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CHAPTER 26: Meeting the Gold District

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          I ran through the woods with ease. My body felt lighter outside the hidden dungeon. I guess the gravity from inside the hidden dungeon and the outside world was completely different. I kept running until I reached a small stream of water. Since the sun as starting to set into the horizon replacing the blue sky with a yellowish-orange glow, I decided to camp near the water creating a campground. I sat in a log as I lit up a campfire using rocks and some stalactites I got a year ago. The ember quickly ignite the dried leaves I collected around the area and in no time, I had a decent campfire going at the same time the temperature started dropping.

         “Let’s see, currently I’m here.” I ran my pointer finger through the map retracing my steps. “If I go that way, I should reach the first dungeon probably by tomorrow.”

         After a couple of hours, I covered a lot of distance almost making me reach the halfway mark to the dungeon. I put the map in my bag and quickly ate dinner as the moon slowly rose halfway up the sky. I climbed a tree and leaned against it while sitting on a branch gazing at Earth. I felt relaxed looking at my home planet and seeing after a year, it looked more majestic than I remember.  

        “I guess if it’s night here, its night there.” I yawn letting my body relax and digest what I ate. I see lights that represent street lamps, building lights, stoplights, the lights of people’s rooms on earth. I see them as a tiny speck scattered across the surface of the planet. They look like a piece of galaxy plastered onto a sphere. Even looking at the night sky of this planet, stars were everywhere.

        “So many stars…” My voice fades as my consciousness disappears and I fall asleep.

       I wake up with the same bluebird chirping in front of me like an annoying alarm. I tried swatting it away, but it flew before my hand managed to hit it. I must not notice but, I wondered how he got in with me to the dungeon. Even out here I see him and I’m beginning to start thinking he’s a hallucination. I take out a glass container filled with water and a piece of cooked meat out my bag. I study my glass container and I remembered that there were so many utensils I found inside the hidden dungeon, is as if someone has lived in it for quite some time.

         After eating breakfast, I continued to walk alongside the stream. I saw the occasional monsters pass me every now and then and the minute we lock eyes, they’ll bolt towards the forest in an instant. Boars, wolf, and bears, doesn’t matter what animal came out, none of them attacked me. I have enough meat in my bag so I don’t bother killing them. It’s a waste of energy and time. I proceeded to follow the stream until I have to break off of it and walk on a beaten path that leads to a cave.

      “If I’m correct, there should be a cave somewhere here.” I walk following the trail keeping my step light as a feather trying not to alert anyone that I’m here. As far as I know, they all could be here and if I have the element of surprise in my advantage, it’ll be easier to deal with them with one skill.

        “Yea I know right.” I hear a voice fades in as I walked further into the forest. I crouched around looking at the ground making sure I don’t step on a twig.

       “Maaan~ princess Hiroko is as beautiful as ever. She rivals Princess Stella looks. Actually no, she’s even better looking!” One voice says and I almost laughed out loud as the last thing I remember was seeing her butt naked with shit stains on herself.I crawl towards a bush to see where the voice is coming from and once, I got a clear view, I see a couple of soldiers hanging around a fire pit in front of what seems to be a cave entrance. There’s a pot on top the fire and steam slowly float up to the sky. It seems like something simmering inside and the smell was enough to make me hungry again. They all surround it holding a bowl probably waiting for it to finish simmering.

      “Ugh, Chef! Is it done yet?!” One of the soldiers shouts making me duck in the bushes. I felt like lodging a knife in his throat as I smiled at them full of openings. He looks like the captain of the group since his armor is mixed with gold compared to everyone's pure silver attire. After a few seconds, an old man comes out of the cave holding a ladle.

       A hairless gorilla? I whispered in my mind trying not to hold a laugh. If I didn’t know he’s a chef, I'd mistaken him to be the leader.

       “I told you to wait!” The chef screamed and used its ladle to hit the captain in the head.

       “AH! Sorry! Sorry, I’m just really hungry.” The captain replies back rubbing his head. After hitting him with a ladle, the chef goes near the pot and used the ladle to taste the stew.

