You have been Conscripted into Greater Raid Dungeon: [Manhattan Riverside]

It came down nearly the same way as last time but with only two alien Sources screaming their presence in Stanley's mind instead of three. Both of them were stronger than anything Stanley had seen on Earth to date.

The other difference now was that Stanley could feel no descending curtain, no edge to dive past, and no warning from Nate to allow for their escape. Given that this was another Greater Raid, Stanley supposed that it might be as large as the one he'd spent so long trapped inside. He was not about to do that again…

The two presences in the sky had Caffeine's attention, and he was growling almost inaudibly. However, to Stanley's surprise, they didn't seem to have noticed him.

Then a pulse of power washed over the world and crashed against Stanley's Soul Shield.

Stanley could feel another Soul clashing against his own within that wave, but it was a weak Soul, with most of its weight backed up by Source and presumably Mana. It crashed into his Soul and slid right off, spilling around the shield and continuing into the distance, while the presence that the power originated from remained unaware. "They can't detect me!" He didn't know for sure what the purpose of that magic had been but strongly suspected that it was meant to sniff him out.

There had been three of the monsters the first time, and Stanley wondered if these were the other two after Nate killed one of them. They felt strong. Stronger than the spider that… Stanley realized that he could still sense the B Grade spider. It was far away, likely still in the city, but it was also inside the Raid Dungeon and looking this way with a greedy but fearful Soul.

Stanley could sense something else in that direction. An expansive and amorphous Soul that was thickening as it approached. The fucking Acid was, of course, inside as well, and it was still coming for them.

The Souls directly around Stanley carried a wide range of emotions, from terrified all the way up to eagerness. From what he was picking up, Stanley guessed they could feel the two new Sources flying closer.

They hadn't found him yet, their Souls still in searching mode, but it was only a matter of time. Just from the direction the duo was flying, Stanley figured they could sense the trail of his Source-empowered flight. Luckily, Eve had flown them further away from where he'd left off, so they had a few seconds before the inevitable fight.

"The Acid is still coming," Stanley said, "you need to keep moving before it gets here." Then he looked at Walter. "I need the Core."

Walter understood what he was asking, and the metal ball appeared in the air next to Stanley. He grabbed it…

Class Shard: [Cannibal King…

Stanley ignored that and focused on what he wanted this disgusting thing for… +1000 All Base Attributes. He felt slimy from just touching it, and Stanley really didn't want to absorb those Attributes, but he very well might die without them… "Watch over our Soul," Stanley told Lee, his twin already aware of the situation. "I'm sure something nasty will come along with this."

The only reason Stanley was willing to risk using the Core was because of the way Caffeine had defended their Soul before. If something nasty did try to get in, Caffeine would be there, and adding Lee to the defense could only help.

"I think I can stop the Acid," Zeke was saying, "I touched it with my power before you took us away…"

Stanley could feel Zeke's belief and so only nodded once. "I…" He glanced at Caffeine and amended his words. "We will handle those two." He didn't need to elaborate on just which two he meant. "Stay out of the fight… if you can."

"Can you do it?" Eve asked, not doubting him exactly but worried.

Stanley nodded with certainty that he wasn't quite feeling. "I have to."

Then one of the Invaders entered his Mind's range.

It felt like a humanoid bug, with smooth shell-like coverings on its limbs and torso. Razor-sharp claws adorned the hands, and diaphanous wings flickered madly on its back as the monster flew through the sky.

Stanley had pulled his Soul back to only enclose the truck, sure that he would be detected if one of them wandered into the radius of it. Doing so did leave one of his Split Minds vulnerable to a potential mental attack, but that was an acceptable risk, and taking down one Split wouldn't be enough to stop him.

Whether because of that or for some other reason, the monster still seemed unaware despite Stanley's touch. It was moving fast, though, and Stanley didn't think he'd get a better opportunity than this. He wanted to tell Sara to stay here, but time was up. The world was crawling around him, and he wouldn't be able to say anything. Besides, Walter wouldn't let her escape…

Stanley didn't hold back with the Source this time since he knew the moment he used it, the monsters would be on him. So Stanley pulled hard on the burning power deep inside him, and twin suns blazed into searing brilliance as the Slumbering pug awoke with a vengeance in his Soul.

