008 Total Darkness

Shun together with Yuya, Rai and Hanna was heading to the dungeon to save the two of their comrades.

Rein and Mei was taken away by the player killers according to Rai, they are players who kill other players for their own purpose.

"Why did they spared Yuya and the others if they're player killers? What are they planning?"

A lot of questions filled Shun's mind. He was confused about the situation he's in and he knows that he needs to take responsibility for the decisions that he made.

Rai can't help but stare at Shun's level indicator above his head.

[HUNTER]

LEVEL 22

HP: 4200/4200

"Amazing, he's currently four levels above me" Rai turned his head to check Yuya and Hana's level.

[YUYA]

LEVEL 19

HP: 3400/5600

[HANA]

LEVEL 17

HP: 1390/2100

"Ehh? Yuya, how did your HP surpass Shun's?" Rai curiously asked, Shun can't help but listen to them.

"Ahh, it must be because I'm a fighter and Shun is an assassin. Assassin mostly rely on his speed and damage. Fighters mostly on HP and Physical" Yuya explained as they suddenly stopped running.

"We're here!" Shun spoked.

"Is this... the Meiji Jingu Shrine?" Rai mumbled confusingly.

"Seems like it.."

Shun mumbled as they stared at a gigantic dome with the giant door. The door was slightly opened and screams can be heard inside.

Shun gently pushed the door and takes a peek inside. He widened his eyes after seeing what's inside, Shun forcefully opened the door and runned inside.

Yuya and Rai was confused at Shun's sudden actions. Even though they're hesitant, they followed Shun inside.

"He's fast" They lost sight of Shun in an instant.

"What the...hell is this place..."

Inside the dungeon was a gigantic throne room with an empty throne.

The place that filled with screams was now full of sudden silence as they looked around and saw the dead bodies scattered everywhere.

"This is our allied units!" Rai stared in surprise.

Hana quickly covered her mouth, almost throwing up after taking glance to a corpse. She recognized the corpse as Mei's because of the school uniform she was wearing.

"Mei! She's dead" Hana started crying over her friends corpse. While Yuya tried to find some survivors.

The sad moment were interrupted when suddenly, Shun came crashing into the nearby wall.

[DAMAGE RECEIVED]

HP: 1300/2100

"Run, Yuya!" Shun shouted while holding the unconscious Rein in his hands.

"Something's wrong with Shun's HP" Rai wondered.

[REIN]

LEVEL 20

HP: 132/3700

"Tsk... Her HP is dropping she'll die at this rate" Shun mumbled. He lifted Rein and carried her to Yuya's location.

"Carry her outside, all of you get out of here!" Shun spoked before putting her down.

"Hana, you too... please get out of here" Shun pleads after seeing Hana crying beside him.

"Are you planning on taking the dungeon boss alone?" Rai questioned.

"We'll help you!" Yuya insisted giving Shun a furious look.

"That's not something we should be messing with!" Shun suddenly changes his tone.

"Yuya, you can feel it too, right?"

Yuya widened his eyes after realizing what's going on.

"You can feel the difference between outside and in here, right?. The feeling of your strength being cut in half!" Shun seriously mumbled.

A sound of heavy footsteps echoing inside the dungeon, the floor was shaking from the shockwave it makes.

"There's no time to chat he's here!" Shun started panicking, he forcefully pushed Yuya and Rai near the door.

"Here take care of you big sis...please" Shun lifted the unconscious Rein and passed her to Yuya.

"You too! Hana!" Shun grabbed Hana by her clothes the throw her to Rai.

After seeing the serious look on Shun's face, Yuya was convinced to leave the place without him. Even though it's dangerous, they turned their backs and walked towards the door, leaving him behind.

"Well then, I don't have to worry about anyone but corpses!"

Shun mumbled as he faced the gigantic humanoid creature wearing a black metal armor all over it's body. It's face was hidden by a helmet, only the glowing red eyes is visible from outside.

Shun noticed the one red star below it's HP indicator. He already know that this opponent is completely different from those he fought before.

