The party moved on from the room where Colin had, nearly single-handedly, defeated three strong Demons and proceeded through the left door. Their corpses had liquified into those blood orb Loot Boxes that were triggered, giving them only a handful of Copper Coins for his effort. Luckily, the money was still very much needed after this thing with ALAN was finished, so he pocketed the currency and moved on.

These Elemental Plated Demons had been most of what he fought on this floor, so, for a moment, he assumed that this floor was going to be these.

He was just glad that he hadn’t spoken that out loud and that he was still paying attention for anything else because he was proven wrong quickly.

The next room was a little more refined and a little less cavern-like than the room he had just left. In it stood a Dracowolf that was bigger than the last one, to say the least. This one looked about as big as a pick-up truck as it laid on the floor, both front paws chewing on a large bone. It was also distinctly more Dragon than werewolf than its obviously lesser kin. Spines sprang up from its back with scales covering a higher percentage of its body. But that description only covered its appearance, not its actual capabilities.

Something that Colin became more familiar with after the Demon looked up from its bone and glared at him.

The Demon let the bone clatter to the floor, then rose from the floor to stand on all fours in the room’s center. A space that, now that Colin looked away from the eye-catching Demon, was littered with other humanoid bones and scraps that Colin looked at with pity; these poor souls never stood a chance.

The giant Dracowolf licked its lips before letting out a short chuffing laugh, a sound that grated against Colin’s instinct like sandpaper against wood.

You have resisted the Unknown Dracowolf’s ‘Taunt’ effect.

Colin looked at his Companions, all looking relatively normal considering the effect. Either it had been a single target effect, or everyone else had resisted the effects too. The latter was less likely, but only because the chances of everyone, including the higher level Player Paladin, resisting the effect were lower than if he alone had.

“Larry, you think you can take it for a moment?” Colin asked, taking out both his Mythic Xiphos and the Lesser Infernal Edge. The Infernal Trench Knife turned Infernal Energy Short Sword was fully charged and ready to be ignited. Colin was glad he still put in the Enchantment that he could feel the blade’s movement through his arm. Otherwise, dual-wielding this thing would be impractical and stupid; he might as well cut off his leg before the battle.

The Incubus summoned a round shield on his left forearm and a short spear in his other. He then turned to Colin and smiled, “Master, it would be my infernal pleasure.”

Without another word, Larry jogged over to the Giant Dracowolf and shoved the shield right in its face. The creature then snapped at him with its giant maw, only for Larry to take a step away and slam the shield into its muzzle. The Demonic creature would back up for a moment, allowing Larry a moment to adjust his posture before the Demon swung its massive claw at him.

It looked like child’s play for Larry, who lowered his stance and put one knee on the ground to absorb the blow as best he could. The attack knocked him away several feet and shattered a third of the shield, but Larry appeared unhurt. On the contrary, he reformed his shield into a more disc-like shape, the HellRime melting and reforming in several short seconds. He then threw the shield Captain America style at it, the impromptu frisbee hitting it in the face.

“Rielle, light it up!” Colin yelled as he moved around the combat. The Antagonist watching as the Death Fey lit the Dracowolf up with her Heavenly Blight. The truck-sized Demon flinched as the flames engulfed it and screamed as the attack started to eat away at its health. It took it a moment to realize where the attack was coming from, its gaze finding Rielle only a few seconds after the attack hit it.

The Demon reared its head before it howled its wrath and challenge, and Colin saw an opportunity. As Larry recreated a shield, Colin activated Kinetic Vigor and sprinted towards the Demon’s exposed neck. He ignited the Lesser Infernal Edge’s energy blade and charged both weapons in his hands with Aligned Strike.

The Heavenly Blight-coated Dracowolf turned its head towards Colin, immediately lashing out with its foreclaw. Moving with pure reflex, he used the Lesser Infernal Edge in his Off-hand to cut at the arm, neatly cutting through its tough fur hide and through its arm, severing it. With the Voracious Mythic Xiphos raised above his head, he brought it down on its neck.

