บท 114: Dungeon Boss
Blue dashed towards the Greater Poison Snake, hitting it a couple of times before rushing to the side. The creature started chasing the controller, and the frog turned around to do the same. Seeing what was happening, Leo jumped in front of the monster, stabbing it a few times for good measure, before rushing to the opposite side that Blue ran towards. The frog jumped after Leo, who was followed by Alex and Mark, while Bonnie and Hera went after the snake.
Blue kept running through the pools of poison, splashing the liquid as her feet hit the ground. The hot poison mist moving past her. Everything happened so fast that they didn't have a chance to talk strategy. Because of that, Blue wasn't sure how far away she needed to be. Her best estimate was at least five pools away. She could hear the snake approaching, and beyond it, other splashes on the water that she hoped came from her friends. She could be the tank, but this creature was too much for her to deal on her own.
"Watch out!" Bonnie yelled just when the snake recoiled for a lunge.
Blue looked back and dove to the side, tumbling over the poison. The snake's attack sent its body forward, landing besides the blue-haired woman. The snake turned around, ready to strike again as Blue got up, flaring up her buff once more. At the same time, Bonnie started to charge up a frost bomb.
Hera moved to the side, activating her [Hide] when she was out of the snake's line of sight. She walked through the pools, being careful not to make any noise, trying to reach the creature's back. While she moved, Bonnie was helping blue deflect the monster's attack using her Air Fist. When Hera was finally close enough to strike, the snake quickly turned around and went towards the explorer with its mouth open.
"I'm here!" Blue yelled, trying to distract the snake.
The monster didn't bother and focused on its target. Hera jumped through the snake's tail and rolled in the poison on the other side as the creature hit the ground, getting a mouthful of poison.
Blue rushed towards the monster, hitting it while it was still in the water. Even Hera felt a small shock through the water, not enough to hurt her, but it showed how strong the controller's buff was. Yet, the snake didn't seem to be bothered by it. The creature was drinking the poison, allowing the three women to wail on it.
Hera kept slashing at the creature's body with her handaxe. To her surprise, the attack wasn't even able to draw blood. She was expecting to deal some damage, but the debuff for being seen while hidden was taking it's toll. She kept attacking, but with each strike, the impact seemed to lessen. Hera was starting to worry, and she noticed that Blue also seemed to be having some trouble dealing damage.
As the snake kept drinking, its scales became harder, and its wounds started to close. When it was finally done, it raised its head in a deafening roar. The creature was already fast, but now the adventurers barely could keep up with its movement. Blue and Hera were giving their all just to avoid the attacks by a hair. The snake made one sideways motion with its mouth open, getting Blue stuck between its jaws.
The controller was still able to hold on and avoid getting hit by the fangs, but all that she could do at the moment was hold the snake's mouth open.
Seeing that, Bonnie quickly grabbed one of the pearls and tossed it towards the creature. When the projectile made contact with the snake's skin, the pearlescent glow covered a small area, cleaning the pool of poison they were in as well as Hera, Blue, and the creature.
Before the light faded, there was a large splash in the now clear water. The snake had fallen into the pool and was spasming uncontrollably. Part of its skin was turning grey, and the black stripes were thinner. Hera and Blue looked at each other for a moment and started to wail on the creature, their attacks doing considerably more damage.
Bonnie aimed her Frost Bomb directly into the snake's mouth, trying to make its fangs turn brittle. The monster recoiled with the attack, seeming to be more bothered by the cold than by Hera and Blue's assault. The snake turned towards Bonnie, spitting some poison towards the researcher. She rushed to the side to avoid the spray and sent two air fists at the monster.
Hera managed to cut off the tip of the snake's tail, making it stop focusing on Bonnie and turning towards the explorer.
Blue climbed on the creature's body and started punching it, "I said, I'm here. Come get me, you asshole."
Hera wasn't sure of what the controller was doing, but she didn't have the time to figure out. She dashed forward, swinging her handaxe towards the black stripes of the snake, trying to damage the creature.
"Use a pearl to make it weaker!" Bonnie yelled to the other group while moving away from the snake, trying to get in a better position.
The beast opened its mouth once more and went straight for Blue, who ducked down and used the snake's body to push herself away from the attack. The monster stopped before biting its own flesh and swung its head at Blue, sending her flying back to the edge of the pool. The snake followed it with a bite towards the controller. It didn't seem like Blue was going to be able to evade the attack. The impact had taken away her breath. Hera raised her hand and sent a Poison Spray towards the snake's face. She changed the spell, trying to make it deal more damage with the impact than with the poison. The orange spray hit the creature in the left eye, diverting its course enough to miss Blue. The snake's skin sizzled with the spell, making the creature turns angrily towards Hera.
"Oh crap," the explorer thought before running to the side, trying to make some distance between her and the snake.
Blue held onto the beast once more and started to punch it with all her might. As the snake moved, the controller noticed one of the cuts that Hera had made. Jumping towards the wound, Blue dug deep with both her hands, trying to open the gash even more. Even with that, the snake didn't change targets. Hera was running toward the area with the smaller poisonous pools, hoping that it would be enough to mess with the snake's movement.
