Chapter 49: Fire

They looked around the giant hall that was lit with flames and noticed the red door in the middle, inscribed with weird patterns.

"That must be the boss' room. What are those patterns...?" John muttered to himself.

"Hey John, we got company." Said Serena as she pointed over at the angry-looking dogs which had jumped out of the fire pole.

There were around 20 poles which were lit up and a dog came out of each one, meaning there were around 20 dogs

"Anyone have any dog food?" John asked as he cast Glacies and formed 8 Ice spikes around him.

"I think we're the dog food!" Said Ariel as she began to gather air in front of her.

The dogs started to growl as they slowly approached them.

"Hell hounds..." Muttered Serena.

John wondered where her monster knowledge came from. 'Probably her master?' He thought.

The dogs wore an intimidating, evil expression as they continued to approach us. Their jaws looked big and heavy. Getting bitten by that thing would probably be bad.

Light and heat radiated from the inside of their mouth straight to their chest as they all simultaneously charged at them, as they barked with rage.

"John, should we start flying up?" Asked Serena.

"Eh? Why?" John asked as he stomped the ground with his right foot.

From where his foot landed, ice spikes began to rise and spread forwards towards the hell hound. They were around 10 meters away from them, and the Ice spike spread and grew faster than he expected. The momentum from the dash dragged most of them straight into the spike.

The spikes pierced their bodies as they drove right into them.

As John kept his right foot implanted on the ground and continued supplying energy to the spike, the ice continued to spread until eventually it pierced and engulfed all the remaining hell hounds.

John took a deep breath and let it out as he watched his breath turn into a cloud similar to fog. The entire room's temperature had completely changed.

"J-John... Are you sure this wasn't overkill? It's cold..." Asked Serena as she shivered.

"Y-Yeah... That... That took a lot more magic than I expected." John said as he sat down on the ground.

"Well done, John!" Said Ariel.

'They weren't even surprised!?' He thought.

"T-Thanks," John replied.

As he went down John noticed that his right foot which he had stomped the ground with was completely frozen and stuck. It hurt to move it, and it looked like he won't be able to properly sit down in this situation. Otherwise, it'll just look weird.

The fatigue from using all that magic power caught up and John began panting heavily. He watched each breath turn into a small fog. The room must have been really cold for this to have happened.

'Why did I think it would be a good idea to use my own power instead of the magic stones on my gloves?' John wondered.

"John, are you alright? Do you need a break?" Asked Ariel as she cast ignis and began to heat up the ice around John's leg.

"I'm good. That attack just took more out of me than I expected." John said.

"God, when are you going to stop being so reckless?" Asked Serena as she did the same.

"Hehe... Thank you." John replied.

"That wasn't a compliment!" Said Serena.

With their help, John's leg unfroze, and he laid on the ground for a few seconds.

John stared at the ceiling as he muttered, "I wonder if you're having fun watching us... Enjoy the show, while you can..."

"Who are you talking to?" asked Serena.

"Just whoever is responsible for what's happening to us." John replied.

"So you don't think it's a coincidence either?" Asked Ariel.

"Coincidence? Us getting shut in the dungeon with no option to retreat, only to be able to move forward... I doubt it's a coincidence. Even Rose said it was unusual when we were taken straight to the 10th floor," John said.

"You have a point. Everything feels wrong about this. We haven't fallen into any traps; it's the dungeon itself that won't let us return."

"Well... That's fine, isn't it?" John asked as he got up.

A smile was formed on the faces of the two girls who understood what he meant.

"It's simple If it's going to keep us in here. Then We're going to end it." he said.

Rather than thinking negative thoughts, they should be as optimistic as they can.

***

Since the ice was formed using John's power, it was easy to open up a path inside. 90% of the hall all the way to the door was covered in ice spikes thanks to him. So unless they made a path, they wouldn't be able to reach the door.

John could have gotten rid of the ice on my leg, but that wasn't only due to magic, it was due to how cold his magic was. Meaning if he wanted to unfreeze it, he wouldn't be able to do it by just removing his magic power from that area.

John would have to heat it up as Ariel and Serena did.

"Are you sure, we won't need to collect the magic stones?" Asked Ariel.

"Hell hounds are C rank individually but B-rank when they travel in packs. John also said we don't have enough space, and it's a waste of energy to look for small stones inside of all this ice." Replied Serena.

"You're right..." Said Ariel.

After a while longer, they finally reached the door.

"These patterns, I'm guessing he's on a totally different level compared to the other bosses we've faced. It would have been more frightening if he wasn't the element I'm strongest against." John stated.

"Don't drop your guard even if it's a weaker element." Said Ariel.

"Understood, is everyone ready?" John asked.

They both nodded, upon which John opened the door, and they walked inside.