Chapter 287 - Rendezvous, Weltwanders

"Right this way, right this way!"

With a gravely, high-pitched voice, the round-bodied creature that combined both its head and torso as one, unified shape marched down the hall that exhibited a velvet carpet with golden accents once reaching into the bulk of the mystical domain. 

"...We're really in Purgatory?"

Ren asked in a mutter as he looked around, loomed over by the extravagant walls that shifted into an opalescent, marble material, decorated with paintings of sceneries unknown to the young man's eyes. 

"Yes, yes! It was built by Lord Asmodeus--or rather, his minions! Or rather, me!" 

"Eh?"

It was hard to keep up with the swiftness of Impy's high words, who continued traversing the lengthy halls as they passed by a seemingly infinite amount of doors. 

I'm still not completely buying this all--after what went on within the first floor, this place is anything but good news....still, if it is a chance to rest--I'll take it. Just got to find the others first--if this little guy is messing with me, I'll cut him down, Ren thought. 

"I'd advise against that!"

With his same, cheery voice, Impy spoke to him with his one, large eye settled on the young man's form, still not stopping in his march as his thin, needly arms swayed. 

"What…?"

"Cutting me down! I'd advise against that!"

"How'd you…?"

"Moving on!"

Though there was no inherent fear he felt towards the tiny, bulbous guide of his--Ren found himself now adhering to his advice as he quietly followed behind him. 

"Here we are! This is the main lounge room for Team Weltwanderer! Though, you'll each be participating individually. When you feel that seal on her hand burn up, please make your way straight down the hall until you reach two, large, black doors--you can't miss it!"

Talking at a speed thought to be impossible, Impy's words were spoken just as fast as he left--disappearing into a puff of smoke, leaving the young, white-haired man standing before the door formed of ashen wood. 

"Some Houdini he is…" 

With a quick ruffle of his own hair, Ren let out a sigh before pressing his palm against the solid mass of the door, slowly pushing it open with a creak. 

Holding his breath in that short moment, that very batch of air escaped his lips gently as his eyes met with the relieving sight of his comrades, sitting within the enigmatic room. 

"Ren!"

Iris immediately stood up, rushing over to the young man with an expression packed with relief--the same relieved looks rested in the eyes of the others. 

"...Yeah, it's me. Is...something wrong?"

Looking at Iris' expression, he was glad that she was worried about him, but the feelings seemed a bit misplaced, or rather a bit overdramatic for such a short departure from one another. 

"You were gone for hours."

Macheo answered, sitting in the corner of the room built of exuberant quartz, exhibiting a floor of rich, glistening wood. As always, he looked less than interested to indulge in conversation, looking away as his arms were kept folded over his chest. 

"Hours? What're you talking about? I went in just a few minutes after--"

As he responded, he noticed something: Aiko. The sickly girl wasn't present whatsoever in the room harboring the Weltwanderers. 

"Where is she? Where's Aiko?"

With a sense of urgency to his voice, he pushed himself into the center of the room, throwing his gaze side to side, front and back, not finding a single glance of the beige-haired girl anywhere. 

"Calm down. One of those creepy demons took her off to the infirmary."

Once more, Macheo was the one to answer Ren's worries, this time looking at the young man with the crimson jewels embedded into his eyes. 

"That's right, there's nothing to worry about, Ren."

Hongse finally stood up from his place of rest on the vanilla sofa, giving the white-haired young man a gentle pat on the shoulder. 

"Anyways...you said you weren't gone that long?"

Pressing the other issue, Iris remained close to him, looking up at him with those eyes that would've dragged out any lies from deep within his fickle throat. All the same, his answer remained the same as he ruffled his tufts of hair. 

"Yeah, just like I said--I went in right after Macheo; I met with the man in the front...what was his name again…?"

"Orias."

This time, Valerie supplied the answer for Ren, who promptly snapped his fingers to cement that utterance as the truth. 

"That's odd…"

Iris muttered, setting her fingers against her chin as if sinking into deep thought, seating herself back down on the sofa, directly beside the draconic warrior. 

"I think we have a bit more of an important discussion on hand."

"This "Champion's Culling" thing, right?"

"Right."

