After the dust had settled down, Elena saw Cedric holding his sword against the lizard’s head. The skin of the lizard was thick enough to withstand the sharp blade. The lizard continued to push Cedric against the wall to crush him, but Cedric was enduring the brute force with his sword against the wall. Cedric used all his strength and pushed the lizard back with his sword. The lizard stumbled a bit backward which gave time for Cedric to make his move. He quickly jumped away from the wall and dashed towards Elena.
“Are you okay, Elena?” asked Cedric worriedly while holding out his hand towards her. Elena tentatively took his hand and stood up. “Yes, I’m alright. I was not injured” replied Elena as she stood up. As they were talking, the lizard regained its composure and turned its head toward them again. Cedric looked at the lizard.
“This is a crystal lizard. They spend most of their time underground and eat minerals and ores. It helps with the evolution of their tough skin which is quite impenetrable,” said Cedric to Elena. “You don’t have any weapons with you, do you? Just stay back. I’ll take care of this,” added Cedric as he drew his sword once more. Elena could get a closer look at his sword for the first time. The blade is silvery grey with the symbol of the sun and the moon at the crossguard. The hilt was shining gold assembled with a gem at the pommel.
While Elena was admiring the sword, Cedric charged at the lizard. However, charging at the crystal lizard was a foolish move since hardly any physical attacks could harm the crystalized skin. The lizard stood firm and settled down on the ground to protect its soft stomach where the scales lacked. Cedric leapt into the air and delivered a powerful blow. But he missed the lizard and hit the ground in front of the lizard. At the moment, the sword was set ablaze and the flame burst out.
“Solar Strike!” shouted Cedric as the flame torrent struck the ground and caused an explosion. The earth shattered and the uneven ground level made the lizard lose balance while Cedric was launched back into the air from the recoil. The lizard stumbled and fell on its back exposing its unprotected stomach. Not wanting to lose the chance, Cedric fixed his position mid-air and plunged his sword at the lizard’s stomach. It pierced through the flesh easily. The lizard screeched and tried to roll over. But Cedric stood firm and stabbed the sword deeper. The black fluid gushed out of the lizard’s abdomen. With another ear-piercing screech, the lizard made its final breath.
The lifeless body dropped flat on the ground and Cedric jumped off it. Seeing this, Elena slowly walked out of her protection towards Cedric. He put his sword back into the scabbard around his waist. The lizard’s body disintegrated and vanished into the air as dust.
“What happened to the lizard?” asked Elena after witnessing the event. “This lizard is not a natural creature unlike the ones you faced in the previous chambers. They came into this dungeon because they are attracted to the dark mana of this dungeon. But this lizard is created by the dark mana of this dungeon. That’s why it returns to dark mana upon death,” replied Cedric. Elena nodded in understanding as she watched the lizard turn to dust. After it completely vanished, a lump of glowing blue crystal dropped with a thud.
“What is it?” asked Elena. Cedric crouched down and picked up the lump of crystal. He examined it carefully in his hand. “Remember when I said these lizards eat crystals? This one may be created by the dungeon but it’s still the crystal lizard. It ate crystal when it was alive. Some of the dark mana is trapped in this crystal. So, it couldn’t disintegrate when the lizard died,” Cedric explained. Elena listened to him as she watched the crystal in awe. Cedric noticed her curiosity and handed the crystal to her.
“Is it for me?” Elena asked in confusion. “Yes, this doesn’t mean much to me because it’s not that rare. But this must be your first monster drop. So, you can have it. You can sell it to a blacksmith for a few golds,” Cedric said as he gave the lump of crystal to Elena. She took the crystal and looked at it. “Thank you, Cedric. I’m very grateful,” said Elena. Cedric also handed her a leather bag. “You can put it in here and keep it for yourself,” said Cedric. Elena took the bag and put the crystal inside it. “Thank you. You’re helping me a lot. Why? What do you want from me?” she said frantically.
Cedric looked at her directly. “I do not want anything from you. I am just helping someone in need. This is what adventurers do,” he replied with a smile. Touched by Cedric’s kindness and warm words, Elena blushed and nodded. Cedric stood up and looked around. “Our way back is blocked. The only way left is to go forward and clear this dungeon. Then we can destroy the root of the dark mana in this dungeon. After that, the dark mana of this dungeon will slowly fade away along with the whole dungeon. Then we can get out,” Cedric explained. “Okay. But will I be holding you back? I…I do not have any weapons, and I have never cleared a dungeon either,” Elena said in an upset voice.
Cedric gently put his hand on Elena’s shoulder. “Don’t worry. I will get us out of here. Trust me,” Cedric reassured her. Elena looked up at him with gratitude. “Thank you. I won’t hold you back,” Elena replied with a decisive voice. Cedric smiled and turned towards the next chamber. “Then let’s make haste. The sooner we beat this dungeon, the sooner we can get out,” he said as he made his way to another chamber. Elena followed him from behind while making sure not to make any unnecessary stupid moves. They walked along the tunnel leading to the next chamber. At the end of the tunnel, they were greeted by a large heavy metal door.
