Deralst had already realised long ago, how small and insignificant a life was in this world, thousands of people die every single day and yet ironically...... people learnt how to cherish life due to this.
He mused as he walked on at the front of a surviving group of adventurers through the hallways with a torch in his hand. Vullen was at the rear of the group carrying an unconscious female survivor on his back, while the three other survivors walked on silently, downcasted as they followed behind Deralst.
They eventually arrived back to the antechamber hall, where they met up with the necromancer and Nevia, the other female adventurer.
It seemed that nothing else had happened there during the time they were gone, aside from the mess around the place that seemed to have been cleared up by Falces. Except for some of the remaining gore stains, the entrails and visceras of the spiders and undeads seemed to be visibly gone from the area. It made Deralst wonder where the necromancer had cleared all this mess to.
When the other survivors arrived there, they were shocked to see the huge horde of undeads standing at the side of the dark entrance. They were so scared to the point that they would almost flee on the spot. But fear and weakness had sapped them of their strength to do so.
Even though Vullen seemed to have not comment anything about Falsces’s growing bunch of ominous looking animated corpses. Deralst had noticed that he was eyeing them silently as if he was deciding whether he should do something to deal with it.
In the end, he had instead just chosen to reassure the startled adventurers that the undeads were not hostile and aggressive when they were under the necromancer’s control.
Nevia on the other hand was initially surprised when she seemed to recognise that one of survivors as her party member but afterwards her expression turned into one of mourn and grief but she still stayed silent as she eyed the other female survivor occasionally. But whatever happen after this when the survivors got out was none of Deralst's business. He was essentially just a bystander, so he tried to ignore her personal plight. It was not like he had anything proper to say anyway.
“Now that I have done what you asked me to do, what do you plan to do next?” Deralst proceeded to ask Vullen while walking towards him, anticipating his next reaction.
“We will return back to the town and report back on the incident. But first, we need to regroup with the other members from my party." The armored man simply stated.
“It was rather unfortunate but I guess we had no choice after making this encounter.”
The necromancer looked dejected when he heard what Vullen had said. Hvaing silently decided to
After hearing those words, Deralst slowly closed his eyes and started to ask himself. Was that it? Does it had to end just like that? It was a decision he had to make again.
"No, not again....we will not be stopped now, not like this." Deralst declared in a low and serious tone as he open his dark eyes facing the other startled adventurers.
"The rest of you can move on and return back to town but I will continue on with my own quest with Falsces from here instead."
“Wait, We are?” Necromancer was visibly surprised this time as he asked what he had just heard from Deralst.
The holy warrior appeared to be similarly surprised as he seemed like he wanted to say something about it too but Deralst sighed as he ignored the armoured man and turned his attention to Falsces instead.
"Do you have a moment? I need to discuss something with you." Deralst told the dark robed mage as he put his hand on Falsces shoulder and guided him further away from the others.
“Now listen here Falsces, if we return back with Vullen to the association now, we might still get into trouble if they suspected us for this incident. We cannot guarantee that the adventurers’ testimonies are enough to vouch for our innocence.” Deralst talked to the robed man in a low whisper.
“What's more, you do realise that our trip will be delayed even further if this was to happen. Who knows what will happen to your creature by the time when we started searching again.”
The necromancer's eyes widen in realisation when he seemed to immediately comprehend what Deralst had meant while letting out a sound of understanding.
"Instead, we might as well try to continue on with our quest while we can and just treat this as a separate incident. By doing so, we will be able to let Vullen and the other adventurers sort out the procedure while we were gone." Deralst added as a valid point to try to convince the other mage. Which Falsces seemed to tacitly agree on too.
"Are you all done with your own private discussions?" Vullen started asking them from a distance away in a loud voice as the two man turned back to face him, sounding impatient.
"Ah well yes, we were discussing about our current quest and whether it was important enough that we had to abandon it now." Falsces answered Vullen in a formal manner.
"Is that so?"
Vullen voiced his skepticism as he crossed his arms while looking towards Falsces. But Deralst continued to speak on for the mage.
"While it was common sense that we cannot divulge confidential information about the contents of our request, we should let you know that we are also currently in a searching quest and it was fairly urgent too."
