'W-what the hell happened?' Lycaon thought as he was rubbing his head. 'We… we were trying to find material and… That's right! We got separated by that fog! Wait, where's Baron?! Me and him both fell into the hole.'
Standing up, Lycaon looked at his surroundings and saw an unconscious Baron on the ground. He then approached him and woke him before continuing to explore the cave.
As they walked, they found the underground cave confusing. Normally, there would be multiple beasts roaming the cave but there wasn't a single one.
Thump!
A loud footstep shook the underground cave and the worse was immediately assumed by Lycaon. He already speculated that they were probably far into the Northern Mountaintops but he didn't want to believe it.
"Either we're deep into the Mountaintops or we're just very deep underground." Lycaon said.
Pressing his hands against the wall, Baron activated his magic and sent a pulse through the earth.
"From what I can tell, we're not deep underground but we are far away from our original position. Assuming that's the hole we fell through, it stretches ten miles away from where we dropped." Baron explained.
"That's very bad. They may be strong, but there's a limit to what they can do unless they fell into a hole too."
"Sh*t! You're right! The exit is this way!" Baron ran.
Following Baron, they arrived at the exit and came to a cliff edge. Looking below, they saw three figures walking out from a cave while looking around.
"That's them! We need to hurry and get down there!" Lycaon said.
"We can't. We need to navigate the mountains before we can head down there." Baron explained.
Looking at their path, Lycaon knew it would be a long trip until they arrived at the bottom. As he was looking along their path, he noticed a few gray yetis along the path.
'Judging by their mana, they're at least Peak E-Rank…'
"Let's head out." He said.
_______
"We must find Lycaon and Baron." Katlynn said.
"How? We don't know where they are at." Sophie responded.
As they were talking, Lendell was on the lookout and watched for the slightest movement. Out of three of them, he knew about their current situation and knew what to do.
"Listen up. We're in unknown territory and we can't be worrying about the others right now. Lycaon would want us to find a safe area until he finds us and I would agree with that." Lendell said to the two girls.
Thump!
Just as they were about to say something, they heard a big thump nearby and looked in its direction. As they looked, they saw an ice giant walking in their direction.
"Run!" Lendell shouted at them.
______
"They're in trouble! We have to hurry!" Lycaon said, noticing the ice giant chasing after the three figures below.
"What do you want us to do? We can't just jump down! Maybe they'll be fine. You need to trust them." Baron said, attempting to calm Lycaon.
"How can I trust them against that?! That ice giant is at least B-Rank or higher!"
"Snap out of it!"
Slap!
"Y-you hit me!" Lycaon said in disbelief.
"You bet I did! Calm down and believe in them. I've known them longer than you, you damn royal prince! You're not the leader of the group, Sebastian is! Once he comes back, he'll be the leader while you're the second-in-command!" Baron shouted.
Upon hearing Sebastian's name, Lycaon became agitated and lifted his hand to strike Baron but noticed an incoming yeti.
"Can't you see we're talking?!!" Lycaon shouted at the yeti before releasing an attack.
Bang!
Purple wave of fire lit the yeti on fire and continued to burn it. Baron then erected a giant spike beneath the yeti and pierced it from beneath.
The party of yetis finally noticed the duo and rushed over to them. Both of them glared at the yetis and released their mana to the surroundings.
"Repulsive Red!'
Grasping his hands together, Lycaon released a red orb toward the yetis and knocked a few of them off the edge of the mountaintops. Baron, realizing he can't be outdone by Lycaon, grasped his hands together and formed a giant earth golem.
Bang!
The destruction behind the golem's attack surprised the yetis as one of them was crushed underneath the immense strength. Another yeti then grabbed the golem by its arm and broke it.
Jumping off of his golem's shoulder, Baron formed a lance and thrusted with all his might into the yeti's face. A loud cracking was heard and caught the attention of the other yetis.
The yetis, realizing their situation, started to run away from the duo and decided to inform their leader. Lycaon, noticing this, came up with a new move on the spot and grasped his hands together.
"Blue Abyssal Attraction!" He whispered.
Releasing a blue orb, the running yetis were pulled to the orb. He then formed a bow out of his purple flames and pulled back on the flame string. Immense power could be felt radiating from the attack as he finally released it into the remaining yetis.
Bang!
"ARRR!" The yetis all shouted in pain.
Large hands of earth rose from the ground and clasped together on the yetis. Blue blood then could be seen coming out of the hands as Baron had killed them.
"I'll trust your words. Let's just try to get down there and hope they haven't died yet." Lycaon said, calm.
Smiling, Baron threw a blue crystal at him and told him to keep the crystals. Just as they were about to leave, they heard a loud rumbling noise from behind. Looking toward the noise, they saw a giant beast looking at them.
"RU-" Lycaon tried to say but felt an immense pressure of mana be released onto them.
They saw as the beast moved its face forward until they got a good look at it.
