Chapter 16 – Two Groups in a Run
Cain looked at his screens, seeing Raynare and her gang of Fallen Angels standing in front of the dungeon's entrance.
The girls looked at the red door with an astonished expression. The raven haired S beauty, who Cain recognized as Raynare, clicked her tongue and looked around.
"What the hell is this?"
"A strange gate?" Dohnaseek offered an explanation, which was quickly shot down by a glare. "I-I mean, a weird gate?"
"It's called the Elemental Tower." Kalawarner pointed at the glowing letters on top of the double door. "That's made by magic, right?"
Mittelt nodded, "It is. Maybe it's the Devils who are responsible for this. They might be hiding something inside."
"No," Dohnaseek shook his head. "This isn't Devils' doing. It feels different than magic from Devils. If anything, I feel like a human made this."
"Humans can't use this type of magic. Or any magic, for that matter. It must be a Devil's doing." Kalawarner scoffed, pushing her breasts up by crossing her arms. She then turned to the raven-haired Fallen Angel. "What do you think, Raynare? Should we enter this thing?"
"We have to." Raynare gritted her teeth, "We don't have time to waste. We need to get to Asia fast. She's inside this place for sure."
Facing the unknown, they debated whether or not they should enter. However, time was running out, and the fact Freed and Asia had been missing for more than a day forced them to act.
"Alright, we're going in." Raynare said and the other nodded, though they seemed reluctant. "We're going to enter this place, and find out what's going on here. If there's someone inside, kill them."
[Elemental Tower. Limit: 8 people!]
[Current challengers: 4/8]
Not realizing the words written on the door, the group of 4 walked inside the door.
As they did, the door closed behind them and the inside of the Elemental Tower greeted them. They stared at the forest, full of burning trees, lava and rocks. It was hot and steamy, which made their skin wet.
Heatwaves came from the ground, causing sweat to drip from their foreheads. It felt as if the air itself had been cooked and was trying to cook them as well. The ground beneath their feet was cracked and dry, and they could feel the heat coming off of the molten rocks beneath their feet. The wind blew fiercely around them, carrying embers along with it.
Lava flowed from the ground to the rivers on each side, creating small pools that bubbled violently. Raynare stepped back when the bubble popped, and she could feel the hot air blowing towards her.
Liquidated fire dropped from the trees, creating small pools on the floor. When the bubble burst, it caused a loud pop sound and splashed the lava on the ground.
Raynare looked around her and noticed something.
"What is this place?" she asked aloud, "It looks like a forest. But... Why does everything seem so..."
"Strange." Dohnaseek finished her words, "I've never heard of a place like this, not even in the Underworld."
The fallen angels looked around, confused by what they saw. They had never seen anything like it before, not even in their lives.
"I think we should leave." Mittelt said. "I have a bad feeling about this. It's dangerous. Let's get out of here and ask for help. Maybe he will know what's happening."
"No." Raynare replied sternly, "We will find Asia here, that's our priority."
There was no way Raynare would report this to the higher ups, after all the man was already caught. She didn't want her achievement of getting Asia to be acknowledged by other people. This would be her mission, her chance to get promoted.
Her ambition was to be Azazel's most trusted person and become a leader of a group of her own.
She looked at her fellow Fallen Angels and frowned. If she were to lead her own team, then she wouldn't pick people like these. They were too incompetent.
"We're going in." She ordered, "Keep your eyes peeled. Who knows if there's anything dangerous in here."
With that, they began their search.
Back to Cain and his throne room.
After the Fallen Angels' group entered, he grouped his monitors into three, front, left, and right. Two screens on the left followed Issei and the others while the right one was dedicated for Raynare. And then there was the main screen that showed everything in front of him. It would switch when they met something interesting or if the group did anything noteworthy.
But, even after seeing how the Fallen Angels' group were faring against his dungeon, Cain still focused on Rias' peerage. They were quite a strong and experienced group. They had fought against all monsters that appeared in the first floor and was gotten used to their new effect and attack, which involved spewing flames.
Akeno's lightning magic was also very helpful to defeat the monsters in this floor, and the fact she could heal and strengthen the others with her demonic powers was a great boon to the group.
