Since Thomas could not continue traveling, Aaron let Sila take Thomas outside the gate to rest.
Aaron and Isabella discovered they were from the Sky Sword group, one of the three major groups ruling the whole floor of the Dark Pillar Tower.
When Isabella was still part of the Night Liberators, they always badmouthed the Sky Sword group or the Justice Dimension. The doctrine conveyed was that the Night Liberators were the best group among the other two.
With the help of the teleportation slip, Thomas was immediately sent away from the front gate to the group base.
"Did your group leader only send two people?" asked Isabella.
"There were five of us, two members split off to the right path. I, Thomas, and my friend took the left one."
"Unfortunately, one of our friends died. We couldn't help him, so the best option was to run away."
"I'm sorry, Sila."
Sila smiled broadly, not minding if Isabella had to discuss her friend's death. Aaron realized the awkward situation between them. He walked over and changed the subject, inviting Sila to lead him to the floor boss's room.
The four went on their way, with Sila stepping close to Aaron as a guide. Aaron didn't mind her. After all, he and the Sky Sword group had no history of hostility.
The left path was taken, Sila said some monsters were wandering ahead. Isabella reassured the woman that she could blind their detection sensors, Sila nodded in trust.
As they walked further into the maze, a strong odor similar to animal feces became more obvious. Isabella and Clara were forced to cover their noses; Aaron could still endure it, as could Sila.
The corpses were scattered all over the place. Some were decomposing, some had just died, and some even had bones. Clara stopped walking with a sick feeling in her stomach at the horror.
"Are you alright?" asked Aaron, turning to Clara.
"I'm fine ... I'm fine."
Isabella realized that Clara wasn't used to witnessing things like this, as it was her first raid on the second floor.
"Close your eyes and hold my hand. Just follow where I'm going," Isabella asked, giving a solution.
Clara took a deep breath and exhaled. Her heart slowly calmed down, and did exactly what Isabella said. They continued their journey.
Since Sila knew this maze well, she could tell the turns at every intersection. Two intersections passed, there were no monsters, as Sila had said.
'Looks like she and her friends have defeated the low-level monsters along this path,' Aaron said.
Assuming all the monsters had been defeated, Aaron and the others stopped walking when they saw two centipede monsters appear with a size not so large, about the size of a human.
[Monster Details]
[Monster: Black centipede]
[Level: 34]
[HP: 36000/36000]
[MP: 38000/38000]
[Element: Earth]
"An earth element monster?" asked Aaron.
"You don't have to worry. I can handle it," said Sila.
"Let me help you," said Isabella.
Isabella and Sila stood in a line staring forward, two monsters against two women. Aaron made way for them.
He stepped back and kept company with Clara, who was terrified at the sight of the horrific human corpses.
"Are they gonna be okay?"
"Relax. They'll be fine; I'm pretty sure of it."
The two women began to cast their magic powers and attacked their targets one by one. The black centipede monster briefly attacked, but they successfully dodged it. Aaron reached out to bring up a purple magic shield to protect him and Clara.
After fighting for half an hour, Isabella and Sila defeated the two centipede monsters. Their carcasses vaporized while dropping some important items, Aaron let the two women have them.
"Would you like to have some of these, Aaron?" asked Isabella, stepping closer to the young man.
Aaron shook his head, saying that Isabella had more rights than him. After ensuring there were no more monsters, Aaron invited Sila and the others to go.
They did not encounter any of the monsters again until they arrived at the door of the floor boss room. Sila felt grateful, as did the others.
Aaron and Isabella's arrival was the second one after the other group came first. The door closed with details of the group fighting behind the door.
"Can't we go in?" asked Aaron. Sila and Isabella shook their heads.
"No, we can't. We have to wait for them to finish defeating the floor boss," replied Sila.
"There are two possibilities: They either defeat it, or they are defeated by it," Isabella said.
Aaron opened the system panel from his watch, opened the Raid Monster system panel, and looked at the time remaining before the raid closed.
[Countdown for Closed Gate:]
[00:07:35:45]
"There are still seven hours left. We should wait and stay alert for any possible attacks," Aaron said, deciding.
Isabella and Clara agreed. Sadly, Sila chose to return to her place immediately because she had already done her job, which was to escort Aaron and the others to the front door of the floor boss room.
Aaron understood Sila's words. Not wanting Sila to go alone, Aaron said that he would go escort Sila. At first, Isabella forbade it, but because of her fear of fellow women, she understood Aaron's intentions.
Sila and Aaron stepped together to leave the place. With Aaron's company, Sila felt comfortable and calm as she made her way out of the maze.
She occasionally glanced to the side, noticing Aaron's handsome face. A wide smile spread across the woman's face.
"You guys often call each other by the names Aaron and Isabella. Is it possible that there are adventurers with the same names as those on the run for the Night Liberators group?" asked Sila, smiling slightly while keeping her eyes focused forward.
Aaron was stunned, having not realized that Sila was that sensitive. He and Isabella were also foolish enough to often slip up calling each other.
The young man's steps halted with an intimidating glare in his eyes. Sila realized that Aaron was watching her. She turned her head and locked eyes with him.
"Are you afraid of me telling them?" Sila asked. Aaron was silent.
"Don't worry. You saved me and my friend. Seeing your attitude, I think that group is the problem," Sila continued, taking another step.
"Yes. They are indeed a problem."
"So, what's your objective, Aaron?" asked Sila.
"Do everything possible to leave the Dark Pillar Tower, no matter what it takes."
Sila gasped at Aaron's words. Somehow, what Aaron said was exactly what she had wanted all along. Although Sila was trapped five years ago, she already understood much about the situation here.
"Do you know how to leave here?" asked Sila, Aaron cleared his throat.
"By becoming a Dark Ruler."
"True, but to get the title of Dark Ruler, you must at least defeat the boss of the last floor, the 100th floor."
"The best achievement of adventurers in this place is the 70th floor. Are you sure you can do it?" asked Sila, wanting to confirm Aaron's determination of heart and mind.
Aaron was silent with his eyes closed, then could be heard taking a deep breath. Confidently, he brought up his purple energy and soul servant before Sila, startling the woman.
"I'm sure I can do it."