Path of the Pioneers

Adeline ducked underneath another one of the boss’s errant swings, steeling herself to counterattack. She stopped short when its swing kept going all the way around itself. She hopped back, looking around. If Sybil had been anywhere near its right side, or gods forbid behind it, she was almost certainly hit. Would the skill deactivate just from that, though?

She felt Sybil’s presence suddenly reappear, and then felt something else; saw something else. A beam of magic shot out from where Sybil was standing, along with a sound that rang out like muffled thunder, almost instantly piercing through the boss’s legs. It barely had a chance to move before horrific spikes grew out from the initial beam, just about severing its legs by the knees.

The creature let loose a roar, and Adeline readied herself to face a brutal onslaught, before it wobbled for a moment, and then fell backwards onto the ground. A loud rumble went out through the room, dust filling the air from the impact.

“Gods..” Adeline muttered to herself, gripping her swords tight. Sybil had just disabled a dungeon boss with one spell. “Oh.” She watched as the very same mage clutched at her head, and then fell over against the ground. Alive, but out of the fight.

To Adeline’s mind, Sybil was impressive as could be. A mage that could learn to wield a weapon, not to mention one that could severely wound a dungeon boss as if it were as easy as breathing.. She had a long day, though. Adeline silently promised to do the rest of the work herself, in order to make up for what Sybil had been through.

A scratchy, grumbling voice came from the boss, speaking out words in a foreign, almost alien language. Interspersed throughout were words spoken in common, with that same regal tone, “W-worthless.. Rats…” One of its fists pounded against the dust, and one of the few remaining imps shrieked out in terror. “S-swear.. By the abyss..” It reached out, clawed hand grabbing at one of the imp’s torsos. “You.. Will.. Perish here.”

It squeezed, and all manner of awful noises came forth from the imp’s body. Its rib cage cracked and shattered loudly, its screams and cries filled the room, green blood ran freely down its lips and onto its neck. Before long, it fell limp. But it did not turn to smoke.

Adeline was frozen in place. Not out of fear, she would never admit to that. There was something wrong. Catastrophically wrong.

“You.. Will.. Suffer.. Here.” It opened its mouth wide, revealing those same sharp teeth. The other two imps were on their hands and knees, whimpering and sobbing loudly, crying out desperate pleas in that scratchy language. The dead imp was pulled up into the boss’s open maw, its teeth gnashing down on its bare neck and shoulders. Viciously, savagely, it began to eat the imp whole. The wet sounds of bone being crunched and crushed against teeth mixed with the incomprehensible wailing of the other imps.

The boss’s right leg began jittering slightly, shaking as if possessed by some unseen force. Sinew and flesh began to coil its way around that gaping wound, reaching and grabbing as it kept eating the imp.

“Stop this!” Adeline shouted, but she realized almost immediately that her words fell on deaf ears. Or, more specifically, her yelling simply failed to cut through the noise. Words wouldn’t do a thing here.

They never did.

Adeline rushed towards the two imps that were still alive, still cowering on the left side of the boss. Before the creature could react to her presence there, still occupied with its meal, she grabbed the other two imps by the back of their tattered robes, throwing them as hard as she could behind her. They flew a few meters before rolling in the dirt.

Even if she tried her very hardest, she wouldn’t have been able to explain why she did it. They were monsters. She had slain dozens and dozens of them at this point. Yet in this moment, she felt a sickening sympathy fill her chest. The creature in front of her was evil incarnate, some wicked demon from beyond the veil with cruelty in its heart beyond the capacity of man.

The fear in those imps’ voices, in their eyes and demeanor.. It wasn’t fake. Adeline was certain of it.

And it disturbed her to her core.

A hand the size of her head flew towards her, seeking to pummel her as the boss continued to finish the last few scraps. Adeline gratefully accepted the attack, stabbing the Fangs outward. Its fist was driven against the swords, the blades piercing deep into its flesh. Green, sizzling blood hissed around the ground, even running down the hilts of her swords. It burned against her flesh like acid.

