It wasn’t long after waking up that the group encountered disaster. 

“I’ll lure them away,” Alex smiled. He seemed more excited than ever. 

However, Gawain grabbed his shoulder. “I’ll buy some time.” 

Gawain’s voice shook. Yet, before anyone could stop him, he charged into the darkness. His characteristic laugh echoed throughout the tunnel as he ran. 

Let him go.

“Motherfucker… I’ll follow—”

“No, we need you… in case…” Stephen’s voice that cut Alex off trailed. 

“Fucking hell.” Alex kicked the ground. The last light that signaled Gawain’s path flickered off. 

The party had woken up two hours prior after sleeping nearly ten hours. They made it to the third floor and were getting close to the armory, when they heard that familiar roar. Stephen was starting to really hate that sound. 

Unfortunately, even with the D ranked monster cores, everyone’s Status was still locked.

 

If the goal was for everyone to have the potential to survive, the only option was to make it to the armory and fight. Stephen had the impression that they couldn’t escape the boss’s pursuit this time, so they had to do everything in one go. 

To be honest, Stephen was nauseous. The image of himself bowing was burned into the back of his eyes, and with it there was the feeling that everything was slipping through his fingers. The feeling that everything outside his control was sickening. Yet, that was the course of the majority of his life. There was no time for pity. With a deep breath, he focused. 

If they ran it would only take seven minutes. However, the various shrieks that sounded out from the darkness made it clear that there would be obstacles. 

The creatures on the third floor were not something they could easily dismiss either. Their skin was leathery and strong. The version of the spell “Iron Bullet '' that was inscribed into the magical circuitry of their handguns couldn’t pierce deep into the higher level zombies efficiently. 

It took consecutive bullets hitting the same area, or using the limited enchanted bullets, to do anything. Furthermore, they were faster and had better senses. The worst part was their intelligence. They were more methodical and worked together, communicating constantly with their vibrating throats.

Like before, Stephen led the group with his knife in one hand and his gun in the other. He heard two of the zombies rushing forward from the adjacent pathways. They would intersect with each other shortly. 

Stephen slowed down abruptly, lowered his body, and tightened the grip he held on his knife.  When the first creature appeared in the opening, Stephen rushed forward. His body was like a coil as his lowered body rose with his strike. Although he had slowed down, he had a considerable momentum behind his thrust. 

The knife that was at his side was driven upwards and stabbed into the bottom, fleshy part under the creature’s jaw. Unlike before, he felt resistance as it dug into the muscle. He had put his entire weight into the strike, but he wasn’t done. He repeatedly pushed and twisted the knife, wrenching it through the tissue. 

When the knife was lodged deep into the creature’s jaw, Stephen continued to press straight ahead. There was no time to stop. Thus, he pulled on the knife and practically dragged the corpse upward as he charged forward. Before the creature turned into particles of light, it would serve as a makeshift shield. 

With his other hand, Stephen aimed his gun through the impaled corpse he held up. It was naturally directed at the second ghoulish looking creature. 

After being blocked, it halted its charge. It just stood still and screamed. 

‘Did it realize it didn’t have a chance?’

After a series of lights appeared, two bullets entered its open mouth. Although he quickly handled them, the ground trembled from the quaking reverberations of feet. The creature had done its job and now their position was known. They could only speed up. 

The sounds of Alex’s bat, the shots of Sophia’s gun, and the impacts of Mel's and Ravenna’s fists didn’t stop. 

Stephen could only hope that Gawain had stalled the mid level boss. Everyone was already barely holding on. However, after several minutes passed, that familiar and hateful roar shook the passage way. 

‘Damn it. It just won’t leave us alone.’

The bad end was inevitable. 

“It’s close!” Sophia’s voice trembled. 

A few more minutes passed by even though it felt like eternity. Stephen kept pulling the trigger of his firearm, nothing came out. 

“Fuck.” The voice in the back of his head had gone silent. At least, it didn’t seem to be helping. It just kept echoing the same phrase. 

The bad end was inevitable. 

“I, I’m out as well.” Sophia's squeaky voice sounded almost like a whimper.

Stephen threw the gun at the approaching creature. He gripped his knife with both hands and charged into its head. It felt like he had just ran into something hard and he almost let go of his knife. He was getting clumsy. 

