Strong

One of the squads was exceptionally elite. It was also among the adventurer teams that had chosen to break out, and Allen's team followed close behind them.

They fought desperately all the way and actually carved a bloody path through, only one step away from escaping the skeleton soldiers' encirclement.

But just as joy appeared on their faces, a tall black figure blocked their path.

Arthur raised his greatsword and pointed it at the group before him.

"You sinners dared disturb my lord's resting place. Your crime is unforgivable."

The captain of this squad was named Casmin, a formidable warrior who wielded a two-handed greatsword. He was the strongest among the dozen or so squads. It was precisely because of him that his team had managed to fight their way out of the encirclement.

Facing Arthur, who stood a full head taller than him, he showed no fear. He raised his greatsword high with both hands, leaped into the air, and brought it down in a crushing slash.

Clang!

The deafening crash echoed through the entire hall, prompting Aslan to lazily shift positions as he continued watching the battle.

Several skeleton leaders around level thirty stood beside him as guards.

Arthur did not move at all. He did not even raise his sword; his shield and blade rested at his sides. Yet he took that savage strike squarely on his shoulder.

Avilan looked at Arthur. After thinking for a moment, Arthur said, "His strength is around level twenty-five. His weapon is simply quite good, equivalent to a level-thirty Silver weapon."

Avilan nodded and asked no more. Then, beneath Casmin's shocked gaze, Arthur raised his sword. By the time Casmin reacted, his head had already been separated from his body.

Allen and the others cried out in alarm, staring around them in despair as they wildly swung their weapons.

The strongest among them could not even break through their opponent's armor, let alone them.

In his despair, Agonsi took out a Silver Badge. It was a treasure left behind by his father, said to possess unimaginable power and to have saved him from danger many times.

He held the Silver Badge high, and a warm white light burst forth. Avilan, who had been lazily watching in boredom, suddenly opened his eyes.

"This is..."

The skeletons standing too close fell apart under the white light. The remaining skeletons quickly retreated, terrified of being touched by that dreadful radiance.

In his despair, Allen sensed a sliver of hope. But before they could rejoice, the statue seated at the back of the battlefield lightly raised a hand. Then the Silver Badge in Agonsi's hand suddenly broke free and shot toward Avilan.

"What is going on?" Agonsi asked, his voice trembling.

They had thought it was their final chance at survival, yet it had been taken from them so easily.

An air of despair slowly spread, as this turned into a naked slaughter.

When the battle ended, the only surviving team was Allen's group of four. They huddled tightly together, covered in wounds, while crimson blood had long since flooded the entire hall.

In truth, Avilan had deliberately spared the four of them. He wanted to know where this Silver Badge had come from.

After fighting for so long, the skeleton soldiers Arthur had summoned began to slowly dissipate.

"Can they exist for three hours?" Avilan murmured to himself as he played with the Silver Badge in his hand.

His feet stepped on sticky blood. Not only did Avilan feel no disgust, he thoroughly enjoyed the bloody scene. He even realized that he rather liked this vivid, scarlet spectacle.

That was abnormal, but he had no mood to concern himself with it for now. What he cared about most was information on this other world.

"Why did you trespass into my territory?" Avilan's voice carried a despair-inducing majesty. Powerful spiritual pressure erupted from him, forcing the already unsteady four directly onto the ground.

"Respected and mighty sir, we merely wandered into this city's ruins. Driven by a moment of greed, we entered this castle. I apologize for the mistakes my team has committed, and I beg you to spare the other three. I am willing to die in atonement." Allen struggled to raise his head, blood from his forehead already soaking his eyes.

Yet he still lifted his head stubbornly. He wanted to see the peerless powerhouse before him, while hoping to win a sliver of survival for the rest of his team.

"How presumptuous. What right does a worm like you have to look directly upon my supreme master?" Arthur roared, stomping on Allen's head and forcing his face into the ground.

The blood on the floor completely stained his face red.

"Big brother!" Eddie cried out in grief and fury.

Lippy and Agonsi shed tears in sorrow as well.

"Captain, don't worry about me anymore. My injuries are too severe. There's no way I can survive." Lippy shouted with all his strength. When he finished, his eyes flew open, and he breathed his last.

Avilan felt somewhat moved. In his previous life, he had been betrayed by his own blood brother, and the hatred had sunk deep into his bones. Now, seeing someone willing to sacrifice himself for his younger brother, this touching brotherly bond caused the flames of jealousy in his heart to blaze. He refused to believe that such familial affection existed in this world.

He wanted to shatter these illusory things.

"I'm sorry, respected and mighty sir. I apologize for my earlier disrespect. I beg you to spare my remaining teammates. I am willing to offer up my final life." Allen slammed the floor with all his might. Blood splattered everywhere as he shouted desperately.

Avilan looked at Allen for a long time. The corners of his lips slowly curled upward, revealing a smile that only a demon could wear.

"Of course I can spare them. But I only intend to let one person leave alive. I'll give you the chance to choose."

After Avilan finished speaking with a smile, Arthur slowly lifted his foot. Allen looked blankly at Eddie and Agonsi. He did not know how to choose and found himself caught in a dilemma.

While Allen hesitated, Avilan smiled at Agonsi. "Since your captain finds this so difficult, I'll give you another chance. The two of you can fight each other. I won't kill whoever survives."

Avilan actually wanted these two comrades, as close as brothers, to kill each other.

The last trace of hope Allen had held was utterly shattered. At that moment, he understood clearly that the demon before them would never let them leave alive.

Agonsi's eyes were filled with struggle, but Eddie was the first to move. He drew the dagger from his thigh and, taking advantage of Agonsi's moment of hesitation, plunged it into his chest.

Agonsi stared at Eddie in disbelief. In the end, however, he looked at Eddie with a relieved smile and patted Eddie's head with his blood-covered hand.

"Live well. Live for all of us."

Allen wailed loudly. Eddie did not dare look at his elder brother; he could only lower his head and stare at the blood on the ground.

He was deeply ashamed and full of self-reproach.

He had personally killed the comrade who had always stood in front of him—the intimate comrade he trusted completely, the one to whom he could entrust his back, the one he could even call a brother.

Because he was unwilling to die like this. His beloved Milly was still waiting for him in the village. If he died too, who would care for his elderly parents?

At the same time, as the Light Badge lit up, an old man in the capital of the Radiant Glory Theocracy, south of Messiah, raised his eyes blankly.

"Evil power is awakening!"