A/N: Chapter is way overdue I know. I'm sorry! Please forgive me! Well, at least I was working on the next chapter at the same time as this one.
Once again, reviews, critiques, suggestions, (insert more synonyms) are greatly appreciated.
Feel free to send PMs. I like PMs.
"Anxiety is the beast that hunts me. Are these sensations just a clever fabrication?" -A Player
Chapter 19- Third
The Virtual World
Pirugan Continent, Oceanus Falls
In-Game Timer: Day 28
3:26 PM
The pounding of the waterfall on the rocks below mixed with the sound of echoing metal. The water sucked in the clash of blades and redistributed it amongst the rising towers of stone.
The glow of Ray Andylon's sword mirrored the sun and forced itself forward through streaks of blood. It disappeared through the chest of a taur demon for a brief second before reemerging out the back of its skewered prey. As Ray whirled about, the katana was freed as smooth as it had entered flesh and came in a downward arc to slice along the chest of another demon that attempted to exploit his blind side. The sword felt like an extension, another appendage.
As the demon fell, Ray glanced over his shoulder at the cliff above and noticed a new group of monsters appear. The monsters had the lower body of a horse with the upper body humanoid. Green armor covered all portions of their bodies with a closed helmet masking their faces. The one at the front wielded a tall lance while the other monsters readied heavy crossbows.
"Centaurs!"
As soon as he shouted the warning a god monster stood in front of Ray to defend him against the inevitable hail of arrows. The god monster lifted a massive sword to protect its face, a magnificent weapon that was a mix between a swordstaff and a great sword. The monster ran its upper hand all the way up the long handle of the weapon to brace it against the flat of the wide blade.
The bolts from the centaurs' crossbows deflected off the blade and the god monster's elaborate armor that radiated like emeralds. A few bolts pierced through the creases in his armor, but he paid them no mind. As the ranged assault ended he threw his dark green cloak back behind him and rested a hand on his chest.
"Initiate active skill Leading a Comeback!"
The god monster felt the bolts digging into his flesh push away from his skin and the wounds sealed.
Ray gave the monster an appreciative nod. "Much obliged Liu Bei."
The god monster, Liu Bei, ran a hand through his long white hair and gave Ray a smirk. "Not a problem. Mind getting one of your friends up there?"
Ray didn't even have to say another word as a streak of yellow launched past them and flew up the cliff to dispatch the centaurs. The knight in gold sliced through the armor of the centaurs like it was butter. He stepped forward and lowered himself into a crouch as his wings came across in a side-swipe to knock some of the centaurs off the cliff where they fell down the waterfall.
"Looks like Verche has it well in hand." Ray broke his attention away from his monster partner and went to aid Kurt and his monsters who were up against a sizable group of pyro demons.
Bastet was in a harsh battle. This was the first time any of them had encountered demons of this class. An analysis from Ray's database indicated that they were at a level higher than Hellfire Pyro Demons. They were creatures that hadn't existed in the previous game. These pyro demons held a title known as Awoken Inferno. Their fire certainly was more intense than that of other demons.
Bastet pushed away from a slain pyro demon as another moved in with a flaming trident. The point of the trident grazed along Bastet's thigh and managed to ignite her white sheath dress. She slapped at the fire with her paws until the flame withered away.
She looked to another fellow monster who stood behind her. The other female wielded a staff in both hands that had a strange mix of crescent moons attached to its end. She was a petite girl, and the staff looked as if it was too heavy for her small frame. She stared at Bastet with a somber expression and distant eyes that seemed to not see her. It was more like they were looking through her.
"Mind healing me a bit Ceres?" Bastet shouted.
The young monster girl patted her half-dress sorceress robe even though nothing blemished its pale color. She planted the base of her staff in the ground and a light breeze picked up around her. Her white hair blew forward as the wind picked up and billowed in Bastet's direction. Lines of thin white light joined the wind and passed through Bastet.
"Initiate active skill Shower of Healing," Ceres said in a soft voice.
Bastet readied herself for the oncoming demon attack as the raining white settled on her wounds and stitched them together with magic energy. The demons stopped their advance and took a hesitant step back as they saw their opponent reinvigorated.
"Full health," Bastet said to the demons. She clapped her sharp paws together. "Time for round two."
There wouldn't be a second round. The demons let out a strange sound that was a mix of a squeal and a shout and they turned on their heels. They beat their wings desperately and took to the sky.