Deralst was trying to hide the fact that Falsces who was now standing in front of Vullen was the person who made the request, and thus making the situation a lot more complicated and less desirable.
"While it was necessary to report back to the association about this incident, but it was fairly common for new adventurers at the top floors to encounter various threats and therefore, it was not necessary for two different parties to return back and report on a single situation. As that would definitely disrupt the work of other adventurers everytime." The necromancer chimed in helpfully at the right time.
"While there is sense in what you are saying, but what we have here is a group of unarmed adventurers. The way I see it, it was not mere chance that we met each other. why not help one another instead of just leaving it to a single party to escort them on a risky journey out of here." Vullen thoughtfully put out his own point as he tried to considerately dissuade them.
“Now look here, I am not your friend Vullen. We had already compromised with you and helped to save the adventurers. But right now, we have other important things to do and we should not be balking at every little problem due to this. So this is where we will be parting ways for now.”
After hearing what Deralst had to say, Vullen's eyes turned cold as he looked towards him. But he did nothing nor did he tried to dissuade them anymore. Instead he said something else, his voice more deep and solemn than before.
“In this world we are faced with various adversities and hardships, Deralst. And in turn, you make the decisions in face of those trials. And in turn, your decision made who you are. I pray that the day would not come where you would regret the choices you made.”
A cold shiver could be felt down behind Deralst's back, it was not fear but a premonition. But he had enough of this.
“I will decide on my own path and I will seek out my very own light. I do not need the guidance, old man.”
Deralst stood his ground as he returned the stare back to Vullen. After a moment of tensed silence, the other warrior simply turned around as he walked back towards the other adventurers.
"Very well, then so be it. I hoped that one day you would come to see the light in your path."
"Do not seek to convert me, you holy preacher” Deralst narrow his eyes as he looked at Vullen sharply with hidden aggression.
“.......I am already a person who understands about the darkness...... and with it the light."
"We shall see, the pure can be tainted but can the tainted be pure again?"
Vullen turned to give Deralst one last once glance, his eyes, only his eyes could give a glimpse of what the warrior had experienced.
And just like that, he walked away guiding the rest of adventurers to his next destination. They continued moved on and eventually, their figures were lost in the darkest part of the entrance.
"Hah, those believers, you know I just couldn't stand them." Falsces finally spoke beside Deralst as he still looked on with his eyes hidden in the shade of his hood.
"They seemed to treat the world like their own huge cloister. I guess some might have even literally lived too long in one too." Falsces continued on in good humour as he started smirking again.
"We should get going now, before we encounter even more monsters here."
Deralst want to sigh again, but at least this time, he let out a sigh of relief. He decided that there was no point for them in staying here either and that they should continue their journey deeper into the dungeon too.
"You know what?" The necromancer suddenly spoke again with enthusiasm. "All this corruption and the cryper, I know what this is…. it must be a conspiracy!"
—
As they walked on the long staircase further down into the deeper parts of the dungeon, they had finally moved past the entrance from the dark passage connecting to the fourth floor to reach down to the fifth floor now. Which was quite oddly easy, given that how much trouble they had encounter that happened at around the third floor.
When they finally exited the tunnels to the fifth floor, the dungeon’s terrain started changing as the path ahead started to widen up and what appeared in front of them was.....huge. It was a huge ruined underground city.
The place was so huge that even the ceiling could not be seen from the ground, except for the pitch black darkness above the wide underground complex. The only light around the area was the blue coloured will-o-wisp floating around the place as they illuminated the area around it.
Since he had just came to the town, he had only heard about it from the tavern, but when he had seen it himself. The old ruined city in the fifth floor was far more convoluted and imposing than the town above the dungeon. He felt astonished......and melancholic. A grand city reminding others of their past glory, and ruin.
Collapsed buildings, crumbled houses and the rubbles around it spread out as far as the eye could see. The streets around the city were made of cobblestones and the place was a lot more compact with buildings than it was, like a warren. With dark alleys and streets along with the rubbles as obstacles formed complex system of tunnels that weaved and blocked the old paths, rendering the maps almost useless here.
