Chapter 3

Floor 85.

Elzia's unconscious body laid in a near blackened room, dimly lit by a single large pulsing dark orb floating near the front of the area. It appeared to be magically connected to the walls, with black lightning-like beams on each side which held it in place. There was a woman inside, she didn't look to be awake at the time.

The room was about twenty-five square feet large and twenty square feet wide. The walls and flooring were made of stone. On the ground was a deep red pathway leading up to the orb, it was there, Elzia laid. Everywhere was ice cold without a hint of warmth. At the very end of the room was a giant wooden door, which at the time, was locked shut.

When she finally opened her eyes…

"Ugh…" The dust was all gone. And so were the tears. She rubbed the blur from her vision and looked around.

"...Where am I? What floor is this…?" All she remembered was looking at some books…then all of a sudden she got sucked into a wall. Anything else she might've experienced was all blank.

"Mmm…" Her eyes hurt though. Likely from the dust. She stood to her feet. That was when she noticed the orb at the end of the room…and the person inside it.

"Huh…?" She reached for her weapon, but realised that it was gone. Her spear had vanished. So she had no means of defending herself.

"That's bad…This is still the…dungeon…right…? What is that thing…"

Even though she was frightened, she decided to walk closer to it. Close enough to feel the pulsing electricity coming from the magic. It tingled her skin, the feeling reminded her of a shock from an electric socket back on Earth.

The orb was about twice Elzia's size. A strange kind of magical frequency was emitted from both the woman and the seal-she assumed. She thought it might have been a type of dark magic unknown to both the church and herself.

It was odd…very odd…She didn't expect something with such eeriness to exist here.

Just then, the woman's consciousness stirred. Elzia jumped back in response, once again reaching for her weapon to no avail. She panicked-but all the woman did when she awakened was look up at her with tired eyes.

"Who…are…you…?" She questioned. The woman was about Edith's height with flowing white hair reaching up to her ankles in length. She had an oval face and smooth white flawless skin-even whiter than the average human, which told her she definitely had to be a different species. Her light blue eyes were lifeless and dull, resembling that of a dead fish. On her head she wore two dark blue roses, one on each side. They both appeared to be crystallised and emitted an aged aura.

Her outfit consisted of a long black robe with lengthy sleeves and dark blue frills at the ends. It was opened, which revealed a plain white dress beneath. At her back were two large wings, one black and one white. Elzia couldn't tell whether or not she was part angel, part human, vampire, or demon.

Given the pale skin and lifeless eyes, she thought she could've been a vampire…but then she had those wings, which were both angel and demon wings. Perhaps all three? But such a feat was impossible even in this world. You either had to be a halfling or pure blood. She looked to be neither.

"I-I could be asking you the same thing! What the hell are you?! Why are you sealed away in the dungeon?!" Elzia shouted out at her. She took another step back-nearly tripping on the small flight of steps behind her.

"Who…am I…?" The woman's voice was quiet, feminine and almost inaudible, "I don't know…who am I…?" She curled up into a ball and pressed her face into her knees, almost appearing to sob.

This drove most of the fear out of Elzia's body, she was finally able to stand her ground.

"You…don't know who you are?"

She didn't respond.

"I see…then I'm assuming you don't know where we are either."

"Where…we are?" She looked at Elzia…then sadly shook her head, "I don't know…"

"How could you not know?! You're sealed up in here!" Elzia yelled at her. Then the woman shrunk back even more, seemingly fearful of her.

"I don't know…I don't know…I'm sorry…I don't know…" She tightened the grip she had around her knees even more, then pressed her entire face into them, "...I don't remember anything…why am I here…?"

"I-I'm sorry…I overreacted…that's fine…" Elzia had gone too far with her shouting.

Next, she tried introducing herself to the strange woman,

"M-My name is Elzia Myars. I work for the church of the Creator God Amaterasu. Nice to meet you."

The woman raised her head at her after hearing those words. Strangely enough, this appeared to have caused a reaction from within her, as the aura around her suddenly grew even darker than it was before.

"The church…?"

"Y-Yeah…ahaha…" Elzia took a step back in fear, "...Do you know it?"

"The church…" She pressed her face into her legs for a third time, hiding her mouth in the process,

"...The church was the one who sealed me away…I hate them…"

"The church did?" That shocked her. She was about to press her for more information, but the energy around the girl eventually got too heavy for Elzia to handle. She ended up backing up again, this time with her mouth twisting up in fear.

"Mhm…" The girl nodded, "...They locked me up after stealing me from my home and beating me…I hate them."

"They…" Elzia rapidly shook her head in denial, "...They couldn't have done that! The church is such a peaceful place…they would never do something like that!" Although considering her situation…it seemed like a very likely happening. Elzia's words caused the woman's aura to darken even more. Soon, Elzia found herself suffocating within it.

The girl finally came out of her foetal position and stood up inside of the orb. She continued staring at Elzia with a completely emotionless expression.

"Go away. I hate you. I will kill you if you don't leave me alone."

"Kill me…?"

"Go away. I hate you. I will kill you if you don't leave me alone." She repeated her exact words. This time, she raised an arm and aimed her palm directly toward the girl, "Go away. I will kill you if you don't leave now."

"But I…" 'I can't leave…I don't know how to…just what did the church do to her?'

Her heart started pounding in her chest as fear overtook her entire being. Her legs felt heavy enough to almost pin her to the ground. Just barely, was Elzia able to back away from her.

"B-but I…I don't know how to leave here…I-I was in the library on floor 32 when a-all of a sudden I-"

"Leave." Visible streaks of dark blue started gathering at the palm of her hands. Then it turned orange and resembled fire. Then purple and resembled lightning. Elzia knew if she didn't leave soon…she really was going to die.

