“The Rat King of the second floor had dug all the way into the first floor and killed the lizardman king.”

“What’s his excuse? I’m sure I told the bosses of each floor not to invade other floors.”

The overseer’s voice was filled with rage as black flames emerged all around him. The chair he was sitting on was burnt to a crisp and the intense flames were making the butler sweat. Luckily he was far enough to not get scorched.

“He says that the lizardman king had invaded his territory and kidnapped one of his wives. He wasn’t originally going to kill the lizardman king but hearing that his wife was violated, he was sent into a rage.”

The flames calmed down and the butler smiled as he omitted out the information about the humans who had escaped the dungeon. Inwardly he was glad that the humans that escaped and were stronger than he had thought. There were some regrets when he handed them some treasures but seeing their potential, he felt that it was a good investment.

If those humans escape, information that the dungeon contains treasures will spread like wildfire and cause more humans to flock to the dungeon. The butler was sure that their greed for treasures will be the perfect tool to whittle away at the overseer’s power. They’ll fight and kill the overseer’s minions, and during all that chaos he’ll take over the dungeon.

“I see. Even if his reason was just, he still needs to be punished. Throw the Rat King inside of Jello’s prison for 1 year.”

“Yes, sir.”

“And find a lizardman to replace the lizardman king.”

“Yes.”

Hearing the overseer’s words, the butler could barely contain his smile but he was able to hold himself back. He’s been planning for such a long time and didn’t want the overseer to know. With the wave of one hand, a portal showing an image green appears in front of him. It was a portal to the lizardman village and looking at the surroundings, the gas was still there. Walking through, a frown appears on his face as he pinches his nose to keep the foul odor out. 

Waving his hand again, an invisible wind sweeps the gas away. The village was visible again but it was in a wreck. Dead bodies were scattered all over the village and any sign of vegetation was gone. The gas had turned most of the forest into a dead wasteland.

“Sir D’yxsis.”

A lizardman who was only 4 feet tall kneeled in front of the butler and pressed his forehead into the ground, not daring to look at him. Compared to most other lizardmen, this one was considered small, but D’yxsis didn’t mind. The smile he was hiding from the overseer emerged as he filled the hole the Rat King had come from.

“Good job, Gul’sa Kai. You were able to get revenge against your uncle who made your father into a mere guard.”

“Thank you. If it wasn’t for your help this would have never been possible, but I have a question.”

The lizardman’s body was shaking as he knew that asking D’yxsis a question could lead to his death. It was natural for the underlings to answer their superior’s questions and to never question them. His actions were impudent and deserved punishment, but D’yxsis was in a good mood.

“Go ahead.”

“Is my father dead? I saw a human carrying my father’s beloved sword and he would never let that sword go unless he was dead.”

“Yes, unfortunately. Gul’sa Quan is dead but don’t worry. From now on you are the new lizardman king.”

“T-thank you.”

Gul’sa Kai, who was the son of Gul’sa Quan, immediately smacks his forehead into the ground to show appreciation for his promotion. Although it was supposed to be a joyous occasion to become the lizardman king, he felt sad that his father wasn’t here to see it. His father was originally going to be the next lizardman king after his grandfather’s disappearance but he lost this position because of foul play from his uncle.

Gul’sa Kai would have never had the opportunity to become the lizardman king because he had many relatives that were stronger than him, but D’yxsis had helped him come into this position. His uncle was lustful and with the vial of poison from D’yxsis, he made his uncle fall into insanity. The poison heightens his lust and every time he ejaculates he goes a little bit crazy.

He was even crazy enough to invade the second floor and kidnap one of the Rat King’s wives. This led to the battle in the lizardman village which left the village crippled, but this was an opportunity for Gul’sa Kai. All his competitors were either dead or incapacitated, and he even had the support of D’yxsis. Now that he was the lizardman king, he was going to fix the village.

D’yxsis inwardly chuckled to himself as he read the thoughts of the naive lizardman kneeling in front of him. Unlike most lizardmen who only cared about strength, Gul’sa Kai was smarter but also more emotional than the others. He cared for the lizardmen living in this village from the bottom of his heart. 

