The Empress watched as the pit bulls quickly approached. She was half expecting the monsters to show up sooner, but it was a good thing that at the very least she was seeing them now. That was finally a chance to check the levels of the creatures inside this dungeon.
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PtBull - Level 38 - Gold
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The Empress had to take a moment to make a double take on the name. And in a way, she didn't know why she was so surprised. Pt was the atomic symbol for platinum. They were actually platinum dogs.
'I think the guide of this place spent way too long alone,' Hera mumbled to herself and the court. Making sure not to say it out loud just in case Eli could cause some trouble.
She wasn't that worried about the creatures considering their levels. She was almost 20 levels higher than them, and there was no need for her to pull out all the stops. Not to mention that her court was very keen on fighting. At least right now, they were still having that itch that nothing else could scratch.
Figuring out this was a good place, she gave a simple command. "Kill the monsters."
The excitement that emanated from her court was almost contagious. With every single member jumping into action. The Titled Blades, however, had a different task. She had them protecting Eli to make sure that none of the giant dogs were able to reach him. He was still an important part of the dungeon, and Hera wanted to make sure that everything worked out.
Mock and Crescendo jumped towards one of the PtBulls that was coming from the north. The shotgun went spinning around saying, "Here kitty, kitty, kitty," which made the creature shift its attention towards him. Crescendo took advantage of the creature's distraction and went around it, slamming the blade on the side of the PtBull's head. Right by the ear. There was a loud echoing sound, as if someone was strumming a guitar all at once.
And it seemed like these PtBulls also had better hearing than a person. After all, it recoiled more with the sound than it did with the impact. But Crescendo still wasn't done. As he pulled back, it was a trail of musical notes following behind him. And those notes repeated the same sound they made when the scimitar was moving around, which caused the PtBull to recoil again and again with each repetition. Not just that, but every single attack made Crescendo speed up and, to a lesser degree, also Mock thanks to [Army of One] allowing them to share those skills.
This made the two blades start spinning around the PtBull they were attacking, delivering a flurry of blows so quickly that even Hera was struggling to follow their movement with her eyes. At least she could still sense them pretty well thanks to the legacy. The same couldn't be said for the pair who were fighting against the PtBull that came from the east.
Hoop was almost invisible to anyone who was watching. The Cyr Wheel was already a movement-based weapon. Something that gained power and speed the more it moved. And now, thanks to Crescendo those stacking buffs, he was moving so fast that Hera needed to focus her full attention on him to know where he was. Thankfully, Oberon, using his protection goggle form, allowed them to see mana better. That allowed the hat to keep track of the blades and give commands if necessary.
However, Tooth was giving them a similar problem for a very different reason. The rapier had one very powerful ability that allowed him to teleport every few seconds for a critical strike. And one of his skills allowed him to reset the cooldown on the teleportation as long as he was able to kill something. But apparently the idea of killing was very broad for the skill. Every strike that broke apart a piece of metal was being registered as a kill to the skill. Every piece of armor that was destroyed also reset the cooldown. Allowing Tooth to be constantly jumping in and out of the surrounding area using that skill and also delivering powerful blows.
The PtBull couldn't do anything to fight against the relentless assault of strikes. Little by little, the two groups were chipping away at the PtBull's body and armor, turning the golden platinum into scraps that were quickly falling to the ground, which was a stark contrast to the other two teams.
Grudge with his ever-burning hatchet and Parade with his glaive were fighting against one enemy together, although it was more accurate to say that Grudge was fighting while Parade watched. The spear wielding Lance wasn't doing anything, just staring at the fight while Grudge struck the PtBull over and over, blocking and dodging the bites that the creature attempted.
For a moment, Hera even considered stepping in and complaining to the Lance, but that was when Oberon told her that everything was okay. Because in reality, the Parade was participating in the fight. He was preparing his grand skill, which took a moment to charge. And the longer he charged it, the more powerful it would become.
Satisfied with that answer, Hera just continued to watch as the hatchet wailed on the PtBull. Every strike seemed to ignite and melt the area that the creature was hit, leaving behind burning marks. She watched as Grudge blocked another strike and struck back directly on the jaw of the PtBull, removing the entire piece of platinum from its head. The creature was still alive and very much so, attacking and doing its best to counter the relentless constant attacks. But Grudge was too nimble to be hit by the creature.
So far, the communication between the blades was normal. Mock and Crescendo were always talking about the things they were about to do, saying when they saw an opening. It was a standard way of communicating during the fight. But it worked.
Tooth and Hoop were always saying things like "Here," "faster," "next," "upper jaw," "left shoulder." Quick commands that very much matched their blade movements.
