Isagi, together with Tiona, once again lured over a few "War Shadow Soldiers" patrolling the walkways. They then proceeded with the test.
The results were actually quite decent. Aside from the initial shock, the young man and the girls quickly discovered that while these monsters possessed strong mechanics and understood certain combat techniques, making them somewhat tricky to deal with... Their defensive power was very low!
As long as an attack connected, it was basically an instant kill.
Moreover, for someone like Tiona, a Level 3 warrior who specialized in [Strength] and [Endurance], their damage output was mediocre at best. Isagi saw with his own eyes that the War Shadow Soldier's longsword could only leave faint bloody scratches on the Amazon girl's wheat-colored skin.
Just as expected. Monsters with high mechanics have low stats; that's what makes it balanced. But soon enough, Isagi and the girls made a new discovery...
...
Across the walkways winding around the fortress walls, in the distance, all three of them spotted a War Shadow Archer standing on a platform at the far end.
From where the three stood right now, there was a long, straight path separating them from it. To pass through easily would likely not be simple. Because a shield wouldn't be able to block the arrows this guy shot.
Tiona thought about taking the lead, rushing through while braving the danger of taking a few arrows! While the girl was charming and cute, her personality was that of a super reckless brute!!
Isagi also felt that was the only way.
But just as everyone was preparing to charge together, the distant War Shadow Archer suddenly looked over and drew its bow directly—it was unclear how it spotted them, because he and the girls were clearly hiding behind a corner. At this moment, there was still a thick fortress wall separating the two sides!
But soon, Isagi understood why it could see him.
Because...
The pitch-black arrow shot by the War Shadow Archer sank directly into the wall, and shortly after, passed right through it, arriving before his eyes.
Huh?!
Holy crap, it has wall-hacks and piercing!!
Fortunately, Lefiya had already released her "Summoning Magic" in advance.
"[Elf Ring]!"
The girl's Summoning Magic was like applying a "BUFF" to herself. During its duration, Lefiya could use the magic she had obtained from other compatriots an unlimited number of times.
So. The moment the pitch-black arrow penetrated the wall, the Elf girl raised her staff, releasing the defensive magic from Filvis.
"Raise the grail as a shield, the lid that breaks evil!"
"[Dio Grail]!!"
A familiar sky-blue light barrier appeared out of thin air. Lefiya actually didn't know if it could stop the monster's arrow.
The girl simply acted on instinct. Before Isagi could get hurt, she activated the defensive magic she had just learned, wanting to protect him.
Yesterday.
When the young man and the Goddess went to attend the banquet, Lefiya and Filvis had practiced [Concurrent Chanting] for a long time. Of course, in just one night, it was impossible for her to instantly master such a high-difficulty technique.
The girl was currently only at the level of having some clue about [Concurrent Chanting]; she still needed a considerable amount of time to practice.
However, after the practice ended, Filvis also taught her defensive magic to her compatriot.
[I hope this can protect you and Isagi, Lefiya. You must return safely from the Dungeon.]
The girl had said so.
Although they could no longer adventure together, she sincerely blessed her former companions.
Lefiya actually didn't quite understand why Filvis was unwilling to adventure together anymore, but perhaps having been with Isagi for a long time... She more or less understood the young man's indifferent gentleness.
Her compatriot might have reasons she couldn't voice. It couldn't be helped, and she couldn't force it.
Thus. Under the blooming azure light barrier, the pitch-black arrow did not penetrate it, but slowly melted away, eventually vanishing completely.
Ah...
So the essence of this thing is "Magic", huh?!
Isagi seemed to have an epiphany.
These War Shadow Soldiers could probably turn their bodies, weapons, armor, and everything else into "magic" at any time and place, which is why physical attacks were completely ineffective. In that case, he could use magic to counter magic!
It suddenly made sense!
Isagi directly took out his Greatbow, "Machine Gun".
Then. With Lefiya continuing to maintain the magic shield, he walked out from behind the fortress wall, facing the distant War Shadow Archer directly, and drew his own bowstring.
Come on, let's sniper duel!
Crimson-gold light gathered in Isagi's hand, solidifying in an instant. Isagi did not charge the shot, but chose an instant release.
Combat Art, [Star Stream].
Zzzzzzzzzzt!