       “Ok boys and girls! It’s ready! Go eat!” the chef shouted so loud I felt his voice vibrate on my skin. More guard came out of the cave and started feasting on the soup. So far, I’ve only eaten grilled or fried food since it’s easier to make and I never really had time to sit down and make something proper even if I had the ingredients and spices. 

      “Who’s hiding behind that bush with your killer intent. Why don't you come on out, demon. You’re no match for these boys. They’re the gold district elite squad.” The chef looked directly at the bush I’m hiding at and all the guard around him burst out laughing. 

      What? How did he notice me? Are they laughing? I say to myself and I started getting irritated.

      “Yea baby demon! Pfft~ we know you’re there since the beginning! A surprise attack wouldn't work on us.” The captain says and I’m getting more pissed off.

      Casually laughing and eating while taunting me, I’m going to fuck them all up! I quickly jumped out and rushed at the captain who’s still eating his food.

      “Seismic step! Pound!” My fist glowed from my skill and a few soldiers looked my way. I see some of them started moving but I was too fast that my fist made contact with his cheeks as he decides to turn towards me.

PUNCH! SWOOSH!

        My punch sent him flying towards the inside of the cave followed by a muffled bang.

       “Captain!” Everyone shouted in unison as they see their captain disappear into the dark of the cave. No one moved confused at what just happened.

       “What? Did you fuckers bite more than you can chew?” I taunt them and I see a lot of their expression changed from confusion to anger.

       “You bastard! Guys! He seems like a bandit! Get him!” one of the guards shouts at me making me laugh as he slowly ran my way. I punched him in the gut after evading the swing of his sword and he went flying up for a few seconds before crashing back down the ground. All of the guards drew their swords and some of them scrambled away to get their weapon.

       “Laughing like you’re some fucking god. Who the fuck you guys think you are?! Huh?!” I shouted as I jumped onto one of the guards kneeing him in the gut. He winced in pain as I held him in place while jamming my knee as far as I can. Using seismic step, I skid back evading his vomit as it almost hit my clothes. The next guard tried to attack me, but I quickly dodged bending forward as he swung at my back. Another guard came from above as he swung his sword down and I sidestep dodging his attack while placing myself behind him. I kicked him behind the knee causing him to kneel and as he fell, I grabbed the back of his head and pulled it towards me forcing his face to look up to mine. I gave him a smile and I can see the color came out of his face as my fist came down on it and using brute force, I slammed his face towards the ground.

       Small rocks flew everywhere as his face creates a dent on the soul below us. I remembered when I fought the guards near the sky king dungeon, they all flew in all directions where I punched them. It would normally kill them. Well, that is if it was earth. Most of them stood back up in pain so I know these guys won’t just die in one hit. Especially if they are an elite squad.

       “Elite squad? You fuckers seem more like punching bags~” I walked towards the group that's blocking the cave entrance. Some ran around me trying to surround me and yet, they were smart enough to stop attacking trying to look for an opening. I look and they all flinched back scared to come close. To provoke them, I stomped on the soldier that I punched earlier pushing head more into the ground.

       “Well then, are you just going to stand there and watch me stomp on your friend here?” I open my arms while I moved my left foot as if I was putting out a cigarette.

       “You! Let him go!!” A girl with silver plate armor shouts as tears streak down her face. Even when the other soldiers told her to stop, she rushes towards me. She swings her sword horizontally trying to cut me in half and I dodge by jumping up back, flipping into the air. To add more fuel to her fury, I used the foot I have on top of the guard to jump up causing his head to lodge more in the ground as the surrounding area erupts creating a crack on the ground.

       “Oops~ I’m sorry, I forgot he was down there~” I mocked her as I land on my feet a few feet away.

       I guess this one is a berserker. I say in my mind remembering Riki who had two-handed weapons.

       “Balur!” The female berserker shouts as she pulls up the soldier out the ground.

       “Wrong move missy~” I whisper as I rush catching her off guard. I punched her right on the gut and she flew towards the forest at such speed breaking all the trees she came in contact with. “Never turn your back on an enemy~”

       All of them rushed towards me and I decided to use my new skill to deal with them all at the same time.

