Exactly an hour passed. Giada was used to long-distance travels and hiking but since the chasing game with the dark mage drained her stamina, she was not looking so good when she finally saw the last step.
The green-eyed lady's nose scrunched up from the foul stench that it picked up from the 'hole' in the sky that connected the helix-shaped stairs to the second floor. An expression of disgust took over her face. She instinctively pulled up her collar to cover her nose.
'Sickening... My luck is really beyond terrible. It's leaving me speechless.'
'That dark mage is so hateful for forcing me to proceed to this place.' The woman resolved herself to go past the Palace of the Crimson Giant quickly and then detour towards the City of Red Crystals. The latter was also an unpleasant place, but at least it had traces of sane people and there were stores selling basic necessities and weapons.
Giada took her last step and then left the stairway without turning her head once. She dashed towards the narrowly opened double doors.
Three... Two... One... Her lithe figure barely got inside when the heavy sounds of closing doors echoed behind her. Apparently, the fairy decided to not accept any more ascenders today. It meant that the number of people at the place was enough.
"... and that's how you leave this place." The fairy gave Giada a teasing glance. The woman creased her forehead as she tried to catch her breath.
Giada inspected her surroundings to understand the situation. Afterward, the creases on her forehead deepened. '... Hah... Look at this annoying thing.'
The floating midget was not speaking to her. There were several more people scattered in the area ahead and the fairy was floating in front of them. The target of the fairy's explanation was also them.
Giada did not hear what the thing said prior to her arrival, but she could take a guess.
The place behind the double door was an ancient palace with towering columns and elaborate statues of a giant scattered in all directions. No matter where one ascended from the ground floor, they would end up on a spacious terrace, which was precisely their current location. The flooring was made of cobblestone and countless small pebbles. An indescribably foul stench that seemed to be a mix between blood and other inexplicable things permanently haunted the place, with the source of it being downstairs.
Giada approached the balustrade in seven steps and glanced down.
A piece of flesh from an ancient giant that somehow seemed to be alive.
An ugly wriggling bloody meat that occupied the entire floor below which possessed inexhaustible instinct to eat mortal flesh and soul.
Legends had it that the ugly living piece of flesh had been here since the most ancient challengers began to climb the Tower. Everyone was unclear about its might. But nobody dared to undermine it for its beyond disgusting stench and appearance alone was enough to kill.
Giada hated the entire second floor because of it. Right now, she could not care less if the fairy slighted her by not waiting for her before starting the 'briefing'.
'I really wish these guys don't take too long deciding.'
"So who would be the sacrifice? Or do you guys want to challenge the thing below?" said a tiny voice in a slow, joyful manner.
Nobody answered the masked fairy. The fifteen people were busy scrutinizing the ones around them, gauging each other's strength. Some were quiet about it, but some were openly showing off their weapons and powers. Through their own methods and judgment, they wanted to screen out the weakest and turn them in.
"The palace has several exits, but all are downstairs and that disgusting giant's meat is blocking them," Giada murmured to herself.
"I'm sure the fairy already told them that to make the piece of meat move, a living mortal has to be fed on it so it would concentrate its mass to where the offering is."
Her eyes, too, roamed the place before they locked onto a dirty-blonde young man dressed in black rag-like garments who sat listlessly on the cold ground. With his rather lanky build, she was sure everybody had long determined this person to be the weakest because his aura was very faint and his breathing was very labored. There were also traces of blood in his body which seemed to be from the thorns of the stairway.
Nobody was interested to know why the young man was injured that badly. All they knew was that somebody had to die and it had to be not them.
The fairy spoke again, "Hmm, should I awaken the thing below now? If you guys are planning to challenge him, all I can is good luck. Hehe. Who knows, maybe you guys will win since this thing only~ has a thousandth of its owner's strength."
"No. We will choose a sacrifice." A lady with waist-long brown hair said immediately.
Giada was quite used to the aura of the giant's flesh and knew how things worked in this palace, that was why she was not panicking. But it was a different matter for the others, this was their first time here. The disgusting living meat that was like a sea of bloody flesh below gave off an extremely oppressive and appalling aura. Just looking at it was enough to render them weak in the knees and wanting to puke their guts out. This was why they had no whatsoever desire to provoke it or confront it.
The masked fairy clapped its hands once and then exclaimed. "Oh! Fantastic! It's a boring but smart choice. But I understand that to you weak mortals, this thing here is still like a god that none of you can touch yet. So who shall be thrown down?"
Instead of replying to her, a burly man who appeared to be a summoned one approached the youth in a long black jacket.
