[Your Guildmate, Crow has Died!]
Every member of Nature's Vanguard received this shocking message at the same time. Crow, their reliable assassin had actually died here. It was such an unbelievable sight that most did not know how to react.
Within one of the channels, a rapidly panting Storm bit her bloodied lips as she glared at a young vampire with crow-like black, beady eyes. Her armor was corroded and broken in many places, revealing burn-like injuries that were struggling to heal.
The vampire gently smiled as he released the desiccated husk that was once Crow. The corpse struck the ground, and then crumpled to dust, leaving nothing but its armor and weapons behind.
The vampire, Duke Castor von Dran, licked his ruby-red lips as he turned to look at Storm. "Hehe, you two must have been close. I have not borne witness to such a noble display of heroic sacrifice in my many centuries. Alas, his efforts will be for naught."
Duke Dran gently raised his finger, and countless blood bats rose from the ground.
Storm warily observed the countless blood bats that had surrounded her in mere moments. However, instead of panicking, she stood her ground and exploded with defying aura. Thick layers of ki hardened her skin, giving it a metallic luster as she activated [Hardening]. This move slowed her down, but it largely boosted her defense.
Duke Dran flicked his fingers, and the blood bats crashed down. Dozens of blood bats exploded before they could reach Storm, as they smashed against a condensed ki-shield. Unfortunately, the ki-shield did not last long under the endless bombardment. Duke Dran's blood reserves was immeasurable, as he drew from the dozens of demons and devils that Storm and Crow killed on their way through the channel. A vampire's blood arts was strongest when facing multiple foes!
Storm groaned as the blood bats crashed into her after breaking through her ki-shield. Within seconds, smoke sizzled as the bats' corrosive blood ate through her armor. Storm desperately did her best to expel the blood with her ki, but there were just too many. As soon as she expelled a pint, several liters of blood splashed back.
After a few moments, the blood even began to melt through her hardened skin. Storm did her best to charge at Duke Dran, but he nimbly laughed and flitted just out of reach while maintaining the bombardment.
'Will I die here?' Storm was no fool. She could tell how this would end if it continued like this. It wasn't that the Duke was stronger than her. In a one vs. one, she would've definitely won nine out of ten times – with the outlier only accounting for divine intervention. Unfortunately, she fell for the stage's trap and provided a vampire with countless fuel for his blood arts.
Faced with her impending doom, Storm only had one thought. 'I must inform Sonic after this. We must isolate the Maggots' Syèl before fighting him.'
"Ugh." Eventually, Storm predictably fell to one knee. Her cracked armor crumbled to the ground as the little that remained of her tower shield slid of her limp hand. Pus and blood leaked from several corroded parts of her body, but the proud warrior's areas remained bright and defiant. She fixed Duke Dran with a terrible glare as she promised, "Don't celebrate too soon. You'll soon die, anyway."
"I shall perish?" Duke Dran chuckled sarcastically, obviously not taking her serious. Right now, he was far too powerful. Nothing could so much as touch hi—
"Hm?" Duke Dran blinked in confusion as he suddenly found himself staring at the jagged, rocky ceiling. "What in the—" The duke's confusion only increased when the world began to spin around him. His eyes widened in shock when he spotted a blue kafu standing next to his headless corpse.
Duke Dran instantly understood he had been beheaded. He did not even sense the kafu's presence beforehand, and only now did a sonic boom erupt in his ears as the sound finally caught up.
Duke Dran was not overly worried, however. Unlike the weakened Duke Balthazar, he was full of blood energy. He instantly summoned his bats to surround and melt the kafu to a pile of goo! The wasted blood was a pity, but Duke Dran would not permit such a dangerous enemy a tiny chance.
Unfortunately, contrary to expectations, the blood bats advanced like snails on glue.
Duke Dran's eyes widened in fear as the kafu turned and issued a lackadaisical smile. "You!"
"Sleep." Sonic nonchalantly crushed the duke's skull, and then incinerated it for good measure. "Ugh." Sonic groaned as he brushed a trickle of blood from his nose. "It's still tiring to use it for so long." He then took out some potions and knelt down in front of Storm. "You did well to hang in there. We underestimated the floor's difficulty."
Storm gratefully accepted and then drank the numerous detoxifying and healing potions. Only then did she have enough energy to open her menu and swap out her equipment. As she got changed, she looked at Sonic with guilt in her eyes. "Sonic. Crow, he—"
"He probably sacrificed himself to save you, right?" Sonic sighed as he thought of the annoying assassin. By now he was probably cursing in his room while waiting out the thirty-minute death penalty.
"Mm." Storm nodded. Most girls in their guild didn't like Crow because he was often crass and wildly inappropriate. The only reason they hadn't kicked him out was because he never crossed the line and touched anyone, but Crow's personality made most people avoid him like the plague.
However, only Storm, and to an extent, Sonic, knew that the edgelord personality Crow exuded was a shell he created to mask his many deeply-buried insecurities.
"Heh. Thought as much." Sonic sighed as he chewed on a thistle. This was not the first time Crow did something drastic to protect his team. Even a blind man could see he was just a child desperately seeking approval. "Seems like I owe him again."
Sonic then helped Storm to her feet. "We need to get back. I already sent a message, ordering everyone to retreat to the starting area. We need to wipe out the vampires together."
Storm nodded. Indeed, things would go much smoother if she had damage dealers supporting her.
After checking once again to ensure Storm was truly alright, they returned through their channel, headed for the entrance. Similar scenes played out in the nearby channels as both Nature's Vanguard and Silver Spear's forces retreated after facing the empowered vampires.
