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Arafunn found himself in a closed, small place, covered by a toxic smoke, and with no winds and barely any oxygen to breathe. The place was very cramped too, his wind magic would collapse everything and crush him beneath it if he was careless…

"A second ago we entered the dungeon…" He sighed. "I can't believe we were so confident after how we easily dealt with those monsters. Was this Arachne's plan all along? To give us a false sense of security? I have grown dumber instead of wiser, it seems."

He felt ashamed for having fallen in such a cheap trick. It was quite clear Arachne used those overpowered monsters to bait the heroes into fighting them, which would also convince them that they were so strong and mighty that there wasn't anything that could stop them.

They already learned she was a dungeon master in that moment, yet they kept pressing on, believing that no matter what she threw at them, it would be for naught…

"Have we underestimated her?" He wondered, his sharp eyes glowing as he found himself surrounded by enormous and poisonous worms, all of them at least Tier 8.

"GROOOHHH!"

RUMBLE!

And a few huge ones, all Tier 9… All while his surroundings constantly drained away his Mana, and the toxins in the air made it impossible for his melodies to be conjured completely.

Above all, it was also all miasma, deadly for his spirits… He couldn't even bring them out carelessly to deal with the situation.

"GROOOAAARRR!"

"Things are looking quite grim, I would say…" Arafunn sighed, as hundreds of monsters rushed towards him…

Meanwhile, at the same time, somewhere else within the Dungeon that Arachne created, Mist opened her eyes, as she had fallen into the floor and hit it really hard, making her pass out for a few seconds.

"Ouchies… My head…" She looked around, noticing nobody was there. "E-Eh? W-What happened? Where's everyone?! Zack? ZACK!"

Mist started walking around, only feeling more despair as she only found herself within a dark corridor, nowhere else to go than forwards.

"W-What's going on?" She wondered, trembling. "S-Spirit of Light?"

FLAAASH!

Suddenly, a tiny speck of light emerged in front of her, shaping itself into a small rabbit with fairy-like wings. This was Mist's small, young light spirit, which she had tamed just recently, but that she kept a secret from everyone else because she wanted to surprise them.

"Kyuuuh!"

The little rabbit, no bigger than her palms, began licking her face, trying to relieve her.

"W-What do you think happened here? Did we got teleported somewhere else? D-Does that means I'm alone?" She sighed. "H-How can I find everyone else now…"

Mist felt hopeless. Since the beginning that she had been a frail girl, despite being of a tribe of strong demons. She was always protected by others and watched over by many of her friends and family.

But now, she found herself completely alone… Well, not really, she had a tiny spirit, much weaker than her that she wanted to protect.

"Kyu?" The little rabbit suddenly twitched its tiny head, wondering what was troubling his master.

"A-Ah, it's nothing Snowflake…" Mist swallowed saliva, her eyebrows furrowed, as she glanced into the distant darkness. "Like Sylphy and Zack, and everyone else… I-I need to be strong too!" She touched her chest, sensing Sylphy's powers.

"After all, she helped me awaken a power I never thought I had within me…" She sighed. "I-I might not be a hero, but I am competent enough to survive a bit, right?"

"Kyu!" The little Snowflake nodded. "Kyuwah!"

Suddenly, Snowflake started sniffing something, and started flying away from Mist!

"E-Eh? Snowflake?! Wait a bit!" Mist cried, running right behind Snowflake, only to find him floating in midair, paralyzed.

"Geez! Why did you run away? What did you find-" Mist quickly felt just as paralyzed as her spirit.

Right in front of them, at the end of the hall, a dark gate had opened, and from within, several insectoids, mostly Tier 5 and only a few Tier 6 had appeared!

"SHAAAAAHHH!!!"

The moment they heard her voice, it was already over!

"Uwaaah! Run Snowflake!!!"

Mist grabbed Snowflake with her hands and started running away, as fifty of these giant insects started chasing her around. She was gasping for air, feeling both desperate and exhausted by the whole ordeal!

She ran and ran faster and faster, but her body wouldn't easily let her. Although her dexterity was good and so was her agility, she lacked a lot of stamina.

And the monsters were growing faster as they started drooling, probably imagining tasting her deliciously tender meat!

"D-Dead end?!" Mist arrived at the end of the corridor, just where she had arrived. The wall was completely hard, and she couldn't break through it.

"SHAAAAH!"

"GRUOOHH!"

"RAAAAHH!"

"Eep!" Mist cried, sticking herself into the wall as she heard the roars of the beasts approaching, their large shadows already nearby.

"Kyu! Kyu!!!"

Snowflake suddenly started floating in midair, telling her to do something! She simply couldn't be so afraid as to not even try fighting, right?

"B-But what can I even do by myself?!" Mist cried, tears flowing from her eyes. "I'm so weak…"

The traumas of that time in Eastgrain when those thugs abused of her and almost killed her, treating her like utter garbage… They still remained within her heart, even when they were already dealt with by Allan and Shade long ago.

"KYUUUUH!"

Snowflake, however, made her snap out of it, biting her forehead with its huge incisors!

CRONCH!

"Ouchies! W-Why?!"

"KYUUH!"

"SHAAAAAHH!!!"

However, it was already too late. The first monster to arrive was a huge spider-like creature, as big as ten meters, which ran straight towards Mist, opening its mandibles and about to gobble her up!

"Uwaaah!" Mist lose focus and couldn't even point her arrow correctly; the jaws grew closer and closer!

CRAAAASSH!

"H-Huh?"

However, the moment she opened her eyes, she realized a barrier of light was conjured, Snowflake was right in front of her, mustering all the little strength he had to protect her master…

"S-Snowflake…?! Wait! What are you doing?!"

"KYUUUUGGH…!"

In just a few more seconds, the barrier would break.

Even someone weaker than her had to protect her…

Mist finally realized… That she couldn't stay with such an attitude forever, now that she finally found someone she wanted to protect.

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