=====

The Hall began to grow colder as a disgusting feeling starts to creep on to everyone, enough to freeze into place those who have little to no experience in facing such a disturbing enemy.

Heh. Even so, I can bare with this disgusting feeling, if it means this monster is stronger than the ones before it.

Right now, I am face to face with the demon that somehow grew bigger and got more disgusting than its previous form. It seems to be fixated on me; it's probably because I have been toying with it from the start.

"S-sir..."

"Huh?"

A trembling voice calls out, clearly with fear. Despite how weak it was, the desperation was noticed by the only one who managed to stay undisturbed, the paladin. Their only savior quickly grasped their situation, as the sight of the knight who was calling out to him, as well as the rest of the unit, was seen through the corner of his eyes. The pressure was too much to bare with their little experience; the disgusting feeling was even worse, as the monster creepily showed a smile from ear to ear, showing its sharp teeth and unnecessarily long tongue.

Ah. Now that I look at everyone, almost all of them can't move; some are even puking out their breakfast.

"Alright. Everyone of you, stand down! I'll handle this demon alone! All of you should proceed to assisting the Vice Captain and escape! NOW GO!!"

When all of the soldiers heard his loud voice, they returned to their senses. They then quickly moved according to the paladin's instructions, since they knew they are of no help. After a few seconds, everyone else, but the battle-driven man and the demon, have left the battlefield.

"It's just you and me now, bitch. So, who's gonna make the first move..?"

I casually threw a question to the demon, to confirm if it really has some sort of intelligence; it then, followed with an answer.

"..K-kill!"

Following those words, the demon slowly stretched its long thin arms like a rubber band; then, it turns into a blur as the demon flung its stretched arms towards his direction. Sir Amos quickly dodged to the left and got away from the creepy hands that was about to grab him.

Did that thing just tried to grab me?!

He then began to run around it with a speed of an athlete, circling it for a better view of the enemy, looking for its weak points. The monster as well, did the same; with its creepy head, it began to twist its neck like an owl, still staring creepily at Amos. The paladin felt disgust, but as a man with experience in battling demons, it was not enough to disturb him. He was enjoying the battle too much, that he couldn't help but smile, knowing this is a new challenge no warrior has yet experienced before.

When he finally reached its left side, the demon used its whole left arm to throw a horizontal slash towards his direction; it was so fast, that its arm was barely seen and the wall and ceiling that blocked its path were destroyed; fortunately, due to the strong foundations used on the walls, the arm was slowed down. Amos ducked just in time and used this opportunity to use the now stuck arm as a shield over his head. With the adrenaline rushing in, he then proceeded to run towards the demon with a crazed smile. 

HAH! You're wide open!!! 

As our distance grew shorter, I stretched my right arm with the hammer, ready to strike the demon from the side!

Unfortunate as it seems, it remembered that its other arm was free. Despite the awkward position due to the thrust of the previous attack, it managed to use the free arm, aiming for Amos' side. Thankfully, Amos noticed it was coming.

Before it managed to put a whole on me, I transferred my weight to the back to dodge the incoming arm. I managed to dodge it by a paper thin!

As he celebrates, bewildered and surprised by the sudden blow, an unforeseen force managed to struck him from the right; it was the left arm that got stuck a moment ago! The monster, with its stretchy body, managed to wiggle it out in time, while Amos was busy with making his blow.

Thankfully, I managed to react fast enough to use my hammer as a shield and soften the impact. 

Even so, the strength of that blow was enough to throw him towards the door and out into the open.

Before he hits the ground, Amos performed a back flip to soften the impact and was able to land on the ground safely.

Hehe. Just as planned. Let's take the fight outside, shall we?

Seeing as I was able to survive the throw, the demon got annoyed and started to walk towards me.

Hmm... I got thrown really far, huh.

It seems the demon will take a while to get here. Let's give it some motivation, shall we? Yes. Let's shall.

"Hey, shit head! You piece of useless charcoal! That blow just now was so weak, that I almost fell asleep!"

"..!!!"

As if it could understand his words, the demon began to run angrily towards him. 

Taunting: successful!

Now, what's left is to wait for the opponent...............

"Heh...hehehehe...."

Me? wait? HAH! get real! As if I'm patient enough to wait.

I'd rather give than to receive!!

Sir Amos took a position, similar to that of a runner in a marathon; and with his overly large muscles and mana, he lifted his body and threw himself towards the demon like a bullet train, leaving only a large cloud of dust behind.

Their distance grew shorter as they approach each other; and within five seconds, they clash with one another, creating an after shock, shaking the whole dungeon up. As the opposing forces move faster and faster, aiming to over whelm one another, the dungeon's wall and ceiling began to shake intensely.

Everyone who were left inside the castle, began to look for an exit, except for the Vice Captain Senya who's watching over the little girl.

>>>~~\M/~~<<<<

"As always, he's incredible...."

I'm gonna repeat this again, -I'm REALLY glad he's our supervisor-.

