by Ryan DeBruyn
There wasn’t a slapping of feet or any rushing monsters after the shocked noises accompanied the doorbell, so the group, after a thorough once over by Sela, entered the first room. “Left or right? Rocky asked a kneeling Sela.
She shook her head, “The water is making my earth sense very cloudy. I can only see a few rooms away in either direction.” She shrugged and continued, “I can tell you that the left has one path out of the next two rooms, and the right has multiple paths out of each room.” She finished by adding her hands to the shoulder motion in the classic scales gesture that signified she didn’t know.
Since it had fewer paths, Rocky pointed left and crossed his fingers on his right hand. Sela moved off in that direction and the process repeated for a few rooms before Sela entered a doorway and jumped back, just barely avoiding a shadow ball that dug itself a furrow into the wall in the room the group stood central in.
Sela shouted, “Six of them in the next room.” Then she moved back and out of their line of sight. Rocky acted quickly, summoning his Shadow Clone and entering Stealth himself. The clone also entered Stealth, and they rushed through the doorway.
In the next room, Rocky saw six Necromancers on a raised dais hanging from the back wall. There was a gap of about five feet between them and the pathway that the group would be forced to use. It was clearly a well thought out strategic position, and he felt his teeth clench in frustration. As he approached the gap to jump across, a few things happened simultaneously.
One of the Necromancers sent out their red field skill which had detected Rocky in the past. It wrapped around him in mid-air, highlighting his leap at the six grouped up Necromancers. Rocky would have sworn, but he saw another highlighted form behind the group and smiled instead as they all began to charge shadow bolts. Mid-cast, his Shadow Clone spun into the middle of the group and scattered the cronies like bowling pins. A few spells were released, but they were half-formed and aimed very poorly.
One of the two who were still standing screamed, “You beasts attack the sanctum of Apep! We have vast armies and–” Rocky cut him off with a slash across his throat and continued moving to the sounds of gurgling the man’s monologue turned into. He pushed his legs for every ounce of strength he had, trying to down another brainwashed cultist before he finished his spell.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw his clone toss two of the black-robed fanatics over the edge, and moments later, he lucked out. The piercing, blood-curdling screams that sounded from below froze everyone on the platform for a split second. Rocky’s muscles flexed at the sound, but he had too much momentum to stop and half ran, half stumbled into his intended target, which bumped the black-robed figure off the edge into the milky, bubbling water.
The combination of the first screams paired with the grisly scene in front of him seized his body. Luckily for him, though, Sela had left the cover of the previous room and also jumped over the gap to finish off the final two members of the cultists; otherwise, Rocky might be in the same position as his last victim. The man he just bumped into added his soul freezing scream to the other two, creating a cacophony of pain and horror.
As he stood on the ledge and watched, the man’s skin began to bubble and blister. The cultist was now so delusional with pain he tried to reach a hand up to Rocky requesting help, but his skin seemed to just slough off of the limb, melting like candle wax. A moment passed, and suddenly, he was bleeding from his eyes, ears, nose, and gums as he continued his wail that seemed to never end. Sela grabbed him from behind and forced him to turn from the grizzly sight, but it was a bit too late. Rocky knew he would be having nightmares of this place for a long time to come. The screams took another few long heartbeats to finally cut off in a silence that might have been worse.
Zippo, Smith, and Amber stood at the entrance and stared in horror as Sela and his clone moved around and looted the three dead still on the platform. Rocky felt his legs turn to jelly, and he sat down, swallowing hard against the lump in his throat.
Heavy water can’t do that! It’s like this Dungeon took the long-term effects of radiation and sped them up… confining it to the water alone?
His legs had gone weak because his body was currently sending him a deluge of information. His stomach was telling him it was time to run, leave this place, and avoid a fate that looked like the worst death imaginable. His heart hammered, telling him that he was somehow excited by the prospect of the challenge that the Dungeon represented. Finally, his brain just kept telling him that they had to keep going, that they were the only chance his people had.