"Nnn…" She tried to back up, but tripped and collapsed onto the ground. Then she crawled back, forgetting about the small stairs and fell even further down, hitting the back of her head in the process.

"...Owww…Hic…" Tears rapidly formed in her eyes as her vision blurred. The air rapidly started heating up, bringing beads of sweat to her face and forehead.

She didn't even try to get back up while she stared straight at the woman, who then shot daggers straight at her.

"Please…"

"Die now."

At that exact moment, a giant electro ball of mana shot out of her hand and barreled straight toward Elzia…and Elzia faded into the ground, just barely dodging the attack. She vanished into thin air.

***

Floor 82.

With such terrible pains overflowing in his body, it was obvious a massive change was about to take place. Here lay Edith, with his contract spirit directly beside him in her humanised form. But something about him changed.

His long straight hair was combed to the side and spiked up at the front, it was then coloured a deep blue, along with his eyes changing into a pulsing neon-blue and slightly shrinking in size. His iris was more narrowed and resembled that of a snake while his height increased by about five inches. As for his wounds, he was still missing an arm, but the remainder of his injuries were fully healed, even the open wounds, which were previously revealing his insides, were sealed up.

By absorbing the serpent's core, he grew more than he would've ever grown if he remained by the church.

His consciousness stirred, along with Aya's. When they both opened their eyes, they groaned, Edith letting out a soft yawn. The first thing he did was sit up and look around. His memories were hazy. He remembered falling unconscious after destroying the serpent's core…and something about being eaten alive from the inside. He looked at himself and saw that the only injury he had was his left arm, which was sliced off.

"I'm alive?" He asked himself. Then he noticed his voice. It was deeper and more masculine than before. He thought he'd freak out, but he was as calm as ever.

"I see…So I've grown." He touched his hair…it was smoother, squishier, and silkier. Almost like a spider's web. He noticed the blue pigment added to it and kept a collected expression, "This is the new me…" Following, he heard a soft feminine voice sound out from right beside him. He looked over.

"Aya?" He inquired. He neared the girl and instinctively put a hand on her cheeks then squished. It was soft to the touch with an added feeling of comfort.

"Edith?" She rubbed her eyes. She must've been dreaming. Neither of them knew why they were separated, she only assumed that it was because of his levelling up, "Why are you touching my face? I do not recall allowing you to do such

a thing."

"It's fine, isn't it? Don't pretend that you don't like it. I can see the blush." He released her cheek then gave her a slight poke on the forehead. She reeled back a bit with an immediate blush on her cheeks. He giggled and shut his eyes before heaving a sigh and taking his hand away,

"Looks like you're finally outside my body."

"Yes. It seems that way. I am thinking it is due to your levelling up that we are now separated." She stretched out her arms over her head, "It feels wonderful to finally be free." Next, she eyed him, "Your appearance has been altered. You are taller, your hair is now blue, your eyes are like a snake's, and you appear more mature."

"Yeah. I know. Old me would be freaking out right now. But I'm as calm as ever." He replied. And she nodded.

"Are you aware of the process used to check your level?"

"Yes. Just gimme a minute…"

Edith held his hand out with his palm facing upward. He focused his mana on his own person, then quickly, a small black screen formed. It showed everything an adventurer needed to know about oneself, which was:

Name: Edith Myars

Species: Human

Level: 54/999

Strength: 700/9999

Mana: 600/9999

Health: 550/9999

Class: Swordsman, Spirit User

State: Normal

Abilities: Double Mind, Quick Learner, Ancient Language Mastery, Sword Craft Level 5, Magic Level 7, Quick Feet, Intimidation.

When Edith saw his status, his jaw dropped open. Previously it was barely anything, but now...he was more than three times stronger than the hero-and he was finally capable of using magic!

"Holy shit, is this really mine?" He looked over it all again and still couldn't believe it.

"Yes." Aya nodded at him, satisfied with his growth, "The serpent was a level 100 monster. By destroying its core, you not only gained half of its levels, but also some of its skills. Be proud of yourself, Edith." She neared the boy and gave him a tap on his shoulder, "I am proud of you."

"Level 100…" Previously, level him killing level 100 monsters seemed impossible in his mind. But with Aya by his side...it all seemed anything but impossible. He looked in her direction with tears of joy welling within his now shrunken blue eyes and happily nodded,

"...Come on, we've got no time to waste. Let's get to the deeper floors."

"Are you certain you do not require a break, Edith?"

"Yes. I'm feeling better than ever right now."

"I understand." Aya got to her feet. She scanned the area for any exits. The only one was in the direction from whence they came.

"We must climb that pillar to get to floor 83. Are you ready? I cannot aid you with this."

"Don't worry about me. I'll manage." He too, stood up, "Let's just hurry."

"As you wish."

***

"…"

Elzia tried wrapping her head around what had just happened. She didn't understand anything. Nothing about that girl, nothing about what she said, nor anything about the teleportation which brought her down there in the first place. All she knew was that she nearly died. She was frozen on the spot with buckets of tears flowing down her face.

Kathlyn was the first to notice her, followed by Susan, Robert, Julieaus, then the remainder of the party. They were about to near her when they saw her panicked expression.

"E-Elzia?" Kathlyn timidly called out, "A-are you okay?!"

No response.

"Elzia? Just where did you go? You were gone for almost a full day!" Robert exclaimed. But she still showed no signs of replying.

"Elzia?" Susan went close to her and crouched down. She placed a hand on her shoulders and shook her. Just then, did she respond by slapping her hand away and jumping back. Everyone was startled by her sudden movement. When Elzia realised who it was, she heaved a long sigh of relief.

"I-I'm sorry...just...don't startle me like that." She replied, "I'm back…"

"Good. We were worried." Julieaus said, "Just where did you go? What happened?"

"I-I don't know…" He went close to her and helped her to her feet. Then Kathlyn ran up and hugged her, squeezing her harder than she was prepared for.

