Chapter Size: 2000 Words.]
Third Person POV
27 Floor, Dungeon.
...
...
In a hidden room within Orario, an old man sitting on a throne suddenly felt something, something coming from the dungeon.
"This... The dungeon activated that thing, how can this happen?" He asked himself and looked forward.
"Fels, there's an emergency!"
Fels materialized from his invisibility.
"Ouranos-Sama."
"Go to the Ganesha Familia, a Juggernaut has appeared in the deep floors. The floors below Rivira must be closed immediately."
"A Juggernaut, that's terrible after so many years... I'm on my way." He left immediately.
Meanwhile, in the deep floors.
"16 million points! Hahaha! Adding to the ones I accumulated before, I'm ready to create a great repertoire of spells for myself!" Lucius couldn't help but celebrate!
"How strange, has this place always had this kind of atmosphere?" Lucius suddenly murmured, looking forward.
Approaching the exit of the Colosseum, Lucius felt a subtle change in the air. There was a weight, a pressure that wasn't present before. His instincts, honed by countless battles, alerted him to the imminent and hidden danger. He slowed down, his hand firmly on the hilt of his sword, still buzzing with residual energy.
When he finally reached the exit, Lucius found himself face to face with an imposing and threatening figure: a Juggernaut. The creature was a colossal mass of muscles and armor, with eyes that glowed with inhuman fury. The Juggernaut was a feared legend among adventurers, known for its brutal strength and almost unshakeable resilience.
"This?! Why is this here?!" Lucius was stunned.
"!" Before he could react, the creature attacked him, he could only cast his ebony flesh and quick dodge before receiving direct damage, but that did not prevent him from being hit, he felt his rib being pierced by the claws of the creature while flying to the nearby wall.
*Crack*
In the midst of the debris, Lucius began to spit blood from the wound.
"Damn, this hurts a lot! My sword..." He saw his sword fallen under the creature while he tried to heal quickly, as the creature did not wait and attacked him again to kill him.
Using quick dodge with boosters didn't seem to be enough, because the creature hit him again, making him fly to the center of the room while spreading more of his blood with new injuries.
"What is this? I can't even dodge this creature?" He couldn't help but growl.
"Stay away!" Lucius shouted seeing the creature advancing again and launched lightning magic to hit it, but the Juggernaut dodged the attacks.
He took advantage of this time and summoned an atronach, the flaming woman appeared and quickly ran to the creature, but in a second, she was cut in half, the creature didn't advance to Lucius at that moment, just looking at him as if he were easy prey.
Lucius clenched his fists tightly, he knew this battle would be different from all the previous ones. A Juggernaut was not just a formidable opponent; it was a force of nature, a kind of dungeon defense trigger, its goal is only to kill.
"I need to deal with this..." He said in a serious tone while still dripping blood from his lips, Lucius stood up, he summoned a sword he had in storage and prepared for the confrontation.
The Juggernaut advanced, each step making the ground tremble. Lucius moved agilely, dodging the creature's devastating attacks by a hair. He knew he couldn't face the Juggernaut in a direct confrontation; his strategy would have to be more cunning.
Lucius launched a series of Fireballs and Multi-Firebolts, trying to find some breach in the imposing armor of the Juggernaut. With the attack now being launched up close, some of them were caught by the monster. The creature roared, the rage in its eyes increasing with each attack that Lucius delivered.
The battle became a deadly game of cat and mouse. Lucius used Quick Dodge to stay out of the reach of the Juggernaut's powerful blows, while looking for an opening to attack. His Lightning Weapon spell transformed his sword into an electrified blade, each blow emitting sparks as it hit the beast's armor, but it hardly seemed to have any effect.
Lucius, in a moment of clarity during the intense confrontation, realized that, despite his Herculean effort, victory over the Juggernaut was beyond his reach. The monster, although momentarily destabilized by Lucius's attack, still possessed overwhelming strength and resilience. Lucius knew he needed an alternative solution – a route of escape.
Taking advantage of a brief respite, when the Juggernaut regrouped for a new attack, Lucius quickly accessed the system. His mind was racing, desperately searching for a way out. That's when he found the solution: the Teleport spell. Without hesitation, he used his accumulated points to acquire it, knowing this ability would be his only chance of escaping alive.
[Space Spell/Fast Teleport/Rank 4: 10,000,000] (Teleport to any location within a radius of 50M)
[Acquire (Yes)/(No)]
'Yes!'
But Lucius was aware that, in battle, every fraction of a second counted. He couldn't afford a long chant to activate the spell. That's when he remembered the Magic Chant Nullification Card, an item he possessed that would allow the Teleport spell to be instantaneous. Quickly, he applied the card to the newly acquired spell.
[Used 1x Magic Chant Nullification Card on Space Spell/Fast Teleport/Rank 4!]
When the Juggernaut advanced again, its roar echoing through the dungeon walls, Lucius was ready. The instant the creature was about to hit him, Lucius activated the Teleport spell. In a flash of light, he disappeared from in front of the Juggernaut, reappearing at a safe distance holding his injuries.
"This gives me some advantage, *Cough.*"
Lucius, now far from the immediate reach of the monster, realized the gravity of his situation. He was severely injured, and even with his magical abilities, knew that facing the Juggernaut was a risk that could cost his life. With labored breathing and his body covered in wounds, Lucius made a critical decision. It was time to retreat, to live to fight another day.
