A Rotten Man

"It's none of your business."

Elijah dismissed the hand Quirin extended to help him, then got up with his own strength. Elijah turned to the rest of his teammates after that. Henrik, who had been knocked unconscious, seemed to be regaining consciousness. The werebeast's healing ability could not be underestimated. Moreover, Henrik had already reached level 6, so healing injuries such as broken bones would not take long.

"What were you trying to do, human!?"

On the other side, Damian was pulling Gazel's collar roughly while shouting angrily. The thing that elves disliked the most was the meanness of the human heart. The elves might be known as the coldest race and did not care about the problems of other races. However, the elven race at least knows how to be grateful or repay the kindness that others give them.

Gazel's act of trying to leave Henrik, who had given him the opportunity to secure himself first, really disgusted Damian to the bone. Not to mention, Damian also witnessed Gazel trying to continue with his plan when he and Elijah went out to save Henrik. If losing a teammate wouldn't get Damian into trouble, the elf swore he would leave a rotten human like Gazel to die in the Latham Ruins.

"I was just trying to save myself! Didn't I tell you that this place was dangerous!? You guys just wouldn't listen to me! Because of your decisions, I have to do whatever it takes to survive in this damn place!"

After being cornered by Damian, Gazel seemed to forget that Damian was a prince of higher status than him and began to raise his voice when speaking to the elf. Gazel even tried to break Damian's grip on his collar. But alas, Damian's physical abilities were so much greater than Gazel's that the man ended up unable to do anything.

"Do anything so that you can survive, you say? Do you know that even if you do nothing, we'll all still survive? You're just too scared to face danger, and your fear ended up almost taking the life of your own teammate!"

"So, what if that beast dies!? It's not like its life is worth more than mine!"

"You!"

"You want to separate them?"

Quirin saw Elijah take one step toward Damian and Gazel, then asked while crossing his arms over his chest. Elijah looked sarcastically at Quirin. "For someone who deliberately does nothing and is willing to put the rest of the team in danger, you are surprisingly shameless," Elijah said coldly.

Quirin feigned disappointment after he listened to Elijah's words. "How could I endanger you guys on purpose, Elijah? I was also quite surprised by this development. I also wanted to help earlier. However, I remembered that without my presence and abilities, you might not be able to open the other doors or get out of this place alive," he said innocently.

It felt like talking to Quirin was useless. Elijah left her as usual, then approached Damian, who had just finished punching Gazel right in the face.

"You think you're worth more than him, do you!? Then, let me tell you something, human. You're not even worth more than the ants in this place! A person who only thinks of himself like you is a person of no value in my eyes!"

Elijah had stopped walking as he listened to Damian's words. The teenager quietly clenched his fists, then resumed his steps as if he was not affected by Damian's words.

"Just stop. You know that losing a teammate in this place will reduce our final grade on this mission."

Damian turned his head to look at Elijah, then looked at Gazel, who had fallen to the ground clutching his bloodied nose. Damian took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down after that. His attention then turned to Henrik, who was also trying to stand up after he felt that his injury was a little better than before.

"Are you alright?" asked Damian in a calmer voice than before.

Henrik nodded in response. "Yes. It's all thanks to you and Elijah. For that, I am indebted to you," he said seriously.

"There is no debt of gratitude between us. You saved us, and we saved you. Isn't that a natural thing for teammates to do?"

Henrik could hardly believe that Damian, who was a prince, could be so different from Gazel, who only thought of himself because he was part of the royal family. Damian clearly cared about his teammates, although Henrik's initial impression of Damian wasn't good since Damian only cared about Elijah all the time.

Henrik smiled a little at Damian's words. "You're right. I'll remember that well from now on," he said in a low voice.

Thanks to Damian, Henrik's impression of Elijah also improved drastically. Henrik thought Elijah was just someone who didn't care about anyone around him. Yet, when Henrik heard that Elijah had come out to help him, he finally thought that Elijah might just have trouble showing his true emotions.

The showdown finally ended there. Quirin helped the struggling Gazel up, then clapped his hands three times to attract the attention of the rest of his team.

"Alright. Let us rest here until our energy is replenished. After that, we'll continue our journey, okay?"

"You, you guys still want to continue this journey?"

Gazel stared in despair, unable to believe that he would have to face another life-and-death situation after this. Quirin looked at Gazel with her usual smile. Perhaps, it was at that moment Gazel finally realized that Quirin actually had a brain disorder as he could still smile politely in this situation.

"Of course, we must continue this journey, Your Highness. After we blocked the sea of undead behind the door earlier, it seems impossible to go back using the previous path, doesn't it?"

Gazel wanted to cry, but he no longer had the strength to do so. The man sat limply on the cold floor. Meanwhile, Damian approached Elijah to whisper something to the teenager.

"You saw it too, didn't you? That guy actually has a more rotten heart than that human."

Damian seemed to have noticed Quirin's strange behavior and came over to warn Elijah about it. Elijah nodded briefly in reply to Damian's words.

"I see it too. So, now it's clear that we can't trust him for anything," Elijah said seriously.