Chapter 16 - The Monster Den
Today is the day we are subjecting the [Darkened] monster den.
We have arrived at the area not far from Llyn where the corrupted mana had been concentrated.
“Men, brace yourselves! This is going to be one hell of a fight. This is probably why the capital hadn’t been attacked by the shades yet, the Shade had been gathering strength so we must destroy it before it does so to us!” [Yoichi]
“Yeeeaaahhh!” [Everyone]
“Wait! Don’t charge in yet. Let me give you all a buff first.”
“You can do that too?” [Fernand]
“Of course I can, now [Aura Enchant: Strength, Agility, and Endurance!]”
After I finished my spell, everyone resumed their charge into the giant cavern.
We didn’t even get far in when we were already attacked by hordes of monsters.
These monsters ranged from Horned Rabbits to those at the same level as the previous Giant Flora Snake.
Yoichi, Fernand, Lilith, and Blaze were leading the charge but slowed down after encountering strong [Darkened] monsters.
As for me, I had already begun the monster slaughter.
“Blades of the Burning Asura!”
Thousands of flaming swords appeared and danced along with me as I cut down any monster that crossed my path.
Each slices emits light in the dim cavern.
When I looked back, the soldiers were having trouble against a high level Fire Salamander.
Just as they were about to get fried by its flame, I activated a spell to protect them.
“Earth Wall! and Healing Aura!”
As the salamander opened its mouth to spit fire, my walls of earth went up in front of it while the [Healing Aura] healed the soldiers back to full health.
“Thanks little girl! You sure make things easier, I see why Yoichi brought you with us!” [Soldiers]
“Glad I could help!”
Now then, how about I change this terrain to give us an advantage?
“Frozen Wasteland! Steady Stride! Body Temperance!”
A giant magic circle appeared, causing the temperature in the cavern to dropped rapidly while ice formed over every inch of it.
For the soldiers on our side, I made it so they won’t slip on the ice and gave them resistance to the cold.
Now the monsters were the ones struggling to stand their ground, quite literally.
The soldiers could now easily slash away at the monsters.
It didn’t take long before we started advancing deeper into the cavern.
As we moved, the frozen terrain followed us.
“Amazing, with these buffs and advantages, we’ll be done in no time at all.” [Soldier 1]
“You don’t even feel the cold or how slippery the ice really is. Such amazing spells!” [Soldier 2]
As we approached the end of the cavern, the corrupted mana in the air disrupted my spells.
Suddenly the ice disappeared, the temperature back to normal, and the buffs also disappeared.
“It would seem that you people had taken care of quite a lot of my pets, but that ends here. I am invincible and everywhere I go the mana corrupts and becomes useless, at least for you people.” [??]
From within the darkness came a figure.
He has gray toned skin, a muscular build, pure white eyes with no pupil, and spikes covering his whole body.
“Everyone, be wary of him. He’s a Shade and quite a powerful one.” [Yoichi]
“Welcome, ‘Hero’ to my lair. You may have defeated my monsters but you are no match for me, or my mount!” [Shade]
As he said that an Earth Dragon came out of the ground, causing a minor earthquake.
With the dragon’s appearance, everyone's expression paled.
“Identify”
Monster InformationNameEarth DragonLevel85Health23,012(+9,205)Mana26,603(+10,641)Strength4,693(+1,877)Endurance6,789(+2,716)Intelligence4,300(+1,720)Wisdom3,800(+1,520)Agility3,888(+1,555)Stamina3,603(+1,441)Offense6,570Defense9,505Magic Resist55%Fighting Spirit8,625Bonus[Dragon Scales] All damage (Physical and Magical) reduced by 35%
[Rage] Strength +30% when enraged
*[Darkened]* Ignores limit
+40% to all stats
D...dad was able to defeat something like this?!
And this thing isn’t even level 100 yet!
Status WindowNameZephGenderMaleRaceShadeTitleDark LordAge????Fame????Level93Health32,547(+13,019)Concentration????Mana????Strength8,839(+3,536)Endurance6,097(+2,439)Intelligence8,543(+3,417)Wisdom7,136(+2,854)Agility8,002(+3,201)Stamina4,021(+1,608)Offense12,375Vitality8,015(+3,206)Defense8,536Magic Resist45%Faith????Fighting Spirit10,975Bonus[Dark Lord] Able to control [Darkened] beings
+40% to all stats
[Corruption Master] corrupts mana in a 10 meter radius then begins to spread
Resistance to magic attacks increase by 50%
H...how are we even suppose to defeat this thing!?!?
