Pocket Dungeon, page 38
I couldn’t really blame her. I wasn’t too thrilled with what was happening, either.
“Oh, my,” Iris spoke up.
I’d nearly forgotten that the other woman was behind us. I turned around and saw her staring at the rockslide with a similar look on her face as Yasha’s, only her plush lips were parted slightly, and one of her hands rested against her chest in shock.
She took a hesitant step forward and placed her hand against the stones to give them a slight push. They, of course, didn’t budge.
Iris took a step back from the rockslide, as well as me and Yasha. Then she took another step backward. I’d been around enough skittish people in my life to know what they looked like when they wanted to bolt. Her deep blue eyes were wide in a combination of shock and fear, and she looked like she was practically itching to flee.
“Don’t run,” I said quickly, but then realized this maybe wasn’t the right thing to say to someone who looked like they very much wanted to run. If anything, that would probably freak her out more.
Iris didn’t look placated by my words, but she did stop moving backwards, so I took that as a win.
“What happened?” she asked hesitantly. She looked like she was torn right down the middle between bolting out of here and staying to hear my answer.
“I’m not sure,” I grunted as I kicked one of the large, settled chunks of stone. “But there was definitely someone else in the dungeon ahead of us. I’m pretty sure he was an American, and I’m also pretty sure he blew up the tunnel to try and trap us in here. The shit-eating grin on his face definitely implied he was happy to see us royally fucked.”
“Why would someone try to do that?” Iris asked.
I furrowed my brow. She really didn’t know much about the crystals and how they worked, and that was coming from me, someone who had just learned about them and how they worked. I really wouldn’t have been all that surprised to find out that this was her first dungeon.
Then again, we’d been told it was a Level Four dungeon, so that was even more confusing.
“It might have been to be an asshole,” I said. “Or it might be to try and get our crystals. I’m really hoping it’s the first one, though.”
I turned back to look at the massive rockslide that blocked our path as I quickly started to form a plan as to how the fuck we were actually supposed to get out of here.
Slowly, an idea started to come to me.
“Yasha,” I said. “The Talon Blade.”
“The Talon Blade?” she repeated.
“It’s supposed to be able to cut through anything, right?” I prodded.
My plan seemed to dawn on Yasha at once. Her golden eyes glinted, and her lips curled into a grin as she reached down and pulled the sharp blade from her belt. Before I could even tell her what she needed to do, she swiped out at one of the large stones.
The tip of the blade disappeared into the rock like it was made of butter and carved a smooth line down the seemingly impenetrable surface. Then Yasha pulled the blade free, and the two halves of the large stone block tumbled apart. It didn’t create any sort of opening to crawl through, but it did leave one less rock in our way.
“This is going to take a while,” Yasha said, but she seemed pleased with the idea of finally being able to chip through something.
“You keep slicing, Iris and I can pull stones out of the way once they come loose. If the three of us work together, it shouldn’t take us long to get through at all, I’m sure of it,” I explained. “I’m going to take the potion I have, the one that grants strength. Combined, all of that should get us out of here.”
Iris looked between the two of us in mild surprise.
I grinned and shrugged. “What? Did you think we wouldn’t be able to figure a way out of here together? Come on.”
I gestured for her to come up and join the two of us as Yasha started to slice and dice the large stone pile in front of us with a surprising amount of grace, given the task at hand. As she did so, I reached into my pocket and pulled out the flask that contained the Giantess’ Potion of Strength.
It definitely didn’t look like something I should be consuming, but I popped the cork off anyway and downed it in one go like it was a shot.
The liquid slid down my throat slower than it had any right to, and it left a strange, almost metallically bitter taste in my mouth, but within seconds I felt it start to work inside of me. It was hard to explain, but it was like I had taken an energy drink straight to my veins. I felt alive.
To test it out, I reached forward and tried to shove one of the previously immovable stones. To my delight, it fell away and to the ground like it was made of styrofoam.