      “Knockout!” I shout as I brought my fist down the ground. A circular rune emerges under all of us and all of the soldiers fell down one by one. This new skill knocks anyone unconscious that touches the rune. At first, I had to hit them directly because the rune wasn’t as big. But as I level it up, the rune got bigger and bigger and I’m able to knock unconscious multiple enemies at the same time by having them step on it. The skill works depending on their strength. The strong monsters don't go to sleep but become delirious for a few seconds. Lower level monster just goes straight to sleep.

      “Ah hahaha! Weaklings!” I shout as I see all the soldiers fall one by one around me. This is the first time I use this skill on humans. I guess they all weaker than me since everyone who stepped in the circle was knocked unconscious. I look at all the sleeping bodies around me and I see one is still awake as he tried his best to seem dead. 

      “Ahhh~ You didn’t step in the rune, now that’s going to suck. I have to punch you till you sleep.” I say as I slowly walk towards the chef. He probably heard what I said and quickly got up getting on his knees as I stop right in front of him.

      “S-spare me! I have a family! Y-you can take whatever you want!” The chef shouts and I just kept looking down at him smiling.

       “Why don’t you run along now and tell Junpei and the rest of the diamond to come out so we can talk," I say and I brought my face close to his. “You see, I have unfinished business with them.”

       I stood back up and gave him a nod. He quickly bolts towards the cave and was too busy running away that he doesn’t notice I was following behind him.

       Good. Keep running. You’ll lead my right to them. I say in my mind. He kept running until he reached a bridge that goes over a small lake being lit up by crystal stalactite on the bottom of it. It looked like there was a wall over the tiny body of water since a perfect shape was carved open for the bridge to fit and anyone walking through it. If they didn’t carve a hole in the wall and built a bridge, people would have to swim under the water to come up on the other side. I see the captain on the wall, and it looks like he’s unconscious and stuck in it. The chef didn’t even stop to see if the captain is alright as ran through the bridge.

       For the fucker than notice me earlier, now he doesn’t even know I’m following him.I say in my mind. What the hell is that? A glass door?

      The chef passes through an opened glass door. I quietly follow behind him matching his footsteps so he doesn't hear me. Right inside, there is two portal at the end of a room. The place itself looks like the sky king dungeon as the walls were carved with designs and the floor was replaced with red carpet. The room is empty because everyone probably came out to eat the stew. The chef kept running towards the left portal quickly jumping in it disappearing.

       “That portal probably leads to our dungeon. And the other one to the dungeon the gold people woke up in.” I whisper to myself analyzing the situation as I stop right in front of the portal. “Back into this hell hole again huh…”

       Without wasting any more time, I walk into the portal and it took a while for my vision to adjust as It was hit with a bright white light. Right in the other side, I see the chef sitting on the ground looking at something that probably terrified him to the core.  

      "We meet again, gatekeeper," I whisper and I stand beside the chef and watch the gatekeeper fight a couple of people I'm unfamiliar with.

      “W-w-how did you get in here?!” the chef asked as he looks up to me.

      "Through the portal like you did," I said mocking him and all of a sudden, a loud explosion erupted from a distance sending a strong shockwave at us. I see the chef fly towards the portal but managed to miss it as I flew upwards hitting a wall from a distance.

       “Compared to the dragon, it’s quite small. I think it’s smaller than the gatekeeper I fought…” I whisper looking back at the gatekeeper. Yet, something feels off as it looked different from what I remembered last.

  Don’t tell me, I’m in the wrong dungeon?I whisper in my mind as I tried to remember the last thing that happened in the dungeon. I remembered killing the gatekeeper enabling me to re-name the dungeon but yet, after getting in here, I didn’t get any notification at all.

      “This isn’t my dungeon. This is the gold. Didn’t they kill this thing?” I whisper looking at probably gold district members fighting the giant. “Well then, let me get out of here before they notice-“

      I suddenly stopped moving trying to get a clear vision of the group they’re protecting at a distance. I see a group of people gathered around one corner of the room with a woman in front of them holding her staff. A green orb was encasing everyone including what seems to be a person wearing gold armor. He’s sitting on the ground with his hands on his stomach as he pants heavily.

