Eric spoke to the Queen, and was able to schedule a meeting with her with the other Summoned present for the same day. After a quick meeting, she gave him a writ which they then took to the top-most towers of the citadel.
Up there, the entire top six floors had been hollowed out, made into an Alicorn hangar. One of the key benefits that helped the old-blood families found Tenebria, and then expand the kingdom of Trok, was that they had an air force. Other countries had their own air forces using a variety of winged animals, but Alicorns were native to the Trok-side of the mountains and the Ley Line that split it and Bhlast.
What they lacked were Bhlast’s burrowing beasts called, easily enough, Burrowers. Eric found it odd that there was such a split in ecology—he would’ve figured that the two species could live together in the same regions, since one was airborne and the other terrestrial. But, they were vicious enemies, and even if trained, they would attack one another. He saw it during the war, and it was why Alicorns could not be brought to the front in Bhlast where the main invasion occurred.
Eric and the other Summoned used the writ from the Queen and were given the use of a Skyknight and their Alicorn. The entire trip out over to the invasion dungeon would take a little over an hour, and to Eric’s satisfaction, the saddles had been winterized. The high, leather ‘rim’ around the top had been outfitted with a sleek, simple tent that would cut through the air without much drag, and the central pole had a heatstone installed to keep things warm in the high altitude chill.
The group set out, and were not able to take in the surroundings due to the tent. But, that was fine for Eric. He chose to take a little nap in the comforting warm, and when they arrived, someone tapped him awake. The group descended ropes down to the snow-covered plains, and gave a wave as the Skyknight took off.
Naomi led the group over to a tumble of boulders at the bottom of a hill, and said, “This is where it should be.” She reached into her Storage Dimension and pulled out a duffel bag. “Okay, let’s set up the tent so that when we get done, we can rest up: just in case Shannon has to burn a lot of Sigils inside.”
Shannon’s teeth were chattering, and she said, “I wish I still had the Heat Globe you made.”
Naomi shot her a look. “When did you lose it?”
“Gave it to Cecil,” Shannon replied.
Peter reached into his belt pouch and grabbed one of the spheres that Naomi made back on the wintery forest floor of the Twilight Depths, and handed it to Shannon. The Paladin’s teeth then began to chatter. “Fuck me. Eric, want to look for the dungeon entrance while the three of us set up the tent?”
“I don’t mind,” Eric replied as he kept undulating his mana through his body. Since his reservoir had grown so much, he was practically full up from toes to top of skull with Blackflame, and he barely felt the cold as his mana warmed him. But, it wasn’t noticeable unless he was actively pushing the mana around in his body. “Where to?” he asked Naomi.
She pointed into the tumble of rocks. “Somewhere in there.”
Eric nodded and began squeezing his way through the boulders and crags. He had to exhale and push through two rocks that had seemingly fallen down together, and found the dungeon rift in the center of the tiny space with rocks. “Found it,” he said into his bracer.
“Can you make a path?” Shannon asked.
Eric nodded and began using his Blackflame Evocation, burning away the rocks and making a path from him to the place where the others were setting up the tent. He could see the effect of his new Primal Blackflame Blaze on full display, as every time his orbs of fire hit rock, after the impact, the DOT flared up with twice the intensity. Stone melted and cooled, and within a ten minute span, he had formed a smooth stone path between the tent and the others.
Peter was just coming out of the tent and putting on his gauntlets. “Stove’s in there. Naomi’s setting up the chimney thing.” He looked at the corridor Eric had carved. “Huh. Neat. Any milestones from that?”
Eric shook his head. “I wish. Oh, right, I forgot to ask—what’s everyone’s levels at? I’m at two-oh-five.”
Shannon came out of the tent. “A tiny bit under. One-ninety-eight.”
Peter said, “Same as Shannon.”
Naomi was the last, and she came out of the tent, and her body flashed electric-blue for a moment before her armor appeared. “I’m at two-hundred-and-eighty-three.”
“How the fuck?” Shannon asked.
Naomi shrugged. “It’s what happens when you craft a ton as a crafter.”
Eric wasn’t envious, but he was impressed. Naomi was progressing rapidly outside of mega dungeons, and for a moment he was about to ask if she would rather stay at home and keep tinkering, working on infrastructure projects with her new husband, and revolutionize Trok’s manatech industry. But, he stopped himself. He had seen the personality changes wrought by her Makerspark, and had a gut feeling, knowing that he needed to get her away from her workshop now and again, so she wouldn’t change permanently.
