Krion helped Hatsuo her feet, her injured frame leaning heavily against him. Her breathing was steady, but her steps were hesitant. When she saw the on his face, the Leporine pushed herself to stand unaided.
“I’ll be right behind you,” she said, moving slowly but steadily. “The is helping, I just need a few mio adjust.”
“Alright,” Krion nodded, pulling his arm bad giving her some room. “So, pn. Apart from the stairs back up and the pool we nded in, that doorway over there is practically screaming that the Boss is over there. I figure we take a look to see what we are fag and if there is anything in the Boss’s room we might use in the fight.”
“Sounds good,” Hatsune nodded. She did some quick squats, wing, then readied her longsword.
“You sure you hahis?”
“Believe it or not, I’ve had worse,” she said, making a face halfway between a smile and a grimace. “As long as I’m just pying a supp role, I’ll be ok.”
“Ok, if you’re sure,” Krion said. Despite his for the Leporine, he was gd that he was going to have help tag the Boss. If the creature was anything like those that he had faced off against with his friends ba Earth, it was going to be an uphill battle, and he was going to need all the help he could get.
Without another work, Krion readied his greatsword and slowly made his way to the opening he had seen before. He took his time, both to make sure Hatsune was doing ok and to make sure there were no more of those lizardmen hiding around them. The soft glow of the lumi moss on the walls barely illumiheir surroundings, but it was enough for him to tell if they were the only ones left on this floor or not. Thankfully, it appeared they were, as nothing attacked as they arrived before the opening.
Uhe natural roations around it, the walls immediately surrounding the opening were smooth and deliberate looking. Krio his pulse qui as they approached, w what kind of mohey would have to face. Hector had said it was a different one every time, but given that he had clearly aimed to see both Krion and Hatsune dead, he was not going to trust a word he said.
As they moved closer, the air grew colder, and a faint hum filled the silence. Krion slowed his steps, his eyes narrowing as he caught the sight of faint patterched into the stone around the opening. At first, they appeared to be random grooves, but as they he grooves began to shimmer, faintly glowing with eerie, shifting blue light. Hatsuensed beside him, her ears fixing forward as they detected faint sounds from within.
“Dungeon runes,” she whispered, her voice barely audible though she was only feet away. “This is defihe Boss Room. We o be careful.”
Krion frowned, his hand tightening around the hilt of the sged greatsword. The Dungeon runes were intricate and otherworldly, their shapes flowing together in ways that defied logid made it impossible to dis any meaning from them. As they lit up, one by ohe glow spread to cover the edges of the opening, creating an archway of pulsating blue light. The hum grew louder, resonating in his chest like the thrum of a distant drum.
“Do you think it’s a trap?” he asked, voice just as low as Hatsune’s.
Hatsune shook her head. “No, from what my father said, this is just how Dungeons indicate rooms that hold a Boss. We should be ok to take a look inside.” She poio the runes. “So long as we don’t step past those, the Boss shouldn’t attack.”
“Alright, let’s take a look then.”
They stepped up just to the edge of the glowing archway. The air ing from ihe room was colder still, carrying the metallig of old blood and the faint st of decay. The room beyond was massive, the walls disappearing into shadow far above them. A faint light emanated from glowing braziers spaced unevenly around the chamber, their flickering fmes casting long, dang shadows.
Krion’s eyes swept the room, taking in the yout. The floor was uone, worn smooth in some pces and jagged in others. Thick pilrs, most pin but for the occasional cracks through them, rose from the ground. Four had Dungeon runes on them, f a rough square around the ptform, and Krion could tell that was going to be important. s hung from the pilrs and random spots from the ceiling, swaying slightly like they had just been disturbed. Some were thid heavy, while others were thiheir ends tipped with hooks that gleamed silver and b the dim light.
At the ter of the room stood a raised ptform, and atop it, the Boss waited.
The creature was a hulking monstrosity, its form both humanoid and grotesque. Standing at least three times Krion’s height, it was covered in mottled, bed flesh. Its limbs were unnaturally long and muscur, ending in massive hands tipped with razor-sharp cws. Its face was a nightmare, a featureless void save for tw orbs of molten red light where its eyes should have been. Around its neck, a heavy iron colr was attached to several of the s that hung from the ceiling, though the s the s suggested they were more for show than actual restraint.
The Boss let out a low, guttural growl as it turs bzing gaze toward them. Its presence was suffog, the sheer malice radiating from it pressing down on Krion and Hatsune like a Physical weight. With difficulty, Krion pushed the feeling away and focused on thinking through the best way to kill it.
The creature moved, its s rattling as it desded from the ptform with a slow, plodding gait. Each step it took echoed through the chamber, a chilling indicator of its immense weight and strength. Krion’s mind raced as he sidered their options. The room was vast, with plenty of spaaneuver, but the s hanging from the pilrs and ceiling created a maze of obstacles that could easily wainst them.
“I think I’ve got an idea,” Hatsune said, her voice steadier now despite her injuries. “If we use those s to slow it down, we chip away at it.”
