“Eeehh, shut up!” A large bald man rattled an iron cage, seeking to silence the angry barking of the Hellhound locked within. The monster growled at the man and unleashed its fiery breath toward him. Runes carved into the cage flashed, and the breath crashed against an invisible barrier. In response, the bald man pulled out a small black box. He pressed a red button inlaid on the device, and a collar around the monster’s neck flashed with electric light, causing the beast to whimper in distress. The bald man taunted, “Yeah, try that again, see what happens.”

  “Don’t overuse that collar, Gran.” One of the other men called, rubbing an oily cloth up and down a sword as he sneered, “The stones we use to power those things don’t grow on trees.”

  The speaker sported a brown overcoat and black-frosted goggles, and the others listened carefully as he spoke. Gran huffed in irritation, yet he nodded and backed away from the cage. Dix Perdix was not a man to be trifled with.

  As this transpired, a duo of men carried a new cage into the cavern. Inside lay a sleeping female form, though no one would mistake her for a human upon close inspection. Her skin was a silvery-blue, her face framed by navy colored hair that fell around her in waves, and her body was partially covered in rough, draconic scales. However, when she blinked open amber colored eyes and sat up, her voice was that of a typical 12-year-old girl, “Where…where am I? What is this place?”

  Ignoring the question, Dix sheathed his sword and stood up, barking at the men around him, “Alright, men, good work today. We’ll make for the surface tomorrow with that merchandise.”

  He pointed to several cages, including the one containing the blue girl, continuing, “I’ve already got a buyer lined up, and they’re payin’ the big bucks. Once we offload this inventory, we won’t have to work for years.”

  The men let out a round of cheers, their calls of excitement echoing throughout the Dungeon room. Meanwhile, the monster girl continued to look around in a confusion that was quickly tinged with fear. She called out, “Wwhat are you talking about? The surface? But Lido and the others said not to go there…”

  When no one responded to her, she did the only thing she could. She began to cry. That caught the attention of Dix, who clicked his tongue in annoyance. He pulled out a remote similar to Gran’s, pressing a button and sending volts of electricity through her system. The monster girl cried out in pain, falling back with a few whimpers. Dix grunted, “Don’t interrupt me, freak. Monsters are one thing, but creatures like you shouldn’t exist. You’re lucky there are a few perverts interested in you, or you wouldn’t be worth more than your magic stone.”

  The girl did her best to quiet down. She curled up into a ball and simply prayed that the man wouldn’t shock her again. Dix felt a sadistic desire to assert his will, so he raised the remote once more, against her prayers. Why shouldn’t a leader indulge in a little hypocrisy? Yet before he could press the button again, he heard a crack and felt his hand seize up. Shocked, he looked down and saw blood.

  The remote had a hole opened right down its middle that was mirrored by a hole in Dix’s hand. The limb had gone out of his control and his fingers had released the device, yet the box remained stuck to his hand—almost like it was pinned there by an invisible blade. The pain hit like a freight train as Dix realized the full extent of the damage, and he screamed out in anguish. Still, the man was a trained adventurer, so he drew his sword with his good hand and whirled to face the perceived source of the attack. The others also drew their weapons, shuffling closer to their leader as they peered into the darkness. Dix called out, “Who’s there? What was that?”

  Footsteps rippled toward them from the external passageway, their origin a figure who stepped out of the shadows and into the room’s dim light. It was a man in a viridian combat robe, sporting eyes of a matching color and dark brown hair. Despite these striking features he was average in every other way. Average looks, height, and build, lacking the long limbs typical of proficient swordsmen. Nevertheless, he bore the scars and the bearing of a veteran fighter, his gate agile and precise. The man glared daggers at the traffickers, his gaze sending shivers down their spines. The room’s atmosphere transformed as if the Grim Reaper himself had walked in, and when Adama spoke, his voice was as sharp as an unsheathed blade: “Don’t have any love for monsters. If you’d stuck to smuggling normal ones, I wouldn’t care. But with her….”

  Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.

  He gestured toward the amber-eyed Xenos, causing the girl to flinch at being singled out: “You’ve gone too far.”

  Snarling, Dix screamed, “You’re a dead man!”