She pushed down the pain, drawing her swords from the creature’s flesh and leaping back as she felt its hand stir. If she hadn’t been careful, it could have taken her weapons from her by sacrificing a hand.

With great effort, the boss began to push itself off of the ground. Before long, it was once again standing up, just on one leg, this time. From what Adeline could see, it had somehow managed to repair its right leg, while the left was only slightly patched up. Somehow, this thing could heal itself through the consumption of its underlings.

“That’s beyond cruel..”

It had taken up the scimitar once again, and seemed more than keen in facing Adeline once more in single-combat. Luckily, she was just as interested in facing it. She began swinging her swords around in smooth arcs, finally utilizing [Cirix Phoenix Blade]. Aura built up bit by bit, eventually allowing the swords to ignite naturally. Instead of the dull, quiet embers from before, though, there were now roaring flames. Fire so bright that the blades beneath almost became hidden completely.

The boss swung down at her with its scimitar, threatening to slash her in two if she were to be hit.

[Precognition]

[Swiftness]

Adeline stepped to the side, the boss’s scimitar just barely slashing at the ends of her hair, the sound of whizzing by ringing in her ears. She slashed towards its leg with her left sword, cutting through cleanly to once again sever its limb at the knee. She weaved between its legs, readying for its final strike before it would fall to the ground.

A heavy swing from its scimitar came from its right side, striking at her even as she stood where its back had once been. She blocked it with both of her blades, but the weight of the blows reverberated throughout her body, sending her back a meter or so. The boss now stood on what it had left, its height brought down after losing a significant portion of its legs. Hate filled its eyes, and the symbol on its iris seemed to be pulsating and glowing vibrantly.

“What is your name, girl?” It hissed out, venom seeping from its words just like the hissing substance leaking from its wounds.

“Adeline Cirix.” She spoke flatly, uninterested in exchanging pleasantries with the monster in front of her. Still, she saw it as valuable time to keep building up aura in her swords through [Cirix Phoenix Blade]. She opted to entertain its line of conversation for the time being, even if to simply spend the time idly slash her blades around.

“I am Fulkos.” It grimaced, before continuing, “Climber of the ranks of silver keys, and one who would be the Viscount of ░░░░░░░░” It spoke some manner of word in that scratchy language, but Adeline couldn’t process it for the life of her. “I.. Am impressed by your display. But you will meet your end here.”

Adeline was tempted to close her eyes. This kind of speech was typical for an evil beast such as this one. Both legs severed and yet it insisted that it would triumph in the end.

It was laughable.

The monster sprung forward, slashing towards her with a renewed vigor. Faster, and stronger than it had been before. She dove forward, flying underneath the scimitar and recovering back onto her feet with a quick roll. The monster was behind her, on its hands and legs like a wild beast. It hadn’t quite managed to turn towards her yet.

Adeline activated [Swiftness] and [Precognition] once more, in order to make the next few moments count. In a few steps, she dashed towards the beast, and then onto its back. On the way up, she jabbed one sword into its flesh, striking where its lungs should have been. Concluding [Cirix Phoenix Blade], she released the energy stored within the lone sword, a burst of flame aura searing itself into the boss’s insides.

It let out a roar, smoke pluming out of its mouth before it fell limp against the ground. Not dead. Not yet.

She plunged the second sword into its neck, prodding through the monster’s spine and hacking through it with the tip. The aura was released, causing a reverberation throughout the boss’s body. Seared flesh gave way, and the thing’s head fell limp to the ground.

Baleful eyes stared up at her as it rolled over. Its lips quivered for a few moments, and then words finally came out, “Why..? I thought I was strong enough.. I thought..” The head faded to ash, and then smoke. The rest of its body followed suit, Adeline’s swords clattering to the ground unceremoniously.

[Congratulations! You have defeated the boss of “Old Adamant Mines”!]