Leveling Endlessly With My Harem

The Amazon region didn't actually come under any Empire and was situated at the border of the Selero Empire. It also bordered the Mana-less rift and all the people lived in the dense and vast rainforest.

That region was chaotic and dangerous due to the presence of Mana-less rifts. But that also meant that the civilisation surviving there was indeed very strong.

These women were the same and they valued strength above everything. Being protected by others was a sign of weakness that nobody from Amazon liked.

So, Charlotte's words made them see Max's group in a new light and they also gained some respect. It was a good start.

"Good! Only your strength can save yourself," Athena said, clearly pleased with their group as she smiled widely.

She then took out a stone and said, "Use this and as long as we're in range, it will point you in our direction."

"Thanks!"

Max and the others thanked them as they watched them leave. Their group was made up of almost twenty-five women, which seemed a little intimidating.

"Dummy, why are we taking them to the Blood Castle too?" Stelle asked, confused about everything.

"To create chaos, of course," Max smiled. "We need everyone busy so that we can sneak inside the castle. The more groups there are for the Boss, the better for us."

"Oh! I see, that's a good plan," Stelle nodded. "Let's go hunting then."

Max nodded and they proceeded to follow Athena's group while hunting the weaker monsters around them. Fortunately, the Amazonian group wasn't interested in them.

They continued the same process for almost two hours before Max remembered something and stopped. He looked around the terrain, which was getting wider and wider.

"That cave should be nearby," Max thought and said, "Let's stop here. It's time for me to guide them properly."

Charlotte and Stelle nodded, having no problem with that. Together, they joined back with the Amazon women's group, with Max going to the front.

"Hey, Miss Athena, we will need to turn soon," Max said. "Also, I need you all to follow me closely and do not, under any condition, disobey my words."

"Are you suggesting that we follow the orders of a man?" one of the shorter women snorted at that.

"Silence!" Athena gave a side glance at her, making her shiver in fear. "If you have any problems, then you can leave my cohort!"

"I apologise, my lady," the woman quickly bowed her head.

"It's fine. I just need you to follow me closely because things are going to get confusing from here," Max said. "You don't get to a Hidden Boss that easily, right?"

"I will trust you on this," Athena said.

"Thanks, now please follow me," Max smiled and said.

For the next few minutes, they continued to walk slowly while Max frantically looked around for the entrance. Finally, after some time, he discovered it when they reached an area where the tunnel had eight entrances.

The group stopped, as they turned towards Max, waiting for his guidance.

"That one," Max pointed at one of the caves in the middle and said. "Stick closely and, no matter what happens, don't look behind. I'm repeating, do not look behind if you value your life. This isn't a joke and you will die if you do not follow my words."

Athena nodded and together they entered the cave. It was dark, but they had some torches, so they easily traversed the dark, narrow tunnel.

There were no obstacles, making them wonder if they were on the right path or not. However, they didn't stop and continued to move forward.

All of a sudden, they heard a crackling sound behind them, as many of them stopped.

They wanted to turn around to check for any enemies, but remembering Max's words, they stopped.

However, not everyone in their group had believed him. They suspected him to be a member of some other group sent here to either kill them or distract them.

So, four of them turned around...

That was all their companions noticed and before they could warn them, four spikes formed below the four women and impaled them.

A deathly silence followed, as they looked at their companions' dead bodies impaled on the spike, blood dripping from their bodies as their wide eyes showed the terror and fear they felt before dying.

"How many died?" Max asked, suppressing the urge to lash out at them.

Athena closed her eyes and answered after some time, "I think four of them."

Nobody spoke for a few moments, as everyone registered what had happened now. However, they were from Amazon so they had seen many more scenes like this, and they quickly got over it... to some extent.

Only Charlotte and Stelle were too shocked to actually shake out of their reverie. They couldn't help but imagine what would have happened if they had followed the map and chanced upon something like this.

They clearly remembered there was nothing like this in the map. They were now very grateful that they had met Max and their belief that Max was a regressor also grew.

On the other hand, Max was feeling a strange sense of melancholy. After all, this was something he had designed, so in a way, it was he who had killed them.

Characters in a novel were different, but these were real people. Because of his arrangements, real living people died.

'Get over with it! You created this whole world so every death in it is your fault? Fuck this shit! I'm not controlling them now. They have their free will!'

[Do they? Heh!]

'They are!' Max answered, his eyes resolute. 'The plot has already been changed with addition of this Hidden Boss, and everyone is free to do whatever they want. Yes, I am responsible for their deaths in a way, but that doesn't mean I killed every one of them.'

He took a deep breath and thought, 'Like currently. I already warned them and if this was my novel, they would have listened to the protagonist but instead they doubted me and that led to their death.'

[Haha, just remember that you have a hand in their death and everything is fine. As an author, you should know better than it's impossible to rise without killing your way to the top. But you also should remember their faces and names. This is the world you made and the world you're going to live in.]