The self-made timer was slowly counting down, making the group of five tighten their grip on their weapons. Standing in a circle and carefully observing their surroundings, they stained their eyes in an attempt to notice any trace of movement through the red haze. All talks between them had already died out a minute ago, and not on a high point, as the last comment was made by a leader of the group.
“This time it will be three. Everyone, be careful!”
The reminder made their heart skip a beat as the hellish creatures appeared to be too strong for their pathetic CP. Giving almost no experience points for the kill, they demanded a lot of effort to do it. The effort could easily turn a small mistake into a death sentence. Such danger wasn’t surprising as the mission on this floor was a ritual with a straightforward name - “Baptism by Hell and Light”. Therefore, the demons were expected. However, they didn’t know the additional conditions until they entered the portal that was made by royal mages.
The drain of experience, the constant waves of enemies and their growth in number, no map – everything was made to recreate the real hell for them. The group was already quite beaten up at this point. The main tank had gotten several dents in the armor and shield. Others were not better. Only because of their powerful healer, they managed to survive for so long without losing someone in the process. And that was with just two enemies at once. Now they had to meet with three.
“To the right!”
The yell from the ranger brought the attention of the whole group. The tank was already moving, trying to intercept the turtle-like creature. The rest were still watching without blinking, not wishing to miss the others. That appeared to be a good decision as the moment the ostrich emerged from the mist and jumped, the group immediately attempted to scatter, avoiding the deadly landing. The mage reacted faster, already prepared for such an attack.
Staying on the spot and creating the magic shield, he tried to stop the demon’s skill. And like in previous times, he failed. The protective layer shattered at once, not being able to hold the flaming power. Still, it was enough to cause the explosion above their heads, not right between their ranks. Only the sorcerer himself took most of the damage. His half-broken, half-burned body was thrown away. Not dropping his staff, the mage loudly screamed from the pain, while spasming on the ground, until the healing wave from the priest’s hands had washed over his body. The wounds immediately disappeared, exposing injured skin through the holes in the clothes.
Nodding to the priest, the mage hastily stood up and raised his staff. The leader was clad in full steel armor like a main tank and in fact, had the same role, was already blocking the blades of the demon. The ranger, on the other hand, was aiming at a mosquito that was in the process of creating a firebomb. The following activation of skills was almost simultaneous, despite targeting different enemies.
“Guiding Arrow! Explosive Hit!”
“Stone shackles! Fire blast!”
The moment the arrow was shot from the bow, it turned into a glowing projectile. Piercing through the air, it suddenly made a sharp turn before aiming at the legs of the flying enemy. There, amid creation was a rotating sphere with a flame inside. The impact was devastating. Penetrating the firebomb, the second skill was triggered, causing an even bigger explosion. For a fraction of a second, the mosquito’s figure was hidden under the veil of red. Only the inhuman scream was heard. However, just before it disappeared, its tone was changed into an angry one. And then the legless insect was already diving down with its lance aimed at the shooter.
“Shit!”
The effect of the mage’s spells was not better. The moving stone surface managed to capture the legs of the ostrich, preventing it from repeating the jump. The following fire attack hurt it, blinding it, and allowing the leader to cut down the nimble and therefore dangerous tail with the usage of a skill. However, the demon recovered instantly, pecking the attacker. Only the deeply engraved fear had saved the warrior. Not wishing to risk, the leader wasn’t trying to damage the creature no matter the cost. And that helped him to react in time, falling backward from the fright, so the lightning-fast strike had missed his face. Dropping on the back, and crawling in a shocked state, he woke up when he heard the scream.
“Save me!”
Turning his head to the side, the leader noticed how the mosquito’s lance was stuck in the ranger’s thigh, while the hellish demon tried to trash the man. The latter was barely holding. His knife on the belt was forgotten, and the archer was mindlessly trying to push the giant insect from himself just with bare hands. Obviously, it wasn’t working, and his leg was slowly turning into pieces of meat.
“Move!”
The priest’s shout finally pushed the leader into action. However, the healer was faster. Running to the captured ostrich, he was in the midst of a swing with a long staff. The sudden movement switched the demon’s attention from the warrior to a new target, but the mage simply repeated the stone spell, stopping the attack. In the next moment, the tip-point of the wooden staff toughed the body of the hellish creature, flickering with yellow light.
“Paralyzing touch!”
The glow enveloped all its figures, halting it in a mid-strike. Raising his eyes, the priest only gulped looking at a frozen beak in mere centimeters from his face. However, he didn’t have time to lazy around. Turning his head to the side, the priest immediately sprinted to the ranger. The leader’s sword was already in motion, entering the flesh of the mosquito. Strengthened by the skill and improved attributes, the blade still barely managed to travel more than halfway through the tiny demon’s body. Still, it was enough. The insect paused and finally gave the archer the ability to drop the ugly body from himself. The moment later he screamed from pain, observing his severed limb with a shock.
