The scattered particles of black shadows flew to a single point at the base of the tunnel ahead of them. It piled together and grew into a clump of darkness that blocked them away from the path.

Herien buried his feet in the ground and lowered his body onto all fours. His claws dug into the stone ground and his back curved up.

“Everyone get your asses together, something’s coming!” He yelled.

Adder rushed to the front of the line and balled his hands into tight fists as he took on a martial arts stance.

“Don’t go giving out orders, ya’ overgrown mut.”

The shadow pulled itself above them, nearly to the height of the ceiling. A wall arose from the shadows' infinite mass and solidified as a wall of blackened mana.

“What the…is this supposed to be someone’s idea of funny? This looks like magic that a mage would produce.” Adder questioned.

His eyes fell back onto his comrades, Herien’s in particular grabbed his attention. Herien was usually so confident, like he owned the world. All of a sudden the large warrior was tense, his eyes darted from one corner to another as if he were searching for something.

His anxious eye movements froze on a corner of the cave and suddenly he shot forward like an animal that found its prey.

He ran on all fours and picked up speed in an instant as he pounced at the moving mass of shade. It reacted to his presence and tried to escape but Herien was too fast, he managed to strike it with his fist and crushed the wall in the process.

The running shade burst and inside the cloud of scattered pieces was a figure wrapped in a dark cloak. From head to toe, the purple and black robes that hid his body and head moved independently from his body, like one large shadow.

Titans Helm all reacted to the commotion and drew their weapons, placing swords and spears in the air as the mysterious figure was forced out of the corner and into the centre of the room.

“Sigh~ I didn’t want to get involved with this dispute.” The hooded figure said.

His voice was masked by some kind of husky filter. It sounded as though multiple deep voices were speaking together.

“I knew I smelt a rat.” Herien scowled.

‘He managed to hide from all of us and even Herien’s sensitive nose didn’t pick him up at first…is he the one that had that strong presence of mana?’ Adder pondered.

Olivia's sword rattled along her waist as her wrist began to tremble. She wasn’t afraid, not by any means. She was well accustomed to the dangers of the Tower and as a strong fighter, she welcomed it as a means to get stronger.

No, her restless hands were because of the wall that blocked her off. With it still up, she had no chance of getting to Rei.

She grew flustered and aimed her sword at the hooded figure. Adder turned to her in surprise and before he could speak, she dashed forward.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

“The hell?!” He shouted.

His angry tone fell on deaf ears, Olivia had already closed the distance with her incredible speed. Her thin sword cut through the air like a needle and pierced the cloak of the hooded man without resistance. It was too easy, she passed through his torso like melted butter and felt nothing but air beyond her sword.

Olivia’s face contorted with confusion as her body wouldn’t stop and her hand came close to being devoured by the man's cloak. Her eyes widened moments before her cheek would be consumed, she pulled away but wasn’t able to free herself completely.

Suddenly a burst of light shot past her shoulder and impaled the shadowy figure's cloak, leaving a massive hole in his body. There was no blood, not even any skin surrounding the hole, simply a shadow.

She caught a glimpse of his eyes before he was hit. Two gleaming circles of purple fire lit up the empty darkness under his hood. After stumbling back with her weapon in hand, Olivia took a second to recover from that sight and heard her comrades approach from behind.

“I’m sorry for rushing in like that…”

She expected Lily, the one who fired off that attack that freed her not once but twice. A firm grip on her shoulder pulled her back and when she turned, a wretched expression of pure anger silenced her.

Adder pulled her back and suddenly another blast of light flew over them towards the shadows. Adder cast out his hand and a wall of mages began chanting out their spells together like a choir. They launched a stream of lightning straight at the man but he avoided it.

One by one the members of Titans Helm rushed past them and by the end of it, Olivia was left at the back of the group.

Adder turned from her and faced the fight.

“Run away.” He said.

Olivia held her sword tightly as she stepped towards him, “W-what? I can handle this, I just wasn’t thinking back there–”

“JUST GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE ALREADY!!” Adder screamed over her.

Her mouth hung open ever so slightly but nothing came out of it. There wasn’t anything she could say to him.

“I won’t fight with anyone that has a death wish, you got that?”

Adder walked ahead and joined the fight, directing the members of his guild to fight the shadowy figure as he weaved past their attacks and defended with shields of black and purple magic.

Olivia’s head dropped and her eyes remained blank as thoughts rushed through her mind faster than she could comprehend.

‘I’m nothing but a bother to them all…Lily had to save me twice and I…I couldn’t even land one hit without being put in trouble. I’m pathetic!’

Her sword lowered until the tip of her blade hit the ground. Her grip on her weapon loosened almost enough for the wind to be able to take it from her.

‘I thought I could save him, I just wanted to…wait, why did I want to save him so bad? Did I think he needed to be saved that badly? Am I that terrible…no, it’s only natural since he’s a Rust rank!’

Her lip quivered as she mulled it over. Suddenly her mouth dropped and the corners of her lips curled down into a dolful expression.

Thinking back to the last time they spoke, her heart picked up speed and wouldn’t settle down. She placed a hand on her chest, just above her breastplate and held it there. A warm smile formed over the gloomy expression she had been plagued with.

“What am I even thinking? He’d probably think I was a loser if I abandoned my team to go help him. He wouldn’t forgive me for something like that, I think. I’m sorry I doubted you, Rei.”

Her sword rose and with a quick swish in the air, she held her blade out in front of her and aimed it towards the shadowed figure. Her mouth began to chant out the words to a spell, with it so ingrained in her head that she barely had to concentrate on the words.

‘How could I have looked down on you, when I’m acting like this? You’ll have to try hard to catch up with me, but I know you’ll do it. That’s just how you are, Rei~’

The blade lit up with a powerful aura of light and grew twice the size of her weapon. With nothing left of her incantation left to say, she aimed her sword and arched her back like she was holding a bow.

“I can’t go looking bad as a silver rank, now can I? I’ll fight with everything I have at the enemy in front of me–Light’s Gleam!”