Capítulo 39: [Dungeon of Demons and Gods] (III)
Sniff, sniff, sniff.
Bianca sat cross-legged in the dirt, her shaking hands clutching Lucius' crushed note tightly.
Her razor-sharp claws tore into the paper with each increasing grasp, and yet she was utterly oblivious to that fact.
Tears which refused to fall blurred her usually bright crimson eyes.
Jane lounged casually against the chilling wall a little distance away from her.
The message still seared in her mind weighed upon her chest like a boulder.
She was screaming, but her throat felt dry, and no words could come up.
"Why…," Bianca said in a little voice.
Sniffling, she lowered the note to look tearfully at Jane.
"Why did he leave without even saying goodbye?"
Jane swallowed hard, unable to meet Bianca's gaze.
She clutched her fists, nails digging into her palms.
"Because that's just him. He never explains things. He always has to shoulder all the weight alone."
"That's stupid!" Bianca's voice broke; her tears were streaming now. "He knows we're strong! We can help him!"
Jane sighed and knelt before Bianca, gently putting her hands on the girl's shoulders.
"I know it hurts, kid. But Lucius… he is not like us. He does not think of himself the way we think about him."
Bianca looked down, her claws digging into the note as more tears fell onto the crumpled paper.
"He is like a dad to me, you know? He saved me. He promised he would not leave me alone again."
Jane bit her lip, her feelings almost spilling over.
She leaned forward and wiped away Bianca's tears.
"And he didn't. He left us this message, didn't he? It means he's planning to come back."
Bianca shook her head furiously, raising her voice.
"No! He is going to die! He knows that, and that's why he left us!"
And then her voice turned loud, echoing in that small room, and the truth in those words cut deep into the soul of Jane. She wrapped her arms tight around Bianca, holding her as she sobbed hard.
"Why does he always have to act so tough?" Bianca sobbed against Jane's chest. "Why can't he, for once, just let us help him?"
Jane leaned forward and stroked Bianca's hair with her fingers, silent tears falling. "Because he feels he must protect us. He doesn't know how to let anyone in."
The two lay in silence for a long period of time, the quiet between their cries disturbed only from time to time by the low hum of thunder.
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[Dungeons of Demons and Gods.]
The moment Lucius crossed the threshold, the world began to spin. The warm air of the world he left was blotted by an icy, suffocating chill.
He found himself in a large, desolate wasteland.
The ground beneath his feet was a mixture of ash and cracked stone, the latter faintly glowing with ominous red veins of energy.
The sky above was a swirling vortex of black and crimson, with lightning streaking across it, booming in deafening cracks.
Massive spires of bone and dark stone reached towards the heavens in the far distance, their jagged points glowing faintly with sinister runes.
[Welcome, Challenger!]
[Objective: Defeat the avatar of every existing god!]
[Number of Gods: 101]
[Rewards: ???]
"101 Gods... gosh, this is going to take a long time..."
Lucius cracked his head and then took a step forward.
Immediately, the first group of avatars sprang up from the ground-great figures with steaming, coursing skin, the plates of rough black armor on their limbs.
They grasped huge weapons, some resembling cudgels, others crystal spears that shone like diamonds.
Their eyes burned with a malevolent fire riveted on him.
[Fallen Flame Guardians – Level 95]
His jacket immediately materialized a black bastard sword, and then, Lucius took the first step forward, rushing towards the group.
The sword started gathering a chill around it before Lucius swung it, sending a wave of energy that froze everything in its way.
Immediately, the group of avatars turned into ice sculptures.
And then, Lucius only swung his sword again...
CRACK!
All the frozen sculptures were scattered into pieces.
"Next one..."
[Beep! The first avatar was slayed in less than a minute]
[A penalty has been added.]
[The avatars of ten gods are going to be sent directly.]
"Oh... fuck me."
Instead, of a wave of avatars, only ten exactly avatars appeared.
Which was quite weird considering that the first god had a bunch of avatars.
Each one was different from the rest.
One wielded hot chains, with its body crackling and shining with big bright cracks.
Another had sharp armor and a big sword buzzing in dark energy.
Others had different weapons, like scythes and halberds; their shapes changed as if they were crafted from the void itself.
"Hah..." Lucian's eyes narrowed as he let out a cold breath.
SWOOOSH!
Without warning, the first avatar moved as its molten chains snapped toward Lucius, glowing red-hot and leaving trails of sparks in their wake.
Lucius sidestepped effortlessly, his feet barely brushing the ground as the chains cracked against the floor, melting the stone.
He retaliated immediately.
A single shard of ice appeared in his hand.
Swish!
He flicked it toward the avatar's head, tearing through the air, and pierced the creature's forehead.
The molten avatar stumbled, its chains faltering, before collapsing into a heap of ash.
"One down,"
However, the other avatars weren't going to be as dumb and rush alone.
They all surged forward simultaneously.
The second avatar swung its cursed sword, the blade emitting a sinister hum as it cleaved through the air.
Lucius ducked, narrowly avoiding the blade as it flew past him, slamming into the ground with a thunderous boom.
