The Blade Of God-Chapter 66: The Bridge (Slash II)

The knights looked to where the bulky man’s eyes rest, staring with wide eyes at the large--no--humougous steel tower behind them, reaching so far, the top of the steel tower is surrounded by white, fluffy clouds, hidden behind the puffs of cotton and unseen by anything but mighty giants--or Gods--supposedly. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

"That’s...insane..." It’s Chase speaks first, pointing a shaky hand to the tower while even his dark eyes shake from shock. "H-how is that even possible...?"

"Well it is called the Tower of God." Aliane mutters, watching as the clouds slowly move to unveil a bit more of the tower. "It’s...wow-."

"That’s...quite Godly, indeed." Clarke said, nervously eyeing up at the tower. Clarke turns her head, meeting eyes with Jeremiah before she and Jeremiah nod their heads simultaneously in agreement. "So, Guardian of the Tower, could you perhaps explain to us how we must proceed?"

"Ah yes, sure, pretty knight." The Guardian smiles, his beady eyes focused on Clarke’s appearance. Clarke raises an eyebrow, confusedly by the sudden attention, but a strong, pale hand softly clenches her armored shoulder. Clarke turns her head, noticing Rel next to her, glaring down at the bulky man.

"A-as I was saying, welcome to the Tower of God!" The Guardian said, moving his eyes from the group of knights to the large tower. "This is the biggest obstacle to get to the room of the Council of Gods, where the nine Gods reside, and will conduct the Treaty meeting with you all."

"I-it’s above...all the way to the top?" It’s Milly who shakily points to the tower, clutching his brief case against his chest. "We have to reach that?"

The Guardian barely looks Milly’s way, nodding his head and clearing throat to clear his cluttered, static voice.

"The top of the tower is where the Gods reside." The Guardian said. "So yes, you do."

"How...how can we even reach the top of that thing?" Co asked, sounding more fascinated than fearful, in comparison to the other knights. "How many floors even is it? Is the tower made of magic? Just steel? Who can answer my questions?"

"Such a nerd..." Sia mutters, filing down her sharp nails. "Always asking the most irrelevant questions..."

"Aw, I think it’s quite cute!" Shaka exclaimed, causing Co to quickly turn around with red ears. "He’s always so curious! It’s quite refreshing!"

"That’s because your not never curious enough with that hulk of a brain of yours..." Milly mutters, pursing his lips. "All woman are..."

"Are you picking a fit with me?!" Shaka roars, raising a fist as she pushes her ways awfully close to Milly’s nervous one. Li-Li nods, copying Shaka without hesitation.

"I-!" Milly starts to say, but Jeremiah clears his throat, looking at his knights with a pointed look.

"Enough." Jeremiah said. "Guardian, please."

"Right, the tower, as might as it may seem, is made of steel, but magic from each God." The Guardian said. "The large tower--which leads to the Council of Gods, has nine levels."

"Nine?" Clarke asked with a raised eyebrow. "And why is thou so?"

"Well," The Guardian clears is throat, pointing to the large tower. "Each level was created by each God--Death, Judgement, Chaos, Divinity, Strength and Heroes, Vehemence, Knowledge and Diplomacy, Dawn, and the King of Gods, Creation. Why? Well, each God created a certain level for the security of the tower, and to--of course--fight against the ones who stupidly aim to reach for the top, not calling you stupid, of course, but definitely not the brightest either, heh."

"Alright, that’s...a lot..." Clarke said, nervously eyeing the Guardian. "So must all we have to do is pass through the floor?"

"Not necessarily, no." The Guardian said, offering an empty, empty curled smile. "Each level has a Guardian, such as I, that protects the level from foe. That Guardian must be challenged and faced off by at least one that offers themselves as a bid before the next floor is granted access."

"What?!" Lia exclaims, stopping her foot and failing her arms. "You mean to tell me that we have to fight again?! Wasn’t that ugly fairy enough?! There’s more of them?"

"Well, no, not exactly." The Guardian said, his blue eyes glowing bright, even as the sky is brightened by the scorching sun. "These guardians are much more stronger than those easy little things-."

"E-easy little things-?!" Lia said, but gets cut off by the Guardian.

"In fact, they are much more stronger and fun!" The Guardian said, his smile growing bigger, if that were even possible. "In actuality, the higher you travel up the tower, the stronger the Guardians will be--and wow, are they quite brutal..."

Jeremiah sighs, closing his eyes shut as he thinks, focusing his mind on the brutality--the awfully fate that aheads the knights.

