Chapter 29

We did our last preparations, which was me healing the whole party. While I was at it, Ariadne suddenly spoke to all of us.

"When we first met, I never expected that we would party up to take on an abyss dungeon of all things. We faced a couple of obstacles, but now we find ourselves on the cusp of the final stretch," Ariadne brooded.

"Yeah, you almost fought us back then," Liz teased.

"In hindsight, it would be more troublesome than I initially thought If I went with the plan," she said as she glanced at me.

"Oh, are you implying you could take us all on?" Liz asked suggestively.

"Who knows, but a sparring match won't be too bad after this," she said evasively, although I could sense her confidence in her skills.

Liz giggled at that.

"Well, well, aren't you confident, but I won't say no to a friend invite."

Ariadne smiled for a bit but went back to her serious demeanor. Typical Liz, I bet she could even befriend a stray cat in a second if she wanted to… no pun intended.

"One thing before we proceed. I want to remind everyone that we may find ourselves facing a boss that seems insurmountable, and the odds may not be in our favor," she stated without a hint of humor in her tone.

Clarissa visibly gulped at her statement.

It makes sense, though; we have been quite lucky thus far, but our luck has to end sometime. Moreover, abyss bosses are known to be extremely difficult. She is propping us up not to give in even if we face difficulties.

"Let us not fear the possibility of losing. Let's face this boss battle with all our might, knowing that even if we don't emerge victorious, we'll gain invaluable experience and insights in this experience. So, what I am trying to say is, let us go into this boss fight with a carefree spirit and play to our heart's content," Ariadne declared.

The heck! Since when have you done speeches like this!? Please give me back the taciturn Ariadne I know.

But I guess being a vice leader of a famous guild alters your personality. It also has been almost three years since I last saw her, so it is only natural. People change, and she is not an exception.

"Yeah, we can do this! Let's go clear this abyss dungeon and receive some legendary loot!" Liz shouted to raise our morale with the promise of the rewards.

"Y-yes!" Clarissa, easily swayed by Liz's actions, shouted with her.

"Let's be careful, though. We have a tough fight ahead of us, so don't get too careless." I tried to become the voice of reason.

"Let us go then. Good luck, everyone. Let's do our best."

Ariadne pushed the sizeable ornate door, opening the entrance to the last boss. Upon entering, we saw the undoubted king of the castle, a figure shrouded in both mystery and melancholy, sitting calmly on an ornate throne on the far side of the door.

He stayed there unmoving, painting a picturesque sight of vintage and class, waiting for our party to reach near him before making a move as a boss monster should.

His face, etched with the lines of time, tells a story of a thousand battles, countless decisions, and the burden of leadership. His beard, a snowy white, matched the streaks that ran through his hair.

He has the aura of a ruler who has weathered countless storms yet remains unbroken. His presence is like a steady, ancient oak in the midst of a storm-tossed forest.

We walked cautiously towards him until we triggered the start of the event.

"Ah, so you've finally arrived. I've been expecting you. Welcome to my humble abode, this ruined castle of mine. It's not much, but it's home. You've come a long way, haven't you? I can see it in your eyes, the weariness, the determination, the spark of hope. It's been a long time since I've seen that in someone so young." He gave us a kind, fatherly smile as if we were about to play golf the moment his monologue was over.

"You know, once upon a time, this castle was filled with laughter and joy. There were balls and feasts, music and dance. Now, all that's left are echoes of a past long gone..." he paused solemnly for a moment as if reminiscing the past.

"Oh no..." Clarissa, fully engrossed at the moment, made a saddened cry as if pitying the NPC boss... which I'm sure she is because she is Clarissa.

"Oh, but do not feel sorry for me, no. This is the path I chose. The path of a king is always a challenging one. I've seen kingdoms rise and fall, watched as the world changed around me, and yet, I remained. A relic of a bygone era, a king of a ruined castle. There's a certain beauty in it, don't you think?"

"But enough about me. You're here for a reason, aren't you? To fight, to reclaim what was lost. I can see it in your eyes, the same fire that once burned within me. I will not dissuade you from doing so. But remember this: every choice has a consequence, every action a reaction."

"So, come then. Let's see if you have what it takes to bear the weight of a crown," he said as he stood from his throne without any weapon.

Is this boss a spellcaster type, I wonder?

"C-can we just talk it out? It looks like he doesn't want to fight either," Clarissa pleaded.

The three of us looked at each other as if debating who would make the big reveal, which none of us wanted to do. So this is what it feels like to be a parent having to tell your kids that Santa is not real. I can finally relate to their conundrum.

*Cough *cough "Clarissa, we need to beat him to uhh... save the people," Ariadne failed to shoulder the burden of revealing the truth.

"Y-yeah, we need to defeat him in order to, uhm... stop the war, which will save many innocent lives!" Liz went with the flow.

