Bone shattered under the blow, the orc’s skull caving in under the weight and force of Chris’s mace. Beside him, Alan blocked a club strike, before driving his sword through his attacker’s throat, twisting it as he pulled the blade out, the monster staggering back as it choked on its own blood.

  “That’s the last of them!” Ayla called as the two men checked the area around them, the last orc falling still as it bled out, “We need to get moving if we’re going to find survivors!”

  “Right,” Chris nodded as he stomped up the street, his shoulders tense as he looked around for his next target.

  “Chris!” the shout surprised him as Ayla ran up beside him, placing her hand on his arm, the limb hanging limply at his side from when an orc had managed to grab him, “Slow down a second, I need to heal you quickly.”

  “It’s fine,” He grunted, peering into the dark alleys around them in case there were more orcs hiding in the shadows, “I can still fight.”

  “Not like this,” the woman barked, grabbing his arm and twisting it, making him gasp in pain as she suddenly shoved against him, the shoulder popping back into place, “You need to be more careful, you idiot! You have to get back to Elizabeth and your father, right?”

  “Elizabeth and…my dad?” Chris blinked as he looked down at the woman, her tightly bound hair already starting to come undone, “I…right. You’re right. I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t be sorry,” Ayla smiled as she cast a healing spell on him, the pain in his shoulder vanishing, “Be more careful.”

  “Right,” Chris nodded as he smiled back at the woman.

  “As much as your flirting is great,” Alan called as he waved them over, “Now isn’t the time! There’s another horde over this way! I think there might be survivors as well!”

  “Right!” the other two shouted as they ran after him, following down the road as they spotted the group of monsters.

  Chris threw out an air blade, decapitating three orcs in one go as he and Alan leapt onto them. The battle was intense and bloody, but they quickly felled the orcs, spreading out to search for any stragglers as Ayla rushed to the small group of survivors.

  “I can heal you,” she said as she helped them stand, “After that, get to the Association building anyway you can, they can protect you!”

  “They…” a boy sobbed, looking up at Ayla with dead eyes, “They ate my mom. Right in front of me. They ate my mom! Mommy! I want my mommy!”

  “You have to be strong for now, okay?” she said as she tried to comfort the crying child, “For your mom, okay? Promise me, you’re going to be strong!”

  “F-for mommy?” the boy sniffed, clenching his eyes shut, before nodding, “Okay…for my mom.”

  “Get them to the Association building,” Ayla repeated to the last man of the small group, pointing down the street, “Do you know where it is?”

  “I do,” he nodded, ushering the women and children along.

  “Fuck,” Ayla breathed as she watched them go, looking around at the gore spread out across the street, wondering what was part of the boy’s mother, or someone else’s, before she shook the dark thoughts from her mind.

  “Ayla!” Chris shouted to her, the Healer looking up as she ran towards them, “More orcs this way!”

  ------

  “This way!” Jessica shouted as Aurum stood beside her, barking and snapping at the people as they ran towards the massive, fortified building, “Get inside the Association! We’ll protect you!”

  “Jess!” Elizabeth shouted as the group of orcs rounded the corner, “A little help?!”

  “Speed Up!” the girl shouted as her friend started to glow, before shooting off at an inhuman rate, darting between the orcs as they cried out in pain and surprise.

  Elizabeth skidded to a halt just beside her friend, leaning down to help a woman who had fallen back to her feet and shoving her towards the building as the orcs stomped towards them, before one fell. The two watched as the dozen strong group slowly collapsed one by one, purple drool and foam dripping from their mouths.

  “How much longer is this going to go on?” Jessica cringed, rubbing her temple as the Mana headache pulsed, “I’m almost out of Mana and potions, and it’s been hours.”

  “As long as it takes,” Elizabeth replied, looking up as a squad of ten Divers hurried towards them, “Looks like we finally get to take a break, though.”

  “Hello ma’am,” the apparent leader of the group said as they drew near, “Take a rest, we’ll handle anything that comes up here for now.”

