Phoenix

Hitori glanced around his surroundings. He saw the strong, big walls standing as the borders of the roof, debris of rocks and stones that lay all over the roof. 

The ground that was destroyed by the giant bird the last time it attacked Hitori, was now totally repaired. Not a single hole on the ground. 

"What is the plan, Kamiya?" Kamiya stepped out from the portal behind Hitori. He first glanced at the portal, it disappeared behind him.

"The boss is behind that wall," Hitori pointed to his left side where a big wall stood in between him and the other side of the tenth floor. 

Kamiya tried to take a look on the other side of the roof but the wall was too big and wide for him to take a look on the other side where the giant bird slept. 

"I will provide you with backup, I am not a close combat gamer, I would rather keep my distance and cast my spells from the dark,"

"A backup is all that I need," Hitori's katana appeared by the side of his waist. 

"You seem more experienced in close combat," Kamiya turned around, "I will leave that part to you," he pulled out his wand. 

"Yes, I like fighting," 

Kamiya turned his head to Hitori, "Well, I love casting spells." he turned back and walked up to the tall wall that stood as the borders. 

Kamiya cast a levitation spell and took himself to the top of the wall. The wall was somewhere around seventy feet tall, too tall to be honest. 

"Ready," Kamiya raised his wand. 

He shot a blue flare in the sky to signal Hitori who was on the ground.

Hitori nodded, his nod was not visible to Kamiya at all. 

Hitori slowly walked towards the wall on his left. 

Although Kamiya was seventy feet high in the air, he still could not get a complete view of the boss. There was another tall wall which was somewhere around forty feet tall. There was a large rectangular area in between the border wall. The boss was in between the first wall and the border wall. 

Hitori did not stop walking, he got slower but did not stop. And as soon as he entered the bird's five-meter radius, it woke up. 

The bird squeaked, the sound of its beak sliding on a wall, the sound of its claws scraping the ground, it flapped its wings, Hitori heard the flapping sound. 

Flames burned on top of an orange head like a crown, Kamiya caught a full view of the bird's head. 

The bird started rising from its nest. It flapped its wings continuously and produced a high-pitched screech.

The bird rose further up and exposed itself to Kamiya and Hitori. 

When Kamiya had a half view of the boss, a frown formed on his face. 

Hitori moved away from the boss as it started soaring up in the sky. It again stopped under the moon, flapped open its wings, and let out a loud squeak.

Kamiya relaxed his stance when he got a full, perfect view of the boss. His glasses slipped off his nose, he found his wand trembling in his hands.

"That is the… boss?" his frown turned into a scared expression. 

He wanted to tell Hitori to re-group, so he looked down at him. He was ready to fight the bird with his katana. 

"No…" Kamiya quickly brought his wand in front of his lips, "Mic," he cast a spell, "Hitori! Duck!" his voice magnified and echoed through the top floor. 

Hitori covered his ears because of the loud shout, 'What?' he glanced at Kamiya who had started to climb down the wall he stood on. 

"Eh? No- no," Hitori glanced at the bird, "it is not a duck, it is a bird!" but of course, his voice did not reach his partner. 

Hitori turned his eyes back to the bird, and what he saw were a pair of steel claws coming his way.

"Just. duck!" Kamiya's voice sounded scared and panicked, but Hitori decided to listen to his partner. 

He gave up on his plan to clash against the bird's claws with his water katana. Hitori ducked and rolled forward on the ground. 

The claws went past his head, only a few inches away from grabbing Hitori's hood. 

On the other side, Hitori got up and looked behind him, he saw the bird's claws had scraped the ground, and it had left a few flames of fire into the cracks. 

"Hitori!" Kamiya shouted once again, "Regroup!" Hitori looked to his right side, Kamiya had slid down the walls and ran to the backside of the floor. 

Hitori glanced at the bird for the last time before hurrying up to the backside to join Kamiya. The bird continued taking off until it was up in the sky again.

Hitori rolled to the ground once again and joined Kamiya behind a big rock. 

"You told me the boss was a giant BIRD!" Kamiya stressed his words as words came out hurriedly. 

"Well, it IS a giant bird! …and not a duck." Hitori replied, "Why did you tell me to retreat? I almost had it,"

Kamiya moved his hand across his face, he glanced at his wand before turning his eyes at Hitori.

"It is not a GIANT bird." Kamiya explained, "it is a Phoenix."

"Phoenix?" Hitori frowned, "It… is a bird, after all, you see… and not a duck." Kamiya let out a sigh.

"A phoenix is way different than a normal bird, Hitori, you know it,"

"What I know is that a phoenix is never this big, I mean look at it, Kamiya," Hitori turned his head to take a peek at the bird who was flying to the other side of the dungeon. 

"I am not sure about other games, Hitori, but in this game, this is how a normal phoenix is. Not only is it big, but it is also as fierce as fire." Kamiya gulped as he pulled himself back behind the rock. 

Hitori saw a status screen appearing in front of him before he could move his eyes away from the phoenix. 

[Name: Phoenix

Level: Seventeen

Challenge level: Five

HP: 153/155]

Hitori too brought his head down. He undrew his katana and kept staring at the gun in his hand. 

'The stats did not appear the first time I fought it…'

The phoenix came down from the sky in a swift and beautiful movement. It landed on the other side where its nest was. And it went back to sleep, to recover its health because it did not sense threat anymore. 

"Change in plans then…" Hitori looked at Kamiya.

"I was about to say the same," Kamiya replied as he pushed his glasses back from his nose bridge. 

"We will go all out," Hitori got off the ground. The phoenix was not in sight, the skies were calm, and the dust had cleared up. 

"We go then," Kamiya got his wand ready. He ran towards the walls once again. 

Hitori stood where he was, he was supposed to wait till Kamiya reached the top of the wall once again. 

"There must be a way to defeat this boss…" Hitori muttered under his breath. 

A buzzing sound came from the sky, Hitori raised his head and saw a blue flare sparking in the night sky.