Zach turned to Victoria and asked, "How many guild members died?"
"1253," Victoria replied in a disdainful tone. "969 remained, from which 362 were badly injured. It took time, but everyone was healed."
Zach nodded after hearing that and glanced around, but he could only see a few players.
"So they retreated after the floor was cleared?" Zach asked.
"Yeah. I think they are traumatized. I doubt they would even hold a sword in their hands now," Victoria sighed.
"Yeah…"
Victoria grabbed Zach's hand and hugged him. She sniffed and said, "Thank you for saving us all."
"It was just a… dumb luck." Zach hugged Victoria back and said, "All of us could have died."
"Let's go back now," Victoria said.
"No…" Zach placed his hands on Victoria's shoulders and said, "I am going to clear all 100 floors."
"That's impossible at our current level!" Victoria retorted. "It's a stupid move."
"I… I want to complete what I came here for. I want to fulfill my commitment, and you know I never back off my commitments," Zach asserted in a solemn voice.
"Now is not the time for all that! You nearly died on this floor! How do you expect to clear the 100th floor? The boss will be crazy strong, you know?!" Victoria yelled vigorously with a concerned look on her face.
"Whatever you say, I am not changing my mind," Zach uttered with a straight face.
"Oh, come on!" Victoria groaned loudly. "Why can't you just listen to me for once?!"
"I am not asking you to come with me…" Zach looked past Victoria's shoulder and said, "You all should retreat."
Victoria knew Zach wouldn't listen to her, so she turned to Aria and said, "Aria, you smack some sense in his brain."
"I am going with him," Aria uttered nonchalantly with a straight face.
"…" Victoria shook her head in disbelief and let out a weary sigh.
"No, you are not." Zach turned to Aria and said, "You are also retreating with them."
Aria raised her brow at Zach and asked with a knowing look on her face: "Do you plan to clear up to floor 100 by yourself?"
"I know this sounds extremely stupid, but yes," Zach nodded in response.
"Then I am coming with you," Aria said while looking into Zach's eyes.
"Go back to Aurora and tell her—"
Aria interrupted Zach and said, "I was scared when I saw you injured, and I don't want to feel like that again. And I definitely don't want any of the girls to feel the same. I want to be with you until the very end!"
"…!"
"I would rather die with you than spend my life with the guilt of not being able to save you," she said in a disdainful tone with a dejected look on her face.
"I already lost my sister. I don't want to lose you too…" she added in a low voice.
'That's the weirdest love confession I have ever seen…' Zach uttered inwardly.
"Are you sure?" Zach asked with a judging look on his face.
"Yes," Aria nodded.
"Are you sure you want to come with me?"
"Yes."
"Are you sure you don't want to retreat?"
"Yes."
"Are you sure you love me?"
"Yes."
"…." Zach simply smirked without saying anything.
"…!" Aria's face flushed when she realized what Zach had done. He asked her the same question again and then asked her about her feelings for him. And since Aria was replying seriously and honestly, she ended up admitting her love for him.
Aria covered her face in embarrassment and said, "You cheater!"
"Heh!" Zach grabbed Aria's hands and pulled them from Aria's face. He looked at her flushed face and said, "Do you love me?"
"I don't!" Aria yelled.
"Is that so?" Zach smirked and said, "Do you want me to order you to tell the truth?"
"Go ahead and do that. My answer would still be the same," Aria retorted with a glare in her eyes.
"You know, I will be happy if you say it without me forcing you to say it," Zach said in a calm voice with a gentle smile on his face.
"…" Aria bit her lips and thought, 'Don't make that face. You have no idea how much I love that smile of yours!'
Zach caressed Aria's face and rubbed his thumb on his cheek before asking, "Aria, do you love me?"
Aria's face flushed a little as she nodded and said, "Yes."
"Can you say it?"
After a brief silence, Aria looked into Zach's eyes and said with a smile on her face: "I love you, Zach."
Zach closed his distance from Aria and kissed her on the lips.
Sure, Zach had kissed Aria a couple of times before, but during those kisses, Aria never kissed back. She simply let Zach kiss her and enjoyed the pleasure.
However, this time, Aria kissed Zach back. Now that all the walls and barriers between them had broken, neither of them had any need to hold back their feelings for each other.
After one kiss, they both looked into each other's eyes and kissed again. Aria wrapped her hands around Zach's neck and kissed him passionately.
They both played with each other's tongues and exchanged their salivas.
'I am kissing my aunt…'
"Ahem!" Victoria cleared her throat to make her presence known.
Zach and Aria stopped kissing and looked at Victoria.
"I can't believe you seriously made her confess her love and started making out in front of your ex." Victoria raised her brows and squinted her eyes before saying, "I am not Aurora, and I definitely don't like this."
Zach puckered his lips and moved his face closer to Victoria after saying, "Come here, I can give you one too."
Victoria stropped Zach by placing her hand on Zach's lips and said, "No, we can't."
"Come on, just one. Please?"
Victoria sighed and placed her finger on Zach's lips. Then, she moved her face closer and kissed the finger that was on Zach's lips.
The kiss was between the direct and indirect kiss. Victoria's lips did touch Zach's lips, but they couldn't kiss properly because Victoria had placed her fingers on Zach's lips.
After a while, Lord Abomination and the dragon approached Zach and stood in front of him.
Zach looked into the Abomination's eyes to see if it was hostile or not.
Out of a sudden, the Abomination threw something out of its mouth on Zach's lap.
"This is…!"
***
Total players in the game- 1,297,828
0 new players logged in.
31 players died.
====
Author's Note- What is it?!