Hannah ran to the nearest hidden object of power while accompanied by nine skeletons and her Roller Golem. She kept the dynamic fight in the corner of her eye.
She pushed down the feeling of guilt that she was using Zarian. He was risking his life and holding himself back against an enemy that could kill him.
It took a certain type of mindset that was beyond selfless. Zarian was truly a demigod, in Hannah’s belief, and a crazy one at that.
In fact, she could hear his howls of laughter entwined with the roars of the angry dungeon boss. In the middle of it all, the dramatic music tied it all together.
Hannah skidded to a stop in front of one of the hidden trap doors. It was next to a set of furniture that looked like it was made for humans.
She turned to Flamer and told the Runic Burner to lob fireballs at all the furniture. In no time, the furniture rose as roaring mimics, with their bodies smoldering under intense flames.
“Destroy them while I work, skeletons,” Hannah ordered.
Roller stayed by her side. The skeletons split off, their enchanted dark swords raised. They attacked the exposed mimics with ferocity and expertise. The arena floor shook violently as the boss fight continued in the background.
Hannah focused on the nearly impossible task under her. It was a simple structure hidden under the boss arena floor. But the rune-work enchanted into the structure was so complicated Hannah was nearly stunned.
She would’ve found herself ill-equipped if she hadn’t studied the Golem Lost Knight of the Forgotten Kingdom and the White Spider Dungeon core.
Hannah took a deep breath and dove all the way in. Because of the new levels in Enchantment +1 and Rune Alteration +1, she could work faster and from further away.
She used Rune Scan +1 to get a surface reading. Then she pulled out some runic devices to improve her efficiency, reach, and touch.
Roller directed his aura recovery service straight into her and provided her excess power. She also had more aura recovery enchantments placed into her gear for extreme occasions like these.
With all of that excess aura at her fingertips, Hannah pushed, sifted, isolated various enchantments, broke them down to their components, then went even further and further to their base runic makeup. Then she went even further than that to make out every piece of every rune she could.
She found runes she’d never seen before. She quickly cross-referenced them with everything she’d studied and researched up to this time.
It was almost too much. She hadn’t been an enchantress for long enough. This was far more difficult and taxing than she had imagined.
Still, Hannah pushed herself. Because Zarian believed in her. He’d spent so much of his time and energy supporting her. She wanted to show him and the others how much further she could push her enchantress class. She wanted to make it so they needed not worry when she wasn’t always involved in combat.
I’ve bypassed the laws of the universe. I’ve summoned Reiki here when I shouldn’t have. I have the secrets of a Forgotten Kingdom at my fingertips. I just need to push for more.
Hannah shuddered before letting out a hoarse laugh. Blood leaked down her nostrils as she overclocked her brain to keep track of the enormous dump of runic information and enchanting work she was doing all at once.
Aura poured in and out of her like she was a major medium of magic herself, less a human, and more a connector of what was and what could be.
One day, I’ll become a goddess of enchantments. I’ll create worlds from mere magic code. I’ll create life by putting together runes. One day, I’ll be overpowered, too.
That was a long way from now. At the very least, she would kill a boss many times stronger than her.
“Done,” Hannah said, eyes watery, head throbbing, blood pouring fast from her nostrils.
She could barely get to her feet when the arena shook so hard she was tossed back down again.
“Please be okay, everyone. Sorry for the wait,” Hannah said.
First, she looked around. She was taken aback to see the skeletons were still fighting. The mimics had grown larger in numbers. They came running as sofas, footrests, tables, treasure chests, and more.
She watched the human skeleton Mighty slash his enchanted dark sword at a charging table-mimic and split it in half. She looked up as the gnoll skeleton Windy soared through the air and whipped out crescents of sharpened gales with each rapid sword swing.
Behind her, the human skeleton Warper stood guard, the air around his sword flickering strangely as if the weapon would blink out of reality. Whenever a mimic collided against his sword while the weapon blinked, the mimic fell with part of its body sliced perfectly.
