Crimson Overlord

Hellion gulped down the pill while wiping the sweat from his face. He felt his luck was terrible. He was acting arrogant, trying to compete with Orpheus for Lily\'s attention but almost lost a leg in the process.

They didn\'t stand for long and continued their journey with more caution.

"Thanks," Hellion said to Orpheus after some time. If not for him, he felt he was gone.

He felt gratitude towards Orpheus.

"Please don\'t mention it," Orpheus said with a kind smile. "We exist to help each other during the journey."

"You are a nice fellow," Hellion added thinking maybe he might have misjudged Orpheus.

"You are overpraising me," Orpheus scratched the back of his head while inwardly smirking.

Lily almost broke into a peal of laughter, she felt like this man was too wicked.

Orpheus and others took each step with care. Hellion was especially on guard after the recent attack by Rock-scaled Lizard.

He has brought a flare to help them see better inside the cave, though not everyone agreed it was a good decision.

As they walked ahead, from a wall on the left said, a lizard\'s mouth suddenly popped out. The lizard was camouflaged so it was almost impossible to mark out its presence unless one looks very carefully.

"Watch out!" Illy shouted to warn Lily and others, albeit a bit late. She believed the cave was made from special materials which reduced her senses.

"What?!" Lily was on the extreme left and she was completely caught off-guard. The lizard was already above her shoulder and she has no time to back off.

As the mouth clamped its sharp jaws around her shoulder, the eyes of the lizard suddenly turned stiff before it could chew the flesh.

It opened its mouth and backed off, releasing helpless sounds.

"Huh?" Lily looked ahead and noticed the lizard\'s neck being grasped by Orpheus. She understood the lizard didn\'t back off on its own, it was forced to.

The lizard tried to struggle with its tail whipping towards him, but Orpheus just moved his other hand to block the tail.

"Not good manners to force yourself on a lady. She is too precious for the like of you to try to approach her.\'\'

 He said in disdain as he applied pressure on its windpipe.

With a final grunt of helplessness and anger, the lizard\'s eyes turned listless. Orpheus threw its corpse on the floor like it was some chicken.

Ilya and Hellion were stunned by the ease with which he defeated the lizard. They have witnessed his powers before but didn\'t realize he could do it so easily.

The most astonished one was Hellion. He wanted to cry since Orpheus could save Lily before the lizard could bite her, so why didn\'t he show the same activeness when he was attacked? Maybe become I\'m a man? But he didn\'t show the same enthusiasm he had for Lily for my sister. Hellion observed Orpheus lost in thoughts.

Ilya was also looking at Orpheus wondering if would have done the same thing for her. She quickly discarded this thought away.

Orpheus ignored their reactions and brought his eyes on Lily.

She was looking at him, her cheeks slightly flushed given the words he used when he killed the lizard. She obviously knew he was teasing her while fooling others, but as a young girl, he still got the best out of her.

"Are you fine?" He asked with a faint smile.

"Yes," She answered, quickly concealing her embarrassment.

Orpheus smirked, acting as if he hadn\'t seen Lily blushing.

After the little episode, the group continued their exploration, killing the Lizard\'s origin beast while not forgetting to collect the herb necessary for completing this floor quest.

Soon, they moved to the next floor which surprisingly was a town, a ghost town.

What was once a busy roadway that led to Westray was barely detectable beneath layers of dust, sand, shrubs, and leaves. Gardens are bustling with insect life who\'ve made their home in the now tall grasses and overgrown bushes.

Most doors still stood sturdy in their frames. They were a little dirty, but if you only focused on the doors you\'d expect people to come out as if nothing had changed. Paint crumbled off of the walls and was slowly replaced by vines that crawled their way toward the rooftops.

Westray, once a major hub for new businesses and young families was but a hollow shell of its former self. The air which was once filled with the many sounds of a growing community had grown eerily quiet. The silence was only broken up by the occasional animal sound and a gust of wind.

The lighthouse was once a beacon in multiple senses of the word. The once bright light on the outskirts of town was now merely a broken pillar and the perfect spot for nesting birds who gladly took advantage of this.

The town was truly an eerie sight. So many lives were forgotten and whatever was left to show for it is slowly withering away as time goes on. But even though many buildings had found a new purpose there was just no way this town\'s former self could ever be restored.

The group moved cautiously in the city. Orpheus secretly spread his senses, taking in the whole city. He could sense a few monsters here and there but he also sensed something repulsive coming from the depth of the ghost town.

While Lily and the others readied their respective weapons, the ruin\'s robotic voice rang out, announcing the content of this floor.

[Defeat the unknown enemy, the unknown entity in the depth of the city.]

\'\'What? This is different from what the record said.\'\' Lily cried in alarm, she looked at Orpheus as if to ask him if he knew anything about this unknown entity but all she received in return was Orpheus simply shrugging his shoulders.

\'\'Tch!" Lily clicked her tongue in annoyance. Of course, she didn\'t believe Orpheus\'s claim of not knowing anything, still, they have to proceed forward.