Ultimate Level 1
Chapter 493: Things That Hit Hard

Chapter 493 - Things That Hit Hard

Max felt pressure assault him the moment he entered the 75th floor.

It was overwhelming and seemed to dwarf anything he had ever sensed except for the void colossus, Zogooruth.

When his eyes revealed what was before him, a pit grew in his stomach and the truth of what they were about to face set in.

All around was what looked like a battlefield, except it was easily one-sided. Skeletal remains stretched in every direction, littering the dark soil, some piled up, others jutting from an eternal resting place.

“What in the gods?” Fowl asked, his voice not hiding the fear behind it.

The other three soon appeared, and their gasps and expressions told him they all recognized the sensation he was feeling.

“There’s… no portal,” Cordellia stated. “We have to fight or use a gem.”

Max nodded and grimaced, watching the walls surrounding the mile-wide battlefield. Every inch of them was made from different bones, and they appeared to be shifting slightly, creating a noise that made him shudder the first time he heard it.

Each step cracked under his feet, making sneaking along impossible.

“The ceiling,” Tanila said as she pointed upward.

Above them were more bones, with rib-like stalactites hanging down, some dripping with black, tar-like ichor.

Everywhere, the bones twitched and shifted.

“What… what are we facing?” Batrire asked. “I don’t see a boss.”

“It’s hiding, most likely in the ground or perhaps in the walls. Whatever it is, we’re in for a fight,” Max replied. “Fowl, you’re on point with them. Whatever happens and whatever comes, you have to stop it.”

Grunting, their dwarven warrior nodded, cracking his neck and rolling both shoulders as his shield and hammer were held at the ready.

“Batrire… use the buff.”

“I’ll need a minute,” she replied.

Max nodded and held up his hand. “We don’t move. Once her buff is ready I’ll move out and see what comes. You four be ready for anything.”

Max knew they couldn't hold back as their healer began casting the buff she rarely used. He could sense that they needed the 25% stat gains for a minute, even if it would be a month before she could cast it again.

Bob… this is one of those moments I’d give anything to have you back.

A slight pulse through the thread that connected him to his skill came, but no words or anything else were there. Still, it comforted him, as he wanted to believe that Bob had heard him and somehow responded.

Power filled his body as the buff settled over him and for a second, Max allowed himself to smile, knowing how much of a difference this would make.

Without waiting, he dashed forward, shield and weapon ready, moving toward a large pile of bones that stood twenty feet tall.

His speed had him there in a second. The black soil now had a furrow from where he had run, chunks of it missing and as he reached the pile, his sonar went wild.

Dodging to the left, Max summoned a wall of air, leaping onto it and jumping again as a shape erupted from the dirt under his feet.

An ivory white maw opened up, two yellow glowing eyes sunk inside a skull-like head. The creature attempted to bite him, but its massive bone claws around its mouth slammed shut.

Black ichor sprayed in every direction as the boss continued its climb from out of the soil, body twisting slightly as clawed legs pressed against the ground.

Easily thirty feet tall, its body was covered in sharp, protruding ribs, and bone and dust fragments fell from it as it moved, almost like dead skin being shed continuously.

It’s fricking undead!

Flying through the air, he summoned his bow, firing arrows at the boss.

[ Empowered Shot ]

His summoned arrow connected against its skull, striking near the creature's glowing eye socket, causing a small chunk of bone to chip off.

That’s barely anything compared to its size.

He rained down a ball of fire, having summoned his familiar, surprised at how quickly the creature could track him, twisting and turning while over fifty yards of its body had climbed onto the surface of the boss floor.

Arrow after arrow rained down and when his fireball crashed against its head, Max’s sonar warned him of the incoming objects.

A storm of bone shards had flown toward him, concealed by the flames that had washed over the boss, now ignited as at least four hundred flew through the air.

[ Demonic Teleportation ]

The number sent from the attack and the speed at which they had come were too much for him to dodge. Unsure how much damage the foot-long bone daggers would cause, he avoided them for now, fearful of what an attack like this might do against his friends.

Sounds came from above as the attack connected with the ceiling, sending down a rain of bones that crashed into the soil.

Not waiting to be shot at again or risking having something fall upon him, Max streaked toward a middle segment, his weapon transforming into a gigantic axe.

He cleaved with everything he had, striking a small section between the segments, landing blow after blow as the boss turned and came toward him.

Flying away, Max saw he had created cracks in the area, but none of his blows were deep enough to sever the thickness of the bones.

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Shite! This thing is –

A loud five-second wail came after the boss missed chomping down on him again with its claws, the wave of it making him nauseous.

Flying away, he summoned a large boulder mid-air, letting it grow until he sent it crashing down on the same area he had attacked before.

Preparing to summon another, Max stopped, seeing his friends shifting and moving, the three women all now standing on a stone wall.

Bones around the floor began moving, rejoining and forming abominations of creatures, humanoids, animals, and insects. Some were only five or six feet tall, while others were at least fifteen.

