Of the other members who'd entered the false dungeon alongside those now currently in combat with Antares… Van and his small crew of lovesick misfits were not happy in the slightest, they had just been relegated to monster clean up duty by default.
"How dare they… How fucking dare they?" Van grumbled with anger in his tone, his face wearing a matching expression of angry discontent. "Hedin could have at the very least given the order. How are we supposed to explain ourselves to our goddess, how are we supposed to receive her love?"
"It's so damn unfair! The Gullivers aren't even that much better than us!"
"I want Lady Freya's love!"
"I want her love!"
"We stayed with her unlike the Loki familia's people."
"YEAH! We're loyal, we should get some of that love!"
Sounds of monsters hatching from the egg sacks lining the walls reverberated through the halls, only temporarily drowned out by the sounds of fighting far behind them in Antares' chamber.
"Damn, perfect timing, I need some stress relief!" Van shouted, with a halfway blood curdling war cry.
Van charged forward, head long into battle, the horde of monsters heading his way wasn't small, but he didn't care anymore. Everything that he'd ever lived for, gone. Everything that he'd ever loved, gone… His one and only love, had no eyes for him, and yet he couldn't help but serve her with the hope that he'd earn her favor. And so, despite the fact he'd just recently reached a point where he could level up, he was still level 3… he began carving up a path like he had something to prove.
"Hey, Van! Leave some of them for the rest of us damn it!"
"Yeah! We're going to prove we love her too!"
All they heard back was shouts, and laughter, Van had lost himself in a sort of crazed blood fury. At least that was what it seemed like, upon closer inspection though, he was just imagining all of the love his goddess would give him after this battle was over.
The remaining members of Van's little crew eventually noticed the difference while they were fighting, and began to fight much harder, far harder than they had before. Even their designated andhrimnir was getting in on the fighting, going as far as to spontaneously concurrent cast, a result of their training, and extreme mental focus.
Soon Van's group had slayed hundreds of monsters. They were all breathing heavily, their shoulders heaving, rising and falling with pain as they wore serious, resolute expressions. Covered in blood, monster dust, and the occasional monster entrails, they slowly began to come out of their trance when…
"What was that sound?" someone asked, standing upright in a fighting stance prepared to strike.
"What sound?"
"That sound." He heard it again.
"Guards up everyone, a real monster is coming our way. We're going to take it down."
And sure enough, what rounded the corner, was a massive scorpion, one brimming with a powerful, and suppressing presence. It was clear to them at a glance. This was no ordinary monster by any means. Claws so large they could swallow Van whole in a single clamp down. A Stinger dripping poison so powerful it burned like acid upon the ground with every drop.
"Level… 5." One member said, with a worried look, yet stood strong, albeit, trembling in terror… he was a level 2, so this reaction was more than understandable.
"That's our ticket." Van said, in the moment… raising his blade in a challenging pose. "This is what's in our way, in the path of our love." He continued. "Can you hear it?"
"What?"
"Lady Freya, she's there, waiting for me. I'll kill this monster, and reach her so I can give her my love!" He called out… the seriousness of his statement carrying a heavy weight, turning the tides of his group's members.
"FOR LADY FREYA!"
The group of four Pallums, engaged in combat. To others it seemed completely suicidal, however, to them, this was their path, an obstacle to their ultimate goal. A challenge to their man and womanhood, to their love of the goddess they serve.
Van served as the main vanguard, delivering powerful blows right into the softer spots, the others followed up with blows hitting the same location, further injuring the monster. \
The scorpion swept its claws around like blunt objects, occasionally reaching with a pincer attack of its claws. And worse, it's stinger…
One of the guys was stabbed right in the center of his torso, the poison rapidly filling his body. Van noticing this, capitalized on the moment the monster was distracted, and delivered a powerful blow which removed the right claw, and then with a twist of his hips, he spun around on a dime, piercing both of his swords directly into the eyes.
"I hit the core!"
"Which blade?"
"Left!"
The remaining two members quickly went to move in for the attack. And while the monster flailed around attempting to get free, the one pierced through fell off from the stinger, landing with a thud against the wall, and vomiting up blood.
Their andhrimnir quickly prepared a powerful spell to counter the poison, and to heal the injury. Affording the injured a few more attacks, ones he quickly made count, the first interrupting the left claw's swipe at Van, and then he ran in, and kicked the stinger backwards, clearing the way for the rest of his team.
Both of the other members came in, the first with a cross slash attack, which cut through the carapace, breaking the guy's wrists in the process. The gal came in with her hammer, shattering the remaining carapace, and destabilizing the monster's core.
"Get out of there Van!" The healed one shouted a warning as the stinger rose up, and came down towards him.
The andhrimnir came in and just at the right time, with the way clear for them, hit the stinger with every bit of their strength, pushing it backwards away from Van…
With the sudden and powerful attack having been redirected, it slammed straight into its own core… Van's whole crew watched with wide eyes as the level 5 monster turned into a pile of dust. They all let out a laugh, the one that comes from surviving a horrible situation, but too exhausted to do anything else. The whole crew fell to their butts, and relaxed for a moment.
"That… Was… Hard…"
"That's what she said."
They all laughed again, slowly getting back up, using a few items to recover a bit, and prepared for the next fight…