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[The Instance Dungeon has become a focal point for a special World Event: {Invasion of the Outer Ones}!]
[The First of Many, {The Unending Crimson}, has taken over this Instance Dungeon and mutated it according to his wishes.]
[Defeat the Boss to stop him before the entire village of Elderbridge is overrun by monsters.]
The system message that popped up right in front of Paul and Chris quickly shook them to the core. The reason why the Dungeon had changed so much was because of a damned World Event, no less.
They couldn't tell if they had immense luck or terrible luck, as they were fighting whatever an "Outer One" meant. They didn't have much of an idea, but the title alone was strangely ominous already.
"It seems you're quite shaken about what has happened," the Skeleton Lord said. "But be at ease; I do not plan to kill you or something. After all, I know what the result will be without even having to fight you. I have yet to fully manifest within this world, but this vessel of mine carries enough power."
"What?!" Paul asked in disbelief.
"He's lying, isn't he?" Chris was suspicious.
"Well, little flames, I did imply that I have prepared you for a good challenge... And as you can see, it is here," the Skeleton Lord smiled. "All the skeletons—I've gathered them here for your pleasure. However, I am well aware that you're otherworldly souls, players, as they're called, is it not?"
"This guy…" Paul thought. "Why is he talking with so much freedom? Is the knowledge about players so widespread for them to easily tell us apart even with our extensive backgrounds?"
"How do you know that?!" Chris blatantly asked, giving away the answer already.
"Hah, it is quite easy; you see, you just answered that question," the Skeleton Lord laughed. "But this further confirms it. Players… Your existence has only been as new as a week, yet you're already shaking the Realms, right? We are quite interested in your kind. So, how about we resolve this peacefully? I am well aware that your link to your bodies is thin, unlike other players. You can't revive, isn't it?"
"We have no obligation to answer that-"
"How did you know that?!" Chris asked, gasping.
"Chris! Stop answering like that; you're just making it obvious!" Paul facepalmed.
"Ah… Hahah, my bad," Chris laughed nervously.
"Hahaha! Aren't you quite the endearing little pair of flames?" The skeleton laughed. "Well, what do you say? I have a proposal to make."
Paul and Chris remained silent, not knowing what to say. While Chris actually didn't know what to say, Paul was thinking.
"A contract with an outer one? Is this part of the game's event?" he thought. "No, I can't just give in so easily."
He quickly glanced at the skeleton lord's crystalline eyes.
"Before we make a decision, we would like to know what you want to offer us."
As the young vampire man talked, the skeleton lord laughed once more.
"Yes, of course, my dear little flames. I shall tell you."
The skeleton raised his black bony claws, forming a mass of crimson flames that then extended into the form of a scroll, a contract of sorts.
"I am planning on taking ahold of this dungeon and making a raid into your realm," he said. "Of course, you can completely skip the suffering and the fact of dying altogether by becoming my generals. How about it? You two possess great potential; I've seen you fight this entire time. In exchange, you will lead my army into Elderbridge and set everything ablaze; make sure to let the fire consume every single life, crystalizing everything."
"What? That's nuts…" Chris muttered.
"But…" Paul muttered. "I guess it's tempting."
"What?! Why would you say that?" Chris wondered.
"It's a game after all," said Paul.
"Exactly!" laughed the skeleton. "Whatever happens to this world or not, it doesn't affect yours, right, otherworldly souls? My dear little flames! You mustn't let whatever attachment your bodies had to that pitiful realm hold you back from making a lot of your lives! I can promise you riches, power, territory, armies, and everything you want! Even… I could even heal you from your terrible Curses."
"You can?!" Chris wondered.
"Of course I can! My existence goes beyond this world's laws, and it could even go beyond the pitiful gods that have cursed you," the Skeleton Lord spoke. "So? Will you take the contract? Killing those people... It shouldn't be too hard for you, shouldn't it? It's not like they're anything to you, right?"
"That's… well…" Paul seemed to be more tempted than he had imagined.
However, the memories of the day he spent with little Camilla came to his mind.
It was only a day, perhaps, but she was still someone deeply attached to Vlad.
Paul was someone who was really empathetic, despite how he used to act otherwise.
"Of course, we won't take it anyway! Who cares about your dumb contract?" Chris confronted the skeleton lord. "Killing all the people of Elderbridge? Are you insane?!"
"Chris…" Paul looked at Chris with surprise.
