The Dungeon Destroyer: A LitRPG Level-Up Adventure (The Dungeon Slayer Series Book 2)

by Konrad Ryan

  I would enter myself, if I could, instead, I’m sending one of my elites. Better clear it fast, he doesn’t play well with groups.

  If it was someone the Defector considered elite, then he could only be bad news.

  Tad turned to follow Liz into the dungeon, but his phone rang. Tad paused, tempted to press forward, but Gerald had told him to be available, in case new dungeons arose. He summoned his phone to his hand.

  “Gerald?”

  The usually composed and carefully worded man spoke, all in a rush. “Thank the creators I got ahold of you. Tad, Li Wei Zhang got the video of Titan. He said it looks like it could explode at any moment. The world has mobilized, they are sending all the creators into Titan as we speak. They have relegated the job of skyscrubbing to the Defector! They don’t know him like I do! He won’t do it. We’ll all freeze to death in a week! I may have time to stop them, but I need you to check the footage, the timer. I’m sending the video, call me back immediately. The future of the world hangs in the balance.”

  Gerald hung up as abruptly as he had spoken. A moment later Tad’s phone chirped. He pulled up a poorly compressed video of Titan. Black tentacles the size of skyscrapers attacked Li Wei Zhang but were destroyed before any of the attacks ever landed. By what, Tad couldn’t tell. Above Titan was the largest pulsating black sphere of energy Tad had ever seen. It was impossibly big, hundreds, no thousands of times larger than any of the other spheres had been, so big it encompassed the entire sky above. White and furious energy crackled from its core with each expansion and compression cycle. It seemed to grow with each passing moment. Surely a sphere that big would obliterate the entire planet in an instant should it detonate.

  But all of those details disappeared from Tad’s mind the second he saw the timer. He braced himself for instant death. But it didn’t come.

  The timer sat at zero.

  It took a moment for Tad’s brain to work again. Tad’s level-up program had called him the dungeon destroyer, had sent him back to infect Titan. Yet there was zero seconds left. A timer that started at zero would never explode.

  It wouldn’t explode!

  Tad called Gerald, he answered before the phone even rang. “Titan won’t explode. Do you hear me? Titan won’t explode!”

  “Tad, I need you to be exact. How much time is left on the timer?” Gerald’s voice was hopeful for the first time.

  “Zero. There is no time left on the timer. There never was any. If it was going to explode, it would have already done so.”

  “Thank you.”

  The connection was severed.

  The thumping of the helicopter was much closer now. Tad could see the bald head and the heavily muscled tank topped torso of the figure studying him, still hanging from the landing gear. Just as quickly as Liz, Tad threw himself into the shimmering black mist of the dungeon door, steeling himself for whatever quip Fat Jack had prepared about why he and Liz had taken so long to get back.

  But instead of the cozy, furnished waiting room, a familiar darkness enveloped him, his body weightless as he floated through an endless void. Unfathomable power surged behind him, around him. Tad was a twig in a river of pure strength. Panic gripped his chest.

  “You’ve got to be kidding me. Now?” Tad had hoped these encounters with Zero were behind him. He had expected them every time he had entered a dungeon, but they never came. Not to mention time always seemed to be missing after his forays into these endless dark expanses, and based on Liz’s reaction, he wasn’t sure he had any time to lose. The helicopter had been very close.

  The last time Tad had encountered this pure aura of strength, he had held Bunta’s dead body in his arms. Last time he had been able to push away the powerful being that awaited him, banished him back to the darkness. How had he done that? Tad strained to push the man away, push Zero away, but nothing happened. It felt like a dream in which you began to fly, and then realized you couldn’t.

  “Hello? Is anybody there? I don’t have time for this!” Tad had expected his voice to echo, but it fell away, slipping into the darkness.

  “I was surprised when you escaped me last.” A menacing voice filled the inside of Tad’s mind, explosions of pain threatened to split his head open. “I hadn’t expected to find anyone who could manipulate the void as well as I. I’ve… taken precautions this time. It will not work a second time.”

  Tad could feel wet tears already streaming down his face.

  “It’s about time we had a little chat, void.” The booming voice spat that last word like an insult. “They call me Zero. You may have heard of me.”

