Geoffrey roared as he rushed towards the beasts, bashing his way in with such force that he knocked them all back, creating a small clearing that allowed him to jump and lunge towards the rat king all within a few breaths. The beast itself looked almost no different than the rest except its fur was a lustrous coat brighter than darkness, its size slightly leaner and its strength compact and compressed. But it was its beady eyes shining with a half formed sentience that made it scurry back swiftly, causing Geoffrey's sword to land onto the dusty floor, missing it by a hair's breadth.

Immediately after he realized his blunder, Geoffrey heaved his shield down and then raised his sword in defiance. This time his body shone in a brighter silver light that pierced through midst, pulling the attention of nearly every rat within his vicinity including the beast king. Their blood-lust rose as they lunged towards him, their outstretched claws aiming to tear his armor to shreds and their sharp teeth clamoring for his flesh and blood.

Further back Lukas swiftly banished the Sigil of protection, eliciting the dome to vanish. In a half second later, his voice thundered through the catacombs, bouncing off the aged tapestry.

“SOLAR FLARE!!!!!”

A sudden bright radiance appeared on top of Lukas's staff. It was a like a blazing sun lighting up the hall almost like dawn descending on forgotten lands. The rats thrashed in pain and discomfort as the harsh rays burned their irises. Lukas knew these underground rats were nocturnal. Years of living in darkness had made them adapt to their habitats. And so any sudden bright light in the vicinity, effectively made them blind, turning a heaving sea of menace into a mass of confusion and bewilderment.

At precise that moment, Rexsi unleashed his movement arts. Like an elusive shadow, he gracefully drifted in the midst of the horde, taking Geoffrey by his waist and then rapidly retreating to safety with him in tow, escaping the devastation about to be unleashed.

Then Mira's voice was heard.

“Wall of Fire; Endless Purgatory”

She softly cast, releasing all her mana with a whoosh. Instantly a semi-curved wall of fire formed near her, the flames were so high they basically towered over the beasts. With a wave of her staff, her robes fluttering in the exploding air, the red hot flames swept through the hall like a starving monstrosity, swallowing and searing the unfortunate rats so intensely that high pitched screams and hisses filled the hall and the adjoining corridors like tragic hymn of death.

Huge masses of rats become restless as the smell of burnt flesh filled the already stuffy air. Every where they turned to all they could only see was fire; fire that burned and fire that licked everything it touched to ashes. It scorched the floor and reached far beyond what Lukas and others could have ever expected. All around them was a sea of flames, billowing away from them like a tidal of pyre.

Renesme stunned by such a fierce show, quickly collected her wits as she hurled her own spell.

“Verdant's Spell; Arrows of Wind”

She muttered under her breath, twirling with her bow taut and gracefully jumping up into the air, letting loose of a volley of projectiles with such finesse that it almost seemed as if she was dancing. The wind elemental arrows flew in a concentric arc and directly through the flames, covering the hall in less than a blink of eye.

Then it happened.

Mira’s purgatory spell might have spread the tongues of flames almost everywhere in proximity, with a few patches of furs still twitching under its intense heat but the verdant arrows carried the flames even farther. With its deadly accuracy, quite a few rats a distance from them were not even spared. The essence of wind in the projectiles stimulated the flames to ignite even further, carrying its deadly heat over and above, not leaving a single beast alive. If they weren't somehow finished by the flames and heat then the green arrows were enough to claim their lives by piercing their large heads and burning their insides from within.

Lukas could only hold his stance for so long before he dropped to the ground, heaving huge long breaths and immediately regretting it as the acrid smell of burnt bodies gagged his throat and stuffed his nose, barely allowing him a moment's respite. He had banished the dome and thus they were fully exposed to the carnage they had wrought; with bits of flames still burning all over the place, the walls scorched beyond recognition and the ground littered with piles of melted flesh and bones, the stench so thick they could practically taste it.

