"Quin!!" Percy screamed out when he saw his friend falling into the hole that opened up thanks to the Mercenary's actions.
"NO! ALPHA!" Dalia screeched as she ran over to the hole that was beginning to close itself up, due to the Dungeon Core's influence. It didn't like it when its floors were being damaged and started fixing itself, and the rock floor began to reform over the hole before the wolfkin could get to it. The Core was able to fix this floor quicker thanks to it being so close to the throne room, as it was one floor below the core's original location.
"RAH! Damnit!" Dalia growled out when she saw her Alpha falling into the hole with her companion.
"DALIA!" Percy yelled out as he ran over to where the hole used to be. After seeing that there was nothing they could do he quickly turned to the Black Rose Mercenary who had a smirk on his face.
"Why did you do that Merc!" Percy questioned sternly as he aimed his bow at the Black Rose Merc.
*Growl!* "You're dead, human!" Dalia growled in rage at the Merc's betrayal of her Alpha.
"I did what I needed to do, kid. It's nothing personal... But if you're sour about it then you could fight me. I just wonder how long your prince and that dark elf can last at the hands of the troll? That's if they survived the fall that is... Maybe it's better for you to find them before it's too late. It wouldn't look good if a retainer came back to the king without his son. Would it?" the Merc said while creeping his way towards the exit of the throne room. He was keeping his guard up just in case.
"I don't need you telling me my business, human!" Dalia snarled back.
"Oh? Trust me... You don't want to test me, mutt!" The Merc chuckled back as he was almost at the doorway with his war hammer at the ready.
"Tch! Fine, but when we get the Lord and the Lady back... I'll personally come for you!" Percy threatened the Merc as he still had his arrow trained on him.
"Really!? I'll believe it when I see it, kid! I'll give my condolences to the fallen prince," The Merc laughed as he turned around and ran down the hallway until they couldn't see him or hear his footsteps.
'That cowardly bastard is lucky I can't leave my pack behind, or else I would chase him down myself. That was a dirty trick he pulled on the Alpha. But I'll remember his cowardly scent.' Dalia thought as she watched the Merc disappear from the throne room.
Without a moment too soon Percy ran to Sir George who was still unconscious after getting thrown into the wall from the Cave Troll's attack.
"George?!" Percy yelled as he tried to shake the knight awake. "Sir George, wake up!"
The knight started to stir and groaned, "Nghh... Damn, my arm feels like it's broken."
"Sir George, we have to go after the Lord. I need your help!" Percy informed the Knight.
"W-What happened!?" George asked as he finally opened his eyes.
"A hole opened up underneath the Prince and Lady Rya. They fell down to the lower floor with the Cave Troll. Can you move?" Percy asked as he helped the knight sit up.
"Yes... B-But my shield arm hurts a lot... Gah! I'm not sure how useful I will be..." Sir George grunted in pain as he tried to move his arm. Then he got to his feet.
"Half of you is better than none of you, Human." Dalia chimed in as she started sniffing the air, trying to pick up her Alpha's scent.
"I couldn't agree more, Dalia. I will try and help in whatever way I can," Sir George replied as he held his arm in pain.
"Then let us go help them! Lady Dalia. Can you find them?" Percy said as he looked around the throne room in hopes of finding a way to the lower level.
"Of course!" Dalia said with a nod.
"Right then, I'll follow your lead, Lady Dalia!" Percy said as he walked up to Dalia.
She was surprised by the young one's forwardness. If she wasn't in a hurry to find her Alpha she would've taken more offense to a human being this close to her. But something about his attitude made her feel safe and giddy. It confused her a bit, but she had no time to think about it right now.
"Don't call me that, Youngling. I'm a wolf, not some noble lady." Dalia growled as she moved her nose around the throne room.
"Heh, I wouldn't dream of it, Ma'am," Percy replied as he stayed close by her side.
"Hmph! Whatever, but don't hold me back, pup!" Dalia responded as she found the scent trail of the Prince and her friend. "Follow me, I've found their scent," She said as she began following her Alpha's scent towards the big throne at the end of the room.
