Chapter Twelve - Dire Tombs (i)

(A/n A little twist in the end. I'll update the next chap based on reception. Not a specific goal. I'll see when it's safe to upload. If it's not satisfactory I'll take my time to write the next one.)

~6327 words

The sun shone brightly at its zenith upon a new day, full of life and new adventures carrying rewards and good luck that came along with the successful vanquish of the daily tribulations and despair. 

A brisk wind blew over the lush green field of the beast glades.

The grass blades swayed in tandem with the wind. A few clouds wandered in the vast sea of light blue sky. Excited chirps of birds filled the skies, while howling of beasts- both the predator and the prey echoed in the deepest parts of beast glades as well as inside the dungeons.

Inside the beast glade, somewhere, a group of people gathered.

Dressed in lavish robes and armors, everyone was busy checking up on their belongings. A group of 8.

The tallest one of them came forward. Wearing an air of a born leader he came to the center of the group, "Since we all are going in together and are going to depend on each other, its best we at least introduce ourselves", he said. Dressed in a white armor, he looked like any other noble. The white armor covered his shoulders and chest only, with a cape behind him. He had trimmed blond hair with sharp hazel eyes.

"He is right. We should definitely do that!", A girl spoke excitedly as she walked closer to him.

"Alright. Since I proposed the idea, it's fair I do it first. My name is Brald Landon. AA-Ranked Adventurer. I am a fire-attribute augmenter at light-yellow stage. My weapon of choice is broadsword and a shield", speaking in the most fluid and formal manner he finished his introduction in a way befitting of his stature.

"Ok, I am next!", The energetic girl spoke. She came forward, swaying her hips, mesmerizing and captivating the sights of many men present there. She looked to be around her mid-twenties and was an attractive woman. She had wavy blond hair that flowed down her shoulders and light blue eyes that looked almost grey. Her eyes were big and round, making her look cuter, and her short height complimented that well. "My name is Samantha Tempest. A-Rank Adventurer. I am a water-attribute conjurer at dark-yellow stage." She finished her introduction too and moved back to her place.

Looking over her shoulder she looked at a certain individual. A small 'hmph' escaped her lips as she looked the other way.

"Kriol Masser. A-Rank adventurer. Water-augmenter at dark-yellow stage", a bulky looking man introduced himself.

"Reginald Blastion. A-Rank adventurer. Earth-augmenter at dark-yellow stage", a man with multiple scars spoke.

"Elijah Knight. A-Rank adventurer. Earth-conjurer at dark-orange stage", a boy with messy black hair and glasses said. His gaze travelled towards a half-elf. He looked at him and then around him, as if he was finding someone else.

"Lucas Wykes", the second last member spoke, putting emphasis on his family name as a smug look appeared over his face. "A-Rank adventurer. Fire attribute conjurer at Dark Yellow stage", he finished his introduction and leaned on his staff once again.

"Well now that everyone is introduced why don't we...", he paused as he saw something or rather someone. Someone with enough control over their mana that he couldn't even detect their presence.

She looked back at him and suddenly he felt himself flinch underneath her gaze. Eyes that were mesmerizing but dreadful to look at the same time. Carrying no emotions in her eyes she kept her gaze fixed at him. After a lingering silence a loud clap resounded as Lucas' palm pounded against her cheek, "Dafuq you waiting for huh? Introduce yourself and be done with it", Lucas' voice spoke full of spite and disgust.

Elijah's body stiffened, an un-understandable amount of anger welling up at the pit of his stomach. She looked up and looked at Lucas, showing no visible trace of fear. Tearing her gaze away from him she looked at Brald, "Luna. A-Rank adventurer. Wind Conjurer at Initial Silver stage", she replied. Her voice apathetic, devoid of any trace of emotion.

Slight murmurs took birth, as everyone started gossiping.

"By Luna do you mean the THE Luna?", Brald asked.

"I am not sure as to what you're trying to imply here. I am merely a caretaker sent to keep Mr.Wykes here in control", she replied, and a vein popped at Lucas' temple. However, he stopped at another attempt of physical violence as everyone continued looking at him with disdain.

"Tch", Lucas spat and turned the other way, going to the front of the group. Secretly, Elijah came closer to the girl.

"Are you ok?", he asked, his voice a hushed whisper.

"I am. Thanks for the un-needed concern", she replied and picked her staff up which had a single sharp side towards the bottom.

