Too Stubborn to Die

Book 4: Chapter 52

As things turned out, not every quest objective was equal. And it wasn’t just the difficulty grading that set them apart. No, there were more insidious and hidden challenges that set some objectives apart from others.

And perhaps deviously, it was the gold mine. A quest objective designed to fuel conflict between the competing clusters, unbeknownst to the dungeon participants, was the only gold mine on the entire floor.

There were several narrow passages leading into the vast undulating valley, at the heart of which was the gold mine. The land was spotted by open-pit mines, excavating equipment, and jagged rock that made for numerous hiding spots.

It was the perfect arena to draw in the elites from many worlds, and it made for a deadly confrontation.

Unlike the other quest objectives, the gold mine was special. Every stage of tower construction required teams to spend gold, but there was only a single gold mine on the entire Floor. Despite this, it didn’t mean that only one group could move on to the next floor. Because, unlike other resources, whoever controlled the gold mine could trade the gold from it for other resources. Meaning that not only was it the only gold mine, but if you controlled it, it was the only resource your group would actually need.

Thus, upon reaching the valley and learning of these special conditions, many groups decided that they needed to have the gold mine.

It was but one example of the System’s deviousness, and things quickly spiralled out of control.

Back at their base, the gold mine had only been rated at a difficulty level of above average, and so none had thought much of it when Red Song had claimed the quest for herself and wandered off to complete it with her companion.

But the moment she arrived, all hell broke loose. Her companion, a champion of her temple, had quickly fallen, and Skills and spells blew apart the land, and she only just managed to escape the worst of it, forced to escape down a mine shaft.

Panting, she gathered her breath. A couple of fools had followed her down, and they had met the sharp point of her spear. She stood over their bloodied corpses, gathering herself.

Though as strong as she was, she knew that she’d be torn apart if she headed back out.

The others had better arrive soon! I cannot accept failure. I cannot disappoint Lenriel!

Luckily, she had managed to send off a message with her Mythical pigeon bracelet shortly after the fight had started. The bracelet was an item that could turn into a near-invincible pigeon and fly off at incredible speed with a message.

It would get to the others from her cluster. She didn’t doubt that. It was one of her greatest items. What she didn’t know was whether or not they would arrive in time.

The mining shaft rocked, and debris loosened as explosions cascaded above. She had no idea how many there were, but she was fairly certain several different cluster groups were already fighting over the resource.

Lagora the female Ogre

Lagora had taken the vanguard as Elmira ordered the charge into the valley soon after receiving the message. She had made sure that it was spread onto others, as Red Song had made it clear that it wasn’t a single cluster she was engaged in battle against.

Unfortunately, they had quickly come under heavy enemy fire and were forced into the mines. Skills and spells were exploding all over the place, and the sky above became a death trap. At least on the ground, there were rocks and caves to hide among. While anybody who flew above quickly became targets of the various factions competing over the valley.

Voidrin and a couple of his lackeys weren’t far behind, cut off from the others, and engaged against a squad not far away.

Lagora cycled energy, back pressed against the rock as she awaited Elmira’s command. Fire roared past, and a crackle of electrical power rocked the ground.

“Now!” Elmira roared, and her runes took to the sky around them, sparking up as they consumed several attacks, and then shot back with arcing beams of energy.

It was just the distraction Lagora needed, and she jumped out from their rocky hideout as she called upon her own power. A film of blood red energy wrapped around Lagora as she charged out from cover, meeting a staff-wielding foe only several meters away.

The man swung his staff around and blasted her with a shock of thunder, but Lagora just bit down and ate the damage as she charged forward. He wasn't so lucky. When her spiked club swung back at the man, the blast of thunderous force that met it broke apart in an instant, and he was smashed into paste.

Over the ridge, streams of fiery power shot out, blasting chunks out of the ground, and several of them smacked straight into Lagora, but she shrugged them off as she continued her charge up toward the ridge.

Luckily, taking a blow was what she was good at. And her absorption Skill fed on the attacks blasting into her. As she took several more hits on her approach, the red glow surrounding her pulsed with newfound energy, and she sped up.

The glow around her had grown so bright that when she swung her spiked club, it created an aura that extended its destructive powers several meters from the weapon itself, and with a single blow, he disintegrated the warrior who had been shooting at her.

Lagora roared again and continued down the other side of the ridge toward her enemy’s comrades, and her anger seemed to power her Skill further, and the red glow exploded into ghostly red flames.

