BASH! BASH! BASH!
Dozens of skeletons shattered into bone dust as Caesar swung his heavy, orc-forged club. The air shrieked with the sickening snap of breaking bones, each impact echoing like dry thunder. A thin, grey mist of pulverized bone filled the air, mixed with the dry, biting smell of age-old decay that clung to his nostrils.
Nearby, Caesar gasped for air, his chest heaving, slick with sweat that stung his eyes. His crimson eyes burned with a primal instinct, fixed on the gaunt figure of the robed Lich.
The creature's presence alone seemed to drain the warmth from the cavern.
The ghostly creature, half-faded and throbbing with dark magic, lifted its twisted staff—a staff that seemed carved from ancient, petrified bone. From the deep shadows behind it, a fresh wave of undead surged.
Skeletons, bony fingers clawing at the damp earth, pulled themselves from the ground, their empty eye sockets fixed forward as they shambled into a relentless, clattering tide.
BASH! BASH! BASH! BASH! BASH! BASH!
Before the newly risen skeletons could even fully stand, Caesar wasted no time, his club a blur as he smashed them back into scattered fragments. Each swing was precise, born of instinct and brutal efficiency.
"There is no end to this… I need to kill that bastard" Caesar thought instinctively, his gaze locked on the robed Lich, a chilling resolve hardening his features.
The Lich's black robe, tattered and ancient, draped over half of its skeletal face, leaving one hollow eye socket exposed, glinting with a faint, malevolent light. Its gnarled staff, pulsing with faint, sickly black magic, seemed to sense Caesar's deadly intent, humming faintly in response.
The Lich aimed its staff at Caesar. Then, with an unnatural shimmer, three glowing circles, carved with intricate, arcane runes, appeared out of nowhere behind the Lich, spinning slowly in the dim light.
A soft hum filled the air—"Vrrrmmmm…"—as the glowing symbols etched themselves deeper into being.
The sound sharpened to a high-pitched "CHING!" that vibrated through Caesar's bones, and in a blinding flash, three dark light arrows, pure condensed shadow, shot straight at him.
WHOOOOSHHHHHHHH!
Caesar moved with a desperate speed, dodging the fast, dark arrows by a hair's breadth. They streaked past him like hungry vipers, slamming into his heavy club with devastating force, instantly blasting half of the weapon to splinters. A cloud of jagged wood fragments exploded into the air.
"TZAAAK!"
"What was that…? That's dangerous!" Caesar stared, genuinely surprised, at his now ruined club, its massive head gone. But then, a grim smirk touched his lips, a flicker of something cunning in his red eyes.
"Well… isn't this lucky…" Caesar thought, a crazy idea sparking. The club, shattered and broken, had somehow taken on the rough, uneven shape of a sword – not a refined blade, but lighter and rough enough that he could still use it, even if it felt crude in his grasp.
Caesar took a new, aggressive fighting stance, the makeshift weapon feeling strangely balanced in his hand, ready to strike down the Lich.
Sensing the sudden, unpredictable danger from Caesar's transformed weapon, the Lich reacted frantically. Its skeletal fingers twitched, and it conjured more skeletons in a desperate attempt to create a barrier, simultaneously preparing more mysterious magic circles to fire at Caesar, their glowing runes spinning faster.
But Caesar didn't hesitate. The time for caution was over. He lunged forward, a silent, deadly promise in his every step.
[OBLIVION BLADE: SERPENT DISSOLUTION]
Caesar unleashed a flowing, lightning-quick series of wide, sweeping slashes and thrusts.
He moved with the deadly, sinuous grace of a serpent, each movement fluid and lethal, striking down multiple skeletal foes in one continuous, smooth motion, leaving them utterly broken and crumbling into dust.
Like a serpent rushing its prey in a dense jungle, he moved with agile swiftness, tearing through the endless stream of skeletons as if they were made of paper, until he finally stood before the Lich.
Caesar, utterly focused and tense, felt his veins bulge on his hands and feet, a testament to the strain on his body.
His red eyes narrowed to slits, a faint, spiderweb-like network of crimson veins spreading around his eyelids as blood surged, pushing him to be more observant and focused than his body could comfortably handle.
But he pushed through the pain, endured the raw strain; he had to survive this.