Ah crap, if I could still use magic, we might still stand a chance but like this…. it’s not going to end well.
“Haliel, I never should’ve brought you along for this….” [Blaze]
“Shit…. I never thought that such a high level Shade would be here…. I made a mistake.” [Yoichi]
“.... W...we’re all going to die!” [Soldiers]
“CALM DOWN EVERYONE!!!” [Yoichi]
“Hehehe, seems you guys are loosing your will to fight already.” [Zeph]
“....” [Everyone]
“Don’t lose hope yet men! Have you forgotten that we also got ourselves a level 100 monster on our side? And as a [Hero] I refuse to die here without taking that Shade with me. Even if I should fall, another [Hero] is still out there, not just the Prince. So fear not, this is what you all joined this unit for right? To protect your family from this Evil!” [Yoichi]
“Y...yoichi is right! I can’t falter here, not now! We will win!” [Soldiers]
“It seems I will be fighting at full strength once more.” [Blaze]
“Please be careful Blaze .”
“Alright, Fernand lead the men to fight the Earth Dragon with Blaze. Lilith, you will assist me in fighting the Shade with Haliel.” [Yoichi]
“Sir!” [Fernand]
“But Haliel is still a child, are you really making her fight such a monster?” [Lilith]
“Does it look like we have any other option? Besides, she can fight better than most of my men too.” [Yoichi]
“Don’t worry Lilith, I’m too young to be dying here.”
“Kukuku. It looks like you’re all ready to die now? If so then, Earth Dragon obliterate them!” [Zeph]
The instant after he said that, he disappeared and showed up in front of me and swung down his arm.
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Shit! Is he aiming for me because I’m the youngest one here?
Seeing the attack coming, I drew my sword to defend myself as I couldn’t get out of there in time.
*BOOM*
“Haliel!” [Yoichi]
Oh god, if I had been just a bit later I would’ve died.
But this isn’t good, my sword broke.
“I’m fine. My sword is broken though.”
Before the dust cleared away, I leaped backwards towards Yoichi and Lilith.
“Oh? What’s this? You actually survived that child? Interesting.” [Zeph]
“Lilith, you got an extra sword?” [Yoichi]
“You think I carry an extra around?!” [Lilith]
“It's fine. Inventory: Equip Blades of Flame and Darkness.”
Instantly my dad’s swords appeared in my hands.
Seems even now you can still protect me dad.
“Okay, ready for our turn at the offensive?” [Yoichi]
“You bet, I’m going to make him pay for breaking my sword!”
“I’ll back you two up.” [Lilith]
“Then let’s go! Hero’s Radiant Body!” [Yoichi]
Immediately Yoichi’s body got covered in light and I could feel immense power surging through him.
Lilith position herself and prepared to charge in with us too.
“Guess a buff is necessary isn’t it? FullBody Enchantment! Mind’s Eye!”
Though offensive spells don’t work anymore, self enchants and techniques can still be used in corrupted mana.
With my spells in effect, my body became light, my strength increased, and my surrounding slowed down.
The first one to go in was Yoichi with Lilith covering his blind spots.
When I finished my preparation, I lunged at Zeph’s exposed back.
“Mirage Blade Dance!”
Multiple swords appeared around me and as I slashed his back, the blades did so too.
Instead of disappearing, they contained their form and began their assault in accordance to my will.
“Tch, annoying brat. Die!” [Zeph]
Though he was only using his hands up to this point, a giant axed suddenly appeared out of thin air.
Grabbing it with both hands, he swung it in full circle and sent all of us flying to the ground and walls.
Again, if my mirage blades hadn’t blocked the attack for me, I would’ve died.
Actually, I would die from any of his attacks with my paper-thin defense!
He hasn’t even gotten tired or lost much health but I already lost one third of my health.
I’m not sure about Yoichi and Lilith, but they must’ve taken damage too.
“You hit a lot harder than I thought. It doesn’t matter though, since you’re all going to die. Come to me corruption, obliterate and consume all those in your path, Dead End!” [Zeph]
After saying that the dark mana within the cavern entered into his axe, creating a black cloud of darkness.
Swinging down his axe, the wave of corrupted and dark energy rushed at me with an incredible speed.
Though with [Mind’s Eye], it was moving at a speed where I could dodge it.
Doing so, the attack missed me but looking back I saw now a giant crevasse.
