Chapter 126. Cultist Refuge

The couple entered the Dungeon called 'Cultist Refuge' and looked around them.

"As expected, it feels like a proper dungeon where criminals are being held. The smell is on point also."

[I just remembered. Now that you're Level 32, you should visit an Alchemist to upgrade your potions again.](Helen)

"Bigger vials?"

[And more healing. There's less of a cooldown between uses as well. Without a backlash.](Helen)

As he agreed to the suggestion, the Sanctuary decided to remind them of the reason for their presence in this place.

[ Dungeon Event issued - Cultist Refuge

Objective: Slay all enemies. ]

[ Quest updated - Sight to Madness

Objective: Slay Theya and retrieve the Necklace of Eyes. ]

The beginning looked simple enough, so the duo began venturing deeper after Michael drank his Elixir.

With that and his party bonus, he would get a 10% increased experience from the monsters killed.

Unfortunately, his happiness didn't last long. 

"The villagers did say that many were missing, but to think this was where they were..."

[*Sigh* Let's check for those that are still alive. Maybe we can still save some.](Helen)

Stands made out of metal spears were impaled into the Dungeon's floor, while chained to them were almost naked villagers.

Some had wounds that showed flogging, some whipping, some were bled to death, while others either had their hearts pierced or their throats slit.

Everything pointed at ritualistic sacrifices. 

Fortunately, three of the eight people they found in the first room were alive. Not a great percentage, but it was better than nothing. Helen used her potions since they were more effective and had them return above ground.

"Let's move faster. Hopefully, we can save a couple more if we move fast enough."

[Mhm. Most of them are left to slowly bleed to death, which, as cruel as it might be, works in our favor at the moment.](Helen)

"I'll lead the charge this time around. I need to see the difference with the extra skill points added."

[Sure. I'll help with the Elites when they pop up.](Helen)

After the first room, a large number of corridors appeared, taking the duo on a long walk. Occasionally, there would be ambushes, but they dealt with them cleanly and quickly.

Not to mention Michael who could deal with them by using two to three skills, Helen acted only when needed and threw a Blade Aura at the enemy, insta-killing it.

[ Mother's Chosen (Minion) - Level 36 ]

[ Mother's Disciple (Minion) - Level 37 ]

[ Mother's Herald (Minion) - Level 37 ]

The 'Chosen' was a melee fighter usually wielding knives, so they were dispatched before they could even get to the duo. The 'Disciples' were a bit more tedious as they had ranged magical attacks, but a simple taunt from the Golem would round them up nicely.

As for the 'Herald'... if it had a triangular helmet on its head, the devs of Diablo might have had to pay Resident Evil large bags of cash.

The first Elite they encountered had a Multishot modifier, which Michael had met plenty of times before.

With it, the Elite could cast the same skill twice more, making it a nuisance to deal with.

[ Mirroring Mother's Disciple (Elite) - Level 37

*Multishot: All ranged attacks are mirrored by two more attacks dealing 70% of the initial damage. ]

The surprise came about halfway through the fourth room, where they again found a large number of villagers being tortured. Luckily, the cultists focused on the intruders, and the intruders made them vanish from the face of the earth. Or Sanctuary, in this case.

Twelve out of thirty were still alive, and as before, Michael and Helen collected the corpses of those dead. Fortunately, they only occupied space in the Quest Inventory, and the coffins could be stacked ten times for each slot.

After thinking about it for a moment, Michael realized that it was because the Sanctuary was doing them a favor. It was easy to leave them, to rot in this place, so if they wanted to be kind, it should make it simpler for them.

"Looks like the target of my Quest is in the next room."

[I probably can't interfere with that, so I'll watch from the side. Do you need me to deal with the minions?](Helen)

"No. I'll probably need them to generate Corpses. Let's go."

They found the target in the next room, and unsurprisingly, she was also garbed in the same clothes as a 'Disciple.'

Realizing that she was a range magic caster, Michael had his minions charge in.

[ Theya (Elite) - Level 37

*Multishot: All ranged attacks are mirrored by two more attacks dealing 100% of the initial damage.

*Explosive: Explosions send shockwaves around the creature afflicted with this modifier, dealing 150 damage to its surroundings.

