SS - Chapter 30 - Guardian

“Everyone’s okay? Gabriel?” I asked once the creatures had been defeated. I made sure that I kept one eye on the monsters which appeared to be dead, but weren’t dissolving. 

“I’m good,” the big man gasped. “Thanks for the assist. I think that thing was only a couple seconds away from finding a way through my defenses.”

“I hate the overgrown apes, they learn and adapt far too fast,” Camille muttered quietly, as she leaned down to retrieve her bow. When she popped up again she was already smiling again. “Ready to continue?”

I shot her a quick, disappointed look. “Give me a minute.”

Taking out my rapier I poked the nearest Ravager several times, looking for any reaction before coming closer and crouching down next to it. 

“They’ve already stabilized,” Deirdre exclaimed, crouching down next to me.

“Yeah, which means they could have left the dungeon at any time,” I replied, poking the monster. “Gabriel, do you know where the ravager’s stones are located?”

“They’re located in the chest cavity,” he explained, before pausing. “You want me to cut one of these things open to retrieve it, don’t you?”

“I considered it,” I admitted, “I would have if it was easy to get to, it would let us know if they’ve just stabilized or fully manifested, but it wouldn’t really help us here, so we’ll leave them and investigate later.” 

While we were investigating, the corpse Selena gasped. “Hey! Uh, everyone… Something’s happening over here!”

I shot to my feet, and spun around to find a pair of ghostly silhouettes slowly fading in and out of view in the middle of the room. They were very faint, and hard to make out in the low light, but even so I could tell they weren’t ravagers. They were bigger, much bigger.

“What is this?” Selena asked, as she slowly backed away from the flickering figures.

“The dungeon is regenerating the monsters,” Gabriel muttered.

“Already? Doesn’t it usually take them hours to start regenerating?” Selena gasped. “Most dungeons can only be cleared once a day.”

“This must be what the dungeon surge does, causes the dungeon much, much, faster than usual. If they’re respawning within minutes they could stabilize in hours, and be out attacking the surrounding settlements within a day,” I said. “We can’t let that happen.”

“Then let’s move on, like Camille suggested, and put an end to this dungeon,” Deirdre suggested, as she slowly pushed herself to her feet. “If we sit around too long we’ll be stuck here while these things manifest.”

I nodded, sliding my blade back into its scabbard, and heading towards the room’s exit. I waited calmly as everyone else prepared, and stacked up around me, before pushing into the next hallway. 

Camille skipped through the hallway, pausing a couple times, as she tested the various gaps ahead. She didn’t really stop until she was only a couple steps from the end. She twirled around, a confused look on her face. 

“I can’t sense anything,” she declared.

“So the room ahead is empty?” Gabriel asked. 

“No… I can’t even detect the room. It’s like there’s nothing there!” she muttered. “Something’s blocking me.”

“A barrier?” Deirdre asked. “That’s rare.”

“Well, in the main dungeon it is, but there is one place that it’s common,” I said quietly. “Outside the core chamber.”

“Isn’t that good? Shouldn’t we get in there?” Selena asked.

“Well, it could be,” Gabriel replied hesitantly. “Unfortunately the stone might not be the only thing in there.”

Selena just looked at him quizzically.

“There might be a guardian in there,” I explained. “An alpha predator.”

“Uh huh, and how dangerous is that?” Selena asked.

“It’ll be a solo monster, and far stronger than anything else in the dungeon,” I said. “Beyond that, any number of things could be in there.”

“Even if there is something terrifying in there, will sitting here help us? We need to get in there any destroy that core,” Selena huffed.

I nodded. “True, everyone do a quick check of your gear, we’ll push in together.”

It only took us seconds, we’d just taken a break a couple rooms ago, and then we stacked up on the doorway. It was strange, despite being right next to the threshold I couldn’t hear anything beyond. It was only once I was right on top of the doorway that I could finally make out the shimmering barrier. I wasn’t aware they could be clear like that before.

“On three,” I muttered. “One, Two, Three.”

Gabriel and Camille sprinted into the room, the rest of us only a couple steps behind them. As soon as we were inside I quickly surveyed the room. It appeared empty at first, except for a massive, jagged crystal cluster. I took a step towards the core, before I noticed something moving in the corner of the room. 

