I felt extreme anger and frustration. I could feel a distant Carmine, but it was at a distance where I couldn’t tell how she was doing other than she was alive. He had seemingly teleported a long-distance across the dungeon, and it was clear it would be many days of travel to reach them. That didn’t matter for me though. She was my slave, and that meant she was marked by me. I could see her on my Map, and I could open up a Portal directly to her.
The problem was that opening up a Portal took time, and I was being swamped with demons as they poured in. On top of that, I wasn’t thinking too clearly. The second he put his hands on her, I grew filled with righteous fury. I tried to cast Portal immediately, only to be interrupted seconds later when demons attacked me. Fortunately, I still had the Star sword out, so I started to use it, slashing and hacking at the enemies.
I took several hits, but I casually switched to White Mage and continued to battle. I felt numb, going for the kill with each swipe, and depending on White Mage spells to regenerate me. Although I cut down five or six, there were now nearly a dozen around me. Still, retreating didn’t even occur to me. I was lost in the anger and the pain and the frustration, too stubborn to quit and turn back.
Someone managed to catch the back of my leg, and I looked on in shock as my body flew down to the ground. Demons surrounded me, looking down with malevolent grins. All I could hear was the blood pumping in my ears. I had died before, and before it happened, there was always a feeling that shot through my body. It was a calming feeling of acceptance like I had come to the end and now there was nothing left to do but die.
In this dungeon, there would be no resurrection. My soul would be consumed, and I would become part of the lore. Maybe, I would end up combining with the Karma of the commander, and from then on be Commander Deekson, the undead. I’d like to think if I died and was taken by a dungeon, I could at least make a pretty decent boss.
Those seemingly useless thoughts were buzzing through my mind as all of the demons raised their weapons as one. I held my breath, but the incoming blow never happened. There was a sudden shockwave, and I felt my own body lift off the ground and get thrown several feet. For the standing demons, it was far worse, and a large group of them were suddenly flung against the wall.
“Commander! Are you okay?” I squinted up into the light, and the face of a beautiful woman appeared. “No… you’re not Commander Stone. You… feel like him. His karma?”
“I know you…” I said, my voice croaking slightly.
The woman suddenly spun, a large staff in her hand whipping around and knocking out six demons with a single sweep before she turned back to me.
“Who doesn’t know me? I am Xin, the Princess Hero! Now, who are you?”