"This is impossible," Henrietta muttered as she looked back at the fourteen Monstrous Death Tyrants that were running after their group.
Unlike Lux and the others, who had received the help of the two Kings after defeating the first Death Tyrant, the three guilds that joined together didn't trigger this special event.
Henrietta, Iris, and the Guild Serenity.
Nero and the Storm Dragons.
Enlil and the Elves.
These three factions merged together in order to challenge the Death Gate together, and had made good progress together.
In fact, their progress was so good that they thought that they could just steamroll the Undead Army, and head straight towards the center of the Valley of Death, and clear it in one go.
Although they were facing Rank 4 Undead Monsters, the combined might of the three forces had surpassed Lux's ragtag group of fighters. But, this also led to their downfall.
They were so confident of their prowess, that they didn't know that those who went deeper into the Valley would find themselves trapped on all sides by the Death Tyrants that were buried under the ground.
When they found out about the true nature of their enemies it was already too late.
Due to the combined bombardment of the Death Tyrants, half of their forces were killed in less than five minutes.
In the end, only over a dozen people managed to break through the encirclement, but all of them had suffered various injuries. Enlil's left arm had turned into stone, Nero's legs were broken by the bite of one of the lesser Death Tyrants shortly after a telekinetic ray hit him.
If not for the fact that Iris had saved him from his predicament, allowing Astra to help Teleport Nero out of the Death Tyrant's jaws, he might have been eliminated already.
The only thing he was relying on was his ability to move fast in quick bursts using the power of lightning, allowing him to keep pace with the others.
Henrietta's Mythical Armor had been destroyed due to how intense the battle was.
The only one that wasn't injured throughout the clash was Iris because she was heavily protected by her Guardians, as well as Eiko, who was perched firmly on her head.
"Ma!" Eiko urged as she looked at the Death Tyrants that were pursuing them as they made their escape towards the outskirts of the valley.
'I know, Eiko,' Iris replied via telepathy. 'But the others are injured, so this is as fast as we can go.'
The blue-haired beauty was riding on top of the Unicorn, Astra, who was the fastest among her Guardians.
The Blue Dragon, Valerie.
The White Tiger, Hanz.
And the Red Phoenix, Zoe, were all beside her, keeping her at the center of the formation.
Myrtle, the Black Tortoise was at the rear, protecting Iris from the Ray Attacks of the Death Tyrants that were headed in her direction.
Eiko was copying Iris' guardians' abilities, especially Myrtle, in order to resist the rays that made it past her defenses. Her summons, Blackie, Whitey, and Cloud (Air Slime), were flying above her head, ready to block any attacks that Eiko wasn't able to stop completely.
Just as they were nearing the safety of the cliffs, the ground underneath their feet rose up, sending dust flying in every direction.
In front of them, a Giant Black Tortoise roared, creating a shockwave that blew all of them backwards.
Due to the unexpected sneak attack by another Pseudo-Deimos World Boss, the formation—that was barely able to keep those that remained alive—instantly crumbled, allowing the several Death Rays that had been fired by the Death Tyrants to descend without resistance upon the remaining survivors.
One by one, all of them turned into particles of light. The only one that survived the barrage was Iris because her Guardians had blocked the attacks that were aimed at her body.
"Ma!" Eiko shouted as she gazed at the Death Tyrants that was about to unleash another barrage of attacks on her Mama. Her Guardians lay beside her, unable to move because all of them had sustained grievous injuries.
No healing magic worked in the Valley of Death because the Death Tyrants' passive skills prevented any type of regeneration, or healing ability, from working and ensured that anyone who stepped inside the domain would have no way of surviving a battle of attrition against them.
"I guess this is it," Iris muttered as she gripped a purple crystal in her hand. "We're leaving!"
"Ma!" Eiko supported her Mama's decision.
A moment later, Iris Guardians' turned into beams of light and flew towards her body. She had recalled all of them before activating the purple crystal that had been given to her by her father, in the case that she was about to perish inside the Dungeon.
Although she could recover the lost stat points that would be deducted after her death, Alexander didn't want his daughter to suffer such a fate, so he just gave her the most expensive Teleportation Crystal he had, which allowed anyone to teleport out of any kind of Dungeon.
A second later, after she disappeared from the Sacred Dungeon, dozens of multicolored rays descended upon the location where she stood, sending dust clouds flying in every direction.
—--
The next time Iris opened her eyes, she found herself outside of the Hidden Domain where those that had died inside the Sacred Dungeon respawned.
She immediately ran towards Henrietta, who was in the middle of applying healing magic to her guild members, who had been injured inside the Dungeon.
Although no one would die if they perished inside the Dungeon, the injuries they received before they died would remain with them until they received proper treatment.
Enlil, whose arm had turned into stone, had already been treated, as well as Nero, whose legs were broken.
As Serenity's Vice Guild Master, Iris had to help treat their wounded members and ensure that they would recover in the shortest time possible. While treating her guild members, she noticed Lux standing several meters away from her with his arms crossed over his chest.
He didn't disturb her and simply allowed his fiance to do her duties, as the Vice Guild Master of her Guild.
Half an hour later, Iris walked towards Lux and gave him a hug.
"We failed in our mission," Iris said sadly. "The Hell Mode of the Gate of Death is too hard."
"I know," Lux replied as he patted her head. "We experienced it as well."
Iris looked at Lux's clothes and gave them a critical look. Clearly, she was looking for any injuries that the Half-Elf might have acquired during his Dungeon expedition.