"D-Do you remember me?" Elijah stammered, unsure of what he just said.

Tessia turned around, her emerald eyes glistening underneath the plain white mask, "The weird guy", she said quickly and then turned her back towards him, following the group inside the dungeon.

Elijah looked at her fleeting form, his eyes carrying a certain relied. A sighed escaped his lips as he smiled and slowly followed behind her. The group continued forward with Brald leading them and Lucas in the middle, his staff already beaming and surging with power.

Tessia followed behind the group watching their rear, while Elijah was just a few steps away from her.

"Umm", Elijah whispered, still pondering over his choice of words.

Tessia's looked at him from the corner of her eyes, "You're stubborn", she said, letting out a small sigh.

"Come again?" Elijah spoke, surprised to hear something other than insult from her.

"Heighten your defenses", she spoke suddenly, a thin veil of green mana surrounding her. Elijah looked around but found nothing. The cold was bone-deep, as a chill crept up his spine. His eyes couldn't see the danger that loomed over them, but his instincts said otherwise.

Suddenly, a steady growl filled the dungeon hall.

Narrowing his eyes, he focused on the source of the sound. The party had just reached the end of the descending passage and into an underground cave no larger than fifty meters in diameter. Looking around, the whole cave was glowing in a dim, blue color. Above them, the cave was covered in stalactites, threatening them with their sharp, gleaming tips.

Out from the spaces between the stalactites fell two dozen mana beasts that looked like large bats, except with four limbs replacing what normally would've been wings. The hollow body of the bat-like mana beasts had their ribs fully visible and inside it, where the beast core should've been, was a cracked rock.

/// Elijah Knight ///

"Form and torment the foes around! Fire Cyclone!" I heard a yell from behind me and I realized it was Lucas who had casted the spell.

Suddenly, four twisters of fire swirled to life around us, filling the cavern with a wave of heat.

As the fiery cyclones spread out, sharp yelps and pained whimpers echoed from the mana beasts.

Many of the bat-runners had been engulfed by the fire tornadoes and were charred to ashes. The ones that were fortunate enough to escape the tornadoes had fled, trying to circle around and attack us.

I could hear Brald click his tongue, dissatisfied that Lucas had just ignored his orders and casted a spell that wasn't necessary.

The fire cyclones had killed most of the bat-runners and the ones left had been badly burned, making it easy to defeat the rest.

"Next time, follow orders and don't waste mana like that. Your spell was overkill," Brald growled over his shoulder before marching ahead.

Lucas just rolled his eyes, "I don't see the problem. We killed them fast enough so that everyone else could save their mana."

Shaking his head, Brald ushered us forward to the other end of the cave. As we continued forward to the location of the next room, the rather sickening sound of bones crunching, and flesh gurgling made us all turn our heads back.

To my surprise and disgust, the batrunners that had just been killed began to reanimate, their bodies snapping into place as the ones that had been burned just seemed to rise up again from their ashes.

Dire Tombs...What an unfortunately fitting name for this dungeon.

Everyone chose to ignore them and advanced into the next room while I just quietly casted an earthen wall over the entrance so that the bat-runners couldn't follow us.

The opening on the other side of the cave led us through another dark corridor just wide enough for four people to go through at once.

I could tell everyone was a bit more relaxed upon leaving the first cave, but I couldn't shake an uneasy feeling.

As if to answer me, a barely discernable click and faint whistle caught my attention.

Before I could even respond, vines shot out beneath the round and grabbed the conjurer named Samantha above the ground while more vines formed a defensive barrier in front of the party. The sharp, piercing metallic projectiles got stuck in the voluminous vines, protecting everyone from the sudden onslaught.

"Th-Thank you..." Samantha muttered mindlessly. Even under the dim blue lighting, I could tell that her face had paled as the metal spikes that almost killed her landed on the ground, harmlessly, beside her feet.

But what surprised me was the quick reaction time and almost near-instant cast time of the mysterious adventurer, Luna. How was she just a slave?

"Something's wrong...there were no traps last time." Brald picked up one of the pointed spikes to study it but was baffled.

"I don't think they were traps but strategically placed mana beasts, which doesn't make the situation better," Luna said for the first time, noticing the faint scuttle of the small beasts on the walls.

Elijah let out a scoff at her but seeing everyone's affirmative nods he clicked his tongue, glaring daggers at her.