But Parade and Grudge were something different. The Lance was reciting a very long speech from a book or a movie or something that Hera was sure she heard before, something along the lines of a 'would you be willing to trade all the days from this day to that for one chance.' While Grudge was just cussing.
"Fuck you, fuck you, piece of shit, fuck you, bastard, fuck you," Grudge spun around and continued slashing, "fuck you, fuck you, and fuck this, and fuck that. And fuck this too, and fuck that too. And fuck this."
It was excessive. But understandable during a fight. But when she turned to the last pair, the one that was the most unlikely one. Whisper, the tiny dagger, and Avalon, the large chain blade, a blue blade detailed in gold and small Sakura blossoms all over it. That's when she really realized that this version of her court was anything but standard.
"We must now strike the very edge of its armor. The armor is gone. Fear not, small child, for I am with you. No harm will come upon thee. I am simply trying to create openings that will not allow them to predict our next move," the chainsword said with a proud voice.
"I mean, I guess if you don't even know what you're doing, it makes sense that they won't either," Whisper replied so quietly that Hera wasn't even sure her partner heard it.
The Empress only started to see their fight at the tail end of that conversation. And while Avalon was shouting orders as if each move would decide the fate of an empire. While Whisper was just being blunt with their reply and snark, but still making sure to always follow up with the best course of action. Sometimes it wasn't the attack that Avalon requested, but the chain blade never complained anything about it.
The fourth PtBull that was attacking this strange pairing tried to bark something that the others were hearing and every time they did so it would cause a sound wave to resonate in the area, hindering the path of the blades for a moment, but it wasn't able to do so. Whisper had successfully silenced the creature.
Trying a different approach, the monster opened its mouth and launched its tongue to the side, eating the scraps of metal and golden platinum that were on the ground nearby. The monster quickly shifted back towards Avalon and Whisper, and a large ball of metal formed in front of it.
Unfortunately, behind the two blades, Eli was still working on the altar, which meant that unless they stopped the spell, Nimbus would have to step in and create some barriers to protect the dungeon guide.
Or so they thought. The moment the giant ball of metal started to fly through the air, Avalon triggered their skill and countless branches came out of the spaces between the blades of the chain sword. They spread out and bloomed almost instantly, creating a massive barrier in the form of a separated tree with electric blue branches, golden petals and tiny pink edges. That barrier completely stopped the attack, causing the entire metal ball to be shattered, and in response Avalon and Whisper dashed towards the enemy as fast as they could. The united strike was more than enough to finish the creature off at the same time that Parade and Grudge triggered their skills.
Shining light came out of the lance as it flew towards the PtBull, the long pieces of cloth attached to its base forming a spiral and hurrying between almost like a drill that pierced the creature's entire body. At the same time, Grudge made all the marks that were around the PtBull ignite, causing most of the metal to melt almost instantly. It would still take some time to reach the actual core of the beast, but the combination of attacks was more than enough to finish it off.
The Titled Blades looked around to confirm, and all four PtBulls were gone. Mock and Crescendo had finished theirs off by making it spin around its neck and making its head smash against a large pillar of gold nearby. Hoop and Tooth turned the giant platinum PtBull into a tiny chihuahua that was only skin and bones before finishing it off with a combined strike. And then there were the last two that Hera had already watched their end.
"Yeah. That was awesome," Nimbus praised Avalon as the ability was much more powerful than he was expecting. "But I truly liked the way they went about it. Both of them are not particularly good at fighting against one large enemy. They were better against hordes, yet they were able to perform admirably."
"You're right, Nimbus. But I think this one is going to be a problem. Vulcan stepped towards Grudge, "Too angry."
'I'm not angry,' the axe replied.
'He is really not,' Oberon added.
"Really?" Vulcan frowned.
During this battle, the court and the Titled Blades could have watched the emotions of all the court members, but they decided to not do so, allowing the new blades to try their best in the fight. But now they could confirm Grudge was telling the truth.
"Well done everyone," Hera clapped her hands and looked back at Eli, who was still doing something with the altar.
That's when they heard a bark and another set of heavy footsteps quickly approaching. This time, Hera felt it was better to have the entire court together, calling them all to stay close to her. The creature was coming from the same place that she and Eli had come from. And in the distance, she started to see what she was assuming was going to be the dungeon boss. Or at least the boss of this particular part of the dungeon.
It was a gigantic golden dog that seemed to have long fur. There was no armor on it, but it was much bigger than anything else. Even the pillars that were around it seemed to be small in comparison. This was truly a gargantuan creature.
