He grunted as another bolt finally made it through Carl Jr’s defense and slammed into the meat of his thigh, causing him to stumble as well, though he didn’t fall. “Damnit!!” he cursed, gripping the shaft with his remaining hand and ripping it out without hesitation. It hurt, but the potent mix of fear and exhilaration from the fight blunted the pain somewhat, and he couldn’t afford to slow down. Especially now that his trap was about to spring. He had taken a lot of damage during the chase, but his sacrifices to get to this point were about to pay off.
The rogue had easily kept ahead of him and the minions chasing her, but Wendy had gotten close enough for another swing. The blow came at an angle and height that was easy enough for the agile rogue to dodge under, which she promptly did while also avoiding falling into the hidden pit that she had clearly noticed. That was fine though, and with a combination of anticipation and anger, Xander sent a mental command to Olaf.
What erupted up through the thin cover was a hulking monstrosity that was even larger than Wendy or Carl Jr. Its torso was bulky and cylindrical with three spines mounted in reverse, one in a relatively normal spot and the other two to the sides. Large ribs were grafted to the spines but were open to the front making them look like teeth in a sideways maw. It was the rogue’s turn to be caught completely off guard, her acrobatic tumbling dodge leaving her entirely vulnerable to the threat she had misjudged.
Vines whipped out from inside of the horror and wrapped around her arms and legs. She barely had time to yelp before they began dragging her towards the gaping chest cavity. Delsa struggled against them, but she was built for speed more than power, and no more than a second or two later, she was fully inside. Xander almost changed his mind, but this was a fight for survival, and these people were not only trying to kill him, but seemed like complete assholes.
“Bone Maiden, Revert.” Xander uttered the command that released the Sculpt Bone spell before he could rethink his decision or she could escape. “Oh shit, wait!!” Delsa cried, struggling even harder, but it was far too late for that. The ribs began bending shut, fully enclosing her, while at the same time the vertebrae along all three spines began to sharpen and elongate. Forty-eight bone spikes grew inexorably inwards to return to the original shape Xander had sculpted. Delsa began to scream as bone punched through her skin and light armor, but he was already on the move. He had no desire to watch a woman get slowly skewered, and the two warriors had hacked through the vines tripping them up and were back on their feet.
—----------------------------------
Kord froze, and stared at Delsa as her screams turned to gurgles. Tor was already chasing after the Dungeon Lord again, but Kord was transfixed by his dying team member. He had seen many people die before, both at his side and under his blade, but this was truly a sight to behold. One of the last few minor minions attacked him, but he casually dismantled the weak thing with a flick of his blade, his gaze never wavering.
There weren’t many people that he liked, but Delsa had been okay. She talked too much, like most people, yet she was both competent and relaxed. It would be annoying to replace her, and he would probably even miss her warmth from the nights she occasionally spent with him, but they would find someone else eventually. In the end she was replaceable, but her final moments were not.
What a wonderful death it was. The Dungeon Lord clearly put effort into her work, and Kord paid her the silent respect she was due as a fellow reaper of lives. He watched raptly, committing the whole event to memory, as the slow but inexorable end came. There… it was done. He would cherish this memory and revisit it for years to come, but it was time to get back to work. About to turn away, his eyes widened as the Dungeon Lord lifted her remaining hand towards the impaled corpse with a stony expression and motes of pale white light began flooding out of it.
Delsa’s skin, muscles, organs, and even blood all rapidly melted away, leaving only a clean skeleton behind. Numerous flowers and other plants bloomed all around, their riot of colors and smells blooming just as fast as the woman had been consumed. Energy flowed into Dungeon Lord Xander, and her half missing arm began to regenerate with the incredible speed she had exhibited at the start of the fight. “Beautiful…” Kord breathed in awestruck appreciation. Now here was a true artist, a connoisseur of death. He would take her head and preserve it carefully for as long as he lived.
—------------------
Xander hated the ugly death of the rogue. It had been slower and more gruesome than he had imagined it would be, and he was relieved when it was finally over. He had made that choice though, and he wouldn’t let the woman’s death go to waste. She had been the one causing him the most trouble, and he had spent nearly his entire mana pool healing the damage she had done to him.
As Reclamation did its grisly work, Xander used Nurture Vegetation to heal himself as fast as he could. The flood of energy was clean and clear, just like it had been with the bandits, but it wasn’t much easier to stomach than it had been with them. What anger he had been holding inside washed away too, but the fight wasn’t anywhere near over. The one called Tor had barely paused and was nearly upon him again, maces raised threateningly.
He forced himself to move, noting that every one of his lesser minions had been destroyed. Olaf was also used up, he would have to Sculpt the bones open to reset it which took a lot of time and mana that he didn’t have right now. It had done its job, but had no other way to fight. There weren’t many tricks left up his sleeve, and both of the swordsmen were mostly uninjured. They both were covered in fungal spores, but he would have thought they should be severely affected by now. He could still bluff though. Putting on his best evil smirk and ignoring the protests of his conscience, he taunted the man chasing him.
“Well that’s one down, why not just cut your losses and get out of here? I can do this all day, and you two morons are on a clock.”
You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
Tor growled “If yer so confident, come an’ fight me instead of runnin’ away like a lil' bitch!”
“Bro, that’s literally the dumbest thing I could do. Why would I let you have exactly what you want? And if you call me a bitch one more time, I’ll do to you exactly what I did to your friend.” Xander said with icy anger.
That made the man slow for a second and go a bit pale, but then his nostrils flared and he scoffed, “Yeah right, if ya had more of those… those… things, ya wouldn’t be tryin’ to get us to leave. I think yer just about done, a level 11 pansy like you has gotta be runnin’ dry on tricks. We Belter brothers are gonna end yer bullshit and get rich doin’ it!”
