Chapter 36

"So, what do you all got?" Davida asked. "May I?" Duncan raised his hand. Davida nodded, and immediately after that, Duncan started recounting the information he got from observing the creature earlier. After careful consideration and planning using the information they've had on the creature, they finally come up with a solid plan.

Davida nodded while Duncan and Diane both smile, satisfied with the plan they had come out with. "So, to recap on our plan", Duncan breaks down, "First, we need to make the creature rage, as it would make it easier for us to move around." Davida nodded in agreement, "Right. To do so, we need to confuse it. Diane's magic using vine and the elven breathing technique thankfully worked, as we can use it to avoid its senses." Diane added, "Thankfully, the creature does not have eyes. It seems able to sense mana, and since Duncan doesn't have little to no mana in his body, because of that, he can avoid the creature's perception."

The trio nodded, "Right, then for the second plan", Duncan continues, "After we made it angry, we need to make the creature traverse rough terrain." Davida added, "We've already done the job partly earlier. It should make things simple for us." Duncan nodded, "From my observation earlier, it did not like to traverse uneven ground. Added to that, a giant fireball from young miss earlier made it off-balance, and it would take a while for it to recover."

Duncan raised his right ring finger, "And for the third plan, we can force its attention to focus on a mana source instead of to young miss and Diane. Like you said earlier, young miss Di's magic worked. Obstructing the creature field of vision while using the elven breathing technique to hide your mana signature will be the key for the two of you to escape that lizard-like chimaera", Duncan explained.

Diane turn her head towards Duncan, "Can you tell me again the possible exit you've found, Dun?" she asked. "It's there's one in the first floor, on a prison cell below the stairs to the second floor. On the second floor, there were three. One would be located right after the bridge; one is on the end of the east wing while one is on the end of the west wing." Duncan confidently answered. "Ok, if that's all, let us get ready, and after that, we head out" Davida ended the meeting with confidence. Diane and Duncan nodded then proceed to prepared for the confrontation ahead.

===

The demon king smirked, "Heh, if that's all it takes to avoid that little lizard, then I would've killed it long ago", he jeered, "Your friends underestimate the little lizard too much. It might spell trouble for them. Aren't you going to help?" the demon teasingly asked. I rolled my eyes, "How can I help when I still cannot move my body properly?" I know that answering would entertain this shady old man even more but for some reason, not answering him made me sick inside.

The demon king puffed up his chest after he hears my reaction, "How about I help you move your body? Come on, it would be fun…" he smiled brightly. I was tempted for a split second there, and then I remember this shady old man was like a child that found his toys. "No, you can go yourself if you're bored. I believe in my friends." I said. "Tch," the demon king clicked his tongue, seeing his provocation did not work.

The demon king then turned his attention away from me and onto the screen in front. He put his right fist on his cheek, relaxing on his throne. "Let see how you all do", the demon king smile eerily.

===

Diane tied up the little bunny behind her back, "You hold on, okay? What's next is going to be dangerous", she advised the little bunny. Hanging from Diane's back, the little bunny nodded in understanding. "Good" Diane flashed a smile of relief. Duncan grabbed his greatsword tightly while Davida tightens her boots.

"Are we all ready?" Davida asked. Both Diane and Duncan nodded. "Okay, let's go out!" Diane then opened the metal door with her vines. Just as the door was opening, Magic Circle appears in front of Davida, "Heed my call fire elementals, Fireball!" a moderately sized fireball launched from Davida's magic circle. This was part of their plan; just when the door opened, they would not directly go out, instead caused a distraction first by launching a fireball into a far enough distance, just enough for the trio to safely move around for a little while.

*BOOM*

The fireball hit near the entrance of the prison. Then, Davida, Diane and Duncan could hear a monster roar from a distance. "Now's our time!" Davida barked as the trio quickly move towards the stairs. "Target number one!" informed Duncan as he opened the prison cell. Unfortunately, it was just an ordinary prison cell, bar the corpse that suddenly appeared on the prison's bed.

