While in the depths the darkness devoured hope, on the surface the guild was also moving, searching for answers. In the guild, in the office of the straight black-haired elf chief, he is sitting with papers in hand. At that moment, another elf enters hurriedly.
"Lord Glorfindel, the group sent to see what happened in the dungeon has returned."
Glorfindel looks directly at the elf.
"And what has happened there?"
"Well, they told me that the dungeon seems to be sealed with giant stones, but they are covered in Aetherian. It's almost impossible to enter with that tremendous power."
"It's obvious that it has to do with the demon fragment that is there. Imagine that just one piece of the stone has that much power to protect an entire dungeon."
"Of course, Lord Glorfindel, so what will we do?"
For a moment, he sets the papers down on the table and crosses his arms, deep in thought.
"We will have to continue investigating how to get in. The groups that are trapped have been there for several days, they cannot survive much longer."
"I understand, they must be having a terrible time," the other elf whispers, his voice trembling.
"Send the most powerful ones we have and the professors, maybe they will find a way to enter."
"Alright, I will call them immediately. With your permission, I will retire."
Glorfindel nods his head and the elf leaves the office. Glorfindel gripped the edge of his desk tightly, the weight of the lives trapped in the dungeon seemed to pierce his chest.
At the same time, in the depths of the dungeon, the protagonist group watched in horror as another team of five adventurers had just cold-bloodedly murdered a different group.
The assassins were still wiping the blood from their knives when they noticed their presence.
Aaron, Safira, and Freya see the horrible scene; the smell of blood was unbearable and soaked the entire filthy floor of the dungeon, a scene of absolute horror movie. The silence was unbearable. Only the dripping of blood mixed with the heavy sighs of the assassins could be heard.
"Gods..." Freya whispered, her voice trembling.
Aaron felt the guilt that had been consuming him since Porco's death return, heavier, more alive.
One of the assassins lifted his head.
"Huh?"
The pale one's white eyes fixed on the siblings' group.
"We'll have to kill these ones too, or they'll kick us out of the guild," he said, his voice icy.
His team, three of his same species and a Cyclops, rushed toward the siblings and the elf, ready to attack.
"Wait! Why are you doing this?" Safira shouted, dodging the Cyclops' first blow.
"You saw something you shouldn't have, I'm sorry for you," shouts the pale one, who remains slightly distant, supporting his team.
Meanwhile, Freya is close to Aaron defending him as he is still weak. Freya fires Aetherian at the pale ones; they dodge with some ease, and with their magic-charged fists, they manage to hit Freya in the stomach; she doubles over and they punch her in the face again and she falls to the ground.
"Freya!" Aaron, who was behind Freya, sees this and charges his only usable hand with Aetherian and manages to hit the three pale ones in the face.
They also fall to the ground. Aaron's blow shook the brains of the three; he has a lot of Aetherian since he hasn't used it as much as his group.
"Freya, are you okay?" Aaron lifts Freya up.
"Yes, thanks Aaron," she struggles to get up.
Meanwhile, Safira continues fighting with the rival team's mage, trying to get closer, but the pale one's magic blasts prevent her from doing so.
"Hey, listen, this fight is stupid, we won't say anything!" Safira continues to dodge the pale mage's attacks.
"I don't believe a word of it, humans like you are liars," the mage constantly keeps launching magic blasts, without stopping for a single moment.
"He's clearly desperate, he's wasting a lot of Aetherian, I'll just dodge until he gets tired," Safira says in her mind, now focusing not on approaching him, but on dodging until she is close enough.
Elsewhere, Aaron lifts Freya. Aaron feels a sharp pang in his useless arm; he loses his balance slightly, dizzy from the poisoning in his arm.
"Aaron, don't use your magic so much, the poison reacts to it."
"I had to, Freya, or they would massacre you," he says, laughing as he regains his composure.
The three pale warriors also get up from the ground and head towards the elf and the young man again.
"Aaron, stay behind me, I'll see if I can activate my ghosts," Freya concentrates to summon her ghosts, but clearly she won't have time to succeed.