Eric activated Cinderscale Shroud, and then also activated Bristling Bastion—down to nineteen Sigils. The others took the cue from Naomi and Eric, and they activated their own defensive Rotes or Skills.
To Eric’s surprise, Peter’s armor completely shifted and warped into a draconic visage. Seemingly sensing the questions, the Paladin said, “Naomi and I talked. The smart thing is going to be summon-able armor. I need another Bar—sorry, primal force resource—to do it.”
“Well, we should get one for entering,” Eric replied as he led the way to the portal. “Everyone ready?”
“Hell yes,” Shannon said as she racked a slide on her crossbow.
Eric took a deep breath and walked through the rift.
[Entering the Vault of The End.]
[New Dungeon Entered.]
[Ember Acquired.]
A black sky unfolded before him, with stars glowing all across the infinite vastness, and swirls of nebulae floated far off in the distance. The ground was flat, and all the way to the horizon, save for a building before them. That structure was a tall, wide, flat-top structure that looked like a squat fortress, sunk into the ground. A cracked stone wall provided entry into the interior.
The other Summoned came through behind Eric, and Peter said, “Damn, big building.” He hefted his hammer and a new, replacement shield he had picked up back in Tenebria, and began moving toward the opening in the wall.
Eric walked right behind him, and saw the silver glow settle around him as Peter used his damage-redirect Skill. But the group hadn’t even cleared half the distance between them and the building before something moved atop the building. Eric saw a massive, big-cat body, with wings that were full of black and flickering gold feathers, and a humanoid face that was sharp, with narrow eyes, chiseled jawline, and feminine features. Eric could also see the pulsating of the invader deity’s corruption, squishing beneath the claws on the footpads.
“Halt!” it shouted, “In the name of all that is wise and true!”
Peter immediately entered a defensive stance, with his shield raised and hammer out to his right, ready to swing. But it was Naomi who spoke, as she said, “Wise and true? You all have some weird infection god.”
The monster shook her head, and hair rippled back and forth. “I did not wish to be summoned to Elyndor’s pocket dimension. I am the keeper of the Vault.” She raised her paw and looked down at it. “I do not want this corruption.”
“I can cleanse it,” Eric said. “I have healing that can burn out the infection.”
That caused the monster’s face to shoot up and make eye contact with him. There was a sound of relief as it said, “Oh, thank the maker. Yes, please. Then, perhaps, you can help solve the problem of the prisoner.”
“The fuck are you doing?” Shannon asked. “You’re going to trust it?”
Eric looked back at her. “It’s a sphinx. I’ve met them before, in Ardenarnexlar, with Darius. They are honest, wise, and very much ‘good’ aligned, if such a thing can be quantified.” Eric walked forward, and she spread her wings and flew down. He manifested a Blacksteel Healing, and the black and white fire turned to a silver stream as it hit the sphinx.
The monster let out a sigh of relief, and Eric saw as the disease and decay was burned away. Her entire body glowed with a lustrous, black and gold glow, and then the wings sparked, igniting crimson, before shifting to a solid gold. “Thank you.” She lowered herself down so that her head was on his level. “I am in your debt. What do you want to know?”
“Where are we?” Naomi asked as she walked forward.
The sphinx raised itself up, and used a paw to gesture behind it. “My world is called Tharinox, and is a prison planet. My kind are the native creatures, and we are assigned by the deities of our reality to guard the prisons of the most vile entities who have committed unspeakable acts.” She lowered her paw and looked back at the group, towering a good ten feet above them. “The prisoner within made contact with a deity, this pestilence, and this portion of my reality was cut off and transported here, to a pocket dimension, to be integrated with your world.”
She looked at Eric, but seemed to be looking through him, as she addressed Indedroma directly. “Thank you for The Paths, dragon, to help me understand all of this.”
[No problem.]
Eric almost jumped as Indedroma’s voice came out of Naomi’s armor. He turned, and Naomi rapidly explained, “It’s just external speakers.”
[Yes. Thank you, Guardian Theren, for being so polite when interfacing with The Paths.] Then, inside each Summoned’s heads, she said, [I have given this Guardian some information, but not a vast amount. Still, she is a good person, who wants to return home.]
The sphinx, Theren, said, “You four look like very capable warriors. Are you able to destroy a god?”
