Martial Online.

Thump, thump!

The carriage carrying the party rolled down a dirty road, nestled between tall trees.

After a short while, the carriage exited the forest and entered a vast field of wildflowers, their colorful petals swaying gently in the breeze.

The horses pulling the carriage neighed excitedly as they continued galloping.

At that moment, the carriage driver shouted, "The town is in sight!"

Inside the carriage, Gxel's expression brightened up, and he moved to the back of the carriage, which was the only exit, and peeked outside towards the field of wildflowers.

Then, behind some hills, he saw the tall spires and colorful rooftops of the town.

It was a town called Cryssallis, owned by the Rothsmith family.

"Finally, we're so close." One of the party members stretched his numb limp. "The train would've been so much better, but unfortunately the train tracks don't reach all the way here!"

"May I see?" Ambrose asked from Gxel, who stepped aside and allowed him to peek outside.

As Ambrose leaned outside the carriage, he saw the town surrounded by a field of wildflowers and heard the distant sound of church bells ringing.

"We're not entering the town, right?" Ambrose entered the carriage again and asked.

"Maybe on the return trip." Gxel said. "It depends if we are in need of some supplies."

"You guys aren't planning to just teleport back to Amaterasu?" Ambrose asked.

"All of us aren't from Amaterasu." Gxel said. "Like me, I am from Tsukuyomi, so just removing temporary spawn won't cut it."

"I see." Ambrose nodded. "And I guess the treasure chest will be too heavy to be carried in the inventory."

"That too." Gxel said. "While some of us can teleport back to Amaterasu, it would be better not to. We need all hands ready in case we're attacked by other players or bandits.

"There're quite a few people who have begun robbing players, forcing them to take out items from their inventory, etc., some rat shit."

"I see…" Ambrose nodded. 'I guess I'll have to go back with carriage as well, not that I mind.'

The carrige wheeled down the road and passed the town of Cryssallis, where players and NPCs were hard at work to make the town even greater.

A while later, the carriage entered a well-made road with a hill on the right side and a downhill on the left side. The road was going right between the two.

'It is not bouncing as much anymore.' Ambrose thought and peeked outside, seeing that the road was suddenly made out of cobblestone.

It was strange since every other road was a dirt road; now they were on cobblestone streets as if they were riding through city streets.

Neigh, neigh!

At that moment, both horses neighed loudly and made the carriage stop.

"We've reached the end of the line!" The carriage driver shouted.

"Oh, we've arrived." Gxel said and jumped out of the carriage.

Ambrose followed right behind him, and once he stepped outside the carriage, he saw leaves dropping from trees that were on the hills.

It made the road look orangish and golden, like a carpet leading them to the grand castle in the distance.

"Hey, boss!" A sharp-eyed woman, with a bow on her back, shouted from the top of the carriage and pointed to the front. "I see the road leading somewhere further!"

Gxel approached the driver and asked, "The road is still going, so why aren't we going further?"

"The horses are feeling like something is wrong." The driver said, "I guess there is some kind of powerful creature in the area that is making them anxious.

"I guess we are close to the quest area."

The driver was also a player who took a job as a carriage driver. In real life, he was already a taxi driver, but he was enjoying the work inside the game a hundred times more as he could explore fantastical places and meet interesting characters.

Also, he was always in love with nature, making Martial Online like a dream come true.

This job also paid much more than the taxi job in the real world; it wasn't even close.

"I see." Gxel nodded. "You can return to Cryssallis; I'll send you a message when we need a pick up."

"Alright, boss." The driver tugged on the reins and made the carriage do a U-turn before heading away.

"Arm yourselves!" Gxel shouted and pulled out his shield and longsword. "Keep your eyes peeled on the hills and the road!"

As everyone started arming themselves, Ambrose drew his crimson swords and followed behind them as they started walking down the leaf-covered road.

