The Tower of the Ancients, a colossal structure that reached into the heavens, was a labyrinth of mystery and danger. Its 40 levels, each with its own unique challenges, were a testament to the power and wisdom of the Ancients. The first ten levels, a mere introduction to the tower's complexity, had four floors.
From the eleventh level to the twentieth, each level had three floors, testing the endurance and skill of those who dared to ascend. From the twenty-first level to the thirtieth, the number of floors was reduced to two each level, and finally, levels from the thirtieth-first level to the last only had one floor each, a stark reminder of the tower's unforgiving nature.
Starting from the fifth level to the twenty-seventh level, there were roughly six to eight Ancients in hiding. Some of them were trapped for a long time while trying to complete their own training, while some chose to sleep until the tower opened again and outsiders entered as participants.
The Ancients only had one reason for waking up when outsiders entered the tower, and that was to play with them. While a few harbored some hope of leaving the tower, they already had suspicions of what would happen if they did.
Frankly, they could have asked the Tower to tell them, but in the end, they chose ignorance because they were also afraid.
No one could blame them. Who, in their right mind, would be delighted by the idea of their deaths?
After Kyran talked to Diara and the other four Ancients with them, they more or less knew what he wanted to tell them. Nevertheless, being confronted by the truth scared them.
But they were taken aback when, rather than telling them the hard facts about their future, Kyran presented them with the hope that they could live. Although he had not given them the details of how he would do that, and to be honest, his proposal was too ambiguous, they could not help but feel as if he could truly accomplish it.
For this reason, Diara and the rest of the Ancients agreed to whatever Kyran planned to do.
Thus, when Kyran asked their help to round up every group that entered the tower, they did not hesitate.
To ensure that Kyran could obtain the assistance of every Ancient in the tower, he freed those who got stuck in their training like what happened to Diara. After that, the Ancients worked their way around each level and told Kyran the coordinates of each group they found.
Since Kyran only had superficial knowledge when it came to which clans were allied with the Solis Clan, who were on good terms with the Dragon Clan, or clans that were neutral, he asked Kairos's help to identify them.
Kairos's identity as the Overseer was actually quite helpful in identifying each clan's affiliation. He could monitor and even hear the discussion of all participants in the tower after all.
Kyran was actually amazed that Kairos still managed to hold a sane conversation with him when he was actually listening and even monitoring every participant in every tower created by the Ancients all the time. Then again, Kairos was no longer considered a human after he accepted the role of becoming the Towers' Overseer.
Because there were more than a hundred groups that participated in the Tower of the Ancients this time around, it took Kyran and the others a while to complete the purge.
There were less than five percent of the clans participating in the tower's hunt that were neutral. Kyran decided not to kill these people. Instead, he met with them one after another and forced them into performing a Soul-binding Oath.
He also told them his plan to destroy their portals, and if they ever breathed a word about it, he would activate the oath and kill them and every being near them that heard their confession.
Because of the natural peace-loving nature of beings who remained neutral in the Higher Realm, they agreed to Kyran without putting up a fight. They also agreed to send him updates on their clan movement in a timely manner or if they found any information involving the Solis Clan and all other clans under them.
But if so, then why were they transported in the same area?
"Something is up."
These words flickered in Demir's mind at the same time as someone spoke them aloud.
Demir turned in time to see Quan, the official Blade Dancer Clan leader representative, walking toward him.
"Quan," he greeted.
Quan looked at Demir. The former's eyes reflected the same doubt as the latter's.
"How long have your group got here?" he asked.
"More than half an hour ago."
"And the challenge?"
Demir shook his head, "It hasn't started." He then looked at the rest of the clan and scowled, "Is it possible that the challenge will only start after all of the other clans arrived?"
"You know that is impossible," Quan replied, shaking his head. "Even if some of these clans managed to complete their challenges faster than us, there is no way for them to catch up to us. So all of us gathering here has to be for another reason."
"I feel the same," Demir replied exasperatedly. "But this is a first. As far as the information provided by our predecessors is concerned, this has never happened before."
Quan did not reply. But his furrowed brows were enough to guess he also thought the same.
"I don't see anyone from the Dragon Clan."
Demir and Quan stopped short as someone spoke from behind them. They turned and saw Yule looking at them with a grim expression.
What he said was right.
Before they could reply to Yule's words, an array formation that covered the whole area appeared above their heads.
Every clan there immediately stood at the ready, with a few taking out their magic items or weapons.
"I expected there would be a lot of you... but this number. Seems like it will take a while to clean up."