"Before we had to face 22 Orcs, and we barely made it out of that... but now... now there had to be at least 50! Maybe even more!" Kion swallowed, a sense of dread coming over him.
A High Orc slowly approached Kion, roaring into his face. "Leader Kion!" A member yelled, only to gain a swift response from Kion. "Stop. We'll only get killed if we fight them." Son felt resigned to his fate, only able to stand in place as the High Orc spat an incoherent language out of its mouth, until it was suddenly moved by a seperate force, forcing the jaw of the High Orc to move in a very specific way.
"Humans..." The High Orc spoke in a language the Hunters could understand, understandably shocking the targeted audience, excluding Zen.
"I am... Kargalan... I wish... to meet with... you... humans." The High Orc spoke slowly, almost taunting the Attack Force with every word.
"An Orc spoke a Human Language? Is it Magic?" A Tanker asked, which Unnie, one of the Mages, responded to as she was being healed. "No, it's being used as a puppet. Someone is speaking through it."
"A monster wants to speak with us? Kion, you can't believe this thing!" An Attacker yelled out, ready to pounce into a losing battle. "Kion, we should fight right here! This is a trap for sure!" Another Attacker held his sword in his hands, ready to attack at any moment.
"Kargalan, are you the one who set up this barrier?" Kion asked, keeping his cool even when things were not looking good for him.
"Yes... I am... The prideful Orcs... Great Sorcerer... My magic... can't be dispelled... by you humans." Kargalan spoke through the High Orc, spitting with some of the words onto Kion's face.
"Is there someone more powerful than you in this cave?" Kion swallowed. "Who... would dare to... go against me?! Choose... die by my men... or follow... my men." Kargalan spoke as Kion looked up to the Orc, determination flaming up in his eyes.
"We'll follow you." Kion spoke, which caused several of his Guild members to call out his name in shock. "Then... follow." The High Orc turned away and began walking away.
"It won't be getting any easier once we get into the boss room. Is he trying to negotiate with the boss and get us out in one piece?" Zen thought as the Guild began to follow the High Orc.
"Mr. Hunter." Kion slowed down and began walking alongside Zen. "Yes." Zen let him know he was listening.
"When we get into the boss room, we're going to surprise attack the boss. Whether or not we succeed, the boss shouldn't be able to sustain their magic. When we get their attention, you should run and get our of here. When you're out, warn the main attack force." Kion told Zen, as he clenched his fist.
"By the time the attack force arrives, you'll all be dead. Do you plan on saying with the boss?" Zen asked, as he ordered for Ikari to calm down, noticing that he was getting excited again.
"Our adjective is to close the Gate, rather than making it out alive. That's why people pay us absolutely massive amounts of money." Kion finished, walking ahead of the group again.
"I would also like to ask you something. This is my will. Please deliver it to my family." Mira passed Zen a tiny notebook, which he then put in his pocket. "Okay, but I don't think that's very necessary." Zen sighed.
"We're going to do as we've been taught, but this isn't your fight. We hope you can escape from here." The Guild seemed to have one conjoined message, and Zen completely understood it.
"Zen." Julie walked alongside him, with a sad but understanding smile on her face. "It's a shame to say this now, but all that time ago in the Dual Dungeon, I meant what I said." Julie smiled up to Zen. "I know. And if it's possible, you wanna go get some food later?" Zen asked, nonchalant about the whole situation.
Julie couldn't help but nod, "Yeah. Let's do that."
Hunter Cha stood by several different miners. She looked around for Zen, only to not see him. "Did he already quit the mining job?" She thought as the manager noticed her.
"Hunter Cha, wasn't today your day off?" The manager asked, as Cha smiled kindly towards him. "Hello. By any chance did Hunter Zen come today?" Cha asked, gaining an interesting response back. "Mr. Zen Actually entered the Dungeon as a porter today." The manager informed Cha, who's eyes widened from the new information.
"A porter? You're saying that he actually went into the Dungeon?" Cha looked towards the Gate with a confused look all over her face.
"We only have one life... Why would he go into the Gate? This is odd." Cha thought as she looked over to the manager.
"I'll have to head inside of the Gate." Cha spoke as she began to walk towards the Gate. "Um, is there some problems? Should we call the Guild?" The manager asked Cha.
"No, it's okay. This is a personal matter anyway." Cha tried to grab her sword, only to grasp at the air. "My sword... I didn't expect to be fighting today..." Cha thought as she turned back to the manager.
"Could you spare any equipment for me to use?" Cha asked, causing for the manager to call some guys over. "Hey, bring her some equipment."
The men gave her a pickaxe. She could only look silently at it, as she realized the situation may've been grim.
