The ironwood barrier in front of the monster-vomiting cavern held strong and no sounds could be heard from the inside of the pitch-black void. Pierre had done what Kevin, the one who was supposed to be the strongest of the New Heroes and their leader had been unable or perhaps unwilling to do. Of course, until the arrogant bastard that was Kevin had unleashed his remaining mana pool into a single attack no one had even known where the monsters were spawning from, so he at least had that to brag about incessantly when he woke up.

A few Warrior Priests and Warrior Nuns held position near the monster-spewing hole in the ground, but after a few days of rest and relaxation with no signs of the monsters being able to cut through the ironwood trees security gradually became laxer. Kevin had, by this time, woken up from his mana deprivation coma, and was none too pleased by all the sour looks he got and by the fact that Pierre and Kristof had stolen the glory he felt was rightfully his.

After all, he was the one that took down most of the monsters and it was he who revealed where they were coming from. So what if a few uptight bitches burned to death or were caught in the crossfire? They could be replaced easily enough, or so he thought.

He, as a man, was forbidden from entering the ruined nunnery, yet what ticked him off was that the other male Heroes were supposed to be forbidden from that area and yet were at the same time allowed to enter as they pleased. The display of sexism, bigotry and racism directed towards him was beyond his wildest imagination! Sure, he had killed a few nuns and yes, he had gotten a few enslaved under him and of course he had destroyed the nunnery and sentenced a good number of his ‘allies’ to a terrible death, but what did that matter? He was The Hero, and everyone should do what he wanted and die if he chose for them to.

He would have to lodge a complaint with the local Archbishop and then, oh boy, would the fools here taste his righteous vengeance and justice!

Another thing that ground his gears was that the hole in the earth that the monsters came from occasionally was opened up by that damn French bastard so that the other sub Heroes could go into the ‘Dungeon’ and collect treasure and other such things from within. Kevin was forbidden from even going near the ‘Dungeon’ at all, and as it was in the ruined nunnery that made it all the more inaccessible.

However, he had by now figured out the timing of the guard shifts. Wind Magic is a powerful surveillance tool, after all. A few days later and he was fully healed and ready for a fight. If the monsters that assaulted the Sanctuary Light/ Lux Sanctarii Monastery a week ago were all he would face, Kevin felt it would be child’s play to breeze through the monster’s lair and come back with enough riches to finally start his grand plan.

Soon, he mused in an internal and delusional monologue, every person of color in the world would tremble in fear as he bound them under him one by one. He might even be able to take control of the Luminas Church and render any person of color a ‘Non-Person’! As Kevin mulled over his grand and sadistic ambitions in his head, he lost himself further and further to his delusions of grandeur.

He had of course, by this time, completely forgotten about how the threat he was supposed to destroy had beaten him into unconsciousness in a single punch to the gut. Then again, even if he did remember he would have simply chalked it up to Kain being a cheating and conniving bastard who didn’t play fair (and by ‘play fair’ Kevin would mean being deleted by his Mega Pistol/Fuck Everything Gun).

Kevin planned out his moves inside his room, silently waiting for the new moon to blanket the world in shadow so he could sneak past the guards. Those trees would be no problem to him. They probably weren’t that hard anyways. I mean, Wood with the durability of Iron? That was a joke worth laughing at, and the Frenchman was obviously overstating their strength. Getting into The Dungeon would be a piece of cake.

…

It had not, as he anticipated, been a piece of cake.

Kevin cursed in a hushed voice as he stood over the unconscious bodies of eight Warrior Priests and six Warrior Nuns. He had been so sure that he had gauged correctly when the shifts would change, but here he was after having to asphyxiate fourteen people into unconsciousness. Now the problem wasn’t the zonked-out people around him but the trees. Pierre hadn’t been joking or bluffing, because these trees were hard!

Kevin could have used Fire Magic to cut through them, but that would have set the trees on fire and alerted everyone that something was up. Likewise, he couldn’t use Water or Wind Magic to cut through them as the noise would cause trouble. Kevin wracked his brain trying to think of a way around the barrier when it suddenly hit him.

Why not use Earth Magic to simply move the dirt the trees were imbedded in?

“Kevin, you amazing super genius! Why you aren’t already ruling the world, no one can figure out!” he chuckled to himself as he slowly pushed the trees aside, roots and all.

At last, open like a deceptively dark gateway to his destined riches, was the abysmal hole; the ‘Dungeon’. All the treasure inside was ripe for the taking! Kevin stepped foot inside the black void and after a few more steps he saw the world around him distort until all he could see were the internal structures of a cave. The interior was strangely well lit, almost as though there was some kind of omnipresent ambient light source. A few more steps and Kevin located one of the things that the British bitch had called ‘Slimes’. The ugly little amoeba jiggled towards him, but before it could attack Kevin had sliced it in half with a quick application of [Wind Blade].

