"Pff you're still using a Whiteberry? Even though you've been a Slayer all these years? Does that thing even work anymore it's so out of date!" One of the few straggler teenagers had noticed her putting her phone in her cubby as they did the same with their much more expensive Dendroid XLR. "I guess maybe the life of a Rank F Slayer doesn't really amount to that much." The teenager laughed loudly with the disdain evident in his voice.
The teenagers friends who had exited out after him laughed as, as most of them were Rank E and D so they were only here to have a first experience, thinking they would casually plow their way through the Rank F Gate. Lucielle rolled her eyes but said nothing to their provocation.
"Leave her alone Stark, don't waste your breath on a loser of Rank F" said a pretty girl as she casually looped her arms around the boy named Stark waist. A sneer was on her face as she glowered down at Lucielle.
"Hmmmph I suppose you're right. Lets go everyone." Stark said as he began to walk away from Lucielle and the bus. The rest of the teenagers began to trail behind him but one of them stopped to feel Lucielle up briefly before moving on. His eyes were filled with lust and this was no one else but Brian from early. "Try not to slow us down too much or else you'll get gobbled up Darling." The temperature in the air had noticeably dropped as he had fondled her buttocks but he paid it no mind as he joined the rest of the group.
Lucielle took a deep breath as she calmed her heart and clenched her hands tightly. It had taken every ounce of willpower she possessed not to fry that lecherous boy on the spot when he felt her up. Her eyes followed his back with a trace of killing intent flashing within her amethyst eyes. 'I'm not the same helpless girl you lot can take advantage of anymore. If he doesn't die in the Gate by monsters I'll make sure he doesn't come out myself.'
She had finally calmed herself down and she approached the group and the Gate once more. Stark shot her one more glance before speaking again. "Don't slow us down or the consequences won't be to your liking." The air had gotten colder as a few fragments of ice coalesced around Stark.
Lucielle let a trace of a smile escape as she was trying very hard not to laugh at the overly confident teenager. She'd been through countless Gates before this so his threat and killing intent was laughable to her, she felt no pressure from it even more so now that she had power of her own to back her up. 'I wonder how strong my flames would be against a Rank D Slayers ice element.
What Stark didn't know was that besides Lucielle, the other adults were also mostly Rank F and E. The only exception was a tall man with a slicked back hairdo. He was a Rank D Slayer but his power was essentially dropping a nuke on a anthill. He was their usual boss shredder because of his high damage output.
The majority of these adults no longer liked having to risk themselves in Gates for so many years, and yet being ridiculed by a bunch of children that were still sucking on their mothers teats when they started left a sour taste in their mouths. Some even let out a depressed laugh as they shook their heads at the younger generation.
Lucielle knew this very well but she couldn't care less about what would inevitably happen to these spoiled brats once they entered the Gate. Her goal for today was to do her best to increase the level of herself as well as the Hellfire skill. 'This will be pretty easy as I know this place like the back of my hand.' Lucielle and the group had just finished making their way to the blockade the government had set up when an Agent walked towards their group while speaking.
"Hmmmm one didn't show up." The agent was looking down at the tablet he carried after his gaze racked over the group of Slayers before him. He checked off everyone except the one that hadn't shown up.
"Alright listen up! You'll be diving as a team of seventeen people. The organization of roles will be up to you all to figure out. Since you have already signed the liability form in the case of your death you may go in, Good luck Slayers. The reward for for the completion of this Gate will be given upon the conclusion of the dive. The portal is there and open so you can enter as soon as you want."
Concluding his speech the agent wandered back to the shack that he came from. Stark started walking up towards the Gate, completely ignoring the rest of the group. The rest of the teenagers immediately followed suit after him. The adults sighed as they shook their heads and followed in after them. In the end it was just Lucielle and the Asian man with the slicked back hair. He looked at Lucielle and asked "What do you think?"
Some of the adults looked at him in surprised ,as they stopped moving towards the Gate, knowing how weak Lucielle was, while others looked at him approving the decision he took when asking for Lucielle's opinion.