"We were so worried! Don't ever disappear like that again! Especially in this dungeon! Don't you ever do that again!" She barked at her with tears streaking down her face.

"…" Elzia was still mad at her...but she was a bit more tolerant after that experience…

She explained everything that transpired to the party. As expected, none of them had ever heard of someone being sealed away on the deeper floors. But they all thought it was for a good reason. In their minds, if the church sealed someone away, it was for the good of humanity. That was what Elzia thought as well, but she was much more skeptical about it. She recalled the girl saying something about the church 'stealing (her) from (her) home and beating (her).'

Mentioning it to the others proved to be a worthless action, as none of them believed it actually happened. However, they were curious about this woman.

"Do you think Pope Ornild might know something about this woman?" Robert voiced his thoughts.

"Probably not. It looks like she has been down there for a long time. Longer than any of us have even been alive if she's capable of using magic like that. I doubt anyone nowadays can even manage to form such a powerful ball of mana, let alone conjure up that dark seal which was most likely a form of Ancient Magic." Elzia spoke up, "If we want to find out more, we will need someone capable of reading the ancient language."

"If only Edith was here then…" Susan said, "...Reading these things would be a breeze for him."

"Yeah, but he's not. We'll have to make do with what God has given us." Julieaus remarked, "If we cannot find this lady, and if the church prohibits us from ever even searching for her, then we must obey them and cease our efforts."

"That's understandable." Kathlyn said, "It's not like she's going anywhere anytime soon anyway."

"Yeah but what if she does? She could pose a threat to us all if she's released." Elzia added, "She seems to particularly hate the church as well. As soon as I brought it up, she tried to kill me. If it weren't for the teleportation activating when it did, I would be dead right now."

"That's scary to think about…" Kathlyn said, her face drooping into a frown, "...If she hates you then it wouldn't be wise to go there at all!"

"Kathlyn's right." Susan mouthed, "Let's just continue on until floor 40 then head back...and hope that there aren't any more surprises like that."

Elzia agreed with her with a smile,

"Have you all found an exit yet?"

"Yes. Robert found a way to open up a hidden passage which leads to floor 33. Let us go." Julieaus pointed to the end of the room, where the wall seemed to have opened up. That was a relief-the thought of being trapped down there gave Elzia an upset stomach.

***

Floor 85.

Climbing the pillar was no easy feat for Edith, who had never climbed anything else in his lifetime than a ladder and monkey bars back on Earth. Slipping multiple times, it was all thanks to Aya catching him that he was even alive. It was embarrassing, but it was what it was and he wasn't in any mind to complain about being saved by a girl.

The monsters so far had all been high levelled, with the highest one being level 90. They weren't at all easy. However, Edith and Aya killed them all and continued to level up. Currently, he was on level 247 with all his stats being above 900 except for his health, which was 700. He had the strength to kill one of those serpents with ease.

Aya used her bare hands to fight whereas Edith utilised her dagger. He was worried she'd get hurt, but after seeing how easily she defended herself like that all his worries were washed away.

The duo arrived at a giant golden door with odd engravings on them. They didn't appear to be defended by anything, though Edith sensed two powerful monsters nearby. They were in an enclosed space with barely any room for battle. The walls formed a small circle only thirty metres wide while the ceiling was only twenty metres high. He couldn't see how he could fight anything with these conditions.

"I'll inspect the door. You look out for any monsters." He told Aya. Aya obeyed him and guarded his rear.

Looking more closely, he recognised the writing to be the Ancient Language. It read: "ኲኑኪ ካሃየህኑኲኪጣ ጤሢ ኲኑኪ ኪየሀኒ ህጤካ ኒሀኪኴ የየሀኲኑሀኡ. ኡጤኡኪ ኳየኴኲ ቧጣኪሃጣ ኑኪጣ ኴኪሃኒ, ኒኪኴኲ ኴኑኪ የየሀኒኒ የየጣኪሃጣ ኑሃየጤሣ የጢጤኡ የኴ ሃኒኒ ሃኡካ ቧጣሀኡህ ካኪሃኲኑ ኲጤ ሃኒኒ ጤሢ ኲኑኪ ኲጣሃኡኴሣኪኡካኪካ ጣሃሣኪ ጤሢ ኑየኳሃኡሀኲኚ."

Translating this, it read, "The daughter of the Evil God lies within. None must break her seal, lest she will wreak havoc upon us all and bring death to all of the transcended race of humanity."

"Daughter of...the Evil God?" Edith read the letters again, "Why would the daughter be...here…?"

"Have you found something, Edith?" Aya approached and saw the language written on the door, "The Ancient Language?"

"Yes. Can you read it?"

"Of course. It is interesting how a human like you can understand such things."

"I don't know how, but I do." He replied, "Why would the Evil God's daughter be sealed up in here?"

"Nnn…" Aya seemed to have a reaction to this. Remaining silent for more than a few seconds, she said nothing as she went up to the door and kicked it's golden frame. Nothing happened. She did it again with even more force. This time, it seemed to have been opened slightly, though in the process, clouds of dust flew onto their faces. Thankfully, they saw this coming and looked away.

"OPEN ALREADY!" Aya screamed out, "OPEN, DAMMIT! MMRAH!" She continued to relentlessly bang on the doors until Edith held onto her shoulders, terribly concerned,

"Whoa, calm down, Aya! What's going on?!"

"Haah...haaah…" She ceased. She was out of breath. She managed to speak in short sentences, "...The Evil God's daughter…CANNOT BE SEALED AWAY IN SUCH A PLACE! WE MUST...BREAK HER OUT!"

"W-we don't even know whether or not this is true! Save your strength! We'll find a way in here without breaking through!"

"BUT-"

Just then, there was a world-splitting roar from behind them. The noise startled them both, but they swiftly got into battle formation.

