151. The Catacombs (V)

They found the second Boss deep in the labyrinth. If not for Reina, Zane was sure he would've been stuck here for days—as it was it took them just three hours or so. Three pleasant hours for Zane. He learned a lot about Egyptian civilization from her. It was nice.

After the first hour or so, they started running across a new kind of Monster.

𝕊𝕥𝕠𝕟𝕖 𝕊𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕖𝕝 (𝕄𝕠𝕟𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕣)

𝔼𝕤𝕤𝕖𝕟𝕔𝕖 𝕃𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕝 𝟙𝟚𝟝

Stone golems, roughly hewn. They looked like something out of an ancient civilization. Earth and dark Laws poured out of them. They came stomping at him, eyes glowing.

Same deal. One Apocalypse Smash ran through a crowd of them. One blast of Stormfire cleared half a mile of tunnel.

Eventually, they came to the Boss lair. The tunnel opened up, allowing them to a chamber so high the ceiling was shrouded in shadow. Every footstep made an echo—and there it was. Stood statue-still in the middle of it. A stone monolith with a stone barrel for a torso, pillars for arms. Clay rings ran all over it.

𝔾𝕦𝕒𝕣𝕕𝕚𝕒𝕟 𝕠𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝔸𝕟𝕔𝕚𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕤 (𝕄𝕠𝕟𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕣)

𝔼𝕤𝕤𝕖𝕟𝕔𝕖 𝕃𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕝 𝟙𝟛𝟠

Its flat slit eyes flared bright the moment they set foot in the chamber. It started to stir.

Zane didn't even give it a chance to say a proper hello. Two Smashes—two colossal BOOM!s rang out. They sent cracks rippling through the chamber so violently he clutched Reina close to him, covering her; he was worried for a second it'd all come crashing. But it rumbled to a stop and held.

The Boss was gone. A pile of smoking stone; a weird black oil leaked out of the debris.

𝕃𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕝 𝕦𝕡!

𝔼𝕤𝕤𝕖𝕟𝕔𝕖 𝕃𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕝 𝟙𝟚𝟙 -> 𝟙𝟚𝟚

It left something behind.

𝔸𝕟𝕔𝕚𝕖𝕟𝕥 𝔾𝕦𝕒𝕣𝕕𝕚𝕒𝕟 𝕄𝕠𝕟𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕣 ℂ𝕠𝕣𝕖 (𝔸)

𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝔸𝕟𝕔𝕚𝕖𝕟𝕥 𝔾𝕦𝕒𝕣𝕕𝕚𝕒𝕟 𝕄𝕠𝕟𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕣 ℂ𝕠𝕣𝕖 𝕚𝕤 𝕒 𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕪 𝕣𝕒𝕣𝕖 𝕕𝕣𝕠𝕡. 𝕀𝕥𝕤 𝕦𝕤𝕖𝕤 𝕚𝕟𝕔𝕝𝕦𝕕𝕖 𝕓𝕖𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕔𝕠𝕣𝕖 𝕚𝕟𝕘𝕣𝕖𝕕𝕚𝕖𝕟𝕥 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝔸-𝕘𝕣𝕒𝕕𝕖 𝕒𝕣𝕞𝕠𝕣𝕤, 𝕓𝕖𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕓𝕒𝕤𝕖 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕒 ℂ𝕠𝕣𝕖 𝕊𝕡𝕚𝕣𝕚𝕥 𝕎𝕖𝕒𝕡𝕠𝕟 𝕨𝕖𝕝𝕕𝕚𝕟𝕘, 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕓𝕖𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕒 𝕜𝕖𝕪 𝕚𝕟𝕘𝕣𝕖𝕕𝕚𝕖𝕟𝕥 𝕚𝕟 𝕞𝕒𝕟𝕪 𝕒𝕟𝕔𝕚𝕖𝕟𝕥 𝕖𝕝𝕚𝕩𝕚𝕣𝕤.

They pocketed it for later. Reina said she'd figure out a use for it.

By the time they wound their way to the final staircase, he was almost disappointed. But they'd come out of it with a great haul already. They must've picked up a dozen or so A-rank treasures. In one dungeon they might've tripled their coffers. He thought it was neat. Reina, meanwhile, was pretty much glowing.

Most of it would go to his Auction fund, but it'd also help get a few of her pet projects—like that Alchemy lab—underway.

They stared into the murky depths. It curved into the darkness, and vanished. No sound came from down below, which was a little eerie.

"The second floor's Monsters were 20 Levels higher than the first…" murmured Reina. She frowned at the square of darkness going down. "What if the third floor's the same way?"

There was only one way to find out.

It was time to get serious again. As they stood before the entrance, she gave him a kiss. She pulled away with a determined look in her eyes. "I'm right behind you," she said, nodding all serious. He found it quite cute—he couldn't even explain why.

They went on through.

They got a glimpse early on of what was waiting for them.