Despite that, Deralst had still brought a few maps about this place just in case for their possible landmarks and signs. And this is just the fifth floor, Deralst had to wonder how difficult it would be to navigate through the floors that were crystal infested after the fifth floor. And the necromancer’s base was said to be at the sixth floor....
They continued to walk on with Falsces as the leading guide. Following behind them were the necromancer's long processions of animated constructs. After saving the adventurers, Deralst had took the liberty to check with Falsces about his current amount of followers.
From that, Deralst had received information from Falsces that excluding his six stone golems, his undeads currently had a total count of roughly more than sixty of them. He told Deralst that during the new adventurers' battles before, those adventurers had killed around thirty of the undeads with the addition of half of that number as spiders. Yet it was from that battle, that Falsces was able to greatly expand his collection of followers.
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That amount was around six times more than the typical group of unprovoked undeads the adventurers here would encounter. Falsces had left half of his undead followers to gather in the streets near the entrance to ruined city and had the rest of them follow him through the clustered buildings and rubble.
Deralst was constantly on alert as he began to scan the surroundings for enemies while walking on. This was a dungeon afterall and the whole place should be crawling with monsters. So encountering monsters should a norm by now.
"Hah, crypers, zombies, skeletons, spiders, what next?" Unsurprisingly, Falsces was actually looking expectant for their next monster encounter.
"You could try to dig around the place to find out." Deralst offered helpfully and maybe sarcastically.
"Yet there are many things that could not be found......"
Wait, Deralst thought that sounds different.....
He turns his head to see a floating head with two empty eye sockets. Surprised, Deralst shouted out as he backed away from it.
"It's a ghost!"
"Well to be more specific, that was actually a ghast, a wild grieving ghast had appeared." While visibly shaken, Falsces tried to add on helpfully.
The head had disappeared into a wall and all around them were just more buildings and rubbles along with the dreadful silence. But now it felt strangely eerie and clearly unsettling when accompanied with the darkness of the blanketed dark sky that was the ceiling, the shadows of the alleys, weak light of the blue will-o-wisps.
Deralst hastily unsheath his sword as he scan his surroundings. While Falsces ordered his undeads to move to shield him. Deralst was not sure that doing that will help protect the necromancer from the ghast, but he had other things to be bothered with right now.
While it may seem a bit inappropriate for a necromancer, Falsces seemed to feel a bit uneasily and spooked. He turned around to look at Deralst with his already pale face, becoming paler if that was a thing. But in short, he just looked afraid.
"This is going to be troublesome. Ghasts were elusive monsters well known for afflicting torment on their victims and like other ghosts, they were able to possess people too."
"I know."
Falsces said as he looked around nervously. It seemed that this situation was highly unexpected for him as he seemed to be talking more now to reassure himself than to inform Deralst. He understand it, so he simply dismissed him. But this was bad, Deralst had not prepared himself to fight against incorporeal beings.
"Erm, well I may have a few ways to defend myself from such foes but a good swordsman like you Deralst? You stick with me."
"Heh.....heh.....heh....."
A low and soft voice echoed around the ruin buildings like a whisper and it came out of nowhere.
“Show yourself, monster! I will roast you so hard that not even death can save you from me!" Deralst shouted around loudly.
"Let’s quickly get the hells out of he-"
Suddenly the mage turned quiet and when Deralst turn to look at him, he saw Falsces looking at him or behind him in muted shock. Which he immediately understood what it means.
"Oh hells...."
Deralst rotate his body to swing his sword backwards but he felt no resistance. Instead from the corner of his eye, he saw something floated directly towards him. He dodged the dashing ghast by sidestepping his body while he pivoted himself on one leg which he then crouched down to support his front with his other free arm to prevent himself from falling over.
"Damn it."
Right now, the ghast had finally shown itself. As it appeared floating above the path in between Deralst and Falsces. This caused Deralst to be separated from Falsces's group. Deralst click his tongue as he rush to shout at Falsces from the other side.
"Falsces you should quickly move on ahead! I will stay behind to deal with this myself!"
"Are you going to be alright here?"
Deralst could hear Falsces immediately shouting back at him.
