Loganel stepped into the circular clearing that housed the stairway that led down to the lower level. There were brutally mutilated corpses that were gnawed to the bone laid about the area with the occasional Undead still wandering about, possibly late to the feast and now with no where to go. They didn't bother Loganel and Azura. In fact, they didn't seem to have noticed the two due to their gloom silence.

There were white flower petals scattered about on the ground, covering the stone floor and providing the bland ruins of Ekeletas with a much needed hint of white. There were some shards of shattered ice not far from the stairway door, but Loganel paid little attention to it. In the air, there was the soft, sweet scent of flowers, and this scent covered the foul stench of the rotting Undead.

"White Carnation..." Azura whispered as she sniffed the air.

"You know your flowers?" Loganel looked over at her.

"It helps to pay attention in class," Azura responded. "Plus I like flowers. What's that surprised look for?" She looked over at Loganel.

"No," Loganel explained. "Just didn't thought that you were into flowers."

Azura looked at Loganel with a somewhat annoyed look, but she didn't made any further comments regarding the issue. Instead, she focuses more on the ice shards that was scattered throughout the area near the opening to the stairway in a random pattern.

"Looks like something shattered some ice," she whispered. "And all the bodies...Looks like the team was ambushed here and had to create a wall of ice to buy time for their escape."

"Is it that wolf?"

"Most likely," she observed.

"Then this means," Loganel looked down the dark stairway, "the team is up ahead and the wolf is there too." He stepped towards the stairway, careful to not step on any shards of ice, and used the pillar as a support. "We'll have to be very careful when we go down there."

"Yeah," Azura frowned as she nodded.

The two stepped carefully down the dark stairway that was barely illuminated by the green glow from the carefully spaced out crystals. Running down the stairs were green lines that were on either sides of the stairs. These lights acted as a sort of a guideline for whoever is using these stairs.

Irritated by the darkness, Loganel summoned an orb of gentle fire into his left hand and used that light to illuminate the stairs as him and Azura descended. With the illumination from the small orb of fire, Loganel saw some silver fur laying on the ground and some scratch marks on the stone surface of the stairs and walls.

"Looks like it is the wolf," he whispered to Azura.

Upon arriving at the new floor, the two were greeted by an obvious track to follow. The expedition team has left behind a path of motionless Undead and the occasional corpse of a familiar face of someone that Loganel or Azura has saw at camp. Besides these obvious clues, there was the trail left behind by that wolf. Claw marks were evident on the ground and some of the wolf's silver fur reflected the light from the fire in Loganel's hands.

"Looks like they went that way." Azura pointed down the trail of destruction.

"How many do you think are still left?" Loganel asked as the two of them walked down the street, following the trail left behind by the expedition team.

"I don't know," Azura shook her head. "But hopefully Tetsuya, Juliana and the others are alright."

"..."

Silence ensued after their brief conversation as the two of them heightened their senses in anticipation of any enemies. However, their journey was quite peaceful due to the fact that the expedition team that went ahead had carved out a path for them already. Therefore, they didn't encounter any enemies, but rather, they encountered more motionless Undeads and corpses. This path of death gnawed at their sanity, making them feel sick mentally. However, knowing that they must continue on, they forced themselves to remain calm and continued on.

"And here's the stairway," Loganel commented as they arrived at a circular clearing with the stairway leading down to the next floor in the center. Loganel stared down the dark eerie stairway, feeling a sudden chill up his spine. There's just something ominous about the stairway, making it seem oddly forbidding.

"This next floor down should be the thirteenth," Azura reasoned. "And since we didn't encounter the team or the wolf, then they're both down there..."

"Looks like this is the end of the line," Loganel sighed. "Down there is the end of this expedition...the final battle."

"Yeah," Azura nodded.

"I'm tired of this place already," Loganel shook his head in disbelief. "I'm never coming back down here again."

"Then we gotta leave this place," Azura smiled. "Let's go put an end to this journey."

"Right," Loganel nodded as he took his first steps down the stairway.

His heart pounded in his chest as he walked down the stairs. His eyes were focused on his destination that was still shrouded in the mysterious darkness.

Loud sounds of shouting could suddenly be heard coming from the not so far distance. The sound of claws dragging across the stone floor and coming into contact with a metal shield was loud and audible. In addition to that, there were sounds of swords clashing that echoed up the stairway to Loganel's ears.

"Let's go!" Loganel said to Azura, hastening his pace as he descended the stairs.

Soon, Loganel could see the light at the end of the tunnel. Him and Azura emerged from the stairway and was greeted by the brightest floor they had been in. Large crystals that were of a different color as all the other crystals illuminated the floor with a warm orange light that resembled the sun. With the bright illumination, the layout of the last floor was easily visible. All that there was on this floor was a large open area that led up to what appears to be a circular coliseum. In that open space before the coliseum was where the fierce battle took place. The great grey wolf was surrounded by some knights and adventurers, and around them were a large scale battle between the other members of the expedition team and a large horde of armored Skeleton Warriors where the expedition team was severely outnumbered.

"They're over there!" Azura pointed over to where Tetsuya and the others were battling the Skeleton Warriors.

Loganel surveyed the battlefield and drew his sword. "Stay close," he said to Azura. "I'll get you close to them."

"What about you?" Azura questioned as she looked at Loganel with a concerned look.

"That wolf is mine," Loganel muttered, breathing deeply. "Let's go!" Loganel leaped down onto the battlefield from the stairway, giving Azura no time to object, and forced her to follow him.

