As they stood before the Udons, fear gripped their hearts. "We can't stop here," Lord Lugard said, his voice firm with determination. "We've come too far. Let's achieve clearing this dungeon as our sole aim."
Despite being afraid, Lord Lugard summoned up the courage to fight against the Udons. Keshawn nodded in agreement. "My Lord, if you wish to fight, then I am most certainly with you. If we don't clear this dungeon, that means another set of people will experience this feeling of agonizing fear that runs through our spine."
Colt smirked. "Quite the speech, Keshawn, but who said we are backing out?" He summoned a huge number of concentrated fireballs towards the Udons. The group charged out, maintaining a close range with one another, forming an impenetrable zone around them.
Keshawn summoned numerous tiny flickering flames that erupted, causing a major explosion around the Udons. Lightning bolts soon descended from above, attacking Lord Lugard, who blocked the attack with the aid of a conjured fire shield.
The Udons dashed out from the smoke caused by the explosion with much haste. Lord Lugard grinned. "Seems like they are going to come to us... well, then, challenge accepted."
Colt summoned a huge vortex of flame that appeared in front of him, sweeping a huge number of the Udons off their feet, killing them within the vortex with intense firepower. Chris conjured up a spell that emitted a huge burst of lava in a straight direction, wiping all trace of life in its path.
Ace, determined to prove himself, charged out towards the Udons. "Ace, are you ready to play a game? Whoever gets the highest kills wins," Xavier said, grinning.
Ace smirked. "You're on, Xavier. Even without magic, I won't be outdone."
The Conjurers in the team released their attacks simultaneously towards the beast, which absorbed the attacks, increasing its mana. The beast descended downwards towards them, creating a ball of fire surrounded by sparks of lightning.
The group tried to defend themselves, but the beast's attack destroyed their barriers, making impact on their bodies as they were forcefully driven to different locations, falling flat on the ground. Due to their low mana caused by mana exhaustion, they soon fell unconscious, except for Ace, whose left arm was severely damaged.
The beast, upon witnessing this, landed directly in front of Ace. It emitted quite a bit of mana from its body, which helped Ace's arm to heal. The beast moved closer to Ace and waited for him to stand to his feet.
Seeing the beast up front, Ace was frightened and fell back down to the ground, but this time in a sitting posture. A voice echoed in his ears, "Don't be afraid... I will never harm you."
The voice continued, "I speak to you, and only you, mean nothing to you except you can hear my voice." Ace became more afraid, and the beast began to mutate, changing its form to a small, cute wolf with lots of blue and black fur and a blue iris that shone as bright as the moonlight.
Feeling a little relieved, Ace began to exchange words with the wolf mutated from the beast. "So, why pick me? To be this Redeemer you speak of?"
The wolf replied, "That will be revealed to you when the time is right, Ace. As your companion from here on, I will guide you through the challenges ahead."
Ace looked at the wolf for a few seconds, saying, "I'll call you Hex. And what will happen to my Dad and the rest of them?"
Hex replied, "From here on is the dungeon boss room, and I need to speak with you. Your father and his companions will soon awaken. Don't worry, they will be fine."
Ace asked, "What kind of beast are you?"
Hex smiled. "You will soon find out, Ace. But for now, let's just say I'm a special one. There isn't much time anymore. You need to know the truth, Ace."
As Hex finished speaking, it cast a sleep spell on Ace, who fell unconscious on the ground. The wolf vanished from Ace's sight, blending into the air.
After some time, Lord Lugard coughed and got back on his feet, waiting for the rest of them to regain their mana. He looked around, taking stock of their surroundings. The battle with the Udons had left them battered, but they had managed to emerge victorious.
As they slowly regained consciousness, Lord Lugard's expression turned serious. "We need to move forward. The dungeon boss room is likely to be nearby. We must be prepared for anything."
The group nodded, still trying to shake off the exhaustion. They knew that the challenges ahead would be even greater, but they were determined to push forward, no matter what lay in store for them.