The palisade was being swarmed; they were crawling over it like a flood of mutated flesh. The gates had collapsed, the towers abandoned. The defenders had been beaten back to the second line of defence. But that was starting to crumble now.

Ranus was fighting. He was no swordsman with only basic training, but like many, he had risen when called to defend the city. The horde was threatening to break through, and their casualties were so heavy that they might not be able to hold them at the third.

He had lost sight of Elian, and Danrum had gone silent on the crystal. He did not know if it was due to injury or that he was just too busy to talk. Ranus prayed it was the latter. He was not unscathed from the fight and had several wounds, none of which prevented him from fighting on.

Averance had passed beyond the palisade to fight the last of the greater void monstrosities that were still on the floodplain and approaching the city. None of them had arrived, but they hadn't heard anything from her for some time now. Doltum had been badly wounded and dragged out of the battle by Seela. Occasionally, spells were dropping from the sky onto the floodplain, making it difficult to discern their effects.

It was happening so fast. He had missed so much in the chaos.

He ran his sword through a void monstrosity that was pinning a soldier to the ground, trying to kill him. The piece was wounded, and his low ended it. The problem was that everyone killed each other in this place.

He was preparing to..

The world shuddered. Everything paused.

That was the best way he could describe it. Something happened that he could explain. Both void corrupted monstrosity, and the city defender has stopped by mutual agreement, due to an external effect.

The silence was strange, only broken by the sounds of fire and the moans of the wounded.

Then, a pillar of golden light shot into the sky beyond the palisade. It was like nothing anyone had ever seen before. Purer than sunlight and more enticing than gold. The beam of light shot into the sky and seemed to go on forever.

Then the ground started shaking. An earthquake or some seismic activity rumbled through the valley and mountain range. All were thrown from their feet.

As suddenly as it started and ended. And when it did, the light disappeared.

On whatever halted, the battle ended with it.

With a sudden roar, the conflict began anew, but it also changed. Where the avoid corrupted monsters had worked with terrifying coordination, they now struck out and attacked each other, giving the defenders a desperate reprieve in some areas.

Ranus was forced to face off against another avoid corrupted monstrosity. It seemed that this one was once a horse or some other four-legged animal, but its body can tell no more. It had been twisted and warped into a grotesque abomination. The soldier he had saved was standing to join him, but both men were wounded and exhausted from the battle.

He feared this was where he would die.

The beast made to attack them, but suddenly stopped. Ranus felt a warmth behind him, but he was too focused on the beast to look back. But he became aware of golden light gathering behind him and getting stronger. Not as bright or as powerful as the one that shot from the ground, but it was getting closer, it seemed.

He heard a familiar voice.

"We stand against the void. Advance no more."

The power of the voice was terrifying to listen to, yet he recognised it. Trixis!

Around them, about two dozen civilians charged into the fray, carrying whatever weapons they could find or improvise. Each of them was glowing with a strange golden aura like a pillar of light. In some, it was not very strong; in others, it was displayed brightly. Yet when they attacked the void twisted monstrosities, their strikes caused golden flames to rip across the bodies of the monstrosities.

The monsters screamed in rage and pain, lashing back at the attackers that are suddenly engaging them. The aura protects the civilians, but not entirely, and some fell to the monsters. This only fuelled the conviction of the others in the attack with renewed vigour.

Ranus looked on, amazed as wounds healed before his eyes while these new combatants fought. He had heard of some similar events in the past of divine intervention, and he believed he was witnessing it now.

He slowly turned from the battle before him and looked over his shoulder. As he did so, Trixis walked up next to him, her eyes blazing with power, focused on the monsters before her. It was challenging to look at the aura of light, which was so intense and powerful.

"We stand with you, Lord Ranus Goldwind. The void will not take the city today, not ever." She spoke with a terrible calmness and certainty.

Ranus shivered and found his voice. "How?"

She did not look at him, but a slight smile came to her lips. "Our God has acted."

## ## ## ## ##

The battle on the fifth was vicious.

Void corrupted monstrosities that were pouring down the stairs, while others attacked the floor separating the first from the second. The worms were tougher and holding their own for now, while the floor Guardian's bulk prevented any from going further down into the Dungeon. The Guardian was covering the stairwell and lashing out at any void monsters who came close.

The worms were dying, but they were taking a toll on the attackers. It would not be enough, but every death I inflicted reduced the numbers I had to fight in the long run. I hoped the city was inflicting just as many casualties on the attackers. I knew I wasn't able to fight them all alone.