  Chapter 31

  Waves of power washed from Zero in the darkness. Tad rocked and tossed through the endless void, like a sparrow caught in a hurricane. Zero was far away, too far away, but he could still feel the white hot source of energy. Why could Tad feel Zero’s power? He hadn’t been able to feel the other voids. The thought was cut short as a new torrent of energy threatened to consume him.

  Had Zero once been a warrior like Tad? His strength felt unending, his might unspeakable. Tad was a speck of dust before the sun, and it was only a matter of time until it incinerated him. Ending Tad’s life would be as easy as squishing a grape between two fingers. And yet, despite all his strength, Tad had once banished Zero from this place.

  This was Zero. Leo had called him Xethdar. A void who had climbed higher than any other void, a man who had challenged the gods themselves and walked away victorious. So how was it he was now a prisoner of Titan? The plaguebearer had told him as much.

  Do not enter Titan. There is no escape. The council asked me to design Titan to contain, made from the void itself, it is impossible to break. Nothing can shatter Titan’s chains, nor escape. Not even the alpha creators themselves could escape its hold. Titan’s might swells to match even Zero.

  Tad steeled himself as another wave of power knocked him endlessly through the darkness.

  “Void. What has happened to Titan? What happened to the other voids? Before I could feel them. I even spoke to one…” The menacing voice suddenly didn’t seem as confident, as sure.

  The question caught Tad completely off guard. He had been expecting to be destroyed or, well, anything but being asked about what was happening in the world.

  “What do you mean, what happened to Titan? It just appeared fifty years ago.” Tad didn’t understand the question.

  “Don’t play games void. What happened!” The entire void pulsed red with rage. Tad’s jaw dropped. He had never seen any light in this place before. The blackness turned into an endless sea of red before fading to black once more. “I will teach you what happens when you question me.”

  White hot pain seared Tad’s mind. Pain filled his entire being. Bolts of energy formed, then pierced every inch of his body. He floated in endless torment. Like the energy of Zero, his pain surged in waves, cresting at his head, then rolling to his toes, with each cycle intensifying the heat. The power filled every inch of his body. He screamed. Or tried to, but the pain was so great he couldn’t move. It stretched for an eternity. Two eternities. Tad could feel his sanity slipping, his mind breaking. If pain was all that was left for him, it might be better to give into it, to let it consume him.

  The pain disappeared. Tad gasped deep breaths, his mind slick, his stomach heaved, emptying its contents into the floating blackness. He would have collapsed in a heap on the floor had there been anywhere to collapse, instead he floated limp in the darkness.

  “I will ask you once more void, what has happened to Titan? Why are you the only void I can sense? The only void I can contact?” The voice in Tad’s mind was full of threat. The message was clear, give me the answer or experience the pain once more.

  Tad’s first impulse was to tell Zero everything, anything to avoid the pain, but something deep within Tad’s mind screamed a warning. His mind displayed the image of Zero, with his sleek black sword, cutting down his teammates. Tad had something that Zero wanted, no, needed. Information. Leo ha
dn’t known Zero to be trapped, just missing. The only person who Tad had met that knew Zero was trapped in Titan, was the plaguebearer. And the former owner of Raekast’s Fang, the demented void that had summoned Tad within the blade.

  Zero needed Tad, not the other way around. And as long as Tad was valuable, he had leverage. Tad had seen what happened to people around Zero once they outlived their usefulness. He wouldn’t tell Zero a thing, not without some concessions. “Do your worst Zero, I won’t be treated like this. You want to know something? Then you ask nice.”

  The entire void paused, seemingly shocked at what Tad had just said.

  “Say please.”

  Silence stretched to the furthest reaches of the void. The air quivered, gentle at first, but the rumble grew until the entire void shook furiously. Streaks of red exploded, violet bursts of energy twisted and reached for Tad.

  “You dare defy me? You think I cannot break you? I am Zero, King of Voids, and you will obey me!” His rage seethed and swelled as he spoke each word, the void responded to his emotions.

