He rose, staggering. The short sword trembled in his hand. The monster came again with a lateral attack. He rolled, raised the broken shield, and defended. Another impact, and the blade nearly tore his arm off.
"Arrrgh!..."
He screamed in pain. An open cut on his shoulder gushed blood.
But before he collapsed, golden and silver light enveloped his body. The cleric knelt, staff planted in the ground, eyes closed and started murmuring prayers in an ancient tongue. The healing magic burned hot and fast, as if pulling the pain from inside out.
"HOLD ON!" she screamed. "I'm here!"
In sequence she cast other buffs.
"Iron skin... Eagle's grace..."
The young man breathed deep, steady. He tightened his fingers on the sword's grip, ignoring the tremor in his arm. The hooded figure turned its head, as if sensing something... and roared. An inhuman sound, distorted.
If I fall here, death is inevitable for both of us.
The monster charged again, heavy and relentless, like a storm of flesh and steel. Each blow it launched made the dungeon floor quake, cracking the floor stones, toppling pieces of ancient pillars.
Karl, completely beyond his physical reach, could only survive through pure will and reflexes... and buffs, dodging by centimeters, slipping, stumbling and rising again.
His left arm already trembled from holding the broken shield so long, and his right could barely keep the sword steady. Sweat poured into his eyes. The air weighed like lead.
And even so, he didn't fall.
Each time the monster struck him—even a grazing blow—it felt like getting trampled by a war carriage.
This is the toughest guy I've fought in all my life. To think that after everything, I'll die fighting a monster.
Before the pain could paralyze him, there shone a light. Sometimes golden, other times silver, it was warm, steady. Wrapping his chest, mending bones, stanching cuts, restoring breath.
Karl couldn't hide his smile.
This... is awesome!
This guy... what a surprise, smiling while almost dying in a fight... fighting addict.
The cleric stood behind a pillar, both hands gripping the staff, murmuring rapid prayers as she channeled magic straight into him.
"Go!" she shouted, her eyes blazing with urgency. "Don't try to defeat him! Just drive him back! I need time to conjure the barrier!"
Karl nodded, teeth clenched.
This is bad. The healing is faster than when I met her… her mana is gonna hit zero in an instant at this rate.
The monster attacked with a lateral arc. He ducked at the limit, the blade ripping a tuft of hair as it passed. He spun beneath the creature's arm and, with what little balance remained, delivered a direct strike to the torso.
CLANK.
The sound rang dry, metallic. The sword bounced. Literally. As if it had struck a wall of raw iron. His arm tingled all the way to the shoulder from the vibration.
The monster didn't even recoil, only turned its hooded face toward him, as if saying: "That's it?"
Karl retreated two steps, panting. Eyes wide. The creature then raised the blade with both hands, ready to crush him for good.
It descended like an executioner.
SHHAAAHHHHHH!
A circle of light erupted from the floor. Lily, with golden eyes blazing and her staff wrapped in a spiral of sacred runes, activated the magic she'd been preparing.
A translucent barrier, golden and vibrant, surged between the two, separating the monster from the young man. The massive cleaver fell upon it with force, but bounced off, unable to pierce through.
"NOW!" she screamed at him. "Fall back to me! This won't hold more than seconds!"
The young man stumbled backward, body battered, sword trembling in his grip. But alive. Still standing.
"He... doesn't feel anything," he rasped through clenched teeth. "Like striking a fortress wall."
She nodded, gaze locked on the monster.
"He's no common aberration. This thing... shouldn't exist. We never encountered him before, when we explored the dungeon. Something's wrong. We never saw that cabin either."
Her hands began to shake. Sweat beaded along her temple and trickled down her jaw. Every muscle in her body screamed for rest.
"Karl I don't… have enough mana… after all that happened… last hours."
Yeah, now we're dead, but I won't die for free. This guy… I don't remember him from the game.
Exhaustion clawed at the edges of her vision, dragging her toward collapse.
Meanwhile, on the opposite side of the barrier, it stood like nothing mattered, just waiting for the barrier to end.