Unfortunately, the blade did not sever it, but it did not need to. The Mythic Xiphos hacked into the spine of the Demon, not wholly cutting through but causing enough damage to the area in question to paralyze the creature. It collapsed in a heap on the ground, its large eyes rounding up to Colin’s even as it still attempted to move and growl. Rielle cut off her Heavenly Blight, the act giving Colin a good view of the creature’s body.

He merely stared for a moment. Deciding if he wanted to give Rielle the Kill with her heavenly Blight to, hopefully, give it another boost to level. It was either that, or he kill it and hope to level up a skill of his own. That didn’t matter, though, because Colin watched for a second longer and quickly made up his mind as some of the burns on the creature’s body started to mend at a noticeable rate.

Taking his Xiphos in both hands, Colin swung again at the Demon’s neck. When it still didn’t die, he just kept swinging until the Demon’s head was completely severed.

You have killed a Monstrous Dracowolf and have gained 811 EXP. You now have 118,028/256,914 until level 21. Your Kinetic Vigor subskill is now level 9. All increases done by skill are now marginally larger.

“Finally,” Colin groaned at the increase to his Kinetic Vigor. It had taken way too long for that skill to level up, and he was a little happy to see it progress further. He slid his weapons away and looked around the room; Larry had taken a hit somewhere in the fight, so Colin applied a quick healing spell on him.

“Hey, my Heavenly Blight level up again!” Rielle announced a smile wide on her face.

“Awesome, it’s level eleven now, right?” Colin asked, waiting as the Monstrous Dracowolf started dissolving.

“Yeah,” she confirmed. “It just got a little bit more powerful, nothing super special this time.” she shrugged. “Any bonus is a good thing.”

“You got that right,” Colin confirmed, smiling at her accomplishment. “How are you doing, Paladin?”

The Sumo shrugged, “not too bad, just watching you work.”

“And?” Colin asked curiously.

Yet again, he shrugged, “You’re all very skilled, but parties don’t go very far with simple brute force, Brother. You need more than damaging spells, skills, and abilities, but I will say your skills are top-notch. Especially with those reflexes of yours. I’ve seen Players get those kinds of reflexes, but it can take months of fighting to develop them properly without dying a lot.”

Colin simply nodded. He’d told the man several things about him that could make his life a lot more difficult in the game. But how does one explain that he was skilled with killing outside the game as well.

To his relief, Paladin did not continue his line of thought. Instead, he stated, “I’m glad you are having fun, Walker. You seemed to be perpetually scowling, and now, it’s like you are a whole new man.”

Colin rolled his shoulders, and indeed he felt different. Since deciding that he would have fun in this world, he had felt lighter, less inhibited, and more ready to go with the flow. It was something he could only have done rarely on Earth, especially before he met McKenna. His greatest freedom happened when he met someone worth putting his life on the line to defeat. But those sorts of people were rare and exceptional, not something someone met every mission.

Pulling himself away from that line of thought, he looked at the now fully formed loot box and activated it. Sighing at the Copper Coins, he pocketed them and turned to the rest of the group. “Alright, you guys call it, left or right again.”

Indeed, something that hadn’t been noticed before were the two doors on opposite sides of the room. Neither had any identifying marks to help people navigate the Dungeon, and both looked unused. The vote was quick, the left door being the one chosen.

After walking in an empty hallway for a minute, they arrived at another door, unlocked, just like the rest.

When Larry opened the door, an oppressive heat washed over them from the room, forcing all but Larry to close their eyes for a moment as the wave passed. When it did, Larry stepped in, allowed Colin to see the inside.

Scorch marks ran up the walls from the many lava patches that were spread loosely around the room. Scattered bones laid around most of the pits with only a serpentine path that wound through the room was a safe path. The supposedly safe path led to a single door across from them.

Other than the lava, nothing seemed wrong with the room. Which was so obviously a mistake given the sheer amount of bones around the room. All of them looked humanoid, so they were unlikely from any of the Demon’s own skeletons that had supposedly invaded here before it became a Dungeon.

“So,” Colin said lamely. “Trap?”

Rielle nodded.

“Way too obvious,” Paladin answered.