"The Gods are truly playing with us..." Li-Li mumbles, holding Shaka’s hand as she shakes. "Oh, I’m so scared...!"

"The Gods never quite play fair, little lady." The Guardian said. "Not like they ever truly had to."

There’s a small silence that lingers within the group before its Jeremiah that clears his throat, meeting eyes with the smiling, beady eyed Guardian.

"You mentioned something before." Jeremiah said, eyeing the Guardian with unreadable emotions on his face. "You said ’at least one that offers themselves as a bid before the next floor is granted access. What does this fully mean?"

The Guardian blinks, before he smiles, his beady eyes glowing even brighter than before.

"The Gods Guardian will take at least one sacrifice to face them during the level--or as we call it--the Trials of the Tower. At least one person must face the so called ’trial’--or God--for the others to pass to the next level."

"So what you’re saying is that we must leave someone behind each time we climb higher?" Prince Miuoi asked, his expression dark, his eyes glimmering with emotions. "That was never discussed with me...how can we leave a friend behind? To what--die? How can we even proceed with heavy hearts?"

"The good news is, as long as they come out alive, they’ll be automatically transported to the gates of the Council of Gods--to the top of the tower." The Guardian said, a smile in his voice. "It’s a bit of a cheat, if you consider the ups and downs of such a proposal. You sacrifice yourself to fight a Guardian, and you will be given the chance to speed your way above the level you fight on to the top--only issue, of course, is that you survive."

There is another pit of silence before Jeremiah heavily swallows, turning to Prince Miuoi, a glum expression on his face.

"Prince Miuoi." Jeremiah said. "I know we’ve reached far enough that we’ve reach the tower. However--I--I cannot ask my knights to risk themselves for such a potential brutal end. It isn’t within my heart."

"But-but Captain!" It’s Clarke that intervenes, placing a hand on Jeremiah’s stiff shoulders. "We’ve already made it to the tower, and we-we knew what may have come from-."

"No one is prepared for this." Jeremiah said. "To ask any of you to offer yourselves solely for something that may lead to such a brutal end is-."

"You needn’t ask, Captain." Clarke said, a small smile on her face. "We will follow--follow you, until the end, sir."

Jeremiah blinks, looking from Clarke to the other knights, all who offer him nervous smiles, but hands on their hearts, as to salute to Jeremiah (even Milly, who awkward follows everyone else while looking away). Jeremiah clears his throat, feeling warmth bubble in his chest as he softly smiles, nodding his head in thanks at the knights who pledge themselves to his command--to him--without hesitation.

"Thank you all, truly. I adored all the time that we’ve spent together, even until the end." Jeremiah said. "However, I hope I lose not one of you, and we come back victorious, or in one piece."

"Hopefully both!" Prince Miuoi said, his eyes shifting to Jeremiah’s shoulder. "However, has the holy knight been asleep this entire time?"

Jeremiah flinches, his eyes roaming to where Zayn lays, her body unmoved except for the soft up and downhill of her chest and her soft, petite breathing. A sudden cold feeling takes over Jeremiah, washes over him like a tidal wave when he realizes that yes--Zayn is still asleep, she’s been asleep this entire time--and no, no matter how may times he shakes her gently, she doesn’t seem to awaken.

"Holy Knight Zayn." Jeremiah said, attempting to wake up for the umpth time. "Holy Knight Zayn! Zayn!"

"Is she really not waking up?!" It’s Chase that pushes his way through the other knights, dropping to his knees as he also tries to shake her awake. "Zayn, lil’ sis? Zayn?! Zayn, come on-!"

"W-why isn’t she waking up?!" Amur said, hurriedly sitting beside Chase, trying to shake a passed-out Zayn. "She was alright just a second ago! What did you freaking do?!" Amur roars, snapping her head to glare at the Guardian.

"As I said before, transporting can have side effects." The Guardian said. "Everyone is different. I couldn’t tell you at all as to why-."

"She’s going to wake up, right?!" Chase exclaims, attempting to shake Zayn awake. "S-she’ll eventually wake up, because it’s just side effects, right?"

The Guardian looks down to Zayn, tilting his head, his beady eyes glowing as he silently stares at her until suddenly he grins, his smile curling like tree vines on his face.

"Hopefully..." The Guardian said, a smile on his lips. "The strongest usually suffer the most--The Gods who deem the weakest hate the strong, yet the strongest ones love them enough to try to swallow them whole. Yet it seems maybe the strongest wants to lend their strength to your friend."