Chapter 11 – Stalwart the Stalwart

A sudden and intense punch to my face woke me from a dead sleep, knocking me out of my throne and sending me sprawling on the ground.

“The fuck!?” I shouted, picking myself up and feeling my jaw, which I was fairly sure would bruise horribly later.

The attack knocked my HP down by ten percent, which was a hell of a punch.

“Caught you sleeping.” A large man in heavy plate armor with an enormous axe over his shoulder smirked at me.

There was blood on his gauntled fist, and a taste of blood in my mouth. Horrible.

“Eh, fuck you.” I said, spitting blood out onto the stone ground.

“Nah, I’m gonna wreck you, bro.” The man said, pointing at me. “My Guild needs the loot.”

A name popped up above his head, along with a three-quarters full HP bar, titling him [Stalwart: The Stalwart].

Clearly even the Heroes had titles that were bestowed on them for various achievements.

“Your name and your title are the same?” I asked, standing up and wiping the blood from my nose.

I found it to be rather ridiculous.

“Yeah, well, you don’t have a title, Dungeon Lord.” He narrowed his eyes at me and hefted his axe with both hands.

“I mean, technically Dungeon Lord is my title.” I pointed my fingers at him like a gun and snapped off a pair of quick Fire Bolts, hoping to get the jump on him.

They slammed into his chest plate, and pushed him back, but did little damage.

“Hah, nice try. I’ve read your file. Fire, Water, weird spells. I came prepared. I put on all of the resistance-plus armor I could buy before coming down here!” Stalwart laughed heartily.

I quick-stepped backward and ran my hands through a series of gestures to cast Ruin.

Stalwart took several steps toward me, but was moving extremely slowly, giving me plenty of time to get the spell cast.

A black aura surrounded him and the appearance of his armor changed, looking aged and tarnished.

“Hey, not fair.” Stalwart snarled at me and swung his axe, which moved through the air like it was traveling through molasses.

I just shifted my stance and the axe whiffed through the air without even coming close.

“Damn, you’re slow.” I smiled at him and stepped back a few feet, slowly.

“Come on, man.” Stalwart hissed, pulling his axe back up.

“Why are you so slow?” I laughed, watching him follow me around the Boss Chamber like he was moving through water.

“Armor comes at a cost.” He stopped in the middle of the room and leaned over, breathing heavily.

“I can tell. Why don’t you strip down and we’ll take this like real fighters?” I pulled a dagger from my belt and spun it on my palm.

“No, nope. I can withstand your spells with the armor.” He shook his head and tried to move toward me again, but didn’t get more than a few feet before he collapsed down to a knee.

“Dude, this is getting stupid. Just take off the armor.” I sighed at him.

“No way, daemon.” He said through gritted teeth, spitting sweat from his lips.

“I’m hardly a Daemon.” I rolled my eyes and started a casting, my hands creating large runes in the air.

It was a long cast, but given how much effort Stalwart was putting into just breathing, I figured I had time.

“You want to see a Daemon? Lemme bring one for you.” I finished the casting, and the air around me rippled with heat before a gate from Gahenna opened next to me.

>>>

Underneath Summon: Soulless One

The Soulless are husks of the broken Underneath, living only for the express purpose of consuming the souls of other living beings. They hunger endlessly for the essence which sustains them, and are considered to be low-tier warriors of Absolom, the God of Gehenna’s First Tier.

Summon Type: Tier II

Creature Type: Daemon

Mana Cost: 275 MP, plus 10% Max Mana to maintain summon

Casting Time: 69 seconds

Creature Stats: Caster’s Level +5

Creature Abilities:

Consume: Deals 75 immediate Dark Damage to a single target, then continuously channels damage to the target at 2 damage per second. Duration: 30 Seconds

Rip and Tear: Shreds the target’s armor, flesh, and bone with sharp, razor-like claws, dealing 45 True* damage and causing a bleeding effect for 5 HP per second. Duration: 15 Seconds

Horrific Shriek: The Soulless One screams with a sound that can only be heard deep inside the soul, causing 145 Dark Damage to everything within 15 feet, 100 Dark Damage to everything within 25 feet, and 50 Dark Damage to any targets beyond that. This ability does not know Friend or Foe.

Gehenna’s Flame: The Soulless One can expend the remainder of their life-force to power a fierce flame-breath, dealing 125 Fire and 125 Dark damage in a 15-foot cone in front of it, over a channeling period of 10 seconds. The Soulless One returns to Gahenna after the spell expires.

