Pandora Unchained - B1C50: Slaying the Minotaur

The minotaur cleaved down with its axe, catching Stephan just as he was about to retreat from its range. Sparks flew as the blade struck his half-plate armor, and blood poured out from the wound.

"I've taken its berserk attack!" shouted Stephan. "Its essence is confirmed to be Violence! Watch out for its minions!" The tide of demons being held back by both their teams suddenly pulsed with aggressive mana and grew in strength. Their defensive lines collapsed, and one of Barbara's teammates, Sarah, was overwhelmed by a demonic panther that bit out her throat before making its way toward Daphne.

"Lorimer, it's up to you," said Sorin, throwing the rat out like a rock.

"Reeeeeee!" Lorimer skipped on the dungeon's stone floor and launched itself at the demonic panther, tackling it just before it reached Daphne and tearing out its throat. It then threw itself at the remaining demons, alleviating much of the pressure on Daphne's end.

The same could not be said for Orpheus's end. Warren, the rogue, suffered a bite from a demonic snake and fell to the ground in agony, while another, a warrior, lost his footing and was dragged under by the tide of crazed demons.

Having taken care of the urgent situation, Sorin increased the rate at which he picked his openings. Though the minotaur was more muscular than before, and its defenses had increased, its speed had slowed substantially. Moreover, its essence was confirmed as Violence, which meant that it wouldn't have additional strange attacks.

Sorin focused on speed and efficiency instead of hitting the minotaur's vitals. This was because he noticed the minotaur's tendency to react strongly in the case of such attacks; it didn't seem to care as much about cuts and stabs on its arms and legs.

It wasn't long before Sorin had landed twenty more attacks, all on crucial acupoints. The poison in the minotaur's body reached a critical level. Hair began to fall out of the minotaur's tough skin, exposing black, puss-filled veins and gashes where the poison dissolved enough flesh for blood to pour out.

"Keep at it!" shouted Stephan. "We've reached a critical point. Watch out for its final rampage. Sorin, I'll hold it down for you!"

Stephan let out an angry roar as he leaped onto the minotaur and gave it a vicious bear hug. The minotaur had just been about to attack Orpheus's tank. Still, it was interrupted halfway and could only drop its heavy weapon and attempt to wrestle Stephan off using its muscular arms.

Seeing its distracted state, Sorin rushed in and stabbed the minotaur between its back ribs, injecting a dose of paralytic poison into its heart and interrupting its attempt to throw off Stephan. He then repeatedly stabbed it while injecting flesh-melt poison, only pulling back when its skin became incomparably tough, trapping his dagger with its armor-like flesh.

"It's rampaging!" shouted Sorin. He pulled back just in time to avoid a lethal palm strike. Stephan, who'd been hugging it, wasn't so fortunate and immediately fell under attack.

The minotaur, in its rage, tried to throw him off, but Stephan bit into its arm and refused to let go. The minotaur tossed him like a limp rag until Stephan's teeth were knocked out, then threw him away before turning its attention to the remaining adventurers.

"The rampage shouldn't last more than ten seconds," said Orpheus. "Let's disperse and not give it a chance to attack us as a group." He pulled back just as the minotaur picked up its axe, and both the weapon and the creature grew to 50% of their already inflated sizes.

Seeing that Stephan was no longer in the equation, the minotaur picked Haster out as its target. The drunken swordsman used his sword to somehow parry the axe two times. But his sword, clearly enchanted, broke after deflecting it one last time, opening him up to the fourth and final attack.

But Haster wasn't easy to corner. He stumbled back like a drunken idiot, conveniently gaining the protection of Barabara, who was now wielding a heavy spear. Where did she get the spear from? thought Sorin as he rushed in to pull away Haster. He didn't remember seeing it earlier. As for Haster, the man was heavier than he looked, and due to his drunkenness, he was limp as a dead man and difficult to get a grip on.

As strong as Barbara was, she was only able to buy them three precious seconds before retreating. The minotaur, seeing Sorin, who'd dealt it so much damage, gave up on pursuing her and tried to cut him down.

But before it could swing its axe, a startling roar erupted, and a bear, now significantly larger than before and with white fur covered in silver runes, bit into its chest and hugged its body. The minotaur's impervious state faded then, but its enlarged body and toughened skin remained.

Haster, who'd seemingly passed out, rose from the ground and tossed out his sword. It traveled at an awkward angle that missed Stephan but struck the minotaur straight in the eye. A golden spear then pierced its side, drawing out a massive amount of black blood.

Sorin took the opportunity to approach the minotaur and slapped its leg, scanning its body. Its organs were on the verge of failure, and this was especially the case for its kidneys, of which it had four. "Lorimer, help out!" The rat launched itself at the minotaur's head and began tunneling into its remaining eye. The minotaur tried to slap him away but was unable to free itself from Stephan's deadly bear hug.

One. Taking advantage of the minotaur's distracted state, Sorin grabbed his dagger out of the minotaur's back and struck out with Viper Strike, destroying one of the minotaur's failing livers with a single blow. Two. He struck the minotaur's second failing liver, which led to a chain reaction that caused its heart to seize. Three. The minotaur's legs gave out when he attacked the third failing liver, revealing its violently beating heart. Four. Sorin ignored the heart and destroyed its last liver, taking away the last of its ability to fight off Sorin's poisons.

The loss of all four livers caused a chain reaction. The minotaur lost all strength, and Stephan, who was still holding on for dear life, was able to wrestle it to the ground and protect the others from its final thrashing. Seconds later, the minotaur's body fell limp, and the labyrinth, having fulfilled its purpose, began to shake violently.

"The dungeon is collapsing!" shouted Stephan. "Prepare for teleportation!"

"The shield is gone!" said Lawrence. "Nale and Orpheus are already heading straight for it!"

