The four turned to the side, watching as a section of the wall separated with a heavy thud, sliding back to reveal a hidden room within. It was a classic safe room. Esther stood up, dusted her knees, and walked inside the secret chamber.
The four stopped at the entrance, staring at her in the small room. Their eyes moved over the shelves lined with various cards, finally resting on five golden cards hovering on a magnetic table—Legendary grade summons.
Esther took all the cards, sweeping them into her possession along with extra weapons: daggers, compact bombs, guns, and a single, ornate key. She turned around, seeing the confused gazes on her.
"What happened?" She asked, walking out of the room as the wall closed back behind her with a seal of finality.
"What is your plan? And are you the only one on this mission?" Jinx asked with a slight frown, assessing the woman’s resources.
"No, we are ten in total... I am sure the others are already waiting for us in the second base," She said, grunting slightly as she picked up two heavy duffle bags, placing them on her shoulders.
"Ready."
"Geez, aren’t you two gentlen, why can’t you help with this?" She asked, staring at Lucian and Destiny. The two looked at one another, then turned back to her, their faces expressionless. None moved to help.
"Are they always like this?" Esther whispered at Treasure, exasperated.
"Well, Lucian hate anything known as work, while Destiny? Well, he doesn’t want to help," She answered indifferently, as if discussing the weather.
"Wow, as this two sister, you’re trying," She added, shaking her head.
"I am not unhappy... In fact, I am happy... These two are the best brothers I can ever wish for. They can give their lives for , just like I can for them," Treasure smiled, a genuine warmth reaching her eyes.
Esther blinked, staring at the three. She looked closer at their features—the shared intensity, the subtle familial resemblance:
’Thinking about it, these three looks alike. Are they triplets?’ She thought.
"I think we need to get moving," Jinx stated, staring at her with a slight frown, checking her watch.
"Oh right!!"
Esther adjusted the bags and walked towards the door. The group followed behind her, only to stop dead in their tracks.
"Hahaha! How is things going, Miss Esther Marriott?!"
A raspy voice echoed in the hallway. Standing there was a short man with a severe hunchback. He was only four feet tall, but his presence filled the corridor with a sickly aura. A weird, twisted smile stretched across his face.
"You!!" Esther dropped the bags on the ground with a heavy thud, staring at the man with killing intent.
"Who is that?" Treasure asked with a slight frown, sensing the malicious energy.
"That is the Tenth Ghost. Known as Hunchback Poison... He is very dangerous," Esther introduced, her hands hovering near her daggers.
"Oh, I didn’t expect to et a ghost this early," Treasure said, taking a step forward, unfazed.
"No. Stay back... His summons all deals with poisons. You are immune to sound attacks, but are you also immune to poisons?" Esther asked with a worry, stepping in front of Treasure to shield her.
"Poison? Is it that tricky?" Destiny asked, his eyes narrowing in calculation.
"What a drag." Lucian sighed, leaning against the wall, looking like he’d rather be napping.
"Now! All of you will die here!!"
Hunchback Poison flicked his wrists, and five gold cards appeared before him, spinning in the air.
"Co out!"
The five cards shattered in a burst of light. A huge viper materialized behind him, its scales glistening with sli, its red eyes glowing with killing intent.
A massive spider appeared on his right, skittering up the wall to stare down at them. On his left, a scorpion the size of a pony appeared, lethal venom dripping from the blade at the end of its tail, sizzling where it hit the floor.
In front of him, a poisonous blue toad pulsed with toxicity, flanked by a giant red ant, a monstrous version of a Maricopa harvester ant.
"These here are my most poisonous summons... With one command, you six will be dead," He said with a smirk, reveling in his power. He gave the order:
"Poisonous domain!!"
WHOOSH!!!
The five Legendary grade summons all opened their mouths and released a thick green gas. It surged forward like a living wave, quickly covering the hallway, eating away at the oxygen.
"Hey!! We need to escape!! Make sure not to absorb the air!!" Esther yelled at them, panic rising in her voice.
"Using child gas towards us... Are you that stupid?"
"Huh?"
Esther turned to Destiny. The boy walked forward calmly, right into the encroaching fog. He slowly removed one hand from his pocket, stretched it towards the gas, and opened his palm.
".....?!!"
Esther and Hunchback Poison were stunned. They stared as the poisonous gas, instead of choking the boy, swirled violently towards Destiny’s outstretched hand. It started rging with his body, sucking into his skin like water into a sponge. Everyone watched in silence as every single drop of the lethal gas was completely absorbed by him.
"You called that poison?" Destiny asked with a slight frown, looking at his hand as if he’d just touched sothing mildly dusty. "Compared to Aunty Star’s poison, yours is sweet." He said.
"Sweet... Sweet?!!!" Hunchback Poison was flabbergasted. His eyes bugged out. His poison could kill Legendary grade summons and wipe out entire cities, but the guy in front of him just said the poison was weak. Worst of all, he said it was sweet.
"What abomination are you?!!" He yelled in shock, taking a step back.
"Hey!!"
WHOOSH!!
A red and black colored dagger flew with incredible speed. It blurred through the air and struck the giant ant, instantly shattering it into pieces of light. The dagger didn’t stop; it kept moving, slashing Hunchback Poison’s cheek, drawing a line of blood, before moving past him to shatter the viper behind him.
In a blink, two Legendary summons were dead. The weapon froze midair, reversed its trajectory, and flew backward, landing perfectly in Jinx’s hand.
"Know how you refer to my siblings... Next bad word, and your neck will be next," She said coldly, wiping the blood away with her power.
’What... What just happened?’ Hunchback Poison slowly raised his hand, feeling the warm blood on his cheek. He didn’t even register the attack until the weapon had landed back in the enemy’s hand.
’These people??’ He moved his gaze on Jinx, Destiny, Treasure, and the bored Lucian. Fear, cold and sharp, pierced his heart.
’These four people are dangerous... Killing Legendary grade summons with only one dagger, and without even much energy?! They don’t have mana, but they are as strong as SSS rank summoner... Fuck, I need to escape.’ He thought, his eyes darting all over the place, looking for a way out.
"Don’t bother escaping... The whole hallway is sealed. Facing us without knowledge of our skills, is only suicidal," Treasure said, crossing her arms on her chest, reading his intent.
"He can’t get any information on us because we aren’t from this world," Destiny pointed out calmly.
"Oh, right." Treasure nodded her head.
Esther stared at the two before her, stunned speechless. Her mind struggled to process the overwhelming display of superiority. How strong are these people? She looked over her shoulder at Lucian, who was yawning.
’I have a feeling he is the strongest... These four are sothing else.’
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