"Stay alert, everyone," Brald said, kicking the spikes to the side. Samantha inched a bit closer to Luna, her hand pinching her robe sleeve as her free hand gripped tightly at her wand.

Fortunately, we reached the end of the hall with no other traps deterring us. The next cave was similar to the previous cave, but twice the size and littered with suspicious holes all over the ground.

"Don't get near the holes. They're geysers that shoot extremely hot streams of gas up. It should be fine as long as you're not in direct proximity of the blast," Brald announced as we all looked for any signs of mana beasts.

As if on cue, the cave trembled, shaking the sharp stalactites overhead to a nerve-wracking degree. Forcing my attention from the wobbling spikes, a large figure erupting from the ground.

"Was that here last time, Brald?" the pot-bellied Kriol asked in a worrying tone as we all peered up at the mana beast.

The creature resembled a worm, except it was thick enough to easily swallow any one of us here, whole. With a glowing red hide and countless rows of teeth encircling the hole that I assumed was the mouth, it was impossible to guess how long this creature was since its body was still mostly underground.

"N-No, it wasn't—I don't get what's happening. It doesn't make sense for new mana beast species to enter a dungeon like this." Our handsome leader had a wavering look, his mask of confidence all but gone.

"Tch. It's not a big deal. It's just an oversized insect," Lucas quipped from behind.

We braced ourselves for its strike, but to our surprise, the gigantic red worm didn't attack us. Instead, the beast burrowed back underground, leaving in its path another gaping hole.

"It doesn't seem to be after us," I muttered under my breath, noticing its trajectory and lack of hostility.

The red worm-beast was now burrowing itself into the walls of the cave, creating more holes from all different angles, but it never confronted us.

"Are we just going to stand around watching the worm dig or are we going to go?" Oliver, our lanky emitter, shoved Brald out of the way, fearlessly taking the lead as he strode towards the other end of the cave.

It was obvious not just to me, but to everyone else that Oliver's brazen attitude was to show off in front of a certain party member.

"Get back here! We need to assess what's happening before we go across!" Brald barked, his face furrowed in agitation at the arrogance displayed by the conjurers. As our leader stepped forward to go after him, a thundering rumble shook as the entire cavern fizzed with the sound of a boiling kettle.

"Lucas! Heatwave Barrier, now!" Luna roared at the confused, blonde noble.

Just as she yelled out the command, fumes began filling the cavern.

The holes. The holes that were here since the beginning and the holes littered across the ground, roof, and walls made by the giant worm all trembled before released a fiery torrent of deadly gas.

"Damn it," I cursed. The giant worm was making the holes in order to kill us, and we just let it happen.

Once again vines erupted from the ground.

Luna managed to pull Brald, who was just at arm's length of me, back in before he had the chance to run after Oliver.

Just as the barrier was erected, a blast of a mustard-yellow gas bombarded us. Lucas's barrier trembled against the pressure, but Samantha managed to gather her wits in time to help him out with a water barrier of her own just beneath Lucas's.

The two barriers of opposing elements sizzled, making the area inside the spell a makeshift sauna. Despite the crude teamwork, however, the barrier held, leaving us sweating but intact, until the blast of gas began to subside.

However, due to the strength of the gaseous blasts that filled the cavern, I lost sight of our idiot healer.

As both Lucas and Samantha released their barriers with stifled breaths, the horrid scene came into view.

The only thing left of Oliver was bones, as blood and pieces of flesh still stuck to parts of his charred skeleton. All of his possessions had been completely destroyed by the acidic gas except for the bright-emerald gem that was once embedded at the tip of his staff.

"Shit!" Brald cursed, gnashing his teeth as Samantha stumbled backward from the ghastly sight.

Oliver didn't mean much to us as a person, but he was our healer. That idiot ran off, not even casting a protection spell on himself.

"Let's move out!" Luna ordered as everyone remained silent. She went ahead and picked up the gem, studying it before comparing it to the gem that Lucas and Samantha had on their weapons.

The gem embedded on Lucas's staff was of much higher quality than the gem Oliver had. However, there were apparent flaws on the sapphire gem fashioned to the tip of Samantha's wand, so she tossed the emerald stone to her, telling her to replace it with his gem.

"Luna is right, we need to move before another eruption occurs. That giant worm beast is making more holes. I don't think our barriers will hold for another wave," our leader stated as he stepped in charge once more.

