After examining the corpse for any more deformities, Hildia stepped up with her body slightly shaking.
"M-maybe it's magic-related, and I c-could help figure out which type of magic it is." She then looked at Eric to see if he'd give her approval.
"Sure, go ahead." Eric, along with everyone else, gave her some space as she knelt down and touched the pentagram with both her hands.
She closed her eyes and started injecting her own elemental mana inside it to start feeling what kind of magic it was. A few seconds passed, and the room started shaking. The sound of small rocks falling from the ceiling could be heard, and they felt like they were being shaken inside an earthquake.
When the surroundings finally stopped shaking, they heard Hildia scream at the top of her lungs before letting go of the pentagram on the corpse's body.
"Hildia!" Eric ran up to catch her from falling to the floor.
"Demons! It was Demonic Mana!" She shouted while she held Eric with her hands that looked pale.
"Calm down, what did you sense?" Eric asked in a calm manner so Hildia could relax.
"S-sorry, I freaked out," she said as she breathed heavily before standing back up on her own two feet.
"It was demonic mana; there were voices in my head saying a phrase over and over," she said, clutching her staff tighter.
"I'm guessing these bodies were killed, then some sort of ritual reanimated them?" Shael guessed as she held her chin.
"M-more like the bodies are being controlled by the demons in the underworld, Hildia corrected her.
"That would explain why they didn't shout or yell in pain after getting shot by Nirra's weapon," Gareth said as he placed his heavy shield near his leg.
"So we're facing dead bodies that are being controlled by demons?" Ellie said in confusion.
"Yeah, which is why we need to free Lady Ameria, or else she's next." Shael then spoke, her expression cringing a bit at the thought of Ameria becoming like these walking corpses.
Nirra, who was holding her chin, walked up near Hildia and asked, "What did they say? The voices you mentioned earlier?"
"I-It was something along the lines of 'capture her, bring her here'. I didn't know what it meant or who they were referring to," Hildia said with a tinge of confusion.
Unbeknownst to Eric's party, Nirra and Ellie knew who they were referring to, and that is very good intel recovered about the mysteries of their goals.
"That's enough thinking for now; we need to get moving to save Lady Ameria, Gareth said, pulling out of his thought.
"Yeah, let's see what's on the other side of those big doors," Eric said as they stacked up in the same line they entered.
"C'mon, mofu," Nirra said as she picked up the small fox who sat on her shoulder.
They felt a tinge of dread as Gareth slowly opened the door to the next area. Their bodies tensed as they felt the cool air blow from the room on the other side of the door.
Eventually, they all managed to enter the 'room, which was only a large spiral staircase that went deeper into the ground. They followed the line down the steps. There was little light, and the only light source that was emitted was from torches that were sparsely separated to their left.
When they eventually reached the bottom, they were faced with another large door. Before they started opening it, Hildia held her head as a tiny bit of pain went inside it.
"Hildia, are you alright?" Shael asked from behind her.
"I'm fine. There is so much demonic mana here that it's making me a bit dizzy," She said before she recovered and stood straight again. "B-but I'll be fine; I just have to get used to it," She said, but Shael noticed her body slightly shaking.
As they ended their conversation, Gareth found the courage to slowly open the door and enter, Followed by Eric, Ellie, Nirra, Hildia, and finally Shael.
When they entered, all they could see was pitch black, but with the help of Hildia's magic, they could shine the light forward, and when they did, hooded figures numbering in the dozens suddenly ran up to attack them.
Nirra launched the first attack by firing her lever-action Model 1873 rifle. She couldn't use her shotgun because her sister, Eric, and Gareth were right in front of her, and the spread of the birdshot would've hit them.
"Attack!" Eric shouted as he started slicing away at the enemies that were attempting to bypass Gareth's shield.
"Don't have to tell me twice!" Ellie threw a throwing knife at a figure's head before moving to defend their right flank, chopping the head of one in the process.
Nirra kept the fire, shooting round after round, and right behind her, Hildia was conjuring up wind magic so they couldn't reach past the two swordsmen who were mowing down the enemies with their swords, and Nirra and Shael were killing anything that tried to get past them.
"Nirra, look out!" Shael shouted.
Nirra noticed the hood of the figure when she was reloading. The moment it tried to grab her, Mofu cast a wind shield that blocked the strike.
"Mofu!"
Shael managed to shoot the figure with an arrow before it prepared for another.
Nirra sighed and said, "Thanks, Shael; you too, Mofu."
"Mofu!" The small fox said as his secondary colors turned green.
When they eventually started to run out of bodies to throw at them. Gareth felt a big hit from his shield that came from above them.
"Over there!" Ellie pointed at the wooden platform that was above them with her finger before slicing another enemy's arm off and decapitating it with her sword.
Nirra recognized one of them as the person who tried to kidnap her the other day because of the small scar on her. The other blue-haired guy with small round glasses was unknown to her, and the third person was covered in an all-black robe, so Nirra didn't see their faces.
Before Nirra could think, the blue-haired guy sent another spell flying their way. It was a huge gust of wind, and when it intercepted Gareth's shield, he felt like he had just been hit with a spear.
"separate the girl with the long black hair from them and bring her to the summoning room, the figure said to the two people with him.
The red-haired girl sighed and said, "Fine, as long as I get my pay."
Nirra tried to shoot one of them with her rifle, but a wind attack from the blue-haired guy made her flinch and hit the wooden pillar from their side.
"You!" She pointed at Nirra. "I have some unfinished business with you!" The red-haired girl said as she jumped off the platform and revealed two daggers from under her robe.
