What did I do wrong?

Was it my fault that lost all of them?

Where did it go wrong?

From the very beginning? If that is so, how could I have known?

When did it I start missing the details?

I didn't, did I? I saw everything in my way and everything that came my way.

Why didn't I saw through its deception?

I did. They didn't.

How can I let this happened?

I let this happened.... I thought I could.... Was there an error in my judgement?

These questions, I kept it on a loop within my mind as I mercilessly, relentlessly, unwavering, and persistently slaughter my way through the dungeon. No matter how brutal, ferocious, and vicious the attacks they threw at me are, I cut them down all the same.

My thoughts may be in turmoil but not my survival instincts.

It hasn't been too long but it had been quite some time ever since I used this much power.

Exerting all my strength and power, few could be said to be my rival.

Even the Goliaths, their armor is not even a match against my onslaught. I'm not even killing nor exterminating these abominations, I'm merely just mowing them down in my path like overgrown weeds.

These magic beasts.... these monsters..... they are nothing. Mindless. Savages. Fiendish. An insult to everything divine..... divine..... What a joke.

In the end..... they still took everything from me....

With Fang in my hand and Shadow's Bane in the other, they are all nothing before me. To think those nothing took everything from me.

When I lost Leon, I have committed myself into not further loosing anyone in this party. I have purposely disallowed them the chances they could have contribute to an encounter. A deliberate and calculated decision. I was afraid they couldn't hold their own, not with their current condition.

Renewal Crystal, it cured their wounds but not completely of their mental fatigue. Unlike me, they have not gone through the abnormal and unorthodox tutelage of the Blade Emperor. I'm molted by the blazing passion of the Blade Emperor's teaching. I have been through countless missions that one would normally considered it as suicide but I braved through all those. Which is why, I understand and I know. I didn't trust their current capabilities. I refused to take the chances.

But now..... I ask myself.... Did any of those choices I made matters?

The only answer I have found is a blurry gray line between a positive and a negative.

After finally having such power within my grasp, I thought that I would never loose anyone or anything ever again. I thought I can finally protect those that I love and care. I longed for those two wishes to be a reality. I wanted to make those wishes into reality. Thus, I am willing to endure so much.

But now....

What did those years of endurance offer to me in the eventuality?

I have protected villages, defended towns, saved cities but I couldn't even save a small team.

What tricks is fate playing with me?

Is this perhaps penance for my lack of faith for the Nines?

What a joke I am.

Me. A Templar Arch Knight, second only to a Templar Knight Commander. Yet, I don't truly believe in the Nines. I'm not an atheist but I have never truly worship the Nines of any Gods.

Did the gods finally have enough of my lack of faith?

If so, why am I blessed with their Grace in the first place? [Grace of the Nines], a unique Arcane Art bestowed to me by the Nines. The last person who inherited this is my mentor, my teacher, the Blade Emperor. Now retired Templar Knight Commander. A good man.

I wonder....

I wonder why am I feeling so miserable right now?

This isn't my first time that I have lost the ones I care about. In fact, I have already lost too much long before I became a Templar Knight. I thought I have became accustomed to loosing my allies, friends, and family. I never shed a tear for my lost. I thought it was because I have long since been numb to those feelings but now I know, that's not the case. The reality is really simple actually, I'm just not the type to shed tears in grieving.

Strange....

I always asked myself or sometimes the Nines, why me? Why chose me to be the bearer of [Grace of the Nines]? Surely there are better candidates than me out there, aren't there?

Throughout the long line of succession of this Grace, every bearer, men or women, they have all met a common requisite. A common requisite that I don't share with my predecessors.

They have all kept their virtue, their purity, until they passed on the Grace.

I am.... however.... an exception.

I have long since lost my virtue.

Neither to a man or a woman I love --

-- nor to a human or a Sagax at all.

Neither with my consent....

I have lost my virtue to a monster.

I was raped by a monster.

Till this day, I have no complete recollection of that monster.

I can't remember its appearance but I can however remember the things it did to me.