There to intercept them was another flying monster.
Ray now watched as his other monster partner cut through them with her halberd. The demons fell from the sky one by one. Leilan launched herself into the air, went into freefall, and drove her foot into the chest of the last demon until they dove into the rock below. The enemy demon instantly burst into its particles of data upon death.
The battle had only lasted a few minutes, but Ray could feel his muscles straining as his adrenaline wore off. He stared at a cut that traced down the length of his right arm and observed the blood that gathered near his elbow. He had been in this world for nearly a month of its time, and still the slight throbbing pain of his wound fascinated him. Even dabbing his fingers in the blood and slathering it on his fingertips left a powdery feel of residue much like his own world.
"Well fought."
Ray looked up and saw Yukiko with her katana resting easy on her shoulder. Her red hair was soaked and the fabric of her under-armour was drenched from when an ambushing pyro demon had flung her into the water. From the other side of the waterfall emerged Parvati riding atop her tiger, Somanandi. Liu Bei also now stood beside his female Player partner.
Ray grinned. "You too. Have a nice swim?"
It wasn't until Ray mentioned the water that she began shivering. It seemed that the effects of battle had lingered with her a bit longer.
She gripped her hair and squeezed some of the water free. "It was alright I guess."
Kurt soon joined them with Bastet and Ceres. He and Ray exchanged an enthusiastic fist bump.
"Now that's what I'm talking about!" Kurt opened up his database. "Gained a level from that and a point for the stats."
Ray was about to congratulate him when he was interrupted by the quaking of the earth. The trembling reached an upsurge on a massive scale that forced Ray to plant one of his hands on the ground to maintain his balance. When the shaking subsided they all stared in the direction of what sounded like an explosion in the distance.
It had been a little over a week since their first encounter with Depths Legion and the horrific display at the capital city. During that time, two more earthquakes had occurred followed by familiar craters.
Following the first crater, magical analysts had been sent by the authority of the princess Ray and the others had heard about when visiting the city for the first time. After a day of investigation, they had come to the conclusion that the source of the destruction was magical in nature. Another day of collecting magical residue yielded results concluding the magical energy that formed the crater was similar to that of spirit jewels. Where this magical energy came from was still a mystery. The theory was that the source was deep underground near the heart of the crater. It would take some time to place the necessary machinery into the crater to probe into the earth for the main source of magic.
Ray recalled when he had been given the fire spirit jewel from Irina Roche and her soldiers back at Millshore. If a spirit jewel really was the cause of such devastation, then how much energy did it hold? What potential did these spirit jewels have?
"Damn those guys," Kurt muttered.
"The guild will want to investigate this," Yukiko said as she made preparations in her inventory for departure. She stopped herself as her own words registered and looked to Ray apologetically. "Sorry."
Ray waved her off good-naturedly. "It's all good. Leilan, Verche, and I are planning to head to Prosell to check some things out."
Kurt crossed his arms in irritation. "I know you were against it, but I'm still going to fill you in on what's going on. No sense keeping you in the dark when it can help us with this war."
Leilan and Verche now stood next to Ray and nodded their agreement. Ray decided it was best to just give in and let events play out as they may. They were right, but he just hated having others take risks that might be unnecessary for his sake. But with an inevitable war on the horizon, necessity had become all too palpable.
Yukiko checked her wrist as an alert popped up on her database. The symbol of the Grand Hunters, the dual bows and crossbows, appeared along with an icon for a private message.
Kurt clapped a hand on Ray's shoulder. "Looks like it's about that time."
Ray nodded. "Best of luck."
After they exchanged their farewells, the two groups went in opposite directions: one to the east to the Rhea Themis temple, and the other towards the frozen soil of Prosell.
The Virtual World
Pirugan Continent, Prosell
In-Game Timer: Day 28
5:32 PM
Ray swung his katana in a downward arc. He focused on Verche's instructions as he extended his arms straight to prevent any unnecessary strain when halting the sword mid-strike.
Verche then told him to move in a circle with his stance. Ray found that a sword-wielding stance was not much different from when he was a wrestler in his world: feet shoulder-width apart, a lead leg forward, and weight distributed to the balls of his feet.
"Don't focus on your toes. The direction of your knee is what is important," Verche said as he observed Ray's stance.