     “Fuck, it’s too far. I can’t see from here.” I whisper to myself as I try to see if my mother is in the group. I need to make sure now. Yet, my heart was beating so fast it felt like it was using overdrive as I crept closer and closer following the wall and hiding behind the rubble. 

       BOOOOM!!

       The gatekeeper screamed and sent another shockwave. Causing the rubble to push me against the wall. Using my arms, I prevented it from crushing me with ease. After it subsided, I peek back out and notice people struggling to even land an attack as the gatekeeper dodged them.

       It’s been a year now, they should have gotten stronger, but it seems like they’re having a hard time. I whisper in my mind as their attacks seemed off.

      “Why don’t they just kill it?” I whisper looking at the fight. The gatekeeper started sending fireballs towards a person and he was cutting them like butter. A couple of people are fighting from a distance sending different attacks towards the gatekeeper’s face but nothing worked as it smiled at them. 

  Something feels off. The gatekeeper looks smaller, but something is off with the way they fight. Did it smile before? I whisper to myself looking at the negative numbers appearing and disappearing in an instant. I decided to get a closer look and have a clear view, I see most of them look tired and pale. Like they're barely hanging on. But then, I noticed something else.

      “Ogre king?” I whisper as I see the name on top the gatekeeper.

“You humans! You all amuse me!! But you will never kill me! For I am the ogre king!! The king of all ogres!!!” the Ogre King shouted so loud I felt the shockwave of its voice vibrating my skin. Not only that, it surprised me it could talk.

      "Well duh, you're the king of ogres that's why your name is ogre king," I whisper to myself mocking what it just said.

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      “Leave now! These humans are mine!” The ogre king shouted at the gold members and pointed towards the group of newcomers. While they were busy, I decided to sneak towards the rubble near the wall of the cave to get a better view of the people in the group. Once I'm close enough, I see unfamiliar faces except for one, my school's nurse.

     “What the….what is she doing here? Is she the one Luro is talking about?” I whisper to myself. “I need to check my dungeon to make sure.”

     I sneak back to where I came from and the ogre king suddenly shouted making me hide behind rubble.

    “You there!!” The ogre king suddenly shouted making me duck behind rubble. “I can feel your killing intent from here!! You can’t surprise attack me!! For I am the Ogre King!!! The king of all ogres!!!”

 Is he talking about me?I say in my mind remembering the chef who detected me earlier. I slowly peek out the rubble and I see his back still faces me.

    "Ok, he's not talking to me," I whisper and I slowly creep behind the rubble inching my way closer to the portal.

       “Who are you?! Show yourself!!!” The Ogre King shouted as I crept behind the rubble looking at the portal. All of a sudden, flames burst out in front of me making me jump back as I activated my seismic step skill. I skid around the ground and managed to stop near the group of people that are protected by the green shield.

       “I looked at the person with the fanciest looking armor and our eyes met for an instant. I break my glare off him as the Ogre King sends another fireball my way.

       “Che, Tenderize!!”  My fist glowed as I swung towards the fireball. My skill exited out my fist like a bullet and exploded the fireball from a distance. “There goes not being seen.”

      Everyone’s attention to me now, including the members of the gold district. Even the ogre king is looking at me.

      “How dare you ignore me, you mere human!! I am the Ogre King-“

     “I fucking know!” I shouted back interrupting its annoying speech. “You said it so many fucking times! You’re the fat son of bitch Ogre Queen!”

      I taunted it and I can see it’s expression slowly changing. “What?! What did you call m?! I am the great Ogre Ki-“

      “Pound!” I shouted out and with my seismic step still activated, I jumped towards his face closing the distance in an instant.  My fist met its left eye and it exploded as slime and blood covered my entire body.

      “Graaaaahhhh!!!!!!” The Ogre King screamed in pain as he swung his arms swatting me towards a wall.

     “Hahaha! This brings back memories!! Chef’s Coat!” I brace for impact towards the wall as I flew at high speed. The impact was so strong I created a crater on the wall, but I came off with only a few minor cuts and bruises thanks to my skill.  “Shit. I’m covered with eyeball slime! Fuck! This is nasty! Ugh, tenderize!!”