Till this day, I can still feel it. I can still feel the throb and the pain of having my first taken by a monster.

The pain, the suffering, the humiliation.... I endured all of it with my teeth clenching on my hands until it drew blood. I remembered how I screamed and begged but none of those words reach its good conscious that do not even exist.

Till this day, I still can't find its whereabouts. Not even the slight traces or rumors of its presence. It's like the monster that rid me of my purity had never existed. But I know.... I know it's real.

Till this day, I'm still looking forward to meeting it again.

And I will rid the monster of its existence.

But before that, I will make sure it suffers.

Like I had.

I will make sure it wishes its death to come.

Like I had.

I will make sure it wishes its death to be instant.

Like I had.

[Title: - Acquired]

What is this place?

Where did I fell to?

Before my eyes, corpses of monsters are scattered on my path.

Nines be damned, I have to stop being heedless. The lost of my allies have caused great disarray to my mind.

I have no idea as to what had attacked me but I assumed it to be a Wyrm. But the Wyrms that I know of, they live in waters. It wouldn't be preposterous for me to assume that it might be an earth-variant. I had already come to terms with the fact that in this dungeon, anything is possible.

Due to its massive size, it didn't matter if I'm capable of going up against it. Just from traversing, it can massively alter the geographies of this dungeon. The range of the destruction wasn't something to look down upon. I was caught in it and I fell through only god knows how many layers.

Thanks to [Grace of the Nines], I survived the fall. The pain from the impact is nothing I can't handle.

Now, where is this place? What happened here?

These corpses, they are fresh.

The wounds on these corpses', they're clean and precise. Acclimatized to violence and the terrors of this dungeon. Killed by another monster? Can't be. The corpses look like they are all done in by a blade instead of claws. A person? Although, I don't recall having such capable fighter in the party. I know the names and backgrounds of all the Templar Knights and I know of all their secrets. None of the Templar Knights did this. It must be either the soldiers or the adventurers. I also can't exclude the fact that this person might not be from the expedition party.

There are also wounds that seem to be made by an arrow but I'm in doubt that it's an arrow wound. These wounds are too big for an arrow and where are the arrows? There's no arrows, intact or broken, no arrows can be found. Unlikely that person picked up every last arrow he shot out and it seems to be impractical to use a bow in such enclosed space. Furthermore, this person seems to be in a hurry. Bow requires patience and precision. This person has the latter trait but not the former.

I follow the person's trail. The tracks told me that the person was getting more and more rash with its actions. I can see green and red blood mixed within the battlefield. There are monsters who bleed red, so I can't tell if the person received any injuries but it is likely that he did. This person would have to be a very impressive fighter otherwise.

The tracks bring me to a tunnel entrance on a wall. From what I observed, this tunnel was suppose to be hidden but this person found it. Perceptive, impressive but I expected this much from a person who had made it this far.

The tunnel is dark. The light from the cyan vines failed to reach these parts.

I invoke [Light Drop] to light the way.

What's this? There are three goblins resting in front of a pile of rocks. Without giving them an opportunity to even pick up my presence, I severed their head from their neck.

After that, I burned these three with [Spirit Fire] and offered them a prayer. It leaves no traces nor residue. One may thought about the incredibly usefulness of this spell in assassinations but the Spirits are kind and gentle beings albeit sometimes mischievous, they don't answer to thoughts plagued with wicked intentions.

The reason for the goblins loitering around here, appears to be a caved in.

No. It's not. Someone deliberately caused this collapse. I can see the burned marks on the ceiling.

"Ugh." I uttered.

As the wind blew my way, I received an intense smell of death from beyond the pile. The person had committed a slaughter and then collapsed the tunnel. Speaking from experience, the bloodied smell in the air belongs to goblins and orcs. Did the person collapse the tunnel to prevent a chase from reinforcements? Make sense.

[Scorching Radiance]

An intense bright light unleashed in a ninety degree range that instantly reduced everything engulfed by it into ashes. And thus, the path is cleared.

