"You okay back there?" Airen asked over his shoulder.
She nodded silently.
"Good. Just remember—don't do anything from here on out, no matter what you see. Even if things start to look... bad."
He steadied himself, then said, "Alright, hold on tight. And don't scream, even if you feel like it. This place is crawling with strong monsters. I can sense them. The room above us… it's full of them."
They continued moving, navigating through the dark cavern until they stumbled upon a massive gate. It loomed where the cave's original entrance should have been.
"So, this is the room." He glanced back at her. "Alright, you can get down now. I can't risk you getting hurt—I'm going to need your help with something later."
Airen took a deep breath. "Come, Windbringer!" he whispered, his cape stirring in response. He glanced down at his worn gear, noting how poorly it fit since… then. "Without the right armor, I'll have to be extra careful. One wrong move, and it's over."
Peeking through a narrow crack in the gate, he quickly dodged as a spear made of bone hurtled past, narrowly missing his head. But before he could close the gate, it swung open on its own, revealing a chamber swarming with hobgoblins and orcs.
"Guess we're doing this," he muttered. Casting a protective barrier over the gate to shield her, Airen charged into the room, ducking and weaving through the monsters' attacks. "A whole horde… and two mutants? Perfect."
With a swift motion, he raised his hand and cast an earth spell. Stones rained down from above, crushing several enemies in one blow. Airen cut his way through the chaos, dispatching any creature in his path, but a heavy club struck him hard on the shoulder, sending him crashing into the wall. Before he could fully regain his footing, more projectiles flew toward him, scraping his skin as he tried to dodge.
He gritted his teeth. "Alright… my turn." His aura surged as he activated his full enhancements. Reinforce, Perfect Eye, Harden, Double Strength! Chains extended from his sword, piercing through the hobgoblins and orcs, yanking them off balance. He charged forward, slicing through them mercilessly until only the two mutants remained.
He pointed his sword at them. "Come on, then."
In response, the mutants melded together, forming a monstrous fusion of orc and hobgoblin. With a hideous roar, it charged at him, shattering parts of the chamber wall. Airen sidestepped, maneuvering his chains to entangle the creature's limbs and anchor them to nearby pillars, trapping it. As it struggled, he retrieved a hammer from his storage ring, positioned a nail against its forehead, and drove it in with a swift, final blow.
Ding!
[You have leveled up.]
[Level: 3 > Level: 4]
He exhaled, dusting himself off as he turned back. "Looks like that's the last of them. Let's keep moving."
They cleared several more rooms, each more treacherous than the last, until finally, Airen slowed, his steps faltering. He gave her a weary smile, relief evident in his eyes. "This… should be the last of them," he muttered, more to himself than to her. And then, without warning, he sank to his knees, the strength leaving his body all at once.
"Airen! Are you alright?" she asked, moving toward him, but something held her back.
At that moment, two figures—those Airen had been carrying on his mud platform—stepped forward, walking past her without even a glance. She tried to move, but her body felt paralyzed, frozen by some unseen force.
One of the figures looked down at Airen's fallen form, a dark gleam in her eyes. "Finally… shall we finish him now?"
---
"Can't believe he managed to clear all the rooms before it took effect on him," one of the women said, a smile spreading across her face.
"I know! To think he has such resistance to poison. We infected him when he carried us after the Tower Master, and that whole backstory of his!" her companion replied.
"Still, to think he's the fourth son of the Archmage family. I never expected the Prince to be the one who tried to kill the Sword God," she added, glancing at the Tower Master, who was still dazed by the unfolding events.
"You two! What did you do?" the Tower Master screamed at them.
"What?" both women replied in unison.
"Quiet down!" One of them, with long red hair, grabbed the Tower Master by the jaw and pointed a needle menacingly close to her eye. Then, with a swift kick to her stomach, she sent her sprawling, making her screech in pain.
"Come on, let's kill him now, so we can wash up," the red-haired woman said, gesturing at the other, who sat on the ground. "I hate that we had to put ourselves in the wall just to trick him."
"Still, to think he managed to kill the King all on his own. Some famous people did help him, but in the end, we killed them here, bringing him back to life," the other woman added.
"You know what? Just sit there. I'll go kill him myself," the red-haired woman declared, crouching down next to Airen's fallen body, face down on the ground. As she moved to turn his face toward her, Airen suddenly punched her in the face, sending her sprawling.
The second woman reacted quickly, grabbing her weapon to attack Airen. "Magic bullet!" she shouted, but Airen was faster, shooting her legs out from under her.
She screamed in pain, biting her hand as she clutched the wound. "How are you still alright after being poisoned?" she asked, confusion etched on her face.
"Oh, that?" Airen replied casually. "I'm a Scout. One of my abilities is resistance to poison and toxins. So yeah, it didn't really work at all. To be precise, I was waiting for you two to do something before I made any drastic moves."
"What?" she asked, her eyes wide. "How long did you know we were pretending to be hostages?"
"Easy. Each and every one of them has a unique mana control technique. You two were relying on the system. You both have a mild smell, while the others are much stronger," Airen explained.
"Alright, we give up! We won't do anything else. Just let us live, please!" she pleaded, looking up at him, hoping for mercy. But his expression remained cold.
"What? Why would I let you live? I'm going to kill the two of you! You just tried to kill me!" Airen laughed darkly.
"Wait, please... I don't want to die yet! I haven't lived long enough," she stammered, desperation in her voice. "Look, you're only fifteen, right? If you let us live, you can use our bodies however you want!" She began to remove her clothing, baring herself in a twisted offer of surrender.
Before she could finish, Airen's sword sliced through her hand, sending it flying across the room. She screamed in agony, staring in horror at the severed limb before he cut her head clean off.
Airen then turned to the red-haired woman, dispatching her with a swift slice to the neck. He crouched beside the Tower Master, who was still recovering from the earlier blow, and gently scraped her stomach to relieve her pain.
"There... there... Just open your arms, and let me use [Minor Heal] on you. Also, lick this saliva from my finger. It has a numbing effect, so you'll feel better," he instructed.
She reluctantly licked the saliva, feeling the pain fade moments later. When she opened her eyes, she saw the bloody remains of the two women.
"Hey... why are we going back down?" she asked, confused. "Shouldn't we be going outside now?"
"What? Are you crazy? I won't leave you out there alone. I'm not that cruel," Airen replied, a hint of frustration in his voice.
A soft laugh escaped her. "Now that I think about it, I haven't told you my name yet. My name is Aureila, but just call me Eila from now on."
"Okay, Eila. Just sleep for now. I'll wake you up when we're back in the room," he said, gently.
"No! I don't want to sleep! Also, you're a talented magic user."
"What? What do you mean by that?" Airen asked, intrigued.
"Maybe it's because you don't know much about normal magic abilities since you were always compared to your family. The most enhancements anyone can put on themselves or others is three at best. Even a saint can only manage five effects at their peak. But you—you put more than five effects on yourself every time you fight. No one can do that! If they tried, they'd probably bleed out before they could even cast two."
Airen stopped moving, struck by her words.
"Hey, are you okay?" Eila asked, noticing the tears falling onto her hand as it rested around his neck.
He was crying from her acknowledgment.
"Hahaha... to think I'd be recognized for my abilities as a mage when I've stopped being one.
Thank you, Eila. Your words mean so much to me."
---