"I see... it is inevitable then... forgive us for this, Mr King," Clarissa stared with newfound determination, ready to sully her hands for the greater good.

The king stood in place unmoving, loyal to the predetermined program he was on not to attack until engaged by the players.

"Let us go. Lizbeth and I will take the aggro while Clarissa and Novo support us with heals and long-range attacks. Be careful. This boss is an uncharted one," Ariadne commanded as she charged towards the final boss.

As the name implies, an uncharted enemy or place is not known to the public, nor does it have any specific information about it. If Ariadne, the most veteran player out of all of us here, doesn't know this boss, chances are none of us do.

"Understood!"

Liz was the first to engage, charging at him with her sword. He met her attack with a shimmering blade of his own, materializing out of thin air. Their swords clashed, sparks flying.

"He is a warrior type! Don't get too aggressive! I will back you up!" Ariadne stated the obvious.

She circled around the boss stealthily, looking for an opening. After a while of patiently finding the right timing while Liz kept the boss busy, she found one. She capitulated on the opportunity to land a quick blow to the head, a critical hit.

King Aurelius

HP: 91%

He is pretty tanky. Considering Ariadne did a head critical damage, that was a pretty low reduction to his HP pool compared to what I expected. Although, considering he is an abyss boss and Liz has normalized stats, I can't be too optimistic.

Before we could further push the advantage, the boss changed his sword to an enormous broadsword and did a huge crescent slash, hitting both of them as they failed to react in time due to being caught off guard. Liz took the brunt of the blow while Ariadne was caught in the area of attack.

Lisbeth

HP: 28%

Ariadne

HP: 54%

"Tsk! He can change weapons! Be careful!" Ariadne stated the obvious again.

"He also hits hard! I would have died if it hit my head! This guy is such a cheat!" Liz groaned.

I immediately cast the healing spell I was preparing at Liz before preparing to cast another two for them both as the boss took a high chunk of HP bar from them.

"Heal," I exclaimed.

Lisbeth

HP: 58%

Clarissa, who had been preparing a spell since the fight began, released her spell after the boss had just attacked. A good execution, just as I taught her, since the boss won't be able to dodge right after attacking with such a heavy weapon.

"Firebolt!" Clarissa cried after finishing her chant.

But the boss was ready for her, too. Instead of dodging, he switched his broadsword to a shield, deflecting the burst of energy from her firebolt.

"Huh?" Clarissa was confused as her attack was deflected easily.

This is bad. Our party suffers from a bad matchup against this abyss boss. I can't sustain healing with my limited mana pool. At the same time, Clarissa is basically deadweight with how skilled this boss is and how inexperienced she is in fighting highly skilled enemies, as the boss just easily blocks her attacks.

"This guy is OP! How unfair!" Liz wailed as she engaged the boss again.

The boss ignored Liz and quickly lunged at Clarissa while simultaneously shifting his weapon to a spear.

Clarissa, busy pre-chanting another spell, was caught off guard by the sudden rush.

"Clarissa, dodge!" I shouted.

It was too late. Due to Clarissa's inexperience coupled with the boss's lightning-fast thrust, she was fatally hit in the head.

"Wha-!"

Clarissa froze in terror as she was impaled in the head by the spear. A critical hit multiplier coupled with the boss's high stats and Clarissa's low base survivability stats means instant death for her.

Clarissa

Hp: 0%

She was further spared from suffering in fright from the gruesome scene of a spear impaled through her head by disappearing into motes of blue light. However, she would become an observer in ghost form after she died and can still be brought back to life with certain resurrection spells. A spell that I am too under-leveled to learn nor have the mana capacity to cast.

"Shit! He's AI-trained!" Ariadne shouted.

She was right. That was not a move of a regular NPC mob. AI-trained enemies are scarce but incredibly skilled, as their AI was trained by copying moves from real players. As such, this enemy was able to go after Clarissa while ignoring aggros since he felt that she was the weakest link and easiest to eliminate.

After quickly dispatching Clarissa, he immediately went for me.

I instinctively dodged his fast lunge.

Before he could do a follow-up, Liz did a counter.

"Not on my watch!"

Liz used her weapon skill to blink behind the boss while he was focused on me, landing a blow on his back.

King Aurelius

Hp: 86%

"Stay far away, Novo! Focus on healing, and don't come close!" Ariadne ordered.

She was likely worried that if I got too close, what happened to Clarissa might also happen to me. It's an excellent strategy to minimize the risk to the healer since if I die, it's all over, as they would lose in a battle of attrition against a boss as skilled as this guy without someone mending their HP.

"Understood!" I affirmed as I stayed further away from the battle, all the while intensely surveying the boss's attack patterns.

If this all turns haywire for some reason, I have to know as much as I can about the enigma we are facing right now. Hopefully, that won't be the case, but I doubt that it will go that easy for us.