[Welcome, adventurers!]
[You have entered the dungeon 'Traitors of the empire'.]
[Hard Difficulty.]
[Only players level 30 – 37 admitted.]
[The limit on deaths will be suspended within the dungeon.]
[A player can only die twice during a single run.]
[All EXP earned will be stored and only given out upon completion of the dungeon.]
A familiar, dim room welcomed the party. Boxes and crates were scattered around, some without lids revealing small trinkets.
"Guys, let's go! Kill that big robot!", urged Cyclone.
"It's not a robot...", corrected Silver Blade.
"Sure, sure."
Silver Blade rolled her eyes as she took the lead. The party left through the only door to enter a long hallway. It was constructed from smooth, greenish stone. White magical crystals were inlaid in the walls emitting a gentle light. The first batch of enemies were waiting below the light.
A group of four soldiers in somewhat dirty, silver armor stared at the players. They were accompanied by a creature with a snake's tail and a rooster's upper body. It was a juvenile basilisk. But an uncharacteristic, dark shimmer tainted the beast's eyes.
"So the empire has really found us!"
"Sending adventurers? Ridiculous!"
The soldiers talked among themselves as they got ready for battle. But what answered them was a strange noise:
"Rarf!"
Fellfell let out a weird bellow, nudging its head in one direction.
"Good boy, did you pick up a trace?", asked Acacia gently. The clever dog answered with a nod. But it didn't dare to give chase, staring wearily at the soldiers.
"You brought a dog?!"
"Are you looking down on us?"
Cyclone stared annoyedly at the soldiers, saying:
"How can you still be so arrogant? We already wiped your entire dungeon once!"
The soldiers didn't give an answer. Finally, the party's tanks took the lead to engage the fight. Knowing what to expect from their enemies Radiant Shield attracted the four soldiers while Silver Blade faced the magically gifted basilisk.
A quick check revealed the enemies' status.
[Treacherous soldier
Rank: Common
Level: 33
HP: 17.300/17.300]
[Juvenile Dark Basilisk
Rank: Elite
Level: 32
HP: 17.900/17.900]
No one showed much surprised about the fact that the soldiers' levels increased by 3 compared to normal difficulty.
The party automatically entered their rhythm. As soon as Radiant Shield secured the aggro the ranged attacks arrived.
[-714!]
[-722!]
[-763!]
Despite the fact that these soldiers boasted a higher physical than magical resistance it was Silent Acacia who dealt the most damage, leaving the mages dissatisfied with their current weapons.
"Brothers! Time to fight!"
The soldiers encouraged each other, swinging their gleaming swords at Radiant Shield. The tank moved expertly, not taking the attacks all at the same time but rather one by one. This made it easier for him to defend, reducing the reduction of stance to 56 points.
Meanwhile Silver Blade had to keep the basilisk at bay. The beast let out an ugly cry. With a flap of its wings it hovered above the ground, drifting backwards as it swung its claw.
During their first run Silver Blade was caught off guard at this point as the beast's claw was way too short to hit the tank from afar.
However, an almost invisible claw only shimmering with some black streaks got conjured unexpectedly. It was the size of Silver Blade's upper body, fiercely pushing down on the tank.
[Stance -19]
"Hurry up guys!"
Liam rolled his eyes as Cyclone still sounded anxious. It was still alright in those small-scale fights, but he hoped she wouldn't lose focus against the bosses.
The veteran had these thoughts while his own swords flowed smoothly, each of his skills hitting at least two soldiers. His luck was quite alright as he managed to apply three holy marks onto one of the enemies before triggering them with [Double Slash].
[-1013!]
Under the party's onslaught of attacks the first soldier suffered greatly. Silver Blade's [Aura of the Sloth] slowed down the enemies. After only attacking twice himself the first soldier lifelessly fell to the floor.
When Cyclone and Fortune's casts were finished, they had to change target. Arcane bolts and crackling lightning fried the enemies.
Watchful Eye was gradually discovering new uses for his skill [QI Push]. Just as one of the soldiers tried to attack, a staff crashed into his waist. With a pained groan the man was thrown against one of his companions, cancelling both of their attacks.