Hannah looked past them and saw most of the boss arena was annihilated. She caught Reiki running with Loner while numerous spells rained down from above. The spell-siege crashed with a meteoric force that could’ve demolished multiple city blocks and wiped away neighborhoods back in the old world as the Lore Eater went on a rampage.
Yet, despite all of that raw power, the boss was covered in gruesome gashes. Half of its tentacles looked like they had met the business end of a blender and were left useless on the floor. Most of its eyes were slashed apart, leaving its face bloody with purple ichor dripping in constant streams.
From what Hannah could tell, Zarian had given the boss hell. But he hadn’t come out of the fight unscathed.
Zarian was kneeling on the floor behind some dark pillars. He was covered in gruesome wounds that worried Hannah greatly. The Parasite Cloak was in ruins, far worse than Hannah had ever seen.
Thankfully, he was still cognizant of the situation and the others. He conjured more dark pillars to defend Loner and Reiki from the meteor shower of elemental blasts.
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As blood leaked down Zarian’s body, with him breathing hard, forced to wait out the destructive barrage accompanied by a symphony of music that elevated every moment, Hannah could hardly believe the length Zarian would go just so he could make the fight interesting. Or maybe this was less about himself and more about his promise to support her.
Hannah felt deeply touched despite the circumstances.
The Lore Eater had none of her appreciation for Zarian.
“I’m finished with you! Face the wrath of my knowledge! For I have the power to destroy kingdoms right this very moment.”
The Lore Eater stopped raining elemental meteors. He reached out with his remaining tentacles and pointed them toward all four devices hidden in the corners of the arena.
The mimics stopped their relentless assault and scurried away. The monsters feared what was to come.
The skeletons turned to Hannah. She gave them strange orders without explaining her reasoning. “Go hunt after the mimics. Kill as many as you can to power level yourselves.”
The skeletons nodded and chased the minions. With so many helpful abilities layered on top of them, the nine skeletons showed promise of how ferociously strong and dominant they would become as they continued advancing.
Hannah watched the goblin skeleton Glowy swing out arcs of intense light to slash apart mimic limbs. She saw the goblin skeleton Darko slam his sword down with a dark density that crushed and chopped apart the mimic under his blade.
The human skeleton Hasty moved his dark sword so fast he left dozens to over a hundred cuts on mimics before they died. The other skeletons maximized their advantages and came away with dynamic results.
Hannah smiled as they rampaged. She turned away from the rising obelisk near her as it pushed up from a trap door opening.
The dungeon boss rose higher into the air. Its blood fell in great clumpy heaps. Hannah walked through the bloody rainfall as four obelisks of doom continued to rise from the trap doors in the arena and tower over the grounded adventurers.
She glanced to the side and saw Reiki and Loner glaring up at the out-of-reach dungeon boss. The duo then looked over at Hannah and ran to her side. They walked together to join Zarian. He was still kneeling on the floor, looking up along with them.
He met Hannah’s eyes and quirked his eyebrow.
She answered his silent question. “The battle is over.”
“Nobody told the boss that,” Zarian said.
Hannah gave him a bloody smile. “It will learn.”
“With this, I’m the god of knowledge and destruction!” Devoxklix the Lore Eater reached out with its magic to touch the obelisks of immense runic power.
Each obelisk had enchantments that stored, enhanced, and provided an array of spell power that could potentially destroy all of Central Bramblevale.
The funny thing about runic devices like that was the hazard of facing a large setback depending on any malfunction that could occur. Hannah, of course, could’ve just stopped the obelisks from working by short circuiting the one she’d manipulated.
Looking down at Zarian’s bleeding form, she was glad she went the extra mile. She looked up as the obelisks denied Devoxklix’s request.
Instead, the other three redirected power to the one Hannah had altered. Since the obelisks were all united in a singular runic network, Hannah had only needed to hack one of the doomsday devices to get the desired effect.
“What have you done?!” shouted the Lore Eater.
