Chapter 9: Chapter 9: The Otherworlder and the Boss Raid (2)

The Otherworlder and the Sanguine Snakes had come to a halt in their path.

 

An enormous gate of molded iron towered the path in front of them. Just looking at it, one could tell the thickness of the metallic door was too great to push through. Engravings of a long-lost language decorated the gate from top to bottom with runes and drawings embossed near the handles that were too high for a human to reach.

 

The Otherworlder walked closer to the gate when his eyes fell on the marks at the bottom. Red ink dripped ominously from the dozen 'Xs drawn on the gate. These marks signified the total wipe-outs that had happened in past boss raids. One could only find the corpses after battling the boss again, so it was the next party to come in that drew these, as a grim reminder of what lay ahead to the ones who would end up at the boss room with relative ease or luck.

 

Of course, if one entered the boss room, the only way to leave was to kill or be killed. This was another difference between artificial and natural dungeons. Most artificial dungeons had autonomous entities like golems or guardians as their bosses, while a naturally occurring dungeon had a living monster at that spot. It was possible to raid an artificial boss multiple times, but that wasn't the case in a natural dungeon.

 

The Otherworlder took in a deep breath and stood upright. He placed his palm on the gate and asked, "Are you guys ready?"

 

The four Sanguine Snakes nodded and took their stances. The group stood in the shape of a diamond with the Otherworlder at the forefront. Behind him on the left flank was Vollrath, and on the right, Aida. Eilhard took the farthest position while Liesl stood in the middle, right behind the Otherworlder.

 

"Do I need to explain the plan again?" he asked.

 

"Nope."

 

"Then…" The Otherworlder placed the second palm on the door and exhaled.

 

"Three…"

 

He pushed the door ahead.

 

"Two…"

 

The metal door clanged and creaked as dust trickled off from the top.

 

"…ONE!"

 

The Otherworlder crashed the door open and rushed in. The Otherworlder and Vollrath stood near the door, covering Liesl and Eilhard behind them while Aida alone moved away from the group to survey the place.

 

Alongside the opening of the door, many more metallic clangs reverberated through the air. The sound was similar to an old and enormous gear moving again after dozens of years assaulted the group.

 

An enormous room with flooring of stone and the remains of beautifully carved pillars supporting the ceiling. At the center of the room was a gigantic magic circle. Its intricate designs alongside the dome-shaped place were strongly reminiscent of a giant ballroom.

 

And rising from the center was the day's chief dancer. Long metallic limbs, a posture begetting of awe and fear. Dozens of red eyes gleamed from its head as the metallic giant came back to life.

 

This was the boss of the first floor of the Galterius Cribs.

 

The Ballroom Instructor.

 

"WHEEEEENGGG"

 

White steam shot out from the Boss' face as it locked its eyes on the invaders. Meeting its glare with a smile, the Otherworlder smirked.

 

A gleam of white covered the Ballroom Instructor's hand. The gleaming substance took form in the shape of a long whip.

 

"WOAA!" Vollrath screamed his battle cry and rushed toward the boss. He raised his ax and brought it close to his chest, shouting over and over to attract its attention.

 

In the blink of an eye, the Ballroom Instructor's head whipped in circles and settled on the charging warrior. It elegantly swept its hands and sent the whip zapping toward Vollrath.

 

Vollrath covered his arms with mana and met the whip with a swing of his ax.

 

A tempest of attacks broke out from both ends as the Ballroom Instructor and Vollrath went toe to toe. The exchange was brutal for Vollrath, whose weapon was a terrible match against a whip, but he somehow managed with Eilhard's constant healing and buff spells.

 

Metal crashed against metal and sparks flew in the sky. Both parties were relentless with their attacks.

 

The whip came from his left, Vollrath gulped and held his ax flat to bunt the whip. Before it could come crashing on the warrior, the whip swerved ninety degrees and came crashing from above instead. Vollrath twisted his body and leaped back. Waves of pain spread through his spine as the whip grazed his shoulders.

 

The disadvantage was becoming clear by the second as bruises piled up on Vollrath's body and his movements turned sluggish.

 

"Just a little more! Vollrath!" Eilhard screamed.

 

The warrior was being pushed back, but his efforts were more than enough to distract the Ballroom Instructor from the one that separated from them the earliest.

 

Just then, Aida called out from the other end of the room. Showing a thumbs up to the rest of the party.

 

"Now!" The Otherworlder shouted.

 

Vollrath pushed back the Ballroom Instructor with all his might. He then pulled out something from his pocket and threw it at the boss before running away from the battle.

 

A soft smile tugged at the Otherworlder's lips.

 

The preparations were completed.

 

"{Afxisi}! {Kapnos}!!"

 

At Liesl's call, a cloud of smoke rose from the ground. Like the aftermath of an explosion, the smoke spread all over the boss room in seconds.

 

"WAOOOONG! WAOOOONG!"

 

The confused Ballroom Instructor could only buzz around in surprise as the pesky humans that had invaded its space disappeared. The giant smokescreen made from a giant chunk of Liesl's mana alongside a long preparation time snapped away the visibility in the room, completely robbing it of its sight.