CUT

He went with what he knew, what had carried him through many a life and death struggle, the attack that had reaped thousands of lives…

And the monster tanked it head-on.

The bug's reaction speed was insane, and even as fast as Stanley attacked, it responded faster. Alien Source flashed, and Stanley's power only scratched a line across the thing's carapace as a protective shield shattered.

A mere instant after blocking, the monster retaliated with its own attack. An attack that felt like it would obliterate Stanley and everything around him for a mile.

Stanley was already moving after his disastrous strike. The power they were both throwing around was immense, and he needed to get away from the truck before collateral damage killed everyone inside. Stanley did so by heading straight toward the monster. He could already feel the other one responding, and it was moving closer as fast as the first.

A bolt of green light that matched the coloring of the creature's carapace speared out from the monster's claws, zipping across the distance between them as Stanley Moved directly through the trailer wall in his charging flight. He slapped aside the spell and struck back, both actions taking a burning toll on his body.

CUT

The green light vanished into the sky while another groove was carved into the monster, digging deeper through the carapace and slicing into the flesh below, and then the second B Grade entered Stanley's range. "It's only going to get worse." Stanley absorbed the disgusting Core Walter had given him and put his worries about what it might do out of his mind as the power flooded into him.

As he charged ahead, Stanley dropped a little present for the first insectoid and flew past almost within arm's reach. That brought the monster into his domain, and Stanley soaked in the details that it fed him. He had known that he would have more power if he got in close; all of his testing till now had indicated that, but Stanley hadn't understood just how much. His domain felt like it had been asleep before, with how much more information he was getting now.

Unlike before, Stanley's mind was not entirely blocked by the monster's Soul or its Will. He could see inside it, could see Everything inside it. Stanley saw its Core and nestled up around it, the Source. He could see the channels running from the Core and throughout its body, and he saw when they lit up with another incoming spell.

Stanley waited a singular moment as his flight carried him past the creature, and its spell flowed through the channels. He was waiting for something specific… and the explosion behind him heralded its arrival.

Caffeine crashed into the monster teeth first, landing like an artillery strike and blasting the monster backward in the air. The small pug went directly for the head; it had been all Stanley could do to keep him in his lap after that first attack came their way. However, as surprised as the monster was by Caffeine's attack, it had still gotten an arm up in time to save itself from decapitation.

Stanley slowed his headlong rush ever so slightly as they collided, watching Caffeine's teeth crunch through the armored shell of its defensive arm. Meanwhile, the other arm lining up on Stanley, the one with power racing like lightning through the channels, drifted too far ahead and blasted a deadly spell off into the countryside, missing entirely.

Stanley wasn't idle as he slowed. His head felt like it might burst with how much power was poised and ready to be unleashed. So he let it out.

CUT

The monster had Source running throughout its body, alongside the Mana that flowed from the Core at its center. It was the most concentrated near the Core, and almost as much streamed through its head. So Stanley aimed his attack somewhere else.

He took off the arm that had just tried to kill him.

Caffeine kicked off the monster's chest, its remaining arm still in his jaws.

Stanley didn't think losing both arms would be enough to stop the monster. It was surprised, sure, and annoyed at the outcome but not afraid. Not yet.

The trajectory of Stanley's flight changed at a ninety-degree angle as the bug-like creature's ally entered the fight. This one looked identical to Stanley's eyes, only blue instead of green. However, to his other senses, they were quite different. The first wielded Mana mixed with Source, and while the other mainly did the same thing, it also wielded Soul magic. It was the one who had tried to find Stanley earlier, and it definitely had a stronger Soul than its partner.

Stanley met the newcomer head-on, trusting Caffeine to keep the other off his back for a few more moments. Even as the distance closed, he felt Caffeine hit the ground after his jump, and then the pug seemed to ricochet straight back the way he had come—the crater where he had landed still collapsing downward as he re-engaged with the monster.

