The inside of the tunnel was lined with stone structures. Not home, but large communal housing structures. There had been a lot of demons inside. now as he walked through, it felt eerily quiet. The others had made quick work of the creatures inside, though he guessed he had wasted some time reigning in his emotions. The transformations were affecting him quite a lot, and he needed to get used to how they affected his mentality.

He made sure to take advantage of his draconic domain, using it to peek into the buildings as he passed. There were indeed dead demons inside, and he didn’t sense anything inside. A few of the bodies looked serene, as though they never even got hurt. He wondered how those demons had died and would ask the others later. Luke may have stolen their souls, but it looked more like they had just died without even knowing what was happening.

He heard fighting further into the tunnel and followed the curving downward path. There were a few lights along the walls that shone with oddly white fire. Their attacks were all of the black flames, and he wondered how these torches burned white. He considered eating the demon corpses he passed but decided against it. After achieving a golden body, his transformations have been affecting his mentality a little bit. It didn’t feel like his thoughts or decision were due to someone else, but it did feel like some of his emotions were exaggerated when he was transformed. He didn’t want to test his demon forms, unsure of how they could affect him.

However, he was curious to test his Priscilla form. It would give him some insights into how she thought, and what feelings she based her actions on. It would hopefully alleviate some of the concerns regarding her influence. He wouldn’t change his form now though, as he was finally getting used to the new feeling of pride.

The caverns were surprisingly dry, and he noticed what looked like sand occasionally falling from above. The battle ahead was enough to cause the caverns to shake slightly. He picked up his pace, running through the caverns now. With his pace, he would be able to reach his friends quickly. With Jill there, he wasn’t that worried but still wanted to see how the fights were going.

As he arrived, he saw Red fighting against two of the black demons. The other two were already dead, and there were plenty of demon corpses lining the room. More seemed to be coming in through other entrances, but Jill and Luke were handling them easily. Luke was moving a lot faster than he had been before. He had probably used the new technique he had gotten from the trial. It was a bit of a waste, but it was also important to get familiar with the skill.

It didn’t look like anyone needed help, but he still made his way over to Luke to help him out. Jill was obviously keeping an eye on Red, and he didn’t want to add another distraction. He also took glances at Red’s fight. The lesser demons wouldn’t even be able to damage him through his scales, and he could easily kill them without putting in any effort. Plus, Red’s fight was much more interesting. Her new skills and abilities were extremely unique.

Her body was constantly changing into the blood and weaving around or ignoring attacks in their entirety. Even things like the black flames and their other magic were easily avoided or blocked. They honestly seemed slower than normal too, and he wondered what was happening. One of the demons dropped to the ground, clutching their stomach, and thrashing violently with their other hand. After a few seconds, it stopped moving, and Mash saw some blood pouring from its mouth. It drifted towards Red, and the black blood changed to match her own as it was absorbed.

There was only one demon remaining, and Red walked towards it slowly. She didn’t have her guard up or anything, and the demon took advantage of that, stabbing at her heart with its long nails. They punched through Red’s body easily, but she didn’t even flinch from the attack. She simply retaliated, turning one of her hands into a spear, and copying the demon’s motion. Her attack didn’t have the power to punch through the demon-like it had done to her, but it was still strong enough to bypass the creature’s flesh and strike whatever organs lay beneath. Mash didn’t actually know where the vital organs of a demon were.

The demon died from the attack anyways, but Red still looked tense. She ended up joining in killing the remaining demons. It didn’t take long to finish off whatever creatures remained. They didn’t go out of their way to chase any of those who had fled, as the remaining demons wouldn’t be able to do much. The dungeon still hadn’t ended though, which meant that there was still something for them to deal with.

Once the fighting ended, Mash felt the buffs end, and his body run out of energy, but he didn’t fall unconscious. Considering how much energy he used, he was surprised when he remained conscious. He couldn’t move in the slightest, but he was glad to be aware. Hopefully, that would be a change that stuck around. That alone would make the golden body worthwhile in his mind. Since he was able to maintain his consciousness, he could use his inhuman hibernation skill to restore himself and leave Luke to go through his own recovery.

They ended up waiting there for half an hour, but Mash recovered his energy and was ready to return to the village. Jill said that she saw a few strings now, but also mentioned that something seemed wrong with them. She didn’t know exactly what was happening, but it was enough to get them to rush. They could come back and investigate the grounds further later, and possibly even grab Edward to help.

