My cold steel greatshield burst through the cursed door easily, sending splinters of black oak flying through the damp cave air. My party followed close behind through the entrance I had just made.
Together we stepped into the boss's domain.
And to no surprise to us at all, a massive, stinking goblin stood, or rather sat upon a throne of skulls, before us. The normal goblins we faced were nothing compared to this Goblin King. For starters, he was enormous, the size of at least 10 of his minions combined; even sitting on his rotten throne, he towered above us.
His skin was a putrid grayish green. A crown of twisted bones still dripping in bright red blood sat upon his head, and he held a club carved from a mammoth's femur next to him, which was even larger than me.
The monster continued to roar out in terrifying laughter as we closed in on his position, ready to attack.
"Adventurers HAHAHAuuh…" he boomed out, "So you've come here to MY domain in hopes of slaying me and taking my treasures!"
He howled in evil laughter again, which shook the cave walls, before continuing to speak.
"Oh, how foolish you must be to think four puny humans can take the King's head… I could kill those two little girls with one swipe of my club - AHHHUUHAHA!! Or maybe I'll keep the purple witch for myself; I love a woman with more meat on her bones."
He stuck out his rotting tongue and licked his cracked black lips in disgusting provocation.
Tia seemed to take offence at this, but I wasn't sure if it was because he said he would kill him, because he called him a girl, or because he inadvertently called him flat. Either way, he was ready for a fight now more than ever.
Behind me, I could feel Amethyst's burning rage erupting with fervor from the goblin's mockery and threats. She raised her staff, aimed directly at his head, ready to send a magic crystal directly through it.
"Ughhh! You disgusting creature, I should just kill you myself right now."
"Ahhhh, very good, this one is feisty; she'll be perfect for my new plaything."
Again, the monster bellowed forth, howling at his own sick jokes.
"I must say, well done! Very well done, puny adventurers… You may have made it to my lair, but this is where your journey ends. See, I am not just the Goblin King, no, no… I have been granted much more power! HEEHAAAHA!! I am now Gorgo, Necromantic Goblin King, Lord of Death and Decay!! My undead legion will bring me your corpses."
The monster then thundered out an impossibly loud, bloodcurdling shout, beckoning his undead minions to his aid. The command shook the ground like an earthquake, causing parts of the rock walls and roof to crumble and fall down nearly upon us.
Tia, from behind me, grabbed my arm and held on tightly in fear. Despite this, I could tell he was still resolute to slay this beast and clear this cursed dungeon.
As his voice died down, silence overtook the scene, and we waited in fear for the arrival of his army to close in around us.
And we waited…
And waited….
I turned my attention to the supposed Lord of Death and Decay.
"Not much of an undead legion if you ask me." I mocked.
"Worthless, brainless minions, where are they!"
"I- I think I put them all to rest…" Tia answered solemnly. His sweet voice brought despair to the King.
"You?! You… You worthless little whelp! You destroyed my army… My entire army???"
His entire army? That was like 15 goblins in total; was that really it? This would be easier than I thought.
Gorgo, who seemed almost as confused as we were, now erupted in anger. His eyes searched around him furiously before he found what he was looking for.
"AEVRYS!!!! Answer me now!" He spewed in desperation.
Together we turned to the shadows in the back corner of his lair, to which he called.
Seemingly from nothingness, an unknown figure stepped forward.
"Be careful," Kyros whispered to me in a fearful tone, "even I couldn't detect its presence."
A wrathful chill seemed to overtake the ambience, and I could feel Tia now trembling as he drew even closer to me for protection. His chest pressed against my back, and the warmth of his breath against my neck kept me from shivering.
A woman's voice pierced through the stillness. It was sweeter than honey and filled me with lust, almost as if it promised to satisfy my every desire.
"Ohh, you poor, powerless beast, even imbued with His power, you still prove useless to His cause."
She stepped forward into the light of the demon-flame, and I now viewed in entirety the true form of this mysterious woman.
Aevrys was a demon.
She was tall, and unfathomably seductive. The desire of her snow-white skin and hourglass figure was completely on display, covered only by red leather panties and a hint of a top that could barely contain her exceptionally large breasts.
Her hair was of the darkest black, which swallowed all light, and two curling horns of the same darkness protruded from the top of her head. Crimson wings stretched out behind her.
"D- Don't you d-dare call me powerless…" Gorgo whimpered in fear.
