Author's Notes: Chapter edited and corrected by Scott Fellman.
I looked at the dungeon boss closely. He still looked undead, but he looked much more imposing than all the others. It wasn't even his size or his musculature. He seemed to be barely half a head taller than me. His build was thin, almost dangerously thin if he were human. His ribs stood out, and he barely had a stomach.
Even so, the strength and aura emanating from the monster was incredible, several notches higher than the monsters we were facing until now. Up until now, monsters had been quite androgynous, leaning towards the masculine spectrum, and that hadn't changed.
His face was more recognizable than that of the other undead, which seemed to have molten faces with eyes and mouths lit by constantly burning fire. In contrast, the dungeon boss had an almost human face. His eyes still looked like two orbs of fire, yes, but he seemed to be frowning, and his mouth was closed in a thin line.
He had no visible armor. He wore black pants and a metal belt, along with metal shoes. The only defense he seemed to have was a shield on his right arm, a circular shield about 60 centimeters in diameter, nothing as significant as the shield-wielding monsters from before.
The only remarkable thing about the shield was that it seemed to be finely crafted. Unlike the half-melted metal plates the other undead had, this one looked like a properly crafted shield with a fine design. The most prominent feature was a huge yellow circle, almost resembling a sun, at the center.
Unlike his shield, his weapon was larger than it should have been; it was a greatsword, a single-edged broadsword, a Zanbatou, in fact. It was a massive piece of iron, nearly eight feet across, that was draped over his shoulder with extreme ease.
He stood like a statue, waiting, unlike the others. Besides the dungeon boss, there were 10 other monsters stalking around him, strolling in no particular order. All except the dungeon boss, who stood still in the center of the enormous room.
The room resembled a cave, a sort of earthen dome or cupola. The floor was still several layers of iron stacked on top of each other, creating an uneven floor once again. It was a nuisance.
At the top of the cave, directly in the center, a huge yellow light, almost like a small sun, illuminated the entire place with extreme clarity. The only good thing was that it didn't seem to emit any heat; it was still the same temperature as before. Which was still bad, but something we were already used to.
"Tch, damn, there are too many monsters." Jinx growled under her breath.
"It doesn't matter, they're cannon fodder. There's only one of those pesky undead, and two of the resilient ones," Bakugou growled. And she was right, there was only one of the giants with the broadsword, and two fat undead who used magic.
"Good, as always. Izumi is in charge of entertaining the dungeon boss. I'll go for the undead broadsword, you guys take out the others as quickly as you can." Midoriya said as he looked at the monsters in the distance.
"Okay, Izumi. Do you have any more ammo for Crescent Rose?" Ruby asked, frowning. "There's more than I expected. I might run out of bullets halfway there," Ruby said simply. I reached into my shadow and pulled out two of the remaining clips.
"Tch, really, I'm jealous of your quirk." Jinx complained with a pout.
"Remind me to start stocking up on Quirk ammo in your shadows; they would have come in very handy right now." Ruby pouted as she stuffed the ammo into one of her pockets.
"Are you ready?" I asked plainly. Everyone nodded. I unsheathed only Enma. "The good thing about dungeon bosses is that they don't attack until they're attacked. They're good for ambushing." I said simply as I placed Enma over my head with my right hand and held my right wrist with my left hand.
I took a deep breath and directed all my Armament Haki at Enma. Enma eagerly devoured all my haki, and the purple energy of the cursed sword began to grow suddenly.
" Ittoryu- " I began firmly. I hit the ground hard and flew in the direction of the monsters. When I got closer, the monsters began to react, but I was already next to them. "- Hiryu Kaen!" My sword lowered, and my Armament Haki began to transform into a dragon.
When I was about to cut the dungeon boss, the monster reacted suddenly, its head turning to look at me. Without any previous movement, its entire body went from 0 to 100 in a fraction of a second, by the time I realized its sword was about to crash into mine.