To think that we would encounter such a disgusting monster after the rest of the demons vanished like that. If it was only just the new recruits and a bit of the experienced soldiers, by now, most of us would've been massacred by that thing! Thankfully, Sir Amos volunteered to supervise us, after we were chosen reluctantly by the stupid higher ups to explore this dungeon.

The Vice Captain, who got appointed as the leader for this expedition group, silently cursed the higher ups who couldn't say no to gold in their faces. Those nobles most likely wanted to be the first ones to get the special treasures and get special attention as well from the royalty, since the royal family have a very deep history with the legendary country of Amyth; after all, that family would welcome those who can find the clues of its whereabouts. 

This is not the first incident, since it's a common knowledge that there are selfish nobles, who think they can do anything in this world. Although, Vice Captain Senya is one of this country's nobles, she's far too different from those selfish bastards since her family's principle involves honesty and complete loyalty to the royal family that they serve.

While feeling a little bit lighter from the pressure after the demon was lead away by Amos, Vice Captain Senya turned her face towards the sleeping child and began casting a spell to soothe the little girl's suffering.

"Poor girl. You had to experience something horrible at such a young age..."

Her caring gaze showed how much she pitied the little girl, knowing her suffering would scar her for life. She could not dare to leave the child now, nor does she want to take the little girl out of her sight; even if her subordinate had something important to report.

"Vice Captain. We found a route that can lead us out of the castle."

"Then, get everyone moving. Good work, Sir Armin. You've done well."

 I carefully rapped the little girl with a cloth and lifted her up and carried her as if she were my own. I then proceeded to follow Sir Armin towards the other exit, since we obviously can't use the one in the front. It's annoying to leave one man behind, but since it's Sir Amos, he can do it.

The group began to make hast, heading towards the north wing, where a gate lies there, that can lead them directly to a path that can lead them back to the exit.

>>>~~\M/~~<<<

"BUWAHAHAHHAHHAHAHA! That was fun! But I have to finish this off soon."

It took thirty minutes, but Sir Amos, with a victorious face, began to laugh as he gaze at the cornered demon that's been continuously repeating the same question ever since its loss.

"why....why.....why......why.....why.....why...."

It's been asking me the same god damn question for quite a while now, and it's starting to annoy me; so, I've decided to send the demon off, with a bang. It gave me a fun experience, so it deserves a grand ending!

"Sorry, bud. I can't tell you the answer to that, since you're too stupid to understand anyway."

Using both of my arms, I raised my hammer above my head, and then quickly smashed it down, aiming for the demon's head.

 After my act of violence mercy, the demon's corpse gradually turns into a dark cloud smoke, indicating that it is now dead and won't move again. 

Aaand then, the whole place started shaking.... 

I guess that demon has been keeping this place together.

"Tch..... In the end, it's still a stupid demon."

 It was an intense battle, and I had fun, but unfortunately, everything has to end; especially if your opponent is too gullible, even though it has both incredible strength and speed enough to give me a wound. 

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

Now, where is the exit again..?

While Sir Amos looks around for the exit before the cave's ceiling falls, the dark cloud smoke that came from the demon's corpse began to grow thinner and thinner as if it was being sucked up, until what was left was a piece of dark cloth. He noticed the smoke faded unusually fast, so he took another glance at the area where the demon once lied thirty seconds ago.

"Huh? A cloth?"

From a corpse of a demon?

This is new.

Never have I encountered a demon's corpse leaving a residue before; and it's a piece of dark cloth.

Again, this demon never seizes to amaze me, even after death.

I reach my hand to grab the piece of cloth and then proceeded to put it inside my pouch. 

Alright. I'll take you with me.

Let's see what the experts would find.

A rock suddenly falls from the ceiling and was about to crash Amos, but before it could, he punched it with his arm. The rubles flew everywhere and what was left was just pieces of it.

Okay. I need to leave now. This place is falling apart.

Sir Amos began to run towards the exit at a near impossible speed, while dodging the falling rocks. On the other hand, Vice Captain Senya, as well as the others, were able to exit the first door and meet up with the injured ones who were left in the temporary camp. They were able to grab everything before they felt the dungeon shaking, so now they are near the exit, and are about to meet up with the rest of the company.

>>>~~\M/~~<<<

"Where is the expedition team?!"

A man wearing a shiny full armor, who just got here on a horse, asked a knight near the entrance of the dungeon.

Before the panicking knight could answer, a familiar voice suddenly interrupted their conversation from inside the dungeon.

"Captain! Captain Leo!"

Vice Captain Senya called out to me from inside the dungeon, followed by Sir Armin and the rest of the expedition group. Thank the Gods!

"Senya! I'm glad you're all ok...... ah. Where's the supervisor? "

"He's still inside. He let us all escape first while he distracted the talking demon."

"Talking demon...? Don't you mean a daemian?"

"No. It's not one of those. It can talk, but only one word at a time. Anyway, I'll give you the details later, right now, there are 

injured people."