*Summoner: Creates three summoning circles through which demonic creatures can be called upon every 5 minutes. ]

Seeing this Unique Elite being the most annoying combination of all possible ones, Michael had his Quarterback use taunt and draw all the surrounding enemies.

Now that he reached Level 32, he unlocked all forms the Golem could take. While the others were interesting, he kept the Bone Golem temporarily since it generated Corpses he could use.

[ Bone Golem:

A horrid protector that taunts enemies, forcing them to attack it. Unlock at Level 25

Upgrades & Sacrifice:

 1. Each time your Bone Golem takes up to 20% of its Maximum Life as damage, it sheds a corpse.

 2. Your Bone Golem gains 10% Maximum Life, and the amount of Thorns they inherit from you is increased from 30% to 50%

 Sacrifice: You gain 10% increased Attack Speed, but you lose the ability to summon a Golem. ]

While Helen was drooling still at its second upgrade, Michael was more interested in the first, which he kept.

As for the other two options.

[ Blood Golem

Drains Life from nearby enemies to heal and bolster itself.

Unlock at Level 28

Upgrades & Sacrifice:

1. Your Blood Golem absorbs 15% of the damage you would take.

2. While Healthy, your Blood Golem gains 25% Damage Reduction and 50%[x] increased damage.

Sacrifice: Your Maximum Life is increased by 10%[x], but you lose the ability to summon a Golem. ]

What the [x] multiplier was, he had no idea but guessed that it was based on the caster's level.

Compared with the Bone Golem, which was used for crowd control, the Blood version was meant for either defense or attack. Especially with a 50% increase in damage and 25% Damage Reduction.

It was almost tempting.

[ Iron Golem

An amalgamation of steel that slams the ground and Stuns enemies. Unlock at Level 32

Upgrades & Sacrifice:

1. Every 4th time the Iron Golem attacks, it causes a shockwave, dealing X [30%] damage to the primary enemy and enemies behind them.

2. Your Iron Golem's slam attack also makes enemies Vulnerable for 3 seconds.

Sacrifice: You deal 30%[x] increased Critical Strike Damage, but you lose the ability to summon a Golem. ]

Unable to decide on its actual purpose and effect in a battle, Michael decided to test it later on when he had the time.

For now, the minions ganged up on Theya while the Necromancer used Corpse Explosion from afar. Watching the damage slowly rise to over 500 per tick made him especially happy.

With the target dead, Michael grabbed the necklace and prepared to finish dealing with the temporary Dungeon.

[ Quest update - Sight into Madness

Objective: Bring the Necklace of Eyes back to Vilek. ]

The number of red dots on the MAP decreased with each chamber they passed through. As the number of saved villagers increased, so did the number of coffins in their inventories.

So far, they have saved 73 people but have recovered 189 more in coffins. 

The couple managed to relax slightly after finding a Conduit Shrine of Inarius, which they used to turn into sparks of lightning and zap the cultists that appeared in their path to death.

A couple more chambers later, the MAP's final red dot fell, and the Dungeon Event changed.

[ Dungeon Event update - Cultist Refuge

Objective: Slay The Overseer and collect the Cultist Key. ]

Followed by a shriek that was mostly annoying rather than scary, a stupidly powerful Elite appeared. 

It held daggers in its hands, and it had the appearance of the previous 'Chosen' they had encountered. 

[ Rakshasi (Elite) - Level 37

*Teleporter: Teleport randomly in a 20-meter radius range to avoid taking damage.

*Shadow Enchanted: All attacks deal an extra 75 Shadow damage.

*Terrifying: Summons four spell circles on the ground. Targets affected by it would fall into 'Terrified' status. Targets inflicted with Terrifying would become 'Vulnerable' for five seconds.

*Supressor: Create a five-meter range force field that blocks the use of spells and prevents ranged attacks. ]

Seeing it was a powerful Elite, Helen allowed Michael to play with it in the form of training. She would, of course, interfere if things got dangerous, but as it turned out, there wasn't a need to.

As it turns out, his minions had high resistance to Shadow damage, so the Unique Elite ended up dealing only about an extra 25-30 damage per melee hit.