Several more attacks slammed against her as she charged, knocking the ogre backward and drawing blood. But she planted her feet down and roared again.

It was quite the sight. The ogre warrior wore no armor, so to speak, making the show of toughness even more impressive. Her plus-sized, but muscular body was clad in little more than spiked, bone gauntlets crafted from her greatest kill, a powerful demi-demon. She had a belt to match, with wavy ribbons of cloth dangling down for modesty, and a bra made of bone. And her helmet was made from the demi-demon’s skull, with a powerful gem at its center.

Lagora wasn’t the most agile or graceful warrior, taking several rather direct and powerful blasts as she continued to charge through the enemy attacks.

But that was her job. By taking the enemy attacks, her companions were able to freely strike back, and the squad of rankers from another world was quickly dismantled and dealt with.

With a swing of her mighty club, the last of their enemies was crushed before the mighty ogre. Unfortunately, the squad they had taken out was just one of many, and Lagora didn’t even get the chance to enjoy their victory before another volley of attacks came from their right flank.

She tried to dodge, diving out of the way, but was too slow, and a powerful explosion rippled through her, sending her flying. She hit the ground hard and bounced back to her feet. She was hurt, but not defeated.

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Her eyes widened a second later as more attacks came flying, but Elmira’s runes intercepted just in time, creating a barrier that saved her life, and a ground-splitting attack from Cairon followed instantly, slicing through the enemy’s position.

A second later, a golden figure came floating out of the enemy’s position. They had an incredible aura, and when Elmira’s runes attacked, blasting the floating figure with arcing beams, a shield erupted around it, blocking all of the attacks.

The figure within raised a robed arm, and it pointed at them. A second later, a golden star materialized, and gravity itself seemed to grow relentlessly heavy.

Lagora felt like she could barely move her feet before the golden figure. Through the blinding light, she saw the edges of a smirk widen across the figure’s face, and then a rush of energy.

It was intense, and all she managed to do was raise her hands before her face, and it wasn’t even aimed at her.

The blast of blinding light shot out in an instant, locking everyone around in place with some kind of powerful gravitational pull and blasting straight through Elmira’s barrier, slamming into two of their companions.

Luckily, Cairon and Elmira had managed to fall back into the mining shaft, as the blinding lighting completely ripped their companions to shreds, leaving nothing but slivers of flesh behind.

Party below threshold!

Party substitutes summoned!

Incoming 04:48

Lagora’s jaw dropped. It had all happened so quickly, and she had felt so powerless against the attack.

How… half our squad… just like that.

This wasn’t good. Not good at all. Two people down, and there wasn’t a thing they could do about it. And worst of all, they needed to hold out for five minutes before their substitutes could join the fray.

But Lagora wasn’t one to sit and tremble in fear. Shock turned to rage, and her thick, powerful brow bent. She couldn’t let that happen again. Cairon and Elmira were their world’s top elites, and if anything were to happen to them, their influence and ability to win this dungeon would drop to zero.

She couldn’t let that happen. She hadn’t intended to adopt their cause when joining Pentival’s empire, but she had found a new home in their ranks. She had honor and purpose, and she couldn’t back down from it now, even if she was up against somebody on another level.

The golden figure dressed in glorious robes began to glimmer and glow brighter with the same terrifying power that had just taken out two of her teammates as they hovered above the battlefield.

Can’t let them use that attack again.

But not even her absorption Skill could offset the power of that golden blast. It was like the wielder was harnessing the power of the sun itself, and if it hit her directly, there wouldn’t be anything left.

Lagora swallowed. So be it. Her job was to take the blows, and she was going to do just that. But there were regrets. She couldn’t deny it. There was that man from the trials.

He had the imposing aura of an ogre, but mixed with the softer features of a human she had grown to adore since joining forces with Elmira and Pentival’s followers.

The thought made her heart pang with longing. She had left so much undone. But honor demanded that she face her end with a smile.

I just wish I had gotten a chance to speak to him…

Lagora’s red aura brightened as she powered it to the limit and roared. She seemed to grow bigger in that moment, and she flung herself up just in time to create some momentum before the golden sun Skill spread across the land, locking everyone in place.

It was like the rising sun falling down upon her. A power like no other she had witnessed prior to that. But she knew she had positioned herself well, and she would use every ounce of her power to stop the destructive beam from taking out her comrades.

