Chapter 389 - 389: How Did It Turn Into a Group Fight?

There was no way to keep in contact — in the deep levels, an Eye Crystal could only be used one-way, to confirm the other party's location and condition. At best, it might occasionally carry through a faint trace of sound from the other side; true two-way communication was impossible.

So.

Lefiya and the others had returned to the camp at the entrance of the 37th floor, waiting there for more than a day before finally reuniting with Riveria, Ottar, and the rest.

This, too, had been part of their Appointed Time.

Barring anything unusual, they were to return to camp at least once every one to two days, to confirm everyone's condition and safety.

After all, they were only here to grind Stats and level up — this was simply the most efficient and safest way to go about it.

And once everyone had regrouped—

Isagi arrived back at the Silver Ground a little later, and shared with the others what he'd encountered — the boss, along with some basic details about it.

Mm.

Just as he'd expected, it really was strong.

What's more, Isagi kept feeling that "Level" alone could no longer be trusted to gauge a Monster's true strength. Monster levels tended to run inflated to begin with — the Corrupted Spirit that Riveria and the others had once subjugated was estimated at around Lv. 9, while the average level of the adventurers in that subjugation force had been only Lv. 7.

The fight had been brutal, but they'd won in the end.

Probably... just some quirk of the mechanics.

So Isagi reasoned. Since he'd been alone when he encountered it, he hadn't managed to gather every piece of information on the boss.

"Let's go try it out, then."

"Right!"

After the brief war council concluded, everyone ate dinner and settled in to rest well for the night, so as to face the boss with full strength the next day.

And so, a night passed...

When they returned once more to the flesh-and-blood door atop the tower, Isagi looked around at everyone gathered beside him and felt, inexplicably, like he was about to run a raid dungeon.

How had his dream-journey turned into an MMORPG?

He shook his head.

Tossing the scattered thoughts out of his mind for the moment.

With Riveria, Finn, and Gareth added now, along with Ottar, Hedin, Allen Fromel, Hogni, and Alfia and the others — eight more people — their total number had already grown past fifteen.

Add a few more later, and they'd genuinely have themselves a twenty-man raid party.

So he thought,

as he walked toward the golden blessing point not far off.

The "respawn point," suspended at the very center of the flesh-altar plaza, was radiating a dazzling, brilliant light.

This boss fight really was different, though.

What surprised Isagi most was that, in the previous fight, there'd been no way to withdraw partway through unless he died.

But this time—

As long as he actively left the range of this flesh-altar — whether by taking the stairs behind him back down to a lower floor, or simply jumping off the edge of the platform—

the boss would simply "vanish" rather than give chase.

It reminded Isagi of that very first opponent — the massive Goblin that had stood guard between the Dungeon's first and second floors.

[The 37th floor is the entrance to the deep levels.]

Though this counted as the deep levels too, in truth it could only barely be considered the "outermost fringe."

According to Riveria and Ryuu, veteran adventurers of old—

once you passed through the safe floor at level 38—

the moment you set foot on the 39th floor, you'd arrive at the "true deep levels" — a region only First-Class Adventurer could hope to handle.

Isagi remembered—

back when Alise and the others, at the strength Astrea Familia had at the time, had accepted the Guild's mandatory exploration commission, they'd only barely managed to reach the 41st floor.

And according to Ryuu, they had merely "set foot" on the 41st floor — they hadn't actually explored it, retreating soon after.

The deep levels past floor 39 were an entirely different world from floor 37.

Probably that was exactly why the boss here stood blocking the way, just like that old massive Goblin had once done.

Because if you kept going further down, you'd reach the true Dungeon.

Isagi's own feelings on it, though, stayed simple.

Whatever waited down there, he was going to go see it eventually anyway.

So—

might as well go now.

He walked over to the blessing point with practiced ease, but before he could even sit down, a strange "noise" rang out from the great flesh-and-blood door in the distance.

Isagi couldn't help but feel that a cutscene ought to be playing right about now.

Of course.

For the girls standing nearby, and the rest of Loki Familia and Freya Familia, they had indeed all seen something—

something was slowly crawling out from behind that door.