 

In the dense white smoke where everything in the room blended into one, glowing spots of light slowly started ascending into the air.

 

Blue and red, the light sparkled all over the room. Nothing other than the sparkling lights was visible amidst the dense veil of smoke.

 

Confused, the Ballroom Instructor swung its whip at the light closest to it.

 

The blue light immediately bounced back, and its surroundings were replaced with red ones.

 

The Ballroom Instructor furiously whipped at the red lights too, but could not hit a single one of them.

 

"{Volida}"

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A ball of fire crashed into the Ballroom Instructor's back. The boss monster turned around while groaning in pain as the incessant red lights followed its line of sight. How was this happening? First, the pesky graceless humans disappeared, and now this obnoxiously bright red light followed it.

 

"Hiya!"

 

A big hit on its legs. The monster tumbled ahead from the shock of the attack. It was hit wide open. A dirty tactic. The Ballroom Instructor, with a posture that could hardly be compared to the one before, turned again, but there was nothing near it.

 

-Clang, Clang, Clang.

 

Small knives struck its back.

 

The Ballroom Instructor could only turn here and there as it was constantly attacked from the back and the sides. These pesky humans! And the damn lights, always following. These damn red lights.

 

They were bright.

 

Very bright.

 

The Ballroom Instructor's many eyes swerved around in all directions, before lowering to its own body. Lodged between its chest was a large, red stone. The Boss raised its normal hand and tried to grab the stone…

 

… And it moved to the side.

 

The Ballroom Instructor blinked and tried to grab it again. And the stone moved again.

 

Tied around the stone was a small wire, moving it around.

 

"Hah, guess it figured it out."

 

When he saw the loot of magic crystals they had harvested, the Otherworlder had come up with a plan to avoid direct confrontation with the boss monster.

 

Aida went around the room, spreading the magic crystals and bits of his special allow wires around the ballroom in the best positions while the rest of the group distracted it. Then Vollrath planted the largest magic crystal directly onto it before running away. To end it all, Liesl created a gigantic smokescreen all over the room.

 

From there, it was the Otherworlder's turn to lead the dance.

 

Using the mana crystal on the Ballroom Instructor as a locator, he used the other red stones to drive his team away from danger and the blue ones to show them a place to attack. Whenever he felt he was running out of mana or concentration, Eilhard would come to his aid with his healing spells.

 

Understanding that it was playing in the palms of the humans, the Ballroom Instructor seethed with rage. Its second arm too started changing into a whip as its gleaming eyes grew redder.

 

"Tsk."

 

The Otherworlder clicked his tongue and brought the red stones all around the Ballroom Instructor, driving the Sanguine Snakes away from it, but he was too late.

 

"WOOOANNG!!"

 

The Ballroom Instructor's thunderous cry boomed into the air as its whips flailed at breakneck speeds. Going on a rampage, the monster struck at anything and everything around it, with no regard for safety.

 

"Run away!" Eilhard shouted.

 

The sheer force of the whip, coupled with the speed it was running at, was enough to blow away the smoke around them.

 

"Aghh!" a scream, followed by the sound of crashing.

 

"Vollrath!"

 

Chunks of stone and debris flew all around the room as the Ballroom Instructor's indiscriminate rampage continued. It held no regard for itself or its surroundings as it summoned all the mana of the dungeon in its fit.

 

"Ahh!"

 

Aida was hit, too.

 

"Shit! What do we do? Sir Iatra!!" Eilhard shouted with desperation as the Otherworlder still held the wires up.

 

The whip of the Ballroom Instructor closed in on them! Eilhard covered his eyes in fear as the whip lightly grazed the Otherworlder's cheeks before backing away.

 

A rampaging monster. A dangerous situation with a threat of life and death.

 

"But… there is no need to doubt our victory…"

 

The Otherworlder closed his eyes and slowly clutched his fingers into two tight fists. The wires all around the room approached the Ballroom Instructor.

 

Not a single strand of the wire came into contact with the whip. Inch by inch, it coiled around the monster. The wire pulled at its legs and wrapped around its torso, strangling the rampaging monster.

 

The flailing whip danced around more fiercely, eventually forming a deep gash into one of the pillars.

 

"Not even for a second…"

 

Just as the Otherworlder's hands clutched into a tight fist, the wires all snapped at the Ballroom Instructor.

 

The floor was swept under the monster's feet! Losing its footing completely, the rampaging Ballroom Instructor toppled over itself and crashed to the ground.

 

A wave of lightning struck the half-destroyed pillar and completely broke it away.

 

Parts of the ceiling alongside the full weight of the broken pillar rammed into the monster at breakneck speed.

 

-Clang! Clang! Clang!

 

The sound of metal being crushed echoed through the hall as the debris flattened the Ballroom Instructor under it.

 

The Otherworlder pulled his hands back, and the wires followed. The rampaging whips and the screaming monster had completely disappeared, leaving only destruction and silence in its wake.

 

With a smile, the Otherworlder turned back and looked down at Eilhard.

 

"For I have already flipped a coin."

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