Whipping out my sword, I summoned my magic and immediately sent it hudling into the hunched shape. The creature shifted, slipping around the magic, and slithering towards us. A trio of reptillian heads simultaneously hissed at us.

“Hydra,” Deirdre cried in panic. She stumbled back a couple steps as the monster reared up, opening its mouths, before Selena caught the girl and pushed her against the wall as the monster bathed the area in acid.

“Split up! Flank it and remove the heads one by one!” I shouted as I dashed closer. Several heads snapped down, attempting to sink its teeth into me. The first two just missed me, and I intercepted the third’s strike with my sword before finally slipping behind the beast. 

“I’ll try and hold it down!” Camille shouted, “work fast!”

As dozens of vines sprouted from the floor, wrapping around the hydra’s heads, it thrashed about, spewing acid everywhere. Deirdre screamed, backing towards the door in terror. Selena started to reach out, but paused, instead turning on the monster. 

Her eyes flared, glowing with an eerie inner light as she locked her gaze on the hydra. “Stop!”

To her credit the monster did pause, just for a moment, before it began to struggle again. This time, however, it was quite obvious that it was moving much slower than before. 

I glanced at Selena. Her eyes were already bloodshot, and she was sweating profusely. She must have noticed me looking, because she muttered under her breath. “Work fast.” 

Gabriel threw his shield to the ground, discarding the defensive bulwark and grabbing his weapon with both hands. The mace twisted, extending and becoming a long spear which he slammed into the central head. The weapon dug deep, then seemed to explode outwards, causing hundreds of small metal spikes to erupt from the creature’s head.

With the weapon anchored deep within the monster Gabriel wrestled the monster to the floor.

The remaining two heads snapped at the knight, but he used his heavily modified spear to stay just out of range. While they were focused on the knight I darted forward, summoning another burst of fire and slamming it against the side of the beast. The fire flickered, and almost immediately died, slipping off the scales without causing any real damage.

The nearest head twisted, trying to check what I was doing, so I slammed my rapier directly into its eye before it could snap at me again. It writhed in pain, trying to dislodge the blade, so I stepped closer keeping as much pressure on the blade as possible as I let my magic flow again. 

The hydra’s scales might have been resistant to magic, but its squishy internals were not. I let the ashfire flow down the blade for several long moments, flowing into the monster until the magic erupted from its mouth and other eye, causing a caustic burning smell to fill the area. 

The final head twisted in pain and rage, spewing acid in my general direction. I waited until I was sure the head was dead before retreating back. Two down, one to go.

I saw Gabriel retract the spikes, and pull his weapon out of the central head.

The third head hissed as the two of us attempted to flank it. It flicked its head back and forth between us, before opening its mouth. As acid started to dribble out of its mouth a lance of sickly green light lanced across the room, smashing into the last head. 

It screamed, writhing as the light crawled across it’s scales, causing them to decay and peel away. 

“Kill that thing!” Deirdre screamed from across the room.

I didn’t hesitate, smashing my blade down upon the back of the reptile’s neck. The blade shattered the weakened scales, and sank deep into the flesh. Simultaneously Gabriel stepped forward and stabbed the spear deep into the monster’s mouth. The spear’s tip flattened and extended, becoming a long blade. It embedded itself deep into the back of the monster’s head, before becoming stuck. 

Acid poured out of the final head like a waterfall, spilling across the floor. I removed my blade and danced away from the corrosive liquid, while Gabriel kept it pinned in place. The monster twitched and twisted for several long moments before finally laying still.

“Why did it have to be that snake-like monstrosity?” Deirdre whispered. 

“Because nothing is easy,” I whispered, glancing over at Selena and Camille. “You two okay?”

“Perfect!” Camille chirpled, shooting a thumbs up.

Selena on the other hand, looked like she was ready to collapse. She was pale, and covered in sweat. She managed to smile as she slumped to the ground. “I will, just give me an hour or two.”

“I have no doubt,” I said as I locked eyes with Deirdre, then subtly gestured to the girl. Deirdre immediately nodded, and wandered over. 

I carefully made my way across the floor, avoiding the acid and stepping up to the crystal at the far side of the room. I stared at if for several seconds before finally bringing the blade down on the core with all my might. 

As it exploded, scattering shards across the room, the magical lighting sputtered and died. 

“All that trouble caused by this stupid rock,” I muttered. “Good riddance.”