“!” [Zeph]
This is not going to be good if I can’t use my spells, there is also a gap between my attack and his defense.
Though it’s not that bad with the boost from my dad’s swords, if we can’t even land a hit on him how would we win?!
Ah! That’s it, I just need to clean the corrupted mana right?
Let’s see, if I think of mana as some sort of compound, then if I could remove the molecules corrupting it, it should change back to usable mana right?
Envisioning how to do it, I remember about the spell that Yoichi used to clean the area that had been affected by the Darkening, [Cleanse].
Building on that knowledge, I improved it so that it would be able to cleanse a much more corrupted and dense mana.
“Cleansing Dissolution!”
From my palm, a pure mana appeared and began to expand.
In an instant, all the corruption in the cavern disappeared and I almost depleted my mana pool.
But with this amount, the dark energy had to have gone somewhere else but where?
At the moment we faced a bigger threat so I just put that thought to the side.
“Everyone try using your spells again! There shouldn’t be any problems anymore.”
“What? Oh we can use magic again, okay nice! Everyone let's kill this dragon!” [Soldier]
“Y...you! What have you done to my corruption!?” [Zeph]
“Now that our handicap is gone. Face the light of punishment, God’s Decree!” [Yoichi]
“Ahhhh!!!” [Zeph]
Zeph was struck by a radiant pillar of light that came from both magic circles above and below him.
Amazingly he could still stand after a direct hit from such a concentrated amount of mana.
“W...what!? That was my strongest attack!” [Yoichi]
“Huff….huff…. You little pest!!! I should’ve killed you before you had a chance to do that!!!” [Zeph]
“Yoichi one more time! Put as much power as you can into it and Lilith give him a boost, I’m almost out of mana so I’ll be using it in this last attack!”
“Alright! Stars of Saldir give these mortals your blessing with protection and strength, Saldir’s Gift!” [Lilith]
Along with Hero’s golden light, Yoichi is now covered with a blue brilliance.
“Alright now then. Face the light of punishment, God’s Decree!!!” [Yoichi]
I could feel the flow of the large amount of mana going into his spell.
This one is much more condensed than the previous one.
“I should join in too. And don’t even think of going anywhere, Phantom Grasp: Snare! Now Storm of Radiant Light! and Disintegration!”
With my mana arm holding him in place, many magic circles began forming all around him, both big and small.
First to go off was [God’s Decree] which bathed him in light while the smaller magic circles rapidly fired off beams of light at him.
“Ahhh!!! D...don’t think you even won anything yet, I am but just a small fry to the higher ups! Your nations will fall when they arise!” [Zeph]
Before the spells finish, my last spell [Disintegration] started ‘eating’ him as his health plummeted.
I also noticed that mana was still going into [God’s Decree] even after it activated, meaning that it is a spell which consumes continuous mana to build up power, becoming stronger every second it is active.
When the light faded, all that was left of him were his clothing and giant battle axe.
Looking over to Blaze, I saw that they had also killed the dragon but at the cost of many lives as only a few were standing.
Blaze was battered quite badly and many soldiers were breathing heavily, even Yoichi was out of breath.
When I looked towards Lilith she gave me a shocked look and pale expression.
Huh? Is she really that tired? Or is she scare?
…. Wait tired? Why do I not feel tired?
Instantly I felt pain rush through my body followed by even more waves of pain.
I fell onto the ground, withered in pain, then as I couldn’t endure it any longer I fainted.
___________________________________________________
After we somehow managed to defeat both the Shade and dragon, I felt relieved.
That was until I looked at Haliel, she had blood dripping out of the corner of her mouth while a cloud of darkness stood behind her.
All of a sudden, she fell to the ground and withered in pain.
This happened after the shadow entered her body.
A little bit after she stopped moving, weird patterns appeared on her.
Yoichi and Blaze rushed over to her side and checked her status.
“S...she’s [Tainted]!? B...but how? It’s only supposed to affect monsters and animals.” [Blaze]
“Let's get her back to Llyn as soon as possible. She’s already beginning to develop a fever. Everyone move out! I know you’re all tired but it isn’t safe in here either.” [Yoichi]
With Yoichi’s order, everyone frantically got up and left their dead comrades behind.
Along the way to the exit, everyone picked up the drops.
When we got outside, Yoichi told Blaze to go ahead to the capital with Haliel because the way back on foot would be delayed by monsters.
After Blaze flew off, we continued on foot, fighting monsters along the way.