Chapter 89: The Boss Lair II

The Mage waited until the nearest Swordsman was out of the way before forming another whirlwind behind a group of Ridgebacks.

With the flames blocking their retreat, the monsters had no choice but to push towards the open ground, climbing over the bodies in front of them and exposing their throats and leg joints in the process.

The Swordsman took advantage of that, attacking from the side and changed its position after every strike, even using the fallen bodies to keep the other Ridgebacks from reaching it all at once. The second Swordsman was doing the same thing on the opposite side.

As for the Skirmishers, they dealt with the Splitjaws that somehow made it out of the fire. They worked together, one drawing the creature’s jaws while the other cut through the exposed underside.

Leon didn’t need to tell them anything else, so he left them to it, which of course, was hard to fathom by the others except Linda who had seen that before.

The Mage’s barrier remained across the front of the ledge, keeping everyone there safe and more importantly to guard himself from any opportunistic monster. Bren had already lowered himself onto a rock behind it, resting his injured arm against his body, while Lex watched the descent beside him.

Linda’s Yeti remained near Leon, waiting for anything to make it up the slope.

So far, nothing had.

The crowded groups were destroyed within the first few minutes. After that, things slowed down considerably. The remaining monsters had scattered along the walls or hidden behind rocks, making it difficult for the Mage to use another whirlwind without catching the other undead in it.

It simply waited for the right opportunity.

The Swordsmen forced the Ridgebacks out from behind cover, while the Skirmishers caught any Splitjaw that tried slipping past them. Whenever enough monsters gathered in one place and the others were out of the way, the Mage burned them.

Smoke rose towards the fissures in the ceiling while fresh air continued flowing into the chamber.

’Yup, certainly much better than going down there,’ Leon thought as he took a drink before returning the bottle to his bag.

Close to ten minutes had passed by the time Gareth checked the chamber again. Most of the monsters were dead, their bodies scattered across the floor, while the few still moving were separated by long stretches of burned ground.

The boss had managed to avoid most of the flames by staying near the far wall and moving whenever the fire got too close. Now, with a clear path finally opened between two groups of smoking bodies, it lowered its head and charged.

"Gareth," the woman said.

"I see it."

The three professionals immediately moved towards the descent.

Seeing that they were ready to move down, "End the whirlwinds and put out the fires. Use Fire Arrows on the smaller ones," Leon instructed.

The columns of fire collapsed almost immediately. Flames pulled away from the bodies and the burning patches of flesh until only smoke remained from charred flesh.

"Come back this way. Keep the smaller ones away from everyone," Leon called to the undead below.

The two Swordsmen changed direction, with the Skirmishers following behind after cutting down a Splitjaw that tried crossing their path.

"Where do you want the ice?" Linda asked Gareth.

"Keep its feet busy, but leave the ground around us clear."

Linda nodded.

Nolan summoned his Wind Hawk as the professionals descended into the chamber. It flew into the open space above them, while Linda remained on the ledge with her Yeti.

Leon positioned one Swordsman at the bottom of the slope to protect the others. The second remained farther out, facing the surviving monsters along the left wall, while the Skirmishers covered the space between them.

The Mage stayed beside Leon, and Lex and Bren remained safely behind the barrier, by then, the boss had reached the cleared part of the chamber.

Gareth approached it from the front and entered Unification, causing dark scales to spread over his forearms. The other two professionals separated and approached the creature from both sides.

All three of them only had Grade Three summons, but that didn’t mean they were Grade Three fighters. They were Rank Four summoners, and the speed at which they moved made that difference clear.

The boss lunged towards Gareth.

He stepped outside its jaws and struck the side of its snout with his scaled forearm, knocking its head past him and sending thick saliva across the floor.

At the same time, the woman drove her spear into the softer crease behind its front leg before pulling it out and retreating as the limb swept backwards.

The third professional attacked from the opposite side, forcing the monster to turn away from her. Its heavy tail dragged across the ground before suddenly whipping out.

"Tail!"

Both professionals jumped away at Gareth’s warning.

The tail struck a low outcrop where the woman had been standing and shattered it.

Before the boss could finish turning, ice rose beneath one of its rear feet. The monster shifted to avoid the spike, cutting its movement short and giving Gareth enough time to return in front of its head.

His job appeared to be keeping its jaws away from the other two.

Linda’s Yeti raised one arm, causing a line of icicles to shoot across the chamber. Most shattered against the boss’s heavy scales, but one lodged beside the spear wound, while another cut through the softer skin beneath its neck.

The monster immediately turned towards the ledge.

Gareth struck its snout before it could move in that direction.

Leon watched long enough to see the woman change her grip on the spear, then noticed something moving beside one of the piles of bodies.

"Left." Leon said to the Mage.

