Solo Dungeon Runner-Chapter 34: [ Dents ]

He glanced back once more. A few torches' worth of space separated them from the amalgamation of stone that blocked the path ahead.

He then turned back the way they came from.

"We have to deal with those first. They're considerably smaller, which should make it easier. We just need to keep advancing before it catches up to us."

Fae nodded, her eyes finally detaching from him and going to the stone statues moving before them.

She readied her sickles, while Alexander took a deep breath.

His eyes scanned every inch the statues allowed, absorbing each detail with perfect clarity.

In sync, they both walked forward, the torch behind them puffing out at the same time. The monstrosity loudly moved forward, damaging the walls further as it got closer.

Fae dashed in—it looked like she was dancing.

The statue held a rough stone sword, its edges dull but its weight important.

Its first hit split the air before her, even the sound it made had weight to it.

She ducked, dodging the horizontal swipe easily.

She pushed in, both her sickles hitting the statue before stepping back.

Really?

They both looked as the statue kept moving toward them, two deep cuts visible in the stone yet it still moved.

"We'll need—"

His head instantly turned, the torches on their side suddenly extinguished.

He pushed Fae forward, the amalgamation's limb hitting his side and sending him rolling on the ground.

It was advancing fast, it felt as if they were in an earthquake with each step sending tremors through the ground.

Alexander could see as the monstrosity was almost on top of him, its limbs recoiled ready to smash into him.

He could see every detail, [ Witness of All Paths ] describing its every move as it came toward him.

He felt it from behind, Fae's arms holding him from behind and dragging him back into the light.

He saw the exact place the limb would've hit, right where his head previously was.

His eyes instantly went to Fae, who wasn't even looking his way.

She turned around, loud clashing sounds echoing as she fought the small statue's strikes.

Alexander got up, he could see behind as more statues awakened, they would be overwhelmed.

What now?!

He frantically looked for options.

[ The Gift ] wasn't working on these creatures, and her sickles barely left scratch marks.

He concentrated, the ground splitting open under the statue.

From the split darkness emerged, a tendril slowly reaching out and writhing itself around the leg, up the body and arms and neck.

Alexander took a deep breath, extending his arm forward, closing his eyes a moment.

His open hand slowly closed, as it did, the grasp of the tendril on the monster became stronger.

Like a snake with its prey, it slowly strengthened its grasp.

The sound of the stone cracking gradually increased, splits appearing through its body as parts of it crumbled to the ground.

Fae walked up, blocking the strikes of another statue that had started moving.

She used both sickles, blocking its punch.

She tried pushing in, her strikes useless against the enemies made of stone.

Alexander focused even harder on the tendril, commanding it to crush his enemy.

One loud pop echoed in the narrow space, the statue finally crumbling.

The tendril reeled back into the ground, Alexander's eyes instantly going to the next target.

He could feel it, the time they had spent near those torches was close to its limit, the amalgamation behind them would crush them.

He took another deep breath, splitting the ground under the next one.

It wasn't as clean as the previous one.

The tendril went up its right leg, but was intercepted by the statue's hand that held it at its core.

Alexander frowned, sweat dripping from his face.

Fae, without looking back, took a graceful stance.

Her strikes were elegant, each one denting the stone slightly.

She didn't stop—each hit flowing into the next, her movements fluid and unrelenting.

The number of dents increased while its only available hand was unable to stop her strikes.

The damage was shallow, yet the sheer amount stacked up.

The strikes added up, she was near half-way its body when it finally let go of the tendril.

Alexander smiled.

The tendril went up its neck.

It barely had time to make one step, a loud crack resounded as the enemy crumbled to the ground.

Without waiting, they both walked forward to the next lit area where another statue started moving.

They were right on time, the torches finally giving up.

He was sweating heavily, out of breath. The rune on his chest was starting to hurt, a feeling he knew well.

He looked at Fae.

Hitting hard-stone so harshly clearly had an impact on her.

She wasn't gasping or sweating, but her stance was weaker, her footing softer.

This isn't good.

She moved up, swiftly striking the next statue and keeping it away.

Alexander's thoughts were running as fast as they could in his mind.

We won't be able to clear the whole corridor...

He glanced back once more.

There was a chance he could wriggle a tendril around the amalgamation and squeeze through it, to run on the other side.

It was either that, or they'd keep weakening themselves on the statues that lead back to the entrance of the dungeon.

The light snuffed out.

This quick?!

Fae in a panic looked back.

She kept fighting near the light, while Alexander was in the dark.

The ground rumbled once more.

He wouldn't escape it.

Near him he split the ground in the darkness, two tendrils raising beside him as the monster approached.

Its arms both extended forward, ready to slam him against the floor.

He used both tendrils as a shield, twisting them around its arms to hold it back.

The arms kept moving forward, hitting his chest and following him to the ground.

Two more tendrils appeared and tightly held the arms back as they pressured his chest.

Its ruby eyes approached as the monstrosity leaned forward, its body weight forward.

The pressure from the arms on his chest slowly increased, he could feel his bones ready to crack.

His head was burning, the mark on his chest ablaze as two more tendrils appeared, tightly latching onto the stone arms.

He could hear as Fae stood behind, her strikes against the statues echoing on the walls. He could feel her gaze as she kept glancing his way.

Is this it?

He groaned, two more tendrils coming out of the abyssal depths.

His head burned so much, it felt like he could pass out any second.

Sunder's mark barely did him any good, the pain it brought overshadowing any relief it gave.

"How can this be an E-tier dungeon?!" he yelled.

His vision cracked, a single line fracturing the world before him.

He was starting to break.

His mind was going blank, but somehow one thought floated above all the others.

This isn't an E-tier dungeon.