A beam of light the thickness of a finger shot out, directly piercing through the chest of the distant War Shadow Archer.
Good lord! Your "Light" attribute is literally laser light?!
Then that so-called "Fire" attribute...
Visible to the naked eye, the area around the chest of the War Shadow Archer pierced by the beam began to show signs of turning crimson red, looking as if it were about to melt. It seemed the body was collapsing due to high temperatures.
The uncharged beam also disappeared instantly.
Isagi led the two girls over to take a look, only to see that more than half of the monster's chest had been cauterized. The crimson edges were still slowly devouring the black shadow, spreading continuously.
Awesome.
The damage of the Greatbow's Combat Art was much higher than Isagi had imagined. He estimated it was because he used a branch from the Great Holy Tree of the Elves. Although it was just a small section, it was, after all, a material used for first-class armaments.
This made Isagi look forward to the future. Wondering what kind of Combat Arts would appear on the first-class armament Cecil promised to make for him later...
...
Having cleared the final obstacle, the three arrived at the end of the walkway.
The wooden door before them was somewhat narrow. After pushing it open, Isagi, still cautious, walked in with his shield raised. As expected, a fireball suddenly flying from below smashed right onto his shield.
Grass!
Good thing his equipment had been upgraded recently!!
A faint iridescence flashed across the surface of the dusty bone shield, and then the fireball was directly deflected back, instantly swallowing the Kobold Shaman hiding on one side above the stairs.
"@##@!!"
The monster's scream exploded along with the firelight. Following that, many filthy Kobold Assassins dropped down from overhead.
These guys were numerous, and in such a narrow space, they were quite troublesome.
However, Tiona quickly rushed in as well, fighting back-to-back with him, immediately preventing the terrible situation of being attacked from both sides.
As for Lefiya, the Elf girl didn't enter at all, staying outside the door. Clearly, after hanging out with him in the Dungeon for a while, her intelligence had made a leap in improvement.
"Hoo!"
Although the surrounding Kobold Assassins were numerous, their combat power was actually mediocre. If he were alone, it might have been a bit troublesome, but with Tiona added to the mix, it became much easier.
Indeed, the Soul-games logic never lies, fam!
It didn't take much time. After clearing out the monsters, Lefiya walked in holding the Magic Stone Lantern. While the girls were harvesting Magic Stones, Isagi began to assess the surrounding situation.
This place looked like a stairwell.
Under the light of the Magic Stone lamp, the wooden stairs wound upwards back and forth, leading visibly to a wide door at the end.
That Goblin named Pal didn't lie?
After cleaning up the battlefield, Isagi and the two girls started walking up. However, the large door at the end couldn't be opened; it looked like it required a key.
"Is it over there?"
Tiona pointed to a small door not far away, located on one side of the lower stairwell.
There was a room there too.
When they first came up, Isagi and the girls had peered inside, but it was all pitch black; they couldn't see anything.
Currently, they needed a key to open the door, and since there were no other forks along the way, it could only be in that small room.
They turned back.
By the light of the Magic Stone Lantern in hand, Isagi saw that the interior was full of various sundries. However, right on a table against the wall, a brass key was placed there, incredibly conspicuous.
"Let's go in together."
Isagi said.
There definitely had to be some trap in here. He didn't believe for a second that he could just casually walk in and grab the key to open the door!
The other two girls had no objections, so the three quickly walked into the room. Tiona darted forward and grabbed the key from the table in her hand.
"Eh?! Doesn't seem to be a problem!!"
The Amazon girl had just finished speaking.
When the small door they entered through was slammed shut from the outside, and the sound of it being locked could be heard.
"???"
He knew it! Who closed the door? It's so hard to guess—it must be that Goblin named Pal from earlier!
And almost simultaneously. A noise came from the dark corner of the room.
Lefiya turned quickly, shining the Magic Stone lamp in the direction of the sound. She discovered that in the corner piled with debris, an "old friend" wearing pale armor—the Goblin Glimmer Knight dragging a greatsword over three meters long—was slowly standing up.
Only, this time it wasn't alone.
A dark shadow wearing gorgeous pure white priestly robes also slowly revealed itself beside it.
Wait.
This is a "War Shadow" Saintess?!
Under the Magic Stone lamp's light, the humanoid figure in robes was completely a black shadow. One could only judge that it indeed belonged to a female based on the undulations of the fabric.
