Chapter 25 – The Flutist of the Elixir
The sound guided them—a distorted melody, played on a flute that appeared to be made of human bone. It wasn't ordinary music. It was something... wrong. Each note made their eyes pulse, their stomachs churn.
Cael and the Black Armored Knight walked side by side, treading cautiously through the sewer-soaked passages. Dead rats floated here and there, bloated, as if they had exploded from the inside out.
"Is this familiar to you?" Cael whispered, one hand resting on the hilt of the Abyssal Blade.
The knight simply shook his head. "No. But something here is alive. And hungry."
"We are entering a boss zone. Field analysis: high presence of cursed energy. Enchanted music. Elevated risk. System morale... uncertain."
"That doesn't make me feel any calmer," Cael muttered, narrowing his eyes.
Rounding a dark bend, they saw the stage.
A circular hall, filled with bones, partially dissolved bodies, and dozens of rats piled in a grotesque offering. Atop the heap, a thin, misshapen man danced, wearing tattered crimson jester's clothing, his white mask cracked into an exaggerated smile, eyes painted black.
The flute in his fingers seemed alive.
"Visitors... unexpected! New music... new audience... how delightful!" he hummed, spinning in a chaotic dance step.
Without warning, he blew into the flute.
The air grew dense. Rats emerged from the cracks in the walls, eyes empty and glowing, mouths widened with human teeth. Some exploded upon touching the ground. Others merged, forming pulsing masses of flesh.
Battle against the Flutist of the Elixir
"Don't stop moving!" Cael shouted, leaping to the side as a mutant rat exploded where he had been a second before.
The Black Armored Knight delivered a blow with his greatsword, cutting through three enemies at once. But they only multiplied.
"Enchanted rats. They feed on sound. Mute the music or we'll be swallowed!"
"You want me to break a flute made of human bone!?" Cael yelled, dodging a tentacle of fused rats.
The Flutist cackled.
"More! Dance more! The concert isn't over yet!"
Cael lunged, sliding under a slimy projectile, and delivered a vertical slash with the Abyssal Blade. The air shivered. The black energy cut through the air, carving a path toward the Flutist.
But he vanished—like smoke.
"Illusion!?" Cael snarled.
The Black Armored Knight drove his sword into the ground. A dark aura spread, dispersing part of the mist. There, in the center, the Flutist reappeared, wounded.
"Oops... I've been found!"
He tried to play again, but Cael didn't give him the chance.
A leap. A spin. A slash.
The Abyssal Blade passed through the Flutist's body, and the sound ceased with an off-key, horrific scream.
The rats collapsed, dead or undone into inert flesh. Silence finally reigned.
Cael breathed heavily, kneeling beside the boss's body, which was now crumbling into gnawed bones.
"That was... awful."
"You survived. That's what matters."
The knight approached, wiping his bloodied blade.
"This world... every corner is a new trap."
Cael nodded.
"And every one of them has something to hide..."
Purple light shimmered where the Flutist had fallen.
You have received: 3,200 souls.
Rare Item: Fairy Tale – The Flutist of the Elixir
Special Item: Elixir of the Golden Worms
Hidden item detected: hidden beneath the remains of the rat throne.
Cael stood up.
"Let's see what else he left behind..."
"I hope it's not another flute."