Rise of the Crusader

Even though they had all predicted that those three would surpass the eighth level, they still couldn't help but be astounded, by how fast they were.

As Elisa and Dwayne arrived at the ninth level, they felt a bit of pressure from the tower.

It caused their body to tremble and made them slow down a little.

Meanwhile, it wasn't the same for Jeremy.

Jeremy wasted no time and as soon as he got to the ninth level, he took another step forward, ascending to the tenth level.

A light frown suddenly appeared on his face, as he stared at the level ahead of him. He bit his lower lips hard and began to contemplate whether or not to move forward.

"Come on, Jeremy, you can do it." One of the students in the domain blurted.

"Please… just take the step."

There was an optimistic expression on his face, and he wasn't the only one with that look.

A couple of other students in the surroundings were also hoping that Jeremy was going to get on the eleventh level, and if possible the twelve-level in fact.

It wasn't that the students were wishing Jeremy well willfully, it was that they had no choice but to.

Before the tournament, the majority of the students had placed bets on some of the students who qualified for the round.

And as the second on the most valuable, Jeremy was staked on a lot.

"Elisa has really outdone herself, I seriously didn't expect her to get this far."

A nod came from Raphael after he heard Bane.

He stared at Elisa who was on the ninth leg and then nodded his head. Even though he hadn't experienced the might of the tower, he didn't doubt its prowess.

Elisa suddenly stepped onto the tenth level, and as both of her legs came onto that area, her body shook.

She spat blood out of her mouth a second after.

And immediately, Elisa shut her eyes close, trying to overcome the pressure.

The number of bone cracks that she had heard within her body was substantial, but Elisa didn't let the pain get through. She maintained absolute focus, and after a few seconds, her eyes sprang open.

Jeremy's lips curved inwardly when he saw Elisa opening her eyes.

Though he didn't say a word to her, the expression that was on his face was full of mockery.

"It best you give up from here, you would only harm yourself if you move any further." Jeremy blurted.

Before Elisa would retort to his words, Jeremy took another step forward.

As Jeremy stood on the eleventh level and then seemed to have gotten to the pressure, a light frown appeared on Elisa's face.

The eleventh level was her target initially, but she wasn't confident in herself to withstand the pressure of that place.

Elisa took a deep breath, she was about to step forward, when she was expelled from the tower.

"Sigh…"

Another deep breath escaped Elisa, she wiped the sweat that was on her forehead and returned to her seat.

As Elisa headed back, her eyes were on Raphael, who for some reason didn't have a smile or a frown on her face.

Gus, who was on Raphael suddenly, let out a hiss as it saw the look on Elisa's face.

And when Raphael heard Gus, he peered deep into her brown eyes and then gave her a gentle nod as well as a smile.

The smile might not have meant much to Raphael, but it was everything to Elisa. Her face lit up instantly, and she responded to him with a smile.

Meanwhile, Aiden was able to get up to the ninth floor before he was then expelled from the academy.

"Good job!"

Bane blurted and then gave him a light tap on the shoulder.

And among the twenty people who were in the tower, only four were left.

Dwayne was at the tenth level, Naomi stood at the seventh level, and Jeremy was now contemplating whether or not to ascend to the twelve levels.

While he was able to keep a neutral expression, the eleventh level was very frightening. He felt not only his bone-breaking apart, but his body as well.

"You will die if you go up there."

As the ninth most valuable student in the first year, Dwayne was capable of arriving at the eleventh level as well.

Jeremy sneered when he heard Dwayne.

He didn't respond and instead stared at the area in front of him.

Those who hadn't come this far would consider the twelve steps to be like the others, perhaps with a bit more pressure, but it wasn't.

None of the steps so far could compare to what was contained in that final step.

They had only been three people who had stepped onto the twelfth level of the tower, and when asked how it was, they had all replied with one word.

Supreme!

"Pteeuh"

Suddenly, Dwayne spat blood out of his mouth.

His face became pale, and he soon began to feel dizzy.

Based on the event that had occurred with the previous students, it was about time the tower expelled him.

However, before Dwayne would disappear from the tower, Jeremy placed his hand on his chest and pushed him backward.

"What the hell is he doing!"

The people who were watching the screen yelled as they saw Dwayne regress back to the tenth level.

Before he could even regain his stance and perhaps even head back to the eleventh level, he was expelled from the tower.

"Screw you, Jeremy!"

"Son of a bitch!"

One after the other, the students began to express their hate towards Jeremy as once Dwayne was sent out of the tower, he wasn't registered at the eleventh level.

Instead, he was at the tenth level.

Dwayne completely ignored his blood-stained cloth and glared at the tower.

There was killing intent in his eyes, and surely once Jeremy was out of the tower, the both of them would talk about what happened.

Meanwhile, after Dwayne was kicked out of the tower, Jeremy eyed the level ahead.

He heaved a deep breath, and then took a step forward.

The instant Jeremy's leg touched the twelfth level, he appeared in a dark space.

It was completely dark and quiet in here, and a second after Jeremy found himself in this unknown surrounding, he assumed a battle stance quickly.

"Hehehe!"

A deep and yet cold burst of laughter rang out in the surrounding.

"After so many years, someone has finally arrived here." The cold voice echoed through the area.

The voice appeared to have come from the depth of purgatory, and it was brimming with an intense amount of killing Intent.

Jeremy didn't even realize it, but he was shaking from all over his body.

Fear swept all over his body, as this was the closest he had ever been to death. He gasped heavily with beads of sweat all over his forehead.

"The question is, are you worthy?!"

As Jeremy heard that voice, he wanted to respond, but he found himself unable to let a single word out of his mouth.

Not to talk of speaking, Jeremy couldn't even nod or shake his head. He stood there with his hands shaking.

Outside the tower, Jeremy's main body stood still on the eleventh level.

Jeremy needed to cross that voice before he would be able to stand on the twelfth level. Having not done so, he was unable to be registered on the twelfth level.

"What is going on?"

"Didn't he just step onto the twelfth level, how come, he is back to the eleventh level?"

Those were the questions that escaped the mouth of the people in the surrounding.

They had all seen Jeremy go onto the twelfth level, but a second after, he entered that place, he appeared back on the eleventh floor.

He then stood still with his eyes shut closed.

"I'm also just as confused… If anyone is to know what's going on, then it's going to be them."

The person who spoke soon shifted his gaze to the seven who were seating on the obsidian throne.

And indeed, if there was someone who understood the entire details of what happened, it was the seven directors.

"He must have encountered that thing," Wyatt mumbled.

A nod came from the other direction after Wyatt spoke.

"You have a nice lad, Grayson. Let's hope he survives."

The smile on Grayson's face vanished when he heard the second part of Vermont's word.

He glared at the tower with his thought rather unknown.

Meanwhile, with each second that passed, Jeremy found death getting closer and closer. He felt that at any point from now, he was going to lose himself.

"Jeremy Mccall… Are you worthy?!!"

Jeremy was in shock as he heard his name called out, and it wasn't even up to a few seconds, the surrounding became clearer a little.

The sound of footsteps could then be heard.

As Jeremy raised his head and stared at the being in front, he staggered several steps backward.

A beast with a gorilla-like appearance, dark black scales all over its body, with two pale golden dragon horns on its forehead, and a pair of huge black wings at its back appeared in front of Jeremy.

"Roaarrrr!!!!"

...

An- At this point, just support lol