Dungeons, Idiots, Treasures, How Hard Can It Be?

Volhcard stood up and grabbed his staff before starting to heal Jae with it. The lizard hissed at them before sharpening its claws creating a grating of steel noise.

"So where are the others?" asked Yuni who took out her bow.

Volhcard created multiple ice spears which hovered behind Yumi while Jae transformed into a black bear once again. The air was tense as the lizard inspected each one from afar while hissing, and Yuni took out an arrow aiming the bow at the lizard.

"It's just standing there, you think it's a trap?" whispered Yumi. "Perhaps." replied Volhcard. 

It used its tail to latch on to the staff pulling it from Volhcard, but Jae grabbed on to the staff trying to pull it back. The arrow struck the lizard on his chest making it hiss at her, and suddenly its tongue lunged at Yuni wrapping itself around her neck.

"Fuck!" she cursed, dashing forward the lizard opened its jaw wide open to crunch down on her skull.

Crash! Jae slammed into the lizard with her weight and started to maul it only for the lizard to coat its claws in a green liquid. Slicing her stomach it made a wide cut, but what made it deadly was right after.

Jake tripped on her back holding on to her stomach as she coughed out blood. The lizard stood over with a sadistic grin before raising its left claw at her... Keugh! It groaned in pain as it looked down seeing five daggers piercing through it's torso.

"May the Glorious Life bless us!" Volhcard slammed the staff down, and a blinding light covered the room with a powerful shockwave following it.

The room was destroyed from the bookshelves, chairs, and tables to Jae, and Yumi laying on the ground all while the lizard only lost his left arm.

"You damn priest!" the lizard dashed forward aiming for Volhcard's heart.

Volhcard stood there motionless before spinning his staff and thrusted it into the lizard's chest making it take a step back. He followed it up with a bonk towards the top of it's head, and launched a barrage of lightning bolts at it.

Looking up, the lizard could see that Volhcard's eye color changed from the common brown to an eerie celestial blue color, and staring at it made you feel as if you were in space.

"Atlas..." the lizard muttered underneath their breath.

Jae looked up to see Volhcard creating a massive portal wherein she could see incomprehensible shapes that were writhing and making distorted grumbling sounds.

Yumi felt an aching pain in her chest as if the air inside was being forcefully sucked out, and Jae could also feel it too. But deeper in the stronghold in the office of Aldir he could feel the celestial presence of Atlas from afar.

"Intervening in small matters, pathetic." he flipped a silver coin which landed on heads.

He turned his head to Sticky who was badly injured from the electrical aura around the cage he was in.

"Looks like it landed on heads, I win old friend." he chuckled.

Crash! 

The lizard slammed into the wall a sword made of a liquid that had space itself inside it was impaled in his chest. As the lizard tried pulling out, Volhcard snapped his fingers summoning two bolts of lightning striking the lizard in his throat.

"Fucking hell," both Jae, and Yuni cursed underneath their breath seeing Volhcard so emotionless.

The lizard groaned in pain while coughing out blood as it gave Volhcard a furious glare with a hiss.

"You think I'm gonna die here? Well you're wrong you shitty pri-" before he could finish the lizard's body exploded which covered the room in blood and guts including Jae, Yumi, and Volhcard.

Then, Volhcard's eyes flickered in and out from the brown to the blue causing him to pass out face first on to the floor. Yuni wealthy stood up as she walked towards Volhcard helping him up with on arm over her shoulder while Jae grabbed the other.

"We can't continue further like this." Yumi said while Jae looked around thinking of something.

Soon after she replied with a serious look, "There's an infirmary close if my memory serves me right?" before Yuni could ask how she knows about the layout of the stronghold a heavy banging on the door interrupted her.

They slowly brought Volhcard down another dark hallway only this time they were being blocked by a machine with eight legs with a singular eye wherein the core is within its eye.

As it moved the legs' pistons pushed forward creating steam as the machine dashed towards them. Suddenly, both Jae and Yumi fall on to their knees while accidentally dropping Volhcard down.

