Turning back time a little.
Troy and Milo were nearing the crystalline part of the lair.
However, their journey wasn't nearly as peaceful as Noah's.
They had been ambushed many times by swarms of Excavating worms, yet the number of rank 3 specimens seemed to decrease every time.
"I believe that the pack is becoming short of strong magical beasts."
Milo said with a satisfied smile as he collected the corpses of the beasts around him.
"Which means that we are getting closer to the leader."
Troy added.
The Bare Dungeon was publicly a danger zone, everyone knew that a rank 4 creature was laying somewhere.
"Yes, we are. The fully formed Credits are taking the place of the non-formed ones, the central part of the lair starts now."
Milo spoke with a bit of hesitation in his voice.
The threat of a rank 4 magical beast was not to be underestimated.
Milo had a rank 4 body but his dantian was only in the gaseous stage while Troy had a rank 3 body, he was completely useless against a beast in the heroic ranks.
"Do we advance?"
Troy's question was on point.
They had to decide if it was worth exploring further, they wouldn't want to risk their lives for a mission of the alchemy department.
"The question is: will you follow me?"
A voice sounded from behind them which made them turn abruptly.
However, when they saw the golden hair of the young man and his warm smile, they smiled happily and cheered loudly.
"Daniel! You are safe!"
Milo exclaimed, hugging Daniel happily.
Troy was a bit taken aback by that affectionate gesture but he decided to limit himself to a bow and a greeting.
"Lord Daniel, I'm glad to see that you are fine."
Daniel chuckled and freed himself from Milo's embrace while stopping Troy's bow.
"No need for such formalities. You have risked your life for the sake of my mission, there is no need to add "Lord" to my name."
Troy raised his head before bowing again, he really couldn't muster the will to drop such basic formalities.
Milo laughed and patted his lowered head.
"Troy, you have always seen Daniel as a lofty character but, in reality, he is quite simple. He just likes to cultivate and hang out with friends, so you can just address him as Daniel when we are in private."
"You know that I will probably be the leader leading the Cause in the future?"
"That's why I need to make fun of you right now! I won't have the chance in the future."
Troy watched with wide eyes the playful exchange of words of the two nobles and the tension accumulated in the few days spent in the dungeon lessened a bit.
"Any sign of Phoebe and Manuel?"
However, they were still in a danger zone, they didn't have much time to waste.
Milo shook his head at Daniel's question and the mood of the three cultivators turned sour.
"I will go deeper to find some clues about them. You can just find a way back and call for help, I don't want to endanger you more than I've already done."
Milo shook his head again and laid his knives on his shoulders.
"I won't let you go alone against a rank 4 beast, if something has happened to Phoebe, we will make it pay."
Daniel nodded and turned toward Troy.
As he was about to open his mouth though, Troy spoke with a resolute voice.
"D-Daniel! I can take care of the remains of the pack while you deal with the leader! You are far stronger than me but you will still need help against a rank 4 beast."
Daniel saw the unshakable determination in his eyes and sighed before showing a warm smile to his two companions.
"Then it's set, let's save our friends."
They moved quickly, passing tunnels over tunnels until they arrived at the part of the lair completely made of crystalline Credits.
Then, a loud cry echoed in the passage, which made them stop abruptly in place.
"What was that?"
"Someone must be fighting the leader! We should hurry!"
Daniel answered Troy's question and took the vanguard position in his march toward the bottom of the lair.
Thuds and crashes echoed in the tunnel as they moved, telling the story of a battle happening right below them.
Then, they saw the deepest area.
It was a large underground room made of transparent crystals.
Tens of worm's corpses were laid on the ground and a massive red worm stood proudly at the center of the room, staring at a fixed point on a wall in front of it.
The three cultivators followed the worm's line of sight and saw that, in one of the cavities below them, a cultivator was kneeling with his guard raised.
The tunnels were all transparent in that area, it wasn't hard to discern the cultivator's features from behind a wall.
He had long black hair tied together in a casual manner, he was dressed in a tight black robe with its upper part torn in many spots and wielded firmly two white sabers that he pointed straight at the worm in front of him.
Troy couldn't help but link that figure to his fellow student and he instinctively spoke to him.
"Vance, is that you?"
Noah turned his head and looked at the three cultivators standing in a tunnel above him.
'They have finally arrived, I was about to go all out.'
He didn't speak but simply stared at them for a short moment before turning his attention back on the rank 4 creature.
He didn't want to suffer from a surprise attack of the worm after all.
"Daniel, look there."
However, Milo's attention was caught by something else.
He pointed toward a spear and a sword lying among the corpses of the magical beasts in order for Daniel to see them.
Daniel recognized those weapons and turned abruptly toward Noah.
"What happened here?"
His voice had a tinge of anger in it as he asked that question.
Noah simply shrugged his shoulders and replied in a plain voice.
"Don't know, everything was like this when I arrived."