Melak's Final Assault
I dodged the bones rising from the floor and thrust my spear at Melak. '...Ugh.' Bones wrapped around Melak and shot upward, blocking my spear. Then Melak swung the bones at me. —Clang! When I blocked the bone spear Melak swung with my shield, he withdrew his weapon and muttered something. Afterward, he gestured in the air, and countless magic circles appeared in the sky.
"Liana! Luden! Get behind me!"
Countless bones rained down on us like bullets. Bones I couldn't block grazed my body, leaving wounds. The only skill this body could use right now was Invincibility. I was sorely lacking in offensive skills.
"...Hey, Luden. Got any attack techniques you can use?"
"...I do, but I can only use it once. The greatsword's in bad shape."
In the game, Luden could swing his greatsword and unleash multiple attack skills. There was one particularly powerful technique I remembered—a skill that caused an explosion the moment the greatsword was swung.
"...That'll do. I'll create an opening. Hit him with your best shot in that moment."
The moment I finished speaking, I charged through the barrage of bones. Melak pulled back the hand that had been casting magic and swung his spear wide—I ducked low to avoid it, then drove my spear into him. Ugh. I heard Melak groan. The spear must have dealt additional damage to his health, because the attack landed.
I yanked the spear free and swung it at Melak's head again. Thud! The impact sent Melak flying backward. ...He blocked it with bones. Melak's head was wrapped in bones. But he hadn't defended completely—he was clutching his head.
[How dare you....]
"Logue! Above you!"
Before I knew it, a massive magic circle had formed above my head. A giant hand made of bones was trying to crush me. I kicked off the ground hard—charging straight at Melak. Bony hands erupted around Melak and grabbed my ankles. While Melak focused on me as I fell, I signaled to Luden.
"Now!"
While I deliberately charged Melak to block his view, Luden circled around and took position behind him. —BOOM! Luden's greatsword slammed into the back of Melak's head. At the same time, an explosion erupted from the tip of the greatsword and engulfed Melak.
"...Did we get him?!"
Luden shouted like a mage. Melak's upper body was sent flying. Under normal circumstances, that would have been a fatal wound. But knowing Melak, I only gripped my spear tighter.
"Liana! Luden! Get out of this chamber right now!"
"...Isn't it over?"
"Stop talking and move!"
"Don't yell at me..."
Luden was already heading out of the chamber, following my orders. ...Quick on his feet, that guy. Just as Liana turned to leave as well, bones shot out from Melak toward her. I threw myself forward and shoved Liana out of the way. Thud. With a terrible burst of pain, Melak's bone pierced my abdomen. Blood gushing from my stomach splattered across Liana's face.
"Lo... Logue! Blood... there's blood!"
'This hurts like hell.' Melak's desperate counterattack pattern had started faster than expected. In the game, that cutscene had taken quite a while, but reality was clearly different. I kicked Liana out of the chamber and slammed the door shut.
"Ow... ow..."
"...Follow Luden and get out of the dungeon. I'll be right behind you."
"But your... your wound!"
I didn't answer Liana. I turned to face Melak instead. Hearing footsteps behind me, I knew Liana was running after Luden.
'That disloyal bastard Luden, running off alone.' This is why you can't trust a thug with no roots.
Melak's upper body was now covered in grotesque bones.
[I... I'll kill you... Aaaaargh!]
Melak's final phase. When his health dropped below 20%, he entered an invincible state and the second phase began. His attack power and magic were greatly enhanced, but his health and defense dropped significantly. I took a deep breath, trying to endure the pain.
'I should've let them heal me first and then run...'
Regret came too late. Countless magic circles and bone spears were summoned around Melak. Bony hands reached for me as well. In that desperate moment—I activated Invincibility.
'...I'll finish this in three minutes.'
The rain of bones that had been pouring down on me turned into white particles and vanished upon contact.
[Wh... what?!]
