Realm Wars

"Y-you're a halfbreed!" the Elf composed himself and said, "Since you're the weakest among us here, you go and inspect the other statues!"

Huh? Ryu didn't know what the guy was saying. But he suddenly had the urge to slit his throat.

"Everyone agrees with me here, right?" the Elf looked at Rosa, "Are you his master?"

Rosa didn't respond, and the Elf insisted further. "Have your servant check the other statues, or we won't be able to get out of here."

He was desperate, and Rosa huffed a laughed. "Whether he is or not is none of your business. If you want, you can inspect it yourself."

The Elf's handsome face warped. "Do you want to start a fight? We both know that you couldn't win against me."

Rosa faced the Elf and smirked. "Resorting to violence now, are we? Why? Because the Demon is dead, and you think that you're the strongest in here now just because the ones who're left are humans and a halfbreed."

The corner of the Elf's lips twitched. "It's the truth. If you want to fight it out, then be my guess."

The Elf was arrogant like the others, but Ryu couldn't fathom where he got his arrogance from. Was it innate from their race? Or was it simply steamed from desperation? Because he couldn't sense that the Elf was stronger than him. He could probably defeat him with just his bare claws alone.

"Enough." The last human stepped in, and he looked at Rosa and the Elf. "We must work together if we want to get out of here."

Rosa laughed full of ridicule. "Work together? What do you mean work together? It's clear as day that the only way out here is to move the correct statue. It all depends on our luck."

Rosa licked her lips and sweetly smiled. "Or do you mean by working together is me, the only woman in here and the halfbreed, move the remaining statues so you two could have a higher chance of guessing the correct statues if we fail?"

The human caught his tongue and glared at Rosa while Ryu briefly looked at her and wondered how she could still be so calm despite their situation. Didn't she know fear? Or was she confident in her abilities?

Rosa placed a finger on her chin. "Alright, I will cooperate with you. But only if the two of you go and move the statues first. How about that?"

"Bitch!" the human spat and brandished his weapon, and the Elf did the same.

"Are you going to move the statues or die here right now?!" screamed the human, his true intention surfacing.

Ryu blocked the human and Elf from Rosa, claws extending and slit eyes barring. But before everyone could move a muscle, Rosa spoke, breaking the tension.

"It's fine," said Rosa and looked at Ryu with a sweet smile on her face. "You go and move the statue."

Ryu blinked. He wasn't against checking the statues, but what made her change her mind? Did she conclude that it was better if he died rather than facing the two?

Ryu frowned. That couldn't be it. Ryu was sure that behind the smirk on Rosa's face hid diabolical plans.

"Heh." The Elf sneered. "You should be obedient this early, saves us both from wasting our time."

"Get a move on halfbreed," said the human.

Ryu took one final glance at Rosa. Rosa shrugged and beamed. "If you can't even figure this simple puzzle after the clue was laid out, then you're really an idiot. And I don't need idiots."

Ryu frowned. Was all this a test for him? That couldn't be it since she said that she didn't want to lose him in the early stages of the Dungeon. Then it could only mean that she was confident that he had already figured it out.

The others looked at each other.

"What do you mean clue?" the Elf asked, eagerness in his tone.

But Rosa just shut her mouth and ignored them.

"She's bluffing so that we wouldn't kill her," the human said. "If you really figure it out, then move the statue."

Rosa beamed her sweetest. "If you're in a hurry, no one is stopping you." she then gestured her hand towards the statues. "By all means."

Grr! Both the human and Elf looked like they wanted to strangle Rosa's neck.

Ryu couldn't blame them. If it wasn't for Ferris, he might have joined them.

Realizing that they couldn't have their way with Rosa, the two shifted their attention to Ryu.

"Get a move on, halfbreed!"

Ryu was not taking orders from anyone but Rosa, and since she was asking for him to go, he'd do exactly that. 

