Chapter Eighty-Seven

As the gorilla's cries were silenced, Edward turned his attention to the opposite side of the platform. By now, the other battle had ended. The three gorillas tasked with attacking Markus and the others were defeated, though the victors took on a heavy toll. Brandon was hanging on a thread and Markus's body was battered beyond belief.

Neither of them were dead, thankfully. As Edward approached the group, he let out a deep sigh and looked at Leila. The woman wasn't injured, at least not badly, but her face was pale. She appeared to be out of mana. As Edward approached, she nodded to him and looked at Ikarus. The young dragon was resting on the ground, his body battered almost as badly as Markus's. Many of Ikarus's platinum scales had fallen to the ground like petals from a flower, but there was luckily no blood staining the ground below him.

"Is it… over?" Markus breathed. He was lying on his back, so he couldn't see Edward's approach. 

"I believe so," Edward nodded.

"Hmm? What do you mean? There are only three XP notifications," Leila said. Edward turned to her, confused, then opened his own system. He gazed at the notification screen and quickly counted the recent additions.

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+5% XP

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+5% XP

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+5% XP

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'How? I killed the boss!' Edward thought to himself. Then, Edward heard the sound of shifting bones and rock from behind him. Chills ran down his spine as Edward quickly turned around. The gorilla, the same one he had killed only a moment prior, was somehow still alive.

"Oh, c'mon!" Edward groaned as he turned to face his foe. Edward expected the gorilla to roar and charge at him like it had done many times during their fight, but the gorilla did no such thing. It stood still, like a statue, as it slowly turned its gaze to Edward's. The gorilla's deep blue eyes became dim.

"Alright, how low is it?" Leila asked as she looked forward. 

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Frozen Skeleton Gorilla (FLOOR BOSS)

HP: 0/1125 (Stuck in Suspended Animation)

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"How? It's dead!" Leila muttered, surprised. Edward ignored the monster's health, instead choosing to gaze at the monster's new status condition. He had never heard of suspended animation, yet he already knew it wasn't good news.

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Suspended Animation

This condition is the result of an interrupted death caused by another party. When a creature is not allowed to die, it will enter suspended animation. Several methods are capable of causing this phenomenon. Necromancy, soul magic, temporary immortality, divine intervention, and spiritual possession are just a few examples.

This corpse has been possessed by [??? (DUNGEON BOSS OF THE WINTER CATACOMBS)]

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'It's the final boss of the entire dungeon! What is it doing here?' Edward realized with a shock. In the next moment, however, his focus was turned away from the notification in front of him as the gorilla began to speak. 

"The monkey's been defeated once more?" The gorilla muttered with a voice as deep as the abyss itself. It stood up straight and looked into Edward's eyes. Despite its broken body, the gorilla calmly gazed at Edward. The rage that once fueled its actions was nowhere to be found.

Edward didn't know how to reply to the possessed gorilla. He wasn't even entirely sure if the gorilla was speaking directly to him, as its eyes were unfocused and dazed. He and the party members behind him slowly prepared themselves for combat— some quicker than others. Markus had to lean on his sword to keep himself standing, but his expression was cold and serious. 

Then, with a voice that seemed not its own, it spoke once more. This time, the monster talked with a normal tone of speech and a perfected accent, "I had expected to find the usual challengers when I decided to climb up here, but now that I've seen you, I've become curious. Something about you is very different from the usual brutes that come my way. Something mysterious and hidden, perhaps, that separates you from them. What is it?"

"Did it turn crazy? Since when could monsters talk, anyways?" Markus muttered with a groan of pain. Edward ignored his friend. His attention was focused on the gorilla, so he didn't have enough concentration to spare on replying to Markus's question. For some reason, he found himself captivated by the gorilla's words.

The gorilla leaned closer to Edward, its eyes narrowing in curiosity. Then, as if it had seen something remarkable, the gorilla's head jerked back, and surprise dawned on its face.

"I can sense the first flame hidden within your soul!" The gorilla turned to Edward with a sharp gaze. The gorilla's expression of surprise and curiosity disappeared and was replaced with rage and fear, "If that is true, then that means... I have been deceived! A thousand years I have spent here at the bottom of this worthless hole, waiting on a promise that was never kept!" 

The gorilla roared, then gazed upward at the ceiling. Its voice spread away from the monster's body and shattered the ground around the beast as it spread around the room, causing Edward and the others to stumble down to the ground. Edward fell to his knees and turned to look at the monster, as his mind became overwhelmed.

As the gorilla turned to look upwards, its eyes seemed to pierce the dungeon above as the gorilla stared at an unseen entity. 

"Liar! Deceiver! Charlatan! Listen well, teller of false tales, to whom I speak! You have lied and bound me here for a thousand years with your false and honeyed words. As the world moved on without me, I have been rotting away in this barren place, unaware of your trickery. I now curse you! I curse you to your immortal grave, you fabricator! Count your days, for I will ensure you never find rest, even in death!"

A rumble shook the dungeon as the gorilla spoke, its voice like a tsunami that would soon overwhelm the gorilla's surroundings.

Then, Edward's attention was brought to the gorilla's body as he watched its skeletal body begin to glow. However, this glow was much deeper than the bright blue shine that used to cover the gorilla's spine. Its hue turned deep red as the skeleton's bones cracked and groaned. As time passed, the violet glow emanating from the skeleton grew brighter as a low thrum began to echo around the room.

"Shit! It's gonna blow!" Edward realized. Markus quickly stepped forward and he used his sword as a cane. He stopped just in front of the group and then slammed his sword into the ground. He raised his palm to his chest and activated his healing skill. His passive skill, [Intermediate Healing Aura], replicated that healing effect on everybody within five meters of Markus's location. 

Luckily, that included the entire group. Edward watched as his HP bar climbed. Within ten seconds, his HP was back to full. This explosive healing power began to spread to everybody else, though Markus's MP quickly dropped because of it. Once everybody was fully healed, Edward looked at Markus and found him devoid of any MP.

"Prepare yourselves!" Markus warned. Edward and the others nodded as they gathered behind Markus. Each of them gazed at the glowing ball of violet light before them. By now, the light was so bright that Edward couldn't even see the gorilla's original figure.

Then, like a balloon filled with too much water, it exploded.