Dungeon (Part 6) - Battle Beneath the Throne

"In battle, it is not the strongest who survive, but those who adapt to the ever-changing dynamics of the fight"

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The room was huge, even bigger than the throne room, but came not even close to the grandeur the latter had.

It was like a cave, dark green moss hanging from its walls. It was filled with sounds of clacking bones as tens of thousands of summoned skeletons moved around.

The bodies of the skeletons were dimly illuminated by the scanty mana stones embedded into the walls, which cast a light, almost comforting blue glow.

This warm light, however, was a complete contrast to the chaos that was taking place in it.

Johan, Anny, Ryogaku, and Alexia were tirelessly killing the skeletons. Here, Anny stood out the most, since her attacks were the most suited for damaging a group of weak monsters, while the others' were more focused on single, stronger ones.

At one side of the room was ensuing a completely different battle. The Skeleton King and Sukuna were facing each other, their eyes burning in an inextinguishable fire that would go out only when one emerges victorious.

The Skeleton King charged an attack, its intensity making Sukuna tremble as he tried to defend himself.

It was clear… the battle will be decided in the next few moments.

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(POV: Ryomen Sukuna)

Mana stopped flowing towards the Ainz's hands, the sheer amount of mana confined in his bones, currently, was enough to blow a few buildings up. And that is if we exclude the spells one can cast using that.

I glanced back, my teammates were doing their job well, the skeletons were slowly being culled, their numbers decreasing steadily.

However, with each skeleton death, more mana became available to the King.

I didn't notice that my teeth were grit so hard that I almost drew blood from my gums.

The Skeleton King finished casting its spell, a huge mass of water forming in the air.

I raised an eyebrow… out of all elements, why would he use water, at such a pivotal moment too?

However, his following actions made my eyes widen. The ground rose, stone slowly covering the water, as if creating a solid shell around the ball of water.

With a flick of its finger-bones, the sphere started to heat up, vibrating uncontrollably as the shell of rock turned redder and redder.

Realization hit me as I shot towards the attack, my movements sluggish yet determined.

He didn't care of his own skeletons, he would use this attack as a final, desperate measure to end me off, with the risk of killing itself too.

The sphere slowly moved, rising into the air as its vibrations quickened, making an eerie whirring sound that sent a chill down my spine.

Reinforcing my legs with cursed energy, I leapt, the floor under me crackling as a boom echoed in the room due to my speed.

If I destroy, or even crack the shell before he completes the spell, I'll reduce the damage…

My thoughts were on the right path, but a huge risk too. Unfortunately for me, the King had timed his spell perfectly.

I extended my hand, flicking my trembling fingers to send a Dismantle at the vibrating sphere.

The shell only glowed brighter. I could almost see the slash cutting through the air with precision, going towards the shaking ball at unimaginable speeds.

However, just as the slash was about to hit it… the spell was complete, the shell slowly cracked.

My eyes widened. I glanced back at my teammates, who were still fighting the skeletons, they believed in me to save them.

I would run if I had the chance, but now, I was suspended in mid-air, this attack will hit me point blank.

Reinforcement and reverse cursed techniques are the only things I can rely on right now.

My eyes drooped as I saw the cracks on the shell spreading slowly, until finally, its burst open, sending a torrent of steam and sharp shards of stone flying around.

A sonic boom echoed in the room as the pieces of stone shot outwards at unbelievable speeds, piercing and getting embedded into the wall.

A groan escaped my lips as the pieces of stone hit me, the reinforcement not doing much to help.

Close to a dozen stones went completely through my body, making holes through with blood gushed out at a lethal rate.

I quickly activated reverse cursed technique to heal these wounds, however, what happened next was the real nightmare.

The steam hit me next, burning my skin, creating red marks all over my body.

Something worse was that the steam hit my innards from the holes in my body, which were not fully healed. It was the most overwhelmingly excruciating pain I had ever felt in my life.

A muffled scream escaped my lips, my teeth grit so hard that blood flew out of my gums, my nails digging into my flesh as I clenched my fists in pain.

My vision started to go blurry, but I forced myself to stay conscious, tears forming in my eyes as I tried to withstand the agony.

I didn't deactivate reverse cursed technique… the moment I did, I would die.

Due to the overwhelming sensations I was feeling, I didn't even notice that I was falling towards the ground.

My eyes briefly met those of the Skeleton King, which were glinting in a red light that seemed like… admiration.

All the air was knocked out of my lungs as I landed on the floor with a loud thud, blood shooting out of my mouth as I slid backwards, skin being scraped off my back as I did.

Everything seemed to go still… I simply lied there, my body writhing in pain, my breathing ragged as my chest rapidly rose and fell.

It took only a few seconds for all my injuries to heal, but the pain… the pain was deeply ingrained into my mind.

I pushed myself up, my body trembling, not in exertion, but in anger. My gaze met that of the Skeleton King.

The King seemed to flinch at my hateful gaze… his nonexistent eyes widening in shock.

"You…" I spit, my voice hoarse due to the blood in my throat. "I'll kill you."

Rage was slowly overtaking my body. Such pain was something that I would kill myself not to feel again, my teeth were grit, blood oozing out of my gums as I stood there, trying to calm myself down.

Being impulsive would lead me to my demise, I reminded myself.

Suddenly, from behind me, a huge explosion rang out, illuminating the whole room in a bright orange-yellow light.

The smell of ozone hit my nose, my vision going blurry again as I tried my best to not look away from the King.

Bones flew everywhere around the room, a few hitting me on the back, creating semi-deep wounds.

