Walking down a long hallway toward the next monster room, Damian did his best pep talk to get the rest of his party to refocus.

  "Ok then, just nine more rooms and we'll be on floor 40. Let's not get sloppy."

  Yawning, Alex stretched her arms in the air. "We'll be fine, that last beast was hardly a challenge. Neither were any of the other rooms. We should really be working on higher floors~."

  "Sure, but just like everyone else, we have to work our way up from the first floor."

  "With how the dungeon works, shouldn't it be able to tell what level we are? I mean, I started to feel bad stomping on those horned rabbits on the first floor."

  'sigh'

  "Maybe it's the goddesses' way of making a statement?" Fergus chimed in.

  "I mean, whether you are a commoner or the highest of nobles, we all have to start on the first floor. No one gets special treatment in the dungeon."

  "Hmm, I like that. Even our most esteemed nobles have to eat shit with the rest of us~."

  "Seriously, Damian! You've got to cut that talk. It's going to land you in trouble sooner or later!"

  "Fine, fine~."

  *chink-chink-chink*

  Damian immediately raised his fist into the air. Everyone halted in dead silence.

  *chink-chink-chink-clink*

  The steps of someone running in armor could be heard ahead. Instead of the usual dim ambient lighting, the end of the hallway was a curtain of black darkness.

  Metal scraping and rattling irritated the ears. Whoever was wearing that armor should look to get a sound-dampening enchantment.

  "Fergus, send a light," Damian whispered.

  Without asking a question, a light appeared several steps ahead of the party and quickly shot off into the distance.

  On and on the light went until it met with a lone figure charging down the hall. Just as it met with the running figure, the light was snuffed out.

  ?!!!

  "Fergus, get another light out, run it along the ceiling! Everyone, defensive positions!"

  Isaac moved forward alongside Damian, raising his shield. Alex swiftly unhooked her sword from her back.

  Fergus's light continued down the hallway, zooming at a rapid speed. Once again, it reached the lone figure.

  Charging the party at a distance, they could see a man in fine golden armor. Golden hair cascaded down his face, meeting a blood red cape that danced down his back.

  What the party also witnessed in that flicker of a moment was that the figure was holding one arm overhead. Appearing as if ready to throw something.

  A heartbeat later, the arm fell, and Damian immediately felt something crash into his shield.

  "Huh?"

  Looking down, all he could see was a bloody stump where his shield and forearm should have been. Blood was squirting out in thumps, measuring with his heartbeat.

  Shock. Damian didn't know what had just happened.

  How could a thrown weapon do this? Maybe it's an illusion. My skill didn't even register that a weapon approached me. I don't feel any pain yet, just a cold numbness...

  Looking at his arm for another split second, Damian screamed. "Ahh!"

  Before he could do anything else, he felt a tug at his back and was starting to get dragged away.

  Spinning his head, Damian could see that Isaac was dragging him away. Looking beyond him, Alex had already slotted her sword on her back and picked up both Frey and Donna. Fergus was running by her side.

  Adrenaline was quickly pumping into his system, while his mind was catching up with events. Several beats too late, Damian issued an order:

  "Run!!!"

  Quickly righting himself, he started to run on his own two feet.

  With the following order, Damian yelled, "Frey, fire your biggest spells! Donna, put ice down the path!"

  "Fergus, keep buffing everyone else with speed boosts! Don't bother with me. I'll be fine!"

  I have less meat on my bones now... Dark humor overtook Damian for the briefest of moments.

  With rehearsed movements, his left hand started to reach for his potion pouch. Shit! Quickly, Damian sheathed his sword and began to fumble with reaching across his body. His hand dove into the pocket and pulled out a red vial.

  With a pop of the cork, Damian poured half of the life-saving liquid over his arm and then drank the rest.

  The blood flowing from his stump slowed, and some skin started to grow back where it had torn away. It was still a mess; no standard potion could fix it.

  As he was healing himself, Frey's giant fireballs were flying overhead, shortly followed by loud booms shaking the air.

  Damian's enhanced senses felt cold water vapor condensing into ice right behind his feet. With a slight turn of his head, he could see the lone figure catching up to them. Fergus's light was still hovering above the bastard.

  Pieces of earth were starting to materialize in the golden figure's hand, forming into a long, pointed spike. As if winding up a children's toy, the hand holding the javelin slowly rose.

  "Dodge!"

  The party jumped to the side walls, colliding with the indestructible rock.

