"Quin!!" Percy screamed out when he saw his friend falling into the hole that opened up, thanks to the Mercenary's actions.
"NO! ALPHA!" Dalia screeched as she ran over to the hole that was beginning to close itself up, due to the Dungeon Core's influence. It didn't like it when its floors were being damaged, and started fixing itself, and the rock floor began to reform over the hole before the wolfkin could get to it. The Core was able to fix this floor more quickly, thanks to it being so close to the throne room, as it was one floor below the Core's original location.
"RAH! Damnit!" Dalia growled out when she saw her Alpha falling into the hole with her companion.
"DALIA!" Percy yelled out as he ran over to where the hole used to be. After seeing that there was nothing they could do, he quickly turned to the Black Rose Mercenary, who had a smirk on his face.
"Why did you do that, Merc?!" Percy questioned sternly as he aimed his bow at the Black Rose Merc.
*Growl!* "You're dead, human!" Dalia growled in rage at the Merc's betrayal of her Alpha.
"I did what I needed to do, kid. It's nothing personal... But if you're sour about it, then you could fight me. I just wonder how long your prince and that dark elf can last at the hands of the troll? That's if they survived the fall that is... Maybe it's better for you to find them before it's too late. It wouldn't look good if a retainer came back to the king without his son. Would it?" the Merc said while creeping his way towards the exit of the throne room. He was keeping his guard up just in case.
"I don't need you telling me my business, human!" Dalia snarled back.
"Oh? Trust me... You don't want to test me, mutt!" The Merc chuckled back as he was almost at the doorway with his war hammer at the ready.
"Tch! Fine, but when we get the Lord and the Lady back... I'll personally come for you!" Percy threatened the Merc as he still had his arrow trained on him.
"Really!? I'll believe it when I see it, kid! I'll give my condolences to the fallen prince," The Merc laughed as he turned around and ran down the hallway until they couldn't see him or hear his footsteps.
'That cowardly bastard is lucky I can't leave my pack behind, or else I would chase him down myself. That was a dirty trick he pulled on the Alpha. But I'll remember his cowardly scent.' Dalia thought as she watched the Merc disappear from the throne room.
Without a moment too soon, Percy ran to Sir George, who was still unconscious after being thrown into the wall by the Cave Troll's attack.
"George?!" Percy yelled as he tried to shake the knight awake. "Sir George, wake up!"
The knight started to stir and groaned, "Nghh... Damn, my arm feels like it's broken."
"Sir George, we have to go after the Lord. I need your help!" Percy informed the Knight.
"W-What happened!?" George asked as he finally opened his eyes.
"A hole opened up underneath the Prince and Lady Rya. They fell down to the lower floor with the Cave Troll. Can you move?" Percy asked as he helped the knight sit up.
"Yes... B-But my shield arm hurts a lot... Gah! I'm not sure how useful I will be..." Sir George grunted in pain as he tried to move his arm. Then he got to his feet.
"Half of you is better than none of you, Human." Dalia chimed in as she started sniffing the air, trying to pick up her Alpha's scent.
"I couldn't agree more, Dalia. I will try and help in whatever way I can," Sir George replied as he held his arm in pain.
"Then let us go help them! Lady Dalia. Can you find them?" Percy said as he looked around the throne room in hopes of finding a way to the lower level.
"Of course!" Dalia said with a nod.
"Right then, I'll follow your lead, Lady Dalia!" Percy said as he walked up to Dalia.
She was surprised by the young one's forwardness. If she weren't in a hurry to find her Alpha, she would've taken more offense at a human being this close to her. But something about his attitude made her feel safe and giddy. It confused her a bit, but she had no time to think about it right now.
"Don't call me that, Youngling. I'm a wolf, not some noble lady." Dalia growled as she moved her nose around the throne room.
"Heh, I wouldn't dream of it, Ma'am," Percy replied as he stayed close by her side.
"Hmph! Whatever, but don't hold me back, pup!" Dalia responded as she found the scent trail of the Prince and her friend. "Follow me, I've found their scent," She said as she began following her Alpha's scent towards the big throne at the end of the room.
Dalia pushed her nose right up against a specific point in the throne and began sniffing around the throne. "It's here... The entrance to the next level is right here."