They heard the chirping of birds and insects all around, and some twig cracks, but when they went to see who caused the twig to crack, they saw nothing but a red-eyed bunny staring back at them.

Without any more incidents, soon they saw the end of the road with a shocking sight opening in front of them.

"Bwoah…" Gxel and his party members exclaimed.

Ambrose looked at the sight with an equally amazed look.

At the end of the road, there was a mountain that completely stopped them from walking any further.

However, at the side of the mountain, right where the road ended, there was a tall granite door that seemed to have been closed for centuries.

"This it is, guys!" Gxel shouted. "Make a formation!"

In the carriage, they discussed the battle formations.

They decided that Gxel would lead, as he was basically the tanker of the party. Despite his scrawny appearance, he was actually quite strong, as he had put lots of stats into his strength.

Behind Gxel, there were two broad-shouldered men with heavy-looking weapons, ready to strike at any moment.

In the middle, the party members with bows and those with low defense were positioned strategically to provide cover fire and support.

And at the back, Ambrose, with two shortswords in hand, had only one job: to protect the group from any surprise attacks.

He was assigned this job because, in everyone's mind, he was the strongest member of the party and, therefore, was given the most important task.

They slowly approached the door, and as soon as Gxel arrived within arms reach, he used his shield and started pushing open the door.

Immediately, the two broad-shouldered men helped him, and slowly, the granite door started to open heavily and creakily.

Slam!

Soon, the door was completely open, and they saw nothing but a dark interior. It was as if all the light had been sucked out of the room.

Gxel brought out a torch from his inventory, lit it up, and took the lead while the rest of the party entered the room.

As soon as the last person, Ambrose, stepped through the door, the large granite door slammed shut, trapping them all inside.

The torch was just barely enough to light up the area around them, but they were entirely surrounded by what seemed like a sea of darkness.

However, at that moment, torches and lanterns, mounted on walls and floors, started lighting up one by one, revealing a bridge that they were standing on, leading to the center of the room, which opened up into a large circular platform.

As Gxel peeked down from the bridge, he gulped as he saw nothing but darkness.

"D-don't fall, no matter what." Gxel said nervously and started approaching the large, circular platform while making sure where he was stepping.

His party followed right behind him, and soon they arrived at the platform that was quite large, but if one strayed too far away, they could also fall into the endless pit of darkness.

"Take a formation!" Gxel shouted.

Gxel, the broad-shouldered men, and Ambrose took the position at the front of the group, with the archers taking the rear and Broken and a few others taking the flanks.

It was silent.

A sweat drop rolled down Gxel's forehead as he anxiously waited for the enemy to arrive.

'Where is it? Come on, show yourself!' Gxel shouted inwardly.

Ambrose narrowed his eyes and looked around the room for any signs of movement.

At that moment, both he and Broken exclaimed simultaneously.

"It's coming!"

Boom!

An explosion rocked the platform and created a shockwave that threatened to throw the party members off the platform into the darkness.

"Hang tight!" Gxel screamed while trying to keep his feet planted firmly on the ground.

"Ngh…" Ambrose groaned as he felt the force of the blast push against him.

"A-ahh!" At that moment, one of the archers lost footing and was about to fall off.

Ambrose immediately grabbed onto her arm, pulling them back from the edge.

The shockwave slowly subdued, and at the center of the room, a figure emerged who was kneeling on the ground. There was a shield and longsword on the ground beside him, glinting in the dim light of the room.

"T-thanks…" The archer thanked Ambrose with relief in her voice.

"Get ready." Ambrose said to her and to others, then took the position next to Gxel.

The figure raised his head, showing dead-looking eyes with pale skin and flowing black hair that reached all the way to his lower back.

He was very lanky, and he was rather tall—over two meters—

and he exuded an aura of power that made everyone else in the room uncomfortable.

Ding, ding!

At that moment, they all heard the sound of dinging in their ears, and a status window opened up in front of them.

[The Little Dark One, Keiran]

[HP: 100%]