It has been two weeks since Sol entered the Carrot Dungeon. So far, he has killed a total of 6 Diamond-Rank Monsters and collected 6 Diamond-Rank materials.
"You okay? Do you need help?" [Luna]
"I'm good, thanks for the concern." [Sol]
Of course, Sol could've asked Luna to help him kill those monsters as it would be faster considering how powerful Luna was. However, Sol was not the type that likes to receive help from others as he prefers to do it himself as it feels more rewarding, so that was why he refused Luna's help.
All this time, Luna was just observing Sol's battle.
'This guy… is he immortal? He doesn't sleep, drink, and literally fight the monsters 24/7 without stopping. Is that even possible for a human? Or does he have some kind of a unique skill that allows him to go on forever without resting?'
Luna was curious and no matter how long she observed Sol, she couldn't seem to figure out what kind of skills capable of doing that.
"By the way, how long have I been fighting for?" [Sol]
"About two weeks, why?"
"Nothing, just wondering."
'Two weeks, huh? I guess I still have about roughly 16 more days to go before I will have to leave this dungeon.' Sol thought.
Naturally, Sol could have taken his own sweet time here, but out of consideration, he didn't want Valor to wait for him that long as he felt bad about it.
One and a half weeks later…
[You have slain the Slime King monster!]
[Side Quest completed!]
Ding!
[You have received one Red Crystal!]
"Finally! Gosh, that took such a long time to complete." [Sol]
'Man, three and a half weeks just to complete one side quest… Jeez, I don't think there's any video game that takes such a long time to finish one side quest. Oh well, whatever, it's time to get out of here.'
After killing the last monster, he now has a total of 10 Diamond-Rank materials stored inside his "Inventory Space."
A few hours later…
Walking on foot, Sol eventually arrived near the exit portal, and just as he was about to leave the dungeon, he heard someone crying.
"Waaahhh!! You're leaving already…?" [Luna]
"Yea…"
Luna could only sighed sadly, "I guess I'm going to be lonely again…"
"Don't worry, I'll be back again."
Hearing that, Luna stopped crying and immediately looked overjoyed, "Really?! You really mean it?!"
"Yes. However, I'm not sure if you could wait that long."
"That's fine! I'll wait no matter how long it takes as long as you don't forget about me."
"Of course. Anyway, you sure you don't wanna come with me now?"
"I can't… I'm too scared to go outside the dungeon…"
"All good. If we ever meet again, it means there will no longer be any demons left in this world."
***
In Darcia city, inside Darcia castle's underground, there was a secret prison where the Elite Demons would spend their time torturing humans for fun. Besides torturing, they would sometimes even use humans for their evil experiment; like mixing monsters and humans together in order to create a new hybrid species, but unfortunately, none of their experiments were successful. Regardless, many human lives were wasted for nothing.
Meanwhile, due to Valor betraying his own kind and chose to follow Sol, as a result, he was punished by his fellow demons and was sent to this secret underground prison.
"Get inside there! You fucking traitor!" said one of the prison guards as he pushed Valor onto the ground violently.
Inside the prison cell, Valor wasn't alone, there were other human prisoners as well that were here long before.
Valor wanted to retaliate, but he couldn't because both his feet and hands were chained up. Also, the Elite Demons casted a "Suppression" spell on the chain, so as long as the chains was on Valor, his power will be reduced to the level of a Bronze-Rank demon.
"You traitor! How dare you betray your own kind for a trash inferior human!"
"Hahaha! True, what a disgrace! Just thinking about it already pisses me off!"
Knowing what Valor did, the prison guards were furious, not only did they curse him, they even beat him up nonstop until now. The only time they stopped beating him was when they were taking a break or exhausted, otherwise they will continue to torture him like what they did to other human prisoners.
***
Location: Outside of Carrot Dungeon, at the entrance area.
As Sol scanned his surroundings, he didn't see any sign of Valor.
'Hmm, where the hell did Valor go? Didn't he say that he would wait for me outside?'
Sol thought while stroking his chin.
