Book 4: Chapter 42

Cheers quieted down as the previous fighters left the arena, and Terry took a seat next to Ernest, still rubbing his head.

Without wasting a moment, Soohyun made her way into the arena, followed only a couple of steps behind by Erdek, the goblin queen.

Aaron whistled, and Talia cheered for Soohyun, though she didn’t even turn to acknowledge it. Her focus was laser-guided on Erdek.

Soohyun’s style wasn’t overly flashy; it had never been, not since the Integration started. But it was powerful. And in her mind, she was considering her enemy.

She had seen Erdek use similar tactics to some of the bosses on the previous floor. The goblin had used her gimp bodyguards to work on defense as she focused on the attack. And without them, Soohyun felt confident that if she hit hard and fast, she could break through whatever defenses Erdek had.

But it was obvious that the goblin queen was thinking through the fight just as much. Erdek stopped before entering the arena and drank some foul, bubbling tonic. She then stretched, and her mana seemed to catch alight. And it felt like it was bursting out of her body to Aaron’s senses, like her mana itself was about to set everything on fire.

She’s taking this fight seriously.

Taking a position opposite Soohyun, Erdek looked to the ground and raised a fist. “Gobbo, gobbo, gobbo. Oi, oi, oi!”

The handful of goblins in the crowd joined her cheer, even though they weren’t actually her followers.

“Goblin pride, huh?” Aaron commented. "It has a familiar tune."

“Are you ready?” Soohyun said, pointing her massive sword at Erdek. “Or do you need more time?”

“Haha. You funny, humy. Mes about to smear your pretty little face on the ground!”

“We’ll see,” Soohyun said, stretching out her arms.

A second later, the dong sounded, and the round began.

Immediately, Soohyun jumped atop her sword like a surfboard and shot straight toward Erdek. It all happened very quickly, and the moment she reached the goblin, she swung around her massive blade and took the hilt in both hands, as she flung herself into a somersault, turning her sword into a spinning blade as she brought it down upon the goblin.

Erdek, on the other hand, didn’t even move. But the moment Soohyun’s blade neared within inches of her, something activated. A loud, resounding bang blasted out, and the massive sword clung against empty air, sending a powerful shockwave blasting outward that sent Soohyun flying back.

Before Soohyun could even find her footing, Erdek went on the offense. Swirling her feather and bone-decorated staff about, the goblin called forth fire and sent a rain of fireballs shooting toward her.

The massive, roaring infernos were fast. Much faster than one might imagine a shooting fireball. And

[ Pinpoint Accuracy ]

told Aaron exactly how fast. He was impressed, even if he knew that he himself could dodge them.

Soohyun dodged the fireball, flying out of its way atop her sword, but was forced to block the second, and the power of it was something to behold. The fireball wasn’t just extraordinarily hot flames. It also contained incredible force, and when it hit the flat of her blade, it sent Soohyun hurtling backward and slamming into the far wall of the arena.

And she didn’t even get more than a second to recalibrate, as several more fireballs were already shooting toward her.

But Soohyun wasn’t so easily bested, and she drew on stupid amounts of Stamina, pooling it into her hands, and then, in an instant, it all came flooding out as she swung her massive sword down.

It was simple, but it was a true ultimate attack. The Stamina empowered her strength to godly proportions, and when that raw power swung down with her huge weapon, it created an incredible force, one powerful enough to cut straight through the first fireball, which in turn exploded, and set off a reaction that blew apart several other fireballs.

Unfortunately, they exploded with incredible heat, and debris of flames that burned through anything they touched. Soohyun found herself doused in the flames, and burns and wounds quickly covered her skin.

Gritting her teeth, she ignored the pain and shot straight back toward the goblin. Even if she could break through her attacks with raw power, it was clear that she wasn’t winning this fight at range.

But before she reached the goblin queen, a wall of flames erupted around her, forcing Soohyun to halt her attack. And through them, more fireballs shot out.

The attack was relentless. But based on his calculations, and the ridiculous amount of mana Erdek was throwing into her fireballs, Aaron had a feeling Soohyun could still win if only she could hold out a bit longer.

Again, Soohyun cut through the first fireball, but less than a second later, another exploded nearby, and the shockwave blasted her across the arena.

Even though she hadn’t yet taken a direct hit, the burns were getting bad, and another wave of fireballs was already crashing down upon her.

Powerful, but reckless. She’s draining mana fast. Or perhaps that was just her strategy for beating Soohyun?

Aaron mused as more incredible power shot out of the goblin.

Seconds later, Soohyun’s struggle came to an end. It was just too much and too relentless. Made worse by the fact that Erdek had shut Soohyun’s own offense down early. And it was painfully clear that despite her impressive power, Soohyun needed better defensive techniques to take Erdek on, and as smoke filled the arena, a fireball slammed straight into Soohyun, instantly frying her to a charcoal crisp.

“Bah!” Soohyun gasped seconds later as she reappeared on her knees beside the arena.

“BAHAH! Told ya, humy!” Erdek roared with laughter as she left the arena. “Two for two! Don’t you pink skins go gettin’ too confident. We’s strong too! And we’s proved it!”

Through the corner of his eye, Aaron noticed Ernest put a hand on Terry’s shoulder as the big man’s face went red.

Still playing diplomatic, huh?

Without a word, Talia had rushed straight over to Soohyun, patting her on the back, and offering a hand. But Soohyun didn’t take it, jumping straight back to her feet.

“I’m fine. Really. It’s just the initial dizziness. It’s already wearing off,” Soohyun insisted.

