Compared to the hour-long meeting at the Guild Association, which resulted in nothing, a quick talk with her father had Sarah sitting in the back of an armored tank with a small team of C-grade Hunters and an analyst. They were making swift progress toward the dungeon entrance she had left out of.

  While entrances to the World Dungeon littered the surface, it was always best to enter and exit through the same entrance if you wanted to retrace your steps. Though it was possible to walk from one country to another via the dungeon, it was nearly impossible due to how much of a maze it was—not to mention the hordes of monsters you would have to kill on the way.

  "So what do you mean by Joe's eyes being soulless?"

  Sarah's mind was wandering, and she was exhausted. But she had agreed to answer the analyst's questions on the way, so she had no choice. Turning to the woman who looked strikingly out of place in a typical suit, she answered in a tired tone.

  "I mean what I said," Sarah shrugged. "They were empty, like an animal. There was no pupil for starters, just darkness. But that wasn't what made me shiver. It was how..." she paused as she tried to find the words, "empty they were? It's hard to explain. Oh, imagine a doll or a robot. No matter how well-made their eyes are, you can tell they aren't alive."

  The analyst nodded slowly. "I think I get what you're saying," she said, making a few notes on her tablet. "Soulless like a doll's eyes... what about his way of speech? You noted it was strange."

  Sarah nodded, "Yes, everything about it was wrong. First of all, he started speaking without moving his mouth."

  "Could you expand on that?" The analyst asked, leaning in so they could likely hear her better over the roaring engine of the armored car.

  "I believe Joe—or whatever controlled him—communicated with a skill rather than his mouth or lungs. It was eerie how he spoke clearly, but his mouth remained closed. When I challenged him on this fact, he tried—emphasis on tried—to imitate the speech of a human."

  Sarah shivered a little at that memory. It was so creepy that she likely would have nightmares tonight.

  The analyst wrote a much longer note this time before looking up again expectantly. "And then?" she asked.

  "His mouth tore off," Sarah said. "I then pressured him for answers. He seemed to have access to Joe's memories as he said he entered my party to try and win my trust. However, it seemed the torn mouth was causing him excruciating pain, so his..." Sarah winced.

  "It's okay, take your time," the analyst said while furiously taking down notes. "Ability to mimic speech, access to memories, attempted to win trust over confrontation, can feel pain," the analyst listed under her breath.

  "He can regenerate."

  The analyst looked up from her tablet. "Healing?"

  "Not quite," Sarah shook her head. "He could convert his body to repair other parts. His leg dissolved into a disgusting sludge that was used to repair his mouth."

  The analyst tapped her pen against her chin and seemed lost in thought.

  "Do you know what monster it is?" said one of the C-rank hunters, a red-haired woman who seemed to be the leader of the team her father had provided her on short notice.

  The analyst seemed stumped, "Honestly? No idea. There are few records of monsters capable of shapeshifting, especially to this degree. Not to mention, it was on the first floor of the dungeon. I'll have to get back to the team and brainstorm ideas with access to a bigger dataset." Her gaze hardened. "But I have to say, if it is a monster, it's frightening. One capable of all this and with access to human memories and emotions?" She glanced at Sarah. "It's a good thing that you killed Joe. I'd hate to imagine the consequences of letting an intelligent monster like this go."

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  Everyone in the car nodded in agreement.

  Sarah smiled weakly. "Yeah... at least I did one thing right."

  The car abruptly stopped, and the driver shouted through the small window, "We are here!" They exited the vehicle swiftly, and the black armored car, emblazoned with a cloud of golden eyes—the Stormbringers' logo—left, with the analyst heading back to HQ.

  "We left in such a rush, I don't think we had time to be formally introduced," the red-haired woman from before held out her half-armored hand. "My name is Jill. Excuse the accent. I'm from out west and came to the big city after awakening my powers—oh, I'm a mage, by the way."

  "Fire mage?" Sarah asked.

