Ryo looked at his hand with shock, his vision faltering for a second. 'I used Psychokinesis?' He asked himself, his body still broken into pieces, shattered by the bronze Goblin. Ryo put his hands to his chest, tapping one of the two exposed ribs with his right index finger, rock scraping off bone.
The Goblin pulled itself out the wall, dropping the club that was in its hand as it did so. Ryo looked on in horror, noticing that the only visible damage done to it was a singular scratch on its torso, which didn't stop it at all. The Goblin grabbed him by the shirt, near his neck, and started pulling him, the direction it was originally facing, making sure to pick up its club as it did so.
"I'm definitely going to die, aren't I?" Ryo asked himself aloud, but the Goblin gave a response, sort of. It turned its head to face him, letting out a smile. "Oh yeah, I'm definitely dying. Where are you bringing me, though, Goblin?" Ryo replied, posing another question, aimed at it. However, this time, he was met with silence.
Ryo tried to dig his fingers into the floor, in order to stop himself from moving, even willing himself to just slow down, but the Goblin was too strong. His weakened muscles due to the battle damage prevented him from getting any grip, his curled fingers sliding along the floor.
The Goblin brought him down a set of steps, his head hitting off a few before the Goblin realised that might be a bad idea. It picked Ryo up, slinging his torso over its tiny body, carrying him like a sad sack of potatoes that hadn't been sold at the market.
A familiar rumbling sound echoed its way around the dungeon hallways, and Ryo immediately knew what it was. Another one of those pink worm creatures was barreling down towards him and the Goblin. Ryo was terrified, the mouth of the creature opening to reveal four rows of sharp teeth, aligned in a circular pattern. It was about three metres wide, meaning it could swallow him, the Goblin, and probably a Umichron at the same time.
The Goblin, not caring at all for Ryo's safety, went headfirst into the worm's mouth, jumping over the teeth in order to avoid getting spiked. Slick, shiny digestive fluid coated each surface in there, yet the Goblin kept trudging onwards. As the walls began to close in towards the end of the worm's body, the Goblin did something unexpected.
It put Ryo down, held its club in two hands, and swung it like a professional. The force generated by the impact blasted a hole through the end of the creature, purple blood spraying everywhere. Ryo could swear he saw something like a shattered heart explode outwards during the hit.
The Goblin quickly grabbed him, jumping out of the new hole before the creature began its death throes. The Goblin slung him over its shoulder, continuing walking as if this was just another day. To it, it was.
Ryo watched the Goblin closely, noticing its expression never changed. 'It's almost as if it was being guided by something. Some stronger force.' Ryo thought to himself, wishing he had the strength to write down everything that he had learned so far.
They made their way to what appeared to be a pit, surrounded by monsters of all kinds. Nothing attacked anyone else, as they all gazed back into the depths of the dungeon, realising it was always staring back. The Goblin looks around, watching a group of Slimes jump into the pit first. Every monster waited for around a minute, before what could only be described as a professional freefall competition began. Each monster, from Goblins to Ghouls to those eyeball creatures to things Ryo had never even seen before, such as a floating shield and a dog-like Monster, began falling into the hole.
The Goblin was the last one. It waited for the sound of monsters screaming to die down before jumping. Ryo felt wind rush against his face, the air getting tense as he was enveloped in darkness. His breaths became hollow, his eyes drawing heavy.
The floor came fast, yet it wasn't painful. He looked at the floor, noticing it was covered by slimes. Different kinds on top of each other, acting as a cushion to the monsters who had fallen. Ryo couldn't see more than two metres in front of him, but he was grateful to notice some Goblins, green in skin colour, lighting candles around the room. However, he would soon wish he couldn't see.
Ryo watched as monsters bowed repeatedly, on their hands and knees, apparently praying to a being which had not yet entered his field of view. Ryo watched as tentacles spread from the corners of the room, pulsating with energy, presumably mana.
He noticed black, purple and deep blue tendrils occupying the same space, yet they didn't fight each other. They appeared to coalesce perfectly with each other, as if it was a single creature controlling them.
The lights got brighter and expanded his vision further. His eyesight captured a glimpse of the legs of a massive creature, formed entirely of those same tentacles. Purple liquid, thinner than the blood of monsters, seeped from the tendrils, leaking onto the floor. It was sitting down on a chair made of its own body, tentacles squirming and writhing amongst themselves.
The creature moved its arms, the sound of squelching filling Ryo's ears. It pointed towards him and the Goblin, then turning its palm upwards, beckoning them towards it. The Goblin, in a trance, carried Ryo forwards. Every instinct screamed not to, as Ryo could feel his death coming closer. The Goblin laid him down about twenty metres from the creature's feet, his face starting upwards towards the giant Monster.
A voice boomed from the head of the creature, the light not yet reaching it. "Heal this Human." It commanded, as a group of white-coloured slimed made their way over to him. They began emitting a gloriously pure white light, and Ryo witnessed his body heal in real time. This was stronger than anything Amelee had ever performed. It was almost like an SS-class healer had graced him with a new body.
His ribs made their way back inside his own body, and he could feel the bits of shattered bone lift themselves out of his muscle as they returned back to their original position. Suddenly, he was hit with a jolt of pain in the skull, damage that was done by the Goblin while carrying him fixing itself up. His legs, broken in multiple places, cracked themselves back into the correct positions, fusing the bones back to where they were meant to be.