Dalia pushed her nose right up against a specific point in the throne and began sniffing around the throne. "It's here... The entrance to the next level is right here."
"Okay, Let me check and see," Percy asked as he looked around the throne to see if there was some sort of switch or lever. He moved his fingers along the stone throne until he felt something catch his finger. He moved his hand closer to see what it was. It was a small, nearly unnoticeable, switch.
"Found it!" He exclaimed as he pressed the button on the throne. The throne moved forward to reveal a hidden passage.
"Good work, Pup!" Dalia exclaimed as she started moving through the passageway.
"R-Right behind you, Ma'am!" Percy said as he followed Dalia with his bow at the ready. He had a good view of Dalia's behind as they moved forward.
"And stop calling me that!" Dalia growled at Percy.
"No can do... Ma'am!" Percy teased which resulted in him getting slapped by her tail on his cheek.
'Tch, he's going to pay for that!' Dalia thought with a frown.
Once the two were gone Sir George was looking around the room with a look of confusion. "Where's the Merc!?"
Since Sir George couldn't find the answers he followed after his comrades.
***
'SHIT! WE'RE FALLING!' Rya thought to herself while in Quinus's arms until they abruptly crashed into the stone floor below. It was jarring and painful, but not life-threatening. They fell into an unusual cavern that looked like an underground amphitheater. It looked alien compared to the rest of the Labyrinth like they stumbled into a HR Giger painting.
"Are you alright?" Quinus asked as he looked over at her with concern.
"Yeah, just a little shocked is all," Rya said when she stood up and brushed the dust off her clothes. "Huh?"
Out of instinct, Rya pushed Quinus back just as a giant fist came out of nowhere and almost smashed Quinus.
"Whoa!!?" Quinus yelped while watching the fist go by his face.
"Get out of here, Quin! I'll take this guy!" Rya exclaimed as she evaded another attack from the Troll's stump arm.
When Rya was able to get some distance from the Cave Troll she channeled her mana into her hands and was ready to perform a counterattack.
"I hope you're ready to eat dirt, you jackass!" Rya said while summoning her earth magic with an elegant dance move. But instead of creating her usual six-foot tall rock wall that would shoot up from the ground like when she was in the throne room. Instead, she was only able to summon a couple of small rocks that floated up from the mana-infused ground in front of her and those two rocks seemed like they were fighting to even float up by three feet. Something was fighting her mana from summoning her rock walls and this was a first for her.
'What the fuck!?' Rya thought to herself as she used her earth magic again but it still didn't work.
"Quinus! I can't create a rock wall!" Rya yelled out while Quinus tried to close in on the Troll, who was bullrushing Rya.
"I'm coming, Rya!" Quinus yelled out as he ran as fast as he could.
The Cave Troll was almost on top of Rya when it was to strike. Rya didn't have a choice as she used the summoned small rocks and shot them straight at the beast's foot causing it to stumble just enough for her to run away. This gave Quinus an opening to use his special Maja technique that severed the Troll's left hand.
*ZZ-SWING-ZZ!*
Quinus aimed for the Troll's left ankle and thought he would get a clean cut through it. But his blade got caught in its tibia bone, stopping his momentum and halting his strike. Quinus gritted his teeth when he saw the blade of his
"Shit!" Quinus yelled out in frustration, and then the Troll used its stump of an arm and swatted Quinus with all its might.
Luckily for Quinus, the stump arm wasn't as powerful without its hand. But it still had enough force to send him flying through the air.
"Quinus!" Rya screamed when she saw him fly away.
Quinus landed hard on the ground and rolled a bit before he came to a complete stop.
'Dammit, this foul troll will be the end of us if I don't figure out something... Wait! Where's my sword?' Quinus got back on his feet and was in a panic as he tried to find his sword.
Rya was relieved to see Quinus was alright but they had a huge problem. They were stuck down here with no way out and they had no weapons.
