Guild Wars

Devin's dark aura permeated the battlefield, making everyone on the side of the rebels show expressions of horror and dismay. What was even worse was that the foes they had been about to fight had also transformed, becoming entities similar to Devin but much weaker depending on their rank.

The soldiers only had a little bit of darkness surrounding them, their human bodies still visible even though their eyes had become bloodshot and their expressions filled with insane malice.

The knights had a suitable amount of darkness around them, enough to form a cloak. Their eyes had also become red, but there was a certain cruel lucidity in them that showed that they were perfectly aware of what they were right now, what they were about to do… and that they were looking forward to it.

Devin himself was completely bathed in Darkness Energy, making it seem as if he had been born from it. Little could be seen of him, just endless burning darkness and two red spots that should likely be his eyes.

They went from intimidating and organized, to downright demonic and horrifying.

Many rebels who had been ready to charge were now pale-faced, their knees shaking as they directly considered putting all their energy into fleeing as fast as their horses would allow.

In a battle of minds, the rebels had already lost. However, it really wasn't their fault, as what they were dealing with would make anyone shit their pants in fear. Even the generals at the forefront were shivering, unsure, and disbelieving of what they were seeing.

At the back, Draco was rubbing his chin with interest. "Well, no wonder this floor is merely about 'surviving' the battle. Here I was looking forward to an epic medieval clash, one that would allow us to weave through the battle stealing kills to increase the rating, but it's never simple with this tower, eh?"

Zaine shook her head. "It would be too easy if that would have been the case. Since everything but our equipment got freed, many trials takers would have had hundreds of ways to fight if this would have been a simple brawl. However, switching things up like this suitably negates or suppresses the benefit gained by the access to skills and spells."

Eva flicked a finger, sending a small beam of light hurling forward and piercing through one of the knights casually. "One could even say that it is precisely because of the up in ante that skills and spells were released. Otherwise, with how low level the average trial taker should be, I really cannot see how they would even begin to cope with this."

Roma was tempted to summon her Witch Slaves and let them feast, but held back. "If the fellow had a Dark God behind him all this time, why did he succumb to us on the sixth floor, when we were supposed to be hanged?"

Hikari waved her hand and cast White Light Blessing on her family and all the rebels, invigorating them and shocking the latter group. They suddenly felt as if their power had multiplied four times, which was enough to even make them slightly superior to their enemy.

"Maybe because we were higher on the hierarchy?" Hikari smiled with satisfaction, especially when the others gave her looks of praise.

"Great idea Hikari, truly clever." Eva praised gently.

Hikari, drunk with happiness, curled her eyes so far that they could form an arc of their own. "Hehe, it's nothing, it's nothing…"

Zaine rode forward a little and smiled. "If you don't mind, I would like to take the stage this time. It's been a while since I've flexed my mental abilities in battle."

The others didn't object. Zaine then glowed with a soft blue light, her mind's domain spreading over the entire battlefield. No one but Draco and Eva could feel it, and Devin to a small extent.

Zaine took out a single steel arrow from the quiver of an archer on their side and shot it forward. Like a dart, it weaved around the battlefield, piercing through the heads and hearts of the nearest enemies to the rebel line.

This was shocking to the rebels, for it looked like just as they had been about to be struck, the charging enemy opposite them would roar in agony and fall over, dead. They would either grasp their chest or their heads would explode like watermelons.

Zaine maneuvered this single arrow too fast for anyone to see or react to. She was single-handedly clearing the battlefield rapidly using just this one projectile. What was even more amusing was that the succubus was idly humming all the while, showing off that this was no grand feat to her.

Once she cleared all the soldiers, the arrow was sent blasting towards Devin, who simply growled and caught it with ease. The arrow shook and struggled in his grip, making his face ugly as he had to exert a great amount of force to keep it in place.

"Not bad." Zaine smiled.

Devin crushed the arrow itself, realizing that the pressure was mounting. He then gazed at his fallen men with an unreadable expression and spoke coldly.

"Get up, you lazy pigs! You only are only allowed to die after Lord Baphomet gives you permission!"

A wave of Darkness Energy swept over the battlefield after Devin spoke, covering the bodies of his slain men. As if they were broken puppets who had faulty strings, they slowly rose to their feet once more.

Their bodies regenerated from the damage Zaine did, eventually returning their sentience and dexterity. They quickly remounted their horses if they were still alive, or picked up their weapons and got ready to charge once more.

This left the rebel army speechless, while the Morningstar Group was merely mildly surprised. Draco and Eva shared a look, then shook their heads.

"Waste of time, they will all be sent into hell, which would unbalance the scales between us." Draco commented with a sigh.

"I agree. It's best to let Roma have her fun, as they could prove useful to her." Eva agreed as she folded her arms.

Roma seemed giddy at that prospect. "Thank you, Draco, Big Sis! I'll make good use of those souls!"