I'm right about my assumption of a slaughter.

Heaps and piles of goblins' and orcs' corpses enter my sight. A lair of the goblins. This place is lit by lanterns hanging on the corners of the room. So I didn't need [Light Drop] here.

The Orc Leader died in a very interesting fashion. Its killer seems to harbor an intense hatred towards it or the killer just simply finds the orcs face highly unsightly.

At the end of the room, seven poles stand. Seven individuals were strung up on these poles and used for sports. The cut on the ropes are recent. I'm not too far behind the perpetrator.

I see armors and weapons piled in a corner. Judging from the quality, it belongs to adventurers. I recognized the armors, they were worn by the adventurer of this expedition.

After giving a few more glances around, I found a small hill of human corpses. A lot of them were men. Some have rotten down to bare bones. Did the goblins and orcs found a way to abduct humans from the surface and brought them to here? Farmas Kingdom is a largely human populated kingdom after all.

No women. Why aren't there any women?

I know about goblins' and orcs' behavior. They are an all-male race. They reproduced by using females from other races, preferable humans and elves. Yet, I don't see any females of any kind here.

Did the person who came through here rescued them? Highly likely.

I noticed it. A wall in one of the corners, it seems off. I give it a slight push and a secret passage opened up. The mechanism is too complex, the goblins and the orcs didn't build this. They're most likely not natives to this place.

Immediately after I entered the passage, the wall closed right behind me.

Now, let's see where this leads me to.

This person must be attracted to dangers. I'm starting to wonder if this person is looking for a way out or intending to plunge deeper into the dungeon for the thrills. And this person is travelling in a group. Survivors from the expedition party? I like to believe that.

Just from following its trail, I encountered a lot more corpses and more ferocious monsters, especially the fabled Serrators. There's even an Alpha but its hurt. It has been burned badly. Since it's injured, I had it easy in taking all three of the Serrators down. I never knew that an Alpha Serrator has a lightning clad magic.

Moving further beyond where I found the Serrators, I came to understand what happened and what caused their injuries. In a vast area, there lies a dead Serrator, charred to cinders. The residue in the air tells me of the cause, Gray Spores. The person has led the Serrators here. I'm guessing the Alpha set off the explosion by itself with its lightning clad magic. Smart. This person is not just versatile in combat. Intelligence might also be his strong suit. Further evident by his quick and efficient killings.

Freed, Nicholas, Hyx, please be the ones of those who are travelling with this person.

I came across the pale monsters once again. I didn't expect them to be here in the bottom layers. And because of how a horde of these pale monsters have just passed by, I lost track of the person.

Modred's Hound! I cursed.

After coming so far, I have lost track of maybe my only hope of getting out of here. Not that I truly believe this person knows where it's heading to.

The only thing I can do now is to take an alternate path.

A shame. I wish I could have walk this person's path for a little while longer. I guess I'll have to discard that little wish of mine. It's just another one forgotten wish among the lot.

I can't believe it.

I fell even further down the layers.

And it was all thanks to the Wyrm once again.

I didn't just fell through layers this time. I was even buried under piles of rocks and boulders but I'm not inept to be killed just from this. However, I did spent quite a long time to remove myself from the piles.

How did I encounter the Wyrm again?

It wasn't by choice.

After making a few confusing turns and choices of which path to take, I came to a long straight path that extends for at least hundreds of meter.

That passage was bright. The cyan vines shone brighter than anywhere else.

And just ahead of the path, I sensed movements. It was still a little over a hundred meter ahead but no doubt, there are movements and I could tell they are Sagax, not monsters.

I thought I would feel joy of encountering Sagax but I feel indifferent.

I didn't took off running at them. I approached them at my own usual pace, swift but with silent and cautious movements.

I didn't even got close enough to have them in my sight when the Wyrm appeared again. Just like what happened always when it traverse, it was destroying the structures of this dungeon.

And that was how I once again fell further deeper into the dungeon.

