Chapter 12 — The Bloodthorn Floor

The inside of the castle was completely different from what Mina had expected.

It was dark.

Not normal dark.

It was the kind of darkness that made every corner look suspicious.

Mina stood in the middle of a massive stone hallway, staring at the fire mage standing several meters away from her.

Flamereaver.

His hand was surrounded by swirling flames.

Mina tightened her fist.

“Okay…”

She slowly raised her other hand.

A few drops of blood floated beside her fingers.

“Let's do this.”

Flamereaver smirked.

“You're still standing?”

Mina blinked.

“...Yes?”

“You should have stayed outside.”

Mina frowned.

“That's a weird thing to say to someone you're trying to defeat.”

Flamereaver raised his hand.

A ball of fire formed in his palm.

Mina immediately moved.

“BLOOD SHOT!”

The blood beside her fingers shot forward like bullets.

Flamereaver swung his arm.

A wall of fire appeared.

The blood collided with the flames.

FWOOSH!

The Blood Shot vanished.

Mina's eyes widened.

“HUH?!”

Flamereaver laughed.

“Your blood magic is useless against fire.”

Mina's expression became serious.

“Oh.”

She stepped backward.

“That's… actually a problem.”

Another fireball flew toward her.

“WHOA!”

Mina jumped sideways.

The fireball exploded against the stone wall.

BOOM!

Mina landed awkwardly.

“Ow…”

She rubbed her foot.

“Okay. Definitely a problem.”

Flamereaver launched another attack.

Then another.

And another.

Mina kept moving.

She ducked.

Jumped.

Rolled.

Ran.

And occasionally screamed.

“WHY ARE THERE SO MANY FIREBALLS?!”

Flamereaver continued attacking.

“Because I'm a fire mage!”

“THAT DOESN'T EXPLAIN ANYTHING!”

Mina threw another Blood Shot.

Flamereaver burned it away.

She tried another.

Burned away.

Another.

Burned away.

Mina's eye twitched.

“Stop doing that.”

Flamereaver raised an eyebrow.

“Doing what?”

“Destroying my attacks!”

“That's literally my job.”

Mina stared at him.

“...I hate magic.”

She immediately remembered something.

“Wait.”

Mina looked at the floor.

Her blood had fallen there after several of her attacks were destroyed.

She crouched.

A few red droplets were scattered across the stone.

Flamereaver prepared another spell.

“You're distracted.”

Mina didn't answer.

She stared at the blood.

Something looked strange.

The fire had vaporized some of her blood attacks…

…but not all of them.

Some blood had remained on the floor.

Mina's eyes slowly widened.

“Wait…”

She touched one finger to the stone.

The blood moved.

Just slightly.

Mina froze.

Her expression changed.

She remembered something.

Back when her ability first awakened…

she could control blood.

She could move it.

She could shoot it.

She had learned Blood Shot.

But…

She had never tried controlling blood that was already spread across the ground.

Mina looked at the blood.

Then at Flamereaver.

Then back at the blood.

A tiny smile appeared.

“Oh…”

Flamereaver frowned.

“What?”

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Mina stood up.

“I think I just learned something.”

Flamereaver raised his hand.

“Then learn it quickly.”

A huge flame erupted toward her.

Mina slammed her palm against the floor.

“BLOOD—”

The blood scattered across the stone suddenly moved.

“—THORN!”

Nothing happened.

Mina blinked.

“...”

Flamereaver blinked.

“...”

Mina slowly looked down.

“Did I just name an ability that doesn't work?”

Flamereaver started laughing.

Mina's eye twitched.

“Don't laugh.”

He raised his hand again.

“Goodbye, little mage.”

Mina slammed her palm onto the floor again.

“BLOODTHORN FLOOR!”

SHNK!

Several crimson spikes suddenly erupted from the blood scattered across the stone floor.

Flamereaver's eyes widened.

“WHAT?!”

He jumped backward.

Too late.

The blood spikes erupted beneath his feet, forcing him to leap away and lose his balance.

He landed awkwardly.

“AAAGH!”

