Calamity!

By the time Melissa had returned, George had disabled a few other traps and was already up the stairs. Hester merely followed behind afraid of setting off traps.

'This isn't right! How is he easily disabling traps and knowing where they are?!'

Melissa had not noticed this earlier because George had scared her off within a few seconds of her arrival. The hole in the wooden floor had also repaired, so she had assumed the crossbow being one of the weapons they brought in. The torn painting she did not notice at all.

Although she blended into a natural nearby shadow, George instantly glanced over at her again.

"Come on out. I know you're there shadow user."

'How did he know I'm here?!'

Melissa shuddered in fright and shock.

Few people even at her A-rank can accurately know her position due to her [Assassin] class and her divine-grade skill [Shadow Stealth]. Not only does she have a massive boost in stealth because of her class, but her skill allows her to near-flawlessly conceal herself within a shadow.

The first time can be explained if he is a Summoned, as the system will tell him his stats are being checked. This time she just arrived and did not have time to do that.

"If you aren't coming out then I'll force you out."

"W-Wait! I'll come out!"

Despite George being weaker than her, Melissa felt like she was on the losing end.

She reluctantly came out of the shadow and morphed back to normal.

Hester, who felt confident being around George, did not panic and actually got into a defensive position with his sword. George himself merely stared at her with his dagger in his right hand and asked in a demanding voice, "Who are you?"

"M-My name is not of concern, but just call me Alice for now." Melissa regained her composure and tried to confidently say in a deep voice, "You're intruding on our territory. I suggest you quietly come with me or I will have to injure you."

"Sure, lead the way." George casually nodded.

"A fight it is- wait, what? Lead the way?" Melissa's eyes widened in shock. She had thought a fight was definitely going to happen.

"Yes, lead the way please. I wish to talk to your leader." George explained indifferently.

Melissa glanced at Hester who was also wide-eyed.

"B-But what is she's an enemy? Why are we going directly to the leader?" Hester furiously whispered to George like he was crazy.

"To get the key obviously." George rolled his eyes at him before looking at Melissa.

"Look, Hester got lured in and can't get out. I went in to help him since I've been here before. We just need the key to leave this place."

'So that's why he knows the trap locations!' She sighed in relief knowing that mystery was solved.

"We'll talk to my superior then. Please follow me."

Melissa opened the right door and they followed behind her.

"So where are you all headed?" She asked, wanting to gain information.

"Frozen Lake 52." George casually told the truth.

"So you're after the B-rank dungeon as well?" She faked her surprise.

"Not me. I'm their guide. I'm just leading the party members through the mountains since they don't know the direction and safe paths."

"Party members... so you're not the only ones?"

"N-No." Hester meekly replied, feeling the atmosphere was too casual.

"They're outside the interference field." George answered instead. "We're in a hurry. I told them we'd be out in twenty minutes."

"It shouldn't take that long." Melissa confidently said.

On the inside, she felt George was too weird and Hester's reactions to be normal. He was treating a dangerous anomaly like a little side tour and casually making conversation with her, an assassin who could easily kill him.

'Well whatever. If it makes it easier for them to comply, then so be it.'

Melissa led them through multiple lit corridors and through several doorways. All of the traps were easily disabled by Melissa. They arrived at a stone chamber that was somehow on the second floor and not underground.

The steel door opened with a loud creak and they stepped inside.

"W-What is this place?" Hester was in awe and fear of the mysterious runes and arrays on the walls that glowed brightly. Then he noticed the mysterious orb and cloaked man in the center.

Upon looking at the man, Hester nearly peed himself feeling a tremendous pressure coming off him.

"Sir, I've brought the intruders." Melissa bowed slightly.

The man glanced over at them, his face hidden beneath the cloak in the darkness.

"Mm." He grunted slightly but glanced again at George who seemed unaffected by his power and abnormally calm.

"Intruders, why have you come upon this place?"

George repeated what he had said to Melissa.

The man's partially revealed face expressed surprise and confusion. In the end, he started laughing.

"You're either awfully brave or stupid! You do realize you cannot leave this place alive now that you've seen everything right? I don't know if you're lying or telling the truth, but I'll torture you first to make sure. Melissa, cut off their tendons!"

"Yes sir!" She glanced at the two and apologized secretly.

Melissa's full power was released as shadow daggers came out of the darkness and rushed at their vital spots.

Hester hid behind George in fear, knowing she is too powerful to fight.

"*sigh* I just want the key you know?"

*BOOM!*

As George sighed, a tremendous amount of dense [Aura] left his body in powerful fashion. The sheer density seemed to bend space and cause the air to crackle. The amount was ridiculous compared to his earlier display of [Aura].

The force of the [Aura] flung Hester back against the wall, knocking him unconscious.

"You know, I don't have much time to fool around."

Black demonic lighting snakes moved around his body as the stone floor beneath him began to melt. His demonic iris' glowed brightly along with the silver radiance of the ring on his finger. The dense aura filled with demonic energy gently curled around the dagger.

