Ultimate Level 1-Chapter 457: Going All Out

“That was disappointing,” Dagon complained as he looked at the five of them. “You didn’t press the attack at all. All you did was create a battle of attrition with someone you must have realized by now heals on their own. Why?”

“You said it already,” Fowl replied. “The damage from your aura kills them if they hit you too hard. Poison didn’t work and all we could do was try and see how long you could last.”

The King’s frown lessened slightly as he nodded.

“Still, you did get me to show another trick. Once more, you’re making me do things I haven’t had to do in ages, and I can’t complain about that. Five minutes again?”

Max nodded and the older dwarf turned and made his way back toward the drinking area.

“He’s right, that sucked so bad,” Batrire stated. “I feel like I was the one who worked the most, having to keep everyone healed. Even with the new group healing spell, I would run out like I did.”

“You’re fine,” Tanila said, giving her friend a hip bump. “Max’s plan showed us what we needed to see. Everything rides on this last attempt. I mean, did we honestly believe we could take down the King?”

Shaking his head from side to side, Max knew the odds had been low from the start.

It still feels weird to know there are people out here stronger than me. I mean… I shouldn’t think that but I did.

This is why, in some ways, we should be grateful to Ockrim for having this moment for us and also be cautious about who we might face. The King and his god are correct. We need to get into the tower and get stronger. Eventually, something will have to give us the stats and skills we desire. Lately, I’ve felt so hungry.

You're not going to go all murder crazy again, are you?

No, but I might request you kill a bunch of creatures in the coming floors.

He sensed everyone looking at him and knew there was a grin on his face. Tapping his temple, Max winked.

“So we’ll follow the plan. Whatever happens next, just know I can’t keep doing it repeatedly. And Bob’s right. We need to get into the tower and get stronger. If we’ve learned one thing, it’s that we’re not as powerful as we thought.”

***

Max knew he was smiling.

Next to him was his Mirror Image, and the fact that he was stealthed and it wasn’t made the whole plan possible.

Dagon already looked slightly nervous as his use of Ultimate Form two times in a row after Bob had refreshed it had caused him to grow even more.

If he hesitates like the last fight… we can do this.

Even if he doesn’t, you should be able to win this battle if your attack goes as planned.

“I’m not going to lie. I really feel like you’ve been holding back. I guess I won’t either!”

A groan from Fowl was evident as the King had that same orb appear as before and placed it on the bottom of the shaft. Then, with some effort, the weapon split into two hammers, and the king held a matching pair of weapons that were no doubt better than any weapon they owned.

“Max…”

“Stick with the plan. It doesn’t change a thing,” he whispered from stealth to his friend. “Charge him. I’ll do the rest.”

“Ready?!”

As the call came out, each of them nodded, including Max’s clone.

His body ached from the power and strength it tried to contain.

Finally, Dagon moved his head, and the horn sounded.

Like the first fight, Fowl charged ahead, but Tanila summoned a large boulder this time and sent it at the King from the left while Cordellia unleashed a rain of arrows. Max’s mirror image charged right behind Fowl on the right side, trying to hedge the dwarf in.

[ Blink ]

[ Berserker ]

[ Power Strike ]

[ Spell Burst ]

[ Dimensional Space ] freewёbn૦νeɭ.com

Appearing behind Dagon and still in stealth, Max ripped open the door to his vault, and Bob unleashed the largest gust of wind blades he could from the front.

Only a single step was required for the King to find himself in the space, and since he had never reacted to any attack that showed he had some detection skills, Max prayed silently that his hunch was correct.

The largest door possible was open, and he stood inside at the edge and bent down, wrapping his hands around the King’s waist. Fowl plowed right into him with two shields.

Before words could be uttered, the dwarf lifted upward and was slammed to the ground inside the space.

“What the–”

Max didn’t hesitate, spinning to his feet, the thick rope he had acquired from Igarra’s world in his hand, and began wrapping the dwarf up as fast as possible, ignoring the first few swings that came in his direction.

A rumbling sound started to ring out, but beyond that, nothing happened, and in seconds, the King of the Dwarves found himself tied up and unable to move.

“Where… a dimensional space?! You have such a thing?!”

Max chuckled and nodded.

“I do and if I’m correct, nothing you’re trying to do is working.”

A low growl and grunt came as the King struggled against the bonds. Anytime he tried to move forward, Max simply put his hands against his chest and held the dwarf in place.

“That’s… genius boy!”

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

Gone was the frown and a smile appeared as Dagon glanced around the empty area.

“You set me up! Made me feel like this was going to be easy, and you finally went all out! I’m proud of you!”

His friends were all moving inside the space and each of them had a look of satisfaction plastered across their faces.

“It worked… it actually worked,” Fowl said. “I mean… I hoped it would.”