In the same instant, two more avatars attacked from his flanks.
One hurled jagged void spikes, while the other leaped high into the air, its halberd crashing down toward him with terrifying force.
Lucius's instincts took over.
With a slight pivot, he evaded the void spikes, the projectiles missing him by mere inches and embedding into the ground.
As the halberd descended, he raised his arm, summoning a thin, shimmering ice blade with a sharp chime.
CLANG!
The halberd struck his ice blade, the impact sending a shockwave through the air. Lucius slid back slightly but remained steady.
"Huh..." he started gathering strength in his hand.
With a quick twist, he redirected the halberd's force and plunged his ice blade into the halberd-wielding avatar's chest.
A burst of freezing energy rippled out, encasing the creature in solid ice.
Lucius snapped his fingers.
CRACK!
The frozen avatar shattered into countless shards, scattering across the battlefield.
Then, he quickly jumped back as the scythe-wielding avatar swung his deadly scythe at his head.
Lucius leaned back, dodging the strike by a hair, forming a small ice dagger in his palm and droving it into its throat before the avatar could recover
The avatar let out a choked growl before dissolving into a black mist.
Then, another avatar, its body covered in thorned armor, charged at him.
Lucius waited until the last second, then sidestepped, extending his arm to create a trail of ice beneath the creature's feet.
SHHHHHHK!
The avatar stumbled, its momentum carrying it forward in an uncontrolled manner.
Lucius didn't hesitate to act and brought forth a spike of ice under the creature.
CRUNCH!
The spike impaled the avatar, black ichor spewing from its body as it disintegrated.
"Huff...!"
Only four avatars remained...
The next two avatars attacked in unison.
One hurled spinning axes while the other conjured a storm of mana that swirled around it like a protective shield.
Lucius dashed forward, the axes narrowly missing him as they thunked into the ground behind him.
He stopped just outside the storm's radius, observing the avatar's movements carefully.
"Let's test this," he murmured, forming a small shard of ice.
He flicked the shard toward the storm.
And as expected, the storm deflected it.
Lucius's lips curved into a smirk.
"Predictable."
He extended his hand, forming a thin sheet of ice beneath the avatar. The storm's swirling energy didn't extend to the ground, leaving its feet vulnerable.
Then, Lucius willed the ice to rise, sharp spikes piercing the avatar's legs.
SHNNK!
The storm faltered, and Lucius took advantage of the opening, sending an ice spear through the avatar's chest.
Meanwhile, the axe-throwing avatar charged at him, wielding a massive axe in each hand. It swung wildly, each strike creating deep holes, craving them into the ground.
Lucius easily avoided the spinning attack by simply keeping distance, and when...
The avatar overextended, Lucius stepped in close, conjuring a blade of ice in his hand, and throwing it directly on the creature's head.
THUD!
The avatar disappeared into the mist.
And strangely... the remaining two avatars stood still.
Unlike the other eight, these two seemed a bit more powerful and then had some kind of arrogance in their eyes.
"That really is annoying..."
THOMP! THOMP!
The avatar strode forward, and raised its hammer high, bringing it down with a devastating BOOM that cracked the ground in a wide radius.
Lucius leaped back avoiding it, but the ghostly avatar had taken advantage of the opening provided.
SCREEESH!
He let out a bone-chilling sound, as spectral chains shot towards Lucius.
Lucius barely managed to twist out of the way, the chains grazing his arm and leaving a searing burn.
"Annoying," he muttered, clenching his fist.
He focused on the hammer avatar first, knowing its brute strength would be its downfall. He feinted left, drawing the creature's attention, then dashed to the right with incredible speed.
The avatar swung its hammer, but Lucius was already behind it. He conjured a massive ice spike and drove it into the creature's back.
CRACK!
The hammer avatar let out a guttural roar before collapsing, its body dissolving into ash.
Now, only the ghost-like avatar remained.
The spectral being hovered in place, its glowing eyes fixed on Lucius.
SCREECH!
The spectral let out another horrifying sound, sending yet another wave of spectral chains hurtling toward Lucius.
Lucius didn't dodge this time.
He raised his hand, forming a massive ice barrier that deflected the chains.
When the chains retracted, Lucius dashed forward, forming a thin ice blade on his hand.
The ghost-like avatar screeched again, its form shifting and becoming harder to pin down.
"Damn it... I guess, this is the far I get without using my unique skill..." Lucius let out an annoyed sigh.
He activated his Underworld Eye, his vision sharpening as the avatar's presence and its weak point became clear.
"Found you."
He leaped into the air, dodging another volley of chains, and hurled his ice blade with pinpoint accuracy.
SHNK!
The blade pierced the orb, and the ghost-like avatar let out one final, agonized screech before exploding into a cloud of black mist.
Lucius landed softly on the ground, brushing some dust off his jacket.
"Ninety more..."
He smiled coldly, as something trickled down his nose.
"........"
He looked at his hand and then bit his lip in agony.
It was a familiar red fluid.
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