It wasn't early in the morning at all, it was pretty late. Two girls lay sleeping on the bed, their bodies close to each other, of course, they were wearing clothing provided by the place since they washed their own attire. But even so, both looked pleased and happy...
"No mom... It's too early..." Said Fuwa more than half asleep as she munched on Raven's ear.
The cat scuffed in her sleep, she felt the bites on her ear but she was still dreaming, her body reflexively flinching.
"Don't... Call me mom..." She said in her sleep responding to Fuwa who was deep in her sleep.
"No, Mom... I don't want to train today…" Fuwa murmured, nuzzling closer, her soft breaths tickling Raven's ear.
Raven, half-conscious, twitched at the sensation "Stop it... not your mom..." she groaned, the faintest hint of irritation in her sleepy voice, but it was laced with affection. Her tail flicked lazily against the bed, reacting to Fuwa's movements.
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"Retreat!" Screamed Creg, the leader of Crimson Dawn.
The members of Crimson Dawn were having a hard time, to say the least. They arrived here a couple of hours ago, but their progress had been slow. They had a hard time from the get-go, the guild master and the guild staff had tried to stop them.
"You guys should wait for the other teams and the kingdom knight squat before going inside" Had said the guild master, at the time it sounded as if he doubted their skills, Kirara was very annoyed by this and he being the group leader had a hard time containing her.
But now he understood.
All of them were, at least for now. When they entered they were received in the gardens of a dark castle, they managed to secure a safe spot after some battles against the undead gardeners and their corrupted plant monsters. Entering the castle had been really easy, as if they had been invited inside, only to be received by a colossal dance hall, many skeleton waiters were there and even more, ghosts danced ignoring them...
The problem began when an undead monster jumped from the second floor, a knight with pure white armor but no head at all, a dullahan. The creature leashed out, it had nearly the strength of an orichalcum boss monster strength, but it had crazy skills in battle, it took a good deal of attacks to defeat the creature.
"We did it! We defeated the first boss of this damned place!" Claimed Kirara as she laughed.
That jinxed it of course, all the ghost dancers and skeleton waiters began to clap, and soon a strident sound washed over them, but a creature on the second floor made the last clap.
"A fine job" Said a raspy voice as it came down the stairs, a knight clad in dark plates, was donning an adamantite full plate set of armor "But the master doesn't wish to be interrupted by worms, so you must die"
Behind the creature six dullahand warriors raised from his shadow, and in that exact moment, they knew they were fucked. Kirara's heart raced as the black-armored knight descended the stairs, his dullahan warriors closing in on the battered group. The once-celebratory atmosphere after defeating the first boss had turned to cold dread, now they understood, it wasn't even a boss, it was a simple minion. The skeletal waiters clapped slowly, their hollow eye sockets seeming to mock the adventurers, finding amusement in their current predicament.
The grand dance hall, once eerily beautiful with its ghostly dancers and elegant décor, had transformed into a battlefield of chaos. The ghosts that had previously ignored them now turned their attention to the adventurers, their translucent forms hovering above the floor, eyes glowing with malice.
"『Holy Penance』!" Casted Ivor, the paladin, and healer of the group as he mauled one of the undead minions with this mace, shockwaves of divine energy pulsated dealing damage to the undead nearby, but it wasn't enough.
Kirara barely parried a halberd strike with her dual daggers, but the strike sent her flying many meters away, passing through the ghosts. Her battle cry resounded in the halls.
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Back at the tavern, Raven's tail lazily curled and uncurled as she drifted further into consciousness. Fuwa's head was now resting comfortably on her chest, her arms wrapped securely around Raven's waist. The warmth of the morning sun filtered through the window, casting soft golden light over the two girls.
Raven cracked open one eye, glancing down at Fuwa, who was still deep in sleep. Her usual mischievous grin tugged at the corner of her lips "Dreaming about me, huh? Greedy" she whispered softly, her voice filled with affection as she gently stroked Fuwa's hair.
She was sure now, that she didn't even need to hear about it, she had to get this silly girl away from the dead trap that had opened yesterday.
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Explosive energy threatened to destroy the entire hall as Paul, the group's mage prepared a devastating attack, covered by both Creg and Ivor, but still, the enemy onslaught was devastating, they barely were able to hold the undead warriors at bay, their unlimited stamina was too much of an advantage to grasp any form of advantage.
"A valiant last stand" Exclaimed the dark armored figure, there was not a drop of sarcasm or ill intent in its voice, it was admiring the defiance of the invaders against these odds, he hadn't acted yet.
The enemy didn't seem to be using any type of magical attack, all the six dullahans only relied on their physical might to overpower the adventurers.
"『Smoke Bomb』!" Kirara cast throwing small spheres at the enemy, they exploded at contact raising a curtain of white smoke, but it was meaningless, all those enemies didn't rely on their eyes to detect them, but it was good enough of a distraction for Paul to finish her casting, releasing a powerful torrent of fire and thunder upon the enemies that were thrown away, but none of them seemed really damaged.
"Now" Screammed Creg "Run for it!"
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As Raven sat on the bed she rubbed her eyes and yawned Fuwa suddenly launched at her and hugged her from behind.
"Raven... I can't..." Fuwa said complaining "I'm one with this bed... it's too good"
And good it was, Raven had to admit this was by far the best bed she had ever rested upon, it was hard for her to leave this place too, but it would be bad to get used to something this good and then not have it again.
"We got to get up Fuwa..." She said not very convinced herself.
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The monsters began to sprint with fury pursuing the adventurer party, but as they were about to leave the castle the black knight appeared in front of them and stopped them raising a hand, on less than a second each Callahan was in front of him kneeling.
"You must not leave your position" Said the creature "You don't know, maybe there are more rat's lurking around"
He stopped at the doorway and looked at the retiring party as he took out his sword he looked at the spellcaster, it felt like a malevolous grin on his face, but there was no way to know this, even so the four adventurers felt the shiver of dead near them.
The monster took out his sword and slashed the air... then screams could be heard, blood splattered, the mage staff was split in two and his glasses rolled on the floor. Under the crimson moon of the artificial sky of the dungeon, the garden was tainted with red.
"『Pain Splitter』!" Someone screammed.
Surprised the black knight looked forward, he noticed the trick, but refused to say anything else, just turned around and went back to his position. The four adventurers were heavily damaged, after sharing the impact that would have certainly killed their companion. As they ran with their tail between their legs, a figure sitting on top of a tree had a malicious smile under a mask.
"Not yet you dumb knight" Said the voice "Don't spoil the fun so early!"
A cackle was heard as they ran for their lives towards the exit.