Marina and Ryn would always remember what happened next. Elias pulled Denna away from the others and into the open area in the middle of the room, making her fall to her knees.

Even though her wrists were tied, she still fought back. Her glare stayed sharp, the same glare that had scared bandits off the roads for years and once made Kael practice until his hands shook from exhaustion. But now she could hardly lift her head.

Marina felt her heart race. She knew exactly what Elias was going to do, and she screamed until her voice broke. "Stop it, asshole!"

"Don't fucking touch her!"

Elias smiled at her and turned to her, his face twisting into something that wasn't human. "Or what? It's already too late, you fucking bitch!"

"Your hero, your beloved blacksmith, couldn't save all of you, so he doesn't deserve to be called a hero." He stepped behind Denna and pulled her hair to make her lean back against him. "And do you know what else?"

"You all fucking did this. You and that asshole made me look like a fool in that village. Everyone thought I was a monster just because I destroyed a few houses and almost killed the locals. Now we're even."

Marina shook her head and cried. "Please, Elias, don't do this. Denna didn't hurt you in any way.

"Leave her alone!"

He didn't pay any attention to her. "Like I said... it's too late. And you should have thought about that before you picked the wrong side."

Denna hit the stone floor hard when Elias pushed her forward. He kicked her in the ribs hard enough to make her roll over before she could get up.

She gasped and tried to get up, but he kicked her again, this time in the stomach, and then again across her back. Each hit sounded like a hammer hitting metal, and Marina felt each one as if it hit her body.

Ryn tried to look away, but Elias yelled at her. "Take a long good look!"

He stepped on Denna's hand to hold her down and leaned in close to her ear. "You were always brave and loud. Let's see how long that lasts."

He uses his inventory system to summon a metal bottle. Marina and Ryn could smell it before they even knew what it was.

Denna's breath quickened with fear as oil dripped onto the stone in thin lines. Elias poured the rest over her shoulders and back. The cold liquid soaked into everything, making her clothes darker and sticking to her skin.

"N-No..." Denna can't even say a word because she knows what is going to happen next.

Marina lunged forward and pulled on her restraints until her wrists bled. "Stop! Please! PLEASE! She hasn't done anything to you!!!"

"Don't do this to her!"

Elias just looked like he was having fun. "You all talk about being fair and kind."

"So, take this memory with you to your graves and say it over and over until you know what happens to people who make fun of me."

He struck a match with a small striker he kept in his belt and dropped it near the pool of oil that had formed under Denna. The flames quickly spread across the floor and up her wet clothes.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH...!!!"

She screamed in a way that Marina never thought she could, a raw sound that cut through the room like a knife and made the air shake. The fire ate her up before she could even roll away, and she writhed on the ground as the orange light filled the room and cast moving shadows on the walls.

Marina put her forehead on the floor and cried as Denna's cries got weaker and weaker. Ryn couldn't say a word. She could only stare in horror as their friend's last movements stopped and the flames around her slowly went out.

When it was all over, Elias let her be quiet and turned away as if she had never meant anything to him. He brushed the dust off his hands and walked back to the other prisoners with the same smile he had had since the beginning.

"Now then," he said in a friendly, almost joyful voice. "Where were we?"

He said, "Ohh... right. That's two of your precious Crimson Falcons gone," as if he were talking about the weather. "Should we make it three? Or will you finally learn to keep quiet?"

Marina and Ryn were speechless and in shock. The terrible things they had seen had taken everything from them except their will to live.

Elias took hold of Marina's chain. "Come on. I want to make sure Greyson sees you one last time before I kill him."

"Might as well finish all of this in level ten so I can make a name for myself here." He pulled them toward the stairs, leaving Denna's body behind like trash.

...

Greg and Bork went down to level nine and knew right away that something was wrong. The air was thick with smoke and the smell of burnt flesh.

There was a silence that felt like a scream stuck in stone. They followed the smell to a big room, and what they found made Greg lose his cool, even though he had worked hard to keep it.

Denna's body was in the middle of the room, and it was clear what had happened to her. The proud warrior who could bend steel with her bare hands was now like this.

Bork emitted a sound akin to a wounded animal. "No... No, no, no fucking way..."

"This is... unacceptable..."

Greg stood still, unable to understand what he was seeing. Kael's death was awful, but this? This was more than any death he had seen in his past, even more than torture. This was just plain sadistic cruelty.

"Boss," Bork said, his voice shaking. "This is... I've seen demons do awful things. I've fought monsters that only want to hurt people."

"But this?" He pointed at the scene because he couldn't find the words. "This is worse. This is exacerbated by the fact that demons lack the capacity for discernment."

"Elias made this choice. What's worse is that he's a human, and he chose this."

Greg's hand went to his belt, where he kept the weapon he had made. The weapon he had said he would only use as a last resort. He wrapped his fingers around the handle, and for the first time since he made it, he didn't hesitate.

"Bork," Greg said in a flat, dead voice. "Go back to level 8."

"Bring Seraphine, Felix, and Mira. Tell them to close off the entrance to level nine."

"Nobody else comes down here but us."

"Boss, you can't—"

"I'm not asking twice." When Greg turned to look at Bork, the dwarf took a step back without meaning to. "That bastard has gone too far and can't be forgiven. I have to do this alone."

Bork said softly, "That weapon... are you really going to use it for this?"

Greg said, "I need to make sure there is proof. I'm going to write down what he's done. Then I'm going down to level ten and ending this."

Bork wanted to argue and insist on staying, but the look on Greg's face made him stop. This wasn't the calm blacksmith who had let him in to work. This wasn't even the determined warrior who had cleared the upper levels.

The feeling was something completely different. Something made out of anger and sadness and the sure knowledge that some bad things couldn't be fixed.

Greg said, "Give me five minutes. No matter what you hear or feel in the dungeon, don't come down."

"Boss—"

"Please, Bork. Believe me."

"One last time."

Bork looked at his teacher, friend, and leader. Then he nodded, turned around, and went back up the stairs. Greg waited for the footsteps to go away before going back to Denna's body.

He used his communication crystal to record what he saw, speaking in a calm voice as he did so. This serves as proof in case anyone ever doubts his reasons for taking the actions he plans to take.

He then covered her body with his cloak, which was the only way he could show her respect. "I'm sorry," he said in a low voice. "You deserved more than this. You all did."

He grabbed the weapon at his belt and pulled it free for the first time since making it. It was a simple war hammer that seemed to drink in the light around it. There were no fancy decorations or complicated spells that could be seen on the surface.

Greg could feel the power in it, the SSS-rank potential that was ready to be let loose. He had put all of his knowledge about destruction into this one tool. It was the last thing he made with all of the knowledge he had gained as the Warhammer Saint.

He had promised never to make weapons. But sometimes promises had to be broken to stop monsters.

Greg walked to the stairs that led to level ten, leaving his farming tools behind. He didn't need them anymore because only one tool would be needed for what came next.

The warhammer got heavier in his hand, as if it were responding to his will. When he got to the bottom of the stairs, the weapon was glowing with a light that was both new and old.

Elias Grimhart was about to find out that there were worse things than monsters in the dark. Some blacksmiths had finally had enough.

The end of everything was waiting at the last level.

"Wait for me, Marina..."

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