The boss room didn't contain any of the things he'd expected—not a gremlin, not an ogre, not a goblin. It contained a hive. And not an ordinary hive, but one that wrapped around the entire room—walls, floor, and ceiling. Shiny yellow lumps clustered together so tightly they looked like a textured surface rather than what he knew them to be: countless outlets for the scarabs to attack from any angle.
He immediately tried stomping those on the floor, but the surface was solid and didn't bend or shatter.
“I don't like this,” he said, backing up against the entry door. It had closed, sealing him in, but it provided the sole surface in the room not covered in hive.
Cen reared up beside him, flexing a dozen legs in readiness, and Centoo crouched on his other side, Skarm stood ready with claws spread wide and teeth bared.
There was no sign of a keystone, no indication of where the “real” boss would be. But he heard the rustling and clicking of wings and chitin, and the sounds pushed him to the edge of readiness. He balanced himself, poised, blade raised and half-extended. As soon as anything came, he'd be prepared for it.
Motion rippled across the room as legs and heads began emerging. Too many. Far, far too many. All across the floor. All across the walls. All across the ceiling.
Jagged red mandibles, gleaming with the rust scarabs’ signature corrosive and paralytic venom. Yellow fur covering their bulbous bodies. Black chitin protecting their backs. Wings unfolding as dozens—hundreds—of the creatures rose into the air in unison, turning the room into a humming, buzzing, shifting carpet of death.
Levi reacted immediately, slamming his Beast Bite into the nearest scarabs, those rising just in front of him. They were so closely packed he could take out three at once with the mana-powered chomp of his blade.
The only saving grace he saw was that none of them had the plus designation. Looked like the momma scarab wouldn’t show up until he had decimated these weaker ones.
His preemptive strike bought him only a few seconds. Once the scarabs were all fully out of their hive, the entire swarm shifted and flew straight at the intruders. So many scarabs that for a moment it seemed as though the whole room were compressing down.
Levi's chest felt strained, instinctive dread and flashes of memory intensifying the moment's near-panic. Swarms this size were deadly.
He’d seen what they did to people. Health regen could negate one or two bites, but the more they built up, the more sluggish and hazy you’d become, until you were helplessly paralyzed and could be eaten alive or left to suffer helplessly while the corrosive venom ate slowly through your body.
Not a pleasant way to go.
In a raid, there’d be fifty others to finish off the swarm and drag you to safety, shove a health restorative down your throat before you died. Here, he had only himself and his minions. While he didn’t doubt that Skarm would do his best to protect him, he knew that his chances of surviving were minimal at best if he fell victim to the scarabs.
He'd seen bigger swarms on occasion, but he’d always been in a large group, usually with artillery mages with area damage spells, and never in such a tightly constrained space.
Now trepidation and determination alloyed into pure motion.
Cen stabbed and bit and slashed on Levi’s left. Skarm and Centoo did the same on his right. And Levi stood his ground and slashed at anything that got close.
Scarabs came from every direction. Too many to keep up with.
The buzzing thrummed and echoed around the room, almost drowning out the frantic pulse of his heart.
Levi's blade slashed three scarabs from the air; the bite brought down another four, giving him enough space to reverse the blade and swipe another two out of the air. He activated the sword’s ability again as five scarabs dove at him from above, snapping them out of the air and hurling their shredded bodies back at their fellows.
But the special attack burned through his mana faster than he could thin the swarm. He drew on stamina instead, stepping up his tempo as he kept his blade moving, slashing through the oncoming swarm with quick, precise sweeps.
He punched one scarab from the air with his off hand when it got too close and he couldn't bring his sword back in time, making him keenly aware of the lack of a second weapon. His off hand felt useless and empty without a blade in it. Against this many opponents, a second weapon would have been invaluable.
He had to use Beast Bite again when a swarm got past Centoo's defenses and Skarm screamed, scarabs bearing down on the gremlin in numbers too great for even his rapid claw slashes and horn swipes to thin the assault.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
Levi snapped them out of the air, sending bug parts flying in all directions, but the momentary distraction allowed those in front of him to gain ground. One scarab sliced into his arm; another bit at his neck.
He snatched the bug from his neck and crushed it in his hand, and smashed the one on his arm against his greaves, but three more came diving at him from above while another dozen came from the front.
