Nadia swung her sword at Spartoi's neck with relentless fury while looking out for possible weak spots.

''It has to have some weakness. There is no perfect being so look hard.''

Richard continued to stack Reap and sow, working with Nadia in perfect harmony. Dodging the massive halberd with great vigilance was something that Richard and Nadia would rather avoid.

''We need to find a way to get him down for the count!'' Nadia yelled in frustration while slicing a small piece of flesh off the giant's shoulder.

''I have a finishing move, but it requires me to stack the debuff. Can we maintain this pace while avoiding him?'' Richard continued his assault with Curtain-kun and estimated how much damage would be required for the final burst.

Nadia looked over at Richard and nodded her head.

''Nick, I am going to lure it over. Just keep the pressure up and it will be easier for Richard to stack his debuff.''

Seeing that things were grimm, Nick took a bit more defensive position and continued his casting.

''Okay Richard you are up. No pressure but if this fails we all are going to die here.''

Seeing that his team trusted him so much, Richard burned most of his mana stacking the debuff on the Spartoi from behind.

Nadia saw that Richard was getting faster and the force he applied in his swings was increasing. With a small smile, she continued to lure the boss after her by provocatively slashing at its face and upper torso.

''Just a few more moments guys! Few more stacks and I am ready.'' Richard yelled in an excited voice.

Nadia used Inspect on the boss, and saw that it had lost a substantial amount of health.

''It is almost half health! You better be sure it works.''

Nodding his head, Richard slashed with confident bearing and poise.

''Something is happening! Be careful!'' Nick yelled with some urgency in his voice as he saw the atmosphere changing around the boss.

Noticing the danger after Nick pointed it out, Richard and Nadia looked into each other's eyes.

''Second phase?''

''My guess exactly.''

Seeing that the boss was doing something that felt dangerous, neither Richard nor Nadia.

''I am almost ready for the finishing blow, just a second more...'' Richard said out loud.

Seeing that Nadia and Richard ignored his warning, Nick analyzed the situation with cold rationality.

''It seems so similar to my Blast burn, the only difference is that it is not directional...'' Thinking up to this point, Nick felt cold sweat pouring down his neck.

In slight panic, he started to sprint as fast as he could towards Nadia who was closest to the boss.

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''IT IS GOING TO BLOW UP! TAKE COVER!''

Hearing Nick, Richard did not have any more options but to continue.

''Fucking hell. If I start to hide now, all of my stacks will be gone and we die regardless. It's time to nut up or shut up. I am going to end it!''

Richard prepared to deliver the final blow. Nadia was in daze at the sudden warning, but was startled awake by Nick.

Running at full sprint Nick jumped at Nadia, trying to cover her using his body as a shield and drag her out of the assumed explosion range.

The time seemed to be still from Nick's point of view: Vague yelling of Richard, followed by system notification and then everything went blank.

Bright light flashed behind Nick and Nadia, followed by an eardrum shattering explosion.

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Heavily opening his eyelids, Richard felt mind numbing pain aching all over his body.

''The fuck? I am still alive?''

Looking around himself, he saw the consequences of the explosion and a blue portal. Quickly taking a look at his status, he started to laugh out loud without any regard.

''It worked! It really did work! Hey Nadia and Nick? Where are you guys?''

Hearing only silence around himself, Richard felt an ominous feeling.

Shakily standing up from the pile of rubbish and blood, he started to search for his potions.

''No no no no no. Only two??? Where are all my stuff?''

Downing the bitter potion down his throat, he started to focus on the more important matters: His team. Going around the room and avoiding the blue portal, Richard started to search for Nick and Nadia.

''Nick! Nadia! Answer me got damn it.''

Hearing a slight coughing, he recognized it immediately. Limping over to the sound, he saw a familiar man half covered in dust and blood.

''Nick! Still alive?''

Recognizing Richard's voice, Nick woke up from his stupor and his eyes started to focus.

''Yeah, barely. Help me up and give me a potion will ya?'' Coughing loudly and moaning in pain, Nick seemed to be in pretty bad shape.

''I have one left and I have not found Nadia yet. Drink it first and let us find her then.''

''I can take this bit of pain. What if Nadia is in worse condition and need it more than I do?'' Nick refused adamantly and looked around him for Nadia.

Richard looked at Nick with some confusion, followed by a deep frown.

Startled, Richard limped to his bag and seemed to search for something.

''Bro what are you doing now? Nadia isn't in your bag, so what are you looking for.'' Nick asked with confusion and doubt in his voice.

After checking his bag multiple times and muttering something to himself, Nick was starting to be a bit scared by the actions of Richard.

''What is it? Everything ok?''

Finally Richard reacted to Nick's constant barrage of questions and threw his bag at the foot of Nick's feet.

''All useful gone. Everything from food to guns. If you didn't realize it yet, even your bracers are gone.'' Richard answered and slumped on the ground powerlessly.

''What do you mean all gone?'' Nick could not process that his bracers and other things were missing and started to think furiously.

Richard stood up and walked next to Nick with a downcast expression.

''Nadia is missing, our stuff is missing and all we had left was two potions and our clothes.''

''What are you trying to say?''

''Nadia left us, leaving only minimal amount of food and two potions.''

Hearing Richard's wild theories, Nick was getting little light headed and angry.

''She would not do that! Why would she do that? You are insane!''

Seeing that Nick was in total denial of the reality of the situation, Richard just decided to not say a word and let him think things through.

''Just drink the potion and in the meanwhile I will continue to search for Nadia. Maybe I was wrong...'' Richard started to search the room with limp steps, until he saw a familiar object lying on the ground.

Slowly reaching for it, he felt that all is not lost after all.

''At least you are still with me, Curtain-kun. Nobody can take you away from me.''

Going around the room a few times and confirming that Nadia is not there, Richard finally gave up and sat down on the cold floor.

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In an empty highway far from the dungeon, a car was speeding through the countryside with no regards to the former speed limits.

Sitting in the driver's seat, a beautiful young woman was driving forward with some regret filling her face.

''Sorry Richard and Nick... I have better places to be than nursing you back to health. It's a doggy eat dog world now, every woman for themselves.''

Nadia moved her right arm to touch the halberd that was laying on top of the middle console and gently caressed it.

''I too have my own share of problems... So don't be so mad in the future Nicholas. I'd say we are even now from the time you slept with that secretary of yours. Richard I owe you one if that helps.''

Muttering in a self deprecating manner, she moved her right hand from the halberd to the bag in the passenger seat.

''Don't worry, I will put all this to good use. I already knew that I could not share the reward from the boss the moment I saw the vial.''

Gently pressing harder on the accelerator, the car started to speed up. Seeing that some zombies were walking in packs blocking a large part of the highway, Nadia's eyes started to focus on the obstacles on the way.

Eerily her eyes started to change: The pupils started to dilate and became vertical and the color of the eyes changed from greenish blue to bright orange.

Skilfully evading the packs of zombies, Nadia evaded the packs and continued her journey forward.

''I am coming home, mom.''