The Spark Of a Hero

The devil's body started burning with black flames, "It's been centuries since someone got me this pissed off." He flew toward Gatom with extended claws. "Slash!" He yelled, swigging at a horrifying speed.

Gatom lifted his palm. This is my life's last battle, and it shall not end in defeat. The golem disappeared from the wall and appeared behind Gatom and with a swing, it punched the charging devil back toward the wall.

Before Gio could hit the wall, he flapped his wings as the bruises on his body healed, and he immediately swung his palm, flinging a black fireball at Gatom. [Hell's Fireball]

From before Gatom, the fire elemental emerged from the ground and swung its fire blade, slicing the devil's fireball in half.

This blind and deaf old man, his mana sense is off the chart. With being a devil with a lot of mana and magic, he can sense my exact location with ease, the same for any spell I cast. Trying to challenge him in a battle of magic is a losing endeavor. If I tried to attack up close, that stone golem would smack me away, and if I tried to attack at range, that fire elemental would block it, more so if I used spells.

I hate to admit it, but this human is far superior to me in magical abilities. But, he still has a weakness, his human and old body. No matter how talented, wise, or experienced he is, his body won't be able to sustain this massive output for long, he's already bleeding from every hole.

Gio landed on the wall, his wing muscles bulging and expanding. I'll push him to the limit in a contest of speed, forcing him to drain his endurance at a pace that'll destroy him before my regeneration runs out. He burst laughing, flying toward Gatom at an even faster speed.

"Just how sweet your soul shall be?!" He shouted, "GIVE ME YOUR SOUL!"

A thin barrier appeared before the devil forcing him to change direction, only to be faced with a fireball from the fire elemental. He dodged that and flew at Gatom, only to get smacked back to the wall by the golem, and get followed with a lightning bolt from Gatom himself.

The exchange didn't last a minute of clashing with the devil getting faster and faster each second, and it finally happened. As blood filled Gatom's lungs, he coughed blood and was unable to chant his magic for a fraction of a second. That was enough for the devil to snatch his staff arm.

As Gatom recoiled, the devil cut the fire elemental in two and flew back, stabbing Gatom in the chest, right through the heart. "You were terrifying, old human. No, Wizard Gatom."

Gatom coughed even more blood as the stone golem crumbled.

"Now you'll die, and I shall kill everyone else after that." Gio smiled.

Gatom grabbed Gio by the horns with one hand, "You shall not pass." He opened his mouth and his eyes burned with magic. It was only then that Gio noticed what was inside Gatom's stomach, tens of elemental gems that he used as sources of extra mana, explaining why he could still cast so many spells at his age.

Gio tried to pull away from Gatom, but it was already too late. Gatom combusted the mana remaining with the gems, exploding into a storm of elemental chaos large enough to fill the whole boss room.

As the dust settled, Gio crawled to the corner of the room, his regeneration barely keeping up. "Damnable old wizard… At least I can now eat you're…" He gasped, "Where is his soul?"

No matter how much Gio looked, Gatom's soul had already disappeared. The devil was left crawling on the ground in disappointment, while the old wizard's wish came true, his soul ascending to what he desired.

Liam and his group ran through the layers, hurrying to reach Jamile's party with supplies. Alice was getting anxious but kept a calm front. She could feel the sharp demonic magic spike beneath her feet. The others have reached the boss's room. The boss's magic isn't fading, but that old wizard's magic disappeared. They are losing the fight…She looked back, should she tell Liam and the others so they can run faster? "Let's hurry, I have a bad feeling. Someone might be injured." She said, avoiding anything that could allude to her sharp hero senses.

Liam smiled, thinking of how much Alice had grown. She devoted a warrior's intuition, he too could sense the massacre down below but thought what Alice felt was a gut feeling. What worried him was something else that even she didn't feel due to her low level compared to his. Something bad was happening on the second path that could hurt Liam's plan to defeat the boss and get the skill.

"There are some demons chasing us. I'll deal with them and follow you up." Liam said, throwing his box to one of the B-rankers.

"What are you doing?!" Jack shouted at him.

"Let him be," Alice said, she too could sense a few demons back. "He can handle himself. We should hurry down." They kept running without wasting time and Alice smiled. At least, he'll be safer like this. I'll deal with the dungeon boss before he returns. She made a decision that it's safer for Liam to be fighting several regular demons here that get stuck with her in a fight against the boss.