And on the side...
"What is that?"
The Fallen Angels group encountered a fire goblin hiding behind a tree. The red-skinned goblin held a black stick as it looked at the group with an aggressive look. Its eyes glowed red, its teeth were bared, and its muscles were tense. The creature stared at them with an intimidating expression.
"Kill it."
At Raynare's order, the other three quickly moved forward. Light spears appeared in their hands, and they thrust it at the monster. The goblin tried to dodge but failed miserably. The light spears pierced the monster, and its blood splattered all over the place.
"That was easy," Raynare muttered to herself, "Let's keep moving."
They walked for a while until they encountered a slime. It was a small creature with no legs or arms, just a blob body. Its skin was red, and it was very slimy.
Kalawarner was the first to attack the slime. She created a light spear, threw it at the monster and hit the slime. However, instead of dying, it only made a loud noise and exploded into a thousand tiny pieces of gooey liquid that sprayed all over the place.
Raynare and her gang quickly dodged to the sides as the slime's body parts flew everywhere, but Dohnaseek was caught by the surprise attack.
A tiny bit of the slime landed on his face, and the burning sensation was enough to make him fall down to the ground in pain.
"Aghhhhhh! Damn it! Get off me! Argh!" He slapped the slime away, but the after effect was apparent, turning his skin red.
Chapter 17 – New Field
Kalawarner looked down on him and sighed, "What a disgrace. You're a disgrace to our kind, Dohnaseek."
Dohnaseek gritted his teeth in pain, and Raynare clicked her tongue in annoyance, "Mittelt, help him. I don't want to bring an injured person along."
The blonde Fallen Angel nodded, and she used her power to heal his wounds.
Cain chuckled, seeing Dohnaseek being roasted by Kalawarner and Raynare. He was too distracted to pay attention to Raynare and her team that he almost missed Issei's group finding the room that could lead them into the next floor.
"Oh, they found it already." He chirped.
On the main monitor, there was an image showing Issei, Akeno, Yuuto and Koneko walking down the long hallway that had been carved out of rock. There were torches lining both walls, casting flickering shadows onto their faces as they moved along.
Issei and the others looked at the door, it was made out of steel and it had a large hole on top of it.
"Are we facing the boss now?" He asked Kiba.
"I think so. There is nothing else on the floor, I think. Maybe the next room will be the next floor?" Kiba said. "After all, we've been climbing up a slight slope since earlier."
Akeno nodded, "I agree. Let's open this door and find out what's inside."
Issei gulped, "I-I'll be the one opening it!"
"Be careful." Kiba nodded. "There is no guarantee that we will meet a boss, after all."
"Right!"
They were all nervous. This was their first dungeon dive, after all. They had never experienced anything like this before.
After taking a deep breath, Issei slowly approached the door. It looked sturdy, as expected of the dungeon boss. He gulped again as his hand touched the metal.
Screeching sound came as the heavy metal door opened, and what appeared before them was another world.
Snow covered the landscape. White clouds covered the sky and snow fell gently on the ground, covering everything in white. There were no trees, just a white landscape that stretched as far as they could see.
They stepped outside the dungeon and felt the cold breeze on their skin. Blizzard greeted their bodies, causing them to shudder.
"Wha-!" Issei gasped, his body trembling due to the freezing temperature.
They walked out from the metal door, which slowly closed behind them. When Issei looked around him, he realized they were on a wide, snowy field. He looked around again, and saw nothing but snow everywhere.
"What the hell happened?" He shouted loudly. His voice echoed through the silent snow field.
Before, they were in a burning forest with high temperatures. Their sweats almost made their clothes wet. But, right now, the situation is reversed. They were standing in an open field full of snow. It felt so cold that Issei almost wanted to cry.
Even their sweats got frozen the moment they stepped into the snowy wonderland.
Also, the door was gone.
"What?!" Kiba shouted, a rare occurrence from him, "The door disappeared!"
Koneko and Akeno also shouted.
