Their group stayed hidden near the dungeon entrance. The twenty-foot wide by thirty-tall gateway stood like an ominous obelisk in the small field.

Michael wondered how the entrance worked as it was only a few feet deep, and Liara explained that it worked like a portal into the dungeon.

Several knights and guards seemed to be arguing with a group of mercenaries with the Branch Head, Mr. Halli, present.

“This is bullshit! My people have just as much right to this dungeon as anyone!” Halli yelled at the burly demi-tiger knight.

“This is a royal order Branch Head. So, unless you want to be fired, I advise that you stand down.” The knight replied.

Halli laughed in the knight’s face. “Really? I wonder what the people will think when nearly all the pissed-off mercs stop taking on jobs for a bit? When they find out, they stopped taking jobs because the palace decided to ban the mercs from going in… I don’t know, what do you think, oh big and official knight, sir?” Halli mocked the knight.

The two men stared at each other briefly before fists started to fly. The two men would keep it to fists only while the mercenaries and knights stayed out of it.

“Big brother! Now’s our chance!” Lily whispered.

Rana looked at her daughter worriedly.

Earlier.

“Absolutely not! You are not coming with us, Lily!” Rana scolded her daughter.

“But I can’t stay in the house alone,” Lily argued.

The mother and daughter had been repeating the argument since they left the Mercenary Guild.

Lily wanted to go with them into the dungeon, but Rana didn’t want her daughter to be in danger, even though she planned to enter the dungeon with Liara and Michael. The reason for Rana joining was to help the two gather plenty of materials and prepare food for them. They bought out a lot of ingredients at the market so that they had enough supplies to last inside the dungeon.

Liara agreed with Rana that it would be too dangerous for Lily to enter the dungeon, but Lily also had a decent argument.

“I’ll be fourteen in a month! Then I will join the guild to be a mercenary like D-, big brother! This is only a difference in a single month! Since the dungeon is fresh, it is the safest right now! Would you want me going in after the hero and others go through?” Lily argued.

Michael was conflicted. He understood that Rana would want nothing more than for her daughter to be safe, but if Lily was planning to be a mercenary, too, it might benefit her. But he wanted her to be safe, so he leaned toward not taking her.

“No. When we get back and celebrate your birthday, we will take you to the temple to read your status. Then we will begin planning for your future!” Rana was not budging.

“I don’t think that would be a good idea,” Lily replied.

“Oh? And why is that?” Rana asked in a superior tone.

Lily turned to Michael. “Big brother, could you check my status?”

The three adults looked at her in surprise.

Lily looked at them in unsurprised disappointment. “We live in the same house. How could I not know everything? I got your brains, Mom.”

The young girl learned the truth about Michael when she listened to their conversation weeks ago. She knew he was the Demon-Lord.

They had Michael check her status.

Lily

Class: Demi-Human Rank 5 (+2)

Str: Rank 4 (+2) Dex: Rank 6 (+2) Int: Rank 8 (+2)

Status:

Physical: Normal Magic: Normal Mental State: Let Down, Committed

Injuries:

Special: Talented, Quick Learner, Demon-Lord Devout

Skills:

Detection: Rank 6 (+2) Stealth: Rank 6 (+2)

Cooking: Rank 6 (+2) Cleaning: Rank 6 (+2)

Negotiation: Rank 5 (+2) Intuition: Rank 5 (+2)

Organization: Rank 4 (+2) Knife: Rank 4 (+2)

Melee: Rank 3 (+2) Driving: Rank 1 (+2)

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Abilities:

Sneak Calculation Stamina Boost (Passive) Detection (Dual Op)

Enhanced Senses (Passive) Dark Vision (Minor) Planning

Michael covered his face with his hands. He blamed himself. He didn’t know how it was his fault, but he felt it was.

Liara and Rana looked at him, wondering what he saw. With a heavy sigh, he went over Lily’s status.

“How could this have happened?” Rana held her face in her hands.

“It’s like I guessed. There is no way you could take me to the temple now, right?” Lily asked, knowing full well the answer.

“Maybe it might be best to take her then,” Liara said.

“But dungeons are dangerous!” Rana tried to argue.

“I’ve helped train plenty of young mercs, and if those Specials are what I think they are, this might be a massive opportunity for Lily to get really strong. With her current skills, she might do well in Operations. We should pick up a set of armor for her and a few knives. Since I know how to dual-wield, I think it might suit her. Michael, can you check those Specials, please?” Liara asked him.

Talented. No trainable skill is blocked for this individual. They can learn however many skills they desire.

Quick Learner. +20% Progression in any skill.

Demon-Lord Devout. This person is greatly committed to the Demon-Lord in heart and mind. Increased loyalty and respect to the Demon-Lord. +20% Progression to skills the Demon-Lord has. +2 to overall status.

Michael’s jaw hung open. If they took Lily into the dungeon, she might come out like a monster like them. He quickly explained the three Specials that Lily had.

“See! I need to come with you guys!” Lily argued.

Rana inhaled deeply and let out a heavy sigh. “Fine. But you will always listen to Liara, alright? She knows monsters and dungeons.”

“I’ll only let her fight battles she can, with help, of course.” Liara smiled, assuring the worried mother.

Back to the present.

Halli and the knight were still duking it out with each other, and the people around them were starting to cheer and place bets on who would win.

