《Monarch of Gluttony: System of Sin》 Chapter 1 1: Price Of Hunger Hunger... Frightening Hunger... Azekiel had never felt such hunger in his twenty-five years of life as he did now. It had been twenty days since hest ate. He hadn''t even had a single grain of rice in thest twenty days. His frail bodyid weakly on the ground as his stomach kept growling. There were multiple wounds on his chest, as if someone had scratched him brutally. These scratches were all over his body. Other than these scratches, there were also some whip marks on his back as if he was brutally beaten. Heid bare-chested, weakly staring at the roof of his dark cell. His vision was already dark. He couldn''t see anything. He justid nkly. A single tear left his eyes. He didn''t know how long he was going to live anymore. He wished for death. He desired death. Unfortunately, he couldn''t even kill himself as his hands and legs were both tied with a rope to stop him from harming himself. It was evident that whoever did it wanted Azekiel to die of hunger. Tuck~ The metallic door in the small cell opened, making a screeching sound. A dark-haired man stepped inside the cell and observed the condition. He could see water on the floor, which clearly wasn''t drinking water. With a disgusted look on his face, he red at Azekiel. "You still haven''t died, you bastard. I''m surprised yousted so long." Azekiel nced toward the source of the voice. Even though he couldn''t see anything, he could still hear something. "It''s alright. Live as long as you want to. The longer you live, the more we can enjoy your suffering for the crime youmitted!" The man chuckled. He brought a small vial out of his pocket and stepped closer to Azekiel. "Here, today''s quota of water. Even we aren''t that cruel." He opened the small vial, only as long as his finger, which barely had any water. He poured the water inside the mouth of Azekiel before he turned. "It''s the twentieth day today. I wonder if you''llst twenty-one? Maybe more? You know, outside, they have started betting on how long you''llst." "What did you bet on?" Azekiel weakly asked. "Hah, I betted on seventeen days. I already lost, thanks to you," the dark-haired man rolled his eyes. "I guess I apologize for not dying fast enough," Azekiel sarcastically answered. He could barely even speak, but he didn''t stay silent. "Hahaha, it''s alright. My wife has bet on twenty-one days. So please live one more day. That would be enough." The man burst intoughter as he started leaving. "You can die in peace tomorrow.'' He stopped right at the door before ncing back. "Oh right, one more news. King of Pride has already cleared the tenth floor. I thought you would like to know that. If only you could see the rewards, we received for it." With a wide grin on his face, the man stepped out of the cell. He closed the metallic doors behind him, sealing Azekiel once again. Azekiel closed his eyes, still tormented by hunger. ''One day or the other, I will die. But if there''s a next life, I swear I would kill you all.'' He couldn''t believe he was here after everything he had done for these people. For thest five years, he had been working for the King of Pride as a porter, carrying heavy stuff for him, collecting items and all. He had lived thest five years of his life only for the King of Pride since he didn''t have enough strength to survive on his own in the Tower of Sin. However, one mistake! All he did was one mistake, and that man didn''t think twice before dering the punishment that Azekiel would be killed with hunger! All because Azekiel was hungry and ate one of the rice balls from the te of King of Pride before delivering it. For the single sin, he was punished to his cruel death with no way of escape. Only he knew how cruel thest few weeks had been for him and how embarrassing. He was whipped and beaten often, and that wasn''t even the worst part. It was only a miracle that he was still alive; however, he knew he couldn''tst long. His breathing was already feeble, and he could feel it. His end was near. He wasn''t even sure if he could survive one more day. After a few hours, Azekiel closed his eyes, falling asleep. Unfortunately, this wasn''t an ordinary sleep. He had fallen to his eternal sleep, finally bing free of these cruel shackles! Finally, he couldn''t feel pain. Finally, he didn''t feel hungry. Death came, but it wasn''t all that bad since that''s what Azekiel had begged for all this while. The scary thoughts ceased to exist. The world returned to silence... However, no one knew that it wasn''t the end of Azekiel. It was just the beginning of his legend. It was the start of his legend... The legend which was going to put fear in the hearts of everyone: gods and demons! It was just the silence before the storm... ***** The world had long turned dark for Azekiel, even before his death. He had mostly lost his vision. With his death, he thought he was never going to regain that light. He was never going to feel that happiness of watching the world again. He was never going to feel any senses that weren''t apanied with pain; however, something changed. The darkness started disappearing as he felt light through his closed eyes. He was also able to hear some chatter in the surrounding area. He wondered if he was still alive? Did he still not die? Why wasn''t he feeling the pain in that case? Moreover, why was he sensing the light in the surrounding area? How did light enter the dark cell? He opened his eyes swiftly as his brows furrowed. As soon as he opened his eyes, he felt some pain in his eyes. His eyes got wet. He hastily closed them again. This time, he slowly opened them just to let him be safe. "What? I am outside?" he recognized the scenes in his surroundings. It wasn''t the cell on the ninth floor! It was Floor Zero, where his story had started five years ago. He found himself in a massive hall with thousands of people in the surrounding, cheering for something. He could see a massive screen at the front as well, which was showing some scenes of a battle in which a man was fighting multiple monsters. Seeing the man on the screen, Azekiel subconsciously clenched his teeth. That bastard was the one person he hated the most, but he wasn''t the only one. He was none other than the King of Pride, one of the six King of Sins of the tower! ''That bastard! All because he received a System of Sin of Pride, he thinks he is the King of this Tower! I might be weak, but I swear I will kill you,'' he thought, gazing at the screen. Azekiel didn''t only hate the King of Pride, though. He hated every person in this ce! When his punishment was announced, not a single person here had asked for mercy for Azekiel. Instead, they all cheered when the King of Pride dered the punishment for the minor crime of Azekiel. He still remembered the faces of all these people when they asked for him to be killed brutally for his crime. Many even yelled that he didn''t deserve to live. The more Azekiel saw these people, the more he hated them. His heart was already hollow of all thepassion for these people, only to be filled with darkness. As Azekiel tried to think if he was really here or just dreaming, he saw a semi-transparent screen pop up before him. [Congrattions] [Your Sin has been recognized!] [Sin selected: Gluttony] [Title Received: King of Gluttony] [System of Gluttony has been received!] [Tap for more information] Chapter 2 2: Curiosity Is Gluttony! Azekiel sat frozen in his ce as he saw what was happening before him! He couldn''t believe his eyes as he went through the words on the screen again and again to make sure he wasn''t reading wrong. Fortunately, no one else could see the screen that he could; otherwise, there would''ve been amotion in the tower! The Seventh King of Sin had appeared in the Tower! It wasn''t a minor thing! ''I... I got a system of my own? And it''s a Major Sin? How? No one has received a System after the day of awakening when we all first entered this tower. How did I get it now after three years from our time of entry? From what we all knew, only Sins that youmitted in your life before entering the tower counted in the selection. So how?'' He weakly raised his head towards the roof as a pitiful smile spread across the lips. "Did the Devil take pity on me?" he muttered. No one knew who had made this tower and where these Systems came from. But since this ce was called the Tower of Sin, everyone had assumed that it was the Lord of Hell, the Devil, who had made this Tower. People didn''t hate that though. Just as God had failed to protect them from the apocalypse, the Devil came to the rescue. The people who lived their lives as good people were sidelined, and the Sinners got all the glory with the Systems of Sins that rewarded Sinners. At least, that was the theory that was going around. Honestly, no one could guess what the truth was. Azekiel, who had died from hunger for a petty crime, was back to life. Not only was he back to life, but he was five years back in time, to the ce where it all started. Looking at what was going on on the battle screen, he was sure about where in time he exactly was. He realized that the King of Pride was fighting on the Fourth Floor to clear it. Three years had passed since Lord of Pride had received his System of Pride, and he was already on the fourth floor. Azekiel nced at the man on the screen who often fought alone since he was too prideful. "I don''t know how this is possible, but somehow it''s true. It''s like someone above had listened to me and given me a chance to take my revenge. Oh, sweet destiny... I aming for you..." "Hahaha!" Azekiel burst intoughter, throwing his head back. Even though he wasughing, a lot of anger was hidden behind thatughter and sadness in his eyes. Whenever he recalled the hunger, he went through and the torture, his soul felt a shiver. A tear left his eyes. "Who isughing? Shut up, you bastard!" A shout came from the distance. "Yeah! King of Pride is about to clear the fourth floor! Stopughing like a maniac, and let us watch in peace!" "King Of Pride will soon clear the Fourth Floor! Amazing! He is so amazing! We are so lucky to have him! Now that he will clear the floor, we should be getting more tasty food!" A man eximed aloud, looking at the massive holographic screen before him. There was no limit to his excitement. "Yayyyy!" Suddenly there was a loud wave of cheer as the crowd erupted in excitement. "He did it!" The screen showed one handsome man who seemed very prideful. He held a mighty spear in his hand that was covered in the blood of the monster thaty dead before him. There was no one else who was alive to face him anymore. The manzily nced at the dead monster before turning his back on it. "He is so cute! I wish I could be the girlfriend of the King of Pride! My life would''ve been so good! I would''ve been living like a queen!" A youngdy eximed, letting out a sigh. She wasn''t the only one here with the thought though. There was not ady who didn''t have a simr thought; even married ones did. All the men in the tower wanted to be like him, while all the women in the tower crushed on him. He was the Lord of Pride, one of the Six Sin Lords of the Tower of Sin! "Showoff." Azekiel rolled his eyes. He knew the Lord of Pride all too well since he had worked with him. That guy was nothing but an arrogant jerk. The reason he fought alone without a team was because he was too Prideful. Fortunately, this seemed to be working for him so far. The only people in the team of Lord of Pride were the Porters. They were the ordinary humans who weren''t selected as the Lord of Sin. They had no Sin System of their own and worked for the King of Pride. They collected all the spoils for the Lord of Pride and carried the items for him, no matter how heavy. The King of Pride wasn''t alone in it though. There were many Lords of Sins who used porters and hired people from Floor Zero. The only difference was that only King of Pride had a team consisting of only Porters. No other Lord of Sin was in his team, fighting alongside. "If I''m not wrong, one of his Porters has died in this raid. That''s why he''ll be sending someone to Floor Zero to select another Porter for the team. This was where I was selectedst time. I was taken with them to serve them. To serve those bastards who didn''t think twice before tossing me away!" "But this time, things will be different. Before, I wasn''t even a Lord of Sin, let alone a King of Sin. I had nothing. But now, I''m not alone. I am not the same old, weak man!" He gazed at the system screen before him, smiling. His eyes roamed over [Tap for more information] Ignoring the shouts of themoners who cheered for King of Pride, Azekiel tapped the screen. If he wanted to be strong, he couldn''t just be arrogant like the King of Pride. He knew he needed to understand the system and be stronger for his revenge! Without that, he was going to just end up wasting this opportunity. As he tapped for more information, another screen opened before him with multiple options. [System Information] [Mission Information] [Abilities] [Weapon of Sin] [Stats] [Mythical Support] [Weing Bonus] As soon as he tapped the screen, multiple options appeared before him, all different from the other ones. "So this is what the Lord of Sins see. Fascinating..." He had already known about some of these things. There was general information since there were some Lord of Sins who had boasted about this system to show off how important they were. Still, he wanted to go through it himself. He pressed the first option. [System Information] Tap~ [System of Gluttony: A unique system made for the King of Gluttony!] [Description: Hunger is Gluttony, Curiosity is Gluttony, to see is to devour! One of the Seven Major Sins, Gluttony, is something that no one can escape. It''s a necessity, but when this necessity evolves, it bes a Sin worthy of a King!] "One of the Seven Major Sins, Gluttony..." Azekiel sighed. "I already know that. I just hope it can help me ovee the Sin of Pride. I hope you are strong enough for that." As Azekiel talked to himself, his stomach started growling. His hunger was setting in, and it didn''t feel like normal hunger. For some reason, he felt like it was a Hunger same as he experienced on the ninth floor right before his death. It was too much to bear. "How is this possible? I remember this day all too well. In the past, I wasn''t this hungry. Is it because I''m now a King of Gluttony? My Hunger is..." Even though it had only been a few seconds since the hunger set in, he started losing hisposure. He needed to find food at any cost, no matter what happened, even if he had tomit another Sin! This time he wasn''t scared! Moreover, the food stock was controlled by the people under the Lord of Pride. If he was going to do it, what better motivation could he need? He decided to take the system on a test drive. Chapter 3 3: Soul Snatch! "Let''s check the abilities," Azekiel stood up and started advancing towards the farthest end of Floor Zero. He was really curious about the abilities he possessed, especially after seeing the abilities of the King of Pride. If he could have an ability and fighting skills like those, he was going to be set. King of Pride was one of the best when it came to offensive skills, after all. He went back to the screen with options and tapped on [Abilities] Another screen opened before him. There was only one word written on the new screen this time, signifying that he only had one ability so far. [Soul Snatch] He wasn''t disappointed though. In hisst five years, he had understood a lot about such things. He knew that a King of Sin could unlock more abilities as they got stronger. He still remembered seeing the King of Pride using only one skill in his younger days, but when he was on the ninth floor, he had a couple more skills that he used. Azekiel pressed on the name of the skill, wondering what it was. He really prayed it was something worthy. Fortunately, the screen was semi-transparent, so he could still walk without hitting someone along the way. A new screen opened. [Soul Snatch: Hunger of Soul is just as excruciating as the Hunger of Body and Hunger of Mind. Soul Snatch helps you absorb the soul energy of the dead to make you stronger.] [Warning: Can not be used if death urred over twenty-four hours ago] [Skill Advantage: Your stats increase ordingly with Soul Energy collected. You can also use the Soul Energy to Summon a Soul Servant and bind it to you once your Soul Bar is full] "Soul Snatch?" Azekiel repeated. Even though it didn''t seem like a fighting skill, it was an outstanding skill nheless. Especially since it increased his stats. That meant he could just steal souls and get stronger. There were no limits to the usefulness of this skill! It was like his very own cheat! Moreover, the skill didn''t say anything like it only worked on people he killed. So he could use anybody by going to war zones. A smirk formed across the lips of Azekiel as he thought about what it implied. He nced back at the massive screen in the back, on the bodies that were being collected by the Porters. Half of them were going to be carried by them with King of Pride, while the other half of them were going to be sent to Floor Zero. Their meat was going to be sold for a very expensive price. In fact, it was one of the reasons Azekiel had agreed to be a porter in hisst life. He wanted to taste it as well, after living on the bare minimum for a long time, but he couldn''t afford it. So he had applied to be a porter in the selection since the pay was good. "The bodies of those Powerful Beasts will be here soon. If I can get to them and use Soul Snatch, I would be able to increase my strength by a lot. What perfect timing!" he let out a bright smile. The skill he had received wasn''t a fighting skill like the shy skills of King of Pride, but his was very practical. It didn''t need him to do anything. He was just like a vulture who could take advantage of others'' hunts, which was good. He needed strength urgently if he wanted to catch up to the King of Pride and get revenge. And what better skill than this? "You put me to death for eating something? Right?" With a crazy grin, Azekiel gazed at the handsome man on the screen. "Now, I''ll use that same hunger to my advantage! I''ll use something that belongs to you to get stronger, and I''ll use that same strength to kill you. Just wait for me, my dear friend, Michael." That''s right... The King of Pride was none other than a close friend of Azekiel... or rather, a former close friend. His name was Michael. The two of them used to go to school together when they were young. Both of them belonged to a middle-ss household when they were fourteen. Unfortunately, it was around that same time that Michael''s family won the lottery. They suddenly became wealthy and only increased their wealth with multiple smart investments. They shifted to a more affluent neighborhood. Azekiel had never thought that money could change a person so much, but Michael proved him wrong. Michael became an entirely different person. He became more arrogant and prideful. He didn''t even want to be seen with someone like Azekiel as he started hanging out with the rich kids. With time, things only got worse until both of them were seventeen. The Apocalypse arrived. Monsters appeared and razed the cities to the ground. They killed people left and right and destroyed everything in their path. It seemed like the end of humanity was near when theirst hope appeared... The Tower of Sin. Azekiel still remembered that day. It was three years ago from the current day and eight years ago from the time he had died in his original timeline. Azekiel had lost his mother... The only family he had. He still remembered watching a monster tear her apart. The only thing she said at that time was for Azekiel to run and save himself. p He wasn''t the only one who lost someone dear either. Almost everyone in the tower of Sin lost people dear to them, including Michael. Both his parents were dead. Azekiel remembered the day he met Michael inside the tower. He had gone to him to console him, thinking he might be sad after losing his family and wealth. He thought that the two of them were equal once again and they could be friends again, but he only saw the prideful Michael, who had no regret on his face. Instead, he had a smile. Instead of the difference between the two of them decreasing, it had only increased as Michael was selected as one of the Six King of Sins. At the same time, around a Hundred Lord of Sins were chosen as well, who ruled over Minor Sins, unlike the King of Sins who ruled over Major Sins. Meanwhile, Azekial was left in the dust once again, getting nothing. He was left behind, yet he didn''t feel bad about it. He was still happy for Michael. Even as he worked for Michael as a porter, he didn''t feel bad. Even though he was somewhat embarrassed when Michael refused to recognize him and treated him like a servant, Azekiel didn''t mind much. He kept working. It was only on the day when his punishment was dered that he understood... No one was a friend in the Tower of Sin! No one was kind! The man he thought to be his friend not only forgot him but didn''t even hesitate once when sentencing him to death. The Tower had changed everyone! Or maybe the tower just brought out their real selves? The bastardly selves! On the other hand, the people who were just like him, living on Floor Zero, cheered Michael on, asking for Azekiel''s death. "You were right... Friendships are useless. What matters is strength! I will collect all the strength I need to take you down. That will be myst gift to you, my old friend." Azekiel dered, clenching his fist. Now he had the Soul Snatch! The epic ability, which he was really excited about. And the best part was that this was only the first ability. He couldn''t wait to see what more was toe, but first, he needed to eat something. With each passing second, his hunger was only increasing. For a moment, he even felt like he was a beast who was going to lose himself if he didn''t eat anything soon. Chapter 4 4: Selection Of Darkness Azekiel felt as if he was being overwhelmed by hunger. He struggled a lot to keep himself in control because he knew that he still wasn''t strong enough to take out those guards. "If I can have a weapon of Sin, I might be able to scare them." He opened the screen again by pressing a small floating symbol on the rightmost corner of his vision, opening the main menu again. He straight tapped on the option of Weapons. The screen changed. Another screen appeared in its ce. On the new screen, there was only one name... One weapon only. However, no matter what Azekiel tried, he couldn''t read that name. It was as if there was a thinyer of mist on the name, which made it impossible to understand what was written. At the end of the name, there was a ck sign that seemed like a lock. Azekiel pressed on the name, hoping to get something. However, deep down, he had a bad feeling. Tap~ As soon as Azekiel tapped the screen, a small warning sign appeared before him, surprising him. [Warning: Weapon of Sin is not unlocked yet. Please tryter.] "What is this? With Michael, it was unlocked from day one! I saw him use his Spear of Pride on Floor One! How could it be sealed for me? Don''t we have a simr system? Wait? Could it be...?" As Azekiel thought of something, he went back to the main screen. In his haste, he had missed something really important previously. Back on the main screen, Azekiel''s eyes roamed over one specific option, which he had ignored previously due to being in a hurry to eat. [Weing Bonus] "How could I forget this? This must be something good. Michael must''ve received his Spear of Pride from here!" Without thinking twice, he pressed the option. [Three Weing Bonus Cards avable. Each Card contains something unique to you. Only one can be selected. Please select wisely] Three Colorful cards also appeared before Azekiel, floating before him. There was no name on the cards, just a color. The first card had a blood-red color. The second had dark green, while thest had a pitch ck color. On the new screen, Azekiel read the note, which made him slightly annoyed. There were three bonuses, but he could only select one? Does that mean two would disappear forever as soon as he selected one? The worst part was that he couldn''t see what was in each option. All he could see was their colors. "Select wisely, my ass. How can I select anything when I don''t even know what''s in each Card? Isn''t it just blind gambling at this point? What wiseness can I use?" Azekiel rolled his eyes. He was sure that one of these cards had a weapon he needed. As for the other two... He wasn''t sure what could be behind them. Maybe something better than weapons? Maybe something worse? He could easily take as much time as he needed before selection, but he knew that it wasn''t going to do anything. In the end, the choice was going to be between the colors. "The dark red color, it reminds me of my own blood as I was beaten daily... So many bad memories with it. The dark green... The color of the fruit I ate... What started it all. And the pitch ck, my life in the dark room where I waited in agony, waiting for death..." "I can forget what I ate or how much I bled, but I will never forget that darkness and that hunger! That darkness will always stay with me." Azekiel slowly raised his hand toward the pitch-ck card. As soon as he touched the ck card, the other two cards disappeared, leaving only the ck one. Moreover, the illusory ck card became real, something which Azekiel could feel. It was just like an actual card. "Please be a weapon... Please be a weapon..." Azekiel kept repeating as he slowly turned the card around, wondering what was on the other side. He could feel his hand trembling in anticipation and excitement of what this card was going to hold? Was he also going to get an amazing weapon like Michael possessed? "What is this...?" He nkly muttered as soon as he saw the face of the card. There wasn''t much on the card except what appeared like a drawing. The drawing depicted a man... A man with two pitch-ck wings on his back and a lush red apple in his hand as if he was a man roaming in the garden of Eden to eat the forbidden apple. There were three words written on top of the card. "Raphael," Azekiel repeated that name. As soon as he repeated the name, the pitch-ck card started shining in a blinding light. Amidst that light, even Azekiel was forced to close his eyes. He had lived in darkness for so long. This much light was too much for him suddenly. Fortunately, only he could see the card and the light. No one else on Floor Zero could. ,m As the light of the card disappeared, so did the card. Azekiel opened his eyes swiftly as soon as he felt the card missing. "Where did it go?!" He eximed to find the card missing. It was neither in his hand nor on the ground before him. There was also no way that someone could''ve taken that from him. So, where did it go? "Are you looking for me?" A calm voice came from the back, forcing Azekiel to turn back. Did someone catch him? How could someone get so close to him without his knowledge? As soon as Azekiel turned back, he saw a man sitting on one knee behind him. The man... He didn''t look human from any angle. He looked... more like what was depicted in the drawing. The man had a slim figure and looked to be in his mid twenties, slightly older than Azekiel. His beautiful ck wings appeared like the darkness of night hade to life. His long silver hair... As pretty as the moonlight. The man was sitting on one knee before Azekiel, looking up into his eyes. "W-who are you?" Azekiel inquired, stunned. Did the carde to life? "I am Raphael." The man introduced himself in his calm voice. "The General of Gluttony and the faithful servant of the King of Gluttony." "You... Are you my servant?" Azekiel asked again, just to be sure. "Yes. You are the King of Gluttony. I can sense it..." Raphael respectfully stated. Even though Raphael was sitting calmly and talking respectfully, his aura was just so powerful that Azekiel was amazed. His voice had some long of a devilish charm that was filled with authority. "Don''t call me King," Azekiel responded. " I don''t want to share the same title as that bastard, King of Pride." "I see, so the King of Pride is here as well. That is certainly interesting," Raphael muttered, seemingly thinking of something. "What should I address you as?" "You can call me Azekiel. Or if you really want to use a title... Call me anything that''s not King like he is called. You can call me¡­ Monarch... Monarch of Gluttony!" Chapter 5 5: First Taste Of Gluttony! "Monarch of Gluttony... I see. I shall call you that." Raphael nodded respectfully. "Yeah, you can stand now. Don''t be so formal. If you''re going to be working with me, don''t do such things." Azekiel smiled as he reached out his hand. Raphael caught the hand of Azekiel after staring at it nkly for a few minutes before standing up. Grr~ As soon as Azekiel helped Raphael up, his stomach started growling once again, as if warning him. "You are hungry..." Raphael let out, frowning. "The Monarch of Gluttony should never be hungry. You''ll be weakened otherwise." "I know, this hunger is really torturous. But there are guards protecting the food stock. I can''t go there. I''m already weak. I haven''t absorbed any Soul Energy yet. I also haven''t killed anyone to strengthen myself. Currently, I''m just an ordinary human." Azekiel frowned. "Wait! You''re here now! You look strong as well. Can you take out those guards?" So what if he hadn''t received a weapon just yet. That was only a matter of time. With evolution, he was sure he was going to get a weapon of Sin. There were some King of Sins like that who didn''t have a weapon of Sin on the starting floor or didn''t use it. For now, he had something even better. He had Raphael! The General of Gluttony who could fight in his stead as he ate! Raphael shook his head in disappointment. "I can''t." "Why not?" Azekiel asked, stunned. Did he overestimate him? Was Raphael weak like him? "Currently, my body isn''t in material form. I''m not in your realm entirely. So far, only you can see me and touch me. To be summoned into your realm, I need to use your Soul Energy. Only then can I help you," Raphael exined. "Until then, I can''t help you physically, only in other ways." "You need my soul energy? Material Form? Wait a minute. The Soul Energy bar... Now I understand. It said the more soul energy I absorb, not only will my stats improve, but my Soul Energy bar will also start filling up. I could use that to summon... Is that what you''re talking about?" Azekiel inquired. Raphael nodded. "That is it. Currently, you don''t have any Soul Energy that I can use to materialize my body to help you. If you had, I would easily be able to do it." "So in the end, I''m all alone. I need to find another way myself." Azekiel sighed as he nced toward the guards in the distance. First, he thought he could use the weapon of Sin, but that n failed brutally. Then he thought he could use General of Gluttony, Raphael, but that also wasn''t going to work. He had no option left but to do something on his own. "Any ideas how I can get inside that tent without dying?" he asked Raphael. "Distraction," Raphael instantly answered. "And you''ll need a weapon." "Exin?" Raphael started exining the n to Azekiel. So what if he couldn''t help him physically? He was still a really clever person. He was a General and an amazing strategist, after all. Not only did he need the strength to reach where he was but also brain. "This... Might just work," Azekiel repeated. "However, it won''t be easy. I''ve never done something like this." "Don''t worry; I''ll be there with you." Raphaelforted Azekiel, giving him more motivation. However, it wasn''t as if Azekielcked motivation. His hunger was already enough. He couldn''t wait anymore. Azekiel took a deep breath as he ran back to an unknown ce. After a few minutes, he returned. There was a strange look on his face as if he didn''t know what he was doing, but he was sure that this was the only way. If he asked them nicely, they weren''t going to give him anything to eat. These people were ruthless, after all! Especially the guard that stood at the front. Azekiel was never going to forget the face of this man. After one year from now, he was going to join as a Porter with the King of Pride, and five years from now, he was going to be the one whipping Azekiel. If he had to do this to anyone, Azekiel was happy that it was this man. Twelve guards stood before the tent at a significant distance from each other, each carrying a Sword with them. Even though they were sure that no one was going to dare attack something that belonged to the King of Pride, they could never be too safe. Azekiel stopped before the massive tent, standing right before a guard who red at him. "What are you doing here?" the guard asked. "I brought a message," Azekiel answered respectfully. "What message?" the guard inquired, confused. "The King of Pride has arrived!" Azekiel eximed, pointing towards the back. "He did? So fast?" The blonde guard hastily looked in the distance. He thought he was going to taste more delicacy now that the hunts were brought here. Unfortunately, he was quite wrong. Not only was he not going to eat any delicacy now, he was not going to eat any delicacy ever. As soon as the man was distracted, Azekiel brought out the knife that he was hiding behind him and swung him. He had never killed anyone... He had never even hurt anyone or hit them, let alone kill them. He thought all lives were precious. But after being tortured and being whipped even as he cried for forgiveness, he had understood something important. Not everyone was good. None of them hesitated twice before killing him, so why should he hesitate? And if he hesitated now in taking the life of someone who was partially responsible for his death, how was he going to kill Michael? He knew he had to leave his naive mindset behind and be something else entirely! He needed to embrace his gluttony and his hunger for blood! "You gave me something I''ll never forget¡­ let me return the favor!" The knife came swinging. By the time the blonde-haired man realized what had happened, it was already toote. The knife had already stabbed the throat of the man. His eyes opened wide as a sharp knife impaled his neck. He immediately lost his life. His limp body dropped to the ground, lifeless as soon as Azekiel pulled the knife out. The other guards were stunned at the sight of what had happened. Even they hadn''t expected this. As the stockpile tent was really big, all twelve guards were standing at some distance from each other and couldn''t immediatelye to stop Azekiel. In the meantime, Azekiel bent forward. He ced his palm on the chest of the dead man as he muttered two simple words, "Soul Snatch." Chapter 6 6: Spiritual Summon! As soon as Azekiel killed the man, a notification appeared before him. [Exp +1] "Soul Snatch!" Azekiel called out, cing his hand on the chest of the dead man. He was less concerned about the experience and more about protecting himself. There were still eleven guards left after all. He needed to strengthen himself, and only this could do it. As soon as he used his skill, he could feel warm energy filling him up. It was just so fantastic; it was as if he was tasting an elixir that he had never tasted. This feeling... If someone had asked him to describe it in words, he would''ve had a hard time. All he knew was that he loved it. As the warm soul energy entered his body, small notifications started appearing around him. [Soul Snatch Sessful] [Strength +1] [Speed +1] [Defense +1] [Hunger +1] Azekiel pulled out the knife from the neck of the man as soon as he finished absorbing, which took barely a second. He stood still, ncing at the eleven guards. Five stood before him while six stood behind him. "Raphael, is that Soul Energy enough for you?" Azekiel asked, frowning. Raphael shook his head. "It''s not enough for you to summon me." "I see. So I need to fight myself." Azekiel smiled as he held the knife tightly. "What do you think are my chances of sess if I fought them all?" "Ten percent only," Raphael answered honestly. "There are too many. That''s why you need to use that Soul Energy." "What?" Azekiel asked, frowning. "What do you mean? You said it wasn''t enough to summon you?" "I said it wasn''t enough to summon me, but I didn''t say you couldn''t use it at all. Why else would I tell you to kill one guard? I knew that much energy wasn''t going to be enough to summon me. But it''s enough for something else." "Enough for what?" "Spiritual Summon," Raphael calmly stated. "Since it''s your first time summoning me, it won''t need much energy." "What is Spiritual Summon?" Azekiel asked, frowning. Was it different from a normal summon? "Instead of Summoning me to the material realm, you temporarily summon me inside you, giving me temporary control of your body. I can only retain that control for a minute with the amount of soul energy you have, but it''s only possible if you summon me. I can''t force myself. Moreover, you can kick me out whenever you want and regain control even if one minute hasn''t passed," Raphael answered. "Who are you?! Who sent you? Drop your weapon this instant and surrender, or we''ll be forced to kill you!" All the guards had surrounded Azekiel from each side. There was no way for Azekiel to escape, no matter how much he wanted. If he wanted to survive, he needed to kill them all. Moreover, they all had long swords with a long reach, while he only had one knife. He wasn''t stupid enough to think he could kill them all with his current strength. Fortunately, the Spiritual Summon existed. He let out a sigh of relief. "Why didn''t you tell me before? This is amazing. But are you sure one minute is enough to kill them all?'' Raphael calmly nodded. "It''s more than enough, My Monarch." Seeing Azekiel not drop the knife, the guards decided to attack Azekiel. Two of the guards ran towards Azekiel, brandishing their sharp swords. Azekiel raised his hand towards the sky, clenching his fist. "Raphael, I spiritual summon! Take control!" hemanded. "Let me see what you''re capable of!" Winds... Heavy winds started flowing suddenly, making the robes of the guards and their long hair wave with the wind. "As your wish, My Lord." Raphael closed his eyes as his aura changed. His body started shining before it disappeared. Only his words echoed. "I shall make sure not even a scratch is left on your body.'' On the other hand, Azekiel also closed his eyes, still keeping that knife in his hand. The two guards had almost reached Azekiel. Even though they were surprised why he wasughing like a maniac, they didn''t care. They needed to neutralize the threat. One of the guards swung his swords toward the neck of Azekiel, attempting to kill him. Unfortunately for them, they were toote. Azekiel opened his eyes. His eyes previously used to be a beautiful shade of blue, but now the same eyes were pitch ck as the darkest of night. His entire visage was different. He suddenly looked more mature and calm. There was also a strange aura around him that was difficult to decipher. No one realized that it was Raphael inside the body now. Raphael took barely one step back, avoiding the de of the sword before his feet moved more. It appeared as if he was performing a beautiful dance with his feet, but only the other guards knew it wasn''t an ordinary dance! It was the dance of death. With each of his steps, heads dropped to the ground. He had used only one knife to kill both of the guards while avoiding even one scratch. It was... Miraculous. Even the other nine guards stood stunned. Just who was this guy? Raphael looked down, frowning. "This body is very slow. Lord Azekiel isn''t strong enough yet. It''s good that he didn''t fight them. I need to help him be stronger." He gazed at the other guards before a devilish smirk spread across his lips. "Let''s make you all his stepping stones for his rise... Please help him grow by contributing your soul. But first, please die!" He tossed the knife aside and picked up one of the swords on the ground since it had more reach. "I don''t like swords... But for now, this shall do." Raphael moved with the wind as he ran towards the guards. "Everyone attack at the same time! We don''t know who he is, but he''s an enemy! He''s here to steal the food! He must be sent by other Kings! Kill him before he kills us all!" One of the guardsmanded as he ran towards Raphael. Fifteen secondster~ Azekiel regained the control of his body as Raphael left, only to be stunned. He had a sword in his hand, which was covered in the blood of the enemies. Twelve dead bodiesy before him. It had only been thirty seconds, and Raphael had killed all the enemies while using his body. He didn''t use even one single ability to do it. All he used was fighting skills. This made Azekiel realize that even without any magical skills, he could still be strong enough to take out people like them. Even as Raphael was in his body, Azekiel could see everything. He could feel that he still had control of his body, and he could kick out Raphael any time he wanted. Raphael appeared right beside Azekiel, still perfectly calm as if it was no big deal. "Thank you." Azekiel thanked Raphael. Without him, nothing would''ve been possible. Now, Azekiel was even more happy that he had received Raphael instead of a weapon of Sin. This man¡­ he was amazing! He was far more special than any weapon could ever be. He was his strategist and his weapon both! Azekiel was really impressed! Chapter 7 7: Curse Of Eden "I''m but a humble servant of Lord Azekiel. I don''t need any gratitude for keeping you safe." Raphael ced one hand on his chest as he answered. Azekiel smiled in response. This man... He was really loyal. He stepped toward the closest body that was lying before him. "Soul Snatch." [Strength +1] [Speed +1] [Defense +1] [Hunger +1] One after another, Azekiel kept moving from body to body, using Soul Snatch. He only stopped after he had absorbed all the souls here. "Time to clear this ce." He held the legs of one of the bodies and started dragging it inside the tent to make sure no one would see. As he dragged the body, he could feel it. It was indeed very easy for him now. He had grown stronger. After dragging all twelve bodies inside, he sighed in relief. He closed the tent from inside and observed all the food that was before him. There was just so much food, even he was amazed. "I died for one fruit... Whereas they have such a stock." Azekiel smiled, but behind that smile, a lot of anger was hidden. The more he saw, the more he realized that he was killed for barely anything as if he was a toy. Now it was his turn! He picked a beautiful red fruit and took his first bite. Within seconds, he finished the fruit, but he didn''t feel any difference. He was still just as hungry. He kept eating more and more, trying to satiate his hunger, but it was just too much. Even after he had eaten enough food to fill up three people, he was still hungry! He had received many advantages by bing King of Gluttony, but he wasn''t immune to the drawbacks either. His hunger... It was also worthy of being the King of Gluttony now. Moreover, that was the case when he was weak. The stronger he got, the more his hunger increased. With every Soul Snatch, some value of his hunger increased. This was like a drug that he couldn''t live without, but the more he used it, the more he damaged himself. Fortunately, Azekiel didn''t need to worry about food, at least not at the moment. While people outside struggled for enough food to survive, this ce had enough food to feed thousands of people for an entire month! Azekiel kept eating, and eating, and eating... He didn''t stop. He was like a beast that had received what he craved for, and now he couldn''t stop until he was full. Fortunately, it didn''t take much time. After eating enough food to fill up ten people, he finally felt as if he was full for now. Heid on the ground inside the tent, breathing a sigh of relief. "This feels so good." He gazed at Raphael, who was standing at the entrance like a proper man with his hands behind his back, perfectly straight. "Raphael, aren''t you going to eat? Or do you need a Summon for that too?" "Even if you Summon me, I can''t eat," Raphael answered calmly. "Why not? You don''t feel hunger?" Azekiel inquired. Why couldn''t he eat? "I do feel hungry... I''ve been hungry for as far as I can remember... But I can''t eat." Raphael raised his right hand. A beautiful red apple appeared in his hand. "Because of this." "The apple which was in that drawing on the card?" Azekiel asked, recognizing the apple. "Yes. The Apple of Eden..." Raphael answered. For a moment, some semnce of emotions shed through his eyes which instantly disappeared. "Can you exin more? How is that rted to why you can''t eat?" Azekiel inquired, still confused. "The Apple of Eden... It is my Sin. Imitted the sin of taking it because I was hungry, only to be cursed for an eternity." "Cursed? What curse?" "Curse that I shall stay hungry for as long as I live. I will feel this tormenting hunger, but I won''t be able to eat anything. This hunger is mypanion who will never leave me, just like this apple which stays with me to remind me how helpless I am..." Raphael smiled, gazing at the beautiful apple. "I can just watch, but I can''t eat. This is my curse¡­the Curse of Eden." "This... So the hunger I felt before I died... You''ve been feeling that for an eternity? How is that fair? Just for an apple? Who cursed you? Can I do anything to help you? There must be a way. You''ve helped me so much already. I don''t want you to suffer." Azekiel was really worried about Raphael. He knew how scary this hunger could be. People often underestimated it, but only when one felt the torment of it did one realize how scary it was. "Who cursed me... I can''t answer that," Raphael smiled weakly. "As for helping you, that''s my duty. You don''t have to be worried about me. I just want to help you because I see a semnce of myself in you. Only you know what I went through, and I''m sure only you can understand since you went through something simr..." "Being damned to hunger just because of eating fruit without permission... I did go through it." Azekiel nodded. "But you have it much worse. At least I could die ultimately. But you can''t even die, can you?" "Death... People are often scared of death, but I... I crave for it. Sometimes death is mercy. Unfortunately, death isn''t in my destiny..." Raphael let out a sigh. "I couldn''t change my life. I can''t help myself, but I can certainly help you. If you reach your destination, I''ll believe a small portion of me achieved that... So I''ll give it my all to help you seed." "Thank you." Azekiel was so grateful for Raphael, but he was also sad. Raphael seemed so calm andposed, but only now Azekiel understood what pain and torment he was going through behind that calmposure. "I won''t disappoint you either... I promise I''ll find a way to help you somehow. Even if it takes me an eternity, I promise we will share one table and eat together... No one will be able to stop us." Azekiel promised Raphael as determination filled his eyes. Just like Raphael wanted to help Azekiel, Azekiel wanted to help Raphael back, no matter what it took. Hearing the words of Azekiel, Raphael couldn''t help but smile. Even though it wasn''t a proper smile, Azekiel could see the lips of Raphael curved slightly as if he was smiling but didn''t want to express it. He maintained his professional persona. While inside the tent, Azekiel and Raphael were conversing with each other; a new group of people had arrived on Floor Zero from the top, carrying the bodies of beasts that were killed by the King of Pride. Over twenty people stepped onto Floor Zero, apanied by three Lord of Sins who was hired by King of Sin, Michael, to escort it back safely. Chapter 8 8: The Lords The Tower of Sin... It was a frightening ce for many that contained too many secrets. It wasn''t easy to survive in this ce since food, water, and other necessities were scarce. Only by clearing floors could people get such things; that''s why being a Lord of Sin was such an amazing thing. Only the hundred Lords of Sins and Six King of Sins could go to the higher floors. As for the rest of humanity, they could only live on Floor Zero, working at the mercy of the Sinners. The humans on Floor Zero had established a small civilization where they exchanged the items of necessities from one another to keep going, all thanks to the Lord of Sins. Amongst the thousands of humans that had managed to survive the Apocalypse, each of them either worked for a Lord of Sin or a King. Through the Lords, they received many important items that they were tasked with selling on Floor Zero to others that worked for other Lords. For example, if there was a Lord who controlled a floor with ess to water, he could use his men on Floor Zero to sell that water and collect the currency of the Tower that each Lord hade up with after mutual consideration. Using that currency, that Lord could buy food from the Lords who controlled ess to foods. That''s how the small civilization was working. Even Azekiel was part of the status quo before. He used to work for a Lord of Sin who was one of the weakest out of the Hundred. He barely had ess to anything; surviving was so difficult for him. Still, despite all the adversity, he had managed to survive for thest three years in the Tower until he received an opportunity to work for a King of Sin. He took that opportunity right away. The arrival of the hunted beasts, carried by the Porters of the King of Pride, caused a hugemotion on Floor Zero. The people who could afford such things couldn''t wait for the sales to begin. From what they had experienced, the stronger the beast was, the better it tasted to them. The poor, on the other hand, couldn''t afford it, but at least they could see it. They were happy at just the fact that another floor was cleared. Since the Porters were but mere weak humans, the King of Pride had hired some Lord of Sins to help them escort the items back to Floor Zero safely. As Michael didn''t have any Lord of Sins in his team due to his pride, he could only hire them when he needed to. However, even if they didn''t want to, no Lord of Sin was ever going to say no to King of Sin Michael! That man controlled two of the Four cleared floors after all. As he was the first to clear the First and the Fourth Floor, these floors now belonged to him. As for the Second and Third Floors, other Kings controlled them for now. It could be said that there was a race amongst the Kings to see who could control more floors since each floor came with something special. Since they needed to clear the floor in any case, they wanted to be the first to clear it to control it. The Porters carried the heavy bodies of the beasts in the trolleys, escorting them towards the tent at the other end of the Floor. Meanwhile, the Lord of Sins just walked around the huntzily. They knew that no one was going to attack them. These items belonged to Michael! Only an idiot would dare attempt to take these for themselves. They knew that even if they hadn''te, it still would''ve been safe. However, the idiot that could attack them that they were thinking about was already inside the tent, and they had no idea. Azekiel had already cleared all the blood marks outside to make sure no one knew what took ce here. He also hid all the bodies behind the massive food stock, making sure that no one was going to see it. Opening the entrance of the tent just a little bit, Azekiel gazed outside as he heard themotion. He could see some peopleing towards the tent. "Just as it happenedst time. The oue will be different now, though." Azekiel closed the entrance once again before he went back, hiding behind the mountain of fruits. Raphael also stood with him even though he didn''t need to since no one else could see him in any case. "There are some strong peopleing here," Raphael pointed out. "I sensed three such auras." "Yeah, they would be Lord of Sins. They got their abilities from Minor Sins. If I''m not wrong, those three are Lord of Hatred¡ªJackal, Lord of Lies¡ªLayim, and Lord of Violence¡ª Luna," Azekiel exined. "Even amongst the Hundred Lord of Sins, these three would be considered in the top twenty. Michael certainly selected some strong people for this task just like he didst time." "If I absorbed all the bodies andpleted the Soul Bar to Summon, can you take them on? Can you defeat them?" Azekiel asked Raphael. "They were much, much stronger than the humans we faced." "I can only be summoned for a minute. I doubt a minute would be enough to kill them. As your advisor, I would advise you against a conflict at this time. We should avoid it for now. Our focus should only be to make you stronger. Because the stronger you get, the stronger I''ll be when you summon me. Currently, I''m also restricted to only one percent of my strength," Raphael exined. He further added. "If I could use my full strength, even one second would be too much to kill them." "I''m limiting you because I''m not strong enough? You''re right. Instead of relying on you all the time, I need to start relying on me. This is my war and my revenge." Azekiel clenched his fist as he looked at the bodies in the surrounding area. The three Lord of Sins reached the massive tent with the Porters, who were stunned to find this ce empty. "Where are all the guards? They shouldn''t disappear on their own? How can they leave such a ce without any protection?" One of the Porters asked. Lord of Lies smiled as he rubbed his chin. "This is certainly very interesting. And just before we were about to arrive?" Slightly amused, he opened the tent and entered. "Let''s solve the mystery." Chapter 9 9: Surrounded From All Sides? Lord of Lies, Layim, stepped inside the tent, feeling as if he was going to find something inside that could solve this mystery about the missing guards. He was sure that this couldn''t be a coincidence that the guards were missing. Jackal also stepped inside along with Luna. One of the Porters also stepped inside to make sure they kept an eye on these Lord of Sins. "This is certainly too much food for one person to control," Luna muttered, observing the mountains of edibles. "Yeah, but if the one controlling them is him, I doubt anyone can do anything about it," Layim responded. "Focus on the task at hand. There''s a good chance that someone is hiding inside. The guards are missing. Either they left this ce defenseless because they were stupid, or they are already dead. In any case, there''s a good chance that someone could''ve sneaked inside this ce." "You''re not aplete idiot, it seems." A calm voice came from nearby. Unfortunately, Layim couldn''t hear since it was spoken by Raphael, who stood right beside him, observing his every action. Layimzily started walking around, checking every ce to see if someone was actually hiding inside or not. The other two Lord of Sins also spread out to check. Along the way, Layimzily picked a small fruit and started eating it as he searched. All three Lords were moving closer to the back of the tent where Azekiel was hiding with multiple dead bodies. Before long, there were only a few meters of difference between the two sides. Raphael closely followed Layim, slightly frowning. He knew that if Azekiel was discovered, things were going to get really bad. Before long, all three Lord of Sins reached the endpoint and reunited with each other. Layim had a deep frown on his face. Despite searching everywhere, he hadn''t found even a single person. All he saw were fruits and meat. "Did you not find anyone either?" he asked the others. The other two also shook their heads. "No one is inside." "I see; maybe I truly was wrong. No one was lucky enough to get inside. Or whoever did get inside already left. In any case, we need to find out what happened to the guards. Let''s go outside. It''s time we find the truth." Everyone left the tent. Luna was left right outside the tent to protect this ce while the other two went to find out what happened to the guards. The other Porters were tasked to continue shifting all the meat inside the tent since the ce was clear. It took the porters thirty minutes to shift all the hunted items inside the tent before they closed. In the meantime, the search for the missing guards was still ongoing. Everyone on Floor Zero wasmanded to gather for interrogation by the Lords. They wanted to know if there was anyone who saw what had happened. All the people gathered near the screen respectfully. "Is everyone here?" Layim asked, frowning. "Yes." The people responded. As everyone was there, Layimmanded the porters of Michael to check the entire floor to find the guard since they weren''t among the people who had gathered. What he didn''t know was that there was another person who wasn''t there. ~~~~ After all the hunted beasts were inside, the tent was closed, and the Porters left. Raphael arrived at the back of the Tent. "They all left. You cane out." A mountain of fruits fell down as a figure stood up, rising from inside. Realizing that the ce could be checked by the Lords, Azekiel had already taken the precaution by hiding himself under the fruits, effectively burying himself inside. All the bodies were also buried there. Azekiel stood up, arranging his ruffled hair. "That''s good, but I''m sure they won''t leave this ce before they find the culprit. I need to hurry." Azekiel stepped out of the fruits and walked to the front of the tent, where all the freshly hunted monsters were kept. "Let the feast begin." Azekiel ced his hand on the chest of the first Monster which was a seven-foot-tall beast with sharp ws. "Soul Snatch!" [Strength +5] [Defense +5] [Speed +5] [Hunger +3] There were around seven beasts here, and all beasts were really strong before dying. In fact, even a single beast could kill millions of humans. "This certainly boosted me more than humans. I was right; the strength of the beasts does make a difference." Azekiel rubbed his chin. "This boost might seem big, but as you level up, you''ll realize more things. This much boost is nothing in the grand scheme of things," Raphael responded. "What Level up?" Azekiel frowned. He hadn''t heard about this before. He was really curious about what it meant. All he knew was that people became stronger the more they killed, but this level thing he didn''t know. "It just means you''ve evolved a tiny bit. You went through a level-up when you killed the humans. You can check the Levels in your stats. All other Kings and Lords must have something simr. Did you not check the stats and missions?" Raphael asked, frowning. "You should''ve checked everything first." "I was so hungry; I only checked what seemed important. I left the rest forter," Azekiel answered. "Let me absorb them, and then I''ll check." After working with Michael for so long, he had managed to know many things, that''s why he was surprised he didn''t know about Levels. So these people kept some things secret as well. Maybe because they didn''t want other Lords to find out their levels? Whatever the reason, Azekiel didn''t care at the moment. He moved over to the next beast. p "Soul Snatch." [Strength +5] [Defense +5] .... Azekiel moved from beast to beast, relishing the delicious energy and the boost in his strength. After he was done, he stretched his armszily. His body was filled with strength. Finally, he decided to check his stats to understand what Raphael was talking about. He opened the system screen and tapped on stats. _______________________________________ [Stats:] Name: Azekiel Species: Human Title: King of Gluttony Level 2 Experience needed for Level up: 10 Strength: 77 Speed: 77 Defense: 77 Hunger:79 Magic Affinity: 25 Constitution: 65 ______________________________________ "So I''m Level two after killing just 12 weak humans. And each human gave me 1 Exp. On the other hand, Michael has killed powerful beasts. His level... It shouldn''t be small." Seeing his stats, instead of being happy, Azekiel grew even more serious. "Even those Lord of Sins must be around level ten at least, let alone Michael!" ***** Outside on Floor Zero, the search didn''t find anyone. The twelve guards were still missing. However, there was one person who remembered something. "My Lord, I remember that not every one of us is here! One person is missing! Azekiel!" Chapter 10 10: Scales Of Truth "Azekiel? Who is he?" Layim inquired, frowning. "He is a young man who has been living here for thest three years. Just a few hours ago, he was scolded by us all for making unnecessary noise. It''s really strange how he''s not here. He generally doesn''t go missing," The middle-aged man eximed. "That right there is his bed." "I see," Layim muttered. "So this Azekiel went missing in thest few hours. And from what I heard, the guards also went missing right around that time. It looks like we do have some links here." "Jackal, what do you think?" he asked another Lord of Sin. "This certainly makes it seem like he''s rted to whatever is happening around here. But the people checked everywhere. He isn''t here. Where could he have gone? It''s not like he can go upstairs. He is amoner," Layim responded grimly. "Maybe someone killed the guards? Azekiel saw it happen, so he was also killed? It''s quite possible that he is buried in the ground? That could be why we couldn''t see him... Wait a minute!" As Layim''s line of thought progressed, he suddenly realized something. "Buried... How could we be such idiots! I think I know where the culprit can be! Come with me!" Layim started running back towards the tent. "Where?" Jackal asked him, still not understanding. Layim burst intoughter as if he couldn''t be wrong. "If something is buried, it makes it difficult for us to find it. But there are no signs ofnd being dug. So, where could the culprit be hiding? What other ce to be buried where someone could avoid us? The answer was right before our eyes, but we missed it!" "You mean the mountain of edibles?" Jackal asked, frowning. "That does make sense. If someone killed the guards, dragging them away would''ve been risky. The chances of being seen would''ve been higher. So it would make sense that someone took the bodies inside the tent instead and buried it under the mountain of food." "Exactly! And if I''m not wrong, Azekiel must be there as well! If he is alive, it would mean that he is behind everything! And if he''s also one of the dead bodies, that would mean that the real culprit is hiding in the crowd of people. In any case, we''ll have more rity on the situation!" Layim dered. After a short sprint, the two men reached before the Tent. Layim was so d at this point that he had left Luna here to keep an eye. If not for her, the culprit could''ve run away. "Did anyonee out of the tent other than the Porters that were with us?" Layim asked. "No one." Luna gazed back. "Why?" Layim smiled cheekily. That meant the culprit was still inside. "Whoever did it is still inside. He hid under the mountain of fruits to avoid us! Let''s get that bastard! The King of Pride will certainly be grateful to us if we help him with this. He might even take us on his team!" Layim opened the tent. "So they caught up. I had a feeling this would be the case," Azekiel was hiding right behind the entrance. He could clearly hear the conversation taking ce outside. "Layim is still as cunning as I remember him to be." "Are you sure about this strategy, though?" he asked Raphael, making sure of something. "It should be possible." Raphael nodded. "Good. I''ll take the risk then." Azekiel patted his chest as he prepared to take the biggest step of his life. He was prepared to step on a new journey that he couldn''t have imagined before. "Greetings, Layim." Just as Layim was opening the entrance to the tent, a voice came from inside. Layim stepped back in slight surprise. Who was it that dared to call him by his name? This voice... It sounded awfully confident and not scared at all. Even though Layim had stopped opening the tent, it didn''t stop. The chain kept sliding up as someone from inside continued. Before long, a proud figure stepped out of the tent. The figure seemed to belong to a young man who was barely twenty. The man had beautiful blue eyes and short blue hair. His slender face made him look somewhat handsome, but his eyes appeared to be filled with something iprehensible that made it impossible for people to approach him. "Azekiel, I presume?" Layim asked with a calm smile. Azekiel nodded before he responded. "Layim, I presume?" He nced at the other two and calmly stated. "Jackal and Luna. You two are still fawning over Michael?" "You!" All three Lord of Sins had their faces twitch unwillingly as they experienced the epitome of irritation. Was thismoner trying to mock them? "Not only do you dare to call us by our first names, but you also do the same with the King of Pride? Do you have a death wish,moner?" Jackal asked, frowning. "I do have a death wish." Azekiel smiled in response. "But not a death wish of mine. I have a death wish for Michael. When you see him next time, tell him that his death is near... I have arrived!" Luna weirdly looked at Jackal. "Has this man gone crazy? What is he bbering? He thinks he can leave here alive in the first ce, let alone face Michael?!" "Leave this ce alive?" Azekiel chuckled. "When I can leave death alive to return to live, what trouble will I have in leaving you all behind? Leave; I don''t want to dirty my hands in the blood of Sinners like you." With his hands behind his back, Azekiel started walking away like he was an ancient expert who was before kids. p! p! p! ps started echoing as Layim pped. "You put up a good show, kid. Even I was surprised for a moment, but if you think your bluff will scare us, you couldn''t be any more wrong." He further continued, "Since protecting this food was our responsibility, by hurting the guards, you have gone against the Lords of Sins! For amoner like you, that''s a crime worth death!" He ced his finger on his forehead and muttered softly, "Scales of Truth." As he chanted the spell, a broken scale appeared in his other hand. On one side of the scale, there was a small leaf ced. On the other side, there was nothing. However, before long, a portrait of Azekiel appeared on the other side of the scale. As soon as the portrait appeared, Azekiel felt as if the gravity around him had increased suddenly. He couldn''t keep standing. His body was forced to his knees as he felt the weight of heavy mountains on his shoulder. The scale tipped in the direction of the portrait. Lord of Hatred also stepped closer. He waved his hand, chanting something of his own. "Saber of Hatred." A blood-red saber appeared in his hand, which was his Weapon of Sin. The man reached before Azekiel and swung his saber. "It''s time you die!'' Chapter 11 11: Ruler! "Even Michael couldn''t kill me; you think you can?" Azekiel asked as he smirked. He could see a blood-red bar in the corner of his vision which was filled with Soul Energy after he had used Soul Snatch on so many beasts. The reason behind his confidence, despite knowing that these people were so strong, was also this Soul Bar. The Scales of Truth was the Weapon of Sin of Lord of Lies. On the other hand, the Saber of Hatred was the weapon of Sin of Lord of Hatred; simrly, this Soul Bar was a weapon of Azekiel! It was something he could use to summon someone... Someone who was his biggest weapon! Watching the sabering toward him, Azekiel wasn''t scared. Instead, he was amused. "Summon... Raphael!" He dered,manding his System of Gluttony. The Soul bar, which was full, started losing soul energy. On the other hand, a figure appeared right beside Azekiel... A figure which seemed like an angel from hell. Raphael, who was just illusory until recently, was summoned to the real world. As his real body was summoned, his powerful aura also arrived, sending chills down the spines of the Porters who stood in the back. Even the Lord of Sins felt the strength of that aura. "Devil!" The Porters eximed as they ran back. A winged angel had appeared out of thin air. They all thought he was a Devil! Despite the appearance of Raphael, the Saber of Jackal didn''t stop moving. Raphael grabbed the wrist of Jackal before the saber could even touch Azekiel. "You''re not allowed to hurt anyone." With a flick of his finger, a wind st appeared around Raphael. The intense pressure of wind sent Jackal flying back, but he wasn''t the only one. Layim and Luna were also forced back. All three of themnded on their feet in the distance after regaining their bnce. Raphael reached out his hand toward Azekiel. "Are you alright?" Azekiel rubbed his throat. He didn''t even have a scratch. "I''m fine." Azekiel red at all the Lords of Sins who stood in the distance, alert. They still couldn''t understand what had just happened. Just who was this Azekiel? How did he Summon someone? There was no way he was a Commoner! Someone who could Summon an angel to fight for him? They hadn''t seen anything like this before. They wondered if Azekiel was also a Lord of Sin. "Are you also a Lord of Sin?" Layim inquired. Azekiel ignored Layim as he turned around. "I''m not a Lord of Sin; I''m a Monarch of Sin. As I said before, tell Michael that his death has arrived. One day, his head will be under my feet. Tell him I''ming¡­ I''ming to take everything that belongs to him!" "My Hunger... My Gluttony... It won''t rest until I swallow all hopes and dreams of Michael! Tell him to stop me if he can..." After issuing a warning, Azekiel started walking away,ughing. The three Lord of Sins watched Azekiel leave with grim faces. None of them tried to stop him as they were too stunned. Even though Azekiel seemed like a powerful person due to Raphael''s presence, it was also partially an illusion. If an actual battle started, Azekiel was already informed that Raphael couldn''t kill all three Lord of Sins within one minute. Raphael only had one minute after all, and one minute wasn''t enough with his current strength to kill three Lord of Sins. That was also why Azekiel and Raphael didn''t properly fight. He just showed arrogance to make it seem like he was letting them live because he was arrogant, but in reality, he was also avoiding a battle at the moment. He wasn''t strong enough. If they fought and the battle dragged on for over a minute, even if only one Lord of Sin survived, Azekiel knew it was going to be hard to take him out without Raphael. After putting up a nice show of strength, he started leaving. Unfortunately, none of the Lord of Sins realized the truth. They had been fooled thoroughly. "Monarch of Sin..." Layim muttered with a deep frown, watching Azekiel leave. "It seems like a big change is going toe in the status quo... Another King has appeared..." "King? How do you know he is a King of Sin? Maybe he is left a Lord of Sin?" Luna asked. "Remember the first day we received our systems. There was a screen that showed the names and titles of all Lord of Sins. It showed a hundred titles, and all Hundred were apanied by a name," Layim exined. "On the other hand, the screen which showed the selection of Kings had seven titles... However, only six of those titles had a name before them. The seventh title... It was nk. You remember that title?" he inquired. "King of... Gluttony." Jackal muttered with knitted eyebrows. "This guy also mentioned Gluttony when talking about killing the King of Pride... This... Could he really be a King of Gluttony?" "Monarch and King, they are almost the same thing," Layim exined. "It seems another King of Sin has appeared in the tower... Thest King of Sin: King of Gluttony. And he seems to hate the King of Pride for some reason. Is a War between the kings about to start?" "This guy might be strong enough to summon an angel, but King of Pride had a three-year head start. He has grown very strong. On the other hand, this guy might be strong, but he just became a King. I don''t think he or his angel can stand before other Kings... He has made a mistake by making an enemy of the King of Pride; the ruler of two of the four cleared floors," Luna chimed in. He further continued, "This guy has just written his own death sentence. He will be dead soon." "That does seem possible. He has challenged the King of Pride, after all. But I''m really curious. I don''t know what it is about this guy, but it makes me want to not underestimate him," Layim muttered, rubbing his chin. He watched Azekiel pass through a golden barrier which was the entrance of the first floor of the Tower of Sin. Only Lords, Kings, and their team members could pass through the barrier to go to higher floors. Azekiel being able to pass through proved that he was indeed not amoner. Luna didn''t give up and further continued, "He has gone to Floor One... His real challenge will begin now. That Floor was cleared by the King of Pride first. He rules over that floor. And as we all know, the one who gets control of a Floor is stronger on that Floor while everyone else gets slightly weaker on that Floor." "That''s why everyone wants to be the first one to clear the Floors first. Since Floor one is under King of Pride, if he goes there, he would be stronger. On the other hand, the King of Gluttony will be even weaker now. I doubt he can even reach Floor Two," he added. "In any case, we should inform the King of Pride about the appearance of another King and his challenge to him." Layim let out a sigh. "Yeah, Let''s wrap up here. Our responsibility was only escorting his food here. He can''t me us for not fighting a King. It''s better if we leave the business of a King to another King." ***** Azekiel stepped onto the first floor of Tower of Sin, taking his first step toward a new journey that was going to be filled with battles, challenges, bloodshed, and hunger... He knew his peaceful life was over now... It was time for his ascent... "Michael, I promised I''ll snatch everything you hold dear, right. Let''s begin by snatching your Control on the First Floor." Azekiel smirked as he cracked his knuckles. "It''s time I be the Ruler of this Floor. Let the world see how weak you are!" Chapter 12 12: Library Of Sin "Floor one... I am finally here again, but this time not as a Porter but as a Sinner..." Azekiel muttered as he observed his surroundings. Even though he had traveled through this ce once in the past when he was selected as a Porter, he still felt that this entire ce was new to him. It was like he was standing in something he hadn''t seen before. The floor... It was massive, but it wasn''t empty. The Floor had over a million bookshelves, and each of those shelves was filled with books. Azekiel didn''t know how many books this ce had in total, but he had a feeling it was over a billion. Even though this Floor was a floor in the Tower of Sin, it appeared more like a massive library instead. However, Azekiel knew that this wasn''t a simple library. Because of his future knowledge, he had some information about the floors that were cleared. He knew it was also a challenging floor. There was a portal at the end of the floor that could lead someone to the second floor, but he couldn''t go through it without clearing this floor first. Only when a person cleared a floor could he get ess to the next floor. It didn''t matter if the Floor had been cleared many times before. Every new person had to clear it again. That''s why everyone wanted to be the first to clear floors. Since they had to clear it in any case, it was better to be first and get control of the floor. The only way for someone to pass through the floor without clearing it was to be at a party with the ones who cleared the floor at the time of clearing. That''s how many weak Lord of Sins had managed to pass through this floor as well. "Ruler of Floor, a title that is received by the person who first clears the floor. The title seems nice, doesn''t it? Should I take it?" Azekiel asked Raphael. "Can you take it? You said the title is given to the person who clears the Floor first. The floor has already been cleared. Can you still take the title?" Raphael asked as he knitted his eyebrows. "Of course, it''s possible. At this point in time, no one knows how to do it, but as I told you before, I''m from a few years in the future. I know some secrets that no one knows yet." Azekiel smiled. "Floor Seventh... It was cleared by the King of Pride first; however, the Ruler of that floor will be the King of Wrath," he further added. "How?" Raphael inquired. "Although it''s true that whoever clears a floor first gets the title, what others don''t know at this point is that there is a way to snatch that title from the one who cleared the floor first. You just need to clear the floor in half the time that the person who cleared it first took," Azekiel exined. "For the first six floors, no one knew of this secret because it had never happened since no one could clear a floor in half the time. However, shocking even the King of Pride, King of Wrath cleared the Seventh floor in half the time that Michael took and snatched the title. That''s when everyone found out about this secret to snatch the title," he further added. Letting out a deep sigh, he continued, "However, it''s not easy, so it only happened once. All Kings give their best when clearing a floor, so being able to clear the floor in half the time of others isn''t easy. You need a lot of skill. That''s why it only happened once in ten floors that were cleared." "So if we can clear this floor before the King of Pride, you''ll be the ruler of this floor." Raphael nodded. "That''s good. We should try." "Not try; we must do it," Azekiel firmly stated. "Michael mighte here personally to kill me. Since he is the Ruler of this Floor, his strength would be boosted while my strength would be weaker. We can''t face him in that condition, so we must clear this floor, and not only that, we must snatch the control of this floor." "In that case, when Michaeles, he would be in for a great surprise. I will have the floor boost; meanwhile, he will be weaker. There are also more advantages of being the Ruler of a Floor." "What other advantages?" "Every person who passes through a floor you control, they need to give some amount of experience to pass through it every time. Even some of my exp has been deducted as soon as I stepped here," Azekiel exined. "This exp goes to the Ruler of the Floor." "Since the first floor is something that everyone must pass through to get to floor zero, this can be a good source of a passive experience growth, isn''t that right?" he added. "That''s why we must absolutely snatch the control of this floor." As he talked, Azekiel kept walking through the library, observing the books in the surrounding area. His fingers kept touching the books, but he didn''t pick any. "The First Floor, Library of Sins, one of the mostplicated challenges for the Sinners, especially since it''s just the first one they face," Azekiel muttered. He stopped before a green book. "If I''m not wrong, Michael picked this bookst time." "Picked this book, meaning?" Raphael asked, confused. "You don''t know about the Library of Sins?" Azekiel asked, slightly surprised. Raphael shook his head. "This is the Library of Sin. Each book in this library contains a story of a Sinner... It contains the tragic Stories of Sins and how they destroyed lives. However, these books also contain something more." ? "To clear the floor, you must select one of these books. Whichever book you select, you''ll be shoved into that world. As long as you clear the mission given to you in that world, you are considered to have cleared this floor, and you''re back here," Azekiel exined. "Michael took two days to clear this floor, so we must finish it in under two days; that''s why our selection needs to be urate." "What was his mission?" Raphael asked. "The mission of the King of Pride which took him two days¡­." Azekiel smiled as he took a few steps back. He picked up the green book, which was selected by Michael, and opened it. "Let me show you." A screen opened before him as soon as he opened the book. [Title: The Prideful Beggar] [Description: A beggar was arrested for being too prideful when he refused to pick up coins that were tossed on the ground before him by a Royal. Considered to have insulted the Royalty with his actions, the beggar was dered a public death sentence that was to take ce in one week.] [Mission: Help the beggar be free and get the King to apologize to him] [Time Limit: 7 days] [Do you ept the mission? If yes, you''ll be sent to the world of Sinner] [Yes] [No] Chapter 13 13: Book Of Death "This was the book he selected. This is the mission he supposedlypleted within two days," Azekiel exined. "He not only freed that person but also got the King to apologize to him." "Since you saw how he did it, you should be able to finish it faster by copying his method, right?" Raphael inquired. "If that''s the case, it should be good to select it. Since your goal is snatching the title of this floor, this seems to be the shortcut. But I still advise you against selecting it." Azekiel smiled in response. "I''m not going to select it. Even if I selected it, I know I can''t finish this in under one day. However, my reason for not selecting it isn''t that. It''s something else. Still, why do you advise me against selecting it?" "This mission... It seems simple, and you might also be able to convince the King, but I don''t see this being beneficial to you. At the moment, you not only need the title of this floor but also enough strength. Even if you get the title and the floor boost, it''ll be hard to face the King of Pride. So why not use this opportunity for your benefit," Raphael exined his thought process. Azekiel nodded. It was exactly what he was thinking. It seemed like both of them were on the same page now. "You''re right. That''s exactly why I wasn''t going to select it. I not only need a mission I can finish in one day, but that mission also needs to be worth my time that will strengthen me. And I have just a mission in mind for that." Azekiel ced the book back on the shelf and left that aisle, going in a separate direction. He stopped before a distant section of the library. There were hundreds of books before him, but he was more interested in only one of those hundreds. There was a beautiful ck book that was ced in the center of the shelf. He grabbed the book and pulled it out. "This is what I want¡ªthe Book of Death. There were two people who selected this book as their first challenge, both being Lords of Sins. And both of them died inside the book. None of them was able to clear their mission," Azekiel let out as his fingers gently caressed the cover of the book that still had some dust on it. "I believe I can finish this mission in under one day, even though it''s a bit dangerous. This also has the potential to make me stronger." "Two Lords of Sins had died inside. I don''t know what is inside this challenge, but are you sure you want this as your first challenge?" Raphael inquired grimly. "You have no soul energy to summon me anymore. If you''re in trouble, I might not be able to help." "You don''t need to worry about it. I am stronger currently than those Lord of Sins who had just started their journey. Even though there is danger in this mission and a good chance of death, I believe the risk is worth it. Why be scared of death after going through it once already?" Azekiel slowly opened the book. ________________________________________ [You have picked up a new book of Sin] [Title: The Coward who gave up] [Description: Cowardice is a Sin! Rowan, the Prince of the Estia Empire, gets captured by the Empire of Dark Magic. In his cowardice, he doesn''t even fight back as his sister is taken captive by the enemies back to their Empire. On the other hand, he is left behind naked to be embarrassed by the entire world. Ashamed at his own cowardice, Rowan takes his own life...] [Mission: Affect the story to make Rowan a proud Warrior and help him get back his sister from the enemies] [Do you ept the mission] [Yes] [No] _______________________________________ Azekiel smiled as he saw the mission. Without hesitation, he clicked yes. Amongst all the missions he had seen, this was his favorite. Not only did it involve fighting and killing, which could make him stronger, but it also wasn''t too time-consuming. He believed with the strength he had; he couldplete this mission in under a day while bing stronger. As soon as he clicked yes, white light surrounded him. The light was so bright that he was forced to close his eyes. His body transformed into a speck of light which was swallowed by the book. The Book closed on its own and went back to its ce, leaving no trace of Azekiel being here. As Azekiel went inside the book, on another end of the Floor, the Three Lord of Sins arrived on the floor. They were really curious about which book Azekiel was going to select, but they had more important things to do. Without wasting a second on the floor, they went to the portal of the second floor. Back at Floor Zero, a screen had opened on its own, which showed Azekiel picking up a book of his liking. There were many screens on Floor Zero that showed the adventures of the Sinners and their missions. That''s how they could also see the mission of King of Pride and others. That was also why Azekiel knew which book was selected by Michael when he was here. There was no secret from the people on Floor Zero. Seeing Azekiel on the first floor, many people grew shocked! This man, he was just like them until recently! How was he suddenly able to go to the First Floor? A few even wondered if the floor was open tomoners now. Some ran to the portal, hoping to get through as well. Unfortunately, they were in for a big surprise. As soon as they touched the portal, their bodies caught into a fire that couldn''t be extinguished. Their screams filled with pain and agony echoed in the surrounding, scaring the others who had a simr thought. "Looks like this guy has be a Lord of Sin as well. Amazing." One man dered. "Bing a Lord of Sin at this time? How is this possible? Lord of Sins were selected on the first day itself. I guess this man was selected at that time as well. He probably kept it hidden and spent his life here because he was too scared to go up." Another man rolled his eyes. "He is just a Coward who got courage somehow." "Hah, I also think so. However, he has selected the same mission that was selected by the two who died. This idiot... Even after seeing everything in thest three years, he still didn''t getmon sense, did he? He will be dead as well." "It doesn''t matter if he dies or not. It''s not like he would''ve cleared the tower for us. Let''s focus on the Kings." Almost everyone stopped looking at the new screen, thinking it was useless. They had seen the same story unfold twice. That all knew Azekiel was going to die. Unfortunately, they were soon going to realize that this wasn''t the end of the Legend of Azekiel. It was just the beginning¡­ Chapter 14 14: You Cant Say No Azekiel appeared in a barrennd where not a single ntation could be seen. As far as the eyes could see, there was nothing except some bodies littered around in the distance. The bodies belonged to the dead soldiers of the Estia Empire. Amongst all the dead bodies, there was also one person who sat on his knees. The man had his hands on his face as if he was crying. The most surprising part about the man was that he didn''t have a shred of clothing on his body. There was also one carriage which had broken wheels. Two horses were tied to the carriage. "That must be the Prince of Estia Empire. He was probably attacked only recently, so if I''m not wrong, the people from the Empire of Dark Magic couldn''t have gone too far," Azekiel let out as he started walking towards the naked man, who appeared to be in his early twenties. The blonde man removed his hand from his face to reveal a tear-stained face. His face was already pale. He was disgusted at himself. He was a Prince, and he wasn''t even brave enough to fight back. He let his sister be taken by the enemy without even fighting back. He couldn''t even imagine what was going to happen to her once she was in the Empire! "A coward like me doesn''t deserve to live." He dered as he stood up. He stared at the sword of one of the dead soldiers of Estia. His tears didn''t stop for even a second as he dragged his body to the sword. He picked up the sword and ced the sharp end of it on his heart. He closed his eyes and looked towards the clouded sky. After taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes and grabbed the Sword firmly. Tap~ He was just about to stab the sword in his chest when he felt someone hit the back of his head. "You''re really an idiot, aren''t you?" A calm voice came from the front as someone grabbed the hilt of the sword and snatched it. The person tossed the sword away. Rowan was forced to open his eyes in fear as he pushed his body back, thinking the enemy had returned again. "W-who are you?" he asked, stunned. The person before him... He didn''t look like a soldier from the Empire of Dark Magic. All those people carried a staff with them and wore deep ck cloaks. On the other hand, this blue-haired kid was standing calmly without anything in his hand. He was also wearing pretty ordinary clothes. "I''m someone who is here to change your life since I couldn''t bear to watch this stupidity. So many people out there fighting to live even one more day, and here you are, killing yourself?" Azekiel asked, sighing. "What else can I do? Look at me! I''m but an ordinary human who has no strength. I''m not even a skilled fighter. I can''t even fight ordinary Humans, let alone dark mages!" Rowan responded. Even though he still didn''t know who this guy was, he was now sure that this guy wasn''t from the Enemy Empire. "So what if you''re a human? I''m a human as well. Do you think humans can''t fight back? You were already willing to die just now; why not die fighting then? The oue will be the same, won''t it? Or do you not even want to try? You want your sister to be used by them for as long as she lives? Because trust me, that''s what will happen if they take her back." "I don''t expect you to fight and win, but shouldn''t you just fight at least?" "But they..." "You know what, I''m tired. You stay here and just kill yourself. Take the easy way out. I''ll go alone to save your sister. I''ll remember to tell her how she was abandoned by the brother she cherished. I''m sure she would love it!" Azekiel turned his back on Rowan. He knew he couldn''t convince the man by just talking, so he decided to use some unusual tactics to influence him. "Wait, you''ll fight them alone? There are many of them! They are Dark Mages! You can''t win!" Rowan called out. "Who says I can''t win?" Azekiel asked, shing a bright smile. "I didn''te here to pick a losing battle." As he talked, he moved over to the dead guards. Since they had recently died, he could still use them. He ced his hand on the chest of one as he used, "Soul Snatch." There were many guards who were responsible for escorting the young prince and princess. That''s also one of the reasons why Azekiel picked this story. He basically received a bonus for doing nothing. Rowan watched Azekiel, wondering what he was doing. Was he performing somest rites? After finishing up, Azekiel stood up. He nced at Rowan onest time, but he didn''t say anything. He just turned his back on the man as he started leaving. Watching the tall figure of Azekiel leave, Rowan couldn''t help but think of the words that he had spoken. He was right. Since he was already about to kill himself, why not... Try. "Wait!" He stood up and called out Azekiel. "Yeah?" Azekiel nced back. "I-i aming with you!" Only Rowan knew how much courage it took for him to speak those words out loud. He was still horrified inside at the thought of seeing those demons again, but he also felt some kind of motivation now that Azekiel was with him. He didn''t know why, but the confidence of Azakiel was making him feel like this guy wasn''t an ordinary human. "Now that''s much better." Azekiel smiled. "Because I don''t know how to ride a horse. You''ll need to do it." "I-i understand." Rowan nodded, only to start second-guessing his decision. "Oh right, now that you''ve said yes, if you say no, I''ll give you a death that is worse than anything you can imagine." Realizing Rowen''s uncertain expressions, Azekiel issued a warning. "You''ll wish you would''ve died at the hands of the dark mages instead in that case. So get those horses." "I-i... Yes." With no room to say no now, Rowen cursed himself for saying yes. But now it was toote. He took clothes from another guard and wore them to cover his body before he ran to the broken carriage and removed one horse from it. As he was a Prince, he had been trained in the art of horse riding, unlike Azekiel, who never had to do it. Rowan climbed on the horse and brought it closer to Azekiel. Azekiel climbed the horse as well, sitting behind the young man. "Now get us to the enemies as fast as you can. It''s time we get your sister back with a bang!" "I''ve been itching to grow my level and get new skills after all." Chapter 15 15: Im From Hell A beautiful white horse raced in the barrennd where no obstruction existed. Even though Rowan wasn''t a good fighter, despite being a Prince, he was second to none when it came to horse riding. He was known as the weakest Prince but the strongest rider. As the horse raced, the distance between Azekiel and the entourage of the Empire of Dark Mages kept decreasing. Unlike Azekiel, the Dark Mages weren''t in any hurry. They had so much confidence in them that they knew they didn''t need to hurry. No one was a threat to them. There were twenty people in the group of Dark Mages, each having a horse of their own. Almost all the dark mages appeared to be in their thirties and forties except one... The man who was leading the team. The captain of this small yet skillful team of twenty was a young man who was only in his early twenties. Despite such a young age, he was already a captain rank in the army of the Dark Empire. No one questioned his authority either since they knew that the man wasn''t any ordinary man! He was the son of the King of the Empire of Dark Magic! The only reason he had joined the army was so he could have some fun. Otherwise, he didn''t even need to do it. He could justmand the army without having a title. He was the only one who wasn''t alone on the horse. There was a beautiful girl who appeared to be eighteen years old. The hands and the legs of the girl were tied as she was carried on the horse like she was a sack of rice. "You have been awfully silent this entire journey. Aren''t you going to say anything? Or you have already given in to your destiny?" the young man asked, smiling. His dark hair waved with the wind as the house moved. The man was the third prince of the Empire of Dark Magic, Weiss. Even though he was third in line to the throne, it didn''t mean he didn''t have any influence in the Empire. He was the favorite son of the Emperor after all, despite all his shenanigans. As he was the youngest, he was also loved the most. Not only did his parents spoil him but also his Elder brothers. There was no enmity in the Royal Family. The Eldest was going to have the throne, and everyone epted that. The other two brothers were instead happy with the decision. That was the bond between the three brothers. "This won''t end well for you! My father will make your life a living hell!" The girl retorted fiercely. "Hahahaha, you can be a really goodedian. You do have some good jokes. Your father can''t even touch a hair on my head. As for what your Empire is capable of, we already saw that. You didn''t see how your cowardly brother gave up and let us take you? Even your father won''t dare to invade the Empire of Darkness over you!" Weiss dered. "He will simplye begging!" "However, I don''t think I''ll release you, no matter how much he begs. I''ve started to like your feisty nature. You''re much braver than that cowardly brother of yours. He was truly a disgrace! I would keep you with me. And who knows, if you''re lucky, I might agree to make you my concubine." The Third Prince burst intoughter. "Ah, Captain!" Weiss''ughter only stopped as he heard one of his men call him. "What?" he asked. "Someone seems to be following us." The soldier answered. "Who dares? The army of the Estia Empire arrived so fast?" Weiss eximed in surprise. Hearing his words, the girl''s eyes lit up. "I told you my father wille!" Weiss nced back with a deep frown. As soon as he looked back, he burst into even louderughter. "Hahahahaha! So that''s your army, one man riding on a horse? And that man is none other than your cowardly brother? Maybe he''sing to ask us to take him as a ve as well." As soon as the girl heard who was following them, her eyes also dimmed. She couldn''t believe she was happy for no reason. ''Why is heing here? He was left alive; he should''ve run to inform father. Instead, he''sing here alone. Has he gone crazy?'' she thought. Weiss raised his right hand, gesturing to his men to stop where they were. All the horses slowed down, including his own. All twenty of them turned their horses around as if waiting for Rowan to arrive to them. As Azekiel sat behind tall Rowan, they couldn''t see his figure for quite some time. "They stopped," Rowan let out as he stopped the horse five meters away from the enemies. "That''s better." Azekiel smiled. "Since you brought me here, that already covers the first part of the quest, giving you the courage. Now leave the next part to me... Helping you recover your sister." Azekiel jumped down the horse, surprising Weiss. Rowan wasn''t alone? Who was this guy that he brought? He wasn''t one of the guards in the entourage. Who was he then? With the confidence that Azekiel stood before then, something didn''t seem right. Azekiel didn''t even have a weapon in his hand. There were only five meters of distance between the two sides. "There are twenty of you. It should be enough experience. However, I still wish there were more." Azekiel let out a deep sigh as if he was really disappointed that there were only so few of them. "I guess we can''t always get what we want. I''ll have to settle with you." His words were confusing to Weiss. He didn''t understand them clearly, but for some reason, he felt as if Azekiel was insulting them. "Who are you? Are you from the Estia Empire?" Weiss asked. Azekiel shook his head. "Then which Empire are you from?" Weiss asked again. "I''m not from any Empire. I''m from hell... Also known as the Tower of Sin, sent here to send you to hell as well." "You... You really have a death wish, it seems." Weiss gestured to one of his men to go and finish Azekiel. He felt that one of them was about to kill this crazy man. "You have enough Soul Energy for Spiritual Summon inside your body. Do it. Let me handle them!" Raphael suggested as he watched one of the Dark Mages jump down the house, carrying his staff. "No need. Today, I want to do some things myself." Azekiel smiled as he stretched his arms. "I need to learn to fight myself. I can''t always rely on you, after all. Today, it''ll be Azekiel who will fight." Chapter 16 16: Card Of Judgement With his hands behind his back, Azekiel calmly stepped closer to the dark mage. The Dark Mage licked his lips as he raised his staff. "I am going to enjoy wiping that smug look on your face!" "After much torment, I''ve gained this smugness. Let alone you; even your father won''t be able to wipe it off my face," Azekielzily stated. "We will see!" The man raised his staff which started shining in a mysterious light. "Spear of Darkne- Urgh." The man was just about to use the spell, but before he could finish the spell, his eyes opened wide. Azekiel, who was standing two meters away from him, was right next to him, and there was a knife in his hand, which was stabbed in the chest of the Dark Mage. Before the Dark Mage could even cast a spell, he was stabbed. He was still stunned at that amazing speed of Azekiel. It was much faster than the speed of a human, which was why he hadn''t expected this. Even until the moment he died, he couldn''t believe it. Azekiel knew he had gained speed and strength because of absorbing so many people. His speed and strength couldn''tpete with other Kings at this time, but against these people, it was more than enough. These people knew how to use spells, but other than that, they were no different than ordinary humans. Their physical strength and speed were very ordinary. That was also what gave Azekiel the confidence of fighting alone. "Oh? He was talking about wiping the smile off my face. How is it that it worked on you instead? Where did your smile go now?'' Azekiel asked Weiss, who had his lips slightly open. Just what was that speed? He still couldn''t understand. He wasn''t the only one shocked. Even the Princess of Estia was shocked. She wondered who this brave warrior was. His speed was impossible to match. She couldn''t help but nce at Rowan, wondering where he found this guy. Over-all, she finally felt like there was a chance of her being saved. [Exp +2] As soon as Azekiel killed the man, a notification appeared before him. "Hmm, only two? If I''m not wrong, I needed 10 to level up again. It looks like I''ll need four more. Good thing there are twenty of you, isn''t it?" Azekiel gazed at the men as if he was looking at food, but he didn''t attack them directly. He ced his hand on the chest of the man. "Soul Snatch." [Strength+ 1] [Defence +1] [Speed +1] [Hunger+1] "This hunger stat... I don''t like it. It keeps increasing every time I use Soul Snatch." Azekiel muttered, frowning. "It looks like I''m increasing a weakness of mine. I need to find a way to stop it, but before that..." From his back, he pulled out a second knife. He held one knife in each of his hands. While the Dark Mages were still in a daze over what had happened, Azekiel tossed his knives one after another. One of the knives hit straight in the forehead of the Dark Mage closest to him while the other missed, leaving only a scratch on the cheeks of the second mage. [Experience +2] However, Azekiel wasn''t done. As everyone looked at the guards who were killed, Azekiel ran to the horses, taking the lead as he pulled out a third knife. Reaching the horse that was closest to him, he stabbed the Dark Mage, who had escaped because of his lousy aim. [Experience +2] Azekiel killed his third guard; however, it was at that time he sensed some danger. He hastily jumped back, barely escaping a dark spear that was about to hit him. "Young Prince, your number will be soon. For now, let me handle the others." Azekiel smiled, knowing who had attacked. He still wasn''t done. Avoiding a barrage of dark attacks, he reached the fourth mage and stabbed the man. [Experience +2] Unfortunately, he couldn''t avoid all attacks as the next attack stabbed his left shoulder before he could avoid it. The dark spear disappeared, leaving a hole in the chest of Azekiel. Azekiel didn''t stop attacking even now. To him, it was more important to level up. That was all he wanted at the moment. He jumped to the fifth guard, swinging his knife with full might. [Experience +2] [Level Up] [You have received a new skill] [Skill: Card of Judgment] Not only did Azekiel receive a skill after level up, but all his wounds had also healed with the level up. The hole in his shoulder healed on its own. "You healed! What are you? How can you do that?" Weiss eximed. What he saw until now was nothing before what he was seeing at this moment. He knew of no man who could heal himself. Even he, as a dark mage, couldn''t do it. "I didn''t heal myself. He did," Azekiel pointed behind Weiss. Weiss turned back, stunned. Someone was behind them, and he didn''t even know? As soon as he turned back, he saw no one was there. His eyes opened wide as he realized what had happened. He turned back hastily, but it was toote. Azekiel was just a few inches away from him. "Sweet dreams, young Prince," Azekiel smirked as a knife was thrust into the chest of Wiess. "You said you''ll attack mest..." Weiss weakly said as he coughed blood. His staff dropped from his hand. "I also said there was someone behind you, didn''t I? It''s called battle deception. Raphael taught me," Azekiel answered as he jumped back, sending another barrage of attacks. Many ck spears came flying towards where he was standing; however, as he had jumped back, there was only one target left that the dark mages hadn''t thought about. All the dark spears stabbed Prince Wiess, who was already on hisst breath. Weiss dropped off the horse with many wounds on his body, dead. The guards were horrified at what they did. If the Emperor found out that their attack killed the Prince, they were going to be killed. "You! You made us do it! We will kill you!" One guard roared, ring where Azekiel hadnded, but Azekiel wasn''t there anymore. "Where did he go?" "Looking for me?" Azekiel asked as a knife came swinging behind the neck of the guard. After attacking, Azekiel jumped back again. He had already made this tactic. He was sure as soon as the guards saw him, they were going to attack. That''s why, after every attack, he immediately dodged. He didn''t even need to look back to know an attack wasing since it wasmon sense. More and more bodies kept falling as Azekiel collected more and more experience. Raphael stood in the back, slightly amazed. He hadn''t expected Azekiel to take out all these people on his own, even though he had the speed. Chapter 17 17: First Kiss? Before this moment, Raphael had never seen Azekiel fight. He hadn''t expected such a good performance from the young man. It was as if he was made for battles. His fighting sense was really good, and he knew how to use the chaos in the enemy team to his advantage. He also knew how to deceive the enemy. Raphael had expected Azekiel to kill a few before asking for his help. However, seeing things progress differently, he was really happy. He was feeling proud of Azekiel. "He certainly has a talent for battles. Not bad... I guess it is going to be easier than I thought to help him. He might just be able to do it..." Raphael muttered softly. On the other hand, thest dark mage also dropped to the ground. The trial, which was supposed to be finished in under two days, was finished by Azekiel within a few hours, especially since he didn''t let the enemies get back to the Empire. He used each second without wasting any to catch up to them. Finally, he had finished, he gazed back at one of the dark mages who was still alive. He was thest one who was left; however, he wasn''t in a good condition either. The man was bleeding as heid on the ground. It was as if he was taking hisst breath. Azekiel nced at Rowan. "You,e here." He gestured for Rowan toe closer. Rowan was already trembling. He hadn''t expected Azekiel to be such a powerful warrior. He previously thought it was just a young man who probably knew how to fight, but now he knew that this guy was no less than a magician himself. He didn''t want to offend Azekiel at any cost. He listened to themand and jumped down as he ran to Azekiel. "Y-yes." "Here." Azekiel raised his hand, revealing a knife. Rowan looked at the knife, confused, not knowing what Azekiel was implying. Seeing Rowen observe him with a nk face, Azekiel couldn''t help but roll his eyes. "Free your sister, you idiot. Take the knife and free her. Finish my mission." "Ah, right!" Rowen took the knife and hastily ran to his sister. He sliced the rope that had tied the hands and legs of his sister. As he sliced the knife in another ce, Azekiel killed thest man as well. [Experience +2] Raphael walked closer to Azekiel. "Good Work. With that, we should be done with the mission." Raphael talked to Azekiel, but Azekiel seemed somewhat distracted to not notice anything. He was looking nkly at the screen before him, waving his hand. He had remembered seeing a notification about gaining a new skill when he had leveled up. He was eager to know what the new skill was. The name certainly caught his eye. "There it is." He let out, locating the name amongst his skills. [Card of Judgment] He tapped the skill name, making a new screen open. ______________________________________ [Name: Card of Judgment] [Skill ssification: Skill of Luck] [Description: Randomly received the effect from your selection of one of the six avable cards] [Note: Can only be used once every day] _____________________________________________ "Huh?" Azekiel gazed at the screen nkly, confused. He didn''t understand what the screen was implying. Everything was written so vaguely that he didn''t understand the essence of this skill at all. He still didn''t know what this skill actually did? Was it a booster skill? Was it a defense skill? An offense skill? "Why do they have to make the description so hard to understand? I''ll have to test it on the field to know what it does," he muttered, letting out a deep sigh. He wanted to test the skill right here, but then he remembered that the skill had a cooldown of one day. If he used it now, he was going to have nothing in case he met Michael outside. "I sure do hope you''re a good skill." He closed the screen, hoping for the best. "In the meantime, let''s fill up the Soul Bar. I need all my cards avable with me for the arrival of Michael." Azekiel moved from body to body, using Soul Snatch, absorbing the souls. His soul bar kept moving up until it was full. Azekiel was ready to Summon Raphael again in case needed. However, absorbing so much soul energy also increased the stats of his hunger. He had eaten only a few hours ago before he climbed to the first floor, and now he was hungry again. "These people came to this desert. I don''t believe they came without anything to eat." Azekiel observed all the horses and noticed the bags hanging on each of the horses. He ran to the nearest horse and opened a bag which brought a smile to his face. There were fruits. There was food that could fill more than twenty people if the bags on all the horses werebined. Azekiel nced back at the body of Weiss. "How kind of you to bring it all to me.'' Azekiel picked up a fruit and started eating. The Princess of Estia Empire, Elina, was freed, and she was down the horse. She properly adjusted her clothes, which were slightly messed up due to thepromised position she was lying at. "Hey, who is that guy?" She whispered in the ears of her brother. "I don''t know." Rowen shrugged innocently. "Stop being mysterious. Tell me the truth. Who is that great master? He could kill so many dark mages with such ease. Who is he?" The woman asked again, thinking her brother was intentionally trying to be mysterious. "I told you I don''t know. I was about to kill myself, sitting where you all left me. I was so scared and ashamed, but that''s when he arrived like a savior. He gave me the motivation toe here and fight. As for why he did that, even I don''t know. All I know is that if he weren''t here, I would''ve been dead, and you..." "So you don''t know who he is? It looks like a mysterious expert was passing through and saw you. He took pity on you and decided to help. If we can get him to work for our Empire, we could have someone who can face the dark mages! Our Empire would be much stronger. We might even win the war!" The woman expressed, still keeping her voice down to make sure Azekiel didn''t hear her. "You think he would work for us? With the strength he holds, he could easily conquer an empire. Why would he work for one? What can we even offer him?" Rowen asked. "He doesn''t work for us, but if we make our Empire something that belongs to him as well?" The Woman suggested. "What are you implying?" "I''m saying that I''ve fallen for him. If I can make him fall for me as well, he will be the husband of a Princess in the future. The Empire will belong to him as well. It''s a win win situation." "You think he would fall for you? That man... I don''t know what it''s about him, but he''s different. I don''t think he''ll fall." "Any man will fall before my charms. Just watch." The woman smiled innocently as she ran towards Azekiel, who had his back on them. Azekiel had just finished the first bag, and he was moving towards the next horse when he stood. The Woman stopped before him, blocking her path. "What?" Azekiel inquired, frowning. "T-thank you for saving my life. If you weren''t here, I should''ve been dead," Elina responded with a red face. Before Azekiel could answer, she continued, "I''ve fallen for you. Here, a token of my gratitude and love to you." She moved closer to Azekiel and ced her lips on the lips of the young man, giving him his first kiss... Chapter 18 18: Michaels Decision Azekiel wasn''t expecting anything. He only thought the girl wanted to thank him, and he was about to push her aside when the girl moved closer to him, cing her soft lips on the lips of the young man. Even Rowan in the distance was shocked to see what his sister was doing as his eyes opened wide. Azekiel stood still, initially shocked. It was the first time something like this had happened to him. He had seen other people kiss before, and he knew it was an intimate thing. However, he had never experienced it before, even in his old life. It was the first time a girl had kissed him. His mind was momentarily dazed in the strange feeling as he tasted the sweetness of her lips. His hands subconsciously moved tond on the perfect hips of thedy. Elina''s eyes opened wide as she saw a pair of handsnd on her hips. Even though she acted boldly just now, even she hadn''t been intimate with a man before. Just because she didn''t want to lose Azekiel, she took these drastic steps but now that things were exceeding, she didn''t know what to do. It was as if her mind had overloaded. Her face turned red as she moved her head back, stopping the kiss. The lips of the two were separated. After a moment, Azekiel also realized what he had done. He couldn''t believe he had let himself be lost like that. This wasn''t his goal. He didn''t know how much time he had before he was going to be tossed out of this world. He didn''t want to end up before Michael, weak and hungry. No matter how amazing that kiss was, there were more important things that he needed to consider, like being prepared for what was toe. The woman stood frozen in her ce, staring nkly at Azekiel. Azekiel didn''t know how to respond to what happened. He was still a newbie when it came to such things. "May I ask why you did what you did?" he asked as he moved to the next horse. He knew he needed to do some multitasking if he wanted to be ready. "I told you... I''ve started to like you. Pleasee with me back to Estia. I will convince my father to let us be together. Please." Elina expressed her desires. Hearing her, Azekiel couldn''t help but shake his head. "What made you love me? I''ve done nothing but kill people. What about me do you like other than my fighting skills? Because if you only like me for my fighting skills, doesn''t that mean you don''t actually Love me but want a bodyguard?" After tossing out a question, he began eating again. Standing in the back, Rowan decided to stay out of it. He didn''t want to have anything to do with this mess. He just raised his hands as he stepped back innocently like it wasn''t his concern. "I-i like your personality." The girl answered after thinking for a long time. Even though Azekiel was right about why she selected him, she couldn''t say that, or it was going to make him angry, so she went with the cliche answer. "Do you like my personality? Well, that''s convenient." Azekiel let out as an amused smile spread across his lips. "You haven''t even seen my personality, have you? We didn''t talk before this. All I did wase here and fight. What personality are you talking about?" "I-i am telling the truth. I like everything about you. Despite having nothing to do with Estia, you were brave enough toe and fight the Dark Mages. I love that righteous personality of yours. That''s what I fell in love with. You are brave, you are kind, you are considerate," Elina exined,ing up with a coherent answer. In the meantime, Azekiel moved over to the next horse. Elina followed him as their conversation switched ces. "Look, I don''t know if you''re serious or not, but you and I... It''s impossible. We are from twopletely different worlds, and our paths will never cross again. If I''m not wrong, this will be thest time we see each other, so you better forget about what happened here. Get on the horse with your brother and leave," Azekiel straight refused her. It wasn''t as if he didn''t want anyone to be with him, but his life didn''t allow him to. He couldn''t stay in this world. He needed to go back to the Tower of Sin. There, he needed to face life-threatening challenges to climb. He also needed to face Michael there. Only when he finished his revenge could he feel calm again. His life wasn''t made for peace, at least not in this world... This world wasn''t his, and he couldn''t stay here even if he wanted to. He just tried to make the best use of it. Being rejected so brutally, Elina was taken aback. She had thought that Azekiel was going to fall for her after their intimate kiss, but instead of that, he straightly refused her. Just who was this guy? Just who was this person who was more interested in food than he was interested in a woman with impable beauty? "But-" "No but. I don''t have much time. Get out of this ce before more Dark Mages arrive. Because my mission here is done. If you''re caught again, I won''t save you," Azekiel stopped thedy before she could even finish. He turned to Rowan. "Take her back." "Y-yes, sir." Rowan climbed on the horse and brought it closer to thedy. Elina nced at Azekiel onest time. She opened her lips to say something but closed them immediately. No words came out of her lips. She just gently touched her lips that had their first kiss before she turned her back on Azekiel. She knew she couldn''t force Azekiel if he didn''t want to. "Wait." She stopped before climbing on the horse. "Even if you don''t like me, you can still be a guest at our Empire. Come with us." She told Azekiel. Unfortunately, Azekiel even refused to reach as he kept eating. His mission was done, and he could be leaving anytime now. His time was better spent here. Azekiel''s silence was his answer which Elina understood. She climbed on the horse behind her brother. The two of them left, leaving Azekiel behind. ***** Back on the fourth floor of the Tower of Sin, the King of Pride Michael was preparing to go to the next Floor. He was just waiting for his porters to return. However, it was someone else who returned. The Three Lords of Sins returned and told Michael what had happened. They informed him about the appearance of another King of Sin who wanted him dead. The King of Pride turned back, revealing a smug smile. "Is that so? I guess the fifth floor can wait." He stretched his armszily as he started walking back to the portal of the lower floors. "He wants to meet me. Why make him wait? Let me present myself to him to make things easier for him." Chapter 19 19: The Arrogant King Azekiel casually nced back at the Prince and the Princess, who was leaving. Before long, they disappear from his horizon. It was also at that time when a notification screen appeared before him. _____________________________________ [Missionpleted sessfully] [Time Taken: Three Hours] [You have finished the trial within a fraction of thest record] [Title Received: Ruler of Floor One] [You will receive additional advantage on the Floor you rule on] [Every person who steps onto your Floor from now on will contribute some experience to you] [Bonus Reward for finishing in record time: 20 Experience] [Exp +20] [Level up] [Bonus Reward for finding in record time: Escape Crystal] [Congrattions. You will be sent back to the Tower of Sin in five minutes] ___________________________________ Following the notification, a timer started before Azekiel with five minutes on the clock. Azekiel was certainly happy. He had received the title he was looking for. However, what surprised him the most were the rewards. Not only had he received bonus experience along with the Title but also an Escape Crystal. He tapped on the crystal which was floating before him. A disy opened before him with more information about the crystal, which was only a few inches wide. ________________________________________ [Name: Escape Crystal] [Uses: Use to teleport to one of the floors you control immediately. If you don''t control any other floor, you can use it to teleport to floor Zero without having to go through other floors] [Warning: Can only be used once] __________________________________________ Azekiel closed the screen after understanding what the item was. It was basically what the name implied. It could be used in cases of emergency to escape and save a life. Unfortunately, he also knew that it wasn''t exactly that useless. If someone wanted to kill him on the first floor, was that person not going to follow him to Floor Zero? Since he didn''t control any other floor, he could only go to Floor Zero with it. "Why would I use it to go to Floor Zero if I''m in danger on Floor One. I would have more advantages on Floor One, after all. It''ll be like I''m giving up all my advantage by going to the lower floor. So far, it seems useless." He kept the small gem-like crystal in his pocket. He wasn''tpletely oblivious to the advantage of this gem either. "I think this can be more useful in the future. There would be many challenges ahead on the other floors. At that time, I should be able to use it toe to Floor One to rest. It''s useless for now but won''t be in the future." Raphael nodded in agreement. "That''s right. We can''t be picky at this time." With only four minutes left in the Timer, Azekiel moved back to eating. He didn''t know why but he had a feeling that when he went back, Michael was going to be there. It was going to be their first meeting after a long time. For Michael, it was their first meeting since they were kids. For Michael, Azekiel didn''t exist. He hadn''t even seen him properly aftering here. But for Azekiel, it was different. He hadst seen Michael when he was forced to sit on his knees like a ve. His hands and his legs were tied as he sat before all themoners on Floor Zero, where everyone insulted him and called him a bastard. It was there when Michael dered his death sentence. He didn''t even look back as he left after dering the death sentence as if Azekiel wasn''t worth his time. "Let''s see if I''m worth your time now. You won''t be able to ignore me this time, I promise. Last time, you were the King of the Domain, and I was a lowly servant. But this time, you''ll be in my domain! I''ll be the Monarch of that Domain while you''ll be nothing!" Azekiel was somewhat eager to meet Michael as well. He was also somewhat excited. At the same time, he was worried as well. He wasn''t sure if he was strong enough to face Michael now or not. But most of his hopes rested on his new skill... The Card of Judgement. He didn''t know what that skill did, but that was his mystery skill which could either make him or break him. As the timer reached thest ten seconds, Azekiel finished eating. He stretched his arms as he jumped up and down as if preparing himself. He had a feeling that Michael was going to be there waiting for him when he went back. It had been three hours after all. This much time was enough for Michael to get the news about his arrival ande to greet me. He knew Michael all too well, and he also knew how prideful Michael was. It was not only his strength but also his weakness. Azekiel knew that the man couldn''t ignore him after hearing that there was someone in the tower who was challenging him. The timer kept counting down... [00:05] [00:04] [00:03] [00:02] As Azekiel was more focused on the timer, he didn''t notice that the Horse of Rowen was returning. The group of two wasing back for some reason. [00:01] [00:00] As soon as the timer turned Zero, white light surrounded Azekiel. His body disappeared, turning into specks of lights at the same time when Rowennded behind him with his sister. Both of them watched Azekiel disappear,pletely shocked. They couldn''t help but wonder if Azekiel was an angel who was sent to help them? Now that he was done, he disappeared? "Could it be the reason he didn''te with me? An angel?" Elina muttered, seemingly nk. She couldn''t help but think that she had kissed an angel ****** A beautiful book was lying on the shelf in the Library of Sin. The Book suddenly flew out. It opened on its own as pages started turning. As the book reached thest page, a small speck of light came out of the book. The Book closed and went back to the shelf, staying silent. The small speck of light started getting bigger before ultimately taking the shape of a human. Azekiel looked around as soon as he returned to the Library of Sin, trying to find Michael, but no one was there. ,m "Did he note?" He muttered, but it was at that time when he heard the sound of calm yet confident footstepsing closer. Soon, a figure came into his sight... A young man has arrived, donning a beautiful white robe, looking like a real King of the Tower. Michael had arrived before Azekiel... The two enemies who used to be friends were face to face with each other. Chapter 20 20: Using The Card Of Judgment No one had taken Azekiel seriously even as he reached the first floor. Everyone on Floor Zero thought that it was even a waste to keep their attention on him since he wasn''t going to seed after selecting a dangerous mission like the one he did. They thought he was never going toe out alive. Not only did Azekiel prove them all wrong, but he also dominated the mission, finishing it within three hours only when thest record was two days by the King of Pride. Unfortunately, no one saw Azekiel achieve this feat as not a single person was looking. By the time Azekiel finished the mission, the screen on Floor Zero, which was showing him, disappeared as it only showed missions. It was only a few minutes after the screen disappeared that someone noticed the absence of the screen. It was the same old man who had given away the information about Azekiel to the Lords of Sins. The man snickered. "Heh, the guy couldn''t evenst for three hours before dying, it seems. What a waste." He didn''t keep the information to himself either as he told everyone that Azekiel had died as his screen was off. They couldn''t have imagined that the screen was off because the mission waspleted. It never happened before, after all. Many peopleughed at Azekiel for being so overconfident. "He didn''t know his ce. He should''ve stayed here like a Coward like he did for thest few years. At least he would''ve lived. What a waste. If only I had received his System of Sin, I wouldn''t be this stupid." "I too." On one floor, people mocked Azekiel, calling him stupid and an idiotic weakling, while on just one floor above, Azekiel stood tall before one of the strongest Kings in the Tower of Sin! The King of Pride had arrived before the King of Gluttony; however, he didn''t have much reaction on his face. The King of Pride still had his hands in his pockets as he observed Azekiel from top to bottom. "Three hours to finish a Trial... I guess I can see where your confidence ising from," Michael nodded with a casual smile on his face. "But tell me honestly, do you think you can kill me because you finished measly level one trial in 3 hours? If I give it a try with the way I am now, it''ll take me a few minutes to finish one." "Didn''t you think you bit more than you could chew by challenging me?" he further asked as he brought his left hand out of his pocket. His fingers brushed against the books that were on the shelves. "I bit more than I could chew? Even your expressions are ironic, old friend," Azekiel calmly responded. He looked straight into the eyes of Michael before continuing, "One bite... I had taken one bite. Apparently, that one bite was more expensive than my life for some people. Now that I''m here, you think you''ll have the same privilege again? I''ve just started to level up the ying field. This time, I won''t just bite more than I can chew. Instead, I''ll swallow this entire world... Including all your hopes and dreams." "And let me tell you a secret... No matter what you do, you won''t be able to stop me," he added. "All your pride that made you what you are... I will first break that pride... Then I''ll break that body of yours... And then I''ll break that soul of yours. You''ll beg for forgiveness like I did! You''ll cry for mercy like I did. And you''ll get nothing... Like I did. This will be just the beginning. The beginning of your nightmare." "Is that so..." Michael snickered. "You seem to really believe that. By the way, I received the notification that you got the Title of this Floor. Apparently, there was a loophole to snatch the title which you utilized. Let me guess, that''s what''s giving you this confidence? You think just because I''m slightly weakened here, you have a chance?" "Let me tell you a secret." The man rubbed the back of his neck. "This small advantage does nothing. Even if you get a small boost in your strength, you won''t have a fraction of my strength. So I don''t know how you thought this meeting would go, but the reality will be quite disappointing for you." "Let me tell you what will happen here," Michael continued. "After exactly one minute, I''ll call out my Spear of Pride. And before two minutes are over, you''ll be lying dead right there." "And before five minutes are up, I would''ve left this floor. I would begin my journey to the fifth floor. I''ll still be the same King while you''ll be the dead man," he dered. "Thirty seconds left before I call out my Spear. You can try to kill me now because, after thirty seconds, you won''t get a chance." Since Michael was so prideful, not only did he dere the exact timing as to when he''ll kill Azekiel, but he also gave Azekiel a head start. Azekiel didn''t attack. He stood calm in his ce, ignoring the suggestions of Raphael to attack. Azekiel knew that attacking as he was now was useless. He already had something ready for Michael. Azekiel took a deep breath as he gazed at the screen before him. ''Now, this will be a make or break moment. Don''t disappoint me now.'' Time kept trickling away as Michael continued the countdown. Before long, thirty seconds were over. Michael simply smiled. "You couldn''t even attack me when you were given a chance, and you think you can kill me? Preposterous! Now let me show you how it''s done!" Michael raised his right hand toward the sky as he let out a mighty roar. "Spear of Pride! Come to me!" ,m As if answering his call, a mysterious light appeared above his hand, which expanded to make a beautiful golden spear! The spear appeared to be sharp enough to cut through even the hardest of metals. It was a proud Weapon of Sin! One of the strongest weapons! Not only was it a powerful weapon, but it also provided some boost to Michael when he held it. Without wasting a single second, Michael''s figure flickered as he ran to Azekiel. "Time to shatter your pride," Azekiel muttered softly as he also raised his right hand toward the sky as if copying the movement of Michael! "Card of Judgement! Give me your strength!" He called out. Chapter 21 21: Battle Of The Kings "Card of Judgement!" Azekiel dered, raising his hand. "Let me see what you''re worth!" He knew it was a make or break moment, and he ced all his faith on the Card of Judgement and his System of Gluttony! He didn''t know what his system had nned for him, but he wanted to trust his system here! As if answering to his trust and faith, the System of Gluttony became active! Time seemed to have stopped. Michael was also caught in the time,ing to a halt. Everything had stopped moving except for Azekiel. Unfortunately, Azekiel also couldn''t move his feet in the time domain. It was as if he wasn''t supposed to move either! Even Raphael couldn''t move. Six Cards! Six beautiful cards appeared before Azekiel. All six of these cards were pitch ck. There was nothing written nor drawn on the cards. It was as if the cards were made purely of Darkness. [Select one Card of Judgement!] A notification appeared before Azekiel. "Another Gamble?" Azekiel frowned. "Doesn''t matter! I have faith in the cards!" Azekiel reached out his hands without hesitation and touched the second card in the line. As soon as his fingers touched the card, all the other cards vanished. The card, which was pitch ck, started regaining its color. An image appeared on the card. There appeared to be a young kid who looked barely ten years old. There was a blindfold wrapped around his eyes, making him unable to see anything. It was unclear if he could even see without the blindfold or not. There were scales in his hand which seemed to bepletely bnced. On one side of the scales, there was a beautiful ck feather. While on the other end, there was a gold coin which made it really strange. A gold coin was supposed to be heavier, yet the scales were perfectly bnced. Following the image, some text appeared on top of the Card. [Scales of Bnce] [Description: Please select any target near you. For the next two minutes, you''ll receive half their stats] Reading the description, a wide grin appeared on Azekiel''s face. Even though he had faith in the Cards of Judgement, he hadn''t expected to receive something so overpowered! The Cards didn''t betray him this time! They gave him precisely what he needed to face Michael! For the next two minutes, Azekiel could steal half the stats of Michael and use them. That meant Michael''s stats were going to be halved when facing him while his were going to increase temporarily! Azekiel was going to have equal stats to Michael, and on top of all that, he was also going to have his old stats too, so he was at a slight advantage instead! [Please select the target] The notification appeared again. "I have selected!" Azekiel dered as he slowly raised his finger towards the man before him, who was in a slightly tilted position as he was running towards him with the Spear of Pride. [Target selected: King of Pride] As soon as a new notification came, something changed. Azekiel felt as if his surroundings had changed. Everything around him had turned white. As for the young boy in the card, he had appeared for real, and he was a giant! Or rather, they were tiny! Azekiel was only as big as the eye of the young boy. The boy was still holding the silver scales in his hand. On one side of the scales, Azekiel was standing. While on the other side of the scales, there was Michael! The side of Michael was slightly heavier, but things started changing. The scales started bncing themselves as the stats of Michael started transferring to Azekiel, who was happily epting them all. As Azekiel epted the stats, he could see his stats on his status screen going up. And the jump wasn''t small. He knew there was a big difference between his stats and Michael''s stats, but the difference was going to be so big? Even he hadn''t expected that! Even half the stats of Michael were more than five times of the total stats of Azekiel, which stunned him! This gap! It was bigger than he expected! "There''s still so much for me to catch up to..." Azekiel muttered, frowning. He thought his soul snatching stats would have brought him closer to Michael, but the gap was immense! At least now he knew exactly how much the gap was. As the scales bnced, the surroundings returned to normal. Azekiel appeared back in the library with Michael, who was still unaware of what had happened. Time started flowing once again as Michael continued running to Azekiel. He thrust his spear toward the chest of Azekiel. Generally, his speed would''ve been such that even Azekiel wouldn''t have seen how he moved, but now that the difference between stats was gone, Azekiel could see him clearly. Michael also felt that his speed was slower than usual for some reason. Unfortunately, this wasn''t the time to think about it as he continued with the attack. He was in for a real surprise though. ? Just as his spear was about to stab Azekiel, Azekiel shed a cheeky grin as he moved to the side, dodging the attack at thest second. As for his speed... It was not any slower than Michael! In fact, it was only slightly faster, which even Michael could sense. Michael''s expressions twisted in confusion. It was as if he was asking with his expressions, "What?" Unfortunately, that wasn''t even the end of it. Azekiel didn''t simply Dodge the spear, but he also spun his body around as he raised his right foot. The back of his shoesnded on the back of Michael''s neck as his spinning kick hit the target, sending Michael flying! Michael was already running in full force when a kicknded behind him, which only increased his momentum as his body flew ahead, only tond on one of the Bookstacks in the distance! The book stack came crashing down along with the body of Michael. "Arghhh! You bastard! You stole my stats! I will kill you!" Michael roared as he realized what had happened. "This is certainly fun." Azekiel smiled as if taunting Michael even more. "You told me what will happen in the next two minutes. I would''ve loved to tell you what will happen as well, but I believe in show, not tell." This time, it was his turn to attack. He only had two minutes of these stats, and he wanted to finish this battle in two minutes. Unfortunately, despite the temporarily weakened stat, Michael wasn''t a weak enemy. When it came to skills, he had way more than what Azekiel had! The battle of Kings had just begun! Chapter 22 22: Real Face Of Michael! Azekiel ran to Michael, trying to utilize all the time he had. He needed to kill Michael within two minutes or at least beat him in such a way that he couldn''t fight back even after gaining back his stats. Unfortunately, it seemed that with the initial boost, Azekiel had underestimated Michael! Michael was the King of Pride who had cleared even the higher floors alone. Michael had been a King of Sin for far longer than Azekiel! In fact, Azekiel only received his skills less than a day ago, whereas Michael had his for slightly more than two years now! Michael had amassed enough skills to not only protect himself but also to defeat enemies! He turned his spear of Sin upside down, aiming the sharp end towards the roof before thrusting his spear down, hitting the back of his spear to the floor. "st of Aurelia!" As soon as the back of Spear of Sin hit the ground, it was as if an explosion had taken ce. Bright light spread everywhere, apanied by destructive energy. The destructive energy was so powerful that it even destroyed the shelves, sending book stacks flying far away. The entire area around Michael was cleared. The explosive energy didn''t affect him even in the slightest thought. Azekiel brought both his arms together to protect his face from the energy. The energy st hit him straight, sending him flying back. Some of his clothes were also torn, revealing the burn marks on his body. His body had started bleeding from the impact of the attack. He could feel terrible pain. Azekiel was stunned at the powerful attack but also slightly jealous. Not only did Michael have such explosive skills, but he also had the Spear of Pride to further boost the strength of his skill. Despite having simr stats to Michael and the boost from the floor, Azekiel was still at a slight disadvantage. [01:37] A timer was going off on the side of his view, which only he could see. The timer was telling him how much time he had before the effects of the Card of Judgement were over. Azekiel knew he didn''t have time to worry about his wounds. If he didn''t take Michael out in time, things were going to get worse. "As I said before, even if a rat gets some skills and stats, he''ll always stay a freaking rat! And that''s what you are, Azekiel! That''s what you were in the past, and that''s what you''ll always be! You can never be like me!" Michael let out as he held the Spear of Pride firmly. "That''s the difference between you and me! I''m destined to be the King of this universe while you''re destined to be dead!" Azekiel held his chest, which was aching as he pushed his body up. "So you do remember me." "Of course, I remember you. You are that poor bloke who always used to stick to me, thinking you''ll be popr by using me. You were nothing more than trash on the side of the road that I had for some entertainment when I didn''t know better. However, as soon as my family gained the money that we deserved, I saw the true light!" "I saw how small and insignificant you were! I saw what my life was meant to be! I was meant to be the King! I wasn''t meant to spend time with beggars like you! And that was my call of Destiny!" "But you... You bastard kepting to me, annoying me with that stupid friendship nonsense, no matter how many times I ignored you! You just wanted to have fun with my money, didn''t you?!" Michael asked. "I could see the intentions of beggars like you. Using empty words like friendship to get close to rich people so you could have an easy life without working hard!" "I didn''t let you use me! I made new friends! Friends who had a simr influence as me! Friends who were rich as well! I was right where I belonged, but then came this freaking apocalypse, and I was shoved here! But even then, my destiny couldn''t be suppressed! I was meant to be a King, and that''s what I became here!" "Isn''t that why you want to kill me? Because you were jealous that I was more special than you? You were jealous even in childhood, and you''re still the same! You never change, Azekiel! And that''s why you''ll always be a bottom feeder!" "You should''ve stayed on Floor Zero forever! You don''t belong here! I don''t know how a beggar like you could''ve received the title of King as well, but it must be a mistake! Let me correct that mistake! Let me take that title back by killing you! The Title of Kings only suits people like me, not with bastards like you!" The more Michael talked, the more of his reality he showed to Azekiel. Azekiel raised his head, staring straight into the eyes of Michael. There were myriads of emotions hidden in his eyes as he started walking toward Michael. "I used to think you had changed. Money changed you. But even I couldn''t have known that you had changed that much. I thought youpletely forgot about me because I was insignificant to you, but no. You hadn''t forgotten about me," Azekiel responded. With each of his steps, a strange aura grew stronger around him... "You just ignored me. If only I had known that there was so much venom hidden inside your heart for me... Is that why you didn''t hesitate for even a second before dering the death sentence? Is that why...?" he asked, almost roaring as he said thest question. Michael didn''t know what death sentence Azekiel was talking about. He had no knowledge of the future. He only thought that Azekiel was talking about the death verdict he issued now. Michael only snickered. "Even though you killed me, I wanted to fight you myself. I wanted to kill you myself because you were my enemy. But after seeing what you truly are, I realized one thing. You aren''t worthy... You aren''t worthy of this much attention. You are an ant, and I''ll use everything I have to stomp you!" Azekiel dered. "No holding back anymore." "You still think you can?" Michael asked, bursting intoughter. "Go ahead, attack me again!" He raised his spear once again, about to use the same skill. Azekiel stood only a few meters away from Michael, but he didn''t stop Michael. Instead, he gazed in a different direction. "You said the amount of your total strength that you can use depends on my strength? I have the strength now! Time for you to show what you''re capable of!" Michael smacked the back of his spear on the ground again. "st of Aurelia!" Boom~ Another powerful explosion took ce, which was even more powerful thanst time. The destructive energy flew everywhere, including in the direction of Azekiel. The Blinding light soon disappeared, leaving carnage in its wake, but Michael wasn''t much happy this time. He could see that Azekiel was still standing in his ce. It was as if he wasn''t affected in the least by this attack. He wasn''t alone though. There was another proud figure standing before him with folded arms and closed eyes... As for the aura around that person... It was really scary. That man stoodpletely unhinged before the attack, which didn''t even manage to shake him. Raphael had arrived¡­ __________________________________ (A/N: As soon as we reach 10 individual reviews on the Novel: Two Bonus Chaps on top of Usual Two :)) Chapter 23 23: Raphaels Might! Even though Azekiel hated Michael, he wanted to be the one to kill Michael with his own two hands. That was going to be his way of ending things with the man who once used to be his friend, but after finding the reality of Michael, he had long forgotten his naive thoughts. He had realized that Michael wasn''t worthy of his undiluted attention. He wasn''t worthy of a fair battle. Now the fight was going to be the way Azekiel wanted. "I want Michael on his knees before me in thirty seconds," Azekiel dered hismand to Raphael. "He wanted to see a King; I will show him a King." Raphael slowly opened his eyes, revealing the beauty hidden in his eyes mixed with pain and torment. Raphael simply nodded his head. "It shall be done." His figure flickered as he appeared before Michael. "Shield of Aria!" Michael roared, finding Raphael right before him. A beautiful blue shield appeared before him, which surrounded him from all sides as he braced for an attack, but the attack never came. Raphael didn''t attack him. Raphael simply ced his hand on the shield and muttered one simple word. It was unclear which word he spoke as no one could even hear him, but as soon as he finished, something happened. The entire shield shattered to pieces as if it was made of the weakest ss. As the shield broke, A spear came towards the chest of Raphael from the other side as Michael snickered. It was as if he was expecting something like this and was waiting for this moment. His spear stabbed the chest of Raphael, impaling him! "If you think that you are enough to scare me, think twice!" Michael scoffed. "I was just having fu-" He abruptly stopped as he sensed danger around him. At thest second, he jumped to the side, barely avoiding the ws of Raphael that were only a few inches away from him as they moved past. As for the figure that was stabbed by the spear... He turned into smoke as if he wasn''t even real. He was just an illusory figure that wasn''t real. Real Raphael was behind Michael all along. Even as Michael dodged, Raphael didn''t stop. He appeared right before Michael. His hands turned into sharp ws once again, which he swung towards the chest of Michael. Michael barely managed to find his footing as he brought the spear before his chest to block the attacks. The ws hit the spear. Even though the ws weren''t strong enough to break a Weapon of Sin, just the sheer strength behind that attack was so much that Michael couldn''t manage to hold the Spear of Pride firmly in his hand. The spear of Pride slipped from his hands and flew far away,nding in the distance on the left side of Michael, right before Azekiel. At the same time, a kicknded on the chest of Michael, which sent him flying back, increasing the distance between the Spear of Pride and Michael even more. Azekiel gazed at the entire battle with slight amazement. The strength of Raphael... He was really strong, especially now that he had the boost because of Azekiel''s excess strength. Previously, Raphael could only use one person of his strength because Azekiel was so weak, but now that Azekiel was as strong as Michael, Raphael could use a bigger percentage of his strength which was all he needed to face a weakened Michael! Not only had Michael lost half his strength, but he was also weakened because he was fighting against the Ruler of this Floor! The advantages of Ruler of the Floor even extended to Raphael as well. Michael was indeed at a disadvantage, but he still didn''t give up. His pride didn''t allow him to give up. He ced his hand on the ground as he sat on one knee. "Spears of Destruction!" He cast another spell. He wasn''t going to give in that easily. Hundreds of golden spears appeared around him, floating in the air. The spears weren''t as strong as the Spear of Sin as they were only made from the energy of the Tower and this skill, but still, the sheer number of the spears made it impossible to dodge them. All Hundreds of Spears shot towards Raphael, who was running towards Michael. There was no room for Raphael to avoid. He couldn''t dodge. As the spears reached close to Raphael, he did something he hadn''t done before. The two beautiful ck wings behind him spread wide. The wings looked so beautiful as they were spread as if they truly belonged to an angel, despite being pitch ck in color. As the wings of Raphael spread, his body shot up. Michael was clever to cover all escape paths, but he had forgotten something even more important! Raphael had wings, and those wings weren''t just for show. Raphael could actually fly. Raphael didn''t Dodge the attack by going left or right, but he dodged them by going up. He flew past the rain of Spears andnded right before Michael. Michael prepared to attack again as he moved back, but this time Raphael didn''t give him time. ***** Back in his ce, Azekiel gazed at the spear of Sin. "A weapon of Sin. I wonder how you''ll feel if you die by your own weapon? That should be fun." Azekiel bent forward to pick up the spear of Pride. "Argh!" As soon as he touched the spear, he felt a terrible current course through his body. A notification also opened before him. [Warning: You can''t use another King''s Weapon of Sin] "Tsk." Azekiel rolled his eyes as he turned his attention back to Michael. On his own timer, there were still fifty seconds left of this strength, but in the thirty seconds he had given Raphael, only ten seconds were remaining. Azekiel ran to Raphael, noticing what he had achieved already. He could see that Michael was sitting on his knees, groaning in pain. Both his legs were broken by Raphael. Not only that but both his hands were crushed as well. Raphael only took twenty seconds to defeat a weakened Michael. Michael red at Azekiel with bloodlust in his eyes. Raphael had his ws around the neck of Michael, ready to crush. Raphael gazed at Azekiel as if waiting for permission. "Still five seconds left in the time I was given. Should I kill him?" Azekiel stared deep into the eyes of Michael. He couldn''t tell how amazing this moment truly felt. The positions were reversed! Just a little while ago, in a different future, Michael stood in his ce like a king while he was on his knees, begging for forgiveness. And now, the roles were reversed. "Michael, didn''t you use to act so prideful? Why are you sitting on your knees before this beggar? What happened? Not in the mood to talk? The two minutes that you gave me are over. But my two minutes... Still going on. That''s the difference between you and me." Azekiel stepped closer to Michael. "That''s the difference between you and a real King. Now you understand?" He grabbed Michael by his hair and pulled out a knife while dragging Michael to the ground. "If you ever get reincarnated, don''t forget this lesson. Too much Pride can be bad for health. This tower is mine, and I''ll take it all! Unfortunately, you won''t be here to see..." "You will pay for this," Michaelmented with clenched teeth. He had never felt so insulted in his life as he did now. p "Oh? And how will you make me pay?" Azekiel asked, letting out a light chuckle. "Your soul wille back to haunt me? I''ve already paid my fair share in my life. I won''t pay anything now! I''ll only take!" Azekiel raised his knife, prepared to kill Michael. "Things could''ve been so different between us if only..." Azekiel gazed at the pitiful condition of Michael. "Azekiel, if you think you have what it takes to kill me, you are in for a rude awakening. I will destroy you and that toy angel of yours." Michael''s lips were bleeding. Multiple bones of his were broken, yet he seemed so confident. Azekiel couldn''t help but wonder why that was...? Something didn''t seem right. Chapter 24 24: Pawn A battle had just finished on the first floor between two of the Kings, and no one had any idea that it even took ce. Since this wasn''t during a trial of the tower, it wasn''t broadcasted. If it were broadcasted on Floor Zero, everyone would''ve been shocked out of their lives. The person they thought couldn''t even finish the First Trial sessfully was now holding one of the strongest Kings of the Tower by his hair. King of Pride Michael... Who had gained the respect and worship of most of themoners in this tower was on his knees, bleeding before the man he only recently called a beggar. Even the other Kings wouldn''t havee to believe their eyes if they had watched the scene. If someone had said that something like this was even possible, people would''ve considered that person crazy, but currently, this was the reality. Despite being defeated, Michael was still so confident that it surprised Azekiel. Azekiel didn''t desire to waste a single second. He didn''t want Michael to live more than he had to since he was very suspicious at the moment. Azekiel brought down his knife, ready to kill the King of Pride to satiate the hunger inside his heart. Seeing the knifeing toward him, Michael lowered his head. His bleeding lips crept upward, forming what appeared to be a smile. "No!" At the same time, Raphael noticed something which ced him on alert. Without wasting a single second, he dashed towards Azekiel. Azekiel stopped his attack midway as he gazed at Raphael in confusion, hearing his sharp voice. "Argh!" Another scream soon followed, seemingly belonging to Michael. Azekiel looked down, confused. He hadn''t even stabbed Michael. Why was he screaming? It was only when he looked down that he realized why. Michael roared in pain as his right arm waspletely detached from his shoulders. His arm was lying on the ground. A small yet beautiful gem was rolling on the ground as if it had just fallen. Azekiel picked up the small crystal. "Escape Crystal? Were you attempting an escape?" In the meantime, Raphael sliced even the other hand of Michael to make sure that he couldn''t pull a trick like this again. "I saw the Escape Crystal appear above his hands. It was about tond on his hand, but before it could happen, I sliced his hand," Raphael exined, relieved."We seem to be lucky. If that crystal hadnded, he might have escaped to the fourth floor." He had stopped Michael''s escape by being alert and observing his every move. "This... I really should''ve been careful. I thought the so-called King of Pride would never attempt an escape. I thought his pride would make him ept death over running like a coward. It seems I was wrong." Azekiel was surprised. Even he hadn''t noticed this. "Thank you for keeping an eye." He patted the shoulder of Raphael before going down to his knees, facing Michael. "Michael, the King of Pride. I thought you would never run away because it was too cowardly. I overestimated you. I won''t make the same mistake again. Enough talking¡­" Azekiel ced his left hand under the chin of Michael and raised his head to look straight into the fearful eyes of Michael. The eyes that always seemed to be filled with pride were now filled with fear and tears. All the confidence of Michael was gone now, and Azekiel was cherishing this moment. Michael hadn''t thought he would end up in this situation when he arrived here to kill Azekiel. Not only did he lose his strength here, but he also ended up defeated. As if even that wasn''t enough, hisst path of escape had also failed him as he was caught at the wrong time. Filled with fear and seeing no hope, Michael started bbering, attempting onest thing. "Azekiel, I-i was joking. You think I would have actually killed you? I was just messing with you. We''re childhood friends! I was just testing you to see if you''ll believe me! The real reason I came down was to congratte you! Don''t misunderstand me!" "E-everything that happened here was a prank! Even the battle was just to test your strength as a King! A-aren''t we best friends? You won''t kill a friend over a joke. Right?" Michael was almost on the verge of pleading. All his Pride, all his confidence, it was all gone as he stood at death''s door. All that was left was a man who had tears in his eyes and a pale fearful face. As Azekiel heard the words of Michael, his lips curved slightly. "Ohhh! That was a prank! I should''ve known. You were always a prankster. Ipletely fell for this prank! Man, I''m really sorry for what I did. What can I do? Your acting was just so good." "I-it is alright. As long as we have cleared the misunderstanding. As for my wounds, they can be healedter. Don''t worry about it, my dear friend." Michael repeatedly nodded as he felt that Azekiel had believed him. However, in his heart, he was still snickering. ''You idiot, you''ll always stay a stupid bastard. Believing such nonsense even now? Just wait until I''m healed and get my strength back. I''ll show you the true meaning of fear.'' Azekiel, on the other hand, hugged Michael firmly. "I am really sorry for ever doubting you." "It''s alright. My acting was probably too convincing." Michael grinned as he finally calmed down. He had escaped the clutches of death. However, just as he let out a breath of relief, his eyes widened as his lips opened, letting out a pained gasp of breath. Azekiel was still hugging him; however, there was now a beautiful silver knife that was stabbed in the back of Michael. "My dear friend, since you pulled a prank, let me pull a prank too," Azekiel whispered in the ears of Michael as he pulled out the knife again before aiming it at the back of the neck of Michael. "Goodbye, Michael. I know this early death is too merciful for you, but I can''t take a risk with you." Thrust~ The knife was stabbed into the neck of Michael, making him gasp for breath as he bled. Before long, Michael lost his life as his eyes closed forever. Even until the moment he died, he couldn''t believe that Azekiel was the one who had killed him. The person he thought to be nothing but an ant was the one who killed him! Azekiel freed Michael from his hug, letting Michael''s lifeless body fall to the ground with the knife still stabbed in the back. "Tell me, Michael, Does it seem like Poetic Justice? You backstabbed me in the friendship, bringing me to my death. Today, I stabbed you in the back, bringing you to your death..." He gazed at the lifeless body of Michael. Finally, he killed Michael. However, this wasn''t the end of it. As soon as Azekiel killed Michael, multiple notifications resounded in his head, one of which was something he never could''ve expected [You have killed King of Pride] [Experience +100] [Level +4] [Weapon of Sin unlocked] [New Skill Received: Gluttony of Knowledge] [Passive Ability: Gluttony of Knowledge Activated] As Azekiel''s hand was still over the body of Michael, who he had just killed, his newly received ability started without him needing to do anything. Some strange memories started floating into his head as his vision turned blurry. ***** "Michael, you need to stop ying with Azekiel now that our family is rich. It doesn''t look good on us. Moreover, I heard that Azekiel''s family doesn''t even have enough money to feed themselves nowadays. It''s not long before hees begging us if you''re his friend. He will just use you." "Exactly. These poor people are never trustworthy. Just stay away from him. You understand what I''m trying to say?" "Yes, Father." "Yes, Mother." "I understand clearly. I was also thinking the same thing." ***** Through the memories, Azekiel saw many things that he never knew about. Michael didn''t change just because he got money. It was also because his family didn''t like Azekiel. They kept feeding this rich-poor nonsense to Michael, which transformed him. It didn''t mean that Michael was a good man. He had truly changed for the worse. His family could so easily convince him; that only meant he also wanted this deep down. From then on, everything that Azekiel did, Michael took it in a negative way. Azekiel also saw Michael insulting him when he was with his wealthy friends about how Azekiel was a beggar who never stopped harassing him. The memories continued to the point of the Apocalypse, where Michael lost his family. Azekiel could see that just the morning of the Apocalypse, Michael had a fight with his father, and before leaving, he even said, "I hope you die! All the wealth will end in the right hands then!" p It was as if God listened to him. His parents died that day, but they weren''t alone. Millions of people died with them. As for all his parents'' wealth, it was worthless in the apocalypse with monsters running outside. Azekiel also saw the journey of Michael in the tower from the first-person perspective. As a Porter, he had seen the other Kings a lot, but it was only when he received the knowledge of Michael that he understood all the Kings better. However, that wasn''t where the memories ended. To Azekiel''s surprise, the memories continued even after he saw Michael''s death at his hands. It was as if a different set of memories had continued from that point on in which Michael wasn''t informed about Azekiel bing a King. Instead, in the new set of memories, Azekiel hadn''t even awakened! Azekiel was selected as a Porter for Michael in these new memories. As Azekiel received these memories, his eyes slightly widened. Was he receiving the memories even from the old timeline that wasn''t going to exist because of his travel back in time? If that were the case, then this skill was indeed more impressive than he thought. However, what he was going to see, even he hadn''t expected. He didn''t know that the secret those memories contained was going to change everything. For the most part, the memories were pretty ordinary. Michael kept moving up the tower, racing against time and the other Kings. He went through challenges, asionally interacting with the other Kings. He never left his Proud self though. However, something happened when Michael was on the tenth floor. It was during thest few days of peace for Azekiel in the old timeline. Even Azekiel remembered that moment from his own memories. When he was a Porter, he had seen a prominent King of Sin arrive to meet Michael on the tenth floor. The King was taken inside the tent of Michael to talk to him. In fact, the one who escorted him was none other than Azekiel himself. Through the next hour, there were only two people inside the tent. No one knew what the two talked about. Michael also didn''t tell anyone. However, now that Azekiel was receiving the memories of Michael, he could see that meeting... The secret of the meeting between the King of Pride Michael and King of Wrath, Lucifer! ***** The King of Pride was sitting on a chair that appeared like a throne when the King of Wrath entered the tent. Michael also had a ss of wine in his hand, which he was taking a sip from, seemingly looking somewhat annoyed. It was as if he didn''t particrly like Lucifer. The silver-haired Lucifer picked a chair from the side before walking closer to Michael. He ced his chair right before Michael and sat. Michael gazed at Lucifer with an amused expression. "So, what brought the King of Wrath to me?" Michael asked, taking a brief nce at the expressions of Lucifer, which were stale. "Are you here to show off how you won the title of thest three floors?" The King of Wrath simply shook his head. "I saw a blue-haired guy outside." "Are you talking about that rat, Azekiel? He is one of my Porters. What about him?" Michael asked. "Don''t tell me you came all the way here to talk about a beggar? Get to the point. What do you want from me?" Lucifer took a brief pause before he opened his lips and said in an emotionless voice, "I want his death." Chapter 25 25: Deep Threads Of Darkness "I want him to be dead." The words of Lucifer stunned even Michael, who hadn''t expected to hear such a thing. A confused expression graced his face as he heard the demand of Lucifer. "You want that rat dead? Even though I don''t have any good feelings for that insect, I also don''t hate him enough to kill him." The young man ced his chin on his hands as he thought for a little longer before ultimately shaking his head. "I can''t do it. What will others say about me if I just killed a randommoner who works for me for no reason? You know my reputation is everything to me." "You can''t kill him without reason? Then find a reason. Get any reason and make it happen," Luciferzily stated. "Don''t tell me you can''t evene up with an excuse?" ,m Michael thought for a little longer. This did make sense. He could find a reason, but still, he wasn''t convinced. "Sigh, that I can do, but it''s certainly too much work to kill one person. I''m not sure if I want to do it. Why don''t you just do it yourself? Won''t it be simpler? You kill him. As a show of revenge, I''ll kill a random porter of yours. Everything will get back to normal," he refused again. "I won''t stop you. Not like that insect matters to me. In any case, I''m not going to be the one killing him." Lucifer took a brief pause. "I can''t kill him. I promised someone that I won''t do it. Moreover, it''s just easier if you do it." "Alright, I might think about it if you tell me why you want him dead? What did he do to you?" "You don''t need to know that. Just tell me if you''ll do it or not?" Lucifer asked with knitted brows. "Is that the attitude you should keep when asking for a favor?" Michael smirked as he took another sip of his wine. "How can I sympathize with your cause if I don''t know why you want it to happen?" As Michael asked his question, he only received a re from Lucifer in return, as if he really wasn''t going to answer that question. He changed the question to what truly mattered. "Fine. You don''t have to answer that. Let''s get to the main point. Why should I do something you want? What will I get from it?" Throughout the conversation, he had been drinking. His ss was already empty by now. He reached out his hand to pick up the wine bottle, but before he could even touch it, the bottle was picked up by Lucifer. Lucifer gazed at the bottle, which was barely empty but didn''t pour any into the ss of Michael. "King of Pride, Michael. I have the Ruler Title of the Seventh Floor, the Eighth floor, and the ninth floor. You haven''t been able to snatch a title of a Floor in years. Doesn''t it hurt your pride? Your reputation has started falling amongst your own people. Don''t you find it insulting?" "If you''re here to rub salts on my wounds, you can leave." Michael rolled his eyes. "I don''t have anything to discuss with you anymore. As for the Ruler Titles, I will get the titles of other floors soon." "That soon certainly won''t be on the tenth floor," Lucifer responded, taking a sip directly from the bottle. "I am this close to clearing the floor. If I cleared the tenth floor before you, just imagine how insulting it would be for you? Losing four floors in a row to me? Things don''t have to be like that." "What are you implying?" Michael grimaced. "I won''t clear this tower. I will step back, and I''ll let you clear it first. I''ll let you take the title of this floor. You will get the worshiping gazes of your followers again. You''ll once again be a star in their eyes. Doesn''t that sound good?" Lucifer inquired, observing the expressions of Michael. "However, that will be the case only if you agree to kill." Michael thought deeply, closing his eyes. This was an offer he certainly couldn''t refuse. He could see the advantages of the n. If Lucifer was indeed close to clearing this tower, this was terrible news for him. He desperately needed this win, and he was willing to take it no matter where it came from. He let out a tired breath before opening his dark eyes that were filled with malice. "Fine. I promise you that Azekiel will die. And you won''t clear this floor in return." "It''s a deal then. I won''t clear the floor. But if you fail, you''ll pray you wouldn''t have epted this deal." Lucifer stood up and calmly left the tent, taking the wine bottle from him. No one was supposed to know the conversation that took ce between the two. Unfortunately, it was the memories of Michael that betrayed Lucifer''s trust. **** As Azekiel saw this part of Michael''s memories, his expressions twisted in confusion. He remembered he never even talked to Lucifer, let alone offending him. He didn''t even interact with anyone that worked for Lucifer, so why would this guy want him dead? The memories didn''t stop there though. They continued and showed how Michael went into extremely dangerous ces on the tenth floor with his Porters with the intention of having Azekiel be killed by a beast, but Azekiel was lucky. The beasts didn''t attack him even though there was a w in the defense, which Michael intentionally left. From then on, Michael kept trying to trap Azekiel to have an excuse to kill him. He couldn''t just kill him for no reason as it was going to look bad to people. Fortunately, that excuse came on its own when he was informed that Azekiel had taken a fruit without his permission from his te. He knew it was a small thing that was at best worth banishment from his team, but he exaggerated this into something much worse. He brought Azekiel to Floor Zero and dered the death verdict before everyone. The memories continued to Michael meeting with Lucifer after the death verdict and telling him that Azekiel was going to be dead soon. In return, Lucifer allowed Michael to clear the tenth floor first, and that''s what Michael did. The same day that Michael cleared the tenth floor was the day when Azekiel died and traveled back in time. From that point on, the memories were nk since the timeline was broken at that point. The iing memories stopped as Azekiel sat down, looking defeated. The more he knew about his fate in the past, the moreplicated and absurd things became. He thought that he had died because Michael was a bastard who was a psychopath who didn''t like him eating one fruit, but that was just an excuse for his death¡­ It wasn''t just Michael who killed him. It was also Lucifer, even though he was indirectly involved. Both of them had worked together to set this narrative that could kill him. "Are you alright? You look¡­ angry? Did something happen?" Raphael sat on his knees before Azekiel to see his shocked face. He could see something was wrong. "That''s because I am angry." Even though Azekiel''s words stated that he was angry, there was not a single frown on his face. "It turns out that what I thought to be the truth wasn''t the entire truth." He slowly closed his eyes as he raised his head up. No matter how hard he tried to remember Lucifer to know why he hated him, he couldn''t find any reason. He hadn''t known Lucifer from outside the tower. And even inside the tower, there was nothing between them. In fact, even on the day when he saw Lucifering to meet Michael, he was extremely respectful to him. Without even realizing it, Azekiel startedughing out loud as he dropped to the floor of the Library of Sin, gazing at the roof. Azekiel keptughing¡­ andughing¡­ andughing until there were tears in his eyes. "It''s so funny! Isn''t it Raphael?" he asked after a long time amidst hisughter. "A manes with a desire for your death, and you respectfully escort him to your own killer! What an amusing fate I have had..." "Hahahaha!" Raphael didn''t know what Azekiel found out, but he could feel that he was somewhat hurt. All his happiness from before was gone. Even though he wasughing now, there was a burning rage hidden behind thatughter, and he could feel it. After a long time, Azekiel sat up, feeling extremely refreshed. He stretched his armszily as he gazed towards the portal of the second floor. "All this while, I was inplete darkness. But everything is clear now... Crystal Clear..." As Azekiel was lost in his ownplicated thoughts, a notification was also sent to the entire tower. As soon as Michael had died, notifications started resounding all over the Tower of Sin. [King of Pride, Michael, has been eliminated by King of Gluttony, Azekiel] And with that notification, the name of Azekiel reached far and wide in the most shocking way possible. It was the first time a King had been killed! And that King was Michael, who had just cleared the Fourth Floor! The Lord of Lies and the other two Lords who had met Azekiel and heard his threat were the most shocked! They couldn''t believe the kid they just saw managed to kill Michael, and that too within a day of his deration to them that he will destroy Michael! Now they were really thankful that they hadn''t attacked Azekiel before by underestimating him. The news also reached the other Kings... Everyone realized that the Tower was going to go through a massive change! A King had been in! Chapter 26 26: Excess Summon The announcement about Azekiel killing Michael reached all the Lord of Sins and the Kings as well, all of whom stopped what they were doing to make sure they heard correctly. Inside one of the small tents, a chubby man waszily resting in his bed when he heard the notification. "Hmm? Michael died?" With a deep frown, the King of Sloth, Alioth, sat up. "A new King arrived?" **** In another ce, a blonde man was fighting a massive Dragon, holding nothing but a mighty sword. There was a beautiful white robe on his back that made him look like a handsome Prince. Despite the battle raging on for hours, there was not a single drop of blood on the white clothes of the young man. Instead, it was the Dragon who was bleeding. The dragon fell down after getting heavily wounded. He couldn''t even move anymore. The young mannded on the head of the Dragon as he prepared to deal the finishing blow when he heard the notification. He raised his head towards the sky, frowning before thrusting his sword down, killing the Dragon. He only muttered one word, "Azekiel..." He was the King of Wrath, Lucifer. A small orb of light flew out of the body of the Giant Dragon, which was absorbed by Lucifer, making him even stronger... **** A young man had just finished his assault on a castle, taking it over. He straight went to the treasury with his men. As soon as the treasury was opened, a beautiful smile spread across the lips of the man as he saw all the treasures. p His smile disappeared abruptly as he saw the announcement. "It''s all ours. Collect it properly." The manmanded the Lords of Sins who worked for him before he turned to leave with a grim look on his face. "Yes, My Lord, the King of Greed." ***** "Michael is dead?" The King of Lust Liam sat up on his bed, surprised. He wasn''t wearing any clothes, but he wasn''t alone. There were threedies on his bed, and none of them had any clothes on their bodies either. **** "Tsk, if Michael had to die, couldn''t he do it at my hands? He just had to go and die at the hands of a newbie? Now that newbie will get all the experience and the attention. That lucky bastard!" The King of Envy rolled his eyes, feeling incredibly jealous of the destiny of Azekiel. ***** "Looks like we are famous now," Azekiel let out, ncing toward Michael. "I wonder if he heard this notification or not?" "I don''t feel like this is good news for us," Raphaelmented. "That''s because it isn''t," Azekiel agreed. "But I can see the positive side of it as well. It will give us some time. We will see how things go from here on." Even though he was really furious about the schemes that two Kings had to pull to have him dead, he was also somewhat calm for some reason. He knew that if Michael was a Phoenix, then Lucifer was a Dragon who was many times more dangerous. There was a reason Lucifer had cleared three floors in a row at the fastest time after all. After killing Michael, Azekiel had gained four levels. However, despite all the boost, he didn''t reach the level of Michael yet. Just because he had killed Michael didn''t mean he was going to get enough experience to reach Michael''s level, which even he understood by now. He wasn''t even close. Fortunately, the notifications weren''t only about leveling up. He also remembered seeing a Notification about his Weapon of Sin along with the passive skill he gained just now. He was hurt because of the new information, but at the same time, he was pleased about something else. Finally! Finally, he had received his weapon of Sin! Even though Michael wasn''t the true origin that caused his death, he still yed a big part in it. He deserved to die, ording to Azekiel. Not only did he manage to take his revenge, but he also strengthened himself along the way. And as an added bonus, he also received his Weapon of Sin along the way. He was quite eager to know what it was and wanted to check the weapon right away, but he didn''t. He controlled himself. He still wasn''t finished with Michael. He calmed his head before focusing on Michael again. "The Prideful Michael, on the inside, you were also so pitiful that you yed a henchman for Lucifer. You really don''t deserve any respect. Still, I will take whatever I can." Azekiel ced his hand on the chest of Michael and took a deep breath. He knew he was going to receive a lot of Soul Energy this time which was going to be like nothing he had ever received before. He was using Soul Snatch on a King, after all. No matter how scummy Michael was, he was still a King until he died. "Soul Snatch!" Azekielmanded his system. As soon as hismand came, a pure white stream of energy started moving from the body of Michael into his body. Within seconds, his soul bar was filled entirely, but the soul energy was still too much. The absorption still continued for some reason, even though there was no way for his bar to go up anymore. After a long time, he finished as the stream of soul energy dried up. [Soul Snatch Sessful] [Strength +50] [Defense +50] [Speed +50] [Hunger +20] [Attention: Soul Energy collected is more than the Limitation of Soul Bar. The excess Energy is also enough for one more Summon Contract. Do you want to use the excess Soul Energy to summon one more Familiar, or do you want to throw it away?] [Summon] [Throw Away] "Summon a second Familiar? I thought all the excess energy would go to waste, but it seems when the excess energy is enough to summon another being, it isn''t tossed away on its own. That''s great. Also, what is this choice? If I could use that Soul Energy to summon someone, why would I toss it away?!" Azekiel hastily clicked the Summon Button. As soon as he pressed the button, the system screen disappeared. Instead, three beautiful cards appeared before him. It was the same as the time when he had received Raphael. Azekiel couldn''t help but wonder if he was going to get another help like Raphael. Was today his lucky day? There was another choice before him. This time, there were three cards before him, all having different colors. One of the three cards was a beautiful shade of blue, while the other card was green. As for the third card, it was pure white this time. "Raphael, any suggestions?" Azekiel asked Raphael. "It seems like we are receiving anotherpany." "I can''t see anything." Raphael calmly responded. "The Choice is between blue, green, and white. Since it''s no more than a lucky draw, I want you to select a color. I''ve already seen my luck with getting you. Let''s see your luck now. So, which one should I select? Blue, green or white?" Azekiel inquired. "I don''t think I should influence this decision. This is a choice for you. Please select yourself," Raphael calmly answered as he took a step back, not willing to interfere. "Sigh, fine. I''ll select." Azekiel reached out his hand and ced his hand on the first card, the card which was as blue as the clearest sky outside. As he touched the blue card, all the other cards disappeared, leaving only the blue one behind, which was in Azekiel''s hands. The blue card became a reality. Azekiel slowly turned the card around to see what was in it... As he saw what was on the card, his expressions became somewhat weird. Chapter 27 27: Witch Of The Famine Azekiel turned the beautiful blue card around to see what was on the card; however, as soon as he turned the card, his expression became somewhat weird since he couldn''t see a warrior like Raphael on the card. In fact, there wasn''t even a man on it. Ady was depicted on the card, having long blue hair as clear as the sea. Her deep blue eyes seemed to gaze straight into the soul of Azekiel through the card. A beautiful ck dress wrapped around the body of thedy, highlighting her curves. What stunned Azekiel the most was the staff that was in the hands of thedy. He had seen a simr depiction in how witches were described in storybooks. Only the sharp pointy hat was missing. Present in the hands of Azekiel, the card turned to smoke. The smoke flew up before it started expanding, obstructing the vision of Azekielpletely. Raphael moved close to Azekiel to keep an eye on the surroundings. The smoke soon disappeared, leaving behind one person standing in the distance. It was ady with wless skin. The woman seemed to be in her early twenties, around the same age as Azekiel. She was still holding onto her staff which looked even more fierce in her hands. The top of the staff appeared like the head of a snake that was ring at Azekiel. Azekiel stood up, keeping his focus on thedy before him. "Who are you?" "I suppose you are the King of Gluttony? You don''t look anything special to me," thedyzily stated. "In fact, you look quite weak. Whatever, I guess I have no choice, do I?" She turned her gaze towards Raphael, who stood right beside Azekiel. "A fallen angel? Fascinating indeed. Someone as weak as him was able to summon two...?" It was only after she noticed Raphael that she became somewhat surprised. What was happening here? How could a person this weak establish a contract with two people at once? "I asked you a question," Azekiel repeated after being ignored initially. He couldn''t understand why thisdy was different from Raphael? She was supposed to work for him, so why was she showing so much attitude? While Raphael was like a proper General, always working for the wellbeing of Azekiel, thedy seemed different. It was as if she was doing a favor to Azekiel by being here. Thedy red in the eyes of the young man. "King of Gluttony, heed my words. I am here to help you. But that doesn''t mean I''m your servant. So keep that in mind when you summon me to the material world." "Also, who is that guy?" She noticed a dead body lying near her feet. "He is the King of Pride... Or used to be at least," Azekiel exined. "King of Pride? A King has been in already?" She hastily turned to Raphael. "Did you do it?" Raphael shook his head as he gazed at Azekiel. "He killed him." Even though he had helped massively, he knew that even without his help, Azekiel could''ve killed Michael. Azekiel had surprised him again and again with his battle skills and nning, after all. Moreover, he wasn''t here for credit. It didn''t matter for him if he got credit or not. What mattered was that Lia needed to know that Azekiel did it so she would not underestimate Azekiel. "He did?" Lia eximed in surprise. "That''s very interesting. You don''t look the part of a warrior, but you managed to kill a King. I guess I underestimated you." "What is your name?" Azekiel inquired. So far, he didn''t know anything about thedy other than the fact that she was here to help him. "I am the Witch of Gluttony, Lia." Thedy identified herself. "I apologize if I was rude to you at the start. I don''t like Kings much. I guess you can say some bad memories associated with it." "Have you worked for other Kings of Sins in the past?" Azekiel found her words really interesting. She didn''t like Kings? Were there other Kings of Sins in the past? Just what was she implying? "I don''t mean King of Sins." Lia rified. "I meant general Kings. Like the Kings of Kingdoms. I mean, let alone me, who will like someone thatmanded his men to have you burned in mes?" "Commanded to be burned?" "Yeah. How else do you think I became a Spirit of Sin? I was burned to my death. But that''s all in the past. That bastard is long dead by now." "Why were you burned?" Azekiel asked carefully. Since Lia was his spirit warrior, he needed to know her better to get close enough to her so they could trust and work together. "I was used of causing a Famine in the entire Kingdom. Some idiot told the King it was the work of Witches. Many other witches and I were burned that year..." The woman grimly stated as she looked down. "Hundreds of Witches were burned that year." "So you were falsely used and killed. I''m really sorry for what happened to you," Azekiel expressed himself. Thedy looked at Azekiel in confusion. "Why are you sorry?" "I didn''t say I didn''t do it, did I? I did cause that famine." Her lips curved upwards as a smile formed on her face. "I just didn''t expect to be caught. I really underestimated that bastard King." Even though there was a devilish smile on her face, even that smile was really attractive. "You really caused a Famine?" Azekiel asked, stunned. "But that would''ve killed so many humans... Why would you?" "Meh, I was just bored and wanted to have some fun with the King." Liazily rolled her eyes. "Anyway, don''t think too much. It wasn''t as if too many people had died. More witches were burned than the humans that died in the Famine. That King went a bit too serious. I shouldn''t have gone easy on him." Azekiel couldn''t help but shake his head in response. "I guess I can understand why you became a Spirit of Sin now. You became a Witch of Gluttony because you were hungry for amusement and entertainment. You didn''t even care about the lives of innocents as long as it was for your pleasure... Am I right?" Azekiel was really disappointed with thedy. Initially, he had thought that she was also like him and Raphael, who were punished too harshly for something that was barely a crime. In fact, Raphael was still suffering for his crime that wasn''t even that big. He was always hungry, and he couldn''t even do anything about it. He had to live his entire life in torment; meanwhile, Lia... She actuallymitted those crimes... He didn''t know how to interact with her anymore. He was just too disappointed. He didn''t want to say something to her that he was going to regretter, so he just stopped looking at her. He shifted his focus back to the screen of his system to go through the details about his Weapon of Sin. There was only one thing that could help his mood now. It was his new toy¡­ Chapter 28 28: The Mystery Of Life Seeing the strange reaction of Azekiel, Lia moved closer to Raphael. She brought her lips closer to the ears of Raphael and whispered, "What the hell is his problem? Why did it look like he was judging me? I mean, it''s not like any of us are saints here. He is the King of Gluttony, so he must''vemitted even worse crimes. And same with you. Isn''t that right?" Raphael let out a mouthful of breath. He didn''t know how to respond. His crime... It was nowhere close to her sin. All he did was take an apple that didn''t belong to him. He didn''t hurt anyone. He didn''t cause anyone''s death. All he did was take a fruit. As for Azekiel, he was the same. All he did was take some fruits from a tray that was filled with fruits to the brim. If they were to look at the intensity of Sin, Lia had the worst sin amongst the three of them. Raphael could only keep his silence, having no way to respond to her without spoiling the rtionship between the team. The only way he could think of was to distract from the topic. "Don''t think too much. He isn''t judging you. He just got busy checking something. We are no one to judge you, after all. Anyway, what are your skills? What can you do? Can you fight enemies? Or are you a passive support?" **** Raphael finished going through his weapon of Sin. There was a puzzled look on his face as he rubbed his chin. It was impossible to read his face. Only one word came out of his lips. "Certainly Interesting." "Now, let''s see what that skill actually was. How does it work?" He went to the main screen. _________________________________________ [Stats:] Name: Azekiel Species: Human Title: King of Gluttony Level: 9 Experience needed for Level up: 50 Strength: 327 Speed: 327 Defense: 327 Hunger: 124 Magic Affinity: 45 Constitution: 80 [Skill:] Summoning Soul Snatch Card of Judgment [5 Cards left] Gluttony of Knowledge [Familiars:] General of Gluttony Raphael Witch of Famine Lia ________________________________________ He already knew about most of his skills, leaving only one ck sheep in the bunch, which he didn''t understand yet. He tapped on the new skill. [Name: Gluttony of Knowledge] [Passive Skill] [Description: Hunger for knowledge has always gued beings from every realm. Gluttony of Knowledge helps you absorb all the memories of the person you killed." [Warning: Skill will only work on the deceased that you''ve killed, only if you touch them after their death] [Warning: Deceased shouldn''t be dead for more than six hours] [Limitations: Will only work once a day] ______________________________________ "Gluttony of Knowledge, so it''s basically a fancy name for memory stealing. A decent skill, but it seems like a problem that it''s a passive skill. If it activates on its own when I''m in the middle of the battlefield, I would be frozen, lost in memories. I need to be really careful with it." Azekiel read the description again just to be sure. "I need to make sure I don''t touch any dead bodies because I''m sure that the surroundings are clear of the threat. Another hassle." He let out a tired breath. If he needed something to distract himself from the past of Lia, he had it now. With this troublesome yet useful skill, he had forgotten entirely about Lia''s actions. He closed the screen and turned back to her, noticing that Lia was talking with Raphael. She was really like a kid in the way she talked. She kept smiling and chuckling as if she was telling Raphael some hrious story. On the other hand, Raphael stoodpletely still like an expressionless statue. "That reminds me. I''ve never seen Raphaelugh. If I was in his ce, hungry all the time, I might be the same. I''m surprised he can keep himself sane despite centuries of this torment." Azekiel was somewhat pleased as well with the arrival of Lia. Even though her thoughts and convictions were somewhat questionable, her bubbly personality was probably what this team needed, especially Raphael. Azekiel couldn''t joke around and keep Raphael busy. Raphael needed someone who could be a friend more than Azekiel was... Someone like Lia who could help him loosen up. Even if Lia was utterly useless in the battles, Azekiel didn''t care. In any case, he could only Summon one person to the material world at a time, and that person was always going to be Raphael. So her battle prowess didn''t matter. He walked closer to the small group of two. As Azekiel got closer, he managed to hear the conversation that was taking ce. He couldn''t help but roll his eyes at the story. Lia was talking about the time when she was a child and got lost in the forest. " It was fun. Too bad I didn''t see any unicorns there. Apparently, it was only a rumor that there were unicorns there." Liaughed. "So I went there for no reason¡ªwhat a waste of time. My mother scolded me so much that day. I literally had to listen to her lecture for an hour straight about dangers in the outside world for people like us." "Outside world? Don''t you mean dangers in the forest? You can''t be saying that you weren''t allowed to leave your home at all," Azekiel chimed in the conversation. "Hah, nope. I didn''t make a mistake. I meant the outside world. After my sister and father were murdered, my mother banned me from leaving the house, saying the world was really dangerous." Even though Lia talked about such a serious incident, she still seemedpletely calm, as if she hade to terms with what had happened in the past. As she spoke, she noticed the slightly concerned look of Azekiel as if he was pitying her. "Hey, stop with those sad faces. I don''t like sadness. Life is to have fun. Not to be sad. I''ve had my fair share of sadness in my childhood. I don''t want more sadness in this life. That''s what I had promised myself! So don''t give me that look." "Did you find out who killed your sister?" Azekiel asked. Lia shook her head. "It was impossible to find who did it. There were no witnesses. This is also one of the reasons I got interested in magic and Witchcraft, as I had heard that you could do anything once you be a Witch. Witches were considered the goddess by some and demoness by others." "I tried to bring my father and my sister back to life, only to fail. Once you die, even witchcraft can''t bring you back to life. That''s why enjoy life while you have it." Lia tapped the forehead of Azekiel. "Don''t be so grim always. You''re the King of Gluttony. You have something that not many in the world have... Use that to bring some happiness to your life... Don''t wait until it''s toote." Azekiel didn''t know why, but the more he heard Lia, the more he failed to understand her. At first, he thought she was just a girl who didn''t care for anything... Someone who didn''t care how many she killed as long as it was for fun, but he could see that there was something more to her¡­ Something iprehensible... Azekiel was momentarily dazed as he thought about the words of Lia; however, he soon remembered that he couldn''t have fun in his life. This was his second life and he didn''t receive it to have fun. He couldn''t sit calmly until he was done with what he set out to do. "Let''s go. We should get to the next floor." Having no response to Lia, he treaded toward the portal of the second floor. Chapter 29 29: Missed Opportunity? Raphael closely followed him, taking subtle nces at Lia along the way. On the other hand, Lia was pretty excited. She really wanted to see more of this Tower and how many adventures it had for them. Azekiel stopped at the entrance of the portal to the second floor and nced back. For some mystical reason, all the craters in the ground started healing themselves. The book stacks also repaired themselves and flew back to their original ce as if nothing had happened. Within a few minutes, everything was back in its ce, and no marks of battles could be seen. "Certainly a mystical ce," Azekiel muttered, observing the surroundings. He shifted his attention back to the portal of the second floor. "Raphael, do you know what we''ll face on the second floor?" he asked Raphael. Raphael shook his head in refusal. "Any guesses on how long the first King who cleared this floor could''ve taken?" Azekiel asked again. "Since the first floor took two days to clear by the first person and assuming the Second Floor to be tougher, I suppose it took two weeks?" Raphael tossed out an assumption. "Six Months..." Azekiel answeredzily. "The first person to clear the Second Floor was the King of Wrath, and he took six months to do it." "Six