Its Terrifying modifier was annoying, but it wasn't that big of a deal after paying careful attention to it.

The Teleport was the most considerable pain in the ass because he either had to chase after the fucker into the room he ran into or wait until the bastard returned while yelling in the same annoying manner he did in the beginning.

Michael grabbed the Cultist Key and the Rare item boxes and looked at Helen.

"That Suppressor modifier was rather annoying. It can even cancel skills I already used, such as Corpse Explosion. Does its range increase at higher levels?"

[Mhm. Furthermore, as you've seen, it's invulnerable to ranged attacks. In higher level Dungeons, you'll find Elite pairs, with one of them having this, while others have a Waller or similar modifiers that work well in combination. It's truly a pain in the ass.](Helen)

Imagining a combination of a tank that deals stupid amounts of damage because of its elemental enchanted modifier for normal attacks and a Vampiric on top of it, while the ranged damage dealer has this Suppressor and something like Mortar on the side... he almost shivered at the thought.

[ Dungeon Event update - Cultist Refuge

Objective: Slay High Priests (0/2). ]

As they ventured deeper into the Dungeon, they encountered a new enemy to deal with, on top of the cultists. Worgen.

[ Storm Warg (Minion) - Level 37 ]

[ Volkdak (Minion) - Level 38 ]

And yes, Michael reached Level 33 while cleaning minions and Elites left and right. 

If there was something fortunate, it was that they found a total of 89 villagers locked in cages. There were no dead, as the ones that 'died' were turned into the werewolves forms of the Volkdaks.

After Helen confirmed that there was nothing they could do to save the transformed villagers, the duo returned with them to the Dungeon's entrance to escort the suffering people, after which they resumed their pursuit of the High Priests.

The first one was Clouse and its Elite pet Volkdak. 

[ Wretched Volkdak (Elite) - Level 38

*Poison Enchanted: All attacks create a poison puddle on the ground. Enemies affected by poison are dealt 75 damage per second for a duration of 4 seconds. ]

[ Clouse (Elite) - Level 39 

*Poison Enchanted: All attacks create a poison puddle on the ground. Enemies affected by poison are dealt 125 damage per second for a duration of 4 seconds.

*Waller: Manipulates the earth to create a wall around the target.

*Plague Bearer: Upon death, detonates its Corpse and Soul to deal 400 fixed damage, as well as 150 Poison damage per second, for a duration of 5 seconds. ]

Both Michal and Helen agreed that upon further thought, this combo was even more disgusting.

The poison puddles made the fight difficult, and the Waller modifier made it almost impossible to deal with them without Helen's help.

His Golem died three times, and he lost count of how many times his other minions did.

"I heard that there are Dungeons with poison affix on the higher levels. Is that true?"

[...yes.](Helen)

"Ugh... Sounds annoying as hell."

[It is... you need Elixirs that focus on Poison Resistance to be able to clear them. Check your potions... you used up everything you had and restocked three more during the fight. Yet you're still at half of the Life points from only two Elites with this modifier. Imagine if every minion you meet has a similar effect upon its attacks.](Helen)

Further ahead, they encountered a Cursed Chest Event, making Helen look strangely at him.

Shrugging as his minions dealt with the Skeleton Elite spawned from under the chest, Michael explained to her that this was about the norm. Every Dungeon had at least one or two of these.

[ Onemek Hoarfrost (Resplendent Guardian Elite) - Level 38 

*Frozen: Summons five balls of frost. Upon explosion, they freeze and deal 400 fixed damage in a five-meter radius. ]

After dissing the Elite for its uselessly long name yet having only one modifier, Michael suffered as he was frozen alive twice in a row.

The balls of frost it summoned were too close together, and if his Blood Mist was on cooldown, he couldn't do much except tank it like a man.

Another ten or so minutes later, they finally dealt with the final High Priest, or Priestess in this case.

[ Chesna (Elite) - Level 38

*Mortar: Randomly throws five fireballs toward an area occupied by an enemy.

*Multishot: All ranged attacks are mirrored by two more attacks dealing 115% of the initial damage.

*Vampiric: Each successful hit on an enemy heals you for 15% of the damage dealt. ]