Chapter 153: 153: Outside
He entered the portal that led to the lowest floor.
His arrival on Floor Zero was quite unexpected to the people here. None was expecting him to be there, especially so soon after he killed another King.
If there was a King who commanded respect and fear amongst the people, it was Azekiel.
Everyone stopped what they were doing as soon as the news about Azekiel's arrival started spreading. Almost every single person respectfully greeted him, wondering if he was here to select more portals like last time.
All the men were excited at the chance of being able to work for the strongest Kings, while all the Women wanted just a single opportunity to be with Azekiel.
They all stood, watching Azekiel move closer to them. The only person who looked down was the Woman whose advances Azekiel rejected last time he was here. She kept her head down, not expecting anything from him. There was no way for her to be selected even if he was here to select anyone.
Just as she expected, Azekiel walked past her, but it was the same with everyone. Je didn't glance at the people there. They were all too weak and unimportant to attract his attention.
Everyone kept their eyes on Azekiel, wondering just where he was going. He hadn't spoken anything throughout.
Soon, he walked past the last person as well. There was no one ahead of him now. He still didn't stop walking.
"Is he... Walking to the door?" An old man asked, finding it hard to believe his eyes. "Is he trying to leave the tower?"
"I don't think even he can leave. It's impossible to open the door." A woman rolled her eyes. "Also, he hasn't reached the top floor. Why would he try to leave now? He must be here for something else?"
Azekiel stopped right before the door. Even now, there were people who believed that he wasn't going to open the door. Unfortunately for them, that's exactly what Azekiel did.
He held the doors firmly. The heavy doors that couldn't even be moved by the people here started opening. For Azekiel, it appeared like a child's play since the door didn't even offer the slightest resistance.
The Majestic doors open, letting fresh wind enter the tower.
Azekiel gazed at the outside world. It seemed like an eternity had passed since he had last seen this place. The place still looked like it did before. It was as if nothing had changed.
Right before everyone's eyes, Azekiel took his first step outside the tower, feeling slight hesitation for some reason.
The people on the floor were horrified to see the door open. In the last one week, the door had opened twice. Did that mean that the door wasn't locked anymore? If Azekiel could leave and a girl could enter before, didn't that mean that the place wasn't as safe as it used to be?
If the door was locked, didn't that mean that even the monsters could enter if they wanted to kill all of them?
As soon as Azekiel left, the doors behind him closed on their own.
An old man rushed to the door to see if it was actually unlocked. Was this place really as dangerous as they expected?
He held the doors and tried pulling to see if they could be opened again. Unfortunately, the door couldn't be opened. It was firmly locked. In fact, the door didn't even move an inch.
"Maybe you need a certain strength to open it since the doors are heavy?" He looked at the others. "All of you, come join me! We need to see if we can open it. I'll need all your strength!"
More men rushed to help the old man as even they were worried if the door could be opened by them. They placed their entire strength behind attempting to open the door, but the door didn't open.
"It's locked. I don't think we can open it. Only a few strong people can open it; it seems," a man pointed out. "It is good since it means that the door is still secure. I don't think monsters would be allowed in."
"I hope so..."
*****
While the people inside the tower were worried about the safety of the tower, the King of Sloth was sitting on the Fifth floor, trying to contact Lucifer, but it didn't appear to be possible. For some reason, he couldn't succeed.
He really wondered just where Lucifer was. Why was he so unreachable? It was evident that he must've heard the announcement about Azekiel killing three Kings. Despite that, why is he so relaxed? He didn't even come down to check up on others. Let alone coming down, even contacting him was impossible.
Without Lucifer, Alioth really felt uneasy. He has a feeling that Azekiel was going to Target them next. The next number could very well be his. Azekiel was already on the fourth floor, from what he could guess. He wasn't too far from the fifth Floor.
Alioth decided to meet up with the Lord of Envy. Unfortunately, even the Lord of Envy refused to meet him since the Lord of Envy was really angry at him. Alioth had rejected their suggestions about killing Azekiel when they had a chance, and now they were suffering the consequences of those actions.
He was so frustrated that he didn't even want to see Alioth's face. In any case, he believed that the team-up of the two of them was going to be useless. He needed another way to keep himself safe, and he already had an idea as to what that way could be.
He kept ignoring the calls of the King of Sloth. Even when Alioth personally came to meet him, he had his men say that he wasn't there.
Ultimately, Alioth couldn't take this ignorance anymore. The next time he came, he didn't take any excuse and barged inside the King of Envy's room, not caring about anything.
He ignored all the blockages or etiquette and barged inside the room, finding the King of Envy in his room, drinking wine.
"Why have you been ignoring me? You know it's not the time we could afford to be divided!" The King of Sloth exclaimed in anger.
"Oh? Did you finally open your eyes? In any case, why would you need my help? Didn't you all make a deal with Azekiel against all my wishes? Why are you here now? Go with Azekiel. He will never attack us, after all. Isn't that what you said?"
"You know I was wrong! So stop acting up!"