---The Twilight Sepulcher---

---FLOOR 3---

[Current Spirit Cores: 575]

Klax seemed convinced that this was the final floor. Most dungeons, he said, followed a basic three floor structure until you came to the Grade A and S variants. Then shit got wild.

As Ethan and his party walked over the bridge that was guiding them towards a high arched entrance to the final depths of this sightless abyss, he was filled with both a sense of dread and excitement in equal measure.

Because if a bridge made entirely of corpses wasn’t ‘wild shit’, then he had to see just what the higher tier dungeons held in store for him.

They’d rested for only a few minutes – just enough time for Fauna to replenish their HP pool (after a few false starts that ended in some hamster summoning). The Hopla’s magic was beginning to wither, and Klax told her to save the rest of her spells – they’d need it for whatever the boss of this place was.

Ethan took the short respite they had to consider his skills and make another upgrade in the meantime.

Hide (Grade B -> A)

Spirit Core Cost: 150

Number of sneak attacks without being detected by enemies increased.

No. of attacks without enemy detection: x4

[Current Spirit Cores: 425]

My first Grade A skill…he thought, noticing that the final upgrade cost 250 Spirit Cores to bring the skill to ‘S’ Grade. After that, there was apparently a kind of ‘prestige’ option that Klax had hinted at, but Ethan was content to wait and see just how strong the skill was before he reduced it back down to nil. There’d have to be a damn good benefit before he’d consider doing that…

He decided to save the remaining Cores until he got his new Host. Upgrading skills had become his primary dump for his Cores. It hardly seemed necessary to increase his [Core Stats] when he was swapping bodies left, right, and center. Maybe if he decided to stay in a particular form one day…the body of a dragon so perfect, so powerful with all the skills he transferred to it, that he could burn all the Greycloaks in one fell swoop.

As he daydreamed, the rest of his party crept forward with renewed caution. Fauna’s globe of magelight flickered as she pushed it forward, its luminescence highlighting the bodies of the dead they trod on towards the bridge’s end. Each step felt like trudging through the bloody insides of a thousand dead men, but the bridge bore their weight without a single limb falling out of place.

“Whoever rests here,” Fauna said, “they hold nothing but contempt for the living.”

Klax nodded. “I can smell nothing but the stench of death emanating from the way ahead. Be ready.”

The floor beneath Ethan’s many legs clicked faintly with each movement as he led his companions through the dim expanse of the final floor of the Twilight Sepulcher. The once grand structure had decayed into a cryptic labyrinth, the walls covered in ancient, faded murals depicting battles long forgotten, and the ceiling crumbled in places, leaving gaps through which cold drafts seeped in.

The murals caught Ethan’s eyes, particularly those depicting an ironclad warrior battling hordes of undead foes amidst a frigid, icy wasteland.

“Look,” Fauna whispered, urging her light towards the image of the painted man.

He was the centerpiece of every picture – his eyes shining pearls framed by a gaunt face and a mane of silver hair. The blade and shield he carried with him seemed to glow even in the faded murals that must have been here for centuries.

“Think we’ve found our Delve Boss,” Tara said. “Handsome dude, eh? Even if he’s probably nothing but a rotting corpse.”

Ethan eyed the catgirl. “Would you?”

“Beggars can’t be choosers, especially in this economy.”

Tara leaned forward slightly to inspect the painting – nothing but a tiny shifting of her weight – and every member of the party heard the distinct click of something being triggered.

The catgirl looked down to see her normally nimble paws had just tripped a pressure plate.

“Well…shit.”

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

The door to the chamber slammed shut. The walls bearing the murals began to move, closing in on the party as they squeezed themselves together.

“T-Tara!” Fauna shouted over the screeching of the walls.

“Hey! I ain’t a perfect kitten!” Tara shouted back as she unsheathed her daggers. “Even the trap lady’s gonna fuck up sometimes!”

“Enough!” Klax shouted. “Don’t dwell on the mistake. Think of the present! Ethan?”

Ethan stretched his limbs to keep the walls apart, managing climb to the midsection of the room and bring them grinding to a halt. Meanwhile, his flexile limbs flashed with his twin scimitars.

“Be ready!” he shouted. “Here they come!”

The party followed his gaze to the earth-shattering sounds of the plates under their feet, and the hands that had begun tearing through them to grab at the feet of the hybrids.

[Enemy Identified: Shambling Corpse Mound]

LVL: 45

HP: 700/700

As the floor fell away, Ethan saw that what they were looking at was just like the Scarab congregation – a conglomeration of creatures melded together into a single mass of reaching limbs and screaming maws, each one twisting its boneless neck to reach up and chew at them from below.

[HORDE CHALLENGE ACTIVATED]

“Oh, you gotta be kidding me!”

The voice was Tara’s just before she was dragged down into the pit of zombies.

“Tara!” Ethan yelped, sending down a Roar that knocked her assailants off her. Still, she fell as the rest of the floorboards gave way under the weight of the zombie mountain.

