"GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAUGHHHHHH!"

[QUEST: Survive]

Well, well, well. I wonder what this could be.

I mean, I do know that this is the roar of a monster, but wasn't this supposed to be a puzzle type dungeon where there were no monsters?

Ah, right, there was a Guardian protecting the young Shadowlord.

Interesting.

"I assume that's the Guardian you were talking about."

"…Yes."

"I don't remember you informing us that the Guardian was a monster."

By his confidence, I had taken the Guardian to be some kind of knight or something. I definitely wasn't expecting it to be a mindless monster.

"It doesn't matter. It won't harm us because we meet the requirements."

"I'm kinda curious, but what are the requirements?"

What exactly do we need to have for the monster to allow us passage and abduct I mean forcibly adopt the little Shadowlord? And more importantly, what kind of monster is guarding the Shadowlord?

That roar clearly did not belong to a Shadow or I would have understood it as I know their language.

"This." Azell took something out from his breast pocket.

It was some sort of old medallion, with the symbol of Shadows in its centre.

"And this is?"

"The Guardian won't harm anyone as long we have this medallion."

"Nice."

At least I'm not in danger of being eaten- wait, that means I still have to deal with these two dumbfucks. Shit.

"Then… don't you think the mature thing to do here would be to deal with this… Guardian first?" I asked the two of them. "I'm sure we can discuss how to kill me after this situation is dealt with."

"First of all, no one's killing anyone." Noelle said after sheathing her sword.

"Seriously? You guys are so unprofessional."

"What?"

"I mean that's nice to hear because I'm a normal boi who values his normal life, just like other normal people do." I gave her my signature smile.

"…"

"…"

Geez, these guys are so stuck up.

Like what, is this your first time meeting someone who wants to die because you guys are such assholes? Grow up, mate.

"Shall we?" I asked while pointing towards where the roar came from.

"…Follow me."

Azell pocketed the medallion and made his way deeper into the dungeon.

That's where the roar came from, and I'm assuming that's where the infantile Shadowlord is.

Given our intentions, this mission is actually quite simple. We go in, show the medallion to the Guardian, respectfully take the Shadowlord and then bail.

What could possibly go wrong, am I right? It's not like the one we're trying to kidnap is literally the Symbol of authority and power of one the dominant races of this World who'll try to get back the said Symbol at all costs. Let's go.

We made our way in and for the second time of the day, our journey was quite uneventful. I was expecting some sort of traps or puzzles, but no, this dungeon was dead-set on being a disgrace to the dungeon community.

The dark cavern we were going through (which was lit by the torch I was carrying) ended in an opening through which light was streaming in.

Something else was also entering through the mouth of the cave; aura. The so-called Guardian waiting for us was releasing a bloodlust in order to intimidate us, as if it was waiting for a battle of life and death.

Man, I sure hope Azell knows what he's doing because I cannot see this ending well. I suppose I'll just prepare myself for a fight. I sure am glad that I carved out new Mana Circuits before coming here.

Azell looked back at us before entering, to which we silently nodded to show that we were ready.

Taking that as the cue, Azell stepped in through that opening. Like sheep following their shepherd, we stepped in too.

"Woah…" Noelle gasped at the sheer majesty of the place we were in.

Contrary to what one would expect of a dreary, third-rate dungeon, the room- no, the 'Throne Room' we were in was, in simple terms, grandiose.

The Throne Room was cubical in shape (how original) with each of its sides measuring somewhere between 400-500 metres.

Large Mana stones hung from the ceiling like chandeliers and lit up our surroundings, while huge pillars engraved with beautiful carvings flanked the path to the centre of the room.

A humongous mana stone hung from the ceiling at the centre of the Throne Room, spotlighting the raised platform below it.

An altar stood upon the platform, above which a transparent crystal was floating in the air.

"I guess that's what we're here for." I pointed at that crystal with my chin.

"Yes. That's… the Shadowlord." Azell's smile was filled with nostalgia and relief.

Encased within the crystal was the young Shadowlord, peacefully sleeping in a foetal position and eagerly awaiting the day when it would take birth in this world.

Well, sorry mamacita, but you're going to be living with us from now on.

"That's the Shadowlord?" Noelle furrowed her brows.

Her confusion was understandable, actually. After all, the baby Shadowlord in the crystal actually looked like a young girl around 7 years old. This was the 'privilege' that set the Shadowlord apart from the normal Shadows.

"Uh-huh. And there's the Guardian."

The monster blocking our path to the altar and protecting the Shadowlord was, quite interestingly, a Minotaur.

Yes, a Minotaur; a buffed, half man half bull hybrid beast.

Sporting a large double-sided battle axe, which it more probably than not used to hack the man at the entrance in half, it was looking at us with eyes full of bloodlust.

First of all, whose genius idea was it to put a fucking Minotaur to guard the Shadowlord? I want to have a word with them, and by wanting to have a word with them I mean I want to punch them in the face with an iron chair.

That's exactly the kind of monster who'd bisect someone before they even get the chance to show it a medallion. I guess it was sleeping when they were teaching the strategy called 'Verbal Conflict Resolution'.

"Time to take out the medallion, Mr. Azell."

I'm actually quite interested to see how this will play out. Needless to say, I'm going to stay behind at a safe distance.

"Alright." Azell nodded. "You two, stay here."

"Be careful." Noelle bade farewell and took out her sword.

Like yea, a one-handed longsword is definitely going to help against a battle axe weighing more than a hundred kilograms wielded by a giant mythological beast.

Oh wait, this is a world of magic; a battle is not decided by size of the wielder and the wielded.

The very fact that Noelle was brought on this mission means that she's competent (hopefully). For all I know, she might be capable of ending the pathetic life of the Minotaur with a single swing of her sword.

While I was thinking useless things, Azell walked forward and raised the medallion into the air, showing it to the Minotaur.

Once it saw the medallion, small sparks crackled around its axe and the Minotaur stepped aside.

It was, however, slightly trembling though, as if was trying to resist something.

As far as my experience tells me, shit's about to go down.

"It's safe." Azell turned back to us. "You can-"

"RAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!" Just then, the Minotaur roared.

The moment it released its bloodthirsty aura, the sparks around the axe turned into golden lightning arcs and tried to bind the Minotaur.

However, the Minotaur seemed to have abused steroids today as it withstood the assault of the lightning arcs like an absolute champ and stood before us, its bloodshot eyes challenging us to a battle till death.

"GRAAAAAAAGHH!" It roared again while striking the ground with the axe to display its strength and then ran towards us

The battle was on.