"Ugh... I-I'm sorry, Guild Master..."
With those words, the man in Rio's arms closed his eyes. His body stopped breathing.
"Damn it..."
Rio cursed as he stood up and looked at the broken armour on the ground. It was the loot left behind by the death knight guarding the eighth floor.
They had already lost three out of eleven people.
"... We're moving forward. Burn the body."
Rio gritted his teeth and commanded one of the mages, who used a fireball to burn the corpse until only ashes remained.
"..."
Jack and Carol kept their silence as they stared at the ground. Looking at them, all Rio felt was pity.
Once everyone had taken their potions and was ready, the party moved through the eighth and ninth floors quickly. Most of the monsters were stronger than their usual forms but that didn't pose a large enough threat to the strong party.
Only the two floor guards were anomalies among the tower monsters.
Soon, the party arrived on the tenth floor and headed towards the king's chamber.
--------------------------------
"Can I make alliances with floor bosses? With my quests? Wait... Wasn't there a notification about a change? I completely forgot about that due to the exchange with the Lich King..."
Yurei muttered as he rested inside the white pool.
"Though... What is this liquid... It heals me up and feels so soothing..."
He didn't know that he could feel pleasure even in this form.
Also...
"Out of ten, three people have already died... Dammit..."
Rage tried to take over him once again, but the water he was in quickly calmed him down. This was truly a miraculous liquid.
"Anyhow... I'm letting my guard down... Let's check the quest."
[
3. { Evolution III ( Class Quest/ Mandatory ) }:
Difficulty: SSS
Time Limit: 3 days 21 Hours 3 Minutes remaining
You have achieved a new body, but that is only the first step. You have to become stronger, you have to become fiercer. You have to become complete. Only then can you understand the true worth of your existence.
HOWEVER, to understand the true potential of your soul, you also need to forge alliances.
Clear Conditions: Build an alliance with the sixth-floor boss monster, the Lich King (12%/100%)
Clear Rewards: Understanding Rate + 40%; Level + 20
Failure Conditions: Dying / Time running out / The Lich King's death
Failure Penalty: Loss of the title {Monster Tamer}, all undead monsters will actively try to hunt you down
*Warning, during the quest, the dungeon's difficulty from Floor Five and below will be increased by tenfold
*Warning, the quest was changed by unforeseen circumstances. Prepare for consequences.
]
"D-damn... It really changed a lot..."
Yurei sighed and closed the window.
"Well, I guess I'll have to be on good terms with the King..."
Fortunately, that didn't seem too hard. The King already seemed to have a good impression of him. The Death Knights were an issue, but as the fourth and eighth-floor guards hadn't tried to kill him on sight, Yurei was pretty sure that he could somehow convince them to forgive him.
"I mean... The monsters on the third floor didn't have any intelligence... I didn't have a chance to talk with him. Then again, many of the monsters on the fourth floor didn't have intelligence either. Is their intelligence scaling depending on the floor they are on?"
Seemed plausible, to say the least.
"Ugh... Let's just get out and try to deal with Rio and those Hunters. Doesn't seem like I'll be able to kill them myself..."
Again, he felt his anger rising. But it wasn't that prominent this time.
"... I thought I'd be angrier at this... Maybe I don't hold enough grudges against them to be truly angry."
Unlike Bayek, these Hunters wouldn't usually actively harm him. They still would take jabs at him from time to time, but they weren't that unbearable.
Compared to Bayek, the party which stabbed him in the back and that woman... They were really insignificant.
At least, Yurei believed so.
As he kept trying to make sense of his emotions, the tower suddenly shook once again.
"Shit... It's close this time! They're already at the King's chambers?!"
The spirit rushed out of the room and flew through the long corridor. The moment he reached the backdoors of the King's chambers, he heard shouts from inside.
"Give me your body!"
He yelled at one of the Undead Mages and possessed it. The mage surprisingly showed no resistance and let itself be possessed.
"Damn it... I need to save the King!"
He hissed as he pushed the backdoors open and stepped inside the chamber.
Immediately, countless eyes turned toward him.
Half of those eyes belonged to Rio and his group while the other half belonged to the Lich King and his guard.
"Axel... ?"
"... Spirit?"
Both parties realized who he was almost instantly. Without answering, Yurei searched through his head for any magic related skills.
"Damn it... I don't have any..."
He cursed himself while glaring at Rio and the others. Without a magic skill, this body was useless.
But then, someone stepped up.
"Spirit. Possess me."
"Huh?"
He looked at the volunteer with surprise... It was a death knight.
"A-are you sure?"
"My king wishes for so. Don't waste any time!"
The death knight growled and lowered his shield.
Taking a deep breath, Yurei's spirit ascended from the mage's body and dashed toward the undead knight.
"Stop him!"
"Don't let them interrupt the spirit!"
Two contradictory commands echoed inside the room as the battle finally started.
--------------------------------
"Why is the floor boss working with Axel?!"
Rio cursed his luck while trying to fend off the mages' attack. Most of their holy barriers had become insignificant due to the undead energy of the place.
"This feels more like an SSS-rank dungeon than a beginner level one, guild master!"
Jack yelled in frustration as he locked his sword with the death knight being possessed by Axel.
They weren't able to stop the possession in time, which led to the current situation.
"Don't disappoint me, spirit!"
The Lich King's laugh echoed inside everyone's mind. The undead king was staying behind and hurling powerful spells at them.
"Why is that monster sentient... ?!"
One of the healers cast a holy barrier around herself before stepping back.
They never heard about a sentient Lich King being inside a dungeon... Those only appeared in stories and fairytales.
Yet, here it was, fighting them while laughing.
"This whole thing feels like a sick joke!"
Another party member complained while being pushed back.
"Weak."
Axel's voice boomed inside Jack's mind when the former suddenly pushed the latter back.
The hunter fell to the ground, unable to defeat the death knight in a competition of strength.
Without giving him any time to fix his stance, Axel... Or Yurei, pushed on.
The heavy sword fell again and again, every time barely being deflected by the hunter.
"D-damn you, Axel! How dare you return after dying?! Even in death, you make us suffer!"
Jack's scream made every member of Rio's party frown.
"And whose fault is that? You guys made me like this, so take responsibility and die!"
Yurei laughed and brought down the sword one more time. Jack's sword couldn't take the beating anymore and snapped into two. The rusted greatsword slashed the hunter in the right shoulder. The arm was immediately severed alongside the bones.
"Goodbye, you piece of shit!"
Yurei howled as he struck... Or tried to strike the hunter in the chest.
Clang!
The greatsword was elegantly deflected as Rio stepped forward to protect Jack.
"Axel!"
The guild master growled in anger, glaring at the death knight.