Finn briefed Dame Nora about their plans and gave her the same task as Deon. They were to work in tandem to protect Finn while he casts his spells and fights in turns whenever they encounter isolated ants.
Deon had worried whether it was really okay for Dame Nora to fight since she was heavily injured, but on her first battle, she proved him wrong.
Dame Nora was strong.
She could easily handle a soldier ant on her own and it didn't even take her five minutes to kill the monster.
She was also brutal.
She butchered the killer ant mercilessly, spraying their blood on the tunnel walls and slicing their limbs with a terrifying look on her face… like she held a personal grudge against them.
And her swordsmanship…
Deon gaped at Dame Nora's sword-wielding. It was unrefined like she didn't receive proper training but it had overwhelming raw power.
The tough carapace that Deon had so much trouble with cracked open at Nora's force alone—leaving Deon to wonder just where the power came from when her arms looked frail and malnourished.
"Whoaa! That's some frightening power right there…" Mikael whistled beside Deon, "Hey kid, now's not the time to worry about the 'Lady', seeing that she's much stronger than you." He teased.
But Deon was too focused on Dame Nora's sword to pay him any attention. It was as though his soul was sucked into the sword, watching its movements like a moony-eyed lover.
'Deon's really lucky, huh?' Mikael thought as he, too, watched Dame Nora's fight, 'it's really fortunate that we came across such strong people. Now, Deon is safer with three guards.'
If it wasn't for her arm wound bleeding, Dame Nora would have refused to stand back and let Deon deal with the next monster.
The group advanced, following Dame Nora's blood trail.
Finn believed that the colony must have a food storage where the Killer ant fetched and dragged Nora from.
To investigate why and how these F-class monsters suddenly evolved into lower C-class in just a year that they were left alone, Finn hypothesized that something must have changed either in their diet or their environment.
That was their next destination—the food storage.
Almost three hours passed before they arrived at the end of the trail and at this time, Deon and Mikael had managed to level up once individually. With each battle, they found themselves growing noticeably stronger as the fights slowly became easier.
Even their coordination with Dame Nora and Finn slowly became more polished and fluid. They discovered each other's quirks and adjusted to them, hence increasing their marching pace.
"This is it." Finn turned to address the group, "Be vigilant and stay in formation. We don't know how many enemies are inside so if we're heavily outnumbered, we retreat. Understood?"
Somehow, Finn solidified his position as the leader of the group.
He had displayed enough intelligence and ability to gain both Dame Nora's and Deon's trust. Even Mikael who usually made decisions for Deon obediently followed Finn.
The three of them entered in a triangle formation with Deon upfront for reconnaissance, Dame Nora on the rear left and Finn on the rear right. Mikael, on the other hand, floated far above them to access a greater view of the field.
"FIRE BURST!" Finn quickly conjured a normal Tier 1 spell to light the entirety of the cave, trying to assess the number of enemies while they were near the entrance-- It was their way of knowing when to run and when to engage in battle.
The pillar of fire blazed, briefly illuminating their surroundings.
But something was amiss…
The cave was empty!
"Huh?" Finn scratched his head.
He had assumed that there would be dozens of monsters in this presumed dining area, yet instead of a battle, their group was greeted with eerie silence.
"Umm… Sir Finn, maybe we're just in the wrong room?" Deon kindly offered to the slightly embarrassed Finn.
"Yeah. Perhaps we missed the trail going further ahead." Dame Nora also provided Finn with words of comfort.
They knew Finn was a proud Almagi and so far, his decisions had saved them from tight situations. They didn't want Finn to be discouraged by one wrong choice and doubt his next ones.
Then, Mikael said to Deon, "Hey kid, look up."
Deon borrowed Finn's torch and raised it high—and there they were, HUNDREDS UPON HUNDREDS of massive teardrop-shaped, resin-colored balloons hanging from the cave ceiling.
"Wha-What are those?!" Deon pointed a trembling finger to the high roof filled with inflated capsules.
The sight of them made Deon's skin crawl with utter disgust!
"Are those… PEOPLE?!" Dame Nora also exclaimed as she peered into the capsules.
Inside each spherical balloon was a human suspended in a fetal position. Drowning in resin-colored liquid, some had missing body parts, while others had minor injuries but all of them looked to be sleeping like overdue fetuses inside the womb.
To see them hanging from the ceiling like giant monster eggs was truly a frightening sight to behold!
Finn took the torch from Deon and stepped further into the cave. He craned his neck upwards and narrowed his icy blue eyes to inspect the capsules.
"Is it just me or are the capsules pulsating?" he absentmindedly muttered.
Hearing his comment, Mikael soared higher to see it more clearly.
To his surprise, Finn was right! The capsules really were subtly vibrating!
"YUCK! This is so creepy!" Said Mikael as he recoiled at the sight.
"Sir Mikael, can you confirm if those people are still alive?" Deon whispered to his partner.
Mikael reluctantly drifted back to the ceiling.
He picked a balloon and passed through its membrane, coming face to face with a human male curled inside the pool of orange liquid.
"Hmm…" Mikael held his chin on one hand and carefully watched the man's face for any indication of life, "Ah! His eyelids moved!"
The man's eyes moved rapidly beneath his eyelids as if he was having a nightmare!
--Chapter end--