A stalwart Abyssal stared at the dozens of holograph screens. His cheek had three tattoos. He slowly clenched his fist.
Bang!
He slammed the chair he was seated on.
The entire room, made of precious adamantine, shook. The important files, which at other times would've received precious attention, were thrown into the air by the tremors.
Even the assassination lists of important geniuses, that took much resources, manpower and time laid on the floor like worthless trash.
"Sir… blame this one!" Behind the stalwart Abyssal, a short Abyssal kneeled. He was only 6 feet tall and looked like a child compared to others.
"No Sir, I failed the mission!" Another Abyssal kneeled beside him and knocked her head to the cold, hard adamantine floor until she started to bleed.
"Enough." The stalwart Abyssal said and the room once again returned to silence.
Of course, silence except for the sounds from the holograms.
'I cannot explain this to his highness.' The Abyssal Duke thought as he gazed at the videos with hatred.
On one video, a petite girl transformed her hands and legs into a feline creature and slaughtered the hide out in seconds. No Abyssal tried to run. However, they were simply powerless against this monster of a human.
She was merciless and cruel. Her claws dug for their hearts, her kicks broke their spines and her tail strangled their necks.
On the next hologram, the entire guards were squashed to meat paste by earthen walls. It was a horrible death.
The Abyss Duke's nails dug into his palm. He didn't feel any pain. Only hatred.
He observed the other hologram. The Abyssals were simply torn apart into two. The bulky young man showed no mercy and tore them apart like he was tearing a piece of paper.
Drip.
Drip.
Drops of pristine green blood splashed onto the floor.
The Abyss Duke took a deep breath and controlled himself as he watched his entire mission crumble.
He was in charge of this dungeon. The Demon King personally appointed him.
If he performed well, he might be graced by a precious herb and breakthrough into level 7.
From a lowly Duke to a noble Prince. Perhaps, one day, he could even be an Archduke and see his majesty the Emperor himself.
That was his dream. But now, they were on the verge of collapse.
'These bugs! Humans! Every last one of them must be slaughtered.' He vowed.
As he contemplated his options, a famous quote of their emperor rang in his head.
'If you want to die, make sure your death is the highest contribution to the Empire. Petty sacrifices are only done by cowards who are scared of facing the hardships. That is not sacrifice, it is suicide.'
He took a deep breath and weighed his options.
Suppressing his rage as much as he could, he asked his underlings, "Why did the assassination fail?"
The female Abyssal answered as her lips quivered, "The location's recorders were destroyed during the fight. But we can conclude that Sarah somehow escaped the final bombing. Or she killed everyone before letting them close."
She clicked on her bracelet, and a video started playing.
It displayed Varian's team since they entered the Dungeon. Their every move was captured.
Even the assassination attempt in the so-called special location was recorded.
If any human saw this, they'd shudder in fear.
Dungeons were always a mystery to humans. They first appeared in 300 YAB out of nowhere.
However, every Abyssal knew they were the original masters of the Dungeons.
Dungeons were originally used to hunt lower civilizations, the ones which Abyssals deemed too low to do it themselves.
Many civilizations which were originally at the level of humanity were destroyed.
But only humanity rose. And at such a speed that left Abyssals dumfounded.
However, instead of frightening Abyssals, such a feat only reinforced their information about the Solar System's secret.
The Abyss Duke saw Sarah putting on a barrier before the screen went blank.
"I'm not asking about Sarah. Her death was always a 50-50. But shouldn't you at least take down these bugs?" He roared, pointing out at the other humans.
The female Abyssal lowered her head and answered, "The Shadow Order should've taken care of them… but there is no response from their side."
"Damn it! Humans are really worthless. They can't even kill a bunch of cadets." He cursed and strode back and forth. It was his way of coping with stress.
"Sir, all the level 5s except us two were sent for the assassination. To face them, we will need reinforcements." The short Abyssal whispered.
"At any other time, our King would've sent them. Not now." The Abyss Duke walked out of the room and through the hallway.