Yasha raised her eyebrows as she cut through another stone block, and I carelessly batted it away and to the ground. This was going to work just fine.
After a few seconds of hesitation, Iris moved up to join us, and together, the three of us fell into a strange sort of rhythm to the harsh grinding sound of metal on rock.
Each time Yasha bisected a stone, I would grab one of the rocks that tried to fall down and fill its place, and Iris would grab another to toss to the side. There was a slowly forming pile of stone chunks growing behind us, but it was clear we were actually making progress in getting through the wall by carving out some sort of tunnel. We would have to be careful when we tried to get through, because it wasn’t like this thing was structurally sound in the least, but it was working nonetheless.
For only a split second, I didn’t worry about the timer in the corner of my vision, because we had a plan, and we were clearly going to follow it to success. That is, until I heard something behind us.
It took me a moment to hear anything over the sound of Yasha slicing through stone, but I could have sworn I heard some sort of footsteps. Big footsteps.
I glanced over my shoulder just in time to see the largest monster I’d faced in the dungeons yet barreling toward the three of us at full speed.
“Watch out!” I shouted.
Yasha and Iris both looked up from their tasks and followed my line of sight to the stampeding creature. It was approximately the size of a fucking car and took up nearly the entire hallway. I had no idea what the creature even was, but it looked almost like the Xenomorph from Alien, if the Xenomoprh from Alien was about the size of a midsize sedan, ran on all fours, and also had big-ass teeth.
The text above the creature’s head marked it as The Beast, which wasn’t particularly helpful, but it was, I supposed, accurate.
The Beast’s feet were massive and thundered against the ground with each sprinting step toward us. We were quite literally stuck between a rock and a hard place.
“Get behind me!” I shouted to Iris.
I didn’t wait for our new companion to follow my instructions before I jumped in front of her with Doomslayer thrust out in front of me and Golen’s Shield fully extended. I could still feel the effects of the potion running through my veins, and I was glad for the added boost, because this thing looked pissed.
The remaining torches that hadn’t been extinguished in the rockslide flickered violently as I brandished Doomslayer in the direction of The Beast. I felt a strange sort of tugging in my gut, like the flames were calling to me through my sword.
Well that was interesting.
I focused on the feeling that had erupted in my gut, and within seconds, Doomslayer ignited. It started slowly at the base of the sword. Flames began to lick up the wicked sharp metal slowly and intertwined around the blade like ribbons until the entire sword was engulfed in white-hot fire.
“Fuck yeah!” I exclaimed in momentary triumph until I remembered the monster in front of us.
Yasha whipped around and pulled her katana from her belt and bared it toward the approaching creature with the Talon Blade in her other hand. Even with three of us, well, two of us with serious weapons and armor, the creature looked like it was going to be at least mildly unstoppable.
I only had a few seconds to study the creature as it barreled toward us with all its might. Its limbs were slick and dark looking, and its entire body was highlighted in a menacing red aura. I didn’t really feel like I needed the heads-up on this front, though. It was kind of apparent that this was not something I wanted to fuck around with in the least.
The Beast’s feet had massive claws that left deep gouges in the stone below us as it sprinted in a way that was strangely reminiscent of a greyhound. A thick trail of a toxic-looking saliva spilled from its mouth and left scorch marks on the ground where it splattered.
That was all I could take in before the Beast collided with Golen’s Shield at full speed.
My arms felt like they might snap off as I stood my ground against the creature, thanks to the potion in my veins. If not for the magic enhancing my strength, I was certain the creature would have run straight through me. Instead, it slammed into my shield and bounced back a half-step.
I could hear the sizzling from where its saliva was burning through the metal, or maybe that was just the fire crackling off my sword, but it seemed less effective on the metal than it was on the stone at our feet.
Then a thick, sinuous tail whipped out from behind the creature in a way that made it look almost sentient. It snapped around its body toward Yasha, but the fox-woman was quick, and she leapt out of the way before the creature’s appendage could hit her.