Honestly, ‘Jump in and see what it does!’ Who writes these notifications!
In the end, the group took a long, unintended rest in the room as everyone but Sela warred with their nerves and emotions. Rocky finally did get himself under control by entering Meditation, and to his surprise, he was able to see through his clone’s eyes. He’d completely forgotten about the skill symbiosis and now used it to send his skill clone to scout the room ahead of them while in Stealth. It was by far the safest means to scout the following rooms, and with the group standing watch over him, he didn’t need to fear being ambushed.
To his surprise, his clone walked through room after room and met not a single piece of resistance. The creatures he did see were all retreating from the room away from the group. The pattern of only one exit per room continued, and twenty rooms later, his clone arrived at an exit to a raised walkway. Rocky didn’t let it leave the area but had it look out into the massive cathedral cavern that presented itself. Over the retreating backs of Zombies and Necromancers he saw a room so vast, he couldn’t see the back wall clearly despite the lighted path that still ran the entire room and in a web-like pattern over the domed roof that rose one hundred meters.
Lining the walls on platforms were more Necromancers, and at the ground level stretched an army of Zombies that seemed to have no end. Apothis was nowhere to be seen, though, and that made Rocky nervous. He had his clone search through the Necromancers high up on their perches, one by one and still, no luck. It would seem the final boss, Apothis, wasn’t in the room or at least he couldn’t see him.
Rocky exited Meditation and mentally commanded his clone to keep an eye out for any changes. Then to the group, he whispered, “If we continue down this path there are no more enemies lying in wait over the platforms, but there is a massive cathedral room overflowing with Zombies and cultists.” Sela opened her mouth, and Rocky held up a hand, knowing what she wanted to ask. “Didn’t look like Apothis was in there.”
Everyone tried to talk at once, some suggesting they check the other path, some suggesting they go clear out the room. Sela finally clapped her hands, which stopped the discussion. “We should at least have your clone check the other pathways thoroughly.” A few people opened mouths to argue, but Sela just shook her head. “Remember the first boss?”
Chapter Thirty-Five
So, Rocky might have killed his clone several times, but it wasn’t his fault—kind of. He did make it to the end of the other pathway successfully, eventually, though.
It turned out the other pathway had multiple traps, but again, all the enemies were in the process of retreating or already retreated.
The group moved back to the elevator room, while Rocky sat for hours attempting to navigate every possible pathway on the maze-like side. However, when he reached the end, he discovered only Apothis sitting in a massive stone throne.
The throne base was a glowing, green stone with red veins pulsating within it. It looked like a Dungeon core that had grown larger while more Heartstrings wrapped around it. The whole contraption was nearly at ground level without touching the ground at all. It was suspended from supports that led to the cathedral roof identical to the one teeming with monsters.
In Rocky’s opinion, as soon as they killed the one group of enemies, Apothis ordered the Dungeon to pull all monsters to the one room. Now it looked like the end of their first pathway had clearly been a trap on a grand scale
. Another issue came up on a few occasions, and Rocky wasn’t sure how to feel about it. His clone definitely was showing that confrontational personality again, and by the ninth time he re-summoned the eerie mirror of himself and gotten his eighth rude gesture, he caved and talked to Sela about it distractedly as he controlled the minion.
“Are skill clones alive?” he asked, his voice feeling separate from himself while secluded inside his meditative state.
Sela laughed and responded, “Not really, Rockland, but yes, in a way. They are a part of your brain that you don’t utilize. When they are acting autonomously, they are essentially a part of you and respond as you would in most situations.” You could hear the smile in her voice. “When we get out of here, remind me to tell you of Asmodean the Cracked.”
Since he couldn’t really feel the interest that the statement piqued deep within him, he just nodded and continued his exploration.
Now though, about three hours later, the group was moving through the carefully plotted course and making their careful way around traps that he ‘discovered’. Sela found a few more that he hadn’t, and by utilizing his knowledge of the rooms, they avoided dead ends.