Mina stared.

Her mouth slowly opened.

“IT WORKED!”

She jumped.

“I ACTUALLY DID IT!”

She pointed at the floor.

“That's my new ability!”

Flamereaver looked down at the crimson spikes.

“You…”

Mina grinned.

“Bloodthorn Floor!”

“You named it?”

“Of course!”

“Why?”

“Because Bloodthorn sounds cool!”

Flamereaver stared at her.

Mina stared back.

Then she pointed dramatically.

“And Floor because…”

She paused.

“It's on the floor.”

Flamereaver looked completely speechless.

“That is the worst explanation I've ever heard.”

“BUT IT'S ACCURATE!”

Flamereaver charged forward.

Mina immediately slapped her hand against the ground again.

“Bloodthorn Floor!”

More crimson spikes erupted.

Flamereaver jumped.

Mina grinned.

“Gotcha!”

He landed.

Another patch of blood moved beneath him.

His eyes widened.

“Oh no.”

“Yep.”

SHNK!

Another spike rose.

Flamereaver jumped again.

“STOP DOING THAT!”

Mina laughed.

“YOU STOP WALKING ON MY FLOOR!”

“This isn't your floor!”

“It is now!”

Flamereaver tried to attack from a distance.

Mina moved between the pillars while controlling the blood on the floor.

Every time Flamereaver stepped forward—

SHNK!

A Bloodthorn appeared.

He stepped left.

SHNK!

Another.

Right.

SHNK!

Another.

“STOP!”

Mina couldn't stop laughing.

“You're really bad at avoiding the floor!”

“THE FLOOR IS ATTACKING ME!”

“That's why you shouldn't trust floors!”

Flamereaver launched a wave of fire.

Mina jumped behind a pillar.

The flames swept across the hallway.

The blood on the floor began evaporating.

Mina's smile disappeared.

“No…”

Her Bloodthorn Floor weakened.

Flamereaver noticed.

“You can't maintain it forever.”

Mina looked around.

Most of the blood on the floor had already been destroyed.

Her first successful technique had a weakness.

She needed blood.

And fire could destroy it.

Mina clenched her fist.

“Then I'll just have to use what I have.”

She raised her hand.

The remaining blood gathered around her.

Flamereaver rushed toward her.

Mina fired.

“BLOOD SHOT!”

The attack struck the ground in front of him.

He dodged.

But Mina wasn't aiming at him.

She was aiming at the blood.

The droplets spread across the floor.

Mina smiled.

“Now…”

She slammed her hand down.

“BLOODTHORN FLOOR!”

SHNK! SHNK! SHNK!

Crimson spikes erupted across the battlefield.

Flamereaver jumped backward.

Mina immediately fired another Blood Shot.

He blocked.

The impact forced him backward.

Mina stepped forward.

For the first time, Flamereaver stopped smiling.

“You're adapting.”

Mina tilted her head.

“I've always been pretty good at learning.”

She grinned.

“I'm just usually too busy panicking to notice.”

Meanwhile…

Outside the castle—

Nyxhen was still fighting Seraphine Veylglass.

Glass shards floated around the battlefield.

Hundreds of them.

Seraphine flicked her fingers.

The glass flew toward Nyxhen.

Nyxhen spun his chained scythe.

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

The shards bounced away.

Nyxhen landed.

“Tch.”

Seraphine smirked.

“Running out of room?”

Nyxhen looked around.

The ground was covered with broken glass.

Buildings surrounded them.

There were shadows everywhere.

Nyxhen smiled.

“No.”

He lowered his scythe.

“I've got plenty.”

Seraphine frowned.

“Plenty of what?”

“Shadows.”

The darkness beneath Nyxhen's feet suddenly expanded.

Seraphine's expression changed.

“What—?”

Shadow spread across the ground.

It crawled beneath the broken buildings.

Across the walls.

Behind Seraphine.

Then—

SNAP!

A shadow chain wrapped around her ankle.

“What?!”

She shattered it with glass.

Another appeared.

Then another.

Nyxhen disappeared into the darkness.

