The pressure descended upon Kaine, weighing down his shoulders and eye-lids. He wanted to shut them, to close his eyes and look away.

The fear, it filled him, merging with the coldness and coalescing into a feverish horror.

A monster stood before him.

A real monster.

Not some fairy-tail to sleep to, or some Pg13 movie to stay awake to.

The being before him had every meaning to kill him, then reawaken him as a bound slave.

This is a game.

This was a game.

…

To Kaine, this was no longer a game.

It was now a matter of life and undeath.

The fear he felt?

Trivial.

The coldness gouging his stomach?

Unimportant.

The weight that promised to collapse him to his knees?

Foolish.

Surrender was a silly thought to Kaine now, as Jor’s words never rang truer than now.

“I’m done fucking about.” Kaine mused, his smile creeping wider.

His eyes, widening as they stared deeply at the enemy.

Coldness radiating out of his gaze.

“Nidhogg tank, Jor DPS.” Kaine then exclaimed, as blazes of blue engulfed both of his hands once more.

“Haha! About fucking time fucker! Yeeeeha!” Nidhogg shouted as he suddenly leapt high into the air, falling upon the distracted floor boss’s back. Nidhogg grappled the beast, holding on tightly with his massive demonic muscles.

At the same time disbalancing the creature, sending it stumbling back and freeing Jor from the clash.

Wasting not a moment, Jor’s blades flashed with ferocity, clashing into the creature’s bladed legs and chipping away at them.

Ever pushing it back.

As Kaine stood his ground, wisps of blue rising all around him, he chanted.

Pouring his every fibre of being into his control over this energy called mana his voice dominated.

Fully focused, his memory flared alive with oh so many choices to cast.

“Dripping wisp, that which is sinking ablaze, down to hell and up again, alight the chill. Spread frost equal to my burning soul.” The wisps about him then suddenly shuddered, shining a much brighter blue now, there were dozens of them.

Just then the Dreadnaught broke free of the two assailants, sending Nidhogg tumbling off to the side, it turned to barrage Jor with a massacre of stabs and slashes with its many many legs.

Kaine timed it just right, “Soul Star Fall!” He more so demanded than shouted, as his command fuelled the magic further.

The wisps shot up into the air, curving forwards as they slowed down, briefly pausing many feet high up there.

Before suddenly befalling upon the Dreadnaught like a rain of meteors, trailing frost behind them as they fell, each wisp exploded upon hitting the creature.

And where the spell hit, dark blue ethereal ice formed along its body.

“What is this sorcery!? My minion! My dear creation! What are you doing to it foul warlock!?” The dungeon rumbled as the voice exclaimed angrily from everywhere at once.

Kaine, simply laughed.

A wicked cackle that furthered the chill permeating his surroundings.

“Necromancy may be a powerful magic accompanied by the almost infinite mana that comes with being a dungeon, but there is one fatal flaw to it.” Kaine explained as mana reformed along his fingertips, preparing for the next strike. “Necromancy relies on souls, it grasps, binds and enslaves souls. As such, there is a school of magic that has everything I need…”

He chuckled once more, “Sure, learning all these spells now will make learning others harder further down the line, but if it means beating you…If it means surviving another day!” Kaine exclaimed, and his eyes burst aflame with blue.

“Then behold the magiks of the soul, the School of Anima.” His very voice surging with mana as he had been collecting so much into his entire body.

At the same time Nidhogg and Jor continued their assault, the Dreadnaught’s movements having suddenly grown more sluggish.

Nidhogg faced the beast head-on, bashing aside its attacks and charging in with his own maddened rush of fury, putting the monster out of balance and keeping its attention.

As Jor encircled it, cutting away where he found openings to and suddenly leaping in for critical hits on its main torso whenever the opportunity presented itself.

All the while…

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1bhQ3M5mtw

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As a certain pressure arose apart from the one the Dreadnaught exerted…

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

“Bulging from the surging of boiling blood, make the body. Rushing from the fury of the aether, make the mana. Crackling from the raging of the mind, make the soul!” He raised his hands forth, palms wide open and crackling with energy. “Imbue; Unholy!”

