Level Up: Voidwalker

Chapter 168: He Needs To Grow Stronger

Atlas continued fighting the Deathclaw King by dodging its car-sized pincers, which tried snapping at him. He ducked under most attacks or used Void Step to avoid them while striking the monster with several Void Arrows and Void Lances.

'If I use the armor, piercing spells will weaken the Sub-Boss.'

The spells shattered the creature's exoskeleton, and Atlas skillfully dodged its attacks, waiting for the right moment. As the Sub-Boss began to slow, its strikes grew sluggish, creating an opening. Find adventures on M V L

Seizing the chance, Atlas targeted its vulnerable joints, slicing through the exposed soft flesh. The Deathclaw King roared in pain as he used Void Step to appear on the monster's back, only for the stinger to thrust itself toward his torso.

'Too slow!' he thought with a breath of relief.

Atlas moved to dodge, but the Deathclaw King's massive pincer closed in too fast. It snapped shut with murderous force, severing his left arm in a single, sickening slice. When he saw this, his face paled as the shock kept the pain at bay.

'Oh fuck, this is bad,' he thought as the stump flapped around, causing blood to splatter everything.

Seconds later, the excruciating pain surged through him, but Atlas forced himself to stay upright as blood poured from the stump. With a defiant roar, he drove his blade into a crack in the monster's exoskeleton just as its deadly stinger impaled him.

It pierced his armor and struck his shoulder. Atlas gasped as venom surged through his veins, burning like molten lava. His vision blurred, the edges of his vision dimmed, but he refused to give up.

'I will kill it before it gets me,' Atlas steeled himself as Regeneration tried to fight the Deathclaw venom.

Using the last of his strength, he unleashed a Void Bomb deep within the monster's body, then vanished using Void Step. Reappearing far enough away so he couldn't get hurt, he collapsed to one knee, barely holding on to life.

'The antidote potion! Lucky I looted it that day,' he thought while remembering what was in his Dimensional Storage.

Atlas felt his body failing, the venom ravaging him from the inside out as it gnawed away at his organs while blood poured out of the stump that used to be his left arm. Blood and flesh spilled from his mouth as the toxin tore through him.

Through the fog of pain and trembling hands. With desperate hope, he swallowed it, holding on to the faint chance of survival as darkness closed in. His vision went black as the pain overwhelmed him, and he collapsed.

***

Amethyst froze in her tracks as a sharp pain pierced her heart. Anxiety surged through her as she scanned her surroundings, a troubling thought creeping in. 'Did something happen to Azhar'Zul?'

''Little bird! Why did you stop walking?'' Grishna commented from a few feet away.

She shook her head, anxiety rising in her voice. "I have a bad feeling—Azhar'Zul might have been hurt during his dungeon dive."

The orc woman's face crossed with concern as she replied, frowning, ''Try to send him a message using the Lover's Band.''

''I will once we complete this quest,'' Amethyst said with a strained smile. ''We only have to deal with the goblin tribes infesting Darkwood Forst before returning to Nightfall City.''

''What's holding you ladies up?'' Estelle's French accent rang out across the clearing they needed to cross.

Following the two, women caught up with the blonde defender as Artemis appeared from the underbrush, looking baffled as she spoke, ''I found the Goblin camp, but it's empty with no signs apart from a few blood patches here and there.''

'Did something attack them?' was everyone's thought when hearing the brunette's words.

Amethyst was confused before asking, ''Didn't your Eaglevision show a full camp of monsters an hour ago? What happened in that time?''

''Well, Little Bird, it did, but something has happened,'' Artemis answered with a shrug. ''I'm as clueless as you.''

The phoenix girl sighed before scanning the surrounding forest only to see an eerie patch of mana that shone like a star at night. She shook her head before pointing in its direction, ''There's something over there. It seems off, like poisoned mana, and it's making my feathers crawl,'' she informed the group.

Estelle, Grishna, and Artemis turned to Amethyst, who became shy as they started following her. Ten minutes later, they arrived at a hole the size of a well, which confused the four. The orc woman stepped forward before peering over the edge.

''Pure darkness,'' Grishna commented in a wary voice. ''It gives me the creeps just looking at it.''

