Michael punched the last creature that tried escaping into the ground; all of the 'Lesser-Puppies' bodies dissolved with complete unity as Zylus's group cleared out the side mission.
"All done now, let's continue," Michael said.
How did he get here so fast? He's faster than I; I didn't even sense his movements until the end. But I could've sworn I tripped him, could I have been predicted? Whatever…
Zylus cut out those questions in his mind; he was the leader, so he couldn't afford to make any mistakes, because he was the key to finishing the quest.
At this point, it became clearer than before that Michael is someone Zylus can truly rely on.
They all looked at the Leader, expecting a say in the matter, whether to continue or wait…
"Let's go." Zylus said, stepping to the front of the group, "The path leads just up ahead, so we'll follow it." He pointed at long, stable torches that surrounded the area they would now follow.
After every step, they made sure to stick together. Zenos stayed in the back, just in case something sudden started rushing. Zylus stayed in the front, detecting each error, and the rest stayed on the left or right side. Either way, everyone in the group had a role, and if it wasn't fulfilled, it would lead to danger.
"When are we going to get somewhere?" Frey asked, taking a picture of one of the torches.
"Soon, I could feel it." Zylus responded, a drop of sweat flowed down his forehead, "Just up ahead, something's going on."
Step. Step. Step.
Creak!
"Ahhh!" Emilia screamed fearfully.
They all looked at her awkwardly. "It was just a small stone that fell from my hand," Zylus said.
Emilia looked away embarrassingly, "Utter nonsense! I'm just worried about you guys! Yeah, that's all!"
The group all giggled, "Of course you did." Zylus said. "Anyways, no stopping now, come on."
The route didn't change; it had a permanent layout from the one they first entered earlier.
[Arrived: The Door That Creates]
Weird name…
"Here we are," Zylus said, "Finally."
The group now stood in front of a large, towering door that reached to the top of the dungeon roof. It was ten feet wide and had a dark metal coating with gold strips circling it.
[Item Equipped: Key of Tears]
[Use This To Open The Gate]
"How are we going to go in?" Emilia asked.
"Here," Zylus pointed at a key that appeared in his right palm, "With this big metal thing."
Clack!
Twist!
Zylus inserted the key into the door's keyhole, twisting it sideways, right after that, followed by a large, satisfying clicking noise. The door slowly opened, pushing itself forward, no force required from the rest.
"So let's go in," a nervous tingle hit Zylus, "We gotta complete it after all," He said.
Each step they took forward cleared the view of what they were starting to enter.
[Welcome: Tears & Sorrow]
The area they had just walked into had a modern look, with smooth stone carved inside the ground and the walls, as blackstone covered the roof above them. The place itself was ten stories high and extremely wide; a couple of soccer fields could fit in here, for sure.
"How about that chest over there? Should we go and claim it?" Zenos asked, while the group continued to move forward with extreme caution.
"Nah, seems suspicious," Zylus replied. "Let's just wait it out here for now; that blue flame in the middle is trippy."
"How about that waterfall at the very back? How did they design it like this here?" Frey asked, taking a picture.
"I don't know, but something's definitely up," Michael replied, pulling the dagger Zylus gave him back then out now.
Looks like my tools came in handy for once, maybe my life isn't so bad…
[Maximizing Difficulty]
[Rank: High C-Rank]
[Opponent: Tears of Sorrow]
[Waiting for appearance…]
The chest in front of them began opening, as a glowy white light shined throughout it. The water now poured more harshly than before into a fountain that seemed endless. No water spilled outside of it, but it was always at the tip, a function clearly designed with purpose.
"Hello! Dungeon boss! Where are you?!" Zylus screamed out, looking in all directions.
Bam!
[Creating Threat: Lesser-Dragon]
"No way," Zylus worried upon seeing his system, "Why do we have to deal with this?!"
"No point in worrying about it, leader, tell us our roles." Emilia quickly jumped into a fighting stance upon seeing the Lesser-Dragon.
Zylus thought for a quick second, "Just do what you're best at, kill that beast." He commanded, as everyone smiled.
"Copy that."
Now, through their systems, weapons started to appear, except for Michael, as he didn't have one…
Emilia's Weapon: Dark Rapier
Zenos's Weapon: Brass Knuckles Within The Abyss
Frey's Weapon: The Camera That Captures
Michael's Weapon: The Hidden Atrocity
Zylus's Weapon: Demonic Katana
Each of their weapons were imbedded with dark matter, ready to take on the huge giant beast that stood before them. The red dragon had wings, but couldn't fly in this area, and even if he did, Zylus would be able to use his technique to get above him, causing a fatal blow.
They felt confident, ready to defeat that monstrous creature.
The dragon pulled himself high, opening his large green eyes, which then-
Boom!
A huge fireball exploded from his mouth and onto the ground, but the ground withstood the hit; it was like a barrier encompassed it. One that was resistant to the beast's attacks.
They all started running. Zylus stayed in the middle, reading the dragon's moves, and the others circled the dragon from around, confusing it.
"He's mine!" Zenos yelled, stretching his right arm back as he reached the dragon's large, scaled tail, "I got him!"
Bang!
But they weren't done just yet. Emilia jumped into the sky like a beautiful ballerina, piercing her sharp, skinny sword into the dragon's core.
Screech!
Frey stayed slightly behind with Zylus because she wasn't used to this type of combat, but she had something else to work with... Frey's truthfully able to blind her opponent.
"Go get him!" Frey yelled, taking a picture of the dragon through her lens.
Michael jumped in the front, swiping his dagger all the way across the dragon's scales.
The creature let out a large, suffering yell, one that a mother protecting her newborn son would make.