I Was a Loner, but My Class Got Summoned to Another World…

Roland climbed as far as he could, but it seemed the vampires were doing something quickly to cover the walls, possibly using creatures or humans under their influence to prevent him from getting a proper foothold.

His pace was slow and grueling. He even fell a few times, not far, but enough to delay him more than he would've liked.

His mana was nearing half, possibly even lower.

The pressure of the situation began to make him feel desperate, hoping he'd find a way through.

"Damn it… If only I had my Earth power back!" Roland shouted.

He knew it wouldn't help, but there was nothing else to do.

Roland hated the fact that, despite gaining a new power, he still felt weak. It frustrated him deeply that the spirits weren't giving him the strength he needed to defeat the demons. The memory of Stella's brother being lost still lingered.

He began to loathe himself, unable to do what a real hero should.

Fueled by anger, Roland continued his climb until he found another crack to lodge his sword into, giving him a spot to rest.

He sat there for a few seconds, balancing on the blade, gazing upward, and wondering how the others were doing.

The climb would be long and dull, but he still had the strength to keep going.

As for his spirit, Elios, he continued to supply him with just enough light magic to maintain his energy.

While Roland looked up, far away, Stella had already arrived at the ruins and received word of what had happened.

She was furious with herself for not being honest with Roland.

The Oracle had warned her she'd face trouble involving someone she loved.

But the warning was vague, and she assumed it meant her father or her brother.

She hadn't considered that it could be Roland, the strongest of them by far.

Stella kept it to herself, not wanting to worry him. But now, because of that, she hadn't been there when he needed her the most.

Now, the army would need to storm a vampire-infested nest, one that had been turned into a trap for Roland.

She was only allowed to join in by bringing thirty soldiers with her.

She hated herself in that moment, her thoughts consumed only by her brother.

"Renar! Please tell me you have a plan to help him!"

The general, one of Roland's closest friends, looked just as distraught.

He was frantically trying to figure out how to begin a descent.

He knew the demons wouldn't have used something so simple to trap the hero.

The place looked incredibly deep. He had no way to measure how far it went, though.

The hole that had opened was easily the width of a house, wide enough to suck in three nearby buildings.

"I'm thinking, Princess. We might need your help, though, to light the way," Renar said, his tone strained.

He had scouts, but the bulk of the army was still busy fighting vampires pouring out of nearby structures, as if trying to stall them.

"Fine! Let me start then. I'll clear the ones here. You find where they're coming from. There must be a way to descend that pit, right?"

Stella narrowed her eyes.

She could see red eyes staring back at her from within the chasm.

That alone told her there had to be a path downward.

"If you have the ability, do so. I'll ready the soldiers, Princess," Renar said, already signaling for some troops to pull back.

Stella activated a ward around herself, causing a faint pulse of light to ripple outward.

She began expanding it into a wide circle, her face damp with sweat as she strained to grow the barrier.

The ward soon enveloped the ground, reaching into the pit, where vampires began to scream as the holy light seared their skin.

"Renar! Focus on where the ones already burned by the light are trying to escape. I doubt they'll stay put," she ordered.

Renar snapped his fingers, conjuring bursts of flame in all directions to illuminate the battlefield.

They watched for trails of smoke, a distinct sign when vampires were exposed to light.

"We see some here!" a group of soldiers shouted from a distance.

Others quickly joined in.

"We've got some over here, too!"

Another team called out. They had located two possible entry points to begin exploring.

"Thanks, Princess. You did well. If you want to fall back… well, I know you won't, so stick close to us," Renar said.

He gathered his team, the one Roland usually led, now reinforced with the new half-bloods.

"We'll concentrate on the left side. Everyone else, hold your positions. Do not let the darkness overrun this place. Those vile vampires will seize any chance to climb out!"

Renar understood how they operated. The vampires could fly, like bats in a cave. If they stopped emitting light, the creatures would surely swarm upward.

Maybe that was their plan all along.

And yet something told him they were waiting.

Waiting for Roland to weaken.

That was why they hadn't attacked.

They entered one of the houses where smoke had begun to rise, almost as if the building were on fire.

Renar ordered the door opened and then signaled everyone to stand clear.

He unleashed a barrage of flames, each blast accompanied by high-pitched screeches and cries.

The interior threatened to erupt, but the structure, reinforced with stone, held, suffering only minor damage.

"Seems fine now. Someone use wind magic to clear the air before we go in!"

Renar paused to catch his breath, mentally calculating their next move.

"Clear! We're ready to proceed, sir!"

Fernus, a demi-human with wind affinity, had done her job well.

In mere moments, the room was fully ventilated.

"Good. Remember to keep the princess in the center. Everyone moves as one. No one is to break formation. If you see anything suspicious, call it out. I'll send a wisp to draw it out."

Everyone nodded, advancing in unison.

Stella, having recovered enough mana, produced two orbs of light that floated around the formation.

She remained vigilant, firing bursts of light toward anything in the shadows that glowed red, and yet there were only blood cores that were dropped from the previous bombardment, not the eyes of the vampires that glowed in the same color.

Soon, they began to trace the source of the smoke. It appeared to be rising from the floor, as if a hidden entrance lay beneath them.

"There. Doblin, break through that section of the floor with your earth magic. I bet there's an entrance there!"

Doblin nodded and stomped hard, causing the ground to shift and crack open.

He was well-versed in his field and first sent vibrations through the ground to check if it was safe to open or if it led to another pit.

Doblin began to feel a pang of guilt for not doing the same earlier when Roland needed it, but now was not the time to dwell on regret.

"Found it. The floor underneath us is safe… that is, if we don't count the tens or hundreds of creatures hiding beneath it."

Renar and Stella both nodded, ready to unleash their magic on the mass of demons waiting below.

They rushed in as Doblin opened the pit's entrance and raised a set of stairs leading down.

Almost immediately, red eyes began to glow from the darkness, revealing they were not alone.

Stella conjured another radiant barrier and sent a pulse of light across the team, not as large as the one she used earlier, to conserve her mana, but strong enough to give Renar time to act.

The fire mage responded swiftly, launching attacks at anything that shrieked or moved. Every vampire that showed itself was struck down by him or one of the other mages capable of ranged magic.

In moments, more than twenty had fallen, but new ones charged forward without hesitation.

"Get ready!" Renar shouted. "It looks like we're up against hundreds. They're not strong, but… they're moving like puppets, following someone's will without a thought for their own lives. So stay alert, they won't hesitate to die if it means taking one of us down with them!"

Below them, Roland continued his climb. When he looked up, he saw flashes of light in the distance.

He still had a long way to go to reach it, but he recognized that magic, as it was like his own.

It meant Stella was up there, fighting to find him.

He sighed, wondering why Renar had brought her to such a dreadful place, but pushed himself to climb faster.

She was the only thing on his mind now, her sweet smile, the one that made him want to stay in this world and forget everything he had left behind on Earth.

As he climbed, he began to notice the bodies of demons and vampires falling from above. Some were engulfed in flames, others burned with holy light.

Judging by the number, there were many of them.

It only made Roland move faster. He had to reach them or at least meet them halfway.