The Mage turned its staff towards a Ridgeback trying to move around the professionals, but the Swordsman reached it first, while the Mage turned to another.

The Ridgeback dropped without getting anywhere close to the boss fight.

"Put out the fire."

The Mage did as instructed, while the Swordsman went after the next target.

On the other side, the Skirmishers were dealing with two Splitjaws that had come out from behind a fallen rock. One tried escaping along the wall, but a hooked blade caught beneath its body and pulled it down for the other Skirmisher.

Neither creature managed to reach the professionals.

"I thought we’d be stuck here," Bren said as he let out a slow breath.

"So did I," Leon replied.

With the way things had looked when they first entered the chamber, getting through without anyone dying had seemed almost impossible. Now, only a few of the smaller monsters were still alive, and the professionals were already dealing with the boss.

A heavy impact drew Leon’s attention back to the fight.

The boss threw its body sideways, trying to crush Gareth between its shoulder and a slab of rock. He managed to escape before it could pin him, though some of the scales covering his arm were scraped in the process.

The woman attacked its injured foreleg again, forcing it to lift the limb away from her spear.

That left most of its weight on the other leg.

An ice spike rose beneath it, throwing the monster off balance long enough for the third professional to strike the outside of the injured joint. The leg buckled and lowered the creature’s shoulder, giving the woman another chance to drive her spear into the opening behind it.

The boss thrashed, forcing her to pull out the weapon and retreat before its claws could reach her.

Linda continued making things difficult for it from the ledge. Rather than attacking randomly, she formed short ridges beneath its rear feet, forcing the monster to constantly lift and replace them instead of pushing forward.

When its tail swept towards the professionals, a thick wedge of ice rose in its path.

The tail shattered the ice, but the impact slowed it enough for all three professionals to get away without much trouble.

Linda’s Yeti hadn’t even left the ledge.

Nolan’s Wind Hawk wasn’t nearly as useful in this situation. It made one attempt at the boss’s head, but the creature barely looked at it before Gareth drew its attention again.

Nolan quickly called it higher.

There wasn’t much the Hawk could do without getting in someone’s way, so keeping it ready was probably better than forcing it into the fight.

For the next few minutes, the professionals kept the boss turning. They attacked the injuries they had already created and moved away whenever its weight or tail made staying close too dangerous. Linda supported them by disturbing its footing and sending ice towards the softer areas they exposed.

Leon left them to it and focused on the rest of the chamber.

Eventually, the boss’s injured foreleg gave way and its chest slammed into the ground.

"Hold the other foot!" Gareth shouted.

Ice immediately formed around the opposite forelimb. The boss broke part of it apart, but that small delay was enough.

Gareth forced its snout away while the woman reached the side of its head and drove her spear deep into the wounded throat beneath its jaw.

The third professional stayed away from the tail as she pulled the weapon free.

The boss tried to rise again, dragging its trapped foot through the broken ice, but its body only fell back to the ground.

This time, it didn’t get up.

The professionals waited to make sure it had stopped moving before approaching, and shortly after, a pale portal formed against the far wall.

’Finally.’

Leon was more than ready to leave.

"Keep checking. Don’t gather at the exit yet," Gareth called.

They weren’t done just because the boss was dead.

One Ridgeback was still moving near the left wall, but the Swordsman reached it and drove its blade beneath its head. After that, no other monster revealed itself, and the chamber finally went quiet.

The entire fight had taken less than twenty minutes from the moment the Mage used its first Flaming Whirlwind. Strangely enough, collecting all the cores took up most of the remaining time.

The professionals confirmed the boss’s death before removing its core, then started on the smaller monsters. Leon had the Swordsmen open the bodies wherever they were directed, while the Skirmishers carried the cores back.

Linda and Nolan helped place them into the professionals’ containers, while Bren stayed beside Lex and used his good hand to keep count.

They didn’t leave any body unchecked, including those burned by the whirlwinds. The boss’s core was secured first, and Gareth searched every section of the chamber before allowing them to finish.

By the time the final container was closed, they had spent around half an hour inside the lair.

Leon returned all five undead to his summoner’s space. Linda withdrew her Yeti, and Nolan called back the Wind Hawk.

Gareth counted everyone one more time, confirming that they were complete with no one unaccounted for.

The woman entered the portal first, with Bren and Nolan following after her. Linda went next, then Leon helped Lex through before Gareth and the third professional followed.

Bright light struck Leon’s eyes the moment he emerged.

He blinked and looked around, expecting to see the equipment stations and the workers waiting for them.

Instead, part of the nearest support cabin’s roof was gone. Metal barriers had been twisted beside a damaged vehicle, while the remaining workers hurried people towards a marked evacuation lane.

Alarms sounded throughout the site and even more from the city afar where he could see thick columns of smoke rising above, over the city.

’What exactly is going on here?’