Underground in the dungeon, Fryne lay beneath the rubble, her beautiful figure marred by wounds. Her once perfect, beautiful body was now disfigured from the fierce battle with the sage.

Duncal, in an more dire state, limped toward the old man whose head lay bashed against the floor. Despite his grievous injuries, rage burned in his eyes as he stared at the old man's eyes corpse.

Grabbing his severed hand, Duncal approached Fryne, who was barely conscious. "Get up," he said, nudging her. "Hey... Get up."

Seeing no response, he gritted his teeth and kicked her. The jolt of pain snapped her awake, and she coughed blood, her eyes opening wide in agony. She tried to speak, but no sound emerged. Her arms were filled with wounds, and horror filled her eyes as tears welled up.

"Get up, bitch. No time to waste... Let's go back," Duncal barked, pausing to show his severed hand. "I had it worse, so don't be a baby."

She glared at him, her eyes filled with bloodshot madness and anger. She wanted to mock him, but she couldn't.

Duncal's mask had broken, exposing the lower part of his face.

From a distance, a cloud of smoke magically appeared, forming a portal. Out of it stepped multiple Guardian-robed members and another figure, distinct in more shiny garments, wielding a single blade. His long ears, marked him as an elf.

"What took you so long?" Duncal asked.

The elf surveyed Duncal's sorry state and spoke, "You failed."

"I'm dying here, and that's the first thing you'd say?" Duncal's anger was evident.

A tense silence filled the room, making the other members tremble. One bravely spoke up. "Master Duncal, the Duke wants to have a word with you," he said, head bowed and sweating bullets.

Seeing the member's bravery, the elf smiled. Duncal, annoyed, growled, "At least get me healed first."

Fryne struggled to stand, coughing blood, gesturing for help as well. She also needed immediate medical attention.

"Well, at least you did better than her," the elf said. Fryne snapped, shooting multiple shards of ice at him. The elf sidestepped effortlessly dodging.

"Now, now, you wouldn't want to scar this beautiful face, right?" he mocked, showing off his flawless visage, fueling Fryne's rage.

"That's enough. Let's go," Duncal commanded, heading straight for the portal.

"What happened to your tone, Duncal? You seem different," the elf noted.

"I'm not in the mood," Duncal muttered as he stepped into the portal.

Grinning at Fryne, the elf said, "Go. We still have some business here."

Grumbling on her steps, she leaves annoyed. But tried to sneak a punch at him. Then missing an inch as he easily circle again.

As soon as they were gone, the elf commanded the members, "Quick, locate the Void Storage and the magic altar."

"Yes, sir!" they shouted before dispersing.

While waiting, the elf spread his mana throughout the area. Trying to read what happened to the magic cicuits "It's worse than I thought," he mused. The protective magic of the base was haywire, severed, and distorted. He couldn't believe it.

"What could have done this?" he wondered. When they received the alarm, the connection had broken down simultaneously. "To think they can destroy the master's magic circuit... We must make that power our own."

A voice spoke in his mind, "Sir, the emergency teleportation spell is still active on the 8th floor. We're sending the altar through it now."

"Sure," he replied.

Another voice contacted him, "Sir, we need help. The magic door doesn't recognize the master's mana and won't open."

"What? Where are you?" he asked, surprised.

"10th floor."

He quickly made his way down, noting the destruction and untouched areas alike. Before reaching his men, another voice warned, "Agudara was freed. Get out of there as soon as possible. It's currently feasting on the other members. You have about six minutes to finish your job."

Problems kept arising. One single sage had caused all this destruction? He could hardly believe it.

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"Sir, we can't open it," his men said, holding a lamp of mana. The door was stuck, looking as if someone had dug around it.

"Did you do this?" he asked, pointing at the carved walls.

"No, sir. It was like this when we got here."

Seeing the untouched area, he figured, "So that sage wasn't alone." Grabbing the lamp, he tried to open the gate personally. "Open," he commanded. But nothing happened.

With less than four minutes left, he kept trying, but the door remained shut. "This is disappointing," he muttered, counting the time in his head.

"Let's leave before things get ugly. Agudara was freed. We'll come back once the situation is cleared. Follow me."

His men followed, and he used magic to encase everyone in a protective barrier, lifting them to the 8th floor. They used the activated portal, leaving just as Agudara finished its last victim.

A space separate from the world, -Ixtharos-, named after the god of darkness. Within this realm of endless void, a complex castle structure stood defiantly against the nothingness. Its grandiose halls and towering spires were a testament to the power and majesty of its inhabitants.

In the main hall, a man sat on a throne, exuding a menacing aura. But behind this terrifying presence was the face of a young child.

"When is Father coming?" he asked, his voice tinged with impatience.

The main door slowly opened, and a maid entered, moving ahead with professional grace, undeterred by the oppressive aura the child emanated.

