Josh uncomfortably shifted as he stood, rubbing his wrists. The serpent guard stepped to the side, holding the unlocked shackles in his hands.

"Our agreement was only for Noah," Josh said weakly.

"Yes. You have gone above and beyond this time. I had you followed to discover the location of the resistance. David had hidden it well. I never expected that he would use his [Phantasm] ability to cloak the entrance, or maintain the illusion alone for so long," Ronan complimented.

"Kill me and be done with it," David said.

"I'm not stupid enough to turn you into a martyr. I plan to use you to lure the rats out of the nest. All we got when we took you was worthless blanks. The blanks all dream of overthrowing me. It's nothing new. The ones I want are the awakened. Those ungrateful bastards are a plague to the Fallen cause. Some of my brethren among the Fallen kings have informed me that the disease of the resistance has spread to infect even their subjects. I was hurt to discover that I'm not immune. These two are only the first to be caught. I will remove cancer from my domain!" Ronan declared.

Ronan's madness that Josh had warned Noah of was becoming increasingly apparent as he continued to speak. David pushed himself to his feet, struggling with the shackles to stand unsteadily. He still managed to summon an air of dignity although the guards weren't kind to him. David hadn't noticed Noah on the other side of the pit yet. He spat on the stairs of the throne before straightening his back arrogantly. There was the sound of swords being drawn as every guard in the room reacted to his action. Ronan held up a hand to interrupt them, causing them to resheath their swords reluctantly.

"You're a coward, Ronan. Your tyranny won't last forever. Someone will overthrow you. It may even be someone in this room right now. So let's skip the bullshit and end this here," David said.

A moment later, David turned and began to sprint toward the pit in the centre of the room. His attempt was prevented by a vigilant guard tackling him. Ronan gestured toward an open door. The guard dragged him across the floor by his chains out of the room. David's shouted insults toward Ronan could be heard disappearing into the distance until being silenced by the door closing.

"Where were we? Oh yes, you killing Noah," Ronan said.

"What?" Josh replied. He was caught off guard by the sudden change in topic.

"If you kill Noah. I will return your lover to you. I will even pardon your friends there beside him. Last, of all, you shall replace Theodore as the head priest of Poseidon," Ronan said.

"My lord, you can't! For him to become head priest, I would have to leave or die! Someone has been stealing from the tribute. We posted guards, but they have been able to avoid detection. It must be an awakened!" Theodore interrupted.

After his outburst, Ronan gestured to the guard beside Josh. The man approached Theodore with a hand resting threateningly on the hilt of his sword. Ronan gripped the [Grade 1 Wind Blade Sword] beside him, casually tossing it to Josh's feet. It clattered to a stop at the edge of the pit.

"Kill him," Ronan said.

Noah climbed to his feet to face Josh calmly. He glanced down at the deep pit in front of him. There was a slight smirk on Noah's face as he spoke.

"I'll ask you again. Are you certain that Alex is still alive?" Noah asked Josh.

"Yes. I've already told you that," Josh replied in confusion. He still hadn't attempted to pick up the sword.

"Let's find out, shall we?" Noah said.

Purple-lifeforce gathered over the surface of his skin as he activated his [Earth Manipulation+2] ability. Simultaneously, Theodore shoved aside Josh to grab the [Grade 1 Wind Blade Sword], raising it to strike toward Noah.

Noah felt his [Battle Instinct] activate as six ethereal arms burst from his back. They grabbed hold of Wayde at his side, hauling him to his feet as his shackled hands gripped the key tied around his neck. Wayde had a look of terror on his face as Noah tossed him into the air above the pit. A moment later, Noah's boot stomped firmly on Bruce's armoured chest as he kicked him toward Wayde. The men collided in mid-air. As they began to plummet, a wind blade passed harmlessly over top of them toward Noah.

Noah watched the wind blade cross the distance between them indifferently. It unerringly connected with his exposed face. The expected outcome of blood and gore never happened. Instead, the wind divided harmlessly toward the serpent guards behind him as it made contact with his wind-attuned body. One of the guards was fortunate enough to react in time, diving in the direction of the pit. The other two weren't quite so lucky. After witnessing the wind blade's ineffectively strike against Noah's head, they determined that it wasn't dangerous and foolishly opted to absorb the attack with their bodies.

Cries of horror came from the beautiful blanks as one guard's face was mutilated beyond recognition. The other fell back in time while raising their arm to defend. The man screamed in agony as his arm was severed at the wrist. He clutched at it in an attempt to stop the bleeding. It was the guard who mercilessly killed the old man at the ramp as they escorted Noah to Ronan.

The guard who dodged the attack was the woman in charge of Noah. As she struggled to her feet, streams of dust rose from the pit behind her. Noah ruthlessly smiled at her as the cloud engulfed her, stripping flesh from her bones before she even had the chance to scream. It continued past the bloody skeleton to cut off the screams of the disfigured guard. He was reduced to bones in a matter of moments.

"They're gone, so is the statue!" Craig shouted.

He was standing at the edge of the pit to investigate. Summoning an [Ice Spear]. He began to circle the hole as he warily approached Noah. Icey fog was billowing outward from underneath the segments of his armour. Noah began to unlock the cuffs on his wrists as he moved to meet Craig. Unconsciously, flames had appeared to cover the surface of his body, giving Noah a nightmarish appearance as he grinned maliciously at Craig.