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Chapter 933: In The Shadow Of The Ages

The biggest concern came from assassins. Those are the figures who are most likely to create martial intents related purely to killing, and also have the expertise to cover their traces in one way or another. For these people, not only was their newfound power encouraging them to go out and exercise it, they intuitively knew how to avoid being caught.

Unfortunately, there was not much I could do without having the gods step in and manually identify these killers. And, while this was an option, I was reluctant to accept it. After all, if I were to make it so easy for the people to rely on the Greater Pantheon to solve their problems, I would only be in more trouble during key moments like an invasion.

Unless the situation became truly desperate, I couldn’t afford to let them take action so easily. Thinking so, I shook my head. There was one thing that I could do, though I wasn’t sure how much of an effect it would have on the crime rate of martial will users. At the very least, I could give some hope to the people.

News of the Keeper’s new home, Olympus, spread throughout the world, carried by the behemoth that was mass media. The news that the Keeper’s world now hung in the night sky, a place for him and the Greater Pantheon to live in. From the reports issued by Olympus itself, the planet would regularly move between worlds, staying in no one place for more than a few days at a time.

While it was not explicitly stated that this new world was forbidden to outsiders, the message that it was a home made for the Greater Pantheon was understood by all. For those who gazed at the stars of Earth, they quickly identified this new world that had appeared within their solar system. Some of them had seen such before, but had not known what it meant, while others were witnessing it for the first time.

For the most part, this did not change the daily lives of common citizens. Those who often followed the movements of the Sky Citadel now simply changed their methods to watching the stars to track Olympus.

With the knowledge that Olympus was no longer just the Keeper’s home, but also the home of all from the Greater Pantheon, that led to Olympus itself being referenced when thinking about any of those divine beings. Because of this, a greater portion of divinity went towards this new world.

Of course, not everyone saw things the same way. For some, the Keeper’s new home was an opportunity. One advantage to the Sky Citadel was that it could appear in any world it wanted, hovering over the ground. Now, with Olympus being so far away, it provided some with the comfort of believing that their actions would not be seen by the eyes of the Keeper so long as they were just a little bit careful.

One such individual gave a dark smile as he heard the news, as if the chance that he had been waiting for so long had finally arrived. He stood, straightening out his clothes, and began to humm to himself. As he walked, there was a wet squelch from the ground beneath, his feet sinking into a puddle of blood.

His body was draped in a red cloak, an oaken staff waiting for him near the door. “It looks like things will be heating up now.” He said with a dark chuckle, opening the door and walking out. As he left, the liquid evaporated from the soles of his shoes. He looked up at the stone sky, in a world that had no need to worry about the eyes that existed beyond the clouds.

His humming continued as he walked away, moving several blocks before lightly striking the staff he carried against the ground. When he did, the house that he had previously emerged from burst into crimson flames, consuming itself and all evidence of what had once transpired within its confines.

Once again, his eyes glanced upwards, but this time he was not looking at the stone sky. Instead, he imagined the floors beyond it, and all that he had heard from recent days. How fun would it be to mess with the plans of those at the top? To drain the life from those who think themselves infallible?

The man gave a dark chuckle, walking towards the distant gate and pulling out a single black coin. “The forty-first level, please.” He said, the priest’s eyes going wide. News of new floors had indeed been spreading, and it was common practice for priests to visit the gates of every floor for the purposes of aiding travelers.

However, it was surprising for someone to ask for transportation straight from the tenth floor to one so high. Regardless, even if it was unusual, it was still the job of Aurivy’s clergy to see it through. “Of course, sir.” He said with a smile, offering a small prayer to create a golden portal. “Have a safe journey.”

“Thank you for that.” The man smiled, a shadow hidden behind his eyes as he walked. As soon as he stepped through the gate, he rolled his shoulders, feeling the weight of the world pressing down against him. “So this is the higher floors…”

It had not been long since the floors advanced beyond the fortieth, so the construction of Gate’s Rest was still underway. Wherever the man looked, he could see Maxers standing guard, preparing to fight back against any forces.

Thanks to a bit of research, he knew that the fortieth floor was an almost barren zone with giant mountains and crags. However, there existed life beneath the surface in the forms of various insects, many of which had a tendency to ambush their prey from below.

Seeing a newcomer, one who seemed to be an adventurer no less, one of those Maxers walked over with a smile. He carried a spiked mace on his back, his brown hair swept back. “Greetings. I don’t think I’ve seen you around before. Are you here to train, or are you planning on helping guard the construction site?”

