Magi’s Bellowing Roar filled the Boss Room, staggering Baldur and driving the Druid back a step. He snarled himself, trying to bring his hands up to ready another attack. But his hands refused to move. The Cicadossum’s attack not only inflicted a knockback, but there was a short-duration stun at the end that was particularly devastating.

Ata and Poulsen, however, had been out of range. They both rushed forward.

Magi reared up, claws ready to bear down on Baldur while the tank was unable to move. But Ata was faster.

“Pinning Stab!” the Rogue shouted before her arm stretched out. A giant mystical dagger, almost half the size of Magi, appeared next to the Boss. It staggered the Cicadossum, keeping it from attacking. “Two can play the stun game, monster!”

“You don’t need to shout your attack names,” Poulsen said as he swiped his scythe at the Boss. He didn’t immediately dodge away, since Magi was temporarily stunned, and a second attack followed the first. “Just activate them with a thought.”

Ata slammed her dagger into Magi’s flank, causing the Boss to shout in pain. “I don’t tell you how to play your class, Reaper.”

Both melee damage dealers dodged back as Magi shook away the lingering effects of Ata’s attack. He swiped his tail ineffectually at where they once stood, but it was a lot closer than either of them seemed to feel comfortable with.

“I really need you two to focus!” Baldur shouted, his claws raking rents into Magi’s carapace. “You can argue later!” He threw his head back and howled.

The Cicadossum snarled and returned to attacking Baldur, activating Claw Barrage as it did. Massive paws rose and fell with a digging motion, driving damage into the Druid.

Helgi snarled and threw a hand out in Baldur’s direction. Instead of coating the Druid in the slow-moving green mist, this was like he threw a bucket of water in the tank’s direction, coating the Urkin in green liquid.

It seemed to have an immediate effect. Baldur’s wounds closed almost instantly, and he snarled with rage. His eyes were only for Magi.

“Burn,” Helgi said in a plain tone.

The single word acted like a command phrase. Baldur activated an ability in response and the rage bled off him, softening the look of murder in his eyes and widening his focus.

“Are you gonna stand there or are you gonna kill the Boss?”

Both melee damage dealers leapt to attention, diving back in to land fresh attacks.

Behind them and off to the right, Sakir formed an orb of Corruption element between one hand and the tip of her staff. She seemed to be focused on it, concentrating on coalescing the magic as if it would run wild without her determination. When it had grown to an arbitrary size, she launched the ball at the Cicadossum Boss.

Corruption magic splattered across Magi’s right flank, bursting like acid. It splashed against his carapace, sizzling wherever it touched.

Magi snarled and activated Bellowing Roar once more.

Gem knew the stun wouldn’t last as long on Baldur, since he had just been affected by it. But it also hit Ata and Poulsen, who were helplessly trapped mid-dodge.

The Cicadossum turned his attention to Sakir with a snarl.

“I’ve got aggro!” the usually calm Enchanter barked.

“Stunned!” Baldur shouted back. His words sounded slurred, as if he struggled to say them. “Five seconds!”

But Magi didn’t plan on giving him the time to recover.

With a chittering sound, Magi activated the Shed Carapace ability. Gem hadn’t seen it in action since the fight against the Ostrum. The Cicadossum’s remaining carapace was flung to the ground, relieving the Boss of its bulky armor. But with it gone, it was free to move at full speed.

Helgi shouted a curse as Magi practically teleported across the room.

Magi was undeterred. His claws were bearing down on Sakir before any could react. They slashed and tore at her, causing devastating damage to the Enchanter before she knew what happened.

“Tide on cooldown!” Helgi said before coating the Enchanter in the slow-moving green mist. “Get out of there!”

Sakir moved to run, but Magi swept his tail at her. The thagomizer connected with her midsection almost comically, knocking the air out of her as she doubled over the spiked tail. Blood flew from her lips, spraying with the force of her expelled breath.

Across the room, the Druid shook off the effects of his stun and threw his head back in a long, deep howl.

Magi immediately turned towards the sound, almost seeming to forget about the Enchanter hanging limply from his spikes. He shook his tail twice to dislodge Sakir, before bounding back across the room. Slower this time, however, since his carapace was starting to reform.

The two titans clashed, claws versus claws in a flurry of attacks.

But Gem’s attention wasn’t focused on the furious battle.

Instead, he watched as Helgi rushed to Sakir’s side. The Sage muttered “no” over and over again under his breath, interspersed with an urgent whisper of “c’mon!” as if that would speed up his cooldowns.

“Intense fight, eh?”

Chesu’s voice drew Gem’s attention away from the Enchanter and Sage. Had he a body, he likely would have leapt and shouted in shock. Instead, he just sent the wisp an image of a disappointed looking crystal.

He shared his vision with the wisp.

Sakir was lying in the grass, one hand flung above her head while the other cradled her midsection. There was a lot of blood. Too much blood. Four holes dotted her torso, each about the size of Shriek’s flower-head. They weren’t perfect holes either; ragged and torn, the edges were a reminder of the violence with which Magi had swung his thagomizer.

The wisp beside him was silent for a long moment. “Could. Depends on the Sage.”

As if prompted, Helgi reached out with both hands, his Tide spell quickly coating the Enchanter’s wounds in green liquid. The liquid filled the holes for a moment, but did not seal them entirely. Helgi cursed, his face falling.

“Not good,” Chesu said with a shake of his head.

“Helgi! I need you!”

Baldur’s shout didn’t even make the Sage look up. “Everything’s on cooldown,” he said in a thin tone. “You’re on your own for the moment.”

“Push it!” Baldur growled.

