Part Thirty-Five

“There it is. We finally found the Boss.”

“I was starting to think we’d never get outta here. Damn place is so confusin' that even our map was wrong.”

“I, I said I was sorry for that! I just got turned around during one of the fights!”

“Now, now, everyone calm down. It’s true that Kalia made a mistake, but we caught it quick enough that no harm came from it. And in the end, we’ve reached our objective anyway.”

“Yeah, yeah. Take her side why don’t ya?”

After we’d rested, we’d returned to the second floor to finish clearing the Dungeon, but had soon run into a slight issue. Our map was wrong. At some point, Kalia had made a small mistake that had eventually caused the entire thing to be wrong past a certain point. We’d only discovered the mistake when we went down what should’ve been an unexplored path only to see one of the marks we’d left around the Dungeon. Fixing it had meant making a new map from scratch, but the floor was small enough that it hadn’t been that much of a setback.

Either way, we were finally standing in front of the door to the Boss chamber, marked with the now infamous emblem.

No matter how many times I see this damn thing, it always manages to make my skin crawl. There’s just something off about this crazy emblem on the Boss doors, but I don’t quite get what. It might just be me though, as no one else seems to feel anything really off about it. They think it’s creepy, but not to an unnatural level like I do. Maybe I just don’t like snakes?

We got into our normal formation with me and the twins at the front, and Kalia and Alicia at the back. Since she was the only one with a shield, and this was her first D-Rank Dungeon, we gave the honor of opening the door to Gwen, who stopped for a moment to prepare herself. Given the kind of monsters we’d seen in this Dungeon, it was obvious that nothing pretty was waiting for us in the Boss chamber.

“Hoooooo. Okay, here we go.” Gwen placed both hands on the door and shoved it, giving us our first view of the interior. Unlike the rest of the Dungeon, the Boss chamber was lit up like a stadium, with big overhead lights. And unlike other Boss chambers I’d seen, there weren’t all that many monsters waiting for us. Just two.

“Heh? Ehahahaha, humans? What a delight! Eahahahahahaha!”

On the far side of the room from the door, was a large furry mass, upon which sat one of the strangest creatures I’d yet to see. It was short, very short. I’m talking like two feet tall, maybe three, and was a bright red color, almost like it was coated in blood. Large bat-like wings extended from its shoulders, and its head was completely bald, except for a series of horns poking out like quills on a porcupine.

It had been curled up on top of whatever it was sitting on when the doors opened, but the second it saw us, it stood up and spread its arms like it was welcoming us into its home.

“What fun! What fun! Eahahahahahaha, come, come, it’s time to play!”

At that last sentence, its eyes shone with something resembling malice as it stomped its foot down on its seat, causing a loud ominous growling to fill the room. The furry mass lifted itself off the ground, revealing that it had two heads, both of which had some rather familiar fire coming out of their eyes and mouth.

Lesser Demon

Rank: C

Archetype: Dungeon Boss

Description: Also known as Imps, Lesser Demons are the weakest members of the Demon race, and are known for their love of mischief and mayhem. While their mentalities are comparable to that of mortal children, their esoteric knowledge and mastery of magic, along with their innate ability to transform other beings into their servants, make them daunting enemies to face. Do not underestimate them.

***

Twin-Headed Hellhound

Rank: C

Archetype: Dungeon Boss

Description: A powered up version of the basic Hellhound. Like many multi-headed creatures, both of a Twin-Headed Hellhound’s heads have the ability to think for themselves. As such, they are able to operate their body independently of one another, meaning that one may notice things the other does not. However, sometimes the heads will oppose each other’s decisions, showing that two heads aren’t always better than one.

“Ehahahaha-Gaah!?”

Just as the Demon was about to launch itself off of the Hellhound, Alicia fired an arrow right through one of its eyes, catching it completely off-guard. The Demon fell backwards off of the Hellhound, which caused the beast to turn towards us and growl menacingly.