"A monster!"

"Get ready!"

Edith seriously couldn't see how he was to fight in such an enclosed space, so he was more nervous than before about the beast which was about to show itself. He tightened the grip on his dagger even more when its massive footsteps approached.

The beast was just small enough in size to fit inside the room. It's skin appeared as black as coal and as hard as volcanic rock. It's breath was leaking fire as it stared at Edith and Aya with its pure black eyes and wide open mouth. On its forehead was a single giant spiked horn, which spanned about fifty centimetres in length. As for its body, it was about the shape of a lion's but with thousands of times more muscle and more than twenty times its size. It was called Behemoth back in Edith's world, commonly seen in fantasy-fiction. He never thought he'd actually be fighting one of those.

"I know this monster...I've seen it back in my world in fiction."

"I understand. But this is reality, Edith. Do not let it get the jump on you! These things have a special ability where it rains down fire on the opponent if its cornered, so we must kill it quickly!"

"A-Are you serious?!" Edith shot a scared-out-of-his-wits look toward Aya, who didn't even glance at him in response, "I'll take that as a yes...shit…"

He had to kill that thing quickly...but how…? Its core must've been in its forehead...but just how was he going to get to it? His goal was to cut off the horn then go straight for the head afterwards. That was what he wished to do. He only knew ice-based, lightning-based and earth-based magics at the time. The scales looked like they repelled any elemental magics aimed for it, but Earth-based magics should be able to corner it-and then he would move in for the kill. That was what he planned, but it was much easier said than done.

"Cover me. I have a plan!" He commanded to Aya, then Aya swiftly nodded,

"Yes!"

Aya swooped in from above and plummeted down, landing a heavy attack straight onto its back. It screamed out in a giant roar and abruptly leaned over to the side, but the force was just enough to send it straight to the ground. Its four legs were all flattened.

"RRRRRROOOOOAAAAAARRRRRRR!" At that exact moment, Edith held out his hand and channelled mana into his fingertips. Then he slammed it to the ground and focused on the rock beneath him.

"Come on….come on..." The rock started to move in waves toward the beast. When Aya got to a safe distance, it all shot into the air and banged into the Behemoth's legs-causing it to once again shriek at the top of its lungs. From there, it locked it to the ground so tightly that it couldn't break free.

It was at this moment that its horn started to light up.

"Nnn...EDITH! CUT THE HORN OFF!" Aya yelled out, Edith vigorously bobbed his head.

"MMMMRAAAAAHHH!" Sprinting up to the monster, he sliced at the horn, cutting the bottom of it by only a small amount.

"HAAAAAAHHHH!" He did it again-this time a noticeable cut was made. A third, forth and fifth time, the horn was almost out.

Just when he was about to make the final attack, Aya darted up to him and tacked him out of the way.

"LOOK OUT!"

"OOF-"

The Behemoth, despite being unable to escape, thrust its horn upwards with another deafening shout, then hundreds of tiny red magic circles formed above them all. Aya instantly noticed it as the Behemoth's fire attack.

"This is bad...Quickly, I'll shield us!"

"R-right!" He remained in place with Aya directly above him. She focused her mana on the best defense magic she could muster, and a transparent white shield formed just above her back-which was big enough to cover them both.

"Brace yourself…" She muttered.

Edith had never seen anything like this before. Right before his eyes, thousands of fireballs rained down from above. The impact shook the ground beneath them more than anything else he'd ever experienced. The shield held bounced them all off, but this caused them to fall directly next to him which heated up the ground. The temperature of the fireballs hitting the stone, coupled with that, made the rock hotter than Edith's body could normally handle.

"Nnrng…" It felt like his body was being drowned in a sea of lava, the fire slowly burning away at the exposed flesh at his back. His tear filled eyes glanced toward his contract spirit who was going through much more strain than he was. Her face was crumbled up with a strained expression as her eyes were tightly shut and her teeth grinding together. Her body was covered with sweat from head to toe. She suddenly groaned, he knew she was running out of mana.

'Seriously...how long is this fucking fire attack…?' He wished for it to end soon-both of them couldn't handle much more.

The fire seemed to melt away the rock which bound it to the ground, creating a puddle of lava just on both sides of the beast. It's body had changed from a pitch blankness to a fiery red as soon as the attack ended. Aya fell onto Edith's chest. Her temperature was through the roof. Clearly, she was in no condition to fight at all.

"Haah...haah...haah...haaah...I-I'm sorry I...cannot fight...anymore…"

"Nnrng...Don't sweat it." Edith smiled at her and gently rubbed her hair, "You did well."

"Thank...you…"

At that moment, she lost consciousness, which left Edith alone to face the raging Behemoth.

He laid Aya's body down in a safe corner of the room and stood face to face with the monster. With his dagger at the ready, he launched himself straight for the horn. Knowing that earth magic would just result in another fire barrage, he decided to just go on the offensive with physical attacks.

The heat in the room started to get to him. The ground had patches of molten rock all over the place and the Behemoth's red skin was emitting an intense heat. It wouldn't be long until Edith's body gave away.

"MMMRAAAAHH!" He aimed straight at the spot he previously attacked-the Behemoth read his movements and knocked the boy with his head away-causing him to slam straight into the walls and fall to the ground, just inches away from a small patch of molten rock.

"Aah...AAH…." The heat coupled with the pain made him wince. But he forced himself back up, "...If only...I knew some...fucking healing spells!" He dragged himself forward once again and decided to go for a different strategy.

Distracting it seems like a good idea. He conjured up some electricity into his hands and shot a bolt of lightning straight to the Behemoth's horn. It landed with a giant spark that would've killed any human right there-but a shield appeared and completely deflected the attack, sending it straight back to Edith. He sidestepped out of the way and saw that distractions cannot work against it.

His only choice was to keep attacking physically until its horn was gone.

