"He was about to shoot that demon," someone said.

  "I believe that, because I'm the most innocent one here," Eric replied firmly.

  Captain Hukudo would bet that he'd never felt this frustrated and angry in his entire life. If demons from hell crawled up to the human world, they'd probably look just like this.

  "Never mind, it's almost over," Eric said.

  "I'll take care of the rest too."

  "From now on, no more accepting surrenders."

  Eric finally stepped out of the shadows, turning into a swift black figure as he charged at the swordsman.

  "Sword Slash!" The swordsman quickly unleashed two sword energies, crossing them to strike at Eric. Eric's round shield on his left arm easily deflected the attack. He raised his staff and plunged it into the ground.

  "Quagmire!" The ground instantly collapsed. The swordsman's body wobbled, but he managed to dodge the quagmire in time.

  "Hallowed elements, shine brightly here. Spirits of fire, dance in this place," Eric chanted.

  "First-tier magic, Fire Pit!" Flames rose from the ground. The quagmire-drenched ground was instantly dried, and the flames twisted, surging towards Eric, trying to engulf him. The swordsman seized the opportunity, using years of coordination to deliver a horizontal slash at Eric.

  Eric deflected the slash with his left arm, but his body inevitably leaned towards the side of the flames. He quickly reversed his staff, and water turned into strips wrapping around his body, withstanding a moment of scorching.

  The swordsman then unleashed his well-honed sword skills, striking blow after blow at Eric. Eventually, Eric's chest exposed a vulnerability. The swordsman naturally didn't miss the chance and thrust his sword through Eric's heart. But he stabbed into thin air. The sword, piercing through the chest, didn't feel any resistance.

  Eric seized the opportunity to grab the swordsman's neck with both hands and slashed his throat.

  [Ding, Swordsman Lv17 defeated, +450 experience]

  Then he embraced the swordsman's body and fell to the ground with him.

  "Mutual destruction?" Hukudo, who was watching from a distance, felt incredulous.

  Was it over just like that?

  Something was off.

  He raised his staff, aiming at the two bodies.

  "First-tier magic, Fireball!" A fireball shot out. Eric had no choice but to stop pretending to be dead, pushing the swordsman's body aside and standing up.

  The feeling of a failed ambush made Eric feel pretty annoyed. He pulled out the sword that had pierced his chest and hurled it at Hukudo with all his might.

  Hukudo, who was prepared, quickly dodged and looked at Eric's chest.

  "Unaffected by a heart-piercing strike, you truly are a demon," he said.

  "Not a demon, a skeleton. I told you that when we first met," Eric replied.

  His body turned into a blur as he charged at Hukudo. At this moment, Hukudo hadn't given up hope yet. He suddenly rushed towards the priest, shouting, "Run!"

  As he leaped over the priest, he pushed the latter hard backward. Eric didn't hesitate either, thrusting his sword forward and piercing the priest's heart.

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  [Ding, Priest Lv16 defeated, +350 experience]

  Then, a fireball, using the priest's corpse as cover, shot from his blind spot. It was about to engulf both the priest's body and him. He quickly retreated, dodging the unexpected fireball. The fireball blasted the priest's corpse into a mist of blood, instantly blinding his vision.

  By the time he charged through the blood mist again, Hukudo's figure had vanished.

  "Hmph, think you can escape?" Eric quickly followed.

  "Die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die..." Hukudo kept cursing Eric as he ran. The word "die" was repeated in a low voice, his eyes bloodshot, face pale, and hair disheveled. He looked like a madman. His mind had completely collapsed.

  He had to kill everyone in his team. Two of them were forced to be killed by him. The fact that he still had the will to run for his life and hadn't completely gone insane was a testament to his strong will. But inside, he was already plotting how to torture Eric to death in the most brutal way once he got out.

  First, he'd play with Tadela until she was broken, then kill her. After that, he'd go after everyone in the Ribi Guild. Anyone associated with that skeleton would be killed. He was brewing these wild Thoughts.

  But then, a voice in his ear shattered his plans instantly.

