Chapter 134
“Hunting shadows in the tower.” Part 2
What on earth is that? She worried as she saw the monster covered by a black cloak and his huge scythe in his hand, several meters beyond the golden glow.
Inspect!
[Name: N/A
Race: Lich (Elite)
Level: 17
HP: 24,000/24,000
MP: 1,500/1,500]
“Attack her”! The lich ordered and hundreds of specters rushed towards her.
“Ice daggers!” Whispered Kalysto, needing to feel something with which she could defend herself against the new threat. ”Ezhil Purification! Dispel Ezhil!” She conjured, and the lich recoiled at the sight of her attack. Instead, a half-smile broke out on Kalysto’s face as she saw him back away from her.
So I have no reason to fear that weapon? She was relieved, allowing her gaze to finally wander from the massive sickle.
[You have gained 300 experience points!] x25
And as soon as the lich flew backwards, using the darkness of the cave as a shield for his escape, Kalysto quickly followed.
“Where are you going in such a hurry?” she questioned brazenly. “A little more and I’ll be able to level up again," she added, happy to see how easy it was to get rid of the specters and all the experience she was gaining so easily. I’m sure it’s because of the additional percentage of experience that killing monsters with my saintess skills gives me.
But when she was about to reach him, the lich simply flew faster.
And as more specters came out to meet her, the further they both flew away from the area protected by the golden light, leaving her seemingly defenseless to another attack and shrouded in more shadows.
“Ezhil Purification! Dispel Ezhil!” she continued to conjure as she tried to catch up to the very elusive lich, who was coming out of one corridor only to take a detour into another and then get lost in the middle of another crossroads.
Good thing he couldn’t seem to get through walls.mind, But as the thought passed through her mind another wave of specters came out of the walls and rushed at her.
“Ezhil Purification! Dispel Ezhil!”
[You have gained 250 experience points!] x50
[The skill Dispel Ezhil has been raised to level 9!]
“What kind of man are you? Stop being a coward and face me at once! I don’t have all the time in the world to keep playing cat and mouse with you!” She growled, starting to get annoyed, as she swung her right dagger to her left hand.
Ice spear!
The spear pierced the left side of the lich’s back and hip, destroying it and causing it to slow down as it was anchored to the ground.
But the monster quickly began to recover.
And just as it got up and began to run away, Kalysto fell on top of him. Sticking a dagger in his neck bone and another in his head.
“The games are over," she whispered. And though it was the first time she had seen a lich, she was surprised to see that there were only bones under his dark cloak as it fell aside. “Ezhil Purification! Ezhil Purification! Ezhil Dispel! Ezhil Purification! Ezhil Purification!”
And Kalysto continued to conjure again and again until the lich disappeared completely.
[You have gained 3000 experience points!]
[The boss of the 12th floor of the dungeon has been defeated!]
[The user has gained 300 bonus experience points for participating in the boss defeat!]
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
[The user has acquired the skill ‘Night Vision.’ Level 1 as a reward!]
And as the golden light of her skill dissipated, a blue portal appeared in front of her at the same time as the rest of the heroes were transported around her.
“What...what the hell happened? And what the heck were those things?” Koden asked with his face full of scratches, his sword held high and his shield carved with the traces left by the specters’ claws when they attacked him.
“Specters, I think," answered Kalysto as she looked at the rest of them, making sure they were all alive.
To her great relief, they all seemed to be breathing despite the multiple wounds the specters had inflicted on them. She was about to go to help Rita up, but Oscar got ahead of her.
“We’d better get going," she tried to hurry them along as she herself walked toward the portal, trying to disguise how out of place she felt trying to help her friend.
Then she glanced back at the large collection of red dots still inside the map. She would have loved to be able to keep exterminating and earn all those experience points, but with the rest of the group gathered, she didn’t feel comfortable showing off her saintess skills.
Not with Oscar, Emanuel, and Gideon being part of the group.
And while she didn’t know the first two well, her gut was screaming at her to stay on Oscar’s good side, and as far as Gideon was concerned, the blond was nothing more than a playboy with a touch of narcissism. And deep down, Kalysto was sure that if given the chance, he wouldn’t hesitate to sell out his own twin brother just to survive.
It’s better not to trust them. She concluded.
“But we’re wounded! Can’t you at least give us a few minutes? Can’t you see the state we’re in?” Refuted Gideon, annoyed at her lack of sensitivity as Gabriel approached him to help him, despite his own injuries.