“Definitely,” Larry answered.

“Any ideas, or shall we just trigger it and hope for the best?” Colin asked, shrugging. “If it is a physical trap, then being careful is a good thing, but if it’s a Demon ambush, then we might be able to take it.”

“Maybe, Rielle, any possibility you can see any traps?” Paladin asked. “You’re a Rogue, right?”

She nodded and stepped forward, taking every step carefully and slowly. “I don’t see any traps. No obvious pressure plates, tripwires, or other trap activators. Unless it’s magical, then my skills are much too low to help.”

“Okay, then here’s the plan for the moment. Rielle, you will go first this time for trap detection. Also, you have that dodging skill of yours, so hopefully, if something does come after you, you can dodge it. Larry, you will be right behind her. If she might get hurt, you make sure it is either minimal, or you take that damage, okay?”

Both nodded and waited for Colin to finish.

“Paladin and I will be a little bit behind you to avoid getting in your way. If you spot anything specific, stop, and we will too.

“Actually, Walker,” Paladin spoke up. “I can go first if you’d like. Many of my skills make me pretty hard to kill. I can just go first and tank whatever happens.” He offered, his gaze flicking between Rielle and Colin.

Colin looked at Rielle, “it’s a safe idea. What do you think?”

She shook her head, “No, I’ll go.” Rielle paused, taking a breath before continuing, “How else am I going to train my Perception Skill if I don’t get the chance to practice. And besides, I am getting tired of being protected all the time. I am capable enough, right?” she said, looking between Colin and Paladin.

“Yes, you are,” Colin responded. “But If Larry dies-”

“He can be resummoned. If you or Paladin die, you will just come back to life somewhere else, whereas I… will stay dead, right?” she stated with a resigned sigh.

“This is still your choice,” Colin told her. “Despite the circumstances, I want you to have as much free will as you can. I don’t want to own you forever, and I want you to not regret your choices or anything done with me, for that matter,” he said. “For now, your choice. Paladin or you?”

The Death Fey looked down at the ground between her feet for a moment. Her breathing got loud for a moment before she looked up at Colin, her face set hard as she nodded, “I’ll go.”

“Alright then, let’s stick to the plan,” Colin said. He then whispered out the corner of his mouth, “You still got her, right?”

Nox answered back, his voice could only be heard by Colin, “Of course.”

So Rielle took the first step on the winding path of scorched stone between the patches of simmering lava. Her every action was slow and careful, pausing with every footfall to look at the area around her. After finding nothing for a few feet around her, Rielle would take another step and then repeat the process.

It was slow but safe.

Nothing happened for a half-hour of treading across the path when Rielle froze and reached down, wiping at the ground at her feet. She froze and spun around to look at Colin when whatever she was looking at flared up with an angry red light.

A chain flew up from the nearest Lava poll; its every link glowed with heat as it rose up from the pool like a cobra. When it struck out a second later, it darted right for her, and she was immediately pulled back behind Larry. His conjured shield intercepted the chain, and it clattered against it uselessly. The chain immediately went limp and slipped back into the pool as if it were pulled.

Colin drew both his Lesser Infernal Edge and Mythic Xiphos as a dozen more chains sprang out of the lava.

“Shit,” Colin spat.

Then they sprang, the first chain going for Colin, who swung his Lesser Infernal Edge at the oncoming attack. He missed, the chain wrapping around his leg and pulling him to the ground. As it pulled, he swung the Infernal Edge again, this time the weapon connected with the chain, severing it with a cling!

Scrambling to his feet, Colin turned around and swung the energy blade at a chain that had wrapped around Paladin’s left arm. His flesh was burning from the five lengths of hot metal chains wrapped around various parts of him. The chains were also pulling on him, but none of them had any luck moving him into the lava.

Quite the opposite, he was pulling on them and was actually pulling them out of the lava. The Antagonist quickly severed the chain he wasn’t pulling on and was immediately assaulted by a different chain. The chain wrapped around his right arm, the heat from the chain did not pierce Colin’s jacket for a precious moment, long enough for him to raise his Lesser Infernal Edge and pause.

