The sound of weapons clashing and spells exploding reverberated in the surroundings.
At the center of it all, a little more than twenty people stood back to back, facing dozens of Satyrs, whose ranks were Deimos-Rank and above.
The Strongest among this group of Monsters was an Empyrean Ranked Alpha Monster, whose gaze looked like he was licking the bodies of the women that were in front of him in his mind.
"Not bad," the Empyrean Ranked Alpha Monster said with a smile. "A combination of beauty, as well as strength to back it up—all of you girls will become the perfect broodmares for our race."
"Like hell we'll want to become your broodmares!" Alicia shouted as she stood in front of Iris, Cai, Henrietta, as well as the members of their guild, Serenity.
The Alpha Monster laughed after hearing Alicia's hateful reply.
"Worry not, fair lady," the Leader of the Satyrs replied. "My boys and I are all gentlemen. Right, boys?"
The other Satyrs all cheered in agreement with their leader's words.
"Don't worry, ladies," a Satyr, who had been eyeing Alicia since the beginning of the battle, licked his lips. "Soon, all of you girls will be shaking your hips in wanton abandonment once you have had a taste of our Carnal Prowess. I guarantee it.
"As for the boys… Well, we have no need for them," The Leader of the Satyrs commented. "But the succubus on the other side of the Forest would definitely love you guys. I'm sure we can get a good sum if we sell you all to them."
The Satyrs all laughed because this was indeed a good idea.
"Surrender now while we're still being generous. After all, we don't want to accidentally injure any of the women. It doesn't feel nice screwing a corpse, you know?"
"Hahaha! It's been decades since I've had a taste of Human women. I'll make sure that you girls won't be getting any sleep tonight!"
"As for the men, all of you should just surrender quietly. Who knows? You might enjoy becoming the playthings of the succubus. I know a few of them, and I will guarantee that one round with them will send you to heaven!"
Xander and two Rankers from the Rowan Tribe were standing right beside Alicia.
A few Rankers of the Xynnar War Pact and Skystead Alliance were also with them. Among them was Malcom, who was gritting his teeth so hard that he could hear them grinding.
Not far from them, the body of his dead Deimos-Ranked Wyvern lay in a pool of its own blood. The beast that Lux had given him had protected him until its very last breath, and Malcolm was feeling aggrieved by its passing.
"Damn it!" Malcolm cursed through gritted teeth as he held his ground. "Why did it come to this?!"
When they first entered the Domain of the Fallen, the first thing that the Rankers of the different Factions did was to spread out in order to hunt the Magical Beasts, gather resources, as well as investigate the Domain of the Fallen in full.
Previously, such had been quite impossible to do because only those that were Initiate Rank and below could enter the Domain.
After this restriction was lifted, everyone knew that the Domain of the Fallen would be ransacked clean of any valuable treasures due to the strong Rankers that were now allowed to enter it.
However, after checking every nook and cranny, they didn't find any Monsters, rare herbs, or any kind of treasures.
Only common herbs could be found and nothing else.
No one could figure out what happened, but they had come to the conclusion that someone had managed to enter the Dungeon before them and took everything before they could lay claim to it.
Naturally, their first suspect was Lux.
However, they didn't have enough evidence to back up this claim.
They also deemed that it was impossible for Lux to take all the treasures without fighting the strong monsters that were guarding them, who were all above his rank.
In the end, they all reluctantly entered the last gate of the Apocalypse.
In the beginning, everything was going well. They arrived at a Kingdom that had been ravaged by Monsters.
The Rankers found this turn of events a blessing and hunted down the Monsters without any problems.
They even forgot about the issue with the Domain of the Fallen because they managed to gain a lot of resources.
But, all of that changed when they explored the Temple on the outskirts of the city.
There, they saw an Abyssal Noble that was sealed by countless chains.
However, this being was already dead when they arrived.
After investigating its corpse, they found a Beast Core located on his chest, letting them know that it was actually a Calamity-Ranked Abyssal Noble.
