A/N: The Single Run starts here. One floor cleared, another floor almost done.
Yes, there is a cliffhanger.
Blaec clapped his hands.
"Alright. Let's get going. We have a dungeon to conquer."
Bell nodded.
"Let's go."
The rest of the group got up, and started heading out.
"Wait."
The group looked at the masked man curiously.
"What?"
"We need to send a notice out to clear the dungeon. The Loki Familia shouldn't have an expedition today, and the other large familias shouldn't as well, but the small ones might still be in there. We don't want to have what happened last time to repeat itself, right Ryuu?"
Ryuu scowled.
"Of course. I'll get Mia to notify the other adventurers, and I can help notify the adventurers on the eighteenth floor. The dungeon should be clear by tomorrow."
The day went by, with each adventurer doing different things: Ryuu got the dungeon cleared with help from Mia Grand, Ais and Bete got the Loki Familia to cancel an expedition later in the week, Blaec, now armed with a bow, helped Liliruca with her new equipment after giving Bell two custom grimoires, Bell talked to Welf Crozzo in order to get a better set of armor, and the masked man was looking through a room filled with weapons.
"The Slaughter sword is gone, the Shifter sword is gone, the Storm Gauntlets are gone, the Helm of Despair is gone, the Boots of Alacrity are gone, the Impure Shroud is gone, and the Dragon's Coat is gone. I really need to keep better track of my things."
He sighed, striding over to another open slot.
"It appears there needs to be one more insult to add to injury, too."
He shook his head.
"I'll get to that when the time comes."
He walked to a metal door, sliding it open, then closing it as he left.
"Is everyone ready?"
The group nodded, as a large crowd gathered around the dungeon entrance.
"Are they really doing a party version of a Single Run?"
"SIngle Runs haven't been done in over ten years. They probably were preparing all this time. If they didn't train, then they wouldn't even get past the first floor."
Ryuu's eye twitched.
"Isn't one of them Blaec Carver?"
"Nah, Blaec had pure white hair. That guy has black and white hair. He can't be Blaec Carver."
Blaec's eye twitched.
"Hey, are the black and white haired guy and the blonde haired girl next to him dating? They seem like they are."
Both Ryuu and Blaec's eyes twitched.
The masked man raised a hand, silencing the crowd.
"I thank you for your cooperation in clearing the dungeon with such swiftness. From here, we will return with nothing less than victory over the dungeon."
He lowered his hand, and the crowd cheered loudly as the group entered the dungeon, the air around the entrance rippling.
As the group entered the dungeon, the air shimmered before them, the dungeon changing to challenge the group that dared to oppose it.
The group's formation was set, and they refused to break it.
"Let's get started, then."
The masked man nodded.
"Dungeon, send us your best."
Shadows shifted, coalescing into black furred, wolf-like creatures that began surrounding the group.
Blaec lifted his bow, and fired several arrows rapidly, destroying the creatures quickly.
"Masked man."
The masked man nodded, then broke formation, running farther into the dungeon.
"Why did the masked man run?"
Blaec nodded, firing off more arrows that disappeared down the path the masked man had run.
"The Single Run is a one-way path, and that path leads to the boss. We kill the boss, we go to the next floor. The masked man will give us time to kill the rest of the monsters."
The vanguard nodded their agreements.
"All right, then. Let's go kill some monsters."
"Agreed."
The six of them increased their pace, both vanguard, middle guard, and rear guard doing their part to slay the numerous monsters. Blaec frowned.
"This is too easy."
"That just means we're strong, right?"
Liliruca's eyes widened at Blaec's statement.
"It's a trap."
Several of the wolfmen formed behind them, and in front of them, surrounding the group.
Said group immediately separated to adapt to this change, Blaec, Ryuu, and Bete defending the rear.
"Don't let them get closer!"
Blaec fired off a volley of arrows, while Bete and Ryuu tore apart the wolfmen.
The masked man slowed his pace, stopping in a large cavern.
"Your light beckons me, adventurer."
A massive version of the wolfmen crashed down in front of him, with several differences: blank eyes, white fur, and two sets of razor sharp teeth, with flames spewing from its jaws.
"I will extinguish it!"
The masked man lowered himself into a combat stance.
"Try it."
Bell sliced through another wolfman, its body dissolving.
"Why are there so many?"
Liliruca fired off several shots in rapid succession before responding.
"Because they're much weaker! We need to get to the boss!"
Bell raised his free left hand, still slashing and stabbing at the wolfmen.
"Fire."
The hand burst into flames, and Bell punched through several of the wolfmen, aiming down the hallway.
"BOLT!"
A large projectile of fire blasted through the wolfmen, and continued its path down the hallway, increasing speed as it collided with enemies.
