Chapter 361: The Final Floor
With the revelation that all of their collection, and a heavy dose of luck, had paid off and they were just a single piece away from completing this strange relic, the group gained a new level of motivation to get through the dungeon.
Not just so they could see the completion of what they now knew was an axe, but because they had already spent far too long in here already. What was originally supposed to be a little training exercise had turned into a whole ordeal, and although it was probably the case that one of the bigger, more well funded guilds got the first clear because of them, it would be nice to see this behind them.
They had gained a lot from this dungeon, more than they had expected, and it was finally time to end it.
In fact, it ended sooner than they had expected. It was not on the Ninth floor, which everyone had expected based on the boss patterns.
Instead the imposing aura of the final boss was oozing through the doorway to the eighth floor.
Standing at this door, surrounded by the corpses of Demons, Yeti’s, and Elves, the Fate Breakers guild bathed in the feeling of that aura washing over them before they finally pushed open the door and headed inside.
A dark room, much like the other two, was what they had been expecting, but that was not to be the case for the final boss room.
Instead what they stepped into was a dazzling, and unbelievably huge, throne room that was decorated to befit the powerful and awe inspiring Conquerer King that resided within. Bricks carved out of the black volcanic stone made up the walls, which were further decorated by golden lining that ran up the wall either side of the multiple thin waterfalls of lava.
However these lava waterfalls had lost their glow, as they had been frozen completely solid.
Naturally growing veins of diamonds, sapphires and other various gemstones, some of which they had never seen before in their life such as a gemstone that glowed with a vibrant platinum. These were what decorated the ceiling.
Criss-crossing over each other, creating a completely unique pattern that could never hope to be replicated by hand, and which glowed with a beautiful array of light cast by the multiple chandeliers hanging from this ceiling.
The light splitting and reflecting within the different gemstones, changing its colour or making the stones sparkle like the night sky within the cave. It was simply gorgeous.
It was even more impressive when the chandeliers shook from the violent fight happening within the throne room, making the fake stars twinkle all that more beautifully.
"How does it feel oh great and powerful King. How does it feel to have everything you worked to build up destroyed?!" A booming voice echoed throughout the room, its tone overflowing with vitriol and hatred.
The owner of this voice was a tall, bulky mountain of a man. A snowy mountain, as his hair was pure white and was laced with flakes of ice like dandruff. The name of ’mountain’ was also not to be underestimated, as he was easily reaching into the realm of 9 feet tall.
His skin was a deep blue, whilst his eyes were solid white. His clothing was made from what was clearly Yeti pelts, giving him a barbaric look that was not helped by the exposed chest that was rippling with tightly drawn muscles. However the curling, four pronged and pure white horns on his head almost made him look demonic despite his complete contrast to every humanoid demon they had met so far.
His hands were wrapped around the hilt of a great-sword, which was thrust through the chest of a demon that was his exact opposite and kept him pinned down onto his throne. Red skin, black eyes, black horns and more regal clothing befitting that of a king. But other than that, they looked almost identical, especially in the structure of their bodies and faces.
"You’re pitiful..." The blue skinned one hissed as he pushed the sword in deeper and twisted it, earning a pained groan from his victim.
"After everything you tore down, after everyone you killed. This is how you die. Your glorious kingdom in ruins, while you sit here on your paltry throne built from blood. Weak, pathetic, unarmed. And by my hand." Blue continued, the last few words putting a wicked smile on his face.
That was when the door slammed closed.
The Blue-Skinned Giant whipped his head around, his face already twisted with rage as he snarled at the group that had arrived. But after a few moments the rage faded and was replaced... by amusement.
"Oh... This is the best you have? This is who comes to rescue you? This is even more pathetic than I thought. I expected more from you."
Blue said with a condescending laugh, before ripping his sword from Red’s chest. He strolled down the steps that led up to the throne, his colossal sword - which was easily the size of a full grown man - dragged along the ground behind him.
As he rolled his shoulders and cracked his neck, and seemed to grow larger as he approached. A difference that was more than just a trick of perspective. He was actually growing larger, and larger.
By the time he reached the bottom of the stairs, he did so by covering half a dozen steps in a single stride. His footfalls trembled the earth beneath the party’s feet as he kept growing and growing, truly showing why the throne room had such a towering ceiling.
The sword in his grasp grew with him, from the size of a man, to the size of a car, then a semi-truck and even further still.
By the time the Blue-Skinned Giant had finished growing, his horns scrapped the ceiling as he stood at his full height of just over 50 metres. He slammed his sword down, which looked like it was built to carve mountains in half, as a heavy and frigid plume of white air curled from the blade, freezing the ground around where it touched. Just breathing the air felt like it could freeze their lungs, as even with their Ice Resistant Potions they struggled to compensate for the overwhelming presence.
This was the final boss of the ’Siege of Infernus’, and they would have to face him alone. At least, that was how it was supposed to go.
Had any other party been in their shows, standing before the boss now, he would have began his attack as the boss fight officially started. But that is not what happened.
Instead what moved was Lilith’s bag, as it shot up from where it hung around her shoulder, and pointed straight towards the King that lay dying on the throne. The Giant frowned deeply, his pure white eyes glaring at the bag wiggling in the air, which was the size of a pinhead from his perspective.
Yet despite the colossal difference, his frown was etched with a hint of concern.
"No... That’s impossible..."
A smile twitched onto the dying kings face, as he lifted a weak hand towards Lilith. She lurched forwards, dragged by the sudden pull on her bag, before the strap snapped and it flew straight through the air towards the throne.
The Blue Skinned Giant roared in anger, sweeping his hand downwards to stop the bag, however as soon as the simple cloth bag met the rough, house sized hand, it simply tore straight through his flesh.
It tunnelled through his hand, burst out the other side and flew straight towards the waiting king. As it flew, the fragments tore themselves from Lilith’s bag, discarding the bag as the fragments freely flew into his waiting hand.
They rapidly rearranged themselves, fitting into the same configuration as before. However this time, when the demons hand wrapped around the shaft, all of the pieces finally clicked together.
Lava appeared between the cracks of the fragments, glowing brightly as it fused the pieces together, whilst a glowing orb like a miniature sun burst to life in the middle of the blade.
The Red Skinned Demon let out a bellowing laugh, as he shouted at the top of his lungs,
"FINALLY! I AM COMPLETE AGAIN"
He leapt from his throne, the gaping wound in his chest rapidly closing before the naked eye. He took two steps, gripped his axe with both hands and swung it upwards like he was trying to chop the Giant that towered over him.
A ridiculous sentiment, until he grew too. Growing bigger and bigger through the process of the swing, until it finally connected with the Blue Giant’s sword, which he raised in defence, as the Red Skinned King grew to the same towering height as his Blue Skinned Twin.
The blow sent Blue stumbling backwards before he slammed into the wall, cracking the frozen lava which unblocked the flow, bringing new life to the lavafall as it poured fresh, liquid hot magma onto the Giant’s arm and scaled his perfect blue skin.
As two Giants fought, the party watched with disbelief and confusion, before they were all distracted by a message that popped up infront of their eyes.
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[You must pick a side.]
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