Bonnie sent a cold bomb towards the pool. The moment the spell hit, part of the water froze, but the monster moved too fast. Its body rammed into the ice, making large shards fly to various directions. Hera had to avoid a couple of them, but the last one hit her arm. She tumbled to the side and felt something near her waist. It was the spring cane she had bought on the day of her graduation.
That small moment of distraction was enough for the snake. Before Hera realized, the creature had gotten so close that she could feel the saliva hitting her face. Hera grabbed the cane and put her hand forward, activating it. Hoping it would be sturdy enough to block the monster's advance. Yet, what happened was a surprise for her. The two-meter long cane stabbed the inside of the snake's mouth, which recoiled with the pain. Now, it was lodged in its maw, making it unable to use its main attack.
"Keep it up. We can do this!" Bonnie yelled as she sent an air fist towards a wound near the tail of the snake.
Blue Kept working on the wound she was ripping, now she could grab the flesh with both hands. That left Hera with the job of avoiding the attacks. Thanks to the cane, it was a bit easier. The monster was disoriented and would still try to bite her instinctively, only to be stopped by the pain of the iron rod digging even deeper into its mouth.
Little by little, the explorer understood the creature's rhythm and became able to attack as she evaded. In just a small amount of time, the snake's maw became mangled and bloody. The monster was getting more and more sluggish. It stopped charging at Hera and looked around, searching for something.
Bonnie saw the creature rush towards one of the poison pools that weren't affected by the pearls. It dove towards the purple liquid, trying to drink it to recover. Seeing that happen, Bonnie threw another one of the pearls. The glow covered a large area while Bonnie cursed under her breath, realizing she threw one of the big pearls.
The snake started to spasm while Blue and Hera worked on the open wound Blue was ripping open. Together, the two of them managed to get halfway through the creature before it stopped spasming, a strong smell of rot and bile flooding their noses. Blue rushed to the creature's head and attempted to hold it down. Hera was doing a much better job at cutting the beast open than her fists.
Bonnie was helping Blue, maintaining the monster's attention away from Hera as best as she could. That only lasted a moment. The snake quickly turned around and jerked its body, making the explorer jump away. The movement was enough to make the wound open up, even more, almost doubling its size.
The beast gave a pained roar, making its body move even slower. Hera took advantage of that and put all her height into a slash. The attack went through part of the snake and ended on the ground. Even if it was just a small cut to the side, it was already a significant amount of progress.
After all that, the snake was in bad shape. It was bleeding from several places, and it seemed to be stuck in the same spot, unable to move too much. With the monster on the defensive, it became harder to deal any damage to it. The snake would only move when it was sure that it would hit someone, and the party only wanted to attack when the creature was distracted.
Looking at the blood covering the pool, Hera considered the snake to be at a disadvantage. It was still bleeding, and if given enough time, that would kill it. However, as time went by, the blood stopped flowing. The purple sludge was forming a thick layer around the snake's wounds.
Seeing that the situation wouldn't change, Bonnie approached the monster and threw another purifying pearl at it. As soon as the glow started, the snake began to spasm. The movements made the wound in the middle of its body worsen until its skin couldn't hold on due to its massive weight. Before the pearlescent glow vanished, a ripping sound echoed through the area, followed by a spray of blood as the snake's tail flew to the side.
As the light vanished, Hera could see that the snake kept bashing its head against the floor in agony. After a few moments, the snake was lying on the ground, motionless.
Hera, Bonnie, and Blue took a moment to breathe. They still had to go help the rest of the group deal with the giant frog. However, Leo and Alex were already rushing toward them.
"Oh, you got it. Good." Leo stopped running as he saw the snake's corpse.
"Yeah, you got yours?" Blue asked.
"We did. But those poison clouds were annoying. Mostly to make the thing get away from it," Alex explained.
"Why didn't you use the pearls to clear that?" Bonnie asked.
"We were saving them, right?" Mark replied.
"For when we need it. I say that is part of it. We used like four here," Blue said.
"What? Why did you waste it?" Leo started badgering the two for the use of the pearls.
While the hunter was complaining about the items, Hera looked towards the bodies of the beasts they just fought. They were already dissolving into the odd sand that all the creatures seemed to turn to inside the dungeon. Hera walked towards the place where the snake was, but something caught her attention in the larger pond of poison.
Raising from the 150-meter wide pool was a gigantic creature. It almost looked like the water itself was rising up.
"Guys," Hera called the group.
The rising figure broke through the water, showing glowing purple spikes on its deep violet back.
"Guys!" Hera called once more.
The creature revealed itself, showing its large face with a mouth big enough to swallow trees whole, the black eyes with purple irises locked with Hera's.
"GUYS!" Hera yelled, finally getting the group's attention.
"What the hell is that?" Mark gasped.
The gigantic lizard roared, the sound echoing through the entire valley. Hera quickly activated her [Observe]
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Tanika - Bringer of Poison
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Perizou
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