"It's my fault. It's my fault. It's my fault..." Elizabeth collapsed to her knees, her fingers entwined in her hair as tears streamed down her cheeks. She seemed traumatized, her expression twisted with a mix of guilt and despair.

"Elizabeth, get a grip!" I shouted at her.

"More monsters are coming!" Michael pointed out.

"Guys, please protect me for a bit!" I yelled to the others.

I knelt down next to her, using my pen to write 'calm down' on her cheek, but nothing changed.

"Argh! Why doesn't it work on you?!" I then grabbed her by the shoulders, forcing her to face me. "Elizabeth! You have to calm down! You have to give us instructions!"

She grabbed my shoulders back. "I can't, Selena! I can't! I'm not cut to be a coordinator! I'm not Crimson! I can't do this... I can't..." she sobbed over my shoulder. My heart clenched at the sight, I couldn't stand watching her like this...

"Fuck Crimson! Okay?!" I shouted at her, trying to shake her out of her despair. "We don't need her! We can do this without her, Elizabeth!"

"Trincea!" my sweetheart, Jerald, yelled.

I wasn't paying attention, but as Jerald pronounced his spell, he got in front of me and Elizabeth, planting his shield on the ground and manifesting a long barrier in front of us, shielding us from enemy attacks.

"Jerald, remove the barrier! We can't hit them because of it! We'll only hurt ourselves if we cast spells now!" Louise remarked to him.

"Help! I'm outside of it! Argh!" a voice from the right yelled, it was outside Jerald's barrier, punching it as he couldn't enter, before getting sliced in two by a monster's claws, blood spurting everywhere. I screamed at the sight, averting my gaze.

"Why was he that far?!" Jerald exclaimed, his eyes wide as he looked at the scene.

"Jean!" Michael screamed, his voice filled with anguish. A member of the Armonia had just died. "Jerald, disperse this fucking barrier!"

Monsters were crowded together, relentlessly pounding on the barrier, trying to break through.

"Everyone! The same moment I retract my shield, you will attack all together! Is that alright?" Jerald asked loudly, receiving a resounding shout of agreement. "Okay... Now!"

As my sweetheart retracted his shield, he crouched down, giving everyone space to unleash their spells, which followed one another behind him. Luck was on our side... it worked.

"Huh? Hey guys... the bridge stopped disappearing," Louise observed.

"But the mist is still going down, let's run to the other side," Mika suggested.

Without a second thought, I grabbed Elizabeth by the hand and we all rushed to the other side of the bridge, where there seemed to be no apparent danger. Our loud and heavy steps echoed in the air as we hurried across.

"Elizabeth, your hat is about to fall, here..." I adjusted her hat, trying to bring her some comfort. She still looked in despair, her gaze lost.

"But why did the bridge suddenly reappear like that?" Mika pondered aloud.

"Maybe because someone died... or because we killed them all? Perhaps the dungeon is satisfied with that," Luke speculated.

"We're one down now... and he was the only healer, too..." Louise painfully remarked.

"Actually... one and half are down," Roland confessed; my eyes fell to his arm. It was cut, bleeding out, staining his shirt.

I gasped, my hands instinctively flying to cover my mouth, unable to mask the shock as goosebumps erupted across my skin at the mere sight.

"Roland, what happened to you?!" Michael asked him full of concern, his face drained of color.

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

"Hehe... It seems I've been careless..." he replied with a forced smile, trying to mask the pain as he pressed his shoulder.

I approached Roland, taking a small potion from my purse. "This won't make your arm grow back, but I hope it can ease your pain," I told him, offering the potion and holding his hand gently as he accepted it.

"Ah... thanks, Selena," he gratefully smiled, a blush coloring his cheeks.

Of our guild, only myself, Jerald, Elizabeth, Louise, and Mika remained; with Laura guarding outside. Of the Armonia guild, Michael, Luke, Paul, Roland, Lisa, Helen, and Deborah remained, with Noelle also guarding alongside Laura.

We had already lost one person from each guild, and one of the Armonia members was injured... Things weren't looking good.

"Hey, Elizabeth. Say something!" Michael angrily approached Elizabeth, his fists clenched tightly.

I stepped in between them. "Michael, calm down."

"How am I supposed to calm down?! Because of her, one of us died and another is injured!" he shouted at my face.

"It wasn't her intention," my sweetheart approached, placing a comforting hand on Michael's shoulder. "And we lost one of us, too..."