Cooldown: 24 hours

Materials: Charred Flesh, Broken Bones, Shattered Spinal Column, Scorched Earth

I didn’t want to be a daemon, but the daemon life chose me. Now I get to flay people limb from limb. It’s great. ~Fire Soulless, Armistice

>>>

A beast that was almost humanoid in nature stepped through the portal, the flames of Gehenna Herself flicking through, before the portal snapped shut behind the monster.

“You rang?” The Soulless asked me, its empty face staring at me, causing a shiver to run down my spine.

“Just wanted to give you some time out, Jeeves.” I said, snickering.

“Very funny, Grimm. Is this the target?” Jeeves turned its empty face to Stalwart, who looked simply horrified.

“He called me a Daemon, I figured I’d show him a real one. You feel like a fight, bud?” I smiled at Stalwart, who looked panicked, stepping backwards.

“That’s a real Daemon.” Stalwart sputtered.

“Yes, and it’s not even the most powerful I can summon.” I nodded to Jeeves, who leapt at Stalwart.

Jeeves went to work on shredding Stalwart’s armor, tearing off pieces, until there were only scraps left.

Stalwart got faster with every single piece removed. His axe moved faster, his body moved quicker, and his dodges became more fluid.

Jeeves took hits like a champ, until finally his HP expired.

“Until next time, Grimm.” Jeeves’ voice rang out into the empty space of the room as his body collapsed into burning dust.

“Later, man.” I pulled a pair of potions from my belt, one blue, and one red.

I threw the red potion to Stalwart, who caught it with ease now that his armor was stripped down.

“What’s this?” He asked, looking at the potion.

“Health potion. You got kinda beat up from my soldiers outside, and Jeeves did a number on you.” I downed the blue Mana Potion, refilling my MP to full.

I tossed the vial aside, listening to the delightful sound of it shattering against the stone floor.

“Huh, you sure?” Stalwart looked at the potion, then looked back at me, before downing his own vial.

He choked and sputtered, then managed to swallow the liquid, before dropping the vial to the ground.

“Oh, he drank it.” I raised an eyebrow, fully not expecting him to take the potion.

“Whoo, man. You make a horrible potion, Dungeon Lord.” Stalwart shook his head, shivering.

“I bought them, I don’t do alchemy.” I rolled my eyes.

“Oh, gotcha. Don’t buy from there again.” Stalwart raised his axe over his shoulder and let it fall with a thunk.

“Ready?” I asked, pulling my second dagger from my belt and slid the edges together, activating their enchantments.

“No, not yet.” He smirked at me.

Stalwart slammed the head of his axe into the ground, then brought his fists together with a roar.

His body swelled under his clothes, the muscles in his chest tightening and tearing through his shirt. His forearms expanded, his legs tore through his pant legs, and his boots split, revealing his feet.

“Okay, that was awesome.” I said, taking a chance to attack by launching a Fire Bolt at him, then running towards him with my daggers out by my side.

I wanted to get a pair of good dagger strikes on him to get the debuffs in place, so I could get back to casting in his face.

“Come get some.” Stalwart said, lifting his axe as I ran forward.

He deflected the Fire Bolt with a quick backhand, then swung his axe at my face.

I managed to roll as I was running, falling to the ground, and slashing my daggers along Stalwart’s forearm.

He recoiled, bringing his axe back up.

I managed to roll to the side, after just barely avoiding his axe, which crashed into the stone ground, cracking the floor and sending fragments in every direction.

“Ugh, annoying fly.” He said, pulling a great sword from his back and dual-wielding his weapons.

“Oh, you’re a strong one, eh?” I leapt to my feet, swinging my right arm back and launching one of my daggers at him.

It sunk deep into his forearm, spreading darkness and decay from the dagger.

Stalwart stumbled, and I launched another series of Fire Bolts at him, trying to get enough of a damage lead on him to be able to drop a spell bomb on him that would end him.

“Is that all you’ve got, Wizard!?” Stalwart shouted, ripping the dagger from his arm and throwing it to the side.

I whipped my hands through the cantrip motions for Drown, watching the spell take hold of him, though he continued to stand.

Stalwart shook his head and pushed forward, stomping his way toward me like an unstoppable juggernaut, leaving cracks and small craters in the stone floor of my Boss Chamber.

“Holy shit, what are you?” I asked, throwing a second spell of Drown at him, which didn’t take hold, flicking a giant [RESIST] above his head.

Stalwart’s HP was only down by ten percent, I was hardly doing any damage to him at all.