Months? Just what exactly is the Second Floor Trial?" Raphael asked grimly. "Why so long?" A trial that took six months? He was really curious what the trial could be. "If you thought going against the King of Pride, Michael, was hard, wait till we reach the Second Floor. There, we won''t have to go against any one King... We''ll be going against all five remaining Kings! That''s the Trial... The Trial of Kingship, " Azekiel smirked as he stepped closer to the portal. Raphael was momentarily dazed, but he also followed. There was only one thought in his head... ''Going against all five Kings of Sins...?'' Raphael''s expressions were really grim. With what Azekiel told him, he could feel that the trial was going to be really risky, especially since they needed to finish it in three months if they wanted to snatch the title of the floor. On the other hand, Lia was really excited. She could feel that some interesting times were ahead. Just as Azekiel was about to step inside the portal, he stopped. A subtle frown appeared on his face. He swiftly turned around and started walking away from the portal. "What happened? Are we not going above?" Lia asked, stunned. "Don''t tell me you are scared already?" "Will you keep your mouth shut?" Azekielzily responded. Instead of advancing towards the flickering portal of the next floor, he was walking towards the portal of Floor Zero. Even though he had gained ess to the second floor, he didn''t step inside right away. As for the reason, Lia didn''t know about it. On the other hand, Raphael managed to decipher why it was happening. He had noticed the subtle movement of Azekiel when he was near the portal of the second floor, which gave him an idea about what happened. Traversing through the rows of shelves, Azekiel finally reached the portal. Without wasting a single second, he stepped inside the portal. The two spirits also entered, following him. **** Floor Zero... The Floor was inplete shock as they had just received the information about the King of Pride being killed by the new King... The King of Gluttony. Most of the people here were in shock, especially the ones who had insulted and scolded Azekiel throughout thest two years for being useless. They remembered just how badly they behaved with Azekiel. The one who was most scared at the moment was the man who had told the Lord of Lies about Azekiel being missing when they were searching for the missing guards. He was really praying to the gods that Azekiel wasn''t going to find out about this. The people who hadmented that Azekiel couldn''t even finish the trial of the First Floor were so embarrassed that they couldn''t even raise their heads. They had called Azekiel stupid for selecting the Trial of Death, but now they understood that they were the idiots for not having faith in a King. They were all looking at the screens avable to find one glimpse of Azekiel in any of the trials; however, there were none that showed him now. Amongst the crowd of people, there was a dark-haired young woman who looked somewhat conflicted. The woman was wearing a pretty decent dress that was covered in some dirt, yet she seemed fairly pretty. There was a look of regret on her face. Seeing her expressions, her friend stepped closer to hers. "Ri, what happened? Why do you look so upset?" "I missed the chance," Ri let out a deep sigh. "If only I weren''t so blind, argh!" "What are you saying? I don''t understand. What missed chance?" "Azekiel! The name that is on everyone''s lips at the moment!" thedy eximed. "What about him? You''ll have to be more specific. Did you offend that guy somehow?" Minali asked, seemingly really curious. "That, I don''t know how to exin..." Ri scratched the back of her head. As she noticed her friend ring at her for not being clear, she exined in detail. "Azekiel used to study in my school. He was always a loner in the ss with no friends. Once, my ss friend gave me a dare..." "What was the dare?" Minali inquired as she noticed the conflicting expressions of her friend. She didn''t know Ri in the past. The two of them only came closer in the Tower of Sin and became friends, so she didn''t know what happened in the past. "The dare was that I needed to invite Azekiel to the prom, and I needed to make sure he came," Ri let out a deep sigh. "To finish the dare sessfully, I started acting nice to him before ultimately inviting him to the prom." "Don''t tell me you left him standing there?" "The dare was only to invite him and make sure hees. I don''t have to do anything else, so I... I left him standing. I didn''t even attend the prom and instead went partying with my friend," Ri exined. "If only I had gone, I might be his girlfriend now! I might be the girlfriend of a King! What a missed opportunity! Especially since that was just before the apocalypse!" "You idiot, you''re worried about missed opportunities? Don''t you think you might''ve offended him? He''s a King now! Aren''t you worried for your safety?" "Safety? I don''t think he will hurt me. He isn''t a person like that. Maybe, just maybe, I can get close to him again?" Ri muttered, losing herself in deep thought. "I''ll need a really nice excuse on why I kept him standing that day, but it might just work. I''m sure he''ll still have some feelings for me. Don''t you think so?" "Even if you can get close to him, will you even be able to meet him? He won''te to Floor Zero. He''ll climb higher and higher. The meeting seems impossible. As you said, you missed your chance," Minali responded. She hadn''t even properly finished speaking when shocked gasps of people filled the space. King of Gluttony, Azekiel had arrived on the Floor! Chapter 30 30: Remember Me? Ri heard the shocking gasps of the people around her. Everyone was standing frozen in time as if they had seen some ghost. She turned back to look in the same direction they were all looking for, wondering just what they saw. Her friend also did the same. As the twodies looked back, their eyes widened to some extent. They both saw a tall figure standing before the portal. As for the figure, it belonged to no other than Azekiel. Minali''s eyes twitched uncontrobly. She had just said that Ri wasn''t going to have a chance of meeting with Azekiel again, and the chance appeared on its own. "I was wrong. You do get a chance, but are you sure you want to try? What if he''s holding a grudge?" she asked her young friend, worried for her safety. Ri smiled cutely. "Just look at me. Do you think anyone can hold a grudge against me? I just need a good excuse and watch him ept me back." She adjusted her dress properly, which highlighted all the right curves before she stepped out of the crowd to advance toward Azekiel. Instead of walking opposite them, Azekiel also walked towards the girl. The distance between the two kept decreasing with each passing second. Ten meters turned to five, which decreased to only one meter. Ri stopped right before Azekiel. Azekiel also stopped, gazing into the eyes of Ri. By now, Ri had already prepared everything. She also had some fake tears in her eyes as she gazed at Azekiel like she was too weak. "Azekiel..." Azekiel raised his right hand, recognizing thedy. He ced his hand on the cheeks of thedy. In her heart, thedy wasughing. She couldn''t believe that it was so easy. She didn''t even need to say anything, and Azekiel already seemed like he wanted to get close to her. Unfortunately, her dreams were short-lived. Azekiel did ce his hands on the cheeks of Ri but not in affection. He applied a small bit of force as he moved her aside. "You''re standing in my way." Ri''s face turned pale as she was turned aside. Azekiel walked past her, clearing his path, not even looking back. She still wasn''t ready to give up though. "Azekiel, it''s me. Ri! We were about to go to a prom, but I got in an ident while I was on the way. I couldn''te. I wanted to apologize to you for that." "It''s alright. It doesn''t matter," Azekielzily responded without even looking back. Ri could feel her face turn red in embarrassment. Why was Azekiel acting like she didn''t matter at all? "I-i wanted to talk to you." She again attempted as she followed Azekiel. Azekiel raised his hand, gesturing for thedy to stop following him. "I''m busy. Moreover, I don''t think you have anything that is worth my time." "It is! I wanted to say something really important! I love you! I''ve always loved you! That''s why I approached you in ss! That''s why I invited you to Prom! Don''t do this to me, Azekiel!" Azekiel heard her words and stopped. A devilish smirk appeared on his face as he nced back. "Is that so?" He couldn''t believe how good that woman was when it came to lying. She thought he didn''t know anything? She thought he didn''t see her avoid him in the tower of Sin to make sure he didn''t approach her? She thought he didn''t see her cheer when the death sentence of Azekiel was dered by the King of Pride so she could get in his good books? Thedy who had cheered one of the loudest on his death sentence was now saying she loved him? He couldn''t help but find it amusing. "The allure of strength... Even the people who hate you are forced to lie to get close to you..." He muttered as he stepped closer to Ri again. Before Ri could even react, Azekiel was standing barely a few inches away from her. Let alone Ri, not a single person saw the movement of Azekiel. It was just so fast. Within a fraction of a minute, Azekiel''s hands were on the neck of Ri. "You know I can crack that slender neck of yours within a second if I wanted? You still want to lie to me?" Hearing the words of Azekiel, Ri was horrified. She started shivering in fear. This Azekiel... Why was it so different from the one she knew in the ss? The one she knew was always calm and avoided fights. He was bullied many times, but he never fought back. He was what they used to call goodie two shoes. On the contrary, what she was seeing right now was nothing like that. If he was like the personification of eternal calmness in the past, now he was like a volcano that was ready to erupt. Azekiel brought his face closer to Ri, bringing his lips near her ears. "I saw you entering a club with your friends on the day you im to have an ident. It was when I was walking back home after waiting two hours for you to arrive at the Prom. Next time,e up with a better lie that''s not this easy to catch." He moved his head back again before freeing the girl, letting her live. "Now, if you lie one more time, I''ll give you a shortcut ticket to real hell. So stay away from me." He turned his back on thedy and continued on his path again. Seeing the actions of thedy, Lia burst intoughter. This was just her kind of person. The way Azekiel handled this girl, she was really amused. Ri immediately dropped to the ground as her knees buckled. She was so horrified that she couldn''t even stand. This Azekiel... He was like a devil in the way he talked. Ignoring thedy, Azekiel stopped before the crowd of thousands of Commoners who were also horrified. Even though Azekiel had his shirt torn in ces because of the battle, no one wasughing at his condition. No one could dare to! Before, when he wore even an ordinary dirty shirt with one tear, people used tough at him and mock him, but now, they all had worshipping gazes. He couldn''t help but be somewhat amused at the reaction. "As I said, if you have strength, the entire world respects you. If you don''t, not even a dog will respect you. That''s how this world has always been... And that''s how it''ll always be." He stretched his arms. "Time to get to work." Chapter 31 31: Eternal Agony Azekiel observed each and every single person present here as if trying to recognize some faces. "You,e out." He selected a young man who appeared to be in histe twenties. Shivering, the man stepped out, slightly scared. He remembered all the times he had mocked Azekiel in thest few years. Was Azekiel here to take revenge? He couldn''t understand, but he hoped that wasn''t the case. He stepped out of the crowd. Azekiel removed his attention from the young man. He kept calling out people from the crowd, one after another. He only stopped after he had fifty people. All the people he selected were men who had mocked him once in a time. Moreover, some of the people he selected weren''t even ordinary people. They were people who worked on Floor Zero for other Lords of Sins and even some who worked for Kings. Unfortunately, even the ones who worked for the Kings couldn''t go against Azekiel, especially now that they had heard that Azekiel had killed Michael. All the fifty people who were selected gazed at each other, wondering what they had inmon between them. They tried to guess why they could''ve chosen. They were sure it wasn''t so they could be killed. If Azekiel simply wanted to kill them, he would''ve done it already. "You fifty will work as my Porters from now on. I''ve selected the best and the strongest people I could find in the group. If anyone has anything to say against it, say now." "Huh? Porters?" All the men were stunned. The New King was here to select Porters? Still, wasn''t fifty too much? Why did he need so many people? Even the King of Pride only had twenty porters. Why did Azekiel need so many? Unfortunately, they were soon going to find out. It didn''t matter why Azekiel needed so many. What mattered was that they were selected by a King! Even after many of them had insulted Azekiel, Azekiel selected them for such a prestigious position which came with a lot of influence! Many of them were really excited at how their life was going to change now that they were going to work for a King! Not only could they get many advantages, but they could also have the right to go to higher floors, all thanks to Azekiel. Unfortunately, there were also some of them who weren''t very happy. They couldn''t select this position. "Ah, M-my Lord, I can''t be a Porter. I''m already working for the King of Greed." A young man stepped forward. "I ask for forgiveness." "You work for Elijah?" Azekiel smiled in amusement. "Anyone else who works for a King amongst the one I selected?" Another man raised his hand at the question of Azekiel. "I work for the Lord of Sloth, managing his business on Floor Zero." A third person also stepped forward. "I work for Lord of Greed as well." "Anyone else?" Azekiel inquired as three people stepped forward. There were also some who worked for Lords of Sins, but they were happy at this promotion. Why would they work for a Lord of Minor Sin when they could work for the King of Sin who was strong enough to kill Michael? ,m "So only three people. Well, you three work for me from now on. I''ll send a message to your respective Kings when I meet them, which I will soon. That''s it for now. You fifty work for me, and anyone who refuses me now, do I have to speak out loud what will happen?" "W-we ept." The three people gulped heavily. Even though Loyalty was important for people, it wasn''t more important than their lives. If they said no, they understood they were going to be killed. Moreover, it wasn''t as if Elijah was going to kill Azekiel for one Commoner? Their life was going to be wasted for nothing. "Good. Come with me." Azekiel turned and walked closer to the portal. He walked past Ri on the way back, but he didn''t even nce at her. He didn''t stop at the portal either though, as he kept walking past the portal. Instead, he was advancing toward the other end of the floor, where a massive tent was established to keep the food. Azekiel''s food had been growling for a long time. Only he knew how he controlled it. The battle and the growth of his hunger stat made it so that he couldn''t even go to the second floor without feeling hungry. Even though he knew he could find food on the next floor, finding enough for him was going to be a problem. Moreover, he wanted to spend all his time in finishing the mission and not in search of food, so he came back to Floor Zero to create an unending stream of food for him on the second floor with the help of fifty porters. Moreover, he had killed Michael! Of course, Michael''s massive food stock was going to belong to him. "Wait for me here. When Ie out, I''ll tell you what you need to do." Azekiel stepped inside the tent, leaving his men outside. It was just his second timeing back; however, things were really different at this point. When he came here first, he was weak and needed to sneak inside something that belonged to someone else. He even needed to hide to protect his life. However, now he was the King of this ce. He wasn''t scared of anything, at least not at this moment. It was as Raphael had expected. Azekiel came here because he was hungry. When Azekiel was about to step inside the portal, he had noticed Azekiel momentarily holding his stomach with a frown. This small gesture was enough for Raphael to know what was happening. "Don''t tell me you came back to eat?" It was different for Lia, who didn''t know why Azekiel came back. As he saw him starting to eat, she couldn''t help but roll her eyes. Azekiel himself was very angry as he ate. He didn''t know what was with his hunger... He only ate a few hours ago, and he was again so hungry. Even though he showed calmness on his face, deep inside, he was really scared. He had lost finished the first floor, and he couldn''t even go a few hours without feeling that terrifying torturous hunger! Moreover, with him getting stronger, his hunger also increased. It was the same with Soul Snatch. He couldn''t even imagine what was going to happen to his hunger by the time he reached the tenth floor? Was he truly going to be a beast who wasn''t going to feel full no matter how much he ate? Was he going to be like Raphael, who was eternally hungry? This Torture... Was it in his destiny? The more he thought about it, the more he was scared. The future... It looked grim. Was he really going to be the Monarch that he hoped to be, or was he going to be a beast that was in eternal agony? Chapter 32 32: The Warzone The thought of the future scared Azekiel. That was why he had decided that he was going to take things one day at a time and not think too far ahead. He didn''t want to think too much about the uncertain future. If there was agony in his fate, he couldn''t just change that fate. He couldn''t just stop climbing the tower in fear after all. He needed to continue bing stronger without worrying about the side effects. ***** Azekiel entered the tent while everyone else waited outside for him toe out, but it didn''t look like he was going toe out anytime soon. Twenty minutes had passed, and Azekiel still wasn''t out, which made people wonder what was he even doing inside? Many of the fifty had already sat down on the ground, seemingly tired of standing while waiting as they discussed what responsibilities they were going to have. It was going to be the first time for many of them to work as a Porter for a King, after all. They had often watched the kings fight monsters on the screen, sometimes even seeing their Porters in the view, standing in the distance. They wondered if they were also going to be shown on the screen in the future. Their excitement for theing future had made them forget about the risks that came with it. Finally, after a long time, they sensed some movement. Azekiel finally stepped out of the portal. He seemed a bit more rxed now than he looked previously. For some reason, he seemed a bit... Less scary now. "Alright, so let me tell you your mission. You are all Porters of mine from now on. And your responsibility is simple. All you need to do ise to this floor, take food, transport it to me on the second floor, thene back. Get more food, transport up. That''s all you need to do." "You won''t be fighting with me. You won''t be in the line of danger. You''ll just be shifting things from one ce to another. I''ll give you more details on how to do it." Throughout the next ten minutes, he told his n to the others in brief. He wasn''t like any other Kings who could fight without needing so much food. He needed extra preparation, and that''s what he did. He assigned five people to guard this ce. He also told the other forty people to pick up the food and follow him. He instructed them exactly how much they needed and how they needed to maintain their timing. After everyone was ready, Azekiel started leaving. The other followed behind him. On his way back, Azekiel didn''t forget to warn everyone on Floor Zero about one thing. "That ce! It''s mine now! I swear to god, if any of you tried to steal from me or hurt the guards there, I wille back, and I''ll burn everyone alive. So yeah, keep that in mind." After warning everyone, Azekiel left. He entered the portal. The people who were going in the first time were really scared as they had seen a person be obliterated for entering when he shouldn''t. They were scared if they were going to go through the same fate. Fortunately, there were people in the team who had done it before with other Kings. They told the concerned people that they were going to be fine now that Azekiel had allowed them to enter. Gathering all their courage, everyone stepped inside the portal only to appear on the first floor. p The majestic Library of Sin! Fiftymoners stood in the library. So far, they had only seen the library on the screen. They couldn''t help but stare wide-eyed. This ce! It looked even more majestic in reality. "Stop gawking. Follow the King!" One of the menzily stated as he followed Azekiel, carrying a heavy bag on his back. The other men also followed behind,ing out of their dazes. Finally, Azekiel reached the portal of the second floor once again, but this time, he didn''t stop. "Here begins the first day of the rest of our lives." His voice echoed in the Library of Sin as he disappeared. Raphael and Lia apanied Azekiel side by side, really curious to see what the second floor was going to be like. What Trials were they going to face? ..... Second Floor... It was the floor that had taken six months to be cleared by the King of Wrath. The Floor was under the control of the King of Wrath, but that didn''t mean the floor was any less chaotic! In fact, the floor was even more chaotic now that other Kings had also cleared this floor. Unlike the first floor, the second Floor wasn''t something that could reset after the floor was cleared. So every King that cleared the floor had changed the floor in massive ways. With each King passing, the floor became even more difficult for the next King. That was also why each King took more time than the one before them to clear this floor. This floor was also the one that taught the Kings the importance of being first even clearing the floor! Being first didn''t just mean that you were going to get the title of the ruler. It also meant that you could make things more difficult for the person after you to increase your leads on floors. Azekiel was two yearste ining here, and he was also thest period here. He knew how difficult things were going to be for him. As Azekiel stepped out of the Portal, he was stunned to notice his surroundings. He seemed to appear on the battlefield of some kind! He was right in the middle of the battle where two armies seemed to be fighting each other! One army had the symbol of a Spear, while the other army had the spear of a golden cup. Observing those symbols, it didn''t take Azekiel even a minute to realize what was happening here. The army with the insignia of Spear belonged to the Empire that Michael had created on this Floor! On the other hand, the army with the symbol of the golden cup seemed to belong to the King of Greed, Elijah. The battle seemed to have just begun. "What is happening here?" Raphael asked in confusion. "Michael is dead. King of Greed Elijah probably got greedy for the Empire and resources of Michael. Now that Michael is dead, the Empire has no King. It seems that Elijah is taking advantage of the situation," Azekiel exined; however, as he was speaking, a soldier came running from the back with a spear. Fortunately, being silent in the warzone was thest thing that soldier was worried about as he roared like a Viking when attacking. Azekiel nced back, seemingly amused. Even though the soldier ran at his fastest, his speed was nothing before Azekiel. Azekiel simply took one step to the left, avoiding the spear that was aiming for his heart, before grabbing the neck of the soldier. "Wrong target," Azekiel said softly before a cracking sound resounded. He tossed the body of the man away, whose neck was just crushed... Chapter 33 33: The Power Vaccum Azekiel stood on the battlefield where thousands of soldiers fought. Fear of death was clear on the faces of many of the soldiers, but also the desire to win could be seen. Every soldier wanted to perform their best to kill as many people as they could so they could climb in the ranks of the army and get a better future. Swords sharp enough to slice through steel were slicing the bodies of soldiers everywhere. Most of the battlefield was covered in blood. Azekiel nced back at the portal. "What a perfect ce to send us to." Behind him, his porters stepped out of the portal, carrying bags of food, only to have their jaws dropped! They were in the middle of the battlefield! They could see arrows flying everywhere as archers in the back attacked the enemies. Both armies had archers, soldiers, and generals that led the troops. Unfortunately, Azekiel couldn''t find Elijah on the battlefield. It seemed like he hadn''t arrived here personally in this battle. "As much as I know Elijah, he wouldn''t miss a battle of this scale, especially now that Michael isn''t here. That can only mean one thing..." "What?" Raphael inquired, keeping his focus on each and every word of Azekiel. "This is a distraction," Azekielmented, letting out an amused smile. "While he''s keeping the army distracted here, he took a small part of his army to..." As Azekiel was exining, he stopped. It was as if he was distracted by something. A screen popped up before him with the information about the trial on the second floor. Azekiel ignored all the noises and the screams that were in the surroundings and kept his focus on the screen. He had a general idea of what this trial was about since he had watched it y out before, but it was only now he had urate information on what it was. ____________________________________ Trial of Second Floor: Mission: Create an empire of your own and use that Empire to take over two existing empires. You can''t create your empire by taking over an existing Empire. You can only expand your empire in this manner. Limitations: You must not kill anyone in your wars unless you''re facing other Kings and Lord of Sins. The War must be won by soldiers of yours. _________________________________________ Azekiel rubbed his chin as he read the mission details again and again. He knew that the mission was to create an Empire, but it was only now he found out about the Limitations of this mission since he could read the fine print now. "So that''s why I don''t see Elijah here. Since there is no other King, his involvement would be useless. But this... I''m not allowed to kill anyone in wars... Then what about him...?" He nced down at the body of the dead Soldier that he had killed. It appeared that he was still on trial for now. How was that possible? He went through the details of the mission once again, wondering if he had missed something. Did this death not count because it happened before he was given the mission? "Ah, so that''s it! I can''t kill anyone in my Wars! This isn''t my war though. No wonder I am fine after doing it." Azekiel let out a sigh of relief. He had thought that his time here was going to be a nightmare. If he couldn''t kill anyone, that meant he wasn''t going to level up. But it appeared that it was only the case for the wars of the Empire he was going to create. So far, he had no Empire of his own, and neither was this war something that was his! This mission was really tricky, and he knew it. This was also the reason every other King had a harder time finishing the mission than the first. They couldn''t take over an existing empire, and they needed to start an Empire from Scratch. Moreover, there were only twelve Existing Empires on this floor at the time when this trial started for the first time. The King of Wrath came to this floor after the King of Pride, but he created an Empire filled with brave soldiers really fast. Moreover, he used that Empire to take over one of the two existing Empires. The second King to create an Empire sessfully was Michael. Instead of attacking Empires that were now controlled by Lucifer, he chose the other two Empires. It was the time when no Kings wanted to face each other. One after another, all Kings created an Empire from scratch. It took them months to seed in doing it, but they ultimately seeded. Fortunately, there were twelve human Empires. All six of the Kings had two Empires they could take over without going against other Kings! The twelve Empires existed at the start, but after each King kept taking over the other Empires, now there were only six Empires left! And each of the six Empires belonged to a King of Sin! Elijah had also finished the Trial of the Second Floor a few months ago, yet he hadn''t left this floor for some reason. It was unclear why he hadn''t left this floor. Many Kings tried to theorize the reasoning behind it, but none could understand so far. It was as if the King of Greed had something to do here, which he hadn''t managed to do yet. As for what it was, no one knew. Now that Michael was dead, one of the Six Empires was without a King! And Elijah wanted to take this opportunity to increase his Empire even more! Every King''s empire contained abination of the Empire they created and two other Empires. So, in essence, each King had three Empires under them and massive armies for this floor. On the other hand, now that a vacuum was created with the death of Michael, Elijah wanted to make sure that there were six Empires under him instead of three. Moreover, he wanted to do it before the other Kings returned to this floor to do the same! He was really worried about that. Another reason he wanted to control the Empires of Michael was because of Azekiel! He knew Azekiel had cleared the First Floor before killing Michael! It was inevitable that Azekiel was going toe to this floor for the second trial. Elijah knew Azekiel was going to need to create an Empire. Even though it was hard to create an Empire nowadays since mostly all thend was under the control of one of the six existing Empires, he still considered the possibility that Azekiel could somehow do it. However, the main part of the Trial was taking over the other two Empires with your armies only! Elijah didn''t want to give Azekiel an easy way out by leaving the Empire of Michael like a sitting duck! He wanted to take over the Empire so he could thrash the army of Azekiel before killing him! He wanted to make Azekiel feel helpless! He wanted to make Azekiel feel like he could never clear this floor! He wanted as muchnd as he could for himself! And he wanted the strength of Azekiel by killing him! Now that Azekiel had killed one King, the battle of death had started. It had started a race that no one thought was possible! The race of who could kill most Kings to be the sole ruler of this Tower! A race that was going to change the lives of many forever, and Elijah wanted to make sure he was leading that race! Unfortunately, Azekiel was also in the same race... Chapter 34 34: Faith Or Not? Noises of weapons shing with other weapons responded on the entire battlefield. Agonizing screams of torment followed as bodies kept dropping to the ground that had been painted red with blood. "This ce... It''s too noisy." Azekiel shook his head. He turned his gaze to the Witch of Famine. "Bring the noise down a bit. Let''s see what you''re capable of." Azekiel raised his hands towards the sky as he called forth the Witch of Famine. "Summon Lia." His Soul Energy bar was already full for the most part, especially since he had just killed Michael. Moreover, he wasn''t worried about spending his Soul Energy by summoning Lia. This was a battlefield. What could be a better ce to recharge his soul energy than this ce after spending it? Moreover, it allowed him to see what Lia was capable of. He had already seen the might of Raphael. Now only Lia was left. He wanted to understand her, so he knew how to use her in the future. Also, even if it was Lia killing the enemies, it was Azekiel who was going to get the experience since Lia and Raphael couldn''t grow on their own. Their strength was Static, and it depended on how strong Azekiel was! Also, if he wanted to gain experience in this trial, this battlefield was the best ce for it. Since he still hadn''t started his Empire, it didn''t count as his war. So he could kill the soldiers to gather some experience. The battlefield... It was already very chaotic; however, there were still some soldiers who had seen the newly arrived guests on the battlefield. The Generals of both the Armies had noticed Azekiel, who stood with a group of fifty people. None of them carried a weapon. All had only sacks in their hands, filled with food. If that was all, both the Armies might''ve ignored them, thinking they were just strays. Unfortunately, that wasn''t all. There was a soldier lying dead at the feet of Azekiel. As for the soldier, it was from Elijah''s Empire! The General from the Empire of Greed realized that it was Azekiel who killed that soldier since there wasn''t any other soldier in the vicinity. Moreover, if Azekiel hadn''t killed him, he should''ve been scared to stand near a dead body. "Mo, take twenty soldiers and ughter all those people who daredy a hand on our people," The dark-haired Generalmanded his men. As if immediately following hismand, a Captain of the Army took twenty soldiers with him to attack Azekiel to punish him for his sin of standing before them. Twenty horses race through the battlefield, carrying the soldiers of the Empire of Greed. Azekiel noticed the soldiersing toward him, but he didn''t even flinch for a second. Instead, he stood calmly with his hands behind his back. Lia was summoned, and now she was standing right beside Azekiel. For a moment, the twenty soldiers were stunned to see a beautiful woman appear out of thin air. However, thinking it to be their misconception, they assumed that the Woman had always been there, just hiding behind Azekiel previously. Lia had been summoned by Azekiel for the first time, and she was already so excited that she was going to have some fun. "The soldiers are really weak, but that doesn''t mean I can''t have fun with them." She licked her lips as her fingers slid down her staff. She gazed back at Raphael as if teasing him that she was selected instead of him. Raphael didn''t react even the slightest, standing like aplete professional who couldn''t be phased. "Do what you''ve been summoned for. If you can''t prove yourself today, this will be the first and thest time I''ve summoned you," Azekiel warned thedy who seemed to be smug just because she had been summoned. The Twenty Soldiers on the horse kept inching closer and closer to Azekiel, brandishing their weapons. Before long, the distance between the two sides was only a few meters. One of the Soldiers jumped off his horse,nding before Azekiel. He swung his Sword to slice the head of Azekiel. Azekiel still didn''t use his hands even as he watched the sword inching closer to his neck. His hands were still behind his back. The other soldiers had a smug look on their faces as they watched Azekiel, thinking that he had frozen in fear. Their smug look immediately disappeared as they watched the body of their Captain split into two halves. His Sword couldn''t even touch the neck of the King of Gluttony before his body popped to the ground in two halves. The rest of the guards had been nning to attack the others as well; however, seeing what happened, their faces turned pale as they subconsciously took a step back. They hadn''t even seen what had happened. No one had moved! Azekiel was still in the same position as before. No one had any sharp weapons either. So how could their captain be cut in two halves. "You are really brave indeed," Lia whispered in the ears of Azekiel. "I thought you would at least flinch this close to death. Did you have so much faith in me that I''ll step in?" Azekiel''s sharp eyes looked deep into the eyes of Lia. "I know what kind of a person you are. You are someone who only thinks about yourself. You would never care about anyone else." "Then why didn''t you protect yourself? Why did you think I''ll save you?" Lia grew confused. If Azekiel was really that suspicious of her, why did he leave his safety on her? She didn''t know that it wasn''t exactly the case. "You didn''t save me. You saved yourself. If I die, you disappear as well. Your chance of having some fun goes away as well. So you didn''t save me for myself. You saved me for yourself," Azekiel answeredzily before he turned his back on the battlefield. He didn''t even see what had been happening here, leaving everything to Lia. Lia didn''t know that even though Azekiel was entirely sure she would be forced to save him, he still didn''t leave his safety in her hands. He had already taken some precautions to make sure he wasn''t going to be hit by the sword, which Lia didn''t know about. "An interesting man indeed." Lia was really fascinated by Azekiel. When she had first seen him, she thought he was just a weak kid who had gained the ability to summon her, but slowly, she realized that he was much more than that. It was as if there was some kind of darkness in the heart of Azekiel. He didn''t appear to be scared of death which allowed him to go far and beyond others. Also, he had already killed a King. She was trying really hard to understand Azekiel, but so far, she was failing. Even though the soldiers didn''t know how their captain had died, they had a feeling that it was the work of these people. "Kill them all!" Another man amongst the neen soldiers took themand since he was the most senior here. This time, instead of one soldier, all neen ran towards Lia and Azekiel. "Your mind is so weak." Lia chuckled as she tapped her staff twice! The snake head of the staff came alive following her tap as its two-deep eyes opened up. Chapter 35 35: Weapon Of Gluttony A blonde soldier had assumed themand after the Captain was killed and led the attack with the rest, holding his sharp Sword firmly in his hands. Even though he was also scared of suffering the same fate as the Captain, he was still attempting to kill the enemies, praying that he wasn''t going to be cut in halves. His courage inspired even more soldiers who followed him. Lia finally made a move of herself as she took a step forward toward the soldiers. Her staff hade to life. A powerful aura shrouded her. Even though Azekiel wasn''t looking at the battlefield, he could also feel that aura. The blonde soldier who was now leading the team of neen abruptly stopped. His face went nk for some reason as he gazed in the eyes of the Witch of the Famine in a daze. The soldier turned back, shing his Sword. The soldiers that were following him saw the Swording toward him. The attack... It was toote for them to avoid it. "What ar-" They couldn''t even finish their sentence as the Sword sliced the necks of the three soldiers in the back. This sent a Signal to the fifteen Soldiers who were still alive. So far, four of the soldiers were dead, three dying at the hands of one of their own men. All fifteen Soldiers moved back, raising their swords, taking a battle stance. "Naks! What are you doing?!" A soldier roared. "You Traitor!" Naks stood nkly. He didn''t answer the young soldiers who felt like they were betrayed as he started running towards the fifteen Soldiers. All fifteen Soldiers attacked Raks in unison, ultimately taking him down. Two more soldiers had died before Naks was killed, leaving only thirteen soldiers. It was only when Naks was stabbed in the chest and was at the death''s door that he came out of his daze. He didn''t know how he ended up in this situation. What had happened? Just as he was about to attack the Witch of Famine, his mind had turned nk. The next thing he knew, he was stabbed by his own men? He tried to speak something as if trying to warn his fellow men what had happened to him so they could be alert. Unfortunately, no matter how much he tried, no words came out of his mouth. His body dropped to the ground. Unfortunately, this wasn''t the end of trouble for the thirteen soldiers as two more soldiers appeared to have switched sides as they attacked their fellow men. One of the two who turned now was none other than the man who had stabbed Naks. The Fifty Porters who had followed Azekiel stood nkly, amazed at thisdy. She was so scary! She was killing the soldiers without using any weapon! Just who was this girl? Whoever she was, she was really scary. "She is so... Amazing." One of the porters eximed. "That seems to be the case." A calm voice fell in the man''s ears in response, bringing him out of his daze. He noticed that Azekiel was standing before him. His hand was inside the bag as if he was searching for something. Azekiel brought out the first fruit he could find from the bag before he turned to face the battlefield. Raphael noticed the apple in the hand of Azekiel. He couldn''t help but remember his own past. Azekiel took a bite from the apple in his hands as he started leaving. He had seen all he needed to see on the skills of Lia. Now he was beginning to feel bored. By now, all the Soldiers had understood that something wasn''t right. Unfortunately, it was toote for them now. The infighting led to the death of all thirteen of the Soldiers. They all died fighting not the enemy but themselves. Lia raised her staff even higher. "This was just a sample. Time to go big." "Huh?" Just as she was about to do something big, she felt her body go through a change. Her physical body again returned to a spiritual form. "What? Why! But I wasn''t done yet!" She raged in anger. "You can only be summoned for a limited amount of time." Raphael reminded Lia. "Since you were having so much fun with the small group of people, you forgot to keep an eye on the time. Take it as a lesson. When we are summoned, we don''t have time to y around. Finish the job." "Argh! But this much time was so less! What is this torture! Argh! I wanted to y around more!" Lia stomped her foot on the ground in rage, but she couldn''t do anything now. Her time was already up. She ran to Azekiel, who appeared to be going towards the center of the battlefield. "Hey, King. Summon me again. I seem to run out of time. Let me back on the field!" "There''s no need for that. I gave you time, and you showed me what you could. There''s no need for you to enter the battlefield anymore." Azekiel didn''t even look at Lia as he kept advancing ahead. He was still in torn clothes, which made him actually look like a beggar, but many people on the battlefield now knew that he was a threat. The General of the Empire of Greed was notified about a strangering toward them. Since he was so immersed in the battle, he had stopped keeping an eye on Azekiel. He was sure that the men he sent were enough to kill them. "He is still alive? What are those men doing? They couldn''t even kill one man?" Initially, he thought that his men let him pass but only when he saw the twenty dear bodies his eyes widened. This man... He had killed twenty of their soldiers. "That man must be a Soldier from the Empire of Pride!" The man was just about tomand his archers to shoot Azekiel down when he noticed that he didn''t need to. One of the arrows of the Archers from the Empire of Pride was alreadying to him. "They are attacking him as well? Isn''t he one of them either? Then who is he?!" The General eximed in surprise. "It doesn''t matter. He will be dead soon when he''s hit by the arrow. Still, just to be sure..." He raised the tone of his voice. "Archers! Shoot that man!" Hemanded his Archers as well. Hundreds of Arrows from both sides flew towards Azekiel, aiming to pin him down. Azekiel was right where the rain of arrows was going to fall. "Is he looking to die?" Lia asked Raphael. She wanted to go and help Azekiel, but she couldn''t do anything. She could only scold Azekiel for not running. The barrage of arrows flew up beforeing down straight at Azekiel. Azekiel had finished the apple he was eating by now. He patted his torn clothes as he gazed at the arrows approaching him as if they weren''t deadly attacks but flowers. He waved his fingers in the air before him as if writing something on the air. "This entire Warzone is our feeding ground. My dear weapon of Gluttony... Let''s see what you''re capable of." He finally tapped on the option of his Weapon of Sin, calling it out at thest second. Chapter 36 36: Weapon Of Kings ****** Five years ago- A young boyid on a white bed at a hospital, seemingly sleeping. Both the hands of the young man were wrapped. A doctor stood before the bed with a report in his hand. A few nurses stood behind him patiently. The doctor gazed at the middle-ageddy who stood before him, concerned. "You''re Azekiel''s mother?" "Y-yes." The woman nodded her head. "May I ask how his hands got injured so badly?" "I-i don''t know. Even when he was awake, he didn''t tell me anything, no matter how I asked." Azekiel''s mother gazed at her sleeping son on the bed. "Doctor, he is going to be fine, right?" "The operation was sessful, and so far, the other reports seem normal, but that doesn''t mean Azekiel will bepletely fine. The damage was too much. It might take years to healpletely, or it might never healpletely at all." The Doctor gave the report to the nurse in the back. "He won''t have trouble in his day-to-day life, but you should still tell him that he isn''t allowed to force his hands more than needed. Keep him away from boxing and any such thing which might hurt his hands." "And more importantly, make sure whatever incident urred which hurt him like this doesn''t happen again. Next time, he might lose the ability to use his hands forever. He was really lucky this time." "I-i will make sure!" "That''s better. We''ll keep him in observation for a few more days, and if everything is fine, you can take him home." The doctor turned and left, leaving a grieving mother behind who was in pain, seeing her son in such a condition. More importantly, because she didn''t even know what had happened to him." **** Azekiel raised his right hand towards the sky, facing thousands of arrows that were flying toward him as he called forth his Weapon of Sin. As soon as he called forth his weapon, a ck light surrounded both the hands of Azekiel, making it impossible to see his hands. The pitch-ck light momentarily made it appear as if Azekiel''s hands were swallowed by the great void, leaving him with nothing. Fortunately, that void didn''tst for long. It soon disappeared, leaving Azekiel standing in his spot. Azekiel''s hands... They weren''t empty anymore. "What is that?" Lia inquired as she gazed at Azekiel weirdly. "Is that his Weapon of Sin? Isn''t that a bit... Weak?" "Gauntlets of..." Raphael muttered in response. "I''m seeing it after such a long time." "You know it?" Lia frowned. "How?" "That''s a long story. Just know that weak would be thest thing to call it. Those Gauntlets... At their peak, they are considered the King of Weapon of Sins." "Honestly? Gauntlets? Can they even be called weapons, let alone being called King of Weapon of Sin?" "You won''t understand," Raphael muttered. "They are way more than what you see. However, if Gauntlets of Gluttony had made an appearance, won''t that mean that will also..." "What?" "Nothing." Raphael closed his mouth. His face still couldn''t hide his thoughts, though. He seemed a bit concerned for some reason. **** Two beautiful gauntlets appeared in each of Azekiel''s hands, covering up to his elbows. The Gauntlets appeared to be made from some strange metal. They had sharp ws instead of ordinary fingers like the gauntlets of soldiers had. In this department, they were somewhat different. They were like the ws of the fiercest beast in existence. The ws appeared to be sharper than knives. They were something that could even slice the sharpest of metals. Moreover, some strange markings appeared to be carved all over the Gauntlets of Gluttony that were unreadable. As soon as the Gauntlets appeared around Azekiel''s hands, he smiled. He could feel a strange power coursing through his body. "So this is what it feels like to use a Weapon of Sin." All the arrows fell on Azekiel; however, none could hit him. A thinyer of protection appeared around the body of Azekiel that protected him from all the arrows. "Passive ability of Gauntlet of Gluttony. Weak attacks can''t even reach him. If your attack is weaker than the passive Barrier, it''s useless." Raphaelmented, noticing that Barrier. "Why do you know so much about this Gauntlet?" Lia red at Raphael. "Stop keeping the secret. We are a team. Tell me." "I know about it because I was there when the Gauntlets were being created. The most majestic weapon in the universe. Something that can not only provide passive protection to the wearer but also... Frighteningly destructive offensive energy. Not only that, the Gauntlet¡­It''s also called the Gauntlet of Immortality." "Why? Does it make you immortal?'' " If you kill someone with the Gauntlet, you can steal their Life Energy," Raphael answered. "Life Energy?" "Yeah. In essence, this weapon... It was created for Immortality more than it was created to be used in Wars," Raphael exined. "The more life energy you steal, the slower you''ll age. This way, you can live for an eternity..." "The Gauntlets were created for him..." he added. "For him? You mean for Azekiel?" Lia seemed confused. Raphael shook his head. He let out a deep sigh. "No. Not Azekiel, these Gauntlets were created for him¡­ the one who cursed me for this eternal agony." "I don''t understand how these Gauntlets ended up here. They shouldn''t be here. Their appearance is giving me some bad feelings. I just hope I''m overthinking things." While Raphael talked about the history of the Gauntlets, Azekiel had already started using them. His speed was even faster. His strength was even higher. Moreover, while wearing the Gauntlets, he didn''t need to worry about his hands. The Gauntlets protected them as well. Every blow was absorbed by the Gauntlets. "Let the battles begin." Azekiel''s figure flickered as he finally moved. He nted his feet firmly on the ground before swinging his body as if he was wing the wind before him. A powerful wave of energy left the Gauntlets, taking the shape of a massive w made purely of energy that shot straight ahead, killing every soldier that stood in the path. [Level +1] In a single attack, Azekiel had managed to kill hundred soldiers, gaining more experience and even a level up. Until now, the Generals of both the armies were in suspicion as to who Azekiel was, but after seeing the strength behind his attack with their own eyes, they understood everything. "That man! He must be a King too! Why is he there? Kings aren''t supposed to participate in the Wars!" Coincidentally, both the Generals eximed at the same time. Unfortunately, they didn''t have time to think about it as Azekiel kept attacking. This was his feeding ground. "Everyone, retreat! Fall back! We are going back! The battle is over!" The General of Empire of Pridemanded his men while turning his horse around. The soldiers couldn''t be any happier atmand. The retreat was better than dying at the hands of the man. The General of Empire of Greed also issued the samemand. He was even more scared since Azekiel was advancing toward him. While the soldiers of the Empire of Pride had a chance to leave, the Empire of Greed didn''t. Their soldiers were in a worse condition since their speed was slower than Azekiel, who was only going to them for some reason. Chapter 37 37: Tomb Of Gods The General of the Empire of Greed ran from the battlefield as fast as he could, worried that Azekiel could catch up to him. There came a time when he even stopped caring for his fellow men, leaving the ones who couldn''t keep up behind. He didn''t stop for anybody. Unfortunately, even that wasn''t enough for him to get out safely. He stopped his horse, gazing into the distance. Azekiel was standing before him. "H-how did he...?" With a nk face, he gazed back, only to find an empty field behind him. All his men were missing. There was not a single soldier behind him anymore. "I think you''ve run enough. It''s time to take some rest," Azekielmented, advancing closer to the General, who felt his heart thumping. The General tried turning his horse and leaving in a different direction; however, before he could even move, Azekiel appeared just inches away from him. He grabbed the wrist of the General and pulled him off the horse, making him drop to his feet. As if not willing to stay here, the horse ran away on its own, leaving the General behind. "I-i work for King Elijah! I didn''t know you were one too. If I knew, I wouldn''t have attacked. I thought you were an enemy. It was a misunderstanding!" The man dragged his body back on the sand, not even daring to stand up. Azekiel smiled in response. "You appear to be scared. Don''t worry; I''m not going to kill you. I need a messenger to go back and give my message to Elijah. Who better than you?" "Y-yes. I''ll deliver the message! I''ll deliver all the messages!" The man eagerly stated. He was willing to do anything that saved his life. In fact, even if Azekiel had asked him to lick his feet to save his life, he would''ve done it right away. "Tell him what happened here. And tell him that I''m going to create an Empire of Gluttony. I would appreciate it if he didn''t interfere with my ns. Tell him I''ve already killed one. Don''t make me kill a second one so soon." "K-killed one what?" The General asked. He was sure Azekiel wasn''t talking about the people on the battlefield since he had killed way more than one here. "Tell him what I said. He will understand," Azekiel answered before he turned his back on the General and started leaving. "Now, leave before I change my mind." The General started running, only to stop after a few steps as he remembered that he didn''t even know the name of Azekiel. Who was he going to say the message was from? He turned back, frowning. He wanted to ask that question. However, he also didn''t want to interact more with Azekiel. After thinking for a brief moment, he gave up and started running. It didn''t matter who this person was. It wasn''t more important than his life! ***** Azekiel returned to the battlefield, on the way using Soul Snatch on everyone he had killed along the way. His Gauntlets disappeared, leaving his bare hands that he used for soul Snatch. The battlefield was filled with the bodies. Most of the soldiers were killed by other soldiers, while some were killed by him. He absorbed the soul energy of all as if he was a farmer who was on his field, taking his harvest. After finishing with his feeding of soul energy, he returned to Raphael, slightly confused. His Soul Energy bar was full a long time ago; however, any excess Soul Energy didn''t go to his bar. It wasn''t likest time when extra energy went to overload his bar, which helped him summon another Familiar. Through this experiment, he understood a few things. If his soul bar was filled, all excess energy was wasted unless the excess energy came from the same source which filled the bar. With Michael, it was his soul energy that filled the bar and then went on to overload the system with the energy. The bar couldn''t stop epting the energy into the system. On the other hand, this time, after his bar was filled and he moved over to the next body, the soul energy wasn''t taken. It went to waste, only giving him some stat boost which was almost negligible at the point he was at. He opened his stats to check where he was at the moment. _________________________________________ [Stats:] Name: Azekiel Species: Human Title: King of Gluttony Level: 11 Experience needed for Level up: 50 Strength: 527 Speed: 527 Defense: 527 Hunger: 174 Magic Affinity: 65 Constitution: 90 [Skill:] Summoning Soul Snatch Card of Judgment [5 Cards left] Gluttony of Knowledge [Weapons:] Gauntlet of Gluttony [Familiars:] General of Gluttony Raphael Witch of Famine Lia ________________________________________ "Hmm, Michael had around 800 strength. I''m still not close." Azekiel closed the screen and turned his attention to the Porters. "Leave the food here and take all the treasures you can find. That''s yours from now on," hemanded the porters. "Be fast. In twenty minutes, I want thirty of you to go back and get more food. The other twenty will stay with me." He was the least bit interested in the treasures of soldiers, but it was really precious for the porters as they could use it for many things on Floor Zero. By giving them these treasures, he was effectively winning their loyalty. ***** An hour had passed since Azekiel hadmanded his men to bring more food, and they were already back, but not before showing off their newfound wealth to the people on the lower floors, making them jealous. "So, the goal is to make an Empire without using Empires that are already in existence. How are we going to achieve it? Any ideas?" Lia was informed about the mission by Raphael, yet she couldn''t understand how they were going to do it. From what she was told, almost all thend was taken over by the Empires. They couldn''t just go to a small random vige and dere it an Empire to fight? They needed a more significant piece ofnd that had at least a few thousand soldiers, even though that wasn''t enough either. She didn''t believe it was even possible since as soon as they made an Empire, Azekiel couldn''t fight the wars. That meant only the soldiers of their Empire had to fight. Even if they foundnd with a few hundred or thousands of soldiers, could they really defeat a full-fledged Empire? Even if they were trained for months, it was impossible, let alone doing it within two months like Azekiel nned. "That''s true. We can''t use any existing Empires. But that doesn''t mean we can''t use the loopholes," Raphael responded. Azekiel smiled, ncing back at Raphael. "So you also noticed what I noticed?" "Yeah. That''s a really big loophole for us to exploit. Especially in the current circumstances. If we are lucky, it won''t even take two months." "Exactly. I don''t want to waste too much time on this Floor. I want to enter the third floor as soon as I can." "Third Floor? What''s there?" Lia tilted her head sideways in curiosity. "The Third Floor... Also known as the Tomb of Gods. You''ll know when we get there why it''s called that," Azekiel answered. He raised his hand and pointed straight ahead. "But first, we need to go there." Chapter 38 38: Secret Of The Gods Since the battle was taking ce in this area and it was an assault on the Empire of Pride, it was evident that the Royal City of the Empire of Pride was nearby, in the same direction where the army of Pride retreated. Azekiel grabbed one of the horses on the field that was left behind whilemanding the others to take one as well. "I-i don''t know how to ride a horse." Most of the porters raised their hands in uncertainty. "I don''t either." Azekiel''s response shocked the heck out of all the Porters. He didn''t know how to ride a horse, yet he was sitting on one? Even though Azekiel told the truth, some refused to believe him. "I don''t know how to ride it. It''s the truth. I''ve only seen someone do it before, but I personally never experienced it. Still, isn''t trying better than nothing? These horses are trained by soldiers. They aren''t wild horses. I don''t know if that changes anything, but it''s still worth a try. Unless you would all prefer to walk all the way?" Despite talking so confidently, even Azekiel was somewhat worried about riding a horse on his own, just based on what he saw. He convinced himself, thinking what''s the worst that could happen to him. At worst, he was going to fall. Some of the Posters who knew how to ride horses got on the horses immediately. It was better than walking for them. They also convinced the others to get on a horse, saying they were going to tell them what to do and what not to do. ***** Despite confidentlymanding everyone to get on a horse, Azekiel soon realized that it was easier said than done. His own horse refused to listen to him, going in all the random directions every once in a while, leaving him struggling to get the horse back on the right path. He was still doing better than the rest though. For the first half an hour, they had barely managed to cover even one kilometer of distance. Fortunately, with time and with the help of people who knew what to do, everyone started getting a gist of horse riding. Finally, things were back to normal, and they could increase the speed to cover the distance faster. Over fifty horses raced through the desertednd covered in remnants of the battle that took ce, advancing towards the nearest city. Along the way, Azekiel had also taken off his torn clothes. He wore a new attire of clothes that were seemingly created on Floor Zero for Michael. Now that Michael was dead, the porters who went back to stock more food thought it was a good idea to bring it back for Michael. A King needed to look the part after all. Azekiel was now wearing a white shirt that was spotless clean without a single tear or blood mask on it. The shirt contrasted with the ck pants that he wore. On top, Azekiel had donned a beautiful ck robe that covered his shoulders yet let his hands be free. Raphael and Lia floated right beside Azekiel, keeping himpany. Since they were in the spirit form, they could fly without having to do anything special. Along the way, Azekiel discussed ns with Raphael and Lia about what he wanted to do. "Oh, so that''s the loophole you were talking about." Lia finally understood everything. "So that''s the loophole you noticed. That''s pretty good and might just work." "Not might, it will work. As long as we get to the Royal City of Pride before Elijah takes over the Empire. If he did that, it''d be a dead-end," Azekiel grimly stated. "That''s why time is of the essence. That''s also why I had to interfere in that war back there." ***** On one end, the horses of the Neers raced. In another ce, a middle-aged man entered what appeared to be a Royal Pce, seeminglypletely haggard. His hair was ruffled, and his clothes were dirty and covered in dust and mud. His face was pale, and his eyes were looking all around him as if looking to find something. The General climbed the stairs and stopped at the door of a ce that appeared like a Temple inside the Royal Pce. There were many statues inside the temple, all belonging to the Gods that the citizens prayed to. A young man stood before the biggest statue in the Temple, holding his hands behind his back. "Two years... I let others pass through while only I stayed behind. This long patience... Finally, I will get the rewards I am looking for. All the Other Kings went ahead, not even knowing what an important role this seemingly unimportant floor ys in the Trial of Sin..." An amused smile rested on his slender face as he gazed at the book that was ced on the feet of the Statue of the God. Knock~ He was distracted, hearing the sound of someone knocking on the door. He took a deep breath, shaking his head. "These people, they don''t even let me be with myself. It''s fine. Soon, I don''t need them. Just a little more... As soon as I get it, I can go to the Tomb of Gods and..." He took calm steps toward the statue and picked up the old book before turning his back on the statue. The door of the Temple opened, and a young princely man stepped out, closing the door behind him. "What happened? Didn''t you go to win us a war? Why do you look like you''reing back after a mud fight?" Elijah red at the defeated General before him. "Don''t tell me you lost the war." "Your Majesty, we were winning the war, but...'' "But what?" "Before he could finish the remnants of the soldiers, someone interfered in the war. All our soldiers were killed... I barely managed to get out to get this information to you." The General dropped to his knees. "Someone interfered and killed all our soldiers? Who interfered? Another Empire? Did they already start their move? I thought they would take a long time. Did they find out about my n?" Elijah''s face instantly went grim, realizing the implications. "Which Empire was it? Which Empire sent its army? Tell me?" "I-it wasn''t an Empire. It... It was just one man..." The General answered after some hesitation. "One man? One man who managed to kill my Entire Army?" Elijah frowned. "What did he look like? Tell me his description." The General described the facial features of Azekiel as well as he could. "Hmm, that doesn''t sound like any of the Kings... Could it be a Lord of Sin? That doesn''t make sense. Why would a minor sin dare to go against me, knowing full well that I''m on this floor personally?" "Did he give you a name?" The General shook his head. "He only gave me a message and told me you''ll understand everything once I tell you the message." "What message?" ************************ (Author Note 03/06/22: I''ve rewritten chapter 24-28, rearranging some sequences so they are more in sync; also Chapter 28 ispletely new with some history of Lia that I forgot to add before. If you want to check it, you can read. It should be avable. If not, a refresh or clearing Cache might be needed.) Chapter 39 39: Years Of Penance "He told me to tell you what happened on the battlefield and how he ughtered all our soldiers mercilessly." The General lowered his head as he started speaking. "So he wanted me to know what happened? A challenge? Interesting. As expected, this couldn''t be the world of a Lord of Sin. They won''t have a death wish like that... And it''s also not one of the Kings I know... That only leaves one person." His face turned dark as he managed to put all the pieces together. "Did he say anything else?" The General nodded. "He also wanted me to tell you that he is going to create an Empire of Gluttony. And that he would appreciate it if you didn''t interfere with his ns. He said he had already killed one. And don''t want you to make him kill a second one so soon." "Azekiel." Hearing the clear challenge, Elijah''s face started twitching unwillingly. There were manyplicated thoughts in his head. He didn''t know which one to focus on. On one end, he wanted to rage that a New King was threatening him to hide like a coward. On the other end, he wanted tough at the challenge. "I don''t know what trick he used to kill Michael, but it seems like he has gone crazy in the aftermath. I''ve spent two years of my life on this floor, all so I could have what no one had! And he thinks he cane here and tell me to stop?! No one can take what''s mine! No one is allowed to, not even him!" "Your Majesty?" The General gazed at the young King in confusion, unsure what he was thinking. "Get a new army ready. Call forth all soldiers from every border. Enough ying around. It''s time to siege the Empire of Pride. I can''t wait around any longer, even if it''s him." "Your Majesty? All soldiers? Won''t that leave out borders with other Empires without defense? We share a border with five other Empires after all." "It doesn''t matter anymore! Call them all in. I want all of them here in two days, ready for battle! I won''t ept a second mistake!" Elijahmanded the General before departing. He didn''t even want to look at the man. Even though Elijah wasmanded for the Army''s arrival, his head was still not calm. It was really chaotic. "I was so close to having it! That Azekiel! He just had to arrive at thest second and interfere with my ns! And after interfering in my ns, he thinks he canmand me to stay out of his?!" "I''ve sacrificed so much for this, scheming for ways to get inside the Empire of Pride while Michael was alive, but it wasn''t easy. I spentst year bribing his official to create a weak spot in his defense. Even though I had to go against Michael, I was ready to offend him! I was ready for this war even if he was alive, and that''s what I prepared for!" "Within a few months, everything would''ve been ready. I would''ve taken over the Empire of Pride, thanks to the moles I ced in the Minister Council! Before Michael could know about it, I would''ve been in his Royal Pce! I would''ve found out without anyone knowing!" "Even though it would''ve offended Michael and created an enmity between us, I was prepared for it since the Tomb of God was worth it! After seeding, even Michael would''ve been nothing before me." "When I heard the news of Michael''s death, I was stunned but happy as well. Things had be easier. ns could move faster but now! That... That scumbag thinks he can spoil my years of penance?! No! Not even in dreams, I''ll let him do it! Enough Patience! Time to let my greed flow freely!" Pacing through the long hallways, Elijah reached the balcony of his Royal Pce. He stood on the balcony and gazed at the setting sun in the distance. "Azekiel, generally, I would''ve left you alone. I don''t care what other Kings do and how far they climb. I only care about my goals. However, now that you''ve decided to interfere in my ns, you''re in for a rude awakening." "I am not interfering in your ns. I''m going forward with my n. But if your n happens to stand in the path of my ns, I promise I won''t hesitate." "You''ll realize that no two Kings are the same. Just because you managed to kill Michael, using some tricks, it doesn''t mean you can stand before me." "For your sake, I hope that the Empire you want to create is noway near the Empire of Pride. Make whatever trash Empire you want far away from the Empire of Pride, and the two of us won''te face to face. But if you don''t..." Elijah let out a deep sigh. He was so frustrated and enraged that he had started talking to himself. Fortunately, no one was there to hear him. "Azekiel, no matter what happens, don''t go near the Empire of Pride!" Elijah gazed in the distance where the Empire of Pride was established. **** "Finally, we are here... The first town of the Empire of Pride..." Azekiel got off the horse at the entrance of the town. There stood two guards with a spear at the entrance, blocking the path. Generally, the guards would have alerted the Army General in the town about the arrival of so many people; however, none of the fifty or so people seemed to be carrying a single weapon. It didn''t appear as if they were here to attack. They seemed more like travelers. "State your name and your purpose of visit!" The Guard pointed the spear at Azekiel. Azekiel only smiled in response. "Thest person to point a spear at me is already in heaven. I would advise you to lower that spear. I''m here to meet your General who ran away from the battlefield recently." "Y-you... Who are you?! How dare you talk about our General like that!" "Don''t worry. I don''t think even your General will mind it. I''m a friend of his. He will recognize me as soon as he sees me. Moreover, it''s not like I will do anything wrong? I don''t even have a weapon." Azekiel shrugged his shoulders. "Do me a favor and call your General here, or take me to him." "Are you really the friend of the General?" The Guard asked suspiciously. "If your General says no, won''t you kill me for lying? So why would I lie?" Azekiel smiled in response. "How about it? Let all my men stay here and just take me to your General? After he gives you the approval, allow my men inside?" "This..." The Guard looked at his fellow man. "Take him to the General. We can''t call him here since he''s resting. So we''ll have to take him instead. I''ll keep an eye on the others here." The other guard nodded. "Start moving!" Hemanded Azekiel to take the lead. Throughout the way, the soldier kept the aim of his spear on the back of Azekiel as if he was going to stab Azekiel if he showed any strange movements. Azekiel followed the directions of the man and advanced ahead. He was soon brought to the building that was the biggest he had seen in the entire town. Even though the ce didn''t seem majestic like the structures in the Royal Capital, they were still better inparison to what this town had. Two Soldiers stood at the entrance of the building. "This man ims to be the friend of the General. He is here to meet him," The guard told the guards at the entrance. "What is your name?" "Azekiel. I''m a really old friend of your General." Azekiel smiled innocently. One of the guards opened the door and entered. He went to the General, who was sitting on the couch with the Captains of his army, thinking about their next n of action, when the guard attracted his attention. "Azekiel? Someone who ims to be my friend? I don''t seem to recall that name, but send him in. Maybe it''s my memory that is betraying me. I have to see him to be sure." The guard returned to the entrance and opened the door for Azekiel to enter. Both of them kept an eye on him, even now. Azekiel took his first step inside... Chapter 40 40: You Dont Want To Know Azekiel stepped inside. The guard followed behind him, still keeping his spear ready to attack in case he tried to pull something dangerous against the General. Even until now, they weren''t sure that Azekiel knew General. "Greetings, General." Azekiel stepped inside the main hall where a meeting was taking ce. The old General raised his eyes and gazed at the young man in the distance. As soon as his eyes fell on Azekiel, his jaws dropped. He stood up from his seat with a horrified look on his pale face. He wasn''t the only one with the reaction. All the seniors of the Army who were sitting in the hall with him had the same reaction. They had seen Azekiel on the battlefield. The old man noticed the Guard who had his spear aimed at Azekiel. "You idiot! Lower your Spear!" Being a subject of the General''s scolding, the Guard lowered his spear, wondering just how special this man was for everyone to react like this. The General knew just how strong Azekiel was. He had seen him inplete action and knew if Azekiel wanted, he could kill them all before they could even have a chance to speak. Despite that, they were standing perfectly fine. That could only mean Azekiel wasn''t here to kill them. Moreover, they already knew that Azekiel was no friend of the Empire of Greed. So he had no reason to attack them. The General slightly calmed down, realizing that Azekiel had some other motives ining here that didn''t involve killing him. "You can leave," hemanded the Guards. "Close the door on your way back. No one is allowed to disturb us." The Guards affirmed and left the hall, leaving only the highest echelon of the army officials. After the guards left, the General lowered his head. "Greetings to Senior. I don''t know who you are, but you''re certainly simr to our Emperor. He is also strong enough to decimate armies. I deeply apologize if our army offended you in some way. It wasn''t our intention." "What purpose brings the Great King here?" he asked. "We will help you in any way we can, even though it''s a War time for us." "This is a War you aren''t going to win," Azekielzily stated as he picked an empty chair and took a seat. "I''ve seen your position on the battlefield. You would''ve lost that battle, and before long, the Empire would be sieged." "I don''t believe that." The General shook his head. "We already sent a message to King Michael. It''s only a matter of time before hees back. Under hismand, we will once again be dominating the enemies. We just need to hold on until then." Azekiel scratched the back of his head. "If you''re waiting for Michael, it''s going to be a really long wait that will never end. Michael isn''ting to save you this time." "He will certainlye! This is his Empire! He will not let it fall. I know what kind of a person he is." The General also sat, facing Azekiel. ? Azekiel tilted his head a little to the left, slightly amused. "Doesn''t he need to be alive toe to your rescue? I''m sure he''s already busy enough on his journey to hell. He won''t have time toe to rescue you. And even if he does, I doubt a spirit could save you." "W-what are you saying? Are you saying that our King is...?" "Yes. Your King died already," Azekiel responded calmly. "Nonsense!" The General''s fistnded on the table brutally as he stood up. It was only after he showed his outburst that he realized that he had made a mistake. He couldn''t show his outburst before another King and make him angry. "I-i apologizes for my conduct, but I don''t believe it''s possible." He lowered his head slightly and sat down again. "Our King can''t die. He is so strong! He is like a God! Gods can''t fall." "You''re wrong. Even Gods can be in if they are facing another God," Azekiel calmly answered. "If you don''t believe me, you can look at his dead body. I mean, it''s not like you''ll have to walk too far to see it." "Wha... What do you mean by his dead body?" The General''s face went dark as he heard the implications behind these words. "Fifty of my men are waiting outside the Empire. I had a feeling that you weren''t going to believe me. That''s why I''ve made one of them bring the body of Michael. You can see with your own eyes. Your King is dead, and so is your Empire. If there is someone who can save your Empire now, it''s me." "You can''t be telling the truth. It''s not possible! It''s just not possible! I saw the glory of King Michael with my own eyes. How can he die?" "If you don''t believe me, tell a soldier outside to call one of my men who is carrying the biggest sack. Tell them to let that mane here without checking what''s in the sack. It would be quite bad if the soldiers saw what''s in the bag, you know, for the morale." Even though the General didn''t want to believe Azekiel, he also couldn''t see a reason for Azekiel to lie. It wasn''t as if he needed to lie to force them to do anything. His heart thumped as he thought of the possibility. If their King was really dead, it meant they had really lost this war. Even though he didn''t want to see the dead body of his King, he also couldn''t ignore the possibility. He stood up and left the room. Outside, hemanded one of his men exactly as Azekiel asked him to do. "And hurry," he added before he stepped inside. The soldier ran through the crowded streets of the town, racing to the output where the fifty men were waiting on horses, under the strict observance of the soldiers. A new soldier arrived andmanded the outpost soldiers to let one of them in without checking. Warren got down from his horse. He was already told by Azekiel what was going to be happening. As soon as he saw a soldier running to the post, he understood everything. He got down his horse and took the heavy bag with him, which seemed to carry a weight of around seventy kg. He followed the soldier who got him an entry without being checked. Even though the soldier was told not to check what was in the bag, he was still really curious. He couldn''t help but ask, "What''s in the bag?" Warren smiled wryly. "Believe me; you don''t want to know." The soldier grew even more curious, but he didn''t ask again. Warren was brought to the mansion and allowed to go inside. He was taken to the hall where Azekiel was waiting with the others. The soldier once again closed the door and left. The old General gazed at the sack in the hands of the young man. His feet started trembling as he took a few steps closer to the bag. With trembling hands, the General opened the sack. Chapter 41 41: Today "Impossible!" A shocked gasp escaped the lips of the old General as soon as he saw what was inside the bag. He was so shocked that he even fell as he moved back. "I told you, that is the reality. Michael is dead, and he won''te to save you. The only chance you have of being saved is through me." Azekiel reached out his hand to help the old man up. "Who killed him?" The old General asked, seeing the knives mark on the body of Michael. "I have no idea. Maybe one of his men. I found his body when I arrived here. Michael was a dear friend to me. That''s why I came here to help you," Azekiel answered, hiding his real intentions. Since he hadmitted so many sins already, he didn''t see anything wrong in telling some lies. These people were very loyal to Michael for some reason. If he said he killed Michael, he could still convince these people to go with his n, but he couldn''t foresee if one of them were going to betray himter. He chose the easier way this time. Bring these men to his side and then watch the show unfold. "This must be the work of some assassin," he continued with his lies. "He is stabbed in the back. If another King fought him, I doubt they would attack from the back, so it can''t be the personal work of the King of Greed. Most probably, he sent an Assassin to kill your King." With a straight face, Azekiel continued telling lies that were just too believable. "The assumption is further proven by the fact that the King of Greed decided to attack you at this time after so long. If Michael was alive, he couldn''t have dared. That meant he knew Michael was dead. It hadn''t been long before Michael died, yet Elijah knew about it immediately? It''s certainly his work. Don''t you think so?" The General gazed at Azekiel, observing his earnest expressions before ncing at the dead body of Michael. What Azekiel said did make sense, but still, something wasn''t adding up. "But if you''re a friend of Michael, why were you attacking our army on the battlefield as well?" he asked. ? "Because I wanted to give the other side an impression that I''m a neutral party. If not, they would''ve known I''m with you. And if Elijah were told that I''d be with you, he would be even more alert which would make things difficult for everyone. So I had to sacrifice some of you as well," Azekiel exined. He had already thought about an exnation along the way. This was the n he was discussing with Raphael on the way. Through thebined intelligence of both of them, they came across a perfect exnation with no loopholes. Meanwhile, Lia acted as an outside point of view who confirmed that the story made sense. It was only after everyone agreed on a story that the n was approved. The old General held his hands and got up, believing Azekiel. He had no other option but to believe him after all. "So our King is dead, and the enemy knows it. No wonder they choose to attack us at this time." The General let out a heavy sigh. "Thank you for siding with us in such a rough time. We could really use your help in battles." "You''re wrong; I can''t help you in battles. That, you''ll have to do on your own. I can only give you the strategy you can use to defeat your enemy, but even that will need some sacrifice from you." "What Sacrifice...?" **** At the Border of the Empire of Greed which was closest to the Empire of Pride, a massive army had been prepared. Only slightly more than twenty-four hours had passed, and all the army was already recalled to this border for a new battle. Only the army knew how they traveled this much in such a short time. "My King, this is half of the army. The other half is still on the way as they areing from the most distant parts of the Empire. It might take a little longer for them to get there. They should be here by tomorrow," The General told Elijah. Elijah gazed at the middle-aged General. "Didn''t I tell you I need the army here within a day?" "I-i tried, but it''s not physically possible to get them all here in such a short time. I''ll need some more time," the General answered. "Time... Time is exactly what we don''t have at the moment." Elijah hit the wall in frustration, leaving a crater in the wall with his brute strength. "Azekiel is here, and we don''t know what he''s doing. He''s like the dark horse at this time. The more we wait, the more time he''ll have to be a thorn in our path." "He''s an unknown factor, and before he does something stupid, I want the Empire of Pride under my control. You understand?" The General gazed at the army through the balcony, seemingly concerned. "I understand, Your Majesty, but it''s still impossible to get them here right now. The soldiers are traveling without rest. Even the soldiers who are here haven''t had proper rest. I don''t think they can give their hundred percent in the battle." "It doesn''t matter if they can''t give their hundred percent. I will crush the Empire of Pride with sheer quantity. Tell the soldiers to be ready! We will depart in an hour." Elijah turned his back on the soldiers and started going back to the castle. "What about the rest of the Soldiers who aren''t here?" "They can be the reinforcements thateter. It''ll give the enemy an illusion that they only need to defeat this army, but when they see the reinforcements, their morale will go down. They might even surrender. As I said before, get the soldiers ready. Don''t think too much. You only have one hour." "Y-yes, Your Majesty." "Good. I don''t want the Empire of Pride to see the day after tomorrow. By then, that ce should be a part of the Empire of Greed," Elijah dered, gazing at the old-looking book he had been carrying. Chapter 42 42: Special Reason Azekiel told his n to the General, mixing it with some lies about what needed to happen before he could take part in the battle properly. Hearing his demands, the old General couldn''t help but look at Azekiel in confusion. "Do we really need to do that? Isn''t there some other ways?" "Even we Kings have some set of rules we need to stick to," Azekiel answered. "There is no other way. You people need a King if you want to fight back properly, and only one King is avable to you... And that is me." "Even I can''t take the throne unless you do as I described," he further added. "I won''t force you to do anything. I just want to save the Empire of my friend, no matter what I need to do, but if you aren''t fine with it, it is alright. I will just leave and pretend as if I never came here. I''ll be on my way." He stood up and started walking away. "Oh, keep the body of my friend as a gift. Bury it properly before this Empire suffers its inevitable fall." He ced his hands on the handle of the door and pulled it open, not even giving the old man a chance to think about it. "Wait!" The General called out, stopping Azekiel before he could even take a step outside. They knew they couldn''t win without his help. The other side had a Godly King that had immense power. Their army also had a high morale since their King was with them. Meanwhile, their army was all alone. No matter what Azekiel demanded, it was better than the Empire falling in the hands of the alleged killed of their King. Azekiel nced back with a straight face. "Yeah?" "We will do as said. The Royal City isn''t far. Come with me. We will convene a meeting of the Ministers. As long as I manage to convince them, it''ll be done." The General stood tall. "I willpletely support you before the Ministers." "What are you waiting for then? We don''t have much time. The enemy army can arrive anytime." "Yes, let''s leave right away." The General took Azekiel outside, where Azekiel told the General that he needed his men to travel with him since they were carrying the food stock. The General agreed. Not only that, he evenmanded quite a lot of his own Soldiers to collect food from the town and carry with them after hearing how important food was to Azekiel. The entourage of over a hundred people traveled through the grasnds, racing ahead without any break. The General let the entourage as Azekiel didn''t know the exact direction of the Royal Capital. He followed the General, and the others followed them from behind. It took them twelve hours before they actually managed to reach the Royal City, which was even more heavily guarded. Nowadays, no stranger was allowed to enter the Royal City of Pride. As Azekiel was apanied by the General of the Army of Pride himself, he wasn''t stopped even once along the way. The General escorted Azekiel to the Royal Castle before hended on the ground. "Are all the Ministers inside?" The General asked the guards at the entrance. The guard nodded. "Yeah. They''ve been in the castle since yesterday." "That''s good. It should save us some time.'' The General stepped inside with firm steps. The soldiers and the Porters of Azekiel were made to stand outside the castle, and only the General and Azekiel stepped inside. "Soon, we''ll be with the Council of Ministers. They were selected by the King himself, and in his absence, they ran everything. Only they can do what you ask," The General gave a briefing to Azekiel. "By the way, what is your name? I forgot to ask." "I''m Azekiel. I''m sure people will be hearing this name a lot from now on." "King Azekiel, I am General Amon. I hope we can win this battle." The General respectfully stated. "I don''t intend on losing aftering so far," Azekiel smiled. "When ites to battle strategies, I''m sure we won''t becking them." He had Raphael, who was not only a powerful being but also a really clever strategist. Raphael had thought of all the possibilities of how this war could progress and how they should take precautions to make sure they didn''t lose. However, all these strategies needed a big army, and the armies couldn''t be armies from any existing Empires. "Here we are." The General stopped before the massive doors that appeared to be made purely of gold. "Behind these doors are the people that rule over the Empire of Pride in the absence of his Majesty." Amon pushed the door open and stepped inside the majestic hall. Twenty ministers appeared to be sitting in the hall, discussing something. The Throne of the King was still empty. All the Ministers stopped their discussion as they heard the noise of the door opening. Everyone looked toward the door in unison. "Amon, you are back from the battle already? The battle shouldn''t be over this fast." One of the Ministers red at Amon. "Don''t tell me you lost all our men and ran away from the battlefield?" "I came here for something even more important. I have news that I need to deliver to you personally. I shouldn''t send a Soldier with this news." Amon took a step forward to stand in the middle of the hall. "What news could be so important that a General needed to abandon his post to deliver it personally?" Another Minister asked. "This doesn''t seem like a sane decision. Whatever the news, I''m sure it could''ve waited!" "The news better be worth our time, Amon." Amon let out a tired sigh. "King Michael is dead." Instead of moving around the issue, he directly told the shocking news without giving anyone the time to prepare for it. One sentence... One sentence of Amon was enough to send a shocking current in the body of every Minister. Each of the Ministers stood up in disbelief. "What nonsense are you spouting? Have you gone crazy?!" "I won''t me you for this reaction. My reaction was the same until I was shown the proof." Amon gazed back toward the entrance. "King Azekiel, pleasee inside with the proof." Azekiel finally stepped inside the room, carrying a heavy sack as if he was carrying vegetables. He ced the sack before all the Ministers and revealed the lifeless face of Michael. The jaws of all the Ministers dropped as they saw the lifeless body of Michael! So it was true! Michael was dead! They also focused on how Azekiel was addressed by Amon... King Azekiel. "Amon, did you betray the Empire for him?!" One of the Ministers asked. Amon shook his head. "King Azekiel didn''t kill King Michael. The two were friends. He discovered the body and brought it safely to us. The death was caused by an Assassin sent by the Empire of Greed, as you can see by the wounds." "I brought King Azekiel here for a different reason altogether. Something that will decide the fate of our people!" Chapter 43 43: King Of Nothing Now that their King was dead, all the Ministers knew that they had no protection. Moreover, another King was standing right before them in the castle. One mistake, and they could be killed. They had no chance but to listen to Azekiel carefully. For a moment, there wasplete silence in the entire room. Azekiel stood with his hands behind his back, observing the expressions of all the Ministers. After a long time, he broke the silence with his thundering words. "I can kill every single one of you here, and your guards won''t be able to stop me. That is if I wanted to do that. If I wanted, I could take over this Empire within minutes, and not even your strongest soldiers can''t stop me now that Michael is gone." "So if you think I''m here with ulterior motives, you can be sure that I don''t need your help to achieve what I want. The only reason I''m here and you''re still alive is because I don''t mean you harm." He looked at the dead body on the ground. "I want the safety of thisnd that my dear friend created with his blood, sweat, and tears." Hearing his words, all the Ministers gazed at each other. The words did make sense. If Azekiel wanted, he could''ve killed these people and taken over thend if he was truly a King. "What do you want us to do?" The oldest Minister asked, letting out a deep sigh. "I''m sure you don''te here for no reason either. Do you want to fight with us?" "No, I want to make you win this battle," Azekiel answered. "And for that, I need you all to do something." "Do what?" "I want the dissolution of the Empire of Pride. The Empire of Pride needs to cease to exist being an Empire!" Azekiel''s calm words fell like thunder in the ears of the Ministers. He was saying that he was here to save the Empire, and at the same time, he wanted them to disintegrate the Empire? What was he trying to say? This didn''t make sense at all. Every Minister stared at Azekiel''s face nkly. "Say that again?" "I want the Empire of Pride to cease to exist," Azekiel repeated. "But there''s a reason for that. Only once you cease to exist can I protect you." "Why? How? Make it make sense." "The Code of the Kings." Azekiel let out a made-up world. "That''s the Code of Honour all of us Kings follow and are bound by. ording to the first article of the Code of Kings, a King can''t fight with another King unless it''s either to expand his Empire or Defend their Empire!" "Elijah is fighting to expand his Empire. Meanwhile, Michael is dead. And I? I''m just an outside party. This Empire isn''t my Empire, so I can''t fight the King of Greed for you. The only way to fight them is if I was your King," he further added. "This... You want to be the King? But as you said, you can be the King this instant. We can''t stop you. Why would you want this Empire to be dissolved for that?" One of the curious Ministers asked. "As I told you before, this Empire belongs to my dear friend. I don''t feel it''s right for me to take over something he created. My morality doesn''t allow it. But if you were to dissolve the Empire into multiple Kingdoms and control each of those kingdoms, the Empire of Pride would cease to exist. Then you can join again under my banner... As a new Empire." Azekiel exined. This was the loophole he had noticed in the words of the system which gave him his mission. He couldn''t take over any of the Existing Empires... But the system didn''t say anything about taking over smaller Kingdoms that weren''t under the control of any Kings. It was certainly a cheat that he wanted to try, hoping that it wasn''t against the unspoken rules, but this was the only way he could see to finish this Trial in record time. He was taking over an already existing Empire without taking over an already existing Empire. "This..." The ministers didn''t know how to respond to this demand. Since their King was dead, certainly the Empire was going to be in shambles even if they won the war. Moreover, it wasn''t going to be long before another Empire attacked them if they didn''t have a King. The only way for the peace tost was if they also had a King as a deterrence. "You don''t have much time. Think clearly. The Empire of Greed will be at your doors soon. I need time for other''s things too. So decide fast. I know it''s a long route to go through something simpler, but that route is something which will not only save your life but mine as well. "I am ready. I think we should do it." The oldest Minister was the first to raise his hand in support of Azekiel. They had no other chance at the moment. Moreover, to them, Azekiel seemed like a really caring person. "I agree too. If that brings longsting peace, I''ll support it." "I support it too." "I don''t think we should do it." "It''s too soon. We need time to think about it." "We don''t have time. We need to decide now." Even though most of the voices were in support of Azekiel, there were some voices that were also against the idea, even though they were in the minority. "You all aren''t thinking straight!" A dissenter eximed. "We are surrendering the Empire in the hands of a King so he could fight another King? No matter what happens after that, many of our soldiers will die. If we''re already surrendering to a King, why don''t we surrender to the King of Greed? Won''t that bring more peace?" "If we surrender to the King of Greed instead of him, we won''t have to go through this battle at all. Moreover, we would also be a part of the biggest Empire to ever exist! No other Empire will dare to hurt us!" Even though the man spoke some harsh words, his words did manage to convince some of the Ministers who were on the fence until now while irritating Azekiel. Chapter 44 44: The Empire Azekiel could only smile as he heard all the dissenters. He carefully observed each of them. The more these people talked, the more they managed to sway others. Within minutes, the majority was against the idea now as they started looking at surrender as the better option. The young General simply stared at Azekiel, wondering why he wasn''t doing anything as more and more people were being swayed for something else entirely. He couldn''t understand why Azekiel seemed to be waiting for everyone to turn against him. To the dismay of the General who supported him, Azekiel stood with his hands behind his back as if he was just a spectator here. Ten more minutes passed, and finally, all the Ministers were convinced that it was better to surrender to the King of Greed than surrender to another King only to fight more. "So you''ve all made up your mind?" Azekiel calmly asked just to be sure. All the Ministers nodded. "Yes. We have made up our minds. With Michael gone, we all want to surrender now. We don''t want the mes of war to extend beyond what it already has." Azekiel seemed to be really understanding as he nodded; however, instead of walking back and leaving, he stepped closer to the first dissenter who had ignited this fear in the hearts of everyone. The Minister appeared to be scared, watching Azekiel move closer to him. The Man couldn''t help but take a step back, only to fall on his seat. There was no way back. "Since you''ve all made up your mind to support the one who killed my friend Michael, I don''t have to hesitate anymore either. You''re all traitors now, and you''ll get what traitors get." Azekiel grabbed the Minister by his throat, raising him in the air. The minister struggled but to no avail. Before long, his neck was crushed, and the lifeless body of his was tossed in the middle of the hall. Azekiel, who appeared to be really calm and patient until now, was looking like a Grim Reaper who had awakened. After killing the first dissenter, he red at the second one. Within the blink of an eye, he appeared before the next man, doing the same thing. His powerful yet emotionless voice echoed in the entire hallway. "Just because I gave you the right to choose doesn''t mean I gave you the right to do whatever you want. Just because I was calm, you think you can climb on my head and dance?!" "I thought I made it clear? I don''t need your permission to take over this Empire! If I want, I can destroy you all, and even then, I can get what I want! And none of you here can stop me! Let alone you; even your father can''t stop me!" Azekiel kept killing the people around him like a grim reaper as he moved from ce to ce. He had already killed five ministers out of the twenty present there. And he still didn''t look like he was done. He red at the oldest Minister, and with proud steps, he moved closer to the old man. Watching Azekiel move closer to him, the old man felt like he was watching his death moving closer to him. He went down on his knees hastily. Even though he was old, he still loved his life a lot. "My Lord, please forgive my ignorance. I was swayed by the honeyed words. I forgot that this was more about the Empire itself. This was about the dignity of ours. We really couldn''t give the Empire to the intruder! I support you!" "Anyone else who shares the same thought?" Azekiel red at the other Ministers in response. The other Ministers also went down on their knees, observing the bodies of the dead in the hall. They had no choice but to agree with Azekiel since their own lives were on the line. "If only you all had agreed at the start, those people wouldn''t need to die, would they? I suppose that''s why people say; Kindness is never appreciated. Only fear paves the path." Azekiel walked to the Throne and sat like he was the King of this Empire. "Now, start preparing a deration about the Division of the Empire." "R-right away!" In an official document, one of the Ministers made the deration that following the death of King Michael, it was their responsibility to run the Empire now and that they had decided that it was more efficient to have the Empire divided up into small kingdoms. In the deration, they also rified which part of the Empire was going to go to which Minister and who would be the King. After the official map was divided, all the Ministers signed it, making the deration official. From that point on, the Empire of Pride had ceased to exist and what took its ce were fifteen small Kingdoms, each under the control of one of the Ministers. The Ministers gave the document to Azekiel, who went through the document, mainly letting Raphael see if there was any problem with it or not. "It looks to be fine. This should work." Raphael gave his approval to the document. "Good. Now we aren''t taking over an Empire but smaller Kingdoms, making it the first Empire of Gluttony." "Congrattions! Now the fifteen of you are the Kings. Now it''s time for you to return what should be mine. Make another deration, giving my Empire to me." The Ministers were like hostages at this point. Even though they were doing everything willingly, it was also true that they had no choice. Their choice was either to oblige or die. Each of the Ministers created a document of their own, giving their Kingdom to King Azekiel. Within minutes, Azekiel had Fifteen Kingdoms under him, which hebined to form an Empire, officially giving it the name: Empire of Gluttony. Finally, after a long and indirect route, he had managed to cheat using the loophole. Now he had a Massive Empire and an even more massive army of his own which gave him an advantage. Now that the small things were taken care of, Azekiel left the main hall with the Generals. He didn''t want any Minister to know the battle strategy that they were going to follow since he didn''t trust them entirely. He told the General of his army the n of Raphael, including all the formations and strategies that Raphael hade up with. Walking through the empty hallway, Azekiel suddenly stopped before a door as if sensing something. He turned to the old looking door. Chapter 45 45: The Temple Azekiel stopped abruptly as soon as he reached an old-looking door. He gazed at the door with a curious gaze, not knowing why he was feeling as if there was something special about this ce. "What''s behind that ce?" The General stepped closer to the door, touching it. "That? It''s just an old Temple that was created at the time of this Castle''s creation by the First King. It has been sealed for a long time since no King ever brothers to pray to the Gods inside." Azekiel observed the lock on the door. "Do you have the key?" The General shook his head. "I don''t have the key, but I know where it might be kept. Should I bring it?" Azekiel shook his head. "No need. You focus on arranging the guards and doing as nned. Take the army, and you can begin. I''ll join youter." "What about when the King of Greed arrives with his army? We can''t face him alone." "You don''t need to worry about him. He is bound byws. He won''t interfere in the battles until I get there. You can rest assured and do as I said. Half the army to the battlefield and the other half advancing toward the Empire of Greed from the east." "I don''t want him to have even a single inch ofnd to get back to if he decides to run." "I will do that." The General took themands from Azekiel and left. Azekiel stood behind, all alone before the door. After the General left, Azekiel grabbed the lock and pulled it with his full strength. The lock didn''t break despite him using all his strength. "This lock is stronger than it should''ve been." Before his evolved strength, an ordinary lock should''ve been broken easily, yet this lock didn''t. The revtion forced Azekiel to use different methods. He called forth his Weapon of Sin. A metallic gauntlet appeared in his right hand with sharp beast-like ws. He grabbed the lock once again and pulled. This time, even the lock couldn''t resist. The lock was broken. Azekiel tossed the lock aside before pushing the door open. He sent the Gauntlets back. He entered the room that hadn''t been opened for years. It also didn''t look like the room had been cleaned as dust could be seen everywhere. However, more than dust, what attracted his attention was a statue before him. The twenty feet tall statue depicted a human who was wearing a majestic Armor that had a sun carved on it. The statue was holding onto a stone sword that was aiming at the sky as if he was challenging heaven toe face him. With calm steps, Azekiel moved closer to the Statue. For some reason, the statue gave him a strange feeling. He didn''t know what it was, but it was simr to the feeling he received when he was outside this room. The only difference was that this feeling was more intense now. While the statue held a sword in his right hand, it was also holding a book in his left hand. Unlike the statue and the Sword, the book wasn''t made of stones. The Book appeared to be a real book that looked really small in the hands of the statue. Other than the statue and the book, there was also one more thing. The statue was standing in a pond that was filled with red liquid up to the statue''s knees. The small pond appeared to be filled with blood, and for some reason, the blood still looked fresh despite this ce not being opened for years. "Raphael? Any idea who this guy might be?" Raphael shook his head in response as he circled the statue. "First time I''m seeing him." "This is considered to be a Temple, so I have a feeling that this guy might be one of the gods. But I still can''t figure out why I''m getting this weird feeling from this statue. It''s as if... As if... I don''t know how to describe this feeling." Azekiel just observed the statue. There was something really extraordinary about it. "I recognize him." A calm yet collected voice came, surprising Azekiel. It was Lia who had spoken. Azekiel looked back at Lia, who seemed slightly taken aback. "You know him?" "Remember the King I talked about who killed me and the other Witches? This is him... King Osiris." "Were you from this ce too? If not, why would a statue of your King be here?" Raphael inquired. Lia shook her head. "I have no idea. All I know is that his statue shouldn''t be here unless something happened after my death which changed the entire past, present, and future of this guy." "Can you get that book down?" She pointed at the book in the hands of the statue. "That might have some answers." Even Azekiel knew that he needed to get that book, but the question was how. He couldn''t reach the book without getting in the pond of blood and being covered in blood. He couldn''t fly either. Unfortunately, this was too important for him. He couldn''t just leave the book behind, fearing the blood. He took off his robe, shirt, and pants to protect his clothes before stepping inside the pond of blood. Entering the pond, he moved close to the statue and raised his hand as soon as he ended up near the foot of the statue. p He reached out his hand toward the golden book in the hands of King Orisis and grabbed the book. As soon as Azekiel touched the book, he felt something change. His surroundings hadpletely changed. He wasn''t in the pond anymore; instead, he was in another ce entirely. He appeared to be standing over the clouds under the bright sky. There stood a man before him whose face Azekiel couldn''t see since his back was facing him. "Who are you?" Azekiel asked calmly. The man curiously turned around, slightly confused as he gazed at Azekiel. As soon as the man turned, Azekiel was stunned to see the face of the man who he recognized. Chapter 46 46: Osiris The man before Azekiel turned around, surprising him. The man... He was none other than the person depicted in the status. He was still wearing that beautiful Armor thatplimented his beautiful golden eyes. The only difference was that the man wasn''t holding any sword this time. Instead, there was only one book in his hand here. "King Osiris?" Azekiel let out. "You know me?" The middle-aged man smiled in response. "I know someone who knows you," Azekiel responded. Even though he knew that he shouldn''t tell the man that he knew the Witch of Famine, but he also didn''t feel like he could lie here for some reason. He didn''t know what it was about this man, but only the truth came out of his mouth. "Oh?" The man tilted his head in confusion. "Who might that be?" "The Witch of Famine, Lia," Azekiel exined. "I know she did wrong by bringing Famine into your Empire." "Lia?" As soon as the man heard the name, some inexplicable emotions flickered through the man''s eyes as he let out a deep sigh. "The only regret of my life." "How do you know her? She was killed by my men." "I know her Spirit," Azekiel answered. "Next time you meet her, can you give her a message from me?" King Orisis asked. Hearing his demand, Azekiel was sure the King was going to ask him to give some scolding to Lia for what she did or cursed, but the King''s words shocked even him. "Please tell her I am sorry." The King nced at the bright sun. "I was wrong." "You are sorry? For what? She was in the wrong. She killed your citizens for her entertainment. Shouldn''t she be sorry instead of you?" Azekiel didn''t understand why the man was asking him to say sorry. Was he an idiot? He was saying sorry to someone who deserved it? "So she didn''t tell you yet," the man shed a sad smile, hearing Azekiel''s response. "You are just as naive as I was." "What do you mean?" Azekiel asked, still not understanding a single thing. "What did she not tell me?" "Lia was a dear friend. When I was young, she even saved my life once. However, as I became King, I gained so many responsibilities of the Empire that I had to leave all friendships behind." "As you said, she brought the Famine. An entire town died in the Famine because of her. In my rage, I also thought that she did it for entertainment. Imanded for all Witches to be burnt." "I watched my friend burn right before my eyes, but I didn''t feel bad. I thought I was a just and righteous King who was working for the wellbeing of my citizens, but I was wrong," the man exined. "How were you wrong?" "I didn''t even give her a chance to exin, and nor did she try to exin. It was only after she had died that I learned of the reality." "Could there be something that can justify what she did?" Azekiel asked. The young man shook her head. "I had forgotten that she was also a citizen of this Empire, and it was also because of us she was forced to take such a step. If the Empire had been just, her life would''ve been saved along with that town..." King Orisis observed Azekiel''s confused expressions. He further exined, "Did you know about her Sister?" "Who was killed with her father? I heard." "But did you know how many times she came to the Royal Guards for justice and for the culprit to be found and punished? You don''t, do you?" "It was only after her death that I found out she came to the Royal Guards seven times, asking them to find the killers of her family and have them punished, but the Empire didn''t do her justice. The Empire didn''t listen to her pleas." "How is her sister''s death rted to the Famine? She was trying to punish you for not listening?" "No. That''s what I thought, but I was wrong. The Famine... It wasn''t for us. It was for that specific town where her sister and father had died. She didn''t know who killed them, but she knew that whoever it was, they lived in the town." "After getting no help from the Empire, she brought forth the Famine and sealed the town. Many innocents died, but some of the fault in it lies with me too. If only I had listened..." King Orisis let out a deep sigh. "Even though I still believe she did wrong, but she didn''t kill them for entertainment. Or maybe the thought of the killer dying was entertainment for her. In any case, most of the me lies with me. I only found out the truth about her actions from her mother a few months after her death. By then, it was toote. I couldn''t say sorry." "So if she is a Spirit and she is with you, tell her. Tell her Orisis is sorry. Tell her I should''ve listened. Tell her I was wrong, and there hadn''t been a single moment where I didn''t regret how the events unfolded." "Will you tell her?" The man asked. Azekiel affirmed. "I will tell her. Thank you for telling me the reality. That girl... She never told me the truth. She acts to be cruel, yet she is still a child on the inside. Just like you, I''ve been wrong about her as well. I will tell her everything." "Thank you." The middle-aged man smiled in response. "Oh, I suppose you came here for this. Take it; this might be helpful in your journey ahead. Take good care of my dear friend." The man raised his hand as if offering the book in his hand to Azekiel. Azekiel subconsciously reached out his hand and took the book. "Wait a minute. I still had more questions. Why is your status there? What happened to you? What is this tower? Do you know anything?" Azekiel shot so many questions at Osiris, who only smiled in response. "Who knows. All those answers are for you to find out. The book should help you though. If you can, get the second part as well. I wish you luck, young man." The man disappeared, and so did the surrounding. Azekiel found himself back at the blood pond with the golden book in his hands. He gazed at the statue above nkly before ncing back at Lia. Chapter 47 47: Master "What?" Lia asked, noticing Azekiel gazing at her weirdly. "Why are you looking at me like that?" "Nothing." Azekiel didn''t answer her instantly. He stepped out of the blood pond and ced the book on the ground before wiping his feet. He got dressed before picking up the Book once again. He opened the Golden Book in his hands and started going through it. p Azekiel kept going through the book, but for some reason, the entire book was empty. There was only one page in the book that had anything. It was the page at the end of the book which seemed to have something akin to a nap. On the end cover, some numbers were written, which made no sense for now. "The Map, what could it be?" None of them had any idea what this map could be. It could be anything, and it could be nothing. Without more context, this map and these numbers meant nothing. Azekiel rubbed the back of his head, gazing at Raphael. "Any ideas?" Raphael shook his head. "This book seems to be useless." "Not really." Azekiel didn''t agree with Raphael on this. "Osiris said that this book could help me in theing time. As for what he meant by that, even I''m not sure. This book is anything but useless." "Osiris? You mean the man in the statue?" Raphael inquired, stunned. "You talked to him?" "Yeah. It was as if my conscience was pulled as soon as I touched the book. I met Osiris and even talked to him. He said this book would help me in my journey and something about there being a second part," Azekiel exined. "You must be hallucinating," Lia chimed in. "Either that or you went through an illusion. Probably some spell that was cast on the status to fool the people that came here. Don''t think too much about it." "No, it wasn''t an illusion." "And how can you be so sure of that?" "Because he told me a bit more about you. If he wasn''t real, he wouldn''t have known that much about you," Azekiel answered as he closed the book. "What did he say?" Lia asked, seemingly curious. "He told me to give you a message," Azekiel answered. "He said he was sorry." "Sorry for what?" Lia tilted her head. "He was sorry for not helping you on time. He was sorry that you had to take things into your own hands. He was sorry that you didn''t get justice for your sister. Even though he disagrees with your method of taking revenge, he believes part of the me lies on his shoulder. He has always regretted the decision of not helping you on time." "Does that sound urate?" Azekiel inquired. "You now believe he was real? Well, at least as real as you two. I don''t know if he was alive or just a heroic spirit like you, but at least he existed." He nced onest time at the statue of the majestic man before he left the room. There was nothing else in this ce for him except that one book, and even that book didn''t give him any answers as to what it was. Raphael also stayed with Azekiel while Lia stood dazed back in the Temple, staring at the Statue. After a long time, she turned her back on the statue before she departed as well. Azekiel closed the door and left it the way it was, without locking it. There was nothing of significance there anymore. In another part of the Castle, all the Ministers had dispersed after handing the control of the Empire to Azekiel. They went through so much in thest few hours that they decided to take rest for the day and go back to their families while the Royal Hall was being cleaned of the dead bodies. Amongst the Ministers who had died, there was one who left the castle itself in haste. Instead of leaving, the Minister went into a bathroom and locked the door from inside after making sure he was all alone here. He brought a red crystal out of his pocket and closed his eyes. "Master... Master... Please respond." After a long time, a response came from the stone. "What?" "Master, I have important news for you. There have been some changes in the Empire''s workings." "What changes?" Came the surprised voice. "A new King has appeared in the Castle!" The Minister dered. "A new King? Does he have blue hair?" "Y-yes." "That bastard! What is he doing there now? For what purpose did hee?" The gruff voice responded. "H-he came to take over the Empire!" "Nonsense. It''s not allowed to take over any Existing Empires for any King. It''s only possible after making a new Empire of your own and defeating the other Empire in a War. Tell me everything!'' The Minister had never heard the person on the other side so frustrated. It was as if the King who had just arrived was actually somewhat threatening to him. He started telling everything that took ce from the moment of Azekiel''s arrival to his exit. The information seemed to have stunned the person on the other side. "T-this... Is this even legal? Damn that bastard! He used a loophole! Arghhh! So he decided to jump into my war! And that''s what the challenge was about! He does intend to stand in my path!" "What should I do now, Master?" "Do you know the ns of his? His army formations? If he is joining the war? Any war strategy gives me all the information you can!" "I-i don''t know yet. He probably only told the strategy to our Army General after he took him outside. I have no idea what he ns." "You idiot! Then find out the n! Go talk to that General! I want to know everything that Azekiel is nning! And while you''re at it, try to stay with him. Get close to him. I want every piece of information rted to him!" "Y-yes, Master. But I have a question." "What question?" "When you killed King Michael, why did you leave his body outside? Why didn''t you bury it? That Azekiel found the body, and that''s what he used to get the support of all the Ministers to hand over the Empire. If you had buried or destroyed the body, we would''ve been able to keep the Empire from falling into his hands," the Minister let out after slight hesitation. He didn''t mind that Michael was killed, but he thought it was really stupid to leave his body outside. That spoiled the perfectly crafted n. As soon as the person on the other end heard the question, he went intoplete silence before he exploded in rage. Chapter 48 48: Strategist Elijah was riding on his horse, talking to someone with a crystal. He was leading an entire army before him. However, he abruptly halted the horse as he yelled in response. "You idiot! What nonsense are you spouting!" What did this guy mean when he said that he had killed Michael? "Michael was killed by that bastard Azekiel! He killed that guy and probably dragged his body back to convince you. That cunning bastard!" "Ah." The Minister was gobsmacked as he heard the answer. "This... I never even considered the possibility that he might be lying. I took him for his word." "Of course you did. A person needs a brain andmon sense to catch a lie which you don''t have!" Since Elijah was so furious, he didn''t even hesitate with his scolding. "I-i will go to the other Ministers and tell them," the Minister eximed. "Tell them what?" Elijah rolled his eyes. "That I told you the truth? You''ll be killed, and that Azekiel will find out that you''ve been my pawn. Moreover, what can you even achieve after telling them? You idiots already handed over the Empire to Azekiel. You can''t take it back." "He probably passed the legal requirement. The Empire already belongs to him now. Nothing is stopping him from killing all the Ministers now since you''re all useless. So don''t do something stupid." "Instead of going against him, try to get close to him. Try to understand what he is nning and keep giving me all the information. And if you can''t get the information from him, get it from the General he told! I don''t care where you get that information from! All I know is that I want the answers!" "Y-yes, Master. I will do as you said." The Ministers kept the stone back in his pocket before he unlocked the door. He left the bathroom, wiping his sweat. "Argh!" As soon as the Minister stepped out, he froze in ce to find Azekiel standing right there. "Why are you sweating so much?" Azekiel asked, smiling. "I was just passing through. Did I scare you?" "N-not at all. I was just surprised, Your Majesty." The Minister sighed a breath of relief since Azekiel hadn''t heard him. He was sure that if Azekiel had heard, he would''ve killed him. The Minister noticed the book in Azekiel''s hands, bing slightly surprised, but he soon shifted his gaze as if he hadn''t seen the book. Even though the Minister pretended as if it was nothing, Azekiel caught that nce. This guy knew about the book. Despite knowing, Azekiel still didn''tment. "You all can go and rest. You must be tired after the meeting." Azekiel started leaving without a second nce at the Minister. Instead of leaving, the Minister followed Azekiel. "Ah, Your Majesty. I am not tired. In my worries for the Empire, how can I rest? I can''t rest until the battle is over and we win. Please let me apany you as your Advisor." "Sure, I do need some amazing advisors," Azekiel smiled. "Please keep mepany." Azekiel and the Minister walked into the hallway, going straight to the balcony from where Azekiel was keeping an eye on the General who was preparing the army and issuingmands left and right. "Do you think we can win the war?" Azekiel asked. The Minister smiled wryly. "I don''t know your battle strategies, so I can''tment on that. But I''m known to be the best War Strategist in the Empire. If you can tell me your war strategy, I might be able to give a more urate answer to that question." "Oh right, in my haste, I forgot to tell the Ministers my n. How stupid of me." Azekiel gazed into the distance. "My strategy is simple. We will send all our force to the battlefield and overwhelm the enemy. I will also personally go to the battlefield. It''ll be a live-or-die battle, and I don''t want to leave anything behind forter." "Entire Army at a single point with you leading them? That is a good n indeed." The Minister agreed. "The Enemies must be tired after traveling for a long time. With a full-frontal assault, it should be an easy victory. And with you present there, it''ll be even easier." "It''s good to see that such a cherished War Strategist appreciates my strategy. Anyway, I should get ready as well. I''ll be leading the army after all. It was good to talk to you. After I return, we will talk more." Patting the shoulders of the Young Minister, Azekiel left. He walked back into the hallway. The Minister watched Azekiel leave, and only after making sure that he had left did he sigh a breath of relief. "That idiot. He told me the entire n. What an idiot," the manughed out loud after he was alone. He brought the stone out of his pocket. This time, he didn''t even need to go to the bathroom since this area was very safe. No guards ever came here. And Azekiel had also left. Even if someone came, the footsteps were going to be clearly audible. "Master, I found out the n." "What n?" The calm voice came in response. "This guy is sending all the soldiers to the battlefield for the frontal assault, leaving no soldiers in the city. Moreover, he will be leading the charge himself." "That''s it? That was his master n? Attacking with his full force? That kid is really naive, isn''t he? The more soldiers he tosses our way, the more we would be able to kill since there would be more targets. Moreover, our army is smaller, and they''ll be slightly rxed. It''ll be even easier because of that." "And by the time they''ll be close to the victory, the other half of my army will arrive, turning the tide. Even a kid could''ve made a better n than him. However, are you sure this is the n?" "Yes Master. I swear on my life this is the n. There is no way I can be wrong!" The Minister swore in excitement. "Good. Then not only will it be an easy victory but also something more." Elijah grinned brightly before stopping the conversation. He kept the stone back. He went closer to the General and whispered something in his ears before racing off into the distance, ahead of the army. **** Back at the castle, the old Minister was really smug. He had managed to finish the task. "You did good work." Just as the Minister startedughing out loud, he heard a calm voiceing from the back. Hisughter immediately disappeared. Chapter 49 49: Promise "Y-you are here?!" The Minister''s face was horrified as he noticed Azekiel standing before him. ''How was it possible? There was no sound! How did he appear like a ghost? Did he hear what I said? How long had he been standing here?'' For a moment, his breathing halted as he observed the expressions of Azekiel, praying to gods that he didn''t hear anything. "Why do you always get so scared after seeing me? You act like you were doing something wrong? I just came here because I forgot something. You don''t have to be that scared." Azekiel moved closer to the balcony. It was only now that the Minister noticed that a coin was lying on the balcony. "I dropped it here. I came here to take it back." Azekiel picked up the coin and kept it in his pocket. Seeing his actions, the Minister couldn''t believe his luck. Azekiel still didn''t know what he did? He breathed a sigh of relief. "Shall I apany you to the exit, Your Majesty?" "No need. I won''t be leaving this Pce," Azekiel respondedzily. "But... But what about the n? What about the strategy?" The Minister asked in surprise. "That one? That was just a lie. Don''t worry about it. I made that fake strategy on the spot so you could tell it to Elijah," Azekiel exined. Hearing the answer, the Minister''s face turned pale. Azekiel knew everything? He subconsciously took a step back and kept moving backward to gain enough distance to run. Unfortunately, he noticed that the way was being blocked by the Old General and his soldiers. "You seem to be going somewhere? What''s the hurry?" Azekiel asked calmly. "You wanted to give mepany. Why the hurry to leave then?" "Y-your Majesty, I..." The man dropped to his knees before Azekiel. "I made a mistake! I-i didn''t mean to! I was forced!" "Don''t plead. I''m not doing anything to you. In fact, you did well by telling him everything. In fact, that''s what I wanted as well. I won''t kill you, don''t worry. You are very useful to me." The Minister stood up and gazed at Azekiel in surprise. This guy wasn''t going to kill him even after the betrayal? Just what kind of person was this guy? "But my promisees with a condition," Azekiel further stated. "You need to answer whatever I ask honestly." "I will answer everything! Everything you ask!" With his life on the line, the Minister couldn''t say no. He immediately agreed. "Tell me what you know about this book? When you saw it, I noticed your expressions change for a brief second. You know something about it, don''t you? Tell me everything." The Minister was already of no use to Azekiel since he had already done the part by giving the fake information to Elijah. Still, there was one small use left. The man appeared to have some information about the book, which Azekiel needed at any cost. "That book, I know about it. I-i have been working for King Elijah before. He gave me the description of this book and told me that he wanted it. He asked me to enter the Temple in the castle and retrieve it for him," the old man exined. "But you couldn''t do it since you neither had the key nor the strength." Azekiel finished the sentence of the man instead. "Am I right?" The Minister affirmed. "I tried, but I couldn''t retrieve it." "Do you have any knowledge of Elijah having a simr book?" Azekiel inquired. "If he knew about the existence of this book, that does imply he either has the other book or has knowledge about these books." "I met him once. At that time, he had a simr book in his hand." The Minister confirmed. "He always carries that book with him." "That would certainly exin why he is waging this war." Azekiel turned to the soldiers in the distance. "He doesn''t want the Empire. He wants the book, which he failed to get. And since he has an Empire of his own, he can''t attack the guards or soldiers of this Pce to enter." "The only way for him to get in is through a war. So that''s the secret of King of Greed! The reason he stayed behind all this while." With a small bit of information, Azekiel had managed to form aplete understanding of his enemy. Even in his past, the King of Greed was the same. He had cleared the Second Floor a long time ago, but he hadn''t cleared the third floor. Instead, he returned to the Second Floor and has stayed here since then. No one knew why the King of Greed wasn''t climbing the Tower like others. In the past life, the King of Greed couldn''t take over this Empire. He had certainly waged a war on this Empire after a long time, but during that time, Michael was alive. The King of Greed was defeated, and he finally moved on from this floor. Throughout those years, he didn''t achieve anything significant. However, in this timeline, Michael was dead, and Elijah wanted this book. Azekiel didn''t know the secret of the two books, but he believed this had something to do with the Third Floor. King of Greed was known to be a really greedy person. There was no way he was going to give up the chance of climbing the tower to stay on one floor. The only other reason could be that whatever these books helped him aplish was something he was really eager for. "Something that is better than climbing the Tower?" he muttered. p In the past timeline, there was nothing about these books, maybe because Elijah had failed to win his war. That was also why Azekiel didn''t know anything about it. It was new for him this time. Moreover, he was on the other end of this battle instead of Michael. Michael''s Empire was his now. He also had a book that Michael had no idea about in his timeline. Azekiel couldn''t help but grab the book even more firmly. "I suppose I should thank you for the information." Azekiel grabbed the Minister by his throat and raised him in the air, making him hang off the balcony. "Yo...u... promised." The old man struggled to speak. He had the promise of Azekiel. He couldn''t believe Azekiel was breaking the promise. "I promised I wouldn''t kill you. And I intend to keep that promise." Azekiel smiled in response. "It would be the fall that will kill you, not me." Hearing the devilish words of Azekiel, the man''s face turned even paler. ''This... This guy¡­'' Chapter 50 50: The Weakest King "Moreover, didn''t you swear on your life that if you''re giving Elijah wrong information, you''ll die? We can''t let that swear go to waste, can we? Have fun." Azekiel freed his grip, letting the minister fall. His rage-filled screams went fast and wide before the screams turned silent. The Minister fell to the ground, dying on the spot. Azekiel acted as if nothing significant had happened as he immediately shifted his attention to the General. "General, stay with the old n. You can leave ahead. While you''re at it, have someone clean the body of the way." The General departed, giving Azekielplete privacy. Watching a Minister fall to his death, the Soldiers were horrified. They remained calm, noticing the person who was on the Balcony. They were already informed that the person was their new King. If the King killed the Minister, they believed there must be some reason. Soon, the General arrived before the body. He called some of the soldiers and told them to take care of the body. He got busy with the preparation, which was mostly done. All that was left was leaving. The army had already gathered. Moreover, the army that was about to attack the Empire of Greed had already left from another route. ? Now only the Main Army was left, which started advancing toward the main battlefield, prepared for the battle. They also had a perfect counter to take care of the army of the Empire of Greed now that they knew what their n was. Azekiel watched the soldiers leave for the battlefield. The city, which appeared to be filled with people until a few minutes ago, lookedpletely empty now. "Raphael?" Azekiel gazed at the empty City. "Yeah?" "If you were in ce of Elijah and you were informed of that n, what would you have done?" "Depends on what my goal was," Raphael answered. "If my Goal was a victory on the battlefield, I would''ve stayed with the n." "However, if my Goal was that book, I wouldn''t care about the battlefield at all. I would''ve left my army behind to battle. You couldn''t attack them in any case, so I didn''t need to be there." "While you and the army were busy on the battlefield, I would''ve snuck inside this castle for the book that I''m after." Hearing the exnation of Raphael, Azekiel nodded in satisfaction. "Exactly. If I was in his ce, I would''ve done the same, especially since he doesn''t know that I know his n," He agreed. "And if we cane up with the n to leave the army behind, that guy can certainly do the same. This war is not important for him since he already cleared this floor." "So, ifmon sense is to prevail, I would say that he would do the same. The chances of him staying on the battlefield are close to nil. If I''m not wrong, he would already be on his way here, all alone," he continued. "I am still around ten percent weaker than Michael was at this time. However, he was stronger than Elijah, from what I know. So I should roughly be equal to Elijah, who is supposed to be the weakest King. What kind of wee do you suggest we prepare for him?" he asked. "I have something fun in mind," Lia chimed into the conversation between the two. "Go ahead. Let''s see what you cane up with." Lia exined her n to Azekiel. There was no reaction on Azekiel''s face as he heard the n. After hearing the n, he turned to Raphael. "What about you?" Raphael also exined a n. His n appeared to be more strategic, minimizing all the risks. Azekiel considered both the ns carefully before deciding on one. "I think Lia''s n sounds better. It''s safe, and it sounds like it can be entertaining. Your n is the safest and the fastest, while what she suggests takes longer. Still, I don''t seem to be in any hurry. We can waste a few hours. It''s not always you get to y with a King." He decided to go with the n of Lia which slightly surprised Lia. She thought he was going to select Raphael since his n appeared to be clever and was less time-consuming. She thought a strategic and serious person like Azekiel was never going to consider her n. Not only did he consider her n, but he also selected it above Raphael. After the slight daze, a bright smile appeared on the lips of Lia. She shed her cheeky smile to Raphael as if shing her victory to him in a childish manner. Raphael didn''t react to her. It wasn''t apetition for him. Moreover, it wasn''t as if her n was bad. It was just slightly time-consuming. In the grand scheme of things, it didn''t matter if they went with her n since the oue appeared to be the same in both the ns. After finishing the n, Azekiel stretched his arms as hezily yawned. "Let''s get to preparation. I want to give Elijah a wee that he will never forget.". Everything seemed to have fallen into ce for him. The trial that was supposed to take months to finish was about to be finished in less than a week, and all because his loophole worked. Moreover, the Empire of Greed wasing for war. Their Entire Army was going to be en route, leaving their Capital unprotected for the other half of his army to take over. Andstly, King Elijah wasing here on his own. Azekiel was sure that he was going to finish the Trial soon and he could go to the Tomb of Gods on the next floor. **** In a distant ce, a lone horse raced in the desert, carrying the King of Greed, who had no idea that he was moving straight to a trap, thinking Azekiel was going to be busy on the battlefield. His guard was already lowered. He took a slightly longer route to make sure he wasn''t going toe across the army of the Empire of Gluttony. The Route took longer, but it was also safer. Elijah traveled for hours without a break. He kept licking his dry lips as he thought about the near future. "Soon, I will have both the books. Then no one will be able to stop my rise! The Other Kings were so stupid! They cleared the Third Floor yet didn''t know what a treasure trove it was! Their loss was going to be my gain! After such a long wait, I could finally move on from this godforsaken floor which had started to bore me." "They called me the Weakest King! I will show them what Weakest means after I get the book! No one can stop me now!" Chapter 51 51: Angel From Heaven The Border of the Royal City only had two guards at the entrance. Unfortunately, even those two guards were impossible for Elijah to fight since he was a King who was at war with this Empire. He couldn''t battle the soldiers. Just so he could avoid the two guards, the King of Greed took a different route and stopped before the twenty feet tall border wall. He stopped his horse before the Wall and got down. He held the Book in his left hand firmly and jumped with all his might. He put his strength behind that jump which helped him cover the twenty feet in height. He was easily able to cross the wall andnded on the other end of the wall. "Ah." Two kids noticed the King of Greednd before him from the sky. Their jaws dropped as they stared at the young man. "Did youe from Heaven?" The kids, who weren''t even ten years old, didn''t know that the man hade from the other side of the wall. They only watched hime from the top, making them believe he came from the heaven. The King of Greed smirked in response. "That''s right. I am an angel who came from the heaven." "Angel? Mother said we shouldn''t sin, or God will send angels to punish us. Are you here to punish us?" The kids took a step back. Elijah couldn''t help butugh out loud. "Well, your mother is wrong. She doesn''t know thatmitting sins doesn''t bring punishment! Instead, it brings the rewards and strength with it! The strength that you can''t even imagine. So don''t be scared of Sins. Make more Sins!" The King of Greed issued an advice to the kids as he started walking away. He had already wasted too much time. "Angel says Sins are good. Mother was wrong." The two kids let out as they watched Elijah disappear from their view. Elijah treaded through the city, advancing toward the Royal City. He was feeling so rxed and excited that he had never felt before. He was so close to his goal. He felt as if all he needed was to stretch his hand, and the other book was going to be his. He brought out the stone from his pocket. "I''m in the city. Meet me at the entrance of the castle. I''ll need you to bring me in. You should have the authority now that Azekiel isn''t here." Elijah waited for a response for five minutes, but there came no response at all. He once again repeated hismand, but the oue was the same. No matter how many times he asked, he didn''t get any response. He was getting more and more frustrated as time passed. "That bastard! Did he fall asleep or something? I''ll teach him a lesson when I''m done!" He was frustrated that he wasn''t going to have the help to get inside. He couldn''t sit idle, waiting for the response from his spy. He needed to take things into his own hands. He went straight to the Castle. "Hmm, even though there is no King, they do have quite a lot of security." Elijah could see lots of security guards at the entrance of the Castle, each carrying a Sword. "Getting in through the main entrance is going to be very time-consuming." He moved to the back of the castle, where no guard was present, and started climbing the castle. The climb appeared to be effortless for the young man due to his strength and agility. Before long, the King of Greed had already reached the balcony. ? Afternding on the balcony, the young man patted his clothes before taking long strides in the hallway of the castle. From the information he had received, most of the Castles were replicas of each other in this world. The Castle of Pride was simr to his castle for the most part, except for some minor changes. Even the arrangement of rooms was the same. It was as if he was strolling in his own castle. "Since they ced so many guards at the entrance, they have none left to defend these hallways, it seems." Throughout the way, he hadn''t seen even a single guard in the hallways. It was like a child''s y for him to get to the Temple. Elijah stopped before the door of the Temple and gazed at the lock. "Almost there!" The young man grabbed the lock and tore it off before tossing it away. He pushed the door open. "Almost!" He stepped inside the hallway. A bright grin spread across his lips as he gazed at the statue ahead. The statue was holding a book in his hand. "There it is!" As if not wanting to waste even a second, the King of Greed immediately jumped inside the pond of blood to take the book, and he even achieved it sessfully! With both the books in his hand, Elijah stepped out of the Blood Pond. He ced both the cold on the ground and opened thest page in each of them. "That''s it! The Map that leads to the heart of the Fallen Gods!" He couldn''t control his excitement as he burst intoughter. Both books contained half of the map along with two codes that were needed to enter his desired ce! After a long struggle, he finally had both in his hands. He memorized the map and the numbers before closing both the books. Carrying both the books, he started to leave. Thud~ Before the King of Greed could leave, both the doors shut before him on their own. He ran to the doors and tried to pull them open, but he couldn''t. No matter how much he tried, it was proving to be impossible. "You came of your own wish, but you can''t leave of your own volition." A gruff voice fell in his ears. He turned back in surprise. No matter where he looked, his surprised eyes couldn''t find any living soul here. Only the Statue was here, and there was no way it could speak! At least that''s what he thought until the statue opened its eyes. The Giant Statue actually moved. The Stone Sword that was facing toward the sky was aimed toward Elijah. "Y-you... How is this possible? How is a statue moving? And why now? You didn''t move when I took the first book!" "The first book was a piece of the puzzle. The second bookpletes that puzzle. You were allowed to take the first book, but you need to earn the second book." The Statue dered in a calm tone. "Earn now?" Elijah asked. "Do the things I ask to prove that you are worthy to hold the books!" The Statuemanded in a firm tone. Chapter 52 52: The Fleeting Hope The Tower of Sins... A mystery that no one had managed to decipher. The tall tower stood tall. The entrance of the Tower was sealedpletely. Not even the people inside the tower could open the doors to leave, not that anyone would have wanted to do that. The outside world was even more dangerous. Powerful and scary beasts roamed freely everywhere, eager to tear the flesh of any human they could find. Unfortunately, by now, most of the humans who hadn''t managed to get inside the tower had been killed by the beasts. Even the once most popted cities on earth were void of humans now. Signs of Destruction could be seen everywhere. The streets that used to be crowded in festivals were now covered in blood which hadn''t been cleaned for years. The tall tower of Sin could be seen from the city itself even though it was thousands of kilometers away. The Tower of Sin appeared like a heavenly tower that was touching the sky itself, shining like a beacon of hope. Throughout the years, news about the Tower of Sin had spread in settlements of humans who had managed to survive the onught by hiding. The human groups struggled for their day-to-day needs, barely surviving. "After crossing seven seas, we are finally close to the Tower of Hopes. If all the rumors we heard about the tower are correct, this might be ourst chance at an ordinary life!" A middle-aged man was hiding inside a supermarket with a small group of people. Beasts walked past the entrance of the tower every once in a while, not checking inside. "But we can''t stop being careful," the man further continued. "There are even more Monsters who are in this part of the world. The journey ahead is going to be even more treacherous. So stock up and be ready. As soon as the sun sets, we will advance." The twenty or so people agreed with the man. They started picking items and feeding themselves since it was unclear if they were going to get an opportunity like this again. This was the closest City to the Tower of Sin. From this point on, there weren''t any cities to stop at. "The people of this city are really lucky that the Tower of Heaven appeared close to them. We had to travel half the world to get to it, but they could go there right away," A young manmented as he kept filling up his bag with items. A dark-haired woman didn''t agree with him. "Did you not see all the dead bodies in the streets? The people of this city died so brutally. Just because they were this close to the Tower didn''t mean they were lucky. If anything, they were more unlucky." "How so? They didn''t need to tread through the mountains to get to safety like us! I agree that some of them died in the process, but I believe there must be millions who got inside the tower and are living in great luxury and safety now! So yes, they were lucky! Nothing you say can make me say otherwise." Thedy let out a tired sigh. "There is a saying. The grass is always greener on the other side. That''s what you are feeling. Do you not see? This city is filled with beasts! There are like ten times more Beasts here. If I''m not wrong, this ce is where the Beast Horde first appeared." "We certainly had a hard time surviving. Many of us died as well, I know. But that doesn''t mean I can ignore the troubles of others. Tell me honestly, if as many Beasts as there are in this city had appeared in our city instead of the measly few, would you call yourself lucky?" "We were farther from the Tower, but we also didn''t face such a massive horde of beasts. Just the rare few that appeared there were enough to ughter most of the city. Just imagine how hard it would be for people here!" "If they still managed to get inside the Tower with so many Beasts around, then I won''t call out their luck! They deserved it. And we will also get inside the Tower! We can''t fail aftering this far," The Young woman dered as she continued packing her bag as well "Tsk, you are an idiot," the young man rolled his eyes. "I don''t want to argue with you." The man separated and went to talk with the others in the group. The young woman simply rolled her eyes as she walked to the man who had given the initial speech. "Father, I am ready." The middle-aged man gazed at the youngdy. "Good work. Did you eat something?" "I did." "Good. Then just wait for now. There''s still time to sunset. We will leave soon." Since the apocalypse appeared three years ago, the stocks on the shelves weren''t refilled. Most of the items here were already expired, but the people couldn''t be choosers in this situation. They are even expired items since not much was avable. Within a few hours, everyone was ready with a bag on their back, filled with food. Each of them also carried multiple weapons just for their safety. Some carried automatic guns, while others carried handguns with silencers. Some even carried hand grenades in their bags as precautions. Throughout their journey, they hade across beasts many times, but most of the time, they only came across isted beasts and now the ones in groups, so they were able to take them out. Whenever there were hoards, they avoided them. Time kept trickling away as the group waited for sunset, where the beasts were a littlex. The middle-aged man who led the group kept looking at his clock repeatedly. It was over when the clock struck eight that he gestured to the group to follow him. All of them wore their night vision goggles and prepared to leave the supermarket. The middle-aged men led the group and pushed the door open, making sure not to make even the slightest noise. The group of twenty people stepped out of the building one after another after making sure that the street was empty. They only managed to walk a few meters before they heard the sound of pping. The middle-aged man turned back, wondering who in their group was pping. There was no way a beast could p after all. "You idiots, have you gone crazy?!" he whispered angrily. Unfortunately, everyone in his group was also looking back. None of them were pping. The middle-aged man''s face turned pale as soon as he saw behind him! There were twenty mighty beasts standing behind him. He still didn''t understand who was pping though. "Everyone, run and hide! I will keep them busy!" The middle-aged man raised his machine gun at the same time as he tossed a hand grenade toward the beasts. The people in his group followed the orders and started running to find a ce to hide. They kept running as the sound of bullet shots kept resounding in the surrounding. Chapter 53 53: The Beast That Wasnt The Same "The noise should attract the other beasts to that ce as well! We should be able to leave the city as he keeps them distracted!" Most of the people in the group cared only about their lives as they ran. Only the daughter of the middle-aged man was worried for her father. She wanted to stay back and help him, but throughout the years, her father had trained her not to disobey hismands. She was also told not to look back. Tears kept falling from her eyes as she ran, leaving her father behind. Her father was the only family member she had, and now she was going to lose him as well. She knew her father could keep the beasts busy, but there was no way for him toe out of that situation alive! As the leader, he had sacrificed his life so she and the others could clinch like from the jaws of death and reach the tower. Before long, the sound of gunshots and explosions stopped. Everything turnedpletely silent. The young man in the lead checked his clock. "What the heck? He died only in five minutes? He couldn''t even get us a ten minutes head start?!" "Mind yournguage! My father sacrificed his life for everyone!" The youngdy raged in response. "What good did it achieve if he could only give us a five-minute head start? This was nothing! The beasts will start the search for us now! Run faster?" The young man didn''t seem grateful at all. Instead, he wasining about the middle-aged man even though he gave his life for them without being asked. "Fine! Next time the beast catches up to us, you stay behind and give us a longer head start!" The woman retorted. "Me? I''m too useful to this group. Only people like you deserve to be bait! Next time the beasts catch up to us, I''m throwing you to them to get some time!" The man snorted in response. "You!" The dark-haired woman couldn''t control her anger any more! This bastard was too ungrateful! Even though she knew she shouldn''t do it, she couldn''t take it anymore. She raised her gun and aimed it at the back of the head of the man who was running. Bang~ She pulled the triggers. The bullet left the gun, traveling through the silencer before prating the skull of the young man, who still had a smug smile on his face. The man''s eyes opened wide as he was shot. His legs buckled, and he dropped to the ground, dead. Even though one of them had died, the ground didn''t stop running. They didn''t have time to stop and argue about what had just happened just now. Their lives were on the line. Moreover, most of them believed he deserved it for being such an ungrateful a*s. Unfortunately, there was one person who was too upset! The friend of the young man who had just died. The young man slowed down. He wasn''t going to let this arrogant girl live either. He wanted her to have a taste of her own medicine! She thought she could shoot people from behind just because she was a girl? He was going to do the same! The young woman also noticed the man slowing down. She understood what he was nning to do. She stopped mid-way and turned to the young man, aiming her gun at him before the man could even raise his gun. "What are you doing? You killed him, and now you want to kill me too?" The man cried foul. "Don''t pretend to be innocent. I know what you were going to do. You''ll run in the lead, or I''ll kill you this instant!" Finally, the group was forced to stop. "Come on guys; this isn''t the time for infighting! We only have a few minutes of lead!" "Jason, you run in the lead. Don''t make things worse." Another man from the group chimed in. "You two can settle scores after we are inside the tower, but this isn''t the ce to fight!" The young man took a deep breath. "Fine. I''ll take the lead." The man took the lead, and the group again started running. The group had only managed to run a few minutes when everyone came to an abrupt half as they noticed a body in the distance! The body that was lying in the middle of the street belonged to none other than the middle-aged man who had stayed behind to distract the beasts. For his body to be here, they all understood that the beasts must be here as well. Everyone raised their guns and got into a battle formation, covering all directions. "I can''t see anyone. Can you?" Someone in the group asked. "I can''t either. Are the beasts hiding? This doesn''t sound like them?" "This seems to be some kind of trap!" "Maybe you should look up?" Came a calm voice from above. Everyone raised their heads to find a young man in the sky! The man was literally floating in the air somehow! Right before their eyes, the young mannded on the ground. Everyone kept their guns aimed at the young man, who appeared to be in histe twenties. The man had a slender face and long dark hair. The strangest part about him was the two white wings behind his back. "You aren''t a human, are you?" The young woman asked. The man only smiled in response. "Do I look like you weaklings?" "A beast who can take human form?" One of the men eximed in surprise. "Is that even possible?" "Beasts? You know, I really hate the name you humans have given us. That''s not how it should be. I really don''t appreciate it." The winged man red at the young man who had just spoken. The young man grabbed his throat, feeling like he was being choked. He couldn''t breathe for some reason. Before long, his neck twisted on its own. The man''s body dropped to the ground. He had died. "That''s better, so, where were we? Yeah, you were trying to get to that damned tower." The man gazed back at the Tower of Sin in the distance. He let out a deep sigh. "The Tower..." For some reason, as the man gazed at the Tower, rage shed through his eyes as if he hated that ce. "That Tower might keep you safe for now, but even it won''t protect you forever¡­." Chapter 54 54: The Entrance The small group of people who had been traveling for years for a small chance of normal life inside the Tower was stopped in the middle of the road. The one who stood before them was not a human, but he didn''t look like a beast either. He was more like something in the middle. The group was sure that this person was an enemy. The winged man gazed back at the mighty tower in the distance as hate and anger shed in his eyes. Seeing the humanoid beast distracted, someone from the small group tossed a Grande at the man, taking advantage of the man''s distraction The grenadended before the mysterious person who heard the sound of something falling near him. Boom~ He gazed back toward the crowd, but before he could react, the grenade exploded. The small group of seventeen people sighed a breath of relief. They believed that the man was gone. They continued to escape only to freeze in ce. The person was still standing on the ground. There was not even a single scratch or wound on his body. Let alone his body, even the clothes of the man were still intact. Everyone in the group started firing at the man as they stepped back. The bullets dide out of the guns, but they didn''t reach the man in the distance. It was as if the bullets were hitting an invisible wall that was between the two sides and couldn''t prate the wall. "Big mistake." The mysterious man shed a bright grin in response. His figure flickered. He disappeared from everyone''s sight as if he was never there. "Where did he go?" p The group took their positions once again, hastily covering all the directions. Arghh~ A loud noise came from the group. Everyone looked at the man who had yelled, only to find that his hands were missing. Both his hands were lying on the ground along with the gun as the man roared in pain. Thud~ Another man dropped to the ground. A big hole could be seen in the chest of the young man who dropped dead. No one could see that mysterious person anymore, but they knew that it was his doing. How was he doing it? That too without getting close to them? Everyone kept firing at random directions, wondering if the man had gone invisible, but that didn''t appear to be the case either. No matter where they fired, no bullet seemed to hit anyone. Instead, it was their group that had their numbers reduced. In less than a minute, twelve out of the seventeen remaining people had been killed despite the rain of bullets. The others came to the conclusion that they couldn''t do anything about the man! If they stayed there, they were all going to die. The young woman came up with an idea as she roared. "Everyone, run in different directions and look for a ce to hide! If we stay together, we will all die!" "Argh!" One more person dropped dead before the woman could even finish her sentence. That left only four, and each of the four took the advice and ran in different directions. The Woman ran north, away from the tower of heaven, while one ran south to the tower. The other two also took different directions. The person who ran towards the tower dropped dead. His head dropped to the ground before his body followed suit. Another man was running east. There was a belt of grenades around his waist. He didn''t even realize as the pins of his grenade flew off on their own. Within seconds, all the grenades exploded, killing the middle-aged man. The third man ran south toward the finding ahead, but before he could even open the door, his body froze in ce as he held his chest. In his heart, he could feel that something was wrong. His heart was aching a lot. Before the man could realize what was happening, his heart exploded. His nose and eyes started bleeding as the man''s lifeless body dropped to the ground. Only one person from the group was left... The young daughter of the old leader. She had managed to hide inside a dumpster while the others were being killed. Unfortunately, she couldn''t hide from the eyes of that mysterious person... She was discovered. The man grabbed the throat of the woman with his left hand while holding her gun with his other hand. He snatched the gun from her hand and tossed it aside. "Who... Are you...?" The woman struggled to breathe as she felt she was being choked. Despiteing so close to the tower, she had failed. She had lost everyone close to her and all for nothing... Her weak eyes became blurry as she gazed at the tower in the distance. She believed this was as far as she could get. Just as she was about to lose consciousness, she heard the grim voice of the mysterious man. "Don''t worry. I won''t kill you. I still need you for something really important. You wanted to go inside the tower? I''ll make it happen." A bright smile shed across the face of the young man as if he had already made some ns for the youngdy who had already lost her consciousness by now. "You will bring the downfall of the Tower of Sin! You will make it happen for me..." The man ced his right thumb on the forehead of the youngdy. A strange mark appeared on the young woman''s forehead, which was revealed only when the man took his hands off. The man released the unconscious woman to the ground before ncing at the tower as well. "If they think they seed in what they want to do, they can''t be more wrong...." ***** Back in the Tower of Sin, no one was aware of what was happening in the outside world. For the people inside the Tower of Sin, the outdoor world was already gone. They didn''t believe there could be anyone in the outside world who was still alive. This tower was their only world now. The people on the Ground Floor had many screens before them, all of which showed the trials of the Tower. They noticed the King of Wrath entering the Valley of the Dragons all alone to kill the Dragons. On another screen, they saw the other Kings and Lords doing their missions. Despite so many things going on, most of the people here were only focused on one screen ahead. The screen was showing the happenings on the Second Floor. They had already seen the second floor being cleared a lot of times, but this time it was different. They wanted to see Azekiel in action! The King who had managed to y another King! "What is the King of Greed doing? He is leaving the battlefield to sneak inside the Castle?" "Yeah, but he doesn''t know that King Azekiel is inside the castle as well. This will be interesting. We will finally see the battle of two Kings. I am really excited." "Hmph, Azekiel will die. That man has gotten too smug just because he managed to kill King Michael due to some trick. King Elijah will teach him a lesson!" A youngdy eximed. She was still feeling salty that she had been rejected by him. Creek~ As everyone was immersed in what was happening on the screen, they heard the sound that they thought they were never going to hear again! The sound of the doors of the Tower of Sin opening! Chapter 55 55: The Secret The Door of the Tower of Sin had been sealed for over three years! Even if the people wanted, they couldn''t open the door. It was as if they had been sealed inside, but just now, after three years, the doors of the Tower of Sin were finally opening. Everyone stood up in shock. They worried if the beasts had finally found a way to get inside. Everyone was scared for their lives. They had even stopped observing the screen ahead as they all stared at the door. The doors slowly opened, bringing the warm air from outside. As the doors fully opened, everyone sighed a breath of relief! It wasn''t a beast who had opened the door. Instead, it was a young woman who stood outside the tower. The woman had a strange mark on her forehead, which appeared like a tattoo, but no one paid any heed to it. The woman stepped inside the tower. She had no weapons in her hand, making people wonder how she even managed to get to the tower safely. As the woman entered the Tower of Sin, the door closed once again, sealing itself. The people inside the tower didn''t notice that there was a young man standing in the distance, gazing at the tower. There was a mysterious smile on his face. Behind the man stood a horde of thousands of beasts that could destroy an entire nation! "Now begins the game..." **** Back on the Second Floor, Elijah had managed to get his hands on the second book, but before he could even leave, he was stopped by the stone statue. The statue asked him to prove he was worthy. Assuming it to be a path of the trial, Elijah agreed. "What do I need to do to prove I''m worthy?" "You need to do two things. Speak your biggest secret out loud and say why you need the two books." "You know why I need the book," Elijah answered. "Why do you want to hear again? And what does my secret have to do with anything?" "Do as I say!" The statue firmly stated. Elijah took a deep breath as he agreed. He didn''t want to argue with a statue who might be a part of the trial. He didn''t know if the statue could create trouble for you in the future. Moreover, the two demands weren''t impossible to achieve either. Only thirty seconds had passed since the King of Greed had received the second book, but every minute was important for him. He took a deep breath before speaking, "My biggest secret is that I killed my mother. That bitch wanted to donate half our property to charity, talking some nonsense about poor kids! I couldn''t let it happen! The property was supposed to be mine! It was supposed to pay for my luxurious life." "Just as she was going to donate the money, I pushed her down the stairs. Sheid on the bottom of the stairs, bleeding, and I just watched. Only after I made sure she had died, I called the medics and told them a story about how she must''ve fallen on her own when I was sleeping in my room." "And thus, I protected my money. It''s a secret that I haven''t told anyone. You know what''s the worst part? After I did all that, this apocalypse happened. So it turned out that all I did was for nothing!" The young man rolled his eyes. "Then again, maybe it wasn''t for nothing? It''s most probably because of that event that I received the System of Greed which changed my life here and made me a King!" Despite telling such a horrible story, the King of Greed appeared to be very smug. Back on the ground floor, the people were still surprised about the new arrival. They tried to start a conversation with the youngdy, but after seeing thedy not speak, most of them had to and shifted their attention back to the screen, just at the right time to hear the confession of the King of Greed. "What?" "He killed his own mother for money?" "How vile!" "I don''t get it! Why is he telling all that to the King of Gluttony? I thought the two would fight when they met? Why is the King of Greed treating the King of Gluttony with such respect and confessing?" "No idea." The people on Floor Zero were stunned at the confession, but they were even more surprised since the young man was confessing to Azekiel. They didn''t realize that the King of Greed couldn''t see Azekiel before him. He was seeing an illusion of the Statue of Gods talking to him, and that''s why he was being respectful. The mysterious girl who had just entered the Tower of Sin was also observing all the screens before her, especially focusing on all the Kings as if to memorize them. Back in the Temple on the second floor, Lia was standing beside Azekiel. He had summoned her as soon as he heard the door opening. Thanks to Lia, they were able to cast this illusion to have some fun and to get some information. Unfortunately, Lia could only stay here for a minute. Forty seconds had already passed, and she only had twenty seconds left before she was going to go back to her spirit form, and her spell was going to be canceled. "Now, answer the second question!" Azekiel asked, shifting the attention to his next question. "The books, I need them because only they can help me the special ce you seem to be guarding!" The King of Greed dered. "Which ce?" Azekiel asked, confused. "The ce on the Tomb of Gods that I managed to discover, but I wasn''t allowed to explore because of you. You said I can only enter if I have the two books." Azekiel wanted to ask more, but Raphael reminded him that one minute was almost up. If he didn''t act now, the illusion was going to break, and things would get difficult. Azekiel needed to act now! Chapter 56 56: Trap The time kept trickling away. Ultimately, Azekiel decided to end the act and finish the young man before he coulde out of his illusion. He carried a knife as he walked closer to Elijah. Elijah couldn''t see Azekiel getting closer. He only saw the statue standing as if lost in some thoughts. "Have I proven my worth now?" the King of Greed inquired. Azekiel stood right before the young man, ready to strike. [Warning: Life-threatening danger detected. Activating Passive Ability: Protection] Azekiel''s knife came slicing down. At the same time, a system notification appeared. The system notification didn''te for Azekiel this time. It was the System of Greed that had responded by alerting the young King of Greed. The notification came as a surprise. He didn''t see the statue attacking him, but he was sure that his system wasn''t wrong. Before Azekiel''s knife could even touch the King of Greed, a translucent light surrounded him. His figure disappeared. The knife could only hit empty air. The King of Greed appeared in a different spot inside the hall, stunned. The one minute was also over, and the illusion of the Witch of Famine disappeared. Elijah could see everything clearly now. The statue hadn''te to life. It was standing in the same ce it had always been standing. Moreover, the second book in this hand that he thought he received wasn''t real either. It was just an illusion as well, which he thought to be real. He noticed Azekiel standing where he was previously standing, holding a knife in his hand. It didn''t take him long to understand everything. The young man had tricked him! "Illusion to backstab me? Have you no pride?" Elijah asked, enraged. "King of Gluttony!" He could see his own book lying near Azekiel''s feet. Now Azekiel had both the books in his hand since the Protection skill of Elijah could only teleport him when he was at doors of death but not the items he was holding. Azekiel had everything he needed. He had the two books, and he knew they were rted to something that was in the Tomb of Gods. There was only one problem. He didn''t know about the passive skill of the King of Greed and couldn''t take it into consideration. That skill not only saved the King of Greed at thest moment but also helped him create some distance between the two. "The one who had pride died only recently. If you want to talk to him, Shall I send you to him?!" Azekiel asked, taking a subtle nce at both the books in his hand. "Also, shouldn''t you be thest person talking about pride? You killed your own mother all for some wealth?" "Stop acting as if you aren''t just as bad. No one bes a King of Sin by being goodie two shoes! You probably did something just as bad as me!" Elijah roared back in embarrassment. He didn''t know Azekiel was here when he was confessing things. If he had known, he never would''ve epted it. Moreover, since two Kings were here in the middle of a Trial, the King of Greed was sure that everything that happened here was shown on Floor Zero. He felt even more embarrassed and enraged for confessing his secret before the entire tower! "You lied about going to the battlefield and waited here to ambush me! But you don''t know what a terrible mistake you havemitted!" The King of Greed called for his System. "Stats of Greed." Hemanded, activating one of his skills. Just as hemanded, a screen opened before him, which showed him the stats of Azekiel. The eyes of Elijah started shining in a mysterious light. It showed all the stats, including the strength, defense, and all other factors, but that wasn''t all. His System Screen even showed him something that it shouldn''t have shown. The King of Greed could see all the treasures of Azekiel and his skills as well. As the King of Greed gazed at the stats of Azekiel, his own System also activated, issuing a Warning. [Warning: The Eyes of Greed are reading your Status and skills.] Seeing the notification, Azekiel was surprised. Just what kind of person was this guy? He couldn''t wait for even a second, or this guy was going to know all his skills and how to counter them. Azekiel dashed to the King of Greed. His Gauntlets of Gluttony appeared around both his arms. "Hmm? Those are some interesting skills you have there. There aren''t many, but they''re all so special. That would exin why you have such high stats in such a short time." King of Greed didn''t seem phased as he watched Azekiel get close to him. It was as if he didn''t need to worry about anything. Azekiel reached the young man, thrusting his ws. [Warning: Life threatening danger detected. Activating Passive Ability: Protection] The Passive skill of the King of Greed activated once more. He disappeared before the attack could even hit him. Azekiel groaned in frustration! This guy! Why was he even harder to kill despite being weaker than Michael?! Whenever Azekiel got close to him to kill, he disappeared. ''If only I could see his skills as well! He must have a teleportation skill that activates on its own when he''s about to be attacked. That would exin why he escaped while still being under illusion since he couldn''t activate it on his own at that time.'' Azekiel tried to understand the skill to find a counter while observing the entire hall to find Elijah. He was nowhere to be found. "Outside?" Azekiel thought. He still had both the books, so he was sure Elijah wasn''t going to run away. He was still somewhere around here, and if his assumption was correct, then he was sent outside the hall due to teleportation. Just as he expected, the door of the Hall opened as a mocking voice came from outside. "I had promised myself that if you stood between me and my goals, I would kill you. Let me make that true!" Instead of being worried or scared after seeing the skills of Azekiel, the King of Greed was mocking him instead while promising him death. "He is taunting you. I don''t feel right about this. If he knows all your skills and is still taunting you, then he must have something to rely on, which gives him this confidence. Don''t fall for it." Seeing Azekiel getting agitated, Raphael chimed in and reminded him to be calm. "You have the two books. He doesn''t. Let him be agitated instead. Then he will certainly make a mistake." "Of course, I know what he''s relying on. His passive teleportation. He believes he can''t be harmed, but he''s wrong. Even his Teleportation can''t stop him! He wants to make this a battle of skills; then I''ll give him a battle of skills." Azekiel advanced to the exit, ready to respond in kind. Chapter 57 57: Complimentary Greed If the King of Greed had the skills to boast, Azekiel wasn''tcking either, especially with his Card of Judgement. Even though that skill was like a gamble, it hadn''t failed him so far. He wasn''t going to hesitate. This was a direct conflict between two Kings, and if he wanted to finish the Trial of Second Floor, he needed to defeat Elijah. "Woah, the Two Kings are going to fight! We can actually see the battle between the Two Kings!" Cheers erupted on Floor Zero, and people excitedly waited for the battle between the Two Kings. Both the Kings were their hopes for the future, and they should''ve desired for the survival of both, but on the inside, they were still humans that craved to see the violence of top-level fighters to get some excitement and entertainment and what could be better than the battle between the Two Kings. "Who do you think is going toe out on top?" That was the question in the heads of everyone. "Well, one of the two has already killed a King, so I would bet it''ll be King Azekiel," A middle-aged man stated. "Hey, aren''t you the Porter of King Azekiel? Won''t you be biased toward your employer in that case?" Another man responded sharply. The man further continued. "We don''t know how King Azekiel killed King Michael. The Battle wasn''t shown, which meant it wasn''t a battle in Trials. That also meant it wasn''t an official battle. If I''m not wrong, King Michael came to the first floor to meet the new King who backstabbed him!" "I refuse to believe that King Michael, who cleared two of the four floors, could be killed in a proper battle by a Rookie! Since it''s a proper battle, this guy will fall and get punished for his ignorance. Just watch, King Elijah will win, and it''ll prove my theory!" "Isn''t the King of Greed the weakest King?" "Well, he was. Now the new King is the Weakest King. It''s the battle between the two Weakest Kings, and King Elijah will win!" The people on the Floor were split into two camps. One camp believed Azekiel was going to win, while others believed that he was going to die. There was not a single person who wasn''t looking at the screen ahead except one girl. The girl with a strange mark on her forehead was left all alone since everyone got distracted by the battle on the Second Floor. Instead of observing what was happening on the Second Floor, the youngdy nced at the screen, which showed the fifth floor where the King of Wrath was fighting the Dragons. The girl seemed awfully focused on the King of Wrath for some reason, staring at him without blinking. She slowly started walking toward the Portal of the First Floor, and no one noticed her leave either. The Portal of the First Floor also had a shield to block any unauthorized person from going to the first floor. Only the Lord''s and the Kings could pass through, and she was none. Despite not having the authority to pass through the barrier, the girl took a step forward. Her body touched the barrier, which resisted her entrance, even sending a terrifying current in her body, but the girl wasn''t phased. The strange mark on her forehead started shining and gave her protection against everything. The mark also appeared to be absorbing the strength of the barrier and weakening it. Before long, the young girl managed to pass through. She entered the portal and disappeared. **** Back on the Second Floor, Azekiel stepped out of the Temple to notice a young man standing in the distance with his arms folded. "There you are. I thought you weren''t going toe out. I guess you aren''t as big a coward as I thought." Elijah stated in a mocking tone. Azekiel didn''t answer. Instead, he went straight to his screen. "Card of J-" He was just chanting the name of his skill, but before he could, he found himself freezing in time. He couldn''t move at all. It was simr to what had happened when hest used the Card of Judgment, but now he was in the ce where Michael was previously. He couldn''t believe how. He hadn''t even used the skill yet. As Azekiel was confused, he heard theughter of Elijah. "I was really confused about which ability to use Stealth of Greed on." "I wanted Soul Snatch since it would''ve helped me steal your soul, but then again, it would''ve been a waste since I could only steal an ability for a day. If it were permanent, I wouldn''t have hesitated. That only left your Card of Judgement. Thank you for the gift." Azekiel couldn''t believe it. Elijah could steal his skill for a day? So that''s why he was on the receiving end of the Skill?! The danger teleportation, the study of skills, the Stealth of skills, all of Elijah''s skills were given ording to his element, and that''s what made them so unorthodox. He could teleport in danger so he could live longer and amass more wealth and treasures. He could see others'' stats, skills, and treasures so he could decide on what to take, and he could take a skill! It was as if all those three skills wereplimenting each other. Just as Azekiel had experienced before, cards appeared before Elijah, but this time, instead of six cards, there were five cards before him. ''So every time this skill is used, a card is burned to never return?'' Azekiel summarized after seeing only five cards. "That means the cards don''t have the Scales of Bnce! That is good. He can''t steal my stats, but I still don''t know what the other five cards hold. Am I really going to fall here?!" p If he wasn''t going to have the Card of Judgment, he basically had no offensive skill except summoning, and he had already used Summoning today. All he had was his Weapon of Sin. Azekiel finally realized what Raphael was implying! The reason Elijah was this smug when challenging him... The reason he didn''t run away! It was all because this was a trap! He needed time to think about which skill to steal, and then he needed to steal the skull! Five cards floated before the young man. "What is this? Gambling skill?" Elijah eximed in confusion. "Whatever, it can''t be too useless. It must be useful. Your system won''t give you useless skills." Elijah selected the card in the center and turned it around. The other four cards disappeared. Chapter 58 58: Disaster Elijah selected one of the five cards before him, wondering what kind of rewards the card was going to hold. As he turned the card around, his expression turned slightly weird. He could see a joker imprinted on the card who seemed to have slipped over a banana peel. [You have selected one of the three cards of Negativity hidden in the pack] [Card selected: Clown of Jinx] [Description: For the next thirty minutes, you will suffer a jinx and will have terrible bad luck. It is advised that you brave for impactful] [Time remaining before effects are over 29:42] "Card of Jinx? What nonsense? Are you messing with me? What kind of skill is this which gives the owner a disadvantage instead?!" Elijah raged in frustration as he tried to toss away the card, but the card disintegrated into his own hands. The specks of light that came from the card were absorbed in the body of the young man even though he was unwilling. Azekiel couldn''t see what was in the card or what Elijah was seeing, but he did hear the young man''s frustrated words. ''A card which gives him a disadvantage? So this skill is really like gambling, hiding bad cards amidst them too. If I had used the skill, would I be at the same disadvantage too? He seems to have received the Clown of Jinx, ording to his own words. It must have something to do with bad luck!" It was precisely the opportunity that Azekiel was waiting for. Fortunately, the man didn''t receive the Scales of Bnce. The time freeze also stopped now that Elijah had used the Cards of Judgement. Azekiel could finally move. Elijah''s face twitched uncontrobly as he saw the notification before him. [Warning: You have been affected by a Jinx] He wanted to use the skill of Azekiel. He wanted to kill the man with his own skill before taking away the two books for himself, but things didn''t turn out as nned. "So what if I didn''t get the skills that I wanted?" Elijah rolled his eyes. "I still have my protection, and I know all your skills. You don''t have any offensive skills, so you''re at a disadvantage!" "I should be able to kill you easily!" The King of Greed red at Azekiel with a mocking gaze. No matter how strong Azekiel was because of soul absorption, he was still weaker than him. Moreover, since he was a new King, he didn''t have as many skills. In the absence of Cards of Judgment, he had nothing! Moreover, the King of Greed could also see that Azekiel couldn''t summon anyone since his soul bar was empty, so he was out of tricks. All he had was his weapon of sin, but so what? Even he had one! The King of Greed called forth his Weapon of Sin as well, just to be safe. A pitch-ck hammer appeared in the hands of the young man. "Even the jinx can''t stop me from killing you since there is no such thing as a jinx!" Azekiel held both the books in his left hand, which left only his right hand free, but it was all he needed. He didn''t waste a single second as he ran to the King of Greed. The speed of Azekiel was fast, but it wasn''t fast enough to fool the King of Greed, who was even quicker than him. The King of Greed stood calmly, waiting for Azekiel to get close. He kept an eye on each movement of Azekiel. Just as Azekiel reached closer, the King of Greed smacked the hammer on the ground. The entire floor started trembling as the hammernded on it. The trembling made even Azekiel lose his bnce momentarily, which gave the King of Greed an opportunity. The King of Greed appeared right behind Azekiel, who had to bnce himself. He swung his hammer straight to the head of the young man. "That''s for daring to challenge me!" Azekiel turned around swiftly and brought his gauntlets together to block the hammer before kicking the King of Greed back. The King of Greed was forced a few steps back before he managed to stop himself, only to find Azekiel swinging his ws. He didn''t understand why this man was swinging from a distance. The ws could never reach him from a distance, but he soon realized why as he noticed the dark energy needles shooting toward him. "Shield of Greed!" The King of Greed called forth a shield which appeared before him to block the needless, but somehow the shield failed. The needles managed to pass through the shield unobstructed. The Teleportation of the King of Greed activated once again in times of danger. He disappeared from where he was standing. As he disappeared, there was a smug look on his face as if he couldn''t be harmed. Unfortunately, as he appeared in the next ce, his eyes widened. He hadn''t appeared on the floor! He appeared mid-air outside the mansion at over thirty feet of height. The man couldn''t fly. His body started falling, which prompted him to take immediate action. He tossed his Hammer of Greed on the ground. The Hammer of Greed smacked the Ground outside, which sent a wind st in every direction. The wind st managed to slow down the fall of the young man. The King of Greed dropped on his shoulder. Even though the fall wasn''t as bad as it could''ve been, it was still bad since the young man dislocated his shoulder, unable tond safely. The King of Greed held his shoulder firmly before jerking it firmly, bringing it back in ce. He picked up the hammer once again. "What just happened? I never appeared mid-air. What bad luck for time, ah, wait! The jinx? It is affecting my abilities as well?" The man didn''t know if it was because of the Jinx or not, but he couldn''t think of any other reason. He raised his head to look to the floor where he was figuring previously. Unfortunately, bad luck struck once again as something whitended on his face. "Ew!" He hastily wiped his face off the pigeon excrement. "Arghh!" He was so enraged that he couldn''t help but roar in anger. What was happening here?! He could see that this jinx thing was really getting irritating now. "If you think these small things can stop me from getting the books, then you underestimate me too much! I''ve waited two years to get my hands on those books, and I''m not letting you stand in the path of my sess!" He ran to get inside the castle, only to find Azekieling out from inside. The only thing different about him was that he didn''t have the books in his hands. Chapter 59 59: Troubles Azekiel had hidden the books inside on the way there to give him some free reign since previously he wasn''t able to use both his hands because of protecting the books. Now that he was free, he believed he could do more. "You hid the books inside? No worries. After killing you, I can get the books back." The King of Greed dashed to Azekiel with his hammer. Unfortunately, before he could even get to Azekiel, the man slipped on the mud, falling to his head. Even Azekiel looked at the King of Greed weirdly. Was he really going to fight seriously or just act stupid? "The Jinx certainly is strong," Lia chuckled. "I should learn a spell to make it happen. It is funny." "Jinx? That''s right. He did get that. I was wondering why he was acting so stupid. So it''s just his bad luck." Azekiel scratched the back of his head. He found this entire situation somewhat funny while even feeling bad for Elijah. He couldn''t help but think what would''ve happened if he was in that guy''s ce. Fortunately, he had escaped the fate. Azekiel wondered what more disaster cards were remaining in thest four cards. He needed to use them more carefully in case he didn''t want to end up in a situation like this. "Arghh!" Elijah stood up, roaring in rage. Now he was slipping on the ground as well? Just to test the Jinx of the young man, Azekiel picked up a small piece of stone and tossed it to Elijah. Even he had stopped taking this man seriously. If his luck was bad, that meant he was fated to be defeated no matter what happened. The King of Greed felt as if he was being mocked with this act of Azekiel. Did he really think a stone was going to defeat him? Still, the King of Greed didn''t want to take any risk with his luck. He carefully moved to the side to avoid the stone. Unfortunately, as he moved to the side, he ended up right under the balcony. Since he had smacked the floor of the above floor, a crack had started developing through the balcony, which came to fruition just now. The entire balcony came crashing down. As the King of Greed was distracted by the piece of stone that was tossed by Azekiel, he didn''t notice the direction where he was moving. Fortunately, he still had his emergency Teleportation that protected him from life-threatening danger. Before the entire balcony could crush him, the man disappeared. He appeared Twenty meters back only to watch the balcony fall on the ce where he was standing. Thud~ The stone that Azekiel had tossed a moment ago hit right in the man''s eyes. He had avoided the stone only to end up teleporting right before the stone which hit his left eye. "Fuckk!" he held his left eye, groaning in pain as he cursed out loud. He couldn''t believe his luck! Everything was going south for him at this point. Even Azekiel couldn''t believe this. He hadn''t expected the stone to actually hit the man, and that too in the eye. A smile spread across the lips of Azekiel, who found it really amusing. Until a few moments ago, everything was going as Elijah wanted. He knew everything that Azekiel was capable of, and he couldn''t be hit. He even managed to steal the ability, but now the tides had turned. Nothing went ording to Elijah''s n now. "I think we shouldn''t waste time. We don''t know how long his bad luck willst. Don''t give him an opportunity to regain the momentum," Raphael reminded Azekiel, who was distracted by the antics of Elijah. Hearing Raphael, Azekiel came to his senses. This wasn''t the time to be entertained. "You''re right. This is like a god-sent opportunity. But still, no matter how bad his luck is, his protection Teleportation is still working. He is being protected from every life-threatening danger. We need to find a way to break that. But how?" Lia chimed in. "That ability of the King of Greed is really annoying. What can we even do?" "I don''t think we can make that ability stop working, but we should be able to overwhelm it," Azekiel took a deep breath. "All we need is one mistake. No skill is without a w, as I''ve seen with the Cards of Judgement. Even this Ability of Elijah shouldn''t be wless." Elijah''s eyes had turned blood red because of being hit, but fortunately the pain had gone down. He could still see from his left eye even though the vision was slightly blurry. "I can''t go on like this. This jinx is getting really bad. But if I leave now, Azekiel might leave with the books. I can''t let that happen." Even though the King of Greed was at a disadvantage, his greed didn''t allow him to run away. He was still thinking about the two books more than his life! He held the hammer firmly. "Please just let mend one hit! Then you can jinx me all you want!" "Talking to yourself?" A calm voice fell in the ears of the King of Greed as Azekiel appeared behind him. The King of Greed swung his body to smack Azekiel with his hammer. Instead of running away, he wanted to break the face of Azekiel. Since he was so close, the chances of missing were none! He was sure that even his Jinx couldn''t protect Azekiel at this point! Unfortunately, the King of Greed had really underestimated the jinx. Before he could even hit Azekiel, the hammer slipped from his hand and flew in a different direction altogether. "I really pity your luck, but you did it to yourself by stealing what belonged to me." Azekiel thrust his w ahead. The King of Greed once again disappeared right before he could be hit. He appeared far away from Azekiel, but his lousy luck still didn''t leave him alone. He didn''t just appear far away from Azekiel, but he also appeared far away from his own Hammer of Greed. In fact, the hammer was even farther than Azekiel himself. The man wanted to smack his head in frustration. He was going crazy. "I can''t fight with this luck! I need to get the books instead." Instead of fighting more, the King of Greed entered the castle to look for the ce where Azekiel would have hidden the book. The hammer which was left behind disappeared. Chapter 60 60: Luck Versus System Of Greed! Elijah ran inside the castle, trying to guess where Azekiel would have hidden the book. He was sure that there weren''t many ces where the book could be hidden. There was only one room on the floor, which was between the exit and the stairs. Moreover, just as he expected, the door of the room was closed. He kicked the door open and barged inside, only to find it empty. There was no book here. "You really thought I would hide the book there?" Azekiel asked, stopping before the door. "You blocking the door won''t achieve anything. In the end, you''ll have to attempt to kill me, and I''ll be teleported outside. Just ept it, you can''t kill me the way you are, and I can''t defeat you the way I am because of the bad luck, at least not before two hours are up and the effects of the bad luck are gone." Elijah sat on the ground as if he had gotten tired. ''It''s no benefit. My bad luck will only get me hurt if I leave. I just need to distract him for twenty minutes. As soon as the time is up, I''ll