After returning to the center of the third floor, we present the magic stones, and the door to the boss room opens.
We now have the right to fight the boss, but the problem is that we only get one shot at it.
Well, that’s not quite right. Unlike in Majolica’s dungeon, we’re not locked in the boss room until we beat it, but once we go out, the door will close again. And we’d have to collect more magic stones to try again.
Also, we’d need the magic stones we collected this time, and more. That also means that there’s a limit to how many times we can challenge it. After all, there’s a limit to how many magic magic stones… How many kinds of monsters are on this floor?
Once we fail, there’s less than a handful of times we can try again. To make matters worse, there’s no guarantee that it will be the same boss.
“We won’t know what the bosses are like until we go in, right?”
“Yes, according to the documents, it could be superior species of the magic stones used, or different monsters altogether. And apparently the number of people going in also matters? But they said that the bosses are of the same line as the monsters in the dungeon.”
“Are there records of times when people took down one boss and that was all?”
Asks Chris as I talk with Argo.
I’m pretty sure there was only one. But that was a group of twenty-seven adventurers, and twenty-two died in battle.
It was a superior species of hydra that time, and even the five survivors retired from the front lines due to their injuries.
“It’s tricky. Then again, being too cautious and not taking that step forward means we’ll end up stalling. Well, if we can’t do it, we can gather magic stones again. And if it’s harder the more people go in, we could stay here. Well, that’d be a bit frustrating.”
“True. Maybe we would help if we fought together, but we could also hold them back.”
Guilford adds to what Argo said.
That all depends on how compatible they are with the bosses. If they’re strong against physical attacks, we might be in trouble, because only Chris and I can attack with magic.
On the other hand, since we need time to cast spells, we definitely need people on the vanguard.
Without people fighting in front, a sorcerer can’t feel safe casting spells. Especially Chris, and her powerful spirit magic that takes time to prepare.
“We used plenty of disposable items along the way too, so how about we give it a shot?”
“Yes. There’s no point thinking about what to do if we fail now, we just have to try. Let’s just make sure we know when to withdraw.”
Says Rurika while looking at Argo and the others.
It’s like she’s asking them for help if we mistime our retreat.
“Let’s go then.”
No one objects.
We do our final preparations, and enter.
It’s wide in here. We’ve been to dungeon boss rooms before, but this might be the widest.
It’s a vast wasteland in front of us. There are boulders lying around, and the ground is rugged and hard.
I don’t see any water around.
But according to the documents, the geography changes when the bosses spawn.
“I wonder how it will appear this time.”
Says Argo while cautiously looking around.
They also appear in different ways. Sometimes it’s a consecutive battle, and sometimes different kinds appear at the same time.
Appearing at the same time is easier to understand, since it ends once they’re all defeated.
The trickiest is if they appear on a time delay.
That means a new boss spawning as we fight another one, and it’s said to be the most difficult scenario.
Also, by consecutive battle, I mean one boss appearing after one goes down.
Incidentally, there are no records of anyone beating the bosses in that time delay scenario.
So how do we know that can happen? Because people experienced it and ran away.
I nervously brace myself, and the scenery changes.
Water appears, and a boss slowly appears.
“That’s…”
We all gulp.
It’s a kraken… No.
A kraken is a giant monster that looks like an octopus, but unlike regular krakens, this one has human-like faces on the tips of its tentacles.
This horrible sight sends a chill down my spine.
I cast Appraisal, and it calls it polyopus.
It lets out a sound when it sees us, making me grimace.
Just hearing it gives me a headache.
I move out to make that stop.
I launch a fire arrow towards the Polyopus. I’m not the only one attacking, Hikari sends out a Projectile Slash, and Rurika and Sera use throwing knives.
But none of our attacks reach the polyopus.
They lose speed along the way, the magic is erased by a slash, and the throwing knives fall on the ground without their magic activating.
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