Journey Of A Legend

"Give me the key right now, or you will all die here."

The moment the three heard this they looked at each other in confusion and stayed silent.

Nos seeing as the three tried to act confused, frowned angrily and said, "Don't try to act innocent. We all know you were able to obtain the key. The destruction of the Temple in the lake tells everything."

When Russ heard this he glanced at Nos and said, "I'm sorry to tell you this but we truly don't have it. We came here just to explore the interior of the place, but suddenly it started to collapse so we came out. We didn't take any key or anything similar to that."

Nos listening to this started to laugh while his expression darkened even more.

"Please stop looking at me like a total fool.", said Nos and continued, "I will give you 3 seconds and if I still don't get the key, I will turn your body into ash."

"One."

Russ and Wayne hearing this looked at each other and like knowing what the other one thought, both of them nodded.

"Two.", said Nos, ignoring the fact that the two before him were ready to do something.

"And three.", said Nos and waved his hand instantly.

*Swish!*

Immediately after he waved his hand, suddenly half-transparent walls appeared around the three and trapped them inside a square box.

"Last chance. Give me the key or you will be squashed to death.", said Nos and with a slow-motion, he started to move his fingers into a fist.

As he did that, the walls around the three started to shrink, showing them that if they don't hurry up and give him the key, they will truly die.

However, even after feeling as the walls closed on them with quite a rapid pace, Russ smiled gently and said, "If I were you, I wouldn't try to do that. You will regret it."

"Haha! Already scared?", asked Nos with a smile, as he watched the three getting pushed against each other with each passing second.

When there was no remaining space left where the three could freely move, Russ shook his head and replied, "I wouldn't get scared by someone like you?"

"Oh really?", asked Nos with a very dark face and said, "Then enjoy your trip to the other world."

*Clench!*

Immediately after he said that Nos clenched his palm into a fist, making the walls shrink instantly.

However, the moment Russ saw this he just simply sighed and said, "I told you not to do that."

*Swish!*

Instantly, Russ's, Wayne's, and Greg's body flashed, while all the people around them except Nos, got teleported into the cube.

"!"

*Squash!*

Like clenching a lemon in one's hand, the several subordinates' body of Nos got squashed into smashed flesh and bone without any chance to resist.

When Nos saw this he looked stupefied, not believing that this could have truly happened.

His power was able to trap anyone into his Trap Box from where no one was able to escape. Not until if he let them out or the person was several ranks above him.

So far, he didn't meet anyone who was able to escape his Trap Box with such ease and in such a way.

"He not only escaped but put my men in there? How?", asked Nos quietly, but the next second his eyes widened and said angrily, "So he surpassed the God rank too..."

As he thought about this, he ignored the pile of flesh and bone that he just created and started to look around.

His eyes were glaring around like a hawk looking for its prey, but no matter how hard he tried to look, he didn't see where the three escaped to.

"They... Escaped...", said Nos quietly, but with visible anger in his tone.

***

Back in Skyfall Mountain, the three appeared before Eternal Kingdom's entrance and opened the secret passage.

"Why didn't you put him inside instead of those weaklings?", asked Greg curiously as he walked forward next to Russ.

"If I try to put him inside, he would have stopped his own power even before it would have had the chance to kill him. So instead, I decided to exterminate his subordinates. They were weak in both rank and strength, so there is no chance that they could have survived."

"Well, it was a great warning for them. So far, this was the second time they tried to kill us and obtain the keys we found.", said Wayne with a nod.

"Yes. I am quite sure that guy back in the Fire Temple was associated with this group too. But to think they have people who succeeded with the Evolution Step... Things became way more complicated like this."

As Wayne listened to this he nodded again and said, "Not only that but the man we killed back in the Fire Temple was from the Higher Beings. To think humans started to work for them... I am curious just which family became so bold."

"I don't think it should be called boldness. I would rather call that ignorant foolishness.", said Russ with a serious expression on his face.

As Greg listened to this, he realized that things started to become quite complicated.

First Alice's seal broke revealing she was the powerful Elementalist, then it turns out that humans are working with those mysterious Higher Beings outside in the space, to obtain the keys and the Creator's legacy.

And what is even worse, that it seems more and more people who surpassed the God rank start to emerge from the shadows.

First, it was Albert, Ozron, and now Nos. Maybe the first two were from the Higher Beings, but they still showed themselves with the power that surpassed the God rank.

If things continued like this, it won't be long before humans and humanoid creatures start to walk on earth's surface with the rank way above the God rank.

And if that happens, things not only will turn into calamity but when the approaching war finally arrives in the near future, it will definitely mean humanity's end.

At that time, only the strongest and fittest will be able to survive and Greg knew this too.

"And that is why I must reach the Mind Grade then succeed with the Evolution Step as soon as possible.", thought Greg seriously as determination slowly appeared on his face.

Walking through the small forest and arriving before the stairs, Greg looked at his Soul Creature on the tree.

"It seems everything is perfectly fine here.", thought Greg as he watched the little fairy sleeping soundlessly atop a tree.

Glancing back at Russ and Wayne who were about to walk upon the stairs, Greg stopped and said, "These stairs are special, so don't get surprised if you will feel the weight on your body. Just keep going and your body will get stronger once you arrive at the top."

"We will be perfectly fine.", said Russ with a wave of his hand, visibly underestimating Greg's statement.

Greg hearing this smiled, but still shrugged and said, "I warned you."

Saying that Greg turned back and started to ascend the stairs, but made sure to inspect Russ and Wayne behind him from time to time with great anticipation.

In the beginning, they looked just as unfazed as ever, but when they reached the middle point, huge drops of sweats formed on their face.

"What are these steps?", asked Russ, realizing that this staircase was way more interesting than he first believed.

"It is called Endless Pressure. One of the several powerful defend mechanics of the legendary Eternal Kingdom from myths."

When Russ heard this looked a bit surprised but still decided not to say anything. Instead, he just wiped the sweat away from his forehead and continued to ascend the staircase.

One step after another, the two walked on the stairs like two old men. Trembling body and slow movements. It was quite visible that currently, their bodies were under great pressure, just like as Greg and Joe had.

The feeling of weight which was similar to several mountains truly put a challenge even on those who surpassed the God rank.

Yet even like this, Greg was surprised to see that both Russ and Wayne, except for their trembling body and an insane amount of sweat on their body, they reached the final step relatively easily. 

"Well, they are above the God rank, so it is not a big surprise at all.", thought Greg and watched as both men stepped on the last step.

*BOOM!*

Instantly, the air around them shook like crazy, and with a great explosion both of their bodies underwent great improvement, just like Greg's and Joe's bodies did.

"Interesting...", said Russ with quite an interest as he inspected his body after the explosion finally dissipated.

"Perfect. Now then we have done this, you are free to do what you want.", said Greg and turned around, about to walk away.

"When will we go for the remaining two keys?", asked Wayne suddenly next to Russ.

Glancing back at the two, Greg started to think, and a small while later he said, "Soon. But before we go for another key, I have an important thing to do."

As Greg said that, he waved his hand and without saying anything else, he started to walk toward the main building on top of the small hill.