Lewd Dungeon, Chapter 404

Chapter 404 – Error: Mercy Not Found

Danyll gasped as she stepped through the portal, and looked up at the scene around her. “It looks almost like the Grand Arena in Mssera, capital of the Msserine Kingdom back on Bluemountain!”

Rhys looked around at what he knew was the twelfth floor of the dungeon, but looked like an outdoor arena. He, too, had seen Mssera’s Grand Arena, and he could see the similarities, but also the differences. “The statues to the gods do not represent Atlantean gods, save for the statue of Pofmis the Chained Chainbreaker set across from the main statue, venerating Lord Kuronoth. But the building style is definitely our people’s work.”

“Well, at least there aren’t any more of those dank pools with nasty slimes,” Teffany said. “Damn things kept trying to ooze their way into my armor while we fought! If I didn’t have acid-proof enchantments on my gear, or the basic repair skills, they’d have probably eaten away all my armor by now! And I’m not like Emblema, who can just go bare-ass naked and be more protected thanks to her skills.”

“It is not my fault that even the System recognizes I have a beautiful ass,” Emblema laughed, an air of false smugness in her voice. Then, she looked around the arena. “The Guild says that there will be four rounds of combat. A group of goblins, a group of slimes, the Three Sisters, and then one of the Champions, though it is said that the higher difficulties are forced to face them both together.”

As if on cue, a gate rose at the far end of the field. Through it came ten goblins, each Level 20 in Tier 2. Four were dressed in heavy armor, carrying shields and swords designed for stabbing. Two were dressed in light leathers, and carried twin daggers. Another two wore simple chainmail, and carried a mace and shield with the sign of Kuronoth emblazoned upon it. And the last two wore cloth, and carried staves, one with a red gem at the end, and the other with a clear gem.

“Formation!” Rhys ordered, and the group fell into their standard fighting formation. “The Guild says that the goblins’ classes change at random for each encounter, but there is always at least one warrior, thief, healer, and mage type. Looks like we have four warriors, and two each of the others.”

Teffany, now in front, with her shield raised, called out, “[Long-Range Appraise] says that the warriors are Undaunted Bulwarks, the thieves are Shadowblades, the healers are Vaunted Warpriests of Kuronoth, and the mages are a Hellfire Sorcerer and Mindbreaker Sorcerer. All ten have the Veteran Gladiator profession!”

Rhys cursed under his breath. The classes themselves were a problem, but not a terrible one. All of them Tier 2 classes, and each covered the weak points of the others, making the group effectively two well-balanced parties against his one party. The Mindbreaker Sorcerer was worrisome, since that was a Tier 2 version of the Mind Sorcerer, which excelled at attacking creatures’ minds and turning them against their allies, but still something they could deal with, especially if they focused fire early on.

It was the Veteran Gladiator profession that troubled him. As a Tier 2 version of the Gladiator, the profession had skills that tied directly into allowing the gladiator to survive horrific wounds, and offered more power to the gladiator the more damage they took. After all, the profession was one where people fought for the entertainment of the crowd. It was only reasonable that they have the skills to put on a good show.

Quickly, he readied his [Hellthorn Razorwhip] and [Blacksteel Spellbow]. The True Dominator, like the Dominator class it grew out of, did not specialize in any one form of combat. Most of their power came from gathering a collection of powerful Thralls, after all. However, they did have skills which increased their attack and defense power depending on how many Thralls were nearby. More importantly, there were the [All Weapons] and [All Armor] skills, which allowed the Dominator to have the base level of proficiency in all forms of weapons and armor. Of course, using a whip with [All Weapons] did not provide the same kind of boost that even having [Whips] as a General Skill would, but he did not have any nonproficiency penalties, no matter what weapon he picked up.

He'd acquired [Dual-Wielding] as a General Skill early on, allowing him to use a weapon in either hand. The whip in his dominant right hand was useful for binding and tripping enemies, as well as striking them, and had a wide zone of control. The spellbow in his left hand, was the size and shape of a hand crossbow. However, instead of shooting physical bolts, it took a bit of his MP every time he pulled the trigger, and attacked with unerring bolts of magic with each pull of the trigger. With the two together, he was a solid mid-liner for the party, able to attack and defend.

The brief moment as both parties sized up their competition ended abruptly, as the Hellfire Sorcerer launched a bolt of green flame at Teffany, who used the [Spell Deflection] skill to send the flames hurtling into the empty stands. Everyone burst into motion at once, and Rhys called out orders to his team. “Danyll, Mindbreaker. Emblema, healers. Teffany, Elia, crowd control. Merewen, keep them up.”

His voice was steady, and unhurried, despite the urgency of his orders. After all, his team knew their business. They’d have never gotten this far into Tier 2 if they didn’t. But having someone call out commands got everyone on the same page, and reinforced the instincts they’d trained.

