The Tower in the Shadows

I wondered what the result of this second defeat of Doltum would be.

The next day, I found out.

Averance came.

Her entry had me panicking. She calmly strode down the stairs, and I knew the consequences had arrived. The floors were ignored until she reached the 10th. She didn't look like she was affected by the heat as she strode onto the floor.

I had warned Maximus of her approach, and he was ready for her.

Or he thought he was.

As she entered the floor, she drew her sword. He waited until she crossed the stone bridge and turned the corner to head to the 11th-floor entrance. This was the point from which he launched his attack.

He fell from the above as silently as he could.

He impacted where she once stood with a thunderous crash, throwing up a cloud of dirt.

He had fallen fast, but she had reacted faster, stepping away from where he was aiming. She was fast; she blurred so much that I could barely keep up with her.

He straightened himself, but she never allowed Maximus to attack again.

The sword was drawn, and she was on the offensive, striking at Maximus with her heavily enchanted blade. It was hard to say if you were using any other spells or skills while she attacked, as it was so difficult for me to keep up with her.

Maximus backed up as fast as he could, but he was being forced to stay on the defensive as she continued to attack him. Cuts and wounds were opening up across his body and face as she attacked.

He tried to counter her attacks, but she was just too fast, relentlessly pressing him backwards. He was activating his skills and spells, desperately trying to become relevant in the fight. His red health bar was dropping fast. She was dominating, and he couldn't gain an advantage to get back into the fight.

I watched dispassionately as Maximus was dismantled.

He fought and snarled, but in the end, he died.

His health bar was drained, and he collapsed to the ground. He had hit her, but her armour and enchantments had prevented any serious injuries. She had a satchel at her side, which she reached into and pulled out a potion from. I recognised it as a health potion and watched as she downed it. She was breathing only slightly heavier than a normal person would after a short workout.

She walked across the rest of the floor to the stairwell, ignoring the reward created due to Maximus' death and the other things I had left across the floor. I watched as she stepped onto the stone stairs and ascended to the 11th.

Once she had reached the bottom of the stairwell, she stopped at the edge of the cavern. This was the first time she had paused since entering the dungeon. The sword she was carrying was returned to its sheath, which hung at her side. She reached for the buckle at her waist and unbuckled the sword sheath. She placed it into the satchel, and the sword disappeared into it.

A dimensional bag of some kind. I hadn't triggered my Mana Sight, as I suspected I would be blinded by the number and strength of the enchantments surrounding her. With a hand still in the bag, she pulled out a new weapon. A hammer with a long handle. It was about the size of a sledgehammer, but with a rectangular head engraved with patterns and runes.

She gripped the handle firmly with both hands and stepped onto the floor of the cavern. She walks lower, looking around, inspecting the environment and the light crystals. She paused at the two routes into the Underlands, looking into each as far as she could.

One satisfied, she turned her attention to the statue on the plinth, waiting for her.

She stepped into the circle that triggered the undead without hesitation. They erupted from their hiding places and launched an attack. The Angel had been watching the whole time since she had to come down the stairs. As soon as she responded to the undead, the Guardian took action and leapt into the air.

The skeletons attacking exploded as she blurred, striking with her hammer. I would be amazed if they had survived more than 12 seconds. But that was enough to allow the Guardian to get close. It's mace impacted the ground where she was once standing, but she had danced out of the way. The Mace head was glowing, indicating that it had used its skill of [Smash] to end the fight before it began quickly.

It was extremely hard to keep up with her as she was moving so fast. I saw the hammer hitting the Guardian on one of its arms at the elbow joint. The marble that made up the body in this location of the Guardian was chipped and cracked slightly from the impact. The Guardian swung its mace back in her direction from the ground, but Averance was now glowing, triggering some form of skill or spell of which I cannot be too sure.

She ducked under the swinging mace. And struck out at one of the knees of my Guardian. Again, it absorbed a powerful impact but wasn't slowed.

The Guardian swung back with his mace as Averance rolled out of the way, as it impacted the ground where she was. She was quickly back on her feet, swinging her hammer hard at one of the Guardian's wings. But this time, my Guardian Google triggered its [Harden] as the hammer hit it. This time, there was visibly less damage inflicted on its body.

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The Guardian tried again to hit his opponent, but she was moving too quickly. She struck out at him again, and [Harden] reduced the damage once more.

Averance was now glowing with several different hues, indicating she was triggering several spells or skills all at once. This told me that she was not having this fight alone. Above against Maximus year triggered very little relying on her natural abilities, but here she seemed to be going all out.

She attacked again, swinging her hammer downward, but my Guardian reacted faster than before, getting his mishandling the way, blocking the strike. The impact was loud and echoed off the cavern walls as Averance's attack was stopped cold.

She quickly jumped back to give her the distance that would allow her to keep moving. Being too close to my Guardian was a death sentence. The Angel suddenly blazed with an aura, and I realised that it had never triggered this perk before of its [Holy Aura]. Averance seemed unaffected as she quickly shook her head and continued.

The Angel left the aura active as it continued to seek to crush the intruder.