It seemed like the trap cathedral was overstocked with the monsters from this floor and that normally, each room would have mutated Zombies and Necromancers present. If they’d been forced to fight through each room, Rocky wasn’t sure they would have survived. The really terrifying part was that the Ether Mutated Zombies were able to walk through the water, as his clone had seen in a few rooms they were exiting. He assumed they attempted to pull people off the platform and into the stupidly fast-acting, irradiated water, which made him sweat and shiver simultaneously.
It would be a nightmare if Apothis hadn’t bet everything on us continuing down the easier course.
As they neared the final room, he stopped and asked again, “Are we sure that this is the room we want to go to. I am pretty sure that was the Dungeon core under him.”
Smith responded, looking at everyone, “Remember, our only goal is to kill that core or free it. I think if we can manage that, this whole trip is worth it. Plus, Apothis is crazy weak right now.” He paused and looked everyone in the eyes. “We agreed that this is probably the best time to attack him because he will hesitate to raise more of those monstrous Abominations.”
There was nothing left to say, so Rocky nodded, acknowledging the point and shrugged sheepishly to say he had to ask. The group walked together into the final room where his clone waited, and after a deep collective exhale, they exited into the boss’s cathedral. Rocky’s thoughts of success and self-congratulatory attitude was cut short when Apothis laughed uproariously and cackled his next words, “Welcome! After the first boss, I knew you would find your way to me!”
Hell Mode initiated!
For entering the final unprotected boss room with the boss below 20% health and no minions, you have initiated hell mode. Defeat the boss for increased rewards.
This boss has been given the ability to spawn Ether Mutated Zombies for the next 3 hours.
Good luck!
Rocky felt his blood go cold and stutter in his veins as the chair Apothis sat on rose quickly into the air and entered a fortified, small, glass room that overlooked the cathedral. The glass security room hung from the apex of the dome, and a Fireball splashing against and around it notified the group that it wouldn’t break when first attacked. He Analyzed it and Apothis inside.
Dungeon Core Protection Unit
This glass dome can be purchased by Dungeons at an immense Ether Cost and will protect their core from attacks for a time if under siege. This glass is Ether-infused with huge amounts of personal Ether and Essence by the Dungeon. To destroy the core inside, a group or army must first destroy this near-perfect defense.
Health Points 999,985/1,000,000
I should have known this was a trap. I felt something was off!
A group of one hundred Ether Mutated Zombies began materializing in swirling, blue, smoky light on the now empty floor of the boss room, and Rocky heard Sela mutter, “This is going to be a war of attrition. We have to outlast three hours. That cage is going to be near impossible to destroy!”
Then her head snapped up, and she shouted to the group, “The Zombies are weak. Try to kill them while conserving Ether. Zippo, you will need to light them on fire as soon as they fall!” The group got into a wedge with the two Goliath Zombie Spirits in the center, Amber and Sela on the left, and Rocky on the right. Zippo and Smith stood behind the group and prepared to support as they could while conserving skills, laser bolt charges, and Ether.
The first group of summoned minions hit the two massive spirits, and a crashing boom sounded through the boss room. Rocky slashed out and cut through two soggy, bleached creatures as the two tank spirits slid back under the combined weight of the charge. The group hacked and slashed at the creatures attempting to push back the mass of rotting undead. They only succeeded in killing small pockets as the numbers slowly began to overwhelm them.
They’d only halved the first group when another group of one hundred crashed into the first from behind, which, of course, slid the tanks and group back a few more feet. In a panic, Rocky glanced behind them and saw they were being forced towards the rooms with the bubbling, fast-acting heavy water. Currently, they were only ten feet from the entrance to the boss room.
“Get ready to rush forward and reset our footing!” Rocky yelled, then unleashed a horizontal double stack of his Dark Blade. It turned the one hundred and fifty strong horde into a meat grinder. It successfully cut through all the way to the back of the group, leaving only twenty of the creatures alive.
