Using the Enemy to Subdue the Enemy
What the hell is going on here…? Everything was supposedly finished, and now the difficulty suddenly spikes? It’s not like someone’s deliberately messing with me, but beyond being flustered, it was downright absurd. All the effort I’d poured into this place until now, and this is how it ends? Humanly speaking, wasn’t this just too much?
Once the confusion slowly subsided, the emotion that filled my heart was pure anger at the situation itself. With my body’s freedom restored, I rose to my feet and scanned the surroundings, frowning. The boss room had changed dramatically after the massive tremor swept through. The entire ceiling inside the castle had vanished, revealing a vast open sky. A pitch-black canvas of a night sky stretched overhead, streaked with colorful rivers of stars. The atmosphere inside the boss room had shifted from its previous heavy, imposing feel to something mysterious and dreamlike. It felt as though the entire stage had been transported to another space.
The most striking change was at the spot where the last witch had been—the place I’d been flung from moments earlier. In place of the throne now stood a colossal stone statue. Its enormous form, large enough to dominate the surrounding area, was more than enough to seize anyone’s attention. The statue possessed both demonic and angelic wings, its appearance so grotesque that its true nature was impossible to discern. Its form resembled nothing I had ever seen before, radiating an alien quality that felt deeply unsettling.
The final witch, her finishing blow interrupted by the sudden turn of events, was now embedded in the center of the giant statue. Her arms and lower body were fixed inside the stone, creating a sight too grotesque for words. The robe that had once concealed her was gone, revealing the beautiful face of a woman, yet the ominous red glow burning in her eyes made the overall impression far more terrifying. Even from this distance, a powerful presence radiated from her. The “hardcore” warning I’d heard earlier clearly hadn’t been empty words—the witch before me had become an entirely different existence. In terms of raw strength alone, she surpassed the original boss of this room.
Once I finished assessing the situation, my first thought was: who the hell did this? Objectively speaking, the most suspicious culprit was obviously Ulthar, the one who had created and managed this space. He had a long history of pulling stunts like this to mess with me. But there were too many strange details to jump to conclusions. For one thing, he’d pulled this off and yet remained completely silent. Given his personality, it wouldn’t have been strange for him to pop out immediately and start chattering away, but his lack of reaction was unnervingly complete. That alone contradicted everything I’d seen from him so far.
Moreover, recalling the faint system voice I’d heard earlier, it had mentioned that “someone” had interfered from outside. If Ulthar had intended this, that message wouldn’t have appeared in the first place. Most decisively, the indescribable, subtle sensation I could still feel even now only fueled my suspicions further. Ever since entering this dreamlike, unbelievable space, this was the first time I’d felt it—like insects crawling across my skin, leaving behind an unpleasant chill. In short, it felt as though the space itself harbored hostility toward me.
Choking on the foul air, I removed the mask I’d been wearing. I’d been trying to contact her for a while now, but Nabi still wasn’t responding. Though the situation was completely unexpected, I couldn’t just stand here doing nothing. The completely transformed being near the throne had begun to move. She was directing intense killing intent straight at me, and I didn’t need to think too hard to guess what she was about to do.
In the end, while the situation remained bewildering, I had to deal with the entity right in front of me first. From what I could tell, the only remaining monster inside this place was that unidentified being. If I could take her down, I might be able to escape this incomprehensible mess as well. My judgment made, I summoned a sword with a tense expression and pointed it forward. The golden eyes that had shed all traces of confusion now burned with clear fighting spirit.
As if responding to that, the four half-folded wings of the statue spread wide. The sight carried an almost majestic quality, like a mythical angel taking flight. The wings, far too lifelike to belong to any ordinary statue, radiated overwhelming pressure. While my gaze was briefly stolen by them, I belatedly noticed something strange. As the wings unfurled, countless fragments of light broke away and fell through the air. The dazzling shards that embroidered the sky were beautiful. Combined with the black sky as their backdrop, it created the illusion of hundreds of stars appearing all at once. And their brightness only grew stronger with time—larger, and larger still, until they filled my entire field of vision.
Only then did instinct scream danger. I widened my eyes. Those weren’t ordinary beautiful stars. Each fragment of light carried lethal killing power. They were a meteor shower in every sense of the word. The cluster of stars that had soared high into the sky hung in the air for a moment before pouring their brilliant radiance down upon the ground. In an instant, a tremendous flash engulfed the earth, and calamity struck.
Congratulations! You have cleared this dungeon… May blessings accompany you on the path ahead!