up trying to find his lost daughter within the Tower, which Akraptor answers that while it's a tough search, he hasn't given up yet. Akraptor and his wife that originated from one of the Ten Great Families fell in love before he was chosen as a Regular to enter the Tower.
He reveals that he ran away with his wife so that they could avoid the watchful eyes of her Great Family, and that they even chose to have a daughter despite everyone's opposition to their relationship. In the end, Akraptor was unable to truly escape with his family as his wife's Great Family ended up taking her back along with their daughter. Pointing Wangnan in the direction of a ring on his right ear, Akraptor explains that the only clue he has of finding his daughter again is the engagement rings that he and his wife shared when they tried to run away.
However, he points out that it's a gamble since there's a chance that his daughter may not even have the engagement ring from her mother. Akraptor also reminds Wangnan that even if he finds his daughter, there will be nothing he could do about it since he's just an unremarkable Regular while she's a member from one of the Ten Great Families. However, he assures Wangnan that he's ok with this now that he has Sweet and Sour by his side, which catches Wangnan's attention.
Near Wangnan and Akraptor, Bam is seen sleeping with Horyang, Prince and Miseng. Ehwa points out how surprising it is that they're managing to get some sleep in such a hard place, which Goseng agrees with. Akraptor states that he's come to like this place since it's come to feel like more of a family rather than just a simple team trying to climb the Tower. He adds that he's grateful to Wangnan since they've been able to make it this far up the Tower thanks to him.
The answer confuses Wangnan asking why Akraptor thinks he's the reason they made it this far since she's just like everyone else climbing the Tower alongside the team. However, Akraptor answers that he's not kidding as Wangnan is the reason that Sweet and Sour are able to be together.
Wangnan remains unable to say anything back, which Akraptor points out that Wangnan is the person of the team who's been binding everyone together as one. Akraptor then corrects himself that Wangnan is actually the center of Sweet and Sour, and that there wouldn't be this team without him. Returning to the present, Wangnan continues to cry with his hands on Akraptor's corpse begging him once more to wake up.
He begs Akraptor not to leave them since the team still needs him as the lock on the door to Hoaqin's room is heard making a sound. Wangnan continues to beg Akraptor to wake up as Hoaqin is seen opening the door holding onto Miseng, and walks out into the hallway. Seeing Wangnan on the floor over Akraptor's body, Hoaqin is surprised to see that the yellow-head is the one that survived. However, he points out that he had a feeling it was going to be him that was going to survive.
Wangnan turns his attention to Hoaqin, but sees only Miseng standing beside the Slayer Candidate, and has also broken down into tears. He asks why she's alone without Prince, which Hoaqin realizes that Wangnan must be talking about the purple-haired kid. Hoaqin informs Wangnan that he went about eating him, which stuns Wangnan. He states to Wangnan how Prince actually surprised him with an unexpected answer.
Hoaqin explains how he provided Prince the choice as to whether he should be eaten or Miseng. However, he was surprised to hear Prince ask for himself to be eaten so that Miseng can continue living. Hoaqin states how he was sure that Prince was the kind of person that would go ahead and sell off his companion in order to continue surviving. As a result, Hoaqin states that Prince turned out to be a less interesting person than he originally thought since the purple-haired boy chose to just offer himself to be eaten. The answer shocks Wangnan realizing that Prince has died as well, and that the reason all this has happened is because of himself.
At another location of the Hell Train, Khun is seen with a tray of food, and knocks on the closed door of a room. He asks how Bam is feeling, and points out how the latter still hasn't eaten anything since yesterday. Khun informs Bam that he's brought someone new for him to eat, but Bam continues to remain silent. Leaving the tray of food on the floor, Khun informs Bam that he will leave it at the door, and asks for Bam to make sure to eat it at some point since food is hard to come by on the Hell Train.
Khun walks away from Bam's room as he encounters Yuri and Endorsi. In return, Yuri figures that given Khun is alone, Bam still has yet to come out of his room. Within the room, Bam remains sitting against a wall staring straight ahead thinking back to the last moments he watched Ehwa, Rak, and Danhwa, fall off the Name Hunt Station bridge. He thinks to himself that he ended up failing to save them in the end, and that the result was him having to be the one that needed protection.
Bam thinks to himself that he was too conceited since he was unable to save the lives of some of his companions. He wonders if because of failures like this, he won't be able to find the real him at this rate. Bam says to himself that he could have protected everyone if he was stronger. Clenching his fist, he wishes that he had greater power to the point of not being able to lose against anyone.
Meanwhile, Wangnan is seen walking in the darkness wondering where he is as he can't see anything. In the distance, he spots Akraptor and Prince, but now have eyes that are completely white. Wangnan runs up to them in excitement asking how it is that they managed to get here, but is confused as to why the two of them are suddenly turning around, and walking away from him. He calls out to Akraptor and Prince asking where they're going, which a voice from behind Wangnan answers that they left to go somewhere far away.
Turning around, Wangnan sees Nia before him, who states to Wangnan that just like his death, Akraptor and Prince can no longer return. Nia calls out Wangnan that the latter has still been unable to save anyone, which confuses Wangnan. He explains to Wangnan that it's become common for people who are drawn towards the latter to be led to their deaths. Nia asks if Wangnan remembers the countless other companions he met going up the Tower, but resulted in Wangnan being the only one surviving while everyone else around him as disappeared. Behind Wangnan, a giant group of Regulars appear. Wangnan turns around to look at them, but sees nothing but darkness.
Nia calls out Wangnan as nothing more than a liar as there's only two reason that his companions continue to leave him. The reasons being that they either got sick of dealing with Wangnan's recklessness, or they were sacrificed so benefit Wangnan's climb up the Tower. Nia calls Wangnan a coward due to being someone who draws people with apparent courage and ideals, and yet in the end, it's only Wangnan that survives.
Wangnan remains silent unable to believe what he's hearing as Nia states that Wangnan is a loner simply because of his own actions. Nia leaves off saying to Wangnan, the Prince of the Red-Light-District, that it's about time for him to wake up from his dream.
Within a room of the Hell Train, Wangnan is seen saying Nia's name revealing that everything he was witnessing in the darkness was a dream. In addition, he and Miseng remain chained up having both been taken hostage by Team Rachel. Wangnan wakes up finally realizing he was dreaming, and looks around wondering where he currently is. Seeing how he's chained up, Wangnan puts together that he was most likely caught by his enemies. As a result, Wangnan realizes that the encounter with Team Rachel that resulted in Akraptor's and Prince's deaths wasn't a dream.
Beginning to hear voices calling out to Wangnan for help, he looks around wondering what's going on. The voices states that Wangnan was someone who needed them, and that he told them to trust him. They order Wangnan to take responsibility, and continue begging him for help. Unable to handle the voices, Wangnan screams out over and over, which catches Miseng's attention asking if he's ok. Meanwhile, Hoaqin is seen walking by door to the room that Wangnan and Miseng are chained up in. Hearing Wangnan's screams, Hoaqin asks him through the barred door window to keep it down. Hoaqin warns Wangnan and Miseng that he will devour the two of them if they keep being noisy, and that the only reason he's letting the two of them still live is because the Rachel bitch wishes it.
A moment later, Wangnan finally calms down, but has broken down into tears again. Seeing him crying, Hoaqin asks why someone who's managed to climb about 40 Floors of the Tower is whining over the loss of a few companions. He leaves off calling Wangnan pathetic as the latter continues to cry believing that it was his own fault for Akraptor's and Prince's deaths. Wangnan asks himself why he's so incompetent when it comes to protecting his companions.
Walking away from Wangnan and Miseng's jail room, Hoaqin asks himself why he keeps surrounding himself with such losers. However, he thinks to himself how the yellow-guy appears to be some sort of immortal since he was able to avoid death several times beforehand. Hoaqin is left wondering if perhaps there's more to the yellow-guy than the pathetic person he currently comes off as, but at this point, he's greeted by Cassano and Traveller.
