Chapter One Hundred Twenty: The Monster Den

Inside the S-1 Mansion...

Akari and Hikari were busy tugging at Dachii's arms, attempting to get him out of the wagon. Despite their efforts, he remained still.

"Come...on...Dachii!" Hikari insisted. "We're trying to help!"

"He's...so...stubborn...!" Akari remarked.

Dachii ignored them, summoning one gauntlet and quickly smashing the wagon into pieces, which in turn caused the entire training room to shake.

"Dachii!" Akari exclaimed. "That's uncalled for!"

Dachii stood up and began to head to the exit, but Aoki blocked his path, hands on her hips.

"Get out of my way."

"Make me."

They stared each other down for a moment, and Dachii simply used his power to jump over Aoki, landing behind her and walking out the door.

"Hey! You come back here right now!"

Marachii, Luca, and Fujii watched this, expressions both amused and concerned.

"Well, that went well," Luca said.

"I told you. He's not gonna be easy to shake. Without our grandfather, one of our last remaining family, he's completely lost it. I...can't exactly blame him."

"Morino was a great man," Fujii noted. "But this moping around won't bring him back. I have an idea! How about a mission? Life or death experiences always bond the people you're close to!"

"Oh great," Marachii moaned.

Luca yawned. "Here it comes. A nearly impossible task for us to beat using the magical power of friendship. What a perfect cure for Dachii."

Fujii grinned. "It's simple! Hey girls, you wanna take your pal Dachii on a mission?"

"A mission?" Hikari questioned.

"What mission?" Akari asked.

"Sure. Whatever." Aoki replied.

"Awesome!" Fujii cheered. "It's simple, really. All you guys have to do is give this formal invitation to the King of the Monsters!"

Fujii handed them a shimmering white letter. "The King and Queen want him at the Masquerade. Can't complete the royal banquet without a little monstrosity, right?"

"Uh..." Marachii stammered. "MONSTERS?"

"Yep! They live in the Monster Den! All you gotta do is go inside, make your way to the Central Chamber, and boom! You'll find the Monster King! Don't be too surprised if he tries to eat you, though."

Marachii sighed, but Akari took the letter from Fujii.

"This is perfect! We'll do it, no problem!"

"Hey, who put you in charge—?" Aoki interrupted.

"Someone grab Dachii! Let's find this Monster Den!"

Fujii clapped. "That's the spirit! Only issue is it's halfway across the continent, in the deepest, darkest cavern you can find. Only two days till the Masquerade! Better move quickly!"

The entire team groaned. In five minutes, Saori came down, dragging Dachii along with her. "I found him! I found him!"

"Saori. Let my hand go."

Not long after, Akari, Hikari, Aoki, Marachii, and Luca were lined up outside, and Dachii watched them from the door before turning to look at Fujii. "What is this..."

Fujii smirked. "It'll be your first solo team mission! Go on, have fun! And don't die! Dying would be very bad."

"What the hell..."

Fujii gently pushed Dachii outside the door, and he and Saori waved to the group from inside.

"Bye, guys!" Saori said. "Bring me back a gift, please!"

Then Fujii shut the door, leaving Dachii outside with the others. "Bullsh—"

"Okay, team, let's get to moving!" Akari commanded.

Aoki held up a hand. "Nope. You guys follow ME, not her. I'm in charge here. Now, let's get to moving."

She walked off, leaving Akari fuming after her. "No, no, no, no, no, I'm the one in charge! Do you forget who I am?"

"No. I just don't care."

Hikari took Dachii's arm and gently pulled him along. "Well, this should be fun. I hope they don't kill each other on the trip. Come on, Dachii!"

"Let me go..."

The others followed, bringing a reluctant Dachii along with them.

Sometime later...

After making it out of Voltiana, the group began scouting the lands for any sign of a large cave. Aoki pulled out a map, looking it over.

"Hmm, the largest cave is well beyond the Asmana Forest. Thus, we'll need to travel south. Come, children."

Aoki confidently marched her way along, upsetting Akari. "Why is SHE leading US? Don't you all see what's wrong with this?"

Marachii and Luca shared an awkward look, while Hikari took Akari's hand. "Listen, Kari, she's technically in charge. She is the Vice-General, after all. And she's much older than the rest of us."

"I don't care! She's a terrible Vice-General! Look at her! She barely has any manners, much less leadership skills!"

Aoki picked a worm out of the dirt and plunged it into her mouth. "Mmm...delicious."

Hikari and Akari nearly threw up. "See! She's an animal! We can't allow her to lead us to death!"

Hikari nervously laughed. "Well, maybe you guys can find something out. We still have a lot of ground to cover, and Dachii is getting worse by the minute."

She pointed to Dachii, who was lying face-first on the ground, mumbling to himself.

"Not real...not real...all of this is just a dream..."

Akari folded her arms. "Fine. But I'm not going to keep doing all of this walking. Marachii, is there any way you can get us there quicker?"

"I could turn into a car again," Marachii suggested.

"Good, do that! Before she can turn around!"

Marachii's body shifted into a large car, and Akari and Hikari got into the backseat, putting Dachii in the middle, while Luca got into the front seat.

"Let's ride," Akari said. "Pull off, Marachii.

"Okay, Elara. Drive us to the largest cave you can find! ASAP!" Marachii ordered.

The car revved up and zoomed off, leaving Aoki in the dust, who simply cracked a smile, her eyes turning red. "That princess has got some NERVE to her."

While inside the car, Hikari looked back a few times. "I don't think she'll be too happy that we left her..."

"Who cares?" Akari replied. "Without that mess in the way, at least for a while, we can get some actual work done."

Hikari just shook her head. "You two will have to handle this sooner or later. Preferably sooner."

"I want to get out," Dachii demanded.

