They sat around the tree for hours, recovering from the attacks on them.

"I believe we should proceed now," Rex said after a while.

"Alright," Lovia responded.

The driver gave Zane two very long, thick ropes he was supposed to use to get the cart and horse up.

Zane and Lovia climbed up the tree first, using the branches to get higher. It didn't take Zane very long until he reached a sort of tube and then finally came out on the other floor. He could only see that the place where the tree emerged on the second floor was somewhat of a stone island, surrounded by what sounded like water. The tree now looked like a massive bush covering a large portion of the island. Lovia reached the second floor shortly after him.

"Now we have to get that horse and the cart up here," she said.

Zane gave her one of the ropes and they threw one end of each rope down. Shortly after someone threw them back up.

"Good, on three," Lovia said.

Both of them prepared themselves and Lovia began counting.

"One . . . two . . . three."

Both began pulling up the ropes, after what felt like hours of hard work and sweating the cart was safely on the second floor, Rex sitting on top of it.

I will definitely kill this guy if the tower doesn't do it.

"Alright . . . now for the horse," Rex said while looking down the hole in the floor.

Lovia and Zane threw one end of each rope back down and they were thrown back up again shortly after.

Lifting a fucking horse . . . I hope he plans to pay extra.

Zane and lovia began pulling up the horse, Rex just watched them. It was heavier than the cart they had just pulled up and the time it took felt even longer. Rex had to help out Lovia after she nearly dropped her end. Together the three managed to pull up the large animal.

If there's any more of this shit I will turn the horse into supplies.

Shortly after the horse the driver also arrived.

I don't know why but somehow this guy seems a bit off as well . . .

"Well then . . . I suppose there might not be any lighting for this floor," Rex said after they waited a bit for lights to go on like on the first floor. But nothing happened so Rex instructed the driver to light the torches and hand them out.

This floor seemed larger than the last one, the ceiling was higher up and the walls seemed farther away. The group stood on a stone island surrounded by a lake, the only way they could take was a sliver of land leading to the other end of the hall.

"There must be something in this lake . . . perhaps we can avoid it if we don't get too close," Rex said.

How are we supposed to not get close?

The four began walking along the natural bridge, torches in hand and even with them none of them could see much.

The driver had difficulties leading the horse in the darkness with every little noise scaring the horse half to death. They continued on their way. Zane could hear the driver swearing a little from the back.

It's to quiet.

A sudden scream coming from Rex made the horse fall into the water. The driver barely managed to save the cart from falling with it.

"Wh-What is that?" Rex asked, pointing at something in the water.

I hope it was worth losing the damn horse . . . what did we work so hard for getting that thing up here anyway.

Zane went past Lovia and positioned himself next to Rex. He held out his torch, trying to see what Rex had seen. There was a humanoid figure in the water, moving towards the small sliver of land they were on.

"What is that?" Rex asked.

But Zane just began pushing Rex back towards the tree. He grabbed Lovia's hand and pulled her with him. The driver had already seen what was happening and started to quickly push the cart back.

"Z-Zane, what is that?" Rex asked.

"Ghoul," Zane answered.

Rex's eyes widened. "G-Ghouls?"

The group had returned to a larger part of land and that just in time. Hundreds of humanoid figures began emerging from the water. Their skin was stretched and pale, so pale that they began to glow in the dark. Their arms were so long that they had to drag them over to the ground and their long claws looked like blades. The monsters were moving corpses, their eyes were abysses. Their teeth were so long that some of them looked like they had horns and others had their eyes nearly completely covered. All of them were dripping wet and reeked of rotting flesh. Their claws made an unnerving sound as they were dragged over the stone floor.

"W-What do we do Zane?" Rex asked.

"Cut off the heads," he answered.

Zane unsheathed his katana and charged at a small cluster of ghouls. His blade easily cut through their necks, leaving behind bodies that quickly fell to the ground.

If we're lucky all of them are starved out.