When Amethyst sensed the mana emanating from the hole, an icy dread crept into her bones. Her body stiffened, and her ears drooped instinctively. This dark energy felt all too familiar—just like the ominous presence she and Atlas had faced during their encounter with the Lost Prince.

'Chaos! What are they doing here?' she thought, tension rising. Then, as the pieces clicked together, she revealed what she knew. "This is the same sinister aura that clung to the creature following Azhar'Zul. It's the darkness that threatens to swallow our world."

The three women turned to her, and Estelle asked, in a concerned tone, as her blue eyes gleamed, ''Is this the evil the Path speaks of?''

Amethyst slowly nodded. ''Before my family left the Blue Dune Desert, rumors appeared with the Nubian merchants speaking of dungeons being affected by an unknown magic that strengthens the monsters inside,'' she explained while looking at the hole.

''My homeland experienced a similar issue, but that happened two decades ago,'' Artemis spoke while scanning their surroundings. ''Powerful Adventurer Parties and Nova Core Mages used to go clear them out, but even they lost people.''

The three women looked at the brunette as she continued, ''The Olympaeans call it the Day Of Tears due to losing over fifty powerful warriors when the dungeons poured out trying to destroy the kingdom.''

Grishna nodded as if she remembered something before speaking, ''Something similar happened in the Thalassia and Aethyrian Empires ten years ago, but recently, the dungeons have been quiet.''

''What if Azhar'Zul comes across one?'' Amethyst asked, her voice edged with worry at the orc woman's words.

Estelle responded as the group readied themselves to move. ''He needs to grow stronger, and staying with us wasn't helping him do that. Now that he's on his own, I'm sure he's becoming even more powerful.''

Following that, the women continued through the Darkwood Forest while looking for the Goblins, only to find nothing before returning to Nightfall City, where they would report their findings to the guild.

***

In the meantime, Atlas lay unconscious on the twentieth floor after defeating the Deathclaw King, who was a few feet from there. It died while dragging itself toward its damaged form, but thanks to its injuries, the monster dropped dead.

It dissipated back into the dungeon, leaving behind a gleaming blue core, a scattering of gold coins, and a rusted metal key. While lying there, explosions and the sounds of battle emanated from the floor above.

An hour later, Atlas jolted awake with a strangled gasp, pain crashing into him like a tidal wave, 'What is this horrible sensation,' he thought as his mind was groggy and his body ached.

Every nerve screamed in agony as his body fought to endure the aftermath of the brutal battle. He went to scratch his head only to notice it was still being healed and noticed it didn't even go to his elbow.

'Did the venom do that much damage to me?' Atlas pondered while the memories flowed back into his mind.

After ten agonizing minutes, he finally pushed himself to his feet. His joints cracked and popped, each sound echoing in his ears, oddly leaving him feeling somewhat refreshed despite the lingering pain.

Atlas winced, taking a deep breath to steady himself, and glanced around. His gaze fell on the loot scattered a few feet away.

'The Sub-Boss reward,' he thought, a tiny flicker of satisfaction breaking through the haze of exhaustion.

He stumbled over to it and noticed the glowing monster core alongside the gold coins. That's when Atlas spotted the key and grew curious while leaning over and picking it up before scanning it.

[Secret Dungeon Key: Opens a room with rewards if you can find it]

'Great! Hopefully, I'll become rich when I find it,' Atlas internally celebrated until he remembered the Goggles of True Sight.

After that, he reached into his Dimensional Storage before pulling out the gear and putting them on, only to see nothing, 'It won't be here. Maybe deeper in,' he thought.

Atlas slid the goggles up before sitting against the cavern wall while his arm slowly healed. Ten minutes later, explosions rang close by until a group of four adventures reached the twentieth floor.

'Who are these?' he thought as they spotted him.

A blonde woman yelped when seeing Atlas's injury, ''By the gods! What is a young boy doing down here!''

After speaking, she rushed over before trying to comfort him as the stranger checked his wounds, but Atlas said while waving her away, ''I'm fine. Regeneration is slowly healing me. I need some time to rest.''

''Shut up, child! I'm from the Church of Healing, so let me do my job,'' the woman snapped before casting a healing spell that washed over him.

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