Kover Dungeon,
Briarhoard, Rosendun.
4:23 p.m. 16 th Banem 1092.
A massive crowd, teeming with hundreds of adventurers camped outside the dungeon’s entrances, awaiting their turns. Clerks placed by the Royal Capital stood by the entrances with Rinks, checking up on the situation. The clerks would receive a notice for more adventurers when those inside perished or gave up and decided to exit.
The clerk system was set up to prevent too many adventurers were fighting in the same area. The dungeon’s interior consisted mostly of narrow corridors. If too many people went in at once, the tight spaces would only lead to more casualties. Most of the clerks were constantly on the rinks, receiving timely updates, but a few starkly stood out as not only did they allow anyone to enter, but they didn’t bother calling their representatives.
The reasons for their lackadaisical attitude were the banners hung at these entrances. The ‘Howling Wolf’ banners of the Hopeful Maggots carried the number 1 guild’s arrogance in Rosendun. Did you want to come in? Go ahead, but be prepared to carry out your role as an audience faithfully. Any attempts to sow chaos would only result in futile death.
Outside one of the Maggot-claimed entrances, a warrior lying on the ground squinted and pointed at the sky. “Hey, what’s that?”
“What?” Other adventurers followed his gaze to the sky. The adventurers’ eyes widened in shock at the sight of a ball of lightning rapidly approaching their direction.
A sharp adventurer quickly recognized the danger and shouted, “Scatter!”
Following his scream, the warriors and mages rapidly retreated and then watched as the lightning ball struck the ground with a thunderous boom. The electric arcs dispersed, revealing a daeben sat atop the fabled kirin. Greed colored the adventurers’ eyes, many coveting the divine creature for themselves, but the rider’s presence forced them to swallow their desire.
There was a time when Kashi’s face was not well-known. However, following his battle with Rosendun’s top guildmasters and the event at Rine’s Bar, there was no one in Rosendun who did not know the Hopeful Maggots’ leader’s face.
Kashi glanced at the warriors as he dismounted. He patted Drixlia’s flank and walked to the clerk at the dungeon’s entrance. He greeted the young cerulean woman with a warm smile, “Kover Dungeons, yes?”
The clerk meekly nodded, unable to formulate words as a result of being star-struck.
“Hopeful Maggots’ Vice-Guildmaster,” Kashi said as he pointed at the dungeon’s entrance. “Did she take this route?”
The clerk once again nodded.
“Well, that’s convenient,” Kashi exclaimed with a short laugh. “Makes things much easier.” With that, the daeben raised his hands, and a pair of portals appeared. “Get in, Drix. The dungeon’s too tight for you.”
Drixlia snorted then trotted into the portal on the left while Shadow and Larsial walked out from the other.
Shadow took in their surroundings and then turned to Kashi with an incredulous look in his eyes. “Three hours. You do understand how much of a cheat code you are right now, right?”
“What do you mean cheat code?” Kashi laughed as he led the team into the tunnel amidst the shell-shocked crowd. “Everything I did is legal. Legal.”
Shadow snorted, not bothering to treat that absurd defense with a response. The assassin’s discomfort arose from the fact it had only taken Kashi three hours to reach Kover dungeon from Kirkcour Woods, a journey that should have taken two days at the very least.
Even Drixlia, with its newfound speed and flight, would have needed roughly 12 hours to get there, but Kashi managed to shave off the majority of the required time by teleporting to a village he painted during his initial journey to Merriheim. From there, Drixlia only needed three hours to reach Kover Dungeons.
Kashi, Shadow, and Larsial sped through the dungeon’s floors, their path mostly unchallenged save for a handful of recently spawned monsters. The trio made short work of these obstacles until they reached the 27 th basement floor, where they met a crowd of adventurers.
Kashi walked up to and then tapped on the shoulder of a warrior at the back of the crowd. “What’s going on?”
The warrior, who stood at nearly 8ft tall, responded without looking back, “The Maggots are clearing out the 27 th floor. At this rate, they’ll be the first to reach the final boss.”
“Oh? What floor is the boss?”
“30 th floor.”
“How long do you think it’ll take?”
