Okay, so I wrote this way faster than I was expecting to. I might even be able to write two more chapters... hmm~ we'll see. Anyway, this chapter is a little violent towards the end so be prepared.

Vyne had been in the library reading a book on the topic of elves and magic. Tear was sitting next to him reading an old heroic tale, she normally would be with Erebus but he was currently sleeping in Yvick’s throne room.

So, she had joined Vyne is his routine trip to Yvick’s grand library. The amount of information Yvick had gathered put Vyne’s knowledge to shame. So, Vyne had spent nearly all of his time these past five months inside of this library.

They had stayed so long because they were waiting for the dungeon to open.

Vyne’s studying had been ruined by a series of large booms and shakes. At first, he had tried to ignore it but it grew to the point where he could no longer turn a blind eye to this.

He stood up and angrily stomped towards the throne room, and a lonely Tear followed him.

Vyne had been expecting that a group of Questers had challenged Yvick. This was because of the conversation they had earlier where Yvick told them about the increased amount of people challenging him.

For the sake of ending this quickly so he could go back to studying, Vyne planned on assisting Yvick.

What he hadn’t been expecting was a small voice to say, “Vyne? Tear?”

Oh no.

This was bad, bad, bad.

“You’re alive?”

A small, green-haired elf stepped forward. Her cute face was full of surprise and apprehension.

“You... you’re a demon?”

Yvick frowned upon hearing this, it would seem this young elf knew his teacher’s subordinates.

Vyne sighed heavily and rubbed his temples. “What a disaster.”

On the other side, Tear pulled out her mana bow and fired a shot straight at Ern’s face. “Die, you damned elf.”

Griffin leaped in front of Ern and took the arrow inside.

“Tch.” Tear had been itching for a reason to put an arrow through Ern’s body. Now she had one, and she wouldn’t let this moment pass.

The attention of the Questers had been taken away by the pair that had recently entered. Yvick shook his head and clucked his tongue.

“This is a life or death battle, don’t get distracted.” He threw the black rings on both his index fingers, within in an instant two gargoyles appeared and attacked the distracted Questers.

The Questers by the gargoyles barely had any time to react and were killed instantly.

Vyne cracked his knuckles. “I haven’t been able to fight in a long time, perhaps this will help relieve some of my stress.” With a flap of his mighty wings, Vyne flew towards the Questers, a sword materializing in his hand.

Tear began to fire off her arrows.

The Questers attempted to get back into a formation, but they were completely messed up. It was a pitiful sight.

Ern was crying and wailing over Griffin’s dead body, Heather was taking on a green gargoyle that Yvick had sent out.

Luke was with other mages preparing another blast for Myth magic. And finally, Mur was also fighting against gargoyles.

On the other hand, Vyne, Tear, and Yvick were claiming the lives of many Questers with batting an eyelash.

The figure, other known as Erebus, was now awake and watching the magic unfold. He had awoken when the Myth class magic was used. He didn’t see any need to join in, so he just sat there.

Ern was now standing up and countering Tear’s arrows with blasts of magic. Tear lowered her arrow and smiled cruelly at Ern.

“I see, so you want to take me on by yourself.” A dagger made out of mana appeared in Tear’s hand. “Come.”

Ern, who was not planning on taking Tear on by herself at all, hesitated. She had not been trained in hand-to-hand combat, but this woman killed Griffin!

She began to stalk towards Tear, making her own blade of mana. “I never did like you,” Ern spat.

“So you finally grew a spine.”

The two women began to fight. Ern’s movements were clumsy compared to Tear, but she managed to hold her own. This was due to her ability to dodge and block Tear’s attacks.

On the other side of the room, Heather had finished her battle with the gargoyle and stood up. She had received a few bruises but other than that she was fine.

When she saw Ern and Tear fighting, she had the urge to join it, but Ern’s aura could be felt from here. She was determined to win. She was proving to be a difficult opponent for Tear.

She continued to survey the area, Mur had drawn back and was breathing heavily. A gargoyles ace had caught him in the stomach, he wouldn’t be able to fight any longer. A theurgist ran over to tend to his wounds but it wouldn’t be enough to put him back on the battlefield.