Ray obeyed Verche's commands and adjusted his stance accordingly. It really was just like a wrestling stance. If a wrestler wanted to do a takedown, then he wouldn't point his knee away from the target. The same could be said of throwing a baseball. An uncontrolled knee would open a stance up and the body would not maintain motion in the direction of the throw. It would also leave the body wide open. These sorts of details were amended quickly due to his past experience.
"One other issue," Verche said. He approached Ray and moved his bottom hand down the handle of the sword until it was a short distance from the top hand. "There is no power behind your swing when your hands are together like that. You need to use the bottom hand for leverage. Your strike will be stronger, more controlled, and you will expend less energy."
Ray lowered himself into his stance once Verche had finished his explanation. He leveled his elbows and swung the katana in a diagonal strike. It was true. The bottom of the handle settled into the palm of his lower hand comfortably and it was far easier to bring his sword up to its ready position for another strike.
Verche addressed Leilan, who was sitting on a short, crumbling separating wall off to the side. "Looks like we have a natural."
Leilan nodded without a word as she bore her focus into Ray. It was fascinating how he was able to make so many adjustments at once after just being told a few times. Sure, there were some other issues that might present themselves such as rising out of the stance slightly when stepping forward, but he seemed to catch himself on his own when he noticed his own energy being applied wastefully to certain parts of the body.
She remembered reading something about this in Metatron's book. Leilan wished she was here to confirm this.
Ray sheathed his katana when Verche brought the training session to an end.
Ray had told Yukiko and Kurt that there was something they wanted to explore in the area, which was somewhat true, but there really wasn't anything specific. He wasn't the type of person to seek pity. It was a devaluing gesture in his opinion even though that wasn't its intended purpose.
"Well, shall we go?" Leilan asked.
Ray moved to follow her when he noticed that Verche remained still. The knight's rigid stance was noticeable even with his bulky armor.
"Verche? What's up?" Ray tried to make out what had caught Verche's attention judging by the direction of his helmet's visor.
Without a word, Verche approached a crumbling building and ran his hand over its splintered oak door. He traced what seemed to be purposeful rivets and indentations that came together to form a faded image.
Ray and Leilan were now next to him scrutinizing the carved image. Ray could tell that the image on the door was in the shape of a bird, an owl to be more precise. There was also something etched into its breast, but it was difficult to make out from the cork of the oak bark.
Verche stepped back from the door to take in the entirety of the structure. He placed an armored finger under the chin of his helmet as he put the pieces of evidence together that he compiled in his head.
Finally, he turned to Leilan for confirmation. "This looks like an attempt to mask the actual age of the symbol. What are your thoughts?"
Leilan ran her hand over the symbol as well and then did the same with the other hand on the stone of the structure. She stared at her hands and nodded her affirmation. "Indeed. But who would interfere with a place like this? This town was destroyed decades ago during the war. Perhaps..."
She trailed off as she observed Ray entering the demolished building. He crouched down and ran his hand back and forth through the dirt that covered the floor. It appeared that the effects of his stats gained from leveling up were kicking in with his focus on increased perception. He made his way to the center of the small area. He froze when his hand wiped away a pile of dirt near a far corner.
A familiar symbol accompanied with a trail of straight lines was etched into the ground. The meaning of this pair of messages registered immediately.
A dungeon, Ray thought.
But it wasn't just any dungeon. It was a dungeon in the special category of dungeons. They were dungeons that could hold valuable materials, rare secrets about the world, or...
Ray whirled about as Verche let out a groan and grabbed at his head. He fell to one knee and took in one strained breath after another. If one didn't know better, it was like his helmet was suffocating him.
Verche's shoulders trembled as he lifted his other hand to ward off Leilan, who attempted to remove his helmet. She looked to Ray who shared a worried, confused look with her.
"I-I'm fine," Verche said after what felt like a pained eternity. He stared at where Ray had found the symbols in the dirt. "The dungeon, it seems it hasn't given up on me."
"The dungeon?" Ray felt he knew what Verche was talking about, but he needed to hear it straight from him.
"The presence that once controlled me," Verche explained. "It's reaching out to me, trying to draw me under its influence again."
"So this is..." Leilan trailed off as the truth of what lay below them sunk in.
Verche nodded. "There is a monster in there most likely. A monster that is experiencing the same feeling of powerlessness."
"Then we need to enter it," Leilan said.
