Rumble. Rumble. Groan.
The door to the 40th boss level opened slowly, letting out a disgruntled groan while opening. A gush of smoke and wind pushed forward, blowing back hot air. Something about the spiritual side of this world was hot and dreary. The deeper Zero and his group went downwards, the more the environment seemed to change into a hot volcanic level.
Pshhhhhh. Fawoooom!
The gust of wind swirled around them and disappeared quickly. Seconds later, a large empty room with blue flying candles turned on one by one. The hot steam that was present disappeared, and a cool breeze blew through instead.
Not a speck of sound could be heard in the newly lit room except the heavy breathing of the dragon and their companions. Zero was the first one to take a step in wearily. He knew that something was going to happen, but he didn't know what.
It wasn't until everyone stepped in through the door that it closed behind them with a large slam.
"The boss fight is starting," Zero said under his breath. Not being able to retreat was a problem, which meant only one thing. Only one side would be left standing in a fight to the death.
In the middle of the room, a sudden flash of light erupted outwards from a magic circle that appeared out of thin air. It was a bubble-like energy effect that whooshed past them. A strange setting that Zero never thought was possible was before their eyes.
Dark shadowy silhouettes of humans and monsters appeared by the dozens all around them.
Everyone stepped back, wondering what monsters would appear next. They were ready to fight against the swarm of monsters that started materializing in front of them. As each one started to take form, their expressions and figures began to clear up.
"S-Stacy?" Valiant stuttered in shock, breaking the silence.
Before them, the second Drezo Regalia group from the physical realm appeared, flickering in and out like a light. She was the leader of the second group tasked to raid the Pyramid of Light in the physical realm.
"Valiant?" Stacy was a smaller black dragon, growing up steadily into a powerful black dragon.
"W-what? I thought you guys were dead."
"We are?" Valiant needed clarification as well. He raised his claws, poked her by the cheek, and found his finger passing her body like a ghost. Stacy shuddered as hot steam escaped her mouth. Her body was shaking from the drop in cold temperature.
Staring in shock, he glanced down to see that his hands were transparent. "What's going on?"
"I don't know, but this is strange."
"Huh?" The voices on both sides were speaking out in confusion. Both sides of the group were finally cooling down from being overly stressed. They thought this was possibly an enemy attack, but when they realized they couldn't harm each other, they were all at ease.
"Is this a new game element?"
"Possibly reinforcements?"
"Isn't this a good thing? I mean, both groups are together finally."
"I'm not so sure. This could be a more difficult fight. Not only that, I believe that both realms have converged into one temporarily." Zero interjected.
"Huh?"
"This happened before," Zero's voice became loud for everyone to hear. "Especially when Russ and his army invaded our village. I was out of my physical body, but somehow, there were distortions in-between the two realms. We're not completely in the physical plane, but at the same time, we are. The same goes the other way."
Everyone was listening to Zero's explanation. Shock and confusion riddled their faces.
"Why? I mean, there isn't any point, right?" Valiant asked, confused.
"That I don't know…." Zero was stumped as well. Why was the realm between the physical and the spiritual converging at the boss level? Nothing was making sense right now, but he had a horrible feeling about this as a whole.
A sound of broken chains could be heard, scraping the ground in the dark in front of them. Everyone's heads turned at the awful sound coming slowly in a clip-clop manner. Again, chains rustled, and a heavy metallic dragging sound could even be heard from the unusual being coming towards them.
Zero was not a fan of horror movies or monsters, but before them, a disfigured humanoid figure stepped out from the dark. His legs were oddly bent and twisted, dangling with chains on both arms and legs. An ugly, flabby gut was spilling out from his tattered-looking Egyptian skirt, making anyone feel uncomfortable just by looking at it. His long arms touched the floor, trailing behind him while holding a large, bloody hammer. Pale, cracked lips and face were littered with stitches, making one think it was done for a reason.
His instincts were telling him that the monster before him was not normal in the slightest. Instead, it gave off a deadly, oppressive energy that seemed to blossom out from the monster before him. But then, the name Salik rang in his head without even realizing it.
Everyone had difficulties thinking that the one before them was a boss character, but they were still weary. Its slow, hobble-like walk and the clanking of chains made them wonder what kind of power was infused in its body. Then, not even a second later, a humanoid frog-like figure hunched over on all four hopped out from the shadows. There weren't just one or two, but over a dozen, as more started to spill out.
"What the heck is that?!" The Sekka's voice went up an octave higher. Her gold dragon's eyes squinted in disgust.
A couple of players screamed in horror as Salik twitched its head and stuttered forward with its big, bloodied hammer. The crinkling of his chains gave it an even creepier atmosphere. Sometimes, as Salik moved forward, it would flicker like static and change from dull to vibrant colors.
Agnis's face paled at the sight before her. Like Zero, she was not a fan of horror movies like monsters. It gave her the shivers and sometimes even gave her dark dreams. She gulped at sight before her, not wanting to fight the monster that reminded her of a horror movie. "If we kill that thing, we're not going to be cursed, right?" She gulped.
"I don't know, but isn't it better that we can kill it?" Zeraph replied, not phased at the monster in front of him. "I mean, I've always wanted to kill the monsters in the horror movies if they were chasing me down. At least they're not unkillable monsters."
"I know….I-it just twitched." Agnis bite her lips, unable to hide her disgust.
"The boss's name is Salik," Zero spoke out loud for everyone to hear, even though he felt a bit uncomfortable fighting the monster ahead. "Get ready for battle!"
Everyone was tense, wondering what would happen in this unusual boss fight. Valiant's black dragons and their companions were the first to blitz toward their enemies. The Frogmen were trampled in seconds, but strangely, a third did not fall under Valiant's green flames. Instead, it went right past them unharmed.
"What the heck?!" Valiant yelled out in confusion.
The Frogman passed through them like they were not there and battled the second group of dragons in the physical realm. The second group fought viciously, but their fight took longer than Valiant's. The level and strength difference was large, but that did not mean they were not incapable of winning
"Pay close attention! There are slight differences!" Zero was watching from the back. "Aim for the ashen-colored ones and the second group the vibrant-colored ones!" He quickly discovered that the color difference greatly impacted this battle.
The ashen-colored Frogman could only be killed by Zero's group, during the vibrant-colored ones from the second group. Once the vibrant colored ones died, their spiritual body rose from the dead and attacked again like a vengeful spirit.