Paragon of Destruction

Arran attacked the two creatures cautiously, staying just out of reach of their snapping jaws as he struck at them with his sword.

This wasn't because he feared their power. While the creatures were strong, he'd determined almost instantly that they were no threat to him.

Tough though their steel-like skin might be, it was no match for Arran's Living Shadow blade, and he easily bested the creatures in speed and strength as well.

But while killing the creatures — the diggers, as the overseer had called them — would be easy, Arran wanted to study them, first. There might be stronger ones deeper in the mines, and anything he learned now could only help him later.

But it wasn't long before he realized there was little to learn. While the creatures were strong and fast, they fought with the mindless viciousness of wild beasts, and fooling them was a simple matter.

After some minutes, he decided he'd seen enough. With a single brutal blow, he struck one of the diggers across its side, leaving a deep wound that left the creature writhing on the ground in agony.

Yet a moment later, he looked in astonishment as the other creature suddenly turned on its companion. Smelling blood, it seemed to have forgotten all about Arran, and in an instant, its sharp jaws shot toward the other digger's open wound.

An outraged expression flashed across Arran's face when he saw the digger tear a large chunk of flesh from its wounded companion. He fully intended to eat both the creatures, and he had no desire to share his catch.

With all his might, he kicked the seven-foot creature in its side, sending it flying two dozen paces before it crashed into the wall. Yet even with its body shattered, it struggled to get back on its feet — an effort that came to an abrupt end when Arran rammed his sword through the beast's skull.

Arran finished off the other creature as well, then let out a deep sigh.

Now, he understood why Captain Kaleesh had been puzzled when the overseer told them the reason for the lower levels' closure had been diggers. Because while the creatures were by no means weak, strong Body Refiners should have little difficulty killing them.

But as he gave the matter some thought, Arran realized things weren't that simple. While he could kill the creatures with ease, neither the Darian soldiers nor the Wolfsblood Company would have it quite as easy.

If a handful of diggers attacked a group of Darian soldiers, the soldiers would doubtless be victorious, but not without losing some men.

A single such battle would hardly be a disaster. But if the diggers kept coming day after day, taking the lives of miners and guards with each attack, it wouldn't be long before even the toughest men would start to dread the mines.

From what little Arran had seen of the creatures, he already knew they lacked the intelligence to fear death. In that sense, they reminded him of the juvenile dragon he'd once encountered — a creature of pure, mindless hunger.

The memory brought a frown to Arran's face.

Dragons, too, ate their own kind. That was one of the things that allowed them to grow incomparably powerful. If diggers were the same, then the depths below might hold things far more powerful than Arran had expected.

But then, a Knight had fallen in these depths. Which meant that whatever lurked in the depths, it had to be powerful.

Arran spent some minutes butchering the two dead diggers. Then, when he'd gathered a sizable pile of pale meat, he unsealed his Fire Realm and used Fire Essence to roast a large chunk of it.

He tasted the meat with some hesitation, but to his surprise, the taste wasn't bad at all. Like chicken or lizard, the meat was somewhat bland but not unpleasant. And more importantly, it was rich in Natural Essence.

His spirits lifted by the unexpected windfall, Arran gathered up the meat and stored it in his void ring, then quickly continued his journey through the tunnels.

He encountered several more diggers in the hours that followed, either moving alone or in small groups. And with each group he encountered, he studied the creatures before killing them and moving on.

While the diggers lacked eyes, he soon realized their other senses more than made up for that. The slightest sound was enough to draw their attention, and even when he stood perfectly still, it was as if they could smell his presence.

At first, this didn't pose too much of a problem. The creatures were easily defeated, and a good half-hour passed between each group he encountered.

Yet the further he descended, the more numerous the diggers grew. And although he still slaughtered them with ease, the noise of each fight drew the attention of others, slowing his progress and drawing even more of the creatures.

Moreover, the creatures lower in the tunnels were stronger and faster as well, and Arran sustained several wounds as he fought his way further down.

For Arran, this wasn't much of a problem. The blood-imbued Dragon's Ruin meant that each creature's death nourished his body, allowing him to heal even as he fought.

But he knew that for the soldiers who'd been tasked with clearing the mines centuries earlier, the situation must have been dire. Each hard-won victory would have only brought them more enemies, their numbers slowly dwindling with each pace they advanced.

As Arran imagined it, he could not help but feel sorry for the Darians who had died here. To them, the dark tunnels must have been like a hell on earth.

Yet his own experience was markedly different. Even if he was slightly frustrated with the slow pace, he killed the creatures avidly, making sure to gather their meat after each battle.

A bemused smile crossed his face when he pondered the situation.

After leaving Amydon, he'd spent months hunting creatures that were rich in Natural Essence. Yet now, they came to him willingly, almost as if they were eager to help him build his supplies.

He spent well over a day clearing the mines' lower levels of diggers. And with the creatures' deaths feeding his strength, he felt not even the slightest bit of weariness.

Yet eventually, their numbers began to thin. And although Arran's Sense told him that he'd already explored most of the tunnels the mines' lower levels held, he still hadn't discovered where the creatures came from.

He knew that the creatures must have come from somewhere — they couldn't just have appeared in the mines. But where they came from, he could not figure out.

When he could find no more creatures to kill, he reluctantly came to a halt, then set up a small camp deep within the tunnels, which he protected with several wards that should alert him to any danger.

After that, he ate a large meal of fresh digger meat, stuffing himself until he could eat no more. And then, he took some blankets from his void ring, and tried his best to fall asleep.

He was awoken several hours later when a digger crossed through one of his wards. At once, he got to his feet, killing the beast even while his mind was still clouded with sleep.

The fight was brief, but just loud enough to draw the attention of other diggers. And for the next quarter-hour, Arran laboriously finished off these new enemies.

Arran was well awake by the time the last digger died, and this time, he ignored the fresh batch meat that had presented itself to him so willingly.

Instead, he frowned in wonder at the creatures' unexpected appearance. Just hours earlier, the tunnels had been all but empty of the creatures. Yet now, dozens more had appeared.

Or rather, hundreds. Because as Arran spread out his Sense, he realized the tunnels once more held numerous diggers.

At once, he realized the tunnels must be connected to another space — a place that held far more of the creatures he'd spent the last day fighting. And if he was right, that would be the place where the Knight had died.

Of course, that still left Arran with the task of finding it. But this time, he knew where to look.

With the help of his sword's Sense, he sought out the area of the tunnels that held the largest number of diggers. And when he was confident he'd found it, he set off in a hurry.

This time, he wasted no time gathering the diggers' meat as he slaughtered his way through them. He advanced at a hurried pace, ruthlessly cutting down any of the creatures that got in his way, eager to find where they'd come from.

Although he knew where to look, the search still took him longer than he would have liked — and no wonder, because when he finally found what he sought, he saw that it was a crack within the tunnels' walls that appeared to be little more than a dead end.

He'd already passed it the previous day, but had paid it no attention as he fought his way past it. Yet this time, he saw that the crack continued deeper than he'd realized — far deeper.

Without hesitation, he stepped inside.

The natural tunnel was small and narrow, forcing Arran to bend his neck as he made his way through. And it was longer than he'd expected, too, stretching on for several miles. But then, his eyes went wide as he Sensed something ahead.

With wide eyes, he realized there was a vast cavern at the end of the narrow tunnel — miles wide, if not more. And inside, he could Sense thousands of diggers.