The trio ran out of the dungeon’s puzzle room.
Dashing through the starting room and the cleared combat room, they stopped at the gold-laced boss door. Keith shoved the crest-shaped key into the door’s matching center symbol.
Keith pushed the doors forward, and he and Elenore walked through.
Caster trailed right on their heels, unsure if he should still be peeking through the doorway in case more goblins or goblin cultists were sneaking around. They were in a narrow hallway now.
Oh, thank God not every room in this dungeon is a square. Wait, aren't rectangles technically squares? Focus! Caster shook his head.
“Where’s the boss?” Elenore asked, her eyes darting between every crack in the empty hallway's tiles.
“Next door. This is the preparatory hallway.”
A thunderous shockwave came from beyond the door at the end of the hallway. The sound was like the sky itself had fallen and shattered every piece of glass on its way down. The noise had come from beyond the final door.
Keith came to a stop, his chest heaving as he stood less than a few paces away from the door.
“Something wrong?” Elenore asked.
“That sounds like the boss, but…” Keith trailed off. For the first time, the tone in his voice hinted at an emotion other than angst.
“Remember how I said this dungeon’s Boss and Core are the same things? Well normally, the newbies would 'fight' him at the end, to test their strength. But he’s no ordinary creature. His name is Dagon, and he’s an ancient Dagonian that's been around for longer than this city. He’s incredibly powerful. At bare minimum It would take an entire guild of Total Level 180 challengers and above to have a chance against him if he was fighting us at full power.”
Another quake shook the hallway, interrupting Keith’s warning. A series of violently cascading chimes followed, the noise reminded Caster of the sound his staff made when he would cast Scaling Strike from his wand, but this sound was far, far greater.
“That has to be the Archmage that’s fighting him then. Come on, we gotta help him!” Elmore stepped forward, but Keith stepped in front of the door.
“That’s suicide. We’d be more of a burden than a help. Dagon can and will one-shot all of us with a single strike. Not to mention the Yellow King cultists hiding in here. What if there’s an Avatar in there too? It's too risky to go in.”
“Well, we can’t leave neither genius. I’d rather die to a big Fishman than get nibbled to death by dungeon goblins,” Elenore stepped forward, leaning her shoulder inward, willing to bash Keith to the side if he didn’t give way.
“Ugh!” Keith stepped aside just before Elenore shoved him. “Whatever.” Keith once again positioned behind her as she readied to charge.
The trio burst through the doorway. Even Caster didn’t linger behind the doorframe to see what would happen next. It was a good idea because as they stepped onto the sands of the huge, circular basin of a boss room, the door shut itself behind them and sealed itself, blending into the wall just like the dungeon’s entrance had.
Fogrun Dungeon – Floor 1/1: Boss Room
The cold teal and orange torch flames that covered the rest of the dungeon were nowhere to be seen. Now the walls were black and green, with countless, naturally formed lines of moonrock crawling upward in the dome forming walls. It was like they were back in the chasm of New R’lyeh.
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The sizzle of charred flesh and tang of blood tainted the air. Under boots was not stone, but sand. Like an ant lion’s pit, the grains all slowly descended to a point in the center.
At the center was a body of pitch-black water that stretched dozens of paces across. But it wasn’t just an empty pool. Floating in it, with only the upper half of its torso exposed was a gigantic creature. Caster gasped as he saw its details.
Dagon
Monster Level: 703
Status: Aggressive
Info: A horror from the ocean depths
Its scales were infinite and pale. Its blank, glossy white eyes were massive. The beast closely resembled the other Dagonians in New R'lyeh, though obviously much more gigantic. Its beast-like and amphibious features were far more pronounced. Most pronounced were the hundreds of fins along its spine that climbed up to the top of its head, each one pointing straight outward, revealing a teal webbing that shimmered with an ominous crackling of golden sparks.
Its mouth opened, and a flood of lightning rained down in a funnel toward something near the pool of water. At the same time, a smooth arc of silver light shimmered, creating a dome-shaped bubble that scattered every strand of lightning that touched it. The waves of pure energy were wildly redirected upward toward the upper walls of the dome. Each stray bolt carried so much power that the cavern shook, and the sands trembled, shifting everything and everyone in it closer to the water that kept Dagon in place.
Caster staggered. His knees buckled as the vibration of the sands carried him several paces nearer toward Dagon.
He struggled to get back on his feet, silently praying it hadn’t seen him. He looked at the sands nearby.
Where are Elenore and Keith?
Caster's eyes darted around, searching for his companions. He found them. They were standing on the other side of the arena, inside the reflective silver barrier that was created by a third figure.
That’s the Archmage!
Archmage Archibald
Total Level: 320
Status: Aggressive
Info: A wizened old wizard, pointy hat and all!
Caster was at least 50 paces away from the fight, but he was also 50 paces away from Dagon’s attacks. He stood there, frozen in place and unsure of what to do. He could tell his companions were speaking to the Archmage, but he had no way of hearing what was going on or what the plan was to beat such an insanely powered monster.
Do I stay here? Do I go toward them? Should I run back to the wall to make sure it doesn’t kill me? Is climbing up this sandpit even possible?
Caster racked his brain trying to think of a solution. Until he could think of something, he would stay put.
Dagon’s back was to him, and the other three stood in the center of the arena, demanding the bosses' full attention.
The trio fought the beast. Although Elenore didn’t have a way to attack from ranged, Keith managed to throw a few knives toward Dagon's forehead. Both missed, flying just over the fins on its head.
Caster watched helplessly as Dagon swiped along the ground toward the three of them. Its massive arm moved with frightening speed.
But it missed them completely. Even with its claws fully extended, the Archmage and his backup were just out of its range. Dagon reared back and bellowed; its roar nearly made Caster lose his balance again.
Caster watched in awe as the Archmage counter attacked. He lifted his crystal staff and a series of a dozen ice shards the size of a man formed in an instant. Each one immediately flew faster than any arrow, all going upward toward the head of Dagon.
But each one narrowly missed their target, and instead lodged themselves into the arena wall far behind Caster. Each ice shard shattered into a thousand snowflakes on impact with the stone.
Then Caster saw what they were aiming at.
On top of Dagon’s head was a figure draped in a yellow robe. It frantically alternated between clinging to Dagon’s fin and dodging the group’s projectiles. Then Caster realized a giant halo of yellow light floated just above Dagon’s forehead.
Manipulation. He’s being controlled by Yellow King!
Caster grit his teeth and leaped forward, making a mad dash for Dagon’s spines.
Those look climbable.