Return of the Woodcutter

After spending some time recovering, the remaining survivors awaited the black challenger's return in the cathedral.

Logically speaking, taking on an entire army outside the safety of their walls was absurd. Thus they deduced that waiting here, rather than rushing blindly outside, would be safer and prepared the cathedral accordingly, for a prolonged battle.

Even if they didn't know the black challenger's plan, they were certain he would come back. At least the hobgoblins should have. Moreover, it was impossible for one challenger to kill them all by himself.

Thus, they waited in their fortified base for the hobs to show themselves.

Thirty minutes passed.

One hour.

Two hours.

With no signs of grey creatures and the black challenger, veterans started to wonder what kind of battle was happening outside, if battle there was.

Worried for their companion, Ogoro and Sheyla insisted that challengers ventured outside.

However, many voices opposed that idea. But with George's help, a few logical arguments—one of them being they would not survive without the black challenger's help—and some motivation, a bit less than ninety challengers braved the night in search of the missing horde and a certain armored man.

They soon found traces of the black challenger's struggle in form of blood, shattered buildings, and fissured ground. Following the trail of corpses, they carefully navigated through the night for hours on end.

Evidence of fighting lessened at some point as if the black challenger had stopped attacking the horde, though, with such numbers, there were bound to be tracks.

Sheyla led the way. Thanks to her enhanced sight, the trail was quite obvious. Although sometimes, it seemed to abruptly shift to the rooftops, she still managed to pick up the trail.

Having reached the edge of the city, they carefully threaded through a main street which led to a left turn towards a plaza.

Decrepit dark buildings decorated the place. Sheyla stopped abruptly when she saw blood flowing down the left turn, then rushed weapons in hand towards the plaza, closely followed by Ogoro and the other challengers.

They abruptly came to a stop when they saw hundreds of corpses spread around the street. The further towards the plaza they went, the more dead hobs they found. It was like they had been trying to run from something but couldn't.

"Gods almighty…," Olmera said to the side, though everyone ignored her.

Green dark blood everywhere coated the street and repainted the surrounding decrepit buildings where some hob corpses were embedded in.

"Did he…" Ogoro said, observing the creatures' wounds, fissures, and craters of all kinds, "do all this on his own?" 

Challengers gawked at the gory scene. Most of them had satisfaction in their eyes at the sight of dead hobs. However, there was also a slight trace of fear birthed by the probability of something, someone more dangerous than an entire horde of hobs lurking in the surroundings.

"No mere challenger did this," George said. He already thought of himself as powerful. With three spells, one aura active skill, a few passive skills, and even one melee physical active skill, plus his two gifts, he prided himself on being amongst the top 20 strongest challengers in the Tower.

He knew the few humans currently challenging the sixth floor were powerful, but this scene made him reconsider the definition of power. Maybe with a proper plan and preparations, the twenty strongest challengers could have taken care of the hob army, but that wasn't certain.

A fake sun started to rise on the illusionary horizon reflected by the huge dome delimiting the fifth floor.

It eclipsed the darkness, chased away the red moon, ended the Crimson Hunt.

Suddenly, every challenger alive saw a notification window appearing in front of them.

[Congratulations! You have all survived the Lunar Eclipse, thus accomplishing a feat never before seen!]

Rewards were immediately distributed according to the contributions. The lowest reward one had was a skill level up of their choosing, three thousand glory points, and thirty thousand tutorial points.

Having contributed a bit more than normal, though not by much, Ogoro received the exact same reward with five thousand GP, fifty thousand TP. If it weren't for his paralyzed state, he'd have received more.

Sheyla and George received, however, more than normal. One skill level up, one basic stat level up of their choosing, six thousand GP, and sixty thousand TP. 

On top of that, since she contributed more than the others, and coming in second place when it came to killing hobs, Sheyla received a new active skill, Frost Arrow Lv1.

Different from the previous magic arrow, this skill allowed Sheyla to imbue any arrow tip with frost properties that could potentially freeze the targeted area upon impact. With time, maybe it could become something more.

Although, she couldn't care less at the moment. Rapidly closing her notification window, she searched for the man who had battled all those hobs alone.

Sheyla hadn't had to look far to find him.

Entering the center of the plaza at the same time as dawn lengthened the damaged buildings' shadows, she saw him with myriads of dead hobs.

Challengers with joyous expressions caused by their rewards arrived behind her with sunlight that progressively made its way to the center, revealing a pile of corpses and rubbles previously obscured by the night.

Warm, orange-yellow rays shone on an armored man wearing a grey cloak sitting on top of the pile, his ax next to him embedded in a hobgoblin's skull.

Covered in green, dark blood, he would have looked like a demon were it not for the light.

"Is he… dead?" A veteran said, observing the gory yet somehow heroic scenery.

Immobile, as still as a rock, the black challenger didn't react to their coming.

Worry seized the siblings' hearts as they ran towards their comrade, climbing the pile of corpses made of at least two hundred hobgoblins, if not more.

