The Genesis Game

Chapter 52 - Purgatory Door - Part 2

The closer the two of them got to the doorway, the heavier their steps became as an oppressive aura pressed into them, weighing them down.

"I've got a bad feeling about this Seraph." Said Sadie, her tone a warning as she looked hesitantly at the demon door.

Seraph nodded, as he forced himself forward. "I have a bad feeling too, but it's not like we have much choice here. But the only way out is through, and we can't retreat without gaining control of this Guildhall. Too much depends on us being successful."

"I know that Seraph, it's why I'm still here and haven't turned around and gone back to the surface. Too much is relying on us. But have you even thought of where that door leads?" She questioned, her face lined with worry.

Gripping her weapon tightly, she responded. "You're probably right about that, just be careful, don't take on any more risk than we need to, neither of us is coming back if we die."

He nodded in agreement, he wasn't trying to be a hero.

When they reached the gate, both heard a loud crash and turned around to see that the stairwell door had been sealed off.

"Only way out is through." Seraph reminded her in response, pointing at the gateway as a clear coated red shield covered it, effectively closing off the exit, sealing them in the room.

"Nevermind." Seraph responded irritably as they both recognized the sounds of bones animating with the tell-tell clank of ivory. Something neither Seraph or Sadie was surprised by.

Notification: Event Discovered - Ancient Animity

Details: Dying in the heat of battle, these ancient enemies rise in undeath to do battle once more, united where once they were enemies to bring death upon the living.

Conditions: Defeat all enemies

Reward: 2 Rings of Random Quality.

Sadie counted all the skeletons around them. "We've got a count of 40 in total, all melee though, still, it's going to get rough. Let's retreat back to the stairwell and use that to funnel them all into a choke point."

"Can't." Replied Seraph "That door is sealed, and even if it wasn't, those skeletons are in the way, it wouldn't work out well."

Sadie shrugged, her sword glowing blue as she powered it up with the ability to do more damage to the undead. " Alright here they come." She said as the first of the Skeletal Warriors reached her, swinging a rusty broadsword at her. She ducked underneath and brought her own blade up into the skeleton's skull, using her offhand to add more force by pushing up on the pummel. The move shattering the bone and dispelled the animation, the rest of the bones falling to the ground.

"Well done Sadie." Cheered Seraph with a smile, his blood burning in excitement as the nearest three Skeletal Warriors turned to attack him. But their movement was slow compared against his current physical ability, and he was easily able to outpace them as they swung their swords and axes to attack him. One at a time, he dodged and evading, using the opening to counter attack with a devastating hit from the Warhammer. All three of the Skeletal Warriors destroyed in seconds, though more quickly replaced them.

The kill had been easy enough, but he noticed his own ragged breathing, and that Sadie appeared to be having the same issue as steam began to rise from their bodies. They would burn through all their stamina before destroying the rest of the skeletons.

"I guess now's a good time to show you a little of what I can do." Laughed Sadie as she cut the palm of her hand and made a fist, forcing the blood dripping from her palm to fall to the ground in droplets.

"Purify Lesser Undead." She commanded as the ground below her turned white, an arcane circle spreading out from the drops of blood. The circle expanding a few meters around her. Seraph watched as the Skeletal Warriors within the circle became trapped unable to move as their bones began to shine in the same white as the circle before collapsing in heaps of bone dust.

"Does It seem like this is too easy?" She asked after clearing away over two-thirds of the Undead Horde in seconds.

"It does now." Responded Seraph as he moved to join her in the circle, his back against hers. "Makes sense though, this being on the first floor was meant to one of the places new players would find and explore first, its balanced to them, not to us."

"Correct. That makes perfect sense." She responded. "We might actually be a little over leveled to be here. Even with the experience boost we got earlier, I'm sure anyone else in the same situation wouldn't have been able to pick up any abilities like you have."

"That's true." Seraph admitted as he used his Cold Hands ability on one of the few remaining skeletons to turn the bones to ice before shattering the monster with a blow from the Warhammer.

"Show off." She muttered teasingly, both of them were enjoying themselves. Two warriors doing what they did best, killing things.

With the last of the Skeletons defeated, both of them collected some of the scattered bone dust before it was reabsorbed by the Dungeon to give to Jack when they surfaced. When the expected notification of completion never came, and the doors remained sealed, they both knew the battle wasn't over and used it to prepare themselves for what was to come.

Each of them expecting a sub-boss or regular boss to appear. All throughout the room bones begin to churn, pulled from the piles left around, and uprooted from where they had been embedded in the ground. Collapsing upon the middle of the room and forming into a Skeletal Lord, though this one was covered in armor from its head to toe, with no obvious weak points to attack. The varying rusted swords scattered through the room thrusting into the armor to act as spikes, making it near impossible to approach close enough to destroy it.

The dead thing was made of thousands of bones, and Seraph knew it would never get tired, something that they even with their advanced stats for situation would need to contented with. Exhaustion was already setting in after having fought through the Skeletal Horde, their muscles heavy and cramping.

"Do you have any ideas?" Sadie shouted at him after they tried unsuccessful to launch a barrage of attacks against the Skeletal Lord, only to be forced to retreat as its Giant Claymore swung with a quickness the other Skeletons had not possessed, nearly disemboweling both of them.

"I've got one idea, we need to get in front of the Demon Door." Seraph responded as he started to run and Sadie followed, the Skeletal Lord not far behind as it ran in pursuit.

"Whats the plan Seraph?" Sadie asked nervously eyeing both the door and the charging Skeletal Lord.

"Can you parry that Claymore?" Asked Seraph.

"Once or twice, anymore and my sword would probably break."

"All I need is once." Responded Seraph as he used his Thousand Handed ability to summon Ethereal Arms throughout his body as Sadie screamed at the Skeletal Lord drawing its attention and attack on her. As it lifted its Claymore to attack, Seraph ran around behind it, using the forward momentum of the swing to grasp at the gouges in the Skeletons armor from where the swords had punctured it and pushed it forward toward the Demon Door.

The effort straining him almost to his breaking point, but not quite. His strength amplified by the use of the spectral arms he had summoned.

From the doorway, the demons etched into the stone stopped pulling at the human souls that they had kept trapped, and turned to look at him in eager anticipation. Outreached hellish claws reaching out as if the stone was elastic as the Skeletal Lord fell forward off balance as Seraph pushed it. Shrinking as many demons grabbed ahold the monster and pulled it inward, the bones that had comprised its monstrous form disappearing as they reverted and transformed into the souls who had been trapped in undeath. Twisted in agony the souls screamed for escape as the demons celebrated.