"Shit…" His body wouldn't hold out at all. He had to kill this thing soon...His eyes fell onto the walls-he could try using those to give himself more momentum then attempt to crush the Behemoth's back to the ground like Aya did. He didn't have nearly as much strength as she did, but it was worth a shot.

He jumped up and set his feet against the wall. From there he lowered his knees and kicked himself forward-which sent him high into the air directly above its back. The Behemoth roared and neon-blue magic circles formed directly above his body-Edith recognised them as the circles used for electricity. 'So he's going to just fry me to death, huh?'

He took note of them, but plummeted himself down onto its back, elbowing it in the spine. The Behemoth yelled out in pain and didn't fall flat-but its legs shook as it tried to regain its balance. Edith didn't waste any time to scale its body until it reached the horn and gave it one big swipe-

"HERE IT GOES!" And the horn went clean off! Just then, dozens of bolts of lightning aimed straight for him came shooting down from above. Beneath the horn was the core-so Edith shoved his dagger into it and instantly shattered its metal body. Exactly as he did, the bolts went straight straight through his body, frying him from both the inside and out.

The entire room went up in flames and blinding blue light just as he screamed out-and an immense banging sound was made as the bolts struck both him and the Behemoth's body at the same time. The noise of flesh exploding to bits and both monster and human blood splattering around filled the entire atmosphere. It wasn't long before the whole area was filled with red and green blood.

***

Normally, the individual's body would've been completely destroyed, blown up or burnt to a crisp. All thanks to the core being absorbed into his body was he even still alive. When he opened his eyes, he sensed that his head was laid onto something squishy, soft at the same time.

"Ugh…" His wounds were all healed. The temperature of the room had finally been decreased to levels he could withstand. Looking just above him after he wiped the blurry from his eyes, he saw Aya's face looking down at him with her natural indifferent look.

"You've awakened. Welcome back, Edith."

"Can't say whether or not its good to be back. Is the Behemoth dead?"

"Yes. You killed it just before the thunder shot down. Only thanks to the core being destroyed, did you survive."

"Wow…" 'I just barely survived then…' He was thankful he was still alive. Since the monster was dead, they could continue on. Then something struck him.

"Wait…" He said, "...but I sensed two powerful monsters. Why was there only one?"

"I am baffled as well. Perhaps the next one is through the door."

"Nnn…" He didn't want to fight another one of those things...The lava, the fire, and the massive strength level of the beast was deadly irritating. If he had to though, he would, and he would destroy it. He sat up from Aya's lap and looked over to the door. Aya went beside him and did as well.

"...We'll just have to find out. Aya, help me open the door."

"Yes."

Opening the door was even more of a chore. The pure gold made it nearly impossible for them both to push. Just trying to push it made Edith feel like his bones were breaking-not even if his life depended on it, could he understand how Aya banged against it like it was nothing earlier.

Mainly thanks to her efforts, did they make it through. And the room they next found themselves in nearly made them fall speechless.

It was a near blackened room, dimly lit by a single large pulsing dark orb floating near the front of the area. It appeared to be magically connected to the walls, with black lightning-like beams on each side which held it in place. There was a woman inside, she didn't look to be awake at the time.

The room was about twenty-five square feet large and twenty square feet wide. The walls and flooring were made of stone. On the ground was a deep red pathway leading up to the . Everywhere was ice cold without a hint of warmth. At the very end of the room was a giant golden door from which the duo went through.

The woman in the orb was about Edith's height with flowing white hair reaching up to her ankles in length. She had an oval face and smooth white flawless skin-even whiter than the average human, which told her she definitely had to be a different species. Her light blue eyes were lifeless and dull, resembling that of a dead fish. On her head she wore two dark blue roses, one on each side. They both appeared to be crystallised and emitted an aged aura.

Her outfit consisted of a long black robe with lengthy sleeves and dark blue frills at the ends. It was opened, which revealed a plain white dress beneath. At her back were two large wings, one black and one white. The girl...Edith knew she had to be the Evil God's daughter, which must've meant she was a demi-god. Or even a full-blooded deity in the flesh. Although if she was, how did she find herself captured and put into confinement by the church? Amaterasu must've played a part. Except if that foolish God did, why wasn't she dead? Did the church need her for something? These questions ran through Edith's head as he stared in her direction. She was sleeping-or maybe even unconscious at the time. That didn't stop him from slowly approaching with Aya by his side.

When they were close enough, Edith reached his hand out to touch the elements keeping her confined, which he recognised as a mixture of electricity and dark magic. They pulsed and were attracted to his fingers, sending a slight shock throughout his body. Thanks to this, he knew he had the power to absorb this and release her.

"I'm going to set her free. Watch my back, Aya."

"Yes Edith. But be careful. This magic is not from this time period." She solemnly responded.

"What do you mean?" He eyed her curiously. She kept her eyes on the girl as she spoke. Her face spoke a thousand words about how she felt about all this.

"The magic used to seal her away is a form of Ancient Magic which was last used about one thousand years ago during the war between the two sides. The only ones capable of using it were priests chosen by Amaterasu or Amaterasu's chosen servants. I believe it was the church who captured this girl and sealed her away, as it would've meant that the Evil God would've been forced to retreat or surrender."

"I see…" Edith was more shocked that she even knew this much. He never heard anything about a war 1000 years ago from the church, "...Why do you know so much about this?"

"…" She gave him a slow nod, "...Because I myself fought in this war on the Evil God's side."

"…?"

"And the reason I was so insistent on breaking her out earlier is because the Evil God's daughter was my friend. The first friend I ever made. Her name is Nimue. She is the true daughter of the Evil God which the church is so desperately fighting against."