The monster simply stared. No snarl, no step, and no fury, just waiting very patiently.
It almost yawned at them.
What can I do? Wait for her party… this monster is waiting for the barrier to end. Fine. Let's gain some time.
Just those dead, unblinking eyes fixed on the translucent wall between them. Until—
—BOOM! BOOOM! BOOOOOM!
The Black Hood Cleaver crashed against the barrier. Each impact detonated like cannon fire trapped inside a sealed tomb, the sound slamming into their chests, rattling their bones.
He'd only pretended to wait. Now he struck with methodical force, and with every blow, fresh cracks spiderwebbed across the translucent field Lily had conjured.
They both saw it. Felt it in the shuddering air.
The barrier would shatter. Soon.
The shadowed hall pressed in around them, thick with dread. Dust motes hung suspended in the dim light, trembling with each thunderous strike.
The creature stood motionless between blows like an executioner savoring the countdown to his work.
Then it laughed.
"HA... HA... HA..."
A guttural rasp scraped up from somewhere deep and wrong, slow and dry as grinding bones. The sound crawled across their skin, burrowed into their spines. No human throat could birth that noise.
Maybe this is an isekai to a horror movie… gonna be honest here.
Lily's face drained to chalk. Her lips quivered. She turned toward Karl, hesitation flickering across her features.
"Karl…" she said, in a low voice, heavy with guilt. "I have an artifact. Single use only. Just for emergencies. It teleports directly to Eren's Temple… a sacred and safe place… but…"
She lowered her eyes.
"It only teleports one person."
"…"
"…"
The silence between them weighed heavier than the creature's roar. Karl remained a moment without reaction. Then he gave a weary half-smile.
"Then use it. Now, your group's late, and we're running out of time."
She shook her head, desperate.
"I can't! What would happen to you?! I don't want to see... more people die, maybe we can do something to—"
Karl added.
"—If you hadn't wasted time healing me out there, if you hadn't stayed... maybe you wouldn't be trapped here too. I can't let you die with me. Relax, it might not look like it, but this is the second time today this has happened, me being on death's door, and somehow I survived it."
Looking at her with a gentle smile after those words, he continued speaking.
"You can. And you should," he responded, with firmness. "You're a cleric. I'm only alive here because of you. So… use it. I'll manage, maybe I'll find an exit, I just need some time to think."
She looked at the place, then at Karl.
"There must be another way," she murmured. "Let's hold on a little more. My group'll be here. I'm sure of it… we agreed to do this, if something like this happens."
But there wasn't another way. The barrier… is going to crumble soon, and SWAT is late.
She has… almost zero mana. We can't do damage…
This guy is strong, if he misses an attack on the wall, maybe, we'll have an exit.
The monster struck once more, cracking the magical field with a force that threw both to the floor.
"HA... HA... HA..."
The Black Hooded One gazed at them sprawled on the ground while laughing bizarrely.
They tried to fight. Karl still rose, staggering, driving his sword again, dodging, trying to parry with what remained of his shield because blocking… impossible.
Lily channeled another heal, even while bleeding from her side. But the monster proved unstoppable.
Then came the vertical strike toward Lily, but she managed to dodge, only for another blow to surge; the hooded figure ripped the blade from the floor, spun it, and struck Lily square in the abdomen with the blade's spine.
She flew against the stone wall near the corner of the room with brutal force, her body collapsing limp, nearly lifeless.
"LILY!!" Karl screamed, rushing to her.
Laid on her side at the base of the pillar, barely conscious.
She coughed blood, barely keeping her eyes open. Her hand trembled as she pulled the artifact from her belt, a small blue stone, wrapped in runes.
"Maybe… I was wrong… when I said we need to wait, I... I'll use it," she whispered. "On you... I'm wounded too badly, I don't have enough mana... to heal myself... maybe I won't endure the teleportation... If I teleport like this, the artifact might kill me… I wouldn't even... make it all the way, better one alive... than zero."
