Chapter 242 The Grind Begins

Having a taste of what the monsters were like, Shaman was confident they could fight more than one. With Luna's buff, they had just enough power to fight the molten creatures comfortably.

"That was just the basic mob, so don't get too ahead of yourselves. The flying monsters are a pain in the ass and cause a lot of problems. Just think of any animal and there is a lava version, but 10x stronger." Luna saw the confidence on their faces, but she didn't want them to think every monster will be the same.

"Do you think we can take on more than one?" Shaman took Luna's words seriously, so getting her opinion would be beneficial.

"I believe you can, but if there are any problematic monsters I will call you all back." Luna didn't want to limit them, but she wasn't going to risk their lives any more than necessary.

"Anything you want me to do?" Himeko decided to let Luna take the lead on what they should do since she was familiar with the dungeon.

"Just try your best to keep the monsters distracted while everyone else attacks. How heavy of an attack do you think you can handle?" Luna wasn't sure of Himeko's capabilities, so it was hard to plan without confidently knowing the extent of her strength.

"I can pretty much handle anything that isn't tier 9 or above without any issues." Himeko wondered if she should disclose the fact she used to be tier 10, but it felt like it would complicate things. She was getting stronger with each passing moment as her strength slowly came back, but it was hard to judge exactly where she was on the power scale.

"Okay good, then I will rely on you to take the brunt of the attacks from any of the bigger monsters we encounter." Luna knew the monsters did not go above tier 8 until the boss, so there should be no issues.

"Understood." It was a simple job, but that's what she preferred since they were focusing on Shaman and her group.

Proceeding deeper into the dungeon, it wasn't long before they scouted a group of monsters after peaking around a corner. It consisted of different beast-looking monsters ranging from wolves to an overlay large eagle the size of a small plane. Most didn't seem too threatening except for the eagle which somehow was able to fly despite being made of a bunch of rocks and lava.

It was easy to see why Luna said to look out for flyers as it could easily just fly around dropping magma on them.

"Anyone ranged?" Luna needed someone to keep the bird occupied, but she didn't know if anyone could even attack at range.

"I can, but I only have my fire arrows." Elysia pulled out her bow, but there wasn't much she could do. She did have arrows, but they were made out of wood which would most likely turn to ash before she could even pull back her string.

"Tsk, are you sure you don't have normal arrows? Even if they are wooden I can coat them in water, preventing them from turning to ash right away." Luna rubbed her forehead as the one ranged person had the worst possible element for this dungeon.

"Oh, I do." Elysia didn't even realise it was possible and completely disregarded the idea of using normal arrows.

"Okay pass them here, I will enchant the arrows with water." Luna felt relieved that her well thought strategy wasn't just thrown out the window.

Dumping down the few hundred bundles of arrows Elysia brought ages ago, Luna instantly got to enchanting them. A small blue magic circle appeared below them and, just as some of the arrows caught fire, water washed over them.

A small circle was engraved on the body of the arrows which were now ready for use.

"That should do it! Now then, remember that you don't have to kill the bird outright. Focus on hitting its core to interrupt its attacks. It may seem odd, but the core is also its weak point, so none-fatal hits can still stun these monsters. If you are unable to hit the core before its attack, please yell out." Luna gave Elysia her mission for the next encounter and it sounded easy enough.

She hadn't used normal arrows for a while, but she trusted in her abilities.

"Have to say, despite being so all over the place before you are a great leader and strategist." Shaman's expectations had been blown out of the lava. At first, Luna seemed very disorganised and scatterbrained. However, it turns out she has quite the head.

"That's good to hear. When you are in the backline as much as I am, you get to see the whole battle and learn how the art of war works. That being said, talking isn't part of the plan, so let's keep our heads straight." Luna didn't want to waste any time on chit-chat, so she got them back on track after her brief answer.

Shaman wanted to poke Luna's brain, but the latter was right, they were in the middle of a dungeon. It didn't stop Shaman from taking notes though as she wanted to develop that kind of quick strategic thinking. To some degree, she had that skill, but Luna was able to think of multiple plans before Shaman could finish one.

"Alrighty! Himeko, you will run out and grab the attention of the monsters. Elysia, you will stay back and focus on that damn bird. Everyone else, work together to kill the monsters and don't get in the way of Himeko." After outlining the jobs in a simple way, everyone nodded their heads in response.

"Go when you're ready Himeko." Luna gave the signal to Himeko as she would lead the charge.

***

<Outside the dungeon>

The capital city was partially in ruins and bodies were littered everywhere. The fighting was brought into the city by the ones that blindly followed the pope. About half of the admirals followed Klaus wholeheartedly and were going all out. The other half didn't want to be there in the first place.

Jane was one of them and to her surprise the demons made her an offer.

"Do you really want this fight? If not then join us." It was a female demon wielding 2 weapons that resembled flintlocks. Her outfit looked like it was ripped from a wild west film clearly indicating some otherworldly influence even if she didn't know it.

Jane's interest peaked, but this would mean losing her position.Still, her hesitation was enough for the demon to coax her more.

"If you join us, then you can stay here and receive a position of influence. The demon queen understands the risk you'll be taking and is willing to offer a hand." Hoping the admiral will cave in, she held off from attacking.

'What do I do?' Jane was in a tough spot, she didn't know if it was the right thing to do. In the end, it didn't matter to Klaus if she died which made the admirals feel like throw-away minions.

What also made it tempting was her best friend Himeko being exiled. She didn't know if Hiemko was even alive, but the main reason Jane became an admiral was to stay close to Himeko.

"What do you want me to do?" Jane wanted to know more as it would drastically change the battlefield if she got up and left.

"For starters, stop attacking our forces. If you can either help us in the fight or convince others to join us I'm sure the Queen would reward you generously" The female demon was thrilled to hear that the demon queen's deductions were correct.

"I see, for my own safety I won't fight against the pope, but I will stand down. I know who else may be willing to stop fighting so I will help you convince them." Jane didn't want to be a puppet anymore. If there was even a small chance of Himeko being here, it was worth the switch.

"Good, lead the way." The demon was still cautious, but her new companion sounded genuine. Jane was also wary since there was no way to tell if the demon was telling the truth, but she was willing to take the risk.

***

<Issac POV>

Issac on the other hand was not having much luck with the admiral he was facing. The admiral was tall with medium-long hair covering one eye. His uniform was silver which hinted at his element, but Issac has yet to figure it out.

"Bastard, why do you fight for him? Don't you see how stupid this is?" Issac was trying to fulfil Elaina's orders, but the man was not listening. He only responded with attacks that seemingly pierced right through his armour. It was odd as the armour itself was completely untouched, but every punch felt like it hit him unhindered.

Even when blocking with his shield it was as if the admiral's body phased through it.

"Tch looks like there is no getting through to you." Even though he was ordered to capture his opponents, there was no way he was going to win unless he aimed to kill.