The staircase went down the sides of a chamber, an enormous cylinder. It started off in darkness; a reddish glow streamed up from below. The instant they stepped foot in it, they felt a thick pressure blanket their souls; it came from down below—they could see the ground floor from up here. It was a circle of baked sandstone. Thick blood-red veins of light ran through it like fissures.

And there, right in the middle of it, was a dark misshapen lump. Chains that looked like they were made for cruise ships anchored it down to the chamber's edges. It wasn't moving. Its head was bowed. It was too far to Identify.

Zane took the pressure just fine, but Reina gave a little gasp.

Usually when she felt stressed she bottled it up. She felt she had to show a strong face for the Faction. She liked how around him she didn't have to. She took his arm and pressed up close. She liked how solid his body and soul felt. That was one of the main things she associated with him, he noticed. A sense of total reliability. No matter what happened he'd be there, holding strong.

The staircase wound down the edges of the chamber. Down, down, down…

The closer they got, the more they could make out the beast. Thick curving ram's horns sprouted out of its head. It had feathery wings that looked like they'd been dunked in tar. It looked like a giant spliced together with some bird of prey; it had talons for hands and feet. Its face was a gnarly collection of sharp angles.

𝕄𝕒𝕝𝕒𝕫, 𝔽𝕒𝕝𝕝𝕖𝕟 𝔸𝕟𝕘𝕖𝕝 (𝕄𝕠𝕟𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕣)

𝔼𝕤𝕤𝕖𝕟𝕔𝕖 𝕃𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕝 𝟙𝟜𝟟

It was the highest Leveled Monster he'd ever seen in person. They got even closer, almost at ground Level. Close enough to see those thick chains spreading from its arms, its legs, its neck—chains thrumming with massive rune powers. Suppressing it. Keeping it sleeping.

They were close enough now they could make out thick muscles bulging like boulders under its scaly skin…

Reina tensed at the sight of it. She held him tighter. But Zane felt pretty confident, all told.

It was a little higher Level than the Asura King. But he'd taken care of that no problem, and he'd grown a lot of Levels—and skill Levels—ever since. Plus, he had a secret weapon he didn't have back then.

The bundle of stress on his arm also known as Reina.

"What'll our battle plan be?" she said, chewing on a lip. "I have some ideas—"

"Heal me," Zane said simply. "And I will destroy it."

She blinked, let out a sigh. And nodded.

They made it to the ground floor.

The moment they did, the whole chamber began to rumble like an earthquake was happening deep underground. Cracks opened up in the walls, spewing dust. It was hard to stand up straight—a groaning thumping rolled down the walls. Like they stood in some massive drum and something was beating it from the outside. Those red veins snaking under their feet started to shine…

Malaz raised its head. Its eyes were two stark-white pits.

It let out a scream—something like grating metal and rumbling thunder, nothing any animal would make. Something horribly unnatural.

And the chains binding its arms, its legs, its throat, snapped violently. One by one.

It rose to its full height. Elemental Laws of Darkness and Lightning swirled around it, a bleak crackling wind. It let out a roar—there was that sound again. Black sparks flickered out of its mouth, sizzling the air.

Then it trained its eyes on Zane.

They went at each other at the same time.

Stormfire rained from the sky—Malaz spewed out a strike. Thunderclouds streamed out of its mouth, pitch-black, seething with black lightning—a sea of it all at once. The sheer density of its essence was breathtaking.

It met an Apocalypse Smash.

And erupted.

Stormfire tore right through the lightning—but there was so much of it, and so dense, that it smothered the Smash too. The blast tore through the room, rippling up the walls—by the end of it they'd both flared out.

Then Zane's second Smash crashed straight into Malaz's craggy head.

The eruption was so strong it sent the beast reeling back, crashing into the ground—flattening it in a burning crater. It gave an awful shriek.

His Stormfire sank into it, tearing up black lightning like a predator mauling its prey. It was clear their Laws weren't on the same level.

But the thing was just so dense...there was so much to burn through. Malaz picked itself back up, snorting and snarling. Half its face was burning—it sported a nasty dent.

And fury poured out from it.

Its essence loomed larger, burned brighter as that fury rose and rose; a glut of black lightning smoked from its mouth—

Zane was still reloading when it struck him.

It felt like being thrust in the middle of a raging thundercloud. Its powers gored into him, heavy and shocking. Stabbing like thick knives through his skin, and spreading with electric quickness. In a moment he felt a chunk of his health smoke out.

But then there was warmth. Behind him Reina cried out; he felt healing pour into him—and a chunk came right back.

The two forces wrestled with each other. The Final Boss had over thirty Levels on Reina. And a Law advantage too. But Reina was very stubborn. She couldn't hope to match it, but she blunted it a surprising amount.

If his Health had been dropping at 5% a second a moment ago, it'd gone to half that rate now.

