"Darya, wake up," Leon said. "We have some visitors."
Darya frowned when she heard that, slowly she opened her eyes, but then suddenly she started to tremble and sweat cold. Darya recognized the presence of her grandfather nearby.
"Oh boy... it looks like you don't want to see him after such a long time..." Leon frowned.
"W-what are we going to do?" Darya asked while she was trembling like a leaf.
Leon sighed, it looked like Darya's personality returned to the point where she was one year ago... Regardless, Leon messed up. He knew that the shadowy figure or another undead Trent would tell what happened to Donan, but he didn't expect that they have some means of communication. Perhaps, Donan just happened to visit the shadowy figure in the last few days, and that was why a trap was waiting for Leon and Darya outside the dungeon...
"… First, let's see what he wants to do. After that, we will decide," Leon rubbed his chin. "If something happens, just escape as fast as possible without looking behind. We will reunite on the island. It would also be a good idea to escape using an underground path, we are far away from our base, but thanks to Geomancy, we should be able to move quite fast through underground routes."
"A-are you sure?" Darya asked.
"Geez… why do you have to act like this just because your grandfather is nearby?" Leon sighed. "Just remember, if something happens, run away as fast as you can. Create some diversion and then escape through an underground route."
Darya nodded, even though that kind of incident wasn't within their expectations, she just had to keep doing her best to avoid the worst possible outcome. Things could have been different if they had created a checkpoint inside the dungeon, but they didn't because that wasn't possible. For some reason, before Leon or Darya could cast the spell, their mana would dissipate inside the dungeon, and that only happened when they tried to use Checkpoint.
Leon and Darya started to walk toward the entrance of the dungeon, and soon they saw hundreds of soldiers around pointing their hands toward them. As expected, if they wanted to kill Leon and Darya without asking anything, Donan wouldn't be there.
Tybalt
Health: 100/100
Mana: 10000/10000
Stamina: 100/100
Active Skills: Pyromancy Lv 210, Mana Armor Lv 150
Passive Skills: Earth Resistance Lv 100, Wind Resistance Lv 100, Fire Resistance Lv 100
Amiens
Health: 100/100
Mana: 11500/10000
Stamina: 100/100
Active Skills: Cryomancy Lv 210, Mana Armor Lv 150
Passive Skills: Earth Resistance Lv 100, Wind Resistance Lv 100, Fire Resistance Lv 100
Verges
Health: 100/100
Mana: 9500/10000
Stamina: 100/100
Active Skills: Geomancy Lv 200, Mana Armor Lv 150
Passive Skills: Earth Resistance Lv 100, Wind Resistance Lv 100, Fire Resistance Lv 100
After using Appraisal on a few soldiers, Leon confirmed a few things. Donan wasn't a fool, and he brought a lot of soldiers who had Fire and Earth Resistance at a high level. It was difficult to know if he knew that Leon's most powerful skill was a combination of both elements, or it was just a precaution since Leon and Darya went to the other world to receive the blessings of Efreet and Gnome.
"Their status is rather… identical. It looks like they don't have all that much freedom to use their status points where they want…"
Donan (Shadow)
Health: 5000/5000
Mana: 5000/5000
Stamina: 5000/5000
Active Skills: ????, ????, ????, ????
Passive Skills: ????, ????, ????, ????
If that was the case to regular soldiers, the same rule didn't apply to Donan. It looked like he also had the same skill that could counter Appraisal… it had been granted by the shadowy figure, obviously. Leon tried to level up Appraisal a lot to avoid that scenario, but it looked like it wasn't enough.
Regardless, Donan and Darya had many similarities. The same color of hair and eyes, but his hair was very short. His physique was also very different from the soldiers or most of the inhabitants of Miebos. He was a little taller than Leon, and his muscles were big like Hector's… Although he also had a mana crystal on his forehead, it was clear that he decided to become a magic warrior or something like that.
"Hello, Darya. Hello, invader." Donan showed a small smile.
"Hello… grandfa-" Darya said.
"Hello, another invader's dog ." Leon interrupted Darya while he smiled.
Donan trained his men well, despite hearing the enemy insulting their boss, none of the soldiers reacted. Leon looked at them in their eyes, but he still could see the reason in them, they hadn't been brainwashed, they were just that obedient.
"Hahaha, what are you talking about… Invader?" Donan glared at Leon while he was smiling.
"Playing dumb, huh." Leon shrugged. "I guess that suits you… What do you want, dog?
"… I want my granddaughter that you kidnapped." Donan's eyebrows twitched.
"I'm the one who has been kidnapped, you can call me Prince Peach," Leon smirked. "Darya decided to work with me. I didn't force her to anything. Unlike you… dog."
Even from afar, Leon could feel Donan's mana boiling, he was about to explode… although he wasn't a fool, he had a lot of pride. Donan couldn't withstand being called a dog so many times… even though he truly was the dog of that shadowy figure.
"Spare me of your lies, invader," Donan said, while he was having a hard time controlling his urge to smash Leon. "Release her, and I will grant you a quick death."
"Wow, so generous…" Leon smirked. "Still, do you see some chains attached to her limbs? If she wanted to, she would have already gone to your side… dog."
The next moment, Donan's body became a blur. Leon's taunts finally worked, but even so… he wasn't sure if he would succeed in what he wanted to do…