The thought of the future scared Azekiel. That was why he had decided that he was going to take things one day at a time and not think too far ahead. He didn't want to think too much about the uncertain future.
If there was agony in his fate, he couldn't just change that fate. He couldn't just stop climbing the tower in fear after all. He needed to continue becoming stronger without worrying about the side effects.
*****
Azekiel entered the tent while everyone else waited outside for him to come out, but it didn't look like he was going to come out anytime soon. Twenty minutes had passed, and Azekiel still wasn't out, which made people wonder what was he even doing inside?
Many of the fifty had already sat down on the ground, seemingly tired of standing while waiting as they discussed what responsibilities they were going to have.
It was going to be the first time for many of them to work as a Porter for a King, after all. They had often watched the kings fight monsters on the screen, sometimes even seeing their Porters in the view, standing in the distance. They wondered if they were also going to be shown on the screen in the future.
Their excitement for the coming future had made them forget about the risks that came with it.
Finally, after a long time, they sensed some movement. Azekiel finally stepped out of the portal. He seemed a bit more relaxed now than he looked previously. For some reason, he seemed a bit... Less scary now.
"Alright, so let me tell you your mission. You are all Porters of mine from now on. And your responsibility is simple. All you need to do is come to this floor, take food, transport it to me on the second floor, then come back. Get more food, transport up. That's all you need to do."
"You won't be fighting with me. You won't be in the line of danger. You'll just be shifting things from one place to another. I'll give you more details on how to do it."
Throughout the next ten minutes, he told his plan to the others in brief. He wasn't like any other Kings who could fight without needing so much food. He needed extra preparation, and that's what he did.
He assigned five people to guard this place. He also told the other forty people to pick up the food and follow him. He instructed them exactly how much they needed and how they needed to maintain their timing.
After everyone was ready, Azekiel started leaving. The other followed behind him.
On his way back, Azekiel didn't forget to warn everyone on Floor Zero about one thing.
"That place! It's mine now! I swear to god, if any of you tried to steal from me or hurt the guards there, I will come back, and I'll burn everyone alive. So yeah, keep that in mind." After warning everyone, Azekiel left.
He entered the portal. The people who were going in the first time were really scared as they had seen a person be obliterated for entering when he shouldn't. They were scared if they were going to go through the same fate.
Fortunately, there were people in the team who had done it before with other Kings. They told the concerned people that they were going to be fine now that Azekiel had allowed them to enter.
Gathering all their courage, everyone stepped inside the portal only to appear on the first floor.
The majestic Library of Sin! Fifty commoners stood in the library. So far, they had only seen the library on the screen. They couldn't help but stare wide-eyed. This place! It looked even more majestic in reality.
"Stop gawking. Follow the King!" One of the men lazily stated as he followed Azekiel, carrying a heavy bag on his back.
The other men also followed behind, coming out of their dazes.
Finally, Azekiel reached the portal of the second floor once again, but this time, he didn't stop.
"Here begins the first day of the rest of our lives." His voice echoed in the Library of Sin as he disappeared.
Raphael and Lia accompanied Azekiel side by side, really curious to see what the second floor was going to be like. What Trials were they going to face?
.....
Second Floor... It was the floor that had taken six months to be cleared by the King of Wrath. The Floor was under the control of the King of Wrath, but that didn't mean the floor was any less chaotic! In fact, the floor was even more chaotic now that other Kings had also cleared this floor.
Unlike the first floor, the second Floor wasn't something that could reset after the floor was cleared. So every King that cleared the floor had changed the floor in massive ways.
With each King passing, the floor became even more difficult for the next King. That was also why each King took more time than the one before them to clear this floor.
This floor was also the one that taught the Kings the importance of being first even clearing the floor! Being first didn't just mean that you were going to get the title of the ruler. It also meant that you could make things more difficult for the person after you to increase your leads on floors.
Azekiel was two years late in coming here, and he was also the last period here. He knew how difficult things were going to be for him.
As Azekiel stepped out of the Portal, he was stunned to notice his surroundings. He seemed to appear on the battlefield of some kind!
He was right in the middle of the battle where two armies seemed to be fighting each other! One army had the symbol of a Spear, while the other army had the spear of a golden cup.
Observing those symbols, it didn't take Azekiel even a minute to realize what was happening here.
The army with the insignia of Spear belonged to the Empire that Michael had created on this Floor! On the other hand, the army with the symbol of the golden cup seemed to belong to the King of Greed, Elijah.
The battle seemed to have just begun.
"What is happening here?" Raphael asked in confusion.
"Michael is dead. King of Greed Elijah probably got greedy for the Empire and resources of Michael. Now that Michael is dead, the Empire has no King. It seems that Elijah is taking advantage of the situation," Azekiel explained; however, as he was speaking, a soldier came running from the back with a spear.
Fortunately, being silent in the warzone was the last thing that soldier was worried about as he roared like a Viking when attacking.
Azekiel glanced back, seemingly amused. Even though the soldier ran at his fastest, his speed was nothing before Azekiel.
Azekiel simply took one step to the left, avoiding the spear that was aiming for his heart, before grabbing the neck of the soldier.
"Wrong target," Azekiel said softly before a cracking sound resounded. He tossed the body of the man away, whose neck was just crushed...
