World Keeper - Chapter 819: A New Challenger

A group of white-skinned individuals clad in various types of armor stared at the five shining stars above the entrance to the dungeon before them. They knew that this would be their big test, their chance to make history and be the ‘first’ to break through the ultimate trial set forth by the God of Monsters. Behind the six individuals were two slimes, one black and the other silver, who seemed to be standing by as support.

“Have we confirmed what the domain for this rotation is?” The team leader asked, looking around at the other five people of his group. He was a tall individual, standing a head and shoulders above the rest of the group

The one that answered him was a more diminutive female wearing a long, black robe. “According to the reports, the word written on the door today is Fire.”

The man’s face distorted at that, before he shook his head. “An elemental challenge…” Although nobody had ever successfully passed the five-star challenges and returned, that they were aware of, they had faced smaller threats of various degrees in the four-star dungeon to prepare them for this. In doing so, they were aware that elemental challenges were among the most difficult to face. “Even so, we can’t wait around for a favorable rotation.”

After saying that, he turned back to look at the pair of slimes standing behind them. “Jorfa, please take care of the enchantments with this domain in mind.”

The silver slime seemed to nod, its figure shifting to become more discernibly humanoid. The voice that came out was almost feminine and soft. “If we are dealing with fire, then I will pay special attention to everyone’s armor.”

The slime’s arms stretched out, strands of magic seeming to spread from it in all directions. These strands twisted and converged on the group of challengers, attaching to their armors and robes. “I cannot promise complete protection, so I would advise everyone to dodge when the option is available.”

The leader of the nethrak nodded his head, looking at the black slime. “You’ll be in charge of keeping Jorfa safe until the end of the fight. We won’t be able to focus on defending the two of you, understand?”

The black slime gave a solemn nod. “Got it. I won’t let anything happen to her as long as I’m around.”

The nethrak smiled, turning towards the door. “In that case, let’s make history.” As he said that, he walked forward, placing his hand on the door itself and pushing. Being the leader of the strongest dungeoneering group of the nethrak, he was an incredibly strong person himself, the door seeming to fly open at his touch.

Inside, he could see a sea of flames, a serpentine figure resting within the fire. His free hand clutched onto the axe at his side, tensing up before striding forward. Once the group was fully inside, the door closed behind them, slamming shut and seeming to seal itself. Clearly, they were not going to be able to leave as easily as they entered.

Once the door had closed, the serpent seemed to raise its head, stirring from its slumber. Its eyes focused on the eight challengers, a fierce glint visible in its gaze. Almost immediately, the sea of flames raged high, engulfing the entire area. However, these flames were within the level that could be defended against by Jorfa’s enchantments, so the nethrak only felt a minor increase in temperature.

“Let’s go!” The leader shouted, hoisting his axe onto his shoulder before charging forward. The ground cracked beneath his feet as his ki filled his body, his blood boiling from the excitement of the challenge before him.

Behind him, the diminutive robed female held her arms out in front of her, chanting a runic spell. Concentric circles rose over her head, slowly filling in with numerous arcane markings. From her arms, icy blasts surged forward, striking at the serpent. And over her head, the concentric rings released pulses of chilling wind to fight against the sea of flame.

The serpent largely ignored the icy blasts racing towards it, allowing its aura of flame to destroy that attack. Its gaze focused on the large brute charging towards it, its mouth opening slightly as a sphere of fire condensed within its jaws.

“I think not.” A voice suddenly spoke from beneath the serpent’s head. One of the other nethrak, clad in tight black wraps, had silently appeared beneath its jaws. The nethrak’s foot came up, kicking its jaw closed while his hands came together repeatedly, forming a number of odd signs.

Chakra rose up around the body of the ninja nethrak, forming into threads that tied shut the serpent’s mouth. For the first time in this encounter, the serpent actually appeared surprised. The flames covering its body burned brighter, hot enough that the ninja had to retreat back to avoid injury.

As he did so, he passed by the charging leader, who gave a small nod of acknowledgement. The leader’s axe possessed an eerie, dark glow as it was swung, drawing a black line behind the blade. This black line tore through the flames around the monster, cutting deeply into its scales.

No blood emerged from their enemy, briefly startling them. Instead, a golden mist seemed to be released in place of blood. “Is it an energy type, as well?” The mage asked in surprise, feeling that the difficulty of this raid had spiked even higher

Another female nethrak, this one with green robes, nodded her head and held her staff forward. “That seems to be the case. You focus on dealing with the flames, and I’ll keep Hal standing.” As she said that, her staff lit up, an additional barrier being created over the skin of their leader.

The final two nethrak each wielded large bows, running to opposite sides of the arena to find advantageous firing positions while the monster was distracted. Seeing everyone working together like this, Hal couldn’t be happier. His ki quickened, his muscles bulging as he went in for another swing.

