(Dairen’s View)

Thing’s had not gone in their favor. Instead, it brought more chaos and worry amongst the group as they continued down the downtrodden hallway that twisted and turned in odd angles. Mike was gone. Snow was gone. He was the only one out of the group that moved forward with the leftover Players.

After first, Snow, who got snatched away by the dark magical energy that stank of pure evil. It wasn’t like the magic power that he used too. Instead, it was heavy and oppressive to the point where it felt twisted and harmful to his very soul.

The worst thing about it was that he felt like he was getting drowned by the very magical pervasive dark source, It was calling to him in his heart to take that one leap of faith, welcoming him into the bosom of the very darkness that he was wary of.

It hadn’t been long since he was in the process of a subclass quest. Such rare subclasses were rare, and he was in the process to become the Knight of the Dead, which was a Knight to the Saintess. Such an unexpected quest link started not too long ago when he had personally helped to resurrect her.

Even Mike was given a subclass, the Knight of Life, which was also the Knight of the Saintess. As far as he knows, he hasn’t found anyone with a rare subquest except Angie.

The number of Players that had already joined the world had reached over one million players worldwide. At the rate that it was going, it would increase exponentially in the next five years to the point where the population would swell to an unimaginable amount.

Already, the Sleepers in the society had noticed their presence, making it a worldwide occurrence, though the appearance of dungeons did not make it any better. The guild's rising tide gaining a foothold in this world had boomed to the point where it became a norm.

Dairen had been keeping a close eye on the occurrence of the rise and fall of the guild itself, he had noticed a few strange peculiarities of some of the guild, especially the ones that invaded the second dungeon. They were gone.

He didn’t understand what was going on, but it made him weary, wondering if they had fallen into a trap.

Not only that, losing both Mike and Snow made it worrisome. His gut was telling him that this castle was alive, slowly devouring them one person at a time, and he feared that his guildmates were being eaten alive.

In his heart, he prayed for their safety.

“Dairen.” Joe, one of the leaders that led his own platoon, walked over with an ax in his hand. His long beard that covered most of his chest spoke in a rough worried voice. “Do you think Mike’s going to be okay?”

“Yes.” Dairen chucked his worry in the back of his mind and spoke with a lot more reassurance that he had.

“What about the Saintess?”

Dairen mouth gaped open and closed, unable to say anything. It was true that Snow was a lot stronger than all of them, but that didn’t mean she was invincible.

“I understand. She’ll be okay,” Joe said.

Kicking himself for not believing in Snow, Joe shook his head, trying to refocus on believing she would come out of this alive.

“How many of us are left?” asked Dairen.

“About 312. Many of them have fallen into the trap, but since we found the trap, only two have disappeared.”

That was a vast improvement, but losing two of their powerhouses was detrimental to the guild's morale. Dairen knew that he couldn’t let this continue.

“We need to keep moving. I’m quite sure both of them would be heading towards their agreed-upon destination.” Dairen said. To slay the monster that controlled this dungeon.

“I assume as much.” Joe nodded. It was a known fact that at times Mike and Dairen would disappear but end up somehow at the place they promised to be. “We can only hope they will be okay.”

It wasn’t until Snow, Mike, and Angie's disappearance they were able to break out of the cursed room. Allowing them to come into a different large room that reminded him of a ballroom.

Intricate chandelier, beautiful floral design, and pillars stood proudly in place. Stain glass windows brought in bright sunlight, creating a rainbow of light that decorated the floor.

“Gargoyles!” Joe yelled out, pointing towards the ceiling where large numbers of statues were present hidden in the darkness.

“Watch your back!” Dairen shouted. He summoned up his skeletons from his shadows, especially those that could shoot down the monster and fill up the missing Players' position.

The stones cracked, their eyes glowed with green, coming to life. The gargoyles groaned as their teeth chattered amongst each other. Their claws and arm thickened, and even their wings whooshed backward. Jumping off the ledge, they swooped in to attack.

Dairen clenched his teeth, he commanded the three new skeletal mages that he got from the airship raid. It was the only three magical base skeletons that he had, which was dominant in their own way.