“The mobs are easy to clear out, but there are too many, and the floor bosses need at least thirty minutes each, so another three-four hours. “
“Hmm, too slow,” Kashi muttered. He had initially intended on watching. After all, this was Leila’s operation, and he did not want to steal the spotlight from her. Unfortunately, perhaps due to the battles over the past few days, his adrenaline was at an all-time high. There was no way he could sit still for three hours with an enticing fight just ahead.
“Sorry, please excuse me.” Kashi apologized and then pushed his way through the crowd with Larsial and Shadow in tow. Due to the narrow corridors, the queue was quite long, and as expected, there were quite a few disgruntled adventurers who did not appreciate the daeben’s antics. However, these issues were rapidly resolved with a ‘reassuring’ shoulder squeeze.
Kashi eventually made it to the front, where he was met with a hume barricade. Beyond the barricade, several maggots were engaged in battle against the demons. These humes, although dressed differently, each wore a sash on their sleeves with the infamous ‘howling wolf’ emblem of the Hopeful Maggots. Their task was to prevent the peanut gallery from interfering with the guild’s hunt.
Kashi’s gaze, as he looked at the Maggots, held a hint of pride, not in himself, but in the spectacular vice-guildmaster who made this a reality. ‘I wonder if they recognize me,’ Kashi thought to himself as he walked up to them.
The guards’ eyes lit up with equal parts reverence and shock the second Kashi stepped out of the crowd. “Guildmaster!” They shouted their greeting and bowed their heads, excitement evident in their voices.
Kashi scratched the back of his head as he let out a sheepish smile. Damn it, these days, more and more people were bowing their heads when they met him. Did they not realize how embarrassing that was? Kashi knew he would eventually have to get used to it, but he would fight against it for as long as possible. At least among his guild members and friends.
“Raise your heads,” Kashi said as he walked up to a guard and patted her shoulder, “Maggots do not bow to anyone.” The daeben smiled. “Thanks for your hard work. Keep it up.” With that, he passed by with Shadow and Larsial.
Shadow looked over at the stunned guards and then at Kashi. “How unfortunate.”
“How so?” Kashi asked.
“I thought they would not recognize you,” Shadow muttered with a defeated sigh. “Would it not have been funny if the guildmaster had to prove his identity to the guards?”
Kashi cast the assassin a silent glare. “Be honest, Shadow. You hate me, don’t you?”
Shadow looked at Kashi with an innocent gaze. “Of course not. Where would you get that idea?”
Kashi snorted. “Let’s go.” Without any obstacles left in their path, the trio was free to join the chaotic battle. The daeben was in a rush, so he did not bother hiding his abilities. With a roar, a humanoid dragon stood in his place. That dragon blurred through the corridor, ripping through every monster in its path.
A Maggot got knocked to the ground by the cambion he was battling, and he winced as the demon raised its spear to impale him. Schlick! However, the expected blow never came. He opened his eyes, shocked to see the cambion with a blank look. Blood dripped from a deep knife wound between its brows. The Maggot looked to his right, just in time to see Shadow stab an unsuspecting cambion in the head, instantly ending it.
Kashi, Shadow, and even Larsial were akin to a force of nature unleashed upon the poor demons. Kashi was like a flood or hurricane, destroying everything head-on, whereas Larsial and Shadow were like the plague—hidden, yet deadly. With the help of the dynamic trio, the Maggots swiftly gained ground on the cambions.
Bam!
During his rampage, Kashi finally spotted Leila at the head of the hunting party, solo-battling against a group of cambions. The daeben suppressed his desire to rush over and instead decided to spectate for a bit. He had not seen Leila in combat since they were low-levels. He was curious how the famed ‘Archery Princess’ fought.
Unlike Kashi, Leila was a true archer in every sense of the word. She only fought with her bow, which always had an arrow nocked. Leila’s nickname, ‘Archery Princess,’ was on full display as she battled the cambions. She countered every attack, be they long-range magic, or sword swipes with her arrows, no matter how seemingly impossible.
Arrows flew out of Leila’s bow at speeds that would put automatic weapons to shame. Even more shocking was that every shot was precise, striking the enemy at uncomfortable angles, forcing them to be in a passive state. This was how she, with only a bow and arrow, managed to lock five cambion generals in a stalemate.