Lucielle knew what he meant, since this was not the first time they had gone Gate diving together. While many thought Lucielle was useless inside a Gate and that she was afraid of monsters, others with more knowledge and insight would note that Lucielle had never triggered any traps and had given much vital information that had saved countless Slayers from a premature end. She knew much more about the Gates she invaded than most normal people would.
Obviously, the Asian man was one of the latter. Looking at the man calmly Lucielle answered, "This as you all know is the Fortress of the Giant Rat King. Inside this dungeon there is a maze of tunnels which resemble that of a sewer with rats the size of your average hoverbike dwelling within. Since the rats sense of smell is very acute and sensitive to different smells we have effectively gained ten lures to use with those teenagers entering first. Honestly we can use those ten lures to draw as many rats away so we can deplete their numbers as much as possible before we locate and finish off the Rat King. If we try to fight him before his brethren are finished off and he goes into his Berserk State we will most likely be killed."
Several of the adults who had never heard Lucielle speak were momentarily mesmerized by her melodic voice but their compatriots snapped them out of it. The Asian man nodded as her idea made a lot of sense to him. "We'll go with your plan but what will you be doing this time?" The other adults were nodding their heads , some of them had suggested they head right for the boss room to end this raid as soon as possible but knowing about the Boss' Berserk State made them realize how fatal of an error that would have been.
"I'll be doing my own thing as usual Gat. Try not to die before I get back." Lucielle had begun walking towards the portal and passed through. A stomach churning smell drifted up into her nostrils as she materialized on the other side of the Gate. The first time she had entered this Gate many years ago she had lost her whole breakfast that day. Now however the smell didn't affect her in the slightest.
The same couldn't be said for the others however. Looking at the water it was possible to discern a vomit trail, most likely from the teenagers that had entered before them and were not used to this kind of toxic environment. Fortunately their vomit trail made it easy for the group to track down their ten walking baits. Lucielle however wasn't paying their trail too much mind as the rest of the adults began to unsheathe their weapons.
Each weapon was unique whether it was a sword, dagger, or axe. Though notably there was no firearms among any of them. Firearms and other technological devices were rendered inert within the Gates but even in the event there was a Gate break firearms would be all but useless on anything Rank D or higher. This had been tested on a Gate in an abandoned location where a D Rank Gate opened and the Government would have been overwhelmed if they hadn't had Slayers on standby.
Lucielle watched them inspect their equipment, which they really should have done before hand, when she realized something very wrong. The dungeon was completely silent! "Fuck! Gat the dungeon is silent so look alive!" Lucielle shouted out at the Asian man.
"So what if the dungeon isn't making any noise? Doesn't that just mean we can locate the monsters faster and vice versa?" A brutish looking man asked derisively. He had been the proponent for just rushing the boss before his idea was vetoed for Lucielle's solution, which left a sour taste in his mouth.
Lucielle looked at the man with disappointment and disgust written clearly on her face. She detested these type of Slayers the most. They overly relied on their powers to brute their way through Gates, usually while getting other Slayers injured or even killed. They never bothered learning anything about the Gates they raided.
"Are you really this dumb or are you just a fool?" Gat asked the brutish man. "The most striking feature of the Fortress of the Giant Rat King is the wind currents that flows so swiftly that it produces a constant whistling sound. Can you hear any whistling by any chance dumbass?"
Hearing Gats question, the brutish man finally noticed the sound he always heard when diving into the sound was absent. "What does this mean? Why would it be silent like this?" His voice sounded a bit fearful as his beady eyes began to scan his surroundings.
Lucielle shook her head as she began to walk away from their group as she originally planned to do. "Something is definitely up here. I'm going to scout and see if I can find anything out of the ordinary. You guys keep an eye out on our lures." Lucielle was eager to test her new power out on the rats that dwelled in the dungeon.
"Don't die needlessly girl." Gat called out after her as she wandered off. Lucielle turned around and smiled faintly before trekking off on her own while the other group followed the vomit trail. After going into countless Gates with Lucielle beforehand he knew the girl would not die here even if something out of the ordinary happened here. However none of them knew how truly horrifying this usual Gate dive would become.