The loud war cry of the humans echoed throughout the first floor of the ruins of Ekeletas, burning itself into the minds of the Kobolds. The first wave of the Kobolds had been easily dismantled by the expedition team, leaving behind numerous bloody corpse which the some members of the expedition team began to skin for the pelts of the monsters.

Slowly and surely, the expedition team pushed into the heart of the first floor, butchering, pillaging, and burning in the process. Loganel stood there, motionlessly as his hearing was drowned out by the cries of pain from the Kobolds and the sinister voices of the humans.

"Their pelts are worth a lot!" a man shouted as he plunged his blade into the eyes of a Kobold who was running away with its pups.

Sharp, beast-like cries of pain and despair echoed throughout this small Kobold village, which was now destroyed by the arrival of the expedition team. Gone was the peaceful lives for these Kobolds, but for what reason? That is a simple question with a simple answer: they aren't humans.

Loganel slowly walked over to a Kobold pup that was on the ground beside it's dead mother. This pup, eyes still closed since it has just arrived in this world for only about a few days, cried for its mother, wriggling it's small arms and legs in the air. Loganel knelt down, picked up the Kobold, and brought it close to him. In his eyes, a tear of frustration formed.

"Sorry," he whispered into the pup's ear.

Loganel was confused. Why is it that when he surveyed the battlefield, all he sees is just a more ferocious monster slaughtering other creatures? He was confused as to why the most defining characteristic of humanity is inhumanity.

Why is it like this?

Loganel looked around at the crude village the Kobolds had set up. From this, he realized that these Kobolds had some intelligence, it was greater than normal beasts, but primitive when compared to humans.

We're...the invaders. We're the reason why your kind cannot exist.

Loganel placed the young, defenseless Kobold pup on the ground. Then, he slowly drew his knife and raised it into the air, aiming for the chest of the young pup.

This is the only thing I can do for you: a quick death. May you reunite with your family on the other side. Sorry for all of this, but this is just how the rules of this world are.

***

The expedition team was able to quickly clear the first floor, and they moved onto the second after scavenging the first floor for any valuables. They stripped the Kobolds of their skins and fur after killing them, burned down the Kobold's attempts at civilization, and mocked their "silliness" at the thought of developing a culture and society.

They were able to mow through the second floor with almost the same amount of ease as the first one, and from there, they moved down to the third. Loganel felt indifferent about this floor now that he had set foot on it once again after a few months time. It didn't feel the same to him anymore after seeing how fragile the Kobolds were as Loganel advanced with the expedition team into the lower levels of the Ekeletas ruins. He was stronger than before, and in addition, he has the aid of several hundred people.

After clearing this floor similar to the first two floors, albeit with a greater degree of difficulty and some casualties, the expedition team decided to set up camp for the day. Due to the fact that numerous members of the expedition team insisted on searching the ancient houses on every floor for valuables, progress was slow. However, the discoveries had kept the morals of the team high.

That night, in the camp, food was served by each party to their own members in front of their tents. Loganel sat alone on the side of a sheer drip that overlooked the entire city of Ekeletas that was now in ruins. From here, he could see all the way down to the dark abyss below. Not far from him was his party and Sullivan's was chatting as they sat around a burning campfire which they had given life to through the dried twigs that they had collected prior to descending into the ruined city.

When Loganel had awoken the next day, he was somewhat confused as to where he was. However, he slowly came to his senses and crawled out of camp, careful to not make his presence known to the others in his tent. As he moved, he noticed that Tetsuya and Azura was missing. He dismissed any of his thoughts about where they could be and proceeded to emerge into the outside world. There, it was still dark due to the fact that he was underground. However, from the gradually bustling of the knights and soldiers followed by the other adventurers, Loganel was sure that dawn had befallen the world above.

He witnessed Tetsuya and Azura's discreet return to camp that morning, and he didn't say anything about it. To Loganel, it was their privacy and he has no right to expose it to the others. In Loganel's eyes, Tetsuya's and Azura's unwillingness to expose their relationship was even more evident when Tetsuya had accidentally left behind something and Azura reached out a hand to grab him but immediately retracted her arm and nervously glanced over at Loganel, who was the only one present at the time.

I know, I know, Loganel sighed. I didn't see anything.