“Get ready everyone! Remember, hit-and-run tactics! We’re gonna chip away at its health until it dies.”

Upon seeing just how big the Hellhound was, I decided to have us switch tact. While normal Hellhounds were about the size of a Doberman or Rottweiler, this one was at least as big as a Shadow Wolf, if not bigger. Add in both of its heads and you had a rather terrifying monster to behold.

But with the Demon out of the way, dealing with a single large monster should be easy for u-. Oh shit, I just jinxed myself, didn’t I?

“Gaha! [Infernal Flame]!”

A ball of black fire came shooting out from behind the Hellhound, showing that my hunch was on the nose. The Demon yet lived, and boy was it livid. It had cast some kind of spell at Alicia, though she quickly dived out of the way. The ball of fire flew past her harmlessly, and exploded against the wall. However, the caster wasn’t done just yet.

“Ahahah! Nasty humans! Die, die! [Wretched Bolt]! [Sinister Wind]!”

The Demon had taken to the air, and was now looking down on us from near the ceiling. It had already taken the arrow out of its eye, and a thick sickly-looking liquid was trickling out of the socket. It then cast two more spells, one a bolt of black lightning, the other a blade of black fog. I was starting to notice a pattern.

The loss of its eye must’ve ruined its aim, as both spells crashed into the ground off to the side, well away from us, but I wouldn’t bet on it taking long to adjust. And the Hellhound on the ground wouldn’t just let us do what we wanted either.

“Alicia, focus on taking out its wings! Gwyn, Gwen, help me distract this blasted oversized dog! We can finish the Demon off once it’s grounded!”

“Got it!”

“Aye.”

“Heh, alright. Let’s play.”

“Hehehehehe, tricksy humans trying to trick me! Hehehehehe! Ahahahahaha! [Repugnant Mist]!”

In response to what we’d said, the Demon cast yet another spell that created a thick black fog around it, obscuring its form. I heard Alicia click her tongue in frustration, but I had bigger problems to deal with. The Hellhound was starting to spit fire.

Both heads had basically turned into artillery, as each one was spitting large globs of flame at us. And since each glob exploded when it hit the ground, it was very similar to artillery fire, just….much smaller in scale.

“Gehehehehe! [Sinister Wind], [Infernal Flame], [Wretched Bolt], [Vile Lance]!” That last spell must’ve been Earth Magic of some sort, as lances made of, you guessed it, black dirt fell from the sky. Though dirt’s already kinda black, so maybe it was just regular dirt?

As if to make matters worse, the Demon began casting even more spells at us, creating a near perfect bombardment. All of us were having a tough time avoiding all of the attacks, each of which could severely injure us. At this rate, it would only be a matter of time until one of us got hit.

“Hmph, like this’ll stop us!”

But even with two enemies launching attacks, there was bound to be openings that could be exploited. And fortunately, I happened to have all the tools necessary to do so. Eventually, there was a slight lull in the attacks landing near me, giving me a clear opening to activate three of my Skills: Beast of the Nightmare, Sonic Burst, and Skanda. With the rapid increase in speed and perception provided by the three Skills, I charged straight at the Hellhound, weaving in-between the projectiles flying at me. But even with my increased speed, it would still take me several seconds to cover the distance between me and the monster. Seconds that gave the Demon time to act.

“Gaha!? No no! Fade into the black of night-! [Sundered Blast]!”

Upon realizing what I was trying to do, the Demon began preparing to cast something, though I couldn’t make out what it was saying over the howling of the Hellhound. Whatever it was wouldn’t be good though, as the amount of mana being used was higher than any of its previous spells. But unfortunately for the Demon, it hadn’t been fast enough. I’d already closed in by the time it finished casting.

“Brrrraaaaghhh!”

The Hellhound cried out as one of my swords stabbed deep into its unprotected stomach and sliced it open, causing its intestines to fall out, but that wasn’t the end of our attack. With the pain distracting it, the Hellhound never noticed the axe heading right for its face. Gwyn had thrown it with all the force his body could muster, and it hit the monster with the most wonderful thunk, sinking deep into its skull. The head wasn’t dead yet, but it was probably concussed and blinded.