Seeing the Devil of the Right Arm before him, Hoaqin figures that Cassano has recovered after falling for Sweet and Sour's Pocket ball trap. Cassano asks why he wasn't told beforehand that Team Rachel had a trap set on top of the one established by Sweet and Sour, and complains how he was forced into a serious fight without being told anything.
Hoaqin answers that it was to perfect the deception since Cassano could have slipped up having to act out his part in the trap. He orders Cassano to stop complaining since it's over with, but admits how surprising it turned out to be knowing that the yellow-guy was actually able to capture the person known as the Devil of the Right Arm. Hoaqin's words strike a nerve in Cassano, which Hoaqin continues to state his disappointment in Cassano's failure, and that this was probably something he should have expected given that Cassano is nothing more than a fake ignition weapon.
Cassano becomes enraged asking who he's calling a fake, but Hoaqin points toward him claiming that it's because of his head, which confuses Cassano. Hoaqin explains that Cassano was probably thinking that he would make for a decent weapon given that he's not a very emotional human, but in the end, Cassano ended up losing emotional control against the yellow-guy. He asks if Cassano wants to know why swords are better weapons than hands.
Hoaqin answers it for Cassano that it's because swords have no emotions. He explains to Cassano that weapons which contain emotions are cumbersome accessories, and that weapons need to be sharp to be effective. Showing his hand before Cassano, Hoaqin continues to explain that hands are different from swords, because they're filled with rage, pleasure, and hesitation. The results being that hands have a natural limit.
Beginning to walk away, Hoaqin advises Cassano that the latter needs to get rid of his emotions if he wants to be a true weapon, and that he will need to do so soon since he's going to eventually get abandoned anyway. Hoaqin leaves off warning Cassano that if he remains in such an ambiguous state between human and weapon, the FUG organization will abandon him easily since such people aren't tolerant enough to keep a dull weapon. Meanwhile within another Hell Train room, Rachel is seen having a meeting with Yura, which the latter asks why they're taking along two hostages. Yura explains how they're better off just having one hostage at most, and that it will be inconvenient for them to take the two hostages along since the test to ride the train up to the next Floor is coming up.
However, Rachel answers that it's fine since the test won't be a problem as long as Hoaqin is with them. Rachel also explains how her plan will reach a roadblock if the hostages escape or die, and that it's too much of a gamble to believe that they will be able to gather other allies at the next Hell Train stations. She states to Yura that based on the information gathered from Emile, they will need at least one living sacrifice in order for them to enter the 43rd Floor of Death. Yura counters that the hostages may try to hurt Rachel out of revenge, but Rachel asks her not to worry about that too much, and changes the subject.
Rachel asks about a certain companion they will be taking along to the Floor of Death, which Yura answers not to worry about that too much as said person, who's the current best D-rank scout, will be entering the Hell Train at the next station. Within a room on the next Tower Floor, a person holding a fishing pole object is seen sitting on a chair looking out a window. Yura gives off a laugh, and assures Rachel that she will definitely be able to count on this person, but admits that it's still a question if the greatest D-rank scout will actually choose to join up with them. Seeing Yura giving off sparkles while she thinks over this, Rachel is left wondering how the former is able to look so sparkly.
Yura next asks if Rachel performed a full cavity search on the hostages just in case they had any other weapons that could be a threat to them, which Rachel answers there's nothing to worry about. Rachel explains that she even used her lighthouse to check their inventories, but upon close inspection, all she was able to find was a Shinsu bomb.
She assures Yura that the hostages won't be able to escape, which amazes Yura seeing how thorough Rachel is at performing her actions. Seeing that she was worried about nothing, Yura decides that it's time for her to get going. Yura leaves off suggesting for Rachel to get some sleep since they have the Hell Train test tomorrow to go up to the next Floor, which Rachel accepts.
After Yura leaves the room, Rachel remains by herself, but is seen beginning to tremble. Blood begins to appear on her hands, which catches her attention, but upon closer look at her hand, she sees that there's no blood on it. Rachel holds her hands tight, and breathes heavily saying to herself that she has to get used to this since it's just killing people. Calming herself down, Rachel thinks about the yellow-head of the two hostages, and remembers how his name was Ja Wangnan. Within the jail room, Wangnan continues to cry as Miseng continues to try to get his attention asking if he's ok.
Rachel thinks over the person known as Wangnan, and questions who such a person is. She admits that she only saw him as a normal Regular that was traveling alongside Bam up the Tower, and yet that doesn't appear to be the case anymore. Pulling out a red Jahad ring, Rachel looks down at it, and questions why such a person would have this kind of ring. Meanwhile, Khun is seen entering Bam's room to check on him since he hasn't eaten yet. However, he's left confused as to why Bam is no longer in it. At the hidden room of the Rice Pot, the God of Guardians is seen waking up due to Bam having returned to him.
In return, Bam asks for the God of Guardians to teach him how to become a god. The God of Guardians remains confused by the question, but Bam states that it's exactly as he said. Still confused, the God of Guardians states how unusual and sudden Bam's request to become a god is. It asks if Bam perhaps thinks he knows this answer simply because he's been given the title God of Guardians, which Bam admits that this is the reason he figured the God of Guardians would know about this kind of stuff. The God of Guardians provides the bad news that he doesn't actually know how to become a god since God of Guardians is just a nickname that had been handed to him by the Tower Regulars.
As a result, it states that it's actually not that remarkable, which causes Bam to begin walking away having accepted the answer. Seeing Bam turning around shocks the God of Guardians pointing out how cold Bam is deciding to already leave. The God of Guardians figures that something much have happened during the 39th Floor mission that would suddenly cause Bam to ask about being a god. It asks if something happened, which Bam answers that he lost some of his companions. Bam explains how he came across a powerful enemy during the mission, and that because of his lack of ability, he was unable to do anything against said enemy. He states how he's been blaming himself, because it was his idea to go to the 43rd Floor of Death, which caused the FUG Slayer, Karaka to appear.
Bam says that it's his fault that his friends were put in danger as a result of all this, and yet despite putting them in danger, he still couldn't do anything to protect them. He tells the God of Guardians that he's still someone who needs help from his companions. The God of Guardians asks if this is the reason Bam wants to become an absolute being like a god. Bam admits that it is, which the God of Guardians calls out Bam for being greedy since the boy is already stronger than all Regulars at his current level. In return, Bam states that there's still enemies out there who are far stronger than him. Bam claims that none of his companions would have been lost had he been stronger than said enemies. The God of Guardians asks if Bam prefers to have either saved his companions, or been strong enough to the point of his enemies not deciding to bother with him. It then reminds the boy that great power isn't going to make everyone happy. The God of Guardians explains that he once met a similar child in the past who said the same things as Bam, and after teaching the boy, he eventually became the King of the Tower.
It states to Bam that the reason the child desired power was so that he could turn the Tower into a place where everyone could live happily. The God of Guardians continues the story that he trained the boy to become really strong, and in the end, the boy became the King of the Tower. However, the King failed afterwards to make everyone in the Tower happy.
It admits to Bam that he doesn't know exactly what happened other than the fact that the Tower drastically changed after he finished his training on the Hell Train. However, the God of Guardians makes it clear to Bam that he's sure of one thing. That having tremendous power isn't going to make everyone around Bam happy. The God of Guardians explains that it's more important knowing how to use one's current power rather than always think that the answer is to just require more power. It warns Bam that it can see quite clearly what will happen to the boy if Bam obtains more power than his body can handle right now.