The expedition team gathered by the wide stairway illuminated by the faint, eerie light emitted from

The green crystals placed on podiums that was in the stone guard rails on ether side of the stairway. The stone brick steps also had symmetrical lines that let out a bright green light running down the far sides of the stairway and branched off into numerous smaller lines into an intricate and mysterious pattern.

"Alright everyone," Marsha said loudly, addressing everyone in the expedition team. "From here on down, the difficulty of each encounter withe enemies will increase drastically. I advise you all to be cautious when engaging in combat from here on out."

Loganel could sense a tense atmosphere among the crowd. Some gripped their weapons even tighter upon hearing Marsha's announcement, almost as if comforting and pushing themselves at the same time. To them, they have to trust their party members, and unfortunately, for Loganel, he doesn't have that many of an option here other than those in his party that he had so isolated himself from. He doesn't necessarily feel any severe animosity towards them, since they had never wronged him. Loganel knew that the source of all this was himself, his diffidence to be more exact.

With a silent sigh, Loganel followed the group as the expedition team relocated to the lower levels. After descending the stairway, the expedition team fanned out into the urban streets of the ruined cities in the formation they had memorized. The team were to maintain a distance from each other so that if enemies are scouted, it could be easily communicated to the other parties through voice. Another advantage of this close proximity is that it will be possible to call for reinforcements if needed.

Tetsuya led the way, with Loganel close behind him as the other forward/support. Behind Loganel was Azura, who proceeded near Juliana and Sheriel, protecting them when needed and to stall time of the group were to be ambushed from behind so that the forwards could rotate back. Loganel remained cautious as he walked the dark, vacant streets of the ruins of Ekeletas. He readied himself so that when needed, he could immediately draw his sword.

No one said anything as they moved. One reason was that they need to be able to hear any sudden movements, and the other reason is that none of them felt like talking.

"Contact!" Tetsuya notifies the others in a loud enough voice so the nearby team would be able to hear him as well.

Loganel drew his blade and proceeded to enter a combat stance as he kept his eyes on the group of Kobold patrols. These five Kobolds were dressed in better quality armor and appeared more muscular than the ones that they've encountered before. Just by looking at them, Loganel could tell that these Kobolds were highly experienced in combat.

Tetsuya was the first to clash with the Kobolds, using his shield to push back at the first Kobold that swung at him. Loganel has summoned a wall of dirt behind the first Kobold so as to prevent the other Kobolds from assisting that one. Loganel then emerged on the left side of Tetsuya to cover his side from a sudden slash from a Kobold that had emerged from the side of the wall.

With a parry and a quick back step, Loganel brought his left hand to the blade of his sword, summoning fire Mana to that hand, and running it down the length of the blade. The end result was a blade that was coated in fire that felt warm only to Loganel. Loganel quickly lunged at the Kobold, attacking aggressively by delivering a horizontal cut to the creature. Despite the Kobold's effort to deflect the attack by bringing its blade over, Loganel's burning blade was able to deflect the incoming blade away as he cut downwards. From there, Loganel forced his blade down towards the Kobold, which he was successful in, resulting in a deep cut in the Kobold's chest with scorched flesh and fur around the wound. The end result, this Kobold dropped over and laid limp on the ground.

Tetsuya was able to reposition his sword in an angle so that the Kobold's blade slid off, leaving it vulnerable to a slash from Tetsuya's blade. Then, the wall in front of Tetsuya crumbled, revealing the rest of the Kobolds. The crumbling of the wall was intentional by Loganel, who saw Sheriel preparing her spell. With no need of any further direction, Sheriel unleashed a powerful blast of fire from the tip of her staff, and that blast of fire crashed into the remaining Kobolds, leaving behind a scorched earth with the burnt corpse of the enemies.

"Taken care of!" Tetsuya called to the nearby groups as he sheathed his blade.

"You alright?" Juliana asked as she approached Loganel.

She reached over to him and grabbed hold of his arm. From there, she began to investigate whether Loganel was wounded or not. Loganel didn't exhibit much of a response. Instead he allowed Juliana to examine him.

"Alright," Juliana smiled as she took a step back after discovering no wounds on Loganel.

"Done?" Tetsuya asked. "Then let's continue onward."

Author's Note:

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