The adventurers concentrated, attacking the monster. Klein, Glen and Isabella, who had become a mighty bear, rushed at the head of the squad, from behind them came Vasily's arrow, Robert's [Stone Projectile], and Lia's [Mystical Spear], who was capable of fighting at that moment. Anya was already circling around the vampire, looking for an opportunity to leave his field of vision and dive into the shadows, going into secrecy.
Viktor stepped back with deft cat-like steps, dodging the projectiles. He raised his hands and, smiling, cast the strongest spell he was capable of:
- [Realm of Terror]!
The nearby fighters slowed down: their feet began to sink into the emerging quagmire. The darkness around became so black that it almost suppressed the light of Lia's magical lamps and torches. A host of painful groans were heard from all sides, and the very architecture of the room began to change, filling with various horrors. Monsters of all kinds ran, crawled, and flew towards living people full of warm blood.
One of the creatures attacked Klein, wrapping its tentacles around his shield and trying to reach the paladin’s head with its sharp beak. Another creature, resembling a dead horse with six legs and carnivorous teeth, ran around the vanguard, heading towards the spellcasters in the distance. And Isabella faced an opponent of her own size: a meat golem, consisting of dozens of dead bodies, exceeding four meters in height, suppressed a three-meter bear, although she continued to fight.
Monsters straight from the worst nightmares ran towards the adventurers in an unstoppable stream. Of all the variety of creatures, the titanic shadow especially stood out. The creature, completely composed of darkness, approached the heroes with a slow, unhurried step of four paws. It was so large that even in a room where giants twice the size of a person felt free, this creature had to bend over so as not to hit its head on the ceiling. Her long neck was crowned with a white mask with a sad face, and with this face she looked at her future victims.
Klein tensed and, having injured the monster on his shield, was able to throw it aside. The young man quickly glanced around the area and used his mass spells:
- [Exorcise Undead]! [Light]!
With a multi-voiced howl, many skeletal, zombified and ghostly creatures, including a dead horse, evaporated into thin air with a hiss, after which a bright light dispersed the darkness, blinding the remaining monsters and opening up people's view.
In front of them stood about a dozen remaining flesh and blood monsters, and a vampire who had readied his sword. [Exorcise Undead] Klein seemed not to have affected him at all, and the ancient aristocrat still watched the efforts of mortals with a contemptuous half-smile. And behind him, a titanic shadow took a new step, having also survived the paladin’s spells.
- Well, I sent the boss out! And you cover it! – Glen shouted and poured mana into his legs. Lighting up green, the steel of the runes fused into the body allowed the dwarf to soar into the air, flying the entire distance to the vampire. Having landed, the berserker raised a powerful shock wave around him, knocking back other monsters, and immediately activating a new [Rage] rune, with increased force he delivered a concussive hammer blow to the arrogant bloodsucker.
And he, with a slight lazy movement, floating to the side in the air, counterattacked. The blood-red sword stuck into the dwarf's chest, right into the place where the heart is. However, a moment before this, Robert’s voice sounded from a distance:
- [Stone Armor]!
With this cry, a new layer of skin consisting of stone seemed to grow on the berserker, and the vampire’s sword only bounced to the side with a ringing sound, without causing harm. Victor frowned and tsked displeasedly, moving back again.
Meanwhile, an even more violent battle was going on behind. Isabella fell on her back, letting out a furious roar: the meat golem, only half burned by Klein's spell, knocked down the bear, and with many smaller arms sticking out everywhere from her body, she tore out pieces of flesh that the druid tried to heal with [Regeneration], preventing the enemy from inflicting fatal damage.
Robert came to the girl’s aid; with several [Stone Projectiles], he inflicted enormous damage on the already wounded creature, forcing him to retreat. Isabella took advantage of the moment and, jumping up, knocked down her enemy, seizing the initiative.
On the other hand, Klein tried to defend himself from five creatures at once, not allowing any of them to go deep into the formation. Lia supported him with a hail of spells, and Vasily with arrows. Together, they were already able to defeat two monsters.
