Erebus was ecstatic.

Yes! This day had come, this long awaited day he spent five months patiently waiting (taking naps to pass the time) for...

Four familiar figures stood in front of the base of a tree. The roots of the tree had moved and formed something along the lines of a staircase, revealing the doors to a dungeon.

The dungeon was located a quarter of a mile from Yvick’s castle, deep within the [Poisonous Snake Forest].

A childish smile was spread on Erebus’ face. This was uncharted territory! He (along with a couple others) would be the first to see it.

This would aid his boredom, undoubtedly.

“Well, I will see you when you visit again.” Yvick waved to the trio as they descended the staircase into the ground.

They waved back, all except for Erebus who was too busy pulling the door to the dungeon open.

“Slow down, Lord Erebus,” Vyne said. “If you go through the dungeon too rapidly, it wouldn’t be any fun.”

Erebus froze and turned towards Vyne.

“You see, Lord Erebus, the enjoyment is within the suspense. It’s within the thought of ‘what lurks beyond’. If you solve the mystery so quickly, what’s the point?” Vyne continued.

Erebus’ eye widened and he nodded eagerly. “I see! You are such an amazing subordinate.” Erebus patted Vyne on the head as if Vyne was a dog.

Vyne, however, didn’t seem to mind being praised this way. Instead, he tilted his head up and smiled a little. It was a face of enjoyment.

Erebus had trained his subordinates well.

Tear looked as if she wanted to be petted, too. So, Erebus stood there patting both of their heads.

Yvick, still standing on top of the staircase, displayed a complicated expression. He was caught between wanting to be patted on the head by Erebus and believing that he passed that stage.

“Good job~” Erebus was saying as he continued to pat their heads.

Yvick turned sharply on his heels and headed to his castle. If he stayed any longer, he’d go down there with them.

There was something about Erebus praising you that made you want to get praised him. Even I wanted to be praised by him.

The trio started to move again after Erebus stopped patting his subordinate’s heads.

“To the dungeon!” Erebus did a rendition of the deceased Luke.

“To the dungeon!” his now very much enthused servants cheered.

They walked into the darkness.

Vyne took the lead because Erebus would try to walk too fast. Tear, on the other hand, was currently holding Erebus’ hand because she couldn’t see in the pitch black.

For a change, Vyne didn’t complain about Tear’s clinginess. It would seem that the previous praise from his master had calmed him down... only a little, though. The face he was making was not a pleasant one, but he kept his mouth shut.

A bit of an improvement? Vyne, go to your happy place.

“There shouldn’t be any monsters down here, correct?” Tear said after they walked for a good thirty minutes. “Since the entrance only appears at certain times.”

“Hmm, maybe.” Erebus looked around. “It’s plausible. I suspect a few managed to get in, though. Not that they’ll be a problem, though.”

Vyne nodded his agreement. “The dominant monster in this forest is the snakes, obviously. But it’s not like others don’t live here. We don’t know who or what created this dungeon, so anything could happen.”

Tear frowned. “Well, this place gives me the creeps.” She couldn’t see anything so it made sense. She couldn’t barely make out the forms of Vyne and Erebus and there was absolutely no lighting anywhere. The place didn’t even have a mana channel...

“It’s nothing but stone walls and roots growing through the cracks,” Erebus explained. ‘There are a couple bugs, too. Oh, and some flowers.”

She scrunched her nose. His description helped her out a little bit.

“Well, it certainly isn’t as glamorous as the Passageway,” Vyne said. “Then again, it was created in a forest.”

Erebus sighed. “There’s a hole ahead.”

“I see,” Vyne said and they stopped in front of the hole. The dirt flooring they had been walking on disappeared. It could be seen off in the distance, but it’d be quite the jump.

Vyne could possibly make it if he was able to fly, but the walls were too close for him to spread his wings. And even Erebus couldn’t jump that far.

In other words, they had to go down.

“What’s with this familiar situation?” Vyne muttered. Would there be another annoying person at the bottom of this dungeon?

Erebus turned to Tear. “Climb onto my back, we have to jump.”

Her eyes widened with excitement. Without wasting any time, she got onto his back. With his help, of course, because she couldn’t really see anything...

Vyne jumped first, followed by Erebus and Tear.

They were falling at an incredible rate... the ground was in sight.

“Oh my,” Vyne said and he instantly stretched out his wings. He stopped falling and was now flying in the air.

He grabbed Tear by the jacket, and since she was holding onto Erebus like a giant leech, he was also stopped.

On the ground, extremely pointy spikes were pointed up at any unsuspecting jumpers.

“Harsh,” Erebus said.

“Very.” Tear was able to see the spikes because of the torches lined on the walls.

Vyne guided them to the very small sliver of the earth that wasn’t covered in certain death.

They had to press their backs against the wall and shuffle along the wall. The wall that seemed to have no end in sight.

Tear, for once in her life, was glad that she had a flat chest. If she had breast... this would be an extremely uncomfortable journey.

Even more uncomfortable than it already was. Even though the area of the spikes was about ten meters in length, another wall replaced them. This wall was much closer than before and had smaller versions of the spikes sticking out of it. There was barely any space between their bodies and the spikes.

“Who decided on the layout of this dungeon.” Vyne wore an expression of irritation.

“A sadist.”

Hey, don’t give sadist a bad label, Tear!

Even Erebus looked uncomfortable in this place. Well, it was another dragon thing. They hated tight enclosed spaces.

Remember, his true form has a wingspan of a mile. He enjoyed his freedom and this place certainly did not grant it.

“Ugh... this isn’t fun.” He looked a little sick.

“It’ll be over soon, right? Right? It’s not like it could continue on for any longer, right?”

Oh yes, Tear, it certainly does continue on for longer. Another two hours of shuffling, to be exact.

When they finally burst out of the tightly enclosed space, they nearly fell off a cliff.

It was a wide space where another forest could be seen. A river snaked through the forest and a waterfall was seen not too far off.

“Woah...”

“What do you mean ‘woah’? We’re going to have to jump off this cliff to go deeper in.” Vyne glared at Tear.

And this forest wouldn’t be fun. Vyne could tell that much from the loud echoing footsteps.

Erebus jumped.

“W-wait! Lord Erebus!” Tear followed after.

Vyne made a pained face and leaped off of the cliff.

“Woohoo!” Erebus shouted as he spread his arms and legs out. The drop was a rather long one.

“Eep! Vyne! Help!” Tear sobbed, she didn’t have a nearly indestructible body like Erebus and she couldn’t fly like Vyne. If she hit the ground at this speed, she’d die.

“No way,” a cold response.

Erebus paid no mind to Tear’s endangered life. Falling like this reminded him of the sensation of flying.

The wind against his face... Ah, truly wonderful.

Meanwhile, Tear had done something similar to swimming in the air and latched onto Vyne’s legs, then proceeded to crawl up his body and attached herself.

“Damned woman!” Vyne shouted but didn’t shake her off. When the ground got close enough, he flapped out his wings again and descended gracefully

BOOM!

Erebus, on the other hand, pointed his legs at the ground and bent his knees a little.

When he landed with a very loud impact, a sizeable crater was formed. Erebus stood up straight and lifted his arms directly over his head.

Tear and Vyne clapped. “Well done, Lord Erebus. A truly splendid landing.”