"I-I don't know about this." Ray counted the tally marks in the ground one more time to make sure he hadn't gotten the number wrong.
Leilan regarded him with a frown. "Why?"
Ray used his fingers to count as if to convince himself that he was still wrong in his number. The same amount came up. He hadn't seen the diagonal line that cut across the other four lines next to the symbol. So there were a total of five lines.
"This is a mythical dungeon. It is one of the highest levels a dungeon can reach. That means the enemies we face in there will be ridiculously powerful."
The disappointment in Leilan's voice was impossible to miss. "Are you comparing it to that mockery of a game you used to play? I thought by now you'd realized that this world is different. It is our own power, skill, and confidence that determines the tide of battle."
Leilan's words cut through Ray like an icy sharp wind. It wasn't just the harsh reasoning she laid out, but how she said it. It was a blow that rendered his prepared counter-argument useless. Because she was right. Confidence. She had hammered it into him when they had fought to save Verche, but once again, just like in his own world, he had reverted back to the anxiety that handicapped him.
He allowed himself just another few seconds to think. If they entered this dungeon, which was most likely beyond their current abilities, then there was a chance that he could die. He would respawn at another location to continue traveling the world, but he would lose much of the experience he had worked so hard for towards his level. However, the alternative of not entering the dungeon could be worse. What if someone else found it and managed to defeat the dungeon? What if a member of Depths Legion conquered the dungeon and grew in strength with a new monster added to their team? Or even worse, what if the monster imprisoned by the dungeon was a Guardian monster? Could Depths Legion take that monster as a prisoner?
Ray put an end to the questions that overflowed in his head by stomping his foot on the symbols in the dirt. Lines of white light etched themselves into the ground and connected to form a square which slid away to reveal a stairway that led below.
Ray decided then and there that his own mind was a true double-edged sword. In order to remove the edge that cut him, he would dull it. He would accomplish this by allowing Leilan to become his reasoning. He made this ultimatum as he took the first step down into the darkness.
He noticed that Leilan and Verche stood rooted in place dumbstruck by his sudden change in demeanor. Soon Leilan's expression softened into a smile and Verche nodded with approval.
Verche clapped a hand on Ray's shoulder. Seeing Ray's new-found confidence had fueled him. Even he had begun to succumb to the influence of the dungeon as his composure faltered. But now, seeing Ray like this, a human stuck in a foreign world, brimming with spirit, he felt foolish for having let an old enemy cause him to falter.
Verche moved to lead the way. "Well then, shall we?"
It didn't take long for the narrow passages to open up into a massive cavern. What struck them first was how smooth the roof of the cavern was and how the walls angled in a ramped arc that leveled upwards at a sharp slant into a number of balconies. The roof was fashioned much like the domes Ray had seen when he attended professional indoor sporting events in his world.
These weren't the only characterizations that indicated the cavern was man-made in nature (or monster-made). Below the balconies, the stone moved towards the center of the cavern floor in an even stair-like arrangement that circled the entire area. At the last step, a wall reached downward about twenty feet, making it impossible to reach the top climbing by hand. The flat floor of the cavern that remained was a generous size of a few acres.
Some sort of coliseum? Ray wondered.
His suspicions were confirmed when he noted the three archways on the opposite side of the arena that were sealed by bars of metal dug into the ground. It was impossible to see what lay beyond from his vantage point.
Verche and Leilan had taken flight and examined the seats that were meant for an audience that could number in the tens of thousands. There were some hidden passages that were out of sight from the arena below due to the balconies protruding outwards from the curved walls of the cavern. It only took a few minutes for the two god monsters to examine them and they returned to Ray who was now peering into the barred archways.
"Looks like they just lead to smaller rooms," Verche concluded.
"Everything is made from the stone of the cavern," Leilan added. "Judging from the number of tables and chairs, they were probably just dining areas for those attending."
"So no exits." Ray figured they had all come to the same conclusion. It was definitely some sort of battle arena. But Leilan and Verche didn't seem to be familiar with it. Not that it was really much of a surprise. The rules of the world stated that god monsters couldn't enter dungeons without a Player.
Ray took a startled step back as a sudden screech like nails on a chalkboard pierced the quiet. He felt the earth begin to quiver as the sound of straining metal fought against the degradation caused by its lack of use. Then the bars of metal from the archway to the left pulled up out of the ground. Their rise was painstakingly slow. The sound of grinding metal ended when the bars disappeared.