I don't think it's specifically coming after me. To it, it may just be a casual walk for it. After all, what should it be afraid of?

A rippled of space itself waved through this place.

An answer came immediately after that question.

A dangerous presence. Something down here made me question the Wyrm's place in the food chain. Something incredibly ominous.

I have encountered actual demons. I have met the Majin Lords who are also called the Demon Lords. I have met a V-rank. I have also encountered an S-rank magic beast before.

Yet, this presence.... It's unlike anything I have ever felt.

It's not the power it holds in this presence but the promise of what its liable and capable to do if given the chance.

It's not fear I can feel from this presence. It's danger is what's being emitted from this presence. I'm remember being told by my mentor that fear is nothing more than an illusion of the weak but the danger is what's real. Just like this presence.

Shortly after, I hear screaming mixed within cries of battle and despair. I also hear shouting of each other's names. Apparently, the people that I have sense back at that layer have also fell with me. Now, they are engaged with someone or something. It's not going well for them.

Wait a minute.

This shout.

It can't be.

I know this voice.

A voice that is all too familiar. Too annoying too. A voice that has pestered me countless times purely because the owner of this voice wishes to converse with me on broad and meaningless subjects or topics.

A voice that I have came to appreciate for its wisdom and selflessness. A voice that never fails to brighten up the darkest of times.

The owner of this voice is the one who saved me from the grasp of the monster who took my virtue.

The voice of Hyx Atlas.

Hyx.... You're alive.

I take off sprinting with my might at once. I run as fast as I could towards the direction where Hyx's voice came from.

The battle there is intense. From the sounds of it, it's on a massive scale. The opponent have some devastating attacks. I can't afford to slow down. Not when Hyx is up against such opponent.

Hyx, please hang in there. I'm coming.

What in the name of....

Hyx....

What are you doing?

I asked as I can only stare at the scene dumbfounded.

Why are you eating a human?

What are those things coming out from your back?

What happened to your hands?

What do you have a tail?

What's with your eyes?

What happened to you?

Hyx....

He was no longer how I remembered him to be. Everything about him had changed. His appearance and his atmosphere, completely different to the Hyx I know of after all the time spent with him.

His hair.... it was no longer completely black like mine. Some parts are grayed and he seems to have been loosing hair.

His skin. His face. His cloths. All dyed in blood and ragged.

His eyes resembles the dead, lifelessly staring into an oblivion.

His hands. His nails. They are long. They have become claws.

He even has a tail now.

His body is covered with wounds, they are recent and they are by no means minor.

How are you still alive with such wounds?

He is now greedily and hastily eating up a human. The dark things that came out from his back seem to be feeding on the human's soul.

Hyx.... what happened to you?

....

....

.....

Ha.....

Why did I bothered asking? What else could have happened? This dungeon is full of the unexpected after all. It's not like something like this isn't possible.

It is not my first encountering a monster who can take the form of the ones it ate.

What were those words that Hyx have always been saying?

Ah. That's right.

"It doesn't have to be complicated" , "Things are often much more simpler than it seems". Yeah. Those two.

I have concluded.

This thing in front of me maybe Hyx Atlas but that is only on the surface.

The real Hyx is dead.

Why wouldn't he be?

How can a usually meek scholar like him survive in a place like this? How can anyone like him survive this hell?

How foolish of me.

I smile. A smile of understanding and acceptance.

These few years of peace had soften me. I have expected too much from the current state of affairs. It made me sloppy and negligent. My mistake.

I scoff.

How pathetic of me.

Perhaps this is why I wasn't chosen to become the Templar Knight Commander?

I see. I understand now.

I have indeed been remiss.

I guess I have to fix that flaw in me. I will prove to the temple and the priests, I will prove them wrong. I will prove to them that I am worthy of the [Grace of the Nines] and the Knight Commander title.

And for such prove, --

-- I'll start by culling the most despicable abomination, this monster right in front of me that dared to take the form of the one I care for.

"Hyx Atlas." I called out. This looks like the appropriate way to get its attention.

It looked up.