Heather had absolutely no confidence in winning against two people in this room:

Vyne was skillfully taking on a group of about ten Questers, he wasn’t struggling at all, it looked as if he was playing with them more than anything. Also, whenever a Quester would attempt to join in on the attack, he would look them in the eyes and they would drop to the ground writhing.

Yvick was smacking Questers into the wall with his shield and impaling others on the sharp point of his lance.

Heather knew that she would not be able to defeat these two foes. Both of them were clearly not using their full strength and whatever injuries Yvick had were healed.

And Luke... well, he was unfortunately too close to the gargoyles when they had attacked for the second time.

This was a hopeless situation, she realized. If it had been Yvick by himself, they had a chance of winning.

But now with two more in the fray... there was no chance. There was also Erebus who was sitting cross-legged watching all of this with a bored expression.

She remembered seeing him fight before, he wasn’t as skilled as Vyne was with the sword, that much was obvious. But he was still a sizeable opponent. But he was someone that she could defeat.

Heather nodded to herself. She would take this man on, she also had some questions to ask him. She began to stride towards him, making her way through the battlefield.

“Erebus!” she shouted. He turned his head towards her, the bland expression still on his face.

“Hello, Heather. Would you like to sit here, also?”

She shook her head. “Tell me the truth, Erebus. What are you?” Heather’s face was completely serious.

“For you to ask me such a difficult question.” Erebus scratched his head. “Does it really matter what I am?”

“So you aren’t a human,” Heather said. “You lied to us!” She was shaken by their betrayal. How could this young man with such an sweet smile do such a thing? Tear and Vyne, even though their personalities weren’t exactly welcoming, had the same kind smiles.

He smirked. “I never said that I was a human. Neither did Vyne.”

Heather balled up her fist. That much was true, but they had clearly deceived the others. “I will be your opponent.”

Erebus frowned. “Trust me, child. You don’t want me joining this fight.”

She snarled. Heather swung her fist at Erebus with monstrous speed and strength. He dodged the blow by jumping off the stone table. Her fist broke through the stone as if it was made of glass.

“Let’s see how long you can dodge.” Erebus didn’t have a weapon, and if her punch landed it would break his bones. She continued to send a torrent of blows at Erebus, which he avoided with just a hair’s breadth.

Heather was growing more confident in her chances of winning. As long as she prevented him from getting his hands on any type of weapon, she could do this.

Oh, how poorly mistaken this child was. She didn’t know that Erebus, too, had a bad habit of playing around. His sadism would only appear at certain times. Like this one.

He enjoyed seeing the hope build up in their eyes before he crushed it. Brutally.

This time, Erebus didn’t avoid the kick that Heather delivered. He allowed her spike foot to connect with his face. Only, his face didn’t cave in like it was supposed to. His body didn’t even move in the slightest.

“Wha...” Heather gasped.

Erebus laughed and wrapped his hand around her beefy ankle. Very slowly, he began to apply pressure.

Heather, sensing the danger, began to try to yank her ankle from his grasp. What was with his strength? How did her kick do no damage?

Pain.

She could feel the bones in her ankle beginning to break under the intense pressure. She couldn’t contain her shriek of pure agony. It wasn’t due to the pain in her leg, no, it was from staring into Erebus’ eyes.

They held no emotion. Nothing. They were the eyes that only a dead person should have.

This gaze of nothingness sent fear into Heather’s very being.

Heather’s screams made everyone stop. Even Tear, who had Ern pinned down and was continuing to release powerful punches onto the elf’s face. Ern’s body was riddled with stab wounds and was bleeding profusely. Tear had obviously won but her hatred for the elven race made her continue.

Even one’s expression but the three who knew of Erebus’ true nature were full of horror.

A few people here had seen the trio here, though, they weren’t as close to them like Heather and co. Erebus had been a docile person. He didn’t crush people’s ankles with no expression.

Erebus released Heather’s ankle and she fell to the ground, desperately trying to crawl away.

He did not let her do this. Erebus brought his foot down onto her throat.

Some couldn’t help but avert their gaze as he snapped her neck. A disgusting noise of vertebrae breaking filled the air. The force caused a couple white bones be pushed out of her neck, they were slicked with crimson.

A now lifeless Heather collapsed on her side.

Erebus turned to the Questers with the same blank expression on his face. "Now, who's next?"