Enma collided with his Zanbatou, and the entire room where the dungeon boss resided creaked from the force of impact and the resulting shockwave. I clicked my tongue, but even so, my attack wasn't completely stopped by the dungeon boss's sword; it simply continued onward.
The Haki dragon reformed, much weaker, behind the dungeon boss and continued on toward the group of monsters. Seven of them died immediately when they were cut in half. It didn't grab the broadsword, which was a shame.
I flexed a little more force against the Zanbatou before both swords were knocked back, seizing the moment, placing Wado Ichimonji in my mouth, and unsheathing Sendai Kitetsu. My shadows swallowed the scabbards to prevent them from disturbing me.
I was about to attack when the dungeon boss raised his shield brightly illuminating the entire cave. I braced for impact as the blast of fire passed us by.
My stomach dropped as the fire was absorbed by the monsters I'd just killed, and they began to reform. Of course, the dungeon boss could revive his damn minions. That's why I hated those damn undead dungeons!
No, it wasn't just the monsters killed; all the monsters, even the dungeon boss, seemed to absorb the fire. One of the undead mages took advantage of the moment and threw a flame. Now it was my heart that fell when his attack seemed to multiply almost double.
Whatever the dungeon boss had done had improved them. I gritted my teeth and charged at the dungeon boss. The dungeon boss hit fast and hard; his Zanbatou was terrifyingly heavy and durable yet stupidly fast, and never mind his shield; I couldn't even scratch it with whatever it was made of.
The dungeon boss was completely and efficiently defending itself, I was noticing, from all of my attacks, no matter how fast I was attacking. It almost felt like I was fighting All Might all over again.
Stupid monster. I'll kill him and steal his weapons, no, his whole damn corpse. Grandpa had Kamish's head in his shop; I could have an undead corpse in my room.
I continued attacking while looking around. The light was now much more intense; there was barely any shadow below us, and it would be harder for me to use my quirk, but it would be feasible if the others needed it.
Look at the others, they were managing on their own. While their stats seemed to have increased, their movement patterns were the same; they were used to it enough to be able to overwhelm the monsters once more.
I sighed in relief as I entirely focused on the dungeon boss again. We continued clashing for a few more seconds, exchanging dozens of blows, until the dungeon boss moved his Zanbatou and struck my swords hard. I took a step back.
It was just enough time for the monster to drive its sword into the ground and create a cross explosion, Fake Rainbow. I appeared next to the boss, Sound Breathing - First Form: Roar. I placed both swords above my head and brought them down hard.
The dungeon boss raised his shield, and my swords struck with a thud, causing the ground to protest the blow. The dungeon boss barely moved; he simply pushed me with his shield and then raised his sword. The sword began to light up.
"Watch out! Attraction!" I shouted immediately. I could see everyone tense up as they jumped slightly; we'd discovered that it was better to be pushed in the air than dragged along the ground.
We all jumped just in time for a burst of flame to explode from the dungeon boss and engulf us; my aura covered me from the fire. The blast was definitely more potent than the broadsword-wielding undead, but to my bewilderment, we weren't pulled in; instead, we were pushed.
"Fuck! That's not attraction!" Jinx yelled as she regained her balance.
"Get the damn boss under control at once!" Bakugou shouted angrily.
"What do you think I'm trying to do?!" I yelled in frustration as I launched myself towards the dungeon boss.
"Watch out!" Midoriya shouted. I gritted my teeth and saw the broadsword-wielding monster raise its sword. I was behind the dungeon boss. I quickly adjusted my stance and charged in the dungeon boss's direction.
I ignored the fire that engulfed us and felt the pull almost immediately. Just as I expected, the attraction sped me toward the dungeon boss once again. The swords were placed behind my head over the sword in my teeth, and I let my Armament Haki strengthen them further. Ul -Tora Gari!