With her passive skill Parkour, Sheyla reached the top first. Examining Aito's armored body, she hesitated to touch him for fear of aggravating possible serious wounds.

"Aito, can you hear me?" She asked, slightly disturbed by the lack of response. "Say something."

No reply came.

"Anything...," she said, her voice trembling.

Despite her better judgment, she touched his broad shoulder, approached him, then kneeled in front of him. Even she surprised herself with that uncommon reaction, "Dumbass… didn't I tell you not to di—"

Sheyla interrupted her sentence when she heard slight snoring sounds coming from inside the helmet. She froze in embarrassment. An inexplicable urge to slap Aito's head emerged.

Having some decency, she refrained from doing such an immature thing. Instead, she rapidly calmed herself and placed a hand on his armored cheek. Relief washed over her as she smiled warmly, then stood up to pick up his ax.

'It's heavier than I expected,' she thought, examining the handle and blade covered in blood. The ax itself probably weighed 20 kgs on its own.

To Aito, it was as light as a feather, but to her, who had a level 1 strength, it was still a bit heavy. She could carry it for hours no problem, but using it as a weapon all the time was overstretching it.

Thankfully, she was a challenger and not a normal human anymore.

"Is he okay?" Ogoro said, arriving on top of the pile.

"Yes, he is just sleeping. Can you carry him to the cathedral? Hobs might respawn soon, and he's probably too exhausted to move. Don't forget to run a quick check before moving him though."

With almost ninety veteran challengers together, small groups of hobs were no threat to them. Not when they weren't a horde.

Ogoro nodded, quickly scanned Aito's injuries through the armor using his enhanced sense of touch, used two recovery beads, and started to lift him. "Urg, how much does this guy weigh? I think I'll have to ask George to swap with me at some point on the way back."

Considering Aito's current body mass being 140kgs plus his entire equipment and inventory bags, he could be said to weigh around 185kg (about 408 lb).

When the siblings reached the foot of the pile, they saw challengers all-around gathering hobs' soul cores. Well, they couldn't exactly blame them.

However, the corpses soon disappeared in myriads of light, so did the blood and any other aftermaths of the fight. Leaving the place exactly as it was before all this started.

Before the Lunar Eclipse.

Before the death of more than two hundred challengers.

Before the black challenger's fall and rise.

Dawn shone at last on the fifth floor, lifting the veil of this apocalyptic night and the despair that had seized the challengers' hearts. 

***

Hours later.

Light flashed through the cathedral's large rose window on Aito's body, nestled in a corner, leaning against a wall.

He opened his eyes to see a transparent blue window and a tired Sheyla dressed in plain white clothes resting her head on his shoulder.

Aito ignored the notification and delicately removed her head as to not wake her up, but Sheyla instantly opened her eyes when she felt his touch.

"'Morning sleeping beauty," he said, retracting his hand. "Didn't know my shoulder was this comfortable."

"Oh it is, too bad you can't try it." She straightened up, stared at him with her frozen-blue eyes that shone with a warm gleam. "I'd rather replace it with a real cushion, though. Your armored shoulder is a bit too bulky and hard. Soft and fluffy is the best."

Aito chuckled at her answer, thinking that she really had warmed up to him.

Sheyla then turned around and before she went back to sleep, said, "I'm glad you're alive."

Not knowing what to answer, Aito smiled kindly, stood up, took off his cloak, and placed it on Sheyla before grabbing his ax leaning on a nearby wall, then walked towards the cathedral's exit.

On his way, he saw the pristine hall and the remaining challengers either sleeping or examining their equipment.

The sound of his heavy footsteps echoed in the silent room. Having keen instinct, the veterans woke up one by one at this noise. Standing up, walking towards the center of the cathedral, they naturally formed two lines to gaze at him and avoid obstructing his path.

George, Olmera, some of those who had been opposing him. Apart from Ogoro, who was not inside the cathedral at the moment, all were there. Paying their respect in their own ways.

As he walked past them, they remained silent. Some gathered both hands in prayer. Others nodded in his direction. But none had looks of envy or jealousy, for they knew his title was earned, not conned.

Aito nodded back at them as he made his way to the outside. Pulling the double doors wide open.

Basking in the sunlight, he took off his helmet to breathe in the outside air, to feel the gentle touch of the wind on his face. Taking his time to appreciate the artificial climate of this place.

'What a peaceful day,' he thought.

Relief washed over him as he realized the nightmare has ended. Only then did he allow himself to look at the notification window still ponding.

As the challengers' laid their gazes upon his broad back, upon the one they called a hero, they couldn't help but feel respect towards him. Even while standing still, he seemed to emanate a regal aura that commanded respect, that inspired hope and also… fear.

BING! 

[Your class has been recalculated taking into account your behavior, capabilities, destiny stat, and influence on others.]

[Congratulation! You have acquired a new class: Level 2.5 Ax Braver!]

END OF VOLUME 2