Rachael quickly picked up the compass and followed it toward the dungeon's gate. Or that was her plan until the compass misbehaved and spun around in circles. It continued to do so until Rachael lost her way.
That made her panic, and she gasped out loud. The air around her was getting heavier, and Rachael had no defences.
As a result, she clutched her heart and fell to her knees.
One of Rook's shadow creatures jumped up, and Rachael saw it heading for her. She brought her arms up to block the attack.
A sharp pain erupted in Rachael's' arms as the beast slashed them, and she began to bleed. It hurt so much that Rachael wanted to cry.
She did not even have the strength to stand up. So, when the creature jumped her again, Rachael knew she was about to die.
"Close your eyes right now."
Elias's familiar voice washed over Rachael, and she followed his orders without realising what she was doing.
A flash of light filled the area, and Rachael heard the beast cry out in pain before it fell quiet.
Rachael had no idea what happened, but what she did know was that she had been saved. She could finally go back home and rest.
She was so relaxed that she did not even mind a pair of arms warping around her waist and pulling her close.
Rachael was tired. Before she knew it, she closed her eyes and fell asleep. Her body sagged against Elias's arms, and she was unconscious.
At first, the sagging of Rachael's body into his own surprised Elias. He was afraid that something had happened to her. So, he instantly checked up on her, only to find her asleep.
"You are going to be the death of me. If you were so tired that you would fall asleep, you should have told this beforehand. I would not have panicked when you closed your eyes."
Elias complained, but he was happy in his heart. He could not help but feel fulfilled right now.
"Young master, this is usually considered assault, and you could be in huge legal trouble if you did not let that child go. Your hold is not really…. how do I say it…. normal for most people."
Elias's happy paradise crashed once he heard his subordinate's voice. All the flowers around him wilted, and his expression turned annoyed.
"What do you mean? I act normal around Rachael, and my hold is also perfectly normal. She is someone who will marry me one day. I am just preparing her body and myself for that to happen."
Elias replied to his guard with a straight face. That made the guard sigh, but did not reply.
The teenager ignored his guard's pained expression that said - 'this is what I am talking about,' and tightened his hold on Rachael's body.
"Boss, I know you do not want to get separated from this civilian, but we need the doctors to check up on her. Can you hand her to us now? You might also want to check in with Luca to know what happened."
The guard had the patience of a saint. An average person would have given up and allowed Elias to do what he wanted. And this guard was no different on most occasions.
But today, his instincts told him to prioritise the girl in his young master's arms more than his young master. Since he had gotten this far, trusting his instincts, he also decided to do so this time.
"Hmm, you are right. Rachael does need to get checked out by a professional. I could study medicine to treat her in the future. But I have no healing magic. Maybe an artifact…"
The guard left Elias to his mumbling while he picked up Rachael and took her out of the dungeon. With this, Rachael was finally safe from the dangers inside the dungeon.
But the guard did not know if Rachael should consider herself lucky. This incident had made his young master more paranoid about Rachael's safety. She would never have an everyday life now.
......
Luca's lightning was a huge source of problems for Rook. His shadows were losing efficiency against him, and he was reluctant to show any more of his power. If he did, his vessel would break, and his unbound forces would cause this dungeon to collapse.
He needed to bide his time to catch his prey and then some time to digest it.
For now, Rook had sent his shadow after Rachael, and the shadow had injured the child a lot. The blood that had touched the shadow caused Rook to burst with power. His tiny body was breaking apart already.
'Such a delicacy is right in front of me. I just need to savour it properly. Who cared what happened to his dungeon once I gained all this new power?'
He would be safe if the demon king did not come after Rook. But with the amount of power surging inside him from just the tiny touch of that blood, Rook felt he might exceed the demon king's power if he ate the human.
Just as his familiar was about to end the human's struggle, he was struck down. That cut off Rook's connection with this familiar; he was dizzy for a moment.
It was also the time Luca decided to attack him. Electricity sizzled across Rook's body, and he flinched.
"Look at you. You are not such a hot shot after all. At this rate, you will get killed."
Luca displayed his skill with the staff and blocked Rook's exit. He had realised that his comrades were coming to help him out. So, he wanted to keep this demon around and capture it.
Once they had Rook in their possession, they could ask him questions. It would help them discover what was going on in this dungeon.
After all, this low-level dungeon was supposed to be safe. So why did it have some with such strength as Rook?
And if this dungeon had Rook, did other low-grade dungeons also have such hidden powerhouses in them? This news would turn society on its head.
"Fun time's over for me. I would love to play with you more, but your friends are here. And I do not like sharing my toys or getting bored playing with them. So, I will take my leave now."
Rook waved his hand, but Luca did not have it. It quickly blocked Rook's way once more and cut him off from the shadows he would use to exit.
"Luca, we are here to help. Duck so that I can lock the demon in place."
One of Luca's comrades, an expert at sealing demons, ran toward them and tried to touch Rook. But Luca noticed how Rook did not seem to panic.
If anything, he looked happy with this new development, and his eyes showed a glint of anticipation. Rook was likely going to use this attack to escape.
"Hey, do not touch him. This demon is…"
But it was too late. As soon as Rook had been touched, he let out a relieved laugh and snapped his finger. Luca only had a second to react before his body was pierced by a shadow cast by his own body.
Rook used that to escape from Luca and his people.
When others arrived, Luca was confident that Rook had left the clearing. The healer quickly ran toward the fallen person and started to heal him.
"How is he doing, doctor? Is the injury life-threatening?"
Luca approached the kid who had injured himself and allowed the demon to escape. He was angry at the child but also disappointed in himself. Mainly because Luca had been one of the trainers this kid had learned from.
"This kid is fine. The demon was not aiming to kill, so we can rest assured for now. But Terry might be unconscious for a while. We need to test and flush out toxins inside his body."
The healer told Luca, and he sighed in relief. He was happy to see that no one had died today.
And what was more? Young master Elias was not here, so Luca could rest assured that he would get out of trouble.
"Well, at least young master Elias is not here, so I will have a few more hours of peace before giving a report. I should start fabricating my story to get out of trouble-"
"And then what would you do, Luca? I was surprised to find out that you were such a good storyteller. I may demote you to kid's duty. They would certainly appreciate having you as a caretaker."
Elias walked out from behind the group, and Luca noticed the healer's signalling too late. By now, he was already in trouble with his young master.
"Hahaha…young master, I was just joking. You know how my personality is, right? I am always playing around and such. There is no way I was going to lie to you."
Luca quickly retracted his words. But even he knew that the damage had been done.
"Luca, I hope you are telling the truth for your sake. I do not have a lot of patience to deal with traitors and such."
Elias reminded Luca, and he laughed nervously.
"Tell me everything you know and what happened. I will decide what to do with you once I know you did wrong. Your punishment should suit the extent of the crime you committed."
Luca sighed in relief. His young master was still willing to give him a chance to speak, which meant Luca had not been cast aside for now. He still had a chance to make up for his mistake.