A black aura surrounded the boss, and its yellow eyes became flaming green.

It’s a damn lich?!

The thought that such a creature could exist, not only an insect but also possessing the kind of magic that it did, felt completely unfair.

Spells began to erupt around his friends as they began to attack the creatures that had been summoned from the boss’s wail.

At least a hundred were formed around the floor, and Max frowned, knowing that they were facing a different kind of boss than ever before.

He glanced at the timer, seeing that only fifteen seconds had passed and if he didn’t do something soon, his buff Batrire had given would soon be gone.

Dropping to the floor, he raced through the summoned minions, shattering them all as his weapon transformed into a large hammer. He made his way around the dark soil, attempting to create some breathing room for himself and his allies.

Chunks of bone flew through the air as he pulverized the undead, dodging the rain of bone that came from the boss, two green eyes never stopping tracking him.

Fifteen more seconds had allowed him to eradicate almost half of the bone abominations, fire spells and wind blades sweeping out in every direction as he prepared for what he wanted to do.

Turning back to the boss, Max raced toward it, aimed at the same section he had hit before.

Leaping onto the bone section, he smashed the same spot over and over, one eye on the boss who turned in on itself, coming toward him, the other on the crack that grew.

What I wouldn’t give for Ultimate Form…

The lack of that skill, still on cooldown frustrated him. None of them had believed it would be needed, every boss so far having been rather easy.

Yet now the tower had reminded them that it wasn’t a walk in the park. Every skill mattered. None were to be taken for granted; right now, they were all paying the price for having believed so.

As the fissure grew deeper, Max slammed his weapon into the crack, transforming it into a long spear. He pressed with everything he had, and like a crowbar, it allowed him to apply pressure, and the noise of the bone popping came.

Using his wind magic, Max forced himself away as the section of bone broke, the large spine-like piece snapping, sending half of the boss’s body crashing into the ground for a second.

Another shriek came, and Max turned, flying through the air, moving sideways and upward, to dodge the incoming rain of bones. He kept moving now, knowing it was the only thing that kept him from being pincushioned.

Still he smiled, glad to see that he could damage the boss. Knowing that meant he could use his other skills and not risk them being for nothing when he really attacked.

As he dove toward the ground, prepared to come at it again, he faltered, seeing the section he had broken off start to move.

It turned on its own, its bone legs moving as before, and moved in his direction, crushing anything in its path.

“What the…”

His words stopped as the boss opened its maw, scooping up dirt and bones, swallowing them whole as it made its way around the floor toward him.

Sections of bone began to regrow along the area he had injured and a new section was starting to form.

Curse words ran through his mind, but Max didn’t wait. There were barely ten seconds left on Batrire’s buff, and if a moment was going to come to use it, he had to go now, taking a chance as the boss attempted to heal itself.

[ Haste ]

Vanishing for a moment, he came at the boss’s head, his two-handed hammer aimed at the section of bone right between those green eyes.

[ Power Strike ]

[ Quick Attack ]

[ Magical Strike ]

[ Berserker ]

[ Rampage ]

A sound like thunder erupted from where his weapon connected. It struck three times, seemingly as a singular blow.

Bone flew in every direction, a crack forming like a canyon, splitting the head in half.

As the bone disintegrated under the blows, there was an opening, darkness inside.

There was no brain, no soft material to crush under the weight of the metal. Instead, it was an aura that blew him back a step.

Wind Mastery kept him in place as his hammer continued to land blows. Like a dwarf in a mine, Max repeatedly struck as if searching for something precious. Each blow sent chunks of bone in every direction, yet the green glow in the eyes of the boss didn’t fade.

They continued to burn, and his sonar told him the boss was angling upward slightly.

[ Bulwark ]

[ Armored Warrior ]

[ Harden Body ]

Fragments of bone came at him, striking his armor and bouncing off as his skills took effect.

A shower of daggers made from bones rained upon him as the boss rose and started to fall.

They came from both sides, and his mind tried to comprehend how it could attack from so many directions. Then, the section of the piece he had hacked off reached the edge of his sonar.

Two pieces, they–

His thoughts had to end as he realized what would happen next.

[ Blink ]

A loud crashing noise came as Max appeared fifty yards away, watching as the boss’s maw bit down on the section of bone it had crashed into, chomping down on its own body.

The damage he had just done was starting to heal as the undead centipede began to eat itself, horking down giant bites of bone.

Curses came to mind as he hovered in mid-air, unable to attack, knowing that doing so wouldn’t do anything.

The strength of Batrire’s buff and his skills wore off, leaving him weaker and facing a boss who was healing the head he had almost smashed in half and growing more sections along its backside.

Glancing at Tanila and the others, he saw they were still fighting the last of the creatures that had come toward them.

None of them looked in real danger yet as Fowl dealt with the summoned bone beasts that attacked. Arrows and spells connected, slowing down and destroying whatever got close to them. Tanila turned and smiled at him briefly.

At that moment when their eyes locked, the boss descended back under the dirt floor.

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