Hex Spectre

"Are the Gods expecting us to fight against their own kin? This is madness!"

The complains and disbelief of the Hunters reached sky-high. They are terrified of losing their lives in the hands of a foe that far surpasses their abilities. How could a mere ranker be able to even leave a single scratch to a God? The answer can only be found within the fractures of night sky. In other words... There is no way...

"Who are you?," the Saintess asked the dungeon boss.

The answer was never received as the powerful boss suddenly leaped into the air and smashed the ground, causing a powerful earthquake that shook the very foundations of the Earth. Many soldiers were critically hit in the legs, causing a great confusion among the templars.

Will they save the soldiers?

Or will they defeat the boss?

It is an extremely hard dilemma that requires a great sacrifice. What or who would they sacrifice?

While in the middle of their thinking, The hunter with the nickname, "Archangel", also drew a fiery sword from his side and tried to deal a critical hit to the incoming boss.

"Andros, No!"

However, before he could even land the hit, the boss reached him first. It drew its sword and swung it in a slanting manner. When Andros, the Archangel, received the attack, he was confused at first because the blade did not touch his skin until he felt a sharp pain on his torso and blood started to gush out on his mouth. He turned his gaze on his back and saw the Outsider boss muttered a single word.

"Mirage..."

Everyone immediately ran towards Andros' aid. The Nephtys casted a powerful shield while the Saintess and Merlin casted a healing spell on him. He was coughing blood and is in critical condition. 

"How could he defeat the Archangel in a single blow?!"

"Argh! That monster... No, THE GOD, he far surpasses the abilities of any boss that we faced!"

"We have no chance! Run, everybody!"

The knights were trembling in fear seeing the boss named Tud Bulul, defeat the most powerful swordsman in their group. They tried to run away from the battlefield but the boss, full of bloodlust, quickly changed his steps and attacked them.

On the other hand, The Saintess took her wand and flew towards the Boss. The same goes for the other Templars as soon as they place the Archangel on a safer place. Together, they attacked the boss using their most powerful hits.

"Water Spirit-Nymph!"

"Heavenly Casting-God's Wrath, Exodus!"

"Divine Protection-Eye of Horus!"

"Blood Wolf-Thousand Shadows!"

"Gift of Odin-Gungnir!"

The soldiers watched in awe as the Saintess and Templars once again fought the Boss in unity. It is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see them fighting side by side. 

****

In one corner of the Hex, the injured Mike Sandoval finally regained his consciousness. His vision is blurry but at least he gained an awareness about what is happening.

"They are fighting the... What the hell is that?," confusion clouded his thoughts which reflects his current expression.

"Did the monster suddenly evolved into a God?," once again, he wondered.

Years of being an Occult geek garnered him the knowledge about the mystery of the world and of the myths and of the gods, giving him an upper hand in information about outsiders and the gods who bore a striking resemblance to those found in many mythologies around the world.

While grasping the happenings on his surroundings, one knight approached him before he started talking.

"Mike, you are alive!," he shouted, causing the others to flock on their place.

"What's happening here?," Mike asked him, not acknowledging the attention to them.

"The high-rank hunters, including the Saintess, are defeating the monster. Remembered the giant werewolf who did you dirty earlier? Well, that monster whom they are fighting right now killed the weaker moron," the knight answered.

They once again gazed their eyes upon the battlefield. However, what they could only see are the pillars of fire and flashes of light, that is the aftermath of renowned hunters' attack on the monster. They couldn't fully see their body as the intensity of the battle brought forth smokes and dust.

"We must go to a safer place, we might get caught in the maelstrom...," the knight told Mike.

"Just go, I'll stay here, I still need to recover from the pain inflicted by these injuries.," Mike replied while raising his now handless right arm.

Many freaked out, seeing the butchered body of the low-rank hunter. If not for his clothes, the injured hunter in front of them would be unrecognizable since his face is also covered in blood and bruises, making him look like but not too much, a zombie from the movies.

"Mike...," the knight faintly said.

"Don't worry about me, my fate in this dungeon will be no different from the ones I already endured, you guys should go, I don't want to be an excess baggage...," he told them silently, almost like a whisper.

