V1.C11 Bitter Fight
Next day…
Leo completed his normal routine and met his party at the entrance of the labyrinth.
They went in like always killing monsters easily till the 11th floor.
Leo wanted to check his new sword. "Let me do it alone this time.
"NO!" yelled Irene, her worried eyes made him hesitate.
Leo scratched his cheeks. "I'm more prepared than last time with new armor and sword."
"Still no."
Her stubbornness was higher than any child he met.
"Fine."
Dale and Tris stayed away from their circle, which looked like a forbidden zone from their eyes. Around red targets showed up on the map.
"I sense enemies in front."
The party saw a group of Goblins and Ratmen.
'These ugly fucks helping each other.'
He grabbed the hilt of his 'New baby' and shot forward. As for monsters…
[Level up]
They went in deeper this time, it was easy with Leo's new Sword and Irene magic spells. Leo reached level 6.
Tris helped out a lot with traps, but he couldn't detect every trap. Leo also helped with his [Analyze]. Things were going well until.
On the 20th floor…
Leo had a bad feeling about this floor, still, he continued and prepared himself for any ambush.
"This will be the last one!" shouted Irene.
A red dot appeared on Leo's map, he searched around finding nothing.
"There is an enemy here," he yelled.
The others were now convinced of his detecting abilities, blaming it on his instincts.
"Dale and Leo to the front! Tris you stay back! Stay alert, there might be a Rockmount here!"
'She has some leadership skills.'
(Who knows?)
An instant later, the wall or monster disguised as a protrusion on the wall came out. It stood on two legs and started beating its chest with thick muscular arms.
'Analyze'
[Rockmount]
Strength: 80
Vitality: 60
Defense: 60
Agility: 40
Magic: 65
Magic Defense: 65
Skills: [Intimidating Roar]
Leo darted toward the monster. With a light kick to the ground, he launched in the air and slashed the sword downwards. The Rockmount body fell to ground, cleanly bisected in two.
'Did I really get this strong in two days?'
(... Having high magic stats improves your body faster.)
Others didn't have a chance to retort to his cheat ability as another Rockmount ambushed Dale, blowing him with its punch.
"Ice harder than steel, pierce mine enemies! Pierce their hearts! Ice Spear!"
Rain of ice spears destroyed a chunk of wall and stunned Rockmount.
Tris took the opportunity to stab its eyes.
Roar~
The monster roared loudly, stunning Tris and Dale.
"O Spirit of Ice, heed my call! Protect mine friends! Ice barrier!"
A barrier made of ice endured the attack of Rockmount in place of Dale. Leo took this chance to stab the neck of Rockmount.
He sighed in relief. "That barrier was awesome!"
Irene gave a polite smile. "Thanks."
Dale and Tris sat in exhaustion, after saying thanks to Irene they started dismantling the Rockmount.
Irene didn't reply, clearly distracted by something. Leo noticed she was looking at a beautiful crystal embedded in the wall.
'Analyze'
[Glanz Crystal: Fake]
Triggers a magic circle of [Teleport].
"Pretty," Irene who was lost in thoughts, reached out and touched it.
"DON'T!!!" Leo tried to stop her.
A magic circle large enough to cover everything in the area emerged from the Crystal.
"Retreat! Irene! We are ru—"
It was all futile now...
***
Leo fell on the ground after the light receded. He swept his gaze over the now different ceiling.
"Fuck, we got teleported."
He sprang on his legs and scanned the area and almost relaxed himself after finding the whole party here but the current situation was still unknown.
They were on a stone bridge maybe a hundred meters in length. The ceiling was quite high around 20 meters. The party stood in the middle of the bridge, one side going up and the other one going deeper.
"Guys, looks like we stepped in a trap."
Irene bowed, her eyes trembling from the guilt. "I-I'm sorry everyone because of me—"
The anger inside him died down seeing the guilt on her face. With a wry smile, he said, "We all make mistakes, it's nothing to be sorry about."
"Yep, don't worry about it," said Dale as he massaged his own butt.
"Yeah," Tris also spoke this time.
"Pack your shit, we are going back upstairs."
Suddenly, a huge magic circle appeared in front, he looked back to see countless blood-red magic circles on the side of stairs. Hundreds of skeleton monsters came out of it, their eerie red eyes glowed inside hollow sockets of skull, holding a sword and shield in their hands.
'Analyze'
[Traum soldier]
Strength: 70
Vitality: 90
Defense: 60
Agility: 40
Magic: 110
Magic Defense: 110
But this side seemed weaker to him than the huge magic circle, his instincts rang from whatever it was in front.
"Irene, give me all your potions and everyone retreat to the stairs."
She nodded and tossed the backpack to him, her poker face working splendidly.
The magic circle in front glowed crimson and a huge monster appeared from it. It had four legs with some kind of helmet on its head, surges of flame swirled around its long horns.
Leo smacked his dry lips, he hoped his instincts were wrong this time. This monster wasn't something he could fight without putting his life on line.
