Glyn puts his hand on the spike, and the miasma fills the air. He then opens his book as the thick black fog is absorbed into the cursed tome. As the fog fades away, the monsters take form, becoming solid as they march forward past the tree line of the clearing. Miller and the others are ready for the fight as Glyn closes his book shut as it radiates with a dark energy.

            “Xia now!” Glyn yells.

Xia takes off, leaping into the air and taking flight. “I don’t take orders from you.”

            “Just this once,” Isaac says.

She nods and takes off, leaving the group alone. “Mila, be ready at any moment. When Xia gets back, we’re going to need you to put everything you’ve got into smashing the Core.”

She nods. “I’ll be ready!”

A large snake-like monster stomps forward on four oversized limbs as it lunges forward. Miller swings his sword, slicing the monster in the head as Sam leaps up and decapitates it. The creature falls dead with more monsters emerging from the trees, bearing their fangs and claws ready to tear everyone apart.

            “What’re your best estimates as Warriors? How long do you think we’ll last?” Isaac asks.

            “We’re tired and running low on energy,” Sams says.

            “I’d say we have five or six minutes before we’re overwhelmed by the sheer amount of the monsters.”

Glyn smirks. “Well then. We’ve got ten minutes before we’re dead.”

The monster's charge as everyone prepares for the horde.

 

On the ship, Rufus drops the barrier and runs to the front of the ship, joining Ivar. Pepper stands glowing as she sees what Glyn sees and hears what he hears.

            “Everyone, we have ten minutes!” She yells.

Tisha nods. “Ivar, Rufus, open the way.”

The pair nod with Ivar grabbing Rufus and leaping off the ship. “Wait, I can’t swim!” Rufus yells, falling into the water.

Fiona shakes her head. “I keep wondering how he lasted this long.”

            “No time to worry about that, girlie.” The Captain points his sword out towards the sea. “We’ve got monsters about.”

She nods and stretches, staring as the tentacles slither forward, their bodies becoming more solid. “Alright then. Let’s have some fun!”

            “I wouldn’t call any of this fun.”

            “Man, you sure aren’t any fun. But we can work on that.”

            “I’d rather not.”

Slithering tentacles move through the waters and crash into the side of the ship. The pirates run ahead, swinging their swords and slashing into the tentacles to push them back. Fiona throws her ax and cuts one in half as her ax flies back to her hand. She smirks as something climbs up the side of the ship with fishlike monsters clambering onto the ship, moaning in distorted, mangled voices. The pirates attack with Fiona leading the way, keeping the horde away from Pepper, who struggles to keep her connection to Glyn.

            “Damn it. Ivar, hurry.” Tisha says under her breath.

A hole appears in the water, showing a break in the ocean leading down to the sea floor. After a few seconds, the hole widens, splitting the sea apart, with Ivar and Rufus standing on the sea floor. Rufus holds up his hands as a bright light comes out of his fingers, with Ivar standing in front of him as monsters crawl out of the water towards them.

            “Hold that pose for as long as you can!” Ivar yells.

Rufus nods, unable to break concentration to speak.

A slithering beast rushes towards him with Ivar punching it back with all the force he can muster. More monsters emerge as he takes in a deep breath and takes an offensive stance.

            “Tisha, fire whenever you are ready! We’ll hold the line here for as long as we can!” Ivar yells at the top of his lungs.

Tisha nods and readies her arrow, pulling back on her bow. “Pepper, how’s Glyn’s situation.”

            “Not ideal….”

 

Miller slashes a monster in half as a flying beast charges at him. Mila hits it with a fireball, only for two turtle-like monsters to shoot blasts of water at her. Sam runs in and blocks the attack with their shield. The monsters push the group back as Isaac casts a spell to heal some of their wounds, sending out a wave of healing light over the three. Glyn looks around, monitoring the situation and waiting for the right moment. As he struggles to think of anything, Xia flies down, landing in front of Isaac.

            “Did you find the Core?” He asks.

She shakes her head. “Nothing. I can’t find the damned Core in this place. There aren’t any caves or crap around, but maybe it’s underground.”

