Blacksmith of the Apocalypse

"What is that?!" Seth exclaimed instinctively.

In the center of the city was a giant crater filled with a wide dome that would cause a meltdown for anyone with trypophobia. It was covered in dozens of bigger and smaller undulating orifices.

<Ding! You have witnessed the terror of field boss "Colossal Fungeon- A living dungeon". Experience gained.>

~ I'm not getting close to that thing. ~ Puffles states vehemently.

"Agreed. Let's grab Jonah and just get out of here."

Who would want to go into something like that? A living dungeon? Judging by its outer appearance, the inside would be a horrible nightmare. Seth had no inclination to see that. He wasn't a masochist.

They landed beside Jonah, whose mind immediately cleared after entering the Ivicers bubble.

"What happened- What the f*ck is that!?"

"Doesn't matter, get on and let's get out of here."

Jonah scrambled onto the centipede's back and they set off.

~Errm, are you seeing that too? ~ Puffles asked warily

Upon the pet's notice, they both looked down, where the giant dome started tilting back and forth. Inadvertently Seth used <Observation> on the dome.

< Colossal Fungeon lv. XX

Status: Starving, Enraged

...

Race: Living Dungeon-Fungulate>

Was it angry because they snatched the one prey it had attracted? And what was a fungulate?

His question was soon answered when the dome suddenly started rising. It balanced on a long neck which led to a giant deer-like body covered in weird growths. Overall, it was like a giant deer with a mushroom cap for a head.

Its humongous hooves crushed the pavement and boardwalks and it slowly started following the flying centipede, as if it was a bait on a hook.

"We can't just return with this thing following us. We need to lose it first!" Seth lamented. At least they were relatively safe up in the air.

Was what he thought, but in the next moment the huge orifices started twitching and clouds of spores filled the air, shooting in their direction. The blacksmith reacted quickly and cast a fire shield on top of Puffle's bubble. Another layer was added with Double Cast.

Fortunately, the spores burned away upon touching the fiery shield. There was no telling what kind of effect those would have had. Although they managed to deal with it easily, anybody else only relying on flying would probably have had a hard time after underestimating the mushroom-dungeon-deer.

"How are we supposed to lose this?" Jonah asked afraid.

There was no way they would fight this, its level was so high, that even Jonah, who was close to level 70 could not see it with his <Observation>. It was not just about level, it was also a gigantic creature, almost rivaling Chrysopras, the stone giant Seth met in the mountains, in height.

The swamp dragon was just a worm compared to this thing.

"I have an idea. Jonah, you return first with <Home Call>. Report about this thing. May and Jane have to warn Y-City. They will know why."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I can go into stealth mode once I am alone."

Slightly unwilling to leave his new girlfriend behind, Jonah finally returned to Delta with <Home Call>. Now that Seth was alone, he did not try to hide immediately. He called Lydia with the communication Orb.

"Seth? What is going on out there? What's with these earthquakes?"

"Don't worry about it. Get ready to use the bus and get out of here as quickly as possible."

"Will you be okay?"

"Sure, don't worry about me and get going."

"I'm not sure that we can fit all of them in the bus."

"You will have to make it work, I am a little occupied on my end."

"No matter what?"

"Do whatever is needed. I will join you later."

"Okay."

Ending the call, Seth and Puffles kept kiting the monstrosity for some longer, before Seth equipped the Helm of Hades and called the ivicer back to the pet space. After a short fall, he landed on the roof of an apartment building.

Having lost its target, the giant fungulate stood still.

Having lost his ivicer, Seth was tortured by the beast's high-pitched whistle.

Bearing the mean headache, the blacksmith started running back in the direction they came from. He had learned from Jess' and James' story, though he put his own twist to their method.

Equipped with his pickaxe and back by his powerful stats, Seth broke his way cross country through walls and buildings, taking the direct path back the cradle and past the living dungeon-deer.

Reaching the cradle, he found a bunch of ripped-out bus seats strewn across the parking lot. So this was Lydia's idea to make room for all the people they rescued.

Seth nodded approvingly before he got back into the run. Thanks to his high endurance stat, he had great stamina and was able to keep his speed for a long time. The direction was easily determined.

The direct line back to Minas Mar.

The blacksmith kept running and mining until he finally left the range of the fungeon. There he felt safe enough to bring Puffles out again.

~ hehe, it is nice to see you running for once. ~

"Yeah, yeah, but now it's your turn. I won't be able to catch up with the others if we don't fly."

~ Ask me nicely. ~

"Puffles..."

...

"Fine. Please, oh Puffles the Great, please help me catch up with the others."

~ Hmph, it didn't seem too genuine, but okay. ~

Finally, they set off and got on track to catch up with their flying bus. In the future people would need to avoid this area. Maybe this thing would just starve to death if no more food came by.

But the thought of a living dungeon was intriguing. How was it a dungeon, if it actively hunted prey? Or maybe it did not necessarily need a huge amount of prey to survive. Dungeons were also the domain of a god. Was it something like a divine beast of the god of dungeons?

~Stop thinking about useless stuff, the bus is up ahead. ~ the Ivicer said slightly grumpy.

Calling that disgusting thing a divine beast was like comparing it to him, which displeased him greatly.

What came up ahead had less of a flying bus and more of a levitating sardine can. The bus, without seats, was filled to the brim with the passengers being squashed against the windows.

The members of the Oathguard, except for the driver, were holding onto the roof of the car. On one hand, it was to make space and on the other hand, they were able to defend the bus better.

Enveloping the bus were several shields, that guarded against beasts, but ale helped protect the people on the roof against the elements.

"Lydia" Seth called her on the communication orb since there was no way to talk normally like this.

"Seth? You are back! Wait, where's Jonah?"

"I already send him back to Minas Mar to report. Tell the people to lower the shields for a moment, so I can enter."

Finally, aboard the bus, Seth relaxed a little. The only complications on the way back were the various stops they had to make for people to eat, sleep and get a breather.

The air space of the mountain range was already dangerous, but the surface completely crawled with strong beasts. Every stop came with a battle that most of the time ended with the beast running away!

Beasts of the mountain range were not just strong, but also highly intelligent. They would flee the moment they realized they did not have a chance. Nobody dared to chase them, in fear of a trap.

The journey back took another three days they spent fighting, resting, and flying. Seth used the downtimes to remotely organize some stuff for Beta.

Change what he could change.