Seeing that the clothes he was wearing weren't torn up or anything, Iris was able to breathe easy before shifting her gaze back to Lux's handsome face.
"Were you able to get any gains from the Dungeon?" Iris asked.
Although her group didn't manage to get the Sacred White Lotus, they were able to get high-grade weapons and armors that were all Pseudo-Mythical Ranked.
These things weren't easy to come by, especially for normal people. However, they were the types of items that could be given to their Guild Members who lacked proper gear.
Henrietta had already decided to split the gains between Serenity, the Storm Dragons, and the Elves, ensuring that no one went home empty handed.
"Yes, we were able to get some good stuff," Lux said with a smile.
"Oh? What did you get?"
"The Sacred White Lotus."
Iris giggled after hearing Lux'x reply. She then lightly pinched her fiance's cheeks because she thought that he was just teasing her.
However, seeing the devilish smile on Lux's face, as she pinched his cheeks, made her eyes widen in disbelief.
"... you're joking, right?" Iris asked.
"Who said I was joking?" Lux replied as he lightly pinched Iris' cheeks back. "You dare doubt your fiance? Looks like I need to punish you thoroughly when we get back."
Iris' cheeks immediately began to burn with embarrassment because Lux was giving her the "You're not getting any sleep tonight" gaze.
Lux knew that Iris still didn't believe him, so he decided to move closer and whisper something in her ears.
"If you don't believe me, why don't you look at the Gate of the Hidden Domain?" Lux whispered. "That will prove that I am not lying."
Iris turned her head to the side to look at the massive gate. Her eyes slowly moved upwards and stopped at a row of names, which weren't there before they entered the Hidden Domain.
Iris' lips formed an O, as she read the words written on the gate.
—---
< The First Conquerors of the Gate of Death (Hell Mode) >
< Cai… >
< Keane… >
< Xander… >
< Einar Mordosk >
< Vallaki Meitar >
< Lux Von Kaizer >
—----
"Impossible…," the proud Prince of the Elves muttered as he gazed upon the Gate. "This is impossible!"
As an Elf, he had very sensitive hearing. The moment Lux and Iris started talking, he had focused his senses on the two of them so he could eavesdrop on their conversation. At first, he found their chat cheesy because they were just flirting with each other.
However, after hearing that Lux had gotten the Sacred White Lotus from the Gate of Death, he felt as if his heart had skipped a beat.
Naturally, he didn't believe the words that he had heard come out of the Half-Elf's mouth. He wasn't there when Lux had won the Championship, and Enlil believed that if he had been the one to fight against Lux, he would have definitely won his match against him.
This was why he didn't think much of the news of Lux becoming the Champion when it reached the Elven Kingdom.
In his eyes, the Half-Elf simply got lucky because he didn't get to face him in the Tournament.
But, right now, he was starting to think that he had greatly underestimated Iris' current fiance, whose name had already reached the far corners of the Six Kingdoms.
Nero and Henrietta noticed the sudden change in their surroundings as Enlil and the Elves stared at the Gate of the Hidden Domain in disbelief.
The two Guild Masters followed their gazes and looked up at the Gate of the Hidden Domain. A moment later, both of them shuddered because of the things that were written on top of it.
"Impossi…" Henrietta stopped herself midway as she forced her lips shut.
When they had failed their Dungeon Expedition, she believed that no one else would be able to conquer the Gate of Death. Their forces were truly quite powerful, and one could even say that their lineup was among the best within the members of the young generation.
But, they were still unable to clear the Hell Mode difficulty of the Gate of Death, making her feel bitter inside.
Nero clenched his fists tightly as he looked up at the golden names that glowed faintly in the darkness.
He wasn't aware that the seed of the Abyss in his heart had started to grow bigger, allowing a small sapling to appear.
Shifting his gaze at the Half-Elf who was holding the blue-haired beauty whom he loved in his arms, a strand of black lightning flickered in the very depths of his eyes.
A storm was starting to form, but none of the teenagers present at the entrance of the Hidden Domain noticed the danger that was in their midst.
—--
"Are you sure that this is the place?" a young man with blonde hair asked the aide that was standing beside him.
"Yes, Your Highness. The artifact that detects living people is pointing in this direction. Also, their numbers are over a hundred." the man, who seemed to be in his early forties, replied. "If our guess is right, down this cliff is the entrance to the Domain of the Fallen."
The blonde prince nodded. "Good. Fortunately we were close by when he heard the Divine Message. Although this place isn't part of our Kingdom, it is still a Neutral Territory. Anything that can be found here is up for grabs, right? Especially when they are taken from the hands of bandits."
"Yes, your Majesty," the man nodded his head in understanding. "Subjugating bandits is a noble deed."
"I know, right?" the blonde prince laughed before pointing down at the cliff. "Let's go. We mustn't let any of these bandits escape."
"As you wish, Your Excellency," the man bowed his head.
Immediately, over a thousand elite soldiers descended on the cliff with determined looks on their faces. The Domain of the Fallen was considered a fable to them because no one had been able to find its entrance, until just a few years ago.
The Six Kingdoms had been incredibly secretive about their discovery. They had done so to make sure that none of the surrounding territories knew that they had come across the entrance of the Hidden Domain by accident.
If not for the fact that the Princes' hunting party was nearby, they wouldn't have known that the Hidden Domain was near them, allowing them to change their plans, and take advantage of the situation that had unknowingly fallen into their laps.