Meanwhile, Stanley found another Soul attack coming his way. He had been leery about using his Soul to attack these monsters after the points he lost with the knife while killing much, much weaker spiders. But after the first seeking spell had slid off his shield, Stanley was considering it. When this spell shattered against that same shield, Stanley stopped hesitating.

CUT

He put his Soul into the attack, literally, and his power did cut… plunging through the blue carapace, digging deeper, carving deep into the flesh beneath… and the monster vanished.

Caffeine swallowed a mouthful of his bug as it, too, disappeared. Both of them didn't go far, just a few miles, and Caffeine launched himself in pursuit. He only sprinted for a single step before flying up into Stanley's lap.

"Rest, Caff," Stanley thought. Not that he would get more than a second at this rate, but every little bit might make a difference.

Stanley was trying not to beat himself up over his hesitance in using his Soul to attack. He might have straight-up killed the first one if he had… Or it could be that the damn teleport was a built-in passive, and he never had a chance. "Teleporting cheaters!" It should have been possible to prevent that, but he would have had to expect it first.

He couldn't directly see the monsters, but they couldn't hide their Souls from him. Or at least they weren't trying to at the moment. What Stanley could feel of said Souls was… not good. They were doing something, and whatever it was, it felt like they were getting stronger, and anything that delayed or dragged out the fight would cost Stanley.

His body was burning in Source fire, and his mind was constantly regenerating from the massive strain he'd forced it to undergo just to keep up with these creatures. They were nothing like the spider, which by Stanley's newest guess, had to be a brand new B Grade, while these were… well beyond that. Stanley had the extra stats from the Core, but he didn't know how long they would last. He wasn't daring to check his Notifications, but if Caffeine started slowing down, that would be a bad sign.

Behind him, the others had started moving in the few seconds that the battle had been raging. Zeke was outside and leading the charge toward the still-oncoming Acid. Everyone but Walter, Angelina, and Sara was with Zeke. Even Adam, who had woken up, was outside if not directly sprinting toward the threat.

Then Stanley saw his targets. Two insectoid bipeds, both with two arms apiece… "Cheaters." Stanley was coming in fast, and he only had a moment to take in what he was seeing, but he was pretty sure they had put some armor on… A flash of light lit them up as powerful magic enveloped their bodies, adding to the defense. The Magic had Soul properties…

Stanley dodged the bolt of green lightning and had to drop Caffeine when the little dog took offense to that. He realized the mistake when Caffeine only hung in the air. His forward momentum was substantial, but the descent to the ground would take seconds, an eternity in this battle. Caffeine solved the issue by getting bigger until his feet touched the ground, then he destroyed a city's block worth of vibrant nature by pouncing forward even faster.

Stanley kept pace with the pug, though it was difficult, as they prepared to engage once again. Caffeine was locked in on the green insectoid, and Stanley poured more power into an attack aimed at the blue one. Then his target opened its… mandibles and power spread in a cone of destruction toward the dog and his human. Stanley diverted some of his Willpower into opening a path through the devastation and saw Caffeine's flying body posture shift ever so slightly.

A problem that wasn't usually a problem was that Caffeine could be baited into switching his target. All one had to do was attack Stanley, and Caffeine would go after the most recent attacker. It wasn't usually a problem because anything that the pug was mad at tended to die abruptly. Stanley worried that these bugs might figure that out and start kiting the pug around until he got tired, but if they could take advantage, so could he.

Stanley's power was ready, poised like an ax waiting to fall, and he saw the bugs preparing to meet the charge.

CUT

Stanley attacked… at the same instant that Caffeine shrank down to avoid the four blades of searing light coming from the green bug's sweeping claws. He kicked off its chest, using it as a springboard to instead pounce on the blue bug. Stanley's cutting Will slammed into the green monster… and bisected its newly donned chest plate. The breaking armor did not go quietly, splitting apart with angry green lightning that blasted both the bug and Stanley.

He was too close to avoid it by that point, and the unexpected nature of the attack caught Stanley unprepared to defend. Luckily, a purely instinctive part of him did react to the imminent threat, and Stanley didn't take the full brunt of the arcing lightning, which was good because the one bolt that got past his defense struck him in the knee and blew the lower half of his leg clean off.