“Come again?” Shannon asked.
Peter shook his head. “I mean, is it like a capital-G god? Or a minor god?”
“Ah, it is not a singular creator deity. This is a minor deity of death itself.” Her tail flicked back and forth. “It is annoying, instantaneous death. Can you survive that?”
“I don’t think we can,” Eric said. “I mean, I doubt I can. Is it just a lot of damage, all at once? Or literal, instant death?”
The sphinx glared at him. “Literal, instant death.”
Eric frowned. “No I don’t think so . . . but, we can change that.”
The sphinx blinked a few times in shock. “How?”
Eric gestured to the distance to his left. “This is a sky-box. Set-dressing. In a previous invasion dungeon, I was able to burn the invasion deity out, and it sought refuge inside of the boss of the dungeon. I can do the same here. Perhaps its pestilence will overwrite the death powers?”
“Possibly . . . you should do that, regardless, but I would rather form a Pact with you all to prevent instantaneous destruction.” She raised her paw up to her mouth, and with sharp teeth, bit into the flesh atop the paw. Then, she held it out in front of them. “Worthy heroes, come and form a Pact.”
Eric didn’t hesitate, willing his armor and draconic form to pull away from his palm. He grabbed his belt knife, slashed his palm, suppressed the flare of Blackflame from the injury, and placed his hand on her injury. “I accept your Pact.”
[Interaction with manifestation (wild) / resident (invasion) achieved.]
[Pact formed.]
[(Rote) Enhanced.]
-----
Rote:
[Heat Sink, Death-Ward] Cinderscale Shroud - Manifest a covering of dragon scales (equivalent hardness of full plate) across the whole body. Fingers and toes elongate slightly and tip with claws that are the equivalent to short daggers. Equipped items and gear blends with the user’s body. Additionally, manifest a cloak of cinders that trails behind you and shrouds your form. While active, [negate half of the stacking incoming damage from Blackflame Blaze]. Gain additional Damage Resistance equal to 10% of your maximum mana reservoir. [While active, the user cannot be instantly killed by any ‘insta-kill’ effect, instead suffering damage.]
-----
Eric pulled his hand away and bowed. “Thank you for this Pact.” He took a few steps back, and while his allies moved forward to form Pacts of their own, he asked aloud, “Do instant-death abilities frequently appear?”
Inderoma’s voice came from the speakers. [It is rare, but they exist. Not in Elyndor, but elsewhere.]
Theren said, “I would recommend dropping your damage redirection ability, Paladin Peter. You do not want to take massive damage in rapid succession: even with my Pact, that would kill you.”
“Got it,” Peter said as his ability faded.
“What can we expect in there?” Shannon asked as she put her glove back on.
The sphinx turned and began walking that way, and the group followed her. “The minor deity of death, Drokor. The entire building is one enormous prison, though there is the crack now. But, if you kill him, that can be patched, and the container used for another foe when my ‘reality slice’ here returns home.” She looked at Eric. “First, you should use what you said. Burn the infection out, so it seeks refuge in the one eligible target.”
Eric raised his hand and fired off Blackflame Evocation at the sky-box above. The fire hit, Blackflame Blaze began to spread, and he saw the yellow-ish, diseased pulsating along the stars as his flame surged forth and annihilated. There was a ripple in the world, and all of the oozing, infectious flesh shot retreated from the sky, the distant walls of the sky-box, and across the ground.
Right toward the sphinx.
Eric immediately channeled Blacksteel Healing, to protect the guardian of the vault, and the infectious disease that had gone toward her instead diverted to the other Summoned. Eric watched with grim fascination as the disgusting pus oozed over their feet.
“Eww eww eww!” Shannon said as she kicked it off. “We’re immune, right?”
“Yes,” Naomi replied as the ooze sloughed away from her feet and darted to the vault. “We have that [Antithesis] upgrade on our Neversick Slime Body Enhancement. Good call, Indedroma.”
[You all are protected. The disease and pestilence can linger on non-living material, so Eric should give you each a short dose of Blackflame to scare any disease off.]
Eric turned to his allies and used Blacksteel Healing on each of them, and little bits of the infection-laden deity slipped out of gaps and creases of armor—seemingly scared away by the power of annihilation—and congealed into a pile before going to the vault building and vanishing into the crack in the wall. “Okay then, well, it's all in there, on this death god.”