Its colossal figure could be seen in the thick fog as its colossal wings stretched throughout the fog. Expansive and membranous wings, were folded against its formidable frame. A silent testimony to its ability to soar through the skies like a dark harbinger of doom.
Its sheer presence commanded respect, evoking primal fear that resonated into both Lycaon's and Baron's very core. Obvious from its looks, they could tell it was no mere dragon; it was a living embodiment of ancient power and indomitable might.
Its horns adorned its imposing, curving majestically like the twisted spires of a mythical castle, while serrated teeth protruded from a maw capable of unleashing destruction with a single breath.
'Who dares interrupt my slumber~? The demon wielder~?' The beast's voice reverberated throughout the mind.
Both of the boys were flabbergasted by the situation in front of them. Standing in front of them was a being capable of causing mass destruction, if released into the world.
Its presence far surpassed what they could gauge and could only assume that it was at least more than SSS-Rank.
'Oh Great Being, we didn't dare to interrupt your slumber.' Lycaon replied, bowing. 'We're just merely passing on by. If we had known you were here, we wouldn't have come here.'
A slight breeze created by the beast's breath had caused some frostbite to appear on their bodies. They couldn't escape with the mana pressure being applied onto them.
'Such flattery coming from his descendent~ Do you know me~?' The beast asked.
'No… You said his descendent… Do you mean my great great great… grandfather, Percy Gevaudan?'
'Yes~ Percy is the reason why I am trapped here~ I was once a calamity that made even the gods tremble at my presence~ Now look at me… Nothing but a shell of my former self~' The beast said with slight anger.
'I'm sorry to hear that…'
'Don't be… I only thought about killing but now… I've changed my ways~ Speaking of, have you felt the demon wielder enter my domain~?'
Demon wielder? Lycaon heard the beast say it twice but was confused by that saying. He never heard of a person being called the demon wielder or heard about in history.
'Demon wielder?' Lycaon said, puzzled.
'Yes~ Murasama, a demon capable of destroying the world~ It wasn't until the most powerful valkyrie chose to sacrifice herself to seal him into a sword.'
The name Murasama finally clicked inside of his head. He heard about the people being born with the power of the demon but they weren't called a demon wielder, they were called the True Demon Heir of the Demon Continent.
'Antares? It all makes sense now! He can't use his magic without revealing who he is?!'
'Antares? Where have I heard of such a name~? It couldn't be… Boy, I command thee to kill him~' The beast said with anger and hatred.
In anger, the beast had dispersed the fog and released its magic. On both of its sides, giant waves of ice began to rise and release a strong ice presence throughout the domain.
'I can't attack him without facing backlash from the seal placed on my body~'
'Will do! But I have a request. I wish to save my friends from the ice giants.'
'Unfortunately, you have to do it with your power. I've been trapped here for so long that my followers have lost their wits.'
Understanding, both Lycaon and Baron left the beast to go back into its slumber. As they left, their heartbeats were abnormally high. They didn't even talk to each other during the walk until they arrived at the bottom of the mountain.
"Are we gonna talk about it or what?" Baron asked.
"No… If my hypothesis is correct, then Antares is the Demon Wielder that the beast spoke of. It would explain why he only uses physical attacks without the use of magic." Lycaon said.
"Alright… Well, I think they may have escaped the ice giant so how about we look for that metal?"
"Hmm… As much as I do want to check up on them, you're correct. If we don't get that metal now, we probably won't get it at all."
Looking at their surroundings, they saw a cave and walked to it. Baron said they needed at least two hundred pounds worth of metal for Lexi and at least six hundred additional to make everyone else a weapon to wield their magic.
As they explored the cave, they came across the metal and started to have thoughts that they should've brought Carlos. Since it was past the point of return, they sucked it up and just mined the material.
An hour passed and they decided to take a single ton worth of the metal. Although it was a lengthy and tiring process, they were at least able to put it all into their storage ring.
Unbeknownst to them, the metal they had extracted was worth a lot in the outside world. The rarity of such metal would surpass their wildest of dreams. But they never questioned it since they never thought about it. The most surprising part about it was the fact that Baron was able to smelt it into a weapon as other blacksmiths struggled to turn it into a weapon.
"Shall we go look for them now?" Baron asked.
"Yes, I'm afraid we've stayed longer than I had thought." Lycaon replied as they looked out of the cave.
Walking outside, they saw a large group of yetis waiting for them. As they inspected the group of yetis, they realized that there was a gray yeti among them.
"Let's run for it." Lycaon said.
Nodding, Baron erected a wall of earth in front of them to cut the yetis' line of sight from them.
Swoosh!
Bang!
The yetis destroyed the walls and noticed the people they were trying to hunt were gone. Just as they were about to move, a giant foot came crashing down upon the group, killing them all.
An ice giant revealed itself and its eyes flashed blue as if it was being controlled by someone.