Sarah mulled over Jill's suggestion for a while.

  "A necromancer?" she said, tapping her chin. "It's certainly possible. Jonathan claimed Joe was dead, which isn't a mistake a healer would usually make. So either Joe himself was a necromancer, or there was one standing nearby that I didn't notice. It would also explain why Joe's eyes looked soulless if he were a reanimated corpse."

  "Hold on, soulless eyes?" Aria perked up.

  "What of it?" Brandon asked, leaning on his shield.

  "The naked man who drew the wolves to us ran right at me while keeping his eyes covered. I found that weird, but if his eyes were a dead giveaway to his true nature, that makes sense."

  "He did the same for us," Eric added. "He used his cloak's hood to hide his face. It seems we are all chasing the same guy, a necromancer."

  Devon sighed. "I'm surprised the government hasn't banned necromancers yet. I swear every last one of them turns out to be a Reaper."

  "Speaking of Reapers, I should probably put in a request," Sarah said, bringing out her phone. Navigating to the Guild Association app, she opened the Reaper filing section and began filling in the form. It took far longer than she felt comfortable with. Devon and Eric's chatter served as background noise.

  "Why do they need so much information?" Sarah said, passing the phone to Eric. "You need to provide your testimony."

  Eric nodded and accepted the phone. "I mean, it makes sense," he muttered as his fingers danced across the screen. "You're basically signing someone's death sentence."

  He then gestured toward Brandon and Aria, silently asking one of them to also fill in their testimony. Aria ended up being the one to take the phone, and she wandered around the area, taking pictures for evidence.

  Once she was done and handed the phone back to Sarah, she did a final check.

  "Joe, F-Rank Hunter, possible necromancer or puppet of a necromancer. Around 6 feet tall, he has short black hair and, most notably, soulless eyes that he will attempt to conceal. While able to speak, he sometimes does so without moving his mouth. Has committed multiple murders on the first floor of the World Dungeon in sector 3JP. Anything else I should add?" Sarah asked, surveying the group.

  "List who he is suspected of murdering and put Gerald on that list," Brandon suggested.

  Sarah knew that was being done to cover their backs. They had explicitly said they had left Gerald behind to die. While it had technically been Joe's fault for leading the wolves there, it wasn't confirmed that Joe had been the one to kill Gerald or if it had been the wolves. Hell, it wasn't even confirmed that Gerald was dead.

  Yet she noted it down anyway and added Jonathan's name to the list. She wanted Brandon and Aria's help in getting to the bottom of this. Submitting the form after adding a few more details, she pocketed her phone.

  "While we wait for the results from the Guild Association, who is going to come with me to catch Joe?" she said, making eye contact with Devon and Jill. They were both C-grade Hunters and had been ordered by her father, the Guildmaster, to assist her. Although the mission had expanded beyond its original scope, she still expected them to provide assistance.

  "We will both come," Brandon said, gesturing to Aria. "However, the Iron Legion's aura has faded and can't be restored unless we return to the surface. Not that we need it to be useful," he quickly added, "Just a point to note is all."

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  Sarah gave Brandon an appreciative nod, a gesture that made Devon sigh.

  "Fine, I'll come too. I can't let the Guildmaster's daughter's protection be left to a warrior from the Iron Legion... a crippled one at that," he said, flashing a grin.

  Brandon frowned. "You know I don't need the Iron Legion's aura, it's just helpful."

  Sarah ignored the two warriors and glanced at Jill.

  The fire mage smiled, "I'll come too."

  "Great! Eric, what about you?"

  The C-grade warrior looked hollow as he stared at the dead Mary lying on the wooden cart. Bringing out a handkerchief, he placed it carefully over her still-open eyes. Stepping back, he balled his fist. "I'm coming," he hissed through clenched teeth. "No way I can let that bastard roam free."

  Eric then turned to the mage from his group. "Charlotte, can you take the wooden cart with Mary to the surface? Tell the Guild Association what happened down here, ask for them to send reinforcements, specifically priests, and have the Reaper request approved if possible," his voice was monotone, like a commander reading off orders.

  Charlotte nodded. "That should be no problem, Eric."

  Picking up his shield that had been leaning against the wooden cart, Eric faced Sarah with a dark expression. "Let's go hunt this necromancer down."

  ***

  A while later, Sarah was walking down a set of stairs from the sky. Down below her was a seemingly endless expanse of black sand littered with white stone crypts. From this vantage point, she could see legions of undead mindlessly shuffling across the landscape.

  So this is what the second floor of the World Dungeon below Tokyo looks like. I had seen some pictures and descriptions on the forums, but actually smelling the musk of death in the air is a surreal experience.

  The group moved in silence, except for the clinking of armor from the warriors. Once they reached the base of the staircase, Aria crouched down and seemed to trace her fingers over something in the sand.

  "Footprints," she said, glancing up to the north. "That turn into paw prints."

  "A wolf on the second floor? I've never seen that before," Jill said, sounding surprised.

  "Maybe the necromancer summoned an undead wolf to traverse the sand dunes," Devon suggested.

  Sarah nodded. That idea made the most sense, especially considering the numerous wolf corpses that were unaccounted for. A sudden buzz from her phone got her attention. Pulling it out, she smiled.

  "It got approved," she said, showing her phone screen to the group.

  [Your request to escalate the case file on F-grade Hunter Joe to that of a Reaper has been approved. Please enter the name and bounty amount for the Reaper]

  "I'll chip in 10,000 credits to get it started and as compensation for selfishly dragging you all into this," Sarah said. While 10,000 credits wasn't a life-changing amount of money, especially when split among a group like this, it was still enough to cover their rent for the month. However, the relief on their faces showed it was a good gesture.

  "Now, as for the name, what should we do?" Sarah asked. Joe wasn't intimidating enough, nor would it capture the excitement of any bounty hunters. Bragging to their friends in a bar that they were the ones to claim Joe's bounty didn't have a good ring to it.

  "He always likes to hide his face, so what about The Faceless One?" Aria suggested.

  Sarah beamed as she typed that in. "The Faceless One, what a good name." Clicking send, the Reaper profile was now set up. "We should keep moving," Sarah said, stashing away her phone again.

  Devon nodded and took the lead. "We will follow the paw prints as they seem to lead to that large crypt in the distance. Jill, I'm sorry to put the burden on you, but until the priests arrive, you're our best bet for dealing with the undead."

  Jill snapped her fingers, and a fireball burst to life all around them. "Leave it to me," she said with a grin.

  ***

  Trudging across a seemingly endless sand dune teeming with undead was anything but fun. Sarah's legs were sore, and her body ached by the time they reached the stairway to the crypt.

  Jill's fireballs, which had made short work of the undead, flew down the seemingly endless staircase into the darkness below, illuminating a path.

  "Clear," Aria announced, relaxing the tension on her bow.

  "I swear if he's not down here, I'm going to get real mad," Devon grumbled as he took the lead. Brandon and Eric took the flanks, with Sarah at the rear. Aria and Jill were in the middle. It was a perfect formation, if not for the lack of a healer. It was a long walk to the bottom, and just as Sarah was dreading the realization that they would have to walk back up at some point, Aria told them to stop.

  Breaking out of the formation, she made her way deeper into the crypt. Fireballs from Jill flew ahead, illuminating the space and making the bloodstained priest's robe on the floor painfully obvious. There were other bloodstains, pieces of clothing, and destruction to some of the pillars.

  "A ferocious battle was fought here not too long ago. There's still fresh mana in the air," Jill said, glancing around.

  "Our target is close," Aria said, looking into the darkness. "And possibly far stronger than we anticipated."