Roar~!!!
The roar took all power from Dale as he collapsed on the ground.
Tris whispered, "That's... a Behemoth."
'Analyze'
Behemoth
Strength: 400
Vitality: 450
Defense: 550
Agility: 200
Magic: 350
Magic Defense: 300
Skills: [Fire breath] [Intimidating Roar] [Charge]
"Idiots! Snap out of it and retreat! I'll clear the way."
Leo hurried toward the stairs and started attacking the skeletons. Black aura covered him slowly, as his anger rose at the monsters.
The number of skeletons wasn't decreasing but the Behemoth was already coming, shaking the very bridge with every step.
The party was panicking, if this went on any longer they would without a doubt die here.
Leo could escape easily, but he couldn't ignore the party. They were his friends in this world, besides he wasn't the one to cower in front of death. The countless days suffering the torture numbed his mind in face of death.
He inwardly cursed the Fake God that summoned his childhood friend here.
"Get the fuck out of here! I'll keep it busy!" he yelled and ran toward behemoth.
He kicked the ground and jumped high, dodging the torrent of blazing flames in process. After then he landed on Behemoth's head and stabbed the Cursed sword in its head, but the armor-like bones on its head blocked the sword from going deeper.
The behemoth started shaking its body furiously, he put strength in his arms and grabbed ahold of its sturdy horn.
His brain furiously searched for solutions, but nothing came up except escaping. His lips bent in a vicious smile and killing intent leaked out of his body.
The behemoth froze from the dense killing intent, Leo exploited the opportunity and pounced forward to stab the sword deep in its eyes.
Roar~!!!
The howls filled with pain nearly popped his eardrums, with his hands still holding the sword, he stomped both his legs and used the recoil to dodge backward.
The now one-eyed behemoth charged at him like a berserk monster. He couldn't dodge in time and got blown backward. A familiar metallic taste came up in his mouth.
He ignored the pain wrecking his chest and rolled to dodge another furious charge.
Time passed into minutes, Leo's condition wasn't getting better. A handful of his ribs already broke, every attack sapped life out of him.
He glanced at his party being overwhelmed by skeletons. His face took a resolute expression.
(You can just run away, no one will blame you.)
'You think so lowly of me, huh? I would rather die than live the life of a coward.'
He wiped the blood from his face and prepared his mind to suppress his instincts.
***
Tris and Dale defended Irene as she casted Ice magic spells without rest.
The numbers were overwhelming, her magic couldn't keep up. She glanced at Leo and froze. The furious Behemoth knocked him all over the bridge, but he kept getting back up.
She swallowed another mana pill and started casting her magic.
'Please stay safe.'
***
"Berserk"
He used the cursed skill again, his mind flooded with thoughts of carnage. He bit his tongue and concentrated his senses.
He dashed forward with triple power and swung the sword at behemoth's right leg.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
His heart throbbed violently inside his chest, his droopy eyelids nearly covered his vision.
The behemoth fired another barrage of violent flames at him, he evaded to the side and slid the sword across its left legs.
Smelling something burning, he checked to see his back was burned, still, his aura slowly healed him.
'I won't last much like this, Jen, buy [Mana Control].'
Chants to activate the skills of cursed sword appeared in his mind.
He raised the sword in his right hand.
"Accursed sword, heed my call! Devour my flesh, raze my bones! Engulf my emotions, consume my soul! Final Death!"
The Cursed Sword's ultimate skill [Final Death], grants an incredible strength in exchange of life force. An enormous gray aura shot up and destroyed the ceiling. He pointed his sword at the behemoth.
"Come!"
The behemoth had a scorn on its ugly face, the blood already stopped flowing down its stabbed eye
He shut his eyes tightly from nightmares overwhelming his mind. His parent's death, their murderer Robert and the countless tragedies he witnessed on earth flashing in his mind.
He opened his eyes, his eyes took the same shade of aura embracing every part of his body.
Behemoth for the first time in this fight felt threatened, the creature in front triggered its instincts. It opened its mouth wide and shot another burst of flaming hot fire.
"AAARGH!!!"
Leo yelled to keep his senses and leaped through flames, he tightly gripped the sword enveloped in gray aura and struck down with every ounce of strength in his body.
Booooom!!!
The whole floor shook from the attack, the aftershock cracked the bridge before it completely crushed behemoth.
(Leo! Leo!)
Jen knew Leo wouldn't die by falling here, yet she couldn't do it. She also couldn't shock his soul which will make him unconscious. She was panicking horribly.
Leo heard Jen's voice. He used the sword as a stick to move, despite his body screaming at him to stop and just pass out right here.
He peered at the strangers in front who screamed for some reason, his heavy mind couldn't identify the owner.
He closed his eyes and shook his head sideways and extended his hands in hope to reach out, but he lost his footing as the bridge fell apart taking him along with it.
He hugged his sword and whispered, "Shit."
