Chapter 19: Stake it All

Bob and Sumei were terrified as the Boss of Four Deaths gazed at them. It simply stood still, but their foreheads were already covered in sweat. They felt what it was like to be a newbie at level one face facing a level ten hidden boss.

Jacob handed his trusty bronze sword to Sumei and said, “I don’t know how this will end.”

Over time, he had become a mental support for others. Hearing him say this made their hearts sink. It was not because he was as smart as Sumei, nor was he as brave as Bob. It was because he always tried to be the best he could be and had the strength to back it up.

“But I will try my best.”

Despite his grievous injury, his steps were firm. He also felt fear, but he knew he could not back down. He didn’t have a choice. His teammates didn’t have a choice. The monster was too powerful for them.

Bob and Sumei began feeling useless and guilt consumed them.

Jacob waved his hand at Bob who was carrying the rapier. It took a moment, but Bob understood the gesture and passed it over. Jacob looked at the weapon taller than him and tried to wave it.

‘Barely passable.’

He wasn’t referring to the weapon’s quality but the weapon’s weight. He wanted the best weapon for the fight. Then Jacob waved his hand at Sumei. She understood and handed him the two potions despite not knowing what was in them. At this point, she knew they had to stake it all!

‘I feel sorry for using up our first loot ever. But I’ll make it up to them.’

He drank the rage potion. It tasted sweet like orange, but as it went down his throat, a burning volcano seem to erupt from within. He then drank the other potion to make himself hard and durable enough to take a beating. It tasted horrible, and a flicker of obsidian seemed to cover his skin.

The Boss of Four Deaths was tired of waiting. It began walking towards him.

“Human.” Its voice was hoarse, as if someone had sandpaper stuck in their throat. “Your kind is doomed for extinction!” But the horrible voice was not the reason for the team’s shock. “Just accept your destiny!”

[Emergency Quest: Defeat the Boss of Four Deaths

Reward: Classes Unlocked, New Skill Chance]

It lunged towards him. Jacob suppressed his shock at the realization that a low level monster could talk. Even the notification was thrown to the back of his mind. He activated his Dash Skill, readied his giant rapier, and swung it at his opponent. He did not know how to use a rapier but didn’t have a weapon durable enough for this battle.

Clang!

The gargoyle easily swiped his rapier away and approached closer. Jacob stepped to the side and once again attacked with the rapier. But it was swiped away once again.

‘This is not going to work!’

He looked at Bob behind him.

“Your sword!”

He quickly dodged the gargoyle’s thrust. Bob threw the sword at Jacob and he threw his rapier at the boss to keep him occupied. The boss dodged the rapier and watched it fall to the ground.

“Human.” Its voice was laced with thick anger. “How dare you disrespect a champion’s weapon this way?”

The spear came for Jacob once again. The gargoyle’s attacks were all aimed at his vital points, but Jacob was back to using a familiar sword.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

He dodged where he could and parried where he could not. But he was not happy.

‘Where is its weakness? How do I take it down? Does it even have a weakness?’

Jacob knew he only had a few minutes before the potion’s effects wore down. He was having difficulty holding his own, despite having higher stats than the boss. It was then he realized.

‘Its not just about stats. It’s also technique that matters.’

But there was no time to think about techniques. Each second that passed seemed to torture him. Even the boss reduced the intensity of its attacks as though it knew Jacob’s power up would soon disappear.

Bob and Sumei were unable to clearly see the condition of the battle. But as they got glances of Jacob’s worried face, they knew he was in trouble. Their self-esteem was greatly hurt as they were just being a dead weight to him right now. But they didn’t give up.

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“Monster’s bad and scary,” Bob muttered. He had gotten slightly used to the pressure and was thinking hard about how to help his new friend.

Sumei nodded, then shook her head. “We’ll try to help him in our own way. Let’s check that throne room you told me about.”

Bob nodded. The duo slowly walked towards the entrance. Bob wanted to pick up the rapier that had dropped near him for self-defense and quickly took it. The duo nearly reached the door.

The gargoyle suddenly stepped back. It tried finding the rapier and saw the two humans that were about to leave. Jacob could swear he saw its stony eyeballs turn dark for a moment. It suddenly threw its spear at Sumei who was in the lead.

“Dodge!” Jack shouted as he lunged towards the boss.

The old Sumei would have remained frozen. But after facing death in the face so many times, she remained somewhat calm. She tried to bend back, but the pressure seemed to be too much. The approaching spear didn’t give her time to move. As she closed her eyes with a tear forming in them, she heard a collision.

Clang!

But… it didn’t sound like her body was pierced. She opened her eyes in confusion, but the scene sent horror rushing through her spine. Ahead of her stood Bob with his rapier. The weapon wasn’t thick enough to parry the spear. But it was enough to deflect the spearhead slightly.

“Run!” Jacob’s shout woke them up.

Bob ignored the spear that had pierced his shoulder and ran outside with Sumei. They went right where the small door leading to the throne room was still present.

Of course, the boss didn’t want to see that. But Jacob stood in front of the door and guarded it with every fiber of his being.

Roar!

The Boss of Four Death’s seemed to get angrier. Like the Guardian of Four Deaths, its body shone with a black light. Its body seemed to double in strength and agility. The boss used its hands that were coated in black and kept piercing towards Jacob like a spear.

“Argh!”

Jacob’s concentration lapsed for a second as he looked at the remaining time of the potion’s effect in his system status. It gave the boss a chance to hit his kidney and made him spit another mouthful of blood. He looked at his slowly bleeding chest and punctured kidney.

Jacob’s face was grim as he stared at the approaching monster.

***

“Argh!”

Bob grunted as he took out the spear that had pierced him. But he held it tight in fear that the gargoyle would summon the spear which would make the fight more difficult for Jacob.

Sumei and Bob looked around the throne room. They wanted to find something to work against the boss. Sumei felt her idea was correct when the boss stopped them from leaving. In the end, she just saw the broken stones, and the four broken statues standing on either side of the throne. Nothing else was there.

Both of them finally arrived in front of the throne made for giant creatures. It was built by stone, and the few obsidian gems embedded in it displayed its majesty. Sumei counted one on the front and four on its arms. There were other smaller gems, but they seemed to be made of different materials.

“These shine and they don’t. Should we try it out?” Sumei asked Bob as she remembered how they had defeated the Guardian of Four Sides. She felt there was a high probability the hidden boss had a similar mechanism. Otherwise, how else were they supposed to defeat a creature that knew no fear, exhaustion and would not bleed?

Bob nodded. He held the spear with his right hand and thrust it towards the big obsidian gem on the front of the throne.

Clang!

The spear vibrated, sending waves of pain across Bob’s arm. But there was not a single scratch on the gem. Sumei’s hopeful gaze turned dimmer. She looked at the other four gems and Bob got the message.

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!

With each impact, the hope in her eyes reduced until it went dull. Were they truly fated to die in this dungeon? Was there no hope left for them? She knew when the gargoyle was done with Jacob, it would come for them. She didn’t even know if those unknown potions could help Jacob defeat the boss or survive against it.

Meanwhile, Bob felt the rapier in his left hand vibrate as it touched a gem on the throne’s arm during his movements. He stopped as he looked between the gem and the rapier. He remembered the way the boss looked at him before throwing the spear at Sumei.

Bob had a silly grin on his face.

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