"But I only speak the truth, my dear King." In an instant, she flew over to the Goblin King's throne faster than I could follow with my eyes. She placed a dainty white hand to his gross cheek and continued in her seductive voice.
We all watched in fear and silence.
"I promised that in exchange for your soul, worthless as it is, I would grant you the powers of my Master, the powers of infernal necromancy. Did I not do as I promised, my sweet beast?"
"Hah! Your master's powers are useless! One little human girl killed them all. This is your fault, succubus!!"
At this statement, Aevrys grew enraged. The regal beauty of her countenance turned twisted and evil. She pulled her hand from the Goblin King's cheek in fury, leaving a deep gash across his face.
"How dare you speak of Him like that! You're not even worthy to be a corpse in his army. Not even worthy to be slain by my own hand; I don't want your vile blood ruining my outfit."
Her outfit? There was barely anything there. I could see the inhuman perfection of her near-nude body completely.
Tia was staring at her bouncing chest with jealousy written all over his pretty face.
Gorgo trembled at this outburst and sat in fearful silence with no response.
After a moment, she recovered her composure and turned to our party, seeming to examine each of us intensely. She set her eyes on me.
"Hmm, a strong one I see… mmm, how I'd love to see you beg. Ah, but alas, my master beckons me to him. I do hope to see you again, my knight."
She giggled seductively as she said this.
Before I could respond, or even figure out the situation around me, she chanted unknown words in demonic tongue. Instantly, she was engulfed by bright blue flames, which blinded me as I tried to see what was happening.
The flames soon dispersed in whispering smoke, and she was gone.
Again, silence overtook the scene; terror and confusion choked everyone, including Gorgo, Necromantic Goblin King, Lord of Death and Decay, who sat quivering on his throne, blood still flowing from his newly acquired injury.
In the silence, I recollected myself. Despite the many unanswered questions I had surrounding this succubus and her master, their answers would need to be discovered later.
Right now, the only thing standing between us and completing this dungeon sat scared and vulnerable upon his crumbling throne.
I raised my great shield and mace, preparing to finally end it.
Noticing my intent on attacking, Gorgo recovered himself, finally stood from his seat, and, grabbing his mammoth club, he raised it easily with one hand, readying his battle stance.
"Cowardly demon," he spat in disgust. " Fine, I'll have to kill you all myself."
He roared out a battle cry and charged toward us, shaking the ground with each massive step.
Ready to block whatever brutality came our way, I called out to Amethyst, commanding her to attack. Before I could even finish my sentence, her staff was aimed, and she was beginning her incantation.
"Daughter of precious stone, oh Jewelbound Warrior, the arcane call upon your brilliance. Crystalline Spear!"
As she finished her casting, her staff erupted in shining light and shot forth a razor-edged spear of crystallized mana at astonishing speed.
Her attack hit spot on and ripped clean through the Goblin King's head. His charge stopped instantly, and he slumped to the floor with a loud thud.
Gorgo was slain.
"Oh... he's already dead. I'm just too talented, aren't I?" Amethyst giggled, almost begging for praise, which she received from Tia, who was still unfamiliar with her skills as a mage.
As I expected, a Goblin King was an easy boss for our party to slay. Now that we had completed the dungeon, we should be safe, but I was still worried about the mysterious succubus and the necromancy that took place here.
"Now let's get out of here before that demon returns," I suggested to the party, who all agreed to leave after we collected our loot.
"Who was that, Draven?" Tia asked me innocently, enquiring about what just took place.
"I'm not sure… He said her name was Aevrys, a succubus. All I know is that she's dangerous. We can discuss her and her master more once we are safe above ground."
Tia nodded in acceptance and joined the others in searching for gold and jewels in the dead goblin's lair.
We eventually reached the exit to the dungeon and reveled in the fresh air and sunshine after being in the damp darkness for so long. Thankfully, the throne room provided us with more loot than we expected.
We had found plenty of gold coins, magic gems, jewelry, and even Gorgo's own chalice made of pure gold. All of this, plus the reward for completing the dungeon from the guild, was a payout we were all excited for.
It was now the morning of the day after we entered; tired from combat and the lack of sleep, we slowly made our journey back to Castellum.
On our way, we discussed the mysteries we encountered to no concise conclusion, but Kyros said he would begin his research into the topic once we arrived in town.
Sometime in the afternoon, we made it home and stepped safely into the city's gates.