While Team Four were resting, Team One continued advancing through their own tunnels.
Currently, they were surrounded by five monsters.
Aluna calmly looked at the creatures around her.
She carefully analyzed their movements, their bodies, and the pressure they were giving off.
*Peak First Step...*
*Somewhere around the average of the Second Step.*
Aluna quickly came to a conclusion that she could easily take them all by herself.
But she knew better than to underestimate this place.
*I have to not force myself too much*
Aluna slowly closed her eyes and the monsters immediately moved.
Then—
SHING!
A flash passed through the chamber.
All five monsters suddenly stopped moving, then their bodies fell apart.
One slash was all it took.
Beside Aluna stood one of her summons.
Unlike the strange creatures she had used before, this one was different.
It wasn’t simply a spirit that represents a living sword.
Aluna gently placed her hand on the handle which represents the summon head.
"Just like this. Good job, little one."
The summon seemed to happily react to her praise.
Aluna and her team continued walking but the tunnels kept splitting into more and more paths.
However, Team One had one advantage.
They weren’t searching for the Goblins.
They were searching for two elves.
And elves were connected to one another.
Because of that connection, Aluna could sense the direction they had taken.
After walking for some time, Aluna finally found them.
Selena and Vom were facing several monsters and Vom was injured.
Roots covered most of her body, wrapping around her like vines.
Aluna’s expression immediately became slightly colder.
She raised her hand.
Another attack flashed through the chamber.
The monsters were killed almost instantly.
Selena looked at Aluna.
"My Lady!"
She happily ran toward her.
Aluna simply raised her hand.
BONK!
She hit Selena on the head.
"Ouch!"
"Why didn’t you follow my order and put yourself in danger?"
"B-But Vom was in danger!"
"So you mean I couldn’t help her myself?"
"N-No! Of course not!"
Selena immediately shook her head.
"My leader is the strongest person ever! I just got emotional, after all you are under that curse..."
Aluna stared at her for a moment.
Then she raised her hand again.
Selena instinctively covered her head.
But instead of hitting her, Aluna gently patted her head.
"That’s okay. Let’s help Vom heal, then go back and help the others."
"Yes, my Lady!"
Aluna summoned another spirit.
This one had a liquid form.
It slowly moved toward Vom and covered her body.
...
After resting, Team Four continued walking.
Tunnel after tunnel.
They had no idea how long they had been walking anymore.
The deeper they went, the more complicated the dungeon became.
Then they finally saw something.
The Goblins they had been searching for were lying on the ground, dead.
Their bodies had been brutally torn open.
Their stomachs had been sliced apart, leaving their organs scattered across the ground.
Levia slowly approached one of them.
"This is just horrible..."
She crouched down and carefully tried to close the wide-open eyes of one of the Goblins.
"Poor things..."
"They were so scared..."
Then—
The dead Goblin’s hand suddenly moved.
It grabbed Levia’s neck.
Levia’s eyes widened.
She immediately reacted with an earth pillar erupted from the ground.
BOOM!
The pillar slammed into the Goblin’s arm and pushed it away.
Levia quickly stood up.
More bodies began moving.
One after another, the dead Goblins slowly stood up.
Their bodies moved unnaturally.
And inside each corpse are some nasty purple roots that is growing through their bodies like vines.
"They’re being controlled..."
Valen’s expression became serious.
Everyone prepared for battle.
But before they could attack, someone suddenly appeared from behind the corpses.
BAM!
A Goblin’s body was sent flying.
The figure continued attacking.
Punch and punch.
The person fighting them was covered in injuries.
Her armor was almost completely destroyed.
Her helmet was gone.
Her face, which is more more similar to a human girl, is covered in scars.
One of her teeth was missing, and part of her face had been burned.
It was Zyra.
Valen immediately recognized her.
"Zyra, you need h—"
"Please."
Zyra interrupted him.
"Let me take care of them all."
She continued attacking.
"Please..."
Her voice became quieter.
"They trusted me with their lives and I failed them."
She looked at the dead Goblins.
"So please..."
"Let me honor their deaths by myself."
Valen remained silent for a moment, then nodded.
"Alright."
Every time one of the Goblins fell, she immediately attacked the roots controlling them.
Until eventually...
There was nothing left.
Only blue blood.
Broken bodies.
And pieces of purple roots scattered across the ground.
Zyra stood there silently.
She looked at the horrible scene around her.
Then she slowly turned toward Team Four.
And bowed deeply.
"I apologize for my faults."
Her voice was heavy.
"Driven by anger, I just caused so much pain to you all..."
She paused.
Then turned toward the dead Goblins.
"And to them..."
Valen looked at her for a moment.
"You aren’t purely Goblin, are you?"
Zyra’s eyes widened slightly.
She looked surprised by the question.
Then she nodded.
"Very good observation, Sir Valen."
She took a breath.
"Yes."
"I am half Goblin and half human."
She paused.
"To be exact, I am the bastard daughter of a noble man."
Her expression became darker.
"A noble who forcibly took advantage of a Goblin slave."
"He then tried to kill both of mother and daughter to hide the evidence."
"My mother died protecting me."
"I had to live in the streets of a human village."
Zyra’s face twisted slightly as she remembered her past.
"Although I expected some harsh treatment from the humans..."
"They broke all the limits."
"I was bullied and beaten more than I ate during the day."
She clenched her fist.
"At some point, I couldn’t take it anymore."
"Their racism..."
"Their attempts to kill me..."
"I couldn’t stay there."
"So I fled to the Sora Kingdom."
"I hoped that at least there, they wouldn’t try to kill me."
"Maybe I will receive less hate..."
Zyra lowered her head.
"I was sure they also won’t accept me like the humans... After all, I was the result of a horrible act done to a poor Goblin."
She slowly raised her head.
Her eyes became a little brighter.
"But when I arrived..."
"Their first impression of me wasn’t hatred."
"It was sadness."
"The race everyone describe as savage and uncivilized..."
"They treated me more kindly than the humans who claimed to uphold the rights of all races."
Zyra closed her eyes for a moment.
"Don’t worry."
"I don’t hate humans."
"I’m mature enough to realize that not all humans are trash."
She opened her eyes again.
"But I still consider myself a Goblin."
"So even though I don’t completely act like one..."
"Please don’t consider me anything but a Goblin."
Valen nodded.
"I understand."
He then looked at her injuries.
"So..."
"What happened here?"
Zyra’s expression became serious again.
"After I followed that monster..."
"The one that dared to use Cirix’s head as bait..."
"I was surrounded."
She looked down at her damaged armor.
"They almost managed to inject those roots into me."
"But they suddenly stopped."
"The monsters ran away before they could finish."
Valen frowned.
"They just left?"
Zyra nodded.
"Yes."
"That’s weird..."
Valen crossed his arms.
"They’re far more intelligent than that."
"If they were already going through the trouble of capturing you, why would they suddenly let you escape?"
He looked around the chamber.
"So the only logical explanation is..."
"Something happened."
"Something more important than turning you into another monster."
Valen stared into the dark tunnels.
He tried to understand what could possibly have made those creatures abandon Zyra.
But he couldn’t find an answer.
Then Levia spoke.
"We should hurry."
"We need to get back and meet up with Team One."
Valen nodded.
"You’re right."
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