     My hand's glowed red and I bombarded its legs with my attack, and it didn’t have time to dodge as my attack exploded on his knee. I kept punching sending a barrage of attacks towards its legs forcing it to go on its knees as I severely mutilated it.

     “Item Bag!” my bag appeared in front of me and I took out my dragon slayer. I can see some of the newcomers are ogling my weapon.

    “Sky king’s breath!!” I breathe into the sword and it glowed red before bursting into flames encasing the blade.

    I don’t have time for this. I need to end this quick.I braced myself as I prepared to jump towards its head.

      “Let’s see which is stronger! your skull or my skill! I jumped forward flying towards his head. I gripped the scalding hot steel of the sword and swung downwards towards his head. “heaven’s Slice!”

        He tried to block my attack with his hand but my attach went through his wrist exploding on his face.

       “Graaaaaaahhhh!!!!” The ogre king fell down the ground and like a kid, rolled around trying to put out the fire on his face. The shockwave of my attack managed to send me upwards as I slowly fell back down on top of it. I aimed my sword downwards pointing the tip of my blade at the Ogre King who was too busy slapping the flame out of his face with his remaining hand.

       “Tsk. One more time~” I sang, and I get ready to attack again.

       “Clean Cut!” I hear a voice ring below me and I see one of the gold members severing the Ogre King’s head. But that didn’t end it. It’s body rolled over as it picked up its head attaching it back in place.

       “Oh you got to be shitting me, is he a zombie?” I whisper as I land beside one of the gold members.  

      “I damaged it quite...a bit. The rest…is up to you...” The guy who attacked it suddenly fell to the ground as he pants in place.

      “Balo!” The lady that’s covering the newcomers shouts with tears coming out of her eyes.

      Balo? That sounds familiar. I say in my mind as I watched one of them pick him up and bring him to the girl by the green forcefield.

     “Hey! You!” My voice was loud enough to make him face towards me looking at me with his remaining eye. My attack managed to blast half of his face erupting his left eye and showing a bit of his skull. “I don’t have time for this. Just fucking roll over and die. I’ll massacre you right here like what I did to an overlord.”

      For a minute he was confused on what I said, and I can see some of the gold members are the same.

      “Filthy human. What did you say?” The ogre king asked confused, but his expression quickly turned to disbelief. “You…you’re the one that killed the overlord?! The ruler of the southern demon tribe?!”

      “Southern demon tribe? You’re talking about Satan looking bastard? Yea I killed him and took his clothes. Tada~” I say giving him a pose showing the clothes I’m wearing. “Handsome, isn’t it?”

      The ogre king just stood there and didn’t say anything as his expression turned from disbelief to complete fear.

       “Why you look so serious? ~” I tilt my head sideways giving it a smile.

       “S-s-spare me!” He screamed and kneeled down.

       “Why?” I can see his eye is going crazy looking everywhere. The other is gone due to my attack earlier. Everyone is at awe seeing a king of ogres bow down to me.

       “I-I-I didn’t know it was you! I-I will leave these humans alone!” He started begging as he tried to back away using his remaining hand and leg.

      Was the overlord that well known?I say in my mind.

      “Why?” I asked again and I can see he’s trying to find an answer.

      “B-B-because I-I can promise I won’t hurt anyone!” He looked a bit happy making me want to laugh how such a big enemy can look so weak.

      “Why?” I took another step.

      “I-I-I will be your greatest ally!” He started getting frantic as I got closer and closer.

      “Why?” Asking him while tilting my head side to side as I gripped my sword was exhilarating. The feeling of something as big as him cowering in fear towards someone as small as I somehow made me feel better about my existence in this world.

       “I-I will give you land!” He smiled again thinking I’ll accept his offer but I kept walking towards him at the slowest pace possible.

       “Why?” I lifted up my sword placing it on my shoulder and the hot blade caused smoke to emit out of my shoulder as it burned my skin. Yet, the pain wasn’t enough to make me flinch as I walked towards him.

       “I-I will give you power!” His voice is getting louder and louder as he got more frantic as I get closer to him. “P-please spare me!”

