Lendras, #215, Hai and V had been travelling downwards for hours now, and had encountered all manner of fiend, from bat and scorpion Fiends to humanoid lizard Fiends wielding flaming swords. It had gotten to the point where even #215 was struggling to fathom how she was to keep fighting on in these conditions. The further down they went, the more oppressive the air became, and #215 was increasingly certain that they were getting closer to their destination.

If we survive this, Lendras will go on to hurt and exploit even more people… Even more bodies will be stacked up…

She hated herself for helping him get this far, although she never had a choice in the matter.

“Get a move on!” Lendras called back to them. He had charged ahead even further since their most recent Fiend encounter, and glared back at his wards, “We must nearly be there…”

#215 wondered how the man was still going with such vigour, but she supposed desperation did that to a man.

“I’m looking forward to seeing this Ancient,” V glanced at Hai, “What do you think it’ll be like?”

“Given what we’ve encountered so far here,” Hai responded, “Probably some kind of flame-wielding Ancient.”

“Flames, huh? Just like Overlord Lendras’ gauntlet! This is a match made in heaven!”

“Maybe so,” Hai said, “But it is always a difficult task trying to bond with an Ancient. Either you prove your power to them in battle so that they willingly join your side… Or you seize control of them by force. Each is as difficult as the other.”

V eyed Hai’s sword, “True, but with a group of strong, dangerous characters such as ourselves, I’d say we’ll be able to do it one way or another.”

Lendras grunted loudly with irritation.

“I said hurry it up, you worms!” He roared, and #215 instinctively quickened her pace so as not to incur his wrath. She couldn’t anger him enough to hurt or kill her, not now. She didn’t want to get her hopes up, but if he died here and she somehow got out of this…

No, it didn’t bear thinking about. It would never happen. She was doomed to a life of servitude until the day she died- The writing was on the wall.

“Yessir, Overlord Lendras, sir!” V chirped in a mocking tone, yet obeyed the command.

Hai merely remained silent and sped up as well. Soon, they were all bunched up again. #215 didn’t like being close to Lendras and V at the same time- Lendras emanated the energy of a rampaging beast, while V radiated that of an even more dangerous one, the type that was cold and calculating, waiting for its moment to strike.

“We are very close to the end of this Dungeon,” Hai said.

“Take it from this guy,” V gave Hai a smile, “He goes into these places for a living,”

“I know that! Why do you think I hired him, fool?” Lendras turned on V looking like a raging bull, “Shut your damn mouth!”

V waved his arm nonchalantly, “Sure thing, boss-man.”

It made #215 uncomfortable knowing that V was enjoying every second of this and purposely riling the Overlord up. Did this man seriously have a death wish.

Lendras’ dark brown eyes fixed on V for a moment, a look in them of what could only be described as insanity.

“You best earn your keep in here, you blasted cretin,” he spat, “Or you won’t be making it out of here alive.”

V didn’t hide his amusement at this statement, “Whatever you say. Now, shall we continue?”

Lendras turned his back on him, his eyes lingering on V for a brief moment longer, as if warning the other man to keep testing his patience.

They continued down what must have been at least the fifteenth or sixteenth identical narrow path with a staircase and those strange drawings on the walls. They could very easily have been in this exact place were it not for the change in the air and the fact that they were following a straight line down with very few branching paths.

They came near to the end of the staircase, where a grand-looking sealed doorway led to what could only have been the Dungeon’s final room.

“Overlord Lendras, I suggest we stop for a brief moment,” Hai said, “I must share something with you all.”

Lendras looked at him differently than he did V or #215. He still obviously considered Hai to be an expendable, inferior piece of trash, but he didn’t look at him with as much anger or disgust as he did the others, “Make it quick,” the Overlord growled.

“Very well,” he spoke when they were all stopped and gathered, the other three watching him attentively, “My instincts tell me we’re about to enter the final room of the Dungeon,”

“With all due respect, duh,” V said, meeting Lendras’ latest glare with a look of indifference.

“Who knows what we’ll be up against when we open this door,” Hai continued, “We’d best make sure we’re prepared. We’re going to have to fight an Ancient, after all.”

“Well you’ve already done that and told the tale, so I’d say we’ll be fine,”

Lendras reluctantly nodded, “And I am an Overlord- The strongest. No living creature, of this world or the Old World, can match up to me.”

The man really was delusional. He was looking gaunt and pale, and could probably have slept for a week if he would only allow himself to. He really was in no fit state to face an Ancient, if there even was such a state.

“So with that said, can we get this show on the road, then?” V looked towards the door, then back at the group.

“That is the Overlord’s choice. Lord Rosharien?”