"You go down." An authoritative, baritone voice came from the burly man, his tone and expression were like that of a leader's ordering his subordinates to execute his command.
Giada and the others automatically looked in their direction. Even the fairy flew towards them. However, after taking in the expressions of relief, disdain, pity, and all the sorts of expressions on their expressions, the fairy wore a look of interest on its mask. The grin it donned was threatening to split its face in half.
"Mr. Black, you okay with that?" It asked as it slowly flew around them in circles. The simple nickname was made up on the spot.
The youth who was taking deep labored breaths finally raised his head. Sweat and blood covered half of his face. Nonetheless, when everyone saw his appearance, they were briefly stunned and unable to look away. The youth was quite handsome and had incredibly beautiful blue eyes. He appeared aloof and his expression showed no sign of weakness. When he gazed around sharply, it was as if he did not hear or could not be bothered to care about the burly man's words. The air around him gave the impression that he was not someone to be the least slighted.
Who was he? Everyone wondered.
Of course, after a few seconds, people remembered the exact reason why they tacitly chose him.
"Hey, it seems the injuries on you make everyone here believe that you don't have long to live." The masked fairy chuckled and voiced out the thoughts that were on their minds.
"Please." Antony, the guy who looked like a gym regular, spoke again.
Contrary to his word, the man pulled out a club-like weapon and threateningly dragged its head to the ground. By the way he acted, the man obviously planned to show no mercy if things did not go his way. His attitude would make one wonder if he acquired this in the abyss or if he was already like this even before he got summoned.
So the youth's eyes finally went to the burly man. He stared at the latter for a few seconds before he said, "I refuse."
A laugh came from Antony, followed by a condescending remark. "What? You think you have a choice? Why don't you take a second to look around you?"
Giada saw the thirteen others readying their blades to attack. Their eyes also became cold and fierce. Although all of them postponed going to the second floor, the fact that they survived to reach this place today meant that they were no weaklings. If these people banded together, what were the odds of an injured young man winning against them?
She shook her head, her eyes never leaving the figure of the guy in black. The latter remained seated with his back against the stone wall. However, a moment later, he wore a cold expression on his face.
"Let this serve as a warning then."
After that short notice, swords and daggers appeared above them and fell down. Nobody was able to react. Thankfully, no one ended up hurt. However, the blades that rained down pierced the cobblestoned floor deeply. The collective clanging noises still rang in their heads. It meant that if these weapons struck a person, it would definitely be lucky for them to stay alive and intact. When everyone realized what just happened, their minds blanked out then chills ran down their spine.
A local middle-aged man involuntarily stuttered out in both horror and surprise, his eyes nearly as wide as a regular silver coin, "Y-you're a Fallen Blessed!"
To this, Alexei, gave no reply. He merely closed his eyes and went back to rest. But nobody dared to say a thing again after detecting that the various weapons buried in the floor hover in midair to form a barricade around him.
Giada's eyes dilated before she continuously blinked. Shortly, her expression brightened. While everyone else silently decided to stay away from the youth after his display of power, Giada eagerly approached him.
Outside the artificially created barrier, she sat down and said, "Hello. I'm Giada. If you think that my name is hard to remember, you can call me Jade. Do you need some healing medicine? I have some with me."
Actually, even though Alexei had not replied yet, she had already taken out a vial from her small waist pouch.
A moment later, the boy hiding inside was surprised by the hand that popped up in between the gaps in the barricade.
"Here," simply said the girl.
Alexei was rendered speechless when the other also inserted her hand in another gap. She intentionally rubbed her skin to the edge of a blade and then opened the vial to smear a drop on the cut. Watching her series of actions, he felt dizzier and his vision started to become hazy.
"Look. It's legit and very effective." She said as the wound closed.
'... Is she not afraid that I would suddenly rotate the barricade? Or has the thought never occurred to her? If so, she would have nowhere to cry to once her hand is turned into minced meat.'
Hesitation showed on the pale face of the heavily wounded guy.
Alexei was really in need of healing because his Gift was still in hibernation and he could not do anything to his numerous injuries due to not knowing any medical skills. The wounds on his body were haphazardly wrapped in pieces of clothing or hide to stop the bleeding. But that was it. The pain could be ignored, but he knew that without actual treatment from a healer or from his Gift, it would just be a matter of time before he died from infection or other complications.
However, although he was quite desperate now, was it okay to accept help from a stranger, especially if this stranger had an obvious motive?
Alexei took a deep breath before he asked in a hoarse voice, "What do you need?"