As Orion ventured deeper into the dungeon, he encountered many other wolf-type monsters, which he swiftly dispatched. This reinforced his belief that the dungeon was exclusively populated by wolf-type creatures, as he hadn't encountered any other monsters.
Along the way, he continued to absorb the Stormleafs one by one. Each time he absorbed one, he would take out another and repeat the process. He continued this cycle of absorbing Stormleafs, fighting wolves, and progressing through the dungeon.
After some time, as he moved forward, he suddenly heard the sounds of battle nearby.
Curious, he immediately changed direction and headed towards the source of the commotion.
***
Not long after, Orion arrived at the edge of a gorge where the sounds of battle grew even more intense.
He immediately activated the curse of Dimensional Dissonance, slipping into his own dimension and disappearing from sight.
Orion suspected that the intense battle below involved platinum rank experts, given the ferocity of the sounds. The number of such experts could be counted on one hand, with most belonging to the Dungeon Management Association.
He wanted to be as cautious as possible, fearing that even from a distance, they might sense his presence.
'They shouldn't be able to find me now,' Orion thought as he moved closer to the edge of the gorge and looked down.
'Who are they fighting?!' He exclaimed in surprise at the scene unfolding below.
In the gorge below, the rocky terrain was dotted with four individuals: Carl Rollins and his three friends. This didn't surprise Orion, but what did was that they were brandishing their weapons at seemingly empty air. However, he could hear the sound of their weapons colliding with something unseen, indicating they weren't just swinging blindly.
'What are they fighting against?' Orion wondered as he descended into the gorge and approached them.
Upon arriving, he focused on their surroundings but still couldn't see what they were battling. However, he noticed blood splattering whenever they swung their weapons.
'I see,' he thought, realizing the nature of their opponent. 'An invisible enemy or a wolf with the ability to become invisible.'
Orion nodded at his conclusion and watched with patience.
Since they couldn't see the wolf or wolves—Orion couldn't tell if it was just one or many—they were having a hard time. These wolves must be at the peak gold rank, and Carl's team, despite approaching platinum rank, struggled against them.
"Tsk," Carl clicked his tongue in annoyance, then turned his attention back to Ethan. "Do you know what our family's strength is?"
Ethan nodded. "Devil flames."
Carl's expression turned serious. "But what you don't know is that my family is cursed."
"What do you mean?" Ethan asked, puzzled. Damian and Ogos also looked at Carl with curiosity.
Carl took a deep breath before speaking. "My family recently informed me that there's a dark flame burning deep underground in our mansion. If that flame were ever to be extinguished, our family would be destroyed, one way or another. That's the true nature of the Devil Flames."
"Are you serious?" Damian laughed lightly, treating Carl's words as a joke. "Does your family really believe in such things?"
Carl shook his head, his expression serious. "At first, I didn't believe it either. But when my father told me about another family in the same situation, I had no choice but to believe."
"Which family are you talking about?" Damian asked, now intrigued.
Carl glanced at each of his three friends before answering slowly, "The Elven Family."
"..."
A heavy silence fell over the group when Carl mentioned the Elven Family. No one spoke for a moment until Damian's trembling voice broke the silence.
"A—are you serious?"
Carl nodded, his expression dark.
"Then why are we here?" Ethan, who had been silent until now, asked.
Carl replied, "My father told me there are three cursed families: the Elven Family, my family, and the last one is called the Darkwood Family."
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