            “We don’t have the time to look like that!” Glyn yells. “It should be somewhere obvious. A Dungeon of this size and so open with so many monsters. The damned thing should be huge and obvious by now.”

            “Well, I can’t find it.”

He shakes his head. “Then we’re dead. Without destroying that, even if they smash the barrier on the outside, we can’t get out.”

            “How is it outside?” Mila asks.

            “Just as bad as in here. Maybe worse, since Rufus has to keep casting spells back-to-back like that.” He says.

Miller kills a monster. “What’re our odds then?”

            “Not good. Even if we find the Core, if the monsters keep coming like this, then we won’t have a chance to smash it.”

Glyn clenches his teeth as Mila stares up at the sky. “There.”

            “Huh?”

            “I can sense something in the sky. A huge source of Mana. I couldn’t sense it before, but now it’s so obvious. I think I saw it before too, when I tried attacking the barrier.”

            “But there’s nothing in the sky but….” Xia looks up and stares at the fake sun shining brightly overhead. “The sun…”

Glyn laughs. “Of course! The damned thing is the sun. The source of life for the Dungeon being the source of life, makes an ironic sense.”

            “But how do we reach it? Xia can’t fly that high and I don’t think your fox girl can sprout wings.” Isaac says.

Mila swings her tails. “I can force it!”

            “Force it?” Glyn nods. “Right. If you focus an intense fire blast from your tails, it will propel you upwards, but you’ll have to get the angle right or you’ll just smack the barrier.”

            “I’ll direct her. And I’m close to fire proof so it works out for me.” Xia says.

The monsters push back on the group as they lose more ground. “Get going!” Miller screams as he continues fighting.

            “Destroy the damned thing so we can escape!” Sam yells.

Mila nods as Xia grabs hold of her and takes off towards the sky.

 

Outside, the battle on the ship continues as Tisha aims for the barrier. Rufus struggles to maintain the spell as the surrounding water slowly encroaches, taking up their space. Ivar fights the monsters, but one slips past him, slithering along the sea floor and charging at Rufus. It leaps into the air, lunging at him only for Rufus to stare at it and move his hands, shooting a burst of lightning at the monster.

            “Whew.” Rufus takes a breath as the walls of water collapse. “Crap.”

Ivar grabs hold of him and leaps towards the water. “Tisha, take your shot now! It’s now or never!” He swims away as the water sweeps him and Rufus away.

Tisha holds her bow, keeping sight of the barrier as more water rushes in. “But are Glyn and the others….”

            “Do it now!” Pepper yells. “Glyn has to be ready now!”

She nods and concentrates, pulling all available Mana she can into the arrow and letting it fly. She collapses to her knees with Fiona coming along to help her up. The arrow flies piercing through the water as it crashes in and hits the side of the dome, encapsulating the barrier. The arrow explodes into a burst of raw power and the barrier cracks, with breaks spreading across the side of it.

 

Inside, Xia flies towards the fake sun as cracks appear across the sky. Water leaks in from above, filling the area as she reaches her limits. Mila nods as Xia tosses her further into the sky. She sends out a fireball from her tails that explodes behind her, launching her further into the air. She extends her sword as she gets closer to the Core, only for a jet of water to hit her in the face, knocking her back.

            “Mila!” Glyn and Miller scream out as she falls.

Xia flies to catch her as flying monsters swarm around her. On the ground, the monsters surround the group, with Sam and Miller struggling to beat them back. Glyn casts a spell as electricity sparks from his book with Isaac takes cover. Mila sees the chaos below her and panics, her heart racing as she falls to the ground.

            “Are you really this weak?” A familiar harsh voice enters her head. “If you’re that weak. Then it’ll happen again. You’ll lose everyone you love again. Stop being a coward and let it loose!”

Mila screams as she falls. Only for her to explode in midair. Everyone pauses for a moment before something erupts out of the explosion. A streak of white shoots through the air at the Core, smashing into it and shattering it into pieces. Before anyone can say a word, the barrier breaks apart and water spills into the space, enveloping everything as the intense force of the current sweeps away everyone.