"Wait for me near the entrance to the sixth floor for as long as you can! I will return to meet up with you there later!"
Within a few moments, they had quickly decided their next course of action. The necromancer had his minions followed him as he tried to retreat through an alleyway at the side of the building. There was no point in leaving behind any undeads here as they were practically useless in the battle against the ghast.
Deralst had made this decision because he felt that the best way for them to deal with a single ghost right now, was to have a person stay behind to focus on fighting the ghast while everyone else had to separate and leave the place to get as far away from there as possible, so that the ghast would not be able to complicate the situation anymore by possessing anyone else within its vicinity. And Deralst immediately understood that it would be risky without a holy class, he was still currently the best person here to deal with the ghost right now.
"You will not escape from me.....necromancer."
The ghost tried to fly towards the necromancer but a dagger flew through its side and hit a wall. And fire immediately burst out from it, causing the ghast to stop halfway on its tracks while the burning fire continued to block its way forward.
"Ah.....fire, how troublesome....."
"Did you presumed that you could do anything want in front of me? Even if you tried to get away from me, I will still hunt you down, even to the depths of hell." Deralst spoke towards the ghast in a seething but controlled tone.
"......Do you.....really think that I will just come here.....while not knowing who I was really aiming for?"
"All the more reason for me to stop you. I am the necromancer's escort and I will not let you get to him."
Now that Deralst was able to look at the ghast properly, aside from its horrible expression. The head seemed to be floating among a mist that was tinted slightly in green which Deralst assumed it to be its body.
The rippling mist lacked any form of arms and legs as its light limbless gaseous body drifted through the air. Its face was constantly distorting unnaturally into what seemed to be a mocking simile. It felt like more like an unattached mask instead of a face while Its vacant gaze continue to stare on disturbingly at Deralst.
It was a sight that the more faint hearted people who would have been scared stiff by now when they looked at it, becoming hysterical or even turning insane in face of fear, but not Deralst. Not today. Not anymore.
"What are you.....gonna do about it?"
"I am gonna sent you to hell." Deralst challenged it defiantly, the blade of his sword began to glow slightly as it turn hot when Deralst started pouring mana into it. He continued to stare at ghast with his sharp silent eyes. "It is more than what you deserved anyway."
Deralst knew that was risky to taunt the ghost, but by doing this he was able to attract its attention. While it may not be physical, that did not mean that it lacked any mentality either. This means that he could keep it distracted while the necromancer get further away from here.
"You don't know what you are dealing with.....we are but mere pawns.....to much greater beings of power...."
It suddenly flew forward towards Deralst as he reacted by swinging his sword at the ghost. While the ghost was not fast but it could bend and twist its body at impossible angles that no people could do......unless if they died trying it.
"Agh, get away from me. You gutless spirit!"
It started swirling forward around Deralst's arm, as Deralst was unable to avoid it when the spiraling mist collided on his head. It started covering his body, forcing Deralst to inhale from it.
Deralst's head started to ache painfully as if his head was about to split. He tried to resist the possession, but his surroundings was starting to turn dim, as the darkness was creeping closer and closer to him.
He had thought that was he was turning blind but eventually he saw that something appeared in front of him. It seemed like a spectre as it moving closer to Deralst. More and more of those spectres were appearing before him, as they slowly started to take forms. They seemed familiar as one of them stood directly in front of him.
"You sure have fallen. Kid."
The spectre started talking to Deralst in a dry gravelled voice, it had an appearance of a man with a bloodless wrinkled face. He had what seemed like a scar on his left cheek.
"What are you doing here wasting your time inside a dungeon?"
No, this was not real. Deralst was struggling as he was transitioning between reality and his own mind.
"Why do you numb yourself? Pup, are you trying to become a golem?"
Deralst tried to ignore its questions as he felt his awareness becoming more and more distant. He was losing strength and control from his body. He felt like his body was becoming more and more like a burden.....and a prison.
"People died just so you could live."
He could not draw any strength from his body neither could he perceive any sense of control from his body.
"People die everytime. Old man."
Feeling more and more helpless and irritated, Deralst finally decided to reply back to the spectre.
"And yet you are still alive. Stop with your excuses, boy." The spectre rebuked him sternly instead.
