In a massive hall, a small team of four, led by Rowana, who made them five, faced off against four knight golems which once stood close to the wall like statues.

Golems were known to lack skills, only relying on their durability and physical damage. As the knight golems encroached, Rowana's summon, the Firefly, radiated a bright golden light that strengthened her teammates' summons, increasing their strength by 0.5.

One of them sent his summon, which was a Nemean Lion, a high tier summon known for its durability and size.

Following behind it were two six-feet-tall Fire Ants, billowing with flames. Since their venom had no effect on the knights, they simply tore off any part of the golem's body with their mandibles.

The Nemean Lion roared, attracting two knight golems to itself before slapping their armoured chests in with one blow.

"What are you doing?!" Anastasia stomped the ground. "We need their armour in good condition to sell it at a high price. It would be worth much less right now!"

"We can't afford that. The last time we tried it, someone died," Rowana said.

Anastasia sighed and summoned a Hoard-Cheek Chipmunk, almost seven feet tall. It went to their kill and stored the golem's broken armour parts into its mouth. Its cheeks barely bulged as it stored the armour of six tall knight golems in its small extradimensional pouches located in its cheeks.

"Let's go," Caleb, the one who summoned the Nemean Lion, said, cracking his neck. "We're gonna clean the dungeon up."

Shawn, a young man with curly hair, looked at his father, who was also close to his own Fire Ant, and chuckled. "Someone's excited… again."

His father looked at Caleb and chuckled.

"All that muscularity won't work on Rowana, Bud," Shawn's statement made Caleb glare at him while Rowana smiled softly.

"Let's head for the next hall."

Everyone agreed, but the moment they passed through a hallway, and ascended a staircase into what looked like a ballroom, a large space much bigger than the small hall they came from, they saw golem knights littered about.

A group of men clad in black combat attire that was made from the skin of at least elite tier creatures were in the vicinity; the last few golems standing fell to their attacks.

Leading them was a man with deadly pale skin, so white it seemed almost impossible to believe this young man, who looked to be in his late twenties, was still alive.

A centipede dragon. A chimeric summon with the body of a centipede and four dragon wings, with two antennas that had thickened into what could be registered as horns.

It coiled around the young man's body, lifting its head to the young man's eye level as he caressed the back of its head.

"We should leave," Anastasia whispered. They already had a past with these people. A famous freelancing group known as the Black Death. They had approached them to join their group, and Rowana's rejection had resulted in bad blood between both sides.

"How are they here?!" Shawn's eyes widened.

"Small world, isn't it?" the leader of the Black Death, Scott, said as Rowana and her group were about to leave.

"What do you want?" Rowana asked with a cold tone. She was already irritated by someone this cocky. Had he been in Manhattan, he would have gotten his face pummeled several times by the true monsters.

"That chipmunk summoner, you, and the Nemean Lion summoner. Three of you will be great additions to our group. Imagine the millions you could make and it would be less dangerous." Scott stated.

"You're telling our teammates to ditch us?" Shawn's father raised an eyebrow.

"Is there any problem with that, old man? Fire Ants aren't rare. You're as common as the dirt below my feet," Scott snickered, and his men laughed.

Shawn clenched his fist while his father frowned.

"Let's just leave," Rowana said, but as she turned, one of Scott's men made the earth rise up, blocking the entrance.

"Scott. You really want to kill us because we refused your offer? Why are you so petty and insane?!" She blew up.

Scott's eyes widened in rage as he clenched his teeth. In that moment, his dragon centipede moved like a red phantom. It swiftly grew in size and arrived beside Shawn's father.

Rowana's Firefly summoned a golden barrier, but she didn't see the centipede's tail that came for her Firefly.

Caleb sent his Nemean Lion at the tail, only to be slammed heavily to the wall.

Debris fell from above while the centipede broke through Rowana's barrier; however, Shawn's father had already moved.

