Listening to Darion's words again, Lucian felt like he got the answer he had been looking for. All he needed to stay alive from the very beginning was to agree to the demon's term by playing with it, whatever sick game that may be, but it could give Lucian enough time to make the demon lower its guard, and then he could still kill it and then steal its powers.
Lucian attempted to open his mouth to speak but stopped when he saw Luna fearlessly attacking the demon from behind. He wanted to stop her, but the dungeon king acted faster than any of them could expect. He escaped Luna's sword and attempted to end her life in one bite, but his feet slipped on the water Morwen had mindlessly poured on a slippery rock when he was still alive. Darion could only bite off half a limb of one of Luna's legs before gracefully landing on the ground to his own surprise.
Luna screamed in pain.
"We surrender!" Lucian put off his ability; his arm wasn't in good shape because he had activated the beast powers, but since he didn't use it, he could still use his arm. He lifted his arm up.
"It's too late." Darion stopped as he felt the restrictions that had been lifted by Zinnia put back in place by Dunstan. He sighed and stood up; he could no longer eat Lucian like he would want to. Messing with Dunstan was too much trouble for the peaceful life he had in Hlasked. Although, like every human player, he had also been imprisoned by the 12 gods, but unlike them, he had no intention of escaping.
"Let's do what you want." Lucian said, his words catching Darion's attention, "We will play with you." Lucian used his body to shield Luna as she healed herself.
The pain and bleeding Luna was experiencing was too much for her to handle; she passed out with her wound still bleeding.
Darion's dark magic wrapped around his body, and he became a kid again with a bright smile. "Really! You will play with me."
'His guard is down. Now!' Lucian thought and picked up Luna's sword, mixed his poison into it in an attempt to combine his ability with hers, and aimed the sword for Darion's neck, using all his strength to try and cut off his head in one strike.
The sword pierced through Darion's skin, and midway it stopped moving no matter how much Lucian tried.
"You lied to me." Darion said in a dangerous voice and then gave out a short laugh and pulled the sword away from his neck. "You truly are a villain." He grins at Lucian. "You have played with me enough; I suppose it's time I let you and your partner go. Until we meet again, Lucian." He opened a portal and healed Luna's and Lucian's wounds before using his dark magic to push them through the portal. "Soon you will be looking for a dungeon, and when you do, you will be looking for me as well, Mr. Villain."
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Zinnia coughs out silver blood. The clouds in the heavenly realms thunder, and it still wasn't enough to describe how angry Dunstan was.
"I'm not the only one who had broken the rules to the game." Zinnia shouted in arrogance and attempted to attack Dunstan with lightning raging from the sky.
Dunstan flicks her lightning away with one hand. "Look at your pathetic state. You can't fight me like this. To think a simple human was able to ruin your mind to this point." He glares harshly at Zinnia, while she grits her teeth in anger.
"Please stop fighting." Zyros said. He was the first to discover what Zinnia did; he tried to convince her to stop before Dunstan came to her chamber and corrected things in his own way.
"All those times I didn't watch the game early, is this how the game is conducted behind my back?" Dunstan was the sort of guy who was ruled obsessed.
"Why are we fighting among ourselves?" Thalric asked, leaning against the entrance to Zinnia's bedchamber. "It's just a little human; it doesn't matter if the boy dies because Zinnia tampered with the game a little." Thalric froze after noticing the change of expression in Dunstan's face. "Rules, of course, should always be followed." He says quickly.
"I'm calling for a meeting." Dunstan glances at Thalric as he steps out of the room. "Tell the others."
'He seems to be forgetting that our greatest strength lies in unity. Not in personal achievements.' Thalric thought with a scowl on his face.
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Being thrown into a portal without warning made Lucian feel breathless. Only when he opened his eyes could he explain the reason for his lack of breath along with the wet coldness and warmth around his skin. Luna's unconscious body was pressed against his; her cheeks lay sideways against his face, blocking off his nose, while his lips were pressed against her cheek in an involuntary kiss.