I was impressed with her agility, especially given her still healing injury, but I was learning more and more that Yasha was just impressive no matter what. Her tail flicked in displeasure as she tumbled back into the rock pile and skittered up to her feet.
The Beast’s eyes darted between the two of us like we were tasty snacks it had been dying to sink its teeth into, but it didn’t make a move to lunge.
I kept Doomslayer raised as I tried to figure out what exactly the creature was about to do, but just as I realized it, the Beast lunged again.
Iris was behind me and still frantically trying to pull stones away from the blockade that kept us trapped. I appreciated her attempts to expedite our escape process, but she had made herself a massive target for the ferocious creature.
The Beast leapt between me and Yasha toward the other woman. I didn’t even have time to yell out to warn her before a piercing wail came from her throat. I tried to leap in the creature’s way to bisect the attack, but I couldn’t make it in time.
For a split second, I was sure that Iris was a goner, but then I heard the creature bellow out an unholy-sounding wail.
Its body writhed and whipped around in rage as it took a step back, and I saw Yasha standing in front of Iris with her katana spinning so quickly I couldn’t even see the blade. If not for the quick movements of Yasha’s hands, I wouldn’t have been able to tell that she was waving around a deadly weapon at all.
The Beast’s health bar ticked down just a little, but it was clear that the wound Yasha had left wasn’t pleasant. More of the toxic substance that spilled off the creature dripped onto the ground and left splotchy divots in the stone beneath our feet.
“Are you okay?” I shouted out to both Iris and Yasha. I didn’t care who answered, I just wanted to know that they were alright.
“Yes,” Yasha replied. “But I do not like this creature much.”
“I’m alright,” Iris added. “And I think I’ve got an idea.”
I didn’t take my eyes off of the Beast as it watched the three of us. There was a hunger in its eyes that I wasn’t too keen on, but it didn’t seem to be all that intelligent. I would take whatever small victories we could get.
“By all means,” I said. “Please.”
I brandished Doomslayer toward the creature in a clear attempt to give us a little more time for whatever Iris’ plan was.
“I need that one knife, the Talon one, right? The one that cuts through things? I think if I can cut through a section of this wall, I can get us into a tunnel,” Iris explained.
“A tunnel?” I couldn’t help but ask. “How many tunnels are there in this dungeon?”
“More than you might think,” Iris admitted. “But if we can get through the tunnel, we don’t have to worry about clearing out the rocks.”
“That’s great, Iris.” My voice was thin with worry as the Beast scraped its front feet against the ground in a clear sign that it was readying itself up to charge again. “But that doesn’t really fix our current problem.”
“Ahh…” Iris hesitated. “For after it’s dead, I mean.”
“Works for me,” Yasha said. She passed the other woman the Talon Blade before stepping forward to join me.
We silently had made an agreement that we were going to watch Iris’ back while she carved us out an escape route. In the meantime, we had a monster to slay.
The Beast charged. The entire hallway seemed to shake around the creature as it came toward us with as much force as a semi-truck, but I threw myself right into its pathway again. I could still feel the effects of the potion as they worked through my system, and sure enough, when the creature and I collided, it came to a halt.
I used the second of confusion it had on its ugly face to swing Doomslayer in a wide arc at the creature’s legs while Yasha leapt clear over my shoulder to drive her katana into the top of the creature’s head.
The metal on both of our blades began to sizzle and hiss in reaction to whatever it was that coated the creature’s skin. It was like it was self-lubricating with poison or something, which was super gross.
I quickly yanked my blade back from the creature’s slick, fleshy body with a wet pop. Despite how hard both my hit and Yasha’s hit had struck, the creature’s health bar had only ticked down maybe a total of ten percent. It seemed like the hit from my blade had done slightly more damage than hers, which made sense given how Doomslayer’s stats marked it as a high damage weapon. The fire seemed to have some sort of mild effect on the creature as I watched its burnt flesh sizzle and its health bar continue to tick down in miniscule increments even after I had pulled the blade away.
