“What is your name? Which stronghold are you in?” Asked Carlo, while running. “I have never seen you before.”

“I am not from anywhere close. I was hunting nearby with friends when I got lost.” Ivo answered quickly.

“Oh, I can take you back after we are done here.” Carlo said as he smiled. He had blue hair and violet eyes. He was giving an “approachable-guy” vibe. “My superpower is One Slash Wind Sword. Mouthful I know, haha. My two other pals already went inside, one of them is Dorian, who has Fire Arrow superpower. The other is Maria, who has support type ability. Can increase the heat in an area.”

“My name is Ivo. My superpower is Fire.” Ivo said without giving too much detail.

“Nice! With my wind, and Maria’s augmentation you and Dorian’s powers can be amplified tremendously. The artifact is ours!”

“Just make sure no one touches it. We can’t split it if one gets it.” Ivo said, while thinking how he could steal it.

“That is for sure.” Carlo smiled.

Soon, they passed through the hole on the wall and stepped into the darkness. Ivo created a fire on his palm and illuminated the area ahead of them. There were hundreds of monsters around, but luckily none of them were attacking the duo.

“Up ahead. I see a light source.” said Ivo after running for half an hour. Soon, clashing sounds were heard too.

“Look, it is Maria and Dorian, fighting.” Carlo said as he increased his pace. Ivo ran faster to catch up with him. When they arrived, they were gobsmacked. Five people, and a flying moth-woman battled against monsters around them.

“Carlo, stop staring like a fool, and attack!” The woman shouted.

“Let’s go.” Carlo urged as he joined the battle.

The brunette woman with brown eyes was attacking with a spear in one hand. On her other hand, a sanguine light was covering her. Ivo felt the power inside him was growing stronger.

“Thank god we are battling against insects. Fire is their bane.” Dorian shouted. He had crimson hair and sky blue eyes. Fire arrows were leaving his hands and penetrating monsters. One shot, one kill.

“There is no god, now keep on attacking.” Maria muttered. Ivo flinched when he heard her but ignored for the time being.

Carlo joined too. Swords of wind were forming around his body and with his swing of hand, they were attacking the monsters. But in one clash, the swords were dissipating.

“Who are those?” Asked Carlo as he looked at the battling teens and Moth-woman.

“They were here when we arrived. They said they would like to work with us for the time being, then we could split the mask among ourselves.” Maria answered.

“Where is the artifact?” asked Ivo.

“Safe and secure. Don’t worry.” answered the dark blue eyed man with abyss black hair. He was holding a sword with lightning in his hand. He wasn’t using any elemental superpower, but his swings were a lot stronger, so Ivo thought his superpower should be a strengthening type.

“How about the monster?” asked Carlo.“She is not a monster. It is her superpower.” Maria corrected them. Of course, this was a lie Miles came up with. M

oth-woman looked too humanoid. She could also speak human language, so there was no way for others to know with naked eyes.

“Oh, she is hot.” Carlo spoke as he sent a flirtatious smile to the Moth-woman. The monster rolled her eyes as he hardly resisted the urge to kill the hairless monkey.

“She doesn’t smell like a human.” Ivo blurted out.

“Huh? How would you know what humans smell like?” Xavic asked in panic.

“Because he is a chanter. He lives in Portal World. Born and raised, right?” Miles said with a smirk. He wanted to create a discord among the group of newcomers.

“What?” Carlo opened a distance with Ivo as he shouted. “I didn’t know, I swear.”

“It is fine. Chanters are crafty, so it is normal for you to not realize it.” Miles magnanimously said.

“Eh? Crazy humans mumbling to themselves?” Moth-woman asked as she attacked with her wings. Each slash cut a monster, killing them.

“You really are a monster then?” Maria asked, they too stood far from Miles's group.

“Let’s deal with the monsters here, then we can talk.” Miles said. He revealed Ivo’s identity on purpose. This way, he also revealed Moth-woman’s identity by admitting Ivo’s claim. If two groups clashed and killed each other, it was fine. If they didn’t that was fine too. What mattered was, for them to not trust each other, then he could choose the best course of action.

“I still don’t trust you, so keep your distance.” Maria said.

“You too.” Carlo said to Ivo. “Man, you looked like a cool guy. Why are you a chanter?”

The battle continued. But now it was a lot more tense. At first, they were still keeping their aces in their sleeves, but now even the big attacks were hidden, just in case.

Miles had nothing to hide, so he was attacking left and right. His sword was taking lives like cutting wheat.

Xavic was attacking with a sword, while Zall was at the back acting like he was battling. But all he was doing was defending while faking his attacks.

Strongest among them was the Moth-woman. She was using poisonous silks to kill the monsters. She was using a two-meter silk, as strong as a steel wire to cut down monsters. The silk was dancing like a whip in her hands. With the wings on her back, she was flying all over the battlefield and was killing twice as much as any of them.

In four hours, more than a hundred monsters rushed into the hole and died in their hands. Most were cut into two by Miles’s sword or Moth-woman’s silks, while many burned by Ivo’s or Dorian’s flames. When monsters ceased to come, the four parties looked at each other.

“The big guy has the mask, so let’s kill him first.” Moth-woman said as she smiled towards the trio.