”Me? But I have already met the requirement, and there are already many other strong players to back them up,” the girl retorted. Seemingly, she didn’t want to go on the dungeon expedition.
”Don’t you dare speak back to me. My words are final, so either participate in the dungeon expedition, or I will kick you out of the guild.”
”…!” Shay clenched his fists in frustration, but he couldn’t do anything. He was just another guild member, who hadn’t become the funder yet.
A week later, he learned about the tragedy of the 75th floor, but he didn’t lose hope.
He could easily check if the girl survived the 75th floor or not— from the list, but he didn’t.
He waited, and waited for the girl to come back. But she didn’t.
—
-
.
”It’s all Elliott’s fault. If he hadn’t forced her that day, she would still be alive. We would still be practicing sword skills.”
”Out of all the guild members, he could have chosen anyone, but he chose her.” Shay clenched his fists in frustration and uttered with a furious look on his face: “I am sorry, Zach, but the one to kill Elliott is… me. But first, I have to finish my unfinished business.”
Shay rushed after Zach and called out to him.
”Zach!” he yelled.
Zach turned around and saw Shay running at him, so he stopped walking and waited for Shay to catch up to him.
”What’s wrong? Did you forget something?” Zach asked with a curious look on his face.
”Umm… I do have something to ask you if you don’t mind,” Shay said in a calm voice.
”Sure. What is it…?”
Shay glanced around and said, “Can’t we go sit somewhere and talk? Maybe a restaurant?”
”Okay… but I will have to inform Victoria and others first.”
Zach glanced around, where he last saw the three girls, but they weren’t there.
Shay squinted his eyes at the distance and pointed his finger to the other side as he said, “Are they…? It’s too far away, so I can’t see them clearly.”
Zach looked in the direction Shay was pointing his fingers at, and he saw Aria, Victoria, and Ninia, standing there and talking with Kayden and Misha.
”Yeah, and they have got a party too. Let’s go.”
Shay and Zach walked to the group and let their presence known.
”Yo! Old man! Sup!” Shay greeted Kayden.
”Shut up, Shay. I am no old man,” Kayden groaned.
”Well, you are married, so… you are an old man,” Shay shrugged and turned to Misha. “But you are not an old lady, so don’t worry.”
Aria nudged Zach and said, “Misha wants to meet Aurora, can you open the portal to my domain?”
”Sure, but…uhh… wouldn’t she be sleeping?” Zach wondered.
”She is not. I just talked to her through chat,” Aria replied.
”Why are you talking to her, and why is she awake when she should be resting?” Zach asked in a grumpy tone.
”I told her about the ten battles, so… I guess she couldn’t sleep. And I had to keep her updated about the battles…” Aria replied with an awkward smile on her face.
”Why would you do that?” Zach sighed.
”Look, I have promised Aurora that I will look after you in her absence, so that’s what I am doing.” Aria shrugged and said, “I can’t play the role of a wife and a friend at the same time.”
”How about playing the role of sister wife?” Zach scoffed softly.
”I would if she was your wife.”
”Whoa. Aurora would be missed if she heard that.”
Zach opened the portal to Aria’s domain and said, “Don’t stress her too much.”
Aria and Misha entered the portal.
Zach turned to Victoria with a curious look on his face and said, “What about you, miss ex?”
Victoria squinted her eyes and said, “I have so many things I want to talk to you about. But let’s save it all for later. I want to meet Aurora too!”
Victoria moved her face close to Zach’s ears and whispered, “And I was serious about what I said before the ten battles.”
’Let’s… do it… once we ascend.’ Zach recalled what Victoria had said.
After saying that, Victoria passed through the portal.
Zach then closed the portal and let out a weary sigh as he looked at Kayden and Shay.
”Why are you sighing after looking at us?” Kayden asked with a judging look on his face.
”I am not sighting after…” Zach noticed Ninia who was standing behind him after she pulled his outfit from the backside.
”Hey…” He turned to her and said, “I am sorry, I didn’t mean to leave you out, but usually it’s Aria and Victoria. And you were also standing beside me, so I… forgot about you.”
”…”
”Do you also want to meet Aurora?” Zach asked with a curious yet calm look on his face.
Ninia shook her head and said, “No. I am not ready to meet her yet; especially after I failed to protect her.”
”That’s not true. You tried your best and—”
”No.” Ninia interrupted Zach and said, “Everything happened because of us.”
”What do you mean?” Zach asked with a puzzled look on his face. “The demon invasion is the reason. How is it your fault?”
”She could have escaped through the portal if she hadn’t tried to help us. So it’s our fault….” Ninia uttered with a dejected look on her face.
”I am sure that thought never crossed Aurora’s mind,” Zach chuckled.
”Do you think she doesn’t blame us NPCs for what happened to her?” Ninia asked with an anxious look on her face.
”No. She would never do that.”
SIGH!
Ninia sighed in relief and placed her head on her chest as though a huge load was taken away from her heart.
”So… do you want to go meet her?”
”No. Maybe next time. But now… I have to explain about your dark powers to your followers,” Ninia asserted in a solemn voice.
”Okay.”
”Please, don’t ascend without letting me know.”
Zach patted Ninia on the head and said, “Don’t worry. I will even visit you at the church later if I don’t find you around.”
***
Total players in the game- 1,482,976
0 new players logged in.
17 players died.
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Author’s Note- Thanks for reading!