Chương 470: Chapter 468 – Obligations

"It doesn't matter what Mage Harris would have wanted!" Shouted Mage Moretti.

"I'm sure he didn't come into this labyrinth to die. He came to get stronger, just like the rest of us. And if that strength meant he had to help little Mage Wells on some ridiculous mission, so be it."

"Mage Harris believed in the mission. And I thought so did the majority of the rest of you," Mage Levine countered. With the fall of Mage Harris, Mage Levine and Mage Moretti were now the two strongest of the S Rank Assembly and were on opposing sides of the debate to continue on with the expedition. Of course, Damion knew Mage Thresbane's magic power was much higher than either of theirs, but since he was dedicated to not getting involved, no one ever thought to place him in a position of authority in their minds.

"It doesn't matter what he did or did not believe in. We are all free to decide if we want to continue on with the mission or not," Mage Moretti countered. He had indeed supported Mage Wells' plan and even believed it necessary, but with the loss of Mage Harris he believed he needed to seize control of the S Rank Assembly. Mage Levine was firmly in Mage Wells' camp, with him being a mage of a noble family the other noble families would naturally look to him for leadership.

If he did not take this opportunity to stand on their side he was afraid they would nominate a different leader for their faction.

"I'm afraid that is not entirely accurate," Mage Veers, who had been sitting off to the side, cut in. All eyes turned to Mage Veers for an explanation. He was one of the newest S Rank mages, though with his affinity and his sudden unexpected rise in magic power, he was now stronger than all but a few.

"Explain," Mage Moretti demanded.

"If you will recall, the Assembly jointly passed a resolution to undertake this expedition. And while everyone who joined did so voluntarily, you have joined and are obligated to see it through. Such resolutions are not undone simply because a member of the Assembly dies." Every S Rank mage was silent for several moments as they recalled the events leading up to the decision to aid Atlantis and Mage Wells.

The Void mage was correct; a resolution had been passed and with it the Assembly was required to see it through. They could of course choose not to, but if they decided to break with thousands of years of upholding their word now, it would cause chaos and that was the last thing any of them wanted. Not with them also having to break the news of Mage Harris' death to the world.

If it also became known that after the longtime leader of the Assembly died, the remaining members would break their word, there was no telling how much it would set back their society and the laws they were built on.

"I suppose this would be a good opportunity to inform you all of strength of the next floor's guardian," Damion took the lull in arguing as his chance to steer the debate back to their goal, clearing the labyrinth. Damion projected the image of the guardian of the fifty-fourth floor for everyone to see. The guardian was much less impressive looking than the Demon Sunflower of fifty-three, but they all knew looks could be deceiving.

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"It has a fire affinity," Damion continued.

"And it has a magic power of 6. 1 million. Which makes it weaker than the guardian of this floor."

"Meaning we have passed the midpoint of the labyrinth," Mage Levine added.

"The obligation of the expedition is to clear the labyrinth. We now know this is possible. This Fire Gharial is weaker than the Demon Sunflower in terms of magic power and also has weaker defenses. I propose we take a day to recover and then begin to clear the fifty-fourth floor in preparation for confronting the guardian." There was grumbling around the area as various mages dissented. Most of those opposed to continuing on appeared to be from noble families.

They believed they had already accomplished what they sought, the opportunity to train in an SS Rank environment. Given time to raise their magic power they each hoped to advance to SS Rank in the future. However, if they fell to a Demonic Beast as Mage Harris had they would not have that opportunity.

"Do you concede that beyond the SS Rank and S Rank floors there is no need for the entire expedition press on and clear the remaining weaker floors?" Mage Moretti asked. The concession was reasonable, on the surface. Unfortunately, the longer it took the expedition to clear the weaker floors on the other side of the midpoint, the higher the possibility of the guardians on the floors they had already cleared had of respawning.

This meant that the retreat of the expedition was cut off should the Demon Sunflower respawn. Even if the other weaker SS Rank guardians respawned it also likely meant that those below S Rank would not be able to advance through these floors. This situation was always going to come up, but they had believed they would be able to clear floors fast enough to allow people breaks and to even leave the labyrinth and return to the fight with fresh supplies.

If Mage Levine accepted the concession she would get the cooperation of Mage Moretti and his faction, but they would have to rush to restock and have everything prepared for the journey to the Mother World.

"As long as the remaining SS Rank and S Rank floors are cleared within the next three days, I will concede that those who do not wish to journey fully to the Mother World be released from their obligations to the expedition, however, they must promptly return to either Argentum, Rubrum or Viridis. After leaving the labyrinth." Mage Moretti considered this for a moment, but in the end he agreed.

Three days was a short time frame to clear the remaining S+ Rank floors, but if they focused on the guardians it was achievable.

"Very well," Mage Levine said.

"Those not planning on continuing on to the Mother World, head into the passageway to the next floor. Everyone else, see Mage Teft for assignments on cleaning on previous floors and gathering the expedition supplies from outside the labyrinth. For any of those seeking to change their minds, be aware your choice now of if you plan to continue or not is final." Damion realized Mage Levine planned to work those who wanted to leave to the bone before releasing them from their obligations.

Since Mage Moretti agreed to the timeline constraint for their release from the resolution, they had no choice but to make sure that deadline was met. As nearly half of all the mages headed into the passageway, the rest gathered around Mage Teft.

"All A Rankers will be assigned to replenish the supplies for themselves and the S Ranks. The majority of the supplies we needed for the Mother World were left outside as there was no point in bringing those things in if we couldn't cross the midpoint. Once all the supplies are assembled and properly stored for transit we will reassemble on the forty-first floor and travel to the higher floors together." Mage Teft's instructions met with a chorus of agreement before she turned to Damion.

"Damion, you and Mage Veers will take Mage Harris' body to Mage Thresbane. He will handle the body from that point on. Axton, as you travel out and back, kill any guardian or S Rank Demonic Beasts that may be a threat to the A Rankers coming and going." The two nodded and moved towards Mage Harris' body while Mage Teft turned her attention to organizing the S Rank mages that remained true to the expedition.