If Diana had a ranking system for the strangest things she'd encountered, this would be number five.
These monsters. She gritted her teeth. She had never seen anything like them, and as someone who read the monster encyclopedia and knew most, if not all, the mobs in the current game, it would be weird not to know.
Was this a custom invention of the Dungeon Maker? That would make the most sense.
"What are those things?" Diana's grip tightened on her axe, her foot digging into the sand beneath her.
The crashing of the waves on the rocks masked her voice.
Better yet, who the hell are these people? She glanced at the group clad in animal skins.
There were six of them, four men and two women, each armed with wooden weaponry. Their clothing resembled the northern barbarians, with whom her duchy was constantly at war.
The one who had spoken earlier, their leader or what seemed to be it, had emerald eyes and dark brown matted hair. His face had red markings, a line trailing from his forehead to each eye. Two of the Six faced Diana's group warily, their hands on their wooden spears pointed towards them, while the leader kept his back to them, clearly considering the creatures a greater threat.
Diana glanced at Ria, who seemed unbothered by the situation, while the paladin stood silently, her silver blade glistening from the intense light of the sun.
Diana's gaze returned to the armored figures, or rather, rotten knight armor, something green was building on it. She recoiled at the aroma wafting from the armor. It overpowered the scent of the sea.
Her nose scrunched up, and a frown came upon her lips.
Their hollowed eyes and skull-like faces alight with blue flames.
Was it?
"Necromancy?" She muttered under her breath.
But what kind? It lacked the pristine armor of a death knight, the magic-wielding of a Lich, and it clearly wasn't a dullahan.
Weren't tests supposed to be based on reality, or something we studied?
"No." Diana jolted at Leah's sudden voice, her axe slipping before she caught it. She shot Leah a glare.
"When did you get so close?"
Leah flashed her an apologetic smile before her lips pressed into a thin line. Her hand held her shoulder as she leaned in and whispered.
"Those things are of a divine nature." Her voice sounded confused as if she couldn't believe what she was saying.
How could a mortal create something Divine?
The dungeon maker deserved more credit than he had received.
Diana's eyebrows furrowed. Divine? "Not necromancy... something different." She squinted at the strange enemies.
Would the academy put something that they couldn't handle?
No, they wouldn't. She chewed her lip. Or would they?
The creatures stood motionless, staring in eerie silence. Their hands gripped their swords as they lingered at the edge of the sand.
[Dia—]
Diana stepped back 'What the hell was that' It sounded like a voice in her head. She looked at Leah.
"Did you hear that? She whispered.
"Hear what?" Leah's blindfolded gaze turned toward her, eyebrow raised.
Well, that's alarming.
"Ikjhuls." The leader's voice echoed through the small beach. his voice was rough but understandable. His eyes were wary as he looked back and forth between the creatures and Ria.
"Ikjhuls? Ria repeated, raising an eyebrow. Her hand was on her hip, while a grin was forming on her face, as if she realized something.
[Dian—] The strange voice was in her head once again, she ignored it, focusing on the strangers.
He shook his head with a groan. "Foreigners." He said the word like it was a curse. "You aren't from these lands, are you?" The man's nose wrinkled in disgust.
"Kath." Another interrupted him, his brown eyes narrowing with a warning. His brown hair was pulled into a ponytail, and instead of red marking's he had blue on the corners of his lips pulling downward, as if his mouth was a box.
Kath looked at him and shook his head. "There isn't time. We don't know why the Hollows are attacking. The more help, the better."
"We can't trust those oeash!" He clenched his teeth and angrily spoke. His muscles bulged, and a vein was prominent on his forehead. His face morphed into a sneer.
Kath merely looked at him.
He clenched his fist and opened his mouth once more before closing it. "Fine, but if this goes badly." He clenched his fist so tightly that green blood leaked onto the sand, painting it a weird color.
Green blood?
Before Diana could question it further, the leader continued to speak.
"Hollows." He looked at his companion and placed a hand on his shoulder, nodding before turning to Ria. "Holy warriors of Lother, god of dread, enemy of the Great Lord Akhyls, Lord of the Sea and Sands." He looked at the ground. "You stand on sacred ground." He pulled the spear on his back.