In unison, the group led by the Einherjar spirits engaged the twenty Zombies who’d been left alive after his skill use. Just as they engaged, Rocky saw another group charging from the center of the room and shook his head. Heat rose all around him as Zippo lit the bodies on fire in carefully controlled fires. Even with the control, Rocky felt sweat prickle his skin and drench his forehead.
This time, the group of Zombies crashed into the Einherjar, and they slid back a full ten feet on the slick, bloody cave floor. Rocky, Amber, and Sela were left to take the charge and were subsequently pushed back and injured. Rocky received scratches all over his chest, arms, and a few even reached past his sword and scored his face. Sela used entangling vines on the area in front of her, which allowed the group to retreat and reset. The minions still came through the vines but, this time, in smaller groups.
They fought on, killing in massive numbers until the horde held back by the vines numbered near five hundred, and the sheer weight snapped the vines with a large whip-crack-like sound. In response, Rocky released another Dark Blade to break the horde, and the group rushed forward to re-engage the two hundred who survived.
His stomach did a flip when he saw that his Ether was already at three quarters in the first few minutes. This time, when the group of new summons crashed into the back of the horde, Zippo summoned a firewall to allow a retreat and regroup. However, within moments, the dead, burning bodies smothered the skill. With little time to prepare, Rocky’s retreating group took a three hundred strong charge head-on and were rocked back, as Smith cast a few of his new spirit blasts into the horde.
A slow count later, and they exploded like the Einherjar on the floors above. This explosion decimated hundreds of the creatures, and again, the group rushed forward. Rocky glanced at his health bar and saw it too was at three-quarters full. He cast Dark Mend and glanced at the others’ health in his top right. Then cast another Dark Mend on Sela and Amber, who also were below three quarters.
His Ether dropped to fifty percent, and he felt his heart beating in anxious, desperate thumps. He tried to get a headcount of the enemies in front of him as he chugged an Ether Elixir restoring eighty points to his pool. He saw Zippo and Smith do the same as the heat in the room kept ratcheting up as Zippo burned more and more bodies.
Natural Regeneration Halted
>
Due to extreme conditions, the entirety of your body’s natural regeneration has been halted as your body tries to protect itself from the extreme imbalance.
Natural Health and Ether regeneration stopped
The message immediately made Rocky aware of how much he was sweating. He literally felt like he’d taken a bloody, sweaty shower. He used Dark Mend on the entirety of the group and fought on as Zippo cast a massive Fireball into the center of the thousand-some Zombies. Rocky simultaneously cast a double Dark Blade after the Fireballs seemed to only cause a death toll that seemed to be a drop in the bucket.
Smith shot evenly spread out Spirit Balls, and Sela rushed over to pull a few grenades out of his bag of holding. She lobbed them over the head of the mass in front of them and far into the back of the mounting enemies. The explosions and deaths were staggering, but still, at least four hundred of the creatures lived as they rushed forward only half the distance that they normally would have. Taking a note out of Sela’s book, Rocky pulled two gravity grenades and lobbed them into the air over the horde as well.
Five seconds later, the group gained a moment's respite as the newly summoned minions were pulled into spiraling circles around the two pinpoints near the center of the cathedral. Rocky fought on and realized he didn’t feel the sweat anymore. Instead, his skin felt cracked and dry, and as he gasped in a breath, he instantly felt his breath catch from the sheer heat of air.
Sela shouted, “Zippo, no more fire. This room can’t heat up anymore, or we are going to be cooked alive!”
At that moment, Rocky glanced up at Apothis in his clear, safe dome and saw him wearing a look of utter euphoria as he watched the battle. The Zombies in front of them were being pulled back over the two-inch-deep blood and gore, and their group looked down to find themselves sliding slowly forward into the center as well. In a moment of panic, Rocky thought they might get sucked in, but Sela cast a vines spell that she used to wrap each of them and secure them in place for the time being.