The Tower in the Shadows

The sight of a battered and bloody platinum-tier team was all that the last few holdouts needed to convince themselves to avoid the lower floors of the Dungeon. There are always those few adventurers who are delusional enough to believe they could conquer the floors rated above them. Watching the battered team walk past the line of adventurers queuing to enter the Dungeon drove home the power and danger of those floors below the level they were recommended to stay on.

Word quickly spread of the team's return, and the Adventurers Guild was very eager to get the report and their thoughts from them on the floor.

Across the city, things continued as usual, with different people going about their various tasks and chores. People are always coming and going, but recently, more people have been arriving since this city was the only place to find the means to combat corruption.

The southern gates were open, as they were a new addition to the city. A palisade existed now across the southern pass into the valley. It was not as large or formidable as the one to the north and much more lightly guarded. All the present dangers come from the north, and that is where the city focuses most of its resources and manpower.

Today, however, the danger came from the south.

The guards waved through a steady flow of traffic, both on foot and in wagons. They only asked questions now and again of the travellers, and most were quickly pushed through to allow access for larger groups or wagons.

A man dressed in travel clothing, wearing a large cloak that covered his frame and had a hood, was waved through by an overworked member of the Watch. Yet the man gave some vague details; he was travelling to the city for work, but wasn't planning on staying long.

The traveller walked into the city's southern end and began moving purposefully along the roads, enquiring as he headed toward the northern gates. His appearance was that of a man who had been travelling for some time. His cloak and hood were covered with dust and mud from the road. The hood covered most of his features, but it was just the effect of a large, travelling hood, not one designed to hide his features. It was an article of everyday clothing used by people who travelled on the roads, so no one paid great heed to it. The cloak was so large that it covered most of his frame, giving a general outline of the human form beneath.

That is why he chose it.

His bearing and voice clearly showed education and manners when he spoke to people. This made people far more willing to talk to him and answer his questions.

Navigating through the city was slow, as the population busily attended to their daily tasks. The streets were crowded, with merchants and stalls scattered throughout the area. The Watch were ever-present, and numerous adventurers could be seen weaving through the throng. Most of the population was human, but as he moved through the city's southern section toward the centre, the number of nonhumans began to increase.

Once, he would have been fascinated by all of this, but now he is consumed by his goal.

He passes through the market, which is even more densely packed than any other part of the city. Although he is slightly frustrated by the population's delay in achieving his goal, he remains focused on it.

Every step takes him closer to it; he cannot deny its power or ignore it, for its pull is too strong. Every step makes the pounding in his head grow, but he remains focused to the best of his ability, not to draw attention to himself.

It was like hunger—a pulsing throb that beat in time with his heartbeat, and as he got closer to his destination, his heart rate increased.

He eventually makes it to the northern side of the city and the second palisade. He can see through the gates and across the floodplain to his destination. He walks through the gates, and one of the Watch calls out to him, but he cannot hear it, as his obsession now dominates his mind.

He's vaguely aware of other voices calling, but now he is marching close to running towards the building.

The pull is irresistible and is now all that he can understand.

He is running towards the building and sees figures in his way.

He cast his cloak aside, no longer hiding; he will not be denied any more.

## ## ## ## ##

The day was over, and the last of the adventurers were exiting the building. The miners were with them, and I closed the doors behind them, locking them. I had planned tonight for experimentation and didn't want it to be disrupted.

I turned around to look over the main entrance and noticed that Larry was suddenly standing up and alert.

Before I could wonder what was happening, I heard the yelling and screaming from outside. Larry was running.

"Well, that's not…"

The doors exploded inwards as something hit them with tremendous force and blurred into the room.

Whatever it was, it was moving fast.

The red text told me precisely what it was: a void monster.

My minions started moving as soon as the alert came that we were under attack.

I was forced to follow whatever was attacking because it was already going downstairs.

I got a vague impression of a humanoid figure, but its blur distorted it. Things protruded from it that should not have been there.

