The explosions near the entrance eventually stopped, as the dark dragon retreated further away. Only then did Luthera and her party feel brave enough to come out of hiding. They couldn't miss this chance to escape before it returned!

But once outside, it became obvious this rampage was far from over.

Outpourings of flames, along with other explosions could still be heard all across the valley. Melted rocks and other debris littered the pathway, there was even a scalding boulder obstructing their path. It took several beatings from the barbarian's axe before the boulder was sliced through.

From then on, things only became more difficult.

Traversing the valley that had suddenly transformed to a hellish place full of cinder and ash was hazardous to say the least. Travelling through broken ridge sections, scalding melted rock, sudden rock falls and other loose sands - a single misstep spelled danger.

Also...there were the monsters to be wary of as well. Suddenly the place that had been empty was full of creatures.

Barely discernible through the thick smoke, many shadows were glimpsed moving through the noxious air, their hellish sounds made all the more terrifying in the scorching heat.

Luthera wasn't sure where they all emerged from, but under the cover of the smoke and chaos, the monsters didn't seem to have noticed them. They passed silently without paying them any attention, drawn towards the many fires burning all over the valley.

This gave Luthera the confidence to continue.

By her estimate they could reach the spot the dark mist retreated to in less than a day, if they moved quickly. However, that all changed when the dark dragon suddenly stopped its rampage.

Over in the dragon's direction, there were no more explosions and as they sped along the ridge everything fell silent and became still.

What was happening?

Suddenly, Luthera felt very vulnerable and exposed. The monsters had quietened down and the only sound accompanying their footsteps were the flickering flames - even their breathing sounded loud.

She felt something wasn't right so, she ordered them all to stop before peering around warily.

But then, a loud screech echoed through the smoke, sounding extremely close.

"Draw your weapons!" Luthera screamed in response.

A warning that came too late.

All kinds of monsters were dropping in to attack them from within the smoke. Luthera lunged at the first, succeeding in kicking it off the ridge before it could land, but faced with so many, their small party was soon overwhelmed on the narrow ridge.

Aetoris swung his longsword in what little space he had, while Fennelis was shooting down the creatures as they came. The barbarian had already cleaved a sizable monster in half, and when it didn't die, he repeatedly struck it with its axe until all its body was decimated, before moving on to another.

Rodin had his infantry in formation around Luthera, his lightning sword dealing damage to the monsters at close range. It was like she had been plunged into a war zone. With no other choice, she dealt decisive blows against the bloodthirsty monsters, aiming to incapacitate rather than kill.

Facing the persistent creatures, while fighting the effect of flames she now realised were toxic, was another disadvantage that made every member of her team get exhausted quickly and she chanted a series of recovery spells to aid them while she attacked yet another monster.

But in all the chaos, there was one person missing in action - the burnt thief.

But while she was fighting, she glimpsed the man emerge from the shadows, his agile form moving purposefully towards the barbarian.

Luthera grimaced in rage.

This fool! How could he be thinking of revenge right now?

Fortunately, Fennelis who was closer spotted him first, burying his monster with a series of arrows before shooting the blade out of the thief's hand to try and stop him.

But rather than stopping, the thief switched targets to Fennelis instead, attacking him before he released another arrow. It ended up becoming a scuffle that opened a dangerous gap in their formation, which the monsters were only too eager to take advantage of.

Soon, both Aetoris and the barbarian found themselves holding back too many creatures by themselves. And just when Fennelis managed to pin his insane opponent down, the burnt man retrieved another knife, slicing him in the stomach, before kicking him down the chasm in a moment of surprise - right onto the path of a winged creature that promptly snatched him away.

Luthera's eyes widened in horror, and as the creatures numbers increased, she hacked away at her own monster, killing it quickly before they were completely overrun. But just then, she heard the barbarian's furious cry and saw a blade embedded in his shoulder.

In a moment of rage, she sliced off the head of a monster, just as she heard Rodin shouting at her. However, before she could look, a long serpent-like object struck her hard across the back. The impact made her lose her footing, and she fell from the narrow ridge, into the chasm below.

It wasn't the dragon, but a massive camouflaged creature that had scaled the wall behind them before attacking her. As she fell, the figures of her party rounded together to fight it before the smoke obscured her view.

Luthera's body throbbed with pain, and she forced herself into a ball to soften her descent, wincing as rocks and numerous debris tumbled past her.

Suddenly, she stopped feeling the ground and when she opened her eyes, she was astonished to find herself soaring in mid air, holding on to nothing.

Her eyes went wide and she was frozen stiff.

