x-X-x-X-x

In the dead of night, a small figure wearing a white dress along with white face mask and red eyes that glowed in the dark entered a shady building.

The figure avoided the magic traps in the room and proceeded ever inward. It would be obvious to anyone that this figure either knew where those traps were or had prior training with magic traps, which was not that far from the correct answer.

The unknown figure was Shalltear Bloodfallen, a guardian of the Great Tomb of Nazarick. Guarding the floors of a dungeon meant that she had to deal with traps every day.

She hummed as she walked towards a stone wall. Making unnecessary noises would be considered stupid, but Shalltear was quite confident in her strength. She actually hoped someone would reveal themselves to her as it would make her job easier.

The vampire's objective was to pick on a group of wrong-doers and relieve her stress on them, figuring that no one will miss them, thus not attracting any kind of attention. Another reason was that she wasn't certain if she was sent here by the supreme beings. If she was, then that meant her lords wanted her to give them a tribute. Sacrifices in blood.

Once in front of the wall at the back of the room, her gaze locked up on a stone brick that slightly stuck out of the wall, making it seem a bit obnoxious. It would be obvious to anybody with knowledge in traps that the brick was intentionally placed this way.

She pressed on the brick and it moved. As the stone was in motion, there was a click as something made contact with something else behind the wall. A moment later, the sound of grinding came forth. The stone bricks slowly moved aside to reveal a path leading down, beneath the earth. The girl descended the stone staircase and began walking in a straight line through the dark tunnel.

'A secret passageway… How amusing. There might be something interesting happening in this city afterall.' Shalltear thought as she glared into the tunnel's darkness.

She slowly descended into the one-way tunnel and walked in the direction she could sense great entertainment from. There was not much to say about the tunnel's appearance other than it was made out of stone. It made someone like Shalltear in her current dress look extremely out of place in this rather bland underground passageway.

She sniffed the air slightly, face pinching in dissatisfaction. "That disgusting smell… Am I back in the dungeon?" She scrunched her nose, expression souring. "That's strange."

She didn't expect the dungeon to have more entrances, yet this one seemed secret, as if someone did not want all the plebeians in the city to known about its existence. That could mean only one thing; something very fun was awaiting her at the end of this long tunnel. Perhaps a criminal organization? Or corrupt government officials? Or maybe something completely different.

Filled with anticipation, Shalltear began running in a straight line, and after a few minutes, the stone path in front of her suddenly came to a stop. It was replaced by a massive golden door with gems embedded in its coating.

Shalltear placed a hand on the wall and tried giving it a push. It did not bulge.

The vampire's lips curled upwards under her mask. 'Oh, there must be something really interesting going on behind that huge door. Though if they believe that an immovable door is enough to stop me, then they're very wrong.'

She placed her hand on the golden door once again and shouted out the next words:

"[Force Explosion]"

The spell sent an invisible shockwave that shook the wall and made it explode, sending a loud vibration throughout the tunnel. If anyone were to be behind that door, they would've certainly heard sound that the explosion made which Shalltear didn't mind too much. If her preys were to be on high alert against her, then they would certainly show themselves, sparing her the hassle of searching for them.

She approached the giant hole which had once held a giant golden door and made a small hop onto the other side, the smoke slowly clearing up to allow her to see what stood beyond the door…