"Listen! I am aware that none of us are acquainted with each other but as of now, we have to work together should we want to get out here alive!"
A strong and firm voice reverberated through the dome. The source was a tier two expert identified as Nichye. He was on the second array.
He had a demanding and imposing presence as by looking at his clothes alone, one could deduce that he was with the church.
Some upon realizing this were happy while others were grim. As to how a church member found himself in this scenario, some may have perceived it as naivety but he saw it as doing what was right.
He had been told by a little girl that her family was in danger in the woods. His heroic act and lack of experience didn't make him think much of it and as soon as he left the kingdom walls, he was assaulted with the wave and fell unconscious.
Regardless his presence brought a sense of security and reassurance with those present.
"It is apparent that this is a tier three barrier thus we can't break it through brute force! We would have to find faults with it."
Another chimed in. "But what if we do escape the barrier, we would still have to deal with the demons present in this cave. Some of them are of higher tiers than us!"
"And besides, wouldn't they just use that trick that they had played and made us fall unconscious once more?"
People fell silent as they heard this. Not to mention they hadn't even the slightest he if where they were should they even manage to escape. So far they were at an extreme disadvantage.
They knew that the voice was right however Ashley wasn't planning on playing the hero. So far, the pretentious act of playing the knight wasn't with her beliefs and logic.
She was a murderer in both her past life and this one as well thus the sudden emergence of saving people for no good reason was out of character.
"You really think that you will see the light of day ever again?" Some demons taunted as they saw their attempt on escaping. They had most of the advantages present, power, information and craftiness.
*Snap*
A soft snap which was followed by the shattering of the barrier followed. Everyone present was perplexed the moment this happened.
'Were the demons planning on toying with their emotions or was this an accident?' Most thought but not planning on waiting, some scrambled, trying to find an exit while others readied themselves for a clash.
"How did the barrier fail!?!" Gyles spoke in frustration and disbelief as this spectacle came into view.
The demons that once had been mocking on the captives all fell silent. Most of them had tier one levels with few of them being tier two.
"Let those who have no tiers step back and those who have tiers advance and fight!!" Nichye shouted and shortly after, a clash emerged between the two parties.
The sounds and screams rang through the cave as blood pasted itself on the floor and the walls of the cave. Ashley however looked around as she seemed oblivious to what was transcending around her.
She looked at the demons before her eyes managed to land on a specific target. She was dressed in a bizarrely underdressed black leotard that tightly clung onto her body.
She seemed unbothered by her mode of dressing as she looked down at the fiasco that was happening.
She was on a platform that looked down on the people present. Ashley tilted her head before a small smile appeared on her face. Those present seemed unable to perceive it.
As the battle continued to unfold, the humans seemed to continue to fall to a disadvantage all the more despite the morale provided by Nichye.
He was a light user, using beams of light to attack the demons. He would charge beams of light before shooting them in the general direction of those vile demons.
The women and children were forced to witness the clash that would mentally scar them for life.
As another snap occurred from Ashley, the platform where the other demons observed the fight transcend, another figure managed to manifest itself there.
"Hello." Ashley said calmly as she looked at the demons in front of her. They were all perplexed with her appearance there.
For her to realize that they were there, that would mean that she was at least a tier four expert.
They looked at each other before one of them managed to speak up.
"Who are you?!" They glanced at her figure, trying to figure out what they could distinguish about her but other than her cloak which they found normal about, there was nothing else.
"I'm here for information. So if I could get it as soon as possible, then I'll be out of your hair." She said calmly as she looked at them.
The lady stepped forward. Looking at how she presented herself, it was clear that she was the leader of this little club here.
Ashley tilted her head slightly as she tried to gauge her memories without her even realizing it. "Well isn't this interesting." She mumbled beneath her breathe.
The lady on the other hand was stupefied as Ashley simply stood there without making a move and as if to answer her inquiry, Ashley spoke up.
"You wouldn't happen to know someone called Andrew, would you?" Eloise stood puzzled before replying, "No, I don't know anyone by that name!"
In an instant, Ashley closed the distance between them within the blink of an eye startling Eloise. She was about to withdraw her weapon but her body simply froze in place, unyielding to the commands given by her mind.
"This should work." Ashley said as ominous tentacles emanated from her palm. Eloise was overcome by fear as she saw this. A cold sweat running down her forehead but helpless as she was, her subordinates didn't dally.
"We may not know who you are but we simply can't stand watch as you kill one of our ow-" Before the demon that was ranting could finish, his figure turned into a pillar of mist, black blood splattering everywhere.
A barrier had coalesced around Ashley this the blood didn't land on her figure as she went on with her business.