“I was thinking the same,” Krion agreed, his eyes tinuing to s the room, making sure he hadn’t missed anything. “Those pilrs… I think they are covered in the same runes as the entrahey might be tied to the fight somehow. If we figure out what they do—”
The Boss roared, cutting him off. The sound was deafening, a mix e and challehat reverberated through the chamber. The s hanging from the ceiling began to rattle violently, some of them snapping taut as if pulled by invisible hands.
The glowing runes of the archulsed red ond then died.
Krion and Hatsune barely had time to react before one of the s shed out, the jagged hook at its end burying itself ione floor mere inches from where they stood.
“Move!” Krion shouted, grabbing Hatsune and pullio the side as another struck the ground where they had been standing. The Boss advanced, its molten eyes fixed on them as it dragged its ces behind it.
Krion’s heart pounded as he adjusted his grip on the greatsword. He thought they had been safe outside the room, but apparently, they had been too close and a tdown had triggered.
“Alright, here’s the pn,” he said quickly, pushing his fear away. “Sihe s are attag us, we should focus on figuring out what is so special about those glowing pilrs. If the Boss gets too close, I’ll get its attentio’s move!”
The Boss roared again, a sound that made the braziers’ fmes flicker and the s overhead tremble again. Krioered the room first, Hatsune close behind. He led them to skirt the edges of the chamber, his eyes dartiween the approag Boss and the glowing pilr. The problem was going to be how they could reach it without getting skewered by the thrashing s or ing within range of the Boss. This wasn’t going to work.
“We o split up!” Krion shouted, dodging a that shed out with blinding speed. The bde at its end embedded itself in the ground, sending shards of stone flying.
“I’ll head right!” Hatsune called back, darting behind a nearby pin pilr for cover with a curse. “I ’t move fast enough like this!”
She wasn’t wrong. The Leporine’s leg was still clearly slowing her usually nimble movements. Krion cursed, his gaze dartiween Hatsune and the Boss, the monster tinuing to stalk towards them.
“Do what you !” Kiron barked. “Just keep yourself safe first!”
Without waiting for an aowledgment, Krion surged forward, his greatsword swinging in a wide arc as he aimed at a swinging toward his face. The bde ected with a screeetal oal, the force of the strike sending vibrations up his arms and throwing the back. Sparks flew, but the remained intact, merely recoiling like a snake before striking out at him again. Krion barely ducked in time, the end of the missing his head by inches.
The Boss abruptly surged forward, raising an arm thick as a tree trunk. Its cws came down like a falling guillotine, f Krion to throw himself to the side. The impact of the cws against the grou a crater ione floor where he had been standing. Additional s began to crawl across the ceiling in the dire of Krion and Hatsune.
“Those s are going to keep us pinned if we don’t figure this out fast!” Hatsune called from her cover.
“I’m w on it!” Krion snapped.
He dashed toward the glowing pilr, his movemeic to avoid the occasional lumbering strike from the Boss who had slowed back down. Another shed out, catg his ankle and pulling him off bance. Krion hit the ground hard, pain fring up his side. The began to tighten, dragging him backward toward the approag Boss.
“Krion!” Hatsune shouted in panic.
Gritting his teeth, Krion twisted his body, swinging his greatsword upward with all his strength. The bde easily severed the thinner , and he scrambled to his feet before the Boss could close the distance.
“Don’t worry about me, get to one of the other pilrs!” Krion yelled just as he reached the pilr he had been aiming for. His free hand traced the glowing ruheir heat surprising against his fiips.
“Hurry up!” Hatsune called out, now dartiween pilrs, using limply hanging s as cover.
The Boss ignored her, still trying to get within range of Krion. More s dropped down from overhead, splitting to head after them both. They were running out of time.
Krion smmed his palm ft against the runes on the pilr. They fred brighter, and a jolt of energy coursed through him. The s above rattled violently, and the Boss let out an earsplitting roar.
“That did something!” Hatsune called. “Get to the one!”
Krion didn’t have time to reply. The Boss charged again, its massive fain pig up speed. Krion dove to the side, the monster’s cws raking deep gouges into the pilr he had just activated.
“Hatsune,” he called while desperately opening the distaween himself and the Boss. “I need you to do exactly what I just did to both glowing pilrs on your side!”
“What?!” she yelled back, her voice strained as she dodged a . “I didn’t see what you did!”
“Just smack your hand against the rune!” Krion shouted back, rushing towards the glowing pilr, the Boss slowly falling behind. “Trust me!”
The Boss let loose a grinding growl, its movements being more erratic as the s swung in towards Krion with increased fury. The monster seemed to sense what they were doing, its calg gaze snappiween Krion and Hatsuhe moment the Leporiivated her pilr, the Boss lunged in her dire, cws leading. Krion’s stomach dropped as the Boss began to pick up speed again.
Smming his entire free arm against the lowing pilr on his side, he bounced off the upthrust stone and sprinted after the Boss. He pushed himself to go faster as the monster got within range of his bodyguard. It raised its cws high.
“No!”
Hatsune spun, face grim and eyes locked at the desding attack. At the st sed, she threw herself to the side, longswing to cut a long bck line across the outhrust leg of the Boss. It roared in pain, swinging in reflex back at the cause of its injury.