They looked at the area where the door stood, but they couldn't see it anymore. There were no marks on the ground, and even if there were some, they couldn't find it because the snow was covering it all up. It seemed like the door disappeared after they passed it.
"W-What should I do?"
As the one who opened the door, Issei panicked the most. The fact that they were now stranded in this unknown world only made him more nervous. Even Akeno, the usually calm and cool headed person, looked scared. Kiba's eyes were wide, his mouth open in disbelief.
Koneko also looked shocked. She stared blankly ahead, her expression blank as usual.
"For now..." Akeno immediately took the lead and turned serious, "... Let's find the door leading to the next floor or the boss area. I tried to make a teleportation circle but was unable to. The only hope is to finish the dungeon and have it teleport us out."
The others nodded. If they could find the next door or the next boss, they might have a chance of getting out of here alive.
And while they were having fun in the cold, Cain focused his eyes on the Fallen Angels.
The Fallen Angels group fare better than the Devils because they found a cheat way to fight the monsters. Just throw their light spear while flying in the sky. No monsters in the first floor were able to reach them, as a result they breezed through without more injuries.
"What is this, a cave?" Raynare muttered as she saw a tunnel on a mountain in the middle of the lava river.
She looked at her companions, and then at the entrance to the cave.
"This is weird." Mittelt muttered, and Dohnaseek nodded in agreement. They entered the cave carefully and cautiously.
There was no way they would go in recklessly, especially since there were enemies all over the place, but at the same time, the tunnel was too big to just ignore it. It was a dark cave with smooth walls and ceiling as if someone had deliberately carved them.
"Let's enter. We've searched the whole place already and can't find Asia Argento and that madman. This cave is suspicious." Raynare ordered and walked inside.
"Are you sure?" Mittelt asked, but the Fallen Angels group leader ignored her question and kept on going. The others followed her, though they still looked cautious.
They walked deeper into the tunnel until they came across another large area with many doors. There were no monsters here, only one metal door.
"What's this?" Dohnaseek muttered. "Is this some kind of trap or something? Why is there a door here?"
Raynare frowned and looked around, "Weird. It's too big of a coincidence for this door to be here. I think this place is suspicious. But we don't have much choice. Let's enter."
She put her hand on the handle and pulled it. As expected from a door that size, it needed her strength to open it.
As she pushed the door open, she could feel the wind blowing on her face. Snow fell gently from the sky, falling on her face.
She stepped out, and the other three followed her. When she turned back, she noticed that the door had disappeared.
"What!?"
"What happened!?"
"Raynare!"
They panicked.
And so they reached the second floor, Snowy Mountain. Which, by the way, had different rules and systems from the first.
Chapter 18 – Two Groups Meet
Issei and his group were still struggling with the snow. They didn't know where the door was, nor what to do next. All they could think of was how cold it was, how hard it was to move around, and how much it hurt when the cold air hit their bodies. Their sweat was frozen on their bodies and they felt like they were being stabbed by thousands of tiny needles.
However, they didn't give up easily.
"Everyone! Let's move!" Kiba said. "There's no point in standing here doing nothing!"
Akeno nodded, "Yeah. We have to find a way out."
Issei and Koneko agreed.
Slowly and surely, they scoured the area in a circle. Kiba was the one that suggested the formation, as he was the only one with a sword that could help in battle, so he was at the front while Issei, Akeno and Koneko were behind him. The white haired girl was tasked to guard their rear, so she walked backward, alert of any enemies.
And after 30 minutes...
They met another group of four in the middle of a snowy field without any monster yet. Akeno immediately went alert and prepared her magic while giving command.
"Everyone, prepare to fight!"
Issei immediately recognized the figure standing a bit away and gritted his teeth. That figure was no other than Raynare, the woman who killed him on his first date.
"You!"
Raynare also looked at Issei with surprise. However, her expression changed quickly, turning to amusement and joy.
"Well, well. Isn't this interesting?" She laughed mockingly at them. "Issei-kun, why are you showing such anger to me? Did I do something to anger you?"
"You bitch!" He glared at her, "I'm gonna kill you!"
In the throne room, Cain munched his popcorn at a faster speed than usual. He smiled widely at the development he had expected and hoped for. After all, the chance that Raynare's group didn't meet Rias' peerage was extremely low.