Seraphine looked around.

“Where are you?!”

His voice echoed.

“Behind you.”

She spun around.

Nothing.

“Above you.”

She looked up.

Nothing.

“Below you.”

Her eyes widened.

The shadow beneath her exploded upward.

Nyxhen emerged from it.

His chained scythe swung forward.

Seraphine blocked with a wall of glass.

BOOM!

The impact sent cracks across the glass.

Nyxhen grinned.

“You rely too much on what you can see.”

Seraphine broke the glass barrier.

“You can't hide forever!”

“I don't need to.”

The shadows surrounding them suddenly formed a massive cage.

Seraphine's eyes widened.

“What is this?”

Nyxhen tightened his grip on Noctesgrave.

“A prison.”

The shadows wrapped around her from every direction.

Seraphine tried to break them with glass.

But every shadow she destroyed was replaced by another.

She gritted her teeth.

“Impossible!”

Nyxhen stepped forward.

“You're fighting darkness in a place filled with it.”

He swung his scythe.

The chain wrapped around the shadow cage.

“That's your mistake.”

The cage tightened.

Seraphine was trapped.

Nyxhen pulled the chain.

The entire shadow prison slammed into the ground.

BOOM!

The glass shards fell.

Silence followed.

Nyxhen stood there, breathing heavily.

He looked toward the castle.

“Mina…”

He turned.

“Yumiko…”

He sighed.

“I really hope they're doing better than me.”

Meanwhile… again.

Yumiko was having the worst day of her life.

Not because she was losing.

Because the skeletons would not stop appearing.

She swung her enormous scissor-claymore.

WHAM!

A group of skeletons flew backward.

Yumiko stared.

Then more skeletons appeared.

Her eye twitched.

“No.”

She swung again.

WHAM!

More skeletons disappeared.

Then—

More appeared.

Yumiko stared at them.

“…”

She slowly lowered her weapon.

“Are you serious?”

The skeletons marched toward her.

Yumiko sighed.

“I understand now.”

She pointed at them.

“You're not strong.”

The skeletons continued walking.

“You're just annoying.”

They kept coming.

Yumiko's smile disappeared.

“VERY annoying.”

A skeleton raised its sword.

Yumiko grabbed it with one hand and tossed it aside.

Another appeared.

Then another.

Then another.

Yumiko's eye twitched again.

“WHERE IS THE NECROMANCER?!”

A skeleton pointed toward a distant tower.

Yumiko looked.

“Oh.”

She suddenly smiled.

“There you are.”

She spread her hands.

A strange cloud began forming above her.

At first it was small.

Then larger.

Then larger.

And larger.

A massive fluffy cloud appeared in the sky.

Yumiko stared up.

“Okay…”

She smiled.

“Let's try something.”

The cloud suddenly descended.

WHOOSH!

It covered the battlefield.

Skeletons were swept into it.

Yumiko looked impressed.

“Oh.”

She pointed.

“GET THEM!”

The cloud moved toward the tower.

Inside the cloud, skeletons bounced around harmlessly.

The necromancer looked up.

“What is that?!”

The cloud suddenly wrapped around him.

“WAIT!”

Yumiko grabbed the edge of the cloud.

“Found you!”

She swung the cloud sideways.

WHOOSH!

The necromancer flew with it.

“AAAAAAAH!”

Yumiko swung it again.

WHOOSH!

“STOP!”

Again.

WHOOSH!

“PLEASE!”

Again.

WHOOSH!

Yumiko's expression became increasingly frustrated.

“YOU KEEP SUMMONING SKELETONS!”

The necromancer was completely dizzy.

“I'M A NECROMANCER!”

“THAT'S NOT AN EXCUSE!”

“You can't expect me not to summon skeletons!”

“I CAN AND I DO!”

She swung the cloud again.

WHOOSH!

The necromancer disappeared into the fluffy mass.

Skeletons were dragged along with him.

Yumiko stared at the cloud.

“Finally.”

The cloud suddenly moved.

Yumiko blinked.

“Oh.”