If that was it, Kashi would have been seriously impressed, but there was more! While battling the cambion generals, Leila kept an eye on the surrounding battlefield. An arrow was always there to help any Maggot in peril.
Kashi could not help blushing in shame the longer he watched. His archery was akin to a fart in front of Leila’s archery. Kashi’s archery skills were not poor by any means, but he was not as committed to the bow as she was. If someone were to swing a sword at Kashi, he would either dodge or use his bow to parry the strike. On the other hand, Leila would calculate the sword’s trajectory, notch an arrow, take a step in a favorable position, shoot the sword, and then the owner—all in the space of a second.
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
Kashi met Leila’s gaze and grinned sheepishly, knowing he could not hide any longer.
Leila quickly ran past the cambion generals, further into the corridor immediately she saw Kashi. “Try to keep them alive.” A cambion general snarled in rage and flung his spear at her back.
Bang!
The general stared, wide-eyed as a cluster of light-petals stopped the spear’s charge. Leila, meanwhile, did not bother turning around, continuing her run down the corridor.
“Business as always,” Kashi chuckled as he dashed into the midst of the cambion generals. “Please try not to die,” the daeben teasingly pleaded as he rammed his fist into the cambion general who threw the spear.
Boom!
The cambion general coughed up blood as he crashed into the wall. The armor around his midriff shattered to pieces, revealing a massive hole in his stomach.
Silence descended in the corridor as Kashi glanced at the unconscious cambion. “Shouldn’t die. He’s a high demon.” With that, Kashi cracked his knuckles and then looked at the remaining cambion demons. “I’m itching for a good fight.” The daeben’s pupils narrowed as bloodlust oozed out of his pores. “Do not disappoint me if you want to live.”
“Insolent!” roared the cambion generals and then charged at Kashi.
The daeben grinned as he threw himself into the flurry of blows. He did not do anything fancy this time, choosing to meet the spear, sword, and magic attacks with his bare fists. Despite this, the Maggots present stared in shock as he plowed through the generals with seeming ease. The cambions’ spears and swords failed to penetrate the daeben’s scales, rendering their attacks futile.
Without suspense, the generals joined their incapacitated comrade on the ground within seconds. Kashi glanced at the fallen generals with clear disappointment. As expected, they paled in comparison to battling a demon-god. Well, that kind of battle was not something you could find on every street.
Kashi shook his head as he issued a light sigh and then crouched next to the cambions to check their vitals. After confirming they were not dead, Kashi opened a portal and forcibly sucked the unconscious cambions inside. The daeben had a rough idea as to why Leila wanted them alive. In that case, rather than relying on contracts, he might as well force them into loyalty.
Even amongst demons, cambions were considered one of the worst. They were innately greedy, evil, and held no regard for any life outside their own. Rivers of blood always followed the appearance of cambions. While Kashi might hesitate to brainwash other sentient creatures, he had no qualms about these veritable plagues on society.
Kashi received a notification about the cambions’ successful ‘recruitment’ as he raced down the hallway. The daeben nodded, having confirmed one of his hypotheses about his inner world. It appeared the amount of time taken to ‘brainwash’ an opponent was determined by not only the strength disparity between Kashi and them but their level of consciousness. These cambions were much weaker than the daeben and had been beaten into near-comas. As a result, they could not summon any strength to fight against Kashi’s inner world’s indoctrination.
Kashi pushed these thoughts to the back of his head as he, Shadow, and Larsial approached the end of the hallway. He spotted Leila and Hogosha standing in front of a large, sinister door that all but screamed out ‘boss fight!’
“Hey,” Kashi greeted with a short wave as he walked up to Leila. He introduced Larsial to the vice-guildmaster and then asked, “How’ve you been?”
“Everything is in working order,” Leila replied with a small smile. “I did not expect you here so soon. Can I ask why you came?”
Kashi shrugged with a hapless smile. “Would you believe me if I say I came to boast a little? I’ve gotten pretty strong lately, you know.”
Leila’s brow rose as she regarded the daeben with a knowing gaze. “Were you the type to boast? How come I do not recall?”
