We tied a rope to a metal ring on the trapdoor and pulled. With a mighty clatter, the trapdoor lid came out completely. It didn't have a hinge or anything. It was more similar to a manhole cover than a real trapdoor.
A screech came from the hole. It was a deep reverberating screech that tapered into sharp notes at the end. Whatever was down there had an awesome vocal range.
"Someone go down there and see what we have to fight!" Hector ordered. Nobody moved. The lordling's mood soured even more. "Must I do everything myself?"
He ran down the cone. The Knights and pikemen ran after him. I grabbed Kara's gauntlet to keep her from following them in their suicide charge. She didn't move.
"Will they fire me if I misbehave enough?" She asked with a bit of excitement in her voice.
I gave her a befuddled glance. Did she hate paperwork that much? If so, why didn't she just quit? Or was the mental strain of this place and the eternal fight for survival chipping away at her sanity? It was a possibility. A high Wisdom score could help remediate that but even the stalwart mind had its limits.
"Are you okay?" I asked.
Kara smiled at me. "As good as I can be, better than most of our fellows. And I have you."
I felt a warmth in my chest and a knot in my throat. The creature down there roared. The men shouted and then the sounds of battle erupted. Not the right time, place, or occasion for cultivating that spark.
"Let's go."
*
*
Under the trapdoor, we found a ladder and climbed it down. Since it was too narrow for his wingspan, I had to carry Sleepy while William just jumped down. I was impressed. With our planet's heavy gravity, a fall of this height was fatal for almost anyone under level twenty.
After we passed, the trapdoor slammed back in place, sealing us inside. It was several meters away yet it flew and shut us inside. Great. The third-floor boss fight was already underway but the Dungeon had the decency of waiting for us. The ladder landing room was small, three meters on each side and ten meters tall. A short, curved corridor separated the rooms. On the other side, the men fought the boss. Kara and I rushed to join them.
It was a humongous slug the length of three carriages front-to-back, with three long rubbery necks. Each of these necks ended in an animal skull. I recognized the bull and monkey skulls but not the third. It had a wide mouth with triangular teeth. It resembled a fish. The necks could stretch and reach anywhere near the slug's body. The main body moved too slowly but reaching to attack it in melee was impossible. They'd expose themselves to the necks.
Basically, the fight was against the necks. I only hoped it wasn't a true hydra that could regenerate heads. Because we were already down some people. Three of the five knights and the two pikemen were on the ground, motionless. Hector and the two remaining knights fended the heads. The lordling had a shield and a floating sword. His right arm hung limp on his side.
So he could fight but saved the floating sword for last. It might have a limited time or uses per day. Or it costs a lot to use. Given the nature of the items he displayed so far, it should be one of those budget enchantments where longevity was sacrificed for power. The shortcut made it easier to enchant.
"William, defense. Sleepy, sit."
I couldn't risk having Sleepy get bit in half again.
"Kara, stay as a reserve. If any of the three falls, I need you to plug the breach."
"What about the fallen?" She asked.
I handed her my potion box. "If you can, drag them to safety and stabilize them with a sip of healing potion."
It was a risky move. If I got injured, I wouldn't have a way to heal myself. But I wouldn't leave the pikemen to die.
She darted off. I drew Scout's Oath and started to focus fire on the fish-like head, which seemed like the most vicious one. It was the only head with a skull of a predator. And I also tried to see what kind of creature this boss was. The Perk returned "Molluskull" as its name.
Arrow after arrow flew at the neck but all of them bounced off because of the boss's gigantic HP pool. William darted between the men, headbutting the skulls as they tried to bite them. Sleepy wanted to get in the action too. I was being a scaredy cat. Sleepy was a badass Legendary. I bet he had over two thousand HP.
"You stay safe. Avoid the heads. Sleepy, attack!"
With a loud bark, the Wolfertinger took to the air. The heads now had more targets and had to split their focus. The three melee warriors went on the offensive. Still no actual wounds but surely each attack sapped its HP. I only hoped it wasn't a regenerator. These kinds of monsters were a pain to kill.
I heard Kara weep over the bodies. My bow didn't stop shooting for a single second. I fired four or five arrows for each breath of mine. Without the dimensional quiver, I would be useless in such a protracted fight. Sleepy was distracting the monkey head as he charged lightning on his antler nubs.
