Chapter 10: Part 2

No use other than breeding? Cecilia curiously traced her flaring hips. Training with Gladius may have given her that figure most men would lust for if she wasn’t a demon, and she hated how it came from that asshole’s mouth. Come to think of it, he was ogling her on the first day of class. To think that he had the nerve to tell her off when he was just another pervert! Blasphemy!

Cecilia ruffled her hair and drove the thoughts out of her head. She didn’t know where Christopher went nor did she cared. It was none of her business.

She continued moving forward. When she came upon a divided tunnel, she chose to go left. Her mana lines pulsed with more energy, stronger than ever compared to when she first entered the labyrinth.

‘So the curse of the walls grows stronger the nearer we are to the core?’ Cecilia thought as she drew the sword on her waist.

Hiding her presence behind a wall, she spied on the group of monsters ahead.

More Baldurs loaded their crates inside the steel cages. Did these monsters kept on their duties despite their masters long withered from the passage of time?

The creation of the original labyrinths were already a big mystery in itself, and for one to replicate an old town that supposedly sunk at the bottom of the ocean 1500 years ago would take incredible skill. Was there someone in the academy capable of doing such things? Maybe, but the answers were beyond her means of knowing at the moment. She first needed to concentrate on finding an exit.

Suddenly, the Baldurs conversed against themselves, sniffing the air. What would seem like the leader of the group pointed to her direction, and the lackeys began to walk towards her. What the hell? How did they know?

Cecilia then perceived their emotions. And the most predominant one was lust. No females were around in these parts after all. Their pants bulging in excitement was the proof of that!

‘Oh great.’ More perverts for her to deal with. Can she not have a peaceful exploration for once?

After increasing her lunging capability with [Lightning Step], she dove forward and slashed the nearest monster. She retreated a step back when the next one thrust its spear at her.

“First, I go,” it spoke in a low tone using the old tongue. A bit rough, yes, but she understood. With drool dripping out from the corners of its mouth, the monster’s intentions were clear. First female it had seen in ages without a doubt.

Disgusted, Cecilia raised her sword arm in a threatening way. “Come any closer, and you’ll get it!”

Unimpressed, the monster continued step by step while brandishing its spear as a warning. Them numbering more than seven did nothing but boost its confidence.

Cecilia hissed a complain. With the room’s size, it would be hard to use her sword skill. Not to mention these were desperate monster she was dealing with. They would stop at nothing just to get a hand on their own female.

‘You’ve no use other than breeding.’ Christopher words crept its way back in her mind when she edged against the wall.

That was it! Reaching her breaking point, a nerve popped on her forehead. She wouldn’t allow these freaks to have their way with her. Definitely not! She slashed the monster the moment it tried closing in. Then Cecilia went berserk, invoking [Whirlwind Sword] at the same time.

A blade scraped her left shoulder, but she didn’t stop to feel the pain. She kept hacking, eliminating one monster after the other. In a matter of seconds only the leader of the gang was left standing. It raised its sword to put up a bold-front, but Cecilia merely snorted a reply.

“You are dead meat!” With her wind-infused blade, she cut the monster in a diagonal slash, rending through its sword and chain-mail as if it weren’t there.

A few seconds after the corpses disappeared, Cecilia brought out a health flask. She poured the green liquid inside on her wound. “Aaah!” she groaned, crunching on her lip. She clutched on her left shoulder and thrashed herself on the cage. That ought to lessen the internal torture she was suffering. The academy limited her selection of spells, and not having any sort of healing spell now had cost her.

Cecilia loosened her grip when the sensations in her left arm returned. She sat on a wooden crate and wrapped the wound in bandages. Her chest burned, and faint traces of mana solidified and began to swirl around her left arm.

“Not now,” she ordered, and the surge of mana died down as quick as it appeared. After stretching her fingertips, Cecilia continued deeper once more, concealing herself in the dimming light.

She encountered more Baldurs on the way. Thankfully, each group only numbered two or three at best. Some were even busy pulling handcarts, so cleaning them up didn’t pose a problem.