He then let fly a Wing Buffet that carried him down to grab her, impaling several reaching zombies as he fell into the abyss of their corpse-laden lair.

His paralysis scimitar struck true – spearing into the mound of bodies to steady his fall until he fell with a wet slap against the ground and rolled to meet the crashing bodies its foe sent his way.

Tara wriggled free and flanked the mound, her blades digging into its hide voraciously as Fauna struck out from above with what Ethan assumed was meant to be a fireball. In actuality, she spawned a quaking duck that sailed into the open mouths of the living wave of bodies.

“You know what? I take it back. Our luck’s the same as its always been.”

Tara and Ethan avoided a string of clawing arms that the amorphous beast shot out and them, spinning and both readying a return strike that sent the entire mound reeling back while Klax and Fauna skated down its side.

“Flee!” Klax shouted. “If we waste time on this pestilent creature, we won’t have enough energy for the final Boss!”

Ethan struck out at the corpse mountain’s foundation, sending some webs towards the base to keep it stuck in place.

“But…but the looooooot…”

His concern was bashed aside quite literally – the mound reeled and belched out a torrent of acidic vomit that bit at his flesh on the moment of impact.

“Watch out!” Fauna called, summoning up a protective shield as she and Klax joined the party.

Together, bound up in Fauna’s magic protection, they floated on a sea of bloody, chunky vomit – seeing the remains of all the creatures this mound of living flesh had consumed.

---TIME REMAINING: 7 MINUTES---

“Well?” Ethan asked. “Anyone got any bright ideas?”

He looked back to see Tara bent low, cradling her leg in her hands. Meanwhile, Klax was steadying Fauna, who looked as though she was about to heave her own guts out.

“…I’ll take that as a no. Ok. Look, there’s gotta be some way to blast through this thing. Maybe another well timed Wing Buffet could take us outta here. Maybe I could I could proc paralysis and we could sprint the fuck away. Maybe…”

He looked at Klax’sdesperate eyes as the monster wave rose, balled into a fist, and slammed into them, sending them deeper into the flood of virulence.

Damnit, Ethan thought. I am not gonna die in this world buried in shit and vom. Ok, Sys, any ideas? I’m going out on my eight limbs here.

Wait.

Sys, I don’t need your sarcastic –

No, Ethan.

All you need do is wait.

Ethan stared in bewilderment as the mass of flesh reeled its great fist up to smash their bubble again.

“I-I can’t hold the mana-flow!” Fauna shrieked.

Ethan heard her, though there was nothing he could say.

Just wait, eh? Sys, I swear, if this is some –

A Jetstream of dazzling light pierced the blackened skies, cutting all any train of thought Ethan maintained.

He saw the great mound of corpses twist in confusion. Then – the place where it had just been pierced at its apex erupted in a torrent of black bile and blood.

More ribbons of light cut through the corpse-pile, shearing clean across whole heaps of the thing until every body was shredded apart, an ocean of blood flowing from the wounds cut into the creature.

“Fauna…” Ethan murmured. “Hold on unless you want a mouthful of zombie blood…”

The Hopla followed his eyes and, just as dumbstruck as the rest of the group, kept her staff raised high as the blood rain poured down on them, coating the ground with crimson.

Only when another dozen blinding cuts were slashed across the great corpse mound did it finally fall – all its supply of bodies exhausted and drained. The light show, whatever it was, had practically deleted the thing piece by piece – breaking it apart instantly like a paper shredder.

---HORDE CHALLENGE: NULLIFIED---

---ALL ENEMIES VANQUISHED---

And only in the silence that followed the spilling of blood and broken limbs, did Ethan see something shining where the mountain of zombies once stood.

The air was thick, musty, and filled with the unmistakable scent of decay.

Then, a soft skittering sound echoed through the chamber. At first, it was subtle—almost imperceptible. But then it grew louder, more distinct, as it moved from where their enemy had once stood towards them. Ethan’s eyes narrowed as he tried to peer into the darkness.

Then, out of the shadows, the creature emerged.

It was small. It was hairy. It was drenched in the corrupted blood of a thousand dead men. It stood on the mound of corpses—human and hybrid alike—its eyes gleaming in the faint light. Most notably, its silver teeth shone with an almost ethereal brightness.

“What the…?” Klax murmured, his eyes wide.

Fauna stared at the beast, bewildered. “What is that thing?”

Tara, still clutching her leg, squinted at the rodent. “It looks… unnatural.”

Ethan, however, stepped forward, a grin tugging at the corner of his lips. He lowered his blades and shook his head in utter disbelief.

[Ally Identified]

[Theodore, Slayer of the Damned]

LVL: 150

HP: 300/300

The rat tilted its head as if in acknowledgment, its silver teeth gleaming ominously in the dark. The little critter had eyes only for the crimson glare of the Demon Hat himself atop the great spider’s body.He squeaked in recognition, flashing his bloody, silver tooth at Ethan.

“Theodore,” Ethan said with a nod, “You son of a bitch.”