The Ninth Floor of the Tower of Babylon was called the Floor of Partings.
The reason for this name was that when the tower just opened, this floor had been a turning point for most of the players who challenged the tower.
This was the floor that many people hated, especially if they came to the tower in groups of two or more. The reason? The trial of this floor required a party to fight against each other.
If the party had two members, only one of them would proceed to the next floor. If the party had six, three of them would pass.
What happened if the group was an odd number? That was the worst part. If there were three people in the group, only one of them could pass. If there were five, only two of them would pass.
For a group of seven, only three could proceed to the next floor.
This was why this Floor was called the Floor of Partings. It is the floor where people had to separate with their family, friends, and acquaintances in order to proceed to the next stage of their journey.
The players that had been left behind wouldn’t be able to challenge the tower for half a year. This was a long period of time, and most people just spent their days in the City of Babylon, waiting for their family, friends, and acquaintances to reunite with them, if they ever decided to stop climbing the Tower of Babylon.
“Xander, your tyranny ends today.”
“You’re a fool, Xavier. Why don’t you embrace the legacy that has been passed down to us? This is our birthright, you should just embrace it!”
“Shut up!” Xavier roared as he attacked his Big Brother using his blade.
Xander calmly parried Xavier’s blow before counterattacking.
Since Xavier specialized in speed and mobility, he was able to evade his Big Brother’s attack that had been targeted at his legs.
Around the two combatants, a great battle was taking place. Both their subordinates were duking it out, and casualties were piling up on both sides.
Xander had found his little brother’s hideout and mobilized an army, to finally put an end to their couple years-long struggle for the position of Patriarch.
It was quite unfortunate that Xavier was not an easy bone to chew, and Xander had attacked his home turf. Although the older among the two had superior numbers, this advantage was greatly reduced after being subjected to traps, and guerilla type warfare.
When the two forces finally clashed against each other, the disparity wasn’t that big, and the battle raged with great intensity.
“Just surrender and accept your fate!” Xander shouted as two of his subordinates bombarded Xavier with magic spells that were meant to restrain him and slow down his movements.
Xavier angrily cursed his Big Brother’s dirty tactic. He had long known that Xander would not bat an eye in resorting to playing dirty as long as his goal was achieved.
“Bastard! Fight me one on one!” Xavier backed away in order to dodge the bombardment that rained above his head.
Xander sneered as he closed the gap between himself and his little brother. He had timed his attack perfectly with his subordinate to create an opportunity to kill his brother before his subordinates appeared to help him.
Just as he was about to deliver the killing blow, two beams of light descended from the sky.
Xander’s sword hit something solid, preventing him from ending his brother’s life. He cursed internally because he didn’t expect that something would get in his way of ending the battle that he thought was already in the bag.
William and Chiffon, who just arrived at the 9th Floor, found themselves in the middle of a war between the two brothers.
They didn’t expect that they would arrive in this manner, and were confused on what to do next. However, after looking at the glaring person in front of him, an idea popped inside William’s head.
“Who are you?” William asked as he looked who seemed to have lost all his money in the casino by going all in.
“I am Xander Alf Tristan!” Xander declared. “Get out of my way or die!”
William nodded as he took a fighting stance.
“So you’re the older brother,” William replied. “Thanks. That is all I need to know.”
Without any warning, William immediately lunged at Xander in order to knock him unconscious. Unfortunately, Xander had already raised his guard the moment William made his appearance. He activated an artifact that allowed him to teleport away from his location for a few meters.
This move, however, didn’t deter William as he stomped on the ground to continue his pursuit. Chiffon was already running behind William and was closing the distance at a rapid pace.
Their goal was to capture Xander and use him as a hostage to stop the war. He didn’t intend to kill the guy because the Guardian paid close attention to the direct bloodline of the main family.
He already had the Agnis Family hounding his backside. He didn’t want the Tristan Family to be added to that list.
“Who are you?!” Xander asked in irritation. “Why are you getting in my way?!”
This was the first time that Xander saw William. It didn’t take long for him to realize that the red-headed teenager was a player who had just arrived in their domain. This was why he couldn’t understand why the new arrival seemed to be determined to fight him at all cost.
William didn’t reply because he didn’t come to this floor to talk. His goal was the 51st Floor, so taking care of Xander was just a means to an end.
Just as he was about to clash with his target, several chains rained down from the sky.
William dodged to the side and unleashed a powerful gust of wind to blow away the chains that came out of nowhere.
Xander took this opportunity to teleport away. But, William also had an ability that allowed him to move as fast as lightning. The moment Xander Teleported, William appeared right in front of him with his wooden staff raised high.
A resounding clap reverberated across the battlefield.
William flew several meters away before falling on the ground with a thud. A second later, he was back at his feet again and stared at Xander with a frown.
‘That hurt,’ William thought as he endured the throbbing pain on his right chest. The moment he unleashed an attack to knock Xander unconscious, a powerful defensive spell erupted from the artifact hanging on his target’s neck, sending him flying a few meters away.
“It won’t work,” Xavier appeared beside William. “I don’t know who you are, but my brother can’t be damaged or killed by anyone except me. The necklaces on our neck were given to us by his Excellency, Yves, to prevent other people from taking our lives.”
Earlier, the spells that Xander’s subordinates aimed at him weren’t damaging spells, but restraining spells. This was why the artifact that Xavier was wearing didn’t activate.
William scratched his head because Oogwei didn’t tell him anything about the artifact. However, since he was now informed about the rules between the siblings’ battle, he would not commit the same mistake again and use restraining spells in order to let Xavier deal the killing blow to his brother.
Just as William was about to put his plan into action, two men appeared beside Xander that exuded the power of Saints.
At the same time, two people also landed beside Xavier and carried him far from William. They were the Two Saints working for Xavier.
Although they had seen how William attacked Xander, they still couldn’t trust him completely. They thought that this was all a ruse in order to get their Young Master’s trust, so that Xavier would lower his guard.
It had happened a few times in the past, so the two men were very wary of William. Both of them had been enslaved by the Tristan Family, and it was Xavier that had set them free. Because of this, they had decided to fight for him in order to repay his kindness.
Before they completely assessed that William was indeed on their side then and only then would they allow Xavier to be in close proximity with him.
Chiffon landed beside William. When she saw her Big Brother get repelled by an invisible attack, she also stopped her advance and backed away as well. Fortunately, she reacted in time or else she might have been captured by the two Saints that were working for Xander.
“We will back away for now, but we will return,” Xander declared. “Enjoy your short moment of reprieve, little brother. Your luck will not save you forever.”
After spouting the lines of a third rate villain, Xander and his lackeys retreated. A variable had appeared on the battlefield and a glance was more than enough to tell them that William was not an ordinary person.
Xander still regretted the fact that he wasn’t able to end his brother’s life then and there. However he was not too worried.
They had already surrounded Xavier’s base, so they were not optimistic about his chances of escaping. In short, the youngest of the two brothers was a cornered rat who had no choice but to bare his fangs and fight to the death.
Since that was the case, it didn’t matter if they waited for more reinforcements before they went for the kill. Xander had already waited for more than a year. He could easily wait for a few days as long as his victory was guaranteed.
William sighed as he watched Xander escape. He missed the chance to advance to the next floor due to lack of information. He didn’t know if Oogwei didn’t tell him on purpose, or if the little turtle had forgotten about the artifacts that protected the two brothers from outside interference.
