Kai led his group through the archway that led to the tenth floor. As the strongest in the group, he took it upon himself to be the first to face anything on the other side.
"...What?" Kai muttered as he beheld the spectacle on the other side of the portal that led to the next floor. Behind him, his brother and cousins stepped out of the portal and gawked at the scene before them.
Dozens of dark creatures battled against the Great Crocodiles, Great Pythons, and Bogmen that habited this floor. What stood out to them, though, was the strong Unholy energy that these dark creatures radiated.
"Undead." Kai's eyes hardened as he said this. He was an experienced A rank fighter, and had come across many things in the past. He had also participated in Divinity's Bout, and had also come across many things. One of those things just happened to be an Undead, and the Unholy energy he felt from the dark creatures in front of him rang bells in his head.
After only a single sweep of his senses, Kai located the source of the Unholy energy, but was taken aback when he noticed how strange it was. His eyes were fixed on Leon, who had also just turned back to look at the people who had just stepped into the fight.
No words were said between the two parties as they sized up each other. Kai was focused on the bizarre phenomenon that he was witnessing, while Leon was wondering if he could beat up these people.
The bizarre phenomenon that Kai was witnessing was the faint traces of Holy energy that he could see lingering around Leon's core. It shocked him silly to see a being who was made up from, and embodied Unholy energy, to possess this pure energy within it.
As for Leon, the reason why he was still on the fence was because of Kai. He could sense the tremendous strength that seemed to reside within the Beastkin, and was hesitant about engaging him at this moment. It was clear that Kai was stronger than Nasir, even if they were both Low A rank.
"Hello." In the end, after a minute of staring at each other, Kai was the first one to speak. He hesitantly raised his hands to present a friendly front. Joseph looked at him confused, but decided to play along.
Leon nodded in response to the greeting, but did not lower his vigilance.
"We don't want to fight you or anything, but we do have a couple of questions to ask you." Kai continued, not taking a step forward to avoid triggering Leon. He knew that Leon understood him. Because it was basically impossible for anything to reach that level of strength without having a proper brain and intelligence to drive its actions.
"Go ahead, I'm listening." Leon eventually decided to answer them.
"Good." Kai nodded his head, seeing Leon's reply as progress. "How did you get here? The Despair Dungeon has not been open to the public for a while now." Kai said, assuming that Leon would know what he was talking about.
The thing was, as the Gublin Empire nominally owned the Despair Dungeon, they had the rights to dictate who went in and out of it, and when it was used. They could dictate who could use the dungeon and who could not. Leon had known this before coming, but hearing Kai's words, he instantly connected the dots, realizing that the group before him was connected to the ruling power of Gublin.
"I am afraid I cannot share that with you." Leon shook his head.
"What?" Kai paused, the easy smile on his face going still. "What do you mean?"
"You heard what I said. I do not think I need to explain my words any more than they explain themselves." Leon shrugged and brandished his sword. He had realized that they would come to blows eventually, as there was no proper way to handle this situation. If he tried to go along with what they wanted, then he would most likely turn into their prisoner and would be taken to the Gublin Empire for questioning.
A tense moment passed before Kai revealed his weapon. A sword and a shield were held in his hands, and he had a grim determination plastered on his face.
The others behind him also pulled out their weapons. Joseph held a short, thick sword that was covered in strange engravings was held in his right hand. A Dadao, similar to the weapon that Grokus used, was Joseph's preferred weapon.
Meredin already had her staff at the ready, while Estella held up her wand, ready to help her family and friends at a moment's notice. Damian simply grunted and tightened his grip around the shaft of his massive war hammer. He swung the hammer down from his shoulder and planted its butt into the ground.
By this time, the surrounding battles were also beginning to wind down. The air was charged with energy, and the tension around them built with each passing moment.
Kai did not underestimate Leon one bit. The latter was a Necromancer, and seemed to be able to engage in direct combat too, from the way he held himself. He even had a sword in his hand.
'We need to take care of this, quick!' Kai thought to himself and leaned forward. He was about to burst into action when a burst of black fire beside Leon stunned him. Several summons with strong individual presences appeared around Leon, and Kai had a bad feeling. Things just got worse.
"Remember, watch out for each other, but don't underestimate your opponent!" Kai warned his teammates before he shot out, heading right for Leon.
Leon's elite summons also burst into action at once. Nero had set his eyes on Kai, but had to change his target when a blast of weapon aura blocked off his part. Damian leapt in front of Nero, his war hammer barreling downwards.
Kaladin raised his arms to send down a barrage of lightning bolts from the sky, but was met with strong resistance as Meredin also unfolded her insane magical prowess.
As for Grokus, he knew that he had to take care of Joseph, who had also set his eyes on him. Leon could take care of Kai.
That left just two people to take care of each other. Nedra smirked at the blond haired Beastkin who stood a distance away.
"Why don't we take good care of each other?" She grinned revealing shiny white teeth at the priestess.
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