be free, and he won''t have the support of luck. Moreover, as long as I''m sitting still, not even bad luck can''t harm me.'' "How about we stop fighting and work together? We can explore the third floor together and go to that ce. I wanted to do it alone, but since we''re both in this situation, I''m willing topromise. Instead of fighting which won''t result in anyone''s victory, we can work together." "You have the books. I have the knowledge of how to use the books. We''re both needed to get to that ce," Elijah exined. "So how about it? Shall we team up? We can share the rewards equally when we get them on the third floor?!" Raphael knew that Azekiel wasn''t going to fall for this trick; still, he didn''t forget to remind him. "Don''t trust him. He says he has two hours, but I''m sure he''s not stupid enough to tell you how much time you have. The time left for his bad luck should be much less. He''s probably trying to dy for time." "I know." Azekiel stepped closer to the man on the ground as he thought of something. Elijah wasn''t wrong that it was impossible to kill him with his passive skill. But he also couldn''t let Elijah seed in dying for time. "I don''t know how much time you exactly have left, but what I can tell you is that neither do I need your help nor am I naive enough to think that you really will." "Is that so? I suppose this back and forth will continue for an eternity because my Teleportation won''t let me get hurt, even with the bad luck around. And as soon as the bad luck is gone, you''ll regret not taking this offer," Elijah stood up, letting out a truly disappointed sigh. He had expected Azekiel to fall for it, but at the same time, he was prepared for a refusal as well. He truly didn''t believe that he could be killed. It was impossible to kill him with his passive skill, which gave him confidence. "Oh, I do believe that your skill is pretty good, but I want to trust in my skill more than I trust your skill. I believe you''ll die in the next one minute." "Hahaha, your skill?" Elijah burst intoughter. "I told you I saw all your skills already. You can''t use the Card of Judgement for the next twenty-four hours. As for your Gluttony of Knowledge and Soul Snatch, both of them won''t work until you can kill me, and killing me is impossible! So what skill do you trust?" "I trust my Card of Judgement. Even if you use that skill, that still remains my skill, and I would much rather believe in the bad luck it gave you than any of your skills. Time to test the theory." "Let''s see if the Card of Judgement can overpower your Protective Teleportation or not." Azekiel''s figure moved like lightning. He appeared right before Elijah and swung his right w to the neck of Elijah. At the same time, he used his left w to fire energy bullets in three random directions. [Warning: Danger Detected] [Activating the passive skill] Before the w could even touch Elijah, his figure disappeared. He appeared in a different spot, only to hear the same notification again. [Warning: Danger Detected] [Activating the passive skill] His figure once again disappeared and appeared in the third spot, again hearing the same notification. Each time his skill teleported him to a ce, it just happened to be the ce where the energy bullets were about to pass through. Moreover, each time, the bullets were closer to his body. [Warning: Danger Detected] [Activating the passive skill] The third teleportation urred, and Elijah once again appeared straight before the bullets that Azekiel had shot toward the third direction. [Warning: Danger Detected] [Activating-] Before the system could even Teleport him this time, the bullets prated Elijah''s skill, leaving seven holes in his forehead. The passive skill stopped as Elijah dropped to the ground. "As expected, his bad luck was really bad," Azekiel muttered. Even he had only taken a chance. He didn''t expect this trick to really work. He was really lucky, or rather, Elijah was really unlucky. Whenever he teleported, he appeared right before another attack and kept doing so until thest attack took his life. Even as the bullets prated his skull, he couldn''t believe how bad his luck was. There were thousands of ces he could''ve been sent to by his teleportation inside the room, but each time he was sent before another attack. He didn''t even have the time to curse Azekiel with all his might as his eyes lost their shine. Azekiel sighed a breath of relief. "As I said, I believe in my skill more than I believe yours. It seems to have worked. I just hope there isn''t another Card of Bad luck left in the remaining four Cards of Judgement. If I select one, I don''t even want to imagine what could happen..." Even though he had won, he was still worrying. He could see his image in Elijah since that lousy luck was supposed to belong to him at least one time in the future battles. "Your natural bad luck made you choose that card, and then the supernatural bad luck took effect. The irony... Today really wasn''t his lucky day." Lia chuckled as she gazed at the dead body of the King of Greed. Chapter 61 61: Evolution Of Weapon Of Sin! [You have killed King of Greed] [Experience +70] [Level +1] [Level +1] [Level +1] Azekiel had straight gained a boost of three levels from the experience. "The experience I received from Elijah is slightly lower than what I got from Michael. I also gained fewer levels with him," Azekiel muttered, observing the notifications before him. "It''s because your level is higher. At the start, your level was less, so when you killed a stronger person, you got more experience. Now the level difference was slightly less between you two, so the experience gained is also less," Raphael exined. "Don''t worry; it''s pretty ordinary." "That makes sense." Azekiel went to the King of Greed to use his Soul Snatch, only to stop mid-way as he saw more notifications. [Congrattions: You have killed the first King of Sin with your Weapon of Sin] [Bonus: Experience +100] [Level +1] [Level +1] [Level +1] He gained three more levels with bonus Experience he received simply for using the Gauntlets of Gluttony, but that wasn''t even the most shocking notification. What was more surprising was the notifications that came next. [Conditions for Hidden Ability of Gauntlet of Gluttony have been met] [You have killed a King with the Gauntlet of Gluttony] [Gauntlet of Gluttony has gained a second form] [Second Form received from the King of Greed] [Second form unlocked: Hammer of Gluttony] [Passive ability of Gauntlet of Gluttony activated] [You have received ten years of additional lifespan] The barrage of notifications came one after another, only stopping after a long time. "The second form? The hidden ability of the Gauntlets?" "Show me the second form." Hemanded the Gauntlets. Both his Gauntlets turned into specks of light which joined together to take a new shape. A mighty hammer floated before Azekiel. Moreover, the Hammers didn''t look much different than the Hammer that was the Weapon of Sin of Elijah! "Don''t tell me... The Gauntlet of Gluttony can steal the Weapon of Sins of others as long as I kill them using the Gauntlets?" Azekiel eximed in shock. Even he hadn''t expected this skill to be there in his gauntlets. He had assumed that they were ordinary weapons that could attack at long range. He wasn''t too impressed by the weapon but also wasn''t disappointed, but all his feelings changed just now! If the Gauntlet of Gluttony could eat the Weapon of Sins of others, then that was just too incredible! "If I had these Gauntlets when I had killed Michael, I might''ve had his Spear too... My Weapon of Sin... It''s... Amazing." In his amazement over the hidden ability of the Gauntlets, he hadn''t even taken the second ability seriously, which had given him ten years of lifespan. Not only could the gauntlets steal someone''s weapon of Sin, but they could also steal their years of life to give to their holder. With the second ability, Gauntlet of Gluttony could effectively make someone immortal. All they had to do was steal someone''s age, and they could never die of old age! Raphael smiled as he watched the amazement of the Weapon of Gluttony. What Azekiel was just realizing now, he had known a long time ago. That''s why he was surprised when he had seen this Weapon being received by Azekiel. The Gauntlet of Gluttony was one of the most important Weapons of its time. There were certain Weapons that were stronger than the Gauntlets of Gluttony like the Sword of Death or the Scythe of Moon, but the Gauntlets of Gluttony had the potential for immense growth. He was happy that Azekiel had received the Gauntlets. "I just hope that no one receives the Scythe of Moon or the Sword of Death. Things should be much easier for us then," Raphael muttered, gazing at the body of Elijah. After the initial excitement, Azekiel finally calmed himself down. This was a great discovery. He could not focus on stealing the Weapons of Sins of others. Still, he wasn''t done yet. There was much to do. [King of Gluttony has killed the King of Greed] He heard a notification resounded in the back of his head, which he had already expected. It happened once before as well. This time he was sure that even more attention was going toe to him. Last time, most people thought it was a coincidence that he killed a King, but now people were going to think something else. Moreover, he believed that most of the Kings were going to be his enemies since they were going to assume that he was intentionally killing the Kings and that he was targeting the other Kings. They were going to be worried, and worry could give birth to hate. Just as Azekiel had expected, in the entire tower, there were talks about him. He was being addressed as the King yer by many. No one knew why Azekiel was after the Kings, but most who were unfamiliar with him assumed that he probably hated all the Kings and wanted to kill them all. Most of the Kings also thought the same thing. Almost everyone on Floor Zero called Azekiel the King yer. Even the people who didn''t like Azekiel couldn''t deny that he was strong. Unfortunately, there were still some who believed he was overhyped. One of those was the girl that Azekiel had rejected. She had bet against Azekiel, saying that Elijah was going to win, but her face turned red now. She still didn''t ept that she was wrong. "He killed King Michael through cheating. I''m sure he stabbed him from the back. As for King Elijah, he was already the Weakest King. While other Kings cleared the Fourth Floor, he was still stuck on Floor Two. Killing him doesn''t prove anything." She rolled her eyes in arrogance as she stood up and walked back to her tent. "Sigh, this girl will never ept reality." Her friend had already given up on trying to make her understand. She even stopped bothering about what that girl thought now. **** Azekiel sat beside Elijah and ced his hand on the forehead of the young man. [Soul Snatch!] The Soul Energy started floating from Elijah into Azekiel. [Soul Snatch Sessful] [Strength +50] [Defence +50] [Speed +50] [Hunger +20] The soul energy ran out, and once again, the soul bar of Azekiel was filled, but this time he didn''t receive any information about his Soul Bar having enough energy to Summon another Familiar. "Does each summon need more energy in excess than thest? I''m sure I received the same amount of soul Energy from King of Greed that I received from King of Pride." Azekiel didn''t receive an answer to his question. Instead, he was greeted with another notification. [Passive Skill: Gluttony of Knowledge activated] Chapter 62 62: Worth It? [Passive Skill: Gluttony of Knowledge activated] As Azekiel finished his Soul Snatch, the passive Skill, Gluttony of Knowledge, became active on its own. Azekiel sat in a daze as he went through the memories of Elijah. He saw Elijah killing the person who took care of him, all so he didn''t lose the inheritance. It was just as Elijah had described before. There was no difference. It didn''t matter at this time though. He was already dead, so no matter what he did in the past, it was of no significance. He was more focused on the memories from the moment Elijah entered the castle to see what he saw on the third floor. What was the mystery of the two books? Fortunately, he didn''t have to wait for long for those memories. He noticed Elijah finishing the Trial of the Second Floor. He was thest of the Kings to finish the Trial, which made him feel really insulted. He was weaker than the other Kings when it came to offensive strength. It was only his defense that was great, but that defense was useless when it came to finishing the Trials. Elijah was two months behind the King, who finished the trial before him. By the time he reached the Third Floor, the other Kings had already cleared the Trial of the Third Floor and moved onto the fourth. It was at that point that Elijah almost gave up on the thoughts of catching up to the others. He just gave up and wasn''t in any hurry to clear the floor. Instead, he decided to explore the Third Floor more than just the area where he needed to be to clear the Trial. As he explored the Tomb of Gods, he went to ces that no other King explored on that Floor. That''s where he ended up before what appeared like a Temple. He wanted to explore the Temple, which made him really curious, but before he could open the door, the Statue that was present before the Tower came to life,manding him to leave. As for the Statute, it was exactly like the statue from which Azekiel had received the second book. Azekiel finally understood why Elijah didn''t think twice before believing his illusion about a Statueing to life. This had happened to him once before, after all. Elijah tried fighting the Statue to barge inside the Temple, but he was thrashed badly. Even the Hammer of Greed couldn''t hurt the Statue. Being defeated, Elijah took the statue more seriously. Instead of trying to force his way inside, he directly asked the statue why he was being stopped from entering. **** Azekiel went through the memories of this timeline from Elijah, gaining all the insights he needed. Finally, he understood why this guy had decided to waste so much time on this Floor just for one book. Just like with Michael, Azekiel also received the memories of Elijah from the other timeline, which didn''t exist now. That timeline''s memories also ended when that timeline was destroyed with Azekiel''s return in time, so there wasn''t much to those memories that Azekiel didn''t know before. Azekiel stood up, stretching his arms. "We are done here." "So, did you find out about the books? What''s it about?" Raphael inquired. He was already informed by Azekiel about his ability that could take the memory of the person he had killed. "I got all the answers I needed, and it certainly was worth our time." Azekiel started exining everything he had managed to find out without hiding anything from Raphael. After spending so much time with Raphael, he was sure that Raphael could be trusted along with Lia. Both of them were his Familiars after all. "There is a temple outside the Trial Zone on the Third Floor, but to enter the temple, you need the two books and the numbers that are on them. Moreover, there is supposedly an entirely different world inside the Temple. Each of the two books contains one-half of the map of the world." "As for what''s inside that world, it seems even Elijah didn''t know about it. All he was told by the statue was that the person who could get inside had a chance of achieving something that could change history forever." "Elijah was the weakest and saw no hope ofpeting with the others, so he sought whatever the Temple held, believing he could change his fate." Azekiel exined everything he found out. " So, what do you think?" "Essentially, we don''t know what''s inside the Temple. There might be something really good, but there might also be something that ispletely useless for us. You are different from Elijah. You aren''t weak, so it might be useless for us to go there," Raphael analyzed carefully. "But then again, it would be foolish not to see what''s there. If that''s one thing I know about Osiris is that he doesn''t exaggerate. If he said there was something really important there, it''s certainly worth taking the risk," Lia chimed in. Raphael also agreed with her. Even though he had pointed out the negative sides of trying, he hadn''t finished. "I agree. Even though it might bepletely useless for us to go there, it''s still not something we should ignore. Still, there''s one problem in it." "What?" Azekiel asked as he walked out of the room, leaving the body of Elijah behind, which had no use for him anymore. He went to the stairs while Raphael exined the problem. "The problem is your goal to take the Ruler of Floor title. If you go to the Temple instead of finishing the Trial, we might take more time to finish the Trial. The chances of you getting the Ruler would go down," Raphael exined. "That''s not a problem at all." Azekiel stopped on the first floor and picked up the two books he had kept on one of the windows. "All we need to do is clear the Third Floor first and get the Title. After that, we can spend as much time on the floor as we want without having to worry. Right?" "That should work." Raphael nodded. "So we will clear the Third Floor first." "Yes, but before that, we need to clear this Floor. The War still isn''t over. Only after my army takes over the Empire of Greed will I be halfway through the Trial." "That''s right. You need to take over two Empires. Empire of Greed will be first, but what about the second?" "Second? Is that even something you need to ask? With thetest boost, my stats are more than Michael had. So we might as well go for the big fish." "Meaning?" "Empire of Wrath. I didn''t have any enmity with that guy, yet he schemed to have me killed. He hated me without reason in thest timeline. I might as well give him a reason to hate me in this timeline," Azekiel answered. Chapter 63 63: Crusade Azekiel had decided which Empire to target next. For him, it was a task that was going to be really easy since the King of Wrath wasn''t on this floor. So he could clear this floor and get the rewards before the King of Wrath could evene here. But before that, there was something more important he needed to do. Hemanded the men in the castle to prepare a feast for him. Since he was more the King of an Empire, he didn''t need to send his people back to Floor Zero to bring the food, which made it more convenient. A Royal Feast was prepared by the Chefs, which included over a hundred delicacies. The Chefs had thought that Azekiel wasn''t going to finish all this. That''s why they had started resting for the day. However, before they could even get out of the Kitchen, they were told to prepare more since Azekiel had already finished most of what they had prepared. The men were horrified to know about this. "I thought there was only one person? Did more guests arrive to meet His Majesty?" "No, it''s still him. He finished all that himself. In fact, it''s him who sent me here to bring more, so prepare fast before he runs out. ,m "Argh." The chefs hastily got back to their stations and started preparing more. Azekiel had gotten stronger, but his appetite had also increased. Even he was surprised at how much he was able to eat. He didn''t know how this was even possible. How could his body even hold you much food? Just how fast was his metabolism now? He had started getting tired of eating, but he still continued, only stopping when he was full. After having dinner, he instructed the Ministers to take care of his Empire in his absence while he was going to help his army on the battlefield. Taking a horse, Azekiel straight went to the battlefield. He even left his Porters behind in the castle as they weren''t needed for now. He only took one person with him... The body of Elijah. After riding for a few hours straight, he finally reached the battlefield. Just as he had expected, his army was at a disadvantage. The reinforcements of the Empire of Greed had already reached the battlefield, and they were overwhelming his army. It was fortunate that the reinforcements were tired since they hadn''t slept in a long time. They were running without rest. Otherwise, the Azekiel''s army would''ve been finished already Azekiel''s horse ran through the battlefield, avoiding the stray attacks that came to it. As more and more people saw the battlefield, more and more people started dropping their weapons. Azekiel''s army could see the body he was carrying. It was the body of the enemy King. If he had this body, that meant the battle was already over. "Men, fall back! The battle is already over! Enemy King has been in! We have won!" The excited roar of the General brought everyone''s attention to Azekiel. Cheers erupted on one side of the army. The other side was deathly silent as they watched their King being dragged. Azekiel stopped his horse in the middle of the battlefield. He red straight in the eyes of the old man he had metst time on another battlefield. The old General was already scared to see this demon again, but what was worse was that this guy was carrying their dead King! That meant they truly had lost. He didn''t even need to issue the deration, as all his soldiers had already realized it. All the soldiers of the Army of Greed dropped their weapons and went down to their knees, surrendering before Azekiel. The General of the Army of Greed also came down his horse. Azekiel tossed Elijah''s dead body to the General of the Army of Greed. Watching the body flying to him, the old man stepped back and tripped to fall on his butt. The body fell a few feet away from him. "Didn''t I tell you to give him a message?" Azekiel asked. "Did you not tell him that I was going to kill him if he stood in my path?" "I-i did. But he didn''t listen." The old man hastily sat on his knees. "We surrender, my King. The Empire of Greed is now yours." "It certainly is. But this isn''t the end of it. The Crusade isn''t over yet. There is still one more war for us to win." "One more War?" Both the Generals looked at Azekiel in confusion, not understanding what he meant. "I meant what I said. There is one more war we need to go through¡ªthe War with the Empire of Wrath. Come to the Capital City of Greed. We will meet up with the other half of our army and rest for the night. Tomorrow, we will invade the Empire of Wrath!" Azekiel dered in amanding tone. All the men were stunned at the deration. Just as they thought that the war was over, they needed to fight another war? The person who was most stunned was the General for the Army of Gluttony. He moved closer to Azekiel. "What is this about another War? Is there a reason for it? I thought all you wanted was to protect this Empire." "I have a reason for it, but I can''t tell you yet. Just listen to what I said and prepare for one more war." Azekiel didn''t exin much. He just issued his decree before getting down from the horse. He walked over to all the bodies individually, using Soul Snatch to get whatever he could. Since he had leveled up quite a lot, the stats he received from each of the Soldiers were quite negligible, but the number of dead soldiers was just so much that he couldn''t ignore them. It was only after absorbing all the soul energy which was avable that Azekiel got back on the horse again and started advancing toward the Empire of Greed. The others couldn''t question his decision either since he had proved how strong he was already. All the soldiers climbed on the horses and followed Azekiel. The massive army, which was made bybining two armies, entered the Royal Capital of City of Greed which was already taken over by the army which Azekiel sent here as a safety mechanism. Azekiel went to the Castle of Greed while a deration was made overnight in the entire city that the old King had died and there was a new King, Azekiel. Azekiel had another dinner in the castle before sleeping. The soldiers were also arranged a ce to sleep at night. With the first ray of light in the morning, all were up and prepared to depart after donning their armors. They were waiting for Azekiel to arrive. After eating once more in the morning as soon as he woke up, Azekiel also prepared to depart. He wore a new set of clothes that were avable in the castle, unused. He wore a deep blue robe on top of a light blue attire. In the entire army, he was the only person who wasn''t carrying a weapon in his hand. The massive army left on its Crusade to conquer the Empire of Wrath. Chapter 64 64: Hidden Quest Azekiel wanted to take over the Empire of Wrath, which was closest to the Empire of Greed, so it didn''t take long for Azekiel to get there. The Empire of Wrath was said to be the strongest Empire of them all, but still, it couldn''t face off against thebined army of the Empire of Pride and Empire of Greed. Most of the strength of the Empire of Wrath was because of their King, who was the strongest King. Finding themselves unable to stand against the armies of the enemy, the Ministers of the Empire of Wrath decided to contact the King of Wrath to call him back at the earliest. Unfortunately, within thirty minutes, the entire Empire of Wrath had called. It was taken over by the Army of Azekiel. The Castle was under his control. Azekiel knew that these people were going to call the King of Wrath. He wanted to take control of this Empire before Lucifer got here so he could get the rewards and the bonus of finishing the Trial. Azekiel had effectively taken over two Empires now, and both were under his control now. Just as he had expected, the Trial was over. He heard a notification about his Trial being finished. A screen appeared before him, notifying him of the same. [Congrattions: You have finished the Trial of the Second Floor in a record time of three days] [New Title Received: Ruler of Second Floor] [Experience +50] [Level +1] [Level +1] [Special Reward Received: Escape Orb] Azekiel nced at the reward list, which was really underwhelming for him. He had finished the floor in just two days, but the rewards were so low. All he received were two levels and an Escape Orb, which was an even weaker reward than thest time. There was nothing more. He remembered that both Michael and Elijah had received a better reward from this floor even though they weren''t the first ones to clear this floor. "Is this because I used a loophole to clear the floor without starting an Empire of mine from scratch?" he wondered why he had received such a low reward. The only thing he did that was different from what those two did was not following the rules to the letter and instead using a loophole and a cheat to clear the Trial. It didn''t feel like that could be the reason behind hisck of rewards. "This tower can see how we finished the Trial and give rewards ordingly." "So clearing this floor really wasn''t worth it. But if I had started from scratch, it would''ve taken months to finish this Trial. Moreover, Elijah would''ve taken the books, and I would''ve never known." He nced at the two books in his hand. "Even though I didn''t receive any rewards from the Floor, this book itself should be worth it to some extent." "This Floor really messed with me in a way," he muttered, gazing at the sky above. "Why do I feel like messing with this Floor in return?" He rubbed his chin, lost in thoughts. "Well, in any case, all of them are my enemies, so I really don''t have to be considerate, do I? Lucifer mighte here as well and use the same trick I did." "What are you thinking?" Raphael appeared before Azekiel. "I''ve been thinking about changing the entirendscape of the world on the second floor." "How?" "There are many Empires at the moment, and there would certainly be conflicts sooner orter, but what if there was only one Floor? I can also gain some more stats along the way," Azekiel suggested. "You mean you''re thinking about...? But that would make all the Kings hate you." "Don''t they already?" Azekiel asked, seemingly amused. "I''ve killed two Kings. I''m sure they must hate me to their cores already." "Moreover, if I take over this Empire, I can effectively control all the supplies to Floor Zero. All the Lords of Sins would have to deal with me if they wanted something. Currently, each of these Empires supply items to Floor Zero through the porters." " The entire ecosystem of the Zero Floor runs because of the second floor, which supplies most of the water, spices, and many such items to Floor Zero." "If there is only one Empire, all the supplies will be controlled through me. This way, I can slim down the support of the other Kings and bring all the Lords of Sins to my side, effectively weakening the other teams." "Moreover, I also need some stronger people, and the Lords might fulfill the role. I think it can be good in the long run." "I see. What you''re saying does make sense. I can''t believe I didn''t think of this. You''re starting to see the bigger picture now, it seems." Raphael nodded in satisfaction. As the next n of action was decided, Azakielmanded the army to prepare for departure once again. They were going to take over the next Empire, the Empire of Lust. **** Back on the fifth floor, the King of Wrath Lucifer was on the fifth floor. He had entered the Valley of Dragons all alone. Along the way, he had killed tens of Dragons before reaching the core of the Valley where most of the oldest Dragons lived. The Dragon King himself came out to meet Lucifer. "For a human, you''re really strong. You''ve managed to get here without even a scratch on your body." Lucifer opened his lips to respond, only to get a message that Azekiel was attacking his Empire on the second floor. "Azekiel..." he muttered, ncing at the sky. Unfortunately, he could only ignore the message for now since he had more important things to do than take care of an Empire on the Second Floor. "I was in a really good mood today." He nced at the Dragon King. "I was going to be merciful, but now..." **** King of Lust was indulging in some intimate time with ady when he also received a message that his Empire was attacked by Azekiel. He was surprised that Azekiel chose to attack his Empire. Still, he couldn''t go. He didn''t care about that Empire at all. He thought that Azekiel was doing it to clear the second floor. He didn''t expect that Azekiel had already done so. Ignoring the message, he kept thrusting... **** More and more kings received the message, but most of them were involved in one thing or another, so they couldn''t go down. They let Azekiel have free reign. Back on the second floor, Azekiel continued his crusade, taking over one Empire after another. His own Empire kept getting bigger and bigger. Moreover, he also kept absorbing more and more soul energy from the battlefield, getting stronger with each war. A week passed, and Azekiel finally managed to take over thest Empire as well. He had finally achieved it. He had taken over the entire second floor. He didn''t expect anything specialing from it. It was all done on a whim. However, as soon as he finished, he realized that there was more to it as a screen appeared before him. [Congrattions, you have finished the Hidden Quest] Chapter 65 65: Hidden Reward [Congrattions, you have finished the Hidden Quest] As soon as Azekiel conquered thest Empire, a screen appeared before him. As he had already finished the trial already, he didn''t expect something like this to happen. The only reason he went with the n was to have some advantage of his own. "A Hidden World Quest?" Azekiel tapped on the notification. [Hidden World Quest: ''Conquer all the Empires in this world'' has beenpleted] [Special Title Received: Conqueror of World] [Would you like to equip the title as a secondary title?] [Yes] [No] Azekiel didn''t know what the title implied, but it came with the hidden quest, so he was sure it must be something good. Moreover, it was a secondary title, so he didn''t need to remove his old title, which was King of Gluttony. He tapped yes. [Title Equipped] [Title Effects activated: You will receive a five percent bonus on all Experience Points] [Title Effects activated: You will receive more hidden quests opportunities] [Title Effect Activated: The consumption for your skills has been decreased by Ten Percent] [Title Effect Activated: Your Favorability with the humans is doubled] [Title Effect Activated: Commander: People who fight for you will gain a ten percent temporary boost in their stats while fighting] As soon as Azekiel equipped the title, he was stunned. Even he hadn''t expected this one title toe with so many advantages. This one Title came with Five Hidden Effects, all of them being amazing on their own. A Hidden Quest that needed someone to go above and beyond what the trial asked them... It came with just as amazing a reward. Curious about what his stats looked like right about now, he closed the notification and went to his stats. _________________________________ [Stats:] Name: Azekiel Species: Human [?] Primary Title: King of Gluttony Secondary Title: Conqueror of World [Tap to remove Title] Level: 20 Experience needed for Level up: 200 Strength: 879 Speed: 850 Defense: 879 Hunger: 240 Magic Affinity: 90 Constitution: 95 [Skill:] Summoning Soul Snatch Card of Judgment [4 Cards left] Gluttony of Knowledge [Passive Skill] Commander [Received from Secondary Title] [Weapons:] Gauntlet of Gluttony [2nd Form Unlocked: Hammer of Gluttony] [Familiars:] General of Gluttony: Raphael Witch of Famine: Lia [Items:] Escape Orbs: 2 ________________________________________ "My Stats... They are quite a lot more than what Michael had at this point. This war was certainly worth it." Azekiel observed each of his stat carefully andpared them to what he had seen with Michael. Just from the stats alone, he had already left Michael behind, but he stillcked something. "I did increase my stats based on Soul Snatch, but my level is still not high enough. Too bad new skills can only be received with level-ups. At the moment, I really have no offensive skills, as highlighted by Elijah." "I might have higher stats than Elijah and Michael, but when ites to offensive skills, I am too far behind. The only thing I have are cards of Judgement, but after what I saw before, it''s evident that it''s a double-edged sword that can fail me anytime." "I need to focus on leveling up. I need skills... I need offensive skills." Going through his stats, Azekiel had realized the biggest w in his arsenal. **** Even though none of the other Kings took the news about their Empires being conquered seriously, they did take the news about Azekiel killing the Kings seriously. For that exact reason, one of the Kings had called for a meeting of the Kings. A meeting between the supreme beings of the tower never really took ce before; but then again, no King had ever been killed before either, let alone two. The meeting was initiated by the King of Sloth on the Fourth Floor, which all the Kings had ess to, unlike the Fifth and the Sixth Floor, which only a few had ess to. There were six Kings when the Kings were decided, but with the death of two, only four Kings were left from the first batch. Only three of the Kings showed up. Only the King of Sloth, the King of Lust, and the King of Envy sat in the meeting, all alone. Not even their teammates were allowed in since it was a private meeting. "Lucifer isn''ting?" The King of Lust asked Alioth. "How can hee when I couldn''t even invite him? Apparently, that guy has already cleared the Fifth Floor," the King of Sloth answered. "He is already on the sixth floor. Even I don''t have ess to that floor, so it''s impossible to get in contact with him unless hees down, which I doubt he will anytime soon." "He already cleared the Fifth floor? But didn''t he finish the fourth floor just a few days ago?" The King of Envy frowned. Jealousy flickered in his eyes. He couldn''t believe that guy was already on the sixth floor while he hadn''t even finished the fourth floor. "What can I say? He must''ve been really motivated by something. Generally, he takes things easy and enjoys his conquests. That''s why he often finishes the floors second or even third, but this time he was probably a bit too serious. Anyway, if we can''t get to him, we can only start the meeting without him." The King of Sloth acted as if there was nothing shocking about the King of Wrath finishing a floor in two days. "If we can get in contact with him, we canter tell him about it. For now, let''s focus on the new kid Azekiel." "Anyone know anything about this guy?" he asked. "I''ve never heard about him before the announcement about him killing the King of Pride," the King of Lust answered. "Heh, why would you know about another guy? You will only know about girls," The King of Sloth chuckled before ncing at the King of Envy. "What about you?" "I also didn''t know anything about him before him killing Michael. But I did investigate a bit about him. Apparently, he lived on Floor Zero for thest three years. Either he just became a King, or he had been a King since the start but is just starting to take action," the King of Envy answered. "I believe it''s the former." "Interesting. Why do you think it''s not thetter?" The King of Lust took a sip of wine, seemingly curious how this guy got to the conclusion. "If he became a King from the start, why would he stay on Floor Zero for three years?" The King of Envy asked. "Maybe he was scared of climbing the floors before?" "If the person was scared of even going to the first floor, you think he would dare challenge another King and kill him? No matter how much I hate him, from what I''ve heard about him, he doesn''t feel like a coward," the King of Envy answered. He added, "That''s why I believe he just became the King. As for how, even I''m not sure. No one has ever received a title after the first day of awakening. How he gained... Only God knows." "So he''s not a coward, but an arrogant prick who just gained a title yet wants to swallow us all. That idiot, he is really looking to die, isn''t he?" The King of Lust rolled his eyes. Chapter 66 66: The Kings Arrival? "If I weren''t busy that night when I was notified about him attacking my Empire, I would''ve gone down right away and finished him!" The King of Lust dered. "Hmm? He attacked your Empire? How could it be?" The King of Sloth asked in confusion. "What do you mean how could it be? Just like we attacked other Empires to finish the Trial of the Second Floor." "I understand that much. I''m asking why he would attack your Empire after attacking the Empire of Elijah and mine? Didn''t he just need two Empires to finish the Trial?" "He attacked your Empire as well? That''s really strange indeed." "Not only yours, he attacked my Empire as well." The King of Envy also chimed in. "I thought he was just trying to clear the Floor and let him be, but it seems like he wasn''t just trying to clear the Floor. He was trying to piss us off! That bastard was challenging us! Even after finishing the Trial, he kept taking over our Empires? That person has really gone crazy!" The King of Sloth let out a tired sigh. "That man... He really has gone crazy in arrogance." "Yeah. Since he killed two Kings, he thinks he''s a god," the King of Envy rolled his eyes. "That kid is in for a rude awakening. It''s like he wants to die." "I don''t think we need this meeting anymore. The only solution of that brat is killing him. Let''s just go there and kill him. We need to show him his ce." The King of Envy stood up, prepared to go down personally. "I guess you''re right. That kid does need a lesson." The King of Lust also stood up,zily stretching his arms. "Calm down. We can''t be this hasty." Only the King of Sloth was seated and calmer than the other two, partially because he was toozy to stand up but mostly because he didn''t think this was a decision they could take hastily. "No matter how his personality is, it''s the truth that he has killed two Kings. He does have the strength to support his arrogance. We can''t be hasty in our decision." "What do you suggest we do then? Just stay idly and wait for him to kill us one after another?" The King of Lust frowned. "I don''t want to be having private time with mydies while constantly having to look over my shoulders worrying that Azekiel woulde to kill me next." He continued, "If I need to fight him eventually, I prefer to do it now,pared to when I''ll be naked." "Yeah, Liam is right. I don''t know why we''re so worried about that kid. He killed Michael, but we both know that no newbie would be strong enough to kill Michael. He probably pulled some scheme to kill Michael since Michael didn''t take him seriously. He could''ve even stabbed him in the back for all we know." "As for Elijah, that trash couldn''t even clear the third floor all this while. He didn''t level up like we did either. He was a worthless trash who was probably on the same level as Azekiel, so he died. We don''t need to be scared of that kid all our life." "Also, even if he is strong enough to kill them, shouldn''t we go to him even more? Instead of waiting for him toe to us when we are alone, we three can go together and see what he''s truly capable of." "I understand what you two are trying to say, but I think we should try talking to him first at least. Maybe we can find out why he''s trying to kill the Kings when we''re all climbing the tower for the same goal? We don''t even know what rests on the higher floors. Maybe we might even need the help of other Kings for that." "That''s why I think we should avoid killing someone as long as we can." "Alioth, you think Elijah didn''t try talking to him before he was killed? The time for talks is long gone. If we want to be safe, we need to take him out because I can never trust a person who has already killed two of us. He can backstab us anytime like he backstabbed Michael." "But..." "No but. Alioth, there are three of us here, and I''m sure you know where the majority is. I vote that we kill Azekiel together," the King of Envy dered. "I vote that we talk with him," Alioth replied. Both the men gazed at the King of Lust since he was thest vote. "Sorry Alioth, but this time I think you are wrong. I''ll have to go with Jacob this time. As I said before, I don''t want to have to watch over my back every second. I don''t want to be in the announcement of who Azekiel killed. I''m getting tired of that damn announcement! We need to kill him!" "That decides it. We need to kill Azekiel, and it''s the oue of this meeting. So, are youing with us or not?" The King of Envy asked, staring at Alioth. "Sigh, fine. If you both think that we need to kill Azekiel, then I''ll go with you. We will kill Azekiel." "That''s perfect!" Only five Kings were left in the tower, and three of them had decided to kill the fourth King. As for the fifth King, he had no idea as to what was happening on the lower floors. **** Back on the second floor, Azekiel stood on the balcony of the Castle of Envy. It was thest tower he had conquered. The portal for the next floor had appeared right on the balcony of the Castle. However, instead of taking the portal, he went to the dining hall as a servant informed him that food was ready. Azekiel went for dinner and took an hour to finish dinner before he returned back to the Portal. He took a step to the portal, only to hear a voice behind him. "King Azekiel, leaving so fast?" Chapter 67 67: The Four Kings Azekiel cleared the second floor. He had given the entiremand of the United Empires that belonged to him to the people that worked for him. The Porters that he had selected were now supposed to take care of the Empire and control all the transfers to Floor Zero. For that purpose, he left ten people here, only deciding to take thirty with him to the Third Floor. After everything was settled, he was just about to leave, only to stop in his tracks as he heard someone call him from behind. "King Azekiel, leaving so fast?" It was a voice he had heard before... A voice that he had heard personally but not in this timeline. "King of Sloth." Azekiel didn''t even have to nce back to know who it was. "If you''re here to save this Empire, aren''t you toote?" After stating the title of the person, he turned around. "Hmm?" Only after turning around did Azekiel realize that Alioth wasn''t alone here. There were two more people who stood beside him. In the middle stood the chubby young man who seemed as if he was somewhat sleepy and was apanied by the other two Kings. "You brought the King of Envy and King of Lust as well?" Azekiel inquired. Even though he was slightly surprised, he had already considered the possibility of this happening ever since he had decided to attack all the Empires. "Honestly, I expected you all to arrive sooner. I had lost hopes that you three would being here. You didn''t bring the King of Wrath here? He seems like someone who would''ve loved to be here since it involves me? Or does he only like to get involved when it''s against someone who can''t defend himself?" "Lucifer doesn''t need toe here. We three are more than enough to handle you." The King of Envy called forth his Weapon of Sin. A green ax appeared in his right hand from thin air. "Ax of Envy... A King gets stronger the more he is filled with his Sin. You must be at your strongest at the moment since I can feel your envy for me from a distance," Azekiel stated. "Let me guess. You''re envious of everything I have gained in thest few weeks? I now control two Floors; I''ve killed two Kings as well who stood in my path. The people on Floor Zero probably think I''m a god now." "I can understand why you would be jealous, but do you really have toe here to kill me for that?" Azekiel inquired calmly. "I have no enmity with you three. You three didn''t do anything bad to me. But if you really want to go down this route, I would happily oblige." Azekiel had some decent stats at this point. He was stronger than Michael as well. The only thing hecked now was some decent offensive skills, but the other Kings didn''t know that. He couldn''t show his weaker side at the moment. ? There were three Kings before him. If he took a step back now, the three were going to realize that he wasn''tpletely confident. They were going to jump on him like hungry hounds at a single sign of weakness. Also, why did he need to worry? He had enough Soul Energy to Summon Raphael once again. Raphael couldn''t kill the Kings, but he could at least keep them distracted for a minute while Azekiel finished the third one to slim down the number of enemies. If things didn''t work out even then, he had two escape circles to get out of here. He had many items to save his life. As a King, it wasn''t easy for him to be killed. "Are you saying you had enmity with Michael and Elijah? Is that why you targeted them?" Alioth asked, slightly surprised. This was what he thought in the first ce. If Azekiel had no enmity with them, he could probably find a middle ground since the only reason the other two wanted to kill him was because they thought he would kill themter. If Azekiel really wasn''t targeting the Kings, that meant they had misunderstood. "That sounds like nonsense. You didn''t kill the two because you had enmity with them. You want to target all of us. Why else would you attack all our Empires instead of just two?" The King of Envy refused to believe the exnation. "Do you have an answer for that?" Alioth asked. "I do. I conquered all your Empires not because I wanted to show you down but because it was part of my quest," Azekielzily shrugged. "Your quest? We also cleared this floor. There was no such quest." The King of Envy didn''t believe a single word that came out of Azekiel''s mouth, but Alioth and the King of Lust did pay heed to his words. There was a possibility that he was indeed telling the truth. "You didn''t clear the first floor in record time, so how would you know? When I cleared the first floor in record time, I received a hidden quest opportunity on the second floor. I came to know of that quest as soon as I stepped on this floor, and that''s what I did." Azekiel casually made up a story without even having to waste a single second in thinking. "I killed Michael because I knew him from outside this tower, and we had some enmity. As for Elijah, I killed him because he tried to attack my Empire and stopped me from finishing my quest. What can I say? I didn''t want to be the Kingyer, but as luck would have it, I had no choice but to kill them." "Unlike me, you do have a choice. You can either try to attack me and be my enemy as well. However, I have a feeling that you won''t like the oue of that, as it''ll further cement my position as the Kingyer. As for the other choice, you can let me do as I please and don''t be an obstruction in my path." "If you follow the second option, we might never see each other again. We will be on our individual paths, and none of you will have to die. The choice is yours." Azekiel stood with a straight back, holding his hands behind his back. His face hadplete confidence, as if he didn''t worry what option the three might select. This confidence is what made Alioth feel uneasy. If Azekiel was that confident, that meant he did have the potential to kill them. He didn''t think it was worth it, especially now that it was clear that Azekiel wasn''t after them. "Why should we believe you?" The King of Lust asked a simple question. "Isn''t it possible that you''re lying about not wanting to kill any other Kings because you''re scared of facing three of us?" "Oh, I think you misunderstand something. When did I say I don''t want to kill any King?" Azekiel asked as if he couldn''t understand what gave those people this idea. "See? He does want to kill us! He was just talking nonsense!" The King of Envy took a step closer to Azekiel with his Ax. Chapter 68 68: Near Death Alioth held the hand of Jacob, stopping him. "Calm down. Let''s hear him first." Jacob clenched his fist, but he did listen to Alioth and stepped back. "Can you rify what you mean?" Alioth asked Azekiel. "Because this statement of yours conflicts with what you said before." "No it doesn''t," Azekiel answered. "All I said before is that I have no enmity with you three, and I don''t want to kill you unless you give me a reason too, but I didn''t say I don''t want to kill any King at all? There''s still one King I''ve yet to kill..." "You don''t want to kill us, but there''s one King you want to kill? Other than us, there is only one left. Don''t tell me you want to kill the King of Wrath Lucifer?" "I do. I really expected him toe here personally. It seems like my luck isn''t that great. Still, if he doesn''te to me, I''ll go to him myself. Sooner orter, he would have to face me and answer for what he did." "Do you even have any idea of the strength of Lucifer?" The King of Lust inquired. "Facing the three of us together would be easier for someone than facing Lucifer. Just because he doesn''t show what he''s capable of doesn''t mean he''s weak. There are things that you don''t know about him, young man. You''ve just be a King. Don''t shorten your life." "You''re right." Azekiel agreed. "I don''t know Lucifer. I don''t know what he thinks or why he did what he did. I don''t even know what his true strength is, other than what he showed throughout the years, but that doesn''t change a thing. What he did... What he made me go through... He will have to answer for that, and that day will be really soon." "If you three want to stand in my path and be my obstruction, then I won''t stop you. You can attack me this instant. But if you don''t, I would take it as a signal that you don''t want to attack me. I would leave peacefully, and you''ll all live. You have two minutes to decide." Azekiel had noticed that Alioth wasn''t looking for a fight. Even the King of Lust was swayed by his words. The only person who still wanted to fight and kill him was the King of Envy, but he was sure that the other two were going to stop him. Azekiel didn''t want a battle with three Kings at this point, but he also wasn''t scared of one. He left the hard decision on the shoulders of the three kings and took only a passive choice. The three Kings looked at each other. They hade here with the expectation of attacking Azekiel, but now they realized that they based their decision on a faulty assumption. Moreover, now that they knew more about the situation, they understood that they didn''t need to take action at this instant. "Let''s have a vote. All those who think that we should kill Azekiel this instant can raise their hands." Since thest decision was based on a vote of Jacob, Alioth did the same this time. Of the three, only one person raised his hand, and he was none other than the King of Envy. "All those who think we need not concern ourselves with Azekiel raise hands." This time, Alioth raised his hand. He wasn''t alone in it. The King of Lust also raised his hand. "Liam, what are you doing?" Jacob asked in disbelief. "I''m making a decision which I feel is right. I don''t believe Azekiel is against us, so I say we don''t start a useless fight," Liam exined his point of view. "So it''s decided. We won''t fight." Alioth affirmed. "Since you''ve decided, I''ll take my leave then. If anyone changes their mind, you''ll know where to find me." Azekiel''s voice echoed in the surroundings as he waved his hand, disappearing inside the portal of the third floor. "You both are idiots! Why did you let him leave? That bastard was lying! You believed everything he said? What if hees to kill you when you''re alone? What happened to always having to watch over your back?" The King of Envy was most angry at this decision. His loud shouts were heard far and wide as he spoke. "It doesn''t matter if we believed him or not." Alioth shed a cunning smile. "What matters is that he has given us a weapon." "Huh, what weapon?" Jacob gazed at the chubby man in confusion. "Dear Jacob, why work hard when you can bezy and still enjoy the same oue? That''s the meaning of my Sloth. Why should we attack Azekiel and risk our lives when we can let someone else do it? And that someone else is Lucifer." "You''re still too naive in the grand scheme of things. Azekiel just expressed his desire to kill Lucifer. What will happen if the King of Wrath hears it?" Alioth asked. "He will get angry and would probablye personally to kill Azekiel and to teach him a lesson. Azekiel thinks he can face Lucifer, but he can''t. As soon as Luciferes, Azekiel will be dead," Liam continued speaking the thoughts of Alioth. He understood what Alioth was trying to say. "Exactly. Let Lucifer kill Azekiel. We just have to sit back and enjoy the y. Why risk our lives? Even standing before three Kings, Azekiel wasn''t scared. That meant he probably had some hidden card. Who knows, he could''ve even killed one of us before dying?" "Why risk our lives?" "I... I guess you''re right. Why didn''t I think of this?" Jacob hit his forehead. This n was certainly great. It was certainly better than risking their own lives. ? The three kings could finally agree on one thing. It was the best decision for them to not fight now, as they could let Lucifer take the decision. The Three Kings came here expecting one thing, but they left with something else, and even then, they were happy since they believed Azekiel was going to die¡­ The King of Envy looked at the portal of the third floor. "Your death is near, kid." Chapter 69 69: The Lost Souls The Third Floor of the Tower of Sin was the most unorthodox floor ording to all the Kings that had cleared this Floor. Unlike the others, the challenge here was quite different. They didn''t need to fight; they didn''t need to defeat anyone; they also didn''t need to use any abilities to clear the floor. All the other Floors at least had some semnce of danger with the possibility of death of the Lords and the Kings, but this Floor had none of them. That was also why it was also called the safest floor after floor zero. Even when Azekiel returned to the past, he had decided to keep his focus on the first and the second floor to get stronger. He didn''t even consider the Third Floor something worth taking seriously, at least not until he found out that there was more to the floor than what met the eyes. As soon as Azekiel stepped onto the third floor, he nced back to see if the other Kings wereing here to follow them. No one came after him. "So this is the ce you call a Tomb of Gods. Shouldn''t it rather be called the Ruins?" Lia asked, gazing at her surroundings. The tomb of Gods looked more like the ancient city that had been destroyed brutally. The entire city waspletely dark, as if all the structures here were painted ck. The ground was also pitch ck. If they couldn''t feel that they were standing on the solid ground, many would''ve been confused that they were standing in a dark space. Not a single building in this ce was intact. All the streets were filled with rubble from the damaged building. Many fall statues could also be seen at regr intervals, but none of those statues were intact either. Almost all the statues were broken and missing their heads. "This ce... It reeks of destruction." Raphael nced at the distant statues. "What is the trial on this floor that we need to finish?" Azekiel nced at the screen before him where a mission was being shown, which he already knew about. "We need to help one of them," Azekiel answered. "One of them? And who are them?" "Them." Azekiel pointed in the distance. None of them could see anything in that direction as it was utterly dark, but a barely audible sound of crying could be hearding from that direction if one was to listen really carefully. For a moment, there wasplete silence. Both Raphael and Lia heard the sounds of crying, which had started intensifying slowly. The sounds were getting louder as well. "What''s there?" Lia frowned. "Who is crying? These cries... It''s like they are filled with pain and sorrow. Who could be crying?" "You will know as we get there." With his hands in his pocket, Azekiel started advancing towards the darkness in the distance. "They won''t hurt you. That''s for sure. But they will y with you mentally. I don''t know if you two will get affected by that or not, but still, it''s better for you two to be careful." Lia was really curious as to what they were going to find in the darkness. The cries... There were just so many hidden emotions behind those cries as if they belonged to someone who had lost everything they held dear. As Azekiel entered the darkness, things became so dark that he couldn''t even see anything. "Raphael, Lia, Remember what I told you. Be careful." "Raphael?" Getting no response, he asked again. "Lia?" Even now, there was no response. He couldn''t hear them. It was as if they had separated from him, which should''ve been impossible since the three of them were walking in a straight direction at the same speed. The crying was so intense now that they were bordering the same pitch of a scream. Azekiel felt as if there were thousands of kids who were screaming around him. "Raphael! Lia! Can you hear me?!" ~ There was still no response which forced Azekiel to stop trying to contact them. He didn''t know if it was because of the darkness or what, but he seemed to have lost contact with his two spirits, and he was all alone. He hadn''t even considered the possibility of this happening, mainly because no one entered this ce in a group. Everyone went alone and especially without a Spirit, so he didn''t know how this ce worked with groups. Azekiel stopped walking amidst the screams and closed his eyes. Since he couldn''t see anything, he just wanted to imagine who was where based on the cries. Closing his eyes, he could focus more on the cries. "I am here to help you! Tell me what you want!" Azekiel dered as he stood like a blind man in a screaming crowd. All the cries went silent in an instant before they all spoke a few words. Since they all spoke at the same time, Azekiel couldn''t understand a single thing. It was as if hundreds of people had talked at the same time, and he didn''t know what to focus on. It all sounded like someone was speaking a bunch of nonsense. "I brought food. Who wants food?" Azekiel brought a small rice ball out of his bag and raised his hand. "If you''re hungry, take it. There are more." This was the trick Michael used, which Azekiel saw through his memories. Michael had tried thousands of things to help whatever was in his surroundings, but nothing worked initially. After a long time, he left and came back with some food. That trick worked, and he finally cleared the Floor after three days. Azekiel wanted to achieve the same feat but on the first try itself. He just needed to find someone who was hungry and help him. He believed that should''ve been easy. Unfortunately, no one took the rice ball from his hand. Instead, someone seemed to hit his hands, letting the rice ball fall. Everyone started crying once again. "So the old trick won''t work here, it seems. Once someone is helped, that option stops existing as if... As if there isn''t a real person here but a Spirit with unfinished business..." "Could it really be that? We are supposed to help the Evil Spirits here in fulfilling theirst wishes? So far, that''s only an assumption, but that seems highly likely. But if no two spirits share the same desire and after each desire is fulfilled, the Spirit leaves, that means all options I know won''t work?" To test this assumption, he used another method that he knew to be helpful in the past. Unfortunately, just as he had expected, that option also failed. Chapter 70 70: Fragmented Memories Raphael entered the darkness with Azekiel, but even he hadn''t expected that he was going to be lost in the darkness. He called for Azekiel, but he couldn''t find him. He found himself all alone. He couldn''t even hear the sound of crying ever since he entered the Darkness. The entire world had gone silent as he found himself in the middle of nowhere. "What is this ce?" He frowned, finding this entire ce really strange. He didn''t know why but he was getting a really strange feeling from this ce. "That''s a good question. What is this ce?" A calm voice fell on his ears. "Huh? That voice?" He hastily turned around, but he had forgotten that he couldn''t see anything. Even when he turned, he couldn''t see who it was that had spoken. Still, that dark voice was something that he could never forget! "Alziem?!" Raphael eximed. "You still haven''t forgotten me, it seems. Then again, how can someone forget the person who killed them? Isn''t that right? My dear Raphael?" "I never would have expected that you would be a dog for a mortal. Oh how far have you fallen... From the King of Gluttony to the servant of the King of Gluttony..." "What are you speaking? What King of Gluttony? I was never a King of Gluttony!" Raphael retorted. "I was punished by the High One for eating something that didn''t belong to me and turned into this damned spirit, all because you told him what I did! It''s all because of you! I can never forget you, Alziem! It''s because of you that every day of my life is a living hell!" Alziem went silent for a moment as if he was lost in some thought. "It seems like you don''t remember about... That''s disappointing." "What don''t I remember? What are you speaking about? Tell me!" "How far have you fallen, Raphael. I can''t believe I used to be envious of you. You were superior to me in everything until... And now you are nothing but a Spirit who can''t even remember the most important part of his life. I pity you Raphael... I pity you a lot." The voice kept getting closer. "You know what I feel more than pity for you? Anger!" "You feel anger? You betrayed me! It''s because of you that I lost everything, and you think you have the right to feel angry!" Raphael had a better sense of distance and direction. Through the voice, he could guess exactly where that person was standing. In his anger, he couldn''t stop himself as he shot straight toward Alziem, swinging his sharp ws. Unfortunately, his ws only passed through an empty space, unable to touch anything. "Raphael, did you forget? You''re a spirit. You are at the mercy of your master to even appear in this Tower, let alone being able to finish anything. As I said before, you''re nothing more than a dog now!" Raphael couldn''t touch Alziem even if he wanted to, but it was also unclear if Alziem was actually here or not. "By the way, don''t you want to know why I''m angry?" Alziem asked. "It''s certainly not because of what you might think! It''s because you dared to forget! I''m angry because you dared to forget the moment which I''m most proud of! It''s because you dared to forget how I did that... How I killed you!" "How could you forget the happiest moment of my life, Raphael? How could you be so cruel to this dear friend of yours?" A peal of cruel yet heartyughter echoed in the surrounding, which seemed to being from all directions at the same time. "I came here so I could see that rage... so I could relive that moment once again through your reactions, but you don''t even remember. This is disappointing. I was so happy to find out that you''ve returned, but it seems like I was happy for no reason at all." "Still, it doesn''t matter if you don''t remember! I''ll always remember! I''ll always remember crushing you under my feet! I''ll always remember that day when the Almighty Raphael died at my hands right before he could clear the tower! How I walked over your dead body to clear the Tower! You might not remember, but I''ll never forget Raphael! I''ll never forget my biggest achievement!" Theughter of Alziem kept resounded in Raphael''s ears, giving him a headache. Through the words of Alziem, he had managed to understand a few things, yet he couldn''t believe it. Alziem was implying that he had also participated in the Tower of Sin as the King of Gluttony? Alziem was saying that he had failed the quest of the tower only to die at his hands and fail at thest step?! Why couldn''t he remember that! The more he tried to remember, the more he felt his headache increasing. He didn''t know what it was, but he couldn''t remember those memories at all. Until a few moments ago, he didn''t even remember that there were memories like that... Just what was this... This part of his life which even he didn''t know? And if he was a Participant in the Tower of Sin in the past, then how was he just a Spirit now? He held his head firmly, which felt like it was going to explode in pain as he dropped to his knee, firmly closing his eyes. "I didn''t expect our next meeting to go like this, but this was certainly fun. Seeing Raphael on his knees before me... Just like that day... Just like that moment... I must say,ing here was worth it." "Too bad I only had limited time... Too bad..." The voice became distant before ultimately stopping, leaving Raphael all alone with his fragmented memories. He could not remember anything, yet he also couldn''t give up trying to remember, which increased his headache even more as if there was a mental block around his memories. Chapter 71 71: Originator In one ce, Raphael felt like he was losing his sanity. The more he thought about it, the more he felt like he was going crazy. His forehead was covered in sweat. Meanwhile, in another ce, Lia also found herself to be lost. She was walking aimlessly in the darkness, trying to find Azekiel or Raphael, but she couldn''t find anyone. She didn''t even know if one was actually here or not. "Azekiel!" "Raphael!" "Where are you two? Stop hiding! Don''t leave me alone in this darkness!" Lia appeared to be somewhat distressed as she walked in the darkness. The more time she spent in the darkness, the more she seemed to be affected. "Azekiel! Raphael! Don''t do this to me! Come out for instant!" Lia''s pupils dted as she clenched her fist. "Please stop hiding! This isn''t a good prank! Come out! I really don''t like to be alone in the darkness!" "You''re still scared of being alone in the darkness, right?" A soft voice fell in Lia''s ears. "Who is it? Who spoke?" Lira asked, looking all around her, momentarily even forgetting that it was useless since it was all so dark, she couldn''t even see anything. "Don''t tell me you don''t recognize my voice, Princess." "Princess?" Lia frowned. There was only one person who called her princess. "Osiris?" The person went momentarily silent. "Are you alive?" Lia asked again. "I don''t know how to answer that question," Osiris responded. "Still, it''s good to see that you are back, even if it''s in the form of a Spirit." "Heh, you''re happy to see me back after you killed me? You''re such a hypocrite, Osiris. You''ve always been one." "Why do you say so?" "You want to know why? Let me see where to start! Shall we start from childhood? You hid your identity from me and became my friend! You were the one who reached out a hand for friendship, promising me that you''ll always be there to support me! But when I needed you the most, you didn''t even bother meeting me?!" "When I needed your help, you hid inside the pce! Why wouldn''t you? After you be the King, amoner like me wasn''t worth your friendship, was I?" "That''s not true. I got busy at work. I didn''t know you needed my help. If I had known, I would''ve helped you!" "Save that story for the naive Azekiel who believed you. You think I don''t know the truth? You think I didn''t hear the castle guardsughing when they thought I had left about how I kepting to irritate the King even though he didn''t want to meet me?" "Hmm?" "Osiris, I''ve seen your games. I understood what kind of a person you were a long time ago. Just because I don''t go around talking about it doesn''t mean I don''t know. You''re the biggest hypocrite I''ve seen! You always want to be seen in a good light even though you''re literally backstabbing a person!" "Lia, are you really ming me for what happened? I didn''t force you to destroy an entire vige in a Famine. I didn''t ask you to take thew into your own hands. I didn''t ask you to kill innocents! It''s all in your own hands! As the King, I took the decision I had to take! It''s not backstabbing, but you forcing my hand to stab you to save people!" "Hahahahaha!" Hearing the response of Osiris, Lia burst intoughter which appeared to be filled with anger. "Was it really me who forced your hand? Was it? Or was it you who forced my hand? Don''t make meugh, King Osiris!" "My father and my sister were killed brutally! In my entire life, I''ve only asked for one thing from you! For justice! For help! But you didn''t listen to me! Or rather, you listened yet chose to ignore me as you got busy with your wife!" "You''re right! I did kill thousands of people! I did it with my own two hands, and if I had the chance, I''d do it again! I don''t care if hundreds of innocents die as long as the killers of my family die with them!" "I don''t me you for killing me, but I''m happy to take all the me for what I did since I''m not a hypocrite like you! I don''t care how many sins this world ces on my shoulders; I ept them! They are my sins to bear, and I will carry them for as long as I exist! Unlike you, I''ve never been scared of my sins!" "Lia, you really haven''t changed. Even your temper is still the same. When you get angry, you be apletely different person. Anyway, I don''te here to ask for forgiveness. I also don''te here to insult you, mock you or show my superiority." "And I definitely didn''te here to hurt you. What happened is all in the past, and this is a new beginning for you. And this was also the only chance I had to meet you where no one knows what we talked about." "I came here to give you a warning¡­ The tower... It isn''t as simple as you all believe it to be. So no matter what, you must keep Azekiel safe. Make sure he doesn''t die. Trust me; his destiny is now tied to your destiny. His well-being is your well-being. If he dies..." "No matter what, you must not let him die at any cost! As much as possible, don''t let him put his life in danger. And also, be wary... Be wary of the Originator." "Originator¡­ What?" Lia didn''t understand what Osiris spoke. What Originator? Unfortunately, there was no one to answer. It was as if Osiris was gone now. "Osiris, just what was this warning? What were you trying to tell me? Tell me!" "Tell me! Tell me what I don''t remember!" In another ce, Raphael roared like crazy. "Tell me!" "I wish they could tell me what they want without making it impossible to understand." In the middle of all thismotion, Azekiel was still wondering about how to solve this Trial since all his previous knowledge was useless. Chapter 72 72: The Cold Prince "If I waste time like this, I can never solve this problem. Instead of being the fastest to clear this floor, I might be the slowest to do it." The screeching of the Spirits only intensified before they were so loud that it was getting dangerous. Even after closing his ears with his hands, Azekiel couldn''t avoid the noise. He decided to leave this ce for now as it was impossible to think of anything in this noise. He needed silence to think. However, before Azekiel could turn around, the noises stopped. It was as if everyone went silent at the same time. It was so quiet that Azekiel could even hear his own heartbeat. The silence was soon broken by someone''s footsteps. The footsteps appeared to be getting closer with each passing second. Azekiel didn''t understand why, but the surroundings also started getting colder with each passing second. It was as if the closer these footsteps got, the colder this ce became. The footsteps only stopped after getting within a few feet of Azekiel. Azekiel felt a cold touch on his right hand as if someone held it. It appeared to be a small hand that belonged to a kid. It was just so small. "Who are you?" Azekiel inquired. There was no response. Whoever held Azekiel''s hands seemed to be pulling him somewhere. Azekiel stopped resisting and went with it. Azekiel had a feeling that it was certainly one of the spirits he was supposed to help. If the Spirit was taking him with him, that meant it needed something. All he needed was to go with him and to find out what it needed to finish the trial. The spirit made Azekiel walk for over thirty minutes in the darkness before stopping. Azekiel still couldn''t see anything other than darkness here. The Spirit released Azekiel''s hands. Azekiel could still feel the cold though. "How can I help you?" Azekiel directly asked. "What do you need from me?" There was no answer to his question. All he received in response was a scary silence. "Hmm? What''s this smell?" As Azekiel wondered how he could find out what the spirit needed, he started noticing a strange smell. That smell became more intense with each passing second. It was a really sweet smell as if he was standing in a field of flowers. However, he soon realized that the smell wasn''t good for him as he started feeling sleepy. "You-" Before he could even react, his head started spinning. Even though he stood inplete darkness, he felt as if the world around him was spinning. His legs also became weak. Azekiel dropped to the ground as his eyes closed. No matter how much he tried, he couldn''t keep his eyes open. **** "Take this kid and never return!" After a long time, Azekiel came to his senses as he heard a powerful shout! He opened his eyes, only to find the entire world blurry. He couldn''t see anything temporarily. His body still felt cold, but this cold was different. It was a more natural cold, unlike the frightening cold of before. It was as if he was actually lying on the snow. Soon, his blurry vision became clear. He noticed that he was right. He was actually on snow. The entire ground was covered in snow, just like the roofs of the houses in his surroundings. "Where am I?" Confused, he pushed his body up. He was still in his old clothes. The only difference was his surroundings. He was sure he wasn''t inside the Tower anymore. Or was it all an illusion? That thought was also floating in the back of his head. "Hehehe, Don''t worry, My Lord. I will take the young prince to a ce where he would never be heard from again." "Good. Because if he ever returns, it''ll be your head that will be on the Sword of Queen-mother! You''ll keep getting money every month for his needs." "Of course. I will be careful. Still, I don''t understand one thing, my Lord. If Queen Mother really hates the kid so much, why doesn''t she have him killed? Why send him far away from the Empire?" "You won''t understand. Just do as you''re told and don''t ask too many questions. You understand?" Two people stood at the entrance of a beautiful snow-white castle, engaging in a conversation. A carriage stood nearby. Through the Carriage''s window, a young boy appeared to be gazing at the castle. His eyes appeared to have some iprehensible emotions that were hard to describe. It was as if he didn''t want to leave this ce, but at the same time, he also seemed like he didn''t want to show any emotions. The young boy had beautiful white hair, akin to the snow that was falling from the sky. His silver pupils seemed nothing like Azekiel ever saw before. He didn''t know why but he felt as if he had met the kid before. It was just a feeling that he had which he didn''t know why. He shifted his focus on the two men that were talking. One of the two appeared to be an ordinary trader who had a bag tied to his waist, which was filled with coins. The other person looked like he was at a really high position in the Empire. He was dressed in the Royal Attire. A ck cloak was covering his back. The man had a sheath on his back which was carrying a heavy sword. "Alright then. I will take the Prince with me and make sure he lives his life far away from this ce." The trader walked back to his carriage. He pushed open the door and stepped inside the carriage. Azekiel watched the carriage leave as he stayed behind, still unable to decipher where he actually was. He was sure this wasn''t a part of any trial. Then what was it? Just what was this ce? "It all happened after that spirit took me to that ce. Just what did it want?" As Azekiel stood lost in thoughts, trying to understand what the Spirit wanted from him, he noticed a hooded figure approach the General. "Is it done?" The General asked the hooded figure. "It''s done. As soon as the carriage leaves the Empire, it''ll be attacked by the Bandits. Everyone will die, including the young prince." "Heh, good. The Queen hates the young prince. Everyone knows that. Unfortunately, she can''t kill the Prince as that would makemoners feel bad and revolt since he''s the only son from the first wife of His Majesty." "That''s why she sent him to a ce where he would stay away from the Royal Politics, making him distant. Poor woman, she doesn''t even know that I gave her the suggestion to do it exactly because I want this revolt!" "As soon as the Prince dies, even if it''s made to look like the work of bandits, everyone will believe the Queen Mother was behind it! The revolt is inevitable! The opportunity that Duke had been waiting for wille! The queen will be thrown out and killed for this crime! Her downfall has just begun! The Royal Family will be history!" Chapter 73 73: The Demand "Political sabotage." Seeing the scene before him, Azekiel realized what was happening. The only thing he still didn''t understand was why he was here. He still stood his ground, but the surroundings soon changed. He found himself in the middle of the road. There was a carriage in the distance which appeared to be surrounded by some bandits. "The same carriage? Am I supposed to help the boy?" "Might as well." Azekiel called forth his Gauntlet of Gluttony before dashing to the bandits. He didn''t even waste a single second before attacking the leader of the bandits. "Huh? I can''t touch them?" No matter how he tried, he couldn''t touch the bandits. It was as if this was all an illusion and nothing more. He couldn''t interfere with this illusion. "So I was right. I didn''t travel back in time. This is either an illusion or a dream." He was sure that this ce wasn''t real when he failed to even touch the carriage. Moreover, even as he got close to these bandits, they didn''t react like they couldn''t see him. The bandits killed the carriage driver, which was even easier since there weren''t many guards apanying the carriage. After killing every guard, the bandits opened the door and pulled out the chubby merchant. The merchant was shocked to see the bandits. He soon realized why they were there. They weren''t here for him. Instead, they were here for the young prince. "They yed me!" Those were thest words that came from the merchant''s mouth before a Sword impaled him. His dead body was tossed aside as the leader of the bandits shifted to the silver-haired Prince. The young prince was barely ten years old. Despite being so young, he stood bravely before the bandits, not having a single shred of fear for his life. "Kid, despite facing our sword, you still stand so bravely before us. Don''t you worry for your life?" The leader of Bandits pointed his sword at the chest of the young child. The young boy didn''t answer at all, maintaining hisplete silence. "Fascinating, kid. Either you''re too brave, or you''re such a coward that you can''t even react in the face of death." "Did mother send you to kill me?" The young Prince asked. "The queen? Since you''re about to die, I don''t want you to die with a misunderstanding. We weren''t sent by the queen. Moreover, your mother won''t be the queen for long. After you die, she will also be killed because the me for your death will fall on her head." The young boy''s eyes widened as the leader of the bandits told him the entire scheme. "Now that you know the truth, you can die in peace. Don''t worry though. We will send your mother after you soon." Thrust~ The blood-covered Sword entered the chest of the young boy. Azekiel watched a young kid being killed, unable to do anything. It was as if he was just here as a witness. "This isn''t a dream." He finally realized what he was witnessing since he heard the boy speak. "This is a memory... I''m going through his memories... But why is he showing me these memories? Is that his answer to my question? Am I supposed to know what help he needs based on these memories?" "I still don''t understand what I can do. This was all in the past. I can''t change the past." As the body of the young boy was buried in snow, the memory stopped. Everything turned dark once again. The world returned to silence once more. Azekiel felt a little headache, feeling as if he was lying on the ground now. The floor didn''t have snow this time, but it was even colder. It was the same old cold he had felt from the arrival of the spirits. He opened his eyes, yet he couldn''t see anything. The world was really dark. "I''m back..." Azekiel pushed his body up, realizing he was out of the vision and back to the real world. "I know you''re still here. Why did you show me your memories?" Azekiel asked. "What am I supposed to do from that? What do you need from me? Tell me directly!" "I saw..." A weak voice fell in Azekiel''s ears. The voice seemed exactly like the voice of the boy in the vision. "I was right! You''re that Prince! And you certainly can speak. So tell me? Why did you show me your memories? I can''t change your past. I also can''t help you take revenge. The people who hurt you are probably already dead." "You... can help." The Spirit stated. "I saw..." "What did you see?" It was the second time the spirit had mentioned seeing something, which made Azekiel wonder what the Spirit was talking about. "Your memories," the Spirit answered. "I saw..." "You saw my memories?" Azekiel grimaced. "Did that mean the boy knew his soul had traveled back in the past?" "Look, I came back. But even I don''t know how. I can''t control time, and I can''t help you go back. That''s impossible, so I''ll make it clear right away. With that aside, what do you need?" "Help... Me." "That''s exactly what I''m here for. But can you tell me what you need? How will I know how to help you if you don''t tell me?" Azekiel sighed. "Tell me. I''ll help you right away if I can." "I want you... save mother..." "Save your mother? You mean from that scheme you showed me? Didn''t you hear what I said before? I can''t go back in time." Azekiel shook his head. "That''s impossible." "You can... Time¡­ Stone... Get..." "What? I can''t understand." "I... Help..." No matter how hard the spirit tried, it couldn''t properly converse with Azekiel. Even Azekiel didn''t know what to do in this situation. With such fragmented words, it was impossible to understand what the Spirit was trying to say. Fortunately, he wasn''t alone in this situation. A notification appeared before him as a screen popped up. [You have conversed with a Spirit] [Skill Unlocked] [Spirit Conversation] [Passive Skill] [Description: You can converse with spirits and understand them easily] Even though Azekiel saw the notification, he still wasn''t sure if this was going to help him understand the Spirit. "I want you to save my mother. I want your help." The Spirit again spoke. This time, Azekiel understood everything clearly, making him realize that the skill was working. Chapter 74 74: Time Stone "I understand what you want, but do you understand what I said? I told you I couldn''t go back in time. I don''t know how to, even if it''s possible. There''s no way I can help you with that. Do you have any other demands?" While the other Kings cleared this floor with much ease, it was also because they hadn''t received a demand as absurd as this. Moreover, even if he could go back in time to fulfill this demand, it was going to take much longer than a couple of days which was the current record. There was no way he could receive the title of this floor with this. "I have no other demand." The Spirit stated. "If you want to get the blessing and clear this floor, then you must do this." "There are more spirits here. Your demand is literally impossible. If I could even go back in time, don''t you think I would save my mother by going back to the time before the apocalypse? Won''t I warn the world of what wasing? Won''t I go back to the time of Raphael to make sure he won''t take that apple, so he wasn''t cursed? Won''t I go back to Lia to protect her family before it is killed?" "If I could control time, there are thousands of things I would''ve done. You say you saw my memories. Did you see me doing anything even remotely close to that? I can''t control time, and I can''t go back in time." The Spirit remained silent, hearing the discontent words of Azekiel. "If you don''t have any other demand, then I honestly can''t help you. I''ll try my luck with other Spirits." He turned his back on the Spirit and started walking away from the cold and in the direction he came from. "No one will help you." A cold voice came from the back. Azekiel stopped in his tracks. "What do you mean?" "If you don''t help me, you won''t be able to help any other Spirits. No Spirit will even get close to you. I''ve imed you. I''m the oldest Spirit here. No one will go against me. If you don''t help me, no one will help you either. I saw your memories and know that you want to go to the next floor. The only path is through me. Help me, and you''ll get ess. Don''t help me, and you''ll forever be stuck here, just like I am." "Are you threatening me?" Azekiel grimly asked. "If you saw my memories, you should know that I don''t take kindly to threats." "I''m just telling you the truth," the Spirit stated. "This isn''t a threat. You can try." "You know what else I can try?" Azekiel smirked in frustration. "You''ve seen my memories. You know I can absorb the Spirit Energy, don''t you?" Since the Spirit was trying to threaten him, he also did the same. "It only works on people who haven''t been dead for longer than a day. You can''t absorb me. I''ve been dead for thousands of years." The Spirit wasn''t phased by the threat. Azekiel frowned. This guy really knew everything. He even knew system notifications somehow. Initially, Azekiel assumed that he only saw the memories, excluding things rted to the system, but that wasn''t the case. If he were to believe the Spirit, there was only one way to clear this floor, and it was by helping this guy since no other Spirit was going to even listen to him now. But that was also an impossible task from what it seemed. "Fine. If you know everything, tell me how I can help? How can I go back in time by a thousand years! How can I do things you want me to do?! Don''t im I need to figure it out myself! That''s just absurd!" "Time Stone." The Spirit moved closer to Azekiel, bringing even more cold to him. "Time Stone? What is that?" "It is something which can help you go back in time. I saw you already know about the Temple on this Floor and the books. You''ll find the Time Stone inside that temple. Get inside the Temple and reach the Time Stone. Then you can go back and help me," the Spirit exined. "If you promise to do it, I''ll make you clear this floor this instant." "Hmm?" ''Was that all? This Spirit only needed a promise? Still, how can he be so sure that I''ll fulfill the promise after getting to the stone if he''s making me clear the floor this instant?'' Azekiel was slightly surprised at the stupidity of the young spirit. If he were in its ce, he would''ve made sure that his desires were fulfilled first if he was at an advantage in a negotiation. ''I guess he''s really a kid after all. Then again, this information is really interesting. A time stone that gives me control over time? If I can really get to it, that would be incredible.'' "Fine. I promise I will help you." Without taking too much time to think, Azekiel agreed since it was just a promise which could be broken if he needed. However, it seemed he had underestimated the Spirit. A single promise wasn''t enough to finish the deal. "Bite a finger of yours and let a blood droplet fall on the ground." The Spirit''s grim voice filled the surrounding,ing from every direction. "Why?" "That''s the way we promise. It won''t be an ordinary promise that can be broken. It''ll be a Blood and Soul Pact. If you break the promise after making it, your soul will be shattered, and all your blood will burn." "Since I will disappear after you fulfill my desires, but through your memories, I know you''re in a race against time. That''s why I am not waiting till you finish my desire to help you clear this floor. Since you''re willing to help me, I''m also willing to help you get the title of this floor before you even begin, but I need a Blood and Soul Pact to trust your promise." The Spirit, which appeared to be very naive until now, turned out to be pretty clever. It didn''t trust Azekiel as easily as he had assumed. Making a Blood Pact sounded scary since that meant he was going to die if he broke the promise. However, if he didn''t keep the promise, he couldn''t ever clear this floor. He was going to be here his entire life. Chapter 75 75: Pact The young spirit didn''t speak anything anymore, leaving Azekiel with his own thoughts to decide. Still, he was sure that Azekiel was going to agree to this demand. He had no option but to agree. Azekiel didn''t know if the spirit was telling the truth about no other Spirit taking his help or not, but there was a good chance that it was the truth since all spirits had gone silent with this one''s arrival. There really didn''t seem to be any other option here except epting the demand. Moreover, even he wanted to get to the Time Stone, which could help him a lot in the future as well. If the Temple really had the time stone, he couldn''t leave this opportunity. "Fine. If I can get the Time Stone, I will go back in time to help your family." Azekiel bit his thumb just enough to let it bleed, letting a blood drop fall to the ground. It was tooplicated since he just had to prevent a conflict in the Empire of humans. With the kind of strength he possessed, he believed this was going to be child''s y. Moreover, it was also going to help him clear this floor in record time. As soon as his blood droplet touched the ground, a light electric current coursed through his body. He even felt a slight pain in his chest, whichsted only for a brief moment. [Warning: You have made a blood and soul pact with a Spirit] At the same time, even his system notified him of the pact being sessful. "The Blood and Soul Pact isplete." The young spirit stated. "You have finished your side of the deal. I will do mine." [Congrattions: The Spirit epted your help. You have cleared the Floor] [Third Floor Cleared in record time] [You have received a new Title: Ruler of Third Floor] [Rewards received in inventory: Ring of Disguise] "Hmm?" Azekiel expected another Orb of escape for clearing the floor like before, but finally, there seemed to be a different reward. He tapped on the reward, making a new screen appear before him. ****************************** _________________________________ Item: Ring of Disguise Reward Category: Floor Title Reward Description: An Artifact created by the Lord of Disguise. Can be used to transform into any person of your choice temporarily Uses left: 1 Use Duration: 30 minutes _______________________________________ ,m ************************************ ''A ring for disguise. Pretty decent item but can only be used once, it seems. That''s... I guess it''s a one-time item. I can''tin too much. Better than an escape crystal.'' He closed the screen. "Thank you for agreeing to help me. I will pray for your sess. Please save my mother..." Azekiel was brought out of his distraction by the young boy''s pleading voice. "Can I ask you something before I go? Why do you want me to save your mother? From what I saw in your memories, she sent you away. Even though she didn''t have you killed, wasn''t it the same as abandoning you?" Azekiel understood that a son might want to save his mother, who cared for him and loved him, but the case waspletely different here. Here the mother didn''t love the boy, yet the boy''sst wish was to save his mother. Why? "Why do you want to save her?" The boy didn''t answer. It was unclear if the boy was even there anymore since Azekiel couldn''t feel that scary cold. "Are you here?" Once again, there came no response. Instead, something else happened. The darkness in this ce started retreating, at least for him. His field of view increased, making him see the entire ce. He couldn''t see any spirits here but what he saw stunned him more than any spirits. He noticed Raphael sitting on the ground, holding his head as if he was in pain. It wasn''t even as if Raphael was too far from him, yet it was only now that Azekiel was able to hear Raphael''s pain. In another ce, Lia was also visible, but she was in a much better condition than Raphael. It didn''t appear as if she could see Raphael or him. It was as if the Blood Pact only made him able to see in this darkness and not the others. Azekiel ran to Raphael, who was in pain. "Raphael?" "What happened to you? Did someone attack you?" Azekiel tried his hand on Raphael''s shoulder, yet his hands passed through. Raphael didn''t appear to be able to hear him. Moreover, since he wasn''t in his physical form, he couldn''t be touched even by Azekiel. There was no way for Azekiel to get through. "Raphael!" Azekiel roared at the top of his lungs yet there was nothing. "You leave me no choice then." "Raphael, I Summon you!" Azekiel used his Spiritual Energy reserves to Summon Raphael as that appeared to be the only option he could interact with Raphael. Raphael wasn''t in his senses, seemingly lost and in pain. Still, the summon was sessful as a soft stream of Soul Energy poured into his body, bringing his body to the material realm. "Raphael! Get out of it!" Azekiel grabbed Raphael by his shoulders, shaking his body. Raphael''s nk eyes raised as he noticed the young man before him. Even he was able to see through the darkness now as he was summoned by Azekiel through his connection. Raphael''s eyes were nk as if they were lifeless, yet tears could be seen in them, giving them some semnce of emotions. "What happened to you?" Even Azekiel couldn''t believe that he was seeing tears in Raphael''s eyes. For him, Raphael was the strongest person he had ever met. Despite being in the agony of persistent hunger, he never lost himself. He was always calm andposed, yet there were tears on that calm andposed face at the moment. "Raphael, it''s me, Azekiel! Talk to me! Tell me what happened! Did some Spirit hurt you?" "Azekiel..." Raphael softly let out. His head was still thumping as if it was breaking apart, but that name seemed to bring him back to some extent, yet notpletely. Chapter 76 76: Troubles "That''s right. I''m Azekiel. I am here! Talk to me!" Slowly, Raphael started snapping out of the phase as his thoughts shifted from trying to remember his past to his present, which finally stopped the dreadful headache and pain. Ha stopped forcing himself to remember as he saw Azekiel. His eyes regained their old shine as his face returned to his calm. Raphael felt the wetness on his face. He wiped his tears a bit. He wiped his tears. "I apologize for my behavior." "It''s nothing. We all be weak at times. That''s what being alive is all about." "I''m not alive though. I shouldn''t." Raphael calmly stated. "I''ll do better next time." "Who says you aren''t alive?" Azekiel frowned. "You are more alive than anyone else I know. And you''re certainly allowed to cry when you feel like it. Just don''t lose yourself. So tell me, what happened to you?" "Nothing. I just remembered something painful. It is nothing." Instead of telling Azekiel, Raphael hid what actually happened, believing that it was his problem and he needed to solve it rather than worrying Azekiel. Azekiel knew that it was something more than what Raphael was telling. There was no way someone like Raphael was going to break apart from past memories. Even if he was missing his family, the reaction should''ve been different. It was evident that Raphael was hiding something, yet Azekiel didn''t dive too deep. If Raphael didn''t want to tell, it wasn''t good to force him. ''It doesn''t matter what kind of past you had, Raphael. I promised that I would help you. As soon as I get the Time Stone, we''re also going to help you. You won''t have to suffer for long.'' ''Even though changing your past would mean that you''ll disappear from my Familiar Slot, it''s still worth it. Now I''m capable of protecting myself. It''s time you also get the life you deserve.'' Just like Raphael, Azekiel also didn''t tell himplete thoughts, keeping it hidden in his heart. He had already decided how he was going to use the Time Stone for himself and for others. He believed that with the help of Time Stone, he was going to be no less than a god. "Let''s get out of here then. I''ve cleared this floor. There''s no need to deal with the spirits anymore. Remember, as soon as you go back to Spirit Form, everything might turn dark again, so memorize the path back. And only you''ll be able to touch Lia when you''re back to your spirit form. I doubt she''d be able to hear me, so bring her back as well." Raphael agreed and memorized the position of Lira along with the exit. "I''ve memorized it. You can cancel the summon." Azekiel canceled the Summon, and just as he had said, everything turned dark for Raphael. Despite that, now Raphael had an idea of where to go. It was as if he had made a mental map of this ce along with Lia''s position. He went to Lia and helped her out of the darkness as well. All three met once again, out of the darkness and close to the portal of the second floor. Azekiel also asked Lia if something had happened in the darkness, yet Lia also didn''t tell him anything about meeting Osiris. She still pondered what he meant by saying that Azekiel needed to be protected at any cost in this Tower. Why did Osiris care for Azekiel so much? And who was this Originator he talked about? There were so many questions in her head rted to hertest interaction, yet she kept it all to herself. Amongst the two Familiars, none spoke the truth, both choosing to hide the reality. Having no idea about the strange urrences in the tower, Azekiel informed the two about the aim of entering the Temple to get the treasures inside. He didn''t tell them about the Time Stone and its presence in the temple, intending to surprise them with the prize. "ording to Elijah''s memories, the Temple is in that direction." Azekiel advanced toward the South, despite having the portal to the next floor on the north. ***** The terrain was really rough, buried in rubble everywhere. There wasn''t even a ne road for them to walk, yet the three kept advancing. Raphael had promised himself that he wasn''t going to think about the words of that person since he didn''t want that headache anymore. He already had enough of that. He kept himself distracted by his mission of helping Azekiel. Along the way, Lia casually tossed out a question. "Do any of you know about any Originator?" "Is that a person? I don''t think I''ve ever heard of something like that." "I don''t know either. First time hearing that name." Both Azekiel and Raphael answered in a simr manner. "Who is he? Why are you asking about that person?" Raphael curiously asked, anything to keep him distracted. "I''m not sure either. I just heard that name somewhere. It sounded like an important name." Lia ignorantly answered. "If it was an important name, I''m sure I would''ve heard it." Azekiel had his past and present memories. He also had the memories of two other Kings. All memoriesbined, it was the first time he was hearing the name, so he believed it couldn''t be that important. "Maybe." Lia agreed. Maybe there really wasn''t anything for her to worry about, she thought. "I don''t know why Osiris would mention that name. Was he trying to trouble me again? Or was it just a joke? He didn''t sound like he was joking though. Something about his tone really gave me the feeling that he was as serious as he could be about the threat to Azekiel.'' Lia gazed at Azekiel''s back, who was walking in the lead since only he knew the direction, seemingly lost in thoughts. ''In any case, I need to protect Azekiel. Even if he hadn''t asked, I would''ve done it. It''s my job to protect Azekiel. As long as he lives, my spirit lives.'' ***** "It seems you two went there. Do you have anything to say for yourself?" In a dark ce, a grim voice was heard. "It''s none of your concern. I didn''t break any rules. I just went to see her." Another voice came in response, seemingly belonging to Osiris. "Heh, I also wanted to meet an old friend. Too bad he didn''t remember anything. It was fun nheless." Another amused voice came. "Don''t worry. I know what to do and what not to do. I didn''t tell them anything that I shouldn''t." "And you?" The first voice asked again. "Osiris." "I don''t tell them anything either. I just met them and returned." Osiris answered. "There was nothing wrong in it. Moreover, I decided to go down after him. So if anything, he''s at fault. If he could go down, I could too. Yet, none of you have anything to worry about." For a moment, there wasplete silence. Only some barely audible voices could be heard as if there were more people here than just three. "You would''ve been more believable if you hadn''t chosen that ce to meet them where even we can''t hear or see you. But this one time, we will believe you and let it go. Something like this should never happen again, or you know the consequences... For you and for them¡­." Chapter 77 77: Lifeless "Raphael, can I ask you a question?" On the way to the temple, Azekiel asked, breaking the silence. "Anything." "If you were a boy who had a stepmother who hated you... And she sent you away from her, essentially abandoning you and making you leave your own home. Would you hate her?" Azekiel asked. Throughout the way, he had been trying to make sense of the young spirit''s actions, yet he couldn''te up with a logical conclusion. He wondered if Raphael could make some sense of it. Raphael tried to imagine himself in the situation that Azekiel talked about. "Possibly. I can''t say for sure since I''ll have to be in that situation myself to know what I''ll do, but most probably, I won''t like her if she does that." "What about you, Lia?" "If my mother was like that, I''ll surely hate her to my core. Fortunately, my mother was nothing like that." "Alright, suppose she kicked you out of your home, abandoning you. And along the way, you die. Right before yourst breath, you find out that the same mother who kicked you out, cing you in such grave harm''s way, was also in danger. What would yourst wish be? Would it be for her to be safe?" "What kind of idiot would wish for the safety of a crappy person like that as theirst wish right before death? If she hadn''t sent them out, they wouldn''t have died. She''s also partially responsible. In a situation like that, who would ask to protect her? Instead, myst wish would be to have revenge on the ones who killed me." Lia''s answer came swiftly. She didn''t even have to think twice before deciding what she would''ve wanted. Azekiel wasn''t surprised. He had expected this to be her answer as well. Even for him, he didn''t believe he would have the safety of a person like that as hisst wish. Then why would the young Prince want that as hisst wish? Just what kind of person was he? "What about you, Raphael? What would yourst wish be?" Lia asked Raphael, seemingly curious. "Is it also revenge?" "My wish would be for survival. I would wish to survive that adversity so I can take care of my revenge myself," Raphael answered. "Yeah, there''s that option as well." Azekiel frowned. "He could''ve asked me to save himself as well, yet he chose that woman. I don''t understand why?" "Who are you talking about? Is it about a Spirit?" "Yeah. The story I told you was the life story of the Spirit who made me clear the Floor. It was a ten-year-old boy''s spirit." Azekiel exined the entire story as he had seen. "If hisst wish was about you saving his mother, then how did you clear the floor already? That wish should be impossible to fulfill." Lia couldn''t make sense of it. The floor was cleared with the wish that was impossible to be fulfilled. "I made a Blood and Soul Pact with the Spirit that I''ll fulfill his wish when I have the resources to do it in the future. He epted the pact," Azekiel exined. Hearing about the Blood Pact, Lia''s face went pale. She couldn''t help but stare at Azekiel in disbelief. "A Blood and Soul Pact? Have you gone crazy? You know a Blood and Soul pact has a time limit of seven days? If you don''t finish what you promised in seven days, you''ll die! How could you be so stupid?!" "Don''t worry. Seven days are more than enough to finish this pact." He knew how far he was from the Temple. It was only a matter of time before he got to the Time Stone. And from there, he believed it wasn''t even going to take a day to finish this wish of the Cold Prince. "I don''t understand either. How will you fulfill this wish? Isn''t that Spirit''s mother already dead? Is that even possible to save it, Unless..." Unlike Lia, Raphael managed to figure out something. If Azekiel was so confident, that meant he already had a n for it. That could only mean one thing. "Is there a way to fulfill the wish inside the Temple?" Azekiel only smiled in response. "There is a way to fulfill everyone''s wish inside that temple. You''ll know what I mean when we get there." Azekiel had already left the range of the trial zone of the third floor, entering into the barrennds. There was no rubble in this part of the rubble, only a barrennd as far as the eyes could see. After walking for two hours straight, Azekiel finally managed to get a glimpse of the Temple in question. It appeared to be a beautiful white temple with mysterious golden letters covering it from every side. It was exactly as it was in the memories. Even the two statues standing near the entrance became apparent the closer they moved to the Temple. "Yeah, the first one is the statue of Osiris. I''ve no idea who the second statue is supposed to be." Amongst the two statues, only the first one was recognizable to Lia. It was the same case for Azekiel. Even he didn''t know who the second statue belonged to, yet that wasn''t of concern. The second statue was just as majestic as the first, if not more. It appeared to belong to a really dignified man who was donning warrior Armor and held a stone ax in his hands. While the first statue appeared to belong to the Kingly Osiris, who seemed more like a schr, the second appeared to belong to a Warlord. "It doesn''t matter who that statue belongs to. Just know that they cane alive at any moment. Even though we have both the keys needed to enter the temple, it''s still better to be safe." Azekiel was already holding onto the two books that were supposed to be the key to entering that mysterious temple. **** Just as Azekiel had approached the Temple on the third floor, a mysterious woman came out of the third-floor portal. A strange mark on her forehead shone briefly as she nced in the direction of the Temple. The girl had no expressions on her face. Her eyes remained nk, as if she wasn''t in her senses. She was the same woman who had recently entered the Tower of Sins. People on Floor Zero were already looking for her, wondering where she had disappeared. Meanwhile, she was already on the third floor, which shouldn''t have been possible since the Floor could only be essed by the Lords of Sins who cleared other floors. For some mysterious reason, she had managed to get ess to this floor without having to clear the other floors. A mysterious voice kept echoing in the youngdy''s head, issuing her the instructions on what she had to do. Through her eyes, there was another person who was seeing everything that she was seeing, and that person wasn''t even inside the Tower of Sins. The youngdy also started advancing in the same direction that Azekiel had selected as if she knew what was there. Chapter 78 78: A New World A terrifying storm engulfed all thend. As far as the eyes could see, there was nothing but wreckage and destruction. Thousands of trees were uprooted. A strange mist was surrounding thend, floating within a few inches of the group. The Sky kept roaring as lightning shes, apanied by booming sounds as heavy rainshed thend. The winds were cold yet flew at tremendous speeds. "I must say, when you said we would be entering a Temple, this wasn''t what I expected to see." Lia observed her surroundings, amazed. As soon as they passed through the gates of the Temple, it was as if they had entered an entirely new world altogether, one that was going through multiple natural disasters at once. "Me neither, but it''s not entirely unexpected. The Temple was less of a building, and more like a portal to this world, it seems. If I''m not wrong, this world... It''s the true temple of Gods." Raphael could only theorize, yet he had no confirmation. "At least you two aren''t the ones being drenched in this rain." A tired voice chimed in, attracting their attention to it. Raphael scratched the back of his head, noticing Azekiel, who was drenched from top to bottom due to the rain. Not only was rain troubling him but also the cold and other factors. Unlike him, Raphael and Lia werepletely dry. Since they were in their Spirit Forms, the Rain or other such things couldn''t affect them much. Azekiel hid the two books inside his clothes to protect them from this rain. "We should''ve prepared for something like this before entering, but we can''t even go back now either. The entrance has disappeared. It''s like we are trapped here." He hadn''t even moved one step after passing through the door of the Temple, and now there was nothing behind him for miles. "We need to find a shelter first and then see the map to pinpoint our location. That should tell us where we need to go." "I doubt we can find a shelter that easily." Lia grimaced. "Looking at the storm, any nearby shelter should''ve been destroyed. Not even a single tree is left intact." "We can''t just sit idly in any case." Azekiel stepped forward. "U-" Poof~ As soon as Azekiel took a single step ahead, he disappeared. "What? Did he disappear? Where did he go?" Even though Azekiel disappeared, Lia and Raphael were left behind. As the two spirits were left speechless, Azekiel came back, a few meters ahead from where he had disappeared. He appeared to be even more drenched now. "This damned ce!" "Teleportation?!" Lia eximed. She had seen Azekiel disappear on one spot and appear on another. "It''s not teleportation." Azekiel rolled his eyes. "It''s the damn ground. Because of the mist floating close to the ground, we can''t see what''s ahead. There was a deep hole before me which was filled with water." He didn''t need to tell more for the two Spirits to understand what happened. Azekiel fell into the hole and had to swim to the other edge from where he came out. "Even the books arepletely drenched now. It''s not good." Even though he hid the books inside his clothes, he couldn''t protect them as his entire body was submerged in the water. Fortunately, he wasn''t inside the water for too long. "If we can''t find a shelter, the books might be ruinedpletely. But even moving is risky here." Azekiel''s feet were hidden by the mist, just like most of the ground. He couldn''t even see what was before him, let alone decide on how to move. Each step was like walking in andmine where he had no idea what was ahead. There might even be a cliff at some distance, and he could fall straight off the cliff if he weren''t careful. "You stay here. It''s better you leave the search to us. Since each movement for you is so time-consuming, I''ll look for a ce. Only after confirming the direction, you shall move." Raphael came up with a n as the rain continuedshing around. His two beautiful wings made an appearance once again, taking him straight into the sky, giving him an even better view of the surroundings. Still, the rain was an obstruction, decreasing the visibility. If it wasn''t for the rain, Raphael could''ve seen even farther, but now he needed to move constantly to observe the surroundings. Raphael selected a random direction and shot ahead. "It must be so good to have wings. He makes me so jealous sometimes." Lia observed Raphael leave, showing slight jealousy. Azekiel moved his wet hair that were covering his eyes to the side before ncing at Lia. "If you knew more about him, instead of being jealous, you would be more d that you aren''t him." "More about him? Like what?" Lia had no idea what Azekiel was talking about. Was there something about him that was so bad that it would make people d that they weren''t him? It wasn''t surprising that she didn''t know since she wasn''t summoned when Raphael told Azekiel about this, and since then, he hadn''t talked about this. Still, believing this could help Lia understand what Raphael went through each moment, Azekiel told her everything. He talked about the curse of Raphael. While Azekiel talked about Raphael''s curse and how he was always being tormented by hunger, Raphael was searching the surroundings in this heavy storm to find any ce they could take shelter. He went from once to ce, traveling over ten kilometers in each direction to ensure he didn''t miss anything. Unfortunately, he didn''t find anything. He increased his range to over a twenty-kilometer radius after failing. There was nothing even within a twenty-kilometer range. Raphael increased the search range even more. "It''s been over two hours. Will he be fine?" Lia was starting to get worried about Raphael, who had left a long time ago. He still wasn''t back. "He is in his Spirit Form, so nothing can harm him. So don''t worry." Even though Azekiel said that, on the inside, even he was worried, especially after he had seen Raphael in that darkness, almost losing himself and his mind. On the inside, he was worried if something like that could happen again. He tried to stay positive. **** Outside the Temple, a young woman approached the entrance with her calm steps, only to stop a few meters away from the entrance. The Two Statues that were guarding the ce appeared to being back to life. The first statue slowly opened his eyes. The statue of Osiris was woken up first, followed by the second mysterious statue. The two giant statues gazed at the youngdy who looked like an ant before them. "You can''t enter. Leave." Generally, the Statues would''ve told thedy that she could only enter after having the two books. Unfortunately, there was no chance for her to get the books since Azekiel already had the two of them, so they straight refused her, not even bothering to exin anything. The young girl didn''t turn back though. She shed a devilish smile. "I didn''te here to go back." Chapter 79 79: Lenora Three years ago~ "Mom, stop treating me like a baby. I am a big girl now." "Heh, no matter how big you get. You''ll always be my little baby girl, Lenora. Now stopining and let your mother do your hair. They need some care." A young girl sat on a chair, facing a mirror that reflected her beautiful face, which appeared somewhat embarrassed. Her mother stood behind her,bing the young girl''s hair against her wishes. "Hmph. Fine." The Young Girl appeared to ept begrudgingly. "Just don''t make the twin tails today. Everyoneughs at me outside when they see me. It''s honestly embarrassing. You have no idea!" "Why would theyugh? My baby girl looks so beautiful with twintails." The middle-aged womanughed heartily, making the young Lenora squint her eyes. Boom~ The mother and daughter pair appeared to be in their own zone, chatting, when a loud noise shocked them. It was as if there was a loud explosion outside, which even made the ground tremble. Both the women were horrified. "You stay right here! I''ll check what happened." Instructing her daughter to stay back, the Woman ran to the door, wondering what this explosion was. She believed it was possibly an explosion in the electricity grid since that was the only ce that could explode. The people in their town didn''t use anything else that could. The middle-aged woman opened the door, worrying if anyone got injured in the explosion. Unfortunately, something even worse was waiting for her outside. Her eyes widened at the sight. An uncontrolled scream came out of her mouth in fear as she tried to force the door shut. Unfortunately, it was toote. A three feet long spike shot straight to her, impaling her chest. The woman''s body flew back with the spike, crashing into the wall behind. "Mom!" Lenora roared. Her face turned pale as she dashed to her mother, trying to bring out the spike from her chest. "Mom, talk to me! Nothing will happen to you!" Lenora was so concerned about her mother that she didn''t even think about anything else or where the attack came from. A dark figure entered the house, growling. The figure appeared like that of a wolf, yet there was a difference. The ck wolf had three tails for some reason, and even worse, it had a horn on his head which was three feet tall, lookingpletely identical to the spike that had impaled the young girl''s mother The middle-aged woman weakly gazed at the dark creature in the back. "Le...nora... Run." Even though the woman was on herst few breaths, she still held on, trying to ensure that her daughter got out of there safely. The entire floor was covered in blood. The young woman grabbed the back of the spike before pulling it out of her chest. "Lenora! Run!" She pushed Leonora, using whateverst bit of strength she had before dashing to the beast in the distance. "Nooo!" Lenora roared as tears covered her face at the sight of her mother''s body being split in half, being torn by the sharp teeth of the beast. Despite giving in her all, the woman couldn''t fight back. It was impossible to fight back against this beast. Lenora felt her hand trembling, watching the sight of her mother being eaten by the beast, who appeared to be distracted. She was horrified at the sight, feeling like she was going to vomit. She was also scared, barely resisting fainting. Her breathing fastened. Her heart was racing. She pushed her body up, unwilling to let her mother''s life be sacrificed for nothing. She needed to escape! She ran straight to the window. The beast heard the movement, gazing in the direction of Lenora. Its teeth were already covered in blood. Despite being hungry, the beast chased after Lenora like it was going to rip her to pieces. Its horn also shot straight at Lenora like a bullet, simr to how her mother was attacked. Fortunately, Lenora used her athletic talents and jumped out the window at the right time, barely avoiding the Spike which was targeting her head. Unfortunately, she still wasn''t safe as the beast also jumped out. Lenora was still running, yet due to jumping out so hurriedly, she lost her bnce, falling to the ground. Hearing the roar of the beast, she turned around to find the beast jumping straight at her like she was its prey. Bang~ Bang~ Bang~ A banging sound came, followed by another and then another. One after another, five bullets were fired in quick session, each hitting the beast. Two of the bullets even hit the head of the beast, killing it right away, yet his limp body continued to be in motion, almost falling on Lenora. Fortunately, Leonora rolled to the side at the right time, avoiding the body of the beast falling on her. "Are you alright?" A man rushed to Lenora, holding his gun firmly. Tearful eyes of Lenora gazed at the man who had killed the beast. She got up and straight rushed into the arms of the man, sobbing. "Dad, mom... She... She... is dead. This beast killed her! I was so scared!" Before Lenora said anything, he was about to ask about his wife and why Lenora was alone outside, yet she answered before he could ask. The man was taken aback to hear that his wife was dead. He patted his daughter''s back gently. "Everything''s going to be fine. I promise. You don''t worry about a single thing." **** Two years ago~ "Dad, this news about there being a tower, could that really be true? A tower which provides absolute protection from the beasts?" Lenora asked her father, hiding inside a bunker as the city outside was run over by monsters. "The news does seem to be urate, but even I can''t bepletely sure. I''ve only heard about it. It might all turn out to be a rumor. But still, it''s worth checking out. If there''s indeed a ce where we can start civilizations without having to worry about being killed, then it''s certainly worth trying." **** One year ago~ "We aren''t too far from the destination. It might take a few months more if there are no obstructions," Lenora''s father said. However, there was a look of sadness on his face as well. He had lost more than half his team already in this journey which was bing even more perilous the closer they got to the tower. "I promise Leonora; I will take you to the Tower. We will reach out new. And then we won''t have to worry about anything!" **** Present day~ Lenora stood at the entrance of the Temple. However, the two statues that used to stand at the entrance were missing. Instead, only their rubble could be seen as if the two statues were destroyed. There were craters all around the field as if a battle had taken ce. There also appeared to be a scratch on the right cheek of Lenora, which bled. Lenora wiped the blood off her cheeks. "I told you to clear my path." Lenora pushed the door open and entered the Temple of Gods as well. Chapter 80 80: Rain "It''s been really long. I should go check." As more time passed, Lia became even more concerned for Raphael. He had left a long time ago and wasn''t back. He was just looking for a shelter. It shouldn''t have taken him that long. And even if he couldn''t find a shelter, he should''ve been back by now. "Don''t be stupid. You can''t fly. You can''t find him even if you leave. Instead, you''ll get lost yourself." Azekiel refused to even consider the suggestion. He didn''t want to be in a situation where he sent Lia to look for Raphael, only for her to get lost herself. It was much better to wait for Raphael''s return. "Knowing him, he is probably trying to find Shelter even now. He isn''t the kind of person who will return without sess. As I said before, it''s not easy to find a shelter. Even if there were one, it would''ve been destroyed by this storm." "Does that mean he will never return if he can''t find a shelter? We can''t just stay here waiting for him for months." "Months...." Azekiel muttered, gazing at the mist-covered ground. It just hit him how optimistic he had been when he made that Blood and Soul Pact. The pact only gave him seven days. When he made the pact, he thought the Temple was going to be like that from the inside. He thought it was going to be a closed space where he could get to the end within a few days. ording to his initial n, seven days were more than enough for him toplete the task. Unfortunately, the Temple was nothing like he imagined. It had an entire world on the inside, which made the search even harder. On top of that, this storm created even more trouble. If it was really going to take a month, then it was a real headache. He didn''t have a month. He couldn''t waste that much time or even close to that. "We can''t afford a month." He agreed with Lia. "Right. I''ll go in the direction he went and try to find him." "I didn''t say you can leave. You''ll stay here. I still have some Soul Energy left. It''s not enough to summon him to the material world, but it can summon his soul inside me temporarily. If I need to tell him to return, I''ll use that. But let''s give him some time first." "If he isn''t back in a few hours, I''ll call him back myself." "Soul Summon? Can you also summon me inside your body if needed?" Lia inquired. Azekiel nodded. "I should be able to, but I would prefer not to. In my body, If I need someone, I''ll summon Raphael. He can keep me safe while fighting since he is a long-range and a short-range fighter. You''re only a long-range spellcaster. If it is my body in a battle, Raphael''s soul it''ll be." "Hmph, who even wants to enter a man''s body. I''m happy with Ordinary Summons." Lia rolled her eyes. "That aside, it seems to be a pretty convenient skill. It''s like an instant connection. If you have that, I don''t need to worry, it seems. We can wait a few more hours." She folded her arms, looking up at the sky as the rain droplets passed through her soul. "It would''ve been so nice to feel the rain again." She spoke in a barely audible voice, yet Azekiel managed to hear. "Do you like rain?" As it was just a long wait with nothing better to do, Azekiel took an interest in Lia''s life. Even though he knew quite a lot about the lives of his two Familiars, he still wanted to know more since those two were like his partners on this journey for now. "I used to love the rain. Where I lived, there rarely used to be rain, but whenever it rained, I used to be so happy. Now that I think about it, it also rained that day..." "That day...?" "The day I was burned. It was raining that day as well. Just a light shower, which couldn''t even quench the mes that burned every inch of my body." While talking, Lia appeared to lose herself in the memories. "What about you?" she asked, pulling herself out of those memories, remembering that it wasn''t good to lose herself in those dark memories. "I am not too fond of this rain." Lia only shed a smile in response. "How unfortunate. I like rain yet can''t feel it. You don''t like rain, yet you''re facing this storm, even taking dips in the water." "By the way, is there any particr reason you don''t like rain?" she asked, gazing at the young man who was wet from top to bottom. "You mean other than the fact that it''s creating an obstruction in an important mission of mine?" Lia chuckled. "Yeah, other than that, any reason?" "Hmm. Honestly, even I didn''t have the answer to that question until a few years back. I''d grown up hating rain for some reason, even avoiding rain altogether." "It wasn''t because I didn''t like water either. It was just something inside me. Like a feeling that I hated rain..." "Well, many people hate rain for no reason. It''s not too strange, I guess." Lia reacted. "Wait, I''m slow. Did you say you didn''t know the answer until a few years ago? Does that mean you know why you hate rain now? There really is a reason?" "Yeah, there seems to be a reason." "What''s the reason then?" "I-" "I found a ce!'' Azekiel was about to speak, but right then, another voice intervened as a figurended before him. "I''ve found a shelter. It''s forty kilometers away from here," Raphael exined. He was finally back. "Forty kilometers? That''s not close at all. In this rain, it might take over half a day to even get there." Lia grimaced. "Especially with all the water and the fog, it might even be harder." "That''s true. It might even take close to a day." Raphael agreed. "But the storm doesn''t seem like it''ll stop for a long time either. It''s not an ordinary storm, so we can''t stay here either. It''s better we keep moving." "This storm is spread for forty kilometers?" Azekiel asked. That was really quite a long area for this kind of storm. Raphael shook his head. "The storm only covers slightly over thirty kilometers. After that point, the weather is clear. That''s why the one shelter I could find was in that range. Everything under the storm is destroyed." "What if we walked forty kilometers, only to have the storm extend further and destroy that shelter too? And what if that''s the wrong direction for the map? Forty kilometers is too long to travel without a n, especially when we don''t know the direction we need to take ording to the map." Azekiel rubbed the back of his neck in frustration. He had thought that there was going to be a shelter in a nearby range where they could get easily. It could make things easier for them, but if it was too far, there were many factors that came into y, including the importance of time, which theycked. "Do we have any other option?" Lia asked. "Only one," Azekiel softly said, seemingly lost in some thought. "If we can''t get to a Shelter, we need to bring a shelter to us." Chapter 81 81: Bringing The Shelter "Hmm? Bring a shelter here? Is that even possible?" Not only Lia but even Raphael had no idea what Azekiel was talking about. How could they bring a shelter here? "It''s not going to be easy, but I think it''s possible," Azekiel affirmed. "I still don''t understand how you''re going to bring a shelter here. If you could do that, why didn''t you do it at the start?" That was the biggest question in Lia''s head. From what Azekiel said before, he didn''t like rain at all. If he could really bring a shelter here, she didn''t believe he would''ve waited so long before highlighting it. "I didn''t mean bringing a shelter here in a literal sense," Azekiel softly stated. "What I meant is making a shelter for our own. It''s better than nothing." He could see many trees in their nearby vicinity that were just lying on the ground, uprooted. There were tens of such trees right beside them, with more being in the distance. "There are many uprooted trees here. Since there is no better option, we might as well make a shelter ourselves, at least something that could protect us from rain, giving us time to go through the new maps." Azekiel carefully moved toward the closest tree. Unlike before, he didn''t walk without care. Before taking each step, he tapped the Ground ahead with his foot to make sure there wasn''t a hole in the ground like before. Because of this excess caution, it took him quite some time to cover a small distance. "As expected. There are more." Noticing another puddle of deep water, he changed his path a bit before moving forward. Throughout the time, the heavy rain hadn''t slowed down even a little. It was like an eternal rain that remained constant, not intensifying but not slowing down either. Unfortunately, there was no way to avoid this rain. Azekiel stopped before one of the fallen trees, merely a few inches away from him. "Making shelter from them will be time-consuming." Raphael theorized. "Especially in this rain. If only you could summon me now, I could''ve taken you straight to the shelter I found through the air." "I don''t have enough energy to summon you. I can only do a Spiritual Summon, which won''t help you much. Unless I have some secret wings that you can bring out, but I doubt." He opened the System Screen, going straight to his Weapons. p "Let''s see how sharp the Gauntlets are." He called out his Weapon of Sin, which now had another form unlocked... The Hammer of Gluttony. However, he didn''t n to use the Second Form, which was more suited for battles. Currently, he needed the Gauntlets themselves, which were as sharp as des. The two metallic Gauntlets appeared around each of his hands. The two books remained tucked inside his clothes as he kept both his hands free. "I''m already hungry, and now this... This wasn''t how I expected this day to go." After slightints, Azekiel got to work and started slicing the massive tree, making it thinner and sharper from the bottom. Initially, it was confusing as to what he was doing as he kept slicing. What was amazing was the Gauntlets which worked even better than a sword, giving him more control on the slices. It was only after the tree started shaking shape did it be clear what Azekiel was making. "He''s making something akin to a spike. Possibly to be used as pirs. Not bad. This boy..." Lia smiled. "He is not half bad." Raphael stood still, having his arms folded as he watched Azekiel working all alone, somewhat dejected that he couldn''t help Azekiel. Finally, Azekiel managed to finish with the first pir, giving it a thickness of just over twenty inches. He made the bottom of the tree as sharp as he could so it could easily prate the ground. "That''s one." He moved over to another tree, creating something simr. One after another, he kept grilling the trees, making them take the shape that he needed. He created eight spiked pirs and four pirs without any spike at the bottom. After creating the pirs, he moved over to other trees which were even bigger in size, slicing them t to create something that could be ced on the roof. After around half an hour, he finally stopped, letting out a sigh of relief. "That should be enough. I''m done." He would''ve been covered in sweat after working for so long if his body wasn''t already wet due to the constant rain. Finally, he sent the gauntlets back, freeing his hands before sitting on a fallen tree to get some rest. Raphael sat on one side of him while Lia sat on the other. "Are you alright?" Lia inquired. "If I''m not alright after this much, how will I achieve my true goals? There is still a lot I need to do in this World. Many scores to settle... Many lives to take... This much won''t affect me." "I hope it''s all worth it, and the map doesn''t just show a path to where you found the shelter. That would be pretty upsetting." He stood up, having only a short rest before moving to the spiked pirs. He grabbed one of the pirs. The pirs were so heavy that it would''ve usually taken multiple people even to pick one up, let alone carry it from one ce to another. Fortunately, even though Azekiel hadn''t cleared as many floors as other Kings, he still had equal stats to most of them, if not more. All because of his Soul Snatch and became he had killed Two Kings already. He had many times more strength than an ordinary human was supposed to possess. Picking up the pir wasn''t very hard. "Here I go." He aimed the spiked end to the ground before stabbing it with his full force behind. The ground was already not too hard, and the rain only worked to make it easier for the spike to prate the ground. Azekiel stabbed the spiked pir three meters deep into the ground and only stopped after making sure that the spike was firm enough. He picked another spike and selected a different direction to stab it. One after another, he stabbed three pirs in a straight line, barely two meters away from each other. Simrly, he stabbed three more spikes in a parallel line, leaving a five-meter gap between the two parallel sides. Ultimately, he stabbed one each toplete the edges of his shelter. While Azekiel was making a shelter, the two Spirits were distracted by him, not focusing on anything else. In any case, they hadn''t expected anyone else toe here. If they were more aware of their surroundings, they could''ve seen another figure appear in the distance, not too far from them. It was the figure of a girl who had an intriguing yet strange mark on her head. The young woman gazed at Azekiel, who was attempting to make a shelter. Lenora had just destroyed the two statues outside to enter the Temple of Gods, only to end up in the same ce as Azekiel. There was barely twenty meters of distance between the two sides. Chapter 82 82: Curse I Two sharp des made purely of zing energy appeared in each of her hands as Lenora took a first step in the direction of Azekiel. It appeared as if she intended to hurt Azekiel. Unfortunately, something appeared to change at that moment. She stopped and gazed at the distant horizon to the south. Lenora stood still as if she was lost in some thought or waiting for some instructions. After a brief moment, she sent her energy des back. Instead, she flicked her fingers in the direction of Azekiel before she changed her direction and started walking to the south,pletely in the opposite direction to Azekiel. Following the flick of her finger, a gentle gust of wind moved toward Azekiel, not having any significant force behind it. In fact, the wind was so weak that it couldn''t even be felt. Some mysterious energy appeared to be mixed with the wind, which couldn''t be seen by the naked eye. It was unclear if Lenora could see through the mist but what was evident was that she avoided all the ditches in the ground as she left without having to slow down. Before long, she disappeared from sight. On the other hand, Azekiel kept working on the contribution of a shelter. He had already arranged the pirs. He didn''t feel the need to create a wall. The only thing that was left was the roof on top and the beams to support the roof. He used some really firm vines to tie the entire thing. It wasn''t easy to create a shelter of this quality, all alone. The first part was easy, but this was where theplications started. Since he couldn''t fly, it proved to be really hard to get to the top each time, carrying the carved pieces. Another hour passed, and Azekiel was still working on giving the final touches. "It certainly would''ve been easier if I could''ve summoned Raphael. This took so long." Azekiel sat on the roof, tying everything to make the shelter even more secure. After tying thest knot, he jumped down tond on the ground. "There it is... Our shelter." Standing on the other, still equally drenched, he gazed at his creation. There were no walls, but there was a roof to protect them from rain and the support this ce needed. He brought a couple more tree trunks and ced them on the ground inside his shelter, making something akin to a bed and to give them some high where they could sit without having their feet buried under the water. Finally, his shelter wasplete with a roof to protect them from rain and a bed where they could sit. Although the bed was not somethingfortable, it didn''t matter. It wasn''t like they needed to stay here for an eternity. He wasn''t nning to sleep here either. p He walked inside the shelter he had created and climbed on the wooden bed. Finally, he could bring the two books out of his clothes. He brought the two books out. Despite his protection, the two books were already drenched entirely, yet he knew it could''ve been worse. He kept both the books on the bed, leaving them to dry. He also took off his wet shirt, only leaving his pants, and that too because Lia was here. "We should''ve packed some extra clothes too." Raphael sat beside Azekiel. "You''ve been in the rain for a long time. You might get cold." "We will have to pass through this rainstorm once again. Still, I don''t worry about that." "What are you worried about? The time limit of the oath?" Azekiel shook his head. Instead, he tapped his stomach, highlighting that he was hungry. He wanted to say that this hunger was torturous, but he avoided saying anything extra just because Raphael was here. Could he reallyin about hunger before Raphael, who faced this torment every second? It was going to be like someoneining about being in the rain for a minute to someone who spent his entire life in the rain. "If you''re starving, you can use the Escape Orb to go to the lower floor from here, then use one to get back on this floor." "I already considered that idea, but it''s not feasible. The Escape Orb will only take me to the floor entrance where we first appeared. In my case, that would be the battlefield on the second floor. Traveling to the closest City will take hours. And then when Ie back, I''ll have to walk back to the Temple again before I cane here." "This would take around ten to twelve hours even if I''m fast. That''s the time I can''t afford to lose, especially with the Blood Oath." To distract himself from his hunger, Azekiel shifted his attention to the two books. "The Statues said that the correct map will appear inside the two books as soon as we enter the Temple along with the instructions." Now that he didn''t have to worry about the watering from the top, Azekiel arranged the two wet books right beside each other. The pages of the Book were so wet that it was easy to tear the page identally. It demanded a lot of care. Azekiel reached out his hand to open the first book. [Warning: You are about to open the Cursed Book. Are you sure you want to continue?] As soon as Azekiel''s fingers touched the book, a system warning appeared before him, alerting him. He retracted his hand instantly. "Cursed Book?" "There was no warning like that when I opened the bookst time? Why so suddenly?" He had opened the book many times in the past to memorize the brief map that was inside the book. Unfortunately, it was only when he met the two statues at the entrance of the Temple that he was told that the maps in the book were old maps and that new maps were going to appear in the book after he entered the Temple. That didn''t change the fact that he had opened the book before. What changed suddenly? Why was he being warned about the book? "Is it because the book is inside the Temple? It became cursed for some reason? What kind of curse..." Just to be sure, he touched the book again, and the same warning appeared before him. Frowning, he moved his hand to the right and touched the second book. For some strange reason, this time, there was no warning. "Strange. There''s no warning with the second book. So only the first one is cursed?" Chapter 83 83: Curse II "What do you think?" Azekiel asked for Raphael''s opinions since he was more knowledgeable than him in such extraordinary matters. "As you said, the book wasn''t cursed beforeing here. For some reason, it is cursed now. I am not sure of the reason behind it, but I think you shouldn''t open the first book." Raphael didn''t feel like it was worth taking the risk. The curse of the Book could be anything. It could put them at an even bigger disadvantage than the book could give an advantage. "Without the first book, we won''t have theplete map. Each of the books is supposed to contain one-half of the map." Azekiel rubbed the back of his neck, seemingly mentally tired. First, the Blood and Soul Oath, which only gave him seven days, then this troublesome world instead of an indoor temple, and now even their map came with a curse. It was as if his luck was really bad. "But you''re also right. There''s a risk in opening the first one." "I might have an idea." Lia chimed in. "What idea?" "The book has a curse, right?" "That''s what we were talking about. What about it?" "If you open the book, that curse will strike you. But the answer to our problems also lies in that same statement, doesn''t it?" "What are you trying to say? Can''t you be direct?" Azekiel was so distracted by the curse, he couldn''t think straight for the moment. Raphael, on the other hand, appeared to understand what Lia was implying. His eyes lit up. "If you''re saying what I think you are, then it''s a pretty clear idea. Not bad, Lia. How could we forget such a basic thing? We were worrying for no reason." "What basic thing? Will anyone tell me as well?" Generally, Azekiel was very perceptive and easily understood things, yet this time he couldn''t since his head was already overwhelmed by other things. "As I said, the curse only works when you open the book. But we also can''t get the map in the book without opening it. So how about we just have someone else open the book? We can make any random person open the book," Lia exined her n, shing a cheeky smile. "We don''t need to worry about the curse at all." "Even if the curse works, it''ll work on that person, and we''ll be scot-free." Raphael agreed. "We can also memorize the map so we wouldn''t need to open the book again. This is the best option we have where we only stand to gain." "That''s true, but we''ll need to find a person first for that, don''t we? There isn''t anyone else in this ce. We would need to leave this Rainforest first, which means walking over thirty kilometers. Don''t the original problem still stand? We might be walking in the wrong direction and waste a day." Even though the n was good, Azekiel could still see some minor problems in it that he didn''t want to ignore. "Just give me a minute. Let me see if we can get a high idea on the direction with half the map." He opened the second book. As expected, there was no warning this time. He kept flipping the pages, looking for a map. The more pages he turned, the more his expressions turned dark. "It''s empty?" Lia thought out loud. "Where is the map?" The old map was on the first few pages of the Book. ording to the Statue of Osiris, the old map was going to change into a new one. Let alone changing to a new one, even the old map itself had disappeared. "Could it be that we need to open both the books to see the map?" Raphael thought of a possibility. If the two books were a pair, each possessing one-half of the map, then it was quite possible that they also worked in sync, only showing the new map when both the books were open? "I hope that''s not the case. That will bring us back to square one," Azekiel muttered as he continued flipping the pages. He really hoped that it wasn''t as Raphael described because in that case, they could only take a random guess on which direction to take for now. "There it is!" Azekiel sighed a breath of relief, finally discovering the map. It was right at the center of the Book. He finally rxed. Having half the map was better than having no map. Right at the edge of the map, there appeared to be a door drawn. Right beside that door, a forest was deposited, which was covered by clouds. "This door is where we entered from. So it does show our path of entry. And we are in this forest. Unfortunately, that''s all of the significant parts that this part of the map shows." "If we are here, and this is there, that means the other part of the map will depict that side of the world. And the ce where you found the shelter should be around this part." Azekiel tapped a point right at the edge of the forest marked on the map. "It seems we made the right decision by not going to the shelter you found. That''s the wrong direction. Even though we don''t have an urate direction on where to go, we do have a general direction, it seems." "The first half of the map holds the answer, and it depicts that part of the world. So we should go there." He pointed to the South. "We might not end up at the right ce, but we won''t be too far from it either." "Agreed." Raphael agreed with the n. "So, shall we get moving?" "Yeah." Azekiel hid the books inside his clothes again to protect them from rain as much as he could before getting off the bed. He left to the south, toward the unknown. Without the map of that part of the world, even he had no idea what he was going to find. He knew he needed the Time Stone, and he was willing to take any risk for that, even walking to the doors of hell if that''s where the Stone of Time was. Because if he didn''t, he was going to die. Azekiel had just started walking South, not realizing that there was another person going in the same direction as him. Moreover, that person had already covered a lot of distance, taking a lead that was difficult for him to cover. Unlike Lenora, Azekiel had to select each step with care since he couldn''t see through the mist. The group of three walked in the rainforest, not speaking much. Only the sound of rain could be heard with asional thundering. "Hey, Azekiel?" After a long time, Lia called out. "Yeah?" "I was curious about that rain thing. You were about to tell me something before Raphael interrupted. What was it about?" Chapter 84 84: Tormenting Rain "What rain thing?" Raphael wondered what he supposedly interrupted. Was it something rted to this first? Did Azekiel know something about this rain? He didn''t even realize how deep his mind went into this. "It''s nothing special. Lia just asked me why I hated rain. I was about to tell you but was distracted by the shelter," Azekiel exined, seeing the questioning gaze on Raphael''s face. "Yeah, so tell me. You said that in the past you didn''t know why you hated the rain, but now you do. So what reason is there?" "Why are you so interested in it?" Azekiel inquired. Water kept sshing with each of his steps. "It''s not a massive secret to be excited about." "I''m just curious. In any case, we are going to be walking for a long time. We might as well have some conversations. So what''s the reason behind it?" Even Raphael was slightly curious. Generally, liking or disliking rain was a personal preference. There wasn''t supposed to be any specific reason behind it. At least none he could think of, except not liking water, but he doubted that it was the case for Azekiel. Since the two were so curious about him, Azekiel also didn''t hold back and started telling them. "I had grown up being scared of rain. All my life, I hated it. I avoided rain as much as possible and didn''t know why. Whenever it rained, I skipped school. There was always this strange feeling in my heart whenever it rained." "In fact, I''m going through it right now as well." He raised both his hands. "This..." Raphael hadn''t noticed it until now, but when Azekiel highlighted it, he could finally see it. Azekiel''s fingers were trembling constantly. It was a minor trembling that only affected the fingers. In fact, if one wasn''t looking carefully, they could easily miss it. "It always happens whenever it''s raining near me." Azekiel lowered his hands. "My family took me to many doctors who checked everything, only toe to a conclusion that it was something psychological and not physical." "Throughout the years, I''ve managed to control myself to some extent. I can stand the rain now, even though I''m still affected by it." The heavy rain keptshing the surroundings as Azekiel talked about his odd condition. Water droplets trickled down his face, forcing him to wipe his face every so often and adjust his hair. "Psychological? I don''t think this will happen for no reason, even if it''s psychological. Did you go through any trauma rted to rain before this condition started?" Lia inquired. "As you already rified, you aren''t affected by water or showers, so it''s certainly specific to rain." "I''m not sure, but I think it''s rted to the first seven years of my life," Azekiel casually answered. "First Seven Years of your life? Why? What happened then?" "No idea." Azekiel shrugged. "I''ve had this condition for as long as I can remember. The only time I can''t remember is the first seven years of my life, so it''s probably something that happened in those seven years." "Did you ask your mother? You were probably very small by then, so it''s not odd that you won''t remember. But your mother should know. Did you not ask her?" Lia frowned. This trauma thing was certainly very fascinating to her since it was the first time she was hearing something like that. "If we can know what caused it, we might be able to help you get out of this trauma," she further added. "Even though you''ve learned to live with it, it''s not healthy. If we can, we should help you get better. So did you ask your mother? She must''ve known something." "She doesn''t know anything either." "How can your mother not know about the first seven years of your life?" "Because she isn''t..." Azekiel stopped in between his words, remembering what had happened on the day of the apocalypse. That was the day he lost the only family he had... "Because she wasn''t my real mother. Despite not being my birth mother, she was everything to me." He had never talked to anyone about this part of his life before, even though there were many who knew about it. "She told me everything as soon as I was old enough to understand it," he further added. "I was seven years old when she found me unconscious at her door." "She took me in, treated me, and waited for me to wake up so I could tell her who I was or my address. But I didn''t remember anything when I woke up. The authorities came." "They tried to look for my family, but even they couldn''t find it. I was sent to an orphanage from where she adopted me the very next day, taking me back to where the life I remember started." "That''s why neither my mother nor I know about the first seven years of my life or how I ended up before her door. In any case, it doesn''t matter anymore. It doesn''t matter who I was in the past. It doesn''t matter what trauma caused this condition for me. I don''t want to look back." "The past only holds pain and torment. I just want to look at the future for now. I don''t want to lose my way. As far as this condition is concerned, it''s not too bad. It doesn''t trouble me as much as it used to do. And maybe one day, this trembling would stop as well." The past was painful. The past he remembered was filled with betrayal and backstabbing. It was covered in his own blood and the screams of his mother when she was killed by a Monster, right before his eyes, telling him to run. The past was already a mess for him. "It''s ironic, isn''t it? I run from my own past, only to end up in a mess rted to someone else''s past. And If I don''te out victorious, I die. I doubt this time my soul will go back in time like thest time. The Blood and Soul Pact won''t even leave my soul intact for that." ? For a moment, Azekiel felt likeughing. His fate was certainly a jumbled mess of luck and back luck. He had luck in the form of getting Raphael, Lia, and by going back in time to receive a system. At the same time, the instances of his bad luck were even more. "Raphael, if you could change your past, would you do it?" he asked, wondering. "Like the Spirit wants you to change its past?" Raphael asked back. Chapter 85 85: Raphaels Regret "Yeah. Just like that Spirit wants to do. If you could change something about your past, would you do it?" Azekiel asked, even though he already knew the answer to the question. Or at least he thought he did. "If I could change a thing in my past, I don''t see any reason not to do it." Raphael had many regrets in his life, which he would''ve loved to change if he could, just like anyone else in this world. Unfortunately, he didn''t believe it was possible at all. "I guess I know what you would change," Azekiel pointed out. "You won''t pluck the apple from the Garden of Eden if I''m not wrong." "That''s not it," Raphael replied, shaking his head. "If I could have an opportunity to change one thing about my past, that won''t be the one thing." "Then what will be?" Azekiel grew slightly surprised. He thought that was going to be Raphael''s demand. What did he mean by ''not it''? Even though Azekiel appeared to be immersed in talking with Raphael, he was still wary of his surroundings. His hands remained wrapped around his stomach, holding onto the two books as he treaded through the water with care. He moved slowly yet steadily, avoiding any troublesome areas. Raphael didn''t answer right away to Azekiel''s questions, seemingly somewhat hesitant. Generally, Azekiel would''ve said that he didn''t need to tell if he didn''t want to, but not this time. He really wanted to know what Raphael wished to change about his past. In case he had the opportunity, he was going to help Raphael achieve it in the future since Raphael had supported him a lot. "You don''t have to tell if you''re ufortable. I''m sure it must be something personal if you''re hesitating." Unfortunately, it was Lia who chimed in, speaking the words that Azekiel avoided. She could feel that Raphael was somewhat ufortable with the question. "It''s fine. It''s in the past, so it doesn''t matter," Raphael admitted without showing much emotion. The only emotions he showed were briefly when he thought about this question. "If I could change any one thing about my past, it would be leaving my brother alive..." Azekiel frowned, wondering if he heard right. Even Lia was surprised. Raphael''s biggest regret was not killing his brother? So instead of changing his past and protecting himself from the curse of hunger, he would rather kill his brother? "Why?" That was the only word Azekiel could let out in his surprise. "Because not killing him is the biggest regret of my life. If I could go back in time to do one thing, the only thing I would do differently is killing him right there with my own hands before he could..." Raphael went silent abruptly, not even finishing his sentence. He took a deep breath as he realized he was on the verge of being swayed by his tormenting emotions. "That aside, what about you, Lia? What would you do?" He swiftly changed the topic. It wasn''t as if no one came to see Raphael''s attempt to change the topic. In fact, it was as evident as the bright sun on a clear day. However, none pointed it out. Even Azekiel didn''t ask despite being curious since he was worried that Raphael might return to the same state as before. He didn''t want to go through that again since, this time, he couldn''t even summon Raphael to the material world to calm him. "One thing I would change? I don''t think I even need to think about it." The water droplets kept passing through Lia''s body as a mncholic smile graced her lips. "I would kill those bastards who killed my sister and my father. I would give them the most brutal death the world has ever seen! In fact, I would make them beg for their death." Most of the time, Lia''s face looked so serene, as if she was a wingless angel who walked this earth, but as she talked about what she would do differently, her expression became darker. Her angelic allure swiftly changed to a demonic charm as she imagined how she would take her revenge. Still, it wasn''t odd. Azekiel already expected that answer from Lia. He knew she was going to select her revenge. The only answer which stunned him here was the answer of Raphael. Unfortunately, he couldn''t ask him more about that at the moment. He kept his focus on the path ahead, walking through the rain. ***** The Third Floor... Almost all the Lords of Sins and Kings passed through this floor to get to the next floor, but there were only two Kings who had ever managed to discover the Temple of Gods, whichy on the outskirts of the third floor. The Temple appeared to be beautiful from the outside. Looking at the Temple, no one could''ve guessed that there was an entirely different world inside the Temple. However, the same could be said about the Tower of Sins itself. At the moment, the rubble of two broken statues was lying before the entrance of the Temple of Gods. The Statues that appeared to possess immense strength were not only defeated but also destroyed, which wasn''t something that could be overlooked. At the moment, a young man stood before the Temple of Gods, gazing at the rubble. The man was dressed in beautiful white attire, donning a white robe on his back as if he was a royal. There appeared to be a princely aura around the young man. There was something really strange about that person though. His body... It appeared to be illusory. It was a semi-transparent body which was see-through to some extent. It was as if the man wasn''t actually here, but a projection of his was. The man had a white dragon tattoo carved on the back of his hand, which appeared to have a life of its own, moving around. "The guardians of the Temple are destroyed." The man rubbed his chin, lost in thought. "There''s also an aura here which shouldn''t be present. Fascinating." "First, those two came down to the third floor, flouting all rules, and now this strange phenomenon. Third Floor is certainly going through some interesting things, it seems." The silver-haired man pped his hands gracefully. Following the p, a small portal opened before him, which was only a meter wide at best. A small mirror floated out of the portal and stopped before the young man, who barely looked to be in his mid-twenties. "Let''s see who decided to mess with the Temple Guardians..." Chapter 86 86: Mirror Of Past The small mirror was only half a meter wide, having a circr shape. The mirror''s edges appeared to be made from the purest form of gold. On the back of the mirror, there was a small carving, seemingly made from gold as well. The carving depicted a beautiful hourss that was half empty on both ends. The man''s projection tapped the center of the mirror, which made the ss turn ck. The hourss on the back of the mirror seemingly reset. As the man stood with his arms behind his back, the mirror started showing some images. As for what it was showing, it was none other than the past itself. The mirror was showing what happened on this floor before his arrival. "So the little King of Gluttony entered, and the Guardians were intact by then." The man nodded. "So he surely didn''t do it." Soon, the mirror started showing another person approaching the two guardians. Seeing that person, a frown engulfed the man''s face. To be specific, it was the mark on her forehead which surprised him. "That mark... No wonder I sensed his Aura. This is more serious than I thought." He grimaced. He watched the girl swiftly destroy the two statues before she entered the Temple of Gods. "He''s using that girl..." The silver-haired man gazed in the distance, frowning. Outside the Tower of Sin, a young man stood on the top of a mountain, gazing at the Majestic Tower in the distance. There was an amusing smile on his face. "I am so close..." The two people were looking in each other''s direction as if they could see each other. **** Twelve hours passed inside the Temple of Gods before Azekiel was finally out of the rainforest. He finally stepped on the drynd, getting out of the rain he hated the most The journey, which shouldn''t have taken them even six hours, took precisely twelve hours, all because of the care they had to take along the way. Fortunately, there was no need for that anymore. Not only was there no rain anymore, but there was also no mist covering the ground. Azekiel stood on the beautiful green grass, which waspletely dry. There was not even a speck of water on the grass. A bright sun gave the surroundingnd the warmth it needed. Azekiel stood under the rain, stretching his arms. After suffering in the rain for twelve hours, he couldn''t describe how relieved he was to see the sun once again. His fingers had also stopped trembling now. He could still see the constant rain in the distance where he came from. The eternal rain was really strange, but he couldn''t care less anymore. If he weren''t in a hurry, he would''ve stayed right there, letting his clothes dry before covering the rest of the journey but time was of the essence. He had seven days, and one day was already gone. That left only six days, and he still didn''t know how far he had to go to get to the Stone of Time. Each second he saved here could be the difference between life and death. "Raphael, can you go ahead and see if you can find any nearest human establishment?" Azekiel asked. Since Raphael was fast and could fly, it was easy for him to go ahead and find ces. It was also better to send him ahead so he could search the surroundings as well, in case they were walking in the wrong direction. Because from where he was standing, Azekiel could only see the nend, filled with grass as far as the eyes could see. Raphael did as he was asked and went ahead. At the same time, Azekiel also walked in the same direction as it was better than wasting time here. Fortunately, this time Azekiel didn''t take as long as before. Within a couple of minutes, he was back. "I see a town nearby. It''s in that direction. But that town... I don''t know why, but something felt strange about it." "What do you mean?" "It was as if the people of the town could see me, which shouldn''t have been possible," Raphael exined. "Though I can''t be entirely sure if they really could see me, but that''s the feeling I received. I think we should be careful with the town. This ce is called Temple of Gods, so it certainly won''t be an ordinary ce." "As long as they can''t see through lies, we should be fine. We just need someone to open the book for us after all," Lia replied. "We don''t need to settle in the town." "Instead of wondering if they can see us or not, I think we should go with the assumption that they can see us. Don''t speak anything about the book or the curse in the town. If they really can see you, they can probably also hear you," she continued, seemingly not worried at all. "As long as we are careful, there''s nothing to worry about." Raphael agreed with her that they shouldn''t speak with the assumption that no one else could hear them. They had a habit of doing that, and it was time to change it, especially when they were inside the town. However, he still felt something wasn''t right. There was a bad feeling inside his heart that wasn''t going away. "Should I look for another instead, just to be safe?" he asked Azekiel. "I don''t think we can afford to waste time like that. This town shall do." Because ofck of time, Azekiel refused the offer and advanced in the direction of the town while bringing out the two books from inside his clothes to give them some warm sunlight so they could dry as well. After twenty minutes of walking, Azekiel reached the entrance of the town; his clothes had be somewhat dry, just not entirely. Fortunately, the books dried faster than his clothes. "So this is the town." He stood at the entrance of the town, which gave him an ancient feeling. The houses in the town weren''t even close to modern. In fact, they couldn''t even be called houses from ancient times. They were something else entirely that Azekiel had never seen before. Each house appeared to be made from the wood that he had seen in the forest. However, what was strange was that it wasn''t as if many wood pieces were used to make the house. None of the houses had a single joint. It was as if the house wasn''t made by cutting wood; instead, the house was made inside the wood itself by slicing the shell. "How could that be?" He didn''t understand how that was possible though. To have that happen, how massive must those trees be? "Why are you three standing there? Come inside." A voice came from somewhere. Chapter 87 87: Unwilling Quest "Why are you three standing there? Come inside." An old-sounding voice came from straight ahead, making everyone look for the source of the voice. Not too far from them, there existed an apple tree near the entrance of the small town. Under the tree, there stood an old man, having a small bag in his hands in which he kept cing the apples he plucked from the tree "Is it just me, or was there no tree there before?" Azekiel frowned. The moment he had arrived here, he had observed the entire surrounding. Even though he didn''t observe with great care, he was sure that the tree wasn''t there before. Let alone the tree; there wasn''t any man there before either. He couldn''t help but wonder if the tree was actually there and was overlooked by him in his excitement of getting to the town. "I don''t recall the tree either, but I can''t say for sure." "I also can''t say for sure." Both Raphael and Lia also appeared to be on the same boat. None of them recalled seeing the tree there, but they also couldn''t say for sure if it was there before or wasn''t. "Why are you three looking at me like that? Come inside the town. It''s not often we get guests." A smile graced the lips of the white-haired man. It was evident that he could see the three of them. The old man filled his bag with the apples to the brim before walking to the entrance of the town, telling everyone to follow him. The man was really weird. It was as if he had appeared out of nowhere, and he could see all of them. Moreover, something was really strange about their first meeting. The plucking of apples... For some reason, Azekiel felt as if it was done for Raphael, reminding him about his past. Azekiel scratched the back of his head, hesitating in entering the town. Unfortunately, there was no other real choice at the moment. He firmly held the two books in his hands before taking a step toward the strange town. **** Azekiel followed the old man and entered the town. As soon as he took his first step inside the town, a system screen appeared before him. [Warning: You have entered the Domain of Soul Demon] [A Hidden Task has been received. If you ept the task, you can''t leave the Town before finishing the task. Do you ept the Task?] [Yes] [No] "A Hidden Task? The domain of the Soul Demon?" Azekiel stopped in his tracks, staring at the screen before him. "At least tell me what task I''ve received before asking me to ept or deny it?" The screen remained constant. No extra context appeared before him. [Time before Task Expires: 1:59] [1:58] Instead of the quest description appearing, a timer appeared before Azekiel regarding the expiration of the task. He received only two minutes to decide if he was going to ept the task or not. [1:45] There wasn''t much time to even think about it. However, Azekiel also couldn''t ept a quest without knowing what was in it. If it was a time-consuming quest, it was going to be troublesome since time was thest thing he could afford at the moment. If he could at least see the quest, he could decide how long it might take him to finish the quest, but a blind quest was too risky at this time. He couldn''t ept it. He raised his hand to tap on no. "You three are still here?" A whisper came from behind, stunning Azekiel. To his surprise, he identally tapped the wrong section on the screen. [Quest epted] [Tap to see the description] Azekiel hadn''t expected anyone to be behind him. There was no way someone could sneak so close without them finding it, which was why he got so shocked that he identally tapped yes, epting the quest that he had no idea about. Unfortunately, that wasn''t what he was more concerned about as he stepped ahead before turning around, noticing the person who had whispered. "How did hee here?" Even Raphael was stunned. He was the one who was more alert, yet he hadn''t seen that person appear behind him. One moment, the white-haired man was walking in the distance, and the next moment he was behind them, just inches away from Azekiel. This person... Raphael realized that this ce was more dangerous than they thought. Especially this mysterious man who could appear out of nowhere. This man clearly wasn''t an ordinary person! "Why are you three looking so wary? It''s like you''ve seen a ghost." The old man smiled innocently as if he had no idea what made them worry. "Oh, I see. You three must be hungry. I didn''t even ask you if you''d like to eat anything." The man tapped the back of his head as if he had just realized his mistake. He brought an apple out of his bag and tossed it at Lia, who caught it subconsciously, only to get stunned. "I can hold it? How is that possible?" She couldn''t understand how she was able to hold the apple. She was in her spiritual form. It shouldn''t have been possible for her to touch anything. Ignoring the surprise of Lia, the old man did the same for Raphael, tossing an apple to him. However, Raphael didn''t catch it. Instead, he stepped aside, letting the apple fly past him. "You know it''s not good manners to waste food." The old man became somewhat serious as his smile disappeared. "Don''t worry. No one will curse you for taking an apple this time." "How do you know about it?" Raphael clenched his fist. This man not only was suspicious, but he also seemed to know more than he should, especially about their past. Moreover, another strange thing about the apples was the fact that they could touch them, which shouldn''t have been possible. "Know what?" The smile once again returned to the man''s face. "Here, don''t drop this one." The man tossed another apple at Raphael. This time Raphael didn''t let it fall. He caught the apple, noticing that Lia was still fine despite holding the apple. So there was no risk in holding it, at least. As for eating, that was a different matter altogether. "Answer me. How do you know about me?!" he asked again. "I honestly have no idea what you''re talking about." The man continued acting ignorantly before bringing out another apple from his back which he tossed at Azekiel. "Eat up. It''s not good to stay hungry." Chapter 88 88: Castle Of Infinity Azekiel grabbed the apple as well, but he didn''t eat it, despite being extremely hungry. The System had already warned him that this ce was the Domain of Soul Demon. And if he wasn''t wrong, the old man before him was the Soul Demon that the system warned him about. He wasn''t sure if these apples were poisoned or not, but he didn''t want to leave that to chance. His safety was in his own hands. Fortunately, he could also see that Lia and Raphael didn''t eat either. They were also sensible enough. "Why aren''t any of you eating?" The Soul Demon asked, seemingly not understanding why they didn''t eat. "Do you not trust this old man?" "It''s not that we don''t trust you. We are just not hungry at the moment. We will save these apples for the future." Azekiel kept the apple in his pocket, giving a swift excuse. The other two gave the same excuse, keeping the apple forter. The old man chuckled. "It''s fine. If you don''t want to eat now, I won''t force you. Come, my house isn''t too far from here." He once again took the lead, gesturing for everyone to follow him. This time, Azekiel didn''t stop. He followed the man, keeping his pace low to give him as much time to understand the situation as he could. Unfortunately, he couldn''t talk with Raphael since he wasn''t sure if the Soul Demon could hear their conversation. It was better not to take the risk. The town had many people who could be seen on the street, busy with their work. Some were doing pottery outside their homes; others were cleaning the streets, and some were creating decorations at their doorsteps. It appeared somewhat like preparation for some festival was being done. Along the way, the people of this town nced at them. There was only one thing strange about that nce. Everyone only nced once and not again, which was weird. At least one person should''ve taken a second nce or looked for longer, which wasn''t the case. It was like there was some rule where they could only nce once. Another thing of interest was the eyes of these people. They all looked like ordinary people, yet their eyes appeared somewhat nk. Raphael also noticed the same weirdness in the surroundings. This prompted him to be even more alert. This world... This ce... It wasn''t ordinary. Azekiel''s life was at risk there. In fact, when the old man appeared behind Azekiel like a ghostst time, he was in a perfect position to kill him, and no one would''ve been able to stop him. It was their good luck that the old man didn''t kill them right away. Still, that didn''t mean he wasn''t dangerous. Raphael was even more alert, keeping an eye on all the surroundings as if he was in a Warzone. One good thing about all this was that he could touch things once again in this town. That meant he could also fight here without the need to be summoned. That was the only silver lining in this entire situation for him. This time, Azekiel didn''t stop while walking. He didn''t want to attract the same unnecessary attention again. Instead of stopping, he interacted with his system while walking. The same screen was still open, telling him that he had epted the task. The idental eptance was a bit irritating, but there was nothing that he could do anymore. Moreover, it wasn''t as if he waspletely disappointed with this. No matter what, this was still a hidden quest that was certainly going to give him a good reward if he could finish it. Even though it was idental, now that he epted this quest, the description of the quest became visible to him. He tapped on the description. He didn''t stop walking at all. Fortunately, the system screen was semi-transparent, which allowed him to keep an eye ahead as well. Through the semi-transparent screen, he noticed the old man gazing back at him ever so often. ************************************* Hidden Quest: You have entered the Domain of the Soul Demon, known for his ruthless conquests in the War of Gods. Kill the corrupted Soul Demon and retrieve the key to Castle of Infinity to finish the quest. Time Limit: Five Hours Rewards: Storage Ring Reward: Key of Castle of Infinity Caution: Your Life is in Danger. Please tread carefully. The boundaries of the town have been sealed by the Soul Demon. You can''t leave without finishing the Quest. *********************************** ''As expected, this ce was dangerous. Soul Demon who fought against Gods... It won''t be easy to take him down. But even if I do take him down, I need to find the key as well.'' He had no idea what the key of Castle of Infinity did, but if the hidden task asked him to find it and used it as a reward, that meant something was special about the key. It was the reward of a Hidden Quest, after all... And a dangerous Hidden Quest, not an easy one. The rewards of a quest were supposed to be in sync with the danger level of the quests. If the quest was to kill someone so dangerous, then the reward was probably better than anything he had received so far. Moreover, what really attracted his attention was the other reward: the Storage Ring. If his guess was right, it was a ring that could be used to store things. In essence, he could carry food in the ring, not having to worry about it at all. He wanted to finish this quest at any cost to get the ring and the other rewards. He closed the screen, tapping the shoulder of Raphael. Raphael nced back at Azekiel. Azekiel didn''t say anything to Raphael. Instead, he only talked to Raphael through gestures. He tapped the book in his hands twice before pointing at the Soul Demon when he wasn''t looking back, signifying that he was going to get the Soul Demon to open the book. His mission was to kill the Soul Demon, who was really powerful, but he also had some special tricks he could use, especially the Curse of the Book. If he could have the Soul Demon open the book, the curse was going to work on him. Azekiel didn''t know what the curse on the book was, but it was better than nothing. And who knew, it could even kill the Soul Demon right away. But it wasn''t that easy. He had already seen how perceptive the Soul Demon was. It wasn''t easy to get him to open the book without arousing suspicions. [Warning: Your Hunger is reaching the threshold. Please eat something to avoid bacsh] Another notification appeared out of nowhere. Chapter 89 89: Fruit Of Mystery [Warning: Your Hunger is reaching the threshold. Please eat something to avoid bacsh] It was the first time a warning like this had appeared before Azekiel. A Hunger Threshold? It was also his first hearing about this term. He knew that the stronger he became, the more his hunger increased. Other than quickly bing hungry, he hadn''t expected any other disadvantage of this Hunger. He thought the hunger only meant he was going to suffer the tormenting hunger, but even that wasn''t a massive problem for him. He had already experienced the tormenting hunger before and understood what it felt like. He didn''t believe it was that big a problem for him to go hungry for a few days. Unfortunately, it appeared as if he had underestimated this whole hunger thing. He was the King of Gluttony, and that came with many benefits, but there were also disadvantages of it. As the King of Gluttony, hunger was his biggest enemy while also being his closest friend. It was something he could neither fully embrace norpletely avoid. Now he saw a glimpse of the negative side of Gluttony. If even his system was warning him to eat something, that meant the bacsh wasn''t just a simple burst of hunger if he didn''t eat anything soon. It was something more severe if even his System had to intervene to alert him. Unfortunately, there was nothing he could eat at the moment, despite feeling excruciating hunger. Nothing except... He gazed at the apple in his pocket. He remembered when he held the apple; his system hadn''t issued any warning. Did that mean there was nothing wrong with the apple? Moreover, his system had just told him to eat. He wondered if that was his system telling him that it was safe to eat. Azekiel brought the apple out of his pocket, gazing at the beautiful apple, which was free of any w. "I''m trusting you. Don''t disappoint me now," he muttered in an inaudible voice as if talking to his system. He knew what a significant risk it was. If the apple was poisonous, it was game over for him right there. Unfortunately, there were no better alternatives. The system warning didn''t tell him when the bacsh was going to hit if he didn''t eat anything, but it sounded not too far. Even if he waited longer, it was unlikely that he was going to find something to eat that waspletely safe. There was a chance of everything in this town being poisonous or corrupt. If it was an inevitable risk, then it was better to trust his system for now. He brought the red apple close to his lips. His lips parted slowly. "What are you doing? It might be-" By the time Raphael noticed what Azekiel was attempting, it was toote already. He was in the middle of his sentence when Azekiel took his first bite from the apple. As soon as Azekiel took the first bite of the apple, he could feel a sweet taste filling his mouth. The taste of this apple was unlike any apple he had ever tasted before. It was sweet but not too sweet. He couldn''t recall when he ate something so deliciousst. This fruit was heavenly. It was certainly not an ordinary fruit. But at the same time, it also wasn''t poisonous. He couldn''t feel anything strange in his body eating the apple. "Are you alright?" Raphael asked in concern, not understanding how Azekiel could do something so stupid out of nowhere. Was his hunger really so overwhelming that he couldn''t control himself? Azekiel took another bite of the apple after making sure there was nothing wrong with it. For some reason, eating only one apple itself filled him up entirely. He didn''t feel hungry anymore... At least not for now. This was incredulous for him. Generally, he ate as many as twenty people in one sitting before he could feel full. Based on that, he was sure that he shouldn''t have been full even if he ate hundreds of fruits. However, just this one was enough here. ''He might be the Soul Demon, but the apples he carries aren''t bad. If I can finish this mission and get that entire bag, I could keep it all in the storage ring. These strange apples could save hours of time I waste eating.'' As Azekiel thought about how he could get even more benefits than he initially thought, he didn''t realize that there was something really ironic going on with him. He was the King of Gluttony, but in thest few minutes, he was experiencing the Greed. Then again, Greed and Gluttony weren''t that different from each other after all. As Azekiel ate the apple, the smile on the old man''s face widened. He finally stopped looking back at Azekiel. Instead, he focused ahead. "The hunger can turn even the best of us into the worst," the old man mumbled. "Unfortunately, that same hunger can lead one down a path of no return." The old man finally stopped before a house in the middle of the small town. He opened the door and entered the tree house, not forgetting to leave the door open for the three guests behind. Azekiel didn''t enter right away. Instead, he finally stopped. "Raphael, quest," he stated in vague terms so that even if the old man was hearing, he couldn''t understand. Even though Azekiel only said one word other than his name, Raphael understood what he implied. They had apanied Azekiel on quite a few quests. Azekiel observed his surroundings once again before pointing to the old man''s house. He didn''t mention the old man, but it was evident who he was implying. He further raised his hand, keeping his palm open before clenching it suddenly. "Finish." ''A quest to kill that old man?'' Raphael deciphered the signals. ''What kind of quest is this? To kill the man we know nothing about? It''s too risky. Especially with how strange that man really is.'' Based on what Raphael had managed to decipher from the old man''s action, he wasn''t an ordinary man. It wasn''t going to be easy to kill him. The man was like a ghost. This mission appeared too risky. "Risky," Raphael stated. "Must. Stay ready," Azekiel replied. "Will you three stop your discussion and get inside?" The old man appeared at the door again, this time dressed in a different attire. If previously he was wearing the clothes of an ordinary viger, now he was wearing something even more bizarre. The old man was wearing the clothes from Azekiel''s world... Chapter 90 90: The Useless King The old man was now wearing pants and a shirt, donning a ck coat on top, appearing like he was somepany owner who was here for a board meeting. "This man..." If Azekiel had any doubts before about the identity of the old man, they were gone now. The old man was definitely the Soul Demon. There was no way he could''ve changed his clothes so fast. ''A Soul Demon who fought in the war of gods.'' Azekiel observed the old man, who was supposed to be a terrifying demon. Yet he looked no different than any ordinary old man from his world. ''I don''t know if I can kill him without taking a risk with the Card of Judgements, but I''ll try to avoid them as much as possible. The cards are too risky, even for me. But first...'' Azekiel carried an expression of innocence on his face as he walked to the Soul Demon''s House, ready to call forth his Gauntlet of Gluttony in case he needed it. Fortunately, the old man entered the house, clearing the entrance for him. Entering the house, Azekiel noticed that the house was actually smaller on the inside than it looked on the outside. Inside the house, there was only one room, and in that room, there didn''t seem to be enough space either. There was no bed here. Only a circr table was lying in the middle of the room. Around the table, there were four wooden chairs. In the distance, the bag filled with apples was kept with the support of the wall. What was strange was that there was a board game lying in the middle of the table, being none other than the game of chess. The pieces weren''t in their original ces though. It was as if it was a game that was left in the middle. The ck side had half their pieces out of the board, apparently being killed, while the white side had all the pieces intact, getting closer to capturing the King. The old man noticed Azekiel observing the chessboard. "A King can''t do anything alone. Without other pieces, a King is worthless." "A King is still a King. Even without the help of other pieces, a King can survive," Azekiel answered. "It all depends on the King." "Hoh? You think the King can survive in this game?" The old man smiled. "You are very naive. A King is but a small piece in the grand scheme of things. It might think that it''s the ruler of the chessboard, but it forgets; it''s always receable." "The game isn''t interesting because of the King. Instead, it''s interesting because of the pieces the Kingmands. Without them, the King is but a fragile figure, waiting for its inevitable death. I''m sure you should understand." The old man casually took a seat on one of the chairs. "You seem to know a lot about the Kings." Azekiel sat right before the old man, facing him. Raphael and Lia stood behind him. "Maybe, or maybe not." The man cackled. He gazed at the chessboard. "The game of Kings is something moreplicated than anyone can realize." "Raphael, Lia, why don''t you two sit down as well?" The old man asked, gesturing to the other two to sit as well. "We are fine." The two refused straight away. "What is your name?" Azekiel asked the old man, trying to engage him. He couldn''t directly ask the old man to open the book, or that could make him suspicious. While asking, he also ced the two books on the table, intentionally keeping the cursed book on top of the other. The old man took a subtle nce at the books. "My name...? It''s been so long that I''ve forgotten even my own name. In any case, a name is insignificant." "Right, Raphael?" The old man asked, raising his head. Raphael didn''t even bother to ask how this guy knew his name. After so many bizarre things the man did, knowing his name without him telling appeared too mild inparison. "How long have you been living here?" Azekiel asked another question. "I don''t know. Maybe a week, maybe a month, maybe a year, or maybe more. All I know is that it feels like a lifetime." ''This guy can never answer straight, can he?'' Azekiel thought in frustration. The old man hadn''t answered anything in precise terms at all. He only gave vague answers for everything. "Old man, can I ask for a help?" Since the engagement wasn''t working the way Azekiel hoped, he decided to take a more direct approach now. "Hmm?" The old man tilted his head a bit. "I don''t think you even know what help you actually need from me. But I don''t me you. After all, he... Anyway, What help do you think you want?" The old man appeared to be mumbling some nonsense again, but he stopped in the middle, changing the entire tone as if realizing something. "I have this book there which is supposed to contain a map. But the map locations are marked in anguage that I can''t understand. Can you read the man and tell me the direction to where I want to go?" "A man doesn''t go anywhere, Azekiel. It''s his destiny which takes him, just like yours." Despite answering vaguely once again, the old man did pick up the book. Even though the man talked in weird terms, he still did as Azekiel asked, surprising even him. ''Even though this man is supposed to be the Soul Demon, he is acting so nice. Could I really be wrong about him being the Soul Demon? He hasn''t disyed even the slightest bit of hostility toward me. He hadn''t attacked me, despite having many opportunities. Instead, he has only helped me so far.'' ''But so far, he''s the only suspicious person I found in this vige. If he isn''t the Soul Demon, then who is the Soul Demon? And who of this guy then? If he isn''t the one who fought gods, how does he seem so knowledgeable about things that he shouldn''t know, including the clothing sense of earth?'' All clues and mysterious skills of the man pointed toward him being the Soul Demon, yet his actions pointed to a different picture. ? ''Is he really acting?'' Azekiel wondered. The old man ced the book before him, yet he didn''t open it. Instead, he took a subtle nce at Azekiel. "Are you sure you want me to open the book?" Azekiel didn''t understand why, but he felt that the question of the man had a different meaning than it should''ve. As for what meaning, that was hard to understand. It was as if the old man was giving him some clue of a kind? Or was it a threat, implying that he knew about the curse and if Azekiel asked him to open it still, he was going to kill him... The simple line of the man was open to so many interpretations, yet no one knew what the right one was. Chapter 91 91: Prison Of Heaven "Are you sure you want me to open the book?" Getting no answer the first time he asked, the old man asked once again with a mysterious smile on his face. "Is there a reason you shouldn''t?" Instead of answering directly, Azekiel also asked a question in return. Lia nkly looked back and forth between the two people. It was as if there was apetition between the two to see who could be vaguer in their answers. ,m The old man chuckled. "Reasons to not open the book are many, yet if you ask me to open it, I promise I''ll do it. But only if you won''t regret itter on." "So, should I?" "Yes, open the book." Azekiel decided to call the bluff, holding onto the man''s words. Even if the man wasn''t the Soul Demon, Azekiel still couldn''t miss the opportunity. He needed the book opened. He needed to know the direction that led to the stone of time. And he needed to get rid of the curse. "You do make some foolish decisions, affected by your fear and worries of the uncertain, missing out on the infinite opportunities before you. The girl before you waspletely unlike you. Then again, I don''t dislike your qualities. You aren''t supposed to be wless. You aren''t supposed to be invincible. You are meant to make mistakes and learn from them, but..." "I hope you won''t regret your decision." The old man slowly opened the book, turning to the page which held the map before standing up. "Best of luck on your journey, young man. I look forward to the day we will meet again." The old man tapped the middle of the chessboard, making it disappear. At the same time, his body also started bing illusory before ultimately disappearing. Not only the man but the bag of apples also disappeared with him, along with everything that was inside the house. It was as if a curtain of illusion was removed from the surroundings, revealing apletely empty house. The chairs they were sitting on were now small wooden boxes. Dust was everywhere on the floor as if this ce wasn''t cleaned in a really long time. "Illusion?" Raphael frowned as he stood up. "Well, that was definitely not weird at all." Lia sarcastically stated. "Though, in all honesty, I don''t think it was an illusion. Even the illusion couldn''t have been so realistic. It was as if the entire aura of this ce had changed suddenly with the disappearance of the old man." She herself used illusions more often than not. She understood the essence of illusions and the burdens they came with. An illusion could make things look realistic enough to fool anyone, but even it couldn''t change the entire essence of the ce to this extent. If there was one thing in her life that she was certain about, it was that this wasn''t an illusion! "I also feel that this wasn''t an illusion," Azekiel agreed with Lia''s assumption. "If this was an illusion, that meant the apples were also an illusion. The tree was also an illusion. But if everything was an illusion, then how could the apples he gave us be real? And if they weren''t real, how could they satiate my hunger?" "If that wasn''t, then what was it?" Raphael grimaced. "Just where are we...?" Unlike before, there were no windows anywhere. There was only one door that