Part Twenty-Four

The Demon hadn’t lied. My Abyss Magic was now working far better than I ever thought it would. I’d already used [Soul Bind] on both the Twin Swords and the Coat of Dark Wrath, as they were the only upgradable equipment I used. Soul binding them let me call and dismiss them at will, though I had no idea where they went when I dismissed them. Though, one thing I quickly figured out was that I could recall my equipment to myself no matter how far away it was. I no longer had to fear losing them.

The other major boon from this was the acquisition of two new spells, [Soul Cracker] and [Soul Shredder]. Both were attack spells that targeted the soul, though the former was a projectile while the latter was an Enchantment for a weapon, something I’d already known. Honestly, if I’d had either one of these when that Wraith attacked me, I probably would’ve killed it then and there. While the spell Kalia used had allowed me to damage incorporeal enemies, these spells were designed to be used on soul-based entities like Wraiths. They were far more effective at damaging them. Not having them back then was a major letdown.

Well whatever. It would’ve been helpful back then, but it’s no use crying over spilled milk. If I come across any more Wraiths, I now have a way to deal with them at least. Besides, I’ve got a bigger problem to deal with.

Though, I should admit that I’m still curious as to what caused that whole mess in the first place. If the reason [Soul Bind] never worked was because my soul was damaged somehow, then that means the damage predates when I was trying to learn Abyss Magic. The issue is that I’m not sure when the damage happened. The most likely cause is Malignant Aura, but I can’t be sure, and I’m certainly not testing that out again. Haah, whatever. Maybe I’ll figure it out, maybe I won’t.

With the weirdness of the last few days finally resolved, I set out to find the second Mid-Boss. The crystal compass led me to this massive…military installation. I wasn’t sure if fortress was the right word, but it was definitely something close to it. I was faced with an enormous wall, behind which I could catch glimpses of equally large buildings.

Unfortunately, the fortification was heavily guarded. Not only were all the gates shut, but I could spot figures patrolling along the walls. I couldn’t tell what they were from so far away, but based on their shapes and gait, they were likely Undead of some sort. And to make matters worse, the walls themselves were made of some extremely smooth material, making them near impossible to scale.

Well, that’s not really that big an obstacle. It’ll be tough, but I should be able to use my grappling hook to climb it, though I’ll likely need to make footholds as I go. The real issue is that I’m pretty sure those Undead have bows with them. If they spot me, they’ll turn me into a pincushion. Hmmm…

“It’s a pretty big pickle, isn’t it?”

“…”

“Whoa! Uh, why are you pointing your sword at me?”

“I’m just contemplating where to stab you.”

“Jeez, hostile much? And here I was just about to tell you about this secret way into the fort, but if you don’t want to hear it…Okay, I’ll talk. Just stop poking me with your sword!”

While the Doppelganger rarely appeared, I found that using violence was extremely efficient at getting him to talk. It also made me sure that he wasn’t really me, as I was more likely to fight back if threatened. Then again, the Doppelganger existed to help me in here, so maybe he just capitulated way too easily because of that?

“Ehem, welcome to the second ordeal, Challenger! As you might’ve guessed, you’re objective is to infiltrate that fortification and slay the commander, the Dungeon’s second Mid-Boss. However, this will not be an easy task. Not only is the fort stocked with plenty of soldiers who will stand in your way, there’s also a handful of rather nasty creatures known as Executioners lying in wait. Those things are brutality incarnate, and won’t go down without a fight.”

That name rang a rather worrying bell for me. I know that name. Why do I know that name? Executioner, Executioner. Did I fight one of them before? No, I don’t think so. Then, did I read about them somewhere? I know some people have taken to reporting the details on particularly dangerous monsters they encounter, but that doesn’t seem right either. So someone I met probably told me about the-. Oh, shit. They’re the same thing Alicia and Cameron fought in the Mivian tunnels back in the Siege Dungeon. Weren’t they unkillable? Wait, if one of them is-.

“Ah, don’t worry about that. I can promise you that the Executioners are in no way necessary to clearing the Dungeon. All you need to do is just avoid being killed by them. Simple, right?”

I’ve never wanted to kill this bastard more than I do right now. Who just chalks up unkillable monsters as simple? Fucking Doppelganger…

“Ehem, so anyway, there’s a tunnel with a hidden entrance in one of the nearby buildings, though its obviously guarded. All you have to do is enter the tunnel, kill the guard and infiltrate the fort, and find and kill the commander. It’s very straightforward, isn’t it?”

“…I’m starting to hate you more than the Dungeon.”

“Come on man, this isn’t my doing. Save your complaints for later. Though I doubt they’ll actually care.”

“Are you talking about that Demonic King thingy?”

