Another roar shook the reservation, this time much closer than the last. Since apparently the Boss would come looking for them, team 0 decided to prepare a proper welcome.
“Do we even know if it can get here?” Ezekiel asked, busy as he was huffing and puffing while pushing one of the broken Treant trunks.
“Bosses usually stay in the deepest areas, but they are known to roam, especially if the ambient mana is higher than normal through the whole dungeon.” Daniel explained, holding aloft an entire Treant with his arms.
“I think it’ll be here soon.” Lauren called from where she was crouching on a maple branch, looking deeper into the forest. “It might be some kind of badger, from the looks of it. A very fat one, at least.”
Maria snorted. “Like the little guy that stole one of the birds?” The redhead was busy cleaning up the area, taking all their loot to a safe place where it wouldn’t get damaged by the coming fight.
“Its angry, ugly cousin. I think it might breathe fire, to be honest. Something is burning where it just passed, but it might be from a different source.” The Rogue answered, sounding a bit confused. Her line of sight wasn’t exactly clear, so she couldn’t give precise information, but it was better than going in blind.
The shaking and rumbling continued for a while, until a weird stillness settled over the clearing as tension built up.
Their preparations mainly consisted of making sure nothing would impede their movements while battling with the Boss, which meant removing all the Treant trunks and roots and placing them on one side, where they could serve as a last ditch barrier, in case the Boss had wide-area attacks they couldn’t deal with.
Beyond that, they had built something resembling a kill zone. It wasn’t often that they had the time to set up before a fight in a dungeon, and so they had never had the option to use most of their kits, but the retractable caltrops and razor lines could be used to significant effect if given the chance.
Finally, the silence was broken by a low rumbling, which they soon realized came from the north. Stepping through the underbrush with little care for what it was trampling, a creature that looked like a mix between a badger and a walrus emerged from the dungeon's depths.
It had thick, coarse fur and was black and white, in the same patterns they had seen in the little thief that took one of the birds. However, its body was massive, at least ten times the size of its ‘cousin’. A much larger than average midsection gave it its similarity to walruses, alongside its muzzle.
Sharp, thick black tusks emerged from its maw while cloudy eyes took in the arrangement of forces before it.
It gave one last sound, more like a chuff than a roar, and proceeded to walk into the clearing with little care, its paws heavy against the loamy soil.
“Positions!” Daniel shouted, his shield glowing with power. Each team member swiftly moved to their predetermined spots, circling the clearing, ready to attack from all angles.
The creature halted in the middle, seemingly aware of their presence but uncaring. It sniffed the air, its nostrils flaring. The beast's calm demeanor made the tension spike even higher.
James carefully observed the Boss, searching for any weak points or behavior that might give them an advantage. The creature’s fur was thick and tough, which would absorb most of their hits, and its tusks looked capable of spearing them through. But James noticed a soft underbelly and a subtle pulsing within its throat, the probably source of its supposed fire-breathing ability.
“Try to target the throat! We have to stop it from burning everything.” James relayed the information to his teammates, his voice tense yet low.
Finally, when it arrived to the middle of the clearing, all hell broke loose. The razor-thin wire they had set up, using the dead Treants to keep it taut, snapped around its body, digging into its flesh and making the Boss bellow in pain.
To that, Maria added a first round of fireballs while Ezekiel debuffed its AGI to stop it from escaping the encirclement. The flames licked its fur, singeing the edges but not causing as much damage as they had hoped. “It’s resistant!” The Fire Mage yelled, falling back to the secondary role they had decided upon.
When confronted with a monster that could use her same element, she had been told to first assess if it was still susceptible to it, as was common in the lower ranks, and if not, to make some distance and help by controlling the spread of the flames, using them to confuse and redirect its attention.
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A rumble built up in its throat, and it became apparent it was preparing to use its fire breath. To prevent it from unleashing the attack, Lauren dashed at the beast's flank, her dagger poised to strike.
The badger, however, was quicker than expected. Uncaring of the sharp wire digging into its flesh, it used its thick tail to swat the Rogue away, sending her flying into the trees.
Still, the attack had the intended effect of stopping the skill from being unleashed. Lauren rolled with the blow and quickly rejoined the formation.
The beast's attention shifted to Ezekiel, its large paws thundering against the ground as it charged. It let out another grunt of pain as it met the field of caltrops they had laid out, the sharp edges cutting deep.
Unfortunately, it didn’t seem to feel much beyond initial annoyance as it continued its charge, uncaring of the damage it was doing to itself.
The attack was much clumsier than it would have been, though, which allowed Daniel to take it head-on, preventing the creature from reaching Ezekiel. "Now, James!" He shouted, his shield locked with the creature's tusks, trying to hold it in place.