"Okay, let me check and see," Percy asked as he looked around the throne to see if there was some sort of switch or lever. He moved his fingers along the stone throne until he felt something catch his finger. He moved his hand closer to see what it was. It was a small, nearly unnoticeable switch.
"Found it!" He exclaimed as he pressed the button on the throne. The throne moved forward to reveal a hidden passage.
"Good work, Pup!" Dalia exclaimed as she started moving through the passageway.
"R-Right behind you, Ma'am!" Percy said as he followed Dalia with his bow at the ready. He had a good view of Dalia's behind as they moved forward.
"And stop calling me that!" Dalia growled at Percy.
"No can do... Ma'am!" Percy teased, which resulted in him getting slapped by her tail on his cheek.
'Tch, he's going to pay for that!' Dalia thought with a frown.
Once the two were gone, Sir George was looking around the room with a look of confusion. "Where's the Merc!?"
Since Sir George couldn't find the answers. So he followed after his comrades.
***
'SHIT! WE'RE FALLING!' Rya thought to herself while in Quinus's arms until they abruptly crashed into the stone floor below. It was jarring and painful, but not life-threatening. They fell into an unusual cavern that looked like an underground amphitheater. It looked alien compared to the rest of the Labyrinth, like they stumbled into an HR Giger painting.
"Are you alright?" Quinus asked as he looked over at her with concern.
"Yeah, just a little shocked is all," Rya said when she stood up and brushed the dust off her clothes. "Huh?"
Out of instinct, Rya pushed Quinus back just as a giant fist came out of nowhere and almost smashed Quinus.
"Whoa!!?" Quinus yelped while watching the fist go by his face.
"Get out of here, Quin! I'll take this guy!" Rya exclaimed as she evaded another attack from the Troll's stump arm.
When Rya was able to get some distance from the Cave Troll, she channeled her mana into her hands and was ready to perform a counterattack.
"I hope you're ready to eat dirt, you jackass!" Rya said while summoning her earth magic with an elegant dance move. But instead of creating her usual six-foot-tall rock wall that would shoot up from the ground like when she was in the throne room. Instead, she was only able to summon a couple of small rocks that floated up from the mana-infused ground in front of her, and those two rocks seemed like they were fighting to even float up by three feet. Something was fighting her mana from summoning her rock walls, and this was a first for her.
'What the fuck!?' Rya thought to herself as she used her earth magic again, but it still didn't work.
"Quinus! I can't create a rock wall!" Rya yelled out while Quinus tried to close in on the Troll, who was bullrushing Rya.
"I'm coming, Rya!" Quinus yelled out as he ran as fast as he could.
The Cave Troll was almost on top of Rya when it was to strike. Rya didn't have a choice as she used the summoned small rocks and shot them straight at the beast's foot, causing it to stumble just enough for her to run away. This gave Quinus an opening to use his special Maja technique that severed the Troll's left hand.
*ZZ-SWING-ZZ!*
Quinus aimed for the Troll's left ankle and thought he would get a clean cut through it. But his blade got caught in its tibia bone, stopping his momentum and halting his strike. Quinus gritted his teeth when he saw the blade of his
"Shit!" Quinus yelled out in frustration, and then the Troll used its stump of an arm and swatted Quinus with all its might.
Luckily for Quinus, the stump arm wasn't as powerful without its hand. But it still had enough force to send him flying through the air.
"Quinus!" Rya screamed when she saw him fly away.
Quinus landed hard on the ground and rolled a bit before he came to a complete stop.
'Dammit, this foul troll will be the end of us if I don't figure out something... Wait! Where's my sword?' Quinus got back on his feet and was in a panic as he tried to find his sword.
Rya was relieved to see Quinus was alright, but they had a huge problem. They were stuck down here with no way out, and they had no weapons.
"Quinus! Your sword is stuck in the Troll's leg!" Rya yelled out. She tried to use her magic, but something was fighting her mana when it went into the ground.
'COME ON! WHY WON'T YOU FUCKING WOR~' Rya's thoughts were interrupted when she smelled something in the air. It smelled like ozone. 'I can smell the fucking ETHER!? That has to be it! The Goddamn Dungeon Core is stopping me from using my earth magic!' Rya concluded.