“Calm down! I can heal you! Take your bow – the fight is not over!”
The command from the healer together with a warm wave eased his mind, and the ranger obeyed. Grabbing his dropped weapon and thanking his luck that it wasn’t damaged, he pushed himself upwards. The periphery of his sight showed how both their warriors were fighting against the huge turtle. Maybe it was an exaggeration to call it a fight as it was more like a futile attempt to stop the armored vehicle with bare hands. Even their tank, whose body now looked like covered in huge stone armor, was on the verge of falling. No matter how tough she was, the demon was too powerful. The help of the leader didn’t change the situation at all, as the man specialized in negotiations with NPC, and, despite the equipment of the knight, never had a combat power on par with others in the group.
“Oily ground! Fire Blast!”
The chains of spells creature a huge bonfire on the spot, where the ostrich was. Lighting the surroundings, created multiple shadows across the sandy surface from the fighting figures. And that was the trigger that ranger waited.
“Shadow arrow! Triple attack!”
The pitch-black pointy constructs emerged from the ground. Halting for the moment as if trying to show off, they shot forward with insane speed. Amid the flight their number magically increased amid, literally showering the ostrich with the rain of arrows. That appeared to be enough to finally kill the bird-like demon. Unfortunately, this time was also used by a turtle to grip the leader of the group with its tentacles and slam him into the ground. Fearing to hit their own man by accident, they lost precious time to stop the hellish creature. Only after a few strikes, did the turtle simply raise upwards and shove the yelling leader underneath it before dropping down. The sound abruptly disappeared as it was cut off.
Stolen story; please report.
Even when the turtle was already dead, they found nothing, confirming that the man had already vanished after the death. That led to a long silence between the remaining members of the group. After so many floors they were not new to the death of friends or party mates, but this time it was intensified by the understanding that they would soon follow him. The first one to break the heavy atmosphere was the healer.
“I know how it looks… My mana will not regenerate fully between the fights. We’ve lost our leader. And the next fights will not be any easier. Still, we are not dead yet. So, brace yourself, and let’s go. We will find the altar to finish the mission of the floor, and everything will end.”
“I am not sure about that,” the ranger sighed, looking at the dented remnants of the tank’s shield and signs of chewing on the helmet that tore the visor, opening a view on the young girl.
“I agree… It doesn’t look good for us. But what choice do we have? Or do you want to obediently lay down and wait for your death?” The mage interfered, stopping the archer from continuing his thought.
“Frankly speaking, it’s not even the worst situation I was in,” the priest sighed. Catching the surprised glances from the rest, he explained, “As you remember, there was a floor with a massive battle… Forgot the number. It was an introduction to the Dark God’s generals. There were several different variants of this mission. The siege of the mountain fortress by ogres. The forest battle in the woods between orcs and elves. Maybe more, but it was what I heard from you. I was in the besieged city against the horde of the undead.”
“Someone mentioned that the last part was broken, but didn’t go into details,” the tanks spoke, thinking aloud.
“Yes. Broken – is a perfect definition. We retreated to the last keep in the center of the city and waited for the mages to build a portal to escape. The mission was just to hold. The undead were calmly waiting outside as if giving time for the Archi-Lich to come and showcase its might. However, there was another… boss? Mob? Enemy? I don’t know who he was. Clad in armor, he slowly walked to the front gates, ignoring literally the ocean of spells and arrows from the walls like they were nothing. And then he attacked… I don’t know what he did, but the whole keep simply broke apart… I was saved by the System itself, forcefully teleported to the next stage. But my team and many others were not so lucky.”
“And what is the point of this story? We all lost our friends in this damned place,” the ranger asked.
“The point in an overwhelming feeling of fear, when the floor under your feet starts to crumble and then you fall down, together with stone debris only to be frozen in a second… You can’t move at all, but you can see everything around you in the same frozen state. To see how the huge stone fragment is crushing the head of your friend, who boasted that his spell would kill the overconfident enemy. To see smashed parts of others, who were already dead by this point. To see the blood drops from your own wound only to notice that your legs are completely gone. To see the Death herself is already preparing a grave for you, and you don’t have an option to say no. Only patiently wait for it. For this decided outcome. That experience broke something in me, changing me forever… However, right now this situation is not the same. We have a way out, and I don’t want to lose it. So, let’s fucking go!”
