Reinforcements

The group of people carefully moved out from the last standing barrier that Snow was created. They slinked out, worried that another stampede would happen, but they all sighed with relief when nothing appeared.

Even Snow, who was unconsciously holding her breath, let out a loud sigh. She had feared for a moment that her magic wouldn't last long enough until the last monsters had passed away. Luckily, her perseverance held on, allowing her to keep her barrier up.

What worried her was the sound of gunshots from the beginning, which possibly must have started off the stampede. But, she knew that regular bullets couldn't penetrate their skins, making her wonder if it was something else.

Snow walked ahead, everyone following carefully around her. Ready to fight any second. They diligently looked around, tensed and worried about the possibility of another stampede.

Jose stayed close behind, his steps light and crisp. Compared to many, his steps were silent. The only reason she knew that he was behind her was the constant magic that Jose had unconsciously pulled around him. It was an unique magic that helped him quietly move around, dampening his sound.

Snow tested the air, wondering if there was an elemental cause behind the stampede, but so far nothing. It was as if the stampede just appeared out of nowhere.

Suddenly, to her right, multiple magical energy shots and gunshots went off in a blare of sounds.

As more and more gunshot sounds went off, she heard familiar voices of people that she knew. Curses and shouts could be heard in an angry, disgruntled voice. Even the clashing of metal was heard followed quickly by magic. The air was thick with magic, making anyone sensitive to magic tense in alarm.

Raising her hand, Snow motioned everyone to move, running towards the sound. She burst through the field, finding a war between monsters and men. It was a difficult battle, as death was apparent everywhere. She had not expected so many of her teammates to fall on the ground dead as pieces of their bodies were scattered all around them.

Anger boiled in her eyes. Her magic swirled heavily, creating static electricity. Anyone who was caught up in her presence would have cowered, but not many were beside her. They were still some stragglers, trying to catch up from behind.

Unconsciously, she pulled magic from the very air. Taking in and reshaping it to her own mere whim. She could feel the magic's thickness, running through her veins and circulating around her whole body. The once constrained magic that she could not get back was filled.

Without a thought, she summoned up her best spell that many sought her for.

A simmering holy light swept through the ground like a holy spirit, blessing many whenever it came to her team.

Taking this chance, mostly because she didn't know if she would have another. She clapped her hands. A shockwave of holy light bloomed outwards as she shouted in a prayer, "Resurrection."

The light touched every single body that she personally directed. The bodies shimmered as the pieces of themselves flew towards their respective owner. In a swirling white light, the dead rose up from the grave once again, bringing back the people she cared for.

Dairen was surrounded heavily with monsters from all sides. The minions that he had summoned were destroyed, but he didn't summon anymore as he was out of magic and bodies. Mostly because he didn't want to trap his guildmates soul into an undead body, pushing his limits to the point where he was badly injured.

In his hand was a black box that he was protecting, keeping the raptors and other monsters alike as back as far as possible.

Mike wasn't too far away, pinned down just as well with Audrey back-to-back. They barely held the upper hand in the fight. Cuts, bruises, and even broken arms were present. They swung their swords, barely holding on.

Rodney was on the ground, his foot broken as Angie was trying her best to heal and protect him at the same time. She trembled as she was not succeeding. The number of monsters were becoming overbearing to the point where she couldn't hold on much longer.

Not too far away, two red eyes stared down at them in hunger. It was a giant reptilian creature. Standing on two legs, large sharp teeth, and a hammerhead like head was cackling with its throat, ordering its minions to continue their pursuit against the humans that they were trying to defeat. Its huge body was hairy with its black coat and muscular body.

Snow's group poured in. Their shouts and anger echoed onto the field, causing many monsters to snap towards the unexpected reinforcement direction. What was more unexpected was the players that had died were resurrected again, taking part back into the battle.

"Saintess?!" One of the Players yelled, excited at the prospect of reinforcement. "It's the Saintess! She's here!" The players cheered as their energy pushed with vigor to over the monsters.

Snow's energy was still uncannily full, resurrecting more and more people from the dead. She walked closer and closer towards Dairen, who was momentarily struggling.

