The Last Station and the War of the 43rd Floor

Lore & Background

The 43rd Floor was once a prosperous domain under Jahad's administrators, its cities bustling with Rankers and citizens alike. Then came Enryu, a mysterious Irregular bearing a mission from an outside god. He unleashed a torrent of shinsu so vast and violent that it killed the Guardian of the floor—a being thought immortal and invincible. The Guardian's death did more than shatter the floor's ecosystem; it twisted the very shinsu of the region, leaving the land a barren, toxic wasteland now called the 'Floor of Death.' The floor remains connected to the Tower's network (e.g., it can be accessed via the Hell Train), though its shinsu is unstable and lethal, making it largely uninhabitable and avoided by most factions. In the aftermath, there is no record of Jahad's forces attempting to reclaim the floor; its abandonment is attributed to its lethality, not a war. The Last Station battle—a separate event in the current timeline—involved FUG and Jahad's forces, but it is not described as a 'War of the 43rd Floor' or a conflict that began with the Guardian's murder. Today, the floor stands as a monument to defiance, its ruined landscape whispering the cost of rebellion.

In Their Own Story

The shinsu screamed as it tore through the air—a crimson tide that swallowed everything: buildings, soldiers, even the sky itself. On the 43rd Floor, the ground split open in jagged chasms, and the Guardian let out a final, deafening roar that shook the Tower's foundations. Enryu stood alone in the epicenter, his hands glowing with power that should not exist in this world—a power that bent the laws of shinsu to their breaking point. The Administrator of Jahad's forces watched from a distant balcony, his face pale, as their invincible protector dissolved into particles of light, scattering like embers into the void. 'This is the will of the god who opposes the King,' Enryu said, his voice flat and cold, before he vanished without a trace. The floor fell silent, its inhabitants either dead or fled, leaving only the echoes of a war that had just begun.

Reader's Guide

The event begins with Enryu's arrival on the 43rd Floor, where he single-handedly kills the Guardian using an overwhelming, almost divine amount of shinsu—an act that collapses the floor's natural order. This triggers a massive power vacuum, and FUG, led by the shadowy figure Luslec, seizes the opportunity to establish a fortified base. The War of the 43rd Floor follows as a series of brutal skirmishes between FUG and Jahad's army, with high-rankers from both sides clashing in the unstable terrain. Key participants include figures like Luslec himself, though specific names remain scarce in canon. The war ends inconclusively, leaving the floor a no-man's-land where shinsu itself is a weapon. Its impact is profound: it proves that Guardians can be killed, inspires other rebellions across the Tower, and introduces the concept of 'Irregulars' as existential threats to the hierarchy. The event is referenced throughout the series, especially during the Hell Train and Hidden Floor arcs, as a cautionary tale of unchecked power and the cost of defiance.

Did You Know?

• The 43rd Floor is also called the 'Floor of Death' because its Guardian's death made the shinsu unstable and lethal to most beings.
• Enryu is the only known Irregular to have killed a Guardian, and his actions are still not fully understood by characters in the story.
• The Workshop's involvement with the Floor of Death is not documented in the story, and there is no evidence they studied its shinsu properties to create powerful items.
• Luslec's role in the events surrounding the 43rd Floor is not mentioned in the story; his personal participation is unconfirmed.