The last was taken over by Anya, who was forced to come out of hiding, directly fighting the four-armed, three-meter humanoid. It was with great difficulty that the girl could withstand the pace of his attacks from all sides, not being accustomed to this style of fighting. She was rapidly losing strength, missing more and more blows. She would have been killed long ago if not for the second rank of [Stone Armor] spent by Robert.
The magician himself was forced to engage in close combat, due to the fact that the creatures, distracted by Klein, were able to suppress him and bypass the guy, and even Isabella, who came to the rescue, did not help.
- How do you like my creatures? – Victor found a moment to ask, dodging another blow from Glen. – I spied them on one of my, uh, colleagues. This shadow is my favorite. However, you know what? You somehow deal with them too easily.
The vampire turned into a bat, flying to a distance beyond the range of the berserker’s attack, and, pointing his hand at Lia, his eyes flashed:
- [Nightmare]!
The elf screamed. The voice in her head screamed in a million tones, tearing her consciousness into a thousand pieces. The girl's movements slowed, and as her mental defenses collapsed, nightmarish visions appeared before her eyes. One after another, predictions of the future and memories of the past filled her mind with horror. The girl screamed one last time and froze in the middle of the movement. Her gaze glazed over, becoming as dead as a fish on the counter. Lia froze.
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Robert turned in her direction, looking at the elf in horror. His eyes widened and he shouted:
- Lia! No! [Misty Step]!
The magician, in a flash of fog that engulfed his body, moved to the girl, hastily grabbing her, trying to feel her pulse and bring her to consciousness. The man whispered over and over again in despair:
- No no no! Impossible! You will be okay! Everything is fine! Live! Please!
With trembling hands, he poured a healing potion into the elf’s throat, begging her to wake up. For a few seconds, the magician completely forgot that he was in the middle of a battle, and at that moment his other comrades were fighting tooth and nail. He was brought out of this oblivion by a girl’s cry from behind:
One of the monsters that Robert was supposed to restrain, crept up on Anya from behind and knocked her to the ground with a powerful blow. The next second, he attacked the girl with his whole body, pressing her into the mud. Anya screamed in pain again. Despite the layer of armor on it, the weight of the creature was so great and the strength so great that Robert was ready to swear that even from almost ten meters he heard its spine crack.
The monster reared up again and fell on the assassin. With a wet slurp, Anya stopped screaming. Vasily, behind Robert, let out an inhuman cry of pain, thrusting arrows one after another into the carcass of the creature that killed the girl, even after the monster died.
- [Light Beam]! [Light Beam]! [Light Beam]! - One by one, the surrounded Klein cast spells.
He managed to fight back, inflicting serious injuries on the monsters, but the paladin was covered in many wounds and bleeding. He breathed heavily, healing himself. The ancient lizard in front of the guy made a powerful swing of his tail, launching a rain of his needles at the guy, but he hid behind a shield, saving his life.
Seeing this, the lizard changed its target, attacking the trio of adventurers from behind. Robert saw countless deadly spikes flying towards their position. And, looking at the inexorable death, only one thought came to the magician’s head: “Save Lia!” Losing his composure, exhausted Robert could not think rationally, as usual, and in an impulsive outburst, he extended his hand to the beautiful frozen girl, releasing the last charge of the spell.
- [Stone Armor]!
And a second later, the magician felt three spikes piercing his back one after another, piercing his body right through. Internal organs were damaged, but the man didn’t care. As he fell, he only glared furiously at Lia's face, praying that he could protect her.
The lizard's attack reached the elf, and, to Robert's incredible relief, the spikes bounced off the layer of stone without harming the girl. But they harmed the archer, whom no one protected. One shell hit him in the lung, stuck between the ribs, another passed through the intestines, piercing the spine, the third tore an artery in the thigh, and the fourth entered the head through the eye, turning Vasily’s brains into nothing.
Before his death, he only looked into Robert's eyes. No offense. Without malice. With only understanding and humility. He understood why the leader of the squad chose Lia over him. And he didn't mind it. However, this only hurt Robert's heart more.