My attack finally broke his posture, and my attack left a long cut on his chest. There was no blood, but the flesh was opened widely. I appeared behind the dungeon boss, turned around, and immediately began attacking him. I clicked my tongue as I saw that the wound was slowly regenerating, and the boss continued attacking me without flinching.
I frowned as I thought of a way to kill the damn monster in front of me, but I couldn't find any. I looked around and saw that the others were finishing off their monsters; in fact, Ruby had just killed hers, only for it to start regenerating once more.
I almost wanted to groan in annoyance. I looked around. The light had finally dimmed and returned to nearly normal levels, the shadows becoming more pronounced. And-
Wait, the light was going out? I dodged an attack from the dungeon boss and looked up at the ceiling. In fact, the light wasn't as bright as it had been before, and definitely much dimmer than when the boss lit the lamp with his shield.
And not only that, the light kept fading, as if the sun were going out. I looked around and couldn't find anything useful. I guess it's just part of the cave.
I became fully focused on the dungeon boss again when I paused momentarily, long enough for the monster to slam its shield into my face, waking me from my reverie. Curse.
But I finally saw it! The cut that had been regenerating stopped mid-regeneration! Not only that, but I didn't notice it because the change was gradual; the monster was getting slower and its attacks were weakening.
The only thing that could be was the damn ceiling light. When the boss lit up the ceiling, the undead were buffed and had strong regeneration; now that the ceiling was shutting down, all those advantages ceased completely.
"Take advantage of the darkness! They grow weaker without the light from the ceiling! They have no regeneration!" I immediately shouted. Everyone froze momentarily before moving even more vigorously. The light finally went out completely, leaving the cave almost entirely dark.
We could still see the magma around us and the monsters that were perpetually alight, acting as a light source, enough to fight them.
Okay, we could do this. I began rapidly attacking the dungeon boss. This time, the damn monster couldn't entirely keep up with me; I was starting to leave wounds all over the monster's body. I used my transparent world to search for its Escancia Stone.
It was right there in his chest, like a heart. The only problem was that it seemed to be surrounded by the same hardened metal they use as armor. I tried to go for it without hesitation, but even though it was slower and weaker, its defense was ironclad. At least every time I tried to directly attack its essence stone, its guard was sky-high in that area.
I couldn't get a clean hit in either way, and grazing it wouldn't do the trick; I wouldn't be able to pierce the armor covering the boss's essence stone. After a few more exchanges, the monster ignored the wounds I was inflicting and raised its shield once more. My eyes widened slightly.
"The sun is about to turn on again!" I shouted immediately.
"Fuck!" one of them growled. Yes, fuck. The sun on the boss's shield lit up, and like an angry god, the ceiling light flared up and burst into flames with extreme fury. The fire that ran through the cave began to be absorbed by all the monsters once more, empowering them and restoring their regeneration.
Fuck.
"We can't keep going like this! We have to do something, fast!" Midoriya shouted, gritting his teeth. Let's get back to my original idea.
"I have an idea! I need the sun to go out again!" I said immediately while defending myself from the monster's attacks. To my surprise, a huge glacier emerged from Todoroki, rising from the ground and reaching the ceiling light.
Unfortunately for us, it didn't work. The ice melted rapidly the moment we touched it. I could hear Todoroki click her tongue. It was a good try.
For the next few minutes, the fight remained at a standstill. We were pushed back once more as the flares pounded us again, ultimately costing us all our aura. Finally, the light began to fade. As the monster started to lose speed and the power gained from the light, I braced myself.
"Rabbit Escape!" My rabbits exploded and engulfed the dungeon boss. Just as it had worked against the other monsters, the dungeon boss began slaughtering its new and numerous targets. "Midoriya! Take care of the boss for a few minutes!" I said without hesitation and launched myself at him.
"W-what?!" Midoriya looked horribly confused, but even so, there was no time to reply. My Haki-infused swords easily sliced through the enormous monster near Midoriya. Once it was torn to pieces, my shadows swallowed its corpses, easy enough in the darkness.