“Yes… you win. Something tells me if you wanted, you could easily kill me in here, but I doubt I would find myself alive again to congratulate you for doing so.”

He’s right… oh the power… how a part of me would love to do this.

And yet we won’t.

I know… I’m just saying.

A chuckle in his head was the last thing Bob said as Max began to unwind the rope.

“I wasn’t sure I’d be able to lift you up if I’m honest. Part of me knew you had abilities that stopped that, so I had to try to ensure you didn’t activate them.”

“A good plan,” Dagon replied. “Still, part of me feels cheated, but the other part knows you five have done well.”

With the King no longer bound, Max and the others turned toward the entrance of the dimensional space where dwarves were starting to appear, a few with weapons in their hands.

“I’m fine! They won! You all can relax.”

A few gave them some glares, but most looked surprised to hear that their King had been defeated.

“Come, let’s get a drink, and then I’ll let you return to the tower. Something tells me I will never hear the end of this from my warriors.”

***

After a short time with the King and his Guard, Max and the others were back on the 62nd floor.

“We’re ready for this,” Fowl said with a grin. “No hiding in a vault or worried about how fast we go.”

“For now,” Cordellia replied. “He can always go back afterward and get us a faster time.”

Listening to the banter, Max kissed Tanila. “You know I love you.”

“Says the man who killed me twenty times.”

He ignored her tease and pulled her closer. “Well, you killed me the first days I laid eyes on you.”

Rolling her eyes, Tanila shook her head. “How about you focus on today and worry about tonight later.”

Moving to where Fowl was standing, he shrugged. “Who says we’ll be out of here by tonight?”

“Wait, what?!” their warrior exclaimed. “You mean we might be in here for a whole day? Why didn’t someone tell me so I could have used the bathroom beforehand?!”

Laughter came from everyone but Fowl as they started moving down the slippery, muddy floor.

***

The large tunnel they were in split into two, one going right and one going left. A horrible stench came from both directions and neither seemed to have a better outlook compared to the other.

“So, which way?” Cordellia asked.

“I’m always a fan of going to the right,” Batrire said.

“So we’ll go left,” Tanila teased.

Max stayed near the trio as Fowl took point, watching his dwarven friend take careful steps as the slipperiness of the path got worse.

“It’s like we’re walking in a goo of some kind,” their mage stated. “It’s not like normal mud as you don’t sink like I would expect one to.”

“Which means it's a special place, the tower created just for us.”

His comment didn’t seem to get the hoped response, but Max didn’t care.

For the first time in a while, it felt good to watch his friends take part in a tower floor like this. Each of them was focused and always on the lookout for something.

A gentle wind blew at them a hundred yards after taking the path they had chosen, and the stench grew much worse.

“Smells like rotten flesh,” Batrire said after almost gagging. “And a lot of it.”

“The path is starting to descend,” Fowl called out. “Be careful.”

As if fate disliked being told what to do, a cry came twenty-five yards later as their warrior slid down the slope.

“Goblin shite!”

Max raced toward his friend and realized that he could only catch up to him by flying.

Bob took care of that. He zoomed downward and grabbed hold of the warrior, now covered in brown mud.

“Bah, it’s in my mouth!”

“Then stop talking, and it won’t be!”

As his friend started spitting, Max sensed movement up ahead.

From the side of the walls, shapes started to form.

“Golems!”

Flying back to his friends with their warrior in tow, he made sure they were far enough away from the incline that no one else would take a turn.

“At least five!”

Fowl stopped complaining and took out his shield and weapon. He watched the creatures that started to appear from below, the yellow light causing their wet shapes to glisten.

A large fireball appeared above Tanila, and she let it loose, striking the first one in the head and causing it to stumble backward.

Cordellia followed her lead, sending flaming arrow after arrow at the incoming group.

They fought as one, Max doing his best not to hog all the glory and letting Fowl tank the first few to get past their offensive onslaught.

Each fell quickly as they worked together, fire being one of the strongest weapons against them. It dried out the wet mud and allowed them to locate the core inside that would kill them once destroyed.

“Everyone talks about how a mud bath is fun, but I don’t think they ever had one like this,” Fowl muttered as he turned around, his entire front half dripping with it.

“No… that’s not what they enjoy,” Cordellia said, stifling a laugh. “Still, you did good, shorty.”

Spitting more mud out and removing most of his armor, their warrior started wiping his face and beard off with a towel.

“That wasn’t too bad. We just need to get past this slide part and see what lies beyond.”

“Are you offering to go?” Fowl asked Max.

“I can. I’m just pointing out the obvious.”

“Rather him than me,” their archer stated. “He’s the most capable, and we’d be fools to try and send anyone else.”

With that easy decision made, Max waited until everyone was ready and returned to the old way of tower floors, going out and bringing things back to his team.

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