“An angel! So they do have a Right to Kill.” Godrun said between two short breaths. He was the orc leading the guards to capture the humans. “As we previously discussed, focus on taking down the angel first. The archangels should not react even if it is killed right in front of their eyes.”

As he expected, only the angel charged at them, wielding a giant halberd. Godrun felt nervous. He was the strongest person of the group but was only at the fifth circle while the angel was at the seventh circle. However, they had the numerical advantage. Regular guards might have run away as soon as an angel was summoned, but this team has been designed to hunt down the angels.

[Blessings of Light]

Godrun started casting his spells. The Blessings of Light was a strengthening-type spell that could dramatically increase his strength for a short period of time. His body shone brightly with a radiance that matched the angel. Behind Godrun, several guards cast their own spells, targeting the orc.

[Lights Guard]

[Crown of Brilliance]

[Power of Illumination]

[Light Reflection]

All sorts of light element spells were cast in a short amount of time. The Light element’s spells were mainly support spells, able to strengthen their target for a short amount of time. A single spell could provide an edge against an opponent at the same circle but the combination of many could allow one to fight against opponents at higher circles.

The anti-thesis of the Light element was not the Dark element but the Curse element. While many guards focused on strengthening Godrun and a few other guards, another group targeted the angel with their curse spells.

[Hex: Weakness]

[Hex: Exhaust]

[Hex: Slowness]

[Hex: Confusion]

As a seventh circle creature, the angel was naturally able to resist the effect of a curse, but the combined effect of many brought down his power significantly. There were no seventh circle creatures in the Union but thanks to this method, the Union could fight against the angels and archangels.

Half of the guards consisted of creatures with either the Light or Curse element. The rest could use a plethora of elements but could also contribute to reducing the power of the angel by using spells such as: [Paralyse], [Freeze], [Burn], [Blind].

The angel initiated the fight. He smashed his halberd into the ground, casting an Earth element spell: [Fissure]. The ground shook and was split into two; the ground under the feet of the guards was torn apart and a gaping hole appeared to devour anyone standing above it.

However, the guards were able to react in time and dodge the attack, partly thanks to the increase in casting time of the spell, but also thanks to the prediction ability of the time element users.

“Too weak!” Godrun sneered. The orc regained his confidence as he noticed that he has been unaffected by the angel’s spell. He was not even affected by the gravitational pull of the fissure. However, he knew that if he allowed the angel to continue to cast his spell, his subordinates would perish very soon.

[Eternal Blizzard]

Godrun cast the fifth circle spell of the Ice element. The air around him turned cold; snow started falling as the wind rose. Godrun targeted the angel but because of the nature of the spell, all the humans who were trying to run away were also affected. The ground was covered with ice in an instant, but the angel protected itself using the Earth. Similarly, the archangels protected the humans by emitting their powerful warming auras.

The blizzard intensified itself. The temperature dropped, thickening the layer of ice around the angel. However, the angel himself remained unharmed by the cold. Godrun was locked in place, forced to continue to chant his spell to maintain the blizzard. Fortunately, the orc was not alone.

A Lycan joined him and cast [Solar Flare], a fourth circle spell belonging to the fire element. A giant burning sphere appeared in his hand before flying straight at the angel. At the same time, a gnome used [Lightning Wrath] and a Bangaa used the death element’s [Life Drain].

Several spells were being used at the same time, resulting in a colourful and deafening explosion. The resulting shockwave pushed away all the guards but the angel himself was still alive despite all the curses affecting him; it was not so easy to deal with a seventh circle creature.

Meanwhile, the humans continued to run away toward the teleportation portal. They were not affected by the shockwave thanks to the archangels, but they still had a long distance to travel.

“What was that explosion? Is the angel still alive?” One of the humans asked worriedly.

“Should be. The angel is supposed to the strongest monster in the tower, right?”

“Yes. Luckily, we teamed up with these weirdos… Without their Rights, we would not have been able to survive this attack.”