Through gritted teeth, Lendras grunted his approval, “We fight… And I’d ask that none of you puny worms hold me back!”

His barked demand was answered only by V, “Wouldn’t dream of it…”

And so the four of them walked towards the doors, and Lendras pushed them open with his Burning Gauntlet.

They emerged into the final room of Alfad Remeris, an extravagant, palace-like room where the magical energy could actually be seen in the air, hundreds if not thousands of tiny golden masses falling like snow through the air, dissipating when they hit the ground.

This place is… Beautiful… #215 couldn’t contain her awe at the majesty of this place, a far cry from the Fiend-infested rooms, long, claustrophobic tunnels and rocky ground of the rest of Alfad Remeris.

All around were boxes full of ancient-looking coins as well as mysterious-looking artifacts- Orbs with magic visible on their surface, swirling around, and jewellery the likes of which today’s royalty would have jumped at the chance to own.

“What are all these paltry trinkets?!” Lendras spat, “Where’s the Spirit Vessel?!”

“Paltry trinkets?” V looked at Lendras’ back incredulously, “These things are probably worth an entire country each!”

“What do I care?!” Lendras roared, “I’m only after one thing!”

Hai was pointing towards the back of the room, “I think what you’re looking for is over there, Lord Rosharien.”

The large man lumbered towards where the swordsman had pointed. There stood a marble pedestal, atop which sat an amulet.

That thing wouldn’t fit around the bastard’s meaty neck, #215 thought, unintentionally earning her a laugh from V.

Lendras reached the pedestal and greedily snatched up the golden amulet.

“Finally, the power of an Ancient will be mine!”

“Well, good for you,” V said, “But we’re going to have to win them over first, remember?”

“Of course I remember, fool,” But despite this, Lendras was already grinning wickedly as though the entire world was his, “Ancient… Hear my call! AWAKEN!”

The large, treasure-filled room became awash with a brilliant white light as the Ancient, ruler of Alfad Remeris, was summoned…

*

She heard everything- From the vicious yelling outside of her domain to the same ignoramus insulting the horde of treasure she had amassed in her once-glorious life, mementos of a time from which she roamed the world, laying waste to enemies and fighting alongside treasured companions.

From the moment he spoke the words beckoning her out to face him, she knew she simply couldn’t allow herself to bend to this fool’s will.

It was a pity- Her first visitor since she’d been sent here, and it was a beast of a man who had come to attempt to free her back into the world.

Just my luck. Are there truly no good men any more?

From the amulet her spirit was trapped in, she materialised, and looked upon her would-be master and his band of fools…

*

“Hyah!” Auros grunted as he fired off another icicle, which sliced the snakelike Fiend clean down the middle before jabbing into the ground beside the two halves, “Now this is more like it! It’ll be easy pickings from here on, something tells me!”

“Do you feel that?” Kydan asked him, pulling the Dagger of Sakhtras out of the corpse of the other snake Fiend he had just disposed of, the last of about five that had slithered out from holes in the tunnel walls.

“Yes, I do,” Auros sighed wearily, “It keeps getting worse and worse, right?”

“It does,” Kydan said, “But that means we’re almost to the end.”

It had been a long road. They’d faced a few groups of those serpents as well as some large, shelled Fiends that rolled themselves up in a flaming ball to move and had proven very tricky to deal with, until Auros had the idea of creating walls of ice around them whenever the rolling creatures slowed down to make a turn. Once that happened, they had to hurry to the room’s exit before the heat of the creatures’ flaming shells melted the makeshift cage.

“Shit, we are?” Auros looked somewhat shaken, “So… Up next is…”

“An encounter with an Ancient,” Kydan looked the opposite of his friend, grinning and pumping his fist.

“You’re insane, lad,” Auros told him, “To think you’re excited to come face to face with what’s said to be a demigod being from the Old World, a force of vast power that had to be sealed away to pave the way for mankind!”

“I’ll be one step closer to fulfilling the wishes of the people I lost,” Kydan said, turning serious, “And it’ll help if the Ancient is kind and good…”

“There are good and bad ones?” Auros asked, “From what I was told, they were all beings of great destruction and vengeance, who waged a war with the Gods themselves, and that’s why they were all sealed away inside Spirit Vessels and the Dungeons were created.”

“Well I heard that they had civilisations, just like we do, and that some were close with the Gods and the Old Mages, while others ended up biting the hand that fed, and rebelling against the Gods…”

Auros scratched his chin, “Hmmm… To be fair, some old man in a tavern who seemed like a religious madman told me that, so I’d assume you’re right, although who can say? No one still lives who was around in the Old World, obviously,”

“True,” Kydan said, “I guess we’ll have to find out for ourselves.”