The ending shout of the priest caused an adrenaline injection into everyone. Silently nodding, they hastily started to move through the haze. Surprisingly, the next fight went much easier. Maybe it was because everyone didn’t hold back, pushing themselves to the limits. Maybe it was the combination of the enemies, which made it easier. The coordination between their attacks appeared to be so smooth and seamless that the demons didn’t stand a chance. It didn’t mean that there were no wounds – the healer had to restore the mage – but it did look like they had a chance.
The confirmation of it only strengthened when the group saw the flickering blue light that penetrated the thick haze. The raised mood could be seen not only in the wide smiles on their faces but also in every action they made. Each of them seemed to get a second breath, gaining the energy to move forward. However, it led only to a bigger blow, when they finally approached the altar… Or better to say, the area around.
“What the hell is that?”
“A hell?”
“I know that we are in hell, but what is that? How the fuck we are going to get our blessing?”
The ranger’s shout resounded through the surroundings, but nobody cared. Their eyes glued to the transparent dome around the altar, they were speechless. The group was waiting for the guardians to fight, but the picture in front of them was way beyond anything reasonable. There were so many demons that the area looked like a jar filled with hellish creatures. Cramped over each other, they were barely able to move. That didn’t affect their aggressive nature, but in such a tight space and under the invisible protective shield they couldn’t do much.
“Maybe there is a gap somewhere from the other side?”
Even the mage himself knew how naïve his question was. The demons were stuck on top of each other, easily reaching five-story height. The whole area wasn’t big enough to believe in such options, but the demon’s bodies obstructed the sight, giving them a tiny hope.
“Let’s pray that there is,” the priest sighed, leading the group further. Their walk wasn’t long and came to an abrupt stop in half a minute when they noticed the process of enemy spawning, “What? We have the time!”
However, the more demons started to appear around them, the more startled they became. The reason was because of two facts – the enemies immediately charged forward, without even looking into them, and part of them emerged inside the dome, joining other prisoners. Only a few more steps forward dispersed the mist in front of them, finally opening a view of a potential cause of the whole situation.
Mysterious Uprising Demon, CP 525
The bulky and tall humanoid figure, partly clad in dark green armor, was simply tearing the demons apart. The very same hellish creatures that posed a huge danger to the tired group were barely able to react before they were killed by a silent giant. The lightning-fast dive of the mosquito was intercepted in midair when the mysterious demon grabbed the lance with his bare hand. In the next moment, the demon was crushed into the dome, before falling down limply. The following stomp of a metal boot cracked its head in one hit.
The others were not better. The ostrich’s jump had ended with a shot of energy that made a hole inside the bird-like creature. Side-stepping from the falling body, the unknown summoned a huge mace before planting it into the face of a lion. The latter immediately tried to bite off the weapon only to get a flash of light inside the closed maw. After a short spasm, the hellish creature dropped to the ground before vanishing in a few seconds.
Even when the demons managed to hit their possible mysterious relative, it left only a tiny scratch as if they failed to penetrate the tough skin of the human-like figure. That couldn’t be said about the turtle’s shell, which was broken in a few hits of odd pickaxe. By this point, the tentacles were already severed with simple, but simultaneously well-timed swings. Watching it from the side, it almost looked like it was an insanely training fight, where both parties knew their moves, and only wished to showcase a perfect choreography. The dodges of the Mysterious Demon were so close to his body, while the steel that protected him appeared in a fraction of a second before the hit, almost looking like an inbuilt automotive ability to shield itself.
The battle was so mesmerizing that the whole group failed to notice when the figure had dealt with the demons around and turned his attention to them. Being observed by the silent murderous killer directly from hell wasn’t a pleasant experience. Especially, when the same unknown suddenly summoned a futuristic gun before pointing at them. A moment later the projectile pierced the air, flying between them before killing the demon behind their back. However, two more appeared in front of them, signaling that it was their time to meet the wave. Still, there was only one thought in the priest’s mind, when it finally found a reference inside his memories.
“RUN! It’s him! Run!”
He was the first one to sprint away. The others followed immediately, accelerated by the ongoing fight between the Mysterious Demon and the newly spawned creature, which looked like a bull with multiple spiked tails. Their crash even sounded powerful as if both enemies couldn’t overpower each of from the initial clash, getting stuck in a contest of strength.
The group’s run wasn’t long, and they almost lost each other in the haze, but their unwillingness to be left alone in this demonic land worked as the compass, gluing them together. Still, after coming back to his senses, the priest didn’t fail to notice the strange expression on their tank’s face. The girl’s visor was damaged long before, opening a view of the young and pretty face. And that face had a mixture of confusion and awe on it.
“What had happened? What did you see?”
“I am not sure… But I was last to run, so I saw how that demon… man… deliberately unsummoned the front part of his helmet for a few seconds. He definitely looked like an ordinary human. And he winked at me before smiling and sending me an air kiss.”