Volume 5 Chapter 14 Boss Battles Are Common
While Edgar and the others were fighting the Lesser Demon, Catherine was slumped in front of an empty treasure chest.
"Looks like it's not here after all..."
Just as Catherine muttered, all the treasure chests they had found so far were empty. The fact that the treasure chest at the end of the hidden passage she remembered was also empty hit her hard, making her realize this was the reality.
In the game, it was expected that the Knight group had already opened all the treasure chests that were still left.
"There's a good chance the magic book and the 'something' stone have already been taken by the Knight group."
Randy whispered next to the dejected Catherine.
"It's not 'something' stone, it's the [Moonlight Stone] and [Sunlight Stone]."
Liz frowned, and Randy snapped his fingers, saying, "Yeah, that's it."
"As for the stones... I can't really do anything with them anyway."
Catherine shrugged, saying that she couldn't come here without Edgar. Since the kingdom was managing this place, they needed someone related to it to make things happen.
With a sigh of resignation, Catherine looked back at the team and made a big X with her arms, saying, "Yep, it's empty." The students peeking in from the passage also looked disappointed.
Even though they knew it, they had found a hidden passage. They probably had a little hope for the treasure chest ahead.
"Well, for now, let's defeat the boss and head to the entrance of the 6th floor──."
Randy suddenly stopped talking because of a roar echoing from afar. Randy and Liz exchanged glances and hurried through the passage to join the second team with Catherine.
"What was that sound?"
"It's coming from over there!"
"Let's hurry!"
As the excited students rushed, Instructor Burk calmly said, "Wait."
"That's probably the boss at the very back. We should think that the first team has encountered it."
Even though they were a step behind, the roar that traveled through multiple passages was not from an ordinary opponent.
"Let's think about joining the boss battle, and move as quickly as we can while saving our strength!"
At Catherine's command, the second team started to walk quickly toward the roar they had just heard.
"That voice, there's no way it's from the second stage. Why is it game mode only at a time like this..."
Catherine's voice was drowned out.
* * *
Time goes back a bit...
When Catherine and the others discovered the hidden passage, the first team of students who had started fighting the Lesser Demon were showing impressive moves. Leonard's worries were nowhere to be seen; Edgar's leadership was perfectly fitting for the first team.
Thanks to Edgar, who calmly gave orders even against a strong enemy, the first team moved as if they were one living being.
"Looks like there's no problem."
As Serena sighed, the Lesser Demon had already lost an arm and was covered in wounds. Compared to the panting Lesser Demon, the first team had only a few light injuries and clearly had no chance of losing.
Still, the Lesser Demon gathered its last strength and breathed out fire.
"Dario!"
Dario's flames countered it,
"Arthur!"
"Got it!"
Edgar and Arthur's swords pierced the Lesser Demon's chest.
As the Lesser Demon crumbled to its knees with a final scream, Arthur and Edgar exchanged victorious fist pumps and looked back at the first team.
When the first team welcomed Edgar and Arthur, savoring their joy and patting each other on the shoulders, the Lesser Demon, which should have fallen, rose up again.
"Everyone, stay alert!"
At Instructor Gardo's booming voice, the first team hurriedly backed away from the Lesser Demon's body.
'Show your power──'
Just as a voice echoed in the air, the Lesser Demon's body exploded, and the pieces began to gather in the center. A squirming black mass slowly started to take shape.
Sharp, impressive horns.
Huge bat wings and sharp claws.
Red-black patterns marked its body,
And its goat head had glowing eyes dyed crimson.
Its body, more agile than the Lesser Demon, still seemed designed for easy movement.
"It's the Inferior Lord..."
As someone whispered, the Inferior Lord let out a roar. The pressure it exerted was far greater than that of the Lesser Demon, weighing down on the students.
Inferior Lord. A being that commands lower demons. In terms of beast rank, it's around A-rank, but it's way too much for students to handle.
Still, compared to higher beings like Archdemons or Named demons, it's much weaker. But that doesn't comfort the students at all.
The pressure coming from this being is stronger than any beast they've faced before.
This is definitely too much for students, Leonard thought as he tried to step forward with his friends.
"Let's go!"
Hearing Edgar's voice, Leonard frowned and said, "No way," but the students charged at the Inferior Lord with their weapons.
"Damn it, everyone protect the target!"
Leonard shouted, and the members of [Iron Falcon Steel] and Gardo silently moved to support the students.
Their job is to handle any danger that threatens the students.
Right now, it feels dangerous, but since the students won't back down, Leonard and the others can't give it their all. No matter how skilled they are, having 14 students running around is honestly just a burden.
While Leonard struggled to move, the students charged straight at the Inferior Lord.
"Leyra! Give them support!"
"I knew you'd say that!"
Leyra cast support magic on the charging students. ──Strength boost and agility boost. The students, now buffed, opened the battle with the Inferior Lord.
Thanks to Leyra's buffs, the students were putting up a decent fight. But soon, Leonard's worries came true.
"Uh-oh, the magic potion is──."
Someone shouted, and the team's thoughts froze for a moment. Depending on whose magic potion ran out, their strategy would change drastically. Edgar instinctively turned to check.
"Forward!"
Leonard shouted, but it was too late. The Inferior Lord's claws lunged at Edgar.
