25. Hope (2)

Boom!

Roar!

Killing the beast wasn't needed; he could just dodge and collect peacefully. However, that's only if he had the time to do that, which he didn't; slaying them would be much faster, as he would collect more and gain some extra points.

"This would be sufficient for the ship," Said Ethan. A giant bag made up of monster skin stood by his side; it contained spores of the fungal; Ethan was definitely not an ecologist, as he single-handedly caused the Drake's extinction within this floor.

Not far, Victor, who went on a search to find him with a partner, viewed him as a monster, "did he end that beast with just three punches?" Asked his partner, Victor gulped before approaching Ethan.

"Mr. Ethan," He called out; Ethan turned towards him, "Mr.?" He was bewildered by the title; Victor, failing to notice Ethan's perplexity, kept on going, "We have gathered all the available resources without leaving any behind as you requested," He reported; Ethan nodded, his hand touching the bag.

"Take this with you," He instructed; Victor gulped, seeing the large bag, he nodded and called his friend to come help.

Seeing them leaving, Ethan took a look at the list; he frowned, "no matter how I searched, I could not find the fairy," He said.

It wasn't the actual fairy that everyone knew; this one, despite carrying the name fairy, came close to a ladybug.

This particular insect, the size of a grown adult, was, in fact, one of the rare species around being a herbivore; it produced a special type of purple dust that came in contact with anything; that said thing would start levitating.

The amount of time spent in the air depended on the quantity of dust collected, "someone must have harvested all of them and killed the remaining ones." That was Ethan's best scenario as to why he could not spot any of these bugs around.

Boom!

The sound caught Ethan's attention, "seems like it's time to leave." The nature-like dungeon was breaking apart, the water from the ghost ocean infiltrating through the cracks.

.

"I propose we leave now," said a skinny man with a rough and unkept bear; he led a group of people having similar thoughts with him, "here, let's summon the fairy and go," said the others behind.

"What crap did you guys eat?" Said Stephan, a man under Victor, he was tasked to look after the resources gathered.

"Look around; the ocean is already at our doors; if we don't leave now, we won't have a chance ever again," said a woman; fear could clearly be seen written on her expression.

"No, we were asked to wait; many of us are still out there gathering resources," Said Stephan; he was stronger than all the members here individually; the issue was the crowd; he was outnumbered.

"Wait for how long!" Shouted the skinny man, "Can't you see for yourself? We don't have much time; the clock's countdown is almost over," He said, pointing at Fairy's doomsday clock ticking alongside their heart.

"I said we wait!" Said Stephan; he took out his blade, energy spread on it, expanding its size; this maneuver was to frighten them, which worked perfectly, as the crowd took a step back.

"He wants to abandon us like the others!" Shouted the skinny man; Stephan glared at him; he was the chaos bringer.

"Look! They want to use us and dump us as the previous guys and that wicked woman; we shouldn't let this happen; we should strike before they strike," shouted the skinny man; his shout wasn't normal, and Stephan felt it.

"Damn, he is using a skill" He realized it, the expression of the people changing; their eyes all turned green as they nodded; soon, someone shouted, and it spread like wildfire.

"Let's fight back!" Said the people as they walked towards Stephan and his small group, all brandishing their weapons, seeing the crowd approaching, Stephan's heart skipped a little, he got ready for the worst, he glared at the skinny man who grinned at him, his expression as ugly as ever, the man disappeared within the crowd.

Swoosh!

Ethan shot through the trees in search of fairy green powder; one hour was left until the whole tower was submerged in the ocean; he had to hurry, or his journey would end here.

"There's one!" Shouted his younger self, Ethan immediately shot towards the direction assigned.

Boom!

The damn bug was fast as it disappeared and appeared a distance away, thinking it had survived the attack; the insect's heart skipped when it realized a silhouette overshadowing it.

Bam!

"To think we had to go through five gates to spot only one!" Shouted his younger soul; Ethan nodded at his complaints, "Here, it took longer than expected; at least we caught this one alive, and it looks like its spores are full," Said Ethan; this was positive news.

However, when he showed up, what greeted him wasn't pleasant news; Ethan grinned at the scene, "Oh boy, what's all this about?" He questioned.

Victor supported Stephan, the only survivor of the mob assault; Victor was furious, holding onto his dying companion, who had difficulty maintaining his consciousness.

"What's going on here?" Ethan appeared in front of the group, startling them; soon, their expression shifted to that of fear, thinking that Ethan might lash on them out of anger.

"Some guy rallied the crowd and took down the guards... Can't believe this happened; I thought we all were working hard to stay alive; why would they go to such an extent, even causing the death of innocent people?" Said Victor, he was furious; Stephan gave his last breath before dying in his hand.

Ethan looked down at Stephan; he really did not have any attachment towards this guy; he didn't even know him, "nobody is really innocent in this world," He thought.

"Who was the instigator?" Asked Ethan, he looked towards the doom day clock; an hour was ticking away.

"A skinny man, we don't really know his identity; he is usually seen as the chaos bringer," Said Victor. Ethan's eyebrow twitched, but he smiled.

"To all, gather the remaining resources left," Shouted Ethan; Victor shook his head, "We gathered everything; there's no resources left for..."

"I wasn't talking about yours, but mind," Interrupted Ethan; he showed them the way.

Seeing the amount, not really that big, but enough to build a twenty-man ship, it was enough, "when did he gather them?" Questioned Victor.

"I collected them in the prediction of such situations, we don't have much time, so start working!" Shouted Ethan. All the remaining group under Ethan went to work.

"Hurry!" Shouted the people desperately, lifting up the woods and other tools needed.

Boom!

The tower shook violently, signs of the coming doom, putting everybody in a state of despair, but their determination to stay alive was stronger; using all their energy, they dragged all the resources to the main hall.

"Come out," Said Ethan with a cool, cold voice; soon, the space tore open as the fairy showed her head.

"I was already losing hope, but here you are, do you have everything?" Asked the fairy, Ethan shook his head, "we don't have the salamander essence" He said.

"Oh... Despite not being too important, you know you wouldn't last long in the sky without proper thermal heat" Warned the fairy.

"We wouldn't need that," Said Ethan; it took a moment for the fairy to realize what he meant by that, and she started laughing mechanically as her cold eyes stared at Ethan, "revenge is one delicious meal," She said, her hands clapped high.

All the materials flew into a black space, and a ship emerged from the other side, "good luck," She winked at Ethan before vanishing.

"Embark!" Shouted Victor; people really did not need him to announce as they were already jumping on top of the boat; Ethan looked around and smiled, "It was an amazing experience." He shot towards the boat and landed.

The tower sank, vanishing from the sight of the world, and a boat barely managing to exit flew out of the ocean towards the sky at full speed.

Victor looked down, thinking of Stephan, he sure promised to take revenge on him.