"Quinus! Your sword is stuck in the Troll's leg!" Rya yelled out, she tried to use her magic but something was fighting her mana when it went into the ground.
'COME ON! WHY WON'T YOU FUCKING WOR~' Rya's thoughts were interrupted when she smelled something in the air. It smelled like ozone. 'I can smell the fucking ETHER!? That has to be it! The Goddamn Dungeon Core is stopping me from using my earth magic!' Rya concluded.
"Quin!... It's the damn Core! It's blocking my magic!" Rya yelled out as she started to feel the effects of being dazed from overusing her mana.
"Rya! Find the Core! I'll distract this giant piece of filth!" Quinus said with urgency as the troll zeroed in on him.
Rya nodded and tried to sense the ether particles. And just as she was about to close her eyes she felt another presence sneaking up from behind her.
"KILL YOU! KILL YOU NOW! I WILL!" yelled the Hobgoblin King. He went in for the attack with his staff held high.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
*Swing!*
*Boom!*
Rya couldn't dodge the blow as he hit her from her side. The force from the strike sent her flying toward a wall beside her.
"GAHHH!" Rya screamed in agony as her ribs cracked upon impact and she rolled onto the floor.
'I have to get up! I can't... let this thing beat me!' Rya quickly used her healing magic on herself and was able to heal her broken ribs.
"RYA!" Quinus yelled out to her, but he had no choice but to evade the troll's attacks.
'I need my sword back!' Quinus thought while the Troll continued to come after him.
"YOU HURT, MY BOYS! NOW I HURT, ELF!" The Hobgoblin King growled out as it was about to charge at Rya.
Quinus had to make a move and had to make it fast. He noticed some loose gravel beneath his feet and he had an idea. He grabbed a fist full of dirt before he charged the incoming Troll. The hulking beast was ready to finish this annoying human once and for all as it ran at full speed toward Quinus. It was struggling to walk due to Quin's sword that was still embedded in its ankle. But that didn't stop the creature from using its strength to get where it needed to go.
'You only have one shot at this, Quin! Don't fuck it up.' He thought while seeing the monster getting closer. The Troll was prepared to smash the human into a paste as it was tired of the little bug always getting away from its attacks.
Just as the Cave Troll was within arms reach, Quinus threw the dirt from his hands into the monster's eyes, causing the creature to flinch and grab at its face.
*Hurk!*
"RRRRAAAHHHHH!!!" The Troll roared out as its whole face was covered in black dirt.
'IT WORKED!' Quinus Thought as he focused all his energy on freeing his sword from the troll's leg.
He was able to get his hands on his sword as the Troll was stunned by the dirt thrown into its eyes. The Troll was busy trying to rub the dirt from its face and that allowed Quinus to pull his blade free from the beast's ankle.
"RRRRAAAAAAAGGGGGHHHH!!!" Quinus howled out as he gripped the handle of his sword with all his might and ripped the blade out from the troll's leg causing it to bleed again before it healed up. Quinus quickly turned towards Rya and saw the Hobgoblin King was about to kill Rya. She was struggling to get back on her feet from its surprise attack.
"RYA! CATCH!" Quinus yelled out as he tossed Rya his sword.
*Fwoosh!*
"WHAT?" She said with surprise as she saw Quinus throwing his sword right at her.
'Shit!' Rya thought while watching the sword spinning toward her. 'Catch it. Catch it! CATCH IT!' Rya was panicking. But she somehow reached her hand out and was able to snatch the sword by the hilt before it could fly past her.
"I CAUGHT IT!?" Rya exclaimed with joy as she felt the weight of the blade in her hand.
*Thud!*
She landed on her back again with the sword in her hand. Rya had never held an enchanted sword like Quinus', but something about holding it in her hands felt right. That's when the Hobgoblin came into her view as he went in for the kill. From her back, she was able to swing the Sun's Fury with ease and cut the Hobgoblin's staff in half with the sword.
"AGGRRRRRNNNN!!" The Hobgoblin King roared out as it noticed the shining blade coming at him. She managed to stab him in the chest and glared at him.
