CHAPTER 143: THE GUARD

As we entered the 8th floor I could see that it was definitely a bit more of a hellish landscape. These demons always seem to have a hell scape of a floor instead of something else.

It makes sense since they’re demons but it would be kind of cool to see a more unique floor. Something you’d never expect a demon to be seen on.

"How do we want to handle this guy?" Velia asks with more of a serious tone.

"I honestly don’t think we need to fight him altogether. Whoever wants the fight should take it." I respond while crossing my arms.

"I’ll take care of the demon then." Akina says with confidence.

"Then it’s all yours." I reply.

Akina didn’t hesitate to walk ahead of us towards the demon, it didn’t seem all that intimidating. I honestly think she’ll be able to handle this fight without any problems since she is quite strong.

Any of us here could probably handle this demon. It doesn’t seem to have a weapon or any armor. Actually, it was hard to tell that it was a demon based on its appearance.

The demon kind of looked like a normal guy. He has straightened long black hair, oddly formal attire, and glowing red eyes that we could see from here.

It’ll be weird sticking out of a fight for once since usually I handle a lot of the fights, at least ones like this.

I can’t really sense all that much about this demon though, he kind of sticks out compared to most of our fights lately. Sticking out in the sense that he has no power radiating from him.

He might be strong without it showing or he’s really good at concealing everything.

"Welcome! Welcome! It’s great to have so many wonderful people here today. Some might know me as the guard of this floor while others know that I am quite the host. Host of what? The host of this floor! Why don’t I show you what’s going on here." The demon starts speaking with excitement, each word getting louder than the last.

I don’t like the sound of this at all, a demon who’s playing a host? What kind of shit is happening on this floor...

He’s also got way too much excitement about the situation which kind of pisses me off. I’m sure there’s going to be quite a weird explanation to everything that’s going on.

A demon that wants to play the role of a host, sounds like you’ll be in for quite the treat. Usually that means the person hosting is planning some sort of games for the others involved.

I’m really not interested in playing some sort of game that some demon makes. I have floors to climb so we can get rid of this god forsaken tower.

"Akina take care of this asshole!" I shout with a bit of irritation.

She gives me a nod as she aims her pistol right at him. Bang!! Bang!!! Two shots just like that and both of them went towards him with insane speed.

Within a flash I could no longer see the demon, it was like he just disappeared altogether.

"How rude, I could never interrupt someone like you just did. I’m just trying to be a good host to you all." He speaks with a bit of sadness and disappointment in his voice.

"Can’t we just fight and get this over with?" Akina asks, her pistol already aimed towards him once again.

His speed is definitely quite impressive, I just barely managed to see it before he appeared. I’ll have to keep focused so I don’t lose track of him, otherwise it’ll be a complete disaster.

I didn’t think a demon with his kind of speed would exist on such an early floor but I guess anything is possible in the tower.

Makes me wonder if Lilly can reach that kind of speed. It is definitely possible if she trains hard enough for it. It’ll also depend on the situation at hand as well.

"I never said a fight would be necessary. I’d like to be your host as I’ve previously mentioned. Well, I said I am the host already but you aren’t treating me as such." He responds with a bit of disappointment.

"What are you talking about?" Akina asks, clearly irritated.

"I mean that I would rather talk with you all while giving a nice dinner. A fight will only be necessary if your intentions are awful." He answers with a bit of disgust.

Are intentions being awful? Since when does a demon care about the intentions of anybody? Usually they didn’t seem to give a shit about what we had in mind or what we wanted to accomplish.

Not all demons immediately resort to violence, otherwise demons would’ve been purged completely a long time ago. Too many fights would’ve happened and that would be the end of their existence.

They do have some that prefer to talk if they can have that option in the first place.

I think he wants to gauge what kind of intentions your group has before deciding if it is worth a fight or not.

Again, I didn’t think a demon would give a shit about what kind of intentions we have for the tower. I understand the bot resorting to immediate violence after you put it like that, but everything else is blank for me.

At least he isn’t being a prick like that Lazarus guy so at least that is a plus side.

I don’t think I could’ve resisted a fight if he would’ve decided to be a smug asshole about his strength. Those kind of people really piss me off and I don’t want to hear that shit.

I’m glad you don’t act like the people you hate, otherwise you’d be a hypocrite. But this is an opportunity to see what he can tell us about the tower.

No guarantee that he will, but the chance is enough alone.

Learning about the next floor would be quite helpful since the boss floor isn’t much further. I don’t know what to expect after all the weird events we handled on the previous floors.

None of the enemies have been that crazy and the amount of peaceful ones have thrown me off completely. How am I supposed to have the motivation to clear the floors if they aren’t bad at all.

It kind of feels like clearing without any real accomplishment right now.

"Let’s have a seat and relax for a little while. I’d love to get to know the people who have come to my floor." The demon says while gesturing towards a distant table.

"Sure." I reply with a serious tone.

The girls followed behind me hesitantly since demons are obviously not the most trustworthy, besides Lilly. She is one of our exceptions to the rule but this guy we don’t know a thing about.

This demons whole arrangement reminds me of the one that Lazarus had setup when we met with him. After a bit of chatting that asshole wanted us to admit that he was stronger.

I’m hoping this guy doesn’t do the same thing or else I won’t be able to keep the peace.

"You all are climbing the tower, clearly. I’m curious about what you want to accomplish by the time you reach the final floor." He says with a smile.

What do I want when I reach the top of the tower? Obviously I want the tower to be gone so people don’t have the risk of dying here anymore but what else can I have?

Akina’s tower was a wish that gets granted to the one who completes it but who runs this one?

I didn’t think about that much when we first entered but I doubt there’s another god or goddess at the top doing the same thing. Akina’s tower would’ve been pointless if the others had the same exact perk.

I’m not the most knowledgeable on the towers but I’d say that they probably would ask what you want still. They just might not be able to grant it like Akina.

Or the option of getting rid of this tower altogether will be given to you.

The chance of getting even stronger is something I’d like to ask about but I doubt they’d be able to give me that. I would ask Akina but it doesn’t feel right when I never finished the climb.

I also think she would’ve given me an opportunity by now if that was something she was willing to do.

But yeah, I also don’t think they will be able to grant me too much when we reach the top. It also wouldn’t be my call alone to make since we are making the climb as a group.

I think we both know that they would want you to make the choice. The girls trust you with the major decisions so far.

It still wouldn’t sit right with me, even with their trust in me like it is.