Chapter 159: Ambush
The hall surrounding the adventurers was spacious and almost perfectly round in shape, its ceiling rising several meters above their heads, while the walls themselves appeared to be carved from black stone, or at least something that closely resembled it.
At the exact center of the hall stood a vast carved circle embedded into the floor, filled with intricate patterns that resembled a woven tapestry of countless sigils, ancient symbols, or perhaps forgotten words whose meanings had long been erased by time. The circle itself was wide enough that dozens of people could stand upon it at once without crowding one another.
That was without any doubt the teleportation circle, or more accurately, the only path leading deeper into the dungeon by stepping upon it.
Kael's gaze lingered on the circle longer than necessary as he carefully checked whether it had been damaged or distorted in any way, yet to his quiet surprise, it appeared completely intact. Although he had seen it and traveled through it many times before, this time it felt strangely different and almost unfamiliar to him, because several of the sigils etched into its surface resembled those he had witnessed when the hero's tomb opened itself. But did he truly have the luxury to study the circle now?
Some distance away from the teleportation circle stood the boss of the Star-eyed Diggers, looming over them like a dark statue frozen in place. Nearly a full minute had passed since they entered the hall, yet the creature had not attacked them even once, despite the fact that it was supposed to strike the moment it sensed intruders approaching. But it did not move, it did not advance, and it did not strike either.
It was obvious that the creature was both alive and fully aware of their presence, since it had released a shriek the moment they entered, though whether that sound had been a warning or merely a reflex remained unclear, but after that single cry it hadn't made any sound yet. This was not how a floor boss should behave, especially not the boss of the thirtieth floor.
'Something's not right...'
Then what were they supposed to do now, ambush the creature while it stood still, or attempt to ignore it and move on?
The latter was never an option to begin with, because the entire purpose of this expedition was to exterminate as many creatures as possible, and leaving a floor boss standing motionless yet alive would be nothing short of foolish. If they somehow avoided it and through sheer misfortune the creature managed to escape the dungeon as it eventually would, then there would be nothing left of the town outside, because most of its defenders were gathered here for this very quest, though such consequences meant little to him personally.
He shifted his gaze toward his wife, who appeared to be staring directly at the creature, the tip of her sword resting lightly against the floor as though she was prepared to move at any moment.
'What would be your decision, Seraphina?'
Suddenly, her fingers curled tighter around the hilt of her sword, her shoulders stiffening almost imperceptibly as her lips parted slightly. Even without seeing her full expression, he could tell that those subtle signs pointed toward genuine surprise, as if she had sensed something profoundly wrong.
Then she looked over her shoulder and met his gaze in a single swift motion, blue flames igniting within her eyes. At the same time, Mistwalker reacted as well, pivoting sharply on her boot and rushing toward him with her sword already drawn.
Why were they acting like that so suddenly?
Had they somehow recognized his true identity, or was there another reason that caused both of them to focus on him at the exact same moment?
Were they about to strike him down?
He found his answer the instant he looked forward.
His eyes widened.
'The creature... it...'
In that instant, something struck his back with devastating force, appearing out of nowhere without even the faintest warning, the impact so powerful that it nearly shattered his ribs and hurled his body forward through the air like a launched javelin, his mind going almost completely blank from the shock.
'...vanished.'
Why hadn't he noticed it earlier? Why hadn't his senses alerted him to the incoming attack earlier? Had he been so distracted fooling around that he had forgotten he stood in front of a boss?
'Argh.'
A heartbeat later, he crashed into the nearby wall with enough force to fracture the stone itself, debris exploding outward as fragments of black stone scattered through the air.
The other adventurers stood frozen in shock, struggling to comprehend what had occurred within the span of a single blink.
Behind them, the creature reappeared, its massive form emerging as though it had never left, one clawed hand already sweeping forward to cut down two men who were still frozen in shock, but before it could strike them down, a long dagger-like weapon shot between them and embedded itself firmly in place, forming a barrier that refused to let the creature harm anyone else.
In the next moment, the chestnut-haired woman found herself hurled through the air after failing to deflect the overwhelming strength behind the creature's strike, her body crashing heavily into the nearby floor before finally coming to an ungraceful halt, her weapon skidding several steps away from her outstretched hand.
With the obstacle removed, the creature's attack did not stop, instead it continued its downward arc in a single swift and seamless motion, its intent unmistakable as it aimed to cut down the two stunned men at once before either of them could react.
At the very last possible moment though, a long katana slipped into place and halted the attack mid-air, the blade stopping within a hair's breadth of the adventurer's life. The placement was so precise and smooth that there was no immediate movement from either side, as though Mistwalker had not tried to deflect the blow at all, nor had the creature pushed forward for a moment. It was as if the creature itself was struggling against her.
"Go away!"
Mistwalker hissed toward the two men at her side, purple flames flickering behind the visor of her helmet as she held her ground.
"What are you waiting for, fools? Go!"
