Poor Stevan, probably got in some weird situation again.’ Marie chuckled.

It was always like that. Back when it was just the three of them, Stevan somehow always end up in some peculiar situations. One time, he was trapped in the Dungeon with a dragon for a while, and when they found Stevan, the monster itself was protecting him! Apparently, it was of a female species that developed feelings toward him while they were stuck together.

Marie giggled at such a memory and was then reminded of what is happening now, ‘Does he really think I can’t notice him hiding behind that curtain? Did he forget I had [Light vision]? Does he still not believe that it made me able detect anything that touches any light source?Well, whatever the reason may be, I could just confront him later, but now that the Corrupted Noble is dead, there is only me, the pope, and the king left to defend the human side of the war. I better find his personal gear before the kingdom does, I don’t trust their greedy hands to not lose it somehow.’

Marie then felt another intense headache. To others, Kriegs commands may have been impossible to disobey, but people at their realm simply treat it as a mild annoyance. She wondered when the fight between the king and Krieg was going to end.

“More importantly, who was the killer?”

‘Perhaps a creature from the Dungeon? No, considering his status as an undead, its most likely a lich or a necromancer, but when did Kreig kill a powerful person while Dungeon diving? He must have done it without telling us and tortured the guy to the point he sacrificed his soul to become undead. Wicked piece of….an annoying person.’

Suddenly, she felt another powerful presence appear at the direction of the Capital entrance. When she used [Light vision] to detect the individual, Marie clicked her tongue.

“Oh no, The rumored prince was that ambitious brat, can’t he seriously wait 5 more years before the tournament?”

----------

“So powerful.” Seraphine mumbled.

Before her eyes is a dance of colors, various abilities are thrown left and right to fend off many of the monsters that cane out of the slums area. Some produced flames of different colors, others conjured a tidal wave of rock, she could even witness the elf she saw on the adventurers guild a few days ago tore through the formation and wreak havoc.

“Don’t be fooled.” Keren stated, “Take a look at that side instead.”

They are currently inside a protective barrier conjured by the church, so Seraphine could easily observe the battlefield without the need to panic. When she witnessed a small group deep within the monster horde, she can’t help but be confused.

Instead of some intense struggle or glorious fight. They are simply swinging their weapons without casting any abilities. Compared to the ones on the edge defending them like hero’s, they looked rather weak, yet they are somehow still killing creatures left and right with frightening efficiency.

“Remember what I said about energy?” Keren reminded them.

“That everything cost energy?” Fate asked.

“Yup” she agreed, “The ones on the edge right now are considered amateurs from how they waste so much by using wide spread and flashy abilities, meanwhile, that small group are not wasting any of that, they would always strike only if kills, and would only use abilites that is so efficient it would guarantee it kills.”

“Boring.” Seraphine commented.

“Boring is better than dying.” Keren countered.

Suddenly, a large, guttural roar came from a distance, paralyzing every individual and monsters for a few seconds before continuing the battle.

“I wonder how Krieg died though?” Keren questioned, to which Fate turned her head In confusion.

“Who?”

“Ever heard of Star Perfection?” Keren asked. Both Seraphine and Fate shook their heads.

“They are essentially the sole reason that wars were Never-ending. The main battalion. A one-man army. If a single person that is one realm higher than your army shows up, then you could consider your country destroyed. A difference in realms are often compared to an ant and elephant, and having individuals at the highest realm would be tantamount to a god only needing to worry about another god.”

“So this Kreig person is one of them?” Fate asked.

“Yup, and somehow he is dead.” Keren casually commented.

“Not surprised?” Seraphine noted.

Keren smiled and brushed her hair.

“That is because you have never been to the Dungeon, little Seraphine. That place is full of monsters, literally and metaphorically.”

Another roar occurred, but this time, it is not from the distance but something close by.

Then, the group of adventurers protecting the barrier was flung in all directions or jumped away to avoid a house sized beast riddled with horns that is charging at them.

If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.

However, before it got close, Keren stepped out and held her palm forward.

When one of the gigantic horns touched her hand, it immediately shattered from the momentum. Keren then proceeded to throw an uppercut to its Jaw, sending it flying back into the formation.

“Hmph, weak.” She said, to which Seraphine immediately saw through as her trying to act cool.

“Weak indeed.” A voice to her right commented.

Suddenly, Seraphine could no longer see Keren, as if she vanished into thin air.

----------

“You would be quite pretty if you smiled you know. Are you perhaps the princess?” A young man in a light blue suit commented.

He had pointy ears, bleached yellow hair, and a strikingly handsome face. His hairstyle is slicked back, fit for a gentleman, but his demeanor spoke more of a brute, someone ready to fight at any time.

“Huh? What the hell are you doing?” Keren exclaimed, “And put me back outside.” She said while looking at the topless rocky mountain they are in.

Keren had heard of this place. The so called [mountain of loss], the ability of the elven prince.

“Oh so you have heard of me? Then you know my purpose, right princess?”

“Fuck off”

She doesn’t have time for this. Keren doesn’t care what he thinks of her or whatever he wanted to do. She needs to make sure to stay close to the kids.

“Then you’d have to beat me first. That is the condition for escaping this place.”

“Piece of shit” She stated.

“Its just a simple duel. I have heard of your feats, and I want to see if you are worthy to join my party.”