“Are you sure? I have a potion that might help.”

“No, you keep it. I’m fine. Really.”

“You fought well, Soohyun,” Aaron said, arriving not long after. “You know, I reckon you had it if you could’ve held on a little longer.”

“Thanks…” Soohyun seemed to appreciate his words, although it didn’t seem like she completely agreed.

“Alrighty,” Ernest said, clearing his throat. “We had our fun. No more complaints. The team’s picked. Let’s get a drink and then get back to important matters.”

Although there were a few who didn’t love Erdek’s gloating, none challenged it, and everyone quickly shuffled out of the dueling chambers.

It was clear Ernest just wanted to get back to discussing other matters, as he was trying to herd everyone over to the same table and pushing drinks into those who looked a little bitter, hoping to calm moods.

But the moment they were near the bar, they spotted a friendly face.

“Hey! Aaron, Talia!” Elmira waved from the bar with bottles in her hands. Her cheeks were rosy red, and she looked rather wobbly.

“How much did she manage to drink in that time?” Talia said in disbelief.

At D-grade, getting drunk was even harder than E-grade. Which hadn’t been easy. And so to see her in such a state so quickly was rather surprising. But the next second, they watched as she finished an entire bottle of some kind of murky spirit. Whatever the drink was, it definitely was not from Earth, and likely much stronger than anything they were used to.

“Don’t worry,” she grinned deviously as she pulled something out of her storage. “I got this.”

Between her fingers, Elmira waved a potion of recovery. And then promptly dropped it, and it smashed against the ground.

“Don’t worry!” Elmira said. “I got plenty. Let me get another!”

“It’s fine, no need to prove anything!” Aaron said.

“She’s gonna be a fun one tonight!” Terry chuckled as he passed by. And Aaron was actually a little relieved. It seemed his awkward misunderstanding had at least calmed Terry down.

“See this,” Elmira continued, pulling out another potion. “Down this bad boy, and I’ll be back to normal in seconds. Ready to smash you in the dungeon.”

“You’re using potions so you can get drunk? That’s probably something you should save for the dungeon,” Talia said.

“Eh! A girl’s got to have some fun. Besides, we got plenty,” Elmira’s eyes went wide. “Pentival’s alchemists basically filled up our entire storage with all kinds of potions. Dunno what half of them even are.”

“Must be nice to basically have an industrialised state behind you,” Aaron groaned, although he had plenty of his own food.

But their conversation was cut short as the screens above started to flash. It was Voidrin’s group, and they had just defeated the dungeon floor.

Only a short moment later, they appeared in the interval room, led by a boisterous Voidrin, grinning from ear to ear.

“There you slackers are!” Voidrin said, pointing as he spotted them at the bar. “Don’t go thinking this means anything. Y’know, I’m still gonna win this thing!” he continued, marching over as he wagged a finger at them.

“Good to see you could make it,” Aaron said.

“Make it? Of course I did! Hey, pal. This is the greatest warrior in the multiverse you’re talking to!”

But before Voidrin could even reach them, a fast-moving figure came up from behind him, pushing the cyclops aside as they burst out in front of the trio.

She was beautiful. A fair-skinned maiden in flowing red robes, with a deadly glare and long raven hair. She carried a magnificently crafted spear, and it looked like she was staring into Elmira’s soul.

“You,” she said, pointing at Elmira.

*Hic*

“Huh?” Came Elmira’s half-lidded response. “Who are you supposed to be?”

*Hic*

“Don’t play dumb! You work for him, don’t you?

“Me?” Elmira looked around. “Huh? Who do I work for?” She continued, squinting as if she were struggling to look at the woman.

“Pentival!”

“Oh, Pentival? Yep! That’s me!”

“Good! Now I know your face. If we meet on the battlefield, I will take your head.” And just like that, Red Song swung around and stormed off, followed closely behind by her monks.

“Who the fuck was…” Aaron muttered, more confused than anything else.

Elmira just sat there blinking for a moment. “I have no idea.”

“Ohoh. Red Song is your enemy, huh? Hilarious!” Voidrin laughed, smacking his thighs. “We’ve been fighting a bit back on our world. She’s a good sport. I must say, I love a little drama. So, what is it between you two?”

“Got no idea,” Elmira said. “Pentival said something about his god, though. About rivals?”

*Hic*

“This is gonna be fun,” Voidrin grinned, rubbing his hands together.

“Pentival has rivals? Because of Lenriel?” Aaron asked.

“I think?”

*Hic*

“Maybe that’s why he was so insistent…”

“These gods really do have a way of dragging us mortals into their little schemes, don’t they?” Talia said.

Aaron sighed internally. Talia was likely right. It was obvious that multiple participants in this dungeon had been given instructions from their patron gods to win the dungeon and whatever came next.

Maybe he didn’t need to become part of whatever was going on. Yendal certainly didn’t seem to be involved. But if Lenriel really did rule as much of the multiverse as he claimed, Aaron had a feeling there was no escaping whatever was going on.

But what exactly did that mean for their future?

It was beyond obvious that there were some serious drawbacks to having a patron god like Yendal. And as good as her training was, it was obvious that she had a habit of not sharing too many details with him.

I really gotta speak with Oozagh when I get the chance…

And with that thought, Aaron put figuring out a way to establish contact with the ogre god from his world on high priority.

“Hey, you two!” Ernest snapped his fingers and waved at them. “Y’all planning on joining us anytime this century?”

“Give us a moment,” Aaron said to Elmira and Voidrin, although Elmira had already turned her attention to another bottle. “We got some things to discuss with our team.”