"Hmm… from the looks of it, we're in an actual dungeon."
The area reminded me heavily of the dungeons in castles. The ones where Kings and Queens would keep prisoners locked up for extended periods of time.
Or they would choose to spend their time here, whacking away at their captives' sanity in order to heighten theirs.
That was probably limited to the more crazy ones, though.
The one we were in didn't have that much blood. Not as much as you'd expect from human slaughterhouses, at least.
Although I said this, there were bodies everywhere. I assumed they were the rotting corpses of the people who called this home.
And along with these bodies, there were monsters that fed on them. They were mostly rats of the D- rank, so Dainsleif was able to cut through them in a slash or two.
"Save your mana. Let me do the work." I said to Alter.
Between the two of us, she clearly held more firepower. Her strength was not what you'd expect from a D rank, and as such was necessary to be preserved for as long as possible.
"I'll use my powers when I want to use my powers. Now keep going."
By now, I had already been used to her condescending tone. Maybe it was because I knew she didn't actually mean it, and as such I didn't let it get under my skin.
I also noticed her taking small peeks at Dainsleif. I know, he's a beauty, right? I honestly don't deserve such a weapon.
Wounds that couldn't heal and two enchantments that kept it in perfect condition? Man, I'm lucky.
"You want to use it? I'll let you have a few swings." I spoke up.
"What are you talking about?" She said, trying to play it off.
"Come on. I won't make fun of you. You can take it for a go until the next time we encounter a fight." I said, holding Dainsleif out.
Her hands slowly opened up to grab it, but she suddenly pulled it back.
"I don't need to use your sword! Keep going!"
"Well, alright then." I let it off at that and continued walking.
It wasn't long before we finally reached what I believed to be the halfway point of the dungeon.
In front of us stood a gigantic stone door. There seemed to be no handles on any part of the surface.
Signs which I believed to be a lost language, were sprawled out on the right side.
"What now?" Alter questioned.
"The signs probably have to do with the solution to opening it. Could you do me a favor and infuse some of your mana into… this sign here?" I pointed to the sign that was shaped like a key.
Alter placed her hand on the symbol like I told her to do, and began directing her mana flow to cover it.
*swoosh*
The symbol suddenly glowed.
"Ah, this seems to be the correct one. But it's not opening yet. Could you try it on the sign farthest from the last one you infused?"
She did so, dragging her palm across the door.
This place didn't seem to be well-maintained. Dust would gather on Alter's fingers as I told her to continue figuring out the puzzle's answer.
It was then that I felt a sudden change in the air. The oxygen seemed to be getting thinner and thinner.
"I'm having a hard time breathing. How long is it until you've figured it out?"
"I'm working on it!" Alter shouted, speeding up her pace.
I then looked behind us. I happened to catch something small moving in between the shadows.
It was impossible to get a good view with how dark it was. The only sources of light we had were the lit torches hung up on the walls, which weren't even enough to see clearly.
"I think we've got company. I'll try to hold them off for as long as I can."
"I've got this! Just do your job."
I took out Dainsleif from its sheath and held it out towards me.
The enemies in front of us had, by now, gathered into multiple small groups. They consisted of dozens of humanoid figures.
I squinted my eyes and was able to figure out from the rotting flesh falling off them and the smell coming off their bodies that they were ghouls.
They were basically dead humans that were sentenced to stay in the Human World for eternity.
On average, they were around D rank. Each of them was capable of inflicting powerful, long-lasting damage with their sharp claws.
They were also known for their abnormal regeneration speeds, much like trolls.
Fortunately, I had one of the only few swords in the world that caused wounds that weren't possible to heal.
With this, I planned to finish it as quickly as possible in order to save my breath.
"Hargghhh!"
I shot forward instantly, slashing my sword down at the closest ghoul. Just like the skeletons', its body was nowhere near as tough as higher-grade monsters.
As they were in groups of more than twelve, I had to expend a little more energy to unleash a wide swing that cut through half of them.
Green blood spurted out from their wounds, staining my shirt and making it smell bad.
I activated Death's Vision, and my view was immediately flooded with attacks coming from different directions.
I sidestepped to the right, evading a ghoul that had gotten greedy. Having trained my body intensely in the last few days, I was able to counterattack by bending my shoulder backward to swing at the ghoul's neck.
*swoop*
Its head instantly detached from its skull and fell off.
At the moment, I was having a dilemma. Another name that ghouls were known for was the "Living Dead."
So I had a bit of a problem deciding whether to follow my skill's premonitions.
"Argh, I'll just have to wing it."
Another ghoul charged towards me, its arms stretched outwards.
I shifted the way I wielded my sword into a backhand position. Like a knife, this stance form would allow me to deal more damage at the cause of control.
Swinging sideways, I was able to swiftly slice through the ghoul's abdomen.
More of them soon started coming, and the tight hallway was suddenly filled with a horde of ghouls.
"What's it looking like over there!?" I called out to Alter.
"Don't rush me! Wha–"
I hadn't seen it, but a ghoul somehow managed to get past my line of defense and make a run for Alter.
As she was busily deciphering the door's puzzle, she was unable to detect the ghoul's screech, even when it was right beside her.
"Shi– wait. This could be good."
In a split second, my mind warped back to the time when I thought about hurting myself for the sake of getting the siblings to trust me.
This situation was as perfect as any other.
I wasn't a fan of getting hurt, but it was a small sacrifice to be made.
I retreated from the frontline and shouted toward Alter, making sure my voice sounded panicked.
"Alter! BEHIND YOU!"
She had only noticed it now. To protect herself from the attack, she brought her hands in front of her.
It seemed too late, honestly. In a last-ditch attempt to make it, I leaped forward, my dominant arm outstretched.
Then, as the ghoul opened its mouth to bite down, I placed my arm in between it and Alter.
Pain coursed through my body as I struggled to keep myself from screaming.
I knew that if I were to make more of a ruckus than there already was, more monsters would be coming.
I bit my tongue so hard that I felt like it was going to fall off.
Luckily for me, I had moved my sword into my left, non-dominant limb and was able to slash down, although in a much weaker manner.
"A–are you okay?" I asked, still faking my way to victory.
"Why did you do that?!"
"Well, we wouldn't get inside the door otherwise…"
It was a success. I could see tears beginning to form in her eyes.
"I'm sorry to ask this, but could you please handle the rest? I need to rest for a bit."
She didn't answer me, but seeing as how she got up from her place in the door, I knew she would take revenge for my supposed defeat.
Hah. Sometimes I hate how stupid I can act to get things done.