With Bodies and Minds Fully Prepared, the Two Parties Launch the Raid
With bodies and minds fully prepared, the two parties began the raid. As Torman and Rien stepped out boldly from the temple, a massive shadow swept over them from high in the sky.
-Kuaaaaaah!
Unexpectedly, a bone dragon roughly the size of ten Dornes spewed breath right at them. Torman Party's guess had been spot on. This bone dragon lacked the full majesty of a true dragon. Torman and Rien, their spirits surging, wrapped themselves in 【Fighting Spirit】 and withstood the breath.
As expected, the bone dragon's breath was blocked by the temple's gaping window, annihilating everything outside but leaving the interior unscathed.
-Kuuu- Boom!
The bone dragon, exhaling its breath as it approached, landed near the two warriors. It was within range of the mages' and scouts' attacks, but they held back until the warriors fully captured its attention. Torman and Rien charged forward, shields raised to push through the still-spewing breath.
Seeing the two warriors approach unscathed, the bone dragon ceased its breath, whipped its head back, and lashed out with its tail. The tail, dense with bones, swung like a whip. It didn't accelerate mid-swing to break the sound barrier, but it was plenty fast.
-Bang!
Torman stood firm, angling his shield to deflect the tail. Rien ducked low behind him to evade. -Whoosh!
No matter Torman's 【Giant】 and 【Iron Man】 abilities, the weight difference was immense. He succeeded in deflecting it, but couldn't stop the tail's momentum from hurling him skyward. Dorne, watching Torman—who shared his physique—fly through the air, felt a chill down his spine. He couldn't even fathom the strength and mass required to launch such a heavy warrior.
The bone dragon, having swung its tail and turned forward again, found Rien right in front of it. It beat its wings and slammed down a foreleg to block her approach. Rien lacked 【Iron Man】 or 【Giant】, yet she wasn't blown away by the dragon's immense wind pressure. Dorne Party didn't know it, but Rien was a warrior with 【Weight Adjustment】. She'd instantly increased her own weight to resist.
As the bone dragon's foreleg smashed the ground, Rien slipped deeper inside, hiding her body against its torso. While she gripped a rib and sought an opening, the iron giant Torman charged back in, drawing its gaze. Now was the moment.
One warrior in its blind spot, another right in its face. Ranged attacks poured in from three mages, two scouts, and three warriors.
-Roooar!-Crack!Thud!Thwack!
Flames and ice, crossbow bolts and iron javelins targeted the gaps between its ribs. Fortunately, Rien avoided friendly fire.
-Wobble.
Dorne hurled a javelin once, but the structure shook from his immense strength, subtly propelling him toward the window's edge. It drew the dragon's attention and halted its breath, and now he sought solid ground for a proper throw.
-Kuaoooooh!
The bone dragon let out a scream. Rien, perched on its ribs, was attacking its wing joint. One wing was already half-severed. Torman tried to hold its attention and stop it from shaking her off, but it wasn't enough. Dorne assessed the situation and hurled a javelin at the dragon's skull.
-Hup!
Gripping the javelin, he took a few running steps before launching the iron weapon. His powerful approach halted precisely on the final step, channeling his massive frame's forward momentum into his upper body. Pulling his right arm back fully and swapping it with his pointing left, he unleashed every ounce of power from his chest, biceps, forearms—muscles, tendons, ligaments, long bones, and the javelin's leverage all working in unison.
-Swoosh.
The iron feathers on the javelin's tail stabilized its trajectory.
-Thwack!
The javelin embedded halfway into the frenzied bone dragon's skull as it desperately guarded its wing, redirecting its focus to the warrior in front.
A bone dragon was originally a fearsome monster. Rare even in the depths, this second-floor specimen was undoubtedly degraded. A deep-layer bone dragon would have folded its wings, rolled on the ground to dislodge Rien, then taken to the skies to assault the rear explorers.
-Boom.Thud!
Torman and the bone dragon clashed in brutal close combat, neither yielding an inch.
-Kaboom!
Rien severed the remaining half, and one wing crashed to the ground. Torman dodged its snapping jaws and climbed onto its snout. With two tenacious warriors clinging to it, the bone dragon thrashed wildly on the ground. Unable to fly, it lurched in a random direction—away from the window, out of reach.
Thus, Dorne gripped another javelin. It was time to take a risk. Even if hit by breath, he wouldn't be instantly incapacitated. He'd spotted the exit portal on the way in and memorized its location. Provoke the disoriented bone dragon and lure it beneath the window for the waiting explorers to strike.
-Tadak. Hup!-Swoosh.
Dorne's body became a bow and string once more, launching the javelin.
-Thud!
Distracted by the warriors on its body, the bone dragon took the distant projectile and snapped its gaze toward him.
-Grrr.
There stood Dorne, casually on the ground without even 【Fighting Spirit】. The enraged bone dragon's fury turned fully on him.
-Thud thud thud thud!
The wingless wyrm bounded like a lizard.
-Zzzip!
Mid-leap, it whipped its head around at tail-range and lashed with blinding speed. -Gasp!