Loganel didn't look back from there. Instead, he grabbed hold of Azura by her wrist, leading her on the safest way of passage that he could find. With his sword in hand, he swung at whatever Skeleton Warrior that dared to approach him. He used his blade's special ability to carve out a temporary open path in the not so distant area before him in the direction of Tetsuya and the others.

"Right!"

Loganel heard Azura's voice call out, and he glanced right from the corner of his eye just in time to see an incoming blade that was on path for his neck. Loganel immediately brought his sword over to parry the blow, and just when the Skeleton Warriors blade glanced off his, he saw the familiar rapier pierce the Undead's skull, causing it to shatter.

"Thanks," he said to Azura without stopping in his tracks.

Almost there. Don't stop! Loganel thought as he breathed deeply for oxygen. His lungs burned as his oxygen intake was overtaken by his body's usage and his legs felt like rubber from the prolonged sprint. Don't stop. If I stop now then we'll be overran by these Skeletons and get trapped. Don't stop. Keep going. Ignore these lungs that feels as if pierced by thousands of needles. Ignore these cries of agony from your legs from over exertion. Just keep going.

"Tetsuya!" Loganel called out.

"That voice," Tetsuya knocked the Skeleton Warrior he was facing to the ground and looked over. "Loganel?! Azura!"

"You're still alive!" Juliana said with joyful tears forming in her eyes.

With an overhead cut, Loganel was able to knock down a Skeleton Warrior, causing it to separate into a pile of bones temporarily. He then let go of Azura's wrist. "I'll go help them out with the wolf!"

"That's too dangerous!" Juliana objected, but Loganel wasn't willing to listen.

"Wait!" Azura grabbed onto Loganel's sleeve, causing him to look back at her. "...be safe."

"Of course," Loganel smiled, and then, he ran off in the direction of the main battle between the great grey wolf and the skilled knights and adventurers.

"Alright everyone!" Tetsuya shouted out loud for all to hear. His voice was deprived of the same gloom from before. "We've came this far already. We're all gonna get outta here alive!"

"Marsha!" Loganel called out to the familiar figure he saw among the knights battling the wolf.

"Loganel?" Marsha stared at him with a look of joyful disbelief. "Get away!" Her facial expression immediately hardened. "This beast is dangerous!"

"I know!" Loganel shouted as he dodged the powerful hind leg sweep of the beast. "But I wanna help!"

"Do as you wish then," Marsha sighed. "But just know I won't be able to take care of you during it all." Marsha raised her blade into a high stance with the blade of her sword pointing forward next to her face. "Crimson Rose!"

Suddenly, red flowers began to form out of thin air and gathered around Marsha's blade, circling the length of the blade but never making contact. Marsha then rushed towards the wolf and slashed at it. However, the wolf, sensing a sudden danger approaching him at a rapid speed, leaped to the side and dodged the attack. As her slash hit nothing by air, red rose petals formed in the path of her blade and slowly drifted towards the ground as if they were red snow.

Marsha appeared unfazed by her attack missing, for she delivered a slash once again with her blade, although from a far away distance. As her blade mad an arc through the air, this time, rose petals flew towards the direction that she had delivered the cut in and headed straight towards the wolf, similar to how Loganel's blade could fling out stored Mana in a blast wave.

Her style of fighting is so similar to mine, Loganel thought as he observed.

The wolf dodged to the side once again, crushing a knight that was unable to get out of its path. However, the wolf was unable to dodge the entirety of the rapid moving rose petals, allowing some to hit him. Where the rose petals made contact with the wolf, a bright crimson fire erupted, burning the wolf's fur and the skin underneath, and caused the creature to roll around on the ground in a desperate attempt to put out the fire before it spreads.

Seeing an opportunity while the wolf was down, Loganel charged up his blade with fire elemental Mana and flung the blast of Mana at the wolf similar to the rose petals that Marsha had directed at the creature. His Mana blast wave was a direct hit, and caused a milder burn when compared to Marsha's attack.

Loganel was surprised by how fast the wolf had recovered. It immediately got up after putting out the fire on its fur that Marsha's roses had caused it earlier. It ignored the burns and immediately began clearing its surroundings of the knights and adventurers that were still gathered near it, hacking at its heavy fur that protected its body. With a powerful swipe of its tail, numerous knights and adventurers were knocked away from it and landed among the crowds of Skeleton Warriors.

"You guys take care of those Undead!" Marsha shouted with an authoritative voice to the rest of the knights and adventurers who were also in on the fight against the wolf. "Don't let those Undeads disrupt us! Loganel, you're with me. Get closer to me."

"Got it," Loganel nodded as he stepped closer to Marsha. However, when he arrived near the rose petals that spun in a whirlwind around Marsha, he hesitated, fearing that the rose petals would burn him as well.

"Don't worry," Marsha smiled, sensing his dilemma. "I won't burn you."

"You have control over every single petal?" Loganel looked at her in surprise.

"Only those near me though," Marsha responded. "Not those that lie on the ground."

"So this is why they call you the Flora." Loganel stood beside Marsha as the two of them eyed the wolf, who in return, glared back at them.

"Let's end this here," Marsha said, bringing her blade to her side in a ready stance.

"Yeah," Loganl responded.

Author's Note:

Life After Reincarnation.

Thank you guys for reading. Please comment what you think and vote if you've enjoyed. I really appreciate the support. Also, add this book to a reading list if you haven't already and hit me up with a follow for updates.

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