"You didn't take the hint, now you're dead!" Rya yelled out while pushing the blade deeper into the Hobgoblin's chest. This allowed her to stand up finally as she glared at the monster.
"GURKKKK!!! HYAAAAAHHH!!" The Hobgoblin King roared out as it swung his fist at Rya in one last-ditch effort to kill the elf.
Rya dodged it while pulling out the sword from its chest and swung it around into a diagonal strike. She sliced through the Hobgoblin's neck, cutting its head clean off this body.
The Hobgoblin King's body toppled over dead. While at the same time, the Troll came after Quinus and attacked him when his back turned to the beast.
"QUIN!" Rya screamed out as she readied the sword and used the only magic she thought she could use on this dungeon floor. She channeled her mana quickly before yelling out, "Dark Earthly Blade!"
The sword turned black as it extended out almost like a whip and the tip of the blade zoomed towards the Troll. In less than a second the blade stabbed straight into the beast's right arm, then it curled around and stabbed through the troll's chest before the blade continued towards its left leg, and finally, the blade extended down until it crashed into the ground halting the Cave Troll's attack. The hulking beast couldn't move with its legs and arms trapped by the shadow-like whip-blade.
"'GHH!" The Troll howled out as it felt pain it never felt before. It tried to free itself, but the more it struggled the deeper the blade stabbed into its flesh.
"Rya... What?" Quinus was astonished by what he was seeing. "Wow! How many more abilities do you have up your sleeves?" he said excitedly.
"I might have a few more... I'll show you if we can kill this thing..." Rya responded with a smile on her face.
Quinus looked relieved to see the Troll stopped in its place at the moment, But he noticed that it still had a lot of fight left in it. They need to find the damn Dungeon Core and get out of here if they want to survive.
"I-I don't know how long I can hold this, Quin," Rya said with a little worry in her voice.
Quinus runs over to Rya, "If only we could get this bastard to the surface and let the sun kill it for us... Hey, what happened to your earth magic?"
Rya shook her head, "T-The Dungeon Core is preventing me from using it. I think I can overpower the Core's influence but I don't think I can create any walls and spikes until we destroy it... I don't see it on the surface so I think it's underneath the floor... I just need a second to sense where it is. Once I find it I'll have to use all my strength to open its hiding spot."
Quinus grimaced, "So you'll have to release our friend there, huh."
"Yeah, and I'll need you to stab the Core... Quin. Thank you for everything you've done-"
"Hey! Don't say that! Find the Core and we'll get out of this mess! Plus I need to give you your reward, you hear me?"
Rya turns to look at the Troll, who was being held in place by her Dark Earthly Blade magic. She was trying to estimate how much time they would have before the Troll would be on top of them after she released it from her spell.
'I think we have thirty seconds at most, so we have to hurry!' She thought before looking back at Quinus and his handsome face.
"Haah... Alright, give me a second," Rya closed her eyes as she started to sense the ether particles emitting from a spot like a green-flamed fire about eight feet from them.
"Found it! It's over there, about one foot under the stone floor," Rya said excitedly as she nodded her head in the direction of the Dungeon Core.
"Okay... I'm ready when you are, Rya," Quinus said while placing his hands next to Rya's hands on the handle of the Sun's Fury. Rya took a breath before she gave him a nod. She let go of the sword and it returned to its normal form once her mana was no longer flowing through it. When the dark shadowy blade returned to the sword, the Cave Troll was able to move freely.
"Let's go, Quin!" Rya yelled out when she ran towards the location of the Dungeon Core. She places her hands on the ground and channeled all her mana into the rock floor. She was determined to open the floor up and reveal the Dungeon Core.
"AARRRRHHHH!!" roared the Troll. Now that it was free, it charged after the two of them.
"COME ON, YOU FUCKING, FLOOR!" Rya yelled out as she concentrated on opening the floor with the Core fighting her every step of the way.
