Dungeon boss (4)

CLANG!

A clear sound of steel clashing resounded in the dungeon's boss chamber as Alex and the boss's weapons collided.

Sparks flew in the air as Alex was pushed back and forced to take a step away.

Before he could stabilize himself, the lizardman attacked again. Alex tried to parry with the weapon in his hands. Unfortunately, he wasn't aware of what kind of weapon he was holding, so the boss' spear bypassed his defense and dug into his shoulder.

Alex groaned in pain and retreated. At the same time, his smoke armor took on a yellow hue, and the wound on his shoulder began to close by itself.

Taking the opportunity before the boss could attack again, Alex cast a quick glance at the weapon in his hands.

The first thing he noticed was the twisted, serpentine shaft of dark metal, crowned by a small skeletal skull. From this macabre centerpiece extended two massive, silvery crescent blades, curved like deadly wings or demonic horns.

'I guess that explains why I couldn't defend against that last attack,' Alex remarked, his eyes tracing the weapon's sinister curves. The dual blades gleamed ominously in the dim light, their edges wickedly sharp. The twisted shaft seemed to writhe subtly in his grip, as if alive with dark energy.

'I need to change this scythe,' Alex decided after a moment.

If it was any other weapon such as an axe, a sword, or even better, a spear, Alex was confident he could at least defend himself and even attack. He had some basic knowledge about those weapons, but a scythe? He had never even held one before today, so there was no way he was going to beat the boss, a spear master, with a weapon he didn't even have a clue how to defend himself with, much less attack.

However, he barely had that thought before the boss monster finally decided to act. It lunged at Alex with stunning speed and in the blink of an eye, it was in front of Alex, its spear tip aimed at him.

Caught off guard, Alex couldn't do anything but defend himself using the scythe. However, with skillful precision, the lizardman's spear tip that was thrusting toward Alex's leg suddenly aimed higher at his torso.

With an awkward movement, Alex parried the blow with the scythe, the curved blade deflecting the spear. He then attempted an attack, swinging the scythe in a wide arc, aiming to slice the lizardman's flank.

The lizardman leapt back, pivoting on its heels to use the length of its spear to its advantage. It swung the spear around, aiming to disarm Alex with a lateral strike.

The scythe flew off from Alex's hand and he was left defenseless. Taking advantage of this, the lizardman slashed diagonally and ripped through the smoke armor protecting Alex, its spear digging into Alex's flesh.

"Agghhh...." Alex groaned in pain and explosively retreated. At the same time, a wisp of smoke retrieved the scythe in mid-air.

Alex firmly gripped the scythe and managed to parry a spear strike coming at him just in time.

'He won't let me change weapons,' Alex realized as the boss kept pressing forward, its attacks coming like a relentless tide.

Left with no choice but to keep the double-headed scythe to fight with, Alex imbued it with his mana, intending to reinforce it.

What he didn't expect though was for the scythe to violently shake and dispel his mana.

"What the...what kind of damn weapon is this?" Alex cursed under his breath as he sent another burst of mana into the scythe, yet, the result was the same. The scythe shook and dispelled Alex's mana.

Alex was seriously considering if he should buy himself time to find another weapon. It would surely cost him too much mana to delay the boss, but it was better than using a weapon he didn't know how to handle and that didn't want to be imbued with mana. Just then, the boss appeared before him once again, thrusting its spear at him.

Alex controlled his smoke to pull himself out of the spear's path. His expression turned cold as his grip on the scythe tightened.

Since the boss wasn't giving him enough time to change weapons, he decided he would fight using the double-headed scythe in his hands.

However, a few exchanges later, Alex was wondering if it was the right decision. His defense with the double-headed scythe was awkward at best. Meanwhile, he found it incredibly hard to control the scythe to attack effectively.

On the other hand, the attacks of the dungeon boss came like a relentless storm, inflicting various wounds on Alex's body.

Alex endured the wounds piling up on his body and persevered.

