Seth asked himself if all of this was really a good idea.

Cocking his head slightly up, his gaze fell onto the grey armoured siblings' positioned a few meters above the ground, right before the entry of two of the many holes scattered over the walls.

With their weapons unsheathed, Roland on his right and Olivia on his left, they gave Seth a quick look as they waited for the signal.

Seth breathed in an intake of air and thought rather bitterly. This better work… or I’m skinning them alive. He reached towards his pocket and pulled out the almond and, in the same motion, sent a wisp of mana inside.

The hard outer shell fell apart before revealing the spotless white flesh inside. The thumb-sized seed felt soft and smooth in his hand, like a piece of polished wood but spongier. The irresistible aroma of fresh bread that steamed out of it filled his nostrils, making him forget his task for a brief moment.

Shaking his head, Seth pushed himself out of the trance, giving the almond in his palm a side glance. Don't wonder they like this thing so much, he thought in realization, but he didn't waste more time.

Willing mana to his arm and legs, he took a few steps forward and threw the drupe into the air, gaze following its trajectory as it made an arc over the air before stopping on the right side of the queen.

The sizable almond barely issued a sound as it hit the soft floor of the chamber. The queen moved in a blur, making the small sweet vanish from sight before it even managed to stop its momentum. Then, even with the few dozens of meters separating them, Seth could almost touch the happiness and sheer excitement radiating from the worm’s aura. It lasted a couple of minutes, after which its aura immediately turned off in what Seth could only assume to be a nap-mode.

And just as it did so, Roland and Olivia lunged forward.

At the same time, the three stoneaters erupted with penetrating screeches, Seth's attention was pulled onto the murky green spear in Olivia's hands.

The long weapon was entirely dark-green, and cast a metallic lustre that sent shivers down his spine.

Despite that, what made it really dangerous was the corrosive aura that seeped out from Olivia’s hands and engulfed the entire weapon. Making it look as though a thin layer of dark-green toxic vapour surrounded it as it tore through the air.

The tall beast reacted just as fast, sending its long, pitch-black clawed arm in her direction. The force of the swing was strong enough to make Seth more than aware of the difference in strength between them and the smaller crackers, which he needed to take care of in the meantime.

On the opposite side, Roland was already in the motion of battling the royal guard.

Seth squinted, barely discerning anything from his blurred strikes as they fell onto the poor creature. However, this barely seemed to disturb it as it came almost unscathed from the exchange. Only a few bruises adorned the leathery skin. But Seth didn't have much time to spare as the last monstrosity came charging in his direction, a small group of minions following closely behind.

Shit, he cursed as he syphoned mana from his core, strengthening his body to the best of his abilities before a clawed limb, larger than his head, closed up. Faster than what he had anticipated.

Seth didn't have much choice other than to abruptly bend his knees and let the rushing air from the limb wheeze over the upper side of his skull, which he expertly followed up by swinging his mana enhanced sword horizontally. It connected, but it wasn’t in the way Seth had hoped for.

It left a gash a few centimetres deep and long in both of the black-leathered legs. However, much to Seth's astonishment, they didn't draw a drop of blood from it.

What did bleed was Seth’s arm after receiving a square strike from one of the crackers, sending him rolling over the floor like a flat pebble over water. Only after the third bounce did he manage to stabilize himself. The soles of his boots heated up as his body came to a halt.

Giving a quick look at his left arm, Seth could feel a subtle throbbing pain already spreading from the centre of his arm, between his elbow and shoulder. The adrenaline from his brain and the tall monster and minions charging in his direction stopped him from giving it much thought.

Narrowing his eye, flickers of black fire shrouded him just before the beasts were on him. He swung his sword, and an arc of black fire shot forward.

While the minions were cut and burned into pieces, the elemental strike barely left a scorched horizontal mark on the bigger guy’s muscular limbs. The enraged screech that followed afterwards told him how painful his flames were. In retaliation, the beast opened its mouth and released a torrent of marigold flame.