“Lagora!” Elmira screamed, but she just smiled.

Sorry, old friend. This is goodbye.

Lagora closed her eyes and embraced her end. She felt the incredible heat like being thrown into the sun brush over her, and then… and then… nothing.

What?

Was that it? Was there something else after the multiverse? Was she still alive, or had her mind been sent somewhere else? There had been no pain, but then again, the Skill had been so immensely powerful she assumed death would have been instant.

Her chest pounded, longing for answers. And with great trepidation, she eased her eyes open.

Smouldering streams of smoke surrounded her, and the ground around a small patch she stood on had been turned to lava. But she was there, alive and well. Not just alive, but completely unharmed. And then, as she patted herself down, she realized that there were chunks of flesh scattered around her.

“What…?”

Lagora gasped as realization struck. Who had sacrificed themselves for her? She was just a follower, a nobody, and certainly not somebody to die for.

Her heart sank at the thought of it. She couldn’t bear it if either Cairon or Elmira had thrown their lives away for her, not that she could fathom how. The sun blast, or whatever it was, would have locked them in place and prevented them from doing such a thing.

But then what? What had happened? Who did the chunk of charcoal flesh belong to?

Then, she felt something. A sudden surge of strange energy. It thudded and roared. Power unleashed, but equally unorthodox. Lagora gasped, and then before her very eyes, bones reconstructed, muscle and veins wrapping around them, and filling out with gory details in less than a second.

Then, flesh. Soft skin spread across the newly formed body, and for the briefest moment in time, she saw the figure in all its bare, angelic glory stripped before her. The moment lasted only for the tiniest fraction of a second, but it was ingrained in her mind. It was beautiful, and then it was clothed, as its magical gear returned, drawn by the same power that reconstructed it.

So pretty.

Like a phoenix rising from the ashes, the figure brushed back streaky, blonde hair with bad regrowth and smiled.

“Oh, hey there. Sorry about that. I got here just in time,” Aaron said, winking at her, and then he shot off toward the golden robed figure in the blink of an eye.

“What just happened…”

She was lost for words and was only knocked out of her stunned silence when a severed, shimmering golden arm smacked her in the face.

“Oops! Sorry! That wasn’t meant to hit you.”

“It’s fine,” she murmured under her breath. “Everything is fine. More than fine.”

Mo’han

Mo’han Khan was somewhat disappointed as he stood over the cracked and battered battlefield. His enemies had been numerous, but they hadn’t lasted long. In truth, they had been less of a challenge than what he had met when conquering his own world. At least there had been a few decently powerful asuras to contend with.

This battle, on the other hand, had ended depressingly early. After he attacked the enemy’s leaders, the rest of them quickly faded and fell to their knees. He had barely even broken a sweat.

“Really? Come on! Show me what it means to be a true WARRIOR!”

No one raised their heads. There were over twenty prostrated and trembling warriors before him. It was everything that was left of the cluster, and it looked rather pathetic in Mo’han’s eyes.

“I didn’t even get warmed up,” Mo’han sighed.

“Please, great conqueror, we apologize for everything! Just spare our lives! We beg of you! We swear to serve your great empire to the end of our days!”

“Bah, fine. Whatever,” Mo’han turned and snapped his fingers as he slumped. “You deal with them. I’m… sad. Once more, the glory and triumph of true battle elude me! I need a moment.”

“Excuse me, my lord,” said Mo’han’s elegant elven assistant, standing as straight as ever.

“Yes?” Can’t you see that I am mourning?”

“I understand that this is difficult for you. But there’s something that might interest you.”

“Interest me? The sounds of battle ringing throughout the multiverse? The cries of glorious champions as they grasp for greatness? Spare me. This has been one big disappointment.”

“Ahem,” the elven assistant cleared her throat. “If you’re done sulking. It seems that a great battle has started on the other side of the dungeon floor. One of our groups we sent out to claim the easier objectives has run into several other groups from the competing clusters. A great battle now rages, drawing in the greatest warriors from across our sector. I thought it might—”

“GREATEST WARRIORS FROM OUR SECTOR?” Mo’han’s eyes widened. “WHY DIDN’T YOU SAY SO EARLIER! GLORIOUS! Finally! Let us move! LET US FIND GLORY IN BATTLE!”

“I was trying to,” she sighed, activating all of her Skills as she tried to catch up with Mo’han, who was already speeding off in the complete opposite direction.