was used by them to enterst time, but even on that door, cracks could be seen. Even though Azekiel was also concerned about his surroundings changing and this weird phenomenon with the old man, he knew this wasn''t the time to think about it. The first book was lying open before him. It wasn''t a moment where he could waste time. Everything else could be der. The map was his main goal for now. "Raphael, you check the surroundings. Lia, provide me protection." Azekiel issued instructions as he moved closer to the book that was now lying on the ground as the table wasn''t there. The book was still open on the pages that held the map. "I''ll memorize the map. We can deal with everything elseter." Raphael went to the door to check the outside, wondering if this strange disappearance only affected this house or if it affected the entire city. At the same time, Lia called forth her Staff that could amplify her spells. Since this world allowed her to touch things and do anything an ordinary person could, she believed she could also use her spells without being summoned. As she prepared to keep Azekiel safe, the words of Osiris once again echoed in her heart. She could never forget those words... "Keep Azekiel safe if you don''t want to lose everything once again." The first half of the map that the first book held was the most important part of the two since only this map could show where they needed to go. However, without the second map, understanding this map wasn''t easy either. Azekiel opened the second book''s map, cing it right beside the first in proper alignment. "The forest of rainstorm was here. And we traveled in this direction." His fingers traced the path that they had taken so far. "That means we are... Hmm?" Azekiel''s expressions changed. He was taken aback to read where they actually were at the moment. "This ce... It''s not a vige or a town." "What is it then?" Lia asked. "What does the map say?" "The map says that this ce isn''t a vige. Instead, it''s mentioned as a prison..." Azekiel grimly stated. "Prison? If it''s a prison, then who is the prisoner? Who made this prison?" "I don''t have the answers to those questions. All I know is the name of this Prison which is marked on the map," Azekiel answered. This information came as a surprise even to him. "What''s the name?" "This is the Prison of Heaven... As for the prisoner in this prison, I suppose I might have an idea." Azekiel stood up, memorizing most of the map. "We need to warn Raphae-" Boom~ Azekiel wasn''t even given the opportunity to finish his sentence when an explosive sound came. The wall was broken, and a figure came flying inside. Unfortunately, that figure belonged to Raphael, who didn''t seem to be in control as it crashed into the other wall. Raphaelnded on the ground and wiped the blood from his lips before speaking, "I think we might have a problem at our hands." "Hahaha, This Lord is finally free! I am finally free!" Chapter 92 92: She "I am finally free!" A hearty cackle echoed in the surroundings. Even though it was only a voice that Azekiel heard, he could still feel the power behind that voice. That voice was nothing simr to the voice of the old man from before. "I was wrong. That man wasn''t the Soul Demon." Azekiel understood that he had made a mistake, but he also knew that there was no way he could''ve known. In the entire town, the only suspicious person he saw was the old man. Moreover, the system only gave the mission when he was with the old man, which made him assume that the system was referring to the old man. Who was the old man? What did he want from him if he wasn''t a Soul Demon? He left without taking anything, so what was his end goal? And what was the meaning behind his vague words? Why was this ce different in his presence? There were thousands of questions in his head. Unfortunately, the only person who could answer these questions was gone now. Even if he was here, Azekiel was sure the man wouldn''t have responded in clear terms. For now, he couldn''t worry about what could''ve been. Instead, he needed to focus on what was ahead of him. "How strong is he?" Azekiel asked, calling forth his Gauntlets of Gluttony. "She¡­" Raphael answered. "It''s a woman who appears to be the leader here." "Leader? You mean there are more than one?" Azekiel had assumed that there was only one person he needed to fight, and it was the Soul Demon, but to find out that there were more people here truly came as a surprise. This ce was the Prison of Heaven. If there was anyone here, it was evident that they were going to be really powerful. He was already worried if he could kill the Soul Demon, but as the number increased, things became moreplicated. "How many are there in total?" Azekiel asked. "I''m not sure. So far, I have seen two people. The person who attacked me and thedy who was the leader from the way the man addressed her." "Two... so numbers are in our favor at least." Azekiel theorized. "Lia, I think we would need your help in this one. You stay out of the battle and provide us passive support, mostly through your illusions. They shouldn''t know that you''re even here." "I''ll take care of the Soul Demon myself. It should be that woman, if I''m not wrong. Raphael, you can kill her partner. Can you do it?" Raphael agreed. "I should be able to. He attacked me when I was distracted by their leader, asking her who she was. He won''t have it easy next time." Raphael was somewhat embarrassed that Azekiel saw him being sent flying in the first sh. He was eager to prove himself since he didn''t want to be seen as weak. What he said was also not a lie since he hadn''t expected to be suddenly attacked. If he had, he could''ve reacted in time. "Kekeke, little rat, don''t tell me you died in one punch?" Through the hole in the wall, a dark hooded figure entered the hall,ughing. He was the same person who had attacked Raphael out of nowhere. Not wanting the man to see Lia here, Azekiel rushed to the man, clenching his fist. "Wha-" The man couldn''t even react as Azekiel appeared before him. He brought both his hands together, making a cross to protect his chest, blocking the attack. Unfortunately for him, throughout the journey, Azekiel had not only increased his speed, but he had also increased his strength by a lot. He was now in the Top Tier Kings in the tower, even without having to use any skills. Moreover, the Gauntlets of Gluttony further strengthened his arms, providing them with extra reinforcements. In the past, Azekiel had suffered a heavy injury in both his hands which weakened his hands and made him unable to use them for heavy tasks without serious risk of damaging them further. Fortunately, the Gauntlets removed that weakness by providing absolute protection to his hands, allowing him to do what he couldn''t do before! It allowed him to use his fists to fight while forcing his entire strength behind it. The hooded figures came expecting a wounded Raphael. He didn''t expect someone to survive his hit without being seriously hurt. That was also part of the reason why he was so rxed. He expected Raphael to be on the ground, struggling to even stand, let alone counter. Moreover, other than Raphael, he hadn''t expected anyone. That''s why when Azekiel appeared before him like a ghost, he couldn''t do anything but protect himself. The strength behind Azekiel''s fist was no less than his own attack on Raphael. If anything, it appeared to be even stronger to some extent. The hooded figure managed to protect his vitals from the attack, but the impact behind the attack was just so powerful that even he was sent flying this time. Azekiel stepped out of the house through the same hole in the wall tond on the street. He finally had a clear view of the vige. The vige, which previously looked like any ordinary vige, if one was to ignore the strange houses, was nowpletely different. It was unrecognizable. The streets which were previously clear were now filled with blood marks. Many craters were also visible on the ground. As for the vigers that were previously present in the vige, they were all missing. The houses that were made from trees were also missing. In the entire vige, there was only one house present, and it was where Azekiel was previously residing. And even that house looked nothing like it did from outside before. The dark hooded figurended on the ground, seemingly unharmed at all. "Big mistake, kid... Big mistake." The figure took off his cloak, tossing it to the side, revealing his well-built body, which was no different than the body of an ordinary human. His face also looked like that of an ordinary human if one was to ignore the two crimson horns on his head as if he was the devil. There were two long scars on the face of the man, making a cross on his face. It was only after the man removed his cloak when it came to light that the man didn''t have eyes! The scar was going straight through where his eyes were supposed to be. "You are mine!" The man flew to Azekiel. Unfortunately for him, before he could even get close to Azekiel, a winged creature appeared out of nowhere, grabbing the man by his neck. "Why don''t you y with me?" Raphael had managed to grab the throat of the man. Instead of appearing worried, the man shed a grin. Chapter 93 93: Avila It was Raphael who was holding onto the man. If he wanted, he could even crush the man''s neck. However, he couldn''t. He didn''t know why but he couldn''t tighten his grasp. It was as if a mysterious force was keeping his hand as it was. Not only could he not tighten his grip, but instead, it had only started loosening up. "A Fallen Angel thinks he can hurt me? Kid, I was fighting Gods when you weren''t even born yet." The man let out a heartyugh. "You lost the battle the moment you touched me!" The man grabbed the wrist of Raphael instead. Raphael felt a terrifying burn on his hand. It wasn''t as if his skin was burning, but it appeared to be more than that. He could feel his strength being sucked by the man. Raphael wanted to free himself, but he couldn''t. His body wasn''t listening to him as if it was paralyzed. Azekiel was unaware of Raphael''s plight. He took Raphael on his word that he could handle the man, so he left the task to Raphael, especially since Lia was also there for backup. Instead, he focused on thedy who appeared to be the boss. Unlike the man from before, who at least had his face visible, thedy waspletely covered from top to bottom. She wore a beautiful silver and ck Armor that fit perfectly around her curvy figure. A darker shade of silver robe was attached to her shoulder tes which waved with the wind behind her. Many scratches could be seen all around the Armor, but it was evident that the scratches were all the extent of damage that was on the Armor. It was as if no attack had managed to prate the Armor to hurt her. Even the face of the woman was covered entirely by the helmet, which matched the color of the Armor. The woman also had two Gauntlets around each of her hands, but hers looked to be slimmer, more like gloves. Moreover, the finger portion of her gauntlet wasn''t as sharp as Azekiel''s Gauntlets which appeared to have mini knives in ce of fingers. It appeared to be intentional since these slimmer Gauntlets allowed the woman more flexibility in using her hands which she needed to carry the long sword she held in her right hand. The five-foot-long Sword appeared to be made from a single piece of metal, including the hilt. Some strange characters were also inscribed on the sword, most of which were unreadable. "Are you the Soul Demon?" Azekiel asked, despite being sure that it was the case. He didn''t want to make the same mistake as before. The woman didn''t answer. Instead, she appeared to be looking down at the Gauntlets of Azekiel. "The Gauntlets of the King..." she spoke. Even though her tone was somber, her voice was melodious. "That means he has died..." Azekiel didn''t know who she was talking about, but he didn''t ask. He already had a question that wasn''t answered in the first ce. "I''ll ask again. Are you a Soul Demon?" "Soul Demon? I''m not. I''m Av, the Queen of Demons and the conqueror of Seven Realms." "Queen of Demons? If you aren''t a Soul Demon, that means the Soul Demon is..." Azekiel turned around, realizing that the soul demon wasn''t this woman. It was the man he had attacked in the first ce who was the Soul Demon! Just because the system said that the Soul Demon fought against the Heaven, he thought that the Soul Demon was going to be the strongest person here, which made her misunderstand the woman as Soul Demon. Hearing Av''s rification, he understood that the Soul Demon wasn''t the leader of the Assault on Heaven. He was most probably the General or something since only he was trapped here with Av, who imed to be the queen. "Raphael!" As soon as Azekiel nced back, he noticed Raphael in the hands of the Soul Demon, seemingly like a statue who couldn''t move. His lips were turning pale, and his condition seemed to be getting bad. He ran to Raphael to help, but before he could even take a few steps, Av appeared before him, blocking his path. "Our conversation isn''t over yet." "Step out of my way!" Raphael''s life was in danger. Azekiel didn''t have time to discuss. Each second he wasted with her was a second Raphael was hurt more. Even with Av before him, Azekiel didn''t stop. He swung his ws. Since the woman wasn''t going to let him go past her, he was going to walk over her dead body! ,m nk~ The woman effortlessly blocked Azekiel''s ws using her Sword. The sharp ws that could even slice the strongest of Swords couldn''t even leave a scratch on the sword. Azekiel jumped back, creating some distance from the woman again but not before he was scared. Instead, he gathered more momentum after creating some distance before shooting straight to Av again, but this time, he expected her to block the attack. As he swung his ws again, Av seemingly shook her head as if she was disappointed with the same mistake again. As per his n, Azekiel''s Gauntlets changed to a hammer which he swung. If she could block his ws, he was going to use the Hammer, which didn''t use the sharpness. The hammer of Gluttony used brute force! Instead of blocking the attack, her figure flickered. She appeared behind Azekiel. Azekiel''s hammer only passed through thin air since Av wasn''t there anymore. He felt a really intense sense of danger as soon as Av disappeared. He had seen a simr tactic used before and realized where the attack coulde from in a situation like this! As if disappointed in Azekiel''s skills, Av swung her sharp sword. Fortunately, Azekiel anticipated this attack. He immediately dropped to his knees, letting the sword miss him. At the same time, he didn''t miss the chance either as he swung her hammer. Thud~ His hammer finally managed to get a clean hit on Av,nding straight on her chin which was also covered by her full-face helmet. The Hammer of Gluttony was indeed very powerful. It boosted Azekiel''s brute strength by multiple folds. The impact of his hammer should''ve been enough to crush the skull of an enemy. Av''s body flew back, following the impact. Unfortunately, the damage wasn''t as bad as Azekiel expected. Av controlled her body in mid-air before she could fall. She sessfullynded on the ground, barely fifty meters away from Azekiel. "That wasn''t half bad, but not good either. It seems you truly don''t know how to use what you have." Chapter 94 94: Death... Or Death? Av tapped the chin portion of her helmet. There was not even a little dent on it, despite the full force attack of Azekiel''s hammer. Even Azekiel was surprised, noticing how strong thedy''s godly armor was. The attack he had just used should''ve been able to crush anything, yet this didn''t even leave a scratch on the woman''s Armor. That made him even more amazed at all the scratches that were left on her Armor. Just how strong must those attacks be, to leave behind the scratches on that Armor which was a feat even he couldn''t achieve. Thisdy... She was in a different league altogether. Unfortunately, he couldn''t avoid this battle now. But first, he needed to help Raphael. His Hammer once again changed into the Gauntlets. He swung his ws toward the Soul Demon, despite having hundreds of meters of distance between them. Many dark energy bullets left his ws, shooting straight to Azekiel. He was sure the Woman wasn''t going to let him get to Raphael, so he did what he could to help him for now. Raphael was his main concern for now. Just as he had expected, Av appeared once again before him, covering over fifty meters of distance in the blink of an eye. The woman stabbed the tip of her sword into the ground before her and ced both her hands on the hilt as she stood before Azekiel, looking down at him. "It''s a pity... Really a pity how these Gauntlets have such a pitiful owner now. Something over which even gods and demons fought is now in such a pitiful condition. You''re so pitiful that it isn''t even worth killing you." "Since you''re the reason we were free, I will give you an opportunity. Hand over the Gauntlets out of your own volition, and I''ll let you and your friends go." "And if I don''t?" Azekiel frowned. These were a gift from his system. They were his strongest weapon and his biggest advantage in this Tower of Sins. He couldn''t just give them away because he was scared of death! "Then you will all die... First, that man you just helped. Then the girl who is trying to get in position to attack andstly you." **** Raphael didn''t understand what was happening to him. It was as if his strength was being sucked by the man, and he couldn''t do anything. "Heh, it feels so good to steal some strength once again. I must say, you have quite a lot of it. I should really thank you." "Hmm?" The blind man appeared to notice the energy bullets that came straight to him. "Heh. Child." He tapped his foot on the ground, jumping high up, avoiding all the energy bullets. A simple tap of his had so much power hidden in it that a deep crater was left behind as his body shot up, going up to a hundred-meter height before he starteding down. The bullets missed him entirely. The sudden distraction helped shift the Soul Demon''s focus away from Raphael, making Raphael feel as if the force which was restricting his movement was gone. He didn''t waste the opportunity at all. He didn''t know how long he had. It could even be the freedom of one second or less. Boom~ Raphael clenched his left fist, attacking with his entire force behind it. The fistnded on the chest of the Soul Demon. A cracking sound resounded in the air as the Soul Demon''s body shot back with a booming sound. Raphael was finally free of the man''s grasp. He felt a bit weakened, but it was still better than being trapped. His two wings spread wide open, helping him stay in the air. "He thanked me for touching himst time. That means he can only use that mysterious paralysis when I''m touching him directly. And that distraction got rid of the paralysis. It appears he needs constant focus to keep that restriction." Now that Raphael was free, he analyzed everything he had noticed so that he wouldn''t fall into the same trap again by making the same mistake. "So I can''t touch him. However, he couldn''t use it on Azekiel when he had attacked. It seems the contact needs to be with his skin directly for it to work, or it needs to be a longer contact than a brief moment. I''ll consider both to be true, just to be safe. That should mean that I would be fine if I just..." Raphael grabbed his robe and tore a decent amount of cloth from it. He further split that section into two equal parts. "If it''s about direct skin contact, then the answer is simple. I wouldn''t let my hands contact his skin directly." He wrapped the piece of cloth around both his hands, covering his skin. It was as if he had made temporary gloves from his robe. The next possibility he considered was that the contact needed to be for longer than a small instance. That was even easier to handle since that meant he just needed to be careful about it. After preparing himself, he flew straight to the wooden house where the Soul Demon had crashed. "You won''t have the opportunity this time!" Just as Raphael was about to get close to the hut, the man came out. His fists were clenched, and his face looked angry. He raised his head, facing Raphael. "I will kill you. Five minutes... Survive if you can." Swiss~ Two dark wings appeared around his back as well, which were no different than the wings on Raphael''s back. Seeing those wings on the man''s back was shocking. How could he have the same wings? He definitely couldn''t fly before! If he could, he wouldn''t have jumped. Did that mean he received his wings just now? "You are using the strength you stole from me!" Raphael raged. This wasn''t just the simple stealth of his strength but also the stealth of his skills from what it appeared. The only difference was that it was the strength of theft that wasn''t permanent for him. **** "You have one minute to decide." Av stood before Azekiel, issuing him an ultimatum. "Either you give me those Gauntlets, or you watch your friends die." "Both the options are bad. I''m afraid I''ll have to decline both." Azekiel straight refused. It was better for him to die than give away his gauntlets. He knew if he gave away those Gauntlets, he couldn''t even have a fighting chance here. Moreover, thedy was going to leave with the Soul Demon. And because of the system''s quest that he epted, he couldn''t leave this ce unless he killed the Soul Demon. He was going to stay here forever, at least for the next seven days when the Blood Oath was going to kill him for failing. So giving away those Gauntlets was no different than giving his life away. Even though the woman gave him two options, for him, both those options were the same as both meant death. The only difference was that the second option at least gave him a fighting chance. "There''s no declining both. That''s epting the second option. You still have twenty seconds left. I''ll give you time to think. The moment your time is up, your head will be lying at your feet." The woman grabbed the sword but didn''t pull it out of the ground. "Since the choice is between death and death, I select life, even if it requires me to take some risk. I really hoped I wouldn''t have to use this." Av''s brows raised, wondering what Azekiel was talking about. "Ten seconds left..." "Nine seconds..." "Eight seconds...." Azekiel only smiled in response, watching Av countdown. "Please don''t disappoint me today. Give me a good card!" He raised his right hand. "Cards of Judgment!" Chapter 95 95: The Unexpected Card The sky, which was seemingly clear when Azekiel had entered the town, was now much darker. Clouds that were simr to the clouds in the rainforest had covered the town. The only difference was that there was no rain, at least not yet. The atmosphere was tense as two battlefields had taken shape in the town. One was between Raphael and the Soul Demon, who was using the stolen strength, while the other was between Av and Azekiel. Av had almost finished her countdown. She even pulled out her sword from the ground. As soon as her countdown reached ''one'', her Sword was finally out of the ground. Unfortunately for her, it was right then that Azekiel used the Cards of Judgement. Time appeared to have stopped as soon as Azekiel used the unpredictable skill. Moreover, the freezing of time was powerful enough even to freeze Av. Nothing moved, not even wind. Four pitch ck cards appeared before Azekiel, floating before him. All the cards seemed to be the same. There was no way to differentiate between the cards or to see what advantage or disaster hid behind those cards. It was a massive gamble for Azekiel, but theck of any other options forced him to take this gamble. There were four cards, each having an entirely identical aura behind them. There was no logic behind the cards to help make an educated guess. It was all just about blind guess selection, and that''s what Azekiel did. He nced at Av, who was frozen in time. It was evident that she was about to move before the time stopped. "If I don''t get anything good, I''ll have a really hard time against her with her speed, defense, and strength. Help me once more... Don''t give me a bad card!" Azekiel grabbed the second card out of the four, taking his random pick. As soon as his fingers touched the second card, all the other cards slowly disappeared, returning back to where they came from to wait for the next time they were called. As for the card which was selected, it turned into a real card. Azekiel held the card and slowly turned around, really hoping for it to not be as bad as what the Lord of Greed received. "Huh?" As soon as he looked at the front of the card, his eyes widened. His lips parted as a smile slowly crept up his lips. There were only three words written on the top of the card, and under the name, there was a depiction of a sword passing through a shield. At the bottom, there was a description written in small characters. ***************** Absolute Defense Breaker Description: Break any defense, pass through any protection. For the next one minute, all defenses be useless before your attacks. ****************** A small timer also appeared before Azekiel with one minute on the clock. The timer started moving as the time freeze was over. "Your time is up," Av grimly stated. The time she had given to Azekiel was over. Her figure disappeared into the winds before appearing right in front of Azekiel again, covering the distance between the two instantly as if she had teleported. Unfortunately, she froze... Her Sword stopped mere inches away from touching Azekiel''s neck. She lowered her head. If her face could be seen now, only absolute shock could''ve been seen as she saw what had happened. The sharp ws of Azekiel had passed through her Armor, impaling her stomach. She couldn''t believe it. Her defense was broken, and her armor was prated, which should''ve been impossible for Azekiel. "You''re right. Your time is up." Av''s figure disappeared. When she made an appearance, she was standing over ten meters away from Azekiel. There was a five-inch wide hole in her stomach. There was only one question in her head. ''How?!'' It was after a really long time when she had bled, and the wound wasn''t minor. It wasn''t as if Azekiel wasn''t surprised either since he could see that the woman''s Armor was slowly healing itself. It was a self-healing Armor that healed itself. Within seconds, her Armor was healed, and only a couple of new scratches could be seen where the Armor was prated. However, it couldn''t heal Av. Her Armor had healed, yet her body was still hurt. Av staggered where she stood, appearing to be somewhat dizzy. Azekiel didn''t have time to be amazed at her Armor''s self-healing quality. He was on the clock, and there were only fifty seconds left for him. [00:49] It was time to go on the Assault since Av wasn''t his end goal. His end goal was the Soul Demon, and he wanted to have some of this skill left when he fought with him. Av stood on her ground, seemingly dizzy. Her vision was also blurry. Despite looking absolutely fine because of her Armor, she had lost a lot of blood. Moreover, as the attack was from the Gauntlet of Gluttony, it also managed to suck some of her strength while leaving some poison in her bloodstream. Her vision was so blurry that she could see three Azekiel flying toward her, and her condition was only bing worse with each passing second. If she had considered the possibility of her Armor failing her, she could''ve never been in this situation since she would''ve been careful, but it came so unexpectedly. "Argh!" Av roared, using herst bit of strength. She held her sword with both hands, stabbing it at the ground. The strange characters that were carved on the Sword started shining in a blinding light. Boom~ An energy st spread everywhere with the sword at the core, destroying everything in its path. Azekiel brought his Gauntlets together, protecting his face as the explosion sent him flying back, even burning some of his clothes. At the same time, the explosion also destroyed the only house that was in the vige. A massive crater was left where Av stood with the support of her Sword. Her vision had started turning even darker. The blood loss was making things worse for her. The sword was still shining, but now that light also spread under her feet on the ground as a formation circle appeared under her. "I won''t forget this..." she weakly stated before a blinding light surrounded her. By the time the light disappeared, there was no trace of that woman left behind. Only the crater was left empty. Azekiel didn''t have time to think about Av or her threat. All he knew was that she seemed to have escaped for now. "Fuck!" he cursed at the missed opportunity. This was such a perfect time to kill her when he could pass through her defense. He wasn''t sure if he was going to have this opportunity again since this card was used already. He was already worried about how he was going to face that woman if she survived and returned in the future. Without this strange skill, her Armor was invincible! Could he even face her in the future? Unfortunately, there were more problems for now. [00:30] He could see that he had only thirty seconds left for now. Despite many burn marks on his body, he was more concerned about the Timer. Now that he had this passive skill, he wanted to use it to the fullest for as long as he had it. He located Raphael before dashing to him. **** ? The sudden explosion of energy waves didn''t just hurt Azekiel. They spread far and wide, even reaching Raphael and Soul Demon. Raphael covered his body with his wings to protect himself as he braced for the impact. At the same time, the Soul Demon used some kind of Mysterious energy, which cast a shield before him, protecting him. Chapter 96 96: Raphaels Awakening I The Energy Waves passed through Raphael and the Soul Demon. By the time they reached the two of them, they were already much weaker than what Azekiel had faced because of his close proximity. Raphael and the Soul Demon came out unharmed entirely. ,m The Soul Demon looked to Av, wondering what made her use this attack. However, just as he gazed in her direction, he saw Av disappear, leaving him alone here. He hadn''t seen her getting hurt, let alone seeing her Armor being impaled. He couldn''t understand why she would go alone, leaving Azekiel alive, but he didn''t care. He believed that he alone was enough for everyone here. He and Raphael began their battle. Both of them were so fast that it was getting difficult to even see them. The two of them were like shadows that fought, and none used a weapon either. Learning from his past mistakes, Raphael didn''t let the Soul Demon catch him. He didn''t even let his body be in contact with the man for more than an instant. Each punch of his, each attack was done with precise calction. Unfortunately, the Soul Demon seemed to be slightly faster than him, avoiding most of his attacks. His speed was further boosted by the stolen strength of Raphael. The Soul Demonughed, watching Raphael''s attacks which kept missing him. It was like he was ying around for now, not even getting serious. "Enough ying around. Time to get serious." The Soul Demon smirked, raising his right hand toward the sky while flying back to create some distance. "Let me show you why I''m called the Soul Demon!" "Come to me, my Demons!" He roared, gazing at the dark sky. "Kekeke." "Master called us!" "Finally!" "We can feast now!" "Master is back!" "We shall eat!" Thousands of shrill voices echoed in the surroundings as a dark formation circle appeared above the Soul Demon''s hand. Thousands of dark spirits came off of the formation, cackling. Each of that Spirit appeared to have an aura that wasn''t much weaker than the Soul Demon himself. Moreover, even cracks could be seen appearing around the dark spirits as if then the Space here wasn''t strong enough to hold these Spirits. All those Spirits flew to Raphael. However, just as they were about to reach Raphael, a version of Raphael appeared all around the Spirits, confusing them. Each of those versions of Raphael appeared to be the real one. Seeing so many versions of himself, even Raphael was stunned, but he understood who could''ve done it. It was the work of Lia, to provide him some support. As Lia kept the spirits distracted, she made the real Raphael invisible, allowing him an opportunity to kill the Soul Demon. [00:20] Azekiel arrived under the Soul Demon, who was flying high in the sky. He also noticed thousands of Raphael''s in the air, yet his focus was only on the Soul Demon, who was distracted by the illusion. "Using such weak illusions on me? Disappointing." The Soul Demon pped his hands, sending some mysterious waves. The entire illusion cast by Lia was destroyed in an instant, leaving nothing. All the fake Raphaels were destroyed, leaving only the real one who became visible once again "This man mocked us!" "He tried to fool us!" "Argh! I will kill him!" "Kill him!" The Dark Spirits were furious at being fooled. They surrounded Raphael from all sides, yelling in their shrill voices that could make anyone go insane. They also created a field around Raphael which made even the air around him decay along with his skin. Azekiel was amazed at how powerful the Soul Demon was. He could even keep Raphael at bay, leaving no chance for him to fight back. There was only one way for him to save Raphael, and it was to kill the Soul Demon, which he believed was going to disperse all the Dark Spirits. Unfortunately, because he was unable to fly, he couldn''t reach him. [00:15] "There is no time to think! If the Defence Breaker works on physical attacks, they should also work on..." He spun his body, using his feet, giving him the momentum as he swung his ws, shooting the Energy Bullets, which was the only attack he had that could attack in long range. He covered all the areas around the Soul Demon to make sure he couldn''t dodge. The Soul Demonzily nced at the iing energy bullets. "Useless." He casually flicked his fingers, casting the same energy barrier around him again. Thanks to Raphael''s energy, he managed to regain most of the strength that he lost because of being imprisoned for so long. He was able to cast all his skills now, including his barriers. "Huh? What?" The Soul Demon watched the energy bullets pass through his barrier as if it was nothing! It shouldn''t have happened. He was so overconfident that by the time he realized, it was already toote. The energy bullets hit his entire body, hitting his shoulders, chest, and even legs. That wasn''t even the worst, as following closely behind the energy bullets was a dark hammer. Bam~ A skull exploded as the Hammer of Gluttony hit it straight. [00:02] The Soul Demon''s skull was shattered to smithereens, leaving behind a gruesome sight as a lifeless body came falling. The hammer also came falling behind it. Thud~ The headless body dropped to the ground. The hammer also followed close behind,nding in the chest of the body, breaking the bones of the Soul Demon. Not only did Azekiel''s energy bullets pass through the barrier, but his hammer also passed through the physical defenses of the Soul Demon, destroying the skull, which was so strong that even ten full-powered hits from a hammer shouldn''t have been able to break it. [00:00] [The effects of Absolute Defense Breaker are over] [Congrattions! You have killed the Soul Demon. Rewards have been received] Azekiel let out a sigh of relief. The Soul Demon was dead, and even the system confirmed it. However, he soon realized that everything wasn''t good. His assumption was wrong. The Soul Demon was dead, yet all the Dark Souls that he had summoned were still there, hurting Raphael. Instead of the Dark Spirits leaving, they appeared to be even angrier. Most of the Dark Spirits maintained the Soul Decaying Field around Raphael while the other rest flew to Azekiel, mad that he had killed the Soul Demon. "Enough!" Raphael''s mighty roar echoed far and wide, sending even the ground trembling. A powerful yet scary aura spread everywhere, clearly not belonging to the Dark Spirits. Something appeared to have happened. Azekiel wondered if it wasing from Raphael? Just what was happening?! Chapter 97 97: Not Working Azekiel picked up the Hammer of Gluttony, changing it back into the form of the Gauntlets of Gluttony, bracing for the Dark Spirits that wereing to attack him. The Dark Spirits were just a few meters away from him by the time he got his Gauntlets back, but it''s also when a change happened. A terrifying aura spread everywhere, following a roar from Raphael. The screeches of the Dark Spirits intensified, this time appearing less like screams of anger and more like screams of pain. Azekiel noticed a bright arc of light that sliced the Dark Spirits who were surrounding Raphael, momentarily creating a colorful ring around him as if Raphael was the Saturn and the bright ring around him was what belonged there. The ring of light slowly disappeared, revealing Raphael, who appeared like an entirely different person now. There was a beautiful dark Armor around Raphael, having two wings carved on them, which seemed to be simr to the wings of Raphael. There was a heavy sword in his hand, which appeared like the heaviest Sword that Azekiel had ever seen, but the Sword was held effortlessly by Raphael. Raphael gazed at the Dark Spirits who were around Azekiel. His figure flickered, appearing before Azekiel. His speed was so fast that for a moment, Azekiel thought that Raphael had teleported to him. It was only when the Dark Spirits split in half and dispersed that Azekiel realized it wasn''t teleportation. Raphael had flown here, and along the way, he attacked the Dark Spirits. Everything was so fast that even Azekiel couldn''t see it, despite his high perception. Even Azekiel was amazed at Raphael''s strength. Just what was this Armor and this sword that even he hadn''t known about? It was like Raphael was apletely different person now. "That was... Incredi-" Azekiel was justplimenting Raphael when he saw Raphael''s figure tilting to the side. "Raphael?" Sending his Gauntlets back, Azekiel rushed to hold Raphael. He grabbed Raphael''s shoulders just as he was about to fall. "Raphael? Are you alright?" Raphael''s sword dropped to the ground from his hand before disappearing. His Armor also vanished as his eyes closed. "Raphael!" Azekiel carefully ced Raphael on the ground before checking up on him. He was still breathing even though his breathing was weak. Lia also rushed to Raphael. She checked Raphael, cing her hand on his forehead. After a long time, she sighed in relief. "He is fine. Just a bit tired and weak, it seems." "So, nothing wrong with him?" "Not that I can find. It seems he exhausted himself too much. I don''t know what that burst of energy was, but I''m sure that''s what caused him to be in his state. That exhausted him. He should be fine after a little rest." As soon as she saw Raphael faint, she had assumed the worst. But now that she knew he was fine, she was relieved. Raphael might not speak much, but she really liked having him on the team. He was also good for their mission, and he had also be her friend. It was an unlikely equation being formed. Fortunately, that equation was still intact. " If he just needs sleep, that''s good. I thought it might be worse." Azekiel patted the chest of Raphael lightly. "You worked really hard. Rest for now." Azekiel left Raphael lying on the ground, telling Lia to take care of him. He had some things to take care of and didn''t want to disturb Raphael. First, he walked where the small house used to be, which was destroyed in Av''s attack, wondering if the two books were from there. He didn''t expect them to be intact. However, he was surprised to find that the two books were still there. There was not a single tear on the pages. It was as if something protected the books. It was still on the page of the maps. Azekiel memorized the maps once again before closing the books. He walked back and ced the books near Raphael. "I just need one more thing. I''ll be back." He left once again, but this time, he didn''t need to go far. He walked to the Soul Demon''s body. He ced his hand on the Soul Demon''s chest before using the Soul Snatch. As soon as he used the Soul Snatch on the Soul Demon, he received a massive strength boost, even more so than he had received from the two Kings he killed beforebined. This single Soul Snatch refilled his Soul Bar entirely, even bringing it to an overload. Unfortunately, he wasn''t given the option to summon another Familiar this time either, as if excess Soul Energy wasn''t enough. "That option didn''t appear this time either. I''m sure I received enough Soul Energy this time, even more than I had in excess when I summoned Lia. Then why didn''t that option appear? Could there be more behind this familiar summons that I don''t know about? Just how much soul energy in excess do I need to get that option again?" Azekiel was slightly disappointed. He had been wanting to get that option again since he believed having more familiars was always beneficial, especially after what happened here. Both his Familiars directly came to help. If he had more, it could''ve been better. Unfortunately, that option was nowhere to be seen. "Just what am I missing? Do I really need that crazy amount of Soul Energy, or is there another criteria that I''m missing?" He just didn''t understand what it took to get another summon like that. There was another strange thing he noticed. This time, his Gluttony of Knowledge didn''t activate at all. He didn''t receive any memories from the Soul Demon, which was his real goal. He wanted to know more about Av, and only the memories of the Soul Demon could answer who she was or what her weaknesses were. Unfortunately, there were just no memories that came to him. Disappointed, he stood up. There was just nothing there. "Hmm? This key?" As he was about to walk back, he noticed a key lying near the man. "The key to Castle of Infinity?" Even though he didn''t know what it was, he did remember his system mentioning the key to the Castle. If he had found a key here, that could only mean one thing. He moved closer to the key and picked it up. Just as he expected, a notification appeared before him. [Congrattions. You have received the Key of Castle of Infinity] [Tap for more information on the key of Castle of Infinity] Chapter 98 98: Time Reversal In an unknown ce, a figure appeared out of thin air, dropping to its knees weakly. The figure belonged to a woman who was covered in an Armor from top to bottom, leaving not even an inch of her skin visible. Only her long hair could be seen, waving with the wind. The woman didn''t appear to be in any good condition as she held her stomach. Soon, her Armor also disappeared, revealing the woman who was inside. Her Majestic sword also vanished with the Armor. Her face was finally visible; unfortunately, there was no one to see it now. Her face appeared to be very pale, and her expressions were of pain. Her clothes were already covered in blood. Blood also trickled down her lips as she grimly observed her wounds with her beautiful hazel eyes. "I should''ve been more careful." Her wound still hadn''t stopped bleeding, and even her head was dizzy. Her vision had be blurry long ago, so it was already getting hard for her to keep her focus on things. She wiped the blood from her lips and used that blood to make something on the barrelnd. She made a blood circle on the ground and wrote some mysterious words inside the blood circle. She connected those words to the blood circle. As soon as she finished, the blood circle started shining in a mysterious bright light. It was as if her blood had started powering the mysterious formation circle. Following a brief moment of shining, the entire formation circle turned pitch ck. It was as if a ck hole had appeared between the circle. Av tried really hard not to faint at the moment. She had fought so many battles, yet she had never been wounded this badly, all because she was more careful in the past. She inserted her hand inside the ckhole, seemingly looking for something. As she pulled out her hand, a small and round ck pill could be seen in her hands. She opened her lips and ced that pill in her mouth, falling to the ground. She finally lost consciousness out of weakness. As soon as the pill entered her lips, her wound started healing. However, that wasn''t the strange part. The strangest part was that the blood from her clothes had also started disappearing as if it was going back to her body. The torn clothes also started recovering to their original condition. The trail of blood that came from her lips also retreated. It was as if her body was going backward in time to when it wasn''t injured. Her clothes followed suit. The strange ck pill worked miracles, even reversing the time. But it only worked on Av''s body. Time was normal in the surrounding area. The blood that was used to create the formation circle also burned up as if running out of energy. As soon as the entire blood used for the formation disappeared, the ck hole also disappeared, and the ground returned to its original position. Five minutes... It barely took five minutes, and Av waspletely healed, thanks to the pill. However, despite being healed, she was still unconscious. The pill did manage to reverse the time of her body to its unwounded condition of the past, but her mind was still in the same state, unconscious. If only she were a little faster, she could''ve been up even now. Unfortunately, she lost her consciousness before the healing could begin. The damage and the poison she received from the Gauntlet of Gluttony were just so serious that even after she tried her best, she couldn''t stay up. Fortunately, she had left on time and didn''t suffer the bacsh right there. Her defenseless bodyy in the middle of nowhere, without her Armor. **** Raphael wasn''t different from Av. He alsoy on the ground, unconscious. However, the core reason for him appeared to be different. He hadn''t been poisoned. He also wasn''t hurt. ording to Lia, he had pushed himself too hard, which ced too much burden on him. Even though that exnation sounded hard to believe, Azekiel had no choice but to believe it for now. This was only a basic assumption, after all. As for what actually happened, only Raphael could answer when he was up. Lia sat beside Raphael, letting his head rest on herp as she waited for him to be up. Not far from her, Azekiel had just received the key. A screen also appeared before him, telling him to tap to know more about the key to the Castle of Infinity. Without hesitation, Azekiel tapped on the option. For now, he knew nothing about the Castle of Infinity or what it even was. He was sure the Castle wasn''t on this floor since it wasn''t on the map he memorized. Despite not being here, the Castle of Infinity appeared to be really important if it was his Reward. [Key of Castle of Infinity: The key that can open the Castle of Infinity] As soon as the description appeared, Azekiel almost cursed at the system. This was the description? He thought the description was going to give him some clues about the castle and what it was. On the contrary, the description he received was so useless that for a moment, he even wondered if the system was just having fun with him? Even now, he had no idea what the Castle of Infinity was or what it was capable of. All he knew was that the key he had could open it. Disappointed, he closed the screen and checked the other reward he had received for this quest, which was more important for him. In his inventory, he saw the Storage Ring. He had actually received the reward he wanted! A ring that he could use to store items, mainly food. If he had that ring before, he knew he wouldn''t need to worry about food. He brought out the ring from the Inventory and wore it in his left hand. As soon as he wore the ring, all the instructions about how to use the ring appeared before him, giving him the basics. "If only you had done that for the ring as well." Azekiel sarcasticallymented as if responding to his system. He now understood everything about the ring, and most of it was simr to what he had read in fantasy stories back on earth. All he needed to do was focus on the ring, and he could visualize the interior of the ring and all the items that he would be keeping inside them. He was connected to the ring already through his consciousness. He just needed to think about bringing an item out of the ring after his visualization, and that was going to happen. The ring of storage was a very convenient item for him. "The storage space inside the ring isn''t too much, but it should be enough for my needs." Now that he was done with the Soul Demon through the Soul Snatch, he also checked his stats to get a rough idea of where he stood. Based on what he knew, he had already left Michael''s stats behind. The only question was how far ahead he was from Michael and if this was enough to catch up to Lucifer. ___________________________________ [Stats:] Name: Azekiel Species: Human [?] Primary Title: King of Gluttony Secondary Title: Conqueror of World [Tap to remove Title] Level: 25 Experience needed for Level up: 300 Strength: 1079 Speed: 1050 ,m Defense: 1079 Hunger: 290 Magic Affinity: 95 Constitution: 98 [Skill:] Summoning Soul Snatch Card of Judgment [3 Cards left] Gluttony of Knowledge [Passive Skill] Commander [Tied to Secondary Title] [Weapons:] Gauntlet of Gluttony [2nd Form Unlocked: Hammer of Gluttony] [Familiars:] General of Gluttony: Raphael Witch of Famine: Lia [Items:] Escape Orbs: 2 Storage Ring Ring of Disguise [One use left] Key of Castle of Infinity ________________________________________ Chapter 99 99: Missed ****** "Is he still not up?" "No. As I said, he should be needing a long rest. It isn''t going to be up anytime soon." Raphael was still lying on Lia''sp as she answered Azekiel about the status of Raphael. Two books were ced beside her. "We can''t force him to get up, but we can''t stay here for long either. Time is of the essence. I''ll carry him with me. Our destination is far. By the time we get there, Raphael might be up." Azekiel kept the two remaining apples that were given to Lia and Raphael in his ring. He also ced the two books in the storage ring, using it to the fullest. Since he had the ring, he didn''t need to carry anything in his hands other than Raphael. He bent forward, inserting one hand under the neck of Raphael. To help him, Lia raised his head a bit from herp. Azekiel ced his other hand under the knees of Raphael before picking him up. "He is quite light," Raphaelmented, surprised at the weight of Raphael. It was his first time picking Raphael up, and the man didn''t even appear to have sixty kilograms. "He does look light, so I don''t doubt you," Lia smiled. "Despite his light weight, his attacks are quite heavy. I don''t know what thatst attack of his was, but the strength behind that... That was something else entirely. I could feel it even though I wasn''t close to him." "Yeah. Even I wonder what that was." Azekiel gazed at the peaceful yet pale face of Raphael. His breathing was finally stable. "Only he can answer when he wakes up..." Seeing the face of Raphael, Azekiel couldn''t help but smile. This was the face of the man who always appeared to be serious, rarely smiling. However, now that he seemed to be sleeping, his face finally looked rxed. Azekiel left the city, carrying Raphael in his arms, back where he came from. Now that he had seen the map, he knew that they had arrived in the wrong direction. To get on the right track, they needed to go back a bit. Walking back, Azekiel noticed the empty streets. There were no citizens here, unlike when he came here. "I still don''t understand what that old man was. And what was the town we saw before if that wasn''t an illusion." "I''m not sure either." Lia raised her shoulders ignorantly. "But from the way that old man was behaving, he certainly wasn''t an ordinary person. If I were to take a guess, I would say that he was the guardian of this Prison, here to make sure those two prisoners weren''t free." "Yeah, but then why would he let them be free?" Azekiel countered. "If he was here to keep them imprisoned, why did he leave? How did they get free? It was only after that old man left when these two were free, so it appeared to be intentional." "As I said, I have no idea why he did what he did. But I''m sure the answer lies in the vague words. His conversation with you should be what holds the secret." "His conversation with me?" Azekiel shook his head lightly. "It was too vague to decipher anything. However, I do understand a few things. Through the conversation of chess, he was directly talking to me. The king he talked about was me. He knew what I was, and probably even more." "The moment he gave Raphael that apple, he also talked about his past and the curse. So not only did the man know about me, but he knew about Raphael and most probably, you as well." "You think he was able to read our minds or peek at our memories?" "It''s quite possible. At this point, your guess is as good as mine." Even Azekiel didn''t know how the man knew. All he could do was take a guess. "In any case, I have a feeling we would be meeting that old man again..." Azekiel finally stepped out of the border of the town, subconsciously ncing to his left where the apple tree was present before. He didn''t seem too disappointed to find the tree missing. "As expected, that apple tree is also gone. It would''ve been good if I could get some more apples from it." "Are the apples really as miraculous as you im?" Lia had heard Azekiel praise the apples quite a few times. She couldn''t help but wonder if he really liked them. Were they really that tasty? Since she wasn''t hungry, she hadn''t even tasted it. "It''s not about the taste. It''s about something more than that..." Azekiel selected a direction ording to the map, going in the direction opposite to the sun. Along the way, he told Lia all about the specialty of those apples, which even surprised Lia. A single apple that could satiate the hunger of Azekiel was indeed something special. She had seen just how much Azekiel ate after all. Azekiel walked on foot for six hours straight. He didn''t even slow down for a moment. Each second was important. It was only after he reached the next forest that he stopped. He had been walking for so long that he had almost given up on hopes of finding a forest and was just about to eat one of the two remaining apples when luckily, he saw a glimpse of the forest in the distance. If there was a forest, then it was also highly likely that there was going to be something to eat. If possible, he didn''t want to waste those two apples since they were thest he had. Unlike thest forest, there was no rainstorm over this one. Most of the trees were also intact. In fact, the weather on top of the forest only looked good. "We will rest for a few hours here." He entered the forest and finally ced Raphael down under the shade of a tree. Leaving Lia to take care of Raphael, he entered deeper into the forest to search for something to eat. Thanks to the ring, he didn''t need to carry anything in his hands. "These footsteps... They appear to belong to some animal. I didn''t expect this ce to have animals. If animals live here, then there must be a water source nearby as well." Azekiel followed the footsteps, trying to locate the water source. He was sure that if he was going to find anything to eat, it was going to be near it. Just as he expected, following the footsteps, he soon reached a fruit tree. Swiss~ Azekiel was just about to pluck one of the fruits when something flew past his ears, missing his ears by barely a few inches. An arrow struck the tree, missing Azekiel. Chapter 100 100: Flawless An arrow came out of nowhere, flying right past Azekiel, missing his ears by a few inches. It was unclear if the arrow actually missed or if it was an intentional warning shot. Whatever the case, Azekiel didn''t want to take the risk. Av was still free and wanted to kill him. He couldn''t take things easy at this point. He straight called his Gauntlets of Gluttony before turning around. Another arrow came, this timeing straight for his forehead. There was no way the arrow could miss. It was evident now that whoever shot that arrow wasn''t ying around. Thest shot missed by incredible luck. This time Azekiel was prepared. He could see the arrowing toward him. It was as if he had all the time in the world to dodge the arrow now that he saw it. He moved like the wind, stepping aside. He subconsciously wanted to use his Gauntlets to block the arrow, but after remembering what had happened with Av, he didn''t want to take a risk. Normally an arrow like that shouldn''t have been able to prate his Weapon of Sin, but he just didn''t want to take that risk and suffer like Av. Now that there was no risk of being hit by the arrow, he reached out his hand. His speed appeared to be even faster than the speed of the arrow. Before the arrow could even fly past him, he grabbed the arrow. He didn''t just stop there. He didn''t let the arrow slow down. Instead, he turned his body around, further boosting the speed of the arrow before tossing it straight to where it came from. "Urgh!" A pained grunt echoed in the forest. Azekiel also followed the arrow, appearing right before a cloaked figure. The face of the person was covered by a mask, only revealing their pitch ck eyes. The arrow that he had shot was stabbed in the shoulders of the person, making their bow drop to the ground. A quiver was on the back of that person, filled with arrows. Unfortunately, without the bow, the arrows were useless. The person didn''t even have the time to pick up their bow as Azekiel appeared before them. Having no time to think, the person pulled out another arrow from their quiver, using the hand, which was still fine. The person used the arrow like a knife, thrusting at Azekiel''s chest. Unfortunately, that person was very weak. Azekiel didn''t even need his Gauntlets after he made sure that this person wasn''t Av. He sent his gauntlets back, giving more freedom to his hands. With his left, he grabbed the wrist of that person, and with his right, he grabbed their throat, smacking their back against the tree. "Who are you?" "I''m your father!" The man snorted in arrogance. "Bad answer." Azekiel didn''t appreciate such insults, especially when they concerned his family. He didn''t even think twice as his fists subconsciously closed in. A cracking sound resounded before a body dropped to the ground. Azekiel gazed down at the dead body lying near his feet. "I''m sure someone in hell would like that sense of humor." He picked up the bow of the man and realized that the bow was made from some really good quality wood. The bow was also a good long-range weapon. Believing that the bow coulde in handy in the future, he kept it in his storage ring along with the quiver of arrows. "Soul Snatch." He used the Soul Snatch on the man, cing his hand on the man''s forehead. Not only did he want to get some strength from this incident, but he also wanted to get the man''s memories. Initially, he just wanted to ask the man some questions, but after being insulted in such a manner, he dropped the n and decided to just steal the man''s memories to get the answer he needed. "Hmm? So that''s what it was..." He softly muttered, finally realizing why the man had attacked him. "This idiot... He could''ve just told me to leave." Through the memories of the man, Azekiel realized that the man was but an ordinary Royal Guard. He was here, apanying the Princess of their Empire. Not too far from here, there was a pond where the Princess was taking a bath. He was here to make sure that no one could go there. As soon as the man saw him, instead of asking him to leave, he straight attacked. Seeing the memories, Azekiel couldn''t help but call the man stupid. This forest was under their Empire, so no one else was allowed to be here, but still... Just because he entered the forest doesn''t mean that it gave others a chance to kill him. Azekiel went back to the tree and got back to work. He plucked all the fruits and kept them in his storage ring before going straight to the pond. Normally, he would''ve waited right where he was to make sure that the girl left before going to the pond, but he didn''t have time to waste standing around. The forest was just a momentary stop for him, and all he needed now was some water. Moreover, he was sure that the girl was going to be inside the water. There was nothing he could see with her body buried underwater, so it was technically not him peeking. At merely thirty meters of distance, there existed a beautiful pond. Azekiel stepped out of the bushes that were surrounding the pond, getting a clear view of the majestic long. The water of the pond was so clear that it even amazed Azekiel. However, he couldn''t see any girl inside the pond. There was no one there. "Looks like she left." He stepped closer to the pond, bringing out the bottle from his storage ring. He sat before the pond, submerging his bottle inside the bottle. However, as soon as his bottle entered the water, not too far from him, a figure came out of the water¡­ A young woman, having not a single piece of clothing over her body, came out of the water. Her long hair mostly covered her eyes as she came out. It was only after she stepped out of the water that she adjusted her hair, moving them to the side so she could see. She looked for her clothes that should''ve been nearby, noticing Azekiel. Her eyes widened as she swiftly tried to cover her wless body with her hands. Even Azekiel didn''t know how to react. A young woman stood before him,pletely naked. Chapter 101 101: Crack Her eyes located her Sword that was lying on top of her clothes between her and Azekiel. She swiftly picked up the sword before lunging at Azekiel to take off his head so the eyes of his could be closed forever. She didn''t want someone who was peeking at her to live to tell others about this day. Azekiel stood up and dodged to the left, avoiding the Sword. At the same time, he grabbed the wrist of thedy, ced his foot before her foot, and pulled her around, making her lose her bnce. The youngdy lost her bnce. Even her Sword fell from her hand as her wrist was held with such force. Azekiel made the woman fall to the ground, grabbing her other wrist as well so she couldn''t use her hands to hit him. "You bastard, release me! My men will ughter you! You don''t know who I am!" "The Princess of Alzi Empire. I know who you are." Azekiel had received the memories from the guards, which gave him all the information he needed about the youngdy who attacked him. "And by your men, do you mean that one Guard around the corner?" he inquired. "Yeah, he''s noting to help. He is a bit... Busy." "What did you do to him?!" The Woman felt something strange from Azekiel''s tone. The way he talked about her guard was as if he knew about him already. Not only that, he didn''t appear worried about her guard either. "I didn''t do anything to him. He did everything to himself. Just like you would do to yourself if you don''t stop attacking me." Azekiel issued a small threat. "Am I clear?" "I don''t care who you are or what you''re doing here. I''m not here to stalk you, and neither am I free enough to even attempt that," he further rified. "So it would be better if you don''t make me do something you regret." Azekiel released the youngdy before picking up the bottle of water. He closed the bottle and sent it back to his storage ring. The youngdy watched the bottle disappear from his hands, horrified. She thought that Azekiel was a Magician, and the way he acted here, it was evident that he wasn''t a good person. She was sure that he had killed her guard. Azekiel took another nce at thedy, who was still sitting in shock. Noticing Azekiel gazing back at him, she realized that she was still without clothes. It was the first time he saw ady without clothes. He couldn''t help but agree that she was attractive. Her body appeared without a single w, having all the curves at the right ces. Even her breasts were perfect. Azekiel picked up her clothes and tossed them to her. "There, you better get dressed and leave." After giving her clothes, he didn''t nce back even once as he left. The youngdy stood up after making sure that Azekiel had left. She quickly wore her clothes before running in the direction where Azekiel left. Her guard was also supposed to be in that direction. Initially, she was assigned over twenty guards for whenever she left the Kingdom, but since she didn''t like so many people to be around her, she left the others behind, only bringing one with her, thinking that one was going to be enough in case she was in trouble. Moreover, it wasn''t as if she was going too far. The forest was close to the Royal City, and it came under their jurisdiction. No one was allowed to enter the forest, and everyone knew this rule. She ran through the dense forest, only stopping when she noticed what appeared like a body, lying face down. Even though she couldn''t see the face of that person, she could see his clothes which made her understand that the man was her guard. She ran to the guard and turned his body around to look at his face. As she saw the man''s face, she realized that she was right. She also understood why Azekiel was so confident that no one wasing to help her. It''s because he had already killed her guard. Frowning, she red in the direction Azekiel disappeared in. The man arrived in her forest, killed her guard, and then even touched her. Even though he didn''t kill her or do anything bad to her personally, she still couldn''t forgive him for what he did. Unfortunately, she also knew she wasn''t a match for the person who could use the dark magic ording to her. She didn''t have anyone to help her either. If she went back to the city to get some help, by the time they were going to return, this guy would''ve been long gone. She had a feeling that once this man disappeared, she wasn''t going to find him again. That''s why she devised a n. She needed to find Azekiel''s destination to know where he was going to stay. Once she found out where he was staying, she could bring her forces there. However, to find out his destination, she needed to follow Azekiel without being seen. She ran in the direction of Azekiel, looking for him. She tried to make as little noise as possible to not get caught. ***** Azekiel came back to Lia. He brought out his bottle, tossing it at Lia. "Here, have something to drink." p Lia raised her hand to grab the bottle. Instead ofnding in her hand, the bottle passed through her hand, falling near the tree. "Hmm?" Azekiel picked up the bottle again. "Try holding it?" Lia tried to hold the bottle, but it didn''t work either. She just couldn''t touch the bottle. Azekiel brought a fruit that he had just plucked. Unfortunately, Lia couldn''t touch it either. "I can''t touch it. It looks like things are back to normal," Lia smiled wryly. "We are back to our Spiritual Forms. The effects of that city are gone." Since she couldn''t touch anything from this world, it only made her believe that things were back to how they used to be. After entering the Heavenly Prison, their spirits were affected by something, making them temporarilye back to the Material Realm. The effects evensted for a while, only to leave now. ***** Even though Raphael appeared to be lying peacefully under the shade of the tree, his mind wasn''t as peaceful. His consciousness was seemingly going through a turmoil. It was unclear what he did today that did it, but there was finally a small crack in his sealed memories... Chapter 102 102: Raphaels Past It was unclear what happened that caused it, but the seal that was on Raphael''s memories appeared to have a minor crack. A small fraction of his memories had suddenly flooded his head, making him relive that moment. Unfortunately, the memories were just too vague, making him unable to understand what actually happened. The memories started from the moment when Raphael was cursed... ***** Raphael was sitting on one knee with his head lowered. He appeared to be in a beautiful and majestic hall. There were five people standing before him, having an aura that could destroy a world with a single thought. "Raphael, I didn''t expect this from you..." The person in the middle appeared to be the most disappointed in Raphael. His white hair was so long that they were touching the floor, even though the man was seven feet tall with a well-built body. The man was donning an Armor simr to what Raphael had when he fought the Spirits sent by the Soul Demon. Not only simr, this Armor appeared to bepletely identical, including each marking. "Are you really sure he did it, Alziem?" the old man asked, ncing behind Raphael. "Yes, Your Excellency. I saw it with my own eyes." A hoarse voice came from the back, making Raphael look back. The voice was simr to the voice that Raphael heard in the darkness before, mocking him. He was also the person Raphael hated the most. It was because of him that he had to suffer for an eternity. The white-haired man let out a deep sigh which appeared to epass the sadness of the entire world in it. Two Gauntlets appeared around the white-haired man. As for the Gauntlets, they were no different than the Gauntlets of Azekiel. The old man stepped closer to Raphael, each step being heavier than thest. "I thought you could be the one taking my ce after I''m gone, but you really broke my trust. You can''t even control your hunger, let alone be able to control yourself. You''ve disappointed me." Raphael didn''t argue back. He was prepared to even die for his mistake, instead of fighting back. In any case, fighting back wasn''t an option since the person before him was not the one who could be defeated... Raphael kept his head down. The old man ced his right hand on the head of Raphael, still donning those Gauntlets. "I, Ziem, curse you! You... Who couldn''t control his hunger and chose to steal... This Hunger will be your biggest punishment!" "Arghhhh!" The gauntlet started shining brightly, sending a frightening pain in the body of Raphael, making him feel as if he was going through the worst pain he had ever experienced. "I am taking away your ability to satiate your hunger! No matter how much you eat, no matter what you eat, you''ll never feel full! Your hunger will never decrease! The hunger that made youmit the sin... I grant you an even worse hunger for an eternity! As long as even a sliver of your existence exists, that hunger will apany you!" It was unclear how the man actually made the curse, but it appeared to be rted to the Gauntlets that he was using. It was as if he was stealing Raphael''s ability to satiate his hunger through the mystical Gauntlets, forever! It was only when the Gauntlets stopped shining that the old man retracted his hand. He turned his back on Raphael, who still sat on his knees weakly. The Hunger had already started taking its hold. "Alziem, Take him away from my sight. He has been banished from this ce. Inform everyone that Raphael should never be allowed to step foot in ournd. If he does, then he is to be killed on sight. Also, make sure he understands it..." "Y-yes, My Lord. I''ll make sure everything is done as you wish..." Alzeim smiled as he moved closer to Raphael. "Come with me." Raphael stood up, despite feeling extremely weak. He didn''t show his weakness, trying to hide it as much as he could. He started dragging his body, walking with Alzeim. Tremble~ As Raphael was being taken out, the entire pce suddenly started trembling for some reason. It was as if there was a powerful earthquake. Something like this had never happened here before, which stunned even the old man. "Are we under attack? But there''s no one who can care to attack us. Then what is it?" ***** The small Fragment of the memories returned to Raphael, but that was the only extent to it. That was all the memories he had recovered. In the past, he remembered that he was cursed. He thought that it was also when he was killed, but it was only now that he realized he wasn''t killed by the old man. Instead, the old man had just banished him. However, that also raised a question. If he didn''t die after being cursed, then how did he die? Even though the new set of memories only showed him a few extra minutes of his lost memories, they were the most crucial minutes, which raised even more questions in his head. ***** Azekiel went down to his knees, cing his hand on the forehead of Raphael. He tried to make sure of his assumption by touching the soft cheeks of Lia as well. "Yeah, I can touch you both. It looks like the effect of you being able to touch things were gone as soon as we left that city. The only reason we didn''t know was because I was carrying Raphael, which made me think that it was because he was in the material world." Even though it was slightly bad news since Raphael and Lia couldn''t contribute to his battles without being summoned, there was also some good to it. For some reason, now he was able to touch Raphael and Lia. That ability was still there. He was unclear how that ability came into existence, but there was a small doubt in his head that it was because of the apple he had eaten. The old man probably gave the apple to him for some reason. ''If he gave me one for a reason, that means he gave Lia and Raphael for a reason as well. Should I have them eat theirs as well?'' Even though he wanted to have those two apples for himself so he didn''t suffer the bacsh, he couldn''t help but be curious about how those two were going to help Raphael and Lia. Was it going to help Raphael by finally breaking his curse? Or was it going to bring both his Spirits to the material realm for real? He knew it was worth the risk. Chapter 103 103: Armor And Sword On one side, he wanted to save those special fruits, while on the other, he wanted to use them on Lia and Raphael to see if there was something they could gain from it. It was a hard choice. Lost in thoughts, he wondered what he should do. However, he was soon distracted when he noticed Raphael making a movement. Raphael was starting to wake up. Raphael slowly opened his eyes, observing his peaceful surroundings. He noticed Lia sitting near him and Azekiel standing in the distance. The surroundings made him understand that he was in a forest. "Where are we?" He asked, holding his aching head. "What happened to the battle?" "What would happen to it? Since we''re alive, of course, we won it. The Soul Demon is dead. Unfortunately, I couldn''t kill that woman. She managed to run, though I believe I managed to hurt her a bit. She shouldn''t trouble us for some time, but the day she returns, it''ll be a real headache. Hopefully, we would''ve finished our mission by then." The woman had warned Azekiel that she was going to kill him. And he was sure that she intended to keep her promise. However, he also knew that it was just limited to this floor. He didn''t believe that she could follow him to other floors. All he needed was to finish his mission and then go to the next floor. "So we survived... That''s good." Raphael let out a sigh. "How long was I asleep?" Even though he was still concerned about the memories that he saw, he didn''t tell Azekiel, deciding to keep them to himself. He didn''t want to trouble them, especially since it was about his past. "We have five more days to finish achieving our goals," Azekiel answered. "Five days, so not much time. In five days, not only do we need to get to our destination but also help that soul." Raphael frowned. "Our destination? How far is it from where we are?" " ording to the map, we are not too far now. From here, we should be within seven hours of walking distance." Azekiel picked up a stick and started drawing the core of the map. He didn''t want to open the book again just for the map since he wasn''t sure if the curse was still there or not. He used the stick and drew the map on the soil before them. "This is the forest where we''re at." He tapped the stick at the cross Mark. We are already inside the Empire." He made a giant circle around the forest which marked the boundaries of the Empire. At the northern edge of the Empire, he made another cross. "And this is our destination. The abandoned City of Abaddon." "That city is our target. That''s where we''ll find what we''re looking for. We should be there by tomorrow morning." Azekiel summarized, based on the distance, "That would give us four days to finish the blood oath." "Seven hours of walking distance... If only we could fly, the distance would''ve been so much shorter. We could''ve saved some time," Raphael muttered, seemingly lost in his own thoughts. It was as if Raphael''s words gave Azekiel an idea. His eyes lit up. "Who says we can''t fly?" "You can?" Raphael inquired, surprised. It was the first time he was hearing about Azekiel being able to fly. "When did that happen? When I was asleep?" "No. I''m not talking about me. I can''t fly. Lia can''t fly either, but you can. You can carry us there if you''re not weak anymore." "I can carry you there?" Raphael still didn''t understand how that was possible. Even now, he didn''t realize that Azekiel could touch them, and they could touch him. When Azekiel talked about him, he had been asleep. Azekiel informed him about the strange phenomenon where he could touch them now even though they were in their spiritual form, exining all his theories as to how it could be possible. Raphael couldn''t believe the words that easily, even if they came from Azekiel. He needed to test himself. He tapped Azekiel''s hands. It was only when he could feel Azekiel''s hands that he realized that it was true. He could touch Azekiel now. That meant he could carry them with him through the air. "That''s perfect. Now I should be able to carry you." He could already touch Lia in the past as they were both in their Spiritual Form, but now he could carry both of them. "So, how are you feeling now? You passed out from being tired. Is that really what happened?" Now that their journey ns were resolved, that saved a lot of their time. Still, there was one question that Azekiel wanted an answer to before starting their journey again. He wanted to make sure that Raphael was actually fine. He didn''t want Azekiel to overexert himself again, just to carry them. "I am fine. There is nothing to worry about." Raphael stood up and stretched his arms. "Yeah, everything seems normal. We can leave right now if you don''t have any problem." "I had another question. It''s about that sword and that Armor of yours..." "What sword and Armour?" Raphael gazed back in confusion. "The one you used in the battle to destroy the Spirits?" Azekiel responded. "What other Armor and Sword would I ask about?" "Armor and Sword that I used?" Raphael still appeared confused, as if he didn''t understand a single thing. "Destroyed the Spirits? What are you talking about? I thought you destroyed the Spirits." "If I did, I''m sure I wouldn''t be asking you." Azekiel smiled wryly. However, he was still curious how Raphael didn''t know about it. Raphael certainly wasn''t going to lie to him, that he was sure of. Did that mean he really didn''t remember? "What is thest thing you remember before you lose consciousness?" he asked. "Last thing I remember?" Raphael grimaced. Since Azekiel was talking so confidently about his Armor and Sword, he couldn''t help but wonder if there really was one. But if there was, then how? How did he not remember about it? He didn''t use an Armour or a Sword. He could use them, but he didn''t have any of his own. He was a close-range fighter who used his hands more. So having a Sword was really strange. "I remember being surrounded by those screeching spirits. Then there was a terrible headache¡­ And I cked out. The next thing I knew, I was here. I thought you saved me there and brought me here." Chapter 104 104: Something I Cant Afford To Forget "So you don''t remember what happened after you were surrounded." Azekiel sat on the soft grass, trying to make sense of the situation. How could it be that Raphael was able to use such strength without even knowing about it? In fact, I didn''t know a single thing about possessing a Sword at all. Raphael shook his head in response. He really had no idea what happened after he cked out. "Can you tell me exactly what happened?" He asked Azekiel to exin in detail, wondering if he could get some clues. "There''s not much to exin. It''s exactly as I said. After I killed the Soul Demon, all the spirits went crazy. Some even came to attack me. It''s also when you changed. You had an Armour around you and a Sword that seemed quite powerful. You destroyed all the spirits. In fact, your speed at that time... You were much more than I''ve ever seen you move before." "Can you describe that Armour or that Sword?" From the story, he couldn''t remember anything, which prompted him to ask for more information. Not far from them, a youngdy was hiding, hearing their conversation secretly. She didn''t even dare to breathe too loudly as she was worried about getting caught. She was like an assassin, hiding behind a tree. "That Armour of yours... I only saw it briefly, but I remember some things about it." Azekiel used the stick once again to draw something on the soil. He drew an Armour right beside the map he had created previously. After making the outer shell of the armor, he drew the patterns that the armor had, trying to be as precise as he could. He didn''t remember everything about the Armour, but what he did remember, he managed to portray well enough. p Right beside the Armour, he carved the shape of Raphael''s sword. "This was the sword you used." Azekiel gazed at Raphael after finishing the sword''s design, only to notice that Raphael wasn''t even looking at the sword. Instead, he was staring at the Armour. "Are you sure this is exactly what I used?" Raphael grimly stared at Azekiel. Even though he asked a question, he didn''t wait for an answer, seemingly lost in thoughts. "Then again, if you didn''t see this Armour, it''s impossible for you to draw it to such detail. But how? How could I have this Armour... How could I have his armor?" "And even if I had his Armour, how did I not know about it? Is this also rted to the missing memories?" As Raphael thought out loud, Azekiel managed to hear him. Finally, he heard the secret of Raphael. "Missing memories?" Raphael didn''t n to trouble Azekiel with his lost past, but now that things had reached this point, he couldn''t hide it anymore. "Yeah. When I was lost in the darkness, I heard a voice..." He told Azekiel everything regarding meeting with Alzeim and how he knew that guy. He articted the exact words of Alzeim that he spoke in the darkness regarding the lost memories. "That''s when I discovered that what I thought to be my past wasn''t my entire past." Raphael picked up another stick. As he talked, he started carving the patterns of the Armor that Azekiel had missed. "When you found me screaming? It wasn''t for no reason. It was because I was trying to recall my missing past. As I failed to recall that past, again and again, I started losing myself in despair, even forgetting who I was. That''s when you came and pulled me out of that..." "That''s when I decided I wasn''t going to think about my forgotten past. If trying to recall my past meant losing myself, then I was ready to bury that past. I stopped thinking about it. That''s why I didn''t tell you. It wasn''t because I wanted to hide it from you. It''s because I had decided to just forget what happened there." "However, it seems that my past isn''t something I''m allowed to forget... If I have the Armour that belongs to him, then something big must have happened in the past... Something that I can''t afford to forget." "Until now, I used to think he killed me as punishment after I was cursed. I ced most of my anger on him... But now I found out that I was wrong. He didn''t kill me. He cursed me and banished me..." Raphael described the new memories he gained when he was asleep. "What happened after that is the question. And it''s a question I must find an answer to. That answer is too important! It''s too important for me!" Realizing the importance of his past, Raphael slowly started entering the same zone as before, trying to force his memories out. His headache also kept increasing once again. Ultimately, he was forced to stop as he felt that he was once again going to lose himself if he didn''t stop now. The headache only kept increasing after all. He felt as if his head was going to explode in pain. Azekiel couldn''t see Raphael like this. He knew Raphael was in pain and that if he didn''t stop, he could enter the same phase as before. "What about this Sword? Do you recognize it as well?" Azekiel asked, trying to change the topic from the Armour. It worked as well. Raphael turned to the Sword''s drawing on the side, observing it carefully. He shook his head. "I don''t remember that sword. I don''t think I''ve ever seen that Sword, even in the memories I hold. It wasn''t a weapon used by the gods that I''m sure of. It also wasn''t something that I ever used." "So basically, we are back at square one. We don''t know how you got these things, but what we do know is that you can call them out. You can use them." Azekiel knew how powerful Raphael was with those things. If he could learn to call them out or to use them, his strength was going to get a massive boost. That was also how he could keep Raphael busy, stopping himself from thinking about the past. He was sure that with time, Raphael was going to get his memories back, just like he received a fragment of his memories now. Moreover, that Fragment of memories only came when he used that Sword and the Armour. He was sure if Raphael used these things again, it could help him remember even more. "Those two things also take a heavy toll on him. We shouldn''t forget it." Lia finally chimed in after sitting silently for so long. "We need to be careful with those things if we don''t want to have to drag Raphael again. If we''re not careful, it can put him at risk, but if he can learn to control them without over-exerting himself, things will get quite interesting in the tower." Chapter 105 105: Deadly Traps Azekiel understood what Lia was trying to say. It was like a double-edged sword. It could be beneficial for them, making their team stronger. At the same time, it could also make them weaker by hurting Raphael. In any case, it was something that they couldn''t be hasty with, especially with the fragmented memories of Raphael. Ultimately, it was decided that they weren''t going to force anything. For now, the focus was on the task at hand, which was to find the Stone of Time. After they had the stone that could control the time, which could give them a safety, they could attempt this. After finally having a n of action, Azekiel asked Raphael to carry them to their destination. Since Raphael could touch him, it was an easier mode of travel. Especially since it was his idea. Raphael also didn''t mind it. The faster they reached their destination, the more time they were going to have. Raphael grabbed the right hand of Azekiel with his left. He grabbed the left hand of Lia with his right. He held their hands firmly since a single fall could mean their death, especially Azekiel''s. "Are you ready?" he asked as two ck wings spread behind his back. In the back, the young princess looked at Azekiel weirdly. She was sure that he was a mad man. Throughout the time, he had been talking to a tree. Since she couldn''t see Raphael, all she saw was the tree that was behind Raphael. She further saw Azekiel raise his right hand. "I''m ready." Raphael started rising in the air, holding onto Azekiel and Lia. The young princess came out of her hiding. She saw Azekiel flying away, which made her a hundred percent sure that Azekiel was a dark Mage. As Azekiel disappeared into the distance, the young princess walked to the map that Azekiel had carved on the ground. She observed the things Azekiel had drawn. Looking at the map, she couldn''t find much since the map was just a bunch of circles and crosses. However, she had heard Azekiel speak as well. She knew where he was going. Moreover, the direction he flew at also confirmed her conjunction. **** The Tomb of Gods... The Entire Third Floor was called the Tomb of Gods. It was supposed to be a graveyard of the Gods. It was said to be the ce where the Gods were buried. However, only a few people knew that there was more to it. The Tomb of Gods had a special Temple inside it, which epassed an entire world on the inside. The Special World inside the Temple was a vast world that had many strange and bizarre ces like the Heavenly Prison and the Eternal Rainstorm Forest. However, while it had some bizarre ces, what was more bizarre was that there also existed an ordinary Empire in a ce like that. It was normal for a ce as strange as the Tomb of Gods to have bizarre sites. However, having an ordinary Empire with humans was what stood out the most. However, no one knew why that was the case. No one knew what mysteriesid beneath the surface of the Temple, including Azekiel. All he knew was where he needed to go and what he needed to find. The Empire covered a vast amount ofnd. From the map, Azekiel could only find one Empire in the entire world. Most of the cities in the Empire were upied by humans, except one... The city which was right on the border of the Empire... The city of Abaddon. It was a city that had long been abandoned, and not a single person dared to enter the city. It was said that the city was cursed. Whoever entered the city never came out alive. Even the Empire didn''t dare send anyone into the city. There were also some rumors that the city was the domain of Demons, who were forever cursed to stay there. It was the city where Raphael was going. ***** In another ce, the young Princess found her horse outside the forest. Getting on the back of the horse, she went back to the Royal Capital to inform her father about what she saw. **** A youngdy had already reached the entrance of the city of Abaddon. A peculiar mark graced the forehead of thedy. Her eyes remained with focus, only momentarily gaining their focus before losing it again. From inside the city, many screeching noises could be heard. The strange noises could easily send chills down the spine of people. However, Lenora didn''t seem to fear. She stepped closer to the City, soon entering. As soon as Lenora entered the city, the screeching intensified. A three-meter-wide formation circle appeared around Lenora with her at the center. From the formation circle, thousands of ck vines came out, shooting straight to her. Lenora raised her hand. A sword made purely of energy appeared in her hands which she used to slice the scary vines. However, no matter what she did, she couldn''t get rid of them. The more she cut, the more they came. Vines even kept multiplying. Lenora realized that she couldn''t keep going on like this. She needed to get out of the formation. She jumped; however, before she could even rise a few meters, a vine grabbed her feet, pulling her back to the ground. Another ck vine came, wrapping the wrist of Lenora, making her unable to even use the sword. Three more vines wrapped her left arm and her other leg. More and more vines kept wrapping around Leonora, trapping her more and more with each passing second. The ground under Lenora''s feet also turned pitch ck, slowly pulling her inside the ground. It was as if the ground around her had turned to quicksand. Her body kept entering the ground, being pulled by the vines. She couldn''t even move her hands to fight back. If it was one or two vines, she could''ve broken them, but there were hundreds of vines wrapped around her. Moreover, each of the vines had the strength of the Statues that were at the entrance of the Temple. ***** Three hourster, Raphael also reached the city of Abaddon. Hended just outside the entrance of the City. He could''ve flown straight inside, but the strange screeches made him stop. It was as if they were warning them to not enter the ce. "The city of Abaddon... On the map, this ce is marked as the Tomb of Gods. That would mean that this is the real tomb... The ce where real gods are buried... If it''s where Gods are buried, it''s evident that this ce will have some strict safety so no one can desecrate the Tomb of Gods..." Chapter 106 106: Entering The Graveyard Azekiel stood at the entrance of the city of Abaddon, gazing inside the city. From the outside, the city looked mostly ordinary if one was to ignore a few things. However, those few things were hard to ignore, like screeching sounds that wereing from inside or the blood marks that were on the road not too far from the entrance of the city. From where he stood, he couldn''t see a single person inside the city. "Raphael, what do you think is making these noises? Beasts or Spirits?" "I''m not sure. All I know is that we need to be careful." Azekiel took a deep breath before calling out his Gauntlets. He wanted to be prepared before entering the city, as a single moment of dy could ce his life in jeopardy, especially when Raphael and Lia couldn''t help him. He couldn''t help but wonder how amazing it would be if Raphael and Lia were once again back in the Material World like they were in the Heavenly Prison. However, he didn''t keep his hopes high. His safety was dependent on him entirely. Donning the Metallic gauntlets, he took his first step inside the city. As soon as he entered the city, it was as if his entire surroundings had changed. A change in atmosphere could be felt evidently. The air inside the city was cold, unlike outside. From the outside, the sky appeared to be clear, but now that he looked up after entering thend, he noticed that the Sky looked pitch ck for some reason. It was as if he had entered apletely different domain. The screeches he could hear when he was outside were gone as well. He couldn''t hear those screeches anymore. "Raphael?" he called. "Did that noise stop for you as well?" "Yeah. The silence is really strange. I don''t like it." Raphael grimly observed his surroundings. He observed the blood marks on the ground. "The Blood is still fresh. It hadn''t been long since the blood was spilled." "So someone fought here... It seems someone entered before us. But then who were they fighting?" Azekiel didn''t stop walking even as he thought about the blood. Unfortunately, he didn''t have an answer to his questions. As he walked toward the center of the city, he didn''t realize that a small golden circle had started taking shape around him. It was only after the Formation Circle became visible that he realized what was happening. He didn''t know what this Formation Circle did, but he knew it couldn''t be anything good. "Get out of this Formation!" He yelled, warning Raphael and Lia before smashing his foot on the ground with his entire force, propelling his body ahead and upward. The force of his stomp should''ve been enough to leave a crater on the ground, but there was nothing even simr to that. The ground waspletely intact. Thousands of pitch-ck vines came out of the formation circle, advancing straight to Azekiel with lightning-fast speed. None of these vines targeted Raphael or Lia, as if not being able to sense the two Spirits. "Watch out!" Lia was the first to spot the Vines and warm Azekiel. However, even as she warned him, her warning came toote. A vine wrapped around the right foot of Azekiel, stopping his forward motion. Azekiel turned his body mid-air, slicing the vine that had captured his feet. The vine was cut swiftly. Azekielnded outside the formation. However, the vines didn''t stop attacking him. Instead, ten more Formation Circles appeared all around him, each sending ck vines after Azekiel. The vine which he had sliced also healed,ing to him again. "What a headache!" Azekiel spun his body shooting energy bullets at the ck Vines that were behind him. Unfortunately, even his energy bullets failed to destroy the Vines. All the damage that was done to the Vines was healed instantly. In fact, not only did he fail to decrease the Demonic Vines, but they only increased instead. Raphael couldn''t stand back and watch Azekiel in trouble. Azekiel kept cutting the vines, but it wasn''t having much effect other than keeping him free. The Vines still kepting. If it was like that, Raphael knew that Azekiel was soon going to run out of strength, only to be drowned in the Vines. "I am going in to help him!" Raphael dered. His beautiful ck wings appeared once again as he flew straight to Azekiel from above the Vines. "Give me your hand!" Raphael yelled, alerting Azekiel. Azekiel couldn''t afford to be distracted. He knew that if he was distracted for even a minute, he was going to be gone. When the Vine had wrapped around his door, he was able to sense the strength each vine had. He knew he couldn''t free himself if he were caught. He couldn''t take his eyes off the vines to look where Raphael was as he danced with the wind. However, he ced his entire trust in Raphael. Without even looking up, he jumped. At the same time, Azekiel fired even more Energy Bullets so that his foot wasn''t caught like before. His blind trust didn''t fail him either, as his timing matched perfectly. Raphael grabbed the hand of Azekiel before flying into the distance. More and more formations kept appearing wherever Raphael flew to. In fact, some formations even appeared in the air, from where more Vines came out. Lia followed after them through the ground. Even as she walked right past the Vines, she wasn''t attacked. Maybe because the Vines couldn''t even hold her as she was a Spirit. Only having one free hand, Azekiel kept attacking the monstrous Vines that he saw getting close to them. On the other side, Raphael showed his skills through his flying. The Vines that were missed by Azekiel were avoided by Raphael, who appeared to be a treat to watch, making some really fascinating maneuvers. After a long time, Raphael noticed that the Vines had actually stopped. There weren''t any Vines anymore. No more Formation Circles were appearing around them. Frowning, Raphael stopped. He looked down, wondering why the Vines had stopped. As he and Azekiel looked down, they noticed that they were right above a Graveyard, which was right at the exact center of the town. "The true graveyard of Gods... We are here." Azekiel observed the graveyard. The Graveyard was covered with pitch ck grass. "It seems the safety mechanisms were just to stop us from getting here. Even the Vines can''t enter the Graveyard. Let''s get down." Raphael and Azekielnded on the ck grass inside the Graveyard, finally being able to rx a bit since they didn''t need to fight constantly. Behind him, Lia also entered the Graveyard of Gods... The exact ce where real Gods were said to be buried. Chapter 107 107: The Gods Are Dead A graveyard, surrounded by walls from all sides... There was not a single entrance to the Graveyard. If one wanted to enter, the only way to enter was by jumping through a ten feet tall wall. Azekiel saw Lia jumping through the wall tond on the ck grass inside the graveyard. She walked to Azekiel and Raphael. "Are you two fine?" Azekiel affirmed. Even though his leg was still aching because of being grabbed by the Vines, it was still not enough to hurt him. The graveyard had many silver tombstones; however, there was one that attracted his attention. A ck tombstone was lying in the middle of the cemetery, having a height of three meters. The tombstone was so tall that it was even visible from a distance. The tombstone didn''t have a small thickness either. It was two meters thick, which only became visible when someone looked at it from the side. Azekiel walked closer to the ck tombstone, noticing some skid marks near it. It was as if someone had moved the tombstone many times to leave such marks here. The Graveyard was as far as the map could lead him. ording to the map, this was where his destination was. However, where exactly, even he didn''t know where exactly. Seeing the Tombstone did give him some ideas though. He ced both his hands on the tombstone and pushed him in the same direction as the skid marks. Despite having so much strength, even Azekiel had a hard time pushing this stone. It was just so heavy. Fortunately, even if slowly, he did manage to push the tombstones sessfully. As the tombstone was pushed to the side, a small opening under it became visible, which was hidden by the stone. Through the opening, Azekiel noticed some stairs that were going down into the darkness. "There we go, our entrance." Azekiel went down the stairs, followed by the others. As he stepped foot on the stairs, the tombstone started moving back to its original ce on its own. It closed the opening once again. As the opening was closed, the stairs turnedpletely dark. Just to get down the stairs, Azekiel had to take each step carefully so as to not fall. He kept walking down the stairs for twenty minutes straight, but he didn''t reach their end. The stairs seemed unending. "Is there even an end to these stairs?" Lia was the first to ask. "There must be an end. Just stay patient." After twenty more minutes and a thousand steps, Azekiel finally felt that he had reached the floor. He tapped his foot ahead, just to make sure. Even though it was still dark, he was sure that there were no stairs ahead. He didn''t need to guess for a long time either. Not long after hended on the floor, the entire ce was filled with light, revealing a beautiful corridor with over a hundred doors on each side of the corridor. "This is going to take some time..." Raphael muttered, noticing so many doors. He didn''t know what was behind these doors, but he worried that if there was another world behind each of these doors, this was going to take longer than seven days. So far, their luck hadn''t been great. Azekiel walked to the first door, having the same concern as Raphael. Fortunately, as he opened the door, he realized that he was worried for nothing. There was indeed a small room on the other side of the door and nothing more. Inside the room, he saw a single coffin, seemingly made from wood. He entered the freezing room and walked to the coffin, wondering if it really contained what he was thinking. The coffin and the entire room waspletely spotless. Not even a single speck of dust could be seen. Even the coffin appeared to be entirely new. However, Azekiel was sure that it wasn''t the case. This ce was the real tomb of gods, so he believed that these coffins contained real gods. It was unclear how the gods died or who killed them, but this was the sight of their burial. He knew it was bad to open the coffins; however, he couldn''t ignore the coffin either. There was a possibility that one of these gods in the coffin could have the Stone of Time. "The Wood from the World Tree," Raphaelmented, observing the wood that the coffin was made from. "I''m sure it''s the wood from that tree. Which means the people inside these coffins..." He was slightly taken aback as he considered the possibility. Since the wood came from the tree in his World, it was highly likely that the Gods that rested here were the ones he knew. He asked Azekiel to open the coffin. Azekiel slowly opened the coffin, which was so sturdy that despite being here for thousands of years, it still looked as if it was made just yesterday. As the Coffin was opened, a man was revealed inside the coffin who appeared to be sleeping peacefully. However, the man wasn''t breathing as if he had been dead. A sword wound could also be seen on the chest of the man, making it evident that he was killed with a Sword. There was not even the slightest decay in the body. Even the wound lookedpletely fresh as if the war had happened just yesterday. "Do you recognize him?" Azekiel nced at Raphael, who appeared shocked to see the face of the young man. "I do." Raphael realized that he was right. The Tomb of Gods... It belonged to the gods he knew. "He was the son of the one who cursed me." "If he is dead, that means his father must be dead as well." "How can you be sure of that?" "Because he would never allow his son to be killed as long as he lives," Raphael answered. "The other rooms must have coffins. So everyone was killed..." He knew the man all too well to know what he was like. "Then again, maybe I already knew that he was dead. The Gauntlets you use belong to him. I don''t think you would have them if he were alive. But how could he and everyone else there die? Who could''ve killed them?" "If anyone can know the answer to that question, it''s Alzeim." Raphael frowned. If he had known about this before, he could''ve asked Alziem when he met him in the darkness before. Azekiel checked inside the coffin, even checking the clothes of the young god, trying to look for the Stone of Time. Chapter 108 108: Is There Any Other Option? "This isn''t the one." Disappointed, Azekiel closed the coffin before stepping back. "If one of these Gods has the stone I''m looking for, it must be their King... The owner of the Gauntlets of Gluttony." "Come, we need to find the right one." Azekiel moved over to the next room. The second room was alsopletely identical to the first room, only having a Wooden Coffin inside. "Zaim," Raphael muttered the name of the one inside the coffin, reminiscing about thest. Inside the Coffinid an old man who had a long white beard and a serene calm on his face. He couldn''t help but remember how the old man used to help him back in the day. He was one of the gods who taught him how to fight. He also tried to get him out of trouble whenever he was in one. Unfortunately, even he couldn''t save him when the Godking cursed him. Zaim didn''t have the authority. Raphael ced his hand on the hand of the old man. "Thank you for everything you did for me. And I''m sorry for not being there when you needed me." As Raphael talked his heart out, Azekiel kept checking the coffin. Even he hated doing something like this to the dead bodies of people Raphael cared about, but he had no other option. Time was of the essence. "Nothing here as well." Azekiel sighed tiredly before asking Raphael, "Should I close the Coffin, or you want some time?" "I''m fine. You can close it. It''s time we let him sleep in peace." Raphael took his hand back, ncing at the old man onest time. Azekiel closed the coffin. Patting the shoulders of Raphael, he moved over to the next room. One after another, Azekiel kept checking the rooms, searching inside each of the coffins. Before long, Azekiel had already checked around a hundred coffins, and still, there were a hundred more left to check. He just wanted to skip to thest room, getting bored of all the checking and failing. Unfortunately, he knew that it was counterproductive if the stone was in the next coffin itself. He went in proper order, checking each coffin. Two hours... It took two hours before he finished checking close to two hundred rooms. Along the way, he kept eating fruits he had gathered before in the forest so as to not lose himself in hunger. As Azekiel kept checking the room, a thought also crossed his mind, which made him realize what a missed opportunity it was. There were so many gods lying before him, dead. If he could absorb their Soul Energy, it could''ve made him so strong. Unfortunately, the Limitation of his skill came into effect, upsetting him. He could only absorb the Soul Energy from the bodies that were killed in thest twenty-four hours. With every body he saw, he realized how much this limitation screwed him over. There was only one room left to check now¡ª the room straight at the end of the corridor. So far, they hadn''t seen the body of the Godking, which made Azekiel believe that thest room was going to have his coffin, along with the stone of time. "Finally, we are there." Azekiel pushed open the door, expecting to be greeted by another coffin. However, what fell before his eyes was something entirely different. It was a massive room that appeared to have a pool inside. The pool had covered the entire room, leaving no space to walk. On the other end of the room, there existed another door, golden in color. Moreover, the pond didn''t have ordinary water either. It was filled with pitch ck water that appeared to be bubbling from the heat. Azekiel brought a small fruit out of his storage ring and tossed it at the pond. As he saw the fruit submerging in the water while being destroyed slowly, he couldn''t help but frown. "It''s Acid. I guess I was too optimistic if I thought getting to the Godking''s body would have the same difficulty as the other gods. Then again, whoever made this ce didn''t expect us to fly, did they?" "Raphael, can you carry me to the other end?" Azekiel reached out his hand to Raphael. Raphael didn''t take his hand. Instead, he shook his head. "We can''t fly above it." "Why?" "There are Spirit Lines," Raphael pointed at the strange marks on the wall. "They seem to be made for the reason itself. They control the wind inside the room. If I fly, the wind in the room will be too unstable because of those Spirit Lines. We might even fall into the ck acid." "What if I destroy those formation lines with energy bullets?" Azekiel suggested. "If I can create a w, they should stop working." "That''ll be even worse. Any w in them will mess with the gravity of the room. The water might start rising, which will make it impossible to pass through." Azekiel rubbed his chin, noticing his fingers. A thought came to his mind. "If we can''t fly, and we can''t go through the water, maybe we can use the wall." He called forth his Gauntlets again, which had sharp ws. " If these ws prate through the wall, I should be able to get to the other side slowly." He thrust his ws to the wall ahead. nk~ His ws hit the wall, only to make a metallic noise. The sharp ws failed to even leave a single scratch on the wall, let alone prate them. "So much for that." Azekiel smiled wryly. "We have no option but to go through the water. What if there''s something like a boat? Will the Spirit Lines create trouble for us?" "A boat? We would need a boat made from something that doesn''t get destroyed due to the acid. But it must be light as well. Finding a material to make that boat itself will be hard, let alone making it." "A material that doesn''t get destroyed by the acid... I think I have something like that in mind." Azekiel took a few steps back, going back to thest room he had checked. He opened the door of the room. "What do you think about that? Can it survive the acid? If it does, we might have our boat.'' "The Coffin?" Raphael asked in surprise. "I don''t see anything else that can help us. We can''t go out of the Graveyard, or we''ll have to face the Vines again. The only other thing we can get are the tombstones, but I doubt they can float. That only leaves the Coffins... Moreover, they are made from the wood of World Tree. Do you think it can survive?" Chapter 109 109: Clashing With Lenora "The Wood of the World Tree can survive any acid. But still... Using a coffin..." Raphael found it somewhatplicated. They were taking the coffin of a god. If they took the coffin, they needed to bring the body out and leave it on the ground behind, which was disrespectful, especially for people he knew. Then again, he also knew how important this mission was for Azekiel''s life. "Is there any other option?" Azekiel asked, already knowing the answer to the question. "We have no choice here." Azekiel didn''t even wait for Raphael''s answer as he moved closer to the coffin. He opened the coffin and picked up the dead body of the god. He carefully ced the body on the ground nearby. "We will give him the coffin back when we''re returning." Azekiel picked up the coffin, which was so light that it even surprised him. He carried the coffin back to the room filled with the ck water. Raphael gazed back at the god lying on the ground. He didn''t speak anything except to apologize inside his heart before following after Azekiel. "It''s for the greater good." Lia patted the shoulders of Raphael, who appeared a bit out of the zone today. Today he found out that so many people he knew had died. It was as if his entire world was wiped out. Ever since he saw the first body, he had been a bit down, not appearing like his old self. Azekiel ced the wooden Coffin in the water, holding it by the edge to make sure it didn''t float away. He observed the Coffin carefully to make sure it wasn''t decaying in the acid. After a few minutes of letting it float, he pulled out the coffin of the water, checking the damage. "Yeah. Not even the slightest damage. As expected of the coffin that looks new despite being so old." He broke off the top of the coffin, making an oar from it to make sure they didn''t get stuck in the middle of the water. After preparing everything, he ced the coffin back in the water. "Get inside." He gestured for Raphael and Lia to get inside first. One after another, the two stepped inside the coffin. As the two of them had no weight, being Spirits, the coffin didn''t even go down the slightest bit after they got inside. It was only after Azekiel entered that the Coffin sank a bit, but only by a few inches. Azekiel pushed the wall behind him a little, sending the coffin floating ahead toward the other door. Using the oars, he continued the movement of the coffin, reaching the other end of the Coffin within a few minutes. This time, he didn''t say anything. He didn''t want to raise a red g again, only to be disappointedter. He kept his expectations low as he stepped onto the tform right before the door, which was only wide enough for one person to stand. Azekiel pushed the majestic golden door. "The Stone!" Only a few inches of a gap was created between the two doors when Azekiel noticed a beautiful green stone floating on the other end of the hall! Finally, he saw the Stone of Time! However, he could also hear some noiseing from inside the hall. It was as if a battle was taking ce. As the doors opened more, he finally saw who was fighting. Five Corpses... There were five Corpses in the hall that appeared to be fighting a young girl. The corpses had a deathly pale face. Some didn''t even have a head. Despite all that, the Corpses appeared to have a great amount of strength. Just their sheer power was enough to make the ground tremble. "Who is that girl?" Lia jumped inside the hall from the boat after the door waspletely open. "The Skid Marks of the Tombstone... And the Blood Droplets from before... They must be because of this girl. She is here for the same thing that we are here for." Raphael summarized. "Luckily, there was anotheryer of safety mechanism. If not, she would''ve received that stone already." "Who is that girl?" Azekiel frowned as he also took a step inside the hall. It was his first time seeing that girl in the Tower. He was sure she wasn''t a King or a Lord. "Is she Av?" Since he was sure that the girl wasn''t a participant in the tower, he thought that she was from this Floor itself. He hadn''t seen Av without an Armor which made him initially think that this girl was probably Av since the girl was really powerful. She didn''t appear to be winning the battle with the Five Corpses, but she also wasn''t on the verge of dying. She did appear to be having a hard time though. "No, that''s not the fighting style of Av. Moreover, why would Av fight without her immortal Armor? And if it were truly Av, these Corpses would''ve had no change." Azekiel shook his head, believing that his first assumption was wrong. There were many factors at y here. "Ah, Azekiel? Are you here to watch her fight?" Lia tapped Azekiel''s forehead, bringing him to his senses. He had been so immersed in the battle that he forgot what he was here for. "She is distracting the Corpses. It''s the perfect time to take the stone. Let her do the hard work while we eat the fruits of herbor," she added. "I think we''re toote for that," Raphael chimed in, noticing one of the five undead Corpses looking in their direction. "Summon me. Let me take care of them." "No." Azekiel refused to summon Raphael, despite having enough Soul Energy for now. "There''s no need for now. I better save the Summon for a real emergency when I need backup." Azekiel called forth his Gauntlets and transformed them to the Hammer of Gluttony right away before dashing to the green stone, holding the hammer firmly in his hand. The Corpse that was looking at him also moved, noticing him go straight for the green gem. It was as if protecting the gem was his only goal. Out of five, only four were left fighting the girl. Surprisingly, the corpse was even faster than him. Before Azekiel could even get to the gem, the corpse appeared before him. The pale corpse stood between the stone and Azekiel like a wall. However, despite seeing the Corpse, Azekiel didn''t stop. Instead, he held the hammer even more firmly. He raised the hammer and continued advancing ahead, only increasing his speed further. **** Back in another room, a body was lying on the floor. Azekiel had taken it out of the coffin, cing it on the ground. However, the eyes of the body abruptly opened. Chapter 110 110: One Time "As expected, only one." As soon as Azekiel saw that only one of the five corpses was looking at him, he realized something. The Corpses... They weren''t just mindless beings that attacked without thinking. They could sense the danger level of a person. That was also why only one of the five looked at him. Azekiel knew he was strong, but seeing the girl fight, he understood that her offensive power was much higher than him. That also needed most of the Corpses to give her attention. At best, he expected two Corpses toe to stop him while three left behind, distracted by Lenora. However, it was even better for him since only one of the Corpses arrived to block him, underestimating him a bit too much. As soon as Azekiel reached near the corpse, he dropped to his knees, avoiding the sharp ws of the Corpse. His body slid past the Corpse. He swiftly got back on his knees before the corpse could react. Thud~ A mighty blow of the hammernded on the skull of the corpse, sending him flying straight back to the other Undead Corpses. The distance between him and the gem remained to be only a few meters. The corpse he sent flyingnded on the ground. Aaaaaa~ The corpse roared as if realizing that it couldn''t reach the Azekiel on time; he was already very close to the gem. As if answering to the roar of the mysterious corpse, the other Corpses also reacted. They stopped focusing on Lenora. One of the remaining corpses disappeared. The next moment, he appeared right beside the green gem. Another Corpse tossed his skeleton sword straight for the head of Azekiel. The third Corpse flew to Azekiel himself. Only one corpse was left dealing with Lenora. Azekiel was just about to touch the stone when he saw a Corpse appear near him like a ghost. His hammer changed back to the Gauntlets, which he brought together, protecting his head from the attack of the corpse. A single fist sent him flying back, undoing all the world he had done. Fortunately, he protected his head with his Gauntlets, or it would''ve blown up. However, he still wasn''t entirely safe. He was flying straight toward the sword that wasing for his head. "A sword behind you!" Azekiel appeared near Azekiel. Even though he couldn''t fight without being summoned, he could at least touch Azekiel. He grabbed the wrist of Azekiel, pulling him out of the way of the sword. The sword missed him, but it didn''t stop. Instead, it prated the skull of the corpse that had just hit Azekiel As the Corpse was already dead, being hit in the head didn''t affect it that badly. Leaving the sword in its skull, the corpse started running to Azekiel. "Raphael, do it!" Azekielmanded. Raphael used the motion of Azekiel, swinging his body around before releasing. His strength gave Azekiel even more speed than he had, sending him flying straight to the green stone. Raphael also flew beside Azekiel, following closely behind. Azekiel sent energy bullets straight for the corpse that wasing for him. He knew that it wasn''t going to have much of an effect, but he still expected it to slow down the corpse a bit. Thud~ Azekiel straight collided with the corpse before him, stabbing both his ws inside the chest of the Corpse. The corpse didn''t appear affected even now, grabbing the throat of Azekiel. The corpse started tightening its grip. Azekiel pulled out his left hand and used it to grab the skeleton sword that was stuck in the skull of the corpse. Swiss~ Azekiel swung the skeleton sword, slicing the hand of the Corpse that was holding his throat. He still hadn''t pulled out his right w from the chest of the corpse. It was only after his throat was free that Azekiel nted his feet firmly on the ground. He swung the Corpse, tossing it to the second Corpse, which was running toward him. The two corpses shed, falling to the ground. However, they got up right away. "That girl!" It was only after he dealt with two Corpses at once that Azekiel saw Lenora about to reach the green gem. He wanted to use her as a distraction to get to the gem, but it appeared she had used him instead. He wasn''t going to let out pass. His Gauntlets changed to the Hammer of Gluttony. He tossed the Hammer straight at Lenora. Since Lenora was closer to the gem, she once again attracted the attention of most of the Corpses. "Huh?" Lenora saw a hammering at her. She avoided the hammer, barely missing it. However, she was so distracted by the hammer that she didn''t realize something important. The Hammer was just a distraction used by Azekiel. While Lenora was distracted by the Hammer, the Corpses caught up to her, engaging her in battle. At the same time, Azekiel dashed past Leonora. Another Corpse tried to stop him, but it was toote already. By the time the corpse grabbed Azekiel''s wrist, the green gem was already inside his fist. He had managed to receive the green gem finally! Moreover, as soon as he touched the green stone, all the Corpses appeared to stop. The Corpse which had grabbed his hand also freed it. All five of the corpses started walking back. They all went back to the side and stood near the wall like Statues. A screen also appeared before him, signaling that he had seeded in what he wanted. [You have received the Stone of Time] [Item Type: Godly Treasure] [Uses: 1] "Huh? Single-use item? What the f-" As soon as Azekiel went through the screen, his rage soared. All this work! It was for nothing? If this was a single-use item, that meant he had wasted his time for nothing! He could only use this stone once, and that wasn''t for himself either. He had promised to help the little spirit to clear the third floor. He had to use this Time Stone for that, but if he did, he received nothing! He had created such big ns on how he was going to use the Stone of Time for himself! All those ns came to a halt now! Standing in the distance, Lia stared at Azekiel weirdly. He was looking for this stone all this time, and now that he had received it, he looked upset. "Hand over the stone!" Lenora said in amanding tone. It didn''t matter if Azekiel had received the stone; she still wanted it! The stone was the only reason she had toe to this tower! Unfortunately, her timing was all wrong. Azekiel was already so frustrated that hermand only angered him even more. Chapter 111 111: If I Dont? "If I don''t?" Azekiel asked in return. p "If you give me that gem, you''ll leave this ce alive. If you don''t give me this stone, you''ll be buried in one of the Coffins outside," Lenora issued a threat. If she wanted, she could''ve attacked Azekiel right away, but it was safer to have him hand over. "Sure. You want the stone? Take it." Azekiel raised his hand, opening the fist. He revealed the beautiful green gem resting on his fist. Lenora took a step closer to Azekiel. She raised her hand. "Wise decision." However, before she could even touch the stone, the green stone disappeared. Azekiel also disappeared with the stone. Not even his shadow was left behind. For a moment, Lenora didn''t even realize what had just happened. It took her a moment to realize what had just happened. "Arghhhh!" She roared like crazy. She wasn''t the only one roaring. Not too far from the Tower of Sins, a man was standing on the top of a mountain. He was also roaring in rage. His roar was so powerful that all the Monsters felt a shiver in their body. "I was so close! That bastard! I will kill him! I will kill him! I will rip him to shreds!" The winged man roared at the top of his lungs. His roars were like the thundering roar of the sky, spreading far and wide. It was as if the man knew that the stone could only be used once. That''s why seeing it be used by Azekiel and wasted like that; he lost his calm. He had waited for such a long time to get that stone, and now that he finally had the opportunity, he had failed. He swore that he was going to kill Azekiel. **** Unaware of how many enemies he had made with just one decision of his, Azekiel appeared in an entirely different ce. Not only was he out of the Tomb of Gods, but he was also out of the Tower of Sins. He had arrived back in time to the timeline of the child. [You have used the Stone of Time] [Time before returning to your Original Timeline: 47:59:59] A timer appeared in the corner of his vision, always running. Azekiel opened his fist, noticing the fragments of the stone of time. The stone waspletely destroyed after one use itself, leaving only small useless fragments. Despite having no use of these fragments, Azekiel ced them inside his Storage Ring. He had appeared at the same time as what he saw in his dream and in the same ce. He stood on the snow, watching the carriage leave with the Young Prince. Right at the entrance of the Castle, the General was talking with a bandit,ughing. Azekiel didn''t even need to get to them to hear what they were talking about. "I need to save the Queen. But to save her, I need to prevent the Uprising. There are only two ways to make it happen. I can kill all the Nobles except the Queen who could rise against her. But that''ll take a lot of time for it. I have close to five days to fulfill the oath, but the stone only gives me two days in this Timeline." "The other option is saving the kid and beating some sense into the Royals. That''s not only easier but also faster. Don''t you think?" He gazed to his left, finding Raphael standing there. His two Familiars had also arrived back in time with him since they were connected to him. "Yeah. Saving the kid is certainly easier." Raphael agreed before reaching out his hand to carry him behind the carriage. Azekiel grabbed Raphael''s hands, only to watch his hands pass through. He couldn''t touch Raphael this time. It was the same for Lia. "Strange... I was able to touch you just minutes ago. Could it be because we''re on a different Timeline? Or the apple''s effect ran out?" Azekiel didn''t know which of the two it was, but whatever being the case, the problem remained the same. He couldn''t have Raphael fly him. He needed to find another option, and an option was what he found. "Make sure there are no problems. If there are problems, your head will fall first," the General warned the bandit before climbing on his ck horse. "I''ll go and meet the Duke." "I''m afraid you aren''t going anywhere." A cold voice came from behind the General as a figure appeared like a ghost. Azekiel grabbed the General by the cor, tossing him away. Instead of the General, he climbed on the horse. Under his control, the horse dashed away. The General got up, still unable to believe that someone dared to steal his horse right from under his nose! He was the General of the Empire of Snow! He was the leader of the Army. He was someone that even the strongest of bandits were scared of, and someone stole from him? "Men, capture that man! I want his head!" Hemanded his men to chase after Azekiel. At the same time, he also took another horse. A group of twenty chased after Azekiel, who had created a decent amount of distance between him and the guards that were chasing after him. "Archers! Shoot!" The middle-aged Generalmanded the archers who were sitting behind the horse riders. While the horse riders focused on controlling the horse, the Archers aimed at Azekiel in the distance. "They are following after you." "I know about them. It''s alright. Let them follow." "They aren''t just following. They are preparing to fire arrows as well. I think you might want to duck." Five archers aimed at Azekiel, and all five shot their arrows at the same time. Azekiel didn''t even look back as the arrows came straight at him. Raphael was telling him everything that was happening behind him. As soon as Raphael told him to duck, he tilted his body to the side, almost falling off the horse. The arrows missed him, flying past. shing a bright grin, Azekiel looked back at the people who were chasing after him. "My turn." He called out a single gauntlet this time before straightening up. He had already seen everyone''s position. Now all he needed to do was attack. He swung his ws behind him, firing multiple energy bullets. Throughout the entire attack, he didn''t look back. Argh! Even though the people chasing after him were too far behind, Azekiel still heard their painful cries. "How many did I get?" he asked Raphael. "Half of them are dead," Raphael answered. "The rest are either injured or shared. They stopped chasing after us." "Fear... Anger makes us do something; fear prevents us from doing things." Azekiel lightly shook his head. "Is the General dead as well?" Chapter 112 112: Answers "No, he got hit in the shoulders." Raphael could see that all the horses had stopped. Some of the bodies were lying on the ground, bleeding. As for the General, he was holding his bleeding shoulder. He turned the horse around, going back to get medical treatment urgently. The General also had a pale face. It was unclear if he had a pale face because of getting hurt or because he was scared after seeing Azekiel''s attacks. Not only the General but the others also started retreating, all those who were injured. As for the ones who weren''t injured, they just watched Azekiel get away. "Too bad. If I had time, I would''ve loved to y around with him," Azekiel frowned. "But the kid''s life is on the line. We''ll meet him again though. I''m sure of that." Azekiel chased after the carriage. If he wanted, he could''ve already caught up to the carriage and saved the kid, but he didn''t. In fact, even as he watched the carriage stop in the distance, he didn''t get close to it. He also stopped. He just watched the bandits surround the carriage from all sides. The Bandits attacked the carriage, killing the driver and the guards of the Merchant who was taking the young Prince. After killing all the Guards, they pulled out the chubby merchant, killing him right on the spot as well. Azekiel still didn''t intervene. He just stood near the tree, with the support of the wall. "Are you not going to save him?" "I will. I''m just letting nature take its course. The bandit is yet to tell him why he''s killing him. I want the kid to know everything he knew as a Spirit." "Why?" "Because I want answers." "Answers?" "Yep. I want to know why hisst wish would be for me to help his mother. I want everything to be the same as it was in thest, minus the killing part," Azekiel exined. He watched the bandit tell the young Prince everything. Finally, Azekiel moved. Just as the bandit was about to y the young Prince, an energy bullet prated his skull, leaving a hole behind. The man''s forehead bled as his legs turned weak. His body dropped to the ground. Seeing their leader be killed, all the bandits were horrified. They raised their Swords. "Who dares! Come out!" Quite a lot of bandits took shelter, trying to locate the archer. They thought it was an archer who had killed their leader, even though they couldn''t see any arrow. The Guards noticed a calm yetposed figure walking close to them. The man had a long-handled hammer in his head. The man kept tapping the hammer on the ground as he walked. A small crater was left on every spot where the hammernded, highlighting just how heavy this hammer was. Despite being so heavy, the man didn''t have any problem with carrying it. "That bastard must be the one who killed him! I''ll kill him!" One of the bandits ran toward Azekiel, brandishing his sword. Reaching Azekiel, he swung his sword, aiming straight for his neck. However, before the Sword could even touch Azekiel, he disappeared. "Too slow." A harsh voice came from behind the man, followed by a thudding sound as a hammer smashed a head. The man''s head exploded right away, blood sshing all around. Some of the blood even fell on Azekiel''s clothes, making him rub the back of his neck. He had fought so many people who had high physical defense that he had forgotten just how powerful this hammer was. The enemy he fought was hurt by the blow from the Hammer out Gluttony, but their heads didn''t explode like this, especially when he didn''t even use much strength. He had really expected that he was going to send the man found. The man''s lifeless body dropped to the ground. His sword also fell not too far from him. Seeing the oue of their friend, the bandits were horrified. Just who was this man? He was like a ghost in the way he moved right before he was about to be killed. And that hammer... It was even worse. The bandits got back on their horses and started running away. "And here I thought I was going to have fun. Where are you going without giving me my soul strength?" The hammer once again returned to his gauntlets. Azekiel fired energy bullets again. One after another, the bandits kept falling, dead. Only the horses were left that ran away. Azekiel watched the horses run away, leaving the bodies behind. He walked to the closest body. "Soul Snatch." One after another, he kept going from body to body, using his Soul Snatch. At the same time, the boy stood frozen in ce. First, he watched the people around him be killed, and then he saw the bandits be killed. He was slightly scared by what he saw, but he didn''t let it show on his face. After Azekiel finished his soul Snatch, he walked to the young boy. "Are you here to kill me as well?" The boy asked, standing straight. It was as if he had already lost hopes of living. "Who sent you?" He was sure that Azekiel wasn''t with the previous group. If he were, he wouldn''t have killed them. That meant there was someone else as well who wanted him dead if they sent Azekiel. "I''m here to save you." Azekiel went down on one knee, observing the eyes of the young boy, which were like a frozen block of ice. "But first, I want an answer from you." "Why do you want to help me?" Instead of asking about what question Azekiel had, the boy asked a question himself. "Because I feel like doing it," Azekiel lied. "So, tell me, boy. Why do you still care for your mother? Why do you want her to be the queen of the Empire? Why do you want her to be safe? Answer me honestly." "How do you know what I want?" The boy asked in surprise. He hadn''t told what he wanted in hisst moments to anyone. How did this guy find out about it? Just who was he? "That''s not an answer to my question," Azekiel calmly responded. "Answer me. Tell me what you want. If you want me to help you take over the Empire, I''ll do that. I''ll kill the Queen and everyone who stands in your path. But if you want me to save your mother and help her stay in power, you''ll have to tell me why you want that?" Chapter 113 113: What I Want "What I want... I want what my father wanted... I want the Empire to stay in Mother''s hands. I don''t want anything for myself. I am happy where I am, how I am. I don''t want power. I don''t want influence. I just want mother to be happy..." "Even if she hurts you? Even if she treats you like a stranger?" Azekiel asked. The boy didn''t seem to have even an ounce of hate for his mother despite all she did. "Yeah. Even if she kills me, I don''t want the Empire to fall into someone else''s hands. I don''t want thest shred of my family to fall... I don''t want to lose everything. I want her to be safe." "You can still keep her safe by gaining the power for yourself. So why not have it all?" "Because if I do that, it''ll spoil the legacy of my father. The world will say that I betrayed my family. My father''s name... It''ll be sullied. Just for Power, I can''t let the family go through that. It''s better if she retains the power and I disappear. That''s why I didn''t resist even when I wasmanded to leave." "I was happy where I was, even if I''m here all alone. So, there''s your answer. Will you help my mother? Will you save her from all the enemies lurking in the darkness?" The young Prince asked, finally gaining some semnce of emotions in his frozen eyes. Even though Azekiel asked so many questions, that was all because of his curiosity. In essence, he was just here to help the kid''s mother. Even if he hadn''t asked, he would''ve done the same since that was his blood oath. That''s why he had wasted so much time and effort to get here. It wasn''t to fail. "Fine. I''ll help your mother retain her power, and I''ll take out all the enemies. Come with me." Azekiel stood up and walked to the ck horse that was waiting in the distance. Raphael and Lia also walked with him. "So that''s why he wanted to help her. It''s not because he is an idiot. It''s because he cares about his family''s name more than his life." Lia walked to the left of Azekiel, still thinking about the answers of the kid. "Then again, it''s quite idiotic to be attached to something like a name." "He''s a good kid. Maybe we can help him here," Raphael also presented his point of view. "Since we''re already here, we might as well help him more." "If we have time, yeah." Azekiel reached the horse. He held the reign of the horse before climbing on it. "Give me your hand." He reached out his hand to the kid, only to realize that the kid wasn''t near him. The kid was still standing near the carriage, facing him. "Now, why isn''t that idioting here?" Azekiel asked in frustration. It was like he was wasting time for no reason. However, it was only when he saw a trail of blood trickling down the lips of the young boy that he realized something was wrong. The boy dropped to his knees. Azekiel also got off the horse, running to the boy. However, before he could reach the boy, the boy fell face first to the ground, revealing an arrow being struck to his back. "A hidden Archers!" Raphael yelled, noticing another arrowing straight for Azekiel. "Fuckkk!" Azekiel called his Gauntlets, blocking the arrow with his hands, before shooting energy bullets to the assassin who was hiding behind the trees. ck~ Even though the Assassin hid behind a tree, using it as a shield, that didn''t appear to protect him enough. Not long after the bullets reached him, a figure appeared behind him. "Azekiel grabbed the assassin by the throat. He was so enraged that he wanted to kill the assassin right away, but he let him live. He dragged the bandit back to the body of the young boy. "Is he breathing?" He asked Raphael. Raphael shook his head. "No signs of life... He is dead." Azekiel''s grip started tightening, making the assassin cry to be freed. "Who sent you?!" He had already killed the Bandits! He was sure that the assassin wasn''t a part of the bandits. Moreover, he wasn''t here before either. The bandit had his face covered with a ck mask, but it was evident that he was in pain. Especially since Azekiel still had his Gauntlets. "I won''t tell you! If I do, she will kill me!" The bandit cried to be freed. "She will kill you? You''ll have to survive me first before having a chance of being killed by her." Azekiel replied in a deadly tone. He didn''t even repeat his question again. He simply held the left arm of the man, before pulling with full force. Azekiel tore off the arm of the assassin, making him scream like a dying pig. "I''ll enjoy it." Azekiel smiled before stomping the feet of the assassin under his shoe, crushing his feet. The assassin screamed even louder, which appeared to be impossible until recently. His face was deathly pale as he experienced the pain like never before. It was worse than an instant death. In fact, he preferred death over this pain. "I''ll tell you! I''ll tell you!" The man yelled. "I''ll tell you everything! It was the Queen! She sent me here! She sent me to kill the boy!" "What?" The revtion came as a surprise even to Azekiel, who hadn''t expected this answer. The boy''s mother sent an assassin to kill him. "Why would she do that? Wouldn''t it give her enemies an opportunity to me her? Why is she helping her enemies by giving them a reason?!" "I don''t know! I just know why she would do that! All I know is that she asked me to kill the child if the bandits failed!" The Assassin answered as his throat turned hoarse. "If Bandits failed to kill? That means... She knew the bandits were going to attack the kid? So she knew about the scheme against her? That means it was a trap! She wanted her enemies to seed but not to give them a chance to attack her!" Azekiel eximed, finally realizing why the Queen would have the Young Prince killed. "Since the King is dead, I''m sure she feels her throne is in danger from the other Nobles." Raphael also understood everything now. "Since she can''t kill the Royals without a good enough excuse, her only option was to create an excuse for herself with this." Chapter 114 114: Siding With The Devil Azekiel proceeded with Raphael''s thoughts. "She let her enemies plot. No... she herself gave them the opportunity to plot by deciding to send the child away! If I''m not wrong, she also had this n be suggested by one of her men to the Duke!" " But how will she prove that the Duke was behind it?" Lia asked. "As the Duke thought, the queen has all the motives to kill the young prince since the world knows she doesn''t like him. It will start a civil war, and more people will believe the duke." "Not quite. Since she nned so far, there''s a good chance she already thought about that." Azekiel didn''t believe that the queen was an idiot to not think what they were thinking, despite knowing the enemies'' n. If, despite all that, she went along with it, there was certainly something she was keeping for her safety, to prove that she was innocent. The assassin was already going crazy in his pain, and on top of that, he was in despair since Azekiel appeared to be a crazy man who was talking to himself. The chances of him leaving him were almost non-existent. "The Bandit!" Azekiel eximed, finally realizing what it was. He remembered a bandit talking with the General. If the Queen needed to prove the guilt of her enemies, all she needed to do was capture that bandit! "If I''m not wrong, she already caught that bandit when we came to this ce! She would''ve acted shocked after finding out about this Scheme. She would probably send guards after the carriage to save her son! That''s why she sent the assassin to make sure the kid wasn''t alive!" He nced back at the dead body of the young prince, who died thinking it was a scheme against his mother. But no, it wasn''t a scheme against his mother. It was a scheme against him and the Duke. "With one stroke, she took out her enemies and the Prince she hated... She removed the biggest obstacle in her path even though it was obvious that she wanted to remove the obstacle in her path, with a single stroke. This stupid kid! He didn''t know anything! He made me take a blood oath for that woman!" "I don''t think we can do anything in that case, do we?" Raphael let out a disappointed sigh. "We are under a blood oath. We can''t hurt her. Instead, we must help her..." ,m Azekiel killed the assassin. He had no use for the man anymore. After giving the assassin a Swift death, he tossed his body aside. For quite some time, he remained silent, staring at the dead body of the young boy. "If what you''re saying is true, we don''t have to do anything to fulfill the oath. The queen will already do what we need. The Blood Oath was never a concern. We just need to make sure that she seeds before our time is up." Even though Lia hated the fact that they were helping the murderer of her own child, they had no choice. For their sess, they needed to side with the devil. "Don''t worry. I will fulfill my oath. I will help the queen achieve what she wants. I will help her get rid of all her enemies," Azekiel picked up the body of the child. He kept the body inside the carriage before he walked away. He was sure the Royal Guards were going to be here soon. They could take care of the body. "Since I took an oath to help that woman, that''s what I shall do. But I didn''t promise anything more than helping her. I didn''t promise to keep her alive, did I?" Azekiel grimly stated. He remembered the exact wish of the Young Spirit. It was to help his mother against her enemies. It wasn''t about keeping her alive. "My Blood Oath isplete as soon as I help her. After that, I''m free to do what I want. And I will certainly do what I want." Azekiel climbed back on the horse and started going back to the city he came from. He had already decided what he was going to do. Even though he had no rtionship with the kid, he still felt extreme anger in his heart. And that anger could only be satiated with blood. Just as he expected, he saw arge number of guardsing in their direction, possibly going to the Carriage. None of the guards were after him. In fact, most of them didn''t even recognize him. They weren''t amongst the guards that had been chasing after him before. In fact, the guards just moved past him as if he wasn''t worth their concern. Azekiel also didn''t stop. ***** The Royal Pce was the most secure ce in the Empire of Snow. It was the most guarded ce in the entire Empire since the queen herself lived here. Inside the Royal Pce, the Royal Physician was treating the middle-aged General who was hurt because of Azekiel. He was lying on the bed, cursing Azekiel. He also prayed to see him again so that he could have his revenge. Unfortunately, despite all his anger, he was also fascinated by Azekiel, confused about the attack that was used to hurt him and his men. It was the first time he had seen an attack like that. He didn''t know who the man was, where he came from or why he stole his horse either. All of which were the questions floating in his hand. "Don''t ce too much stress on your shoulder for a few days. It should be fine," the physician informed the General. "I''ll go check on the others. You rest here until I''m back." The old physician left. "What a time to get hurt. I wonder if the kid is dead by now or not. I can''t even go meet the Duke." "Who says you can''t go meet him?" A voice filled the room, making the General open his eyes wide. His lips parted as he tried to move back, "How did you get inside?! Guards!" Azekiel didn''t try to stop the General either. Instead, he also started yelling, "Guards! Come and help the General!" It was as if he wasn''t worried about the guardsing here. He called for guards a few times before stopping. "Oh wait, how stupid of me. How can the guards evene?" He walked closer to the General, one step at a time. "Toe, they would have to be alive first." "Y-you killed all the guards here?" The General was horrified. He struggled to get to his sword, falling off the bed. Chapter 115 115: I Prefer Hammers Even though the physician had told him not to ce stress on his shoulders, he couldn''t do that. His life was on the line now. "Nice Sword." Unfortunately, before he could even pick up the Sword, Azekiel picked it up. "You see, I''m more of a hammer guy, but I don''t mind a Sword. Especially when it''s sharp." "Arghhhh!" The General screamed at the top of his lungs. Azekiel hadn''t even finished his sentence before stabbing the sword at the exact same spot where his wound was previously. The sword passed through the shoulder, slicing everything that stood in its path. "Nice sharpness. I wonder if it can do the same with your throat." Azekiel ced the tip of the Sword on the throat of the man. The sword was so sharp that just a touch and a droplet of blood came out. The General gulped down heavily. "What do you want? I will do whatever you want!" "Good boy." Azekiel removed the sword. "I want the information of everyone who was involved in the Scheme. I want to know about everyone who wants to take out the Queen." "If you tell me everything, I''ll let you live. Just telling me won''t be enough though. You''ll need to take me to them as well." "Fine! I''ll tell you everything! But first..." the man nced at the wound on his shoulder. "Let me get the treatment!" "I''m sorry, but I don''t have time for that. In any case, you won''t die from a little bleeding." Azekiel grabbed the General by his cor and dragged him away. ***** In another ce, the soldiers discovered the body of the young Prince inside a carriage. They checked the young Prince. "He is dead. Those bastards killed him. Her Majesty''s information was correct! We werete in saving the Prince." The Leader of the Royal Guards was so disappointed at their failure. "Just the two guards that were apanying the carriage managed to kill so many bandits..." Another guard spoke, observing so many bodies littered around. "This is also incredible. If these many are just killed, I wonder how many bandits actually came." He didn''t realize that the bandits weren''t killed by anyone who was there. The one who killed them was already running free in the Royal Capital. **** "That''s the Pce of the Duke. A meeting is taking ce between all the Nobles who are against the queen. You''ll find everyone there." A carriage stopped not too far from a castle. The door of the carriage opened, and a bleeding man pointed at the castle. "These idiots. They all fell into a trap, and they didn''t even realize it." Azekiel stepped out of the carriage. "Come with me. I want you to make sure that everyone is indeed here." "The Queen knows about this meeting. As soon as the Guards return with the body of the Prince, she will send them here to capture them all. Before her people arrive, I need to..." The General stepped out of the carriage as well, having no other choice. Since he couldn''t get the treatment he needed, he himself wrapped a piece of cloth around his wound on the way here. Inside his head, the General was cursing Azekiel, hoping that the guards of the Duke were going to kill him. Unfortunately, what happened here waspletely different from what he expected. Instead of watching Azekiel die, he watched the heads of the guards explode. Not a single guard was able to stop Azekiel. It was as if he was a god, walking amongst mortals. Let alone killing him, the guards here weren''t even able to injure Azekiel. "He is getting better," Liamented, observing the ughter. "The more he kills, the better he gets." "Maybe because the more he kills, the easier it gets for him. With each life he takes, he loses something inside him. With time, he willpletely forget the value of a life..." Raphael responded. "I''ve seen it happen before." "But sometimes, it''s necessary to forget the value of others'' life if you want to care for yours," he further stated. "That''s why I''m not going to stop him. The more ruthless he bes, the easier it will be for him to protect himself since mercy is weakness." A trail of blood was left wherever Azekiel passed through. Within minutes, Azekiel was standing at the entrance of the Castle. He pushed open the door and took his first step inside the castle. Droplets of blood kept dripping from his hammer. The servants in the castle noticed the bloody Hammer. They were horrified. Their faces turned pale white. "Where is the Duke?" None of the servants dared to lie to Azekiel or not to answer him. They pointed to the golden door in the distance. "You get to leave." The guards hastily ran out of the castle. Even the one who was carrying water for the Duke left the water behind and ran out. He didn''t know what was going to happen today, but he had a bad feeling. Azekiel walked to the hall in the distance and opened the door, revealing a beautiful hall that was decorated like a garden. There was grass on the ground. Even flowers could be seen near the wall In the middle of the hall, there was a round table. Many wealthy Nobles were sitting around the round table, seeminglyughing and drinking. It was only after the door opened that a few of them looked back. The sound of chairs moving around filled the hall as people started getting up one after another, keeping their eyes on the bleeding hammer. "Who are you? How did you get in here?!" The Duke stood up as well. He grabbed his sword. "Guards!" Seeing the Duke''s action, the General pped his forehead. It was as if he was having a deja vu. The Duke was doing the exact same thing that he did. Fortunately, Azekiel didn''t do the same thing. He didn''t call for Guards along with the duke. Instead, he turned to the General. "Is it everyone?" "Jo! Did you bring him here? What is the meaning of this?!" The Duke raged even more after seeing the middle-aged man with Azekiel. It was akin to him leaking their information that was supposed to be a secret. "That''s everyone. Have a go at it. I''ll wait outside." The General stepped back. Now that he hade this far, he knew that he couldn''t do anything. The Duke was going to kill him for betraying him if he lived. So it was good that the Duke died. He also felt that Azekiel worked for the queen in secret. Chapter 116 116: Completion Not only did the man leave the room, he even shut the door to give Azekiel some privacy. He had already seen enough heads explode. He didn''t want to see more. "The room has some nice sound istion," he muttered, getting no noise from inside. He was sure that the people inside were crying for help as they died, but it couldn''t be heard here. After only five minutes, Azekiel opened the door and stepped out. He noticed the General was still waiting outside for him. The General peeked inside the room, noticing only a bloody sight. The grass, which used to be green, was red now. "Is everyone dead?" he asked. "Not everyone. One person is still left," Azekiel answered. The General didn''t know why, but he had a bad feeling after he heard the response. "W-who?" Azekiel didn''t answer with his words. Instead, he used his actions. He grabbed the middle-aged man''s throat. "You." Crack~ A cracking sound resounded in the castle as the man''s neck was crushed. His lifeless eyes remained open even as he died. As soon as Azekiel freed his neck, the man''s lifeless body dropped to the ground. [Congrattions: You havepleted your Blood Oath] [Effect of Blood Oath has been removed] As soon as Azekiel killed the General, a screen appeared before him, giving him a good news. He had killed all the enemies of the Queen and helped her retain her power. Even though she didn''t need help, since he killed them, it counted as him helping her. "The effects of the Oath are gone." He closed the screen. Instead of going straight to the castle, he went to the kitchen and started eating to his heart''s content. After he finished eating, he kept the rest in his storage ring forter before leaving the castle. From the start to the end, he spent only two hours inside the castle before leaving. However, he still didn''t go to the castle of the Queen. He went to a hotel and used the money he had taken from the Duke''s Castle to pay for his stay. ***** The Royal Guards arrived at the Royal Castle, carrying the body of the young Prince with them. They presented the body before the Queen. "Your Majesty, the informant was right. There was a plot to kill the young Prince. Unfortunately, we were toote to save him. He is no more." The Royal Guards went down on their knees after presenting the body of the Prince. The Queen''s hands trembled as she watched her son lying on the ground. Her eyes teared up as she started putting on an act. "My... Son..." Tears kept trickling down her cheeks as she walked closer to the young Prince. She took the boy in her arms. "I have failed you! I was worried about your safety here, so I decided to send you away from the Pce! If only I had known that I was putting you at even more risk! If only¡­" Tears kept trickling down her cheeks as she sobbed while hugging her son. "Guards! Capture the Duke and all who support him! I want them all to be captured and punished for their sins! Take as much force as you need! Also, find the General of the Royal Army! He hasn''t shown his face since the morning!" The Queenmanded, seemingly raging because her son had been killed! The Royal Guards hastily left to make sure hermands were followed. **** Half an hour after Azekiel left the castle of the Duke, the Royal Army arrived, bringing thousands of soldiers with them. They surrounded the Duke''s Castle, expecting a confrontation with the castle of the guards. "The guards of the Castle are dead. How? Who could''ve killed them?" The Royal Soldiers barged inside the castle, looking for the Duke. As they entered the castle, they only grew more shocked since the Duke was already dead! Not only him but many other Nobles were also dead. In fact, their General was also lying dead there. "Who could''ve done this? This is a ughter? It isn''t the work of one person!" The Leader of the Guards, Soan, grimaced. "Put the entire city on alert. Look for a suspicious group of people! I''ll go back and inform Her Majesty!" Soan went back to the Queen while the other guards sealed the entire city after making sure that no suspicious group of people had left the city in thest few hours. That meant whoever did it was still inside the city. **** Inside the Royal Castle, Soan informed the Queen about the strange phenomenon. The Queen was stunned as soon as she heard the news. She didn''t understand who could''ve done this. Whoever did this made things easier for her, but why? "Your Majesty, I''ve increased the security of the Royal Pce. Whoever did this probably came to the castle as well. Some dead bodies have been discovered in the West Section of the Castle. Moreover, we just received the information that some of our guards under themand of General were killed today in a chase. The rest were being treated in the castle with General.''. "So whoever did it came inside this Castle and took him, killing whoever stood in their path. If he wanted, he could''ve killed you as well. We can''t take the risk. So please don''t go outside until we catch the man!" One after another, Soan kept giving the Queen the bad news, which alerted her even more. "Catch whoever that person is!" The Queen grimly stated. "We don''t want a killer to roam in the city freely. Also, if possible, only capture him, but don''t kill him. I want answers! I want to know why he''s doing it! As you stated before, he could''ve killed me, but he didn''t even try. That means he didn''t want to kill me, only those who hurt my son!" "So I want to hear his side of the story!" "I''ll keep that in mind." Soan left the castle, leaving the queen behind. While everyone was looking for Azekiel, he stood on the balcony of his hotel, looking at the Royal Pce in the distance. Soon, he also noticed a couple of guards entering his hotel, probably to interrogate someone. "Won''t even let me rest." Stretching his arms, Azekiel jumped down from the balcony,nding on the road outside; amazing everyone who saw him jump down from such height. "I was hoping to let the womanplete the burial of the kid at least, but it seems I''ll have to move the n ahead." Passing through the crowded streets, he went to the Royal Castle. Chapter 117 117: You Want Me! As soon as Soan left the castle, the Queen got to work on the burial of the Young Prince. She didn''t want to have his dead body in the open for long. Fortunately, she had a graveyard right inside the Castle, where only the bodies of the Royals were kept. She entered the cemetery with her men, who had already prepared a grave by now. She watched them ce the coffin of the young Prince in the ground and cover them with earth. "You can leave. I want to be alone with my son here." The woman instructed the guards to leave her alone in the graveyard for now. The guards and the maids left, leaving only their Queen in the Royal Graveyard before the grave of the Young Prince. The guards even shut the door before leaving and started waiting for the Queen outside. The Queen nced back to make sure that the doors were closed. After making sure, the sadness on her face turned to a smile. "Thank you, kid. It''s because of you that I was able to consolidate my power in the Empire. And now that the eldest son is gone, I can finally rest assured that my son will get the throne. There won''t be any problems after he grows up. For his safety, you needed to die. I hope you don''t hate me too much." "Oh, also say hi to your father for me. Tell him not to hate me too much either. It''s not my fault what happened to him. He made me poison him. Who told him to fall in love with another woman? He thought I''ll let him marry that bit*h and bring anotherpetitor for my son and me?" "Anyway, I''ve united father and son." She nced at the other grave, which wasn''t too far from the grave of the young child. "Anyway, I''ll leave. I''m sure you two have a lot to talk about. Have fun." Waving her hand, the queen turned to leave; however, as soon as she turned, she saw a man standing right before the door, with his arms folded. "What a touching speech. I''m sure the kid would''ve loved to hear that." The person observed the shocked face of the woman. After the initial shock, the woman appeared to calm down a bit. She realized that there was only one person who could''ve entered this ce, passing through the guards. "I suppose you''re the mysterious man who has been helping me by killing my enemies?" The Queen asked. After realizing that the man was the same person who hadn''t killed her despite having an opportunity, she was sure that he wasn''t going to kill her even now. He wanted something from her. Azekiel nodded briefly. "That''s me." "May I ask why you helped me?" The blonde-haired woman asked as she also folded her arms, wrapping them around her plump breasts. "You want money?" she asked. Azekiel shook his head. "That''s right as well. If you wanted money, with your strength, you could''ve taken everything that''s in the treasury, and I doubt anyone would''ve been able to stop you. Then what do you want?" "Power? My influence?" She asked, but she herself rejected that suggestion. "That''s not it either. With your strength, you don''t need my help to increase your influence. Then what? Why did you help me? You don''t want my money; you don''t want my influence; that''s only one other thing I have that you could want." "Is that the case?" The woman licked her lips. She couldn''t help but find Azekiel somewhat attracted as well. The man was mysterious, strong, and handsome, after all. As she talked, she started walking closer to Azekiel, who stood with back resting on the doors "Let me guess. You fell for me. You wanted me, and that''s why you helped me? To rise in my eyes so I''ll fall for you?" She asked as she stopped before Azekiel, leaving only a few inches of distance between the two. "That''s why you highlighted your strength like that. Hahaha, that''s so cute." "Fine. You''ve seeded. Let me give you your first of many rewards." She brought her lips closer to Azekiel''s lips, almost about to kiss him, but before her lips couldnd on his, Azekiel''s hand came in between. He stopped her from kissing him. "Don''t dirty my lips," Azekiel grimly answered. "A person like you can never attract anyone. You''re like a poisonous snake who killed her husband and then ate her own child." "To think that the kid still cared for you and his family even after his death... That naive child... If he were alive, even now, he wouldn''t want me to do what I''m about to. But that''s the best part... He isn''t here, and a blood oath does not bind me. So I''ll do what I please." The hand which was on the lips of the woman slid down,nding on her neck. Azekiel grabbed the woman by the throat. His figure finally moved as he brought the woman''s back against the door. The Queen tried to free herself, but Azekiel''s grip was so strong that she couldn''t do anything. She couldn''t make him open his grip. She couldn''t even push him back. As ast resort, she started scratching the chest of Azekiel. She even attempted to scratch his face, but before she could, Azekiel grabbed her wrist with his other hands. "Keep your hands away from me." Azekiel twisted the wrist of the woman, crushing it. "Arghh!" The woman screamed, but she couldn''t even scream loudly as she was having difficulty breathing because of Azekiel''s tight grasp. Her other hand was still intact, but this time, she didn''t care to scratch Azekiel. She had realized that she was too weak. "Free... me. Why.... hurting me? What... do... you want! She couldn''t understand why a man was trying to kill her now and why not before? Why was he hurting her after hurting her enemies? "What do I want? Don''t worry about that. I already received what I wanted." Azekiel raised a small arrow, showing the woman the blood-stained arrow. "Do you know what this is?" The woman appeared confused. Wasn''t it an ordinary arrow? "It''s the arrow that your assassin used to kill the kid. It''s so ironic; you''ll die from the same arrow that you had the kid die from." The woman''s face turned pale as soon as she heard the words of Azekiel. So he really wanted to kill her! Her face was horrified, and her eyes filled up with tears. This time, her tears weren''t false either. She begged to be freed, but it was as if her words were falling on deaf ears. For some reason, Azekiel took this thing very personally, maybe because a person that he wanted to protect had died right before his eyes. Chapter 118 118: The Fall Of The Queen The Queen had never felt as much fear in her life as she did now. Her pale face was covered in tears. Her heart kept thumping as she saw the arrow in Azekiel''s hand, which he threatened to use on her. "I''ll give you everything! I''ll give you my everything! Take the Empire! Take all the wealth! Take everything! I''ll be your ve! I''ll do anything for you! Don''t kill me!" In her fear of death, she was even willing to be Azekiel''s ve. She was at her lowest at the moment, just inches away from death. Unfortunately, all her allures were useless to Azekiel. He didn''t want the Empire! He didn''t want the wealth! He didn''t even want her! And even if he had wanted all of that, there was no way he could''ve received that since he only had one more day to stay here before he was forced to go back to the Tower of Sin. "You aren''t even worth being someone''s ve." Azekiel thrust the blood-covered knife, stabbing it in the chest of the woman, right where her heart was supposed to be. "Urgh!" The woman''s eyes widened. She looked down, aghast. She was stabbed right in the chest. Blood started spilling out, slowly covering her clothes in blood. Her vision started turning dark as the pain of death started taking her in its embrace. Azekiel didn''t let her die in his arms though. Before the woman could lose her life, he tossed the body of the woman back. The woman flew in the air in thest moments of her life before falling right above the grave of the Young Prince. Her blood kept seeping inside the ground as the woman''s eyes ultimately closed. Her breathing stopped. Even in herst moments, she didn''t know why Azekiel had killed her! What did she do to the man for him to be so ruthless? Unfortunately, she was never going to get the answer to this question. The Queen of the Empire had been killed. Not just her, most of the Nobles of the Empire had been killed, leaving a power vacuum in the Empire. Azekiel had fulfilled his oath and also his desires. However, there was still one more day before it was time to leave. And he decided to use the time to do onest thing. Throughout the rest of the day, the news spread like fire that a demon had descended on the Empire and that the demon had killed all the Nobles. Even the queen was no more. What the Empire didn''t know was that the so-called demon had called for a meeting of the remaining nobles. Not a single Noble dared not to show up. Even though they were worried about their lives, they were more worried about their families. They went to Azekiel''s meeting, which took ce in the Royal Pce. Moreover, all the Nobles that were left now were loyalists to the Royal Family of the Empire. Azekiel sat on the throne of the Empire, looking at all the Nobles who were on their knees before him. None of the Nobles dared to look up. The only person in the entire Royal Hall who knew why they were called here was Azekiel himself. Even Raphael and Lia didn''t know what he was nning. They were also waiting for him to exin. Azekiel looked quite interesting as he just sat on the throne, with his arms folded and one leg resting on the other. It was as if he was still waiting for someone. After around thirty more minutes, the door opened again, filling the entire hall with the sound of footsteps. Five guards entered the hall. The person leading the group of five was Soan, who had surrendered before Azekiel''s strength. There was a baby in the arms of Soan, who was only a year old. The Nobles finally raised their heads, only to look back. ''Hah? The Prince? Is he going to kill the baby too?'' Many of the Nobles recognized the baby boy, who was the child of their recently dead queen and their King. The boy was thest living person of the Royal Lineage. Seeing the child be brought here, most of them were horrified, believing that they were called here to watch an execution! Azekiel also opened his eyes, ncing at the baby. "I''ve called you here to tell you only one thing. I''ve killed everyone I wanted to kill. And If I want, I can also kill you and everyone in this Empire right here and right now." The deration sent a chill down the spine of everyone in the hall. However, Azekiel didn''t stop there. "But I don''t want to kill you all. I have no reason to kill you. Simrly, now that I''m done here, I have no reason to stay here either. That''s why I''ll be leaving this ce." "I''m returning the Empire back to the Royal Lineage of yours. The little Prince will be King from now on. However, since he''s too young now, I''m creating a Council of Ministers." "Until the babyes to age, the Council will be handling the Empire like caretakers. As soon as the child bes an adult, the Empire''s control will be returned to him." Azekiel finally told everyone why he called them all here. And the revtion shocked everyone. Just what was this guy doing? After taking over everything, he was returning to the Empire? So he wasn''t here for the Empire? Was it a case of personal enmity? Did the Nobles that die and the Queen offend him somehow? Many questions floated in the heads of the Nobles, only increasing with each passing second. After he finished his deration, he stood up, emptying the throne. Right before the eyes of everyone, Azekiel walked to the little baby. He could see that the boy had the same eyes as the Prince who was killed, probably something they received from their father. Even though he had finished thest wish of the little Prince, he decided to fulfill the main wish of his. The boy wanted to make sure the Royal Family''s name wasn''t sullied. He was even willing to die for that. He also wanted to make sure that the control of the Empire remained with his family. With the Second Prince bing the King, it was still the same case. The control was going to be with the Royal Family. As Azekiel nced at the little boy, the one-year-old child showed a beautiful smile, reaching out his little hands to Azekiel. "Best of luck, little one." Azekiel tapped the tiny yet cute nose of the child before he walked to the door. Azekiel opened the door, but before leaving, he made another deration. "I will return after eighteen years. If the Prince is dead by then, or something happened that shouldn''t have happened; I''ll kill you all and everyone you care for. I hope you won''t bring the child into your schemes for power." He knew a bit about how Empires worked. There were many cunning people who were thirsty for power. Even amongst the ones who were loyal to the Royal Family, there was a small risk that they could kill the Prince before he even grew up, so they could get the control of the Castle. Since the little Prince was the only Royal alive, his death meant another family could be the Royal Family. With his threat, he had removed that possibility. He knew he wasn''t going to return after eighteen years, but the others didn''t. They were going to protect the Prince more than their lives now since they were so scared of Azekiel. And that''s what he wanted. He wasted so much time and resources clearing the third floor and this Blood Oath. After doing so much, he didn''t want to leave without finishing everything to perfection. After issuing the threat, Azekiel finally left, disappearing from everyone''s view. Only the sound of his footsteps getting distant could be heard before they also stopped. Azekiel stepped out of the castle, looking at the setting sun in the distance. The two days were about to be over. He nced at the timer in the corner. [00:30:21] "Thirty more minutes to waste." Since there was nothing to do for the next thirty minutes, he decided to use it for the only thing he could do at the moment. He decided to go and eat something, and while he was at it, fill his ring for food again. He didn''t know what he was going to face when he returned. There was Av to worry about. Then there was also that mysterious woman who he snatched the Time Stone from. Then there was also the risk of Lucifer arriving to kill him. He wasn''t sure when he was going to find a peaceful time to eat. There was a really good chance that he was going to end up in the middle of a battle as soon as he returned. Since he had an opportunity at the moment, he decided to take that opportunity, unaware that something big was waiting for him... Chapter 119 119: Keep An Eye On Time Azekiel walked to the restaurant closest to the Royal Castle, leaving the Nobles behind, who were still trying to figure out how they were going to handle the Empire with a council of them. With the threat of Azekiel looming over their heads, they couldn''t afford to make a mistake. The restaurant closest to the Royal Pce was also the most expensive and luxurious restaurant in the entire city, where only the wealthy could afford to enter. Fortunately, when he was in the Royal Pce, Azekiel had already changed his bloody clothes to something more elegant. He also had some money that he had taken from the Duke''s Castle. He didn''t realize that the Restaurant didn''t even dare to ask him for money. Many people in the city knew what the so-called Demon looked like who had destroyed the Royal Pce, and the people working closest to the Royal Pce were one of them. In fact, the restaurant owners even thought of closing the restaurant for a few days, but in the end, they decided against it. At the entrance of the restaurant, there stood two guards. Since it was such a fancy restaurant, it was their responsibility to make sure that no useless person entered the ce to spoil the elegant atmosphere for the other guests. The guards had to be crazy to try to stop Azekiel. Instead of stopping him, they subconsciously bowed their heads and opened the doors for him. [00:25:15] Azekiel entered the restaurant with Lia and Raphael with less than half an hour left on the clock. However, as soon as he entered, he momentarily froze in ce, recognizing a familiar face. Sitting near one of the window seats, there was an old man who was gazing out the window as if waiting for his food to arrive. Almost everyone in the restaurant was stunned to see Azekiel there, but the old man didn''t even nce at him, as if he hadn''t even realized that Azekiel was there. "Isn''t that old man the one in the Heavenly Prison?!" Lia let out, frowning. She was surprised to see the man here since they were back in time. Wasn''t the man back in the tower? What was he doing here? "Let''s ask him directly." Azekiel advanced toward the old man. He had been waiting for a long time for a meeting with the old man again. When hest met the old man, he assumed that the old man was the Soul Demon which was why he didn''t take him seriously. It was only after the old man disappeared that Azekiel realized the man was not the Soul Demon. Instead, he was something more... Azekiel took the seat before the old man. "Anything interesting outside?" "Everything interesting is outside. It''s just a matter of perspective..." The old man answered. "I see you''ve been having some fun here." "Just fulfilling an oath I made," Azekiel answered. "Is that really what you did?" The corner of the old man''s lips crept upwards, bringing him to the cusp of a smile. "Though it was quite fun to watch, I must say. For the first time, I''ve been somewhat impressed with you. I finally understand what he saw in you... You do think outside the box sometimes. Unfortunately, it''s only sometimes..." The old man muttered, finally taking a nce at Azekiel. "Who are you?" Azekiel asked the question that had been guing his head since the old man had disappearedst time. "And how are you back in time?" "Who am I? Who knows... As I told youst time, it''s been so long that even I forgot my own name at this point." He turned his head to the window, again ncing at the setting sun. "Maybe one day I''ll find the answer to that question. I won''t forget to tell you. But you''ll have to be alive until then." "You don''t want to answer me, do you? You still didn''t respond to my other question. How are you back in time? Did you use a Stone of Time as well? Is there more than one of such stones? Or you can go back in time without the Stone of Time?" The old manughed. "So many questions. Do you even have time to listen to my answers?" "Don''t worry. I still have over twenty minutes." "Oh, do you?" The old man amusingly nced in the direction of Azekiel''s timer as if he could see it. "I think you''re wrong." "There''s no way I can be wrong. I just checked before I entered thi-" Azekiel subconsciously nced at the timer, only to be shocked. "How is this possible? It had twenty-five minutes just a few minutes ago!" [00:00:11] The clock had over twenty minutes in time when he entered, but there were only eleven seconds left now! How was this possible? Even one minute hadn''t passed since he entered this ce! [00:00:10] [00:00:09] [00:00:08] "Little King, I think you should keep an eye on your time. Time is one which never waits for anyone." The old man talked, staring into Azekiel''s eyes as if he could see through his soul with the help of those eyes. "Remember my words. And you might be able to... seed. Keep an eye on Time..." The old man stated, seemingly very serious. [00:00:03] The timer was almost at zero. "When will I meet you again? I still want answers!" [00:00:02] The old man didn''t answer Azekiel this time. He gazed at the waitress, who was bringing a tray filled with food. "Oh, it seems my food is here. I was starting to get hungry." The old man licked his lips. In the meantime, the timer finally hit zero. [00:00:00] Azekiel saw his hand turning blurry as a bright light filled his vision. He only heard onest sentence before he disappeared... And it was a repeat of what the old man had said. "Keep an eye on time..." **** Azekiel appeared back in the Tower of Sin, even though he didn''t want to. He still wanted to stay with the old man to get more answers! He hadn''t even received a single answer to his questions. Instead, only his questions had increased. However, there was one good thing that he could see. As he was back in the Tower of Sins, he wasn''t inside the Temple of Gods. He was back on the third floor. That made things a bit easier for him. Both Av and Lenora were in the world inside the Temple of Gods. The chances of them creating trouble for him here were close to none. He could see the portal to the fourth floor nearby. Chapter 120 120: Fourth Floor Azekiel was back on the third floor, not too far from the portal to the fourth floor. Since he didn''t appear in the same ce from where he went back in time, he didn''t have to face Lenora. Not only that, he didn''t have to face another army. The city of Abadon at the moment was surrounded by the Forces of the Empire, brought there by the Young Princess. Since no soldier dared to enter the city, they all waited outside. "My Lady, I think we are wasting our time here. If he really went inside, I don''t believe that person ising back. No one came alive from the city. If he went there, he must already be dead. There is no way we can punish a dead person. He already got his punishment because of his stupidity." "You don''t understand. He isn''t an ordinary human. He is a Dark Magician! I saw him fly and use magic. If I''m not wrong, that person won''t die inside. And who knows, he might be the reason for all those disappearances?" The Princess naively stated. "Since he can do dark magic, it''s quite possible that he is the reason everything happens in this city! He might also be the person who killed everyone who entered the city! He might also be behind the strange noises! All of this so he could keep a town in his control!" "My Lady, that sounds like a conspiracy theory more than the reality. You already said that the man looked barely twenty. The City had been cursed for as far as we can remember. There is no way he is behind it," the Army Commander stated, finding it hard to believe. For a moment, he even thought that the Princess had imagined everything, including meeting with the man. And because of her imagination, all of them had toe near this cursed city to wait for a person who was never going toe. "You don''t believe me, do you? Don''t worry. I''m sure he''lle out. You''ll realize that I was right." The woman waited there for a day, yet Azekiel didn''te. There was not even a glimpse of him that could be seen. The Army Commander could only shake his head as the army started cing tents here since they believed they were going to be here for quite some time even though they didn''t need to. More time passed, but the Princess didn''t move from her spot. She kept standing near the entrance, waiting. "Someone ising!" She finally eximed, just when the Army Commander was about to enter the tent. "Hmm?" The middle-aged man returned to stand beside the Princess, still finding it hard to believe her words. How could someone being? Strangely enough, he also saw someoneing! It appeared like a woman, with a blood-red mark on her forehead. The winds started getting colder as the woman came closer to them. Lenora was really furious after the sneaky act of Azekiel. Not only did he speak the Stone of Time, but he also used it, wasting it! She didn''t appear to be in a good condition either. Her left arm was missing now. Her clothes were torn in ces, and she was even limping as if she was really hurt. Despite being so hurt, she was still bloodthirsty in rage. Only she knew how she survived what happened after Azekiel left. Since she couldn''t satiate her anger with Azekiel, she decided to do it with the Army that she could see outside the Empire. ***** "I''m surprised Lucifer isn''t here yet. I thought he would be waiting for me here to kill me." Azekiel was even somewhat disappointed to find the Third Floor empty. After he worked on increasing his strength and bing stronger, he believed he could at least face Lucifer. Even though it was good to avoid conflict, that also meant a dy in getting answers. He wanted to know why Lucifer wanted him dead, and that could only be achieved if Lucifer was before him. To meet with Lucifer, he had only two options. The first option was that he could go to Lucifer himself, but for that, he needed to clear the floors and reach the same floor as him, which wasn''t a fast process, despite him clearing the Floors the fastest someone had ever cleared them. As for the second option, it was to have Lucifere to him. That''s what he wanted. That''s why he even leaked the news that he wanted to kill Lucifer. Lucifer was the King of Wrath. He should''ve been infuriated to know that someone wanted to kill him. ording to Azekiel, Lucifer should''ve been here already. That''s why he found it quite strange that Lucifer wasn''t here yet. Then again, he didn''t know Lucifer as well as he knew the other Kings. "Hah." He let out a tired sigh. "I guess he isn''ting to me. I''ll have to go to him myself. If I''m not wrong, he should be on the fifth floor at this point in time. At least that''s where he was in thest timeline at this point. So I just need to clear the Fourth Floor to get to him." Azekiel appeared to be talking to himself, a bit disappointed. "Let''s go to the fourth floor then," he told Raphael as he finally went to the portal of the fourth floor. "The Fourth Floor... The Floor where almost all the Lords are going through their trials at the moment. All the kings except Lucifer should be there as well. It''ll certainly be less empty than this floor. I''m sure you two will find that floor better than the floors we''d been to," he informed Raphael and Lia before stepping inside the portal. Raphael also entered after Azekiel. For quite some time, he had been very quiet, only speaking on important asions when he really needed to. He also appeared somewhat distracted along the way. His mind was still stuck on what he saw in the Graveyard of Gods. When he heard about the Third Floor being called the Tomb of Gods, even he hadn''t expected that it was going to be the tomb of his own people. His missing memories... The death of people he knew... He had a feeling that both those things were rted. Unfortunately, he couldn''t remember. Before entering the portal, he subconsciously nced at the dark space in the distance on the third floor, where all the spirits were waiting for someone to fulfill theirst desires. **** The Fourth Floor... Azekiel had arrived on the Fourth Floor after clearing all the Floors along the way in record time! He was finally on the Floor where every other Participant was¡­ Chapter 121 121: Ambush? The Four Floor¡ª a floor that was inherently different from any other Floors Azekiel had been to. Unlike the First Floor, the Fourth Floor didn''t have a mysterious library. Unlike the Third Door, there weren''t any Spirits to please, andstly, unlike the Second Floor, there was no human civilization on this floor. The only humans on this floor were the people from Earth who were climbing the Tower. Since no Lord of Sins were apanying the King of Wrath as a part of his team, almost all of them were on the Fourth Floor, waiting to clear the Floor. Most of them had already joined the teams of the other Kings in hopes of clearing the Floors. Even the Lords that worked for the Kings who were dead had shifted sides now. Most of them joined the teams of the other Kings. Surprisingly, as soon as Azekiel arrived on the Fourth Floor, he saw over ten humans standing before him. Most of them had a powerful aura, making them different from ordinary humans. Azekiel recognized almost all of them. They were the group of Lords who worked for Michael in thest timelines. There were over twenty Lords who worked for Michael, and seven of them were already here. Other than the seven, there were three more who didn''t work for Michael. Instead, they didn''t work for any King. They worked independently. In fact, they were almost at the top of Lords Rankings. Azekiel also recognized those three. In fact, he had met them before and even interacted with them in this timeline. They were the Three Lords that he had threatened on the First Floor. They were also the ones he used to send his message to Michael so he could lure Michael to him. The three of them were the Lord of Lies Layim, Lord of Hatred Jackal, and Lord of Violence Luna. "Seems to be an ambush. They were waiting for us to arrive here." Raphael frowned, watching them be surrounded from all sides. "Be careful." Azekiel scratched his temple lightly as if he found this whole situation funny. He expected Lucifer to be waiting for him, but all he found were the Lords of Sins that he had no enmity with. "Fine. If that''s what you want, then so be it." He called forth his Gauntlets, prepared for a long battle. Even though the Lords were weaker than the Kings of Sins, they were still not too far. Moreover, each of them had a specialty. The sheer number of them, mixed with their skills, was not an easy thing to face, but Azekiel was also somewhat pleased about it. Now he could get more Soul Strength while gaining more levels. Twenty Lords of Sins were worth a lot of experience points, he was sure. Moreover, he could also test if the stealth of the Weapon of Sin worked on the Lords or not. The Lord of Sins also had special weapons. The only difference was that their weapons were slightly weaker than the Weapon of the Kings. However, Azekiel didn''t mind that. He just wanted to unlock more forms of his Gauntlets. For now, he only had the Hammer unlocked. He just wanted more forms that he could use for different situations. As for the strength of the weapon, he was sure that the Gauntlets were going to take care of that. "My King, we aren''t here to fight you. Please don''t misunderstand." One of the Lords took a step forward. She was one of the Strongest Lords that worked for Michael. In fact, she was the second Strongest on the team of Michael, being Rank three amongst all the Lords in the Tower. She was the Lord of Theft, Jane. There was only one person on Michael''s team who was stronger than Jane... Rank Two Lord of Destruction. Since Michael was seen as the top King because of him clearing most of the Floors, most of the top lords had joined his team, even rank two and rank three. Only the Rank One Lord hadn''t joined Michael''s team, but that''s because he didn''t choose any team at all. He was one of the few Lords who went solo. Layim, Jackal, and Luna were also those lords who weren''t a part of anyone''s team, but their reasoning differed from the reasoning of Rank One Lord. Azekiel expected them to start fighting, but hearing them address him as their King, he was slightly taken aback. "Then what are you here for? If this isn''t an Ambush, then what is it?" Jane smiled in response. "My King, we don''t think we would ever want to fight the Kingyer. Even if we fought you, we wouldn''t get anything out of it, so why even bother? Instead, we wanted to talk to you about something else." Another Lord came forward. "That''s right. We didn''te here to Ambush you. Instead, we came here to join your team. We have been waiting here for a long time for your arrival so we could talk to you directly." "The ten of us have decided to join your team and extend our support for you in the tower," Layim also agreed. "Your actions and your strength have impressed us all. Instead of joining any other King''s team, we want to join you and work for you since we believe you have the highest potential to seed in the tower. And we want to be there, right beside you as we fight our way to the Top of the Tower!" "My King, please ept us on your team." One after another, all ten of the Lords went down on their knees, offering their support for Azekiel. [Lord of Lies wants to join your team. Do you ept him?] [Yes] [No] [Lord of Violence wants to join your team. Do you ept him?] [Yes] [No] [Lord of Theft wants to join your team. Do you ept him?] [Yes] [No] [Lord of Hatred wants to join your team. Do you ept him?] [Yes] [No] Many screens appeared before Azekiel, all informing him about the offer from the Lords. Now it was on him if he wanted them to be a part of his team or not. If he selected them, they could serve as his army in the future. However, that also meant they could climb the tower with him. Whichever Floor he gained ess to, they were also going to get ess. Everyone was still going to get independent Floor Trials, but as long as even one of them finished the Trial, all of them were going to gain ess to the next floor as long as they were in a team. After that, they could eitherplete the trial or move on to the next Floor withoutpleting them. It was on them. Chapter 122 122: Plan In that regard, it didn''te as a surprise to him that those people wanted to join his team. He had been clearing the Floors like he was in a race against time. Moreover, he was also stronger than anyone they had seen. By joining Azekiel''s team, those people gained some advantages. At the same time, by taking them into his team, Azekiel could instruct them to do what he wanted. It was like his own personal army. Moreover, the Lords that were before him weren''t weak either. With this team up, both sides received what they wanted. By having them on his team, he could have them use their talents for him to make things easier for him. The thought of that alone made it worth it for Azekiel. He started clicking yes on all the notifications, epting the Lords in his team. As he kept epting them, notifications appeared before the Lords, informing them that they had been epted. However, since they had joined the team of a King who had higher authority than them because of being a major sin, they were under some restrictions after joining the team. Since most of them had already been in a team with a King, they knew what those restrictions were, so they weren''t too surprised. Amongst those restrictions, the most important one was that they couldn''t harm the King they belonged to. The King was like the leader of the party, and hurting the King wasn''t allowed. If they wanted, they could still hurt the King, but that should strip them of their rank of Lord. That''s also one of the reasons why Azekiel felt safe, epting them into his team. Another restriction was that they needed to listen to everymand of the King, as long as the King didn''t ask them to do something that could put them in life-threatening danger. In that case, they could refuse. However, even in that case, the King could remove them from his team. "Thank you for epting us." Jane and the others stood up, pleased to be epted. "So, what''s the situation of the Floor? Did anyone other than Lucifer clear this Floor?" Now that Azekiel had lords of his own who knew everything about the current situation of the Floor, he asked them to exin, trying to understand what changes were there in this timeline. He had already changed many things in this timeline, and even he knew there was no way that there weren''t going to be any changes. "Only King Lucifer had cleared the Floor. There''s also a rumor that he also cleared the fifth floor. Other than him, another King cleared this floor. The King of Sloth, King Alioth," Layim exined, "Currently, there are only two Kings on this Floor, King of Lust and King of Envy." "It''s also rumored that those two are also close to clearing the floor. So if you want to kill them, you''ll have to be fast," he added. "I''ve already checked where they are staying. The best time to attack them would be at night." Almost everyone knew that Azekiel had killed two Kings. They didn''t believe it was a coincidence. It