What idiocy was he forced to be witness to? What compelled the Crusader to go rushing towards his death? They had so much on their hands to stay back and investigate the situation to ensure safety and yet he decides to run in like a brainless fool?
The Spartan couldn’t help but continue to stare in absolute shock. He was still trying his best to process everything that had happened right in front of him. He was unable to do so and eventually he had come to understand something quite well.
His ex-associate was quite the idiot. That was the only thought he had to explain everything. Well, either way, there was nothing more to do other than to move on. He didn’t know if the man was still alive after he made contact with the liquid and he certainly wasn’t looking to go fall into a trap to save him. Thus, the best option was to do what he had proposed earlier: to go to another building and scout ahead.
That way he knew for sure how to move onwards. That would be the optimal solution, the best way forward.
Yet. At this time. He did not move. He did not take a step towards a nearby building and he certainly did not take any actions to get out of the area. No, he continued standing there like some moron, still looking towards the doorway.
Why? He understood that standing here would be the foolish option amongst all. That he could be assaulted at any time by the myriad of monsters that roamed these streets, that threatened his chances of survival at every single second. This was a simple decision that he should have taken some seconds ago. He had to leave and get out of the danger zone.
But that was what he did not do. No, he started to walk towards the doorway. What madness compelled him to do so, he himself still did not understand.
What’s wrong with me? Why in Tartarus am I rushing towards my inevitable death? Am I being consumed with some strange obsession to help those that have no capacity for survival instinct? Was this nothing more than the desire to see my associate be fine?
That can’t be. Try as he might, there was no way he could see any kind of camaraderie with the Crusader. The man was nothing more than a zealot that was focused on one thing no matter what, so much so that he was consumed by that desire. He could not fathom being friends with anyone when the two of them were the complete opposite of each other.
This wasn’t a desire to do the ‘right’ thing. He could care less about this land and the people that lived within. After all, they had the full capability to fight for their desires and to band together for their right to live. Yet they chose to hide away and cower like weaklings, not doing anything at all. There was no one out on the streets willing to fight for their family and their future. Thus, he had no reason to care at all.
His focus was to go back to Sparta. That was what he cared for and his whole focus for fighting towards. There was nothing else for him to stay around.
He took several more steps forward. No, that wasn’t right. There was something that was making him walk forward and move towards the tower. There was one single thought, one desire that was getting him to go towards his possible death.
His past regret. The one mistake he had ever made back in Sparta, where he had refused the call to arms from his King. Where he had chosen to stay back and to take care of his family and keep an eye on everything because the Fates themselves had dictated to not move forward. He was one of the many who stayed back and watched the King and his retinue march towards their inevitable deaths.
They all died. None of them returned and the battle was all for naught. They did not stop the advance of the Persian forces and the only reason why they were spared was because the Athenian navy came in to stop the invaders. No, they came and fought for nothing, meaning the end was as the Fates called.
Yet despite all that, his King was immortalized in history. Rumors and discussions of how amazing a man he was continued to go through the mouths and ears of all Spartans for time to come. Every member of his retinue that went in to defend Greece were remembered for their duty, with all their actions written and discussed for the future generations to come.
All while he stayed behind. His family did well, but so did the families of the fallen. It did not matter whether or not they failed in their actions, what was important was that they went in knowing they would die with a single goal. That decisiveness and focus to go through and do everything to change the tides of battle no matter what, the arrogance and the courage to pull through.
All of that culminated into guilt and shame. Everytime he looked at his weapon, he couldn’t help but wonder what if he had joined in. Each time his children talked about the warriors that went out with their King, he wondered ‘Ah, what about me?’
He didn’t have the ability to defend his family and land. He couldn’t rush in because he was so afraid of his own death that he rationalized the incident as one ordained by the Fates to be doomed. No, all of that was nothing more than excuses to try to weasel his way out of getting into a battle where he knew the outcomes.
Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.
Perhaps this was what the Crusader was able to do. No matter how terrible or hopeless the situation was, he was still able to go in. He could not care about his life when something greater was laid on the line. To that end, he respected the man. After all, this was something similar he had to his King. That in itself…
He hadn’t looked away from the gateway. He never stopped walking towards it. At this thought, he closed his eyes and stopped. He breathed in deeply, before exhaling everything out.