All.. things… burn! The words seemed to echo in the minds of the challengers, a manifestation of the serpent’s will. The sea of flames seemed to vanish, the fire instead attaching itself directly to the bodies of the eight challengers.

Jorfa let out a startled cry as her body was set alight, the black slime immediately wrapping his form around her to consume the flame. As the black slime was a void breed, he was able to directly consume most forms of attacks, so long as he was focused on doing so.

The two archers grit their teeth as they were burned, but soon found their firing position. Each one drew a silver arrow from their quiver, nocking it on a golden string that appeared from their gesture. When these arrows were set loose, spirals of energy trailed behind them.

The serpent’s attention was immediately drawn towards these arrows, as if seeing them as more dangerous than the black lines released by the brute. The arrows burned in flight, yet were not entirely destroyed before they could strike at the creature’s sides. Each arrow pierced entirely through the monster, coming out on opposite sides as it let out a pained screech.

“I don’t know how long we can hold out with these flames.” The black-robed mage said through gritted teeth as she focused on another spell. While she had been dealing with the sea of fire relatively easily before, this new attack was far harder for her to handle. Still, she began another chant, seven arcane circles rotating around her body.

“Trust me, I know.” The other caster said, sweat beading down her brow. She lifted her staff, striking it into the ground. “I am the gentle healer, my words soothing the hearts and minds of those at my side.” A green circle appeared at her feet, slowly spreading outwards as arcane patterns filled it.

“Chill the wind, snuff the flame, and cool the mind. Gather and converge on one point, and become the force that shatters all in your path.” From the green circle, a frozen mist rose up, lessening the effects of the flame while gathering into a sphere in front of the healer’s body.

With her pain lessened, the black-robed mage was able to focus more easily on her runic chants. Each of the seven circles around her flew out, covering one of the other challengers. Once covered by the circle, the flames around them all but extinguished. Instead, the woman’s arms began crackling with energy, heat being converted into electrical force.

Both casters launched their attacks at the same time, beams of lightning and ice pouring out towards the serpent. At the same time, the ninja seemed to have completed his next action as well, slapping his hands on the scorched ground. Large hands of stone rose from the ground, gripping the body of the serpent to prevent it from dodging the two blasts of the mages.

The serpent’s cries turned more and more tragic as the two attacks struck its body. Although it was most certainly a god, it had been inactive for far too long, leaving it unable to display the true dignity of a monster god. Its attack pattern was simple, albeit still powerful. Facing this group of nethrak that had trained themselves to their limits, its health was constantly whittling away.

This battle raged on for over ten minutes, the flames growing more and more intense as time passed. In the end, the serpent let out one final attack. Its eyes gave a brilliant glow, thin lines of energy shooting out at an incredible speed. Its target was the ninja that had acted to restrain it at every move, preventing it from releasing its full power.

The attack had come too suddenly, everyone focusing on keeping Hal alive. Thus, the beams of energy struck the ninja square in the chest, causing his eyes to go wide in shock. He had been in the middle of preparing another restriction, and hadn’t had time to dodge. A single, gaping hole was torn through his chest, causing him to fall lifelessly to the ground.

The white-robed healer grit her teeth, knowing that there was nothing that she could do. Although her healing powers were indeed impressive, she was incapable of reviving the dead for more than a few seconds after they passed. And given the situation, it was clear that the serpent would not give her the freedom to do that without being disturbed.

With the ninja taken care of, the serpent was able to act more freely, yet was still very clearly on the losing end of this bout. Having used up so much of its energy on that singular attack, it was only a matter of time before it fell.

After the monster god fell, the flames rapidly began to extinguish from the area. The creature’s body was covered in holes and scars, golden mist constantly leaking from it. However, none of the challengers had the ability to spare it any attention. They gathered around the body of their fallen friend, Hal gripping his axe’s handle as he looked at the healer. “Can you…?”

The healer knew that it was pointless, but still made her attempt. She grabbed her staff, striking it to the ground. “I’ll try… I am the gentle healer, my words soothing the hearts and minds of those around me. Restore, revive, cleanse away that which has brought you harm. Knit, flow, regrow, return the body to what it once was.”

A green spell diagram appeared around the ninja’s body, and the burns within the hole began to fade. Bones began growing back into place, muscles knitting themselves together. Eventually, fresh skin could be seen covering the wound. Once that was done, the healer dropped to her knees, two fingers pressing against the man’s neck. “He’s alive…” She muttered, before her eyes began to shine with a faint blue light. “But… his spirit hasn’t returned to his body.”

Although she was a druid who had advanced to the point where she could influence the bodies of others, and could weave that into her elementalist magic, she lacked the spiritual training to bind a fallen soul back into the body it once inhabited. She knew that combining all three powers together would allow her the power of true resurrection, but she had long learned that she was simply not cut out for spiritual training of that caliber.