Edith needed a few seconds to process everything. First of all, his contract spirit claims to be an actual fighter from the war between the Evil God and the church from one thousand years ago. And secondly, the girl who was sealed off inside the Ancient Magic was the true daughter of the deity, someone who definitely had nearly as much-or was even equal to the power of an actual God or Goddess. If the church and Amaterasu was able to seal her away like this, this gave Edith a WHOLE new perspective on the power of the political entity he used to work for before he was betrayed.

These were things he was least concerned about-He was even more shocked to hear that Aya was someone from one thousand years ago. He did his best to hold in his urge to go all, 'EHHHHHHHHHH,' on her, but it was increasingly difficult to.

"Um…" He ended up saying, "...So uhh...you are...how did...um…" He found himself at a complete loss for words. He was too shocked to speak at all. Aya ended up chuckling at this,

"Your surprise is understandable. But yes, I am someone from one thousand years ago. You must've had your suspicious about me when I told you about the cores, did you not? And when you saw how much I knew about the monsters and how physically powerful I am despite my feeble appearance?" Then she turned to face him, "You must have, did you not?"

"…" He felt stupid at that moment. He didn't think about any of these things! He was just continuously in awe at her power. He just assumed she knew about all this because he thought she was a spirit. He didn't even think about the possibility of her being someone who worked for the Evil God's army before.

"...I did not. Of course I was curious about how you knew all this...but I just ended up assuming it was because you were a spirit. And the church said spirits are beings who possessed a great amount of knowledge, more than any mortal could ever have. So I just thought you were one of them. That explained most of what I was confused about I guess…"

She remained silent. Slightly glaring at him from behind her emotionless face. She didn't know whether she should've been offended, dumbfounded or just both. Then again, she knew that the basic knowledge of mortals in the present was much less than it used to be. Even the magic was weaker, and the physical strength of the average individual was also much, much less. Nevertheless, she found it fitting to throw an insult his way for lumping her in with what the church-their common enemy-defined as a spirit.

"Do you suffer from a lack of wisdom, Edith? Or has your brain been so heavily injured by the fall that you currently possess a learning disability? Answer me this, Edith." She said this with a straight face, though Edith sensed partial rage behind her ever-so-neutral face.

He thought about it for a few seconds...then his eyes shot open.

"Did...did you just...indirectly call me stupid?" He questioned.

"If the term 'stupid' is defined as a lack of general knowledge or having a learning disability, then yes, I did call you...'stupid.'"

"I see." He ignored that and faced the seal once more, "We'll continue this later. Just watch my back while I revoke this."

"Yes Edith."

He focused his mind on absorbing the seal used to keep her captive. First actually feeling the type of mana used, then trying to form a link between him and said magic. It proved to be difficult for him, but thanks to the experience he'd gained, he was successful without completely draining his strength. Finally, he visualised the mana flowing into his body.

A thick and icky stream of black started to form between him and the seal. But just before he sucked it in, the girl seemed to stir. This caused him to lose concentration and immediately glance toward her. She was curled up into a ball at the time, slowly raising her head to look at both him and Aya. When Aya saw this, she took a step back with a gulp and a sudden pain entered the pit of her stomach. She hid behind Edith and held onto his shoulders.

"Nnn...Don't mind me, Edith." Aya spoke. Edith nodded,

"Alright." He didn't want to question her on the topic.

They both went even closer to the ancient magic.

The girl's emotionless gaze was fixated on them.

"Mm…"

"You're finally awake." Edith broke the ice and offered her a friendly smile, "My name is Edith Myars, just call me Edith. I'm a spirit user. And this is Aya, she is my contracted spirit."

Aya revealed herself from behind Edith's back and maintained a stern gaze. She lightly bowed before introducing herself,

"I am Aya. I do not know whether I should say 'a pleasure to make your acquaintance' or 'it is an honour to see you again.'" Then she stood back up, "Do you remember me, daughter of the Evil God?"

"Rem...em..ber...you…?" The girl tilted her head, somewhat confused, "I don't know."

"I see." Aya was expecting this, "So the seal must've also sealed away your memories."

"My memories?" She shook her head, "I don't know. But you are Edith and Aya. I remembered that."

"Well, we just told you our names so of course you did." Edith replied, "Do you remember anything else?"

"Mm…" She was silent for a few moments, "...I don't know. But the church was the one who put me here...they stole me away from my home and beat me. I hate them."

"They did, huh…" Edith's blood started to boil as soon as he rendered those words, "...I hate the church to. They betrayed me and left me for dead so I'm getting my revenge. Do you want to have your revenge to?"

"Revenge?" She once again tilted her head, "I don't know. But if it means destroying the church, then I do. I do want… 'revenge'!"

"Good." He grinned, "Then I'm breaking you out. Just hold still." He put his hand straight onto the seal and immediately focused on absorbing it into his body, "Nnn…" The mana promptly started entering him. Thankfully it didn't hurt like he thought it would...but the sensation made him feel like his arm was being submerged into a bucket of ice water. It was absolutely freezing, so much that it started to send ice cold shivers down his spine.

Then his vision started to get woozy. It was tough for him to maintain his balance and properly see. Aya went behind him and held onto his shoulders after noticing.

"Do not push yourself too hard, Edith."

"Nnrng…" He barely even heard her say this. Despite it all, he didn't suffer a headache, as if this method of releasing the seal was intended from the start.

Immediately after the seal was broken, an ear-splitting shattering noise emerged and a giant rumble sounded from within the dungeon. It was so loud that both him and Aya were forced to cover their ears. Edith collapsed to his feet and grind his teeth together as the noise was too much for him to handle.

"Ahh...AAAAHH…" Then promptly, a wave of intensely powerful mana spewed out of the unknown girl's body. Edith and Aya had to reel back, otherwise it was clear they were going to be damaged.

They both took more than few steps back while focusing on the girl. She seemed to have hovered to the ground as she stood on her feet.

