Just as Cain drifted to sleep, a loud blaring alarm sounded throughout his space. His eyes immediately snapped open as he shot up from the bed. A notification popped up in front of his eyes, telling him that there was a new challenger.
*Ding*
A notification sounded.
[New challengers entered your second dungeon: 'Elemental Tower'.]
Cain jumped off the bed, running towards the throne room. He sat down on his chair and looked at the screen, and what he saw made his blood run cold.
"Freed and Asia!? They're from the Raynare arc!" Cain exclaimed, seeing two people on the screen.
The blonde girl wore a nun's outfit, while the other one was an exorcist with silver hair and an unpleasant grin. Cain recognized them. The exorcist was one of the antagonists in the first arc after Issei became Devils. He was an enemy to both Issei and humans. A very dangerous man, someone who enjoyed killing.
His name was Freed Sellzen, an insane exorcist that enjoyed killing and seeing people die.
"What are they doing in my dungeon?" He asked no one and sighed. "System, follow them."
His screen changed, and now showed the image of two people walking through a cave, lit by a torch. The first floor, Forest of Fire, had 3 types of mobs: Slime, Orc, and Goblin.
They were walking in silence, but Cain noticed Freed seemed to be having a blast while Asia was nervous.
Trees with burning leaves and trunks surrounded the path. Lava could be seen flowing down a few rocks, making the place hot. There were traps here and there, but Freed was able to spot and dodge them.
"Hup! Hap!"
"S-Sir, a-are you sure there is a stray Devil here?"
"Ahaha, Asia. Can't you see these burning grounds? There must be a powerful Devil here. I wonder who they are. Ahahaha!" He laughed, "If I kill it, I'm sure they'll promote me and give me a new weapon. That's what Father told me, you know."
Freed was an exorcist, a warrior of the church, which meant that he was an expert in dealing with devils. Even as a stray who went against the church's teaching, his experience and knowledge were still top notch.
The two kept on walking down the path until they encountered their first mob.
A fire orc, with a muscular red body, a fat belly, and sharp teeth, appeared in front of them.
"Ugyaaaaaa!" The orc bellowed loudly.
"Oh! An enemy!" Freed grinned and drew his blade.
It was a light sword, a normal weapon for exorcists. They were good weapons that could be enhanced using holy energy.
"Ohoho, finally someone that I can cut."
"O-Oh no. Please be careful." Asia stepped behind him and raised both hands in a prayer gesture, "Please protect him, O God!"
She prayed in her mind as Freed rushed forward. His sword glinted under the fire light as it was raised over his head, and then it came crashing down on the Orc's arm. A loud sound was heard as soon as it made contact.
However, the sword stuck in the orc's thick skin. The monster's arm had been slightly injured, but not enough to incapacitate it.
Seeing the grin crept up the Orc's face, Freed cursed.
"Damn!"
And then he was sent flying with a large club, crashing to the burning tree. His arms broken, his back burned as his mouth spitted out blood.
"Urgh! I-I didn't expect the monster to be this strong." Freed groaned and raised his head, seeing the fire orc spewing out flame from its mouth. "F-Fire Breath? Oh shit, Asia! You have to ru-!"
The Orc roared loudly and a burst of flame came rushing toward the fallen exorcist, burning him in the process. His screams echoed through the entire dungeon, making even Cain cringe.
Freed screamed in agony as his clothes burned and turned into ashes. His skin turned black and red as he was roasted alive. He struggled to stand up but failed, his body shaking in pain and terror. The smell of burnt corpses filled the air around them and caused the nun to cry.
"Ah- Aaah!" She turned around and ran frantically toward the entrance. "No, no. I have to run!" Tears welled up in her blue eyes as she tried to find her way out. She didn't care if the way was right or not, all that mattered was getting away from this terrible place.
She tripped on something, but managed to regain her balance. But that didn't stop her from crying, her eyes were wide with fear.
"I-I need to run!" Her mind raced as her body trembled, "I have to leave! I have to..."
Her heart beat faster, and the sound of blood flowing in her veins was deafening. Her breathing was ragged and she gasped for air, her lungs felt like they were burning.
