[06:00, 23rd November, 2109.]

The group set out at daybreak, along a hidden path on the plains.

"We'll be at the factory soon."

The other travellers nodded in response to Saul, the only person who had been to the factory before was Saul. Apart from that, they walked on in silence. Saul seemed somewhat put off by that. An air of awkwardness hung between them. Lucifer, who was the cause of this situation, hid his guilt underneath his helmet.

Luna kept peeking at him, and it was annoying. However, this was all his fault, so he could not say anything about it.

This was the result of what he had said last night.

Saul apologized at breakfast, and Lucifer should have accepted the apology on the spot, but for some reason, he could not say a simple thing like "I forgive you."

Though he felt he was being petty, Lucifer could not simply let bygones be bygones.

"Because of this non-human body, my mind has changed as well, huh…"

After becoming a demon, his strong emotions would usually dissipate naturally, but the less intense ones did not vanish. The best proof for this was how long his mild anger lasted. Lucifer friends had a very important place in his heart. Though he cared deeply for them, he began to feel that it might not be good to let things go on like this.

However, he could not bring himself to take the first step in changing the mood.

It was because he could calmly deduce that the slight changes in his feelings — Like those of a petulant child — that he felt anger at his own immaturity.

The only one who stood out among the awkwardness was oxy.

He was so happy to not be bothered by Nomi that he was practically humming in delight.

The group advanced in silence, and they soon made it to the outskirts of an abandoned village.

"Ah, yes! It seems pretty wide here, so maybe we don't have to stay in a line as we move," Saul announced, seemingly with some other motive in mind.

A glance to the sides revealed stretches of dead forest around them, so the deliberate mention of being wide and open seemed somewhat suspicious. In addition, the point of being guards was that they could not lower their guard in an open area, so moving in a column like they were doing now was the wisest choice.

It was just that they all knew their silent advance in a line was not due to their mercenary sense of caution.

"…It's important to stay alert. So let's… mm. Let's get to the village first."

"you didn't tell me the factory was beyond a village."

Lucifer said to Saul.

"Oh. Right."

Saul responded, clearly having had completely forgotten the detail.

"I'm sorry. But don't worry, the village was abandoned long ago."

Lucifer remained quiet after being given that explanation, but that was hardly a comforting detail. If anything, it was actually very creepy. The village was abandoned, which meant nobody lived there, which meant there could be any number of creatures that had settled into the abandoned village. No-one said anything to contradict this thought.

"Indeed! We need to stay on guard at all times lest we get attacked!"

Nomi put on an as if! Expression in response to Saul and Aoi's statements.

"Maybe a Dragon might attack us from far away," Luna mumbled.

Saul immediately shot back:

"What kind of shitty plot development would that be? Logically speaking, how could such a thing happen, Luna?!"

"You're right, it's impossible. Dragons are just fictional."

In Hollow, Dragons were the strongest enemies one could encounter. They boasted great physical attack and defense power, boundless stamina and wielded numerous skills and spells.

They were in a class of their own.

There were countless monsters in Hollow. Among their number were all sorts of named monsters, and area monsters, as well as those super monsters called Server Enemies. Even a legion, composed of five parties of six men

Each with all being level 100, would not have much of a chance against these unimaginably powerful creatures.

There were many types of dragon's in hollow — wyverns, Chinese dragon's, drakes etc but the strongest type were the Elder Dragon's.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

The True dragon's.

It was a known fact in hollow that if one came across an True dragon alone, fleeing was your only option as it was impossible to fight and defeat one. But, once, Lucifer had defeated two at once and had barely come out with the skin of his teeth. Both of them were level 100's and at that time, Lucifer had been level 95.

"i remember Juviel-san scolding me for it.."

At that particular time, when he was fighting those two True dragons in that dungeon, he was also carrying a set of legendary rank gear for Juviel who had asked Lucifer to pick it up, and if he had died in that dungeon. Not only would his gear have been forever gone, all of juviel's would've been too.

Juviel would not have been able to forgive him if that had happened.

Not that he could avoid the situation entirely as there were certain places that simply harboured dangerous monsters. Such places would always have dangerous monsters or creatures lurking about, but in that instance he was just being reckless.

Thinking back on it, he wanted to hit has past self in the head.

Apart from the True Dragon's, there were the server bosses who were the strongest enemies in game and had a level cap of 110-120.

10-20 times the normal limit, which would've been impossible..no..nearly impossible for anyone else but they were specifically made to be the most challenging — Destroyer's of world's — that was a name befitting them.

If one were to look at them purely in terms of pure destructive powers and not consider them in isolation, it was almost impossible to defeat them and no single individual could defeat a Server-Boss alone.

Apart from the "Mage Eater," there were the "Dragon Emperor" the "Lord of sin's," the "Cyphus — King of the undying," as well as "The pursurer," and the "Sikimiel — unyielding chaos."