Caesar moved blindingly fast. In a single, explosive second, he was already in front of the Lich, his makeshift sword raised.
In a desperate, final move, the Lich shrieked, unleashing the dark magic it had been frantically preparing, a dark orb forming at the tip of its staff.
But before the Lich could fully cast its spell, before the dark orb could even fully form, Caesar slashed with his club-turned-sword.
The veins in his arm bulged even further, nearly bursting, as more blood surged, channeling every ounce of his remaining strength into one powerful, cutting blow. His eyes glowed an even brighter, more intense red, fixed with absolute, singular focus on destroying the monster.
[OBLIVION BLADE: HORIZON'S SLASH]
SWOOOOOOSHHHH!
A sweeping, wide-arc attack tore through the air, cutting across a huge area, striking multiple skeletons along the way, shredding them to dust. The crude blade moved with such incredible speed it appeared to blur into a solid, dark line, a wave of destruction.
The Lich took the full force of the blow, severed instantly. Its hollow face froze in a silent scream as its body split apart. A small black ball of dark, pulsating energy, the very core of its being, shattered into nothingness, and both the Lich and the remaining skeletons crumbled into fine, grey dust, vanishing as if they had never been.
"I was right…" Caesar panted heavily, the words coming out as ragged gasps. His hands and feet trembled uncontrollably, a violent tremor running through his entire frame from the sheer, overwhelming power he had just unleashed.
"That… that was the key to eliminating the Lich and its minions." Caesar had deduced it instinctively during the brutal, desperate fight.
"But damn… This body might be special, but it barely has its foundation yet. It's just too weak; it barely managed that technique. If I keep pushing like this, I'll risk dying," Caesar thought, breathing hard, each inhale a struggle. He felt completely drained, growing tired and worn out from pushing his nascent body past its absolute limits for that final, devastating attack.
THUD.
Nate, still shaken, sank to the ground, taking a much-needed, shaky breather.
"Huff… huff…"
The harsh, raw sound of his own breathing echoed through the dark, lifeless cavern, the only sound in the sudden, eerie silence.
"It seems there are no more monsters for now."
"What do I do now? How am I going to survive this?" Caesar wondered, his mind racing, desperately sifting through Nate's fragmented memories for answers.
But it was useless; there were no records, no successful attempts at conquering this dungeon. That fact gnawed at him. He started thinking about why others failed here, why no one had ever cleared this place.
"Why… why is it others cant conquer this dungeon? Was it because the monsters are too strong? No, that can't be it. I just handled those monsters; they should have been more than capable.
Maybe because they can't use magic here? That's possible… if they had magic, they could teleport backed from where they came if they were in a pinch and survive longer by conjuring fire and food—wait…" Nate paused mid-thought, a grim, terrifying realization hitting him like a punch to the gut.
"Now that I think about it… How am I going to survive here without food and water?" Nate looked around frantically, his eyes scanning the cavern, seeing no sign of either. Then he spotted the massive, silent corpse of the orc, lying where it fell.
"Don't tell me…"
A wave of worried dread washed over Caesar.
He quickly ran to venture deeper into the cavern, hoping to find some hidden passage or resource—but no. There was nothing. He was just in a vast, empty cavern with no doors, no holes, no way to escape. He was trapped. But then a new thought sparked, a desperate glimmer of logic:
"Then how did the monsters get here in the first place?"
As he voiced the question aloud, a new monster shimmered into existence before him—emerging as if sculpted from the very shadows. It was three wolves, nearly around his size, with a thick coat of silver fur that glinted dimly in the cavern's gloom. Its eyes gleamed with primal intelligence, and its presence sent a chill crawling up his spine.
Thump… Thump… Thump…
The sound echoed through the cavern—heavy, deliberate footfalls against damp stone.
"How the fu—" He cut himself off, his mind reeling at how the creature had simply materialized. Before he could even fully comprehend it, one of the wolves, a hulking beast with glowing eyes, lunged at him, a snarl ripping from its throat.
THUD!!!
Caesar reacted purely on instinct, blocking the wolf's snapping jaws with his half-broken club, the impact jarring his entire arm.
"Shit!" he cursed. "How did it appear here? Was it teleported? Or summoned?—I don't know… No, now is not the time to think. I have to fight!"
Caesar took another stance, his body screaming in protest. He was still half-tired, his muscles aching from his previous battle and the anxious search through the cavern.
