Chapter 30: A Goth Baddie Appears

Zion’s attention had fixed completely on the fifth member.

For a moment, the rest of the party barely registered. There was a tank holding the Horned Ram’s attention, a swordsman working around its side, a mage near the back, and a healer keeping enough distance to avoid being trampled.

But Zion was already looking somewhere else.

The fifth adventurer was a young woman with long black hair that fell down her back in dark waves. Her clothes were almost entirely black, fitted closely enough to move in without looking like ordinary adventuring gear, and silver jewelry hung from her neck and wrists.

Dark makeup framed pale blue eyes.

Zion knew almost immediately that he had a problem.

Oh no.

A goth baddie.

The realization hit hard enough that he forgot to pay attention to the Horned Ram for several seconds.

Then black energy gathered around one of her hands. Zion’s interest immediately doubled.

She uses black magic too?

The energy thickened around her fingers before sinking into the ground, and several black chains erupted from beneath the Horned Ram.

They looked almost wet as they twisted upward, wrapping around two of its legs before tightening hard enough to drag its footing out from under it.

The tank’s expression twisted when the chains locked into place.

"Do they always have to look like that?"

"They work, don’t they?" the woman replied.

He grimaced but didn’t argue.

Zion thought the chains looked excellent.

The swordsman rushed in the moment the ram stumbled and drove his blade into its side, while the mage followed with a sharp burst of blue-white energy.

The healer stayed focused on the tank, and the woman shifted her position just enough to keep the chains anchored while the others attacked.

They were good.

Not just individually, either. The entire group moved with enough experience that Zion could tell they had fought together before, and they handled the Horned Ram much more efficiently than most of the parties that had entered Floor 1, even Gareth’s party.

Still, his attention kept drifting back to the woman.

She stayed slightly apart from the others whenever they repositioned, but her timing was good enough that it didn’t hurt the group. When the Horned Ram broke one of the chains, she replaced it almost immediately, and when it tried to charge the mage, another dark spell wrapped around one of its front legs and pulled it sideways just before impact.

Zion had no idea what class she was but he really wanted to know. Also, she was very pretty.

The Horned Ram finally collapsed beneath the combined attacks, disappearing into white smoke as the familiar notification appeared.

[Floor 1 Cleared.]

[Clear Essence Acquired: 100]

The Boss Drop Chest appeared near the back of the barn, and the beautiful woman immediately walked toward it.

Good.

For some reason, Zion wanted her to have it. Then the tank moved faster and reached it first.

Zion immediately frowned.

The woman stopped beside him. "I thought it was my turn for loot. Why are you taking it?"

"You can have the next one."

Her expression tightened. "You said that last time. I’ve helped you through four different dungeons and I haven’t gotten a single piece of loot."

The tank pulled a pair of reinforced gloves from the chest and shoved them into his bag.

"Not my problem."

The woman’s hand clenched at her side.

Zion watched the exchange with a growing frown. He didn’t know enough about adventurer customs to know how loot was normally divided, but if she was telling the truth, something about that definitely didn’t seem right.

The swordsman looked away and the healer said nothing.

Even the mage seemed uncomfortable, but none of them challenged the tank.

After a moment, the woman relaxed her hand and followed when the rest of the party started toward the open passage behind the barn.

Zion stayed focused on their instance as they descended toward Floor 2. Partly because he wanted to see how another experienced group handled his new floor.

Mostly because the goth baddie was going with them.

The moment they stepped into the sulfur field, the entire party reacted to the smell.

The healer covered her nose, the swordsman muttered something unpleasant, and even the tank pulled the collar of his shirt higher over his face.

The woman drew part of her sleeve over her nose. Zion somehow found that attractive too. This was becoming a problem.

They moved carefully through the sulfur field and immediately looked more cautious than Gareth’s group had during their first attempt.

The tank stayed in front with his shield raised while the swordsman checked the side passages and the mage watched the vents. The healer stayed in the center of the formation, and the woman remained close enough to the front that she could react quickly without standing directly beside the tank.

They were clearly expecting something, they just weren’t expecting it from above.

The party entered the first narrow hallway, and one of the Lesser Acid Slimes shifted against the ceiling. A drop of acid fell from its body and landed directly on the upper edge of the woman’s top.

The black fabric hissed before a small section dissolved away, exposing a generous bit of her pale skin.

Zion stared without blinking. He didn’t have eyes, but even if he did, he wouldn’t have blinked.

He promised himself that he would never say another bad thing about that slime for the rest of its very short life.

The woman looked down at the damaged fabric with an expression that suggested the slime had just made a serious mistake. A second later, it released its grip and dropped toward her.

Zion muttered a short prayer, hoping that the acid burned just a bit more of the fabric off.

Then she moved. She stepped forward instead of back and drove one hand straight into the center of the falling slime. Dark fire burst from her palm, cold and ghostly in color but strong enough that the slime folded around her arm before melting into a smoking puddle at her feet.

Now Zion stared for an entirely different reason.

"That was incredible," he breathed.

The rest of the ambush triggered almost immediately. Two more slimes dropped from the ceiling, one landing against the tank’s raised shield while the other hit the ground near the healer and surged toward her legs.

The swordsman reacted on instinct and slashed at the nearest one, only for his blade to sink several inches into its body and stick.

"What the hell?"

The mage raised his staff.

"Move."

A burst of fire struck the slime clinging to the tank’s shield, and its body collapsed almost immediately.

"Fire works well," he said.

The swordsman yanked uselessly at his trapped weapon.

"Helpful."

The woman had already turned toward the slime approaching the healer.

Black chains burst from the ground beneath it and wrapped around the gelatinous body, holding it in place long enough for the mage to burn it down as well.

The swordsman finally managed to tear his blade free, though a thick trail of slime remained stuck along the steel.

Another Lesser Acid Slime shifted overhead. This time, the woman looked up before it dropped. Ghost fire gathered around her fingers, and the slime barely had time to release its grip before the spell struck it against the ceiling.

Its body sagged and dissolved across the stone above them.

Zion watched closely. They were doing better than Gareth’s party had.

Gareth’s group had adapted once Elias discovered fire, but this party recovered from the initial ambush faster. They didn’t panic as badly, and the dark-haired woman in particular reacted almost immediately to everything the floor threw at her.

She was useful...very useful. He found himself even more curious about her class.

The hallway finally went quiet, and the party took a moment to recover.

The tank checked his shield, the swordsman scraped slime from his weapon, and the healer inspected one of her boots where a small drop of acid had damaged the leather.

The woman looked down at the missing section of fabric on her chest and sighed.

Zion had extremely mixed feelings about that.

The tank barely glanced at her before continuing down the hallway, and the others followed without saying much.

From above, Zion watched her wipe the last of the slime from her hand before moving after them.