"They finally met!" He exclaimed with glee.
On the other hand, Dohnaseek and Kalawarner stared at Issei and his group with their eyebrows furrowed. The place they met was pretty unusual, and they weren't expecting to meet another group here. And it was a group from the other faction at that.
"Devils." The blonde Fallen Angel muttered with hostility. "You all have a lot of guts to step foot in here, huh?"
Akeno scoffed. "Who do you think you are to talk to us like that? This place is still Gremory and Sitri's territory."
Dohnaseek's face twitched, and his body trembled. "Tsk! Shut up, devil!" He yelled angrily and flew up in the air.
Raynare laughed mockingly again and smirked. "This is where the fun starts!"
The fight started with Raynare and her team attacking first. She and Mittelt created a few light spears each, throwing it to their opponents while the others dodged to the side. Kalawarner, who was standing on the rear, summoned her own spear and threw it at Koneko. However, Kiba blocked the attack with his sword.
"Everyone, we're attacking! Issei, Koneko-chan, let's go. Akeno-senpai, please support us!" He shouted and dashed toward the enemies. His sword was raised up high and ready to strike down on the nearest target.
"Fufufu. Kiba-kun, you shouldn't take command while I am here. Let's see... Issei-kun, go for the man on the side! I will deal with the black haired woman!"
Kiba didn't have any retort. Instead he just smiled and attacked. Issei too, following her command, rushed forward to meet Dohnaseek who was standing still in his place, observing his opponent. He raised his gauntlet and a green light enveloped the gem on his right hand, making it glow.
"Boost!"
And the brown haired teenager immediately appeared in front of his enemy, his fist already aiming for Dohnaseek's stomach. However, before it connected, the Fallen Angels quickly jumped back and flapped his wings. The punch didn't reach, but the force created by his made a small hole in the snowy ground, making it tremble slightly.
Meanwhile, Kiba was facing the two female Fallen Angels with Koneko, a sexy woman with blue hair and a gothic lolita girl. They were standing side by side, holding light spears in their hands, their eyes fixed upon him as they prepared themselves.
Kiba took out a sword that he had stored in the scabbard and prepared to fight.
"Come at me." He said and charged.
The blue-haired Fallen Angel, Kalawarner, immediately reacted. Her spear flashed and she threw it towards him. But Kiba easily dodged the spear and slashed at her. She quickly dodged by stepping back.
However, when he attacked again, the other girl, Mittelt, who was holding two spears, immediately stepped forward and attacked. She thrust one of her spear at a fast speed, aiming at the swordsman's throat.
At that time, Koneko showed up from the side, punching the fallen angel's back, causing her to stumble and drop the spear.
"Tsk!" The blonde Fallen Angel clicked her tongue in anger. "Damn devil!"
She threw her spear towards the white-haired girl. Koneko immediately dodged by jumping backward. But Kalawarner used this opportunity to attack her.
"Light spear!" She created two new light spears and threw it towards the small white haired girl.
However, Kiba already prepared and deflected both spears with his sword.
Clang clang!
He stood beside Koneko and laughed.
"Thank you for saving me, Koneko-san." He smiled.
She only nodded, not looking back, her attention on Kalawarner. Her fists clenched as she readied her stance.
Kalawarner clicked her tongue, "Tsk, I guess I will have to get rid of this devil boy first then."
She charged towards him, swinging her spear around.
Facing the Fallen Angel's rush, Kiba stabbed his sword to the snowy ground.
"Sword Birth!"
Suddenly, swords sprouted from the ground like mushrooms after rain, aiming at Kalawarner who was still charging forward. The sudden attack caught the Fallen Angel by surprise, but she was able to react by flying upward in a second before the sword pierced through her.
"Lightning!" Akeno chanted her magic and threw it at Kalawarner, who was still floating on air.
A yellow bolt of lightning struck down from the sky, hitting the Fallen Angel in the middle of the snow. The magic was so strong that it created a large hole in the ground where she stood, and a cloud of dust flew upwards from it.