Being on the same page as Macheo, Ren affirmed this notion with a nod as he now had all eyes on the room placed on him. 

"A tournament to decide who receives the necessary keys to challenge the guardian of this floor...which means just after that, we're in the final stretch." 

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves here; first we have to win whatever this tournament is, then we have to actually, by some miracle, defeat the guardian. I don't know about you, but that's a tall order." 

Ren shrugged his shoulders as he corrected Valerie's statement, earning himself a sharp glare from the woman before he added onto his statement with a raise of his index finger. 

"But...this is our best shot, no? We managed to defeat the Butcher; Macheo, you said that was something most participants were unable to defeat--yet, we did it--with medium difficulty, even! Hell, if I was a betting man, I'd place my money on Team Weltwanderers." 

With a speech born from some past life he lived as a door to door salesman, Ren paced back and forth through the waiting room designated to their group, finishing his fiery words with a flip of his cloak and a confident smile. 

"Just one notion I'd like to correct."

"Yeah?"

Ren looked at Hongse, who had his fluffy, dual-colored arms crossed against his chubby, yet muscular chest clad in layers of fur. 

"I'm assuming you heard the same spiel we got from Orias: we can't act as a team within this tournament. It's every man for himself." 

As the panda demi-human spoke of this, a dreary silence hung over the room as the others seemed to feel that very rule dig itself into their already wavering hopes. But once more, Ren proved his confidence was unwavering in this very moment, waving his finger along with a tsk, tsk, tsk. 

"Even so, our chances are five times better--no, six times better, if Aiko participates. If one of us should fall early in the bracket, then another can carry our aspirations forward. That's the strength of a team!"

Honestly, I can't place how hopeful I really am. Even so, I can't let the team's morale dwindle in the slightest. Even if our chances are slim, this is the best damn shot we've got! He thought. 

It seemed his counterpoint lodged itself into the minds of his companions as silence befell the room once more. 

"He's right…"

Iris chipped in, having her hands placed over her lap as she fiddled with the fabric of her silver skirt, running her fingertips along the azure accents. 

"Damn right, he's right."

Muttering beneath his breath, the golden-haired young man added in without so much as looking at anyone else. 

"Still, the information we got was pretty vague. Knowing Purgatory...it was probably purposefully left sparse." 

"You've probably hit the nail on the head there, Val. If that's the case though, I'm assuming the other participants are just as in the dark as us. That could be a problematic assumption though…"

Joining in Valerie's guess, Ren began to rub the side of his head before propelling his doubts through a quick exhale, slapping both of his cheeks. 

"Did they say how soon the tournament would be starting?"

It was the obvious question to ask, he thought--though the looks he got from his companions quickly answered that they were just as ignorant to that information as he was. 

"Okay then...well, if we don't have a time frame, then we can't really know for sure if Aiko is going to be participating as well. Maybe we can go ask someone--maybe that little creature?"

Testing this plan of action, he reached for the door handle, pulling on it as it didn't budge in the slightest. A few more tugs only brought a repeat of this same, unmoving result. 

"What the…?"

"Yeah...we tried to leave earlier as well to go look for you, but it looks like the doors are a one-way thing."

Iris' words loosened Ren's grip from the handle as he retreated from the door, ruffling his hair with a frustrated sigh. 

"Purgatory, amirite?"

"Right." 

Left with nothing to do but sit around and wait, the group took this golden opportunity to finally indulge in a bit of rest, using the comfortable, cushiony furniture to their advantage. 

What a long day, Ren thought. 

Laying on the flat, hardwood floor that would usually be seen as uncomfortable, it was like a cloud on his back as he rested his head on a pillow taken from the sofa. 

Stretching his legs out, his joints groaned before cracking, letting out a yawn that soon brought flickering to his growing in weight eyelids. 

I guess when I open my eyes again...I'll be fighting once more, he thought. 

Looking over to the side, he could see the azure-haired girl laying on her side atop the sofa, facing his direction with her eyes closed. Soft breaths escaped her barely parted lips; clearly fallen into a comfortable, deep slumber. 

Seeing her like that, his heart felt at ease before he finally relieved himself to the exhaustion his body felt--sinking into slumber himself.