Yet, Hera couldn't feel scared because it was just too adorable. Floppy ears bouncing around, that face of zero thoughts behind the eyes, and the long tongue, which was also golden, moving by the side of the mouth.
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Golden Retriever - Level 40 - Gold
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"Stop that thing from getting close to me," Eli shouted.
The Empress didn't know what to do, but she looked around and saw a piece of armor that one of the PtBulls had dropped. It was now all banged up in the shape of what would be roughly a golden ball. The entire dungeon was about puns, and it was a bit literal considering everything that was going on. So, she decided to test something out.
"Livy, grab that armor and toss it." Livy understood the request but not really the reason behind it. Still, she did as it was asked. Grabbing the giant ball of gold, and tossing to the side from where the golden retriever was coming. The monster instead of continuing its path, focused on the ball of gold and started chasing after it.
"That's it," Eli shouted. "Give me some time."
The Empress wasn't entirely sure if the golden retriever would end up attacking her when it got close. But considering the size of the creature, that wasn't something she was willing to risk. So she quickly told her court to grab as much gold as they could and start throwing it when it got close. They did just that, using the scraps of gold from the PtBulls at first but then changing to have Vulcan removing pieces of gold from the environment so they could keep the golden retriever at bay.
The giant dog would stop every time it saw a ball shaped object made of gold and go after it. No matter how close he was to Hera and the altar. After a couple of minutes, she finally heard Eli saying something different.
"Now you need to kill it. It's messing with the portal."
"Do I really have to?"
"Yes," Eli shouted. "The more gold you give it, the stronger it gets. If it starts eating the entire city there's no way of stopping it."
The Empress frowned and just now realized that every time they tossed some gold towards it, the creature wouldn't bring it back. She used [Observe] again and watched as the notification popped out.
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Golden Retriever - Level 42 - Gold
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In that handful of minutes it was already two levels higher. If she left it alone for too long, it would be even stronger.
Not wanting to risk letting the giant dog eat the entire city, Hera took the chance to do something else. She told Livy to prepare another ball but hold off on throwing it for a few moments. The golden retriever appeared at the end of the hallway and started barreling down in the direction of the altar. This time, Hera waited until the creature was almost on top of them, the golden retriever's eyes already starting to focus on the people surrounding the altar and its face turning into an angry snarl. Only then she told Livy to toss the ball of gold as high as she could into the air.
Livy's throw flung the golden chew toy, and the golden retriever snapped towards it, jumping in the air to catch it. At the same time, Hera grabbed the returning handle that was on her waist and created a javelin using it. An epic venomous javelin and tossed it right in the center of the golden retriever's stomach. Because its belly was exposed and that only happened thanks to Livy, [Wide Opening] and [Opening Exploit] both activated, together with her break combo, increasing the power of the skill even more, making the creature shatter with the impact.
While its pieces were still flying through the air, Eli said the words for whatever spell he was preparing. "Given the throne, I didn't know."
Hera glanced back at him with a confused expression, not really sure what the Orc was doing, but the pieces of gold suddenly shifted, moving towards the spell circle around the altar. The particles suddenly coalesced on top of the altar, and with a puff, a giant chick appeared. Not a chick, but a baby goose. The proportions were all right with the exception of the fact that it was about Eli's height.
The Orc was laughing like a madman, and he turned towards Hera. "Thank you for your help. I cannot believe this actually worked."
"What is this?" Hera asked.
"It's the true creator of Au Dorado. The one being that is responsible for all of this. Go on, show her what you can do. I command you," he gestured to the baby goose, who suddenly opened its mouth, revealing hundreds of sharp golden teeth.
The dried up blood that was in the area started to be sucked into its gullet. Once that was done, the baby goose had grown a bit, and it popped out a single giant golden egg.
"The people who lived here did not appreciate the true value of their god. They were not willing to do the sacrifice that was required to make it whole. I won't be like them." Eli's smile was now even wider, his eyes almost bloodshot. "And as a thank you, you shall be the last to be consumed."
He started laughing, and the chick opened its mouth again. Hera was pulled towards the creature's mouth, but instead of going inside it, she just went around it as if the wind was pushing her somewhere else. Hera, together with the entire court were all tossed into the air across the entirety of Au Dorado, breaking through and passing through one of the open windows near the ceiling and they watched as the entire city was sucked into the mouth of that baby goose which was now at least 3 meters tall.
The baby goose and Eli vanished, and Hera landed just by the entrance of the dungeon. With a notification telling her that she had just completed the dungeon quest.
#### Author's Note ####
A Golden Retriver and the Goose who lays golden eggs. I had to put them here lol.
Also, thanks Jinx for the idea for the Pt bulls name.