'Oh well, I guess he must be sick and tired of waiting and probably gone home. Fuck it, look like I have to find my way to Azurion city myself. Ah! This makes me so mad, I should've known not to trust a demon.'
Out of nowhere, Ingrid appeared.
"Are you perhaps looking for Valor?" Ingrid said with a sly smile.
"You again?! Jeez, I don't know how you find me, but sorry to say this, I'm not in the mood to fight with you right now." [Sol]
"Ah, about that, you don't have to worry because I'm not the one who you will be fighting with."
It was at this moment, the Elite Demons and the demon soldiers appeared.
"So this is the boy Ingrid was hyping about."
"Based on his appearance, he seems very strong, even his muscles look toned and proportioned from head to toe."
The Elite Demons can't help but admire Sol's physique.
"Should we test and see if what Ingrid says is true?"
"Sure, but who will go first?"
"Let me," said one of the Elite Demons as he stepped forward and walked to Sol.
"Nice to meet you! My name is Zealot, one of the Elite Demons, I hope w—"
"Shut the fuck up! I don't care who you are, if you want to fight, get started already, bitch!"
Sol was in a bad mood because in his mind, he thought Valor betrayed him and informed other demons about his whereabouts.
"Wow! You're much more aggressive than I thought you would be." [Zealot]
Zealot was surprised, because this was the first time he had ever seen a human so aggressive in their words. Normally, most humans would be terrified and lose their confidence when facing a demon.
[Name: Zealot]
[Title: Elite Demon]
[Rank: Platinum]
Before the fight started, Sol looked up at the beautiful blue sky and thought, 'Welp, here we go again…' He knows it's going to be another long ass fight since he doesn't do big damage to end it fast.
One hour later…
"This boy is no joke, he really is an absolute tank. Might actually be the strongest tank I've ever faced so far."
"I see why Ingrid was so interested in him, now it all makes sense after we see it with our own eyes."
"Imagine if this boy could do enough damage to be a threat, damn! He would be a powerhouse for the human race."
As Zealot and Sol were fighting, the other Elite Demons were spectating and chatting with each other.
'This is way harder than I thought.' [Sol]
Facing those Diamond-Rank Monsters was much easier for Sol because monsters have low intelligence, so he was able to find an opening all the time. However, when facing Zealot, he couldn't find any opening at all.
Zealot was well aware of Sol's strategy because of what Ingrid told him. Because of that, Sol's plan of exhausting his opponent doesn't work here since Zealot didn't attack much and focused mainly on being defensive.
"Looks like this is going nowhere, should we change plans?" Zealot asked the other Elite Demons.
"Yeah, if we can't kill him, then we have no other choice but to go with plan B."
"Very well, let's go with plan B then."
Hearing that, Sol laughed, "I don't know what this plan B you guys are talking about, but trust me, it won't work against me and it's going to end up wasting more time."
Little did Sol know he's going to face another nightmare.
"Hehe! Don't worry, you will soon regret what you say."
"Yup, we already knew that nothing worked against you, but you forgot one thing."
"One thing? What is it?" [Sol]
"If we can't kill you, then we'll capture you alive instead."
"Alright, capture him!!"
With that said, the demon soldiers immediately surrounded Sol in a circle to make sure Sol couldn't escape.
It was at this moment, Sol knew he was in trouble.
'Shit! I never thought these demons would figure out something like this. Goddammit! If only Luna was here, she would have been able to help me get rid of these demons easily.'
Looking around, Sol was thinking of what he should do, then he saw the Carrot Dungeon's portal entrance.
'Oh right! If I could bait them into the dungeon, then I might be safe since Luna is inside there.'
When Sol looked at the Carrot Dungeon's entrance, immediately, the Elite Demons knew what Sol was thinking.
"Quick, capture him now! Don't let him enter the dungeon no matter what!"
With all his might, Sol tried his best to run into the Carrot Dungeon quickly, but unfortunately, he failed and was captured.
"Nooooooo!!! Dammit! I was so close!! Aah!"
Sol was frustrated, he was only like a two steps away from entering the Carrot Dungeon, it was so close yet so far.