  Without prompting, the men let out battle cries and charged the swordsman, brandishing their weapons menacingly. Calmly, languidly, Adama reached down toward his belt.

  And he drew Hearthblade.

  …

  Blood pooled on the cavern floor from the broken bodies of the monster traffickers, the roars of the caged beasts the only sound remaining after the din of battle. Adama, after taking a swig from a health potion, turned toward the captured creatures with a frown. He commented, “Don’t worry. I’ll put you out of your misery.”

  With a few rings of his sword, the room was finally quiet. However, Arles quickly broke the silence by running into the room and cheeping dramatically. He pointed toward the caged female monster, miming breaking a cage’s lock, and Adama nodded wryly, “I’m coming, I’m coming. Keep your fur on.”

  He'd kept Arles out of the fight because the Xenos was only Level 3. Two of the hunters had been Level 4, with Dix Perdix being Level 5, so there was a real chance that they could have accidentally killed the Xenos. Adama himself hadn’t been overly troubled by the battle. He’d reached the point where punching a level above himself was far from a terrible challenge. It would be one thing if Dix were like Aiz, an elite within her tier, but the man hadn’t been anything special so far as Level 5s went. If the Level 4s had been competent, they might have been able to make up the difference. Yet, none of the criminals had no real means to combat the Endless Sword, so their numbers only worked against them. Adama had taken a few wounds, but the fight had proven little more than a short workout. All in all, there’d been no need to get his Xenos companion involved.

  Adama strutted forward at Arles’s behest. He reached out and snapped the lock off the cage like he was breaking a twig. The monster girl looked up at the swordsman with wide, doe eyes, scrambling backward as he leaned into the cage. Adama looked at Arles, but the Xenos just made a “go on” motion. Adama fought back a sigh and turned back toward the girl. He coughed before saying, “No need for that. You’re safe now. And you don’t have to fret about this thing anymore.”

  He leaned further into the cage, provoking a yelp of surprise from the girl. She seemed paralyzed, however, as Adama reached forward and grabbed her collar. He broke it easily and gently, tucking the magic stone in his pocket, before giving her a small smile, “That didn’t hurt, did it?”

  She stared up at him for a while longer, apparently still paralyzed, before she slowly shook her head, saying, “No.”

  Adama nodded in satisfaction, happy to see that this one wasn’t going to pass out on him like Lilli had. He jerked his head toward Arles meaningfully, “You can thank Arles here for your rescue. He’s the one who told me about the smugglers and led me here. Are you injured, miss…”

  “Wiene.”

  “Miss Wiene. If you’re able to walk, I’ll bring you back to the nearest Xenos base.”

  He held out his hand to help the girl to her feet, but Wiene suddenly ran past his outstretched arm and wrapped her arms around his waist. She buried her face in his chest, sobbing uncontrollably as Adama stiffened up. He patted her back awkwardly, muttering, “There, there, it’s okay. Those bastards can’t hurt you anymore.”

  She only cried harder, and Adama reflected that he actually would have preferred if she’d passed out instead. Eventually, she calmed down and broke away. The swordsman handed her a handkerchief, which she blew into, and he cleared his throat, “Don’t worry. I’ll make sure you get home safely.”

  He held out his hand, and she took it gratefully. Adama guided her out of the cage and around the bodies, Arles hopping with joy by their side. He spoke to the little rabbit, commanding, “Find us the fastest route to the nearest Xenos base.”

  Others might have asked for the safest route, but Adama knew that speed and safety often went hand in hand in the Dungeon. Arles squeaked in the affirmative, pointing toward a cave and dashing toward it. As Adama followed, Wiene spoke up, “Mr. Adventurer?”

  “Name’s Adama. Timaias Adama. But my friends call me Tim.”

  “Tim?”

  “What is it?”

  “Arles is a girl.”

  The swordsman slowed a little, realizing he’d been referring to his rabbit companion as male this entire time. It was impossible to tell without inspection, so he’d defaulted to male. Foolishly, it would seem. Adam coughed in embarrassment, “Right, well, she’s going to help us get you someplace safe. Okay?”

  She nodded and allowed herself to be led through the Dungeon, Arles leading the way for the duo. Adama pursed his lips in exasperation.

  Fels would owe him for this one.