She was clearly sitting on something with a smooth feel, but the only thing she could see was smoke.

Granted, she was terrified, but it seemed even more dangerous to try to prod the thing carrying her.

However, she didn't fly for long.

The invisible thing stopped on the edge of an alcove, flipping sideways before she could even blink, and to her surprise, Luthera found herself tumbling across a smooth slope, before sinking through an opening in the rocks.

When she came to, it was in a strange place. It was clearly some kind of cave, but she couldn't tell how spacious it was because it was completely dark.

The roof allowed only a sliver of purple light to filter in, and the moment she looked up, large plumes of smoke were blown away as a winged shadow soared over the opening.

It looked exactly like that dragon! And Luthera unconsciously hugged the cave wall to hide herself.

But not even a moment after, the shadow flew by again, and again, making Luthera extremely fearful.

Fortunately for her, it did not come close to the cave's opening and her loudly beating heart began to settle. But then, another sound soon caught her attention.

Luthera thought she was mistaken, because it sounded like laughter, and it wasn't long before she realized there was something inside the cave with her.

"Fennelis?" She called out warily.

But there was no response.

To her horror, Luthera realised the satchel containing her amulet was no longer by her side, the space around her waist noticeably empty. So she searched around on the ground, only to see a pair of red eyes floating above an intense patch of darkness in the corner.

Luthera immediately fell back with a scream as the thing approached her, but when a fierce roar sounded out from above, the creature stopped much to her surprise.

A demon? An abomination? What was it?

Luthera held her ground, refusing to feel fear even when the creature's menacing aura threatened to rip her to shreds. She readied her most powerful spell [Purifying Light], a holy spell that could repel the most powerful dark creature.

But nothing happened.

Somehow it refused to activate, like she was completely devoid of magic!

It was then it dawned on her how much danger she was in.

She backed away, wishing she hadn't lost her weapon in the fall.

Yet, before she could react, darkness filled her vision, taking with it her ability to see and feel.

It only lasted for a second, but by the time she could see again, the red eyed monster was gone and so was the dark dragon.

She was sprawled in an unsightly pose on the ground and when she looked down, her robes had been sliced open, her body covered in marks like she had just been thoroughly searched, and Luthera screamed in horror.

It was only a moment after, that she realised the storage ring she wore as a pendant around her neck was missing too.

How dare it!

She'd never been this enraged in her 118 years of existence.

How could a monster touch her so shamelessly?!

Luthera hugged her chest as she trembled. She'd never been this embarrassed before in her life. It didn't even occur to her that she was lucky to still be alive. All she could think was wanting that monster's head presented to her on a spike.

Where was it?!

She fumbled through the darkness, searching until her hands grasped her fallen satchel.

It too was now strewn open but luckily its contents remained.

Had that monster also been rifling through her things?!

As she reached for her amulet, intending to complain to her master. It too began to vibrate, and the crystal clear voice of Grandmaster Lotherin suddenly filled the cave.

"What progress you have made in locating the Godesse's relic?" Her master asked, seemingly with all the patience in the world.

For a moment Luthera was stunned. Thoughts of how she wanted to kill the creature for touching her, suddenly seemed juvenile. Her anger from earlier melted away and she began to relay her experience from the moment she discovered the dark valley, up until the current moment.

"The darkness pulled away after you fought this pair of monsters?" Grandmaster Lothrein asked.

"Yes, Master."

"And this other monster turned invisible, drained all your magic, robbed you of your senses, and also stole your dimensional ring?"

Luthera swallowed nervously. Hearing all this back, made her sound so incompetent.

She knew just how far-fetched it seemed. Perhaps her master thought she hit her head too hard when she fell.

Yet, she couldn't lie to him.

"Yes, Master." She replied with her head lowered.

Yet, instead of scolding her, she heard one of her master's rare laughs.

"Are you sure this wasn't the same creature that attacked you?"

Luthera shook her head. "It's not possible. This one was bigger, and more powerful, it also had the aura of a demon from the Abyss."

Grandmaster Lothrein laughed.

"Magnificent! I want you to go after them, I'll send you reinforcements. Those two must become part of my collection."

What?!

"B-But Master, what about the Goddess's relic?" Luthera stuttered in panic. She knew her master was prone to the occasional flight of fancy, but this was too extreme. The Goddesses relic was nearly in their grasp!

Just what was he thinking to suddenly divert her quest?

"The Goddess can wait. Potential Hybrid specimens cannot!"

"But Master!"

With that, her amulet went dead and Luthera was left staring at nothing in the dark cave.