  The sound of hardened earth crashing against the indestructible ground rang out. The weapon had instantly burst apart, and pebbles scattered everywhere.

  "Move!"

  Pushing through the shock of the ridiculous enemy the party had found themselves pitted against, they scrambled to their feet to flee.

  Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  Alex was suddenly engulfed in light, and she sped ahead of the group by several paces. Donna and Frey looked quite shaken up from the sudden dash; their spells flickered for a brief moment from lost concentration.

  Quickly refocusing, Frey shot fireball after fireball toward the pursuing figure, and ice crinkled along the ground behind the group.

  "I've landed every hit, and he hasn't slowed! I think he has a magic shield on his armor!"

  "Aim for his throwing arm! Focus on destroying his javelin before it forms!"

  *chink-chink-chink-clink*

  The footsteps continued to get closer. Growing louder as death got nearer.

  *Creek*, *Creek*, *Creek*, *Crash!*

  Turning his head again, Damian could see that the unstoppable force chasing them had actually slipped on their ice trap.

  Bah! What a fool! All brawn and no brains!

  His form splayed out like a snow valkyrie, sliding along the ground toward the group. If Damian didn't know how dangerous this person was, he probably would have laughed out loud.

  Frey stayed her hand and prepared a larger fireball for when their pursuer escaped Donna's simple trap.

  *Smash* *Smash* *Smash*

  It seems that our pursuer is quite furious.

  The golden figure was now bringing his full weight down with each step, shattering the ice beneath.

  What kind of strength and stamina do you need to keep that up?

  Looking forward, Damian could see the last dungeon room they were in, and just beyond that was the faint glow of the dungeon teleporter.

  We just need to reach it.

  Damian's hopes were quickly dashed. A swirling vortex of dark mist was starting to spin in the center of the room. The monster from before was spawning once again...

  Think, think, Damian! Should Frey continue to fire at the golden bastard or distract the monstrosity ahead? If we get caught between the two, it'll be certain death... Stop! Think! Last time, Frey's largest spell only singed the big guy. Shit! SHIT!!!

  Looking ahead, Damian could see Frey looking back with silent determination, honing her fireball to its maximum capacity. Instead of growing in size, its form was shrinking, tighter and tigher into a more condensed ball of fire mana.

  Ok. Damian steeled his resolve.

  "Everyone! Be prepared to jump to the sides of the room as soon as we enter!"

  "Donna, keep firing water all over the hallway! Frey, save that fireball to create steam, and lots of it! Make it big, and make it wide! Do it right before we reach the room!"

  "Fergus, put a light roughly an arm's span above my head. Get ready to put your buff on me when I give you the signal!"

  Step by step, the party made its way closer to the monster's lair.

  Moment by moment passed. Damian could feel his heartbeat in his ears.

  Glancing back every other step, Damian tracked the forming of the javelin. We should be able to make it in time.

  10 seconds

  Looking ahead again, he could see Frey riding Alex, shooting off the condensed ball of fire. Shortly after, she was pulled to the side of the room.

  Good.

  Centering himself in the middle of the hallway, Damian dashed straight toward the king of the lair.

  Once again, the big oaf was digging fruitlessly at the ground. And once again, its head snapped to meet Damian's eyes. It had the same look as last time. That look spoke of one thing: Hunger.

  "Now!"

  Energy coursed through Damian's body, and a bright light emitted from his core. Senses heightened to maximum, Damian made a subtle movement to the side while keeping his stride toward the beast.

  He sensed something brush just above his shoulder, surely that golden bastard's javelin.

  Not even a second later, Damian saw his former foe with a nice new hole in its chest. A perfect circular hole.

  What kind of power...

  Quickly, Damian moved to the beast that hadn't realized it had died and wrapped his good arm and stub of an arm around its waist.

  As the colossal figure began to fall, Damian put his full force into twisting the giant so that its back faced the hallway.

  *Thud* Numerous spikes started to pelt down the hallway.

  The spikes met their mark, digging into the golden bastard's armor. Damian's aim struck true, but just like Isaac's shield, the spikes only penetrated a couple of finger widths deep. That may be enough.

  The golden figure was peppered with them. It had to be painful.

  Thinking nothing of it, forbidden, traitorous words came to Damian's mind. These words should never be uttered or even thought against an enemy—a surefire way to ensure the revival of your foe.

  Did I get him?

  The moment of relief Damian had was quickly washed away with dread. The golden man swiped his arm from his side and up to his head, brushing away the spikes puncturing his body. He didn't look fazed in the least.

