"Damn, I should've expected us to be separated upon entering the Dungeon."
"You're still stressing over that, Leo?"
"I mean, yea? If I had used my brain for a moment, I would've made the necessary preparations."
"Hmm… I know you're a mage and all, but how would YOU handle that?"
"Heh. I'm glad you asked Camila. With this!"
Like a magician pulling a rabbit out of a hat, a staff appeared right in my hands. The base was made of white metal found within an underwater Dungeon. The tip would curve into the shape of a waning crescent moon, and it would contain a single Torqinite crystal fixed on top.
"[Guiding Light]"
The Torqinite crystal glowed in the dark corridors of the Dungeon, and a small light glided out like a snake. The light traveled toward Camila and entered her chest.
"Oooh… What did you do?" Camila said.
"I implanted a tracker in you. Now, if we were to get separated somehow, I'll be able to easily find you in The Labyrinth. One great thing about this mastery is that it lasts a long time in whatever I implant, even after death!"
"Hm… That sure would've been handy earlier, dear Leo," Camila purred.
Yea… This is a complete blunder on my part. I hadn't expected our watches to malfunction and that most of us wouldn't be together…
"Well… What shall we do now?" She asked, leaning against a wall. Camila kept batting her long eyelashes as she stared deep into my eyes.
"...Our primary objective is to kill The Minotaur. If I had to guess where it'll be… most likely the middle."
"Mhm. The problem is that this was designed to be a maze to trap it. Meaning that we'll have trouble navigating through the halls of The Labyrinth."
That's the most worrisome part. If we're not careful, we could be trapped here until we die of old age or hunger. As time passes, a Dungeon Outbreak will ensue, releasing all the monsters trapped within. Including The Minotaur.
"We have no time to waste, Camila. Let's move on ahea-"
Tap!
"…!"
Our heads perked up at what sounded like footsteps.
"I think there's two… no, four of them…" I whispered. Camila nodded her head and looked around the vicinity. Right now, we are in your standard corridor with only two openings to our left and right. The sound of footsteps was coming from our left. We can either confront whatever is in front of us or go right and find another way through The Labyrinth. I think the latter is our best option. We must save our energy.
Camila, on the other hand, thought otherwise.
"I say we fight whatever is in front of us."
I turned to her and said, "Do you have a plan?"
The woman winked at me and strolled on by, waiting for whatever was on the other side. I stood behind Camila, clutching my staff, ready to cast spells at the slightest hint of danger. Up ahead, the four mysterious beings finally showed themselves.
"…What the," one of them questioned.
I couldn't believe my eyes at what I'm seeing. In front of us stood people who looked like us humans, although they all had horns of various sizes, and their colors would either be gray or white. I have never seen monsters like these before in all my time of being a Dungeon Conqueror. Is this why Camila thought of confronting them? She couldn't have known this though…
"Hey, you two," the biggest of the four called out. He was wearing protective armor around him and had a sword strapped to his hip. On his chin was a salt and pepper beard and a scar running down his neck. The man was also holding a helmet in his hand. The weirdest part though is that they were speaking English.
"You're the humans from Earth, rig-"
"Ah, hold on for just a moment there," Camila cut in. She was smiling at the four with an intense stare. "If you want us to answer your questions, wouldn't it be fair to answer ours? How about a mutual agreement of exchanging information?"
The four monsters looked at each other, hesitating on whether to accept her deal or not. They then started to whisper to each other.
"We were specifically told that if we were to run into the humans, we should subjugate them as quickly as possible."
"True… but look at them. The male on the far back is a mage and a strong one at that. I can feel the mana he's leaking..."
"The female's demeanor is way too nonchalant, it's almost unnerving. She's also way too mysterious. I think they're way too strong for us to take on…"
We can hear you guys clearly you know…
After an intense argument amongst themselves, they finally reached a conclusion.
"We'll accept your deal, on one condition," the scarred man said.
"Oh? And that would be…" Camila asked, amused.
"We will not harm each other until we're safely out of reach. Deal?"
"Hmm… Deal." Camila agreed. "To answer your question from earlier… yes we're from Earth."
