The door to my first floor slowly slid open, the party of five stood at the entrance, a mix of trepidation and excitement written on their face. A few seconds later the door was fully opened, revealing a world of complete silence and darkness.
I watched in amusement as the mood rapidly shifted, everyone but Pal, the old man and Sero began praying.
“Keeper save us! Shine your holy light on the vile darkness before my eyes.”
“Holy lord Asta, lend me your blessing.”
Even though they didn’t react like the others, the old man and Sero were clearly taken aback by the unnatural darkness.
“I didn’t expect..this when you said a void of total darkness–truly vile.” Said the old man, Sero and Pal nodding grimly in response.
Oh? So they knew? Interesting.
Kekeke! This is nothing compared to what you’ll see inside!
The group eventually mustered up the courage to step inside and I could see tension rapidly leaving them when the darkness didn’t consume them or transport them to hell as they claimed it would, which was wild.
They didn’t move much, not even when the door closed behind them, plunging the room in total darkness.
With a twist and flex of his hand, the mage began casting.
“ɶɵʀʏʤʛʍ〯ퟵퟶ㉿〠〆〄〷⳨⳩ⲹⲱ!”
What? W-
Before I could finish that thought a golden ball of light bloomed above his head. The light floated up lazily and banished all the darkness around them effortlessly, ripping apart the threads of my enchantment, returning all that it touched to darkness.
No! What?! That’s bullcrap magic!
I was tempted to kill him right then and there, but I held off. I would make sure the mage died by the end of this, even if it cost me a little, his secrets would be mine!
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
The enchantments I wove into the darkness of the room undid themselves as the sphere of light made contact with them, I didn’t even know there existed magic that could touch them, much less undo them, the more you know, the more you know indeed.
It wasn’t long before they crossed over the safe line and the ratlings began their assault. I had increased their numbers to around 200 by making them live in large underground tunnel networks in a state of deep sleep, they’d only wake up when needed.
That was so inefficient though, if I had spatial magic it would be so much easier. I could just plop them within a pocket dimension or something.
But anyway, the Ratlings began circling them cautiously, clicking and hissing as they did.
“Contact! Move into formation!” Shouted Pal and the group began to shift.
Sero moved beside him and took out a sword out of god knows where, with a flicker of her soul it was suddenly burning bright with fire. The old man took out a book and disappeared from my sight in a burst of azure flames. The mage responsible for that annoying light moved behind Sero and Pal while the archer stayed behind, loading his bows with arrows filled to the brim with unknown energy.
Interesting and mildly concerning!
These guys seem pretty organized and structured! The question is, though, will they last?
A Ratling that was glowing faintly white rushed forward, hissing angrily as it moved. Within seconds it closed the distance between it and Sero, her sword burned with flames as she took off, meeting it halfway.
She slashed forward diagonally, sending a wave of flame towards the charging beast, it ducked and twisted to the side, avoiding another wave of flame that was coming toward it. Now it was deathly close to her and began slashing and spitting at her, that was a mistake.
As its hand moved in for another swipe it was cleanly chopped off by the flaming sword, causing it to hiss in pain and rage. Its body bulged, veins popping all over its body as adrenaline flooded it.
The empowered Ratling charged, moving so fast that it seemed to teleport, its left feet connected with the chest of Sero that folded in instantly with a sickening crunch, the blow contained so much force that it sent her flying over the party, landing squarely on the mage, nearly knocking the man out.
The Ratling let out a hiss of annoyance and moved to finish its job but was suddenly thrown to the ground as something hard connected with its skull.
“Yer fight’s with me! Foul beast!” Roared Pal as he dropped his shield and grabbed his mace, bringing it down on the Ratling’s leg with terrifying speed and force. There was a loud crack as the mace connected and the area instantly turned mush.
It howled in pain but was silenced by another slap to the head, popping it like a balloon, splattering blood and brain matter all over Pal.
Holy cow! Just when did this guy get so strong?
The corpse of the Ratling suddenly glowed white, causing Pal to jump back. Another Ratling used the opportunity to attack the group but was killed by a flaming arrow to the head.
There was a flash of light and the corpse of the Ratling vanished, leaving behind a leather pouch and some leather.
“God above! What? W-”
“Shut up! Not the time!” Pal shouted as he casually smashed another charging Ratling, he moved towards the dropped items and picked them up before throwing them into the air, where the old man appeared briefly before vanishing again.
Sneaky bastard, but seriously, how was he this strong? Did he just power up like that? He killed the common Ratling so easily when Sero struggled with it. Speaking of her, is she okay?
I turned my attention to where I saw her land and saw that she was fine, mostly. Her chest and armor still looked banged up but she was chugging down those black health potions relentlessly, coughing up it and a mix of blood each time.
Eh, she’ll be fine I guess.
I switched back my attention to the group as a whole just in time to see a common Ratling charging towards the archer, it shrugged off the arrows inside of it and continued to speed up, causing the archer to freeze up in fright, a mistake she paid dearly for.
In one swift motion, the Ratling decapitated her before kicking her body aside, it flew like a ragdoll, slamming into the closed door with a sickening splash, then it dashed forward, moving in for the mage.