After killing the monsters, Aldred continued to walk around with his wives and soldiers following him from behind.
As they were walking, they saw another group of people.
"Eh… how could somebody be here?" Aldred raised an eyebrow.
"You." A man pointed his large sword at Aldred. "Where did you enter this place from?"
"From the sea," Aldred said.
"From the sea… Are you saying that we're underwater?"
Aldred nodded. "What about you?"
"We were falling inside a ravine, and we suddenly appeared here."
"I see. So there's another entrance," Aldred said. "Well, that's normal. It was also the same on Mount Fargon."
"Would you like to go together?" The man asked. "You seem to bring a lot of people there, adding a few more is no problem, right?"
Aldred activated his godly eyes and checked whether they brought something suspicious. He found nothing of the sort.
"I guess you can go with us, but let me remind you that we are not saints. We will protect ourselves first before thinking about anyone else."
The man laughed. "I prefer it that way as well. Everyone must lift their own weight. My name is Nali. What about you?"
"Aldred."
"Nice to meet you. Let us pass this trial together."
Aldred did not reply but nodded nonetheless.
The narrow hallway now became wider, and enough for twelve people to walk side by side. The ceiling was taller too.
Nali approached Aldred with a smile and shook his hand. "I am glad I met other people here. This place is filled with monsters."
"You killed all of them?"
"Yes!" A petite, beautiful woman said. "Nali is our leader, and he's a kind man. It's because of him that we can survive in this place." She hugged Nali's arms.
Nali chuckled. "Don't say that. It's because of all of us that we survive. By the way, this is Bilane. She's my childhood friend, and we have been adventuring together for years."
"Hello," Bilane greeted with a cute smile. "Are you a treasure hunter as well?"
"If I am not, I wouldn't be here."
Bilane giggled. "You guys look strong."
"Come on, Bilane. Don't annoy them."
Bilane pouted and softly hit him. "Who said I am annoying?"
"Let's set up a camp here," Aldred suddenly said.
"Is there a problem?" Nali asked. "We can keep going."
"I like to take things slow instead of rushing in. Besides, it's not about how fast we pass this trial, it's how far we can go."
Nali was amazed. "That's a good saying."
They then set up a camp in the wide hallway. The hallway was now wide enough for five tents to sit next to each other.
As Bartrem and his soldiers made campfires, Aldred's wives sat on the logs while Aldred was inside the tent doing something.
Suddenly, Bilane came with flushed cheeks.
"Bilane was it?" Mira asked. "How can we help you?"
Bilane hesitated and she squirmed around. "Ummm… can I ask something?"
"What would you like to ask?" Zafrina replied while Sophia was gripping her staff, ready to strike.
"Ummm… If it's okay to ask, how do you make a man like you?"
"Hmm?" They looked at each other.
"I have been waiting for Nali to make love with me, but it's been years and he hasn't made a move yet. Now, I wonder if he likes me at all."
Sophia released her grip from the staff.
"Ummm," Mary hesitated as well. "We're not exactly the best person you can ask."
"That is true. All we did was throw ourselves at Aldred."
They all nodded at that comment.
"Throw yourselves at him…? Will that work?"
"It worked on him, I don't know about anyone else though," Mary said. "Aldred is one of a kind."
"How can I throw myself at him? Do I just pounce on him?"
Sophia shook her head. "Wait when he's on his bed. At night, when he's about to sleep, enter his tent, and lay on top of him as you stare into his eyes."
"Ohh…. And then what do I do?"
"And then you lick your lips, and tell him your feeling," Sophia said.
Bilane's eyes lit up. "So that's how… Okay, I will do that."
That night, Bilane did something she never thought she would dare to do, but desperate for confirmation she did what she had to do.
"Nali!" She called when she opened his tent, and then pounced on him.
That night, a soft moan could be heard.
…
The next day.
Nali and Bilane walked while holding hands with each other. Their faces flushed red because of their activity yesterday.
Mary and the other women looked at each other with a smile. Bilane noticed them and gave them a thumbs up.
"What are you looking at?" Aldred asked his wives.
"Nothing," Mary said.
Aldred shrugged. He put all the tents in his divine dimension and waited for Nali's team to clean up.
"Your power is very convenient," Nali said.
"Everyone says that."
After they folded their tent and put it back in their spatial bag, they continued their journey.
As they walked forward, they heard hundreds of thumping footsteps from the front.
Aldred squinted his eyes and saw that the hallway was plagued with monsters.
"At arms!" Aldred shouted as he summoned his Phantom Doomblade.
Aldred dashed relentlessly and slashed with his sword again and again.
His wives also charged forward and attacked, slaughtering dozens of monsters at once, and his fighter golems leaped forward, jumping above their heads and landing behind the monsters before slashing left and right.
They passed a lot of people as they killed the monsters, increasing the number of people in their party.
They didn't have time for an introduction however as they fought the monsters coming from four different directions.
Suddenly, a green shadow appeared, charging towards Nali at lightning speed.
Nali gritted his teeth as he raised his sword and blocked the attack. When he saw the full figure of the monster, he was shocked to see a three-meters tall mantis.
The mantis was clearly much stronger than him, so he thought of a way to escape.
"Nali! I will help you!" Bilane ran towards him with her magic staff.
"Perfect chance!" Nali ran towards her, grabbed her by the collar, and threw her at the monster.
The mantis flashed forward and Bilane was suddenly cut in half.
Bilane's eyes widened as she couldn't believe what just happened. She would never imagine Nali, her childhood friend, her best friend, and now her lover would do such a cruel thing.
It was unimaginable, unthinkable, and never in her life would such a thought pass through her mind.
Time seemed to slow down as her upper body started to fall to the floor. She started to question whether she really knew Nali or not.
She had been with him for years, but apparently, she knew nothing of the real him.
Within that short moment, right before her world turned to eternal darkness, she realized that she had been living a lie.
Stella noticed this but she did not care. She had seen her fair share of betrayals, lies, and cruelty. For her, this was not a moment for sympathy, but merely a natural cycle of survival.
Sacrificing others for one's own survival. People might think it was cruel and disdain those who act upon it, but they did not realize that they butchered animals every single day, just so they could fill their own bellies.
Those who call themselves saints but still feast upon others are nothing but hypocrites.