The God of Guardians explains to Bam that the reason the boy is suffering currently is because of the power currently residing within him. It asks if Bam truly believes that having the power of a god will truly make everyone happy, and warns Bam that because of the boy's fleeting emotions, he's going to end up losing what's currently important to him. Bam remains silent, unable to say anything back as the God of Guardians states that it would be best for Bam to return to the Rice Pot later on once he's sorted out his thoughts after the next Floor test. The God of Guardians assures Bam that while it doesn't know how to become a god, he can still teach Bam how to become stronger than he is at the moment.
Some time later, Bam returns to his Hell Train room where Khun is seen waiting for his return. Khun figures that Bam must have gone to visit the Rice Pot, which Bam admits that was the case. He then states how sad it is that Bam is trying to get powerful all by himself, which Bam tries to deny. Khun says to Bam that he can tell what the latter is thinking sometimes just on how he's choosing to look. He states to Bam that such a look makes him worry sometimes that Bam will eventually wander off, and leave all his friends someday. Khun asks for at the very least, Bam should tell him where he's going so that he can continue to chase after him, which leaves Bam speechless.
A moment later, Endorsi comes storming into the room asking where Bam wandered off to without saying a word. Bam remains unable to say anything back as Endorsi says that she was worried about him given that he wasn't eating recently. She also asks if Bam understands at all what she's currently going through. She explains how the lady from the Ha Family has been watching over her with some weird toy. Said weird toy, which is a floating ball with a speaker on it that has red eyes, and a hair-style similar to Yuri, is seen appearing behind Endorsi. Yuri's voice comes out from it glad to see that Bam has returned.
The Yuri speaker asks why Endorsi is being so clingy to Bam, and reminds Endorsi that she warned her to stay away from him. Endorsi complains how Yuri managed to find her again, but Yuri ignores it, and orders Endorsi to return to the room of the Ha Princess, or else she will come get Endorsi herself. Hearing the voice from the speaker ball, Bam wonders if what he's hearing really is Yuri's voice. Endorsi runs out of the room yelling at Yuri to shut up, and that she will never follow the orders of the Ha Princess. As a result, Yuri states that she will come herself, which Endorsi orders her not to. Bam is then left alone with Khun, which the latter assures the former that Ehwa, Rak, and Danhwa are probably still alive and safe.
Khun asks for Bam not to worry too much about them since at the moment, they have no time to do such worries. He reminds Bam that they got to survive the Floor of Death first before Ehwa, Rak, and Danhwa, even have a chance to make it back to them. Khun also reminds Bam that said three people aren't the types of people to die off so easily, especially Rak, which Bam agrees with. Suddenly, Endorsi returns to them using her Bong Bong fairy, which grabs their attention. Khun remains confused as to why she keeps showing up here.
Endorsi states to Bam that she has one thing she wants to say despite being frustrated by Yuri following her everywhere. She orders Bam to stop acting like it's the end of the world just because a few of his companions are gone for the moment. Endorsi reminds Bam that while some companions may be gone from his side currently, there's still others, such as herself, that are still with him. She yells at Bam that there are some people who want to protect him, and orders Bam to stay safe.
Bam remains silent, surprised by what he's hearing as Endorsi struggles to say that she's not going to say that she's one of the people that wants to protect him. She leaves off ordering him once more to take care of himself, and to make sure to get some rest. Suddenly, Yuri's speaker returns to the room asking where Endorsi thinks she's running off to. In return, Endorsi activates the Bong Bong fairy, and begins running again asking why Yuri continues to follow her. Bam however is left in silence as he thinks over what Endorsi had just said to him.
A day later, Bam's group , which consists of Bam, Khun, Hwaryun, Boro, Sachi, Endorsi, Irure, Bero, and the female billion soul clone, is seen currently taking part in the 39th Floor test in order to continue riding the Hell Train up to the 40th Floor. Boro is seen breathing in exhaustion as he manages to press a giant red button on a floating platform. The announcement is then heard that the test is now complete, which means that Bam's group has passed said test. Given their current team composition, Boro points out how doing these tests are kind of rough given that they're missing a Tower position.
Boro asks if it would be best for them to find another Scout Regular since there's a high chance that they could all end up dying before they even make it to the 43red Floor of Death. Khun agrees that this appears to be the case as Bam congratulates everyone for their work in the Hell Train's 39th Floor Test. Seeing the large metal spikes at the bottom of the test pit, Boro points out that the spike trap may have killed them had Sachi not used his Thornbush Shinsu to create a vine for them. He also explains how it's rough for light-bearers to react to such unexpected traps when they get to work on their own like Khun is having to do currently.
Turning his attention to Endorsi, Boro also points out how the Jahad Princess doesn't appear to be in the mood to help them anytime soon. In return, Endorsi calls them silly fools asking why they continue to stare at her as she remains sitting on a platform doing nothing. Khun thinks to himself that he wouldn't mind sending Endorsi back to Shibisu at this point. Looking to his lighthouse, Khun figures that if they needed another fisherman, they could finally use Beta again once they reach the Floor of Death. From inside the lighthouse, Beta complains to let him out of it already as he can't breathe.
Boro next asks about the status of Wangnan's team since they haven't heard any news from them lately. Khun answers that they can't do much about that since the Hell Train is designed to make it difficult to try to contact people at long distances. In return, Bam asks if they should perhaps go looking for Sweet and Sour, but Hwaryun is the next to speak, answering that it's better to not go looking for them.
Hwaryun reminds them that they agreed to respect each other's choices the moment they decided to split up before the Name Hunt Station mission. She explains that Wangnan is someone who's already started walking his own path, so it's only right that they continue to go their separate ways. Hwaryun also warns Bam and company that they don't have the luxury to worry about other people like Wangnan's group at the moment, which confuses Khun.
She informs them that it's because they will eventually be arriving at the Floor of Death. Hwaryun states to Bam and company that even Rankers choose to avoid the Floor of Death. She then warns them that even if Princess Yuri Jahad provides them cover, there will still be a great chance for any one of them to not survive on the Floor of Death. In return, Bam and company remain silent, unable to say anything back to Hwaryun. At a later time, Bam is seen saying his goodbye to Khun, Endorsi, Yuri, and Evan. Bam tells them that he will return later, which surprises Yuri that Bam doesn't appear tired, and is already heading back to the Rice Pot again.
Yuri asks why Bam is choosing to go back to the Rice Pot when she could easily just train him up herself. She also asks what kind of a name is the Rice Pot wondering if it has something to do with making people fat. Bam answers that ne needs to go since he made a promise to the God of Guardians, but assures Yuri that he will need her help next time. As Bam begins to leave, Khun calls out to him to return before they reach the Floor of Death.
Endorsi also waves goodbye as Bam says back to them that he will return on the day they need to exit onto the 43rd Floor of Death. Bam returns to walking away, but notes how it's suddenly starting to get really cold in the Hell Train. Khun next turns his attention to Evan stating that they should get going as well. In return, Evan agrees to go along with it. He asks for Khun to follow him to a location where he will teach Khun how to properly use a lighthouse.
Wishing everyone luck, Endorsi tries to sneak away claiming that she needs to take a nap. However, Yuri grabs her, and states that she will be coming along with her. Meanwhile, Evan warns Khun that he's going to train him really hard, which Khun accepts. Some time later at the Rice Pot room, the God of Guardians sees that Bam has returned to it. The God of Guardians jumps down to stand before Bam, and asks if the boy has sorted out the chaos going on in his mind since the way Bam looked during their previous meeting was someone who was consumed with hatred.
Bam admits that he's still not sure since it still bothers him that he lost some of his companions for being too weak. However, he informs the God of Guardians that he now realizes that increasing his power isn't going to make the people around him happy. That having such enormous power beyond his control may end up pulling himself apart from everyone.
Bam states to the God of Guardians that he doesn't want to stop getting stronger, but would also prefer to not hurt anyone around him because of it. He explains that this is why he wants to become a god for someone else, and that if doing so ends up being a bad result, then he will take full responsibility for it. Bam states to the God of Guardians that he's going to continue getting stronger, and getting into fights to protect the people he loves so that he can continue to stand by their side.
