The leader of the elven assailants, who was disguised as the student Thomas, casually walked forward wielding a spear over his shoulders with both arms hanging around it. He looked at Matthew's party one by one and then smiled saying:

"Leave Lady Faralynn and the rest of you can go."

No one said anything. They just lifted their weapons and got ready for a fight.

"I don't think we have a chance." Tina said quietly in a way that their attackers wouldn't hear them.

"Then just go and leave me." Faralynn said also only for her friends.

"No way in hell we would." Helen smiled at her.

"The window is just behind us." Matthew said. "If we distract them, we can escape through it."

The elf with the spear was quick to notice their plans. He sighed pulling his spear into position to attack.

"You won't make it, kids. Don't try it."

"Run at my signal." Matthew said ignoring the elf.

The elf, however, didn't wait. Seeing their eyes resolute in escaping, he charged attacking Matthew who seemed the one with a plan. His spear met the metal on Helen's shield when she quickly stepped on his way and took the blow for Matthew.

Tina was the next to move and raised a solid mana wall around the party cutting them off from the arrows of the other elves who were quick to shoot. However, they weren't quick enough and their arrows only hit the mana wall that cracked with the power behind them.

"Run!" Tina screamed.

Mia, who was the closest to the window, thanks to Matthew pulling her earlier, tried to reach it first. But, in a flash of light, one of the elves, who was using a green robe, teleported in front of her.

Matthew tried to shoot the elf with the spear who managed to dodge the bullets with a back step at the same time Faralynn charged to help Mia.

Tina reinforced the wall she made as another volley of arrows from 3 of the other elves almost broke it.

The one with the spear then charged again hitting Helen's shield with such force that she went flying back and hitting the wall beside the window.

Before Faralynn could reach Mia, the elf in the green robe held Mia's hand and suddenly Mia fainted and fell to the ground.

It was only then that Erin reacted to what was happening and tried to hit the elf with the spear with a lightning bolt from her staff, but also missed for he was too fast for any of them to hit.

It was then that Faralynn tried to pierce the elf in the green robe, who was obstructing their way to the window, with her sword, but only met a shield made entirely of solid mana.

Matthew tried shooting the elf with the spear again, but missed all his shots due to his target moving in zigzag while approaching him. Matthew tried to defend with his sword when he got close enough to hit him, but the elf was just too fast. A quick slap with the blunt end of the spear on Matthew's chin sent him flying to the ceiling and hitting it with a solid thud before falling back to the ground.

At this moment, Tina's mana wall crumbled and the last elf, the biggest of them, who was armed with a large double bladed axe, charged into the fray running in Faralynn's direction.

Faralynn kept trying to hit the elf in the green robe, but was ineffective being stopped by a mana shield on every strike. When Faralynn noticed the elf with the axe approaching, she turned to defend herself but the man was too strong. Her sword went flying away when it met the powerful axe strike of that man.

Seeing Faralynn being disarmed, Erin tried to protect her with a lightning bolt that hit the elf with the axe, but it didn't seem to deal any damage to him.

Then the elf in the green robe tried to hold Faralynn's wrist, but Helen, who was sitting on the floor with her back pressed against the wall where she was thrown, hurled her spear at the elf making her take a step back.

Tina had spent most of her mana on the wall and was only observing the fight thinking on what to do next. The elves didn't seem to want to kill them. The 3 archers were now still, the one with the spear was holding Matthew to the floor and the other 2 were clearly only trying to hold Faralynn still. They all would already be dead otherwise.

"Give up, my lady." The elf with the axe asked Faralynn who was backing away getting close to Helen who was still sitting on the floor unable to get up due to her injuries.

"We don't want to harm you or your friends any further." The elf with the spear said while the blunt end of his weapon was holding Matthew to the floor.

Faralynn looked at Helen gasping on the floor having trouble breathing, Matthew seemly unconscious on the floor, Tina breathing deeply with almost no mana left, Erin scared looking absolutely lost and Mia on the floor looking like she died. The battle was lost.

Faralynn dropped her hands, took a deep breath and said:

"We surrender. You can take me. Just don't hurt them anymore."

It is then that they noticed the miasma. A black cloud that emanated from unholy mana crept on them, making all the elves take a step back away from it.

It was Matthew. His skin was getting darker, his left eye, now free from his eye patch, glowing bright red while he slowly got up from the floor.

"What in the name of the lady in darkness?" One of the elven bowmen exclaimed calling for his goddess.

"I thought the kid was at level 7." Asked the elf who was disguised as the student Jessica earlier. "How is he using unholy and demonic mana?!"

