"Dammit!"
I cursed and stepped back. The corridor had collapsed and had blocked the exit.
It would take a month for the dungeon to restore the damages and spawn more monsters... I didn't have enough food or water to wait for that long. I hadn't brought any here due to lack of money.
"Why... Why did it collapse?"
My voice cracked as I leaned against the debris.
In my heart, I already knew the answer.
"I... I was betrayed, wasn't I?"
Why else would my speed suddenly increase... And why else would the captain use such a devastating attack?
"But why... ?"
It wasn't simple malice... They wouldn't need to go this far to kill me.
They could have just stabbed me in the back.
"Ugh... My head hurts."
I decided to stop thinking about it. I closed my eyes and took some deep breaths. The colosseum was probably a safe zone, otherwise monsters would have spawned in by now.
I decided to bet on that and let myself drift off to sleep.
If I died in my sleep, well... That would be the end of it.
--------------------------------
I opened my eyes with a groan. My body still hurt like hell, causing me to wince every few seconds. But at the least, my tiredness had lessened quite a bit. I was a Hunter... My recovery speed was better than most ordinary people.
Some of my pain had lessened.
"I..."
Slowly standing up, I looked at the dark door on the other side of the colosseum. The dust that had previously covered my vision had settled down, giving me a clear view of my surroundings.
"I have to get out of here."
I didn't want to die.
No, I couldn't die.
Those people... I had to find them and make them pay.
The flames of revenge pushed me forward. Step by step, I approached the door.
There was only one way I could get out of this place.
That was by killing the floor boss and activating the teleport stone located at the end of the floor.
My chances of winning were... zero. But that would still be a more honourable end than starving to death here.
Slowly, I reached the door.
"Hah..."
Taking a deep breath, I stepped into the darkness.
In front of me was an empty corridor. There weren't any monsters there.
I dragged my feet through the cold hall. There were several rooms on the side and all of them were empty.
I was cautious as I moved forward. The corridor soon ended and opened to a staircase leading down.
This time, there was a ghoul near the entrance of the staircase.
Taking it head-on wasn't the best idea. I was too weak for a third-floor monster.
Instead, I picked up a rock and threw it over the head of the ghoul. It fell down the stairs while making sound.
The ghoul turned around and rushed towards the source of the sound. As soon as it showed me its back, I used [Long Run] to speed up.
My bones ached in response and I felt like I was being torn apart, but I didn't stop. In a few moments, I was right behind the ghoul who belatedly realized that the real enemy was behind it. It rushed to turn but my dagger was faster. I plunged my first dagger into its eyes before using the second one to stab its skull.
The momentum of my skill pushed me forward. I fell down the stairs with the ghoul attached to my blade.
"This damn... Bastard!"
The monster was still squirming in my arms as the bottom of the stairs approached us. I pulled out the first dagger and stabbed harder, hoping for a critical strike.
The ghoul growled and scratched my face hard in retaliation.
"Fuck!"
Pain seared through my body. My vision turned red instantly.
"Damn it! You fucking monster, you wounded my eyes!"
I was angry. I pulled out my daggers and kept stabbing. The stairs almost seemed infinite at this point... But soon we hit the ground.
The ghoul took the brunt of the damage. I used my weight to pin it to the ground and repeatedly stabbed its skull.
"Die! Die! Die!"
I hissed as I turned its rotten face into a bloody mess.
"Hah..."
After fifty or so stabs, I stood up. The monster stayed down.
"It's not despawning?"
Usually it would have turned into ashes and would scatter into the wind... But the corpse stayed on the ground.
"Did that cave in caused this abnormal situation... Anyhow, Isn't this good?"
I placed a hand on my wounded eye and winced in pain.
The adrenaline rush had temporarily numbed the pain of my broken ribcage... But it was starting to hurt again.
I crouched down in front of the corpse and started to take apart the rag it was wearing. Soon, I had a few dirty pieces of cloth in my hands.
I bandaged my damaged face using the rag and turned towards the hallway. It was surprisingly empty... The frequency of monsters had dropped significantly.