        “Why?!” I stopped tilting my head as my expression changed causing him to freeze in place.

        “P-Ple-“

        “Why? Why why why why why why why oh why oh why?!!!” My voice slowly rose to a shout and I kept asking him over and over as I shouted at the top of my lungs up until I got right in front of him.

        “P-please. Spare me.” He begged and begged as I look down the ground. I slowly lifted up my head facing him while putting on the biggest smile I can muster.

       “No.” I jumped up stabbing my sword on his remaining eyes and he shouted so loud it felt like I was near a jumbo speaker. “Well then, let me show you how I hammer a nail in~ pfffttt~ not that you can actually see it. Item bag~”

       My dimensional backpack materialized in front of me and I took out one of the new weapons I got from the dungeon. 

      "You see ogre king when I learned the new skill tenderized, I also learned a new passive skill with it, and that is, the ability to wield hammers. Now, where were we? Ah, tenderize!” The hammer glowed red and right when I’m about to jump, a voice came ringing out behind me.

      “Don’t!” One of the guy's who are also holding two swords looked at me with fear in his eyes. Not of fear because I'm dangerous but it felt like he feared something else “Don’t kill him! If he turns into dust, our friend will turn into dust inside him. She was eaten alive!”

      “No wonder you people take too long to kill this thing.” I felt agitated for him stopping me at my moment but thinking about it from the beginning, I can guess that’s another factor to why their movement seems off. They’re probably trying to subdue the ogre king rather than killing it.

      “That’s right! You kill me and she dies! Hahaha! You humans! In the end is nothing but a showoff! Do your worst!!” The ogre king laughed like it’s his victory. 

      “Huh?” I asked tilting my head towards him. He probably sensed something from my voice as he stopped laughing all together. “Are you stupid? Do I look like I’m their friend?”

      “Y-you’re not?” It asked and that’s when I seismic stepped towards its knee. I hammered its knee and I can hear the kneecap breaking into pieces before exploding to pieces. He screamed in pain as he fell on his side. Pieces of meat, skin, and bone shards spewed behind him as his leg was severed by my attack. 

      “You demon!!” The ogre king shouted as he got on his back. I see his remaining hand glow green as he placed it over his severed leg.

     “Whaaaat?! Me, a demon?! Preposterous!” I say as I walk towards his ear. “You look more of a demon than me you fat ogre~” I smiled and he started screaming and talking a language I can’t understand.

    “Gruaboolah! Gaba bosha nooba! Gashi! Gashi! Gobarashi!” He shouted over and over again yet I didn’t pay attention as I daydreamed of killing him.

 “Now, what is that green glow in your hand?” I screamed and without notice, I hammered it’s elbow joint’s shattering his bones on the inside making his arm go limp. I kept hammering over an over as I crunched his bones into dust. He screamed in pain as I laughed watching his blood splatter everywhere at every impact. Even when he has the power to regenerate his head, it’s probably a one-time skill since he never regenerated the other broken and severed parts of his body.

       “P-p-please. No…more.” The ogre king’s voice was full of pain while he begged for his life.

      “Now, Now, what’s the matter?” I asked him while walking toward his head. I waited for him to answer back but all he did is pant trying to regain his breathing. I climbed on top of him and stepping on his stomach felt like I was on top a large waterbed. If I jumped up and down, it probably would be like jumping on a giant trampoline. “Well then, let me show you what C-section is~”

       I threw my two-handed hammer to the side and now I notice, even though he is smaller than the gatekeeper, he’s still big compared to my size. Four to five people can lie on top of his stomach and still have room to spare for more.

       “Let the operation commence! Item bag!” I shouted out my dimensional bag and took out a sword. "Sharpen~”

       My sword gave a vibrating hum and bright white color encased the blade. “Let’s see, I should cut, right here!!” 

      “Graaaaaaah!!!!” The ogre king screamed in pain as I slowly stab my sword through his skin. “If I remembered correctly, regular human anatomy, the stomach is around near the chest but I hear gurgling sound around your abdomen.”

      Then again, this guy is not human. I whisper in my mind as I run my blade through the top layer of his skin. He shouted in pain and I can feel his body tensing up as it became more stable to walk on.