Using this chance, Kiba delivered the last attack. His body moved at high speed, rushing forward, slashing horizontally at Kalawarner with his sword. She was unable to dodge because of her injury and was cut deeply on her abdomen.
"Aaarrgghhhh!" Kalawarner screamed in agony as she fell to the ground. Her blood flowed out, staining her clothes red. She collapsed onto the snowy ground, her body shaking uncontrollably before ceasing movement.
"That's one." Kiba said, turning his attention to the Fallen Angel fighting with Koneko.
On the other side of the snowy field, Issei was still facing Dohnaseek, the fallen angel wearing a fedora.
"Come at me, Devil!" He said, smirking at him.
Issei didn't say anything and just attacked with his fists. It was easily dodged by the fallen angel who jumped back. Following that, a spear of light manifested in his hand and he threw it at the pervert, hitting his shoulder and knocking him to the ground.
"Gah!" The pain was unbearable. Blood spilled out from his wound as he held it with his hand, trying to get away from the enemy. The white snow turned red as he clutched onto his shoulder tightly, gritting his teeth in pain.
"What's wrong? Weren't you supposed to kill me?" The fallen angel taunted him, creating a spear and walking toward the downed boy. "Or are you going to run like a dog with its tail between its legs again? Coward!"
The word "coward" echoed inside his mind, bringing back memories that he would rather forget. It brought up feelings of shame and humiliation, and his body tensed up at those words.
"Shut up! I'm not running away this time!"
The words came out of nowhere, but Issei didn't care. All he wanted to do was beat the shit out of the guy who had humiliated him and wanted to kill him in front of his first love, whom killed him. He didn't care if it was a foolish thing to do, or how strong this fallen angel was.
"Boost!"
All he wanted to do was to punch him.
"I will beat you up!" He shouted and charged at him. The green gem glowed, enveloping his body.
"Die!" Dohnaseek aimed at Issei with his spear. But his aim wasn't right and missed him by a lot.
"Ha!" Issei laughed. He was close to him now. Just one more step and he would reach him. He clenched his fist tighter, readying himself for the final blow.
However...
"Graaaaa!"
Before they could clash, a loud roar interrupted the battlefield, catching everyone's attention.
Chapter 19 – Snow Yeti
They stopped in their tracks, looking toward where the roar came from. As if time had stopped, no one moved to fight anymore and stared at the creature. It was as tall as a small hill, and its skin was pale white, covered with white fur. Its arms were long, reaching almost to its feet.
Its eyes glowed red and looked around. The monster had appeared from a large hill in the distance, looking down at the people fighting in the field.
"What... is that?" Dohnaseek muttered as he stared at the huge, hairy, white beast with two sharp fangs protruding out of its mouth. The monster had two red eyes, and its fur was long and messy. It looked ferocious, but also intelligent.
It looked around before spotting the Devils and Fallen Angels.
It was a Snow Yeti, a monster that could freeze its enemies with ice magic.
"Tsk, let's get out of here first."
Raynare, who already retreated upon hearing the roar and gathered with Mittlet and Dohnaseek, said that and spread her wings wide.
The Devils also gathered around Issei, preparing for escape.
"We can't possibly fight that in this condition." Akeno said, looking worried. Her eyes darted from the Snow Yeti and to the Fallen Angels, "Should we run together?"
"Hnn." Koneko nodded, "Too tired to fight that."
"Yeah." Kiba nodded.
However, before they could do anything else, a sudden gust of cold air hit their faces and made them freeze. The snow beneath their feet began freezing over. The ice was thick enough to prevent them from moving properly.
The Yeti was smart and fast.
With an earth-shaking stomp, it froze the snowy ground below it, spreading out in a straight line. The ground froze, the air became colder and colder, the wind became sharper and colder. The ground became ice, spreading at a high speed toward the Devils and the Fallen Angels. The temperature was dropping, and they felt the cold biting their skin.
"Hehehehe. The protagonist in this story isn't you guys, but the dungeon!"
Watching the Fallen Angels and Devils unable to escape, Cain chuckled as he watched them on the monitors, munching on the popcorn.