"I'm sorry..." Elizabeth murmured quietly, looking somewhere else, unable to face anyone. "I'll take responsibility..."

"What responsibility? You got your ass covered! We're inside a dungeon, once outside of it, you'd be free of any accountability whatsoever of what happened inside! You're even the strongest mage, everything works at your f-"

Michael was forced to shut up as I sneakily wrote behind his neck 'shush' with my pen; he was so angry that he didn't even notice my magic at work. Although it lasted only for five seconds, during which he glared daggers at me.

"Selena, you bitch!" he said as soon as he regained his freedom, quickly approaching me.

"Oi!"

"Everyone, shut up!" Roland suddenly yelled, making everyone freeze in place. He then sighed, turning to us. "What is done, is done. Perhaps it's Elizabeth's fault as the coordinator, or Jerald's for putting up that barrier, or Jean for straying too far from the group. But at the same time, Michael, it's also our fault for not noticing him going that far," he calmly reasoned.

"Roland, aren't you angry?! If we had our healer, you could've your arm back! It's going to be too late once we clear this dungeon!" Michael protested.

"I still have one arm and two working legs... It could've been much worse, don't you think?" he replied with a subtle, optimistic smile.

Michael seemed taken aback by Roland's perspective, putting his hands in his pockets, letting out a low grumble as he looked away and moved on, allowing his anger to dissipate.

"What do you want to do now, coordinator?" Roland asked Elizabeth afterward, his voice calm and respectful.

Elizabeth stood silent for a bit, her head bowed down, just staring at the floor. It pained me to see her like this... so withdrawn and burdened by her own emotions. "Don't call me coordinator... I'm not Crimson. Someone else should take the role, please," she murmured; I could barely hear her voice.

"Elizabeth..." I silently let out.

"I've never seen her like this..." my sweetheart whispered to me, his hand comfortingly holding my shoulder. "Are you alright?" he then asked me.

"Yes... I'm worried about her, though," I softly replied, still looking at Elizabeth.

"Everyone, if it's alright, I'd like to offer to take on the role of coordinator," Mika offered raising his hand, capturing everyone's attention.

"Are you sure, Mika?" Louise asked him, furrowing his brow.

"I'm not Crimson, but I've worked closely with her enough. I must have learned a thing or two," he replied with his arms folded.

"Well... if you want, I'm fine with it," Louise approved.

"Same here," Michael followed.

"I'm fine with it, too..."

One by one, everyone expressed their agreement.

"Thanks, everyone. Before continuing, I would like to assess how everyone's doing with their spells. We've used quite a lot, so we may need to rely on some magical items. I would also like someone to bring some of the backpacks from the wagon; if the bridge hadn't stopped with its little game, we would have had to abandon them here..."

As Mika explained his plan and did his checks, I approached Elizabeth, who remained apart, all by herself.

"Hey, Elizabeth..." I called, receiving no response. "Come on, I can't see you like this..." I softly spoke to her, gently caressing her back.

"Selena... I'm weak..." she responded. She wasn't even facing me.

"What are you saying? You're the strongest mage. You're not weak..." I comforted, giving her a hug, warmly pressing her close to my chest.

"I'm weak, Selena... I don't deserve that title, I'm just an incompetent. If only Crimson were here..." she said with a cracked voice, she was beginning to cry again.

"Stop talking about her, this is all her fault to begin with! You're way better than Crimson! You're the best! I hate Crimson! Everyone hates Crimson here! Nobody hates you, and if someone did, I would kick their ass personally!" I exclaimed, trying to lift her mood. "Everyone here loves you, Elizabeth. Especially me, nobody loves you more than I do! Just forget about Crimson and let's move on, together..."

I comforted her while I passionately caressed her head. She was crying, but she was cute even when she cried! How could such an adorable creature exist?! I couldn't help but shower her with affection, holding her tightly against my chest as her tears dampened my shirt.

"Let it all out, Elizabeth... You don't have to be strong, and you definitely don't have to be Crimson; I would straight up kill myself from despair if you turned into her!" I said, not even joking. "You just have to be yourself... we can share the responsibility together. Okay, my love?" I soothingly whispered, calming my fervor.

She pulled herself back, slowly nodding. She wasn't crying anymore, but her nose was still runny.

"Thanks, Selena... And, sorry... I cried all over your t-shirt," she shyly said, avoiding my gaze.

"Oh, don't worry. I'm never gonna clean this from now on!" I proudly declared, pulling her into another hug.

She tenderly laughed. Music to my ears!