       “La~ la la~ la~” I sang as I cut the skin off him. I want it to feel the blade inch by inch as it cuts into his flesh. But not only that, I want everyone who's watching to know a certain message.

       “Aaaarrghhh!! Stop!!! Pleas-Blerghh!!!!!!” The ogre king vomited like a geyser sending whatever he ate flying up towards the ceiling of the cave. I was happy he didn't vomit out the girl he ate since it gave me more of a reason to continue skinning his stomach. He kept screaming and the sound of his voice started irritating me. 

       “Ok! Shut the fuck up! I’ll stop using my blade. Sheesh!” I shouted as I pulled out my blade off him and threw it in the side. My hands, legs, clothes, and even parts of my face was covered in blood.

       “P-please….s-spare me.” It begged again. The ogre kings arms were smashed, his legs were severed, and now the skin covering his abdomen is flipped open exposing his muscle. Yet, he still has a good amount of health.

      “Say, ogre king you listening?” I could see his head weakly nods as he pants trying to catch his breath. I walked towards his chest and sat on it before continuing what I was about to say. I spoke loudly and clearly so that everyone in the cave can hear. “You know, I died once. I wished for everything to be a bad dream, but it wasn’t. I begged my enemies, to spare me, to kill me, but they didn't even listen. I was eaten alive, tortured, and put in all kinds of hell.”

       “W-wha-“

       “Shhh, just listen.” I interrupted him and he remained quiet. “Well as I say, I died and that fucking cunt, Luro revived me back onto this hell hole. Well, not this one but the other hell hole.”

       “L-luro-“

       “Shhh, I told you not to talk. Don't make me rip out your tongue.” I tell him as I smiled and I can feel his body tense under me. “Ok, to continue, I revived, alone. I was all by myself facing every damn fucking thing this shit threw at me.”

       I took a deep breath while closing my eyes. Even though a year has passed, the memories I had in the first dungeon is still so vivid that sometimes, I have nightmares from it.

       I exhaled all my depression away as I opened my eyes looking up the stalactites whispering, “But, I survived.”

       “You see. I put the pieces back together.” I say out loud standing back up and walking towards his abdomen. I kept my gaze towards the gold members and I could see all their expression mixed with disbelief, caution, and fear.

       “I know they got played.” I stopped right in front of the wound as I faced them all. “That psychopath tricked them. I was mad at everything. But when I manage to regain my mind…”

        I paused for a bit as I changed my expression as a ball of anger made me feel like I want to destroy the world.

        “I finally used my brain.” I pointed my finger towards my temple and I can smell the metallic liquid, as my whole hand is covered with the Ogre King’s blood. “I know, they didn't choose for me to be alone inside that dungeon.”

        I look up and stared at the stalactites above us remembering how I killed the gatekeeper. I can hear the ogre king breathing. I can hear the gold members breathing. I can hear my own breathing.

      Inhale*

     Exhale*

    "They chose for me to die," I say out loud as I kept staring at the stalactite. “Because I was weak, they chose to save themselves than fight with me!”

      I looked down glaring at all of them. No one said anything and yet, I felt like I wanted to jump up the sky and have the stalactite rain down on all of us. “Ogre King! Don’t I get the right to blame them along with Luro? They’re no better than him. Like seriously, why would you follow the rules of the same fucker that brought us all in this place.” I say and this time I’m looking at the gold members. I can see their faces are covered with fear and nervousness. “Ogre king, want to know what I used as one of my weapon in the beginning?”

     “W-what?” The ogre king hesitantly asked.

     "My hands." The minute I gave him an answer, I used my hands and grabbed a portion of the abdominal muscle. Using all of my strength, I pulled a chunk of flesh off his body.

      “Stooop! Agrhhhh!!!” The ogre king shouted in pain as I savagely rip his flesh piece by piece with my bare hands. He kept screaming but I kept going until I can see his stomach.

      “There you are~ Chef’s coat~ Pound~” I sang my skills as I clenched my bloody hand into a fist. I swung directly into his stomach and my hand burst through making me elbow deep inside. The Ogre King screamed as I feel around its stomach looking for anything I can grab. I felt around until I feel a weird texture of gooey strings. I grabbed it but the hole I made was too small since it only fit my hand. So I couldn’t pull it out.

