By the time we reached the location of our target monster, the Elves had completely crushed the monster wave.
“They would be searching for us now, we should kill the boss monster quickly.” I told Deus.
“Well to kill it, won't we need to find the Boss first?”
The two of us were currently standing on the banks of a huge waterfall. Of course, it was currently frozen, with the -40 degree Celsius temperature inside the Dungeon. Thank god, for the Academy-issued teacher training uniforms. They are made from C-Rank Lesser Dragon leather, so apart from being very sturdy, the clothes even produce their own heat, and thus help to regulate body temperature. Deus was currently in his Fire Falcon form to maintain his body heat.
“I don’t get it. The Map says it's in this location.” I looked around to check if we missed the Boss' tracks.
“It could be underground, like how the Red Snakes travelled in Vritra’s Dungeon.”
“You think there is a monster crazy enough to dig soil that’s frozen solid?”
Suddenly, goose bumps appeared on my hand. I twisted my body slightly and a spear flew past me, embedding itself in the frozen lake.
“What? How did the Elves catch up with us so fast?” Deus was shocked, seeing the attack almost hit his wing.
“Oh my, it looks like there were a few loose ends on the Elves’ side.” a voice came from the direction the spear was shot.
I turned around to find a man and woman walking down towards us. The man was tall and bulky, with a rough blond mane flowing down his head, styled like a caveman. The woman beside him was his exact opposite. She was slim with an elegant posture, wearing a stylish pink overskirt dress as if she had come to attend a ball inside the Dungeon.
Astonishingly, behind her dark blue hair, dragged a huge pair of beautiful electric blue wings, seemingly plucked straight out of the back of a newly-emerged spring butterfly.
“So what is a unsophisticated creature such as your unsightly self doing in front of us?” The woman asked me. Her honey-sweet voice made even her dagger-sharp words seem mellow. But I was someone who had spent weeks looking at Misa and had thus become a bit used to great beauties.
‘Appraisal’
Name: Max Diados
Species: Lion Beastman
Rank: B+
Stats:
* Strength 11.5
* Stamina 11.4
* Agility 9.9
* Perception 9.1
* Magic Power 7.4
* Intelligence 4
Abilities:
* Beast Man Martial Arts(★★★★): A martial art that has been honed and perfected by the beast men tribe for many centuries. It is taught to all beast men children the moment they are able to walk and at its perfection, they gain enough power to decimate mountains with a flick of their finger.
Skills:
* Sacrificial Buff(A): By putting restrictions on their body or a body part, the user is able to increase the performance of something else exponentially.
Name: Nyra Magicflower
Species: Butterfly Beastman
Rank: B+
Stats:
* Strength 7.2
* Stamina 7.7
* Agility 9.8
* Perception 9.9
* Magic Power 11.3
* Intelligence 6
Abilities:
* Beast Man Martial Arts(★★★★): A martial art that has been honed and perfected by the beast men tribe for many centuries. It is taught to all beast men children the moment they are able to walk and at its perfection, they gain enough power to decimate mountains with a flick of their finger.
Skills:
* Flower Garden(SS): This skill allows the user to summon flowers and use a variety of spells with them.
* Pheromone Shower(A): The user of the skill is able to secrete different scents that can be used to control the minds of their targets.
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
The first thing that shook me was their Stats. Despite being a B+ Rank, the man’s strength and stamina were equivalent to an A Ranker’s. The woman’s Magic Power was also much too powerful for a B+ Ranker.
‘Beastmen! Being fellow worshippers of Mother Nature, they have been allies of the Elves for a very long time.’ Deus spoke in my mind. ‘And their Ranks and Stats are much higher than yours, thanks to the different structures of their bodies. There’s no way you will be able to defeat them, even if I help you.’
That much was obvious to me. Our Stats had quite a big difference. The best-case scenario right now will be if I can talk my way out of a fight.
“So, may I ask what the two of you are doing inside this Dungeon?” I asked the beast men. “Not on a vacation, I guess.”
“Whoosh!” They released their Auras on me. I steeled myself, ready to choose flight at a moment’s notice.
“Haha. You are funny.” The lion guy started to laugh.
“Enough, Max. We need to find the Boss.” The woman slapped her colleague’s shoulder. Her movement contained extraordinary elegance in them as if she was a noble.
“Come on, Nyra. It's been a while since I have had a proper fight. All the humans here ran away the moment Sylver’s team attacked them. What a bunch of pussies!” The man looked at me with hungry eyes. “Now, this. Hah! I love someone who's ready for a fight. He must have given the Elves a run for their money.”