Quickstep was enjoying her new skill as well. Removing the limitations on her attack speed she weaved between the enemies. The skill offered the perfect opportunity for her to attempt to imitate Liam's movements.
Wanting to hit multiple enemies with skills like [Double Slash] was exceedingly difficult. There couldn't be the slightest delay, or the movement would be registered as two separate attacks, messing up the warrior's rhythm.
Liam hadn't brought the others to train these moves yet since they were only relevant for him, Quickstep, and Watchful Eye. Even Bloody Edge didn't need them as thieves focused on quickly taking out a single target.
Quickstep didn't make much progress throughout the fight, but she wasn't disheartened. She was never someone who expected things to work instantly. Instead, she was ready to put in the work.
The fight went on and soon the second soldier died. Suddenly Silver Blade noticed a change in the basilisk's eyes.
"Careful! It's about to use a skill!"
Everyone knew what to expect. The party slowed down their attacks, looking warily at the basilisk, who now floated close to the hallway's ceiling. The ceiling was high, causing less light to reach it.
The basilisk entered the shadows. Its white-green feathers and red crown stuck out making for a threatening sight.
It opened its mouth wide releasing a sphere of black flames, which travelled at a crazy speed.
The players barely had any time to react. It was Liam who observed closely, calling out the target as soon as the attack was unleashed:
"Fortune!"
The mage's heart skipped a beat. It looked like the projectile was even faster than in the previous dungeon run. Her instincts took over as she cancelled her cast and lunged to the side.
"Fortune, are you ok?"
"Fortune!"
Two worried voices sounded immediately. Everyone rolled their eyes as Cyclone and Balm were worried about their idol again.
"Don't worry girls, I'm fine."
Fortune quickly reassured the two women. She would be quite exasperated by their overly caring attitude if Cyclone and Balm were random fans. But since she saw them as friends, she felt quite touched, smiling faintly as she dragged her body up.
"Balm!"
Suddenly Liam's shout echoed through the hallway. Cyclone shouted worriedly:
"Oh no!"
Balm was startled since her mind was distracted. But Liam's warning immediately triggered a reaction. The young woman closed her eyes, pushed her mana, and performed a swift flash step.
"Not bad!"
Liam didn't hold back his praise. This was the fastest flash step any of his friends had performed so far. It was just a pity...
[-1741!]
[-794!]
Balm sighed as she looked at her missing HP. The attack had reached her right before she disappeared, dealing not only magical but also dark damage. Although the party had bought some equipment with defence against dark damage in preparation for the dungeon it was mostly concentrated on the tanks.
Noticing what happened to their healer, everyone paid more attention. The party's damage output shrunk noticeably as everyone prayed that they wouldn't be the next target.
A second later another attack arrived. This time Liam didn't say anything. He made a swift sidestep, causing the sphere to miss him and slam into the ground. Sparks flew and he felt the heat on his skin.
The party members sighed in relief. Three attacks. Finally, the skill was over.
Silver Blade got into position to control the basilisk as soon as it lowered its altitude. But her face quickly turned grave. She shouted another warning:
"Guys, don't relax yet! The skill isn't over!"
The friends were only surprised for a moment before recalling that they were in hard mode. They hastily collected their concentration waiting in tense anticipation.
After a moment the basilisk continued. This time he shot two attacks in quick succession aiming for Quickstep and Radiant Shield.
Liam showed a gratified smile noticing that the female warrior dodged simultaneously with his warning, proving that she would have managed to do so without it. Radiant Shield was slower but thanks to Liam he was able to block in time.
After five attacks the basilisk finally stopped, and the fight could continue in an orderly manner.
The party advanced fiercely, killing the soldiers one by one. Soon, only the flying beast was left. Surrounded by the players it struggled to fight back, using its skill an additional two times.
Silver Blade and Bloody Edge were each hit once but unfortunately for the basilisk it was inconsequential. Fighting alone against the entire party it didn't survive for much longer.
Unsurprisingly the fight ended with the party's victory. They looted the enemies before looking deeper into the hallway where ten more groups were waiting for them.