Dungeon Overlord: Monster Girl Harem!-Chapter 70: Munat Mountains - II

Upon entering the cavern, the damp stench of moss filled the air, making it difficult for Sylvie and Erina to breathe. Leon gazed back at the women, noticing them clutching their mouths and struggling to resist coughing.

'I knew it.'

He stopped and turned back, removing two floral-scented handkerchiefs.

"Here, take these."

"Eh? What's this?" Erina tilted her head before taking the piece of cloth, flicking her gaze to Leonhardt as if asking for an answer.

"..."

"Wrap it around your mouth, the herbs used for the scent will remove and filter out unpleasant smells and toxins in the air."

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Sylvie remained silent, switching her gaze between Leonhardt's before huffing, wrapping the cloth around her mouth, flicking her head away, and walking ahead.

'Why is he being so considerate... of course, the scent was foul, worse than the sour taste of the Chrysa.' Despite her thoughts racing, Sylvie just couldn't forget the nights when Leonhardt would push down Asuka and insert that huge thing... 'Damn perverted man!'

Erina soon followed her, but she gave a gentle nod to Leon before gazing at Asuka, who grinned back at her, both hands on her hips.

"What about, Asuka?" She asked in a curious, low voice.

"Don't worry about me, Eri. Thanks to being a Dragonoid, this smell is nothing!" Asuka said confidently, her lips curled into a wild smile.

'I don't understand why helped Sylvie... she always treats him so badly.' Erina thought while rubbing her lips together, curious about Leonhardt's goals. 'If it's just to get us to join, does he need to go this far?' The answer was something she became increasingly curious about.

"Let's go."

Leonhardt noticed the movements coming from deeper into the cave. Sylvie was acting arrogant as usual, and he couldn't afford to let her walk off in the darkness alone.

"Tsk!"

With the click of his tongue, he rushed forward while constantly gathering mana in his hands.

'Damn, this annoying elf is too much trouble.'

Asuka's eyes narrowed as the corners of her lips curled into a smirk.

"He's much softer than he seems, Erina."

'Though I don't think it's because of kindness... more like instinct?' Asuka shook her head and took the hand of Erina, helping her through the dark and mossy cavern.

"Eh?"

'What does she mean, didn't he click his tongue in annoyance?'

Wet puddles and glistening webs dripping with stale water—Leonhardt was sure this was a secondary cave for the death weavers.

He eventually caught up to Sylvie, but he noticed something glistening ahead of her step, a trapdoor made of silent webbing.

'Dangerous!'

Leon reached out and yanked her body back, causing her to turn and angrily scowl at him.

Her feet slipped and avoided the trap, but the force overwhelmed the small mage, and she fell against his chest.

'What's happening, Who?!'

Sylvie's heart raced, hammering against her ribs as her hands slipped across Leonhardt's muscular chest—once again, he saved her.

Embarrassment at making another mistake became like dirty water, flowing through her mind and staining the gratitude and sincere feelings growing in her heart.

"What do you think you're doing?!"

Sylvie's voice echoed through the darkness—irritation and fear growing in this dark and slimy caused her to freak out the moment he touched her.

'I can smell her fear... the sense of terror she felt when I grabbed her.'

Leonhardt gazed at the beautiful elf, her azure eyes brimming with tears. Yet she refused to sniffle or show weakness, gritting her teeth.

'Why are her hands caressing my chest still?'

"Are you alright, Sylvie?"

The moment he spoke, her eyes widened as if coming to realise how rude and horrible she acted towards him.

'Why can't I just say thank you?'

Sylvie gazed up at Leon, distracted by the tapping sound of Asuka and Erina coming closer. She pressed her lips so tightly that they turned white.

"I..."

"Don't worry, even if you hate me. I won't let you die."

Leonhardt released her arm and stepped forward, his hand swirling with a faint flame. He tossed it onto the dark, hidden webbing.

Woosh!

The webbing combusted into flames and faded from sight with the faint smell of caramel.

'It seems they coated the web in some kind of sweet liquid along with the venom.' Leon thought to himself while snapping his fingers again, creating a ball of blue fire.

"Here, this will help you see dangers in this darkness."

"Y-You... Why?" Sylvie's eyes trembled, wanting to understand him better but unable to sort her feelings and emotions.

'Why do I get so angry when he treats me like a child... and why can't I stop chasing and doing foolish things just to get his attention?!'

Sylvie gazed at the ball of fire, a spell she could never learn, though she graduated from the elven school of magic and then started attending the human academy.

