After the fiftieth step, Cela was looking worse than a mother in labor. However, even though her ears were ringing—screaming at her to give up—she didn't.
"F-For… Darling…"
Her mumbles of 'Darling' ceaselessly came out in the form of blood-patterned murmuring. That was her driving force—her guiding light.
"She's going to kill herself, and for what…?" Yennefer softly commented, complicated emotions swirling within her heart. "Does she love Knox Falazar that much…? I… I don't understand…"
"He's my Fiancé; would I do the same…?"
As the conflicted questions of a jade beauty echoed out just loud enough for herself to hear, the terrible sound of bones cracking and scraping against one another grated on the ears of many. They looked toward the source of the sound, only to see the whites of Cela's bones beginning to show through her once peachy-painted skin.
The relentless girl was only a few dozen feet away from passing through the Diamond-colored barrier. However, it were these very steps that posed the most danger to the one trekking them.
Each step—one accident away from an early death.
Each further step—an increase in the likelihood of that event becoming one's reality.
However…
"She really did it," Knox exhaled a breath of relief as he felt his worry lessen considerably. "She's on the brink of death, but she did it. But… But I wonder just how far she was willing to go if the barrier didn't end. Was she going to let herself die? All for my sake…?"
He didn't quite know how he felt about her not caring whether or not she had to risk her life to make him happy. But for some reason—somewhere in his greedy black heart—he… didn't like it.
Not one bit.
Which was extremely unusual, considering that he'd do just about anything for even the smallest chance of acquiring more benefits.
But when it came to the well-being of the yandere woman who only seemed to want to see him overcome with joy…
"Haiz," Knox sighed. He shook his head before refocusing on the pitiful sight of Cela gasping for breath with bloodshot eyes.
'At this rate, even if she has survived the barrier, she'll die due to the injuries she incurred,' he thought as his eyes shifted to the aloof, pale-faced man who possessed no wings. 'I suppose I'll just have to resolve this in an unorthodox way.'
"Yo, featherless birdy!"
"Hum?"
The Six-Winged Seraphim's apathetic gaze met his, sending chills into the deepest dredges of his soul.
While momentarily stunned, Knox took a moment to register the words that left the Seraphim's lips:
"You're an interesting one, human," he said with a bit of intrigue. "Your foundation is the highest I've ever seen. And from the looks of it, you've received the assistance of the World Serpent. The Dragon Lord's Heavenly Requiem and Supreme Devourer techniques indicate as much. Your physical, mental, and energy stats are also very strange… You're an enigma."
"Oh," Knox opened his mouth. "Well, that's a new one. However, more importantly than that, I need to know if I can… hmm… like toss something into the Moleseum?"
Silence…
"You wish to preserve the life of that girl?" the Six-Winged Seraphim ultimately asked, his tone devoid of emotion.
"Preferably, yes," Knox replied, his response shocking Yennefer and the other Trial Takers.
Nala, Princess Maya, and the twins had only known him to be an uncaring tyrant. A self-centered being. One who only gave a damn about his own well-being.
And in a way, they were correct in their assumptions.
Hell, even Knox himself couldn't understand why he was doing something so troublesome!
Was he doing it for the additional treasures that Cela would offer him?
Or was it for a more selfless reason…?
'What a useless topic to ponder,' Knox cursed at himself, despising his own stupidity. 'I do what I want, when I want, however I want, and for whatever reason I want. That's all there is to it!'
With a cold gleam in his striking gold eyes, he looked up at the mildly amused pale figure. "So? Can I throw something in to save her or not??"
An even larger amount of interest glazed over the Six-Winged Seraphim's gray eyes. "You ask for my permission, but I can read your intent. You'll do it whether I say yes or no, won't you?"
Knox clicked his tongue at the perception of the pale-faced bastard. "Yeah, so what if I am?? What are you going to do about it??"
Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the rapid depletion of Cela's lifeforce. Her life was hanging by a thread—a fact that surged forward an insane level of murderous intent.
"If you don't kill me now or let me help her out, then I guarantee that I'll show you exactly what will be done to you if time runs out."
"Hum…?"
It was of the smallest amount, but the Six-Winged Seraphim definitely felt fear. A fear stemming not from a difference in cultivation base or power but a type of fear nonetheless.
Yet, this only amplified the Half-Step Void Refining Realm being's curiosity…
Yennefer, meanwhile, was bombarded by waves of incomprehensible emotions.
'He's willing to make enemies of an entity like that for her…? I… I don't understand why that displeases me as much as it does.'
13th Princess Maya, on the other hand, felt a craving that she had never once experienced before. Smiling gingerly while licking her lips, she murmured to herself, "He will be mine. He must be on my side, no matter what it takes."
Then there was Nala, who was feeling a mixture of both anger and helplessness.
Even now, she believed there to be the slightest chance of her coming out on top if they were to fight. However, seeing him act so fearless in the face of such immense adversity forced the truth to sink in more and more…
Finally responding to the audacious human and his billowing killing intent, the Six-Winged Seraphim waved his hand. A tiny hole then opened up in the exact same spot on all the barriers leading up to the Diamond-ranked one.
"You may help that girl," he said. "But you must fit it through that hole and make sure it accurately shoots through all of the follow-up identical hol—"
FWOOOSH!
"!??"