Too Stubborn to Die

Aaron looked across at the other champions, preparing for what would come next, but was taken off guard when he sensed a familiar energy.

“Woof!”

He swung around, face brightening up in an instant as the white, furry figure leaped toward him.

“There you are! I was starting to wonder where you got off to!” Aaron said, scruffing his fur. “Are you alright, boy? The System treating you okay?”

“Woof, woof!”

“Alright, alright. Calm down. I missed you too.”

Aaron patted Zero as he tried to pull the massive wolf off him, letting it lap up his hands, and pulled out some meat from his storage for Zero.

“Enjoy. I’m totally not running low on food supplies or anything… oh, at least you’re happy.”

“Woof!”

“So, what happened anyway? I guess the System didn’t have space for you on the chessboard, huh?”

“Woof!”

“I see. Well, I hope it wasn’t too lonely in there. Glad to have you back by my side. Might need you for this next one.”

“Woof, woof!”

“Ha, me too, mate. Me too. Well, let’s go give them hell, then, shall we?”

“Woof!”

“Okay, okay. I like your spirit, but there’s no need to go all Talia on me.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Talia snapped, cross-armed and glaring.

“Oh, nothing. Zero was just getting a little too excited.”

“Hmph. You watch it, Aaron. I’m not like your little harem. We’re friends.”

“Harem? What? You don’t believe the stuff Goliath said? I don’t have a harem. I’m just a fella trying to survive."

“Well, he did make some interesting points,” Talia said, looking at the others in their group. “Maybe I read you wrong.”

“You tell him, Talia,” Elmira added. “I think he got the wrong idea.”

“What? You’re not serious, are you?”

“Do not try to dilute my bloodline, Aaron,” Lord Draxas interrupted. “We don’t care how powerful you are. Although that one… we could make an exception,” the kobold drifted off, staring longingly across to the other platform where Casryn the Red stood.

I’m going to seriously need to clear the air after this is all said and done.

“Let’s get serious,” Aaron snapped his fingers. “We’ve got a dungeon to survive. And I don’t see any extraction zones.”

“I’m just fucking with you,” Talia said, and started to laugh, and was quickly joined by Elmira.

“Great. You’re in on it too,” Aaron shook his head, but he had to admit, it was a little funny.

Welcome to the final floor of the dungeon!

Are you ready for a boss fight?

WARNING! This is your final chance to earn additional auction points; use it wisely. You never know what might be available in the auction house!

Now prepare yourselves!

Below, four great challenges have been delicately constructed for each quadrant to overcome. Your strengths and weaknesses have been taken into account.

Prove yourselves, and overcome this challenge.

Performance will also dictate what groups you begin the Nexus Tournament in.

WARNING! The consequences of today will affect more than just yourself.

Good luck, you’ll need it.

Elevator music began to play, and the platforms jolted as they began to descend.

“So, that sounds like we all have our own bosses to defeat?” Talia said.

“Hmm, it would make sense,” Elmira agreed. “Dungeons are supposed to have a boss, aren’t they?”

“And there are more points up for grabs,” Aaron said. “We beat our boss first, and I have a feeling we’ll be richly rewarded.”

“You and me, A-ran,” Mo’han fist bumped. “Let's show this boss what we are capable of.”

“Careful now,” Voidrin said. “Don’t want to go disappointing intergalactic gamblers again, do ya, pal?”

“You’re enjoying this too much, Voidrin,” Aaron said.

The clouds disappeared as they passed down into a tunnel, losing sight of the other platforms.

“Officially separated,” Elmira said.

“Could you all stop talking?” Mala huffed.

They did stop talking. Mostly because they wanted to prevent infighting. It was clear Mala was hardly an ally, but as long as the System was putting them on the same team, they had to find some common ground.

They continued down for some time, lowered into a dark, dank, and rocky dungeon floor. The platform game to a halt, and the group stepped off.

“A dungeon within a dungeon?” Aaron said, looking around at the cobweb-covered walls and dangling chains.

“Looks like it.”

Interrupting them as they looked around, Mala stopped across the chamber, shaking the ground under her hooves. She was back to normal size, and the old dungeon felt like it was about to collapse under her weight.

