The volatile ball of dark energy emerged through the portal, and in the next moment it detonated and swallowed the rooftop whole.
Walkyr caught Oro and Bonecrusher—a decision that was more of a gambit than anything. At the same time, Worthy and Hiel were grabbed by a massive stone hand that shielded them from the calamity that was soon-to-come. Freya's golem provided them with adequate protection.
However when Worthy looked to see Hiel, he realized the man was nowhere to be seen. Walkyr had teleported Oro and Bonecrusher, and Hiel—the master of the mystical hound—was teleported with it, as he was in the middle of riding his summoned beast.
The golem trembled, yet it managed to protect both Freya and the child she grabbed without crumbling.
Sadly, the same could not be said for the building they'd been standing on.
"...Portal bombers?!" Worthy was supported by the golem's gargantuan hand when the smoke settled. Once, there was a tall building in front of them, which was towered over by a massive golem. Now, that golem remained, but the building was no longer there. It was reduced to a quarter of its size, or maybe less than that by an explosion.
With a snap, Walkyr was soon in the hand of the golem too. "Y'see, I was tryin' to warn y'all. A complicated, irritatin' bunch has been hagglin' me. If y'wouldn't mind, help find 'n take 'em out for me, will 'ya?" The selfish gunslinger didn't give the child time to answer.
He grabbed him and snapped his finger. The next thing Worthy knew, he was standing on top of a massive wall. He'd climbed a mountain before, but the breathtaking view of the city scenery now made it all the more ethereal. It was so amazing, in fact, that the boy almost fell.
Thankfully, two more snaps of the finger saved him, as a massive golem emerged on the expansive wall and created a barrier in front of the child to prevent him from falling.
"I didn't expect children would need guardrails, even in a game of life and death." Freya must've been joking, judging by the delivery of the comment… but she wasn't. The woman was speaking wholeheartedly, and that annoyed Worthy even more somehow. That was a feeling he wouldn't dare pitch while a hand that dwarfed the largest of vehicles he'd seen was looming over him, able to pop him like a grape if he misstepped.
That would be a gruesome end, and perhaps not the most brutal he's thought of since his arrival here.
'Getting swallowed by man-eating mass is probably worse than getting squeezed to death by a giant stone titan. I hope I don't ever need to rate the qualities of either.'
Well, he could only ever experience one… If he had to make a decision…
'Neither. I'll pick neither, thank you. My life is a lot more valuable than serving the role of a lab rat for some wicked, sadistic death deity, I'd hope.'
Worthy decided that the best course of action was to respond with indifferent silence. Maybe by matching the woman's cool personality, he could earn a bit of respect from her… It was a fruitless gambit, in the end.
Somewhere nearby, Oro was lying on the ground, finally able to be tended to by some people with medical experience. It was a miracle, since most Climbers all came from different walks of life. Doctors and nurses were a necessity when one wasn't blessed to have a healer like Esme around.
'Where did he take Ms. Esme anyways? Actually, why am I bothering thinking about this?! I need to find the person making those portals!'
First, he considered trying to find the person who was making those volatile balls of destruction, because there was no way a single person on the floor could have a combination so detrimental. Nevertheless, even if he could create a thread linking him to the man with the black, void-like balls of energy, that wouldn't mean anyone could take him down.
Walking up to him would put them in a dangerous situation where they'd be at risk of getting caught in a world-shattering explosion.
Nothing about that sounded appealing to the child. Instead, he tried to visualize a thread and connect it to a concept of a person.
He might not know the name of the man, but he had a general idea regarding his ability, and thus he attributes that to him. He is The Man Creating the Annoying Portals.
And when Worthy sought to make a link with The Man Creating the Annoying Portals, a thread appeared in front of him, and stretched down toward the center of Middle Town—it'd revealed the location of the person responsible for creating the portals. Sadly, that was a place far too distant for him to reach on his own. He wouldn't plan on it, either.
Now that he'd found the location of the man, he could just inform somebody else and have them send a few Climbers that way… and hopefully they would not end up enthralled, returning to stab them in the back after failing to defeat their target. Any more manpower added to the steadily rising sea of opponents, and it might be worth abandoning the entire stronghold.
'Whatever. We can cross that bridge whenever we get there… Well, they can cross that bridge. I'll wait to see if it collapses, or whatever the smartest option might be in those circumstances.' Selfishness was the greatest form of self preservation, after all. Worthy didn't wish to abandon anyone, but he would do it if it meant his own survival. Likewise, the fools who selflessly stepped in to do things for the interest of others were not fit to complete their ascension up the tower.
"Hey!' Worthy shouted back to Freya suddenly. The woman wasn't startled, but there was a delay when she turned to look at him, having been in the middle of talking to someone while the child presumably gathered his bearings from a near-death experience.
"...Yes?"
"I know where the guy making the portals is. The brainwashed one, who helped deliver a bomb to our doorstep. You know?" Naturally, the woman knew precisely who the young man was talking about, because she'd seen the rift open and saved his life before he could be atomized by a calamitous eruption.
