Chapter 11
Chapter 11
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: 1st Floor Boss (4)
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Monsters began pouring out from the underground 1st floor boss, the Abyss Door.
The horde crossing the gate was incredibly diverse.
Goblins and Imps, of course.
- Splatter.
Even Slimes, which mainly appeared on the 2nd underground floor.
- Squeal!
And Orcs, monsters from the 3rd underground floor.
After unleashing over a hundred monsters, the Abyss Door fell into a temporary lull, the red light emanating from the gate growing dimmer.
The Abyss Door that had spewed out the monsters entered an invincible state until all the trash mobs were cleared.
- Kirik!
The monsters that emerged from the Abyss Door spotted the subjugation force and charged at them all at once.
"Dawn!"
The Dawn Guild signaled the start of the battle.
The mages at the front began chanting in unison.
Boom!
A Fireball arced through the air and detonated right in the middle of the Goblin horde that had poured out from the gate.
With the explosion, over a dozen Goblins at the front scattered into black ash.
"Azure Dragon Guild, to the left flank!"
"Red Blade moves to the right!"
The other guilds moved with disciplined precision.
They focused on magic when the enemies were at a distance, but once the foes closed in and the warriors engaged, the mages switched to supporting the fight.
The commanders of each guild directed the battle with clear tension on their faces.
They often made mistakes due to their lack of experience.
The 1st floor boss wasn't particularly dangerous as long as you managed the timing properly.
It seemed they had assigned less experienced members to command in order to train their leadership skills.
"Berdan! The right side's breaking!"
"H-Huh, huff! I'll hold it!"
Berdan, who had been fighting at the front, was already showing signs of exhaustion.
His swings were missing more often, and his footwork had noticeably slowed.
The 10-minute break hadn't been enough to fully restore his stamina.
In contrast, Ilana supporting him from behind was steadily racking up achievements.
Plop.
The water bubble she created trapped an enraged Orc, allowing guildmates to exploit the opening and unleash concentrated attacks.
She still couldn't hold it for more than three seconds due to insufficient mana, but her proficiency was solid.
Her situational awareness was quick too—she timed her Bubbles to match the Orcs' attack patterns, so no one near her got injured.
Alright, my turn then...
I extended my arm, aimed at the Goblins ahead, and activated the scroll from my inventory.
No affiliation meant no one was watching, but standing idle would be poor form.
Boom!
"W-What is this...?"
"Is that a Fireball? Who cast it?"
Oh.
My cast Fireball struck an Orc in the front row dead-on, obliterating half its head.
I'd reinforced the Fireball scroll, so its power was leagues beyond what others were using.
It caused a bit of commotion, but since Fireball was a basic 1st Circle spell, it passed without much suspicion.
- Sizzle!
As the last Orc fell, the Abyss Door took on a grayish hue.
A sign that its invincibility had lifted.
Then.
"Graaah!"
Someone charged at the Abyss Door.
From afar, I could see Berdan rushing in with a face full of impatience.
He must have been trying to make up for his poor performance in the fight due to fatigue.
But he had it all wrong.
"Stop!"
The Dawn Guild commander shouted, but it was too late—Berdan's sword swung wide.
At that moment.
Plop.
A large bubble enveloped the Abyss Door, blocking Berdan's attack once.
Ilana's Bubble spell.
Her instincts had been sharp from the start.
"Huh?"
"Hey! Pull that guy out!"
Berdan, stunned from having his attack thwarted, was dragged away by the other Dawn Guild members before he could recover.
The Abyss Door, having finished its wave, would spit out the next monster wave 30 seconds after the trash mobs were cleared.
But if attacked, the next wave would pour out 10 seconds after the first strike.
You could still attack while monsters were crossing, but the timer was fixed regardless.
Thus, the first attack had to be synchronized with everyone else.
Berdan must have learned all this too.
Well... rookies messing up wasn't uncommon.
The issue was that it happened with the Dawn Guild, the famous powerhouse dominating Labyrinth City.
If Berdan's attack had landed, it would have been a massive embarrassment for them.
Thwack!
"Ugh, cough... S-Sorry......"
The Dawn Guild commander punched the dragged-out Berdan.
Not satisfied with one, he kept pummeling him—it was a pitiful sight.
"Anyway, no time—let's attack."
Ignoring the Dawn Guild, the Azure Dragon Guild commander took control.
"When casting spells, aim high to avoid hitting allies. Warriors, get close, duck low, and strike from below."
After the brief briefing, everyone took positions and unleashed their attacks on cue.
Countless spells slammed into the Abyss Door, while the approaching warriors swung their swords relentlessly.
Crack! Crackle!
With each hit, cracks visibly spread across the Abyss Door.
I drew out my mana and compressed it.
I loaded five razor-thin Mana Bolts and used a Fireball scroll.
Boom!
A massive fireball flew forward, concealing the Mana Bolts that struck the Abyss Door directly.
Crackle-crack!
The accumulating damage was substantial—a huge fissure opened on the Abyss Door's side.
Remaining health around 60%.
At this rate, the third wave should take it down.
Then.
