Standing at the edge of a tall cliff, Sera, now level 17, could look over a giant lava-filled pit. Multiple streams bursting out of the wall supplied it with the molten rock and reminded her a bit of the entrance to the first dungeon, however no fog was in sight and only one island was present.
A lone, naturally formed stone arch bridged the distance to the refuge in the molten hellscape. Its tall and steep cliffs had made it likely a good point to guard something of importance and apparently the girl wasn’t alone with that opinion, as a bastion had been built on top of the isle. Though the building had already seen better days as partially broken walls could be made out even from the distance. However, surprisingly, the front gate seemed still fine.
A stunning view.
Though not as much for Sera. She had already seen the giant boss chamber, which was setting the scene for the last fight of the dungeon.
Much more was she contemplating whether she should already start the fight or not. She had left her sister and Nia behind and went ahead, as she couldn’t wait any longer. She wanted to finally fight a real boss!
But leaving her sister behind like that made her feel a bit guilty… An annoying emotion. Good that she only felt anything like that in regard to her sister. And maybe a bit towards weapons, when she had to use them in unintended ways to get what she wanted.
Why was she even feeling it? Her sister had stolen her last real boss and now she started to become a competent mage who could fend for herself! Also Nia is with her and that girl had survived on her own in this dungeon too! Sure she would still take care of her, that was just how it always had been, but she shouldn’t feel bad about taking a bit of time for herself!
Having found enough justifications for her selfishness, the warrior successfully fought back her the emotion tainting her otherwise good mood and started to walk towards her fated enemy!
Soon she found herself in front of a giant black gate. Like everything else. Well, obsidian seemed abandon around here and blending in the the rather colorless environment was an advantage. Depending on which day one asked Sera she might find it a bit too edgy, but it didn’t matter in the end.
Looking around, the main entrance must be the only way in. A logical statement, though with the massive seeming gatewings, tall walls and cracks in the walls it wouldn’t surprise the girl if she was supposed to enter through some hole in the wall.
But with no cracks to squeeze through in sight, she could only reach out for the obsidian. Yet at the moment she touched it, the gate vanished and the bridge behind her crumbled. Simultaneously a message greeted her.
[You have entered the boss room of the Obsidian Labyrinth!]
Ready to be attacked by the boss, she was a bit spooked by the sudden development, though she quickly got herself back under control. Checking everything once again, to not miss some assassin or ghost type enemy who might have already targeted her, she entered the ruin.
The gate led directly to a crossroad of passages, though that was in the past. Now the front and left path were barricaded by rubble. Should she explore the ruins? The girl had expected some other kind of boss and not the intellectual kind. While she wouldn’t mind exploring a building again, she was also burning for a good fight. The normal enemies barely posed any challenge. Unless she was overestimating herself. Or fooling around. Again.
“Hello!?” Just to be sure that none was around, she called out. However there was no reply.
With no traces of the boss or other residents in sight, she could only continue her journey through the building. Unfortunately for the side of her who wanted to explore, there was little to actually explore. The ruined state of the building conveniently only let one route passable.
Turn left, then into a room, through two broken walls and back to the main passage.
There was some destroyed furniture lying around, though nothing able to grasp the girls attention for more than a moment. Maybe it would have been different for her sister or if Sera wasn’t that eager to face the boss but now the girl ignored most of the “decoration”.
Destroyed swords and armor. Sad, but they are still in a dungeon and no actual ruin so the true rewards are at the end.
Broken tables and shelves. What one would expect in a building forgotten and ravaged by time.
Half burned books and clothing. Well, most objects out of organic matter had scorch marks. Maybe a clue in regard to the boss, though based on the being she had met in the dungeon, she had already guessed that it would be something with obsidian and/or fire.
She also made a mental note, that she would inform her sister about the books, but a boss fight was waiting for her and she didn’t want to be late!
Walking through the linear but winding passages, ending up on the second floor and basement multiple times before going back down or up, an annoyed Sera finally found something which looked like her goal.
An open gate led to the central plaza of the structure on the second floor. In its center stood a lone figure.
[Knight of Fire Lv 33]
Clad in black full plate armor not unlike the material of the dungeon and golems, a heat shimmer distorted the scenery behind it. Apparently it was burning as much for the fight as the girl.
The jagged and spiky armor looked quite intimidating, especially with its red glowing eyes, though Sera had a bunch of spikes on her armor too. Two swords were stuck in the ground next to the about two meter tall knight-like boss.
Switching the tune she had hummed until now to one more in line with a fight – thanks Eas she didn’t need to watch her breathing as much as in her old world – she rushed to her opponent, ready to decapitate the enemy with the scythe.
Unfortunately or maybe fortunately the fight didn’t turn out as simple and boring as the one in the mansion. The golem-like construct evaded the girl’s swing and tried to attack by itself. A strike with the two swords she also dodged. No need to tire herself out this early into the fight by blocking evadable attacks.
The next few exchanges ended similarly meaningless. Their speed and agility seemed similar, a fact which was likely also true for her enemy’s strength, though for the moment she wasn’t that interested in testing it out.
Instead the girl was trying to find some kind of opening. With her combat experience she still had the upper hand in the fight, however her enemy had a strong defense. Aside from the eyes, Sera was pretty much out of luck regarding weak points. Weak points the knight was apparently aware of, as even when she managed to distract it with a feint, and actually got an attack in, said attack was usually blocked by its armor in some way.
Even worse, while the regeneration of the armor was slower than that of the normal golems, she still couldn’t damage it in a way that would actually hinder it. As long as she couldn’t remove a limb, the nicks and dents she made wouldn’t hinder anyone.
Continuing with their attacks, the fight was slowly turning against the girl. It wasn’t obvious, however she was slowly draining her stamina, while the boss seemed unfazed by their continued exchanges, aside from a few more marks on the being which were slowly mending themselves. Sure, she could go on for some time, but keeping the status quo when she couldn’t win that way wasn’t like here. Sera sometimes wouldn’t even keep it when it was in her favor, but it would take too long to defeat her enemy.
Thinking about it, maybe she shouldn’t try to cut the stone construct but instead break it. Not to mention that her current fighting style was probably damaging her weapon. Or maybe she had to get a bit more daring in her feints and create a bigger opening… So she turned her weapon around and continued her onslaught.
A hit from the left with her scythe, evaded.
Dodge the swords coming from the right.
A swing from the right, blocked by the left arm. The quiet cracking of stone could be heard if one focused on it.
The sword in the remaining arm going for her stomach area under her armor, she was forced to disengage.
So the fight went on for the next minutes until another of her attacks was blocked and a stab was incoming. Instead of disengaging like usual, she simply let go of her scythe, dodged to the side of the stab, and grabbed a dagger from her belt.
Now being close, having both arms from the enemy occupied and the surprise momentum on her side, she lunged at the eye of the knight.
At the last moment the knight tried to turn its head to prevent the metal objects from entering its eyes, yet it was too late.
[You defeated the Knight of Fire Lv 33.]
The metal having found its goal, the girl could finally relax.