The second floor only had one monster, one that cost him 800 Coins for a single Snow Yeti. And he was confident in the monster's abilities.
Unfortunately, he couldn't watch the challengers visit the freezing lake or ice pillars he prepared, but he was satisfied enough by watching them fight.
It was an interesting turn of events that the Devils and the Fallen Angels were trapped together in a single area. The situation was tense as they couldn't escape due to being surrounded by ice, and their stamina and strength was greatly reduced.
They were in the same situation, unable to run from the Snow Yeti's attack, and there was no way to get away from the monster without fighting it.
"Good luck, everyone."
He munched the popcorn while watching them intently, waiting to see who would survive this battle.
As the Snow Yeti approached them, it started freezing their feet in place. Ice spread out from their feet, covering them completely and making it impossible for anyone to move freely anymore. A layer of frost covered everything around them, turning into ice. Not even snow was spared from its freezing breath.
"Shit!"
Everyone was surprised by this.
Even the Fallen Angels were shocked that their feet and wings had frozen, making it hard for them to fly. They couldn't move their bodies well due to the coldness. Their wings flapped weakly as they struggled against the icy grip of the air. Their movements slowed, their speed decreased, their reaction time became slower. It was as if time itself slowed down for all of them.
"Fuck!" Raynare cursed loudly. She was so frustrated because of this unexpected development. "This isn't going to work! We need to run now!" she shouted, "We can't fight here! We're going to be killed by that thing!"
The others agreed. They all tried to move, but their bodies wouldn't listen to their orders.
Issei and the Devils were no different.
"It seems we have no choice but to fight it, Akeno-senpai." Issei clenched his teeth, trying to ignore the pain of his shoulder and his legs that were trapped by the ice. "I don't think I can do much with my body like this, though..."
"Hey, Devils!" Raynare shouted from behind them, "I have a proposal. We will fight together to kill that beast!"
"Fight... with you guys!?" Kiba asked. His sword was still in his hands, and he was looking at the enemy, "Are you serious? You guys are the ones who ambushed us, and we've been trying to get rid of you all for some time."
"Working with fallen angels sounds like a terrible idea," Akeno narrowed her eyes, leaving the easy-going expression. She had her hands together as if preparing for a spell. "I don't think we can trust you. After all, we have a lot of grudges between our factions. There's also a history of bad blood. Why would you want to cooperate now?"
"Let's just kill that beast!" Raynare shouted angrily, "It will attack both of us anyway! Do you want to die or something, huh? If not, let's stop being stupid here and start working together! I don't like this any more than you do!"
"She's right." Kiba agreed, greeting his teeth. "If we stay here, we're dead. That beast is powerful. If we work together, we can beat him and get out of this place. It's either that or death, I'm sure."
"Unpleasant, but we have no choice." Akeno said after pondering for a moment. She turned to the Fallen Angels and glared at them, "If you try something funny, I will kill you. I will make sure of it." Her voice sounded threatening.
Raynare clicked her tongue, but she reluctantly nodded, "Yeah, yeah. Whatever. Just shut up and focus on killing that thing first. We have to work together or else we'll all die here."
They looked at each other, nodding at their agreement.
As if waiting for this moment, the monster, Yeti, grabbed a huge snowball on the ground, raising it high, and threw it to the Devils and Fallen Angels.
"Watch out!"
The snow ball landed near them, creating an explosion of snow.
The impact created a crater in the ground, and a cloud of ice particles rose into the air, obscuring their vision. The force sent them flying in the air. Issei and the Devils managed to avoid the impact, but they were sent rolling away by the shockwave. The Fallen Angels were worse. They were thrown into the air by the explosion.
Dohnaseek and Raynare crashed into a nearby hill while Mittelt was knocked unconscious when she hit the snow-covered ground. Her head bled.
Chapter 20 – Defeated!
"Ugh, that thing..." Issei groaned.
"Hey! Are you alright?"
Kiba ran over to help him.
"Thanks." He nodded and got up slowly. His body hurt everywhere. He could feel his bones cracking. But there wasn't any time to worry about such things.
"Issei-senpai, are you hurt?" Koneko asked worriedly, checking him over.