But Seth didn't chick out. He shot forwards.

As the wave of fire swallowed him, Seth felt the fiery flames burning his armour and the hair of his head, his flames lifting him undamaged for the few seconds that lasted the journey. When he appeared on the other side, his fist clashed against the gruesome skull.

A crunching sensation travelled from his left hand as blood and teeth splashed out in every direction. The beast was sent flying for a few meters as its long arms tried to reduce its momentum, meanwhile, Seth took advantage of the short respite to glance around.

An expression of worry forced its way onto his face.

The other two stoneaters were still occupied by Roland and Olivia respectively. From which, the female Wiccan didn’t seem to be having the easiest time of her life despite keeping the upper hand.

Almost as if the hide had been dipped into a pot of acid, the exposed sections could be seen dripping with yellow pus as the green aura surrounding Olivia’s weapon spread over the corroding, raw flesh. But she wasn't doing much better.

Her left leg had been entirely burned by the marigold fire. If not for the armour, it would be difficult to say if she would still be keeping her foot against the stoneater. Seth didn't have a good idea of how serious her injuries were due to the distance separating them, but from how awkwardly she was balancing her body’s weight… It was far from good.

In any case, the beast was clearly in a far worse shape. It was just a question of time before it succumbed to its injuries, but they were running behind a timer.

Pushing his gaze in the other direction, Roland’s situation was slightly different.

With outstanding nimbleness and agility, Roland completely overwhelmed the beast with his swift punches and kicks. Even if the gruesome creature was filled with violet-black concussions, a broken jaw and a broken arm that hung limpidly on its side. Clearly, his gauntlets weren’t the most effective weapon when put against the stoneater’s thick skin and dense muscles.

Roland wasn't left unscathed. There were a few signs on his body of being burned, especially around his right leg and arm, but nothing serious.

Seth had to put his attention back onto his opponent as its claws were closing up.

He lowered himself and dodged the blistering strike by a hair's breadth, conjuring mana onto his blade and legs. He thrust forward. Just as it was about to pierce its core, one of its arms blurred and barged into its trajectory. The shrouded black sword buried itself through the arm and a portion of the guard’s chest, dark flames burning flesh and blood as it clung to the beast, but the blade didn’t reach its objective.

Seth looked up, only to find a manically grin plastered on the stoneater’s beastly face.

He tried to tug his sword off, but just as he did so, he felt a half-beastly half-humanoid hand grasp his shoulder. The long, sharp claws pierced into his flesh as though it was jelly, sending a potent shiver of pain to his brain that got amplified by the cold, muscular-numbing poison from the claws.

IT HURT.

If that wasn’t enough, a sudden blast of mana suddenly burst out from the beast as its entire hide began to glow with a marigold light. Its aura dropped just as fast as the mana grew agitated, as though it was on the verge of exploding itself…

Shit, Seth didn't need more information to know what was happening, this guy is sacrificing itself!

However, just as the thought struck him, a sense of dread that he’d never felt in his life immediately hit him. To the point of forcing his mind to go blank for an instant, but just as he seemed to be on the verge of losing to his emotions, a strong ripple echoed from his core.

His emotions washed away just as fast as the ripple traversed his body, leaving his head cold and sharp to assert the precarious situation he was immersed in. Seth’s mind swirled in doubt.

His options were limited.

He couldn’t muster up the strength to get his muscles moving as the poison continued seeping into his system. His mana reserves were similarly plumbing to keep the poison at bay, but at this rate, he wasn't going to last long.

Which left him with only one option.

Letting go of his sword, he mustered all his will to raise his right arm, flickers of black and red gathered as a fist-sized ball of pure fire came to life. Seth could feel the last vestiges of mana leaving his core, but after reaching this point, that was the last of his worries.

He tried to give the stoneater the brightest smile he could muster as the ball began to show its first signs of instability.

He released it.

Everything went black… and red.