Dairen sent out a blast of powerful black energy that completely wiped out the monsters surrounding him. He stumbled, breathing heavily as he clutched the black box. He glanced up to see Snow not too far away from her.

"Snow! Catch!" Dairen shouted he pulled back his hand, throwing the black box towards her in one fluid throw.

Without realizing it, Snow reached up. The black box fell into her arms. In a split moment, she felt a terrible swirl of magic sucking into the box itself.

Snow wanted to yell, trying to tear herself away from the box. But it was futile. Her hands stuck to the black box-like glue.

Blue lines started to appear on the box surface, lighting it up. The black box began to change shape, wrapping around Snow's very fingers and slithering down her body. She could feel a cold energy sweeping into their body, followed by a searing heat.

Integrating into her very white armor, it was changing shapes to a more draconic form.

From head to toe, her armor and body changed. Sharp black spines appeared down her back and all the way towards her tail. Her claw-like gauntlets became more lizard-like. Even her armor became scaly. Most of the armor was white with only accentuated black, giving it a completely different feel. Even the helmet changed shape to a more dragon feature, creating a curly horn that slicked backward down her head. A black gem appeared in the middle, which burned into her forehead.

She could feel her magic coming back to her, allowing her to fully utilize everything she missed.

"What?!" Snow was stunned at what was going on.

Blue flames made of entirely fire and holy light mixed together, creating a surreal effect. The flames were alive. They spluttered outwards, hitting every monster in the vicinity in completely incinerating them to the ground.

"This is our chance!" Mike roared. The electric power that he had been saving roared with a crackle of excitement.

His magic sporadically burst forward, frying every single monster around him in seconds. Rodney took this chance to invade and slice up the remaining monsters that Mike couldn't reach. They fell by his blade, allowing them to take a bit of a breather from the ongoing clashes of monsters.

When they felt a powerful surge of energy, they snapped towards the direction, where Snow was standing in the middle of a holy storm of blue fire.

Hundreds of monsters fell, screeching as they fell dead. Even the large monster overlooking its own minion was burning from the blue flames, floundering on the ground as it turned pitch black.

Everything happened so quickly that anybody present was in complete disbelief.

Snow felt the power of the black box giving her dissipation, leaving her winded and confused. She glanced down at her hand, where the imprint of a square was present on her palms. Six pieces of the metal box broke apart on her hand, missing its core.

She didn't expect the burst of magic almost drained all her magic.

Memories come back to her, reminding her of the past dungeon when she used something similar. She thought it would create a barrier, but instead, it sucked up her energy and spat out an dangerous energy that fizzled outward and sent out a rainbow of sparkling energy that ran down like comets.

Every single one of the monsters running around was dead on the ground, with parts of their body burned away. The whole land was ravaged by the terrible fire that would not stop burning.

With a loud electric sound, Snow dropped the pieces of the black box on the ground. Electricity flurried out, snapping up anyone who got too close until it finally settled down. Even Snow had to take a few steps out of harm's way as she knew that she wasn't able to get near a dangerous black box without getting electrocuted herself.

Even though she was the one who used it and fueled it with magic, it had a horrible tendency to devour her as well.

Snow heard about the black box artifact series that the Dragon Express Company has kept a tight lid. The Black Box series wasn't something to play with as they were called dangerous artifacts. The higher level they were, the more dangerous the outcome was for the users. She knew this when she used the Black Box.

She didn't understand how Dairen had gotten a hold of one of the infamous Black Box series, especially because it wasn't easily given or found.

On the other hand, she was glad that Dairen was able to bring the Black Box to her, allowing them to survive in this treacherous dungeon. Which, in turn, saved a lot of people's lives.

With the artifact finally settling down, Snow stepped forward. She reached down to grab the broken pieces of the boxes. When she picked it up, she felt the change of magical energy fluctuate in her fingertips that told her that the black box was all used up. The only thing she noticed was that the energy was now part of her as if she swallowed it whole.

What was going on, and how was this possible?

Most of the Black Box series was considered a one time use. Was it because she opened up the last one? She didn't fully understand.