Edgar shut his eyes tight, bracing for the pain and shock that was about to hit him... but when nothing came, he slowly opened his eyes. There, in front of him, was Leonard, protecting him and taking the hit on his shoulder.
"Mr. Leonard──"
"Don't stop!"
Gardo shouted as he jumped and kicked the Inferior Lord. The Inferior Lord was knocked back, and with the distance broken, a few people pulled Leonard back.
"It's just a scratch."
As Leonard snorted, the wound was indeed shallow. But the sudden lack of resources at this critical moment was throwing first team into chaos.
"We need to hold them off with magic..."
"That's impossible. We can't waste any more──"
"Then the vanguard should──"
"We're low on healing potions too."
Hearing the rising voices, Edgar bit his lip. He never expected to face the boss in consecutive battles. It was strange to even think that could happen.
But there was no time for complaints. This was a price they had to pay for their own actions.
The consequences of their earlier smooth sailing were now bursting forth. They had been so eager that they neglected the basics of checking their resources, and now they were on the verge of stumbling and falling. If they didn't hold their ground here, they would all end up rolling on the ground together.
Edgar and the others gritted their teeth, but the harsh reality wouldn't wait. Before they could recover from the chaos, the Inferior Lord attacked mercilessly.
The formation was completely broken.
Panic was rising.
Commands were going unheard.
Gardo and Serena stepped forward to prevent the worst... at that moment, flames struck the Inferior Lord right in the temple.
Caught off guard, the Inferior Lord stumbled and glared in that direction.
"Just in time! Magic team, draw its attention at 2 o'clock!"
At Catherine's command, the magic team unleashed their designated spells. Meanwhile, a student who had been circling around Liza rushed over to first team to assess the situation.
"Miss Catherine, these idiots are completely out of resources!"
Catherine quietly assigned the remaining resources she had to the first team. No one complained about her decision.
The first team, who received healing items, were a bit confused at first, but when Catherine said, "We need more firepower, please help," they looked at each other. Nodding to no one in particular, they used the items to heal up and then teamed up with the second team to corner the Inferior Lord.
With the first team gaining confidence, Edgar's leadership also started to sharpen.
Seeing that the battle was now in the students' favor, Randy and Liz rushed over to Leonard.
"Sorry about this."
Leonard, healed by Liz's magic, gave a wry smile.
"I can guess what happened."
Randy returned the smile as he reflected on the students' fight.
Edgar had managed to regain his focus in leading.
Catherine was buffing the second team.
Leyra continued to buff the first team.
Each of them gave it their all, and in the end, Edgar's sword pierced the Inferior Lord.
As the students cheered, Instructor Burk nodded and said, "Well, that's a passing score." Just then, a golden orb floated down into Edgar's hands. The students got even more excited, but one of them shouted, "Hey, look at that!"
When everyone turned to look, they saw a dark, endless corridor and a teleportation crystal where there had just been a wall.
Once they spotted it, it was too late. Ignoring Burk's command to wait, a few students rushed into the corridor, shouting, "Let's scout ahead!"
Randy and the others hurried after them, and at the end of the short corridor, they saw a familiar door floating in the air.
A huge door decorated with reliefs of the sun and moon.
In front of the door, a few students stood in shock. As one of them touched the door, the corridor vanished, and they all found themselves standing dumbfounded in the boss room in front of the door.
Everyone is clearly confused by the sudden return of Randy and his friends and the unexpected appearance of the door.
"I'll check it out first."
Randy frowned and got closer to the door, pushing the students away as part of his guard duty.
"...Do you understand how this works?"
Randy lowered his voice, and Ellie replied quietly, "The dimensions are twisted."
"So, that means the hallway connects the deepest part to the entrance?"
Randy frowned more, and Ellie answered uncertainly, "Probably." All Ellie knew was that the dimensions were twisted; she couldn't tell if this door was really the same as the entrance.
"Instructor, what if we try opening this..."
At Randy's suggestion, Gardo and Burk both made sour faces. The school and the country had rules that said they could only go up to the fifth level. Still, in front of such a strange situation, it was hard to believe the students would accept a "no."
"...Victor. For safety, we need to get everyone back first."
Gardo squeezed out an unusual voice, and Randy nodded. With that, the students moved back against the wall. After confirming that [Iron Falcon Steel] was standing guard over the students, Randy slowly opened the door at Burk's signal.
...What lay beyond was the familiar first level.
(What happens if I go through this door and come back out another door?)
Randy felt curious, but he couldn't just go back to the big room right now. He pushed aside his curiosity and tried to close the door, but just then, he sensed something rushing toward the door and instinctively jumped back.
The door, which had been pushed open, closed naturally as Randy stepped away... but it didn't close fast enough to stop what burst out.
"It's an Inferior Lord..."
"And 3 of them──."
They had just managed to defeat one together, and now 3 appeared at once. The students turned pale, and Luke's out-of-place voice echoed in the room, "Dumb Randy!"
"Don't bring trouble to the guards!"
With Luke's wry smile, Randy snorted and glared at the Inferior Lords.
"Up to the fifth level... huh. Anything beyond that is too much to handle."
Randy cracked his neck, "Guess I have no choice," he glared.
At the same time, the Inferior Road all attacked at once.
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