Kaiser’s feet punched the ground, yet his boots were clean as he ran through what felt like muddy water. The weight of his armor and Elara who clung to his shoulders bogged him down, the action less bothering Kaiser than it had been in the past. She looks ahead, Kaiser looks further. She sees a statue, and Kaiser sees the distant but ever-close entrance to the dungeon.

“Section 4, Article 17 of the Order’s Principles…”

Lynda’s words echoed into him as he recalled how he even got into this predicament. Then again, if this beast gets out of this dungeon he would probably have been sent here anyway. Other dungeons had a massive army take on the beast inside, and even then they were not always success stories. Many of these dungeons still stand. So who the hell paid these guilders for essentially a suicide mission?

This area still held the sounds of ancient, the ones that no one could quite explain, some explained it as screams from hell and the heavens. Laughing devils and crying angels.

“Kaiser, what is that statue ahead?” Elara questioned, Kaiser himself looked up to look at the statue. It was moss-covered, yet Kaiser could still see that it was Ashura. Even what devotees of the old cults called the Devil, Satan, and Lucifer, some even refer to it as the Beelzebub.

“It’s a religious statue.” He simply answered. “It was likely built by a member of one of the cults of old before Canaan’s Holy Renaissance took out.”Elara slouched, looking down from Kaiser’s shoulder to his face. “You don’t look curious about it.”

Kaiser looked up at her, then he looked straight ahead at the goal in mind. Make it to the dungeon and see if there’s anyone else there left to save. “Why should I be curious about something that likely predates the trees out here, let alone the statue itself.”

Suddenly as Kaiser looked up at Elara, ahead of him two holes began to erupt from the ground quickly “Kaiser! Ahead!” Reverberated screams were released out into the world from the holes, Kaiser jumped above the holes, and Elara held onto his shoulders as towering giants of golems appeared.

“YOU CAN NOT PASS!!”

They screamed, Kaiser unsheathed his sword swinging it through the air as a purple flare of lightning burned through the air. “Finisirae!” A purple blast forms at the hilt, batted down by the fuller of his blade. It speeds down to the ground, landing on the two creatures with a forced ferocity.

Dust settles into the air, Kaiser relaxes thinking the battle is over, yet one of the creatures screams out, followed by the other one. He lands on the ground, putting Elara down from his shoulders. He looks ahead.

Weaker than usual…?

Kaiser frowned. His sword’s spell had never been that weak before. When he used it on goblins and gremlins—it cut through them with ease. That’s it. These things must have some resistance to magic. He burst forward “Kaiser!” Elara exclaimed, Kaiser turned looking over his shoulder. “Stay there,” he ordered, his tone curt but not unkind.

The creatures, though damaged, rose. Smoke curled from their wounds, but they showed no sign of pain. Without warning, they lunged. Blurring forward with unnatural speed. Kaiser shifted his stance, his grip tightening around Finisirae’s hilt.

His mind registered two attackers, but he focused on the nearest one first. As it lunged, jagged claws slashing for his throat, he pivoted sharply, feinting left. The creature overcommitted, throwing itself off-balance, and in that instant, Kaiser struck.

He twisted his wrist and drove Finisirae upward in a vicious diagonal slash. The blade bit deep, cleaving through flesh and bone with a sickening crack as it tore open the creature’s chest. Its momentum carried it forward even in death, its body crumpling against his shoulder before sliding lifelessly to the ground.

Kaiser didn’t pause.

Using the weight of his last strike, he stepped into a spin, his blade carving an arc through the air. The second creature snarled, claws raised for a counterattack, but it was too slow. With a downward stroke, Kaiser brought Finisirae crashing onto its outstretched arm. A splintering snap echoed as the limb was severed at the elbow, black ichor spraying from the wound.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

The monster reeled back, shrieking in agony, but Kaiser was already moving to finish it off. His blade lifted, poised for the killing blow, and then a roar erupted from behind him. His smirk barely had time to form before his instincts screamed. The first creature, not finished off with barely a body, raised his arm to attack Kaiser from behind.

“Kaiser!” Elara’s voice tore through the air, sharp with panic.

Kaiser moved to strike, but he was too slow. A shadow sat—too close, too fast. Time stopped abruptly, it stretched its hands in sickening increments. He could hear his heartbeat like war drums. Then impact. A force like a gavel slammed into his back, shattering his balance.

