The light of my torch is consumed by so much darkness.
-How long do you think... before we reach our destination? —. asks the sorceress of the group as she breathes irregularly while walking.
We have been walking non-stop for hours, immersing ourselves in our adventure through the largest dungeon in the world.
We are in this place for a simple reason. We are adventurers and we are on a mission assigned to us by the [Adventurer's Guild] of the Ahrsei Empire, that is buzzing with rumours of a supposedly extinct monster taking refuge in the dungeon.
A week ago they took care of the extermination of the last two of them, but it seems that these individuals had an offspring that has wreaked havoc with the fauna inside the dungeon.
From the corridor to the stairs leading to the first underground floor are scattered multitudes of monsters that fell victim to this beast.
We do not know exactly how far it has gone, but from the time, we imagine it has not been too far.
For the survival of the human race, we must deal as quickly as we can with this beast of the night.
A [Vampire].
They are known worldwide for the myths, legends and stories that depict them alongside the creation of the human race. They are as old as the world. They have eternal life and are capable of doing on their own what all the armies of the world would do.
The story best known to all of us is like a kind of story parents tell their children when they don't want to go to sleep.
"If you don't sleep soon, [Calamity] will come for you and steal your heart."
This refers to the worst [Vampire] that ever existed since records have been kept, which would be the first of these. A heretical existence that is engraved in the survival instinct of humans to want to kill [Vampires].
Imagine what we must have been so afraid of that it would stay in our offspring as if it were a curse.
That's why when [The Calamity] was executed, the [Adventurer's Guild] in alliance with the [Church of Kýena] took it upon themselves to hunt down all the [Vampires] around the world.
And another reason why we can't let that monster roam free was because of the sacrifice of the creator of this dungeon, Alexis Maxwell, who we recognise as the pinnacle of the magical world for seven centuries.
Maxwell sacrificed her life in order to seal in the depths of this dungeon one of the [Forbidden Artefacts of The Calamity], the [Vampire Sword] which has a strong connection to this species and would give the [Vampire] who wielded it, a fraction of the power of [The Calamity].
We must assume that this is the purpose for which the other two [Vampires] left their offspring in this dungeon. As long as he gets stronger to the point that nothing here will be able to stop him.
The bad thing about [Vampires] is that they adapt quickly to an environment. We could exploit their weaknesses as a species, but from the records of those who came before us and saw the things that were killed by the [Vampire], it shows an invulnerability to [Light Magic] and to silver itself.
That's why we had to prepare for the worst. And seek to assassinate him under the most difficult method that exists, which is based on destroying his heart.
If we succeed in this mission, we will be rewarded with an immense amount of money and prestige upon our return.
In case of emergencies, the sorceress in our party has kept a [Teleport] spell ready to get us out immediately if the worst happens.
We also have the option of taking the [Vampire] to the surface, but the odds are very low.
However, our chances of winning are very high. Since it's a monster, and the only way a monster could match us is if it had the intelligence of a human. Although there are some that are incapable of defeat even for humans, such as the [Chaos Dragon].
As long as we keep things in our favour, our chances of winning are the same.
-There shouldn't be much more to go. -. I reply to my group mate.
We are about to reach the last passage on the first floor of this dungeon, which is ground I have already trodden in my life as an adventurer.
I remember killing about five kobolds before I ran off in a panic so I found myself in the second underground floor, which is a [Hydra] that has not yet been exterminated since Maxwell's time.
The rank we calculated for this monster is around C, or those are the estimates made by the [Adventurer's Guild], but at this point, it's like it's a B or A rank monster at worst.
Not only has he slaughtered monsters, but he has devoured them to the last hide and left only the bones behind.
And on our way. We came across something out of place.
-A... girl...? -. That question escapes my lips just by looking at her.
A little girl about eight years old is sitting.
(Kss... creak, kss, crack, thud...)
A grotesque sound comes from where the girl is sitting.
She's being attacked by a monster!
-Guys, we have to help her! -I shout going to the rescue of the girl crouching in front of us.
-Wait, Herald! I can't...!
-Come on, let's go!
-Let's get our weapons ready!
The three of us ignored the sorceress in the group as we ran in the direction of the girl. Weapons in hand, we left the sorceress behind and so we went to the young girl.
That was a terrible mistake.
Following the sound of our footsteps, the girl turns to look at us sideways. Without much change of expression... she looks at us with vacant eyes.