An eerie silence settled over the arena. An uneasiness weighed on the three companions and they retreated a few careful steps back.
Before long the silhouette of a large figure appeared at the threshold of the tunnel. It was difficult to make out the monster's appearance in the darkness and with its sulking posture. Upon seeing them, the monster threw its head back and let out a roar that shook the entire arena. It went into a frenzy and brought the weapon in its right hand into a horizontal swing that took a chunk out of the wall.
As the monster exited the darkness, Ray could see the weapon it wielded was a huge single-bit axe with a long pole handle. At the top of the handle was a spiked sphere that made the weapon seem like a crossbreed between axe and mace. Attached to its left arm was a battered knight shield with inscriptions that had been worn down from use.
The massive, humanoid creature pounded its red, barreled chest that was covered with a thick chestplate of the same color. Armor covered every bit of its body save for the absurdly thick arms.
It let out another roar that showered saliva on the ground in front of its three enemies.
Ray recognized it from the other game. The monster was called a Gigas. However, that knowledge told him little since this world had proven that its inhabitants could be much different from what he was accustomed to. Prior knowledge helped to discern the attributes of enemies, but that was the extent of it.
The giant red monster decided on a target and rushed forward. Actually, it didn't even seem to pick a single target. It just wanted to barrel straight down the middle of them and disarray.
Leilan and Verche beat their wings and hovered above the bloodthirsty monster while Ray dove to the side to avoid the reckless charge with little effort. The Gigas didn't even bother to hide its intentions. Its movements were exaggerated and it swung the axe in wide arcs that telegraphed its next plan of attack.
"Stay back, Ray!" Leilan shouted as she stabbed at the Gigas. "Just focus on giving us power."
Ray obeyed and put as much distance as possible between himself and the enemy monster. He had almost forgotten what he was building his stats around as he leveled up over the past few weeks. His first instinct was to enter the fray, but the new strategy wouldn't allow for it. Now it was time to rely on his monsters to clean up.
The database on his wrist signaled that his board of orbs was ready. The board displayed a generous amount of light and fire orbs, which was exactly in line with Leilan and Verche's attributes. There were even enough heart orbs to make a single match for healing. He would leave those in reserve in case his monsters needed them later. It turned out that heart orbs were even more of an asset than Ray had anticipated at first.
He made the necessary matches of orbs that would provide Leilan and Verche with extra power: two matches of light orbs and a match of fire orbs. He even managed to get rid of some water and dark orbs that were useless to him. More orbs fell from the unseen top of the board, and Ray triumphantly clenched his fist when he saw that the majority of orbs that appeared were light and fire. It seemed luck was on his side for now.
What came as a pleasant surprise was what followed the power that entered Leilan and Verche's bodies. Leilan brought her halberd down and it collided with the Gigas's shield. Thin cracks trailed along the surface of the shield and chips of metal bounced off. The Gigas was now wide open for an attack from Verche. The gold knight flew just inches from the ground and whirled about to build momentum as he sliced the Gigas across the chest. The wound went deep, much deeper than any of them had anticipated, and the Gigas's chest seemed to explode from the force of the blow.
Before the beast even had time to register what had happened, it burst into particles of data.
Verche, Leilan, and Ray stared dumbfounded at the space where the Gigas had once stood. When the bits of data finally disappeared, they collected themselves and regrouped.
Verche stared at the sword that now rested flat in both his hands. "Well now, I certainly wasn't expecting that."
"It seems we have become far stronger than we realized," Leilan said as she checked her halberd. She confirmed that the small pieces of stray metal from when she struck at the Gigas were not from her weapon.
Ray laughed. "Yeah. I didn't even really match that many orbs either. That was great."
Their good mood was embittered by the familiar sound of scraping metal. The ground shook once again and they now saw the gated archway to the right begin to open as the one to the left sealed.
The silence didn't last long. Two giant red monsters rushed from the opened tunnel in a frenzy with shields leading and axes held high above their heads. They looked much like the monster they had just fought. The only difference was their number.
Verche dodged the attack of the first Gigas and sliced along the creature's thigh with his sword. Blood spewed forth from the wound in a splattering arc and the behemoth fell to one knee with the handle of the axe planted in the ground to keep it upright.
Ray stuck to the plan and backed off.
