Upon entering the secret entrance of Death Howl Dungeon, the atmosphere turned tense. Basil didn't say a single word of explanation, and the Knights of Hauler didn't dare to bother him.
All they could do was, wonder why Basil went to the Dungeon. They didn't know that there was a tunnel connecting Death Howl Dungeon to the Dungeon in BA-32, so, of course, they were bewildered.
'Did something happen between them in this place?' Ione wondered as she noticed the strange way the people behaved. 'They look wary, but I don't know which they are wary about: My Lord or the Dungeon.'
There was a story to it—she was sure about it—but she immediately ignored them afterwards. She was more interested in how Basil could gain the control over the Dungeon.
Although she didn't know much about Dungeons, she, at least, knew only those who understood the Runes Carved on the Sealing Sword could pull it out. Those who didn't would only kill themselves if they did.
Ione knew how exceptionally knowledgeable Basil was, however she was utterly baffled at the fact that he even knew about such a thing.
Considering his age, after all, unless he had been learning since he was in the womb, to be that knowledgeable was impossible. That just proved how amazing and exceptionally exceptional he, the Fated Child was.
Like anyone else, Ione absolutely didn't know about Basil's return to the past, thus why she thought that way.
Shriek!
A sudden Demonic scream made everyone stop in their track. Basil quirked his eyebrow in wonder how there was still a Demon in the Dungeon, whereas the others prepared themselves to engage in battle.
The Demon was undetectable. Unlike Basil, who had the complete control of the Dungeon, the others were desperately trying to locate the Demon, which was why they were wary.
When they saw Basil facing his body to a specific direction, they immediately turned to that direction and prepared to launch an attack.
Rattle.
They could immediately hear the sound of the Demon's light and quick footsteps. They wondered what kind of Demon they would be facing against, since they couldn't see anything other than a dark tunnel.
Just as they suddenly felt an impending doom, Basil swiftly turned around. Taking out Caliburn in the exact same moment, he swung it upwards graciously.
The place was briefly illuminated with a golden light, and they heard a loud thud behind them afterwards. Turning to the back, they saw a giant spider with a half body of a woman on its head split in two.
The giant spider was a Knitter. They liked to wrap their prey with their silk so the silk could liquidize whatever inside before eating it.
It moved slowly so it was fairly easy to kill it, however it was sneaky enough to not be easily detected. Messing with the sense of its prey—it was the only thing it was good at.
"I definitely heard it was coming from our front," Thompson muttered as he looked at the Knitter. "It really messed up with our sense, didn't it?"
The others might wonder how the Knitter had been able to fool their sense, but Basil was still thinking about why there was still a Demon left in the Dungeon. He, after all, had made sure to let all of the Demons out.
Attributing it to his lack of meticulousness, he turned his back on the Knitter, and resumed running through the passage. The others immediately followed him—they had become warier after what had happened.
Looking around constantly to watch for a sneak attack, the Knights of Hauler's worry of Basil planning to do something to them disappeared.
Their worry turns out to be unnecessary: they didn't encounter a single danger on their way. They wanted to heave a sigh of relief, but at that moment, they were immediately reminded about Basil.
Looking at Basil in worry as soon as they stopped running, they find him frowning while looking at the wall in front them. They were immediately swept with an unpleasant aura as soon as they turned to the wall, and their expression couldn't help turning solemn.
They could feel many presences behind the wall, and all of them were hostile, to say the least. They didn't know for sure if the presences belonged to strong Demons, but they were sure they wouldn't be able to handle them.
"What are we doing standing in front of it?" Effie asked sternly.
"We are going to pass through the tunnel hidden behind the gate," Basil answered simply.
"Gate?" Effie lightly frowned. "You know what are behind this gate, don't you?"
"I do."
"Despite knowing that, you are suggesting we should still pass through it? Are you confident enough to survive whatever behind this gate?"
"I am," Basil answered coldly. "Haven't you heard what I have killed?"
With eyes as bottomless and cold as an abyss, Basil stared into Effie's eyes. Being stared with such coldness made Effie recoil in shock, and, of course, fear.
She had never seen such coldness in a human's eyes. She had only seen those eyes once, and that was when she saw the Elf executioner behead her father.