Beyond the flesh-and-blood door, visible to the eye, there was nothing but a black cliff wall and a slope descending gradually downward.

Under the pale gray light—

the slope looked filthy, like black swamp mud, and seemed to be flowing slowly, as if it were alive.

But soon—

as Isagi arrived before the golden blessing point—

the darkness beyond the door began to spread, swiftly "swallowing" the light that had once illuminated the area behind it, until everything turned pure black.

And then—

"color" appeared.

Deep within the darkness, brilliant, dazzling colors first appeared like distant pinpricks of starlight, then gradually spread, writhing, growing larger and larger, until at last an arm overflowing with vivid color reached out from the pitch-black interior of the flesh-and-blood gate.

[The Emperor's Husk.]

The boss's name manifested. At the same moment, that huge, colorful hand planted itself against the ground, and "it" finally crawled out from behind the door.

It was a "giant," crawling on all fours.

It barely retained a human silhouette, its surface entirely covered in that flowing, brilliant color. Beyond that, traces of tattered, pale armor were still visible.

Since it lay flat against the ground, it didn't look especially tall.

Isagi guessed that, standing up, the thing would be roughly three or four meters tall — nowhere near the size of the Udaeus he'd faced before.

So what was going on here?

He remembered that giant skeleton with the black sword had stood over ten meters tall.

But—

the boss before him now looked "bloated" in shape.

Isagi found it hard to put into words — because as it actually crawled out from behind the door, everyone could sense the boss's body gradually swelling.

The flowing colors spread like a tide, gradually staining everything around it the same hue.

But—

some force was holding that color back from overflowing entirely, constraining it into a roughly "human" shape.

"Let's begin the fight," Isagi said.

At his words, everyone readied themselves.

First and foremost: never touch that vivid color, or you'd be "contaminated." In the end, your whole body would be covered by it, as if wrapped in a thick layer of "clay" — you'd lose control of your body entirely and eventually suffocate to death.

Isagi had tried it himself, so just from hearing him describe it, the others knew better than to risk it.

More importantly, there was currently no remedy for it — the antidotes Airmid had developed specifically for "abnormal status effects" were completely useless against it.

By his reckoning—

they'd need to get hold of some "samples" and bring them back for her to properly study before a dedicated antidote could be made.

That, though, was a matter for later.

Watching the "giant" writhing on the ground before them, everyone quickly moved into action according to their prearranged battle plan.

Just like when they'd collectively taken down a Monster Rex.

For whatever reason, this kind of "group boss fight" actually felt like a return to familiar territory for adventurers like Ais and Riveria.

First—

Gareth, Ottar, and Isagi, serving as the vanguard, moved forward to draw the target's attention.

Then the mages began chanting their spells, searching for the Monster's weak points to strike.

Finn, Allen Fromel, Hogni, Ais, Ryuu, Tiona, and the others, serving as the middle guard, roamed the edges of the battlefield, covering the mages and other rear-guard members while looking for chances to strike the Monster themselves.

A classic "tank-DPS-healer" setup.

It really wasn't so different from what Isagi had imagined — basically no different from a so-called "dungeon raid party."

The only difference was—

the "healer" role didn't count for much here, since a single hit from this thing would most likely mean death or serious injury — so contact with the Monster had to be avoided entirely.

"!!!"

The boss before them was anything but slow-moving.

When it had first emerged, crawling out of the flesh-and-blood gate and staying prone on the ground, it had given the illusion of being sluggish and harmless.

But in truth—

once the battle began, countless streams of color on the giant's broad back surged together, bulging, shifting, and finally forming into a massive ballista.

"Fwoosh!"

A huge, color-drenched bolt tore through the air — though "bolt" was hardly the word for it; it was more like a writhing, jagged tentacle.

It could even split apart in midair, angling itself in vicious, unpredictable ways toward Isagi, Ottar, and Gareth, and toward Ryuu and Riveria further back.

And it wasn't just one.

Bolts rained down, fired endlessly from the giant's back, giving the impression that it was just spitting wildly in every direction.

