Aldred looked up, right at the peak of Mount Savy. The mountain was silent except for the footsteps of the adventurers, trodding. He was walking in front of all of them until a few groups walked a bit faster and passed Aldred's group.
Aldred saw them glaring at him as if saying that they would take the lead.
He shook his head. It was clear that the group did not fight their way to the third phase. Anyone that had passed the first two phases would understand that being overconfident could cost their life.
Aldred did not care about them. He could kill them now, but it would be better if they walked in front, and suffered whatever traps the third phase would offer.
A giant boulder fell upon the front group, smashing them to bloody pieces before the boulder rolled and fell down the mountain.
'That was quick,' Aldred thought before he began walking again.
Meanwhile, the people behind him were trembling in fear. Some looked unconcerned because this had happened to them a lot, but there were those who bought their way to the third phase with money.
And of course, they never expected all of this to happen. First was the swarm attacks from the Ranehawkes, now an entire group got killed by a giant boulder.
What else would they face later on?
Aldred and the others who had passed the third phase looked at death, corpses, blood, and spilled internal organs like it was a daily occurrence.
Well, it was a daily occurrence anyway, so there was no reason to be surprised all the time.
His wives and soldiers were already used to it as well.
Krista on the other hand would get her eyes covered by Mira every time this happened, so she did not get to see the bloody gore most of the time.
"Sister Mira, why can't Krista see?"
Mira rubbed her head. "You cannot see, Krista. It will be too scary for you. I will get you some candies later, okay?"
Krista nodded. "Un."
They continued to climb the mountain, walking ever so slowly, conserving energy. They knew up ahead there would be something that required their strength more than now.
Aldred looked to the back and saw some familiar faces. It was the viking men. They were wearing thick dragon scales, as their helmet, armor, gloves, and even their weapons were the fangs of dragons and teeth of other creatures.
"Hey, Aldred," Mary called. "Aren't they the vikings we saw at Mount Fargon?"
"Yeah. I can't believe they survived."
"Seems like they're lucky," Mareona said.
"Maybe they are that strong," Aldred replied.
"I doubt it. You and Stella are already super powerful, and even five hundred Gold Ranks cannot defeat you," Mareona said. "And even with such strength, we barely came out alive."
"I would have run away if I had to fight five hundred Gold Ranks," Aldred said.
"You can simply call your golem and undead army."
"Oh, I didn't know I was allowed to do that. In that case, even a thousand Gold Ranks would not be a problem."
"Exactly. With your power, we are still struggling to pass every phase," Mareona explained. "How can they pass the challenge with strength alone? They have to be sleeping with the goddess of luck every night."
"Maybe," Aldred said.
CRACK!
A loud sound boomed as the mountain shook.
The ground in front of them cracked, and then a portion of the ground got cut off from the rest before it slid down the slope.
"Fuck! Run!"
The people standing on that mass of earth tried to run back, but a lot of them were too late, and they fell.
The ground crushed everyone below.
"That was quite the landslide," Aldred calmly said.
He stepped forward, stopping at the edge as he looked down. "Yeah, no one will survive that fall. Stella, can you teleport us to the other side."
Stella spun her staff and activated her half-broken golden disc. It shone with sparkling star particles and then, they suddenly vanished.
"As expected, the world prevented teleportation," Aldred said.
A man walked forward. "What a loser. Let me show you guys something. In this situation, you need to rely on speed."
The man stretched his body before kicking the ground and sprinting. He then leaped on the wall, and then kept on sprinting, feet stuck on the vertical wall.
A boulder rolled and struck him.
A Ranehawk cried from above, and then it left.
"Seems like we need something other than speed," Aldred said.
The adventurers gasped in shock as Aldred was thinking of a solution.
"I got an idea. Xer Xai!"
Xer Xai suddenly appeared in front of him. Aldred climbed on top of his head, and walked across, using the gigantic undead as a bridge. "Let's go guys."
His wives and comrades leaped onto Xer Xai and crossed to the other side.
"Wait!" a man shouted with a bunch of people following from behind. "Respected Sir. Can we also use your creature as a bridge?"
"No."
"Eh…" the man was stunned. He obviously did not expect a blunt reply like that.
"Please, Sir. I can give you money."
Aldred looked at him with a smile. "I can give you money to turn around and walk back home. How much do you want? One billion gold coins? Two billion? Or ten billion?"
The people there were shocked by what Aldred said. Ten billion gold coins? Was this man for real?
"I can pay you as much as I want to reduce competitors."
Aldred wanted to say he could kill everyone here and there, but he did not want to look arrogant.
"So is that a no?" the man asked.
"Yes. It's a no."
Xer Xai vanished before Aldred began walking again.
"Damn, what an arrogant bastard!" a warrior stomped on the ground.
The man in the lead narrowed his eyes. "He's got the strength to be arrogant. Ignore him. Let's think of a way to cross to the other side."
"HURAA!!"
"HURAA!!"
"HURAA!!"
The adventurers turned their heads to look at the viking men who were sprinting at full speed while wielding their heavy weapons. Right after they reached the edge, they leaped high into the sky and arrived at the other side.
The gap was more than 200 meters. So that meant they just jumped and passed a 200-meter crater, all while using pure strength.
"Cih! If I can use my levitation magic!"
A bunch of them eventually managed to cross, but some failed and fell like many others.
Aldred looked back and smiled. Everyone here understood that they were one step away from obtaining the treasure. The only thing that stopped them from killing each other now was the fear of what was in front of them. Some challenges require sacrifices, and they would not be able to pass without enough bloodshed on the ground.
In Aldred's eyes, these people were beasts waiting to murder each other at the right time.
The wind blew Aldred's hair. "The wind is a little harsher here."
"It will be harsher the higher we go," Stella said.
Aldred shrugged. "At least it wasn't as bad as Mount Fargon."