made them think that Azekiel wanted to kill all the Kings so only he could rise up as a King. That''s also one of the reasons they joined his team, partially to be safe from him. Not only did they believe Azekiel wanted to kill the remaining two Kings, but they were also prepared to help him. "So, which King do you want to kill first?" Jane asked. "King of Lust will be an easier Target. The Lords that work under him are also weakerpared to others. We can keep them busy while you kill King Liam." Azekiel found himself momentarily stunned, not knowing how to respond. These people were really misunderstanding him. He didn''t n to kill the Kings when he arrived here. In fact, those people looked more excited to watch him kill a King than he was to kill one. Despite that, even he felt somewhat swayed by their words. He wanted to kill Lucifer first, but that didn''t mean he couldn''t change his mind. There was no loss in killing another King while he was there. That could only make him stronger after all. Moreover, he also liked the Weapon of Sin of Liam. "Alright. Tell me everything you know about Liam and where he stays. It''s time I killed another King." He already had a bad reputation for being a Kingyer. He didn''t mind solidifying that reputation. Amongst everyone who was present here, Layim knew most about the other Kings. Since he wasn''t part of any King''s team before, he was free to get close to any King, which gave them ess that the others didn''t have. Moreover, his personality was also such. "The King of Lust is at his weakest at night since every night he spends with girls inside his tent. That''s when he''s the least alert. Moreover, his tent is near the Myriad River. There are people who guard that ce at all times, especially since your existence became a threat to him. However, there''s still a way to get to him without undetected." Layim appeared to have everything nned. He knew the strengths of Liam''s defense while also knowing the weakness of his security. "The tent is surrounded and protected from all three sides, but there''s one way to get to him. Through the river right behind his tent. Since his tent is made right beside the River." "The only problem is the high flow of the river. It''s almost impossible to swim in that river since the flow is so unstable. However, you don''t have to worry about that. That''s where Jaymes into y." Layim gestured at another Lord who had joined the team just today. "With him in the team, it would be easy to slow down the flow of the river for a few minutes. Those few minutes should be enough for you to get to the tent." "And that''s it! All you need to do is get inside and take the King of Lust out while he''s distracted. It''s the easiest and the swiftest way to kill him without going through a battle." ? "As for the Lords outside and the guards, they won''t even realize what happened. By the time they realize, it''ll be toote; they''ll have no chance but to surrender." "That''s a pretty good n." Even Raphael praised the n, which was so thorough. It avoided all the points of conflict while achieving the goals¡­ Chapter 123 123: Triad It was one of the darkest nights on the fourth floor, yet a small glimpse of the moon could be seen in the sky, providing the surrounding with the bare amount of light needed for visibility to some extent. Azekiel and the others sat near a high stream river which was surrounded from both sides by dense forest, making this ce the best spot to get an entry inside the river without risking being seen. Everyone sat there as if waiting for someone. There was only one person who wasn''t there yet. "It''s been an hour. How long is Layim going to take?" "Who knows. He should''ve been back by now. He and Jane went to perform the final check on Liam''s camp. It''s not far enough for them to need an hour." Two Lords discussed amongst themselves, trying to figure out what could be taking them so long. They weren''t the only ones who were getting tired, waiting for Layim and Jane. After around half an hour, they finally heard some noise again. There were some movements in the forest which prompted them to look back. In the distance, they could see two figures arriving. However, the facial expressions of the two weren''t telling a good story. Layim and Jane stopped before Azekiel, who was still looking at the water. "There is a problem." "What problem?" "King of Lust has changed his campsite. And it just happened in thest few hours." "Did he find out about my arrival?" Azekiel inquired, frowning. That was the only thing which could exin the sudden change in the campsite. Layim shook his head lightly as his brows furrowed. "This is something else." "What is it then?" "My sources say that he has changed his campsite because he received an invitation from the Triad Queen. He has entered their domain. Now he''s staying with them." "What about the King of Envy? Would it be better to shift to him?" "That''s also impossible at this point. King Jacob cleared this floor about half an hour ago. He has already departed from this floor." "I see... So there is only Liam on the floor at the moment." "Yeah, and even he is close to clearing the floor. I don''t know how long, but he should go to the next floor soon as well. I think we should drop the n of killing the Kings here." "Is the Domain of Triad so scary?" Azekiel inquired. In thest timeline, he had only heard about Triads, but that was the extent of his exposure to them. Let alone Liam, no King had any interaction with the Triads. ''As expected, timelines have started changing entirely. Even the events taking ce are different now.'' "The Domain of Triads... It''s a nigh impossible ce to get to. To get an entry into their Domain, you''ll need an invitation directly from their Queen. Without that invitation, you can''t even locate the Domain. That''s why it''s useless. We can''t get to Liam. The n is a failure." Azekiel paid heed to Layim''s words. If he was so confident about this information, then there was definitely some truth in it. Then again, he was the Lord of Lies. He could easily lie with a straight face. Just to be sure, he asked Jane the same question. "Is that what you think as well?" Jane also nodded. "The King of Lust had been trying to get close to the Triad Queen for a long time, ever since he heard the Stories about the beauty of the Triad Queen. It appears that he seeded. And if he''s there, the Queen will never allow us to enter, even if we manage to locate their domain. We should focus on clearing the floor instead." "How did Layim get in contact with the Triad Queen in the first ce?" The first question was about establishing a contact with the Triads. It was only after that that he could decide how to approach this problem. As for the Trial on the Fourth Floor, he didn''t worry about that. He had already seen what the Trial was, and he already knew the way to clear the trial, especially with the help of his new team. He was sure that the Title of the Floor was going to belong to him. The only thing he was focusing on at the moment was Liam. He was alone on this floor. This was the perfect opportunity to take a King out. After he was gone, only Alioth and Lucifer were going to remain. And since Lucifer wasn''ting down, the next floor was only going to have Alioth. He was sure on one floor; he could kill all the Kings. "That, I''m not sure." Layim shrugged. "Who knows what trick he used? He didn''t tell anyone. I don''t think there is a way to meet the Triads, let alone being allowed in their Domain." "Well, there is one way that I can remember." Azekiel stood up, remembering an event from his past. It was the first time he had joined the team of Michael in the old Timeline. It was also the first time he had heard about Triads, but just a random mention. ording to the information, the Triads had attacked the Vige of Orcs in the vicinity. Unfortunately, since the Trial didn''t concern those two sides, no one even tried to check those ces out. The timelines had changed. And in this timeline, the Triads were in contact with a King, whereas in thest timeline, they were alone. However, there was still a tiny chance that the attack on the Orc Vige was going toe. And if that was the case, then there was a way of drawing Triads out. "Did the Triads attack the Orcs on this floor?" he inquired. "Triads? I don''t recall hearing about their attacks. So far, they''ve been very peaceful from whatever information I was able to gather." "That means there''s still time." Azekiel stood up. From this point on, he didn''t need much help. He already knew where the Orc Vige was supposed to be. The restid on his shoulders. Still, he didn''t leave the Lords without any work. "I have a task for all of you." Everyone listened eagerly to Azekiel, waiting to be informed what they had to do. "Jane, you are good at theft. I want you to use your skills to steal something for me. Go to the Elf Vige and steal the Crown of their Queen." "The Queen''s crown? Why?" "Just do as I say." "Layim, I want you to get to the Northern Sphere, where Dark Elves live." There were two sides amongst the Elves. Natural Elves and Dark Elves. He gave a task regarding each of the sides. "What do I need to do after I get there?" "I want you to fool the Dark Elf Queen." Chapter 124 124: Eleventh Floor Just find a way to make her attack the Nature Elf Vige." "As for the rest of you..." Azekiel gave each of the Lord of Sins a task, and all tasks seemed unrted. For one, he gave a task to go to the Exchange Market and buy something. To other, he gave a task of killing someone. With his tasks, he had covered a myriad of species that lived on this Floor. As for why no one knew. They all knew what the Trial of this Floor was. And whatever tasks Azekiel gave them didn''t appear rted to the trial at all. Still, they didn''t question him. Even if they did, Azekiel wasn''t willing to exin too much. It was his Trial, and he had intentionally split up the work, so in the end, it was him who cleared the Floor. He needed the regard of this floor. "After you''re all done,e and meet me in the Orc Vige in the South. I''ll be there. Remember, you have three days to finish your tasks. So be fast." "Ah, alright." Scratching their heads, most of the Lords left, filled with confusion. They wondered if these missions were somehow rted to the Triads or if they were rted to the Trial. In any case, they believed these couldn''t be random missions just to waste their time. "Are you sure this is the mission that you want us to do?" Layim asked, just to be sure. Only after getting a nod from Azekiel, he left. Since he was a part of the team of a King, he couldn''t say no to such a simple task. Especially since his own task was so simple. All he needed to do was create some conflict. And who better to do this task than the Lord of Lies? All he needed were a couple of convincing lies that were amplified by his skills. Layim was thest person to leave, returning Azekiel to the silence of the forest. Azekiel had everything nned. He knew what to do now, but still, he didn''t leave the forest. He justid on the soft grass, looking at the moon. "Raphael?" Raphael gazed at Azekiel, responding to the call. "Yes, My Monarch." "Here, take this." Azekiel brought the red apple out of his storage ring, which actually belonged to Raphael. It was given to him by the old man. Now that Azekiel knew that the old man wasn''t the Soul Demon and that these apples were truly special, he wanted to have Raphael try them. The apple that he was given gave him the ability to touch his Familiars. He was curious just what these apples were going to do with Raphael. Through thest few days, he had seen Raphael appearing somewhat distant. He wanted to help Raphael in any way he could, so he could get the old Raphael back, and this thing was something he ced his hopes on. "This apple... I don''t need one. It''ll just be wasted on me. You should keep that for emergencies. In any case, an apple can''t do anything for me." "Just try it. I don''t need it anymore. I have the ring and sufficient reserves for quite some time. Moreover, this was given to you. It belongs to you. Just try it." Azekiel ced the apple on the grass near Raphael before bringing out the second and thest one he had. "This is for you. Eat it." He ced the second apple near Lia. "I''ve given what belongs to you. You can either eat them to see what happens, or you can throw them in the river. That decision rests in your hand now." He didn''t even bother to see what the two did with the apples. Subconsciously, he was sure that the two of them were going to eat them, especially since it was better than wasting them. Ignoring his surroundings, Azekiel nced at the moon in the sky. He wasn''t even sure if this was the real moon or just an illusion, but it looked beautiful. Strangely enough, just as Azekiel started focusing on the moon, the moon appeared to glitch for a moment. However, it wasn''t the moon glitching. Instead, it was a screen that appeared before his eyes. [Conqueror of Worlds: Special effects have activated] [You have received a Hidden Mission. Do you want to ept the Second Mission of your Hidden Quest?] [Rewards: Direct ess to the Eleventh Floor] [Rewards: Map of Castle of Infinity] [Rewards: Title of World Jumper] ''Second mission of the Hidden Quest? Does it mean the chain quest that I received regarding killing the Soul Demon?'' ''It''s giving me ess to the Eleventh Floor? I don''t think anyone in myst timeline had managed to get to the Eleventh Floor. That''s certainly interesting. Then again, with greater rewards, theree greater risks. The first quest itself was about killing the Soul Demon. Without Defence Pration, I would''ve been dead right there.'' ''If it''s the second quest of that part, it''ll only be tougher.'' Lost in thoughts, Azekiel rubbed his chin subconsciously. The offer was very interesting, but he didn''t know what the quest was until he epted it. ''The Eleventh Floor will be way more dangerous than the Fourth Floor. With the way I am, the tenth floor itself would''ve been life-threatening. I''m not strong enough. But then again, I do not want to miss the opportunity. Instead of fighting weaker enemies, if I straight killed people on the Eleventh Floor, the level boost would be epic.'' This decision was even harder than thest decision, where he had to ept the first quest of this Hidden Mission. Moreover, these missions weren''t given to just anyone. He only received this mission because of his Secondary Title: Conqueror of Words. When he had received his secondary title, he was informed that the Title was going to allow him an opportunity to receive Hidden Tower Missions. But the missions were going toe with such incredible rewards and difficulty; even he hadn''t expected that. A timer also appeared under the Screen, but the time on the timer was so little that he didn''t even have time to consult with others. There were only five seconds on the timer. [00:00:04] [00:00:03] "ept!" Azekiel pressed on the screen and epted the unknown mission, which was to open new doors for him that he never could''ve expected. Moreover, he had a feeling that this Castle of Infinity was rted to the Eleventh Floor, or even higher. That meant the ce was really too important to be ignored. Unfortunately, going to Eleventh Floor also meant that he was going to lose the opportunity of getting the Title of other floors that he hadn''t cleared yet. He also couldn''t meet Lucifer, but that was only a matter of time. He was sure Lucifer was going to reach that floor sooner orter. And this time, instead of chasing after Lucifer, he was going to take the lead. He nned to be waiting for Lucifer on the Eleventh Floor. At least that was his initial n. He didn''t realize just what kind of mess the Eleventh Floor actually was. It was the Floor where the true Tower of Sins began. If the First Ten Floors were like practice floors, the eleventh Floor and the above were real hell, where the true secrets of the Tower rested. As soon as Azekiel epted the mission, a new screen appeared. This time, the screen was blood red, with white characters. Azekiel went through the quest that was written on the screen. The screen kept glitching repeatedly for some reason as if it was having a hard time even showing such a high-ranking mission at this time. Right beside him, Raphael finally took a bite of the Apple after thinking for a long time. Lia did the same. Chapter 125 125: Strange Quest Azekiel read the Quest that he had received, again and again, just to be sure that he saw correct. No matter how much he thought about it, the Quest didn''t make sense! How could he have a quest like that? <_______________________________________ [Chain Quest: Leave the Tower of Sin and kill the Commander Level Demon that attacked earth] [Time Duration: One Month] [Rewards: Direct ess to Eleventh Floors] [Reward: Map of Castle of Infinity] [Rewards: Title of World Jumper] [Special Reward: Hidden] [Warning: After clearing the Mission, you must return to the Tower yourself to receive Rewards] _______________________________________> "A quest that needs me to leave the Tower of Sin and back to the outside world?" As far as he knew, there was no way to leave the Tower. That''s why everyone was climbing the Tower to get to the top floor so they could gain the strength to leave the Tower and face the monsters outside. However, the mission that he had received in itself was something that destroyed all the preconceived notions he had. From what he could grasp with the Quest, he didn''t need to climb to the top floor to be able to leave the Tower of Sin! The Quest itself allowed Azekiel to leave the tower. Moreover, he also understood something which was very subtly hinged on the quest. The monsters who had attacked his world... ording to the quest, they were Demons. And they also had a Commander. They weren''t just random wild monsters that just attacked out of nowhere! They weremanded to attack earth! ''If they have amander, they must have a leader too. So someone intentionally attacked us and destroyed our lives! The Commander must be way stronger than the monsters that attacked us as well.'' ''This mission... It is dangerous, but it''s also a mission that I long desired! Those things! They destroyed whatever family I had! They took away everything from me and billions of people! They deserve to die, and I would be more than happy to achieve that feat, now that I have some strength...'' He had already epted the quest, so he had to do it at any cost. However, even if he didn''t have to do it, he would''ve still left the tower! It was a perfect opportunity to see the outside world once again! He could finally see how the world had fared in thest few years after the apocalypse hit the earth. He also wanted to go back to his own home and see if it was still intact. When he ranst time, saving his life, he also left the body of his mother, who had adopted him. He wasn''t even sure if her body was still there, lying like a discarded body or if it was eaten by those vile beasts. If her body was still there, he wanted to see her onest time and give her the burial she deserved. He was so eager to leave that he wanted to go right away. However, he controlled himself. He had one month to finish the Quest. Now that he was already on the Fourth Floor, he wanted to clear the Floors first before leaving. He was sure that in two days, he could clear the Floor. As for getting to Liam, that was a tricky thing. He couldn''t wait for the Triads to attack the Orcs. If they didn''t attack in the next day itself, he decided that he was going to forget about Liam for the time being and leave the Tower. He had two missions now. One was the mission to clear the floor, and the next was the hidden mission which was more important for him. He decided to finish both of them. The faster he finished the first mission, the faster he could leave the Tower on his second question. He stood up. "Raphael, Lia. Come, we have a Quest to finish." Not receiving any response, he asked again as he turned around. "Raphael? Lia?" For some reason, none of them reacted to him. Both of them stood still as if they were in a daze. They had finished eating their apples. "Raphael?" Azekiel ced his hand on Raphael''s shoulder and shook him. Unfortunately, Raphael still didn''t react. "Don''t tell me the apples were indeed poisonous." He couldn''t help but have a bad feeling regarding the behavior of the two. Just because the apples helped him, he assumed that it was going to be the same case for Raphael and Lia, but he wondered if he had kept his expectations too high. "Raphael!" Azekiel shouted, but it was useless as well. Frustrated, he started cing back and forth. "That old man! What was in those apples!" As he walked back and forth, he finally noticed some movement behind him. Raphael appeared to be up. Lia also stood up, ncing at her surroundings. "You two are back. Are you alright?" Raphael and Lia nodded. "I am fine," Raphael answered, but there was something different about him now. Azekiel couldn''t put his finger on what. "What did the apples do? Do you see any changes?" he asked Raphael. Raphael shook his head, observing his hands. "I don''t see any change. Just that I don''t feel hungry anymore..." Even he couldn''t believe that it was the case. He had suffered through this hunger for an eternity. He had already lost hopes of ever feeling satiated, but now that became a reality. "I had a feeling that could happen. That''s great news! Your curse is broken!" "That seems to be the case, but I don''t understand how. How can a random fruit break his curse?" Raphael was now even more curious about the identity of the old man. Just who was the old man that carried such mysterious fruits? The old man could also go back and forth in time, and he could see their past. Even the Godking couldn''t do it. Just who was this guy? This feeling... The feeling of being full... It had been over a lifetime since hest felt this feeling. He had already forgotten how satisfying this feeling used to be. He didn''t know if it was just temporary or if the curse was actually broken forever, but in his pessimism, he believed it was just temporary until the Effects of the applested. He didn''t want to get his hopes up. "What about you?" Azekiel shifted his focus to Lia. "Do you see any changes?" "Only one..." "And what''s that?" Azekiel inquired. Even though he had a feeling how the apple could help Raphael, even he didn''t know what it could do for Lia, which made him really intrigued about the effects. Chapter 126 126: Lias Change "I feel the same Spirit Energy that I had when I was alive. I feel the bond with the surroundings, even when I''m in my Spiritual Form," Lia exined as her lips formed a smile. "With that, I believe I should be able to use my spells even without being summoned," she further exined, just to make it easier for Azekiel to understand what she said. Since Azekiel wasn''t a spellcaster, she spoke inyman''s terms. Since Lia was a spellcaster, she didn''t need to touch things to fight like Raphael. She also didn''t need physical attacks like Raphael did. All she needed was to create a bond with the nature to have her spells take effect. That''s why just the spirit energy was enough for her. "I don''t know if it''s a temporary effect or a permanent one, but if it''s permanent, it would be amazing. That means I would be able to help you without needing to be summoned," she continued; however, at the same time, she also rolled her eyes. "Not like you would''ve summoned me above Raphael." She had been with Azekiel long enough to know that whenever he needed to Summon someone, he only selected Raphael. Not only did he trust Raphael more, but he also believed that Raphael was inherently stronger and better-suited for a battle. Throughout the days, Lia felt more and more useless. She was like a spectator who had no cards to y with. With this new change, she believed she could finally have some skin in the game. Even though she still didn''t touch anything or anyone other than Azekiel and Raphael, she could still have some fun now. Just to test, she pped her hands. An illusory formation circle appeared before her, which shot straight to the water ahead. The Formation Circle wasn''t made from her energy, so it wasn''t in the spiritual form of energy. Instead, it was pure nature''s form. Their formation circlended on the water, submerging inside. Before long, the flow of water started slowing down massively. It was as if the water had suddenlye to a halt. "It works." Not only her, but even Azekiel was pleased with the change. Now he truly had two people who could fight for him. Previously, he could only summon one person, and that too for only one minute before running out of soul energy. But now, Lia was always going to be his passive support. It came just at the perfect time as well, especially when he needed to leave the Tower to fight the mythical beasts that had attacked the earth. "Raphael, can you also attack without being summoned?" Even though he understood that it was a spellcaster thing, he still asked Raphael, just to be sure. Raphael could only shake his head. "I am not a spellcaster. I can only attack with my own strength." Raphael was pleased that Lia was able to use her strength for their team. This truly made their team stronger. ****** [Two hourster] Azekiel was walking in the direction of the moon with Raphael and Lia, telling them about the new hidden quest that he had received. He informed the two of them about the importance of this hidden quest and the rewards that were for the quest. "Castle of Infinity... It''s the second time I heard about it in a quest. Last time I received a key, and this time it''ll be a map of the Castle." "Castle of Infinity appears to be an important ce. I believe it''s good that we can jump straight to the eleventh floor," Raphael chimed in. "The faster we get to the Castle of Infinity, the faster we can see what''s actually inside." "However, if I''m not wrong, that ce must be a celestial ce. The name does remind me of another Celestial ce we had, called the Castle of Mortality." "It''s quite possible that the simrities in the names are a coincidence, but it''s also possible that it''s more than that. And if it''s indeed simr to Castle of Mortality, then we definitely need to get there before anyone else can." "Castle of Mortality? Can you exin more?" The name indeed sounded simr to Castle of Infinity, which increased the curiosity of Castiel about what this ce actually was. He wanted to understand the Castle of Mortality to make some ideas about what kind of ce the Castle of Infinity could be. "The Castle of Mortality was the oldest thing in our realm. In fact, it was even older than our civilization. It''s said that it was the ce where our civilization actually started. However, only the Godkings were allowed inside, so not much is known about that ce. At least I don''t know much." "We used to call that ce the Celestial Pce, where even the Godkings could only go once in their lifetime. It was also the most secure ce in the entire realm and even approaching that ce without permission was an offense that could get someone killed." "That''s why, if the Castle of Infinity is also a Celestial Pce, then I really want to see what is inside. At least we should get there before another King can." With the kind of importance that the ce had, Raphael didn''t want anyone else to enter before they could. "Don''t worry. No one can enter that ce before us. At least not any King. The King who has reached the farthest is Lucifer, and even he''s only supposed to be on the Fifth Floor. He isn''t clearing the tenth floor in the next five years. Meanwhile, we will be on the eleventh in a month." No matter how much this timeline was different, Azekiel didn''t believe that in this timeline, Lucifer could clear the floors in a month that took from five years in thest timeline. "Moreover, I have the Key of the Castle of Infinity. I don''t think anyone would be able to enter the Castle without the key," he further added. "Unless there are more keys than one to the Castle of Infinity." Lia chimed in. "It''s not safe to assume that there is only one key." She was also right. However, before Azekiel could answer her, he heard the sound of battlesing from the distance. "We are close to the territory of the Orcs. If I''m not wrong, it should be them being attacked! Right on time!" "Lia, cast an illusion in our surroundings. Make the Triads blind. I''m going in." Azekiel called forth his Gauntlets since he couldn''t fight the Triads bare-handed. They were known for their hard-to-prate defense and their powerful offense, after all. "Consider it done!" Lia eximed. It was her time to shine! Chapter 127 127: Climber A battle was taking ce in the middle of the forest, which appeared to be less of a battle and more of a ughter. The Orcs had strength, but that strength was useless when they were inside a forest, surrounded by the Triads that should control the ntations. Just a single Triad was proving to be overwhelming on a group of Orcs. The Orcs couldn''t even reach the Triad, which was against them, without having to fight the Tree Soldiers that the Triad had conjured. It was as if the Triad had given life to the trees in the surroundings and used them to fight his enemies. "Such pathetic beings. It''s a disgrace that I even have to fight you!" About ten meters away from the battle that was taking ce, there stood a tall figure whose face was hidden behind a wooden mask. The rest of his body was also hidden in the cloak that the Triad wore. In the cold tone of the man, his disgust for the Orcs could clearly be felt, as if he believed that the Orcs were too inferior Species. It was also true as well. If there were any species that was more dumb than the Orcs, it was the Goblins. Every other Species was considered to be smarter. And even amongst the smartest Species, the Triads were at the top. Triads were considered to be the guardians of the Forest. There was only one species on this Floor that was considered to be smarter than the Triads... The Elves. However, when it came to battle strength, Triads were deemed to be superior. They were also harder to defeat since no one could enter the Domain of the Triads. On the other hand, it was much easier to attack the Elves since everyone knew how to get to them. Despite having such strength, the Triads were rarely seening out of their domain. The Tree Soldiers were almost impossible to defeat. No matter what the Orcs did, they couldn''t destroy a Tree Soldier that could heal and grow up again. Fighting a tree soldier was like fighting an immortal beast. "Urgh!" A sharp wooden stake impaled the leader of the group of Orcs, making it cough out blood. Another Tree Soldier sliced the head of the Orc Leader before his body was tossed aside. Seeing their leader be killed right before their eyes, the other Orcs weren''t scared. On the contrary, they were angrier and attacked even more fiercely. Unfortunately, even if they destroyed the Tree Soldiers, the Soldiers kept healing. "Resistance is futile. Hand over Layin, and I''ll let you live. If you don''t, you''ll all die here. And after you, I''ll go to your Vige and destroy everyone!" The Triad appeared to be filled with hate and anger. He didn''t even find it worth his time to kill those Orcs. He gave them onest chance to survive. However, the Orcs didn''t even bother listening to him. Unlike the Triads, the Orcs weren''t scared of dying. They were like family. If one was killed, no matter what, everyone else went for revenge, no matter how strong the enemy was or how little chance they had. The Triad was the King of the forest in this situation. Nothing could escape his vision. He could even feel the lightest of footsteps on the grass. Unfortunately, that wasn''t known by Azekiel. Even though Lia cast her illusion to make sure that Azekiel wasn''t seen, the Triad sensed the footsteps. He nced in Azekiel''s direction. A frown rested on his face as he failed to find anyone there. He couldn''t see a single person there. Despite that, he was sure that someone was there. The Triad pped his hand lightly. A tree that wasn''t far from where Azekiel was standing came to life. It swung its branch. **** Azekiel was getting close to the Triad, slowly. However, he saw the Triad abruptly looking in his direction. He stopped where he was, wondering if the Triad could see him. Immediately after, he saw the Tree around hime to life, swinging a branch at him. Azekiel brought forth his Gauntlets, making a shield to protect him from the branch. Despite him being prepared for the impact, the branch didn''t hit him. He lowered his hands, noticing the branch stopping just a few inches away from him. The tree struggled to free itself; however, it couldn''t. It was as if there were some mysterious shackles that were stopping the tree. "Little one, you think I will let anyone hurt him as long as I''m here?" Lia appeared before the tree. "Burn!" She let out one simple word. A formation circle appeared around the tree. Raging fires came out of the formation that caught the tree. The tree kept burning, but it couldn''t break the shackles. Lia nced at Azekiel, shing a beautiful smile. "Told you I was capable. Anyway, it seems there''s no benefit to the illusion. The Triad can sense you. Shall I stop the illusion?'' Azekiel scratched his temple, realizing that he really underestimated Lia. When he had first summoned Lia, she didn''t manage to show him any decent skills, which made him believe that she wasn''t as helpful. However, it was only now he realized that she really deserved a second opportunity. "Cancel the illusion. Since he already knows I''m here, we might as well take him head on." "Sure. You focus on him. I''ll focus on his pawns and provide you support." Lia canceled her illusion. **** The Triad made his tree attack the spot where he sensed the movement; however, he noticed that the attack of the Tree Soldier didn''t go through. Some mysterious shackles appeared around it, restraining it. Not only that, but a fire also appeared around the Tree Soldier mysteriously, shocking the Triad! He was sure that it was the work of the one he couldn''t see. Not only was that person stopping the Tree Soldier, but he was also destroying it! If there was one time that Triads hated the most, it was to see nature being destroyed. It didn''t matter if they were using the same nature to kill someone, but when someone destroyed something of theirs, it was engaging. "Who dares! Show yourself!" The Triad raised his voice. His voice was filled with some strange energy. Wherever that voice passed through, the trees kepting to life, all attacking in the same direction. However, this time he didn''t need to wait for long as a person became visible in the distance. It was a young man, donning Metallic Gauntlets in his hands. "A human?" The Triad frowned. "Are you one of the so-called Climbers?" Chapter 128 128: Calling The Queen "Human, stay out of our matters. You don''t know what you''re getting yourself into. This time doesn''t concern you. And if you don''t stay out of it, you''ll die here as well." The humans were rare on this Floor; however, the Triads still saw some humans. In fact, their Queen was hosting Liam. Through Liam, they managed to know some things about the humans, regarding the fact that they were not here for longer. They were just here temporarily. The Triads also managed to find out that each of the humans possessed some superior strength and mysterious skills. That also exined to him why the tree caught on fire. Despite knowing so much about Azekiel, the Triad wasn''t scared. He still had confidence that he could kill Azekiel. He was inside a forest, which was the ce where he was at his strongest. Moreover, even if Azekiel could light a few trees on fire, there was no way he could face hundreds or even thousands. There was no advantage of him putting his life on the line for no reason. "Climbers? Is that how Liam described us? Then again, he won''t be wrong." Azekiel observed all the Trees that wereing to life. It was like the personal Army of a Triad. No wonder this was the ce that the Triad chose to ambush the Orcs. Outside the forest, he was going to lose all this advantage. "I need to meet your Queen. But I know that she won''te, just because I asked her to. And unless shees, I won''t get what I want. That''s why I need to get my hands dirty. Apologize in advance since you''ll have to be sacrificed for my Goals." Azekiel didn''t want the Queen toe to him. At the same time, he didn''t want her to know that it was a human who had called her. If she found out, it was evident that she was going to consult with Liam. And Liam was going to warn her. Moreover, Liam was going to be even more careful at that line. Not only did he need to meet the Queen, but he also needed to meet her without letting her know that it was a human who did all this. The only way to achieve all that was to kill the Triad. Once the Triad who was sent to kill the Orcs was dead, that was going to make the Triad Queen believe that the Orcs killed him. In her rage, she was most probably going toe herself to destroy the Orc Vige. And if she didn''te, she was definitely going to send someone stronger than this guy. Azekiel believed that all he needed to do was to kill whoever kepting to the Vige before it was ultimately the turn of the Triad Queen herself. There was an even better possibility that he considered. After Liam found out that the Orcs were troubling the Triad Queen, there was a good chance that Liam was definitely going toe himself to destroy the Orc Vige himself, to show off before the Triad Queen. That was the best scenario since that removed all the third parties from between them, bringing Liam straight to him. All paths to Liam led through the death of this one Triad. "Lia, take care of the trees," Azekielmanded as he started running toward the Triad. The Trees along the way kept appearing in his path; however, before they could attack, the strange restriction trapped them as well, keeping them trapped until Azekiel ran past them. Where Azekiel went, the Tree Soldiers couldn''t attack him. It was as if he was the true Lord of the Tree Soldiers who couldn''t defy hismand by attacking him. It was certainly a bit tiring for Lia to capture so many Tree Soldiers, especially in such quick session. She was using her spells after a long time, and even though she was in her Spirit Form, they ced a lot of burden on her body. Lia didn''t even think about the burden. Instead, she was only excited. In her excitement, she was filled with energy. It was after a long time; she was going all out. Also, since she didn''t know if the effects of the apple were temporary or permanent, she wanted to use her spells to her heart''s content since she wasn''t sure if she was ever going to use them again. Raphael stood behind Lia, slightly impressed at her strength. She was more than just a Witch. She was more like the Goddess of War with her skills. Her crowd control skills were not limited. And with her offensive skills, she was even more threatening. The trees couldn''t even get close to her before burning. However, Raphael also noticed some ws in her spells. ''She can use her restrictions in a muchrger range, but her ming range is much smaller. She can only burn things within five meters from her.'' p Even though Raphael was keeping an eye on the battle, he was also analyzing everything that was taking ce around him, from the movement of Azekiel to the range of Lia. As a Commander Level Angel, he was an expert in analyzing things. As the Commander, it was his responsibility to analyze the strengths and the ws of his soldiers and to work on improving them. With that skill set, he tried to find ways on how he could improve the team of three even more, now that Lia could also fight. He didn''t try to interfere in the battle himself. Watching the trees light into the fire and a stranger attacking the Triad, the Orcs were surprised as well. They didn''t know who the person was or why he was helping them. However, they also decided to help him. Their leader was dead, but the oldest Orc here took themand. He instructed an Orc to run ahead and help the man while they fought the Tree Soldiers. Now that the Triad was distracted, he believed that one of them could pass through, without being obstructed. That way, one of them could fight with the Triad to help that human and to have his revenge. Without having to worry about the Tree Soldiers, Azekiel kept inching closer to the Triad. "Useless effort." The Triad shook his head in disappointment. "Fairies of the Forest! I, your faithful servant, need your help! Grant me your blessing!" As soon as the Triad finished his chanting, the winds started increasing in speed. The grass in the forest started increasing in size, bing thick vines that shot to Azekiel. Azekiel noticed the change in the grass. Instead of running on the ground, he jumped ahead, straight to the Triad, with the distance between the two being only a few meters. Chapter 129 129: Leor ***** "Aah!" "Aah!" Moaning sounds could be heard even outside the room, where two guards stood. Both the guards looked at each other''s faces, slightly disgusted as well. The two guards wore the same cloak as the Triad faced by Azekiel. Their faces were barely visible. They didn''t know how to react to the whole situation. Their queen was acting so differently suddenly, as soon as she met the human. Not only did she bring the group of humans into their Domain, but she also took the leader of the group inside her bedroom. For Triads, this was slightly annoying. Their queen was like their goddess. And to hear her being defiled like this... Unfortunately, they couldn''t do anything about this. It was their Queen''s decision. All they could do was follow her instructions to make sure no one created any disturbance for her. The moaning only intensified as if trying to irritate them even more. While the Queen experienced the pleasure of her lifetime, the guards outside were suffering. They tried to distract themselves, but there was nothing to distract themselves with. They tried engaging in small talk, but even that didn''tst for long. Both of them just looked around awkwardly. Fortunately, they soon let out a sigh of relief as they noticed someone arriving closer to them. Finally, they had something to do. They walked to the woman who was arriving with hasty steps. Both the guards blocked the woman''s path. "Lady Leor, we''re afraid we can''t allow you to progress. It''s the Queen''s orders. For the next couple of hours, no one is to disturb her. If you have anything important to discuss, please leave a message here. As soon as she is free, we will send information." Leor was the second inmand in the Triad n. She was said to be the wisest of all Triads, and she was just as strong as the queen and her most trusted person as well. Even then, she wasn''t allowed to progress. Leor gazed at the door of the Queen''s room, hearing all the disturbing noisesing. "I''m sure whatever she is doing can wait. We have something more important to be concerned about. It''s absolutely necessary that I meet her! Step aside." "We told you,dy Leor. We can''t step aside. Our Queen instructed us that no matter what, she isn''t allowed to be disturbed." "Stop being idiots. Do you even know what has happened?" No matter what the guards said, Leor didn''t listen. She pushed them aside. "Your Majesty, I need to talk to you. It''s really urgent." She knocked on the door. ***** Inside the room, a woman was sitting on top of a young man, moving her hips up and down, when she heard the knocking on the door. "Can it wait?" The Triad Queen asked. "I''m in the middle of something!" "Joi has been killed!" The response came from outside. "If you think this can wait, then sure it can. There''s no urgency." The Triad Queen stopped abruptly as soon as she heard the response. Joi was one of them! In fact, she herself sent him above to do something. How could he be killed? She stood up and got off the bed. She started wearing her clothes. Liam could only look at the Triad Queen getting dressed, feeling somewhat unsatisfied. His night had just started, and the woman was already leaving. He wanted to ask her to stop, but he didn''t, realizing that something important must have happened for her to be in such a hurry. He also got up and started getting dressed. The Triad Queen opened the door after getting dressed and left the room with Liam. "Tell me how it happened? Who did it?" she asked Leor, who was more focused on Liam. "I think we should talk in private," Leor held the Triad Queen''s hands and started pulling her. "It''s alright. He is a trustworthy person. He can hear." The Triad Queen stopped Leor. Leor rolled her eyes. "He isn''t one of us. He doesn''t need to know anything, even if he''s trustworthy." "You, stay where you are!" No matter what, Leor didn''t budge from her stand. If there was anyone in the entire Triad n who could refuse the Queen, then it was Leor. Seeing Leor so stern, the Queen, gave in. She told Liam to stay behind as she left with Leor. "Now that we are alone tell me how this happened?" The twodies walked into the hallway, all alone. There were no guards around them who could overhear. "I don''t know how that happened. But it''s most probably rted to his mission. He was sent to the Orc n to retrieve Layin. If he''s dead, then the Orcs have probably killed him." "Those weak Orcs? How can they kill Joi? They are too weak for that." "Even though they are weak, but they still had more numbers. Maybe we truly underestimated them. If they can kill Joi, they must not be that weak," Leor responded. "I take responsibility for underestimating them." It was her n to send Joi alone to retrieve what they wanted. She believed just one of them was enough for it since their destination was inside a forest. Not only but her, even the Triad Queen, also thought the same. That''s why she listened to the Leor''s suggestion and sent Joi. "It''s not your fault. You were the one who advised me to send Joi. If not, I was sending someone even weaker. It seems we both underestimated those pests, I more than you." "Still, for them to kill a Triad, I can''t let it pass. Their entire n needs to be wiped off the face of this world." "You''re right. That''s why I''ve decided to send the Royal Guards. A force of twenty to destroy the Orcs and retrieve Layin. We will see how they survive," Leor stated grimly. In reality, she was even more furious about what happenedpared to the Triad Queen. "And this time, I will be going along with them," she added. "You? Isn''t this an overkill?" The Triad Queen frowned. Even though she wanted to give a swift response, sending such a big force and Leor...? That seemed too much. "Last time, I didn''t want to go for an overkill, and only sent one. And because of that, one of us is dead, and nevering back. This time, I do want to go for the overkill! Let them see what they get for attacking us!" "It seems you''ve already made up your mind..." "That''s right. I just need your permission now." Chapter 130 130: Provoking A dead Triady before Azekiel, who was looking at the screen before him, which showed him how much he had gained after killing a Triad. "The experience was quite good. But the Soul Energy is much better. I''m full again." He closed the screen, looking down. "The memories, though... That''s the best part." His passive skill, Gluttony of Knowledge, helped him absorb the memories of the Triad. That made him understand a lot of things, especially what kind of hierarchy the Triads had. He also understood where their base was. The one problem was that he couldn''t enter that ce without the permission from the Queen. "Lia, did you know that each Triad is connected to a nt that is inside the Land of Triads?" he asked, finding it quite amusing. It was the first time he found out something as bizarre as this. "Whenever a Triad dies, the nt connected to them dies as well. That means we don''t even need to send his body back. They already know that he is killed." "And it''s also confirmed that Liam is indeed hiding inside their n. But more importantly... This Layin..." "Is that man crazy?" Just as Azekiel was talking with his Familiars, the Orcs also talked amongst themselves. They looked at Azekiel weirdly, watching him talk to empty air. "Silence. It doesn''t matter if his mind is a little... Out of ce. That doesn''t change the fact that he helped us. If he weren''t here, all of us would''ve been dead, and probably our home would''ve been destroyed as well! Instead of mocking him, we must thank him." The leader of the Group walked closer to Azekiel. He brought a small piece of stone out of his sack and reached out his hand toward Azekiel. "Thank you for saving our lives!" Azekiel looked at the stone in the hands of the bulky Orc, wondering why he was giving him a stone. "A stone? Why?" Even though he picked up the stone, he asked. "This is a form of our gratitude. You saved us. That stone means no matter what, you are a friend of the Orcs! As long as you need help, we won''t hesitate for even a second beforeing to your help!" The new leader of the Orcs stated. "A stone of gratitude...." Azekiel nced at the stone. He didn''t question it too much and kept the stone in his storage ring. "Thank you." "Anyway, you aren''t out of the problem yet. This was just one Triad that came to kill you. His death doesn''t mean you are free. Instead, it means your problems are about to increase. If I''m not wrong, an entry army mighte to you next." "We understand that. That''s why we''ve decided to leave our home. We can''t face an entire army of those people. For the sake of our family, we would leave thend and shift to a ce far away from forests," the old Orc exined. "So you''re just going to run away, abandoning your homes?" Azekiel asked. That wasn''t good for his n. He wanted them to stay and fight! Those people were his bait! "We aren''t running away. We are just choosing a better battlefield for us, which isn''t inside a forest. If those things want to defeat us, they need to face us where we don''t have to worry about fighting an entire forest." The old Orc responded. "It''s not running away." "To Triads, it''ll be no different than running away. They willugh at you! I don''t want to let thate true. I don''t want the proud Orcs to be aughing stock of the world!" "What are you implying? We should fight inside a forest and die in this biassed battle?" The Orc frowned. "Young man, just because you helped us, you don''t get to force us to a deadly path! We aren''t afraid of death, but we want to fight!" "That''s right! Stop provoking us to fight a losing battle!" Each of the Orc chimed in, one after another. They were grateful for Azekiel, but at the same time, they were angry at him for even suggesting that they were running away from a battle. "Who says it''s a losing battle?" Azekiel smirked. "It''s not a losing battle at all. Instead, it''s a battle where you can show the world the strength of Orcs, where you can even win against the strongest of the Triads, in and that''s advantageous to them." "Is that even possible?" The old Orc asked. "We saw the strength of one... It was enough to hold back all of us. The strength of many..." "Of course, it''s possible. I am here to help you!" Azekiel chimed in. "I''ll help you fight them! Not only fight, I''ll help you win!" "Why would you help us against the Triads? Helping us against one of them could be seen as you passing by and deciding to lend a hand. But helping us in the entire war? Why? Why do you want to help us?" "Why? Let''s just say I''m a kind-hearted person." Azekiel ced his hand on his chest as he bluffed. "I saw you were in trouble, and now I want to help you, so no one can bully you again." Even though he helped orcs, that wasn''t enough to have them trust him entirely. To have them fight with him, he needed a little more shove and an excuse for his willingness to help them. He gave the Orcs an excuse and spoke it in such a manner that they couldn''t help but believe him. Before there could be any more questions, he shifted the topic as well, not giving them a chance to think his proposal. "That aside, what are you doing here? Won''t you take care of the body? He was one of us!" He walked to the dead Orc, who used to be the old leader of the n. ,m He ced his hand on the chest of the dead Orc, showing himself to be quite hurt. However, secretly, he used the Soul Snatch on the Orc, absorbing the Soul Energy of the Orc. ''The Soul Energy of an Orc is way less than the Soul Energy of a Triad.'' He noticed the difference in the Soul Energy, which made him realize that killing the Triads was more beneficial to him. Especially since these were hisst boosts in strength before he had to leave the tower as soon as he was done here. The Orcs also stepped forward, slightly touched that Azekiel was so caring. He was giving such respect to their dear leader. They picked up the body of their fallen leader and started escorting the body back. At the same time, they didn''t forget to tell Azekiel toe with them. They had agreed to his proposal. Chapter 131 131: Luring Azekiel followed the Group of Orcs who carried the body of their leader back after his soul Energy was devoured by him. The Forest that was spread in over two hundred acres was massive. Just to get from one end of the forest to the other, it takes a long time. ,m The Orc Vige happened to be in the Northern Parts of the Forest, not too far from the river that passed through the middle of the forest. "It''s our first time seeing someone like you. Where are you from?" The new leader of the Orcs asked Azekiel on the long journey. Even though the Orcs rarely left the vige, they still knew about the other species as they had been in existence for hundreds of years. Despite that, the Orcs had no idea who Azekiel was or what species he belonged to. Physically, he looked a bit simr to the Elves. Unfortunately, his ears were different from the Orcs. Ever Triads had a simr physique to humans, but the Triads also had defining features. All of them had beautiful green eyes. Azekiel didn''t share those eyes either. "I am a human," Azekiel answered. "A hu...man?" Even though the Orcs didn''t know what Azekiel was, the word ''human'' made their eyes lit up. It was as if they had heard that name before. "A human?" the old Orc asked again just to be sure. "Yeah. I''m surprised you haven''t seen a human before. Quite a lot of us passed through this ce recently." Azekiel knew that he wasn''t alone here. There were many Kings and Lords who passed through this floor. It was quite surprising that the Orcs didn''t see any before. Then again, he could also understand why that was the case. Even when he was on Michael''s team, he only heard about Orcs but never saw them. The Orc Vige was very far from the ce where they had set their base. Moreover, since the Orcs rarely left their vige, it was quite possible that they didn''t see a human. "The Humans... Not extinct?" The old Orc asked, observing Azekiel carefully. "Our books said humans are extinct? Long ago... War..." "War? Humans Extinct? You also had humans on this floo- I mean, in this world?" Azekiel asked. He had thought that this world never had humans. But it appeared as if humans did exist once upon a time and went Extinct. Since the Orcs didn''t recognize him, it was evident that the humans didn''t go extinct anytime soon. Whatever happened was so long in the past that the Orcs didn''t even recognize a human. "Then again, it''s not surprising that humans would go extinct. In a World with Elves, Orcs, Triads, all the magic, humans certainly seem weak. It''s quite possible for us to go extinct in a world like this." " Then again, even in the world where we had all the modern weapons, we almost went Extinct, just because of some monsters. I suppose it''s not that surprising." Hearing about human extinction here as well, Azekiel started talking to himself, amused at their weakness. If it wasn''t for the strength they received from the Tower of Sin, none of them could be alive today in the face of all the challenges. "Did you say something?" The bulky Orc asked, unable to hear what Azekiel had stated since he talked in such a low voice. Azekiel shook his head. "Don''t worry; we haven''t gone extinct yet. That''s all I was saying." "Yeah, I can see that. It seems our history books do need some updating." The Orc nodded. For the rest of the way, there wasn''t much talk between the two sides other than some small questions between the two sides. While Azekiel asked them about their vis and what kind of defense systems they already had to understand what he was dealing with, the Orcs asked him about his n to help them and what kind of strategy he had in his mind. With the Gluttony of Knowledge, Azekiel had gathered everything he had to know about the Triads. Only the Orcs were still unknown to him. Also, because he knew what kind of strengths and weaknesses the Triads had, he could easily form a n. Despite being able to make a n of his own, he left that task to Raphael. Just like Leor was the Strategist of the Triads, Raphael was his strategist. And Azekiel believed that Raphael was a way better Strategist. After finishing his conversation with the Orcs, Azekiel slowed down to create some distance between him and the Orcs. It was only after he created some distance that he told Raphael everything about the Triads that he knew. "What do you think?" "I think you''re right about all the possibilities," Raphael agreed. "The Triads would being. And if I''m not wrong, they would being in half a day at most. Also, if what you''ve told me about their Strategist, I believe she would being as well." "If she truly is good, she won''t let her Queene. And she won''t send her army alone as well since she would be suspicious about the strength of the Orcs. And I doubt Liam would being with her. Still, we should prepare for both possibilities." Raphael agreed with all of Azekiel''s assumptions. "The Orcs... I think they can be a great fighting force, but not with the Triads... At least not inside the first. To use them effectively, we would first need to remove their disadvantages." "Lia, can you remove all the trees from around the Orc Vige?" "I should be able to..." "That''s good. And now that you can use your spells again, how long can your Illusionsst? And what''s their range?" "The range of my Illusion is much more than it was in the past. But even then, it''s only fifty meters. He can''t cover more." "Fifty meters is too little. It can''t even cover the entire Vige, let alone the surroundings. I guess what I was thinking won''t work. I''ll have to change the n," Raphael frowned. He had expected a bit too much from Lia, and even he knew that. Just fifty meters range was too little for his n. "How much range do you need?" Lia asked, curious about what this guy was nning. "We would''ve needed at least twenty or thirty times the range of what you currently possess...." "Why do you even need an illusion to cover that much?" Lia weirdly stared at Raphael. He was asking for such a huge range that it was impossible even if she was at her peak. If she could cast such a vast of illusion, she would''ve been so happy. Unfortunately, she couldn''t. It wasn''t just the sheer control it took, but there were many more problems with that. "I was thinking about creating a false sense of security for the Triads. That way, the Orcs could be at a massive advantage." "How would you achieve that just with Illusions? You know the Triads could sense the movements even through illusions. The illusion failed when Azekiel tried. Just because there was a big range didn''t mean the illusion could''ve been stronger. "I know that wouldn''t work. They could sense movement, but my n didn''t rest in movements. I was nning to have all the trees around the Orc Vige destroyed and then have you create an illusion that the trees were still there. That way, they would''ve gotten closer to the Orc Vige, without any worries, only to fail when they tried using those trees to fight." Under that condition, the Orcs were at a massive advantage. They didn''t have to worry about the Tree Soldiers. As for the other abilities of the Triads, including the Vines, that was also very weak in the absence of a forest around them. Raphael had nned to lure the Triads into a trap. Unfortunately, that n needed something which Lia wasn''t capable of. "If we just destroy the trees around the vige, the Triads will see that there are no trees. They would be more careful in approaching us, which takes away our advantage," Raphael exined. "That''s why this n is useless now." "Anyway, you still need to destroy the trees. As for luring them, I suppose we can use the Orcs for that since we have no choice. We can make them feel that the reason Orcs did was because they were overconfident and thought they could win as long as the trees weren''t there. If the Triads underestimate them and think they are overconfident when without the presence of trees, they should approach the Vige." "Then again, just that alone won''t be enough. If Leor is even half decent as a Strategist, she would know that something is wrong if that''s the extent to our n. We would need another element... Something that could distract them..." Raphael scratched his temple, trying to think of another way. However, he soon came up with an idea. "You said they hate nature being destroyed, right?" he asked Azekiel as his eyes lit up. Chapter 132 132: Weakness Into Strength "That''s right. They don''t like the nature being destroyed. It gets them angry since they are protectors of nature, and the nature is their protector," Azekiel exined. "Are you thinking about using nature as well?" "I am." Raphael smiled. "If nature is their strength and their weakness, we can take away their strength and use their weakness for our advantage." "Firstly, as the nature around the vige will be destroyed by the time they get there, they would be angry. And even if they can control that anger due to their suspicions about our nning, we can use that rage," he further added. "That''s where Lia''s illusiones into y." "Tell me onest thing. Have the Triads seen what the Orc Vige looks like?" he inquired. "They don''t. They''ve never been to the Orc Vige. It was the first time they sent someone to go to the Vige, and even he was stopped before he could get there." "That''s good. If they''ve never seen the Orc Vige before, then we can certainly use Lia''s illusion. I''ve decided on a n that can help us win much faster and with the least losses." Raphael started telling his n to Azekiel and Lia. He especially focused on what Lia had to do and how the Orcs could support them. In essence, Raphael had considered every small possibility in his attack, including the possibility of a King joining the battle, even though the chances of that happening were too low. "What do you think?" he asked after he finished telling his entire n. "I believe it''s a good n. You seem to have already considered everything. We will go with this n." Azekiel agreed with the n, which was along the lines of what he wanted as well. Just that Raphael''s n was more polished. "Leave the illusions and the rest on me," Lia chimed in, smirking. Since the new n considered her range and her strength, she had no problem with it. Azekiel again caught up to the Orcs and told them the n. The n came as a bit of a surprise to the Orcs, especially when they heard about the illusions and how they were going to be used. They were really amazed that Azekiel could actually use illusions that were so realistic that they could even fool Triads. "Are you sure the Triads will fall for the illusions? They''re known to be quite perceptive." The Leader of the Orcs expressed his concern over the entire matter. He didn''t doubt Azekiel''s abilities, but he did feel a bit suspicious if Azekiel was overestimating his illusions. "They already fell for an illusion of mind before. I''m sure they''ll fall for more," Azekiel stated, expressing his confidence in Lia''s illusions. "If we go with the n, you''ll be able to fight the Triads on your own turf. You''ll take away their advantage while also not having to leave your Vige." "If you are so confident, we would do as you say. Just remember, the Orcs will ce their lives on the line. If we win or not, it won''t be your fault. You are doing it for us." The Orc Leader smiled, slightly touched that Azekiel was working so hard to help them. "I''m d humans aren''t extinct. If they are as nice as you, humans must never go extinct "Humans... And nice..." Azekiel smiled. The statement was partially true, but it was also not a nket statement. There were many good humans like the woman who took an orphan like him in. But there were also humans like Lucifer and Michael. If there were saints amongst the humans, then there were demons as well. However, he kept his thoughts to himself. The Orcs brought Azekiel to their vige, where all the Vigers were shocked to see Azekiel. It was their first time seeing someone who looked like Azekiel. Moreover, seeing that stranger inside their vige? Unfortunately, their shock quickly shifted to something else. As soon as they noticed the body being carried by the Orcs in the back, they all went pale. They started shouting, asking who did it. They all started demanding to fight to kill whoever killed their leader. The wife of the old leader also rushed to the body, asking how it happened. "I will tell you all everything, but first, call everyone out! We need to give him a proper burial!" The new Orc Leadermanded everyone to gather at the center of the city. The body was also carried there. The Orcs started digging a grave in the ground while more and more Orcs started gathering, waiting for answers. After the grave was dug, the family of the old leader was called forth to bury the body. Azekiel watched the burial process, which was simr yet different to what humans did. While the body was worried, all the Orcs started chanting something. The chanting was in anguage that even Azekiel couldn''t realize. For a moment, he even wondered if they were actually chanting or just making strange noises. Each of the Orc ced some soil on the grave, slowly covering it up. Theirst Leader was worried. However, they still didn''t have any answers. They all looked at the new leader, who was also the strongest amongst the Orcs that were left. The Orc Leader started telling everyone what happened, from the moment they left for hunting to the moment a Triad attacked them. Hearing how the incidents took ce, the Orcs were even angrier. They all started shouting for the death of Triads. Their shouts were so loud that they even Buried the voice of the new leader. They were all ready to fight to death for their honor. Completely disengaged with the discussion, Azekiel observed the crowd as if looking for someone. "Layin isn''t here." "He must be inside one of the houses. Since it was the meeting of the Orcs, he probably wasn''t called here," Raphael pointed out. "Either that, or he left the Vige. You wait here. I''ll go and check." Since no one could see Raphael, he was the perfect person to check all the houses to find someone. Layin was the true target of the Triads, so they needed to know if he was even here. At least Triads believed that he was. Raphael searched all the houses, going from one house to another. Meanwhile, Azekiel stood beside the current Orc Leader, who was now talking about how Azekiel saved their lives and how he was a saviour of the Vige. The Orc Leader also promised everyone that he was going to get revenge! Chapter 133 133: Purity He started telling everyone about Azekiel''s n to get revenge and to kill the Triads. The Orcs were already filled with rage and anger toward the Triad. They supported the n instantly. There was not a single voice of resistance. "We don''t have much time! The Triads already know that we killed the one they sent! Their armies coulde anytime! We need to get working if we want to be ready by the time they arrive! "Take all the children to the back, farthest from the battle. All the men, start lighting the trees into the fire! I want the surrounding of the Vigepletely clear! You have an hour!" The Orcs dispersed. Everyone got to work. Half the Orcs started lightning trees to fire while the rest made sure that the Children had a ce to hide. Leaving the responsibility inside the vige to the Orcs, Azekiel left the vige with Lia. They walked around a thousand meters outside the vige. "This far should be enough," Lia stated as she ced her finger on the ground, chanting something. An invisible line started spreading out from where Lia touched. The line surrounded up to a thousand meters of area around the vige. After finishing, she stood up. "And, we''re done. Whenever someone crosses this line, we would know about it. This should alert us when the Triads get here, so we can begin." Lia and Azekiel walked back, noticing the trees that were being lit in mes. The fires also kept spreading out. Entering the vige, Azekiel caught up to Raphael, who seemed to be waiting for him. "Found him?" "Yeah. He is sleeping inside the house in the centre. That''s the ce," Raphael pointed at the house in the distance. An Orc walked inside the house and picked up Layin. "Wake up, kid." The Orc woke Layin and brought him out of the hut. Even though Layin wasn''t a child of the Orcs, he was still a child who was staying with them. They were taking Layin to other kids where he could be far away from the battle. "Who is the kid?" Even though Azekiel knew who the kid was, he still asked the leader of the Orcs about the identity of the kid. The kid looked like a Triad to some extent. He had beautiful green eyes. However, he also had the ears of the Elves, which made his identity quite confusing. "He is a guest. And if I''m not wrong, it''s because of him that the Triads are attacking us." "He is half Triad," the old Orc exined. "But he''s also half-elf. In other words, he has an impure bloodline. His mother was a Triad who came to us. She begged us to take care of the child, saying she was going to return soon. Our old leader didn''t think much of it and agreed to take care of the kid. The woman left. However, it''s been weeks, but she didn''t return. The first Triad we saw since then was the one who attacked us." "Hmm? If that was the case, why didn''t you give the kid to that Triad?" "Heh, we can only give the kid to his mother. She left the kid with us. He''s our responsibility, and he will be our responsibility until his motheres back. We Orcs can die, but we can''t break our promise." "What if we take the child to the Triads, and then his motheres back? What will we tell her? Moreover, even if we give the kid to the Triads, we have a feeling that they would just kill us. For a Triad to give her child to us instead of giving to people from her own n...? That tells a lot." "So your old leader was willing to die to keep someone who isn''t even an Orc, all because of a promise?" Azekiel was slightly taken aback to find out about the reason behind this conflict. From the Triad''s memories, he knew what the story from their side was, but to hear the side of the Orcs; he felt that even though it was for his ulterior motives, he really had chosen a decent side. The reason that the kid''s mother didn''t return was because she had been killed by the Triads. The mother of the Child was the sister of the Triad Queen. She ran away from the n after she fell in love with an Elf. She married the elf, against all the resistance from the n. Moreover, the Elf n didn''t mind half blood too much. Elves had a hard time procreating. That''s why even marrying people from other species wasn''t a crime since it actually passed the Elf Bloodline in one way or another. On the other hand, the Triads had no such problem. To keep their bloodline pure, they only allowed marriage into the n. After Layin''s mother married the Elf, she shifted to the Elf n and started living there, worried that her n might hurt her. After years of her staying away, the Triad Queen finally sent an Envoy to the Elf n with a message for her sister. In the message, she mentioned that through the years, she really regretted how she acted. She asked for forgiveness and talked about epting what happened. Not only that, she even asked for her sister toe back with her nephew. The naive woman believed her sister, who appeared genuine. She came back to the Triad n for a few days with her husband and some Elves to meet her sister. She also brought her child with her. However, instead of receiving the wee she epted, they were weed with a barrage of attacks. The Elves that escorted the woman and her husband had been killed. Even the woman was badly hurt, but she managed to escape. By the time the Triads found the woman, she didn''t have the kid. The woman was killed by her own Sister, the Triad Queen, as punishment for breaking thews. The Triads also managed to locate the kid, finding him in the Vige of the Orcs. That''s why they sent one of them to retrieve Layin. Just for the sake of their bloodline, the Triad Queen had her sister killed. She also killed the Elves, nting a seed of enmity. Just because the Elves couldn''t enter her domain without her permission, she didn''t worry about being attacked, even if the Elves found out what she did. As Azekiel heard the Orcs'' side of the story, he understood how Layin ended up in the Orc Vige. "You people aren''t half bad..." Azekiel muttered. "The Triads won''t be able to harm you. Your promise... I''ll help you keep it!" A zing forest remained in the back, filling the sky with smoke. The Triads came out from their domain¡­ Chapter 134 134: Strategy Against The Strategist Arge area inside the forest was burned to prepare for the battle toe. The Orc Vige that was previously surrounded by lush trees and greenery was now surrounded by the barrennd. Not even a speck of grass could be seen on the scorchednd. All the kids were hidden in the farthest house. Only adult Orcs could be seen in the vige. They had finished all the tasks that were assigned to them. They waited for further instructions. "They areing..." Lia informed Azekiel. "They crossed the boundary." "How long before they get here? And how many are there?" Azekiel asked. The Orcs were once again watching him talk to himself, but they had be habitual to seeing him talk to himself by now. "There are twenty-one of them. And they are being led by a woman, it seems." Lia gave the description of the woman, which slightly matched with what Azekiel had expected. "That must be Leor. The strategist..." As long as the people were inside the boundary established by Lia in advance, she could see everything... It was as if she was keeping an eye on their every moment, which was a big advantage. The only drawback was that she couldn''t listen to what they were saying. "They will be here in a couple of minutes. We shall start." Lia spread her arms and started casting her illusion. At the same time, Azekiel instructed all the Orcs to leave and take their positions. The Orcs rushed to their ces, spreading out. Lia created an illusion of an old tree in the middle of the forest. In the entire vige, this was the only tree. Using the same illusion, she created Orcs. In her illusion, Orcs were standing around the only tree in the area, holding torches to burn the tree. Through her illusion, Lia also made Azekiel look like an Orc. In fact, she made him the leader of the Orcs since she didn''t want the Triads to see a human here. **** The Triads arrived, expecting an easy hunt and revenge for what the Orcs did to their friend, but as they arrived, they saw a scene that made their blood boil. The forest was burned! It was destroyed! "Preposterous! The Orcs destroyed the forest!" "Such vile creatures! They really deserve death! I am going to enjoy killing them!" The rage of Triads starteding out in the form of words, but even that wasn''t the extent of it. They truly had decided to make sure everyone was killed! Previously they only wanted to kill the men in the Orc n who did the fighting before taking Layin back, but now... They wanted to wipe out the entire n from the face of the earth. Unlike the Triads, Leor didn''t express her anger. Instead, she observed the scorching marks on the ground. "The forest was burned recently. It seems like the Orcs were expecting us." "So what? If they think burning a forest can stop us, then they are too naive!" "Don''t underestimate them. They''ve already killed one of you. They don''t seem to be that weak. So underestimating them will be a big mistake!" "Moreover, I''ve heard that the Orcs aren''t a clever species. Instead, they are known to be quite dumb. Despite all that, they took away our advantages and expected us so soon... Something doesn''t seem right... It''s like... They aren''t stupid. But then why are they willing to fight?" "If they knew we would being, why didn''t they run away? Why do they want to fight?" "As you said, they are stupid. That''s why they stay behind to fight. As for burning the forest, I think it''s less about their cleverness and more about what they saw," one of the Triads answered. "Since they already fought, they knew how we fight. That''s why they took away the forest. I don''t think there''s too much to give credit to them. Even idiots could''vee up with it." "Maybe..." Leor still had her suspicions even though their words made sense. For some reason, something felt out of ce. The Triads didn''t spread out. They walked in a group of twenty-one. It was as if spreading out could be seen as a weakness. They didn''t want to appear weak or scared of Orcs, at least. The Triads kept getting closer and closer to the Vige. The vige finally became visible. Inside the vige, they saw many orcs gathering around a tree, holding torches. Their backs were facing the Triads, making them unable to see them. The Orcs slowly brought the torch closer to the tree. "Those bastards!" Many Triads couldn''t bear watching a tree being destroyed before them. Moreover, it was also a perfect opportunity for them to attack. All the Orcs were standing in the same ce. If they attacked, this was perfect. All twenty Triads rushed to the Vige. Everyone except Leor, who found it even off. Even though she was also angry, she felt that it didn''t make sense. The people who burnt the entire Vige... Why did they wait all this time to burn the tree in the Vige? It was as if... "They were waiting for us!" Leor eximed. She shouted, "Stop! It''s a trap!" Unfortunately, her shout only reached a couple of Triads who stopped. The other either didn''t listen or didn''t seem to care that it was a trap. Even if it was a trap, they believed it was useless. Around fifteen Triads rushed inside the vige. One of them raised his hand toward the tree. "Come to life! Destroy the ones who seek to destroy you!" "Hmm?" Even as the Triad chanted, the tree showed no movement. In fact, he didn''t feel the connection at all. It was only now that he realized that this wasn''t a tree. Fifteen Triads had entered the vige, not knowing that the Orcs were wearing exactly for that moment. Multiple arrows came flying toward the Triads. It was also when Lia canceled the illusion, removing her shroud to momentarily daze them. Quite a lot of Triads were stunned to find the tree and the Orcs disappear. By the time they understood they had fallen for an ambush, arrows had hit straight in the middle of their skull. Even amongst the Orcs, there were some good archers that were waiting for this moment to show their skills. Out of the fifteen that had entered the vige, five were killed instantly due to the arrows. Seven received minor wounds as the arrow either hit their shoulders or something else. Only three of the fifteen were without any wounds. Unfortunately, they weren''t so lucky either, as they had caught Azekiel''s eyes. Chapter 135 135: Maekin Azekiel called forth his Gauntlets and brought them together, firing energy bullets. Alongside them, ten that had survived, five more were killed, and the rest were wounded. The ones who survived dodged the energy bullets, only to find Orcs appearing behind them, swinging maces. The heavy maces of the Orcs were enough to blow up the heads of the remaining Triads. One survived even now, but not for long, as another arrow came as he was fighting the Orcs, prating his skull. Thest of the fifteen Triads that entered the vige was also killed. Now there were only six Triads left, including Leor. All six of them were outside the vige. "A human... So this was indeed a trap and not a trap of the Orcs! We were lured here! Retreat!" Even though Leor was enraged and wanted to destroy Azekiel, who seemed to be the mastermind, she still thought clearly and understood that she didn''t know much about the enemy. And she had already lost most of her forces. It was better to retreat and regroup instead of fighting an unknown enemy without a n. She started stepping back, ring at Azekiel. It was as if she was memorizing the face. "Fifteen came in... More than Raphael expected," Lia smiled, watching Leor retreat. "So far, everything is going ording to Raphael''s n. That guy... He really is good." "He is good, but then again, we are fighting an enemy who knows nothing about us. We were definitely at an advantage when it came toing up with a n. Time to execute thest part of the n," Azekiel stated as he raised his right hand. "Summon Raphael!" He had been saving this Summoning for the exact moment. Raphael knew that a lot of Triads were going to rush in, but he also gave equal importance to Leor. He knew that if she was really a good strategist, she wasn''t going to rush inside blindly. And if things went south, she would retreat instead. If he were in her ce, he would''ve done the same thing. That''s why he nned thest part in such a way that she couldn''t be allowed to retreat. Unlike Lia and Azekiel, who was waiting inside the vige, Raphael was already outside. In fact, at the moment, he was right behind Leor. As soon as Azekiel called forth Raphael, the Summoning urred. Raphael arrived in the mortal world with his full glory. "Huh?" Leor sensed some aura behind her. She instantly reacted. Vines came out of the ground, attacking whoever was behind her. However, it was as if Raphael expected. He knew that Leor was a Triad, and they could use nature to fight back. Just because they destroyed the forest didn''t mean that they couldn''t use other means. The only way to take away all her advantages was by using his own advantages. With one hand, he closed Leor''s mouth. He wrapped his other hand around Leor''s waist. His beautiful ck wings spread wide as he shot up before the Vines could even reach him. The Triads were strong on the ground but high in the air¡­ Not so much. Seeing theirmander be taken away, the other Triads also reached. They rushed to help her, but they were toote. Being distracted by Raphael, they turned their back on Azekiel, only to realize what a big mistake that was... Five more bodies dropped to the ground, lifeless. Azekiel lowered his blood-stained Gauntlets, looking at thest of Triad Soldier who had been killed. Only Leor was left, and she was in the grasp of Raphael. Azekiel didn''t n to kill her either. She had an important position in the Triad n, and he believed she could be really useful in negotiating with the Triad Queen. And if she didn''t negotiate, he had other ways. But he wanted to try faster ways since he had to leave the Tower. Raphael tied Leor''s mouth and her hands behind her back before hended on the ground. He made sure she couldn''t use her spells to attack Azekiel. And even if she could somehow do it, she couldn''t escape. "Leor, the strategist of the Triads and the youngest sister of the Triad Queen... How does it feel to be captured?" Azekiel asked, sitting on one knee before Leor. "Humans! I knew we couldn''t trust you! Did Liam give you the information?" Leor knew that there was no way Azekiel could know about her. She rarely made an appearance outside. And even if she did, no one knew her name outside. There was no way for Azekiel to know about it. No Triad was ever going to leak information just because of fear of death. That could only mean that there was a spy inside the Triad n at the highest levels! And that could only be Liam! "I would''ve loved to agree if it was beneficial for me, but no. Liam didn''t give me information. Instead, he is an enemy of mine." " Just like you attacked the Orcs for giving shelter to someone you hate, I''ming for the Triads for giving shelter to someone I need to kill. However, unlike you, I''m not going after my family to kill them." "Until your sisteres and does as I ask her, you''ll be our prisoner." "Hmph." Leor scoffed. She didn''t feel threatened. There was no way they could keep her hostage. She had all the means to escape as long as she was left alone. "Oh right, before that. We need to take some precautions. Lia, start the marking." As if being able to read Leor''s mind, Azekielmanded Lia. "Markings?" Leor frowned. She didn''t know what marking he was talking about, but how could any marking stop her from running away? Just what was this human going to do? Azekiel didn''t exin right away. He knew that if he told her right now, Leor was probably going to fight her hardest and make things difficult for them. Lia started chanting a spell. A formation circle appeared around Leor, who was held down by Azekiel. The formation started shining brightly with a blinding light, making it impossible for Leor to see anything. Strangely enough, she felt a burning sensation in her body. "What are you doing to me?" She roared in pain, but she couldn''t do anything. ? The burning sensation continued for the next five minutes. Leor''s face turned slightly red as she yelled. It was only when the formation stopped that she calmed down a bit. Her body still felt the burning sensation, but it wasn''t as painful as before. "What did you do?!" She asked, feeling somewhat weak. She felt a strange sensation inside her body. Chapter 136 136: Servitude "Raphael, you can free her." Following Azekiel''smands, Raphael freed the hands of Leor. After being freed, Leor weirdly looked at everyone. They were freeing her? Why? What were they nning? To her surprise, she didn''t even think about attacking them now that she was free. She wanted to know more about the mark. She believed that Azekiel was the only person who could exin what the Mark was. He also appeared to be their leader. If she could take him hostage, everything was going to be in her control. She decided to take Azekiel hostage, but for some reason, her body just refused to listen to her. She couldn''t use her vines for her benefit. Azekiel smiled, noticing the unease on Leor''s face. "Can''t attack me?" "What did you do to me?!" Leor roared in rage. She was sure that this Mark was behind her, being unable to attack Azekiel. "You won''t attack anyone as long as I don''tmand you to," Azekiel said as if issuing amand. "Now stand up!" Leor felt as if her body wasn''t in her control as she stood up. She felt like a puppet. She wanted to kill in anger, but she couldn''t even do that. "Mark of Servitude..." Azekiel exined, pointing at the mark that had appeared on Leor''s body. "The mark has tied you to me. In essence, you''re now my servant until I free you from Servitude. You can''t harm your master, and you can''t defy mymand either. Oh right, I forgot to mention one thing." "You won''t try to escape. And you won''t go out within five meters of me!" He issued anothermand, remembering that it was also important. Even if Leor couldn''t attack him, she could still attempt an escape. With his newmand, he had effectively removed that possibility. Not only did they not have to worry about her leaving now, but she was like a soldier for them who could be used for a battle. This was the favorite skill of Lia that Azekiel had found. In fact, even he was surprised when he heard about the skill. Even though the skill also had specific criteria that needed to be met before it could be sessful, and it had a duration as to how long it couldst, it was still a great skill that became really useful in a situation like this. After covering all the bases, he started walking back to the Orc Vige. Bound by themand, Leor had to follow him against all her wishes. She tried her best to find a way out of this problem, but to do that, she needed to know more about this Mark. It was the first time she had heard about this Mark or saw it. Other than what Azekiel told her, she knew nothing about the mark, let alone how to free herself from its shackles. She didn''t even know if the mark was eternal or went away on its own. If it was the former... Just the possibility of that horrified Leor. She didn''t want to be a servant of a human! She didn''t want to be a mindless puppet who could be used for anything, from satisfying carnal desires to being used in battles. Just the thought alone was scary. ''I will ept death but not this!'' She made up her mind. If she could neither hurt her enemies nor escape, the only option she had was death, and she decided to embrace it. ''Huh?'' Even as she made up her mind to kill herself, she couldn''t go through it. The same thing which was blocking her from killing Azekiel was also stopping her from killing herself. "Just what abomination is this? I can''t even kill myself!" She eximed in rage. "What is this Mark? Free me this instance! You want Liam? I''ll bring him to you! Just free me first!" "The Mark of Servitude... It was a spell created to control Wild Beasts... However, it also works on everything else that has a life. The spell stops a beast from killing the master, but also stops it from doing something that could bring it to death..." Azekiel answered. "The spell was used by Witches to ensure beasts who could hunt for them. Since they couldn''t often deal with human towns, they relied on forest and on self-hunted food. To save time, the beasts came to y," he further exined. "I''m sure you can understand what a hassle it can be if a beast they caught and sired went ahead and did something that got it killed? It could put them on the path to do all this again. Thus they made sure that didn''t happen." "Shouldn''t you thank me for that? I indirectly saved your life just now?" Leor couldn''t take Azekiel seriously when he talked like that. It was as if he was trolling her. She didn''t even know what Witches meant or what beasts he was talking about. Whatever he exined gave her no exnation as to how she could free herself. She also noticed Raphael disappear into thin air as if he was a ghost. She again couldn''t sense him. It was simr to what happened before, where Raphael came to her out of thin air. These humans... They were strange. Not only strange, but they were also very cunning and strong. If she also couldn''t kill herself, Leor found another way to negotiate her freedom. She remembered Azekiel mentioning before that they were after Liam. So they had no enmity with the Triads. If that was the case, she could negotiate her freedom with him. In exchange for her freedom, she could bring Liam to him. Azekiel also seriously thought about her offer for a minute. It wasn''t a bad offer in the core. All he wanted was Liam, after all. "Don''t listen to her," Before Azekiel coulde to a decision, Lia chimed in. "Even though it''s more effective to have her bring Liam to us, they live in a separate domain. As soon as she goes far enough from you, the effects of the Mark of Servitude will decrease. And if the connection grew weak enough, the mark will be broken before it''s time." "If you let her go, it''ll be like wasting a great opportunity over nothing." Since Leor couldn''t see or hear Lia, Lia could talk openly without hesitating that she might hear. Azekiel took her words seriously as well. "I don''t think that would be necessary," he refused Lia''s suggestion. "Now that so many of you have died, your sister would know what happened here. She wille by herself soon enough..." Chapter 137 137: Crown "I''ll deal with her directly," Azekiel dered. "And she''ll possiblye with Liam this time." He entered the Orc Vige, having Leor following him. The archers aimed at Leor while the Orcs were ready to attack. "Don''t attack her. She is my prisoner!" Azekiel dered at the top of his lungs, making sure that even the farthest archers heard her. "Why a prisoner? They attacked us! We should kill them!" The Leader of the Orcs questioned. They had destroyed half the forest for this battle. They had lost their previous leader. And now that they finally had the advantage, they were letting a Triad live? That didn''t make sense at all! "I know what I''m doing. The Triads don''t just have an army of twenty. They have hundreds. We took out twenty, but more wille. They''ll keeping until we deal with their Queen directly! And she''ll be the link in that deal!" Even though this was the Orc Vige, Azekiel was seen as their savior. Because of him, they were alive. It''s because of him that they lost no person in this battle. Subconsciously, the Orcs had started treating him as one of their own. Even though they didn''t quite agree with him leaving Leor alive, they didn''t question him too much either. They went along with the initial exnation and let him do as he pleased. The battle wasn''t over yet, after all. He was right about that. "Can we call out the kids now? When might the next batch of Triadse?" The Leader of the Orcs asked. "By tonight. And if I''m not wrong, this will be thest batch. The Triad Queen will be too impulsive, especially since she''ll know that we have her sister in our control. If I''m not wrong, she won''t wait at all. So, a few hours at best. I would suggest that you let the kids stay where they are." "Rest for an hour, and then meet me in the center of the vige." **** The Triad Queen stood inside a beautiful garden that was filled with nts never seen before on earth. The nt in the center of the garden was the prettiest as it had all the scene colors. Unfortunately, the garden wasn''t the same as before. Over twenty nts were dead. The Triad Queen grimly observed the dead nts which belonged to the Soldiers she had sent with Leor. Only Leor''s nt was still alive. "So many of our people died. Can the Orcs really be that strong? Even with Leor present, they managed to kill so many?" The Triad Queen was angry; however, she was still hopeful. Leor''s nt was still alive. That meant she was alive there. And if she was alive even now, that meant she had finished the battle. She was victorious! Azekiel gave a bit too much credit to the Triad Queen, thinking that she was as clever as Leor. He thought that this much was enough to make the Triad Queen realize that Leor was taken as a hostage. Unfortunately, she thought the exact opposite. The Triad Queen thought that Leor was alive because the battle was over and she had won. Then again, the Triad Queen was just so confident in the abilities of Leor that she didn''t even consider the possibility of Leor failing. She left the garden, believing that Leor was going to be back soon. For her, the battle had ended with her victory. Instead of worrying about Leor, she went back to her bedroom, where Liam was already waiting for her. ording to her, she had won the battle, but at the cost of twenty of her bravest soldiers. That in itself was slightly stressful, and she needed Liam to remove that stress. She took off her clothes as soon as she entered the bedroom and climbed on the bed. **** Three hours passed. Azekiel waited at the entrance of the vige, waiting for the Triad Queen. Unfortunately, there was not even a glimpse of her. By now, she should''ve been here. "Does your sister not care for you at all?" Azekiel asked Leor, frowning. "Even then, she should''vee just for her reputation." The dy was strange¡­ Too strange. Did the death of twenty Triads scare the Triad Queen? Is that why she wasn''ting? Or was it something else? There were many questions in his head, but rarely any answer. "Someone ising..." Lia pointed out. "Finally." Azekiel sighed. "How many are with her?" "It''s not her. It''s the Lords..." Lia exined. "The one who works for you." "They... So no sign of the Triads?" Azekiel inquired, ncing at the moon in the sky. It was sote. Just what were they doing? The Orcs saw some people arrive from a distance. They raised their weapons, only to be stopped by Azekiel again. "Calm down. They work for me." The Lord of Sins arrived in the Orc Vige, slightly surprised that everyone was waiting for them, including Orcs. "We did what we were asked to." One of the Lords handed over a coin to Azekiel. The Lord of Theft handed over a crown. Seeing the crowd, even Leor was speechless. "The Crown of the Nature Elves?" The Nature Elves were one of the top species in this world, right along with the Triads and the Dark Elves. As for the crown, it was something that only their Queen was allowed to have. For someone to be able to enter the Land of Elves and steal the Crown and thene out alive? That was no less than a miracle! Even she, as a Triad, couldn''t believe that she could''ve achieved it if she wanted. She looked in amazement. Just what were these people? Just what were they after? They were also a group of humans like Liam, but they were so different. While Liam spent most of his time in bed, rarely doing anything, Azekiel was there, protecting the Orcs, fighting the Triads, and stealing the Crown of Elves. Just why? She didn''t know what the coin was that was given to Azekiel, but she had a feeling that it was also something species like the crow. "Just who are you?" She asked Azekiel, frowning. "Are you really here only for Liam? Then why are you taking the Crown? Just what are you truly after?" "What I''m after is simple. I''m after strength..." Azekiel answered. "And I''m after answers." "For that, I need to kill Liam and continue on my journey. The Triads can either die with Liam, or they can hand him over. In any case, Liam is getting killed by me before I leave this ce..." "It seems you''ve been having fun here," Lord of Lies stated, seemingly amused at the sight of a beautifuldy standing beside Azekiel. "Anyway, I have some news for you¡­.'' Chapter 138 138: Triad Queen "Did you get the dark elves to do what I wanted?" Azekiel asked. In response, the Lord of Lies nodded. "That is done. The Dark Elves will attack the Nature Elves tonight." "Poor guys... They think the Nature Elves are nning to attack them instead. They fell for my lies right away. So instead of giving the Nature Elves a chance to prepare to attack them, they are attacking them Nature Elves instead." "On the way back, I took something from the Dark Elves and left it near thend of Nature Elves. Everything is set for a war. The Nature Elves will see the clues that make them think Dark Elves stole the crown." "And by the time the army of Dark Elves arrived, the Nature Elves would''ve prepared their own armies to go in search of the crown. The misunderstanding would make it so that the war can''t be avoided," the Lord of Lies finished his briefing. "But still, I don''t understand one thing. What benefit is there for us even if they fight? How does that help us?" He wasn''t the only one who was confused. Everything seemed to be random so far. Helping orcs, getting the elves to fight, fighting with the Triads, killing people... There seemed to be nomon link between all this with what the Trial on this floor was. Since all of them were Lords, they had a system of their own which had informed them about the Trial of this Floor when they arrived. Despite that, even they couldn''t understand how all this linked to the Trial. Now they had a couple of dead people, a coin, a crown, and some conflicts. "You''ll understand sooner orter. You did good. Now I want you to do one more thing for me. I want you all to go in that direction. The Triad n''s entrance is in that direction. You won''t be able to enter it, but I want you to find out if the Triads areing or not. If you see them, return and inform. That will be all...." Azekiel still didn''t exin what he was after with all these small missions. Instead, he gave another task to all the Lords. He had waited here for long enough. He didn''t want to stand there all night, looking like an idiot if the Triads weren''ting. He convinced the Lords to go south, giving them the exact directions. Seeing him describe the direction with such uracy, Leor felt even more suspicious. He really knew too much about their n, which was impossible without having a source inside the n. But as he said, he wasn''t on good terms with Liam. So Liam couldn''t have informed him. She wondered if it could be really possible that he was informed by one of them before being killed. This man was just too mysterious for her. It was as if he was always one step ahead. He knew who they were; he knew when they would being, he knew how many of them there would be, or how they fought. He had covered all the bases. It was as if they were all part of his n. This kind of strategy and control in a war... If she didn''t hate Azekiel, she would''ve been really impressed with him. After sending the Lords away, Azekiel told the Orcs to go back and rest. If the Triads came close to the vige, Lia could alert them, but it seemed unlikely at this point. Only when the Lords return could he know if the Triads even wanted toe or not. If not, he could only take other steps to draw them out. Only a few Orcs were left out to guard the vige while everyone else went inside their houses. One independent house was even allowed for Azekiel to stay. All the kids were called out and taken to where they used to stay. Entering the house that was assigned to him, Azekiel noticed just how massive everything was here. Since the Orcs were so bulky, everything here was big, especially their bed. An Orc''s bed was so big that it could amodate three people like Azekiel easily and still have lots of space left. Other than the bed, there was also a huge table inside the house. For Azekiel, food was already kept on the table there that was hunted by the Orcs before. Azekiel sat on the wooden chair, feeling somewhat small. "You can eat as well." Since the Orcs ate so much, the food was thest thing they were conservative about. Even for someone like Azekiel, who ate so much, the food here seemed more than enough. "Oh right. I forgot Triads don''t eat what we do. You get your food in other ways." Azekiel started eating alone. **** It was midnight, and even now, there were no signs of Triads at all. "Just what is your sister doing? Will she really note?" Azekiel was lying on the bed, seemingly bored after waiting for so long. "She would if she knew what happened here." "Then why isn''t she here?" Azekiel asked, still not having the answer he wanted. "Because you''re assuming she knows that we lost. If she isn''t here, I suppose she still thinks that we won." "And why would she think that?" "Because she is very confident about me. Even if she knows that I lost everyone else, as long as I''m alive, she will think that we won. If I''m not wrong, she''s still waiting for me toe back. That''s why she isn''t here. So if you really want her toe here, you can only kill me." Leor smirked. "You want me to kill you?" Azekiel was slightly bemused. While everyone wanted to live, she wanted to die? All because she was under the Servant Mark? "Better than being your servant for life." "Too bad, I won''t kill you. I still need you for many things. And as far as your sister is concerned, I wonder how long she''ll wait. If you''re not back by the morning, at least then she''ll have toe. In any case, I''ll make her stand before me...." "I think you''re really underestimating my sister. Remember, one shouldn''t y with fire. You might lose more than you bargained for. You still have time. Free me, and I''ll make sure that Liam is before you by tomorrow morning. We both get what we want. I can get rid of Liam, and you can get your revenge." "Think clearly. Don''t make my sistere here. It seriously won''t be good for you." "Is that so?" Even though Azekiel didn''t know much about the Triad Queen, from what he saw in the memories of the one he killed, she wasn''t much different from Leor. She was just a bit stronger, but that didn''t scare him. Even if she was stronger, he could take her out. Not like she was a god. Moreover, even if she didn''t listen to him, he could just kill her which could make Leor the next Triad Queen. In fact, that n was just as good since the next Triad Queen was going to be his servant in that case. He could justmand her to let her enter her domain. **** It had been hours, and still, Leor wasn''t back. This was starting to make the Triad Queen worry. Generally, she should''ve been back by now if she was victorious. Quite a lot of time had passed since that moment. Something seemed off... Way off. She shouldn''t shake off the bad feeling inside her heart, that maybe Leor didn''t seed? She went to the Garden again, observing Leor''s nt which was still alive. "If she didn''t win, but she didn''t die either, then why isn''t she back? Unless.... She''s taken hostage by the Orcs? But how?" Finally, she started thinking on the right track. She believed that the Orcs took her sister hostage, possibly to force her to agree to their demand. This thing was really frustrating to her, and insulting. It was like the Orcs were mocking her. She couldn''t sit and watch. She decided to take matters into her own hands. She decided to go out and see for herself. However, this time, she went alone! She didn''t tell anyone where she was going. She had such faith in herself. **** "This should be the spot he talked about," Jane observed the surroundings, not finding anything suspicious. She couldn''t see any living beings in sight, let alone a Triad. After making sure that there was no army, all the Lords went back to inform Azekiel what they saw, feeling as if their time was wasted. Around thirty minutes after the Lords left, the Triad Queen came out of her domain, not knowing that some people had been there recently. She started walking toward the Vige of Orcs. The Triad Queen kept walking, but for some reason, despite only taking small steps, she was able to cover arger distance. It was as if the forest was helping her. Chapter 139 139: None The Triad Queen was moving much faster than she seemed. In fact, within half an hour, she had already caught up to the group of Lords who were walking rxed. The Lords hadn''t seen any army before, which made them believe they could rx. After getting to the group of humans, the Triad Queen slowed down. Seeing the humans so close to her domain... It made her suspicious, especially since those humans seemed to be walking back. Layim felt something off. He nced back, feeling as if someone was keeping an eye on them. As he turned around, he saw an empty forest. There was no one who could be seen. He shook his head lightly, feeling as if it was his misconception. "What were you speaking? Sorry I was distracted for a bit." He engaged with the group again. The Triad Queen stood behind a tree. After making sure that no one was looking back, she continued following the group again. She was even able to hear what they were speaking, thanks to all the trees around them. It was as if the trees were her eyes and ears. "I was asking about Azekiel. I''m trying to understand what he''s trying to do," Luna repeatedly. "All those missions he gave us... They were so random. And now a mission to see if the Triad Army wasing or not? Is he just wasting time or what? It doesn''t look to be rted from any angle." "Who knows..." Layim shrugged. "Even I can''t see any links in the missions he gave us, but then again, he''s a very unorthodox person. I doubt he follows normal methods ever. How else could he reach the fourth floor within weeks of him bing a King?" "The other Kings took years to reach here, but Azekiel didn''t even take months," he further exined. "He certainly has a knack for clearing floors faster than anyone else. I don''t think he''s the kind of person who will waste time." "All I know is why he sent us here to check after Triads. The Triads are keeping Liam as a guest. I think he did something to make the Triads wage a war on the Orcs, just like we made the Dark Elves wage a War on the Nature Elves." "He''s probably expecting the Triad Queen to either take her hostage or to deal with her about handing Liam over," Jane agreed. "That guy... He is thinking ahead. I think we have selected the right King. In his sess, there is our sess." "But there''s no Triad Army that we saw? Did his calctions fail?" "Only he can know the answer to that question. We just need to tell him what we found." **** Hearing the conversation of the group, the Triad Queen was slightly taken aback. She finally understood everything! She finally knew why the foolish Orcs were suddenly capable enough of taking out her people! It wasn''t done by them! "It was all the doing of these humans!" She clenched her fist. "The doing of Azekiel!" She understood the entire plot. She also understood why Leor was kept alive! She was a negotiation tool to have her give up Liam! Generally, she would''ve given up Liam for her sister in a heartbeat or did any Triad''s life, but not when it was under threat! If she led Azekiel to Liam now, it was going to be insulting for her! It was going to be no less than her surrender in a way which she couldn''t bear! Initially, she had thought that the Humans were extinct as well until she heard from her people about them noticing a group of humans camping. To know more about them, she had those humans invited to her realm like guests. That''s how she first met Liam and somehow ended up in bed with him. It was through him that she understood more about the humans and that they weren''t from this world! Liam told her about them being from another world. He imed they were just travelers passing through this world. However, to show off how special he was amongst the humans, he also talked about Kings and Lords. He talked about them as beings with supreme strength and magic. He especially emphasized how significant it was to be a King! If these people addressed Azekiel as a King, that meant he was also one of those supreme beings. Moreover, that human was after Liam, so she felt that maybe Azekiel was actually a King, even stronger than Liam. The people before her even talked about how Azekiel had cleared something called floors faster than other Kings. She didn''t know what that meant, but if they gave so much importance to that, that also implied that he was better than the other so-called Kings. What stunned her the most was when these people addressed Azekiel as Kingyer and talked about how he had killed Kings before. In her mind, there was a good image of Kings amongst humans as powerful beings. But when one of them was a Kingyer, that was just another way of saying that he was the strongest King. After that much information, she couldn''t just underestimate Azekiel. Initially, she was nning to attack from the front to take out all the enemies, but she now understood that it couldn''t be the best n. She could go back and bring her entire army, but if Azekiel was already expecting an army, that meant he was prepared and confident enough to face them. She could also bring Liam and the other humans with her to help her, but that was no less than epting about her weakness, which she couldn''t. As a proud Triad, she couldn''t take a human''s help to defeat an enemy. She couldn''t use an army. She couldn''t use humans. She couldn''t even use a frontal assault since she didn''t understand just what kind of strength or skills that humans possessed. For a moment, she even thought about killing the men before her and interrogating the ones she left alive to find out everything about Azekiel, but from their conversation, it was also clear that even they didn''t know much about Azekiel. Those people themselves were confused about Azekiel, his ns, or his skills. Taking them out was useless for her extended goals. Even if she took them out, she wasn''t going to get any benefits in the long run since she still had to face Azekiel, who had her sister as a hostage. "Fine! If he''s being cunning, then I''ll show him just how weak he really is! I''ll make him lie on my feet without raising a single finger!" Chapter 140 140: Haixu The Lords returned to the Vige. The Orcs who were guarding the vige noticed the Lords. They already had instructions from Azekiel that these were his trusted people. The lords were allowed inside, and they were taken to the house where Azekiel was staying. Lia stood at the entrance of the Vige with her arms folded. She didn''t follow the Lords inside since she could already decipher everything from their expressions. They hadn''t seen any army. **** Raphael was still inside the house with Azekiel and Leor. He was keeping an eye on Leor, who was just sitting in the corner, seemingly lost in some thought. p She looked really defeated and not very happy. Then again, after what happened to her, how could someone even look happy? She just sat in silence, watching Azekiel sleep. Thanks to the protection of the Mark of Servitude, Azekiel could sleep in the same room as Leor without having to worry about being attacked. As he gave his mind some rest after a long day, Raphael and Lia kept an eye on the surroundings. They were told to wake him up in case he was needed, or something significant happened. Knock knock~ Leor heard the knocking on the door. She nced at the door before looking back at Azekiel, who was still sleeping. She stood up and opened the door. "What?" She asked, seemingly irritated. Almost all the Lords were taken aback to see Leor in the same room as Azekiel. They all misunderstood, thinking that Azekiel slept with the Triad. "Not bad," Luna chuckled. "And here I thought, only King Liam was frivolous." "We need to talk to King Azekiel," Layim informed Leor. "Step aside." He didn''t even wait for her to answer as all the Lords barged inside the house. Hearing themotion, Azekiel opened his eyes. "You''re back. Any news?" "Nope. Not a single sighting of any Triad along the way." "Those Triads... They are just wasting my time for no reason. It''s alright. They''lle tomorrow. Even they can''t be idiot enough to not realize everything." "You all, go and rest as well. If anything happens, you''ll be informed." There was not much he could talk to the Lords after he had his answer. He allowed them to go and rest. The Lords left. They were shown ces where they could stay. Each of them was also given something to eat. It was like a feast for them after working throughout the day. Sending the Lords away, Azekiel once again closed his eyes. He had already been half asleep even as he talked to the Lords. He went to sleep again, telling Leor to sleep as well. Leor didn''t listen to him. She just closed the door and went back to the same corner where she was sitting before, staring at Azekiel. She didn''t know what it was, but this man really was different. When she was given this mark of Servitude and told to stay in the same room as him, she had a bad feeling that Azekiel was going to want to sleep with him or use her for his erotic pleasures, but he didn''t do anything like that. He didn''t even look at her with bad eyes. There was something inside her that was happy that she was safe like that. However, there was also another side of her that wondered if it was really because Azekiel was a good person or was it because she wasn''t attractive enough for him. She wondered if he would''ve done the same thing if her sister was before him. ''Hmm?'' As Lia was lost in thoughts, she felt something. There was a ring on her finger that was made from grass, but through that ring, she felt some kind of connection. Her sister had the same ring as well. The rings worked by allowing the two sisters to contact each other as long as they were in close proximity. As for how close that proximity was, it was unclear. Leor just closed her eyes, appearing as if she had fallen asleep. However, in her mind, she was talking to her sister, informing her of everything that had happened and how she had been taken hostage. She also informed her sister that Azekiel was after Liam and that he was a reallyplicated enemy who always seemed to be two steps ahead of them. **** ''Be careful. I don''t know what''s the range, but they appear to have something that can alert them when someone gets closer to the vige. So if youe, they''ll know.'' ''Is that so?'' the Triad Queen stopped, not too far from the boundary that was established by Lia. ''What is that person doing now?'' she further asked. ''He seems to be sleeping. He was waiting for your arrival all day. He only recently fell asleep. What do you want to do?'' ''My n? It''s simple. I''ll destroy his mind,'' the Triad Queen answered. ''He hurt my people, and I''ll hurt him.'' ''It''s not easy. And you can expect what it means when it''sing from me. This man... He is very strange and very strong. I think we should hand over Liam. We shouldn''t risk our people for Liam.'' ''It''s not about Liam anymore! It''s about our dignity, and no, I can''t let him trample on our dignity! No matter how strong he is, he won''t live to see the day!'' ''And how will you do it?'' ''I can''t tell you that since you''re under his control to some extent. Because of the mark, you might create some problems unintentionally. So I''ll keep the n to myself. All I need from you is one help. Other than that, the less you know, the better!'' ''What help?'' ''Heixu nt... Make it grow as close to Azakiel as possible! I''ll handle the rest.'' ''Haixu nt?'' Leor didn''t understand what they could do with one ce. That nt wasn''t known to be very special after all. Still, she did as she was told. She couldn''t do anything that could kill Azekiel, and considering that problem, the Triad Queen only asked her to create the Haixu nt, which in no way could kill Azekiel. Leor opened her eyes. She ced her hands on the ground. Even though Raphael observed Leor, he couldn''t see anything strange. He couldn''t see a nt appearing under Azekiel''s bed, growing bigger with each passing second. As the bed was so massive, it allowed the nt to avoid being seen by Raphael. After the nt appeared, Leor informed her sister that she did as she was told. Everything was in ce. Not too far from the vige, the Triad Queen also made a simr nt appear before her. Chapter 141 141: Weapon Of Pleasure A nt appeared before the Triad Queen, being somewhat simr to the nt that has appeared under Azekiel''s bed. Only a few minor differences could be seen. The nt before her had some thorns, but the ce under Azekiel''s bed didn''t. The Triad Queen touched one of the thorns, letting it stab her finger a bit. The nt started feeding on her blood while she sat before the nt, closing her eyes. ***** Inside Azekiel''s room, Leor sat with the support of the wall. She still wondered how this nt was going to do anything. The Haixu nt couldn''t hurt anyone. The only special thing about the nt was that it could make someone fall into a drug-induced sleep, making them lose consciousness in the end. It was like a drug nt that was used to confuse a person and make them sleep. It also released a gas that didn''t have any odor. The colourless gas slowly filled the entire room. In his sleep, Azekiel didn''t realize when he lost consciousness, lying on the bed. Fortunately, it was just an ordinary unconsciousness and not dangerous. Raphael still didn''t find anything strange. Since Azekiel was already asleep before, there was hardly any difference now. He was lying in the same position as before, looking like he was peacefully sleeping. Leor was also in her spot, not doing anything suspicious. Unlike Azekiel, the sleeping gas didn''t affect Raphael. He didn''t even realize that there was something like that. ***** Even as Azekiel lost his consciousness, he found himself in a different ce. For a moment, he wondered if he was dreaming. The dream looked realistic, yet there was something clearly off about it. It wasn''t like a dream he had seen before. In fact, his old dreams looked slightly less realistic than this. If he wasn''t so alert, he might''ve even confused this with the reality. He felt that he was lying on a bed, in a dark room. He noticed that he wasn''t wearing any clothes at all. He waspletely naked. And there was a woman who was lying beside him. Her hand was holding onto something that it shouldn''t, going up and down slowly. "What happened darling? Why do you look so out of it tonight?" A sweet melodious voice fell in his ears as a tongue lightly licked his earlobes. He turned to the source of the voice. It was so dark that it wasn''t easy seeing the person. However, he still managed to see some glimpses that made him realize who she was. As his vision became adjusted to the darkness, he noticed that he was in the bed with Triad Queen, who waspletely naked as well. Her breasts were touching his chest as she continued moving her hand to and down, holding onto his erection. This dream... It was too bizarre for him. Azekiel was sure he would never end up in a bed with the Triad Queen. Even though she was beautiful, he didn''t have any positive feelings for her because of everything he knew about her. In fact, if he were attracted to anyone, it would''ve been Leor! However, here he was, dreaming about the Triad Queen. Generally, as soon as he realized that he was dreaming, he used to wake up, but this time, he couldn''t. Even though he realized that it was a dream, he couldn''t wake up. "I think the big guy is ready," the Triad Queen eximed as she turned her body. She arrived on top of Azekiel. "This is more real!" Azekiel eximed. He was about to stand up, but he realized that he couldn''t do that either. It was as if his body was refusing to listen to him. "What happened, darling? What are you talking about?" The Triad Queen smiled, nting her lips on Azekiel''s lips. "Why can''t I move my body?" Realizing that he couldn''t move his body, Azekiel understood that it wasn''t a harmless dream. Something big was going on. "Is this one of your tricks, Urien?" he asked. He didn''t know how the Triad Queen managed to take over his dream, but he was sure this was the case. Everything pointed to the same time. He tried calling for his Gauntlets, or his system, but he couldn''t use anything here. "And here, I thought you''d take longer to realize what''s happening here." Urien licked her lips which had just tasted Azekiel''s lips. "You''re quite perceptive." "You''re right. This is a dream, yet it''s not a dream at the same time. It''s the realm between dream and reality. And even if you know about it, you can''t escape from my grasp. As long as I''m here, you''ll be here. And I''m not leaving until I destroy your consciousness entirely..." "You wanted to destroy my n? Maybe you were actually capable of doing that when you were in the real World, but in this dreand, I''m the queen, and you''re nothing. Your consciousness is my prisoner here! I will make sure that your consciousness is destroyed before you leave this ce! Either that, or you''ll be my ve, getting addicted to me and this pleasure..." "Even after knowing what''s happening, you will crave for me! You made my sister your servant? I''ll make you mine! I''ll make you beg for me..." The Triad Queen wasn''t the queen for no reason. She wasn''t called the strongest Triad for nothing. She was considered the most dangerous person in the history of Triads. Just the strength she revealed before everyone was enough to show the world how strong she was, but as a Queen, she kept quite a lot of her cards hidden, including her special tricks like the one she was using on Azekiel. She was the Queen of Triads. That''s why she was connected more closely with nature and nts than the other Triads. But only she could talk with the ces, but she could also listen and spy through them. That was just the surface of it. She could even trap someone''s consciousness as long as they were in a trance. It was hard to ce someone in a trance, but since Azekiel was sleeping and Leor was right beside him in closed doors, the Haixu nt made her work easier. It created conditions simr to a trance. There was still one problem... The distance was too much between her and Azekiel for her to use this. She used the Haixu nt for that as well. Through her blood, she connected her consciousness more with the nt, which brought it to a simr nt inside Azekiel''s room. She had managed to enter Azekiel''s room, at least mentally, without alerting Lia, who was still waiting outside. "Shall we begin?" The Triad Queen asked, biting her lower lip. "I''m going to enjoy it." The Triad Queen was in the dreand with Azekiel. And it was all because she wanted to control Azekiel. She didn''t feel confident in facing him head-on, especially after the warning of Leor. She chose a much faster way and one in which she could actually punish Azekiel properly for all he did. She brought him into a realm where all his senses were heightened, especially his senses of pleasure. Instead of fighting, she chose a different way to destroy his mindpletely... The path of pleasure. She decided to use the biggest weakness of a man. She was to make him a ve to the pleasure where he could only beg her to do it again and again, even going as far as licking her feet in exchange if she asked. Azekiel had no control over his body in this realm. However, he could still feel everything that was more real than reality itself. He felt the Urien''s fingers around his erection. She positioned herself properly before moving her waist down... Since it was Azekiel''s consciousness, it wasn''t his real body that was experiencing it. It was like an imagination... Just the imagination was realistic, and so was the feeling of entering Urien''s body which felt so tight. **** Leor stood up and walked closer to Azekiel. She was sure that he must be unconscious by now. She observed the human from much closer, not realizing that Raphael was keeping an eye on her. Raphael frowned, wondering what this girl was trying to do. "He really lost consciousness," After slight observation, Leor affirmed. "I did as she asked me to do. Now all''s left to her. I still don''t understand how she will do it. How will she defeat Azekiel? Why did she want him to be unconscious?x Feeling as if she was alone and that Azekiel was unconscious, thedy didn''t keep her voice down. She spoke her thoughts out loud, sitting beside Azekiel. "No matter what she does, I do hope I can get free. If we lose even now, this guy is going to be really offended... Even more than before..." "And I doubt he would listen in that case... That would certainly be a disaster." Chapter 142 142: All The Sins Raphael was stunned to hear her words. He was unconscious? How did she make him lose consciousness? And so fast at that? He was just awake? Raphael moved closer to Azekiel and started asking him to wake up. Even though Leor couldn''t hear him, Azekiel could. If he was really just sleeping, he should''ve woken up from the shouting. Not getting any response, Raphael ced his hands on Azekiel''s shoulders and shook him even more intensely, trying to wake him up. "Huh?" Leor stood up, shocked, watching Azekiel''s body shake on its own. She couldn''t understand what was happening. Was it her sister''s doing? If that was the case, then how was she doing it? "She was right. He is unconscious! That means the Triad Queen..." Raphael grimaced, realizing that Azekiel was in danger. If the Triad Queen wanted him unconscious, then there could only be two reasons. One was that she was going to attack the Orc Vige when Azekiel was unconscious. As for the second, it was that she needed him unconscious as a person''s mind was at their weakest when they were unconscious. He considered both the possibilities. Raphael wasn''t very knowledgeable in the realm of magic and spells. He only knew offensive skills that could destroy someone, not something that could help them. However, there was someone who could help. He knew that they needed to help Azekiel wake up in the first ce. Only then they could think about other things. They had been tricked. They thought Leor wasn''t dangerous because of the Mark of Servitude, but they were proven wrong. She was used like a tool by her sister. Just because they thought it was safe for her, they gave her ess to this room, which was the biggest mistake, ording to Raphael. Unfortunately, they couldn''t go back to the past and change it. They only needed to control the present. Raphael passed through the wall and left the room, leaving Azekiel with Leor. Even though he didn''t want to leave him alone, he still needed Lia''s help over it. He needed to inform Lia about what happened here. As he stepped out of the house, he noticed some of the Lords of Sins taking a walk under the sun. As for the rest, they have already gone to sleep. Some Orcs could also be seen hear the vige boundary, keeping an eye on the surroundings. Lia was standing near the main entrance under the beautiful moon. The gentle winds made her hair fly, along with her robe. Raphael came before Lia. "You need toe with me. I need your help in waking up Azekiel." "You need my help waking him up? Why? What happened to him?" Lia asked, apanying Raphael back. On the way to the house, Raphael informed her what he had heard and what possibilities he had considered. "Can you wake him up?" "If he''s simply unconscious, I might be able to. But first, I have to see what it''s about." Lia entered the house with Raphael. Azekiel was still on the bed while Leor stood in the distance, staring at Azekiel. She was still wondering why he was shaking if he was unconscious. She could see that he was still breathing. Just that his breathing was slightly inconsistent. Unaware to Leor, there were now two more people in the room. Right before her eyes, Lia moved closer to Azekiel. She ced her hand on Azekiel''s forehead and closed her eyes. After a few seconds, she retracted her hand and started observing the room. "What happened? What are you looking for?" "The hallucinogen..." Lia eximed. "His body is filled with them. He breathed it in. That''s what made him lose consciousness and nothing more." She started checking the room but couldn''t find anything suspicious. Only after failing to find anything she lowered her head and decided to check under the bed, finally understanding what caused it. "This girl..." She now understood everything. "She used a nt to make him lose consciousness, which escaped the shackles of the Mark since the hallucinogen isn''t life-threatening. However, as long as there''s this in the room, waking him up will be hard. We need to purify his body." Lia snapped her fingers, letting the nt burn in mes. As the nt was created by Leor, she sensed when it was destroyed. She looked down, only to find the nt''s ashes. So many strange things were happening in this room. Leor connected all these strange phenomena with her sister''s n, even the destruction of the nt. Since she didn''t need what her sister''s n was, she couldn''t know that it was the doing of someone else. Someone else had destroyed the nt. The windows of the room abruptly opened. Lia cast another spell, using her winds to send all hallucinogens that were in the air outside. She made sure that they didn''t affect the Orcs either. After taking care of the hallucinogens, she ced her hand on Azekiel''s chest and started chanting a purification spell to clear his body from all the toxins, including the hallucinogen. ***** The Triad Queen was in Azekiel''s dreand, moving up and down, using her charms on Azekiel, who was still trying to resist, even though he couldn''t deny that it really felt good. He hadn''t felt like this ever before. However, he still hated that he was with the Triad Queen, even if it was a dream and that he couldn''t move. Everything was being done by the Triad Queen. "You know you''ll regret it when I''m free," Azekiel warned the Triad Queen. "Don''t worry, darling. By the time I''m done with you, all you would be able to do is beg me for more of it! It''s just the beginning. I''ll destroy your mind! I''ll destroy your soul! I''ll fill your body with lust like you''ve never felt before! Won''t be long!" "Hmm?" The lewd expressions of the Triad Queen turned somewhat serious as she noticed something. Her connection to this dreand was much weaker at that point, and it was getting weaker. It was as if someone had affected the conduit that she was using. As her connection with Azekiel weakened, her control over him also weakened. Azekiel also felt her control getting weaker as he was slowly able to move his body. He grabbed the Triad Queen''s throat. However, just as he did something, the Triad Queen disappeared. The connection waspletely gone, freeing Azekiel''s dreams of any influence. The room around him started getting even darker as the dream started breaking. Azekiel was able to feel his real body once again. However, everything was still dark. He felt a hand resting on his chest. He opened his eyes, prepared to attack the person this hand belonged to, but fortunately, at the right time, he noticed that it was Lia. "Calm down. You''re safe. I''ve removed all the toxins from your body!" Lia informed him, observing Azekiel''s closed fist, which stopped just a few inches away from her chest. Raphael informed Azekiel about everything to help him understand. ***** Boom~ The wooden door of the house shattered as a body came out flying, crashing against another house. All the Orcs were stunned to hear themotion. They all looked in the direction. Even the Lords were alert. They all came out of the houses, only to find Leor lying on the ground in the distance. Her lips were bleeding. After her, Azekiel stopped out of the house, but his expression didn''t look normal. His face was shrouded in anger. Even after he let Leor live, she plotted to such an extent that his mind was taken over. Azekiel appeared before Leor, grabbing her throat. He raised her body in the air. It was just as Leor was worried about. If their n failed, Azekiel was going to be furious, and that''s exactly what happened. "I''ve given you all enough opportunities to side with me and to help me! If that''s how you want to y, then that''s how I''ll y!" He red at all the Lords of Sins who were standing in the distance. Seeing the anger on Azekiel''s face, all the Lords were slightly scared. They had never seen him this angry before. Just what happened to him? "You''re alling with me!" Azekiel dragged the body of Leor with him and started leaving the vige. He had never felt this insult before. In his anger, he was starting to lose his critical thinking to some extent. Raphael was also surprised to see Azekiel like that. Something was strange about him, and it wasn''t the first time he was noticing it. Azekiel was supposed to be the King of Gluttony, and he did have gluttony. However, for some reason, he also showed the presence of other sins, to the same extent as Gluttony. So far, Raphael had seen Gluttony in Azekiel. He had also seen Azekiel''s greed which wasn''t a small part of his goals. Even though his greed was about strength, it was as prominent as his Gluttony. He had also seen some Pride in Azekiel. It was unclear what happened just now, but somehow it felt as if Azekiel''s pride had been hurt... It was as if he had more than just one Sin that was dominant in his life... But that shouldn''t be possible¡­. Chapter 143 143: Rage So far, Azekiel had shown a lot of prominent sins in his personality, and it was as if even he didn''t know about them. And those sins were increasing as time passed, bing even stronger. It was as if the Tower was affecting him like that... As if the Tower was corrupting him. But why? Even the other King of Sins showed some small signs of Sins, but none of them showed any other sin to an extent that it couldpete with their main sin. Even the King of Pride got angry at times, but not to the same extent. Even the other Kings had some Pride, but not to the extent that it could overshadow their main sin. And those other sins of theirs hadn''t increased throughout the years, but with Azekiel, it was different. The Sins of his were increasing, and they were Major Sins as well. It was as if all seven Sins were trying to lure him to their side, to select him for something. So far, the only sin that Azekiel hadn''t shown any signs of was Sloth. Other than that, he had started manifesting all other Major Sins of Kings. Raphael thought really deeply about it as he followed Azekiel. He had met Azekiel when he had just started, and he was sure that this wasn''t his personality¡­ Azekiel dragged Leor with him, advancing straight to the Domain of Triads. He wanted to do things the easy way before without creating muchmotion, but he has had enough of waiting. Deep inside the forest, the Triad Queen stood up. The nt was still before her, but she could feel that the connecting nt had been destroyed. Now she finally understood why she had lost her control over Azekiel''s mind. "That idiot! She couldn''t even keep one nt safe!" She eximed, feeling angry at her sister, who had only one responsibility... To protect the nt, and she failed even in that! "I was so close!" The Triad Queen stomped the ground in frustration. She was sure that Azekiel knew about her now. As for his reaction, she couldn''t expect. She didn''t know what to do now. Should she fight an unknown enemy alone in a ce where there was no first, or should she bring more people to fight beside her? Before she could evene to a conclusion, Azekiel came out of the part of the forest that had been burnt. The Orcs were shocked to see him leave. However, they also apanied him, feeling as if he was going to war. Half the Orcs followed Azekiel along with the Orc Head. "He''s leaving the ce where he has an advantage?" The Triad Queen weirdly looked ahead, not understanding Azekiel''s actions. Through her nt along the way, she could see that Azekiel was walking in her direction and that he wasn''t alone. The Triad Queen clenched her fists, seeing how her sister was being disrespected, but she was also pleased that Azekiel was inside the forest. This was the best ce for her to fight back. She was the strongest here. And even if Azekiel was a King, she wanted to teach him a lesson. She stayed where she was, but she also made all the trees around here to life. Thousands of trees came to life, but they didn''t move. It was as if they were waiting for something. As Azekiel came deep inside the forest, she finally saw the Triad Queen, who stood with her arms folded. "Is that the Triad Queen?" All the Lords also noticed thedy at the same time as the Triads. However, only Azekiel knew for sure that she was truly the Triad Queen. "Don''t tell me you missed our lovemaking so much that you came here to continue our session?" The Triad Queen asked as if mocking Azekiel. "Honestly, it was funny to see you that weak... Your eyes that were almost pleading for me to stop while also wanting me to continue." She licked her lips as if remembering a fun moment. "Too bad, our session was cut short. But if you want us to continue, I might listen to you on one condition." "Release my sister and kill all the Orcs. And this time, we won''t do it in dreams..." "If you don''t listen to me, let alone me being yours, you won''t even be alive to be able to hold me anymore." The Triad Queen nced around. Thousands of trees started moving, surrounding the group from all sides. "Decision is yours, sweetheart. You want me to show you heaven, or you want me to show you hell..." Azekiel tossed Leor toward the Triad Queen in response. Seeing Azekiel listening to her, the Triad Queen was slightly surprised but felt inside; she felt as if this was inevitable. Even though she couldn''t show him what she wanted to in the dreand to control him entirely, whatever small amount of pleasure she gave him was enough to make him lust after her. Moreover, the Orcs were just strangers to him. If he could get her in exchange for some orcs, then there was no way he was going to reject the offer. "Men are so fickle," she licked her lips before cing her hand on her sister''s shoulders. She helped her sister up. "See, I told you, sometimes schemes are better than frontal attacks. Today it''s proven that I''m smarter than you, Leor." After helping her sister up, she further focused on Azekiel. "Good work, darling. Now kill all the Orcs, and swear your loyalty to me. I''ll be yours forever!" Azekiel looked at the Triad Queen from top to bottom before he turned around, ring at the Orcs. All the Orcs were stunned to see Azekiel listening to the Triad Queen. Had he lost his mind? How did he be the servant of the Triad Queen? The Triad Queen burst intoughter at the sight of hermand being followed again. She couldn''t believe she was afraid of a man like this who had such a weak mind! "Kill her." As Azekiel''s back faced the Triad Queen, his voice echoed in the forest. The Triad Queen''sughter stopped as soon as she heard themand. A sharp knife stabbed her next, right in the middle. The Triad Queen''s face turned pale as she noticed who had attacked her. Leor stood behind her. Her hands were covered with blood. As for her face, it was covered in blood. She wanted to speak, but no words came out of her lips. The Triad Queen understood everything... This was a plot! This was a plot to kill her! She couldn''t believe her sister had worked with the enemies! "Trai..to...r..." The Triad Queen struggled to speak when she noticed a mark on her sister''s body. She hadpletely forgotten about that mark! The Mark of Servitude! That''s why her sister had tears in her eyes. She was probablymanded to not speak at all and do this. Blood trickled down the throat of the Triad Queen as she turned to Azekiel. She couldn''t even curse him as her vision started turning dark. All she saw was that Azekiel was standing only a few inches before her. "You tried to y with my mind... I yed with yours," he whispered in the Triad Queen''s ears. "We are almost equal..." The Triad Queen dropped to her knees as she kept bleeding. Her eyes finally closed as she lost her life. ? Azekiel ced his hand on the Triad Queen. "Soul Snatch!" He used the Soul Snatch, not missing out on the Soul Energy of the Triad Queen. Just as he expected, the Triad Queen had lots of Soul Energy... Even more than what the Kings had. She was the queen of the nature! Azekiel''s stats shot up by quite a lot, giving him even more strength which he was after. He wanted to be the strongest when he left the Trial on his next mission, and this Soul Energy helped him Azekiel''s Soul Bar was also filled already. The Soul Energy couldn''t fill his Soul Bar more than it already was, which made all the soul energy go to excess Soul Energy. He wondered if the excess Soul Energy was going to reach the level that he needed for getting an excess summon. If it couldn''t even now, then he could only lose hope about ever getting excess summons again. Surprisingly, something finally happened with the excess Soul Energy. A notification appeared before him. [Excess Soul Energy reaching a high level. Do you want to receive the Soul Energy or reject it?" Multiple options appeared under the question. ''The notification this time is different from the Excess Summon notifications, but it''s still asking me if I want to use it. Why won''t I?'' Azekiel pressed yes under the notification, making the screen disappear. As soon as the notification disappeared, a beautiful ck card appeared before Azekiel. Unlike with Excess Summons, there was no choice this time which made Azekiel wonder if this card was actually a Summoning Card or something else? Chapter 144 144: The Unexpected Card The excess energy that the system received appeared to be used by the system in giving him a card. A ck card floated before Azekiel as if waiting for him to hold it. There was no choice this time. There was only one card. Wondering what was in this card, he reached out his hand toward it. His fingers gently touched the card. As soon as the illusory card was touched, it appeared to be a reality. It was a solid card that felt like it was made from stic. It wasn''t too strong either. If he wasn''t careful, he could easily break the card with his strength. "What''s that card?" On one hand, Leor was crying and asking for forgiveness from her sister for not being able to resist themand. On the other hand, Lia and Raphael asked him about the ck card in his hands. Only the Orcs didn''t know what to do. The trees that hade to life returned to the way they used to be before. It didn''t look like there was going to be a battle. "I have no idea." Azekiel hoped that it was a Summoning Card, but he had a feeling that this was something different since there was no choice this time. He turned the card around and read what was written on the card. "This card..." Azekiel''s lips slightly parted as he read what was written on the card. Since it was a physical card, even Raphael and Lia read what was written on it. Both of them were slightly taken aback reading the description that was on the card. "Is that even possible?" *************************************** Card of Control Description: Allows you to create a Soul Familiar of your choice from the ones you''ve killed. Limitation 1: It can only be used once Limitation 2: It can only be used on the ones you''ve killed and within twenty-four hours of death ****************************** The things written on the card came as an absolute surprise to everyone, including Azekiel. The card wasn''t a Card that allowed him to summon great Warriors from the past. Instead, if allowed him to create a Familiar of his own choice! "This card..." He stood up, gazing at the beautiful ck card. He understood what this card implied and just how special it was. In fact, he found the card to be even more useful than normal Familiar Summoning Choice Cards. This card allowed him to basically create his own version of Familiar. With this, he could make anyone into his Familiar, and it didn''t appear to be limited. As he thought about the card, his first thought went to the Kings. If he used that card on one of the Kings after killing them, he could make that King his Familiar! After that, he could summon that King to fight for him. Unfortunately, even the Kings were too weak for him in the grand scheme of things. His attention soon shifted to an even grander picture. "Av... If I can kill him and make her my familiar, I can have her as a Warrior. Her invincible Armor can make her a really powerful ally." The biggest w he could see with the card was that it could only be used once. He didn''t want to waste it. He nced at the Triad Queen. "If there wasn''t any limitation on the card usage, she could''ve been one too. But I can''t waste it on her." The Triad Queen was a really powerful opponent if it came to battle, especially when it came to her crowd control skills. She could create as many warriors as she needed when she was in a forest. Even outside the forests, she was supposed to be stronger. As a Soul Familiar, she could also be used in battles. Unfortunately, she wasn''t killed by him. And even if she were, he wouldn''t have selected her. He decided to keep the card in reserve for now, waiting to see if he was ever going to need it. For now, there was no need. He kept the card in his inventory, focusing back on the task at hand. He still wasn''t done here. The Triad Queen was now dead. That meant Leor was the new Queen. Through her, she had an infinite ess to the Triad Domain, at least until the effect of his Mark of Servitudested. He didn''t want to have that mark go to waste. It couldn''t stay there for an eternity, especially since it was originally made for a beast. It was never used on a Triad before, so even if it seeded, Lia warned him that the mark was most probably going to be ineffective soon. Based on her conservative estimates, the Mark could at leastst for a day. After that, it was mostly luck. With that in mind, Azekiel knew that he needed to finish everything before Leor was free. "Enough crying over who is gone. It was her own fault for trying something she shouldn''t have. I gave you an option! All I wanted was ess to Liam. Despite that, you schemed with her to take me out instead of giving me ess to Liam." "Things didn''t need to happen like that, but because of you, this was the only way left. I am still giving you an option. Take me inside your Domain and help me kill Liam. If you do, I''ll let the Triads live safely. I will never trouble you again, and I''ll also free you from the restriction of the mark." This time, Azekiel didn''t issue amand to Leor, even though he could have her do whatever he wanted. He gave her the freedom to decide for now. "You are the Queen now. So you shall decide what''s the best for your people. Do you want a conflict with me? Or do you want to side with me? If you choose thetter, peace can once again return to the Triad n. The Orcs and the Triads can live at peace again, forgetting the past. Decide..." Azekiel stood with his hands behind his back as if waiting for Leor''s answer. Even though her face was stained with tears, Leor heard Azekiel''s demands clearly. She wiped her tears. She couldn''t be weak now. She was the Queen. She had to be strong... For the sake of her n. Moreover, even she felt that things wouldn''t have fallen to this level if her sister had agreed to hand over Liam. Instead, they chose to target him, which was possibly their biggest mistake. Could she really afford to make that mistake again? Could she really be that stupid? Or was she to forget the tragic past and side with him? Chapter 145 145: Captured In the end, the decision was tough for her. She hated Azekiel. She wanted to kill him. Fortunately, instead of thinking with her heart, she decided to go with her brain. "I will help you. But after you are done, you will forever leave this ce and will never involve yourself in the business of the Triad n?" "I promise. But at the same time, you shall also promise that the Triad n will never trouble Orcs either. No matter what, they helped me! And it''s only fair that I help them as well. If you break the promise, my promise will be invalid as well, and I will return!" Azekiel took Leor''s offer, also cing his own terms and conditions ahead. Leor also agreed to his terms. The Triad n was willing to forgive the Orcs and never trouble them again in exchange for peace. And thus, a deal was reached. "Come with me. I''ll take you to the Triad Domain, and we will also help you take down Liam and his men." She wanted to be done with it as fast as she could. The Orcs can''te. Only you!" She felt that Azekiel and her Triads were enough to take out Liam. They didn''t need to bring those Orcs with them. She also didn''t want to stay as a servant for a single second longer. If all it took was to kill Liam, she was willing to do it. The Orcs were instructed to go back to the Vige and to not worry about any war anymore. Their vige was safe. Only Azekiel and his team of ten Lord of Sins followed Leor back to her domain. ***** Leor brought everyone to the entrance of her Domain. From that point on, only she could move ahead. If anyone other than a Triad wanted to pass through, they needed the permission of the Queen. Fortunately, it was the Queen who was escorting them herself. They didn''t need to worry about anything. All the Lords were able to enter the Domain of the Triads, passing through the mystical barrier that kept the Domain hidden. From the outside, nothing could be seen other than an ordinary forest like all the other ces. It was only after one passed through the barrier that they saw what the Triad Domain was actually like. "It is so beautiful," One of the Lordsplimented. The Domain was so beautiful that even they were surprised. This ce wasn''t like any forest outside. There were trees that were nothing like they had ever seen before. There were also many beautiful nts all throughout the Domain. The trees here were at least ten times taller than the Trees outside. Moreover, the trees also looked to be filled with life. They could even hear some trees weing them. The sound of some trees singing also fell in their ears. Not too far away, a beautiful castle was avable. The majestic castle was the ce where the Triad Queen lived. That was also the ce where the guests were staying. As soon as Leor entered her domain, she sent amand to all the Orcs. Inside the Domain, she was able to contact them even from a distance. p She informed all the Triads to surround the castle and to capture all the guests. Even though the Triads didn''t understand why they had to capture the people who were their guests, they listened to themands. All the Lords who were sleeping were captured and taken through the night. Their hands were tied, and so was their mouth. Some Triads also entered the room where Liam was sleeping to capture him. After all the Lords were captured, only he was left in the night. As soon as the Triads entered the room, Liamzily opened his eyes. "You''re back?" He had been waiting for the Triad Queen to return for quite some time. When someone entered the room at thiste hour, he first thought that she was back, but he soon realized that he was wrong when a Vine tied his hands, his legs, and closed his mouth. He couldn''t even use his System now that his hands and his mouth were tied. Surprisingly, it was also Azekiel''s idea. He knew what was needed to use the system and the skills, and he made sure that Liam couldn''t do it. With one stroke, he had captured Liam, even though it was through someone else''s help. As long as it reduced the amount of work he needed to do, he was fine with it. Through this, Leor also got to learn that this was how they could take a King down. It wasparatively easier than she expected. Unfortunately, it was toote now. If she had known before, maybe she would have won against Azekiel, but not anymore. Azekiel was led inside the Triad Castle like a royalty. Leor also carried her sister in her hand. She lied to her people that her sister died because of schemes from Liam. Through v that, she justified what she was doing. And this was also the only way she could think of to make sure that the Triads didn''t burn in mes of revenge. She also didn''t want them to know that she was helping the killers of her sister since she was sure they wouldn''t understand. She made her look like a savior while ming everything on Liam. With Liam''s death, all the rage inside the Triads was going to die as well. As for Orcs, she could also im that it was Liam who made it look like the Orcs were against them. It was also supposed to be a part of his scheme. She covered all her bases for the future, even though she felt bad for lying to her people. It was for their own good. All the captured Lords were shifted to the main hall, along with Liam. The majestic hall was surrounded by the strongest of the Triad Warriors, all of whom were waiting to rip Liam to shreds for what he did to their Queen. After they trusted him and treated him like a guest, he betrayed them. That''s what made them hate him even more. Liam still didn''t understand why it was happening out of nowhere. Everything was going so well until a few hours ago. He was in bed with the Triad Queen, having fun. And now, he was on the floor, tied? Why? He kept struggling to free his hands or his mouth so he could at least fight back. The doors of the hall opened, and Leor walked inside. "Mmmm!" Liam''s eyes opened wide, seeing just who had entered! His face went pale at the sight of Azekiel! Chapter 146 146: Real Trouble Liam''s face went pale at the sight of Azekiel apanying Leor. Azekiel didn''te alone either. He was apanied by the Lords that were supposed to be part of no team at the moment. Seeing those Lords with Azekiel, Liam realized that those people had decided which team they were to join. That wasn''t even his biggest worry. His biggest worry was still to see Azekiel here, and that too after they were captured. This whole thing had a stench of a scheme. If it was any other King, he could''ve considered it to be a coincidence, but with Azekiel, it was too much to be a coincidence. Azekiel was someone who had already killed Two Kings. And now his appearance before him when he was weak and restricted? He understood that Azekiel was here to kill him and that he was working with the Triads. He wanted to ask where the Triad Queen was, but because of his mouth being closed, only a muffled voice came from his mouth. Leor stood before Liam, looking down at him. "You schemed against the Triad n when we were so nice to you! You are such a vile person! Because of you, our people died! Because of you, our Queen died! And because of you, I would''ve died as well if these people hadn''t helped me by saving my life!" She felt her heart burn as she told such a preposterous lie, but she controlled her disgust. She didn''t let it show on her face. "We should''ve never opened our doors for you! It''s all because of you! It''s all because of you that we''re in this condition!" She further stated, but this time she wasn''t lying. She truly believed that it was all because of Liam. If they hadn''t opened their doors for him, Azekiel wouldn''t have be their enemy! "Mmmm!" Liam struggled to speak so he could say that it was a lie, but he couldn''t! Even with his strength, he wasn''t able to break the Vines! He was a King who had less strengthpared to the other Kings but more stamina and defense! He believed that Azekiel had plotted against him and fooled Leor. He didn''t know that Leor already knew that he was innocent. Despite knowing that, she went along with him. "You have no idea how much I would''ve loved to kill UPI with my own hands for all that you did, but I won''t! I''ll give this opportunity to the person who saved my life! I''ll give this opportunity to the person who was also betrayed by you!" She gestured at Azekiel before stepping back. She just wanted to be done with it so Azekiel could be sent back. Azekiel stood in the midst of the Triads, but he wasn''t their enemy. Instead, he was their guest for now. Azekiel went on his knees, sitting before Liam. Liam''s eyes were filled with rage as if highlighting their regret that he chose to believe Azekiel when the three Kings had gone to kill him! He believed him that Azekiel wasn''t going to kill them and that he was only after Lucifer. It was clear now that he had lied. Liam''s biggest fear came true. Azekiel was before him, and he was all alone now, unable to fight back. "I know what you want to say," Azekiel stated, cing his hand on Liam''s head. "But ns change. Mine also changed. And here we are." "I''ll make it quick since you''ve been so nice to me." Azekiel stood up. He called forth his Gauntlets of Gluttony. To unlock another form of his Gauntlets, he needed to kill the Kings with his Weapon of Sin. At the moment, he could even kill Liam without using any weapon since Liam couldn''t fight back, but he chose the Gauntlets. ***** [The King of Lust had been killed by the King of Gluttony] An announcement echoed in the entire tower once again. The people on the first floor were again surprised, but it also came as something that they considered a possibility of. Azekiel was called a Kingyer for a reason, after all. "Kingyer strikes again." That''s what most of the people on the first floor spoke. The announcement also reached the other Kings. The King of Sloth and the King of Envy were the ones that were most shocked by this announcement, especially since they had discussed with Azekiel about this! Azekiel had rified to them that he wasn''t going to attack them. He said that he was after Lucifer. That''s the only reason why they let him leave, but with his current actions, it was evident that Azekiel had lied. And the lie made him get to another King. Now there were only three Kings left in the tower, one of them being unreachable Lucifer. Alioth wanted to get to Lucifer to tell him about Azekiel''s threat, but somehow, he wasn''t able to get a message to Lucifer. He wanted to use Lucifer to take out Azekiel, but Lucifer was unreachable, which was irritating for him. His ns had already been derailed because of Lucifer''s absence, but now, their team was even weaker. Now only two Kings were left who worked together. On the other hand, Azekiel had be even stronger after killing Liam. Now Alioth even wondered if they could stand before Azekiel by teaming up or not. The chances looked really low before Azekiel''s current strength. He really regretted not listening to the King of Envy when he talked about taking out Azekiel before he became even stronger. They had a chance to fight back at that time, but now...? Now the chances were even slimmer. He started thinking about their current options. If things kept moving like that, next, it was going to be their number. They could be in the next announcement. The announcement even reached Lucifer. "He is still the same..." Lucifer muttered in response to the notification. "Just like..." **** It wasn''t just the first few floors where Azekiel was being discussed. On a much higher floor, a group was present. The group appeared to consist of many speciesbined, and all of them had a world-destroying aura around them. They were so strong that just from their aura itself, they could destroy a world like Earth. "This boy... He is really something, isn''t he...? He''s only on the fourth floor, and he already took out more than half his opponents." "The boy seems to be in some hurry. Unfortunately, the kid doesn''t know what he''s doing. He''s only affecting his cause by killing other Kings before it''s time. He would be in real trouble, but by that time, it''ll be toote..." Chapter 147 147: The Quest "I agree. The kid still goes by his naive understanding of the tower. He won''t get far..." Most of the people present here talked in a condescending manner, looking down on Azekiel even though he had killed three Kings alone. "Who knows," Another person chimed in. "The Kid certainly is different from anything even this Tower saw. He managed to pull the Gauntlets that even we failed to get..." "Heh, so what? Just because he got those Gauntlets doesn''t mean he is strong. He hadn''t seen anything. If he can get to the Eleventh Floor, he''ll realize that he had been a frog at the bottom of the well. His worldview would be shaken." "Agreed. He hadn''t faced anything yet. As if defeating a bunch of kids who hadn''t managed to draw out the full strength of their Sin is something to be proud of. That much is nothing in the grand scheme of things." "So you think the Kid can''t reach here?" "Here? He won''t be able to pass the eleventh Floor if he even manages to reach there. The child will die... He''s in too much of a hurry. If only he had patience, maybe he could''ve achieved something." "But he had the help of those two... I think we all know what those two managed to achieve... They almost reached here before dying. With their help, I have a feeling that he might achieve something that we can''t even imagine." "Heh, those two were failures. Two failures can''t help anyone seed." A young man scoffed. The man had wings simr to Azekiel, but he appeared much stronger than Azekiel. "I''ve already seen Raphael. That guy doesn''t even remember anything about his past, let alone what happened here. He only knows the basics about this tower but nothing about his past here. He can''t help Azekiel in anything if he doesn''t know himself. And I believe it''s the same for the girl with him." "Lia." Another man answered. He was the same person whose statue possessed the book that Azekiel used to enter the Temple of the gods. "And you''re right. She doesn''t remember anything. I believe their support won''t amount to anything." "The Sin of Gluttony will fail again... It must..." **** Dead bodies of Liam and the other Lords were carried out of the Castle. They were buried by the Triads after Azekiel had used his Soul Snatch on them, increasing his strength by a little more. He had thought for a little while if he should use his card on Liam to make him his Familiar, but as soon as the thought crossed his head, he rejected it. There were better options in the world than Liam. "You are done. Now you can leave!" Leor informed Azekiel after following her every task. "From now on, we are equal. We won''t trouble you or Orcs, and you won''t trouble us!" "I don''t have time to stay here either." Azekiel was already done, and he had already decided to leave before Leor could even speak anything. As Azekiel was about to step out of the Castle, Leor stopped him. "Wait. What about the Mark?" "It''ll disappear on its own after I leave. We don''t need that mark anymore, so you don''t have to worry about it. By tomorrow morning, you''ll be a free person..." Azekiel left the hall and walked away with his team, disappearing from Leor''s view, who was left alone in the hall. Leor looked back at the throne that used to belong to her sister. Now the throne belonged to her. She couldn''t believe how much the Triad n had changed in just one day. They lost a war with the Orcs, they lost their people, and they lost their Queen. "Maybe this was an awakening call for us. We have gotten really arrogant, forgetting that the world isn''t as small as we think it is. There are people even stronger than us... Ones who can destroy us on a single whim. It''s time we bring the Triad n in a different direction from before and gain a bit of humility..." She took this whole incident as a lesson for her future as she walked to the throne that belonged to her now. She didn''t want the n to go through something like this again. She promised herself she was going to make sure that she didn''t forget this lesson for as long as she lived... **** Azekiel and the Lords stepped out of the Triad n. Azekiel was done with one of his goals. He had killed another King, making himself even stronger for what he was to face ahead. The only thing that was left was clearing this floor. "The war between the two sides of Elves must''ve started by now, right?" he asked Layim as soon as he stepped out of the Triad. "Most probably." Azekiel nodded in response. "Good. It''s time we clear this Floor then." "Can I ask you something?" Layim asked Azekiel. "It''s about how I''m going to clear this floor?" Azekiel guessed the question, which wasn''t hard at this point. "Yeah. I asked even before, but you didn''t answer. Can you tell us now? I''m really curious how it all links. A random murder, the stealth of a coin, stealth of a crown, a war, and all your other tasks? How do they rte to the mission of the fourth floor?" This was the question in everyone''s mind. Some were even sure that these things couldn''t be rted to the Floor Quest and that Azekiel was having fun with them. "None of you are able to guess how all these things are rted?" Azekiel asked, gazing at everyone here. All the Lords lowered their heads in response. Not a single one knew. "Alright. Who will tell me what the Floor Quest is?" Azekiel asked. This time, he used a question that everyone knew the answer to. All of them had a system that informed them about the Floor Mission as soon as they stepped on this Floor. And it was hard for them to forget the quest since it was what they were here for. "Everyone knows the Quest. What about it?" One of the Lords asked. "That''s not the answer to my question. I want someone to repeat the quest for everyone here once again. Let''s see just how much you remember the quest. So, who will speak?" Azekiel nced at everyone who was present here, waiting for someone to take the lead. All the Lords started speaking the quest at the same time, making it impossible to understand who was saying what. "Silence! I''ll speak for him!" Layim realized that it was useless if all of them talked at the same time. He stopped everyone else and took the task on himself. Chapter 148 148: Sand Demon "Our Quest is to kill fifty Sand Demons and gather their cores," Layim exined. "They are hard to defeat and kill, but what''s even harder is finding them." "The Sand Demons never travel in groups. You might find one and be able to kill it, but that''s just one. To go to the next floor, we need to kill fifty, which takes years. We did many things, but none of them rte to the missions." "You think it''s not..." Azekiel smiled. "You''re right. It''s hard to gather all the Sand Demons at one ce or find fifty of them, but hard doesn''t mean impossible. All the missions that I gave you were to draw out the Sand Demons." "How?" Even now, no one understood how that all linked. "You stole the crown from the Nature Elves, which made them restless. At the same time, the Dark Elves were manipted to attack the Nature Elves. That is the first step and the most important. The battlefield will be where we will find the Sand Demons." "What you all don''t know at the moment is that the Sand Demons are attracted byrge-scale wars since that''s where they can feast to their heart''s content. A battle between Orcs and Triads doesn''t fit the criteria, not Elves and Dark Elves? That does." "Both of those sides have hundreds of thousands of warriors. The battlefield will be such that when Sand Demons won''t be able to resist themselves. Even though the Sand Demons hate being in thepany of other Sand Demons, they would stille together if the bait was big enough, and that''s what we will find there." Azekiel exined briefly, stunning everyone. So the war wasn''t his main goal. Was it just bait? But there were still many questions in their heads. "How do you know about that? How do you know that Sand Demons are attracted torge-scale battlefields?" The Lord of Theft asked. "I''m afraid I can''t tell you that. I just know." He couldn''t tell them that it was his knowledge from the old timeline. It was an incident that happened after almost all the Kings had passed onto the fifth floor after spending years on the Fourth Floor. A battle between Nature Elves and the Dark Elves shook the entire fourth floor; however, that''s also where multiple Sand Demons appeared together. He still remembered Michael cursing out loud at the news. He was so upset! He had to spend years to search for the Sand Demons and to kill them, and now that he had passed through, Sand Demons appeared in droves. He was so angry, thinking about all the time he could''ve saved if this had happened before. It was at that time when everyone realized that Sand Demons were attracted byrge scale wars, but it was toote for anyone to use that knowledge since they were already done. Unlike them, Azekiel was back in time with the information. He couldn''t wait until the inevitable war between the Nature Elves and the Dark Elves. That''s what prompted him to use his men to create a situation where a war was inevitable. p There was already a conflict between the two sides. He just used a misunderstanding to make that battle happen earlier. "I still have a question." Layim thought of something. "What?" "I understand why the war between Elves was rted to the Quest, but why kill that person? And all the other small tasks?" Layim asked. "That''s just a backup," Azekiel shrugged. "I know that many Sand Demons will arrive on the battlefield of Elves to consume the bodies, but I''m not sure if we''ll have fifty there. There''s also a possibility that we mightck some. That''s why I had this backup created..." "The person you killed... He wasn''t an ordinary person. He was the Younger Brother of the King of the neighboring Empire," Azekiel answered. "All the other tasks you did... They weren''t random. All of them were to provoke another war between the two neighboring Empires. That war is our backup to farm more Sand Demons. If I''m not wrong, we should be done with the Quest in the Elf war itself, but if we don''t, we move onto the next battlefield and harvest more." "Easy..." Azekiel had nned everything before when stepping onto this floor. The only difference was that things progressed even faster than he had expected because he received the help of the Lords. If he didn''t have their help, he might''ve needed to do things himself which could''ve taken quite a long time. "And the Coin that you asked us to retrieve? How does that provoke a war?" "That''s the only thing which wasn''t rted to the Quest of the Floor," Azekiel exined. "I just wanted that coin for myself." "Why?" "Don''t worry about it. Just remember, when we get to the battlefield, I will kill the Sand Demons and clear the floor. If you also want to farm some experience, you can kill them as well, but only if there are in excess of fifty. I want fifty for myself at least." It was decided that the Lords could join the battle to gain some experience, but the main harvest was reserved for Azekiel, so he could finish the Quest himself. Because if all of them killed the Sand Demons, the chances of one of them being able to reach fifty were almost non existent. That''s why the task was left to Azekiel, who was the strongest here and had the highest chance of being able to kill them faster. The Lords weren''t without work either. They were allowed to kill the Elves and the Dark Elves to farm experience if they wanted. There was no restriction on that. **** The battlefield of the Elves was very far from the vige where the Orcs lived. Despite there being so much distance, the journey for them was much shorter thanks to one of the Lords who was able to help everyone fly, using his flight skill. Through the air, the travel was much faster. Everyone was still in the air when they managed to see a battlefield in the distance. It appeared as if the battle had started hours ago. Hundreds of Elves were already dead by now as dead bodies were littered all around. Despite there being so many deaths, the number of the dead appeared to be minuscule whenpared to the number of people that were still fighting. Azekiel and the othersnded on the ground, at a safe distance from the battlefield, observing the battle. Strangely enough, so far, there wasn''t any appearance of the Sand Demons there. Chapter 149 149: Control "I don''t see any Sand Demons." One of the Lordsmented. "We can see it as well." Joan scoffed. "There isn''t any Sand Demon there. Then again, maybe it''s not the time?" She had known about the achievements of Azekiel since he was zing fast in clearing the floors. She was sure that he had some secret skill that allowed him to see the secret to clearing the floor. There was no other way he would be so fast in clearing the floors and so confident. She also believed that the chances of him being wrong were too low. Many other Lords felt the same thing. Since Azekiel was so confident about this, they also believed this. "Maybe there haven''t been enough deaths. The battlefield is big, and the scale isrge, but the deaths probably aren''t enough," Layimmented. "We can either wait here for there to be enough deaths, or we can join the battle and fasten the process." "If we start attacking out of nowhere, won''t the Nature Elves and the Dark Elves stop fighting and attack us together instead? It''ll be us against them." Another Lord pointed out. Just when everyone felt like he was against this suggestion, he licked his lips. "I like the idea. Let''s do it!" The man didn''t see the Elves as living beings. For him, they were walking experience points. The more they killed, the stronger they''ll get. "No." Against all expectations, Azekiel said no. "You won''t be able to kill more than the Elves can. If you fight against all of them, the death rate will go down, no matter how fast you kill them." "If you want to join the battle, do it in a way where the Elves don''t stop fighting each other." "How?" "By using the same trick that we did before," Layim answered before Azekiel could. "By creating a misunderstanding." He further exined, "Instead of attacking everyone randomly, we''ll target one particr side. That will make that side think that we are with the other side, which is why they''ll never stop fighting them. As for the other side, they''ll think we have a personal enmity with the first side, and they''ll keep going on with the battle." "The question is which side we should help?" "The Nature Elves look like they have an advantage," Layim suggested. "We can side with the Dark Elves. They''ll appreciate us more and side with us faster." He nced back at Azekiel, who was focused on therge-scale battle of magic and arrows. Both the sides were strong, yet they were fighting each other over a small misunderstanding. It proved that no matter what species they were, it was an inherent trait for people to be against someone or something. All because they believed that the other side was the enemy and that they were always right. "What do you think about it?" Layim asked Azekiel. He had already decided, but it was still important for Azekiel to agree with the n. "Yeah, go ahead." Azekiel agreed. "You aren''t joining us?" The Lord of Theft asked. "Not right now. Go and enjoy the battle." Azekiel still waited for the Sand Demon. He didn''t feel like joining the battle between the Elves, but he didn''t stop his Lords from joining. By not joining them, he also wanted to see just what these Lords were truly capable of in this reality. "As you wish." All the Lords left together and joined the battle. As soon as they joined the battle, there was a lot of confusion on the battlefield since no side knew just who they sided with. It soon became clear as the Lords started attacking the Nature Elves. The Nature Elves were stunned. They had an advantage over the Dark Elves so far, but out of nowhere, the Lords came and started attacking them. The Queen of Nature Elves was infuriated. She called the Dark Elves coward for taking help from outsiders in their battle. "I should''ve expected this!" She raged. "For the ones who even dared to steal and attack us out of nowhere, taking help from outsiders is nothing!" In their anger, the Nature Elves only intensified their attacks. The Dark Elves also fought back valiantly. The Dark Elf Queen recognized Layim. He was the one who informed her about the Nature Elves to attack the Dark Elves! She considered Layim a friend who warned them against a massive threat. Not only did he warn them, but he also brought his people to help them! She felt grateful to Layim, not realizing that he was an indirect architect of this war. "The Humans are our friends! Help them! Today, only we shall be victorious!" Shemanded her men. Her deration made the Nature Elves assured that the humans were called for help by the Dark Elves. The flow of the battle that was tilting toward the Nature Elves had suddenly started leaning toward the other sides. The Lords of Sins were amazing in battle. Layim was able to control the enemies to drop their weapons before he attacked them. He also managed to control some of them to attack their own people! The Lord of Theft stole the weapons of the Nature Elves and used their own weapons to kill them! Simrly, each Lord used their own specialty to fight. The number of deaths suddenly went through the roof out of nowhere, all thanks to the help from the Lords. Standing in the distance, Azekiel observed all the actions of his man, understanding their fighting style. Even in theirst timeline, he had seen a few of them fight, but his knowledge about them was one basic. At this moment, he tried to understand their strengths and weaknesses even more. He was quite surprised by the efficiency of Layim. The way that guy could use his words to make the enemies do what he pleased? For some reason, Azekiel had a strange feeling about that. Fortunately, his skills only worked on such people. He couldn''t use mind control on Lords or Kings. If he could, then the moment Azekiel met him on the Ground Floor, he would''ve been able to control him. But still, that skill was quite interesting. The number of dead that was in the hundreds had now increased to thousands. Most of the battlefield was covered in blood, and the number of dead had risen by over ten times. Unfortunately, even now, there was no sign of the Sand Demons. "This just should''ve been enough. Why aren''t the Sand Demons here? Unless we were wrong in analyzing why they appearedst time?" he frowned, second guessing himself. Thud~ As he was wondering if he got this wrong, the ground started trembling. The trembling only intensified as if an earthquake wasing. Azekiel finally smiled. "They are here. I was right." Chapter 150 150: Sand Demon The ground started trembling. It was as if there was an earthquake in the ce¡ªeveryone fighting lost their bnce. The warriors tried to hold onto the ground, trying to bnce themselves. Instead of calming down, the earthquake only intensified as time passed. Both the sides of Elves were slightly surprised at the sudden earthquake which had interfered in their battle. Despite the earthquake, the battle didn''t stop even now. The bad blood between the two sides was so deep that even in this condition, the fighting continued as each side tried to destroy the other side when they had a hard time bncing themselves. "The more intense the earthquake, the more their numbers." Azekiel was quite pleased with the intensity of the earthquake since it implied that he was sessful. He held a nearby tree, keeping himself bnced, observing the battlefield. He hoped for the earthquake to get even more intense. One Sand Demon meant a slight trembling under the ground since the Sand Demons traveled underground. But when there were more Sand Demons traveling together, it resulted in an earthquake. The more there were underground, the more their numbers. The ground soon started splitting apart. At many ces, there were massive cracks on the ground; they only became wider. The cracks were over ten meters wide at ces and went on for over a hundred meters in length. Through one of the cracks, a strange creature made an appearance. A massive snake-like creature came out of the cracks. The strange creature had the body of a snake, but it had shells all around its body as if they were his Armor to protect his body. Moreover, unlike the snakes, the strange creature didn''t crawl. It had legs that helped it walk. Its thousands of legs helped it move much faster than it should''ve been able to move. The creature had a two-meter thick body which went on for up to twenty meters in length. The creature straight went on to the nearest dead body and ate it, swallowing directly. He didn''t even wait for a second before moving into the next body. Each body eaten by the Sand Demon was transformed into strength for it. Not long after the first creature came out, there came a second and then a third. The earthquake was still getting more intense. The cracks in the ground also started increasing as more Sand Demons came out. Within a few minutes, the battlefield had over twenty Sand Demons, and it didn''t stop. In the next five minutes, twenty turned to forty and then to seventy. Azekiel only needed fifty of them. Initially, he was even worried if he was going to have enough, but there appeared to be more than enough, even surpassing Azekiel''s expectations. There were around a hundred Sand Demons on the ground before the earthquake actually stopped. All the Elves were stunned to find their battlefield being overrun by the Sand Demons. Fortunately, the Sand Demon wasn''t attacking them. They were just eating the dead, not caring about the battle. They ignored the living. Unlike the Sand Demons, the Lords weren''t here to avoid the Sand Demons. Seeing so many Sand Demons, the Lords were excited. Even if they exclude around fifty for Azekiel, they still had a lot they could kill. In fact, it was also possible that another one of them could clear the floor right here as well. The Lords started attacking the Sand Demons. The Sand Demons were mostly ignoring the people that were alive, but after they came under a barrage of attacks, the Sand Demons appeared to be crazy as well. They started attacking back. All the Sand Demons screeched at the same time. A barrage of sand came out of their mouth, creating something akin to a sandstorm. Their attack forced everyone to close their eyes to avoid the sand getting in their eyes. "Lia, Raphael, get ready. It''s time for us to get involved." ***** Three hours passed since Azekiel decided to join the battle. The sandstorm had calmed down. A dead Sand Demon''s bodyy under Azekiel''s feet. There wasplete silence on the entire battlefield. The Dark Elves stood as if frozen at the amazing disy of Azekiel. Even the Nature Elves were amazed. When the Sand Demons started attacking them, they also attacked back, but the shell of the Sand Demons was just so strong that even their strongest attacks had a hard time prating their shell. On the other hand, Azekiel... Azekiel held a ck Ax in his hand. The blood was dripping from the ax, belonging to thest Sand Demon that he had killed. All the Lords stood in a group, just observing Azekiel. In thest three hours, the ten of them managed to kill only one sand demon, and even that took them so long. All of them had to work together to kill a Sand Demon. On the other hand, in just three hours, this was Azekiel''s seventieth hunt! The rest of the Sand Demons had already escaped. Despite that, just the fact that he managed to kill so many alone that in itself was more than enough. What surprised the Lords even more was the Ax which seemed simr to the Weapon of Sin that was used by the Lord of Lust. There were only a few minor differences. The shell that was so hard to break for them... It looked like child''s y for that Ax. "So that''s the strength that can kill even Kings... The Strength of a Kingyer," the Lord of Lies stated. "I guess we really choose the right side. The person before us... He is quite special." "He is. He seems to know things that even we don''t know, despite us being here for years. It''s like he can see the future," Yoan also chimed in. "His strength, his knowledge... Everything about him is incredible. I wonder just how he gained all that knowledge and strength despite starting sote. Just what is his system like?" "I doubt we''re ever going to know. All I know is that he shines the brightest in the Tower at the moment," Layim responded. "There are times when the ones who shine the brightest are also the ones who fall the fastest. I hope that''s not the case for him." "Hah, I don''t think it''ll be. Just look at him! He is like a god of the tower. He is the Kingyer. No king canpare to him, let alone be able to kill him. As for the Trials, the way he clears them, it''s like he has no weakness. A person like him can never fall," the Lord of Theft firmly stated. Chapter 151 151: Never See Me Again " After killing so many Kings, I''m sure he''s the strongest of all the kings at the moment. I really wonder how crazy his stats are." "They must be at least ten times our stats or more." The initial shock soon changed to a discussion about Azekiel''s strength and his stats. The battle was already over for them, after all. Azekiel moved closer to the first Sand Demon and ced his hand on the Sand Demon''s body, trying to steal the soul energy. "Hmm?" He took back his hands in disappointment. "This is strange..." "What happened?" Raphael asked. "They don''t have any Soul Strength. The stealth doesn''t work. They only gave me experience points for killing them, but no additional boost from Soul Stealth." "Maybe their Souls were just that weak that it wasn''t even worth being detected?" Almost every creature had a soul. That was for sure. But since Azekiel wasn''t able to sense any soul strength in them, it made Raphael feel that maybe the Sand Demons didn''t have enough soul strength. "Maybe..." Azekiel walked over to other Sand Demons and checked as well. It was the same. There was no Soul Strength for him to gain anything. "That was disappointing. And here I thought I would get stronger through them." He was quite disappointed by the revtion. However, there was still a battlefield for him to enjoy. There were so many dead elves here, and elves were said to be superior in soul strength. But first, he needed something else. He needed to clear the Floor. Azekiel went from one Sand Demon to another and took their cores out of their bodies which were so small that they were only a few inches wide orbs of crystals. He gathered all the Soul Orbs in one ce. After pulling out the fiftieth Soul Crystal, he ced that on the ground before other Soul Orbs. There were now fifty Soul Crystals before him now, just as the quest demanded. He stood near the crystals, waiting for an announcement of him clearing the Floors. Throughout the way, the battlefield waspletely silent. Both, the Nature Elves Queen and the Dark Elven Queen watched the bizarre actions of Azekiel. The two of them felt slightly intimidated by him after seeing what he was capable of. Their warriors felt the same. [Congrattions. You have cleared the Fourth Floor] [You are now the Ruler of the Fourth Floor] [A new Title Received: The Monarch of Fear] [Would you like to equip the new Title as a secondary Title?] Azekiel shook his head in response, pressing no. A new secondary Title was good, but it could only be equipped by removing his old secondary Title, which he didn''t want to do. His current secondary Title allowed him a much higher chance of receiving hidden quests directly. Even though the boost that title provided was less than what this new title could provide, he still didn''t believe that it was worth the tradeoff. "Maybeter sometime...." Other than the title, he also received some experience points for clearing the floor, but the experience points were not enough for him to level up again. He had already leveled up quite a bit after killing the Sand Demons. The experience requirements were just more than what the floor clearing provided him. He had already reached the level thirty-five by now. ___________________________________________ [Stats:] Name: Azekiel Species: Human [?] Primary Title: King of Gluttony Secondary Title: Conqueror of World [Tap to remove Title] Level: 35 Experience needed for Level up: 500 Strength: 2079 Speed: 2050 Defense: 2079 Hunger: 390 Magic Affinity: 105 Constitution: 99 [Skill:] Summoning Soul Snatch Card of Judgment [3 Cards left] Gluttony of Knowledge [Passive Skill] Commander [Tied to Secondary Title] [Weapons:] Gauntlet of Gluttony [2nd Form Unlocked: Hammer of Gluttony] [3rd Form Unlocked: Ax of Gluttony] [Familiars:] General of Gluttony: Raphael Witch of Famine: Lia [Items:] Escape Orbs: 3 Storage Ring Ring of Disguise [One use left] Key of Castle of Infinity Call of the Dead ________________________________________ Looking at his own stats, even Azekiel felt slightly amazed. When he first found out about Michael''s stat while fighting him, he could never have expected that his own strength could rise so much in just a few floors. The Soul Snatch was really his prized possession and something that helped him the most. As a reward for clearing the floor, more notifications arrived. He was given another Escape Orb. He closed all the screens before turning around. He finally noticed the two Elven Sides looking at him like he was a ghost. "I wish I could stay here and watch you fight more, but I don''t have much time to waste." He walked all around the battlefield, using Soul Snatch on all the Dead Elves beforemanding his men to leave with him. "Enjoy the battle." He waved at the two queens before disappearing into the horizon with his men. The two queens looked at each other. Both had a confused look on their faces, and they both wondered what had just happened. The Nature Elves Queen wondered why the people that were here to help the Dark Elves left. The Dark Elven Queen also wondered the same thing. Why did they leave if they were here to help her... Unless they were never here to help her? The two sides decided that what happened today was too much. They both needed time to think about it and understand just what they were doing. Both the Queens called for a ceasefire for now and discussions. They both felt that something was really wrong about their battles here. It was as if someone was ying them like they were puppets. There was a ceasefire, and both sides started bringing back their dead, taking them back. The battle that began with such excitement ended at such a bizarre moment that both sides were underwhelmed and confused. ***** In another ce, the battle between two other Empires was also about to begin, even though it didn''t need to. They didn''t know that they were just Azekiel''s backup which he didn''t need anymore. Azekiel stood at the entrance of the Portal to the fifth floor. However, Azekiel didn''t enter the portal. "Finally, we''ll enter the fifth floor!" The Lord of Theft eximed. "One more floor, one more King to kill." "No, we won''t enter the fifth floor," Azekiel responded. "Only you all will be entering. As for Alioth, I don''t think I''ll be killing him anytime soon. I have something more important to attend to. " "What could be more important than the fifth floor?" Layim asked. "We can also wait with you if it''s something important." "It''s way more important than the fifth floor. It''s quite possible that you won''t see me again¡­." Chapter 152 152: Abandoned "It''s time for us to separate our paths," Azekiel dered, stunning all the Lords who had just thought that they were going to climb the tower together with Azekiel. Everyone looked back at Azekiel in confusion, wondering if he was saying that he wanted to break the team? If that was the case, why did he even ept them in the first ce? Some even felt as if he just used them. But even then, it made no sense. Why would he not choose to climb the tower anymore? And why break the team now? If he really wanted to use them, why not do it for longer? It wasn''t as if he lost anything because of having them on his team. On the contrary, his reach only increased with them in his team. "You''ll have to exin more than just that," Layim turned, looking quite unhappy with the sudden revtion. "It is as I said," Azekiel answered. "I won''t be going to the next Floor. That''s why it''s useless for you all to be in my team." He was going to leave the tower, and he couldn''t take them with him, as he understood more about this new quest now. Since it was a private quest, it couldn''t be shared with his team, and even if it could, he would''ve hesitated in it. The Quest allowed him to be able to leave the tower, but the others couldn''t. He believed that he was going to finish the quest when he was out of the tower, which could take him straight to the eleventh Floor without him having to go through other floors. If the others were on his team, they could get ess to the eleventh Floor as well, but they couldn''t get there, unlike him. The quest was only going to lead him there directly. But for the lords, this ess was going to be useless since they needed to get to the tenth floor first. There was no benefit of having this team anymore if he was going to be on the eleventh Floor and his team on the lower floors for years. He even wondered if these Lords could even get through to the sixth floor without his help. They needed a King''s help to get to the higher floors. On their own, none of them was strong enough to achieve that without spending years. If they were in his team, they couldn''t join the teams of other Kings. They were going to be alone in case they stayed in this team, which was like holding them back for no reason. So breaking this