The sound of a dry impact echoed through the cave as Enrico rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding a slashing attack from Zubai. The creature advanced with distorted, fast, and silent movements, interrupted only by the bursts of sound magic it fired. The darkness of the cave was almost total, and the small flame Enrico held in his hands illuminated only a few centimeters ahead of him.
He propelled himself with Fire Kick, leaving an orange trail behind him. Zubai appeared on the left, its wings spread, and released a sharp sound wave. Enrico's chest trembled from the invisible impact, making him stagger backward.
[Attack coming from behind!]
Without hesitation, Enrico jumped to the side, avoiding by only a few centimeters the claw that would have pierced his spine. Still in the air, he shaped a Fireball and divided it into nine smaller projectiles, which shot directly toward the enemy.
Zubai crossed its arms to protect itself. Even so, the heat forced it to retreat for a moment, and Enrico took advantage of the opening to advance with Fire Fist. He concentrated as much mana as possible into his right hand, making the flames grow and illuminate the surroundings for a brief moment.
It was enough.
Enrico saw the core glowing on the creature's back.
Without thinking twice, he jumped behind Zubai, spun through the air over it, and fired two flaming arrows.
The arrows pierced the darkness and struck the core directly.
The sound of cracking echoed through the cave.
Zubai roared.
It was the first time the creature had shown pain. Its body bent and its wings closed instinctively.
'I couldn't destroy it... And that was the strongest attack I could manage.'
The creature turned around furiously. Its eyes seemed to vibrate with dark tones, while a thick and suffocating Dark Mist began spreading throughout the cave.
[Enrico, I'll try to help with this one more time. The Constellations are having fun.]
'Bastards.'
The light from Enrico's flames was reduced to an almost insignificant glow. He could barely see his own arm. The attacks came soon after: fast, invisible, and silent slashes. One tore through his side, another pierced his leg, and a third cut part of his shoulder.
"Ghh...!"
Enrico turned and tried to counterattack, but there was nothing there.
Only darkness.
[Attack from the rear!]
Enrico fell to his knees when Zubai passed over him and disappeared again. Blood ran from his wounds as his breathing became increasingly heavy.
He needed to see.
Then he had an idea.
Enrico pressed his hands against the ground.
"Spread."
Small bursts echoed through the cave, and several flames appeared at different points throughout the environment. It wasn't an attack. He only needed to illuminate enough to reveal the creature's movements for a few seconds.
And it worked. A shadow appeared on the right.
Enrico reacted immediately.
"Rising Fire Kick!"
He launched himself upward and struck Zubai directly in the chest. The creature was thrown backward and dragged its claws across the ground to regain its balance, but it did not fall.
The Dark Mist enveloped it again.
One after another, the small flames scattered throughout the cave were extinguished.
Everything returned to darkness.
[Better think of something better.]
"Shut up, I'm thinking."
Enrico answered between heavy breaths. His body trembled, and every muscle seemed to scream in pain as more blood ran from his wounds and dripped onto the stone floor. He needed to find a way to finish the fight, but his mind was becoming slower and slower as exhaustion and injuries accumulated.
The next assault came without warning. Zubai appeared from the ceiling, spreading its wings and diving toward him with both claws prepared to attack. Enrico only had time to cross his arms in front of his face before being struck by the brutal impact.
'Damn...'
Enrico was hurled against the cave wall, creating a crack in the rock with his own body. For a few seconds, he remained pressed against it, feeling the pain spread throughout his body, but then he forced his legs to move and managed to stand. His eyes turned red.
'Crimson Eyes.'
The Crimson Eyes was active again. The technique did not allow him to see perfectly through the Dark Mist, but Enrico could still detect the magical traces left by the small flames he had spread earlier. If Zubai passed through those points, he would be able to perceive its movement.
It was limited, but it could be enough.
Enrico took a deep breath and made a decision. With a short breath, he summoned Elemental Clone again. Since he had dispelled the clone used against the previous bat only a short while ago, he could still keep it active for some time. A figure made entirely of fire appeared beside him, faintly illuminating the darkness, while Enrico retreated and positioned himself behind it, pressing his back against the wall.
Now he only needed to wait.
Zubai advanced.
Thanks to Crimson Eyes, Enrico sensed the movement before he could even see the creature. The clone stood exactly in its path, and in the next instant, Zubai emerged from the darkness and cut it in half.
The fiery figure exploded into a curtain of flames, illuminating part of the cave. In that brief instant, Enrico saw the opening and immediately advanced along the creature's flank, concentrating half of his remaining mana into his fist.
'I have to take advantage of this moment!'
"Fire Fist!"
The blow struck the base of Zubai's left wing. The membrane tore violently, and a guttural scream echoed through the cave. A piece of the wing fell to the ground, charred, while Zubai quickly retreated, staggering.
The two were in terrible condition. Enrico could no longer afford to attack without thinking, and Zubai had also lost part of its mobility. From that moment on, any mistake could decide the fight.