With the beast sufficiently wounded, I kicked off of the ground, diving to the side as the Demon's spell finally crashed into the Hellhound. Even though I’d avoided a direct hit, the force of the resulting explosion was still enough to throw me across the room.

Whoa! That was way too close!

I rolled to my knees and looked over at the Hellhound. It was still alive, but was now singed all over. I was shocked that it survived at first, but then I realized that it must be resistant to whatever that spell was. That made sense given how they’d been resistant to [Rot]. Besides, it still gave us yet more openings to exploit.

“YAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!”

How she got over there so quickly I didn’t know, but barely a second after the explosion had cleared, Gwen was already closing in for the kill. She’d charged in from where we’d been before, leaped into the air, and used her weight and momentum to drive her lance into the uninjured head, piercing right through its skull and into its brain. It was an excellent attack that made use of her abilities and the Hellhound’s momentary weakness. And she didn’t make the mistake of trying to keep attacking it, which would’ve endangered her.

“NOOOOOOOOO! YOU BASTARDS! I’LL KILL YOU! SHATTER THE VEIL, BRING TH- GEAAAAA!”

Upon seeing how badly we’d hurt its pet, the Demon began to cast another spell, but made a huge mistake in doing so. The force of that last explosion had blown away the mist concealing it, a fact that our resident sniper wasn’t going to let go unexploited. And unfortunately for the Demon, Alicia had learned from her last failed assassination attempt. Not only did she shoot it in the throat, but she also used one of her [Stun Strike] arrows, causing the Demon to get shocked and fall out of the air. It hit the ground with a sickening crunch, seeming to break its neck in the process. Though I made sure to cut it’s head off, just in case. The last time I thought something was dead, I got sucker punched because I let my guard down.

From there, the four of us put in the little bit of effort required to finish off the Hellhound. With one head dead and its intestines outside of its body, it wasn’t in any state to fight, but it still tried. The handful of fire globs it shot managed to keep us back for a time, but it couldn’t stop all four of us by itself. Eventually, Gwyn managed to reclaim his axe as he beheaded it, bringing the fight to an end.

::Death of Dungeon Boss confirmed. Individual has completed D-Rank Dungeon.

Individual’s Contribution: 21.54%. Generating Rewards……Complete.

Dungeon Completion Time: 25 Hours 31 Minutes.::

Both corpses dissolved into light, and the usual System messages played out, indicating that we’d cleared the Dungeon. I heard several sighs of relief from behind me, along with hurried footsteps. Kalia had been waiting just outside of the chamber, taking advantage of the rules of Boss chambers to remain safe, and now she was hurrying to join us.

“God, this took a whole. Fucking. Day. Fuck. I hate Dungeons sometimes.”

“Mn, it was pretty tough, wasn’t it? Though didn’t that Goblin Dungeon we cleared take us three days? It was a lot bigger than this one too.”

“Two, and that was because we were taking advantage of all the weak monsters. We probably could’ve cleared it in half that time, even though it was bigger. This one was just…uph.”

I honestly couldn’t tell if it had been difficult or not, especially the Boss fight. On one hand, I felt like we’d gotten pushed back at first, but we’d also overturned the situation quite spectacularly. Really, this was one of those fights that could’ve gone either way. Especially if there’d been more than two enemies. I think I would’ve given up if that was the case.

Still, we won, and now we have the loot to show for it. So, what did I get? I’d ignored the scroll that fell at my feet at first, hoping it wouldn’t be what I thought it was. But unfortunately, it was.

Skill Scroll: Accelerate

Rank: Special

Description: A specially made scroll that imparts knowledge of the Normal Skill: Accelerate.

Just what I’d needed, another Skill to train. Granted, a Skill that ostensibly boosted my speed would surely be a boon, but I only had so much mana to go around! I didn’t need more things to use it for!