All because her total mana was quite average.

'Leonhardt's too good at everything, how did he become so talented?' A jealous, yet glint of admiration lingered in her mind as Asuka and Erina caught up with them.

"Ah~ you guys ran off too fast we almost left without you!"

Since awakening her dragon blood, Asuka's intellect and ability to understand emotions improved, both for monsters and humans. Thus, she wanted to become a sort of bridge between them.

'Leonhardt looks a little angry...'

'Why does Leo seem to be a little excited?' Asuka's thoughts were identical to Erina's but showed her understanding of his facial expression and scent.

A scent that humans couldn't notice...

"Come on! The spiders likely heard her shout, and the vibrations would have travelled along the webbing that wraps these walls." Leonhardt's gaze swept over the group, lingering on Sylvie for a moment before turning to Asuka with a faint smile.

"I will protect Sylvie so you keep Erina alive. She must not lose her ability to cast anti-venom."

'Protect me?!'

"Understood." She said with a sullen voice while avoiding his gaze.

Sylvie held her staff tight, a conflict of logic and emotion and her warped thoughts creating false issues in her mind.

However, when she noticed the blue flame flickering and spitting embers at even the faintest webbing that had fallen from the ceiling near her, she understood he meant it.

'...'

Erina watched Sylvie, then faced Leonhardt, nodding as she prepared for battle. Somehow, her skin tingled like usual when a monster appeared.

'Though when I first met Leonhardt, he also made me tingle...' A thought she withheld from even her party members.

The party started moving slower.

Because of the cave's linear style, the danger would likely come from ahead or from hidden places, such as trapdoors and cracks in the walls and ceiling.

Three sizzling flames lit the path and burned the surrounding webbing, protecting the three women while the leader's fingers danced in the air.

'My webbing is stronger... and sharper. I cannot use venom, but fire.'

"Stay on guard, there are quite a lot of enemies skittering around," Leon said while he lifted his fingertips, beautiful strands of silk extending from each finger, sparkling with a dark black flame, the one he inherited from the Dark Dragon's bloodline.

"Leonhardt...?"

"Hm?"

Sylvie's quiet voice, like a mouse, reached his ears only as she stepped closer. Her azure eyes gleamed in the darkness, illuminated by the blue embers.

"What's wrong."

Leon's gaze could see anything moving within a twenty-metre radius in this darkness. His mana bubbled and flowed into his hands and eyes, and he was ready to react at any moment.

'Her scent is a little sweeter than usual, different from other humans.'

He noticed the spiders starting to move earlier.

Their legs tapped on the walls, and they skittered to take advantage of their group's low visibility.

'At least that's what those spiders will assume.'

'Ah... he's not even looking at me, did I upset him, being too selfish and stubborn?'

In reality, she feared Leonhardt because of his immense mana—his mana density and power caused her instinctive terror.

A memory sealed in her chest, the day her mother and the forest suffered horrific losses.

"I... I'm sorry for being so..."

Woosh!

The moment she tried to apologise, the spiders must have noticed the gap in her defences and struck—four death weavers attacked. Three spitting their sticky, paralysing threads at Leonhardt, Asuka and Erina.

Asuka's eyes widened, her hand twisting her axe before she swung into the air with a violent cleaving blow—the airborne spider's body sliced deeply. The force sent it flying back into the sharp, rocky wall with a wet thud.

"Haha, take that!" Her body wrapped around and grabbed Erina, barely able to parry the second spider's attack, before she noticed the movement of Leonhardt, causing her eyes to widen.

Two death weavers, completely aware of the blue flames, still spit their webbing at him.

"Damn spiders!"

Leonhardt lifted his hand, ready to cast a spell, but he found they ignored him. And both spiders targeted Sylvie, who started chanting her spell.

'Calm down, you can do it Sylvie. This isn't like the past... you can fight!'

"The spirit of frost, who governs the icy wastes—" Before she could complete the spell, the spiders lunged at her with the deadly venom oozing from the tip of their fangs.

The Death Weaver's fangs were long—at least ten inches long and thicker than a grown man's wrist—an envious size for many human males.

'I'm going to die! No, I don't want to die!'

Two sticky maws snapped down at the young elf, her spell fizzling. "Ack, save me... Leonhardt!"

Bite!

The sound of ripped flesh and a deep grunt echoed in Sylvie's ears.

Her body trembled as she slowly opened her eyes, shuddered as they widened, and her lips trembled at the sight before her.

"W-Why?"