After their recent bout with the group of knights, the two left the treasure room opposite from the lava chasm’s side.

He carried Clara all this while, trying to talk to her to help calm her from this situation. But like Mikella said, Clara seemed a bit different compared to any other kids. She was more mature than she let on in situations like this, and she even gets excited despite the horrors she witnessed. She was certainly a special case.

Though if he was honest, he was also a special case when he was a child, so Zeke felt a connection to Clara. This also made him feel closer to her despite being a complete stranger to her, at least when it came to blood relation.

As they went further down the pathway, which now became a singular path ahead rather than the corridors and the hallways they were forced to go through, they kept encountering more knights by the dozens.

Clara held onto him tight as the knights raged outside his barrier. For a moment, Zeke figured that she had forgotten who she was hugging, not being her big sister. Zeke calmed her by grasping her tightly, patting her legs in good faith while watching Mikella annihilate the knights.

She didn’t give any mercy to those going after the two within the barrier instead of her. If anything, she respected the knights she defeated that went after her, while utterly maiming the ones going after the dome instead. A fair balance, one could say.

Eventually, they found the entrance to somewhere, and Zeke knew that this was special.

The reason why it was special is because they landed themselves back at the hallways–the exact same one they found themselves in at the beginning when they just woke up in this hellish dungeon.

But Zeke knew the difference now. He wasn’t sure whether it was his updated stats and skills, but he sensed that the mana around them was… different.

As though this hallway didn’t exist. Zeke tried to experiment, actually, by trying to kick over a stand with an expensive looking pot just resting near the wall of the hallway. Mikella watched him as though he was just messing around, but both their eyes rounded when the stand fell, but nothing broke.

Instead, it just returned back to normal, as though time had rewinded. Though it appears like someone did a bad editing job in a video as it just popped into existence as it was before. Zeke looked back at Mikella, showing a frown.

“That didn’t happen at the last place,” Zeke said. “Those knights made a mess back then, but not a single one made this reaction like now.”

“So, what’s going on?” Mikella asked, grasping at her sword in fright. “Are we trapped in a weird dimension or something?”

“No,” Zeke shook his head. He swore that the treasure room was the last one, but if the knights came over even after defeating the said boss, then something else was happening. “I’m not really sure. But I think this is where we needed to go.”

There was a purpose for them being there, that was certain. Otherwise, Zeke couldn't explain why any psycho would decide to put a random group of people pushed together in this place. If there truly wasn’t, then it would just make Zeke give up hope in the future.

So he swore that there was a purpose. He could tell that the mana in this area felt unstable, like something could break at any moment.

But he didn’t know what to do, and that was frustrating him.

“Alright,” Mikella nodded. Zeke was taken aback by her agreeing so easily. “Let’s keep going then. I want to get out of here as fast as possible.”

“You and me both,” Zeke shook his head. “I like adventures as much as the next guy, but there’s a reason why there’s always a save game option.”

He joked, reminding himself of so many role playing games with the famous save game places, such as in golden statues or with cute furry creatures. Even Mikella pointed out that they should find a glowing green circle to help save the game.

“Clara knows quite a bit about games, huh?” Zeke asked, half enjoying himself and half in curiosity. “That’s a pretty old one.”

“Clara always plays games whenever I go out to my training,” Mikella pointed out. “Actually, she helps me out sometimes whenever I’m struggling.”

“Ah, so she’s the brains and you’re the brawn.”

Zeke grinned, granting him a playful jab at the arm by Mikella. She didn’t know however that it ended up making him wince at the powerful jab. Clara just laughed at it all as they continued on.

The hallway continued as it did in the first floor they’ve been in, and they found many knights just as well. But this time, the knights seem off.

For instance, one didn’t even care whether they appeared or not. It just kept slamming on the wall as though it was poorly programmed. It scared the little girl as Mikella took it out of its misery. Another just laid on the floor, its knees huddled to its chest, as though it had given up all hope.

Mikella considered taking it out, just for good measure. But eventually, she returned back to Zeke with a deep frown.