The masked man punched the wolf boss again, blocking with his free hand as the latter slashed at him.
The wolf boss opened its mouth, flames bellowing out at its enemy.
The masked man punched through the flames, slamming a fist down on the wolf boss' head.
"Is that all?"
The wolfman's eyes focused for a second, then became blank again.
"Adventurer! I will extinguish your light!"
The masked man simply punched him again.
"Dungeon! You cannot extinguish what does not exist!"
The group looked around at the now empty hallway.
"Was that all of them?"
"I think so. Let's go kill the boss."
Liliruca gave him a curious look.
"How do you know it's not killed?"
The ground rumbled, and Blaec shook his head.
"Never mind, let's go to the next floor. The masked man's almost done."
The ground rumbled more violently this time, throwing Liliruca off balance.
"Never mind, he's done. Let's go to the next floor."
"Uh, Bell? Does that Firebolt stop?"
Bell paled.
"I don't know."
The masked man looked back as a very fast ball of fire hurtled down the hallway towards him.
"So, Firebolt doesn't have a maximum range, or Bell's close."
He held out a gauntleted hand, catching and crushing the fireball in it.
"And here I thought it would be worse."
He sighed, shaking his head, as he stood waiting in the empty room.
Bell nodded to the masked man.
"I'm sorry, masked man. I didn't mean for that Firebolt to go so far."
The masked man shrugged, waving a hand dismissively.
"Don't worry about it. We need to go to the next floor."
The next floor was lightless, and silent, and Bete was shifting around uncomfortably.
"Can we finish the floor quickly?"
The masked man nodded.
"Something's off about this."
A roar shattered the silence, interrupting the group's musings.
"LEAVE OR PERISH, ADVENTURERS!"
The group stopped, as the sound of flapping wings nearly deafened them.
"Fire."
Bell's hand burst into flames, lighting the area a bit.
Hundreds of large dragons rushed the group, drawn to the flame. Blaec and Liliruca shot down several, but more just kept coming, much faster than could be killed.
"Lili, can I leave you for a moment?"
Liliruca nodded, as Bell dashed forward, slashing and punching many of the dragons.
"A little more."
Bete, Ais, and the masked man were all doing their best to hold off the overwhelming swarm, but to little avail.
Bell ran in front of them, the flames on his hand a dark green.
"BOLT!"
A wave of green fire washed over the dragons in front of him, and Blaec followed up, drawing his black sword and swinging with both hands.
The two panted heavily, Blaec resting on one knee.
"FOOLISH ADVENTURERS. YOU HAVE CHOSEN TO PERISH."
Flames burst forth around them, lighting the large area around the group.
Thousands of dragons lined the walls, growling at the group that dared to oppose it.
Blaec stood up, drawing his bow again.
"Let's get started, then. We have a dungeon to conquer, and we will not fail."
"CAN YOU FULFILL THAT CLAIM, ADVENTURER?"
Blaec grinned, his face an expression of insanity and confidence.
"I know we can."
The dragons rushed them, launching a barrage of fireballs that exploded on impact, causing an enormous eruption of fire and earth that obscured their vision. The backed away, ready to fire at the adventurers again.
A volley of arrows prevented them from doing that, killing them instantly.
"Dungeon. Did you think an attack that weak would stop us?"
Blaec stepped out, unharmed, his trenchcoat retracting back to it's normal shape.
"My coat is fireproof."
The barrage of fireballs resumed, but Blaec and Liliruca responded with their own barrage of arrows that detonated the flaming projectiles easily, leaving a significantly less amount for Bete, Ais, Bell, and the masked man to contend with.
"Fire."
Bell's flames seemed to eat away at any fireball that came near it, as he dashed around, slaying the dragons.
"Is this all you weaklings have?"
Bete slammed his boot into a dragon, crushing its head, killing it. He jumped off, axe kicking another dragon into the ground.
Ais said nothing as she slashed at various dragons, the latter unable to match the speed of the former.
The masked man let out a roar of defiance as he ripped apart several dragons with his gauntlets, before lunging and ripping another one in half.
"The Single Run I went on with Blaec ten years ago was not this easy. DUNGEON, THIS IS NOT YOUR BEST! SEND US YOUR BEST!"
An massive wave of blue fire barreled towards them, covering the entire area, even as it burned and consumed the dragons.
"BOLT!"
Bell's own wave of fire was also blue, slamming into the opposing wave.
Blaec drew his black sword again, but Ryuu rested a hand on the blade, lowering it.
"Allow me."
She walked next to Bell, who nodded to her as he focused on blocking the wall of flames.
"In the sky of a now distant forest."
She held out her hand.
"Infinite stars scattered in the endless night sky."
