Elis' eyes opened wide when she saw what had just happened. Her brain was frozen again by the unexpected events that happened to her the last few hours.

Erend turned into a figure with skin covered in red and black scales. He also had the power to punch the huge green creature flying backward.

"What happened to him?" Elis asked in disbelief.

"Heh!" Billy snorted, "You haven't seen all he can do."

Elis turned to Billy with eyes full of disbelief.

"He can also spit fire from his mouth," Billy said.

Elis' eyes opened even wider. She didn't even know it was possible to open her eyes any wider.

"Go!" Erend shouted at them.

Aurdis immediately nodded because she believed that Erend would be able to handle it on his own.

Aurdis lead them to turn in another direction. She opened a door and then locked it again.

"This way!" Aurdis ran towards another room, opened the door, and immediately closed the door after all of them entered.

"Help me!" Aurdis said.

Billy and Lt. Boartusk immediately rushed to help Aurdis to move a huge bookshelf. Behind the bookshelf, there was another door.

Aurdis put her hand on the door and the door opened by itself.

"Come in!" Aurdis said.

Behind the door was a ladder that led down. The stairs were very dark but they saw no other choice so they hurried down the stairs.

"Wait a minute. Don't move," Aurdis told them not to move and they immediately obeyed.

Billy, Lt. Boartusk, and Elis were silent as statues with their chests pounding with adrenaline.

Aurdis closed the door and locked it by saying almost the same words.

The sounds of battle commotion from outside vanished along with the light.

'Click!'

Aurdis snapped her fingers then a ball of light appeared in front of her. With that ball of light, they could see the path ahead.

Elis, Billy, and Lt. Boartusk heaved a sigh of relief. They started down the stairs.

~~~

Back to Erend's fight with a group of Ogres.

Erend was again hit by the chain that gave off a faint green glow. He remembered feeling the chains binding his body when he had come to save Aurdis that time.

Just like back then, the chain couldn't have any effect on him.

"NGGGHHAAAA!!!" Erend shouted while pulling the chain with all his might.

'PRANGGG!'

The chain broke and clanged on the floor. The Ogres who saw Erend broke their chains in shock and couldn't move for a while.

Erend used this opportunity to launch a counterattack.

[ Skill activated: Dragon Claw (Lv.1) ]

Erend swung his claws and shattered the helmet of one of the Ogres that was closest to him.

Erend didn't stop there. As soon as he destroyed the helmet protecting the Ogre's head, Erend immediately opened his mouth.

[ Skill activated: Fire Breath (Lv.1) ]

From Erend's mouth came a burst of fire which instantly envelop the Ogre's head. The burst of fire made the Ogre's green face scorch and blacken.

The other Ogres began to hesitate to attack Erend after seeing the demonstration of his power.

"What's wrong?!" Erend looked at the four Ogres in turn. There was a challenge in his eyes. "C'mon!"

Erend who didn't want to wait too long rushed towards one of the Ogres. He just picked him at random.

The unlucky Ogre raised its shield forward when he saw Erend's claws begin to swing towards him. But the shield alone wasn't enough to stop Erend's claws.

His claws stuck to the shield and Erend pulled it until the shield slipped from the Ogre's hand. After that Erend swung his other claws at the Ogre.

The Ogre almost saw death coming at him but before the claw reached his neck, it stopped. A chain that glowed green entangled Erend's elbow and stopped his claws.

The Ogre holding the chain pulled the chain to keep Erend away from his friend.

Because of the Ogre's actions, the spirits of the other Ogre returned and they started to attack Erend at the same time.

But Erend didn't feel any fear. Instead, what he felt was a lust for more blood.

~~~

On the other hand, after leading them down the stairs, Aurdis led Elis, Billy, and Lt. Boartusk passed through a small corridor of dark stones.

In this corridor, there were torches attached to the wall to light the way so Aurdis had already dispelled the ball of light.

"Where are we going?" Billy can't help but ask.

Since then they have been following Aurdis but he doesn't know where they actually went. Billy was sure that Aurdis wouldn't do anything weird, but he was just curious and felt compelled to ask.

"We will leave this palace," Aurdis replied.

"But how? Aren't we surrounded?" Billy asked again.

Aurdis turned to him and gave a smile that seemed to be trying to convince him to calm down.

"Don't worry. I already have a ride prepared for situations like this," Aurdis said.

After hearing Aurdis' answer, Billy held back his curiosity and didn't ask Aurdis again.

Not long after that, they came to another staircase. Aurdis led them up the stairs and opened the door. But suddenly Aurdis stopped accompanied by a gasp.

Elis, Billy, and Lt. Boartusk also knew that Aurdis was finding something bad. When they looked ahead, they saw that three white horses had been slaughtered on the ground. Their blood had dried because it had been spilled all over the ground.

A carriage whose wheels were all gone lay not far from the corpses of the horses. Two Ogres stood with swords and axes covered in blood and stared at them with cruel grins filled with satisfaction.

"(At last! The Elf Princess!)" The Ogre that had fangs sticking out of its upper and lower jaws spoke.

Aurdis tightened her fists. But she couldn't hide the violently shaking fists from Billy and Lt. Boartusk. She tried to brace herself even though she knew she wouldn't be able to face the Ogre.

Billy and Lt. The Boartusk exchanged glances. Then they stepped in front of Aurdis.

~~~