“...It just felt wrong,” Mikella said. “I don’t like it.”

Zeke decided to let it go, too. If even Mikella didn’t want to kill the knight, then they were sure that the knight wasn’t about to attack. They just walked past, with Clara giving it one final look as it continued to look at the ground, unable to even fathom what was going on.

They found some more knights in the same state, just looking beyond where the adults’ eyes can’t see. It was such a bizarre sight. For the past two days, the knights have been tirelessly trying to kill them.

But it’s as though they reached to the part where the knights just no longer cared anymore. This made Zeke uncomfortable, a dark thought running through his head as they forced themselves to walk past these once shells of living beings.

They were actual knights, from some era long ago. Their ghosts, after they died, remained in this castle, taking over their former suits of armor to defend the castle.

While he was sure some of them went crazy and tried to take them out for no good reason, he truly believed others knew of their circumstances, thus leading them here where this place felt so unnatural.

They feel… empty, losing all drive in their after-lives. The dark thought kept rampaging in his mind, bringing his mood even lower than before. He decided not to share his thoughts with Mikella, especially with Clara right there. It was just too sad to even think about.

Then, after what felt like forever, they found the true cause of this place going out of whack.

Zeke felt his entire being shift strangely, as though the energy around him was forcing him to be bent out of shape. He knew that he was feeling this the strongest as he almost knelt, while Mikella had a deeper frown than usual as she looked forward.

The room they found themselves in looked like the throne room of the castle. Pillars were arranged to form a pathway towards the throne, with several banners and other forms of memorabilia that a throne room would have. It was huge, however, as though the king itself had to be big enough to encompass the throne.

But there wasn’t a throne here. What they saw instead was something straight out of a science fiction novel rather than a fantasy one. A portal–and a large one at that. It seemed to cover the entirety of the massive room they found themselves in. It was glowing bright grey and white, like seeing through the static of an old television set. It swirled with strange particles at the center, a rampaging thunderstorm with flashes of lightning within its confines.

“Is that…?” Mikella asked, her voice filled with a mixture of fear and hope.

“A portal,” Zeke guessed. “Or it could be a dark hole that would kill us immediately if we go inside.”

Mikella turned to glare at him, obviously not amused. Clara gave him the stink-eye, slapping his head at the top. Zeke sheepishly grinned and shrugged.

“That might be a way out of here. But what do you think?” Zeke asked, turning serious now that it finally came to this.

After a bit of hesitation, Mikella let out a groan. “Is there even a choice? I just want us out of this hellhole already.”

Zeke nodded. “Then let’s–”

A deep, ghostly groan rang out through the entire room. Zeke shook from the bass alone, the massive pressure almost crushing him. Mikella did her best to react, but the pressure was even getting to her, unable to even grasp her sword properly.

Zeke reacted better and managed to grab Clara by hosting her up to his side. Clara quickly assumed her position and held onto his neckline for dear life.

“What the fuck was that?!” Mikella managed to say, finally taking hold of her sword.

But Zeke knew that it might be futile. This pressure… it was something else. Even compared to the dragon, this pressure is nothing compared to that. It was as though they found the true cause, the real reason why this castle turned out to be what it is now.

But when the creature responsible for this showed itself, every thought about fighting it was thrown out the window.

It was a giant knight, reaching a bigger height than the wyvern. It was armored in ways one can’t really assume to be an ordinary knight. While the other Arthurian Knights were dressed in simple medieval iron armor, the giant knight’s armor looked like it came from the deep abyss of the underworld.

A horned helmet, a cuirass as wide as a barrel for its height, and spikes jutting out of every possible part. The armor was pitch dark as ebony, and it seemed to somehow rot in its appearance. It carried a long sword, spiked on the edges and a cruel hook at the end of the blade.

The hole of its horned helmet showed only reddish eyes, its glare sending shivers down his spine.

If it was just the size alone, the two would’ve been able to handle it.

But Zeke knew. He knew in a single instant that this monster wasn’t an opponent they could face. Not at their level, or perhaps not at all.