Zaine smiled. "Little Roma, let me harvest their lives and you can harvest their souls. That should put them down for good."

Roma nodded obediently. "Sister Zaine, lead the way!"

Zaine focused on the battle and the blue light around her intensified further. She laughed softly and removed all the arrows in the quicker of the various archer, who were shocked to see this happen.

The arrows slowly and menacingly rose above the rebel army, aimed in the direction of the now - undead? - noble army. They hovered there for a split second, the revived soldiers shocked by this sight as they finally recognized what had reaped their lives previously.

Due to how fast Zaine moved the arrow, they had literally died without even knowing how. Now that they were confronted with the method of their death, they were less fearful and more defiant.

This seemed to be the trigger for Zaine, as she shot out all the arrows forward at speeds that made the previous skirmish look like a joke. Each arrow weaved around to find its own target, reaping their life with even more ease than before as they were unable to react at all.

When their bodies fell, a blackish light would be torn from those bodies which would float over into Roma's hands, her body also glowing with a green light as her lovely white hair rose and moved around like they were snakes.

The moment the soul was ripped from the bodies, they would slowly turn to ash as the Darkness Energy within would return to Devin, further strengthening him. This shocked the Death Knight who realized his men were suffering from true death this time.

He was incomparably enraged by this fact and shouted: "WHO?!"

He wanted to move out and defend his men, but Zaine and Roma were too fast, too efficient, and too powerful. Instead of spending time shouting meaningless things, Devin should have acted the moment he felt something wrong.

By the time he was ready to do so, the battlefield had already been clear. It was just him standing on the opposite side of the rebels, with hundreds of arrows slowly regrouping and facing his direction.

Devin gritted his teeth with anger. "Good! Let me personally how you the meaning of despair then!"

He stretched his hand out to the right, and the endless amount of Darkness Energy shrouding his body solidified into a huge lance. He then hoisted this lance and kicked the side of his horse, which then tapped the ground, building momentum.

At the same time, Zaine unleashed all the arrows in her arsenal towards Devin. The projectiles hurled toward Devin at scary, bullet-like speeds, the fellow burst forth, breaking the sound barrier.

His charge knocked away any arrows in his path and quickly bypassed all others. He then tore into the ranks of the rebels, killing a huge swath of the army within them who had failed to comprehend what had been happening in the last minutes.

Devin's red eyes roamed his helmet as he looked for his target, then noticed Zaine who was releasing mental fluctuations that were familiar to him. Not to mention that she was glowing blue, which so happened to be the color surrounding the arrows.

He then saw Roma, who was glowing green and was about to pocket the souls of his men. At the speed Devin was moving, it was as if time had stopped, so he was able to see all this in an instant and angle his horse towards Zaine.

He would slaughter this wench first and present her soul to Lord Baphomet. Then, he would deal with the other one slowly, freeing his men and have them rape her to death, then collect her own soul to find out how she was able to manage such abilities.

However, just as Devin was about to pierce Zaine's head with his dark lance. Two fingers pinched the tip of his spear lightly, stopping it completely. No matter how much strength Devin mustered to pull or push, the spear did not move.

Zaine herself did not seem bothered or worried, only wearing a lovely smile on her face. The blue light around her slowly dissipated as she returned the arrows to their quivers.

As for Roma, she pocketed the souls anyway without disturbance, and the green light around her faded away. She then gazed at Devin with defiance and derision.

To get near to any of them, there was an insurmountable wall anyone and everyone had to cross, their husband Draco!

The fellow which pinched the spear itself commented in a slightly amused tone. "Hey there homie, if you try to show off your skills with your little toy there, then how about I accompany you?"

Devin was utterly shocked. It was as if the Darkness Energy he had been blessed with by Lord Baphomet didn't even exist in front of this fellow. He could even feel that if the man opposite him wanted to, he could rob him of his control.

For the first time since this battle began, Devin began to sweat as he felt a wave of fear. Draco then waved his hand and the spear returned into Darkness Energy that merged with Devin.

Next, the Darkness Energy that Devin had controlled created bindings that tied him up, further leaving the noble lord shocked and horrified. He could only stare at Draco, wondering if this fellow was the incarnation of Baphomet?

Otherwise, how could he maneuver Baphomet's Darkness Energy so easily?

If only Devin knew… Baphomet would have to greet Draco on his knees and with 800 kowtows, happy to even lick the other's filthy mud-covered boots just for some favor from the Demon Supreme that was Draco.

In fact, he could even summon the avatar of Baphomet here from his hell. He briefly wondered how Devin would react, but ultimately couldn't be bothered to find out. Instead, Draco used his telekinesis to drag the rebel generals over.

"We can't afford to kill the noble lord as that is against this kingdom's law most likely. Let's imprison him and have him tried by the Royal Court for his actions instead."

The rebel generals could only share wry looks and kneel down. "We hear and obey."