I glanced back at Luna who's alluring turquoise eyes locked with mine and solemnly nodded at me. Even if her face remained a mystery, her restlesness was evident from her knuckles that were white from clutching too tightly to her staff; it wasn't just me that was frustrated by the turn of events.

We were halfway through the cave when I, who was behind Luna, asked, "How did you know that the cave was going to explode with steam like that?" Everyone's eyes shifted toward her, waiting for my answer.

"I didn't," I replied without turning back. "I knew that something was about to happen, but even I didn't know exactly what."

The giant worm that had been constantly burrowing in and out of the cave, creating more holes, suddenly stopped in front of us, blocking the exit. Without warning, it whipped its head forward and smashed at the ground we were standing on.

Kriol, who was positioned at the back, lunged forward and, with surprising harmony with Samantha, created a water barrier that cushioned the blow before they were sent tumbling back. However, this gave me enough time to erect a large ring of rock to erupt, cuffing the worm to the ground.

"Impact Blast!" Reginald bellowed as his giant hammer glowed a bright yellow. Jumping up, he spun his body, creating momentum before smashing his hammer directly at the worm's head.

With a deafening explosion, the worm's whole body shook as Reginald's mana-infused attack sent a shockwave to the beast's body, creating ripples on its red hide.

However, the attack did little but destroy the earthen binding that I had conjured, freeing the giant worm. The giant mana beast flailed its body, knocking away Reginald and Brald, who was also nearby.

Suddenly I felt a hand grip my collars, pulling me out of harm's way before the figure charged at the beast herself. The giant worm shivered, then unleashed a shower of acid spittle at me.

Despite my screams to her, telling her to stop and come back, she dipped and weaved her body, sidestepping the deadly globs of yellow saliva that landed inches away from her body.

Once she was close enough, I heard a chant;

"Raging Tempest", she muttered as a humungous tornado appeared. The cave rumbled because of the impact of the tornado. The worm got caught in the eye of the tornado.

Sounds of flesh tearing and growl of the worm filled the dungeon.

Barriers erected as I made my own shelter. Pieces of flesh and a sea of sickly green blood that had an acidic effect everywhere it landed littered the whole cavern.

After a few minutes the raging hell subsided. Squinting my eyes, I looked at her. Standing at the remains of the giant beast, her eyes looked straight into mine. It wasn't a blank stare like before.

Almost as if she was asking me how I was. Worried about my wellbeing.

And then the feeling disappeared as soon as it glistened in her eyes. 

"Show off", Lucas spat taking an aggressive step towards her, but Brald stood in his way, "Back off Lucas. I don't care if she's your family's slave or your caretaker. Right now, she is more useful than you and that is all we need. You can leave for all we care", he spoke, and Lucas took a step back.

Tessia walked towards Lucas and muttered something which made Lucas' whole body shake in an unrestrained rage, "See? You're a burden... on everyone", she muttered.

I was able to hear since I was standing just beside him. She then walked and stood by my side. I wanted to try and turn towards her and talk to her, but the situation didn't seem optimal.

"Get some rest. You're low on mana, no?" Her voice was soft this time, not carrying the granite cold hardness in it.

I nodded in affirmation, not sure what should I say. I sat down and she sat right beside me. Her posture was straight, showing no signs of fatigue. It was expected too since she was a silver core mage. However, it made me question something. I had seen her face, so I know she is around my age. How did someone so talented ended up as a slave? Was she really an ordinary person or was there something else behind this all?

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After a few hours, we got up with our mana somewhat replenished and continued marching down. This hall wasn't as long as the previous ones but at the end of the hall was a large, double door with unfamiliar runes etched all over it.

"I-I don't get it. Even this part is different. There was never a door here," Brald groaned, shaking his head.

"The only thing that was the same was the first cave, where the bat-runners had been," he continued, analyzing the runes. He tried to touch it but with his dominant hand gone, he just swung his stub hollowly at the air. After he realized what he was doing, he cursed aloud and walked to the back.

"Well, no use complaining about it now," Reginald shrugged, lifting up his hammer. "I don't know what those runes or symbols are but there are cracks all over them. I doubt they'll do much now," he said as he swung his hammer.

The impact his silver hammer made against the old, metal doors created a shower of sparks as a deep thud boomed.

Reginald was visibly shocked by the sturdiness of the door as it lay intact.

"Impact Blast!" The door shuddered this time but stayed firm.