Usually, I would hear groans and moans from all around me but right now an eerie silence had taken over.
I staggered forward with caution. There were rooms on both sides of the hall. All of them were empty just like before.
The hallway moved deeper and deeper into the dungeon. I walked and walked... Yet saw no new monsters.
"Hah... Hah..."
My breathing became ragged. My stamina was reaching its limit. The pain in my body had increased tenfold. Every muscle of my body was burning.
"I... need to rest."
I muttered to myself and entered an empty room.
I sat down leaning against the wall.
Just as I did that, something fell from my bag.
"This..."
It was the old book. I frowned and picked it up to put it back in, but something inside my mind was stirred.
I decided to open and read it instead.
The first page was gone and pages two to ten seemed to be a continuation of that page. So I skipped to page eleven where I found another diagram.
"[Diagram Of The Vengeful]? What an obnoxious name."
I sighed and read through it. Unlike the first diagram which had weird requirements like a virgin's blood, this was surprisingly normal. It still needed blood but that blood could be from the user. Though there was also a worrying detail.
"What the hell is [Condensed Despair]?"
There weren't any explanations for that. The term had a literal meaning but... Could you even condense an abstract emotion like despair?
"This is bullshit, isn't it..."
I groaned and put the book back into my bag. I wanted to erase these unnecessary pieces of information from my head... Yet for some reason, I couldn't forget the diagram I saw.
"Well... I'll forget it soon."
I closed my eyes to take a nap. My body was screaming in pain, hunger and thirst... But closing my eyes brought some slight relief.
--------------------------------
Once I woke up and felt a bit better, I continued my walk through the corridor. My body was still hurt and my injured eye was throbbing in pain, but I was less tired than before.
I soon passed by the corridor and stopped in front of a large field. Large pillars rose from the sides and disappeared into the roof. The roof itself was giving off a bright blue light, making it almost seem like daytime. There was a door on the other side of the field.
The air was fresh. There wasn't any dust flying either.
But all these made me more nervous. It almost felt like this field was a boss zone.
I hadn't ever been to the third floor so I wasn't familiar with the floor's layout. But all the things inside the room screamed of power.
I hesitated. Was going into the field a good idea? Should I go back and try later?
But I quickly threw away those thoughts. If I didn't progress now, I would have less chance of surviving in the future. My body would be plagued by hunger, thirst and pain more than it was right now.
Taking a deep breath, I took a step forward. As soon as I stepped into the field, the door behind me disappeared.
"Damn it... how bad can my luck be..."
I groaned as I looked at the field.
Red energy was slowly condensing in the middle of the field. Soon the energies fused and became an orb. The orb expanded and glowed brightly before countless cracks appeared on its surface. Then suddenly, it exploded.
A huge wave of red energy was unleashed.
I immediately fell to the ground and covered my head. The energy running just above my body was vicious and powerful.
I would be dead if I was hit by it.
The energy passed by soon and I could once again sit up. But the next moment, by entire body stiffened.
"S-shit..."
A murmur came out of my mouth as I looked at the creature in the middle of the field.
It was covered from head to toe in black armour. Ghastly red energy flowed around it. From inside its visor, I could see two glowing red eyes. It was staring at me intently.
A large black sword was in its hands.
"F-fuck... A death knight was the floor boss?"
A death knight. A powerful monster born from the soul of a deceased warrior who died with regret. It was a high-level undead monster that could crush a C-ranker if he or she wasn't careful enough.
And I was... just an E-ranker.
As I lamented my luck, the death knight slowly pulled up its sword. It aimed the tip at me, as if inviting me for a duel.
"Y-you... Fine... I'll survive your shit and get out of here!"
I growled and stood up. If I didn't resist, I wouldn't have any chance of surviving.
"[Long Run]"
I used my skill and dashed forward. My bones creaked and pain spread throughout my body... But I gritted my teeth and endured it.
The death knight swung its sword downwards. Three bright slashes rushed towards me. I twisted my body to the right and tried to squeeze through them. The first two barely missed me but the third hit my left shoulder. Immediately, the arm was chopped off.
"AGHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!"
I screamed in pain but didn't stop. The undead knight unleashed several more slashes at me.
I ducked and twisted my body at the last moment to avoid all of them. Then I slid by the death knight and headed for the wall behind it. The knight turned around and dashed forward.
"How can it be so fast while wearing that armour?!"
Frustration took over my mind as I barely escaped another attack.
But I was almost there. The wall was right in front of me.
"[Long Run]!'
I activated the skill again and rushed along the wall at an increased speed.
"Come on! Hit me, you bastard!"
My provocation seemed to work as the knight unleashed its sword skill again. This time, five slashes hit the wall right behind me.
Cracks appeared on the wall as the powerful skill hit it.
I rushed along the walls of the field while barely avoiding the death knight's attacks.
"Damn it, one more time!"
I pushed my body further as I circled around the room. Just as I was about to take a turn, a sudden gush of energy hit me.
I could control my steps and fell to the ground. My bloody shoulder hit it hard.
"Agggghhhhhhh!"
Another scream escaped my lips. I couldn't go on for much longer, the bleeding was becoming fatal.
I tried to stand up but footsteps behind me caused me to roll to my side instead.
Immediately, the place where I was laying was blown to smithereens. The knight pulled out its sword from the ground and swung at me again.
I rolled once again but...
"FUCK! FUCK! FUCK!"
I yelled as tears came out of my eyes. Blood from my other shoulder stained the ground red.
My other arm was also cut.
"Damn you!"
I cursed before using just my legs to stand up. The knight wanted to rush me, but its sword was stuck in the ground.
I decided to use this opportunity to run to the wall again.
I couldn't defeat it... But I as hell could escape that bastard!
"[Long... Run]!"
I invoked the skill again as I rushed to the wall.
The knight behind me finally dislodged its sword and gave chase. I was already halfway to the wall when it released several sword slashes.
I couldn't see them coming, but I ducked on instinct.
All four slashes passed over my head and hit the wall. A deep grumbling sound erupted from the wall as it broke down completely.
"Hah!"
I jumped through the crack as soon as I reached the wall. I entered the dark corridor and took the first corner I saw.
Several sword slashes hit the wall behind me... But the knight couldn't enter the corridor.
I was safe... For now. I stared at the corridor I had passed through.
"Hah... Hah... Hah... Damn that captain... This is probably an abnormal condition."
Usually dungeon walls would be indestructible... But somehow that captain did the impossible.
"Agh!"
My wounds forced me back to reality. The bleeding had stopped due to my strengthened body... But the pain was there.
"Ugh... Ugh..."
All of my steps became thousand times more painful.
But... I only needed to go a bit further. The teleportation stone should be in front of me somewhere.
If I could get there, I could get out of the dungeon and survive...
As I thought that, the corridor before me separated into two paths.
After thinking about it for a few minutes, I chose the left path. Dragging my feet through the corridor, I soon arrived at a small room.
Three candles lit the entire room alongside the large chest in the middle.
"Is that... The floor treasure?"
Could I really get that without defeating the boss?
I was curious, so I laid down in front of the chest and pushed the lid open with my feet.
A bright golden aura appeared from inside the chest.
"H-holy... A [Revival Potion]?!"
I screamed happily as I stared at the golden liquid inside the expensive bottle.
[Revival Potion]s were costly... Each costing over 100000 gold... These could heal any injuries, regrow any lost limb and even revive a person if used within a few minutes of death.
An ordinary Hunter would never see this... Let alone an E-ranker like me.
But here it was... In front of me... For me to take. I could sell it and live a good life... But I wanted my hands more than this potion.
I put my head inside the chest and picked up the potion with my teeth. Holding it down with my feet, I opened the mouth of the potion with my teeth and gulped it down.
Immediately, a refreshing feeling coursed through my body. All of my broken bones were healed. My pain subsided.
With a golden light, my arms were reconstructed from scratch. The bones were remade, muscles grew on top of the bones and skin soon covered the fleshy arm.
I was whole again. I was complete again.