He had never expected his friend, who was even more detached from the world of the game, to be so adamant about not taking the deal.
After all, wasn't he the one always saying that it was a game? What about this sudden change?
"Is this your response, then?" the skeleton wondered. "You, vampire… What do you have to say about this? I have yet to hear your answer."
"…" Vlad remained silent and then looked at Chris.
"Come on, do you even need to doubt? This city belongs to your family, right? And your sister and your mom are here. It might be a game, but everything's too realistic. We got a pretty good run, and I don't like bad endings," Chris smiled. "So let's fuck him over instead."
Paul looked at Chris with both disbelief, frustration, and, somewhat, a bit of relief.
That's right; why was he even thinking otherwise? He might've gotten a bit too greedy. But he also doesn't like corruption routes in video games.
Seeing how this video game's NPCs are all intelligent, self-conscious AI, even the gods, and this outer thing, they were much different than any character in any video game.
"Yeah, you're not wrong." Vlad smiled, his eyes shining bright red as the helmet of his armor covered his face. "We're not taking your contract, Unending Crimson."
"…"
The Obsidian Skeleton Lord, covered in crimson crystals and flames, remained in silence, his sharp red eyes glaring at the two without saying a single word.
His claws, sharp as metal, started grasping the contract made of flames tightly, cracks spreading through all of it.
Crack, crack…!
CRASH!
The contract broke into pieces, leaving nothing behind but flames that slowly dissipated. The Obsidian Skeletons in the room quickly started to move, their red crystal eyes all pointing at the dhampir and his incubus partner.
"I was hoping these two little flames could become big, blazing fires that could burn that entire realm into ashes for me and create a beautiful nest of red crystals," sighed the skeleton lord. "I was wrong. A shame, really. But I suppose you must all die. Become the fuel for my children. BURN!"
With a furious roar, the skeleton lord pointed his claws at the pair, and the skeletons immediately charged towards them.
Yes, over fifty skeletons, all charging against them at the same time!
"Chris, get above! {Stone Wall}!"
Vlad quickly slammed the floor with his leg as three Stone Walls surged, not to protect him but to disrupt the army of skeletons charging towards them as they emerged below them.
RUMBLE!
The Stone Walls served their purpose, as several dozens of skeletons were surprised by the emerging walls and were sent flying into the air, the stones shattering some of their crystals and weakening their skeletons, enough for Chris to quickly take advantage of that.
Almost synchronizing together, within that split second, Chris flew into the skies and quickly imbued Light Essence into his magic bow—this essence, which was born from his Heavenly Core, and combined with the Fire Arrow Spell!
"{Holy Fire Arrow}!"
Three Holy Fire Arrows, blazing with golden flames, were fired quickly, landing on the skeletons while still in midair. Explosions of holy flames engulfed their bodies, shattering them into pieces.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
"Oh?"
The Skeleton Lord simply sat down and watched, his interest growing as he saw Paul and Chris' quick teamwork and synchronization.
"BURN TO ASHES, VAMPIRE!"
The skeletons quickly swarmed Vlad's entire body without letting him even make a single step forward. His armored body was constantly assaulted by several piercing spear attacks, explosions of crimson flames, and physical blows and kicks.
CLASH! CLASH! CLASH!
Yet Vlad seemed like an unmovable sentinel, activating the Arcana from the rest of his accessories; the weight his magic caused made him almost impossible to flinch!
"Chris, fire Ice Arrows at me!"
"What? But…!"
"Do it!"
Chris gritted his teeth as he imbued more Arcana into his bow, preparing several Ice Arrows and firing them in quick succession. The spear-shaped ice shards pierced the bodies of the skeletons, who were all together, swarming Vlad at the same time.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Explosions of frost spread out, freezing their bodies and slowing down their movements. Some of them became outright paralyzed as their joints froze and were stuck together.
"Thank you! Now…!"
Vlad quickly conjured a spell without using his equipment, one simply named "Geomancy." It was a Tier 2 spell that let magicians utilize the strong elements of their surroundings to activate powerful manifestations.
Using a few thousand Arcana from his equipment, he quickly conjured the strongest Geomancy Spell he could unleash. The frost spread everywhere, gathering together, and then...
"{Geomancy}: {Icicle Garden}!"
The ice and frost moved on their own, growing into hundreds of sharp icicles impaling the bodies of dozens of skeletons at the same time, destroying, and shattering them apart one after another!
"HELL YEAH!"
