Netori: Stealing The Hero's Party!

Chapter 52: The Hunt Begins! - Part 3

Not even half an hour after they'd separated, the entirety of Raven's group was standing in front of a shambling mansion. They'd expected it to be more grand given the fact that the inhabitant was supposed to be a duke.

"How did everything go?" Raven asked, his eyes still staring at the gated ruins.

"Easier than minotaurs at least," Aria responded, and everyone else just agreed with a hum.

Reminded of Mino at the mention of minotaurs, Raven let her out of the bracelet and finally decided to head in. Thankfully, the outdoor garden didn't have any guards, as for the inside? That remained to be seen. At the very moment, however, all they could see standing in the main hall were spiders and cobwebs.

Yet the sound of the rustic chandelier oscillating above their heads proved that they weren't alone in that candle-lit hall. Besides that, they could feel the dusty air settling at the back of their throats. It tasted so rancid, that the entire group except Mino wanted to puke.

"Holy illumini!" Casting a spell of purifying light, Erika cleaned the air around them as well as illuminated it with a ball of holy white light.

"I can taste the iron in the air," stepping forward, Mino sniffed the air. Following the hint, her eyes darted downwards. "Basement, I can smell rot from down there."

"We got our destination then," keeping his hands on the golden blade, Raven led the team through the thicket of webs.

Focused on the task at hand, nobody had any issue with him leading, after all, his ability to plan and adapt helped Raven slaughter the entirety of a minotaur horde. Whether that compliance last once the mission is over? There was no guarantee at all.

"Mel, watch our back," hearing a sharp sound coming from the back, Raven kept leading the group forward while leaving their back to the elf. Having everyone grouped up beside him as he walked, he made sure that none of them got separated or kidnapped by some sneaky ploy.

"One, minus forty five-forty five!" Spotting a vampire sticking to the ceiling like a bat, Mel called it out in terms of first horizontal degrees and then the vertical. Picking up on her code, everyone darted their gaze to the ceiling, however, by that time, the archer then pierced the vamp with a steadfast arrow. "They're infesting this place like cockroaches…"

A shiver washed over her skin at the mention of the bugs, but shifting her attention to yet another sound, she readied her bow and fired at yet another vampire again. Surrounding them from all directly like mindless ghouls, the vampires clamored up the walls, ready to jump on their prey whenever.

"Should I cleanse this place?" To their misfortune, however, a holy priestess was part of that group of prey.

"Go ahead, Aria will stay behind with you, we'll clear the path forward, join us as soon as you can," even though the vampires didn't pose much threat, being chased by them down into a basement could've ended up in a disaster anytime. Thus, leaving Erika and the dark elf to deal with the vampire hive, Raven led the rest down the hall.

Sniffing out their path, Mino pointed every twist and turn inside the shambling mansion. After a while of chasing phantom odors, she'd finally brought the group into the kitchen with a cellar door that led downstairs. It was the only path into the basement they'd found yet, but there was no way of telling if there were other entrances, making their descent that more dangerous.

Even so, landing on their feet over piles of flesh and blood, the party arrived at a narrow stretch of land that seemed to lead deeper into the earth.

"Blood…Everywhere," looking around his surroundings, Raven gulped at the grizzly sight.

Haunted by the fact that the blood painted over the narrow walls belonged to countless humans, he couldn't help shake the anxious feeling.

"Are we going down the murder hall or not?" Asked Amedith, getting tired of simply standing around.

"We should scout the place first, Mel come with me, Mino, and Amedith, you two watch the exit in case we need to suddenly flee," securing their route back, Raven took Mel alongside her to scout the place first.

Walking down the hallway drenched with blood and gore, there was not much incentive for chatter, and yet Mel couldn't help but speak up.

"Every day that passes, it feels more and more like I'm in some fever dream…" Glancing at her from the edge of his eyes, Raven wondered exactly what was going on inside her head. But alas, without the scroll of mind reading her thoughts were her own.

"Don't get distracted, that's how I died last time because you guys didn't pull your weight," lashing her attention with that grim reminder, he stuck close to the walls as an opening began to appear in the distance. Following his lead, Mel did the same.

Carefully moving further down the cramped hall, the duo found each other inches from each other's faces. The hall was already cramped enough, but the further they moved the more narrow the space became. Pressed tight against each other with Mel's perky breasts squished against Raven's armor, they could hear each other's hearts beating against their chests.

"W-we should head back…" Mel whispered, her deep breaths making her breasts squish harder against Raven's body.

Focused on the task and used to a woman's touch, Raven didn't let the situation bother him, but even he had to admit that they should head back and get the rest of their people.

"Give me a second…" Glancing at the room at the end of the cramped hall, Raven took everything in about the place so he could plan things better once there was more room to breathe.

'Looks like a library with stacks of books, however…' Tied atop the very middle of the room was a howling man struggling to free his body from the rope. Looking just underneath him was a demonic circle with horns, all carved into the floor and fed with human blood.

"Doesn't seem like anyone's home, we should still get the rest and come back here just in case," looking at Mel, he bobbed his head to the side for her to start moving back where they'd come from.

'Damn it, something's off…' Even though everything had gone as planned, the end of the basement being empty beside the human hanging upside down didn't sit well with Raven. It almost…'Feels like a trap.'