Chapter 120: 3) The Dungeon of kraken.
Darkness swallowed everything for a heartbeat.
Then,
WHOOSH!!!
The seawater receded violently in reverse, like the world itself was coughing them out.
The skeletal ship bobbed on the ocean, this time under a sky painted in deep, molten shades of orange and violet.
Jagged cliffs of obsidian rose on either side of the massive subterranean lake they now floated in, and above, floating impossibly high in the sky was a blood-red moon, cracked in half, bleeding magic like mist.
How magical, they were teleported once again right before their eyes.
[Floor 2 – Initiated]
A blue hologram appeared in front of everyone.
It was dungeon consciousness.
...
Alan stepped forward on the deck of the skeletal ship, the cold water sloshing around his leather boots as he squinted at the weird landscape.
His blade still hummed faintly from the last battle hungry for more, the residual sword aura twitching in the air like static electric current.
"What kind of hell is this? This feels too unreal... " Zara muttered, igniting her daggers with a flick of flame, ready to throw them.
Ami floated beside them, her pale skin was little stable now.
And the anti-heal curse had finally lifted thanks to the skill she learned, some curse ends after the caster dies but some don't.
"This... this floor isn't part of a dungeon anymore. This is a sealed realm... an extension of the Nether Vein itself."
Suddenly, the ship shuddered.
SKRRRAAANGGG!!!
Something massive struck the water beneath. The ship lifted a full meter off the surface before splashing back down violently, yet it was completely fine.
"Prepare yourselves!" Eva barked, gripping her hammer tightly.
A tremor shot through the water, then, there was silence for a moment before,
KRRRRRRRKKKKK!!!
A fiery fissure split the lake, revealing an abyssal trench glowing from within like magma veins.
From it emerged something worse than the Kraken.
A colossal, flaming centipede, at least a hundred meters long, with legs hard to count, slithered from the crevice.
Its exoskeleton was made of jagged black metal, plates glowing like volcanic stone.
Chains pierced its body at irregular gaps found in such insects, attached to the walls of the cave if it was being forcibly restrained.
Its head bore multiple burning eyes, and its maw spewed molten fire.
A notification flared in Alan's view.
[Hellbound Centilord – Abyss Class Guardian]
[Status: Sealed/Enraged]
[Warning: Prolonged contact will result in incineration.]
"Oh, great," Tia shouted.
"That thing looks like it eats monsters for breakfast."
She wasn't wrong.
They are definitely tied to a full grown western dragon, if not slightly weaker.
Krrrrrrr~
The Centilord roared, a deafening, metallic screech that made the ship's bones vibrate, and launched a fireball the size of a boulder straight at them.
Alan didn't hesitate.
He stepped forward, raised his sword, and summoned a fireball of his own, one that burned not red or yellow but bright orange, like superheated metal.
"Abyssfire: Collapse Sphere."
The fireball was no ordinary spell.
It pulsed unnaturally, distorting the air, warping space around its edges as if it were melting the very fabric of the realm.
He hurled it forward.
It collided with the Centilord's fireball mid-air, creating a large explosion.
BOOOOOOM!!!
The resulting explosion wasn't just heat, it ripped reality sending a strong heatwave everywhere.
The shockwave was so powerful, it split the lake in two for 5 seconds, and the skeletal ship almost tossed over.
A rift in space opened behind the Centilord, sucking in chunks of molten rock.
"Now!" Alan roared. "Push while it's staggered!"
Tia was already moving.
She launched into the air with a simple wind spell and with her staff glowing like a mini-sun.
"Stormlight Surge: Thunder Wreath!"
Electric chains danced in the air, wrapping around the Centilord's legs.
Eva leapt from the bow of the ship like a comet, hammer first.
CRACK!!!
She struck one of its segments, cracking open molten plates and revealing flaming tissue beneath.
It felt like this creature was made from lava.
Zara moved next, vanishing in a blink of flame and reappearing above the beast. Her daggers expanded mid-air into a flaming whip, slashing downward in a fiery spiral.
She really doesn't lack magical weapons.
Ami remained behind, channeling a defensive barrier over the team as she chanted an ancient protective spell... golden flowers blooming in the air around her.
Krrrrrr~ Kkkiiiiii~
The Centilord roared again, this time the chains attached to it began to snap one by one, magical seals burning away.
"Shit. It's unlocking itself," Eva growled.
"We need to stop it before it breaks free... Otherwise it can run and attack us,"
Alan's sword began to pulse in rhythm with his heartbeat like a true anime protagonist, it was as if sword and human both were one, no cap.
He closed his eyes, and for a moment, the air around him dropped several degrees.
Then...
"Sword Domain: Void Edge..."
The world slowed down.
A circular zone extended from Alan's feet, maybe 50 meters across.
Inside it, time twisted. Blades of pure aura sprouted like ethereal grass, each one humming with condensed intent.
It was something he learned from thatvwerod scholar that was reading the story of Lustful Young Master.
Swoosh!
Alan vanished.
He appeared on the Centilord's head, mid-air, then, without shouting or speaking nonsense, he did what he had to.
SLASH!!
SLASH!! SLASH!! SLASH!!
Dozens of cuts appeared simultaneously across the monster's body.
Krrrr! kiiii~ krickkkk...
The beast screamed, its flame flickering, the metal plates like skin crumbling under the strong sword aura.
But it wasn't enough.
The Centilord flared in rage, unleashed a pillar of black fire from its mouth, aiming directly at Zara and Ami.
Ami reacted too late.
But Alan was faster.
He threw his sword like a comet, and mid-flight, it split into multiple copies, each glowing with orange voidfire, intercepting the flame.
BOOM!!!
The counterattack worked, but the force knocked Alan back his body slammed into a jagged spire.
He coughed blood.
[Boss enraged.... ]
[Enraged duration: 10 minutes... ]
[ All stats tripled during enraged state... ]
[Boss is breaking free from chains... ]
[Boss's abilities evolved ]
[Boss has entered the regeneration state, Boss will now recover it's hp ]
[Prepare for round 2, worms ]