“I found the stairs!” A dreaded yell came from the distance.

That likely came from the floor above us. That meant that these damn bandits had actually caught up again. We were on 18th floor now. If we could make it to the 19th floor kiosk room, we could lock ourselves in and battle the guardian at our own leisure. We could always escape back to the 1st floor kiosk, although we’d have to leave Carmine alone and we’d be giving the weapon to the Bandit King. We rushed down the stairway and began racing along the cooridors

“The stairway!” I said in a hushed whisper, afraid that if I made too much noise, I’d give away our location to the Bandits trailing behind us. “Terra, where is the door?”

“H-how would I know that…” She said awkwardly. “I don’t like coming down here…. He’s down here.”

I was hoping that Terra knew the way and after carrying her for the last couple of floors would endear her enough to tell us. However, she claimed she didn’t know. I wanted to stosk her about it, but there was no time for that. It turned out she really did have some kind of Guardian trauma, and didn’t like the creature at all.

Although the dungeon was small, it still was about the size of a mansion with multiple wings. It took about 15 minutes to search the whole thing. At this point, running into the Bandits was just as likely as running into the room. Also, by the time we reached the room, the Bandits might already be there.

Just as I was thinking about such worrisome things, we turned a corner and at the very end was a group of people. Standing in the forefront was a full armored person in furs who looked to be the best armed of the bunch. They had a dangerous aura about them.

“Carmine!” The melodious voice laughed. “I’ve finally found you!”

“Run!” Carmine cried out, turning and racing the other way.

“Hehehe… run all you want, you can escape me!” Their voice had a slightly perverted tinge to it.

I considered testing our might against the Bandit King, but I knew I wouldn’t be making the first blow. Lydia would. In my mind, I saw Lydia leaping out to meet him, only for the Bandit to use some trick. In an instant, Lydia was cut down. I shook my head of the vision, but there was no way I could risk her life like that.

“Fireball!” I shouted, tossing my spell down the path.

“Wind slash!” Celeste joined in, also sending her own spells joining it.

We turned to follow Carmine, not waiting to see what came of the attacks. Although their was a loud sound as the attacks landed, it sounded like they struck some kind of hard surface. I had a feeling the Bandit King had managed to block the attacks completely.

“They’re over there!” Another shout came as we passed an intersection, managing to be seen by yet another group.

“There it is!” Carmine cried out as she turned a corner.

There was a door leading into the kiosk room, but it was a good 100 meters down the hall. Worse, the Bandit King was standing on the other end of the hall, about equal distance.

“Hehe… you’re done for now!”

“S-scary…” Terra buried her head into my shoulder.

It turned out that Terra wasn’t good with this high adrenaline stuff. Carmine stared down the hallway at the Bandit King, as if personally challenging him.

“Follow me!” She said, “Come!”

She threw back her cloak and pulled out a large sword. A white light sprawled across the hallway, nearly blinding everyone. With a shout, she began to race forward, heading straight for the Bandit King!