Chapter 75: Advanced rank boss

Chapter 75: Chapter 75: Advanced rank boss

The great stone doors slammed shut behind them.

The sound rolled through the chamber like thunder.

For several seconds, nobody moved.

The echo traveled through the enormous cavern, bouncing from wall to wall before slowly fading into silence.

Tolu tightened his grip around the handle of his war hammer.

His breathing was already heavy from everything they had fought through to reach this place. Sweat ran down his face and disappeared beneath the collar of his clothes. His arms ached. His shoulders felt as though someone had filled them with stones.

Beside him, Akin rested the tip of his great sword against the ground.

Temi stood with both short swords hanging at her sides, their flames reduced to faint embers.

Ore’s bow was already in her hands.

None of them spoke.

The chamber was too large.

That was the first thing Tolu noticed.

It wasn’t simply a larger version of the tunnels they had passed through.

It was enormous.

The ceiling disappeared into darkness somewhere far above them, perhaps thirty meters overhead. Thick stone pillars rose from the ground like the trunks of ancient trees, supporting parts of the cavern that seemed too massive to have been naturally formed.

There was no treasure room.

No decorated altar.

No golden platform.

No mysterious chest waiting conveniently in the center.

There was only stone.

And plants.

Dense vegetation grew throughout the chamber.

Roots crawled across the walls and disappeared into cracks in the rock. Broad leaves spread across the ground. Thick vines hung from the ceiling, some of them bearing small fruits that glimmered faintly under the dungeon’s strange light.

The air smelled of wet earth.

Fresh leaves.

Moss.

And something else.

Something animal.

Tolu’s eyes narrowed.

"Do you smell that?"

Temi slowly raised one of her swords.

"Yes."

Akin lifted his head.

Ore’s fingers tightened around her bowstring.

Then they heard it.

Thump.

A deep sound.

It came from somewhere in the darkness ahead.

Thump.

Another.

The ground trembled slightly beneath their feet.

Tolu shifted his stance.

"What was that?"

Thump.

This time the sound was closer.

Something enormous moved behind the vegetation.

Leaves shook.

A thick branch snapped.

Then came a low, guttural growl.

It wasn’t the roar of a lion.

It wasn’t the howl of a wolf.

It sounded almost like a warning.

Almost like something was telling them to leave.

Temi swallowed.

"That better not be another wolf."

Akin glanced at her.

"It doesn’t sound like one."

The vegetation ahead suddenly exploded outward.

A massive black shape came crashing through the plants.

Tolu barely had time to react.

"Move!"

The creature charged.

It was enormous.

A gorilla.

But calling it a gorilla felt almost insulting.

The beast stood nearly four meters tall when it fully rose, its body covered in thick, dark fur that seemed almost black beneath the dim green light of the dungeon.

Its shoulders were enormous.

Its arms were longer than Tolu was tall.

Its chest was broad enough to resemble a wall.

Its hands were huge, each finger ending in thick black nails capable of tearing through flesh.

Its face was unmistakably that of a great ape, but its eyes were different.

They burned with a deep amber light.

Dungeon energy pulsed beneath its fur.

It slammed both fists into the ground.

BOOM!

The stone floor cracked.

A wave of force tore through the chamber.

Tolu’s feet left the ground.

He was thrown backward and rolled across the stone before catching himself with one hand.

Akin staggered.

Temi slid several meters.

Ore managed to remain standing by driving an arrow into the ground and using it for support.

The gorilla beat its chest.

"ROOOAAARRR!"

The sound shook the entire cavern.

Tolu stared at it.

"That’s..."

His grip tightened around his hammer.

"...a gorilla."

Temi stared at the creature.

"A gigantic one."

Akin’s eyes narrowed.

"Advanced."

Nobody answered.

They didn’t need to.

They could all feel it.

The pressure coming from the beast was different from everything they had encountered before.

The wolves in the underground forest had been strong.

The guardian they had fought before this chamber had nearly pushed them to their limits.

But this was something else.

The gorilla wasn’t merely stronger.

Its body itself was a weapon.

The creature lowered itself onto all fours.

Its knuckles touched the ground.

For a brief moment, it simply watched them.

Tolu felt a strange sensation crawl across his skin.

It wasn’t mindless.

The beast was studying them.

Then it charged.

"Scatter!"

The four of them moved.

The gorilla crossed the distance between them frighteningly fast.

Tolu jumped to the side.

The beast’s fist came down where he had been standing.

BOOM!

Stone shattered.

