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"Wait."

When I moved, it was Freier who spoke up. I surprised myself by actually waiting for her to finish the rest of her sentence.

She seemed just as surprised as me, but recovered her composure relatively quickly. "What do you mean to do?"

"It could be someone we know." Kyrian answered in my stead. He also jumped to his feet.

"Or it could be an enemy. Or..." He trailed off, swallowed, then said, "...a monster." He gave a quiet shudder and went quiet afterwards.

I didn't need to be a genius to know what went flashing across his mind that made him shudder. The Imugi. I wouldn't be surprised if quite a few adventurers retired after this whole fiasco. It wasn't just him either. Both Kyrian and Freier paled at the mention of the word 'monster'.

"We move." I said without discussing it and pointed to the barely-wide crevice for Jourgan to squeeze through. "Go."

His face turned a shade of gray, "Please. No."

I took a step towards him.

"Please, man." Jourgan's voice changed a little, less gruff. "Please. I… I didn't touch your people. I swear. Please, I have claustrophobia. And that monster from before, I just… I can't. Please. Please don't make me do this. I'm begging you."

More… human. More Earthling human. The words he used, the expression on his face, everything on it reminded me of home. Of who he was, who he had been before this whole MSS fiasco.

Just another guy playing videogames in his room. Just like me.

When I didn't respond right away, he got on his knees. "Please. I'm from earth, just like you. I, I'm from Washington, dude. I'm twenty-five and I–" He began rubbing his hands together.

"Shut the fuck up and get in there." I grabbed him by the collar, pulled him up to his feet and shoved him towards the small crevice.

He turned around and fell to his knees. The pale elf clutched at my ankles. "Please, please, please, please, please. I just joined the Guild to survive, I didn't know shit-all about anything. I, I was starving for the first couple of months and then these guys approached me and, I just, please!" He continued blabbering, "My real name is Phillip. My parents–"

Maybe before all this, his sob story would have shaken me. A plea of who I once was.

But that was the me from a long time ago.

Lock Slaveborn wouldn't care about this man's story. Lock Slaveborn's goal right now was finding his party members.

And there's nothing more pathetic than a grown man crying, especially if he was a murderer.

I drew my sword and pointed it towards him. "Choose. Over there," I gestured with my chin towards the tiny crevice then at my sword. "Or this."

His eyes widened at the sword. There were tears streaming down from his face, mixing with the snot and spittle. Jourgan looked at me. Then at Freier.

The mysterious elf nodded. "...I'll be right behind you, Jourgan." A touch of pity touched the elf's voice.

"O-ok." He wiped his eyes on his sleeve and turned around.

Freier was staring at me with unreadable eyes. "You are a cruel man."

"You're next." I snarled, gesturing with my sword.

Without another word, she went into the crevice right after Jourgan. Kyrian was next, hurrying to enter and I brought up the rear.

Once inside, Jourgan wordlessly used his [Ghost Chameleon] core to mask our presence. The four of us began to transverse the narrow tunnel, trying to follow the sound of the scream.

"Whoever it was," Kyrian said after a few minutes of walking, "They're not screaming anymore."

"Doesn't matter." I urged, "It's the first clue we got to where the others are. We're going."

The tunnels were so narrow that I kept scraping my shoulder against them. Even Kyrian, with his smaller frame, had a hard time finding the proper footing. The floor was V-shaped, so that our ankles were constantly bending with tension. The Core might make my body stronger and better at balancing, but discomfort was still a factor. I rapidly found myself growing annoyed.

I wanted to hurry up. I knew that the more time passed, the greater the chance that my missing party members faced some danger they couldn't handle.

Just what the fuck was the point of having all these powerful Cores if I couldn't protect those I wanted to keep by my side?

It took us about half-an-hour to emerge from the narrow crevice and into another room. This time, the walls were shaved down flat into a perfect rectangular chamber. It was also more than large enough to have all of us stand around with room to spare for others. On each wall was a hole or a crack, just large enough for other people to enter.

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

In the center of the room was a stalagmite.

And pierced on the stalagmite was a body. A body that I recognized.

An orange-haired girl with pigtails.

The Mage from Borealis' party. A bastard from the Akka Xaluds.

She'd been stripped naked and punctured on the stalagmite like a piece of meat. Blood dripped from her corpse, pooling at the base. Her body was stained with scarlet, giving her a false sense of modesty. My eyes, perfectly designed to see in the dark, saw the bruises around her neck.

"Oh Light," Kyrian swore softly. "She's the mage from Borealis' party."

"W-What did this to her?" Jourgan said, panicked.

I moved past him, approaching the stalagmite.

"Lock, careful." Kyrian warned.

The smell of blood is always a sickening thing. It might have something to do with my Cores. My heart starts racing and there's a noticeably quickening of my heartbeat, my breathing coming in little rough bursts. Like I'm ready to run.

I bent down and touched the blood, bringing it to my nose. It was real.

"What are you doing?" Freier asked.

"It could be an illusion." I answered.

"An illusion?" The mysterious priestess seemed confused.

For everyone's benefit, I explained. "Square room with enough space for multiple people to be in comfortably. Not like the other alcove which barely had enough room for us. A stalagmite set up in the middle of the room and a corpse…"

"I don't understand." Jourgan muttered.

It was Freier who picked up on what I was trying to get at. "This room, there's a mechanism in it."

My opinion of Freier rose quite a bit.

I nodded, "Don't forget. This spire we're in, it's a dungeon. There's bound to be trap rooms or puzzle rooms. Even those with events."

