"Hahhhhhhhhhhhh. Help, please help!"

The students ran for their dear lives, faces filled with nothing but pure terror. They banged their bloody hands on top of the teleportation platforms, hoping they would activate—But nothing happened.

"There’s no way out," a female student stuttered, eyes opened wide as she came to the realization that she might just be taking her last breath. She buckled to her knees, devoid of all hope and fear—completely overwhelmed by nothing but absolute despair.

The sea dragon swung its large fish-like tail across the expanse of the cave. Students that stood on the terrace had their heads chopped off. The rocky ground was painted crimson with their blood.

The other students that were lucky enough not to have their heads severed from their bodies suffered life-threatening injuries. The worst part was—for some reason—more students kept on coming to the same cave through the teleportation platforms.

It was a one-way trip with no way for them to return or go back to the previous floor.

"Rahhhhhhhhhhhhh!" The sea dragon opened its jaws wide, its mouth filled with jagged teeth. The gills by both sides of its mouth spread open like a fan.

As the sea dragon let out an unsettling scream that burst the eardrums of most students that were still standing, they held their ears as they buckled to their knees under the ear-aching sound.

Out of the one hundred and eighty-eight students that were present in the cave, fifteen died and another fifteen were heavily injured.

Not to mention that the sound already rendered the other students vulnerable; they couldn’t attack or defend themselves. For some reason, their mana was fluctuating, so they couldn’t cast any spells.

The sea dragon was prepared to launch its final assault that would wipe them all out in one fell swoop.

Liam stood from the ground. His pride refused him to grovel even though he was placed in a pathetic situation. Two rings of water were created around him, and they conjoined together to form a double helix.

"I won’t be put down so easily," he was ready to make his debut as a hero.

But he was a fool—He launched spheres of water at the sea dragon that simply bounced off its body, doing zero damage. He claimed to be a scholar, but he didn’t even know that sea dragons had high resistance to water-like affinities.

The sea dragon lifted its forelimb from the mini ocean and stretched open its huge jagged claw. It moved with intense precision and speed, just about to slice Liam into two halves like a potato.

His life literally flashed before his eyes. He buckled to his knees under the realization that his life had come to an end. Just at point-blank range, when the attack was supposed to end him, a bubble-like dome erupted around him and negated the sea dragon’s claw.

"Oi, oi, oi, oi.....What the hell is an S-rank Greater Sea Dragon doing on the second floor?" August said, his right hand suspended mid-air with a blue spell circle in front of it that emitted a calm blue glow.

"Geez.... Aren’t they supposed to be on the 50th floor or something?" he hissed in frustration.

"Beats me," Futaba continued to take in the tragic scenery. Each dead body she saw ached her heart. "I’m guessing this is the sinister energy you felt earlier, Moohawk."

Her almond eyes became dim and saddened in her fleeting moment of grief. She couldn’t even properly grieve the dead because of the threat that was before them.

"I’m sorry, my lady... that we couldn’t save them," Moohawk immediately responded to her saddened demeanor. She usually called him Moo-chan; she only called him Moohawk when she was deeply annoyed.

"Do not worry, Moo-chan. He will pay in full with his blood." White mana flared around her as she clutched her fist tightly.

"May your souls rest in peace. None of you deserved an early death such as this," Rose made the consolation statement with her usual formal tone, but it carried great sorrow underneath.

"I have failed you as a leader," Leonard staggered, barely anchoring himself to the ground.

"But!" He grasped his sword. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

"As the student council leaders, we will not fail to avenge you." His voice boomed, reaching the damaged ears of the terrified students.

"Hear me! Great beast." He called the attention of the sea dragon.

"The time of your falling is nigh." He pointed the edge of his sword at the sea dragon.

The sea dragon duly received his challenge and was ready to devour them whole. It shifted its attention from Liam and faced the student council leaders head-on.

"I wish you guys the best of luck. I’ll take care of the students, don’t worry." Jin tiptoed away from them.

"What a bloody coward," August scowled.

"18th-tier spell: Eibell Dome."

He raised his hand upwards, and a large magic circle appeared on the jagged ceiling of the cave. From it, a thin transparent bubble dome emerged and covered all the other students.

"Now we can fight to our heart’s content."

Deep blue mana surrounded him.

"Rahhhhhhhhhhhhh!" The sea dragon let out a piercing roar.

"Hihihihihihihihi." A strange figure clad in a black cloak walked out from the shadow of the sea dragon, her face covered with a hood, but the wide grin on her face was quite evident.

"How long have I awaited your arrival." The strange figure placed a hand on her hood and unveiled her face.

"My lady, that’s the same lady I saw Lord Alex and Lady Flora with," Moohawk gasped.

"Tsk... That makes things even easier," Futaba jammed her fists into one another.

"What did you do to my little brother?" Leonard’s eyes drifted towards the spiky-haired lady.

"Ohohohoho. Shouldn’t you be more worried about yourselves?" The lady placed a finger above her lips. "If you manage to kill me and my little pet, then I will be more than happy to tell you from the afterlife."

She took a step forward. "But I assure you it won’t be an easy task. Not many have seen this body and lived to tell the tale."

She removed the dark robe. It was only her face that was human; the rest of her body resembled something else entirely. Multiple mouths filled with jagged teeth floated atop her body as if they were swimming inside a river.

Her legs and arms resembled that of an insect—a grasshopper to be exact.

"I am Geny ,No. 4 of the Enctomatas. The executioners of the will of our mother, the Dark Emissary disciple, Entoma."

Dark sinister mana erupted from her body that shook the entirety of the cave.

"Now prepare to be feasted upon like the sacrifices you are!"

She uttered her last words before she began "the slaughter".