      “Fuck!” I say getting irritated. Using my other hand, I grabbed the hole and ripped it apart to get a bigger opening.

     “GRaaaaaaaahHHHH!!!! Stooooop! Pleaseeee!!!!” The ogre king shouted and begged but I just laughed as I see it’s stomach rip open. I yanked out the strings I was holding on earlier and when I got a better look at it, its hair. Black hair. Using the girl’s hair, I pulled her out of his stomach and threw her to the side. Some of the gold members rush to her aide and when I looked closely, she seemed familiar. Probably reminded me of Stella since she’s completely naked and I can see her skin is starting to burn as the acid in the stomach probably slowly ate her.

      “Akane!” The lady that was protecting the newcomers is now running towards her.

      “Akane!” One of the gold members got to her quickly placing his cape over her body. He places his ear near her probably trying to see if she’s still alive. “Sensei! She’s alive!”

      The lady chanted a spell and next thing I know, a bright green force field encased Akane and her wounds started healing in an instant.

      Ah, so that’s what it was. She’s a healer. I say as I remember the very first mistake we did. We didn’t pick a healer. I turned towards the Ogre king and walked close to its face. I can see its HP is depleting slowly. I grab my dragon slayer and slowly lodge it in its eye. It shouted in pain as I see critical hits hovering above us while the Ogre King screamed in pain.

      "It's amusing how you're still fucking alive," I whisper as I take out another two-handed hammer out my bag. “Ok, Lets end this shall we? Seismic step!”

       I jump up towards the stalactite in the ceiling of the cave as I gripped my dragon slayer on one hand and a two-handed hammer on the other.

Since I activated my seismic step, I was able to reach the stalactites as I flipped placing myself upside down. I see some of the gold members are moving towards the newcomers carrying Akane while they kept glancing back to me. I noticed the one they called sensei started creating more barriers after everyone regrouped up to the point that it became solid and I couldn't see through.

       “Wise move old lady. Tenderize. Pound~” I whispered and both my weapons glowed. “Sky king’s breath~” I breathe unto my weapons and both glowed red before bursting into flames, As I felt my body slowly come to a descend, I pushed my legs off the stalactite blasting off the ceiling heading back down towards the ogre king at high speed.

       Die. I whispered to him right before I made an impact with his face.

BOOOM! 

       The whole cave shook and pieces of the rocks starting breaking off the cave ceiling. The wind coming from the impact blew the entire ruble towards the wall and the flames from my sword spew out in all direction covering everything around me. The cave shook as the stalactite fell to the ground creating sparks as it made contact with the rubble. Once the shaking stopped, I noticed the gold members removing the force field to bring it back up where I can see through them as the flames slowly traveled everywhere. The body of the ogre king was blasted in half and slowly burning around me. There were flames everywhere and I can see the gold members looking around to only stop as they see me glaring at them.

       I was standing right in the middle of everything. "Chef's coat," I whispered to prevent myself from being burned by my own attack. They stared at me as I glared at them. I didn't move as I stood in place. Even without saying anything, I know they hear my message.

      Don’t fuck with me. I started walking towards them and I see some touch their weapon. The guy who was inside the force field stepped in front of them preventing them from taking out their weapons. They couldn't get out of the force field as the whole area was encased with fire so I slowly walked through the flames up until I reached the other side of the force field. I felt warm stepping inside and I felt my energy slowly regenerating. When I got right in front of them, no one said anything as I towered over the person who’s probably their leader. The guy slowly walked towards me and I held out my hand that's covered with blood. 

      "Well hello there~," I say while I give him a big smile. The biggest smile I can muster. He grabbed my hand and warily shook it without breaking off his gaze at my face. He didn't say anything and just stared at me curious about my identity. He probably has an idea but he doesn't say anything so I decided to give him the answer he's looking for.

      ”I’m the leader of the Diamond District.” I let go of his hand and I look at him straight in the eye with malice before reverting back to my smiling expression calmly telling him my name, “Call me Yasu...you peasant.”