I continued to back step, gaining distance slowly, and cast Toxin, watching the purple haze spread around him. He continued to push on, his HP slowly dropping.

It was slowly becoming a battle of attrition, and I had no doubt that a single hit from his dual weapons would likely spell my doom.

Stalwart smirked at me as his body flashed, then he was standing in front of me.

“Gotcha, bitch.” His eyes went wide and an empty hand reached out, grabbing me by the throat, lifting me from the ground.

I kicked and stabbed him in the arm with my dagger, but he didn’t even flinch. His hand crushed in on my throat and I couldn’t breathe.

>>>

Debuff Added

Suffocation: You are being suffocated. When your stamina reaches 0, your HP will begin to drain rapidly until you die. Duration: Until cleared.

>>>

I had never experienced suffocation before. My chest burned, my eyes felt like they were going to rupture from my skull, and everything started to get heavy.

My Stamina bar throbbed intensely in the corner of my vision, showing that I only had seconds before my Health would start to fall.

I struggled and fought and tried to use spells against him, but he just continued to smile at me. That big, stupid grin, burned into my vision like a fire.

My Health was down to fifty percent and dropping like a stone in a river. My vision began to fade, everything started to go dark and, for the first time, I felt the sting of death.

“Get fucked.” Stalwart said as my HP hit zero and my vision went completely black.

>>>

YOU HAVE DIED

Time until Respawn: 23 hours, 59 minutes.

EXP Loss: 365 EXP

All of your current skill progress to the next level has been lost.

Your Dungeon has been raided for: 3,795 Gold

Your Dungeon Beacon has been disabled until you respawn.

Perhaps next time you will consider your opponent better, Dungeon Lord.

>>>

So that was it, Stalwart killed me. I had died as a Dungeon Lord for the first time, and there was nothing that could save me from the embarrassment that it would undoubtedly foist upon me.

Leese, when I came back to life, would laugh her ass off.

Cinza, knowing her, would also give me a considerable amount of grief for the loss. I had been caught off guard, I had given my opponent an advantage I didn’t know he had, and I made several, crucial mistakes in the fight. I wouldn’t make those mistakes again.

After all, I had an entire day to figure out what, exactly, I would do differently next time. Not that I had loot to provide to the masses to bring them in, but I would give it my all.

This was no longer a game, now that I knew the consequences of death. Now it was a challenge, a struggle. A true life-or-death situation. And I needed to make sure I was ready for it on the next go around.

I sat in the darkness, my legs crossed, for hours, thinking of new ways to convert the Dungeon, and new ways to use my magic to enhance my chances of success.

Thinking about my ability to utilize Runic Magic, I wondered if I could potentially make traps out of them.

Even something so simple as turning an object that came into contact with a Rune to stone could be effective, if I could use it on the hand of a Hero.

Or, potentially altering the weight of those particular Heroes who stepped on a certain stone in the dungeon, making them heavier for a short period or time, or causing them to float.

All of these were a valid option, and if I could make traps myself, then I could save those I had to pay a Dungeon Point cost on for more serious situations.

Like Stalwart, that dirty bastard. I should have never given him an advantage. I should have torn him limb from limb with magic when I had the chance.

I still had several hours to go of my abyssal torture, so I decided to meditate on the stars. Not that I could see them, but one of the benefits of having Mysticism was that I could, to some extent, alter my future by reading the stars.

I closed my eyes and focused, hard, on the alignment of the stars outside of my Dungeon, taking in their positions.

They were in full view, the night sky was perfectly clear. Or perhaps it was just my imagination.

I took a moment to breathe in their energy and their power. It was something I didn’t often do, but it was something I wanted to do more of in the future.

“Star light, provide unto me the depths of your wisdom and knowledge.” I incanted, using a sing-song voice, and repeating the words three more times.

It reminded me of an ancient hymn from when my father was still home, and we went to temple on a regular basis. Before he left to become a Sorcerer. Before he had grand ideas of being a Hero. Before he wrecked mine and my mother’s life.

No, he didn’t wreck our lives. My mother turned to alcohol, which was her own choice. I burned the house down when I came into my Power.

If I was ever going to be more than just a power-hungry, insane Wizard, I would need to free myself of the notion that everything evil started when my father left, and recall the reasons why the world was so broken to begin with.

“Star Light, show unto me the depths of the world, and all that would live within, that I may know the history of this place, and once again remember the reasons we are all running from death.” I sang, changing the words and making a hymn to the Stars of my own.

A flicker in the distance of the abyss I was floating within caught my attention, and the room bloomed to white.