Haaaaaah, well, look on the bright side. If I combine this with Beast of the Nightmare and Sonic Burst, I’ll probably be able to outrun any living creatures at that point. Maybe I’ll enter the Olympics and break all the field and track records……oh, wait. They canceled the Olympics, that’s right. Haaaaah.

Actually, it could be worse. I was sure it was going to be an Accuracy Scroll. That seems like the kind of shit the System would do.

Wearily, I glanced at what the others got. If they got good really stuff again, I was seriously gonna cry. That, or I’d switch to being a solo fighter. All the rewards would be mine then.

“…?”

Well, at least one person seemed confused with what they’d gotten. Kalia was holding a rather familiar scroll, looking like she didn’t know what to do with it. As for the others, they’d all gotten some sort of accessory that they looked happy with. It was only Kalia who seemed confused.

Curious, I walked over to her and asked what she’d gotten, and she responded by handing me the scroll with the most neutral expression I’d ever seen on her. I took the scroll and used Analyze on it, and had to stop myself from laughing.

Skill Scroll: Stealth

Rank: Special

Description: A specially made scroll that imparts knowledge of the Normal Skill: Stealth.

“…Pfft.” Must. Keep. Straight. Face.

“If you say a single word, I’ll smack you into next week.”

Seeing this weird exchange between us, Alicia came over and asked what was wrong, to which I replied by handing her the Scroll. And she promptly had the exact same reaction I had. The two of us just grinned at each other, amused by the situation.

You may remember that some items with Equipment Skills basically functioned like training wheels for said Skills. It was that function that had let Alicia learn Stealth so early on. Well, the reason this was so amusing to us was because back when the three of us agreed to work together, I’d suggested that Kalia learn the Stealth Skill from the Cloak of Shadows, since it would help her hide during battles, and she’d vehemently rejected the idea. She was apparently against having any Skills that used mana besides magic ones. Neither of us missed the irony in this situation.

“Well?”

“I’m not doing it. Having any Skills not related to magic is pointless for me. We can give it to someone else later on, or even sell it. I don’t need the dang thing.”

She tried to push it into my hands, but I jumped backwards to avoid her. It was her reward, and I was bound and determined to see her use it.

The next few moments were spent trying to persuade her, but Kalia wouldn’t be deterred. She seemed to hate the idea of having any non-magic related Skills, though I knew for a fact that she had Survival Instinct. Though maybe she didn’t count that one since it didn’t eat mana and was a passive Skill. Hm, maybe…

“All I’m saying is that you should consider it. Having a Skill Scroll makes the whole process much easier than having to learn it from an item, or and a billion times easier than learning it from scratch.”

“…You’re still hung up on Accuracy?”

“I’m gonna figure it out! I’m just missing something……actually, I guess me getting an Accuracy Scroll would’ve been even more ironic. Wait, does that count as irony?”

“Aaand now he’s talking to himself. Just think about it, Kalia. It’s definitely not a bad Skill.”

“Hmph, fine. But later. I’d like to get out of this Dungeon now.”

“Good idea. All the monsters should be gone, so let’s head back. We’ve spent enough time in here as it is.”

***

It wasn’t long before we left the Dungeon, finally putting its dismal corridors behind us. We’d been in there for the better part of a day, and evening was just about to settle in. Because of that, the others all decided to head back to the base for the night, and they talked me into it as well. Besides, after today, we’d only have two days before we had to head back to the mainland. We’d probably spend tomorrow training and head back the day after, giving us a whole day to rest up before returning to civilization. I figured that would actually help me prepare myself for my Trial.

But we were too naïve. We’d seen and experienced so many odd things over the last two weeks, but we’d internalized them as being ‘not our problem’. But it very much was. Perhaps if we’d really thought it over instead of being so optimistic about everything, we could’ve avoided what came next. But then again, we’d already made such an impact here, so why would we be allowed to escape?