Great, more gods, her eyes narrowed. Was this trial going to be a divine war between factions? She had never even heard of any of these names; were they from a different continent? Or entirely made up by the Dungeon maker?
The paladin's blade glowed white.
"Relax, foreigners." His lips pulled into a cocky grin. "Our enemy stands before us." Kath turned towards the Hollows, and his group followed suit, even the ones that were previously facing us. "They cannot cross this boundary." He dragged his spear through the sand, coating it. "Akhlyls forbids it."
"His sand is like poison to those who serve his enemy."
Ria's smile blossomed, an eerie look in her eyes as if she was about to do something unnecessary.
"Come, wormy."
What is this gremlin doing?
A portal of gold scratched reality above the sky, an enormous mana circle behind it, and from it, hands gripped the edges, pulling it further. Ignis, who was flying above, quickly dispersed. A dragon's head came out, and what followed was a snake's body, small wings on its side, and its golden scales shimmered.
A wyrm. Her summon the symbol of imperial authority.
Its gigantic body flew through the air before descending and breathing fire from its mouth.
The hollows pulled out their swords as they looked skyward, the silver-like metal morphing into spears, their hollowed eyes staring at the Wyrm as they pulled back and flung their spears.
The fire engulfed the spears before melting them in the air, and then the flames reached the hollows, in a storm of fire.
The only proof they ever existed was the ashes mixing with the dirt.
"Quetzaloctli." Kath spoke with an open mouth, "Quetzaloctli!" He shouted again. "The gods are watching; the lord of wind is here!" He yelled
His eyes tentatively looked back, and his eyes settled on Leah's halo.
"Holy Life, Feerah, goddess of life." He pounded his chest and knelt. "These are not foreigners, these are envoys sent by the gods." His eyes glowed fanatically.
"Is the Lord of Wind not Emerald?" One spoke, his eyes unsteady.
"Have you ever seen the lord of wind?" Another looked at him with incredulity before forcing him to kneel.
Even the one who called them what she could only assume to be a slur knelt with the same eyes.
However, Diana looked weirdly at Ria for different reasons than Kath.
Diana's brows knit together as she studied Ria. Was this an accident, or had she planned this?
It was like ulting a level one when you were fifty levels up on them. Could she have recognized these people? Summoned a creature similar to their god on purpose?
How could that be? This was a randomly created dungeon.
Ria noticed her gaze tilted her head and flashed her a dazzling smile, mouthing the words. Don't worry.
But Diana couldn't help but worry, because something even more concerning came up.
[Diana. Can you hear me?]
Bahamut's voice was now echoing in her head.
<><><><><>><><><><><><><>
At the control room in the main world.
What do you mean you screwed up?" Miss Kaede was angrily shaking a man with an enormous bald spot on his head. The man dressed in elegant clothes paled.
"Do you have any idea who's in there? If the crown princess dies, we're all dead!" She was basically screaming into his face. Her face flushed crimson, as her grip on his clothes tightened so hard she started to feel a tear.
"THAT OLD WITCH IS GONNA KILL ME, AND DONT GET ME STARTED ON THE POPE THEY ARE GOING TO KILL US." He looked like he was on the verge of tears.
"It's not my fault." He weakly let out, his body flaying back and forth.
"Not your fault?" She stopped and stared at him, her face close to his, as her eyes widened in hostility.
He flinched and stepped back, like prey caught by a predator.
"NOT YOUR FAULT?" She grabbed his shoulders.
"Someone messed with the magic circle." He stuttered out, pulling out a scroll and showing her where the magic circle had been tampered with.
"You didn't check?" She glared at him; her blue eyes looked like a hurricane was contained in them.
He broke free from her grip.
"I did, right before they got in." He pointed at the screen with the students in the labyrinth. "The one who messed with it was someone there."
"It had to be one of the participants, and it had to be an archmage."
"It had to be an archmage." She mocked, "Do you know how rare archmages are?" Her eyes narrowed dangerously, as the room was affected by her anger.