Which was when Krion got within range.
He put all of his momentum into a sweeping ssh at the Boss, cleaving a massive gash across its lower back. It roared again, fetting Hatsune as it spun to face its test attacker. One cwed hand came lunging in from the side, and he raised his greatsword in a desperate block as Hatsune scrambled to open some distaweehe force of the impact sent him skidding backward, his arms screaming in protest.
“Krion!”
“I’m fine,” he grunted. “Get to the st pilr! Go!”
Hatsune nodded, her movements slowing down, but still determined as she limped toward the final pilr. Krion faced the Boss, greatsword raised as he prepared to buy her as much time as she needed.
The Boss shrieked, the s hanging o Krion shing out in every dire. Krion ducked and weaved, each swing of his sword defleg a as he struggled to stay ahead of the lunging strikes of the Boss. His arms felt like lead, his breath ing in ragged gasps, but he forced himself to keep moving.
“Hatsune!”
“Got it!” she gasped.
As Hatsune smmed her hand against the final pilr, a surge of energy filled the chamber. The runes on all four pilrs bzed oh brilliant light, and the s overhead trembled violently before snapping taut. The Boss howled in agony, its massive body vulsing as waves of s ed around it, dragging it toward the ter of the room. With a squeal, several tons of monster was smmed into the edge of the ptform, smming the Boss down on its ba the middle of where it had been standing when Krion and Hatsune had first arrived at the room. The squealing reached a higher pitch as the s tio tighten around the body of the Boss, cutting deep into its bed flesh. Despite the pain, it began using its cws to frantically break the s that held it.
Krion tore his gaze from the Boss to look over to Hatsune, and his breath caught as he saw her slender form slumped heavily against the final pilr. The brilliant fre of the runes had cast her in stark relief, her silver hair glistening with sweat and her ears slumped in exhaustioe her visible fatigue, her chest rising and falling as she g to the stone for support, she made eye tact with Krion.
And smiled.
The Boss pushed itself up to one knee, and the entire ceiling that anchored the s groaned as it did so. Its squeal turned bato a roar as it forced itself back to its feet. Cracks spread across the ceiling.
Dust fell, followed by stone. Pieces hit the ground around him, several striking closer to Hatsuime seemed to slow as she fell to the side, ing to rest against the ground, green eyes closing.
And still, she smiled.
Something inside of Krion snapped.
It started as a subtle shift, a spark that ignited deep within him, spreading like wildfire through his veins. At first, it was only a flicker of something darker, a feeling e at the injustice of the suffering Hatsune had suffered, of his ing to save her, only to watch her fall after ag to save him. He had felt this way before, but before he could think further, all rational thought fled.
It grew, ing him whole.
He could feel it pulsing in his chest, radiating outward, filling every part of his body with an energy that was raw, untamed, and frightening. His heartbeat thudded in his ears, matg the pounding rhythm of the power flooding his limbs. Hatsune’s smile faded as his vision blurred before snapping bato focus, the struggling Boss looming before him. Each breath felt like fire, and each heartbeat carried the thrum of unstoppable force. Rage turo fury and, at that moment, he was no longer in trol of his thoughts. He was a on, an instrument of destru, and he was focused solely on the creature before him.
The Boss, broken s beginning to fall away, had enough strength to pull against the rest as it faced him, its red eyes burning like liquid fire. Its jagged cws scraped the ground, sending sparks flying as it flung the s it had cut free in Krion’s dire.
But he was already in motion.
The surge of energy c through him propelled him forward, faster than he had ever moved before, and in that moment, Krion knew he was now using his stats and new skill to the utmost. The sged greatsword felt light in his grip, being aension of his very being.
With a primal roar of his own that echoed through the cavernous chamber, Krion unched himself at the Boss, the greatsword swinging with devastating force. The bde struck the creature’s chest, cutting through s and into its flesh, links flying in every dire.
It screeched in pain, but he didn’t pause to watch the boss stumble back. He was already on the move again, his body a blur of motion, greatsword cutting through the air. Every swing, every strike, was fueled by the fury of what had happeo Hatsuhe Boss tried to retaliate, its molten eyes flickering with hate and malice, but still partially restrained by the s, it was slow, too slow. Krion’s attacks came faster, each more brutal tha as he worked to cut his way through the bed flesh of the monstrous Boss. The creature’s molten eyes glowed brighter, fury and desperation making its strikes erratic. Its body crackled with dark energy as it summohe st of its strength, ung itself at Krion with terrifying speed only slightly slowed by the remaining s.
But Krion was faster.
With a final, ferocious cry, Krion unched himself at the Boss. His greatsword rose high above his head, only to e crashing down on the desding skull of the Boss with a siing ch. The entire upper skull spilled open, and then a final, ear-splitting roar turned into a whimper that was cut short as its body colpsed to the ground.
Krion’s breath came in ragged gasps, his chest rising and falling with the exertion of the battle. His fury began to cool as the Boss ceased to move. After one more long moment, making sure it was truly dead, he dropped his greatsword and rushed over to Hatsune.
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