Fortunately—

Isagi had intel beforehand, so everyone was already prepared for this opening attack.

"Dance, spirit of the great air, lord of light. I forge a covenant with you, guardian of the forest — let the land's song ring out to cover us, to shield us; I beg you, become a wall of verdant light and guard us all — my name is Alf!"

Lefiya and Riveria chanted their strongest Defensive Magic in unison.

A wall of emerald green sprang up before everyone in an instant, covering nearly the entire battlefield, sealing out every attack the boss had just launched.

"[Dimension — Block]!"

The tentacle-like ribbons of vivid color slapped down against the emerald barrier with a wet splat.

They spread across it just like colored swamp mud.

In fact—

it could visibly be seen still writhing, and... corroding.

The barrier weakened steadily under the accumulating color, as if it might buckle under the strain at any moment.

And this after only a few seconds!

"Evangelium."

Alfia chose to strike.

Together with Ais nearby, her invisible Voice Magic forcibly shoved the color coating the barrier away — since this color counted as a form of Magic itself, the "Wind of the End" that the golden-haired girl unleashed right after quickly swallowed it whole.

The Black Wind, capable of dissolving any "Magic," was the natural enemy of this color.

Combined with Alfia's own Magic that could nullify Magic entirely, the two together quickly rendered the boss's opening attack completely useless.

The vivid color that had nearly blotted out everything before their eyes—

melted away swiftly like winter snow, vanishing without a trace.

But—

when the Black Wind and the [Garden of Stillness] both struck the boss in the distance—

the vivid color flowing over the giant's surface showed no sign of fading at all — because right now, that color wasn't "Magic" at all, but some kind of "creature."

That was the only conclusion Isagi could reach.

These colors, it seemed, could convert freely between "Magic" and solid, physical "matter."

That was why it was absurdly hard — even a Lv. 7 adventurer putting in everything they had would struggle to break it. It possessed overwhelming physical defense while also resisting magical attacks.

But just because a Lv. 7 adventurer couldn't break it didn't mean a Lv. 8 couldn't.

"!!!"

Golden thunder roared.

The [Empress] swung the massive spear in her hands and hurled a brilliant, thundering dragon toward the distant giant.

as if it meant to swallow everything whole.

Meanwhile, on the other side—

falling at the same moment was a blood-red beast summoned from the sky by Tiona's swinging fists.

Dazzling starlight flared as well.

Countless deep-green orbs of light, mingled with stars and flame, rained down together — Magic that Ryuu had already gathered and prepared off to the side.

And at the same time—

Isagi wasn't idle either — his great bow had long since been aimed at the distant giant, and from it he loosed blazing "spheres" one after another, each rivaling a Great Dragon's charge in force.

Fire, frost, lightning, gale, stone...

breath of every element poured endlessly from the bow in his hands.

Alongside came Hedin's orbs of lightning.

and, on the other side, Lefiya and Riveria — having just finished casting their Defensive Magic — had already begun chanting their offensive spells.

"...Crimson lotus flame, merciless blaze — you are the incarnation of hellfire, sweeping away legions, bringing the curtain down on the great war, burning all to ash — Sword of Surtr — my name is Alf!"

"Proud Warriors, archers of the forest. The encroaching plunderers stand before you — take up your bows. Answer the voice of your kin, nock your arrows, kindle the flame. Lanterns of the forest, I command you: loose your arrows, fire-arrows of the Elves. Fall like rain, burn the barbarians down!"

"Advanced · Sword of Victory!"

"Fusillade Firebolt!!"

A sea of crimson fire nearly swallowed everything whole, its glow bathing the whole floor of the tower's summit in red.

Waves of blazing heat rolled over them.

The Magic that a Lv. 8 mage could unleash carried destructive power capable of leveling cities and nations outright.

If Isagi had to put a word to it, it would be "nuclear bomb."

The offensive Magic that mages like Lefiya and Riveria unleashed now could no longer even be called "bombardment" — it was, in the most absolute sense—

[Annihilation.]

____

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