Kaladin Shadoweart's POV.
Everything had gone according to plan. It was a near-perfect execution that let us breach the bastion's walls without sustaining a single injury. However, the Iron Citadel seemed one step ahead of its occupants at all times.
What a frustratingly annoying place.
The Dullahan that showed up was clearly a cut above the rest. It wasn't as powerful as the Arch Lich, but its unique and particularly malicious bloodlust made it worrisome, as did its retinue and the fact that it was pulling around a dungeon core shard.
"Kaladin…is that this dungeon's core?" Bowen asked me nervously.
I shook my head and answered, "Unlikely. I don't think it's strong enough to be considered the main core."
When I entered my first dungeon, I saw a core for a dungeon that was beyond expectations. Its mana source was so pure and potent it could be seen with the naked eye. I highly doubted that the Iron Citadel's core would be anything short of that.
But how has the dungeon procured so many dungeon cores? Is it eating other smaller dungeons someplace else and taking theirs? Or is it creating multiple, smaller ones? The latter is far more worrisome, to say the least.
"That thing is dangerous and has no intention of letting us pass. Fight it together in our usual manner before the undead in the battlements can turn on us," Lord Vasquez said while readying his axe.
We started to form spell cores to open the battle up, but the atmosphere changed as the Dullahan laid his sword against the dungeon core shard. The blue blade ignited into a bright orange as glyphs and symbols sprang to life across it. The dungeon core shard reacted and flashed.
The entire dungeon began to rumble violently as the rock and stone of the bastion and rear around us began to rip apart, not in the same way as an earthquake would, but instead as if it was being dismantled via unseen hands. The space warped, and the solid stone wobbled and reformed as it closed around us.
"Destroy that crystal!" Lord Vasquez roared.
I aimed my spear, and a Lightning Bolt arced toward the undead. However, before it could reach the crystal, one of the Skeletons with a shield intercepted it and blocked the spell. We released more spells, fire, water, earth, and lighting all raced toward the target, but it was too late.
The entire space around us had wholly changed. We were no longer in a wide open stone square behind the bastion but a tunnel of moving rock. Space warped around us in all directions as the rock slithered and glided into places, past itself, and even through. It didn't just not adhere to the laws of the world but completely ignored them.
It also only took a single blink of my eyes for our group to be split up. A stone wall suddenly materialized down the center of us.
What the hell is going on…
—
War God Vasquez's POV.
I had no idea what was transpiring. The entire dungeon began to shift and change before our very eyes. It was not the same as moving to a new floor like we had witnessed before, but something on an entirely different scale.
The forces at work were beyond Human comprehension—the work of a being much higher on the pedestal than us.
There was no point in pondering or worrying about what had already been done. I looked around; it was now just Kelly, Varnir, Tsarra, and myself. Everyone else had been split on the other side of the wall, the Dullahan as well.
Twelve undead stood before us, all of them problematic. These were not fodder like the troops manning the wall but elites. Their gear was impossibly well kept, and each of them, although weaker than the Dullahan, maintained a steady, malicious bloodlust.
I hefted my axe up and glared at the short monsters. "Then our decision is made for us. Kelly, we fight them to the last. Varnir, protect Tsarra. Tsarra, support us from the rear," I said.
"Got it," Kelly said, raising his sword.
Thankfully, the misshapen and yet still strangely natural tunnel was not so small that we would be hindered with our weapons. After all, they also sported hammers and axes that required ample swinging room.
Mana coursed through my muscles as I shot off like an arrow toward the group. The lead undead, wielding a hammer that was taller than it, crouched into a low stance and burst forward with such speed that it broke the stone floor beneath it. It was unbelievably fast for a monster, let alone a mere Dread Knight.
I followed its quick movements as it leaped off its feet and used the wall as a place to jump from. It sprang off the wall and swung its hammer, and I met it directly. Our weapons clashed, and a violent shockwave rippled through the air. I felt the power of its swing in my bones.
But it was weaker than me.
Flames erupted from the blade of my axe and hit the monster directly in the chest, knocking it back. As it flew through the air, I brought my axe down, but my sight was blocked as two more undead raised their shields, each of them taking the blow together. The monsters buckled under the force.