Exhausted beyond measure, Mira furtively leaned on her amber staff. Her delicate face pale and drained as her eyes flitted over Lukas with a grateful smile. If there was ever day that took her by surprise, it was today. The unlikely priest she and the rest of team had considered the weakest among them has managed to astonish them more than once. In addition, they all owe him as he was the one who saved their lives from the jaws from death.

“It's done.” Renesme announced with barely a whisper as she slumped to the ground, fully spent. Breathing hard and long she finally smiled. “We survived…”

“.and lived to tell the tale.” Rexsi finished. Despite his haggard bearing, he was the only one in the best shape amongst them all. Under the haze of smoke, his eyes were radiant while his face cracked into a rare genuine smile. “Suffice to say I am just about done with rats for a single lifetime.”

Lukas couldn’t help but chuckle when a chill crept through his back. “Is it really over though? Is-is the beast really dead?”

Everyone paled in response.

“Someone check the corpse…” Geoffrey ordered as he furtively tried to raise himself from the ground. It was only after the whole excitement has worn off, did he realize how injured he was. His armor was mangled in places he was not even aware of, with some areas having pieces of his flesh torn off. Left untreated, he could very well be in danger of dying from the slow rot except the Golden City had a very good place where they provided high quality magical treatment for most of the unfortunate adventures returning from their quests…if they survived long enough to arrive.

Geoffrey didn’t even get to finish his words before Rexsi immediately charted through the bloodbath, arriving in an approximate area where the rat king was last seen before the shower of arrows and fire.

A faint pulse caught his attention and when he approached it, he saw the burnt corpse in the midst of a huge pile of carcass. Even on its last throes of death, the beast king hadn’t hesitated to sacrifice its underlings for a chance to survive. But the flames of the purgatory proved to be too much. Judging from the remains, the beast had a half a mind to escape danger by hiding behind its companions but it was too late. The flames scorched through its minions before the green arrow carried its whisp of destruction by piercing directly through the horde and into its thick skull, bursting half of its body into a steaming mass of blood and meat. That arrow was what claimed its final life, killing it from within.

“It’s fully dead.” Rexsi declared loudly.

Once they heard that, Lukas and the rest collectively let out a breath of relief. It has been an intense ordeal for them for the past few hours. To tide over the disaster, it took all of the mental strength, prowess and mana to make sure they keep their lives. All four of them turned towards Lukas in a show of gratitude. They all knew that if it wasn’t for him and his decisive actions, the dungeon they had deem easy would have left them with far more serious causalities even if they survived.

Unaware of what’s happening, Lukas took the moment to still his erratic heart. He felt as if it was about to burst out of his chest. Commanding a team of people through a life or death moment paled in comparison to the online games he used to play and stream. Thankfully his continuously honed instincts had kicked in and he was able to pull them through.

Still, the battle just now was too dangerous. From the use of his sigil, to the knight sacrificing himself to pull the attention of the rat king up to until the final shower of spells, everything had gone well and right on time. If they had misstepped even once, they would have faced disastrous consequences. For once he was grateful he was teamed up with people who actually listened and followed. Not that they any choice in the matter if they wanted to survive.

The stench was now rising to unheavenly levels, the smell grating their noses but at the moment no one cared. All of them were busy catching their breathing, their minds strained and tired but their hearts grateful for surviving the calamity. Most times, they couldn't believe they passed through the ordeal. If it wasn't for the priest they once looked down upon, they probably would have already been a meal for the dirty rats and the thought of them being chewed under their elongated teeth and their dark beady eyes raised goose bumps all over their skins.

“Look what I found.” Rexsi said as one of his bloodied hands held a small dark stone, gleaming in darkness while his hand held what could only be a severed rat's head, its dark blood trailing below and across the gruesome havoc they had unleashed earlier.

He threw the head directly in front of them which elicited a response from almost everyone.

“God Rexsi...” Lukas complained.

“Why did you bring such a thing here? We can barely breathe.” Mira shot a tired glare at him. Rexsi was just about to settle into his classic smirk before his face twitched when he remembered that the mayhem he had just witnessed wrought by her hands, so it was probably for the best he didn't provoke her.