"Erya, I want to eat something," the child demanded.

"Whatever you desire, young master," Erya replied with a respectful bow.

"Actually, can you just get Father here?" he asked, his tone shifting from demand to request.

"I'm afraid the master is currently busy," she responded, her voice steady and calm.

"Tsk... He's always busy," the child muttered. Standing up from his father's throne, he ran to the front door. "Follow me."

"Yes, young master," Erya said, following him without hesitation.

They ascended to the highest point of the castle. From there, they could watch the monsters that inhabited the same space, locked in perpetual combat. The sight was both fascinating and terrifying, a brutal ballet of power and survival.

The young master gazed out at the chaotic scene, his emotions a mixture of awe and frustration. "Why must Father always be so busy?" he wondered aloud, his voice barely above a whisper. Erya stood silently by his side, offering no answers but providing the steadfast presence he needed.

He waved his hand in slow motion through the empty space, manipulating reality itself. The very fabric of space shattered, creating an opening just large enough for him and the maid to pass through.

On the other side, a man in his forties stood, his hands stained with blood. A young girl lay on the ground, her body lifeless and eyes weeping blood. Her heart was missing, a testament to her gruesome death.

Duncal kneeled in fear, while Fryne stood further back, motionless.

"What's this, Father?" Duncal asked, his voice trembling.

"What are you doing here?" his father replied, his voice heavy with authority, exuding an oppressive aura.

Duncal stared at his father intently, showing no intention of leaving.

"An unknown variable appeared, an anomaly if you will call it" his father continued. "Whatever it was, it destroyed my plan and disrupted my magic. Since you're here, can you fetch Agudara?"

"Yes, Father," Duncal replied almost playfully.

"I also need you to bring the void storage. Open it if you can. Fernal mentioned that the mana lamp doesn't work on it."

"Who? That elf?.... Wait, doesn't the mana lamp contain your mana?"

"Yes, but something happened, and now the seal arts i made doesn't recognize my mana."

"No way. That's impossible."

"Just go fetch it, all right? And you, Duncal. Get yourself fixed. We'll talk later."

"Thank you, Master," Duncal said quietly before leaving.

"Yes, Father," Duncal said with a playful bow. "Let's go, Erya."

"Don't kill it," his father warned.

With a smile, Duncal replied, "Depends if I can control my power," before vanishing from sight.

As they reached the base, they found it destroyed. Most of the structure had already crumbled from Agudara's attempt to escape. The beast was a giant blob of flesh with a single monstrous eye, its body coated in dark smoke. Twelve long tentacles sprouted from its body, each covered in multiple mouths filled with sharp teeth.

Its head was already visible as it tried to lift the entire dungeon, seeking more food.

"Sorry, Agudara, but it's not your time yet to play on the stage," Duncal said with a twisted smile, stretching out his hand.

He pointed his index finger at the rising monster, and a purple energy shot out, faster than the eye could see, instantly hitting Agudara. Though the attack was small compared to the monster, like a string of dust against a mountain, it quickly scorched most of its body in flames.

Wailing in pain, Agudara fell back, shaking the entire forest with the impact.

"And it's done," Duncal said, blowing on his finger. "Erya, please?"

The maid Erya moved forward without complaint. She drew some magic letters in the air and chanted silently, "Reduce." The castle remains covering Agudara turned to ash. Changing her hand sign, she chanted, "Confine."

A barrier generated around Agudara, confining it within its space.

"Shrink," she commanded, and the barrier and Agudara shrank within seconds. The towering figure that had covered a large part of the forest was now gone from sight.

Erya collected the miniature figure of Agudara and placed it in an empty space for the time being.

Looking back at the base, he saw how bad the damage was.

"It's time to collect that void thingy," he said, moving deeper into the ruined dungeon.

Within seconds, he reached the storage by simply teleporting in it. The moment he got there, he quickly noticed a small fist mark, almost transparent, imprinted on it.

"Did a child punch this? Curious… I wonder what race that kid is," he mused. Marking the void storage was no easy feat, after all it was his father's magic that proetcts it, and doing it with a fist was even more amazing.

He tried opening the storage with his bare hand covered in mana but struggled, barely able to open it.

"He wasn't kidding. Even my mana wasn't recognized by this thing"

Normally, the storage would have opened easily in his presence, especially with his mana-coated arms.

Even if he wanted to, he couldn't destroy it. His father was incredibly strong, offensively he was far superior, but in defense and seal arts, his father outranked him.

"Well, I can't just leave it here, right?" he said, lifting the storage. Though not heavy, it was impenetrable due to his father's enchantments. Almost actually.

"Shrink," Erya chanted, and the storage shrunk in size, dropping into his palm. He handed it to Erya.

"Let's go. It's boring here," he said before both of them vanishes in thin air.