The boss received no answer. Only the sound of orchestral music reaching its peak and a green-tinged beam of destruction shaking the air with a roar, pouring straight from the obelisk Hannah had taken over.
The dungeon boss burst apart like dynamite in a pinata.
Hannah turned her face upward and spread her arms. She smiled under the results of her latest and greatest work.
Hot and steamy gore splattered down everywhere in clumps or waterfalls. Hannah got some of it up her nose, but she didn’t let that distract her from soaking in the moment.
Then, as the cherry on top, she heard Zarian’s praise. “Atta girl, I’m proud.”
Okay, she had to admit, that always felt good to hear from him. Regardless of him being nine years younger than her, Hannah couldn’t deny the feeling of wanting to do right by a demigod like him.
Which was why she had to hold on to the lead position a little longer. She had to set things straight with the Hemlock Family, or at least with Lady Rhea Hemlock. Until then, there were notifications, rewards, and …
“Hey, Hannah, look at Reiki.” Zarian pointed.
Hannah turned. She ignored the horror of the damaged arena flooded by gore and flesh, all of it quite steaming warm. Para was feasting on some of it, building herself back up.
With the music gone, the sound of the Parasite Cloak’s eating habits was on full display. That soon faded to background noise for Hannah as she watched Reiki of the White Silk Dancers walk over to where the dungeon core descended.
Hannah didn’t move or speak. Zarian kept kneeling, comfortable with his position. The two watched with open fascination as Reiki grabbed the pearly dungeon core.
It was the size of a human head and pulsated with an alluring warmth. Reiki stared at the core’s surface for a few minutes, doing nothing, until finally she made a decision.
She bit the core. Her fangs passed through its surface like it was breaking through flesh. The reality of the dungeon flickered and faded from around them.
Reiki kept feasting until all the Devouring Librarian Core was gone, fully devoured. The dungeon disappeared from around them, leaving them in a wide cavern system.
Nothing remained as evidence of their adventure except for their party of many summons and three radiant treasure chests. Before Hannah could ask Reiki questions, the dungeon boss fell over and curled into the fetal position, six arms wrapped around her legs.
She faded out of view and left behind her own dungeon core.
“Reiki, the core, whatever … they’re evolving,” Zarian explained.
Hannah used her Rune Scan +1 and was nearly floored. Zarian was right. The core was going through an upgrade or metamorphosis.
The process was immense and complex. There were too many runes to track, some of which were far more advanced than Hannah could understand right now.
“Would that mean she’ll keep the knowledge and abilities of the former Devouring Librarian Dungeon?” Hannah asked.
“Can’t say. Can you tell?”
Hannah pushed herself to see as deep as she could. She caught sight of certain runes in the flurry that gave her the answer they sought.
“Yes, she’s changing into something similar to the librarian dungeon, but fused with spiders. If we are truly fortunate, Reiki and the core will keep the secrets of the Hemlock Family and their dungeon. We only need to give Reiki’s core time to finish processing.”
“Cool.” Zarian stood as tendrils from the Parasite Cloak reached for the core.
“Wait, it won’t do to place the core in the pocket dimension. It could freeze the process.”
“You hear that, Para. We have to hold the core like holding a baby dragon egg, but the spider version.”
“Bueno!” Para wrapped up the core with maternal care.
Hannah wasn’t sure how she could tell the Parasite Cloak was acting maternal. Hannah just knew.
Seeing all the skeletons gather around curiously like the core was a favored child of their family made the circumstance even more ridiculous. Then the spectral spiders reappeared all around them and performed their dance of victory.
Hannah broke out into a fit of giggles. Then she coughed into her fist and felt some dizziness come over her.
She was still recovering from the work she’d done on the obelisks. The outcome had looked simple, but the stress she’d gone through to set it up was incredible.
Did I really kill that boss monster? She could hardly believe it now that the dungeon was gone. She wasn’t sure if she was ready to even look at her notifications.
She was certainly Level 40 now.
Zarian helped her refocus on the here and now by gesturing at the three treasure chests. “Will you do the honors?”
Hannah would be glad to.