Chapter 27-

I approached the figure that was standing in front of the door. It appeared to be a thin figure that closely resembles a mannequin and it looked like it was made of porcelain. The figure didn't have a face and the only thing unique about it was the red cloak that it was wearing, as well as a strange golden ring around its head.

But despite its appearance and fashion, the feeling of murderous intent was flowing out of him and flooding the cavern. So it made sense that I kept my guard up. But with only a couple of dull blades and a scimitar-shaped scorpion stinger, I wondered if I'm able to do anything against this thing.

(Who are you? Are you part of the trials?) I asked.

The figure didn't say anything, but slowly started to hunch and get into a fighting stance.

(Why is the only company I have down here, people that can't talk and or creatures that wanna kill me) I said as I sighed and readied my scimitar.

Then in an instant, the figure vanished and alarms were ringing in my head.

I didn't know why, but something told me to avoid something from my left. So I quickly moved my upper body as far to the right as I could, then saw a flash of silver miss my head. Then after doing a handspring to gain some distance, I saw that the mannequin was standing where I was and that the silver I saw came from claws on its hands.

The mannequin then retracted the claws back into its fingers and went back to staring at me.

'If I was a bit slower and didn't have my guard up, that could've instantly killed me.' I thought as I was calming my breathing.

Then the mannequin vanished again. I was expecting it to attack from the sides, but a crack sound from up above made me jump out of the way of something crashing down where I was standing. When I looked at what it was, I saw that it was the mannequin and that it had its fist in the ground.

(You got claws, along with immense speed and strength! What kind of mannequin are you?!) I shouted out at it.

Then the doll held its hand out and a ball of fire appeared in its hand. It then fired the ball of fire at me like an arrow, which I barely managed to avoid as it hit the wall behind me.

Looking back, I saw that it left a scorching hole in the cave wall.

(It could use magic too?! Now that’s just cheating!) I shouted as I turned back at the mannequin.

I then saw multiple balls of fire floating around the mannequin. It then started firing all of them at me one by one.

(Ok, now this is just overkill!) I shouted as I sprinted around and did my best to avoid them.

When I leapt over one of the fireballs, the mannequin appeared in front of me with a fist ready.

I barely had time to bring up my scimitar to guard as it sent its fist right into the center of the blade. I was then sent flying, feeling both the pain from the punch and the pain of crashing into the cavern wall.

When I hit the wall and fell to the ground, I had to regain my focus as I avoided another claw attack that was aimed at my chest.

Once I avoided it, the mannequin kept sending more claw attacks at high speed towards me. I kept trying to gain some distance, but it kept charging in and swinging its claws at me. I started using the scimitar to block its attacks, but it was close to breaking after blocking the punch from earlier.

Then Lux jumped in and bit into one of it's ankles, then the sound of a faint crack could be heard where Lux was biting.

Hearing this, the mannequin swung its foot and kicked Lux a few feet away.

(Lux!) I shouted.

I then kicked it on its side to shove it away and gain some distance, then tossed the scimitar aside. I then brought out my sickle and knife, then charged back at the mannequin.

(Hey, your opponent is right here!) I shouted as I started crossing blades with it.

But after clashing against the mannequin’s claws a few times and the countless times I used them in my previous fights, both the sickle and my dagger shattered. I was now left with two broken weapons and facing a mannequin who prepared another volley of fireballs.

I didn’t have time to dodge since I was close by and only managed to raise my guard to cover my face. Then the fireballs exploded against my body and I was sent flying. I then landed on the ground with a loud thud. I didn’t have time to scream in pain for the burns or the holes in my side and shoulder from the fireballs, because the mannequin immediately used this time to send its first right into my gut and cracked the ground under me. This made me cry out a silent scream in pain.

Seeing that I was in trouble, Lux ran towards the mannequin and leapt to bite its shoulder. Then another cracking sound could be heard and I could see that something was leaking from where Lux was biting. The mannequin was bleeding.

The mannequin then reached over its shoulder and grabbed Lux, then tossed him away from it. But Lux didn't look like he wanted to give up. The moment he fell on the ground, he charged back at the mannequin and he looked pissed.