The machine made a ear grating whirring noise between its body, wherein the cogs would scrape each other to make the stunning sound.

Covering her ears, Yuni slowly stood up and ran towards the machine and the moment she got close enough she plunged a dagger into one of her legs.

She took a step back while the machine convulsed before four mechanical long arms appeared on it's back which transformed into a sharp blade. It sliced off the leg which was malfunctioning from the dagger that was stuck inside it.

"Well, fuck!" Yumi cursed before aiming her bow at the machine.

And when she took the shot the arrow was deflected by its other arm which formed into a shield, and the last two of it's arms became spinning blades that spun nonstop.

"Great, just fucking great... How the hell do we destroy this thing anyways?" she took a stepback while grabbing four arrows from her quiver.

Jae immediately replied as her skin turned scaly, and into a dark crimson while her teeth grew sharper, and two crimson wings started forming on her back, "It's gonna get hot, so either run back with Volhcard or use something to block my flames."

She thought on what to do before grabbing the staff of Volhcard and started spinning as Jae looked back at her with her eyebrows raised, "Do you even have mana?"

Yumi chuckled before grinning arrogantly, "Let's find out!" she slammed the staff down, and slowly a red barrier was slowly forming from the ground up as sweat went down Yuni's forehead down to her face.

"You're already sweating!" Jae exclaimed her voice shaking with worry as Yumi nodded for her to do the attack.

The machine was already close enough for it to swing it's three arms which were weapons down at Jae. But before it could even try hitting her out of her mouth were terribly hot flames which melt the machine's body slowly.

However, behind Jae was Yuni barely holding on as her mana was slowly drained from the barrier spell. Seeing this, Jae stopped before getting a slash towards her left cheek, another towards the top of head.

Right before the melting machine could deliver the blow it started to convulse as it's metal was now a hot liquid which dripped on to it's core and circuits.

"Thank the gods!" were the words of Yuni before she feel to her knees as the barrier vanished.

Jae slowly transformed back while grabbing the cloak placing it over her shoulders as she pulled Yumi back up.

"Come on, we're not even close to Sticky." she said. 

Yumi balled her hands into fist before punching the wall and picking Volhcard's unconscious body up as Jae helped her with him.

All Yuni could think of was bringing back Sticky, and killing Aldir so painfully so she could enjoy the sorcerer's pain and screams.

However it wouldn't be easy as the stronghold started shaking, and the walls, ceiling, and floor were starting to show cracks.

"Run!" Jae shouted before transforming into a grizzly bear and placing Volhcard over her back as she ran.

Yuni followed suit as the floor beneath slowly fell apart piece by piece while the ceiling also slowly fell.

When they entered another area of the stronghold it was covered in blood from the floor to the ceiling. Limbs were scattered everywhere as well as organs of different species.

In front of them was a 20 meter humanoid creature with sharp spikes poking out of its back with the same spikes on the side of the monster's arms. When it looked back at them, it had blood red eyes with a horrific maw and when it let out a guttural roar it revealed thousands of razor sharp teeth inside.

It's skin was white as snow with two black horns protruding from its forehead. It held the upper half of a electric wyvern and the lower half was between it's legs, blood dripped from it's mouth while it swallowed a chunk of meat.

"A fucking juvenile Balrog!" cursed Yuni.

It tossed aside the upper half of the electric wyvern away before going on all fours rushing towards Jae, Yuni, and Volhcard.

Jae quickly transformed into a 10 meter polar bear with wings of a flame wyvern. It clashed with the balrog holding on to both the demon's fists as it tried to push Jae away.

Boom! A thunderbolt struck the balrog only for it to roar in anger and bombard Jae with blow after blow.

Volhcard weakly stood up from his exhaustion as he spun the staff creating a barrier around Yuni.

"You cannot miss!" Volhcard looked over to Yumi with a serious look as she hesitantly nodded.