The God of Guardians thinks Bam's words over, and admits that while he's somewhat similar to the Jahad boy who one day became the Tower King, there is also a difference between the two. It thinks over how Jahad was someone who wanted power in order to stand above others as a means to change them. However, Bam is someone who only wants power in order to stay with the people around him. The God of Guardians admits that it's only a slight difference between the two that was overlooked, but is worth enough to take a chance here.
Coming to a decision, the God of Guardians agrees with Bam's logic. It states to Bam that the boy won't be able to acquire that much more power from this point on until he finally finds the real him. However, Bam has still proven to be someone who's qualified to get stronger, which catches Bam's attention. The God of Guardians announces that it's time to begin the training as said guardian transforms himself into a much smaller version of himself to be around the same size as Bam.
The smaller God of Guardians explains that its current form is its medium version as it explains that it has the ability to freely change the size of its body depending on the size of its opponent. It states that it will make Bam stronger by now having to battle against the God of Guardians directly. The God of Guardians orders Bam to brace himself as it's about to teach Bam a type of Shinsu control not similar to simple Regulars, but the type of control used by the heads of the Ten Great Families. In return, Bam prepares himself for battle ready to begin his training.
Several weeks pass as the Hell Train is now climbing the Tower up through the 40th Floor. Wangnan and Miseng are now chained up in a new room that's filled with blue crystals. Still exhausted and covered in blood, Wangnan thinks to himself that the weather has suddenly gotten a lot colder. He figures that the coldness most likely has to do with the fact that they changed between the 39th and 40th Floors. At this point, Rachel enters the room pointing out that the weather has gotten pretty cold recently, which grabs Wangnan's attention.
Carrying a blanket, Rachel orders Wangnan to use it since hostages are better to have alive rather than dying off to cold weather. The sight of Rachel angers Wangnan as the former points out that Hoaqin has been pestering her to just let him eat the hostages since they tried to run away from Team Rachel when they had to take them along for their 39th Floor Test. However, Wangnan orders her to screw off since he would rather die off than get taken as a hostage to Team Rachel. Rachel remains unmoved by Wangnan's order as she points out that Wangnan should at the very least worry about keeping the girl near him alive, which catches Wangnan's attention. He looks to Miseng, and sees that she's constantly shivering due to the cold.
Rachel scolds Wangnan that since he's a team leader, he should decide what he needs to do for said team. She leaves the coats behind, and states once more that it's Wangnan's decision. However, Wangnan replies that at this point, he's no longer a leader. Seeing Wangnan's depression surprises Rachel as she points out that that's such an odd state for someone who's inherited the blood of Jahad to be in. Rachel's words shocks Wangnan, but before he could ask what she knows, she shows his Jahad ring before him. She asks if the Jahad ring belongs to him.
Wangnan asks why Rachel has his ring, which she explains that he has nothing to worry about since the others on her team still don't know about it, especially Hoaqin. Rachel explains that she knows a little bit about what the ring means since she happens to know someone else that has a Jahad ring similar to the one in Wangnan's possession. She states that the people who have Jahad rings are actually the fatal weak point of Jahad, who tried to hide away said fatal weak point, but ended up ultimately surviving. As a result, Wangnan and the other ring holders ended up gaining a power they were never supposed to have. Knowing Wangnan's identity, she calls him by his Prince of the Red-Light-District title, which shocks Wangnan.
He asks who Rachel is since she knows such confidential information. Rachel answers that Wangnan must have already heard it from Bam that just like him, she happens to be an Irregular of the Tower. She also informs Wangnan that the reason she knows a bit of information is because she's been working alongside FUG.
Rachel states how it was bugging her as to why Wangnan was choosing to climb the Tower with Bam, and figures that Wangnan was probably trying to use Bam to get revenge on Jahad. However, she informs Wangnan that he won't be able to use Bam like that. As a result, she asks Wangnan to work for her instead, which confuses him.
She explains that there's another piece of Irregular Enryu's Thorn hidden somewhere on the 43rd Floor of Death, and that the Thorn in Bam's possession is actually only a piece of it. As a result, Rachel informs Wangnan that if the Thorn was to be completed, they might be able to a way to finally break Jahad's immortality. The information catches Wangnan's attention, which Rachel asks if he's beginning to understand what this all means. She continues to explain that the completed Thorn won't be enough to bring down the current world they live in, but will still create a critical rupture that will finally begin the collapse of it.
She asks if Wangnan knows about the special key for a certain door of a Tower. Rachel further explains that the key was created on the day that Jahad announced he would stop climbing the Tower in order to become the King. She states that he hid away said key so that no one would be able to open the door to the higher Tower Floors that Jahad chose not to climb.
As a result, no one has been able to climb any higher than the 134th Floor, which is the Tower Floor that Jahad stopped at. Rachel continues to explain that Jahad left half of the key to his Great Blacksmith known as Ashul Edwaru. Said blacksmith had then melted apart that half of the key, which was turned into the 13-month weapon series.
The 13-month series being the special ignition weapons that the Jahad Princesses fight each other with. However, the real mystery is where the other half of the key ended up. She states that the obvious answer is the Jahad rings, and asks Wangnan if her deduction is correct. Wangnan remains silent, unable to believe what he's hearing as Rachel claims that once all the people with the Jahad rings are able to climb up the Tower, the door beyond the 134th Floor will finally be open again. Rachel then asks Wangnan of the Red-Light-District to join forces with her, because they have the potential to change the Tower together.
At another location of the Hell Train, Boro complains how freezing the weather is currently. He states how he figured the weather was going to change due to the Floor switch from 39 to 40, but wasn't expecting the weather of the Hell Train interior to change so drastically. Noticing all the blue shards throughout the Hell Train interior, Boro asks if this means that the 40th Floor has something to do with crystal shards, which Sachi agrees that it seems this way, and should be careful as to how they should approach this. The reason being that crystal shards are a vicious group-type of divine sea fish that lives in areas of cold Shinsu.
Boro next asks about where Khun went off to, which Sachi answers that he's shut himself away being trained by the dwarf guide (Evan). Sachi figures that this could only mean that the dwarf must be teaching Khun some pretty awesome skills. Boro admits that he understands it a bit better, and points out how they probably won't be seeing Bam for a long time either given his training with the God of Guardians. Given that they're about to reach the 40th Floor station, Boro asks if they will be ok on their own. Sachi answers that they should be since even Hoaqin will be in no hurry to visit a Floor station since Team Rachel has their goal now set on the 43rd Floor of Death.
Stating that they shouldn't let their guard down, Boro asks if anyone is going to appear at the next Floor station as reinforcements. Sachi answers that it's highly unlikely anyone will appear given that no one will be willing to join Bam's expedition to the Floor of Death. Sachi adds that he knows of an exceptional scout Regular that currently lives on the 40th Floor. However, he also points out how said scout has no reason to come to the Hell Train. As the Hell Train flies over the 40th Floor towards the train station, the top D-rank scout that Yura mentioned is seen looking up at the express as he states to himself that the Hell Train seems to be here now. Summoning its platform stairwell up to the Hell Train side-entrance, the express remains parked at the 40th Floor station known as the Mushroom Farm.
Bam's training with the God of Guardians continues as the former sends a barrage of Shinsu Bangs at the latter. However, the God of Guardians easily swipes them away, which said guardian scolds Bam that the boy still doesn't quite get it.
Bam remains confused by the statement, which the God of Guardians reminds the boy that he's being taught a Shinsu control skill that ordinary Regulars don't have. The God of Guardians states to Bam that the boy will never learn this kind of skill if he keeps trying to attack the way he's currently going at it.