The mannequin started firing fireballs at him, but Lux avoided them and leapt to bite one of the mannequin's hands. This kept going on over and over.

Seeing that Lux was fighting so hard against the mannequin, it made me feel terrible being unable to fight at the moment.

Parts of my body were charred and there were two holes in my torso. They weren't deep enough to hit anything important, but I could tell that I lost all feeling in my right arm and I almost feel like vomiting whenever I use the muscles near the hole on my side. But seeing that Lux was fighting the mannequin, I couldn't just lay there and tried my best to stand up.

It was hard to get my body to move. The shock and burns from the fireballs made it difficult to move. But when I did get up, I immediately fell to my knees and threw up. I was shocked to see that a black liquid came out and then felt a pain in my chest.

(No, not yet! I’m so close, just give me some more time!) I shouted as I struggled to get to my feet.

I then saw the three glowing dots on my arm and saw them flicker. I then slammed my fist into my leg and shouted out.

(Alice, your gift is trash! You could’ve given me proper instructions on how to use it!) I shouted as I finally managed to stand up.

I was both upset and confused with the "gift" Alice gave me before she disappeared. Throughout my time in this dungeon, I haven't found out how to use it and kept wondering what it even does.

After standing up, I struggled to take a few steps and almost fell back down. Standing up and moving around had opened up some wounds, so some blood was leaking out. Despite that, I kept taking a few more steps and made my way towards my scimitar. I then picked it up and used it to keep myself from falling. I then felt that the Divine Cloth was starting to treat some of my wounds. I then used my good arm to lift my limp one up to my mouth and used my teeth to hold it by the sleeve, then readied myself for one more attempt against the mannequin.

(Whatever fairy magic you gave me, useful or not… let it help me win this!) I shouted as I felt some strength return, then dashed towards the mannequin.

I was so close to finishing this dungeon and I felt that Krisyn's mark was close to my heart, so I didn't want things to end like this.

Lux and the mannequin were still fighting, but Lux was starting to get more wounds as the fight went on. I then charged in and swung the scimitar at the mannequin.

(Leave my fox alone!) I shouted as I managed to land the surprise attack on it.

The strike hit the side of the mannequin, causing a loud crack to echo throughout the cavern. It cracked and shattered a chunk of its side. But when the pieces fell off of its body, I was surprised to see what was underneath it.

Underneath the exposed shell, I saw bones and crimson flesh. It looked like I was looking at the insides of a demon.

The mannequin then reached its hand behind it and grabbed the center of my robes. It then threw me into Lux and we both slid across the floor.

'I guess it really didn't like that?' I thought as I got up.

I looked behind me and saw that Lux was fine. But when I looked back at the mannequin, I was left confused. It’s body looked like it was shaking and its joints were making clicking sounds. Then cracks started appearing on different parts of its body and the shell burst off of those spots, exposing more of its demonic insides and allowing it to take on a different shape.

Once it exposed parts of its arms and legs, they stretched a few feet longer. Then a crack formed on the mannequin’s face and formed a creepy smile. Then its jaw opened up and unhinged to reveal its sharp teeth.

Then the mannequin let out a loud screech that echoed throughout the cavern and made everything shake.

Then as soon as the mannequin stopped screeching, it vanished and reappeared on my left. It then backhanded me in the side of my limp arm and right onto the Toad Hook. I then heard the sound of a loud crunch and felt a jolt of pain as I flew a few yards away. I then hit the side of the cavern wall and this caused the air to get knocked out of me.

I was gasping for air as I was getting up and I could see the state that my right arm was in. I could see that the impact tore open the skin on my forearm and crushed the bones underneath, as well as the now shattered Toad Hook and how bits of it was stabbed into my arm. Once I started breathing normally, the mannequin lunged at me and I barely dodged the attack. Its claws then pierced the stone wall like it was made of cardboard. I then quickly swung the scimitar at it and brought it down on its knuckles, slicing cleanly through all of its fingers.