“And I’d say if old Lendras hasn’t met his end in this place from some poisonous bat or something, we don’t have much time left to do that.”

Kydan nodded, “You’re right, we probably don’t have long. Let’s speed it up!”

The two broke into a run down the final tunnel where the doors to the Ancient’s domain awaited them…

*

The light cleared and the four intruders into the Ancient’s domain lifted their hands back from their eyes, having raised them there instinctively and shutting their eyes tightly to prevent themselves from being blinded.

#215 and the others gazed upon the Ancient for the first time, mouths agape.

She looked like a regular woman in form and stature, but the energy she radiated was far beyond Lendras and maybe even V, although hers was a warm energy, as beautiful as it was potentially deadly, lacking the bloodlust and rage of the Overlord or the mystery man, but still powerful in another way.

Her skin was silky and smooth, slightly tanned, and bore no marks or blemishes. Her lips curled as she perused each of them with her orange-brown eyes. On her left side was golden yellow hair, with strands of orange dancing amidst them, and on her right was hair of a burgundy colour with streaks of a deep red- A splendorous amalgamation of the colours of fire. On her lean, shapely body, she wore grey armour with brown shoulder pads, and her leg armour, like her hair, was adorned with orange, yellow and red.

#215 was stunned. She had no idea what she expected an ancient to be, but this beautiful woman with her fiery aura and strange warmth, was not that.

The Ancient wore a look of disappointment on her face as she gazed upon them, “An out-of-shape, geriatric fool and his party of involuntary companions,” her eyes flicked from Lendras to Hai, then to #215 before landing on V, “You… Do I know you?”

“Assuredly not, O Ancient One,” the wiry man gave a flourishing bow, “It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance though.”

Before she responded, Lendras butted in, “Just who do you think to call geriatric, you wench?” he roared, “Once I’m your master, you’ll think twice before you speak to me that way!”

“Ah, mortality,” The Ancient looked upon Lendras with an amused smile, “Despite living for such a short time and spending your whole lives with the inevitability of death in front of you, you do love to fill yourselves with delusions of grandeur, don’t you?”

Lendras growled angrily, “This beast has plenty of fight still left in him!”

“…Admirable, I suppose, for such a lowbrow creature,” the Ancient furrowed her brow, “And I suppose you wish to claim my power, do you? Like all the fools who wander in here and die before they make it halfway in?”

“Yes, but I’ll be the one to do it!” Lendras roared, “I, Overlord Lendras Rosharien of Alreese! First I’ll take this Dungeon by storm and then I’ll take the world by storm, in a siege of fire and death!”

“A lofty goal, if not a little boring,” the Ancient tutted, “You people are all the same.”

“Are we gonna talk all day or are we gonna fight?” V asked, “I just wanna get out of this place already…”

Lendras’ gauntlet surged with blue flame, “I’m ready when she is.”

#215 shivered with anticipation for the Ancient’s answer.

“Hold on a moment,” she glanced at the door, “I think I sense something... No, someone.”

“Ah, you noticed!” V said, “I was wondering when you would. I felt their presence when they were at the top of that last staircase…”

The doors sprung open once more, and two men entered.

Wait… Could they have been what I sensed outside the Dungeon earlier?! #215 couldn’t believe it, They followed us in here and made it this far?!

The first was a young man with blonde hair, blue eyes and a purple vest. The second was a man in red robes not unlike those V wore, with white hair and bright green eyes. They scanned the room, eyes widening when they saw Lendras and his group, and looking with awe at the Ancient, who met their gaze and gave a slightly telling look at the blonde boy, as if she recognised him in some way.

The rest of Lendras’ group eyed the newcomers as well, Lendras looking murderously at them, Hai examining them with mild interest. #215 caught V’s look of… Shock? Before he returned to his signature cold smile and began sauntering towards them.

“Well, well, if it isn’t Auros!” V laughed loudly, “Fancy meeting you here, huh?!”

“What the hell are you doing?” Lendras shouted as V walked casually towards the newcomers.

The man named Auros’ blonde companion looked at him, having been locked in a mutual staring contest with the Ancient before that, “Wait a minute… Auros, do you know him?”

Auros looked just as bewildered as his friend did, “N-No…” then he turned back to V, a look of suspicion on his face, “Who are you?”

“How about I try and refresh your memory a little, huh?” V grinned, and clicked a finger. A black flame materialised in his hand.

“Auros, he just… He’s…” the young man next to V’s acquaintance eyed V with disbelief.

“Pretty neat trick isn’t it, kid?” V said, then returned his attention to Auros, “Come on, Auros, don’t keep me waiting! are we gonna have a little sparring match, just like old times, or what?”