The party used speed to their advantage. They never stayed in one location for too long as that could attract multiple groups of mobs. Their strategy of luring and using surprise to their advantage continued. However, the number of enemies was increasing. 

At the same time, the energy in the dungeon became more dense. The walls were covered with even more of that fleshy red material. It crept along all the surfaces, resembling the roots of a tree. 

The worst part was that they had to be careful not to trip over the irregular surface. Luckily, the group also obtained new equipment.

 

While seemingly useless, the items were perfect for morale given the student’s backgrounds. Of course, Alex was annoyed at the items. He would have complained if the three women didn’t give him death stares. He looked genuinely scared for a moment. Gawain gave his characteristic laugh, but even he seemed slightly disappointed. 

There was also a variety of things like stamina recovery potions, repair dust, and ammo for the Staff of Iron — which they now had two of. Stephen carried the second one, while Sophia kept the first. 

Finally, the group had gathered a bit over a hundred monster cores over several more hours. The party could have gone to the third floor, where the armory was located, but they ultimately remained on the second floor. It was best to narrow the distance before moving further down. 

Ding. 

 

“Does that mean we are in the southwest part of the island?” Gawain asked.

“The dungeon seems to line up with the academy’s subdivisions, so yes. The bridge to the mainland shouldn’t be that far if we started to go to the surface now. ”   

Death.

Stephen frowned. He heard the voice at the back of his head again; however, the information existed outside of Stephen’s conscious knowledge, so he couldn’t derive the reasoning behind the ill-omened prophecy. In this case, the ‘monster’ that Stephen saw was the most likely reasoning, but it wasn’t something that was completely verifiable. 

“What is wrong?”

“No, I’m fine.”

There were five armories in total, and the one Stephen was trying to get to was the one in Area B. There were also three bridges that connected the Academic District to the Metropolis of Hammer Port. While the armory of Area B wasn’t directly under a bridge, there was a direct access exit point in the armory that led to the outside of one of the bus depots.  

There was the option of using the sea, but every time his mind wandered in that direction the voice inside him kept screaming death. 

Without warning, the hairs on the back of Stephen’s neck stood up. 

Something is hunting. Following. Prowling. Move. Now. Can’t hide yet. 

Stephen's feet left the ground before he could even process the voice. His eyes darted in every direction. He controlled his breathing.

Alex reached his hand towards the air. “What the fuck!” 

Until this point Alex was leading the front of the group, while Stephen gave various directions. However, seeing Stephen’s current actions, Alex could only chase after Stephen’s figure before he disappeared. The rest followed.

Several minutes passed and the entire group was panting. They ran without holding back and without asking questions — mainly because they would have been left behind if they wasted their breath. 

The same roar that they had been hearing echoed through the tunnels. It sounded like it was right behind them — somewhere in the darkness.  

It’s laughing. 

“How is it… that close!” Sophia panted. Her ears were twitching, moving almost as rapidly as Stephen’s eyes. 

“I’m going to throw up.” Ravenna cried, “I shouldn’t have drank so much…”

Stephen ignored them. A sense of vertigo assaulted him. The room was practically shaking and everything was blurry. Yet, his eyes continued to move, scanning every detail. His feet stretched out.

Don’t trip.

“Don’t trip.” Stephen repeated the voice he heard aloud without thinking.  

“Haha…”

He ignored Gawain’s laugh and continued to think. 

‘Where am I even going? What is this voice…?’

Stephen could not answer these questions.

‘Since when…’

The fear and uncertainty of something controlling his actions further ate away at Stephen’s consciousness. Everything grew dark.

Focus. It is drawing a net. We have to make it through the gap before it is too late. 

“Drink.” A cold voice escaped Stephen’s lips. He threw stamina recovering potions to the members of the group as needed. He continued to dart through various side passages. 

Growls, shrieks, and the sounds of feet continued to close in from all directions. Occasionally, lights would flicker from a side passage. Sometimes nothing happened and other times something would pounce around the corner.

Stephen held his knife with one hand and his gun with the other. Without stopping, he would plunge the knife into one enemy and shoot another. The dark blood constantly splashing in the air would immediately turn into speckles of light. 

“Duck.”

Without hesitating and without waiting, Stephen fired bullets over his shoulder. 

“Hahahahaha.”

“Holy fuck.”

“D-d-d-darling…”

“Oh holy sun of the empire,” the quiet Princess prayed, “Please don’t scar my pretty face.”

“What did something just pass me?” Ravenna, the only one composed from such actions, burped.

 

Various messages flooded Stephen’s screen. He didn’t stop. He wasn’t aware of how much time passed. His entire body felt sticky. With his heightened sense, he felt every droplet of sweat running down his skin.

Stephen burst into a side room after they escaped the net that was enclosing in on them. 

‘Hundreds. Thousands. How many of them are there?’

“Inside.”

The entire group collapsed. Stephen activated the scented candles and the Artifact of Hygiene. Instantly, the sweaty smell that tickled his nose turned into a mild floral scent. Stephen closed the door and collapsed against a wall. His hands were shaking, but he managed to unscrew the gap of the last stamina potion and pour it down his throat. 

The fire in neck dissipated and his vision slowly returned. A sweet taste lingered on his lips. He licked around his mouth a couple times. 

Escaped or let go? Temporary. It has tasted the thrill of the hunt. Fighting is the only option.  

Stephen curled the tips of his fingers. Then he stretched out his toes. Everything was normal again. 

‘Let’s rest for now… but first…’

“We need to strip.”

The tension in the room lessened at the cost of everyone giving Stephen weird looks. Gawain squirmed and covered his body with his hands.

“I, I… I am a virgin.” Tears ran down Gawain’s eyes.

Stephen frowned and spoke before anyone else could add anything, “We need to be sure no one was bitten.”

