Torin lifted his tower shield and braced.

“Diamond Aegis!”

Qi rushed through his body, getting pulled through the metal where a web of inscriptions reorganized it and spat out a white, crystalline barrier that nearly tripled his defenses’ reach. In the narrow tunnel, the Abyss Terror had no other options but to go through him if it wanted to reach his teammates.

“Blazing Sunflame!” Sanfire shouted from behind him and he lowered his head as the scorching ball of energy whizzed by, exploding in the beast's face. The energy barrier shook but nothing else, and a moment later the beast smashed its heavy body against it. Its front legs, shaped like a large scythe, scraped against the barrier, leaving deep marks that quickly repaired themselves.

Torin pushed back, countering the heavy forward momentum the monster created. His feet pushed against the hard rock as he gritted his teeth, and remained standing.

“Kill it now! I can’t hold it for long!” He roared.

“Keep it like that!” Sunfire shouted back. “Solar-!”

However, before she could cast her magic, something heavy pushed her to the side. She exclaimed in surprise at the unexpected shove. The back of a scaly crimson beast was all she saw before it squeezed itself past Torin and smashed into the disorientated Abyss Terror on the other side.

There came a loud boom as the two collided and then they heard a sound similar to that of breaking wood. Something snapped violently, and then there came a shriek from the creature of darkness.

Immediately after came a roar and more of those snapping sounds, like a giant running through a forest. In the heat of the moment, Torin released the barrier, and they could see a gigantic creature with dark crimson scales and leathery wings wrestling with the monster.

It held the Abyss Terror in its hands, each twist and turn snapping those impossibly hard limbs like they were but simple twigs. The monster similarly held it in a death grip, its long curved front limbs digging into the back of its opponent. Meanwhile, its sharp mandibles were doing their best to cut off its head, with little success.

“What-?!” Torin was at a loss for words as the two creatures battled, slamming into the walls of the tunnel, each of their movements producing earthquake-like tremors.

Suddenly the crimson beast roared and expanded in a split second, growing even larger. Its leathery wings were suddenly set aflame, and with one powerful push, it overpowered the Abyss Terror as both of them tumbled down the shaft.

The tunnel they were in led down, into the depths, and they just so happened to be at a point where the topography drastically changed.

The rest of the warriors watched wide-eyed as the two disappeared into the darkness, the light of flames quickly dimming as the sounds of battle diminished.

“What in oblivion was that?!” General Red roared. “Who-?!” His head jerked around, but he saw all his usual teammates there. All, except one.

“He transformed.” Magnus said grimly, the large pickaxed hanging by his side. But then he grinned, and the place was filled with his crazy laughter. “He transformed, haha! He transformed and took on the beast, alone! Hahaha!”

“Gerald did?” Sunfire gasped. “Also, was that a Dragon?!”

General Red clenched his jaw and said nothing, seemingly deep in thought. Astrid, on the other hand, already ran after them.

“Is he crazy?! He’s going to get himself killed!” She shouted.

“Hahaha! Yes! YES!” Magnus roared and ran after her with his weapon in hand and a palpable bloodlust aura surrounding him. “To battle! Last one to die is a spineless worm!”

The other members of the team cursed and quickly caught up with him. Magnus was a special case, Cultivating the Path of Mindless Slaughter. He was exceedingly strong in battle, however, that came with a tiny drawback. He didn’t care about his life at all!

Astrid was their healer, but most of the time, her job was just to keep the man alive. Without her, he would have died countless times already. And since those two were the first to run, they had no choice but to follow.

Honestly, even though their healer refused to share what Path she Cultivated, they all suspected it was something similar to him. Why else would a healer fight on the front lines in heavy armor!?

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“Damn it! Just our luck, getting another battle-obsessed madman.” Torin grumbled as they ran through the winding tunnel. He already struggled to keep his few teammates alive with one loose cannon, and now he had two?! He wondered how his luck could be so shit. First, they lost a bunch of good people just recently, and then this…

As they ran, they noticed traces of battle everywhere. Blood, pieces of torn monster limbs, as well as lingering Qi from powerful spells, clearly guided the way. Despite passing many side tunnels, there was no fear of them getting lost.

“Where is this guy?! How are they so fast?!” General Red suddenly exclaimed. They were running, yet the guy who was fighting was still somehow faster than them. He flashed his Spirit Sense in the hope of locating them, but then immediately winced in pain.

“Stupid stone.” He got so many false positives, you would think they were surrounded by millions of monsters. But no, it was just that they were in the Underdark, a place where logic and common sense went to die. The land itself was so full of energy and precious ores that everything around him just glowed in his eyes. It was nearly impossible to use their superior senses.

