Floor of the Dead

As we made our way down the stairs, I couldn't help but have an ever growing chill crawling up my back.

And my earlier thoughts were correct, the air became more toxic and volatile, so much so that some people couldn't take it anymore and requested to go back.

By the time I saw the bottom of the stairs, we'd lost nearly fifty people to the toxic smog.

Upon reaching the bottom of the stairs, Denosin did a head count of everyone who managed to make it down here.

In total, only forty nine of us could survive the toxic air that polluted this floor.

It was decided that due to the current circumstances, that we would all stay bunched up together to avoid any accidents or any similar occurrences.

Everyone agreed with this and we started to move forward to finish the dungeon.

As we made our way through, we were constantly on guard against any monsters or undead that might show up. And it was most likely going to be an undead rather than a living monster.

And at some point, they did. A huge pack of wolves were waiting in a hidden spot to ambush us but they were killed by the others before they could even do anything.

Continuing onwards, we encountered several similar incidents, but nothing we couldn't deal with.

But eventually we came across a group of large, pale green skinned corpses with clubs shambling around.

Thankfully, due to the fact that normal light doesn't work down here, we were able to partially blend into the darkness, despite our numbers.

I counted I think at least six in total, at most seven.

They had chunks of their flesh chewed out and were carrying wooden clubs. My guess is that they were supposed to be the monsters that spawn on this floor or one of the previous ones, but were killed by other zombies, turning them into zombies as well.

Everyone prepared their spells and hurled them at the shuffling group of zombies, causing an explosion that would most likely call more undead to our current location.

When said explosion ended and the dust settled, I saw that four of them were killed while three remained standing. And they immediately charged over towards us.

"RRRAAAAAAAGGGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!" They screeched in a lower pitch as they ran over.

Half of us threw another set of spells at them an killed the last of them. Normally we'd loot the corpses for mana crystals that spawn in monster bodies, but the necrotic energy of the undead made it so that we couldn't due to it corrupting the crystals.

We could soon hear the groans of more undead making their way towards us, so we ran in the opposite direction to avoid them.

As quietly as we could of course.

Unfortunately for us however, there was already another horde waiting for us in that direction.

And now we were sandwiched between two sets of undead. A really bad spot to be in, as they could come and attack us endlessly, while we had limited stamina.

"Shit, this isn't good. Who knows how many monsters have been turned and gathered down here?" Someone said.

"I know." A somewhat hoarse male voice rang out.

Everyone was immediately more alert than before. If it were just undead we were facing, we might have a chance of beating them, but if there was a necromancer with them, then we stood no chance with our current numbers.

"Who are you!?" Our leader shouted into the darkness.

The mysterious voice spoke, "I'm afraid I can't answer that for you, as I can't even remember what my name is myself. But what I can tell you is that I do not mean you any harm, in fact, I seek your help."

"What do you want from us?" Denosin asked warily.

"I just said, I need your help."

"With what?"

"Killing the final boss of this dungeon. You see, I've been trying to do so for several months now but have failed each and every time, so I thought I'd get some help."

"What could someone like you possibly need with a dead dungeon boss?"

"Well, that's because I'm collecting them, not for any malicious reasons, I just like to collect things. Consider it a hobby."

"And you're collecting these monsters because?"

"I can see why you would think this is a bad thing, but trust me, I just really like to collect things, specifically monsters, actual monsters. Which is why I need your help, to kill the last one in this dungeon."

"Why should we help you?"

"Because if you don't, I'll just kill you and turn you into more undead to use for my goals." The voice threatened in a menacing tone.

The air was thick with tension, and a thickening green fog.

"Can we think this over at least?" Denosin ended up asking after a moment of silence.

"Of course, I'm not THAT unreasonable." The hoarse voice replied.

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After a short time corroborating, we decided to help the mysterious necromancer obviously. WE didn't want to become living corpses.

"Very well, we will help you, but we will only do so if you promise not to kill us." Denosin announced out.

"Of course, of course, you can even take any rewards, all I want is the boss monster's corpse." The necromancer called out.

We then saw the undead make way for someone, and saw a half skeleton half zombie dressed in plain grey robes and a bone staff with a bone claw holding the flame of the undead.

"Now that we have agreed to a relatively civil agreement, I think it's best we introduce ourselves. I am Kane Dreadmore, master necromancer and fanatic for all things monstrous." He clamoured proudly.

"You said you couldn't remember your name." Someone said.

"W-Well, I was telling the truth! I really don't remember my old name, so I just made myself a new one." Kane replied. "Now! Please introduce your band of merry men and women."

"Hmm... I am Denosin, the main leader of our group, that is all I shall indulge you on for now, you can get to know everyone else on your own accord."

"I can see that you don't trust me... But! That's fair I suppose, I don't exactly have the greatest reputation as a necromancer I guess, not like I care anyway."

And with that, we reluctantly ended up joining the necromancer on his personal quest to obtain every dungeon boss.

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It turns out that the fog was a spell of his own making that greatly helped enhance the strength of his undead, so he dispelled it so that we could call everyone down and kill the boss. He only let one of us go so that we couldn't just run away.

Once everyone was down here, he led us to the entrance door to the boss room.

"Before we enter, I'd like to share with you all what I know so you can do your best against it." Kane said, going on about everything he knew about the boss.

It was a wyvern. A terrifying creature with immense power and incredible durability with scales tougher than steel and an extremely strong elemental affinity with certain elements. And the one we'd be facing seemed to have an affinity with [Nature], so it's going be a difficult battle.

Kane then went on to explain his experiences in battling the wyvern and how each battle turned out. He explained that there was a certain pattern to the monsters attacks and went into great detail about them, even going so far as to explain how many seconds it used to charge its breath attack and more.

When he was done, the leaders then strategized an attack plan with him, all while we had to sit and wait as a huge army of undead surrounded us, preventing us from escaping.

It took a long time but after a few hours they had a plan, which we would enact tomorrow, after everyone had rested.

And when morning came, we were all told what we'd be doing. I was apparently our trump card and would be spending all my time in preparing an end it all incantation. Thankfully I had some time to brainstorm it at least.

But soon the time came and Kane 'unsummoned' his undead into a crystal ball of sorts, which must be where he stores them, and maybe even allows them to be regenerated even if destroyed.

Then, it was time. And we entered to face the final boss.