Everything didn't make sense, starting from her excommunication to this moment. She didn't know what was happening and what would happen to her next, but she knew one thing. This place was dangerous and she needed to escape.
As soon as the blonde nun saw the entrance, she cried tears of relief. She felt as if her prayers had been answered and her heart leaped in joy. She could feel her legs moving again, carrying her towards freedom. She could feel her hope returning.
However, before she reached the exit, her eyes widened.
"AH!" She shrieked as a red slimy creature popped up in front of her and grabbed her right leg. She tried to kick it away but failed.
"N-No..." Asia whimpered as she felt the creature moving up her thigh and then her stomach. She struggled to free herself, but its slimy tentacles were holding her down. "No... No..."
It moved higher, and then it began to crawl up her chest. Burning sensation was felt, as its slime was like boiling hot water on her skin. Asia screamed in pain and terror, but it was no use.
She cried, and then her body was dragged back to the burning forest.
***
Meanwhile, Cain covered his mouth, his eyes widened as his body was trembling in fear. He saw the girl getting eaten alive by a red slime and how the monster burned her body and clothes.
"Wow..."
At first, he thought that his dungeon would be too weak so people could finish it quickly. He even thought that maybe Freed, with Asia's healing, could finish the dungeon without much difficulty, or at least pass the first floor without injuries.
However, all his thoughts were thrown out the window as he witnessed this.
He didn't think his dungeon was that strong and deadly. After all, it was only an elemental theme dungeon with normal monsters, even the mobs weren't special or anything. So, why did the two people get killed easily?
Was the dungeon that dangerous?
No.
It was because Freed and Asia weren't ready for the challenge.
But did that mean the dungeon was weak?
The answer was also no.
All monsters in the area had been strengthened due to the environmental effects, so their strength was far above the norm. Even a single orc could take out Freed, who was an experienced fighter. Not to mention the traps that were set around the area. And the boss was no laughing matter.
In the anime, Issei and Kiba struggled fighting Freed with his own standard equipment, showing off how strong he was, so he would have been a tough opponent for anyone.
But it seemed that Cain had overestimated the strength of the enemies in the DxD world. Either that or he underestimated his dungeon power because he saw Fun Fun Dungeon! got conquered easily.
"I did make it harder, but is it to that extent?"
Truly unexpected.
And he even got the reward.
[All challengers have been eliminated.]
[Reward distributed!]
[Emotional Rewards:
Joy: +500 Coins
Helplessness: +450 Coins
Fear: +2500 Coins
Anger: +100 Coins]
A total of 3,550 Coins, which mostly came from Fear emotion. Asia was truly terrified at that moment, and the fact Freed was the first one to get killed, and in a brutal way, added to her fear and helplessness. Seeing someone died right in front of your eyes was traumatizing, after all.
Not only that, but the two also didn't get to see the prize for completing the first floor, so it would be counted as a failure on their side. Which means the 'Sense of accomplishment' was not obtained.
"But this will work in my favor."
Why? Because he put up a rather interesting system.
"No one will truly die in my dungeon."
He smiled and looked at the countdown on a different screen. There, Freed and Asia's names were written.
Revival:
Freed Sellzen – 2D 23H 53M
Asia Argento – 2D 23H 59M
"A revival system." He nodded in satisfaction. "Unfortunately, I can't revive them immediately now because my level is too low, but this will work in my favor. With Freed and Asia being missing, the Fallen Angels in Kuoh will search for them, leading them to find this dungeon. That way, I will have more challengers and get more coins."
Unlike Fun Fun Dungeon!, this Elemental Tower had no entry cooldown unless someone cleared the dungeon, though it had a limit of 8 challengers each session. If someone was defeated in the dungeon, the dungeon would close for a day, giving time for the monsters inside to respawn and heal.
If a party was wiped, then everyone would be revived outside the dungeon with their memories intact after 3 days.
"This will be fun. I can't wait to see the look on those Fallen Angels when they find the dungeon."
He would make a good profit out of their emotions, that's for sure.
Now, let the hunt begin.