Re:Monster - Re:Vival

Day Twelve - Side Story

After a long day of dungeon diving yesterday, I was looking forward to a nice rest, free from that dumbass Skeleton dressed in stolen gear. Unfortunately, the wounds I got from the Bone Chimera made last night anything but nice. It was only made worse when I thought about how I was the only one who received any kind of serious wound. Even that Porter managed to get out of there with only a few scapes and sore muscles. It sickened me that she had the Skeleton to thank for that.

Speaking of which, I had come up with an idea when it came to that boney bastard. I just had to wait on Kreia to get back with the necessary info. It was sickening, thinking about how she was going to go about getting that information but it would all be worth it in the end if we could topple the Casoway Town Dungeon.

"You're awake. Good."

Apparently I had been so absorbed in my own thoughts that I failed to notice the door to my room opening and Derrick coming inside. Considering it's Derrick, that's saying something with how loud his steps were. Truly a shining standard of a Guardian and Shieldsman. I was sure we'd have died many times over if it wasn't for him taking the brunt of our enemies' attacks.

"Hurry and get dressed. Kreia's brought someone with some information on the last five floors."

My eyes widened at my party member's words and I hurriedly did as told, going so far as to ignore the pain in my chest if it meant getting there faster. We practically ran out of the room and down to the pub to hear what Kreia's new friend had to say.

"Should I go and get Lia?"

"Who?"

As we rushed down the street, Derrick mentioned a name I was unfamiliar with.

"The Porter girl."

"Oh, her."

I thought about it for a moment. The sight of her being protected so fervently by the Skeleton Leader still fresh in my mind, I decided against it. She wasn't a part of our party. Considering how friendly she was with those Skeletons, she could end up blabbing to them and I couldn't risk that. Not when I was so close to being the first one to complete the dungeon here.

Derrick seemed to understand my intentions and we soon arrived at the pub, ready to hear what Kreia had found. When we walked inside, we quickly found Kreia at a nearby table accompanied by a man around the size of Derrick and possibly a little older; around his mid-40's by the look of him. His brown hair was disheveled and specks of grey could be seen in both his hair and his beard.

When we sat at the table, I was unfortunately able to take in his full appearance and winced at the sight. The left side of his face was grey and black and missing skin and muscle in places. An extended look revealed that whatever was wrong with him was not limited to his face, descending down his neck past his collar. It was not a pretty sight. He let out a gruff sound that could almost have been mistaken for a chuckle.

"Startling, ain't it?"

The man spoke with a rasp to his gruff tone. He was clearly unwell.

"Sorry about that."

Derrick spoke up, apologising for us.

"S'fine. Ye'll all look like this pr'tty soon anyways."

"What do you mean by that?"

Admittedly, my voice came out a little more accusatory than I had intended but he didn't seem to take any offence to it.

"Put it this way. Ye make it to the 20th floor, yer done. That thing don't belong in a place like that. S'no wonder ain't no one beaten it yet."

"You know what it is. Don't you. You've been there."

I was getting excited. If this old guy could give us information on the final boss, then we could avoid whatever skill did that to him and beat it.

"Death. That thing's Death."

What a load of crap. And here I thought he could help.

"Oi. What's with that look?"

I guess I made my dissatisfaction a little bit too evident in my expression.

"That information doesn't exactly help us clear the dungeon."

"It's not meant to help you clear it you daft buggers. Ah'm sayin' if ya value yer lives, don't go down there. A Lich ain't anything ya wanna go toe ta toe with."

A Lich? Did I hear that right? What the hell was a Lich doing down there? No, now wasn't the time to start getting weak-kneed.

"Floors 16 to 19 then. What's on those floors?"

"Are you serious? Yer goin' ta go back down there? Even if ending up like this is the only way ya come back alive?"

He started to remove his top, revealing that whatever was wrong with his body descended down the left side of his body and worse, had completely overtaken his left arm. It seemed like the only thing keeping his heart somewhat intact was the large metal plate painfully placed over where his heart should be, almost like a cage.

"What-"

"It's dead. That's what that thing does. A've got the arm of a dead man. And my body ain't far behind."

For a moment, it seemed like the nineteenth floor was going to be our limit. That was when I realised something.

"It kills? Then I don't think we'll have a problem."

He looked at me like I was crazy. Not that I'd blame him honestly.

"You know a Necromancer?"

"Close."

I went on to explain to him our dungeon dive starting from that thing on the 8th floor all the way to where we are now at the beginning of the 16th. Naturally, I made sure not to leave out the fact that a certain Skeleton and it's summoned subordinates had been making their way there alongside us.

As I told him the story, I referred to the Skeleton as something similar to a Lich. I said that it seemed like it was either on the cusp of ranking up or already had ranked up into something that would be very difficult for us to take head on. This got his attention. He muttered that one was already more than enough and started talking to us about a plan to take out the Skeleton and complete the Dungeon.

In regards to the dungeon, I learned from him that from the 15th to 20th floor, it's a boss rush. A single enemy per floor. It wouldn't be fun but this guy knew what we were up against. He went on to explain exactly that. On the 16th floor, a Tauren; a bull-like undead covered in hard, fire-proof, bone-plating. On the 17th, a Bone Serpent; a massive, undead serpent made entirely of bone. On the 18th, a Dead Swarm; not as much an enemy as an obstacle. An open hole filled to the top with Skeletons climbing over each other, reaching for any living thing they can grab to drag them down and drown them in a sea of ivory. On the 19th, a Dullahan; the headless, semi-intelligent undead that can, in extremely rare cases, be seen walking around towns and cities. Finally on the 20th floor, the Lich. A monster that sought knowledge even in death, capable of casting spells that would make the most capable adventurer flee in terror.

The plan was simple but unfortunately, much of it required the support of the Skeleton. For that, I had no doubt we'd need to keep that Porter around for a little longer. No matter. Once we beat the Lich, she'd be dealt with alongside the Skeleton. Of that, myself and the man who finally introduced himself as 'Carlyle', agreed on. A Skeleton like that couldn't be allowed to live and neither could someone so willing to get friendly with it.