A week has gone by. Finally, Sarah could move around once more, though we still needed to rest every now and then, as she was still weak. I offered her to carry her, but she adamantly refused, saying that it wasn’t necessary. She felt as weak as I, every offer of help would only be seen as a weakness ready to be exploited.

We walked through the streets of New York, often needing to change our direction when we came across unpassable rubble or having to search for a gab where we could force ourselves through. Though we reached the outer border far sooner than we expected, because any monster had left the city. All until we saw a black wolf, far bigger than it should have been, standing atop of a broken house.

I readied my sword, the wolf gnashing its fangs at me as it started to growl. But then a childish voice resounded, stopping the two of us.

“Sit down!” With his command the wolf stepped back, lying itself flat on the ground, then he directed his words to me. “He’s not going to hurt you if you don’t try to attack him.” From behind the wolf a child, muddled in dirt and grime stepped forward, running his hand through the fur.

“Does it belong to you?” Seeing how it didn’t attack us Sarah stepped forward.

“Blackie doesn’t belong to anyone.” Displeasure resounded in his voice.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it like that.”

“Okay.”

“You’re alone out here?” Worry resounded in her voice.

“No, it’s me, Blacky and…” he paused for a moment, lifting his hand. From above a bird flew down, landing softly on his arm, now visibly as a white owl. A tint of sadness filled his voice as he continued. “Claire.”

 

---

 

In the Sahara Desert – 93^rd dungeon

When the man followed his ravens, he stumbled across a portal, leading him to the place he was in now. The barren dessert was exchanged through a yellow green savanna, animals grassing on the sparse grass, with a couple of trees here and there. It would have been fairly idyllic, hadn’t there been the masses of red rocks, strewn here and there, only waiting for something unaware to step near at which point they would rise up to crush it beneath them.

Still it wasn’t much of a problem for the man as the golems were far too slow to endanger him. And while their bodies were tough enough to withstand most strikes, allowing them to endure throughout the fight until the enemy showed openings through exhaustion, his strikes struck them at their critical points, the spear allowing him to pierce deep enough to reach the core.

Instead of the monsters the man was far more concerned with his lack of water, the trip through the desert taking what little he had with him, leaving him with nothing to start with in the dungeon. At first, he looked towards the sky, hoping for clouds to gather, but it was just another blue sky, devoid of any water like the desert air. Eventually though, trusting in his raven companions, he came across a river.

Not wanting to lose his current source the man continued to follow the river, day by day. While at first nothing changed, only the same recurring view of little grass, few animals gracing on it and the red rocks, waiting for someone to come near, until the ground beneath him turned wetter, forming a delta.

And with the changed view came a change in the golems, the stone turning darker in color, moss growing over it. And with the change in its looks came a change in its stats, it moved far quicker than the ones before it, the core hidden deep within. Again and again the man had to strike the golem on the chest until he finally carved through the rock to reach the core, its speed making him take even more time as the golem tried to protect its vital point.

Given the new challenge the man stayed near the delta at first, hunting the surrounding golems till he could finish them within a breath. Then he continued onwards, trading through it until the scenery changed once more, growing lusher and lusher. In the early hour of the next days the man was perpetually greeted by a rain shower, though only lasting for a moment they were always quite extreme.

Plants grew bigger and far more common. He could already see them growing far beyond their current scale in the distance, reminding him of the tropical rainforests back in his own world. But as with the first change in surroundings this one brought a change in the enemy, the golems looking like trees, camouflaging themselves in the forest.

While their bodies were brittle, much less resistant than stone and moss golems, the wood quickly repaired itself from any damage while the core was far above in the treetop, forcing the man to jump from tree to tree nearby, until he was high enough. Jumping towards the core made them grow out sharp branches, trying to impale him, but it wasn’t something he couldn’t learn to dodge soon.

In time he met more and more golems, though the localization of the dungeon in the desert combined with his linear approach didn’t let him stumble upon other humans. After months spend inside the dungeon there was the first drastic change he noticed. Every place in the dungeon had been quite flat, even a small difference of a few foot seemed to be the maximus it could reach.

But now he started to walk upwards, the river now gushing besides him as it made its way downward. He stopped in his way, already wary as he hadn’t seen a golem since he started the climb. Though he would never have thought that the earth would change beneath him, making him fall backwards in a hurry before the earth collapsed on him

His raven called out in warning, but the man already saw it rising in front of him. A mountain-like golem mad from the moss-stone with twines growing around it. At its head was a large opening, water gushing out of it to flow over the vines and let them grow at a visible speed.