Though some were easier compared to the others, such as the "King of Greed — Belphegor." And the "Gorgon sisters — Stheno, Euryale & Medea," "King of destruction" or "Eternal Light," none of them could be considered a pushover.

"Have you seen that dragon in WFG — 4? Sato-san?"

Lucifer was not nearly thick skinned enough to nonchalantly ask a question of someone feuding with him, so he merely spoke in a low voice answering:

"No."

However, that was loud enough for everyone to hear, and Luna jerked her head back to look.

This was like a pair of quarrelling lovers looking for a chance to make up. Lucifer recalled a time when he had heard a pair of sweethearts talking in a coffee shop, and could not help but compare their words to his present situation.

That said, Luna's expression seemed a little brighter since it was Lucifer who made the first move. The Blood wolf's and Saul were all smiles as well. Only oxy remained unmoved. Come to think of it, the awkwardness in the air since this morning had hardly affected him.

"I'll look it up for you when we get back to the city, that good?!"

"Ah, no need to get so excited about it…i don't know and it's fine..."

However, he could not bring himself to utter those words.

"Mm, Luna-san. Could you help me find out, if time permits?"

"Understood."

The way everyone nodded with exaggerated satisfaction made Lucifer feel a little ashamed of himself. It might have been different if the situation was the other way around.

"All right, we're almost at the village now…"

This was the first cheerful thing which anyone had said since this morning, but Nomi clammed up almost immediately.

Everyone looked at the village before their eyes. It was a rustic hamlet at the edge of the forest. There was nothing strange or unusual about it.

The village was surrounded by overgrown fields from three directions. It was probably the sort of rural area one could find anywhere. The sight of a quaint and peaceful village normally should have been a bit reassuring, but the silence in the air was stifling. There was not a single sign of the village's inhabitants, not even a chicken or dog, and the only noise came from the wind, blowing through the village.

"What's wrong, Nomi-san? Is something the matter?"

"Ah, no, it's fine. Just… I don't recall it being in this bad of a condition..."

"Really? But it looks like a normal overgrown village to me plus the old wooden fences just help keep any mutants out."

"Hm — you might be right… but this area has the King of the Forest, so they've never put up a fence before…"

Everyone looked to the village. The village was surrounded by a fence as far

As they could see, and the fence was made of logs which were resilient to cutting but it looked long overgrown and the wood was rotting.

"How strange… did something happen…?"

Luna cut in, a serious expression on his face:

"How long has it been since you've been here, nomi-san?."

"Ten year's.."

Nomi replied. It should have been said in a cheerful tone, but there was a bit of tension in her voice.

"Of course it's would've changed. This was abandoned five years ago, so in the previous five years, they might have set up that fence."

Saul seemed to understand the worries, as he added:

"But this area is relatively safe, isn-"

He stopped in mid-sentence, staring at some figures in the distance.

Lucifer turned to the group, all of whom had uneasy faces, and said:

"…Gentlemen, let us handle this. Ox, go invisible and scout the village with."

After acknowledging Lucifer's instructions, ox turned himself invisible with one of her implants (magic) and vanished. The travellers waited on the road, and after a while, ox reappeared where he had left.

"…there's no one in the village."

"…Huh, looks like I was just being paranoid."

"It should be fine. Then, let's move on… shall we?"

Lucifer' looked expectantly to Saul and Nomi, and they both replied:

"Yes."

Although Saul still seemed a little hesitant.

"Well then, off we go."

Lucifer led the pack, heading straight for the empty village.

The road narrowed as they went on, so they had to form up into a column as they approached the village's entrance, or atleast what was left of it.

The overgrown fields on either side of the road were a dirty yellow, waving gently in the wind. The travellers looked as though they were submerged in a pool of dirty water.

"Hm?"

"what's wrong?" Nomi asked from his place at the back.

"Hm? Oh, nothing, maybe I was thinking too much…"

Saul tilted his head in bafflement, then quickened his pace, drawing closer to Aoi.

Luna looked in the same direction, and then opened up her steps once she made sure there were no other movements.

The fields spilled over onto the road that led to the village, like the sea swallowing up the land. They wanted to cut down the stalks to ensure stable footing..

Saul walked at the head of the group and because his armour touched the stalks, it was soon covered in grass. Soon after, they stepped through the entrance, entering the village.

The village was silent, and it reminded Luna of a graveyard. The town was not quite large, but they would still need to walk for a fair while before reaching the factory. But, the emptiness of the village…was unusual.

"This…"

"No one lives here…but the grass is so well cut."

Just then, an arrow was shot at them which narrowly missed Saul's cheek by an inch.

"Damn, where did that come from?"

Saul spun around and looked back, but the arrow seemed to have come from the top of the old buildings to the right. There were only a few buildings in that area, and the sound was faint, making it difficult to determine the exact direction. But one thing was for sure: they weren't alone.

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