The Altered Gatekeeper
As soon as it appeared, it spat out the Gatekeeper's limbs.
Clank, clank, thud!
The Gatekeeper, assembled from above, slammed its feet onto the ground, sending heavy vibrations rippling through the surroundings. Moments later, the hammer emerging from the manhole was gripped tightly in the Gatekeeper's hand.
"Didn't see an entrance like this coming..."
Manholes could appear anywhere in the labyrinth. Escaping was impossible if the Gatekeeper disassembled its body to pursue.
Gatekeeper (3)
The familiar form of the Gatekeeper is a metal giant over 3m tall. It wields an explosive hammer and fires beams from its red cyclops eye.
The Gatekeeper before them matched that description so far, but black streams of air leaked from its joints, swirling around its entire body.
"Should we run?"
"You see that and still say that? It'll just chase us through another manhole anyway."
The explorers who'd witnessed the Gatekeeper disassemble and pursue them were terrified by this unprecedented phenomenon and the monster's altered form.
Allen kept his usual blank expression, though inwardly he was mildly surprised.
A knight fleeing into a manhole could be written off as a rare anomaly, but there were no records of a common monster like the Gatekeeper doing the same.
Either everyone who's seen it died, or they're keeping it secret.
Either way, now was the time to focus. Allen pulled a rune letter card from his belt and flew to the center of the explorers.
The inscribed letter was [Calm]. It was a rune he used when his gear's mana ran wild, but any mana user should feel its effect.
"Snap out of it and watch the front!"
"Yeah, we've beaten Gatekeepers before!"
As the mana flowing through the air brushed their skin, it stirred the explorers' moods just a bit.
Allen finally lowered the explorer who'd crossed the river of death from the cart and propped him against the wall. Regrettable, but they lacked the spare capacity or loyalty to protect corpses in battle.
Allen reached toward his party's cart. No one stopped him in the emergency.
Plenty of empty mana packs. Stick 'em on me for now and tweak the automatons.
In the meantime, Dennis charged forward boldly.
They needed to analyze how this Gatekeeper differed from the norm. That would minimize casualties among his comrades.
His prosthetic limbs thrashed like extensions of his own body, channeling brain signals and mana. Gaining momentum, Dennis dropped low and slid past the Gatekeeper's side.
Its eye... good.
The Gatekeeper's cyclops eye tracked Dennis. So far, it locked onto the nearest foe first, just like always.
Before Dennis could fully pull back, the Gatekeeper whipped its left fist backward.
Dennis dodged the first strike easily, but not the second.
The Gatekeeper's torso spun 180 degrees, swinging the hammer in its right hand like a broom sweeping the floor.
The massive, elongated hammer closed the distance in an instant.
Dennis reacted fast, sliding across the labyrinth floor to evade. His prosthetics screeched against the stone.
Dangerous bastard.
They'd grown complacent thinking Gatekeepers were familiar prey. Big mistake.
Not even a minute in, and creaks were already sounding. Hammer swings that should've been easy dodges grazed his nose; the Gatekeeper blocked escape routes with its bulk.
Sure his struggle was giving his comrades insights, Dennis converted his prosthetics to reverse joints faster than usual. Parts shifted rhythmically, accelerating his body.
While Dennis held its attention, the mages chanted furiously. They prepped spells for the Gatekeeper while staying vigilant for the maggots that had vanished into the mist earlier.
"Damn it. Anyone got a mana pack?"
"Got one, but this one's almost drained—need to swap."
Handling two tasks at once burned mana faster than normal. And they were low after heading back to the surface.
"Use this."
With those words came the sound of small objects skidding across the floor.
Karkda, who'd grumbled about empty packs, glanced back to see Allen fiddling with an automaton, empty mana packs stuck to his body.
"It charges like that?"
"Mana stones work, or you can charge it yourself. Already forgetting?"
"I know that. I mean, does it recharge mana packs this fast...? Shield!"
Conversation cut off as the EBI headsets on the mages fired blue light straight ahead.
The Gatekeeper pressing Dennis had suddenly lunged at three vanguards. Labyrinth automatons targeted the nearest foe, but this broke the pattern again.
The honeycomb shield shattered instantly. It didn't hold long, but it bought the vanguards a breather.
"Like an underground dweller's puppet!"
"Don't hold back!"
Blue light glowed from the vanguards' artificial eyes, their movements speeding up. They'd activated Reflex Axle, boosting reflexes and reaction time.
The magitechwear under their cerebellums stimulated the whole brain; the amplified signals raced through their bodies.
It strained the body, reserved for when Gatekeepers slowed on rapid-charge patterns, but overload wasn't a concern now.
One solid hit from hand, foot, or hammer meant combat withdrawal at best. The enemy's moves were cunning, faster than usual.
"Argh!"
A vanguard struck by the hammer tumbled across the floor. A mere graze had dented his prosthetic arm badly.
