Minacious adventures were assured here in Aciago Tower. With the information Worthy had gathered, he knew about at least the First and Second Floor in great detail, and the Third Floor in passing.
Previously, the First Floor was a test that required teamwork and sufficient fighting skill to survive in. Collaborating with a group was a necessary component for survival and finding a Gateway contained in the body of one of the crimson behemoths. This directive hadn't changed significantly, but it had still been changed in the wake of the ongoing disaster. Finding an exit was still the goal necessary, but all of the previous components were far more important — tenfold.
Frighteningly, the Second Floor was much worse than the First Floor, even when considering the countless unknown abominations drifting the fogged sky and creeping across the surface, nothing was more terrifying than predators with intelligence. Anyone could die within moments of entering the Second Floor by falling into a trap laid by one of the huntsmen of that level.
In fact, Worthy was most frightened by that floor. Experience was important, and he was not old enough to have enough that'd relieve him of his worries. Against creatures that are capable of proficient, merciless thoughts — who will go to any length for their meal — no one is safe no matter where they are.
The coldness did not concern the child, not nearly as much as the slippy, everchanging terrain of the First Floor. Even now that he was standing on a mountain made of bones, a pleasant contrast to the ground made of blood and organs, there were always new threats.
Beneath his feet in the hollows of the mountain, the flesh monsters had created a nest, or where he thought was one.
As the defensive forces of the travel party continued fighting, the mountain shook. It was not just the force of the fighting that made the ridge tremble, but also the movement from within that made Hiel's large beast companion divert its attention away from the approaching abominations for a few seconds. If not for the man giving the creature a command to remain near the group, it'd have no doubt dove into one of the nearby cavernous holes and let loose underground.
Staying clear of the hollows was the unspoken rule among the travelers. Anything could reach out and grab someone who drew too close, even the flesh abominations seemed to be cautious near some of them: blackened holes that did not house creatures of flesh, but rather bone.
He hadn't gotten a clear look at one, but Worthy witnessed a flesh abomination that was sent flying past over a hole with a darkened edge. An ivory spike rose from the hole, as though it'd been waiting, and struck through the abomination, and then dragged it deep into the emptiness it was nested in. The creature attempted to assimilate the bone into itself, but failed miserably.
"Have you noticed it?" The boy looked to Esme beside him, who was trying to keep her attention away from the blood bursting into the sky as the defenders fought.
Esme answered, "You'll need to be a little specific. Have I noticed what?"
"Have you noticed that nothing's come from the mountaintop? Everything following us is from below, chasing us at a breakneck pace. No, I think it's more accurate to say they're trailing us, to avoid ending up caught in the path of a predator's den."
Esme had noticed it, but did not think much of it herself. To the humans on the ridge, it did not make a difference. They needed to reach the peak to be teleported to their next destination, so anything that prevented their pursuers from following them was acceptable. "I've noticed that there's bone monsters underneath us, I don't know what to make of it. They haven't begun bothering us, so we should keep it that way."
Her reasoning was sound, given the current situation. The defenders were butchering the flesh abominations, yet their numbers only kept growing. The more that fell, the more that rose from below and crawled their way up the mountain to assimilate the group of a hundred Climbers.
Worthy looked at her and nodded. "Touché."
Currently, they were waiting for their chance to be teleported by Walkyr, who was snapping his finger rapidly, teleporting as many people as he could grab and sending them away before returning. The foreigner had desperately wanted to fight some of the monsters, but had to opt against it because of the importance of his role. There'd be no shortage of fighting later, so he was willing to swallow his excitement and follow the plan.
The vanguard had been redirected to the rear once they reached the peak of the mountain because there was no longer a need to fend from monsters in front of them. Instead of carving a way for the crowd, the vanguard merged with the rearguard and faced the horde of monsters following them.
Esme grit her teeth when the ground shook again, nearly throwing her off her feet. This was the result of War pommeling one of the beasts into the ground, sending fragments of bone flying. "If that cowboy doesn't start moving quicker, I'm going to lose it."
Despite her words, they were not in any immediate danger, save for the unknown thing below. This fact did not comfort anyone, sadly.
Knowing that at any point, an unknown thing could burst from the ground and puncture them, or eat them, or throw them was not a pleasant thought, no matter how someone looked at it.
This reality was one they'd need to face constantly from here onward, there'd be no safe haven. When War declared that the Devil's Den was not safe, that nowhere was safe, they knew what it meant. Still, the bitterness of that pill had only gotten worse the more they trekked this wasteland.
Worst of all, this was only the first of several locations they'd need to reach. Teleportation was convenient, but Walkyr's version of teleportation was ultimately the most limited version imaginable. Beggars had no right to play as choosers, and they were undoubtedly beggars.
"Look on the bright side, we haven't suffered any casualties yet. With the momentum we're maintaining right now, I think all one hundred of us can make it." He spoke softly, trying to alleviate the olive-skinned woman's worries. Jumping from mountain to mountain didn't sound appealing to him either, but it was ultimately something necessary for his goal. "If it makes you feel any better, think of this as the first step to climbing. Next floor, we'll be in the great tundra."
If only he'd abstained from that last reminder, Esme's smile would've looked more sincere.
"Numbers!" One of the defenders yelled back to the group he defended. An abomination of flesh swipes at him with a disfigured appendage of an arm, nearly engulfing his head if for him quickly ducking to avoid it.
Someone from further ahead shouted, "Thirty-three down!" A tally was kept on how many people were transported. As the digits grew closer to the fifties, so too did Worthy and Esme grow closer to being off the mountain. Being at the front felt too dangerous and being at the back was utterly senseless, so both opted to remain at the center of the pack.
The ground quaked once more when a massive hand shot from one of the black caverns, desperately gripping the bone surface of the ridge. Worthy felt something rise into his throat, terrified at the sheer scale of the creature rising from a pit that should've been nested with countless spikes made of bones.
Fortunately, the creature didn't ascend any further. It was in a fight for its life against the king of the ridge, and it was losing terribly. The flesh abomination put up a better fight than anything else, but its time was coming to an end.
'How long has that thing survived up here…?' He hadn't seen it ascend to ambush them, meaning the flesh abomination must've been alive, fighting for its life long before they arrived on the mountain. It'd be impossible to ignore something with its proportions, possessing a seven-fingered hand the size of twelve men. The other flesh monsters were killed within instants, giving futile resistance against the bone spikes, failing to assimilate them. The one trying to crawl out of the cavern was clearly stronger, but not strong enough to defy fate.
The hand slipped back into the cavern, unceremoniously vanishing back into the darkness below.
A unified sigh of relief came from the group, who'd unknowingly been holding their breath at the realization of a behemoth rising from the depths. Hopefully, it wouldn't appear again — realistically, it wouldn't. The struggle it put up was tenacious, but futile.
"You know what, Ms. Esme? You're right. He should hurry and get us off this mountain."
Her impatience didn't seem so unreasonable anymore. Beads of sweat her begun dripping down his head from nervousness, rather than the exhaustion of climbing a mountain.
Soon enough, it was their turn. Walkyr appeared with the snap of his finger and scooped Worthy beneath his arm and grabbed Esme by her wrist, then snapped his finger. Esme had not experienced it before, but Worthy had.
Being teleported was just as disorienting as it'd been the first time.
Sadly, Esme was hit by it the hardest. When Walkyr snapped his finger and disappeared again, Worthy looked at the older woman.
"Hey, you look kind of green…"
Instead of replying, Esme hunched over and opened her mouth wide. The meal she'd eaten created a new color mixture on the crimson floor.