"Lux, are you okay?" Iris asked in a worried tone as he lightly patted Lux's body to look for any injuries that he might have received during their battles on the way to the Sacred Dungeon.
"I'm fine," Lux replied. "My summons and Eiko protected me."
"Pa!"
"Good job, Eiko."
"Ma!"
The baby Slime smiled happily as Iris patted her head. Astra, who was standing beside Iris, snorted at the baby Slime who was once again being pampered by his Master.
Eiko, on the other hand, ignored the Unicorn. She still hadn't won against Astra during their last rematch, and still treated the unicorn as its rival.
"How many people did the Academy lose?" Lux asked.
"Fifteen," Iris replied sadly. "Ten more are injured, but they are now being treated. Out of the forty members of our Guild, almost half of them died along the way. I pity our Guildmaster, Henrietta. She will have to write letters about the deaths of our Guild Members and send them to their parents. I'm sure that she will fall into a depression again once we return to the Academy."
Lux could only sigh in his heart after hearing Iris' words. Although he had just become the temporary leader of the members of the Rowan Tribe for this expedition, there had been people who died under his watch.
Cai said that he didn't need to worry about what happened because she would be the one to personally tell the news to her Grandfather.
The Boar's only regret was that she wasn't able to bring their bodies back to the Rowan Tribe, so that they would be given a proper burial.
"What level of difficulty will you and your group challenge later?" Lux whispered in Iris' ear.
"Hell Mode," Iris whispered back. "However, we will have to wait for Henrietta's decision as to whether we will continue according to what we discussed beforehand or not. Three of our five healers were killed, so the difficulty of conquering the Dungeon has increased."
Lux nodded his head in understanding.
"How about we combine our forces and challenge the Hell-Mode difficulty together?" Lux proposed. "When it comes to command, your Guildmaster can just focus on commanding your members, while I command the members of the Rowan Tribe. Do you think that will work?"
Iris pondered Lux's suggestion for a bit before glancing at her Guild Master. She didn't know if Henrietta would agree to Lux's suggestion, but she thought that it wouldn't hurt to ask if she would agree to this proposal or not.
"I'll ask her first," Iris replied. "However, I can't promise you that she will agree."
Lux nodded. "I understand. I'll wait for her reply."
Iris smiled before walking in the direction of her Guildmaster to pass on Lux's proposal to work together.
While this was happening, several guilds were also talking about collaborating with each other. The only problem was on how the resources of the Dungeon would be divided among them.
Ten minutes later, Henrietta approached Lux's group, alongside Iris and her other officers.
"Iris mentioned that you want to collaborate with our guild," Henrietta said with her arms crossed over her chest. "I saw how you fought in the Lionheart Tournament, so having you around, in addition to other members of the Elite Four, is very reassuring.
"However, be that as it may, having two teams will definitely mess up the chain of command. How about you and the members of the Rowan Tribe follow my commands instead? That way, we will be one unified unit, and will be able to clear this Dungeon smoothly."
Before Lux could even reply, Cai snorted as she looked at the purple-haired beauty who was looking at them with a smile.
"You wish!" Cai replied. "The Rowan Tribe will only follow My Daddy. Although our two factions have a very wonderful friendship, in regards to this matter, we will not yield."
The other members of the Rowan Tribe, including Xander, nodded their heads to agree with Cai's words. They only recognized the strong, and Lux had proven to them that he was strong during their sparring matches.
"Is that so?" Henrietta arched an eyebrow. "Then in that case we should just…"
"Wait a moment," Lux interjected before Henrietta could finish her words. "If the information that has been passed to me is correct, you will be asked to choose one of four paths once you reach the middle-point of the Dungeon in Hell Mode. Is this true?"
Henrietta nodded. "It is true."
"Then how about we compete?" Lux proposed. "Each of our teams will choose one of the four paths at the beginning. Whoever clears their chosen route first will become the temporary leader of both teams. How does that sound?"
Henrietta pondered for a bit before nodding her head. "I can agree to this condition. Whoever manages to clear one of the paths first will definitely have the capability to lead our combined forces. Very well, let's do this."
The purple-haired beauty then extended her hand for a handshake in order to close the deal.
"This competition sounds fun. Can I also join it?"
Just as Lux was about to shake hands with Henrietta, a confident voice sounded from their side, making the two of them glance towards where the voice had come from at the same time.
Nero walked towards Lux and Henrietta with a smile as he decided to join their competition in order to conquer the Hell Mode of the Sacred Dungeon.
"I overheard your discussion and thought that it is not a bad idea," Nero stated. "We only brought twenty five members on this expedition, and we lost six of them. Because of this, I am thinking of merging with Serenity for the duration of this mission and giving the role of temporary leader to Lady Henrietta.
"All I ask is that the resources be divided equally between our two guilds. As long as you can promise me that, we will gladly obey your orders. I think this is a better option than having two groups with separate leaders. This will only break the chain of command, and prevent our merged units from performing to the best of their abilities."
Henrieta nodded her head in satisfaction before glancing in Lux's direction.
"It seems that we do not need to compete any longer," Henrietta said before facing Nero. "As the Guild Master of Serenity, I happily welcome the Storm Dragons to join our team for this Dungeon exploration. Let's talk about how the shares will be divided in our temporary camp. Is that fine with you?"
"Of course," Nero replied with a smile. "I believe in Lady Henrietta's leadership, and I know that me and my members will be in good hands. As long as you don't betray our trust, we will be able to agree on many things."
"Very well. Let's negotiate over there."
"Ladies first."
Lux watched as the two Guild Masters moved to the corner of the cave and started to negotiate with each other.
The Half-Elf frowned but didn't say anything because it was Henrietta's choice whether to accept his offer or not.
However, for some reason, he had a nagging feeling at the back of his head as he looked at the brown-haired boy, whom he had defeated in the tournament not too long ago.
"Pa!"
"You feel it too, Eiko?"
"Pa!"
Lux rubbed his chin as he tried to understand this uncomfortable feeling that he was getting from Nero. He didn't know why his love rival suddenly decided to surrender the control of his guild members to Henrietta and join Serenity on their Dungeon expedition.
All he knew was that it didn't feel right, so he decided to let Eiko stay with Iris as Serenity challenged the Hell Mode of the dungeon.
Although not having the Baby Slime around would decrease his combat potential, he still decided to let Eiko accompany Iris in order to ensure that no harm would come to her.
'Just what is Nero scheming now?' Lux thought as he eyed the brown-haired boy. 'Whatever it is, I don't like it.'
As if sensing his gaze, Nero glanced in his direction and gave him a smirk. For a brief moment, a look of ridicule flashed through his eyes.
Nero had gotten over his loss to Lux after a week had passed. All that was in his head right now was to show everyone how competent he was, and prove that a single loss was not enough to tarnish the reputation he had built over the years through the hardships that he had encountered in Elysium.