The three warriors come at full speed. Aaron looks around, looks at the ground, and notices that it is a dirt floor. Aaron grabs a handful.
"Move, Freya!"
"Huhhh?!" Freya turns to look.
Aaron pushes Freya aside, and throws the dirt directly into the types' white eyes; they put their hands on their faces, writhing in pain.
"Let's help Safira!" Aaron grabs Freya's arm.
The other mage continues with the constant attacks; Safira maintains the same dodging tactic.
"When is this guy going to run out of energy?" Safira says, now more stressed.
The humanoid remains focused on Safira. He doesn't even realize when Aaron gets close to him and throws another large handful of dirt into his sensitive eyes. He falls to the ground and screams in pain.
"Aaaaaah, damn you!" he shouts with a high-pitched voice.
"Safira, let's run!" Aaron shouts, running alongside Freya.
"Good, I didn't want to kill humans," Safira runs with them, leaving the rival group behind.
Meanwhile, outside the dungeon, several professors are analyzing the dungeon in detail.
"Yes, this is almost impossible to open," Rowan reports.
"There must be another way to open the dungeon," a goblin human tells him, green in color and of average person size.
"I don't know, Pilar, this dungeon is covered in incredible magic," Rowan replies.
"What could have happened for the fragment to activate?" Pilar asks him.
"It must be a defense system; it sensed when the groups entered and it activated."
"I see..." Pilar looks at the dungeon thoughtfully.
"So, what will we do, Professor Rowan?" a feline girl yells at him.
"The only option is for you to use everything you have, maybe we can open it that way."
"That sounds great!" the feline girl shouts, blushing.
"Well, give it your all," Rowan says.
Everyone there prepares and begins to attack the dungeon entrance at point-blank range. They continue and continue; the area turns into a massacre, the attacks are truly powerful, even shaking the ground, destroying trees, grass, and raising a lot of dust. When they stop attacking and the dust clears, they see how the entrance is still intact, with slight scratches.
"This will take us an eternity," Rowan makes a disappointed face.
At that very moment, the siblings' group continues running while the rival group pursues them from afar.
"Damn it, I can't run anymore!" Aaron breathes heavily and quickly, falling further behind the girls.
"Come on, Aaron, hang in there!" Freya grabs Aaron's arm and pulls him.
They manage to see another room and enter it.
"I hope there are no creatures here," Safira says as she looks out through the room's exit.
"Let's hope they don't find us," Freya says, her body trembling slightly with fear.
Aaron notices how the small monster he had given his piece of meat to is in the darkness of the place; it is behind a giant door. He realizes that this little animal is signaling for him to approach.
"Girls! There's a giant door there, let's go in!" Aaron points to the door and heads towards it.
"If we stay here, they'll find us, let's go, Freya," Safira runs towards the door.
When they enter, they encounter something completely different; it is as if it were another world. What they see leaves them completely frozen: they see trees, fresh air, birds flying across the clear sky, and with the bright light on the ground. A village with a castle is visible in the distance.
"Wow, what is this place!" Freya looks at the environment, taking a deep breath, filling her lungs with very fresh air.
"I don't know, but it makes me feel like I'm not in the dungeon," Safira replies, also appreciating the environment.
The monster child appears and hugs Aaron.
"Ah, hello kid, nice to see you again?" Aaron smiles nervously and touches the child's head.
"Get away, Aaron!" Safira grabs the child by the shirt.
"Safira, wait, he's not attacking me, he's hugging me!" Aaron grabs Safira's wrist and makes her let go of the creature.
"Why is he hugging you?" Freya asks, watching how the child doesn't let go of Aaron.
"Well, I found him around here and I gave him some of my meat," Aaron continues stroking the child, with noticeable happiness on his face.
"But what are you doing, Aaron? Don't you see he's a monster?" Safira says.
"This little one won't hurt you, don't be ridiculous."
The child still hasn't let go of Aaron. At that moment, other creatures just like the child appear; they realize they are there and quickly move toward them. They are carrying spears, knives, and metal armor.
"Damn it, there are so many of them!" Safira looks at them, frowning with fear, while Freya and Aaron remain silent, afraid of what will happen to them.