The Illicitous Dungeon

Half a day travel west of Lagoon Porter City, several adventurer's were caught in a desperate fight for their lives.

They were residing inside a small tavern in a village that was known for its horse and grass oxen breeding. The roads were only dirt and covered in wagon tracks and beast hoof prints, the recent rain turning it quite muddy.

Many of the old wooden houses had lanterns hanging beside their front doors, and even several street lamps. In a fantasy world where all kinds of combustible reagents resided, oil was an inexpensive commodity even for commoners.

This group of adventurers were inside the common area on the ground floor of the tavern, a local farmer displaying their talents playing relaxing music on a piano on the stage.

They were four men and a woman of the Second Step. The men's classes were Martial Artist, Polearm Specialist, Iron Defender, and a Hunter, whilst the woman was a White Mage. She was a healer, but also someone from Lagoon Porter City who had undertaken Styx's strengthening during breeding. Her mana pool had grown significantly and she had learned several offensive magics despite her specialised healing class.

As a healer, she had learned several blood type spells that could not only replenish a person's lost blood, but could also rip all the blood out of an enemy just the same. It was a gruesome sight and completely unexpected from someone with such a bright and bubbly personality.

Dark clouds concealed the moon and stars this night, a bone chilling deluge of water running off roofs and turning the ground to mud. The hearth in the tavern blocked the outside chill and kept the interior warm though, causing many to congregate here for a joyous night.

Cashmir, the Hunter, was the first to pick up the faint sounds of screaming from somewhere outside and barely audible due to the rain blocking most sounds. He gravely signalled his party members that there seemed to be trouble outside

The rest of the party nodded in understanding and silently equipped their weapons. They slunk out of the inn so as to not disturb the other patrons, their hands casually resting on the pommels of swords and the tail of arrows. A keen eye could tell they were ready for battle should it occur.

Outside, the heavy rain carried an oppressive atmosphere. The oil lantern by the door barely lit up more than a dozen feet, the other lanterns on the street and nearby buildings were but hazy will-o-the-wisps beyond the curtain of water.

*Aarrrhhhghhh!*

The faint cry of pain was even clearer now. Several other nondescript sounds also penetrated through the storm and reached the party's ears. It wasn't just one person, or even one direction

"Be careful, this is giving me a bad feeling. I think it may be a group of bandits." Luke, the Iron Defender, raised his shield above his head as an umbrella and stepped off the front balcony of the tavern and into the rain.

Boom!

Lightning stuck in the distance, a giant silvery bolt of the wrath of the heavens that lit up the night sky and pitch black clouds, a deafening crack following immediately afterwards.

"Let's hurry this up, I for one don't want lightning to strike my sword or armor… What is that in the sky though?"

As lightning struck again, the party bore witness to small black dots, not quite as dark as the clouds, showing up in the sky above them.

"S-save me!!" At this moment, a bloodied man in tattered rags came stumbling through the rain and heading towards the tavern and adventurers standing outside of it.

The man's feet slipped and he tumbled face first into the muddy ground, his groan drowned out by the rain. He struggled to get up, but before he could, a creature flew parallel to the ground with a barbed spear while making a sound that was a jarring mixture of a cackled laugh and a shriek.

The demon had crimson red skin and short, obsidian horns on its head. It was a lower demon species called an imp, a creature of unsound mind and relished in slaughter. They would eat any fallen enemy, even if it was a fellow imp.

"Demon!" Luke cried out in shock and lept forward to defend the fallen civilian.

Whilst not fully equipped in his armor, adventurer's and mercenaries were always ready for a fight in the event of an ambush or any other moment where they needed to fight at a moment's notice. He still wore his cuirass and a helmet with both his sword and shield equipped.

Before the imp could impale the fallen civilian, Luke barged into it and smashed the creature away with his shield, causing the demon to crash into a building with a screech. Immediately afterwards, several arrows cut through the rain and impaled it to the wall, taking its life instantly.

Cashmir received a small influx of experience from the kill that informed him the creature was truly dead.