Checking the statues, they were all facing with their backs hidden from view. It gave the illusion that they were watching their every move. But thanks to the Demon's 'sacrifice,' Ryu had a clue on which statue to move. It was all dependent on the center statue hidden within their diamond formation.

The center statue was facing south that means that the exit could only be facing south. So the statue that he should move was the southern statue. And based on the image conjured in his head, the figures could only be pushed on the gaps inside. 

However, he wasn't entirely sure, so he tested his theory. 

His heart thudded hard against his ribs when he came face to face with the southernmost statue. 

He took a large intake of breath and moved the statue to the left.

(Pic)

He heard audile gasped and ceasing of breathes in anticipation of what would happen. .. but none came.

Ryu was right; he couldn't move the statue to the left, neither could he move it to the right. He then pulled it towards him, being careful not to use too much force as he just wanted to test if the statue would budge from its place.

".. ." 

Nothing happened, and the statue was still immovable. 

"What are you doing? Hurry up!"

Ryu ignored the Elf and proceeded to his next move, pushing the statue forward into the inner diamond, and when he felt the slightest budge, he stopped and took a step back.

.. .

.. .

The statue's eyes remained the same, and Ryu breathed a sigh of relief. These ironed his theory that he was indeed correct. 

Or at least his percentage of finding the exit was higher than before.

Conjuring the image of the statues in his head once more, he deducted that the figures to be moved were the southern left and right middle statues. 

(Pic)

Ryu then proceeded with pushing the southern left middle statue forward and took a step back when the familiar clanking mechanism rumbled in the room.

Clink. . .

Clank. . .

Everyone held their breath except for Rosa, whose lips stretched in a wide smirk.

"Not bad," she murmured under her breath.

Ryu felt like his heart was going to crush his ribs from how it was brutally beating. His eyes remained plastered on the statue that he had just moved. Not daring to blink for fear that he wouldn't know how he died if he was wrong.

.. .

.. .

But nothing happened, and the human and Elf couldn't believe that a halfbreed had figured it out!

"Now that wasn't hard to guess, right?" Rosa chuckled.

"Out of the way!" The Elf pushed Ryu to the side and examined the center statue. The exit must be right underneath it. He then pushed the statue forward, revealing a stair leading into the next Dungeon.

The Elf's eyes shone, and before anyone could react, he raced down and was gone from view. The next was the human, who didn't even spare Ryu the barest glance as he zoomed down the flights of stairs.

".. ."

".. ."

"Aren't we going to the next dungeon as well?" Ryu asked after a minute that Rosa was still immobile from her post. He wanted to get this done and over with, so he could finally reunite with Ferris.

"Patience halfbreed." Rosa walked forward, stopped at the southern right middle statue, and then instructed, "Pushed this forward and the upper statue."

Ryu cut a glare at Rosa.

"I know what I'm doing halfbreed."

Sighing through his nose, he did what she asked of him and hoped that she really did know what she was doing.

Clink. . .

Clank. . .

The statue moved and locked in place, and Ryu was dumbstruck when the southern figure disappeared and in its place was a chest.

(Pic)

How did that happen?

Rosa smirked. "Listen well, halfbreed. Every Dungeon contained treasures. It's just a matter of using your brain to figure where it is." And she opened the chest revealing all kinds of precious stones and items.

Ryu grumbled in silence. What if Rosa was wrong? Then he would end up dead without knowing how he died. But he couldn't complain because it was what he signed for to get Ferris back. He was a cannon fodder to test for traps, and that was his role.

He hoped Seraphina was at least doing okay. With her wits and spells, Ryu was confident that she could survive the Dungeon. That at least put his mind and heart at ease.

"Hmm. .. these are all just rare items," Rosa mumbled, disappointed. Maybe because it was just her first Dungeon? 

Rather, she didn't even know how many dungeons were there. But she did know that in every five dungeons, there lies an exit, and they were provided with a choice to move forward or to go back to the surface.

With a swipe of her hand, Rosa stored the chest, not even bothering to give Ryu a tiny portion.

"Let's go halfbreed."

----

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