CHAPTER 42: CHAPTER : 42 : EIGHT RED BARS

The dungeon air was still heavy with that cozy warmth from before, but the system didn’t give a damn.

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FINAL WAVE STARTS IN: 00:30

MONSTERS: 8 × RED (STRONGER)

• 2 Flying

• 2 Berserker

• 2 Maze

• 2 Undead

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"...Eight reds..." Aiden muttered under his breath, only loud enough for himself. "Perfect."

He looked over at Lysandra, who was brushing her hair back like she was trying to pretend she hadn’t just been used as a very comfortable body pillow. "Ly, take Ivy. Same deal—keep her in your crystalline barrier. Don’t let anything touch her."

Lysandra’s expression sobered immediately. She nodded once, scooping the still-sleepy Ivy out of his arms with a gentleness that didn’t match her usual royal pride. Without a word, she stepped back, already calling up that glittering crystal dome around herself and the little girl.

Aiden turned toward Luna.

The sky changed.

It wasn’t just red—it swirled. Purple lightning licked across the clouds, Shadows rippled.

From far above, a low rumble grew into something that vibrated in his bones.

Eight red bars appeared in the corner of his vision.

Eight different monsters, each more messed-up looking than the last, were dropping into existence in flashes of black light.

Two with wings like shredded metal, each dripping black smoke.

Two that looked like mazes form nightmares.

Two berserkers, bigger than ogres, their muscles pulsing under skin etched with red runes.

Two undead horrors—skeletal things wrapped in tattered flesh, every movement jerking like marionettes pulled by invisible strings.

All of them were surrounded by a faint black pulse, like their bodies were breathing out raw malice.

Aiden glanced at Luna.

"Luna... if we die here today..." His voice was low, steady, but his chest was tight. "I want you to know—I love you. And Ly. And Ivy. For real. Thank you... for all of it."

Luna’s blue eyes softened instantly, her lips curling into a small, warm smile even with doom on the doorstep. "Don’t go getting all dramatic, Master. We’re not dying here. Fluffynugget and I will get us through this." Her grin turned sly. "And besides—you still need to live long enough to marry us. You’re not getting out of that."

Aiden actually laughed. "Fair enough."

They took position.

"Mii~!" Fluffynugget announced, tail flicking like a sparkler.

The portal above them split wide—like the dungeon itself was tearing in half—and the first of the eight dropped through.

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The fight wasn’t a fight—it was chaos.

The winged ones dove first, faster than bullets, forcing Aiden and Luna to split instantly. His daggers flashed up, steel singing as he parried claws that could have taken his head off. Luna, in her hybrid form, met the second one mid-air, claws raking across its face in a spray of black ichor.

"Watch your left!" she shouted.

"Got it!"

Then the maze-types moved—slow, grinding, each step twisting their bodies into new shapes. Aiden saw it too late. The ground beneath him shifted, and out of nowhere, smaller creatures started pouring from the cracks.

"Shit—they’re spawning!"

Fluffynugget blurred past them in a streak of glitter and fur, smashing through a wave of the new spawns like it was nothing. But even he had to land, shake himself off, and hiss in annoyance—these things were actually holding up against him.

The berserkers charged, each hit like a wrecking ball. Aiden barely rolled aside in time, the ground cracking where he’d been a second before.

"Ly!" he barked.

A wall of crystalline light exploded up between him and the berserker’s follow-through. The thing slammed into it, shattering the outer layer but buying Aiden just enough time to slip around and drive both daggers into its side.

The undead moved next—fast, unpredictable. One latched onto Luna’s arm, teeth sinking deep, but she snarled and ripped it off, using the momentum to slam it into the berserker trying to flank her.

The maze-types kept spawning. Dozens now.

"We have to kill those two first!" Aiden shouted, ducking under a swipe from a winged one that had circled back.

"Easier said than done!" Luna snarled, kicking one of the smaller spawns into a wall hard enough to splatter it.

Fluffynugget zipped past again, tail slamming into a berserker’s head hard enough to dent it. But even he seemed... annoyed. Not tired—just forced to work for it for once.

"Alright, plan!" Aiden yelled, sidestepping and stabbing through another spawn. "Ly—barrier me and Luna in with one of the maze-types. Cut us off from the others."

Lysandra hesitated. "You’ll be trapped—"

"Do it!"

The crystalline wall slammed down, sealing Aiden and Luna with one of the giant maze monsters.

The maze monster lost its cool... Looking nervous and scared.

They moved together, ducking and weaving, each blow precise—daggers for joints, claws for weak spots. Finally, Luna ripped a core out of its chest, and the thing froze before collapsing like a sandcastle hit by a wave.

The spawns instantly thinned.

"One down!" Luna shouted.

They repeated the tactic for the second one, but this time the berserkers tried to crash the barrier. Lysandra held, but cracks spider-webbed across the crystal.

"FASTER!" she yelled.

Aiden’s blades flashed in a blur, Luna tore through another joint, and with a final combined strike, the second maze-type dropped.

The floor went quiet.

Until—

"Berserkers, now!" Aiden ordered.

The rest was still a mess—flying enemies harassing them constantly, undead darting in at every opening—but now it was at least winnable.

They fought like they’d been doing this for years—Luna’s claws carving through bone, Aiden’s daggers flickering like lightning, Lysandra’s walls turning killing blows into glancing hits.

Fluffynugget handled one of the flyers solo, biting through its neck in a burst of glitter before spinning and smashing an undead into dust.

One by one, the red bars vanished.

When the last berserker finally collapsed, the area was a graveyard of broken monsters and fading black mist.

Aiden dropped to one knee, chest heaving. Luna leaned on him, blood on her cheek and a tired grin on her face. Lysandra stood with Ivy still safe in her barrier, looking exhausted but proud. Fluffynugget... just sat down, licked his paw, and went "Mii~" like it had all been a light workout.

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END OF Chapter : 42 : EIGHT RED BARS!

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