With the insults the two men hurled at each other, Michael assumed they had a history.

“You hot-headed fool! This is why my sister left you!” The knight yelled.

“Yeah!? Well, your mother seemed appreciative of me being single!” Halli shouted back.

“Again!? You son of a bitch!” The knight tackled Halli.

“There should be no one in the dungeon right now. Let’s sneak in.” Liara stated.

Michael nodded. Using One with Darkness, their group slipped over to the gate. Liara made an illusion at the entrance so that they could enter. Appearing in front of the gate, the fighting group would not notice them.

Liara entered the gate, followed by Rana and Lily. The inky black portal looked solid but easily gave way to them. Taking a calming breath, Michael stepped through the gate.

It felt like he was stepping through a memory foam mattress as it gave way to him. The surface was smooth and slid over his body like water that wasn’t wet.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Come on, captain! Beat his-!” A knight shouted.

“Alert! Alert! Alert!” The dungeon gateway began alarming.

The fight came to a halt, and the group turned to the rumbling gate.

“That’s never happened before….” Halli commented, still holding onto the knight’s ear.

“Demon-Lord detected entering the dungeon. This dungeon shall be locked down until it is subjugated. No further entry is permitted. I repeat-.” The gateway announced its message again.

“The Demon-Lord entered the Dungeon?!” The knight captain shouted, still holding Halli’s neck.

“Did anyone see anything?!” Halli shouted.

To their dismay, no one noticed anything near the gate. A few people were even keeping an eye on the gate.

The two men looked at each other.

“Next time?” Halli asked.

“Yeah. This kind of takes priority.” The knight captain replied.

“Sir!” A mercenary helped Halli up.

“What is it?” Halli asked.

“The last group never came out. They’re stuck in there with the Demon-Lord!” The merc stated.

All of them looked at the frozen gateway. “Gods help them,” Halli stated.

Word spread quickly to all the nations that the first sighting of the Demon-Lord had occurred. With news of its appearance, the Heroes were called to Galgalake. A coalition force of the races quickly formed, and they began an emergent operation to clear and surround the Dungeon gateway.

A large fortress was built around the gateway over the course of a week. It was constantly manned, and the five heroes were always present for when the dungeon re-opened. If the Demon-Lord did not come out, they would find a way to go in after it.

Three weeks went by with no signs from the gateway. The coalition reinforced the fortress with multiple enchantments and added the latest artillery weaponry. They even attempted to destroy the gateway to trap the Demon-Lord within, but it was indestructible.

At the end of the month, the five heroes were in their private mess hall.

“Haaaaah. I’m soooo bored!” The Hero of Sylfaerune, Gabriel, complained.

“Shut your trap, Gabe. I know you’ve been causing problems in the fortress again.” The Hero of Tilra, Lindsey, looked at him coldly.

“Come on, I just wanted to play around with a couple of cute ladies.” Gabriel brushed her off.

“I’m more than willing to admit that the demi-human ladies are cute, but must you be so vulgar about it? You practically gave them no choice.” The Hero of Nanduun, Greggory, added in this thick Russian accent.

“I agree with Lindsey and Greggory. You took things too far with your… coercion.” The Hero of Orbus, Haley, spat.

The Hero of Io, Hana, looked at Gabriel with disgust.

The four heroes disliked Gabriel for his brazenness, superiority complex, and debased actions. The man had been caught several times trying to corner women. He was also a braggart and show-off. Many human soldiers supported him, but the other three major races kept their distance from him.

“Sheesh, you’re all so uptight. We’re in another world, and we are its heroes! So long as we deal with the Demon-Lord, we are basically lifetime celebs. We can do what we want.” Gabriel argued.

“That doesn’t mean you should be a corrupt piece of shit!” Haley shouted.

“There you go again.” Gabriel rolled his eyes. “Little Miss Righteous.”

Haley hated it when he called her that. Yes, she was short at five feet tall, but he always mocked her when she was getting on his case.

Before she could argue more, an explosion rocked the fortress, and the earth trembled beneath their feet.

“What?!” Gabriel steadied himself on a chair.

“The gate!” Hana shouted and ran out of the room.

Getting to the wall, the five heroes stared down at the gate, ready for battle.

A bright light shot into the sky from the gateway.

“Alert! Alert! Alert!” The gateway alarmed.

“Dungeon has been successfully subjugated by the Demon-Lord. The Demon-Lord shall be transported back into the world. Dungeon shall now collapse.”

“We need to get down there!” Hana took the lead and ran down the staircase to the ground.

Three of the heroes quickly followed her while Gabriel didn’t like her giving orders.

The gateway repeated its message while the heroes and soldiers waited patiently for the Demon-Lord to appear.

The light died down until it was gone. The frame of the dungeon gate cracked and was reduced to dust. The inky black portal faded away like a mist.

Then there was nothing.

“Where’s the Demon-Lord?” Gabriel asked.

“My Detection skill isn’t picking anything up!” Haley reported.

“Hana? Anything?” Greggory asked.

Hana was analyzing the mana around the gateway. “Nothing. I can’t get a read on what happened. It’s like, the mana just dispersed into the atmosphere. I’ll try a spell.”

The heroes and soldiers stayed at the fortress for two weeks, trying to figure out what had happened and where the hell the Demon-Lord was. To no avail, the trail of the Demon-Lord was cold once more.