Chapter 20: The Crimson World
Athena gave a side glance to Max and noticed his expression, which was very easy to read.
"Don't feel guilty about their deaths. They died because they didn't heed your words and also because they didn't believe in their leader," Athena said. "Let's proceed."
Max took a deep breath and nodded. There was no point in dwelling on these things as they would just slow him down. If he wanted to save all of his favourite characters, then he needed to become strong, not be held back by these obstacles.
After giving a rough burial to the dead, the group continued to move forward. Soon, they were out of the dark, narrow tunnel, but their destination was still far away.
Under Max's guidance, their group marched forward and encountered many traps and obstacles they wouldn't have survived without Max being there.
Because of the first incident, nobody doubted Max anymore, and even if they did doubt, they didn't dare disobey his words, so there were no more casualties.
Athena was thankful for that, as she realised how smooth their journey actually was. If only those four had listened properly, nobody would have died at all.
Finally, after traveling for more than two hours, they stopped before a giant metal, circular gate. It was painted in black, with no handles or anything to open it.
"Is this the entrance?" Athena asked, her eyes sparkling with excitement.