The sphinx said, “I shall be out here, flying out of reach of it. When you slay the fiend, you will depart. Thank you for all you have done.”
“Not a problem,” Peter said as his body radiated that crimson and silver aura with a bronze center that hovered right over him. “Time to go kick some ass.”
Peter led the way, with Eric a step behind, and the ladies on his heels. The group went to the crack in the wall, and inside. The building was easily a thousand feet on all sides, and was just a giant cube. In the center was a cage, suspended from heavy chains that were made of strands of arcane, magical energy that sparkled like the starlight up above and outside.
The inside of the cage was filled with the sick, disgusting, putrid, vile infection that pulsated in time to some heartbeat. Eyes, just like the ones Eric saw when he faced off against the Blood Lord back in the Crimson Castle, stared at the Summoned with a seething hatred. The creature the infection was covering was completely indiscernible.
Then, the cage shattered, and the creature fell. It was easily twenty feet tall, humanoid, with a large tail, two massive horns, and covered in flames and shadow. When it opened its mouth, the infection surged inside, and a deep chortle echoed out from its large chest. “Finally! I am free!”
Eric didn’t waste a second. Immediately, he spent a Sigil—down to eighteen—and fired off a Blackflama Beam through his grimoire, pulling all of his mana from his primary reservoir to empower the blast. The orb of Blackflame pooled in front of him for a split-second, growing to the size of a carriage, before blasting forward. It lanced through the creature as it cackled, blowing a hole through its body, and carving out the entire midsection. Fire exploded from its back, and shadows wound about.
The infection filled in the space, and began to heal it, but Eric’s blast had done some major damage, as the entity was sent staggering backward several steps, and Eric’s DOT was now burning bright, ramping up his buff and restoring his mana.
“You dare?!” it roared.
Shannon’s bolt slammed into its eye and began to pulsate with the purple goopy miasma of her Netherdark, setting off the infinite DOT combo. “It’s a balrog!” she shouted, some mix of excitement and fear lacing her words. “Where’s Gandalf when you need him?”
Peter charged forward, shining bright like a beacon, and the monster recovered its stance and manifested weapons of smoke, flame, and raw infection. A huge sword came chopping down, and Peter took the blow on his shield, knees bending to absorb the hit, and then a bronze wave blasted out from him, sending the monster flying backward. “How’d you like that?!” he shouted.
Eric felt something bad was going to happen, and immediately burned three Sigils to link him and his allies with Blackflame Tether.
And not a moment too soon, as the horned monstrosity stood up, and a beam of shadows blasted out at each of the Summoned. Eric was able to dodge it, Peter caught it on his shield—only for the beam to pierce through and into him, and both Shannon and Naomi were hit as well, the beams lancing through them.
Eric felt the shared pain along the tethers, and knew they had all taken massive damage in one go—most likely the instant-death ability they were warned about. He was going to heal, but Peter shined a bright silver, and Eric felt much better.
He must’ve burned his full heal, Eric thought. That’s useful. Maybe he did a few in a row?
Peter moved in to engage with the monster, but the thing shimmered, then split into two, smaller copies. One charged Peter and began a vicious exchange of blows, while the other one flew up into the air and began raining down balls of fire and pestilence at the party.
Eric dodged easily with his enhanced reflexes and nervous system upgrade, but the ladies were hit despite going for cover. He felt the shared pain along the tether, and shouted, “Naomi! Beam power up!”
Naomi moved to her left, and turned so that her back was facing Eric. He fired off a non-mana-empowered Blackmana Beam, and the back of the MAB, which had opened up to its flower-like petal shape, sucked up the power. Naomi turned around, and all of the energy of Eric’s primal force condensed down.
Zap!
A beam of blue-white light, charged with electricity, and roaring with Blackflame, slammed into and pierced through the monster up above, cutting a wide hole through the central torso and igniting it with more Blackflame Blaze thanks to the tether’s effects.
Shannon’s bolts began to make a loud whirr noise, and Eric saw the bolts drill into the foe Peter was engaged with. Then, with loud bangs, the explosions went off inside the body of smoke, flame, shadow, and infection.
“Keep it up!” Peter shouted. “This thing isn’t a match for us!”
Eric wasn’t surprised at how well the group was doing: they had focused builds, he was an endless battery of healing and mana provided he had enemies to harm, and the whole group was now splitting those vital resources.
