Dungeon (Part 2)
A dark and murky large hall came into view. The ceiling was high-up no one could predict what could come from that dim area. It was like a new dimension. A whole new space or world, we didn't know.
Technically speaking if the dungeon was tall then we could've seen the protrusion of an underground tower from the park, but there was none.
It is safe to say that we've entered a portal to this place although a dangerous predicament we were facing.
As soon as we reached the base of the cave, my system flickered a notification.
['Important Events in History' #2 Labeled]
[2. Fourth Dungeon Record in History]
[Official Name:]
[Living Forest of the Cursed Guardian]
"[Close Dungeon Gate]" A sultry male voice reverberated in the entire place.
"Keep your eyes open! We don't know what will happen!" Grandmaster Dragon yelled, his barriers around everyone was still up.
I positioned myself at a ready stance to cast a spell and a hand was on the hilt of the sword Khiel had lent me. There was no trace whatsoever but the headmasters shifted their attention at a single point in the darkness from above.
"Cursed Guardian..." Even Instructor Pedrio had a hostile expression as he said spat out an unfamiliar term. It aligned with the name of the dungeon though.
Red skin and a voluptuous looking man wearing a robe-like open clothing was staring at us from above. He was hovering there, unmoving, as if time had stopped his motion.
His silver hair fell and reached the ground.
A condescending gaze was all it took for the pressure to erupt on us. "Ugh!" Yuri, who escorted Clerifa back home and joined the raid team, was one of the people who fell to their knees.
Out of the thirty-five individuals, only twenty remained standing.
All seven people of the MTA and the four headmasters was part of that. The group of five that Seraphim Vox led with Khiel and Nessa had two people fall to their knees, namely Kadrina Lukas and Jean Ponce.
Erazubeth and I were also standing and the other eight were instructors. Xavi from beside me was also down on the ground but I used a tiny bit of gravity manipulation on him to lessen the blow.
He needed to record this in his memory and ability.
"What should we do, grandmaster?" The female teacher, Leticia Lux, that did healing magic on Clerifa whispered.
"Let's observe him for now..." was all he said.
It was then that the demon moved out of the darkness revealing two horns on each side of his shoulders, and large pair of crooked black wings were joint at his hips. He licked his lips as he stared down at us, one by one.
My spine shuddered when my turn came and there was a faint hostility poured out to me, I wanted to take out the sword Khiel gave but I didn't.
Sparks flew in front of me. There were various weapons that blocked the demon from scratching me with his long blade-like fingers. "You're truly loved, Blessed Child of the Sacred Throne." I gulped.
Why didn't I block him? I could have done it, I knew that I could. But why?
Because the hostility I feel, for some reason, feels empty? Because it felt fake? I could only stare at his slit-like violet eyes.
'If the people around me was little bit late then my head would have already explode from the impact of his slash.' Yet why? I feel like trembling and vomiting at the dread of losing my life. But why?
Why does his eyes look at me sadly?
This was the first time I was put into check by an opponent. There's no doubt that underestimation was never on my dictionary as unexpected situations have a way with toying my life. He's strong.
However, hostility can be remade not pure malice.
Nothing about him gave off malicious intents. At least towards me. My heart hurts. Why is this?
I had just noticed the other instructors blocked the movement of his wings while the people focused on his horns.
The headmasters were all positioned beside me, their own weapons lay on top of each other. Instructor Pedrio with a scepter, Instructor Weiss with a scythe made of mana, Instructor Angelyka holding her double long daggers, and the Grand Headmaster using his own arm that became red and scaly.
It scared me, they all had an expression beyond angry. I could see beyond that though, sadness and bitterness. They felt the same things I did.
Was this the demon's abilities?
"Fucking stay away from my cousin!" Khiel who was positioned far from me had also appeared right next to me, his mana wings was sparking from behind him and his mana sword was right next to mine.
Even Lanessa used her binding magic towards the demon.
I was relieved. I wasn't alone in the battlefield anymore. There are allies that are either on the same wavelength than me or even stronger.
The demon chuckled and easily twisted his bodies to get back out and flew back in the air.
"The guardians are too uptight..." he flicked his finger from side to side and clicked his tongue as he mockingly smiled at the headmasters.
Guardians… Instructor Pedrio mentioned the same thing. Does the headmasters know this demon, a cursed guardian?
Khiel moved in front and his mana wings covered me. "Why didn't you pull out your sword?"
"I don't know. I'm sorry." I answered honestly. There was no reason at all why I didn't block the demon.
No. There was an inkling of a tiny spark I couldn't get rid of.
He wasn't an enemy. A part of my heart ate me up with those words. Shit. Even I wasn't aware what to do right now.
"Well, I'm the final boss so I shouldn't be here yet. See you later, Blessed One." The demon-like guardian chuckled on his own before disappearing.
"Taby! Are you hurt?!" Nessa jumped on me and checked my whole body, reeling me side by side.
"I'm fine, Nessa."
"It's just starting! Keep your eyes open!" Instructor Lyka yelled beside me and the people who collapsed to the ground earlier finally stood up.
Roars of mana beasts were heard from the distant.
We slowly walked over the stairs to reach the second floor and was greeted by them. It wasn't hard to block them but they were surely deranged than normal.
"Ugh!" Our comrades at arms got injured more than necessary. Wait, why aren't they attacking efficiently?
Shit. Does this timeline not know how to handle the mana beasts yet? I'm sure our information came from here. Tsk.
A horned beast managed to move past along the busy fighters and ran over to Khiel and I. Rakhiel had a hostile look on his face. It seems he doesn't know how to handle them too.
I only sighed before speaking.
"Khiel, Rhino Beasts pauses in pain when their horns are injured. Slash at it to stun him and use that gap to strike at the side of his neck." I could only gave him directions.