Then he opened his eyes wide and dashed in.
His associate was right, to a degree. There was a time to be cautious and careful. There were moments where one had to step back. However, here and now was the time to act and go in to do their job. To be true warriors and rush into battle regardless of thinking about life or death.
He slammed into the gate and the dark liquid embraced him. Before long, he was beginning to delve into this substance and slowly but surely sink within. Within seconds he began to get enveloped by the whole liquid and was being pushed forward despite not moving a single muscle.
The whole sensation was bizarre. He couldn’t move, but it wasn’t as though he was unable to control his body. Rather, the whole sensation was as though he was stuck in time, unable to connect to his body and yet able to think. His spirit was in tact and existed outside his whole body as nothing but pure black continued to control his vision.
At least, for a little while. Then he came out of the other side and found himself in a giant room, one that certainly would not have fit within the tower’s dimensions.
A single white fountain laid in the middle of this circular space, one ordained with red and green letterings that were of a language he did not recognize. Tall plumes of blue erupted from the epicenter of that fountain, splashing around and about within the tub of this structure. There were two stairs that flanked this furnishing, all of which zigged and zagged across the area to lead to a single point up on the ceiling.
There was nothing else in this room. No monsters, no Crusaders, no piles of dust and bones, nothing. It was as though this area had yet to be touched by human hands and was pure of any contamination.
For a split second, the Spartan wondered if this was the same place his associate had ended up. After all, there was the chance the dark liquid merely transported people differently. Maybe he had been sent to a different floor or perhaps he was in a new area completely. He did not know and that worried him.
However, all of that went out the window the moment he began to hear the sound of fighting. He turned towards the source and widened his eyes. There! The Crusader was standing on some stairs that had twisted to go upside down. Despite the fact he was hanging the wrong way around, he seemed to only be concerned with the three monsters that were fighting him at this time.
The enemy were the hulks that they had killed out on the streets beforehand. While they weren’t all that smart, they were able to do their best to make him fight for every step as they were far more than capable of tanking most of the strikes from the longsword with the shimmering around them. However, they weren’t able to make any meaningful assaults to defeat the Crusader and turn the tides. On the same hand, his associate was unable to make any moves to take down any of the monsters and proceed onwards, thus forcing a stalemate.
Good grief. Guess he needed to change the tides then, huh?
With a sigh, he went ahead and activated his divinity. He had to focus a good bit to get the pathing reach towards the hulks, but he was able to achieve his goal rather easily. With that, he struck forward with his spear and slammed into the back of the monsters, going in between the scales.
One of them froze after getting impaled and began to dissolve into dust and bones. The other two stopped in their tracks, which allowed the Crusader to jump up and slam his sword into the opening on its neck, circumventing the shimmering altogether. The last one was finished by him with another usage of his divinity.
Once more there was a cloud of dust and bones that began to fall to the floor. However, what was odd was the way they began to react. Rather than continue falling, they seemed to float towards the fountain at a decent speed. They kept on going until they came into contact with the blue liquid, at which point they dissolved completely and turned to nothingness. The fluids glowed for a few seconds, before going dim. Nothing more happened and all that seemed to have come out was the complete annihilation of the remains.
Dying here would mean there wouldn’t be anything left of them. This was the true and ultimate death. Nothing would remain of them after their death here, something far worse than the outside. At least then there would be some dust and bones.
For a brief second, the Spartan felt some regret going in. That thought got destroyed the moment it entered his mind. He knew what he was getting into the moment he came inside, having regret would be the anathema of his existence now. He came in here to change himself and he was going to do exactly that.
“You made it!” The Crusader yelled from his position, “You came!”
“Of course I would. If I hadn’t, then all that care and effort I put into making you a decent warrior would have been all for naught.” He snorted back. His associate didn’t seem to take that all too well, but none of that mattered. What was important was that he was here now and that he had come to assist.
With that in mind, he dashed towards the nearest staircase, which happened to be the one on the right. At this moment, he had to take his mind away from regrets and paranoia. He had to have one focus now.
Making sure this tower was cleared of all enemies.