“Stop wasting your breath and run faster! The angel won’t last forever, and other monsters may appear.”

The Supreme Leader was panting hard. He was not physically fit for running long distance, even after spending almost two months in the tower. “How much longer?”

“About five minutes if we do not encounter any other obstacles and continue at this rate, but we will inevitably slow down because of the limitations of the human body.” One of the loyal soldiers said.

“Supreme Leader. Do you need some help?”

The Supreme Leader frowned lightly but he did not refuse the offer of his subordinate. It was embarrassing to be carried by another adult but if he could preserve his life, a little embarrassment was nothing. He jumped onto the back of his subordinate and shamefully lowered his head, avoiding the gazes of the surrounding people.

The group continued to run forward but as the loyal soldiers mentioned, the group soon started slowing down; it was simply impossible for humans to sprint for so long. Many were already feeling exhausted and were only able to keep going thanks to the adrenaline rushing through their body. The most worrying part was that they were no longer hearing explosions in the distance. Their worst fear was that the angel has been defeated and that the guards were now running after them.

Soon, the teleportation portal came into view. It was a giant ray of light connecting the ground and the sky. Because of the runes surrounding it, the teleportation portal was only visible once one stepped within a certain range.

The humans let out sighs of relief but at the same time, a loud rumble sounded in the distance. The ground trembled and many lost their balance. In the distance, a large group of guards riding their mounts could be seen rushing toward the humans.

“They caught up already?” A man exclaimed in panic. He was exhausted but the appearance of the threat forced him to hasten his steps. The teleportation was already in view. In just a few minutes, he would be able to escape to the second floor!

However, the man suddenly found himself sinking into the ground. The ground under his feet turned soft and around the group, the ground started rising, trapping the humans inside a giant hole. Far in the distance, one of the guards cast the fourth circle Earth spell: [Terraform]. He purposely did not target the humans directly because of the archangels but instead affected the terrain around the group to trap the humans. His goal was only to slow down the humans.

“What is this?” A woman screamed as she tried to climb out of the trap. However, the walls were too steep and smooth, preventing anyone from getting a firm grip.

“Why are the archangels not doing anything? Can’t they see that we just fell into a trap?”

“We are in danger! They caught us but the archangels are not doing anything!”

“Hello! Archangels?”

The archangels completely disregarded the humans shouting at them. They swung their weapons and with their absolute strength, formed a path in the terrain. One of the archangels kept an eye on the approaching guards but did not move against them.

The distance between the humans and the guards shrunk considerably as the guards manipulated the terrain.

“Stop right here! Surrender and you may live!” A shout came from behind, but no one stopped running.

“D*mn.” Godrun cursed as he led the guards. Capturing the humans was not going to be an easy task; his group already had much trouble dealing with an angel who specialised in offence and now, they needed to deal with three archangels who specialised in defence at the same time.

With his current strength, Godrun naturally noticed the invisible spatial barrier surrounding the human group. It would take a lot of time and effort to break it and he estimated that the humans would be able to reach the teleportation portal beforehand.

“We are only here to capture the person going by the title of Supreme Leader. We are not interested in anyone else. As long as you leave that person, you can all escape with your life.” Godrun exclaimed to sow some discord and slow down the humans.

“Don’t listen to him. You have seen through the Rights to be Judged how these people lie.” The Supreme Leader said with a darkened expression. ‘Stupid orc. Trying to turn me into a scapegoat?’

The orc’s attempt at persuading the humans failed. Left with no other choice, he ordered the attack and several colourful projectiles flew into the sky. As he expected, they were all stopped by the archangel’s barrier. The barrier was indestructible but as time went by and the attacks continued to land on it, a few cracks appeared.

[Winters Bite]

Noticing the cracks, Godrun redoubled his efforts, casting a fifth circle Ice spell right where the cracks had formed. The archangel frowned and drew his spear. He already knew the barrier would not survive the amplified spell. The barrier exploded, completely exposing the humans. Luckily, the barrier survived long enough for the humans to cover a relatively long distance. The teleportation portal was within reach!