"We have a minute at most," said Barbara. "We're going to run in and grab what we can. We'll talk about splitting things up later."

"Agreed," said Stephan, his mouth still a bloody mess.

"Agreed," said Hester.

With the death of the boss monster, the remaining demons in the dungeon had no more interest in fighting. They retreated back into the labyrinth, freeing up Daphne, Gareth, and their other teammates, who immediately ran into the temple.

"Lawrence, stay here with me," said Sorin. "Start skinning the most intact piece of hide you find. I'll chop off anything valuable I find."

"Good thinking!" said Lawrence. He took out his short sword and immediately got to work. The minotaur's hide was tough, and some parts were porous because of Sorin's poison, but he was still able to find several pieces of tough hide to start peeling away.

As for Sorin, he was already familiar with the minotaur's anatomy and, therefore, knew precisely where to find its core. He directly cut into its ribs where its heart was located and exposed the tainted organ, then sliced the organ open, revealing a dark mass of pulsing Violence.

"As if I'd let you eat this," said Sorin, catching Lorimer by the tail as he attempted to devour the core. He reached out and grabbed it and was surprised to see it solidify into a gem.

The labyrinth began to shake even more violently the moment he retrieved it. It was clear that the minotaur's core was connected to the labyrinth's core functions.

"Eat what you can!" Sorin snapped at Lorimer. He used his knife to cut off the minotaur's horns, which seemed to be made from some sort of metallic substance, as well as its hooves. He then joined Lawrence in peeling away additional pieces of hide. At the same time, Lorimer gored himself on minotaur flesh, heedless of the deadly poison it contained.

Seconds after they peeled away a large chunk of skin from its back, a golden light enveloped them the trio. A wave of energy not unlike the crashing of waves at sea carried them off. Seconds later, Sorin slammed into the ground and found himself just outside the ruin's original gate. His entire team was there, as were Haster's, Barbara's, Orpheus's, Nale's, and Mecella's teams. Two more teams had yet to take part in the final battle. They still had their original ten members and had clearly limited themselves to the outskirts of the labyrinth.

The adventurers immediately picked themselves off the ground and separated into groups. Orpheus's companions retreated a safe distance, as did Stephan's team. Neither side was willing to put their weapons down.

"How dare you attack us to steal our treasure after we fought the boss monster for so long!" Orpheus shouted suddenly.

"You shameless bastard, we clearly fought the thing together!" Lawrence shouted back.

"At ease," said Stephan, who'd reverted to his bear form. His teeth had regrown after transforming, but he was pale and clearly out of energy. "Orpheus, you know perfectly well that in situations like these, no one has sufficient proof of anything. So stop it with your games and back off while you still can."

"Are you trying to slander me?" said Orpheus. "We'll see what the guild says about that."

"Indeed we will," said Stephan. He then looked to the two remaining teams, who needed clarification about the situation. "I recommend you make your own way back to the guild. Don't get sucked in with Orpheus and his ilk. They're a nest of vipers, the whole lot of them."

"A nest of vipers?" said Orpheus, drawing his sword. "Do you dare repeat that? You think I don't know that your mages are all out of mana, and you're a step into the grave yourself?"

"Are you sure you want to try me?" asked Stephan, looking not at all worried. Sorin had no idea where he got his confidence from and was now very regretful at having used up all the manabane poison.

"I think we can stop things here before they get too messy," a voice suddenly called out. A man leaped down from atop the ruin's entrance. He had a sharp nose and golden eyes, and Sorin immediately recognized him as Vice Guild Master Victor.

Stephan didn't seem surprised at all by his appearance. "Many thanks for your intervention. Enough lives were lost inside that bloody labyrinth. There's no need to add to the body count."

"A labyrinth, was it?" asked Guild Master Victor. "Unfortunate. But by the looks of it, you all had a good haul?" Indeed, everyone's packs were bulging, and many of the adventurers present had yet to put away the things they'd looted from the temple. "We'll be returning to the outpost as a group. Raids like these are messy, and it's necessary to record what transpired in case it becomes a recurring dungeon. As for any grievances you might have, we'll address them after we've taken down everyone's testimony. I'll note that this is not optional. You'll each have one chance to make your voice heard."

"But we weren't involved in their dispute!" said the leader of one of the two adventuring teams. His courage lasted roughly two seconds, however, as the vice guild master released a hint of bone-forging pressure that forced him into submission.

"We'll happily cooperate with the vice-guild master's investigation," said Orpheus. "I only hope that you give us justice."

Interesting, thought Sorin, noting his confidence. Does he know something that we don't know? Why is he so confident, given that Stephan has Haley supporting him?

"Everyone takes two hours to rest," instructed Vice-Guild Master Victory. "The demons that were drawn to the tomb have scattered, and it will be much easier to return home. I also ask that you keep to your own camps to prevent conflict. Any mediation or arbitration can wait until our return."

Having obtained permission, Sorin walked over to Stephan and supported him. Seven bone fractures. Internal organs are in disarray. Muscles have ruptured in several locations.

"I'm going to have to cut you open and apply healing potions directly to your muscles to prevent trauma," Sorin said to Stephan. "I'd normally recommend a life mage heal you, but those seem to be in short supply right now."

Stephan chuckled. "There's also our team name to consider. Are you sure you shouldn't be helping out Gareth and Lawrence? They seem to have taken a few serious injuries."

"They're just flesh wounds," said Sorin, shaking his head. "Nothing, they can't tough out for thirty minutes while I stitch you up." He then took out a needle and thread and cut open Stephan's bicep, revealing a lump of crushed flesh. "You might want to get a leather belt or a rag or something since this also involves nerve damage."

"Way ahead of you," said Stephan, shoving a belt pouch into his mouth. Sorin shrugged and got to work.