Holy crap, you Goblin Saintesses are really kinky; even this works?!
"Hey, hey, Boss, are they a couple?!"
Having heard the tragic love story of the Goblin Knight and the Saintess, what Tiona immediately thought of was...
"Did we interrupt them doing it?!"
"Tiona, what are you saying!"
"Eh? Lefiya, you don't know? Doing it means..."
"Don't explain strange things with such a straight face!"
The Elf girl was so shy she couldn't speak. After all, how could she say that kind of topic straight-faced in front of a boy!
But Isagi felt...
Probably not. No matter what, a Goblin and a War Shadow doing it? Does that mass of pitch-black humanoid even possess that kind of function in its body...?
Tsk.
Just thinking about it is a bit grotesque!
However, something even more shocking to everyone happened, because that Glimmer Knight actually climbed directly onto the War Shadow Saintess's body.
It became just like the Goblin Knight riding a Kobold that they encountered on the 2nd Floor.
...
...
...
So, your Knight and Saintess fight side-by-side like this?!
Isagi had previously thought the Knights and Saintesses were quite pure in their love, but looking at it now, Goblin pure love seems a bit different from normal people's pure love!!
The battle started in an instant. The War Shadow Saintess's speed was much faster than the Kobolds they encountered before. Plus, the room was already narrow, resulting in barely any space to dodge!
Fortunately, Isagi noticed its name didn't pop up from his heart, so it seemed this guy didn't count as a BOSS.
Just an Elite Monster?
In that case, it was manageable.
"Tiona, cover me and Lefiya!"
Isagi decisively began to command!
The Glimmer Knight was an old acquaintance. As long as she was careful of its attacks, being a beat slower would be fine.
The key point was that War Shadow Saintess!
It also possessed the "characteristic" of the War Shadow Soldiers encountered earlier, able to turn its body into magic. However, every time it took a hit from Tiona, the Saintess turned into mist, and the Goblin Knight riding on her naturally fell off.
But every time the War Shadow Saintess regained her solid form, the Knight would crawl back onto her shoulders again.
What the hell? Is he that obsessed with riding the Saintess?!
It somehow made the battle feel a bit comical!!
But Isagi was very professional!
So he just silently took out his Greatbow "Machine Gun" again, and began charging his Combat Art!
Accompanied by the sound of the Elf girl chanting magic at the same time.
In the tiny room. Sword shadows of faint glimmer flickered. That War Shadow Saintess also wielded dual blades, coordinating with the Knight's greatsword, sealing off Tiona's movement from both close and long range.
Fortunately, the Amazon girl had rich combat experience and a high level, so there was no danger for the time being.
But because the room was truly too small, Isagi and Lefiya also had to change their positions to dodge attacks while casting magic.
He was fine.
Charging a shot, of course, allowed movement.
The Elf girl, however, was basically entering a practical class on [Concurrent Chanting]. Although she was only moving her feet in a small range, it was visible to the naked eye.
Lefiya was sweating bullets, and her chanting was intermittent, nearly getting interrupted several times.
The result was. His charge was full—Isagi could clearly feel the magic filled into the Greatbow reaching its limit—but Lefiya hadn't finished chanting yet.
Then sorry, he'd have to shoot first... ah, cast his magic first!
A thick crimson-gold ray pierced through the War Shadow Saintess who was chasing Tiona and slashing wildly, immediately igniting her. Crimson flames rose, turning her and the Knight on her body into a massive fireball.
"Whoa!"
Tiona's eyes went wide, thinking, Boss Isagi can even use such powerful attack magic?! Isn't he a vanguard warrior just like me?!
The few minutes of duration passed quickly. Isagi felt he hadn't enjoyed it enough yet. As a result, that War Shadow Saintess could actually slowly crawl up from the ground.
Then he'd just have to fire another one.
Continue charging!
And because its "mount" was heavily injured, the Glimmer Knight, who had rolled onto the ground again, although not directly hit by the magic, was completely unable to bother him and Lefiya under Tiona's entanglement.
So another dozen seconds passed.
This time. It was Isagi's [Star Stream] together with the Elf girl's [Fusillade Firebolt] swallowing the Knight and the Saintess.
Tiona very skillfully. Ran away the moment before the magic arrived, returning to the two's side!