'Her cheek is surprisingly soft.' Lucian thought, caught himself in his thoughts, and quickly pushed Luna away, blushing. 'Why the hell did I just think that shit?' He wiped his lips in an attempt to make himself believe that he didn't just kiss Luna, but his actions made him blush harder. Making him feel weird with himself because normally he could easily control his teenage hormones; that was part of the training he got from his parents as an heir to his father's empire, especially from his mom, who had warned him about how easy it was for a woman to control and steal everything he owned if he wasn't careful. For that reason, Lucian had grown up weary of girls and rejected them whenever they confessed their feelings to him. He doubted that the only reason they were interested in him was simply because of his good looks; he always thought that they wanted his wealth, his inheritance. In the family he came from, there was no such thing as love, not even between his cold, calculating parents, who always appeared perfect in public. Relationship and marriage were nothing more than another business deal.
"Rain?" Lucian looked up at the sky at his new environment and quietly let the cold raindrop fall on his face while he shut his eyes. He hadn't felt the rain; neither had he seen the open sky for so long while he was in the dungeon. Lucian thought back to the last words the demon had said to him and shook his head, not wanting to believe that there are other dungeons in Hlasked.
He turned to Luna and noticed that the raindrop had split her long bangs in half, making them fall to her side, revealing her face.
'Her skin is so pale that she looks like a ghost.' Lucian thought, unconsciously moving a hand to cup her cheek, 'a beautiful ghost.' He paused and realized that another infuriating thought had slipped into his head without permission.
Lucian blinks and begins to roughly tap Luna on the cheek. "Wake up." He grunted out, unable to understand what exactly he was angry at. Her current state or his.
After a few taps that had changed into little slaps, Luna snaps her eyes open and immediately groans in pain when a raindrop hits one of her eyes, making it red and blurry with a burning sensation. "Where are we?" She asked.
"Outside the dungeon." Lucian stood to his feet and noticed for the first time that his legs felt kind of heavy.
"We made it out?!" Luna mumbles to herself. She had thought that they were going to die for real this time.
Although it was subtle, Lucian heard the little movement from the trees by his side. Without saying a word and turning around to look who was there. He quickly picked Luna up and began to run through the woods. After his experience with the dungeon king, Lucian wasn't cocky enough to think he could easily win every battle that comes his way because of the little abilities he had.
"F*ck." Caius yelled out from a distance, "Sharp bastard!" His lucky ambush had been ruined. If Lucian had not taken note of his presence, he would have easily killed Lucian without straining himself. His teammates weren't with him—well, except for Kane, who has somehow managed to get himself unnaturally frozen up. There was no ice around his body, but he couldn't move. The only thing moving in Kane's body was his eyeball, which moved back and forth in hopes that Caius would help him out of his frozen state.
Caius gave Kane a long look, thinking of if he should leave Kane and run after Lucian; of course, he planned on coming back to his men later. The only reason Caius was out of his hideout, soaking himself in the rain, was because he was searching for Kane. His teammates were few, and he didn't want more of his people dying on him, at least not yet. Seeing Lucian in the forest was a great shock. 'The fact that he survived that beast proved that he's the villain alright.' Caius thought.
'Don't do it.' Kane thought. He had a feeling that his captain was about to leave him. The forest was dangerous; if a beast showed up and attacked him in his frozen state, there was nothing he could do to prevent it.
"Wait here for me; I will be back." Caius was annoyed with himself for the amount of time he wasted in thinking about pursuing Lucian. First he needed to capture Lucian and then sought out Kane's issues later.
'Wait?!' Kane thought, annoyed. 'I can't move you, dumb fuck.' He was full of rage; even if Kane could move, he could never say that to Caius's face.
'My legs.' Lucian thought. With each step he took, his legs were becoming heavier, to the point of being unable to move, almost as though he was freezing up.