As Zeke emerged from the other side, the Moonglow Fenrir and Circe had engaged in combat. While the beast attempted but failed to catch the nimble girl with its claws, she delivered multiple shallow cuts in between her dodges, tainting its silver fur in red. From the small smile on her lips, Zeke could tell she’d been toying with her opponent.

Circe’s true intention, however, was to wear out the wolf before she could start executing the next part of their plan, and by the time Zeke had appeared, her goal already appeared within reach, seeing as the fenrir’s movements became more sluggish than before.

After determining that she’d done enough, Circe whirled around and sprinted forward with all her might. Her speed buff had run out a few seconds ago, yet despite that, the Moonglow Fenrir could barely catch up to her with its limbs gashed and fatigued. Bringing up the minimap, she quickly pinpointed the location of her intended destination, marked by two yellow dots in front of a green arrow pointing towards them.

“Looks like they’re nearby, great.” Trees that touched the clouds covered the grassy floor as far as her eyes could see, the spaces between them large enough for an organism as large as a fenrir to navigate through with ease. Since the area around her path lacked obstacles, she could easily maintain her speed despite her attire.

Large shrubs soon came into her view, but the minimap informed her that her destination awaited just beyond those bushes. As the Moonglow Fenrir found the strength to leap towards her, Circe timely spun around, her eyes meeting the wolf’s fierce claws with a wide grin.

As her body began to disappear, the fenrir’s razors struck the bushes behind her instead. It looked around while sniffing the air in an attempt to find its prey, but it could do nothing but growl in frustration as it realized that she’d already fled the scene.

“What was this thing chasing?”

Without warning, the Moonglow Fenrir got struck by a swift attack that left a shallow wound across its neck. While the wolf screamed in pain, Lysander Salvador swung his sword again, only for the monster swiped it away with its claws, pushing him back slightly.

Another sudden attack gave the beast no chance to recuperate, this time a much stronger slash from Creston Salvador cut deeply into its side, drawing out a deafening cry from the wolf. “It was most likely running away,” he responded to his son as he shook the blood from his obsidian-black sword; a signature weapon of Marquess Salvador. “Look closely, it has wounds all over its body, and there’s a dagger embedded in one of its eyes.”

“Ah I see,” Creston’s devastating blow left the Moonglow Fenrir lying on the ground, stained by the pool of its own blood to await its inevitable death. With the threat gone, Lysander spared the wolf no attention as he nodded like an eager student acknowledging his teacher’s words. “It must have come from the banquet hall’s side, seeing as that dagger is from the Peregrine house. Has someone requested their help?”

“That is unlikely,” As the wolf drew its last, shallow breath, Creston lowered himself and plucked the weapon out from its eye. Inspecting the dagger closely, he confirmed the unmistakable falcon crest separating the handle from the blade. “…Lady Ruelle or Lady Cleo might’ve let someone borrow it…but judging from her personality, it’s most likely Lady Ruelle’s.”

Lysander stared at the wolf’s corpse, his eyes specifically focused on the multiple shallow cuts riddling its body. “…But who would be so childish to make these unnecessary attacks? Certainly, our knights wouldn’t be so dumb as to waste time toying with an elite monster.”

“…” A smile crept up Creston’s lips. “Then it must be Silas, he drove an elite monster into a corner and forced it to flee back into the shattered space.”

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“Father…” Lysander looked at the marquess with a bewildered expression, fortunately, his father had his eyes locked on the dagger in his hand to notice the disbelief on his face. “It does make sense…only my brother could even think about playing around in a fight.”

“That’s why I told you to keep a close eye on him,” Creston lowered the dagger, turning to face his son. “Every genius swordsman has their own way of fighting. If Silas really has awoken a hidden talent when he got swept into a dungeon…then we should watch and nurture him carefully this time.”

It took a moment for Lysander to reply. “…Of course, father.”

Creston nodded as his face returned to neutral. “Now then,” looking around, the canopy of leaves left little room for light to reach the ground, cloaking the forest in an eternal dusk. If they hadn’t known any better, they wouldn’t have noticed that they were in an incomplete dungeon. “Since the wolf came from that way, there should be a shattered space we can use to get back home.”

“I will lead the way, father.” Lysander volunteered, stepping around the fenrir’s corpse and they both headed towards the exit.

.

.

.

After delivering the elitest of packages to their owners, Circe circled around with the minimap and found Zeke sitting by the new shattered space he’d found while waiting for her return. She could see him twiddling with the sapphire of his staff as she got close. “I’m home honey! Did you miss me?” As she jested in a high-pitched voice, Zeke looked up at her with a blank look.

”No,” his cold response came almost instantly, and he soon changed the subject as if pretending that she never said anything. “How did it go? Those two didn’t see you, did they?”

Since her joke earned no funny reactions out of her target, Circe responded to Zeke’s question with a roll of her eyes. “Of course not, it would be embarrassing if I’m still spotted with the skill.”

“Alright, since that’s cleared up now,” Zeke rose from the ground, brushing dirt from his hands. His rushed demeanor hinted that he didn’t want to leave any free section for Circe to jam in one of her teasings. “Let’s get out of here and quickly kill the boss.”

With mutual agreement, they stepped through the shattered space and reappeared in another forest, this time with normal-sized trees that left little room for giant wolves to roam around. Circe immediately brought up the minimap for the two of them as they tried to figure out where the shattered space had taken them.

”Ah, I remember this place,” Zeke stared at the floating panel between them, noticing that the demon icon was right in front of them, their location indicated by two green arrows. “This is the eastern forest that House Salvador had cleared out, it’s now just a place for an outing, usually Esmeralda comes here for a picnic.”

“Then we have to clean this place up,” Circe called a sword and dagger into each hand as a smirk crept up her lips. “So no mutts can ruin the scenery for your lovely mother.”

“Now before that,” With his free hand, Zeke took out several papers from his inventory. “Buff up first, this one’s for strength…and this one’s the haste that you used before, all of them last one minute so just watch out for the timers.”

Circe dismissed her dagger before taking them, at a glance, she roughly counted a total of six magic papers. “Woah, how many did you draw from those empty circles?”

“Five of each,” Zeke responded with nonchalance, shrugging as if he saw nothing much of his efforts. “I find magic circles to be relatively easy to learn…but for some reason I still can’t learn any of the spells from the Codex, it’s starting to annoy me.”

“Hey, at least with this, we don’t even have to buy buffs from the shop anymore,” Circe grinned in an attempt to bring up his spirit. Ever since before, she noticed that Zeke seemed to think very little of his given skills. “…Are you still hung up on having ‘Charm’ as your only active skill?”

The frown on Zeke’s face spoke a thousand words, and she couldn’t help but laugh at his silent response. As Circe continued to choke on her hysteria, Zeke shifted his attention towards the direction of the boss monster. “…I’m scouting ahead first.”

“H-Hey!” Circe wiped a stray tear from her eye before quickly following Zeke, stopping herself from laughing any further, but she couldn’t wipe the smile off her lips.

A few minutes of silent walking led them to an open area of the forest, as both took cover behind the trees and bushes, they peered their heads over to see what sort of creature they would soon face.

Standing on two legs, the creature resembled the werewolves depicted in many fictional stories. It has a large, muscular build covered entirely in gray-silver fur that shimmered gently beneath the moonlight, and a pair of intelligent scarlet eyes. Familiar markings embellished its face, the darkened lines traveled down to its neck and arms, resembling twisted vines with thorns protruding outwards. A worn, leather coat draped around its shoulders that strangely matched with its loincloth, along with a necklace made from alternating large and small fangs.

[Boss Monster: ]