Risen World

Chapter 213: Spirit Dungeon Part 5

After they had finished off the amalgamation of higher tiered spirit beast it was as if the swarm of spirit beast surrounding the platform didn't know what they should do. They all just stopped in their movements and stared towards the platform while fading in and out. It was clear that the dungeon wasn't exactly designed to be handled in the way that Joshua's group was doing it at the moment considering this was the second time all of the spirit beast had frozen in a state of surprise.

"Well that was a pain in the ass." Adrian said with a sigh as the platform started fading back to its normal state with the crystals gone and the fog once again hovering around.

"Yeah it's surprising how tough some of these combinations can get. If we keep going we might just end up coming across something that is too much for us to handle." Henry said while frowning a bit after catching his breath. Although he didn't have to do much fighting himself he did have to maintain focus to keep all the buffs up and add new ones when required.

"What do you think they're waiting for this time?" Aito said getting everyone to look over to the frozen swarm of spirit beast that just seemed to be staring at them unabated. It was a creepy feeling especially with the fog reaching up to their knees giving the place an unnatural feeling.

"Last time we killed the enemy so fast that they decided to send several large spirit beast at once. This time we took out all of the large spirit beast that they had planned to send in one at a time, so I'm guessing the dungeon is trying to figure out what to do next." Joshua said with a thoughtful look. He wasn't sure if it was a good thing or a bad thing that the spirit beast didn't seem to know what to do next. Last time this happened they upped the challenge quite a bit, and he was hoping things wouldn't get to out of hand.

"Well whatever they're planning we will deal with it and clear this dungeon." Amy said with a big grin. "Besides we've come this far already. There is no way we're leaving this place without clearing it first."

Right after Amy finished her statement a portal appeared behind them all towards the center of the platform. It was the same green portal that they knew was the exit to the dungeon and a chance for them all to leave if things weren't going the way they wanted them to. It was a little odd that the portal would appear so soon since it seemed like something that would only appear after a phase to the dungeon had been cleared, but the timing was quite funny since Amy seemed to jump back in surprise. It was as if the dungeon was responding to her comments and placing the portal right in front of her. It was then that a message appeared in front of all of them like before at the end of the first phase.

[Congratulations on clearing the second phase of the dungeon. Your clear speed was amazing thus you shall be allowed to face the boss right away do to your efforts. The boss will form in thirty minutes from when this message appears so be prepared for a challenging fight. If you do not feel you are ready for such a fight then take the portal to exit the dungeon and try again when you feel that you are strong enough. Good luck!]

"Well it seems this place has a way to get through things faster if you're strong enough." Adrian said with a big grin.

"Or it could be that we just lucked out with our opponents this time around. Being able to take out that shadow creature in the first fight so easily is what gave us the chance to clear the second phase so much faster." Aito said with a shake of his head while looking at his long time goofball of a friend.

"Well either way we cleared the phase fairly fast, but what do you think the boss of a dungeon like this will be like?" Lilly asked as she looked at the spirit beast then back to the rest of the group. "Hopefully it isn't all of them attacking us at once."

"I doubt that, but we could always ask Tank to see what he thinks." Joshua replied. Lilly nodded before bringing out Tank from her soul realm and putting away Flutter for the moment. They still had a while before the fighting started so they planned to discuss their plans a bit while eating a small snack to maintain the buff they gained before the start of the second phase. Once Tank appeared Joshua started to get straight to asking the question he wanted answered. "Tank what do you think a boss class spirit beast will do in a fight?"

"I see you've already finished the second phase. That was rather fast." Tank said looking a little impressed by the group. "I'd say there is a certainty that a spirit beast boss would be able to take the form other boss class beast, but outside of that I'm not sure. There is most likely something special that it will be able to do to set it apart from the regular spirit beast so I'd watch out for that. Hell I wouldn't be surprised if you'd have to take on more than one boss considering how all of the fights have gone up to this point so far. So be prepared for that."

"Makes sense. Just about every boss we've fought up to this point either has unnaturally high stats or a special ability that makes it stronger than other creatures. Hell half of them have had a little of both." Adrian said with a shake of his head as he munched on one of the sandwiches that Aito was handing out.

"If that's the case then this next fight is probably going to be dragged out in comparison to the last two fights. I don't think there will be an obvious weakness for us to go after outside of the creatures being weaker to magic and concentrated aura attacks. I just hope it isn't something crazy and over the topor worse." Henry said with a sigh.