  "I've got you."

  ……

  "Did you really collect all of this by yourself?"

  "This, this is nothing short of a miracle!"

  Rachel was at a loss for words as she looked at the small pile of octagonal fire crystals in front of her.

  "Is the quality and quantity sufficient?"

  "Yes, yes, it is!"

  "Each one is of extremely high quality, even among octagonal fire crystals."

  "If it weren't for the urgent need at headquarters, I'd really want to～thank you properly."

  Rachel's body almost leaned out of the counter again, close to him.

  So close, Eric could smell the intoxicating scent from her body.

  Eric took a step back.

  "Well, then, let's not waste any more time. Please deliver these fire crystals to headquarters as soon as possible."

  Rachel repackaged the octagonal fire crystals and handed them back to Eric.

  "Remember to come here next time you dive. The offer for free food and lodging still stands."

  "Next time, for sure."

  Eric took the fire crystals and left the shop, heading towards the thirteenth level, under Rachel's watchful eyes.

  "Come to think of it, the Hyena Adventure Team still hasn't come back."

  "Did something happen to them?"

  Rachel couldn't help but think of the blood scent she had smelled on Eric just now, and a thought popped into her mind.

  But then, she shook her head.

  How could that be possible? The Hyena Adventure Team was a seasoned eight-person team.

  No matter how strong Mr. Skeleton was, he couldn't possibly take on eight of them, right?

  She banished the thought from her mind and cupped her face.

  "But Mr. Skeleton is so cool, charging into the dungeon and coming back with a haul."

  "He's like a hero or something."

  ……

  He kept climbing up the maze.

  The monsters got weaker as he ascended, and with his familiarity with the maze, Eric's speed increased.

  He didn't deliberately hunt monsters; if he encountered one, he'd just kill it on the spot. Along the way, he accumulated a considerable amount of experience.

  It took him two days to reach the first level.

  After passing through the first level, he finally saw the long-lost sky and real sunlight.

  He stood there in a daze for a moment, as if he heard someone calling his name, and then snapped back to reality.

  "Mr. Skeleton, Mr. Skeleton!"

  From a distance, he saw President Tadela's cat-eared maid running towards him.

  Half of the gloom from the maze was swept away by the maid's presence. The cuteness of the cat ears was just too powerful.

  "How come you're here?" Eric couldn't help but ask the maid who ran up to him. After all, he hadn't mentioned when he would be back.

  "I've been sent by my mistress to pick you up a few days ago. She was very worried about you, and so was I," the maid said, her cat tail wagging behind her.

  "Well, thank you for coming to pick me up..." Eric said, patting the maid's head, intending to call her by name, but then he suddenly realized he didn't know the girl's name. The cat ears were so distinctive that he had only paid attention to them.

  "Um, what's your name?"

  "How could I let Mr. Skeleton, a noble like you, call the name of a mere slave? It would sully your ears."

  "What nonsense. Just tell me."

  "L... am... "

  "Speak up a bit."

  "Lamantil Ribi."

  "Lamantil, that's a pretty name. Why would it sully my ears?"

  Eric patted Lamantil's head again, trying to cover up his real intention of touching his own ears. The strange looks from the people around made Lamantil feel a bit shy and timid, but Eric didn't care at all.

  "Let's go, we should head back. Don't keep Tadela waiting," Eric said, patting his satchel.

  "Did... did you collect the octagonal fire crystals?" Lamantil asked in disbelief.

  "Of course," Eric replied, tossing the package to Lamantil. She opened it and gasped, her eyes sparkling with excitement. Then she carefully hugged it tightly to her chest, her cat ears trembling nervously and her tail standing straight behind her, as if she was afraid someone would see and snatch it away.

  "Lord Skeleton, you're being way too careless! Something this valuable—how could you just toss it to me like that?! You should be the one to keep it safe!"

  "Relax, it's tougher than it looks. You could hit it with a knife and it wouldn't even crack. Just drop it if you want. If anyone tries to take it from you, I'll take them down."