Leilan also seemed to have her opponent well in hand. The other Gigas thrust its shield forward in an attempt to disorient her, but she launched herself above the shield and landed on its top rim. She leveled her halberd and stabbed forward to pierce a crease in the giant's armor near the armpit. The attack severed its triceps tendon and the arm went limp with only the attached shield keeping it from hanging to the side. Without any leverage to swing its axe, the Gigas stared helpless at the female monster who brought the blade of the halberd across its vision.
The two Gigas disappeared the same as their comrade.
There wasn't even time for praises. Once again the open gate closed, allowing the other to open.
Ray gasped as not two, but three Gigas emerged wielding a variety of spears, axes, and war hammers. Verche engaged the Gigas wielding the axes and Leilan was soon locked in combat with the spear-wielder. That left the one with the war hammer for Ray.
Ray readied his katana. Looks like we need to amend our strategy.
Seattle, Washington
United States
May 26, 2020
Real World Time- 6:47 PM
The control center run by the Gamemaster was in chaos as the coordinators made preparations for the imminent fight that was about to unfold in the virtual world. Five monitors accompanied with two coordinators each were dedicated to the fight taking place in a new special dungeon where a Player and his two monsters were fighting off wave after wave of enemies.
"Any word from Malkin and Alsheimer?" the Gamemaster shouted over the cacophony.
An attendant shook her head and was about to answer when one of her phones went off. She waved the phone over her head. "The Player's supervisor, Emily Tanner, is waiting outside."
The Gamemaster motioned to one of the guards standing by the door. "Let her in."
The steel double doors slid apart and a stern woman entered the room. She adjusted her spectacles and fussed with her blonde ponytail as she observed the discord in the room.
The Gamemaster rose from his seat to greet her. "A pleasure to meet you Ms. Tanner. This must be a pretty exciting time for you."
"Which Player is it?" Emily asked without even thinking to return the greeting.
The Gamemaster fumbled with his words for a moment at her abrupt tone. "Ah, yes, his name is Ray Andyon. And his monsters-"
"Leilan and Verche...I see." She gave him an unreadable smile. "I do keep track of my Players."
Their conversation was interrupted by one of the coordinators. "Looks like he made it sir. They are heading to the room with the god monster."
"Then double-time it. We need all angles covered. We have nearly one hundred million viewers online right now." The Gamemaster bit the tip of his thumb nervously as he watched Ray Andylon and his monsters exit the coliseum.
The counter on his computer went above one hundred million right as he mentioned it. Word was spreading about big events happening in the virtual world. People would be taking time out of their schedules to watch the battle. The fighting in the coliseum was definitely a new development. They had never seen such a unique setup in a dungeon before, which indicated that it might be an epic prelude to something bigger.
The feed on the main screen of the control center switched to the last room in the dungeon. Much like the other dungeons, a god monster stood at the end of the room in the shadows, still as death. One of the employees controlling the camera was about to zoom in on the monster when the Gamemaster stopped him.
"No. Let's draw it back. Leave it as a surprise for the viewers." He reasoned it would be much more effective for the viewers to discover the monster's identity at the same time as the Player. It was all about the suspense at this point.
Everyone in the room watched with excited trepidation as Ray and his monsters stopped in front of the massive doors that would lead them to the room occupied by the god monster.
Emily diverted her attention to the hiss of the sliding doors behind her and noticed that one of the main guests of honor had arrived. Thomas Malkin.
Malkin looked haggard with his usual short, combed hair in noticeable disarray. He still maintained his air of authority with his intense eyes scanning over the men and women who were finishing preparations for the big event.
"Geez Thomas, you look like hell," the Gamemaster said.
Malkin forced a smile. "Gee, thanks."
"Alsheimer?"
"Locked away."
"Ah, I see."
Malkin then turned his attention to Emily who stared at him expressionless. It seemed he wanted to say a quick word, but he promptly shut his mouth as if he were reconsidering it and simply opted to give her a curt nod. He made his way to a seat next to the Gamemaster's station who followed him and began a quiet discussion.
Emily observed them and frowned. Since when are they on a first name basis?
"View count has reached one hundred fifty million and climbing," someone announced.
The Gamemaster was elated by this news. "Alright boys and girls, let's give the world a show."
Emily gave Malkin a sideways glance. The CEO was watching the main screen, but it was as if he wasn't actually observing what it was presenting; however, his eyes weren't as distant as she first assumed. No, they were taking in more than what was actually in front of him. Emily suspected he was drawing a bigger picture with his mind that everyone else couldn't mimic or even possibly be aware of. It was a look she was familiar with.