With a scream of fury, he used his last Beast Bite. It left his mana almost completely drained, but he'd decimated the attack from above and bought himself another second.
Levi fought desperately, drawing heavily on stamina to move even faster as he slashed out at the swarm.
He couldn't let them reach him again. His health regen could mostly fight off the effect of the first couple bites, but any more would start to build up and slowly drain him.
The swarm was noticeably thinner now, perhaps half gone, but Levi was running on empty. His mana had all but depleted, stamina completely out, health dipping slowly as the bites on his arm and neck burned.
Skarm's movements grew sluggish, his health dropping. Cen and Centoo seemed naturally resistant to the bites, their armor showing signs of damage, but there was no slowing to their fighting. Still, two centipedes weren't enough against this many, and they were gradually being overwhelmed.
Cen had over a dozen scarabs swarming around his back, evading his flailing legs and eagerly biting into his chitin. Levi couldn’t clear them off without leaving himself exposed from the front.
Centoo fared slightly better, with Skarm protecting him, but even he had taken several bites to the chest and back.
Nothing to do but keep fighting. Scarabs died by the dozen on Levi's blade and his minion's claws, but still there were more.
Cen has reached level 3!
Cen has 1 stat point available.
Cen made use of his mid-fight level to go into a thrashing frenzy that burned through his newly restored stamina, but allowed him to crush or slice apart all the scarabs on and immediately around him.
That bought Levi a few seconds, allowing him to focus his attention upwards on those descending from the ceiling, but the brief respite was insufficient.
Centoo has reached level 3!
Centoo has 1 stat point available.
Levi didn't have time to deal with his minions' levels at the moment, it was all he could do to keep himself upright and fighting. As the fight dragged on, more and more scratches and tiny bites accumulated as scarabs slipped through his defenses.
Soon he was forced to abandon his sword in favor of swatting any that reached him, crushing them before they could bite deeply, stomping any that came up through the floor, as the swarm was too large to keep at a distance any longer.
The swarm fought as furiously as he and his team did, all the scarabs surging forward for their turn to take a bite out of him and increase the impact of their slow-building deadly venom.
Levi's movements grew slower as the paralytic fought his stamina regen, his health now dropping steadily, but he couldn't afford to risk any sort of restorative. In this fight more than most, split seconds could cost him everything.
Scarabs buzzed and swarmed, too many to hold back. Cen and Centoo had coiled back on themselves, pressed firmly against the door, striking out with their many legs, but even they weren't able to keep the weight of sheer numbers from slipping through.
If not for the dungeon reabsorbing the dead, they'd be surrounded by a mound of furry scarab bodies, but as it was, he saw no visual indicator of their countless kills.
Congratulations, Levi Morrison!
You have 1 level available.
Applying to default class.
Levi gasped, laughing at the flood of increased and restored strength and wellness that washed away the building damage and debuffs, restoring him to full power in a moment.
Tamer level increased to 6.
+6 health, +6 mana, +6 stamina Unassigned Stat Points: 1
With the influx of strength from leveling, and the restoration of his depleted pools, he returned to the fight with new fervor. Killing this many level 2 creatures, even if they were individually weak, apparently counted for a decent amount of experience. He hadn't expected another level so soon after the last, but he wouldn’t complain.
The remaining swarm continued their attack, but with three-fourths of the team newly reinvigorated, they were able to clear them without anyone being overwhelmed.
Skarm has reached level 5!
Horned Gremlin threshold 1 attained.
Evolution threshold advancement progress: 1/3
Skarm has 1 stat point available.
Skarm has 3 ability points available.
Levi dismissed the notification, looking around for the next swarm, but... there was none. Cen slashed a few stragglers from the air, Skarm twisted to impale one against the wall, and then the room was still.
They'd done it, but he still hadn’t seen a plus anywhere, so it wasn’t over yet.
There was barely enough time to catch his breath before the walls began to tremble and melt, thick orange sludge running down them and dripping in long hanging globs from the ceiling, gathering in the middle of the room.
Unlike the normal dull-orange corrosive goo, this substance shone almost unbearably bright, illuminated from within. Everywhere it touched the wall, the floor, the ceiling, it left deeper holes in its wake.
Not good.
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