As he stood, with the energy blade raised to strike, he watched as several of the scattered bones changed. They twisted and contorted, reshaping into amorphous blobs, with the only consistent feature being the stubby legs that moved them. Unlike his only other example of the creatures, these Hell Mites were not metallic in form. These Hell Mites were bleached and looked like liquid calcium even as they made their way to the group.

“The bones are Hell Mites!” Colin shouted, finally slicing down on the chain.

“Got it!” Larry called back.

“Shit,” Rielle said, loud enough for Colin to hear.

It was strange, but that one cuss word that came from the mouth of someone who doesn’t cuss made him. It was made even better when Colin turned to see her, and he found her turning around, spinning her body with her blade at chest level her sword possessed with the Rose Astral Spirit. Four Hell Mites had been cleaved in two with that single, impressive swing.

Colin could immediately see the genius of this room. It wasn’t that any one of these challenges in this room was particularly hard, but with all of them put together made a large nasty surprise. This was made evidently clear when three Hell Mites leaped on his back, throwing him off balance for a moment as another chain grabbed his leg. He fell to the floor instantly and attempted to raise his Infernal energy sword to cut the most pressing threat. Only to find that the Hell Mites and moved to weigh down that arm, latching on and holding tight.

You have taken 14 points of damage and now have 584/600 health remaining.

The chain pulled him closer to the edge of the path every second his arm remained held, and Colin was getting way too close to the lava.

“Screw you!” Colin yelled, pulling back his Mythic Xiphos and attempted to swing down on the chain.

The weapon made contact but did not break any of the links. Instead, an ear-piercing screech echoed off the walls, making the room shake as the lava patch near Colin trembled. Lava rose as Colin swung again at the chain that was still attempting to drag him in; now, the heat was getting through the material of his pants. He had only thought that he was lucky that he hadn’t taken damage yet when the surface of the lava broke.

A floating orb, roughly ten feet in diameter, wrapped in cherry-red chains rose from the lava. The one spot not covered in chains or sharp steel spikes was a single eye with an empty maw filled with black rotted teeth. The Orbs eye looked right at Colin and at the chain that he was still trying to sever.

With another swing, the chain broke, and the entire creature fell back; a pain-filled screech echoed out for a moment as the chain retracted away. This new chain creature thing pulled all the chains off of the party and back into the lava. Several seconds passed, where even the Hell Mites attacking the party backed away. Since they had no faces, it was hard to tell, but it looked like they were waiting and watching for something.

“Master, That’s a Shackle Orb!” Larry called, drawing Colin’s attention to him.

A javelin of HellRime appeared in Larry’s hand; the shaft formed and sharpened quickly as he took a step back. As soon as the weapon formed, the Incubus took two steps forward and threw the polearm at the massive hovering ball of chains.

It impacted and sunk halfway into the floating Demon, the creatures scream intensifying with the pain. Colin hurried in front of the group before the Demon stopped screaming, and the Hell Mites decided to attack. Once he got in front of Rielle, he announced, “Biting Breeze!” activating the freezing wind in front of the group.

A dozen Hell Mites were pushed off the path and landed in the lava pools off to the sides. He then hurried even more forward through his own Biting Breeze, which couldn’t affect him, and started cutting away at any Hell Mites that got close. Four were cut down in as many seconds as Colin jogged a few steps ahead of Rielle.

Then suddenly, the screaming stopped, and Colin looked back to see that the Shackle Orb had stopped screaming. The Demon flung its chains into the lava with a splash but whipped them back out a moment later. The chains a split second later, all nine of them hot and trailing lava as they advanced on Rielle.

Paladin rushed past Larry and bodily pushed Rielle forward and out of harm’s way with a quick act. This meant that he took the chains himself, most of six of them lashing around his limbs, with the last three striking his torso.

The chains scorched the Sumo’s skin and attempted to pull him into the lava. In true badass fashion, Paladin barely reacted to the efforts as he stomped his right foot and held a low stance as he pulled back on the chains. Instead of Paladin being pulled into the Lava, Paladin was pulling the floating chain orb to him.