“MA-LA! Come, let us crush this enemy together!” Mo’han cheered as he went after her. “The minstrels will sing ballads of our performance!”

“No, do not follow me, purple man! I am not your ally. And certainly not allies with those humans over there. I have calmed enough to focus on this dungeon. But that doesn’t change what has happened. Whatever is ahead, I will deal with it myself.”

Unlawfully taken from NovelFire, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

She then crashed straight through a brick wall, crumbling it around her, and continuing on, making bricks and debris fall all around with each heavy step she took.

“Ookay, that probably could have gone better. Not that I’m surprised,” Aaron said.

“We should let her go,” Talia said. “Losing one of our strongest isn’t ideal, but at least she isn’t attacking us.”

“Second that,” Elmira said.

“We do not need the hairy one. Lord Draxas will devise a devious plan, and we shall reign supreme in our universe!”

“We’re not seriously letting Lord Draxas make our plans, are we?” Aaron said.

“I gotcha, pal,” Voidrin snapped his fingers. “Here’s what we’re—”

“Soft skin still mad we turned you down?!” Lord Draxas snapped.

“Enough!” Ikran hissed. “No more games. We all saw those other elites on the other platforms. That was a warning from the System. Even if we do not care for the extra points, we’re going to want favorable match-ups in the tournament. That means not coming last.”

“Didn’t think you had so many words in ya, pal. But the squid is right,” Voidrin said. “No more games. You,” he snapped his fingers at Elmira. “I’ve seen your runes. They're pretty handy. You are on defense. I want you to create a safety zone at our rear, and our ogre friend will be your backup. Keep the human safe, would ya? If anyone runs low on energy, or needs to heal some wounds, they’re going to need somewhere to do it.”

Everyone nodded, seemingly accepting Voidrin as the party planner.

“Good. You, Aaron’s girlfriend. Y’know what to do. Keep out of sight, and keep to the shadows. Looks for weak spots to strike.”

“Hey, I’m not—”

“Ikran, pal, you do your thing too. You can be everywhere. I want you hunting the squishies. Anything you think you can take out quickly, do it. Aaron here will be our tank, obviously. And Mo’man, you go for whatever looks strongest. Meanwhile, myself and Mandor will hold the center.”

“What about us?” Lord Draxas said.

“Oh, right. You can ride the wolf or something.”

“Woof!”

“I don’t think Zero likes that plan.”

“You underestimate us, one eye! We are the brains of this operation.”

“Fine. Do your trap thing, I suppose. Just keep out of my way.”

“AH! Such insolence!”

Voidrin ignored Lord Draxas’ complaints and took a step forward. “Shall we?”

The party moved on, following the cyclops' instructions. Lord Draxas huffed away for a while, but eventually let it go when Ikran threatened to kick them out of the group.

As they walked on, the dungeon quickly gave way to fortress ruins. The entire place was crumbling around them, and soon they spotted darkness between the broken walls.

“What is that?” Talia pointed. “Pure darkness?”

They kept walking and came across entire sections of missing wall. And beyond it was empty space—darkness, stars, and the endless expanse.

“What the?”

“Aren’t we supposed to be in a dungeon?”

“Keep your guard up.”

The path snaked through the galactic expanse, some parts completely devoid of walls, just a stone path winding through the darkness of space. Furthermore, when they reached out, they felt a strange energy.

“I think we should keep to the path,” Talia said. “This darkness… it’s wrong.”

“Agreed,” Voidirn nodded.

“What type of battlefield is this cursed place?” Mo’han huffed.

“Haha. Like my redecorations?" came a laughing voice that seemed to echo from all around.

“Who is that?” Aaron asked the air.

“Just the one I was looking for. You’re the one who dares defy my disciple, aren’t you? And worse, you come with his servants in tow. I can smell his stench on them.”

“Who-who is that?”

“Haha. Oh, I think you know who I am. You see, times they are a-changing. But there is still so much that needs to be done.”

“Don’t tell me…”

“You figured it out? Not even the System can completely hold me out any longer. I would not usually bother with such insects as yourselves, but my cards are not yet all lined up. And for that reason, I really must have my disciple succeed.”

“Wait, are you… are you talking about Darius, aren’t you?” Aaron asked.