And where there was events, traps, and puzzles, there were items.

Items that could prove useful in finding my party.

The spire was huge. Without a real [Pioneer] or [Wayfinder], I could search for days and not meet them. I needed Stole and I needed her badly. The next best thing was a [Hidden Piece] that I could get from the Spire itself. Something to help ease the confusion of meandering around this dungeon.

I debated taking the body off and shook my head. I turned to the others. "We need to check the walls."

"Understood." Freier immediately got to work, running her hands on the walls. Jourgan followed, never straying too far from the priestess.

Kyrian went over to the opposite walls, using his staff to knock on places.

"I don't get what it is we're supposed to look for." Jourgan complained later. The man had turned completely useless, child-like even.

"Anything. A hollow place. A switch. A box. Something invisible. Anything at all." I explained, still fixated on the stalagmite.

This room definitely had something. There were multiple things I had to figure out.

One. Who killed the Akka Xalud Mage and why?

Two. She screamed. Was it from her?

Three. If it was… a Mage could make a fuss. But there were no burn marks, no hint of magic. What killed her and if it did, how powerful was it?

Four. Did others hear the scream? Would they come over to investigate?

Personally, I was waiting on number four. If people were coming, I was hoping to meet them and add them to my forces. I could either forcefully conscript them like Freier and Jourgan, or meet someone from the expedition.

I knocked on the stalagmite. I tapped on it with my sword, trying to activate whatever secret it held.

Then there were footsteps.

"People are coming." I took [Snow Scream] out of its scabbard.

Freier, Jourgan, and Kyrian stood behind me. Jourgan with his bow and Kyrian with his staff. Freier took out an effigy, a necklace in the shape of a woman. The woman in question was bound at her wrist, blindfolded and gagged with thorned wings wrapped all around her body.

A [Cleric] exclusive item meant only for Priestesses of the Nine: [Necklace of Despair].

A priestess specializing in Curses and debuffs. Of course.

The [Mount] plus the Necklace, another quest exclusive item… this girl was no run-of-the-mill Priestess. She'd give Cecilia a run for her money. I could see why Delas chose to bring her along on this quest.

One of the crevices darkened and the newcomers exited.

Borealis Vetilius.

"Borealis." I lowered my sword. "You're alive."

"Slaveborn." Borealis' huge frame could barely fit through the thin cracks. "Good to–" He froze.

I stopped too, following his gaze.

I cursed.

Behind me stood Freier and Jourgan. Known party-members of Delas.

Not only that, the mage from Borealis' party was on the spire.

Shit.

"Borealis, wait."

Borealis raised his shield. "To arms."

Two people piled out from behind him.

Dorocian Kojisan, the Kojisa bastard I once fought in the colosseum. She came out, her eyes widened, taking in the scenery and she too, brought out her weapons. She was followed by Dawn Ventilius, the beautiful ashen-haired fencer.

"Borealis, I can explain."

"Slaveborn." His voice was calm and that's how I knew that violence was on the horizon. But there was room to explain, Borealis wasn't like the others. The Borealis I knew was logical and willing to see reason. "You have a minute."

"We just got here ourselves. The room was like this already." I pointed at the blood. "Someone got to her before we did."

Borealis didn't answer. Then he nodded. "Fine. What about the two [Players] behind you, Slaveborn? They were part of Delas' party."

"Prisoners." I nodded. "I needed a Wayfinder and the woman is a Priestess."

He didn't seem swayed.

"You have to admit, Slaveborn," Dorocian commented darkly, "It's fucking suspicious."

Shit. Shit, shit, shit.

"...Where's Gurran?" Kyrian asked from behind me.

They didn't answer.

"...I see." Kyrian said.

There was only one reason they wouldn't answer.

Dead.

Gurran Turinan was dead.

I didn't know the Shielder well, but he had a quiet strength about him. I could have used him just now; he was the one with whom I negotiated for my Core way back.

"Borealis, please."

"Then lower your arms first." Borealis stuck out his jaw.

I made the sword disappear into my [Dimension Ring]. Kyrian did the same.

"They're Turinans!" Jourgan hissed, his bow wavering as much as his bow. "They'll kill us."

"If you want to live, lower your bow." I hissed.

Jourgan swallowed, then nodding, he lowered his bow.

Freier didn't let go of her effigy for a long time.

"Slaveborn." Borealis warned.

"Do it." I commanded.

Freier's eyes were full of hate, of loathing, directed not at me but towards the Turinans. But she too, finally lowered her eyes.

"Ok, Borealis." I turned to him, "your turn."

For a second, I saw the Vetilius hesitate.

Then he lowered his figure-eight-shield and the gladius. "Lower your arms."

Dorocian obeyed, but her eyes never left Freier and Jourgan. "I don't like this." She commented.

Dawn didn't say anything, just sheathing her rapier.

Another set of footsteps.

From another of the crevices came another person.

A person I didn't expect to see at all.

L'teya, daughter of Agda.

She came stumbling out, looking confused. Everyone raised their weapons on reflex.

"Slaveborn?" She said, looking at me.

Then every single entryway disappeared, sealed as if by magic.

"What the–" Dorocian started and then words appeared in the air, written in scarlet mana.

They floated above the Stalagmite. It was written in Common, and I could barely read it.

｢ The Autarch's Trial ｣

｢ Only the Worthy shall be granted Audience ｣

｢ Take a Life and You shall be deemed Worthy ｣

｢ 8 Lives, 4 Worthy, 4 Sacrifices ｣

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