"That was dangerous. Shit those snakes were huge!" Mercenary Illiard yells with a shiver.

Somehow they managed to get away from those snakes.

Now they were a bit deeper into the forest.

After running into those snakes they only lost one person, leaving ten of them left.

"I'm beat, when will we take a break?" Mercenary Lilian asked.

"Guys, there seems to be a door surrounded by a stone wall blocking our path." Someone says in front of the group.

"A door, in a forest?" Mercenary Jameson asked pushing to the front.

Sure enough there was a door about three meters tall covered in dark green veins blocking their paths.

"Why the hell do I have this really bad feeling that this door is not normal?" Mercenary Timth asked with a frown.

They had this eerie feeling about the door but going back was not an option.

With even more dangers if they turned back it was best to continue ahead.

"We have no choice." The leader says.

Everyone else agreed.

For the remaining of that day they risked a night outside that door.

Even with the fact that it had not been long since they escaped from those monstrous snakes.

Even so they kept an hour shift to keep watch of their surrounding areas.

The Leader stayed alert all night, she was way more cautious than most, so she felt that it would be better to still keep her eyes open no matter what.

When dawn finally came about, the ten mercenaries stood before that big door.

"Here goes nothing." The Leader says lifting her arms to push the door open.

After this attempt many times, it didn't budge once.

"Damn, there's not a reaction at all!" Mercenary Jameson says after slashing it with his Great Longsword.

How tricky, looks like just entering won't be so simple.

Is what she was thinking before a bright light blinded them and the appearance of a something appeared before them.

"Oh my, don't be so impatient. If you wish to enter then just ask nicely." The being before them says with a crooked smile.

What the....??

While it looked human, it was clear that the aura coming from it was not as simple.

Besides, there's no way a human would appar before them like this.

The being was definitely not normal, that means they must be a demon or some kind of monster.

Judging from this feeling, it wasn't one she could defeat at her level.

"No need to look so scared. I'm just a messenger. You see, my Mistress wanted to congradulate you ten mercenaries for making it thus far and would like to grant you a gift." The being says pointing a finger up with a leer.

"Why should we accept the reward from your mistress? Is this some kind of trap?" The leader asked pointing her weapon towards the being.

There was a silence as the being studied the leader Mercenary before grinning a bit, though it wasn't genuine.

"I see. So this is why my mistress has high hopes for you. Your level is still inferior to mine but you have potential. I really hope that you don't disappoint my Mistress." The being says.

The mercenary leader have met many types of monsters in her life, but this once's level may be in the 200's.

It means that the mistress that it spoke of was probably no joke.

With her level only being at 60 after getting this far., she would have to agree that she couldn't beat this monster or it's mistress.

When she first started her level  was only 32 before entering this place, as for the others it was much lower.

The highest level mercenarie's around her right now, were Jameson, Illiard, Timth, and Lillian, with their levels being 40-50.

Of all the monsters they came across, the highest was the snake at level 45.

She didn't trust the words of something with a level that high, but there was nothing but her men that she could lose.

 

 

Female Lead's Perspective

 

"Looks lilke Almamad is doing well." I say sipping on the tea made by Roman.

Almamad, though she has the appearance of a human, she was really a succubus.

She was one of henchmen of the First Floor Guardian Yumo.

"Are you sure about giving such a low level bug that gift, my Mistress?" Knight Delmore asked.

Hmmm, right, he's actually a recent summon . A start of my personal guards for the throne room , that stays by my side. It was something Islacc begged me to do.

He's a warrior who's level exceeds all the guardians here, but he still does not hold a candle to Islacc.

Also, Delmore used to be human in his past life, but he's a very strong Ghoul now.

I wonder how Islacc's doing right now? It must be tough living in the wastelands.

"It should be no problem. Even if the gift is given to that human, it's of no concern. The gift will look grand in front of these mercenaries, since such a gift can stop Baslisk momentarily. " I say.

Though she won't be killed it would look as though she died. And then the mercenaries will finally be able to leave the area without loosing a single person in the group. But of course there is no use for this gift after that, that's the drawback.

"I really do hope that these guinea pigs do not disappoint. I think it would be especially fun to torture that big guy." Folia says entering the throne room.

She's also one of Yumo's henchman.

She had the appearance of a human as well, but one could not miss the curved horns on her head or the long pointed tail coming from her backside.

A demon of the ram clan, though she was not someone who has combat abilities, or even magic. She was still someone to fear.

Her specialty was torture, she adores it. It's even more exciting and attractive for her if her prey was a healthy and strong man.

The more they seem like they won't break, the better it is for her.

By the time those mercenaries get here their levels would surpass my demon-wolf's level.

But that's okay since this is also an experience to raise their levels as well. He won't die so easily with me here.

It was a really good idea to do this. I hope my guardians and their minions have fun with this bunch.

After the test there will be even more humans getting transported to the plains, or may even come on their own.

I smiled.

"Looks like the Mistress is satisfied." Knight Delmore says to me.

I beamed with bit of a leer as I looked into the viewing portal.

"Well, I guess you could say that." I say before taking a sip of my tea.

 

What kind of gift did Reesa giveto the mercenary leader?