As the creature turns towards them, it shakes it's four-fingered hand, splashing blood all around. It's standing at 2 meters tall, standing upright on long gazelle-like legs, leading to a long but thin torso with long, thick arms atop what resides an oval-shaped head. The whole body is covered in slick, jet-black armor resembling a beetle exoskeleton without any apparent hole for a mouth or eyes.
Everyone is frozen in place; it's the first time they've seen such a creature and it was exuding insane energy, showing clearly it's place in the food chain: an apex predator.
No one was saying anything, hoping the monster would just pass by them and go on it's merry way. Sadly, it's not what was gonna happen.
In an instant, the creature launched forward, breaking the ground it was standing on. It was so fast that it was hard to keep track of it, but Silver managed to do so, and thank God he did.
In the blink of an eye, the monster was within the group, just about to punch one of the Mercenaries head off. But at the last second, Silver managed to catch the punch. The impact made a powerful noise, jerking everyone back to reality.
Silver and the beast engaged in a contest of strength for a few seconds before the monster launched back to it's starting position. Even without a face, you could read some surprise from it. Silver grabs his hand; the pain was terrible. Even without looking, he could tell that it was broken.
Armando stepped up and looked at his Team. Without exchanging a word, they could tell what to do. Not wasting a moment, he materialized Hermes' Boots and sprinted towards the enemy. But instead of going in a straight line, he started to go in all directions, attempting to destabilize it.
The monster started trying to follow him but soon gave up. Awaiting for this opportunity, Armando launched himself at the monster behind it's back. Sadly, it was not enough.
Mere milimeters before the impact, the monster spun around, sidestepped, and hit Armando with it's forearm, sending him tumbling at heart speed before he crashed into a wall. The Dungeonauts, however, don't have the time to be shocked. Lin and Silver go on the offensive while V tries to create a golden wall to allow Sarah to go heal Armando.
Silver uppercuts the beast with his good hand while Lin tries to slash it but in a quick movement they are both dispatched and sent flying to the ground. The monster then directs it's attention towards the golden wall and punches through it with minimal efforts, grabbing Sarah, who was hiding behind it, and launching her to the other side of the room, sending her crashing violently in the wall.
Silver jumps up and side kicks the beast, to little effect, before it tries to punch him. Thankfully, Silver manages to evade the strike and tries for a punch before being grabbed by the throat, elevates him, and throws him down to the ground with great force, making Silver expel all the air in his lungs and spew blood.
Lin uses this as an opportunity, enflames his sword, and strikes the monsters back. He is shocked when he sees his sword simply bounce off. Without even turning, the monster kicks Lin in the stomach and sends him flying to a wall, knocking him out.
V springs into action, trying to block the beast's legs but the golden construct is quickly destroyed and she is met with a powerful kick to the abdomen , sending her rolling backwards while spewing blood.
This time the Mercenaries try to do something by starting to shoot but the bullets only ricochet off the beast's body. Taking notice of that, it starts to advance towards them but once again Silver shoots back up and uppercuts the monster, to no reaction.
He jumps back, creating a bit of a separation and concentrates.
'The red dots ! I need the red dots !' he thinks while trying to concentrate to the maximum. But sadly for him, none appeared.
But he was at least able to see the flow of the monsters next punch, allowing him to evade. As he finds himself close to it's face, Silver sees a small white X on it's chin. Weird, it looks like the X's on his gloves. Steeling himself, he throws another uppercut on the same spot.
The sound of the impact is powerful, surprising even Silver. The monster takes a few steps back, visibly stunned by the hit.
"NOW ! WE NEED TO GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE !" screamed Silver as he tried a low kick on the creature.
Everyone sprung up and started to go for the exit, the Mercenaries grabbing the downed fighters and dragging them towards the exit. Their advancement is stopped by a bloodcurling scream. They turn back to see Silver's leg broken, bending in the wrong way at a part where there are no articulation with the bone sticking out.
Armando ditches the Mercenary who was supporting him and sprints towards the monster. He strikes it repeatedly, turning it's attention to him. They have a quick striking exchange that the monster wins by punching Armando's shoulder out of it's socket. Silver tries to intervene but is met by a backhand, sending him into Captain George's arms.
Now everyone but Armando are at the exit; they can do it ! They can escape ! He would just need to find a way to distract the monster, but the air around it has changed. If before it was kind of toying with them, now it seems mad. It garbs Armando by the throat and elevates him, but he uses this opportunity to stab the monster in it's elbow joint.
A dark green liquid spills from the injury but it does not release it's grip around his neck. He tries to stab at it again and again but nothing changes. Desepesrate, he tries to kick it but he only hurts himself.
"GO ! NOW !" he screams, desesperate. Maybe if the rest of the group is out, it would lose interest ? Sadly, it's not what happens.
In an instant, the monster's free hand pierces Armando's chest, sending blood flying everywhere. Everyone is frozen in shock. What just happened ? They have to do something, right ?
"Go…" says Armando weakly as life starts to leave his eyes.
The Dungeonauts are ready to defy their leader's final order, trying to go rescue him but the Mercenaries grab them as they start to climb the stairs.
"There's nothing we can do for him ! Let's not waste his sacrifice !" yells Captain George as he grabs Silver by the collar and pulls him up the stairs.
Silver can only watch in horror as his friend is impaled on a monster's arm and there's nothing he can do about it. His eyes are filled with tears and anger as he locks eyes with the monster one last time, or at least that's what it looks like to him.
They all see Armando dying as they ascend until the gruesome scene disappears from view.
They have reached the 7th floor.
"We can't rest now !" announces Captain George as he releases Silver. "We're not out yet."
He is right; they have to continue their escape, but how ? Silver and Lin are in terrible shape, and all the Dungeonauts are destroyed emotionally; they barely managed to climb the stairs.
After a second to realize what just happened, Lin let out a powerful scream full of pain and anger. After all, he was the one who knew Armando for the longest. He spits some blood as he stops and simply lays there, on his knees, crying.
Sarah tries to erase the dizziness inflicted by the attack, mad at herself for being consistently knocked out during the whole expedition. She concentrates her mana to heal herself but it seems like she hurt her back real bad when she was thrown.
V tries to get back up but falls almost immediately, still reeling from the attack, but at this point she is the only one still able to move. And they need to because nothing can tell when another monster's attack will be coming.
After a few minutes, the Mercenaries help the Dungeonauts back up and they start to advance. At this point any monster attack could be fatal.
"If only we didn't have to bring those containers up..." grunts Captain George. They could have just used return stones if that was the case, but alas.
Suddenly, a screech puts everyone on high alert. The advance to see the back of a group of Lizaster blocking their way.
"Fuck"
That was the only word everyone could muster as they saw the group of monsters in front of them. But weirdly, they didn't seem interested in them. A few flashes of energy seem to indicate that the monsters were already fighting against Dungeonauts.
Finally, a light of hope !