The Thakinetic took advantage of the distraction, sprinting from his position, his empowered legs propelling him with great speed.
He focused his willpower on his arms, intending to land a solid punch on the creature's exposed throat.
With a loud yell, his fist connected with the equivalent force of a speeding car. It howled in agony, and Daniel released it as it stumbled backward, curling up to protect its ruined throat instinctively.
It wasn't down yet, though. With a low growl, the creature's maw began to glow an ominous red. “Scatter!” James yelled, noticing the imminent danger.
They barely had time to move. It released a torrent of flames, scorching the area where the team had been moments before. The trees around them caught ablaze, heat rapidly rising in the clearing.
“Fuck yes!” Maria yelled, gathering the spreading fires into one massive fireball and throwing it back at the Boss. It exploded on contact, sending the creature flying back into the prepared field of caltrops, which dug into its flesh.
It bellowed again, truly feeling the pain, and slowly righted itself. The creature, though powerful, was also clearly exhausted from the constantly accumulating damage. Its movements were slower, limited severely by the razor wire still cutting into it with every move, its breaths ragged. This was their chance.
Lauren used her stealth skills to reach it unnoticed and before it could truly reorient itself, she was upon it, her daggers precisely aiming for the already open wounds, bypassing its thick layer of hair and skin, inflicting even more damage.
She retreated quickly, avoiding another jet of flames. This one, however, was much smaller than the last, and it gave James the confidence to close in. Charging again with all his energy gathered in his limbs, he quickly crossed the distance, jumped to avoid the last-moment tail whip, and landed a devastating blow on its head, burying it into the ground for a moment.
His Thakinetic Awareness then blared with danger as he felt the beast become more determined, its focus sharpening, and he jumped back, yelling “It’s trying to do something!”
In response to his warning, all the members rushed back behind the fortifications they had built earlier. It had almost seemed overkill at the time, but they had followed Miss Walker’s instructions to prepare for every possible situation, and it paid off.
The beast, battered and visibly worn, mustered its waning strength for a last desperate assault. The glint of malicious intelligence flashed in its cloudy eyes as it gathered all its remaining mana. The air around it shimmered with intense heat as its body began to glow ominously.
“Fall back!” Daniel’s order boomed through the clearing as the team kept sprinting away from the creature. Its body continued to heat up, with steam hissing from the wounds in its fur, the seething heat within it turning its blood to a charred black.
Just as the team reached the Treant trunks, the creature exploded in a massive, fiery burst, sending a shockwave of heat and force, the impact smashing into the surrounding vegetation, turning it into instant charcoal. The explosion was loud enough to make their ears ring, even from a distance.
Stunned by the sudden explosion, the team took a moment to regroup. The once lush clearing was now a smoldering crater; bits of burning debris littered the ground, and a thick plume of smoke billowed high into the air.
“Everyone okay?” Daniel called out, his voice echoing through the now eerily quiet forest. One by one, each member of the team responded, confirming their safety.
“That was one hell of a boss.” Ezekiel muttered, wiping soot off his face.
“And one hell of a mess.” Maria added, looking at the smoldering wreckage.
Seeing his friends relax, James felt a strange sense of unease. They had fought an almost textbook battle, never allowing the Boss to have the initiative and drawing it out into several prepared traps, but his instincts told him something was amiss.
Looking into the cloud of smoke, he concentrated on his skill and was unsurprised to find a presence still blazing within.
“We didn’t get the notification! It’s still alive!” James called, and indeed, a low growl soon resounded through the clearing.
At the epicenter of the crater, amidst ash and embers, the beast was rising again, now free from the razor wire and the caltrops. The heat it had emitted had been enough to weaken the wire, and its massive STR had done the rest.
On the other hand, the explosion had cleared its way, launching all the remaining traps away.
The Boss, it seemed, was very much not done. It was slowed down, hobbled and battered, but its resilience was such that even now, it cut an intimidating figure.
“Unbelievable…” Ezekiel whispered in disbelief.
“It's still standing…” Lauren muttered, her eyes wide as she stared at the burnt yet intimidating figure of the creature.
The beast let out a weakened but determined roar, clearly ready to continue the fight. Heat continued to be emitted from its body, strong enough that James was hesitant to get too close.
Once it was ready, the beast lunged at them with desperation, its movements more erratic, guided more by rage than precision. Its breath, now a plume of sparks and embers, created a field of fire, further igniting the surroundings.
It was slow enough that it couldn’t really hit them, and even its skill had been weakened by the battle, which allowed the team to evade its assault. Maria danced within the flames, taking control of the rapidly spreading fires and redirecting them away, obscuring the Boss’ vision and thus diverting its rampage.
They were at a stalemate, neither with the ability to end the fight, when James had an idea.
Oh, you are not going to like this, you fat badger.