The monster’s popped body lingered for a while before slowly starting to fade from existence.

“Huh. Didn’t do that outside.”

Kevin was surprised by this, but not enough to stop him for long. He marched onwards and curb stomped a number of slimes and opened a few minor treasure chests before reaching what he assumed was the end of The Dungeon. A massive stone door separated him from the great bounty of treasure that was likely waiting inside.

He approached the door and it opened with a heavy creaking sound. What he saw inside was not, in fact, the treasure room, but instead a pair of oversized slimes with a crown-like blob on top of it. As he entered the room, the doors slammed shut behind him and locked up tight.

“There can only be a single winner, is it? Fine, I’ll send you to hell and get my treasure!” Kevin yelled before he unleashed spell after spell.

The King and Queen Slime held out for longer than anyone would expect, and they actually managed to get a few good hits in on Kevin as well. Of course, each hit felt like torture to the boy who had only ever gotten injured emotionally (aside from the arrow that the Goblin had fired at him). This only further infuriated the racist and bigoted brat who thought that these two jelly blobs were keeping him from his justly deserved reward, which in turn caused him to become more aggressive and more prone to taking damage.

The fight lasted for four minutes total, and by the end of it Kevin was exhausted. He had foolishly used up a decent chunk of his mana pool before entering the Boss Room and now after winning he was running on fumes. Worse yet, he had taken a fair few blows, and parts of his body had been affected by the acidic fluids of the Slime King and Queen. As the popped blobs of gelatin faded away, a treasure chest larger than the ones he had found previously appeared and the door behind him opened up.

“Finally! My riches!” Kevin shakily walked over to the chest and popped it open and revealed….

“The fuck are these?!” he screamed as he saw the contents.

The ‘treasure’ in the box was not gold or gems or anything Kevin considered valuable at all. Instead there were bottles with red liquid and blue liquid. In his huff he nearly abandoned these bottles, but he saw a label on them and decided to read it to make sure he didn’t throw away a ‘Dirt to Gold’ concoction.

The biggest bottle with red liquid was labeled ‘Health Potion: Medium’ while the biggest bottle with blue liquid was labeled ‘Mana Potion: Medium.’ Kevin realized that these bottles and vials could help him delve deeper without having to come up, and it was likely that the guard shift had changed again, and everyone knew he had slipped inside. In all likelihood there was a group on his heels right now, which made the potions mean he could stay a step ahead.

He downed the medium potions and immediately saw the effects. He was back to pristine condition, aside from his low mana pool. Chugging a few of the smaller Mana Potions set him back to full, and rather than leave through the door he entered in he instead went down the stairs that had appeared opposite to the entrance. His pursuant would have to defeat the King and Queen Slime before chasing him, which would give him even more time to go deeper.

…

An hour later, the other Heroes stood before the 1st Floor Boss Door. Rather than face the two Bosses a fourth time, the Heroes placed their hands on the giant door and held them there for a few moments. The door lit up like a Christmas tree and swung open. The Slime Monarchs were nowhere to be seen.

“Come on, why don’t we just leave him to die in here? He won’t be able to get past the Water Zone. Hell, not even we could. That place is a nightmare.”

“Unfortunately, we can’t leave him here unless we want to be excommunicated and given the boot like the other guy was. Or worse… We may be valuable to them, but I have the feeling that they can and will dispose of us when we are too much trouble.”

“And that ass hat? How much trouble is he?”

“He is the ‘Leading Hero’. He is exempt from that. We are, regrettably, his companions and as such are viewed as ‘lesser’ than him. Still, our lives depend on this, and I don’t want to die for real.”

“So say we all. I can only hope he doesn’t get wiped by the boss of that floor. Thank God that it let us run, otherwise we would all be dead! Y’know, as much as I hate to say it, we may need him to help us take that monster down…”

A few groans spelled out the views on that loud and clear, but no one said anything about not wanting to actually take down the severely overpowered being that occupied the boss room in the ‘Water Level’. That Naga Queen miniboss was bad enough, but that C’thylla thing they had to face almost immediately afterwards? That bitch was a nightmare.

With that banter out of the way, the other Heroes bypassed the 1st floor boss room and made more progress in a shorter amount of time than Kevin had expected.

…

“My Love, what is wrong?” Alexis asked as she brushed her hand seductively against Kain’s cheek.

“I feel like there hasn’t been enough of us lately.” Kain replied as he fidgeted in their bed.

“I’m not sure what you-.” Alexis tried to say before the bedsheets ruffled.

“Please. No. Not now. Don’t you dare…” Kain said with trepidation as he lifted the covers.

“HEY, DIPSHIT!” Lord Wolfenstein screamed angrily and out of character at the Author from under the blankets, “WRITE MORE ABOUT THE ACTUAL MAIN FUCKING CHARACTERS!”

“SWEET MOTHER OF FUCK!” screamed both Kain and Alexis simultaneously before LW popped out of existence.