Lovia had begun to swing the chain above her head. Everything that came close to her was either cut by the blade or hit by the chain. One of the ghouls closed in on her but got hit by the chain, its head cracked open like an egg and a slimy mass flowed out of it.

But killing all of the ghouls was nearly impossible. Every time one died more took its place and it was way too dark. Zane noticed far too late that a swarm of ghouls had surrounded him entirely.

He fought off every ghoul that came close to him. Cutting of the arms they swung at him and there heads if he got close enough but the number of ghouls just kept on increasing. After a time it seemed like a mountain was trying to swallow him.

Shit . . . what do I do now . . . that, I could use that.

Zane quickly opened the large satchel full of blood containers and opened up all of them.

"Blood Hydra!" he said with an otherworldly voice.

Massive amounts of blood began rushing out of the containers, each of them bringing forth two snake-like heads that circled around him.

"Rush!"

All the heads began rushing towards the ghouls.

"Bite!"

Each of the heads bit down, killing the ghoul they were targeting but it wasn't enough.

I don't have enough heads . . . what do I do . . . ah right.

The snake-like heads returned to Zane's side. The ghouls he had just killed had already been replaced and they were slowly closing in on him. One began swinging its long arm like a whip.

"Rush!"

One of the heads rammed into the moving arm, blocking it from hitting Zane. Zane grabbed multiple firebombs from his satchel and put them into the blood hydra's mouths.

"Rush!"

The heads rushed out in all directions with the firebombs.

Now.

Zane activated the bombs by using a bit of blood from the hydra heads to push down on the buttons. The heads spit out the firebombs right after the initial clicking. Shortly after that, the entire hall was lit up by a bright flame and all the ghouls were devoured by the wave of flames. Zane returned the blood to the containers and closed them again.

What about the others?

Lovia managed to fend off the ghouls with her chain but Rex was struggling. His rapier was again a bat match for the enemies of the tower. He could only slow down the ghouls a bit and had to back up towards the hole in the ground.

Of course, he's in trouble, what is that driver doing?

Zane looked around for the driver and spotted him a bit further out, protecting the cart single-handedly.

At least he's useful.

Zane rushed to Rex, cutting down some ghouls along the way. He quickly reached him and jumped in front of him.

"Ah, Zane. What perfect timing . . ." Rex said.

Shut up.

Zane ran towards the closest ghoul to cut of its head but his blade couldn't get through the teeth hanging down from its upper jaw.

Shit.

The ghoul reached out with one long, thin arm. It looked like there was no flesh left between the bones and skin. The ghoul put its hands on Zane's shoulders and opened its mouth.

Good thing its teeth are way too long.

But to Zane's surprise, its mouth began to open up so far that its teeth pressed against Zane's chin.

What a creepy fuck . . .

Zane lifted his katana and cut through the neck from behind. The ghoul fell to the ground.

"Are . . . Are you alright?" Rex asked.

Zane nodded.

A sudden scream that came from the lake stopped all of the ghouls. They all returned to the lake and in their place, a massive one came out.

So they got a giant to turn into one . . . of course they did.

The water splashed all over the place every time it raised it's foot above water level and stepped back down. The giant ghoul's claws were longer than Zane's entire body.

How do we deal with this one . . . I don't think a firebomb would do the trick and I already used up half of mine. I really wanna save them in case some of them are here . . . but they might be the only way . . . I hope Rex has some more.

Lovia came up to Rex and Zane, the driver arrived shortly after her.

"Any ideas?" she asked.

"Fire," Zane responded.

"Boma, go get the supply of firebombs," Rex said to the driver.

He went over to the cart and opened one of the large crates. He came back with a large sack full of firebombs.

"Will this be enough?" Rex asked.

Zane nodded as he looked at the giant. It had stopped moving and seemed to be observing them. A slight rustling of something metallic could be heard in the background but Zane couldn't tell what it was.

What does it plan to do?

Like the other ghouls, its skin was pale and glowed in the dark, its eyes were deep black holes and its teeth were overgrown. But this one seemed slightly different from the other ghouls. Not only in height but it also had a different feel to it.