Small mercy: no explosion. Otherwise, the arm wouldn't be the only casualty.
Allen ignored the chaos ahead, adjusting the automaton. The leopard needed no tweaks—it was turning Dennis's party's loot into allies.
The least damaged are the wolf rider and the bull.
Allen rubbed two soul stones together. Star letter input screens, like pale mist, materialized.
One alone would've been a beautiful galaxy; two made a chaotic mess.
Allen plunged his hands into the disorder. Fingers and arms moved independently, erasing or birthing stars.
As his hands busied themselves, his right eye scanned the big picture, left eye spun searching for errors.
He'd memorized common patterns; feedback hit instantly if issues arose.
Arrow, where...?
Following the tiny arrow in his left eye led to stars clustered like a hexahedron's vertices.
The slight misalignment irked him. It'd cause functional issues.
Angle's off a bit.
No big deal for Allen. He infused mana into a finger, pressed and dragged a star—now it was a proper hexahedron.
Once the bull, loaded with the rider's soul stone, rose, Allen signaled Karkda.
"Tell the vanguards."
His own shout might drown in battle noise and frenzy, but brain-expanded folk could communicate clearly amid chaos.
"What're you planning?"
"Charge it."
"That enough...? No... got it."
Karkda didn't argue. He'd seen Allen wipe out those wasps like a beekeeper. As a mage, he knew Allen better than Dennis anyway.
Short-range comms done, Allen tapped the bull with his staff. Like a bull seeing red, it charged the labyrinth's center.
Thud, thud, thud!
Its weight made metal hooves pound loudly against the floor. Allen's voice might not carry, but this would.
As planned, vanguards peeled to the walls. Dennis, holding its gaze to the end, leaped aside—just as the bull's head burst into his spot.
Then, collision.
The labyrinth's enclosed space—minus front and back—turned the crash into a muffled explosion. Ears rang in agony.
With output limits hacked via star letters, the head-on smash with the Gatekeeper's lower body boomed enormously.
Strong enough to crush its left leg useless, pelvis nearly severed and dangling.
But the Gatekeeper was tough. At impact, it grabbed the bull's horn with its left hand, endured, then twisted its wrist viciously.
A gruesome crunch echoed from the bull's neck. Twisted like a corkscrew, it didn't last—head rolled across the floor.
One Gatekeeper, many explorers. Magic struck. Narrow labyrinth, injured leg—nowhere to dodge.
[Piercing Ice Spear]
A transparent crystal spear rocketed in, embedding in the Gatekeeper's torso. Frost gathered around the protruding shaft, forming white vapor.
Visible freezing meant devastation for contacted metal and innards. Centered on the spear, the Gatekeeper's body slowed.
No time to gawk at the critical hit. A massive hammer flew toward the rear.
Not just any hammer. Its revolver-cylinder head brimmed with six red glows, each packed with explosive force.
And all six flashed simultaneously.
Like thunder beside your eardrum. The blast was so loud, it went silent. Or maybe consciousness blanked briefly.
"Ngh..."
Allen groaned, checking his fallen body. Explorer suit torn in spots, but no missing or broken parts—fortunate.
His eyes caught a smoking plate. The shield generator he'd carried was charred black, rolling nearby.
Allen grabbed the leopard shielding him and stood. It had protected its master as pre-programmed.
Torso mostly intact, but blast force had erased many [Hardening] and [Reinforcement] runes.
Beyond, the three mages slightly ahead of Allen were now one.
Celine the healer and the stoic man were reduced to blood and flesh painting walls and ceiling red. At least painless, small consolation.
Karkda, belly-down and barely alive, had a charred back and tail. Ash flaked from the tip, crumbling away.
Allen glanced ahead. Dennis and vanguards, eyes wild with rage over comrades, scrapped the Gatekeeper to junk.
Lower body wrecked by Allen, eye already dark—no major threat left.
"Karkda. Pull yourself together. Can you hear me?"
"..."
Only faint breaths, no response.
Allen grabbed Celine's and his own medkits, inspecting contents. First, splashed recovery potion on the back, force-fed the rest.
"..."
Breaths still on the verge.
Allen pulled a blood flower seed from his kit. Tonic-purpose; might or might not help, but better than doing nothing stupidly.
No sprout. It pierced skin but went silent.
Karkda's mana is nearly gone.
Mana faint as breath, fading.
Allen pressed his palm to the entry point, infusing mana. Normally his own, but no spare now.
Moments passed; palm tickled. Lifting it revealed a flower blooming with transparent red leaves.
Ear to Karkda's head: faint, wet breathing sounds.
One sigh of relief—but disaster piled on with footsteps.
Thud, thud!
Allen turned. Noises from black mist grew louder. Closing in.
Gatekeeper (4)
Responses differ sharply depending on whether the combat opponent is human or automaton.