Fragments flew in every direction.

Tolu raised his arm to protect his face as pieces of rock struck his body.

The gorilla didn’t pause.

It swung its other arm horizontally.

Akin ducked beneath it.

The fist passed over his head with enough force to send his hair flying backward.

Akin immediately retaliated.

"Ice Fang!"

Ice exploded along the edge of his great sword.

He stepped forward and slashed across the gorilla’s forearm.

CLANG!

The blade cut through the thick fur.

A shallow wound opened.

Akin’s eyes widened.

"Hard."

The gorilla looked at him.

Then it grabbed him.

Akin barely had time to react.

One enormous hand wrapped around his torso.

"Akin!"

Temi rushed forward.

Flames erupted around both short swords.

She slashed at the creature’s wrist.

The gorilla grunted.

Its grip loosened.

Akin dropped.

Ore’s arrow struck the beast’s shoulder.

The arrow was reinforced with wind.

It punched through the fur and buried itself several inches into the flesh.

The gorilla released a furious roar.

It reached toward Ore.

She immediately moved.

Wind exploded beneath her feet.

Her body shot backward.

The gorilla’s hand closed around empty air.

Ore landed lightly.

"It doesn’t like the arrows."

Tolu smiled despite himself.

"Then give it more."

Ore drew three arrows at once.

Wind gathered around them.

She released.

Three arrows flew.

One struck the creature’s shoulder.

Another struck its thigh.

The third struck its chest.

The gorilla stumbled.

Temi didn’t waste the opening.

She rushed in.

One sword slashed toward its knee.

The second followed toward its ribs.

The gorilla twisted.

The first blade cut through fur.

The second was blocked by its forearm.

Temi’s eyes widened.

The creature grabbed her sword arm.

Its fingers closed around her wrist.

Temi’s expression changed.

"Uh..."

The gorilla lifted her.

"Temi!"

Tolu charged.

The gorilla swung Temi like she weighed nothing.

Tolu immediately stopped.

If he struck now, he would hit her.

The gorilla threw her.

Tolu dropped his hammer and caught her.

The impact drove both of them backward.

They crashed into the ground.

Temi groaned.

"That thing is insane."

Tolu helped her up.

"You okay?"

"Yes."

She looked at the gorilla.

"But I’m starting to hate it."

Akin approached them.

"We can’t fight it like the others."

Tolu picked up his hammer.

"I know."

The gorilla was already coming again.

This time it didn’t charge blindly.

It moved from side to side.

Its eyes followed Ore.

Then Tolu.

Then Akin.

Then Temi.

It understood.

If it attacked one of them, the others would respond.

So it changed tactics.

The gorilla suddenly climbed.

Tolu looked up.

"What the—"

It grabbed one of the enormous vines hanging from the ceiling.

Its massive body swung through the air.

"Get down!"

They dropped.

The gorilla passed above them.

It released the vine.

Its feet struck the ground.

The impact sent another shockwave through the chamber.

Before anyone could recover, it seized a thick tree-like root from the ground and tore it free.

Tolu stared.

The gorilla swung the root like a club.

Akin raised his sword.

"Brace!"

CRACK!

The root struck the great sword.

Akin was launched backward.

He slammed into a stone pillar.

Tolu attacked from the side.

His hammer slammed into the creature’s ribs.

BOOM!

The impact made the gorilla stagger.

Tolu felt the shock travel all the way up his arms.

It was like striking a living mountain.

The gorilla turned.

Its fist came toward him.

Tolu reinforced his body with earth energy.

He crossed his arms.

The punch connected.

BOOM!

Tolu flew.

He crashed into the ground and rolled several times.

Pain exploded through his shoulders.

He forced himself onto one knee.

His vision blurred.

The gorilla was already moving toward him.

Then a wall of ice appeared between them.

The gorilla punched through it.

CRACK!

Akin was behind the ice.

"Move!"

Tolu rolled away.

The gorilla’s fist smashed into the ground.

Akin attacked its exposed side.

Temi came from the opposite direction.

Ore fired from behind them.

For the first time, their attacks began to connect in rapid succession.

Ice struck the creature’s knee.

Fire cut across its shoulder.

Wind arrows pierced its thigh.

Tolu’s hammer smashed into its ribs.

The gorilla roared.

But it didn’t fall.

Instead, it became angrier.

Its breathing grew heavier.

Its muscles tightened.

Dungeon energy surged through its body.

The beast slammed both fists against its chest.

Once.

Twice.

Three times.

Then it charged.