This was why he was the perfect puppet for D’yxsis. Gul’sa Kai’s father and grandfather were stubbornly loyal to the overseer while his uncle was to dumb. D’yxsis had planned for Gul’sa Kai’s uncle to be his puppet but he wouldn’t listen to any orders because of his arrogance in being the lizardman king. He would have just killed him directly if he could, but then the overseer would notice his actions.

Gul’sa Kai was smart enough to understand the consequences of not listening to his orders since his uncle was the perfect example. Taking one last glance at the pillar, D’yxsis walked through the portal he had come from.

|......|

“Are you sure you don’t want me to carry the ax, Jude?”

“I-it’s fine.”

I finally understand what it means when the curse says that I can’t use another weapon. It’s not that I can’t hold any other weapons but they become incredibly heavy. Gorou, Jill, and Mako offered to carry it but I didn’t want to burden them with it since we were almost to the top of the staircase already.

Just up ahead I could see the light of a campfire. It’s been an hour since we started climbing the pillar and all of us were tired.

“They’re here!”

“Are you guys ok!?”

We reunited with the other group and our mission was successful. There was still the same amount of people that we had when we had entered the green gas. Many of them had injuries but other than that they were safe. Donnel was happily enjoying his time with his family.

I couldn’t hold back my smile as William begins to explain the situation. There is a steel door that looks to be the exit but they hadn’t tried opening it yet. They wanted to wait for us and get Fifi’s opinion to see whether the door is safe, but before we could even talk anymore, a thump suddenly comes from the steel door. We quickly get in formation as the door creaks open.

“H-hello, is anyone there? I really hope it isn’t a ghost. Waahh!!”

As soon as the door opens, CZ’s eyeball stuns whoever or whatever came through. We were all ready to attack but we quickly realize that it was a human who had opened the door. More importantly, they were wearing a uniform similar to Cammy.

“Michelle, is that you!?”

“C-cammy!? It’s really Cammy!”

Cammy runs forward and hugs the girl who opened the door. We lower our weapons as Michelle and Cammy cry in each other’s arms. The girl was from one of the other group from Unit I that had come to explore Consal. She calms down and explains what happened to their group after they separated. 

“After your car disappeared we continued to run away from the creature that was throwing spears at us. We were in the fog for quite a long time and eventually, the attacks stopped coming but we were still lost. Hehe, you wouldn’t believe what happened next.”

“What?”

“We arrived at Consal but the town had changed. Oh, we’re about to reach the exit, don’t be too surprised.”

The group heads out of the dark room and sunlight shines down on all of us. The building we were just in was resting on top of a hill and looking over the town. Shock filled everyone’s face as we looked at the town, it wasn’t ordinary. There was a mismatch between the buildings and roads of the town. Some of the buildings were modern while some were mud huts, and there were asphalt roads but also mud roads. It was like the modern era had been mashed together with a primitive era.

“Are those frogmen?”

“Yep, and you can put your weapons down. They’re nice people.”

“Oh, ok.”

Our group walks by a blue-colored frog who was standing on two legs. Michelle greets him and he replies back in broken English. Many of the people we saved were shaking in fear because they had been traumatized by the lizardmen, but these frogmen seemed nice. We walk through the town and I could see regular humans conversing with the frogmen. There were stalls set up where the frogmen and humans were selling and trading items.

“Donnel, is that you? Where have you been?”

“Uh, hey Ant. What’s going on? What are these frogmen?”

“Oh, don’t worry. We were afraid of them at first but they are nice.”

The sight of the town was shocking but humans and monsters coexisting were even more shocking to the group. It didn’t feel too unnatural with me because I’ve been living with Fifi but for the regular citizens it must feel weird to see their friends and family interacting with monsters. Considering what they’ve been through I think it’s going to take them a while to adjust to this lifestyle.

“Hey, we’ve found people that came out of the dungeon.”

Before we follow Michelle into the building, William allows the regular citizens to go back to their homes or to look for their friends and family. Another member from Unit I guides them while Michelle takes us inside of a room. There was a pretty lady with long curly blond hair, a green frogman, and a red frogman sitting across from each other. They were looking at a map but their attention turns towards us as we enter.