Luckily, the party just had to make one last turn at the next corner. It was a straight shot from there. Nothing could block their path now. 

Stephen could see the armory door at the end of the hall. It felt like their salvation.

He sprinted to it with all his might and it was locked.

The phrase echoed again.

The bad end was inevitable. 

“Shit.” 

No matter what Stephen tried, the thing wouldn’t budge. For a second, he contemplated lying and saying there was an endless supply of booze behind it. Maybe, Ravenna could magically smash the door to pieces with that knowledge.  

He debated this nonsensical thought until realizing that she might actually try, which could only result in her breaking her fist.

“Dumbass.” Alex clicked his tongue. In the heat of the moment, it was almost as if he was gloating. Stephen almost snapped at him. 

Instead, perhaps influenced by his growing annoyance, Stephen frowned and then grabbed Alex by the back of the head and pushed it towards the door.

‘Maybe it can identify the headmaster’s son…’

“W-what the fuck.” He squirmed.

‘Doesn’t look like it. What if I push his face directly into the door.’

“Bas…” Alex kept speaking but with his lips smooshed into the door, it was impossible to tell what he was saying. He couldn’t escape Stephen’s iron grip either. His face was practically glued to the door, while his limbs flailed about. 

Mel tapped Stephen on his shoulder while he was still in thought. 

“Move.”

Stephen scampered out of the way seeing her hands glow with a golden light. He barely dragged Alex out of the way when a boom sounded out from the Princess’s fist. He didn’t see clearly what happened. 

He covered his eyes as a gust of wind built around the Princess's hand. She then punched it with her other fist. This time he saw it, even if he didn’t understand. It was almost like a spring. 

Energy built across the Princess’s body as she brought her whole being into a singular punch. When all the energy was released, there was an explosion. 

It wasn’t mana, nor was it qi. It was the Authority of the Princess’s Will. It was the right of the Imperial Bloodline. Stephen only knew what it was; he didn’t know how it worked. 

Meanwhile, Alex groaned and spit at the floor after getting free of Stephen’s grasp. Stephen ignored Alex and looked at the door in anticipation. Cracks formed in the stone wall.

Following that a loud crinkling could be heard as the door was seemingly bending into itself. It didn’t even seem attached to the wall anymore. The Princess gave a short grunt and then kicked the center of the door, which at that point just looked like a distorted piece of metal. It was sent flying over ten meters, only stopping due to the wall at the back of the room.

With a quick scan, there were half a dozen chests, and as if to suggest their contents were more valuable than previous ones, they were more ornate — decorated with fancy metals.  

At the same time, a massive creature that was several times the size of the previous monsters crept around the corner. Its tough leathery skin was taut against a bundle of bulging muscles, which was further reinforced by an armor of thick bone. 

It was like a very ugly bear or gorilla if said creature was larger, without fur, covered in bone, and had sloth-like claws that weren’t much different from sharpened daggers. That very ugly creature also had a large jaw that could probably snap a man’s torso in one snap. So, perhaps it wasn’t that similar to a bear or gorilla after all. 

‘Yes, it is more like an armored troll… but even more ugly.’ 

Yet, it didn’t rush forward. As if it knew that its prey were cornered, it smiled and moved forward at a leisurely pace. It even stopped moving after taking a couple steps.

Its upper body seemed to inflate as it pulled its head back. Opening its mouth, it screamed. Whether from the raw physical force or from being enhanced by mana, a solid force slammed into everyone’s body. 

After bringing air back into his body, Stephen turned to Mel. “Can you?”

“No… I hope that whatever is in here is enough.” Mel gave a sad smile. It appeared her Authority was limited. The reason she could previously interact with the armory door in such a manner was probably because it belonged to the State, which in turn meant it belonged to the Empire. 

Stephen didn’t rush into the armory. His body felt heavy and sore, but that wasn’t the reason he didn’t move. The second he turned around the thing would dash forward and end everything. 

The realization that they ran out of time dawned on Stephen. He was hopelessly self aware of the absurdity of his plan. However, it was as if his subconscious refused alternatives.

‘What was the point of it all? Was it really inevitable?’

Before Stephen could accept the truth of the situation, Alex took a step forward. 