  But in that one swift motion, the golden figure brushed his hair out of his face, and Damian immediately realized what they were up against.

  The face was unmistakable: the most prestigious noble adventurer, Hans Ferdinand...

  But it wasn't Hans; he was wrong. All wrong. In the most recognizable way across the land of Tania, Damian saw the mark of the unholy curse. The unholy curse that all men, women, and children are taught the cruel truth of.

  Dark mist was pouring out of Hans's eyes, nose, and mouth. Feral in nature, the undead hunt the living with utmost persistence. They will never stop hunting the living, as if it were their sole purpose in being...

  Tearing his eyes away from Hans's undead form, Damian noticed that his party never stopped running toward the exit.

  Good.

  Just as Damian got up to continue running, a ghastly screech sounded from behind. Apparently, even an undead can become upset.

  "Frey, Donna, keep focusing on his throwing arm, stop any javelins from coming!"

  "Damian!"

  Twisting his head, Damian took in the figure of Hans again; it seemed like the undead could think a little...

  Hans was scooping up the fallen spikes, ready to repurpose them for his own nefarious desires.

  Damian was caught in the middle of the cave-like room, with only his previous spike-throwing buddy nearby. There were indestructible stalagmites around the edges of the room and stalactites up above. None of which were within his reach.

  Could I hide behind the fallen beast? Nope, Hans has already pierced it clean through once. Could I dodge again? That'll be my best chance.

  Instead of a single spike, Hans had a cluster of them between two hands. He was winding up his body to throw the scattering of spikes his way. There would be no dodging...

  Well shit...

  Damian looked over to Frey and flashed a smile.

  ""Go!!!"" Two voices said simultaneously.

  Hans finished his wind-up and lurched forward, throwing the scattering of high-speed javelins. Fireballs and water streams pelted his body, but to no avail. Nearly teleporting, the javelins hit a mark.

  In the corner of Damian's eye, he saw a flash of light. The echoing of a metal being pelted rang in his ear.

  'Huh?'

  In an instant, Damian saw Isaac's form appear in front of him with his shield raised. Light flickered off his form, and a transparent barrier formed. The next instant, that figure was gone. From the airflow, Damian could tell that Isaac had been flung into the distance behind him.

  Not wasting a moment, Damian launched himself into a run to check on him. From a distance, it didn't look good, but... maybe it was. Isaac was lying on his back with a peppering of spikes in his shield and body. But fortunately, he had miraculously landed on the teleport rune.

  He could see Issac moving; his hands were grasping at one of the spikes that had pierced his shield and his chest. He wasn't making any sound, though. Was that good, or very, very bad?

  "Frey, Donna, keep up the firepower!"

  "Fergus, keep up the speed boosts on your end. As soon as we make it to Isaac, you'll need to apply first aid!"

  Running in a mad dash, the party closed in on the teleport rune. Fergus reached Isaac's fallen form first with a speed boost and quickly began to channel his healing magic.

  Looking back once more, Damian could see that Hans had reached the fallen monstrosity. He then grabbed it by the ankle and hurled it toward the teleport point.

  Shit, shit, shit! What is this bastard? A superpowered toddler? Just keeps throwing shit in a fit of rage!

  Not nearly as fast, the monstrosity's form quickly closed in on the group. And once more, Damian saw a flash of light, this time from ahead. It wasn't the teleport circle activating; it was Isaac.

  He was back up, still peppered with spikes, but now in between the girls and the beast hurtling toward them.

  *Crash*

  Isaac took on the full weight of the monster. In horror, Damian watched as the hulking oaf pushed the spikes embedded in Isaac further into his body.

  After crashing into Isaac, they both crashed into the girls. The cluster of people and monster quickly tumbled onto the teleport rune.

  Dashing, Damian made his way to the teleporter.

  "Start it up!"

  Diving onto the platform, they found moats of light encircling them. Through the wisping light, Damian took one last look at Hans. The unholy abomination was starting to howl in a fit of rage.

  In the next instant, Damian was bathed in light. The morning sunlight caressed his body in warmth. At that moment, Damian wanted to drop everything and collapse onto the ground. Still, he knew that he needed to check on everyone and report the news before there were more casualties...

  Screaming at the top of his lungs, Damian shouted, "Need Emergency Healers! High Tier Undead In The Tower!!! Floor 39!!!"

  Before he could even begin to take a step toward his fallen party members, Damian crumpled to the ground. His stump of an arm was in front of his vision, bleeding profusely.