The load was starting to be too much for Edith's human body to bear. Blood started pouring out his nose, mouth and eyes and streaked onto the ground. The pain in his head was more than enough to cause his vision to blur. He was barely even able to see the heavy dark aura surrounding the girl at that moment. All he hoped was that no one from the outside was able to feel such a powerful presence appear inside of the dungeon.

To him, it was no wonder whoever sealed her off inside her warned them not to release the seal...because obviously, she had enough power to wipe out an entire nation, or even more than that.

"AHHH…" He felt like the air itself was pressing him down as he was just barely able to stand on his own two feet. Tornado-like gusts of wind emitted from the girl's aura, which almost blew him away. He willed himself to move forward despite Aya's pleas not to and found himself just mere inches away from her. Although the closer he got, the more skin was blown off of his already-damaged flesh. His shirt and cloak were pretty much destroyed by now, which made the skin on his chest tear off, bringing little drops of red to streak down.

He instantly grabbed onto her shoulders and glared straight at her face as bits and pieces of his own rapidly peeled away.

"TURN IT OFF! DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHAT YOU'RE DOING?! CONCEAL YOUR MANA! THIS IS TOO MUCH FOR US!"

"Hm." The girl looked him in the eyes, "Conceal my...mana?" She calmly questioned, "How do I do that?"

"I-I DON'T KNOW! JUST…" He repeatedly glanced around her. Just then, he noticed a dark blue bracelet at her feet. He stooped down to pick it up then grabbed her right arm, "...PUT THIS ON!"

"A...bracelet…?" She was about to ask why, but he shook his head,

"JUST DO IT!"

"Sure." She did as he said. And all the winds stopped, along with the rumbling of the dungeon. Everything became silent to a nearly eerie degree. It took him a few moments to process everything.

But as it turns out, his body was in too rough of a state to continue on. He ended up falling forward onto the girl's shoulder, losing consciousness all the same.

***

"W-w-what was that?!"

"B-Bwaaaah!!"

"H-Holy shit…"

"…"

Floor 39.

The party of 8, with the guidance of the Hero, Julieaus, maneuvered through floors 33 to 39 with ease. They felt like, well, other than Elzia, as long as Julieaus was with them, they could go through anything. It all shattered the moment a humongous, deafening roar erupted from within the dungeon, along with a sudden burst of mana overwhelming them all. Each one of them were pushed to the ground, feeling like a magnetic force was pulling them into the floors. They all screamed, except for Julieaus, who despite his fear, remained resilient.

Everyone's skin was peeling off bit by bit. They suffered losses on their faces, chests, backs, stomachs and even arms and legs. A small puddle of blood formed beneath all of them. And the constant shouting made their ears and noses bleed. Their heads felt like they were being compressed between two heavy metal objects, bringing on a splitting headache.

When it all finally stopped, they were out of breath. Gasping for air, tears pouring down their faces. Only Julieaus and Elzia were able to stand to their feet.

"Is everybody okay?!" Putting on a brave front, Elzia scanned each and every one of them. Skin on her face had been peeled off, along with her legs suffering from light bleeding cuts. She was already used to pain so it didn't bother her much. Though the headache and nose bleeds were still strong. It would take a while before it dissipates.

Julieaus went to her side and assisted, also checking on his party members.

"What the hell was that?!" Susan shouted out. She was completely frozen, sitting in a fetal position on the cold rocky floor, "Th-that couldn't have been any ordinary monster! Julieaus what was that?!"

"F-Fear not! No matter what happens, we WILL make it to floor 41! Whatever that was, if it shows up, we will strike it down!" He shouted out at the top of his lungs in an attempt to calm everyone down. This time it didn't work. They were all still in shock. Elzia and Julieaus were the only ones who weren't.

"Nnnn…" Julieaus knew that his usual inspirational shouts wouldn't work here. He turned to Elzia instead who wore a much stronger face than the rest of them.

"...Why are you the only one who is not scared, Elzia?"

She looked at him as if he was an idiot,

"What are you, stupid? I just lost my elder brother, this is nothing to me." She nonchalantly responded. Julieaus got that…

"Right...my apologies." He said. Julieaus turned around and faced the dimly lit passageway they were previously going through,

"We rest here. I'll be on the lookout for any monsters. Elzia, you tend to the others."

"Sure…" 'Although I'd rather not take orders from you…' Elzia obeyed the Hero and started to tend to her teammates. Julieaus kept a sharp gaze on both sides of the area.

Soon, all of them were somewhat better. They had little to no healing magics due to a lack of focus caused by shock, so they had to make do with any bandages and medicine they had. Thankfully, they had enough supplies for everyone. But they were all depleted when they were finished.

"If anything like that happened again...we wouldn't be ready for it at all…" Kathlyn clung to Elzia's shoulders, sobbing silently. Her body shivered with each move, "...Elzia...what...what do you think that was…?"

"Hrm…" She had a good idea of what it might've been. But that was the worst case scenario. The lady who was sealed away…she could've sworn she felt her presence in that bulk of mana, "...I don't know. If anything, it must've been a monster from the lower floors. But how did it reach all the way up here…?" She was lying...but she didn't want to worry anyone. Luckily, Kathlyn bought it. She huddled even closer to Elzia, and her, despite the bad blood she had for the girl, couldn't help but feel bad.

Next, Julieaus went up to the group.

"Is everyone okay?"

"Overall, we're all fine…" Robert replied. He and Susan were having a similar conversation as Elzia and Kathlyn at the time-minus the closeness, "...But we're still in shock. And we're injured. I suggest we return to the church to inform Pope Ornild about our situation asap."

"I will not allow such a farce!" Julieaus immediately shot him down, "If we are to return now, we will not only be disobeying a direct order from the Pope, but we will also be displaying ourselves, God's chosen ones, as cowards! Do you not understand how foolish such a move will be? Or are you, Robert, truly a good-for-nothing coward? So cowardly that you will turn your tail and flee at the faintest sight of danger?"