From above came another loud crashing sound of a cave-in. Another floor had collapsed. The void abominations that survived the collapse were now attacking the 3rd to gain access to the fourth.

By now, most of the worms were dead, leaving just my Guardian. It was triggering its abilities, making it more difficult to kill as it crushed and bit apart the invaders. Its height, however, was starting to show the increasing number of injuries as void monsters swarmed it. I should go up and see what I am still dealing with, but I can't bear to look at it. I can't bear to see the numbers I still had to fight to survive. It was cowardice, I knew, but as a Dungeon Core, a certain level of cowardice was expected.

The fifth floor was being overrun as other void abominations charged across the floor, seeking alternate means to come down to the next. The floor traps were triggering, adding to the death toll. My corruption count was slowly ticking up, as the void stones were absorbing a lot away. Thankfully, the central stairwell column had not been attacked, and each of the void stone traps was still running. I sensed that the top one was now filled and stopped absorbing void essence.

I shifted down to the sixth. The first of the void abominations had now made it through and was now fighting my minions here. The snakes were doing their best, but I suspected they would be pushed past quickly. They were built for speed and ambush, not endurance battles. I carried on to the seventh.

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"They will be here shortly, Krag."

"Good. Krag will kill!" The ogre was in position and ready within the stairwell room. I appreciated his confidence, but I knew it was misplaced. I didn't say anything against it, however.

"I'm sure you will."

Not much of a prep talk, but it was the best I had at the time.

A few seconds later, the first void monster pushed its way through the snakes and charged down to the seventh floor. It was bloody and wounded and was introduced to Krag's mace, crashing its skull, or what could be called its skull.

One down, a couple thousand left to go, it seemed.

Another came down, followed by another. Krag roared in challenge and happiness as he fought. I watched his increased understanding of its combat style being played out before me. He was far more efficient and coordinated with his strikes and defensive manoeuvres. They were hitting him back, but his shield was protecting him for now. He triggered his skills and spells when needed, giving him the advantage.

Two, three and four bodies littered the room. More coming, and I could swear he was laughing. He was being pushed back by the sheer weight of them now, and some will begin to move down to the next floor, forcing me to go with them. I trusted in the Guardian of the seventh floor to reap a mighty tally before he fell.

I could have checked my corruption level, but I didn't. Another act of cowardice on my part.

The boars and rats were now engaged. The revenant was holding back but looked ready to jump in when needed. I decided not to linger on this floor and pushed down again. On the ninth, the Lions were arrayed, prepared to battle. I suspected they might last a bit longer, but not that much. I could hear the floor above now being engaged. I sense that Krag was still fighting, but everything above his floor was now in enemy hands.

I went to the 10th. Maximus was standing just outside the stairwell room.

"They will be here soon."

"I can hear them. Lots of them." He did not use mental communication, but his actual voice was heard. He had been using it more often these days, seeming to enjoy it more than just communicating mind to mind. He had also been learning to use it as a tool of manipulation and distraction in fights.

There was another loud and violent crash echoing down the stairwell. The third floor had been breached.

I look at the void stone trap on this floor. It consisted of five stones, unlike the others on the floors above. Its range was limited and would only trigger when void-corrupted monsters were closer. This one and the one on the floor below were my last hope for survival and a way to avoid the backlash of corruption.

At the start of the battle, I was somewhat frantic, but now a fatalistic calm had come over me. Additionally, I noticed that the void corruption I had absorbed was starting to affect my mind as well. It seemed like my thought processes were slowing down.

Maximus was starting to growl now as I realised that the ninth floor was engaged. I can no longer sense Krag above. There were very few now on the eighth floor as well.

The first came charging down the stairs and was promptly shredded by Maximus. More were now coming behind it, and Maximus was engaging them as fast as he could. He had abilities far beyond those of the rest of my floor guardian, and they were coming into play here.

He didn't stand holding the stairwell but drew them into the floor. I had destroyed the bridge across the lava river as another means of defence. I knew that many of the monsters attacking me would jump over or scale around the walls, but I had tried everything to slow them down. There were four dead bodies of void monstrosities, and I could see that the void stones were sucking away the void-corrupted essence, weakening the ones passing through the stairwell room.

Maximus took to the skies with mighty beats of its wings, sailing back across the molten river of stone. Several other void corrupted monsters tried to leap after it fell into the lava and were incinerated. Maximus landed on the other bank, watching the ones on the other side to see what they would do.

