Chapter Eighty-Four

As the group approached the boss room, Markus quickly opened the familiar-looking door. The veil of darkness that was present during the two previous boss battles waited for them beyond, no doubt hiding the boss and whatever lackeys it brought with it. The group slowly walked into the boss room and watched as the door closed behind them.

Only then did the veil disappear, revealing the round boss beyond. The room, as expected, was a replica of the boss rooms above. By this point, Edward and the others were expecting every boss room to be like this.

Their enemies waited for them in the center of the room. The largest enemy, the boss, was a gorilla easily three times the size of the gorillas found on the rest of the floor. The skeleton's spine was surrounded in a thin blue mist— much like its fists. Edward didn't doubt that the boss would be able to dish out a lot of damage— purely from the magical aspect of its stats. Other than the blue mist surrounding the spine and the creature's size, however, the boss gorilla wasn't that different from the rest of the gorilla population.

There were three smaller gorillas surrounding it, but none of them were special in any kind.

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Frozen Skeleton Gorilla (FLOOR BOSS)

Lvl 22

HP: 750 | DMG: 137 | DEF: 172

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︽

Frozen Skeleton Gorilla

Lvl 12

HP: 325 | DMG: 72 | DEF: 77

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︽

Frozen Skeleton Gorilla

Lvl 12

HP: 350 | DMG: 67 | DEF: 82

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︽

Frozen Skeleton Gorilla

Lvl 12

HP: 375 | DMG: 62 | DEF: 87

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"They're not that difficult," Markus smiled. He looked to Edward, "How do you want to play this?"

"Leave the boss to me. The rest of you should gather the three lackeys," Edward said. The others nodded in acknowledgment before they each stood forward. They ran forward, toward the center of the room, while Edward turned to the right and ran along the moat. He made sure to use his thrusters to increase his speed as he waited for Markus to gather the enemies waiting for him.

The four gorillas noticed Markus first and roared. Some of them drummed their fists against their ribcages and began to charge forward, though the boss monster quickly turned to look at Markus with an intelligent gaze.

"Hmm?" Edward mumbled to himself as he noticed the boss's strange behavior.

"[Perfect Provokation!]" Markus shouted, his body turning red only a moment later. The skill exploded from his chest like a shockwave before passing over the enemies before him. Edward watched as the blue eyes of the three basic enemies quickly turned red— almost as if each of them were going berserk. As the shockwave passed through the boss, however, it fizzled out like a thin blanket and disappeared the moment it touched the boss's chest.

'Good!' Edward smiled. He quickly changed his course to the center of the room, his thrusters carrying him into the air like a rocket. As the three gorillas charged at Markus, both Leila and Ikarus unleashed a dragon breath at their enemies. Edward turned away from them, fully confident in their victory, before he brought his attention to the boss monster.

As Edward landed behind the boss monster, he was surprised to find the gorilla slowly turning around to face him. The boss gorilla and Edward stared at each other, each of them surrounded by polar energies— Edward with flames and the gorilla with ice. The smile on Edward's face grew stronger as he looked at the gorilla's fists, his feet dancing in excitement.

However, as soon as his eyes met with the gorilla's gaze, his smile disappeared. The gorilla straightened its posture and lifted its fists into the air. Then, a moment later, the gorilla slammed them back into the ground. A wave of ice spread across the room— covering everything in a thick layer of frost. Only the area around Edward's feet remained thawed.

A chill ran across Edward's back as the monster looked back up at Edward. Its gaze was filled with rage, yet not the animalistic kind Edward had seen. Instead, the boss's rage was more intelligent. It had a reason to hate him, one that Edward understood in a moment.

"Human… invader," The gorilla spoke, its voice deep and strong. Its accent was foreign to Edward as if it hadn't yet gained a full understanding of the language it spoke. Then, the gorilla roared, its voice sending a second shockwave of ice throughout the arena.

The room suddenly split into two parts. The walls were pulled away from each other, revealing a second set of walls behind. Then, they split again— and again. Each time, the room grew bigger and bigger as another wall filled the gap. The moat between the wall expanded, yet the circular platform in the center of the room remained the same size. Within moments, Edward stood in a room larger than a baseball stadium. Only the center of the room, a small circular platform about the size of a school gym, was safe to stand on. Everywhere else dropped into the abyss.

The battle on the other end of the platform quickly stopped as everybody turned their faces to the rest of the arena. Their faces paled as a sense of dread overtook the group. Even the gorillas attacking them also seemed surprised, but the dread that plagued Edward's group wasn't prevalent on their faces. Instead, they all seemed ecstatic.

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The Floor Boss has enacted a Dungeon Domain!

All nearby monsters have become 50% stronger!

All nearby monsters' attacks have been Empowered, allowing them to ignore armor!

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'Shit,' Edward thought to himself. As he read the notification hovering before him, a wave of fear passed through his body. He looked back at the monsters and appraised them one last time.

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Frozen Skeleton Gorilla (FLOOR BOSS) (+50%) (EMPOWERED)

Lvl 22

HP: 1125 | DMG: 206 | DEF: 258

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︽

Frozen Skeleton Gorilla (+50%) (EMPOWERED)

Lvl 12

HP: 488 | DMG: 108 | DEF: 116

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︽

Frozen Skeleton Gorilla (+50%) (EMPOWERED)

Lvl 12

HP: 525 | DMG: 101 | DEF: 123

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︽

Frozen Skeleton Gorilla (+50%) (EMPOWERED)

Lvl 12

HP: 563 | DMG: 93 | DEF: 131

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The gorilla raised its finger and pointed at Edward. Then, a cruel smile popped onto its face— despite it having no muscles to support such a thing— as a deep laugh sounded from deep within its ribcage.

"Death… awaits… you,"