Impenetrable Dungeon 9 Chapter 9: Highly Valued

Five from the East, ten from the West, five from the North and fifteen from the South. No matter how you look at it they were surrounded. Their only way of breaking out would be through the East. However, that is only if they knew what awaited them. Currently, the Honour Guards only knew of the existence of the groups from the East, West and the group they have already engaged. Perhaps such a promising force would fall in its early days?

Mimphralgos and Drathalsiel immediately increased the speed of their attacks. They aimed to kill the group of five with three minutes so that they have some time to rest before a.s.sisting Asura's group. Drathalsiel sent to consecutive strikes at the one that wielded the longsword; one strike hid in the shadow of the other. This caught the adventurer off guard and his longsword almost fell out of his hand. As he tried to recover, he realised that an arrow had pierced through his chest. He lifelessly fell down on the ground. Drathalsiel immediately ducked as an arrow whistled past her ear. The enemy Archer finally showed himself. He was atop a small mound a couple of metres away. He was probably trying to find Delsair or set up a foolproof ambush. Unfortunately, he panicked when one of his teammates died. He didn't last long either as Crowncrest dove and grabbed him in its claws. He fell from a height of 50 metres before landing.

Mimphralgos kicked the one with the dual-handed sword away as he swung his ma.s.sive sword at the adventurer with the s.h.i.+eld. The powerful blows sent both men flying and Delsair immediately embedded an arrow in the adventurer with the s.h.i.+eld while Drathalsiel cut the one with the longsword in half. The Magician soon succ.u.mbed to the combined attack of the three. "Let's rest for a bit then help Asura," Mimphralgos said. Drathalsiel simply nodded as she sat down on one of the rocks. They only sat down for a minute when Delsair's frantic voice was heard through telepathy, "Another group of five from the North and I see a ma.s.sive group from the South!"

"How many from the South?" Asura calmly asked as he cut down the arrows in front of him.

"I don't know; they are too far. There should at least be ten of them, maybe more."

"Mimphralgos and Drathalsiel go help Pharos and Azzid. Delsair go look for a choke point quickly."

"ROGER!"

Mimphralgos and Drathalsiel rushed to Pharos' team. Mimphralgos charged in and sent two of them flying and Pharos immediately embraced them with a crimson fire. Drathalsiel duelled with one while Mimphralgos duelled with another. Azzid teleported behind the last person and killed him. Then the four worked together to eliminate the remaining two.

"A closed off valley to the North-West," Delsair said as they finished off the last adventurer.

"Everyone makes haste to that valley and set up an ambush. We will handle this group of ten there and hopefully, we will shake off the large group in the South as well," Asura ordered.

"I don't think we will be able to shake them off," Delsair said, "I can see a giant red arrow that is pointing at our direction."

"Master's test?" Azzid asked.

"No, I doubt it," Pharos said, "Those guys are most likely treasure hunters."

"But there are no treasures in the dungeon yet," Xako couldn't help but say, "At least not on this floor."

"True the only material treasures here is located above the 90th Floor," Pharos said.

"Exactly," Xako exclaimed, "Wait, material?"

"They're after us," Asura suddenly said.

"Yup," Pharos said, "Our races have long been annihilated due to the scheming of the G.o.ds, Devils or Buddhas but they still used our worth to manipulate the different races to kill us. Also, the wings of a demon or an angel would probably be worth a lot in the outside world. A Bug Queen would be useful in making an army too."

"Hey what about me?" Delsair protested.

"You would make a good slave," Pharos replied.

"You-"

"That's enough Delsair," Asura immediately put a stop to their argument, "Get moving to that valley."

The Honour Guards retreated to the valley as fast as they could. It was the only way to save their lives right now unless Marcus let them use their true power. The group to the West pursued Asura and his team while the group to the South confirmed Pharos' suspicion. Indeed they were highly valuable. The scales of the Feng Clan very beautiful and were highly sought after by collectors so they could fetch an extremely high price in the market. Draconian scales were very tough and in the legends of mighty heroes in the Dungeon World, these heroes would always have the scale of a dragon or a draconian as the core of their armour. The wings of an angel and a devil, through some forbidden magic, could grant the wearer of the wings Divine/Demonic Mana. This would cause a bloodbath if released into a prospering world much less a backwater world such as the Dungeon World. The horns of Draenei were the perfect materials to make a spear as they were sharp and extremely durable. Legends had it that a blacksmith had once forged such a weapon and he had stored it away for millennia. One day a hero found the spear which had not lost it l.u.s.tre and he slain a dragon with a single stab. Meanwhile, the Void Race had extremely strong bones which could be made into staffs and handles. Their hair would also often be made into wigs used by street performers to dress themselves up as a deity or an old person.

As the adventurers following Asura stepped into the valley the Honour Guards began their ambush. They immediately killed the only Healer of the team and then they started working on the ranged attackers. Meanwhile, Asura, Mimphralgos and Drathalsiel worked together to keep the close combatants at bay.