I looked out of the corner of my eye and saw Midoriya smash his fist into the dungeon boss's shield. My rabbits were already completely dead.
I headed to the other monsters. Todoroki had three of them frozen, the monsters were quickly killed, and I collected the corpses before moving on to the next ones. Todoroki joined Midoriya.
Looking at the others, Bakugou, Penny, Ruby, and Jinx had six monsters on top of them, and five of them were dead.
"Die!" All six of them were dead. I didn't even hesitate to engulf them with my shadows. Now we were utterly alone against the dungeon boss. The 10 corpses in my shadows shouldn't be able to revive from there and escape, so that was one less worry.
"What's the plan!?" Ruby asked while breathing heavily.
"His Essence Stone is in his chest! It's covered in metal!" I said out loud, more to Midoriya than to the others. "Midoriya and I need an opening. We're the only ones who can pass through metal!" I said as I launched myself at the monster.
I appeared next to the monster, just as it raised its shield with the sun shining in the center. The cave once again lit up brightly.
"Tch! We have to hold on until nightfall once more!" said Midoriya as he punched the monster at the same time I was cutting him.
This time, there were two of us. No matter how fast the dungeon monster was, it wasn't enough. Midoriya's blows passed through its defenses, and my cuts hit its skin; the rest entered and left the fight, leaving their own wounds.
But it was useless, as they regenerated in a few seconds. His essence stone was still unreachable, and his defense in that location was spectacular, even from behind.
After a few more minutes of intense stagnation, the light began to fade once more.
"Get out of the way!" Bakugou shouted as he came flying with force while spinning at high speed, "Howitzer Impact!!" The loud explosion echoed throughout the cave, but it didn't do much damage to the boss. But that wasn't the important thing; the important thing was that it had broken the monster's posture. "Now, Icyhot!" The light in the sky went out completely.
The dungeon boss took a step back, his arms, shield, and sword flung backward. Todoroki took advantage of this moment, creating enormous pillars of ice that grabbed the monster's shield, sword, and arms, along with his feet, freezing him solid and trapping him, as if he were being crucified.
"I'm sorry! It's the only thing I can do!" Todoroki exclaimed with a grimace.
""That's enough!"" Jinx and Ruby shouted at the same time.
"Fourth Fang: Slice 'n' Dice!" "Thunderclap and Flash!" Jinx and Ruby immediately launched themselves at the monster. Jinx used her swords to slice the monster's right arm away from the boss's body. Ruby appeared above the monster as CrescentRose cut off the left arm.
The boss was completely unarmed.
The monster seemed to want to retreat, but a giant energy laser from Penny engulfed it. Once I could see it, the monster seemed to be slowed by the damage it had sustained.
"Izumi! Now!"
"Izuku, finish this already!"
Midoriya and I ignored the screams and started running in the opposite direction from the monster. He was in front of me, and I was behind the boss. I could see Midoriya activate One for All at 100% on his fist, where Melissa's glove was. I unleashed all my armor haki, crossed my arms with my swords facing up, and infused them into my swords at full power.
"DETROIT-" "RENGOKU-"
"-SMASH!" "- ONIGIRI!"
Our attacks hit the monster in unison. Midoriya's fist sank into the dungeon boss's chest, right where his heart was. I could see the metal encasing the essence stone beginning to crack. My swords struck the exact opposite side of the metal.
The molten metal sphere finally shattered under the pressure of One For All's hit, and my swords sliced through the metal. Our blows collided with the Essence Stone. The stone cracked loudly before shattering with a loud noise.
The shockwave of our attacks sealed the end of the fight. The boss fell to the ground like a doll whose strings had been cut.
The dungeon boss was finally dead.
Author's Notes: was the dungeon good? The monsters? Was it easy? Didn't it keep the level up? I didn't know if I wrote enough about it, but I also didn't want to be stuck for more chapters. I hope I did it right. I didn't want to keep repeating dungeons that only appear in Solo Leveling!