It was like a god appearing in front of them, marking their judgment with their presence alone. He didn’t know how, but his body somehow did. The pressure never let up, no matter how many times he tried to conquer it by using his Mana Perception and Meditation.

It was pointless. The knight will just destroy them before they could even muster the courage to strike. That’s just how powerful that giant knight was.

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His hope would’ve been crushed to smithereens if he stared back at the strange portal to somewhere, hopefully anywhere that wasn’t here. It was still there, practically waving at them to come through for safety.

“We need to get out of here!” Zeke yelled, shifting the quiet and frightened Clara off his shoulders and into his arms for better carrying. “Now!”

“You don’t have to tell me twice!”

Mikella eagerly led the way, pulling Zeke’s hand as though her speed could somehow help him out as well. Zeke feared that the pressure was something only he felt, so he would have to convince Mikella to run rather than fight.

But clearly this pressure wasn’t just magic based. Now he knew exactly what it was, after carefully figuring out the reasoning behind its existence.

It wasn’t just pressure. It was an aura. If he had to make a comparison, he would use a bucket of water as an example.

The knights were just droplets entering into the bucket of water. The dragon, however, was the water in the bucket. As for the giant knight–

It was the waterfall where the bucket managed to get the water from. The pressure alone is enough to stifle and even drown a person, killing them without even trying. How Zeke and Mikella, even Clara, managed to survive was possibly due to the special circumstances they were built in.

Though he could easily guess that a true normal person would die just by being around it. They had no chance of winning.

But the knight wasn’t the type to hold back against weaklings in a code of honor. No, it charged after them.

He could feel the hostility drowning him, his insides feeling crushed and his mind getting warped into fear and panic. When he glanced at Clara, his heart froze.

Clara’s eyes were bloodshot open, her body was trembling like crazy. Even if the system didn’t help her initialize, it was easy to tell that the aura was getting to her too. If they don’t get out of here quickly enough, it will kill Clara by the sight of it alone.

For a brief moment, Zeke actually thought about throwing Clara aside and running for the portal to save himself. And this time, he didn’t blame himself for thinking of something so horrible.

If he was able to excuse himself for his horrific thoughts, he wouldn’t even put down the idea that Mikella would do the same thing. One look at her, and it was obvious that it wasn’t fury that encompassed her, but true fear and panic.

But he knew that it was just a thought. A natural survival instinct compared to seeing the giant knight actually raising the hook sword to swing at them. Zeke never grasped Clara tighter than before, not wanting to let her go for a single moment.

He didn’t even think much as his survival instincts kicked in and used up all of his Mana, nearly draining himself to zero, to conjure a powerful barrier behind them as they charged for the portal.

A second later, a nuclear bomb exploded behind them.

Zeke obviously knew it wasn’t a bomb. But that’s what he felt when the hook sword hit the barrier. Despite draining all of his mana to near zero, it barely, barely held up.

Cracks appeared all over his barrier. He was running away, but he knew from how his mana dispersed and cracked from the impossible force crashed onto it. It was impossible to think that he could actually defend himself, much less fight the damn monster behind them.

But something else came up to intervene. Intense pain racked his insides as his mouth coughed up blood. His body froze and knelt down, somehow still holding onto Clara who looked up at him with fear in her eyes.

“Bobo!” Clara shouted, grasping Zeke’s ruined tie as tears fell down her face.

He couldn’t even comprehend what he just heard as he tried to figure out what the fuck just happened to him. He didn’t get hit at all, right? So why did it feel like his insides were crushed by that same crushing force?

Mikella also stood beside him, thankfully not in the same situation as he was. They were so close to the portal, the strange whirring sound reaching their ears, but it was also disturbingly faint.

“Zeke! What’s wrong? Why did you stop?!” Mikellas asked, but only just realized his state. “Oh my god, what happened to you?!”

Zeke was trying to figure out the same thing, but it finally hit him.

The giant knight behind them was so powerful, it actually transferred that damage straight to his body. Thinking logically, one could say that the barrier severely interfered with that process, causing the damage that would have normally been dealt to him to be significantly reduced.