They went fast, significantly faster than they had gone before. Jill actually went ahead by teleporting herself back to town. She couldn’t take all four of them that distance but could manage herself. The rest of them would take a few minutes to arrive. While that wasn’t a long time, Mash was still a little worried about sending her ahead. Honestly, he would need to get used to Jill taking the lead, as she was by far the most defensive of the group. In the past, it would be his duty, and it felt a bit weird needing to give it up. Although, he finally understood what it must have felt like for the others back when he had been separated from them.

Arriving at the village, Mash was glad to see that nothing looked particularly wrong. He had revealed the cat form already and didn’t mind using it now. It wouldn’t matter if someone saw him, as he had supposedly passed his recent trial. They had planned to meet Jill outside of the mansion, so they flew directly there. Mash easily saw as she stood behind the building.

Landing beside her, the grass ruffled as he touched the ground. Luke and Red arrived too, but their flights didn’t make as much of a disturbance. Both of their methods came from methods that didn’t actually manipulate the wind. Jill began telling them the situation as soon as they landed.

“The threads are definitely leading into the mansion, but they dissolve when they get close. That explains why I couldn’t see them when looking at the place itself.”

She sounded frustrated as if she expected her skill to just tell her everything that she wanted. It was a bit strange, but Mash thought that she was acting more childish as of late. He knew a little bit about fairies and the like and knew that they were supposed to be mischievous and selfish creatures. Was Jill’s recent advancement causing her to mimic some aspects of those creatures? That could be a problem, but they had something a bit more urgent to deal with.

“I think that the Lord himself is behind everything.”

Red shocked everyone by speaking, and she sounded confident in the accusation too. Everyone turned to look at her, and Mash shared some of his own thoughts.

“I thought about that too but couldn’t figure out why he would poison his own daughter. If he could control the demons, I thought that he would use them for revenge. Although nothing I thought of explaining why his daughter wound up getting poisoned.”

His voice showed his uncertainty, but Red only nodded her head in agreement. It seemed like she had an idea of what was going on.

“I think it was to get his children involved in his vengeance. Neither Edward nor Robert seem to care at all about their family’s past, but if that led to someone targeting their sister then…. We have all seen how quick Edward is to anger. My guess is that their father planned on getting someone from the church to heal her and reveal that the poison was from the kingdom proper. I think he was preparing for a war and wanted to get his sons to join him before revealing the demons.”

Mash didn’t know if what Red was saying was accurate, but it sounded good enough to at least confront the man. The real question was how to go about this. They could probably get Edwards and Robert's aid, if they learned of the situation, the real question was figuring out how to do that without offending them. Edward in particular might attack them for accusing his father of something like poisoning his own daughter. Avoiding a fight with all three of them was what they wanted to do, especially if Edward and Robert were truly innocent.

“So, how do you want to handle this?”

They all looked toward Red, obviously noting that she was the most aware of the situation. They all had access to the same information, but she had been the first to determine a culprit. Mash still felt like Edward made a bit more sense considering that he was the one that scouted the nearby forests. Although Red’s proposed idea seemed to account for that possibility.

“I think we just bring up the matter in front of the three of them at once. If things are looking like they are all hostile, Jill can teleport us out. Although to be completely honest, I think we could take them.”

She sounded extremely confident, and he didn’t disagree. While the twins and the lord were stronger physically than them, he didn’t think they could hold a candle to his dragon form. Jill was unlikely to get hit, and if needed Luke could probably beat them by taking their souls. Honestly, it might be a good idea to do that anyway. Whoever the culprit ended up being, their power would be extremely useful. If they went to other dungeons Luke could gain a lot by stealing some of their souls, but Mash doubted that he could convince him to do something like that. It still seemed like he would only take the souls of things he thought were truly atrocious.

Despite expecting a rejection, he still brought up the topic. Luke reversed the situation asking Mash why he wouldn’t eat the person’s corpse. Mash would be able to gain the abilities just like Luke could. Mash didn’t have a good response to that and could only nod his head. However, that question did linger in his mind. Eating humans was obviously bad, but what could he gain by doing so? He realized that he was genuinely giving the thought some consideration, and he shuddered. That was something he couldn't do. Trying to dismiss the question he moved the discussion to their present situation. They talked a bit more and ironed out the remaining details of the plan.