Juggernaut looked at where Lucius had been a moment ago with a confused expression, quickly followed the scent of blood and found him dozens of meters away and ran to his side.
With his heart pounding and mind spinning in search of solutions, Lucius prepared to use Teleport again. The Juggernaut, unshakable and merciless, continued its relentless pursuit. With each teleport, Lucius barely managed to maintain a safe distance, his strength rapidly diminishing with each movement.
As he moved frantically, trying to gain time and space, a distant voice called out to him. "Lucius!" shouted an enigmatic voice, coming from an unknown direction. For a moment, Lucius hesitated, questioning whether the voice was real or just a trick of his exhausted mind. But then, he heard it again, clearer and more urgent. "This way, quickly!"
Without thinking twice and knowing every second was precious, Lucius directed his next Teleport towards the voice. He entered inside a wall with a dark tunnel, searching for the voice, but this was interrupted by the Juggernaut's claw penetrating the wall with force at that moment as he dodged at the last moment and used teleport again.
"Over here!!" The voice was heard again and Lucius used teleport again in that direction.
He reappeared near a secret entrance hidden in the shadows, a path he had never noticed before. From within the darkness, a hooded figure waved at him.
"Quick, before he gets to you!" the figure whispered, with evident urgency in their voice.
Lucius, trusting his instinct, ran towards the secret entrance. Behind him, the sound of the Juggernaut approaching was like thunder, each step resonating in the depths of the dungeon. Lucius entered the dark passage, the hooded figure right behind him, closing the entrance with a quick hand movement.
*CRACK CRACK*
The Juggernaut began to use its claws to pierce the wall at that moment, it tried to do so for dozens of seconds, but these walls were more reinforced, and the sound of it hitting them stopped after a while as if it had given up.
Inside the passage, Lucius finally had a moment to breathe. He leaned against the cold wall, trying to catch his breath while spitting blood. His body was in agony, each wound throbbing with pain.
"Who are you? And how did you know I was here?" Lucius asked, looking suspiciously at the mysterious figure.
The figure lowered the hood, revealing a face that Lucius recognized but had never met before. "We don't have time for explanations now," the figure replied. "You have healing ability, don't you? You need to heal. It's safe here, for now. He knows we're here and won't give up."
Lucius knew he had many questions, but also knew the figure was right. He needed to heal and prepare for what was to come next. Lucius quickly rummaged through his dimensional arsenal, pulling out healing potions and consuming them urgently. As the liquid went down, bringing immediate relief to his wounds, he activated his intermediate healing magic, feeling the energy flow through his body, closing cuts and healing bruises, but his breathing remained labored, leading him to take even energy potions.
"We can't stay here," said the mysterious figure, checking the secretly closed entrance. "We need to follow the hidden paths. The Juggernaut might not enter here, but he will hunt us through the corridors."
Lucius, now a bit recovered, nodded, understanding the gravity of the situation. He followed the hooded figure through a labyrinth of narrow passages and dark tunnels. The path was complex, a tangle of routes that anyone would have found alone, he could have, but that was with his clairvoyance spell.
As they moved, the sound of the Juggernaut searching for them echoed in the distance, a constant threat that impelled them to move forward. At various points, the hooded figure stopped, listening, ensuring they weren't being followed.
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, they emerged into an open space, far from the usual corridors of the floor in front of the stairs to go up.
"Are we safe now?" Lucius asked, still panting.
For a moment, the hooded figure remained silent, as if pondering the answer. Then, slowly, they lowered the hood, revealing their true identity.
Lucius stared, not surprised, at a Xenos lizard - a creature he knew to be intelligent and civilized like Marie, unlike the common monsters of the dungeon. Their eyes met, and Lucius noticed an expression of wisdom and compassion in the Xenos's gaze.
"My name is Lyd, but you don't seem surprised by that. It seems Marie has spoken about me and didn't lie when you didn't seem to reject us," said the Xenos with a voice that carried a tone of respect and seriousness.
"Well, as you said, you're not the first Xenos I've seen and you saved my life at a critical moment, I couldn't be ungrateful, could I?" Lucius spoke and Lyd nodded sympathetically.
"I saw you fighting. You are strong, but even the strong need help sometimes."
"I had no idea that thing would appear anyway... But how did you find me?"
"I visited Marie some time ago and she told me you came here. When I heard the explosions on the floor, I imagined it was you, but I never thought the mother would summon that creature to kill you, you must have enraged her a lot," Lyd said and Lucius sighed, the chaos caused in the fight at the coliseum must have summoned the Juggernaut.
"What do we do now?" Lucius asked as they ascended the dungeon.
"I would like to introduce you to the other Xenos," Lyd continued. "You've proven to be a powerful warrior and a potential ally. Our goals may be different, but I believe we can learn a lot from each other." He seemed eager despite trying to disguise it.
Lucius pondered the proposal for a moment. The idea of connecting with the Xenos, of exploring this unknown facet of the dungeon, was intriguing. "I accept your offer, Lyd. I look forward to meeting your companions and learning more about you. I've already met Marie and you, I can say it wasn't a bad experience," Lucius smiled at this.
Lyd smiled, a gesture that conveyed a sense of genuine camaraderie. "Great. Follow me, then. We'll find a safe way out of here and then I'll take you to our meeting."
Thus, both followed the stairs to the next floor.
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