The combined momentum of its charge and head-turn made the tail a blur—Dorne had no time to block and leaped aside. The bony tail grazed past his feet, scorching the ground.
Completing its full rotation, the dragon's maw now loomed close enough to strike. Like a fighter recovering from a big kick, it struggled to regain balance. Its torso perfectly exposed, the mages and other explorers unleashed everything they had.
-Thwack!
Leading with Eresa and Kail's crossbow bolts, flames, ice, and javelins pierced between ribs to its heart.
-Roooar! -Crack!
-Kuaoooooh...
The power source animating the skeletal heap took a fatal blow. The bone dragon, lunging to bite Dorne, slammed its head into the ground.
"Now!"
At Torman's signal, Rien leaped down and plunged her blade into its heart.
-Grrrrr... Clatter, rattle.
The heart lost its glow, and the bone dragon's death rattle shook the night air. Like skeletons hit by Lucian's flames, the bones bound by its power separated, crashing onto the temple roof.
-Clatter clatter... Clatter clatter...
The sound of dragon bones colliding echoed for a while. Dorne Party's expressions were dazed. Barely a month since entering the labyrinth. Even with new members, this was only their second expedition—and they'd slain a hidden monster, the bone dragon. It was no exaggeration to say they'd made history.
The Oren Labyrinth Merchant Group would rejoice at sponsoring such a proper expedition team.
-Whoa—hahahahaha!
Torman, who had climbed the bone dragon's skull only to tumble down with its death, rolled on the ground laughing uproariously.
"Hey! Quit messing around and clear these bones!"
At Rien's shout, Torman scrambled up and hurriedly shoved them aside. Pushing aside vertebrae the size of a human torso and even longer ribs, Rien delivered the final blow from within the bone pile and emerged holding the heart with the sword still embedded.
"Ugh—it's heavy!"
The explorers beneath the window had all climbed onto the temple roof to gawk at the bone dragon's corpse.
-Whoa, it's huge!
Eresa, who had fired her crossbow relentlessly, marveled at the mana stone with the sword in it.
"But does a pierced mana stone sell for full price?"
"Not as much as a pristine one, but still pretty valuable."
Rien set the mana stone—serving as the bone dragon's heart—down and gingerly gripped her sword hilt, slowly extracting it. She took care not to crack the stone in the process.
-Grulk.
"Alright, good work everyone. Just neutralizing the breath with resistance potions made this a breeze."
Torman directed his party members.
"Pack as many bone dragon bones as you can into the bags you brought, and carry what you can on your backs. Smash the wooden structures and leave 'em."
"Yes, sir!"
The explorers dashed off excitedly to collect the bones. Before joining them, Torman addressed Dorne.
"Dorne. A bit reckless, but perfect timing."
"Haha. I just thought it was necessary."
"You did great! That javelin throw was powerful—you're using 【Iron Man】 well. Makes me wanna carry one myself."
"I'm still refining 【Iron Man】. Thanks to your teachings, I've improved a lot. Grateful for letting us join this raid too."
"Don't say that. Truth is, you contributed plenty. Hauling the wood, spotting the bone dragon, and you played a big role in the raid. Without that lesser panda beastkin's 【Inventory】, we'd have had to make multiple trips leaving Rien here."
Torman clapped Dorne's shoulder in praise before heading off to collect bones, adding one more thing.
"Grab whatever bones we can't carry. They're just gonna vanish anyway."
"Got it. If Torman Party takes what they can, we'll do the same."
Torman Party excelled in combat, but Dorne Party dominated in loot hauling. With ample space in the emptied wooden materials in 【Inventory】 and three warriors for heavy loads, the cash-strapped days of Dorne Party were history.
Eresa's tail swished happily at the thought of devouring delicious desserts with the mountain of cash from selling the bones.
Torman Party stuffed their bags to the brim with bone dragon bones.
"Dorne. We'll head out first—grab what you can and follow. Once outside, swing by the Wendi Labyrinth Merchant Group. Wendy's interested in you all, so we'll treat you to a meal."
"Yes, sir. See you outside."
Torman Party emphasized smashing the wooden structures and exiting one last time, then descended the ropes into the temple building toward the exit portal and vanished.
"Alright, our turn to collect?"
"Sounds good!"
-Yay!
Dorne Party scooped up every bone Torman Party had missed.
◆ ◆ ◆
The six-person party, laden with bulging bags, emerged into the Western Labyrinth City's exit clearing. Lucian, stylish even with his stuffed bag, clutched his chest in searing pain. Inoi too pressed a hand to her chest, feeling the unfamiliar heat of engraving.
Priestesses really had it good. Just standing by claimed a share of overcoming the trial...
(Torman Party's Brea excelled at holy power, granting blessings to enhance her comrades' abilities. But Inoi, unable to bless yet, had truly just stood there. Still, with [Holy Affinity 1] acquired, she was on the cusp of using blessings.)
Eresa had gained a public ability recently, but cleared the trial without a new one—though her max mana rose substantially. Raon and Lilia, hoping for public abilities like hers, settled for max stamina increases. Public abilities were just that rare.
Dorne Party's leader, Dorne, was...