"You got this Rya! You're better than this piece of shit!" Quinus shouted out while he watched the floor. He was waiting to strike the Core at a moment's notice. He was channeling his mana into the Sun's Fury which made the blade start to shine even brighter.
"GRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!" the Troll was getting closer.
'You're not going to fucking die here, Ryan, SO FUCKING DO IT!' Rya thought to herself as a crack formed on the ground and spread quickly until a big section of the floor caved in.
*Crack-Boom-CRASH!*
"AAAAAHHHHHH!!!!" Rya was finally overpowering the Core's rock floor as it opened up, showing itself for the first time in millennia. The Core looked like a crystal ball and was the size of a fully-grown cantaloupe. The Core had an eerie green glow to it like it could corrupt and manipulate things to its will.
"HYAH!!!" Quinus yelled out as he struck the Core as fast as he could.
"CLINK!"
The Sun's Fury hit the Core's outer shell. It bounced off at first.
"Son of a!" Quinus spat out as he pushed his weight behind his blade.
"Clink-Crack-Crunch!"
With the added force, the sword tip initially made a small indent as the Core's outer shell slowly started to show cracks.
"Quin!" Rya yelled out.
"I GOT THIS, JUST HANG ON!" Quinus yelled out as the Troll was only twenty feet away from them.
Rya knew that the Troll was going to be on top of them before they could break the Dungeon Core. So, she acted fast by standing up as quickly as possible and grabbing Quinus' sword's handle.
"Together, Quin!" Rya shouted with urgency.
"Right!" Quinus grunted out as they both placed all their weight and force onto the sword's tip.
*Crack!*
With Rya's help, the cracks on the Core begin to grow along with their combined strength.
"RRRAAAAHHHH!!!!" roared the Cave Troll.
The Troll was only ten feet away and was ready to crush them both.
"Hang on! I-I got this!" Quinus said in a panic as the Core's outer shell continued to crack as the sword started to sink deeper into the Core's body.
*Crack!*
*Crunch!*
"Almost..." Rya whispered out.
The Core starts to break apart as the sword penetrates deeper and deeper. When the tip of the blade finally reaches the center of the Dungeon Core, it begins to vibrate intensely and releases a bright green flash. Before Rya and Quinus could respond the Core exploded, sending shards flying everywhere.
*KRRRIIIIIIIINNNNNGGG!!!*
The Dungeon Core was broken into two pieces as the vibrations shook the entire dungeon and the sound was louder than thunder.
"RRROOOAAARRRR!!!!" The Troll roared once it was right on top of them, ready to deliver its fatal blow.
And with that, Rya quickly channeled her mana throughout her body before she stomped the ground, creating an earth spike right underneath the Cave Troll, shooting it up and stabbing the tip of the spike, right through its ass.
"AGGGGGGGHHHHRRRRRNNN!!" the Troll howled out as blood poured out from its mouth and butt. The Cave Troll struggled to free itself as he began to be lifted up to the ceiling at breakneck speed and smashed into it.
*Thud-Thud-Thud*
The Cave Troll was forced right through the ceiling as Rya continued to control the spike, forcing the Troll to keep going through the stone above.
"RRRRAAAARRRGGGGHHH!" The Cave Troll screamed out as it kept being forced upwards and smashed through the ceiling of the next floor.
Rya wasn't going to stop until she knew she pushed that bastard up to the surface or if her mana ran out. And she had a lot of mana to use. Hell, she wished she could send that hulking bastard to the sun if she could. So, this went on for a few minutes as Quinus and Rya heard the pained cries from the Cave Troll echoing from the floors above. Quinus looked up at the hole and was waiting to see the sun.
*BOOM!*
The ceiling of the last floor broke open and the Cave Troll was launched towards the sky. It started to turn into stone before turning into ash. The sun was the Cave Troll's natural enemy as the light killed it instantly.
*BOOM!*
Quinus could hear the sound of the monster's body as it broke through the clouds above and exploded, covering the area in a small cloud of black dust. But Rya was still channeling her mana as the spike continued to ascend, pushing through the last cloud layer.