"What could be worse?" Lilly asked with a tilt of her head. Joshua just sighed at that thinking the next fight would be harsh after such an obvious jinx had been stated. Everybody just shook their heads at her clueless question as the portal to the exit of the dungeon started to fade away. They knew it was almost time for the boss fight now and were all taking up formation with Joshua out front and the rest taking up their positions. Tank let out several bubble traps into the surroundings to give them more of an advantage before Lilly switched him out for Flutter for the moment to boost the entire group. Although Tank was powerful he didn't have too many effective options to do major damage to these ghostly figures like Cinder who had several fire spells. Plus the whirlpool tactic would definitely not work on a boss class creature.

While they were setting up for the upcoming fight the platform started to shift as the fog faded away allowing them all to see their lower bodies and the platform that they were standing on. That wasn't all though as the platform started to extend further out nearly doubling inside. It was a hint that whatever creature they were about to face was way too big to fit on the smaller platform and Joshua had a good idea of what that creature would be if it was one of the ones he had faced in the past. With the now larger platform the group backed up a bit to put the extra space to use and allow their back line to attack from further away. Any advantage they could get they would take.

Once the platform stopped expanding a giant portal appeared directly above the platform and above all of the spirit beast that had been crowded around the platform. They all watched as an enormous spirit beast that had yet to form started to come out of the portal and was soon followed by a smaller spirit beast before the portal closed. When Joshua observed the two new spirit beast he was able to see that they both had five stars by their name and were level sixty-five. He wasn't sure why they came in different sizes, but they both gave off an intense pressure that outclassed all of the other spirit beast by a large margin. They both floated down to the platform and landed on the other side.

The ghostly bodies of the two boss level spirit beast started to fade in and out as they let out a loud scream that sent pressure into their surroundings. Light started shining brightly from Joshua's aura making it harder for the pressure to effect any of them which seemed to anger the two spirit beast a bit as they stopped their screaming. They glared towards Joshua for a moment since it seemed like he was the source of it before they started changing shape. It was the moment where the group was going to find out what they'd end up having to fight. It wasn't much of a surprise when some of the spirit beast in the surrounding started to float down as well and form their own creatures. In the end they had the two boss class spirit beast and four groups of low class spirit beast all trying to mimic a monster to take the form of.

Soon it became clear what form they'd end up taking as the large boss class spirit beast was the first one to finish taking shape and had clearly mimicked the massive Ant Queen taking up half of the enlarged platform. It dwarfed everything in the vicinity and made Cinder look like a little Chihuahua aggressively trying to glare at a full grown Great Dane even if Cinder was at her full size. This version of the Ant Queen was even bigger than the original which probably had something to do with the level difference, but it also seemed to have all of the advantages of the Ant Queen with its extremely tough armor that was far harder to break through than the crystal armor of the scorpions or their exoskeletons.

The smaller boss class spirit beast on the other hand took the form of a boss they were all familiar with having just finished grinding against for a couple days not even a week ago. The spirit beast formed into a mimicry of the Scorpion Prince with the aura and all that would make it quite difficult to deal with considering its ability as a spirit beast took out the power behind physical attacks, Although Joshua and Lilly's attack dealt damage from their aura the physical part of their attacks did nothing. It made the weight behind Joshua's scale blade useless and dampened the effect of Amy's blows. Adrian had it even worse with the only damage behind his attacks coming from the elemental buff given by Henry making his blows weaker as long as he didn't hit a weak spot.

Things weren't finished yet as the low class spirit beast took the form of four different creatures of their own. The two out front took the forms of lizards that were both smaller than Cinder, but still big enough to do damage to her if given the chance. While the other two groups of low class spirit beast formed a near perfect replica of Flutter and another near perfect replica of one of Lilly's rabbits. It was then that Joshua knew that the boss was going to have to come second if they wanted to win this fight. The rabbit could heal any decent wounds he gets on the two boss level spirit beast which would put him back to square one while the Flutter copy would boost the entire enemy group and make the fight even more difficult.

Just when they thought it couldn't get any worse the boss had one more thing to show off before the fight between them would begin. The two boss class spirit beast started to brighten up with aura that seemed to intertwine with each other for a moment before their bodies changed. The Scorpion Prince's body seemed to have more of a metallic shine to it like the Ant Queen's, while the Ant Queen's body seemed to cover itself in a visible aura like the Scorpion Prince. It seemed like the two boss class spirit beast were able to synchronize with each other and share their abilities. Now they'd have to deal with two powerful bosses with aura armor and metallic exoskeletons that would be near impossible to break through. Not to mention the subordinates that could heal and empower them.

"This is going to be one hell of a fight." Joshua said as a small smile appeared on his face before he charged forward to take the front.