These wounds would usually hurt so much that I would fall to my knees, but after feeling 'that' agonizingly extreme amount of pain, it didn't even feel uncomfortable.

I stared at Ainz, my eyes glinting with a murderous glow as cursed energy started to emanate from my body at an alarming rate, the air in the room getting heavy.

My teammates noticed this too, their fearful gazes turning to me as they felt the source of the pressure.

Alexia trembled in fear, or was it awe? She knew this feeling… the same feeling as she felt in the party.

"We're almost done!" I heard a male voice shouting… it was either Johan or Ryogaku, I couldn't tell, the sounds around me were muffled, my eyes drooping slightly as I could feel myself slowly losing consciousness.

I glanced back, and there were only a few dozen skeletons left, being torn apart by the four without mercy.

My gaze drifted away, my eyes landing on Nina's corpse at the corner of the room.

There was a hole in her chest from the sword, the blood around it dried.

But now, there was another on her abdomen, a piece of stone from the shell explosion probably hit her lifeless body.

For some reason, my anger rose as I saw this… I couldn't understand, why does she affect me so much?

I couldn't help but think that she reminded me of somebody… somebody from my previous life.

I turned my head back, my droopy eyes meeting and figure of the Skeleton King, who was charging up another spell using his last reserves of mana.

His wounds from the shell attack had already healed, and the mana he had left for this spell was nothing compared to that one.

In other words, he had ceased to be a worthy opponent.

My legs didn't move. I stood in place motionless, my eyes staring at the King, my face completely apathetic.

"Furnace," I muttered, my voice only reaching my ears.

The King seemed to notice something wrong, and he, in desperation, finished casting his spell early, sparks of fire forming around his hands as he got ready to unleash a torrent of fire.

"How about a job change?" I said, my voice mocking, yet tired at the same time. "You'll make a great bonfire."

My arms moved gracefully in the air, my mouth opening to chant:

"Open."

Flames formed around my finger, ones that could be said to be almost… gentle.

I pulled my right hand back, an arrow of fire forming, ready to unleash its unimaginable power at the pitiful skeleton in front of me.

The skeleton's eyes burned red in fury, or in desperation, perhaps. It unleashed a storm of fire, an almost underwhelming one compared to its earlier performance.

I knew… the battle had been decided.

With a simple flick, I released the arrow, which went through the skeleton's sea of fire effortlessly, splitting it into two.

The arrow hit him right in the sternum, and his fate was sealed.

A loud boom echoed in the room, my teammates protected their heads with their arms as I simply stood there, witnessing the spectacle.

Within a few moments, the fire was gone, and in place of the Skeleton King lay ashes, deep black ashes that were the only proof of it ever existing.

"Farewell," I muttered, closing my eyes as I felt myself fall, my body going limp from exertion.

I felt myself land, but not on the stony ground I expected, but on something soft, almost like grass.

I opened my eyes, the bright light momentarily blinding me… it was the sky.

My eyes slowly drifted around, seeing some people run towards me. I recognized two of them, Blaze, the principal, and Mean.

I felt something in my hand, which I brought near my face, taking a good look at it.

It was a sphere, a shiny, deep black sphere. It emitted a weird energy, something which made me shift uncomfortably.

Even without any words, I knew what this item was, a famous item in the game.

[Equivalent Exchange]

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(POV: Blaze)

(A little while ago…)

I was walking around restlessly, my thoughts filled with prayers of the students' safety.

The current situation was known to no more than 10 people, including the workers keeping an eye on the dungeon. The dungeon dive of the other students was underway, and the locked gate was covered up.

Five students, the most promising ones, were trapped in a locked gate. First year students beating D-Rank dungeons was a rare sight to behold, and the number of times first-years had cleared C-Rank dungeons could be counted on one hand, while B-Rank…

My gaze held uncertainly as I glanced at the gate.

It was a locked gate, so we couldn't even send people in for help… it was truly a disastrous situation.

It has been about 5 hours since the team went in, but the locked gate had not reopened, there was no way to tell if the students were alive or dead, but I still hung on to the thin string of hope.

Each tick of the clock made me more anxious, the sound echoing in my restless mind.

As if answering my prayers, a low hum emanated from the dungeon entrance, a sound that sent a jolt of relief through my body.

My heart skipped a beat, I ran towards the gate, standing right in front of it, Mean right behind me. We were holding our breaths as we waited for something to happen.

Suddenly, a silhouette came into view, one which seemed to be flying towards us.

A person flew out of the gate, shooting off and landing on the grass a little far away.

Immediately, I recognized him… Sukuna.

Both Mean and I ran to him as he slowly opened his eyes. His body was filled with minor injuries, his clothes tattered and torn, stained with blood of both monsters and his own.

However, my eyes widened as I saw the scratches and wounds on his body heal immediately, his eyes locked onto the sky.

"Sukuna," I said, kneeling beside him, his eyes turning to meet mine.

"Blaze, long time," he said, his voice almost relieved, but tired too. It was clear that he had to exert himself a lot in the dungeon.

But, he was only one, what about the others?

As if reading my mind, he responded. "The others are safe…" he trailed off, his eyes slowly closing, as if he wanted to say something, but couldn't

I nodded, a smile of relief forming on my face. His body relaxed as he fell asleep on the grass.

I got up, going back to the gate, my hands fidgeting as I waited for the others to come.

I glanced back at the figure of Sukuna, resting on the grass.

I thought of waking him up, transferring him to the healers, but eventually decided not to… he deserved this moment of peace.

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So, any thoughts on the fight scene? Any ideas for future improvement?

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Dungeon 'arc' ends... now, gimme gimme POWER STONES :3