Chapter 206

Natalie and her team were much stronger than the typical group of level twos, but they weren’t invulnerable. The dungeon was venting its outrage at their so-called ‘transgression’—stealing Malice, a prized soul, from it.

Even bolstered by four other harried delvers, and Malice’s arrival, the fight that broke out was chaotic. To say the least. The pack of five hulking obsidian wolves slammed into them, and it was a frenzy immediately.

Natalie was already exhausted from her fight against Malice. Presumably, Jordan and the rest weren’t in their best fighting shape either. And against five enraged monsters, each of them nearly a miniboss in their own right?

It was a bloodbath. The most genuinely concerning combat they’d been in thus far, without question. Natalie could hardly keep the attention of all five by herself—though she did, thankfully, keep two. Malice kept another; Jordan and Sofia the fourth. The four rescued delvers occupied the fifth, having broken off and quickly formed their own sub-party. Maybe they weren’t the best fighters ever, but they were at least somewhat trained. Even bringing the fight down from five to four was a huge relief.

Finally, the frenzy started to recede, with Jordan and Sofia killing the first, then moving to help other sub-parties, a cascade of victory following. But while the group of ten were left panting and alive, each of them was bloodied, no one spared, all ten of their health pools dangerously low. Natalie looked around, nearly incredulous that they had won without any fatal injuries. Definitely injuries, but none fatal.

She especially was in poor condition, but Liz’s regeneration was working away at patching up the worst of it. A quaffed health potion too. The healer looked faint as she alone continued to cast spells after the frenzied fight, her work not over.

Then the ground rumbled, and another series of howls ripped through the air, their source unknown.

“More?” Natalie asked.

“I think,” Sofia said, panting. “That it’s time we run for our lives.”

Natalie hated running from a fight, for obvious reasons; she would much rather stand her ground. Running wasn’t even usually a smart idea. It left their backs exposed, a terrible vulnerability in the dungeon.

But as one howl turned into two, three, and four?

Another encounter, of similar difficulty, when they’d very nearly died handling the first?

“Agreed,” Natalie said.

Leah and her team stood nervously outside the boss chamber, throwing concerned looks toward the arched doorway.

“It should be over by now, right?” Leah asked.

“Who knows?” Adam said. “It’s not like boss fights are consistent.” He frowned at the entrance despite his words. “Plus,” he added, “they might just be taking their time looting.”

“I guess,” Leah mumbled. “I’m just worried.”

To their side, Elliot snorted. “You kidding? You saw what I did, didn’t you? They cleared a path here without breaking a sweat. The boss isn’t going to be anything to them.”

That was true, she supposed. Still, it was her brother’s life on the line. And what if they won, but didn’t find their missing teammates? That was another major concern.

Abruptly, Leah’s nerves were put to rest. The entrance doorway to the boss room slammed open, and, shocked, Leah watched a flood of people pour out. Ten of them. Natalie and her team leading the charge, though also mixed in, Leah’s teammates. Namely, a sight that shot through her like lightning: Will, her brother. Alive.

Leah almost couldn’t process everything she saw. Joined in with those two groups was also, bizarrely, a woman with dark gray skin, dressed in skimpy armor not dissimilar to Natalie’s. She had wild orange eyes, and she was bleeding profusely—though she seemed, nonsensically, excited, thrilled by whatever had given her the wounds.

And she wasn’t alone in her injuries. Nearly everyone was bleeding. Natalie, probably since she was the frontline, was in an especially bad condition. Leah’s eyes were drawn immediately to her stomach, where five gruesome red lines were etched into her skin. Even with health potions and healing, that might leave a scar.