----

"It's finally over," Elliot said with a sigh of relief afterward. The fight against the Knoll Chieftain was his most stressful fight to date. Because of its obscene attack power, Elliot was unable to fulfill the bonus task. He suffered entirely too much damage to even become a candidate for it.

Meanwhile, as ranged fighters, both Elaine and Matthias accomplished the task beautifully. While they were forced to consume recovery potions for the first time, neither of them suffered any damage from the Knoll Chieftain's attacks.

However, Cezar was even more well off. Though his contribution was minimal, he still gained the largest portion of points rewarded. It might seem odd under normal circumstances, but what Cezar did wasn't normal.

His attributes momentarily skyrocketed after stimulating his partial beast transformation, but that was far from all he did. Once the transformation was complete, Cezar coupled it with his other ability, aptly named Wild Fang.

The Wild Fang ability enabled the consumption of Mana in exchange for special weapons resembling two large fangs of a sabertooth tiger. The penetration power it rewarded was immense, and this is precisely what Cezar used to snipe that remaining fraction of the Knoll Chieftain's health.

Hence, the gaping hole in the middle of the Chieftain's chest.

Though it wasn't an agreed-upon action, Matthias was familiar with Cezar's temper. It was essentially impossible to influence his decision once he set his mind on a determined goal.

Likewise, Matthias was also adamant in his standing. He paused before entering the portal and turned towards Cezar.

"Are you tagging along or not? You should've gotten all of that residual nonsense out of your system with that last act. If not, then perhaps you should search for other means to climb the tower. You might be essential but I won't tolerate this behavior."

Cezar merely glared at Matthias as he talked to him. As a result, Elaine had no choice but to intervene. She walked up beside Cezar and whispered to him.

"Cezar, come on. Are you willing to sacrifice years of friendship for this one instance? Is that boy worth it? Odds are he's dead by now. You heard what Priscilla said, the room was filled with Knolls."

Although those words possessed a bitter truth, Cezar refused to believe it. Furthermore, the identity of the victim wasn't the part that infuriated Cezar, it was the principle behind their deployed actions. Instead of viewing it from Lucian or Matthias's perspective, he took it a step further.

His mind was thinking of a third possibility!

'What if I was to become useless one day? Then I'd be seen as nothing more than a sacrificial pawn, right? The same way the Original Guardians sacrificed most of their own to gain power. Some of us suffered greatly because of that,' Cezar thought with tightly clenched fists.

See, his worries weren't solely about Lucian, they were more so directed towards the instilled teachings of the Guardian Corps. The weak were sacrificial, and the strong were victorious. In other words, their modus operandi was "Might is right."

Though, what happens when that so-called might vanishes? What is right then?

After giving all of this some thought, Cezar shook his head. "I'm sorry, Elaine. I think I'm through. Not everyone deserves to be sacrificed. Sometimes it's worthwhile to weigh your decisions lest it shrouds the future in darkness."

A frown crept upon Elaine's countenance as she sighed shortly after. Truth be told, she held some gripes with the methods used as well, but she wasn't willing to suffer punishment from anyone above. Thus, she swallowed her opinion.

"You know these actions will cause a stir back at the junior headquarters. It may even go up the chain and start to involve our parents. What will you say if your father gets involved? He was the strongest advocate for invoking their Alpha Authority," Elaine responded.

"It's just something I'll have to deal with because oftentimes the greater good isn't necessarily good," Cezar answered with a resolute expression. His firm gaze displayed no room for negotiations.

Apart from distancing himself, he wasn't against climbing the towers. So, as long as he could support his argument, he wasn't looking at any severe punishment.

"Okay," Elaine nodded before placing a hand on his shoulder. It was for an instant, but her usual cold expression softened, "Just be safe and understand what you're doing."

Cezar gave a nod and watched as they disappeared into the portal one by one.

…

Zworp!

Matthias and the others appeared on the other side of the portal. Unlike before, where they were placed inside the Proximal Space, just like Overseer Vohr warned, they arrived in an unfamiliar place. It was known as the Echelon Lounge.

It was a shared space within the Fractured Monolith, and it was in essence a hub for Guardians to gather. It possessed several floors, which were each labeled by their respective authority ranking.

Needless to say, the lowest and least luxurious was the Delta Echelon Lounge. Yet even at the lowest level it was still adequately furnished. In fact, it was similar to the waiting area of a continental hotel. It possessed a bar to grab specialized refreshments, comfortable lounge chairs with mana injection properties, and lastly a board.

It was a recruitment board, enabling Guardians who graduated from the Delta Echelon to extend a warm welcome to the newcomers. After all, most of the Guardians above started to assemble in groups known as guilds. Once officiated, the Fractured Monolith gave special properties to the real world.

In essence, the Guardian Corps was just an enormous collection of minor guilds with the higher-ups staffed by powerful Guilds. Meanwhile, the Republic and Federation were a singular guild brought together by a Head, whom of which possessed obscene power.

A few groups caught the eye of Matthias as soon as they touched down. 'So they cleared it far faster than we did. Just how strong are those who experience an Extraordinary Refinement?' He wondered.

Less than 1% of the population achieved this type of Refinement so the examples to use for reference were limited. They were a rarity even amongst the Guardian Corp's privileged bunch.

All of a sudden, a ripple took place. A rift opened on that spot and Overseer Vohr walked. Wearing the same outfit, he greeted them all, "Congratulations, on clearing the first floor. As promised, here are the rewards."

Overseer Vohr swiped his hand, causing a notification to appear within everyone's view. However, Matthias and the others frowned. The others seemed delighted with their rewards, yet they didn't receive an alert window.

"I believe there is any issue, Overseer. We didn't receive an alert despite clearing the floor," Matthias voiced. However, Overseer Vohr gave him a cryptic smile.

"Hoh? Did you? Two of your teammates aren't here. I can't distribute your rewards until they arrive. It'd be a different story if they died inside because you'd receive your rewards upon arrival. So, just wait patiently for them to return," Overseer Vohr responded.

Meanwhile, Priscilla's eyes widened with shock. 'A-Alive?! How the hell is he alive? We were engaged in the boss battle for over 15 minutes. If I include the travel time, then there's simply no way he could've survived.'

"Tch, I should've dragged him out of there myself," Matthias grumbled. If he could, he would go back, but it was impossible. The portal was a one-way creation, so it couldn't reopen from this side upon initial closure.

It would only reopen once a new person came through.

"That isn't the issue. You should be asking why and how is that other one alive? This doesn't make any sense," Priscilla exclaimed. Although she wasn't daunted by Lucian's retaliation, she wasn't sure if the Fractured Monolith's staff were capable of administering punishment.

What if Lucian took this issue up above?

"Relax, that's not really a problem. If that were the case, would those outlaw guilds even be allowed to exist? Those hedonistic fools kill for pleasure," Matthias answered. His words reminded Priscilla of those people, allowing her anxiety to subside.

But, perhaps she did so far too early.

…

Tap! Tap! Tap!

The sounds of footsteps resounded in the corridor of the boss' room. Each noise caused Cezar's ear to twitch followed by a change of expression. "What the hell is this odd smell?"

"You're still here? I didn't expect you to be. Why didn't you go on and follow your friends?"

Lucian's callous voice resonated throughout the room as he soon appeared. When his shocking change came into view, Cezar could only gape in astonishment.

"Who the fuck are you?!"