Tower of Heaven

Atlas pushed through the halls without looking back. Meanwhile, Artemia also reached her targets.

'These people are the ones causing so much trouble?'

They were pigs. There was no better way to describe them. These were people who'd been exploiting the villagers and living a peaceful life of power here when they were supposed to be climbing the Tower.

Sure, they all had cultivation equal to anyone else on the 39th Floor, but how long had it been since they'd used it? For the past three hundred years, they'd been bums who knew nothing but slothfulness.

Artemia barged into the room where their auras were gathered. The four of them were sitting around a table playing cards, but they stood up the instant they noticed her intrusion.

"Tch!"

They clicked their tongues. They knew that the other party was an outsider, and since she'd arrived here, she knew that they were the same.

They grabbed their swords and brandished their qi, but by the time they made it that far, Artemia was already attacking.

[Azure Dragon Tail Whip]

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

The entire room was torn to shreds. The walls cracked apart and crumbled while the furniture practically turned to dust. The tail swept through the room from one side to the other, leaving not a single thing untouched, including the humans in its path.

Bang!

It only landed a direct hit on one. He was thrown backward with a massive bloody gash in his chest. The others managed to dodge with only light wounds, but even that was pointless.

[Reigning Steps]

Enjoy new tales from empire

Boom!

The floorboards were shattered and the rocks and dirt below kicked up into the air. With their vision blinded, the three remaining fighters activated their spiritual sense.

What they saw was a being that was already in front of them.

There was no need for Artemia to use more martial skills. Her fists could do the rest of the talking. Infused with a great amount of qi, they were weapons of mass destruction that struck with the force of a great boulder.

She slammed her fist into the first man's face and pushed him into the ground, raising the same fist to rip a hole in his stomach the next moment.

"Dammit!"

A sword came at her from behind, but she swiftly avoided it. The qi it released instead severed the leg of the man on the ground.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

"Who the hell are you?!"

The new attacker was a loud one. It made his location even easier to understand.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

It was the sound of his sword swinging around in the air and touching nothing. After all, Artemia had already arrived behind him.

"A dead person doesn't need to know my name."

Artemia was a dragon. She was an Azure Dragon, which meant that she had an amazing talent for qi control and skills, but it also meant that her body was unbelievably powerful from birth.

As she trained it, it became even more dangerous. That was why when she grabbed the man's head and gripped it as hard as she could, he felt pain beyond what he could imagine.

"W…ait!"

It was too late for him. She clenched her fist, and his skull crumbled inward, crushing his brain into fluid.

"Hmph."

Her cold eyes went to the last two. One of them was already heavily injured, and the last…

"Please…please let me live!"

He begged for his life as he stumbled backward and dropped his sword.

His words didn't stop her approach. He never had the right to beg for forgiveness from the start.

"I'm sure you've heard those words enough times in your life. Have you ever once listened to them?"

The man's eyes trembled as she arrived above him, but he couldn't say a word.

"I thought so."

The horrified expression on his face was destined to be painted there for eternity. As his head went flying into the air, it also became the last thing his final living companion saw.

"I don't care if they're Replicas. These villagers are real, and they're innocent. People like you that come to places like these and ruin their sanctity…"

She stomped her foot into the man's open wound, kicking it forward and crushing his internal organs.

"None of you deserve mercy."

Artemia lifted her foot and shook it off.

Her entire body was covered in blood. It was even a bit annoying.

She looked around at the mangled corpses she left in her wake.

"Hmm…"

"Maybe I should have kept one alive…?"

It definitely would have been helpful if they could interrogate one of them.

"Eh, Atlas will take care of it."

That guy was far better at keeping track of the small details. In fact, even right now, he was probably catching one of the enemies to do exactly as Artemia was thinking.

'This is why reliable allies are nice.'

She smiled slightly, feeling satisfied with herself.

Her job was technically done, but it still wasn't time for her to relax.

'First things first, let's meet back up with Atlas.'

***

As she expected, he did keep one alive. At least, he tried to.

When she finally reached him, he was throwing a melting corpse on the ground. It had clearly succumbed to a strong acid only moments prior.

"Killed himself?"

"Indeed. How troublesome…"

Catching them wasn't hard, as none of them were particularly strong. However, the fact that they had the means and willingness to kill themselves with strong acid meant that they were not working alone.

"Originally, this was an isolated incident, but it may not be the case anymore. They have something to hide, and if we aren't careful, their secrets will come back to bite us."

It was even more unfortunate because they were so weak. Were they weak because the people behind them didn't want to send strong people to do work in such a remote location, or were they weak because the people behind them were weak as well?

"Either way, it's not our problem. We just need to cover our traces and they won't find us, right?"

"Right, however, have you given your name to any of the villagers?"

"Ah…"

Artemia nodded as she realized the issue. As long as the villagers were still alive, they couldn't hide themselves from a force that wanted to find them.

"Well, even then, we can just face things as they come. Worst case scenario, I'll get my dad to destroy them all. How's that work?"

Atlas smiled and shook his head.

'It's a little too carefree of an attitude for me, but she isn't entirely wrong.'

They could search the chief's residence to see if they could find clues, but other than that, the only way for them to learn whether the hidden enemy was real or an illusion was to wait for their approach.

"Very well."

Atlas stood up and wiped the blood off of his blades.

"Let us go face the villagers and leave this place. We shouldn't stay for too long."

Artemia nodded. From this day forth, the human sacrifices plaguing this village would no longer be an issue. The oppressive party keeping them down would be dealt with.

And Atlas, Artemia, and Horus, these three, were the ones who'd reap the glory for saving them.