[ABSOLUTE SENSE]
Caesar forced every ounce of his remaining focus, controlling his ragged breathing and surging blood flow, pushing his body to sharpen his senses as much as possible as the three wolves, silent and deadly, began to circle him. He could feel the slight shifts in air from their movements, hear the soft scrape of their claws on stone.
THUDDD!! THUDD! THUD!
The three wolves lunged at him in a coordinated attack from different sides, a blur of fur and teeth. Caesar barely dodged their razor-thin attacks, feeling the rush of wind as fangs snapped inches from his skin.
SWOOSHH SWOOOSH STAB!
Caesar spun, a desperate flurry of action. He blocked two of the wolves in front of him with a powerful, desperate slash of his crude weapon, the impact shuddering through his arm. With the same fluid motion, he barely managed to stab the third wolf at his back, sending all three reeling back, yelping in surprise and pain.
"Damn… as expected, this makeshift club-sword just doesn't cut through the wolves' tough defenses," Caesar grumbled, his breath ragged.
As the wolves stumbled back, a sudden, ominous shift swept through the cavern air. A faint, dark mana began to flow between the wolves and the very air around them seemed to thicken and hum, their forms growing subtly more defined, more menacing.
Then, all three lunged once again, their movements now significantly faster, more precise!
"SHIT!"
Caesar instinctively dodged the first two wolves, retreating slightly to better block the third, which was now a blur of fangs and claws.
The three wolves attacked again, relentless, their movements perfectly synchronized.
"These three wolves keep lunging at me at the same time, giving me no opening…"
"Damn… I don't want to push it, but I need to end this now," Caesar muttered, a desperate resolve hardening his eyes.
As Caesar focused and fixed his stance, his muscles screaming in protest, he poured every fiber of his will and what little strength remained into performing the technique.
A faint trickle of blood dripped from the corner of his mouth, a grim testament to the excessive strain he was putting on his still-unformed body.
[OBLIVION BLADE: CONSECUTIVE ALL PIERCING FANG]
Three focused, lightning-fast thrusting attacks erupted from Caesar, each concentrating all force onto a single, pinpoint target. The crude club-sword became a drilling spear, punching through the wolves' thick, toughened hides and defenses with brutal efficiency, piercing deep into their bodies.
STAB! STAB! STAB!
Powerful, decisive stabs tore holes through the wolves' heads, delivered by a very dull club that now barely resembled a thick, large stick, its edge ragged and unrefined. The creatures twitched once, then fell lifelessly to the stone floor.
After unleashing this devastating attack, Caesar coughed up blood, a thick, coppery taste filling his mouth.
He collapsed onto his knees, utterly spent, his body trembling violently from pushing it so far past its limit. His body was still small, weak, and utterly unconditioned for this kind of brutal, life-or-death battle.
Caesar grunted, a raw, animal sound of pain and exhaustion, leaving a very hoarse, rattling breath.
The cavern turned silent again, the only sounds the drip of water and Caesar's ragged breathing.
For a while, no more monsters emerged.
"How do these monsters keep appearing, and from different species? They all seem to show up after I clear the previous ones, but at different, unpredictable times…" Caesar wondered, his mind, though exhausted, still trying to piece together the dungeon's rules.
"After I killed that green beast, the skeletons emerged immediately, but after clearing those skeletons, I had a bit of time before the wolves appeared, and now, after killing these wolves, no monster has arrived."
"Do they appear at random times? This is troublesome…"
Caesar muttered, his sweat-soaked black hair falling into his eyes, sticking to his forehead. He gripped his improvised sword, using it as a shaky support to keep him from collapsing entirely to the ground.
With great effort, he rearranged himself, slumping into a more comfortable sitting position against a cold, damp rock face.
Then suddenly, a guttural growl cut through the silence.
"GROWLLL!"
"Shit, I'm getting hungry… But there's no food—unless…" Caesar's eyes darted around, landing on the lifeless carcasses of the three wolves and the orc, their forms ominously still in the dim light.
"Damn, don't tell me I have to eat these raw monsters from who knows where they came from?"
Caesar thought, a wave of profound dismay washing over him as he saw no other possible way to survive but to consume the raw, potentially diseased flesh of his fallen enemies.
-- Chapter 10 End