We didn't notice right away because of our confidence. That this girl had a bloody mouth, had red eyes and pointed ears. It wasn't until we were close enough to make out her surroundings that we realised she was devouring the severed head of a goblin.
This is not an everyday occurrence.
-Herald, get back!
I follow my spear-wielding companion's direction and leap backwards in a single bound.
Right where I had been a few moments ago, a large blade grows from underground and was there just to impale me alive. I look back at the girl, she looks a little annoyed as she frowns.
Is she angry that I avoided her attack?
But for the sake of saving my life?
My fellow paladin, Gyu, received an attack without me noticing this. A sword was piercing his chest perfectly, and pierced his heart in a single attack.
But... it did not stop there. The sadism was such that somehow there were shards of metal piercing her skin and tearing it apart. To the point where her body was destroyed from the inside in an explosion.
Blood rained down. All of us present, including the girl, were drenched in the blood of our companion.
Understanding the danger posed by this girl, I shout to the sorceress of the group, Lena:
-Teleport, now!
But her response was enough to make me uneasy.
-I can't! That girl... she's blocking my magic somehow! You should have heard me before, I can't use [Valuation] on her!
A skill that remotely blocks magic?! Plus we're not able to know her stats and skills?!
Shit, shit...
We have no choice.
-Dehn, you must keep her at bay! Lena, get your crossbow ready to attack! Load it with the blessed arrows the priestess gave you!
-Understood! -. Dehn replies, starting to shoot arrows.
-All right! -. Lena says, starting to load a small crossbow in her left arm with arrows that glow with a golden hue.
I tighten my grip on the hilt of my sword and dive towards the girl.
She barely dodges Dehn's arrows, but she looks like she doesn't care that she's being shot at. The girl swings her right arm using a strange magic I've not seen before but perhaps it's the one she killed Gyu with.
A sword the same size as mine manifests in the girl's hands. It's as if she's challenging me to fight.
-Yowai (Weak) -. In a strange language, the girl says something as if scorning me.
I don't understand what she did. But I must be alert to anything...
However, in an instant, all of Dehn's arrows were returned as if nothing with twice the speed with which they were launched.
?!
Dehn and I ran to the side to dodge the arrows. But this was a complete mistake because the girl disappears from our sight only to appear in front of Lena.
-LENA...! -. A desperate scream comes from my throat calling her name.
The poor sorceress wasn't even able to react in time before her head was cut off in one go by the girl's sword.
Now the blood shot out like a fountain. Bathing the scene we were in much more red.
And before Dehn fired his next arrow, a sound like an explosion was heard.
The next thing I knew, Dehn collapsed on the floor of the dungeon, victim of a strange weapon in the hand of the girl not holding the sword. I had never seen anyone use magic so well as to produce weapons capable of killing with a single blow.
A little girl annihilated the four of us veteran adventurers as if we were mere animals. Mercilessly and with great style, she didn't blink once since the fight started.
She walks towards me. Holding her two weapons silently. Her blood-red eyes make me dig my heels in. I don't stand a chance.
(I'll die if I face her...)
I don't want to die. I know it's deplorable to say this when my whole group is dead, but I don't want to lose my life. And it's not like I can back down from her being my enemy either.
The moment I move, my life is over.
That's not a mistake.
When the girl arrives in front of me, with her same cold, emotionless tone of voice, she says to me again in a language I don't know:
-Sayonara, weak. (Goodbye, weak).
And with that, he turned towards the depths of the dungeon once more, and his shadow disappeared into the darkness.
I dropped to my knees, trembling with fear. Terrified of what had just happened. And stained by the red blood of my companions.
I wept.
---[Four hours later (the present)]
-Thank you for your statement, Herald. From now on we'll take it from here. -. A white-haired woman utters these words, organising the papers in her hand.
They are the death certificates of the three adventurers who perished at the hands of that strange girl inside the dungeon.
Two cities away from the dungeon, in the capital itself, this neat looking woman is the one everyone hails as the [Heroine]. Olivia Cross is her name.
-Don't underestimate her... Miss... that girl can do some pretty crazy things. -. Herald, the surviving adventurer, now possesses a "blank stare".
As if he had seen the worst of this world.
But Olivia herself ignored this and just smiled a little.
-Thank you for your consideration, Herald. But it's not necessary. I will kill that thing and avenge its companions, rest assured.
In the next few days. A storm will come to [Maxwell's Colossal Dungeon] that will strike a certain vampire girl.
The time for the best individual of the [Imperial Guard] to show her hand in the matter has come.