This one isn't starved out . . . must have eaten the horse.

Zane grabbed one of Rex's firebombs, pushed the button and threw it at the large monster. The bomb flew past its teeth and into its mouth, exploding almost immediately after. It looked like a dragon about to breath fire but instead of covering the group in flames, the monster began screaming in pain from being burned from the inside.

Good, it's not immune to fire . . . but if one of us gets hit by it it's over.

"More," Zane said.

The other three now also began throwing bombs at it. One after another they threw firebombs that went off shortly after impact and covered the monster in fire each time.

It doesn't do enough damage . . .

The monster, despite screaming each time the flames covered it, didn't seem to get hurt much.

"How many more do we have to throw?" Rex asked as he threw another firebomb.

It still isn't moving at all . . . is it waiting for something . . . or is there something that stops it from mothing further . . .

Zane studied the monster more closely. In the dark, it was hard to see and the light of the torched didn't help much but every time a firebomb went of something on the monster's body shined. Zane threw his next firebomb at its feet. Both had large chains wrapped around them. At a closer look, there were thick metal rings on its wrists as well.

This thing must have been chained down . . . why? Was it done before it died to ensure it would drown and become a ghoul or afterwards . . .

A loud metallic clicking interrupted Zane's thinking.

"W-What was that?" Lovia asked.

Oh no . . .

The giant ghoul began moving again. Smaller ghouls were being crushed beneath its feet and the chains were gone.

Shit, shit, shit, shit.

Every step it took shook the ground. And the smaller ghouls began storming at them again.

So it just wanted them to remove the chains . . . is this some sort of ghoul king?

Zane grabbed two firebombs and threw them at the swarm of ghouls.

Good thing they're slow. But we really need to do something about that one . . . guess I could use my blood in some way.

Zane flipped open his satchel and opened two of the containers.

"Blood Blades!" he said, in an otherworldly voice again.

Two large scythe-like blades were formed by the blood that rushed out of the containers and hovered next to Zane.

"Z-Zane?" Rex asked.

"Clear a path," Zane answered.

Lovia immediately began shaving away at the swarm of enemies with her chain blade.

She has pretty good accuracy . . . maybe I underestimated her.

Zane began rushing towards the swarm of ghouls after Rex and the driver had thrown some more firebombs to thin out the enemy. His left hand was on the hilt of his katana the other extended to the side, surrounded by the two blood blades. As he got closer he drew the katana, holding it upside down. It was difficult to cut their heads that way, to do so he had to bend his body slightly.

He looked up, seeing the giant ghoul closing in on him, crushing smaller ones with each step.

Alright, big boy, time to die.

A firebomb hit the ghouls in front of him, burning them away and opening a path to the big one. Zane ran towards it and simultaneously moved the blades right in front of its ankles, cutting through both of them once he got closer. The giant fell to the ground once he lost both feet, flattening all the ghouls that were in front of him. Zane quickly rushed over to his neck, moved the two blood blades above it and moved them down quickly, cleanly cutting off its head. Slimy blood gushed out of it, covering the ground.

The other ghouls began crawling over it as if nothing happened.

Still not giving up . . .

"Fire!" Zane yelled to his comrades.

They began to throw firebombs again, pushing the ghouls backwards. After a while, the entire area around them was covered in burned up bodies, beheaded ghouls and slimy blood. The hall was filled with the smell of both rotten and burned flesh.

"Is this it? A-Are we done?" Rex asked.

"I hope so," Lovia said as she tried to catch her breath.

The group slowly walked along the sliver of land leading to the other side of the lake, Zane in the lead and the driver in the back, pulling the cart. They held their torches over the water, to see if there were any more ghouls and had a hand on their weapons at all times.

Losing the horse will slow us down . . . although it might be better this way . . . especially if we meet them on some of the higher floors.

On the other side was another large stone island. As soon as they reached it the hall got lit up a bit. Firepits that were placed along an upwards leading path that hung from the wall were lit one after the other.

Guess that's the way to the next floor . . .