Reaching another intersection, the sound of conflict reached her ears. “Hmm?”

What could it be? Cecilia made a beeline towards the direction of the noise. She found herself standing in front of an arch double doors towering all the way to the ceiling — just like a [Boss Room]. The two torches on both sides of the door flared with an intense flame. She could hear the battle rattling the space inside. An ear-piercing screech boomed followed by the flapping of wind.

‘That asshole must be inside,’ she thought. Blood rushed to her cheeks as she clenched her fists.

Couldn’t wait to give him a good beating, Cecilia pushed her way inside. Normally, one would be denied entry before the group inside could eliminate the boss they’re fighting, but this wasn’t the norm. She felt like Valstrath was built like a labyrinth instead of the other.

“Kuaaaaaahk!!!” the monster inside screeched upon her entry, and four beady yellow eyes greeted her from within its sharp slits. Swords of different lengths were strewn on the ground. Her eyes darted around for Christopher, and a sense of relief relaxed her tensing heart when she saw him stand to defend himself.

Their eyes met for a moment. Cecilia crossed her arms and sneered at him while Christopher displayed a disgusted reaction. But she broke their gaze when she felt mana gathering somewhere. Tracing the source, she saw magic accumulating on the monster’s horn; a bad sign.

Then flames spilled out of the monster’s mouth. Arching back to stand on its muscular hind legs, the monster flapped its wings forward and unleashed its attack! Could he avoid it? She had no time to confirm. She didn’t want to help, she was there to laugh at him, but it would bother her conscience if she let him die like this.

Using [Lightning Step], she crossed the distance in a split-second and stood in front of the torrent of flames. She stretched her arm forward, and as if willing it, the flames that attempted to swallow them whole were all vacuumed into her left palm.

Cecilia dropped on her knees afterwards, lurching in pain. Even that was too much in her current state. She sensed the monster move, aiming to kill. Raising her head, two sharp claws descended, but she had no way to give it a stop. What now? Her body turned cold. Cecilia closed her eyes and clenched her teeth. The stone beneath her trembled, yet there was no pain. Confused, she peeked an eye out.

Christopher had stopped the claws in time with his swords. “Get away!” he shouted, struggling against the monster’s brute strength. “Dammit, hurry up!”

Those words snapped her out of her daze. With no other choice available, Cecilia removed herself out of harm’s way. Christopher redirected the attack in a hair’s breadth, but the powerful shockwave that crushed the ground blew him away. Cecilia jumped in an attempt to catch him, but the impact only served to drag her towards the ground as well. After rolling on the dirt, she landed on top of him, face to face.

Christopher lifted his hand and pointed behind her. “We’re running away…” he murmured on her ear, while his other hand tried to get a leverage on her butt.

Cecilia sighed, but didn’t complain. She stood up as the monster turned and roared. Mana gathered on its horn once more. But before the monster could manifest its flames, Cecilia dragged her wounded classmate out of that room to safety. She kicked the doors closed with a bang.

After that, the noise in the room surprisingly halted. It didn’t seem like that monster was designed to follow them beyond this door. Cecilia pressed a palm on her chest as she exhaled a sigh. Finally, they could have a moment of rest.

Before that, she puzzingly stared at the stone stairs that weren’t supposed to be there. Did they, by sheer luck, entered the room the monster was guarding?

“Regeneration,” Christopher groaned a healing spell, settling his back against the wall. He rested his arm on his thigh and spared her a glance. But that was all. He didn’t say a word. Not even a simple word of gratitude.

That was fine too. Though she wanted to take a quick break, she didn’t want to stay in the same room as him.

‘JerkAssholePervertIHateYou!’ screamed Cecilia in her mind before she ascended up the stone steps.

But on her fourth step, Chris murmured the word, “Thanks.”

She stopped and looked at him. “What was that?”

“Thank you.” For some reason she couldn’t describe, her heart danced. Left and right, up and down, it thumped. But all those newfound feelings vanished with his next words. “Cecilia… When did you awaken?”