"Quin!!" Percy screamed out when he saw his friend falling into the hole that opened up thanks to the Mercenary's actions.
"NO! ALPHA!" Dalia screeched as she ran over to the hole that was beginning to close itself up, due to the Dungeon Core's influence. It didn't like it when its floors were being damaged and started fixing itself, and the rock floor began to reform over the hole before the wolfkin could get to it. The Core was able to fix this floor quicker thanks to it being so close to the throne room, as it was one floor below the core's original location.
"RAH! Damnit!" Dalia growled out when she saw her Alpha falling into the hole with her companion.
"DALIA!" Percy yelled out as he ran over to where the hole used to be. After seeing that there was nothing they could do he quickly turned to the Black Rose Mercenary who had a smirk on his face.
"Why did you do that Merc!" Percy questioned sternly as he aimed his bow at the Black Rose Merc.
*Growl!* "You're dead, human!" Dalia growled in rage at the Merc's betrayal of her Alpha.
"I did what I needed to do, kid. It's nothing personal... But if you're sour about it then you could fight me. I just wonder how long your prince and that dark elf can last at the hands of the troll? That's if they survived the fall that is... Maybe it's better for you to find them before it's too late. It wouldn't look good if a retainer came back to the king without his son. Would it?" the Merc said while creeping his way towards the exit of the throne room. He was keeping his guard up just in case.
"I don't need you telling me my business, human!" Dalia snarled back.
"Oh? Trust me... You don't want to test me, mutt!" The Merc chuckled back as he was almost at the doorway with his war hammer at the ready.
"Tch! Fine, but when we get the Lord and the Lady back... I'll personally come for you!" Percy threatened the Merc as he still had his arrow trained on him.
"Really!? I'll believe it when I see it, kid! I'll give my condolences to the fallen prince," The Merc laughed as he turned around and ran down the hallway until they couldn't see him or hear his footsteps.
'That cowardly bastard is lucky I can't leave my pack behind, or else I would chase him down myself. That was a dirty trick he pulled on the Alpha. But I'll remember his cowardly scent.' Dalia thought as she watched the Merc disappear from the throne room.
Without a moment too soon Percy ran to Sir George who was still unconscious after getting thrown into the wall from the Cave Troll's attack.
"George?!" Percy yelled as he tried to shake the knight awake. "Sir George, wake up!"
The knight started to stir and groaned, "Nghh... Damn, my arm feels like it's broken."
"Sir George, we have to go after the Lord. I need your help!" Percy informed the Knight.
"W-What happened!?" George asked as he finally opened his eyes.
"A hole opened up underneath the Prince and Lady Rya. They fell down to the lower floor with the Cave Troll. Can you move?" Percy asked as he helped the knight sit up.
"Yes... B-But my shield arm hurts a lot... Gah! I'm not sure how useful I will be..." Sir George grunted in pain as he tried to move his arm. Then he got to his feet.
"Half of you is better than none of you, Human." Dalia chimed in as she started sniffing the air, trying to pick up her Alpha's scent.
"I couldn't agree more, Dalia. I will try and help in whatever way I can," Sir George replied as he held his arm in pain.
"Then let us go help them! Lady Dalia. Can you find them?" Percy said as he looked around the throne room in hopes of finding a way to the lower level.
"Of course!" Dalia said with a nod.
"Right then, I'll follow your lead, Lady Dalia!" Percy said as he walked up to Dalia.
She was surprised by the young one's forwardness. If she wasn't in a hurry to find her Alpha she would've taken more offense to a human being this close to her. But something about his attitude made her feel safe and giddy. It confused her a bit, but she had no time to think about it right now.
"Don't call me that, Youngling. I'm a wolf, not some noble lady." Dalia growled as she moved her nose around the throne room.
"Heh, I wouldn't dream of it, Ma'am," Percy replied as he stayed close by her side.
"Hmph! Whatever, but don't hold me back, pup!" Dalia responded as she found the scent trail of the Prince and her friend. "Follow me, I've found their scent," She said as she began following her Alpha's scent towards the big throne at the end of the room.
Dalia pushed her nose right up against a specific point in the throne and began sniffing around the throne. "It's here... The entrance to the next level is right here."
"Okay, Let me check and see," Percy asked as he looked around the throne to see if there was some sort of switch or lever. He moved his fingers along the stone throne until he felt something catch his finger. He moved his hand closer to see what it was. It was a small, nearly unnoticeable, switch.
