Ch 25: Playground of the Lethal Teddy (3)

'This cycle wouldn't end unless I take down the red-robed figure,' Valerius thought with a grim expression.

As the two summoned creatures closed in, he returned his gloved hand to its normal form, dropped the sword, and charged towards the red-robed figure with all the speed he could muster. 

The zombie attacked him on his way to the robed figure. It thrust its sword-like hand in his direction. Valerius responded by ducking and rolling forward, not only evading its attack and bypassing it entirely but also getting closer to the red-robed figure.

The second summoned stood in his way.

As he drew closer, the dog pounced towards him. He transformed his gloved hand into a shield and swung it in a berserk fashion.

Pah!

The dog was slapped silly by the shield and tossed away.

Dealing with the dog had barely slowed him down. He could be seen rapidly closing in on the red-robed figure.

Seeing this, the red-robed figure began to run, confirming two of Valerius's assumptions. The first was that it couldn't screech to summon beasts if its summons were still alive. The second was that it couldn't screech if it was unable to summon. Unless he killed its summons, he didn't need to worry about its skills. That took a lot of trouble off his shoulders.

"Damn, it's getting away," Valerius cursed under his breath as the red-robed figure moved faster than he could run, causing the distance between them to grow with each passing second.

Woof!

Behind him, Valerius heard the dog's ferocious bark. The dog had recovered and was sprinting towards him. He also caught sight of the zombie moving towards him from the corner of his eye.

'I need to end this quickly, or I will be surrounded and killed. I can't use my runic power because how much it will cost is still uncertain. I have no choice but to rely on my powers as a spirit warrior this time around.'

"Die!" Valerius yelled as he raised his hand and positioned it in such a way that the red-robed figure would enter the trajectory of the single, powerful attack that he was about to unleash from his palm.

-10 SP 

Remaining SP: 20/30

A powerful force, the likes of which had not been seen before, burst forth from his palm. This force crashed into the red-robed figure with such intensity that it was lifted off its feet and thrown towards a wall. As it smashed into the wall, its body exploded in a mess of blood like a balloon, splashing the wall red and sliding down to the ground.

Thud! Thud!

As soon as the red-robed figure died, both the dog that had pounced towards Valerius and the undead also dropped dead.

Valerius breathed a sigh of relief. The battle had finally ended.

After the latest battle, his stamina had dropped to 3 points, his HP to 0.8 points, and he only had 20 units of SP left.

Things weren't looking good for him.

He wiped the sweat off his forehead and turned to the book. He read the second spell. Nothing happened.

The first spell had summoned a pain in the ass, but the second one did nothing. Why?

Valerius pondered for a few seconds, then an idea struck him. He had played many games where certain escape items only worked if you were trapped in a specific location. For example, the famous return scroll only worked if you were trapped in a dungeon.

He believed that this second spell if it was going to open a way forward, might have the same restriction.

'Checking it isn't going to hurt,' he thought.

He closed the black door that acted as the entrance to the room, totally trapping himself inside as he didn't have the key, and recited the spell again.

This time, as if some hidden condition had been met, a mirror reflecting a place completely different from its surroundings was conjured in the middle of the room.

'My conclusion turned out to be true, thankfully. Otherwise, I would've been trapped with no way out.' 

Valerius didn't even want to think about what he would've to do if his method had failed.

He looked at the bloody book on the equally bloody table and thought, 'I should take it with me.' 

Valerius quickly grabbed the book and stuffed it inside his clothes. He believed it was an artifact that might be usable in the real world. Of course, only time would tell if his assumptions were true. But he didn't want to take any chances and miss something extraordinary.

He then stepped through the mirror, finding himself appearing in a grotto.

The grotto was vast, as big as a stadium field, with a high ceiling adorned with shimmering crystals that cast a soft glow throughout the space. The walls were rugged, giving it a natural and untouched appearance. In the distance, there was a teddy bear, cute as hell, with soft, plush fur and big, innocent eyes that seemed to sparkle in the dim light.

Despite the teddy bear's adorable appearance, Valerius decided to engage it, suspecting it might be the guardian of this level. Defeating it, he thought, would complete the challenge.

He advanced towards the teddy, convinced that subduing such a little cutie would be effortless for a manly man like him. He was, however, completely unaware that behind its back, the teddy was holding a pair of sharp scissors.

Valerius continued his approach, ignorant of the danger.

In a blink of an eye, the teddy bear was upon him, and it mercilessly plunged its six inches deep into his neck with a devilish smile on its face.

Paralyzed with pain and fear, Valerius could only stand in shock as he was slaughtered by the teddy.

The teddy bear pulled the scissors out, and blood spurted like a fountain from Valerius's neck.

And just like that, his journey on the 0th floor of the Primordial Pagoda came to a sudden and brutal end.