"Impact Blast!" The blow this time was harder and the door clicked before opening just a little. Stepping forward, Reginald gripped at the slight opening and pried the doors open.

I couldn't see what was on the other side, but the burly augmenter took a step back as he muttered, "What in the..."

On the other side of the large doors was a beautiful meadow that stretched out far beyond my view. As we all peered agape at the brightly lit field of grass that glittered like polished emeralds, for a moment, the fact that we were underground seemed like a dream.

"Let me guess, this field wasn't here last time either," Reginald muttered as his eyes stayed glued to the enrapturing scenery in front of him.

Brald let out a sharp breath as he continued to stare at the field. "N-No, nothing of the sort."

After mumbling something indiscernible, Reginald let out a sigh of resignation and stepped through the door. The rest of us just exchanged hesitant glances before following after the hammer-wielding augmenter.

Stepping into the meadow, I studied the large area. I almost thought that we had stepped through some teleportation gate out of the Dire Tombs until I looked up to see the rows of stalactites high up on the ceiling. The deposits of calcium that littered the ceiling of this cave glowed brightly, to the point where I had to squint to make out any details.

What I found suspicious, though, was the very fact that a space like this could exist underground. There were no pillars visible and this area stretched for at least a few hundred meters in all directions. With such an extensive open field with no supports holding it up, I was surprised that this place hadn't been buried in rocks.

"Wow! It's so pretty!" Samantha gasped, her head constantly turning to take in the view.

Tall trees and bushels of shrubs dotted the field. Even I couldn't help wanting to just lay down and relax here but ever since we walked through the door, the hairs on my body had been standing on end, as if my body wanted me to stay alert.

Everyone's guards seemed to be down except for Luna and mine, whose eyes kept darting around as if searching for anything suspicious.

"Something's off. Keep your guards up, everyone." I remained vigilant with my earthen mana at my beck and call while I could already see Luna's gunmetal hair fraying in wind, subtly rising up.

"Are you sure? I don't even hear anything, let alone see much besides the grass and trees," Kriol asked dubiously. I could tell he was a bit doubtful but he followed my advice and raised his shield.

I continued examining our surroundings to see what was making me feel so tense. The light that radiated from the stalactites glowed much brighter than the ones from the previous caves. There was also a thin veil of haze layered over the meadow but that was it. There was literally nothing else besides the plants and this mist.

What am I missing?

However, soon enough, the mist around us began to gradually grow more dense, eventually thick enough so that I could only make out the shapes of everyone around me.

Suddenly, a deep thud broke through the silence hovering around the mist.

"Clara? Is that you? H-How are you alive?"

I whipped my head to the direction of the voice in time to see that Kriol had dropped his gigantic shield and was holding his arms out, reaching desperately at something in the distance.

"I knew you couldn't be dead, Clara! Stay there! I'm coming to get you!" Kriol bolted off, leaving his shield behind him.

"Damn it, Kriol! Stop, it's dangerous!" I cursed, trying to warn him, but his figure faded out of sight within the ever-growing layer of fog.

All of a sudden, something grabbed ahold of my arm and jerked me.

"I think the mist is an illusion." I heard Luna's voice right next to me, but even with how close she was, it was becoming hard to make out details inside the haze.

"I thought so too." I clicked my tongue in frustration. "Everyone! Stick together! This mist is playing tricks on your senses. Samantha, barrier!"

Eventually, they were able to gather, using the sound of my voice as their destination. Huddling together, we discussed our plans for clearing through this cavern inside a sphere of water.

"Who's Clara?" Samantha asked, confusion evident on her face.

Reginald shook his head. "It...It's Kriol's fiancée. But it's impossible for her to be alive. I saw her get killed in a dungeon with my own two eyes. We even cremated and buried her ashes together!"

It was obvious that Reginald and Brald were both shaken up. The three had partied before numerous times, so the name Clara wasn't news to them, and hearing Kriol go after his dead fiancée wasn't exactly the best of news either.

"What the hell is going on?" Lucas cursed under his breath. His knuckles were white from how hard he was gripping his staff, and it looked like he was doing all he could to keep his wits together.

"Luna. Do you have a spell that can create a wind strong enough to clear this mist around us?" I turned my head to her, hoping she could give me some good news. We didn't have any wind attribute conjurers here besides her.

She answered, humming in affirmation. "Mhmm."