With a scratch of protest from the Shackle Orb, the Hell Mites surged towards Larry and Rielle, who remained along the path. Rielle took a few quick bite’s from the Hell Mites as she got back to her feet but came back strong with her Rose Astral Possessed sword. Colin only took a second to check on Larry, finding the Incubus in his HellRime Full Plate Armor, punching and kicking at the dozens of Hell Mites coming towards him.

Smiling, Colin absently swung his Mythic Xiphos at one of the Hell Mites that had decided to target him, cutting it in half.

He took a step back, thought about what he was doing, shrugged, and sprinted towards the Sumo. Colin leaped up onto Paladin’s shoulders with a solid jump and sprang forward towards the Shackle Orb. He landed on it, the creature protesting with growls even as Colin adjusted his balance with the chains underfoot.

Reversing the grip on both of the weapons in his hands to the ice pick style grip and plunged them both down with all his weight. Both pierced down into the mass of chains, plunging over a foot in before they seemed to find flesh. Pulling up and freeing the blades, Colin repeated the procedure again and again until the orb stopped floating and plunged into the lava. With only a moment to spare, Colin leaped off the sinking corpse. He landed next to Paladin, who was removing the chains from around him.

You have killed a Shackle Orb Drone and have gained 860 EXP. You now have 118,888/256,914 until level 21. You have killed 61 Tiny Hell Mites and have gained 3,416 EXP. You now have 122,304/256,914 until level 21. Your Acrobatics skill is now level 8. Jumping distance, jumping height, balance, and landing stability increased by a small margin. Stability while performing acts considered acrobatic increased by a small margin. Your Style In Action Skill is now level 5. The Charisma Attributes effects on those who see you act increase by a small margin. Your moves are reflexively going to be a little smoother and more pleasing to watch.

“Well, I guess that means that you guys finished the rest of them off?” Colin asked, amused by the sheer number of the Hell Mites. With that many Hell Mites and the Shackle Orb Drone, he could see this room being a real challenge. Most parties wouldn’t have a blade that can cut through the chains that easily or a massive man that the chains couldn’t pull. Not to mention someone willing to leap on a monster floating over lava.

“Of course, Walker. Do you think you do all the workaround here?” Paladin said with a small chuckle.

“No, of course not,” Colin answered quickly, shaking his head. “But we really killed sixty-one of those things? That was really fast.”

Larry walked over, this armor evaporating as he smiled, “not really. Hell Mites aren’t very strong or smart. Most Hell Mites in their numerous forms are ambush predators, not fighters. Even the stronger versions aren’t complicated as long as they don’t catch you off guard.”

“Wow, Walker! That was amazing!” Rielle told him, her grin infectious as Colin mirrored her. “Jumping on top of that Shackle Orb, wow, you looked so awesome!” She told him, gushing for a moment.

“Really?” Colin asked.

Paladin nodded in agreement with Rielle, “yeah, you did look pretty cool. Kind of a stupid move, though. You could have fallen into the lava and died pretty quickly. Without fire resistance, lava is almost always a death sentence, Brother.”

Colin shrugged, “It worked out, so let’s not worry about it too much.”

Paladin stood there for a long moment, thinking over Colin for a long moment while he considered. “Are you okay, Walker? I appreciate you relaxing, but we can’t risk dying because we got too relaxed.”

“What?” Colin asked. “Do you always play it safe?”

Shaking his head, the Sumo answered, “No, but these are interesting circumstances. Warzone Conditions, Brother.”

Colin paused for a few seconds, considering Paladin’s words. “Alright, Paladin. You make a fair point. I won’t make any promises, but I will try to make more… wise choices with these sorts of things,” he said. With a broad gesture, Colin swept his arm towards the lava pits around them.

He then sighed and looked at the group, “any chance that the lava destroyed the Loot Box?”

“Not likely,” Nox answered through their shadows.

As he spoke, a trail of bloody slime slid out of the lava and towards the center of the room, near Rielle. The bodies of all of the Tiny Hell Mites did the same, merging into one Blood Orb Loot box even as they watched.