"Kill him!" Their leader screamed, but Matthew was quicker.

Matthew drew his other other gun and, using a gun on each hand leaving his sword on the floor, shot several shoots in the direction of the archers and the elf with the spear. His Boost Gunpowder skill empowered by both the demonic and the unholy mana in addition to his new guns that could endure that kind of power made his shoots dangerous for the assailants. The 3 bowmen retreated to cover on the stairs, one to the stairs that led down and the others to the stairs that led up.

The elf with the spear managed to dodge most of the bullets, but was hit on the leg by one of them. The wound was not deep enough to render it useless, but strong enough to make him lose balance.

This gave Matthew time to turn to the other 2 elves who were close to Faralynn. He ignored the one with the axe, who was already halfway between Faralynn and Matthew, and concentrated fire on the one in the green robe, who was right in front of the window.

That elf lifted a solid mana wall in front of herself taking cover from the bullets, but this was enough distraction for Faralynn to punch that elf creating enough space for her to jump through the window.

At the same time Faralynn escaped, the elf with the axe descended with his weapon on Matthew. Matthew wasn't quick enough to dodge and the axe sank deep into his arm almost hacking it off by the biceps.

Matthew screamed in pain letting go of his weapons and holding his arm fearing it would come off if he let it go. He soon used Anesthesia to handle the pain and took a step away from the man with the axe.

"She escaped." Their leader said getting up and massaging his leg that was hurt.

"We should kill the lad." The man with the axe said circling around Matthew ready to attack at anytime. "He's dangerous."

Matthew drew his second sword from his hip. His guns and his other sword were now on the floor and that was his only weapon. His left arm was hanging only through his flesh and bleeding profusely. He could not move it at all.

"Tina, Erin." Matthew said not taking his eyes off the elf in front of him. "Take Mia and Helen and leave."

The elf in front of the window took a step forward letting them know that she would allow the girls to leave.

Tina took a healing potion from her Inventory skill and, using her mana similar to a magic missile, she threw the liquid on Matthew's arm making it stop bleeding, but, by the way it healed, without proper connecting the severed parts, it was still useless.

"We won't leave you." Tina said decisive.

"Then you'll die with him." The elf with the axe said holding his position in front of Matthew.

"We won't stop you, girl." The elf with the spear said. "But if you stay, you will die. That boy is too dangerous for our mission, though. He'll die here."

"Just go Tina. I'll find a way to escape." Matthew said still keeping his eyes up front.

Tina helped Helen get up and go out through the window, then looked at Matthew with tears in her eyes, a sharp difference from her usual indifferent stare. She knew he was as good as dead. She took Mia in her arms cheeking if she was still breathing.

"I just drained her mana. She's alright." The elf in the green robe eased Tina's worries.

Tina nodded at her and left through the window carrying her friend.

Erin bit her lips and hesitated to leave.

"M-Matt." She stuttered holding in her crying. "Please live."

As soon as she said those words, the elf in the green robe pushed her out the window.

"Enough." She said annoyed. "We don't have enough time."

"Harlynn" The elf with the spear said to the one with the axe. "Kill him quickly before Farzan's guard arrives."

Harlynn's skin started to ulcer from the miasma Matthew was releasing that somehow was spreading far wider than it did on the Labyrinth of Enkidu.

Outside, Professor Orpheu called the school's security as soon as Faralynn got out and told him what was happening inside. He wanted to charge in, but he knew he wasn't powerful enough to go in. Orpheu had a problematic unique skill that made his level grow too slowly and was only at level 16, while the elves inside, going by what Faralynn told him, were all above level 20.

Soon Helen, Mia, Tina and Erin came out with tears in their eyes.

"Where's Matthew?" Faralynn asked holding Erin's shoulders with enough force to hurt the redhead.

"They won't let him out." Erin said unable to hold her crying anymore. "They're going to kill him." She sobbed loudly.

A chill ran down Faralynn's spine. She thought, if she was gone, the elves would allow her friends to go, since they had a lot of opportunities to kill them and didn't. She tried to run inside. To surrender herself to save Matthew's life. But Orpheu held her.

"Let me go!" She screamed trying to pry herself free. "I have to save him!"

Orpheu didn't let her go. Instead, he held her faster. He looked around. A lot of students were still inside the dungeon. He had no time to wait for security anymore.

"I'll go and save him." He said throwing Faralynn to Tina and charging into the dungeon armed with nothing but his katana. He couldn't allow a student to die. He also needed to make the other students leave the dungeon.

However, as soon as he entered the dungeon, the gate closed trapping everybody inside.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.