With difficulty, the magician turned onto his back to see how the others were doing. Klein and Isabella were incredibly badly injured, but almost defeated all the monsters. Only one lizard avoided the duo’s attacks, and all this time the giant shadow was peacefully slowly approaching the people, centimeter by centimeter.
As for Glen... He was withered. The dwarf's small, dry, bloodless body lay on the ground at the feet of the vampire, wiping his mouth with a handkerchief. Apparently, when Robert lost the ability to maintain spells, the [Stone Armor] dissipated, and the berserker fell in battle...
Meanwhile, the lizard was crushed by the paw of the bear with a victorious roar, and the vampire clapped his hands theatrically.
- And you are stronger than I expected. Congratulations! Congratulations! There is only one monster left. – He pointed to the sad shadow. – Can you handle it?
Klein immediately sent a [Light Beam] at the creature, but the darkness it consisted of harmlessly absorbed the spell. The unfortunate mask turned towards Klein, and Isabella attacked the enemy. She ran to the creature's feet and delivered a powerful blow. And when the druid’s paw touched the monster... Isabella died. Instantly. The huge body fell lifelessly to the ground, turning into a fragile girl. Into a fragile dead girl.
Klein was the only one left standing. He looked at the vampire in front of him. “This is my only way to survive...”, he thought, and rushed at the enemy. Blow after blow came, Klein and Victor exchanged attacks, blocking each other's attacks. Step by step the vampire retreated. Divine rage and power filled the paladin’s body, and he advanced, pushing back the enemy, inflicting wound after wound.
Klein lunged, slipping under Victor's sword, and with his own blow cut off the vampire's leg. Staggering, he fell to the ground with a cry. The paladin stepped on the enemy's hand, preventing him from getting up, Klein raised his sword for the final attack.
And his hand was touched by a shadow with a sad mask. Life instantly left the young man. He fell to the ground like a lifeless sack of meat, not completing the job to the end.
Robert was crying. Lying on his back, he felt the tears running down his face and the blood flowing down his body, and his life flowing out with it. The man was dying. He was happy with only one thing: he saved Lia. Even if only for a few minutes, she would live longer... But deep remorse haunted the magician. For the sake of these few minutes, he sacrificed everything else... And his regret and guilt were so great that they cannot be expressed in words...
The vampire approached the dying man and leaned over him.
- Ohoho, poor fellow. How much you suffered. This is how you will die, do you understand that?
Robert just smiled darkly. He was waiting for death. Only she can atone for what he did. He closed his eyes, waiting for the end. And suddenly he felt something pouring down his throat. The magician opened his eyes and saw a pale aristocrat bending over him, pouring some liquid into the man’s mouth. And his look... The look, as if he was not looking at an intelligent being... This is how they look at guinea pigs.
- Don't be afraid, you won't die. I won't let this happen. After all... - Victor grinned. - I need to get the blood from somewhere, right?
Robert was chained while his mortal wounds healed before his eyes. The energy returned to the magician’s body again, but he could not move to do anything.
At the end of the tomb opposite from the entrance there was a hidden descent down into the vampire’s secret laboratory. Many flasks, cooking utensils, and strange instruments filled the room. There were cages with many animals in it: mice, rabbits, monkeys, people... And hooks hanging from the ceiling, waiting for their prey. And she appeared.
Robert screamed as the point of the hooks pierced his skin, digging into the flesh underneath. He screamed as he was completely suspended from the hooks, his own weight becoming his enemy, pressing against the curved steel in his body every second. He screamed as they cut off pieces of flesh from him with a scalpel, collecting the flowing blood into vessels.
And the worst thing is that Robert did not die. He stopped being human. The wounds healed before our eyes, and the severed limbs regenerated in a matter of days. He could no longer die. Only sunlight caused irreparable harm to his body. And Victor saw it. I saw it very well. He monitored every action of the magician, recorded all the experiments performed... For decades. Until the remnants of his mind left Robert's exhausted body, leaving only a limp meat doll without emotions. Without feelings. No thoughts. This was the end of Robert. In the fifty-second year of his life, having become immortal and having lived for another forty years, the man died.