Cedric inspected the door carefully. He stepped back a bit near Elena. “My intuition says this is the final chamber. The boss of the dungeon should be behind these doors. We don’t know what it is but it’s surely strong and deadly. Are you ready for it?” said Cedric. Elena looked at him and nodded firmly. “Yes, I’m ready,” she said with strong sense of determination. “I will take care of the boss. You find the thing that is providing this dungeon with the dark mana and destroy it. It’ll weaken the boss and also stop the dark mana flow of this dungeon. Got it?” Cedric said to Elena. “I will do my best. I won’t hold you back” Elena said in a small yet determined voice. Cedric nodded and walked towards the door with Elena behind him. He pushed the door which opened with a loud noise. The sound of the door opening echoed through the dark room. It felt as if the room was empty.
They took a few more steps into the chamber. The door closed with a loud slam behind them. Suddenly, the purple flames lit up on the pillars of the chamber. In the middle of the chamber stood a tall figure. Cedric took another step towards the figure while Elena remained behind. The eyes of the dark figure opened glowing red. The figure slowly lifted up itself from the ground and stood on its feet. It seems a lot taller than a normal human. It was towering above them and manifested his giant sword. The figure was emitting dark aura around itself. The giant sword appeared to be manifested by dark mana and shadow instead of metal. They felt spine-chilling ominous aura since the figure stood up.
“This is bad. It is a demon. And a gladiator at that,” Cedric spoke to himself. Elena was stunned as she stared at the figure. Cedric looked back at Elena who was petrified in fear. “Elena! ELENA!” shouted Cedric as he shook her. But Elena was still motionless. Her eyes were fixed on the demon. “Elena! Keep yourself together!” Cedric shouted again. But it was no use. It was as if Elena was petrified as a stone. Cedric turned towards the demon and drew his sword out of the scabbard.
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“Elena is probably affected by ‘Intimidation’. The skill stuns the enemies who are in fear of the user. I need to distract this guy so that he will cancel his skill,” Cedric thought.
He charged towards the demon while holding his sword in both hands. The demon lifted its giant sword and tried to strike down. But its movements are slow due to the size. Cedric looked back and saw Elena still petrified. If the demon struck at the moment, the impact would surely hit her. Cedric changed his direction and ran to the side instead of running straight towards the demon. As he planned, the demon turned to Cedric and prepared to strike his sword at Cedric. The demon lifted the giant sword and struck it down. But due to the lack of speed, Cedric got enough time to react. He leapt in the air before the sword hit the ground. The impact sent the debris flying away. Elena was also blown away by the shockwave. The “Intimidation” casted upon her has been lifted since the demon was paying attention to Cedric instead of her.
Cedric rotated himself in the air and prepared to strike the demon from above. He held his sword tight and plunged down at the demon. Seeing Cedric plunging from above, the demon swiftly raised his giant sword to block the attack. Cedric used all his strength and weight to push his sword down. But the sheer power of the demon was far greater than Cedric’s strength. The demon easily pushed his giant sword against Cedric’s and threw him back. Cedric dropped to the ground with a loud thud.
“Damn it. I could easily go rampage and put an end to this. But I might accidentally hurt Elena that way. I have to be careful and take my time with this one” Cedric thought.
As he was thinking, the demon leapt in the air and struck down at Cedric. Not having enough time to dodge, Cedric had to cast a defensive spell to block the heavy attack. “Moonlight Shield!” Cedric shouted and a silvery light enshrouded him forming a barrier. The demon’s giant sword made contact with the barrier. The force was so strong that the impact sent the dust flying around and a crack appeared on Cedric’s barrier.
Meanwhile, Elena slowly got back to her sense and slowly got back to her feet. She looked around the dark room. But to her dismay, all she could see was a pile of thick dust. She slowly got up on her feet and looked around.
“I can’t see anything. Where is Cedric? I hope he doesn’t get hurt,” Elena thought as she wandered around the pile of dust aimlessly. After she had taken a few steps, the dust settled down a bit. She could make out two silhouettes amidst the dust. After the dust had settled down, she could see that the demon was trying to break Cedric’s barrier, which was already cracking, with his sword while Cedric was pressed against the ground.
“Cedric!” she shouted.
“Elena! Find the source of the dark mana and destroy it! Hurry!” Cedric replied. Elena nodded and looked around the room. The room was dimly lit by the purple flames at the top of the pillars. The lack of light made it hard for Elena to locate the source of dark mana, but she tried her best and searched. She found a sword stuck into the ground behind the place where the demon was first standing.