"No," both Hikari and Akari insisted.

Luca popped some beef jerky into his mouth. "Start marking our graves already. We're not surviving this."

After a few more hours of twists and turns, Elara pinpointed a nearby cave. "The Cave of Horrors. Largest known cave in Asmana."

"That's gotta be our spot," Akari declared. Drive us right inside, Marachii."

"INSIDE? Like, inside the deadly monster cave?"

"Yep," Akari confirmed.

"We're gonna get eaten," Luca remarked.

The car zoomed inside the cave, but as it did, rocks fell behind it, shutting off the entrance.

Inside the Cave of Horrors...

As soon as they got inside, Marachii's car crashed into a wall, shifting him back to his normal state and kicking everyone out.

"Well, this definitely seems like a monster cave," Marachii acknowledged. "Look at the markings on the walls, no human, or anything human-sized, could do something like that."

"It means we're on the right track," Akari confidently stated. "We should head deeper on foot now. We'll need some light, did anyone bring a—-?"

"BLINK!"

A white card hit the ground beneath them, emitting a bright light that temporarily blinded everyone except for Dachii, who slowly blinked a few times.

"Need some light?"

Everyone except Dachii whirled around, finding Aoki standing behind them. Akari threw up her hands. "Again? What does it take to get RID of you? Atomu was right, you're stubborn as hell!"

In the blink of an eye, Aoki appeared in front of Akari, a blade to her neck. "Pull anything like that again, and we'll see who gets rid of who."

"Is that a threat?" Akari asked, her eyes glowed as she stared Aoki down.

Dachii, Marachii, and Luca just watched, and Luca handed Dachii a piece of beef jerky, which he tried to toss in his mouth but missed.

"Hey, guys!" Hikari interrupted. "Enough! We just need to do this one little mission, then we can all go back home and shut ourselves in our rooms! Can't we get along for a little bit?"

Aoki rolled her eyes. "Keep your princess pet under control. Now then, onward we go."

Akari nearly fired an energy blast at Aoki, but Hikari managed to keep her calm.

"Onward it is," Hikari said.

Everyone followed deeper into the cave, the eerie sounds and smells unnerving them, except for Dachii, who had to be pulled along by Hikari.

"What do you think of this place, Dachii?" Hikari asked. "Pretty cool, right?"

"How long are we gonna be here..." Dachii murmured. "I want to go."

"But isn't adventuring through caves fun? It's stuff you read in those legend books, but you never actually get to do!"

"It's just a cave, Hikari..."

"A MONSTER cave!" Hikari corrected. "As I say that out loud, it's much scarier than in my head."

Dachii ignored her and kept walking, every step slower and slower. Aoki held up a single white card, which glowed bright, lighting the way.

"We're close. I can feel it."

Akari rolled her eyes but kept her mouth shut. The group progressed further into the caves, but eventually, they found a metal gate blocking an open chamber inside the cave. Aoki read the label.

"The Den. We're here."

The chamber seemed to echo, unnerving the group. Aoki pulled out her katana. "Alright, everyone, follow my lead. We'll enter in quietly. If any monsters jump out and attack, cut them down to size."

"We're supposed to be here for diplomatic reasons, you fool," Akari moaned.

"This is diplomatic, idiot. Now come on—!"

To her and everyone else's shock, Dachii pushed the gate wide open, stepping inside. "Look. It's clear."

Then, a massive green snake dropped down onto the platform Dachii was standing on, making it crumble and fall, taking Dachii with it.

"Dachii!" the others called out.

"Down I go..."

And then he was gone.

"Shit!" Aoki exclaimed. "Everyone jump!"

Without hesitation, the others jumped after him, falling into the dark depths below. And below. And below...

Below the Den...

Two beasts that resembled anthropomorphic rhinos were sitting at a stone table, drinking liquid out of a jar that appeared to be blood.

"Did you hear about Sir Triune?" one of them asked.

"Yeah," the other one remarked. "A pity. He was a pretty useful fellow. Who offed him?"

"Some Voltian chick," the first rhino confirmed. "Heard she's a general or something like that."

"Man. Those Voltians really stepping out of line, ehh? Haven't seen them that often since...you know..."

BOOM.

The roof above them collapsed, and they had to duck and jump out of the way to avoid the large snake that fell to the ground.

"Crap! Is that...."

"It's the King's pet! Basilith! But why would it be loose at such a time? There's no intruders here!"

They both noticed Dachii standing next to them, frozen in stone. After a few seconds, he broke himself free. "Avoid the eyes. Noted."

Both rhinos stared at him, confused. The snake lunged at Dachii, but Dachii punched it back with a strike from his gauntlets.

"Bad snake."

The snake shook off the impact and responded by snatching Dachii up in its jaws and slithering further down the cavern. The rhinos watched it leave, before sitting at the now destroyed table, picking up the jug.

"Who was that?" the first rhino asked.

"Don't know," the second rhino replied. "Either he's going to the Central Chamber, or he's dead. Either way, he's dead."

Not long after, Aoki and the others dropped down, further shocking the rhinos.

"Hey!" Aoki demanded. "Did you see a human boy come this way?"

They both quickly pointed down the cavern.

"Good. Thank you."

She and the others took off, leaving the rhinos to process the events.

In the Central Chamber...

A massive, hulking figure was seated on a throne in the middle of a massive, hollow cavern chamber. All around, there were various breeds of monsters, bowing their heads in praise.

Just then, the massive snake slithered its way into the chamber, causing every monster to stop and turn their heads, even the one on the throne. Once it approached the foot of the throne, it spat out Dachii, who casually wiped the spit off of him.

"You've returned, my pet..."

The monster on the throne stood up, peering down at Dachii.

"What have you brought me today...?"

—-