Huh?

When I noticed that last sentence, Senya and Sir Armin already walked pass me as if they have nothing to worry about. Oi! Aren't you forgetting something?

"Wait! Aren't you both worried about Sir Amos?"

""....... Nope.""

The two answered my question in perfect harmony. That pause just now means you just tried to confirm it! How heartless.

While Leo was brooding over how heartless the two can be, Senya and Armin carefully ran towards one of the near tents for the injured while carrying something rapped in white cloth together. Of course, Leo got curious as to what's inside of the cloth, so he followed them to the tent. She carefully laid the object in one of the beds and then proceeded to unwrap it, revealing a little girl, wearing a dirtied thin white night gown.

"Senya. Who is she?"

"I don't know, Captain. We merely found her inside the dungeon with the talking demon. She was already unconscious when we got there."

"..... I see."

This girl was found inside the dungeon? Furthermore, that same dungeon that was just discovered a month ago. We had to send a message to the higher ups about the dungeon, so it took us a month until we received the order; a week to travel to the capital from here, one week or longer for them to make the final decision, another week to get the reply and then another week to assemble and prepare for departure. Within that month, nobody knew anything about the dungeon, except for the ones who discovered it and the military.

While he was preoccupied with those thoughts, the shaking had suddenly stopped and he finally realized he had forgotten something very important. 

"Sir Amos is still in there!" 

I got a bit worried since there's still no news from Sir Amos, so I ran towards the exit of the tent, only to clash with the man that has been missing in action. What a relief!

"Sir Amos! Am I glad to see you! For a second there, I thought you were a goner."

"Captain! You would never believe what I found inside the dungeon!"

"Let me guess. You fought with a talking demon."

"..... As always, you can read minds."

Hahaha. I should've never doubted Sir Amos' abilities; he's The Paladin, after all. Even after an intense fight with a demon, he can make a lighthearted conversation with just about anyone. What a great guy!

"Hahahahahahahahahaha"

"..hu.Hahahahahahahahaha"

Everyone's gazes inside the tent gradually concentrated towards the two who were suddenly laughing loudly in the middle. Since it was the medical tent, the angry Head Cleric kicked out the two who just disrupted all of his patients' rest, leaving Senya and Armin with the look of disdain on their faces.

"Good grief. Those two can really get along."

"I apologize for my older brother's conduct just now."

"No need for that, Sir Armin. My brother, Leo, was the one who suddenly laughed anyway; your brother just got swept by his pace, like always."

>>>~~\M/~~<<<

After the two were forced to leave the tent, they decided to walk and talk while they had the time. The both of them haven't seen each other for quite a while due to work, so this is a really good opportunity for them to catch up with each other.

"Oops. We got kicked out again."

"Hahaha! I remember the same thing happened before. How nostalgic."

"It was during a meeting, I believe. At that time, I just got promoted as the new Captain."

"And I just got back from training in the mountains!"

"It was a good first meeting."

"I agree!"

The two began to exchange information about recent events that had occurred while the other was gone; although, if one were to look at them from afar, they would say that those two are merely laughing without reserve. However, since the subjects are currently the two most powerful and important people in the group, they wouldn't dare make even a whisper that could soil both of their reputations. Well, that's what the new recruits thought.

On the other hand, the soldiers who knew the Captain and the Paladin's relationship, never showed any restrains towards the two, so while the both of them pass by one of the experienced soldiers, they would casually greet each other like acquaintances. The newer ones were amazed when they saw how casual the two are, since the powerful ones are more reserved when dealing with their subordinates and in worst cases, too strict. They thought, 'how fortunate they were to follow such good people', but, alas, expectations are double-edged swords.

And with that, the day ended with merely a few casualties, due to everyone's efforts. They were a bit disappointed though, since they weren't able to find valuable items, except for the magi stones inside the lamps they were able to procure in time. On top of that, the dungeon collapsed, so they were not able to get a proof that the dungeon was the ruins of the lost capital city of Amyth, other than their memories of it. Everyone fell asleep with that thought in mind; but little did they know, the sleeping little girl they saved was there biggest proof.

The next day, Hannah finally woke up.

=====

Finally! We're near!!

You guys are probably confused with what else is there in that world and stuff. Don't worry. I'm putting the details as we speak!

I merely gave you guys the tip of the iceberg and I plan to give out the details little by little until we get to that other part! Also, yes. The usual fantasy setting won't be just the standard. It will include traditional mythical ones and my own CREATIONS! BUWAHAHAHHAHAHAHA!!

:mowahaha:

I said this, but due to reasons ( mostly because of a stupid project in programming ) I can't make an update as soon as I could, since school demands a lot of attention. Plus, I get tired easily by just walking around a city, though moving or walking helps drive the sleepiness away (I hate pollution!!). Anyway, this is just an edit that should've happened two weeks ago, and you guys deserve an apology. Sorry.

Sincerely Yours,

The Stupid Author