It hurt, but Stanley was deep in his meditation, and it felt like the pain signals were not getting boosted in the same way his brain was by the Skill. He also knew exactly what to expect from Caffeine, and so was already moving on the blue bug when the shockwave of the Beast Lord's Bark slammed down from above.

Green plummeted under that blow, and Caffeine's massive form looming above them didn't stay longer than the instant it took to release his bark. Only this time, he shrank toward his feet which left him standing below the combatants in the air above. He jumped.

Cut

Blue wore a nearly identical chest piece, and Stanley hit softer this time, saving just enough power to dodge the storm his breaking of the armor unleashed.

Green recovered fast, dodging aside from Caffeine's ascending charge, and the pug grew large enough as he came on that it didn't matter. His mouth closed over the bug with another shockwave that blew Stanley and his opponent back.

Unfortunately, the bug didn't die.

A spray of blood burst into a slowly expanding cloud as something green blasted through the side of Caffeine's giant mouth.

Stanley saw red, literally and figuratively. The cloud of blood seemed to hover there in the sky, its long journey to the ground not even begun yet.

Stanley was a lot of things at the moment. Scared and anxious about this fight, focused intently on the battle and everything directly around him and was terrified that this might be his end, or worse, that he would watch everyone he cared for die. All of it was muted under the meditation, but he still wasn't actually angry. Not until this very moment.

PAIN

The anger felt like an old friend as it rose inside him. Rising up to burn the world and damn the consequences. Stanley wasn't trying to kill the monster now. He wanted it to suffer before it died.

Mind Crush He threw that in for good measure, and it gained him another fraction of a second.

Then…

CUT Only, he didn't target its flesh. Instead, Stanley cut directly at its Soul.

There was a reason Stanley hadn't done this more often; Souls were much more durable than the flesh, and it was simpler all around to just kill the flesh, and the Soul would follow.

It hurt. The bug felt the worst of it for sure, but Stanley didn't escape unscathed. -50 Twin-Soul

There was also the spell from Blue that burned a hole through his back and out his stomach.

Stanley spun around the missile that was Caffeine and then capitalized on the monster's agony. "I've felt what you're feeling," Stanley thought, "and I hope it's worse for you!" These fucking bugs chose to come here. They decided to invade his world. They deserved everything they got!

He didn't target the Soul again; he didn't need to. Cut The bug's flickering wings flickered right off its back. Cut A leg went next. Cut An arm.

Caffeine bit off Blue's arm, and he lost a front leg to the sweeping blades of light for his efforts.

Stanley switched targets. CUT -100 Twin-Soul

That really hurt, and this time it hurt Stanley more. The damn fuck's stronger Soul had some kind of protection on it! But it still felt enough pain, and Stanley knew this pain already. He had lived it, endured it, and grown stronger as a result. It couldn't stop him.

Cut Blue's wings followed Green's. CUT Stanley almost took Blue's arm off, the one that hurt Caffeine, but a bracelet shattered in the process of blocking some of the attack. Stanley didn't know if they could heal like before, so he grabbed onto the dangling limb, physically and mentally.

Down Stanley sent Blue to the ground, down toward the pug that would reach the ground first. He held onto its arm as it went, and that finished the job of removing the limb.

Those shiny compound eyes on the horrifying visage falling away from him didn't change in the slightest, but Stanley felt the attack coming. Mandibles opened, and power speared from between them.

Stanley twisted aside, and the beam only brushed past his left arm. Nonetheless, the flesh boiled away in the proximity of that white-hot light, and the bone beneath exploded into splinters from the mere heat of the grazing strike.

"It's only flesh," Stanley told himself. It didn't matter. Zeke could heal anything short of death. Assuming that his own Regeneration didn't handle it first, however… Stanley didn't have to check his Debuffs to know that the Regeneration was already in full swing. Which meant that he was getting hungry, famished even.

Cut Stanley hit Blue in the mouth.