Otherwise, there was no way he could have survived that. He knew the barrier managed to hold on, but also knew that it didn’t work as it should.

That was how powerful the knight was. So powerful, it was able to actually damage the spell caster who cast the barrier by some unknown ability it carried.

A strength so powerful it transcended the laws of magic, one could say. Taken out of his musings, Zeke knew there were only very few choices to make in this situation.

He can’t move. His legs were still too shocked to stand. His body wasn't listening to his will any longer. It was possible that the intensifying aura of the giant knight was responsible. He also couldn’t ignore the damage given not just physically, but spiritually.

In laymen’s terms–he’s fucked.

But there was no way he was going to screw over the girls with his failure. If there was one thing he could be proud of–it is to pave the way for everyone else to move forward.

His Trailblazer title spoke as much.

“You have to run,” Zeke managed to say, blood still seeping from his mouth. He then grabbed Clara and promptly pushed her onto her sister.

“Wait, what?” Utterly bewildered, Mikella grabbed the shocked Clara easily enough, but turned back to Zeke with a frown. “I’m not gonna leave you behind!”

Another groan escaped from the Ghost Knight. The groan somehow made the aura explode farther, catching everyone’s attention. Mikella flinched as Clara cried out in what felt like actual pain.

Clara got hurt from just that groan. Zeke’s heart froze when he saw blood pouring out from her ears and nose. Mikella watched in horror, her mouth gaping at the impossible sight of Clara possibly getting killed by its presence alone.

Any longer and Clara might truly not make it. Zeke glared at Mikella, his rising anger at the knight bearing form.

“Run!” Zeke yelled. “Run from here! Now!”

“B-But–”

“I said now!”

Without holding back, Zeke conjured a barrier straight in front of Mikella. Shocked at the sudden barrier, Mikella couldn't react any faster before Zeke willed his barrier to push itself forward.

It extended itself horizontally, like how he managed to push up the wyvern’s maw. It pushed Mikella against her will and dragged her towards the portal. She looked back to the man in outrage, fear, and despair.

“Wait! Wait, Zeke! Stop–!”

Mikella cried out before the barrier pushed them far enough into the portal, forcing her voice to get cut out as they disappeared from this side.

Zeke sensed what he felt could be mana from the barrier. Once he could no longer sense the mana anymore, he knew that the two managed to get out of here safely.

Well, ‘safely’ might be too strong of a word from the way they left. Zeke had to take accountability pushing them away so roughly like that.

But he forgave himself easily enough. After all, Mikella and Clara can live. As for himself…

He looked back at the sight behind him, at the room that they tried to leave.

It was an utter mess. The impact from earlier destroyed everything, possibly from the shockwave of both impossibly strong forces colliding one another.

Even the other knights that hung around outside the throne room were destroyed, their armor pieces scattered everywhere. The pristine white walls were cracked beyond measure, and the ground littered with broken stone and marble.

But the giant knight remained standing, its hook sword in hand. All the while, his barrier that he conjured with every fiber of his being was breaking, nothing but spiderwebs scarring the once clear glassy wall..

He had to give it all he got just to drag Mikella away, afraid that making a weaker one would be broken by her protest.

He stared back at the knight, knowing that in a single moment, he would die. He lived a long, fruitless 21 years of life. He was born, lived incompetently and inadequately, and managed to find himself a boring desk job that barely paid him more than a regular service worker made.

Yet somehow, he smiled at his fate. He managed to stand up by himself, ignoring the constant pain and anguish his body was claiming to be in.

His soul couldn’t feel any lighter. He felt like those heroes he would see in the movies or TV series–the true heroes who knew what was at stake and made the ultimate decision for everyone’s benefit.

Though, if he was honest, he preferred the ones where they get out by the skin of their teeth. His fear of death is still apparent in the back of his mind. He wondered, after all this, did he make a good impression on Clara?

He was worried his antics and silliness would prove him to be unreliable to her, but now, he only wished that she would see this as a chance to be a better person, knowing that someone sacrificed himself for her well-being, thus granting her a passage to lead others to safety as well.