Creating two giant balls of Shinsu, the God of Guardians orders Bam to try to feel the surrounding space of Shinsu more. The God of Guardians points out how Bam has the potential to control all of it. It explains how ordinary Regulars are granted the authority of using Shinsu by the Guardians of each Tower Level.
However, the God of Guardians states that Bam must have realized at this point that he's already had the authority to use Tower Shinsu since the very beginning. The God of Guardians orders Bam once more to go about making the space his own, because as one of the people who was able to open the Tower gate, this is his privilege.
Bam looks at one of the giant Shinsu balls created by the God of Guardians, which it warns that the boy must have realized at this point that he won't be able to learn this attack known as the Shinsu Black-hole Sphere until he knows how to make the Shinsu of the current area his own. Back outside the Hell Train, Boro and Sachi remain on the stairwell to see if any newcomer Regulars from the 40th Floor's Mushroom Farm station will appear to ride the Hell Train.
Boro states how oddly quiet this station is, and that he's finally remembering the kind of place the Mushroom Farm was. That you will cough like crazy at this place due to the mushroom spores. As a result, he was never able to see any Express Ticket holders from the Mushroom Farm station ever get on the station due to coughing so much.
Boro figures if no one appearing at the moment means that no Express Ticket holders are going to appear at the 40th Floor station this time around as well. He also adds how he's always curious when he comes to the Mushroom Farm regarding people who would actually take the time to live here. Noticing a floating castle in the distance, Boro asks who it could be that lives there.
Sachi finally speaks stating that he's also come to the Mushroom Farm station several times in an attempt to gather up the Express Tickets. Boro asks if Sachi knows anyone living here as a result of that, which the latter answers that while it's not many, there are indeed a group of Regulars who've chosen to settle down at the Mushroom Farm. Sachi also informs Boro that there's a Regular with mysterious eyes who lives at the castle they see in the distance.
Describing the Regular living at the castle, Sachi explains how the person is an interesting kid who goes about calling himself a painter. That the reason the painter chose to settle here at the Mushroom Farm was because he liked the scenery, and wanted to paint it. Sachi also points out how the painter Regular hates loud noise whenever someone suspicious visits the 40th Floor station. As a result, the painter Regular detects them early on, and fights the newcomer off with the other Regulars who've decided to live here. Sachi continues to explain that given how remarkable the painter's abilities are, it's a complete waste that the boy has decided to settle down.
However, Sachi notes that the last time he met the painter, it seemed like the reason he settled down at the Mushroom Farm was because he's been waiting on someone this whole time. Sachi then states that it may be possible that the painter has already met the person he was waiting on by now, which Boro points out that it sounds like some kind of romance. Thinking over the thought of a painter living at the 40th Floor station, Boro notes how there truly are a lot of unusual people that live within the Tower. At this point, Boro notices someone coming towards them sitting on top of a floating rock, which shocks Sachi. Looking closer at the person on top of the rock, Sachi finds it unbelievable that Hockney is coming towards them.
Boro asks who the Hockney person is, to which Sachi answers that it's the same painter Regular he was talking about beforehand. The answer shocks Boro as they spot Hockney jumping along the rocks towards their location. Hockney lands at the base of the Hell Train platform stairwell, but is blocked off by two newcomer Regulars. Looking at the two blocking is way, Hockney sees that it's Jourdan and Arcu. One of them asks why Hockney has suddenly decided to change his mind about living here since the painter Regular has never shown any interest in boarding the Hell Train before. He points out how if Hockney was to leave here, then they will no longer be able to protect themselves from intruders since they've always been relying on Hockney's eyes. The second Regular agrees with this since the Mushroom Farm station has remained peaceful thanks to Hockney's efforts.
However, Hockney orders them both to step aside, which shocks Jourdan and Arcu. Hockney informs the two of them that he wasn't staying at the Mushroom Farm to protect others, but simply didn't want his own peaceful live to end anytime soon. Gathering up Shinsu within the lantern hanging off the line of his fishing pole, Hockney warns Jourdan and Arcu that if they insist on trying to stop him from living, he will have no choice but to use force. The threat shocks Jourdan and Arcu as Hockney sends out two beams of Shinsu to immobilize the both of them.
Jourdan and Arcu remain stuck in place begging Hockney not to go, but are forced to watch Hockney pass by them, and begin walking up the platform stairwell up to the Hell Train. Boro points out to Sachi how Hockney appears to be coming up towards them to get on the Hell Train, which Sachi agrees appears to be the case.
Moments later, Hockney meets Boro and Sachi inside the entrance of the Hell Train. Sachi admits this is surprising to him seeing that Hockney has decided to board the Hell Train. In return, Hockney greets Sachi stating that it's been awhile. He asks if Sachi was able to find the woman on the Hell Train that the latter has been searching for this whole time. Sachi answers that he learned what happened to Roen, and is now on the Hell Train for a different purpose. He adds that it might as well be considered as finding the woman he was searching for, which Hockney offers his congratulations noting how it's nice for Sachi to now have a new purpose.
Sachi next asks why Hockney has decided to board the Hell Train, and if this perhaps has something to do with the person he's been waiting on at the Mushroom Farm this whole time. Before Hockney could answer, Bero, Irure, and the clone of a billion souls, appears. Bero sees that a new Express Ticket holder has entered the Hell Train, and asks if the newcomer is on their side. Sachi answers that Hockney's not an enemy given that the painter is a scout he knows. Meanwhile, Hockney notices how there's a strange woman amongst the new group of Regulars that's greeting him.
Getting back to his question, Sachi asks once more why Hockney has now decided to board the Hell Train. Pulling out an object that looks like an iPhone, Hockney shows an image on it split into six sections. However, the middle left-image is shown to be missing. He asks Sachi if he's perhaps seen the missing picture somewhere on the Hell Train, which confuses Sachi asking what he means by picture. Hockney hands over the image so that Sachi can look at it closer.
Boro remains confused as to what he's looking at as Sachi answers that he's never seen a picture that could fit the missing piece. Sachi asks what kind of picture this is, to which Hockney answers that it's the Red Light he's been waiting for this whole time. The answer surprises Sachi, who realizes that what Hockney's been waiting for wasn't actually a person. Hockney replies that he never said to Sachi he was waiting on a person, and that the image they're looking at is a painting he made a while ago. He explains that he made the painting before being chosen as a Regular, but ended up having a piece of it stolen away at some point before beginning his Tower climb.
Hockney continues to explain that his main reason for climbing the Tower is to find the piece of the painting that was stolen away from him. That he's discovered how all kinds of artwork are traded in secret amongst an auction that's only open to the Regulars. Hockney reveals that he only discovered this long after he had become a Regular, and that his Red Light painting was broken into 6 pieces.
Eventually, he's slowly been able to reacquire the pieces over time, and now currently has 5 of the 6 pieces as seen on the object that Sachi is holding. Continuing his explanation, Hockney states that he recently bought the last piece of the Red Light painting, and that he heard how said last piece is supposed to be sent somewhere on the Hell Train for Hockney to pick up.
However, a problem occurred where for some reason, he ended up losing contact with the one that was delivering the last painting piece to the Hell Train. As a result, Hockney states that he relied on Emile to help him locate the last piece, which the chatting bot told him that the painting piece had been hidden away on the Hell Train. Hockey tells Sachi and Boro that while he doesn't know for sure where it could have been hidden on the train, it's a given that it's somewhere on the Hell Train due to how his situation turned out. Being serious over this, Hockney makes it clear to Sachi and Boro that he's going to stay on the Hell Train until he finds the last piece of the Red Light painting, because the object is pretty much his own soul.
Switching to Team Rachel's side, Yura and Hoaqin are seen waiting in a room. Yura asks her Emile terminal if Hockney has boarded the train yet, which the bot answers that he did just recently. She then informs Hoaqin about this that the scout they're looking for has arrived on the Hell Train. Hoaqin asks if they should go out and negotiate things with the guy, but Yura answers that it's too much of a risk to do so at the moment since there's no telling what will happen if they encounter their enemies before the 43rd Floor of Death.
