The expanse of the crimson ocean had a break in the continuous pillars of gore stabbing through its surface. At some point, there was no longer anything except a wide stretch of nothing. It allows for those with a morbid fascination to truly take in the sight. Here, the smell was not nearly as intolerable as it was deeper into the First Floor.
"I think I can finally say it. It was all those piles, those blotches of guts, that smelt like shit." The pudgy fellow took a deep breath of air, before immediately regretting his decision and breaking into a heavy fit of coughing.
The taller man standing beside him looked with a gaze that was not nearly as sympathetic as one would expect from a friend.
Taivat had tried telling Oro several times not to breathe too much of the air, even if it was fresher. After all, it still smelt horrible. Breathing in a whole load of it was nothing short of poisoning one's own lungs. Nevertheless, the man had to agree that the air was more tolerable over the ocean of blood. Rather than death, there was a distinct, disorienting smell of iron in the air.
In the mainland, the scent of gore was nauseating. Although Worthy and those around him could tolerate it thanks to their respective upbringings, there were many who could not. Noblemen like Robert likely had a harder time than most adapting, which made it more impressive that he and his batch of noble friends successfully made it far enough to witness the initiation of the first objective assigned by the Tower directly.
"We've lost quite a lot of friends on just this floor, haven't we, pal?" Taivat's handsome face looked rather somber as he looked around at the various faces passing by. Nothing quite went the way that either of them planned here.
"Mhm." Oro nodded, reflecting on the journey he'd gone through thus far. Oftentimes, he found himself curious about the world outside. It was a mystery whether he regretted his decision to come into the Tower. He'd lost an arm, then had it reattached thanks to the efforts of a healer who hadn't been in his company until recently.
Leaning back on the crate, into another neatly stacked pile behind him, Oro spoke, "It's hard to believe everyone's gone. At the end of the day, it was their choice. We make those every day and know better than to forget the risks."
Oro and Taivat were originally Climbers who settled in the underground settlement known as the Devil's Den. It was located within a giant, mountainous wall of flesh, and was surprisingly hospitable. It was akin to an inn, a massive one that could hold innumerable people. In some ways, one wouldn't have hesitated to call it a fallout shelter of sorts.
War Reaver proposed that he was going to escape the First Floor, because there was a looming danger that even he could not properly prepare for. Upon hearing those words, a hundred men and women from the settlement joined him in his march to Middle Town—the Prime Settlement that now carried them over a long stretch of a bloody sea.
Oro and Taivat joined him after some talking. They'd tried to convince some of their friends to join them too, proposing that there was no harm in following the strongest man in the world wherever he'd opt to go. Hiel, a man older than both of them, seemed to have grown a strong spine and set out on his own terms to climb.
Sadly, not everyone chose to set out. In fact, the vast majority chose to remain in the Devil's Den, which was the safest place in the Tower in the eyes of some of the inhabitants.
It was a laughable notion now, though. Everyone who opted to stay would have eventually ended up in Middle Town either way when the bell rang and called upon the Tower's personal challenge.
Except, none of those people had managed to be transported by the time that everyone in the Tower was transported.
The reason was for a very simple, grim reason: only the living were brought to the Accursed Port.
Everyone in the Devil's Den was dead.
It was something they'd learned shortly before arriving at the sea. When the Accursed Port traveled over the ruined terrain left in the wake of the several mountains generating waves of abominations, they eventually passed by where the Devil's Den should've been buried. That canyon-like space, where a hidden lever mechanism worked magically to reveal a staircase to all that knew how to operate it.
Oro had spent more time than he'd like to admit learning about that mechanism, and a sense of melancholy surrounded him when he realized that there was never going to be a chance to uncover the mystery. The canyon he'd memorized was no longer there, instead, a massive hole was laying in the wake of where a mountain had pulled itself from the earth.
Bits and pieces of rubble and blood mixed in with each other in the crater that was formed. Within that cavity, somewhere underneath all that rubble and innards, drowned in a lake of blood, the Devil's Den and all its remaining inhabitants had found their final resting place.
None of them got to fulfill their wish of challenging the Tower. None of them ever will, because they became too comfortable waiting in a deathtrap.
"You're right about them making their own choices. Still, it's a bitter pill to swallow. We came to know those people for a while. Now, each and every one of them are dead. I mean, a few still followed us, don't get me wrong… But hundreds of people are dead. Buried and forgotten."
"...Quit talking about it. You're ruining the mood. A man's trying to enjoy the view of an ocean of blood. You don't see this every day, you know?"
Oro deflected the subject, because it was not the first time they'd had this conversation. They'd had it several times since finding the ruins of the fallen settlement. A bastion that contained so many people was destroyed outside the view of others. Nobody got to hear their screams and there certainly was not anyone who'd been strong enough to stop the mountain from coming to life and rising.
"Jorge probably poured himself one like glass…" Oro, despite his deflection, eventually commented about the bartender. Jorge was a man whose voice could be carried for miles. Yet when trapped underground, there was nowhere his voice could go. Maybe if given a chance, they'd have heard his last words. Maybe in the final moments of the Devil's Den, the bartender would've tried to calm everyone and unify their efforts.
There were too many ifs in the subject for Oro to feel comfortable about anything.
It didn't matter anyway, since in the end, every single person there was gone. Survivors would've been transported to the Prime Settlement, and yet there was not a single one to be found. Nobody was left, except for those who departed.
"We're the ones who made it. Those choices matter, Oro. At the end of the day, all of them did. Ten Floors, that's how much we're expected to clear. If you can't make a good decision on Floor One, then there's no way in hell to make it higher. Don't overthink anything."
Oro bit the inside of his lip, and finally waved his hand at Taivat. "You don't have to tell me. I know there's nothing more we could've done. Still doesn't change that it effin' sucks that everyone's actually gone. It'd have been nice to see some familiar faces after I got my arm torn off."
Taivat's lip twitched, suppressing a grin. "Yeah, I'd bet they'd all have words of encouragement for you."
The sarcasm in his tone went unchecked, earning a lethal gaze from Oro.
"Oh hardy-har-har, jackass. Laugh it up while you can. You know where we're going, don't you? Whatever the hell's been throwing those bone spears is definitely up ahead somewhere. The Knights can pick up the slack for you, but you better be careful still. The lives of a few thousands are in your hands if you're late on the draw."
To that, Taivat whistled. His duel against the bone spears was a heart-racing one. If not for the arrival of the Knights, there'd have been a massive hole in the wall of the Prime Settlement… or maybe there wouldn't be, given its ability to repair itself. Still, lives would've been lost at some point.
"Well, brother. We can only try."
Oro did not suppress a bitter laugh as he looked ahead. "Mhm. You've got a point there. Cheers to trying."