"What's wrong with Asmond? He hasn't been saying anything to us, not even a greet," Rufus asked as he helped carry ten bags of cement on his left hand. "Hey! Are you even listening?" Rufus looked at Roxanne who was daydreaming and stared blankly at the ground.
"You're lucky that you weren't there," Roxanne said as she stood up.
The rumor about Mykel's aura that made everyone around him cripple in fear had spread all over the thirteen districts. Those who were there back then when Mykel visited Fraternity headquarters were all still traumatized by it even though it had been three days since that day.
The fear was still lingering and crawling on Roxanne's back. She had nightmares and had been unable to sleep since that day. She did tell Rufus and the others about what happened that day, and she warned them not to make Mykel angry.
"Can you leave me alone just for a moment?" Roxanne asked and showed her empty eyes with a troubled expression to Rufus.
Rufus realized that she was still traumatized and that he shouldn't be bothering her. "Sorry," Rufus said as he walked away and glanced at her for one last time.
Mykel noticed it after he left the building back then, about the [Judgement Arcana] skill. There was a debuff called [Judged] that made everyone fall to their weakest condition mentally and physically. Edith and Enma didn't recover even after he stabilized their mind. That was why the [Forgiveness] skill existed with the [Judgement Arcana] skill to remove the debuff.
The [Judged] debuff would disappear at a certain amount of time depending on their resistance skill. Even Edith who had the [Status Resistance] skill maxed needed a month before the debuff disappeared.
"Can you go and cheer her up, Arum?" Rufus asked as he dropped the bags of cement on the construction site. "She shouldn't be alone like that," Rufus continued and looked at Arum who was busy counting the bags of cement and the other materials.
"My hands are full here," Arum said pitifully.
"I'll take care of everything. Just go and be there for her," Rufus said as he sighed. He then grabbed the papers in Arum's hands. "Go now," Rufus shooed Arum and started counting.
Rufus was done counting and decided to take a small break near the construction site for a temporary shelter and base. He was drinking a cold coke on the side of the road, and then he noticed a group of Awakeners coming toward the site.
"Herrick! Holy shit you're alive?!" Rufus threw the can into the trash bin as he crossed the street and looked at Herrick, his friend.
"Huh? What do you mean by that? Of course, I'm alive!" Herrick answered as he looked at the construction. "We were with the Guild Association since we found the demonic cult hideout and we were there to invest with them," Herrick explained.
"I thought you were dead because your name is on the list..." Rufus said as he looked at how healthy Herrick was except for the tattered and broken armor that he wore. "I'm glad that you're alive," Rufus continued as he patted Herrick on the back.
"I look like shit, I'm going back first and reporting that we are still alive. See you later, Rufus," Herrick said and left with dozens of Awakeners next and behind him.
Rufus looked at Herrick and the group of Awakeners around him. "That's weird. I never thought he would be that close with those guys," Rufus said to himself. "Ehh, whatever, maybe they managed to survive thanks for working together or something. Shit happens," Rufus continued and walked back into the site.
(Inside the Lucifer Tower, Babel Tower)
"Three days, huh? Three days and we are still walking inside this giant hall. We can fill millions of people inside this place," Rozan said as he cleaned everyone with water magic.
"Do we really have to take care of this endless army of demons? We have been fighting nonstop, and it would take us months if we keep going with this pace," Vincze said. "I mean, it's nice that our levels are rising like crazy and our skills as well, but do we really want to be stuck in this place for that long?" Vincze continued and sat down after he had a nice bath from Rozan.
"We can fly with Rozan's dragons, but what about those people that followed us here when we entered the fortieth floor portal?" Jeanne asked as she looked at hundreds of people cowering in fear.
"Jeanne, we are still on the first floor ever since we teleported here. Remember, there are still nine floors just like this or even bigger right below us. Do you still have the time to think about the others in this kind of situation?" Agnez asked as she sheathed her sword and watched Brynhilde and her team and the Royal Knights dealt with the waves of demons in front of them.
"Agnez is right, Jeanne. We can't do anything about them. They're drowning, and if we tried to save them, we might get dragged and drowned with them as well," Sven said as he stretched his arms. "It's the risk they took to come with us. We didn't ask them to come, they knew the consequences, and now they have to deal with it," He continued.
Everyone looked at Jeanne and she knew what was in their minds. They were thinking the same as Sven, and even Nagy knew that it wasn't their responsibility to take care of them.
"You're the new team leader now, so it's your call. We will follow you," Agnez said and judgingly stared at Jeanne.
"Let's leave. Rozan, do you think your dragons can bring a lot of people?" Jeanne asked and she sounded sad when she had to leave those people behind.
"I can only bring dozens, less than a hundred people. But, Gerrard can bring dozens of people if we use his wolves and his giant crow as well. That should be enough for all of us, including Brynhilde and the others," Rozan answered.
Jeanne nodded with understanding, and then Rozan and Gerrard summoned their Homunculus. They all hopped onto the dragons, wolves, and the giant crow's back. Jeanne looked back for one last time and saw those Awakeners staring at them in disbelief and fear of being abandoned.
"Let's go," Jeanne said to Rozan as she rode the wolf.
Rozan commanded the dragons and started to fly low since he wanted the dragons to kill the demons as they left. It was so the people who rode the wolves could safely follow them from behind without having to deal with demons.
"Le-let's follow them! If we run fast enough, we might be able to survive!" A man with a sword in his right hand said.
"It's too late, the demons already blocked the path. We won't be able to follow them. We are going to die here," The man with the staff replied. "I don't think my magic would be able to kill this many demons," He continued.
They were surrounded by demons, and they had nowhere to go, and even if they could leave, the hall looked endless. They were stuck there, and nobody could save them, but suddenly they heard people shouting from the distance.
Thanks to the commotion, all the demons were more attracted to what was coming out from the portal in the far distance. Some of them flew toward it while the rest stayed to deal with what was in front of them.
"I don't know who they are, but if we try our hardest to defend ourselves, we might be able to survive!" The man with the shield said.
Hours had passed and they had used all their stamina, but the demons were still coming toward them. They had given up and accepted their fate in those demons' hands, but then a water barrier protected them and prevented the demons from getting closer to them.
"Are you guys alright?!" Leonard asked as he entered the barrier. "Thank goodness you guys are fine," He sighed as he wiped off the sweat on his forehead. "You guys are crazy to follow them," He continued as he caught his breath.
"Leonard!" Everyone said with relief.
"Don't thank me. Everyone is here because we have the same reason," Leonard shook his head and waved his hand. "You guys get some rest because everyone is here," Leonard turned around and saw more and more people appear from the crowds of demons. "Like literally everyone," Leonard saw his strongest friends that he met in Gehenna. Powerful Awakeners of each world were there with him.
"Get some rest, we will take it from here," Leonard said as he swung his swords around, and then left the barrier to clean up the area.
