Leveling Endlessly With My Harem

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.

"Yes, we just need to wait for some time now and it'll open by itself," Max slumped against the wall and said.

"You have a good memory," Athena praised him, genuinely impressed by his abilities.

Given the number of traps and obstacles, even those with a map would have suffered, but Max brought them through with no casualties just because he remembered the map.

"It's nothing," Max smiled wryly, while thinking to himself. 'Of course, I would remember this. I spent two days just to prepare those traps.'

[Why did you discard it whole then?]

'It would have taken too many chapters and slowed down the pace,' Max sighed.

"It doesn't matter. You have our respect and we're grateful to you," Athena smiled and took out a golden coin. "Take it. This is my personal token so if you need any help from Amazon Warriors, just come and show it."

Max's eyes widened as he took the coin and muttered, "I won't stand on the ceremony then. This is just too precious!"

"Haha! It's fine," Athena chuckled at his antics. "Let's rest for now and recover ourselves for the battle."

"About that, Miss Athena, can we not participate in it?" Charlotte quickly came forward and asked. "According to Max, the Boss is a Quasi-Second Grade Monster and we will just be a burden to everyone."

"That's true," Athena said with a nod. "Then, you can stay back. When we defeat the Boss, you can search around for anything you like and we'll give you."

Max wanted to warn them about the boss but decided against it. While he was happy to help others, it didn't mean he would do so by risking himself.

Charlotte and Stelle were fine since he had plans for them and also trusted them. But these Amazon women were another thing. He had already helped them in getting here so that they could fight their battle properly.

[You're learning quickly!]

Max ignored her and stood up to sit some distance away from their group. Charlotte and Stelle followed him and they made their little camp a short distance away where they were sure nobody could hear their conversation.

"Dummy, you're awesome," Stelle said with a thumbs up to him. "I would have forgotten half of those traps and Big Sis would be in a completely different tunnel."

"Hey!"

Ignoring Charlotte's protest, Stelle asked, "So, are we really not fighting the Boss? I think we can level up at least once by fighting its minions."

"No, there will be too many people fighting for that small piece of reward," Max shook his head. "Don't worry. The rewards will be worth the efforts. Also, you can take the Mana Shard of this boss and the skill coming from it."

"Why are you being so nice all of a sudden? It's creepy," Stelle said, covering her chest and making some distance between them.

"First, there is nothing to cover, so don't bother; and second, I'm just being fair since you will have to fight on the frontline," Max shrugged. "And, lastly, I will have the best thing from there, so I'm already in profit."

"What is that best thing?" Charlotte asked, while holding Stelle's hand, who was about to hammer Max's head.

"It's a secret. We'll know when we get there," Max said, smiling at her. "Let's rest for now."

And that's what they did. For the next few hours, they just rested and talked with each other. Max was happy doing so as he really liked the two of them.

Suddenly, their conversation died down when they felt the pull of the portal. Their expressions turned serious as everyone packed up their things and went to stand before the metal gate.

Max gave a look to Charlotte and Stelle, and they nodded in understanding. They had already made a few plans, so they didn't need to talk to understand each other now.

As the countdown grew near, the metal gate began to shake and the floor shook alongside it. Then, the metal gate split from the middle and shifted to the sides, revealing dense smoke on the other side.

Smoke flooded the tunnel, making it hard to see anything.

"Follow me!"

A powerful voice sounded, as the smoke slowly began to disperse. The group followed Athena inside the metal gate and looked at the scenery before them.

'Wow! I know I designed this, but damn,' Max whistled lightly as he looked at his surroundings.

It was a world of crimson and black, with a pure crimson sky and gray clouds. Under it, a vast battlefield unfolded with pristine white bones scattered around.

At the centre of this carnage, a ruined castle stood all alone, like a mighty warrior who was fighting the deadly world all alone despite being on the verge of death.

This was the world of Blood Castle.