"Yes."
"Then… Do you want to do anything about him?"
Freya thought for a moment, and then answered bluntly: "No. I don't want to do anything about him. As a matter of fact, I would much rather maintain my post on the wall. Even if I could send a golem out there and try and hunt for the person responsible for creating portals, the total manpower of the wall would decrease. To begin with, it doesn't impact those of us on the wall to begin with. We are not only beyond the range of most abilities, we additionally hold the advantage of focusing our enemies to ascend to meet us. Likewise, if we chose to go down here with a group of people… we would be entering the maws of a hungry animal."
Worthy was speechless.
He'd anticipated that Freya's cold demeanor was reflective of her mind, but he'd have never imagined she was so unshifting in her resolve. She meant every word she'd said, without any room for negotiation between any of her cold, logical words. Nothing could shake that unwavering resolve, neither the child's words, nor the prospect of people suffering below while she remained on top of the wall, in the safest place imaginable.
"The reason I descended to help is because of a deal I struck with Deadman. He wished to deal with a troubling opponent who, in this burdensome time, would be too much for most to handle. In return for taking on that… character… he sought to have you and your friends brought to the safety of the wall. With the beneficial deal I have struck with War, it'd be frustrating if bad blood brewed because I did not help rescue his companions when asked."
This time, Worthy couldn't help but ask: "So, you're saying that you'd be willing to let a kid die if they weren't of value to you here?"
It was not subtle at all, he was referring to himself. If he was not someone valuable to War, or hadn't arrived with him, then what would the woman have done? Would she have left the child to fend for himself out there in a world filled with thralls? Well, it was more probable for him to inevitably be enthralled himself. As a matter of fact, he had been controlled sooner than most, as far as he was concerned. The woman wouldn't have been wrong to assume he was a threat or potentially someone compromised.
Freya sighed, closing her eyes and shaking her head. "No, I wouldn't leave a child to get swarmed by a wave of adults. I also wouldn't be quick to enter the fray, though. There are hundreds of people down there who are questionably being controlled by an unknown horror. There is no telling how susceptible I am to its control, or who among those down there are truly resisting its control. To answer your question again, I would not have abandoned you down there if you were not valuable. However, I cannot guarantee I'd have gotten to you before you could've been harmed."
It all made sense. Worthy didn't linger on it for too long. The woman admitted she would not have left him alone, so it wasn't like a personal jab. Her confirmation helped to ease any animosity that might've been brewing within the boy. He was far from mature, so there was no telling what sort of plots he might've concocted to get back at the woman for simply not considering rescuing him, when there were hundreds others capable of coming to his aid.
With that, he could finally move on to the next subject, or rather, the primary subject.
"Well, if you care so much about your relationship with War and his companions… I think you shouldn't overlook me too much. It might not look like it, but I am quite the valuable asset myself."
One of Freya's brows perked up, and her head tilted out of curiosity. Although she did not believe the boy's words, she didn't dismiss them as meaningless babble. There could be truths within them.
Taking her curiosity as a sign to continue, Worthy went on to explain: "My Reward lets me find things, I can follow a path and it'll take me right to where I need to be. War will need to be in order to find the final Gateway at the end of the world, that much I am certain of. So, it might do you well to try and get into my good graces, just like you're doing with Deadman."
Modesty was not one of the child's strong suits. Still, it was because he was a child that some fits of arrogance could be excused.
Freya did not excuse his words, however. The golem standing like a hill nearby quaked as it stared at him, as though responding to his words in a fit of soundless laughter. Freya, meanwhile, was brushing a strand of auburn hair away from her face.
'...No way. I'm seeing things, right?'
He wasn't. As Freya brushed the strand of hair off her face, she looked like she was in deep thought. Yet, there was also a slight, crooked smile on her face. It was subtle, just a slight curvature going up the side of her face. The boy's words had amused her enough to be worth laughing over.
Hearing a child say such things had to make more than a fair share of people break down into hysterical laughter.
Freya had such control that she didn't break down into tear-jerking chuckling.
"You have the ability to find things?" Her firm voice had softened. Most people wouldn't be able to tell, but Worthy picked up on the subtle shift immediately. It was a higher pitch than the low, reverberating tone.
"Yes, that is right."
Nodding her head, Freya squatted down, knees pressed together. Soon, she was leveled with Worthy, meeting him in the eyes. "That is a rather useful ability. However, when doing business with someone, you should try and look them in the eyes, young man."
The burst of amusement earned Worthy some of the woman's attention for the time being.
Just like her negotiation with Deadman Walkyr, Freya expected to receive something in return for acting. It made sense, since every person in the tower—besides death row prisoners—entered to fulfill their wishes. Selfishness should've been a quality of climbers possessed.
Meeting the boy eye-to-eye meant she was willing to hear his idea out. She could still decline. As a matter of fact, Worthy was almost certain that this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
The next words that came out of his mouth were meticulous:
"Then let's talk business, Freya."