The short abyssal and female abyssal, his aides and the only remaining level 5s in the base followed.
"Our king… is in a special period now. If a Sovereign found out, then our Demon Abyss would be in danger." The Abyss Duke whispered.
"Hiss!"
The level 5s both sucked in a cold breath and looked at each other.
They thought of one thing instantly. Their eyes were filled with joy and anticipation.
'Ancestor Last light's remains.'
This legendary figure was the one who saved their race. If not for him finding the secret of solar system, they would be waiting to die.
Initially, the Abyssals sent low dungeons to wipe out humanity. But who knew they were able to conquer them instead.
The elder council, the ultimate decision making body before the rise of Abyss Emperor, was still persuaded by the conservatives and instead of sending Abysses, they send Mid Dungeons.
To their dismay, instead of being destroyed by the Dungeons, humans found ways to seal up the Dungeon and used it to strengthen themselves.
The elder council still hadn't realized their mistake.
Their deadline was drawing closer and the elder council almost withdrew from the Solar system.
It was only with the help of the Abyss Emperor, who was still a level Sovereign back then, that they sent High Dungeons.
Of course, Humans almost mastered those Dungeons too. Too bad for them. By then Abyss Emperor had risen and took charge.
His highness's first decision, despite every opposition, was to send the eight Abysses to Solar System.
With the frontline shifting to Abysses, Dungeons were reduced to a training and resource field.
Now, after all these years, Abyssals were slowly taking back control of Dungeons.
All this was part of a grand plan.
"I've decided." The Abyss duke entered the central room of the main hideout.
Inside it was only a large circular array. There were several patterns, runes and materials all weaving together to form a beautiful picture.
It was the Cross Tunneling Formation.
Unlike a teleportation formation, a CTF was much cheaper. It also allowed one to teleport anywhere within its range.
The Abyss Duke didn't know much about its mechanism, but he knew it was more important than anything else.
If those nasty humans laid their hands on this, they'd quickly figure out the secrets and use their own technology against them.
The weaklings relied on their technology and got stronger every year.
In the first Human-Abyssal war, humans were forced to survive in bunkers. But now…
'Emperor knows more than I do. His majesty should've already thought of a solution. I just need to do my own duty.' He told himself and looked at his aides.
"Reveal our location to the group." He said.
"Pardon?"
"I said reveal head quarter's location to those stinky bugs."
"But…"
"I don't want to repeat myself again."
"Yes." the female Abyssal answered and used her bracelet.
Now, the humans would be able to see a much larger red dot on the map. The headquarters.
"They'll come for the CTF." The Abyss Duke grinned.
"But we won't be able to win the fight." The short Abyssal answered.
The Abyss Duke shook his head.
"If we let them be, then they'll take down all the hideouts." His expression was distressed, and he scurried back to the room.
"But… if we bring them down, then even at the cost of CTF, we'll save the rest of hideouts." His lips curled into a savage smile.
'Killing five Geniuses and saving the hideouts. As long as the CTF doesn't fall into their hands, it's our win.'
"Can we really kill that monster?" The female Abyssal pointed to a screen.
Dozens of hide outs were frozen. Dozens more were punched to ruins. The number of hideouts taken down was significantly higher than any other.
Sarah Albert. Level 6 Dual Awakener.
In the hologram, Sarah habitually checked the entire hideout for any secret information.
Nothing. Again.
'Just how are we supposed to find the headquarters?'
'Besides, how are the Abyssals so… familiar with the Dungeon?' Sarah cursed under her breath and exited the hideout.
She realized one thing.
The hideouts were similar to the special locations. They were naturally present in the Dungeon but were never found.
'Dungeons….Abyssals, are they related?' She wondered, but would never know the truth.
As she opened the map to find the next hideout, she noticed the bigger dot.
After confirming it with others, she informed Varian.
[Varian, we found the headquarters.]
But she didn't know. Everything was under the Abyss Duke's control.
"Kill her? I don't have to kill her.. I can…" The Abyss Duke's snickered and a dangerous glint shone in his eyes.