She figures that their best option is to just let Hockney continue being around their enemies for now, and may actually pay off for them in the end using Hockney as their spy. Hoaqin remains confused over the situation asking why Team Rachel chose to take along the Hockney guy. Yura answers that it's because they found out from Emile that Hockney is someone who's been to the Floor of Death, which surprises Hoaqin. Meanwhile back at the Hell Train entrance, Hockney is seen greeting Bero, who he believes looks like someone who could become a model similar to Venus. The compliment surprises Bero, which Hockney explains that she's voluptuous like Willendorf.
Back to Hoaqin and Yura, the former asks if what he heard was correct, which the latter admits is the case. She explains how they don't know how someone like Hockney managed to escape from the Floor of Death, but the fact that he was there makes it almost certain that Hockney has the ability to get them safely through the death Floor in order to reach their true destination. Hoaqin asks what will happen if he refuses to help them, which Yura answers that there's nothing to worry about. She informs Hoaqin that Hockney will not be able to refuse helping them, because she happens to have his soul (implying that Yura has somehow obtained the final piece of the Red Light painting).
At that same time, Wangnan and Miseng remain chained up in Team Rachel's jail room, but Wangnan lets Miseng have the blanket provided by Rachel while he tries to use his sweater to survive the cold. Miseng is left worrying about Wangnan asking him to take the blanket since she's ok at this point.
However, Wangnan replies that he's fine since he was originally born in a cold place. Still breathing in exhaustion, he says to Miseng that this coldness is nothing for him. He thinks back to the moment when Rachel asks him to join forces with her so that the Prince of the Red-Light-District can change the Tower with her.
Rachel attempts to convince Wangnan even further that she will ask Cassano to spare Horyang if he chooses to team up with her. She states that Wangnan could probably see this as an apology for her being the one that killed Akraptor. The mention of Akraptor strikes a nerve in Wangnan, which Rachel orders him to think about this since continuing to be stubborn isn't going to bring the dead back to life. Rachel then warns Wangnan to make the choice by tomorrow, because hesitating any longer could result in the deaths of his other companions.
Returning to the present, Rachel re-enters the jail room for Wangnan and Miseng, and asks if he managed to sleep well last night. Rachel also reminds him that she's back to hear the reply for what she offered him yesterday. In return, Wangnan and Miseng just stare at her in anger. Rachel continues to speak by pointing out that they should probably go somewhere else to talk about this since it's obvious that Wangnan won't be comfortable here to properly answer her. She shows Wangnan that she's brought the keys to their chains, which confuses Wangnan.
A moment later, Rachel takes off Wangnan's cuffs, but he asks what she's trying to pull here. Rachel remains confused by the question, to which Wangnan yells at her that he hasn't agreed to work alongside her. He asks once more why he's being set free since to him, he sees Rachel as an enemy that killed his companion in cold blood.
Rachel answers that it's because she needs to show a bit of faith if she ever wants to succeed in making Wangnan her ally, and points out how even now, Wangnan isn't attacking her out of revenge. However, Wangnan orders her not to kid herself since he will never be her companion. He warns her that he would gladly snap Rachel's neck this very moment if he could.
Rachel remains silent for a bit regarding Wangnan's threat, but returns back to wanting to hear Wangnan's answer. He remains confused by the order, which Rachel explains that she's used to being hated while coming up the Tower that it even reached a point where a man was trying to kill her. She asks how this isn't the case in the Tower since even if people aren't close friends or companions, they can still use the excuse of fake friendships and such to help each other achieve their goals together.
Rachel states that her offer to Wangnan isn't asking him to become her friend or companion. She explains that she's just someone who wishes to climb the Tower like everyone else, and in return, she's offering Wangnan the chance to save his companions life, as well as his very ideals. Wangnan remains silent thinking it over, but comes to a decision that he will go along with it. He agrees to climb the Tower alongside Rachel, which causes her to smile in excitement. However, in return, he asks for her to let Miseng go so that she can be at Horyang's side when Cassano finally returns to fix him, which Rachel agrees to do.
Clenching his bloody fists in anger, Wangnan also says that he has one thing to say to Rachel that she shouldn't forget as they go about climbing the Tower together, which confuses her. Crying out, he makes it clear that someday, he will absolutely make her pay for the crime of killing Akraptor. Rachel remains silent towards the threat, but agrees that she will keep that in mind. Elsewhere, Khun's training is wrapped up for the day, which Evan informs him that they're done for today. Khun remains exhausted on the floor, and complains that this training seems a bit too excessive since he never got much time to rest.
Trying to catch his breath, Khun points out how brutal the training is, and calls Evan a demonic dwarf. Evan replies that he warned Khun ahead of time how hard the training was going to be, and reminds Khun that it was the Regular asking for this to begin with. The guide Ranker also points out how dwarves happen to be a higher, and much more ancient, species than the human race that is Khun.
Khun agrees that he understands all this, but admits that his skills must have gotten better at this point. He asks for Evan's opinion, which causes the dwarf Ranker to look at the rubik's cube-like lighthouses that Khun is now able to control. Evan admits that Khun's skills have indeed improved a bit, but it is still not nearly good enough to be up to his standards. Changing the subject, Evan points out how this current group of Regulars is hard to figure out for him, which catches Khun's attention.
Evan explains how he knows the Regulars surrounding Bam are aiming to follow along with him to the 43rd Floor of Death. However, he reminds Khun that it's known as the most dangerous place of the Ranker, even when it comes to the higher Floors. Evan states that he understands why Bam is going since it's for the sake of finding out answers about his true self, but his confusion amounts to not knowing why Khun and the rest of Bam's companions are choosing to also enter the Floor of Death.
Khun answers that he can't really speak for the rest of Bam's companions. However, for himself, something became clear to him the moment he first saw Bam wielding the Black March back on the 2nd Floor. Evan remains confused by what Khun means by that, which Khun answers that the day he first met Bam, his thought was that if he was to follow the boy holding the Black March, then something very interesting was going to happen. Evan asks if Khun is implying that the latter is just following after Bam out of fun.
Khun answers that that was indeed how it started for him, but eventually, it turned into something that was beyond just having fun. That he absolutely needed to keep following after Bam. Khun explains that it's just a feeling of his that things will come to an end at this point if he was to let go of Bam. He states to Evan that life itself might actually not have any real meaning once one really thinks it over. Khun then asks if it really is considering living just by being able to breath, or still have blood flowing through one's body.
Continuing his speech, Khun points out that in order to find the meaning as to why he was born, and is currently living, the only answer is that he needed to find something that was more important than that. Khun then adds that his life would turn out meaningless if he was to miss something that comes up where he has to put his life on the line in order to keep going along with it. As a result, Khun says to Evan what he truly feels, which is that the end of the world will happen if Bam isn't around.
Khun explains how such a feeling is why he sort of understands by Bam went about waiting for Rachel every day. He figures that Bam was probably thinking similar to how Khun now thinks of Bam that the end of the world was going to happen if Rachel truly did disappear.
Khun then claims how insane this all turned out to be, because he never thought he would be able to understand the relationship between Bam and Rachel. Having heard Khun's speech, Evan replies that he sort of understands Khun's situation, because climbing up the Tower alongside an Irregular can be seen as a special event for ordinary Regulars. Khun says back that he doesn't mind if Evan chooses to see it that way.
Evan asks what Khun plans to do now since Bam will continue to grow into a monstrous boy with each passing year, and will become increasingly difficult for those around Bam to catch up to him in strength. The dwarf Ranker points out that a shark like Bam won't be able to swim with his minnow companions forever. Khun thinks it over, and answers that he will go as far as he can. He then asks Evan for them to get back to their training, which the dwarf guide replies that it seems the light-bearer has finally come back to his senses.