[EMPEROR MUJIN]

S-RANK

HP: 33000/35000

[WARNING]

YOUR STATS WAS REDUCED BY 50%

"As expected, cutting half of the all-over stats of it's opponent was it's passive"

"Can I really fight this monster, using 50% of my power?"

Shun grabbed one health rune from his inventory and forcefully crushed it to regain his HP.

[HEALTH RUNE HAS BEEN USED]

[HP RESTORED]

HP: 2100/2100

[STAT REDUCED BY 50%]

Shun noticed the giant door behind him closing. He is now standing face to face with the 10 ft. monster.

"He's not using any weapon, how strange" Shun mumbled as he closed the distance between them and took a closer look.

Suddenly, a banging sound echoed in the throne room as the monsters fist hits the ground. The monster missed it's target as it stares at him.

"Did he just.... intentionally missed, is he mocking me! "

Shun felt irritated, he furiously swinged his dagger, attempting to cut the emperor's fully exposed arm.

[SKILL "DARK CLOAK: BLACK CRESCENT SLASH" ACTIVATED]

"Crap!"

To his surprise, the attack didn't even leave a scratch on the monsters armor. The monster swiftly grabbed Shun with it's massive hands and giving him no time to react.

"Woaaaaaahh"

Shun went screaming as the monster thown him in the nearby pillars the supports the whole dungeon. Shun went crushing on the three of them and landed on the ground.

[DAMAGE RECEIVED]...

HP: 165/2100

"A critical hit!"

Shun was was severely injured and bleeding with broken bones. But Shun didn't feel anything as he is numb because of the adrenaline in his body.

He's not aware that he is severely damaged from the attack until he saw the warning screen popped up in front of him.

"Crap, I'm dying!" Shun opened his inventory and grabbed two health runes to recover his lost HP. But the second problem comes in, he's out of Heath runes.

[HEALTH RUNE HAS BEEN USED]

[HP RESTORED]

HP: 2100/2100

[STAT REDUCED BY 50%]

"I'm gonna die at this rate, I need to avoid getting hit by his attacks"

Shun grabbed any useful items he found in his inventory, preparing to use them.

[BLOOD STONE]

Consuming this stone will increase your physical attack by 40%. The effect last for 10 minutes.

Shun quickly opened his mouth and swallowed the blood stone without hesitation. As soon as the blood stone reaches his throat, the blood stone desolves into a pop of red smoke, covering his body with the red aura.

[BLOOD STONE IS ACTIVE]

PHYSICAL ATTACK INCREASED

TOTAL PHYSICAL ATTACK: 140

"That's not even close to my original physical stats he just divided!"

"Activate skill, Rage!" Shun desperately chanted, activing another buffing skill.

[SKILL "RAGE" ACTIVATED]

[DAMAGE INCREASED BY 10%]

TOTAL PHYSICAL: 150

TOTAL MAGIC: 220

[SPEED INCREASED BY 10%]

TOTAL SPEED: 2.2

"I'm thankful for your patience! But I think you looking down on me" Shun spoked, thanking the monster who patiently waited until he was finished applying buff equipment and skills.

Shun grinned and furiously dashed below the monster, aiming for it's feet. But the monsters armor was really tough that it even snapped the "Roaring Beast" blade into pieces.

The emperor quickly reacted by lifting it's feet, ready to crush him. Shun quickly reacted by jumping to avoid getting crushed.

Upon landing, he swinged his blade towards the emperor creating an opening, using his powerful skill Black crescent slash.

Before the black crescent wave reached its target, Shun swiftly moved to a different position. Using the first attack as a diversion, Shun furiously swinged two times in a row to send a double hitting skill to his enemy.

"Double Crescent Slash!"

[EMPEROR MUJIN]

HP: 32680/35000

"Wha...that's the best I can do, yet...I didn't even managed to decrease it's HP"

Shun mumbled as he stares at his enemy who's just standing still as if nothing happened, It didn't even flinch.

"Yuya and the others are already safe, should I run? But how?"