Well, he was hoping she wouldn’t end up being exactly like him. As the knight stood before him, ready for another strike with its hook sword, Zeke looked up at it.

He didn’t look up in fear, however. He looked up with a curious glance.

Then an idea popped into his head.

Wait, why don’t I–

The hook sword swung right at him, doing an underside horizontal strike right at the small man’s torso. It was so precise, it was a shock to see from such a giant beast of a knight.

And yet, the expected result never happened. Because Zeke somehow only just realized one crucial fact.

Magic and levels might be a thing… but so was physics.

…..

“Zeke! Zeke, you son of a bitch!”

Mikella cried out, slamming her fist against the now stone wall that had appeared before her the moment both her and Clara were rudely pushed out by none other than Zeke.

It was all a blur, and she couldn’t even comprehend half of what happened. All she knew was that they got truly fucked. They tried to find a way out, Zeke got injured somehow, and now Zeke did the ultimate sacrifice by pushing them out rather than working together.

In other words, Zeke had done something absolutely moronic and stupid, actually believing that what he did was considered noble.

But all it did was make Clara cry harder despite the pain she was just afflicted with. Mikella tried to go back where they went through the portal, but found herself stuck behind the stone wall.

This stone wall in particular belonged to an extremely huge tower that seemed to be bigger than any skyscraper she ever saw, but more than that, right in the middle of a forested nowhere.

Nothing but trees and shrubbery surrounded them, all while beyond a conveniently empty plain filled with nothing but grass everywhere they saw. It was as though this place existed in some otherworldly realm and ended up landing right here.

But she didn’t care about that. All she did was foolishly slamming the stone wall, as if that could solve all her problems.

What now? Where are they? What can they do now?

And more importantly, is Zeke still alive?

She knew, deep in her heart, that what Zeke did was not anything noble, but logical. She knew that if Clara stayed behind any longer, the damn monster’s presence alone could’ve killed her.

And that was nothing short of what the knight could do to them. Even with all her updated strength and power, she couldn't do a goddamn thing, and now Zeke paid that price for her weakness.

Zeke had nothing to do with her family, with her and her little sister. Yet he went out of his way to not only protect them, but even give his life to ensure doing so. She also knew that he didn’t have a choice. His injury must be so severe that it stopped him from moving, and there was no way that Mikella could handle carrying Zeke and Clara in that span of time while the giant knight of death was aiming to kill them outright.

Her fists ached as tears flowed from her eyes. She knew what truly happened, but she refuses to see the reality. She didn’t want to. It was just too unfair.

“Sissy…!” Clara cried out. She didn't even care that she was bleeding as she looked towards the stone wall. “Bobo is… Bobo’s still in there!”

Mikella looked over to Clara, unable to truly answer her. It was even hard to look at her, especially with her bloody face which she also failed to prevent.

Everything just went so wrong in just a short amount of time. She thought she could handle everything after that wyvern, after acquiring a title and a skill on top of that, but it was nothing compared to that giant knight of pure death.

But right before answering that Zeke wasn’t alive anymore, that he sacrificed himself to protect them all–something groaned behind the stone wall.

Well, behind wouldn’t be accurate. It was beyond the stone wall, but not really. Mikella couldn’t really explain, but she sensed something from beyond the stone wall.

No, perhaps beyond this… realm they were currently living in? It was hard to really describe.

But before she could truly understand what that feeling is, a portal suddenly opened up right in front of her. It came out so suddenly, making her flinch and summon her sword from her pack.

She thought perhaps the knight did away with Zeke in that matter of time, and now it was coming straight for them. It was such a horrifying thing to think.

But what came out was nothing like she expected. A flying Zeke, riddled with blood, catapulted straight out of the portal. His body flew such a long distance that she almost failed to see him anymore as he went beyond the horizon, straight into the forest beyond them.

Both Clara and Mikella stared back in shock, and stared right back at each other. They immediately ran after him, Mikella carrying Clara as she screamed out his name.

“Zeke!”