And two rays of sickly blue energy discharge out of his palms, hitting Nidhogg and Jor perfectly in the centre of their torsos.

Their eyes, they flared alit with blue fire, as dark blue energy surged through their bodies.

Nidhogg’s veins glowed blue as his form shuddered, growing as it did.

Jor’s ethereal form was instead engulfed by the flame, surrounding him like an aura.

Both growled, before suddenly bellowing with energy, exerting now their own crushing pressure each.

Nidhogg grabbed hold of the Dreadnaught’s legs, as three descended upon his glowing form, two were block whilst one scraped across his back.

His hands clenched tightly around the legs, cracking their surface with the sheer strength he was exerting now. Nidhogg heaved, raising the Dreadnaught off its feet and up into the air, where it flailed helplessly with the rest of its feet.

Jor leapt up, soaring through the air, he danced through it. Slashing forth with deadly twirls, Jor ascended through two of the Dreadnaught’s legs, slicing them clean off.

Before flipping over its head, soaring through the opposite two and slicing those off as well.

Landing just as cleanly, he coiled up in preparation as four limbs crashed down into the ground, unmoving.

The Dreadnaught opened its jaws wide then, as magic condensed inbetween its fangs.

Turning its head to face Nidhogg, it bellowed with fury as it prepared to incinerate the demon.

When suddenly, Kaine appeared in its path.

Hovering before it, his eyes dimming of the last wisps of blue flame.

I’m done taking the backdrop, I’m done keeping to the backlines. I’m bloody done with this shame, this guilt…This god damn fear and anger!

He chanted, as he had been for this entire clash.

“Shadows oh shadows, fill my mind with the bleak black. Darkness oh darkness, dot out my heart with the quiet black.” Kaine’s eyes seemingly lost all their light, going completely pitch black as he continued his chant right after appearing before the Dreadnaught. “Mind oh mind of mine, converge on my soul and make it black. Make it shadow, make it darkness. I am shadow, I am darkness.”

Kaine raised both his hands forth.

“Shit, watch out!” Jor exclaimed, leaping with all his strength to reach him, but he was too slow.

As the Dreadnaught gushed out its fiery breath.

Engulfing Kaine whole…

“Dark!”

A bellow escaped the flames, as darkness then suddenly snuffed them out.

“Shadow!”

A shockwave began from Kaine’s position, expanding forth and filling the room with wisps of darkness…

Still he held his palms forth.

As suddenly each wisp shot back, trailing right into Kaine’s palms.

Forming a small bead of the murkiest black.

The bead hovered upon his left palm as he spun it about, holding it forward and facing up, he moved his right hand over and behind it.

Putting his index finger into his thumb, Kaine took aim.

As the Dreadnaught tilted its head in confusion.

“School of Anima; Dark Shadow Chapter; Soul Arrow!”

Kaine exclaimed, flicking the bead forth.

…

Passing out right then and there, as an obsidian-black beam of energy burst forth from his palm, erasing the entirety of the Dreadnaught’s left torso from existence.

Kaine fell, unconscious he fell right into Jor’s arms who attempted a landing right after but stumbled.

Tumbling away from the agonized beast, Jor hid Kaine’s unconscious body under his ethereal one…

Which had begun to fade.

Taking his chance, Nidhogg then suddenly grabbed the Dreadnaught by one leg with both hands and began to smash it down. Left to right to centre, Nidhogg threw the creature about.

Until suddenly the leg he was holding onto snapped off, all too cleanly for it to have been accidental.

The Dreadnaught tumbled away, immediately recovering itself and standing up onto its final legs, it faced them.

Kaine passed out, Jor moments from fading away, and only Nidhogg standing in its way.

Nidhogg took a step forth, bellowing out ferociously, he also felt his strength leaving him.

As the flames within his eyes faded, his form shrunk.

The Dreadnaught took this opportunity, surging forth, it spun as it soared.