If anything, our attacks had only seemed to piss it off more. Its vile tail snapped out again, but I was ready for it.
I jumped up into the air before it could connect with my legs, and as I came back down, I used the edge of Golen’s Shield to drive it into the appendage with as much force as I could muster. And thanks to the potion, it was quite a bit of force. The metal edge of the shield might have been as dull as a butter knife, but it was enough to cut the tip of the creature’s tail clean off.
The sliced-off tail wriggled on the ground like some sort of worm, and it was as fascinating as it was disgusting. Black ooze seeped out of the wound I had caused and pooled on the ground around the writhing tail from the Beast’s stump. It bubbled and gurgled, and to my horror, it dissolved the remnant of the tail.
Then I watched in shock and mild revulsion as a new growth sprouted from the creature’s stump.
It was regrowing its tail.
Shit. Okay, so maybe we weren’t going to win this fight by chopping its limbs off. Good to know.
Yasha took advantage of the creature’s distracted state and drove her katana toward its chest. She seemed to have realized the same thing I had about the Beast’s limbs and was now going for the more sensitive parts of the creature.
As she struck out at the Beast, one of its front legs snapped up. It swiped out with sharp claws at Yasha. It was just a second faster than the fox-woman and left three deep gouges across her stomach and tattered the front of her tunic.
“Shit!” I shouted. I lunged at the creature again with my sword raised and slammed into the Beast’s side. I knocked the monster off its balance and managed to slash at its chest.
The blade dug into the strange flesh, but it didn’t go all the way through. It was like there was some sort of exoskeleton that I couldn’t see underneath the strange dark flesh.
“I am okay,” Yasha hissed. She had stumbled a few feet back from where I had knocked the Beast, and it looked like she was ready to attack again with a vengeance. The wounds on her abdomen didn’t look pleasant, but they also didn’t look deadly, and we didn’t have a choice to stop.
Then the Beast slammed its massive body against the ground in an attempt to wriggle back up onto its feet.
Huh. Apparently it was a little top heavy, and when I’d knocked it to the side, I’d caused it to lose its balance. We could use that.
Despite the fact that even my enhanced hits were dealing little damage, they were still dealing damage. If we could just keep the creature off balance, we should eventually be able to deal enough hits that we killed it. It wasn’t going to be fast, but right now, it seemed like the best plan.
“Hit it as much as you can,” I shouted to Yasha. “I’ll keep it off balance, you go for the head and heart.”
“I can do that!” Yasha shouted back just as the Beast managed to get back up to its feet again.
I sprinted backward a few steps as the creature seemed to get its bearings, but before it could do anything other than roar, I ran toward it with as much force as I could muster behind my steps. Then I slammed into the monster’s side and sent both of us sprawling into the nearest wall.
We hit hard enough that the entire hallway shook, and for a few seconds, I was worried we were going to take the roof down with us. It had already been weakened because of the explosion, so I was sure it could come down at any second if we weren’t careful.
Yasha darted forward quickly as I knocked the Beast to its side. She was careful to avoid any of its sharp claws this time as she began to hack at the monster like she had the stones only minutes before.
The Beast bellowed in rage, but there wasn’t much it could do as I bullied it to its side and Yasha dealt blow after blow to its most sensitive regions. Black bile and ooze spilled out from each cut and practically flooded the stone floor beneath our feet as we both dealt damage to the creature.
Finally, it seemed like we were making some significant progress in decreasing its health bar.
But when we finally managed to get the Beast down to about fifty percent, something happened.
All of the black ooze and gore that had been collecting below us started to bubble and shift like it was being sucked up into some vacuum I couldn’t see. It swirled and spiraled on the floor like it was headed down a nonexistent drain until all of it formed a puddle.