In fact, he thought, with all this mana coming in, I should use Blackmana Shield.
Another Sigil spent, dropping him down to fourteen, and a shimmering bubble of black appeared around him.
The dungeon boss must have figured out that Eric was the source of the group healing, as the airborne one stopped its fireball assault against Shannon and Naomi, and instead dove for Eric far faster than he ever thought possible. Its flaming sword slammed into his mana barrier, and sent him flying backward into the wall.
Eric’s mana drained precipitously from blocking the injury, and as he stood up, the thing was in front of him, raining down a hail of blows that kept draining his mana: down to only what was left in the Leysteel of his grimoire. His smoke cloud of ash and dust affected his foe, stacking more of his DOT, and the summoned spears stabbed down, yet the monster kept fighting on.
But then Eric had an idea. He used Mana Channel, and restored his mana. It kept refilling, keeping his shield going, while the monster kept slamming its weapon into his barrier. Eric’s mana regeneration from the Rote was outpacing the damage, though, and he was able to not just top it off, but kept building up more and more excess mana that began to bleed from him. Reservoir Savant allowed for it all to billow from his body, and the crackling Blackflame poured out more, causing him to glow and brighten the incendiary cloud both were locked in.
“Just die!” the thing screamed into his face, its full ten-foot stature towering over him as the sword kept slamming into him.
“Bye,” was all Eric said in reply as he put his back to the wall and used Blackflame Breath. The Rote was empowered by all of the extra mana from Mana Burn, and the explosion that echoed out blew the monster back, surged skyward, and shook the entire structure. Eric was shoved back into the wall from the recoil, but thankfully didn’t go into it.
The monster slammed into the ceiling, and then vanished into smoke. The one Peter was fighting grew to its full size, and let out a growl. “You are annoying me.”
Eric was at max stacks, moving, reacting, and processing two-thousand percent faster, dealing two-hundred percent more damage, and suffering one-hundred percent more. But, thanks to the processing speed, he could see what was happening. The monster’s smoke and fire was seeming to be smothered, replaced with the infectious, diseased flesh, but it was hard to see because the smoke still surged from it and covered its form.
Peter was still trading hits with the monster, and his weapon blazed with silver light as a phantasmal, enormous version appeared overhead. Shockwaves billowed from him, sending the smoke flying, and Peter shouted, “Smite!” as he brought the hammer down. The silver duplicate went slamming down, crushing the deity of death into the ground, and it was followed up with an explosion of silver sparks that looked like a firework show. “Take that, bitch!”
Eric ran over to Peter and immediately unleashed Blackflame Breath on the prone form, stacking as much of his DOT as he could as fast as possible. “It’s not dead,” he said. “This thing is—”
The shadows and smoke surged out from the deity of death, and it howled at the roof despite Peter continuing to rain down hammer strikes that exploded with silver fury. Even though Shannon’s bolts continued to bore in, explode, and send chunks of flaming flesh flying, the thing wasn’t dying. The god of infection, the invader deity of Elyndor’s Titan, was regenerating the thing just as quickly as they were hurting it.
This isn’t like the stone dragon thing we fought in that invasion dungeon before, Eric thought. This is a living creature, right?
[It’s a deity. Deities are made of divine essence. They are hard to put down permanently.]
Eric dodged a flame-sword slash by ducking, but it hit Peter, and sent the larger man skidding away a few feet. A swirling vortex of smoke and fire whirled out from the monster’s flesh, and it shouted, “Your fires are no match for divine blazes!”
Eric could see fires appear on his barrier formed from his mana—flames that were a sickly yellow. He realized at that moment that this wasn’t just some regular fire—this was a godly flame. It was a cut above the regular stuff. His mana drained just as fast as he refilled it from his ongoing DOTs that kept refreshing thanks to Shannon’s poison-like effect.
Naomi’s electrical blasts slammed into the thing from behind Eric, and he heard her shout, “Just keep laying on the damage!”
Eric spent four Sigils—three on Blackmana Tempest Minefield, and another on Blackflame Meteor. He shouted, “Incoming big hits! Peter, shield the girls!”
The monster was fully focused on Eric, and the nimble, empowered Blackflame Evoker dodged left, right, ducking, jumping over swipes, and effectively dodge-tanked the thing while Peter got back to the ladies and protected them with a massive, silvery sphere.