"Is there... anything else? Like a sword or a spear?" Cha only gained a nervous chuckle back in response. "Well... asking for something like that from us is..." The manager scratched his head.
Cha shook her head and gave the manager back the pickaxe. "It's alright. I'll just go inside like this." Cha turned to face the Gate and stood in place for a moment.
"Hunter Cha, are you sure you want to go inside Empty-Handed?" The manager asked, causing for Cha to turn around and quickly grab the pickaxe from his hand. She was obviously embarrassed, but she took it regardless.
"You made the correct decision. It's better to go in with something rather than nothing." The manager spoke, as the red-faced Cha bowed to him. "Thank you..." She then turned back and actually entered the Gate, with a pickaxe as her weapon.
The attack force walked into an absolutely massive room, and it was filled with Orcs. In the middle of back wall was a massive throne, where Kargalan confidently sat.
4 guards stood alongside him, all looking very powerful.
"Humans. Welcome." Kargalan spoke confidently, just as his energy radiated.
The astonishing amount of High Orcs all around the room was shocking to the attack force.
"When Leader Kion gives the sign, we'll attack the Boss!" The force thought as Kargalan leaned forward and took off his skull mask.
"Tell me humans, do you fear me?" He radiated a powerful energy that shot through the attack force members, stripping then of any morale they once had.
"H-how are we supposed to beat that?"
"Compared to him... Magicians like us are just... 3rd rate!"
"We have to fight someone like that?"
"W-why did you bring us here? Your warriors would've been strong enough to annihilate us." Kion asked, his voice shaking with every word.
"For entertainment." Kargalan spoke like he was the king of the world, which Zen couldn't stand.
"W-what?" Kion asked, swallowing down his fear, no matter how hard it came back up. "During your remaining time here, we'll kill each and every one of you pathetic humans for my men's entertainment." Kargalan spoke, causing the High Orcs all around to cheer in sadistic happiness.
"However... there seems to be something odd amongst you humans." Kargalan mentioned Zen, who silently stood in place.
"Entertainment? Our determination, our wants, are just entertainment to him? He won't even treat us as enemies, but as toys for him to use whenever he pleases?!" Kion mustered up every last ounce of determination in his body, yelling out, "Now! Everyone charge!" Kion yelled, and began charging forward.
And yet, he was the only one who did. The fear installed into the Guild from the moment they walked into the boss room just wouldn't let them move.
Kion noticed it too, and yet, he didn't slow down. Jumping into the air, he tried with all his might to hit Kargalan.
"Hymn of Protection." Kargalan nonchalantly waved his hand, causing a massive barrier to appear before Kion could even get close to him.
"Gah!" Kion was forced back, and suddenly lifted into the air. "Foolish human. Gravitation magic." Kargalan called out, lifting Kion high into the air.
"Gravity Acceleration. Gravitation." Kion was forced into the ground, only to be lifted back up and slammed into the ceiling.
Soon, he was just a blur, being slung into the ceiling and being forced back into the ground.
"Leader Kion..." An attacker cried, as tears streamed down her face.
Then, he suddenly stopped being hurt as another blur took him out of the air.
Zen softly put down the attack force leader, and put down the bag he was holding as well.
"Leader Kion. This Dungeon is the Hunter's Guilds property. I can't just interfere, but this attack force is about to be wiped out. Let me ask you one thing." Zen calmly spoke to Kion, who was genuinely shocked at what was happening.
Kargalan pointed nonchalantly towards Zen, and one of his guards started walking towards Zen. "Can I kill all the monsters within this room?" Zen asked, as the High Orc guard dared to try and swing his axe towards the Shadow Sovereign. The Shadow Monarch just held his hand out and squeezed, activating Dominator's Will and effectively crushing the High Orc where it stood.
"I'll ask you one more time. All the monsters here, can I kill all of them?" Zen asked, which caused Kion to use his last bit of strength to speak. "Please... Please help us." Kion gave Zen the okay, which caused him to stand up and look towards Kargalan.
"You have amazing talent for a mere human. I wonder how long that'll last against all of us. It is only you against all of us, after all." Kargalan taunted Zen, who didn't feel very threatened.
"I'm not too worried. After all, this is a horrible match-up. For you, I mean. Come forth, my Shadows." Zen spoke, and a chilling energy radiated throughout the boss room, as Zen's Shadows crawled up from his shadow.
All of them came out, looking quite ready to fight. Ikari however, looked more like a human. He had a Dragon type armor with four Dragon Wings spurting from the back, because his Dragon form would've been too big otherwise.
"Now, what exactly did you say about it it only being me?"
"You've gotta remember, a king is never alone." Zen grinned, aggravating Kargalan.