The Amazon girl seemed very adept at doing this. After all, the Vice-Captain of the Loki Familia, Lady Riveria, was one of the city's strongest Level 6 Mages. Furthermore, the Familia had an entire unit composed of Elf Mages.
So the Loki Familia's combat style, oftentimes, was for the vanguard and mid-guard to buy time, and then rely on the rear-guard Mages to settle it with one hammer blow!
The battle just now could be said to be Tiona's "old trade".
Accompanied by intense light and explosions, as well as a raging fire, after the magic dissipated, only the charred remains of the Knight and Saintess were left on the ground.
So satisfying. Is this what it feels like to be a Mage Lord?! Isagi suddenly fell a little in love with the feeling of being a turret!!
Tiona went and kicked open the room door that had just been locked.
Lefiya, on the other hand, took out the Magic Stones of the Knight and Saintess. After collecting them, she found that materials had also dropped.
It was a piece of black cloth.
[Relic of the War Shadow Saintess: Possesses fragments of magic from "Darkness". It is a power already abandoned by the Kingdom. Legend has it. The deeper one goes underground, the stronger the power monsters can obtain. Goblins were also once fascinated by this, until the King's arrival ended that fanaticism and worship of the "Deep Darkness".]
"This should be a magic material. We can take it back to find a Witch or a Magic Smith to appraise it."
Lefiya said.
She could feel the magic flowing inside the fabric, though it was a bit strange.
"Yeah, put it away first."
No matter what, something dropped by an Elite Monster definitely wouldn't be some trendy garbage.
Meeting up with Tiona who was waiting outside the room. The three returned to the large door above again. Inserting the key and pushing it open, accompanied by a somewhat ear-piercing creak, what greeted them was a thick stench of rot and gore.
Before them appeared to be a castle corridor.
The old wooden floor was covered in dust. The walls on both sides were piled with rough gray-white bricks. Overhead were still those glass bottles containing fluorescent light, hanging high from the ceiling to serve as light sources.
Only, because their surfaces were also covered in dust and grime, they seemed somewhat dim and gray.
The corridor only led forward. From time to time, they could see large pools of blood on the ground, as well as chunks of meat that had obviously been minced. Occasionally, they could see some severed limbs. Judging by the color, they probably belonged to Goblins.
What's the situation? The Goblins in here were all killed too? But in the arena outside, weren't there still so many Goblins acting as spectators? They couldn't just be background assets, right?
Even standing in the corridor, faintly, they could hear the waves of cheers penetrating from the distance.
Here, it was clearly not far from that [Amphitheater].
What Lefiya regretted somewhat was that these Goblin corpses were incomplete, so there was no way to dig for Magic Stones!!
Could it be that the Dungeon learned its lesson from before? In the last scene, there were too many complete corpses lying around, giving away so many Magic Stones and materials for free, so this time they were all changed to minced meat? Stingy!
Continuing forward. The end of the corridor was a fork in the road. To the left was an upward spiral staircase—visible to the naked eye, there were many more Goblin fragments on the stairs, and fragments of soldiers and knights wearing armor even started to appear.
And to the right...
"Boss, something seems wrong over there."
Following Tiona's line of sight. In the distance was a ninety-degree corridor corner. Between the walls that appeared gray and ancient under the pale green fluorescent light, it seemed something was spreading.
It was Darkness. Some kind of viscous and rich pitch-black substance was slowly, gradually covering the walls, floor, ceiling... it wrapped and devoured everything, even the severed limbs scattered on the ground were the same.
And right in this slowly spreading darkness. Between the walls that originally belonged to the corner, high up, close to the ceiling, a black humanoid head poked out.
In the pitch-black curtain, that humanoid figure, also black, had distinct contours. And most importantly, in the center of its head, there was a pure white ring.
[The Lightless King Who Was Conquered by the Pale, Apheisisamna]
?!
A sudden BOSS battle?!
And just at this moment, Isagi used the corner of his eye to glimpse a pitch-black blade poking out from the wall...
"Get down!"
He directly tackled Lefiya beside him.
Tiona also crouched down rapidly, dodging the black greatsword slashed out from inside the wall.
The Lightless King was already walking towards the three, and its figure was finally revealed before the eyes of the young man and the girls.