  “You guys sure?” Elizabeth asked, the man nodding as he pointed to a badge on his armor, showing a bronze letter ‘C’, “Okay then. Good luck.”

  “Do you think that’s his Association Rank, or his Class Rank?” Jessica asked as they followed another group of survivors into the building, being directed to a side room to use to rest.

  “Don’t know,” Elizabeth sighed, “But it’s really weird, like, my Class Rank is D, so why am I still so much stronger than a lot of other Divers?”

  “Class Rank isn’t everything, Beth,” Jessica laughed, cringing at the action as her headache pounded in her head, “Anyway, I’m going to take a nap. Wake me if anything comes up, okay?”

  “Of course,” the other girl nodded as she watched her friend find a free space in the corner and curl up under her cloak.

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  ------

  Morning broke on the city, its streets bathed red in blood as the soldiers and Divers drove back the last of the monsters towards the location of the Dungeon. The orcs had somewhat fortified the structure built around it, hurling anything they could get their hands on out of windows or off the roof to try and drive away the attackers. It was a losing battle on their part, namely due to the three people at the front.

  Chris unleashed bolts of wind, fire, stone and ice into the last remaining orcs, killing them almost instantly in most cases. The survivors quickly fell to Alan’s sword as he charged around the battlefield, always seeming to be able to get between an attack and someone else. Ayla groaned on the backline as she healed everyone she could, chugging down Mana potions as she went, Chris and Alan having left both of their Slime Pouches with her.

  Eventually, the last of the orcs outside were killed, the Divers cheering as they started to storm the building, finally able to cut down the last remaining orcs in the tight confines of the corridors. They burst into the area containing the door to the Dungeon, staring at it in surprise as it stood open, the darkness behind it somehow pulsating in the infinite void.

  “Move,” Chris shouted as he shoved through the crowd, Alan and Ayla both just behind him.

  “What do we do?” the Defender asked, “Do we just…touch it like we normally do? Will that take us inside the Dungeon? I don’t know about you guys, but I’m pretty worn out.”

  “No idea,” Chris muttered as he walked around the door, inspecting it from all sides, “I mean, that’s the only thing I can think of.”

  “Let’s all do it together,” Ayla said, “At least that way, if we get sucked into the Dungeon, we won’t be alone.”

  “Right,” Chris nodded, standing in front of the door as the other two took his sides, nodding as he counted down, “Three, two, one, touch!”

  They each touched the door, gasping as the pulse of energy washed over them, forcing them back as a massive form, easily twice the size of the other orcs, emerged from the darkness.

  “I am Griz’lock the Limb Reaver!” the massive orc shouted as he stood, “And I shall spill your gu-!”

  Griz’lock was cut off as his massive height made him smash through the ceiling of the room, stunning him for a moment. But a moment was all the three of them needed, Chris smashing his mace into the monster’s one knee as Alan drove his sword into the other, making the giant orc collapse to the floor. Ayla just grinned at its confused expression as she gathered a ball of light, firing it straight through the orc’s head, killing it instantly, before she collapsed to the ground herself, exhausted. Behind the body, the door pulsed again, before swinging shut silently, a final pulse coming as it finally closed, leaving the room in deafening silence.

  “They did it!” someone breathed, the sound carrying across the entire room, before the rest of the Divers started screaming and shouting in joy and victory.

  “You okay, babe?” Chris asked as he knelt down beside Ayla, holding her gently by the shoulders, “Do you need another Mana potion?”

  “If I never have to drink another one of those mint-flavored abominations again, it’ll be too soon,” the woman chuckled, “Seriously, why mint?”

  “That’s just the flavor they came out with,” Chris chuckled back as he helped her to her feet, “I’ll see about coming up with a way to make them taste better, maybe grape flavor?”

  “Ew, that’d be even worse,” Ayla chuckled as Chris and Alan helped her walk out, the cheering Divers clearing the way for them as they finally left the building.

  ------

  “…and with a death toll in the tens of thousands, many are questioning whether the Diver’s Association couldn’t have done more to prevent this catastrophic loss of lif-.”