As the two men were running away, her katana suddenly cut through the air in a sharp, decisive arc, carrying the latent force of her earlier stance as the creature vanished into thin air.
Rather than searching frantically for its whereabouts, Mistwalker straightened her posture and fixed her gaze on the corridor ahead, her stance composed and unwavering, giving the impression that she had not been startled in the slightest, or at least that was how it appeared.
'What is she doing?'
Seraphina, who had halted some distance behind her, frowned at the strange sight and slowly extended her senses outward, carefully listening and feeling for any disturbance, any faint sound, any subtle shift in the air that might betray the creature's presence, yet despite waiting in tense silence, she detected nothing at all.
Her eyes swept across the hall in a single measured motion.
'Where did it go? Where would it appear from next?'
When they had entered the hall earlier, the creature had laid an ambush, striking from behind at the exact moment their guard had lowered, intending to obliterate them in an instant, and although it had failed to do so completely, the intent behind that tactic was impossible to ignore.
'It is clever.'
Even so, the creature had still managed to wound two adventurers in less than a second, narrowly missing instant kills, and yet it had done something peculiar that stood out to her keen observation, because despite having an opportunity to engage Mistwalker directly and eliminate her, it had avoided doing so with remarkable consistency.
Why would a creature whose sole purpose was to kill behave in such a manner?
Could it be that the creature was capable of assessing strength?
If that were the case, then the pattern began to make sense, because Mistwalker was clearly the strongest among them in terms of raw physical power. If the creature had chosen to avoid the strongest, then its next target would naturally be the weakest.
'The wounded.'
Why?
Because they were now the weakest.
Her eyes narrowed slightly.
One of the injured adventurers was a girl positioned some distance away from her, yet she appeared to be closer to Valric's party, which was reassuring, especially since the others seemed to have grasped the situation as well, something she would expect from experienced adventurers.
"Protect all the parties, Sir Valric, Valentina!"
As she spoke, Seraphina turned her body toward the far end of the hall, where the second wounded adventurer was slumped against a fractured wall, blood trailing down from his seemingly handsome face as he coughed weakly.
Without hesitation, she dashed forward at full speed, knowing all too well that he was the most likely target, unable to move properly and lacking immediate protection, making him the perfect prey.
'No, not on my watch. I will not allow it to kill anyone.'
At that very moment, the creature reappeared directly in front of the man, its massive form unraveling into existence like curling smoke formed from living shadow, exactly as she had anticipated, but something was wrong.
She was still too far away, and the creature was already raising its attack, ready to pierce the man's heart within the span of a heartbeat.
She had been late to move, or perhaps the creature was simply faster. Either way, it no longer mattered, because at this rate the man before her would die helplessly, and she could not allow that outcome.
She simply could not.
Augmenting her body with blinding blue lightning, Seraphina surged forward with every ounce of her strength, the world seeming to slow around her as power coursed through her limbs.
'Faster… I need to run faster.'
But no matter how hard she tried to lunge forward, pushing her body to move faster than it should have been able to, the distance in front of her never seemed to shorten, instead it felt as though it was stretching endlessly before her eyes, growing farther with every step she took rather than closer, mocking her desperation in the cruelest way possible.
'This speed is not nearly enough.'
Could she truly save the unknown man like this, moving at a pace that betrayed her intent, or was she already too late without wanting to admit it?
If she failed here, would that mean she had already lost someone after declaring, only moments earlier, that she would make sure the entire group survived this battle as long as they fought back together? Had those words been nothing more than empty encouragement meant to stiffen their resolve? Had she truly believed she could fulfill them without exception? Had she?
'Ah, why am I hesitating? I do not usually act like this… I really do not, or do I? No matter. I should be thinking rationally now instead of letting myself be dragged down by such foolish thoughts. What can I do now?'
In that fleeting instant, she forced her mind into stillness and recalled everything she knew about the creature, its movements, its habits, its previously displayed abilities.
'I think… that should work… shouldn't it?'
Just as the creature's claws were about to bite into the man's flesh, a blinding flash of blue lightning descended from the ceiling, tearing through the air itself in a single instant as it aimed straight for the creature's head with ruthless precision.
A monster's rank was generally determined by its destructive capacity, the abilities it possessed, the quality of the magic stones it yielded, and lastly the accumulated experience of the parties who had survived encounters with it. But the difference between an A-Rank and an S-Rank monster was far greater than any comparison between other ranks. This disparity existed because most A-Rank creatures only possessed passive abilities or weak ones, with only a handful displaying active abilities, whereas S-Rank creatures were entirely different beings, capable of wielding multiple active abilities simultaneously while also possessing genuine battle intellect, a trait that rendered them exceedingly difficult to kill.
Granted, the abilities monsters possessed and the elements wielded by humans were fundamentally different in nature. The latter could be sensed, shaped, and controlled through understanding, whereas the former often manifested as phenomena that defied explanation altogether. In some ways, this made monsters simpler beings, since they lacked proper minds and could not imagine or conceptualize as humans did. Naturally, this meant they could not wield mana cores or cast spells in the conventional sense. Perhaps that was precisely why the gods had granted them a different kind of power, one born from the same mana yet twisted into abilities that felt alien and incomprehensible.