After examining the corpse for any more deformities, Hildia stepped up with her body slightly shaking.
"M-maybe it's magic-related, and I c-could help figure out which type of magic it is." She then looked at Eric to see if he'd give her approval.
"Sure, go ahead." Eric, along with everyone else, gave her some space as she knelt down and touched the pentagram with both her hands.
She closed her eyes and started injecting her own elemental mana inside it to start feeling what kind of magic it was. A few seconds passed, and the room started shaking. The sound of small rocks falling from the ceiling could be heard, and they felt like they were being shaken inside an earthquake.
When the surroundings finally stopped shaking, they heard Hildia scream at the top of her lungs before letting go of the pentagram on the corpse's body.
"Hildia!" Eric ran up to catch her from falling to the floor.
"Demons! It was Demonic Mana!" She shouted while she held Eric with her hands that looked pale.
"Calm down, what did you sense?" Eric asked in a calm manner so Hildia could relax.
"S-sorry, I freaked out," she said as she breathed heavily before standing back up on her own two feet.
"It was demonic mana; there were voices in my head saying a phrase over and over," she said, clutching her staff tighter.
"I'm guessing these bodies were killed, then some sort of ritual reanimated them?" Shael guessed as she held her chin.
"M-more like the bodies are being controlled by the demons in the underworld, Hildia corrected her.
"That would explain why they didn't shout or yell in pain after getting shot by Nirra's weapon," Gareth said as he placed his heavy shield near his leg.
"So we're facing dead bodies that are being controlled by demons?" Ellie said in confusion.
"Yeah, which is why we need to free Lady Ameria, or else she's next." Shael then spoke, her expression cringing a bit at the thought of Ameria becoming like these walking corpses.
Nirra, who was holding her chin, walked up near Hildia and asked, "What did they say? The voices you mentioned earlier?"
"I-It was something along the lines of 'capture her, bring her here'. I didn't know what it meant or who they were referring to," Hildia said with a tinge of confusion.
Unbeknownst to Eric's party, Nirra and Ellie knew who they were referring to, and that is very good intel recovered about the mysteries of their goals.
"That's enough thinking for now; we need to get moving to save Lady Ameria, Gareth said, pulling out of his thought.
"Yeah, let's see what's on the other side of those big doors," Eric said as they stacked up in the same line they entered.
"C'mon, mofu," Nirra said as she picked up the small fox who sat on her shoulder.
They felt a tinge of dread as Gareth slowly opened the door to the next area. Their bodies tensed as they felt the cool air blow from the room on the other side of the door.
Eventually, they all managed to enter the 'room, which was only a large spiral staircase that went deeper into the ground. They followed the line down the steps. There was little light, and the only light source that was emitted was from torches that were sparsely separated to their left.
When they eventually reached the bottom, they were faced with another large door. Before they started opening it, Hildia held her head as a tiny bit of pain went inside it.
"Hildia, are you alright?" Shael asked from behind her.
"I'm fine. There is so much demonic mana here that it's making me a bit dizzy," She said before she recovered and stood straight again. "B-but I'll be fine; I just have to get used to it," She said, but Shael noticed her body slightly shaking.
As they ended their conversation, Gareth found the courage to slowly open the door and enter, Followed by Eric, Ellie, Nirra, Hildia, and finally Shael.
When they entered, all they could see was pitch black, but with the help of Hildia's magic, they could shine the light forward, and when they did, hooded figures numbering in the dozens suddenly ran up to attack them.
Nirra launched the first attack by firing her lever-action Model 1873 rifle. She couldn't use her shotgun because her sister, Eric, and Gareth were right in front of her, and the spread of the birdshot would've hit them.
"Attack!" Eric shouted as he started slicing away at the enemies that were attempting to bypass Gareth's shield.
"Don't have to tell me twice!" Ellie threw a throwing knife at a figure's head before moving to defend their right flank, chopping the head of one in the process.
Nirra kept the fire, shooting round after round, and right behind her, Hildia was conjuring up wind magic so they couldn't reach past the two swordsmen who were mowing down the enemies with their swords, and Nirra and Shael were killing anything that tried to get past them.
"Nirra, look out!" Shael shouted.
Nirra noticed the hood of the figure when she was reloading. The moment it tried to grab her, Mofu cast a wind shield that blocked the strike.
"Mofu!"
Shael managed to shoot the figure with an arrow before it prepared for another.
Nirra sighed and said, "Thanks, Shael; you too, Mofu."
"Mofu!" The small fox said as his secondary colors turned green.
When they eventually started to run out of bodies to throw at them. Gareth felt a big hit from his shield that came from above them.
"Over there!" Ellie pointed at the wooden platform that was above them with her finger before slicing another enemy's arm off and decapitating it with her sword.
Nirra recognized one of them as the person who tried to kidnap her the other day because of the small scar on her. The other blue-haired guy with small round glasses was unknown to her, and the third person was covered in an all-black robe, so Nirra didn't see their faces.
Before Nirra could think, the blue-haired guy sent another spell flying their way. It was a huge gust of wind, and when it intercepted Gareth's shield, he felt like he had just been hit with a spear.
"separate the girl with the long black hair from them and bring her to the summoning room, the figure said to the two people with him.
The red-haired girl sighed and said, "Fine, as long as I get my pay."
Nirra tried to shoot one of them with her rifle, but a wind attack from the blue-haired guy made her flinch and hit the wooden pillar from their side.
"You!" She pointed at Nirra. "I have some unfinished business with you!" The red-haired girl said as she jumped off the platform and revealed two daggers from under her robe.