As the ominous tentacles wrapped on her figure, Eloise could feel her life slip through her own fingers.
"Mmmh... I guess you don't know..." Ashley mumbled as she carelessly browsed through Eloise's mind. The consequences were dire as Eloise ran the risk of death which was dire but other problems were present.
Such as having her mind turned into a vegetative state similar to being lobotomized, her tier could be compromised in the process.
But callous as Ashley was, she didn't mind the consequences that happened to this vile demons provided she got what she wanted. Her expression immediately changed to that of shock as a certain figure flashed through her mind.
"I've finally found you. You're acting as Orsen..." Using the memory back at the guild, she decoded his name using the name that was mentioned by the clerk at the front.
And with that, she had no further use of Eloise to which she realized that she stood motionless after withdrawing her tentacles.
*Bam*
Her figure instantly collapsed as it was subjected to an insurmountable pressure as the smell of black blood permeated through the air.
As for her subordinates, she couldn't care less about them as she looked back down at the fight that had already come to a climax. The demons were starting to lose.
"To think that that lady was actually a demon!!" Disgruntled voices came from those who were soaked in blood of both theirs and that of their own comrades.
They had to be careful as the blood of demons could corrupt their mana pools and render them mortals in the best outcome, if not they could be plagued by an unknown disease that would slowly eat them away till they died.
For that, Nichye had coated them with light barriers that acted as membranes shielding them from it. Ashley however wanted more information about Orsen thus she decided to launch an all-out attack on everyone present.
Picking them one by one would take too long thus she opted to devour everyone to save time.
The demons realizing that they would eventually lose in this ordeal, they decided to retreat and escape the cave revealing the exit.
"Finally! There is the exit!" Nichye said as excitement and relief was apparent on his face. "Let the-" Before he could finish his statement, he could feel an eerie aura emanated from above him.
Everyone could feel it and looking up, they saw a lady, and her facials otherworldly as a hazy elegant lily flower enveloped her entire figure.
A dark and bad foreboding premonition loomed over everyone present as they saw this.
"Run!!!" Nichye advises as he saw this. Unlike the vile aura demons had, this had a darker tint to it. He had never sensed such an evil presence in his entire life than this.
'How could she have such a terrible aura hanging around her if she's human? Or maybe she isn't!' Nichye thought as everyone made it towards the exit however another scene played out.
Numerous dark vines spread out in all directions as they made anything that contained life a target. Regardless of it being human it demon, they were all hunted down.
"Argghh!!" As the bloodcurdling screams permeated through the air, souls were hoisted up into the air. She wasn't a picky when it came to this. For her, this could be classified as a personal hobby at this point laced with malevolence and a hint of sadism.
They all became absorbed with the roots that spread out failing to discriminate age or race. Some tried to fight against it by launching physical projectiles at it while others launched mana based.
The physical projectiles were immediately turned into powder while the mana based ones were devoured regardless of the magnitude.
Nichye tried to cast his most potent spell on her.
<>
Like a cow dropped in the river, the beam seemed to have no effect on her before his soul was scooped up as well. As for those who had managed to leave ahead of time, they weren't safe either as they took were hunted down.
Fifteen minutes later, the once bustling clashing arena was now completely dead, drowning in silence. Ashley simply rummaged through the memories that were in her mind.
'He had opened a potion shop, made almost no sales and... What is this?' She speculated as she sat in a meditation position.
'He found an assistant but he was later convicted of murder but somehow managed to avoid it.'
'It was realized that he wasn't the actual Orsen but rather a shape shifter and hunted down. From then on, he was reported missing.'
Realizing that he was yet to be found could conclude that he had already left the kingdom.
'He seemed to have a relationship with the Scarletborne family. The head and Victoria are already dead leaving Lirien. She might know where he is.'
She then proceeded to look around before finding an appropriate carriage she could take. It was loaded with resources such as food and other essentials like clothing and others.
And with that, she made her way out if the cave, using the knowledge she had acquired from Eloise, she was adept with the various roads and how to get to Aurorise much quicker.
'It also seems that these demons are also readying for war. From what I gathered from Eloise, it would seem that they kidnap people and perform experiments to them.'
'This Queen is certainly ruthless.' She scoffed it off as she started to make her way to Aurorise. As for the bodies, they all lay perfectly unharmed, but completely motionless.
No doubt there would be investigations about this but already covering her traces, she didn't mind it much and proceeded with her journey.
Luckily for her, Aurorise wasn't that far and could make it there within a day, provided no obstacles presented themselves.
The reason why she was able to the travel so quick was due to her time dilation accelerant. She would hasten the time around her making her traverse faster but if not, then it would take her a month to make it to Aurorise.