"Phew."
Rune wiped his brow, leaning his spear against his shoulder as he stared at the notification.
'Congrats! You have reached level 10!
Due to your achievement, you have been given a Rare level gacha chance! The rank of the summon will not be below Rare!'
Rune smiled to himself as his eyes fell on his next target. He kicked his spear, flipping it horizontally. In a quick movement, he grabbed the long handle and dashed forward.
-
A couple hours passed before Rune stopped. His levels began to slow a lot due to the dungeon being a lower tier. Even Marisa and Mae had stopped progressing, seeming to have a hit a level cap themselves.
"I guess I should head out."
Taking his time to reach the entrance, Rune continued killing any creatures that spawned near him. Nearly halfway out of the dungeon, a new notification appeared. Rune watched as the creatures around him began to despawn, becoming nothing but dust. His eyes fell to his screen.
'An intruder has invaded the dungeon. To progress, please remove it.
-ERROR- User is in danger. Two invaders have appeared. Run. Hide. Survive.'
Rune felt a chill run down his back as he ducked down and continued to head to the entrance. The cage system had many small corridors, but the entrance had a decently massive room.
"The hell..."
Rune felt the ground tremble as he got closer, followed by a deafening roar. His hands held his head as he crouched further down. His eyes lifted to see two monsters staring each other down. A massive scaled beast, leathery wings and a tail with half a dozen jagged spikes. Smaller, but no less deadly, a man of stone. His shoulders alone, bigger than Rune.
"Why...? How?! A Stone Golem, a dragon?"
Rune watched as the dragon swung it's tail like a whip, or scratched with it's powerful claws. The beast, which should have been the easy victor, seemed on the verge of losing. Many parts of it were damaged, covered in gore. In his daze as a spectator, the dragon's eye landed on Rune. The blazing sapphire focused, surprising Rune. He shivered until he realized the dragon had positioned itself to block him from the golem's sight.
Taking his chance, Rune crept a bit closer. His eyes locked on the golem, namely it's forehead. Emet, truth inscribed on it. Deciding to trust the dragon, Rune dashed forward. As he came into view, he heard the dragon gasp.
"You! Run human!"
The voice was unmistakably female, but Rune heeded not her words.
"Doll Arts, Fox Fire!"
Threads shot forward, coated in blue flame. Though the thread burned quickly, the fire was thrown directly into the singular eye of the golem. Taking this chance, Rune yelled up to the dragon.
"If you can, scratch out the first E on it's head! It'll die!"
The dragon snorted out a puff of smoke, quickly raising her claw to strike the stone body. Rune dashed in, his spear coated in flame now.
"Doll Arts!"
Thread formed on opposite ends of the spear, allowing Rune to aim the spear as a projectile. Her eye fell on Rune once again, her speed uncanny for her size as she moved aside. Her claw took out a chunk of stone, leaving the golem in a state of recovery.
"Let's go!"
Rune launched his spear, the tip sticking deep into the golem's head. Rune clenched his fist in victory, but was knocked back. Tumbling into the wall, Rune coughed up blood as he stared in shock. The spear was disintegrating, burning away in the flame, but it missed the E. Emet was still in perfect condition as the golem swung out its arm once more. This time, it collided with the dragon as she went to protect Rune. She roared in pain before kneeling.
"Damn. One more try. Dragon!"
Rune was back on his feet, his body covered in dirt and scrapes. He held his abdomen, but released it as threads began to unfurl from his fingers. The dragon stared, her eyes burning.
"Kill it!"
His voice seemed to trigger something as the dragon roared once more. The golem swung, only to be stopped short, slowly coming closer to its target.
"No you don't."
Rune began to finally feel the cost of his threads, his fingers becoming number as he sent more and more to bind the golem. Unable to last against such a brutish beast, each thread snapped almost as soon as they wrapped the stone. The sheer number began to become Rune's saving grace as the dragon finally took her chance. With one precise strike, her claw penetrated the stone head of the golem. Met, death, was all that was left. The body crumbled slowly, leaving Rune to fall to his knees. He looked to the dragon, who had chosen to terrify Rune. With one quick movement, she had the back of his shirt in her teeth.
"What the!?"
Before he could process, moonlight fell across his skin. He stood atop the hill, the portal slowly closing. To his left, Mae and Marisa had appeared. To his right, the dragon curled up and laid with her eyes directly on Rune. With a heavy breath, he nearly collapsed. His legs barely holding his body up.
"Human, you have strange powers. Would you mind hearing my story?"
Before Rune could nod fully, the dragon allowed a puff of smoke to escape from her nostrils. The smoke began to swirl, covering g the two of them.
"This is all I can do now. I'm too injured to last much longer."
Rune could finally get a good look at the dragon's body. Deep gouges and blood covered most of her body. Her wings were shredded, barely even capable of movement.
"Alright. A story it is then. You tell me yours, I'll tell you mine."
Rune fell to the ground near the dragon. Marisa sat behind him, her back against his. Even being unable to speak, she chose to support Rune in any way she could. Being close, Rune could see the white scales shining through the crimson. Before him lay a massive white dragon, her body a damaged shell of what she should be.
"Before you start, I have an idea I wanna try."
-
Outside of the smokescreen, two shadows watched with vigilant eyes.
"So it died? Fully?"
"I can't feel my connection, so yea. Somehow, that damn dragon killed it. You gonna give me another?"
"Return to Serro. She will not survive. Her wounds are too grievous. Make that boy out to be the culprit. Be quick. I am unable to determine the length of that smokescreen."
With an exasperated sigh, one shadow vanished.
"Finally. I shall be rid of Serro's Guardian."