 

---

 

Germany

The woman stood at the entry of a supermarket, keeping a look-out on the street. Her group had left the shelter a week ago, when the last bits of provisions were gone, along with a few who took them in the dead of the night. There were quite a few who wanted to go after them, take what they believed was theirs and leaving them half dead, but it wasn’t something she wanted a hand inside just like the rest of her group.

“How is it? Anything left?” She shouted inside, only for a grumpy voice to answer her.

“Same as everywhere. Everything nonperishable is gone, and what little is left of the perishable has done exactly that.” A loud thud resounded as the man kicked against the shelf.

“Watch out, we don’t to alert these wolves again, barely lost them last time.” Another man shouted out, reproaching the first one, only for him to retort.

“At least we would have some food then.”

She held a bitter expression, even after they rationed their food, they wouldn’t last far more than three days. And while the adults understood their reason for it the children were dissatisfied, their stomach growling and irritation sparking, as they never had to live in hunger before and couldn’t understand why they had to now.

“At least take whatever looks good. People at higher level should be able to stomach it, even if it isn’t good anymore.”

“They last time you said that I’ve been stuck inside the toilet for half a day.” A shallow outburst came from inside, but there wasn’t any anger inside it as they all just did their best to survive.

As they started to fall into a gloomy state a shot rang out from further inside. “Guys! I cracked the storage open! Seems like no one was inside yet!”

“Nice job!”

The atmosphere seemed to change for the better, but then the woman’s voice rang out. “Hans, Karl, get over here! Erica, search for an exit in the back! The rest pack up as quickly as you can!”

Before they could answer glass shattered, paws landing softly inside the market. It wanted to rush at the prey in front of it, but a shield stopped it in its tracks, smashing against its head and launching it towards the wall. It tried to stand up dizzily, only for its life to end as a weapon penetrated its brain.

She pulled out her sword, turning around towards the broken window as another pair of wolves sprang through it. “Come at me!” She shouted out, keeping their attention from her comrades.

 

“Stay with me Karl, we’re nearly back.” She spoke towards the man leaning on her shoulder. He was barely conscious, bleeding profoundly from the side of his stomach, ripped open by sharp claws.

“I’m not going to make it.” He groaned, forcing his voice through the pain.

“Shut up, idiot, Mary will patch you back up and you’ll stand on your feet at the end of the day.”

He smiled at her words, her never-ending positivity, thinking that maybe she was right, though everything else told him about his nearing end.

“Get through the door.” Hans ran in front of them, opening the door. But instead of holding it open for them he stopped in his tracks.

“What are you…” She shoved him aside, only to stop just like him, her legs shaking and her eyes pacing around. The usual quiet hustle was gone, the laughter of children hushed. Instead the sickening smell of iron greeted her, the once safe haven filled with ripped corpses.

“No…” Her voice faded, her legs giving out beneath her, making Karl fall down with her. She let out a silent cry, tears streaming from her face. From beside her the weakened voice of Karl rang out.

“I guess that’s it…” A chuckle escaped his lips. “You tried your best, just like anyone of us.” Leaning his back against the wall he turned towards the other two. “Hans, Erica, get our miss out of here.”

“I won’t let you…”

He pressed his hands towards her. “[Sleep].” Before she could finish her words, she stumbled, falling sideways. Big hands caught her, lifting her gently up. “Thanks.”

“We’ll keep her safe.” Hans answered, turning around after his words to slowly walk away into an alley. “Sorry for leaving this to you.”

Erica instead stood still, watching the man with teary eyes.

“Go on.” He smiled at her.

“I don’t wanna.” Her voice was faint. “I don’t want to leave you behind.”

“All you can do for me is go. I will die today, but you won’t. We all have our paths to follow, it just happens that mine ends today. Now go!

Biting her lips, she did her best to suppress her tears. Then she turned around, whispering quietly as she followed the other two. “I’ll see you on the other side.”

“Don’t you dare come quickly.”

Seeing her disappear into the alley he pushed his hand against the wall, a bloody imprint left behind as he lifted himself upwards. “Come out, you lousy fur coats.”

One by one pairs of eyes glistened in the shadows.

“I don’t think you’ll care if I begin, [Poison Mist].”