"The heck, how many hours are they gone now?" one of the Charioteers asked, his voice barely audible over the steady patter of rain.
"Nah, just over an hour, I guess," the other replied, shrugging as he kept his eyes on the dungeon entrance.
"You really think they can conquer two purple dungeons with just the two of them?"
"I don't really care," he said with a lazy yawn. "I'm just following that kid's orders. Besides, he's the future of the kingdom. I'm pretty sure a mere dungeon is no match for them."
They stood in silence, the rain soaking their clothes as they waited for Rethrus and Gerard's return.
On the last floor, Rethrus was locked in yet another fierce battle. This time, Gerard stood beside him, determined to help.
'As usual, he cleared the previous floors like it was nothing,' Gerard thought as he and Rethrus faced off against an undead knight.
The monster was massive—its entire body clad in dark, worn armor, a jagged two-handed sword gripped tightly in its gauntlet.
'It's fast,' Rethrus observed, his eyes narrowing.
Despite its size, the knight moved with blinding speed. Every swing of its sword sent shockwaves that cracked the ground beneath them.
Rethrus dodged the deadly arcs of the blade with precision, but his spells had no effect. Each time he hurled a Dark blast or Umbral Surge ( Continuous Beam Attack) , the knight either propelled the magic away or dodged entirely.
"Tsk… I hate fast opponents," Rethrus muttered under his breath, his expression hardening.
"Water Cannon!" Gerard shouted from behind, launching a torrent of water straight at the knight. The blast hit dead-on, but the undead remained unfazed.
The knight's head turned toward Gerard.
'Damn,' Rethrus thought, his eyes widening.
Before the knight could lunge, Rethrus's shadow hand struck with crushing force, knocking the undead back.
"Gerard! Camouflage!" Rethrus commanded.
Without hesitation, Gerard activated his magic, blending into the surroundings as his presence faded. Rethrus followed suit, both of them vanishing from the knight's sight.
But they had forgotten one thing.
Monsters didn't rely on sight.
They sensed mana.
The knight didn't pause, its empty gaze turning toward the faint traces of mana where they had vanished.
Before they could regroup, the undead leaped toward their position with frightening speed.
Rethrus cast a dark barrier in an instant.
A shadowy barrier formed just in time—but the knight's blade shattered it upon impact, the sheer force sending them both flying.
Rethrus's shadows cushioned his fall, leaving him unharmed.
Gerard wasn't as lucky.
"Gerard!"
'Damnit,' Rethrus gritted his teeth, trying to rush to Gerard's side, but the knight was relentless.
The undead was already upon him, forcing Rethrus back into close combat.
Rethrus dodged swiftly, his shadow hands punching the knight to create distance.
The heck, I'm gonna be out of mana if this keeps up, Rethrus thought as his shadow kept punching the knight continuously, but it dodged every strike.
He jumped far away, creating distance between them as the shadow hands began forming dark novas behind him.
The fight continued.
Rethrus dodged every swing, and the knight avoided every one of his attacks.
It was almost like they were dancing, each reading the other's movements. Rethrus kept his distance, carefully maintaining space, while the knight relentlessly tried to close the gap.
"Argh… the fact that it's just brute strength and he doesn't have magic is so irritating. But I'm the strongest… I'm not gonna lose to some creature like this," he muttered through gritted teeth.
An image where he was beaten by Sir Dante appeared in his mind suddenly.
'Not now…' he shook the thought away, but the knight attacked again, its sword coming down in a deadly arc.
Rethrus dodged, but the knight's kick connected with his arm.
A Crack.
He heard his bone break. As he was sent flying, the shadow hands caught him, softening his landing. Meanwhile, the other hands continued condensing the dark novas behind him, merging them steadily.
Rethrus barely had a moment to breathe before the knight was on him again.
'The heck… it hurts!' he thought, biting back a scream as he forced himself to focus.
Standing with one arm limp at his side, he held his staff tightly in his good hand, firing thin and small Umbral Surges to conserve mana.
'Think, Rethrus. Think.'
The knight didn't even bother dodging the mini Dark Blasts he threw, charging straight toward him.
The concentrated dark nova was almost ready, but Rethrus kept his distance, still firing those small, annoying blasts to keep the knight occupied.
When the dark nova finally finished condensing, Rethrus poured mana into his feet and burst to the knight's side, pointing the nova directly at him.
The knight, noticing the condensed sphere, dodged without hesitation.
"Gotcha," Rethrus smirked.
A shadow hand holding the real concentrated dark nova struck the knight's head from behind—.
The knight had no time to react.
It barely had a moment to register what happened.
'If it had the ability to speak, I'm pretty sure it'd say…'
"I'm fucked," Rethrus murmured with a smirk as the knight's body froze before crumpling to the ground.
Breathing heavily, Rethrus felt the pain surging through his broken arm and his drained mana. But even with his body screaming in agony, he couldn't stop the grin spreading across his face.
'Even hurt like this… I still did it.'
The exhaustion was there, but so was the thrill—he had outsmarted the knight.
"Not bad," he muttered to himself, his smirk widening despite the pain.
Rethrus stumbled toward his sling bag, his breaths ragged and uneven. His arm throbbed with pain, but he ignored it as he grabbed a healing potion and downed it in one gulp.
As the potion worked its magic, he felt the broken bone start to mend—but the sensation was anything but pleasant.
'Ah… damn it…'
It was like untwisting a twisted arm, the pain making him grit his teeth to keep from screaming.
He sat down for a moment, leaning against the damp dungeon wall, letting the pain subside. His eyes drifted to the headless knight lying motionless a few feet away.
The fight was finally over.
'I really hate duels, especially with close combat.'
After catching his breath, he pushed himself up, his body still aching.
He walked over to the fallen knight and eyed the massive sword it had wielded.
He picked it up, feeling its weight in his hand. Despite its size, the balance was perfect.
Without hesitation, he slung the sword over his back alongside his staff.
As Rethrus prepared to leave, one of his shadow hands carried the loot while another held Gerard, who had already consumed a healing potion but was still unconscious.
A faint glimmer caught his eye. It was coming from the knight's severed head. Since Rethrus had destroyed it with a concentrated dark nova, whatever was inside had become exposed.
'Huh… this might be the Soulcore Shard.'
He knelt down and picked up the small, crystalline fragment. Despite being bathed in dark magic, the shard remained unaffected. Without thinking too much, he slipped it into his sling bag and hastened toward the dungeon's exit.
As they moved through the corridors, Gerard stirred.
"You won?" His voice was groggy but steady.
"Of course," Rethrus replied with a faint grin.
"Put me down already."
Rethrus let him down gently, though Gerard still looked exhausted.
"Let's be quick. It's gonna be dark soon, and I don't feel like fighting monsters at night."
They reached the first floor, where Rethrus grabbed the sack they had left behind.
Moments later, they finally emerged from the dungeon. The rain hadn't stopped, and the damp chill seeped through Rethrus' clothes.
"Argh, where are they? It's almost dark," one of the waiting charioteers muttered, squinting into the distance.
"Ah, there they are!" the other chimed in, spotting Rethrus and Gerard approaching.
They loaded the loot onto one chariot while Rethrus and Gerard climbed into the other, finally allowing themselves a moment to rest as the rain continued to fall.