The necromancer tried escaping.

“NO YOU DON'T!”

Yumiko grabbed the cloud again.

She pulled it back.

The cloud stretched like a giant pillow.

“COME BACK HERE!”

The necromancer screamed.

“THIS ISN'T HOW MAGIC IS SUPPOSED TO WORK!”

Yumiko yelled back.

“I DON'T KNOW HOW MY MAGIC WORKS EITHER!”

She slammed the cloud into the ground.

BOOM!

The skeletons scattered.

The necromancer was left sitting in the grass, completely defeated.

Yumiko placed her hands on her hips.

“That was exhausting.”

She looked at her giant scissor-claymore.

Then at the defeated skeletons.

Then back at the cloud.

“…I really need to remember how I learned to do that.”

Back Inside the Castle

Mina was still fighting Flamereaver.

Both of them were exhausted.

The hallway was covered with scorch marks and crimson spikes.

Flamereaver wiped sweat from his forehead.

“You're troublesome.”

Mina was breathing heavily.

“Thanks.”

“That wasn't a compliment.”

“I'll take it anyway.”

Flamereaver raised his hand.

A massive flame gathered around him.

Mina's eyes widened.

“That looks bad.”

“It is.”

The fire grew larger.

Mina looked at the blood scattered around the floor.

There wasn't much left.

She had to be careful.

One mistake—

and she would lose her chance.

Flamereaver released the attack.

A massive wave of fire rushed toward Mina.

She raised both hands.

“Blood Shot!”

Several blood projectiles flew forward.

The fire consumed them.

Mina ducked.

The flames passed over her.

She rolled across the floor.

Then she noticed something.

The blood left behind by her Blood Shots had spread across the ground.

Mina smiled.

“Got you.”

She pressed her palm against the floor.

“Bloodthorn Floor!”

SHNK! SHNK! SHNK!

A forest of crimson spikes erupted.

Flamereaver tried jumping.

But the spikes forced him to change direction.

Mina fired another Blood Shot.

He blocked.

Then another.

He blocked again.

Mina rushed forward.

“Now!”

She slammed her foot down.

The Bloodthorn spikes rose behind him.

Flamereaver turned—

Too late.

The spikes surrounded him.

He couldn't move.

Mina raised her hand.

“Blood Shot.”

The final attack struck his weapon, knocking it away.

Flamereaver fell to one knee.

The fire around him disappeared.

Mina stood there, breathing heavily.

She looked at her hands.

Then at the Bloodthorn Floor.

“I…”

She smiled.

“I actually did it.”

For the first time since entering the castle—

Mina felt confident.

She had learned something new in the middle of a battle.

Not because someone taught her.

Not because she read about it.

Because she figured it out herself.

Mina clenched her fist.

“Bloodthorn Floor…”

She grinned.

“I'm definitely keeping that.”

Then—

The entire castle suddenly shook.

RUMBLE.

Mina froze.

“What was that?”

Outside, Yumiko stopped moving.

Nyxhen looked toward the castle.

The ground trembled.

Stone cracked.

Dust fell from the walls.

The defeated enemies looked toward the castle in fear.

Then another rumble came.

RRRRRRRUMBLE…

Mina slowly looked upward.

Something enormous was moving beneath the castle.

Yumiko lowered her scissor-claymore.

Nyxhen tightened his grip on Noctesgrave.

Even the remaining skeletons stopped moving.

A deep sound echoed through the kingdom.

Not a voice.

Not a roar.

Something deeper.

Something that seemed to shake the castle itself.

Mina swallowed.

“...Guys?”

A massive crack appeared across the castle wall.

CRACK.

Then another.

CRACK.

The entire castle began trembling.

Nyxhen stared toward the highest tower.

“…The Headless Crown.”

Yumiko's eyes widened.

Mina slowly raised her head.

The darkness above them shifted.

And somewhere deep inside the castle…

something enormous began to rise.

BOOOOOOM.

The kingdom shook.

Mina's smile disappeared.

“Looks like…”

She tightened her fists.

“…we finally found the boss.”