Not knowing what to do, I begin infusing mana throughout my body and look back at the goblin enchanters. One of them is pointing out toward the woods off to my right, and I can see its milky eyes widened in fear.
The barrier hasn’t been complete yet.
Before I have any more time to think about the situation, I hear a huge crash ring throughout the field and echo back from the valley. Smoke billows from the forest in a wide arc and large splinters of wood scatter everywhere as the Train finally makes itself known. I am frozen in place by the sudden commotion, waiting in bated breath to lay my eyes on the mysterious beast that has been like a phantom the entire floor. Out of my peripherals, I can see that the enchanters have stopped working on the lines as they realize the situation at hand. One of them is quicker than the rest, and blue lines begin shimmering in the air as the goblin waves its staff around sporadically.
Finally, the smoke thins and the shadowy mass of the Train is revealed.
< Rogue Exterminator - Level 54 >
The line hovers above a giant metal minotaur. I can’t see it fully yet, but the minotaur is easily a meter taller than any of the goblin brutes, and wicked metal horns stick out of the beast’s head even farther than that. I can see a red light blinking dully in the large head of the minotaur as it turns its thick neck to pan across the entirety of the field.
Despite it feeling like the world has frozen in place, I see movement to my side, and I watch as the one enchanter who started drawing blue lines in the air begins to move even faster to finish its spell. The goblin almost looks to be finished, but before I can even blink, red mist is all that is left of the old geezer. I didn’t even get a glimpse of what hit the monster. One second it was there, the next it was gone.
Finally, as if the entire world begins to breathe again, I listen as the goblins begin to scream in fear. I hear a deep groan and watch as the minotaur bends down and braces its huge metal hands onto the ground. Less than a second later, the minotaur is gone and a new crash sounds out from the goblin base.
I look around sporadically, not knowing what to do in the face of this beast appearing. Shards of mud and dirt rain down on the area as the defenses the goblins spent days putting up are completely demolished by the giant minotaur’s power. I look back over to where the other goblin enchanters had been standing and find only trampled blood and guts left in the dirt.
Holy shit I need to leave.
As if on cue, I look out to the valley through the new hole birthed by the giant exterminator and see my ticket to survival. Only a couple hundred meters away sits a plain looking white door sitting right at the foot of the valley. Without a second of hesitation, I my body with as much mana as I can tolerate before shooting toward the valley like a madman. As I emerge from the wood line and dash through the field, my ears are assaulted with the deep groan of the minotaur mixed with the blood curdling screams of the goblins being massacred. As I reach the remains of the goblin base, I have to dodge and weave through the falling tents and broken walls while blood runs freely all over the dirt. Any level of strategy has left the minds of the goblins as everyone, even the so-called combatants, run around in disarray and bump into each other as they try to escape their fates.
One such goblin runs straight into me, and we both go down. The goblin is too terrified to realize I’m not one of its kind, so it quickly tries to shove itself off of me and continue running. Before it can even get it to its feet fully, a man-sized spear of wood blows through its head like a cannonball and I am showered in blood and brain matter. I don’t even bother turning toward where the spear came from and instead begin my sprint for the door again while I retch and choke on the innards that invade my mouth and nose. I am still not yet outside of the goblin base, so pieces of green flesh and flecks of blood fly out from the direction of the minotaur and cover my skin. The horrible noises surrounding me and the terror of the nightmare creature behind me drive my feet into the dirt with a strength I didn’t even know was possible. Streamers of intestines are thrown into the air and shards of bones bite into my skin as it feels like I am walking through a hurricane of gore. One goblin actually has the balls to attack me despite the circumstances, and I quickly drive a mana empowered fist straight into its nose that shatters its skull due to my momentum.
< You have defeated: Goblin - Level 3 >
No matter what, I do not stop running toward the door in the distance. Even as I slip on goblin remains and my eyes sting with the blood and sweat of the dying monsters, I continue to haul ass toward the door. Finally, I emerge from the wreckage of the goblin base and am only a football field away from my exit. I even more mana into my muscles and practically shoot like a rocket down to the valley.
Holy shit, am I actually going to make it out of this alive?
A small part of my brain whispers in disbelief, and a nervous giggle leaks from my mouth as I get closer and closer to my salvation. As if listening to my inner dialogue, a new screen appears in my vision.