"Found it!" He exclaimed as he pressed the button on the throne. The throne moved forward to reveal a hidden passage.
"Good work, Pup!" Dalia exclaimed as she started moving through the passageway.
"R-Right behind you, Ma'am!" Percy said as he followed Dalia with his bow at the ready. He had a good view of Dalia's behind as they moved forward.
"And stop calling me that!" Dalia growled at Percy.
"No can do... Ma'am!" Percy teased which resulted in him getting slapped by her tail on his cheek.
'Tch, he's going to pay for that!' Dalia thought with a frown.
Once the two were gone Sir George was looking around the room with a look of confusion. "Where's the Merc!?"
Since Sir George couldn't find the answers he followed after his comrades.
***
'SHIT! WE'RE FALLING!' Rya thought to herself while in Quinus's arms until they abruptly crashed into the stone floor below. It was jarring and painful, but not life-threatening. They fell into an unusual cavern that looked like an underground amphitheater. It looked alien compared to the rest of the Labyrinth like they stumbled into a HR Giger painting.
"Are you alright?" Quinus asked as he looked over at her with concern.
"Yeah, just a little shocked is all," Rya said when she stood up and brushed the dust off her clothes. "Huh?"
Out of instinct, Rya pushed Quinus back just as a giant fist came out of nowhere and almost smashed Quinus.
"Whoa!!?" Quinus yelped while watching the fist go by his face.
"Get out of here, Quin! I'll take this guy!" Rya exclaimed as she evaded another attack from the Troll's stump arm.
When Rya was able to get some distance from the Cave Troll she channeled her mana into her hands and was ready to perform a counterattack.
"I hope you're ready to eat dirt, you jackass!" Rya said while summoning her earth magic with an elegant dance move. But instead of creating her usual six-foot tall rock wall that would shoot up from the ground like when she was in the throne room. Instead, she was only able to summon a couple of small rocks that floated up from the mana-infused ground in front of her and those two rocks seemed like they were fighting to even float up by three feet. Something was fighting her mana from summoning her rock walls and this was a first for her.
'What the fuck!?' Rya thought to herself as she used her earth magic again but it still didn't work.
"Quinus! I can't create a rock wall!" Rya yelled out while Quinus tried to close in on the Troll, who was bullrushing Rya.
"I'm coming, Rya!" Quinus yelled out as he ran as fast as he could.
The Cave Troll was almost on top of Rya when it was to strike. Rya didn't have a choice as she used the summoned small rocks and shot them straight at the beast's foot causing it to stumble just enough for her to run away. This gave Quinus an opening to use his special Maja technique that severed the Troll's left hand.
*ZZ-SWING-ZZ!*
Quinus aimed for the Troll's left ankle and thought he would get a clean cut through it. But his blade got caught in its tibia bone, stopping his momentum and halting his strike. Quinus gritted his teeth when he saw the blade of his
"Shit!" Quinus yelled out in frustration, and then the Troll used its stump of an arm and swatted Quinus with all its might.
Luckily for Quinus, the stump arm wasn't as powerful without its hand. But it still had enough force to send him flying through the air.
"Quinus!" Rya screamed when she saw him fly away.
Quinus landed hard on the ground and rolled a bit before he came to a complete stop.
'Dammit, this foul troll will be the end of us if I don't figure out something... Wait! Where's my sword?' Quinus got back on his feet and was in a panic as he tried to find his sword.
Rya was relieved to see Quinus was alright but they had a huge problem. They were stuck down here with no way out and they had no weapons.
"Quinus! Your sword is stuck in the Troll's leg!" Rya yelled out, she tried to use her magic but something was fighting her mana when it went into the ground.
'COME ON! WHY WON'T YOU FUCKING WOR~' Rya's thoughts were interrupted when she smelled something in the air. It smelled like ozone. 'I can smell the fucking ETHER!? That has to be it! The Goddamn Dungeon Core is stopping me from using my earth magic!' Rya concluded.
"Quin!... It's the damn Core! It's blocking my magic!" Rya yelled out as she started to feel the effects of being dazed from overusing her mana.
"Rya! Find the Core! I'll distract this giant piece of filth!" Quinus said with urgency as the troll zeroed in on him.
Rya nodded and tried to sense the ether particles. And just as she was about to close her eyes she felt another presence sneaking up from behind her.
"KILL YOU! KILL YOU NOW! I WILL!" yelled the Hobgoblin King. He went in for the attack with his staff held high.