I stepped back just as Kelly swung his sword blade just below the stunned monsters and sliced into their exposed legs. I heard the sound of metal breaking, but it was the sound of flesh being torn and the sudden spurt of black blood that confused me. We jumped back together and exchanged worried glances.
Fleshless Skeletons don't bleed.
I extended my hand, and a torrent of fire burst out and engulfed the two undead. They didn't scream in pain as they burned, but the scent of burning flesh filled the small tunnel.
"Hey, what are these things? It felt like I cut into a person," Kelly asked as he glared at the charring bits of armor and bone.
"I don't know. But that's two down. We need to finish the others off before they can be revived," I said.
"It's an illusion! I can break it; I just need some time!" Tsarra yelled from behind.
"Then let us give her all the time she needs," I said.
"Right, these aren't all that bad after all," Kelly said with a smirk.
"Don't let your guard down yet. They surely have something up their sleeves," I warned.
The first undead I fought rushed back with its hammer aimed at me. Another group of two, one with an axe and another with a hammer and shield, went after Kelly. It was clear they were trying to separate us, but I met its attack straight on. I overpowered the creature and forced its arms up as a tendril of wood snaked from beneath me and wrapped around the retreating monster.
I swung my axe across my body, and I crushed the side of the Skeleton in. I heard bone snapping with metal tearing and the sound of flesh tearing. The corpse of the Skeleton flew and splattered against the wall in a mist of black, rotted blood.
I sensed something behind me and I heard footsteps but when I turned my head there was nothing. I raised an eyebrow and noticed that Varnir was guiding some roots across the walls. I couldn't help but grin as I rushed into the group of approaching undead. Kelly had already dispatched another and was about to kill the second when I intercepted the group of three.
The first swung its axe, and I kicked the short creature in the chest, sending it flying back. I brought the hilt of my axe down on the shield user and sent a Fireball into it for good measure. My axe ignited in flames as I brought it down on the third, but it jumped back and toward the larger group.
The wounded one from the Fireball was also slowly getting up, and I sent a wave of fire into them. One of the shielded undead took the brunt of the spell, but at the same time, they all turned around as the air shimmered behind them.
Tsarra came out of thin air, and with an outstretched hand, something happened. I had never seen illusion magic used against itself, but whatever the young Elf had done, her spell broke through theirs.
The air around the Skeletons shuddered and warped as a thin haze appeared, revealing their true forms. The Skeletons weren't Skeletons, nor were they simple Dwarves. They had the exact distinguishing features that we had seen before—slightly longer limbs and taller stature than a regular Dwarf. Their beards were unnaturally well-trimmed, but their skin was a sickly, unnatural gray. Where there should have been eyes were just hollow, black sockets.
Ghouls, huh? With a far less… decrepit appearance.
Tsarra thrust her staff out again, and a wave of water washed into the undead. Some were knocked over, but most managed to stand their ground. One burst forward, its hammer glowing orange as runes lit up across its surface, and it swung directly at her. But when it made contact, the only thing that happened was the young Elf turned into a shimmer of air.
"She's a lot braver than I thought," I remarked.
"Tsarra has more heart than people give her credit for," Kelly said with a smirk.
The handful of undead washed up near us. Kelly and I went to work with the help of Varnir in dispatching them. They quickly gathered themselves, their weapons igniting with the same runic orange as the other. When I clashed with another axe user, I felt the difference instantly.
My arms buckled toward me from the sheer force of the blow. It was at least two times heavier than it was before. Even so, I would not be bested by a walking corpse. Flames ignited across my body as I reached out and gripped the Ghoul by the beard, ripping his hair out and forcing his head to me.
A ghastly expression moved across its gray face as it met the head of my axe. Rotting black blood spurted out as flames spread out and into its eyes. The red flames engulfed the creature as I kicked it away just in time for another corpse to go flying as Kelly split another one in half.
Their runic weapons had made them stronger, but it was nothing more than a crutch. The monsters were fast and strong and had a momentum of strategy, but without their Dullahan commanding them, they lacked any meaningful cohesion. Perhaps they would be more dangerous with it. These were hardly a foe, but that Dullahan had me more worried.
I hope the others are faring just as well as us.
—
Kaladin Shadowheart's POV.
The dungeon's sudden anomalous change was not something I had expected. We were separated again, and now we were forced to face off against a Dullahan and its minions. Luckily for us, our group was on the stronger side. All six of us could handle ourselves in direct confrontation. And they only outnumbered us two to one.