That question caused the Doppelganger to flinch hard, making it very obvious that that was exactly who they were referring to. And while I gave the Doppelganger an intense look, he merely looked away from me.

“Look, even if you do know some things, I’m not allowed to actually tell you anything. It’s…like a part of my…programming. Even talking…about this…is extremely difficult. If I say the wrong thing…I’ll be deleted, and you’ll be left stranded.”

Even though he couldn’t tell me anything, that in and of itself was something. Whatever was going on in this Dungeon was far more important than I’d expected. If I was going to get to the bottom of it, then I’d need to play along, at least for now.

***

It took me about thirty minutes to find that damn tunnel. When the Doppelganger says hidden, he means hidden. I’d needed to solve this weird brick puzzle thing to open the door, and that took me far too long and caused far too much irritation.

Fucking puzzles. Why? Why must there be puzzles? The only thing I hate more than puzzles is lava. Why is it that every video game has lava in it at some point? I mean, it’s not like most people ever see lava in person. You might see it once or twice when a volcano erupts, but that’ll be on TV for most people. It just doesn’t make sense.

My pet peeves aside, the Doppelganger had told me there would be a guard, and he didn’t disappoint. A massive four-legged creature was waiting for me when I dropped into the tunnel, saliva oozing from in-between its jaws. The second it saw me, it snarled before lunging at me, its teeth just barely missing me. I rolled across the floor, firing a [Rot] as I rose to my feet. Unfortunately, the spell had little effect, confirming my fears. This thing was an Undead.

Death Beast

Rank: B

Description: An Undead beast resurrected by Necromancy. As with all “Death" type Undead, Death Beasts are extremely difficult to kill, and possess immense physical strength. However, their intelligence lags behind that of other equivalent Undead, meaning they’re best used as guards and hunting dogs.

Tch, troublesome. This thing's gonna be a massive pain in the ass. Grudge Magic and Abyss Magic won’t work on it, and it’s too big for Ash to easily predate on. I’ll need to cut it down to size first.

With a plan of action decided on, I rushed towards the beast, dodging around its jaws again and slicing at its neck as I passed by. Of course, such a shallow wound wasn’t enough to faze the beast, and it merely retaliated by swiping at me with a paw, though it was more like someone swung a lamppost at me. The sheer bulk of this creature made it difficult to fight, as any attack could easily prove fatal, though that was just something I’d gotten used to over the last however many months it had been. Most monsters seemed to be quite large, meaning that they almost always hit extremely hard.

Come to think of it, have I ever had a strength advantage over something I fought? I mean, I know I’ve fought physically weak beasts and Demi-Human monsters, but have I ever had an advantage against something that was the same Rank as me? Hm, maybe those Mivians I fought? Ah well, not like it matters. I need to focus on killing this thing. It’s surprisingly sturdy.

Despite its best attempts, the Death Beast couldn’t hit me. Its attacks were so telegraphed that I could dodge them in my sleep. With how muscle-bound this beast was, it was child's play to tell which part of it was about to move at any one time. So long as I kept my cool, it would never touch me.

Eventually, I managed to cut through the tendons in one of its hind legs. Even Undead needed them to be able to move efficiently, so losing them would leave a limb immobilized. And since it could no longer use that leg to stand, it had to resort to using its jaws to attack me, something that was even easier to deal with than the earlier attacks with its claws.

After that, the fight basically devolved into me cutting the Undead beast into pieces. Since this Undead had just been big and tough, it was little challenge to me. The Fiend-Type monsters I’d fought usually had some special abilities or characteristics that made them a pain to fight. Something that just used its sheer size and strength wouldn’t be much of a challenge anymore. Though, that might change if there were more than one of them.

With the first obstacle taken down, I continued down the tunnel, using my familiars and Mind's Eye to scout ahead of me. Because of how many Undead there were in the city, I’d gotten paranoid that a Wraith might appear at some point. To counter that, I’d started using Mind's Eye here and there, eventually causing me grasp the Skill on my own. And while it still needed a good deal of mana, all of the other constraints had been released, making this a pretty good Skill to add to my arsenal.

The only issue I had with it was that the non-equipment version was that it needed to be activated at intermittent points. It basically functioned as a sort of echolocation, using mana instead of sound. That was actually the reason it could detect incorporeal entities like Wraiths. It reacted to both physical objects as well as mana and Miasma. And since it had a pretty decent range, it could even check around corners for me. It was so useful that I really wanted to train it more, but it was an extremely difficult Skill to use. Maybe even harder than Accuracy.

Fortunately, Mind’s Eye didn’t turn anything up as I went down the hallway, not until I reached a large iron door. Inside, I found myself on the bottom of a large, spiral staircase, most likely my way into the fort-thingy. From here on out, things were going to be a whole lot more dangerous.