We gave her space inside the barrier of water as she began preparing her spell. Soft gusts that glowed a greenish hue began swirling around her, gathering around her hands. The soft gusts turned into violent miniature versions of her tempest. Locks of gunmetal lashed wildly around her as the swirls of wind circled her arms, growing larger.

Clear my enemies from my path with an ever-raging howl," Luna chanted, struggling to keep the frenzied wind in tow.

[Storm's Gale]

The condensed whirlwinds swirling around Luna's arms collided as she clapped her hands together. The impact of the two tornadoes expanded and burst forward, shredding the mist into a clear path in front of us.

However, the once excited looks on everyone's faces turned pale at the sight before us. The tornado revealed a path, but also uncovered something else.

Tentacles of vines and branches were quickly making their way towards us.

"Enough of this!" Lucas pushed Luna aside and swung his tall staff at the wave of vines advancing towards us and muttered a spell.

"Crescent Ember!" he shouted, lashing his staff. The bright flame that glowed on the tip of the staff expanded, shooting a large blade of fire.

With a fiery explosion, the slithering vines and branches flinched back, but other than a scorched impression where the spell had hit, they were unaffected.

"Shit! What kind of trees aren't afraid of fire?" Brald hissed as he ignited his broadsword into a fiery tornado and charged into the wave of vines that were approaching rapidly.

"Samantha! Elijah! Lucas! Support us!" Brald barked, willing mana into his body and sword as well.

Luna stood her ground, a complicated expression over her face. Like she knew the cause of everything.

Reginald stayed behind to protect our Conjurers as they casted spells.

Brald let out an unintelligible battle roar as he continued mindlessly hacking away at the endless wave of vines that seemed to manifest out of nowhere.

The vines, however, were regenerating faster than Brald was cutting them as the one-armed adventurer was getting buried deeper and deeper inside the torrent of vines.

Conjuring multiple shields and spikes of earth, I kept assisting everyone. Saving them from being mutilated by the vines. Yet, I couldn't help but look at Luna. She was frozen in her tracks. Unmoving.

"—spread and burn!"

[Liquid Blaze]

Lucas finished his spell first as he unleashed a spray of red liquid from his staff while Reginald continued blocking the incoming vines that targeted our conjurers.

The three of us jumped back to stay out of the way of the spell. I had to hand it to the noble brat for still thinking straight despite the situation. The spell, Liquid Fire, wasn't as powerful as the actual fire spells but it spread quickly and, if not doused, would eventually envelop everything in its way.

The spell landed on the torrent of vines, but before the liquid fire was even able to spread, the mist around us gathered toward the spot where the spell hit the vine. With a loud hiss, the spell was doused by the moisture from the mist.

I could see Lucas's face pale as sweat rolled down his neck. From the state he was in, it was safe to assume that this spell had exhausted all of his mana.

[Crater]

Holding out my staff as I finished the spell. The ground underneath the wave of vines crumbled and a hole, meters deep, formed, deterring the vines from reaching us for now.

[Aqua Siphon]

Samantha fell to her knees as she released the powerful spell.

Aqua Siphon was a frightening spell that sucked the surrounding area of its water. The only drawback of this spell was the amount of mana it used for the limited amount of space it could affect.

The rampant vines that were crawling out of the crater I had conjured began withering at a rapid pace as the moisture was sucked out from them.

Before the withering could spread, however, the rest of the mist surrounding the cave swirled and gathered, sucked in by the vines. The shriveled, brown vines were once again turned a healthy green, filled with vigor, and seemed angrier than before.

"N-No way..." Samantha's face drained of color as she slumped in resignation.

The positive, however, was that the mist that had surrounded us was being absorbed into the huge wave of vines, clearing our limited view.

As the vines continued to hungrily consume the mist, we were all finally able to see what exactly it was we had been going up against.

Standing more than twenty meters tall, high above our heads was a colossal mana beast. With a humanoid structure that oddly resembled a centaur, it towered over us like a massive building.

While it seemed to be made up completely of densely packed and intertwined vines, the top half of its body was that of an armored man holding a drill-like lance that came to a menacing point just over our heads. Its lower body was that of a horse, but rather than legs, its limbs consisted of the countless vines we had been battling against. Two green eyes peered down at us, filled with unbridled enmity.

I swallowed hard, staring mindlessly up at the imposing figure. For the last hour, the seven of us had been literally battling against the toes of this mana beast.