The bull head feinted to attract William while the fish head swooped in from the side and bit the old knight on the side. Metal screamed as the full plate armor crumpled under those powerful jaws. Triangular teeth shredded the metal to get at the flesh underneath. The head rose with its prize.
Hector's flying sword scored first blood! It cut a gash a hand span wide on the bull neck. We were close to breaking past its HP.
Three arrows after that, my shots sunk into the Molluskull flesh. It didn't seem to cause much damage but a monster this size had a lot of vitality and Endurance. My arrows were like needles to it.
Sleepy dove and circled the bull neck, delivering a shocking headbutt to the slug's body. The whole monster shook and warbled. I sensed danger. The monkey's neck wasn't paralyzed!
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"Get out of there!" I shouted.
Sleepy took to the air but the monkey head slapped the little guy to a corner of the room. Sleepy tumbled but I knew he was okay save for a big chunk of HP.
The dangerous fish head spat a mangled dead knight and came down for more. William jumped in its path and twisted his head at the last moment to kill the massive skull's momentum.
But coming from the other side, the bull head gored the last knight, impaling him through the stomach. Hooting in pain, the man grabbed the horn as he tried to free himself. Blood poured down his back.
Sleepy dashed across the back of the room, followed by the monkey head as it tried to bite my pet. The necks were smart enough to avoid entangling themselves on one another.
The fish head bent its neck when it went to bite Hector. Dozens of my arrows embedded in the neck broke and cut the muscular mollusk from the inside. It howled in pain. Hector's dancing sword delivered several slashes to the fish neck as he used his boots to evade the attack leaving behind only that flashy light streak.
Sleepy leaped against the wall, landing with his rabbit feet and bouncing off the wall to meet the monkey head head-on. At the last moment, the giant skull moved out of the way and let the Wolfertinger soar past. Sleepy howled and delivered his electricity as a lightning bolt straight to the slug body's tail. This time, the shock stopped all three heads. I sent him more of my MP.
Combining our efforts despite our differences, Hector and I killed the fish head. It thumped on the floor and only twitched a few times. It didn't come back to life nor regenerate. A clear fluid seeped from the wounds. But killing one head enraged the other two. They became faster as if the speed was shared between them.
"Enrage boss! We need to kill both heads at the same time!" We had some leeway on that timer but it was the best way to convey the idea.
Unable to adapt to the situation, Sleepy was caught by the monkey head. It bit the Wolfertinger hard. Sleepy whined loudly. I focused my fire on the monkey head while Hector and William kept the bull head busy. The impaled knight was still dangling from the horn but he was already dead. His blood splattered everywhere as the corpse was jerked back and forth.
Kara drew her sword, and her shield, and joined them. Sleepy shone with lightning as he electrocuted the monkey head from the inside, forcing it to spit him out. Damn, the Legendary rarity was a freaking cheat. William would be mutton chops by now if he didn't have that ridiculously overpowered parry Perk.
Hector was focusing on the bull head. That dancing sword of his was outpacing my damage on the monkey head. It couldn't be helped. The rubbery flesh was naturally resistant to piercing attacks.
"We need to kill both heads at the same time!" I shouted. "Or the surviving one will double in speed!"
"Understood!" Kara shouted.
Hector's response was unintelligible. I kept peppering the monkey head with arrows. Things were going well and I was sure we would down this boss. William baited the bull head by standing still against a wall. Goaded, the bull smashed against the wall as William jumped on the skull and then to safety. That's when the world spat in my face for letting myself think we had it in the bag. That side wall crumbled, revealing a yellow polyhedral gem floating in the air.
The Dungeon Core.
*
*
It was unmistakable. It pulsed as palpable energy gathered into it. All of us were drawn to it. The one who cracked that gem would become a god! The divine contract we signed burned in our souls, making us abandon the idea. I thought I had a loophole but right now, Hector wasn't a non-combatant. So long that flying sword acted on his will, I couldn't call him that.
Hector abandoned his shield as he ran toward the core. The bull head swooped down to gore him as Kara entered between the two and braced. She was tossed backward from the impact but prevented the giant skull from goring Hector. William ran after Hector. The lordling used his boots and blurred toward the Core. Sleepy dodged the monkey's head again.
Just like that, we lost a third of our damage dealers.