One or two attempts to cross the river were unsuccessful. This did not stop the others as they quickly realised that scaling the walls on either side was the best option to get across. They did this, but several fell into the river as they pushed each other, trying desperately to cross to get to my Core.

I left Maximus, trusting in his ability to hold his own until he was swarmed.

I moved down to my last floor. The Guardian here was silent as usual.

"Never much of a conversationalist, are you?"

The Guardian remained silent, looking at the stairwell.

I activated the Fearfiend and awoke the undead. I triggered the emergency activation of the stone Guardian, and it stirred finally. This was all I had left.

I finally gather the courage to look at my status screen. The corruption was sitting at 89% as I watched it tick over to 90. I felt terrible yet strangely at the same time focused and peaceful. The corruption was already affecting my thoughts. I was doing everything slower.

I moved them all to the stairwell.

This proved to be far more effective than I could have ever predicted. Once they were in position, I returned to the other side of the floor. I had no interest in watching another last stand by my minions. I settled into waiting for my fate.

The first of the void corrupted monstrosities came downstairs, and the battle was joined. The void stones were activated by the presence of the first of the monsters and began draining away void essence. I was grateful for the little reprieve that this offered me, but the numbers weren't lying—91%.

I was struggling to stay focused. Everything was becoming hard.

I looked into my alcove. The ten void stones around my Core were absorbing void essence being sent in my direction by the deaths of the monsters. They were all starting to fill, and I knew with terrible certainty that if I had not placed these void stones across my Dungeon, I would have been long ago swamped and shattered.

"Fuck you all! I'm not broken yet."

I said defiantly to the universe around me. I looked out once more at the floor. This took me longer than usual, but I got there eventually.

My vision was no longer stable, and it was swaying like I was on a ship in the middle of a storm.

"This sucks."

I eventually focused enough to get an idea of what was happening. I couldn't see any of the skeletons, but the Fearfiend and Guardian were fully engaged. Not long now.

I heard another crash from above as another floor collapsed.

I could do no more, so I went over to the plinth where the Guardian usually stood and watched the approach of my doom.

The two were reaping a tally of death amongst the attackers, but it was not enough. For every one they killed, two more appeared, and they were being pushed back slowly. The Fearfiend was using its abilities, but they didn't seem to be very effective, and I suspected that fear was trumped by madness.

Thinking was getting... really hard.

95%.

I wondered which would destroy me first—the corruption or one of the monsters.

It didn't matter.

Part of me still wanted to live.

It shouldn't bother me; I've died before.

The Angel was halfway across the floor.

They were still coming.

Not long now.

Mind… Fragmenting.

98%.

Vision tunnelling. Everything is going black.

……

…..

99%.

….

…

Then everything stopped. I was snapped back to awareness.

This was weird.

Everything is stopped, as if someone had hit the pause button. I was mere seconds from being overwhelmed by corruption and shattered. It seemed the monsters wouldn't reach me in time, since my Guardian was too tough for them to take down. It has suffered extensive damage, but it was still well in the fight.

"What is.."

Alert!

You are being merged into the Paths of Ascension…

"What!"

The screen's appearance was a shock, but what it displayed was even more so. What the hell was happening?

Welcome, Bhaldor, to the Paths of Ascension.

The words echoed in my mind. They were warm and welcoming, a stark contrast to the cold, clinical information presented to me by my screens.

Prepare yourself. Everything you are is to be judged to reveal your path.

This is probably not good. But I had no agency over what was happening.

Judgement has been performed. Your path has been revealed. Congratulations, you have reached Divine Status.

Revealing your Mantels.

Divine status? I was starting to panic now.

Due to your actions and life decisions, you are recognised as….

Bhaldor, the God of Dungeons, Trials, Bane of the Void and Breaker of Bondage.

Prepare for ascension to the divine plane.

I am confused.

Before any other thought comes to me, power floods through me. Power on the scale I had never experienced before. Every part of my Core is infused with it, and through it, somehow, the void corruption is pushed deep into my where it is processed. As soon as this is done, the power starts to change me. I could feel it building within me to a breaking point.

But the voice is not finished. As the change comes to me, I hear more.

Your followers will be shown their new Paths. Your divine nature will empower them and reflect what you now represent to this world.

What does that mean?

Before I could think any more, the power building inside of me was released.

I was subsumed in the golden light, and I could sense it as well as see some of it flooding out of me into the Dungeon. As my vision faded into the light, I watched as the light spread out, and as it touched the void corrupted monstrosities, they exploded into golden flame.

With this time restarted.

I left my Dungeon and went somewhere else.

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