Not that he thought doing so would necessarily stop the attacks, but more out of retaliation for those attacks. He also dropped down toward Blue, partly in pursuit of the falling monster, and also to duck underneath another of the sweeping blades of light from Green. As he went, Stanley lifted Blue's arm that was still clutched in his remaining hand, ripped open the carapace, and took a big hearty bite of the flesh beneath.

He did it slowly, not for dramatic effect, but because his body literally couldn't move any faster. He was staring down at his foes as he did so, and even though their bug eyes didn't twitch, Stanley felt fear take root in their Souls for the first time since this started. "Goddamn right, you should be scared of me!"

Sure, he was eating a sentient creature, but it was a bug… and Stanley didn't care at this point.

Caffeine switched his leap to Green after the attack, and Stanley decided to pile on with him. Time was running out for both of them, and this needed to end before it was too late. The two monsters' lack of fear for most of the fight made Stanley suspect they still had another surprise waiting for him. Probably another escape and healing like before… Since he was expecting it this time, Stanley made sure Green wouldn't get to utilize that option.

STOP

Stanley put everything he had into stopping the bug, his Will demanding that it could not escape no matter what magic it tried to use. Caffeine came on like a missile aimed right for its head, and Stanley ensured that this time the pug wouldn't miss.

Blue tried to stop him and save Green, not for any particular affection for the other bug but more of a desire to defeat Stanley. It opened its mouth again and sent out another beam of white-hot death straight at Caffeine.

Stanley had finished his bite from Blue's arm and was in the process of swallowing said bite as he thrust the rest of the limb into the path of the beam. The severed arm did not survive the encounter, exploding into shrapnel and boiling plasma that peppered Stanley, but it did divert the attack just enough…

Caffeine's jaws closed around Green's insectoid head, and Stanley saw a tooth punch through one of the unblinking compound eyes as the head vanished inside the pug's mouth. Stanley was holding Green so tightly that the bug didn't even know what was happening, not until Caffeine's head turned away with a violent twitch and left behind the now headless body.

Restraining the monster had cost Stanley and cost him a lot. He felt something pass from Caffeine and knew that he would have a familiar Notification waiting when this was over.

Blue was truly afraid now as his ally died before him, but alongside the fear, Stanley could feel a fatalistic determination rising in the monster. It wasn't going to go quietly.

That was fine. Stanley would send it kicking and screaming into oblivion anyway.

Caffeine Barked at Blue, a mangled insectoid head launching from his mouth like a bullet that blasted the monster back and disrupted the next spell before it could fire. Stanley could sense the Core still forming in the decapitated head, and he wished that Caffeine would have just swallowed it. There had to be good stats from these fucks. There was something else there… along with the Core…

Blue finally hit the ground and tumbled backward upon impact, thanks in large part to the head-turned cannonball that was flattening out in the new dent on its chest. Caffeine surged in pursuit, just a little bit slower than before, and Stanley followed.

He wanted nothing more than to carve the monster's Soul apart, no matter the cost, but every loss of Soul on his part was increasing the damage the Source caused to his body. So Stanley settled for his more standard repertoire.

Mind Crush That had limited success, much like the first one, but it gave Caffeine a tiny edge as he charged.

CUT The monster was on foot now, and he targeted its back leg as it stepped back in preparation to meet Caffeine. More specifically, Stanley cut off its foot.

Blue stumbled at just the right time, and Stanley's follow-up mental blow snapped its head back right as it was preparing another beam attack. The deadly spell shot into the sky, and Caffeine chomped down hard when he struck, right on the monster's groin. Not that it had any apparent genitals, but Stanley's wish for the creature to suffer was rewarded with extremely gratifying Pain.

Stanley wasn't sure if he could survive another lockdown on Blue as he'd done to Green. Not only was this one slightly stronger overall, but its Soul was an additional issue. His hesitance cost them when Blue vanished again.

It didn't go as far as the last time, but it did go up into the sky. Caffeine bounded immediately in pursuit after swallowing the mouthful he'd obtained before it escaped. Eww. Stanley went with him as he felt power growing in the distance.