Issei waved off the concern, "Don't worry. It's just my legs and my arms that hurt. I'll be fine."
Akeno was healing Kiba who took a lot of damage, but she was also paying attention to what's happening. The Snow Yeti was moving again. It stomped its feet on the ground again, causing another wave of ice to spread.
"Watch out! It's coming again!" Kiba shouted, "Everyone! Get ready to attack!"
Issei and the other members of Rias Gremory's peerage stood up.
Meanwhile, Raynare, who managed to avoid getting hit directly by the attack, tried to get away from the ice's effect, but failed. Her feet and wings were already frozen in place.
"Dammit!" she cursed angrily, "How did this happen!? It's all because of that madman!"
Her companion, Dohnaseek, was injured badly. He couldn't even stand properly. The worst one was Mittlet. Her entire body was frozen and bleeding profusely, but she was still conscious and struggling against the cold.
"Argh... shit... I can't move... Damn it!"
Raynare gritted her teeth and clenched her fist.
Slowly but surely, the Yeti approached them and stood above them. It looked at Raynare and the other two fallen angels. They couldn't escape, only able to see it raising its thick arm to attack.
"No! This isn't possible!" She shouted. Her body shook in fear, her face twisted in desperation.
The Yeti roared loudly and brought its arms down at them, causing a loud boom as its hands smashed into the ground. The ground beneath them shook, the earth splitting apart as a large hole formed. Raynare was barely able to jump aside to avoid being crushed by the falling debris.
Unfortunately, the other Fallen Angels weren't so lucky. The ground underneath them collapsed and they were swallowed up into the hole.
Dohnaseek was unable to move, he screamed as he fell down, his body twisting in pain as he disappeared beneath the ground with the blonde Fallen Angel.
"Fuck!" Raynare cursed, her hands gripping tightly on her spear, her eyes fixed on the Yeti.
"Lightning!"
Akeno shot her lightning magic toward it. It struck the monster in the back and sent it stumbling backward, but it didn't stop it from continuing its rampage. She kept on attacking, but her attacks weren't effective against the Snow Yeti.
Due to the thick fur, which was like armor, and the cold environment, her attacks didn't work that much. The lightning only managed to anger the monster more as it turned its head and roared loudly at her.
It crouched, taking a huge pile of snow and raising it above its head. It aimed at Akeno and threw the huge pile toward the black-haired beauty.
"Akeno-senpai!"
Seeing the hurling snow, mixed with dirt and rocks, Issei stretched his arm trying to save Akeno.
But his Boosted Gear didn't have enough energy left, so he was unable to use his power to push himself toward her in time. His stamina was depleted and he stumbled. He quickly got up, but…
Bam!
The pile of snow exploded before he could even get near the woman, and she got caught in the explosion. She was blown back by the blast, rolling in the snow, covered by ice.
On her side, Raynare was also bleeding, she was also hit by the hurling snow. However, Issei didn't care about her and only focused on his devil senior.
"No!" Issei screamed. "Akeno-senpai!"
He immediately ran toward the woman, checked her, and found her alive. However, she wasn't in a good condition.
Not only did she fall unconscious, wounds covered her beautiful body. Blood flowed out of her head, arms, and legs, and her clothes got ripped revealing parts of her breasts. There were cuts all over her exposed skin. The most worrisome was the fact her left arm was twisted in an unnatural position. It must have been broken during the blast, judging from how she held it in a weird way.
"Shit... shit... What should we do?!" Issei muttered.
"Issei-senpai." Koneko appeared from the side and looked serious, "We need to get out of here. I will bring Akeno-senpai with me. Let's run now."
"Right..." Issei nodded. "You go ahead, Koneko-chan. I will distract it."
"But..."
"Do it! There's no way we can all escape without someone distracting the monster!" He said sternly. His tone left no room for arguments, so she just nodded. "Kiba, I leave Koneko-chan with you."
The blonde haired boy shook his head and stood next to him.
"You can't distract that monster by yourself, Issei-kun. I will help you kill it."
"But..."