The mannequin let out a loud screech at the loss of its claws. I then used this time to repeatedly slash at it with the scimitar over and over. Its body was tough and the cuts weren’t deep, but they were doing some damage to it. Then one of my slashes hit it on the side and the blade sank into its ribs. It was after this when the mannequin threw a punch with its fingerless hands. I then kicked the mannequin in the hip and leaned my body as far back as I could, allowing the punch to barely miss my face. But as the mannequin’s hand got close to my face, some of its red flesh came out from the stumps where its fingers were and formed into new fingers. Then with its new fingers, it managed to grab onto the Divine Cloth on my face and was about to attack me with its other hand.

But before it got a chance to do anything, the mannequin suddenly let go and jumped away from me. I was confused, until I saw that it was staring at the hand that it grabbed me with and how it looked like it was burning. I didn’t know why, but then remembered what it grabbed.

‘That’s right! The Divine Cloth is a holy item! So that means the creature that I’m facing is a demon and I have something that could harm it!’ I thought as I looked at the Divine Cloth.

I then took the Divine Cloth off of my face and used my teeth to help wrap it around the knuckles on my good hand. As I was ready to return to the fight, I saw that Lux was also ready to fight. We both then charged at the mannequin.

Since it got burned by the Divine Cloth, its attention was focused on me and this allowed Lux to get a surprise bite on its exposed side. Feeling the sting of the bite, the mannequin got distracted and allowed me to punch it square in the face with the Divine Cloth. This caused its face to break apart and burn the flesh underneath. The mannequin smacked Lux off of its side, it then held a hand out towards me and made a fireball appear in its palm. But before it got a chance to fire it, I quickly kneed the bottom of its wrist and caused the fireball to shoot towards the roof of the cavern.

Then Lux went in for another bite onto one of its arms and made the mannequin try to fire a fireball at Lux. But before it got to do that, I grabbed its cloak and wrapped it around the other arm to keep it from hitting Lux. I then kicked the side of its knee and caused it to stumble, then delivering a powerful uppercut underneath its jaw with the Divine Cloth. Lux and I kept repeating this over and over, working together and hitting the mannequin with the Divine Cloth.

Then suddenly a strange feeling flowed through both me and Lux. It felt like both of our senses were shared and allowed us to see what the other could see. But other than that, there was something else that flowed through our bodies and a strange glow flowed over our bodies. Then just as soon as it appeared, the feeling quickly vanished.

‘What the heck was that?’ I thought as I continued the fight.

As the fight continued, I saw that we were doing plenty of damage, but we weren’t doing enough. Whenever I hit the mannequin with the Divine Cloth, it’s outer shell breaks away and the flesh underneath gets scorched. But somehow the Divine Cloth wasn’t doing as much damage as it was before. It was like the magic inside was slowly running out.

It wasn't until one of the punches that I sent into the side of its face didn't do as much damage, that the mannequin used the time to grab onto the scruff of Lux and swung him into my abdomen, reopening the wound on my side and sent me sliding a couple of yards back.

I could feel that the Divine Cloth was running low on mana, because of how old it was and that I kept using it against the mannequin. It no longer had much holy energy to treat my wounds. But I did see an opportunity.

On the side of the mannequin, where Lux had managed to tear open a chunk of it, I saw that there was something inside it that gave off a green glow.

'That might be it's core?' I thought as a idea started to form.

I then looked down at Lux. He was pretty much in the same state as me, but he also didn't want to give up.

(I'm gonna have one more attempt at this. Are you ready?) I asked Lux.

Lux then growled and charged at the mannequin. I then followed after him and picked up my scimitar along the way. Seeing that we were charging at it, the mannequin let out another loud screech and conjured a couple of dozen fireballs around it. It's screech got louder as it started firing the fireballs at us.

(Here we go!) I shouted.

Both Lux and I did our best to avoid the fireballs and dash faster towards the mannequin. Once it used up all of its fireballs, the mannequin conjured another fireball in its only hand. But before it got to launch it, I threw the scimitar at it and hit the fireball as soon as it left its hand, resulting in an early explosion that blew apart its remaining hand and blinded it with the smoke.

Then before it got a chance to do anything, Lux jumped out of the smoke and bit into the mannequin's neck. Then I jumped out at its exposed side with the Divine Cloth bundled up in my hand.

(Here's a gift from me!) I shouted as I plunged my hand inside the mannequin's torso. (No refunds!)