As Alice's group disappeared into the next layer's stairs, Liam ran straight through the elfen demons. The demons turned toward him to attack, but their body got littered with holes and they fell dead with him still running away. Dead without even knowing how they got killed.

This might be bad. This dungeon fully separated into separate dungeons while still counted as one. That means each path has its own boss, and they'll merge to form the final dungeon boss. The safest route to make sure they don't merge is to shatter the gem linking the two paths.

Alice and the supply party reached the boss door, smelling blood everywhere. Every adventurer was wounded, all lying on the ground moaning and crying. Sara was banging her fists on the boss's door, wailing and screaming her lungs out.

"This looks bad." Jack growled, "Where is Jamile?!" He shouted.

Mary approached him, "Dead…the devil inside killed in the blink of an eye and so is the case for half the team." She looked around, "Gatom teleported us and challenged the boss solo, but he died. We saw it through magic." Her hands were shaking, "I wanted to dance to cast some buff or healing spells, but I can't help but feel my stomach twist… I can't dance in such a situation."

"We bards can't sing either." Gaku the bard approached, "My fingers are shaking so much that I can't play. The singers start crying each time they open their mouths."

"We should retreat. Unless this is going to end in a total party kill." Mary added with a scared face.

"Everyone that can use healing magic or move, start healing the wounded and bandaging them. We aren't done yet!" Alice shouted, taking a step forward with a stern face.

"We're done, we're retreating." Jack growled at her.

"Move!" Alice glared at him, and he could feel blood draining from his spine at her glowing blue eyes. "Yes!" He ran back to help bandage the wounded.

"Sara! Stop crying, that won't bring Gatom back! Come here to cast defensive magic!" Alice yelled, and Sara slowly stared back at her. "What?"

"That devil, I'll bash his face in." She stared at her with glowing blue eyes.

"What could you do if Jamile and Gatom couldn't beat him?" Mary stared at her.

"No time to explain or think, follow orders." Alice glared at them, "Gaku, I want a specialized song for me. Buff physical output." She then shifted her attention to Mary, "You as well, a specialized dance to increase pain tolerance."

Usually when a bard sings or a dancer dances, their performance is directed toward everyone in the party, but what Alice was asking for is the songs to be on her, the dances to be for her and her alone. That way the power of the buff would increase dramatically.

"Every other bard and dancer, follow their lead." She then walked toward Sara, "You cast barrier magic just around my body to increase my magic output. And all other wizards support her."

Alice stood before the boss's door and took a stance with her arms hunched back. Gaku started burning his lungs singing for her, and so did Mary, moving the best she could, a dance dedicated to Alice alone. With everyone else support, Sara tapped her staff on Alice's back, buffing her magic to the absolute limit.

[Strength: 13+{15}]

[Speed: 17+{15}]

[Mana: 20+{30}]

"But, we're still outside. The boss's door is closed." An injured adventurer in the back asked.

****

Name: Alice Ashborn.

Race: Human.

Soul Record: Clear.

Level: 12

Strength: 13+{15}

Speed: 17+{15}

Mana: 20+{30}

Special Ability: [Bugendai Sozo: Level 14]

[Sword Arts: Level 9]

[Dagger Arts: Level 5]

[Martial Arts: Level 15]

[Hawk Eyes: Level 16]

[Barrier Magic: Level 13]

[Physical Enchantment: Level 15]

[Magic Enchantment: Level 16]

[Self-Regeneration: Level 19]

+[Painless: Level 7]

****

Alice glared forward with glowing blue eyes as magic rushed through her brain, chanting in mumbles beneath her breath.

[Magic Enchantment: Max Output] Her magic shoot up.

[Barrier Magic: Efficient Magic] It limited the wasted energy, making her presence undetectable.

[Hawk Eyes: Deep Glare] She could see the devil boss sitting in the middle of the boss room through the door. He had just finished regeneration and was waiting for something, probably for them to charge straight in.

Alice pointed a finger forward, [Bugendai Sozo: Elemental Chaos] Her creation skill forced several elements to melt together creating a massive ball of white energy, blasting through the boss door.

Gio inside only saw a white flash before getting blasted with a massive explosion akin to what Gatom pulled off. He gasped; staring forward wondering what happened, only for him to see Alice landing in front of him with a smile on her face. "This is my boss's room now." She glared at him with glowing blue eyes.