Colin walked over and touched the Loot Box, sighing as 13 Copper Coins sprang into being with a thick-sounding pop. Wait, there was something else mixed in with the Copper Currency that caught his eye. A single metal coin marked with the words ‘Guided Infernal Loot Upgrade’ was stamped into one side of the Coin with a Pentagram on the other.

Instead of asking Nox like he almost did reflexively, he instead appraised the item.

Loot Upgrade Token(Infernal). Item Weight: 9 grams. Item Quality: 10.

A token made of Copper that can be easily mistaken for a standard piece of Copper currency. This item can upgrade a single Loot Box to a higher Tier item but taints it with unpredictable Infernal powers. All Loot Upgrade Tokens are a little different and can produce different results when used. See the type of Loot Upgrade that is inscribed on the Coin to know what it is.

Be Advised; All Loot Upgrade Tokens vanish when you leave the Dungeon you get them. Be sure to use them by touching the Loot Box that you wish to upgrade with the Token itself to use it.

“Huh?” Colin said, holding the Token in the palm of his hand and telling the group about it.

“I’ve heard of Tokens,” Paladin said. “Never actually seen one, though.”

Rielle shrugged, and Larry shook his head dismissively; neither wanted the item given the Infernal aspect. Paladin at least looked interested for a moment, stroking his chin in thought. The large man took longer than Colin believed was necessary to make up his mind but

“While I appreciate the idea of Demon stuff, it doesn’t work with the sort of thing I am building towards. It’s all yours, Walker,” Paladin told him.

Nodding, Colin knew where he wanted to use the Token and knew it was coming up. Every room, every step, every encounter brought him to where he was going to use it. But until then, he simply pocketed the Coin and moved on towards the door out of this Lavascape.

The following dozen rooms were covered in more things like this room, multiple enemies working in conjunction for interesting combinations. The next room was another of the Monstrous Dracowolves, but this one was supported by two of those Light element Plated Demons. Another room had A single Earth element Plated Demon and four ordinary plated Demons with crossbows.

It was chaotic, but after several hours of fighting and rest, Colin and the group reached a set of large double doors. These were massive, reaching at least fifteen feet tall and touching the ceiling. The doors themselves were steel banded wood with carvings of demonic creatures on the right door and armored humanoids on the other. They were only separated by a seam in the middle with the door closed, both looking ready to meet in combat. The wood constantly burned with embers dancing along the surface of the door.

Smiling to himself as he turned around, Colin looked at his friends and asked a straightforward word. “Ready?”

Everyone nodded, all nervous but ready for the fight ahead. The only one who didn’t respond was Nox, who usually remained quiet to not distract the group.

“Paladin, if you would?” Colin asked, gesturing to the big, heavy doors.

The Sumo smiled and nodded as he took three giant steps forward and shoved with his entire body.

Even the six-inch thick doors moved easily when forced by an unstoppable force.

With Paladin leading the group, they entered a large circular room that looked much like the upper floors. The floor under them went from rough, uneven stone to smooth pale granite with a ring of greenstone embedded into it. Rough and only lightly worked stone made up the rounded walls with torches lining them, adding to the already ambient light. Four doors led into the room from somewhere else; all these doors were closed and made of pule metal, unlike the boss doors.

At the opposite end of the large room, a man stood at a table, looking hungrily down at the table’s contents. The man was freakishly pale, had no shirt on, revealing his well-toned but emaciated body. A body missing its arms just below the shoulders, the stumps covered in glossy green metal. His head had a river of flaming red hair tied that was back into a ponytail and was still long enough to disappear down his back.

Then his gaze shot up from the table, which was covered in a small buffet’s worth of food, to them with a sudden jerk. The movement caused the three horns on his forehead to become as apparent as the neon red irises that stared at them.

“Well, it has been a while since I’ve had guests. Welcome to the Final Room; I am known as Korbaias, Lieutenant of the mighty Zagan. So, would you like to fight now, or would you help a hungry Demon get a bite to eat? As you can probably tell,” Korbaias started, waving his stumps at the party. “I am a little unarmed at the moment.”