Gem wasn’t sure what the Druid expected the Sage to do, but it turned out he wasn’t talking to him. Instead, Poulsen and Ata redoubled their efforts to damage Magi, using as many abilities and performing as many extra attacks that they could. Both were careful to not overstay their welcome, to avoid taxing their already dwindling healing capabilities.

“Phase change!”

The Druid’s words came as Magi activated Feign Death. All three melee scooted out of range of the Boss as he dramatically flopped over, all four paws to the sky.

“Go,” Baldur said, nodding his head towards the party’s Sage and Enchanter. “See if you can help. I need Sakir up.”

“What are you going to do,” Ata asked breathlessly. Her hands went above her head, drawing her long torso taught as she forced air into her lungs.

Baldur didn’t look away from Magi. “If my attention goes elsewhere, the phase will change back. At least, that’s how it worked with the smaller versions. So I’ll just sit here and stare at this big boy and think of how I want to stab him a lot.”

“Healthy coping mechanisms. I like it.” Ata stepped up to Baldur and stretched to give him a quick kiss on the cheek. “Be careful and shout if you need anything.”

“Told you they were dating,” Chesu said with a cheeky grin.

“The dirtworlder?!” Chesu groaned. “Talk about a disappointment! Has she no shame?”

Gem sent him an image of a grinning core.

“Hindsight isn’t shame, it’s realization. She can be ashamed of what she did, but it’s only because she’s realized what a mistake she made.” He clicked his tongue to the roof of his mouth. “Honestly though. A dirtworlder.” A tsking sound followed.

“They’re all like that. The ones who make it off planet are full of themselves and think they’re some big-shot hero. Issys from Dirt aren’t worth the snark that falls out of their mouth.”

Without the ability to laugh, Gem just sent the wisp an image of a laughing core. He even added tears in its eyes, just for a hint of the joy he felt buzzing around his core at the wisp’s joke.

But his faux laughter dried up soon enough.

Helgi was still kneeling, bent over Sakir. That slow mist of green magic was coating her, seeping into her remaining wounds and trying to repair the damage.

But it was a waste of mana.

Sakir was dead, her lifeless eyes staring aimlessly towards the ceiling of Magi’s Boss Room.

Helgi cried out in anguish, fists coming down on the Enchanter’s healed midsection. He immediately flinched away from having touched her, but then he lowered his head to her side and let out a soul-wrenching sob.

“Enough! We don’t have time for mourning! Heal me!”

Magi had stopped using Feign Death at some point, and was on the offensive once more.

“Sakir is dead,” Helgi hissed. “Show a little respect.”

“She’s dead, yes, but I’m not.” Baldur wiped some of the blood from his eyes, a giant wound across his forehead replacing it almost immediately. “Not yet, at least.” The Druid glared up at Magi. “Let’s end this. For Sakir.”

Helgi didn’t move. Not at first. He sobbed once more before drawing Sakir up into a seated position. A hand briefly swept across her face, shifting some hair out of her eyes.

Across the room, Baldur snarled and drove his claws into the forelimbs of the Cicadossum Boss Mob. Magi’s health was dwindling, barely a quarter of it left, but it was clear that the party was flagging as well. Poulsen and Ata moved with grace, dodging Magi’s flailing tail and massive limbs as if they were telegraphed days in advance. But their faces were tight with grim determination, and their playful banter had dried up.

After a long pause, Helgi cast another healing spell, this time at Baldur. The green liquid splashed against his skin, banishing some of the Druid’s fatigue and closing his most grievous wounds.

Helgi gently kissed Sakir on the forehead. “We do this for you, love.”

“Adventurers. Leave them alone in a room and sooner or later, they’ll all start screwing one another.” Chesu’s lips turned up into a sneer, but it was half hearted. He rested his chin on an open palm as he looked down at the battle.

The wisp raised an eyebrow. “What, beat Magiphis? Yeah. They will. Adventurers are nothing if not resourceful. Especially after a friend falls. They’ll find some hidden strength, unleash some secret technique, or reveal a weapon passed down through generations designed specifically to kill their foe. It’s like Hero-ing 101.”

None of those things happened, however.

The fight below ended with grim determination and nothing else. Helgi’s heals came fewer and farther in between, Baldur’s Rage overtook his concentration before Helgi reminded him to burn it, and Poulsen and Ata put their weapons to work to whittle down Magi’s remaining hit points.

The Cicadossum eventually reared up, clawed at the air helplessly, and then fell over.

He faded into a Mob Heart, which Gem shattered into the limited loot he had available.

The party stood, dumbfounded, looking at the pile of loot.

It was the best Gem could throw together, tailored mostly for this group. There was a book for Helgi, daggers for Ata, a handful of coins that sparkled brilliantly and…

The Enchanter’s staff, once belonging to Likara, sat like a physical blow.

“Oof,” Chesu said. “That’s gotta sting.”

The party argued over what to do with the weapon. Helgi and Poulsen were of the mind that it was in bad taste to take it, while Ata and Baldur wanted to sell it. Eventually they settled on taking it, in order to fund some sort of party in Sakir’s honor.

They left her body where it lay and exited the dungeon.

Ata didn’t even complain that they didn’t explore the Trap Rooms.

Quest Complete: Leader Of The Pack. Awarded when a single party of adventurers kills your boss, even if someone dies during the encounter. Reward: 100 xp baseline (900 xp total)

Congratulations! Through grit and determination you’ve earned enough experience to gain Tin Eight.

Upgrade Point Earned! New Mob Unlocked: Stink Plansect

Congratulations! Through grit and determination you’ve earned enough experience to gain Tin Nine.

Upgrade Point Earned! New Feature Unlocked: Party Buffs

Achievement Unlocked: Good job, kid! Rewards: Tin Capstone unlocked. Please select Upgrades to begin tier increase procedures.