  The woman laughed. "Yeah, did the vibrant hair give me away?"

  "Possibly, and the staff, robes... basically everything," Sarah chuckled for the first time today. "You look like a Fire Mage starter pack."

  Jill gasped. "That's exactly what I did! I found this set online and thought it looked perfect," she frowned as she looked down at her red and white robes and the staff topped with a red stone. Her shoulders sagged, and she whispered, "It looks lame, doesn't it?"

  "Nah," Sarah waved her off. "Don't worry about my opinion too much."

  "It's hard not to when you're the guild master's daughter," a man standing beside her chuckled. He had a long, flat hammer balancing on his broad shoulders. Its chrome surface shone like his strikingly bald head under the late afternoon sunlight. He extended his hand and grinned. "I'm Devon, by the way."

  "Nice to meet you," Sarah returned the handshake before glancing between the pair. "It's just the two of you? I thought there was a third."

  "Ah, there usually is, but he had something else to do," Jill replied. "But don't worry, we two are enough to accompany you to retrieve Jonathan and Joe's bodies."

  "Yeah, it's the first floor of the dungeon after all. Nothing but weak mobs." Devon heartily chuckled and began to lead the way. "Come on, I've got a dinner reservation tonight."

  "Oh? Who's the lucky lady?" Jill joked as she followed her Hunting partner. Sarah reluctantly followed, her chest sinking with a feeling of dread.

  ***

  As it turned out, Sarah's worries came to fruition half an hour later.

  "I left him right here," she said with utmost certainty. "Look, there are still blood stains on the walls and floor from my battle with the wolves. It's only been a few hours, and the fact that the blood is still here shows that the dungeon didn't absorb the bodies."

  "Maybe a wolf took them?" Devon suggested as he leaned on his hammer.

  "Hold on," Jill said, tracing her finger along a scorched brick in the dungeon's wall.

  "Did you find something?" Sarah asked, coming to stand beside the fire mage.

  "Yeah, traces of magic and not just any magic," she turned to look at Sarah with a hint of seriousness. "Holy magic."

  Sarah's eyes widened. "That's the element of magic Jonathan used."

  "Did the monster show any capabilities for holy magic when you confronted it?"

  Sarah shook her head. "He didn't show any capabilities for magic except that weird way of speaking."

  Jill glanced around. "You said you killed some wolves?"

  "Yeah, three of them, I believe."

  Devon hummed in thought as he looked down the corridor that led deeper into the dungeon. "It can't have been wolves then. They don't have a habit of eating or moving their dead comrades' bodies. There are also no blood trails that would be left by a wolf dragging a decapitated human corpse. That means there are only two possible options for the corpses to be missing." He raised his fingers. "One, fellow Hunters passed by here and did something with the bodies—or option two: something devoured the wolf and human corpses right here without leaving a trace."

  A silence stretched between them.

  "You don't think whatever monster inhabited Joe's body lived, do you guys?" Jill suggested.

  "No..." Sarah said, but wasn't so sure of herself. She had decapitated Joe. That much she was sure about. But what if that hadn't killed the monster but only injured it?

  Devon clicked his tongue and began striding deeper into the dungeon. "It looks like my dinner plans are canceled—we have a monster to catch."

  "Is that really a good idea?" Jill said. "Hunting it down now would be pointless as it has no bounty on its head."

  Devon snorted. "It can't have gone far, come on. Forget about credits for a moment. Doesn't the thrill of the hunt excite you?"

  Jill rolled her eyes. "All warriors are the same. Fine. Since we came all this way and it's a favor requested from the guild master, I'll see it through, but we aren't going below the second floor."

  "Fine by me!" Devon chuckled and led the way.

  Sarah drew her sword and took the rear. Taking one last glance at the eerily empty tunnel's bloodstained section, she focused on going forward.

  If you're out there, Joe, or whatever you have become. Her eyes narrowed. I'll cut you down myself.

  to read ahead!