I then pulled my hand out and jumped away from it. Then Lux did the same and ran away with me. While running, I looked back and saw the mannequin shaking and squirming on the floor. It was trying to reach inside to pull out the Divine Cloth that I left inside it, but it lost both hands and couldn't grab it. Whenever it tried forming new arms, they just turned to dust as soon as they started to form.

The inside of the mannequin started to glow brighter and brighter. Seeing this made me grab Lux and jump into a deep part of the pond that I woke up in. As soon as I jumped inside, I could hear the sound of a loud explosion and as I looked up from under the water, I saw a flash of green and yellow. Then the water around me started turning red, due to the blood coming from both me and Lux. Once the flash of light faded, I climbed out of the water and saw the state that the cavern was in.

Everywhere was charred and parts of the cavern had collapsed. But as Lux and I limped our way through it, we saw shards and chunks of what remained of the mannequin. The only recognizable thing that remained was its cloak, which was on fire and soon burnt to a crisp. I then saw a small scrap of what remained of the Divine Cloth and a piece of the scimitar. I mostly focused on the remains of the Divine Cloth and felt sad as it turned to ashes, since it was one of the few things that helped me through the dungeon.

'I should really thank Tashin for giving me this. I wouldn't have made it this far without it.' I thought to myself as I walked past it.

I then reached the large metal door at the end of the cavern. Lux walked over next to it and laid down, then started licking some of his wounds. It was obvious that he was tired from the fight and needed time to rest. I then limped over next to him and knelt down to give him a pet on the head. I wanted to lay down next to him, but I knew that I didn’t have much time.

(You could rest here for now. I'll call you if I need you.) I said before getting up and looking at the strange metal door.

Upon closer inspection, the door was completely different from the other doors that I've encountered in the past. The metal looked similar to platinum, but shined with a magical energy and had gears with strange glowing symbols on them. The gears were spinning slowly and all of them connected with one another. In the center of the door was a large lock that was the size of a football. But the strange thing about it was what it needed to unlock it. In the center of the lock there was an imprint of a left hand, with small runes on the center of the palm and tips of the fingers.

(Guess it must be some sort of hand scan?) I asked while looking at my left hand.

I was hesitant for a moment, but soon placed my left hand on the lock. The moment I placed my hand in the lock, I suddenly felt something getting drained out of me and into the door.

(AAHHH!) I screamed as I felt pain spread throughout my body.

Whatever was coming out of me, it felt like blades were stabbing into my body and carving out parts of my body. Then a sharp pain felt like it was stabbing my heart and twisting inside. But while this was happening, I saw that all of the runes and symbols on the door started to shine with a dark glow. Then all of the gears started to spin faster and faster, with a loud click happening every ten seconds. I tried pulling my hand free, but it was like it was glued to the lock and I couldn’t use my other arm to pull it free.

Even Lux looked worried and tried pulling me free by tugging at my pants. But it wasn’t until the twenty seventh click, that the gears stopped spinning and the lights faded as my hand was freed. Once my hand was freed, I fell back and landed on my butt. I then saw that the large lock on the door started to turn and the door slightly opened up. But as I tried to get up, I realized that I can’t move my legs. I didn’t need to guess what was going on when I saw some obsidian spikes coming out of my legs.

(No, not now! Not when I’m so close!) I shouted.

I then start crawling my way towards the door with my good arm. Fear was filling up my mind as I made my way to it and started pushing at the bottom of the door. It took a few attempts since the door was heavy, but I soon managed to push the door open wide enough for me to crawl inside. As I was making my way inside, I was having flashbacks of everything that happened to me since coming to this world. I managed to crawl inside, but what I saw inside left me speechless.

In the center of the room, there was a giant crystal. It was grey in color, had a rough surface, held upright by large iron chains, and gave off a strange aura around it. The crystal gave off a strange heartbeat that echoed around the chamber. Whenever it beated, runes and glyphs shined around the room at the same time. In the center of the crystal, there appeared to be a strange figure inside and I could almost hear a heartbeat inside. Then two glowing red eyes shined from inside the crystal and glared right at me, filled by a voice that spoke in my head.

A familiar voice that I know who it belonged to.

“So...you have made it.”