"Let's attack together. We can overwhelm them easily," Bowen said as he had his golem posture at the front.
I started to form a spell core to knock out as many of them as I could beforehand, but my eyes widened as I listened to an unfamiliar voice from across the hall.
"Finally, my vengeance can be sated," it gargled.
Its voice was hideous and inhuman, like it was drowning in a pool of blood. I looked around and met Bowen's eyes, but he just looked at me, confused.
"Did you not hear that?" I asked.
"No, but you best finish that spell as they are coming," he answered.
That came in the direction of the undead. But Skeletons can't speak…but it wouldn't be a first for them. But vengeance? Against whom?
A bolt of lightning arced from my spear and into the undead horde. The first Dread Knight cracked and was burned as the second impact arced into a shield user. The smell of burning flesh tickled my nose, but I pushed those thoughts away for the time.
Bowen's golem crashed into their front lines, grabbed the shield user by the head and legs, and ripped it in half. I was expecting splinters of bones and metal to go over where I was, but instead, the monster exploded into a fountain of rotting black blood. The moment of shock was outweighed by the sudden outburst from the undead.
They all rushed toward us in a maddened frenzy, swinging their weapons. Two undead Dwarves jumped off the ground and climbed aboard the golem, hacking at it with weapons glowing orange from runes. The Dullahan charged at us with its bone ram and Ms. Taurus extended her spear to meet it.
The creature willingly impaled itself onto her spear, but the Dullahan simply jumped off behind her and aimed itself straight for Sylvia. Cerila sent a lance of ice at it, but the Dullahan knocked it down mid-flight as it landed with ease. I was only a few steps away from helping when two of the undead rushed me.
A hammer swung to my right, and I knew it wouldn't be worth deflecting so I dodged back and thrust my spear forward at the second. I was just short of its reach, but the Earth Lance that left my spear crashed into its chest and sent it flying back in a bloody mist. Sylvia was locked in battle with the Dullahan as it swung its sword with tremendous speed.
Sylvia was far from a novice swordswoman now, but it was clear she was being overwhelmed by her opponent. Spears of blood erupted from the ground beneath her, but the Dullahan cut them all down as I battled the second. Bowen and his wife were handling a majority of the undead while Cerila moved to help Sylvia.
However, as usual, the undead were quickly healing and returning to their original forms. I thrust my spear into the reviving undead and extended my hand as a Fireball spell core engulfed the pinned creature. It wouldn't be able to come back if it was ash. And the smell of burning flesh when all I saw was bone was disconcerting.
When I spared Cerila and Sylvia a glance, I saw that the Dullahan wasn't just holding them back but was fighting them both on equal terms. Its bladework was fast and heavy; each stab and slash seemed to carry significant power behind them. And for the first time, it managed to score a wound.
Sylvia's arm received a fresh gash as the Dullahan parried her blade and struck at the opportunity. Sylvia yelped more in frustration than pain and lashed out with a wave of blood that the Dullahan expertly avoided. I killed the second undead that was attacking me with a thrust through its chest and guaranteed its demise with a torrent of flames.
Cerila let a storm of ice wash over the Dullahan, but the undead dodged it. As I moved to help, a third creature rushed me, but a spear of stone from Bowen impaled the monster into the morphing wall behind it. I thrust my spear at the Dullahan and used my superior reach to keep it at bay, but the undead effortlessly deflected my attacks.
It was leagues above the others in terms of skill and power, but it was running out of allies. Bowen was also burning the corpses of the enemies, and soon enough, it would be us versus it. I wouldn't even need to waste my mana on a Railgun.
"Problematic outcome imminent," the voice gargled.
Is—is that coming from the Dullahan?
The Dullahan jumped back and pointed its sword at the crystal that was strapped to the cart. The crystal shined brightly again, and the space around us shifted and warped as it began to change again. The stone walls began sliding and moving over each other as the area enlarged. A black darkness could be seen between the floating and warping stone as we shifted to a new place. Large stone statues of those ancient Dwarves stood tall against the walls, and in neat rows were tombs spreading out as far as the eye could see. The Dullahan oozed bloodlust as the tops of the sarcophagus slid open.
Things never seem to go as planned…