The massive bone door creaked open. A wave of oppressive, ancient cold hit Ning Xinyi, far colder than any ice she could create. She stepped into a vast, circular throne room.
The ceiling was a dome of countless skulls, their empty eye sockets staring down like she was in an arena and they were the spectators.
The walls were lined with the skeletons of giant beasts, their ribs forming grotesque pillars. In the center of the room, upon a throne carved from the fused spines of dragons, sat a figure.
Lin Fan was watching it all from outside and even he thought he might have overdid it for a low level Dungeon.
Ning Xinyi gripped her sword as she looked up at the figure.
It was a skeleton, but it was different from the others. It wore a rusted iron crown and was draped in the tattered remains of a royal purple robe. Its bones were not white, but a polished, jet-black.
In its eye sockets burned two points of brilliant, hateful flame. It held a gnarled staff topped with a screaming human skull.
This was the boss.
As she stepped forward, the crimson lights fixed on her. A voice, deep and echoing with the sorrow of a thousand years, filled the chamber. It was not a sound you hear with your ear, but a voice directly into her mind.
"Another living soul... another fool comes to challenge my eternal reign," the voice boomed. "Look upon my kingdom, mortal. A kingdom of silence and bone. Do you seek to steal my throne of sorrow? Or do you wish to become another one of its decorations?"
This creature could think. It could talk. It was not a mindless beast. This was a true opponent.
Ning Xinyi's expression turned serious. She did not reply with words. Her reply was her sword. With a flick of her wrist, a dozen sharp ice needles materialized in the air and shot toward the throne.
The skeleton king did not move. It simply raised its staff. A wall of solid bone erupted from the floor, blocking the needles with a series of dull thuds.
"Impudent," the voice echoed. It pointed its staff at the floor. "Arise, my Royal Guard! Defend your Sovereign!"
The ground trembled. Ten elite skeletons, larger than the others and clad in black bone armor, clawed their way out of the stone floor. They raised their swords and charged at her in a disciplined formation.
"Hmph. More trash." Ning Xinyi's body spun like a dancer. A wave of freezing mist expanded from her, a technique she called the "Glacial Mist."
The charging skeletons were instantly covered in a thick layer of frost, slowing them to a crawl. She moved through them like a ghost, her sword flashing. With ten precise strikes, she shattered the red cores in their chests.
The King on the throne seemed to nod in approval. "You have some skill. But you stand in the court of Malakor, the Bone Sovereign! And here, my power is absolute!"
He slammed the butt of his staff onto the floor. A shockwave of dark energy erupted from the throne. The entire room was instantly filled with a sickly green aura. Ning Xinyi felt her Qi being pulled from her body, a slow, constant drain that made her feel weak and tired.
"Feel the despair of my domain! My Aura of Decay will feed upon your life force until you are nothing but dust!" Malakor laughed, a dry, rattling sound.
This was not a direct attack she could block. It was a domain that covered the entire room. It was an Area of Effect skill.
She started to wonder about Lin Fan's Secret Realm knowledge and luck on finding such a lost realm. She started to admire him not knowing that Lin Fan didn't search for anything, he created this out of nothing because of his cheat system and because he was a Game Designer.
Ning Xinyi gritted her teeth. Her eyes were running around the room looking for something. She was a Core Formation expert, her senses were sharp. She could feel the flow of energy. The green aura was not coming from Malakor alone. It was being powered by something else.
She saw them. Four large, black crystals, pulsating with the same green light, were embedded in the walls at the four corners of the room. They were the source!
"You will not drain me so easily!" she declared.
Malakor raised his staff again. "You will have no time to think!" A volley of sharp bone spears shot from his hand.
Ning Xinyi's body became a blur. She ignored the Bone Sovereign's attacks, dodging them with incredible speed. She moved like a blue bolt of lightning. She reached the first crystal and swung her sword.
CLANG! Her sword bounced off, leaving only a white scratch. The crystal was incredibly hard.
'It's protected by the formation's energy!' she realized. 'I need to use more power!'
She poured her Core Formation energy into her blade, making it glow with a brilliant blue light. She struck again.
CRACK! The crystal shattered into a thousand pieces. The green aura in the room weakened by a quarter.
"Insolent gnat!" Malakor roared. He began to float from his throne, launching more powerful attacks. A storm of spectral skulls flew towards her.
Ning Xinyi did not stop. She was a shonen protagonist in her zone. She dodged, weaved, and parried, her focus absolute. She reached the second crystal. Shattered it. The aura weakened again.
She was panting now. The constant drain, combined with the intense fight, was tiring her. But her spirit was on fire.
Third crystal. Shattered.
Only one remained. Malakor was now in front of it, his crimson eyes blazing with fury. "You will go no further!" He swung his staff, and a giant skeletal hand erupted from the floor to crush her.
"Ice Phoenix Art: First Form - Glacial Prison!" she shouted.
The ground around Malakor's feet instantly froze. Thick walls of ice shot up, trapping him in a solid block. It would only hold him for a second, but a second was all she needed.
She dashed past him and struck the final crystal with all her might.
SHATTER!
The green aura vanished completely. The room returned to normal.
Malakor broke free from the ice prison, roaring in fury. His bones began to crackle with black lightning. "You have destroyed my kingdom's heart! For that, you will join my collection! I will personally carve your bones into a beautiful flute!"
He was enraged. His attacks were now faster, more powerful, and completely wild.
Ning Xinyi was pushed back. She received a cut on her arm, her blue robe tearing. She was on the defensive, her energy depleted from the previous efforts. A normal attack would not be enough to finish this.
She took a deep breath. She had to risk it all on one final strike.
She channeled all the remaining Qi from her dantian. All the power of her Core Formation. All the spiritual energy of her Ice Phoenix bloodline.
Her foundation was now solid as steel, she could feel it so she could strain it without any worry of risk shaking it.
Behind her, a vast, phantom image appeared. It was a magnificent phoenix, made of pure, crystalline ice, its wings spread wide, its eyes glowing with cold, divine light.
"You have suffered enough, fallen king," she said, her voice now calm and powerful. "Receive my judgment!"
She raised her sword, and the giant Ice Phoenix behind her mirrored the movement.
"Ice Phoenix Art: Final Form - Heaven's Judgment Strike!"
She swung her sword down. The entire throne room was engulfed in a blinding blue light. A colossal beam of pure frost energy, shaped like a diving phoenix, shot from her sword and slammed into the Bone Sovereign.
Malakor raised his staff one last time, a shield of black energy forming around him. "My sorrow... is... ETERNAL!"
The Ice Phoenix struck the shield. For a moment, blue and black light struggled. Then, with a deafening crack, the black shield shattered. The Ice Phoenix consumed Malakor completely.
The light faded.
Where the throne once stood, there was now a giant crater, lined with frost. The Bone Sovereign was gone. In the center of the crater, was a skull, Bone Sovereign's Skull.
Ning Xinyi fell to one knee, panting heavily. She was exhausted, but she was victorious.
As the last piece of Malakor's essence faded, a final, weary whisper echoed in her mind.
"Thank you..."
Outside, Lin Fan, who had been biting his nails and watching the entire fight with a racing heart, jumped to his feet.
"YES! SHE DID IT! FIRST TRY BOSS CLEAR!" he yelled to the empty courtyard. "That's my Mommy!"
However, inside he was reminding himself to not go full bonkers on low level dungeons, leave that for high levels.
Suddenly a flurry of system notifications rang. His eyes widened, and a river of drool dripped from his chin.