As annoying as it was to stay still however I understood.
Currently, I was placed in the middle of the headmasters, and Nessa and Khiel. I couldn't even join the combat. Xavi was next to me as well.
Everyone was shaken by the fact that the demon and mana beasts seems to target my area the most since earlier.
Khiel didn't stop to question me and did as advised. The Rhino Mana Beast bled to its death.
Weirdly so, he didn't question how I know these things. The headmasters who heard me didn't ask me either.
Xavi remained quiet as he recorded, moving his eyes from battle to battle and writing down the things I had said since the fight had started.
Instead, everyone listened.
"Next. Bird types usually rest after 5-6 air shots. If you time it well, you can attack the area you predict it will land and kill it in a single blow."
"Next. Foxes are spirits in nature. Killing that mana beast grants a negative buff, so kill it as fast as you can without hurting it much. The goal is a slice to the neck full swing."
Instead of being pushed back like before, the dead mana beasts had started to pile up at an area and we were able to pass by without much injuries.
"Phew! Aaahhh, that was rough!" Yuri exclaimed next to me. She came over just to say this, even Era walked towards us and Polisha followed behind.
"Hey! Watch out for the forest!" Yuri eventually moved closer while avoiding the trees. Truth be told, the higher floors we had reached, the many trees had surrounded us. It had lived up to its name.
If we weren't covered with walls as far as the eyes could see, without the use of mana, I'd have mistaken us to have been teleported to the actual Living Forest. And of course, we couldnt forget about the looming darkness from above our heads where the demon could literally just swipe anyone out.
"By the way, how'd you kno–" Yuri started to ask, but she stopped and looked like a scared rabbit. Huh? What's going on?
I turn to look at Khiel and the others who surrounded me and they were minding their own businesses as if nothing happened.
"What were you going to ask?" I focused back on Yuri but she just shook her head and laughed.
"Nevermind! It's fine hahahaha! Anyway that was amazing. I've never seen mana beasts before."
"Really? You can use mana beast materials on various things both unrelated and related to magic. This knowledge should've reached the empire by now…" Instead of saying 'this knowledge was from your timeline, why do you not know', I just ended up giving an impression that my 'original' home knows this helpful information.
"Does your home have hunting grounds? Isn't it underground?"
Oh shit.
"Actually our area gets attacked by mana beasts and some small ones find our passageway so it gets dangerous. Because of that, we started to hunt the ones near us instead." Nice save, fake Erazubeth Kalil!
"Yeah. What she said."
"Do you have your memories back?" Polisha asked.
Dangerous child. Dangerous question. She was waiting for this.
"No… it's not like that. I just… that…" I couldn't answer properly. Her malicious intent and her eyes that told me 'go back where you came from already' was intense.
"Why is it not like that? Shouldn't you tell us if you've finally regained your memories?"
"Polisha shouldn't concern yourself with her memories, no? It looks to me that she's useful either way." It was unexpected. Seraphim Vox with her strict looking face and hyena-striking eyes, glared at Polisha.
Ohhhh! I didn't know that there are people who can step up against the duchy households.
That was something I found cool about Seraphim Vox too. There was an aura that you can't just get rid of. An aura that she can't be touched? That kind of thing.
She specializes in fire magic too. And her bloodline magic was Barrier.
"I think so too. The fact that her memories came back and helped us with this was an endeavor the duchy households shouldn't overlook." Kadrina Lukas walked over next to me and gave the same face she gave me from before but to Polisha right now.
"Man, girls are scary." I could hear Jean Ponce whisper from behind me. I know right?!
"I was just concerned. If her memories had come back already then she shouldn't hide it. Unless…" Polisha smirked at me "...there's something to hide."
"Polisha Guisen. Lower your eyes." It was time that Lanessa joined the conversation. Mana was leaking out of her. She's angry.
It seemed to work on Polisha though..
****
If her memories had come back, she should properly deal with it and go back. There is no place for her here.
Ever since that girl entered the picture, everything went to flames. We had to stop the plans for the empire. Everyone focused on her arrival.
Patricia Obiel was too busy to contact. The negotiations on my side broke down and I had to get rid of pests following me.
Master even paused her work to help her adjust.
She was an outsider.
But why was everyone stuck to her?
This wasn't jealousy. I didn't care about the others. If Master took care of me the same way as she's doing now for her then I don't have to take the difficult path to achieve my goals.
"Polisha Guisen. Lower your eyes."
Tsk.
I just started to get rid of Lanessa's eyes on me and now she's doing this because I insulted the new girl? Ridiculous.
Everything's falling into pieces.
Everyone…
Everyone was looking hostile at me.
The headmasters. Rakhiel Obiel from behind her. Even Mariah showed dissatisfaction towards me.
Ridiculous!
I clicked my tongue outward and turned around.
My body trembled furiously when I got a distance. Shit. They acted like pawns and puppies or rabbits who couldn't even swallow a piece of a carrot in front of her.
I shouldn't have forgotten.
Those people were at the center of magic and technology after all.
My body trembled again. This time out of fear.
Their eyes looked at me as if they wanted to shred me apart.
It was then that a familiar beat resounded through the air. It was flapping. "He's back!!!" The Grand Headmaster yelled but before anyone could react properly, intense gravity pushed us down on the ground.
Damn it.
"Ma-master…!"
She wasn't looking at me. No one was.
Everyone focused on something behind me instead. I looked back on the scenes that happened, a second too late. Everything happened too fast.
The people surrounding that girl was tumbled on the ground groaning. Even the headmasters. Lanessa, Mariah and Rakhiel too.
The girl wasn't there.
"TABITHAAAA!!!"
She was kidnapped by the demon.