The faint image of a demonic rift appeared behind George.

Those shadow daggers melted like butter as the room became brightly illuminated.

"AH!" Melissa screamed as she thrown back. She coughed up blood upon hitting the opposite wall.

"S-Such tremendous power! Who the hell are you?!"

The man's cloak was pushed back by the wind, revealing a handsome middle-aged face with black hair. A scar ran along his cheek which ruined half his handsome face.

The man's pressure was crushed like an insect. He could not hold on and the spells were shattered. The rebound caused him to cough up blood as he was thrown back and the orb to dim a little.

"Just a nobody." George's black hair fluttered in the wind and became disheveled. Whirlpools of dense demonic energy moved in his eyes like they wanted to suck everything in.

Melissa tried to get up but the pressure forced her to vomit blood. She tried to turn into shadow form but it was cancelled beneath the pressure. None of her abilities seemed to work.

She tried to use [Clairvoyance] again but got [Error! Er%##@! &$@!$$@!].

Goosebumps ran across her body as she watched in horror. Just feeling his [Aura] alone made her feel like maggots were crawling beneath her skin and trying to infiltrate her mind.

George walked forward one step, the stone beneath him turned to dust.

His [Aura] caused the entire mansion to shake like an earthquake was happening.

The orb began to dim and shake as if it was being damaged by his aura. The entire mansion shook as objects fell and walls collapsed. The runes and arrays on the walls flickered and released sparks. His [Aura] pounded against the ceiling and repeatedly ground it to dust, only to be repaired again.

His [Aura] seemed to be overwhelming the anomaly.

The man tried to stand up but was pressed against the wall.

"E-Escape spell!" A mysterious spell began to form but collapsed under the [Aura].

"I thought you would be way stronger since you raised the danger level of this anomaly, but I guess I didn't need to release this much. Look, I don't care what you all are doing. I just want the key to leave please?"

--------------------------------------------------------------

Abe, Emma, and Bernice were outside the interference field waiting.

Twenty minutes had almost passed up.

Abe tapped his foot in impatience while Bernice nervously walked back and forth.

Suddenly, the entire region began to violently shake as if an earthquake had gone off.

Everyone was thrown to the ground. Bernice screamed while Emma chanted a shield spell, which wrapped around Bernice to protect her.

"What's going on?!" Abe struggled to get up while activating his defense skills. His body glowed but did nothing to help balance.

"Everything is shaking!" Emma yelled in fright for the first time in forever. She had never encountered something this terrifying in her life.

The entire interference field became visible as it warped and bent, ripples appearing everyone on the surface as if it was going to explode. The castle mansion in the middle blew dust clouds into the air as parts of it collapsed and regenerated, glass repeatedly shattering as well.

Huge avalanches and landslides fell from the shaking surrounding mountains while giant boulders tumbled down. They formed huge dust and snow clouds as everything was pulverized in their paths.

One of the mountains that was a dormant volcano suddenly lost half of its body in a massive landslide. The volcano came to life in an explosive fashion as it spewed ash and smoke into the air along with flying volcanic rocks in their direction. The volcano had been triggered by the earthquake and landslide!

The nearby forest heavily swayed back and forth as pine trees collapsed in brilliant fashion! Animals and magical creatures ran out of the forest in horror like a calamity had descended.

"W-What do we do?!" Abe stuttered in shock as he tried to protect himself.

"Watch out!" Emma almost instantly appeared by Abe and tossed him next to Bernice, nearly knocking him out in the process. The ground beneath his original location collapsed into a large sinkhole.

Emma's face turned grim as she chanted a flight spell to get off the shaking ground. She appeared next to the two and chanted another spell which formed another shield bubble around the three.

Releasing her full magic, she channeled energy into the shield causing it to shine brightly.

Seconds later, giant boulders from the landslides rolled in the direction at fast speeds, destroying the grass fields in the process. Giant volcanic rocks descending from the sky like meteors.

Many of them impacted the interference field and shattered into pieces.

Seeing this, Emma had an idea and tossed Abe and Bernice behind the interference field.

The shield she had was cancelled, putting her in the midst of the danger.

A fist-sized rock impacted her stomach at high speed, causing her to nearly vomit her food.

"Guh!" Clenching her stomach in pain, she quickly moved into the anomaly's protection field.

Volcanic rocks bombarded the ground and interference barrier like meteorites. The prairie fields caught fire. It was like the Great Demonic Wars had begun again!

Seconds later after Emma had entered, the entire area was swallowed by the giant landslide from the volcano. All three watched in fear as the rocks piled up on the interference barrier.

With a pale face, Emma turned to the anomaly center. A giant demonic aura repeatedly leaked from the top of the mansion before being suppressed. The aura felt incredibly familiar.

A single minute had barely passed since it's beginning before the earthquakes came to a stop.

A few minutes later, the boulders and volcanic rocks had stopped falling.

The air outside was filled with dust and ash and impossible to see.

Everything had gone to hell in the span of a few minutes!