บท 17: Something Feels Off About This

"Aquarius, are you okay?" Freya asked as she stared at the big blue wolf, it's body was filled with spears, swords and arrows! Bob stood on its left, and she on its right, "Where's the end of the path?"

"Wait, Freya." Bob stopped moving, and the torchlight flickered. Aquarius glanced around with its eyes sharp, unbothered with the weapons piercing its body, and calm as Bob moved forth and stood two steps ahead, "Do you hear it?"

⦗Area Danger Level 0⦘

"Hear what?" Freya looked around with her brows raised, then she placed one her on her waist and the other on her chin, "Am I supposed to be hearing something strange? Because, Heh, I'm not."

"Oh, that's strange." Bob's felt his face turn cold, and he tightened his grip around his blade, "I'd guess that the system would not register the area danger level unless it's a monster, but this thing—"

The rumbling…

"—hasn't stopped." Bob turned around, facing Aquarius and Freya. He looked behind them, but nothing was there. As they stood, no traps went off, but something moves, and its movement caused the ground to rumble. Yet, the area danger level wasn't updating.

"You mean you two sense something that I don't? Am I being targeted by the darkness?" Freya tilted her head over to the side, rolling her eyes to the side, "Then it would make sense why I can't sense it, but is that even possible?"

"Even if there was someone behind you, we would never see them. Unless…" Bob tried to calm his beating heart, his fingers trembling as he withdrew a torchlight from his inventory, then hurled the light into the darkness, "Oh… oh shit."

The light flew — revealing countless little armoured humanoids holding small weapons — and as it fell to the ground metres away, it's light extinguished, their eyes lit up. Bob prepared for battle, "They are all around us! I knew something was up with—"

An arrow flew, and struck him in the side of his face, causing Bob's eyes to widen with rage. He turned in the direction where it came from, vein popping up all over his forehead as he pulled the arrow out of his face, staring at the system notifications,

⦗Health -100⦘

⦗Area Danger Level 0⦘

"I see… So, it's another special type monster." Bob narrowed his eyes, aiming and hurling the arrow in his hand with all his might, watching as it flew and struck home, drawing a weird croaky scream that made Bob scrunch his face, "Bastards."

⦗Killed Room Elitist⦘

⦗Claimed 10 XP!⦘

"What the fuck?" Bob frowned, tilting his body and dodging another arrow. They posed a high threat to them if left alone whether automated or not, but fighting was more or less still high risk, pathetic reward strategy. Although, Bob knew now who managed the room, "Freya, run!"

"I should run? I'm a Level 300, for what reason should I run away from—" She bragged, but the big blue wolf Aquarius only bit into the back of her dress and flung her into the air until she landed on its back, "Are you trying to kidnap me? I think we should—"

"No, no. We can't stay here to fight them, but continue with our previous plan." Bob grabbed on to Aquarius, taking a deep long breath as he retrieved the light into his inventory, "Aquarius, run till you crash into something with your face!"

"Huh?" Freya protested, but before she could act, Aquarius leapt forth, charging into the night at full speed, and weapons were hurled after them. Arrows, spears, knives and daggers, even a pot and frying pan! All sorts of weapons were hurled, but the monsters were too late.

Our demon lord Aquarius crashed into a solid surface, and Bob quickly let go of it, retrieving his torchlight and observing the area — a golden door! He quickly pushed it open, and shoved the blue wolf inside with a protestant Freya.

'That was too close…' Bob followed them, slamming the door shut.

——

"Hmm?" A cold man's voice was heard, and the walls trembled. This place was different from the lower areas — it was well illuminated, and chains were scattered across the ground and hung on the walls — and it reeked of death, "You are sure of this?"

"Of course I am! My spies caught her running around the lower areas!" A woman dressed in blue knelt on the ground before him, her head bowed and hair flowing to the ground. She had a sole wing that covered part of her body, and spoke in a soft voice, "They killed it too."

"They are breathing down on our neck…" the man frowned with his burly mass shrouded in the shadows, then he reached out his hand and held it out in the light. As his hands left the shadows, its skin quickly turned dried up, ghastly pale and shrivelled, "Kill them."

"But, they are children—" the woman lifted up her head, and glared into the man's resolute eyes. She was in her middle ages, and looked fairly human — ignoring part of her face marked with runes or the black scales reaching into the lower sides of her face, "I'm subject to go easy on them, Blight."

"I understand, Eve." The man laughed, then withdrew his hand back in the darkness, "I guessed it would never appear but I was wrong. Now, we have to stop them before he reaches the 100th Area or our lives would be forfeit. Do you understand this, Eve?"

"Yes, Blight." Eve stood to her feet, her dress bobbing with her movements. In her provocative robes, she left little to the imagination, revealing her scales shrouded with runes engraved in them, "I'll make sure that they do not cross the 50th Area. You can count on me on that."

"With this, we may finally get on his good side. Maybe he would show us mercy, and release us from this place and away from these pathetic apes." Blight remained in the shadows, and his anger was transmitted through his voice, "If you fail, I'll snap his neck with my own hands."