Keren smirked, “Well too bad buddy, I’m not the princess.”

She was expecting the guy to be surprised, but he simply shrugged his shoulders.

“You matched the description that people told me. Besides, that punch was indicative of your proficiency in combat.”

“Do I look like I wear gowns?” Keren challenged and started to accumulate energy.

The prince merely stood by, ready to move at any time.

Suddenly, the entire mountain was engulfed in flames. Rock melted, rivers evaporated, and the prince was set ablaze.

However, he did not flinch.

That is only bad news for Keren.

“Around Core perfection, correct?” He deduced, “My names Jin by the way, prince of the mid world Indra.”

‘So he isn’t even from this world.’ Keren silently thought as she charged forward with a flying kick.

Jin casually sidestep to the right, and brushed away a barrage of fists from her.

“The elf elders of this world asked for assistance in annihilating your race. Apparently, you were winning. But I don’t really see the fuss was about if your limits were merely at star perfection.” He mocked, “The monsters in The Dungeon were much more dangerous.”

“Shut up!” Keren shouted, then casted [Fueled breath], “You don’t know the horrors we faced when we got stuck there!”

Jin jumped back immediately to gain distance. When she finished [Fueled breath], what remained is evaporating magma and surprised elven prince.

“You knew about the Dungeon?” He exclaimed.

“Yeah, a friend and I secretly followed a priest through a portal. Needless to say, it wasn’t worth it.”

“What ranked were you in?” He asked.

“I’ll tell you if you let go of me.” She negotiated.

The prince though about the pros and cons of such a deal, at least that is what Keren assumed.

Eventually, he sighed, “Fine, I declare that I lost.”

Suddenly, the view of the endless mountains disappeared, replacing it with a humongous Cathedral of the radiant church, and a sight of a bloody battlefield.

----------

‘Where is aunt Keren?’ Fate questioned.

When she saw the charging monster running at mind boggling speed, she was doubtful that the barrier would handle the impact, but when Keren stepped out, she was even more afraid of her dreams.

‘I’m supposed to kill that?’

When she saw how her aunt destroyed one of its central horns, then proceeded to uppercut it in an almost simultaneous fashion, Fate started to doubt whether she can reach her level.

Then, when a man appeared and both of them vanished, Fate had concluded that there definitely much more fish in the sea than she initially thought.

Another scream occurred, but this time, it wasn’t from the monsters, instead, the adventurers that Keren claimed to be amateurs are starting to get severely injured.

Fate can notice it too, their movements, swings, and strengths are all getting drained too rapidly.

“What are these monsters!?” a man with a pointy hat frustratingly screamed while throwing a giant ball of fire, “why are they much tougher than the ones in the wild?!”

Fate doesn’t understand what he was talking about, ‘Was the wild monsters different than these ones? Where else could they come from but the wild?’

More adventurers had fallen.

Then, a giant jawless lion appeared out of nowhere and swallowed a dozen men. It then roared, paralyzing everything on the battlefield.

“Fight, but don’t kill.” Fate heard Seraphine mumble, “Superior, Verum’s student.”

Fate doesn’t know what she was doing, but the lion seemed to be attacking slower from before. Instead of shredding its enemies apart, it is now only crushing them, enough to render the adventurers useless but very much still alive.

After a few minutes of struggle, the Lion annihilated half of them before Keren appeared once again.

“Holy shit!” She cursed, “What happened.”

“That.” A man with pointy ears directed at the rampaging undead, “If you can kill it on your own, I’ll let you join my party, regardless if you’re the princess or not.”

“Fuck your party.” She cussed and ran towards the beast.

----------

“Found it!” Stevan happily exclaimed.

“Don’t be too loud dumbass.” Verum spoke in his head.

After searching for half an hour, they stumbled upon a weird room with various drawings and specific arrangements. On the walls are many closed shapes and symbols, hinting at some mechanism that does who knows what.

After a few more searching in other rooms, Stevan luckily found a coin on the floor that completed some alchemy circuit on that wall, and when he entered the room, Stevan was suddenly teleported to someplace dark.

“Can you see Lord Verum?” Stevan asked

He responded in an offended tone, “I’m an undead, not a bat, but I do have an ability that helps.”

Verum came out of Stevan and took a look at his surroundings. Naturally, as a former paladin, he had something that would be useful in such a scenario.

“[Light sword]”

A long glowing rod appeared in his hand. It is in a shape of a sword, graceful, bright, and hurts the eyes so much that Stevan had to close his.

“Dungeon entrance?” Verum questioned.

When Stevan slowly opened his eyes again, what he saw was the worst thing he could ever imagine.

It is a small room, filled with absolutely nothing but the white wall. There is a large crack in the middle of the room, suspended in mid-air. It looked almost like the portals that Marie forcefully open, except the other side is completely visible, showing a long hallway showered with dust on its grey bricks.

The Dungeon, the same place where Keren and him got lost in, where they faced the countless Nightmares that lived in its depth, and his first misfortune of entering it.

“Its expanding.” A voice whispered behind them.

Verum turned around and saw Marie, who somehow detected and followed them here, now with a mouth widely open from exasperation. Behind her is a forcefully opened portal that she always use and is now closing.

She paid no heed to Verum, nor reacted to Stevans surprise, instead she uttered a single word.

“Shit.”