“Hey dumbass, because I’m so awesome, just this one time, this one time only, I’ll help you.”

Alex didn’t smile, nor did he frown. He simply wobbled in place, seeming unsteady. With an almost drunken gait, he tapped his metal bat on the floor a few times. An ominous, dark energy escaped every time he tapped the bat. 

Alex was mumbling to someone, but Stephen couldn’t hear it. He had already silently entered the room. He had no words to say. 

He couldn’t explain the phenomenon Alex was displaying. He was only aware of the ramifications such actions would have. He pushed those thoughts down though, feigning ignorance to things he didn’t want to accept. If he didn’t his hands would shake, and he couldn’t afford that at this moment. 

While Alex bought time, he would gather the munitions needed to kill the mid level boss. Still, the helplessness was palpable. He licked his lips. They were disgustingly dry. 

The creature’s roar and Alex’s battle cry mixed together. 

‘Don’t think about it.’ 

Whatever happened, some kind of explosion had sent a blast of energy that almost made Stephen lose his balance. 

‘Faster. Faster.’

Suddenly an eerie childlike laugh reverberated throughout the space. All other sounds become muffled as if the laughter seemingly subdued them. Perhaps, he was going crazy. 

The Bad Ending was inevitable. 

‘Ignore it.’

His hands shook. It turned out he couldn’t stop his hands from trembling after all. Nonetheless, Stephen got all the chests open. It was clear the contents were not up to modern State standards. If they were then turning the monster into mincemeat would have been easy. A sigh escaped his lips. 

‘Still, it’s salvageable.’ 

There was a variety of explosive materials, which all adhered to the ‘Generic Explosion Concept’ along with the ‘Standard Transmutation Framework.’

The State in their endless pursuit of efficiency developed books upon books of theorems, doctrines, and protocols. Alchemy was one such subject that was rigorously studied. It sought to define and replicate a standard for all kinds of phenomena. 

Putting the State jargon aside, it basically meant that Stephen could make a very good boom that was controllable, definable, and moldable. 

After placing the explosive ornaments into a singular pile, Stephen cut his finger and allowed his blood to drip onto the objects. His blood would be the medium that allowed him to control the alchemical product. 

‘Turn into a fine powder.’

The objects shone with a bright light and followed Stephen’s command. Rather than being like an actual substance, the alchemy of the State allowed the ‘essence’ of an explosion to take a physical form, which was then allowed to be transmuted into various shapes and forms. 

Stephen pulled out a small vial that he also got from the chests. It sucked in the explosive powder. No matter how much of the powder that the vial sucked in, the container didn’t seem to fill up. 

‘I did what you wanted.’ These words, which he didn’t really understand himself, floated in his consciousness. 

 

Stephen turned his head and took a deep breath. The air seemed to change. No, it was his senses. He could hear every sound in the local proximity no matter how quiet they were. His breath, the muscles in his throat as he swallowed some salvia, and his blood coursing through his body were just some of the sounds that entered his ears.

 

His other senses were the same. He could taste the light saltiness of his own lips on his tongue. The lingering booze that wafted off Ravenna mixed with the pungent odor of blood greeted his nose.  

 

While adjusting to the change, a loud snap overpowered the other sounds. The bloody and mangled figure of Alex flew into the room. He slammed into the wall before his body crumbled forward lifelessly. 

The sound of something breaking echoed in Stephen's ear. There was a quiet, bloody gurgle. It was like a very soft cough — a failed attempt at trying to breathe. Then there was silence. 

Alex bat was snapped in half. Or was it his arm that was snapped. 

‘Don’t think about it.’

The angry creature charged into the room, knocking over the remnants of the wall. Its head had a big gash dented into its head. Black veins seemed to spread out from the wound. The creature stopped and scanned the room. Its gaze rested on the corner that Alex was thrown to.

He couldn't even hear any noise coming from the man though. Stephen took another deep breath. He didn’t know what happened or why the creature was wounded or what the laughing he heard was. 

Yet, Stephen didn’t feel any of his previous anxiety. There was only a strange calmness. 

He only had one thought: ‘Open your mouth, motherfucker!’ 

While his body was seemingly calm, a singular rage filled thought existed.