  Tad knew the worst was yet to come, but he steeled himself. Bowing to a tyrant only increased his power. “King of the voids? You said I was the only void you could speak to, and if I reject you, then you have no kingdom. You are just a prisoner, shackled by Titan.”

  “And Xethdar, I’m coming for you.”

  A furious howl of rage shattered the darkness as white-hot pain exploded through Tad once more.

  But this time, it wouldn’t break him.

  * * *

  Tad collapsed to the floor of the dungeon. The coldness of the stone was a welcome reprieve to the white hot pain that had wracked his mind and body for so long. His health bar was full. It seemed impossible that the pain he had endured was just that, pain. His joints were stiff, his knees felt weak, but his body was undamaged. Could Zero not kill him in that place? It was a weak comfort. The pain had been real. More than real.

  Panicked voices brought Tad back to the present as he stood from the floor. In the chaos, it seemed nobody had noticed him stumble into the dungeon.

  “Cain is here, leave all that crap and get out!” The insistent voice belonged to Liz, and it sounded like this wasn’t the first warning she’d given. “We need to be out of here now!”

  “Ethan still hasn’t come out of the last door!” Said an unfamiliar voice, belonging to a healer who had tried to press an antidote into Liz’s wounds. “We can’t leave him!”

  Tad stumbled to his feet and past several people, who shoved chairs and tables back into Fat Jack’s dungeon pouch, to where Bunta stood watching the fourth door, eyes gleaming dangerously. A one-armed stick figure was surrounded by hundreds of miniature wolves, each as tall as the stick figure’s knee. They moved at an alarming speed, but the one-armed figure spun and maneuvered brilliantly, dispatching the wolves one by one. Dagger strike after dagger strike.

  Tad approached the man, “What is going on? Who is Cain?”

  Bunta looked back at Tad, with murder filling his eyes. “Salvation Cain, his nickname is ‘The Dungeon Pirate.’ He steals dungeons from other slayers, by force.”

  “But how can he steal a dungeon?” Tad couldn’t believe his ears. Salvation Cain might be the dungeon pirate, but his own level-up program had called him the dungeon destroyer. Surely a destroyer was stronger than a pirate. Tad knew that was a silly thought, but his brain still felt like Zero had boiled it in a gallon of oil. “We have eight warrior rank slayers who can still fight. Why don’t we just fight his group to protect what’s ours?”

  It was probably a bad course of action, especially if the Defector had confidence in this ‘Cain,’ but it all seemed so unfair.

  Bunta shook his head, and his eyebrows shot up in alarm. “Cain doesn’t have a group. He raids alone. He’s stronger than a warrior should be. Some say he is stronger than some champion slayers, but he can still enter warrior rank dungeons.” Bunta touched the skull necklace under his chin, “I don’t know how much of it is true, but Cain will kill us if we don’t leave.”

  “But we’ve already beaten the whole dungeon except the boss! He’s just going to come in and steal the boss from us? Won’t the DDD do something about him?”

  It all seemed so unfair. They had risked their lives, Ethan was still risking his life, and this guy was just going to come and steal the boss? The most profitable part of the dungeon? Tad had been looking forward to using his new clone skill in the coming boss fight, and now it was all disappearing right before his eyes.

  Bunta shook his head. “Cain is special. He’s like the Defector’s rabid dog. The DDD wouldn’t dare touch him, even with our new creator. It could start a war. To keep the peace, the Defector will even loan out Cain if there is an especially tough warrior dungeon. There’s nothing we can do, we just need to move on.” Bunta’s voice had an edge to it, and it sounded like he was trying to convince himself more than anything, gorilla gloves were balled into fists at his side.

  “Well, well, well… What do we have here? Looks like the rats are still in the cage.” A rich baritone voice leisurely tasted each word.

  The flurry of previous activity stopped, and silence filled the room. The tall man took a step forward, commanding attention. His bald head gleamed, a well-groomed goatee wrapped around a dazzling smile, and a diamond earring accented his left ear. He was much more attractive than Tad would have guessed from a name like the dungeon pirate. A white tank top covered his torso, barely able to contain his thickly muscled form. His brown eyes were cold and dark as they shifted from person to person. His mouth twisted in a smile as his eyes settled on something in the back of the room.

