Accumulating significant points required careful effort, but he had underestimated the power of the weapon in his hands and his strength against ordinary Hunters.
Unlike what he had heard from others, who said it was merely a phase, Abel didn't enjoy the feeling. It was as though something within him had changed.
He was certain that he would feel differently if he were killing monsters instead, because they weren't human.
Unfortunately, Abel couldn't feel his heartbeat rise. He only felt a rush of excitement. This wasn't his body. Even if he had full control over it, it still belonged to a Dungeon's Final Boss.
If the fleeing Hunters reached the children's room, chaos would follow. Abel realised he needed to end this quickly before they disturbed the children's peace. He sank into the surrounding shadows and pursued them.
Meanwhile,
"This is impossible! This is impossible!!" John muttered in a nearly incoherent, frantic tone as he ran down the hallway with the others.
Soon, he and Kelvin arrived at the door of one of the rooms. They hesitated to enter.
Apart from the empty rooms currently engulfed in a blazing inferno, the rest of the dungeon was filled with other denizens.
Due to the numerous dungeon guides explaining how to avoid these rooms to fully conquer the Abandoned Orphanage, no one truly knew what they might face inside, except that children were within, and it was in their best interest not to disturb them.
If they had known they would end up in this situation, they would have spent more time studying the entire dungeon. Unfortunately, there was no use crying over spilt milk.
"We're going in," John said, pulling the handle open and rushing inside, with Kelvin following closely behind.
Then they slammed the door shut behind them.
"SHIT!!" Jonathan, who was about to follow, realised that the door was now locked.
No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't open it.
"Did they lock us out? Are we going to be okay, Mr Jonathan?" Cynthia asked, tears streaming down her face. "I have my family to take care of. I don't want to die!! I don't want to die!!"
"If you don't want to die, then do exactly as I say," Jonathan responded, holding a shield in one hand and an axe in the other as he rushed toward another room down the hallway.
"Wait for me!" Cynthia called, following closely behind him.
Jonathan pulled open the door, hesitated briefly, took a deep breath, and exhaled. Then he entered the room, with Cynthia right behind him.
They sealed the door shut.
Within moments, Abel emerged from the shadows, realising he was too late; they had already entered the children's room.
The Final Boss of the Abandoned Orphanage can not enter any of these rooms due to the light source. But he wasn't the Final Boss. So Abel was unsure about what to expect.
Regardless, he arrived at one of the doors and knocked.
The sound of the lock turning resounded in the air before the door slowly creaked open.
A small humanoid doll girl with red hair, a crack along the side of its skull, and worn-out bandages covering its body, except for a large, smiling face, looked up at Abel.
She examined him from head to toe before shouting joyfully, "Caretaker, you're finally here! Come in, come in! I caught some bad guys who entered our house!" She leapt with excitement, pushing the door wider for Abel to step inside.
Abel nodded with a grunt.
As he entered, he immediately saw John and Kelvin pressed against the corner of the wall, their White Illumination stone lying on the ground beside them. They were facing another child-like figure resembling a toy, clutching a giant kitchen knife.
A flickering bulb hung from the corner of the room, casting a dim light that illuminated the entire space, making their positions clearly visible.
Upon seeing him, the two Hunters pressed themselves further against the wall, trembling in fear.
[+50FP]
[+50FP]
–-
[330FP]
"HOW ARE YOU ABLE TO STEP INTO THE LIGHT?! WHY WEREN'T YOU AFRAID OF LIGHT AND FIRE?! HOW IS ANY OF THIS POSSIBLE?!" John screamed at the Shadow Reaper.
Cornered by two dolls resembling children, like something straight out of a horror film, and a Dungeon's Final Boss whose weakness was supposed to be light, he could no longer contain his bottled-up emotions and unleashed them all.
"I don't think… he can understand you," Kelvin said.
He had numerous questions he wanted to ask, but he was certain it would be useless; there was no way a Dungeon's Final Boss would understand human words.
"GROOKK!!" John and Kelvin felt their hearts leap in fear as the groans of the Caretaker echoed in their direction.
"It understands us! Hahaha!! I knew it! Something is wrong with this dungeon! I didn't make any mistakes! My plans were flawless!! You're the one who has changed! You are the problem!!" John shouted and laughed hysterically, pointing his longsword at Abel.
"Hey, are you guys also playing a game with the Caretaker? Did he harm you?" the doll girl holding the kitchen knife at the forefront asked, her tone curious, her expression calm yet eerie.
She cast a side glance at the Caretaker before focusing on the Hunters before her.
"Yes. We are playing a game. Why don't you let us go so we can continue playing with the Caretaker?" John said, nodding repeatedly as he looked at the doll girl.
"Hehehe! Since you're playing a game with the Caretaker, of course, you have to play with us as well. And don't point that sharp knife at the Caretaker, I don't want to repeat myself," the doll girl wielding a cutlass said.
She stretched her hands forward, then pulled them back through the air. It was only then that Abel noticed the threads wrapped around her fingers.
He traced the threads back to the arms and legs of the two Hunters. The threads were embedded deep into their skin, as though knitted from within.