Eric’s tornado surrounded him, and he made sure the edge was on the monster he was facing off against. Between dodging, he kept his Blackflame Breath going, as the more stacks of his DOT he put up, the more his mana came back, and he was able to actually net-positive the gain. His spears kept jabbing in, applying more injuries, and he felt very confident in the moment.
Then, the meteor slammed down. Eric had never been point-blank next to the impact, but he was this time, and while his Skill didn’t affect him, his vision went white before snapping back to normal. He felt the blast wave, the heat instantly evaporating the layer of sweat that had formed on his temples. He felt the tremor in the ground from the monster boss being impacted from above and then slamming into the ground.
But, the ground was apparently hollow, or there was some sub-structure, as the infected foe went crashing through the floor, and Eric—despite his incredible reaction time at the moment—wasn’t able to get out of the radius, and went tumbling down after it. The two fell for a good thirty feet before slamming into a liquid of some type.
Eric felt horror wash over him as he felt all of his DOTs fade away upon the monster’s impact with the water. His barrier was still active, but all flames were extinguished. Indedroma’s voice, panicked, spoke into his mind.
[This is water from some deity on the same level as the creator in Elyndor’s reality! It must have been an emergency measure in case of escape. The monster’s flames will be smothered, as well, but it has shadow and smoke!]
Eric was grabbed by shadows and they began to squeeze down on his barrier. He could hear the monster growl, “I’m taking you with me—” and was cut off as it sank deeper into the liquid. Eric was yanked down after it.
Shit! How can I get out of this?
He pushed against the gripping smoke, but couldn’t get free. They sank, and he felt the squeeze grow tighter as his mana began to deplete. Summoning up another Blackmana Beam, he saw it cut through the smoke, and that brought him a split-second to use Flashstep, which got him out of the water, back to the surface, and over to his allies.
Eric was dripping, and felt exhausted. Blackflame flickered around him, and Peter asked, “What happened?”
“Divine water,” Eric gasped out. Then, he froze stock-still. “Fuck me. That means the infection deity—”
The ground beneath all of them cracked and shattered, and tendrils of pestilent, yellow-and-sickly-green infection rose up, formed from water and smoke. They grabbed each Summoned, and dragged them all down.
How does Blackflame kill godly water?
[Spending an Ember!]
[Blackflame Blaze has evolved!]
-----
Trait:
[Godslayer] Primal Blackflame Blaze [Permanent] - [Blackflame is raised to the same category of power as divinity.]
-----
[Now it can contest with it. Go! Burn it!]
Eric instantly fired a Cinderstorm, sending the origin point to exactly fifty-feet below him. The Blackflame exploded and ignited all of the tendrils, the water itself igniting with his Blackflame Blaze, as all of the infection, divine liquid hissed and began to boil and bubble away. The lingering rain of Blackflame that kept dealing damage over seven seconds evaporated the diseased substance, and within moments, the Summoned were standing on solid ground in the base of the basin.
“Huh,” Peter said as he stood up. “Weird. Where’s the boss monster?”
Shannon pointed to her left. “I think over there?”
Eric looked over and saw it in the corner, outlined by his Reaper’s Flamesight. The monster was, indeed, in the corner, shadow and flame pouring out of it as diseased infection pulsated in its torso.
Naomi said, “Time to kill it.” Her MAB began firing off cascading arcs of lightning that zapped away at the invader deity, almost like a surgical procedure, cutting away every little bit of it until none remained.
“Please!” the monster said. “I’ll do anything! I can make you into immortal creatures!”
“Not interested,” Shannon said as she cycled her crossbow’s chamber and fired off a pure, Netherdark-mana-empowered bolt. It slammed into the monster’s head, killing it.
Eric’s bracer vibrated and he was sucked backward. He went tumbling, and felt solid stone along his back, and saw the cold, grey skies overhead. The dungeon had been cleared, and they were sucked out as it returned to its native reality. Eric pushed himself to his feet, and saw the rift close. As it snapped shut, Dungeon Cores shot out, and one self-guided to his hand.
Indedroma spoke in all of their minds.
[Dungeon Closed. Good job, everyone. You killed a minor god of death.]
Naomi groaned, “I hate that.”
Peter stood up, Dungeon Core in his shield-arm-strapped hand. “Neat. Tier five.” He looked at Shannon, who had already stood up, then began to say something to Eric.
But, he was interrupted, as an arrow slammed into his throat and sent him tumbling back down to the ground.