< A change has been made. >
< Given the current state of Floor One, the Floor Objective has been updated accordingly. >
< Option Two: [Finish what was started], has become the inevitable outcome of this floor. >
< Option One: [Reach the Valley], is no longer available. >
I tear my eyes from the screen and watch with despair as the door in front of me blinks out of existence as if it was never there at all.
No... no... no no no no no NO NO NO NO!
I finally reach the location of where the door used to be, and I wave my hands through the air uselessly as I try to pull the door back into reality. A roar bellows out from the field and goosebumps prickle all over my body as I slowly turn to see the giant metal atrocity tear through the rest of the goblins like a mindless beast. The previously silver body of the minotaur has been dyed red from the liters of blood that shower from each goblin it turns to mush. My knees shake beneath me as I watch the last few goblins running in random directions like ants trying to escape the inevitable foot that will crush them. Some run back into the smoke-filled woods, others attempt to hide in the wreckage of their base, and a few even accept their fates and stare listlessly at the metal exterminator that bathes in their comrade’s entrails.
Not knowing what else to do since the valley is nothing but a death trap now, I break into a sprint back toward the wood line away from the minotaur. If I had to choose, I would much rather die from smoke than that fucking monstrosity. Now that there are so few goblins left, I watch as the minotaur runs around the field, picking off any goblin it comes across. It doesn’t matter where they run or hide, the exterminator finds them every time and takes care of them swiftly.
As I am nearing the edge of the field, I spot one of the last goblins staring at me with burning hatred as it stands near one of the wood spiked walls of the camp. Instead of rushing me in some last-ditch plan of revenge, I watch on as the goblin holds eye contact with me while it throws itself onto the sharp spike of the wall. A disgusting feeling of revulsion takes hold in my gut as blood flows freely from the goblin’s stomach and back, yet it just continues to glare at me with its cold, black eyes.
I force myself to look away from the goblin as I finally reach the wood line and dash into the darkness of the smoke. Ripping off a piece of my tattered shirt, I hold it over my face to filter the thick air but end up gagging instead as pieces of goblin invade my nostrils and mouth. I end up throwing the soaked fabric to the ground and just continue running as I cough and choke on the smoke.
I trip over burnt roots and am smacked constantly by random ashen branches, but I don’t slow down. I even end up emerging from the smoke after an unknown amount of time, but I just keep running through the black and gray remains of the forest. I run until I can’t even feel my legs. At this point, I don’t know if I am running from the minotaur or something else.
Finally, my legs end up collapsing underneath me, and I don’t have the strength to get up. Instead, I just lie on the ground and breathe while the eyes of that goblin stare at me in my head. I don’t feel bad for burning down the goblin’s home. I don’t feel bad for leaving them at the mercy of the Rogue Exterminator. The goblins killed other humans and left them to rot in a hole. I don’t feel bad. These monsters even ate humans as well. I. Don’t. Feel. Bad.
But those damn black eyes stared at me with pure and unbridled hatred.
A bit of time passes, and I prop my back up against a nearby stump and face the direction that I came from. I can still see the smoke in the distance like a curtain separating the valley from where I am now. Something about the sight makes me smile, and the tension in my body relaxes slightly and I close my eyes.
I sit like this for a long time.
…
Meow
My eyes open wide with surprise, and I cock my head to the side where I find Pawl lying next to me out of nowhere. I don’t know when he got here, but he just gives me a lazy blink before nestling up to my leg like no time had passed at all. Tears sting my eyes and I pick Pawl up and give him a hug before setting him on my lap where I pet his soft fur quietly.
“Thanks for coming back for me, buddy.”
…
Pawl and I sit and watch the ruins of the floor for a couple of hours before a new screen finally appears in front of me.
< Congratulations! You have cleared Floor One of the Pillar! >
< Rewards for completion of Floor One will be granted upon entry of Floor Two. >
< Floor Two’s entrance has opened. >
I look up from the screen to find a dark iron door sitting in front of me. It has no embellishments or designs and is nowhere near as inviting as the pearly white door I saw in the valley earlier.
I silently get up from my spot on the ground and cradle Pawl in my arms as I walk through the door without a word.