“You are perceptive, aren’t you? So, you do know who I am. He has an important mission, as do my other disciples. Perhaps I made a mistake, though. I can smell it on you, too. But you have been tainted by another. Unfortunately, that forces my hand. As impressive as you are, your story ends, like all stories do eventually. In death. It is inevitable, as am I. For death comes for all eventually.”

“What have you dragged us into?” Aaron yelled. “Leave us out of whatever you gods are scheming!”

“Unfortunately, it is too late for that. You wouldn’t understand. Though I do wish you could have reached godhood. You’d have been a tantalizing kill. Oh well. Soon, the order put in place by the Sovereign will have been undone, and things will return to how they are supposed to be. Goodbye now.”

The moment the voice stopped speaking, eyes lit up around the starry void, and a deathly energy flooded out from all around.

“This... is—” Talia coughed. “So thick!”

“It’s suffocating,” Elmira gripped at her neck. “I can barely breathe.”

“This is… aether, but it’s corrupted?” Aaron muttered, brow furrowed as he tried to sense the aether.

“I feel… heavy,” Mo’han said. “This is… different.”

This was not the same aether Aaron was used to. He couldn’t decipher what had been done to it, but somehow, the Death God had corrupted it, and he could already feel his companions struggling against the thick, deathly miasma.

But not Aaron. It was undoubtedly different from his aether, but was still aether, and Aaron was still a shinigami. He had changed when he took his racial evolution, even if his appearance hadn’t. And now, he was one with aether, even if it was a corrupted version of it.

“Hang on, everyone,” He said, trying to decide what to do.

So much for Voidrin’s planning. A couple of them had already fallen to their knees and were struggling just to stand. Their auras had also weakened. Even Mo’han was different.

The asura was strong, but he was still D-grade. Even though the Death God clearly wasn’t in the dungeon, he was a peak god and was more than capable of dealing with some weak D-grades.

Not that Aaron was about to give up. His fists clenched. If he had to carry the lion’s share of the burden, then so be it. He was going to finish this dungeon.

Then, all at once, hundreds of undead poured out from the darkness, closing the distance between them in seconds.

“Back up!” Aaron roared as he flung himself at the charging horde.

He didn’t actually believe that they had been transported somewhere. He had a feeling it was the aether playing tricks on them, causing some kind of illusion, as the skeletons and zombies were running straight across the starry expanse.

He crashed through the first wave with ease, destroying their attackers with every fist he threw, but there seemed to be an endless army of them. He heard explosions and saw flashes as Skills were activated by his party, taking out the ones that got past him.

But they were weakening by the second, and there was no end in sight to the undead.

Somehow the Death God had hijacked their dungeon boss, and things were quickly turning from bad to worse. The undead were climbing out from the dark all around, and attacking at their flanks.

We can't stay here!

“Get back. Back to the dungeon passage we walked through! I’ll hold the front from there!”

It was a fighting retreat, and while the undead they faced were not currently that strong, he could sense his party’s power draining fast. Perhaps the Death God was unable to bring strong minions into the dungeon against the System, but he probably didn’t need to with his deathly aether.

Aaron did his best to hold them back as the other retreated into the tunnels, blasting them with excessive power.

But the undead cared little about their deaths. Wave after wave crashed into them, sapping their strength. Weakening his already struggling comrades. Draining them with each clash, but they did it. They reached the dungeon passages, sluggishly moving on exhausted legs.

“Lord Draxas can’t… can’t move.”

Voidrin appeared from the mist, grabbed the trenchcoat, and threw the kobold into the passage.

“Everyone is in.”

Mo’han wasn’t, though. He stood beside Aaron, defiant as ever.

“Get in, Mo’han. The aether is affecting you too.”

“No way, A-ran. We do this together.”

Mo’han wasn’t himself, but he was still powerful.

“Fine, dammit! Fuck it. Let’s send these bloody bastards back to hell!”

The dungeon tunnel was a reprieve, but how long could they stand against the endless waves of undead? And what if there was still a boss beyond it?

Aaron gritted his teeth as he met the next wave with destructive fury.

Did he know how they were going to escape from this predicament? No. But he was going to try all the same.

And it kind of pissed him off that this damned Death God had gone and decided the fate of his entire world.

Fuck that.

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