Well shit, the guy wasn’t quite as dumb as he looked, though hopefully he was still bad at watching his feet. Xander mentally controlled another nearby vine to trip the man again, but this time he must have sensed it coming. Tor leapt over the questing plant, dropping another small bomb behind him which exploded and killed that vine and a few others nearby. Xander frowned and ducked behind one of the pillar trees, breathing hard. He had never been a fan of running, and even though this was an entirely different body, it wasn’t like he had the stats for it in this world either.
Still, every minute he could steal would regenerate another 12.5 HP, and his mana was just about topped up thanks to Reclamation. Additionally, the toxic spores would have longer to work, and maybe even Mr. Sinclair could get some reinforcements to him from another part of the dungeon. Pretty much all he had left was Wendy and Carl Jr, though the latter was suffering pretty badly from all the bolts that it had taken for him. While somewhat strong and durable, Xander was fairly positive that they wouldn’t be able to stand up to a high level fighter for long, let alone two.
Something in the back of his mind screamed ‘danger’ so he dove forwards, away from the tree as a mace swung through the space his head had just occupied. Connecting to the pillar even as he was tumbling, he poured mana into Control Plants and had the roots attack Tor. The questing wooden fingers nearly got the fighter, forcing the man to leap back away. This gave Xander and Carl Jr time to build up a lead again, only to notice that Kord had awoken from whatever trance he had been in and was heading towards them.
“Mr. Sinclair…” Xander muttered under his breath urgently, “Tell me that you’ve got something to help, or I’m probably going to die shortly.” Naturally, there was no response from the creature which was theoretically helping him run this dungeon, so he was still on his own. Mind scrambling to come up with a new plan, Xander spent the next several minutes in a mad scramble to play keep-away as the two higher level adventurers hunted him down. Since his resources were regenerating he dropped numerous patches of toxic spores as he went, seeking to wear down Tor and Kord, but their inherent strengths as higher level physical fighters meant they could hold out for a long time. Animating tree roots and plants also proved to be of limited utility now that they were no longer surprises.
Mistakes were made, and the already damaged Carl Jr was smashed apart while defending him, meaning that he had to shift Wendy from attack and back onto bodyguard duty. It still wasn’t enough, since the attackers were faster and well coordinated, and they eventually drove Xander into a corner behind his throne. Desperate to live through the encounter, he decided to go after Tor, who seemed to be weakening faster than Kord, and directed Wendy to do the same. Both he and his bodyguard lunged forward to meet the man head on, but Tor looked triumphant instead of concerned. “Hah, this’ll be yer end ya useless necromancer twat!” the man grinned, whipping a small glowing object out of his pocket and throwing it at Wendy.
If it had been thrown at Xander, he might have had a chance to dodge, but the lumbering minion’s agility was pretty abysmal. He watched helplessly as the glowing circle which he could only think of as a halo slammed right into Wendy’s chest center mass… and a pulse of warm life energy expanded in a torus from the item. If anything, Xander’s faithful minion seemed to bulge and grow as the vines that animated it soaked in the life energy. Tor’s grin became filled with confusion as his trump card had a wildly different effect than expected, and Wendy never bothered to slow down.
The oversized minion smashed into Tor with all the elegance of a careening pickup truck hitting a startled deer. The fighter was knocked off his feet, and then blood went flying as gnarled fists of root covered in solid bone began raining blows down on him. He was made of stern stuff and started to defend himself, but Xander dove into the fight alongside Wendy, and thrust his staff at the man’s abdomen. Whether distracted by Wendy’s blows or simply not recognizing the hidden danger the skull topped staff posed, Tor ignored the attack… until said skull disintegrated on impact. Xander drove the revealed spear tip below the edge of the leather armor and straight into the man’s gut, drawing out an anguished cry.
“I’m sorry!” Xander said, wincing reflexively, the morals he had grown up with warring with the violence he wielded in order to try to survive this world. Tor just screamed curses at him and writhed, his movements causing the tip of the spear to move around his insides. Xander simply wasn’t strong enough to drive it all the way through the tough warrior. Wendy kept punching down, and with the man’s hands reacting instinctively to the weapon in his guts, the minion’s attacks slammed right into his face. Xander stared down in a mixture of horror and relief as more blood now mixed with teeth went flying.
A sudden insistent yank on his magical core distracted him from the grisly tableau, and his brow knitted together as he focused inwards for a moment on the connection that he had forcibly closed earlier, opening it up once again curiously. The mental shout sounded nearly panicked as his dress of all things sought his attention.
You have killed a Human Mystic Rogue (Level 23). For defeating an enemy 12 levels higher than yourself you receive an experience multiplier.
You have killed a Human Dual Wielding Fighter (Level 25). For defeating an enemy 14 levels higher than yourself you receive an experience multiplier.
You have been defeated by a Human Death Seeker (Level 27). Sufficient reserves available for revival. The reclamation and revival process will begin in 9 seconds.
A shadow fell over his vision before he could see any more screens, and then he felt calloused yet gentle hands on either side of his face before his head was lifted up. Rather than the furious eyes he might have expected from a man whose party he had slain, he saw only an odd reverence, respect, and hungry madness in Kord’s expression. Even as darkness ate away the edges of his awareness, he faintly heard the man say, “Truly beautiful, especially in death. And you gave my brother a fitting end as well.”
Kord leaned closer, or perhaps pulled Xander’s head closer; he couldn’t tell which. Xander tried to recoil as the madman pressed their lips together and kissed him, but he had no body with which to resist. So in his last act of defiance, he simply opened his mouth… and then chomped straight through the questing tongue. His last feeling was of satisfaction as the asshole’s salty blood and pained screams carried his consciousness into the oblivion that awaited.