The man in red hummed thoughtfully. “I suppose I can do both at once.” He said with a wide smile, reaching out to clasp hands with the man. From just the first touch, he could tell that the other party was a god. The mace-wielder showed no intention of hiding it, likely using his divine aura to intimidate the beasts below.

This god let out a hearty laugh, nodding his head. “I suppose so! My name is Caden Manchester. Might I know your name, so I can have your efforts listed?”

The man didn’t hesitate to answer. “Rowan Artigas. I’ll have to trouble you.” He pulled back his hand, letting Caden leave to inform the construction manager. One thing Caden failed to notice, however, was a small drop of blood left on the palm of his hand, sinking into his flesh before fading away.

All things that live must bleed. Rowan thought to himself. He could already sense the blood starting to flow through the divine body of Caden. The veins that typically served no purpose but appearance began to pump, the heart that had long been lost silently beating.

The Fallen God of Blood smiled as his eyes scanned over the workers. It was time for him to enjoy himself.

Petra furrowed her brows as she slumped against a tree, panting heavily. “Okay… I think this should be about as far as we can get.” She said, looking at the corpses of the creatures that had fallen in front of them. Despite being vaguely humanoid, their bodies were covered with a layer of green chitin, possessing scythe-like limbs that shot out from their sides.

“Yeah… yeah, I think you’re onto something there, kid.” Maria groaned, sitting back against the tree. There weren’t only one or two of these corpses, but rather hundreds scattered on the ground around them.  As Dana had predicted, Thelsa’s group managed to climb all the way to the fifty-fifth floor, incorporating every floor they passed along the way into their world.

Thelsa’s brow furrowed as she looked at the group of monsters. It had taken them six hours just to deal with this army that had attacked them, needing to fight in shifts so that they could each have the time to take potions and recover. Had they not taken a break to train their martial wills previously, it was likely that some of them might have suffered serious injury.

“Let’s head down one floor to train.” Thelsa spoke up, the others looking at her in surprise.

“You sure?” Sora asked curiously. “Even if it’s a bit hard, we can handle it. Besides, we haven’t gotten the level orb from this floor yet.”

Thelsa simply shook her head. “We don’t have the raw power. The monsters on this floor operate with swarm tactics, if these are any examples. None of us are high enough level to be able to cope with the energy consumption of fighting them. And one floor down…”

Petra’s eyes widened slightly. “The spectral knights?”

Thelsa smiled at Petra, offering her a small nod. On the fifty-fourth floor, the primary monster that existed was a form of spectral entity. They were not truly undead, but operated on a similar principle while having a core of mana. Moreover, they were ideal training partners due to their level of intelligence.

The spectral knights, one branch of these monsters, refused to fight an opponent if another of their kind was already engaged in battle with numbers matching their own. Thelsa wasn’t sure of the reason, but they had seen this to be true time and time again. Even if hundreds of spectral knights gathered, they would not interfere unless there were more enemies than the knights fighting.

The spectral assassins, archers, or ninjas all operated regardless of any kind of honor code, but it was possible to avoid them if one was careful. More importantly, the spectral knights would actually fight off any other monster that tried to interfere in an ‘honorable duel’. Perhaps the only problem with the code of these knights was that a duel must always end in death.

Thelsa had learned this when Petra attempted to spare the life of a knight that she had defeated. It was a hard-won victory, and she felt pride in having won. However, when she did not deliver the final blow, the knight took it upon himself to die by his own blade.

According to Sora’s theory, there was likely a closed loop for the souls of these monsters. Instead of passing to the afterlife, they would simply be reborn as new spectral monsters. That would explain why they did not hesitate in the face of death, even if it meant watching their comrades perish.

Such a training ground was perfect for those that wished to hone their skills in live combat, though. Thelsa’s group was over a thousand levels below the standard of the fifty-fifth floor. It was only their rich combat expertise and excessive specialization that allowed them to fight on even footing with such powerful beings.

Sora chuckled, pulling herself back to her feet. “Well… if you put it like that, how am I going to say no? So, what’s our training goal?”

Thelsa closed her eyes to think, before simply shaking her head. “We train until we hit the level cap. If you want to branch into a new class, you may. If there are any abilities that you want to try and create, now is the time.”

“Might as well get some training in with that Hero class.” Maria grinned manically. “If we’re fighting so high above our level, that should give us some good rewards.”