Think Karl, her mana is low or almost zero, she can die in the teleport, or go to a random place like when I found her... what her group are doing until now, I can't think of a solution…
"Cough... you still have enough strength... to survive out there. If the teleport interference... doesn't let you go... to the temple, just try to run away… from this forest."
But when she activated it, Karl gripped her hand tightly.
"No. I've already decided. I have a plan, maybe it'll work, worst case I die."
I just need to confirm something.
"The artifact only works if someone is nearby correctly?"
"Yes all… to make sure… not wasted futilely…"
Eren Temple, I'm sorry if the Black Hood shows up, you guys can handle it… I think.
Then, with trembling hand, he seized the stone, and hurled it hard at the monster's feet.
Bye Black Hood, go take some vacation on enemy territory.
He thought if the monster teleported away, both would survive, it was the best option he managed to think of in the middle of the conflict.
For an instant, everything seemed to freeze. The creature stopped, staring at the strange object glowing pale blue.
It took a step...
And kicked accidentally.
The artifact flew in an arc... and landed inches from Lily.
"No..." she murmured, trying to move.
Karl knew she was wounded too badly, and if defeat was certain, rather than just one dying, he didn't even like life anyway after all, so he didn't think much, he charged at the black hooded figure to buy a little time.
Just survive the teleport, I will find another way, all dungeons have an exit, plan B, this guy'll make my exit through these walls.
It happened that even dodging perfectly didn't help.
He took a follow-up punch to the chest, The blow hurled him into a pillar, leaving him barely conscious.
Blood trickled between the pillar's stone fragments and his torn clothing. His eyes blurred. Strength draining from him, now he was not smiling anymore.
The ancient structure crumbled, pillars cracking, and collapsing around him.
Maybe it's Game Over now. This time, no firefighters coming.
I can't believe it… dying from a building collapsing after all that happened today.
Then, the stone activated.
VRUUUMMM!
Runes ignited around her, forming a magic circle. A brilliant glow. Lily raised her gaze to him, tears streaming down her face, filthy with blood and dust.
"I'm sorry, Karl... forgive me..." she whispered, nearly voiceless, her face covered in tears, conscious only through mental strength.
She raised her hand and
"Heal"
Why heal me... you are almost dead, this little healing maybe, no, it makes sense… nevertheless, a real Saintess.
He smiled. All broken and weak. But he smiled.
"It's okay. I'll survive."
And then, in a flash of blue light, the illumination covered her.
An artifact in the middle of the room, shined red simultaneously with the blue light of her item then.
The hall falls silent. The magic's glow vanishes with the little illumination of the place, leaving only darkness. Karl is done for... in that dark, only the sound of the dragging monstrous blade, approaching again...
KRRRRRRRNNNCHHHH
Karl rose slowly, while the sword scraped against the floor. He was already weak, had lost too much blood.
I know my chances are like, 1% after all, but I believe something could happen...
"Yeah... who am I fooling? I knew... that message on the floor... try finger, then hole... it tells me everything I need to know... Death is inevitable..." he mutters to himself.
The Black Hooded figure approaches Karl, laughing weirdly, almost in rhythm with its steps.
HA... HA... HA....
The dungeon hall stood dark, only the faint light from runes that had vanished seconds ago still pulsing in Karl's eyes.
He could barely breathe. Blood trickled from a cut above his eyebrow, the shield lay in pieces on the floor, and his hand trembled around the broken sword. Lily… disappeared.
Before him, the hooded figure stands motionless. Just observing. Then, with a slow movement, it raises that colossal blade, dragging it with a metallic, heavy sound, like iron scraping against stone.
Karl tries to steady his posture. He can barely stand, but he won't give the satisfaction of cowardice. The monster approaches a little more, one step at a time, until it stands just inches away from Karl.
And then, it did something strange.
It raised the blade with one hand, with calm and devoid of violence, like an executioner preparing the execution. Karl clenched his teeth, expecting the strike. But it never came.
Instead, the hooded figure spins its body with absurd speed and slaps Karl with its free hand, sending him flying against the pillar.