Back to the Rice Pot room, Bam watches in amazement at the red colored Shinsu Black-hole Sphere that was created by the God of Guardians. Bam thinks over how amazing it looks, and that he can tell that the Shinsu of the surrounding area is been sucked into the spot of the sphere. Deducing how the Shinsu Black-hole Sphere works, Bam realizes that the ball is designed to absorb all the surrounding Shinsu, and then blows up once enough has been gathered. He continues to watch until the Shinsu Black-hole Sphere finally explodes. The God of Guardians asks if Bam got to see what it did using the basics to create the Shinsu Black-hole Sphere.
The guardian explains how he drew in the Shinsu of the surrounding area to a single point, and describes it as basically being an explosion of space. However, the God of Guardians points out how this type of Shinsu control is impossible for normal Regulars, and that despite the guardian being a user, it can only use the Shinsu Black-hole Sphere within the Hell Train. The God of Guardians informs Bam that if he was to learn this skill, then he will have mastered a type of Shinsu control on a level higher than all other Regulars. He states to Bam that even a small hit of this kind of Shinsu will be enough to allow Bam to potentially destroy a gigantic world. Bam remains confused by what the God of Guardians described to him as the Shinsu Black-hole Sphere is fundamentally different from anything he's learned so far.
The God of Guardians remains surprised by the answer, which Bam explains that while he understands to a certain extent the new enhancement skill that the God of Guardians taught him, the skill known as the Shinsu Black-hole Sphere is so fundamentally different that he's not able to understand how it works. Bam instead suggests for the God of Guardians to attack him using the Shinsu Black-hole Sphere, which said guardian replies that he's already told the boy several times that he can't do that. The God of Guardians asks if Bam is trying to get himself killed, and warns the boy that it's too dangerous to take a direct attack from such a skill.
In return, Bam yells out that he will definitely be able to withstand it since it would be the fastest way for him to learn the skill. The God of Guardians once against says he won't do it since the Shinsu Black-hole Sphere is on a level higher than the boy's body will be able to bear. It also adds that even if it was able to control the Shinsu Black-hole Sphere to a certain extent, it still won't be a guarantee that Bam won't end up with some sort of incurable trauma on the body and mind trying to withstand the attack. The God of Guardians admits that getting strong is important, but it will all turn out to be meaningless if one was to end up destroying themselves doing it.
However, Bam yells once more that he will be fine. He asks for the God of Guaridans to please hit him with the Shinsu Black-hole Sphere as there are more important things around him than even his own life. Thinking it over, the God of Guardians is left thinking that the boy really is an odd one. Returning to the jail room, Miseng remains alone as she sees Wangnan returning to her through the door. Wangnan returns to sit at the spot he was originally chained at, which Miseng asks what the Rachel girl possibly did to him.
Wangnan answers her that he agreed to climb the Tower with them, which shocks Miseng. She asks what Wangnan means by that, and why he would decide to climb with these kinds of people. Miseng also reminds him that they killed Prince and Akraptor, which is all the more reason to fight them rather than climb the Tower as their ally.
Wangnan answers that his choice is to save Horyang. He explains to Miseng that he made a deal where she would be set free, and that they would take the time to save Horyang, as long as Wangnan agreed to climb the Tower with them. Miseng remains silent unable to believe what she's hearing as Wangnan states that they're probably aiming to take him as a hostage given that he's already proven to be tough and hard to kill off. Wangnan tells Miseng to go with Cassano, and get off the Hell Train at the next station. He orders Miseng to go save Horyang, and forget about everything that's happened here on the Hell Train. Wangnan asks for Miseng to live her life as if she has nothing to do with him, which leaves Miseng stunned.
Three days later, the Hell Train begins its departure from the 40th Floor's Mushroom Farm station as the Regulars of said station are all seen yelling out to Hockney begging him not to leave them. Meanwhile, Endorsi's training with Yuri continues while Khun does the same with Evan.
At another location, the Boro, Sachi, Bero, Irure, and Hockney group are seen together. Boro and Sachi fight against a group of Hell Train guardians as their means of training while Irure watches Hockney paint a picture of Bero. At that same time during Bam's training, he stands ready as the God of Guardians sends the Shinsu Black-hole Sphere towards the boy.
Two months later, the Hell Train has made its way to the 42nd Floor station known as the Black Mountain. Sachi, Boro, and Bero, gather at the Hell Train side-entrance to discuss their current situation, which Sachi explains that it took two months, but they've finally arrived at the 42nd Floor station. He also reminds them that at this point, all that remains is the next Floor known as the 43rd Floor of Death. Knowing that the 42nd Floor station is a place known as the Black Mountain, Boro points out how it's such a tough place to climb up to. As a result of the place being really high up, most Express Ticket holders will chose to give up trying to board the Hell Train here.
However, Boro warns them that despite the people giving up, there will definitely still be some people left over who made it that will be waiting at the Black Mountain station platform to try to get on the Hell Train. Boro states that the reason the Express Ticket holders gather here is primarily because of one thing.
That it's the shortest length for people to ride the Hell Train to the Floor of Death only having to travel between one Floor. He adds that while he feels a bit bad about it, they have no choice but to disqualify all the newcomers who try to make it onto the Hell Train here. At this point, Miseng calls out to the them, which surprises Sachi, Boro, and Bero. The three of them look to Miseng's direction, and see that Cassano is now beside her.
Seeing Cassano before them causes Sachi, Boro, and Bero to prepare for battle. Boro asks Miseng what happened to go so far as to stand beside one of their enemies. However, Miseng asks for them to stand aside so that Cassano can leave the Hell Train. Despite the three of them remaining on guard, Miseng explains that Cassano has agreed to fix Horyang, which shocks them. Boro asks why Cassano has suddenly decided to have a change of heart, which Miseng apologizes for as she's in a position where she can't provide them the details as to why it's turned out this way. She begs them to trust her just this one time as Cassano leaving is for the sake of saving her companion's life.
Moments later, Sachi, Boro, and Bero are shown to have agreed with Miseng as Cassano is seen walking down the platform stairwell towards the 42nd Floor's Black Mountain station. The three of them stand before Miseng wondering how this happened for Cassano to suddenly change his mind. Miseng states that it's too difficult to explain except that her team succeeded in saving Horyang. She asks at the very least for the group to accept this, but also tells them that there's another reason things turned out this way. Two months beforehand moments after Wangnan told Miseng to forget about him, Miseng replies that she doesn't want to.
The answer confuses Wangnan, which Miseng answers that she doesn't wish to part ways with Wangnan here, and that if Wangnan is choosing to go along with Team Rachel, then she wants to come along as well. Wangnan asks if Miseng is insane wanting to go along with Team Rachel, but before he could tell her what could happen, Miseng answers that she already knows she could die going along with this. She states that she's fine with this, and is something she's already accepted from the very first day that she entered the Tower as a Regular.
Miseng continues to speak that Akraptor and Prince would have felt the same way as her. That they climbed up the Tower knowing that they could die at any time. As a result, she orders Wangnan to stop trying to protect her as if she's just a little kid. Miseng states that while she doesn't understand why Wangnan has decided to climb with Team Rachel, she still wants to continue climbing the Tower alongside Wangnan as she's not afraid at all of dying. She makes it clear that it would be better for her to die off rather than just run away after watching Akraptor and Prince die in front of her.
Wangnan asks if Miseng is serious about this, to which she answers that she is. Thinking it over, Wangnan warns Miseng that he's not sure he will be able to protect her if something dangerous was to pop up siding with Team Rachel. However, Miseng answers that she's ok with this as she can take care of herself, and is someone who never trusted Wangnan to begin with, which shocks Wangnan. Accepting Miseng's will, Wangnan asks if she can do him a favor, which catches Miseng's attention. He explains that she will be the one that follows along with Cassano as he departs the Hell Train to head back to Horyang. While following Cassano, Miseng will pass on words that Wangnan is about to tell her, and if she happens to come across some of Bam's companions along the way, don't say anything about this to them.