  Tad followed his gaze to Liz.

  Cain strode across the small dungeon, and people vanished from his path. He moved purposefully, his entire body radiating power. Compared to Zero, the power that Salvation Cain held was nothing. But compared to the rest of them, he was a mountain among molehills. His aura choked out even Fat Jack’s powerful blue aura, tiny bolts of lightning shot through his aura that twisted with green tendrils. Bunta was right, the man’s strength flirted with champion rank.

  Cain’s aura wasn’t the pure green that Gerald’s had been in his human form, and not even close to the violent purple aura Gerald had in his transformed state. But he was much stronger than a warrior rank slayer had the right to be. His strength likely exceeded that of Tad, Bunta, Ethan and Liz all put together.

  Cain stopped in front of Liz, who stared him in the eyes defiantly. He reached out one hand and grabbed her jaw forcefully. Liz winced in pain.

  “I’ve decided.” Cain said after looking Liz up and down. “You’ll be my woman now.”

  “Like hell I will.” Liz spat in his face. “Let go of me.”

  Rage shone in his eyes, but with his other hand, Cain wiped the spittle from his face. The severe atmosphere condensed even further. No one moved, or even dared to breathe. Tad urged himself to help, to drag himself to Liz’s aid, but couldn’t move. No one did. No one, except for Fat Jack, who seemed immune to the suffocating aura. The large man pulled out a beef stick and munched noisily like he enjoyed a spectacle at the theatre.

  Cain chewed on something else, Liz’s words. Tad could almost hear his mind working. After a moment Cain threw back his head in a dark, rich laugh that filled the room. “You don’t get a choice.” Before she could react Cain pulled Liz’s mouth to his in a kiss that turned Tad’s stomach.

  Tad clenched his jaw. The display shook him from his paralysis, but Bunta’s hand clasped on his arm.

  “No.” Bunta mouthed the word, shaking his head rapidly. The dangerous gleam had completely disappeared from his face.

  A surprised yelp of pain escaped Cain’s throat as he jerked back from the kiss. The tip of his tongue hung by a gruesome thread. Liz spat in Cain’s face once more, this time the spittle was red with his own blood.

  A cruel smile crept onto Cain’s face and he pushed the swinging tip of his tongue back into place, staring into Liz
’s eyes. His tongue steamed as the flesh fused back together, then he raised his eyebrows at Liz. After a moment, he wiggled his tongue back and forth. “Good as new.”

  Liz’s jaw broke with an audible crack.

  Only a small whimper of pain escaped her mouth, but her eyes still blazed with fire.

  Tad had had enough. Instead of him, helpless before Zero, it was Liz who was helpless before Cain, but here he could do something about it. He shook off Bunta’s grip and pushed his way past the frozen people in the room. Tad grabbed Cain’s wrist with both hands, and like he had with the werewolf, he yanked it sideways with all his might.

  Cain didn’t even look at Tad, his arm didn’t budge.

  Tad pulled with all his might to free Liz, but it felt like he was squeezing an unyielding boulder or a steel beam. He was acutely aware of the missing extra strength the gorilla gauntlets had provided him, but it was too late to ask Bunta for those back. Tad strained, but Cain was impossibly strong. Rage blossomed in his chest, rage at the injustice, not at Cain, but all that he had to endure under Zero’s torture. Something black and hot with need filled his chest, but it was deeper than rage, something more substantial. Desperation at his lack of strength mingled with the blackness, and Tad did the only thing he could think of. Like he had against the banshee, Tad filled his fists with mana and charged the firewall spell. His fists glowed red, but black tendrils infected the glow, his fists filled with power.

  It worked far better than Tad had expected.

  Tad yanked once more and crushed Cain’s wrist, but something hit him in the chest and knocked him back several feet before he could tear the hand away completely. But it didn’t matter, Liz was free. The man grunted in surprise and pain and Liz backed away from the two, retreating next to Fat Jack. Tad stared at his glowing fist in shock, but the black veins were gone, the surge of strength had disappeared. What had happened? He had seen that once before, but what had Tad done? How had he done it? Even without knowing how, his mind exploded with the possibilities of his accidental discovery. If only he could harness it-