Rodius felt his spine shiver and his blood run cold. The hair on the back of his neck and arms stood on end as he heard the pained, hopeless screeches of the monsters on the other side of the stone dome that Leon had erected to separate the boss from the monsters outside.
Thud!
The sound of the boss of the floor falling to the floor, dead, turned his attention to the dark haired mage. Jet landed beside the corpse of the boss with an audible sound. His breath was ragged and sweat ran down the side of his face, but the look on his face was one of confusion.
This was the boss, right? Then why did it feel like the real fight was going on outside the dome? The fight had been intense and the boss was very tough. He had only managed to kill it through pure skill and intense bombardments of his special spatial bombs. It had drained his mana levels like water leaking through a basket, but he had managed. Even still, he did not feel fulfilled.
“What the hell is going on out there?” He asked the family of red haired people. Walking over to the wall, he placed a hand against it and a three meter by two meter door was carved out, making way for them to leave the dome. What they were met with sent shivers down their spines. If not that as powerful people, they were used to such bloody and gory sights, then they would have hurled up what was in their stomachs by now.
The bloody corpses of dozens of monsters spread out ahead of them. The ground was soaked with so much blood that it had become saturated, causing puddles of muddy blood to gather in some areas. Innards and other body parts were strewn about the place.
Up ahead, they could see that the very air itself had changed. It was darker, colder, and uninviting to anything living.
“Leon!” Jet exclaimed, spotting his friend in the distance. He took a step forward but paused when he felt a terrifying pressure settle on his shoulders. At once, he fell to his knees, heart palpitating and out of breath.
Opposite Leon stood ten three meter tall, armored beings. Most of them had a lean, humanoid form, with a couple of them being on the bulkier side. As one, the armored beings all fell to one knee, with their heads bowed.
Leon watched the ten beings in front of him with a strange feeling within his chest. His core felt cold and detached, but he was able to tell that these beings were connected to him in some way.
“Who-” He tried to question their presence, but he suddenly felt a spike of cold darkness stabbed into his core, and his vision shook. He staggered backwards, and Nero caught him, but before he could register anything else, everything went dark.
As soon as he lost consciousness, his skills all cancelled and all his summons were drawn back into the Abyss of the Undead, with the addition of the ten new armored beings. Nero, who was supporting Leon, vanished, leaving Leon to fall against the carcass of a raptor.
“Leon!” The heavy pressure that rested on the shoulders of Leon’s companions vanished, allowing them to rush forward to his aid. Jet teleported beside Leon and held up his body, propping him up. He wanted to press a finger against Leon’s neck to check for a pulse, but was reminded that Leon was simply just a skeleton. But the faint spark of life that seemed to radiate from Leon’s core reassured him that Leon was still alive.
“Are you going to leave him alive?” Rodius suddenly spoke up. His voice was stiff, hard and cold. It sent a cold shiver down Jet’s spine.
“…What?” Jet slowly asked. He could feel the thick killing intent wafting off the man’s eyes. He turned to look up at Rodius to find that the man’s eyes had already narrowed to slits. Claws extended from the tips of his fingers, showing that he was ready for a fight.
“He is dangerous. Too dangerous to leave alive. Sure, he might have been friendly all this while, but who knows if he plans to do away with us when he gets the chance.” Rodius spoke firmly. It was clear that he did not intend to back down.
Jet turned back to look at the body in his arms, then turned back to Rodius. The time he had spent with Leon flashed through his mind. He only remembered the laughing friend he had made. He was firm in his cheerful attitude, with gloom coming over him in very few occasions. They had fought many people before the Tower of Trials had appeared, but he had never once killed any of them. Unless he was an expert in hiding his killing intent, then Jet would have surely noticed it.
Jet did not need to think about it much before he decided on his answer.
“No.” He said firmly. He laid Leon back against the monster corpse and unsheathed his sword. “You won’t harm a bone on his body.” He stood firmly against Rodius.
“Father.” Maria stepped up and held onto Rodius’ elbow. The man turned to give his daughter a questioning look and was met with a firm shake of her head. She did not support his actions this time.
Rodius turned back forward but did not look at Jet. Instead, he peered past him and focused his sharp eyes on Leon.
“Count yourself lucky this time, Lex. Take this as payment for my daughter’s life.” He grunted and turned around, walking back to the collapsed earth dome that marked the boss room. A swirling portal had appeared in the middle of the marked out area. With another look back, he stepped into it, followed by his son and daughter.
Jet let out a sigh in relief as he let the tension fade from his body. He turned back to Leon before picking up his body and walking over to the boss room.