“Heh, you caught me,” Kashi acceded with a short laugh. “I found a solution to the problem in Serisis. But more importantly, I needed to see you for something much more pressing.” Kashi’s gaze turned serious as he continued, “The battle at Drakase. We have just over a month until the day.”
“Yes,” Leila confirmed. “After this hunt, I was planning on traveling north with our guild members. We should make it in time to use the skyboat as planned.”
“That was indeed the plan, but because of the skyboat’s size, the total number of troops would have been dismally small. ” Kashi said as a painting scroll appeared in his hand. “I’ve got a better one now. We can even rope in Serisis while we’re at it.”
Leila looked at the scroll in Kashi’s hand and instantly came to a conclusion. “It has something to do with your Dimension Skill, doesn’t it.”
“Together with my inner world, yes,” Kashi confirmed. The daeben ears perked up as the sounds of metal clashes dwindled to a halt. “Seems they’ve wrapped up over there.” He looked at the door and said, “I’ll explain later. Let’s clear this boss first.”
Leila glanced at Shadow and Larsial, then back at Kashi. “Just us?”
Kashi clasped his hands together and bowed his head as he begged, “I promise to share the final boss with the guild. Just let me have this one, please?”
Leila glanced at the pleading daeben with gentle humor in her gaze. ‘When I see you like this, it’s hard to believe you are truly different people.’ Razznik was the same. After a particularly tough battle, he would enter a frenzied battle state, where he searched for as many fights as possible to soothe his hyper-state.
Leila still had no clue how fighting was supposed to be the cure to adrenaline from another fight, but since it made sense to Razznik and Kashi, she decided to follow along. “Fine, you can have this one, but this is a training exercise for the guild. You must leave the final boss to them.”
Kashi hurriedly nodded, reassuring Leila, who finally pushed the doors open.
The entrance opened to a massive hall about the size of a football field. The hall was poorly lit by hanging lanterns, causing most of it to be drowned in darkness. However, despite this, Kashi and Leila could make out hundreds of cambion generals stood in a neat formation in front of a giant 3-meter (10 ft.) chain devil.
Chain devils were the infamous ‘jailers of the Netherworld.’ These humanoid demons had blood-hued skin that evoked the image of rivers of blood. Their muscular frames were wrapped in several chains that ended in sharp hooks used for capturing their prey. After absorbing so much of the chain devil’s own blood, the chains became like one of its limbs and could thus be controlled at the devils’ command.
Leila took one look at the enemy composition and immediately ordered out of habit, “Kashi draw their aggro. Shadow and Larsial hide in the shadows and go for one-hit kills. Do not attempt drawn-out battles. Hogosha, you will assist Kashi. Ensure he doesn’t get ambushed from behind.”
“What about you?” Kashi asked.
“I’ll provide cover for you without drawing attention to myself,” Leila replied.
If it were someone else, Kashi would have wondered if they were afraid and were instead, hoping to send him to his death. However, Leila’s clear gaze revealed the truth. She wasn’t scared. This was simply the best strategy she came up with after considering both the enemy and her forces.
“That’s perfect,” Kashi said as he began to walk toward the cambion forces. “Now, a way to draw all the aggro onto me…” muttered Kashi, as he gazed at the Chain devil. “Guess there’s only one way.”
The chain devil spotted the approaching humanoid dragon and growled, “Draconian, why have you come here? Turn back now, and I may spare your life.”
An evil smirk curled up Kashi’s lips as he walked toward the cambion army. “What a cliché villain line,” the daeben muttered as a giant mandala appeared above him. Thousands of rapidly-rotating arrows slowly revealed themselves at the mouth of the mandala. The daeben stretched his hand toward the army. “Let’s make this quick. [Gilgamesh]. ”
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The cambions screamed as thousands of arrows descended upon them. The arrows tore through armor and flesh, some exploding upon impact. The chain devil roared in rage as it watched the rampant destruction and immediately sent its chains flying to intercept the falling arrows.
However, the damage had already been done. By the time the mandala finally disappeared, over half of the cambion forces had been decimated.
