1743 The Hundredth Floor. VI
As Felix's true feelings were made clear, a faint shudder occurred at the pitch-black crack, causing some of the highly sensitive beings on the floor to pick up on it.
Eris was one of them.
'Something is about to happen in the next cycle and it doesn't bod well for me.' She thought to herself with a stern expression.
Meanwhile, the others ignored the sign and continued rushing towards the entrance, using the map's details to their advantage.
If it wasn't for the map, they would be forced to search the entire floor randomly while the All-Seeing-Eye was threatening them constantly.
In the past attempts to breach the tower, some squads were stuck on the Hundredth Floor for years before finding a portal.
The worst part? The portal led to an unknown destination as it could be the entrance to the next floor or one way to their damnation.
With the map at hand, everyone was able to speed run the floor as long as the others didn't pull the rug from underneath them.
Shortly after, the squads began to prepare for the next round of the night cycle. Some of them greeded for more distance while some were moving at a snail's pace, wanting to clear the floor without casualties.
Meanwhile, Prince Malakar had asked for his party to group up again after losing three members at once, a difficult-to-stomach blow to their strength.
He didn't want to lose most of his squad while there were still a hundred floors more to climb down.
As for Commander Bia and her squad? They continued to play it safe...They set up a new similar stronghold in a desolate forest with long trees that had no branches in sight.
After they were done, more than half an hour passed before the All-Seeing-Eye slowly and deliberately resumed its watchful vigil, causing the crimson hue that had previously bathed the landscape in an ominous glow to return.
'It's time.'
Felix narrowed his eyes in focus as he leaned against the stronghold wall in a frozen posture. He released his senses and soon enough, they got linked to the blob of blood in nowhere.Then, he ordered it to morph into a humanoid, faceless being. While its transformation was happening, the menacing eye swiftly gazed at it.
With sudden, exaggerated movements, the humanoid blob started to dance wildly under Felix's control!
A split second later, a green beam was fired at it indiscriminately as the eye didn't care if it was a real creature or not!
'It's a hit.' Felix shared with Apollo.
'And?' Apollo inquired.
Felix went silent for a moment before a diabolical smile took hold of his real face, causing those who saw it to feel goosebumps coursing through their skin.
Just as it appeared, it soon disappeared, leaving them doubting their eyes as they knew that no one would be stupid enough to even twitch under the eye of judgment.
Meanwhile, Felix's eyes reflected the landscape around the blob being erased, reduced to nothingness, yet the humanoid blob floated unscathed!
It was like it got hit by a ray of soothing light instead of an all-destroying beam!
'It's confirmed, this place is our haven.' Felix forwarded the news to Apollo with a faint smirk.
'Hahaha, so it's fine if I scratch my ass? It's been eating me for a while.' Apollo chuckled.
'Don't move.' Felix said, 'Let me try something.'
Felix gazed at the roof above and called telepathically, his tone devoid of any formalities, 'Commander Bia, or should I call you, primogenitor Bia?'
'Huh? You...'
For a moment, Commander Bia was left stunned, feeling like she was struck by a lightning bolt out of the blue.
The last thing she expected from this peculiar situation standoff was for Felix to drop the facade on his own and even recognize her true identity!'How...Why?' Commander Bia finally responded, her voice steady, betraying no sign of the unrest that Felix's words might have stirred within her.
The first question was understood by Felix, but the second one confused him. Asking for how he recognized her identity was one thing, but to ask about the why? It implied that she knew more than she was showing.
'What do you mean by why? Don't bother lying to me, I can't be lied to.' Felix asked coldly, not having a good feeling about this.
Commander Bia felt her heart grow colder as she realized that she made a mistake and exposed the fact that she understood about their identities!
With the information provided to her about Felix, she knew that he wasn't bullshiting her as no one could lie to the Paragon of Sins unless it was done by another Paragon.
Commander Bia took a deep breath through her nose and decided to be truthful, understanding that the situation had already gotten out of her control the moment Felix exposed her identity.
'I don't know how you found out about my identity and why you decided to expose your identities at such a bizarre moment. But, what I do know is that you are being hunted by Uranus and he is currently on the way to the tower as we speak.'
The moment Felix heard this, he felt his heart sink to the bottom of his stomach in dread.
The only reason he was being this bold in the tower was because he understood that the entrance was going to close soon and this would mean none of his chase would be a threat to them anymore.
Now, to find out that Uranus was on his way implied that someone had tipped him off. It didn't take a genius to recognize the culprit.
'What...have...you...done...' Felix uttered with a suppressed murderous tone.
He reached out to her at the start in hopes of obtaining the map and her assistance when possible since he knew that she would be the only one unaffected by the beam as well.
So, he might as well recruit her in their journey and get rid of the others. Since both of them were considered as 'mortals' in the eyes of the unigins before Felix's ascension, he believed there was a big chance of relating to her and winning her over.
But now? She was the first on his death list.
'I am sorry, but I had to.' Commander Bia offered coldly, 'I have no idea why is he chasing you, but your conflict has brought him to me, leaving me no choice but to use you as bait to bring him to the tower and kill him.'
'You, kill him?' Felix frowned, 'What kind of history do you have with him? Does it have any relation with your disappearance?'
He could pick up the truth from her voice, which made him puzzled about the situation. No one seemed to know why Commander Bia had ditched the matter universe, but with that monster being involved, he started to see a part of the picture.
'I don't want to talk or see those memories...' Commander Bia showed a deadpan expression as she offered, 'If you want, you can see for yourself.'
Knowing that he was a unigin made her understand that he could invade her memories quite easily.
Felix had no interest in being a gentleman when confronted with a likely spy sent by his hunters.
So, without an ounce of hesitation, he sent a wisp of his consciousness and invaded her consciousness space.
After a quick glance over her past, he retracted his invasive senses and was left with a puzzled expression...Even the others who witnessed Bia's past had their words stuck in their throats.