team was good for both sides. At least that''s what he believed. "Alioth doesn''t know that you all were part of my team. After I release you, go to the next floor and join his team. He should help you climb further. Because with me, you''ll never be able to get higher." Azekiel exined his thoughts as he opened another screen before him. He clicked on one of the options to dissolve the team. All the Lords received a notification that the team had been dissolved. Some of them felt confused, while some felt angry. It was as if they were abandoned after being shown great dreams. Unfortunately, even if they were angry, they couldn''t do anything. They had to be crazy if they wanted to fight Azekiel in their anger, especially after seeing his battle skills against the Demons. "Will you really note to the fifth floor? Are you really stopping your climb forever," Azekiel earnestly stated while subtly ignoring the next question. There was no way for him to get to the fifth Floor. He was either going to clear the Quest in the outside world, or he was going to die trying. In both cases, he couldn''t get to the fifth floor unless he wanted to waste his time. "So you won''t kill any other Kings?" Layim asked. "Is this the end of the Kingyer" "I doubt I''ll kill any more kings, but I do hope that I''ll meet one again... I really want to meet," Azekiel answered. "Now, enough questions. It''s time to get going." "If we want to meet you, where can we find you? Will you stay on Floor Zero?" Another Lord asked. "Possibly," Azekiel answered, slightly vague. To leave the tower, he needed to go to Floor Zero, so this certainly made sense. He brought an Escape Orb out of his pocket since he had gathered quite a few of them. He used the Escape Orb. His figure started disappearing before he was gone. The escape orb could take him to any of the floors that he controls. At the moment, he controlled all the floors up to the fourth floor, so it was impossible to find out where he could''ve gone, but the meh had a feeling that he went through to the next floor. The Lords could only guess that he went to the first floor since that was the fastest way to get to Floor Zero. "That was disappointing. And here I thought we had found a cheat to the top of the tower." "Why would he give up on climbing the Tower? After being so sessful, why give up now? Does he really not want the strength and freedom thates with getting to the top floor?" "Who knows. He''s a guy who waited three years before he suddenly started climbing the Tower. Histe entry was as bizarre as his sudden exit. Who knows just what he is nning? Maybe he will make an appearance after another three years and catch up to us?" "Possible. Not as if we can force that man. It seems we have no choice but to join another King." All the Lords discussed amongst themselves, even after Azekiel left, trying to make sense of the situation. As the Lords tried to understand things, Azekiel had actually arrived at the Library of Sin on the First Floor. It was the ce where he had first killed a King. It was where he killed Michael. "It''s been three years since I entered this tower. I wonder just how the world outside looks... It must be overrun by monsters at this point. Will my house even be standing?" Azekiel had many questions in his head as he was so close to leaving the tower. When he left the world, he was a weak youngster who wasn''t even an adult. He had to run as his mother was killed, but now... Within three years, he had be someone much different. He had be someone powerful, all thanks to the tower. He now had the strength to fight back if he wanted. Chapter 153 153: Outside He entered the portal that led to the lowest floor. His arrival on Floor Zero was quite unexpected to the people here. None was expecting him to be there, especially so soon after he killed another King. If there was a King whomanded respect and fear amongst the people, it was Azekiel. Everyone stopped what they were doing as soon as the news about Azekiel''s arrival started spreading. Almost every single person respectfully greeted him, wondering if he was here to select more portals likest time. All the men were excited at the chance of being able to work for the strongest Kings, while all the Women wanted just a single opportunity to be with Azekiel. They all stood, watching Azekiel move closer to them. The only person who looked down was the Woman whose advances Azekiel rejectedst time he was here. She kept her head down, not expecting anything from him. There was no way for her to be selected even if he was here to select anyone. Just as she expected, Azekiel walked past her, but it was the same with everyone. Je didn''t nce at the people there. They were all too weak and unimportant to attract his attention. Everyone kept their eyes on Azekiel, wondering just where he was going. He hadn''t spoken anything throughout. Soon, he walked past thest person as well. There was no one ahead of him now. He still didn''t stop walking. "Is he... Walking to the door?" An old man asked, finding it hard to believe his eyes. "Is he trying to leave the tower?" "I don''t think even he can leave. It''s impossible to open the door." A woman rolled her eyes. "Also, he hasn''t reached the top floor. Why would he try to leave now? He must be here for something else?" Azekiel stopped right before the door. Even now, there were people who believed that he wasn''t going to open the door. Unfortunately for them, that''s exactly what Azekiel did. He held the doors firmly. The heavy doors that couldn''t even be moved by the people here started opening. For Azekiel, it appeared like a child''s y since the door didn''t even offer the slightest resistance. The Majestic doors open, letting fresh wind enter the tower. Azekiel gazed at the outside world. It seemed like an eternity had passed since he hadst seen this ce. The ce still looked like it did before. It was as if nothing had changed. Right before everyone''s eyes, Azekiel took his first step outside the tower, feeling slight hesitation for some reason. The people on the floor were horrified to see the door open. In thest one week, the door had opened twice. Did that mean that the door wasn''t locked anymore? If Azekiel could leave and a girl could enter before, didn''t that mean that the ce wasn''t as safe as it used to be? If the door was locked, didn''t that mean that even the monsters could enter if they wanted to kill all of them? As soon as Azekiel left, the doors behind him closed on their own. An old man rushed to the door to see if it was actually unlocked. Was this ce really as dangerous as they expected? He held the doors and tried pulling to see if they could be opened again. Unfortunately, the door couldn''t be opened. It was firmly locked. In fact, the door didn''t even move an inch. "Maybe you need a certain strength to open it since the doors are heavy?" He looked at the others. "All of you,e join me! We need to see if we can open it. I''ll need all your strength!" More men rushed to help the old man as even they were worried if the door could be opened by them. They ced their entire strength behind attempting to open the door, but the door didn''t open. "It''s locked. I don''t think we can open it. Only a few strong people can open it; it seems," a man pointed out. "It is good since it means that the door is still secure. I don''t think monsters would be allowed in." "I hope so..." ***** While the people inside the tower were worried about the safety of the tower, the King of Sloth was sitting on the Fifth floor, trying to contact Lucifer, but it didn''t appear to be possible. For some reason, he couldn''t seed. He really wondered just where Lucifer was. Why was he so unreachable? It was evident that he must''ve heard the announcement about Azekiel killing three Kings. Despite that, why is he so rxed? He didn''t evene down to check up on others. Let aloneing down, even contacting him was impossible. Without Lucifer, Alioth really felt uneasy. He has a feeling that Azekiel was going to Target them next. The next number could very well be his. Azekiel was already on the fourth floor, from what he could guess. He wasn''t too far from the fifth Floor. Alioth decided to meet up with the Lord of Envy. Unfortunately, even the Lord of Envy refused to meet him since the Lord of Envy was really angry at him. Alioth had rejected their suggestions about killing Azekiel when they had a chance, and now they were suffering the consequences of those actions. He was so frustrated that he didn''t even want to see Alioth''s face. In any case, he believed that the team-up of the two of them was going to be useless. He needed another way to keep himself safe, and he already had an idea as to what that way could be. He kept ignoring the calls of the King of Sloth. Even when Alioth personally came to meet him, he had his men say that he wasn''t there. Ultimately, Alioth couldn''t take this ignorance anymore. The next time he came, he didn''t take any excuse and barged inside the King of Envy''s room, not caring about anything. He ignored all the blockages or etiquette and barged inside the room, finding the King of Envy in his room, drinking wine. ? "Why have you been ignoring me? You know it''s not the time we could afford to be divided!" The King of Sloth eximed in anger. "Oh? Did you finally open your eyes? In any case, why would you need my help? Didn''t you all make a deal with Azekiel against all my wishes? Why are you here now? Go with Azekiel. He will never attack us, after all. Isn''t that what you said?" "You know I was wrong! So stop acting up!" Chapter 154 154: Futile Journey Azekiel stood outside the tower. He had taken his first step out of the majestic tower that was their home, as well as their prison. It was what protected them when they had nowhere to go. But it was also what made sure that they couldn''t leave when they wanted. The tower was their savior, but it was also what controlled them. Azekiel looked up, feeling the warm sunlight on his skin. He had seen the sun inside various worlds in the tower, but the feeling of standing under their own sun was something else entirely. It was a familiar feeling, which he missed a bit. There were still many bodies littered all around, even more than he could remember from thest time. Some of the bodies were here for three years, while there were some that wereparatively newer. "More people tried to get to the sanctuary, only to fail." He knew that the people of this earth were unlucky. They lost everything, but despite that, it seemed some were more unlucky than others. The people who were inside the tower... They had lost a lot on the way, but at least they managed to get inside the tower and survive. On the other hand, there were these people... They probably lost their family members as well. Despite that, they took this perilous journey to get to the tower. And after all that, they still died when they were this close to the tower. It was as if destiny was ying with them. "They probably came here expecting safety. Unfortunately, the tower had sealed itself long ago. They couldn''t open the door, only to wait until the monsters caught up to them to kill them." Curious, he turned around and looked at the giant tower once again. The tower looked even taller than it lookedst time. Then again,st time, he was running for his own life. He didn''t have much time to think about it or observe the tower. It was the first time he was seeing the tower with such rity. The Tower saved his life. It gave him all he had, including the strength and the system. The tower was also what gave him Raphael and Lia. However, even then, he felt that something was wrong. If the tower really was a sanctuary that was here to save people, why didn''t the doors open for these people? Just because they arrivete? That was really strange. It was as if the tower didn''t really care for the human life. But if that was the case, why did the tower let all of them enter before? He didn''t believe that the tower could have a bias. Still, different reactions to different groups of people really surprised him. "I see no monsters here. But these people are definitely killed by the monsters. That means monsters do have ess to this ce. Then why don''t we see anyone?" Lia asked, feeling slightly bothered by the fact that there were no monsters here. It was something really out of ce. "I don''t think they will guard this ce," Raphael answered. "These people were probably chased to this ce and then killed. I''m sure that even when these people arrived here, no monsters were around the tower. You can get a lot of ideas from the direction their bodies are facing." "I suppose the monsters don''t want to waste their time here. Since they can''t enter the tower, and no onees out of the tower, they probably left long ago." "I think the same. They are probably in the city... Our city..." The city that was closest to the Tower of Sin was also the city where Azekiel''s house was. It was so close to the tower that the only people that were able to enter the Tower were from the city. And even then, they lost most of the people. He still remembered how arduous the journey was for them. He still redeemed the fear he felt when he left his dead mother behind and ran to the tower, trying to avoid the monsters. The fear... He could still remember. His fists subconsciously clenched as he remembered the painful moment. The bodies that were all around him, they had already rotten for the most part, which made him wonder if the same happened to his mother. He walked through a field of blood, walking away from the Tower of Sin. When he arrived here the first time, he was running to the tower like his life depended on it. However, now that he was going back to the city, there was a strange calm in his head. He wasn''t in any hurry. It was as if he wanted to get there, but at the same time, he didn''t want to get there since if he did, he would have to see his mother in ways that could break him. "Raphael, do you remember your childhood?" he asked Raphael. Raphael nodded. "Like it was yesterday." "What was it like?" "It was filled with training and the urge to be stronger," Raphael answered. "I trained daily under the person we met in the Tomb of Gods in the coffin." "I was an orphan who was found abandoned. I never saw my mother or even father. All I remember is living in the orphanage until I was five years old. That''s when I had decided that I was going to get out of that ce and be stronger." "For the next few years, I trained on my own, watching the Soldiers train from a distance. I tried to learn their techniques. Heh, I still remember how bad I was at it." "Then, one day, the old man who was training the soldiers noticed me in the distance, imitating their movements. I was only ten by then. The old man decided to train me as well. He took me in... He was my mentor... Someone I can never forget." "He was the reason I was able to reach where I did. He was the reason I achieved great heights, until the day when my House of Cards came crashing down on me." "That was it... My not-so-eventful childhood. Was that what you were expecting?" Raphael asked, smiling. "Told you, I''ve lived a pretty boring life." "An uneventful childhood is much better at times. I wish I had an uneventful life," Azekiel said in response. "Just like you, I also don''t know who my real parents were, but I never missed them. Because I had a mother... A mother who was most precious to me. I wish I had the strength I have now in the past. I could''ve protected her instead of watching her be killed right before my eyes." Chapter 155 155: Paradox "I wonder why it''s that we rarely have what we need when we need it." From his tone, Raphael could feel just how down Azekiel was regarding the past. Even though it happened long ago, it was still troubling him. Then again, he also understood why that was. The things that happened in his past also troubled him even now. He didn''t judge Azekiel. "I don''t think even gods will have an answer to that question." All three of them had aplicated childhood. Amongst them, only Lia was the one, who knew her birth parents, and even she lost them to tragedy. "You know Raphael; I was nning to use the Stone of Time to go back in my own time. I wanted to help my mother... I wanted to protect her." "After that, I was nning to go back to your past to stop you from taking that apple, and then I was to go to Lia''sst to save her family. Who knew that the stone was only a one-time use item." Azekiel hadn''t told Raphael and Lia about his real n. He never really told them why he wanted the style. They believed that it was because he wanted to finish his quest. But only now they found out what was going on in his mind at that time. "Then again, I''ve not lost hope yet," he further continued. "The old man... He was able to travel back in time with me. I''m sure he has ways to go back in time. Maybe there are more time stones? Or something more." " Whatever being the case, I''m sure he''ll lead me to what I want to achieve. He will lead me to the past where I can correct everything." "I don''t think it''s a good idea." Raphael understands why Azekiel wanted to change the past, and even he wanted to change his own past, deep inside, so he could be back to his old life. But when he thought objectively about it, he realized that they were wrong. He didn''t believe that going back in time was the right n. "Why not?" Azekiel asked. "Because the past has been set already. If you change the past, you change the future as well. By changing the past, you''ll just destroy yourself in the process. You might save your mother, but then what?" "If you go back in time and save your mother, you''ll change the set of events that made you what you are. In fact, it''s quite possible that you''ll only lead your younger self to death''s door." "How? How will I lead my younger self to death?" "Because if you save your mother, you''ll create a paradox. If your mother didn''t die in the past, you would never travel alone to the Tower. Your past self will travel with your mother, which will slow your past self down. Your past self might get caught in the process, which gets it, and your mother the death that you had managed to avoid because you were traveling alone." "You still die instead, and the current reality will be destroyed. And if your past self dies, your future self will be destroyed on its own. That means you''ll die." "That''s just one of the scenarios. Let me guess. You''re thinking that you''ll help take your old self to the tower safely, and make sure the two enter the tower alive? Even that isn''t the solution to the problem. I''ve already considered that possibility as well." "In any case, the future will be changed, and you won''t be a King. And if you don''t be a King, then you can''t go back in time. And if you don''t go back in time, you can''t save your mother. It''ll be an infinite loop, where your mother will have to die again and again, and multiple realities might be destroyed." Raphael had already considered the possibility, and it didn''t make sense, since both possibilities made sure that a paradox was created. And that was just the Paradox with Azekiel. He didn''t even consider the paradox that coulde when his own past was changed. In essence, changing the past was a really bad n, no matter how much he wanted that to happen himself. Partially, he was also d that the stone of time was a one time use item. That made them avoid theplicated choice that they would have to make with the stone. "What if I destroy all the monsters in the past instead? No one will need to go to the tower?" Azekiel tossed out another possibility, trying to get Raphael''s analysis. "Same thing. It''ll lead to the same paradox. In that case, your past self won''t be a King. And then, it can''t go back in time to save anyone. No one is there to destroy monsters, then. Monsters kill your mother. We end up exactly where we are. As I said, you can''t change the past without destroying the future, and even then, we''ll end up right here." "It''s quite possible that you already tried to go back in time in some reality. And then, because of that, you didn''t be a King. And that''s why no one came to save your family this time. And here we are, back here. Time isplicated. It''s impossible to understand. That''s why time is said to be the supreme power that is impossible to control." "So I can''t save my mother..." Azekiel muttered. He understood what Raphael was trying to say, and it made sense. "So even after having all this strength, I still can''t save anyone..." "Not anyone in the past. I am sorry for having to crush your hopes." "You didn''t. You just told me the truth. Don''t worry about anything. I should thank you instead for warning me. I''ll still try to think of a way where I can find a way without creating a time paradox, but until I do, I will not go back in time," Azekiel promised. Even though he still wanted to do it, he decided to wait until there was a way that he and Raphael could agree on. That was the only way to seed since he believed in Raphael''s advice. "Raphael, can you carry us?" Azekiel asked. Now that his mind was finally distracted, he decided to get to the city as soon as he could. If he couldn''t go back in the past, then at least he could still get his revenge on the monsters that decided to attack their earth. He needed answers! He wanted to know who their leader was, and why they attacked earth? He wanted to understand more about the tower as well, and he had a feeling that the answers were lying outside the tower¡­ Chapter 156 156: The Girl "There is one!" As Azekiel reached closer to the city, he finally started seeing some Monsters. He noticed a monster roaming freely, right outside the entrance of the city. The monster didn''t appear weak, either. For some reason, he seemed stronger than the ones that Azekiel saw before when he had to leave the city. The one that was outside the city was almost three times the size of the one that had killed his mother. The beast looked like a yeti, but its fur was blood red, and there were ice spikesing out of its back. Amongst the hundreds of ice spikes that were all around the beast''s body, only a rare few looked to be pure. The rest all had some trail of blood on them as if they were used to kill someone, and the blood had dried up. One could only guess how many people this guy had killed. "Raphael, how do you suggest we deal with it?" Azekiel inquired, even though he already had an idea that he had finalized. He still took a second opinion just to see if his ideas matched with Raphael''s. "Should we sneak into the city and look for their leader? Or should we kill the beast and enter openly?" ? "If I''m not wrong, the leader of the group would be in the city since it''s closest to the tower. Sneaking in would be the safest route, but it''ll be really time consuming. On the other hand, just barging inside openly would bring a lot of attention to us." "In the former, we go to the leader of these beings without having to fight an entire army. In thetter, we make the Leader of this groupe to us by being loud enough. Thetter option is faster, but it''ll make us fight a lot of them." "Since we have no idea exactly how many of these things are inside, it would be foolish to create too much noise while entering. There might be a hundred, or there might be thousands... I think we should be more careful. We still have quite some time before we have to finish this mission." As Raphael expressed his opinion, Azekiel also nodded. "You''re right. This Trial is the second part of the hidden quest. The first part already was dangerous enough to almost kill us. This mission should only be more difficult. That means the leader of this group... He might be just as dangerous as Av, if not more." "That''s right. Fighting him and his thousands of followers can get quite risky since it''ll be a numbers game, which I don''t think we should let it be." "Lia, create an illusion," Azekielmanded Lia. Since he was sneaking inside, he wanted to do that without taking too much risk either, and what better way than to use the illusion? Lia cast an illusion, making the beast see everything as normal. In the illusion, the three of them were there. Due to the illusion, even as Azekiel walked past the beast, the beast wasn''t able to see them. It was as if they were spirits who didn''t exist at all. They could go anywhere and do anything, as long as they didn''t attract too much attention to them. The group of three finally entered the city that once used to be full of life. The streets that were always filled with people and traffic were now empty. The roads were covered in blood, but there were no bodies that could be seen. It was as if all the bodies were either moved aside or destroyed. There were vehicles on the street that were damaged beyond repair. Some even had their shell crushed entirely. Just on the one street itself, Azekiel noticed around a hundred beasts; all spread out. Some beasts were sleeping while the rest were walking around as if patrolling. Azekiel raided his head, looking at the top of the house that was still somewhat intact. He could see beasts sitting on top of the houses as well. Fortunately, Lia''s illusion had a range that was big enough to keep them safe from being noticed. At least by these people. "Hmm? That girl?" Azekiel grimaced, noticing a person in the distance that shouldn''t be there. "Am I dreaming, or that''s the same girl that was inside the tower? So she was a human like you?" It seemed that Azekiel wasn''t the only person who could see thedy. Even Lia and Raphael were able to see the woman. "She was after the Stone of Time as well," Raphael affirmed. "Maybe she''s someone selected by the Tower as well? She could have a simr mission as us?" "I don''t think that will be possible. The tower wouldn''t give the same hidden quest to two people. Also, I''d never seen her in the tower before, in my three years there. She wasn''t amongst the people there on Floor Zero, let alone amongst the people being selected by the Tower. Something isn''t right." "We should follow her and see what she''s after," Lia suggested. "Whatever she''s doing here, it must be something that we need to know as well." Azekiel agreed as well. Even though his first aim was to go back to his house, to see just how it was now, something had changed with the girl''s appearance here. Something was really wrong here. He had seen the girl fight in the tower, which made him assured that she was someone like Av, who lived in the World inside the Towers. She was stronger than most of the Kings, after all. But her presence here had shaken his entire notion. There were only a few possibilities at this point. One was that the world inside the Towers was connected to the real world, and there were other ways to get inside the tower. The other was something much darker... It was that the girl worked for the monsters who were somehow able to enter the tower now. In both cases, he needed to know everything. Azekiel followed after the girl, but the girl suddenly stopped in the middle of the street. She turned around, staring straight in Azekiel''s direction. For a moment, Azekiel felt as if the girl was looking straight at him. Did Lia''s illusion fail? He looked around, but no beasts were looking in their direction. It was evident that the beasts couldn''t see them. "This stench... That man...? Am I imagining stuff?" The youngdy shook her head before she continued walking. Azekiel also sighed a breath of relief. She definitely couldn''t see him. That was confirmed. He continued following her as well. Chapter 157 157: Who Is A Slave? Azekiel started following the youngdy, who still felt as if someone was spying on her. For some reason, she couldn''t shake off that feeling. As time passed, her feelings only became stronger. She also felt that it was the same man that she hated the most. The man she had met in the tomb of gods... The man who stole the Stone of time from her. After some time, she couldn''t take it anymore. She just stopped once more, but this time she didn''t just turn around. Instead, she attacked. Thousands of energy des flew back, slicing even the winds. All the monsters became alert, seeing the abrupt attack. Fortunately, the attack didn''t appear to be targeted at them. Being abruptly attacked, Azekiel didn''t have any choice not to make an appearance either. He called his Gauntlets, firing energy bullets. His energy bullets shed with the energy des, destroying them before the energy des could hit him. His precision made sure that every de that had the chance of attacking them was destroyed. "So I was right! It is you!" The woman recognized the energy des. She had seen Azekiel use the same attack even in the past. "Stop hiding like a coward and show yourself!" "So much for being stealthy..." Azekiel gestured to Lia to cancel the illusion. He finally made an appearance before thedy and the monsters. "You are very brave! After destroying the Stone of Time that we needed, you dare show your face here?!" The woman stated. "By ''we'' I suppose you mean the Monsters and you?" Azekiel asked. "Is that why the beasts aren''t attacking you? You worked for them? In that case, I feel even better that I didn''t let the stone fall in your hand." "So, what are you?" Azekiel asked, having a feeling that the girl wasn''t a human. If she were a human, she wouldn''t be helping the Monsters. And even if she did help them, she shouldn''t be this strong. Around a hundred beasts were keeping an eye on Azekiel, slowly creeping closer to him as if they were all hungry and wanted to devour him. It had been a long time since they ate a human. After thest batch, there hadn''t been any! "What am I?" The woman frowned. "Shouldn''t I ask that question from you? What are you? A ve to the tower? Someone who does as the tower asks, all for some benefits? Are you still a human? You spoiled our entire n by taking the stone from us... A n that had taken so long to make and execute!" "I''m not a ve, but you surely are. I do what the tower asks because I want to get stronger. But the tower doesn''t take away my free will! It gives me a choice, allowing me to refuse tasks. Something makes me think that you don''t get that choice, do you? So which one of us is the real ve here? Me? Or you?" "I desire to have strength so I won''t have to Abandon my family again! I desired strength, so I could kill the ones who wronged me! I desired strength so I could kill the beasts that killed my people... The beasts that killed my mother... The beasts that took everything from me!" "To get this strength, I didn''t sell myself! I didn''t sacrifice my morals, unlike you, who sided with these... these beasts that killed millions of innocents! So tell me again! Who is a ve? Me? Or you?" Azekiel roared, asking a question that made even the woman take a step back for some reason. She didn''t know why, but as he walked about losing family, she also felt some pain. She didn''t understand why. She couldn''t remember anything. Why did she feel that way? Was this man using some spell to make her feel bad? Was he using some mental maniption?! She didn''t know what this was. But she knew that she shouldn''t let him control her head if it was indeed a skill. "Shut up! You think your trick will work on me?!" She screamed. "I am with my family! I have my free will! I have everything I could hope for! All I needed was the stone of time, and everything would''ve been perfect for us! But because of you, I lost it! You will pay for it! Your scheming words can''t protect you this time, no matter what you think!" "Destroy him!" Shemanded all the Monsters. "I want to hear him scream! Give him a death that even his soul would tremble before it!" Usually, she would''ve killed Azekiel on her own, but she didn''t feel like it. For some reason, her heart felt uneasy, following Azekiel''s words. She didn''t feel right staying here since she didn''t want Azekiel to use his maniption again. After instructing the beasts to kill Azekiel, she turned her back on him and started walking away. "Whatever''s left of his body, you don''t have to bring it to me. You can eat those pieces and enjoy them!" Shemanded before she walked away, disappearing into the distance. Azekiel stood on the street, observing hundreds of monsters around him. "The beasts are listening to her. Is she their leader?" Lia wondered. Their mission was to kill the leader of the Beasts, but at the moment, it appeared as if she was the so-called leader. "She isn''t," Azekiel answered without any hesitation. "At best, she''ll be higher in the hierarchy than the beasts for them to listen to hermands. There''s no way that she''s their leader." "How are you so sure?" Lia asked. "Because the leader should be stronger than the Soul Demon and Av. It''s the next part of the quest, so the difficulty will be even stronger. Even though that girl is strong, she isn''t strong enough to justify the difficulty of this quest. I don''t think she is the leader." "The leader should be someone who is even stronger than the girl." Even Raphael agreed with Azekiel. "I also think she isn''t the leader. If she is, then the quest will certainly be easier than we previously anticipated." "I feel like the leader won''te out in the open yet. If ever that girl doesn''t think that we are strong enough for her to stay here, then the chances of someone strongering here is also nil," he further stated. "Then we better use this opportunity to leave a deep imprint on them. I see a lot of Soul Energy here. Enough to recharge my Soul Bar. But first, I need to empty it." Azekiel opened the system screen. "Ready Raphael?" "Always." "Spiritual Summon!" Azekiel used his special skill to calm forth Raphael into the material world, having his entire team ready! Chapter 158 158: Father Raphael made an appearance like a ghost out of nowhere. Even the Monsters were momentarily stunned to see Raphael appearing out of nowhere. However, they didn''t care for long. Instead, they seemed to be even more eager to pounce on them since now there was one more person for them to eat. "You''ll take the ones above. I''ll handle the ones on the ground!" The Gauntlet of Gluttony transformed into the Axe of Gluttony as Azekiel prepared to attack. At the same time, Lia went to give them backup. Multiple chains came out of the ground, trapping the Monsters that were closest to Raphael and Azekiel. The Monsters that were sitting on the roof also jumped down, but only to meet with Raphael, who flew up. **** A battle had begun in the middle of the city. Lenora didn''t even stay behind to observe the battle. She left the ce and kept advancing ahead until she reached a specific section of the city. The mostvish mansion in the city stood tall in that portion of the city. Unlike the other buildings, this mansion waspletely intact, as if it waspletely new. It was as if this was the only ce in the city that wasn''t attacked by the beasts. The beautiful mansion used to belong to the Mayor of the City, but now that the mayor was dead, the mansion didn''t have an owner. Lenora stopped at the entrance of the mansion, pushing therge metallic gates open to enter the vicinity. She walked to the doors of the mansion after passing through the garden that had dried up entirely. After she entered the ce, she was able to see a young man standing on the balcony, looking in a certain direction as if he was in a daze. The man had two beautiful wings behind his back and a majestic aura around him. Lenora jumped, making it seem as if she was flying. Shended on the balcony, right beside the young man. "Father." She went to her knees, respectfully greeting the man. Even though the man looked as if he was in his early twenties and appeared to be as old as her, Lenora still addressed the man as father. "Stand." The man didn''t find it odd either. She gestured for her to stand. "Father, I failed." Lenora lowered her head even as she stood up. "It''s because of h-" "I know. You don''t have to exin," the man cut her sentence in the middle, not letting her finish. "I was there with you. I saw everything with your eyes. I know exactly what happened, and who interfered." "Are you not angry that I failed?" Lenora asked, looking like a child who was expecting a scolding. The man let out a tired sigh. "You didn''t fail, little one... We failed... I failed." "I was so close to getting the Stone of Time. If we had that stone, we would''ve been so close to achieving our goals. Albeit, it wasn''t in our fate, it seems. We would have to use other methods." "Father, is there another stone like that? Maybe we can try to take that?" Lenora asked. She just wanted one more way to correct her mistakes! All she needed was one more chance! She didn''t want to disappoint the man. "Another stone of time?" The man repeated. "Maybe there is, but even I don''t know where it will be. If I had known, I wouldn''t have called you back. If there is another stone, it''ll be inside that tower, but without exact information, it''s impossible to find where...* Through the balcony, the man had a clear view of the Tower of Sin. The Majestic Tower stood tall as if mocking the man over his failure. At least, that''s what the man felt like. "It doesn''t matter where! If it''s in the tower, I should go in again! I can locate the stone, no matter how long it takes! I promise I will find a way to get the stone and make up for my failure!" "You underestimate the cursed Tower, Little one. If you think that it''s easy to get to the higher floors, you couldn''t be more wrong. The first stone was on the third floor, which was easy for you to get to, with my strength." "Unfortunately, the higher floors aren''t the same. The higher you go, the stronger those barriers be, since on the higher floors, there is..." The man appeared to lose himself in thoughts, bbering about something. However, he soon came to his senses, realizing that he was about to speak too much. He closed his lips and took a brief pause. "There are dangers in the tower that you can''t face, even with my strength. Especially now that they must know about you already, that''s why I had to bring you out. It''s useless to blindly search. Only after I get some urate information, can we attempt again." "Can we get that information?" Lenora asked. If it was really that hard to get to the higher floors, how were they going to find a more urate information? Who was going to give them that information? "Do we have someone inside the Tower that works for us?" she asked. "You don''t have to worry about that. Tell me about something else. It seems we have a guest in the city. I can sense a battle going on. Who might that guest be?" Instead of answering, the man asked a question of his own. "Another human?" "That''s right. It''s the same person who spoiled our n! It''s the same boy who snatched the stone of time when I was so close to getting to it." "Is that so?" The man clenched his fist, remembering the rage he felt when the stone was taken from right before his eyes and used. It was a one time use item, and all his hopes depended on it, but instead of giving the stone to him, the man used the stone for something useless. If it weren''t for that man, he would''ve had that stone in his hands by now! However, this was also slightly surprising. Chapter 159 159: Torment "Why would he be here? Also, how did the Tower allow him to leave?" ? It was good that Azekiel was here since he could have his revenge now, but there was also a question in his head about Azekiel''s purpose ining here. He was in the Tower. He was safe. Then why would hee here? Something didn''t make sense. "It seems you met that guy in the city. Why are you here and not destroying him then?" The man frowned, finally showing a different side than before. "I left him for the others to kill. He isn''t that strong, and I didn''t want to give him too much importance since I hate him," Lenora exined, lying a bit. Her real reason was Azekiel''s words, but she didn''t feel like she could say that someone''s words swayed her so much that she left them. She didn''t want toe off as a weak person. The man red at Lenora. "You know you can''t lie to me, right?" The man was connected to Lenora in ways that she couldn''t even imagine. He had manipted her memories to make her feel like she was one of them. He had also given her some strength, but she didn''t forget to take some precaution either. In essence, Lenora was his ve, and she didn''t even realize it. He could see through her eyes whenever he wanted. He could also control her body. For someone like him, it wasn''t hard to know when Lenora was lying to him. "If one really hates someone, they kill them with their own hands. Instead, you came here, leaving him with the others? Tell me the truth. Why would you do it?" Even though the man was slightly angry that Lenora had lied to him, he still kept his anger in check, giving Lenora another opportunity toe clean. Lenora lowered her head, feeling somewhat ashamed that she had lied to her father, and she was caught. "I was embarrassed to tell you the truth, father. You are right. I wanted to kill him myself, but his words... I don''t know what it was about them, but I felt that he was trying to manipte me." "And for some reason, I was feeling strange from his words. I didn''t think that I could take it anymore, so I decided to leave." Lenora told the truth this time. "So you actually ran away like a coward." The man sighed, shaking his head. "It seems the human tendencies of fear and cowardice still reside inside you." "What words did he use?" The man asked. "Tell me everything." Lenora told the man the entire conversation about the family and such. She still remembered all those words with such precision. "So that''s what happened." The man understood everything as Lenora exined what Azekiel had told her. He understood that Azekiel wasn''t using any spell or any Maniption. He was just speaking from his heart. Unfortunately, those words probably stimted Lenora''s old memories. "Let me take care of it. Next time his Maniption won''t work on you." The winged man ced his hand on Lenora''s forehead. To make sure something like this never happened, he was going to go even farther. Last time, he had only sealed her old memories since it was easier, and he didn''t want to waste more time. But now, he was going to remove all her old memories instead of sealing them, so something like this never happened again. He had wasted a lot of time on Lenora in making sure she had ess to the tower. He didn''t want to have to kill her if her memories returned and she turned against him. And what happened recently did give him the impression that there was a possibility of her memories returning if he didn''t delete them. Lenora''s eyes turned nk as a mysterious energy started flooding her body. It was as if she was forced to sleep with her eyes open. Even though her eyes were nk and her face expressionless, tears kept trickling out of her eyes as her memories were removed entirely. She felt the pain, but she couldn''t do anything about it. She just believed that it was for her own good, so she didn''t resist. Even though her heart was filled with an empty feeling, she didn''t resist. After around ten minutes, the man finally freed Lenora, who dropped to her knees in weakness. "How are you feeling?" he asked Lenora, who starteding to her senses. Lenora looked up with her tear-stained face. Her eyes were filled with sadness for some reason, but her heart waspletely empty even now. "I feel better." Lenora stood up. "Now his Maniption won''t work on me?" The man smirked. "Let alone his Maniption, no maniption will work on you. Don''t worry about anything." "Thank you, father." Lenora thanked the man. "Now that I''m safe from his Maniption, I''ll go and kill him personally!" "Sure. I''ll let you kill him." The young man agreed. "I will also be watching though. Let the man know the consequences of spoiling our n!" "Yes, Father!" Lenora jumped down and ran toward the battlefield that she had left before. This time she had decided to kill Azekiel with her own hands. "The man who came here to kill us because we killed his family..." The man gazed in the direction Lenora ran. "It''s so ironic that he''ll end up buried in the same city as well. The man''s beautiful wings spread wide as he started rising in the air. He wanted to watch Azekiel die with his own eyes. He flew in the direction of the battlefield as well, prepared to watch an amusing show of pain and torment that was going to be inflicted on Azekiel! Lenora was the first one to arrive on the battlefield, only to be shocked initially. Azekiel wasn''t alone now! There was one more person! Moreover, the battle so far waspletely against her expectations! She had expected something else, but the reality was on the contrary! Chapter 160 160: Home As Lenora arrived there, she noticed that Azekiel wasn''t alone there. There was another person there. Azekiel also stood right beside him. Moreover, all the beasts that she left behind to fight him were dead. Their bodies were lying on the ground. Surprisingly, the battle was already over by now. Even though Lenora was surprised, she wasn''t scared. Even if he was strong enough to kill some beasts after getting some support, that didn''t mean he was strong enough to face her. Without a single hesitation, Lenora attacked Azekiel. Surprisingly, her attack managed to pass through Azekiel''s body, who didn''t even try to move. It was as if Azekiel wasn''t really. The winged mannded near Lenora. "An illusion... It seems they have already run away. And that''s why one mustn''t take their eyes off the enemies when they have an opportunity," "But if they left behind this illusion, that means they couldn''t have gone outside the city. Search the entry city. I want them found, and I want them dead!" The man came here expecting a battle and revenge, but he was only disappointed to see that Azekiel wasn''t here. The illusions also disappeared without a few minutes, revealing that there actually wasn''t anyone there. "Don''t worry, father. I will find them!" Lenora had the entire city sealed, making sure that no one could escape. She didn''t realize that Azekiel actually hadn''t run away. He was standing inside a nearby building, gazing at Lenora and the winged man with great interest. Those people couldn''t see him however. "I can feel great strength from the man. Even when he''s just standing there, his aura is like a tsunami. It seems he must be the person we are here for..." Raphael reminded Azekiel. "It''s good that he''s in the city. If we trail him, we should have an easier time taking him out when he''s alone." "Exactly." Lia also agreed. "When the beasts are looking everywhere for us, I doubt they''ll search where this guy is staying. That should give us some privacy as well to handle these matters without any interference." "Raphael, you''re a Spirit. He shouldn''t be able to sense you." Azekiel agreed. "Trail after him. If I go after him, he might be able to sense us like Lenora did. I want you to find where he stays and then meet us, where I told you before. Alright?" "Understood." Raphael passed through the ss window and flew around the winged man like a spirit. Since Raphael was actually a spirit without any aura, it was impossible for him to be sensed, even when it came to the leader of the beasts. "Make sure you don''t fail this time because I''ll be really disappointed now." The man warned Lenora before flying back to the castle, quite disappointed. Even though he could also take part in the search, he left that portion for Lenora to handle. The city was huge, and Azekiel could''ve been hiding anywhere. Finding him wasn''t as easy as one could''ve hoped. Lenora called even more beasts. The entire city was crawling with beasts as the search began. Instead of waiting inside the building, as soon as Lenora left, Azekiel came out. He took Lia''s help for another illusion, but this time it wasn''t to trail anyone. He went in a different direction than Leonora, which was slightly safer since Lenora had a much higher chance of sensing his illusion which the others couldn''t. Since all he needed to do for now was to avoid them, that''s what he did. He already had a ce in his mind where he wanted to go as well while he waited for Raphael''s return. The city wasn''t the main city in the country. Instead, if it was to be described, it was the least important City in the nation, which didn''t have many businesses. The city didn''t contribute too much to the nation either. Despite that, the city had some wealthy people living in them. The wealthy people stayed in the central part of the city, which was more developedpared to the rest of the city. Meanwhile, the poor lived on the edges of the city. In fact, the ce where they lived was established on the edges of the city, which was nowhere close to the roads that led into and out of the city. Azekiel''s home used to be in one of these portions as well. The houses here were weaker, and it was visible. Unlike the central part of the city, where damage could be seen, but houses still existed, but this part of the city was in a much worse condition. Many houses appeared to be destroyed from top to bottom. Azekiel walked through the rubble of his neighborhood which highlighted the tragic past this ce went through. "My house!" Azekiel noticed his house in the distance. He dashed to his house, which wasn''t in any good condition either. Some walls hade down and werepletely missing, but the house was still standing fortunately. The house looked to be in such bad condition at the moment that even the slightest earthquake could make the housee crashing down. Azekiel entered the house through the massive opening in the wall. He didn''t even need to go through the door. As soon as Azekiel entered the house, he saw a body lying in the distance, near the stairs. His heart skipped a beat as he saw the dead body that was lying face down. He rushed to the body and turned it around. It was her mother. She was missing many of her limbs. Most of her bones were broken, showing just how bad her death was. Her hand was extended toward the stairs. She was exactly the way he had left her. When she was being killed, she had reached out her hand toward the stairs since Azekiel was standing on top of the stairs. She was asking Azekiel to run away, and he did... he ran as fast as he could, against all his wishes. Chapter 161 161: Diary Azekiel still hated himself for running away since he felt that he had abandoned his mother by running away. Unfortunately, even if he stayed behind, he couldn''t do anything but to watch her die since the beast was too strong for him, as a human to defeat. "It''s so ironic... The beasts that were like God to me... The beasts that were so strong that I couldn''t do anything but run away... The beasts that were strong enough to destroy the entire human civilization! Those beasts are nothing before me now." "Once, the beasts that made me run away, today they can''t even make me flinch. But what use is this strength now?" He weakly gazed at the lifeless body of his mother, feeling likeughing at his weakness. He was so happy that he was getting stronger, forgetting at what cost this strength came. In his hunger for power, he forgot hisst... He forgot that feeling of weakness... He forgot that fear which made him run away in the past. Azekiel picked up the body of her mother in his arms. Carrying his mother, he left the house. Lia cast her Illusion again without being asked as she followed Azekiel. She wondered just where he was going. As she watched Azekiel enter a graveyard that wasn''t too far from his home, she finally understood where he was going. "Our house was so close to the graveyard, yet it took three years to bring my mother here to give her a burial," Azekielmented as he ced his mother on the grass. He picked up a nearby shovel and started digging the ground in the middle of the graveyard. At the same time, hemanded Lia to bring a coffin to him. Lia found a coffin in the distance that was unused. Since the city was attacked during the apocalypse, everything was left as it was. Lia cast a spell, making the coffin float. The coffin flew right beside her,nding near Azekiel. After digging a big enough hole in the ground, Azekiel jumped out. He opened the coffin and respectfully kept his mother''s remnants inside the coffin. Before closing the coffin, he gazed at her body, remembering all the past moments he had spent with her. "Mother, thank you for everything... Thank you for giving me a life... Thank you for making me understand just what it felt like to be loved... Thank you for giving an orphan like me a family." As he spoke, a tear droplet fell out of his eyes, falling on the body. Taking a deep breath, Azekiel closed the coffin. He picked up the coffin alone and ced it inside the ground. "Rest in peace, mother. And don''t worry. I will make everyone who led to your death pay! You won''t be leaving this world alone! I''ll make sure the ones that led to your death apany you to the afterlife themselves!" He picked up a fistful of dirt and ced it on the coffin before he started burying the coffin entirely. Within five minutes, the entire coffin was buried. Azekiel picked up the biggest stone that he could find and ced it on the grave of his mother. "Are you alright?" Seeing Azekiel stare at the grave, Lia ced her hand on his shoulder. She didn''t want to see him broken. "I am fine." Azekiel clenched his fist before turning his back on the grave. He left the graveyard and went back to his house. He looked at the blood marks that were all around the floor. There were some portraits on the wall, belonging to him and his mother. Most other portraits had already fallen to the ground, cracked. He picked up one of the portraits that were the oldest in the house. He kept the cracked portrait in his storage ring. "You looked really cute when you were younger," Liamented, observing the many pics. "Who didn''t look cute when they were little?" Azekiel asked, shaking his head. "Babies are supposed to be cute. All of them are." Azekiel walked up the stairs. It was a house that appeared like something that coulde crashing down at any moment since most of the support was destroyed, but Azekiel didn''t care. Even if the house came crashing down, he had ways to protect himself. He reached the first floor where his room used to be. Since Raphael was taking a long time to return, he decided to explore his past a bit, that he had forgotten with everything that went on inside the tower. His room looked exactly like he had left before. It seemed as if the monsters hadn''t checked the room. He entered his room, observing all the posters on the wall of superheroes from movies. In his younger days, he used to be a massive fan of superheroes. Unfortunately, when the world needed a superhero, there was none. If there was anything close to a superhero in this world, they were the Kings. But even those kings were less like heroes and more like viins. There were no heroes in this world... not even him He walked to his table, which had a small dairy on top. On top of the dairy, there were only a few words written. There was written, "Top Secret! Don''t read!" Azekiel picked up the diary which used to belong to him. It was his personal diary in which he wrote about his every single day. He summarized his days in a few lines. He went through the diary, amazed at just how much useless things he needed to write. Near thest few entries, he noticed a line that made him smile. "She asked me to go to the Prom with her! I can''t believe it! Am I finally bing popr?" Seeing the entry, Azekielughed. "I was such an idiot." The next entry was also about this, about how he was left standing and he was fooled. He became aughingstock for people at the prom. "Don''t worry, little one. Now no one dares tough at you. So don''t worry about anything," Azekielmented as if talking to his past self. Chapter 162 162: Yes, I Am! Azekiel kept the diary in his storage ring as well and continued going through the room. He ultimately walked to the wardrobe and opened it, which was thest ce for him to check. He remembered that there was something even more important in the wardrobe that he had to retrieve. It was very important, but in his hastest time, he had to run away without taking it. Other than his mother, his reason foring here was also to take back something. He opened the wardrobe, which had no lock on it. There were some clothes inside the wardrobe, properly folded. All of these clothes were quite short for him now. Even his childhood clothes were kept safe by a good mother. Under the bundle of his clothes, he discovered what he was looking for. He pulled out what seemed like a thread that was attached to a pendant. The small crystal pendant looked quite ordinary. In fact, such pendants were sold at very cheap prices, even though they were somewhat different. "What is that?" Lia asked Azekiel when he pulled out the pendant. "It is my past," Azekiel answered, ncing at the pendant. "This was the pendant that I had when my mother found me at her door..." "It''s possibly the only thing I have that belongs to my past. A cheap essory." He smiled, feeling slightly amused that one of his most precious items was this useless pendant that seemed like a knockoff product. He kept the pendant in his pocket before closing the wardrobe. "What''s your most precious item?" he asked Lia as he left the room, going down the stairs once again. "My most precious item?" Lia found herself thinking quite a lot when it came to her deciding just what her most precious item was. She had never thought about it like that, but now that she was asked, even she wondered just what her most precious item would be when she was alive. "Ah, I think it must be that..." "And what would be that?" Azekiel asked, smiling wryly. "My first spellbook that I was given. It was what made me walk the path of witchcraft. So if there''s something so important in my life, I believe it would be that... My very first spellbook." "Do you still have that?" Azekiel asked. "I''m a spirit. You think I could have carried a book from the material realm to the spiritual Realm? I lost everything that I held dear. I''m just a Spirit now," Lia answered. "My first spellbook is forever lost in time." "Fortunately, I can still use my spell since I''ve memorized all of them. And now, thanks to that apple, I can also use my spells in the real world without being summoned. That old man... He really did a lot of favor on me by making my life a bit more fun." "The old man, huh? He certainly helped us in one way or another, but he was also hiding something important. We still can''t be sure if he''s a friend or a foe who is luring us into a trap. We must be careful when ites to dealing with him. So even if he helped you, don''t think too much of it." Azekiel left the house and stood at the entrance, waiting for Raphael''s arrival. For some reason, Raphael still hadn''t arrived, which was slightly surprising. It had been a really long time since Raphael left. All he had to do was follow the man to find where he was staying. Something like this shouldn''t have taken this long. "Maybe that man didn''t go to the ce where he''s staying and is roaming around instead?" Lia suggested another possibility for the dy. Since Raphael was supposed to locate his residence, it could exin his dy in return. "Maybe. I''ll wait a little longer." ***** In another ce, the winged man had actually returned to the castle. Lia was wrong about her assumption. Raphael had already located where the man was staying, but he still didn''t leave. Instead of going back like this, Raphael followed the man inside the castle. Since he was already here, he wanted to explore this ce a little more now that he had an opportunity. It was good if they knew the ce where he was staying, but it was better if they knew the exact time, as that meant they would attack them when he was sleeping. That could make things even easier. As a strategist, Raphael wanted to reduce the risk to Azekiel as much as he could, even if it meant selecting a cowardly method of winning a war. Even if it meant attacking a sleeping Enemy, it wasn''t wrong as long as it led them to victory. Moreover, since the man was supposed to be stronger than the Soul Demon, it was also much better to avoid a straight conflict with him. There was another reason for Raphael to enter the castle. At the moment, it was only their assumption that the man was the leader of this army, but it wasn''t confirmed. Just like Lenora led them to this man, Raphael wanted to see if this man was going to lead them to the real leader or not. Raphael entered the castle easily, and followed the men who went to the main hall. That''s where the man stopped. Instead of going further, he stepped right there. He sat down on the couch, making himselffortable. "It seems he''s the Leader indeed. There is no one else here," Raphael came to a conclusion. The man didn''t go back to the bedroom, which was a disappointment, but at least he could be sure that this man was their target. "If you mean the leader of the Army that attacked Earth, then you''re right. I''m the one inmand here," the man answered, not even bothering to open his eyes. Hearing his response, Azekiel was taken aback. The man could hear him? How? He was in his spiritual form! It should be impossible for anyone to see or hear him other than Azekiel! Chapter 163 163: You Dont Know That Demon! "You can hear me?" Instead of stepping back, Raphael stepped forward. He needed to be sure about this first. He needed to know just what this man was capable of. "Why won''t I be able to hear you, Raphael?" The man asked again. The man slowly opened his dark yet alluring eyes, looking in the exact direction where Raphael was standing. "Anyway, I don''t think you should stay standing. Take a seat." "So you can also see me?" Raphael asked. "In that case, you must have known that I was following you?" "Of course, I knew." The man smirked in return. "I also knew where you and your little group were hiding. Is it that surprising?" "If you knew, why didn''t you attack us?" Raphael asked. "If you want answers, I would really advise that you sit down first. We have all the time in the world to talk." The winged man made himself morefortable as he simply lied on the sofa like it was his bed, resting one foot over the other. Raphael didn''t know what the man was nning, but he wasn''t going to do as the man asked. "I''m fine the way I am." "Answer me. Who are you? Why do you know my name? And why didn''t you attack us if you already knew where we were? Why did you send your entire army on a false chase?" ? "Why do I feel like the answers to all those questions are the same?" The man stated, seemingly amused. "Anyway, I''m afraid I can''t answer that question yet." "As for why I didn''t attack you, that I can answer. As much as you might not want to believe me, but the truth is that I don''t really want you all dead," The man confessed. "If I wanted you to be killed I would''ve done so the moment you first started fighting in my city. Not as if I didn''t know about it?" "I do truly hate you all though. It''s because of you all that my n was spoiled. It''s all because of you that I lost the stone of time that should''ve belonged to me! You idiots just had to interfere at the wrong time. You have no idea how angry I was when you all used that stone and made it useless over such a nonsensical thing as a quest." "You have no idea what kind of paradox you''ve created, idiots," The man further stated. "When you did it, I was so enraged; you''re lucky you weren''t before me at the moment. I would''ve twisted all your necks myself." "Fortunately for you, I''ve had some time to calm down. I still feel angry, but not as angry as wanting to kill you right this moment." "Who really are you?" That was the biggest question that was in Raphael''s head, and he had no answer to it. The man wasn''t answering the most important question. "I told you I can''t answer you regarding that, but I can tell you something that might change your life. You must leave Azekiel... I can help you regain your real body. Just leave Azekiel when you have the opportunity. Not only will you get your body back, but also everything else that you lost." "If you side with me, together we can change the entire universe. Together, we can make a difference. So it''s for you to decide. Do you want to be a ve to Azekiel all your life, or you want to get back the authority and the dignity that used to belong to you?" "Join me, and see how the doors of destiny open up for you. Also, if you''re worried if it''s even possible since you''re a familiar of Azekiel, then trust me, it is possible for you to be free. You can be free of his control, and I can help you achieve that." "Why do you want to help me?" Raphael frowned. "Of course, nothing in this worldes for free. Even my help won''te free. Since you''ll be on my side, we''ll be working together. I''ll be helping you, and you''ll be helping me. And together, we can have our revenge!" "So, do you want to be free or not? I won''t force you. It''s not as if I can force you, either. I know how strong your mental defense will be. You won''t be like Lenora. That''s why I''m extending a helping hand toward you." "So what do you say? You join me, and I help you be free and get back your body? Or you refuse me and be my enemy? In thetter case, I would be really disappointed to lose you. But at the same time, I''ll also have to destroy you." Not only did the man extend an olive branch, but he also issued a threat simultaneously in case the lure wasn''t enough of a motivation. "What would I have to do if I joined you?" Raphael asked. "And how exactly will you help me?" "You won''t have to do many things. Only basic things like fighting with me against our enemies. But before that, you will have to tell me just why Azekiel actually came here. What''s his real motive ining here?" "You don''t know about that?" The corners of Raphael''s lips crept up. "Funny. Even someone like you who seems to know things that he shouldn''t have no idea why Azekiel came here." "You can enjoy it, but that doesn''t change anything. Raphael, you all might think that Azekiel is a naive person who needs your help, but you have no idea about the real him. You don''t know a single thing. You think you know him? You don''t. You still have the chance to get out of his control before it''s toote." "So don''t make me get serious! Tell me, what brought that bastard here?!" The man asked again. Finally, he seemed to be getting somewhat agitated. "I don''t know him. And you do?" Raphael rolled his eyes. "Of course I do! I know that bastard better than anyone else in the world! You might think that I''m the bad guy in this situation, but I''m not. I''m the good guy who is trying to save you! You just can''t see it yet!" Chapter 164 164: Right Track "You''re the good guy?" Raphael rolled his eyes as if finding this im preposterous. Even though he still didn''t know how the man was able to see him or hear him, he still found the man naive to even believe that he was the good guy. "You''re the good guy trying to save me? Save me from what?" Raphael further asked, shaking his head. If this was the trick that he was using to lure him, then it was really stupid, which even he didn''t believe could ever work. "Save you from your ignorance." The man simply answered. "As I said before, you don''t know anything. You don''t even have your old memories, let alone knowing what I know. You don''t know what you''re doing by sliding with him." As if knowing his name itself wasn''t enough, the man once again surprised Raphael by even knowing that Raphael was missing memories. How did this guy know it? "Did we meet each other before this?" Raphael inquired. For someone to know this much about him, he couldn''t help but feel that the man before him wasn''t just an ordinary enemy. The way he talked, it was as if they had met before. In fact, it was as if the man was treating Raphael like an actual friend. "Who knows... Maybe we did... Maybe we didn''t...?" The man didn''t answer directly. "At this point, even I''m not sure how much I can tell you without creating trouble for both of us. Just know that Azekiel... He isn''t your friend. It would be best if you escaped his grasp as soon as possible. If you don''t, then you''ll regret it when it''s toote." "I''ll give you time to think about this. You can leave if you want. I won''t attack you from behind. Oh, before you ask, that''s right. Even though you''re in the spiritual form, I can kill you. In fact, killing you would be even easier like this. But you can leave." "Go and meet up with Azekiel. I''m sure that''s what you want to do. However, my offer is still open to you and only to you. If you want to know more, ept to work with me. You cane here anytime, and tell me what''s Azekiel''s motive ining here." "But if you don''t join me, then the next time we meet, I might not be able to ignore you." Even now, the man still didn''t talk about killing Azekiel. Even now, he only threatened to kill Raphael if he didn''t agree. For some reason, it really appeared as if the man didn''t really want to kill Azekiel. It was unclear why that was. What was stopping him? And just why was he so intimidated by Azekiel? Raphael didn''t know why it was the case, but he had a feeling as if the man was somewhat scared of Azekiel. But why would that be? Even if Azekiel was quite strong inside the tower, even for him, defeating the man shouldn''t be this easy. Then why was this guy trying to avoid Azekiel? There was another question that he had. If the man was trying to avoid Azekiel, then why did he send Lenora and her monsters to search him? It was as if he had a different persona that he showed outside, and when he was with Raphael, there was a different persona. Raphael started leaving. When he entered the castle, he hadn''t expected that this was how their meeting was going to go. He was leaving with more questions than he came with. And the most important question was about Azekiel. Just what was this man''s rtionship with Azekiel? "What is your name? Or you can''t answer even that?" Raphael asked right as he was about to step out of the hall. "Alion..." The winged man answered. "I will wait for your answer. And I really hope that you make the right decision." Hearing the name, Raphael left. Alion was left all alone in the hall, lying on the couch, lost in some deep thought. "Azekiel... The man who became everyone''s nightmare... If only I had that Stone of Time, I would''ve been able to stop him... Albeit, he became an obstruction in my path even now. Even when he doesn''t know, he still does what''s best for him." "Hah." Alion let out a tired sigh. There were just so many things in his head that even he was overwhelmed by them. Moreover, the appearance of Azekiel out of the tower only made him even more uneasy. It was as if the Tower... It had started. "I hope I won''t bete this time. I''ve wasted a lot of time on this. I can''t afford to fail aftering this far. I can''t let him seed. If only I could kill him with my own hands! Unfortunately, that would create a paradox for me. All my efforts will go in vain, and even then, it''ll be him who wins." "I have made so many sacrifices to get here. It''s not to fail! I can''t afford to fail! Azekiel needs to die! And it must not be with my hands... The only person who can help me is Raphael!" "As long as I can help him get back to his real body, he should remember everything! He will understand my cause. And if he kills Azekiel himself, that won''t destroy the reality itself. And maybe... Just maybe we can seed in the end..." With a defeated look on his face, the man closed his eyes, covering his face with his hands. No matter how much he tried not to think about his past, he only failed. There was one memory that always returned to him. One tormenting memory. "Azekiel... Even you can''t stop me! I won''t let you stop me! I don''t know why you''re out of the tower so soon, but no matter what, I won''t let you seed. You will die! And then I will find another Stone of Time! I''ll be right on track again!" Chapter 165 165: We Should Leave Raphael left the castle, still trying to make sense of the situation. He was just offered to change sides, and Alion even imed that he had a way to get Raphael his body back. If that was true, then Raphael really had a really nice option at the table. If he decided to change sides, he was going to get his body back and possibly even more advantages along with it. Alion also imed that he was going to regain his body as soon as he gained his body. With that, he could understand everything regarding what happened in his past. It was all that Raphael actually wanted. If possible, Raphael wanted his body and his memories back. And he even wanted revenge on the people that destroyed his home. There were many advantages to changing sides, especially since the other side was definitely stronger. However, could he really change sides like that? With Azekiel, he had a bond that was no less than that of a family. Azekiel was weaker at the moment, but he had lots of potential, and he also seemed to be doing good inside the tower. Unfortunately, he couldn''t get back to the tower without clearing this mission which was hard to pull off. If he was to think with his mind, he knew he needed to side with Alion, but if he wanted to listen to his heart, he wanted to stay with Azekiel till the end, no matter how much he was going to lose in exchange. It was a battle between his heart and his mind. Lost in his thoughts, he went to the ce where he was supposed to meet Azekiel. Raphael noticed Azekiel standing outside his house. However, he had also seen some monstersing toward that general area. He increased his speed. He still needed more time to actually decide. It wasn''t just a decision he could take easily, even though his heart was already convinced on what he had to do. "Monsters areing." He informed the small group of two, before advising Lia to cast an illusion to keep them Azekiel safe again. Lia cast an illusion right away, not too long before the beasts arrived in the General Area. They checked the surroundings for a few minutes before leaving. Lia canceled her illusion as that consumed a lot of her strength. "Did you find where he stays?" Azekiel asked the question he had been waiting for. "I did. And we were right; he is also the leader of the group here," Raphael answered. "He lives in the castle at the center of the city. It''s a ce that is easy to find." "What about the security around that ce? How many beasts are guarding that ce?" "None. There was none that was guarding that ce," Raphael answered. "It seems he''s quite confident about his strength, so no security around him. Either that, or he sent everyone else to search for us." Azekiel nodded. "That''s good. As expected, we should have some privacy.'' "It should be quite easy to infiltrate that ce, but the biggest problem would be facing Alion himself. I don''t think we should fight him," Raphael warned Azekiel. "I''ve seen him from close up. There''s something really strange about him. Maybe we should call the n off." Raphael had talked to Alion and knew that the guy knew a bit too much about them. The way he behaved, it was as if he could kill them if he wanted, but for some reason, he was hesitating. That hesitation was certainly not because he was scared, that was for sure. They knew almost nothing about the enemy, while their event knew everything about them. Fighting a war like this was already a disaster that should''ve been avoided. They were at a heavy disadvantage here. And that was if Raphael sided with Azekiel, which he was still conflicted about for some reason. There was a battle going on in his mind between his dignity and his desires. Moreover, he also couldn''t ignore the words of Alion. When he talked about Azekiel... Even though he was vague about it, Raphael could feel that Azekiel was like a Demon in Alion''s head for some reason. Just what was it about Azekiel that Alion could see but Azekiel couldn''t? The best oue in this situation was just avoiding the conflict altogether. If he could get Azekiel to go back inside the tower, he could lie to Alion about any random reason for their arrival here. Moreover, if possible, he could also negotiate for his body in that case. That way, he could keep Azekiel safe while also getting his memories and his bodies back. "What are you talking about? We can''t go back aftering this far. Moreover, we can''t go back without finishing the hidden quest. Now that we have epted the mission, we either finish it or we die here. The tower doors aren''t going to open for us anymore if we don''t seed, let alone an entry to the eleventh Floor." "Now that we are here, we can''t go back to the way things used to be. We must fight!" Azekiel dered. "Also, what happened to you suddenly? You were ready to fight before you left. And now that you''re back, you''re talking like that? Just what did you see there which made you hesitate?" Raphael''s negotiations were thest thing that Azekiel could''ve expected. He could only imagine that Raphael saw something that made him slightly scared. Raphael took a deep breath, not knowing what to do. If this battle couldn''t be dyed, he really had to make a choice now. "I just believe we can''t win this battle. That man... He knows everything about us," Raphael answered. "He knew we were the ones that spoiled his n of getting the Stone of Time. He hated us a lot for that. If you go before him, he will kill you." "And I doubt we would be able to protect you. That''s why I want us to avoid this battle if possible. But if it isn''t... Then I have something I need to tell you¡­." Chapter 166 166: Did You Not? "You know Raphael; you aren''t acting like yourself at the moment. It''s as if something really phased you." The more Raphael talked, the more Azekiel felt it. Rachael was slightly different now. "Tell me what happened. What do you want to talk about?" he asked, wondering if what he was going to say was rted to his change. Raphael had thought a lot about this, but no matter what, he couldn''t bring himself to betray Azekiel. No matter what Alion said, he couldn''t believe it. Azekiel wasn''t a bad person even though he had some questionable decisions; in the end, that wasn''t because he was an inherently bad person. What swayed his mind even more was the knowledge that even when he had the Stone of Time, Azekiel wanted to help him. Despite knowing that he was in a better situation with Raphael, he was still willing to lose him just to give Raphael thest that he needed. Even though his n didn''te to fruition, just the fact that Azekiel wasn''t only thinking about himself, it highlighted just what kind of personality he had. With that consideration, Raphael couldn''t bring himself to betray Azekiel. Even when his body and his memories were on the line, he decided to listen to his heart. Ever since he was little, he was taught the importance of loyalty. He couldn''t give that up now for his selfish gains since betraying Azekiel now could just as easily result in his death. "He was able to see me," Raphael confessed. "What do you mean he was able to see you? You mean like we can?" "That''s right. Not only was he able to see me, but he was also able to hear me. And it seems he also knew where we were hiding before I started chasing after him." Now that Raphael had confirmed his side, he decided toe clean. If that meant he wasn''t going to get his body back, then so be it. If it meant that he was making a wrong decision which he was going to regret, then so be it! He was prepared to do it! It was his decision, and he had decided to live with it. It didn''t matter what was going to happenter on. He was ready to live with the consequences of his actions if it turned out that Alion was right, but until then, he wasn''t going to change anything about himself. "That''s right. He was able to see me like you all can. And not only me, he was able to see Lia as well," Raphael answered. "That''s why I said that he isn''t like the Soul Demon that we faced. Nor is he like Av that you fought." "We were unknown for the two of them. They didn''t know what we were capable of, and even then, we were quite lucky that we were able to win. But in this situation, the enemy knows many things about us." "He knows how we fight. He knows what we''re capable of, and he also knows that Lia and I can support you in battle. Despite that, he didn''t attack us when he could use his entire army. It''s like he is waiting for something or just wants to toy with us." "It isn''t entirely unlikely that he knows how we fight. It''s possible that Lenora told him since she saw us fight. She also saw you before. As for Lia, he must''ve seen her fight inside the tower as well. What we can be sure of is that the man has ess to the tower." "But despite knowing about us, he didn''t attack us. He didn''t even bring his Monsters to attack us. Instead, he pretended not to see us. Doesn''t that mean he wants to avoid a battle with us?" Lia asked. "It could be possible that even he isn''t sure that he can defeat us? It''s also possible that he''s trying to intimidate us, so we leave." "I doubt that would be the case. Considering the possibility that he is scared of us? That would be us being too optimistic. Not only did he see me, but he also talked with me. We had an entire discussion where I tried to get as much information as he could." Raphael rejected the notion right away. He had confidence in his ability of being able to see through a person, at least things like fear. He didn''t feel even a single shred of fear. "Throughout the conversation, I didn''t see a single shred of fear. I don''t think there was even a moment where I saw even the slightest of uncertainty in his eyes. Those eyes... They weren''t the eyes of someone who was scared of us. Instead, they were the eyes of someone who didn''t even consider an enemy worth his attention at the moment." Raphael further exined that he could see that Lia wasn''t taking him seriously. They still didn''t understand the essence of what he was trying to say. "Then why won''t he attack us? Don''t tell me he is so strong that he wants to have mercy on us. As you said, he hates us since he spoiled his n. Not only him, but the girl who works for him also hates us. And that''s not even counting the fact that we killed so many monsters." "Why wouldn''t he attack us? We killed his people, and we soiled his n. Despite that, he just has a nice heart to heart with you and tells us to run away. If he was really that merciful, would he really destroy all life in this city? Would he kill billions of people?" Lia asked, slightly agitated that Raphael was making an enemy sound like an undefeatable god who was taking mercy on them! "Did you also not destroy a town yourself?" Raphael asked, for the first time losing hisposure as well. Here he was, trying to help them, and his intentions were being questioned. Chapter 167 167: Personal "I did. And I didn''t go around acting like I was merciful. If I hated someone who was weak like an ant, I would''ve had mercy on them either. Anything else? That man isn''t a merciful god! If he''s letting us leave and avoiding a battle, no way in hell is it because he''s merciful! We can''t fall for his words or his act." Lia also snapped back in response. "You are always so good at your thoughts, and understanding the situation; why are you acting like a naive person who will believe anything that anyone says? You know there''s a saying! Don''t look at what I say; look at what I do! And you''re focusing more on his words and his act?" "We all know that it''s a difficult battle. And instead of helping us with a n or in trying to find that man''s weakness, you have been trying to scare us since the beginning. Is that how motivation works before a war? By saying that the enemy is having mercy on us, so we should run away?" A discussion between Raphael and Lia changed into an argument, and Azekiel couldn''t do anything but stand back and watch. He wanted to intervene, but both sides were getting so agitated that even he had a hard time finding a way to stop them. Unfortunately, he couldn''t let it go on for longer as that was bad for their team. After a long time, they had started working in sync. This argument was bad for them all, especially since it weakened their team right before an important battle. "Shut up!" Ultimately, since no one stopped talking, Azekiel had to be even louder than them. If he wasn''t loud, he was being ignored in this argument. "Both of you shut up!" He once again eximed. Finally, Raphael and Lia stopped talking. Both of them stared at Azekiel. From their faces, it was evident that they were still angry at the other person, but despite that, they both stopped speaking. ? "Both of you need to calm down! Don''t forget; we are all on the same side! You can''t lose yourposure like this!" Azekiel reminded the two of them. "Both of you, take deep breaths! For the next five minutes, none of you will say anything!" To calm down the situation, first, he needed to make the two warriors calm down, and the best way to do that was to stop them from speaking. He instructed them to stay silent for the next five minutes. Even though it was a short duration, he believed five minutes were just enough. Raphael and Lia both stopped speaking. Even though they asionally nced at each other, but they looked elsewhere just as fast. Fortunately, the short rest of five minutes did manage to calm their heads a little. Even though they were still a bit angry, it was way better than before. "Now that you''re both silent, listen to me! I think you two are fighting over nothing. First, Lia." Azekiel nced at Lia. "Even though Raphael''s way of telling us how dangerous the enemy is might not sound like a good news for us or for anyone''s morale, he is just telling what he saw and felt." "And since it''s Raphael, there is a good chance that he might not be wrong. Then again, if we don''t consider the enemy''s strengths, how can we find ways to counter them? We can''t just close our eyes to what that guy knows about us and fight blind?" "If he really knows so much about us, then certainly he is more dangerous than Av was. So instead of looking at it like it''s fear mongering, can''t we look at it like a session to understand the enemy and how he acts." "I agree that he has an ulterior motive for not attacking us when he could, but Raphael never said that it was because he was merciful! So think about what he said from a different perspective. I''m sure you might be able to see what Raphael was trying to imply." Lia didn''t respond, but she did understand what Azekiel was trying to say. She also understood that maybe she became a bit too hyper for no reason, misunderstanding Raphael. Azekiel didn''t leave Raphael either. "Raphael, I know what you were trying to say. And I believe youpletely. If the man knows about us, then it''s certainly dangerous for us, but just because it''s dangerous, we can''t run away, can we? Throughout our journey, was there anything that wasn''t dangerous?" " Even when we fought Av and the Soul Demon, we barely avoided death. It was by great luck. But that wasn''t the only ce where we were at risk. Ever since I started climbing the tower, I''ve been prepared for death. It''s my second life, and I don''t want to live like a coward in this life." "Even though it might make mee off as stupid at times, but I don''t care. Instead of running back, I would much rather prefer to stand and fight, even if it means death! And that''s when the enemies were ordinary!" "This man, however, is the person who is responsible for my entire lifeing upside down! He''s responsible for my mother''s death, and now that I have an opportunity, if I run away, I don''t think I''ll ever be able to forgive myself! If I run away, I''ll never be able to face myself! It''ll be like throwing away my entire life again!" "So yes, no matter how strong he is... No matter how much he knows about me... No matter what the oue of this battle... I won''t run away. Now, I won''t jump blindly into the battle, but I won''t run away, either. So we are here, and we are here to stay." "I understand." Raphael nodded. "Also, one more thing..." Azekiel further remembered one more thing. However, he couldn''t say it before Lia. He told Raphael to follow him. It was only after they covered some distance they stopped. "What you told Lia about her past... That came off like personal attacks. I''m sure you didn''t mean it, but still, I just thought I should mention it." "I also realize that. I really lost myposure there. I should''ve been more careful. I will talk to her about it." Chapter 168 168: The Choice Azekiel patted Raphael''s shoulders. "That''s much better." Azekiel and Raphael went back, returning to Lia, who was wondering what the two were talking about. She had a feeling that they were talking about her. "Maybe I really scolded him for no reason." Lia scratched the back of her head. "I misunderstood him." As soon as Raphael returned, even though Lia looked somewhat hesitant, he apologized to Raphael about how she reacted. "I am sorry for yelling at you." Raphael wanted to apologize to Lia, but seeing her apologize to him, he was taken aback. "I am also sorry for the things I said. My intentions weren''t to hurt you." Azekiel watched the two apologize to each other, standing in the back. He could feel that the two were now finally grasping just what small thing they were fighting over before. "Alright, that''s a good beginning. Now let''s talk about the main thing..." He asked Raphael to talk about what else he saw and if there was anything significant that he forgot to tell. "Was there any weakness that you think we can exploit?" The man shook his head. "I didn''t see any significant weakness, but I did find something that we can use to our advantage." "And what is that?" Azekiel inquired. "He knows about us quite a lot, but he doesn''t know why we''re here. He doesn''t know your quest or your reasoning," Raphael exined. "He seemed really eager to know. I think we might be able to use that..." "If we''re going to fight, we need to be smart about it," he further added. "You have a n, it seems." Azekiel smiled. From the way Raphael talked, he could feel that Raphael had something. "I do have something of a n, but the chances of it working... I am not sure about that." Raphael looked around the house as soon as he finished, as if trying to find something. "What are you looking for?" "I''m looking for a paper and something to write." "Wait a minute." Azekiel ran upstairs and returned with a pen and a notepad. He gave the two to Raphael. Raphael wrote something on the piece of paper before giving the paper to Raphael. He wrote something else and gave the other paper to Lia. In both papers, he wrote something simr yet quite different. "Each of those two papers contains a n. I want you two to go through them and see what you think is the best." "Which one do you think is best?" Lia asked. "I think you should select." "I want to leave that to you. I don''t trust my selection at this point, so I want you both to decide. Whatever n you choose is what we''ll go through," Raphael responded, taking a step back. "Both the ns share one element between them. It''s that we would need to fool Alion, but the rest is different between the two, so go through them carefully." Azekiel went through the piece of paper in his hand, going through the n. Lia also read her paper. After the two finished, both swapped the papers and read the second one. It took them barely ten minutes to read both the ns. "You think he would fall for it?" Azekiel asked, gazing at Raphael in surprise. "That will depend on our luck," Raphael answered. "I can''t say anything about that. But I certainly hope that it will work." "So, did you decide what n is better?" "I think the first one is better," Azekielmented before asking Lia. "What about you?" "I also think that the first n is better. It looks less risky, and there are more uncertain factors at y there. But at the end of the day, it all depends on our ability to fool that man." "That''s certainly true, but if he''s certainly as curious as Raphael thinks, then it might work. We would be using Alion''s curiosity to our advantage, after all," Raphael chimed in, tearing the piece of paper. He had already learned the n. "First n it is then," Raphael affirmed. "I''ll go and ce the foundation of the n. You two can prepare for your parts." Raphael left the house, leaving the two youngsters behind. As soon as he left the house, his wings came out, and he flew into the distance. However, he didn''t fly back to Alion directly. Instead, he stopped at a tall building in the way, sitting at the edge. Even though he decided to support Azekiel, it was still a decision weighing heavy on his shoulders that he was rejecting the chances of receiving his body back. Before meeting Alion, he wanted to calm his head, so he didn''t give anything away. At the moment, everything depended on his ability to fool Alion, but when it came to that, even he wondered if he could do it. Alion wants an idiot that could be fooled that easily, even by him. While sitting in the building, Raphael could see the beasts roaming around in the city. The city really had be a bastion of the beasts, and this wasn''t the only city that was going through this. He was also curious about just how many beasts in total there were in the entire world. "His army is certainly massive. But who is he? I wonder if I can get him to actually answer just how he knows about Azekiel and me as much we he ims." After being alone with his thoughts for close to half an hour, Raphael stood up. Even now, he felt that he wasn''t entirely ready, but he needed to take care of things." He stood up and flew to the castle. Hended before the castle, which was still as empty on the outside. There were no guards there at all. Just as freely asst time, Raphael entered the castle. He went to the same hall, wondering if Alion was still going to be there. Surprisingly, he was. Alion was still lying on the sofa, but he appeared to be sleeping peacefully at the moment. Seeing Alion sleep on the couch without a care in the World, this seemed like the best opportunity to kill him Chapter 169 169: Hes Here To Kill Raphael observed Alion. ''Is he really sleeping, or is he pretending?'' "Have you decided?" Raphael got the answer to his question within a few minutes as Alion answered without even opening his eyes. It was evident that he was awake. It was as if not only was he awake, but he could also see Raphael. "I have." Raphael nodded, taking a seat before Alion. "I am ready to help you in exchange for my freedom, my memories, and my body. But first, I want you to prove that you won''t betray me. I want you to keep your side of the deal first!" "That won''t be a problem. Before you kill Azekiel, I''ll certainly get you your physical form back. But first, tell me what he''s here for. What brought Azekiel to this city at a time like this?" "The answer is simple. It''s you." Raphael smirked. "You brought him here. You are the one he is here for." "Me?" Alion opened his eyes, gazing at Raphael through the corner of his eyes. "That''s right. He is here for you. He is here to kill you," Raphael confessed. **** In another part of the city, Azekiel and Lia were standing on top of a building, gazing at Lenora in the distance. Lenora just came out of the house after observing the insides. For now, she was without her beasts. She has just finished searching the house, only to not find anyone inside. She was also getting slightly frustrated with her failures at this point. The city was massive when it came to searching. And even with her beasts spread out, it was taking a really long time. She really wondered if Azekiel was still in the city or if he had run away, entering the tower again. If he did run away, he knew she was going to hate herself for letting him run away, but if he didn''t run, then she would at least have an opportunity to kill him. "No one in the vicinity, right?" Azekiel asked Lia, making sure. "None. The ground is clear." "Good," Azekiel called out his gauntlets before finally jumping. At the same time, he attacked Lenora as well, using his energy bullets. It was as if Lenora could sense the energy bullets. She could sense danger, which made her jump aside without even having to look back. The energy bullets hit the house behind her instead ofnding on her. The energy bullets destroyed whatever support the house had, which brought the house crumbling down. Lenora bnced herself before swiftly turning around. "So you didn''t run away! That''s perfect! Just what I was hoping for!" Instead of being angry that she was attacked from behind, Lenora was ted. Azekiel was still in the city! He hadn''t run away! That was exactly what she wanted! "Who will I run from? You?" Azekiel asked in return, finding the entire notion to be amusing. He was here to kill Alion, and he would run from Lenora. The assumption would''ve been funny if it wasn''t that stupid. "This time, your word maniption won''t work on you! This time, I won''t leave you alone!" "Of course, you won''t because I don''t want you to leave me alone. If I wanted to, why would I evene here? By the way, thank you." "For what?" Lenora frowned, receiving a sudden thanks out of nowhere. "For being distracted that easily," Azekiel smirked. Lia had already positioned herself behind Lenora. Since Lenora was distracted by Azekiel, she didn''t realize that the scent around her had changed, which she was inhaling. She also started feeling somewhat sleepy. In her anger, her mind was overwhelmed with Azekiel, not even realizing that he could be using her surroundings to his advantage. It was only when she started feeling sleepy that she realized something was wrong! On top of that, Azekiel''s words thanking her.. the two things made her believe that something was wrong. But before she could attempt anything, her knees turned weak. She dropped to the ground. "It''s toote, Lenora." Azekiel walked closer to the youngdy. "You''ve already inhaled too much of it. That''s why I should thank you for being such a great help. Who knew it would be so easy to keep you distracted by me." "You..." Lenora felt extremely weak. Her eyes were refusing to stay open. She wanted to fight back, but for some reason, even her body refused to listen to her. She couldn''t even stand, let alone move to a ce where she could avoid this strange Scent. With time, things only became worse before she ultimately started stammering. "We should leave now before your petse." Azekiel picked up Lenora, who finally lost her consciousness, overwhelmed by drowsiness. After taking Lenora, he left the ce, going back to a ce where they didn''t have to worry about hordes of Monsters. Taking Lenora with him, Azekiel went back to his home. At least whatever little bit was left of his home. Since they had selected the first n, one of the most crucial elements of it was for Azekiel to kidnap Lenora without killing her, and he achieved that all too well. **** "He wants to kill me? At this time?" Alion sat up. "Does he not know how weak he is at this point? Is he an idiot or really that naive?" "For him, you are the one who killed his family. You destroyed his life, so he hates you. That''s why, as soon as he thought that he had enough strength to face you, he left the Tower and came here to kill you since he couldn''t sleep at peace as long as the people who killed her family were alive." "Not like it was his real family. Why is he so angry about a few strangers? And what about all the times he..." "Anyway, thanks for giving me this information." Alion appeared to stop himself from speaking what he was going to and instead changed the topic. "He is really here to help me; then it makes it even better." Chapter 170 170: Paradox From Future "Help you? I told you he is here to kill you." Raphael didn''t understand why this guy was misunderstanding him when he was being so clear. He said clearly that Azekiel wasn''t here to help him but to kill him. How could he confuse that with help? "You won''t understand, Raphael. At least not until you know what I do now." "And what is that?" Raphael asked. "Since we are working together, shouldn''t you be telling me what you know? If I''m going to trust you, then shouldn''t you trust me as well?" "If not, then how can I trust you myself? How can I know that you aren''t just making up a story? Tell me why you seem to avoid killing Azekiel. Just why? I want to know everything that you know. You say you know something about Azekiel that I don''t know? If you''re not just lying, then you should be able to tell me." "As I said, I''ll tell you when it''s time. If I tell you right now, it might break your mind and your entire worldview. Then that would be a problem," Alion responded. "If you know, that will bring you under the same set of limitations as me. And I don''t want that to happen. At least not until Azekiel is killed." "I want you to gain back your past memories and your body back first. Then after you kill Azekiel with Lenora, I will tell you everything... I''ll tell you the reality of our world and everything that is hiding behind this seemingly ordinary reality in in sight. "If you think us attacking Earth was wrong, then what happened to us was even worse... We are just trying to make everything right. But that''s not enough! We need more resources! We need one more Time Stone!" "You need one more Time Stone?" Raphael grimaced. "Does that mean you already have one or more?" Alion simply smiled in response. "You can think what you want to make of that statement. As I said, I can''t tell you anything. I don''t want to create a paradox. You have no idea how badly I want to tell you, Raphael... No idea." "A paradox? By telling me? How is that possible? Unless... You aren''t from this time?" Even though Alion didn''t tell Raphael in explicit terms, just his use of the Paradox was enough to give Raphael some ideas. The only way a paradox could be created was if the present was dealing with the future. Small changes couldn''t affect the future in a big way, but if the change was big enough, then the Paradox was going to be created, which had the potential of sealing them in a time loop that was impossible to get out of. That''s also one of the reasons he wanted Azekiel to about traveling back in time, even if he had the Stone of Time. Alion remained silent for a brief moment before shaking his head. "I should''ve realized who I was dealing with. You''re still the same old Raphael, who is always so quick to understand." "So I was right. You are from the future? Is that how you know Azekiel and me? Is that why you say that I don''t know Raphael more than you?" "That''s right. I know Azekiel more than you can imagine. At least at this point in time. That man... He isn''t what he looks like. Raphael, I''m being absolutely honest when I say this, but that man! He is the reason behind all our problems! If I could, I would''ve killed him with my own hands!" "Wait. If it''s about a Paradox, won''t you influencing me to kill Azekiel to create a paradox as well? If it''s a paradox that can be created with me just knowing about the future, then killing Azekiel would create an even bigger one." "Moreover, if you came here at this time to kill Azekiel, if I kill him, Azekiel won''t have a future. And if he doesn''t have a future, you probably won''t meet him at whatever point in time that you do. And if you don''t meet him, you won''t know him. You won''te back to influence me, and he''ll still be alive? Isn''t that an infinite loop?" "I didn''te here to kill Azekiel... My intention wasn''t toe at this time period. But the Time Stone I had could only get me this far. That''s why I had to do everything I did." "That''s why I had to destroy most of the humanity... That''s why I had to bring on the Apocalypse for the earth because that was the only way for me to call the Tower of Sin," Alion answered. He further exined. "As you might''ve guessed by what I said so far, the Tower of Sin onlyes to worlds that are near destruction or that are almost destroyed. In other words, the Tower will only appear in an apocalyptic world." "When I left with the Stone of Time from our reality, I didn''t know that it was going to toss me here and be destroyed. I needed more... I needed to go back more... So I called the Tower." "You knew the stone of time was on the third floor of the tower!" Raphael understands everything. "That''s why Lenora was there! That''s why you knew so much about the tower!" "That''s right. I knew where that Stone of Time was at this point. In fact, that''s the only Stone of Time I know since I was the person who received that Stone of Time in the future. That''s also the stone I used toe back in the future." "So the time loop paradox that you''re talking about? They are already created... In fact, many of them. But the paradox I''m talking about is way more than the time loop paradox. What I''m talking about is way more dangerous... And not for us only." "Killing Azekiel isn''t my goal. In fact, I didn''t even know he was in this city when we attacked. That''s why he managed to escape before since we weren''t looking for him. But now that I have an opportunity, I don''t want to let it pass. Help me, and save yourself from future pain." Chapter 171 171: Prospects After the brief exnation from Alion, there was only a momentary silence as Raphael started thinking about what he was told. If it was all true, then this information was of great consequence. If Alion was actually from the future and was telling the truth, that was definitely implying he knew quite a lot about Azekiel. It also seemed that whatever he knew about Azekiel wasn''t good news. "Considering that everything you told me is the truth, the future is moreplicated than I thought. But that also means that we are already in the Time Loop Paradox. But how did it start in the first ce? If you im to know Azekiel and me from the future and know me so well, that means we must''ve been quite familiar?" "We were. We were in the same team, working toward the same goal." Alion nodded. "Then how did you not know that Azekiel was going to be here? If you knew Azekiel that well, I''m sure you would''ve known that this event was what pushed him inside the tower in the first ce. You don''t know about that, do you?" "Because that wasn''t what happened," Alion answered. "Then what happened?" "Raphael?" Alion rolled his eyes. " I told you; I''m not telling you what happened." "You im that it''s because it''ll set some paradox into motion. But you also im we are already in a paradox. Then what kind of paradox could there be?" "The paradox which will kill us all. Since I''m from that timeline, only I can know about that... Existence. If you find out about it, it''ll be quite troublesome for this timeline, as that will... Argh, I need to be quite careful with what I tell you." "Just know that killing Azekiel would be doing great service for the future. Even though it won''t change much until I can go back in time even more, but that will still... slow things down to some extent." "Again, everything you''re telling sounds hard to believe. How can knowledge set a paradox that will destroy us? If I don''t act on that knowledge, it should be safe. Without telling me, you''re just asking me to trust this absurd information out of nowhere which I find a bit hard to do." "I know you''re a person who is always suspicious of others. And I don''t expect you to believe me either. But as I said, I can''t tell you everything. I don''t know what might be told and what can''t be. I don''t want to walk that thin line and risk everything. But I can prove something else!" Alion ced his hand in his pocket and brought out a small bracelet, made using his hands. Raphael stared at the bracelet, which had his name carved on it. Not only was there his own name, but there was also the name of his master. Raphael checked inside his pocket. The same bracelet was there as well. It was the bracelet that he had carved with his own hands. He also wrote the names himself in it. He only made one of it in his lifetime. "How do you have it?!" "Definitely not given by you... At least not the current version of you," Alion answered. "It''s from the future. Now, do you believe me?" "I can believe you''re from the future. But that bracelet doesn''t prove that we were friends. I wouldn''t give that even to my friends!" "I know." The man smiled. "You were very stern about it, and I also know why. You told me you made it when you were seven years old. It was supposed to be a gift for your master, but you could never get yourself to give it to him, afraid that he was going to reject it since it was so crudely made." "Now tell me, will you tell this story to a stranger or an enemy? We were together for years. We fought many battles in our time. In one of those battles, you dropped it. I picked it up, but before I could give... Argh, why are you making me risk the reality just for your curiosity? Shut up and trust me!" Alion was slightly irritated at how close he hade to telling something he wasn''t supposed to tell. "I''ve already proven that we knew each other and that we weren''t enemies. Moreover, I''m also offering you your freedom from Azekiel and a way to get your body back because you were my friend. Don''t miss this opportunity over your suspicions. I promise, after you kill Azekiel, I can tell you more!" "Why not now? What will change after I kill him that you''ll be able to tell?" Alion scratched his head, starting to get irritated to some extent. Raphael just kept asking questions that he couldn''t answer. Azekiel picked up his arms. "After you kill him, I would be able to tell you without being at much risk. But if I tell you now, it''ll be quite disastrous. It''s all because of Azekiel. As long as he exists, I can''t let you know about it." Alion knew that he sounded suspicious, but he also let ite across that he had no choice of his own. His words did give some clue to Raphael, but never the exact picture for some reason. "So Azekiel''s presence and that knowledge in this timeline are what sets off that loop, even if I keep that information a secret. Is that because you think he might be able to read my mind and know about it? There is always the possibility that he will get that skill in the future. But..." On one end, Raphael was trying to find what could be the reasoning behind this secret. On the other end, Alion was shaking his head as if finding Raphael''s assumption wrong. Raphael didn''t see him shake his head as he was distracted by his own thoughts. "Why do you take so long? Just help me. What''s there to lose? You only gain, even if we ignore all the future prospects! Kill Azekiel, and join me! We can both go back in the past together and then solve this entire mess from the root!" Alion firmly stated. Chapter 172 172: Override "I already gave you so much time, and you''re still thinking so much. Fine. Take more time! I''m going out to take a walk! I feel like I''ll go crazy if I stay with you and your questions! Tell me if your answer is yes, because I''m not going to tell you anything more. If you believe me, then good. If you don''t, then also fine. I don''t have a lifetime to stay here and convince you." "I''ve already wasted three years of my life in this ce!" Alion opened the door to leave the hall. "Lenora? What are you doing here? Did you find them?" As soon as the man opened the door, he saw Lenora standing outside. Raphael also looked back, surprised to some extent. Why was she here? Wasn''t there a n to kidnap her? Did they fail? "I didn''t find them. It seems they have left the town. I searched everywhere," Lenora answered. Alion frowned in response. Something wasn''t right. The girl didn''t address him as father this time. It was definitely odd, but he didn''t think there was a problem. There were times when she didn''t address him as father. It could also be because he had just messed with her memories again, so he didn''t think much of it. "I don''t think he left the ce. He came here to kill me. There is no way he could leave that easily. He must be hiding somewhere in the city. Continue searching." Alion knew exactly where Azekiel was hiding. He was quite amazed at the ipetence is his people that they failed to find him even now. Despite this, he didn''t tell her anything about where to search. He wasn''t nning for them to catch him either in the first ce. At least not yet. "Get to work now. I''ll be going out as well." Alion pushed Lenora aside before he started leaving. Lenora kept her eyes on him, nodding. However, as soon as her back was facing Raphael, he saw a mark on her back. "The-" Before he could say anything, he saw Lenora rush ahead. Raphael also stood up, calling out for Alion to be careful. He didn''t consider Alion his friend yet, but he also didn''t want Alion to die yet. Alion had many answers that he needed about the future! He didn''t want Alion to disappear just like that! He wanted to know about Azekiel! Just what secret was there? Just why did he consider Azekiel a demon for them both? Just what was the secret about Azekiel that could destroy their reality? Unfortunately, by the time he reached the door, he saw a Sword in Lenora''s hand. Alion was still standing with his back facing Lenora, but there was a thin line of blood around his neck now. Alion was still in disbelief. His head started tilting to the side as the red line kept getting bigger. Before long, his head rolled to the side, dropping to the ground. If there was one person that he had a low guard against, it was Lenora since she was under his control. Even now, he knew that his control on her wasn''t broken, even though he hadn''t tested it. But why then? Why did she attack him when she was his ve? And that too, without him feeling that there was something wrong with his control at the core. Lenora didn''t just stop at Alion. She turned the sword at her, stabbing her own chest. She dropped to her knees as well, falling to the ground beside Alion. Raphael stood nkly. He understood everything that happened here! It was the work of Lia! He wanted to scream at the top of his lungs. It wasn''t his n! It wasn''t any of the two ns that he gave Azekiel! Moreover, the ck mark on Lenora''s back was definitely the mark of Servitude! He now knew that they had managed to capture Lenora, but instead of following the n after that, they changed it mid-way! He was also sure that it must be the n change that was suggested by Lia! He was so angry. All his opportunity of finding the truth so he could make the right decision was gone! **** While Raphael was angry inside the tower, Lia was celebrating outside! Before sending Lenora inside, she was worried that Alion might find out that Lenora was under their control now, especially after he was hyped so much by Raphael. ,m Fortunately, she decided to take a risk. She asked Azekiel if they should do it while giving a suggestion. She didn''t expect him to take up her suggestion and stop Raphael''s n! Now that she had seeded, she was so excited, she was yelling. "We did it!" Azekiel appeared to already know that they had seeded as a congrattions message appeared before him. He was so d he took the risk. Also, he was somewhat surprised at how swiftly this went. "It''s much easier to be killed by someone you trust than by your enemy at today''s time." He was d that it worked but also understood that this gave him something to think about. If one day, someone could control someone he trusted, he could also end up the same way. Fortunately, there wasn''t anyone he trusted other than his Familiars. And as long as they were his Familiars, they couldn''t kill him. He knew that he needed to be more careful with who he trusted in the future or allowed to get close to him. Lia''s excitement only increased with time as this was such an achievement for her! She had be like a child at the moment. She had proven that she could also be smart at times. In her happiness, she hugged Azekiel firmly, who was still distracted by his screen. Azekiel came out of his daze, feeling a warm hug. She was somewhat amused at his happy Lia was with this. He hugged her back. "Yeah. You did it. Thank you for the help!" Chapter 173 173: Impossible Suggestion "Great work, Lia." Azekiel patted Lia''s head. Everything happened so fast that even he found it hard to believe that they had seeded. It was as if he was overthinking everything before. Lia came to her senses, soon enough to realize that she was in Azekiel''s embrace. She freed him and stepped back. "Shall we see our reward?" "Yeah." Azekiel entered the castle, being led by Lia. The quest waspleted, and all thanks to Lia. Because of the trick they pulled, they didn''t need to didn''t Alion, which was the best part since fighting him was the most troublesome part of the quest because of his strength. Fortunately, the quest didn''t mention that he needed to kill Alion like a gentleman by fighting him. Since the words weren''t clear about that, he believed this was quite fair. It was quite simr to how he finished his floor quest on the second floor of the tower. Azekiel cared less about the process at this point and more about the goals. Even if he had to take a route like this, he didn''t care. He would''ve preferred to kill Alion with his own hands to get his revenge, but after considering Raphael''s description about Alion''s strength, he let that stubbornness go and agreed to Lia''s n. Now that he had seeded, the n paid off as well. He entered the castle and reached Alion''s body. Raphael was standing right beside the body, without much expression on his face. "We did it!" Lia eximed as if informing Raphael as well. "We cleared the mission in one day!" "So this really was your n," Raphaelmented. "It was. We were going with your n, but when we kidnapped the girl, I realized that her consciousness was linked to someone indirectly. You also imed that the man knew everything we did. That could only mean she was connected to this man." "That''s how he knew about us. So we came up with the n to use her without disturbing the connection, thanks to the mark of Servitude. It was even easier to achieve when she was unconscious." "Since it was a sudden change of n, and we didn''t have much time to pull this off, we decided to execute it right away," Azekiel chimed in as well. "It went perfectly, especially since you kept the man''s mind distracted. It was a group contribution." Azekiel patted Raphael''s shoulders. "Thank you as well." After finishing, Azekiel went to his knees and reached out his hand to use Soul Snatch on Alion. That way, he was also nning to gain his memories using the Gluttony of Knowledge to know just who this person was and why he attacked them. "I think you should use the card of Summon on him," Raphael abruptly said, right when Azekiel was about to use Soul Snatch. "Why?" Azekiel asked, seemingly confused. "This man killed my family. I don''t want him as a Familiar." "He is quite strong when he isn''t being backstabbed. I believe he is stronger than Av. If you make him your familiar, it can be quite good for our future. Moreover, we would most probably need him with all his knowledge and strength. Through him, we can also control all the Monsters and have them stop hunting humans." "Moreover, he killed your family. Is such a death really enough for someone like him? Make his soul work for you to atone for the sins hemitted." Raphael''s suggestions sounded quite valid and logical from the outside, especially with all the reasoning he gave, but only Raphael knew why he was asking that. If Alion was honest, that meant his knowledge could destroy everything if it reached Azekiel. That knowledge could only be stopped if Azekiel didn''t use Soul Snatch and Gluttony of Knowledge with it. If he used the Soul Card to make Alion a Familiar, that information could be prevented from reaching Azekiel! Moreover, in that way, Alion could return to inform him just what actually happened in the future and what he was so worried about. Raphael still had many questions that could only be answered by Alion. "I think that can be good." Lia also agreed with Raphael on this. "Even though we were able to kill him that easily, in battles, he shouldn''t be this easy to kill. He could help us quite a lot in the future." It was rare to see both of them agree. Despite that, Azekiel still found it hard to agree with their suggestions. No matter how valid their suggestions were, bringing Alion back as his summon seemed hard. It was like him giving another life to the one who killed his mother. Even if Alion was going to be like a servant, which could be a punishment for him but still, this seemed something he was hesitant to do. Alion''s presence was always going to remind him about the past. Also, he couldn''t trust Alion like he could with Raphael and Lia. Even though it was true that Alion knew quite a lot about the tower which made it a good idea to have him as a familiar but, that wasn''t enough; if it was about battle prowess, he trusted Raphael and Lia to fight and win. If it was about knowledge, he could take all the knowledge that Alion possessed through Glutton of Knowledge. If it was about punishing Alion by keeping him as a servant, that was less of a punishment for Alion and more of a punishment for him. It was a hard decision to disagree on something that was suggested by Raphael, but he did so. He clenched his fist before dering his decision. "I''m afraid I''ll have to reject that suggestion." Contrary to Raphael''s expectations, Azekiel rejected his suggestion and went along with his n. He ced his hand on Alion''s chest. "Soul Snatch!" Before Raphael could say anything else, Azekiel used Soul Snatch, which activated the Gluttony of Knowledge as well. Massive amounts of Spiritual Energy entered Azekiel''s body, but what was more important was the knowledge... Chapter 174 174: Gluttony Raphael wanted to stop Azekiel. He even thought that he was seeding in convincing Azekiel to stop the n of using Soul Snatch on Alion. Still, unfortunately, he was somewhat too optimistic, especially when Lia agreed with him. Even he hadn''t expected that Azekiel was going to refuse his suggestion and Lia''s. Normally, there was Gluttony of Knowledge on his first kill, which worked right before the Soul Energy started transferring. It was the same even this time as well. [Gluttony of Knowledge activated] A flood of memories started rushing inside the head of Azekiel, overwhelming his own mind. The memories were just too many. It was as if the man had lived for thousands of years and had seen so much that it was too overpowering for Azekiel''s head. If it was an ordinary person, that many memories would have been enough to break his mind. Fortunately for him, with his strength growing, even his mental strength had grown, thanks to all the Spiritual Strength he had absorbed throughout the weeks. The memories gave him a heavy headache as if his head was going to explode, but it was still bearable for him. Instead of thinking about the headache, Azekiel was more immersed in the memories. He even lost control over his body which dropped to the ground, right beside Alion. "What is happening? Is he fine?" Lia became slightly concerned to see Azekiel fall. She hadn''t seen him like that before. His expressions also made it look like he was in pain for now. Raphael stood with a deep frown on his face. He knew that it wasn''t dangerous for Azekiel. It was just the side effects of absorbing so many memories at once. What concerned him more was the effects this was going to have. Alion was extremely worried about some informed getting out, which he considered too dangerous for everything in existence. Because of that, I wasn''t even willing to tell that to him as long as Azekiel was alive. But now... That knowledge was already going to Azekiel. Raphael couldn''t do anything but watch, wondering just how it was going to y out. Was the reality really going to be destroyed? Or was Alion just exaggerating about it? That was the biggest question. If it was thetter, that meant Alion was just acting and trying to fool him, which was the better option for now. But if it was the former, that begged the question. Just what was going to happen after Azekiel finished umting all this knowledge? Not only did the memories continue flooding Azekiel, but the spiritual energy also rushed into his body, leaving Alion''s body, increasing his strength even more. The strength increase wasn''t any less either. Instead of just increasing his strength by a fraction, the increase was so much that it essentially doubled all his stats. Moreover, what was even more surprising was that for the first time, his hunger stat actually came down. The process continued for a long time, and Azekiel continued to resist the urge to give up because of the pain. He bore with all the pain, even asionally roaring like a wild beast. The knowledge umtionsted for close to an hour without a break. Fortunately, it eventually stopped as all the memories reached Azekiel. Finally, he could stop, but by now, his mind was so overburdened that as soon as he stepped, forcing himself to stay up, he lost consciousness. It was as if it was a way for his mind to tell him to just shut down everything for now as it went through the memories properly. Azekiel''s screams stopped. The signs of pain on his face also disappeared as it appeared like he had gone to a peaceful sleep. His chest was still heaving up and down. Raphael picked up Azekiel in his arms. No matter what the future held, he couldn''t be scared of it. He didn''t know what Alion was worried about, but for now, Azekiel was still the same old friend that he knew. He carried Azekiel to a room inside, cing him on a bed to let him rest as he hoped that nothing was going to change because of these memories. Throughout the rest of the day, Lia and Raphael waited in the room for Azekiel to wake up. Since he wasn''t injured or wounded, he didn''t need any treatment. The only thing which was hurt was his mind, and it only needed rest. "Raphael, may I ask one thing?" Lia asked Raphael after a long silence. "What?" "For some reason, you didn''t look happy when we killed Alion. I was controlling Lenora, so I didn''t see and hear it. You also called out for someone to stop when I was about to kill Alion. Did you want him alive for some reason?" Lia asked. She didn''t ask this question before Azekiel since she didn''t want to make Azekiel angry by doubting Raphael before him. She knew how much Azekiel trusted him. That''s why she waited for an opportunity like this to ask the question. "Even now, you don''t look happy that we took out our biggest enemy at the moment. Did I do something wrong? Or are you upset that I changed your n?" she asked further. "I don''t think you are the person who would be angry because I took the credit. So I don''t understand why. Why are you not happy? Is it because of me? Or because of something else?" "You are overthinking it," Raphael responded. "I''m also happy that we killed our enemy, but it''s also true that I''m not as happy as I should''ve been. I was asking Alion an impossible question about how he knew about us. He was from the future." "I wanted to know everything that he did, but you suddenly killed him, so I was just a bit taken aback that I couldn''t get the answers I was looking for." "He was from the future?" Lia asked, surprised. "You mean like the real future?" "Yeah. He came to this time using the stone of time as well. I wanted to know why..." Chapter 175 175: Hungry "Unfortunately, before I could get any answers, you killed him. That''s why I wasn''t as excited as you would like me to be. Knowledge is the biggest weapon in this world, but when one fails to grasp Umar knowledge in haste, it is a wasted opportunity." Raphael sighed, gazing at Azekiel on the bed. He continued,[]"I am happy we took out our enemy, but I would''ve been happier if we had done that after we knew everything about him and why he was scared of facing us." "That''s all you worry about? Are you forgetting about Azekiel''s Gluttony of Knowledge? You wanted answers, and Azekiel would have those answers now. Now that Azekiel has all those memories, he would know everything that you''re confused about. In fact, you can ask him everything yourself." Lia couldn''t help but find it funny that it was Raphael''s concern. There was no need to be concerned about it since that knowledge wasn''t lost. "Moreover, thanks to Azekiel, we can now get more urate answers to your questions. Even if Alion had answered you, was there any way for you to be sure that he was telling the truth? He could''ve said one truth and mixed it with a thousand lies. But now, we won''t have to worry about being fooled." "Also, as far as waiting is concerned, we certainly could''ve waited for your return to tell you about this n change, but by then, it might have been toote. Lenora''s consciousness was quite fragile, so we had to act fast." "In any case, I think this worked out quite well. If we hadn''t done it now, who knew how many factors could''vee into yter? We might be at a disadvantage instead. There are so many things that could''ve happened. Selecting the right moment and not wasting it is as important as the n itself." Lia tried to justify her actions. Raphael knew that she was right on her own, but that''s because she didn''t know everything that he did. She was right that Azekiel had the knowledge now, but that''s where the risk arose from. Just what kind of information was this? Just how was it going to change Azekiel?" Forty-eight hours passed away, and Azekiel still hadn''t woken up. His condition appeared to be stable, but he was showing no signs as if he was about to wake up anytime soon. The beasts still roamed around the city, but without Alion and Lenora, they were now aimless. They didn''t know what to do anymore. "Anything?" Raphael asked Lia, who finished checking up on Azekiel. "He seems to be fine. His mind is still tired though. I think the memories he received were too much. It''s taking quite a long time for his mind to grasp and decipher that knowledge." "He still needs more rest," Lia exined before stepping back. Two more days passed, and everything was still the same. It had been over four days since Azekiel left the tower and around the same time since Alion was killed. Without any master, the beasts had started losing control, returning to their wild self. They acted less like an army now and more like beasts that just wanted to kill whatever they saw. The beasts started attacking each other, and it wasn''t just happening in the city. It was happening all around the world as beasts killed each other. The number of beasts around the world had halved in thest four days, and it was only going down more with each passing second as the beasts became more bloodthirsty. Raphael and Lia were still in Azekiel''s room, keeping an eye on him. Azekiel was sitting on a chair with his arms folded. His eyes were closed, making him look like he was sleeping. Lia was sitting on the end near Azekiel. "How long is it going to take... Just what was in those memories that it''s taking him so long to grasp then?" Lia asked, letting out a sigh. It was like she was talking to herself and not answering anyone else. She ced her hand on Azekiel''s forehead to once again check how his condition was, but before her fingers could even though Azekiel''s forehead, his hand grasped her wrist, stopping her. Azekiel opened his eyes, gazing at Lia. "You are up! Finally!" Lia eximed, seeing Azekiel open his eyes. However, as she gazed into Azekiel''s eyes, she felt something strange. His eyes... They were quite different now. His eyes were a lighter shade of green now, looking even more beautiful. His skin also appeared to be clearer now. What was more strange was that she felt a quite different kind of aura from Azekiel now. As soon as he opened his eyes, his aura had changed in essence. From the usual strong yet pure aura, his aura was now much darker and seemed even stronger. Raphael also sensed this aura. He opened his eyes, noticing Azekiel holding Lia''s wrist. Azekiel freed Lia''s hands and sat up. "I am hungry." Even as Azekiel woke up after so long, the first thing that came out of his mouth was that he was hungry. Lia found it quite ordinary though. It had been close to four days since Azekiel ate anything. "There must be something to eat inside your storage time," she reminded him, but Azekiel ignored her as he got off the bed. He left the mansion, surprising others. Normally, when he was hungry, he just brought the fruits out of his ring and ate them as fast as he could since he didn''t like being hungry. Unfortunately, instead of doing that, he was now leaving the mansion. Lia followed after Azekiel with Raphael. The two of them followed him out of the mansion, keeping an eye on him to see where he was going. Raphael understood that it was because of the knowledge. That knowledge had certainly changed him a bit, but how... He wasn''t sure. He was really curious to see what he was going to do. Until now, the reality and the world seemed to be intact, so it was confirmed that the world wasn''t going to be destroyed just by Azekiel knowing this knowledge. However, even then, there was still the question of why this knowledge was dangerous, ording to Alion. Raphael saw Azekiel stop in the middle of the street, noticing two beasts that were fighting in the distance. The beasts also noticed him. As soon as they saw a human, they stopped attacking each other and instead lunged at Azekiel. Azekiel didn''t call out his Gauntlets of Gluttony in anticipation of the attack. He just stood in this ce. "Just what is he doing? Why isn''t he calling the Gauntlets?" Lia asked. "Maybe his mind still isn''t out of his daze. I will help him." p Lia stepped forward to cast a spell to protect Azekiel, but Raphael stopped her. "Don''t do anything. He doesn''t look like he''s in trouble. I want to see what he''s nning." "But what if he isn''t nning? What if he''s really hurt? It''s better safe than sorry. He just woke up after a long sleep." "I have a feeling he isn''t going to be hurt," Raphael answered. "Something is going to happen. Watch." Just as he finished speaking, Azekiel raised his right hand. "Right on time." He opened the system screen before him and ced his hand in the middle of the screen before making a strange Symbol. It was as if his finger was a pen and the screen was a piece of paper. It took him only a few seconds, but as soon as he finished, the screen turned blood red. "Die!" Azekiel called out. As soon as the word came out of his lips, the beasts in the distance fell to the ground, lifeless. The beasts didn''t move anymore. "How..." Lia stood with her lips open. Just how did he do it? Even she couldn''t understand. He hadn''t attacked the beasts. She was watching from start to finish. No attacknded on the beasts. It was as if a single word... That single word killed the beasts, but how was that possible? Even Raphael was taken aback. He had a better vision than Lia, and he had managed to see the red screen. As soon as Azekiel finished carving that strange Symbol, a few words appeared on the screen. He didn''t see much of the words since most of them were hidden by Azekiel''s body, but he did manage to see one. The world was "Master." The System of Gluttony never addressed Azekiel as master. It was more like the owner itself who was making Azekiel dance to its tune. But now it was addressing Azekiel as master? Why? Just what was in that knowledge? Just what did Azekiel know how? Azekiel walked closer to the beasts. He finally called out his Gauntlets, turning it into an ax. "Let''s have a feast." He looked back, talking to Lia and Raphael. There remained a smile on his face, which seemed a little bit crazy. It was an expression that Raphael never saw on Azekiel''s face. Chapter 176 176: Levelled Up Azekiel didn''t even bother taking the two beasts back to the mansion. He found a way to start a fire and cooked the meat himself. He prepared the food. The smell attracted even more beasts to that part of the city, but no matter how many beasts came, they all died at the hands of Azekiel. "Raphael, Lia,e taste as well." Azekiel stood between hundreds of dead bodies. All the beasts in the city were dead, leaving only the three of them alive. Ever since the beginning, Raphael and Lia stood in the distance, just observing Azekiel''s actions. They didn''t know what was happening here, but Azekiel seemed a bit distant to them. It was like he was a bit different. He wasn''t confiding in them like before. He wasn''t telling them to fight. He did everything himself, and now he was calling them to eat as well when he knew that they were in spiritual form and couldn''t eat. Raphael finally stepped closer to Azekiel after enough observation. "What was in the memories that you saw?" "Hmm? You mean Alion''s memories? Just some minor stuff rted to his past. You don''t have to worry about it." Azekiel vaguely answered as if it was actually some small stuff that didn''t matter. Raphael didn''t quite believe him. No one changes this much after finding out minor stuff. It was clear that Azekiel was trying to hide something. "Oh right. I forget. You are in spiritual form. You can''t eat like that. Come to the real world." He tapped Raphael''s shoulders, using his Summon. Raphael was Summoned to the material realm. Azekiel handed him something to eat before moving to Lia. "You too." He ced his hand on Lia, summoning her as well. Surprisingly, it also worked. It had been the first time since he had managed to Summon two familiars, and both at the same time when until recently, he couldn''t. Lia stared at him in amazement. "How did you do that? I thought summoning two was impossible?'' How did he Summon the two of them? That was the biggest question in her head. Even Raphael thought the same. "It''s not necessary that what wasn''t possible will always be impossible. What was impossible yesterday is possible tomorrow, so don''t worry about it. After killing Alion and absorbing his strength, my Summoning Skills have leveled up as well. Now I can Summon both of you simultaneously." ? Azekiel provided the most basic of exnation regarding how he did that. His exnation even made sense to some extent since the spiritual energy he absorbed was definitely quite a lot. Lia believed the exnation, thinking that it was also why he was now strong enough to kill all those beasts that easily. With strength, a person gained more confidence which could also exin why Azekiel was acting somewhat differently. Raphael wasn''t that easy to convince. He knew there was more to it than just that. If there was one person who could answer about the truth, then it was Azekiel, but at the moment, it seemed unlikely that he was going to tell. Raphael knew that it was going to take time to get the truth from Azekiel. More time and more observation were needed. Before Raphael came out of the Tower with Azekiel, he hadplete faith in him, but now there was a seed of suspicion sown in his mind, and he couldn''t calm down until he had an answer. For now, he went along with it and started eating. He casually took the first bite, not expecting much from it, but as soon as he took his first bite, he was slightly taken aback. This was quite tasty. Azekiel really made it delicious somehow. "Oh right, the time of summon is also more. Instead of one minute, you each now have five minutes. So take your time eating, but not too slow either. Even I can''t keep you out for longer than five minutes... At least not at the moment." Azekiel reminded the two about the new time limit before he also returned to eating. He had been starving. Just as Azekiel had stated, Raphael only had five minutes. He ate for five minutes before he went back to his spiritual form. Not long after him, Lia also disappeared. Fortunately, the two of them had eaten to their heart''s content, for now, being warned in advance. There was only one person who was still eating, and it wasn''t surprising. Azekiel ate to his heart''s content, taking his sweet time. He wasn''t in any hurry at all. In fact, he enjoyed the weather as he ate, as if he was at a pic spot. After he finished what he had prepared, he cooked more beast meat as he didn''tck the beasts here. Only after taking an entire hour did he stand up, wiping his lips and cleaning his hands. He walked to the beasts that he had killed and used Soul Snatch on them, taking even more soul energy. The Soul Energy was in no wayparable to what he received from Alion. If their soul energy was like a bucket of water, Alion''s soul energy was like an entire pond. Still, even a drop of energy was better than nothing. After cleaning up everything, he ced his hand in his pocket, bringing out the pendant that he kept there. He ced the pendant around his neck. As soon as Azekiel wore the pendant that he had never really paid attention to, the pendant turned blood red. From a cheap imitation essory of bing, the pendant was now looking like a blood gem. "Shall we get back to my tower?" he asked Raphael and Lia, but he didn''t even wait for their response before he started walking on his own. "Your tower?" Raphael asked. Those words were quite strange to speak. "My tower, our tower... It''s our home now, isn''t it? I''m sure we can call it ours," Azekiel responded. "Don''t you think so?" Raphael nodded. Technically it made sense, but still, it was a strange way to put it. Chapter 177 177: Gave Up Azekiel returned to the entrance of the tower, which was still closed for now. He gazed back toward the city once more, which was impossible to see from this ce. The world waspletely abandoned, and soon, all the beasts were going to kill each other. The world was nothing now. "One more world is ruined...." He muttered before pushing the door open. Following a gentle push from him, the door opened. He entered the Tower, returning where he started. He was back to Floor Zero, but something was different now. It was as if his personality was slightly more serious yet, at the same time, morex now. It was as if all the memories he received gave him a better view of the world that he had never received before. It made him mature faster. The massive doors of the tower opened, which attracted the citizen''s attention as well. They all looked in his direction. Not only did Azekiel leave the tower, but he was also back safely. The world outside was slightly safer for now, and if he wanted, he could''ve allowed all the people here to leave and live their lives outside. It was unlikely that any more monsters were going toe to the city, but he didn''t. The door behind him closed. Everyone was curious about where Azekiel went or what he did, but none dared to question him. Azekiel was strong enough to kill them with a simple flick of his fingers after all. They just watched him like he was a god who was walking amongst men. Azekiel also observed the expressions of all these people, which wasn''t surprising. He had seen such expressions many times. "Everyone is the same. They treat you like a god when you have strength, but treat you like a trash if you don''t have strength or anything to offer them," hemented. "You know Raphael; this observation isn''t just limited to humans." "It will apply to almost everyone in this universe, from the strongest species to the Weakest species. Everyone cares about their one benefits first, and then about their family. If they have some time left, then maybe about others which is rarely the case." "I don''t agree," Raphael shook his head. "My people were different. Even though they respected the strong, they never disrespected the weak either. At least not to that extent." "As the stronger ones, it was our responsibility to protect the weak, not the other way around," he exined. "We weren''t superior because we were stronger. Instead, we had to be more responsible if we were stronger." "If only that were true, but that''s just what you see with your bias. The strong always see them as savior. It''s nothing new. I''m not saying that everyone is bad, but that''s the collective consciousness. Just ask yourself one question." "Why was only you selected out of all the orphans to be trained? It wasn''t because the others cared for the weak. It was because you showed your worth. It was because you showed your talent and made them believe that you could be of use to them. If you didn''t have that talent, let alone taking you as a disciple, the old man wouldn''t even look at you." "The weak are often tossed aside. If one wants respect, they must gain that strength first. If they want respect, they must get that respect with their own hands. If it''s not taken, it isn''t respect but a handout that will always hold you back." "Though I don''t me you. You saw everything from the perspective of a privileged. You were taken out of the orphanage when you were young. You were taken to a different level, where you forced others to give you respect with your talent, but what about the ones who were left behind?" "What happened to them? How did they live their life? Do you think they were treated well? They were content with their lives, living at the mercy of others, whereas you chose to carve a path for yourself." "That''s how one must be. Don''t wait for a handout; get everything you want with your own hands. Get that strength, and then watch the ones who gave up in their lives treat you like gods!" "How can you say that these people gave up?" Raphael asked in return. "Who is to know what they were in their real life outside? Inside this tower, they weren''t given a system. They were kept back. I don''t believe it''s their fault for being weak. The Kings and Lords received the system and an opportunity to climb up, but these people received nothing." "It would be quite wrong to say that they gave up. One can''t force the tower to give them a system, can they? And without the help of the tower, they couldn''t even get stronger. I''m sure there must be many who tried to go up and died after touching the Barrier. You are saying they didn''t try?" Azekiel only smiled in response. "You don''t understand what I''m trying to say. How do you think the Tower selected the people who will be given the systems? It wasn''t luck... It wasn''t a coincidence..." "How did it select people then?" Raphael asked. "The tower only selected the ones that had the mindset to go up. It only selected the people who had the right thinking. The ones who were willing to do anything to achieve their goals... The ones who were willing to evenmit sins to get what they wanted." "They had a goal, and those people worked for that goal, not thinking what others were going to say or how what they were doing was wrong. When I say these people gave up, I didn''t mean in this tower. They gave up even before getting here. They were always held back by their morals, fear, and hesitation." "They were always scared to do what was needed to get to their goal, just because the world considered it wrong. They were always holding themselves back. The ones who held themselves back, why would the Tower give them anything instead of selecting the ones who had the right mindset?" Chapter 178 178: Past, Present And Future "What about you then? Weren''t you given nothing, either? Weren''t you included in them as well until things went south?" Raphael asked, remembering what Azekiel had told them about him before. Azekiel hadn''t received a system initially either. He only received a system after his consciousness traveled back in time following his death. So wasn''t he the same as these people in that regard? What was different about the two situations? "Not quite the same thing. Even when I didn''t have a system, I took a step to improve my life, even if it was risky. I raised my hand when there was an opportunity to be a Porter for a King, even though it was risky. I didn''t have a system, nor did I have much strength, but I still went up instead of staying here." "Granted, I had some situational motivation, but still, at the end of the day, it was my decision. And even that wasn''t enough for me to receive a system. I only received it when I got the right mindset, right before my death. It was when I realized that the world was quite cruel and that without strength, I was only at the mercy of others." "That''s where I received the system and went back in time. If I were still as naive, I would''ve gone through the same process again and again." "The people here... It''s not that they can''t achieve anything. The only thing is that their path ahead will be even more treacherous, where they''ll be at the mercy of others. They aren''t alone in this either, and I don''t think they can solely be med for this mentality. Many people have a simr mentality. As I said before, it is not just the problem of this world but of many." Immersed in conversation, Azekiel walked closer to the portal to the First Floor, but he didn''t stop there. He walked past it, stopping before the wall. "How do you know about the other worlds? From Alion''s memories?" Raphael asked Azekiel affirmed. "That''s right. By the way, through his memories, I also saw his conversation with you. I know what he told you and how he tried to manipte you. If you''re taking him seriously, then you shouldn''t. He wasn''t being honest." "He just wanted to sway you against me, so you killed me. Moreover, the only reason he didn''t kill me wasn''t because he was worried about a time paradox. It was because he found it boring. I had spoiled his n, so he didn''t want to give me an easy death. It was also considered boring by him." " He wanted to make things fun for him. He wanted to make you kill me since that was fun for him. He wanted to see me betrayed by you. It was true that he was from the future, but he wasn''t our friend. In fact, in his memories, there was no mention of me. I don''t think he even knew me in the future." "If you know that much you should also know about that bracelet?" "The one you made for your master? Yeah, it''s not given to him by you. He was telling the truth when he said that you dropped it when fighting someone. What he didn''t tell you was that the one you were fighting was him. You two weren''t friends but enemies in the tower. When you dropped it, that''s when he picked up the bracelet." "We were enemies in the Tower, but he didn''t know you?" "Yep. In the future he came from, you weren''t with me. Or rather, I should say that it wasn''t your future where he came from. He came from your past, which is my future," Azekiel answered, making things even more confusing. "What are you saying?" Not only Raphael but even Lia found it hard to understand what they were talking about. "It''s hard to exin in words, so I won''t me you for your confusion. I''ll try to exin it as best as I can." "The Tower of Sin that you see before you? It''s not just a simple tower... It''s a tower that bends all the rules of space and time. The time in this tower is really messed up and basically impossible to decipher." "In your past, you were a participant in this Tower, along with some others from your world. Just like my world was destroyed, the same happened to your world, and amongst the people who took shelter in the tower, you were one of them. You were selected as the King of Gluttony and given the System of Gluttony before me." "The missions that I''m receiving now? You received most of them before, albeit with some differences. Unfortunately, you failed to get to the top, only to be killed when you were close to the top. Or at least that''s what I can guess since I didn''t see your death in the memories of Alion." "But you''re in your spiritual form, so it''s not hard to guess that you failed. After you failed, your soul was kept by the Tower of Sin, with your memories being wiped... At least most of your memories are rted to the tower." Azekiel tapped the head of Lia. "This story also applies to you, so listen carefully." "You both were kings in your time, but both of you failed. When I summoned you two as Familiars, your Souls came to me, but your souls should belong to my future. But that''s where the mess of time alsoes in the tower." "In my time, you two haven''t died yet. You two are still alive, but still, I received you two as Familiars in the past because thews of Time and Space don''t apply in the tower. In present times, maybe your world isn''t destroyed either, but in the future, they are, and we can''t stop that from happening." "What we saw on the second floor? That second floor and the graveyards were also from the future, where the Tower had made an appearance." "This tower... Who could make something like this then?" Lia asked, overwhelmed by all the information. Chapter 179 179: All At Once "Who made the Tower of Sins..." Azekiel repeated, but he just shook his head. "I don''t know who made it." Even though Azekiel was telling a lot of things about the future, which seemed impossible yet believable at the same time, which Raphael trusted, he still thought that Azekiel wasn''t telling the entire truth. All the Stories about the future and him failing on higher floors, that matched what he heard on the second floor. At that time, he didn''t understand what it meant, but now he understood everything. Still, he was sure that Azekiel knew more than he was telling. The information about Alion not knowing him in the future? If that was the case, Alion didn''t need to be so hesitant. He could''ve continued lying and made up a story about why Azekiel was dangerous in the future. Instead, he just refused to say anything. If he was lying, he could''ve lied about anything instead of trying to hide the information. That would''ve been more convincing as well. It seemed more like Azekiel was telling the truth about most of the things, only removing the things that were rted to him. He just removed his presence in the future. Unfortunately, there was no way for Raphael to be sure that Azekiel was hiding things. It was just a feeling in his heart and nothing more. "So if we are in the past, that means our future selves will also be inside the Tower?" Lia asked. "Wait, doesn''t that also mean there are more than seven Kings! Won''t that mean there are also Kings from the future who are going through the tower?" "In this timeline, I''m not sure. Anything is possible. Even Alion didn''t manage to understand the tower to this extent, but from what I can guess, it''s highly unlikely that we are going to meet your future selves now that you are in your spiritual forms. It''s more like the future, and the past is merged to make apletely new world inside this tower." "So it''s quite possible we will meet Kings from the future and things even worse but meeting you? That''s quite unlikely," Azekiel answered. "Then again, anything might be possible when ites to this tower." "Why was Alion trying to go back in time?" Raphael asked. He imed he was going to achieve something important. What could that be? "He wanted to go back to the time when the Tower was first created," Azekiel answered. "Unfortunately, he failed his calction. He didn''t even know if the tower was made in the past or in the future. In his confusion, he ended up here, wasting the Stone of Time." "So he wanted to kill the person who made the Tower before the tower could be made?" Raphael muttered. If Alion was so sure that the tower was made in the past, Raphael felt that there must be a reason. To him, Alion didn''t seem confused. He was only disappointed that he couldn''t go far enough with his stone of time. It was as if he knew exactly where the Tower was made, and by whom. ? "That''s all I can tell you for now in basic terms. Because honestly, even I only understand that much. The Tower is just too hard to understand," Azekiel added. "Still, if you two have any questions, you can ask. I will answer only one more question while we are here. Because I don''t want this topic to be raised again. From here on, we''ll be focusing only on our missions." "We need to get to the top of the tower, which will only be harder from here on since we really underestimated what this tower was actually about." "I have one question," Raphael chimed in. "Go ahead. Ask." "Was there really nothing in Alion''s memories about you? Not even a single thing?" Azekiel smiled innocently. "Why would there be? I didn''t even exist at that time." "Because the tower links the past to the future, so it''s still quite possible for you to be in the future while being in the past. I''m just curious." "You''re still wondering if Alion told you the truth about me being a Demon in the future?" Azekiel asked. "Though I''m sorry to disappoint, but I wasn''t as cool in the future. In Alion''s memories, there was nothing about me. Not a single mention from anyone." "That''s why forget what he said. He was just ying with your mind. Even after he is dead, his words are still haunting your mind. The faster you remove those words, the faster you can get back to your real self. Don''t let an enemy manipte you." "Anyway, that was thest question. How we won''t be talking about the future. Let''s focus on the present." Azekiel ced his hand on the wall before him. He had finished the quest. Now all that was left was to collect his final reward, which was an entry into the eleventh Floor. "I know your mind is still overwhelmed by the confusing information, but I think the eleventh Floor would be the perfect ce to help you understand. Only after you see the eleventh Floor with your eyes you''ll be able to grasp what I was saying about this tower being in multiple spaces and times simultaneously." A new portal opened before Azekiel, right beside the portal of the first floor. The new portal was almost the same size as the other floor, but the color of the portal was slightly different. The portal was much darker and had more energy in it. All the people on Floor Zero stared at Azekiel, who had been talking to himself all this time. It was strange, but what was even more strange was a second portal opening before Azekiel as soon as he ced his hand on the wall, as if it was a secret entrance to some ce. Azekiel entered the portal with Raphael and Lia. As soon as all of them entered, the portal closed. Curious, more people came to that spot and tried cing their hands on the same spot to see if they could also open the portal, only to fail. In another ce, Azekiel came out of a portal. Chapter 180 180: Eleventh Floor The Eleventh Floor was something that Azekiel had never seen or heard about, even in hisst life. They all knew that the element Floor existed, but none of them knew before what it was like or what was going to be there. By the time Azekiel had died in thest timeline, even the Kings who were in the lead had only been on the tenth floor at most. They hadn''t managed to get to the eleventh Floor, so even they didn''t know what the eleventh floor was like, let alone Azekiel. It was only when Azekiel was at the door of death that he was informed that the tenth floor was cleared. He didn''t know in the past about the eleventh floor, but it looked like he knew some things about it now. That''s why he was able to describe the eleventh floor to Raphael to some extent, addressing it as the ce where the real tower of Sin began. Through the portal on the eleventh floor, Azekiel stepped out. Raphael and Lia came out of the portal after him. Arriving on the Eleventh Floor, Raphael and Lia looked around in amazement. The Floor, it was definitely quite different from the other floors they had seen. Affording to Azekiel, the two of them had seen this floor before as well, but none of them remembered anything about this floor. That didn''t take anything away from the fascination of this Floor. All of them seemed to be inside a hall. There were multiple portals in the hall, all leading to this ce from somece, as for where it was unclear. The Portal that had brought them here disappeared, but the other portals remained intact as if they weren''t temporary. "Where do these portals lead?" Raphael asked Azekiel. It was certainly that those portals weren''t special portals that were awarded at thepletion of a mission since the one provided to them was closed after being used once, but those ones were still intact. Azekiel nces back, smiling wryly. "I''m sure you know what they are. You''ve seen them quite a lot of times before." "I don''t remember my past life, so I don''t know," Raphael responded, gazing at multiple portals. "I didn''t mean you remember them from your life before death. You''ve seen those portals many times, even in this time," Azekiel rified. "They are the portals that connect a Floor to the lower floor. When we arrived at the second floor, there was a simr portal we went through which connected the first and second Floor." "Even then, there should be over two portals. One portal which connects to the immediate lower floor and one that leads to the next floor after a mission has beenpleted. But there are more than two... Way more..." "Of course, there are way more. There are many tenth Floors as well." Azekiel answered. He spread his arms, gazing at the sky. "I told you before that the Tower of Sins exists in multiple spaces and multiple times simultaneously. Each of those worlds and those Timelines have a Tower in them. All those towers are different yet the same." "Each of those towers has a first to tenth Floors which is used to help the Kings selected from those worlds be stronger. Just so kings from different worlds don''t create obstruction in others, the first to tenth Floors of each tower are in different space and time, despite being the same challenges." "You mean all those different spaces and time lead here? So it''s the ce where all the Kings cane together?" Raphael asked, getting some idea. "That would be urate. That''s why I said the eleventh floor is where the real tower starts from. If the first ten Floors were a glimpse of what was toe, the Eleventh Floor is the real start." "The strongest Kings from each world that managed to survive the first ten Floors will be here. Moreover, even though there is no sense of time and space in the Tower, I think the tower still is quite fair for all." "Is it?" Lia asked, realizing something. "If we entered the tower in the future, and we were killed, that means the ones who killed us must be on Higher Floors. And they would possibly be kings as well. Is it really fair when Kings with that strength and at that level exist in the tower? If theye before you and want to kill you, what''s going to stop them?" "Moreover, why would other Kings let you seed? Why won''t they feel threatened by you?" she further stated. Azekiel could only smile in response. "You''re quite right about that. There are kings who are way stronger than us, but I don''t think they are the real threat to us. Why do you think no King has ever managed to clear the entire tower before? Why are they still trying, despite getting higher than you?" "Why?" Lia frowned. "Because even the Kings aren''t strong enough to get there. They need more help, but they don''t want help from Kings of their own world. From one world, there can be only one King who can reach there. That''s why all the Kings try to kill their opponents." "For them, it doesn''t matter if a King from another Timeline also managed to get to them since that''s only better for them. The Kings need all the support they need, and only other Kings from other Timelines can help them." "The Kings are strong, but the Tower... It''s in a different league, even for them. That''s why I doubt they will create an obstruction for us. At best, they''ll let nature take its course. Though there is one possibility," Azekiel scratched the back of his head, thinking of a possibility. "What possibility?" "You two are in your Spiritual Forms, but you were still Kings once upon a time. The Tower should have some ways to bring Spirits back to life, and when you do, you might get your Sin Systems as well, belonging to your worlds that you possessed before." Chapter 181 181: Alive? "That possibility could scare the Kings that killed you from your worlds since they won''t be alone anymore, and they''ll have to fight you two again to im the top spot. With you two, they won''t be the Sole King from their world." "That means they will try to kill us to take out possible future troubles. Aren''t we back to square one with that? We would have to fight the Kings that are near the top of the tower?" "Who knows?" Azekiel simply shrugged. "I just have a possibility. If that bes the reality, we''ll see how it goes. For now, we should focus on what''s ahead of us. The Castle of Infinity!" "Ah, that''s right!" Lia eximed. "The Castle of Infinity! Do you know what''s that ce? You must know now that you know so much about the Tower?" "I know a little," Azekiel agreed. "But first, we should get out of here. The portals are active. I don''t want to be here when another Kinges out. It''ll waste quite a bit of our time with them." Azekiel left the Portal Chambers, ending up in a hallway that they needed to pass through to leave this ce. Along the way, Azekiel exined what he could. "The Castle of Infinity is like the reward for Kings. In each Spatial Timeline, a King is given the opportunity to win the key and the map of the castle of infinity. However, only the best of the best can clear that hidden quest to get the Key and Map." "There might be ten such Kings, or there might be a hundred. There could also be only me who managed to clear it. It all depends on who seeded and who failed. Everyone who seeds receives the map and the key, which give them an advantage in the Castle of Infinity." "The Castle of Infinity can only be explored by the ones that have the key and the map? Other Kings can''t enter?" "That''s not quite true. Other Kings can also enter, but the ones with the Key and the map have a greater advantage and lesser risks since they know quite a bit about the castle thanks to the map. As for the key, it alsoes in quite handy. However, as I said, one can enter even without those two things for rewards. That''s why the castle was made, after all." "The Castle of Infinity is more or less like the reward that each King has an opportunity to attempt after clearing the tenth floor. Unfortunately, if they can use that opportunity or not, that depends only on them." "What are the rewards that are inside?" Raphael asked. "Are they really worth it?" Azekiel smiled. "The rewards should be worth it for many Kings. As I said, the challenges be only harder from here on, so the Kings that get something worthwhile from the Castle can get a lot of advantage from it." "Did Alion also enter the castle?" Raphael asked. "What did he get?" "What do you think?" Azekiel smiled wryly. "Will that guy ever lose an opportunity to get some nice rewards? He entered the Tower without any key or map." "Did he receive any reward?" "None. He didn''t get anything. In fact, he barely managed to get out with his life intact. Want to know why?" Azekiel asked with a quite amused smile on his face. Raphael looked at Azekiel with a frown. Why was he looking so amused? What did Alion face inside? If someone like him had to run, then there were certainly some dangers inside that he had underestimated. "Why?" "Because of you," Azekiel answered. "He entered the tower, but he got in a conflict with you over a treasure. The battle was his sound defeat, and he had to run outside to save his life at all cost." "In fact, that was his first meeting with you, ording to his memories. That''s when he started considering you an enemy. That was the start. Then again, I must say, you were quite strong even then. I saw how you fought in his memories." "As a King of Gluttony, you were quite strong on the eleventh Floor. I''m amazed someone managed to kill you. Some of your skills that you used in that battle even make me jealous." "I wish I could also remember... I wish I could also have my memories," Raphael only heard about how he used to be and how he fought inside the tower, but he couldn''t remember anything. The more he heard about his past, the more he felt bad. "Don''t worry. It''s only a matter of time. I''m sure you''ll remember soon enough. The higher we climb, the more you should remember as you revisit the ces you did before. That should be enough to jog your memories. And if you still don''t, then I''ll personally do something to make sure you get your memories." "Until then, don''t think too much about it and just focus on what''s ahead. If you try to force your memories to return, it''ll only hurt you in the process. Let your memories take their natural course." Lia tilted her head to the left, hearing Azekiel''s suggestions. Until recently, he wanted to help Raphael remember by letting him use his sword, but now he was asking Raphael to let it be. Did he really drop the idea? Or was he now strong enough to make sure that Raphael could afford the time he needed without being hasty? The group of three left the hallway, ending up before a golden door. Throughout the long walk, they hadn''t seen even a single person or the way. It was as if this was an abandoned ce with not a single person inside. Azekiel ced his hand on the wall, but as he was about to push it open, he heard the sound of footstepsing from behind him. The sound of footsteps made him turn around and look back. Raphael and Lia also looked back. Was there really another person in this abandoned ce? Or was it another King who had arrived here? "He?" Lia was taken aback to see the person. "He is still alive?" Chapter 182 182: Reward Floor Raphael was also somewhat surprised to see the person before them advancing closer. It was even more strange since they had just seen him die! The person was none other than Alion, who was dressed in a different attire. He seemed somewhat young based on his looks, and his aura was also slightly weaker than what they had seen before. p "The future... Or rather the past self of Alion?" Lia asked, frowning. "If he is here, and he shes with Raphael in the Castle of Infinity, shouldn''t Raphael''s past self be here as well?" "Don''t think too much about it. The more you think about it, the more it''ll give you a headache. You''ll soon understand everything." Azekiel calmly answered before he pushed the door open. He stopped looking at Alion, after making sure who this guy was. "The entire timeline inside the tower is really messed up," Raphael stated, frowning. "There are so many things that would''ve created a paradox in the real world, destroying it, but here... Alion was right. Things are worse than a simple time paradox. It''s like the reality is already fragmented, thanks to the Tower of Sin." "It''s not because of the Tower of Sin. The reality had already been fragmented since the existence of time. It''s just that you only noticed it now, which is where the troubles begin," Azekiel responded, taking his first step out in the open. Raphael also stepped out with Lia, still asionally ncing at Alion. Alion couldn''t see them, so he didn''t find the staring off. He also couldn''t hear them. He could only see Azekiel, but Azekiel only looked at him for a brief moment and not too long. Even though Alion was quite curious about Azekiel and who he was, he tried to avoid any interaction at this point, since he wanted to first understand this floor before doing anything. He didn''t intervene in anything for now. Even Alion left the ce. He also took a look outside, slightly amazed. He stood not too far from Azekiel, who was doing the same thing. They both found this ce to be quite interesting since they could see quite a lot of Kings here. Azekiel had already exined about the existence of other Kings, so Raphael and Lia had a better time in understanding, but Alion was different. It was his first time finding out about the existence of other Kings. Until the tenth floor, he had been quite sure that there were only seven kings, and he was the best King. However, as soon as he stepped here, he watched around three more kings in the distance. What made him easier to recognize those three Kings was that they were carrying their Kingly Weapon of Sin in their hands. There were more people here who had no weapons, like Azekiel. It was quite possible that there were more than three kings on this floor. But how? He didn''t know. He needed to ask someone. Azekiel also seemed to be new here since he stepped out with him, so Alion didn''t ask him. Instead, he approached another person. Since Azekiel stepped on this floor first, he received the information about this floor first from his system. A few secondster, Alion also received the information. A screen opened up before both of them. [Wee to Sanctuary Floor] [Click to know more about it!] Azekiel clicked on the option. Alion noticed Azekiel clicking on the air as well, which made him sure that Azekiel was also a King. However, where did this Kinge from? Weren''t there seven of them? Why were there so many? He slowly started to piece things together like everyone else arriving here did. He believed there wasn''t just one tower but more, and each tower had kings like him, who met here. He clicked on his screen as well to see more. The system exined the entire thing about their existing multiple towers in multiple worlds, all of which were one and the same but yet different. It talked about the towers connecting into one on the eleventh Floor. The system basically gave Alion the same exnation that Azekiel gave Raphael, but not as much in depth. The system also informed them that it was the Sanctuary Floor. It was a reward floor where one could rest. There were no missions on this floor, but there were many rewards that they could try to get. It all depended on them as to what they could get and how. After getting the information about what this ce was, Alion scratched his chin, seemingly lost in thoughts. This just made things moreplicated for him. He thought that he was the best King to get to the Eleventh Floor in record time, but there were already more kings who came here before him. The Tower was getting more and more bizarre for him the more he tried to learn about it with each passing second. Still, the system mentioned that there were rewards on this Floor. He knew that he needed to find those Rewards. He swiftly left. This Floor was said to be a floor with no mission where everyone could just rx and enjoy. It was simr to the first floor for the humans. The one difference was that this Floor was for the kings. Unfortunately, Alion didn''t believe he could rx here as that was akin to wasting time. If the tower really had more kings who were just as talented as him, he needed to work even harder to create the lead, which he enjoyed up to the tenth floor. He was basically starting from scratch at the moment. Unlike Alion, who left right away to explore the ce, Azekiel didn''t. He just went through all the information that was given to him by the system before closing the screen. "Come, let''s eat something before starting." Since this was a reward Floor which was to give some rxation to the Kings who went through so much to get there, the floor had many facilities, including the best food from each world. Not only was there food from earth, but there was also from other worlds. Chapter 183 183: Strange Behaviour The best part about all this was that they didn''t need to pay for the food either. All the food was free, and they could eat as much as they wanted. They could also stay here for as long as they pleased. If a King wanted to give up climbing the Tower and live his life in luxury, this Floor was the ce. However, no King wanted to do that. If they managed to get to the eleventh floor, that meant they weren''t people who were going to give up. They were hungry for more and more power. They didn''t want luxuries... At least not yet. They knew that once they reached the top floor, they were going to be stronger enough to have whatever they pleased. They could receive even more rewards than this eleventh Floor then. Even though climbing the tower was more dangerous, it was also more rewarding. Moreover, they also knew that if they stayed here, the distance between them and the Kings who were in the lead was only going to increase more and more. It was very dangerous since, after a certain point, it was going to be impossible to catch up. They were always going to be at others'' mercy. Azekiel walked to the building in the distance, which had a board that simply mentioned food. There was no one inside the building, but there was all the food that one could hope for. There was also a screen in the hall which showed the options of all the worlds whose foods could be explored. Raphael expected Azekiel to press earth and explore earth''s delicacies, but surprisingly, he didn''t press earth. Instead, he pressed on the name of the world that he never should''ve heard before. Seeing his selection, Raphael stepped closer. "Do you know that world?" Why would he select a world he knew nothing about, and that too from the middle of the list? If he wanted to see all the offerings, he could''ve gone one by one through the list, but he went straight to that option without even ncing at the earth. Why? What was about this world? "From Alion''s memories," Azekiel answered. "The food of this world is supposed to be the best." Even though Azekiel answered, it was slightly a strange selection, but Raphael believed the story. As soon as Azekiel clicked on the name of the world, all the items that were avable in the massive hall disappeared, and the delicacies from the world that Azekiel selected appeared. The dishes definitely didn''t look as good as the dishes from Earth. In fact, based on the initial nce, they seemed quite bad... Something that could instantly repel someone, which made Azekiel''s choice even stranger. Ignoring the weird looks he was receiving, Azekiel went to the food and started eating. One could eat as much as they wanted here for free. The only thing that was restricted was that the food couldn''t be stored anywhere else, and it couldn''t be taken out of this ce. One had to eat here if they wanted to taste the food. They couldn''t just pack it and take it to the next floor. This was a reward only for this floor. Azekiel continued eating the strange looking dishes, but his expressions made it seem like he was really enjoying it. It didn''t look like he was regretting his decision of selecting this world. Instead, it was like he was tasting the greatest delicacies in the entire universe, which he had never tasted before. "Come, try as well." Azekiel summoned Raphael and Lia, despite them not asking to be Summoned. Why was he wasting the spiritual energy? Previously, he didn''t summon them unless it was absolutely necessary, but now he was summoning them over small things as well? That was definitely not like him. It was as if he didn''t care about keeping the Spiritual Energies in reserve for emergencies. Raphael believed that there could possibly be two reasons for it. One was that he believed he was strong enough to not need their help. Meanwhile, the second option was that he was hiding something from them and that he didn''t need the help of the Spirit Bar to summon them. If it was thetter, it could exin why he wasn''t hesitating in summoning them, but it could also be the former, which would make sense since he was stronger now. He also fought all the beasts alone without calling them for help. He only called them after the battle was over, and that too only to eat. "Stop standing there like statues. Come and eat." Azekiel called them again. "It''s really tasty. Just try it. Just as I remember it." Raphael and Lia tried to believe him. Even though all the dishes looked bad, they believed Azekiel. It was possible that the dishes only looked bad on the outside, but on the inside, they were quite tasty. Raphael and Lia also tried eating. After testing the food for a little, they realized that it wasn''t as bad as it looked, but it wasn''t as good as Azekiel imed it to be either. It was quite ordinary. In fact, it was slightly worse than what Azekiel prepared for them back on earth. Despite not being particrly fond of it, they both kept eating. "How is it?" Azekiel asked, ncing at the two of them. For some reason, he seemed quite attached to the food from this world. In his eyes, there was some strange intensity. It was as if the food was from his own world, and he wanted to share it with the others to see if they liked it as well. For Raphael, it would''ve made more sense if it was something from earth since that''s where Azekiel was from. How could Azekiel start liking this thing just based on the memories of Alion, as he imed? What seemed like a pretty distant possibility. "It is really good. You were right," Lia lied, not wanting to disappoint Azekiel. Azekiel also believed her lie to be a truth, getting quite pleased. ording to Raphael, he really was acting quite strange ever since they killed Alion! Chapter 184 184: Different At times, Azekiel was the same old person who talked out loud and discussed things with them like he wanted to get their opinions, while at other times, he was like an entirely different person who did things that werepletely out of character for him. After eating to his heart''s content, Azekiel stretched his arms, letting out a sleepy yawn. "You want to eat more, or shall we go take a rest?" he asked Raphael. "Rest?" Raphael frowned. "Aren''t we going to the Castle of Infinity?" "It''s not the time yet. The Castle of Infinity won''t open this time. It only opened at specific times. We missed thest opening. We''ll have to wait for twenty hours for the next opening of the Castle." "What about the key? Can''t we use that to open and enter?" "The key isn''t to open the main door. It''s to open something else, but first, we need to get to that. Come, let''s rest. We''ve worked quite hard recently. We can definitely take some time off. It''s the reward floor, isn''t it? Just have some fun." Raphael didn''t know what to say. This was one of those moments where Azekiel acted like a different person entirely. Since when did he start cing more focus on resting first? It seemed more like something the King of Sloth would do. ''King of Sloth... There were just a few sins that he wasn''t showing signs of, but even that line is getting blurry now. Is it normal?'' Raphael tried to convince Azekiel to spend their time better and look around the ces, but Azekiel rejected the suggestion. "I''ve already seen this entire Floor. There is nothing worth seeing here. And if there is, I''ll show it to youter." Azekiel rejected the suggestion and stepped out of the building, but right there, he stopped. He turned around, ncing at Raphael''s expressions. "I was just messing with you. I don''t feel sleepy. I''ve slept for days already. If I''m still sleepy now, that would be strange. However, I wasn''t joking about the Castle of Infinity. The castle would be closed at the moment, and even we won''t be able to open it.'' "If we get there now, we''ll just be waiting for the next twenty hours. We can use that time much better instead. And no, I don''t mean spend that time in sleeping. I had something else in mind." "What do you have in mind?" Raphael asked. At this point, Azekiel was aplete stranger whose mind he couldn''t read at all. "Meeting someone," Azekiel answered. "I need to meet someone who should be on this floor." "Meet who?" "You''ll know." Azekiel didn''t answer right away, leaving the others to guess. From what they knew, Azekiel shouldn''t know anyone on this floor personally. That meant the person must be someone from Alion''s memories. It could be anyone. Azekiel wasn''t the only one who didn''t seem to be going to the Castle of Infinity. There were also more Kings here who didn''t appear to be in any hurry. Most of the kings here knew when the Castle opened as they had been there once. There were no restrictions on how many times a person could enter the Castle of Infinity, so most of the Kings who were here wanted to try their hands again since they failed to get anythingst time. There were also some Kings who just gave up on the Castle of Infinity after getting some minor rewards. They didn''t waste time here like other Kings and went on the next Floors. Despite there being so many Kings, there were no flights going on. Instead, the atmosphere here was quite nice. It was also partially because no one was allowed to fight on the Sanctuary Floor. They could only fight inside the Castle of Infinity for the rewards if it were needed, but not outside. "You must recognize most of them. Who is the strongest amongst them?" Along the way, Raphael asked Azekiel. Since there were so many Kings here, he was quite curious as to who the strongest King was. Azekiel smiled wryly. "There is no strongest King here. In fact, if I were to say, all of them are the Weakest kings. The strongest Kings won''t be wasting their time in this city. They wouldn''t attempt the Castle of Infinity more than once since one time was enough to get something worthwhile." He further rified. "These Kings are definitely strong since they managed to reach the Eleventh Floor, but that''s only whenpared to the Kings of their world. Amongst all the Kings that stepped in here, the Kings that you''ll find strolling in the city would be the Weakest." "So they are all weak?" Raphael asked. "Inparison with the strongest Kings of this Tower, they aren''t even close." "What about you? Where do you stand in thatparison?" "Me? That''s certainly an interesting question, but not quite. I don''t think I can bepared with the Kings of this tower." "Why not? You are also a King, just like they are?" "While that would theoretically be true, not quite. I am different from them in more ways than once. They are the Kings that were supposed to be. In contrast, I am the King that wasn''t supposed to be. They don''t have the advantages that I have. The only advantage they had is that they had more time which helped them umte more strength, but that''s it." "I''m not being arrogant when I say that it would be unfair if Ipare myself with them. It wouldn''t be unfair for me. Instead, it would be unfair for them." "Why? Just because you have knowledge of the future and they don''t? Just because you came back in time and had some advantage of knowledge because of that?" Raphael asked, feeling like he finally was getting close to some answers that Azekiel didn''t tell before. Even though his approach was different, this was exactly the oue he was hoping for. Chapter 185 185: Advice Azekiel shook his head in response. "It''s not that. The knowledge I had was only up to the tenth floor, while the real tower starts at the eleventh Floor. Moreover, I don''t know many of the secrets of those floors either. So more than these memories, I would say that my luck helped me." "However, that''s also not the reason why I say that I''m different from the other Kings." "Then what is the reason? Why do you think you can''t bepared to the other Kings? They also possess the same system that you do. In fact, many of those Kings would''ve probably had the System of Gluttony as well, won''t they?" "That''s true. Many of them have the System of Gluttony as well." "Then what''s different?" Raphael asked. "It''s... Hmm, it looks like we found the person we were looking for." Azekiel appeared like he was going to answer when he stopped, noticing a person in the distance. He said he wanted to meet someone, and it looked like he found that person. Raphael was slightly disappointed that the person was found right when he was on the verge of getting an answer, but he still looked in the distance. Just who was Azekiel looking for, and why? Fortunately, it didn''t take him long to get the answers to his questions since it wasn''t a stranger. It was a person that even he recognized. An old man was sitting near a pond with his feet in the water. It was as if the man was resting. The old man was someone that Raphael and Lia both knew. All three of them had met that person twice already. He was the same old man who was guarding the Heavenly Prison, which kept the Soul Demon and Av trapped. The old man was also seen by them when they traveled back to the past. It was as if the old man could travel back and forth in time as he pleased. What was strange was that Azekiel knew that the old man was going to be here. How? It shouldn''t be in Alion''s memories since Alion went toward the Castle of Infinity instead. Even in his original timeline, he would''ve gone to the Castle of Infinity instead ofing here. With that notion, it was evident that Alion''s memories didn''t have this information. Then how did Azekiel know where this person was going to be? Raphael looked at Azekiel with even more confusion. Azekiel''s actions were bing more and more mysterious with each passing second. Azekiel stepped closer to the old man and sat right beside him, dipping his feet in the water as well. Raphael and Lia also sat nearby. The old man nced at Azekiel before noticing others as well. "Greetings, old man." Azekiel greeted the old man who was meeting him a third time. The old man didn''t respond right away. He remained silent for a few minutes before finally speaking. "It seems you remembered everything?" The old man asked. "This is quite troublesome." "Is that so?" Azekiel nced back at the old man, tilting his head to the left. A wicked smile appeared on his lips, which Raphael and Lia couldn''t see. "It certainly feels good to see you again, old man. It seems you''ve been having quite some fun at my expense?" "If it''s fun, then I hope you also experience this fun," the old man answered. "Too bad. I don''t expect this moment to appear this soon. So, how did you get the memories?" "Definitely not because of this Tower. Well, then again, I guess we can give partial credit to this tower." Since everything happened outside the tower, even the old man didn''t know how Azekiel received the memories, which made him know of things that he shouldn''t. Despite that, the old man was quite upset and somewhat worried as well. "Old man, shall I ask why you were following me everywhere in the tower? Didn''t I tell you before that you should stay away from me or anyone rted to me?'' The old man smiled wryly. "Technically, I wasn''t following you. You came to the Heavenly Prison that I had been guarding for long. And if I''m not wrong, that must be because of a Tower Mission. Shouldn''t you be asking that question to yourself?" "Though I must say, I was somewhat surprised to see you there. Definitely surprised, but it looked like you didn''t remember anything, which was quite a relief yet a headache at the same time." Raphael and Lia heard their conversation. Even though they didn''t receive the entire context of that conversation, they did manage to understand that Azekiel and the old man seemingly knew each other before they even met at the Heavenly Prison. That information was enough to make Raphael believe that Azekiel had lied to him. Azekiel imed that he didn''t exist in Alion''s future. If that was the case, then how did he know that he and the old man knew each other before? If he didn''t exist in the future, then how did the old man know him before meeting him at the Heavenly Prison? Moreover, it wasn''t just that the old man knew him. Azekiel also seemingly knew the old man before. Moreover, there was something more to it than that. The old man didn''t treat Azekiel like a kid anymore. Instead, he was talking to Azekiel like an equal. If anything, he was talking like Azekiel was more than an equal. Just what was their equation? How did they know each other before? Raphael really hoped that their conversation was going to give him an answer to those questions. "So, what do you want to do now?" The old man asked Azekiel. "You want to go down the same route as before?" "What do you think I would do?" Azekiel asked in return. "You''re quite a stubborn person, aren''t you?" The old man asked, shaking his head in disappointment. "Then again, you''ve always been stubborn, so it''s not surprising. Unfortunately for you, things are different now. The world is different; the tower is different. You have no idea. If you think you can achieve what you want, then you''re quite naive. I don''t know what to say, but if you were to listen to me, take advice from me....'' Chapter 186 186: Knowing Azekiel turned to the old man as if looking at him in amusement that he wanted to offer an advice even now. "Fine. Go ahead. What advice?" he asked. "There are things that even gods can''t change, let alone humans. As for you... You are none of the two. So if possible, forget everything again. You''ve already created enough trouble by making this mess. Just forget the past, an-" "Forget the past and be a hermit like you?" Azekiel asked, seemingly amused. "If that''s what you think I am, then yes. I want you to be a hermit as well. When you didn''t know, it was better as things were quite normal. But now that you... Even I can''t see what will happen in the future." The old man looked at the beautiful pond before further continuing. "You see that pond?" "Let me guess. You''re about to give another one of your childish analogies?" The man simply smiled in response. "Sometimes childish analogies make more sense. At times, even children can outsmart others." "You''ll never change." Azekiel sighed as if he was getting tired. "Fine, Say what you want to say. I see that pond. What about it?'' "What do you think is inside that water?" the old man asked. "Inside that pond? There is nothing. There are no fishes in that pond either, just water." The old man pped his hand. As soon as he pped, a fish jumped out of the pond, diving inside again. The old man smiled in amusement. "Shall I say you were wrong?" he asked. "I''m afraid that''s not enough to fool me." Azekiel shook his head. "Old man, don''t forget that I know all your tricks." "Oh? Are you saying there isn''t a fish inside?'' the old man inquired, seemingly hurt that he was being used of lying. "Nope. What I''m saying is that there was no fish inside the pond. It''s only after my answer that you linked the pond to another pond." Azekiel exined. "Old man, I''m surprised you''re pulling spatial tricks before me. Did you forget who I am?" "You see? That''s what I was trying to tell you. You can see the pond... You can predict the things that will happen in the pond based on that information, but even the smallest of changes can change your entire calction. That''s what I want to tell you. You might think that your path is clear, but when thingse out of nowhere, you won''t know what hit you... Likest time..." "I knew you were going to give a childish logic. Fine. If you can again prove that there is a fish inside the water, I''ll agree that I was wrong." "Are you sure?" "Yep. Do it." The old man looked at Azekiel in suspicion, but he still listened. It wasn''t hard for him to bring out a fish from inside the pond. All he needed to do was link this pond to another ce of his choice, which could make things easier for him to pull. The old man pped his hand. However, this time nothing happened. No fish came out of the pond, which made the man frown. The man pped again, but this time there was nothing that he could pull. No fishes wereing out, even if he did everything likest