Looks like these two think I had a trick up my sleeve, which was why the Elves failed to stop me. The potion was indeed great, but I doubt the monsters here would be able to do anything to these two here.
The butterfly woman, Nyra, scowled at me, wondering what kind of tricks I could possibly have.
‘Ray, what should we do now?’ Deus asked me telepathically.
‘I think we should make a run for it with Fade.’
“Human, warn your Spirit not to make any sudden movements.” Nyra warned me, disapproval dripping down her tongue as if she even hated conversing with a low-born creature such as me.
I looked at her in shock. Telepathic communications can only be heard by the contractors.
“I didn’t read your mind, if that's what you are wondering about. But you two seem ready to flee.” She gave me an eerie smile.
“Um, Nyra, are humans supposed to know about Spirits yet?” Max asked.
“Hmm, I don't about the League but ordinary people shouldn't know about them yet. All the other races promised that they wouldn't reveal anything, but there must have been a leak somewhere.” Nyra eyed Deus, as he sat on top of my shoulder.
‘Deus, don’t change forms in front of these two.’
‘There is no telling what these two will do if they figure out Deus’ powers.’
‘Wasn’t planning to either.’
“Hey, Nyra, I know. Why don’t we take this guy’s Spirit? Then we won’t have to hunt this Dungeon for that Spirit Egg.”
“Shut it, you moron.”Nyra elbowed her colleague, but the slip was already made.
I don’t know how the Elves and Beastmen found out, but this Dungeon must have a Spirit Egg as its reward. I could understand why they were trying so hard to throw all the humans out.
By nature, the Spirit Eggs of a planet belong to the species that were its original residents, and would always choose them as their owner. The Elves must be thinking that they would obtain ownership of the Egg if there weren’t any humans in the vicinity.
But little did they know, that this world was set so that this rule can’t be broken. Even if they drive away every human inside, the Egg will just move to another Dungeon, since the Eggs belonged to humans.
But, this was good. A plan began to form inside my mind, which will get me out of this deadly situation, as well as get me the Spirit Egg. I began to relay it to Deus.
'Hmm. Not bad.' He replied in my mind.
"Human, are you colluding with your Spirit again?" Nyra asked us.
"No. We were just talking about how to politely ask for your permission to leave the Dungeon." I replied back in a sweet voice
“Well, we can’t possibly let a human who heard about our plans get away alive.” A rose appeared in Nyra’s hand. I could sense strong mana emitting from it. That flower was definitely not as harmless as it looked.
“If you kill me now, the Hero League will start an investigation inside the dungeon. Isn’t that why you only drove the humans away and did not kill them?” I spoke up.
“Big deal. Humans die in Dungeons all the time. Especially a what, C? C+ Rank guy who came inside all alone. I doubt the League will move until a few more bodies are piled up.”
“Oh, did I forget to tell you who I am? I am Ray Laxon, the heir of the #5 Rank Guild. If I am found dead, my father will definitely spare no effort in finding out what killed me. Are you sure they won’t find any evidence that the Elves broke the Peace Treaty?” I smiled at her.
At the time when the Peace Treaty was established, it was practically forced on the Humans to take their land away. But now, humans weren’t as weak as they were seventy years ago. We have multiple SS Ranks among us. We won’t be able to win, that’s for sure, but we would surely cause the Elves a lot of damage. Even the Elves won’t risk it, considering that their forces were split up, here on Earth and back on their home planet, trying to defend it from the invading demons.
Nyra just smiled at me. "I don't know how high-ranking the Guild you are from is, but whatever Guild allows such a weakling to be its successor, can't possibly amount to much."
I gulped at her comment. Looks my bluff didn't work. It's true that even if I died in this Dungeon right now, Heron Laxon wouldn't even bat an eye.
“And anyway, we can just make your body disappear. Then nobody will find out what happened here.” A dangerously serene smile hung on her face.
I slowly backed up, as those two got ready to attack.
‘Ray. Do it! Now!’ Deus screamed in my mind.
I took my sword out of the ring. Max jumped at me. But instead of defending his strike, I took my sword and swung it hard near the spear that was embedded in ice. Immediately, the ice sheet started to crack and fall. I swung my body sideways to avoid the spreading void, but Max, who was in mid-attack, got sucked down into the abyss.
But unfortunately, the ice sheet was too weak to endure an attack from both a Beastmen as well as me. The ice continued falling apart, engulfing the ground and before any of us could react, it finally swallowed all four of us in its dark unknown depths.