A swirl of fire rippled in the air, shooting them out towards the swooping gargoyles. Each hit made an impact, destroying the gargoyles in one hit.

In alarm, the other gargoyles quickly swiveled out of the pelting rain of fireballs and screeched with open claws towards the skeletal mages.

With a powerful burst of magical energy, Dairen drew his bow filled with dark magic. The arrow rapidly flew through the air, hitting each gargoyle squarely in between its eyes. A burst of magic followed right after, leaving behind an ugly large hole the size of a fist. Tumbling down from the sky, the gargoyles smashed into the ground.

Dairen sidestepped, snapped around, and fired another. It was a volley of rain of arrows, each hitting their mark perfectly in the forehead. He reached back to grab another, turning his body slightly, allowing him to see from the corner of his eyes.

A gargoyle not too far away from him was commanding the swarms into a frenzy, trying to pick up the players and throwing them onto the ground. If one succeeded in picking an unsuspected Player off the ground and was halfway up into the air, Dairen shot it down before it could reach dangerous heights.

It was becoming a quick game of tag as the gargoyles couldn’t get a good grip onto any of the Players. The archers assisted whenever they could to shoot down the gargoyles so the attackers and defenders could pummel them before it could take flight. A quick, but efficient fight played along for a while, giving everyone a chance to gobble up the monster for experience points and target practice.

The rate of their monster-slaying was getting better and better. They continued on their path, fighting gargoyles left and right at the same time exploring more of the castle level. So far, Dairen believed that they were still stuck on the main level as the hallways' intricate maze continued onwards.

No stairways leading up or down were found, and his map kept finding more new spots that they haven’t explored.

Every monster that they slew, the more powerful they became. Nobody took this for granted. Instead, they rushed forward with bloodied frenzy, slaying the monsters much easier than before.

Time passed on, the Gold Phoenix guild continued to grow stronger. Even Dairen’s skeletal army that took up the brunt of the attacks grew along with him, becoming a force to be reckoned with.

Luckily, they didn’t meet any traps along the way as the monsters were coming in droves.

Dairen had led the group, paying attention to many intricate balances of the team. Even though his role was to lead the main forces and direct the movement with the other team leaders, he jumped in everywhere he could assist. There were close encounters when his skeletal army wasn’t strong enough to keep some gargoyles at bay, breaking the formation.

He rushed over, pushing back the swarming gargoyle's that was spilling in from the side room. They were stuck in a heated battle in a crisscross path of three different rooms.

Every time, Dairen’s skeletal army died, he summoned up another, taking its place with the dead gargoyles that he had resurrected. He was initially skeptical that he couldn’t summon up the destroyed gargoyles, but he quickly found out that if their cores remained, he could bring them back.

“Dairen! We are overrun!” Stacy, the leader of the mage group, shouted. She was blasting a wave of fireballs one after another. The other mages were being surrounded on all sides.

“I got you, keep firing!” Dairen felt a pulsing power, encroaching upon his fingertips. Dark energy swirled around him, bringing with it a heavy, eerie feel.

The gargoyles shuddered, gazing up at him with fear. They squawked and roared, pouring straight towards the monster in one fell swoop.

Dairen raised up his bow, firing an array of dark energy upwards into the air. The moment it hit three-fourth of the way up, it burst into tiny pieces sparking off into hundreds of small dark arrows. It zigzagged and flew, hitting straight at the gargoyles in one blow, becoming smithereens.

With a heavy breath, Dairen coughed. He felt drained from the last attack.

The wave of gargoyles disappeared, leaving them alone once again in the hallway.

“I didn’t know you had such an attack.” Stacy came over, impressed.

“It was my last resort.” Dairen slumped onto the ground, trying to recover. “I’m going to be out for a few hours. I suggest we rest and move onwards.”

“Good idea. I was getting a bit tired as well.” Stacy gave him a thumbs up. “I’ll go round up the others.”

Dairen hoped that everything was alright with the others as he crossed his eyes to meditate to recuperate.