Sarah, the White Healer, ignored the downpour that soaked her robes and huried over to help the man up.

"Slowly, good. Let me heal you, Heal!"

"Th-thank you," The man groaned but honestly thanked the healer as the deep gashes in his waist rapidly stitched themselves together.

"We… We need to hurry and warn everyone!! We are under attack! The monsters… the demons! They came out of nowhere!"

The adventurers looked back up into the sky again as more lightning lit up the sky. What were previously black dots circling the sky had come much closer and could be seen more clearly now. They were hundreds, no, thousands of lesser demons thirsty for blood and circling around their prey.

"Don't worry, we will help protect the town!" Unlike many other adventurers, this group took it upon themselves to protect the town rather than focusing on only their own lives. "It's not like we are going to be getting out of this either."

Sarah avoided the eyes of her party members and hesitantly said, "Guys… actually, I never spoke about this, but I have a connection with Lord Styx."

The men in the party looked at her out of the corner of their eyes and had varying degrees of grins.

"We already know," Cashmir almost laughed. "Seeing your power increase, sudden distancing in your relationship with us, and… well, disappearance between quests…"

"It's not like that, you know. There are still people, especially adventurers, who judge us harshly for that…" Sarah blushed briefly before clearing her throat. "What I want to say is, Lord Styx will know what's happening through me, and I can also request reinforcements. We will be able to evacuate the villagers too."

"I know what Lord Styx is like. Do you think these villagers will be accepting of monsters? They have spent their entire lives fighting them to protect their livestock and families."

"I can't force them, but I can save those who accept it."

"You are skipping over one point, what will these reinforcements cost you? Can you communicate with Lord Styx directly and negotiate."

Sarah looked up at the approaching swarm of demons, several small clusters already swooping down elsewhere in the village followed by some faint screams that were quickly extinguished. Most of the villagers were of the Second Step, but that didn't help them much in this kind of ambush.

"That… I can't communicate with Lord Styx himself. It's more like an automated system… ah, you wouldn't get it. As for the cost, it is mainly just evacuating the citizens here which aren't a part of his territory. I will just… be absent for a bit longer than usual after this."

The other party members rose their brows at this, their imaginations running wild over rumors they heard of the breeders and their fellow beautiful, if not frighteningly strong, female party member.

"Stop imagining things and pay attention! We need to gather all the villagers together and hold off the demons with any able bodied fighters until rescue comes."

The cries of the demons were much clearer now and citizens were coming out of their homes to investigate. The adventurer party were also attack by more and more demons. Sarah's hands glowed with a crimson radiance, her teammates healing whilst the demons would have all the blood in their body ripped out of their body.

Most of the demons were only at the First Step, through and through lesser demons by any comparison. What they lacked in quality though, they made up in quantity with their seemingly endless reinforcements. It was only a matter of time until stronger demons appeared too. The more people were killed or captured and blood collected, the closer the demons became to summoning their elder demons from the demonic realm too.

"Everyone, stay inside the tavern!!" The adventurers cried out over the sound of pouring rain. "We will find and others and bring them here too. Rescue is on the way, we just need to hold out!"

Blood, both human and demon, was shed only to be washed away by the flooding roads. On one side, an already bloodied First Step female villager war pulled and dragged into the sky where the demons feasted with their teeth and claws, whilst the other was the adventurers repelling or killing any demon that approached the tavern alongside several farmers with clubs and swords.

Several nightcrawlers and other shadow type demons snuck over the roof of the tavern planning to ambush the defenders, but Sarah could see magic and they were instantly detected and met with a barrage of arrows and blood magic.

Sarah's giant mana pool was slowly drying up as the night grew darker. The demons were endless and death was all around them.

"Luke!" Sarah cried out alongside her companions as the tank of the party was impaled through his waist.

"I… can still go on!" Luke raised his head and roared into the rain whilst using his shield to smash the attacking devilkin into the ground before running his sword through its neck.

Sarah quickly worked on casting healing spells, but the damage for too large for her magic and he was slowly bleeding to death. All she could do was prolong his life and pray Lord Styx's army would arrive faster.