Bell's arm shook ever so slightly, and the masked man rested a hand on the young adventurer's shoulder, calming him.
"Respond to my foolish voice, give me now divine protection of starfire."
Ais' hand tightened around the grip of her sword as the enemy's flames began to push back Bell's.
"Give the mercy of light to the one that abandoned you."
Blaec readied his black sword, both hands gripping the hilt tightly.
"Come, wandering wind, the wandering traveler."
Bete tensed, his hand wandering to his mask.
"Cross the sky and run through the wilderness, run faster than anything else."
The enemy's flames broke through Bell's wall.
"Imbue the light of stardust and destroy the enemy."
The searing fire rushed at the adventurers, melting the stone of the floor, walls, and ceiling.
"Luminous wind."
A large amount of green lights, like stardust, surrounded the group, then hurled itself at the incoming attack.
The flames twisted back as the stardust ripped through them.
The masked man nodded.
"Let's go kill the boss."
The group marched forward, determined to kill the second floor boss.
The adventures trudged through the watery swamp.
"YOU HAVE COME."
The masked man nodded.
"Yes, we have."
"BUT CAN YOU KILL ME?"
The adventurers prepared themselves.
"Yes, we can."
Several roars, overlapping one another echoes throughout the area.
"BRACE YOURSELVES, ADVENTURERS."
A nine headed dragon emerged from below the water's surface, each head gazing at a different adventurer, with two looking at the group as a whole, the rest of its body hidden beneath the water.
"YOU WILL NOT SURVIVE THIS BATTLE."
Blaec notched an arrow.
"Really, now? Can you defend that claim? If you can't, you will die."
The masked man nodded in agreement.
"Dungeon. Is this your best?"
"WHILE I AM NOT THE STRONGEST, I AM STILL STRONGER THAN YOU."
A fine mist flowed freely from each of the dragon's mouths.
"Firebolt."
A bright flash of fire flared from Bell's hand, setting the mist ablaze.
The blaze was pierced by a blur heading towards Bell.
"Was that it, dungeon?"
The masked man was holding onto one of the heads, forcing the mouth that could have bitten Bell in half open with both hands.
"An attack like that? Don't be ridiculous."
He proceeded to rip the jaws apart, in doing so, along with the rest of the head, and part of the neck.
"Why do you not send your best, dungeon?"
"BECAUSE THIS IS ALL I NEED TO KILL YOU."
The split head began to converge, until the head was reformed.
The masked man held out a hand, a pitch black claymore appearing in it.
"Then you're going to have to try quite a bit harder than that."
He turned to the rest of the group.
"Surround him, but don't isolate yourselves. Pair with someone that matches you well."
He turned back to the dragon.
"Dungeon, did you think something like that would stop me?"
"I ALREADY HAVE."
The masked man looked as the rest of the group fell to their knees, clutching their chests.
"Poison."
The masked man looked back at the dragon.
"Dungeon, you've made quite the mistake."
The masked man was gone in a flash, and a neck, attached to a head, fell from the dragon's body.
"Can you regenerate that, dungeon?"
"FOOLISH ADVENTURER."
The other eight heads turned towards him, spraying the poison it had used on the rest at him.
The masked man walked through it like it was nothing.
"I suppose you think that will stop me. It won't."
The masked man stepped aside as ten heads attacked him in tandem.
"ADVENTURER. MY POWER LIES WITHIN ME. YOU CANNOT WIN."
The masked man sighed as he strode forward, the claymore resting on his shoulder.
"I suppose not with this method. Perhaps,"
The dragon roared in pain as the masked man stabbed the claymore into dragon's body.
"This might work?"
He pulled the claymore along, carving deep into the dragon's scaly hide, ignoring the blood that hissed as it made contact with his cloak.
"Oh? Poisonous blood?"
The masked man laughed at the feeble attempt to kill him.
The heads bit at each other, spilling blood, but not separating the heads.
"YOU CAN SURVIVE THIS. BUT CAN THEY?"
The masked man growled as the blood fell towards the group, moving to block the dripping liquid. It was to no avail, as a head bit his arm, then threw him away from the other adventurers.
"THIS IS THEIR FATE, ADVENTURER. YOU WILL WATCH AS THEY PERISH, THEN YOU WILL SOON FOLLOW THEM."
The masked man watched as Blaec's coat spread to block the poisonous blood, but the blood began to dissolve the coat.
"Corrosive blood."
The masked man rose to his feet, standing on top of the water, but a head pushed him under, trapping him.
"DO NOT INTERFERE."
The head pulled the masked man back out, steam rising from his body, as he could only watch as the blood poured over the others.
A/N: Don't hate me. This was a great place to stop.
I'm only a little evil.