What else were they supposed to do after seeing all this? Besides, Draco had wrapped everything up nicely for them and all those who had been killed by Devin had been resurrected by Hikari, who enjoyed the act of returning life to the willing and deserving.

Soon, the floor began deconstructing itself as the group had obviously cleared it to perfection. Draco checked the results of the floor first and foremost.

｢Congratulations on completing: Tower of Babylon Ninth Floor

Time elapsed: 0:33:32

Objectives complete: All

Assessment: EX+

Reward:

13,000 Score Points

1 Treasure Selection Reward - Peak Bronze Grade｣

Next were the floor-specific rankings, which were - as usual - quite brutal in terms of the gap Draco gave those former leaders who had hogged the top 10.

1st - Draco Morningstar: 13,000 Points.

2nd - Gavin Guy: 887 Points.

3rd - Dorothy Keel: 883 Points.

4th - James Luster: 880 Points.

5th - Mandingo: 843 Points.

6th - God's Son: 841 Points.

7th - Dark Lord: 834 Points.

8th - King's Return: 832 Points.

9th - Helia Nuer: 822 Points.

10th - Makinsser: 813 Points.

Well, the gap between the trial takers wasn't as wide as usual. It went to show that in terms of power and skill, the various trail takers were not so different from each other.

Since the ninth floor had returned them access to their skills and spells, many had been able to show their true prowess, even if they hadn't been able to easily fight against Devin and his group.

Well, since there was only one floor left, Draco decided to hop to it. The portal whisked him away from his castle to the tenth floor, which was the last in this series.

Draco materialized on the battlefield they had just fought on. The difference was that most of the rebels had been slaughtered, and that Devin was currently about to initiate the torture upon them.

Even the rebel generals were lying in pools of blood, while Devin's own men were chipper and dandy, giggling maliciously as they walked over to begin their 'feast'.

Before anyone had the chance to ask why Draco and the Four Beauties were somehow the only ones who looked fine while everyone else was on the floor, a bright white light shone on the area. A lovely voice sounded out at that moment, making all the rebel's faces change, as well as the noble soldiers.

"In the name of the Ordelia Royal Family, stay your hand vile knaves!"

The white light revitalized the wounds of the rebels, making them rise up from the ground with surprised expressions while the darkness-infused soldier screamed in agony, a sizzling sound coming off them like meat being thrown into hot oil.

Even Devin roared with agony, a good chunk of the darkness covering him torn away. It was then that the voice was made known to the crowd, as it was an entourage led by two women and a few hundred others riding behind her.

Draco and co recognized these fellows. The two ladies, one holding a scepter and the other a set of shortswords, were the same two women who had been responsible for the Class Quests back on the first floor of the tower.

Behind them were the likes of the quartermaster, who had a huge greatsword slung over his shoulder, and the scholar who had given them directions, with a tome in hand as he pushed his glasses up with a smile.

There were many royal knights and even some mercenaries behind her. However, the vast majority were adventurers from neighboring towns and villages close to Ironwood. Draco may not have been paying attention, but his memory was sharp enough to remember most of these faces from floor 1.

Devin's expression showed horror as he thrashed on the ground, unable to escape. The rebel generals though, showed fervor and fell to their knees with reverence, bowing towards the two ladies at the front.

"Greetings to Saint Princess Aliza and Crown Princess Jenna!" The Rebel Generals cried out.

The one holding the light scepter seemed to be the Saint Princess and she pulled back her hood to display a visage so lovely that while it was far below Eva was only slightly below Hikari.

Her hair was pink in color and her eyes were a silvery-blue color. She had soft features and a gentle disposition that made one feel safe near her. Her body was svelte and quite average, not really curvy.

The princess holding the shortswords seemed to be the Crown Princess and she also flipped her hood back to display a visage that was quite pretty, albeit slightly marked by a scar running down her cheek.

In comparison to her sister though, this princess had a fiercer and more valiant disposition that made men intrigued, as well as a body that was a few levels above Roma but a few levels below Zaine.

The contrast between valiant and sexy as well as gentle and lovely made for a sight that many would treasure. Of course, once one got a look at the Four Beauties, this didn't seem so great anymore, but all attention was on the princesses right now.

"Rise, warriors of justice. You have fought and given your lives for a valiant cause! The crown shall not forget your efforts!" Aliza said kindly.

"Now, join us as we run that knave and his forces of evil through!" Jenna added bravely, pointing her sword towards Devin who was rising to his feet.

The blackish aura around Devin was constantly fluctuating like it was about to go out, but suddenly, it seemed to receive new fuel as it blazed higher and higher. Devin screamed from within, laughing with madness at the same time.

"I CANNOT BE DEFEATED!!"

Everyone was blown back by a black shockwave from Devin as the epicenter, and the land around them began to wither. His men who had been purged and purified rose to their feet once more.

Even worse, portals opened from the ground, many demons shrieking with glee and hunger as they gleefully set foot upon the land of the mortals.