“Damn you!” roared the chain devil as it frantically searched for Kashi amidst the flames and dust. A loud shout drew its attention to the center of its army, where it spotted the draconian with his claws grasping a cambion’s throat. “Die!” The chain devil demanded as its chains zipped toward the draconian.
“You first!” Kashi shouted in reply as he threw the cambion in his hand at the incoming chains. The chain devil did not hesitate in the slightest as its chains tore apart the cambion and continued for the draconian. However, Kashi had used that brief moment to slip into a large mass of cambions. He summoned Ferulic’s Practice Bow and began decimating the cambion army.
Dozens of arrows tore out of Kashi’s bow, turning everything around him into glorified pincushions. The chain devil pursued him in rage, but Kashi always managed to remain a step ahead, mowing down the enemy forces with practiced ease. What he lacked in Leila’s pin-point accuracy, he made up for with power. Each shot from his bow was akin to the roar from a ballista, its bolts tearing through three to four cambions before coming to a stop.
However, despite Kashi’s dominance, there were too many cambion generals present. Their rapid regeneration meant that unless the daeben’s blows were instant-kills, they could persist for an annoyingly long time. If he were alone, this might have been burdensome, but the daeben had dependable back-up.
A cambion took the opportunity when Kashi dodged a sword swipe to spear him from behind. However, a white blur quickly flashed by, and a headless body dropped to the ground. Hogosha spat out the devil’s head and then issued a loud, bone-chilling roar, which froze most of the cambion’s in a ten-meter radius.
Kashi barely had time to consider taking advantage of this when a hail of arrows breezed past him. The arrows accurately stabbed through the eyes of the cambions to their brains. However, even this much could not instakill a cambion. Kashi prepared for a follow-up attack but was once again shocked when those arrows exploded into light-petals. The petals shredded the cambion’s brains and then burst outward, the devils’ blood rolling off their smooth surface.
Meanwhile, on the cambion formation’s outskirts, dozens crumpled over time with dagger wounds on their heads. Shadow and Larsial utilized the shadows to ambush their respective targets, delivering critical blows to their brains to end them in one shot.
This was only possible because of the type of game L.N.E had set out to be from the onset: a mixture of reality and fantasy. In order games, stabbing someone in the head did not mean much, except a larger amount of HP lost. However, L.N.E, in contrast, had ‘fatal strikes.’ It did not matter how large someone’s HP pool was. If they lost their heads or brains, it was instant K.O.
Similarly, if someone’s heart were crushed or pierced through, a massive amount of HP would be lost, followed by major blood loss. If the person’s HP regen’s rate is fast enough, they may grow a new heart before dying. If not, that would also count as a ‘fatal strike.’
The ‘fatal strike’ system was implemented to prevent gamers from fighting like they did on their computers, where they stood in place and hacked at each other. With this system, gamers had to carefully dodge, block and try to kill their opponents as swiftly as possible.
The system led to more skilled players, so there were many skilled fighters in L.N.E even though most of these people were students, grocery store owners, etc., in real life. There were even those who joked that if a zombie apocalypse ever broke out, Japan would be fine since most gamers had learned how to fight the hard way.
Anyway, Kashi, Leila, and Hogosha were employing full use of the ‘fatal strike’ system to aim for headshots or crippling blows to thin out the herd quicker. Meanwhile, the enraged chain demon could only chase in vain, its massive frame making it extremely easy for Kashi to keep track of its location at all times.
Several minutes, and hundreds of dead cambions later, a blood-soaked Kashi faced off against the last boss with a smirk. “Ooh, now that was refreshing,” mocked the daeben as he stretched, loosening his tightened muscles. “I’ve finally gotten that out of my system.”
Kashi folded his arms as he regarded the fuming chain devil. “Hey Leila, what’s your strongest attack?”
Leila emerged from behind a pillar and glanced at Kashi. ‘Well, I guess they really are different after all.’ Razznik was not the type to play with his food. “Do you want to see?” she replied as she nocked an arrow onto her bow. “I haven’t had a chance to use it in combat yet.”
“Heh, that’s what happens when you fight with the guild in mind,” Kashi joked as he unfurled his arms and cracked his knuckles. “Okay then,” he said as he began walking toward the devil. “I’ll set him up. Get ready to finish it…”