I got down to the first floor, and only a handful of the wasps had made it there in time, but whatever was attacking me ripped right through them and was already moving to the second.

Only one toad got to the room in time. Its body exploded as multiple cores ripped through it, decorating the walls with its insides.

The third floor, I hoped, would be a bit more effective in stopping whatever was coming down the stairs. Once the boars had gathered, the void monster reached that floor, but they began to die at a terrifying speed. The floor Guardian engaged the attacker within minutes of arriving, but whatever was attacking me was still not being stopped.

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It was here that I got my first proper look at it, and I was sure it was once a man of that I was certain. He had six arms protruding from his upper torso, each ending with a vicious, taloned hand. It was being enhanced by some form of natural ability or skill that allowed it to attack in a frenzied assault. The talons were shredding through everything I was putting in front of them.

The Guardian died and was rendered into a pile of body parts. Its hide, bones, and meat were shredded into a gory mess with blood covering the floor. As it fought, he began warping and changing, becoming even more distorted and horrific. Whatever the corruption was doing to it was an ongoing process triggered or fueled by the death around it.

The void monster was now on the way to the fourth floor. The spiders were in position now to ambush him. Queen had gotten better at organising the spiders to fight in the limited space of the stairwell room. That didn't matter today, as they were rendered into equally gory piles as above. Ichor was covering the walls, floor, and ceiling as body parts were violently detached from the bodies of my defenders with each impact.

Queen engages it with all of her abilities and skills, this battle is measured in minutes and not in her favour.

The attacker was once more on the stairs, moving down, and had now reached the fifth floor to try to slow it down or stop it. The worms were in position, ready to attack. As soon as it came into range, they started to lunge at it, and the monster seemed to be slowed here for the first time. My worms were tougher than the other minions it had fought, but were still making headway.

They, too, died being ripped to shreds. But for the first time, the monster itself took injuries, and I recognised the steam rising from them as they healed. My attacker had [Regeneration], which made the present battle far more dangerous.

The floor Guardian was soon the only one left standing and engaged. It's bulk working against it in the limited space of the stairwell room, but its endurance should hopefully counter that.

As I watched the fight, my hopes were quickly dashed. It barely lasted longer than Queen above.

The attacker reached the sixth floor, and the snakes engaged.

The monster can match their speed, but they lack the durability of the minions from the floor above. Only the floor Guardian could come close to this creature's speed, and the two fought a blindingly fast duel. It lasts no longer than the fifth floor Guardian when it is finally struck.

On the floor below, Krag is waiting.

The attacker comes down the stairs and doesn't hesitate, crashing into him. He blocks the assault with his shield, but is pushed back by the momentum that the monster has built up. The two started trading blows, with my ogre being slower but better armed.

His shield is torn asunder by the speed and ferocity of the attack. But in return, he managed to land two good blows. Unfortunately, the monster's healing ability heals any injuries it sustains. Krag reasonably attempts to defeat the beast, but he too falls victim to it.

The eighth floor is now under assault, and here again, the lesser minions are torn asunder, and it's up to the floor Guardian to put in the work to try to stop the monster attacking my Dungeon. The revenant uses its skills and spells aggressively, countering any attack the beast makes against it, and this is the first time it is facing a serious challenge.

The revenant scores several wounds upon it, but I watch with growing horror as I see them heal completely within a few seconds. The revenant's death magic seems to have affected the beast, but it eventually gets through his defences and ability to dodge, ripping the skeleton apart.

The Lions were now engaged in their elemental magic, which helped them, but did not stop the repeat of what happened on the floors above. The illusory lion proved to be a far more difficult opponent than the monster had faced. Through his illusions, the beast was fooled by and attacked the mirage images, allowing the Guardian to strike at void corrupted monster from different angles. Again, I watched as the wounds inflicted were healing, but I noticed that they were taking longer now, indicating that this battle was now taxing the monster.