"Okay, that's taking it too far." Everyone was shocked at the Hero's response. Elzia in particular, was set off. The words were more than enough to completely silence Robert, as he knew that once Julieaus had his mind set on something, he WILL see it through to the end. And even if he were to fight back, the Pope will punish him for his disobedience. That was something he feared. The person to argue back with Julieaus was Elzia, who stood to her feet and shot daggers straight at him.

"Don't you even care about your teammates, Julieaus? You saw how powerful the attack was, didn't you? How can you NOT want to turn back? You'd have to be fucking crazy to make us move forward with that thing on the loose!" She screamed at the top of her lungs. Julieaus wasn't expecting any arguments so he was taken aback by her sudden outburst-especially since this was Elzia, whom he trusted and even considered a close friend because of her resilience.

"Nnn…" He tightly clenched his fists together, then banged them into the dungeon's wall. He scowled in her direction with a grinding of his teeth, "...So what do you suggest we do, huh?! Lord God commanded that we must explore and vanquish this dungeon...I WILL NOT disobey him! As long as I am here...we WILL NOT PERISH! DO YOU NOT KNOW THAT I AM THE CHOSEN HERO, A PERSON STRONGER THAN ANY OTHER MORTAL BEING OF THIS WORLD! NO MONSTER SHALL STAND IN OUR WAY AS LONG AS-OOF-!"

"NN...YOU JERK!"

"!" Elzia slapped him across the face with all her might, causing some of his teeth to shatter and fall to the ground. The Hero's left eye was squished a little from inside the socket. Blood streaked down his face from his nose and dripped onto the ground. He stood there, stunned by what happened.

Elzia's eyes gathered tears as her hatred for the boy and even the rest of the party was starting to overflow her system. They all stared at her, speechless at the display.

She slowly lowered her arms to her side. Her body was quivering from a mixture of both intense sadness and rage. She didn't even make an attempt to look at the Hero at that point. She felt like he didn't deserve her gaze at all.

"You...you are saying this...yet you let Edith die…" She whispered, "...Liar. Hypocrite. Jerk. Bastard. You know you're just lying to yourself. If this God is even real...he really made a terrible decision to make an disgusting piece of shit like you the goddamn Hero of this fucked up reality…"

"Grr…" He was about to strike her when she out of the blue shot her eyes toward him then threw her arms away,

"You...YOU'RE THE ONE WHO KILLED EDITH! MY ELDER BROTHER! YOU KILLED HIM! YOU PSYCHO! YOU KILLED HIM AND ENJOYED EVERY SECOND OF IT! HOW DARE YOU! HOW COULD YOU?! YOUR OWN CLASSMATE...AND MY ELDER BROTHER!"

"…!" The Hero was immediately put on the defensive. He couldn't see how Elzia could've ever known about his vicious act of Edith's murder. The others all stood to their feet, Kathlyn staring in disbelief, about to burst into tears.

"YOU...YOU LIAR! HOW DARE YOU...HOW DARE YOU?! DON'T YOU DARE SAY THAT YOU HAD NO PART IN IT! YOU KILLED HIM...You killed him...on that cliff...above that ravine…You killed my elder brother and you enjoyed it...*sob**sob**sob* You killed him…" Eventually, Elzia was in tears. Julieaus stood wordless in front of everyone. He saw no harm in denying his involvement...though Elzia would just call him out for it again. So instead, he remained silent as everything took place.

"Julieaus is...is this true?" Susan soon spoke up. She didn't care much about Edith in the slightest...but she had to know the truth, "Did you really...murder poor Edith?"

"I-I want to know as well…" Robert added, "...I'm sure the rest of us, Kathlyn especially, would want hear the truth to."

"Hrm…" He still didn't say a word to them. Then Elzia once again spoke up, this time, with a defeated look in her little yellow eyes,

"You know what…" She took up her sword and threw it onto the ground. It landed with an audible metallic thud, "...I'm done being the church's and this foolish God's slave. I'm done being part of this fucking blood bath. I'm leaving, and you're never going to see me again. None of you! I don't even care if you hunt me down, you can fucking massacre me and feed my remains to the wolves for all I care!" She then turned her back on the Hero and started to walk away. But Kathlyn stopped her by grabbing hold of her leg.

"N-no! Elzia please, don't leave us! PLEASE! I-I've already lost Edith, I-I don't wanna lose you to! Please, don't go!"

"…" Panicked and filled with tears, Kathlyn desperately tried to prevent Elzia from leaving...only to be met with her forcing her grip to become loose...followed by kicking her hard on her chin. The impact wasn't enough to break anything, just enough to send her collapsing backwards.

"I don't care anymore." Elzia said in response, "You never even cared about him in the first place."

"Th-that's not true!" Kathlyn still got up and argued, "I told you I loved him, didn't I?! That's not true at all!"

"If its not true...then why have you been ignoring him all this time? Why have you been around Julieaus so much since Edith was murdered?" She replied. Kathlyn was at a loss for words. All the colour seemed to have been drained from her face when she heard this, "I even told you that Julieaus could've murdered him...but you just shrugged it off immediately, not even taking it into consideration one bit. If you truly loved him...that surely is some way to show it."

"N-no I…"

"Shove it. I don't care anymore. I hope you and this fucking murderer have a nice life together."

"E-Elzia I…"

Without even saying goodbye, Elzia left the area. Unarmed, uncaring, and ready to die. She wasn't just ready...she craved death, after losing the person closest to her heart. Kathlyn cried out for her, but not even she had enough influence to bring her back.

The party had not only lost one, but two, and possibly more, members in the span of a few days. And with all eyes now on the Hero, things were bound to have even more issues. Especially because of Kathlyn's now ruined mental state.