Enrico quickly observed his own wounds without taking his eyes off the creature. He was covered in cuts, his arms were scratched, part of his chest had been burned by the friction of the attacks, and blood ran down his face. His breathing was heavy, but he continued analyzing every movement Zubai made.
The creature growled and disappeared into the Dark Mist.
Enrico narrowed his eyes.
'Fast...'
He immediately understood. Zubai wasn't attacking. It was hiding again.
"Not this time..."
Enrico turned and ran toward the entrance of the dungeon. The closer he got to the surface, the weaker the darkness would become and the harder it would be for the Dark Mist to remain concentrated. Behind him, the mist began advancing rapidly. Zubai was pursuing him.
Enrico dodged a sound blast that grazed past his head. Another struck the wall beside him, making the stones tremble, but he continued running without looking back. When he crossed the final bend, a small amount of natural light finally reached his skin. The environment became brighter. It wasn't much light, but it was enough.
Zubai noticed it as well.
The creature spread its remaining wing and released an even greater amount of Dark Mist, forming a kind of barrier in front of the entrance to prevent the brightness from advancing. Then it released a sequence of sonic attacks.
Enrico barely had time to protect himself.
The vibrations passed through his body. His organs trembled, his ears began to bleed, and his vision violently oscillated. He instinctively brought his hands to his ears, trying to withstand the pressure as his teeth clenched.
[Moderate internal damage. Deep cut detected on the side.]
"Ghh..."
Enrico clenched his teeth.
Zubai appeared behind him, and its right claw moved toward his back. Enrico stepped backward at the last instant. Even so, the claw opened a shallower cut across his body.
But that was exactly what he wanted.
Zubai passed by him, and Enrico turned his head to stare at the creature's back. The core was there, cracked since the beginning of the battle.
It was the last opportunity.
Enrico gathered all the energy he still possessed and drew two flaming arrows, one in each hand.
"Double Arrow."
He fired.
The two arrows tore through the air at the same time and struck the already damaged core directly.
The explosions occurred together, and the core finally shattered into several pieces. Zubai let out one final scream, but, even on the verge of death, it still attempted to attack. Its claws crossed Enrico's left arm.
"GAAHH!"
The cut was deep, running across his arm from the shoulder to near the elbow. Enrico fell to his knees, clutching the bloody limb as the pain nearly made his vision disappear.
But he didn't care.
In front of him, Zubai began to lose its form. The creature's body slowly dissolved into fragments of mist until it disappeared completely. On the ground, two small fragments of the Red Night Bat fell with a faint metallic clink.
Enrico remained on his knees for a few seconds, breathing with difficulty, before finally looking at the fragments.
[Fragments collected: 7/7]
[You completed the collection of the Artifact: Red Night Bat.]
[Congratulations on completing a Dungeon alone.]
Natural light finally invaded the cave, causing the Dark Mist to slowly disappear. The environment, previously filled with darkness and the sound of attacks, now seemed almost peaceful. Enrico was still breathing with difficulty, but remained standing for a few moments, looking at the place where Zubai had disappeared.
In a way, this was his first victory against a truly strong Nartheis near the top of Zara Level 2. He had already faced Rirus in the false dungeon, but that fight had been completely different.
On that occasion, Enrico knew he wouldn't truly die and had used a self-sacrifice strategy, throwing himself together with Rirus into the enormous abyss. In the end, Rirus had destroyed its own core first, and Enrico, before reaching the bottom, had been brought back by the system. That was how he obtained the first 2% of Rirus's core.
"Huff... Do you think it's time for a rematch against Rirus head-on?"
Enrico smiled slightly, but soon sat down and leaned against the stone wall. His arm was still bleeding heavily, and his entire body hurt from the battle.
[Enrico, you're at risk of passing out. Treat your wounds immediately.]
"...Damn. I need... to take care of this first. Before I die from blood loss."
He looked at the fragments scattered across the floor and carefully gathered them, placing them all together in a safe place before beginning to tend to his own wounds.
Since his clothes had been practically destroyed during the fight, Enrico tore off the remaining part of his pants and used the fabric to improvise bandages, tightening them around the deeper cuts to stop the bleeding.
After that, he left the dungeon and retrieved the bag he had left outside. Inside were the clothes he had bought in the city of Balia, so Enrico put them on.
They were red nobleman's clothes, accompanied by black pants. He then took the dagger he had bought and placed it at his waist.
[And now, what are you going to do?]
'I'll need help with the next ones, so I'll have to recruit someone. And I already know who.'
[Who?]
'A villain who, in my view, has a lot of potential, but was easily defeated by her own sister in the future just to show how strong the new girl who appeared in the story was.'
[Interesting. I'll research who she is.]
'Wait... hadn't you learned about the story? Don't tell me you skipped some parts?'
The system quickly disappeared, leaving Enrico with a horrible expression on his face. He lowered his head, deeply disappointed that someone was treating the work he loved so much that way.
After a few seconds, Enrico turned his attention back to the fragments scattered before him and began carefully gathering them.
It was time to use the first artifact.