By then Zane's Smashes had fully reloaded.

Two more Smashes raged down from above—and drove the Monster straight into the ground. BOOM-BOOM!

It shuddered and choked, furious, hurt, sporting two new shiny craters—the nice thing about Stormfire was it just built on top of itself. Like a poison. The longer you let it linger, the worse it got; the Boss' scales were turning to putty. Its wings were melting like wax.

They went back and forth like this, over and over.

Malaz crawled back up—and unleashed another thunderstorm blast at him. And his Smashes swiveled around like slingshots and crushed it flat again. BOOM-BOOM! They blasted and smashed, blasted and smashed—

And it was pretty clear Zane was getting the upper hand. Five exchanges in, Malaz was dripping like a wax statue left too long in the sun. You could see the muscles scorched under the scales; Its skull was half caved in. It must be under 50%. Zane, meanwhile, hadn't even gotten his first Health notification yet.

He felt even more confident than before. Almost relaxed about the whole thing. His theory was right. With Reina at his side, and a strong Law advantage, even top A-Rank Bosses couldn't do much to him anymore. Even just this simple tit-for-tat brute-force strategy got the job done quite well.

Maybe only A+-Ranked Bosses—or S-ranked ones—would be an interesting challenge for him now…

He nodded. He was done with this 'Malaz'. He just kept crushing it down; he figured he could wade in and finish it faster if he wanted, but he found this kind of amusing. The more he smashed it, the more its fury turned to despair—it kept howling and blasting, but it wasn't doing much. He felt its shock. Why wasn't the human going down?

It was that green aura wrapping him, the creature was realizing.

Then its eyes swiveled to Reina. And it had another realization. Its eyes narrowed.

Zane went very still then.

Its throat started burning, loading up a furious attack; it raised its mouth to aim at her—

It didn't get the shot off.

Its mouth was forced shut. By a Stormfire Fist uppercut so vicious it ruptured its jaw in seven places.

The explosion flipped it head-over-heels so fast it's skull sank a full foot into the ground. It didn't even have time to scream. Zane let out a furious bellow; his whole body was a raging bonfire of pure Stormfire. Another big fist rained down on the thing, crushing its snout to a nose, then its nose to a crater. Its eyeballs rolled about in panic in its quickly-shattering skull. It tried bucking, throwing him off, throwing more lightning at him—it was no use.

Nothing could get Zane off of it then. He crushed another fist into it, then another, then rained an elbow so brutal it the force went through its head—and caved in the whole platform behind it. Explosions detonated over its face again and again. Until that Level 150 Final Boss Monster's skull cracked like an egg, and its smushed-up brains poured out like yolk.

It twitched, died—Zane kept smashing. And smashing. And smashing—up until the moment it turned to white light and vanished. By then he'd dug a smoking crater twenty feet into the ground.

𝕊𝕜𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕦𝕡!

𝕊𝕥𝕠𝕣𝕞𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕖 𝔽𝕚𝕤𝕥 𝕀𝕀𝕀 -> 𝕀𝕍

𝕃𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕝 𝕦𝕡!

𝔼𝕤𝕤𝕖𝕟𝕔𝕖 𝕃𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕝 𝟙𝟚𝟚 -> 𝟙𝟚𝟛

𝕃𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕝 𝕦𝕡!

𝔼𝕤𝕤𝕖𝕟𝕔𝕖 𝕃𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕝 𝟙𝟚𝟛 -> 𝟙𝟚𝟜

He was still breathing heavy by the end of it; his whole chest heaved—with fury or exertion, he wasn't sure. His fists were bloody—he'd smashed so hard he'd torn the skin off his own knuckles. His blood was boiling. Everything seemed red to him. He felt so—so—

He looked up at Reina, who was staring at him, mouth a little open. "…Zane?"

Which snapped him out of it.

He blinked. Shook his head. Looked around. At his fists, at the crater, at the spot where the Monster had just been…

…

What just got into him?

𝔸-ℝ𝕒𝕟𝕜 𝔻𝕦𝕟𝕘𝕖𝕠𝕟 ℂ𝕒𝕥𝕒𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕓 𝕠𝕗 𝔽𝕒𝕝𝕝𝕖𝕟 𝔸𝕟𝕘𝕖𝕝𝕤 𝕙𝕒𝕤 𝕓𝕖𝕖𝕟 𝕔𝕝𝕖𝕒𝕣𝕖𝕕!

…Maybe Reina wasn't the only one with a protective instinct.

He scratched his head.

Reina rushed up to him, stroked him like a handler taming some great beast. "Are you alright?"

He nodded. "Yeah. Just… got mad."

"Oh." For some reason Reina felt a flush of warmth at that.

It took him a few minutes to calm all the way down.

Weird.

Anyway.

He wondered what an A-rank dungeon chest had in store for him.