END vs Zahard

Background
The 5 members of END quickly took their places in the High Rankers after they cleared it. After a year or so of them observing Zahard's true nature, they all agreed that this empire was corrupt and limiting. They lodged a complaint to the King himself, but it was largely ignored and they were sternly reprimanded. Outraged, they began to train in earnest.

5 months later, the #4 Ranker at the time, Lodeus, the Green Riptide, came to them in private. He expressed sympathy for their caused and pledged his loyalty to help them change this kingdom. They began to create a petition against Zahard, gathering millions of pledges from the regulars and rankers. He finally agreed to listen to their demands and allowed the now 6-member END to enter the throne room. Lodeus was chief adviser and Wave Controller to King Zahard himself, which guaranteed their audience.

Instead, they were quickly surrounded by RED, Zahard's police, and other High Rankers. trapped with no way to escape, Lodeus decided to sacrifice himself to save END. They managed to escape, but not before Lodeus was "executed for high treason." Completely enraged, END declared that they would be back for Zahard's head.

At first, END was seen as a small insurrectionist group that was simply being noisy. They were disregarded until they did the unthinkable; they attacked Floor 25 and murdered the Ruler of that floor: Ranker #8, Lord Renekten. Before Zahard's forces could react, they began to blast their way up the floors, killing anyone stopping them from reaching the top. After END killed another High Ranker, Lord Inamous of Floor 75, Zahard declared a state of emergency and called all Rankers to Floor 100. END proceeded to Floor 100 with no remaining resistance.

Pre-battle
When both sides finally clashed in Zahard's throne room, END's forces numbered 5:
 * Vale, Red Lotus and Fisherman.
 * Vera, White Harpoon and Spear Bearer.
 * Blue Breeze, the Scout.
 * Amelie, Yellow Foxfire, the Light Bearer.
 * Black Ripple, the Wave Controller.

Zahard's forces numbered:
 * Zahard, the #1 Ranker and ruler of the tower, matched by none.
 * Kronos, the #2 Ranker and Chief of Police. A Light Bearer without equal.
 * Part of RED, the Royal Enforcement Division.
 * 60 or so of the High Rankers.

It was against these fortified, impossible odds that END attacked head-on.

Battle
The actual began when END broke down the Great Doors and rushed in without warning. Due to the speed of the attack, 5 or so High Rankers were killed due to a combination of Shinsoo attacks from Vera and Black Ripple. They then counter attacked, but Amelie easily guided the group through the maze of attacks to kill a few more of the High Rankers. Even the entire group lunged at END together, they were repulsed by a variety of combined Shinsoo attacks. As such, they began to sustain heavy damage.

Upon realizing that such tactics would be ineffective against END, Zahard ordered RED to enter the fight from behind. Their surprise assault caught END's rear line off guard, but Blue Breeze dashed over immediately to protect them. The battle became a bit stalemated, with Vale and Vera holding the front while Black Ripple and Blue Breeze defended the rear. Amelie, in the middle of the two groups, continued to rattle off evasive orders to both sides, keeping them alive.

END then suddenly switched tactics and Black Ripple suddenly shifted her attention to the High Rankers in the front and Amelie suddenly covered the rear. With a flurry of blasts, a hole appeared in their lines and Vale rushed straight through. He headed straight for King Zahard himself, but was stopped by Kronos. They engaged in one on one combat, and Vera could not interfere due to the numerous high rankers in the path.

(The strategy above was considered absurd; how could Vale, a mere high ranker, have even a shot at killing Zahard, the #1? As such, some claim that END had a secret weapon they never revealed.

At this point in the battle, END was quite weary. However, they had managed to kill 30 or so of the High Rankers and 10 RED units. Blue Breeze was quite injured from engaging so many units at once, while Black Ripple and Vera had minor injuries. Amelie was forced to join the fight to maintain the lines.

Deciding to finish off the group once and for all, Zahard stepped into the fight between Vale and Kronos, easily overwhelming Vale. Realizing that their situation was now impossible, Amelie signaled the group to abandon the earlier strategy and rush to Vale. Zahard and Kronos then engaged them in 2v5 combat, although END was badly wounded by this point. Wounded as END was, Kronos was forced out, sustaining numerous heavy injuries to his left torso and arm. Zahard fought on alone, commanding his men to not interfere in the King's battle.

The battle between the rebels and the King went down in the Tower's history. END, although greatly wounded and exhausted, managed to fight the king on even terms for an unspecified amount of time. Even though Zahard's attacks were incredibly powerful and bonecrushing, the front line managed to hold together and allow the rear to barrage him. The throne room where they clashed never fully recovered from the destructive shinsoo traces.

Eventually, faced with unsurpassable power, END's front line finally collapsed before Zahard. Before he could deal Vale a finishing strike, Vera rushed in and blocked the strike with her body. Ripple did the same for Breeze. Amelie, genius as she was, knew that little else could be done. She shouted something and her Light Cube began to whir and transform. As Zahard readied the final blow, Ripple's wings suddenly flicked upwards and a blinding flash of light consumed the room. When it cleared, END was declared to be dead and Zahard the victor.

Aftermath
Though Zahard had won the battle, the injuries he sustained were incredible, forcing him into hibernation to recover for hundreds of years. During this time, he set Kronos as the ruler of the tower. However, Kronos had permanently wounded his torso and left arm.

RED lost around 20 units in the fight, a few being high ranking officers. Likewise, 30 High Rankers died in combat.

All of END's members were considered dead.

Following this spectacular battle, rebel factions sprung up and united into White Wing.

The throne room could never be repaired. Apparently Black Ripple and White Harpoon together had an interesting mix of shinsoo. When their attacks hit the same spot, the object could never recover. It would simply crumble back to its damaged state. As such, the throne room became the Throne of Ruin.

The story is taught in schools, but never references why END rebelled against Zahard and what they individually were like. Only the most learned historical scholars can recall the original members.