Diane's gasped, looking at the sudden appearance of the corpse. "What the…" Duncan almost cursed out loud, "This wasn't here the last time I'm here." Duncan wants to examine the corpse further, but Davida cut him off, "No time, the fireball's residual mana was about to run out. When it does, it will be coming towards us." Duncan nodded as the trio tried to get out of the prison cell.

Suddenly, the corpse moved its hand, grabbing tightly at Duncan's leg. "Fuck me!" this time, Duncan swear loudly before the swift action of Davida that smashed her staff at the corpse's hand. "Undead!" Diane said, her face grim. As the corpse disintegrated, suddenly, most of the prison cell opened its door. From it, different kinds of undead come out, zombies, skeletons, ghouls, and last but not least, a Dullahan.

The trio expression turned sombre, "What do we do?" Diane asked in a panic, "We did not count for this situation." Without hesitation, Davida ordered, "Retreat!" Both Duncan and Diane nodded as the trio tried to quickly go for the metal door. But then, they saw the undead gathers around the metal door, wandering aimlessly. "Wait!" Duncan said, "There's something strange here…" after he spoke, he squinted his eyes.

"What is it?" Davida curiously asked. Duncan did not reply immediately. He observed patiently with unwavering focus as he saw a group of undead that separates themselves. Then, that group of undead separated again. The group of undead that consists of five different undead split up. The bloated zombie, the skeleton knight and the banshee flew to the second floor while the two similar-looking ghouls walked towards the entrance of the room.

Davida, Diane, Duncan and even the little bunny heaved a heavy breath. "What should we do?" Diane asked. They all were trapped inside the prison cell. They thought that once they step outside, the undead would swarm towards them like flies. "Fuck", Duncan swear, "It's all my fault. If only we didn't come here…" Duncan hit the wall in frustration. "What done is done", Davida said, trying to control the situation, "What we could do now is to proceed carefully." Davida looked at Duncan, "You didn't answer my question earlier. What did you see?" she asked. Duncan seemed out of it for a moment before flusteredly answered, "I saw a group of undead split up from the ones that crowded the metal gate." Davida rubbed her chin, "Hmm, how many of them are in this group?"

"Five undead, to be precise. A bloated zombie that holds a giant butcher knife in its right hand with a chain attached to the knife's handle, with a meat hook at the end of the chain. A giant skeleton that wears knights armour, it wielded a giant sword with its right hand. A green banshee that wears a red dress with her hands resembling a claw and a pair of ghouls." Duncan listed. "Did you see where they're walking to?"

"The bloated zombie, the giant skeleton and the green banshee flew to the second floor while the pair of ghouls went to the entrance…. Wait, three to the second floor?" Duncan seemed to realise something, "I concluded that there may be three exits on the second floor. Don't tell me…."

Davida nodded, "It is as you thought. They've gone and guard the possible entrance you speak of before. And I suspect the pair of ghouls gone to the entrance to guard it, preventing us from exiting the prison while the Dullahan guarded the metal door. It's an elaborate trick to trap us here", she said, her face gloom. "It can't be, right? Who could do something like this? The only ones here were the giant lizard and us", doubted Diane as she nervously looked outside the jail cell, "Unless…."

"Yes," Davida affirmed, "It's that lizard's doing. All of this was just to made us go out of the laboratory. I had my suspicion at first when it dodges past Duncan when he's right in its path, yet it continues chasing towards Diane and me. And at the end, where we closed the metal door back then. With its excellent senses, it should've been able to hear it closed, as no matter how we do it, a metal door would still make a noise loud enough for it to hear. If the creature was just a giant monster, it would've charged ahead at the metal door as it did earlier", Davida said with deep regret and frustration in her voice, "Alas, now it's all too late." She lamented.

"Young miss…"

"Now, we needed to find a way to deal with the undead along with the lizard." Davida firmly said as the fire in her eyes wasn't extinguished yet.