time. "What did you do?" he finally asked Azekiel, realizing that something wasn''t right. This could only mean that Azekiel was doing something. "Why do you me me? I''m innocent." Azekiel shrugged. "Maybe the fishes drowned inside the water?" "Was that supposed to be a joke?" The old man rolled his eyes. Azekiel simply smiled. "Look behind you." The old man looked behind. Raphael and Lia also looked behind, growing shocked. They were more shocked than the old man to see hundreds of fish lying on the grass behind them. "So that''s why..." The old man muttered. "You see, old man? That''s the way to deal with the problems. Remove them before they can be an obstruction. Your example wasn''t wrong, but the person you selected for this example was. Now my statement has be true again, right? There are no fishes in the pond." Azekiel seemed to enjoy pulling the leg of the old man. It looked less like they were enemies and more like they were friends but not quite. Despite the age difference, there was a quite close equation between them that couldn''te simply from Alion''s memories. This made Raphael even more sure that Azekiel had lied to him. p But why? What was he trying to hide by lying to them? And if he lied to them, why was he making it so obvious at this point? It was as if he didn''t think that Raphael could put the pieces together, but Raphael was sure that it wasn''t the case. There was no way a person like Azekiel wasn''t going to know what he was doing. It was as if he was intentionally doing it. "Did you tell your two friends about it?" The old man asked. "About what?" Azekiel asked ignorantly, as if he had no idea what the old man was talking about. The old man sighed. "So you didn''t. Yet you let them hear our conversation? Just what are you trying to do?" Azekiel didn''t answer right away. He simply picked up a piece of stone and tossed it inside the water. He pointed at that water. "Since you''re so interested in analogies, why don''t you tell me what I''m trying to do? You have a hint..." The old man looked at the pond. ording to Azekiel, that was the clue. The old man noticed ripples being created in the pond, thanks to the stone being tossed inside. "You are trying to create ripples?" The old man asked. "Ripples in the flow of time?" Azekiel didn''t answer. He just stared at the water. "This ce is certainly very peaceful. If possible, I would''ve loved to stay here for a few days." He stood up. "Unfortunately, I don''t have time." Chapter 187 187: One Lie "You do have plenty of time. You are the King of your own destiny. The only restrictions that are on you are the ones that you ce in yourself and no more." "If only that were true..." Azekiel answered. "Anyway, enough of this. You gave me some friendly advice. Let me give you one as well..." "I think you should pick a side... Because things will be getting really messy in the tower quite soon. If you stay neutral in what''s toe, you''ll be the one who will be losing the most. So you better be fast." "I''m not interested in picking a side. I didn''t pick one before, and I''m not going to pick one now. As for the chaos that will being, don''t you think you''ll be the one creating that yourself? If you really worry about what''s toe, why don''t you stop and stay here?" The old man asked. "As you said, this ce is quite peaceful. Why return to the chaos when you can have peace? Stay here and enjoy your life. Raphael and Lia could do the same." "Peace?" Azekiel asked, bursting into a heartyughter. "I was at peace. I had a family, but that peace of mind brought death to that family. As long as I don''t solve the problem from its core, I''ll never find peace in all my life. It doesn''t matter what I do; the chaos will find me." "You say I control my destiny?" he further asked. "I don''t control my destiny. But that''s only as long as I''m willing to fight. The moment I stop fighting, Destiny starts ying with me. I''m sure you know how... So you should understand me the most." "To make sure that I have peace, I need to embrace my chaos. For a person like me, chaos is peace. That''s why this Tower was..." Azekiel stopped what he was speaking and turned around. The old man watched Azekiel leave without even ncing back. It was as if Azekiel only came here for a little conversation and nothing more. "He''s still the same. Then again, maybe that''s for the best. Maybe that''s what this tower needs... Still, I worry for the future." Azekiel, Raphael, and Lia left first. Raphael and Lia kept looking at Azekiel for quite some time. They had seen an entirely different side of Azekiel. Something, he was able to manipte space and bring out all the fishes. Moreover, he was on equal terms with the old man, who was the guardian of the Heavenly Prison. Azekiel... He was more than just a kid that they used to think before. As for what more, that''s what they needed to know, but they couldn''t get themselves to ask. After a long time, it was Raphael who asked. "Did you lie to us?" Raphael asked. "Lied to you about what?" Azekiel asked in return, as if not knowing what lie he had told. "You said you didn''t exist in the future memories of Alion. You said that there was not even a mention of you." "And?" Azekiel asked. "That was no lie. In Alion''s memories, there was nothing about me." "Then how do you know that old man so well? Why did he seem to know you for a long time as well? Just where did you two meet? From your conversation, it was clear that you were almost as strong as him, if not stronger." "Not was... I still am." Azekiel rified. "I''m stronger than the old man. He isn''t as strong as he shows. Other than manipting space and time, he can''t do much. That''s why he is quite weaker when ites to the grand scheme of things." "Also, I didn''t lie to you about me. It was true that Alion''s memories had no mention about me. Before he died, he wiped half his memories, so I couldn''t get most of the things. It was like some safety mechanism that he had to keep the important bits of his memories safe. That''s why I only received a little bit of unimportant information." "How did you know about that old man?" Raphael asked. "Why did you look like you knew him for centuries?" "Because I knew him for that long. I didn''t get anything from Alion''s memories, but after absorbing so much of his memories, there was a lot of burden on my head. That burden seemed to unlock my own memories that I didn''t know all this while. "So I was right when I told you that I didn''t know anything about me from Alion''s memories. I knew about me from my own memories that were sealed." "Your memories were sealed as well? By who? Did you also die inside this tower and lose your memories like me?" Raphael asked, wondering if Azekiel''s past was simr to him. Azekiel shook his head. "You''re somewhat wrong. I didn''t die inside the tower. In fact, I didn''t die at all. Things are slightly moreplicated than that. Too bad I can''t tell you about that now." "Why not?" "Because I don''t want to give you a headache." Azekiel smiled. "Sometimes being ignorant is much safer than knowing everything. That''s why it''s better you don''t know. When you''re ready, I''ll tell you everything." "So you didn''t lie to us about anything? You just kept things hidden?" "That won''t be entirely urate either. I did lie to you about one thing for sure." Azekiel exined. "What thing is that?" Raphael asked. Just what did Azekiel lie to them about? Whatever it was, he wanted to know. He was really curious about it. "When you asked me if I knew who made this tower? I told you I didn''t know. That was a lie," Azekiel answered. "I know exactly who made this tower, and I also know why." "Who made this tower then?" Raphael asked, really wanting to get an answer to this question. This tower was the biggest mystery of his life, and he definitely wanted an answer, no matter what it took! Chapter 188 188: Creator Of The Tower "Who made the tower?" Raphael asked Azekiel. The tower''s existence was something really important as this tower had affected most of their lives. Just who would make something like this? "Who do you think could do it?" Azekiel didn''t directly answer. Instead, he asked a question in return. "I have no idea. Definitely can''t be a human. And even gods that I knew weren''t capable of making something like this. It must be someone even stronger than gods..." Raphael theorized. "Someone stronger than gods, huh." Azekiel rubbed his chin as if he was seriously considering this possibility. Once again, he looked as if even he didn''t know the answer, but there were times when he looked like he knew. "Honestly, you''re somewhat right. It was made by someone who could be considered stronger than the people you considered gods. The ones you considered gods, I don''t think they should''ve been called gods in the first ce. They were just a slightly stronger species, but no way as strong as gods should be." "Who was it?" Raphael asked again, getting back on the topic since he didn''t want to move on to another topic should gods. "You already answered, didn''t you? It was a god." Azekiel answered. "A god that was stronger than your people." "Where was he from?" "What makes you think it was a ''he''? Then again, you''re not wrong with that either." "What was his name?" Raphael asked. "What can you do after knowing the name? Not like it will help anyone. You won''t recognize him from the name itself." "Maybe I met him before my memories were wiped in my journey inside the tower. The name might help me remember something," Raphael exined why he wanted to know the name. "I want to know." "You didn''t meet him in thest life. You didn''t meet him in your journey inside the tower, but you did meet him during your current journey. You''ve met the person who created the tower." "I did?" Raphael asked, taken aback. He had met the creator of this tower? Who? He only met a few powerful people, and none of them seemed strong enough to be the creators of the tower. There was Av, but she was imprisoned. There was no way the creator of the Tower was Av. Another strong person he let was Alion, but he was also a contender inside the tower. There was no way for him to be the creator of the Tower as he wanted to kill the creator himself! That only left one person. He froze in ce as he finally realized the truth. He turned around, looking in the direction of the pond. "The old man!" he eximed. " He created the Tower! He controls space and time, so he can definitely make a tower that ys with space and time! That''s also why he can go anywhere in the tower and control anything!" "What the...! So we were with the creator of the Tower already?! That old man created the Tower? So he is behind our suffering in this tower? He is why even our souls were kept prisoner inside this tower? That bastard! He looked like such a wise man! Who knew he was going to be so vile!" Azekiel stopped as well, looking back. "You''re not quite right with that either." "The tower wasn''t created by that old man. Instead, he is also trapped in this tower," he cleared the misunderstanding that Raphael and Lia had before it could increase. Raphael was out of ideas now. The old man was most likely to be the creator of the Tower. If not even him, then who? Who could it be? Who else could there be who was capable of such a thing that he had met before? No matter how much he thought about it, he didn''t remember any person who could be the Creator of this Tower. "Who else could it be then?" he asked, raising his head up. As he saw Azekiel''s face, he remembered something. The strange phenomenon where the system called him Master, which it never did before... The sudden change of Azekiel? Him being able to control how many times he Summoned them? He was able to do many things which he couldn''t before. So far, Raphael thought that it was because he was stronger now, but could it be because... Because this Tower belonged to him? Could this be the reason Alion didn''t want to tell him about Azekiel? Since he didn''t want Azekiel to know and remember it? The reason he wanted Raphael to kill him could also be because he wanted to avoid the possibility of Azekiel remembering his past thanks to fighting with Alion. But if Azekiel was the creator of this tower, then why didn''t Alion kill him? Don''t hee at the right timeline? Azekiel had no strength when he arrived, but he couldn''t kill Azekiel. He didn''t even know Azekiel was there. "Is it you?" he finally asked after taking a long time. "What is me?" Azekiel asked, as if not understanding the question. "The Creator of this tower? Is that you?" Raphael rified the question. "There were many people who died in this tower, and I''m sure many of them died with an anger and hate even greater than you, but none of them returned in time to get a system." "Only your consciousness went back in time with the memories... it was as if it was the Tower trying to protect you and make sure you didn''t die! All the hidden quest Rewards, all the luck with your skills, getting just the right skill at the right time... This seems to be too much of a coincidence now that I think about it, doesn''t it?" "I don''t think that makes sense. If he was the creator of the tower, why would he lose his memories as well? Why would he be a yer like other Kings?" Lia believed that they were taking a huge leap with this assumption that Azekiel created the tower. It really didn''t make sense for her. Chapter 189 189: Choice "Why didn''t the tower give him a system right at the start when he had just entered? And most of all, why would he go through all that he did, even losing the person he treated like mother in the process? You can''t forget all those while making an assumption," she continued. "Andstly, didn''t you say that a human can''t create a tower like this, right?" "That is true, but what if he isn''t a human?" Raphael asked. "I know there are many questions. The ones you asked also make me wonder about my assumption, but I still have a feeling like I am right. If that old man isn''t the Creator of this tower, then it must be the person he was treating like an equal." He turned to Azekiel. "And that means Azekiel. So, am I right? Did you create this tower?" "If I say no, would you believe me?" Azekiel looked back in confusion. "You seem quite convinced with your assumption." "If you say no, I will believe you." Raphael firmly stated. "I believed you when you said it wasn''t the old man. I''ll believe if you say it''s not you either. Now, you can tell me the truth, or you can lie. I''ll believe both..." "Alright. Let''s y a game to lighten the mood. You''re both bing really serious. I''ll tell you two things. One of the two statements is true, and the other one is false. I''ll leave it to you to decide what''s here and what''s false." "The first statement is that you were right." Azekiel spread his arms. "I am the creator of this Tower. The majestic Tower that you see is the creation of mine and only mine! The god that you talked about? That is me... I''m the God of this tower." "The second statement is that you were wrong," he stated. "I am not the creator of this tower. I''m not strong enough to create something like this. I''m also like the old man that you saw. We both know who created this tower, but we can''t get to him either. And it''s my goal to kill that person for what he did to me!" Azekiel told both the statements with such great conviction that it made it hard to decipher just which of the two statements was true and which was a lie. Even Raphael, who was the most perceptive out of the two, failed to see just which was the truth. The first statement was what he wanted to believe, but the second one was also highly likely since he remembered the old man trying to persuade Azekiel to stop. It could be because he wanted to kill the real Creator of the Tower, which was dangerous. Both the statements had the potential of being true, yet only one could be true. Lia looked even more confused than Raphael, but she believed the second possibility. Azekiel went through a lot in the tower and outside. There was no way he was the owner of this Tower. It must be someone else. That could exin why Azekiel went through so much. Moreover, in Azekiel''s eyes, she could also see anger when he talked about revenge. "I believe the second statement is true," She dered. Raphael was still silent, just observing Azekiel''s expressions for even the slightest of clues. Unfortunately for him, Azekiel had a poker face which made it impossible to call out his bluff. Ever since he recovered his memories, it became even harder to read his face. Previously, whatever Azekiel thought was easily visible on his face, but not now. Now his face was like an empty te. "Which one is the truth?" Raphael asked ultimately, finding it impossible to guess now. "Hey, I can''t tell you, can I? I already told you that it''s a game. I can''t help you cheat. Take your time. You have all the time in the World to decide which one is the truth. Until then, shall we get going? We''ve wasted quite a lot of time here. We need to check more things as well before I start getting hungry again." Just as Azekiel had stated before, he left the decision on Raphael to distinguish between the truth and the lie. He started leaving, telling the others to follow him. "It''s impossible to find the truth and the lie between these two statements." Raphael followed Azekiel. "It''s not impossible. You just need the right perspective to see the truth," Azekiel responded. "You don''t have that perspective for now, but you''ll get it soon hopefully." "I''ll wait for your answer. I''m really curious to see just what option you''ll go with. Will you be right? Or will you be wrong? It''ll be fun to see." **** p Back near the pond, the old man was still sitting. He sent all the fishes inside the water, still lost in some deep thought. "Select a side, huh." Azekiel''s words were still floating in his head, where he was told to pick a side before it was toote. "Picking your side will be stupid. You have no chance... But picking the other side will mean going against you, which I don''t want to do. It seems I''ll once again stay out of it. Though I do wish you luck... Old friend." The old man stood up, prepared to leave, but just as he was about to leave, he felt a powerful aura around him again. He turned around, noticing a young man standing behind him. The young man was dressed inplete white. A beautiful dragon circled around the young man who floated in the air with his arms around his chest. "So he remembered?" He asked. "That''s a pity..." "Did you expect him to not remember? It was just a matter of time. And now that he remembered, it seems something else is just a matter of time now." The old man rolled his eyes. The young smiled innocently. "Times are different... The oue will be different as well." "Who knows?" The old man shrugged. "We will see how everything goes¡­." Chapter 190 190: You Were Wrong Azekiel strolled through the entire eleventh floor, just observing his surroundings. At times, it looked like he didn''t have any goal in this other than just wasting time. Throughout their stroll, they noticed many Kings from different realms. Some of them looked simr to humans, while others looked way more than just humans. Throughout the entire time, Raphael was still lost in the two options that Azekiel had provided him. Which of the two options could be true? Which could be false? He wanted an answer, but Azekiel wasn''t going to tell him anything. He knew that he needed to try other ways if he wanted an answer. He needed to ask questions that were unrted to this while still being able to give him some clues. "There are so many Kings here in this Tower. Just what could be the goal behind creating this tower? Why would someone want so many Kings going against each other?" "If you just give this opportunity to one world, won''t that be unfair?" Azekiel asked in response. "The world isn''t fair, but this tower is. Most of the time that is." "The Tower was created to give every world an opportunity..." "Opportunity for what?" Raphael was intrigued. He increased his pace to walk right beside Azekiel. "An opportunity that the creator of this tower didn''t have, apparently," Azekiel answered. "So what was this opportunity that you didn''t have?" Raphael asked, intentionally phrasing the question in such a way. "The opportunity I didn''t have was to receive your answer," Azekiel answered. "I''m sure there are every one of us who at times had no opportunity. If you want to use that question to prove that the tower belongs to me, then it''s a weak question my friend." "For example, look at that man in the distance." He pointed in the distance toward a man who had his back facing them. "The King of Wrath from one of thepeting worlds... He watched all his friends die, having no opportunity to save them." "Why even look so far? Let''s look at you. Raphael, King of Greed, who had no opportunity to save his world. Almost all Kings here have lost something that they once held dear, and they had no opportunity to save that. Some care for their loss while others forget about their loss entirely." "I''m sure the Creator of this Tower must have something that promoted him to create this tower. Maybe it was to punish other worlds? Or maybe it was for something else. Who knows..." "So you won''t tell me if you created this tower or not?" Raphael asked. "Why are you being so vague? If you created it, just tell me. If you didn''t, tell me that. Why do you want to keep me guessing? I just want to know just what this tower is and why it was created!" "I''m a part of this tower, and I''m a part of your team. I want to know just what I''m a part of. Just what am I supposed to do? Just what is happening in my life and why?" "What will you do after knowing?" Azekiel asked calmly. "If I say I didn''t create the tower, what will you do? It''s not like your curiosity will end. You''ll just ask who created it then. It''s a question that has no end." "And if I say I created this tower, then what? What will you do then? If I said that I''m the reason you''re trapped in this tower, then what can you do? The only thing that will happen then is that you''ll still have to support me begrudgingly. Isn''t that right? In both cases, there isn''t a perfect solution." "You said I met the creator of the tower before. I just want to know who it is. I don''t want to y this guessing game!" Raphael was the calmest person in the tower, but his curiosity made even him restless. It was as if someone had peaked his interest only to then stop speaking. "Amongst all the people I met, there is only one person that you haven''t confirmed or denied the possibility of being the Creator of this Tower, and it''s you. Other than that, I don''t think anyone else is capable at this point. All the others I met were weak!" "Wasn''t I weak as well?" Azekiel asked. "Who says that the Creator of the Tower couldn''t be weak when you met him? Maybe that person was so weak when you saw him that you can''t even consider the possibility of them being the creator of the tower?" "I am sure that''s not the case. If it was someone else, you had no reason to be vague. I''ve made up my mind. You wanted me to pick one between two choices? I''ve made up my mind." Raphael still wasn''t a hundred percent sure, but he had still made up his mind. Clenching his fist, he eximed, "You are the creator of this Tower. I select the first option as being true. You created this tower and no one else." He selected an option that Lia had rejected as being false. Not both his Familiars believed in a different set of truths. "Now tell me. Who is right? Lia of I?" he asked. "Who guessed right!" It Azekiel wasn''t going to answer until he made a choice; he decided to make that choice. With two answers, he couldn''t avoid selecting one and rejecting the other. He had to tell which of the two was right. Azekiel stopped walking now that Raphael had made a choice. He nced at Raphael before gazing at Lia. Both of them believed that they were right. Both were looking at him to see just what his answer was going to be. "Now that you''ve both made a choice, I''ll tell you the truth. First, Raphael... You are right. I am the Creator of this Tower. I am the God of this tower and the being who made this ce where you''re all standing." "Lia, you were wrong," he informed Lia. "Raphael managed to guess correctly. I''m the reason you''re both inside this Tower. I''m also the reason that all the Kings are here! I am also one who created this maze of space and time which is impossible to decipher!" Chapter 191 191: I Did Even though Raphael had made a choice, he still felt that Azekiel was going to call him wrong. He expected Azekiel to just say that he wasn''t the man who created this tower, but contrary to all his expectations, Azekiel epted it! Lia was quite taken aback. She chose to trust Azekiel, only to find out that he was the reason that even their soul was trapped here. So she had been helping their biggest enemy all this while? She should''vee to terms with it. "Is it really the truth? You are the reason we are trapped here?" she asked, clenching her fist. "Nope. I''m not the reason you''re both trapped here. I''m the reason for every soul being trapped here. You two aren''t the only ones." Azekiel answered. "Every King who had ever died inside this tower, or every human! Their souls still rests in the Tower and will continue existing as such." "You''re the reason we lost our memories?" She asked again. The more answers she received, the more her blood boiled. She felt betrayed. She hadn''t felt this betrayed even when Osiris refused to help him in getting justice for her sister. Azekiel took a deep breath before nodding. "That''s right. I created a mechanism to wipe the memories after someone died as well." Lia just wanted to kill Azekiel at the moment. She had never hated anyone this much in her life. Even Raphael finally understood why Alion was saying that he was helping him. He understood why he told Raphael to kill Azekiel as he wasn''t a nice person. So this was why? He was right! Azekiel wasn''t a good person. He yed with all their lives... He yed with their minds and their emotions! No wonder Alion hated Azekiel as well. So Alion wanted to go back in time to stop Azekiel before this Tower was created, but he ended up at the wrong time. That guy... He was innocent. Lia also realized it now. She really regretted helping Azekiel in killing Alion. "Why...?" In her broken voice, she only asked one question. "Did you find it fun to y with us? Did you find it fun to y god in our lives? Did you find it fun to mess with our lives? To destroy them? And even after all that, you still used us?" "Why did you do it?" Raphael asked the same question. Just why? And if he was the God of this tower, why was he in such a dire situation when they met him? If he was ying with others'' lives, then who was ying with him? "Why did you create this tower? And who exactly are you?" ? "You were right. I''m not a human. As for who I am, that''s a bitplicated to answer..." Azekiel didn''t know how to describe just what he was, as even he found it hard to describe. After thinking about his words and how to describe the situation, he started speaking. "I told you I created this tower to make sure that the other worlds had an opportunity that I never had? What do you think it meant? Why do you think the Tower only appears in the world with an apocalypse? Why does it open its doors for people in need?" "I don''t know what I am, but I know where I''m from. I''m not from earth. The food I was eating before? That''s from the world where I first opened my eyes. Just like on earth, I didn''t know who my parents were. I was taken in by a family... Surprisingly each world has some nice people..." "The world was very peaceful. Unlike earth, there were no wars there. Even then, it didn''tst long. A terrible disaster struck when suddenly meteors started raining on our world. It was like an apocalypse as if the heaven was punishing us. We had no ce to hide either." "In that apocalypse, I lost everything. I lost my family and the girl I considered my sister. I also lost the person I loved... In the apocalypse, only one person survived." "You." Raphael finished the sentence. Azekiel nodded. "That''s right. Me... For some reason, I was the only one who survived, only to wake up in a barren world." "I didn''t have an opportunity to save my world... We didn''t have a chance of survival. That''s why I dedicated my life to bring my people back in any way I could. I don''t know what I was, but I was able to do what others from my world couldn''t. I was able to manipte space and time to a small extent, but with time, I realized I was able to do much more." "Still, No matter what I tried, I couldn''t bring my people back. I couldn''t bring my family back as the time kept repairing itself." "That''s when I decided to create this Tower... A realm of my own, where even time and space couldn''t heal itself. I created this mess of space and time that was free from thews of nature outside. I created this small world of my own." "And you made it capable of appearing in ces with Apocalypses? To save people? But why after an apocalypse came? If you wanted to save people, why not before the Apocalypse came? Why as ast resort?" Raphael asked. "Because it''s impossible to locate a world where an apocalypse is supposed toe before it does. Things are moreplicated than they seem. Only when there is an apocalypse does the space time dimension around that world be weak enough for this tower to appear." "It still doesn''t make sense entirely. You say you''re the good guy who wanted to save people? Then why did you keep souls hostage? Why did you create this dangerous game of climbing the tower?" Lia asked. She had already believed Azekiel many times before, but not anymore! "Why did you force people to kill each other in the name of climbing the Tower? Also, why did you keep the doors of the Tower closed to the people who died right outside the door on Earth? You are a liar! You are making up a story now!" Chapter 192 192: Because I... It was like the equations had turned now. While Lia believed Azekiel before and Raphael didn''t, now it was Lia who didn''t believe him while Raphael wanted to listen to what he was saying. Raphael knew that if Azekiel wanted, he could''ve lied about many things. He could''ve lied about not creating the Tower as well. Why would he ept the truth? If he had lied, the two of them would''ve believed him even then. If he told them the truth, then maybe he really didn''t want to lie. If he was telling something, Raphael believed that they needed to give him a chance. In any case, it wasn''t as if they could do anything else. They couldn''t hurt him since they were bound by the rules of the Tower, which didn''t allow them to attack their Summoner. They were at Azekiel''s mercy even now. Moreover, Azekiel didn''t look like he was lying. At least Raphael couldn''t see it. "Why did I force people to kill each other? Why did I trap your soul here? Do you really want to know?" Azekiel asked back as his aura became a bit darker. "Firstly, I didn''t force anyone to kill each other. You''ve been with me ever since the beginning. Did you see any mission which asked me to kill any other King or Lord? The tower doesn''t force anyone to kill. It''s all the greed of Kings and their fear of the unknown!" "The missions were created to make a merit system where only the ones who worked would get the strength they crave for. The missions about killing beasts and other such beings in the tower were also the same... It was so the tower could recover the strength that it waster giving to these Kings!" "So no, I didn''t force anyone to kill anyone! Even if there was no tower of Sins, there are wars! There is destruction, all created by your own. Did the Tower tell your king to burn the Witches? Did the tower tell you to kill people? Did the Tower tell the humans to wage war on each other? No. So don''t me your faults on the tower." "It''s all your greed and nothing more which forced you to kill! Your people wanted to be the only ones who could stand at the top! That''s why they killed the others!" "As far as why your Soul is trapped in the Tower even after death... What did you think would happen? This is a prison of space and time. Even the concept of death is iplete in this realm. Death can turn to life, and life can turn to death at any moment." " That''s why the souls are reserved! It''s not because the tower wants to keep them hostage. It''s just because there is no other way." "Your Souls were trapped in the tower, but it''s not because I wanted it! I didn''t even know you two before meeting you in this timeline. I have no reason to keep you hostage," he further exined. "But you said that only one King from a world can climb up after a certain point in the tower. Isn''t that a way to indirectly force them to kill each other?" "That''s an answer even to that, but I won''t tell you that." Unlike before, this time Azekiel refused to answer this time. "I think I''ve given you enough answers for now." "You are still ying with us, aren''t you?" Lia frowned. "This time, no one is going to fall for that." "I don''t need you to fall for anything. You two had already fallen into this mess on your own when you died inside this Tower. You people never understood the true concept of this tower and just what it was supposed to be. You aren''t the only ones though. Not a single person understood anything about this." "This tower isn''t so simple, Lia. You people should consider yourself lucky that you managed to enter the Tower and that your world was selected. Otherwise, let alone having another chance, you wouldn''t even be alive..." Unlike Lia, Raphael didn''t me Azekiel. If what he was saying was true, then it really made sense why he made this tower. Moreover, it was really hard to find any ws in his Stories. "Can I ask how you fell this much?" Raphael asked a more important question. "You were the god of the tower... You were the supreme being. Why did you end up on earth without your memories? Why did you not know anything? Why are you climbing your own tower as a King instead of just going straight to the top?" "Because I can''t," Azekiel answered. "I just can''t... I need to reach the top, and I have no easier way than to climb this tower like the others." "Why? Don''t you control the tower?" "Not anymore. Not entirely at least," Azekiel answered. "I don''t control the tower... But I''m still linked to this tower, which can''t be snatched from me." He gazed at the floor on which he was standing, gently tapping it with his foot. "This tower... It''s like an entity which is alive. It remembers me, and maybe that''s why I''m still alive. It''s like my baby, which didn''t want me to die, even though it''s in someone else''s control now." "Someone else''s control?" Raphael asked, stunned. "You mean the second statement of yours was also true?'' Azekiel nodded. "It was partially true. The thing about me wanting revenge was true. I want to kill the bastard because of who I''m in this situation." "Who is it? Who controls this tower now?" From what Azekiel said, the tower belonged to him and helped him to some extent, but it was in someone else''s control now. It''s also because of that person that he couldn''t just climb to the top of the tower directly. No wonder he needed to clear the missions to climb up. Moreover, all those hidden missions that he received... It was like the tower subtly helped him through missions. The First Mission sent him to the vige where he met the old man. The second hidden mission sent him outside the tower, where Azekiel regained his memories. Chapter 193 193: No Coincidence "The only thing in the Tower that can''t be controlled are the missions. Since I knew it was going to be hard to handle giving everyone missions, I made the tower self-reliant on that. The tower decides the missions and gives them ordingly. Even the one who controls the tower can''t control the missions," Azekiel exined "But that person can still control many more things in the tower. That''s why the old man didn''t want to help me. Saying that the other side is strong would be an understatement. It''s an uphill climb, even for me. The only thing that''s helping me are the missions, but even they can only help me to a certain extent." "You didn''t answer. Who controls the tower now?" Lia asked. Even though she still felt betrayed, after seeing Raphael believe Azekiel, she decided to give him another chance as well. Throughout their entire journey, Raphael had been the only person who was great at guessing such things. Every time she believed something, it turned out to be a lie. This time, she didn''t believe her heart, but she believed Raphael and gave Azekiel one more benefit of the doubt. If Azekiel was actually telling the truth, that meant he really didn''t imprison their soul. And it also wasn''t his decision to make them his Familiars. In other words, he wasn''t as bad as she thought. However, that was only if he was telling the truth, which she still didn''t believe entirely. "The person who controls the tower... She is the real traitor. After I gave her everything... After I taught her everything, she backstabbed me," Azekiel answered. "That person was none other than one of the Kings in the Tower." "A King?" "Yes. A King. When I controlled this Tower, I paid a lot of attention to the Kings that performed the best. Amongst them, there was one person amongst them who caught my eyes. She was simr to a human, yet quite different. She could control magic even before she entered the Tower of Sin, so after receiving the system, her strength only increased." "It was right at the start when the Tower of Sin had just finished beingpleted and had only protected a few worlds." "While everyone else hadn''t even reached the 20th floor, she was on the 70th floor. She was also the first person who managed to reach me on the top floor. There, I told her the purpose of this tower." "Then she attacked you?" Raphael asked. "Not right away, but more or less. She told me that she thought it was a good cause and that she wanted to help me in this. She asked me to teach her more about this tower, and I did... I suppose you can guess what happened next?" "So you were naive at that time. It seems some things never change. She took advantage of you and learned everything from you about the tower before backstabbing you and taking control of the tower," Raphael took a guess, noticing that Azekiel was nodding. "For a few weeks, she was quite good. She helped me observe the tower and even improve some of the mechanisms. She was also the one who reminded me about the w of the tower, about the higher floors being somewhat unstable." "That problem was something even I hadn''t realized since I didn''t take into considering as to how many worlds would be in danger and how much burden would be on the tower, which could affect it in a really bad way." "That''s when the limitation was applied that only one person from one world could climb higher after a certain point to keep the burden a little low," Azekiel exined. "Her ideas were quite good, which even impressed me. I was happy that there was someone else who was as interested in my cause as me." Unfortunately, that was all a lie. All her ideas, they were good, but she gave them to me with a specific purpose in mind. She wanted to see just how thews of the towers could be changed and how I achieved that. She wanted to know all the secrets of the towers, and she selected an indirect method to achieve it to not make me suspicious." "I only found out when it was toote. I couldn''t do anything at that point. She took control of the entire tower and attacked me when I was focused on something else. She stabbed me from the back, all for this Tower." "How did you end up outside the tower then? If you were killed on the top floor, why did you appear on earth and as a child?" From what he heard, Azekiel was an adult when he was inside the tower, but he was a little baby when he was found on earth. How? Did that girl not kill him entirely? "Honestly, even I don''t know how that''s possible. I don''t have the answer to that question. It''s only after I killed Alion and took his memories that my memories also returned. I only know being killed by her. Other than that, I have no idea how I ended up on earth." "There''s only one thing that I know. It''s that when I entered the Tower, the Tower most probably recognized me. But it didn''t give me a System. Maybe because it didn''t think I was ready. Or maybe because it was waiting for me to regain my memories. It''s also possible that the Tower didn''t think I needed a system since it knew what I was." "But when the Tower saw me die, it realized that something wasn''t right about me. It understood that my memories were a mess and that I needed some more help if I wanted to survive. That''s when my conscience went back in time. I have a feeling it''s because of the Tower as well." "The Tower gave me a system, making me one of the Kings as well, most probably hoping that I''ll remember again. Ever since then, all the missions, all the given quests, they''ve all been to help me. It wasn''t a coincidence." Chapter 194 194: Map "So even though it''s true that I''m the owner of this tower, at the moment, I''m still just one of the Kings here, with a little more advantage than the others," Azekiel exined further. "But that one advantage isn''t less. It''s a huge advantage. You basically know all the secrets of this Tower since you created it. Moreover, you also have the support of this Tower with the Quests. That should be enough to make you return to your former strength," Raphaelmented. At this point, he had truly believed what Azekiel spoke. Not only did he believe Azekiel, but he also decided that he was going to help Azekiel. Azekiel wasn''t a great person in his life. Even though he had a good motive, he still created something that yed with all their lives. Despite that, he also wasn''t as bad as he was expecting. No matter what Azekiel did or what his actions were, his intention wasn''t to make them his ves. His intention wasn''t to keep souls hostage. "If you know so much about this tower, you should also know how we can regain our memories?" Lia inquired. "Is there a way?" Azekiel nodded. "There is definitely a way, but it''s not easy. Moreover, it''s not possible for the time being. In any case, I was already nning to help you regain your memories as that could help you and me in the future." "With your memories, you would not only be able to know exactly what you were capable of, but you would be able to protect yourself even better next time. That way, you can know that I really didn''t meet you in your real Timeline. Until then, I''m sure you''ll keep doubting me." After exining everything he had done, Azekiel started leaving again. They had wasted a lot of time, standing in one ce all this while. They had a destination to be at. Raphael and Lia followed after him, believing him. Even though they both chose to believe him in the end, there was still a small doubt in the back of their heads. Azekiel had told them a story about his past, which made sense to some extent as there weren''t many ws in the story. However, it wasn''t his first time telling a story without any ws. They both knew that he was now a master in the fabrication of stories, so there was still a small chance that he was lying about this entire thing. Azekiel walked in the lead, knowing what the two behind him were thinking, but he didn''t mind. He knew they were right. Maybe he was lying? Or maybe he was telling the truth? Maybe both his statements were a lie, and he was just ying with them until he reached his goals. Or maybe the entire thing was different. There were many possibilities, and only Azekiel knew what the truth actually was. After a long walk, Azekiel finally reached a beautiful white castle. There were already many kings waiting to be them. There were around twenty Kings who were waiting for the tower to open. Amongst the Kings, Raphael only recognized Alion, who looked younger and slightly weaker than his old self that they met. Raphael still found itplicated. This Tower went beyond allmon sense. There were so many paradoxes being made inside the tower at every step. Alion was supposed to fight him inside the castle, but his real self wasn''t here. That meant he couldn''t fight Alion, and the future was going to change with Alion having no interaction with him. "You destroyed the entire reality to make this Tower. I still don''t know how that''s even possible and how this whole thing works, but I believe this Tower is a ticking bomb that could explode at any time. Space and time are the supremews of Nature." The more Raphael thought about how multiple realities existed inside the tower at the same time, the more he understood just how dangerous this could be for everyone. "You''ve been keeping these twows and manipting them inside this Tower, but the chaos in space and time only increases as more and more paradoxes are created. The space and time always look to heal itself, and when it can''t, thenes a catastrophe." Even Azekiel told him that he wanted to go back in time, Raphael vehemently opposed the suggestion since he didn''t want Azekiel to take that risk which could create a time paradox. He was worried about one space and time paradox, but inside this tower, there were millions of such paradoxes. He was surprised that the tower was still working. "I know what you''re trying to say." Azekiel also realized what Raphael was trying to convey. In fact, there was a time when he even considered this problem. Unfortunately, it was a problem that had no correct solution. It was just the way it was. Things inside the tower were a mess, yet they were an orderly mess for now. So what Raphael worried about wasn''t something that was possible anytime soon. "Don''t worry about it though. This tower existed for over millennia, and it''ll exist for longer as well. For now, we need to focus on what''s ahead of us more than what''s in the future," he reminded Raphael, pointing to the Castle which was ahead. It was the time for the castle to open. The doors of the castle slowly started opening as well. As the doors opened, all the Kings rushed inside, seemingly in haste because they didn''t want anyone else to get better rewards than them. Unlike the other Kings, Azekiel wasn''t in any hurry. He wanted for all the other Kings to enter before he finally started moving. He also entered the tower. He didn''t want to be in a race against the others since his goal wasn''t the treasures that the others were after. Those treasures weren''t worth his time. He wanted something more... He wanted something more special and something that he could now get, thanks to the map and the key. Chapter 195 195: Traps The Castle of Infinity was a castle that was said to have infiniteyouts. Every time the castle opened, theyout in the room was different from thest time. That''s why even the ones who entered before found it hard to navigate inside the tower the next time. Only the ones who had the map of Castle of Infinity knew just what the trueyout was at the end they entered. Just like the Castle had infiniteyouts, the map of the castle also had infiniteyouts. As soon as someone with the map entered the castle, the map changed itself to show the currentyout, which made it easier for the ones with the map to navigate inside the Tower and to know where to go. Even though Azekiel had the memories that others didn''t, even he didn''t know what theyout was going to be and where everything was going to be without the map. The only reason he waited was because he didn''t want to waste time fighting others. He was sure that if he entered first and opened the map, the others were going to try to attack him to take the map from him. The allure of the map was just too much. Even though he believed that he could fight back, he didn''t want to bother. Fighting back was more time consuming than just waiting for a few seconds and entering with a perfectly calm head. After all the Kings entered, Azekiel finally started moving toward the mystical castle. He took his first step inside, feeling as if he had entered a different realm altogether. The aura inside the tower waspletely different, and so was the scent of the Castle. The Castle of Infinity had a really ancient smell inside, which was very pleasing to Azekiel''s senses. Only after entering the tower, Azekiel called out his map from his inventory and opened it. Raphael and Lia also moved closer, observing the map. They were surprised to see the exact map. The map was really big when it unfolded entirely. Even though the map depicted ces and the routes in a very small size, it was so huge since the Castle of Infinity just had so many rooms and ces. "This ce looks like a maze," Raphaelmented. Seeing the map, it was obvious that the castle was like a maze which made it really easy to get lost. Through the map, it was also evident that there were many routes that just made people walk in circles and led them down the wrong path in the end. "I suppose we need to get to the center of the map?" he asked. Through the map, the central room appeared to be the hardest to reach, thanks to all the mazes around it. Without the map, he didn''t believe that they could even reach there. "That''s right." Azekiel agreed, slightly impressed by Raphael''sprehension. "The center is the most important ce. We need to reach that ce, and that''s also where we''ll be using the key. Unfortunately, it won''t be easy to get there, even with this map. The map just depicts the route, but not all the traps that areid down in our path." "Even I don''t know what kind of traps will there be, but they will definitely make our journey much harder," he continued. "It''s good that you two are in the spirit form. You''ll be safer on this journey, but I''ll have to be more careful." "Isn''t it funny? When I didn''t have my memories, I was weaker, but I cared less about my life. But now that I have my memories, I''m stronger than I used to be before, but I care more about my life now?" he asked, directing this question at Raphael. "Because you want to live until you have your revenge?" Raphael asked. "If I was in your ce, I might''ve been the same. Before, you didn''t have something you would''ve wanted with such determination, but now that you remembered your past, you want to kill all your enemies." "Another thing is thatst time, you didn''t know what wasing. All the missions, you just jumped blindly into them, not knowing what was toe, but now that you know what can be ahead, you think more about that. That''s why sometimes more Knowledge can be disadvantageous as well." Raphael analyzed Azekiel''s words and even made sense to them since it wasn''t rare. He wasn''t the only person who worried about their lives if they knew what dangers they had to face. "Despite knowing what''s toe, you''re still going to go forward. That I''m sure about. Isn''t that right?" he asked. No matter what Azekiel remembered, at the core, he was the same person for Raphael, who was never scared of challenges. He might be concerned about what challenges were going toe ahead, but even then, he wasn''t going to step back, which was precisely what Raphael expected from him. "Of course, I won''t step back. I am hungry... But this time, I''m hungry for strength. To get that strength, I''ll face any challenge thates before me, no matter what it could be. As far as the traps that are ahead, we''ll just have to deal with them." "Moreover, it''s not as if those traps were going to be worse than what I''ll be facing in the future. In fact,pared to what we are to face, these traps would be nothing. If I can''t even face the traps of this castle, how can I expect to face the others? I won''t be weak." Azekiel folded the map once again and kept it back in his inventory after memorizing the initial route. He started advancing ahead. "Lia, are you still angry at me for lying?" Along the way, Azekiel asked. Raphael was talking to him like normal, but Lia was somewhat distant now. He really wondered if Lia was going to step forward to help him in case he needed it in the future. Lia red back at Azekiel. "Shall I give you two statements as well?" Chapter 196 196: Unknown "You can just tell me the truth," Azekiel responded. "I just want to know your answer." "The answer is yes, I am still angry a little, but I also give you the benefit of the doubt. It''ll take me some time to get over this feeling of betrayal, but I won''t let my personal feelings influence my actions. If you need help, I will be the first person to help you without hesitation." "That''s much better." Even though Azekiel didn''t depend on Lia''s help, it was still better to know that he had some backup in case he needed it. He started moving deeper inside the Castle of Infinity. The first hallway was the most important part of the Academy, which was also the safest part to travel through as there weren''t any traps here. The path was also what most of the Kings took, just like him. "Did you also create this castle?" Raphael asked Azekiel along the way, noticing the castle look quite interesting from the inside. It gave him the same feeling as the mysterious castle in his world used to provide. The castle was almost identical to that castle, with there being only a few minor differences. The castle looked quite simr from the outside for the most part. Unfortunately, he couldn''tpare from the inside since he never went inside that castle himself. Only one person was allowed to enter that castle, and that person wasn''t hmm. However, looking at the interiors, he just assumed that it was probably the same as this. The walls and the corridor looked quite ancient, just from the looks of it. On the wall, there were also some cracks visible at this point which was the most surprising. A castle with such great significance also had cracks which meant it wasn''t unbreakable. On the walls, there were also many paintings that looked like they were there for decorations. The paintings also looked to be hand drawn, as if a person made them himself. It was most probably created by the creator of this Castle. The Paintings were mostly ordinary paintings that weren''t too great or too bad. "I didn''t make it," Azekiel answered. "Moreover, this isn''t the only castle like this, as you know. There are simr castles in multiple worlds that have existed for as long as anyone can remember. Honestly, even I don''t know who made this castle, but it looked like an interesting ce when I visited it. That''s why I linked this castle to this ce." "Anyway, whoever made this ce, I have a feeling that they are long dead, so it doesn''t matter at this point," he further stated. "Though the Paintings are definitely good. Way better than anything I can make. If you saw my paintings, you would startughing." "My talents might be many, but painting isn''t one of them." Azekiel tapped one of the paintings. "Though if I were to guess, the paintings were created about a million years ago, so it''s no less than a miracle that they are still in such fine condition." "The castle should be even older, so it makes sense that there are cracks and why no one knows when these castles were made." Azekiel walked past the paintings, taking a nce at each of them. "Are these ces real?" Raphael asked, observing the ces in the paintings. In some paintings, a beautifulndscape was shown with mysterious creatures that he had never seen before. He could see a sky made of mes and the ground made from Ice that wasn''t melting. If a ce like that really existed, it was quite interesting at the core of it. A world of fire and ice was something he had never heard about, let alone seeing with his own eyes. "That''s the real world," Azekiel confirmed. "Though no life form lives in that ce. That ce is uninhabitable because of the two extremes.* "All these ces are real, even though they look like a fragment of someone''s imagination." Azekiel and Raphael started talking, and their equation seemed to be getting back to normal like it used to be. The only difference was that before, Azekiel used to ask Raphael questions, but now Raphael was asking him questions which made it look like the entire equation between the two had changed. **** While Azekiel was inside the Castle of Infinity, the old man was still standing near the pond, staring at the young man who was surrounded by a Dragon who seemed to be his protector. "Did you inform her about this?" The old man asked Zheng. Zheng shook his head. "Not yet. For now, she doesn''t know anything about it. Most probably because he isn''t strong enough to have his presence be sensed by her." "That''s true. We are much closer to him, so we could feel the return of his same old aura. But she won''t sense it. The aura is too weak to get to the top floor. So you want to inform her?" The old man asked. "You know, if you inform her, you''ll get rewarded." "I know I will. I can go to her now and tell her right away, but that isn''t the ideal solution. If she finds out about it, she will just try to kill him." "And you don''t want him to die?" The old man asked, smiling in response. "Zheng, are you switching your allegiance." "I never will. She is the reason we were able to rid of that demon. She is the one who stopped him before he could seed in his goals... If not for her, we would all be dead at his hands," Zheng eximed. "That Demon created this tower, just for his entertainment... He enjoyed seeing peoplepete and die in the process. Why would I want someone like him to live? He is the reason that this Tower was a hell in the past!" "Then why won''t you tell her about his return?" The old man asked. Zheng''s eyes were clearly filled with hate, which made it a curious case for the old man. Chapter 197 197: Master Manipulator The old man knew that Zheng hated Azekiel, and he wasn''t the only person who hated him. There were many people in the tower who hated Azekiel. Everyone who knew about the specifics of his past hated him. The man was called the Demon in the Tower during the time of his reign. He was the strongest being here and the Creator of this tower who could control space and time and much more. He was someone who was said to be impossible to kill. While everyone hated Azekiel, there was only one person who didn''t feel much hate toward Azekiel. It was the old man. Unlike the others who all were against Azekiel, he had always been neutral. Even though Azekiel wasn''t a good person at the core, the old man didn''t care much about that. As he was neutral, he held good rtionships with both sides in the past and even now without interfering. He was quite curious why Zheng wasn''t telling that girl about Azekiel''s return since that seemed like the most sensible choice for him. He hated Azekiel and what better way than to expose him when he was weak? "Why don''t you tell her about him? If you don''t want to save him, then why?" "Because I want to kill him personally!" Zheng eximed. "When he entered the tower, even I didn''t know who he really was. I only had doubts, but I couldn''t be sure. However, now that his memories had returned, he had that same aura that I could never before. Now I''m sure who he is, and I want to have my revenge!" "I see. Since he''s weaker than he was at his peak, you want to kill him yourself. You don''t want to tell her because then she would personallye to kill him, and you''ll lose your opportunity. Is that right?" The old man asked, finally understanding what was going on in his head of Zheng. "That''s right! This is the perfect opportunity for me to kill him! He is still weak. He doesn''t even have the fraction of the strength which he used to have since he''s young again. At the moment, he is too weak... Weak enough that even I can kill him, which seemed like an impossible thought in the past," Zheng exined. "Let me guess. That''s not the only reason, is it?" The old man asked. "That''s only a partial reason. You want to kill him for revenge, but you also want to do it so you can get his strength and be even stronger?" Zheng smiled in response, bursting intoughter. "He was right. You are very perceptive, old man." "Nah, it''s not about perception. It''smon sense. You are here, talking to me instead of attempting to kill him. That makes it obvious that you don''t want to kill him on this floor. The only reason that can be behind that decision is because this is a reward Floor, and if you kill anyone here, you won''t get any rewards or their strength," the old man further exined how he came to the conclusion. "You want him to enter the twelfth floor before you kill him, did I get it right? You not only want to kill him, but you also want to get all the benefits from it, which you don''t want to give to her." "Even though you work for her, you also want to reach the same heights that she did, and the first step for that is taking Azekiel''s strength by killing him. That''s also why you aren''t telling her about Azekiel. Then again, it''s quite clever, I must say." "Do you also want to help me?" Zheng asked the old man. "Or you''re still going to be neutral even now?" "You know me. I won''t engage in the war from any side," the old man responded. "You know, sometimes staying neutral just means siding with the stronger side. In this case, you are siding with us indirectly, which is good enough for me. Just stay out of my way when I kill him," Zhang smirked. "I also came here to tell you not to inform her about this. At the moment, only two of us know about this. I don''t want anyone else to know. You understand?" "I wasn''t nning to tell either. It''s none of my business what happens between the two sides or who does what. I won''t interfere if you kill him," the old man answered, but he didn''t stop there. p He further continued with an amused smile on his lips. "Simrly, I won''t interfere if he''s about to kill you instead." "Hahahaha! With his strength?" Zhang burst into heartyughter. "That will never happen. If it were the old him, it still would''ve been possible, but even with his memories, he is too weak now! So don''t worry. Your help will be thest thing I''ll be needing." "Who knows... It''s always good not to underestimate your enemy... Especially if the enemy is the so-called Demon who made the entire world bow before him at his peak," the old man chimed in. "Anyway, I wish you luck. I''ll see how things go." "I''ll be taking my leave for now." The man pped his hands, opening a spatial portal before him, but before he could enter, he heard Zhang''s words. "Old man, can I ask you a question?" "Yeah?" The old man stopped and asked without looking back. "Why didn''t you tell his two familiars about his truth? Why didn''t you tell them that he lies about everything to get what he wants? Why didn''t you tell them that he is a master maniptor? Why did you let them be in the dark about just what Azekiel actually is like?" Zheng asked, genuinely curious. "Why don''t you tell them about his truth and what he actually did in the past? You know as well as I do that he''ll lie to them as well, don''t you? So why didn''t you expose the truth?" The old man smiled in response as he turned around. Chapter 198 198: The Painful River Of Blood "Why didn''t I tell them who the person with them truly was?" The old man asked. "I told you. It isn''t my ce to interfere. Just like I don''t interfere with you, I don''t interfere with him. Moreover, even if I had told them, what then? What do you think would happen?" Even though he asked the question, he himself answered as well. "The only thing that would happen was that they would know more about Azekiel. Still, they couldn''t stop supporting him. They are his Familiars, and even they can''t break the bond that has been established. That''s the extent of it." "So me telling them would only waste my time. I just asked him if he had told them. Since he didn''t, that was it. It had nothing to do with me. Though I did feel that he would tell them sooner orter." "In any case, aren''t you going to be meeting him on the next floor? Why don''t you tell them yourself and see what happens? Go ahead. Tell them about the reality of Azekiel. Tell them who he really is and how he used to be the most hated person in the entire world." Even though the old man told Zheng to tell Raphael and Lia, his suggestion had some sarcastic tone to it. "Old man, don''t think I can''t catch your sarcasm." Zheng frowned. "You already have the answer to your question, don''t you?" The old man asked in return. "Even if you tell them all this, they''ll still have to fight for him. They''ll still be the ones who will be attacking you. They just have to listen to hismands. They have no choice." "Moreover, why would they even believe what you or I say?" he added. "In the end, they would still prefer to believe a lie from Azekiel than to believe the truth from us. That''s why save your time and don''t try it. It''ll be a futile effort." After giving his advice, the old man entered the portal, disappearing from the ce. When he arrived here, he just wanted to have a rxing time. Even he wasn''t expecting to see Azekiel here, but the day became somewhatplicated for him. Not only did he find out that Azekiel finally regained his memories, but also that Zheng was nning to take him out without informing the others. The old man knew that Zheng was making the biggest mistake of his life by not informing the others. He thought he could take Azekiel alone, but the old man believed that the chances of his sess were really low. Even though Azekiel was at a fraction of what he was capable of in thest, even that fraction itself was a lot. There was a reason that man ruled over the world. As the old man disappeared, Zhang also disappeared, ncing onest time in the direction of the castle of infinity. "Don''t keep me waiting for long..." **** Inside the Castle of Infinity, Azekiel had managed to win the trust of Raphael and Lia once again while giving them a usible exnation for his special knowledge and bond with the tower, burying his real past under something iprehensible. As he walked through the hallway, gazing at the myriad of paintings, there were so many memories that rushed through his head, making him feel as if it was just yesterday. He stopped before one of the paintings, which was right at the end. Unlike the other paintings, thest one didn''t appear to be made using paints. Instead, it was made using pure blood. Azekiel stared at the painting nkly, momentarily losing himself in the past. In the painting, a beautiful sea of blood was depicted. A blood-red moon was shining above the sea. Subconsciously, Azekiel ced his hand on the painting. He could still remember the scenes where this was the reality. The sea of blood that was depicted in the painting actually existed once upon a time, and the sea was filled with the blood of his people. The memories really overwhelmed him at the moment, as if taking his mind back in time. **** A young boy stood at the bank of a sea of Blood, looking at all the blood. His own hands were covered in blood, but it was his own Blood. The young boy was only seven years old at the moment, having beautiful silver hair that was so long that they came down to his shoulders. The young man gazed into the distant blood moon. He could still hear all the screams of his people as they were killed without being given any chance. Right before the blood moon, he also saw a visage of a person. It was clear to see his face from this distance, especially since the entire world had turned blood red. Whoever that person was, he was also looking at the young boy who stood at the beach. In the entire world, that man only left one person alive... That little boy. It was unclear why the man left him alive since it definitely wasn''t because he was a child. Billions of people died at the hands of that man, and children were no exception. The only exception was the young boy, who was looking at the distant figure with tears in his eyes. There was also a small yet beautiful pendant around the kid''s neck. **** Azekiel''s fingers were touching the blood moon in the portrait as tears trickled out on their own. Azekiel seemed to be lost in some memories. Raphael ced his hand on Azekiel''s shoulders, shaking him gently. "Are you alright?'' "Huh?" Azekiel came out of his daze, looking at Raphael. He could feel some wetness on his face, making him understand that it was his tears. He wiped his tears, gazing at the blood moon in the painting. Even in the painting, he could see something akin to a figure hiding on the moon. "It was nothing," he responded, clenching the pendant around his neck firmly as he took a breath. Chapter 199 199: Connect "Do you recognize this painting?" Raphael asked. "Did it trigger some memories? It was clear by now that Azekiel was able to connect to this painting for some reason which he didn''t with other paintings. Just what was this painting about? Why was Azekiel feeling sad over it? Many questions floated in Raphael''s head. "I just found this painting really beautiful," Azekiel smiled, shaking his head. "There''s nothing more to it. Don''t you find this beautiful?" "What''s beautiful in the sea of blood?" Raphael asked. "And why were you crying if you found it beautiful and not sad?" "Of course it''s beautiful... It contains a part of history that is never to be forgotten. This painting... It contains a life of its own, which only some can understand." "So you do know more about this painting. Where is this sea of blood?" "Nowhere..." Azekiel answered as he turned his back on the painting. "That ce doesn''t exist anymore. It''s only in my memories now." "Anyway, we have wasted enough time. Enough chattering and more working." Azekiel opened the door at the end of the hallway, which was supposed to lead them to a different part of the castle. Until now, their path had been the same as the others, but this was where their paths were going to separate from the others. On the other end of the door, there were three new hallways. One led to the left, the other to the right, and he went straight ahead. It was where the maze of the Castle actually began, and this was also where most of the Kings separated, each taking a guess of their own and selecting a path. Most of the Kings decided to take the path that led straight ahead, and only a few took other paths since, most of the time, the straight path was what led to the better rewards, but Azekiel wasn''t after the better rewards. He was after the greatest reward in the Castle. Azekiel selected the path that led to the left instead of the central part. ording to the map that he had, the left path was the most dangerous and also the one which brought them inside an even moreplicated maze, but thanks to the map, he didn''t worry about the maze. Instead, he knew that it was the only path that led to the central chamber of the Castle of Infinity which he wanted to get to. The only thing worth concern were the traps, but he was prepared for them as well... At least as much as he could prepare, since even he didn''t know what kind of traps there were going to be. The path that he selected further split into ten paths, leaving the choice to him on where he wanted to go. The maze kept getting more and moreplicated. With so many options, there was no way someone could find the right path without the map of the castle. That''s also why the map was so important for him. Standing before the divide, Azekiel opened the map once again, looking at the right path. He selected the third path out of the ten openings before him, but as soon as he stepped inside the new hallways, the floor disappeared. The first trap had appeared, which was supposed to lead them all to a fall that was impossible to get out of. Fortunately, as soon as the floor disappeared, Azekiel called out his Gauntlets of Gluttony and stabbed his ws into the walls that were closest to him. With another hand, he grabbed Lia''s hands, protecting her from the fall. As for Raphael, everyone knew that he didn''t need much help. He just called out his beautiful dark wings and flew up, protecting himself. Raphael reached out his hand toward Lia. "Give me your hand." Lia held Raphael''s hands, freeing Azekiel from the additional burden. After taking Lia, Raphael reached out his other hand to Azekiel as well. "You too. Hold my hand. I''ll carry us to the other end." Azekiel didn''t hesitate either and held Raphael''s hands. Holding the hands of Azekiel and Lia, Raphael flew to the other end of the hallway. It was better than going back since they needed to clear this hallway. This was the right path, after all. The floor in the hallway never appeared. Fortunately, Raphael didn''t need it to return. The floor was only present at the end of the hallway, where the hallway further split up. Raphaelnded on the floor with Azekiel and Lia. "Which path?" "The first and the third will lead us back to the main entrance of the castle. We''ll be back when we started. So the middle one is the right path. Though be careful. The traps have started appearing. The same traps might appear again, but it could also be something new. He hadn''t even finished speaking when hundreds of arrows flew to them,ing out of both sides of the walls. Since the hallway was only four meters wide, the arrows didn''t need to travel much distance before hitting the target. Azekiel only had a fraction of a second to react. Fortunately, even as he was speaking, he was keeping an eye on his surroundings. As soon as he saw a projectileing out of the walls, he instantly cast a barrier around him to protect himself from the arrows. The barrier came at the right time as well, but not fast enough. One of the arrows had managed to pass through before the barrier could even appear, hitting Azekiel''s shoulder. The other arrows were stopped by the barrier. Even as an arrow stabbed Azekiel''s shoulders, he didn''t react much. He didn''t even let out a pained grunt, as if this much pain was nothing. He just pulled out the arrow and tossed it away, letting his shoulders bleed. Lia cast a healing spell on Azekiel''s shoulders, providing him with some form of Protection. Following the spell, the bleeding also stopped. "The traps are increasing..." Raphael frowned. "And it''s just the beginning¡­." Chapter 200 200: Same Traps "That''s right. They are increasing. Not only will they keep increasing, but they''ll keep getting more dangerous the farther we get," Azekiel exined, looking at all the arrows that were lying on the ground near him. All these arrows were quite ordinary. In fact, they weren''t much different than the arrows used by human archers, made frommon wood. That''s also why the barrier was so effective against them. "It''s good they weren''t poisoned," he added, crushing one of the arrows under his foot. His wound had healed, and he felt perfectly fine even now. That meant the arrows weren''t poisoned which was what he was somewhat worried about initially. Azekiel kept his Gauntlets of Gluttony stay out as he remained prepared for the traps that were toe next. He also told Raphael to keep his wings out as well since there might be a need to fly. The most confusing part was where to walk. If they were walking near the center of the hallway, they would be far from the wall, but in case of the floor disappearing, they were going to have a hard time with that. However, in case they were near the wall, they would''ve had even less time to protect themselves from the arrows. Just to be safe, Azekiel walked into the center of the hallway. ,m Fortunately, throughout the rest of the way, there weren''t any more traps that they could find. "It looks like all these hallways have only one trap each, and all of them are right at the start," Liamented, noticing the simrities between the two traps. "I wouldn''t be so confident about that," Azekiel didn''t believe Lia''s words. "Just because there are simrities between the first two traps, we can''t base everything on that and lower our guard after clearing the first two." "Agreed. Things should be harder the farther we get." Raphael also agreed with Azekiel. "That means there might be two or more traps in each hallway.'' He was proven to be right not long after as they managed to survive the next trap, which came right at the start of the new hallways. However, as they were at the end of the hallway, another simr trap came out of nowhere. This time, again, the arrows came out from the two walls, but the arrows were made of steel now. The arrows also had some ck liquid on their tip, which looked like some kind of poison. The arrows didn''t juste from the two walls but also from the roof, falling straight down. Fortunately, Azekiel''s barrier covered all sides, including the top. Moreover, after being attackedst time, he was already prepared for arrows this time, which made him react even more swiftly thanst time. Not even a single arrow passed through the barrier, despite the arrows being faster than the ones before. "And that''s why we shouldn''t lower our defenses in this ce. What we think is a pattern might only be a trap to make us lower our guards." Azekiel reminded everyone in the form of a lesson. Even though he looked to be the youngest here, he was technically the oldest here. He was like their senior, who was teaching others about the basics of the battle and what to do when they were in the enemy territory. Even though Azekiel was initially concerned about the traps, the deeper he reached, the more he adjusted to the traps. He had be habitual to facing the traps, and with time, it was only bing easier for him as his confidence was at the peak now. Their traps did intensify with time, but so did Azekiel''s defense. Instead of the traps being like the traps that were used by ordinary humans, now the traps were something that was used by gods. There were all kinds of traps, some of which were even recognized by Raphael as he had seen them before being used in his world. One such trap was the gravity trap. The gravity was increased in one of the hallways multiple folds, which made it almost impossible for Azekiel to even move. Once their movements were restricted by the traps, more and more attacks came for them, mostly being energy attacks. Fortunately, the group of three managed to pass through that trap as well, since Lia helped this time, making Azekiel''s body lighter to decrease the effects of gravity on him. After passing through all the hallways and all the traps, the three of them finally reached a room. "ording to the map, this should be a safe room." The room was like a normal bedroom that was used by the Royals. Everything here was luxurious, and many things here looked like rewards to be taken. It was like this room was ced here so they could rest after passing through the traps. Azekiel definitely needed that rest as he was starting to feel hungry. He walked to the bed andfortably sat with his back resting against a soft pillow. He was treating this room like it was his own bedroom, straightening his legs before he started eating the fruits he had stored in his ring. "What are you thinking about?" As he ate, he noticed that Raphael was lost in some thoughts, which made him really curious as to what Raphael was thinking about. "I''m thinking about the traps outside," Raphael answered, slightly concerned. "I''ve seen some of the traps before. They were used for the protection of our Royal Pce as well. I''m just thinking how these two could be rted..." "Is there really a need to think about it? You already know the answer," Azekiel responded. "You already mentioned that there is a simr castle in your world which could only be explored by the Royals of your world. That castle would most probably have simr traps to this ce." "If your Royals saw these traps, it''s obvious that they would be impressed by these and take some inspiration. In other words, they stole the ideas from the castle and implemented them in other ces that you saw. So it''s not that odd¡­." Chapter 201 201: Gauge Of Strength "So it confirms that all these strange castles were made by the same person," Raphaelmented, walking closer to Azekiel. He sat on the bed as well. Azekiel used a Summon on Raphael and Lia before giving them some fruits to eat as well. The two of them also worked hard with him, and he was sure they were hungry as well, maybe not as much as him, but still. "That''s right. I already told you that all those Castles were created by the same person. I just stole one of these castles for myself." Azekiel took another bite of his fruit. He kept his mind somewhat distracted by food to not think too much about the origin of this castle. Even if he knew about it, he didn''t want to explore that memory. "At your peak, you must be stronger than the person who created this castle, right? He created these castles, but you created a tower that can hold this castle and the entire space-time hostage." Raphael couldn''t help but try to rte the strength of the tower''s creator and the castle''s creator. Azekiel simply smiled in response. "Who knows, maybe he was a thousand times stronger than me, or maybe I was a thousand times stronger than him. We will never know. Moreover, you can''t judge someone''s strength based on what they can create.." "What can we judge them on then?" Raphael asked in response. "To know how strong one is, don''t look at what they can create. Instead, look at what they can destroy..." Azekiel''s answer seemingly came from the depths of his soul as his expressions momentarily changed. It was just a brief change though. His expressions recovered to the same careless ones instantly. However, even that slight change didn''t go unnoticed by Raphael. "What can they destroy? How do we know that?" Raphael asked. "We only know what that person and what you created. We don''t know anything more. We neither know what you were capable of destroying, nor we know what the creator of this castle was capable of destroying." "That''s the thing." Azekiel took another bite as he exined. "Life is very erratic. Anyone can take a life... We all have the potential. But what about the ones who can destroy entire worlds? When you take them into consideration, the entire power scale changes from the core." "That''s the scale where we judge the ones who are truly strong. And that''s also the level where differentiation between the two bes very hard. That''s why it''s impossible for you or for me to know who is stronger." "Though it doesn''t matter who was stronger. If I hade across the creator of this castle, I would''ve killed him even if he was a thousand times stronger." "Why?" Raphael asked in confusion. Why did Azekiel want to kill the person that he didn''t even know from what he imed? "Just to see what I was capable of," Azekiel smiled, giving a reason that Raphael found quite odd. "Just to see..." Raphael repeated. "Anyway, stop talking about the person who made this castle. Tell me about yourself. After we retake the tower and you get your body back, what will you do? What are your goals when we are free of all this?" As if to distract Raphael, Azekiel asked another question. "My goals after this is all done?" Raphael asked, actually getting distracted since this question was actually so intriguing. If he was really going to get his body back and return to life, just what could he do? "Can I leave the tower then?" He asked Azekiel. "Sure you can," Azekiel answered. "You will be free to go anywhere you want, do whatever you please. So, what will you do then?" Raphael scratched his temple, trying to think of a world where this was possible. He tried to imagine a life where he had his body back, and there were no enemies to fight him. The scene was really beautiful and peaceful for him if it became reality, but he knew he couldn''t do much. The tower was free of space and time restrictions, but not the outside world. He couldn''t just go back to his home world and change the history as that could have some really strange reactions that even he couldn''t guess. He understood that his past was already done. The ones who had died in the outside world were dead. He couldn''t change that without creating new problems, so all he could focus on was his future. "I will stay in the tower and maybe create a family of my own," he answered, surprising Azekiel. "You mean you''ll get married in the tower? That''s not bad. I''ll look forward to being invited to your marriage." "You''ll get the first invitation, don''t worry. You''ll have a big hand in me getting back my life. I do hope I can find someone suitable. I''ve been an orphan, but after I get a family of my own, I won''t be alone." "You were never alone Raphael. You always had us... Always. The only difference is that your family will be bigger after you''re married. And who knows, within a few years of that, you''ll also have some little Raphaels that will call me uncle." Even Azekiel seemed to enjoy that possibility a lot... A world where Raphael was happy. "What about you Lia? What is your ideal world like? What will you do after you are free? Do you also want to create a family?" He asked Lia. "If yes, maybe you two can marry each other." "Nonsense. I won''t be marrying anyone, let alone him. If I get my life back, I will just rx and bezy. At that point, I''d have had enough adventures in my life. I can already see how tired I would be at that point. I don''t want to do anything else after that." "If anything, I''ll just stay with you, and waste my time. I don''t need to do anything more than that. And once in a while, I''ll go on some small adventures. That''s all I have in mind at this point." Chapter 202 202: Alone "So you want a slothful life." Azekiel summarized. "Well, when your life is like a rollercoaster, every once in a while, being sloth is fine, isn''t it?" Lia asked. "What about you? What are your ns after you are done with your revenge on that woman?" "Who knows? I haven''t thought that far. I''ll be returning to my old life after I''m done..." "You mean you''ll go back to handling the tower at the top floor? Won''t that get boring for you? Always being stuck there?" Azekiel didn''t answer the question. He simply smiled as he continued eating. "The future is too far at the moment. We are one at the eleventh Floor. The higher we get, the more attention we are going to receive from the ones on the top," he answered after a brief pause. He knew just how many people would''ve wanted him dead if they found out that he was alive. He wasn''t a favorite of the people around him, and he also knew why. Still, he wanted to get to where he belonged. After an hour, Azekiel stopped eating andy on the bed morefortably. "Aren''t we going to continue the journey?" Raphael asked, noticing that Azekiel looked like he wanted to sleep. "We will. But there''s no hurry. Rest for a light because you won''t be getting it after this," Azekiel answered. "After we leave this ce, there will be a constant barrage of challenges. Just gather your strength. Moreover, how many times can one get an opportunity to sleep in a ce like this?" He didn''t worry about anypetition at this point, mostly because even he knew that it was impossible for anyone to get to the ce he was targeting, no matter what. That ce was too secure, and it was going to be there, even if they traveled slowly. "The faster we finish here, the faster we can get to the next floor," Raphael reminded Azekiel. "Yeah, and that''s what I don''t want to do so soon," Azekiel replied. "I''m sure someone is waiting for me on the next floor. If they are waiting for me, why give them the satisfaction of being on time? Let them wait for me." "Someone is waiting for you there? Who?" Raphael asked. How could he know who was waiting for him on the next floor? "The one who had been keeping an eye on me as soon as I stepped on this floor," Azekiel exined. "I had noticed him as soon as I stepped here. That''s also why I was taking my sweet time to see if they were going to attack me." "They didn''t attack, which meant they didn''t want to kill me here. It can only mean they want to kill me in a ce where they can get some benefits from me, and that being the next floor." "Are you talking about the old man?" Lia asked. It did feel like he was talking about the old man. "Nah, that guy won''t attack me. I doubt he''ll even think about attacking me. It''s someone else... Someone who had been with us even on the lower floors. We just didn''t know that," Azekiel answered, talking about Zheng. Even though he wasn''t at his peak, his perception was still incredible. He had realized who it was that was keeping an eye on him. "So when you strolled around like you were wasting time, you were observing that person?" Raphael was surprised that he hadn''t noticed anything off. He just thought that Azekiel was just taking his sweet time for no reason. So there was a reason behind that all. "Of course, there was a reason behind it," Azekiel replied. "If they want me, they can just wait for me." "Is the person who was spying on you one of the people from the Higher Floors?" "That''s right. Or rather, that should be right. Anyway, enough talking. You two should rest as well. We''ll continue after I wake up." Azekiel genuinely felt sleepy after eating. He closed his eyes as if he had gone to sleep. After an hour, Raphael and Lia also went to sleep. While Raphael slept while sitting on the Sofa, Lia slept next to Azekiel on the huge bed. Oh, they were going to spend time here, then it was definitely better to just sleep and recover their strength. Two hours passed. After everyone had fallen asleep, Azekiel opened his eyes. Right before him, he could see the peacefully sleeping face of Lia, who seemed to be in a deep sleep. In another part of the room, Azekiel also noticed Raphael, who was sleeping. He stood up and got down from the bed without making much noise. The only reason he went to sleep here was because he wanted them to sleep as well. Now that they were asleep, he could get to his work. He walked to the door without making much noise and stepped out of the hall. He left Raphael and Lia behind and traveled ahead, but not to their destination. On the map, he had seen another important ce which wasn''t far from here. That was also one of his goals, but he didn''t want Raphael and Lia to apany him there. He wanted to go there alone and return before the others could wake up, only for them to continue to the core of the Castle of Infinity. Azekiel took the left route and kept walking. After reaching the end of the hallway, he took a left and continued. Before long, he disappeared from the view. It seemed he was going back to where he came from, but not all the way. He stopped in one of the hallways which they had already cleared. He already knew the traps here, so it wasn''t hard to avoid them now. He stopped in the middle of the hallway and ced his hand on the wall, tapping it with his fingers. He kept tapping different parts of the walls as if looking for something. Chapter 203 203: Touched Azekiel kept tapping the walls. Fortunately, it looked like he found something after some time. There was one small part of the wall that he felt was hollow on tapping. He clenched his fist and punched the hollow part of the wall. As soon as the outer shell of the wall was broken, Azekiel was able to see a metallic door behind him that was hiding behind that hollow part. In the door, Azekiel could also see a small section that looked like a ce where a key could be inserted. From his inventory, Azekiel brought the key of the castle which he had received. He inserted the key in the keyhole and turned it around. As soon as he turned the key, he heard a clicking sound as if something had unlocked. Following the click, the entire wall slid down, disappearing on the ground, revealing the entire floor behind it. As the door was already unlocked, all it took was a little push to open the door. Following a small push, the door opened. Azekiel entered the special room. The door closed behind him once again after he entered. **** The room was pitch ck, but it was filled with light as soon as Azekiel entered the room. Unlike the bedroom where they had been before, this room was quite different. This room looked more like a storage room than a room to rest. ? There were wooden boxes that were kept all around the room. It wasn''t Azekiel''s first timeing here, but in this Timeline, it was his first time. When he came herest time, he had already checked all the boxes. That''s also why he knew just what was inside each of the boxes. He also noticed a crack in the wall, right around the imprint of a fist. His fingers touched the imprint. He remembered that it was also created by him when he hade herest time. He was so angry at that time, being unable to find who he was looking for. He walked to the first wooden box, but instead of opening it, he kept it aside and picked up the wooden box that was under it as if that was what he needed. He sat on the first wooden box and ced the next box right before him. The box wasn''t sealed anymore since he had already opened itst time. Only a wooden top was kept on top of the box without sealing it. He removed the top of the box, looking inside as some iprehensible expressions shed before his eyes. **** Three hourster, Azekiel returned to the ce where Raphael and Lia were sleeping. They still looked like they were asleep. He walked back to the bed andy on it. His eyes were slightly red now that he had returned,pared to before when he had left. He closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. "Uhmmm." As heid on the bed, Lia made some noise, still sleeping. She turned around, cing her hands on Azekiel''s chest. Azekiel opened his eyes, noticing Lia''s hand on his chest, but before he could do anything, Lia even slid closer to him as if he was her teddy bear. ''Just what is she dreaming about?'' Azekiel wondered, noticing how close Lia was to him. He could feel her breaths against his body as her hand rested on his chest. Her right leg was also on top of his knees. Azekiel observed the face of Lia. There was a smile on her face. It was like she was having a really nice dream. ''Fine. I''ll let you be.'' He didn''t push her aside and let her sleep, not disturbing her sleep. She had been looking so serious ever since she heard his stories about him being the creature of this tower that seeing her smile was a wee change. However, that was only until her legs were on his knees. Her leg moved up slightly, her thighsnding on his thighs. It was the closest she had ever been to him. Azekiel still didn''t react. He just tried to go to sleep like he was, only to open his eyes again as he felt her hand moving down slowly toward his waist. "You aren''t sleeping," Azekiel softly muttered. "By now, he realized that Lia was already up." Lia slowly opened her eyes which still looked somewhat sleepy. "You aren''t either." "I just woke up," Azekiel answered. "Me too," Lia also answered the same. "May I ask why you''re this close to me then?" Azekiel asked. "Is this some kind of test to see if I would do something when you''re supposedly asleep?" It wasn''t hard to guess what it could be an attempt to. If Lia knew that he was up, it was the perfect time for her to test such nonsense. Maybe because she had lost trust in him, she wanted to test him like this? "If it was, you failed," Lia answered. "How did I fail?" Azekiel asked, confused. He didn''t do anything. How did he fail? He had been still. "Because I didn''t push you away?" That was the only thing he could guess as to why she considered him failed in his resolve. "I didn''t want to wake you up and break your dream. That''s nothing more to it." "That''s not why you failed," Lia whispered in Azekiel''s ears. "You failed because you didn''t do anything." "Hmm?" What was Lia talking about? It didn''t look like her personality. She really wanted him to do something? Why, out of nowhere, when just until recently, she kept her distance. Something wasn''t right, and it was evident. He wondered if it was something about this room. Was her mind under some external influence? That could be the only thing that exins this. But how? Why wasn''t he or Raphael affected by it? Just as Azekiel was lost in his thoughts, Lia''s hands moved down, sliding inside his pants. Lia took hold of something she shouldn''t as she started moving her hands. Chapter 204 204: Treasure "Enough!" Azekiel grabbed Lia''s wrist and pulled her hand out. Following his shout, even Raphael woke up. He saw Lia lying near Azekiel and her hand being grabbed by him. "What happened to you? Come to your senses!" Azekiel called out, seeing Lia still in the same phase. Lia cutely looked at Azekiel before bringing her face forward, cing her lips on his lips. It was as if his scolding didn''t work on him, and she was still under the same spell. Her lips touched Azekiel''s lips as the distance between the two waspletely gone. Azekiel freed Lia''s wrist and ced both his hands on her shoulders. He didn''t mind a kiss, but when Lia was under the intoxication of some kind, it wasn''t good since this could be dangerous for him. He didn''t want to be affected by the same intoxication spell that she was affected by. It was even better to be safe since he didn''t know how she got affected by it in the first ce. Azekiel pushed Lia back, creating some space between her and him. He got down from the bed. "What happened to her?" Raphael also stood up, finding Lia''s actions strange. "No idea," Azekiel shrugged. Everything was fine until recently. It was not after he returned that she started behaving strangely. ''Hmm? Wait? After I returned?'' Azekiel realized that Lia was perfectly fine, and it was only after he came back from outside that she started changing. So it wasn''t this room that made Lia enter this phase. ''It was probably some scent or something that caught onto me when I was there. That should be what affected Lia after Iy on the bed.'' Even though Azekiel realized what might be behind this change, he couldn''t tell Raphael, or he would''ve had to tell him about the ce he secretly went to. "It''s probably something in the room that intoxicated her. The effects of this intoxication should be over with time but until then..." Azekiel looked at Lia, who was throwing tantrums like a child, trying to get close to him. "Get me a rope," Azekiel told Raphael. Raphael brought a rope for Azekiel. ***** Half an hourter, Azekiel sighed a breath of relief. He was finally free of Lia''s mess. Lia''s hands and legs were tied to make it impossible for her to move. "Let her stay like that until she is free of the effects." Raphael also agreed. With Lia in a condition like that, it wasn''t good to travel since it was dangerous. They could fall for any traps, thanks to being distracted by her. For the next six hours, Lia kept asking to be freed, but Azekiel didn''t free her. It was only after her actions returned to normal that he finally sighed in relief. It took her six hours toe to her senses, but when she came to her senses, her face turned red as she remembered what she had done. She could still feel what she had grabbed in her hand... She didn''t want to even talk about what happened or what she did, and what better way than to pretend that she didn''t remember anything? Instead of telling others that she remembered everything, she pretended to know nothing. "What is happening? Why am I tied here?" she asked. "And why are you two looking at me like that?" As she asked the question, she looked somewhat confused. Her acting didn''t get past Azekiel''s observation, but he didn''t call her out. "It''s nothing. You were just intoxicated by some trap or something. It seems you''re back now." Azekiel freed Lia, not mentioning much about what she did. While Lia felt pleased that her acting worked and that she could just forget what happened, she didn''t realize that both the men knew that she was acting. When it came to acting and lying, Azekiel was the greatest at it. As for Lia, she was particrly bad at it. Even Raphael was better than Lia at lying since he had managed to fool Alion before. After being freed, Lia also stood up. Generally, if a person lost their memories of certain instances, they would definitely ask what happened before, but she didn''t. It further convinced Raphael that she remembered everything. He didn''t talk about it either. Instead, he was the first person who changed the topic. "I think we have had enough rest. We should get moving." **** Five hours and hundreds of trapster, Azekiel finally reached the main entrance of the chamber that he was looking for. They were already at the center of the Castle ording to the map that Azekiel had. All they had between them and the secret chamber was a golden door between them. Azekiel pushed the door open and took his first step inside, apanied by Raphael and Lia. Raphael and Lia were quite curious as to what was actually here. On the contrary, Azekiel looked to be very unaffected. It was like he already knew what was there and that no one could take it from him. Passing through the door, they were inside a massive chamber. However, inside that chamber, there was nothing! The room was around ten meters long and seven meters wide, making it the biggest room in the entire castle, but it wasn''t just the biggest room. It was also the emptiest room. Inside the room, there wasn''t much to see. In fact, it was so empty that it was hard to believe that this was the ce where some treasure was lying. The walls of the room were stark white with not even a single smudge on them. The floor was covered with white tiles with a strange pattern that seemed to make a beautiful formation, connecting in the middle of the room. Azekiel brought the key out of his inventory again before walking to the center of the room. He stood one foot away from where the formation on the tiles connected at the center of the room. "This is it¡­." Chapter 205 205: Give Me Azekiel took another step closer to her center of the formation. He ced the key that he had in the center of the room, making it face the north. Even then, nothing happened. However, Azekiel wasn''t done yet. He brought his thumb closer to his mouth and bit his thumb with his sharp teeth, making his thumb bleed. With a bleeding thumb, he made a circle around the key before standing up again. Seeing the strange actions of Azekiel, Raphael was quite curious to see just what was going to happen. Just what treasure was going to appear? Just what were they after? He had a feeling that it was a treasure, but what kind of treasure? And how was Azekiel''s blood going to bring out the treasure? The blood didn''t bring out the treasure, but it did start shining at the same time as the massive formation started shining. The blood that was shining started moving closer to the beautiful key, slowly surrounding it. The blood still didn''t stop, and climbed on the key. Azekiel''s blood surrounded the key from all sides as if giving it a new paint. The key was blood red now. Azekiel picked up the blood-red key and kept it in his inventory. "We are done." "That''s it? That was all we were here for?" Raphael asked. He was expecting the appearance of some treasure, but nothing as such was happening. "What is the key?" he asked Azekiel. If they came all the way here, passing through all these traps to change the key, then the treasure could only be the key. But what kind of treasure? "The key is a key," Azekiel answered. "What else can it be?" "That''s not what I was asking. I asked what was so special about the key. How did your blood link with the key? And what benefits does it have?" "Nothing much. It just links me to the other such Castles. Now the key is the universal key to all the castles, including the main castle. It''s not like the key will help us massively, but it''s just a precaution of sorts." Azekiel gave a brief exnation to Raphael. The exnation was something that Raphael found very underwhelming. They came all this way, just for a precaution? And here he was thinking that they were going to get some incredible treasure which was going to give them a massive advantage in theing battles. Azekiel left the hall. Raphael and Lia had no choice but to follow him as well. The journey back was much safer than the triping here. No traps were activated this time, allowing them to leave easily. Before long, Azekiel reached the hall with all the paintings, including the painting with the blood sea. He once again took a nce at the painting but not for long. This time, he didn''t let his memories overwhelm him. Only after a brief nce he stopped looking at the Painting and left. Azekiel stepped out of the Castle of Infinity. Even though his journey was Swift and the safest, he still wasn''t the first person to step out. Before him, the others who had entered were also out. At least most of them. Seeing Azekiele out, lookingpletely unharmed, they were slightly surprised. All of them looked like they were in a bad condition, thanks to all the traps they went through, but Azekiel... He was perfectly fine. Initially, they would''ve thought that he didn''t even go deep into the castle for him to bepletely unharmed, but that assumption went out the door since he had spent so much time inside the castle. There was no way that someone who was inside for that long wasn''t going to explore. Azekiel being safe despite all that could only mean that he chose all the right paths thanks to his great luck. That also made the others feel that Azekiel probably had the best haul out of them all. Moreover, he wasn''t looking disappointed, unlike the rest, which made them feel even more assured. One of the Kings took the lead and stepped forward, trying to get some advantage before others. "You! Little man! It seems you had a great time inside the castle, didn''t you?" "Yeah, it was fun," Azekiel answered. "How about you?" "You must''ve received great treasures as well then?" The man asked. "I''m not disappointed with what I got," Azekiel replied. "Do you want it too?'' The man licked his lips as soon as he saw Azekiel offer him the treasures. ''Heh, as expected, this man is a coward and an idiot. He is willing to give me his treasures! That''s incredible. In any case, even if he hadn''t given me, I would''ve taken his treasures by force. He definitely got the best treasures out of all." "That''s right! Give me all your treasures! I''ll keep them safe for you. The world is really bad. Someone might attack you for those treasures and take them. I''ll protect you from all that. Give me all the treasures that you received inside the Castle!" Grinning, the man reached out his hand. His greed was clearly visible on his face. Azekiel watched the face of the man. He could at least make it a little less obvious that he was greedy. Azekiel found it quite funny. "Is that so? You''re right. The world is really bad. It''s filled with bad people. You seem like someone trustworthy. I''ll give you all the treasures I received inside the castle." As Azekiel spoke, he kept his voice loud enough for everyone else to hear as well. He wanted to see how fun it could get. "Wait, young man! All your treasures will be safer with me! Instead of giving him, give me your treasures! I''ll protect them way better. I''m also the strongest here?" "No, not to them! Give all your treasures to me! They are both the bad guys. They just want your treasures, but I''m different! I''m truly genuine. Give me your Treasures!'' One after another, more and more people kepting forward. Chapter 206 206: Greed "That''s right! Instead of giving it to them, you should give it to me! They are all after your Treasures; I''m not!" Every King here was surprised at how naive Azekiel was. Just because they asked, he was willing to give them the treasures? With that kind of person, no one wanted to stay behind! They all wanted to be the ones who received the treasures of the castle. With more than twenty people asking for a treasure, Azekiel looked a bit hesitant as he stepped back a little. "But I now have one treasure that I found at the core of the Castle. I can''t distribute that one treasure to all of you. I can only give it to one of you..." From his words, he genuinely looked concerned about this problem. "Treasure at the core of the Castle?" Hearing that, the Kings were even more ted. Throughout the years, no one had managed to reach the core of the Castle. It was also rumored that the Castle Core possessed a really incredible treasure. If Azekiel had received that treasure, they believe it was incredible for them if they could get that. "Give me! I''m the strongest! I''m the best choice!" One man stepped forward, only to get his robe grabbed by someone else. He was pulled back with great force, which made him fall down. Another King stepped forward, but no matter who took the lead, everyone was pulled back as no King wanted to see someone else get this Treasure. Just as Azekiel had nned, the small conflicts evolved into a full-blown battle between all the Kings who were engaged at the others for pulling them back. Then all brought out their weapons of Sins, and a battle ensued. The only King here who wasn''t a part of the battle was Azekiel. Instead of fighting him, all the kings tried to avoid him to make sure the attacks didn''t reach him and hurt him. If Azekiel was willing to hand over the treasures, there was no need to do anything more. All they needed to do was take out the other Kings, so only one of them was left to receive the treasure from Azekiel. They didn''t want their attacks to identally kill Azekiel since they could never receive the treasure then, which was probably in his inventory. The battle of the Kings resulted in a lot of bloodshed and death. Azekiel just stood in the back with his arms folded as if he was enjoying the battles. One after another, the Kings kept dying as the number of dead increased. On the other hand, Azekiel just enjoyed the sight to behold. These people wanted his treasures, and he was sure if he hadn''t done anything, they would''ve attacked him. Even though they were all Kings of different Sins, it was their greed for Treasures that they all shared. Azekiel used the same greed to reduce some of the enemies. Moreover, to him, it didn''t matter who killed who. He could use the Soul Snatch on anyone as long as they were recently dead. Only the Gluttony of Knowledge had a limitation that it could only be used on the people who were killed by him. Gluttony of Knowledge didn''t matter to him at this point either since he didn''t want to steal their knowledge. He was sure that their memories weren''t going to be of use to him. Only their Soul Energies could help him. "Who do you think will win?" Azekiel asked his two friends as if he was watching a movie and asking his fellow viewers about who was going to win in the battle on Screen. Raphael didn''tment on it. It wasn''t a good battle. It was more like a battle where everyone could attack anyone. There was no pattern or order in the battles and the attacks, so most of the victories depended on luck to some extent. There were Kings who were stronger than the others, but those Kings were also taking the brunt of all the attacks. They were being attacked by many enemies, which took away their advantages. "I can''t decide who can win. Though I''m sure that all of them are going to lose." Azekiel answered. "How so?" Azekiel inquired, wondering how he came to the conclusion that they were all going to lose. "Whoever wins, they would''ve been weakened beyond expectations. In the end, you''ll kill that person since there''s no way to give them the treasures we were here for. In other words, all of them are going to die, even the winner. That''s why all of them will lose," Raphael exined. Azekiel nodded in satisfaction. Raphael''s perception was still as sharp. That''s what made him even more surprised that his lies had managed to pass through Raphael not once but many times. ''You''re right about most things when ites to others, but not all things. Then again, it''s only good that you don''t know my story... It''s better that way as that keeps you and me both safe...'' Azekiel thought, gazing at Raphael. Even though he had to lie to Raphael and Lia about many things, it wasn''t because he just wanted to lie. Instead, he actually had a reason to lie. On the other hand, the battle continued as the number of dead only increased. Even the ones as prosperous as the Kings couldn''t avoid the battles of greed. Moreover, until this floor, the Kings faced against the fellow kings of their Worlds to reach here. But on the floors, all the other Kings were also the best of the best of their worlds. They weren''t the same as the ones that these Kings fought. Just as Raphael had expected, the battle ended after three hours of intense battle with only one King surviving. And surprisingly, the King who survived was none other than the first person who asked Azekiel for the treasures. He was thest man standing, even though his body was already covered in Blood from top to bottom. The man could barely stand straight, but he still looked proud that he had won, defeating all the others. He raised his hand toward Azekiel. "See? I told you I was the strongest. I can protect your treasures. Give them to me." Even as he was breathing heavily, trying to gather his breath, he asked for the treasures from Azekiel. Azekiel also obliged. "Y-yes. You are so strong. You can definitely keep me and my treasures safe." He stepped closer to the young man who sat on the ground to rest a little. The young man felt a bit pleased to hear his praise as well. Since Azekiel looked like such a coward and a fanboy, the man didn''t doubt him even for a moment. Even as Azekiel moved closer to him, the man was only smiling and resting. "Of course, I am the strongest. There might be many kings in the tower, but only I''m the King of Kings," the young man answered proudly. "Now give me the treasure." "That''s right. You are the King of Kings. Can I stay with you and learn from you?" "I''ll let you follow me and work for me. I''ll teach you many things as well. But first, give me the treasure!" Azekiel was only a few feet away from the man who was still dreaming about getting an incredible treasure. Even though he had to fight so many people and get hurt so bad in the process, he still found it all worth it. Only when Azekiel was two feet away from the man he stopped. "Right. It''s something I found in the center of the castle." Azekiel started talking in the air. The man felt that he was opening his inventory to give the treasure to him, but he was quite wrong. Azekiel called out his Gauntlets of Gluttony instead of any other treasure. "What is this?" The man noticed two sharp Gauntlets appearing in the hands of Azekiel. He didn''t feel right. "What is it?" "It''s what will give you your treasure... The treasure of death. Thank you for making things easier for me here." [Swiss] Before the man could even react, the sharp ws of Azekiel''s Gauntlets entered his chest, stabbing straight in the middle of his heart. The man''s eyes widened at being betrayed after he did all this¡­ He realized one thing! This man before him... He wasn''t a naive young man! Instead, he was a very cunning Man, almost devilish!" Azekiel pulled out his ws and sent them back. At the same time, the eyes of the young man closed. He wanted to speak something, but no voice came out of his mouth before he eventually died. His body dropped to the ground, increasing the number of the dead by one. At the moment, all the Kings who had managed toe out of the tower within thest day were dead, all bing feasts for Azekiel in his quest to gain eternal strength. Azekiel ced his hand on the chest of the young man. "Soul Snatch." Chapter 207 207: Desolate Azekiel absorbed the souls of all the Kings that were killed, gaining even more strength for himself. Unfortunately, their strength was all he could take. He couldn''t ess their inventory to take their treasures that they could''ve found inside the castle. However, he wasn''t upset about that. If these people were out so soon, there was no way they would''ve had any decent Treasures. Also, if he wanted to take Treasures, he could''ve taken them himself from the Castle. He only needed one thing, which he already had now. "Old man, how long are you going to watch me? I thought we had already finished our conversation," Azekiel asked, unclear who he was talking to. "What more can I do than watch?" An old man appeared near Azekiel, being the same man that they saw before theke. As Azekiel stated, he had already finished his conversation with the old man, so it was unclear why he was here now. "What brought you to me this time?" Azekiel asked the man. Even he wasn''t expecting to see the man anymore. "I just came to check up on you and to tell you something," the old man answered. "Tell me what?" "There are people who know about you in the tower... People who aren''t as nice as me," the old man exined. "Just thought I should tell you to stay alert." "Old man, did you think I wouldn''t know about this?" Azekiel wasn''t surprised at the revtion. "You''re talking about Zheng, aren''t you? The guy who is waiting for me on the next floor?" The old man burst into a heartyughter. He didn''t know why he thought that Azekiel wouldn''t know about this. "I should''ve known... My warning wasn''t needed." "More than your message, I''m more concerned about the fact that this message came from you. Even though it doesn''t help much, it''s still quite intriguing." Azekiel stepped closer to the old man, stopping not too far. "Weren''t you supposed to be neutral? This doesn''t look neutral at all." "Don''t tell me you''re starting to tilt to one specific side?" he asked, cing his hand on the old man''s shoulders. "You know you can always join my side. The doors are always open for you, old friend." "I don''t need to join any sides," the old man scoffed. "And you''re wrong. I didn''te here to help you because I''m tilting toward supporting you. I came here to warn you. You still have time to change your ways... Leave the tower and forget about this ce." "Only Zheng knows about it for now, but with time, the others would know too. And unlike Zheng, the others won''t keep it hidden from her. This might be thest opportunity you''ll have of sessfully retreating..." The old man appeared really serious as he asked Azekiel to leave the tower to stop all this conflict. "I couldn''t stopst time, and I definitely won''t stop now. My goals are bigger than this tower, old man. Last time, I was stopped, but this time I won''t. I need to seed... I can''t afford to fail. And as far as she is concerned, even she won''t be able to stop me this time." The old man let out a sigh. He knew they were entering a dangerous territory which Raphael and Lia didn''t need to know. He was also sure that Azekiel didn''t want to tell them either. The old man raised his hand, casting a beautiful white Barrier around him and Azekiel to separate them from Lia and Raphael. He didn''t want them to hear. " I will take back everything that belongs to me, and then I''ll get back to the main goal!" Azekiel eximed. "The rivers of blood that I saw... It might just be a story to you, but for me, it was my life... I can never forget that... I will never forget that." With the barrier around them, he could actually talk freely now that he didn''t need to be concerned about what he was saying. "So you won''t stop?" "I won''t. Even if it takes a sea of blood to be created for me to achieve my goal as well, I will do that. The past... I might forget thest at times, but my soul can never forget it... It can never forget the anger, hate, and rage!" Seeing the firm resolve of Azekiel, the old man could only sigh in disappointment. No matter what he tried, Azekiel wasn''t willing to listen. His mind was still stuck in thest, unable to see that they were in the future. "What if you seed only to find out that it was all for naught?" The old man asked. "Can you bear the burden of all the lives that you will be taking and all the sins? You might think that beyond the veil lies a sess waiting for you, but that''s not the truth." "There is only more pain and torment waiting for you there... On the mountain of all the dead bodies, you''ll bepletely lonely and deste... You can''t do anything other than that..." "Even if I only have death waiting for me at the finish line, I''ll happily embrace it. And as far as destion is concerned, when wasn''t I lonely? When hadn''t I been deste? That''s how I spent most of my life, all alone, creating this tower, all for my goals!" Azekiel answered, looking somewhat down. Outside the barrier, Raphael and Lia could neither hear Azekiel nor see him. Even as they tried to pass through the barrier, they found out that it was impossible. "Do you really think you''ve always been alone?" The old man asked. "Look outside the barrier! You have two friends waiting for you... Two friends who are worried about you... The friends that are concerned about you! You have a life now... And something simr to a family in them. Why do you want to lose it all, only to be in pain again?" Chapter 208 208: Unforgettable "You mean Raphael and Lia?" Azekiel looked past the barrier, noticing Raphael and Lia attempting to pass through the Barrier. "They aren''t my friends. They are my Familiars who are only with me because of this Tower. It''s also because they don''t know my true history. If they know what I truly am, even they will start hating me." The old man shook his head. "Isn''t that why you don''t tell them the truth? The old you wouldn''t have concerned himself about such things, including what others think about you." "You know as well as I do... The only reason you don''t tell them the truth is because you''re scared... You are scared that you''ll be hated by them. You are scared that you''ll go back to being lonely all alone, surrounded by the darkness that you spent your entire life in!" "You don''t want to lose them. So why not take them and leave? Why risk everything for your goals?" he further asked. Azekiel didn''t answer right away, wondering if that was really the truth. Was that really the reason he wasn''t telling the truth? Was it really because he had bonded with them during the time he didn''t have his memories? He started considering them family? "No, that''s not it!" He refused to believe the notion that he could genuinely care for anyone! He wasn''t a person like that! "The reason I didn''t tell them the trust isn''t because I don''t want to lose friends. It''s because I don''t want to lose great warriors. I don''t want people who will only fight after being forced, as they can never be genuine with that. They would be only like puppets who will do nothing to help me!" He eximed. Seeing his response, the old man could only smile. "My dear friend, it''s evident that you aren''t justifying your actions to me at the moment. You''re trying to justify them to yourself because you don''t want to believe that there''s still some light inside your heart." "It''s clear... The time where you didn''t have your memories... You''ve changed a little. You''ve always sealed your heart and mind to the others, but when you didn''t have your memories, there was a small crack in those doors. All the times where Raphael helped you, guided you like a friend... You''ve started blindly trusting him." "You''ve started considering them as a family member. Isn''t that also why you lied to them and made up stories to test them?" The old man asked. "Even after all your stories, they still chose to believe you eventually." "You can say no, but the truth won''t change." The old man let out a deep sigh. "What you have now is what you didn''t have before... And if you lose it now... You might really regret it in the future." "You''ve lost your sanity, old friend. You''re overthinking things. I can tell them anytime I want. I just don''t want them to lose their battle effectiveness by telling them. Why tell them something that they don''t need to know? There''s no ulterior motive behind it." No matter what, Azekiel refused to believe it. There was no way that what the old man was saying was true. "Are you really sure that''s the only reason?" "That''s right!" Azekiel dered. "I don''t want my warriors to lose their usefulness!" "Since when did you need warriors?" the old man asked, smirking. Even with this excuse of Azekiel, he could find the ws. "You''ve always fought all battles alone. And even if I believe your words, why would you be concerned about the efficiency of Raphael and Lia? Both of them are way weaker than you." "Isn''t that right? Even with theirbined strength, they can''t help you in battles against what''s toe. If you really don''t care about being alone, why don''t you tell them the truth? Go ahead and tell them! Show me that your words are true!" The old man dered. He was sure that Azekiel wasn''t going to tell them the truth, but he still tossed this ball to Azekiel, waiting for a miss. The old man also canceled the barrier at the same time, turning around to face Raphael and Lia. "You know you can''t hear what''s being said inside the barrier, no matter how much you try," he stated, shing an all-knowing smile. "But still, Azekiel wants to tell you what we talked about." Raising his hand toward Azekiel, the old man stepped back, waiting for him to speak. Azekiel red at the old man. "Old friend, I don''t have time to y around with you," he scoffed. "I''ll do things when I want and how I want." Azekiel didn''t say anything. He didn''t want to be forced into doing anything. "We have ces to be." He started leaving, not wasting even a single second more on the old man. Watching Azekiel leave, the old man smirked. He yelled at Azekiel. "My dear friend, even the fiercest beast in the jungle, will care for its family! You are no different! If you really don''t want things to get worse, leave the forest! I hope you won''t be toote!" Azekiel scoffed. "Mind your own business, old man. As I said, I''ll handle things my own way. I''m not changing my goals, no matter what. I won''t let my strength be my weakness! And I sure as hell won''t forget thest at any cost!" He raised his right hand, showing a middle finger to the old man which made the old manugh. "You can run from yourself, but you can''t hide, dear friend," the old man smiled. "It''s good to see that I seeded though." "cing Av near the Soul Demon to make things difficult for them was really the right decision. Raphael''s selfless fighting for Azekiel to help him in every instance... Without that, time would''ve been much different." Even though Azekiel''s mission was only to kill the Soul Demon, it was this old man who made it more challenging for Azekiel and the others by freeing Av as well, and he was happy to see that things went as he nned for now. Unfortunately, Azekiel still wasn''t epting¡­ Chapter 209 209: Mistake Azekiel ignored the old man and left, not even ncing back once. It wasn''t too surprising for the old man either. He knew just how stubborn Azekiel could be. There was no way he was going to ept what he didn''t want to ept. Still, the old man was hoping that things could be different this time with Azekiel; the path that he was walking on was really treacherous. In failure, there was death. And even in sess, there was a failure. No one had won while taking the path that Azekiel was taking. The old man disappeared as well, knowing that even if he tried to force Azekiel, it wasn''t going to work. He had already told Azekiel the consequences and what he could lose in the process; now, everything that was left was for Azekiel to decide... Decide if he wanted to win or if he wanted peace because both couldn''te together. Azekiel walked in silence, followed by Raphael and Lia. None spoke anything, as the silence was contagious. After a long silence, Azekiel stopped before the cafeteria again. To distract himself from other thoughts, he decided to eat something as he was starting to get hungry. On one end, Azekiel entered the cafeteria to eat. On the other, more kings came out of the Castle. The kings who wereing out now were the ones who hadn''t failed. Instead, they managed to get some treasures inside the Castle. They were also stronger than the ones who had failed outside. Amongst the newly arrived Kings, there was also Alion, who also had a decent haul. As there wasn''t Raphael inside the castle this time to have a conflict with him, he didn''t have to leave the castle before getting anything. "So many were killed," Alionmented, observing all the dead. "It looks like they all fought each other over something and ended up killing each other. Idiots..." He couldn''t believe that these were the same people who were the best of their world that managed to get to the eleventh Floor. Despite all that, they were stupid enough to die like this in the stupidest of manners. He didn''t pay much heed to them as he just considered them to have died by their own stupidity. He left the ce, not knowing that it wasn''t their stupidity which was the reason for their death... At least not entirely. After Azekiel finished eating, he stepped out of the cafeteria and joined Raphael and Lia. Even now, he still couldn''t get rid of the old man''s words. He didn''t believe there was any way for those words to be here. Yet, a seed of doubt was nted in his head, which was quite upsetting to him. After a long time spent thinking, he came to a conclusion. If the old man was right, then it wasn''t good. If he was truly scared of losing Raphael and Lia, then they were his weakness. He didn''t know if the old man was right or wrong, but he didn''t want to take the risk. There was a possibility that subconsciously it was true, which he didn''t want. It was a war for him in which he wanted no attachments, friends, or family, as they could only hold him back in fear of what he might lose on this journey. Azekiel stood before the entrance of the building, just gazing at Raphael and Lia. The two had helped him many times... And they blindly trusted him. But still, he didn''t know what he should do. If he was really shackled by these emotions one day, then it was going to be really difficult for him to make heavy decisions. In the past, he had always been alone, so he didn''t care. He didn''t have anyone else as his weakness. His actions only had consequences for him in his mind. In his mind, he was also cursing the old man for nting this seed of doubt in his head. The old man was right. Raphael and Lia were weaker nowpared to him, so he didn''t need to rely on them. Moreover, it really shouldn''t matter to him, even if they hated him after knowing the truth. The thing about it affecting their battle efficiency was true, but not to a significant extent, so it wasn''t a big enough reason. All this thinking was giving him a headache, which he couldn''t take anymore. "Old man! Come back here!" After a long time, he roared at the top of his lungs in anger, alerting all other Kings in his surroundings. All the Kings started looking in Azekiel''s direction, wondering why he was screaming. Was it because he was upset that he couldn''t get Treasures in the Castle? That''s what most thought. However, after initial curiosity, they all stopped looking at him, continuing on their path. "You don''t have to yell. I don''t have a bad hearing." The old man appeared before Azekiel once again. "Why did you call me?" "You know I hate you." Azekiel scoffed. "You intentionally nted this seed of doubt in my head." "You mean seed of truth?" The old man chuckled. "You know everything I said was the truth. It might not be the truth for you, but it was the truth for Azekiel... The one who didn''t know anything about his past. You might be slightly different now, but the old personality is still affecting you. I don''t think I was wrong in my assumption." This time, Azekiel cast a Barrier around them to make sure that no one could hear them. "Shut up and listen to me." Azekiel rolled his eyes. "You are neutral in this war, so you''re the perfect person to help me here. I don''t know if what you said is true subconsciously or not, but I don''t want to take the risk. I don''t want to have a weakness that''s holding me back." "If what you''re saying is here and I indeed made the mistake of getting close to people when I didn''t have the memories, I want to correct that mistake," he dered. Chapter 210 210: Harsh Decision "Oh, and how do you want to correct that mistake?" The old man asked, slightly surprised. "If you''re right, and subconsciously I do not want to lose them, then the longer they stay with me and help me, the stronger that subconscious feeling will be, which I don''t want. So I have to let them go..." "You''re a neutral observer. You are also someone who is capable enough. I want you to take my Familiars. Take them and keep them with you until this war is over!" Azekiel dered, surprising even the old man. "You''re also the one who can help them regain their bodies faster than me. Just take them and help them get stronger..." Even though it wasn''t an easy decision, Azekiel still had to take it. If Raphael and Lia stayed with him, he could get weaker with time, in fear of the loss that he could suffer. He didn''t want that, even if it meant having to separate from them. They were still going to be his Familiars, but he wanted the old man to take care of them until he was finished. Not only did he want the old man to take care of them, but he also wanted the old man to help his Familiars get their bodies back and possibly train them. Azekiel knew that it was a long process, but that was the best part about it. It was going to keep Raphael and Lia busy. Moreover, it was also going to give him an excuse to give them. He could just say that he wanted the old man to help them regain their body, which wasn''t a lie. Moreover, there was also another advantage. It wasn''t just going to keep Raphael and Lia busy, but it was also going to keep the old man busy to some extent, which could stop him from pulling more tricks like that. All Azekiel needed to regain his old self was to be alone for some time. And without Raphael and Lia, he could easily achieve that. "Are you sure you want me to do it? I must say, I honestly didn''t expect that you''d decide on this. I thought you''ll embrace your fears and worries and leave this tower. However, you are deciding to leave them and embrace your bloodlust and anger?" The old man could feel that things weren''t going as he had nned. However, he also couldn''t say no to Azekiel over such a request. In any case, he wasn''t involved in the war that was yet toe, so he did have a lot of time. It wasn''t hard for him to take Lia and Raphael with him. "I told you... I can forget my present and my future, but I can never forget my past... even for myself..." Azekiel clenched his fist, speaking with determination-filled eyes. ,m "Sigh." The old man let out a sigh. Even if his n backfired, he agreed to it. "Fine. I will listen to your request. I''ll take them with me." "Perfect." Azekiel canceled the Barrier before turning to Raphael and Lia. "Alright. I have something to tell you two." "I''ve been thinking about this for a long time, but I understand that it''s important. I have managed to convince the old man to take you with him." "Take us with him? Why?" Raphael asked, not understanding why they would need to go with anyone else. Did something happen? "Don''t you want your bodies back?" Azekiel smiled in response. "I''ve managed to convince the old man to help you get your bodies back. It''s much faster with his help than it would normally be. That''s why you will need to go with him." "Our bodies..." Lia muttered. She really wanted to regain her body as she hated being unable to touch things. But still, this came so sudden. For a moment, she even felt as if Azekiel was trying to get rid of them. "What about you? What about the floors ahead? Won''t you be alone if we leave?" Raphael questioned about something else entirely. He knew that Azekiel could''ve taken this decision after thinking thoroughly. That''s what he was thinking about so hard before, he thought. However, that didn''t change the fact that if they left, Azekiel was going to be all alone. "Don''t worry about me. I am strong enough to protect myself. Focus more on getting your bodies and getting stronger thanks to the old man''s help. You have no idea how lucky you two are. There are many who pray for a teacher like him... With him, you''ll get to learn a lot. And who knows, you might return in time for my final battle." Even though Azekiel said that they might return before his final battle, he was convinced that they wouldn''t since he had already told the old man to keep them away from him until everything was done. That was the time he needed to cleanse his head from all this nonsense. As long as the old man didn''t pull another trick, he wasn''t going to see them again. Raphael asked a few more questions, still somewhat hesitant even though he wanted his body back, but Azekiel answered all the questions. For some, he told the truth. However, for most of the questions, he had to make up more lies. In the end, he managed to convince Raphael and Lia to go with the old man. The convincing did take over an hour though. While Azekiel was being dyed on the eleventh Floor, Zheng was waiting for him on the twelfth floor, getting tired of the wait. There was still no sign of Azekiel even now. After he finished convincing and made Raphael and Lia agree, Azekiel stepped back. The old man stepped closer to his two familiars, cing his hand on their shoulders. "Think again. Do you really want this?" The old man asked Azekiel. Azekiel shook his head in response before answering, "It''s not what I want... It''s what I need¡­." Chapter 211 211: Past Is Present Azekiel had made up his mind to remove all his potential weaknesses if that''s what it took. Even though he was going to be all alone without Raphael and Lia, he was perfectly fine with it. Without them, he could only travel faster. Moreover, he wasn''t going to have to exin his actions which was further going to save him time. It was best for all of them. With one stone, he was trying to hit many targets. Once, he was getting some benefits. And secondly, Raphael and Lia were going to get stronger with the old man, which was good for them in the long run. Andstly, this could keep the old man busy, so he didn''t interfere with his ns. After the old man received his final confirmation, he didn''t ask again. A portal opened up before him. "If that''s what you want, then so be it. I''ll help you this once, but I really hope you don''t regret it in the future. At times, being alone can be worse than losing a war..." He stepped inside the portal. However, even as he entered, the portal didn''t close. It was as if the portal was waiting for the others. Raphael and Lia were still hesitant. They just stood before the portal, looking at the portal before looking back at Azekiel. Their mind was telling them to move since that''s also what Azekiel wanted. However, their legs refused to move. Even Lia was the same. She was upset at Azekiel because of his past that she got to know, but even then, she wanted to stay with him. After spending all this time together, she had started considering the three of them family. Even if she fought him or got angry at him, that also happened among family members. That didn''t mean she cared any less than she used to do before. She didn''t feel right to leave Azekiel all alone here. "Go. Don''t keep the old man waiting. Get stronger, and thene back to help me. I''ll be fine until then," Azekiel further insisted, watching the two hesitate. "For now, getting your life back is more important!" ? "Moreover, the old man can also help you regain your memories. Go with him!" Raphael clenched his fist. He was the first one to agree, even though he was also a bit hesitant. He agreed with Azekiel when he said that they needed to be stronger if they wanted to be of help or if they were going to have an important role to y in the tower. For that, they not only needed their bodies back but also their memories. He looked at Azekiel onest time before taking a step forward. He didn''t say anything; however, his eyes seemed to convey everything he wanted to say. Lia was taken aback as she watched Raphael enter the portal and disappear. "You should go as well." Only Lia was left back now, and Azekiel told her to leave as well. Somehow, he wasn''tfortable sending them with the old man, but he didn''t let it show. Watching Lia still not move, he moved. He walked up to Lia. "What''s stopping you?" he asked her, stopping a few feet away from her. "Don''t you want your real body and your memories back? I thought you would be more excited at this opportunity." "I want," Lia answered. Even she knew that she should''ve been ecstatic about it. However, for some reason, she wasn''t. Instead, she felt like she was losing something instead of gaining. She had gotten a bit toofortable in the small group of theirs, and now that she saw the group breaking, she was uneasy. Azekiel ced his hand around Lia''s back. "It''s not like you''re being sent to prison. You''re going to a much better ce. We''ll definitely meet again in the future if that''s what you''re worried about. Also, the old man is a much better person than I am. Give him an opportunity. You''ll like hispany a lot more." As Azekiel brought Lia ahead, she was only one foot away from the Portal. The closer Lia came to the portal, the worse she couldn''t. Her heart was very uneasy, but she didn''t resist Azekiel''s gentle push. She only turned around suddenly and embraced Azekiel, simr to what he did when the two of them had seeded in killing Alion. However, that was an excited hug, whereas this was filled with sadness and discontent. "I still haven''t forgiven you. So you better stay safe until I return... You owe me that much," Lia stated. And before Azekiel could answer her, she stepped back, entering the Portal. Thest thing Azekiel saw before she disappeared were her eyes which looked somewhat different. They were more emotional for him. As soon as Lia entered the portal, Azekiel was the only person who was left behind, watching an empty space before him. For a moment, he just stood there, wondering if he had made the right decision. Now he was back to the way he used to be. He was alone again. The only difference was that he was much weaker than he used to be when he wasst alone. He didn''t even have a fraction of his strength, but he had taken steps to ensure it wasn''t the case for long. His main goal was to get higher and regain his old strength first. That was his main goal for now. He turned around and went to the portal of the next floor. "Now that I''ve gotten rid of everything that was holding me back from showing my real self, it''s time to return to my own self." His eyes never looked as lifeless as they did now as he started returning to his old mindset where making rivers of blood flow was his usual routine to get things done. It didn''t matter who became an obstruction in his path; his only solution was killing them first and thinking about the reasonster. He stepped inside the portal to the next floor as well. Chapter 212 212: My Mercy Azekiel stepped on the twelfth floor, finally leaving the safety of the eleventh floor that was provided to him. As he stepped out of the portal, he didn''t find anyone in the surroundings. He was somewhat expecting Zheng to be here, but it also made sense that he wasn''t here. Zheng waited for him for a long time. There was no way he was going to wait near the Portal since that held some risk for him. Zheng was worried that if Azekiel saw him, he was going to enter the portal again, going back to the lower floor. Azekiel felt like he was being watched, and it was definitely Zhang, but he wasn''t showing himself. ''He is here but noting out. It seems this idiot still hadn''t changed. He needs to work on hiding his presence better. At least when he''s trying to observe me,'' Azekiel thought, shaking his head. ''I bet the idiot is waiting for me to step away from the portal before attacking me.'' "Zheng, don''t tell me you think I''ll really run away?" Unlike before, Azekiel didn''t ignore Zheng''s presence. Instead, he let Zheng know that he knew about him. Not only did he know about Zheng''s presence, but he also knew the exact location. Seeing Azekiel looking straight at him, Zheng finally came out of his hiding, bing visible. A small dragon, made purely of energy, was still circling around him, radiating its powerful presence. "So you could feel me," Zhengmented. "You didn''t make it particrly hard for me." Azekiel shrugged. "I really thought you would''ve grown up by now, but your growth... disappointing." "I would''ve been hurt by your words if I cared for what you think. Unfortunately, I don''t care for a dead man''s opinion," Zheng coldly said. "You could sense me. That means you knew about me on the eleventh Floor as well. Still, you chose to climb higher. It seems you still haven''t lost your arrogance despite losing your old strength." "What can I say? Strength is temporary, but pride is permanent. And I do have that Sin of Pride... You won''t understand. To have pride, you first need to have some capabilities." Azekiel raised his hands innocently. "First time I''ve seen someone be this careless even in the face of death. Instead of begging me for your life, you still find time to mock me?" Zheng red at Azekiel. "It seems you''re confused about something. In the end, you had the right to be arrogant as you could back that arrogance. But now... Now you are at my mercy." "The reason you''re even talking to me is because I allowed you to live. If I want, I can kill you this instant," he continued. "I''m letting you live because I don''t want to give you such an easy death!" Azekiel burst intoughter, remembering old times. There was a time when this man used to shiver in his presence, and now this man was looking down at him. "What''s funny about this?" "It''s funny how the times have changed. Even insects are talking to me like that. It would''ve still made some sense if it was her, but you...?" "I must say, the Greed in you really makes you make foolish decisions. Did you forget the first lesson of being a King?" he asked. "It''s that a King of Sin should''ve let their sin control them. Instead, they should be the ones controlling their sin if they truly want to reach the peak." "No wonder you''re so weak even after all this time, King of Greed..." Azekiel knew what Sin Zheng possessed since he was from their time. That was also why Azekiel believed that Zheng wasn''t going to tell the people higher up. "If you didn''t let your greed overwhelm you, you would''ve known what a bad idea this was... If you didn''t have your mind be clouded by your sin, you would''ve brought her here instead of thinking about getting my strength... Albeit that wasn''t the case." "Oh, and one more thing you were wrong about," Azekiel further continued. "You aren''t the one who allowed me to live... I''m not the one at mercy here..." As soon as Azekiel finished speaking, he disappeared. Zhang''s expression changed, seeing Azekiel disappear. He didn''t expect Azekiel to attack him in the middle of their conversation, but he hadn''t lowered his guard either. As soon as Azekiel disappeared, Zheng flew up. He wasn''t sure if Azekiel was actually going to attack him or if it was just a bluff, but he had already made up his mind. The Dragon that was circling around him also separated from him, flying into the distance. The Dragon was less for attack and more for keeping an eye on the surroundings. Since Zheng was connected with the Dragon directly, he could see everything that the Dragon could. The Dragon was like another pair of his eyes. Moreover, if it was actually needed, the Dragon could actually attack as well, even though it wasn''t his specialty. "What happened?" Azekiel asked, seemingly confused. He was back at his ce, looking at Zheng in the sky in confusion. "What are you doing up?" Azekiel had an apple in his hand as he looked up. "Don''t tell me you were scared when I left to get something to eat?" Zheng''s face turned red in anger. Azekiel was intentionally doing it! He disappeared after saying those threatening words to give the impression that he was going to attack, and now this? He was ying with him. "You''re the one I''m at the mercy of; shouldn''t I be the one who is sacred?" he further asked, taking another bite. "Anyway, I don''t me you. Old fear is hard to forget. As they say, old habits die hard." "Don''t worry though. I''m not going to kill you... At least not so soon. Let me finish this apple first." "You! Enough mocking!" Zheng roared in rage, furious at the continued mocking. "I was going to let you live longer but not anymore!'' "Let me?" Azekiel''s voice came, but strangely enough, it came from right behind Zheng in the sky! Chapter 213 213: Considerations "Let me?" Words echoed as Azekiel''s figure disappearedpletely. He appeared behind Zheng. Moreover, for some reason, his body was floating in the air as if he was able to fly. With Raphael and Lia, he never flew. He only had Raphael''s help to fly. Even in the Castle, when everyone started falling, Azekiel didn''t fly. He just used his ws to hang by the wall, which made it look as if he couldn''t fly. However, now that Raphael and Lia were here, he was quite free. There was also a reason he didn''t fly before. He knew that Zheng was keeping an eye on him. Why bother with flying when there was no need to? If Zheng didn''t know how much of his powers he had received, then Azekiel wanted to keep it that way. Azekiel''s figure appeared behind Zheng, which he saw thanks to the Dragon, who was keeping an eye on everything. Despite the help of the Dragon, Zheng was still a bit too slow. Azekiel''s movement was like lightning, even at this speed. Zheng also disappeared. He appeared far away, not taking any risk. Moreover, he had decided that he was going to stop talking. Azekiel wasn''t an enemy who he could take lightly. Unfortunately, as he appeared in the distance and looked where Azekiel was flying before, there was no one there. Even the Dragon couldn''t find Azekiel this time as he wasn''t behind Zheng. Zheng''s jaws dropped as he managed to find Azekiel before his dragon could. And that was because Azekiel wasn''t anywhere close to him. Azekiel was floating right under the Dragon. By the time Zhang noticed, it was toote. Azekiel stabbed his Gauntlets of Gluttony in the Dragon, absorbing the strength of the Dragon. Instantly, the Dragon turned into the purest form of energy, being sucked inside Azekiel''s body. Moreover, that strength wasn''t just soul energy this time. Azekiel''s level also increased, thanks to the Dragon''s energy, along with his stats. Moreover, it worked to weaken Zheng since the Dragon was connected to him. It also took away his biggest advantage. Thanks to the return of his old memories, Azekiel now knew just what these Gauntlets were actually capable of. How the Gauntlets were used until now was just the tip of the iceberg. Azekiel had a cold devilish grin as he looked back at Zheng in the distance. That grin... Zhang could never forget that wicked grin. He had seen that same grin many times before when Azekiel was on his conquests in the past. If Azekiel ever looked like his old self, it was now! "You can''t scare me!" Zheng roared, not stepping back. Even though seeing that same old grin sent a chill down his spine, he still knew he was going to win! He needed to kill Azekiel at any cost! "Who says I want to scare you?" Azekiel asked. "If you''re scared, you''ll go back to her. And at the moment, I would prefer to stay away from her. So it''s better that you''re not scared, sweet little Zheng." "You!" Zheng raised his hand, calling forth the Power of the sun. A ball of me started gathering above his head, epassing a warmth that could burn anything in existence. However, even at the sight of the sphere of mes, Azekiel didn''t move. "I see. So you did learn some new tricks in the past. However, along with the strength of an attack, you need to look at the ws of it too. Did she not teach you the basics? The biggest w of that attack is that it takes quite a long time to condense. And in that much time, you could be killed three times over." "A smaller yet weaker attack is much better. Like this," Azekiel raised his right hand. A me condensed above his hand into a sphere. However, that sphere was much smaller and seemed to be much less destructive. Azekiel tossed the small sphere toward Zheng. To avoid the sphere, Zheng teleported once again, but this time ten meters behind Azekiel. The Sphere of mes still kept condensing. "The w you''re trying to tell me, I''ve known about that for a long time. She taught me more than you ever can! Moreover, I would prefer to learn from the winner than from a person that lost from her..." Zhang wanted to destroy Azekiel with one attack, not to stretch the fight. And until the sphere was ready, all he needed to do was keep teleporting to avoid the attacks of Azekiel. It wasn''t long before his mini sun was going to be ready. Azekiel still wasn''t phased. Amused, he turned around. He brought his thumb and his finger together. As soon as he snapped, a small space portal appeared before the sphere of mes that he had tossed before. Another small portal appeared right behind the huge sphere of mes that Zheng was still condensing. The small sphere of fire didn''t target him though. That''s also why Zheng couldn''t sense it. Instead, the small Sphere targeted the small sphere. As soon as the smaller sphere hit the bigger sphere, the bigger Sphere started bing more unstable. Even Zheng was losing control of the bigger sphere. No matter what he did, he couldn''t bring it back into his control. "Second w of that attack," Azekielmented. "The sphere is very unstable. A small interruption can make it even more unstable. That''s why one must protect themselves as well as their sun until it''s ready. I''m sure you knew about this as well?" "You!" Zheng red at Azekiel with bloodthirsty eyes as he realized that it was toote now. He couldn''t control the sphere. Unfortunately, he couldn''t teleport either. There was some kind of restriction on his Teleportation. "There is one thing that you would not know though. It''s something that only the creator of this tower can know," Azekiel coldly stated. "The hidden restriction on the twelfth floor, only a certain amount of Teleportation are allowed before the floor seals your ability to Teleport." Azekiel had created many such small yet insignificant restrictions on each of the floors. Each floor had a different yet minor set of restrictions which he made just because he was bored even creating the floors. Such restrictions didn''t affect the floor''s working to anyone''s experience in any significant way. In fact, most people in the tower didn''t even know what the restrictions on each floor was, since they never set off the conditions for the restrictions. As soon as Azekiel came on this floor, he had already taken that restriction into consideration. He had ced his pieces in such a way that only he had an advantage. "On Earth, there''s a saying for a situation like this," Azekiel stretched his arms, casting a powerful barrier around him. "Checkmate." Zheng couldn''t control the explosive sun, but he also couldn''t leave it and fly away as it was going to explode as soon as he separated from the unstable sun. That''s why, Teleportation was the only option he had, but that option was restricted! Azekiel intentionally made him teleport so many times. He was also the first person who started Teleportation to subconsciously influence him to do as well! Boom~ Even after trying to control the unstable sun, Zheng failed as the sun ultimately exploded right above him. Under the loud Explosion, Azekiel couldn''t even hear the rageful roar of Zhang, who was right at the center of the Explosion. Even though Azekiel was far away from the explosion, even then his barrier was struggling to protect him from the destructive energy. Fortunately, his Gauntlets could absorb some of that explosive energy, giving backup to his Barrier while making him stronger. Before long, the mes had passed through, disappearing. In their wake, scorched ground was left behind. Azekiel couldn''t even see the remnants of Zheng, which was quite disappointing to him. "Can''t even use Soul Snatch on him. At least it was an entertaining firework." Azekielnded on the warm ground. He could still see some smoke in the air. Moreover, the air was so warm that he was covered in sweat as well. Still, he was quite pleased. He felt satisfied. Only two people knew his reality at the moment. One of them was dead, and the other wasn''t going to tell anyone about him. For now, he was away from all excess troubles. "You were right Zheng. You should never take advice from the person who lost. Unfortunately, your history is a bit weak if you thought that I actually lost that day..." He looked up at the sky. He still remembered the day just like yesterday. Even though the history might not remember it correctly, he knew what exactly happened that day. He could never forget it. "The story about my death that had been manipted so much... Hah, it''s somewhat amusing for sure. The story about a brave woman killing me in a battle?" "Don''t worry though. You won''t be alone, Zheng. I''ll be sending her and the others after you as well," hemented. "You''ll certainly have lots ofpany as it''s time for me to cleanse the tower of all the trash." Chapter 214 214: Burn There was no sign of Zheng in the surroundings. Even his blood couldn''t be seen as if he had been turned into smoke under the effect of his own attack, leaving nothing behind Even though Azekiel couldn''t see any remnants of the man, he was sure that the man had been killed. There was no doubt in that part, at least. After killing the man, Azekiel moved on to the mission of the twelfth floor as if nothing had happened. **** Since Raphael and Lia were with the old man and weren''t under any restrictions to be on any floors now. They were also in the Spiritual forms, so they could go wherever the old man could take them. However, instead of being taken anyce crazy, the old man brought them to a ce that was much darker. They should hardly see anything there, but they knew that it was a cold space. "Where are we?" Raphael asked the man, which made the man smile. "Where do you think you are?" the old man asked in return. "If we knew, why would we ask you?" Lia didn''t believe that it was a question the old man even needed to ask when it was so obvious. "Just tell us where we are." "You are in the Temple of Souls," the old man answered, not keeping the two Familiars of Azekiel in suspense. "Is this where we''re going to get our bodies back so we can go back?" Raphael tried to observe the surroundings, which was quite hard, thanks to the darkness all around. He could feel that the room they were in was quite big. However, he couldn''t see the walls or what the walls were like. For that, he needed to move closer to that. "Your bodies? You think it''s going to be that easy to reverse death in this tower?" The old man was somehow amused. "Even though your souls are back here, recreating your bodies is much harder than you can expect. It''s not going to be this easy as it''s a long process." "How long? And if we''re not here to get our bodies back, then why are we here? What''s the purpose of our presence?" Lia inquired. "I thought we were onlying here for our bodies and then for some training." "You got all of that right, but you got the order wrong. It''s not getting back bodies and then training. On the contrary, it''s first training and then getting bodies back," the old man exined. "In essence, you''re all in the temple of souls, which is a ce where you train your souls, so your souls are strong enough to get your bodies back. If you''re weak, you might be destroyed in the process of getting your bodies back. So for that specific reason, I brought you here. Any other questions?" "So this is like a training hall for souls?" Raphael asked, curious. "How long are we going to be here? And when can we go back to Azekiel?" "How long before you go back to him depends entirely on how long you take to finish this trial, strengthening your souls, and getting back your body. After you are done with all that, I will have no reason to stop you. You are free to leave whenever you please however you please," the old man innocently answered even though he knew that there were someplications in the answer. He was saying that you are going to send them back after they regain their bodies; it wasn''t quite as simple as that. The process this time was going to take a very long time, and by the time they were done, the tower would have changed so much that they would have found it quite hard to recognize it. The time they were going to spend on this training and other things was enough time for Azekiel to clear most of the floors and reveal his true identity for the whole Tower to see. And if his real identity was out, it was obvious that Raphael and Lia were going to know about it as well. And once the news about it was out, they wouldn''t even consider going back to the person again. Even if they decided to go back, it was clear that their mindset about him was going to change a lot, thanks to all the revtions. For now, they thought he was just a person who was worried for their safety and wanted them to be strong. They thought it was why he sent them here. But by the time they were going to leave, they were going to know the reality and why Azekiel took the actions that he did. Even though the old man knew that Azekiel took these actions to protect him from the subtle influence that was acting up on his head, that wasn''t the extent of it. The old man knew that Azekiel was a person who had been fighting himself for a long time, and he had just reignited that fight inside his heart. Before defeating anyone else, Azekiel needed to defeat himself, which was what he was trying to do by sending Raphael and Lia away from him. **** An entire city was burning in mes. Pained screams could be heard even from a great distance as many were being burned by the mes. There was a person standing in the distance, watching the city burn. He could clearly hear the yell and pleas for helping from inside the city. However, the man seemingly ignored the pleas for help. Instead, he kept his focus on the screen before him, which was showing that his mission had beenpleted. He was also given rewards for this floor. Azekiel closed the screen, ncing at the portal of the next floor, which wasn''t too far from him. He didn''t go to the next floor right away though. Instead, he just stared at the burning City, which once used to be a prosperous City on this floor. "Carnage and destruction... The only path that can lead me to my goals but still..." With time, the fire started dying down, but so did the calls for help which disappeared much faster, as if there was no one left to call for help. After the fire ultimately died down, only the wreckage was left in its wake, with no signs of life. The houses came crumbling down as their foundation had been weakened. Azekiel entered the portal, moving onto the next floor. At the moment, each Floor was like a step that led to his destination, and each floor consisted of crushed hopes and dreams. Only his dreams and hopes mattered to him now. After he entered the portal of the next floor, the portal disappeared, and the world of this floor once again returned to its deafening silence. ***** "So how long is it going to take for us to be strong enough to regain our bodies?" Lia asked the old man. The old man could only smile in response. "Who knows? It all depends on how you perform here. If your performance is great, you might finish it in a few months. On the other hand, if your performance is bad, it might even take a few years for you to clear this. And once we count regaining a body as well, you are looking at around ten years or something pretty close to that." "Isn''t ten years a bit too much?" Lia eximed, surprised. They were going to take ten years? That much time was enough for Azekiel to reach the higher floors and clear them. What was going to be their use in his conquests if they came out after everything was over? "Of course, that''s not an exact estimate. You can shorten that time with your talent and your hard work," the old man further exined. "As for how much you can shorten that time, it depends entirely on you. I can only give you a basic estimate if I consider you to be the worst at learning from the challenges ahead. However, the faster you are with everything, the faster you''re going to seed in getting your body back." "If the worst estimate is ten years, what''s the best estimate?" Raphael asked the old man. He had seen the worst end of times. Now he wanted to know the optimistic side. He didn''t believe they were going to be that bad. In his mind, he knew he was going to be the best of the best, no matter what kind of training his soul went through. "The best estimate is around one year if you hadn''t lost your memories. But with your memories, it makes things moreplicated as we need to work on your memories as well, which will take some more time. So I would say, around one and a half years is my best estimate." "Of course, you can finish it before that and surprise me, but I doubt." Chapter 215 215: Mirror Realm **** [Two Monthster] Azekiel had kept moving up the floors with time. Fortunately, he didn''te across any more enemies recently, which made his life somewhat easier. The Trials of the other Floors were also something that he was able to clear after spending a decent amount of time in them. On the initial floors, only the people of Earth could see Azekiel climb up, but after one from their world managed to reach the Eleventh Floor, the entire system changed about it. For some reason, they weren''t able to see Azekiel anymore. It was as if he had simply disappeared after thest time they saw him. As there was no announcement that Azekiel had been killed, the people still felt that he was alive. But if he was alive, why couldn''t they see him? Just where was he? Even the Porters who worked for Azekiel had no idea where he was. Still, they held the same influence as before. No one knew where Azekiel was, but he was still alive and could return. Just that fear itself was enough to keep the people within their limits. If Azekiel had died, the others could''ve overtaken the ces that were under Azekiel''s control, like the ce where all the food was stored. They couldn''t even dare to do that as long as he was alive since if he returned, that was going to mark their ending. Everything in the tower worked as normal, especially the mini economy that was established in the tower like trades. The people who were selected by Azekiel to work for him were having the best time of their lives. They didn''t need to work at all since it was Azekiel''smands for him to stay behind. They could just sit back and be rich in the tower, enjoying their lives. The information about Azekiel''s disappearance also managed to reach the King of Sloth and the King of Envy. They also got to know about Azekiel leaving the tower for a few days beforeing back. It should''ve been impossible, but he was able to achieve it. Normally, they would''ve been happy if Azekiel had left as they were quite worried about Azekiel''s next Target to kill being them. Unfortunately, he was back, which was worse. They didn''t know where he was either. Everything was too silent, which made them even more worried. They felt that Azekiel was like a snake who was hiding in the darkness, waiting to strike them. Even though over two months had passed since Azekiel''s disappearance, the two Kings were still concerned. They had decided to form a team of their own for their safety, to protect them. It was decided that they were always going to be together. When one was sleeping, the other was up. And when the other was sleeping, the first one was up and awake. That''s how they made sure that one King was always awake in case of a sudden attack, as they didn''t want to be attacked when sleeping. Working together, both of them managed to clear the next Floor as well. On the contrary, Lucifer still had no idea what was happening. No one could reach him to inform him about anything. Even the other Kings couldn''t contact him. He was too immersed in climbing the tower. The only thing he knew about the current happenings in the tower were through the announcements about the Kings being killed, but none of those notifications came in thest two months, as if the killings had stopped. Everyone was wondering just what had happened to Azekiel. Some wondered why he had stopped killing, while the rest worried about his current whereabouts. While the people on the lower floors were wondering about Azekiel''s current whereabouts, Azekiel was standing on the eighteenth floor in a majestic hall. In the entire hall, he was the only person. Hair extensions, inplete silence. Blood was dripping from his hand. Even though the Pce used to be a very secure ce, thanks to the powerful guards, no one coulde here to stop him. All the guards were dead already. And the nobility was hiding in their rooms in fear. The nobility didn''t even dare to leave their rooms in fear of being killed, allowing Azekiel a free reign in the entry castle. Despite being inside a castle that was filled with gold and Treasures, Azekiel still came to this specific ce because there was something here that he needed. There remained a tall mirror before him, in which Azekiel was looking at his reflection. His reflection in the mirror wasn''tpletely identical to him though. There were some minor differences. His reflection looked much calmer. There was no bleed on the clothes of his reflection. Azekiel ced his hand on the mirror. His reflection also did the same. As soon as Azekiel''s hand touched the hand of his reflection, his reflection disappeared. The reflection wasn''t the only thing that disappeared, as Azekiel also disappeared at the same time as if he had never been there in the first ce. Azekiel disappeared as soon as he touched the mirror. His body appeared in a simr ce, which looked mostly identical to the ce where he had been before, but things were different. Everything here was like a mirror reflection. "Mirror Realm... The forgotten treasure," hemented, ncing at his hands. There was no blood on his hand anymore. Not too far from him, there was another Azekiel standing, who was his reflection that he saw in the mirror. "That''s right. The Realm which is the same yet different," the reflection answered. "Wee to my home." "Temporary home," Azekiel responded. "You don''t even exist, let alone have a home. You just appeared temporarily because of me, to show me around." "Hah, I didn''t say it was my permanent home, did I?" The reflectionughed. "You don''t have to be angry over such a small thing." "Anyway, as I can''t read your mind, I''m afraid you''ll have to tell me exactly why you''re here?" The reflection asked. Chapter 216 216: Happy "Why am I here?" Azekiel repeated. "I''m here to get to the lower floors." "Hmm?" The reflection was quite curious but didn''t question Azekiel. "I can take you there. As you''ve cleared floors in your realm, I also have ess to them in the mirror Realm. So which floor do you want to go to?" The reflection didn''t know why Azekiel wanted to go back to the lower floors here, but he was certainly quite curious. He believed he could guess the answer as long as Azekiel could tell him which specific floor he wanted to go to. "I want to go to the eleventh floor." "The eleventh floor? I see... So you''re here for the Inverse Key?" The Reflection asked. Even though he couldn''t read Azekiel''s mind, he still had the same level of information as Azekiel about things like this. "So you''ve finally decided to do it?" Azekiel didn''t answer right away. Instead, he started leaving the hall. He already knew how to get to the lower floors. He just had to understand this ce better as all the paths were swapped. The right path led where the left led in his realm and vice versa. So he had to do everything opposite. It was a mental headache for him to get adjusted to it, but he still went with it. After an initial struggle, he did manage toe out of the castle, only to be even more stunned by the outside world. "This is definitely going to take some time," he muttered. Everything was the same yet different in the mirror realm. That''s why, before selecting any path, he had to make sure that he didn''t take the wrong path. "This way," Azekiel''s reflection also came out of the castle. "It''ll be faster if I lead you." The Mirror Reflection of Azekiel started flying away in a specific direction. Azekiel also flew behind it, observing the world. What used to be on his left was now on his right, and that wasn''t the extent to the strangeness. Fortunately, the Mirror Reflection knew this ce like the back of his hand. The Mirror Reflection could simply use the Escape Crystal to get to the lower floor directly, but his escape crystals weren''t going to work for Azekiel, and Azekiel''s Escape Crystals weren''t going to work in the Mirror Realm either. That was why they had to take a longer route this time. After some time, they reached the Portal that led them to the seventeenth floor. The two of them flew inside the portal,ing out on the lower floor, but they didn''t stop moving. They still had a really long way to travel if they wanted to go to the eleventh floor without the escape crystals. "Do you already have the main key?" The reflection asked Azekiel. Azekiel brought out the key that he had modified inside the Castle of Infinity. The key looked red in color now, but it was also emanating an aura of its own. "You''ve already merged it with your Blood as well. I see. Not bad. I suppose you''d want me to merge the inverse key word by blood as well?" "That would be ideal," Azekiel nodded. "I need the inverse key to be awakened as well. And your blood will be perfect for it. If I awakened the inverse key with my blood, outside the mirror realm, the effects will be reversed. If it''s your blood that it''s linked to here, then after I leave the Mirror Realm, the key will be bound to me instead since you''re my mirror image." "I understand that much. It''s not a bad n, honestly. But still, are you really sure you are ready for it?" The reflection asked again. "You seem quite weak. At leastpared to that time. Even if you use the keys and did manage to get... there... Can you still do anything?" "Who says I''ll be using the keys at this moment?" Azekiel shook his head. "It''s for the future. I will be needing both the keys, and I''m preparing them in advance. Moreover, isn''t it good?" " Last time, I couldn''t enter the mirror realm when I was at my peak to get the inverse key because it was too weak for me. The Mirror didn''t allow me to pass through because of how strong my soul and my body were. However, now that I''m weaker, that''s what allowed me to get here. So it''s better this way," Azekiel exined why he was here at this moment and not in the future. "I see. The Inverse Key will certainly be quite powerful in your realm, especially if you merge it with the main key. But that will also be quite risky, no matter how strong you are. I think you should drop this n..." "And do what? Forget everything that happened?" Azekiel snorted. "Stop talking like that old man. I''ve had enough of a headache with his words. You might be my mirror image who is supposed to think from a different perspective than me, but even you shouldn''t be this stupid to think that I would actually forget everything." "I''m different from you. You''re right. It might be because I was born inside the Mirror Realm, but I can see the benefits of the old man''s words. The man really wanted to help us. Raphael and Lia need you, and you need them. Don''t tell me you really feel much happier traveling alone?" "Of course I do. I am very happy. I am free to do anything I please without having to be tied by any weakness. Why won''t I be happy? My journey so far has been much faster than it would''ve been with the nice guy act. Why would I need them?" "Moreover, it''s not like they are running away anywhere. After I''m done with my goals, I''ll bring them back to me." "Will they really want toe back to you?" The Mirror Reflection asked. "I know you don''t like talking about this, but it''s worth thinking about." "Stop acting like they are my real family members that I can''t leave without. They don''t hold that much importance!" Chapter 217 217: The War Of Blood "I can never understand what is the problem with you all. It''s the same with the old man. You all treat me like a kid who doesn''t know what I want? Do you really think that I would need your advice for anything?" Azekiel was already very frustrated, and his frustration only increased the more he heard about it. He knew that at this point, there could soone the point where he must actually kill whoever mentioned this thing in his anger. He still needed the help of his Mirror Reflection, so he had to y along. Only his mirror reflection could properly awaken the inverse key. The mirror reflection could see the frustration of Azekiel. He didn''t want to make him more upset, so he just became silent. He didn''t talk about the past. Instead, he only talked about the future. After a long journey, he finally reached the eleventh floor with Azekiel. The Reflection Image brought Azekiel to the same castle. While the castle opened at a different time in the real world, here, it opened in the morning. Azekiel was expecting at least timing to be the same in the mirror realm. That was why he timed it as such to not waste much time. Unfortunately, he still had to wait for the Castle to open. While waiting, the Mirror Reflection imed that it was getting hungry and asked Azekiel to apany it. Since he had time to kill, Azekiel also agreed with it and went to eat. While Azekiel ate for hours, his mirror reflection only ate for a few minutes before iming that it was full. "You''re only going to eat that much?" "Yeah. I don''t get very hungry." "You''re lucky. Hunger is something which can bring down even the Kings to their knees," Azekiel answered, letting out a sigh. After he finished eating, he left the ce and went back to the Castle, which was finally open. Azekiel and his mirror reflection entered the castle, which was also inversed. The mirror reflection once again led Azekiel through the paths. All the traps were simr, just in reverse. Thest trap was first, and the first trap wasst, which was initially overwhelming since Azekiel expected a different kind of reverse. Fortunately, he was still able to handle it after his initial surprise. Azekiel passed through the hallways to reach the central hall, which was also the same as before. The only difference was that the formation which was on the groundst time was now on the roof. "You have the key. You know what to do," Azekiel stepped back. It was his mirror reflection''s turn to handle her rest. The Mirror Reflection brought a key that was simr to the key that Azekiel had. The key was pure white in color, which seemed to be the only difference. The Mirror Reflection held the key, which was cold to the touch, and flew toward the roof. He ced the key on the roof. As soon as the key touched the center of the formation on the roof, it stuck to the roof like the roof was a ma that was pulling itself closer. After the key stuck to the roof, the Mirror Reflection bit his thumb and ced his blood on the key beforeing back to the ground. The key on the roof started changing as the formation awakened it. Meanwhile, the Mirror Reflection waited on the ground for the process toplete. "This should bepleted in an hour," he told Azekiel, who nodded. Azekiel didn''t seem like he was in any hurry to leave. "Their Mirror Realm is very interesting, even though it''s not real." "Interesting indeed and fun while it exists. However, as soon as you leave, this will cease to exist until someone elsees. Oh well, it was fun while itsted," the Mirror Reflection chuckled. "I do wish you luck though. Now that you have both the keys, you''ll need the luck to do what you''re trying to do." "If only luck could help someone." Azekiel shook his head. "I don''t need luck. I need more strength. And only that can help me." "Help you kill her?" The Mirror Reflection asked. "Can you really kill her this time when you couldn''tst time?" "You couldn''t kill her even when you had the opportunity. You let her live, only to be killed in return. Can you kill her now? Or will your hands again hesitate when attempting to kill her, just because she''s your..." "You are treading a dangerous territory, my friend." Azekiel frowned. "You should know where to stop." "I know where to stop, but you didn''t. If you hadn''t stopped, she would''ve been dead, and you would be... Anyway, I just hope you won''t hold back this time. It doesn''t matter who she is... You need to kill her after you''re back to your old level. If you don''t kill her, she won''t let you kill him either." "Your main goal is to get to that person, but for that, you need to walk over her dead body... You need to walk over the dead body of our mother..." "I don''t need you to teach me what to do. I know what I need to do. And as far as she is concerned, this time, my hands won''t hesitate. It doesn''t matter who she is. She is an obstruction in my path, which I need to remove if I need to get to that person." Azekiel stopped looking at his Mirror Reflection and focused on his hands instead. He still remembered his hands trembling when he was about to kill her... The woman that was known in the Tower as the person who killed him. Unfortunately, no one in the tower knew how exactly she had achieved it. When Azekiel told Raphael why he made this tower, he didn''t tell all the lies. He did tell one truth. It was that he made this tower to bring his family back to life. He also seeded in bringing them back. Moreover, since they were weak in the past, he made this tower to transfer some strength inside them, making them stronger so they could protect themselves in the future. He made this Tower for his own family and also opened it for others, so this ce wasn''t as lonely for his family. However, at the same time, he also kept working toward his main goal, which was to find that man... He brought the Castle of Infinity inside the tower so he could have more control over it to locate that man who he believed couldn''t be dead. Unfortunately, to truly control the Castle, he needed even more strength. He needed to get stronger and increase his strength by a lot. Even through the tower, he couldn''t achieve it, which made him turn to a much darker path. Ultimately, just as he was about to seed, he was attacked by the Warriors of the Tower! The people that he saved... They were the ones who attacked their savior, and that too when he was almost done. Moreover, what was even worse was that this group was being led by his own mother. He was on the verge of sess, only to fail because of interruption. In his rage, he fought back and killed everyone who dared to stand against him. He was even able to defeat his mother. However, unlike others, he couldn''t kill his mother. He just didn''t want to do it for some reason. She even apologized to him, saying she was swayed by others and she was wrong. Ultimately, Azekiel just decided to forgive her for the time being. Unfortunately, his mother didn''t seem to have the same thinking. As soon as Azekiel let her live and turned around to attempt once again, which he had almost finished, he was attacked from the back by his mother. He didn''t remember much about what happened next or why he was out of the tower in the form of a baby. That part was still a mystery, but he did know who was to me for it! He didn''t need his Mirror Reflection to tell him to kill her the next time he saw her. He had already decided that it was what he was going to do. Unfortunately, he wasn''t his old self. He didn''t have the same strength that he had managed to gather throughout the years. He was much weaker and knew that he couldn''t defeat her the way he was. That''s why the only option he had was to first regain his strength. And one of the best ways to achieve that was through the help of these two keys. He wasn''t strong enough to use them now, but when he was going to be strong enough to use them, he knew that these keys were going to be his most important treasure, especially now that he was going to have the Inverse Key as well. Even in hisst time, he wanted to use the two keys to be stronger, but he couldn''t use the Mirror Realm because of limitations, but there was no such restriction now. Chapter 218 218: Boastful As the key awakened, it also started changing its color with time. The key started transforming, simr to what the main key did. The transformation was much slower than it had been in the real world, but that slow transformation also gave Azekiel a moment to talk with his Mirror Reflection. Even though Azekiel was talking to himself, at times he forgot that the Mirror Reflection was him in essence and treated it like a stranger who couldn''t understand what he had been thinking. After Azekiel expressed his opinion on the topic of his mother, silence ensued. The Mirror Reflection didn''t speak much in response, as Azekiel seemed quite convinced that he was going to kill her. As for the reality of the situation and if he could actually do it, it was hard to guess even for him. The key finished its transformation, and the maic attraction stopped as soon as it was a sess. The key started falling down, only to be caught by Azekiel''s Mirror Reflection. Azekiel''s mirror reflection felt the key which was freezing cold in his hand. It was as if the key was made from a small block of ice, which was even colder than it should''ve been. Even though the Mirror Reflection had some resistance to the cold, it was still too much for him. He even felt as if his hand was going to freeze if he kept holding the key for longer. The Mirror Reflection tossed the key toward Azekiel right away, not wanting to hold it any longer. ording to him, if Azekiel was here to take the key, he should be the one holding it. Azekiel watched the key flying toward him. He raised his hand and caught the key. Even he was surprised at how cold the key actually was, which he felt only when the key touched his hand. He kept the key in his storage ring right away, not intending to deal with the cold yet. He was also sure that the key wasn''t going to be as cold when he was out of the mirror Realm. He also made sure to keep the two keys separately. While he kept the main key in his inventory, he kept the inverse key in his storage ring to keep them away from each other. "Now that you''re done, shall we leave?" The Mirror Image asked. To get out of this ce, Azekiel needed to go through the same route he came from, which meant a long journey back as well. The two of them left the Reverse Castle of Infinity and flew back where they came from, climbing to the higher floors. The Mirror Reflection brought the real Azekiel back to the room with the mirror from where Azekiel could leave. The two men stopped before the Mirror. "Thank you for the help." Azekiel didn''t thank people often, but it was his own Mirror Reflection, so it wasn''t the same as thanking others. Moreover, without the support of his Mirror Reflection, he couldn''t have the Inverse Key. "You don''t need to thank yourself," the Mirror Reflection said in response, smiling. "I was only helping myself." "Best of luck for the future, my other self. I really wish you sess. But just a reminder... Don''t let yourself get swayed likest time. If you''re going against all your emotions, then you better be against all your emotions, including your real family. If you have to kill her, don''t hold back the next time." "Hah, so you also want her dead," Azekiel smirked. "At least we think alike on one thing..." "Who knows... If I think she should die, maybe deep inside you don''t?" The Mirror Reflection let out, slightly amused. Azekiel frowned as he heard the suggestion. How could it be possible that he wouldn''t want her dead? That person had killed him! If anything, he wanted to kill you more than once, just to make sure that even her soul wasn''t left in fact. "Again, you''re back to nonsense." Azekiel turned his back on his Mirror Reflection and walked inside the mirror. As Azekiel left, the mirror reflection just stood in silence, watching the Mirror Realm break apart. The mirror realm came into existence temporarily, and now it was breaking apart as Azekiel left. With that, it was also hisst moment since he was sure that Azekiel wasn''t going to return ever again as his strength was going to be beyond the threshold limit of the mirror. Piece by piece, the mirror realm broke apart. **** Azekiel had stepped out of the mirror. He took onest nce at his reflection in the mirror before he left the ce. The King and all the Royals of this Pce were hiding in their rooms for a long time, but they can finallye outside after making sure that Azekiel wasn''t anywhere in the Pce. With Azekiel''s disappearance from the Pce, all the Nobles thought that Azekiel was already gone. ? The King was standing right at the entrance of the castle, observing all the destruction. His Nobles were standing right behind him as he was prepared to address the Guards that were still left and the citizens of the city that were told to gather outside the castle now that Azekiel had supposedly left. "My brave citizens!" The King spoke at the top of his lungs, addressing the crowd. "Today, we were under attack! We were attacked by a fierce demon that intended to destroy the Royal Family!" "Today, we lost many of our brave men at the hands of that Demon, who thought he could destroy the Royalty and what this Kingdom stood for! But the demon forgot one thing!" he dered. "He forgot that we are still alive, and we aren''t going to bow before any Demon!" "Through our effort and bravery, we fought the Demon, and we made him run away! Our Kingdom is victorious as the Demon was nothing before your brave King! So be proud! There''s no reason to be scared!" As the King gave a speech, he didn''t realize that Azekiel was already back and standing right behind him. Chapter 219 219: Really? "Long live the brave King! Long live the brave King!" The crowd burst into cheer and loud chants, praising the king. They all knew that the Kingdom had been attacked, and many people lost their lives in the Process. It was also said that the person who attacked the Kingdom was a man holding immense demonic powers. Not a single person was able to stand before the man, no matter how powerful they were. It was as if the Demon was invincible, but the King managed to defeat that demon and make him run away! This made them gain even more respect for the King, surprised that he possessed such immense strength. The King didn''t feel even the least bit embarrassed in taking the credit either. It was more embarrassing to ept that a demon came, destroyed their home, killed their people, and then left on his own as if he was here just to have fun. It was even more insulting to ept that the Demon didn''t even attack the King, as if he didn''t think that the King was worthy of his attention. As for epting that all the Nobles and the King was hiding in a bedroom for as long as the person was in the Castle, that was out of the question. The King stood proudly, hearing the chanting of his citizens. In their eyes, he could see that respect for him had only increased, reaching the levels of God, as if he could do anything. He was their protector. "Did that Demon beg you to let him live?" One of the men asked. In response to the question, the King startedughing. "Of course! That demon was beaten red and blue. He fell on his knees and started hitting his head on the floor, begging us for forgiveness!" The King dered. "He was even willing to be our ve, but we refused! We told our men to capture him and toss him to the cell, where he was to rot forever. Unfortunately, during transfer in our absence, the Demon Managed to escape!" The King was so boastful that even Azekiel was amazed. Azekiel stood behind the Nobles with his arms behind his back, listening to the stories with great interest. He hadn''t even left the castle, and they were making up stories about him being beaten and running away? "But you don''t have to worry about it. After the kind of beating he received from us, he won''t even dream abouting here again! The King further continued making up lies. " What if he came again?" Another question came. This time, the question came from behind. "Hahaha, if hees again, of course, we will beat him up again. But this time, we won''t have mercy. We would kill him right the-" The King proudly looked back, thinking it was one of his Nobles who were asking. Unfortunately, as soon as he turned around, he saw something which made him go pale. Right behind his Nobles, he saw a face. It was a person who matched the features of the Demon that was described to him. "T-t-t..." The King started stuttering as soon as he saw the face. The Demon he was talking about was right behind him, and he didn''t even know about it. Moreover, how did this man appear out of thin air when he was nowhere to be found when his men checked the surroundings? The other Nobles also looked back, having more or less the same reaction as the King. They all wanted to run and hide in their rooms again, but they couldn''t do it now the Demon was only one meter away from them, having a quite devilish smile. "You said you will kill him if you ever return?" Azekiel asked, wondering if the King was still going to stick to those words, even though he already knew the answer. "I-i..." The King felt like he was right at the edge of death. Azekiel was the person who could kill even his strongest guards, so what was he before him? "Want to reenact the battle for your citizens so they can again see how I was beaten ck and blue?" Azekiel asked, seeing the King''s stuttering. The King couldn''t take the pressure anymore as he started running, leaving all the Nobles behind. "Guards, stop that Demon!" He roared as he ran into the crowd. All the citizens were stunned. Why was their King running as if he was scared? Didn''t he defeat that Demon before? Unlike the King, the guards were braver as they followed themand and attacked Azekiel. The Nobles also started running. Unfortunately, before the attacks of the guards could evennd on Azekiel, Azekiel flew higher as he started following after the King. The King was still trying to find a ce to hide, but in themotion where thousands of citizens were also running, he found it quite hard to even get out. The King was still in the middle of the crowd when Azekielnded right before him. "Where are you running, my dear friend? Shouldn''t I be the one running like I ranst time?" The King broke down, having no option. He dropped at Azekiel''s feet as tears appeared. "Please forgive me! I lied! I lied to them! I was wrong! Please don''t kill me! I''ll tell them the truth! I''ll tell them that I was the coward, please don''t kill me; I''ll give you anything you ask! It doesn''t