41 C41 Ten Floors Of Insanity

Twenty-Ninth of New Coming of the Year 997 - Capital City of the Vortex - Halls Of The Damned, Ninth Floor.

Bones clattering across the floor, the loud yelling as a mace swung in an arc as it collided with the bones of a massive minotaur. The beast scattered across the floor in a matter of moments as several other creatures moved in to take its place. Four alive individuals backed against a wall as a hoard of undead creatures stood against them.

The twins on either side of Azo as Bull stood forward as he stopped any creature from coming closer, the sweat, wounds and exhaustion evident as they continued to fight this never-ending battle. The amount of death magic in the area causing that undead that had scattered to pull back together before standing and marching forward again slowly.

"Hey Brother, It's getting pretty hot in here, are you done with that playboy ring to give me a helping hand or are you just gonna play around!"

Bull deflected another blow as he had to hold his own against this hoard by himself, the chanting in the background making him slightly nervous as he could tell that this was going to be a long cast.

Several Vampire bats slowly ascended above the crowd, beginning to advance to try and attack those that had entered into this lair, before they could even get past the front line, several arrows landed and skewered this flying undead monsters. Each one falling apart as a few more appeared behind those that had fallen.

Both twins holding the sides as the had to keep killing the flying and smaller undead with pinpoint accuracy, while Bull held the main bulk with just his frame alone. Azo still chanting as he held the ring out, Seventh Tier magic was the most extended form and took almost four minutes to cast for him, which was very impressive as the standard quick cast time was roughly ten minutes.

Bull getting pushed back with each charge, arrows flying as the quivers started to become empty as the situation was turning from desperation to frenzy as everyone fought tooth and nail to beat back these undead monsters.

"Banish Thy Realm!"

Azo screamed as he held the ring out, his red tail straight out as the magic filled the ring before a beautiful white light engulfed him, expanding to a sphere-like shape before submerging all the undead, each one turning to ash as it continued.

The Sphere would eventually fade as the entire room finally cleared, Azo profoundly panting as he felt his head going numb and light as he had to expand even more mental endurance, several more empty Mana Stones dropped to the floor as he had almost used up his entire supply.

Bull covered in blood from head to toe, small cuts and a few deeper cuts on his sides, nothing too dangerous as he just continued to pant, both twins slightly looking worried as they kept watch, looking around for any other undead.

"Come on; I see the stairway down to the tenth floor."

Azo, Bull and the Twins continued moving along as they came to the staircase leading down, the sounds of shattering bones and hisses from other foes came behind as the undead quickly swarmed from other rooms towards them.

"Quickly, Down the stairs, we can bottleneck them!"

Azo turned as he moved down the stairs, worse case he could open the room and jump inside to rest up before trying to fight them. Each step was hitting as they reached the tenth floor, another similar floor design as Azo turned to face the hoard, surprise taking him as he watched all the undead merely stop at the top.

It was almost like they were not willing to come any further, or more accurately they could not come any closer. Azo felt both relief and a slight worry creeping inside his heart, why would the undead stop coming closer. It made him worry as he looked around the area around him, feeling like he was getting watched.

"Nothing is around Brother, stop being so paranoid. It's strange that they do not come here, but we are safe for now. Open that door and let's get some rest!"

Azo relented as he pulled the ring back up, quickly feeling the ring's power as he activated it again, this power was not something Azo could control himself, it was more like he prodded it to be active, it was alive in reality, and he had no control over it. He merely was using its power with no relation to him or any ultimate way to gain it.

Getting inside the room, the door shut behind them as everyone let out another sigh of relief. The entire group was washing up before sitting down in the sleeping area as they began to cut potatoes and wash other vegetables as they started to do the nightly ritual of cooking and talking to regain spirts.

"That was hell; floor eight was a nightmare as we got attacked every eight minutes, I swear the other top groups must be having hell right now. It compares nothing to the hell of the ninth floor where we never stopped fighting, each second a slog to get to the next room!"

They all agreed as potatoes emptied out of one bucket and entered the next one peeled, ready to be cooked up for a substantial and enjoyable supper. Everyone was happy that they managed to get to this floor, pride in the work they had done. It was an honour to explore a new level as each map had the names of the people who helped get the whole guild further.

This would sadly be one of the times they would not get a name inside the maps; pride still flooded them as they knew this task was one of the greatest they had ever done.

After the meal, everyone would begin to prepare for bed, laying down as the candles extinguished as everyone started to sleep through the hellish nightmare they had just experienced.

Azo currently on his back as he stared at the stone ceiling, his worry getting the better of him as he felt the hairs on the back of his neck rising, the concern still in his heart as he knew that something was wrong, the unexplainable nature as he knew for sure that someone was actually.

Staring at him.