That was a humanoid black shadow deeply embedded in the darkness, at least three or four meters tall. It was excessively thin, looking nothing like a "human", as if it were a stick figure composed only of slender lines.
Completely pitch black. Only on its faceless face was there a pure white ring.
Four arms of varying lengths growing from its slender body held a greatsword, a spear, a scepter, and—he couldn't see, that hand was completely merged into the wall, he couldn't see what it was holding at all!
It slowly walked forward. Accompanying it was the submergence of everything around it into deep darkness, as well as a shrill sound like electronic static. "Woom—"
The noisy buzzing sound was almost endless.
"Blood and fire, shall once again cast, My throne."
The Lightless King emitted a peculiar tone, announcing loudly. Then it raised the greatsword in its hand, letting it merge completely into the ceiling. Immediately after, it slashed down again from the side of the wall!
That noodle-like hand can actually turn corners inside the wall?!
The narrow corridor was completely the opponent's home field, because one couldn't see its weapon and arm inside the wall at all, nor from which direction it was swinging.
After dangerously dodging this sword again, Isagi was thinking.
Should they change location? After all, fighting a BOSS battle in disadvantaged terrain was obviously unwise behavior.
But running around with such a big BOSS chasing them—never mind encountering another bosses, they wouldn't even be able to handle running into a bunch of mobs!
Just at this moment!
In the distance of the corridor they came from, a short figure suddenly appeared.
It was that Goblin, Pal.
Did it follow him and the girls in?
He saw it pull something out from behind it and throw it at the Lightless King.
A dung pie!
The strong stench coming with the wind made it impossible to doubt its "freshness."
That pitch-black lump passed directly through the Lightless King's body, but it seemed to leave a strong smell on it.
So stinky! This BOSS suddenly became much stinkier!
And thus attracted the opponent's attention!!
"Tiny one, I shall drink the flesh and blood of your clan, never to exist again!!"
The direction the darkness spread changed. The Lightless King, without turning its head, went towards the corridor Isagi and the girls came from, looking like it was going to chase that Goblin, Pal.
It seemed that for this guy, killing Goblins was the top priority.
So...
Were the Goblins here all killed by the Lightless King? What on earth is the situation? A rebellion occurred in the Border Fortress before, and something big also happened in the Goblin Kingdom, right?!
The once-mighty Empire facing external threats and internal turmoil, about to fall apart.
That is indeed very bad.
It seems his decision not to kill Pal just now was correct. If it had died, then although he and the girls wouldn't have been locked in the dark room at the stairwell just now, a BOSS battle with the Lightless King would have definitely been forced here.
Disadvantaged terrain, a sudden encounter. The opponent is also resistant to magic attacks. In such a cramped place, casting magic is also troublesome.
Absolute disadvantage.
He just didn't know what "Pal's" storyline would end up being in the end...
Amidst his thoughts. They certainly couldn't stay where they were. After Isagi thought for a moment, he immediately greeted the two girls to walk up the stairs.
Currently, the most important thing. Find a safe and open place first. If they encountered the Lightless King again next time, they could also lure it there to fight, avoiding being trapped in a terrain disadvantage.
Along the way, there were still those War Shadow Soldiers, and dog-headed monsters popping out from who knows where.
The Goblin fragments on the stairwell were also becoming more and more numerous. Until at the end. They were piled up like small mountains, placed in the corners of the walls.
In the empty circular hall, Isagi quickly discovered that in the center of the ceiling not far away, there was a very familiar circular door. Furthermore, on the ground, there was an identical door, echoing it from a distance.
Soon. On the wall on one side of the hall, he found a lever-like mechanism.
After opening it, the circular door on the ceiling opened, and a dark hole appeared before the three of them.
Isagi used the grappling hook to go up and take a look. Sure enough, behind the circular door was the [Border Fortress] of the 4th Floor. The shortcut at the bottom of the pit that "could not be opened from this side" was now open.
When he came to the Dungeon again in the future, he could go directly from the [Border Fortress] on the 4th Floor to the Goblin Kingdom.
It really would save a lot of effort.
He was preparing to call the girls up to rest a bit, because the 4th Floor side was already a "Safe Zone". Although the [Border Fortress] still existed as a scene, it would no longer spawn new monsters.
However. Isagi heard Lefiya's voice coming from below. The Elf girl seemed to have a new discovery...
___
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