Kalysto, standing in front of the portal, returned to give them all one last look. Noticing that not only were they wounded, but some of them, like Edward, were shivering and curled up on the floor in a fetal position.
“If you want to stay and be killed by the rest of the specters that are still here, that’s your choice.“
“What? There are still more of those things? Didn’t you kill them all?” Gabriel panicked.
“Just because I was lucky enough that the boss chose to come to me, doesn’t mean I’m done with the rest of them," she replied coolly. “And I think you are forgetting two things. One, you have a collection of potions to cure yourselves with, so stop waiting for some miracle to happen and start using them. And two, by now Milo and the rest of the knights should have woken up and should be climbing the tower to catch up with us.”
“What?” Emanuel paled when he heard that. “Do you think they will try to kidnap us again?”
“Shit, I forgot about them!” Rita growled in frustration as Oscar held her and helped her take a health potion.
“Don’t forget that you can only take a potion every ten minutes," Kalysto reminded them, seeing that both Rita and Koden had taken her advice.
“I will count the time," Rita offered immediately, looking at the watch on her wrist.
“Thank you," replied Kalytso. “Now drink the first potion and let’s go to the next floor. It’s safer for everyone to rest there," she announced. And without waiting for an answer, she crossed the portal.
[Warning! The user has entered the thirteenth floor of the dungeon!]
The strong midday light hurt her eyes as the great stone walls welcomed her as she slowly got used to the new lighting.
The cool breeze caressed her face and she could breathe in deeply, enjoying the smell of fresh pine that flooded the air despite not being able to see a single tree in the surroundings, other than two gigantic walls separated by a roofless corridor at the entrance of which she appeared.
Like the outer walls, the corridor was lined by immense walls at least fifteen meters high and ended at another wall that gave access to another corridor opening off to the sides.
“What is this place?” questioned Rita, who was the first to pass after her.
“I think it’s a labyrinth," whispered Oscar in response.
“A labyrinth? Like in those stories about a labyrinth and a Minotaur?” Koden was startled and the young athlete’s gaze immediately crossed Kalysto’s, looking for support.
“I will go and inspect the terrain. Koden, you protect the rest of the group while they heal and Rita incinerates everything that approaches, either through the portal or the labyrinth. I’ll go defeat the boss... Maybe we’ll have some luck and you’ll be summoned in front of the portal again once I defeat it," she commented with a bit of hope.
“Are you sure it’s okay for you to go alone?” Rita worried.
“Someone has to stay and take care of them," Kalysto replied, looking at how haggard the rest of the boys looked while she felt a warmth spreading through her chest as she saw the blonde’s genuine concern for her.
Not wanting to waste any more time, and after giving the blonde a smile to reassure her a bit, Kalysto ran to the end of the corridor.
Map! She thought, observing the few red dots scattered in the middle of the labyrinth, next to a larger one located in the center. Then she ran at full speed to the right, running into the back of the first monster, and before it could turn around and face her, she conjured:
“Perfect aim! Multiple targets! Ice stakes! Ice spear!” The spear pierced the chest of the gigantic creature whose face and semi-human torso were covered with snakeskin while the stakes buried themselves in its eyes, piercing its skull.
A naga. She noticed, remembering that she had once seen Natasha, her landlady’s daughter trying to defeat one with her friends in one of the many video games they played on the weekends.
[You have gained 400 experience points!]
The enemy’s body fell lifeless on the cold earthen floor at the same time as the notification of its death appeared before her.
But Kalysto did not stop there.
And after placing the palms of her hands on one of the immense stone walls that lined each corridor, she conjured:
“Earth manipulation!” An arch was drawn over the wall, transforming the stone inside the arch into rocks that fell to the sides and near her feet. “Tsk! I hope it’s more polished next time," she murmured.
[The skill ‘Earth Manipulation’ has been raised to level 2!]
About twenty minutes later, Kalysto finished creating a new arch in the last wall that separated her from the boss room, but this time unlike the previous ones, the rocks didn’t fall almost on her feet, but transformed into sand and scattered on the ground with a soft sound, dirtying her boots.
[The skill ‘Earth Manipulation’ has been raised to level 7!]
And when she took a step forward, another sign appeared before her.
[Warning! The user has entered the boss room of the thirteenth floor of the dungeon!]