Enore stared at the open chest with glittering eyes. There was a small pile of golden coins and several pieces of jewelry, but the thing that caught her eye the most was a certain mana core. As well as a small dagger.

  The vampire picked up the mana core. “The key to my lingering caffeine withdrawal is right here!” She rubbed it against her cheek like a mother would to her baby. “I will have all of the energy drinks!”

  Enore put the items in her inventory, along with the jewelry and gold pieces. She had no idea what use a dagger would be for her, but she shrugged. Her collector spirit would not allow her to leave anything behind.

  “What now, mistress?”

  As if to answer Nae’s question, the doorway under the stairs opened to a strange portal. It was swirling and bck.

  El looked towards the stairs, noting that each of them ended at the top. They didn’t connect to an adjoining hallway or anything. She looked at the chandelier on the ground, and that too turned into particles of mana.

  The vampire looked ahead at the swirling entrance. “I guess there is only one way to go. Maybe this leads to the next floor of the dungeon?”

  Nae shrugged. “I have no idea, mistress, but I am starting to get hungry.”

  Enore smiled and pointed towards the swirling entrance with her staff. Nae nodded, and the two walked forwards.

  Passing through the entryway brought the same feeling to Enore as when she first entered the dungeon, only this time she expected to appear on a new floor. Perhaps one filled with goblins or some other kind of monster, yet that didn’t happen at all.

  Her eyes widened, and she took in the entrance of the dungeon. Once again, she was standing at those ruins, and once again, she was looking down a flight of stairs. Talk about deja vu. Only, there are no cars, and the only pce we drifted to was back to the start.

  Though, there was a difference. The thin barrier that protected the entrance before was gone, and she could see inside. The vampire rushed down the flight of stairs, arriving at an alter.

  She looked down at the stone tablet, finding an inscription of words.

  So it was that the lowly Forsaken were banished, and their leaders could not be found.

  The vampire picked up the tablet with a frown. “What the hell is this supposed to mean?”

  Nae shook her head. “I have no idea, mistress. I can’t even read that.”

  “Huh?”

  “This isn’t written in any tongue that I know.”

  “Wait, are you serious? Do you even know how to read?”

  Nae frowned, her face turning red, and she stomped on the ground. “Of course, I know how to read! I am not like those other wyverns with no skills to speak of!”

  The wyvern cutely turned her head away and crossed her arms.

  Enore composed herself, fighting off her urge to ugh. “I am sorry. You’re right. You’re no lowly wyvern. You are the servant of the strongest in the world.”

  Nae turned her head back cautiously towards her mistress with one eye open and one brow raised. “And?”

  “And you are cute!”

  The wyvern’s face flushed yet again, and smoke plumed from her nostrils. She turned away from Enore and stormed up the stairs, exiting the fallen dungeon altogether.

  El didn’t rush to follow after her right away. She looked down at the stone tablet with narrowed eyes and a wrinkled brow. I really don’t understand this at all. Mysteries aren’t my strong suit. What if I just...[Inspect].

  The vampire’s eyes widened. “I see, but this just adds more questions! Why would she leave a tablet in a pce like this? And what does this have to do with dungeons!?”

  All around El, the ground began to vibrate, and stone dust started to pour from the ceiling. Rocks began to fall away from the roof of this strange religious site. I get it, I get it! You want me to leave! I am going...Sheesh.

  She held onto the brim of her hat like she was some kind of grave robber and ran up the steps. When she finally arrived at the surface, she pocketed the tablet into her inventory.

  Turning around, she watched as the ruins colpsed in on themselves. The vibrations from the fallen tunnel caused the ground to shake beneath her feet. And even the pilrs on the surface fell as if their age could no longer support them.

  Nae pced a hand on the witch’s shoulder. “What did you do?”

  “I didn’t do anything!”

  The wyvern clicked her tongue. “You expect me to believe that? Look at this pce, mistress!”

  “I promise. I really didn’t do anything. It must have been this Forsaken Goddess.” Enore gazed at Nae’s face, but she didn’t see any trace of concern or anything simir from the wyvern’s face. I guess it’s not that scenario.

  Instead, Nae looked confused and tilted her head. “Forsaken Goddess? Is that supposed to mean anything?”

  Enore shrugged and sighed. “I have no idea. I thought you would know something or have a different reaction.”

  The wyvern shook her head. “I have never heard of such a being. For one thing, I don’t know who would forsake a goddess. Doesn’t that sound backwards? Mortals are the ones to be forsaken by a goddess, not the other way around.”

  “Now that you mention it…”

  Though, no matter how much Enore’s mind pressed on the subject, she didn’t have the brain capacity to figure it out. Even if she could, she didn’t have the information. Ultimately, she shrugged.

  “Well, it doesn’t matter for now. I got my goodies from that chest, and I got an extra ominous stone tablet to go with it! That’s all that matters! Pretty soon, we will be swimming in energy drinks.”

  Nae chuckled. “It makes me relieved to see that your mind is like this sometimes, mistress.”

  “Are you calling me dumb!?”

  The wyvern didn’t answer. She simply stuck out her tongue before running off into the forest, away from the witch.

  “Get back here!”

  Kurayami