The two continued to fight, with Averance moving fast and striking out, hitting my Guardian many times. It continued to trigger its [Harden] spell to reduce the damage of each strike, but its mana bar was dropping fast. It had only a few more activations left before the bar was completely drained.

Averance was also feeling the strain of the battle. The few times she slowed down enough for me to get a good look at her showed that fatigue was starting to set in. She was sweating hard and breathing fast and deeply.

This is one of the most significant advantages my Guardian had as a golem; it never tired.

The two continued the dance of death. Attack and counter, attack and counter over and over. The Angel was damaged and is now nearly half drained. Its mana bar was now exhausted from all the uses of [Harden], which is used to protect itself from her strikes.

It was then that Averance made a mistake or her luck ran out, I wasn't sure which. My Guardian caught her with a glancing blow of its mace head. The impact knocked her flying backwards, but she was able to hold onto the hammer she was wielding. Her impact was softened slightly by the moss and grass growing around the cavern.

She quickly got back to his feet, but she was favouring her right side from where she had been struck. My Guardian didn't relent, following across the cavern to finish the fight, forcing her to move. Now she was on the defensive, avoiding the relentless strikes being sent to end her life.

She dodged and weaved, wincing regularly from the injury she sustained. But she was not out of the fight, yet, hitting back where she could. I saw her reach into her satchel once again as she was pressed against the cavern wall.

She pulled out a glowing bottle of some unknown potion.

I knew she could drink it, not in this fight, as she didn't have time. If she tried, she would leave herself open to an attack that would most likely prove fatal. Instead, she threw it.

My Guardian didn't have time to avoid it and was hit on the chest. The bottle shattered, and the glowing green substance scattered all over the place. Wherever it landed, the marble began to darken and discolour as it steamed. It was some form of acid that I had never seen before. I suspected it was an alchemy concoction, not a natural one, from the rate it was eating into the marble of my Guardian's body.

The health bar shows a sharp decrease in response.

Averance seemed to be reaching for another one, but my Guardian was no fool and pressed its assault, forcing her to use both hands on the handle of the hammer to block a strike and move out of the way of others.

She struck back where she could, but the fight was taking its toll on her now. Due to her level, she had been able to hold out in this fight as long as she had. Any regular adventure or group of them would be exhausted or beaten down by now. Doltum was the best example of it, a diamond-grade adventurer who thought this Guardian twice and failed each time.

I's second glancing impact knocked her back onto the ground. She once again was forced to roll and get up before the Guardian's mace smashed her to a pulp. The number of abilities and spells she was triggering was starting to fall off now as the strain on her body and mind was taking its toll.

I was wondering if the Guardian would actually win this fight when, suddenly, another bottle appeared in her hand. I didn't know where this one came from.

It was thrown and impacted my Guardian's face. A black cloud enveloped its head, dominating the scene for a few moments. My Guardian was open momentarily, and she took advantage of this. She glowed once more and blurred as she launched her attack. She managed to score several strikes against each knee, causing extensive damage to both of them.

She danced away as soon as the black cloud around the Guardian's head cleared, and it made to follow. It was now moving with a pronounced limp as its left knee was damaged to the point that it hampered its operation.

I looked at my Guardian's health bar and saw there were only about 20% left.

This was going to be a close one.

My Guardian was slower now, but so was Averance. Her injuries and the use of her last abilities or skills had drained her visibly. If she had anything left in the tank or upper sleeve, she was going to have to use it quickly, or this fight would be the end of her.

It seemed that she did have something left. Another bottle appeared in her hands, and I was sure she had not reached into her satchel to draw it out. I looked at the fingers and suspected that the rings on them were far more than decorative.

She threw the bottle, but this time at my Guardian's feet.

Where the bottle impacted and shattered, there was a sudden growth of tangled vines wrapped around my Guardian's legs, causing it to stumble slightly as its mobility was hampered. It fell forward onto one knee, opening up to an attack which she launched.

With a mighty cry, she brought down her hammer upon the head of my Guardian and shattered it. As the hammer fell, I noticed that it was glowing extensively as she triggered whatever she had left and put into this blow.

The Guardian's health bar was now completely drained, and it no longer moved. The flash of the reward's arrival heralded the end of the fight.

Averance stood there for several moments, breathing hard as she dropped the hammer to the floor. She stood there, gazing up at the cavern's ceiling, drenched in sweat, and staggered slightly. I wondered if she was going to fall over.

She didn't.

She did, however, go over and sit down for a few moments and rest. She was still favouring her side from the original impact, and her other arm was also not responding as it should from the second impact. I was surprised to see that she no longer consumed any potions, instead allowing her body to heal naturally.

I wondered what she would do next, given that she was ignoring the reward for collection. A pile of 40 gold coins and a single platinum coin was awaiting to be scooped up. That's a lot of money that would sustain any adventurer for over a year, living in luxury easily. But her ex expected it was just some loose change.

She eventually stood up and very slowly walked back to the stairwell. She was still favouring her side and arm. I watched her as she left the dungeon.

As she walked back up the stairs slowly, I wondered to myself what the reaction would be from the rest of them.