"I-I've read about a monster that looked something like this," Samantha stuttered in horror, sinking to her knees in complete resignation. "I think th-that's an S class mana beast called the e-elderwood guardian!"

"It can't be, right? What the hell would an S class mana beast be doing here?" Reginald almost dropped his giant hammer as he peered up at the elderwood guardian in dread, and with good reason too. An S class mana beast meant that it was on par with an SS class adventurer or at least ten S class adventurers.

"I-Isn't that Kriol?" Reginald exclaimed as he pointed a shaking finger at the lifeless torso and legs sticking out of the body of the mana beast.

"W-We're doomed..." Brald had a crazed expression on his face as he began laughing madly at the giant mana beast. He had already lost his arm and he was worn out from the fighting. This was probably the last straw for the veteran adventurer.

We have to run." Luna yanked my hand, gesturing me to run back in the direction of the doors we had come from.

"What about them?" I called out, my eyes glued to the elderwood guardian.

She remained silent, tugging harder for me to move.

I knew that rationally, it made the most sense to get away from here as fast as possible. Hell, I wasn't even close to any of them, and I certainly wasn't chummy with Lucas. But it wouldn't be right to betray their trust in me as their leader.

Suddenly, the elderwood guardian thrusted his giant drill lance at us, creating a gale of wind just from its movement.

[Earthen Shield]

I conjured a flat wall of earth from the ground, angled slightly so that the force of the drill would be parried away from us.

A thunderous explosion resounded from the impact as the beast's lance shattered the thick, earthen slab.

Picking up his hammer, Reginald charged forward, seizing the opportunity that Elijah had created. His giant warhammer glowed a brilliant yellow as he roared out in desperate resolve. "Go back to the damn hole you crawled out from, you oversized tree! Impact Barrage!"

The giant hammer began vibrating fiercely in his hands as he unleashed his attack down at the elderwood guardian's lance.

It felt like a warship had just fired a massive storm of cannons as the whole cavern shook. The sheer force of Reginald's spell had reduced the beast's weapon to shreds.

Just as he was about to land on the ground, the broken vines that made up the lance whirled like tentacles and surrounded him. "GAAAH! HELPP!! NOOOO!"

The tendrils that had once formed the giant lance swirled around to mold back into its original shape, eating up Reginald in the process. The gruesome sound of bones snapping resounded from within the weapon as the tendrils continued to intertwine, slithering around each other like pythons to complete the shape of the lance.

Samantha, who had been preparing a spell to our left, lurched forward and heaved what little food she had consumed since coming down here as the sound of Reginald's body being ground filled the cavern.

Damn it all.

The lance had formed back into its original shape, with the addition of Reginald's body and weapon inside it. Looking up, I could see that the elderwood guardian didn't have a mouth but just from the look in its eyes, I felt like it was gloating, refreshed by the fact that it had caught one more insect that had been bugging him.

Luna grabbed Samantha, who had been petrified from shock, and lifted her up in her vines. "Elijah! Grab Brald and let's run! Lucas, Elijah! You have to try and block any incoming attacks until we can make it out of here!" Luna barked.

I picked up the one-armed adventurer who was still laughing psychotically and we look back to see that the elderwood guardian was looking directly at us.

"We need to move!" I barked, hurrying everyone.

Just as I was about to leave a blast resounded. Looking at my right I saw Luna and Samantha, on the ground. Smoke rose up from Luna's chest plate.

Lucas has just flamed a burning spell at her at point blank range.

Just as I was about to look at who did it, Lucas' staff hit my chest.

"Fire ball", he muttered wearing a crazed look as I felt the world go black. My consciousness wavered as I struggled to see what was happening.

Luna stood in front of Lucas, seemingly not even hurt.

A tug at my consciousness made my vision go blank. A wave of nausea washed over me.

Kill Kill kill kill kill kill kill kill kill

A chant resounded in my head. My hands gripped the moist soil of the dungeon.

Flashes of memories.

Not mine... they seemed foreign yet so familiar.

A boy and a girl.

The girl kissing another boy.

The same girl stabbed by the other boy.

A splitting headache invaded me as I clutched my head. An incomprehensible anger filled my entire being.

I looked up, my vision stained red. All I saw was Lucas, gripping Luna by her neck threatening to set her on fire.

No...

Not again...

"Let me in", a hushed whisper, dipped in malice and vengeance spoke a voice in my ears as I felt myself fall into the foreign control of whoever said that.