As the battle continued, something odd happened. The dungeon boss's attacks began to miss more frequently, and the rate of wounds appearing on Alex's body lessened.

Slowly but surely, Alex was adapting to the lizardman's fighting style.

After what felt like an eternity of pain, wounds completely stopped appearing on Alex's body. He weaved through the lizardman's attacks with increasing precision.

At some point, Alex made another discovery about the adaptability of his body. That discovery was that his body adaptability didn't only apply to his opponent's fighting style; it also worked with the weapon he used!

In just a matter of minutes, Alex had gotten familiar with how to fight with the double-headed scythe!

Using his newfound familiarity with both the scythe and the boss's fighting style, Alex finally managed to push back the lizardman and land a few attacks on it.

Alex charged, the twin blades slicing through the air toward the lizardman's head. It ducked just in time, feeling the wind of the blades' passage above him. It then thrust the spear upward in a counterattack, but Alex deftly deflected it with the handle of the scythe.

Alex lunged forward, swinging the scythe in a deadly arc aimed at the boss's torso. The boss instinctively raised its spear horizontally, catching the twin blades just in time. The impact sent a shiver down its arms, but it held firm, using the spear's length to push Alex back slightly.

The boss took a quick step back, keeping its spear between him and Alex. Alex, relentless, advanced again, the scythe slicing through the air in swift, lethal arcs.

The boss moved fluidly, pivoting on its heels to parry each strike, the spear's shaft a blur as he blocked the incoming blows.

Alex's attacks were fierce and varied, coming from high and low angles in quick succession. The boss expertly deflected a high strike and immediately had to lower its spear to block a follow-up sweep aimed at its legs.

The twin blades of the scythe scraped against the spear's wood, creating a harsh, grating sound.

The boss tried to create more distance, thrusting the spear forward in a counterattack aimed at Alex's chest.

Alex twisted to the side, the spear's tip grazing his ribs but failing to penetrate. Taking advantage of the boss's extended position, he swung the scythe in a low arc, forcing the boss to jump back quickly, but not before the scythe had sliced into its thigh, drawing blood.

Alex grinned, seeing a new wound appear on his opponent's body. He didn't think he would come to say it, but he quite liked the scythe.

Plus, after a certain point, Alex could feel that the double-headed scythe had finally stopped going against him. He didn't know what caused such changement, but he surely wasn't going to complain about it.

Before the boss attacked once again, Alex imbued his mana inside the scythe. Unlike his first attempts, the mana ran smoothly inside the scythe and Alex could feel it being reinforced.

He was also feeling something else; he wasn't completely sure what it was, but he had an inkling.

Wanting to confirm his hunch, Alex imbued more mana inside the scythe. As he did so, the eyes of the skull crowning the scythe's shaft ignited with a somber light.

At that moment, Alex moved instinctively. He tightly gripped the double-headed scythe and swung it vertically toward the dungeon boss.

However, the lizardman wasn't in Alex's immediate vicinity, so the only thing his scythe sliced apart was empty air. But it was at this moment that something extraordinary happened.

A dark and sharp line of energy appeared where Alex had swung his scythe, projected toward the lizardman. The energy slash moved with incredible speed, cutting through the air with a menacing hiss. It streaked toward the lizardman, who barely had time to react as the dark energy cleaved through the space between them, aiming to bisect its target.

The retreating boss frowned as it stared at the line coming at it. It didn't need to know what that fine dark line was to sense its danger.

Without hesitation, it opened its mouth wide and breathed fire at the oncoming attack.

An instant later, the wall of flames met the dark line and stopped it. Before the boss could feel relieved, its eyes constricted into pinholes as the dark line began slicing apart the fire!

In the blink of an eye, the dark line was upon it.

BANG!

A cloud of dust was kicked up at the point of collision between the boss and the dark line.

A few moments later, in tense silence, the dust finally settled, revealing the standing figure of the lizardman.

Alex was feeling disappointed when he noticed something.

The dungeon's boss' left arm...it was gone!