Wooong—
Ten seconds had passed unnoticed; the Abyss Door's color shifted to red, and the second wave began pouring out.
"Keep attacking till the end!"
"Warriors, fall back!"
It wouldn't go invincible until all monsters emerged, so the belatedly joining Dawn Guild members bombarded the Abyss Door with spells.
The others retreated in orderly formation.
The Abyss Door spat out a second wave similar to the first.
Confirming it had entered invincibility again, we cleared the trash mobs from the front, picking them off one by one.
Downing trash mobs didn't contribute much to the boss fight anyway, so I occasionally used scrolls to feign participation.
"Hold position!"
With one Goblin left, the Azure Dragon Guild commander halted everyone.
"To prevent another mishap like before, we'll take positions first, then finish it."
At the Azure Dragon commander's words, the Dawn Guild members' faces twisted.
Snickers echoed from the surroundings.
Talk about rubbing it in.
The two guilds clearly weren't on good terms.
Makes sense—both were the largest by size, so their lower ranks probably clashed often.
Swish—
While people positioned themselves, I pre-loaded Mana Bolts in my left hand.
Cast spells lasted about a minute, so prepping like this let me squeeze out a few extra shots.
Gonna aim for that finishing blow.
"Alright, let's finish it."
- Kyaek!
They took the same positions as before, and the last Goblin fell.
The Abyss Door turned gray again, invincibility lifted.
We fired our spells on the Azure Dragon commander's signal.
As the attacks landed, the cracking grew louder.
This time, the Dawn Guild joined from the start, leaving the Abyss Door with about 10% health.
I had two pre-loaded Mana Bolts.
And with runes, my mana was fully restored, enough for five more.
That should cover the last 10%... but no need to risk it.
Better to use them at the perfect angle to secure the finisher.
The Abyss Door was just about to glow red.
Thud.
"Huh?"
Something was off with the Abyss Door's color.
The gate, back to its usual red, began darkening from the top as if mixed with black ink.
At the same time, black smoke billowed from beyond the gate.
Scritch-scritch-scritch.
An unsettling sound filled the boss room.
It felt like tiny bugs crawling inside your brain—an ongoing disgust.
Thud—!!
Something began crossing the gate.
Contrary to the heavy thud, what emerged was an endless swarm of minuscule creatures.
Thousands of organisms tangled together, forming what looked like a colossal body.
Clumped as one, they scratched at each other—scritch-scritch.
Agh! My brain itches!
"Subjugation force! Evacuate now!"
Shing—
Two observing knights and three guards drew their swords in haste.
They rushed into the still-dazed subjugation force, yelling for evacuation.
Only then did we, including me, escape under the mounting pressure.
That's... a 5th floor monster. Whispering Shellbugs.
And the Abyss Door turning black... that's the sign when the fight drags past 40 minutes and higher-floor monsters start appearing.
But we'd only been fighting for under 5 minutes—why?
"Everyone, evacuate!"
The knight's shout scattered my swirling thoughts.
Priority now: resolve this situation.
The Whispering Shellbugs hadn't fully emerged yet.
As a massive swarm monster, it took time for the whole cluster to exit.
But there was a problem.
Scritch-scritch.
The first cluster out had already blocked the boss room's exit.
Whispering Shellbugs inflicted constant mental corruption; without countermeasures, casualties would mount.
I first checked the Abyss Door's status.
Its health was in tatters—under 10% left.
If I could just punch through the Shellbugs, finishing it would be easy.
As if reading my mind, the knights and guards swung at the Abyss Door.
Swoosh!
Their honed slashes shot toward the Whispering Shellbugs.
These were veterans with decades of sword mastery.
Their skill could reach the 4th underground floor with ease.
But piercing thousands to hit the Abyss Door? Doubtful.
The three guards couldn't push deeper through the Shellbugs either.
They wouldn't fall to the bugs, but most subjugation members topped out at the 2nd floor.
Protecting others while fighting the swarm? Difficulty spiked.
"We'll retreat for now!"
In the end, Guard Captain Den called the retreat.
But... leaving it like this would shut down the 2nd underground floor for a while.
Who knows when they'd muster the manpower to take it down.
I slowly drew up my mana.
Perfect—the Whispering Shellbugs had the highest individual count in the labyrinth dungeon.
Thus, the ideal monster to maximize Chain Lightning's lightning chaining.
If I'm leaving, might as well try.
Crackle.
Two orbs of lightning formed above my hand.
They grew larger in sync with the mana I channeled.
Pouring in to the limit, my body felt utterly drained.
Having dumped all my mana into the lightning orbs, I hurled them forward.
At the same time, I fired my pre-loaded Mana Bolts at the Abyss Door.
"What are you doing! Evacuate now...?"
Zzzzzzzzap—!!
From the Whispering Shellbug swarm to the Abyss Door, lightning arced across every living thing in sight.
The thousands-strong cluster became a massive lightning orb itself, chaining shocks to everything around.
Then.
- Kiiiiieeeeeeeek!
The Abyss Door, silent till now, let out a horrific shriek.
Crack, crunch!
Its red glow flickered wildly, then massive spiderweb cracks spread.
And so, the Abyss Door shattered like giant glass shards.