Lost World-Chapter 48: Boss Room
Despite his many tries, Silas still died, life draining from him as his eyes became distant and unfocused.
The potion had worked, but being unable to move the boulder pressing upon him, his fate was sealed.
Ninia continued to cry—a raw and agonizing sound that kept echoing throughout the place. As for the others, they sobbed in silence, all except Yamamoto.
Yamamoto felt the system’s familiar dampening effect wash over him, smoothing away the sharp edges and bringing his emotions under control. While all of it was still there, acknowledged and processed, the emotional impact was muted.
After waiting for a while more for the others to grieve in peace, Yamamoto decided to speak up. "We can’t stay here for long," he said, his voice cutting through the grief. "The path behind us is blocked. The only way is forward." Because of the poor ventilation, the entire place was still filled with dust particles and the air was hard to breath, and that would only get worse.
Raising his head a bit, Cole spoke in an almost hollow voice. "Forward?" He said. "But we can’t just leave him—"
"We have no choice," Yamamoto said, trying his best not to sound unkind. "The passage is completely blocked. We’d need excavation equipment to clear the path, and even with that it would take a few days, our supplies won’t even last that long." He then turned towards the opening at the other end of the passage. "Not to mention, oxygen levels might be dropping rapidly... either that or there’s just too much dust." He said, more to himself, but Cole heard him.
"He’s right," Donovan said quietly. "We have to... we have to keep moving."
"To the boss room?" Ninia’s voice was thick with tears. "We’re supposed to just... fight a boss after—"
"It’s the only path leading ahead," Yamamoto cut her mid sentence.
He looked at each of them, noticing theur current state, shocked, grief-stricken, devastated... all that wouldn’t help though. He himself could only be thankful to the system for keeping him calm and rational. "I know this is hard, but we need to survive. That is what Silas wanted, that’s what he asked me to ensure." Yamamoto said.
Before Silas died finally, he kept asking Yamamoto to make sure the rest came out alive. Perhaps he had a notion that Yamamoto was the strongest amongst them, and though e wouldn’t be wrong, it showed his consciousness.
"It’s gradually getting harder to breath, the more we linger around, the worse it will become for us." He added.
After a moment, Cole took a shuddering breath, visibly pulling himself together through sheer force of will. "Okay... Okay. Yamamoto’s right. We mourn later. Right now, we survive." He looked at the opening at the other end of the shortcut passage, still open from Silas’s fatal mistake. "Donovan, how much magic do you have left?"
"Maybe... maybe two minor spells... Nothing more."
"Ninia?"
"Half my mana pool," she said, wiping her eyes. "Maybe three big spells."
"Ok. Yamamoto?"
"Tired but functional," he said. "I can hold a line."
It wasn’t entirely true. Yamamoto was fine—his stamina was still high, his health full... But saying so seemed inappropriate given the circumstances.
Cole nodded. "We go through. Fight the boss. Clear the dungeon. Then we get out and... and we handle what comes after." His voice cracked slightly on the last words.
They moved through the shortcut passage in silence, each step heavy with grief and dread. The opening at the end was very tight, but not impossible to get through. Apart from Donovan, the others didn’t have to struggle much, especially Ninia. The corridor opened into a massive chamber—the old mine’s central excavation area, and at the far end, shambling in slow circles, was the boss.
It was truly worthy to be called the boss of the dungeon, as it looked the part well. It was around eight feet tall, massively muscled, its grey flesh not yet rotting like the rest. It wore the remnants of some kind of outfit, and in its hand was a massive pickaxe that had dried blood all over it.
They entered slowly, making sure to be as careful as possible. Ninia for one looked feeble. She had lost strength from what just happened and couldn’t deal with a boss fight mentally at that moment.
Once they were inside the space finally, the boss’s eyes—or the empty sockets where eyes had been—fixed on them. It opened its mouth and released a loud sound that was half-groan, half-roar. Then it charged.
"Formation!" Cole shouted, raising his shield.
That was what he said, but it was impossible. The formation was incomplete with Silas gone.
In moments, the boss’s pickaxe came down on Cole like a heavy tree. Cole managed to catch it on his shield, looking as though the axe would split he shield in two. The impact drove him down to one knee.
"Ninia, fire!" Cole commanded.
A Flame Bolt streaked across the chamber, striking the boss in the face and chest. The undead creature staggered, flesh burnt in a few places, but it wasn’t enough for it to fall. Quickly, it swung again, and this time Cole’s shield cracked from the impact.
Yamamoto already saw this coming. The team was too shaken, too depleted, too demoralized. There was no way they’d make it out like that.
There was no need to think, he had already prepared himself for this.
Yamamoto drew his sword—the uncommon longsword he got from the guild recently—and moved.
There was no need to stick to waiting for orders now.
The undead boss swung at Cole again, but just in the nick of time, Yamamoto intercepted the trajectory of the axe, deflecting it off course enough that it only went past Cole’s head as he too ducked.
"Step back!" Yamamoto shouted, facing his attention on the boss.
The boss turned again, facing Yamamoto this time. Yamamoto saw what was coming next, so he sidestepped the strike, the pickaxe crashing into the hard ground moments later. Before the boss could recover, Yamamoto moved fast and struck it, sending a precise thrust into the exposed armpit.
The boss howled, not out of pain, and backhanded him. Yamamoto rolled with the impact and came up moving, already circling.
"Ninia!" he shouted. "Slow it down for me!"