Chris celebrated as he saw Paul destroy almost half of the remaining skeletons with their teamwork. However, Paul looked into the skies as he withstood the icicles, trying to pierce his armor.
"Chris, come down quickly!"
"Eh?! Ah!"
Chris gasped as he saw another of those giant, fused skeletons capable of flight chasing him, and then a second, and a third!
"Fuck, screw this shit!"
Chris flew down towards the ice as a veil of phantasmal shadows encompassed him—only a second before a giant claw was to tear him to shreds!
"Heretics that do not embrace the crimson flame are not deserving of the ember of life!"
The skeletons all recited the same thing, coordinated, and attacked the pair, descending from above and causing loud tremors, tearing through any Stone Wall that Vlad had conjured.
CRASH! CRASH!
BAAAM!
The three giant skeletons used their blazing wings to rapidly catch up to Chris, attempting to tear him to shreds with their claws, yet the Incubus constantly conjured illusions, fooling them a couple of times.
"They're clearly targeting Chris!" Paul thought as he battled against the last dozen skeletons, which were much more cautious.
Six of them were attacking from a small distance, firing explosive crystal spears at him, while the other six remained even farther away and dispersed, conjuring magic circles and unleashing a bombardment of fireballs.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
"{Winds of Speed}!"
While resisting the barrage of attacks and seeing his armor's durability going down, Vlad quickly decided to act, imbuing his body with spiraling, fast winds and rushing towards the closest skeleton.
"If you're not going to get closer anymore, then I will!"
He twisted his entire body while in midair, slamming the skeleton's head with his hard, armored greaves while activating the boot's spell.
"{Shining Beam}!"
BOOOM!
A beam of blinding light engulfed the skeleton and two others nearby, the light easily burning through their bones and turning parts of their bodies into ashes, making them collapse onto the floor.
"Heretic!"
"You who don't accept the flame!"
"You must die by the fire!"
The magician skeletons conjured their magic again, this time going all-out, combining it together into a massive fireball of over ten meters in height, and launching it directly towards Vlad while he fought the other spear-wielding undead.
"Shit…"
BOOOM!
The flames engulfed Vlad entirely, his surroundings quickly being set ablaze as the stone floor rapidly started to melt by the intensity of the heat!
"Fuck, Paul?!"
Chris was maneuvering in the air, evading three giant flying skeletons at once and quickly rushing to his help, only to be attacked by the trio once more.
Redy constantly floated around him, adding an extra layer of protection as the small yet mighty blazing wolf parried their blows with explosive blazing howls.
No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get to Paul!
This was the intention of the Unending Crimson; noticing their great teamwork, he decided to separate them and take them down individually.
"Fuck, it burns like hell!"
Vlad felt his skin beginning to rapidly boil as the temperature of his armor began to skyrocket, and the flames constantly burned through his entire body.
"It's over for you; give up," the Unending Crimson spoke through the Skeleton Lord's voice. "Just die and become one with my flames!"
"Hah, as if!"
However, although Vlad was suffering terrible burns, he smiled.
And he activated his magic, with Arcana surging from his body in tremendous quantities.
"{Geomancy}: {Blazing Rain}!"
FLUOSH!
The flames burning him constantly suddenly obeyed his command as they were forcefully imbued with thousands of units of Arcana.
The flames then lifted from the ground, becoming dozens of giant fireballs and rapidly bombarding the three flying skeletons chasing Chris!
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
"What?!"
Even the Skeleton Lord was shaken by such a strategy, and as Chris finally got a breather, seeing the three flying skeletons collapsing, he didn't waste this opportunity.
"Redy!"
"Woof!"
The blazing wolf quickly imbued itself into his bow, becoming a gigantic arrow of flames.
Light Essence was then fused into him, turning him into a giant Holy Fire Arrow.
FLASH!
The arrow rushed through the wind at lightning speed, reaching the three flying skeletons at once.
BOOOMMM!!!
The trio of flying skeletons instantly fell into pieces from the sky, while Paul quickly took care of the remaining skeletons, flying through Float and destroying them with rapid kicks imbued with Shining Beam.
"Hahh… We did it…" Chris gasped for air. "Fuck…"
"Not yet; we're not done yet…" Vlad looked at the one sitting over his throne. "You're fighting, or what?"
The Unending Crimson was fascinated. "Magnificent! Your flames burn so strongly... It will be a pleasure to see them burn out."
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