“Shit… and I thought we were about to have a wild orgy after almost dying,” Ravenna sighed in disappointment. 

Gawain wore an urgent expression and had been about to speak when Ravenna made that remark. He stopped himself. Gave her a confused look of disgust.

“What…”

Gawain ignored her and turned to Stephen.

“I’m sure—”

Stephen glared at Gawain, causing him to stop talking.

“Alright but I don’t want the women to see…”

“W, what… I was just joking.” Ravenna scratched the side of her neck, “Why do I feel like no one believes me.” 

“Sophia… no peeking.” Stephen said. 

“Tsk.” Sophia clicked her tongue. Despite the displeasure written on her face, Stephen noticed that her ears were constantly twitching, even after they escaped. 

Stephen was able to visualize the threat utilizing his ability. If he transcribed that into solely auditory information then he could get a picture of Sophia’s perspective.

The heavy palpitations of the heart would be drumming in her ears, mixed with the throng of thousands of feet crashing, echoing against the ground, closing in, constantly growing closer.  

‘I should spoil her later…’ 

“We can take different corners of the room,” Stephen looked at Mel, “Can you handle those two?”

Mel’s eyes seemed to sparkle and she nodded her head with strong motions. By the time Stephen made it to their corner of the room, Alex was already in his underwear… and he was flexing.

“This is what a man looks like,” Alex smirked while continuing to pose.

‘This is… too much. I almost forgot I’m surrounded by foolish children.’

Despite being a magic user, his lean body was filled with muscles. If one didn’t take his mannerisms into consideration, then he gave off a mature, rugged look. His rough looking face, long and ragged hair, and his scruffy beard that was developing reinforced this image.

On the other hand, Gawain had delicate skin that was completely pale. His shoulder length blond hair was a mix of gold and silvery white. It looked silky and smooth. He was still hiding his chest with his shirt, but it was obvious that he was thin. Still, a bit of developed muscle could be seen.

Stephen took his shirt off next. He didn’t flex like Alex, but he still made sure that the other two knew their place… err… saw that he was free of any injuries. 

“My father made me train a bit… but it is nothing compared to you two.”

“Hmph. Because you acknowledge my superior physique… I wouldn’t mind giving you a hand in training…”

“Haha thanks…”

Stephen noticed the other corner of the room was quiet. 

‘Are they listening?’

Gawain moved closer to Stephen and lowered his shirt completely. He was in a position where Alex couldn’t see clearly. Various bite marks could be seen in inconspicuous places on the front of his body.

Stephen raised his eyebrows.

“I think… just maybe you would be able to understand.” Gawain whispered softly.

Just as the man was about to put back on his shirt someone turned him around. It was Ravenna. At first she had a drunk, lecherous look of a man-eater, but it quickly became serious.

“What’s this?” She pulled on Gawain’s skin and pointed at one of the bite marks. 

Gawain gave an uncharacteristic frown. He slapped her hand away. Anger that couldn’t be hidden entered his eyes. Stephen looked at Mel. She refused to look at him.

“Sorry…” Mel’s voice was like a soft whimper. He could barely hear it over Sophia’s hot breath. 

“What the fuck are these perverted whores doing?” Alex stood in front of Gawain, pushing Ravenna back a step. 

‘Oh.’ A bit of pride welled up inside of Stephen. 

“If you want some eye candy then you should be looking at me!”

‘Nevermind.’

“Dumbass can’t you see that he is bitten.”

“So? It’s not like we confirmed that…” Alex scratched his neck. Even he seemed self aware that the current situation didn’t look good.

Stephen sighed. “The bites are completely healed. Potions weren’t used. Rather, there are signs that the healing was done with the healing magic associated with the White Tower. And even considering that, the bites seem much older.”

Gawain still looked angry and added, “I often went on excursions to the demonic territories with my father, a senior paladin. We fought against undead monsters frequently. None of them possessed the curse that we are currently witnessing. Furthermore, I had mana to counter any lingering effects during that time period. Even if the dormancy period was months, my condition would be irrelevant to what the other students experienced. Based on the timeline, they all turned in quick succession of one another shortly after the System reset. Now, if you don’t mind, I'll put my clothes back on.”

“Go ahead,” Stephen said. 

Stephen and Alex also put their clothes back on. There was a heaviness to the room.

“I’m sorry.” Ravenna bowed at a 90 degree angle, “I’ll give you… some of my booze.”

“You… don’t have to bow… it’s fine…” Gawain declined the offer and sat down in a corner of the room. He seemed to be in a slightly better mood. It wasn’t often that nobles gave sincere bows or apologies to one another. Of course, he was still rattled.  

Stephen also sensed a hint of guilt. Even if it wasn’t relevant, the man was hiding something. For better or worse, Stephen decided not to pry into it for now. 

“Everyone get some rest. That thing is still out there.”

Everyone was stiff, but with those words they relaxed a little. It was like all the accumulated fatigue had caused them to crash all at once.

“Princess… a word.”

“I’m sorry…” 

“You're not to blame… is anyone—”

“Nope. All good.” She gave an awkward salute. A bit of remorse lingered on her face. 

“Alright get some rest. I’ll keep the first watch with Sophia.”

Stephen leaned his back against the wall and watched the door. Sophia snuggled up against him, oblivious to the lingering tension in the room. Her head rested on his shoulder. Stephen sighed and his thoughts drifted to all the events that had happened during the day.

In particular, his thoughts continued going back to the dream he experienced the previous night. He didn’t exactly remember anything. It was like there was a hole in his mind. There were just indescribable feelings that he was trying to comprehend.  

There was also a singular image, and in it Stephen was bowing to a shadowy figure, a demon. Corpses, some familiar, were scattered across the ground.