Of course, he wasn’t idle, either. His whip lashed out to Teffany’s side, catching the goblin Shadowblade that was attempting to flank her for a shot at her ribs. The spellbow fired a series of [Magic Missiles] which pelted the other Shadowblade, forcing them out of stealth as they tried to sneak around, and target Emblema. Even with the boost from being near five of his Thralls, his attacks weren’t enough to take out the goblins, but [Dominating Attacks] caused the Shadowblades to stagger, sealing their movements and attacks momentarily. He did not need to kill them outright, just keep them from causing trouble until the others could come help.

Teffany roared a challenge, clashing her spear against her shield to activate [Taunting Shout]. The four Undaunted Bulwarks and two Shadowblades were all in range, and the System forcibly made them turn their attention her way. However, [Defender’s Stance] doubled her defense against creatures who were affected by her taunt abilities, so Rhys wasn’t worried about her. Not as long as Merewen was able to keep healing.

Emblema swung her staff as her hips swayed, and the spell [Mystic Crush] slammed into the Shadowblade that had tried to attack her. [Mystic Crush] was a close-quarters combat spell that did damage based on the user’s STR and CHA, but also had a large knockback effect. And the Mystic Spelldancer was practiced enough that he crashed into the Hellfire Sorcerer, sending both to the ground in a crumpled heap.

Their own Shadowblade, Danyll, used [Shadow Step] to jump out of the Mindbreaker Sorcerer’s own shadow, his twin daggers stabbing up as he did so, piercing and lifting the goblin by his groin, both blades likely scoring critical hits. The goblin howled as the blades ripped from his body, doing even more damage, but a [Shadowstrike] to the throat silenced him. Without healing, it was unlikely the goblin would be able to recover enough to cast spells before he bled out. Either way, he was out of the fight for the moment.

“[Silver Barbs], [Poison Nettles], [Death Bog].” Elia stood back from the front line, club and shield at the ready, but she was not attacking. Instead, she layered three crowd control spells on the area surrounding Teffany. Her spells did not affect allies, thanks to the [Exception] skill, but for the goblins? Vines of silver and acid green sprang out of the arena sands, wrapping the goblins, before the ground turned to black caustic mud. If they tried to escape, they would take massive damage from Silver Barbs, and teleportation moves like [Shadow Step] were negated unless the user’s primary ability was greater than Elia’s WIS. However, if the goblins stayed put, then they would take continuous poison and acid damage from the other spells. And all three spells lowered the attack and movement speeds of their victims, making the goblins easy prey for Teffany.

The Vaunted Warpriests tried to start healing, but Danyll and Emblema were already there. Danyll’s blades and Emblema’s staff and spells made it so that the healers could not focus on anything except keeping their own skin intact. But the Warpriest in their class name was not for show. Their maces hit hard, but Merewen was ready with a [Healing Light] spell, keeping both of them in the fight.

Rhys turned his attention to the five goblins trapped in Elia’s spells, and began lashing out at them from just outside the spell’s radius. He focused on any goblins that looked like they were starting to work together, or try to organize, disrupting their attempts. His actual damage output was low, low enough that it wouldn’t interfere with Teffany’s taunts, but it was enough to keep them from trying to attack her as a unit, rather than five individuals.

“[Sand Tomb].” Another spell from Elia, and the Shadowblade and Hellfire Sorcerer were engulfed in a block of sand that hardened into stone. That probably wasn’t enough to kill them, but a Shadowblade could only [Shadow Step] to a shadow they could see, which meant that the solid block of sand would keep him from popping up elsewhere. In other words, those two were out of the fight.

“Major threats contained or disabled,” Rhys called out. “Conserve MP, and don’t overextend! According to the Guild, the next group will come in once the last goblin falls. Next group will be Slime Knights. They’re immune to physical damage unless you manage to hit the slime’s core, but they can form swords and shields from their body that is as strong as magic metals. Spells will take them down quickly, though. And we still have two more fights after that!”

That was the secret to this floor. You had to manage your resources carefully, or you would be out of MP and short of breath by the time you got to the actual boss fight. Everyone knew that, Lord Kuronoth held back his worst tricks and traps for those who challenged the dungeon on the harder difficulty, or those who were foolish enough to enter without signing the contract. However, that did not mean that he took it easy on those who ventured into the dungeon.

Every adventurer who lived long enough to be called a veteran could tell you that you had to respect dungeons. You didn’t have to like them. You could absolutely despise a dungeon, or some of the things that happened in its depths. But still, you had to respect the dungeon, for both its power and its danger. Fools who didn’t learn that lesson from their elders became the lesson taught to younger adventurers.

With that thought in mind, Rhys joined Elia and Teffany in stomping out first the goblins caught in the crowd-control spells, and then the healers. When Elia brought down the [Sand Tomb], the Hellfire Sorcerer was half-dead already from crushing damage and asphyxiation, before Teffany’s spear pierced his skull, and a couple quick spells blasted the Shadowblade when he tried to get his revenge. All that was left was the Mindbreaker Sorcerer, but he was silenced from the slit throat, and the three grievous wounds had given him heavy bleed damage. Between that and the suffocation, he only had a few more seconds to live anyway.

“Leave him,” Rhys ordered. A moment to catch their breath was most welcome. “Potions if your MP or HP is below 75%. And get ready for the next wave.”