The archangel did not hesitate and rushed toward Godrun, placing himself between the humans and the guards. He adopted a defensive position, raising his shield cautiously. The humans were not aware of it, but they have successfully entered the safe zone of teleportation portal. All fights or use of spells were forbidden.

Godrun’s eyes shifted from the humans to the archangel. He frowned but resigned himself to his fate. He had failed to capture the humans but at the very least, they wasted four Rights in order to escape.

The Supreme Leader rushed into the ray of light without looking behind him. His surroundings disappeared and he found himself standing in an empty room.

[Which floor would you like to go to?]

The familiar voice of the tower sounded at his ears. The Supreme Leader heaved a sigh of relief as he realised that he had made it. He was now safe and could escape from the hellish place that was the first floor.

The Supreme Leader did not immediately answer. Instead, he sat down allowing his trembling legs to rest. The last ten minutes have been the most stressful moments of his life. He wanted to calm down but sadly, the tower was not going to give him this luxury.

[Please answer within the next minute or prepare to return to the teleportation Portal 1-B]

“What? Can’t I get a few minutes to rest?” The Supreme Leader muttered. His request remained unanswered. As a result, the Supreme Leader could only reply. “I want to go to the second floor.”

[The five teleportation portals of the second floor have been cleared. Please select one from the letters A, B, C, D and E]

It was an unexpected question. ‘There is more than one teleportation portal? I told the soldiers to go to the second floor, but I did not tell them which one. It means that there a risk that I we won’t go to the same portal. What should I do?’

The Supreme Leader hesitated. “I will have to take the risk. If I go out now to tell the others, I may get caught by that orc and the guards. Worst case scenario, I can just re-enter the teleportation portal I would appear at.”

“I will go to 2-A.”

[Teleportation started. Ten points will be deducted as a service fee.]

‘What?’

A bright light flashed in front of the Supreme Leader, momentarily blinding him. When he opened his eyes, he found himself in a foreign place, completely different from the first floor. He was standing in the middle of a forest and a few humans also stood nearby. There was a gentle breeze, carrying the scent of the flowers and trees. This was the second floor of the tower, the former home of the elves also known as the Sheltered Woodlands.

“What is this place?” The Supreme Leader said quietly as he observed his surroundings. He recognised a few people who were in his group earlier but none of his loyal soldiers stood among them.”

Suddenly, he noticed a dark shadow looming above him. He jumped in fright, only to realise that it was the female archangel that his soldier summoned earlier. A Right to be Protected would last for twenty-four hours and until then, the archangel would stay by his side.

“It is you. Do you know where the person who summoned you is?” The Supreme Leader tentatively asked. The archangel cocked her head but simply ignored his question.

‘I should have expected this reaction.’

While the Supreme Leader stood still and thought about the next step to take, the other humans had already started getting together to explore the forest. They were tired but have learned to never rest in such an open area.

“Would you like to join us?” One of the men asked the Supreme Leader with caution. “We should stay together to increase our chances of survival.” In truth, the man was not interested in the Supreme Leader, but he wanted to stay near the archangel. The seventh circle creature could serve as a powerful deterrent just like it did for the group of bounty hunters earlier.

“No. I have my own plans.” The Supreme Leader said. He straightened his back and walked toward the giant ray of light. His goal was to use the teleportation portal again to go to a different portal on this floor. However, as his hand touched the ray of light, he felt a resistive force and the voice of the tower sounded at his ears.

[You have to wait for thirty minutes before using a teleportation portal again.]

‘There is a cooldown to this?’ The Supreme Leader grunted unhappily. Things just kept going south. Thirty minutes was only a short amount of time but considering the current situation in the tower, the Supreme Leader was aware of the dangers of staying in the same place for too long.

“Are you sure you don’t want to come with us?” The man from earlier asked again when he noticed that the Supreme Leader did not leave yet.

“I already said no. I will wait for my people.”