From that confirmation, the man had a hand resting on the hilt of his sword.
"Alright… it's your turn to ask us a question…"
If I was Camila, I wouldn't ask them if they're from A1 since that part is obvious.
"Why are you in The Labyrinth?"
"…The same reason you're here."
Camila simply shrugged her shoulders and motioned for them to ask their next question.
"Are there more of you humans in The Labyrinth?"
"That's an easy one. We have no idea if there are more of 'us' here…"
"Ah? What does that mean?" He growled. Apparently, he didn't like that answer as the horned leader was now showing signs of annoyance.
Camila peeked over her shoulder and gave me a quick smirk. "We should wrap things up here. I have just one final question for you guys…"
Without warning, Camila was now standing a few inches away from the four.
"Are you a threat to us humans that we need to eliminate immediately?" Camila warned with a deadpan stare. Her eyes lacked any sympathy or fear, like a huntsman who'd been hunting all their life.
The monsters all sprang up like scared cats and backed away from the haughty woman. Camila was leaking some of her killing intent to the unfortunate men, and they could feel it very clearly. The leader of the four was visibly shaking as he struggled to unsheathe his sword, his comrades waiting on his orders.
"You have five seconds to answer or el-" Camila didn't even get the chance to countdown as the leader held up a hand in surrender.
"N-No, we aren't a threat at all. We're just here to find an it- Hmph!"
One of his men stuck a hand through his mouth in a panic. Camila had a wide smile on her face after hearing their objective.
"Looking for an item, eh? It must be important if the residents of Athiens came looking for an item here of all places…"
The woman took another step forward, her clacking heels echoing across the dreary echo chamber. In an instant, Camila equipped the weapon that has won her many fights while in the Dungeons. Camila is a beautiful but extravagant woman. She has such nice curves that whatever dress she wears, be it an ugly shade of yellow or brown, people would still say it looks great on her. A plump bosom and thin eyebrows that compliments her seductive eyes and long eyelashes. Camila also has a plethora of dresses and hats made by the finest tailors from all over the world. If she found a hobby that interests her, like Capeiora, she will give it her all to master it. Most importantly, she hates getting dirty and would recoil at things she considers unsightly. Outside of Dungeons, that is. Whenever she enters one though… May God help us all if she were to turn on us.
At the speed of sound, Camila dove straight into the crowd of four. She would stretch one of her legs to the absolute limit, shoving her heel into the eye of the man in charge of the little group, effectively killing him in a second. After retracting her leg, she placed both palms onto the ground, spinning around like a ballerina dancing in a tornado.
It all happened in a blink of an eye. It only took Camila two seconds to kill all four of the men, their bodies now slumped on the cold stone floor of The Labyrinth, a clean cut on their necks, splattering blood on the cracked foundation. She let out a small sigh as if she just broke a sweat, but I knew that this was as easy as breathing for her. Camila, while inside Dungeons, doesn't shy away from blood and gore. She will mercilessly kill whoever she deems a threat. Out of everyone in The Six Hunters… If I'm considered the smart one, Sam is the strongest, Joel is the leader, Darion is the lone wolf, and Sophie is the glue that binds us all together...
"Whew! While we may know what their objective may be," said Camila, slowly marching my way. "We don't know what exactly this item is."
"…You could've left one of them alive for interrogation. Specifically the leader," I started. Camila shook her head.
"The man lied to us. He said he was of no threat to us humans, but…"
She tapped her right eye which has been faintly glowing yellow this whole time. This was one of her masteries…
[Lie Detection]
A skill that swindlers and those are experienced in businesses that are known for deceit among the ranks… Camila is one of the lucky few to have such a useful mastery.
"I have then determined that this item they're looking for will most likely be dangerous to us if they get their hands on it. As for the interrogation," she shrugged her shoulders, "once a liar… always a liar, is what I like to say."
Yes… Camila truly is a terrifying individual. The nickname that most people have given her outside of Dungeons would be The Princess (Even though she's thirty-two) and Most Lovable. But a nickname we of The Six Hunters given her is a name that's night and day compared to theirs. We call her…
The Reaper.