Emily crossed her arms as a way to prevent herself from fussing with her hair. She wouldn't betray her emotions. After all, she was most likely in the presence of the enemy.
The Virtual World
Pirugan Continent, Prosell (Special Dungeon-Mythical)
In-Game Timer: Day 28
6:27 PM
Ray relaxed himself against the wall of the arena and let his body slide to the ground. He laid his katana across his lap and let out a relieved gasp of air as his arms hung limp at his sides. There was no longer any pain from the wound in his thigh, just a slight throbbing where a dark golem had sliced him with one of its scimitar hands. The blood on his cheek had begun to dry where a crossbow bolt, fired by a pyro centaur, had sliced him. That was a new one. But it was really exhaustion that drained his body and turned his legs to mush.
Leilan rested next to him and laced her fingers behind her head to open her airways as she took a few strained breaths.
A few feet from them, Verche lay on his back and didn't even try to move his body into a position that would allow for better air intake. He just splayed out with his arms to his sides and muttered between breaths about how annoying taur demons were.
One of the gates that had held the enemy monsters closed and the coliseum was silent. The other gate on the opposite side remained unmoving, but the rumbling of the gears beneath the arena went to work again.
Ray looked up and saw that the middle gate was now opening.
"I swear," Ray gasped. "If this is a boss, I'm screwed."
The metal bars disappeared and an uneasy silence fell over the cavern once again. Nothing stirred in the inky darkness.
The three comrades gave an unspoken assent and decided to rest for at least a good fifteen minutes before rallying themselves. It wasn't typically in his nature, but Verche whispered a thanks for Lady Lo having some mercy on them, even though he was aware the Lady Overlook had no control over the battle that had just transpired.
They entered the center tunnel once they were fully rested and were soon heading deeper into the earth. Ray figured by the time they reached the end of their trek he would be at his full hit points again and altogether revitalized at the final battle. A few winding passages later and they stood before a pair of massive stone doors with the symbols of the attributes carved into them.
None of them moved to open the door. It was as if each of them was waiting for the other to make the bold entry into the unknown.
It was obvious why Verche and Leilan were so hesitant to move forward. They didn't want to know what monster lay beyond. Was it a Depths Legion monster? Perhaps it was a Guardian monster that had fallen in combat. In their hearts they prayed it was the latter, but at the same time lamented for the state that the poor monster was in as a slave to the dungeon. Verche knew all too well what it felt like, as if having the mind prodded, torn, and transmogrified into that which was no longer themselves. They became something sinister with an indifference for the life of anything that got in its way.
Ray dismissed his own apprehension. He knew that his was nothing compared to what his monster partners felt.
He stepped forward and rested a hand on each of the doors and forced them open. The doors protested against his weight at first, but then swung inwards as if of their own accord to reveal a large room supported by a multitude of pillars built of black, smoothed metal.
When the trio entered the room the double-doors sealed. On cue, the torches lining the walls flickered to life and illuminated the area to reveal three figures that stood at the far end of the chamber.
The two on the outside of the group glowed with an ethereal white and whipped their heads as they snorted at the newcomers. They appeared to be horses, but the gaping hole in their chests suggested otherwise. Their limbs creaked like straining machines as they stomped on the stone floor with their hooves. Lifeless eyes stared unblinking at nowhere in particular.
Between them was the god monster. The monster stood with hands caressing the pole of an elegant spear that pulsed with a sapphire hue. Bulky armor covered nearly every inch of the body with the creases revealing a milky white battle gown underneath. The closed helmet hid the monster's features but allowed flowing emerald hair to trace the shoulders and fall to the waist.
Ray couldn't tear his eyes away from the monster at first. Only a tearful choke from Leilan shifted his gaze away. He could see Leilan's eyes shivering with disbelief.
Verche placed an armored hand over his helmet in dismay. "Impossible. Not you. How can it be you?" His shoulders shook from the effort it took to speak.
Leilan, Verche, and Ray's bodies moved of their own accord as the enemy Guardian monster reached down for a rounded shield that lay on the ground.
The monster hefted the shield and rested the pole of the spear on its rim for support.
Leilan and Verche recognized the muffled voice that spoke, "You've done well to make it here."