*Swing!*
*Boom!*
Rya couldn't dodge the blow as he hit her from her side. The force from the strike sent her flying toward a wall beside her.
"GAHHH!" Rya screamed in agony as her ribs cracked upon impact and she rolled onto the floor.
'I have to get up! I can't... let this thing beat me!' Rya quickly used her healing magic on herself and was able to heal her broken ribs.
"RYA!" Quinus yelled out to her, but he had no choice but to evade the troll's attacks.
'I need my sword back!' Quinus thought while the Troll continued to come after him.
"YOU HURT, MY BOYS! NOW I HURT, ELF!" The Hobgoblin King growled out as it was about to charge at Rya.
Quinus had to make a move and had to make it fast. He noticed some loose gravel beneath his feet and he had an idea. He grabbed a fist full of dirt before he charged the incoming Troll. The hulking beast was ready to finish this annoying human once and for all as it ran at full speed toward Quinus. It was struggling to walk due to Quin's sword that was still embedded in its ankle. But that didn't stop the creature from using its strength to get where it needed to go.
'You only have one shot at this, Quin! Don't fuck it up.' He thought while seeing the monster getting closer. The Troll was prepared to smash the human into a paste as it was tired of the little bug always getting away from its attacks.
Just as the Cave Troll was within arms reach, Quinus threw the dirt from his hands into the monster's eyes, causing the creature to flinch and grab at its face.
*Hurk!*
"RRRRAAAHHHHH!!!" The Troll roared out as its whole face was covered in black dirt.
'IT WORKED!' Quinus Thought as he focused all his energy on freeing his sword from the troll's leg.
He was able to get his hands on his sword as the Troll was stunned by the dirt thrown into its eyes. The Troll was busy trying to rub the dirt from its face and that allowed Quinus to pull his blade free from the beast's ankle.
"RRRRAAAAAAAGGGGGHHHH!!!" Quinus howled out as he gripped the handle of his sword with all his might and ripped the blade out from the troll's leg causing it to bleed again before it healed up. Quinus quickly turned towards Rya and saw the Hobgoblin King was about to kill Rya. She was struggling to get back on her feet from its surprise attack.
"RYA! CATCH!" Quinus yelled out as he tossed Rya his sword.
*Fwoosh!*
"WHAT?" She said with surprise as she saw Quinus throwing his sword right at her.
'Shit!' Rya thought while watching the sword spinning toward her. 'Catch it. Catch it! CATCH IT!' Rya was panicking. But she somehow reached her hand out and was able to snatch the sword by the hilt before it could fly past her.
"I CAUGHT IT!?" Rya exclaimed with joy as she felt the weight of the blade in her hand.
*Thud!*
She landed on her back again with the sword in her hand. Rya had never held an enchanted sword like Quinus', but something about holding it in her hands felt right. That's when the Hobgoblin came into her view as he went in for the kill. From her back, she was able to swing the Sun's Fury with ease and cut the Hobgoblin's staff in half with the sword.
"AGGRRRRRNNNN!!" The Hobgoblin King roared out as it noticed the shining blade coming at him. She managed to stab him in the chest and glared at him.
"You didn't take the hint, now you're dead!" Rya yelled out while pushing the blade deeper into the Hobgoblin's chest. This allowed her to stand up finally as she glared at the monster.
"GURKKKK!!! HYAAAAAHHH!!" The Hobgoblin King roared out as it swung his fist at Rya in one last-ditch effort to kill the elf.
Rya dodged it while pulling out the sword from its chest and swung it around into a diagonal strike. She sliced through the Hobgoblin's neck, cutting its head clean off this body.
The Hobgoblin King's body toppled over dead. While at the same time, the Troll came after Quinus and attacked him when his back turned to the beast.
"QUIN!" Rya screamed out as she readied the sword and used the only magic she thought she could use on this dungeon floor. She channeled her mana quickly before yelling out, "Dark Earthly Blade!"
The sword turned black as it extended out almost like a whip and the tip of the blade zoomed towards the Troll. In less than a second the blade stabbed straight into the beast's right arm, then it curled around and stabbed through the troll's chest before the blade continued towards its left leg, and finally, the blade extended down until it crashed into the ground halting the Cave Troll's attack. The hulking beast couldn't move with its legs and arms trapped by the shadow-like whip-blade.
"'GHH!" The Troll howled out as it felt pain it never felt before. It tried to free itself, but the more it struggled the deeper the blade stabbed into its flesh.