“I found it!” she exclaimed cheerfully and ran towards the sword. The demon, seeing this, stopped trying to kill Cedric and started chasing Elena. “No, you’re not going anywhere,” Cedric said and got up from the ground. The demon quickly chased after Elena to stop her from reaching the source and destroying it. The demon raised its sword and slashed Elena. Before the sword hit Elena, Cedric intercepted the attack with his sword and casted Moonlight Shield.
“Don’t stop. Go!” Cedric shouted at Elena as he held against the demon’s strike. Elena kept running to the sword leaving Cedric behind to deal with the demon. Noticing Elena’s movement, the demon raised his hand in her direction and started channeling dark mana. Purple energy gathered around the demon’s palm while pressing down Cedric with its sword using the other hand. A purple orb formed in the demon’s hand, and it kept gathering energy. Dark mana and pieces of rocks swirled around the orb as it kept bigger and bigger.
“It’s going to use Shadow Orb. If it hits Elena, she might be seriously injured or even die. I have to do something,” Cedric thought. He looked at Elena and saw that she was still running without noticing the danger behind her. He then looked at the demon. It was watching Elena while channeling the skill. “Holy Enhancement!” Cedric shouted. His body started absorbing mana from the surroundings and enhanced his strength. Before the demon could unleash the Shadow Orb, Cedric pushed him back with his sword, making the demon lose balance and shoot the Shadow Orb.
“Elena! Dodge!” Cedric shouted at Elena, who was running. She turned her head back and saw the orb approaching her. She was stunned and unable to move due to fear. Fortunately, the demon could not aim after losing balance from Cedric’s attack and the Shadow Orb passed right beside Elena’s face and hit the ground. The impact sent the rocks flying and Elena tumbled on the ground. The demon quickly regained its balance and turned towards Cedric.
“Elena! Don’t stop! Go for the source! I’ll buy some time for you. So, make It quick!” he shouted at Elena as she slowly tried to get back on her feet. The demon charged towards Cedric while wielding its giant sword. “Come at me! Divine Weapon!” Cedric shouted as he imbued his sword with holy mana. The sword glowed pale yellow and radiated. He also ran towards the demon and clashed his sword against the demon’s. Divide Enhancement gave him extra strength and speed, allowing him to deliver continuous strikes against the demon. However, with the source of dark mana supplying to the dungeon, the demon kept regenerating despite Cedric’s relentless attacks.
Elena slowly got back to her feet and saw Cedric clashing against the demon. She looked back at the sword which seemed to be the source of dark mana. She made her way to it before the demon noticed her movement. When she reached the sword, she carefully observed it. The sword was stuck to the ground and purple energy was flowing into the floor of the dungeon. “This might be the source of the dark mana. But how do I destroy it? I don’t have any weapon with me,” Elena thought and looked around. But there was nothing she could use to destroy the sword.
“I’ll try pulling this out first. Then I will let Cedric destroy it,” she thought as she reached out her hands to the hilt of the sword. She gripped the sword with all the strength she had and pulled. The sword started moving little by little. Purple clouds swirled around Elena as she continued to pull the sword out. She closed her eyes and summoned all her strength in her hands. With the final pull, the sword was freed from the ground. Dark mana exploded, sending a shockwave across the room.
The demon screeched as it lost the dark mana and weakened. Cedric was knocked back a bit by the shockwave. However, Elena was blown away and the dark mana started seeping into her chest. She screamed in pain as more and more dark mana gushed into her. She was still holding the sword in her hands although she was struggling on the ground. The dark mana in the sword also started flowing inside her. Soon, all the dark mana in the dungeon had been absorbed by Elena. She opened her eyes which were glowing purple like a flame. She got up and held her hand as she walked towards the demon.
“Elena, watch out!” Cedric warned her. But to his surprise, the previous scaredy-cat Elena was gone. What’s in front of him seemed like a completely different person. The eyes were glowing like a flame and the way she was holding a sword did not seem like an amateur. Before he could question further, Elena dashed towards the demon and delivered a strike. It was a direct hit to the demon’s arm which was holding the giant sword. The arm was slashed with a clean cut, and it dropped on the floor of the dungeon.
The demon retreated and channeled Shadow Orb while leaping back. Without giving the time for the demon to cast the skill, Elena also leaped in the air and raised her sword. Her eyes were glowing like a devil and her gaze intense. “Demonic Sword: A Thousand Cuts” Elena dashed behind the demon. As she landed, multiple slashes appeared around the demon, and it was cut into countless small pieces before dissipating into dark mana.
Witnessing the miracle, Cedric ran towards Elena. “What was that?” he asked. Elena turned her head towards Cedric with intense gaze and hostility. “Be gone, human!” Elena said. Cedric was stunned by her words as she took a few steps towards him with her sword. After a few steps, Elena collapsed on the ground. Cedric quickly bent down and held her in his arms. Her eyes were closed, and she dropped her sword on the floor.
The Fate has been implemented.