Returning to the present, Miseng tells Boro, Sachi, and Bero that if Miseng feels empty while Wangnan's not around, she can use Emile to ask for the Yellow Prince to find out how Wangnan is doing currently. She explains that this is the Yellow Prince's message that should be passed onto Viole so that Bam will have a way to find out how the Yellow Prince is doing. With that said, Miseng says her goodbye, and turns around to leave. Sachi calls out to her, still confused over this, but Miseng continues to run away.
Boro notes how she mentioned the Yellow Prince, and deduces that she's obviously talking about Sweet and Sour. Sachi agrees with it, and states that something must have happened regarding that team. As a result, Sachi also points out that it's probably best to not tell Miseng about what happened to Ehwa at the Name Hunt Station bridge if something bad really did happen to her other Sweet and Sour teammates. Continuing to watch Miseng run away, Sachi points out how even though they've only known Miseng for a brief time, it already feels like she's suddenly become an adult. Meanwhile, Cassano nears the end of the platform staircase leading down to the 42nd Floor's Black Mountain station.
The Regulars waiting at the station platform point out how someone appears to be coming towards them, and wonder if the guy on the staircase is perhaps an Express Ticket holder. The Regulars figure that this is their chance to obtain an Express Ticket as they decide to attack Cassano. In return, the Devil of the Right Arm activates his left Devil Arm preparing for a fight. Cassano thinks back to what Hoaqin told him about emotions being a cumbersome accessory if one wants to be a sharp weapon. He remembers how Hoaqin told him to get rid of his emotions if he wants to be a true weapon, which causes Cassano to ask himself if he's better off just doing as he's told. Cassano questions if he should do this given that Hoaqin's request is hard to understand as he hits the Black Mountain Regulars before him with his Devil Arm. He then thinks back to something else that happened walking to the side-entrance with Miseng at his side.
As the two of them walk through the Hell Train, Miseng calls out Cassano that she knows he obviously has no intention in saving Horyang, and that the only reason he's going along with this is because it was a request from Rachel to head back. Miseng figures that Cassano is most likely planning on betraying her the moment he gets off the Hell Train, and asks if her deduction is correct, but Cassano doesn't say anything back. She continues to speak to him that Wangnan wants Cassano to know that the Devil of the Right Arm isn't going to gain anything from this as long as he continues to remain in FUG. However, Miseng also informs Cassano of something else Wangnan said to her if the Devil of the Right Arm does return to fix Horyang. That if Horyang is fixed, Wangnan will grant Cassano what he's been wishing for.
At another Hell Train location, Hoaqin meets with Rachel to ask what she's attempting to pull here. He asks if she's out of her mind letting hostages join their team, and even going so far as to go along with their request. Hoaqin points out how the two hostages are nothing but useless losers, but Rachel answers that that's kind of harsh given that she's trying so hard to appease them, which confuses Hoaqin even further.
Rachel reminds Hoaqin that it was he who originally wanted to make them teammates in the first place, which enrages Hoaqin, reminding her that him being willing back then was a deception for the trap plan. She then points out how she's not confident in being able to survive the Floor of Death while also having to watch over hostages.
As a result, it's easier to just have them cooperate with Team Rachel, and that there's no problem here if the hostages don't refuse to help them, which enrages Hoaqin even further. At this point, Wangnan enters the room having finally been allowed to clean himself up.
Wangnan orders Hoaqin to quit complaining, and that the reason they've decided to cooperate with Team Rachel is because they were feeling bad that Rachel's group is being forced to do all the hard work. He asks if there's any other problems here, which shocks Hoaqin seeing the yellow-head in front of him. Wangnan assures Hoaqin that the latter has nothing to worry about as they don't plan to stab Team Rachel in the back.
He even states that he will help Team Rachel locate the Thorn fragment that was hidden away somewhere on the Floor of Death. Wangnan states that this is all a price worth paying as it's all for the sake of saving Horyang. Hoaqin remains confused as to what the yellow-guy is thinking here as Wangnan orders him once more to drop the suspicion that he will somehow be a disturbance to them.
Wangnan reminds them that they're now in no position to do anything foolish here since the Floor of Death is just up ahead, which catches Hoaqin and Rachel's attention. He states to the two of them that they should use this time to discuss what to do in the future, and asks Rachel and Hoaqin what his job will be. In his mind, Wangnan thinks to himself that he has no choice but to cooperate for now, but when he gets the chance on the Floor of Death, he will use it to end Rachel's life.
Meanwhile at the Rice Pot room, a bloodied and injured Bam is seen lying on the floor completely exhausted after withstanding the God of Guardian's Shinsu Black-hole Sphere. Holding up his right hand, a Shinsu Black-hole Sphere is seen above Bam. The sight of it excites Bam as he realizes that he managed to create his own Shinsu Black-hole Sphere.
Hell Train: Wangnan Tropes
- Arc Villain: Team Rachel serves as this for this arc.
- Breather Episode: In a way, this can be seen as a short breather arc between Name Hunt Station and the Floor of Death, but even then, it's still a major Wham Episode.
- Character Death: Akraptor and Prince die for Sweet and Sour.
- Character Development: Miseng acts like more of an adult nowadays compared to when she was just the little kid that had to be watched out for when Sweet and Sour was climbing up the lower Floors.
- Cliffhanger: The new combined Wangnan and Team Rachel team prepare for arrival at the 43rd Floor of Death.
- Crazy-Prepared: Team Rachel puts their own trap over Sweet and Sour's trap on Cassano.
- A Day in the Limelight: For Sweet and Sour...but not in a good way.
- Exposition: Some of Rachel's dialogue attempting to convince Wangnan to join her team comes of as this explaining how Jahad's key locking off the door to the 135th Floor was made.
- Flashback: A flashback for Sweet and Sour occurs where Akraptor discusses with Wangnan how he considers Sweet and Sour his family, and how Wangnan is the center that keeps Sweet and Sour together.
- Forced into Evil: Wangnan decides to join up with Rachel in return for Cassano heading back to heal Horyang of his coma, and to let Miseng go. He's also going along with Rachel in the hopes of one day getting back at her for killing Akraptor.
- Heroic Sacrifice:
- Akraptor make Rachel kill him with his own umbrella weapon in order to save Wangnan.
- Prince asks for Hoaqin to eat him in order to save Miseng.
- Hostage Situation: Wangnan and Miseng are taken captive since according to Rachel, a sacrifice is needed for them to make it into the 43rd Floor of Death.
- The Plan: Sweet and Sour tries to infiltrate Team Rachel for the purpose of getting to Cassano. It doesn't end well for them.
- Next Tier Power-Up: For Bam's group.
- Bam goes through training with the God of Guardians to learn how to use the Shinsu Black-hole Sphere.
- Khun goes through intense training with Evan.
- Endorsi goes through intense training with Yuri.
- Shout-Out: Continuing the Pokémon references, the way Sweet and Sour captured Cassano is very similar to how a trainer catches a Pokémon.
- Wham Episode: Sweet and Sour goes through quite a disaster here. Their plan to capture Cassano fails due to falling into Team Rachel's trap, which results in Wangnan and Miseng getting taken captive, and Akraptor and Prince getting killed off.
- Wham Shot:
- Rachel appearing before Sweet and Sour revealing to them that Wangnan and company are caught in a trap.
- Bam asking the God of Guardians to help him become a god.
- Rachel knowing Wangnan's identity as the Prince of the Red-Light-District.
- Wangnan agreeing to join Team Rachel.
- Cassano standing alongside Miseng since the former has agreed to head back to fix Horyang now that Wangnan is a part of Team Rachel.