"Rya! Rya! You got him! He's dead. Calm down... You can relax..." Quinus said as he pulled Rya into a hug. He could see that she was shaking a little.
"We-We're alive? WE'RE ALIVE!" Rya cried out as tears fell from her eyes.
'How the hell did we even survive that!? Fuck IT! We're just lucky and I don't care!' Rya thought to herself as she hugged Quinus. She hugged him so tight that her breasts were pressed firmly against him.
For Quinus, all the hardships and pain he endured were worth it. He got to meet the woman of his dreams and now she was holding onto him as tightly as she could. He looked into her tear-filled eyes and smiled at her.
"Haha... I don't know about you, but I could use a vacation," Quinus smiled at Rya when she looked up at him with a tired smile and hugged Quinus tighter.
If Rya wasn't so exhausted she would have realized that her boobs were pressing against him, causing him to get aroused. This would have grossed her out by having a man attracted to her. But, instead, she just stared at his golden eyes like she was lost in them. She would have stared at them forever if a strange stench didn't fill the air, all of a sudden.
"Ugh, what is that smell?" Rya said as she released Quinus and covered her nose.
"Huh!? Is it me? I'm sorry about tha~," Quinus was trying to apologize when Rya smacked him lightly on the head.
"Nooo! It's not coming from you, dummy!" Rya growled in his face, but it was a playful growl. She was still happy that they were both alive.
"Well, I can't smell anything... And if it's not coming from me, then where's it coming from?"
Rya looked around the cave and saw something strange in the hole, where the destroyed Core was.
"I think the smell is coming from the Dungeon Core?" Rya was guessing as she pointed to the remains of the Core.
"Hmm?" Quinus muttered to himself as he took a closer look at the hole in the ground. Where his sword was still stuck in the ground after destroying the Core. As he stepped closer to the hole, was when he saw it.
"Liquid Ether!" Quinus exclaimed.
"GODDESS! Well, whatever that stuff is, smells terrible!" Rya said with disgust as she backed away.
"Hold on, I'll extract it," Quinus said as he rummaged through his pouch that was strapped around his waist. After searching for a moment he found the bottle he was looking for. It was a glass that looked like a magical glass vial with a red-colored cork on the top. It had a special ability to suck in anything when it was uncorked and it was used to contain magical or poisonous liquid without it leaking out.
"There we go. We should be able to collect the ether with these..." Quinus said and put the vial in the hole where the Blue Glowing Liquid Ether was. "Man, I never knew how much this stuff glowed. I wonder why it doesn't smell bad to me?"
"I have no idea... It's probably because you're a human, and I'm an elf... Or something..." Rya replied with a shrug while covering her nose.
"I feel like there's more to it than that, but I guess it's not that important right now," Quinus said and started to extract the blue liquid. It took only a moment before all the liquid was sucked inside of the bottle.
"That's a lot of Liquid Ether! This should work nicely!" Quinus said with a grin.
"Well, at least that vile stench is gone now. So, let's get out of here... Ah! OH!" Rya cried out as her body started to feel funny in a sexual kind of way.
"Rya? What's wrong!?" Quinus was worried about her and wanted to know what was happening.
"I-It's nothing, I'm fine, uhm... Huh? M-My?" Rya was stunned to see her growing breasts and tried to cover them up with her arms. Then her crotch started to heat up so she crossed her legs. She was having trouble balancing herself as she tried to hide her embarrassment.
When Quinus saw how she was reacting, he knew what Rya's problem was.
"So, it looks like you're getting affected with Mana Rush. It seems you killed the Cave Troll," Quinus said as he stood up and walked over to Rya.
"MMmmm! W-What are you doing?" Rya asked nervously as she felt her pants riding up thanks to her expanding thighs. At the same time, her loins started to form camel-toe as her trousers stretched due to her hips.
'Not Mana Lust! Damn! I don't want him to see me like this...' Rya thought as she was starting to sweat a bit.
Quinus saw the signs and could tell she was experiencing a high dose of Mana Rush and he knew what he could do to help her.