Pain detonated through his ribs, knocking the air from his lungs. His vision blurred, and his body flung forward like a puppet without its strings. He had never been hit that hard before. His fingers numbed around Finisirae’s hilt. His mind reeled, thoughts unwrapped into pieces. The demon clawed at him, reaching for his sword. It moved frantically, it knew Kaiser was vulnerable. This was its chance to take the blade and kill him...

Damn… This is going to hurt…

Darkness edged his vision. Somewhere, distant yet searing, a name surfaced from his memory.

I’m sorry, Annika…

The creature walked towards him. Its stone body merged with its fallen partner becoming one huge undead titan. Two heads formed on its newly formed figure they roared at Kaiser as he lay there. Ready to meet his end… before Elara ran in front of him.

“From the Feywild to the accursed Nuar, I set aflame the earth to ignite my opponent!” A huge ball of fire forms at the chest of Elara, as if she were warming her hands to an imaginary campfire she places her hands behind the inferno. “Incinerate!”

The blast leaves her hand, flying at the merged golem as it collides with full force, it burns and tears the stones from its body destroying it as its rock body turns molten. Before it fell, melting into the Earth’s floor.

Kaiser looked on surprised before Elara rushed. Sliding on the ground as she appeared at his slide. He was collecting himself both from the hit from the titan and from watching Elara likely save his life… Save HIS life… Not her being saved. Why was he so weak? Why couldn’t he get up? Why would couldn’t he—

“Kaiser!”

A slap called him back to the real world, Elara looked down into his eye as he looked up at her surprised, his eyes calmed. His gaze settled before he smiled. “Yeah… That’s the name I was given.” Their gazes locked, Elara’s settled before she closed her eyes, exhaling a deep breath of worry before opening her eyes back to meet his again.

“Get up, silly.”

━━━━°⌜ 之后 °━━━━

The dungeon creaked as Wolfe, Lucy, and Mason walked through the stone-layered corridor. They had been trying to stay away from Shattered Angels and other dangerous Floor Beasts. Like all dungeons, this one had several floors. The first floor didn’t have many beasts, but Lucy and Wolfe’s mastery wasn’t exactly high enough to deal with the ones that did lurk there.

Mason had been their backbone, and although he was an orc, Wolfe appreciated that. The dungeon air was damp, laced with the scent of stone and something older, something forgotten Their footsteps echoed in the empty corridors, the only sound aside from the occasional distant growl or shifting rubble.

Lucy gripped her staff tightly, her knuckles pale. “I hate this place,” she muttered, her eyes darting to the dark parts of the hallway. “It’s too quiet.” Wolfe nodded, adjusting his grip on his sword.

“Means something’s watching.”

Lucy exhaled sharply. “Please don’t jinx it.”

Mason, ahead of them, barely reacted. His heavy frame moved with practiced ease, his axe slung over his shoulder. “We need to get to the next safe zone before we rest,” he said. “No unnecessary fights.” He sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. Before a chill ran down all of their spine as a distant laughter caught them off guard.

“...What the hell was that?” Lucy asked as she turned to the source of the sound, before Shattered Angels appeared, walking on all four in a crab motion as multiple of them came from around the corner.

Mason and Wolfe turned at the same time. The Shattered Angel's bodies were disfigured imitations of divine form—once humanlike, twisted beyond recognition. Their limbs bent at unnatural angles, joints hyperextended so they scuttled across the stone like soon-to-be discarded marionettes.

Wings, or what remained of them, jutted from their backs. Featherless skeletal things, more bone than flesh. The skin that clung to their bodies was white and cracked, although the holy light had long abandoned them.

Their faces… Wolfe wished he hadn’t looked.

Porcelain masks shattered and barely holding together, revealed glimpses of eyes gazing at them through fractured mouths that shouldn’t be there stretched into grins too wide. The laughter came from them, but their lips never moved. The sound layered as if a chorus of unseen voices spoke through them.

One of them twitched violently, its head snapping sideways with an audible crack. Then, in unison, they lunged.

“Move!” Mason barked, yanking his axe free.

Wolfe barely had time to react before the first Shattered Angel was upon him. The marks on him glowed as he dodged it, lightning sharply crawling off his body. The lightning-sparked friction moved with him as he grabbed the frozen Lucy, he and Mason tried to bolt it out of there, alive.