"GUAAA!" "GRR" "Rawr!"

Beasts huge and small were tangled in an all-out battle royal, most of them knew not the reason this bloody slaughter began and the ones who did lost the perpetrator in the chaos

"Literally bloody idiots"

Standing in the open some distance from the battle he who lured the beasts into fighting each other was looking at them biting at each other in a bored mood while he waited for the others to arrive

'Master'

"Awuu!"

The thought came to his mind followed by a howl signalling the arrival of his followers

"Good girl"

He said patting her head gently much to her delight

By the side Mustela who was watching the sweet interaction felt that he shouldn't let what he sees affect his judgment, this simple-looking hound was somehow able to communicate with YuJu in a very precise manner to the point they didn't encounter a single enemy on the way

'How could someone so strong have weak followers, I must be getting old to make such amateur judgments'

Looking at the bloody battle going on to the side and Mustela felt even more useless, he would be lucky to survive in there if put everything he had into running, the fact that the man could lure them ever so casually meant he was way out of his league

"Let's get moving, they won't be bashing at each other for long"

Everyone nodded at his words, they wanted to get away from these feral beasts as fast as possible

It was a quiet journey to the stairs leading upward, Ellis didn't see anything worth asking about and YuJu was teaching Anput some words, Mustela on the other hand was wondering whether or not he could survive the next floor if they got there at all

"That is the way up Sir, it is guarded by only one creature but the creature is one of the most powerful of the Genus Insania, that thing never lets anyone in without permission from the leader"

"We will see about that"

Arriving before the entrance to the eighth floor the group saw a caved-in wall, no sign of any opening

"Allow me"

The hunched man walked forward and looked at the caved-in wall a little nervously, still he spoke with a tone free of any fear

"Mimi, please reveal yourself"

He requested but received no answer

"Before you stand three members of the black guards, reveal yourself and open us a passage"

He spoke to the wall like a crazy man, and just as you would expect he got no answer again

"...Open Mimi"

"Huaaa"

In response to his words this time the wall opened up, not sideways, not in half, but in the shape of a carnivorous flower's mouth, teeth lining up within the fleshly walls with a dark red cavity inside, apparently being the way up

"And Open I am, now be a nice treat and go inside"

A deep funny voice came from the wall, or plant, or whatever it was

"Show more respect, Mimi, we aren't your ordinary daily snack, no, I mean we aren't a snack, this Sir and his two followers are the leader and members of the new black guards, if you don't want to lose your life then open a passage"

"Didn't I already say I am Open? Just go in in"

"..."

Looking at the dark cavity of its mouth Mustela gulped, this was indeed the passage up but he wasn't sure he actually had the guts to step into it

"Mustela"

As if hearing the voice of his saviour Mustela turned around and gave YuJu the most loving eyes while answering with as gentle a voice he could ask

'Please say you're going in alone please do that please'

He prayed wholeheartedly

"Can I kill this one? It looks ugly"

"...."

"...."

Mustela aside even the large all creature had its mouth dro to the ground which caused the earth to tremble, ugly? How long has it been since it heard anything about aesthetics in this cruel and merciless world, as long as it was strong who cared if it was ugly? Also, who said it was ugly!?

"You're the leader? If you're so bold why not come close and let me take a look at you"

"Sir, Mimi is important to the Genus Insania since it is a very strong member, it would cause great turmoil if you were to kill it"

Mustela advised, both emphasising that it as strong as well as inform him that killing it is indeed out of the question

"There is no such thing, I'm such a weak plant that I was merely assigned as a guard, you should come close and check for yourself"

The thing said invitingly with its teeth wiggling in an attempt on acting cutely, that only worked against it making it look even more terrifying but then again who here was scared of a wall creature who couldn't move, well, who other than Mustela

"I take it you can't see?"

"Hmm? Do you see any eyes on this wall? If not then you have your answer"

"Oh, now I understand, I was wondering why you were acting all tough in front of us"

"?"

The plant was confused but this time Mustela wasn't, he instantly understood recalling that before him stood a vampire, if there was anything more terrifying than a flesh-devouring wall it was a blood-sucking vampire

YuJu didn't bother using words to convince the thing no more and motioned for Ellis with his head promoting her to lift her legging up and walk closer to the huge mouth

Mustela was confused, both as to why her legs were poisoned and what the hell she was doing

As she got closer the thing on the wall got ready to swallow her in one gulp and end this pesky beings life in front of its leader, let's see how ugly his expression would be then, though it couldn't really see

"You?!"

When Ellis was withing range and it was about to bite at her it felt her scent, that horrible scent sent its open mouth curling back almost to a close, it dared not let this horrible being inside it much less eat it

"That's more like it, you're finally acting as you should"

"But how?! You're not supposed to look like this"

"What, you can evolve but they cant? If you thought they wouldn't catch up just because they went crazy then your the one that is mad"

"....What do you want"

It asked directly, if there was anything ti could do to get this horrible nightmare of old from its vicinity it was willing to oblige

"Free passage"

"I will grant you one….if you give me your word as a black guard not to kill me or devoure my energy"

"You have my word as long as you don't pull anything funny"

With the promise the wall reluctantly opened up again giving them passage

YuJu took the lead to go through it followed by Ellis then Anput before the extremely hesitant and confused Mustela gave a sigh and followed as well

"Il hold you to your word"

The wall creature reminded knowing that promises didn't really work in this world but hoping that it would stop them with their supposed high rank

"Don't you worry"

He comforted and quickly made his way out the damp place, he was more anxious than it since he really couldn't save everyone from here if it somehow decided to squeeze them

When they were finally out the other end everyone gave a relieved sigh, whether it's in their mind or very openly into the air, it was never pleasant to be inside someone's maw like a prey waiting to be swallowed

The wall then closed behind them hastily as if afraid they would renege the deal and attack it anyway

"Give us a tour Mustela"

"Yes Sir.."

With his hunched self as the lead, they started walking inside the eighth floor which hadn't seen many outsiders in the last century

As they walked silently Mustela kept debating whether or not to ask about what happened back there, after much thought he shoved all the questions out of his mind and decided that it didn't matter, whatever it was he couldn't ask in the enemy's territory even though the enemy seemed to be in on it as well, he would also be overstepping his boundary by asking

'I'm just glad to keep my life, perhaps it is due time I retire from my position'