"No buts. If you can't beat that monster, you won't survive. It's best if we kill it and escape together." He smiled and raised his sword. "Let's do it!"
At first, Koneko looked at them with trembling eyes, but after a while she gritted her teeth and nodded. She carried Akeno on her back and ran away from there.
"Let's go!" Kiba dashed toward the Snow Yeti, swinging his sword and stabbing its thick legs.
Issei too ran toward the Yeti and attacked. He was still wearing the red gauntlets on his right hand and activated its ability.
"Boost!"
Suddenly, his strength doubled and his punch was faster than usual.
However, the monster was so huge that his attacks didn't really affect it. The Snow Yeti swung its hand and hit Kiba. It was so strong and powerful that he got thrown to the side. His sword flew away from him.
Meanwhile, Issei used his speed and jumped behind the Yeti, punching its back, only to bounce back, unable to do much. His body was covered by snow, and the cold wind was freezing him.
"Damn, it's too cold!" he muttered. "I need more Boosts! More Boosts!"
He activated his gauntlet, doubling his power again. But the effect wasn't good enough, and he couldn't even break the Yeti's thick fur.
Enraged, the snow monster stomped on the snowy ground again and a shockwave of cold wind blasted through the air. Snow and ice particles mixed in with the blast and covered the two boys, freezing them in place. It felt like being hit by a blizzard. The temperature dropped drastically.
Without having any chance to resist, they turned into an ice sculpture, frozen solid. Yeti approached them with a monstrous smile and raised its hand, crushing them to pieces.
Now, only two people were left. And they soon met their fate in a hailstorm of icicles.
"No." Koneko's face paled upon witnessing the hailstorm.
There was no room to dodge or hide, all she could do was to shield her master from the deadly icicle that rained down. And soon enough, the ice impaled her.
She fell, and so did Akeno, who she had been protecting. The last thing she remembered before passing out was a sight of a blue light shining on her face, and then, darkness.
Clap clap clap!
Cain clapped his hands in the dungeon throne room. The screen in front of him displayed the corpses of the Fallen Angels and Devils. His lips curled up into a wide grin, showing his excitement.
"Bravo! Well done, everyone! That's an entertaining fight. Too bad you're not strong enough to beat the second floor yet, but don't worry. As you will be able to try again."
He turned his attention to the small monitor on the side.
Revival:
Freed Sellzen – 2D 22H 22M
Asia Argento – 2D 22H 28M
Kalawarner – 2D 23H 46M
Dohnaseek – 2D 23H 48M
Mittlet – 2D 23H 48M
Raynare – 2D 23H 44M
Hyoudou Issei – 2D 23H 58M
Kiba Yuuto – 2D 23H 58M
Himejima Akeno – 2D 23H 59M
Shirone (Toujou Koneko) – 2D 23H 58M
"Yes, you all will be revived." Cain chuckled. "The resurrection price is already paid, and all you need is time. Experience is truly a great teacher, right? And I give you the experience of death which you will never experience twice... Or three times for the pervert."
So close. The Yeti would've died if all of them attacked together. In fact, the red bar that indicated HP, which Cain could see hovering above the monster, was nearly depleted. Yeti only looked fine outside due to the weather while its body was actually damaged.
The dark-haired teen chuckled and clapped his hands. Everything went dark, the screen and monitor turned off, and the room became pitch black.
Cain stood up from his seat, walking out of the throne room, and closed the door behind him. The dungeon system would handle the resurrection for him now.
And when he was gone to bed, windows showing the result of the run appeared in the empty throne room.
[All challengers have been eliminated.]
[Reward distributed!]
[Emotional Rewards:
Helplessness: 2450 Coins
Fear: 5500 Coins
Excitement: 1200 Coins
Desperation: 5500 Coins
Pain: 2500 Coins
Anger: 1300 Coins
Hope: 500 Coins
Curious: 900 Coins
Disgust: 300 Coins
Sadness: 500 Coins
Total Coins: 20,650 Coins]
[Your dungeon has resisted a strong group of challengers.]
[Your Fame has grown.]
[Due to the increase of your fame, a new authority is unlocked!]
Authority Level: 3