Shun trembled in fear as he glanced at the locked door behind him. He was caught off guard by his thoughts as the monster slammed it's fist on the ground, cushing Shun's upper body and head.

[DAMAGE RECEIVED]

HP: 18/2100

[YOU'RE HEART WILL STOP IN 30s]

"Am I dead?..."

"Where am I?..."

"Is this the afterlife?..."

"It's so gloomy and dark in here..."

Shun can hear his thoughts speaking, yet he couldn't spoke using his mouth. He stares at the total darkness as he fell into the deepest darkness, he never thought exists.

"You're not dead yet!" A mysterious man spoked, his voice was echoing in the surrounding.

"Who are you?"

"Show yourself!"

Shun looked around him and cannot find the person speaking, he can't see anything but darkness.

"Show myself? Hahaha, you're actually staring at me!" The voice answered in echoing voice.

"I am the darkness beyond the darkness itself, and I know everything about you" The voice answered.

"Then why are you here? Am I dead? Is this hell?" Shun screamed inside his thought.

"I already told you, you're not dead yet but you'll die if we don't hurry. I'm here to grant you a wish, it's your choice whether you'll accept it or not!"

"And what is that wish?" Shun humbly replied.

"Do you want to live?" The voice answered, that surprised Shun.

"You can do that, are you the system, speaking to me?" Shun curiously asked.

"I don't need complaints, I need your answer! Yes or No?" The voice angrily responded.

"I see, if you really know me that well the you already know my answer" Shun replied with full resolve.

"I see, so that's you answer!"

Meanwhile, Yuya and the others outside the dungeon was seriously worried about Shun.

"Is he will be alright?" Rai glanced to Yuya, as he rubs the back of Hana, who's still crying.

"I don't really know, that monster is an S-Rank. To kill it you need to be atleast level 30 or higher! " Yuya spoked, soundly worried about Shun.

"Ehh, You're still alive!" A mysterious person spoked behind him. Rai and Yuya turned their head to face the person speaking.

"Bastard! What are you doing here?" Rai angrily responded after seeing the person behind him alongside with other 5 people.

"Touma!...Lee, you bastard. You're the reason, one of our comrades die"

Yuya angrily spoked as he holds the unconscious Rein in his hand, tightly.

"I'm glad you can recognize me!" The man grinned.

[TOUMA LEE]

LEVEL 30

HP: 6000/6000

TOUMA Lee was a famous actor and celebrity in Japan. But aside from his good looks, he has a wicked and bad personality.

"I thought you all died! I was planning on using you as baits to the dungeon boss inside"

Yuya clenched his fist after hearing his words.

"Ohh, do you happen to have a comrade, still stuck inside the dungeon...hahaha" Touma arrogantly spoked and laughed.

"Well don't hope that he's still alive!" Touma grinned, mocking Yuya.

All of them was startled when they head the banging sound coming from the dungeon's door. As if the door was forcefully being opened. The shockwaves was sending shivers down their spine.

"That sound, it must be the boss! Prepare yourself we're taking the boss down!" Touma ordered the five of his allies.

The sound of a heavy metal banging the door can be heard throughout the forest.

"Yuya what should we do? At this rate..." Rai cowered.

The door started making a creaking sound as it started to worn out. In one final bang, the giant door was blown away into the forest.

"What the hell!..."

"Who the..."

They were all surprised when they saw the person standing in the door. It was Shun and he was carrying Mei's deceased body.

Shun has a blank expression on his face as he walk outside the door. He approached Yuya and put down the corpse near them. Yuya already know that the person in front of him is no longer the Shun he knows.

"Heyyy bastard! Tell me, are you the one who bring Rein and Mei inside the dungeon!" Shun slightly turned his head, giving Touma a cold glare.

"Huh, what if we a...." One of his underlinings tried to spoke. Shun swiftly moved and slashed his neck in an instant, too fast that even their eyes can't follow.

"I'm not talking to you!" Shun whispered at the headless corpse on the ground. Touma was felt terrified as he saw one of his allies head rolling on the ground.

Shun furiously stared at Touma like a beast staring at it's prey.