Moreover, the challenge was about Gabriel winning. He could win without even killing them. At least, that's what he thought.
Cylix saw Gabriel's hesitation, momentarily getting stunned.
"Ha...hahaha… Hahahahaha!"
He covered his face with his hands as he burst into a laughter, but it wasn't a mocking laughter. It was something else... Something much more emotional.
In Gabriel's eyes, he could see the respect that he had never expected. Even though they didn't show Gabriel their intentions to teach him, always hiding behind excuses as to why they were training him, the young kid still treated them like teachers.
After a long time, Cylix stopped laughing and flashed a weak smile filled with gratitude.
Young Cylix was left here by the main Cylix before they could even get real students in the outside World. These versions of Cylix and Novius hadn't experienced what it was like to have a student, but with Gabriel, they had received the missing puzzle of their life.
Now they had achieved everything. Even though the top floor was on the line, Gabriel still couldn't get himself to kill them.
"Gabriel... Thank you..." Cylix said. His voice was slightly unusual now as this time; it wasn't filled with his usual authority. It was more like a man who had received everything he wanted in his life, having no desires left.
"Unfortunately, you can't get to the top floor unless you kill us... So do it. Take the final step..." Cylix insisted. Even though he was back now and could fight back, he had accepted his defeat already. If it were anyone other than Gabriel, he would've already been dead after all.
"If you don't kill us, you can't get to the top floor... You must do it. Don't worry about us! It's not bad to be free after all these years..." Cylix stated, but Gabriel still didn't push the spear ahead.
In the outside World, he was often confused as to who was a good guy and who wasn't since everyone had a hidden side that they didn't show. Even from Lira, he had received the same impression when he met her, that there was something inside her that she wasn't showing, which made him always keep his guard around her.
However, with Cylix and Novius, it was different. Even though these two claimed that they were training him because they didn't want a boring challenge or because they wanted to make this trial harder for him by restricting his Origin Element in the battles, he could feel that there was something more to it.
Through the conversations they had in the last month, the time they spent under the moonlight, it was different. They didn't look like they were just teaching him for the sake of it. They were like real teachers who genuinely helped him, scolding him at times and praising him at others.
Gabriel raised his head. He couldn't see the hundredth floor from here and only the sky. However, he knew that the hundredth Floor was going to have some nice treasures for sure... Maybe treasures that could help him even more.
However, there was one question in his head. Could those treasures really be better than the knowledge Cylix and Novius had imparted to him?
In his left hand, he still had the Soul Healing Pill that made it possible for him to at least stand in this battle for so long. He glanced at the pill given to him by Cylix.
There was a strong dilemma in his head. On one side, he wanted to think logically, and that required him to kill Cylix. In any case, Cylix was just a spiritual form and not a real person. However, on the other end, he didn't want to repay Cylix's gratitude with death.
"Is there no other way to get to the hundredth floor?" he asked Cylix, wondering if there really was no other option.
Cylix shook his head. "There is none. You must kill the Guardians of the Floor, which is us. So do it... Take the step!"
Gabriel took a deep breath as he prepared himself. However, just as he was about to thrust his spear, he stopped again.
"Gabriel..." Cylix saw the same hesitation again. "Please... Do it. This is the freedom we craved for all our life! We have been waiting for this moment. If you think we helped you even a little, and want to repay it, then kill us! That will be your best gift to us! Free us from this World! You can't stop after coming this far..."
Gabriel raised his head and looked at Novius in the distance. Were these people really tormented on this floor? They really wanted freedom?
In the distance, Novius also saw Gabriel's hesitation. After seeing Gabriel look in his direction, he just nodded as if talking through his eyes.
"Finally, we can be free..." Cylix stated. "Finally, we can merge with the real stars instead of looking at the fake sky in this fake world... Finally, we can be free of our prison... You have no idea how long I waited for this moment. For someone to rightfully defeat me."
With more information, Gabriel believed their words. He had always seen something strange in their eyes as if they were the eyes of the people who had been trapped in a dark cell all their lives and craved for freedom. This was their freedom...
Gabriel tightened his grip around the Spear of Light. Even though it was a hard decision, he couldn't keep them imprisoned in this place.
"Thank you... For everything..." Gabriel's voice fell in Cylix's ears before a spear stabbed straight into his chest, right where his heart was supposed to be.
Cylix didn't grunt in pain. Even though his face was pale, he didn't feel hurt. Instead, he looked as if he was filled with gratitude.
"I... couldn't have asked... for a better student..." Cylix stated as his body started disappearing. "I hope you get the happiness you're looking for as well..."
Slowly his body turned into specks of light. Before Gabriel could even respond, Cylix's body disappeared entirely.
At around the same time, Gabriel's spear also disappeared as he also dropped to the ground, finally losing his own consciousness as well. He had been forcing his body throughout the battle, but eventually, all the damage caught up.
Seeing Gabriel call, Novius appeared right next to him, checking to see if he was fine.
As he was checking Gabriel, even he didn't see that a small speck of light had entered Gabriel's ring, disappearing into it.
"Just unconscious... This kid... He really pushed himself today." Novius picked Gabriel in his arms to take him back, but not before glancing one last time at the exact spot where Cylix had died.
"Have a safe journey, old friend."