"Hector, get back!" I shouted.
The Core pulsed like a heart. A deluge of energy gathered and powerful waves rang in the air as the magic gathered inside the gem. It was the same feeling as when Sleepy charged his lightning. I understood what was about to happen. Dungeons were spiteful. They hated the living with a fervor only surpassed by the undead. To the Dungeon, we were its food. Whenever they felt they had no hope of winning, they would use their remaining energy to blow up. Usually, a raid team had to drain the Dungeon of its energy. We instead fed it all our wheelbarrows and the magical items inside.
Now, we would pay for our folly.
"The Core is going to blow! Kara, get out of there! Run to the other side! Sleepy, come! William!"
Fucking shit. The psycho inside the Dungeon Core decided to go for the double TPK. Total Party Kill with Suicide. What could I do?
Only now I remembered the fucking elemental arrows. I switched to these and unloaded all of them randomly. The moment the first fire arrow struck, the slimy film covering the Molluskull ignited. Plumes of smoke and the smell of cooked slug took over the room. Great. I hoped this time it wasn't toxic fumes. I kept shooting at the boss, splitting my arrows between the two surviving heads. Sleepy didn't return as he did several maneuvers to distract the heads.
Hector's dancing sword was slashing the pulsing Core and he was cackling like a madman as he pounded on the gem with his left fist. The dancing sword wasn't doing any damage to the core. In fact, it was slowing down. It must be out of juice… yeah. It dropped to the ground moments later. Without any other option, Hector pounded on the Dungeon Core with his left fist. He should use his damn dagger but I doubted he was using his nogging anymore.
I shot alternating ice and fire arrows at the monkey neck. The thermal shock caused small explosions, spraying chunks of flesh around. The monkey head was losing momentum. Sleepy returned. I changed to the bull head because they both needed to die simultaneously. Damn, I should've remembered these arrows from the get-go. At least each explosion hindered the necks' ability to react and move around, slowing the attacks.
But it wasn't enough. The Core was about to explode at any second. And William was there, in the Core room, guarding Hector.
"William, come!" I shouted. The mental impression I got from the Tityron was a fat, "I got it, bro."
Fuck. We were all going to die. "Kara, get away from the Core! Sleepy, come! William, come!"
Kara's shield was dented and punctured. She was tanking the monkey head while the bull tried to pin Sleepy and maybe gore him.
Neither of the two heard me. The sound of sizzling and popping slug flesh drowned my voice. I blew half of the bull neck by sinking the two types of elemental arrows inside one of the gashes Hector's magic sword made.
The power came in stronger waves from the Dungeon Core. The slug heads became sluggish once I blew a big chunk of the monkey skull's neck. Scales of burnt Molluskull flesh sloughed off the main body. Turns out the whole monster was very flammable, not only the mucus.
I glanced at the ladder room. We had to go inside. Kara looked at me. An opportunity.
"Kara! Let's hide in the ladder room!" I shouted, waved, and pointed at the tunnel. "Sleepy, come!" This time, he obeyed. My Wolfertinger pup dive-bombed straight at me. I scooped sleepy up and ran. The Core was about to blow.
"Wait for me!" I heard Kara shout.
She was right on my heels but her speed was slower than mine. I stretched Scout's Oath and she grabbed it. I pulled Kara along. Only then did I notice a massive gash down her right thigh. The plate leggings covering that body part were gone.
The bull head tried to attack her. William came out of nowhere and headbutted the skull.
"William, come!" I commanded.
The mad lad Tityron ran the other way. It charged at Hector and the Dungeon Core. I closed my eyes for a moment. Good luck, dude. I ran inside the narrow tunnel with Kara in tow. The monkey head slammed against the wall but these skulls were too big to fit in the narrow corridor.
The Dungeon Core exploded. We were tossed to the end of the tunnel and into the small ladder room. Everything went bright, then black. The heat of the explosion burned half of my body.
> For killing level 47 Molluskull (raid boss) you gained 4644 (x3) Experience points.
> You gained two levels. You are now level 34. Excess Experience discarded.
The next System message had sounds and music with it, along with a gruff male voice.
> Chirp, chirp… Snake, are you okay? Snake? Snaaaaaayyyke!!!?!? Tan-ran, tan, tan-tan-tan.
What the hell? I lost my consciousness.