In any case, considering that this boss had already gained two new abilities after evolving, while its current form differed from all prior expectations, the possibility of a third ability could not be dismissed. Knowing full well that her spell would be sensed and either avoided perfectly or countered outright, Seraphina still chose to release it. Either outcome would slow the creature, or at the very least force its attention toward her for a brief moment, which was all she needed, after all.
'I need enough time to reach it.'
To her surprise, the creature did not attempt to evade the attack at all, allowing the lightning to crash toward its head, or at least that was what should have happened, yet nothing occurred.
The spell simply vanished... as though it had never existed, leaving behind no scorch marks, no lingering energy, no trace whatsoever.
Her eyes widened, just slightly.
'Do not tell me it is actually capable of…'
In the next moment, the lightning that had been meant to strike the creature turned against her, redirecting itself and crashing down toward her position instead. That would have been the end of her had she not trusted her instincts and leapt sideways without hesitation, escaping by a hair's breadth before dashing forward once more.
Where the lightning struck, the floor beneath shattered violently, spreading a web of cracks across its surface in its wake.
'…teleporting, or perhaps shifting spells from one area to another, just like it did with its body earlier. How careless of me.'
That lapse was not because she had failed to consider such an outcome, nor because she had underestimated the possibility of the creature possessing such a terrifying ability, but because she had allowed herself to be distracted while evading the redirected attack. The monster did not even turn to counter her, but her spell had still succeeded in drawing its attention, if only for a fleeting moment.
And yet, that moment was not enough.
Its clawed hand was still poised to tear into the man's flesh, and in truth it already had. Crimson blood spilled freely as the claws pierced straight through his chest, reaching his heart, or so it appeared.
She had failed to save him, falling into the creature's trap through her own actions.
How bitter that feeling truly was.
How had she allowed such an outcome to occur right in front of her own eyes, when she had always prided herself on being able to control the flow of battle no matter the circumstances? Had she truly grown weaker in recent days, or was it something far more insidious than a simple decline in strength? Then again, if that were the case, why had she not realized it sooner, why had the signs eluded her until it was already too late to prevent this situation from occurring?
Just a month ago, she had fought a demon without faltering, a being considered S-Ranked, one that possessed not only a powerful elemental affinity but also intelligence sharp enough to rival seasoned combatants. So why was she unable to keep up with this creature in front of her at this very moment?
What had changed?
"Don't get distracted, Seraphina. This is not the end yet. You can still save him."
Or at least, that was what she kept telling herself.
Even she knew well enough that if his wounds were too severe, then it would be impossible to keep him alive since there was no pure healer among them, unless they chose to send him to a proper healer within the guild, something she fully intended to do if she managed to pull him out of this situation alive.
She pressed forward regardless, her steps swift yet precise as she ran, the cloak trailing behind her fluttering violently with each movement, and within moments she had closed the distance, arriving behind the creature almost instantaneously.
Just as she prepared to launch her attack, something peculiar caught her attention, something she had not noticed earlier due to the distance between them, yet now it stood out clearly before her eyes.
The man was gritting his teeth, or rather, he was grinning.
His black hair fluttered unnaturally despite the absence of wind, while his silver eyes gleamed with pure amusement instead of pain, and those cold eyes felt strangely familiar to her in a way she could not immediately place. But who, in their right mind, would grin in a situation like this?
'What an idiot.'
The creature's claws had indeed pierced his flesh, but the attack had halted not because the monster wished it so, but because the man himself had seized the dagger-like claws tightly, his fingers wrapped around them without hesitation, uncaring of how deeply they cut into his hands as he refused to allow them to drive any deeper.
Stranger still, the claws that had clearly been aimed at his heart had missed their mark by a narrow margin, striking an inch to the side instead, which explained why the creature had taken so long to finish him off. Even so, he was reaching his limit. While he had managed to save himself from an immediate fatal blow, he lacked the remaining strength needed to fully deflect the attack, and his grip was weakening, threatening to slip at any moment.
But somehow, he had bought her time.
And that time, perhaps, would be enough.
Her blade whistled through the air at tremendous speed as she prepared to leap forward, but before she could follow through, a strange and swift shadow entered her field of vision from a short distance away, forcing her to halt in place almost instinctively.
"When did she?" Seraphina wondered.
There, hovering in mid-air just beneath the creature's wrists, was a woman with long, silky blue hair flowing behind her like a cascading waterfall, her navy-blue armor gleaming faintly under the dungeon's dim light. Her blade was already drawn back, positioned precisely to strike at the creature's elbow with overwhelming speed.
Purple flames danced behind the visor of her helmet as she spoke in a calm, unwavering tone.
"You did well holding on all by yourself, boy. Allow me to take care of the remainder."
---
(Chapter Ended)