Angels of Death

Prologue: Quest (II)

After going around in circles, we found ourselves standing next to an entrance. When you look at the surroundings, you'll immediately think that the scenery is an aftermath of a calamity. The entrance leads to an underground dungeon, perhaps. The negative energy is oozing out.

"Are we going in?" Nashi asked.

"Yes. I keep sensing this black aura na nagmumula sa loob," answered by Lydia.

It's heavy and dense. The atmosphere made me feel like wanting to turn back, hide, and never to return. My legs are shaking and my heart races as if Death itself stands before me. Ba't naman hindi ako manginginig? An E-ranked wizard such as myself will enter an approximately B or C ranked dungeon. I'm basically throwing myself on an abyss. Isa pa, the boss that resides in it. Just thinking about what will happen scares me.

We marched through the entrance. Darkness slowly engulfed us as we walked deeper into it. I faintly saw Lydia point her pointing finger up and fire lit our path. The light coming from the entrance slowly faded as we let the darkness surround us. Now, only the fire from Lydia is our source of light.

"Have you heard of this dungeon?" Nashi asked in the middle of our silence. Hindi ko alam kung kanino nakadirekta ang tanong nya but I still answered. The silence suffocates me, I want to break it.

"No. New dungeons must be reported to the guild before any wizards explore it," wait, aren't we doing illegal? Every adventurers must ask permission from the guild once the latter confirmed the danger level of the dungeon. It's doomsday for people whose ranks aren't compatible with the difficulty of it.

"Except for the fact that this isn't new anymore," added by Nashi to my thoughts. How did she know my thoughts? A mind reader? Impossible, no such person exists–it's taboo.

"This one's older than the Ganaesha Village. It was found after the largest earthquake. However a village was already standing here, one even older than Ganaesha. I doubt there are still treasures inside and also monsters. Baka nga wala na or kaunti na lang," kinuwento nya. If that was true, then nakatayo na itong baryong ito even before the Sulligan clan.

We continued strolling even deeper with only Lydia's fire as our source of light. No encounters were met as stated by Nashi. Tahimik ang paligid at tanging ang paglakad lang namin ang naririnig. Nananatili ako sa likod ng grupo habang tinatahak namin ang daan na ito.

I was hoping for a peaceful venture within, but fate decided to send us a plentiful swarm of obviously carnivorous ants. Compared to normal tiny-sized ants, these are about the size of a maiden's hand. Ang balat nito ay nagmimistulang porcupine dahil sa mga nakausling parang pako na nakalitaw dito. What's more is, they are poisonous. It could paralyze one's body for at least 10 minutes.

While I was busy watching my teammates preparing for battle, patuloy naman akong umatras. There's absolutely no way that I could win against a registered D-ranked monster. 

On situations like this, I usually stay quiet and wait for the group to finish. However, in this case, since there are so many of them, there is absolutely no way na mapoprotektahan nila ako. Worry started plastering all over my face and when I looked down, I was shaking--my legs are shaking. 

On a distance not that far from me, one ant fixed its vision on me. Agad kong napansin na papunta ito sa direksyon ko. Sweat dripped down my face and my breathing became so heavy that I couldn't breathe properly. That's right, I was panicking.

Habang paatras ako nang paatras, palapit naman nang palapit sa'kin ang kalaban. Sa kaaatras ko, hindi ko namalayan na nakalapit na pala ako sa pader. It was about to target my head when I suddenly couldn't feel my legs and I felt a cold texture on my body. It was the ground. When I looked up, I was still shaking in fear. Nasira nito ang parte ng pader na sanang tatama sa ulo ko. I could've died!