"Stay safe then!," the knight tapped his soldier and bid his goodbye to the hunter.

"I will, Go now!"

And just like that, the remaining hunters under the White Crusaders raiding group are now leaving in numbers. Mike understand them. A low-ranker like him could not be a subject of importance nor attention. After all, he was defeated quickly by a weak monster and was even amputated of his arms an legs. He could feel it, the end is near. But still, he couldn't accept it. After all, he is the only person who could take care of his little sister, "I actually don't understand!"

He suddenly cried.

"I just want to take care of her but in the end, I'm still useless!", he silently said.

In the midst of his sorrow, something suddenly trampled on the wall. A body... but not just any body in the world. It is the unconscious body of the Saintess who is full of bruises. One by one, the weakened Templars also helplessly came to his location. They were battered and are touching their injuries from the aftermath of the battle.

"Did you guys finally defeated it?," he asked them.

Unfortunately, before they could even answer his question. A giant being suddenly flew to their direction. It was none other than the boss himself who never even gained a single scratch.

He overheard the weakened templars who are panicking but still were able to converse with one another.

"There's no choice, we have to use 'that'," White Wolf said to the group.

"But it will exhaust Merlin's power. He may not be able to work as a hunter for one month after that!," Nephtys told them.

"He's right, Merlin's teleportation magic is the only way to forcibly exit this dungeon.

"You guy don't have to debate about it because I'm willing to save us especially the Saintess!," He shouted.

The boss suddenly jump high in the air and started descending with an overwhelming power. Everyone is panicking except for Mike who understood the high-ranked hunters' line of thoughts.

'They were going to sacrifice me' He thought in his mind.

"We have to be quick, Merlin how many people can you accommodate?," Spearhead asked the Mage templar.

"Just us and the Saintess, Including Andros," He answered with adrenaline.

"How about him?," Nephtys asked the other Templars.

"We'll sacrifice him," White Wolf said.

"What? How could you be so heartless? How could we abandoned a member of our party?"

"He's not a member of our party, Idiot! He is just a pushover to the Saintess who's too greedy because he needs the dungeon's resources for himself!," White Wolf shouted.

'Me? Greedy? Need the dungeon's resources? Do you think I'll risk my life everyday just because I'm greedy for the resources? No! It's just that my sister need the money for her treatment! How could did guys be never even think about that, huh!

Mike wanted to shout his thoughts to the Templars but he cannot do so as he doesn't have any energy left.

"I understand...," He made a painful smile to his face.

"I'm sorry, Mike. We just have to survive! You need to understand us!," Spearhead told him.

"I do, actually so you guys should teleport now!," He painfully told them.

I don't...

"I'll never forget you, Mike or whatever your name is!," Nephtys shouted him.

"Let's stop this bullshit! Merlin, how many seconds more?"

"Five!"

"Okay, everyone braced yourself. Make sure that the Saintess and Andros is with us, okay?"

"Four!"

The boss is now bombarding them with attacks made out of powerful energies. He drew his sword and started preparing for a close-range strike, aiming to cut down the shield made by the "Nephtys".

"Three!"

As the sword clashed with the giant shield, Mike was on the other corner, looking up in the dungeon's ceiling, trying to contain his tears.

"So in the end, I'm still the sacrificial lamb? How dare they!," He cannot take it any longer and burst out crying. The Templars saw this and started looking away with White Wolf, looking down, as if he's guilty.

"Two!"

The boss' attacks were so powerful that cracks started to form in the shield. Nephtys is trying to control her rage so that the Shield will be stabilized.

"One!"

"Zero!"

The shield broke and the boss tried to attack them but they suddenly vanished, causing it to cry with an overwhelming loudness. Its gazed was automatically transferred to the direction of Mike, who is crying profusely.

Suddenly, he thought of something out of desperation-- The heavenly stones...

"I wonder what would happen if I eat them..."

On the other side of the dungeon, the knights of the raiding group are fighting so hard to reach the exit gate. Normally, they wouldn't risk this, but at this point they have no choice.

One of the knights suddenly saw a bright flash on the location where the Saintess and the Templars are fighting the boss.

"It's wild there, surely."