matter what you''re here for! I''ll give you anything! I''ll even be your ve!" The King was willing to do anything for Azekiel in exchange for his life. Whatever he imed happened to Azekiel was happening to him as he begged for forgiveness! "If I wanted anything, what makes you think that I''ll need you to give me that?" Azekiel asked, tapping the middle-aged man''s head lightly, who was still begging for forgiveness. The middle-aged man raised his head. His face was covered in tears. Chapter 220 220: Lure "Please don''t kill me." Thousands of people heard when the King was boasting about beating up Azekiel, but not a single of them was even waiting to hear what he was saying now. Most of the surroundings were already void of people now, as everyone had already left. Even the Nobles weren''t brave enough to stay behind as they also ran away, hiding inside the castle. Other than Azekiel and the King, only the guards were outside, surrounding them. None of the guards dared to even closer though. They could see their King lying on Azekiel''s feet. If this guy himself had surrendered, what could they even do? Some were even mocking the middle-aged King in their minds for talking so big when he couldn''t even stand straight before Azekiel. "All your guards gave their lives to stop me, on yourmand. But you... You just hid. What kind of a leader are you?" Azekiel inquired, smiling. "Then again, I can understand you were scared, so I won''t me you for hiding. But after all that, even when you thought I left, you took all the credit instead of giving any to the guards who actually fought while you hid?" He didn''t even try to keep his voice down at all, letting all the guards around him hear just what kind of a person their King was. "Alright. We''ll do it like this." He took a few steps back, leaving the King on his knees. "Since you are stronger than your guards, I''ll give you a chance. Prove that, and I''ll forgive you." "P-prove how?" The middle-aged King asked, seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. It seemed as if there was actually some hope here. "Fight one of your guards and prove that you''re stronger. If you can, I''ll consider some truth in your lies. I''ll let you live. But if you can''t defeat a guard of yours, you''ll be killed right here." Even though Azekiel didn''t have to kill anyone here, this game did seem interesting to him. Moreover, the worth of a life was really minuscule for him, so if he could get some entertainment out of it, then it was worth it. "T-this I can do!" The King excitedly stood up. If that was all he had to do to survive, it was easy. He was sure that he could just gesture for one of the guards to lose against him intentionally. That way, he could survive, and this demon had to leave ording to his words. "I''ll give you the opportunity to choose your own opponent. You can select any of the ones avable here," Azekiel reminded the middle-aged King. "If you''re feeling particrly adventurous, you can even select me for a battle." "N-no! I''ll select a guard!" The King looked around at all the guards. Even though he knew that all of his guards would be willing to lose against him, he still preferred to select the weakest against them. Out of all the guards, a few had barely any mass on their bodies. The skinny guards looked to be the weakest. The King had never gone to see the training of the guards, and he didn''t know much about them on the basis of their fighting ability, so he should only go on looks. He raised his finger at the red-haired Guard. The Guard was stunned to be selected. He didn''t want to fight the King. It was too much responsibility, but he could only agree as the King had chosen him in the end. The middle-aged man stepped out of the group and stood before the middle-aged man. The King faced the Guard, having his back toward Azekiel as he made some gestures with his eyes as if telling the Guard to y along to save his life. The King looked less like he was requesting the Guard and more like he wasmanding him. The Guard also got what he had to do and nodded. "Oh right, I forgot to mention one thing," Azekiel smirked as if he wasn''t finished yet. This time, he addressed the Guard. "Since your King''s life is on line in case of defeat, it''s only fair that your life will be on the line as well." "You..." The King''s face went pale. Just what was this condition? With this condition, there was no way the Guard was going to ept being defeated! No matter who it was, their lives were precious to them. Still, the King couldn''t show that he was nning for the guy to take the fall. He red at the Guard as if warning him against being clever and attacking him. Even the Guard didn''t know what to do. No matter what the conditions were, if he killed the King, he and his family were going to be executedter on. He was stuck between a rock and a hard ce. "Also, onest thing. If you can kill your King, you''ll get an added bonus. I''ll make sure you be the next King, and as you may know, I don''t think anyone here will go against my decision." "So it''s your choice if you want to die for the King who will forget your death the moment as he did with all the others, or you want to defeat him and be the next King? Think carefully. Not many people get an opportunity like this," Azekiel smiled wryly. "Also, you, bring me a chair. I want to enjoy the sight." He furthermanded another guard. At the moment, the guards of the Empire were like his personal errand boys, doing as he was saying, as if he was the default king now. One of the guards rushed inside the castle and returned with a chair he ced near Azekiel. On the other end, the Guard was still thinking about what to do. However, his mind was undoubtedly tilting in one specific direction. He had already decided on what he had to do if he wanted a better life. Chapter 221 221: Another Offer The Guard knew that, in essence, he had two options only. He could either intentionally lose against the King and die a painful death at Azekiel''s hands, or he could fight back and defeat the King, which wasn''t hard as all the guards knew that the King was quite bad when it came to actually fighting. It was just a rumor in the Kingdom that he himself spread about him being a great warrior who could defeat many enemies at once, but in reality, he was nowhere close to that. The Guard was clear that if the King had to win, then he could only do so if he intentionally lost. But in that case, he would get no benefits, and his family would also live a struggling life. And if he killed the King, ording to Azekiel, he was going to be the next King! There was no question left in his head as to what he had to do. Azekiel sat on the chair, seemingly in no hurry. It had been a long time since he actually saw a show like this, but he knew it would be fun. A King was going to be in by his own Guard that he thought to be lower than him. There was quite an irony in it since it reminded him of his own past. The only difference was that it was someone else with him in the Guard''s ce. He also made sure to have this battle so he could be reminded once again. "You can begin whenever you''re ready, but I would advise you not to take much time because if I start getting bored, I might actually get involved myself. So try to finish it fast." Azekiel positioned himselffortably on the seat as he observed the young Guard lost in deep thought. Seeing the Guard think, the King was scared. He kept trying to gesture for the Guard to listen to him, but the Guard didn''t even look at him. "Give him your weapon," Azekiel told one of the Guards. The Middle-aged King was the only person here who was without a weapon after all. A guard stepped forward and gave his Sword to the King before walking back, ignoring the pleading gaze of the King. They couldn''t do anything in a situation like this when even their King wasn''t willing to fight. Azekiel''s assumption was right as well. The greed worked, and the red-haired man actually raised his Sword, aiming it at his King. Killing his King meant he could have anything he wanted. Moreover, it was also the only way to remove the Royal Family so an actually talented person like him could take the throne instead of a pretentious person like the current King. The Guard attacked. The King was shocked to see that the Guard was attacking him in full seriousness. He hastily raised his own Sword as well to block the attack. "What are you doing? Do you really want to kill your King? You traitor, drop your weapon right now!" Since gestures weren''t working, the King actually started outrightmanding the Guard before Azekiel. "This is your King''smand! Do as I said!" The King yelled as he kept moving back, blocking each attack. Only one person amongst them was on the offense, and it was the Guard. The Guard clenched his fist. "I''m sorry, but I''ll have to decline themand! I must fight back this time!" The King had selected the Guard, thinking he looked the weakest and he was partially right. The Guard he picked was indeed the weakest when it came to raw strength, but he was one of the best when it came to pure skills. That was one of the reasons he was selected in the Royal Guards despite being so skinny. The red-haired Guard was lightweight, allowing him to move faster and more swiftly, sending the King on the backfoot. "Not bad at all. You don''t look strong, but your skills are quite good." Azekiel started pping at the disy of skills. The Guard was quite strong for a human warrior without any magical skills. Receiving Azekiel''spliments, the Guard actually felt something proud for some reason. His attacks only intensified following thepliments. He only had one Sword, but to the King, it felt like the Guard had tens of swords. He was already struggling to keep up with the Guard''s attack, let alone having time to counterattack. "Stop it this instant! We promise that if you die for us, we will take care of your family like it''s our own family. We will give your family the Title of Nobles, a castle and vastnds to rule!" The King also offered, having no other option. "Just listen to us and let us live! Your sacrifice will make your family Nobles! But if you killed us, even if you get the throne, the citizens will never ept you as their legitimate King! You''ll always be known as a traitor! There will be mutinies all around, and eventually, your family will be killed even if you get the throne!" "What do you want? The eventual destruction of your family because you were greedy or for you to be known as a martyr who gave his life to protect his King? Your family would have a much better life if you sacrificed yourself!" The King knew that Azekiel had offered a lot to the man. First, he needed to get his Guard out of this trap of greed, and he could only do that by offering him another carrot, but this time with an added advantage that Azekiel didn''t offer... The well-being of his family in the future! His trick also looked like it was working as the Guard did slow down. His mind was actually split between the two offers, and the second certainly had merits of its own. Unfortunately, that small hesitation of the Guard was enough for the King to take advantage of it. The King thrust his Sword, stabbing it through the chest of the Guard before jumping back, worried that in thest moments, the Guard might attack as well. Chapter 222 222: Instigating Advice The King took advantage of the slightest distraction that he could receive. Even though he could''ve waited for the Guard to take up his offer, there was also a slight chance that he could just reject the offer. If it was thetter case, he was sure he wasn''t going to receive the same opportunity again. He left his bloody Sword stabbed in the Guard before stepping back hastily. The Guard was shocked. He was cheated! The King had pulled a disgusting trick to win the battle. He tried to step forward, but his body was out of his control. His clothes were covered in blood already as his body dropped to the ground. The battle was over, and the victor was clear. The King managed to win. Even though he used some tricks, for him, it was better than losing his life. Moreover, he was sure that Azekiel was someone who wasn''t going to care about the methods that he used to win. A demon wasn''t going to care for the evil methods that were followed. The King stepped closer to the guard, checking if the man was still alive or not. "I won! I killed him! ording to your words, you won''t kill me!" As soon as the King made sure that the man was dead, he turned to Azekiel. "You certainly won," Azekiel nodded in agreement as he stood up. "I won''t go into depth as to how you won. It''s like the saying on earth; everything is fair in love and war. So I will consider it your win, and I''ll let you live." He started walking away. Seeing the man leave, the King actually sighed in relief. He was so close to death today. However, he had managed to escape death''s clutches not once but more than twice already! He kicked the dead guard, who had dared to fight him. "You bastard, you dared to attack your King? You traitor, you really dreamt of bing the King, didn''t you?" "You bastard, you almost killed me! Death is an easy way out for someone like you." The King dered. "For attacking your monarch, I''ll make sure that even your seven generations won''t know what peace means!" Even though the guard was already dead, the King kept letting out all his pent-up anger. Since he couldn''t do anything to Azekiel, all his anger came out on the dead guard who listened to Azekiel. Seeing the King attack the body of their deadrade, the other Guards were quite disgusted as well. However, they could only stand back and watch. That was until they heard something... "Oh right, I forgot to tell you something," Azekiel''s voice came. It seemed he had returned once again; the King''s foot that was about to stomp on the guard''s head froze in ce. He hastily stepped back. "Yes, My Lord?" the King asked with great respect as if Azekiel was the King and he was just a minister. " I came to give you some advice. You should really be careful here." "Hmm? Why?" The only person who was a threat to him was Azekiel, and Azekiel had promised that he was going to let him live if he won. Then why did he need to be careful? "I mean, just look around you. There is no one here other than all your Guards. All the Nobles and the citizens are hiding in their houses. No one will know what happens here. So if your guards decide to kill you secretly for all the wrong youmitted, it would be quite unfortunate," Azekiel reminded the King. "I mean, if I were in their ce, I definitely would''ve done it as no one was going to know who killed you. All the me could be tossed to the so-called demon, and they could get rid of you as well. So just be careful." Even though Azekiel pretended that he came here to remind him, it felt more like he was giving this idea to the guards, informing them that they could kill him and no one was going to know. Hearing the so-called reminder, the King''s face went pale. He noticed the guards looking around as if they were actually trying to see how true this was. All of them could see that Azekiel wasn''t lying. Other than them, there wasn''t anything here. If they actually killed this disgusting King, no one was going to know. Moreover, this could also save the family of their fellow guard. "Best of luck to you all. I hope you all have fun." Finally, Azekiel actually left. He didn''t have to stay behind to know what the oue of the King was going to be. He didn''t have to do much either. He just gave a suggestion, and everything else was handled by the guards. The King couldn''t even fight one guard properly. There was no way he was going to be able to fight all the other Guards here who wanted to kill him. The King was killed by the Guards, and not a single person other than the guards knew what actually happened. Just as Azekiel had suggested to them, all the me was shifted to him. The guards promised amongst them that none of them was going to tell the truth about what happened here to anyone. Even that family couldn''t know, as this was equal to treason. Despite killing their own King, the guards did feel a little ted. "That was certainly a good show," Azekiel stood before the Portal of the next floor, thinking back to what had happened in the Kingdom. He was the one who created the tower, and he knew everything about it. That''s why climbing it wasn''t fun for him since he knew what wasing next. It was also the reason that he looked for small entertaining acts on each floor to keep things entertaining for him. On each floor, he found one thing or the other since there wasn''t ack of stupid people in this World. Chapter 223 223: 81st Without Raphael and Lia to keep him grounded, Azekiel was starting to sway too far from where he began. He had no one to talk to, which left him all alone with his thoughts which were quite scary for him. Whenever he was alone with his thoughts, his mind went back to ufortable memories as if wanting to keep him upset. To avoid remembering the past, he kept himself engaged. At times, he even talked to himself like he used to do before. **** [Five Months Later] Azekiel was on the 45th floor, and things had started getting somewhat difficult since he was finally entering the territory where old space territory started from. Below this floor, it was like an entirely different world where young versions of all the Kings were present who had recently entered the tower. However, from the 45th floor onwards, it was a much older territory. From here, there were only Kings from a much older timeline. Even though he met young Alion on the 11th floor but it was quite possible that he could''ve met a present timeline version of Alion if Alion hadn''t left the tower. All the space time was chaotic on the power floors, but that was also allowed since on lower floors, the Kings weren''t strong enough to affect the special chaos in a bad way. On the contrary, on the higher floors, everyone had a strength that could certainly overload the spatial chaos. That''s also why Azekiel had made sure that the space and time continuum on this floor was much more linear. Even though space was also chaotic here, it was to a very small extent. If anything, this was also where he was going to find all the Kings who had seeded from their world in killing all the others, like the one who killed Raphael and the one who killed Lia and went higher. Azekiel stepped out of the portal for the 45th floor. So far, he had managed to avoid being noticed by people who could have informed the woman at the top. However, from this floor onwards, he knew that avoiding such things was going to be quite hard, since this was where true rankings of the tower began. The ranking board of the tower was avable on all the floors from the 45th floor onwards. From here on, everything significant that a King could do granted ranking points to them. Moreover, these ranking points weren''t handled by their system or the tower. It was apletely independent mechanism. This was also one of the ideas of his mother, which he went along with and implemented. From here on, all the Kings were monitored by the independent mechanism, and their actions were granted points based on the significance of their actions. Killing a person had some points and killing a more powerful person had more points. Completing a quest had points, and even finishing secret tasks had points. There were also some points that depended on luck. It was a mechanism that watched their every single move, which they couldn''t avoid. Throughout his journey till here, Azekiel had managed to avoid being noticed by many. Even the people who were keeping an eye on Raphael, Lia, and him from higher up, not realizing who he actually was, had lost his trail ever since he remembered everything outside the tower. However, even he could avoid being observed by that mechanism. He could only have sce in the fact that no one could see what the ranking mechanic was observing, no matter who it was. No person was able to see what he was doing, but they could definitely see the ranking. For what he had to do throughout his journey, he was sure that his ranking points were only going to stack one after another, bringing him much higher in the ranking, much faster. It was only a matter of time before he was going to attract someone''s attention through that ranking, which he wanted to avoid until he was absolutely ready. The only option to avoid that was to climb the tower slowly so his unusual speed couldn''t attract too much attention, but he wasn''t happy with that option. He was already very impatient. He wanted to get to the top floor as soon as he could. Intentionally slowing down was no less than a torture for him. As he stepped out of the Portal on the 45th floor, he had already noticed a few familiar faces. There were quite a few Kings here who were supposed to be on a much higher floor. They were the Kings who should''ve been on the 80th floor... At least they had ess to the 80th floor. Still, it wasn''t unlikely to see them here. From the 45th floor to the 80th floor, everything was like a unified world. Anyone from the higher floors coulde down to the lower floors very easily. They didn''t even need to use their hard-earned escape crystals. There were portals on each floor that brought them to their desired Floors. Moreover, there was also no restriction on the Kings who hadn''t cleared 45th or any higher Floor. If they wanted, they could also go to higher floors. There was no need to clear any trial of the floor to get ess to higher floors. Unfortunately, they still needed to clear each floor from the 45th to 80th if anyone wanted to ess the 81st floor. They could''ve selected floors based on their preferences in a random order to clear, but they still had to clear all of them if they wanted to step onto the 81st floor, which was also like abined realm up to the 99th Floor. Even though anyone could go to any floor here, the Lower level kings still preferred to go by order so they could get stronger along the way, as higher floors were still more dangerous than the lower ones. The ones he recognized in the distance were the ones who had already cleared most of the floors, excluding the 80th floor. They were technically on thest stages of the Mid Layers of the Tower. Unfortunately, breaking through that middleyer was the hardest part, even for them. Chapter 224 224: Disagreement The smell of alcohol was filling up the ce. Chattering could be heard everywhere as people didn''t bother to keep their voices low, even when they talked about somethingpletely random. asionally, the clinking of sses could also be heard amidst the conversations. A woman dressed in skimpy clothing walked with a jug filled with alcohol to one of the tables in the bar that was filled with people. She stopped before one of the tables and poured some wine into the empty ss on the table. "Are you new here?" she asked, ncing at the man who was sitting there. "I''ve never seen you here before. Granted, I haven''t seen you even now because of your hood, but still, you don''t look like a regr here." The blue-haired woman seemed quite intrigued by the man before him. It was a bar that was only visited by the most powerful people. Normal people on this floor didn''t even dare toe here, so seeing new people here wasn''t usual. The man who was sitting on the table ced a gold coin right beside the ss. The woman was slightly surprised at the sight of a gold coin. On this floor, the gold coins held immense values. She picked up the gold coin. "Thank you. I understand." The woman didn''t ask the question about the man''s identity anymore. To her, the gold coin seemed more like a price that was paid for her silence. The man didn''t take off his hood as he picked up the ss of wine, taking his first sip. However, as he noticed the woman still hadn''t left, she couldn''t help but ask, "Are you not leaving?" "It''s alright. Others can handle other tables. You might need more." The woman ced the jug on the table and took the other seat, right in front of Azekiel. "You seem quite rich," the woman mentioned. "Not many people in this world are rich enough to pay a spirit gold coin to a waitress. Then again, who will be rich if not Kings?" "Many people," Azekiel answered. "I''m sure many people in this bar hold immense wealth." Azekiel took another sip as he answered while taking a subtle nce at a particr group in the distance. "That''s true for sure. But even they don''t go around giving coins to us. By the way, the group you''re looking at is certainly one of them. They are quite strong but also regrs here. I''d say they are quite stingy for people with their strength," the charming waitress answered. "How do you know how strong they are?" Azekiel ced the empty ss back on the table. The woman already had the jug back in her hand by now as she started pouring. "Because I''ve seen them right. It wasn''t long ago when another group got into a conflict with them. I suppose that was also the time when these people showed their strength and their wealth." "The battle waspletely one sided," she stated. "However, in that battle, our bar was thrashed as well. These people paid for the damage without even flinching. Quite rich for sure." "Who will be rich if not them," Azekiel muttered, shaking his head. "Getting spirit coins is easy for them on higher Floors." "Hmm? Did you say something?" The waitress asked, not hearing Azekiel properly. "I didn''t say anything." Azekiel went back to drinking as the woman just nced at his face, which was somewhat hidden by the good. She could still see his lips and his nose but not his eyes." "How long do they usually stay here on this floor?" Azekiel asked the youngdy, who kept bringing her head down as if trying to look at his entire face from under the hood. "Not long. I think theye here once or twice every month. And every time theye to this bar. I think today should be theirst day here. Next, we should see them next month if everything moves at the usual pace. "I see." "Do you know them? Are you all from the same ce high up?" The woman asked Azekiel. Azekiel again deflected the topic. "What is your name?" "I am Yulia," the woman answered. She smiled as she continued, "I am twenty-five years old, and I am single." "I didn''t ask for your entire bio data," Azekiel responded, quite amused that she went on to tell her rtionship status. "Still, Yulia is a pretty good name. I used to know something with that name." "Used to...?" Yulia asked, understanding what it implied. "Yeah. She died in the past," Azekiel said. He noticed that Yulia seemed distracted by his words. She had even forgotten to fill up his ss which was again empty. He picked up the jug himself and poured the wine into his ss. Yulia also came out of a stunned phase and reached out her hand. "I''m sorry, I will fill it." She reached out her hand and ced them over Azekiel''s hands to take the jug as it was her responsibility to be a nice hostess. "Don''t worry. I won''t die from lifting up a jug of wine." After filling the ss, Azekiel ced the jug back on the ground, only to notice that Yulia''s hands were still on his hands. "Yulia, how am I going to drink if you don''t take your hands off?" "Oh, sorry." Yulia retracted her hand. Azekiel got back to drinking. "What more do you know about them?" "You mean about their group? Not much. I just heard them mention a few times recently that they are close to clearing theirst floor. They seem quite excited that they''ll get to enter some higher world. I have no idea what that means, but it''s good for them." "Oh? They are about to clear the 80th floor? It seems they certainly progressed quite a lot in time. They again, it would be quite good as well. If more people go up, that should keep everyone there distracted for a little while." "You don''t drink on duty?" he asked, noticing Yulia still trying to peek at his face. "I would, but we would have to pay for it as well. And it''s quite expensive for people like us. So it''s better to just stay away from it," Yulia answered, shaking her head. "If it was cheaper, I might''ve been able to afford it." "You can try some," Azekiel pushed the jug toward Yulia. There was quite a lot in it. "I can''t drink from the jug." Yulia didn''t know if she shouldugh or cry as she saw Azekiel pushing the jug to her. "Get another ss for yourself." "No. If I go back, they''ll give me another order, and I''ll be stuck." Yulia shook her head after ncing back. She didn''t want to leave as she was quite happy where she was. She was out of sight of the manager. "I have a better idea." Yulia slid her chair closer to Azekiel''s chair to sit right beside him, with such closeness that her shoulders kept touching Azekiel. She ced her hands around Azekiel''s hands and made him bring the ss closer to her lips, taking a sweet sip before releasing his hands. "Ah, heavenly taste. No wonder you all like it so much." "The taste is good for the middle world, but there are definitely better tastes than this in the higher world." "May I ask a question as well?" "What question?" "Higher world... I hear many people talk about that ce. And recently, the talks about that ce are only interesting as if something is about to change. Just what is that higher world?" "Howe you didn''t ask anyone else this question?" Azekiel could understand why talks about the Higher World were increasing. If a group was going to clear the 80th floor, this was definitely quite big news for the Kings of Middle World as it had been a really long time since that happenedst. However, what actually made him surprised was that Yulia chose to ask him instead of others before, even though she probably had lots of chances. "Because you seem more approachable and nice," Yulia exined her reasoning. "Really? A loner in a hood who you never saw before seems more approachable to you?" Azekiel asked as he took another sip before sliding the ss back to Yulia. "Tell me the real reason." "I''m not lying. You actually seem more approachable in the way you talk. You seem like quite a nice person. That''s a big reason I feelfortable asking you." "I? A nice person?" Azekiel couldn''t help butugh. Just because he gave her a coin and he looked like a nice man, she was willing to consider him one? "I''m afraid almost all would disagree with that statement about me," Azekiel clenched his fist. "Let me guess the real reason. "Is it because I am the only one here who wasn''t in a group?" Roaming his gaze over everyone, he was able to see that almost all the people here were in groups which definitely made it hard for them to be approached by strangers. Meanwhile, he was alone here, which gave them more ess to him. Chapter 225 225: Home "That might have yed some role in this as well, but only in the approach. If you were hard to talk to after that, I couldn''t have dared to talk to you." Yulia agreed with Azekiel as he was partially correct about her decision. "Is this Higher World a secret ce that you can''t tell us about?" She asked, slightly curious about this hesitation in answering. "But if it was such a secret ce, why would they keep repeating the name again and again, not caring about who was listening?" "It''s not a secret," Azekiel answered, shaking his head lightly. "Just a ce that doesn''t concern you all as you can never go there." "Well, of course I know I can''t go there. If even strong and powerful people like them had to struggle so much to get there, how would it be possible for me?" "They struggled?" Azekiel asked. "What struggle is there?" The waitress had told him that she didn''t know what these people did outside this bar. How did she know what they did outside this ce? Unless she was just taking a guess. "I''ve heard them talk about it with great excitement for a long time. It was evident that they were very eager to go there for a very long time. Even now, they haven''t gone there and are only close to it. It isn''t hard to guess that they had been working really hard and still took so long." Along with the exnation, the woman held Azekiel''s wrist and brought his hand along with the ss closer to her lips. After taking a sip, she released his wrist. "That ce does seem quite good if they want to go there so bad. Do you also want to go there?" "I definitely want to go there," Azekiel nodded. "But first, I want to do something else." "And what would that something else be?" Yulia asked. "You want to enjoy our ce before you leave?" "When do you get off work?" Azekiel stood up, cing an empty ss down. "Why do you want to know that? Do you want to take me out?" Yuliaughed, realizing how absurd her thought was. "Maybe," Azekiel responded. "Depends on your answer." "I can take time off right now if you want. I can call myself sick and leave. Do something. Wait outside for me. I''ll be right out." Yulia also stood up and rushed to the counter in the front. Azekiel watched Yulia leave. He also started leaving. Leaving the bar, he stood near a wall, waiting for her. Standing outside the war, he also kept observing the streets and his surroundings, still seeing a lot of familiar faces. ? From here on, it wasn''t as easy for him since every act of his could attract too much attention. Moreover, since all the floors from here to the 80th floor were essentially one, there was no way to stop the flow of information effectively. He was also new here at this time. The lower floors more or less remained the same, but these floors changed in real time, and so did the people around it. It was quite possible that some of his old knowledge about this floor could be useless at this time, so he needed someone to give him a fresh set of information. He could''ve captured one of the citizens here and asked them for information, but then he had to kill someone here, which could give him a point unnecessarily and get him on the leaderboard, even if he pulled it off sessfully. He wanted to avoid that until he was certain about the current situation on these floors. Another way to get information without having to kill someone was through what he was doing. In a bar, there were people who just loved to talk, especially the Kings. Even if he didn''t do anything, he could hear what they were saying while sitting inside the bar. I If possible, he could''ve approached one or two people as well, but before he could do it, the waitress started engaging with him. She also looked like she knew a lot about the people around her as she had been listening to them for a long time. It was at that moment, he changed his n. He could get all the information he needed from that woman, without having to kill her. If he didn''t kidnap her and was friendly with her, she was a person who just loved to talk. It was just the perfect option. Azekiel was waiting for her so he could take her out and talk to her in some privacy. The door of the bar opened, making Azekiel look to his right, wondering if Yulia was out. Unfortunately, it wasn''t Yulia who had arrived. Instead, it was the group of men from the highest floor that he had been keeping an eye on. He stopped looking at them and lowered his head so it could have more cover thanks to his hood. The men did notice Azekiel standing nearby, but they didn''t pay too much attention to him. They were already very drunk and happy. They were too immersed in themselves as they left, taking the same path. Not too long after those people left, Yulia came out of the bar as well. "There you are!" She held Azekiel''s arm. "So where are we going next?" "Do you know a silent ce where we could have some privacy?" Azekiel suggested. "Or we can just walk?'' "A silent ce for privacy?" Yulia smirked, thinking she understood what he was implying. "Aren''t you going to show me your face before that?" "Didn''t you already see my face with all the peeking?" Even though Azekiel asked the question, he still took off his hood to show his face to Yulia. "Oh wow, you look even better than I expected," Yulia was quite surprised as soon as she saw Azekiel''s face. After seeing him, she felt even more attractive to him. His personality was her type, but his face made it even better for her as she found him so handsome. "You wanted a silent ce. My house isn''t too far. It''s a quiet private ce, so no one can disturb us there," Yulia suggested. "If you''re still feeling hungry, I can also cook something up for you." "That would be good," Azekiel agreed. If she actually had a house nearby, what could be better? He could not only stay there out of the public eye for now, but he could also talk to her for as long as he wanted, without any concern. It was also better than finding a hotel at this time. "Come." Yulia took Azekiel with him as if she was dragging him. She kept her arms wrapped around his right arm as if she was scared that he was going to run away if she freed his hand for even a moment. She was like a little baby who didn''t want to lose a candy. Also, just like how Azekiel was curious about the state of the world here now, Yulia was also curious about the higher world and all the incredible Knowledge that Azekiel held. She also wanted to hear a lot more from him. She dragged Azekiel with her for ten minutes before she finally stopped in front of a house. "Is that your house?" Azekiel asked, looking at the house from top to bottom. "Whose house will it be?" Yuliaughed in response. She brought a key out of her pocket. "Don''t worry. I''m not a thief who stole someone else''s house." She ced the key on the keyboard and twisted. With a click, the door opened. "Your house looks quite decent. In fact, it''s much better than other houses I saw nearby. You own such a house... How can you be poor and work as a waitress?" Azekiel entered the house right behind Yulia. Yulia closed the door after Azekiel entered before turning on the lights. "The house is the only thing I have. Other than this, I have no money. Even to keep the lights on and the food on the table, I need money which I get from my job," Yulia answered as sheughed. "My house is that of rich people, but I''m quite poor." "So this house is what you inherited from your parents? If you couldn''t afford this house yourself, you could only get it from them. They didn''t leave any money behind? Also, even then, if you sell this house and shift to a smaller house, you''ll be able to get a lot of money in reserve, right?" "Why are you sounding like a merchant who wants me to get into business as well?" Yulia shook her head. "I will say, it''s not like I''ve never thought of that idea, but I honestly could never let myself get to it." "This house is the only thing I have, and it has a lot of memories attached to it. Anyway, why are we talking about it? Come up!" Chapter 226 226: Raphael Yulia didn''t want to talk about the past at this time. She had been trying to keep the past buried in the back of her head and focus on the present. She went up the stairs, followed by Azekiel. He didn''t need to know the answers about this girl''s past as that was of no concern to him, but it was just his curiosity that made him ask. On the first floor was where Yulia actually stayed. Her bedroom was on the first floor, and so were the main kitchen and the dining room. "You feeling hungry?" She asked Azekiel, stopping before her bedroom. Azekiel nodded. He certainly felt hungry, and it wasn''t a new phenomenon to him. If Yulia was going to cook something, it was great as he could ask her many things when she was distracted with cooking. He could get information, and he could get to eat. It was like hitting two birds with one stone. "Alright. This is my bedroom," she opened the door of her bedroom. "You can rest here for a little bit. I''ll prepare something real quick." Yulia went to the kitchen that wasn''t too far from her. However, Azekiel didn''t just enter the bedroom to wait for her there. He calmly followed behind Yulia, keeping his hands in his pocket. "Are you not going to rest?" As Yulia reached the kitchen, she noticed Azekiel not too far from her. "It is fine. I''m not tired. I can just apany you here, so you aren''t bored while cooking." Azekiel stood with his back against the wall as if he was going to wait right there for her. "If that''s what you want." Yulia didn''t mind him waiting here. In fact, she was quite pleased. Previously she only thought that Azekiel liked her when he allowed her to drink from the same ss. However, he asked her toe with him not long after, which made her suspicions even stronger. And now this? He wanted to apany her even here? Had he really fallen for her charm? She didn''t mind it either, as Azekiel was also very handsome for her. Not only was the man handsome and her type, but he was also strong and wealthy. What could be better for her if she wanted a guy? Azekiel was like a perfect man for her. After her initial glee, she got back to cooking after asking what Azekiel preferred. "Yulia, have you lived in this city all your life?" Azekiel asked the youngdy as she immersed herself in cooking. "You can say that. I''ve been here since I was born. And I''ve been working in that bar for thest three years," Yulia answered. "What about you? Where are you from?" "I''m from somewhere far away. I don''t think you''ll know that ce even if I told you. However, it''s my first time in this city or even on this floor," Azekiel answered. "That''s why I barely know anything about this ce." "I guessed as much. If you weren''t a new face here, it wouldn''t be my first time seeing you here." "In your job... You must get to hear a lot of secrets too, right? You just know so much about this world. On the other hand, I know nothing. Maybe I should start working as a waiter too." "Hahaha, nonsense. You are so wealthy; do you even need to work? As for the information about those worlds, do you even need to worry about that? I can tell you everything I know. You don''t have to worry about anything." Just as Azekiel had expected, Yulia herself offered to help him. A smirk spread across Azekiel''s lips. He had someone who was going to tell him everything without him having to force them. This was the best option for now. Since Yulia had already offered him this much, he didn''t hesitate in taking her up on her offer. "There should be a tower here, I heard. It''s a tower that ranks all the Kings? Is there something like that?" "You mean the Tower of Judgement? Yeah, there is a thing like that. Only the strongest of the strongest can get their names on the top of the ranking. That tower is insignificant for people like us though. Who cares who ranks where? Even the weakest of those rankers can kill us with a single finger." "What is the ranking on the tower? Do you have any idea?" Generally, everyone could see the Tower Ranking, but only after they had been in the middle realms for over a week. Since it was Azekiel''s first day in this ce, he couldn''t see the tower or ranking at all. Even if his name got on the rankings, he couldn''t see the tower unless his one week was over, which was the most problematic part. "I didn''t pay much attention to it, but I think I do know the top name. It''s some guy named Raphael who has a score of Three Million something." "Raphael?" Azekiel eximed, taken aback. How was that possible? Raphael should''ve been dead in the middle realms since this ce was akin to the real world of the tower. If Raphael wasn''t dead, there was no way his Spirit could be summoned by him. Moreover, Raphael was certainly killed by a person from his own world. So how could his name be there? Once a King was dead, their names also disappeared from the ranking since the ranking only showed the score of the people who were alive. Even if Raphael hade back to life, thanks to the old man, there was still no way for him to get a score of three million in such a short time. His scoring would''ve started from scratch if he came back to life after dying once! "Are you sure you read the name right? It was Raphael?" he repeated the question, still finding it hard. Since he knew how the tower worked, he was having a really hard time believing it. Chapter 227 227: Kill The Witch Even if Raphael hade back to life, thanks to the old man, there was still no way for him to get a score of three million in such a short time. His scoring would''ve started from scratch if he came back to life after dying once! "Are you sure you read the name right? It was Raphael?" he repeated the question, still finding it hard. Since he knew how the tower worked, he was having a really hard time believing it. "I am sure it was that specific name. I saw it just yesterday. Why? You know this person?" **** While Azekiel was talking about Raphael being the tower ranking of the middle realms, the Spirit of Raphael and Lia were still with the old man. The two had juste out of one of the hardest challenges of their life, which took them months to finish. Both of them looked quite hurt, but they also looked very happy as they had finally finished what was said to be their training. Their Spirit Aura was only stronger now, making them look even more powerful. Their Spirit Strength had multiplied many folds. "We are done! Are we ready to get our bodies back?" Lia asked the old man. They had been waiting for months for this day when they could be free from all this, and finally, they had an opportunity. "Not yet." The old man still didn''t give in. What he had to do, he knew, was going to take an even longer time. "This was just the first part of it, getting your Spirits stronger. Now we still need to make sure you get your memories back. Only after you have your memories back can you get your bodies back. Think of your memories as the second step which leads you to your final destination... The third step." "And how long will that take now?" Raphael asked. He wanted to be free, but he also wanted his memories and his body back. Since they had already wanted months to get themselves stronger, they couldn''t just give up now. It would''ve been like they climbed half the mountain only to go back down just when they were a little short of the peak. "That depends on you entirely, so I can''t make any guess as to how long that specific thing will take." The old man raised his hands innocently as if he had no idea. "How will we get our memories back?" Even if it was unclear how long it''ll take, Raphael at least wanted to know what they had to do so he could make a n for it. "How else? It''s about your mind, so we''ll be stimting your minds. We''ll be going back in time to the moment where you have thest memories of your life. Seeing what happened after that with your own eyes should stimte your brains to make you remember." He tapped his right foot on the ground lightly, opening up a portal before him. "Just remember one thing before we get there. You are only allowed to see and not interfere in anything. It doesn''t matter what you see or how badly you want to interfere; you aren''t allowed to do anything." " If you try anything even close to that, things will get out of hand even for me. You''ll only be creating more troubles for yourself by trying that. So don''t forget... You will be just spectators..." After giving onest warning, the old man stepped inside the Portal, going back in time. Raphael and Lia also followed the man as well, entering through the portal. All three of them came out in what appeared like a forest. "Where are we?" Raphael didn''t recognize this ce. It wasn''t any ce he remembered. He was sure it wasn''t in his world, so it couldn''t be his past. That only meant it was Lia''s past! Seeing Lia''s expression, his suspicions were confirmed. The ce that looked like an ordinary ce was something in Lia''s past. "Kill the Witch!" "Kill her!" "She deserves to die!" They also heard loud chantsing from outside the forest as if a huge crowd was chanting. Lia recognized those voices and also remembered from what time these memories were. She nkly started walking toward the source of the voice. Raphael and the old man also followed Lia. The old man didn''t forget to remind Lia once again. "Don''t forget... You can''t interfere at any cost! You can only watch! It doesn''t matter what you see... Don''t interfere!" "I won''t..." Lia responded. Even though she was quite angry at all these voices, she also remembered that it was all in her past, and even if she tried to change her past, it was only going to make things worse for her. So it didn''t matter what was happening outside the forest. After a short walk, Lia stepped out of the forest, ncing to her left. Raphael and the old man also came out, looking in the same direction where they saw some women tied to trees. The woman at the center was none other than Lia. All of them were surrounded by a group of people. Some of the people were finding a burning torch, waiting for Command. They were all looking toward one particr man... The man that used to be Lia''s friend. King Osiris stood in the distance, right beside his royal horse, gazing at Lia. The change of the citizens only intensified as they all demanded that all witches needed to be burned. "Do you have anything to say for yourself?" The King asked Lia as if waiting to see her begging for forgiveness or trying to see just how she was going to justify her actions. Lia didn''t answer. She just supported a smirk on her face, looking into the eyes of the Prince. "I don''t have anything to say for myself. And why should I? I''m not scared of death... One day, we will all die. Today it''s me... Tomorrow it will be you." "Moreover, you already think you''re righteous. Does it change anything even if I say something? In your mind, you''ll always be right, even though you''re the cause of everything I did!" Lia scoffed. "How am I the cause of everything that you did?" Osiris asked, shaking his head. "Your Majesty, don''t listen to her. She is only trying to confuse you or to use some mental magic! We should just kill her before she seeds!" One of the men eximed. The King also agreed in the end. "Do it." Hismand echoed in the surroundings. Chapter 228 228: Apocalypse Osirismanded his men to go along with the n and burn the witches. After hismand, he did look a bit hesitant as if he wanted to recall hismand, but he couldn''t. He clenched his fists and controlled his urges. He wasn''t an ordinary man here! He was the King, and it was his responsibility to go with what was best for his people, even if it meant taking harsh decisions. For the safety of his people, he had to do it. Lia felt a powerful urge to jump in between and kill everyone who was trying to burn her, but she also remembered the words of the old man. No matter what happened, she wasn''t allowed to interfere. She could only stay behind and just watch things happen as they did. "Something isn''t right." Lia was having a hard time controlling her urges when she heard Raphael''s words which slightly distracted her. "What do you mean something isn''t right?" she asked. "How can people being burned be right?" "Even though that''s also bad, that''s not what I was talking about," Raphael rified. "It''s something else." "What else then?" "You are more focused on the Witches since it''s your past, so you probably didn''t notice it. But something is different. The winds have suddenly stopped." Raphael raised his hand. There was no wind. "Also, until recently, the sky waspletely clear. However, now it''s filled with clouds. That isn''t it either. It''s something about the atmosphere in the surroundings. Something is seriously wrong. I have a very bad feeling about this...." The old man nodded, feeling impressed with Raphael''s analysis. "Not bad," hemented. "One should always know about their surroundings since they are always the best indicator of what''s toeter." "What are you two talking about?" Since Lira was distracted by things that were happening before her, her mind was not in the right ce. Just what were they implying? "The appearance of the Tower," the old man exined. "The Tower of Sins is about to appear." All these signs that Raphael had noticed were just the indicators of that. "Why would the tower appear here? Doesn''t it only appear at times of apocalypse when the worlds are about to be destroyed?" Raphael asked, intrigued. " I see no apocalypse here." Even though the burning of the Witches was bad, that wasn''t equivalent to an apocalypse. Other than that, the world seemed quite peaceful. "You see no apocalypse, that''s true. But that doesn''t mean there isn''t one here," the old man answered. "The apocalypse of this world had started a few days ago already. It''s just that no one noticed it." The old man started rising in the air, carrying Raphael and Lia with him. The men moved closer to all the Witches with torches in their hands, but just as they were about to burn them, the ground started trembling as if an earthquake was taking ce. It wasn''t just their surroundings that were shaking, but the entire world. The earthquake had covered the entire world within seconds, and it was only getting more intense with each passing second. Cracks kept appearing all around the World, which only became wider. Seeing the sudden changes, all the men who were about to burn the Witches were scared, thinking it was the doing of the Witches! It was their revenge for them trying to burn them? "Argh!" Some men still moved forward and lit the women on fire. On the other hand, there were also some who were scared of the earthquake and what more the Witches could do if they didn''t stop. They stepped back. Amongst the men who stepped back, one of them was the person, who was supposed to kill Lia. He was so scared that he couldn''t even think of burning her anymore. He just looked at the King, apologizing. "Is this the doing of the Witches?" Raphael asked the old man. It was quite possible that there was a spell that was being used for something like this. "It can''t be." Lira shook her head. "There is no spell which could be this strong. It''s not a spell of ours. But why don''t I remember any of this?" She could see the earthquake with her own eyes, and she was alive as well. However, this was a part of her memory that she didn''t have. Instead, her memories were only up to the point where she was about to be burned. She used to think that she was actually burned after that point as she didn''t know better, but now that she was seeing it with her own eyes, she understood that there was a lot that she didn''t know. "It''s certainly not the work of the Witches," The old man agreed. "It''s just the Nature correcting its course. He rified, "The Core of this World had been getting unstable for a long time. A few days ago, it reached a point of no return, and that''s where the seed of this apocalypse was nted. The unstable core has finally cracked, causing all these effects." "This was an apocalypse that should''ve wiped every single person here in this world. But not everyone was killed... Because of that..." The old man pointed in the distance, where a giant tower started appearing. At first, the tower looked like it was no more than an illusion, but with time, it became more and more realistic. Fountains of Lava burst out of the ground at ces as the apocalypse intensified. The people who were here were scared for their lives as they watched everything that was going on. Some of them had already fallen inside the cracks in the earth while running. Meanwhile, others had their bodies burned inside theva. Screams, filled with fear of death and pain, could be heard everywhere. The people needed shelter, and the only ce that they could find was the tower with the open doors in the distance. Even though the ground was trembling, the tower waspletely still. It seemed even theva couldn''t affect the tower. The men didn''t waste a single second in thinking about it as they started running toward the tower. There were a lot of them who wanted to go back to their City to save their families first, but they neither had the time, nor the opportunity as a sea ofva had started taking shape, blocking the path that led to the city. They could either survive on their own or die in the process of trying to save their family. All of them chose survival over tossing away their lives. Osiris watched all this destruction around him. He considered this entirend his home, and his home was being destroyed right before his eyes. He couldn''t do anything about it but watch. "And here I thought there was no god." As Osiris was watching all this destruction instead of running, he heard Lira''sughter. "It seems god wants to make sure that you all die with me. Not bad." Osiris could hear the mocking tone behind Lia''s statement, but he didn''t have time to get angry over it. "If there is really a god, I don''t believe he would take the lives of his own creation in retaliation. This isn''t the doing of the gods. But this doesn''t seem to be your doing as well." Even though Osiris was quite upset, he didn''t me Lia for it. He was quite sensible in his reasoning. "Hah, who knows? Maybe it''s my handiwork. And don''t you run and hide in the tower like all your men as well? I''ll see how long that tower stands!" It wasn''t as if Osiris didn''t want to run. All his men were inside the tower already. Only he was left here for no reason. There was also a reason behind it. He could run, but there was some hesitation in his heart. He couldn''te to terms with running while leaving Lia to die here. Even though he had given themand to Lia''s death, his heart had been against it. He had always been against it. Unfortunately, now the question waspletely different. The World was being destroyed. That meant his Kingdom was also destroyed. Without a Kingdom, how could he be a King? And if he wasn''t a King, he didn''t have to think like one. Without the morality of the King, he was just an ordinary man... Amon man who was supposed to be Lia''s childhood friend, who couldn''t let her die in the apocalypse. Ultimately, he decided on something that even he was uncertain about. Clenching his fist, he ran closer to Lia. He drew out his Sword and shed. Lia saw his Swording toward her. She thought he was going to kill her with his own hands. A mocking smile spread across her lips as she epted her death. "What?" She opened her eyes, realizing that the attack didn''te to kill her. Instead, the sword sliced the rope that was keeping her trapped. Chapter 229 229: Changes Osiris'' sword didn''t intend to kill her. Instead, the sword only intended to destroy the bindings that were keeping her trapped. Without the Moral Shackles of being the King, Osiris couldn''te to let him leave Yulia behind to die in this ce. "Get inside the Tower!" Hemanded her. Lia was momentarily stunned to see Osiris free her. She couldn''t believe her own eyes even though she was seeing it take ce right before her. Seeing her in a daze, Osiris held her hand and started bringing her back to the tower as the apocalypse became even worse for her. " This can''t be real," Yulia''s spirit watched what was happening right before her eyes, unable to believe it. This went against all her assumptions. "This is as real as it can get," the old man answered. "This is how the real events took ce. Surprised?" The old man had expected a simr reaction from Yulia, so he wasn''t much surprised. The reality was often more surprising than legends and myths. Osiris brought Yulia inside the Tower. After the two of them entered the tower, the doors of the Tower of Sin closed, barely a few moments before the entire world exploded, turning into a ball of fire. The old man cast a barrier around him to protect him from all the mes and the destructive energy. Yulia and Raphael were quite secure from all the destructive energies as they were in their spiritual forms. It was also their first time watching a world being destroyed, and it was a scene that was impossible to forget. Even through the destruction of the world, the Tower of Sin was still intact, floating in space. The tower started disappearing in the cloud of fire but not before the old man took action. The old man pped his hands once, opening another portal before him. Hemanded the two to enter the portal. This time, it was after Raphael and Yulia entered the portal that he decided to enter as well. On one side of the Portal, there was only destruction, while on the other end, there was a massive hall, which was filled with people. In the hall, there were the citizens of Osiris, who had taken shelter inside the ce. As Yulia, Raphael, and the old man stepped inside the portal; they were greeted with a different scene. In the new one, they could see citizens questioning Osiris why he saved the Witch who deserved to die. Osiris was about to answer, but before he could speak anything, he went into a daze as he looked at the empty space before him. No one else could see what he was seeing, and that was because it was a system screen that opened before him, granting him a system. He wasn''t the only person receiving that either. Yulia also received a system of her own, confused as to what this was. As time passed, more and more people started gaining Systems. It was only after people here received their systems that they heard an announcement that informed them about the tower and their goals in the tower. Two boards also appeared in the distance with the names of the Kings and the names of the Lords. While Osiris'' name was at the top of the names of the Kings, Yulia''s name was second. The old man observed the expressions of Yulia''s spirit, wondering if there was something that was helping her regain her memory. Unfortunately, there didn''t seem to be anything like that. "Let''s move on." The old man pped his hand again, opening another portal. The three of them entered the portal, appearing in another ce where Yulia was fighting her first challenge, using the system. The scenes kept changing, and Yulia kept progressing through the tower. Unfortunately, Yulia''s spirit didn''t remember anything even now. It was like she was watching a new movie that she couldn''t recognize. "At this rate, before regaining her memories, she would''ve seen her entire past. At that point, it won''t matter if she remembered or not as she''ll know her entire past," Raphaelmented. It was faster if Yulia could remember everything, as that was better than showing her entire past to her, which was more time-consuming. **** As his Familiars were trying to understand their past, Azekiel was trying to understand the present. One side knew their present but not their past, while the other side knew their past but not the present. Azekiel remained with Yulia, trying to understand what else she knew about Raphael. It should''ve been impossible that Raphael was at the top of the rankings, but he could also feel that Yulia was lying. That only meant something had changed inside the tower... Something which he had absolutely no idea about. Were some crucial bits about the working of the Tower changed in his absence? Something was definitely out of ce. He was somewhat d that he decided to investigate the middle realms instead of taking actions blindly. He asked Yulia to tell him everything she knew about Raphael. Unfortunately, Yulia couldn''t answer anything as she herself had no idea. She hadn''t seen Raphael before, at least not on this floor. She didn''t know much about him. "Even though I haven''t personally seen him, I did hear his name being mentioned a few times before," Yulia responded. "In the bar, there were a few people who mentioned his name, including the group that you were keeping an eye on." "What did they say about him?" "Nothing significant. They just mentioned the name a few times, saying it was all thanks to Raphael that they were going to reach the Higher Realm or something. I am not sure, but it felt like they were working with Raphael." "They also expressed their disappointment that Raphael didn''t join them in their celebrations there. Apparently, he refused toe down for their celebrations." With Yulia''s exnation, Azekiel received some ideas but nothing that could help him understand what was happening in the bigger picture. "Any idea what he looks like?" he asked. "Raphael?" Yulia shook her head. "I don''t think there was any mention of how he looks. It would''ve been off if they had mentioned it though." "I do have my own imagination as to how that person might look, but that would only be a guess at this point," she further rified. "And what do you think he would look like?" Azekiel asked, quite curious just what kind of look Raphael was going to have in the girl''s imagination based on his reputation. Yulia didn''t know what Raphael was actually like, but she had created a persona in her head about the supposedly most powerful person here. "If I were to Guess, I would say that he is an old man who possesses immense power. He must have a white beard that shows his wiseness and his experience. To get so strong, he must''ve home through some heavy Battles, so he should have some scars on his body, possibly on his face?" "Moreover, since he is so strong, his physique must show that immense strength as well. So he must be seven foot tall with a bulky body." As Azekiel heard all the assumptions that Yulia had, he couldn''t help but smile. If it was actually Raphay, then her assumptions were quite wrong. Raphael wasn''t bulky at all. Instead, he had a slender physique. He looked more like a schr than a brute warrior. Even though he was very strong, his physique didn''t show it. As for the scar on his face, the chances were quite unlikely since he was quite good at dodging the attacks. From what he could guess, all the assumptions of Yulia were as wrong as they could possibly be. It was evident that she knew nothing about Raphael. He couldn''t me her for that either. If Raphael actually didn''te down, there was no way people were going to know what he was like. However, the question in his head was still just as prominent. If Raphael was actually alive, how could his spirit be a Familiar? That actually didn''t make sense, even for someone as knowledgeable as him. "Here, eat up." Yulia ced a te on the table before Azekiel. She had already finished preparing the food for him. Azekiel came out of his thoughts and noticed the food, which looked quite good. He stepped closer to the table. He pulled a chair back and took a seat. "That was quite fast." "What fast? It''s been fifty minutes since we started talking." Yulia burst intoughter, hearing him calling her fast. "It seems in our conversation you didn''t realize how much time had passed." "Speaking of conversation, you still didn''t tell me anything about yourself. What brought you to this ce suddenly? And why are you so curious about the people at the top of the rankings?'' "Who won''t be curious about such powerful beings? I''m just fascinated by their strength. That aside, I had a few more things to ask." Once again, Azekiel changed the question without answering to get back on the topic. His answers were more important than anything Chapter 230 230: Too Ordinary Lia went from one ce to another, seeing her entire past about her progression and just the sheer amount of growth she had experienced inside the Tower. Seeing what she was capable of inside the tower, even she was taken aback to some extent. Due to herck of memories, she had no idea about her true strength. All the capabilities that she received from the system when she was alive and all the new skills she had learned... She only remembered a fraction of them. Most of these skills came as a surprise even to her. The more she saw, the more she realized just how iplete she was without these memories. Moreover, she had considered Osiris to be her enemy, but the reality was quite different. Even inside the tower, Osiris didn''t attack her even once, even though he was also a King of Sin and perfectly capable of doing that. Contrary to her expectations, Osiris only helped her even more. Since everyone from their world hated her, that included the other Kings as well. It was only Osiris who stood between her and the other King of Sins. It was Osiris who made them all promise that they weren''t going to kill each other. They didn''t know what exactly this once was, but they knew that they needed to work together if they wanted to find out more about this ce. If they fought amongst themselves, it could only weaken them further and make them vulnerable to the risks of the future. Thanks to Osiris, who was still respected by the others, an agreement was reached where everyone was going to climb individually, and no one was going to be an obstruction in each other''s path. From the group, Osiris was the fastest climber, way faster than even Lia. By the time Lia was only on the ninth floor, Osiris had already cleared the tenth floor to enter the true tower, where he hade to know that there were more kings in the tower, being from different worlds. It was at that time that he realized that the tower was even more godly than he had expected initially. He was also happy that they didn''t fight amongst each other. Lia continued climbing at her usual pace, gaining more and more experience along the way. Osiris had a different approach than Lia. While Osiris was only focused on clearing the quests to climb faster, Lia was more focused on getting stronger so she could protect herself. Unlike Osiris, who focused on quests, Lia focused more on experience. Even though she was taking longer than Osiris on each floor, she was gaining more experience points on each floorpared to him. Things progressed whole smoothly for each of them as they reached the Middle Realm of the Tower. That''s when things started bing moreplicated. In the middle realm of the Tower, only two people from Lia''s worlds managed to arrive. One of them was Osiris, while the other was Lia herself. Everyone else from their World had died on the journey, leaving only two. "Isn''t that... You?" Lia eximed, stunned as she saw Raphael on the 50th Floor as well. Even Raphael was slightly taken aback to see him there. At the moment, they were seeing Lia''s memories and not his. Despite that, they were able to see him. That meant Lia and Raphael were from a simr timeline, and they actually came across each other before. Lia was with Osiris at the moment as Osiris was asking her for a teamup since Challenges were going to get hard from this point on. At the same time, Raphael walked past them. Lia in the memories, couldn''t help but look at Raphael. She felt a really strange aura when Raphael walked past her. Based on that aura alone, she was sure about one thing. It was that Raphael was quite strong. Just the aura of Raphael was in a different league altogether. It was her first time seeing someone so strong. She was sure that this guy came here from the higher floors. Raphael''s presence made her assured that Osiris was right. From this point on, they didn''t just have to fight all the trials of the Floors. They also had to fight the other Kings who had more experience and more strength than them. Since anyone could go to any floor in the middle realm, it was harder for people on the lower floors who had just arrived there. There were already people who were at the peak who could kill them. It was only an uphill battle for them at this point. Osiris and Lia agreed to work together, at least until they reached the 80th floor and could fight for themselves. Lia was more focused on herself in the memories and her agreement with Osiris, wondering how she died if the two of them were working together from this point on. On the other hand, Raphael was focused on himself. It was his first time seeing his past self... Unfortunately, before he could see more, another portal opened before him. It was time for them to move into the next ce in Lia''s memories. "Don''t worry. You''ll see what happened to you as well," the old man patted Raphael''s shoulder before pushing him and Lia inside the portal. After the two of them were sent inside the portal, the old man still remained outside, gazing at Raphael''s past figure. He could only shake his head in disappointment before he also stepped inside the portal and disappeared. After the old man also disappeared, the portal closed. A new scene appeared before Lia and Raphael. This seemed like the final scene in Lia''s memories as Lia was lying on the ground, bleeding. There was a sword stabbed in her chest. She was trying to pull out the sword, but through her body, the Sword had entered the earth. Even Lia couldn''t pull the sword outside, no matter how much she struggled. "What?! Go back! Let me see who did it!" Lia eximed in disbelief. She was brought to the part where she died in her memories, but how did she die? She couldn''t even see it. They came a bitte in the time, and whoever did it, that person had already left. They didn''t see who did it or how the battle was that led to this. She wasn''t shown anything! "You can take us to any point in time! Why did you bring me after everything ended? Take me half an hour back!" Lia already knew that she had died in the tower, so it wasn''t surprising. What she really wanted to know was how she actually died? Just what led to her death? And where was Osiris when she was being attacked? Did their cooperation already end at this point in time? Or was it Osiris who attacked her? Even though Lia had some heavy suspicions on Osiris, there was no evidence. The sword that was stabbed into her chest didn''t belong to Osiris. It wasn''t his Weapon of Sin! If Osiris wanted to kill her, she was sure that he would''ve used his own Sword to attack her and not just a random unknown Sword. So the chances of it being him were very unlikely. But then who? Another King? "No. We can''t go back to your past anymore. This is thest moment that you can see. If you want to know who did it, then you need to remember the rest yourself," the old manmented, not giving in. He had already shown Lia more than enough. Despite that, she didn''t regain her memories. At this point, if she remembered the rest or not, it was all on him. After her initial struggle to free herself, Lia finally lost her life. Raphael flew closer to Lia''s lifeless body on the ground, slightly curious. He was a bit attracted by the sword for some reason, not knowing why. The sword that was used to kill Lia looked very ordinary... A bit too ordinary for someone at this stage to use, which was suspicious. Hended near the lifeless body of Lia and observed the sword. He observed the sword, mostly the mark on the Sword''s hilt, observing a carving on it. He could see a moon carved on the hilt of the sword. Somehow, it also looked like there was a crack in the moon. "Who could use a sword like this which is so weak that it can only be used by human soldiers?" he wondered. **** In another ce, a young man was sitting on the bed. There were a few weapons ced on the bed before the young man, one of them being a very ordinary looking Sword, which had a cracked moon carving on it. Right beside that Sword, there were two Gauntlets that were lying. Not too far from the Gauntlets, there were a few more weapons. Knock, The young man''s attention was attracted by the knocking on the door. Chapter 231 231: First The young man kept all the weapons back, including the ordinary-looking Sword, before getting up. He walked to the door and opened the door, looking outside. On the other side of the door, he was able to see a young woman. The woman had a sleepy look on her face and seemed to only be wearing a thinyer of clothing on her body, which highlighted all her curves. "Did you need something?" The young man asked, finding the woman there. After their conversation, he asked her if he could stay there for the night, and the woman allowed him without much questions. He had expected some peace and privacy for the night and not this disturbance. Azekiel was quite irritated but not angry. "I can''t sleep," Yulia informed Azekiel as she tightly hugged the pillow she had been holding in her hands. "I am afraid I don''t have any pills to help you sleep," Azekiel answered, shaking his head. "You do have a pill that can make my night better though," Yulia suggested, lowering her gaze. Azekiel could see where she was looking and also understood what she was there for. However, even he wasn''t interested at this point since he was more concerned about other things at the moment. He had more important matters to deal with. All he needed from her was information, and he had already received that information. Yulia didn''t listen to him and entered the room. "I can''t sleep alone for some reason. Can I sleep in your room tonight?" Even though it was her own room, she still addressed it as Azekiel''s room. "It''s alright. I can stay in a different room," Azekiel expressed. "Hey? Didn''t you hear what I said?" Yulia smiled wryly. "I can''t sleep alone here. If you go to another room when Ie here, won''t I be alone here?" She closed the door, so Azekiel couldn''t leave before walking to the bed ahead. "You can also stay here. Don''t worry. I won''t bite." When Azekiel asked her if he could stay here, she had already considered the possibility that he asked to stay here because he wanted to sleep with her. She had been waiting for him to knock on her room for quite some time. When he didn''te, she came herself, thinking that he was most probably shy about this. Even seeing Azekiel''s ignorance about not staying in the room with her, she gave the credit to hisst-moment shyness. If he couldn''t take the first step because of that, she decided to do it herself. Azekiel gazed back, observing Yulia, who was lying on her bed. Her soft thighs were exposed as she only wore something like a top without any shorts. Usually, that blue top came up to her knees, hiding her soft thighs, but as shey in the bed, the power part of the top had managed to slide up, revealing her beautiful things. It was also clear through the thin dress that she wasn''t wearing any bra inside her dress. It seemed like she was trying to seduce him. There definitely wasn''t much of an ulterior motive behind it, but Azekiel still found it quite amusing that she was trying it. He walked back to the bed as well. If that''s what she wanted, he didn''t mind relieving some stress as well. **** The old mannded behind Raphael, who was still observing the seemingly ordinary Sword. "Whose Sword can it be? Who would be strong enough to kill Lia and still use such a weak sword?" Raphael wondered. The old man didn''t answer. He just nced at the sky. "Only Lia can answer this by remembering her memories. I did what I could to help her remember. Now the rest is on her shoulders." The old man didn''t express anything. If one was to observe his face, they even guess if he knew about the sword or not. He was just like a person who saw everything and, at the same time, saw nothing. "We should go. We also have to see your past so you can also have some old memories to help you remember. Let''s see who amongst you two can remember first." Another portal opened before the old man. He waited for Raphael and Lia to enter the portal, but none of them seemed to be moving. Lia was still trying to look around to see if she could find any clues. Instead of trying to remember what might have happened, she was truly to be more like a detective who wanted to find some clues. The old man could finally understand why she wasn''t remembering anything at all. She didn''t even think she needed to remember since he was already showing her everything important that she had missed. When all the answers were ced before a person, they rarely tried to find answers on their own. It was the same case with Lia. Since she was spoon-fed so much, he had essentially forgotten how to eat herself. That''s also one of the reasons the old man didn''t show her who killed her. He wanted her to work for it. He wanted her to remember it herself! And if she couldn''t even do that, then she wasn''t worth all the effort he was putting into her. "You won''t find any clues. Also, if you don''t enter the portal, it''ll close, and it won''t open again. If you want to waste time here, then be my guest. It''s not me who needs to see your past, but you." The old man folded his arms and just stood calmly, seeing none of them paying any attention to what he was saying. His words of threat worked as well. If the portal of one particr timeline could only be opened once, they couldn''t let it close. As much as Raphael wanted to know who this sword belonged to, he needed to focus more on himself. He took onest nce at the sword and the surroundings before entering the portal. Lia also failed to find any other clues in this ce. There weren''t any signs of battle. It was as if there weren''t a big battle here before she was killed. At most, only a few fallen trees existed in the surroundings. Lia also entered the portal, right behind Raphael, still trying to remember just what had happened to her. **** Some people were looking for their past. Meanwhile, some people were enjoying the present. One of those people was Azekiel. Even though he was considered a King of Gluttony, that wasn''t the only sin he hadmitted in his life. Before returning to this world as Azekiel, he lived the life of a true King... A King who only worked towards one goal and did anything he could to achieve that goal. He had an insatiable hunger for the results. He wanted to seed at any cost. He also had extreme Wrath, which the world had seen more often than not. As for Sloth, the ones who knew Azekiel knew that he was often like that; when he was exhausted or had nothing to do, he could sleep for over a week straight, without doing anything. He also had Envy... Envy toward all the people who didn''t face what he did. He was envious of the people who had a happy and loving family and didn''t face any apocalypse. That life was what he often craved, even in his dreams. Unfortunately, he also knew that this kind of life didn''t belong to him. As for Greed, he had greed as well, but not the greed of Treasure. He had greed to protect what belonged to him at any cost. When it came to things that belonged to him, he was so greedy that he could kill millions to protect just one thing! If he wanted something, he also took it without much concern for the other He was the strongest in the Tower, so he certainly had some Pride as well. He used to believe that he couldn''t be killed... At least by the people in this tower. However, that pride also contributed to his death. Atst, there was Lust. Azekiel didn''t have lust in the conventional sense. He didn''t go around looking for girls daily to satiate his lust, but at the end of the day, he was also a man whose heart had been subtly corrupted. Azekiel lied in the bed, right beside Yulia, cing a soft pillow under his head. "Have you ever been in love?" he asked the young woman beside him. "You mean before today?" The woman innocently asked. "No." "So this is your first time sharing a bed with a guy?" Azekiel inquired. This was definitely intriguing that the girl didn''t have a boyfriend even once in her life, and she was in bed with the guy she had just met? "Why? You want to see if I''m pure or not?" Yulia smirked as she slid her hands to Azekiel''s thighs. Chapter 232 232: Single Handedly **** A new world for Lia, but it was the home for Raphael. It was as if nothing had changed at all. The ce was just like he remembered. All houses looked the same. Even the people looked like they hadn''t aged one bit since thest time Raphael saw them. Raphael, Lia, and the old man were standing in the middle of the city, which Raphael had considered his home all his life. The City seemed more noisy than usual as many people could be seen in groups, discussing about Raphael. It seemed that today was the day when Raphael was caught and brought for his punishment in the Pce. Most of the people here had some good impression of Raphael and seemed worried that he might be punished too severely. There were only a few who seemed to say that Raphael needed the harshest punishment for ignoring the Royal Commands. Raphael heard all these discussions about him, feeling somewhat warm. When he was capturedst time and taken for punishment, he didn''t know that people outside were siding with him in such big numbers. The people that he protected and made bonds with all his life... It was good to see that the bond wasn''t broken over such a small thing. Unfortunately for him, the people here couldn''t influence his verdict. It all depended on the Godly King. The old man brought Raphael and Lia inside the castle, where they could see something simr to what Raphael already saw before in one of his memories. The godking didn''t sentence Raphael to death. Instead, he gave a decree that Raphael was to be banished forever. He was never allowed to step foot here ever again. Just like the people outside cared for Raphael, even the King did. Unfortunately, he had a responsibility to punish such unruly behavior. He needed to set an example, and he couldn''t do that by freeing Raphael without any consequences, as that could motivate others to attempt the same. Raphael was taken back after his verdict to be kicked out of the Empire. However, it was also around the same time that the entire world started trembling like never before. "Same problem as my world?" Lia asked the old man, seeing a simr earthquake. The only difference was that this earthquake seemed slightly weaker than what her world faced. "Not quite," the old manmented as he stepped back. He turned around and left the castle, right behind the King and the other protectors of the Empire, who wondered if they were under attack. There had never been an attack simr to what there was now. The old man stepped out of the castle, noticing a red hue in the surroundings. It was as if the entire world had turned red. The trembling of the world only intensified, but it wasn''t from natural causes. It was evident that someone was causing it! And that someone could also be seen in the sky. In the sky, everyone could see a figure. The figure was hidden inside a dark cloak which made it impossible for the person''s face to be seen. Let alone his face; the long cloak made it harder to even see his figure properly. It was impossible to even know if that person was a man or a woman. Seven spheres of energy were circling around the man as if he was their sun and they were his worlds. Every minute, one of those spheres flew toward the Earth, creating a loud Explosion. Surprisingly, even though these explosions were taking ce, which was killing millions of people every minute, there was no explosive noise. It was like the world became silent wherever these Spheres of energy fell. Moreover, after each sphere was used, another one took its ce. At all times, there were seven Spheres circling around that person. "Who... is he...?" Raphael couldn''t see the person, but he felt as if he knew that person for some reason. The God King had just stepped out of the castle, but before he could even react, another dark Sphere flew to him. The God King and a few others cast a barrier to protect the city, but the attack passed through the barrier as if the barrier was nothing! Even the King was taken aback to see just how easily the barrier was broken. The God King could only avoid the attack at thest moment since the attack had already passed through the barrier. He didn''t know who the enemy was, but it was almost impossible to stop his attack at this moment. The God King and the others flew up in the sky, avoiding the Sphere of Darkness that hit the castle, covering the city in pure darkness. The God King and the others who had managed to survive saw the city surrounded by darkness from the sky. Lia, Raphael, and the old man also flew back, watching everything like spectators from a distance. Raphael could only hear the screams and cried for helping from inside the darkness, belonging to the citizens. One of the Warriors flew inside the darkness to help people, but he never came out. Only his painful screams returned. The darkness didn''tst for more than a second and dispersed, revealing a barren ce that used to be a beautiful city before. The castle, the people, all the houses, there was nothing to be seen there anymore but a huge crater. The Godking couldn''t believe that his home was destroyed that easily by just one attack. He was enraged! He wanted to rip the person who attacked them to shreds. "The Gauntlets!" Lia eximed, noticing two Gauntlets appear around the hands of the Godking. The Gauntlets were simr to the Gauntlets that Azekiel used as his Weapon of Sin with no difference. "I''ll make sure even your soul won''t have a moment of peace!" The Godking roared as he flew toward the dark figure in the sky. The other Warriors also wanted to join, but they decided against it and stayed behind since they didn''t want to interfere in their King''s battle. They had faith in their King. The dark figure turned toward the Godking. He didn''t move. As for the dark spheres of energy, they kept flying in random directions, destroying the world more and more. Even with the God Kinging to him to attack, the man seemed more invested in taking lives and destroying the worldpared to intercepting the King. It was as if the King wasn''t even an ant before him to phase him. "Hah, that idiot. He is just looking for death. After he is killed by His Majesty, even his soul will crave for freedom! He just doesn''t realize it yet!" The Warriors in the back eximed. Even Raphael was a part of their group. He had been banished, but before he could be kicked out, this happened. The otherspletely forgot about what he did. They needed all the help they could when their World was under attack, even though it was just a single person. "Huh?" The Warriors who were smug about their King soon killing the enemy had their face go pale as they saw the oue right before their eyes! Their King couldn''t even touch the attacker. Let alone touching him, he couldn''t even reach that person. Just as the King reached within ten meters range of the dark figure, raising his ws to attack, a thin line of blood appeared all around his neck... The line kept getting wider as his blood started leaking out. His head tilted to the side, falling off his body into the crater in the ground. The King''s body also started falling, but before it could alsond in the crater, the dark figure raised his left hand. The body of the King stopped mid-air and started rising once again. The body flew closer to the dark figure. "Noo!" Raphael roasted, watching his King be killed. Without thinking, he attacked the dark figure as well while the other Warriors were still under a daze. Unfortunately, they also couldn''t harm the man who barely Snapped his fingers, sending all the Warriors flying back, bleeding. They weren''t killed, but they didn''t look like they were left capable enough to fight either. Most of the warriors died from the wounds themselves, while a rare few only lost consciousness from weakness and fell to the ground. Within minutes, the entire army was sent back as the dark figure continued its work of destroying the surroundings. Raphael and Lia''s spirit form could only be stunned at the strength that this person possessed. He had single-handedly destroyed an entire army and the world! He wasn''t even touched from start to finish. Just who was this person? That was the biggest question they had. Raphael flew closer to the dark figure. Since he was in the Spirit Form and not a part of this Timeline, he was sure he could get close and see the face of the person! Chapter 233 233: Who? Raphael tried to get closer to the dark figure to get a glimpse of him. Just like Lia was curious to see the person who had killed her, Raphael was intrigued as to who it was that killed his people and hurt him. Unfortunately for him, before he could get closer to the person, the person floated back, entering the portal that appeared behind him. He disappeared inside the portal, taking the two Gauntlets with him. The rest of the body of the King also fell on the ground as the Portal closed. The Portal closed and startedpressing in itself, getting more and more unstable as if it was a bomb that could explode at any time. It was around the same time that a Tower started appearing inside the crater where the city used to be. "I think we should leave... Before it explodes." The old man pped his hands. Raphael and Lia disappeared along with the old man, appearing at a different time. Just like Lia was shown her journey inside the Tower, Raphael was also shown his journey. What he was more interested in was the identity of that cloaked person who destroyed his world and his home. He kept asking the old man if he knew who that person was. Unfortunately for him, the old man just refused to answer. **** It was the middle of the night. Yulia was lying on the bed without any clothes. Her body was only covered by a thinyer of bedsheet. She seemed asleep, but her breathing was still faster, as if before falling asleep, she had done some exercise. There was no other person on the bed with her at the moment. Instead, Azekiel was standing on the balcony. He gazed at the city, which was still brightly lit, even though it was the middle of the night. He stood bare-chested, only having pants on. Since Azekiel wasn''t wearing any clothes, his bare back could be seen, which showed some scars. The scars seemed to be there for a long time, and they still haven''t healed entirely. "Times change, but people don''t," Azekiel said, talking to himself. He looked at the dark sky. Even though he was inside the tower, the sky here was no different than the sky on Earth. He couldn''t help but remember his life back on earth, including his childhood with the woman he considered his mother. "You didn''t give birth to me, but you were more real to me than my real mother..." As he was immersed in talking to thin air, he felt a cold water droplet falling above his head. More and more water droplets started falling as a light shower started. Even though it was a left rain shower, Azekiel''s hands still started trembling on their own. He lowered his head and looked at the trembling hands. His eyes showed quite an amusement. He didn''t know most of the things about his childhood before, especially the event where the bones of his hand were broken, but he remembered everything along with the return of his old memories. Not only did he remember his old life after Awakening his memories, but he also remembered the instances that he had forgotten from his current life, including all his moments with the woman on earth that he used to call mother. He knew that there was no healing skill in this world that could heal his hands which only trembled under the rain. It wasn''t that his body was hurt but something more. Even now, he couldn''t control his shaking hands. He reached out his shaking hands, letting water droplets fall on his hand. "This world or that... In essence, all are the same. It doesn''t matter which world it is. There are always people who deserve death... Unfortunately, those people are often thest to die." He remembered how weak he was on earth without his memories. He couldn''t even awaken his old Strength without his memories. If he could, then he could''ve changed a few things about how he lived his life. When he needed strength, he didn''t have it. Still, with his memories, he did understand one question that had been guing his head all this time. He finally knew why Lucifer wanted him dead... Before regaining his memories, he didn''t remember ever meeting Lucifer before, but now he had a general idea as to how he knew Lucifer. Just as he expected before, inside the tower wasn''t their first time meeting. "What are you doing here, love?" A cold hand wrapped around Azekiel''s chest as someone hugged him from behind. He could feel soft breasts sticking close to his back. "You aren''t asleep?" Azekiel asked, lowering his trembling hands. "Couldn''t sleep in your absence." The woman said like a young child who didn''t want to be away from her favorite treat. Azekiel walked inside the room with Yulia. He had been thinking about leaving and getting to work now that he had all the information that he needed. Unfortunately, right around that time, it started gaining. He hated the rain and preferred to stay inside than going out. Azekiel went back to the back with Yulia. ***** It was early morning when Azekiel woke up to the smell of the food. He opened his eyes, noticing Yulia wasn''t on the bed. He got off the bed, noticing it was still raining outside. It had rained throughout the night, and it was still continuing. He wore his clothes again before following the smell of the food. He was really feeling hungry. As soon as he entered the kitchen, he noticed that the food had already been prepared. "Ah, you''re up. I was about toe to wake you up. Eat up." Yulia looked happy at the sight of Azekiel. Afterst night, she was even closer to Azekiel. Even she didn''t realize how much she had started caring for the young man. It was like she was his wife. Azekiel took a seat and started eating. "You are going somewhere?" he asked, noticing Yulia was wearing a raincoat as if she had to leave. Chapter 234 234: Someone Elses Death " I need to get to work early since I called in sickst evening. I should be back soon. I''m leaving a spare key on the table. If you need to go out, use the key. But don''t forget to be back by evening. I''ll be really upset if you aren''t!" Yulia walked closer to Azekiel and kissed him on the lips before leaving. Azekiel nced at the key on the table. He could see how attached the girl was getting to him. Ignoring the key, he continued eating. After he finished eating, he picked up the key and started leaving. Even though he wasn''t nning to return, it was still good to have a ce where he coulde and rest in case he needed to. Keeping the key in his pocket, he stepped out of the house, only to get back again, noticing it was still raining. In fact, the rain only intensified now. "Will this rain ever stop or not?" he eximed, rolling his eyes. He snapped his fingers, opening a ck portal before him that connected him to his storage. He ced his hand in the portal and brought a cloak out of the portal, which could protect him from a good rain. He wore a ck cloak and covered his head with the hood. The cloak seemed a bit oversized, having longer sleeves than the length of his arms. Still, at least the cloak was able to protect him from the water well, along with giving him some protection from prying eyes. Surprisingly, his dark cloak looked awfully simr to the cloak of the person that Raphael was trying to see. The cloaks were almost identical in size, and none of the two had any marks. Both the cloaks made it impossible for the person inside to be seen. However, that wasn''t rare either since the cloaks didn''t have any mark. There were possibly thousands of such cloaks in existence. Azekiel stepped out of the house after donning the cloak. He didn''t forget to close the door on his way out. **** "I told youst time; I don''t know who that person was!" The old man eximed, getting tired after receiving the same question from Raphael about the identity of the cloaked man a thousandth time. "And even if I knew, I wouldn''t be telling you. It''s your responsibility to find out who that was!" He couldn''t believe that Raphael was more interested in the identity of that person more than recovering his memories. Moreover, even if he was interested, it was getting irritating to get the same question when he told Raphael again and again that he didn''t know. Raphael eventually stopped asking the old man this question, seeing him so upset. He was sure that the old man knew the answer to the question. If he hadn''t known who that person was, he would''ve tried to find out about the identity of the person as well! The abjectck of interest of the old man in trying to find the identity of the person who could destroy an entire world was unsettling. It was clear he knew who that person was. But why wasn''t he telling in that case? Raphael focused on reliving his life, but his mind was still overwhelmed by that one question. Who was it that destroyed his world? Who was that person? And why didn''t he kill everyone else instead of just hurting them? Lia also had a simr question about the identity of the person who killed her. Who was it? And why was it? She kept trying to remember but even now, it was impossible! "This!" Lia suddenly eximed, noticing something. They were still going through Raphael''s past. Moreover, they were also in the final stages of these memories. They were on the 80th floor, and Lia noticed something shocking. She could see herself in these memories! She had entered the forest where she was supposed to have died. She looked at the sky, noticing the time was also simr. From the position of the sun, she was sure that she was going to die in the next one hour or more. She had an opportunity to see who killed her! This was perfect! She flew after her inside the forest, only to stop mid-way as she noticed another person entering the forest not long after her. They were in Raphael''s timeline, and they could see the real Raphael entering the forest not long after Lia. Lia looked back at Raphael''s Spiritual Form, feeling a bit suspicious. What was Raphael doing entering the same ce where she had died around the same time? "I promise if you''re the one who killed me...!" Lia flew inside the forest, following after her real self instead of following after Raphael. Raphael''s Spiritual Followed after Lia, being distracted by her usations. Was she really right? Did he actually kill her? The old man couldn''t help but shake his head. "People often make the mistake. In search of gold, they lose silver. And after all that, they don''t even find gold..." Eventually, he also followed after them, even after knowing what a big mistake they were making. "They''ve had so many opportunities, but after all that, they still make the same mistakes." Raphael and Lia followed after Lia of the past instead of following after Raphael of the past. If they had followed thetter, they could''ve seen that Raphael didn''t even take the same direction as Lia inside the forest. Raphael and Lia kept an eye on Lia for close to an hour as Lia went to a nt inside the forest. She picked green berries before leaving the forest. She didn''t do anything else inside the forest. "Why didn''t I die?" Lia asked the old man, confused. She sessfully entered the forest and left alive. "Could it be that it wasn''t the day?" The old man smiled in response. "Now you''re on the right line of thinking. Today isn''t the day when you died... Just because the time of you entering the forest was the same didn''t mean the day was also. In fact, you used to enter this forest often to get some fresh berries." "Today was instead the day of someone else''s death," he added, taking a nce at Raphael. Chapter 235 235: Change Raphael''s face turned pale as he realized the implications behind these worlds. They were so distracted by finding Lia''s killers that they entirely forgot that this was Raphael''s past and that every moment that he was shown was important in his life. That meant death... "Where did I go?'' Raphael looked around, only finding trees everywhere. Since he had been following Lia from the start, they didn''t keep an eye on his past self. They had entirely lost him and now finding him looked like a task that was harder than climbing a mountain. He flew straight up to get a better view of the forest, still not sure if he could even see a glimpse of him. Even from the sky, it was impossible to find his past self as he could only see the leaves of trees covering the entirend. Boom~ "There!" Even though he couldn''t see his past self, he still heard an Explosion and smoke rising from the distance. He flew straight to the area, expecting to find himself. If he was to die here today, that door only meant that battle was his! The old man also flew after Raphael, along with Lia. Both of them reached the ce where the smoke was rising from. Theynded on the ground, noticing that it was covered entirely in smoke. Raphael''s past self was missing, but there was blood everywhere! It was clearly the blood of Raphael since his Bloodline made his blood somewhat unique and easy to distinguish, like the blood of the gods. Unfortunately, only his blood and some craters were there. His body couldn''t be seen anywhere in the smoke. Raphael looked around, trying to find his body or even any clue about him, but he couldn''t find anything. It was as if he wasn''t just killed, but he was thoroughly destroyed to his core. "Look there!" Lia eximed, noticing a figure in the distance. It wasn''t easy to see through the smoke, but they could still see some semnce of a human figure in the distance. The person wasn''t as tall as Raphael. Moreover, he had much darker hair, which wasn''t as long as Raphael''s hair. The man seemed not to be wearing any shirt. It was unclear if his shirt was destroyed in the battle or if he wasn''t wearing anything in the first ce. Not a single wound or scar could be seen in the body of the person that was fresh. Still, there were definitely some scars on the person''s back that seemed to be very old scars. Raphael flew to the person to see that person''s face. However, before he could reach the man, the man disappeared into the smoke. Raphael kept searching, but he didn''t see that person again. It was the second time that he had lost the person he really wanted to know the identity of! The only time he knew about that person was that scar on his back! Even through the smoke, he kept searching the ce thoroughly to find his body. How could it be destroyed so easily? Even if he was killed, he needed to know how and by whom! Until recently, he used to think that he was killed in the tower by another King from his own World, but it was now evident that whoever killed him... That person wasn''t a King from his own world! "I think that''s enough. This is the extent of your memories." Raphael still hadn''t stopped his search when the old man snapped his fingers. Their surroundings changed, and they all found themselves back in the temple where they had trained their souls. "Wait! I had to find him!" Raphael eximed. "Let me go back!" Raphael didn''t want to leave without finding that person! He was so close to seeing that person! "If you want to see that person, it''s your responsibility to recognize that person by regaining your memories. I did my part. Now it all depends on his own conviction. Regain your memories, and you won''t have to look for that person. It''s all on you." The old man didn''t look like he was going to listen to them and send them back to the past again. "Also, it''s not my fault you didn''t see him. At least not in this case... I didn''t tell you to chase after another person instead of keeping an eye on yourself. If you hadn''t done that, who knows, maybe you would''ve had your answers already!" "You could''ve told us what was going to happen!" Lia eximed. "If you had told us, we wouldn''t be chasing after the wrong person, right?" "My responsibility was to take you to your past and to let you see for yourself. I fulfilled my responsibility." The old man smiled. "Now, do some work yourself and remember your past. I promise you; it''ll really be worth it if you can remember." After giving them minor instructions, the old man disappeared, leaving the two Familiars in the silence of the temple. Now it was their responsibility to remember their past, and they couldn''t me anyone else. Raphael sat down right away. Instead of worrying about the spilled milk, he decided to make the best use of the situation. He was already shown many times. If he could use them to remember his entire past, then he really wouldn''t need to rely on the old man. He wanted to use this feeling of anger, pain, and curiosity to remember his past. Lia watched Raphael enter meditation instead ofining. She was also positively influenced by him and realized that there was no benefit toining. She also sat down and started trying to remember just who this person was. **** Donning his dark cloak, Azekiel walked in the rain. He was more or less protected from the rain thanks to the cloak, but even then, his hands were still shaking a little. This Floor had a weather simr to earth and had many seasons, but even then, the rain didn''t usuallyst this long. This was certainly a rare urrence, but at this point, Azekiel also understood what this implied. "The rain isn''t going to stop anytime soon... This means Yulia wasn''t lying. They are really close to clearing the 80th floor. The closer they get, the more this rain increases. "But I still can''t understand Raphael. Why is his name on the Ranking and on top at that when he was supposed to be dead? How is he still alive?" He wanted to see the ranking with his own eyes, but he couldn''t see that unless he increased his level a lot more. Without that, even if he went to the Floor, which shows the ranking, he still couldn''t see it. Unfortunately, that meant he was stuck between a rock and a hard ce. Increasing the level meant appearing on the Tower Ranking, and that meant attracting unnecessary attention, which wasn''t good at this point in time for him. "Do I really have no choice?" he muttered, shaking his head in disappointment. "If that''s the case, I might as well do it properly!" Since he had no choice but to climb the ranking, he decided to do it. He was already slightly impatient at the thought of clearing the floors slowly. Eventually, he was looking for a reason to drop the idea of being careful, and the thing about Raphael gave him a reason. He needed to see Raphael himself! If Raphael was alive, that meant he was on the 80th floor at the moment! Azekiel wanted to see it with his own eyes. Since there were no restrictions on which floor he could be at, that meant he could easily get there. Moreover, if he killed people on the 80tn floor, that was definitely good for his leveling up. It was hard but also the fastest way to level up so he could actually see the tower. As for the unnecessary attention that it was going to get him, he decided to leave that forter to be dealt with. After finalizing his n, he straight went to the portal of the Top Floor, remembering theyout of this floor by heart. Unfortunately, even though theyout of the ces remained the same, the people of this world, the time, and the rules had slightly changed, which he didn''t know about. As he reached the portal of the 80th floor, he noticed that some people were guarding it. Moreover, the people who were guarding that ce weren''t weak either. Usually, there was no need to guard these portals as they could neither be destroyed nor be stolen, so it didn''t make sense to ce guards here unless it was to stop people from entering. But why would they stop anyone when it was in the rules of the tower that anyone could ess any floor? Azekiel walked closer to the guards. However, just as he had taken a few steps closer to them, the guards drew out their weapons, noticing him. Chapter 236 236: Try If You Can Azekiel walked closer to the guards to see just what they were trying to do by blocking the path, only to find them drawing out their weapons on him. Seeing the weapons being drawn out, Azekiel slowed down. "Where do you think you are going?" One of the guards asked. Azekiel didn''t know how to answer the question since it was so stupid. Where would he be going? The portal only had one destination... The highest floor that could be essed at this point. On other Floors, there were other portals. "I want to get to higher floors," Azekiel answered, pointing his fingers up. "Is there a problem?" "Don''t you know?" The guard frowned. "You aren''t allowed to go there anymore. We have orders that no one is allowed to go there anymore!" "Orders from whom?" Azekiel was slightly surprised. Why would anyone try to stop people from getting there? Was it because the 80th floor was about to be cleared? Were they worried that someone else might get to a higher world without doing much work if they were also there? Then again, that wasn''t possible. Even if a person was there when the floor was cleared, that person still couldn''t go to the higher floor unless he had cleared all lower floors, so it was stupid to stop them. He could see no reason for people being stopped here. "You are no one to question us. Step back and leave! Come back a monthter!" The Guard scoffed. They had been guarding this ce for a long time and knew all high ranking kings who had reached higher Floors. They knew that Azekiel wasn''t one of those Kings. It was clear that he was most probably someone who had just arrived on the 45th floor. And if he just arrived there, that meant he was the Weakest King here at the moment. They didn''t need to worry about anything. They could easily hold him back. "One month? I''m afraid I don''t have that much time. If I had that much patience, I wouldn''t be here in the first ce, will I?" Azekiel asked in response. Everyone was allowed to use the portal, and he wasn''t going to let some people dictate the rules for him in his own Tower! "Young man, I know you''re a King and might have some arrogance buried in your blood, but we are also Kings. If anything, we are only stronger than you. So if you don''t want to die, then you better leave this instance. We''ve seen many people like you who don''t realize that there are mountains beyond mountains. Learn your mistakes and turn back before it''s toote!" The guards still didn''t allow Azekiel to pass through. Moreover, Azekiel could also see that the person who was leading the Guards was a King and a high-level one at that. It was an old man who had white hair so long that they wereing down to his knees. The man was also holding a katana in his hands, keeping his eye on Azekiel as if he was going to cut his head off if Azekiel even moved closer to them. The Katana wasn''t even an ordinary weapon but a weapon of sin. Azekiel knew what would happen if he even moved. He would have to fight these people. He could certainly gain some advantages by killing this King, even though it wasn''t easy. Unfortunately, that also meant he was going to climb quite a lot in the ranking tower. "What''s your ranking in the tower?" he asked the man. The man could only smile. "For a newbie, you certainly know a lot. Then listen carefully. I am ranked sixty in the tower!" The old man seemed quite proud when talking about his ranking, and it was also very deserved pride since that ranking was nothing tough at. It was quite high. "Despite that ranking, you''re still reduced to a mere guard?" Azekiel asked, shaking his head in amusement. It could be understandable if a useless King were ced here to guard this ce since this ce wasn''t of much importance, ording to him. However, they managed to convince someone like this old man? "Shut up!" The old man raged as Azekiel called him mere guard. He wasn''t just a guard here! "Scram this instant before I''m forced to move you myself!" "If you think you can, I would definitely wee your attempt, but I doubt if it''s going to be like you expect." Scared was thest thing Azekiel was going to be at this point in time. Now that he had made up his mind, changing it was impossible for him. "If I kill a ranked sixty, I should enter the top hundred directly. What a headache... I guess I''ll just have to deal with the aftermath." The old man''s face twitched as he heard Azekiel''s words. It was as if Azekiel was already sure that he could kill him. Not only did he think he could kill him, but also he was worried about his ranking! This young man! The old man was really infuriated. "Kill him! Teach him a lesson! Cut his tongue so he can never run his mouth again!" As the guards heard themand of the old man, they all rushed ahead to kill Azekiel. The old man was angry at Azekiel, but still, he didn''t feel that Azekiel was worthy to die at his hands. Just how Lords were enough to kill the young man, ording to him. All the Lords that were guarding the portal started running toward Azekiel, firmly holding their weapons. It was still raining heavily; thus, with each firm step of the guards, the water was sshing everywhere. "I would''ve preferred to fight if there was no rain..." Azekiel muttered, noticing his shaking hands. "I''ll just have to be fast now that ites from this..." He called out his Gauntlets of Gluttony as well, intending to finish this battle fast, not stretching it longer. He preferred to enjoy each of his battles for quite some time before dealing the finishing blow, but in this case, it was different. Because of the rain, he didn''t want to waste even a single second as there was no enjoyment for him in fighting in the rain. His figure disappeared as soon as he called out the Gauntlets. All the Lords looked around, stunned. They couldn''t see Azekiel anywhere. It was as if Azekiel had disappeared and turned into a ghost. The old Man was also surprised, but he soon noticed where Azekiel was! "Above you!" He eximed, noticing Azekiel floating in the sky above all the Lords. His warning came for his guards, but it was toote by the time this warning came. Thousands of needles shot out from Azekiel''s Gauntlets. Instead of helping the Lords, the old man only made their deaths more painful since they all looked up at the same time as the attack came. All the energy needles prated the faces of the Lords, passing through, and leaving a small hole in their faces. Their faces bled as their bodies plopped to the ground. All the guards who were protecting this ce had been killed, and Azekiel had received all the experience that he could. The old man was stunned to see with what ease Azekiel killed all his men. His eyes widened in shock. This man was good... He could even fly even though he was new... Generally, Kings learned to fly when they reached a higher level and leveled up more, so it was quite surprising even for him. The old man was surprised, but he wasn''t scared. "You might be stronger than I expected, but not strong enough to shake this mountain!" The old man also started floating in the air as his body started rising up. Since the old man had a high enough level, he had managed to learn flight as well, but even he hadn''t learned it as soon as Azekiel did. That''s why Azekiel''s flight not only surprised him but also surprised his men. Neither he nor his men were expecting the attacks toe from the sky. Their guards were lowered, which helped Azekiel kill them easily. However, the old man was different. Not only could he fly, but he had already seen the trick of Azekiel at this point. No matter what Azekiel did, he was sure he could counter it. "Let''s see what you''re truly capable of in that case," Azekielmented as he casually attacked with his needles, just to test the strength of the old man. The old man firmly held his katana. He swung his katana so fast that even Azekiel had a hard time seeing the movement of his de. It was as if the de had just disappeared entirely with the attack. The old man managed to block all the needles that wereing for him, using the de of his katana as a shield to protect him from the small projectiles. Chapter 237 237: Unable To Think "Argh, I can''t think of anything!" Lia dropped to the floor with a headache. She had tried to remember to the best of her abilities but to no avail. Instead of remembering anything, only her headache was increasing. "What about you? Remembered anything?" She asked Raphael. "I might if you stop interrupting me every other second," Raphael responded, opening his eyes. Lia was such an impatient girl that meditation was her bane. At regr intervals, she kept giving up and even distracted Raphael in the process. Raphael couldn''t me her either since it wasn''t as if he was close to remembering. It was harder than he expected. He had assumed that knowing about his past was going to help him remember, but instead, it only made it even harder for him to remember the missing bits. Whenever he tried to remember the parts of his memories that he was missing, his mind instead shifted to what he had seen, making him lose his thought process entirely. He wanted to remember who killed him or what even happened to him, but random memories kept giving him an unnecessary burden. It had been close to an hour, and he still had no idea what to do. How could he help himself? Simr to Lia, he also dropped to the ground. "I am at a loss. I don''t know what I can do to remember and how long it''s going to take. Maybe we can never remember?" "That''s why the old man should just tell us directly what we don''t know." Lia agreed. "Why is he torturing us when he can end this easily by just telling us?" "That''s true... He can just tell us the missing parts of our memories." Raphael knew that Lia wasn''t wrong with this. That path was certainly easier. "However, for some reason, he wants us to recover our memories ourselves... Maybe it has something to do with us getting our bodies back. Maybe we can only get our bodies back after we actually break the seal on our memories. Other than that, I can''t think of a reason why he won''t just tell us everything." His mind kept going back to the mark on the back of the person. Without his memories, that was the only identifying feature he could think of. Unfortunately, he had never seen that mark in his life before. "I can''t rest until I find them..." He sat up again after a brief minute of rest. No matter how many times he felt like giving up, the questions about the identity of those people motivated him to try once again. **** The old King blocked Azekiel''s attack with his katana. "I told you that such childish tricks won''t work on me, kid!" Brandishing his sword, he flew straight toward Azekiel. As he was able to block Azekiel''s attack with such ease, that only worked to boost his morale even more, even without him realizing it. Azekiel could only shake his head in disappointment. He had just used a weak attack to test the capabilities of the old man, but even he hadn''t expected it to have such unintended effects. The man straight up thought that this was all he had and attacked. Azekiel could only smile in response. That was what happened when someone fought against a person they thought to be weaker. They never took them seriously, even after seeing a glimpse of their skills. This was also an advantage which Azekiel had because his name wasn''t in the Tower Ranking. Based on the Tower Rankings, people could more or less measure the threat level of a person. Since Azekiel wasn''t even in the ranking yet, he didn''t have to worry about that part. Despite being a powerful person, he was considered to be the underdog here. Seeing the Katanaing straight for his chest, Azekiel brought both his Gauntlets together, appearing as if he was just going to block the attack. Seeing Azekiel just go for defense, the old man simply smirked. It was clear that Azekiel didn''t have anything to stop him with. The old man became even more fearless. The person who straight went to defense couldn''t be a threat. The man attacked even more brazenly, applying even more strength to his attack. The man reached closer to Azekiel, but just as his sword was about to hit the Gauntlets, Azekiel finally moved, pulling his hands back and giving the man a straight opening for his chest. The man was slightly surprised and ted. He couldn''t help but wonder if Azekiel was an idiot. He didn''t have time to think about Azekiel''s stupid decision. He was already so close to the attack that he just went forward with it, changing the angle of his sword. Instead of shing with his katana like he was previously nning, he just went with a straight thrust to stab Azekiel''s chest to kill him right there. The old man came closer, but just as he thrust his Sword, Azekiel finally moved, only by a few inches to the right. The Gauntlets that were in his hand abruptly changed to an Ax which he brought up. "Arghh!" The old man''s roar echoed in the surroundings as Azekiel''s Sword came slicing up, cutting the old man''s hand, which was holding the Katana. The right arm of the old man flew along with the weapon of sin. The old man was shocked. His gaze went to his katana and his detached hand as he hastily flew back, not realizing that this brief moment was enough for Azekiel to change his weapon once again. From the short-range ax, Azekiel changed his Ax to the spear of Michael, which had a much longer range. He tossed the spear without taking any time to mark Target. It was as if he already knew where to attack. "Urgh!" Blood came out of the old man''s mouth as his face turned even paler. He lowered his eyes, seeing the spear that had passed through his body where his heart used to be. One end of the spear was behind him, while the other end of the spear was before him. The man was nning to impale Azekiel, but on the contrary, it was he who had suffered the brunt of the attack. He died the same way he was nning to kill Azekiel. "Who... are... you...?" The old man weakly asked. He had seen Azekiel use three weapons to kill him, and all three weapons were Weapons of Sin, each having a different aura in itself. It wasn''t just his weapon that had transformed. Instead, it was like a perfect imitation of another King''s weapon. A hand and a Sword dropped to the ground. The old man was still in the air, on hisst breath. Azekiel flew closer to the old man and pulled out the spear, making the old man grunt in pain as his body floated down. The old man''s bodynded on the ground, not too far from Azekiel. The spear in Azekiel''s hands transformed once again, this time changing to the Katana of the old man. "Thanks for a new weapon..." He started before stepping closer to the old man. He ced the tip of the Katana on the forehead of the old man. "Killing me with my own weapon?" The old man asked. He was already at death''s door. Even if Azekiel didn''t do anything, he was going to die. However, Azekiel was still going to give him onest blow. The old man closed his eyes, regretting underestimating this guy. He definitely wasn''t a newbie. There was something different about this man. Unfortunately, he came to know of it a bit toote. With the slightest of push, the Katana passed through the head of the old man, giving him a swift death. After killing the old man, he used the Soul Snatch on him, using the Gluttony of Knowledge simultaneously to steal the memories of the old man to understand just why these people didn''t want anyone else to get to the higher floors. "Strange..." After receiving the memories from the old man, Azekiel stood up, slightly disappointed and surprised. "Even he doesn''t know why he was stopping people from going up. An idiot who just received an order and didn''t even bother to ask questions." Azekiel shook his head and walked to the other people in the back. Even in the memories, he couldn''t find a reason. In fact, it was clear that the old man hadn''t even been to the 80th floor in months. He just followed the orders of stopping people. "Despite being a King, he was reduced to being an errand boy. No wonder he was so upset when I called him an errand boy. There was truth to it." He used Soul Snatch on the Lords as well after walking over to their bodies, taking as much strength as he could. He had already brought his name on the tower Ranking, and he knew that this was where troubles were going toe from. He needed as much strength as he could get! Chapter 238 238: Center Azekiel absorbed the Spiritual Energy from the Lords, gaining whatever small bit of strength he could. Unfortunately, he was at a point where even a Lord''s Spiritual Strength was like a drop in the ocean of spiritual strength for him. After dealing with everything, he nced at the portal in the distance. Now there was no obstruction to stop him from getting to the 80th floor without creating any other Floors. Unfortunately, he couldn''t pass over to the next floor from that point on until he finished all the lower floors first. He was really intrigued by what he was going to find there. He had an idea as to what that floor was like in the past, but something was surely different this time. If they were asking people to stop anyone else froming there, that meant something was certainly very wrong there. That was also what made him even more curious to check out that ce, even though it was thest on his n previously. Azekiel stepped closer to the portal and entered inside, leaving the 45th floor. There were many kings who went straight to the top floor after realizing that they could do that, but they returned just as fast after realizing how dangerous those floors were for weak people like them. Unlike them, Azekiel wasn''t nning to return that fast. Since he had already started his journey on the Tower ranking, openly dering his return, he couldn''t step back now. He passed through the barrier, disappearing under the bright light. Only a few bodies were left behind in his wake. Unfortunately, no one was here to even know that these people had been killed. All the people who were from the higher floors had either left already, or they already knew the rules that no one was allowed to use this Portal. It was unclear if anyone was even going toe here to see what had happened. Just as Azekiel had expected, the Tower Ranking certainly had changed as a new name appeared on the ranking. The name had straight jumped from a no rank to the top hundred already. The people on the lower floors noticed that names appear in the top hundred. They didn''t remember ever seeing that name before, at least. All of them wondered just who this person was. The only people who even knew anything about Azekiel were on the 80th or higher floors. Unfortunately, they were momentarily busy in trying to clear the floor. They didn''t even focus on the ranking, let alone trying to keep an eye on the lower half of the top hundred rankings. The rankings had been settled for a long time, which made them habitual to not even look at them anymore. It was only the people who still hadn''t reached anywhere close to finishing the top half of floors that kept an eye on the rankings to know who it was that they didn''t need to offend. Right before Azekiel passed through the portal, a number had appeared above his head, which showed ny seven. Azekiel passed through the portal, appearing on the 80th floor. Just as he had expected, after killing the King, who was in the top 100, he was finally able to see the ranking tower as well. It was a tower that seemed to be thousands of miles away, yet at the same time right before them, giving them a clear view of all the names. Azekiel started from the lower rankings, wondering how much his name had climbed to. "There it is... I certainly expected a higher climb. Not bad though," hemented, noticing his name on the 97th rank. His vision kept going up as he noticed more and more names, most of which were familiar to him, especially the names in the top twenty. Osiris, who had entered this Tower with Lia, was on rank 5. Meanwhile, the person who had betrayed Azekiel by telling their King about him eating the fruit was on the seventh ranking. Even though he had heard about Raphael''s name on the top, it was only when he saw it with his own eyes that he believed. That meant Raphael was still alive as a King and not dead? Since he couldn''t see Lia''s name anywhere, it was clear that the Tower wasn''t counting their spiritual form to keep their legacy alive. Raphael was actually alive on this floor and in his real body? "How does his Spirit exist if he didn''t die then?" Azekiel knew that the time on the higher floors was more rtive. There was no paradox here. It should''ve been impossible for a person to be alive here and dead on the other floors. On the contrary, it was possible for them to be dead here and alive on other floors since other floors had a mess of time. This didn''t make sense at all. If Raphael was alive, Azekiel was sure that he wasn''t going to recognize him either. Only the spiritual Raphael knew him and not the real one. Even if he went before the real Raphael, they were going to be strangers. If anything, Raphael was only going to attack him after realizing just who he was. "I still want to see him with my own eyes." He stepped away from the portal, not intending to attract too much attention to him. There was one route that was connected to the Portal. It seemed to be a concrete road that straight led to the Dark City in the distance. For a person to enter the city or for them to get to the portal, they could only take this route. There was literally no other way. Even if he could fly, he couldn''t get to the city. The closer he got to the city, the farther that city was going to go. A person had to actually walk on the path to get to the city. That was also what created some problems for him. No one was allowed to get to this floor from the lower floors. If he entered the city through this route, everyone was going to know that he came from the lower floor. He was like a person who wanted to be low profile for some time, but he couldn''t. "The ce looks quite ordinary though. Not how it should be if the floor is about to be cleared..." Unlike the weather on the lower floors, the weather in this city was quite ordinary for how it was supposed to be. The surrounding was darker, and the sky was covered in clouds, but there was no rain, snowfall, or intense heat. If anything, the weather was only more pleasant now. After waking for close to thirty minutes on the road that looked as if it was cleaned right before Azekiel''s arrival, he managed to reach the dark city, known as the Dominion of Gods. The World knew gods as the beings of Lights, where heaven was filled with happiness and light. However, this Dominion of Gods was different. There was barely enough light for a person to see, and no more than that. All the findings were made like castles, most of which were more or less identical. Another strange thing was that this city itself was bigger than the biggest country on Earth, and it showed that. Against all his expectations, Azekiel didn''t find any person at the entrance of the city to keep an eye on the neers. There were no personnel at the entrance anywhere on the roads in the city. The city usually looked lifeless because of how it was made, but due to theck of people, it looked even more lifeless at the moment. "Where is everyone?" Azekiel muttered, frowning. Even though the floor was supposed to be nearpletion, that didn''t mean there shouldn''t be any person here? In his time, the city used to be filled with people from all Species, and not just kings. "That sound..." As Azekiel was lost in thoughts, he heard a voiceing from the distance. The voice appeared to being from thousands of miles away, as if it wasing from the center of the city while Azekiel stood at the edge of the city. Now that he was inside the city, he still couldn''t fly since the city ced restrictions on flying. He couldn''t teleport either. If he wanted to get to that ce, he had to run. That seemed to be the only way at the moment. Since that was the only option, he started running right away without wasting much of his time. Theter he got there, the more he was going to miss. If anything, he also believed that some event was taking ce in the center of the city. That could exin why no one was here. That event was most probably connected to the clearing of this floor as well, which made him want to see it even more. Chapter 239 239: Give Life The huge city on the 80th floor was even bigger than many countries, making it quite time consuming for one person to get from one end to the other, especially when a person couldn''t fly inside the city. Even for Azekiel, it hadn''t been easy. Just to cover the distance, he had to run nonstop for close to four hours straight before finally reaching close to the center of the city. Fortunately, as soon as he reached near the center, he finally started seeing some people. The city, which seemedpletely empty until now, finally started looking like it was filled with people. All the streets were filled with people. As far as the eyes could see, thousands of them could be seen. He didn''t even know how long he was from the center, but it looked like a long way. He entered the crowd and started getting ahead, at times throughout the gap and other times by just pushing the people aside to make way for him. After getting past all the people, there were only two rows between him and the stage ahead, where he could see some people standing. Once again, there were many familiar faces on the stage, but there wasn''t one that he was looking for. There was Osiris on the stage, along with many other Top Tier Kings, but Raphael wasn''t anywhere to be found. It was as if Raphael didn''t even bothering here. Despite Raphael''s absence, this ce was flooded with Kings. It was as if every king who had managed to reach this floor was here. But what didn''t make sense was why they called so many people here? It was looking as if they were going to make some deration, and at the same time, they were waiting for something. Even though Azekiel was in the middle of the crowd, he still noticed some of the kings going down the stage, each going in different directions for some reason. "What are they trying to do?" Azekiel wondered, slightly confused. Five minutes after some of the Kings had left the stage, an old man who was sitting on a throne on the stage stood up. Osiris and the others also stood up with him, showing unity. The old man seemed like the leader of the group, and that made sense as well since the man was ranked two on the Tower Ranking. He was the strongest after Raphael... At least, that''s what the rankings showed. No wonder the other Kings let him take the lead. The old man stopped in the middle of the stage, roaming his gaze over all the crowd. "I see you''ve all epted our invitation toe to this celebration. I am really grateful to all of you." Firstly, the old man thanked all the people before shifting to something else. It finally made sense for Azekiel why all these people were here. It looked like the Kings had promised them that there were going to be some celebrations and maybe even some rewards for the one who attended this event. "But before we get to the celebration, there''s something else we must get through," he said as he pped his hands. The Kings who had left before were already out of the crowd. They all slowly surrounded the massive crowd for some reason. Even now, no one paid attention to what they were doing. "First thing is that I want to thank you all. We have been here for a long time! And in that time, your presence made this world feel like no less than our real home. Unfortunately, there alwayses the time when one must leave their home to see more of the world, and that time is here for us all." "Most of you already know this, but we are very close to clearing this floor! Finally!" The old man''s voice was filled with life and excitement as he talked about finally being able to leave this ce. He wasn''t using any speakers to get his voice across, but his voice still managed to reach every person. The citizens started cheering for the Kings, making the atmosphere even more electric. Even though the old man looked quite pleased here, Osiris didn''t look very pleased for some reason. It was as if something wasn''t to his liking. The longer this speech went on, the more suspicious Azekiel felt since Osiris'' expressions were telling apletely different story here. "However, before we leave this world, I have one more favor to ask of you all!" The old man slightly changed his tone. Even though this was a very minute change that most couldn''t even notice, it was still quite evident for Azekiel. The tone wasn''t as friendly as it used to be before. While everyone was wondering what help people as strong as the Kings could need from them, the old man didn''t keep them guessing. "To break through the barrier of the next floor, we arecking just a little bit of strength. And to get that little boost, we need your help! So please give your life to us?" the old man shed a devilish grin. "So that''s what it was..." Azekiel didn''t need more information to understand what was happening here. "There is no celebration. It was a trap. No wonder all the Kings left. They are probably already surrounding this crowd now to make sure that no one can escape... What a way to get thatst boost of strength." Azekiel knew exactly what the problem was, and he also understood why these people were trying to kill the citizens. To clear the 80th Floor, they needed to defeat the Guardian of the Middle Realm. Unfortunately for them, the guardian was very strong, and they needed more strength for that. It was intentionally made that way by him to make this Floor more challenging. That''s also why he made sure to keep the number of Monsters limited on this floor, so they couldn''t just grind levels. Lower floor beasts also didn''t give as much experience to these people after a certain point since the 80th floor was different. They probably killed all the beasts on this floor and knew that they stillcked strength. Chapter 240 240: No Way Out "They need to level up more if they want their group assault on the Guardian to seed." They only have three ways to achieve that. Either go to lower floors and grind for centuries, kill the other Kings to take their experience, or kill the people of this floor since they also gave simr experiences because of being from this floor. It was clear that they weren''t going to kill other Kings since they needed a team and as many people as they could to take down the Guardian. By killing a King, they could definitely level up, but in the bigger picture, that was only going to reduce theirbined strength. As for the option about going to the lower floors, that was too time consuming even for these people. "From the strategic point of view, it does make sense that they want to do this. Unfortunately, they don''t know one thing..." Azekiel could only shake his head at theirck of knowledge. It wasn''t that they weren''t as strong as the Guardian. Instead, it was just the guardian who was stronger than them. No matter how strong they got, the Guardian was only going to be a tiny bit stronger since his strength depended upon the strength of his enemies who wanted to kill him. These people thought that the gap was only a small bit and they could cover it by getting more experience, but that was only going to make the Guardian of Middle Realms even stronger. "The only way to defeat the Guardian of the Middle Realm is by finding other ways to defeat it than just by using brute force. They needed to use their brain to defeat the Guardian ande to the solution to this problem, but they chose an entirely different path. Very disappointing." It was clear that the people of this floor were going to be killed for no reason, all because the Kings hadn''t realized their mistakes. It also made Azekiel wonder if that was why Raphael wasn''t here. Because he already knew this? The Crowd was still unable to grasp what was happening. What was the old man saying? They needed to give their life? Did he go crazy or something? "For us to live in the Higher World, you all need to die here! So please give your lives to us for a greater cause!" The old man called out his weapon and attacked unsuspecting people, killing close to a hundred of them with just a single attack. As soon as he killed people, a wave of fear overwhelmed everyone, making them run to save their lives! Unfortunately, with so many people standing so close to each other, there wasn''t even enough space or sync for everyone to run. As long as the people in the back didn''t move, it was quite hard for them to move as well. Unfortunately, the people in the back couldn''t move, because they were also busy... Busy getting killed. Since the Kings had surrounded them from all sides, let alone running away from the center, the people in the back ran toward the center and away from the Kings that were attacking and killing them. Blood, pain, and screams were everywhere as people kept dying. Both ends of the crowd were running in different directions, making it harder for both sides. The kings on the Stage also jumped down. All the citizens of this city were like animals, sitting on a chopping block for the Kings to kill. Unfortunately, Azekiel also found himself in the same crowd, surrounded by the Kings from all sides. The Kings still hadn''t noticed him. They didn''t know that in the crowd of unsuspectingmoners, there was a King who was in the top 100 in the tower. Azekiel was top hundred, butpared to the Kings here, who were in the top twenty, that seemed pretty unimpressive as long as one was to ignore how much time Azekiel took to get to this stagepared to them. Azekiel couldn''t fly. He also couldn''t Teleport, so it was very hard for him to be able to get out of there when he wasn''t supposed to be here in the first ce. He had to kill the person that these people left behind to get here, so it wasn''t hard for them to guess that he wasn''t a friend. Moreover, it was clear that the Kings knew his face, not as the person from his old life, but as someone who was apanying Raphael and Lia. They knew that he was on the lower floors until recently. If they knew that he was here now, they certainly weren''t going to take it kindly. If anything, they would''ve considered him an enemy, which made him quite upset. "What a great timing," hemented sarcastically. He had just arrived on this floor, and he was already caught in this mess, which was very frustrating for him. If he had arrived just a few minutester, he could''ve been watching this scene from a distance instead of being right at the center of it all. He decided that it was much better to leave for now. He wasn''t here to fight at this time. He was just here to see Raphael and know what the situation here was. There was no need to fight anymore. He called out his Gauntlets of Gluttony and started walking back. The stampede of people was blocking every path for him, but unlikemoners, he didn''t have to worry about that. His raw strength was enough to just push them aside. As Azekiel walked back, he just grabbed the enemies by their cors and pushed them aside to clear a path for himself. For him, it wasn''t a problem to move the people aside, but it wasn''t easy either, as there was not enough space. The old man kept killing the people in the center while Azekiel walked away from them toward the outside, where slightly weaker kings were killing. Chapter 241 241: Beg From both sides, people were being killed. There was no sense of direction in anyone as people tried to run in whatever direction they could find. At the same time, there was also one person in the crowd who was just pushing them away as if they were toys. The only difference was that, unlike the other Kings, that person wasn''t killing them as he kept moving away. He was only moving them aside to clear a path for himself. Unfortunately, that moving aside also wasn''t without its negatives, as due to theck of space, many people had their bones broken thanks to even the mildest of push from Azekiel. Fortunately, in thismotion, their painful cries didn''t reach the Kings on the other end of the Crowd to make them suspicious. As more and more people were killed, the number of people kept decreasing, but even after thousands of deaths, not a significant difference could be seen. There were just so many people that even after so many of them were killed, there was no change. The only change was in the strength of the Kings, who were gaining experience in droves. They were quite excited as their n was working. The more he killed here, the stronger they became. In the meantime, Azekiel almost reached the other end of the crowd where the other Kings were killing the citizens. Even though the Kings were weaker than the old man and the others who were on the central side, they were still in the top twenty ranking in the tower. The only positive side was that he only had to kill one of those Kings to be able to get out of here. Even though there were many kings to kill as many people as they could, each King had taken a separate zone for themselves where only they were allowed to kill and stop people. That kind of system made sure that there was plenty of space between each King to help Azekiel enough. "There goes my Ranking even more... Just my lucky day..." Azekiel sarcasticallymented while calling out both of his gauntlets. He couldn''t leave without killing the King, but by killing the King, he was sure he was going to enter the top fifty in the tower ranking, and it hadn''t even been a full day since he entered the ranking for the first time. Even the ones who hadn''t noticed his name before were going to see it now, which was the most frustrating part for him. The King that he was faced with was a young man who was in his early thirties. The man was barely in the top Twenty Rankings in the Tower. As he wanted to be even stronger, he was even more excited in killing people. The only person who wasn''t killing anyone here was Osiris. Osiris also looked as if he went along with this idea that everyone else needed to be stronger, but personally, he chose to not gain strength through this way, at least for now. Unlike Osiris, the man before Azekiel was not only killing the people, but he also seemed to be enjoying it as well. The man known as Jake enjoyed the look of fear on people''s faces as they were running away from him. This was just as good a thing for him as the experience he was receiving. "Hmm?" Jake sliced the body of a person in two halves before moving on to the next person, but he stopped in the middle of his attack as he saw something even more interesting. While most of the people here were running away from him, there was one person who was different. Instead of running away from others, that person was walking toward him. What was even more surprising was that the person didn''t have a shred of fear on his face, as if he was simply taking a walk in a garden. Even with the celebration of death that was going on here, the man was still perfectly fine. "You... I remember you!" Jake smirked, recognizing the face of that person. "You''re the man who made many Kings intrigued with you by your ability to summon past Kings!" "The King of Gluttony, Azekiel! Am I right?" The man asked. "You had just disappeared from our field of view. We all thought that you had died. It seems we were quite wrong, weren''t we?" ? "A for efforts." It wasn''t surprising to see the man recognize him since he had already considered that possibility. Unfortunately, the man only recognized him as what he wasn''t at his core. As Jake realized who this person was, it made sense to him that Azekiel wasn''t scared at all of the deaths. He himself had killed many people. Those things desensitized almost everyone amongst them. "It''s surprising you managed toe here in such a short time, but I suppose it''s good for me." Jake licked his lips. "You should give way more experience than these people!" "So will you." Azekiel shrugged. "Probably even better than me." Jake''s face twitched. Even now, the man was acting as if he wasn''t in danger, and instead, it was him who was in danger. "I''ll let you have that arrogance. You are helping me here, after all. We weren''t allowed to kill other Kings to get experience, but you aren''t even supposed to be here, are you? Who is going to notice even if I kill you?" Jake let out, smiling wryly. "If I were in your ce, I would''ve been begging right about now." "You don''t need to be in my ce to start begging." Azekiel innocently answered. "You can do it in your ce as well." As Jake and Azekiel were engaged in a small conversation, the people in the surroundings thought that they could use this opportunity and run away. Unfortunately, it was only when they tried to run that they realized they were overly optimistic. Even as Jake kept his eye on Azekiel, talking to him, it was still impossible for people to get past him. Whoever tried to run past him was met with Jake''s sword, which was now flying on its own without his control. Chapter 242 242: Holding On "If you want to run, run away from me!" Jake eximed, bursting into aughter. "Because you can''t pass through this ce even if you want!" Unlike most of the other Kings, Jake didn''t have one Weapon of Sin. Instead, he had two, both having the form of a sword. One of the Weapons of Sin was always in his hand while the other Sword worked on its own as if it had a life of itself. He didn''t even need to guide the sword to help it to his bidding, and that''s what the Sword did now, blocking the path. There was an invisible line established in this route that no one was allowed to pass through without having their heads chopped off. Jake was free to take his time without having to worry about people that were going to supposedly run away. "I want to get back to my work, so I''ll be fast." Jake dered, raising his Sword toward Azekiel. Unlike on other floors, Azekiel could neither teleport nor fly to avoid any attack. All this battle came down to was his true strength and speed, which wasn''t very high because of his low level whenpared to the others. The only thing whichpensated him was the fact that the Soul Stealths had given him quite a decent increase in his strength, making him way stronger than what his level showed. Even though he had an opportunity to attack right now, he still waited for something. Even Jake couldn''t see that Azekiel was still using Soul Stealth on the people that were killed here. Secretly, he was only increasing his strength more. Thanks to him using his Soul Stealth more often than not, the ability had not only gotten stronger but also leveled up itself, giving him the ability to use Soul Snatch without touching the body at all. All he needed to do was to be in the close proximity to the bodies, and it worked. Azekiel kept the man engaged in conversation for a few minutes only because he needed some more time to finish. With his other abilities restricted, he could only depend on his strength, and it was better to have as much as he could. "That shall be enough." he patted his hands after finishing the Soul Stealth from the bodies. Even though there was no experience for him to receive, the increase in his stats was quite significant since he was a lower level King who had just arrived here. While being lower level, using Soul Stealth on beings with stronger souls gave much more than being higher level and using it on weaker soul beings. "It looks like you aren''t going to beg for your life. That takes out most of the fun. Oh well. I''ll have to do things myself." The man started running toward Azekiel, brandishing his sword. He left his second sword behind to maintain the line su no one could run. The people in the surrounding rushed back so that they weren''t caught in the battle of the Two Kings. None of them tried to escape either since the sword was waiting there to kill them. By now, they had realized that the only way out of there was if Jake was killed by Azekiel. No matter how unlikely it was, they still prayed for the young man to seed. nk~ The man expected his sword to slice through Azekiel in an instant, just stunning him with his speed, but the sword couldn''t even pass through Azekiel''s Gauntlets. Azekiel''s reflexes were so fast that he could not only see every movement of Jake, but he could also react equally fast. He noticed every single movement of Jake''s swords which gave him the ability to catch the de of the Sword before it could even touch him. "You should start worrying right about... Now." Azekiel''s footnded on Jake''s chest, sending him flying back. Jake couldn''t even hold onto his sword, which was left behind in Azekiel''s hands. Azekiel tossed the sword aside and followed after Jake, whonded right past that invisible line that no one was supposed to cross. Azekiel didn''t care about any line, only focusing on Jake as he chased after the man who barely managed to bnce himself on the ground. Jake held his chest, feeling pain. The strength behind that attack... He was surprised to realize that the strength was no less than his. But how was it possible? Azekiel was a low level King. How could he have that strength? The man raised his right hand, seeing Azekiel run toward him. The sword of his which was left behind disappeared from where it had fallen and appeared in his hand again. Jake once again entered that invisible line before Azekiel could get to him. **** Not too far from this ce was a tall building which no one paid attention to. Through the window of that building, a person was looking outside at all themotion. The man, who was in histe twenties, had beautiful wings on his back, as if he had fallen from heaven. If one was here to sense the man''s aura, it was clear that he was stronger than any other Kings that were fighting outside. He was also the top ranked person on the Tower Ranking of Middle Realms. Unlike the other Kings, he had decided to stay out of this n and not take part in it as he felt it was beneath him. However, even he was slightly surprised to see that there was a person who was fighting back the Kings and was managing to hold on his own. Then again, after he recognized who that person was, it made sense for him that the man was able to stand against Jake. Jake wasn''t the strongest amongst them either, so it wasn''t too shocking. Instead of focusing on the crowd, the man ced all his attention on the battle between Azekiel and Jake. Chapter 243 243: Cursed Weapon Of Sin Jake was taken aback by the initial show of strength by Azekiel, but he didn''t let it phase him for long as he ran ahead at full speed. He didn''t just run straight to Azekiel without any preparations though. As a King, he also had many tricks under his sleeve in the form of the skills that only he could use. Each of his skills had been trained as much as possible. Without even opening his System screen, he used one of those skills. Thousands of shackles came out of the ground, shooting straight for Azekiel''s ankles. At the same time, the gravity on Azekiel increased so that he couldn''t escape at the right time from those shackles by jumping. Surprisingly, Azekiel didn''t even try to escape. Instead, he just made his Gauntlets transform back into the Ax and sliced down on the shackles that had barely managed to wrap around his feet. No matter what skill was used to create those shackles, before the Gauntlets of Gluttony, those shackles couldn''tst long and broke into a thousand pieces. As Azekiel got distracted by the shackles, the man had already managed to reach him. Not only did the shackles keep Azekiel in his ce long enough for Jake to reach him, but they also distracted him to some extent, allowing Jake an opportunity. Azekiel swung his sword once again. It was quite strange that as a King he preferred only to kill Azekiel through his sword even though he could use many long distance attacks to achieve the same. Even Azekiel had noticed the same thing. It was just too evident for him that the man wanted to kill him using his swords. Even Azekiel didn''t know why it was, but he had some guesses. There could only be two reasons behind it. One was that the Sword gave him some advantage like additional experience after every kill, which he wasn''t going to receive any other way. In that sense, it was going to be simr to his Gauntlets in some way since his Gauntlets also gave him an advantage if he killed a King using them. The other possibility that Azekiel could think of was that the Sword was poisoned, and he wanted to leave at least a scratch on his body to let that poison take effect. Whatever being the case, he just couldn''t allow the weapon to touch him. It wasn''t worth the risk. The more Jake wanted to use the Sword; the more Azekiel decided to avoid it. Once again, the sword was right next to his throat; however, it just couldn''t touch his neck. An ax was blocking the Sword from even touching him, let alone hurting him. "I respect your conviction, but I''ll have to end this here." With a pale face, the man lowered his head to see a Sword that was stabbed right inside his body. Azekiel didn''t just have an ax, but he had another Weapon of Sin. Only a weapon of sin was a weapon that could pass through the defense of a King, which was why the man was more focused on the Ax, not paying attention to anything else. Even he hadn''t expected Azekiel to have another weapon like that. "Urgh!" The man grunted as Azekiel twisted the de inside his body. He could only jump back, still holding his bleeding chest. Azekiel struck right where a person''s heart was supposed to be. Despite that, the man was still standing, albeit with a pale face. "How do you have two?" the man eximed. It was a different matter if he could transform one weapon into another weapon of sin, but this time it was literally a second weapon. "Interesting. You still aren''t dead..." Generally, most Kings were dead as soon as their heads were sliced off or their hearts were attacked, but the man was still standing. "I am a Damic." Jake red back at Azekiel, clenching his fist tightly. "If you think you can kill me that easily, you are wrong!" "Ah, so you''re a Damic. That makes more sense. Unlike most of the species that have their hearts on the left, yours normally have it on the right. Then again, that doesn''t change a single thing. You''re still dead." Even though Jake avoided the critical hit straight to his heart, thanks to his species, but he still couldn''t avoid something else. Initially, he was angry that he was hurt but also happy that he had managed to escape alive from an attack that could''ve killed him. However, his happiness didn''tst for long as he noticed something. His body was in heavy pain, which made him lower his head, looking at the wound on his chest. Strangely enough, even with his healing abilities, his wound wasn''t healing. On the contrary, his wound had turned pitch ck, as if it was rotting. Moreover, that rotting was only increasing. "Poisoned Weapon?" he asked as his legs buckled under his own weight without any control. It was as if his legs also stopped working at around the same time. The man dropped to his knees. If res could kill, his bloodshot eyes would''ve killed him multiple times already. The man couldn''t believe that he had been fooled like that. The weapon that Azekiel used wasn''t just a weapon of sin like others. It was a Cursed Weapon of Sin, where each wound from it was enough to poison an enemy, let alone when the wound was so deep. "I should thank you for the idea..." Azekielmented, walking closer to the man. It was when he thought of the reasons the man was using the Sword to kill him did he realize that he also had something simr to that. It was also easier to kill Jake this way without showing too much of his tricks. This way, even if a King found out that another King had been killed, they could only imagine that Jake underestimated the enemy and was killed thanks to being hit by the weapon. When the death came from poison, rarely was anyone going to question his abilities. This kind of death already implied that the enemy wasn''t strong enough and had to resort to sneaky tricks to win a battle. The sword which was guarding the line in the back couldn''t wait anymore. It was clear that Jake was in danger. Realizing his situation where he couldn''t move his body or heal, Jake called his second sword to not only block Azekiel but also to kill him. It was only when Azekiel was dead that the cursed weapon was going to disappear along with the poisonous effects! The Sword flew to Azekiel on its own. Unfortunately for the Sword, Azekiel was closer to the man than the sword was to him. Before the sword could get to him, Azekiel reached Jake. A beautiful ax moved, slicing even the winds on the way. A head flew up, wholly separated from the body before eventually falling on the ground. Everything happened so fast that Jake couldn''t even yell. The sword which was flying to Azekiel stopped mid-way as it lost its owner. The headless body also dropped to the ground. Even though Jake was killed, the poison still hadn''t stopped spreading everywhere inside his body, destroying it particle by particle. Azekiel sent his Ax back to his inventory before casting Soul Snatching. The rules about not killing other Kings were from the kings of this floor, but he didn''t ce any importance on this rule as he wasn''t a part of the ground which was going to clear the floor in a team. Seeing Azekiel kill Jake, the men and women in the back finally started running once again since the flying sword had disappeared. Their path was clear now! And this was also the only way to escape since all other paths were still covered by other Kings! The massive crowd finally had a path which they could escape from, and everyone who was still alive took the path in running. Seeing the flow of people move in one direction, the other people also slowly realized that one path was clear for them. More and more people took that direction, and finally, the crowd that was running in random directions had one direction they could take. Despite that, there was still a stampede as every person tried to run faster than the one in front of them to avoid the Kings in the back that wereing closer. With time, even the other Kings realized that the people had found a way to escape. They didn''t know who wasn''t doing their duty properly, but they couldn''t let him happen since finding these people one by one and killing them was going to be much harder. The old man sent more people to check what was happening and stop people. Azekiel didn''t care what was happening behind him as he had already left in the meantime, not caring about the people in the back. He didn''t go too far, either... Taking position above a distant building. Chapter 244 244: Above The Threshold Azekielnded on top of a distant building from where he had a much better view of the center of the city. On top of the building, he saw a massive crowd escaping through the route that he had opened up. Most of the people that managed to escape ran straight to their homes to hide, while a few even went as far as to leave the city. Over a thousand people had already managed to escape before the other Kings came there to block the path and seal the escape route. The men were surprised to find a body lying right there, which belonged to the King who was supposed to stop the people here. "No wonder people were able to escape. The one who was supposed to stop them is already dead. I must be honest; I didn''t expect these people to be able to kill him. Did we really underestimate them?" One of the kings asked as he started killing people as well, once again making them run back. The path which was opened up for escape momentarily was sealed up once again sealed. Two Kings maintained the blockage here while one chased after the people who had managed to Escape. "I still can''t believe that they could kill him. He wasn''t the strongest out of all of us, but he surely wasn''t the weakest either. You think a King killed him?" Another King asked as he pulled out his knife from the neck of a dead person. There was a rule that no King was allowed to kill another King, but that didn''t mean no one wanted to. It was quite possible that one of them used thismotion to take advantage and killed him. "Who knows? I doubt it''s as you say though. No one would be stupid enough to do that since there will definitely be people who saw it happen. When that witnesses out, and it turns out that the person was one of us, I''m sure that person is going to be in deep trouble. None of us would be this stupid." "Themotion is useful, but it''s also a double edged sword since, in thismotion, it''s also impossible to kill all witnesses. It must be someone else. Don''t worry though. We will soon find out." **** With time, the number kept dwindling, and eventually, only a thousand people were left. Within minutes, even the thousand were killed, leaving the entire field littered with blood and limbs. The old man stood in the field of blood, looking at the sight around him. They had all gained experience here and more or less achieved their objectives, but the old man still didn''t look happy. He looked at Jake''s dead body right before him. It was supposed to be a simple mission where everyone was going to gain the final bit of experience that they needed to clear this floor. Unfortunately, while they gained some experience and increased their strength, they also lost one of the kings, which made this entire thing a waste. Their overall stern was once again down. The old man red at the body, not speaking anything. This was bing a headache for him to manage. They were so close to clearing this floor, and now¡­ "Who did it?" he asked. Even though his voice seemed perfectly calm, there was great rage hidden inside his eyes. He knew that whoever did it, that person had single handedly pushed their final objective back by a lot! They were almost on thest step, and now they were two steps back because of this! "We are not sure. Roy is still trying to find the witnesses. So far, the people we have found, none of them saw that person." "There hees!" the man pointed back, noticing a King dragging a person to them. The person still appeared alive though. Roy reached the old man and tossed that person at his feet. "Thest person that escaped... And he was also there when Jake was killed!" The young man was tossed straight into the puddle of blood. His face looked horrified at the sight of his hands covered in blood as if he had seen a ghost. The old man ced his fingers under the chin of the man, raising his head. "That puddle looks scary?" "Don''t worry. Your blood will also be a part of it if you don''t answer us." "I-i will tell everything! Please don''t kill me!" "That''s much better." The old nodded, although still not happy. After getting confirmation, the old man stepped back. "So tell me. Who killed him? What did you see?" "I-it was a person. From his voice, he seemed like a man. That man killed him after a fight!" "What did that man look like? Is he here?" The old man asked, making the young man observe all the Kings who were here to see if it was one of them who had betrayed them by breaking a rule. "I-i don''t know. I only saw him from behind. He was wearing a cloak, so I don''t know what he looked like. But I do remember one thing!" The young man eximed. He pointed at Jake. "H-he appeared to know that person the way he was talking to the killer! Also, that person was as strong as him. Moreover, he also had some metallic Gauntlets that could change shape..." "Gauntlets that can change shape?" The old man frowned. That seemed like a weapon of sin since only a Weapon of Sin could have such a strange quality. Ordinary weapons couldn''t transform. This was more or less a confirmation that a King killed him, but who? None of them used Gauntlets as Weapons of Sin! That meant it certainly wasn''t one of them who had killed Jake. "Gauntlets?" Osiris was also surprised. He remembered a person who used Gauntlets, but there was no way for that person to get there. Even the old man knew about Azekiel, who could use Gauntlets, but even he was sure that Azekiel couldn''t appear here. "It can''t be him." The old man repeated. "If he managed to reach here and kill Jake, there is no way his name isn''t going to be in the Tower." He turned around to look at the tower as if to prove his point to himself. As soon as he looked at the tower, his jaws dropped. Even Osiris looked back, only to be stunned. It was there! The name was actually there! He couldn''t believe the name was on the tower and they hadn''t noticed before. Moreover, but only was Azekiel''s name on the tower; it was already in the top 40! Azekiel was ranked thirty-fifth in the Tower, which stunned everyone. How could it be possible that within a few weeks, Azekiel came from the eleventh Floor to here. After they lost him, they thought he had died, but that clearly wasn''t the case. However, how was this possible? They had never seen something like this. Even if it was him, how could that person grow so much in such a short time? He was able to kill Jake? If his progress was that fast, just how long before he was going to be on the same level as them? "The kid known as the Kingyer in the initial Floors amongst his people. It seems he still hasn''t changed his ways. He''s still killing the Kings, and this time the ones that should''ve been beyond his capacity," the old manmented. The other Kings also agreed. "Jake shouldn''t be the only King he killed. We have ced Kings on each floor to prevent people froming here. If he still came here, that meant he also killed the King that was guarding the portal which was guarding the portal. We can''t take this lightly at all." "That kid... He is really chewing more than he should. He weakened our team and made the trial even more challenging for us." The old man kept staring at the name on the tower. "Should we find him and kill him?" A king in the top ten asked. "If he wants to y around, I would love to apany him." "No!" The old man shook his head. "We can''t kill him." "Why not?" "We have lost Jake already. Our team is weak. We can''t defeat the Floor Guarding. It''ll take a really long time to reach that stage again. We will have to find another person to take Jake''s ce and have him level up to be on Jake''s level, which is very time consuming." "It''s better that we ask the kid to work with us. He killed Jake, so he is definitely stronger. With him, we should once again be above the threshold to kill the Floor Guardian." "You mean we will work with the one who killed one of us?" "Or we can wait a decade more? Which one do you prefer?" The old man scoffed. "He wasn''t a part of us, so he definitely didn''t know the rules. Moreover, he is a kid. If we can get him to work with us, we can get to a higher world! Think about it!" Chapter 245 245: Tower Lord "At the moment, we see Azekiel as an enemy, but we forget that he isn''t just that. In the situation we are in, he isn''t just an enemy but also the key that we need to open the door to the next floor," the old man exined, not knowing if his people were getting what he was trying to say or not. Barring a few, most of them realized just what the old man was saying. The entire reason they went with this ughter was because they needed more strength to clear this floor. With the death of one of them, they now had no choice but to take the help of others, and at the moment, Azekiel seemed like the best choice. "Will he agree to join us?" a chubby King asked, resizing that there were just too many uncertainties. "If he''s looking to kill all the kings and work alone, it would be quite hard to convince him. That is if he can even find him. Now that he has killed one of us, I doubt if he''ll even be on this Floor. He must''ve left for the lower floors to avoid being found." "That''s quite possible. It''ll be hard to find him as well if that''s the case, but it''s still much faster than finding another King and training him to reach the same level. If we want to clear this floor, he''s our best option," the old man answered. "Even if he doesn''t agree to help us, we need to find a way to convince him!" "It won''t be hard." A smile spread across the lips of the old man. "After we find him, we just need to let him know his situation and that he only has two options. One is that we kill him for his aggression against one of us, and the other is that he joins us. I think that should make his choice a bit easier. Don''t you think so?" "In that case, we''ll begin the search for him." The other Kings agreed as well. "Remember one thing. No matter what, you aren''t allowed to lose more men! Make teams of three kings for the search so that even if the negotiations go back, we don''t lose more of us." "Also, as soon as you find him, make sure to inform the others. Don''t negotiate alone. I would like to be the one to talk to him if possible." The old man told the others to maintain some precautions before letting them begin the search. Almost all of them knew what Azekiel looked like. Unfortunately, even with this knowledge, they all knew just how hard this task was. There were thirty five floors, all as vast as worlds of their own, and Azekiel could be in any of them. For them, it was like finding a needle in a haystack. All of them had a different approach to how to go about doing this. Some wanted to go and take the help of their men and people of the world to find Azekiel, while others wanted to use a different approach. Some even had the n to make Azekiele to them instead of going to him. "I will leave the search to you." The old man didn''t take part in the search. At least not yet. He left the search on the other and left on his own, not telling them anything as to where he was going. After an initial discussion, all the other Kings also left, leaving only Osiris behind, who observed all the dead around him. Azekiel watched the kings discussing something. He couldn''t hear what they were saying, but he could understand it more or less, the way he saw them look at the Tower in shock. It was clear that they knew who he was. In any case, it was only a matter of time since he couldn''t just hide the entire tower. It wasn''t surprising at all. "It seems they will now begin searching for me. Not unexpected." After watching all the kings leave, Azekiel sat on the roof, bringing out some fruits from his ring. "I didn''t know that the world intelligence would go down this much in my absence. Despite spending so long in this tower, these people still hadn''t realized how to really clear it. The closer they get, the farther they be. It seems I expected too much from them." As he ate his fruit, sitting all alone, he kept talking to himself just to remove some of the istion that he was feeling. Generally, he would''ve talked to Raphel and Lia in this situation, exining things to them, but in their absence, he found things to be quite different. "First, I need to see this Raphael, who is ranked on the tower, and find out how he''s still alive. After that, I can go back to my work. Since the floor isn''t going to be cleared anytime soon, I should still have plenty of time." "May I ask why you want to meet me?" Azekiel was lost in his thoughts when a voice came from behind him. He curiously turned around, even though having a rough idea as to who had arrived. The voice was clearly Raphael''s, but the aura was more powerful. It was the aura of a King as if Raphael had a real body and the strength of the top King. "I should''ve wished for something else as well." Amused, Azekiel stood up. He was just thinking about Raphael, and the man was right there before him. Azekiel turned around, observing Raphael behind him, who was standing in the air. Raphael alsonded on the roof. "I heard you were here to look for me. May I ask why that was, Azekiel? Or should I call you ...." Initially, Azekiel understood how Raphael managed to sneak in behind him, which wasn''t surprising but what really surprised him was how Raphael knew his real name that wasn''t even mentioned in the Tower! The name that even the Kings of this floor didn''t remember. Only the beings in the higher realm knew what he was used to be known as. "So what brought the Tower Lord to meet me?'' "You seem to know a lot about me." Azekiel was also intrigued at how Raphael knew that much about him. There were two possibilities that he could think of. One was that he was in contact with beings from the Higher Realm in the Tower. That could exin why he had extra knowledge. As for the second possibility, it was that this Raphael was the same as the Raphael who apanied him on his journey all this time, and that''s why this Raphael had all this knowledge. If it was thetter, it was even more surprising since it meant the Raphael that was his familiar had his memories connected with this Raphael without knowing. His Raphael didn''t get this Raphael''s memories, but this Raphael got everything from his Familiar without them knowing, which included everything that he himself told Raphael, including him being the Tower Lord. "It shouldn''t be thetter. Even he doesn''t know my real name. That can only mean it''s the first option. May I ask who is helping you from Higher Realm? Who is your source that told you about me? Who else knows it?" Azekiel narrowed down on all the possibilities before realizing that only one of them appeared to be possible when he looked at the ws in both of them. "I''m afraid I was the person who asked you a question first. It''s only good manners to answer first before asking a question." Just like the old Raphael, this Raphael also seemed to be very proper and into manners, but he was a little less friendly than the Raphael Azekiel knew. "Why is the Tower Lord looking for me?" Raphael repeated the question. "I''m not the tower lord," Azekiel answered. "At least not anymore. But soon, I''ll get back what rightfully belongs to me. However, until then, you don''t have to address me as such." "As for why I''m looking for you... I''m afraid I can''t tell you that. Let''s just say I wanted to see if you are really who I thought you were." Raphael didn''t pretend not to understand what Azekiel was saying. He had also seen Azekiel''s journey with the other Kings at the start. Even he knew the Familiars that he had summoned, including him. Even he was slightly surprised when he initially saw it. "So you''re here to see how I can still be alive if my Spiritual Form is your Familiar?" Raphael asked. "Aren''t you the Tower Lord? You should be telling me how that''s possible." "As perceptive as always. It''s not possible for a person to be alive if their spiritual form is avable inside the tower to be made a Familiar. That only happens once a person is dead. Even I was slightly surprised to see you alive after all that." Chapter 246 246: The Ones Above "So tell me. How is it that you are alive?" Azekiel asked. Despite being a tower Lord, when he was curious about how it was possible for this to happen. Even though Raphael imed that he did it know why he had a spiritual form even though he was alive, Azekiel was sure that he at least had some idea since it was rted to him. "If I knew how it was possible, I wouldn''t have any need to keep you alive. I could have killed you twice over by now since I am sure the ones above would''ve rewarded me heavily for that. You are quite popr even after all these years, after all." "You know about me, yet you think you could''ve killed me?" Azekiel was quite amused at this response. There was one thing to be brave, and there was another to be outright foolish, which he believed the young man was being. "As people often say, wisdom doesn''te with age. I see that''s quite true." The stench of blood could be smelled in the air, which had just witnessed all the ughter, carrying this stench far and wide as if bearing witness to what had happened recently. Most of the Kings were out there, making ns on how to find and capture Azekiel, unaware that the best of them had already found Azekiel. "If you know about me, then you should know why this Tower was so scared of me." "That''s the difference between past and present. Even though I didn''t see that time, I do believe the stories that I heard about you, but that''s all. You might''ve been a strong being in the past, but now... Now you are no more the god of this Tower. You are also a human now who is trying to climb the tower." Raphael was also confident of his assumption since everything pointed at this. "It''s not hard to guess. If you weren''t weaker, you could''ve gone to the top floor right away. That''s how reckless you used to be. The one reason you are climbing the tower and finishing the missions is because you can''t climb without that." "That means you no longer control this tower. As for what that implies, I''m sure you know as well as I do. So if would really benefit you if you don''t do anything stupid." Not only did Raphael tell Azekiel''s history, but he also issued a threat to him. Even being threatened, Azekiel still had that smile on his face. He had always seen Raphael as an ally. Seeing him as a potential enemy was certainly very refreshing. "Who knows." Only after Raphael stopped with his threat that Azekiel spoke. "Maybe you''re right. Maybe I am weak. But are you really willing to take that risk? The only way for you to find out if it''s the truth or not is it the path of battle. If you''re right, then good. But if you''re wrong, that means you''ll end up dead." "Are you really willing to test that theory of yours with your life? Are you really ready to throw your life away aftering this far?" Azekiel didn''t want to, didn''t Raphael at the moment. It wasn''t that he was scared. Instead, it was because he wanted to get his answers first. He didn''t know what Effects it was going to have on the Raphael he knew. There were just too many things that made him hold back. Another reason was that he didn''t want to get higher in the tower ranking. He was in the top 40 already. In the higher realm, there was a different ranking of Kings who had passed through to that realm. There was also a small ranking there which showed the top ten of the Middle Realms. The worst part was that the ranking didn''t just show the name. Azekiel wasn''t his real name, so he could still have some advantages, but once his face was shown on the ranking with his name, all his old enemies were going to be aware. He knew the Kings in the middle realm, and some of them even saw him in the past. He didn''t know which of these kings was in contact with the Higher Realm like Raphael, but here, the only risk was that they could inform the people above. On the contrary, if his name appeared in the top ten, there was no need for anyone to inform anyone. It was clear that the person who killed him wasn''t looking at the middle realm. If she was, he knew she would''ve been here herself, but with so many people knowing about him, it was clear that they weren''t going to wait until he coulde to the Higher Realm. They were going toe here for him instead. He wanted to dy that as much as he could since it was better if he was stronger at that time to use the key and the inverse key. He wanted to dy using them as long as he could. The best way to avoid that was by not fighting Raphael here since even if he killed Raphael, his name was going to jump straight to the top ten as Raphael was a top tier mage. "Anyway, I''m still surprised you have been on this floor for so long without being able to clear it," he stated, changing the topic of the battle. At the same time, he even turned back and walked to the edge of the building, looking over at the beautiful city. It was a small gesture but showing his back to the enemy in this manner was sending a signal, and that signal was that he wasn''t scared of Raphael. It was an implication that he believed Raphael couldn''t kill him even if he attacked from behind since he was so strong. It also served another person since it prevented Raphael from attacking. As a warrior, he wasn''t going to attack someone when their back was facing him. "The guardian of this floor that you created isn''t easy to defeat," Raphael stated as he also walked closer, standing right beside him. Even he wasn''t in any mood to fight. If he wanted to, he could''ve killed Azekiel right away. Even he had seen a bit of Azekiel''s adventure. He saw how Azekiel treated his spiritual self as a familiar. He never made him do anything against his wishes, often treating him like a brother. That kind of personality waspletely different from the cruel and ruthless monster that he had heard so much about. It was clear to him that maybe he wasn''t that bad. Still, he knew it was too soon to judge. That''s why he came here to know Azekiel personally, to see if he could glimpse at the darkness hiding inside Azekiel''s heart. "You didn''t ask your contacts on the higher floor on how to do it?" Azekiel inquired. There was a very particr trick to clear this Floor which people rarely discovered. It was only through that trick that people were able to defeat the Guardian of the Floor. That''s why this floor was considered a challenge of strength and wits. Since the ones who cleared this floor already knew about this trick, he was surprised Raphael and the others on this floor didn''t. ''I don''t want their help to clear this floor. I''ll do it myself!" Raphael dered, finding it beneath him to ask for help in this. No matter how long it was going to take for him to clear this floor, he wanted to be proud of it when he did. "I doubt your friends agree with that notion. They seem quite eager to clear this floor, going as far as to kill everyone here. Unfortunately, they are still walking the wrong path, not realizing how stupid they were being. No matter how strong they be, they will never defeat the Guardian of the Floor. I selected that guy for a reason after all." "It amuses me and at the time, saddens me to see how low intellect these Kings have. Despite that, they managed to reach this floor. What a pity..." "Anyway, it seems we are getting a bit off track," Azekiel tapped his forehead, remembering that the other Kings weren''t worth his attention at the moment. "Why didn''t you join them in this?" he asked Raphael. "Didn''t want to get your hands dirty?" "I didn''t feel like doing it," Raphael answered with a short sentence. "I also think that this isn''t the way to clear this floor. No matter how strong we get, there is always the Guardian who is one step stronger than us. It''s as if we make him stronger by bing stronger." "If you think that, why didn''t you stop the others?" Azekiel grinned, seeing that Raphael was thinking in the right direction. He was at least close to getting to the right answer, just not quite there yet. "They didn''t listen, and I didn''t force them. They can do as they please. I''m not in their group, after all. It doesn''t matter what they do¡­." Chapter 247 247: Thats Why "So, whose group are you in?" Azekiel asked, slightly curious. He wasn''t working with the other Kings, but he had contact with the beings from above. He knew that maybe if all of them worked together, Raphael could''ve found a way to clear this floor sooner than expected while preventing the other Kings from making so many mistakes along the way, but he just let them do as they pleased. "I''ve already answered you enough. You haven''t answered one thing." Raphael stopped answering, shifting the topic back to Azekiel. "Tell me why? You say I shouldn''t take the risk of fighting you. But why shouldn''t I contact the ones above and inform them about you? I''m sure they would love to take that risk. So why shouldn''t I?" "Because if I die, my familiars will disappear forever. And since one of them is connected to you somehow, with their death, you''ll be weakened as well. And I have a feeling that regaining this same strength after that won''t be easy for you. It''s pretty hard after all," Azekiel gave a reason when he was sure that even Raphael would understand. "With my death, it''s not just me who will be losing, but you as well. And I don''t think I need to tell you what will happen to you after you are left behind as a weak king." "You''re suggesting I let you leave?" Raphael asked, realizing that Azekiel was saying that it was good for him to not get involved in this battle. "Oh, I don''t need you to let me leave. I''m sure I can find a way out of this city even if it doesn''t let me leave. What I''m saying is that you would be much better off working with me. My safety of your safety," Azekiel rified. "Don''t worry though. I''m not in any hurry for an answer. I''ll give you the time to think about it. I''lle to meet you tomorrow. I''m sure that long should be enough for you to decide." After speaking what he had to, Azekiel jumped, looking as if he was flying in the air. Hended on the distant building and kept walking away. Raphael, for some reason, didn''t try to stop Azekiel, just watching him leave. Even he hadn''te here with the intention of fighting. If he had, he would''ve attacked right away, and it was clear that Azekiel wasn''t looking for a battle either. It was clear that he did not expect to see so many kings in the City when you arrived here, eventually getting caught in the scheme of other Kings. Even after all that, he only tried to leave. That could only mean two things, ording to him. Either he wasn''t ready for a battle when he entered the city and didn''t expect it. Or he really didn''t want to fight, despite having strength. Even after Azekiel saw Raphael behind him, there was no fighting intent in him. "Tomorrow, huh," Raphael muttered as he also turned around. He didn''t know if Azekiel was going to keep his promise of meeting them tomorrow or not, but he expected that at least. Raphael also jumped down from the building and walked back, noticing all the bodies that were littered around. So many lives had been lost yet he didn''t feel anything except that it was a pity. Before long, Raphael disappeared into the maze of buildings. **** Azekiel also left the city, but not through the route of the portal which everyone was expecting him to take to escape from this floor. Instead, he took the other exit of the city, which led to the depths of the floor, including the ins where the Guardian of the Floor used to stay. He hesitated ining here because it was quite troublesome to deal with so many kings at once, but one thing that motivated him toe here was the beasts of this floor which he believed were going to help him level up. Unfortunately, seeing the Kings kill humans made him aware of the reality. It was clear that there were no beasts avable on this floor, as all of them had been killed already. That meant only the Guardian of the Floor was left here, who could give him some experience. Despite being sure that all the beasts were dead, he still traveled deeper, but only to try his luck to see if he could find any hidden horde but also because he wanted to see how strong the guardian was now. Throughout the stone nes, he didn''t find even a single beast. There was some dry blood spread at ces along with the signs of battle as if some beasts were killed here. Throughout the long time they had been here, the Kings had killed all the beasts. "Those idiots. Most Kings only stay here for a decade or so before realizing the secret of this ce. The current batch seems like the stupidest ones. They killed every single one of the beasts and still don''t know. I am surprised even Raphael is a part of this batch. I suppose the others'' stupidity also infected him, slowing him down as well." "Even though he realizes he has been approaching this problem the wrong way before the others, he is still not there yet." "If he was here, I think he would''ve realized the truth in a few tries, but this Raphael... Even though they both feel like the same person, they seem different as well. The Raphael I know is more calm,posed, and slightly smarter. The Raphael on this floor has been stronger yet hesitating and a bit slow." "It''s like they are both the same person yetpletely different, having differences in their personalities... Wait... Could it be that...?" Azekiel was amazed at the stupidity of the Kings here, not realizing that the thought was going to lead him to something more. Trying to see the difference between the people here and Raphael, he ended up noticing something that he didn''t before. "So that''s why there is a spirit and a real person?" The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!