"You had given up on yourself, your past. Just so you live on your life meaninglessly."
The voice resounded within him. He felt his heart wrench as something deep within him began to well up inside him. It was not something as simple as emotions but deeper. Feelings of guilt, regret.....and remorse. He tried to ignore it but he could not.....
".......I am sorry."
"People have died in your hands. Good people who trusted you!"
The wrinkled man’s voice was loud and penetrating now. As if he was angry, berating and talking down on him.
He had nothing else to say against it. All the while, more and more of the spectres moved in to appear around Deralst. He could not do anything about it....nor could he say anything else.
"I am really sorry!"
Deralst shouted out shakily in grief as if he trying to drive them away. The darkness creeping closer and closer to him.
"Apologies are pointless to the dead."
"You are just a coward who runs away."
"You are just a deadbeat wasting his time away."
"You are just a failure who threw his chance away."
Different voices wash over him. Deralst closed his eyes, and yet the voices continue to rang through his very soul. He could not forget it nor could he reject it.
He wanted to cry but he could not.
How depressingly sorrowful and.....meaningless.
He should just give up already, and just end it all here.
Nobody would care anyway.....
It was hopeless.
Eventually, his senses was gone and he felt that he was within a sea of darkness.
And It loomed in front of him. Dark, darker, yet darker, there was darkness everywhere.
Darkness, silence and madness, his old friends.
How sorrowful and painful.....
How meaningless, it was a lot easier to just submit to reality and fate.
There shall be peace in death, and in death. Release.
It this age, the world was a cruel, unforgiving, and pointless reality.
What was the point in trying anymore if everything was just going to end up as grains of sand in the flow of time.
Why continue to suffer?
There was silence.
.........
"I am disappointed. So this is how far your resolve goes, is this how much your promise amounts to?"
The man looked at Deralst with cold eyes of disappointment, yet his sharp words caused Deralst to remember something in the past.
His fading consciousness returning back slightly as he turned his attention to the voice.
"You are better than this. Deralst."
Deralst opened his eyes again as he looked at wrinkled man. What was this?
"What have happened to that promisingly adventurous youth? Where is the energetic and cheerful boy with hopeful aspirations and dreams?"
He remembered that he had a goal, a reason not to die. And live on.
"Others may forget but you will always carry on."
"Remember that we are people who lived at the moment of time."
"Remember that we may fall but we do not break."
"Remember that we may be small and weak but we had lived like it was a miracle."
As the man spoke on, Deralst widen his eyes as he remembered what spurred him on.
Even sands could pile slowly over time.
"I am sorry.....and thank you."
It was simple was it not? Just a few words. The old man smiled, it almost looked naturally reassuring and....comforting.
The first step was the hardest, or so he was told a thousand times. He closed his eyes, he felt something surging within him.
One more time.
Deralst focused everything in his body, filling with determination. He tried his best to force himself to move again.
He will not give in now…....He will not go down now.....He. Will. Carry. On.
As if waking from a nightmare, Deralst gasped painfully as he choked on air while falling onto the ground. He had quickly began to regain his senses but everything was still hazy and groggy.
"No....how was this possible!?"
The ghast was staring wide eyed at Deralst with its empty sockets after it was forcefully expelled out of his body. Deralst felt heavy and tired, but he will not give up now.
Deralst gritted his teeth as he tried to stare forward with his eyes filled with conviction. He put all his effort into raising his slumped right arm while facing towards the newly reformed ghast, flames erupted from his palm as it quickly engulf the ghast in front of him in fire. And a loud piercing scream could be heard after.
"Ahhh! I'm on on fire! I'm burning!.....I'mmm buurning!...I'm...."
"Burn in hell." Deralst spat those words as watched the ghost burnt into nothingness.
Deralst felt wobbly and disoriented when he attempts to stand back up. His head was hurting but he still tried to look around his surroundings for other possible enemies, instead he found that he now was on a different street, among unfamiliar buildings and houses.
He must have walked a distance but he had no recollection of how he had gotten there or how to navigate back to where he had came from. But there's one thing for sure, it was that Deralst had realised that he was lost in the city.