"Where are you going, old man?!" Scott scowled as his centipede breathed out purple flames, first at Shawn's father and then at the others who had lost that guard at the sight of that.

When the flames died down, Rowana and her teammates were groaning out of pain. Her shield had protected them, but it eventually broke and they were sent flying into the wall, leaving cracks.

"Dad!" Shawn burst out in rage as he saw that his father's Fire Ant had protected him and burned in his stead.

The centipede's tail slammed Shawn's summon into the wall, grabbed it, and tossed it at the ceiling. Shawn swiftly retrieved it swiftly and was pinned to the wall by the dragon centipede's tail even before he could react.

"Stop!" Tears filled Anastasia's eyes.

"Is this how you want to survive dungeon raids? By crying?" Scott clapped. "I never thought of that."

His eyes gleamed as he watched Shawn's father's summon collapse. The fact that the man couldn't retrieve it meant it was already dead.

What Rowana called him was infuriating. He wasn't petty; he even delegated money for the orphanage and helped make the lives of his men and their family better.

She was just a foolish girl with good looks and a bad mouth who thought she was something because she graduated from Manhattan Summoners High.

His dragon centipede released its peak King Tier aura, suppressing them further. Caleb shivered as he watched the centipede's underbelly glow with purple light. It was about to roast his friend, but he was too afraid to even move.

He had not even faced a Lord Tier in his life.

Rowana's Firefly moved, but a Green Daner Dragonfly appeared from a portal, moved at an insane speed, and grabbed the Firefly, preparing to bite off its head. But Rowana switched places with her summon and stabbed a dagger into its head!

The dragonfly tail-slapped her, launching her into the wall with cracked ribs. Blood tainted her lips, but the dragonfly and its summoner collapsed.

At the sight of this, the eyes of Scott and his men widened in rage.

"You'll die the worst death ever," Scott growled as his men summoned their beasts, two of the biggest being hyenas with crystal claws. Both were Lord Tier summons!

Just then, the earthen wall turned to stone and crumbled, revealing a simply dressed man with captivating looks and gleaming black hair as if oiled.

"What are you doing?" he asked while strolling into the room.

One of Scott's men sent his hyena at Snow. Since they were seen, they couldn't afford this stranger to live, but midway, the hyena's head fell off!

"I said… what are you doing?" Snow asked again as black and green glimmer manifested around him.

Scott found himself facing the Nemean Lion in a cave without being able to call his summon. It lunged at him, biting and ripping out a good portion of his neck.

In reality, Scott held his neck and realized there was a huge opening there. Blood spilled out as he saw all his teammates were already dead.

Did they all die… from illusions?

"Wh… who are you—?" Scott collapsed, dying with disbelief.

Rowana couldn't believe her eyes. The Snow she knew was strong, but not this terrifying. She had no idea that Snow's black glimmer, though it had its own effect, also empowered his other glimmers.

Now, if no one couldn't break out of his illusions, any damage they got there would manifest on their bodies, meaning Snow, to an extent, could now manipulate reality.

"This should be an apology for what I did in the past," Snow said and walked past them, heading for the next chamber.

Rowana couldn't close her mouth. Snow was apologizing to her?

'His strength… it made a king tier look like a joke.' Caleb thought while Anastasia whimpered.

"Thank you. Thank you so much." She said while Shawn offered gratitude and rushed to his father who was reeling from the loss of his summon.

'Hmm… for the first time, apologising felt right.' He smiled to himself. Oh, and he didn't bother to aid those already badly injured.

He wasn't that good, not yet. It didn't even cross his mind.

…

A/N: One chapter for today, guys. From tomorrow's chapter, we'll focus on Godfrey and guess who?

Isolde!

Their time has come. Time for Godfrey to face the Pendragon family in its entirety and we'll also see more of Isolde's other sides. Wow, this will be both adventurous and giddy. You'll definitely feel both emotions.

By the way, MERRY CHRISTMAS!

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.