On top of the sky island, was a beautiful and peaceful forest. Many different flowers and trees decorated the island. Even a couple of rabbits and other types of small animals could be spotted, as well as a couple of small Mountains.


    All of the Vanquishers look very puzzled and confused. Although it wasn''t directly connected to the ground aside from the huge chains, it was just questionable as to how a forest filled with life was able to thrive in a barren wasteland such as purgatory.


    ''Is this a forest? How is this even possible for a place like purgatory?''


    With a bit of hesitation, they began to venture into the bizarre forest.


    It was suspiciously quite and calm. It seemed like the Sky Island wasn’t home to any dangerous creatures. Hopefully.


    "It''s oddly quiet and peaceful here" said William with a worried look.


    "I know right? I bet some big ugly thing is gonna be protecting the key." Calire responded.


    "Stop it, your going to jinx it Claire." Kenny said.


    Since the group of Vanquishers had been tirelessly ascending up the stairs of the Sky Island, they settled in an open space somewhere on it.


    Like always, it was unbelievably cold. To make it worse, since they were higher up in the air, it was much colder than on the ground.


    ***


    Once the sun had risen, the group followed their routine and continued to move.


    Since a key to seal a pathway was found in the center of an island, that was the goal of the expedition team.


    While traveling through the island, there fortunately wasn''t any dangerous interactions with any sort of creature.


    Minutes passed by, then minutes turned into hours. The group had finally reached the center of the island, and what was in front of them was a giant blue and shiny lake. In the middle of the shiny lake was some sort of stone podium that stood on a grassy platform. On the podium was a small white shard the levitated just above the stone podium.


    One of the elite Vanquishers approached the wooden bridge that lead to the hill and began to walk towards the podium. Upon reaching the podium he lifted his hand to grab the shard. But before he could, a large creature quickly emerged from the lake and pierced through the chest of the elite Vanquisher.


    The group of — now fifty four— Vanquishers stood there in surprise and confusion. The monster then retracted its pincer from the chest of its victim as it dove back into the lake.


    ''What the hell is a demon doing up here?! Did it just ambush him?! I thought demons weren''t supposed to be intellegent or patient to wait for its prey?!''


    "A demon!" One of the Vanquishers yelled as the elites prepared for battle.Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.


    The demon turned around to face the other Vanquishers. It looked at them with murderous intent, and then quickly ran towards them with an intense hunger. The Vanquishers got into formation and waited for the demon to get close.


    Two of the Vanquishers rushed to the demons sides and struck its legs. But no damage had been inflicted upon the demon. It''s skin was sturdy. The recruits prepared long range attacks to support the elites.


    The battle had gone for a couple of minutes but no progress was made. The demon was slow, weak, and not too powerful overall, but it''s skin was so sturdy and tough that no damage could be done.


    Kenny thought of an idea and pondered on whether he should try it, but since no progress was being made he decided to go for it.


    Kenny lifted his hand in the air and a red portal opened above the crab-like demon. The king Arachnid then fell from the sky and onto the demons back.


    The force and weight of the impact was enough to make the demon collapse. The King Arachnid then pierced it''s fangs into the demon, releasing it''s poison into it''s body.


    The demon cried out in pain as it attempted to shake the King Arachnid off its body. Its movements began to slow down, and eventually it completely stopped moving.


    Kenny looked over at the sudden notification.


    [You have slain an E-Rank Demon].


    The group looked in confusion at what had happened before them. One of the elites looked over to the recruits and said:


    "Was that anyone''s doing?"


    Kenny hesitated, but then slowly raised his hand.


    "It was me, sir!"


    The Vanquisher looked at Kenny with a unconvinced look.


    "I see, well thank you, but a heads up would be very much appreciated next time."


    "Yes, sir!" kenny responded.


    He noticed that William and Claire were giving him a strange look.


    "What?" Kenny asked.


    "What kind of ability was that?" Claire questioned Kenny with a shocked expression.


    "When I defeated the king Arachnid, I ranked up and got the gift “Reanimation”, which lets me reanimate the dead and make them serve me as their "king", or something like that."


    Their expression turned more shocked than before. William composed himself and asked:


    "So you used it on the King Arachnid then?"


    Kenny nodded.


    The group proceeded to obtain the key and head back to the pathway. Going through the forest and down the flight of stairs, by the time they had reached the bottom of the stairs night had already enveloped purgatory.


    They upheld the same guard routine throughout the cold night.


    The days traveling back were suspiciously peaceful and quite. No demons had been seen throughout the whole trip back. Although he was thankful for it, Kenny had an unsettling feeling about the situation and couldn''t help but worry something unpleasant awaited them.


    Turns out, his worried mind had been right on the mark about something.


    Terror, fear, worry, and dread filled all of the Vanquishers body and minds. They knew that they would not leave purgatory unscathed, or leave at all depending on the decisions they were going to make in the next few minutes.


    The ground shook with great force, a large three headed serpent emerged from the ground, sending rubble all over the place. The thing was at least thirty feet tall. Its black scales looked even tougher than the demon back in the sky island. This was not a battle that was meant to be won at the moment, but one for survival.


    The leader from the elites made the only sensible choice. Since the pathway was only about less than a mile away, the elite screamed:


    "Run towards the pathway while we hold it back!!"


    The recruits began to run with all their might .


    ''What the hell is an B-Rank Demon doing here?! This is supposed to be a white pathway!''


    There was no point is thinking about that at the moment, the only thing that mattered right now was reaching the pathway and going back home to safety.


    Kenny looked back while running, the dread he had felt before had come back to him once more, but this time even more than before.


    All of the elites had been killed in no less than a minute.


    This only terrified Kenny, which was of no good in the current situation.


    The three headed serpent turned its attention towards the Vanquisher. It''s three heads looking at them, with the intent to kill.