“As you wish.” The man did not try to convince him. The humans left, leaving the Supreme Leader alone. The latter became nervous, but he had faith in the archangel protecting him. He was invincible for twenty-four hours.

The humans went to explore this new environment. They felt relieved to no longer have to face the cruel Bangaas who hunted them down every day on the first floor. But little did they know that the races on the second floor were even more powerful. Compared to the first floor where the humans spawned randomly after clearing the zeroth floor, there were only five spawn locations on the second floor that corresponded with the teleportation portals.

There was a small buffer zone around the teleportation portals where fights were forbidden but once the humans left that area, they were on their own. As most humans had yet to reach the first circle, they failed to notice the stealthy eyes observing them from the foliage and bushes.

Several creatures were also keeping an eye on the Supreme Leader. They considered him as a prime target since there was an archangel protecting him. But as long as he remained close to the teleportation portal, they could not lay their hands on him. These creatures were also naturally aware of the cooldown of the teleportation portals. They knew they only had thirty minutes to act.

Ten minutes went by before the creatures finally became nervous. They debated among themselves until they decided to initiate contact with the Supreme Leader.

The latter has been resting under a thick tree, completely oblivious to the presence of hostile creatures. He kept an eye on the archangel who did not make any moves and concluded that he was not in immediate danger. Then, he heard the sound of footsteps and branches being pushed apart.

A few seconds later, a Centaur walked out of the forest and entered the small clearing. The mythical creature with the upper body of a human and the lower body of a horse looked rather intimidating. He was 2.5m tall with a buff upper body and muscular legs. He was holding a long bow, ready to be drawn at a moment’s notice.

The Supreme Leader jumped in fright. He almost lost control of his bladder and hurriedly rushed toward the archangel. He knew that the archangel was his only hope against a creature of the tower. But to his surprise, the archangel did not react at all despite the appearance of the Centaur. It was different from the time the bounty hunters appeared. It could only mean one thing; that the Centaur was not hostile or simply unable to harm him.

“Human.” The Centaur said with an abnormally high-pitched voice.

“What? What do you want?” The Supreme Leader hid behind the archangel who so far, remained unfazed by the Centaur.

“I would like to invite you to Arberia, the nearest city from here.”

“Invite me to your city? Do you think I am a fool? I won’t trust any creature in the tower.”

The Centaur smiled faintly. “I understand that you doubt my words. But you should know that this invitation is reserved for only a select few humans. We hunt down most humans, but we keep a few alive and even help them become stronger. Just have a look at this. You should be able to recognise a few people.”

The Centaur stayed at a reasonable distance from the Supreme Leader. He took out a bracelet and twisted it. As he did so, an illusion appeared. A scene started playing where several humans could be seen at a dinner table. The Supreme Leader was not familiar with most of these humans but instantly recognised two of them.

The first was a tall Caucasian man with broad shoulders. His hair was yellow blonde and have been evidently dyed. His face was wrinkly; he had long slit eyes and a ruddy complexion. It was an iconic face that the Supreme Leader has often seen on Tv. His advisory board often discussed the decision taken by that person. This man was none other than the President of the USA before the humans were transported into the tower.

The second person he recognised was an older man whose hair started falling. He had a rather wrinkly forehead, a squarish jawline, a pointy nose and small pale blue eyes. He was much more muscular than the other men present in the scene. That person was the former President of Russia.

Two very powerful political figures of Earth were sitting at the same table in the scene and this video was clearly taken inside the tower considering the background of the scene. The Supreme Leader was not familiar with all the world leaders, but he could guess that many of the people in the illusion held a similar status to the two presidents.

The scene came to an end. The Centaur unceremoniously took back his bracelet. “Do you recognise these people?”

“Some of them… But what are they all doing together?”

“We invited them to hold some negotiations. As the former leaders of your world, they are the most suitable people to represent humanity. Since you are called Supreme Leader by some of your followers, I just thought that maybe you could also have your say in the decision that is going to be taken.”