I gripped my spear and charged at Melak. Panicked, Melak swung his spear to stop me, but his attacks couldn't touch me. He tried to wrap himself in bones for defense. Crack! I kept smashing down on Melak. Cracks began to form in the bones protecting him. I targeted those fissures, stabbing repeatedly with my spear. Eventually, the bones surrounding Melak shattered completely, exposing his hideous form.
[W... wait!]
I ignored Melak's words and struck him with my spear. —20... 19... Invincibility's duration was running out. Melak tried one last desperate attack, conjuring a massive bone spear and thrusting it at my neck, but it vanished before reaching me.
...5... 4... Melak thrashed pathetically. I pinned his head down with my shield—then drove my spear through it.
..1 Invincibility's effect ended. The mountain of bones covering the area began to collapse. Melak seemed to have perished.
You have defeated the demon Melak. User Logue has gained experience.
As expected from a high-level monster, my level shot up by 14 in one go. 'Two bonus stats per level...' That was stingy. Compared to other characters who gained 4~5 stats per level-up, it really hit home how trash the Logue character was.
"Aaaagh!"
A searing pain like a knife twisting in my abdomen shot through me. All the pain I hadn't felt while Invincibility was active came rushing in at once. 'This really freaking hurts...' I rolled on the floor in agony for a while before finally blacking out.
. . .
I left Logue behind and ran toward the dungeon entrance. The image of Logue taking the demon's bone in my place wouldn't leave my mind.
"Huff... huff..."
I stopped and started running back to Logue. 'He'll be fine...' I kept trying to reassure myself that Logue would be okay. ...Even though there was no way he could be.
A sinister aura rippled around the demon, and I could feel magic so dense it was hard to breathe. Facing that demon alone, especially while injured, was nothing short of suicide. But he had shown me his back. —To buy me time to escape.
Tears kept welling in my eyes. My face was probably a mess. I reached the chamber where Logue had sent me. '...Huh?' The demon's chilling mana had vanished. Only bone fragments remained around me.
"Did... did he really defeat it?"
I frantically looked around and saw the demon's corpse sprawled haphazardly, its head pierced by a spear. —And beside it, Logue lay collapsed, bleeding from his abdomen.
"N... nooo!"
I rushed to Logue. He was still breathing, albeit faintly. "[Heal]! [Heal]!" I began casting healing magic on him repeatedly. ...The wound in his abdomen was slowly closing. 'He's... alive...!' Tears kept coming, but I ignored them and continued treating Logue. My voice echoed through the chamber.
. . .
When I opened my eyes, Liana was crying as she cast healing magic on me. ...Even when she cries, she's pretty, huh... Her disheveled hair and tear-filled eyes, along with her tightly pressed lips as she tried to hold back her sobs—none of it diminished Liana's beauty. I watched her for a moment.
"You're awake?! Th... thank goodness...! How do you feel?"
The terrible pain that had been flooding over me had subsided somewhat. Probably thanks to Liana's healing.
"I'm fine."
Hearing my answer, Liana let out a sigh of relief. Why was she still here...? "...Why didn't you leave?"
"Is that really important right now..? Sob....."
Liana kept shedding candy-like tears from her eyes, as if her tension had finally snapped. I simply waited quietly until she stopped crying.
"Hic... You're really okay, right..?"
"I'm fine."
...Liana asked about my condition several more times. 'This is getting annoying..' As I rummaged through my pockets, I felt the magic ring I'd originally intended to give Liana.
"Hey. Take this."
I handed the magic ring to Liana.
"...Hic... What's this...? A ring..?"
"It was in the chest. ...I thought it'd suit you better than me. You can have it."
My magic stat was practically meaningless anyway. Luden didn't count.
"Wh... what did you say...?"
"Don't want it? You can give it back if you don't like it."
Did the ring look bad? It looked pretty to me... When I moved to take the ring back, Liana quickly snatched it.
"Th... thank you..."
Liana held the ring with both hands as if it were something precious. Her face flushed, perhaps embarrassed about crying moments ago.
"Hehe..."
Liana smiled at the ring the entire way back. ...It looked nice when she smiled, but did she really like the ring that much? I was glad I'd given it to her after all. Afterward, we finally escaped that wretched dungeon.