The Rankers of the Skystead Alliance all said that since they were the ones that found the corpse, the Core should belong to them.
Although reluctant, no one opposed their declaration.
What they didn't know was that months ago, the Abyssal Noble, whose spirit had been captured by Gaap, cast a Grand Spell on his own core just in case something went wrong with his plan to possess a new body.
This Grand Spell would activate the moment someone tried to pry the core from his body, which was done by the greedy Rankers of the Skystead Alliance.
The moment the Black Obsidian Core was successfully pulled out, the Grand Spell activated and a black hole materialized, sucking everyone within the vicinity of the temple inside it.
90% of the people who had entered the Gate of the Apocalypse were transported to the Abyssal World in random places, making those who were watching them through the projections panic.
Out of the hundreds of people that had entered the Gate of Apocalypse, a little more than twenty of them were transported to a Dark Forest, where the Satyrs lived.
Alicia, who was the strongest Ranker in their group, was a C-Ranker.
It was impossible for her to fight against an Empyrean-Ranked Alpha Monster because only a party of High-Rankers could defeat it.
But that was not the main problem. After entering the Abyssal World, her Rank had degraded to D-Rank.
She was not the only one who suffered from this phenomenon. The Rankers who had all been sucked up by the Black Hole had their Ranks lowered by one stage.
Only Initiates and E-Rankers like Iris, Cai, Henrietta, Xander, and Malcolm were not affected by this degradation of Rank.
"Iris, Cai, Henrietta, Xander, listen carefully," Alicia said through the artifact that allowed them all to communicate telepathically. "I will launch an all-out attack using the Legendary Artifacts that your father entrusted to me. It might not be able to kill these monsters, but it will be enough to stall or seriously injure them.
"What I want all of you to do is run and find a way on how to escape this place. No matter what happens, you need to return to Elysium. I will not be able to face Sir Alexander and Sir Maximilian if anything happens to any of you. Now, prepare to run at my signal!"
Iris and Cai wanted to say that they will stay behind and fight together, but seeing how determined Alicia was about sacrificing herself, they were unable to bring themselves to do it.
The Rankers of the Rowan Tribe shared Alicia's determination. In their eyes, the safety of the High Priestess was above their own.
"Xander, make sure to protect Cai," One of the Rankers of the Rowan Tribe stated. "Even if you die, make sure she returns to the tribe!"
"Understood!" Xander replied while clenching his fists. "Even if I die, I will see to it that they return to Solais."
Suddenly, the Leader of the Satyrs laughed out loud.
"How noble," the Leader of the Satyr said. "But futile. I heard your little plan, and I can't help but think that you underestimate all of us. Do you think that we will let you run away from this place?"
The Leader of the Satyrs had the ability to read women's minds, similar to Eiko's Mind Reader ability, but more powerful.
Although it only worked on women, the Satyr was able to know Alicia's plan, which made him laugh internally.
"Even though I don't know why all of you appeared here in our Forest, it doesn't matter," the Leader of the Satyrs smiled as he took a step forward. "Your Fate was sealed the moment you met us. No amount of planning, courage, or determination will change anything.
"The Abyss is not a place for miracles. Hope doesn't exist here. Only those with power thrive, and as for the weak, they are merely the playthings of the strong. You girls will soon understand that your only role in this world is to give birth to Satyrs!
"I'll sample all of you girls first, and after that, my men will have their way with you. Don't worry, I will guarantee that even though today is your safe day, all of you will be pregnant before the sun rises in the morning."
The Satyrs laughed after hearing their leader's joke.
Here in the Abyss, the sun didn't exist. Only the light of the two moons that were high up in the sky, illuminated the land.
The Leader of the Satyrs, Ampelos, had already picked two girls among the group of Humans who had appeared in his territory to become his personal toys.
It was none other than the blue-haired beauty, Iris, and the purple-haired Henrietta.
Both were exceptional beauties, and he fully intended to fill both of them with his seed and make them give birth to his children.
"Enough talk!" Ampelos raised his hand with a smile. "Get them boys, and let the Carnal Feast begin!"