She was sure the Elf executioner had been hundreds of years old at that time and had killed many people, but not even those eyes could match Basil's.
It made her wonder how someone as young as Basil could possess those eyes, and what he had gone through to have those eyes.
"You don't have to follow me if you you are worried about you party's safety." Basil extended his hand that was holding the hilt of the Sealing Sword to the side. "I can take you out now if that's what you really want."
Rumble.
The wall beside the Knights of Hauler suddenly caved in before revealing a tunnel. There was a light at the end of the tunnel, which means it was really leading to the outside.
Effie could sense Basil wasn't lying as she looked at him. He just wanted to do things quickly, so he didn't want to be bothered, which was why he had immediately given them the option to shoo away.
'We have to choose well,' Effie thought as she turned to Thompson. He immediately shook his head, and the quick decision honestly surprised Effie.
She was already sure this time that Basil didn't have any thought to get rid of them, but she didn't expect Thompson to immediately decide it was better to go with Basil.
She was sure their travel would be a lot harder, but considering it was Basil leading them, she was sure he had something in return for the danger. If she would like to guess, it would be a shorter traveling time.
"In other words, he will take us to BA-32 through a shortcut," Effie muttered softly.
"We will still go with you," Thompson stated. "It is too late to back away now that we have come this far."
Basil looked at Thompson silently for a few seconds before closing the tunnel that led to the outside. Effie stepped back at the same time Basil turned his gaze away, and watched as he put his hand on the wall in front of them.
The Runes Carved on it immediately shone, indicating they were now activated. Gulping dryly in anticipation, their body turned tense the moment they felt the sickening presence behind the wall getting stronger.
Rumble.
When the wall shook, a set of lines forming a rectangular shape appeared on the wall. The wall, following the lines, caved in before sliding to the side.
The people were immediately greeted by thousands of Demons when the way to the other side was opened. The Knights of Hauler's eyes immediately darkened, whereas Basil smirked at the scene.
Unlike the Knights of Hauler who couldn't tell the difference between Demons, Basil knew what the Demons in front of them were. They were the weakest of their kind—those that were hunted by the other Demons.
They were the Demons that had chosen to live inside the Dungeon because of the harsh living conditions of the outside world.
Basil knew he didn't have to worry of this kind of Demons. Even the reason why they were there was because they were intimidated by the presence of the Demons of the BA-22 that had visited Death Howl Dungeon.
Basil was slightly confused how they could get there, but he knew it was their hiding place.
For him, there are two types of those who feel the need to hide themselves: cowards and people who are planning a revenge. In his opinion, the Demons were clearly the former.
... He wasn't wrong.
Shriek!
As soon as he infused his Mana into Caliburn—as soon as Caliburn was enveloped with True Light Magic, the Demons in front of them stepped back in fright. Some of them even got charred as they couldn't handle the pressure.
Boom!
Wasting no time, Basil kicked the ground, cratering it in the process, and dashed towards the group of the scared Demons. Ione followed suit in the next second, also leaving a crater on the ground she had kicked.
Basil swung Caliburn once, and tens of Demons were obliterated. Ione combined Fire Magic and Wind Magic, charring the Demons standing in her way to crisp.
Basil had five Ultimate Circles shining intensely behind him, meanwhile Ione had six Grand Circles. Basil's overshadowed Ione's for obvious reasons, but together, theirs overwhelmed the air with Mana.
Seeing how quick Basil and Ione reduced the amount of the Demons, the Knights of Hauler were snapped out of their daze. Drawing the Qi from their Core, they, too, dashed towards the Demons.
Slash!
Boom!
They were immediately surprised by how easy it was to kill the Demons, and it made them excited. They utilized their weapons more vigorously, further quickening the extermination of the Demons
The Knights of Hauler had actually fought Dungeon Demons, but they had forgotten how easy it was to fight them after fighting the Middle Class Demons that had only come out of the Obelisk after the Outbreak.
They had been fighting a hard fight for an entire week while putting their lives on the line, so facing easy opponents like the Dungeon Demons was actually refreshing for them.
While constantly killing any Demon standing in their way, with Basil and Ione in the lead, the Knights of Hauler arrived in BA-32 after an hour and a half.