Chapter 80: The Chase
Wind roared past my ears as we plummeted through the Void, the walls of the shaft blurring into indistinct streaks of black. I clenched my teeth, struggling to think through the rush of adrenaline.
Think! Think! Think!
I needed to slow us down – FAST.
Then, an idea struck.
I remembered how Charged Wind Arrow had recoil. Not much under normal circumstances, but at this speed? Maybe it’d be enough to give us some pushback.
I twisted mid-air, my core burning as I gathered my hands together and charged a Wind Arrow.
I fired downward, in an angle, and the recoil jerked us back, our descent slowing slightly as our trajectory shifted closer to the edges.
“Shit!” Goren shouted, gripping onto me even tighter.
“We still have time!” I yelled back.
I charged another shot.
The blast erupted beneath us, the force pushing us harder against the air. This time, it broke our momentum enough – angling our bodies to catch the ground of the nearest floor. Or rather, crash into it.
We hit the floor at an awkward angle, and I felt the impact jolt through my entire body as we tumbled across the floor, dropping to 70% HP.
I coughed, groaning as I struggled to get up, my limbs aching from the landing. Goren wasn’t faring much better, groaning as he lifted his head. “Fuck, Spellsword, did you have to hurt us this much?”
“…we alive?” I asked, breathless. I pushed myself up onto my elbows, wondering which floor we ended up at.
“I…I think so…” Goren coughed out.
We both took a moment to gather ourselves.
“What floor…?” Goren muttered.
I exhaled sharply, dusting myself off. “I have no fucking idea.”
Then, before we could say anything else, blurred masses of Darkness plummeted past us.
Three bodies.
Goren and I snapped our heads toward each other, exchanging a worried glance.
“Oh, please don’t tell me…” he muttered.
Then, they rose from the Void. The Dark Predators.
Except…something changed this time.
Their shadowy forms began merging mid-air – twisting, convulsing, melting into one another as their metallic heads crushed together, a triplet of three red eyes aligning together into nine.
Their arms and bodied tangled into a swirling mass of Darkness, shifting and hardening into a singular, massive figure. A long, sinuous cloak of Darkness trailed behind it, flickering like black flames. The weapon it held turned into a black cleaver of massive size.
My System finally caught up – Right Hand of Darkness, Level 222.
“Oh my fucking god…” Goren muttered before pulling me after him. “RUN!”
BOOM.
The floor beneath us exploded, cracks crackling outward from where the cleaver had struck. The entire floor was falling apart beneath us.
We sprinted forward, pulling the lever to open the wall and expose the corridor in front of us.
The Right Hand of Darkness let out a deep, inhumane howl, shaking the air around us as it rushed behind us, chasing.
“Move faster, Spellsword!” Goren yelled, barely dodging a collapsing section of the ceiling.
The corridor continued right, and we pivoted using the wall, running for our lives.
The corridor behind us exploded. Walls shattered as the sheer force of the Right Hand of Darkness' strikes rippled behind us, making the entire structure quake. Chunks of debris continued collapsing form the ceiling, almost hitting us.
I gritted my teeth, wondering if we could even escape it.
“Let’s hit it hard!” Goren suggested with a shout.
He melted into the shadow, reappearing directly above it, both daggers slashing downward toward its nine-eyed metallic face.
The strike landed, but the impact rebounded, sending shockwaves through the air, and Goren flying. I used Enhanced Dash Step to catch him mid-air to ensure he doesn’t take damage.
“Fuck’s sake!” he growled, turning to me. “Thanks, Spellsword.”
I pushed him forward. “Keep running!”
Another BOOM. Another shockwave.
The floor crackled underneath us. We barely had ground to step on.
Enhanced Dash Step! Enhanced Dash Step! Enhanced Dash Step!
Everything was falling apart even when we descended a floor.
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The staircase behind us collapsed, stone and debris flying outward, while the monster was still chasing us.
“GO, GO, GO!” I shouted.
Then, the tomb's monsters came.
From the ceilings, the walls, the shadows themselves – Void monsters, and all the others descended.
I slashed mid-air, Silverfang cutting through some of them.
But they just kept coming.
Suddenly, a Grave Mole burst through the collapsing floor, roaring as it charged at us.
“We don’t have time for this!” Goren snapped, vaulting above it as I followed behind.
The Right Hand of Darkness didn’t wait either. It swung its cleaver downward – and everything exploded. The Grave Mole, the Void monsters, the entire corridor behind us – obliterated.
The shockwave sent us flying.
Then, we plunged downward through the collapsing floor.
One floor.
Two floors.
Three.
I hit the ground and immediately rolled forward to lessen the impact. Goren landed beside me, cursing under his breath.
No time to breathe. It still chased.
More monsters swarmed, chasing after us.
“FUCKING HELL!” Goren bellowed. “HOW DO WE LOSE THIS THING?!”
I had no answer expect for “KEEP RUNNING!”
The tomb collapsed around us, and monsters kept appearing through the chaos, latching onto us from the shadows themselves.
I felt my HP drop slowly from each hit, but I knew that stopping to fight would mean my death.
But the chase was getting worse with each second.
The Right Hand wasn’t just chasing us anymore. It had become a storm of destruction, a tornado of Darkness tearing through the tomb behind us.
Walls crumbled. Ceilings collapsed. I wondered how the entire tomb wasn’t raining down on us already.
Then, as I glanced backward, I saw it – a flash of movement. Something flying toward our backs.
I immediately summoned Wind Wall. The barrier of rushing wind deflected the incoming blade shards. They bounced off, but the action slowed me down just enough.
The floor beneath me cracked and I found myself falling.
Surprisingly, Goren changed course and jumped after me. His hand snatched my wrist mid-fall, his momentum yanking us both upward. We crashed hard, but not as hard as I would've if I fell alone.
