Joshua's expression turned hard when he heard Matt's words. They were silent and looked at each other for a few moments. However, those few moments did not escape Asqa's watch, who had kept her focus on observing them from the start.
Seeing the expressions of the two of them Asqa immediately knew that something was wrong. Or even an unexpected bad event has occurred. Maybe she won't have time to tell Clyde anything.
Matt and Joshua spoke again in hushed voices that none of the others could hear.
"So there have been warriors of the Archangel who died?" Joshua asked.
Matt gave a curt nod. "And you know that never happened. I mean, the Archangel only brought a few of the warriors with her.
"We, who are one of her strongest warriors, didn't go there because at first, she thought our presence was unnecessary. We also thought so.
"However, somehow, the creature that appears from the black wall can kill a few of our brothers and sisters brought by the Archangel."
Matt's voice filled with anxiety as he said that. But Joshua has always been the calmest of the two of them.
Joshua said. "Let's focus on our training first, Matt. After all, the Archangel hasn't directly given orders for us to set off, right?"
Matt shook his head.
"That means the situation is still under her control. We don't need to worry too much. For now, let's focus on our training to prepare everyone in case something bad does happen."
Hearing Joshua's composed words as usual, Matt also felt calm in his heart which had always been restless a few seconds ago. Matt let out a long sigh as if intending to let out all the anxiety and worries in his heart.
"You're right, Josh. I'm sorry. I always come confused and anxious like this and bother you," Matt said.
Joshua smiled. "What are you saying? We should always be there for each other."
After saying a few more things, Matt flapped his wings and flew away from that place. Asqa saw Joshua smiling as he saw his friend's departure. However, as soon as Matt moved away Joshua's face became hard again; the restlessness and worry returned to his heart.
For thousands of years, no one has ever succeeded in killing the warriors of the Archangel Uriel because of their strength. The death of the warriors of the Archangel Uriel only occurred when the Archangel fought Demon Kings or other powerful Celestials.
But now, something unexpected happened. Something from an unknown origin managed to kill her warriors.
Joshua swallowed his saliva which suddenly felt so hard as he thought about it. All the expressions on Joshua's face never left Asqa's attention. That way Asqa could predict that the magnitude of this problem was indeed not small.
Joshua stood up and stared at his troop who were whispering to each other about the same thing. Asqa didn't need to bother to avert her gaze because she was blocked behind the bodies of other troop members.
Joshua walked towards them and then said. "Let's start our training. I just received word that there is a possibility that we will leave sooner than we thought. So, we don't have much time."
All the beings in the troop let out agitated voices again. They looked at each other and exchanged worried glances. However, it didn't last long because Joshua strictly ordered them to continue training.
Asqa, as one of five beings who have the ability as a healer, trains with four other beings. Her healer friends this time are two female Elves, a male human, and a male Dwarf.
The male Dwarf was the most senior healer among them while Asqa, of course, was the most junior with the least experience. So it's clear that the Dwarf is the leader of this group of healers.
However, before they actually started training together Joshua came over to say something.
"Asqa, you must continue your training to master Energy Manipulations first."
After saying that Joshua immediately turned around and headed towards the other group. The four friends of her group turned their eyes on Asqa.
"You can use Energy Manipulation?" the male Dwarf - his name is Havoun - asked in a surprised tone.
Asqa nodded with a small smile. "Yes. I'm not a pure healer."
The other three members of her group nodded with understanding looks. Then, Havoun asked Asqa to separate from the group of healers to do her private training.
Asqa happily walks away. This way, she at least won't be disturbed when Clyde calls her. Asqa kept hoping that Clyde would contact her even though the possibility was small.
Asqa started her training with that hope.
~~~
Clyde and the others arrived at the Ruin and immediately moved based on the instructions from Leyan who was familiar with this wilderness.
From inside they didn't see anything broken or strange in this forest area. Even though this is a Ruin so this place should be ruined. But since earlier they had only seen a dense green forest like a normal rainforest.
"Somehow, this area of the forest wasn't affected by the destruction. But you will see it soon enough," Leyan said in a somber tone. He answered their questions and also gave them alerts about what they would see from his tone.
A few minutes later they finally came out of the rainforest and saw a sight that was quite shocking even after understanding what a Ruin was.
There is only barren land as far as the eye can see with the ground burning red or black filled with ashes. The crack in the ground that split apart released fire and heat that created a mirage.
There is no tree or any plant whatsoever.
However, that wasn't the most surprising sight of all. Corpses floating in the air in various positions. The Corpses didn't rot despite being there for a long time but their faces were pale white. Which looks no better.
They are Elves, Dwarves, and a few humans. They floated in the air and filled the sky until they were as high as they touched the clouds.
Leyan turned to his side, seeing the expressions shown by everyone there. Their expressions were as he expected. Their faces cringed with disgust, horror, and disturbed.
"Yeah..." Leyan said. "This is what happened to my world."
The response didn't come right away. Because with a sight like this, they will need more time to wrap their mind around it.
Clyde frowned deeply, his lips pressed together and his eyes stared at the floating corpses. 'Wow, the World Masters in charge of this world must have a twisted mind.'
Clyde didn't really know whether the World Masters was making scenarios at the Selection Stage or if scenarios actually existed and they were only tasked with supervising the course of the Selection Stage. Nevertheless, they allow something like this to happen to the inhabitants of this world.
No wonder they have such a strong desire for revenge. If one is shown a sight like this, seeing their family or loved ones die and just floating in the air without a clear direction, it is only natural that their grudge is so great.
Luckily the people here were used to death and misery. Their souls had already been tempered by the rigors of the Selection Stage so this sight didn't have too much of a crippling impact on them. They just frowned and feel sad, but they can continue.
"You alright?" Samuel asked while touching Leyan's shoulder.
"Ha ha." Leyan laughed. He tried to seem that none of this bothered him at all. "I'm fine. I've seen sights like this for a long time so there's no problem anymore."
Samuel stared at Leyan for a few more moments. He had known the Elf for a long time and he never wanted to seem too emotional. Because of that he always puts on a mask as if he is tough by throwing harsh or sarcastic comments.
Yet Samuel knew, deep in his heart Leyan must still feel something from the destruction of his world.
"Let's get started then," said Samuel. "Where can we start?"
"We don't need to go anywhere, actually," replied Leyan. "They are here."
"Who's here?" Rosie asked with a worried frown.
"The monsters."
And just as Leyan finished saying that, black vortexes appeared in the air between the corpses. The vortex looked like black ash swirling as air then from the vortex black wraith figures shot out. They may number in the hundreds appearing at many different points among the corpses.
Clyde who was staring at them thought the black wraiths were harmless. So again, he chose to stay behind while they farmed for the necessary Exp.
The ten people charged forward to start slaying the black wraiths. As he had expected, the black wraiths weren't strong monsters and they could kill them easily.
Clyde's eyes stared at the ten of them. Who would have guessed that the current him already has ten companions? It was as if he was in a small army.
~~~