The Guardian of the ninth floor fought on, but he too fell to the brutal assault that the void monster inflicted upon all of my minions.

Maximus was ready.

I was not sure he would be able to beat this, and I was prepared to activate my core room defender to help him. I found that Larry and Puck had reached the core room. Larry had been running down the stairs, sometimes by mere seconds, ahead of the creature attacking the Dungeon.

Speaking of the attacker, it had arrived on the floor.

It moved without a moment's hesitation onto the floor and headed towards the stone bridge. It crossed and was heading for the cavern's bend, which, when passed, allowed it to see my core room.

The monster never saw Maximus until he collided with it. He fell on it from the sky as he tracked it from above. His infernal infused claws ripped into the monster's body as he collided with it, taking it to the ground, and he continued to maim it with brutal efficiency and savagery.

This did not mean that the monster was dead, and it twisted its arms around in a completely unnatural way, clawing at my 10th-floor Guardian standing on its back. Maximus was forced to get off it as his legs were taking injuries, allowing the monster to get back to its feet. The two were moving and dancing their duel of death.

Maximus was using his magic and skills to the best of his ability, but the monster was proving to be just as adaptable and fast. It glowed as if it were triggering its skills, and I was starting to get worried.

Maximus managed to drive his scorpion tail into its shoulder before ripping it out, causing even more damage as he did so. The steam quickly rose from the wound, which was healed before my sight. This did not dissuade my final floor Guardian as he unleashed his infernal fire-breath attack. That seemed to damage the attacking void creature more, as its healing ability was disrupted.

Maximus was not having it all his way, though, as the creature's claws shredded one of his wings and inflicted wounds to his right shoulder and front leg. He had more injuries along his other legs and one across the left side of his torso flank.

Maximus's ability to dodge significantly reduced the likelihood of sustaining more injuries. He groaned as he leapt at the intruder. He sought to take it to the ground again and hopefully finish it off. Still, the monster was wiser and, with surprising speed, sidestepped him, slashing out with four of its claws, raking them across his flank, causing extensive and deep wounds, while also shredding his other wing.

Maximus roared in pain, but was not out of the fight yet.

His red health bar was now down to a third of what it was, and his blue and green bars were also severely drained. The battle had brought them much closer to the core room, and I was starting to get concerned that I was now in danger. I needed to take action, so I triggered my Core Room Guardian.

The Fearfiend exploded from the stone wall and charged out, attacking the void monster.

The creature turned quickly to face the new attacker, giving Maximus time to look for a new opening. My Demon and the void monster tore into each other with unbridled ferocity. The Fearfiend triggered its abilities, but they were useless against this void-corrupted monster, so it relied on its talons.

Chunks of both combatants flew through the air, and ichor decorated the cavern.

The Demon was battered down and torn to shreds by the void monster, but it had left its mark upon its opponent. Maximus had also noticed that its wounds were not healing and were now bleeding profusely.

My final Guardian made his final assault upon the void monster, which was distracted, killing the Demon. It could not react in time and was pinned to the ground and mauled once more. Maximus triggered as many skills and spells as he could in the brief time he had.

It was enough.

I received a notification of the void monster's death.

The victorious Guardian stood on his kill and roared his triumph.

## ## ## ## ##

In a hidden pocket dimension, Oda watched the battle.

"The Core was victorious. How frustrating."

The battle that had plagued the God of balance was almost over. The void corruption was spreading through his body and divine essence. It was only a matter of time before it subsumed him completely, and the void aspect of him was now dominant.

"Well, it was worth a try."

The only thing now standing in this corrupted God's way was not the divine pantheon but this single Dungeon. His non-corrupted aspect had been surprisingly intelligent in setting it up. He was also prevented from directly interfering in it or its functions and had to rely on others to do it for him.

"Time to use my servants in Folly's End."

The fallen gods started to laugh, knowing that it was inevitable that the void would emerge victorious and claim this realm and all of its planes.