Alfred could not bring himself to continue after that. He felt like he was a burden and knew this, but if he chose not to follow Fane, he would no doubt suffer.
Rudy could see how helpless Alfred felt and could feel Alfred's inner turmoil.
If he was as talented as Fane, he would have been able to shield Alfred and assure him from worrying. However, Rudy was a burden to Fane as well. If he dragged Fane down with more burdens, he would be too disgraceful.
Rudy sighed helplessly, saying softly, "Since Fane hasn't asked you to leave, it means you can still follow us, so long as you don't betray us."
Saying that, Rudy looked at Fane guiltily.
All this while, Fane heard them mumbling behind them, so he turned to look at the conflicted Alfred. Even though he did not hear what they were whispering to each other clearly, he could tell what they were talking about from their expressions.
Smiling, Fane simply said, "I can't guarantee that I'll bring you out alive, but I'll do my best. I don't even know the dangers awaiting us. After all, this slaughter game has a death rate as high as eighty percent for warriors from third-grade worlds—"
"Don't worry. If I die, it's just because I'm unlucky," interjected Alfred gently, anxiously. "You've protected me once, and I'm already incredibly grateful for that. If the circumstances aren't good, you can abandon me at will."
He was sincere in what he said.
The slaughter game was not just any game; death was everywhere. Before they entered, Alfred had mentally prepared himself. It was just that he did not want to be tortured and toyed around with by warriors from second-grade worlds.
Fane nodded slightly at that and said nothing else. Rudy merely sighed lightly, feeling the cruelty of the world. However, there was nothing he could say about it. After all, it was Alfred's choice. Opportunity and danger always came hand in hand.
Right at that moment, Alfred suddenly shouted, "Look over there!"
As he said that, he rushed ahead and pointed forward.
Fane turned to see a few corpses lying around some rocks. Frowning, he walked forward into the scene.
They were at a small beach made of gravel, and stones of various sizes were scattered all around. A total of three corpses were spotted on the ground, and the blood that oozed from these bodies flowed between the rocks and stained the whole area. Fane walked closer to better inspect the situation and was shocked to see the state those corpses were in.
They had been tortured so badly that there was not a single patch of unblemished skin on them. One of the corpses even had their innards exposed.
Rudy could not help but look away from the scene and covered his mouth. It was not that he had never seen corpses before. As a matter of fact, he had seen a lot of dead people, but he rarely saw corpses that had been tortured to death.
All of the corpses were from third-grade worlds, so a thought surfaced in their minds.
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