CRACK.
HA... HA... HA....
Psychopath… You think this is… funny?
The sounds, images, everything turns very strange. His eyes roll back. The ground seems to vanish beneath his feet and a light blazes with runes in the place where he collapses. The floor cracks and gives way, and then...
Darkness.
He blacked out for about 11 seconds from the shock. It was hard to understand where he was. First, he didn't understand how he was still alive; second, the place...
"Cough, Cough."
He glanced to the sides and found himself in an underground garden, where he survived by falling into the leaves and the lake. Lucky for Karl a lake was there; he floated on his back and on the ceiling he spotted a hole from which he fell, easily 5 stories.
"Honestly... I don't know if that's luck or bad luck."
His wounds were slightly healed, the water seemed to possess some type of life gift...
Looking to the other side of the lake, he noticed a submerged woman, he moved to check on her, probably a member of the group mentioned earlier.
Drawing closer, he noticed a white mantle with golden details, slightly translucent from the water, he turned her over to provide aid, and it was Lily, she was no longer on death's door thanks to the water with healing effects covering her body, but she wasn't breathing.
Her pulse was weak, and she was pale, her white mantle as if it wasn't enough to be slightly transparent, was all torn from previous situations.
"Ignore... Ignore..." he murmured, as he tilted her slightly in his arms and performed mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. She continued without breathing. He laid her on the edge of the lake, performed chest compressions, gave mouth-to-mouth again, and repeated this several times, until...
"Cough, Cough" she finally spat up the water, and looking at him, she smiled and said:
"You're alive! I too… how?"
"Good question. But I think we have to think about how to leave this place, not other things."
Karl, looked to the right and said:
"Lily, I'll lend you my shirt, then we'll search for a way out of here."
She, became pensive, while looking to the broken stone roof, then said,
"Shirt? Why..." and looking down she quickly understood why.
"haha... I understand… thank you... how embarrassing..."
She turned completely red; as a cleric, she never thought she'd go through something like this. Karl noticed her massive embarrassment and just tried not to make things worse.
Yeah, I know what it felt like, the urge to disappear, after people saw something, they shouldn't...
Karl, still with his back turned to give privacy, cleared his throat, trying to ignore the water's cold and the throbbing of old wounds.
"Ready?" he asked, voice low, without turning.
"Yes... thank you." Her voice came out hesitant, almost a whisper. "Karl... I thought you had died up there. When the pillar fell... I... I couldn't even think straight, too much action... too fast."
He felt a tightness in his chest hearing that.
"I also thought you had sacrificed yourself for me. You are a good person," he responded, finally turning to her, keeping his eyes on her face. "You used your last mana to heal me instead of trying your luck to heal yourself. Maybe that healing was enough for the teleport. That... isn't something one forgets."
Lily lowered her gaze, clutching the borrowed shirt against her chest as if it formed makeshift armor. Her cheeks still glowed red, but now not just from embarrassment; it was maybe a mixture of relief and guilt.
"I didn't want to see anyone else die. I can't bear it anymore," she murmured. "No more people, not again."
The words hung in the air for a second. Karl didn't know what to answer. He just felt that, for the first time since waking in this bizarre world, he didn't stand completely alone in this madness.
"Let's get out of here before that thing finds us," he said, extending his hand to help her stand. "Together."
She hesitated just an instant, then took his hand.
Lily gave a small smile, almost shy, as she got to her feet.
"Together," she repeated quietly.
Things aren't good, since her group is on vacation... leaving us to die here.
"Fufu" she laughed at the situation, and continued saying:
"Karl, I need to tell you something important about what happened up there, when I tried to use the item but—"
Baam…
Shhhhhhaarrrk….
They looked at each other
Then the sound echoed again: Baam... Shhhhhhaarrrk… This time, it was closer.
Her eyes widened. "Do you hear that sound?"
He replied with a serious face
"That abomination... it's coming down here," Karl whispered, his eyes darting to a strange glow on the elevation ahead. "We don't have time. Follow me."