“I found the rat's king body deader than dead.” He opened his hands, “The stupid beast tried to shield itself but it was all useless. You fire spell was truly powerful but it was her arrow that did it.” He held out his hand in front of them. “But in its carcass, I found a surprise. The beast had an inner core that kind of resonated with me. This meant that the rat king possessed a silver of the shadow element, which explains why it was hard to lock on into it.”

Dumbfounded, they all stared at the little rock on his palms when Renesme had a strange expression on her face. She ultimately sighed. “Then it could only be fated.”

Mira turned towards her. “What do you mean?”

Renesme lightly pointed her dainty finger in Lukas’s direction. “Right before we released our spells, the priest Lukas, sent a powerful flare, meant to daze the beasts into a stupor.” She said. Lukas was taken aback on the first mention of his name. “But it was also at that moment that his light pierced the beast's elemental shadow rendering it asunder. Your purgatory spell and my verdant spell would have never been able to harm it as much it did if it had its element as its defense."

It dawned on everyone as they all stared at Lukas in wonder. A little embarrassed, Lukas brushed off the attention. “It was through all of our efforts that allowed us to survive at all.”

“Geoffrey,” Mira suddenly whispered, concerned. Their knight was barely walking, staggering as he let down his huge shield down together his sword. He leaned beside the wall with deep breaths and muted gasps as Mira walked up to him, her face lined with worry.

Seeing Geoff in such conditions, Lukas immediately pulled himself together before getting up from the place he had rested and then slowly walked up to Geoffrey, knelling beside him as he tried to see the extent of his injuries.

“Let me see what I can do. I might posses a few healing spells that might prove useful.” Lukas told her, feeling a little guilty inside. It was him who proposed for Geoff to risk his life by catching the attention of the rat king. Although it was all for the purpose of pining down the beast so it wouldn't escape, the amount of danger he had faced at that precise time had far likely surpassed his very strength.

All of this happened while Geoffrey had faithfully worn his helmet and so the moment Mira helped him take off Lukas froze. With short wavy silver hair, striking blue eyes and a kind but courageous smile, Lukas felt his body stagger in response. It seemed like hours passed before Geoffrey got visibly uncomfortable as he spoke, “Are my wounds worse they appear?”

Lukas snapped out of his reverie while being more than a little flustered that he had stared at him so intensely. “No… your wounds are not that serious. I can do something about them once I have recovered a little more mana.”

He quickly collected himself before he took note of everything around him and spoke. “Rexsi, circle the nearby tunnels and keep a watch out.”

Rexsi looked up in surprise. “We should be safe right. The rat king and his underlings are all dead."

Renesme glanced at Lukas deeply before she added. “We might seem safe for now but we are also at our most vulnerable. Nearly all of our strength has been drained and in case there happens to be another creature nearby, then we might really be done for.”

Mira blanched while Lukas gave her a comforting smile. Looking around them again he immediately changed his thoughts. “Renesme go keep watch on our surroundings while Rexsi collects all these bodies together under one pile for a complete purge after Mira recovers some of her mana.” then he added "Don't forget to take the rat king's head. It's a good proof that this mission was no longer simple as we had been told. We can demand for more payment the moment we return.”

They all unanimously agreed while Rexsi's face blanched in turn. He was just about to refute when he looked around and immediately understood Lukas's arrangements. He was the only one who could deal with all the dead beasts, something which the rest of the girls would definitely not do. Grumbling with a heavy sigh he pulled himself together and then started stockpiling all of the burnt rats, the foul odor suffocating him, making his eyes water as he helplessly pushed through trying to finish as fast as humanly possible.

Lukas heaved in appreciation before he turned to face the nearby Mira after seeing Renesme gracefully walking away to keep watch.

“Don't worry and start meditating so you can collect some mana. Leave him to me.”

Mira looked at Lukas and then at Geoff, who nodded towards her before she detached herself from his side, crossed her legs and then took a deep breath, trying to absorb the ambient mana from the surrounding space. At the same time Luka gathered enough focus and then roused his meditation arts to prepare for the complicated spell he was yet about to cast. The kind of spell he had worked countless days to master.