I groaned, checking my HP.
[Health:24% - Reaching Critical Level - Please Consume a Healing Potion]
I sat up, scanning my surroundings. The ground was cracked but it wasn’t giving way.
“Is this…it?” I asked, realizing we were here.
The last level.
As I tried to stand up, a message flashed.
[Status Ailment: Bleeding - Health drain at 1% per 5 seconds]
Fuck...
I stared down at my leg, noticing a Void Scorpion’s stinger lodged deep inside.
I gritted my teeth. When did it even hit me?!
Goren was beside me, buried under the rubble. I wanted to help him, but then, the shadow loomed over us.
I looked up.
The Right Hand of Darkness stood over the ledge above, its massive form towering above us, cleaver in hand.
“Goren!” I stumbled toward him, dragging my injured leg, determined to pull him free before the monster struck.
But before I reached him, the rubble he was buried under shifted and he burst out, pushing it away himself.
His face was bloodied, his armor cracked, but his eyes still burned with life.
“I’m fine!” He barked. Then, he pointed ahead, deeper into the corridor. “We have to go!”
I nodded, forcing myself forward. But my leg gave out.
I crashed onto my knees, the pain spiking through my body.
Goren was at my side instantly, grabbing my arm, pulling me up.
Only now did I really look at him – and realized just how bad he was. His left shoulder was gushing blood. His right eye was swollen shut. A scary gash ran from his ribs to his hip, his breathing ragged from what was surely internal damage. It looked fatal. Yet he still hauled me to my feet.
“Come one, Spellsword. No stopping now.”
I wrapped an arm over his shoulder, and he did the same.
Side by side, we ran - or at least tried to.
He summoned a healing potion from his inventory, uncorked it and shoved it to me.
“Use it yourself.” I declined.
But he only shoved it harder. “Shut up and drink. I believe I still owe you one more whole potion beside this one.”
Almost forcefully, I gulped it down, restoring 20% HP back - not enough to heal my leg, but it kept me going for now, buying more time.
Meanwhile, behind us, the Right Hand dropped down, the impact shaking the ground beneath us as we barely kept our balance, holding onto each other.
I glanced back, seeing the monster move through the dust and rubble. Its nine red eyes locked onto us, its massive cleaver scraping against the ground as it began chasing us again.
We pushed forward, and I could already see the last chamber – our goal. Just a little bit left.
“C’mon,” I called out to Goren. “We can do it.”
But when I looked beside me – he was gone. My arm was empty. I realized I was running on my own.
I spun around to see Goren standing his ground.
His daggers were already drawn. He faced The Right Hand of Darkness alone.
“Goren!” I roared, trying to turn back and help him.
He charged. "Leave me behind, Spellsword!"
The Right Hand swung its cleaver down, aiming to tear him in half. But Goren dodged left, melting into his shadow, reappeared behind it. He drove his daggers into its metallic head.
The invisible barrier protecting it resisted, but Goren kept pressing, and eventually, the monster shuddered. In defence, a shadow tendril shot out from its shadowy body, impaling Goren through the side.
But the Rogue didn’t stop.
With a feral scream, he spun mid-air, yanking one dagger free and slashing through the tendril, forcing the Right Hand back a step.
It swung at him, but he vanished again, reappearing slightly at a distance, his Golden Bow in hand.
With a flicker of golden light, he rained a barrage of arrows. At first, they passed through their target, seemingly dealing no damage, but they triggered a trap – suddenly turning larger and ensnaring the Right Hand, holding it in place.
He immediately swapped to his sword and drove it into the ground.
The ground shook as a massive pillar of magic erupted from beneath the ensnared Right Hand, blasting it freely.
But it wasn’t enough. It kept moving, shooting another tendril that ripped off Goren’s left arm.
My heart dropped. I made my way back, but my progression was so slow because of my leg...Damn it!
“Goren!” I shouted. “Wait! We'll do this together!”
“NO!” He snarled, his voice thundering around us, stopping me in place.
His body was barely holding together. Blood poured freely from his missing arm.
Yet, despite it all, he nodded with a smirk. “Spellsword.”
Then, he vanished.
He reappeared above the Right Hand, his sword aimed straight at its head, where one of his daggers was still embedded. He drove it in with all his strength.
The blade struck deep, and then…BOOM.
A massive explosion erupted from the point of impact, blasting forward and knocking me off my feet.
My ears rang. My vision blurred.
I scrambled up, searching for him.
Dust filled the corridor, but then, a figure emerged.
Goren.
He stumbled forward, dropping into one knee in front of me, his entire body shaking.
I rushed to him as fast as I could.
He looked even worse now. I couldn’t believe he was still breathing.
“I can’t – “ he coughed, spitting blood onto the ground. “I can’t kill it. It’s – it’s gonna get up.”
My heart raced.
Behind him, the Right Hand of Darkness began rebuilding itself, its nine eyes flickering back to life.
“Okay, let’s go.” I reached my hand toward Goren, trying to grab and lift him up. But he shoved me away.
“We knew what we were signing up for in this run, Spellsword.” His eyes met mine. The gaze was raw. Serious. “I'll hold it off while you get it done.” His voice wavered. “Look out for my family. Please.”
“Goren – “
The Right Hand shrieked.
With one final ounce of strength, Goren pushed me forward.
I stumbled, hesitating.
“RUN!” he roared. “IMPRISON THE BASTARD!”
Then, he turned around and lunged at it once more.
I took a deep breath, turned away, and ran toward the final chamber.
Behind me, another explosion erupted, but I didn’t turn back to look for Goren.
I knew he was gone.
I just pressed on into the last chamber.
At this point in the story, do you feel like Goren redeemed himself?