One channel was different, however. It seemed like a forest of vines had appeared out of nowhere. Several red buds bloomed on these vines, filling the channel with an eerie beauty. Even stranger, however, was that there were no signs of life throughout the channel. Not even corpses remained.
It was no different in the final platform where pieces of a broken dungeon core laid on the ground. A single tree with red leaves stood at the center of the platform, it's branches pulsating like a beating heart.
A smiling Brilith walked out of the channel just as Sonic shot out with Storm. She took a look at the kafu, and instantly knew he had also figured out the floor's hidden dangers. Shortly afterward, both guildmembers ran out of their channels wearing ugly expressions. Unlike Sonic and Zuri, they slaughtered the demons while passing through the channels, gifting the vampires enormous power and endless vitality.
Fortunately, Briltih and Sonic's warning came before they encountered the vampires, so they avoided an unfair fight.
However, who said the rejuvenated vampires would just let things go? They needed to slaughter ALL life on the floor to regain their freedom. Also, they could not risk the invaders grouping up before returning to attack them individually. So, the vampires rapidly destroyed the surviving demons and chased after the escaping warriors.
So, three immaculately dressed vampire dukes and two duchesses emerged from the channels with complacent grins as they regarded the tightly packed warriors.
Sonic frowned as he regarded the vampires. With his unique skill, he could take down at least two or three with ease, but he was not certain he could while protecting his guildmates. He glanced at the flames burning around the platform. This was a small battle zone. Anyone that fell into those flames would definitely turn to ash on contact!
Sonic hesitated, and then glanced at the only escape route: the still open portal connected to the Death Floor. Should he send his team there, while they fought?
'I would not do that if I were you.'
Sonic and Brilith's eyes trembled when Sayen and the Holy Mother's voices rang in their minds. Then their expressions turned ugly when they received a warning.
'Those who turn back lose their qualifications to climb.'
It was a simple phrase with massive ramifications. By losing their qualifications to climb, it simply meant that anyone who turned back would not be allowed to retake the portal to a higher floor.
Sonic recalled how the portal to the outside world disappeared once they entered the Death Floor. If Oni hell maintained that convention, that meant this portal was meant to have disappeared when they crossed to this floor. The only reason it remained open was because someone was still middling about on the Death Floor.
'It's probably that barbarian kid.' Sonic remembered that he did not see Hektor climb with the rest of Kashi's party. 'That doesn't matter though.' Whatever Hektor was up to down there wasn't important.
The crux of the matter was that Oni Hill's closing portal system was designed so that any invaders had to keep advancing if they wanted to leave. Their only alternatives were to either die or live out the rest of their lives on a floor.
However, loopholes existed where someone remained behind on a lower floor while the others ascended. What happened if people fled through these portals to escape danger? Simple. Oni Hill prevented them from accessing the portal to once again ascend.
In essence, anyone who descended was doomed to spend the rest of their lives trapped on the lower floor unless Oni Hill's master showed mercy.
Right now, who was Oni Hill's master? That's right: no one. Oni Hill was masterless, so any invader that flouted the retreat policy was automatically trapped for life.
Sonic trembled as he clenched his fist and gazed at the ceiling as if he could see the daeben queen seated on the summit. Was this all a coincidence, or did she plan this far ahead?
First, she separated the strongest elites, and then forced them to enter Oni Hill. Queen Alia most likely expected them to fail and get trapped. Hence she wouldn't even need to lift a finger to eliminate her greatest threat.
"Tsk." Sonic clucked his tongue as he furiously chewed on a thistle. "It's always annoying when the enemy has home field advantage."
Trapping his team on the lower floors was not an option, even for their safety. The seven deadly sins floors increased the true boss' power relative to the number of invaders. He needed them to destroy the doppelgangers or else the boss would be unbeatable.
Instead of getting trapped, it was better for them to die. At least, that way, the number of doppelgangers would decrease.
"I can see how furiously you are trying to think your way out of this situation." One of the vampire dukes chuckled as he sneered at Sonic. "Just give up. There's nothing you can do."
Sonic frowned and looked at Brilith. They then glanced at their teammates who brandished their weapons with determined gazes.
Both teams came to a quick understanding. They would fight with all they had. At the very least they would not hold Sonic and Brilith back even at the cost of their lives.
The vampires sensed the warriors' battle intent and subtly spread out as they prepared their different blood arts.
Tutututtututututu~
Suddenly, the battlefield tensed as a strange sound like chipping rocks filled the air. The vampires and warriors stared in shock as a four-meter tall black spider climbed up the edge of a portion of the platform that happened to be smack dab in the center of the vampire's formations.
Sonic and Brilith's brows furrowed, wondering if this was yet another fierce enemy. Fortunately, however, the spider seemed to possess no hostility as it simply stood in place after climbing onto the platform.
Forget hostility, the strange spider did not seem to contain a hint of life!
"Ugh, we're finally out of those hot flames." Every soul present turned to look at the lifeform that stood up from within a tutsi bowl on the spider's back.
The strange creature was soot-black, but rather than the expected daeben skin, it had thin dragon plates all over its body. A pair of red eyes with slitted pupils burned in a familiar face that appeared more angular and dignified. Two black, curved dragon horns with blue and red interwoven markings protruded from either side of the man's skull.
The unfamiliar, yet familiar man brushed off a clump of white flames from his chest (the very flames that would turn anyone here to ash), and then grinned as he looked from the vampires at his left and right to Sonic and Brilith.
Facing the numerous shocked and terrified expressions, Kashi nonchalantly raised his arm and said the first thing that came to mind, "Hello there."