Slicing through Nidhogg’s waste line with one leg, the demon fell to the floor in two pieces, one of which immediately turned to ash and the second shrunk.

Recovering into a fully humanoid form, still Nidhogg was now one tenth his previous size.

And behind him, Jor had just faded away, leaving Kaine completely defenceless.

Nidhogg stood up to face the beast, and behind him Jor took over, rising within Kaine’s body, both were completely worn out.

“Hah, fools, you’ve exerted everything you’ve got to give!” The Dungeon rumbles in a fake chuckle, filled with anger.

And it spoke true, both Nidhogg and Jor were exhausted, they could barely stand.

Yet stood they did.

Face the Dreadnaught they did.

Eyes filled with madness.

As Jor smiled, Nidhogg cackled.

“You…You’re insane! Give up! There is nothing left you can do! The more you struggle the longer it’ll take to resurrect you fools! Do you wish to meet both a long death followed by eternal undeath? It only makes it worse I assure you!”

“Hah…I can handle it! Bastard! Dipshit! Asshole!” Nidhogg blurted out.

“Enough play, time to end this.” The dungeon sneered, and a horrifying sound came from the ceiling above.

Two shadows dropped to the ground, rising to half the height of the floor boss, two very similar but slightly altered version of it now loomed on each side of Jor.

“You have fought fiercely, now sleep, poor fools.” The Lich mused, as the floor boss kicked Nidhogg aside, his body smashing into the hall’s wall and falling limp to the ground.

Each creature now stalked to surround Jor, as his own consciousness waned.

It all seemed helpless now to Jor, as the three monsters loomed over him.

Everything was hopeless, it was over.

They had tried, their very best they had tried.

But this damn game…this damn world has been out to kill us since day one!

He thought, fury filling him, but he had no strength remaining to hold onto that anger.

It simply drained away, as the exhaustion filled what void it left behind.

Jor lowered to the ground, barely able to keep his face up, the mana sickness had fully taken hold.

But he held his face up.

His eyes open.

Just long enough, just in time to hear…

To hear something crack, for that crack to fill the dungeon.

Everything then went still.

The dungeon was dead silent except for a creaking…

As the very doors to this hall began to open.

Jor, and the three monsters, turned to face the intruder.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCPOMFURp8k

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Two figures appeared out of the hallway’s darkness.

A male and a female figure, but parts of their clothes was all Jor could make out.

Their black and dark green feathered robes, covering their body entirely but the hands and face, their face hidden by a black mask with an owl’s visage.

The man held a short thin fencing blade by his waist, while the woman had a two blade-ended whips ready in either hand.

Jor felt the weariness take him, he couldn’t hold on any longer.

The thought of rest was too enticing to his drained body and mind.

His eyes began to close.

Still he saw the flash of movement by the man’s right hand.

The air itself seemingly separated at that almost invisible movement, and the sound of flesh tearing filled Jor’s ears from around him.

The final images Jor saw before darkness took over, were the heads of each monster wetly tumbling down to the floor before him. Each unmoving, as by the sound, their bodies followed.

Jor still heard, albeit too weak to re-open his eyes, his ears were still involuntarily working.

He heard the Lich shriek, a dying bellow before the dungeon’s chilly aura dissipated entirely.

Followed by two voices he did not recognise.

“So, this is him?” Asked the man.

“Mhm, Ventis said so.” The woman replied.

“Then tell Ventis, we’ve recovered the objective.” The man added, “Care of what you say, he’s still with us.”

“Of course, *Ahem*, Nest? This is Rose, we’ve recovered the task objective, requesting mission drop off. ” The women then spoke, seemingly through some kind of long range communication method.

A third voice joined in then, “This is Nest, meet us at the second town over. I repeat, Wing, second town over. Nest, over.”

“Gotcha Nest, Wing heading to second town over.” The woman said, as Jor then heard something come closer…

Feeling a hand go through his forehead and pushing aside his hair, “Hmph, so they really do exist.” The man mused as the bliss of unconsciousness then followed.