They just caught up with their healer and the berserker when there was a sudden change.

“Incoming! Get back!”

They all stopped and ducked behind cover as Sunfire stepped forward and spread her hands wide. A glowing fiery barrier formed around them just in time as a tunnel-wide flare hit. The fire was a blazing white, with sharp lightning bolts that ate at her barrier like hungry vultures would a rotting corpse.

“Let me help you!” Torin came beside her and slammed his shield on the ground. “Diamond Aegis!” The white crystalline barrier spread, interlacing with hers, resulting in a shield that was much stronger than the sum of its parts.

The outside flames lasted for a good few seconds before diminishing. After being certain the danger was over, they released the barrier. What awaited them was a tunnel of black stone which was partially glowing red.

Sunfire marveled at the heat coming from the rock and cloaked herself in a layer of cold energy. The rest of the team followed her lead.

“What kind of power is this?! Since when do Abyss Terrors spit flames and lightning?” Torin grumbled.

“I don’t think it was the beasts…” General Red said somberly as he examined the damage.

The large man froze. “But… He’s… He’s at the peak of Golden Core! How?!”

“Yeah… He sure looks like like one. Heh…” The general replied with a forced laugh.

“Woooooah…” Sunfire quietly said as her eyes stared into the distance, unfocused. Who knew what kinds of crazy things the fire-obsessed lady was thinking? Did she just find her biggest inspiration? An idol? General Red sure hoped that was not the case.

“Are you sure?” Astrid the healer added with some suspicion. “He looked… young.”

“Shapeshifter…”

“Ah, yeah… You got a point.”

As they continued deeper, they came across charred remains of what once used to be glowing mushrooms. Or maybe the toxic ones? It was hard to tell when all that remained was a charcoal husk.

But that was nothing special. What really freaked them out, however, was the sight they found when reaching a larger chamber. Charred Abyss Terrors were everywhere. Various tunnels leading away still carried marks of incredibly hot flames partially melting the stone around the entrance, with pieces of burned flesh and fried chitin armor remains scattered inside.

As if that wasn’t enough, some monsters were missing chunks of their bodies, as if something large took a bite out of their chests and discarded the rest. General Red frowned as he examined some of the larger corpses and came to a chilling realization.

“The cores are gone.”

The rest of them sucked in a cold breath at that revelation. There was still no sight of their teammate, so that could mean only one thing.

“Damn…”

“We wanted to fight one at a time, meanwhile he took out dozens at once? Am I missing something?” Torin asked.

“Yeah, my new brother is a monster! I love it! Hahaha!" Magnus laughed, typical for him to find entertainment even during the most serious situations.

“Creepy.” Sunfire scrunched her face in disgust as she distanced herself from the madman. “Although…” She had to admit, their new member was quite interesting indeed. If he truly was the one who created those flames, she would have to examine him closer. Much closer. Maybe even taste his power on a more intimate level…

She rubbed her hands together and licked her lips. The purity of the Elemental Fire was off the charts. An uneducated country bumpkin could easily mistake it for the flames of a Mythical Beast. But she knew better. And even though she knew they weren’t, she still wanted to experience them up close again. She had to!

Astrid sighed and shook her head at all of them, but then she suddenly realized something and her eyes went wide.

“Wait! Isn’t this the path to their lair?! Am I remembering this wrong?”

“Oh, shit!” General Red exclaimed and pulled out a relic, confirming her suspicion. “We are screwed! If he alerts the entire hive, no matter how strong he is, he can’t survive the onslaught of thousands of Abyss Terrors! We need to stop him!”

They all resumed their run with mild panic in their hearts. Abyss Terrors were powerful alone, but as a group, they became an unstoppable wave. And once they were enraged they descended into a bloodlust frenzy that could last days! They would spread far and wide, finding opponents to kill. That meant that if they discovered the breach, the entire underground cavern would be flooded with them.

The barrier blocking the breach could stop a few soldiers, but if the beasts really tried, they could easily break through. Luckily they never did, as it was quite far from their main hive, but if they became enraged… General Red dreaded to think of the consequences.

They had to stop that from happening, no matter what!

“We’re almost there!” Red shouted as he examined the relic in his hand. They had used treasures to scout ahead of the mission so they knew the general layout of the colony, and just a few twists and turns separated them from the main hive.

But then, the ground shook, and a single tone of sound was projected directly into their head. It carried with it a meaning. A simple, primitive one, yet clear nonetheless.

Intruder!

General Red nearly fell on his knees as the mental note impacted his mind, and his eyes went wide. A whisper escaped him.

“We are too late…”