“Kayla, you’re safe! Master was worried about.”

“Oh, hey Gareth. Did Master send you?”

“Don’t just “hey” me. Do you know how worried we were? Sicily had even come crying to me because you had not come back from your mission.”

“Ahaha, sorry. Oh, William’s here too.”

 “I still see you’re the same as always.”

Kayla was a bright and energetic person. I look at Gorou and the others, and they were just as surprised at the situation as I was. Gareth who was always quiet and never showed his emotions was talking so expressively to Kayla. Even Ken, Rachel, and CZ were surprised at this side of Gareth and they’ve been in the Unit longer than us. They must be close friends for him to show so many emotions towards her.

“Are these your newbies? Hmm, nice. I can see why Madam Justice was so interested in them.”

Her bright blue eyes observe each one of us and when she stares at me, Fifi presses her hands onto my head. She chants some kind of magic that covers my body and Kayla’s eyes were full of shock as she stares.

“Please don’t stare at my newbies like that. Even if you’re Observant Eye Kayla, you should have some restraint.”

“Hehe, sorry Willliam, I just got curious.”

She avoids William’s scrutinizing gaze in a cutesy manner and the discussion begins. William explains everything that has happened to us so far and Kayla explains her side. It wasn’t much different from what Michelle explained to us but it was more in-depth. When they arrived in Consal they were on the verge of attacking the frogmen but the humans living here had stopped them. 

From the citizens’ explanation, the frogmen started appearing about a month and a half ago. At that time citizens were mysteriously disappearing but one day, the citizens woke up to Consal being covered in a deep fog. The fog slowly lifted itself and they realized that part of the town had been merged with the frogmen’s village and isolated from the outside world. The dense fog wouldn’t invade this part of the town but the rest of the town is a lost cause.

They would try to leave the fog but many never returned. From the account of those who made it back, there was a swamp with mysterious creatures living there. Seeing that there was no way out, they began investigating the mud huts and that was when they discovered the frogmen.

“There were tensions between the two groups at first but these two frogmen were the first ones to reach out to the citizens.”

“Nice to meet you, I’m Gimboo.”

“I’m Quobon.”

“It was a rough first encounter but these two took the time to interact with the citizens through gestures. Eventually, these two learned our language and communicated with the citizens.”

“Yes, it was quite a difficult period but our side was panicking just as much as them. Just like the humans of Consal, we don’t understand how our village got here.”

The two begin to explain their side and the more I listened to it, it sounded out of this world. There crops and farm animals were things I never heard of, and their experience with humans was different from the humans we knew of. The humans they have previously met before seemed to know how to use magic and also seemed to have spoken a different language.

“I think this is a big discovery, William. We didn’t know why the appearance of monsters spiked in recent years but I think the appearance of the frogmen village is a clue to finding our answer. It might sound crazy but I think monsters are appearing from other worlds.”

“Hmm, I see. That’s a theory that has been proposed but now there’s concrete evidence with the frogmen’s statement. It would be a huge discovery if we let FUUI now but that’s a problem for later. Have you found a way to escape from the fog?”

“Unfortunately, no. Getting into the town from the outside is relatively easier but trying to escape is difficult. We have to navigate through the dense fog and avoid those monsters in the swamp, but with your guys’ help, we may be able to find a way.”

The discussion continues but my eyelids were becoming heavy. I was trying to pay attention to the conversation but my body was out of energy. I haven’t had any rest since ever since we entered the lizardman village and so much has happened since then.

“Jude, are you ok?”

“Sorry, I’m just a little tired.”

“Ahaha, sorry. You guys haven’t had any rest since you got here, have you. Go on over next door, there should be extra rooms.”

“Alright, you guys can go and rest. Gareth and I will continue our discussion with Kayla.”

Mako grabs me by the arm and we head on over to the next building over which looks like a hospital. The others decide to explore the town so it was only Mako and I who entered the building. We each got our own room and my body was filled with exhaustion and pain as I lay down on the bed.