“Turner’s gone,” said Tetsuo. And that was it. Not their first loss. Not their first game. Not by far.

The mage looked around, then at Enoch. “Can you hold the door? There are more than we thought.”

“Yeah, I’ll hold as long as I can, then I’ll run to you.”

“Best of luck then,” said Tetsuo. He retrieved two scrolls from his trench coat, read them out loud, the magical incantations powerful at the Castle entrance, echoing on the stone plain. The ground shook. Two giant golems rose from the stone floor. Massive humanoid shapes, muted features, twenty feet tall. Blocks for hands. The terrible sounds of cracking rock deafened Enoch as they moved.

The two core Artifacts, one purple, one pink, danced around the summons with barrel rolls and loops.

Tetsuo observed his handy work with intensity, a smug rictus on his face. He held for a second, turned and left. Anton slapped Enoch once on his way in, for good luck and for a buff. A weaker version of Regen that lasted 2 hours.

Just like that, the three survivors were gone. Turner’s body burned in the distance, buried in the remains of the Wondrous Castle.

***

Two level up. Three mounds of broken and sliced off parts. A carpet of scraps, a foot deep.

One of the giant golems completely destroyed in his own heap of junk. The other still standing. Barely. Split in half at the waist. The torso fighting, propped on the stump of his right arm, swinging the massive block of his left one. It didn’t connect often, but once was plenty enough. It crumbled Hollows as if they were mere toys, apocalyptic noises revealing the real scope of the blows.

Choo was on its third Tower Golem. Its Mana Shield crackling under the rain of projectiles, going out, the damage moving to the structure. In return, streams of Mana bolts flew from its crystalline head. The line of projectile slid around in the sky, chasing a prey. It connected to a Hollow. Caused a satisfying explosion and moved to the next target.

A metallic beetle, the size of a horse, charged Choo’s tower. Enoch blurred beside it. The monster’s leg stayed there. Its body, along with the majority of its weight, continued. Momentum brought it to the Castle’s wall at full speed. Metal groaned and deformed under the impact. Mana Crystal shattered in a cloud of toxic rainbow. The smell registered by Enoch’s Perception even if not a speck of it made it pass his helmet.

An sudden movement scared Enoch into a defensive Blink. Well enough. A mechanical centipede had gotten the drop on him, hidden in the discarded drone parts.

Enoch knocked on Choo, stuck to his Tower, and said, “that’s our cue little friend, I’m not fighting these.” He mentally wished well to the crippled golem and ran.

One corridor. One room. Two room. Carved nightmare for walls, floor, and ceiling. Rows upon rows of hexagons of various size filled with mechanical horrors. Most of it, thankfully, scorched, crushed and slashed by Art Delvers.

A glowing spot caught his attention. He stopped with a long slide. The pros apparently didn’t have enough Perception to be thorough. Enoch smiled as he cut an opening in the wall. He lacked the right skill to activate the complex lock, but he had spotted it. In that end game levels, the hidden feature could only mean one thing, a treasure cache.

And so it was. Ingots of various metal. Crates full of Mana Crystals. Stacks of wands.

Enoch stuffed four stacks of wands in his backpack, shaking his head in denial. Choo, floated behind his shoulders in frenetic patterns, emitting cute squeals of interest.

He reached Art Delvers in an instant later. Ally on top of a Scarab Hollow, stabbing its eyes. Anton holding it still, or trying to. Tetsuo melting holes in it with the tip of his staff.

“You made it,” cheered Anton as the monster fell apart, cut by the pink blade.

“What?” said Enoch. Too loud.

“You made it,” shouted Anton.

“Yeah, it was getting wild out there. There’s a whole army coming in.”

“Well,” said Anton, “thank you for holding. As you can see, we made good use of the time.”

“It’s all good and we’re all grateful,” said Tetsuo, “but it’s time for the next door.”

“What?”

Tetsuo sighed, then shouted the same line. Enoch nodded. The four Outsiders walked to the massive double door, two stories high, and simply pushed. It opened to the gaping maws of the Hollows. Too many too count, but apparently, not too many to kill.

The four flew backward. Thrown by a white explosion, devastatingly strong, searing hot.

As the debuff piled in, the Half-Deaf one reset back to 15 minutes. Enoch asked, too loud, “White Hole? Really?”

Tetsuo said, too loud, “Didn’t feel like fighting these ones. Too many.”

Enoch shrugged. Anton shrugged. Ally shrugged and they moved on to the next room among the falling ruins of disintegrated metal.

Enoch patted the bundles of wands in his duffle bag. He didn’t ask for an Identify. These were all his.