  Ryan sighed as he turned off the television, turning to look at the others in the conference room with him. Chris nodded encouragingly to the man as he addressed the room, his voice strong and deep as he spoke.

  “This was a catastrophe,” he said, the other people all glancing at each other in mild confusion before he continued, “But we survived it. It’s going to take a lot of work to rebuild and clean up, but we’ll do it. We now know what can happen if a Dungeon isn’t explored for too long, and so we can prevent it. As such, much to the dismay of several of you, I am sure, I will not be stepping down as Director of the Diver’s Association. I fully intend to weather this coming storm with what I have helped build, and-.”

  “What?!” one of the men in the room shouted, standing up as he growled angrily, “We lost a lot of good people in this mistake of yours, Sergeant! Soldiers and civilians alike! And you’re saying you’re not going to take responsibility?!”

  “You forgot about all the Divers that also died,” Chris called out, the man spinning to shout at him, the action dying in his throat at the cold glare he received from the War Magister, “Sit down and let the Director finish speaking.”

  “Thank you,” Ryan nodded to Chris as the other man sat down heavily, crossing his arms across his chest, “As I was about to say, I fully intend to weather this coming storm and take any and all responsibility for what has happened, should it be reasonable.”

  “And what constitutes ‘reasonable’, Director Peterson?” the only woman in the room asked, smiling at him as he nodded to her.

  “Well, Major, this disaster led to an immense number of casualties and deaths,” Ryan explained, “However, they cannot all simply be placed upon the head of the Diver’s Association. We lost good people too, both strong and weak, and everyone needs time to mourn their dead.”

  “You think that’s going to be enough?” the man from before scoffed, “The public is going to look for a scape goat, and it sure as hell isn’t going to be the government!”

  “Then I thank you for volunteering, Commander,” Ryan smiled back, enunciating the title as the man twitched.

  “What are you talking about?” the man growled, glaring at Ryan hatefully.

  “I do believe that you are our primary liaison with the army, are you not?” Ryan asked, “And, when we asked for more resources to try entering the affected Dungeon before it…broke open, you refused and stalled as long as possible?”

  “What are you trying to say, boy?” the older man spat.

  “That, just as you suggested, we need a scape goat,” Ryan smiled as the man turned pale, “And it shall be neither the government, the army, nor the Association. It shall be y-.”

  “Do not even finish that sentence, Sergeant!” the man shouted as he shot up from his seat again, “This is ridiculous! Is this how you think you’re supposed to run an army? This isn’t a kindergarten where everyone can prance around making friends and flower crowns!”

  “What army, Commander?” Ryan hummed, tilting his head in mock confusion, “You can’t possibly mean the Association? Because that is not an army. Trust me, if it was, you wouldn’t even be around to see it.”

  “Are you threatening me?” the older man snarled.

  “No, I am informing you of the facts,” Ryan snarled right back, “And your ego seems to be blinding you to the reality of the situation. You are going to be blamed for what happened, for the good of the country. You should be proud to serve your country like that.”

  “You can’t do this to me!” the man shouted, “I still out rank you!”

  “I didn’t realize that you were a Diver, Commander,” Ryan hummed, “In which case, you will need to be registered downstairs and go through the orientation as an F Rank until such a time as you are deemed fit for active duty.”

  “I…you…!” the man spluttered, before the Major spoke again.

  “Sit down, Arnold, you’ve lost this fight,” she hummed, smiling at the man as he collapsed into his seat, “Thank you for your sacrifice.”

  “Well, that is everything I needed to say to you all today,” Ryan smiled at the others in the room, everyone but Chris and the Major looking at the Commander in fear as he slowly rose from his seat and left the room, the rest following him.

  “Well, that was…fun?” Chris chuckled as the door closed, leaving the three of them alone, reaching out to shake the Major’s hand, “Hello, Christopher Trevor Sanders, a pleasure to meet you.”

  “Major Margery Simpson, yes I know, it’s a very funny name,” the woman smiled, “And likewise. It is an honor to get to talk with the world’s only S Rank Diver, after all.”