The monster had left his range, and Stanley realized that one of his eyes wasn't working as he tried to get a visual. It felt like another beam attack was incoming… and then Stanley finally caught sight of it, mouth open and power rising to send death down upon them.

The monster didn't blast at his pursuers, though; instead, it turned away, looking into the distance. That direction only had… "No!" White-hot power speared across the sky, streaking toward the direction where Stanley had left all of his friends… "No, no, no!" Stanley couldn't reach it! He couldn't stop it!

Walter suddenly pulled on Stanley's Source, drawing power from him and along the Tether faster than even the beam of light. "Walter…"

There was a flash of pain in the old man's Soul… "Please don't die, Walter…" Walter's Soul flickered… then blazed in triumphant victory… and stood unyielding as an unbreakable shield.

Blue had not regenerated its injuries after escaping this time, and Stanley wouldn't let it ever get the chance to do so again. He threw Caffeine forward, adjusting his trajectory to intercept the slowly falling insectoid. Then it was in his range, and Stanley cut loose, his angry Soul leading the charge.

CUTCUTCUTCUTCUTCUTCUT

Stanley took it apart piece by piece, starting with its face. Caffeine took the remaining arm when it tried to block with it, and Stanley threw the pug back into the creature's cubed-out mess of a face.

Caffeine was weaker now and slower after dumping too many stats onto Stanley. But he was still strong enough to take one more head off.

Stanley let that Notification come through…

Enemy Raid Leader Defeated. Victory!

You have Successfully Defeated the Invaders and Defended the Raid Dungeon [Manhattan Riverside]. Contributions Calculated. Reward Distribution Commenced…

And Stanley laughed even as he let go of the power, and his world returned to roaring pain and exhaustion. He laughed as he pulled Caffeine into his lap, and they both followed the corpse down to the ground. "We won! We fucking won!" Stanley screamed, out loud and inside his Soul, in a mixture of both disbelief and pure joy that it was over. Not only was he still alive, but everyone else was too! He had done it! He hadn't failed!

Caffeine bounded from Stanley’s lap toward the falling corpse and gobbled something up.

You have Absorbed a Fragment of Source(Ikstar) into Source(Earth). +0.1 Source

Stanley didn’t know what had just happened, so he ignored it in favor of celebrating their victory!

Of course, he couldn't have done anything without his ever-loyal and lifesaving companion. So Stanley shared his joy with Caffeine, heaping praises and then treats upon the tired but equally excited pug. Caffeine's mouth and leg were healing, the latter more slowly than the first, and Stanley helped the process along by serving up a bounty of disgusting, raw bug meat.

Stanley shared in the feast, at least until his mouth rebelled against what he was inflicting upon it, and he brought his brother up to date while doing so.

"How bad was it?" Lee asked, obviously having shared in some of the pain of it all.

"We won!" Stanley cheered, hugging Lee tight as the reality of yet another near brush with death threatened to break him down. Stanley fought through it as he held his brother and fed his pup. "We did it. We're alive," he whispered. Then Stanley asked, "What about the Core? Did anything happen when I absorbed it?"

"It's all good…" Lee started and then glanced to the side as if listening to something Stanley couldn't hear. "I'll tell you about it… later. People are freaking out over here…"

"They didn't detect the Source, did they? You said Three would…"

"It's fine," Lee said, pulling Stanley back into the hug, "No one outside the building noticed anything. It's just my friends that were with me… but they can wait a bit longer."

They stayed together for a little while longer, just holding each other as the adrenaline and accompanying nerves dwindled to relative calm.

When Lee had to return to the real world, Stanley was lying in the grass, Caffeine halfway onto his chest as he fed bite after bite into the always-hungry maw. Stanley eventually dragged the Core over, and when it touched his hand, he burst out laughing again.

"Eve is going to hate this! I love it!" He could feel her, along with the others. They were fighting, and winning by the feel of it. Whatever Zeke had planned seemed to be working, and Stanley could, for the first time, feel the Acid's Soul. It was concentrated down to a much more normal size now, and it was pissed, hurting, and dying.