"Why?" Ryo asked, sitting up, patting his chest, noticing that the holes in his shirt from his ribs were gone. "Why am I still alive?" He asked the creature, causing it to have a hearty laugh, although he sensed a bit of mockery layered in there.
"Human, you are an interesting case." It told him, the word 'interesting' echoing around like an insult. "You're a Human, with Human magic, yet I sense that a Demon brought you here, and, even stranger, you used a piece of Demon magic on my little Goblin here!" It proclaimed, the Goblin bowing in front of it.
"Sure, I can understand that, but I want to ask why. Why have you decided to keep me alive? Your Goblin could have easily killed me up there, and then there'd be no more of me. What made you actually decide to keep me alive?" Ryo inquired.
"Hmmm. Well, to put it simply, it wasn't me who decided. It was the Goblin." The voice boomed back, a pair of eyes descending down towards its legs, mimicking Ryo's own. "Don't worry, these are my eyes. It's simply easier to mimic yours than design my own pair." It told him. "It watched you cast a piece of Demon magic on him, and despite its limited intelligence, it sent a signal to me that contained one word. 'Live'. You interested him, and therefore interested me."
"Who are you?"
"I…" The creature announced, candles lighting around his face as the Goblins managed to get high enough. Its mouth opened, yet Ryo saw no teeth. "…am Aragoth! Known to Demons as The Infestation Lord!"
Monsters began screaming, almost as if they were trying to cheer him on. Ryo could not believe who he was standing in front of. Aragoth looked down at him, a smile on his face. "You're the first human to ever step in here since that invasion that was attempted over two hundred years ago. Just after the "Great Demon War" as you named it." Aragoth told him, extending a hand out to him, beckoning him and the Goblin to stand on it.
Without much of a choice, Ryo hopped on, extending a hand to the Goblin, helping him up. 'Goblins have thoughts beyond primitive functions? Who knew?' Ryo asked. He had known this Goblin was special, but not how so besides his increased strength and speed.
The pair of them ascended, tentacles wriggling under their feet. Ryo lifted his right foot up to look at the thin liquid pooling under it, staining the bottom of his boots. The eyes followed them up, the voice of Aragoth getting quieter as they did. "Having to speak so loudly all the time is a pain." Aragoth admitted, sighing. "Now, I have a question for you, Human."
Ryo, with his legs shaking slightly, braced himself. "What do you want to ask?" Ryo replied, awaiting a question such as 'What do you taste like?' or 'How much force does it take to break one of you?'.
"Are you sick of Humanity?" Aragoth asked, completely shocking Ryo. "You're travelling with a Demon, casting Demon magic, being spared by a Monster and a Lord Monster, that being myself. The only real reason I can see for that being the case is that you hate your fellow Humans."
Ryo had to think long and hard about what his next words would be. "I mean, sure, I hate some Humans, but there are others that are good. I met this Demon by chance, and sure, he's a great guy, but I wouldn't say I hate all of Humanity." Ryo replied, his mind flashing to his time with the Rising Sun adventuring party.
"I know you're imagining someone right now, Human. Tell me, who do you hate the most?" Aragoth told him, and Ryo had an answer immediately. "Most Utopians. Throughout the years, I watched them give me odd looks, and no adventuring party would hire me. The one party that did, for their own gain, treated me like dirt, except for one member." Ryo responded, thinking about how Amelee seemed to be the only one who cared.
"I recognise that name. Aren't those the people who, every once in a while, try to invade the Demon Country?" Aragoth inquired, a tentacle-made pedestal appearing in front of Ryo, a leatherbound book laying on top, no label or name written anywhere on it.
"Yes, those are the same people. Their country wants to take this over, and they regularly send other countries in to fight for them, only to get kicked out of the Demon Country due to a lack of manpower, as they call it. They keep telling people it's because the adventurers never help out, but we're also busy trying to live." Ryo sighed, lifting the book up.
"I see. Well, what if I could give you the power to destroy those people?" Aragoth proposed as a label appeared on the book, almost as if Aragoth wished for it to appear. "An Absolutely Perfect Being".
"That book contains methods for magical and physical strength never seen before. I can sense great potential within you, and I wish to nurture that, but I'll need something in return."
"What would that 'something' be, Infestation Lord?" Ryo asked. "Some of my lifespan, eternal servitude? My firstborn child?"
"No, I'm not savage like that, despite my name. I thirst for knowledge. I've been down in this dungeon for the better half of a millennium. I know so much has changed, but the only bits of information I can glean are from overconfident Demons who come in here to try and kill me. I want you to bring me as much information as you can, and in exchange, I will give you the power and methods to make yourself unmatched in this world."
For the first time since he met the bronze Goblin, who was currently staring at him, Ryo smiled. "Not to be rude, but I don't think I can trust any power given to me by a Monster known as 'The Infestation Lord'. However, if you want knowledge, I can definitely give you that. I'm fixing up a library on the surface, and if you help, I'll let you take a look at all the books inside, free of charge."
Aragoth smiled at Ryo, the book disappearing from his hands. "I knew I was right in sparing you."
"You areinteresting."