"Hey, don't you feel as if it is taking Aurora a long time to return? I feel like something is wrong with her right now."
Quince looked toward Rita who had an anxious look on her face. She was distracted even as she tried to solve the puzzle in front of her.
This was not her normal dazed look and it made Quince instantly look toward her with worry.
"I am sure Aurora is alright. It had not been that long since she left us so she should be alright. Moreover, are you sure you are not imagining your weird feeling?"
Quince tried to tease Rita and she did take offense to his words, but the worried expression did not fade away.
If anything, it seemed as if Rita was even more anxious after hearing Quince's words.
"That is the problem. I know that it has not been long ever since Aurora left but I cannot shake off this uneasy feeling inside my heart. I feel like we are falling into a huge trap right now."
As Rita spoke those words, she tried to connect with Aurora over the system screen. But it was not cooperating for some reason.
The screen was not blank but it was getting a static effect once in a while and the connection was also showing an error.
Since it was not something that had ever happened to Rita before, she had no idea what to do about it.
"Let me see. Ah, this is bad indeed. Did Aurora ever say anything to do when this happens? Why don't you try to send me a message to check if the system is still working or not?"
Quince's offer had merit so Rita tried to send her a message.
But as expected, it did not go through at such a close range as well. It was no wonder that Rita's message never managed to reach Aurora at all.
"So weird. Why do you think this happened? None of the other floors gave us such a problem and even Aurora never mentioned this possibility. Do you think it's because of this floor?"
Quince asked, only to remember something all of a sudden.
There was one thing that could explain the mystery behind this lack of communication. There was only one thing that was different about this floor when compared to the rest of the abyss.
"It must be the administrator who is messing with us. Hurry up and close the system. In fact, shut it down if you can and…"
But it was too late. As soon as Quince asked Rita to make that decision, their door was kicked in by someone.
Smoke filled the area and caused Quince to feel lightheaded. It was making his senses blurry and Quince decided to hold his breath.
"Boss, there is a dragon in there. We are not equipped to handle a dragon. What should we do now?"
There seemed to be some kind of panic spreading between the people in front of Quince and he considered it to be a good thing. He could easily manipulate this situation to suit his needs.
"Ur, hurry up and get us out of here. We will be dependent on your for the rest."
Quince yelled toward the dragon who was getting dizzy as well. The gas was affecting him in equal amounts but his huge body mass made it difficult to knock him out completely.
Ur roared to show that he understood and that was one problem taken care of. The other problem who Rita who seemed to have inhaled too much of this smoke.
She was already swaying on her feet and even her vision looked wobbly.
"Get a hold of yourself right now. I will take you out of here so just stay conscious for that long."
Rita nodded as she leaned her weight against Quince's side. Quince had to wonder just what in the world happened that had made Rita this tired.
They had been betrayed by Subaru, there was no doubt in drawing that conclusion. But how and why that had happened was a mystery.
Ur flapped his wings to take off as soon as Quince dragged Rita on his back. His anti-magic properties came in clutch as he flew the pair out of danger.
But that did not mean that the journey was over for them.
The soldiers that had come to capture them tried to catch up to Ur but he was too fast. Quince also decided to aid the dragon by casting cloaking magic.
"Ur, turn around and fly directly over them. I will mask your mass as well as shadows."
The best way to avoid these fools would be to do something they did not expect them to do.
Since they were expecting the group to flee to the south, Quince doubted that they would look for them on the north side.
But even that was a maybe at this point. It was impossible to tell what these people will do since the whole floor was being managed by the administrator.
"I guess I have no other choice but to risk a gamble," Quince muttered it under his breath before he snapped Ur's side, "Take right from here and follow my orders. I will take you to a safe space."
Quince was going to take his companions to the hidden location only known to the tower officials.
He doubted that there was anyone other than him and Clove left out there who could access this location now. Even his father must be held captive by the south and maybe even killed off….
'Don't think stupid thoughts. You will get a chance to avenge them all later. For now, just focus on surviving.'
"Ur, hurry up. My magic will not last forever."
Ur did hurry up and they touched the ground sooner than Quince expected them to.
_________________________
"You sure gave us a hard time, Minerva. But did you think you will be able to keep your monopoly over the tower forever? You tried so hard to protect the status quo but you lost in the end."
Lady Dheva's blue hair shined as she walked around the bedroom-like prison that held goddess Minerva.
The goddess, well, the former goddess was tied down in chains and all but unconscious. Only her stubbornness caused her to cling to her wakefulness.
"You! What do you think you are doing? You know that we cannot go against the abyss, nor can we destroy it. It will cause the earth to collapse in the state it is in and.."
"What is wrong with that? The abyss is a parasite and it needs to go away now. It has been on this earth too long and it is depleting its resources. Just how long do you think this earth will last anyway?"
Minerva had no answer to that question. She had felt the durability of earth's life expectancy lower over the years. And she knew that the earth could not hold on for long.
Neither could the abyss stay here forever since it would lose nutrition. It needed to unlatch from the earth and find a new host to eat away at.
And that was why it had created the newest goddess and bestowed her with all this power. She was the perfect specimen that could make him reach a new goal.
"Are you doing all this for the earth? Or because the abyss is compelling you to? I can see it in your eyes, the craze for power and the hunger to be your one person…"
Minerva got a kick to her stomach for her words. The blue-haired lady's expression was twisted in a rage-filled fury.
But then she took in a few deep breaths to calm herself down.
"I am doing all this for myself. The abyss needs a new host and it chose me to deliver it to him. I am just following the will of my creator. At least, I am not like you. A traitor to the cause."
Minerva laughed an empty laugh at those words. She could not help but compare Lady Dheva to an abandoned dog who was trying its best to gain its master's favor again.
But unfortunately, it would not be possible since the abyss had not chosen her.
"So pathetic. Just because both Horas and Aurora were chosen doesn't mean that you will be as well. You should admit it, you were abandoned by the abyss."
"Shut up. What do you even know? All three of us, me, Aurora, and Horas were born from the same sample. We are all the same so I will be chosen sooner or later as well. You just wait and watch as that happens."
Minerva looked at Lady Dheva with a sad but understanding expression. Her obsession made sense to those who knew her and it also made them feel sorry for her.
"You should give up now. You made a mess of things already so there is no need to torture yourself like this."
Minerva tried to reason but Lady Dheva was beyond listening at this point.
Alexander watched all that happen from the shadows of the room and he bided his time. It would be just a matter of time before he had Minerva out of here.
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