Deep in the kingdom of Kronus, a town watched with bated breath as clouds of dust were kicked up in the distance.

At the forefront of the town was a group of men who were adorned in cheap leather armor and carried rusted weaponry.

They were the only defense the small town had. The men were either well-versed in magic or had some kind of talent.

Most of these men were sporting serious injuries, and the townsfolk knew that they were more or less for show since these men couldn’t handle another battle.

Because of this, the more they watched the cloud of dust approaching, the more anxious they got.

At the head of this group of warriors stood a towering man, adorned in relatively more expensive armor than the others.

The man was huge, easily standing above seven feet, and carried with him a spear which was just as tall.

His hair was neatly combed back, and a few strands of gray hair could be seen mixed in with his mighty beard.

On his head were two black horns. One of them was long and twisted like a tree branch before ending in a sharp point, while the other was cut in half, leaving only a stump.

This man was none other than the baron who was in charge of the town.

With a frown on his face, his sharp, piercing eyes watched the cloud of dust gradually approach as he gripped his sword tightly.

He looked around at his terrified and injured men, and a sense of helplessness began to settle in.

’If it’s the D-ranked boss monster, then we’re all as good as dead. We can’t handle another battle with that monster. At this rate, we will all end up dead just like the towns before us.’

As the dust cloud continued to approach, they got a clearer view of what was coming.

"Are those... horses?" One of the men asked with a slight excitement evident in his voice.

"It’s a party," another followed up.

The baron’s eyes narrowed, then widened suddenly. It indeed was a party.

The baron counted over twenty horses galloping toward their town.

They were being led by a beautiful white-maned horse. On top of the horse sat a young woman dressed in expensive armor.

Her long white hair flowed gracefully in the wind as she galloped on horseback, and the black horns on her head boasted her demonic heritage.

As she saw the townsfolk lined up outside along with a few warriors, a small smile appeared on her face.

Behind her were several men and women similarly dressed in armor. Most of them were demons, but a few were orcs.

Her smile quickly sank into a frown as she heard the boisterous laughter coming from the orcs.

Looking back at the orcs, she felt great shame. Both for herself and for her people.

’When did the demon race fall so far that we have to rely on orcs for help?’

Sigh

’Not to mention my own life was being used as a bargaining chip.’

The though of being wedded to one of those disgusting creatures filled her with anger. This mission was exactly what she needed to let out her frustrations.

She let out a deep sigh and shook her head. The most unpleasant of all was the orc riding behind her on his own horse. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

She could practically feel his slimy eyes on her. He was huge and had green skin and an ugly face like most orcs.

His men called him Guthrum, and he was the one sent on this mission with her.

Every couple of minutes, he would turn to his men and whisper something, and that’s when loud, boisterous laughters would erupt.

She couldn’t hear his words, but she knew he was whispering something obscene about her. But she had no choice but to bite her lip.

By the time she arrived in front of the townsfolk, they were all down on one knee, bowing gracefully.

"Princess Cassandra, the third princess and leader of the Blood Raven demon clan. Welcome to our humble town," the baron was the first to greet her.

"It looks like you’ve been expecting me," said the princess greeting him with a warm smile.

Hee words caused the baron to feel slight aggitated.

They had written to the capital countless times already informing them of the problem with the boss monster, but they never once responded to the baron’s messages.

So of course, they weren’t expecting them to come after all that.

’Sigh, let’s just hope you can do something about that boss monster.’

"Yes, princess," the baron said, promptly swallowing what he really wanted to say.

"In your letter, you said there was a boss monster," the princess inquired.

"Yes. I assessed that it’s a threat level D boss monster. A vampyric worm to be exact. It first appeared during the mass dungeon break in Kronus and has been here ever since. Several other territories have been wiped out by this monster. We’ve tried fighting it, but since most of our forces were killed during the great demon war, we just don’t have the strength."

The young princess nodded in understanding. She couldn’t help but feel ashamed as she listened to the demon speak.

She was the royal princess. It was her duty to protect her people but since the kingdom was already so weak, there was nothing they could do. Her hands tightened around the hilt of her sword.

"Don’t worry. We’ll handle it," she assured them.

’This is the best opportunity I have to prove myself to my father and the clan leaders. Right now, as princess, I don’t hold much power, but if I could someday become queen...’

Seeing how confident she was, the baron felt somewhat relieved.

"The boss monster has created its own lair underground. It has created several sinkholes that have swallowed up most of the towns and people nearby so you won’t find much out here. You’ll have to find a way to get to the monster."

"Don’t worry about it. We’ll handle it from here. You all should go back inside your homes. Do not, under any circumstance, leave the town," she instructed sternly.

"Yes, princess."

With that matter settled, she kicked her horse and galloped away from the town.

As she led her party away from the town, Guthrum suddenly leaned over and whispered something to the orcs riding beside him.

"Look at the way she rides that horse. Blood sure is lucky to have such a fiancé."

The orcs chuckles and nodded in agreement, all of them feeling a pang of jealousy in their chests.

Not only was the princess an otherworldly beauty, but she also knew how to ride and swing a sword.

What man wouldn’t want her as a fiancé?

When they were far enough away from the town, the party finally stopped and climbed off their horses.

A man with blood-red hair and a dark robe took center stage in the party as they all stood to the side and watched him.

This man was an otherworlder who called himself a player. The princess didn’t like these ’players,’ as they were nothing but glorified weapons for nations to use at their discretion.

Not to mention, these players normally looked down on the people of this world, and whenever they got together, it would almost always lead to strange occurrences.

The player smiled smugly as he knelt down and rested his hand on the cold, red ground.

Immediately, the ground beneath their feet and for miles out began to tremble violently.

"The soil from this place is so weak that even this small earth spell can seem powerful," the player grumbled. Then, a small smile appeared on his face. "Or maybe I’ve gotten that much more stronger."

The vibration of the ground quickly intensified, so much so that several sand dunes began to collapse into sinkholes.

The player quickly raised his hand from the ground, yet the vibration continued and grew stronger by the second.

"Get ready! It’s coming!"

The demons and orcs quickly drew their weapons and raised them to full height.

Their feet sank in the sand as if they were being sucked in, and as they held their breaths in anticipation, the vibration suddenly stopped.

Yet they didn’t dare lay down their weapons and instead waited silently.

POOF!

The earth itself gave way to a massive beast that erupted from the soil.

SKREE